mrsjono

After a nice brunch at The Wooden Whisk, we took the bus to the start of the Manly coastal walk in Sydney. It's an easy walk along the beach, some bush, back on the beach again and ends at the Manly Wharf. There are several points of interests, detours and lookouts along the way; we didn't stop at all of them as they look pretty much the same after awhile.


The Spit Bridge can be lifted up to allow tall ships to pass through





Checking out the aboriginal rock engravings on the ground. Spotted a fish!


Views from Grotto Point


I've never seen these in New Zealand before


Crater Cove


This was the only part of the entire walk that was worth taking a photo of ourselves in it


Forty Baskets Beach?


Back at the wharf after walking for around 2 hours 45 mins


Nasi lemak and


Fish curry at Mamak

Anzac long weekend in Sydney. Not a smooth start, as usual on the first day. Flight was delayed by 30 mins. Air New Zealand is so stingy; there was no cookie on this flight. I was tired, hungry and thirsty when we landed in Sydney. Tried to redeem free coffee at Gloria Jeans but they won't accept the loyalty card anymore. Managed to get a free SIM card at the airport and was happy I can use my iPhone (albeit hand me down) to take photos now. Unfortunately l dropped it at the Opera House after taking a selfie. The screen was chipped off on the corner. I was so angry and upset with myself I wasn't in any mood to take in the sights around Circular Quay. Felt irritated with so many people trying to take photos. It got worse when I mistakenly alighted at the wrong station thinking it goes to the malls along Pitt St. My feet were sore from lots of walking and I just felt uncomfortable throughout the day without enough sleep and still forced ourselves to keep walking.







Din Tai Fung for dinner


I have absolutely no recollection we stayed here

Wellington Anniversary Day long weekend was spent in Hawkes Bay. Tried our luck at Pourerere Beach and was relieved there was a vacant tent site as someone didn't show up. There were quite a number of caravans that look like they have been there since Christmas or living there semi-permanently. Despite the busy crowd, we had a quiet and pleasant stay by the beach.





Here comes the boogie board again


That's how strong the wind was


After some silly surfing, we went back to our tent and prepared dinner.




The next day, we packed up and went to the farmers market. In the afternoon we visited the Otatara Pa, between Napier and Hastings. In the past, tribal clashes were common and Maori settlements would build defensive structures and fences to help safeguard their land.


Wooden palisades



Carved wooden posts such as this can be seen around the site. They were erected in memorial to the ancestors who lived here.


This pa site occupies a strategic location with expansive views. Attackers can easily be spotted from here I reckon.



Heading back down to the carpark


Windmill in Dannevirke


When passing through Pahiatua, the playground is probably the highlight of this small town.

I was telling a colleague I'm running out of places to visit in Wellington and she recommended I check out Red Rocks in Owhiro Bay. We went in our jandals which was not a good idea as the shared track was unsealed and it was quite rough and uneven. There are seals in the area but it was a bit much to reach them in our inappropriate footwear lol and since we've seen enough of seals in New Zealand, we called it a day after we've had enough photos with the red rocks.





Goofing around with a boat


It was quite annoying having to give way every now and then to vehicles along the shared road.


Only quad bikes and four wheel drive are suitable to go on such terrain


Waiting for our seafood dinner tonight

The wild weather disrupted the rest of our plans. Not that we have much of a plan lol.

On New Year's Day, we quickly packed up before the rain came again. I had reserved a tent site at Aroha Island in Kerikeri that night but decided to cancel by not showing up. He was against the idea of no show and wanted to make a trip there personally to let them know. Cancelled one night at Verandahs Backpacker Lodge in Auckland too. No plans for the rest of the day so we charged back down to Auckland and managed to secure beds at JJ House. Jami Korean was good although I can't recall what we ate.

Seafood chowder at Mangonui Fish Shop was good


Dinner at Jami Korean in Auckland

2nd January was spent shopping in Auckland. After yum cha at Sun World in Newmarket, we stumbled upon Texan Art Schools (now known as Creative & Brave) and had a good browse of the shop selling lots of pretty and interesting kiwi art pieces. They have another store in Sylvia Park Mall and I had my eye on a Maori art frame. It represented a piece of New Zealand that I knew I would want to bring home in future. It was $143 and took me a long time to decide to get it.

It was still raining the next day. It followed us all the way back home. Stopped at Matamata for coffee and Taupo for lunch (Japanese). Had a look at Art Haus didn't buy anything and continued down south. I drove for about half an hour and couldn't take it; it was pouring heavily and the heavy traffic stressed me out. Decided to take SH2 instead of SH1. When we got to Masterton, he got distracted by a big sign at a roundabout and almost got into an accident. Finally back in Upper Hutt, safe and sound in the new year.


连续几天的雨一直跟着我们 没地方晾干 只好这样 洗完了衣服 终于可以偷懒一下∼