Town or City Tour – Page 4

New Zealand Wrap-up #1

A new week, a new country and a totally new destination for me. For 10 days I will be in the ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’, and several smaller rounder ones. Staying near my son’s partner’s parents in the Waikato home to some of New Zealand’s most stunning landscapes. I may get to explore a little further, but I’m actually quite content to soak in the views from where we are staying and chill out with my new grandson.

Home Sweet Home

We are staying high above Ngarunui (Ocean) Beach. Located 5km west of town this wide expanse of black sand beach lends itself to lazy beach walks and picnics in the sand. It’s also a popular spot for surfing, bodyboarding and swimming.

Aqua

What transfixes me the most is the colour of the water – a cloudy, milky turquoise, possibly because of the black sand, which is the finest powder sand I have come across and glitters in the sun.

Surfing

Raglan is a small surfer town on the coast and boasts the world-famous surf break Manu Bay. The long, peeling left-hand break, said to offer one of the longest rides in the world, featured in the 1966 surfing film Endless Summer. Situated on the West Coast of New Zealand’s North Island, just a 45-minute drive west of Hamilton or a two-hour drive south of Auckland, Raglan offers stunning scenery, beautiful beaches, inspiring arts or simply a good old cup of coffee.

Surf Shop

Typical weatherboard house

Te Kopua Beach

Raglan Roast Coffee

Shops

Aqua Water in the Harbour

Golden

You may have eaten Kiwi fruit, but these are golden kiwi fruit and taste SO much better. Sweeter and without that odd chemical reaction that I and many others have when eating the green fruit. I am becoming addicted!

Christmas Trees

The pohutukawa tree (Metrosideros excelsa) with its crimson flower has become an established part of the New Zealand Christmas tradition. This iconic Kiwi Christmas tree, which often features on greeting cards and in poems and songs, has become an important symbol for New Zealanders at home and abroad. It is just about to flower so I hope to capture some good shots of trees in full bloom before I leave.

Happy Days…!

Just Back From… London

It’s a funny old world. I lived a little more than an hour away from London for 7 years, but in all that time I’d never spent a day there other than for attending meetings for work. So a train in, a tube to the location and back again, sometimes with a glance at some interesting architecture, thinking I really should bring a camera with me next time. Never spent any time in recent years exploring the city. I didn’t like London you see. I found it dirty, noisy and too busy so all I wanted to do was get in and get out as quickly as possible.

I have ‘done’ the tourist things years ago – Buck Palace, the Mall, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Camden Lock, Greenwich Market, but never been interested in what else it has to offer, until now, when I decided that I should at least visit the splendid museums that lie within the centre and are free. I like free. And Kew Royal Botanical Gardens. I like gardens.

So last week I accompanied the OH who was going there for business purposes and found myself in a reasonable hotel a spit away from Earl’s Court. With three days at my disposal. And a tube strike for two of those days. I dislike the tube at the best of times but at least it gets you to where you need to go, usually. Now buses, not only are they complicated, but also they are slow. On account of all that traffic you see.

Tuesday

On my first day I spent an hour and a half going round in circles as I attempted to get across to Chancery Lane tube station to go on a London walk. Eventually it dawned on me that there was no way I was getting anywhere close to the centre as Circle, Central and Piccadilly lines were not running. Had I realised that at the start of the journey I could have made my way differently, but by the time I’d sussed out an alternative route it was too late. Frustrated now, by all the hopping on and off tubes going nowhere, I opted for some fresh air in Kew Gardens, but even that was a challenge as it involved a tube to Turnham Green, a walk to a bus stop, a bus to Kew Gardens Station and a walk to the gardens. Phew! I was quite exhausted before I even got there!

Kew is big. Really big. And although I walked for four hours I only covered half of it. I got to see the Palm House, which was closed on a previous visit, but not the Temperate House, which is closed for restoration. I was enchanted by the peonies, the Woodland Garden and the Rockery. I loved the Princess of Wales Conservatory with the pelargoniums, the succulents and cacti, the jade vine and the chameleon. I was irritated by the number of school children on a day trip (usually Primary age) running around, screeching at full volume, getting in the way of a shot. They were everywhere!

I hear leaves drinking rain;
I hear rich leaves on top
Giving the poor beneath
Drop after drop;
‘Tis a sweet noise to hear
These green leaves drinking near.

~ from ‘The Rain’ by W H Davies

Getting away from them I discovered the lovely Davies Alpine House, the Waterlily House and further away, the Secluded Garden where I sheltered from a heavy April shower beneath the canopy of a Prunus tree. Only to find another small glasshouse just around the corner! Oh, well.

Princess of Wales Conservatory

Chameleon

In the Rock Garden

Pretty Peony

Temple of Aeolus

Azaleas

Just when I thought I couldn’t walk any more my eyes glimpsed a shock of colour across the park, and I headed for the Azalea Garden, getting attacked by a crazy squirrel en route. I spotted him in the grass and thought about getting a photo of him, but he just kept heading straight towards me. Next minute he is clinging to my thigh and staring up at me, no way could I get a photo, I was too busy trying to encourage him to get down without being bitten! After a couple of moments like this I did manage to take his picture and then quickly hurry away before he decided to have another go. Anyway, the azaleas were well worth being attacked for.

Admitting defeat just before I found the bluebells and knowing that I still had to make my way back to the hotel as we had a dinner date at 7 pm I reluctantly left Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, footsore, but happy, and both camera batteries exhausted, like me. Continue reading Just Back From… London

Cornish Harbours

It’s hard not to fall in love with Cornwall where a magnificent coastline wraps itself around 300 miles of diverse landscapes. The big skies and wilderness of Bodmin Moor to the north with walking trails and prehistoric remains, further south the sun turns the sea turquoise and the land is scattered with Bronze age standing stones and Celtic crosses where the natural light is so blinding. In the west there is a special art scene and Cornwall is becoming a real foodie heaven with top-class chefs producing gourmet menus, daily offerings of fresh fish and seafood and local produce such as cheeses, wine and meat widely available from delicatessens, farmers’ markets and roadside stalls, not to mention Cornish pasties and well-loved clotted cream teas. Continue reading Cornish Harbours

Just Back From… Penzance

October may seem an odd time of year to visit Cornwall – notorious for its ‘mizzle’ (mist and drizzle) and when the nights are drawing in. No late evening walks along the promenade at sunset for us then. October is, however, my birth month and this year marked a special anniversary too – ten years of marriage and a BIG birthday. The one where you used to get a free bus pass and a state pension – no longer though. So where to go and celebrate these two milestone events?

I thought about romantic Florence, I considered the northern lights of Reykjavik, I mused about South Africa and my beloved Cape Town, but on the other hand we still hadn’t found a house to buy and until we settled I felt that I was in limbo. I needed to get on with the rest of my life and my heart was still set on being near the coast so what better place to return to than Cornwall. Continue reading Just Back From… Penzance

Lost in Venice

I have always yearned to visit Venice, the city that is sinking and often stinking, but which is unique – a sanctuary on a lagoon that is virtually unchanged for six hundred years and a monument to the glory days of the Renaissance. On a trip to Lake Bled in Slovenia in 2012 my husband and I were close enough to go there on a day trip – a long drive, but easier by a coach tour than trying to do it by public transport. Continue reading Lost in Venice