Mauri Culture and the Hole in the Rock!

The next day I was up quite early due to jet lag - thankfully minus the head ache that had been on/off since arriving on Wednesday. Kirsten had already been up and watched the sunrise though - advantage of knowing the area and where to go. We had free hostel breakfast of toast and jam, plus a heavenly filter coffee thanks to clever planning ahead and packing by W+K (you all know who I mean really). ;) We walked into Paihia and explored centre, I bought some postcards and picked up tourist info for myself and parents - to help them discover this beautiful country. We booked ourselves onto the Excitor 90 minutes adventure to the hole in the rock for 2.30pm. We wanted to do it at 4.30pm but there were not enough people - only problem with it being autumn. So we had less time at Waitangi where I discovered Mauri culture at the home of colonial style Treaty House, the Mauri Whare runanga (meeting house - spiritual) and cove of the war canoe or waka. We saw the cultural performance, which was enlightening and entertaining.

On the Excitor boat trip we saw dolphins! It was magnificent to see these mammals swimming around the boat for about 5 minutes before we picked up an extra person at Russell. We then sped on to the Hole in the Rock, taking a look around the cathedral next door first and eyeing up the light house on Cape Brett - no one lives there now (since 1970s) but you can stay in the home if you like remote places! It was incredibly windy and cold travelling at 40 knots, with a dark and broody sky. We only got wet though from the spray and Kirsten caught most of it having swapped seats with me after taking some photos. Talk about ‘Living On A Prayer’, which was playing rather appropriately at the time by Bon Jovi!

We all needed a hot drink to warm up once back on shore - Big Toddle and Gilbert look very cosy here in front of large hot chocolates. I decided to go it alone and book myself on to an Awesome Adventure bus trip to Cape Reinga for the next day - early start 7.15am till late 6pm. Chatting to the lady there we learnt that Only Seafood was the place to go for fish. So that's where we went and I tried oysters and broadbill for the first time all washed down with Pinot Gris by Matakana Estate- yum! I insisted we had desert (sticky toffee pudding) with a bottle of late harvest muscat from Matua Valley = heavenly sweet!

On our way to the Pickled Parrot - Bay of Islands

Will, Kirsten and I, left Friday lunchtime after a light bite to eat (remains of hummus, toms and bread), dropped off Gordon at cattery - hoodwinked into his box whilst sleeping by Kirsten! He went quietly and will hopefully forgive her/us when we pick him up on Tuesday (tomorrow). Auckland is a confusing place and it took us some time to navigate our way around doing a few last minute errands and on to highway one. Will drove us all the way to a little town Warkworth where we stopped for a more substantial lunch about 3pm. He was hoping for steak or pie and the first café we visited had very sad looking selection of cold/hot food that didn’t quite match his expectations. So on we wandered until we found another place that was slightly more gourmet. Top of the menu was burger topped with blue cheese and salad. Now I’ve been told a few times that cheese in NZ has a long way to go before it catches up with Europe, so I was surprised to see this option. I think the story I heard was in most supermarkets you have a choice of mild or tasty cheese and that’s it. Things are getting better - only very slowly…. We had to convince the café that we were nice people and beg them to cook us 3 burgers. Boy am I glad that we did because it was awesome!

Fully charged by sumptuous food, Kirsten took over the driving and led us to our final destination of the Pickled Parrot hostel at Paihia in the Bay of Islands. A long drive - took several hours and was dark when we arrived about 7pm. We unloaded our stuff into our accommodation; Will and Kirsten had a room called the Morepork and I was staying in the Quails dorm. Then set out for another great feast at Café number 6, along the coast and about 5 mins walk away. We sunk a tasty Shipwrecked Bay, Sauvignon Blanc with our food and ambled back for an early night about 10.30pm. (A picture of place taken next morning)

I'm having an awesome time!

Well hello there! Life in New Zealand is awesome and I'm having fun in all I do. As you can see from the artwork Kirsten and I created at Karekare beach. We had a fantastic picnic there and we paddled in the warm water as the waves came rushing in.


I've nearly shaken off the jet lag by somehow staying awake about 29 hours with 3 or so hours napping! What I didn't appreciate was the estate agent calling me in the middle of my 1st night. Particularly as I 'd told them I was going to be out of the country until May! Congratulations, you have just written yourself out of the running for selling the house. I thought it might have been someone calling about my missing baggage because it had my mobile number as point of contact. I eventually managed to get back to sleep and woke up early. Kirsten is an awesome cook and made us some blueberry pancakes. Toddle has survived meeting Gordon, their naughty ginger cat! He's also met Gilbert the gorrilla - Will's mini-me!! I'll try and get some pics of those 2 off K because my battery died.


We then went to Mission Bay and saw some sights in the slightly grey/cloudy weather. There was a cinema called Berkeley, which made me think of Aki. We stopped for a coffee and sweet treat - they're called flat whites apparently... We then went back home to collect my suitcase, which arrived at 11.15am, soon after we got in, which was lucky because they'd told us it'd be there after noon!



The good news is that I have managed to bring across some sunshine from the states. Kirsten thinks I sold my soul to the devil but I keep telling her I've been very good and in any case my soul is far too important to let go. I'm simply truly blessed! ;)

Check out the blue sky and sun shining on the Maori Pa below! We also went to Piha beach, stopping at the West Coast Gallery - awesome artwork, picked up some excellent postcards and picture notebook.

Went out for drinks last night and played pool in a 70s kitsch bar called the Crib. So it was only fitting that we had cheese fondu for dinner!! We're off to the Bay of Islands for long weekend - return on Tuesday, so i don't expect I'll be able to blog till then. My camera is fully charged, so there will be pictures, until then bye for now.

Missing one Tuesday and one item of baggage!

Kirsten has in deed shown me much love and some of her neighbourhood in Auckland, New Zealand. I was greeted early Wednesday morning with a big warm smile, welcoming hug and a single pink rose (see left)! Sadly not only did I lose Tuesday 15 April somewhere flying between LA and NZ, but also my big blue suitcase! I'm hoping to get it back tomorrow because it has all the really useful and important stuff in it (like wine, presents, clean clothes and undies). Good news it arrived Thursday morning after we'd been out to explore Mission Bay, St Helier's and Kohimarama - will blog separately on that. I started drafting this last night but realised i had very little brain - so simply added pics to other posts!!

In the mean time I've been able to shower, borrow some clothes and go for brunch at Cafe Jazz. They serve a delicious corn fritter with bacon, hollandiase sauce, tomato chutney and salad. Plus a coffee called something flat? - I forget what though, feeling very tired after only a few hours sleep!

I've also seen her old home (tasted her homegrown salads), the now not so local school where she did pottery classes (very impressed by her solitaire game base) and I'm now relaxing at her new home (very modern, open plan, lovely). I've encountered already a variety of wildlife - a cockroach that scared the hell out of me in the shower until I caught it; a weta (good sign of healthy ecosystem - see pic); and a sickly looking praying mantis (on camera phone so you'll have to wait till UK for that one!. Kirsten also swatted a mosquito for me that was near my face!

"How will you show love today?" (updated)

Asked Tina at Cafe Gratitude, in Berkeley, where I bought 'I am prosperous' salad and 'I am charismatic' juice to take away.



(Everyday they ask a new question like the one above ...)

"Easy" I replied "I will show love and appreciation for my time in California on my blog!"

A big thank you to everyone who made it such a special trip and to your comments, emails and texts. They all make me smile and feel good to be alive. I am blessed to have this opportunity and I am taking full advantage of it. Aki has been an absolute angel and I don't know what I'd have done without her. I definitely wouldn't have had such an incredible time or learnt so much - I really do have a new kind of hope for life in the future.

I am super excited about the next stage - going to Auckland, New Zealand to see Will, Kirsten and Judy. I'll be leaving very soon to catch a flight from San Francisco to LA. So I'll load pictures and write more about yesterday's adventures in a few days time. Amazingly I've managed to pack everything, including all my new purchases into the 2 suitcases thanks to opening up the built-in expanding sections and using new rucksack!

Wine tasting in Sonoma and Shopping! (pictures from Sunday now included)

I had a great time in Sonoma on Saturday wine tasting - Aki was the designated driver and very kindly watched me sniff, slurp and savour my way through several reds from the Sebastiani wine maker. James served me a complimentary Merlot and explained the different options available for wine tasting. For 5$ you could try 3 wines from a list that you can buy in UK via Threshers or for 10$ you could try 4 wines from a list of 5 reserved and exclusive to the estate. Guess, which one I went for? That's right the second option and James bless him let me try all 5! He was very knowledgeable about the wine and explained about the different parts of Sonoma county being suited for growing different types of grape. And how the appellation system worked - if you had grapes from more than one place you had to describe it being from the county. I discovered that James is normally Head of Technology some place else and at the weekends he works here because of his passion for wine! I picked up two delicious bottles and the wine tasting notes, which I'm looking forward to sharing with friends and family. I wont tell you yet the details because I don't want to spoil the surprise - I know whoever gets to drink it with me will not be disappointed! ;)

Thankfully we'd had a hearty feed at the Cheese Factory in Sonoma town before hand, where you could choose from about 12 different types of cheese to go on your burger. I went for a spicy chili variety of cheese and it was the best burger I've had in a long time! That said by the time we left Sebastiani I was happy to sing along to Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers that was playing on the radio. We didn't have a map so sadly we didn't find the next place, which was meant to be outstanding for sparkling wine. It would have been a close call in any case as to whether we'd make it in time because most places shut at 5pm and we left Sebastiani about 4.45pm.

So we headed back to Berkeley and Aki took me to the North Face Factory outlet for some shopping at seriously cheap prices. I spent £100 on a jacket, rucksack and shoes - saving over £200!! So now I'm ready for my hiking adventures in New Zealand and skiing next season, which makes up for not going to Lake Tahoe this weekend. On reflection I've had a far better time and have seen/done more as a result of Aki's injury, so it has all worked out for the best. :)

As you can imagine I was feeling quite tired after all the excitement of the afternoon. Luckily I was able to rest and relax at Aki's apartment before going out for dinner with her friends from Tae Kwon Do (all so young looking at 21) at another Korean restaurant. It was very ghetto and known by students as the Porn Palace because some of the film posters were a bit racy, although to be honest not as bad as I was expecting given the build up. They still had many mainstream movie posters (all in Korean) e.g. Lord of the Rings, the Matrix, the One, etc. I really enjoyed the BBQ spicy pork and hot spicy tofu soup. I also got to try soju (strawberry and aloe flavour). It doesn't taste alcoholic and can be sipped or drunk as shots. It is very potent though ... as I learnt when playing some drinking games!

Needless to say I slept very well and feel fine today, ready for my last full day in San Francisco. I'm looking forward to taking a boat trip, more shopping and Perry's cooking at the "family Sunday" meal. Every Sunday one of Aki's friends takes it in turn to have everyone over for a meal and a mystery guest is invited. Whoever cooks doesn't have to wash up! It's a chance for people to get to know each other better outside of uni/lab work. Perry said I'm a very special mystery guest because I'm all the way from England - he's such a sweetheart. He's cooking a lobster soup and a lobster salad (for those who are watching what they eat in order to compete at a certain weight in Tae Kwon Do). Sounds yummy.

OK here's the updated bit to show you some pictures from Sunday!
The cruise was an hour long and went around the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge. There were plenty of small sailing boats out there competing for the space! Time went very quickly and I learnt a lot about the history.




Back on shore Big Toddle encountered a pirate who wanted him to be his first mate. Aki and I, were busy sampling 'in and out' burgers - all made from fresh locally produced ingredients cooked only when you order it. We had to rescue him and take him to Ghirandeli square for some chocolate and cup cakes to get over the trauma. We then caught the cable back to Union Square for some shopping.


Here is a pic of tasty lobster and salad dinner.

Enchanted woods, beach, plus golden gates and homemade Italian pizza!

On Friday Aki, Toddle and I, drove off to Muir Woods home of the giant redwood trees.  We had the good fortune to find the perfect parking spot in the shade when someone left after driving round what looked like a completely full car park once.  No sooner had we set off down a path to the entrance when Aki spotted that my water bottle was leaking and we returned back to the car to remove soggy items and dry out my bag!  We were then able to make our way to the visitors centre for some lunch and plan our hike, which reminded me of my walk a week ago in Santa Barbara.  Big Toddle managed to meet some bears that didn’t seem too grizzly and allowed him to have his picture taken!  walk was so relaxing and it was a joy to see these incredibly tall trees, hear running water and bird song and smell an earthy freshness - hard to describe.  (I’ve bought some redwood incense to try and remind me of it.)

Aki and I had fun taking pictures (being inside the huge hollows, hugging them, etc), although at one point she dropped her camera and it fell almost in the water.  Thankfully it stopped by some rocks, which left there mark on the viewing screen.  Aki was quick to reframe the situation from something negative in to a positive by saying at least she’d always remember our time in Muir Woods whenever she saw the scratch on her camera!    

I found a cute little wooden wishing box in the gift shop with my name on it.  Emily is from the Latin for “Eager” and it says “You are Pioneering and Ambitious”.  How it works is you write a wish on a piece of paper and put it inside your box.  Every night at bed time, you hold your Dream Box and think of your dream.  Legend has it, if done faithfully your dream will come true.  

These lovely pictures are of Muir Beach, first from the car park, then on the beach and last one is of Aki relaxing on a plank she found.  We chilled here for sometime just admiring the view and listening to the ocean waves crash on the shore, very peaceful.  I wish I'd packed my swim suit and towel to do a spot of sun bathing!  

On our way back to San Francisco we climbed in the car to a high view point close to the Golden Gate Bridge.  I’ve been so lucky that the weather has been clear and sunny enabling me to take some great snaps of stunning scenery.  We took a little detour down to a place called Sausalito I think before going over the bridge and then navigating our way to the Twin Peaks. 

From there we viewed the GG Bridge from the other side - less impressive in my humble opinion given how long it took us to get there!  Still was worth exploring and meant we were on track to get back to Berkeley campus in time to watch the sun set.  

We stopped on the way at a supermarket to pick up pizza topping ingredients because Aki’s Italian friend Irene had invited a group of post doc friends over for home made pizza and to watch a movie.   We made it in the nick of time to see the sun set - beautiful pink coloured sky!  Aki is so lucky to have this round the corner from her lab to admire whenever she wants to.  then left for the pizza party (I learnt the secret of making good pizza dough is adding potatoes) and had good food, company and a real laugh watching the original Japanese version of Shall We Dance - much better than Richard Gere and J Lo!  We certainly packed a lot in to the day and I slept soundly.

Today we’re off to Sonoma for some wine tasting, I can’t wait!