Author archive
22 March 2021
Kim needed to go to Hamilton to look at a car he was interested in purchasing. I decided it would be a good opportunity to go visit Hamilton Gardens. We would go in one car and come back separately if he does end up buying the car (which he did). It was a 90 min […]
13 January 2021
Having gone to the sleep with the curtains open I woke at 0540, over an hour before my alarm. I had planned to start driving to Nelson airport at 0800 in time for my 1125 standby flight back to Auckland. Knowing that making it to the airport for the earlier flight possibility at 1000 seemed […]
12 January 2021
Last day Today is my last day in Takaka before flying home tomorrow. I wanted to make the most of it, especially with the stunning weather. Wharariki Beach had been highly recommended but it is only worthwhile visiting within 2h each way of the low tide time of about 1600. That gave me a relaxing […]
11 January 2021
Note: All photos on this page have not been manually edited or enhanced (except for the one as indicated) because they were rather stunning already! Sea-kayaking I had put off my sea-kayaking here until the weather was good. When I was satisfied with yesterday’s weather and the forecast had indicated that today would be good, […]
10 January 2021
Note: All photos on this page have not been manually edited or enhanced because they were rather stunning already! Labyrinth Rocks Today, the weather turned glorious and remained so for the rest of my stay at Takaka. How lucky for me. I started the day with some yoga in the dining room before taking my […]
9 January 2021
Above: Wood-fired outdoor bath at my accommodation. With damp and changeable weather, I deferred my sight-seeing plans and went to the supermarket. I got some canned tuna, tomatoes, cucumber and a fake baguette for my next few meals. Supermarket baguettes in New Zealand are just ordinary bread in a different shape. But it was probably […]
8 January 2021
The ATR72 flight landed in Nelson around 1045, about 10 mins ahead of schedule. I had a rental car booked with Pegasus an off-site car rental company. Other operators had wanted about NZD600 for five days whereas this company was the only one offering non-inflated prices for the post New Year holiday period at around […]
8 January 2021
Today I go to Takaka again for a summer break. I can’t believe that it has already been 11 months since I had been there. Despite the monotony of life in the Covid-10 world, 2020 went past very quickly. New Zealand is still enjoying its New Year holidays and it was an easy drive to […]
1 December 2020
Above: Released on the official first day of summer, 1 Dec 2020. My flight touched down around 0840 on Tuesday two weeks ago, so I am allowed out from Managed Isolation at the same time today. But due to traffic for Kim coming to pick me up during rush hour, I advised the facility that […]
30 November 2020
Today is my last day in Managed Isolation for I will be free at 0840 tomorrow. But I’ve organised Kim to pick me up at 0930 because traffic would be bad otherwise. I have kept to the routine that I had set but wasn’t as strict and didn’t set targets like when I did my […]