A is for:
Airports: OR Tambo; Perth; Melbourne;
Wellington; Sydney; JFK; Newark Liberty; San Jose, Costa Rica; San Francisco;
Kahului, Maui; Hilo, Big Island; Honolulu, Charles de Gaule, Paris, London-Luton,
Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Dublin, Heathrow.
Archway Islands of the far North West Coast of South
Island, New Zealand.
B is for:
Birding, flock of Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos
in Gingin, diminutive Splendid Fairywren, in Coomalloo, Long-billed Corella’s
of Victoria, a cuckoo and a goshawk in a High Country Forest, Pink-eared Ducks
in Jells Park with Lee, the delightful Tui bird in the suburbs of Wellington, a
gang of Kaka’s on the deck in Ngaio eating slices of apple, Rainbow Lorikeets
in the Coastal Banksia. Motmots, Oropendulas, Toucans, Macaws, Quetzals, all so
exotic, colourful and exciting viewing in Costa Rica. Hawaiian Noddy’s flying
around the Holei Sea Arch, Volcano National Park, Big Island, Hawaii. Screaming
flocks of swifts in the blue sky of Juillac.
Bushwalking, seeing the Satin Bowerbird and the
Noisy Pitta while bushwalking along the Patonga Creek Wetland.
Beautiful Beaches, Wharariki Beach, South Island, New
Zealand; Putty Beach, Central Coast, Australia; pebble coves along the
Mediterranean.
Babar, a special 80-year-old French
elephant, buying books for Baby Hadfield at the iconic Shakespeare & Co
Bookshop in Paris.
C is for:
Christmas cheer in Melbourne.
Cricket, Big Bash at the famed MCG in
Melbourne.
Champagne Pool at the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland
near Rotorua.
Costa Rica, a new country, thrill of a
three-toed sloth and a new mammal called a White-nosed Coati.
Cards, learning to play cribbage until 2am
in the morning, teaming with Bruce against Fred and Cathy.
Chateau, Le Plessis-Bourre, almost in the back
yard from Lion d’Angers, Maine-et-Loire, a 15thC gem floating in its moat.
Camembert, the town and the story of a global
success, the number one French cheese. Find ‘lait cru’ if possible, then melt
it.
Cornwall, a first visit to the far south west of
England, to its moors, cliffs and the tin mines made famous for me by the TV
series Poldark.
County’s in Ireland: Galway, Clare, Roscommon.
D is for:
Devastation Trail, Volcano National Park.
Dolmens, ancient traces of man in France and
Ireland.
E is for:
Echinda on the road to Mt Buller.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe, wild, wacky and wonderful. Swansong,
Sisters, Fingertips and Showstopper!
F is for:
Family time, Inel, Guy and Joss surprising us by
driving 7 hours from Cowra to Mansfield for the weekend
Joining
Craig and Shawni for Christmas in their new home in Ngaio, Wellington.
Sister time
in Australia.
Family time
at The Nest@Killcare. Inel, Guy, Doreen, Jason, Carmen, Elly and Jossle.
After 40
years meeting up with Bruce Wedderburn at his and Cathy’s home on a hill in
Aquitaine, France and quaffing copious quantities of fine local wines.
A quiet
lunch at St. Ives with Ashleigh while the crowds flowed past our window seat.
Fireworks, Chinese New Year grand display from
the Wellington Bay
Friends, Lee visiting in Mansfield and us
staying in Melbourne.
Time with
Bernie and Martie in Costa Rica, sharing our 60th years.
John’z
gracious hosting on Maui, Hawaii.
A country
visit to Friardel in Normandy to see John and Sally.
Andrea
arrived with her Jack Russell, Tia, and her campervan to spend time with us in
Cornwall.
Peter and
Mattie at The Drayton Court.
Leisurely
afternoon in the gardens of The Orchard in Cambridge with David.
Time with
Sarah and Collen in Walsham le Willows and a quite marvelous weekend together
at The Fringe.
Cumbria and
an Ireland adventure with Bri and Di, another opportunity to share a 60th
year.
Foodie times on the road: farm fresh Cherries of
the north east Victoria, gum honeys from Beechworth Honey, making Mansfield Produce
Store our local for a week.
Pizzas at
Luke’s Kitchen on the Coromandel, chasing all the New Zealand special tastes
like green-lipped muscles, L&P, Anzac biscuits, making Kiwi Dip from
Reduced Cream and a packet of onion soup, a Kiwi Pavlova at Punga Cove on the
Queen Charlotte Sound.
Beans and
rice in Costa Rica for breakfast. Buying banana bread on Maui.
A perfect
Chevre Salade at Café Madeleine in Paris. A Petit Dejeuner along Rue des
Martyrs with a heart stopping pain au chocolat. Fine foodie afternoon at
L’imparfait in Bergerac with Bruce and Cathy, cod and peas many ways and a
sublime chocolat crème brulee. Followed by my birthday lunch the next day: tuna
with risotto and an exquisite desert just called The Chocolat. – Chocolate
tart, chocolate mousse, ganache and tempered chocolate with a quenelle of lime
sorbet. La vrais, Salade Nicoise at a little restaurant in Greolieres. A
perfect lemon tart from a Boulangerie in Villeneuve Loubet. Buying Caillette, a
liver terrine the speciality of the maison in a Boucherie in
Tourettes-sur-Loup. An idyllic meal at Les Petites Tables in Manosque with a
delicate honeydew and melon cold soup. Melted Camembert with John and Sally.
Cornish
clotted cream and pasties. Fresh crab linguine in St. Ives and special Tea
House visit with Andrea, crab sandwiches and yummy cakes, scones and clotted
cream.
Mac and
cheese pies and scotch eggs in Edinburgh. Good fish and chips in Liverpool and
Ireland, eventually.
Ferry fun: between Sorrento on the
Mornington Peninsula across the mouth of Port Phillip to Queenscliff. Ferry to
Whitianga too. Ferry from Wellington, North Island to Picton on the South
Island and back, East to West Ferry from Queen’s Wharf to Days Bay, Wellington.
Crossing the Solent to Isle of Wight.
G is for:
The gorgeous Green of the Indian Ocean between Jurien
Bay and Cervantes, the strange greens of the Wai-O-Tapu thermal wonders and the
dozens of shades of green of Cumbria. And of course, the emerald green of
Ireland.
Glowworms of the Waitomo Caves.
Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War, at Te Papa Museum, Wellington,
hands down the best and most creative Exhibition I have ever experienced.
Galaries Lafayette, a most magnificent department store for
shopping on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris.
H is for:
Hay bales of the High Country in the North
East Victoria.
Hot Water Beach, Coromandel Peninsula; my feet did
feel the burn.
Heat, a Collared Sparrowhawk looking for
water at the birdbath in Cowra. Experiencing two heat waves, Melbourne getting
to over 40 degrees and the southwest of France upper 30’s.
I is for:
Inner Beach on the Farewell Spit.
Birthday celebration with Inel in Cowra.
Iao Needle, Iao Valley, home and daily walks on Maui.
I’iwi, a rock star bird on Maui with a
cool name and a funky salmon red decurved bill.
Irish hospitality, a Sunday with Di’s new found cousins
on the farm, Castlegar in County Roscommon.
J is for:
Japanese Gardens visit in Cowra, sister time birding
and breakies.
James Ennis Kerr, my first grandson is born on the 8th
September, we are now Nan and Pops.
K is for:
Kilometers flown: Johannesburg to Perth, Perth to
Melbourne, Melbourne to Wellington, Wellington to Sydney, Sydney to Perth,
Perth to Johannesburg. Johannesburg to New York, New York to Costa Rica, Costa
Rica to Newark, Newark to San Francisco, San Francisco to Maui, Maui to Big
Island, Hilo back to Maui, Maui to Honolulu, Honolulu to New York, New York to
Johannesburg, Johannesburg to Paris, Paris to Luton-London, Liverpool to
Dublin, Dublin to Liverpool, Heathrow to Paris, Paris to Johannesburg.
Kilometers on the road:
Western Australia
road tripping, Victoria, Australia road tripping.
New Zealand
Road tripping – Coromandel and South Island.
France road
tripping, Paris to Juillac in Limousin, Juillac to Entre-deux-Mers, Les Cardot
to French Rivera- long, tough trip. From hot and hazy southeast France to the
cool, crispy Miane-et-Loire, to Friardel in Normandy and then back to Paris.
England road
tripping from way east in Suffolk across to Land’s End in Cornwall, Cornwall to
Isle of Wight, then onto Ealing in London, to Cambridge and Bury St. Edmonds
and then onto Cumbria, quick drive south to Liverpool, following the Wild
Atlantic Way in the northwest of Ireland and a return to Bury via the Lakes and
Dales.
Katherine Mansfield birth home in Thorndon, Wellington.
Kashmir, a Chocolate Burmese kitten, the new
family member.
Laughing Kookaburras and Koalas in Australia.
Kilauea Crater, watching the lava glow at night from
the Jaggar Museum deck.
L is for:
Listing beds, birds…
World bird list from 1503 to 1544 after New Zealand
and Australia; 1832 after Costa Rica; 1853 after Hawaii.
Beds: Motels: 6; Timeshares: 3; Homes: 10;
Rental homes: 2; Cabins: 6; Hotels: 16, B&B’s: 3
Costa Rica numbers: 348 birds on chest list and 289
lifers.
Loss, my father’s death on the 18th
April. Guy’s father, Stan in July.
London House, meeting Jeff at the Heritage Museum
in Ventnor, Isle of Wight and solving the mystery of where Ann Sibbick, my
great, great grandmother, worked as a Housemaid.
M is for:
Modes of transport: Uber, Airplanes, car rentals and a
loan, ferries, trains, cable car, catamaran, jet boat, boat, New York subways,
Roissy Bus, taxis.
Museums: Te Papa in Wellington; Whitianga,
Wellington Museum; Nairn Street Cottage in Wellington; Bailey House on Maui
with its pieces of Kapa bark cloth, L’Occitane Museaum in Manosque, the story
of 40 years in growing this French company, a favourite brand of mine.
Margay, a Costa Rican wild cat, once a pet
and now feral but pops past for a meal of chicken now and again,
Missed a flight! From Hawaii to New York, shew.
Matilda, the Musical, taking in a show on Broadway.
N is for:
Night lights of Melbourne
O is for:
Oscar 2016 movies in Wellington: The Revenant. Joy, Trumbo, The Big
Short, The Danish Girl, The Martian, Steve Jobs, Bridge of Spies, Spotlight,
Carol, Brooklyn, 45 Years.
The
Dressmaker with Kate Winslet should have been on the list!
Enjoying the
Rio Olympic coverage from the BBC
whilst at our Clowance Estate timeshare.
P is for:
Pinnacles at the Nambung National Park.
Pohutukawa Trees, the iconic Kiwi Christmas
flowering tree, and it’s decendants in Hawaii called the Opi’a lehua!
Pain, making friends with my sore left
knee, a nagging pain.
Perfume, being in Grasse, the heart of perfume
making in France and visiting Fragonard for a tour of the factory, meant
testing and buying perfume.
Q is for:
Quirky road signs in Australia with
silhouettes of their wildlife.
Quilters in Coromandel Town at their annual
show.
Queen Charlotte Track, 4 days, 71km along the Queen
Charlotte and Kenepuru Sounds.
Quetzal, finding this resplendent bird in
Costa Rica, a truly great birding experience.
R is for:
Rugby 7’s at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington
with Fred, Shawni and Craig, watching NZ vs SA.
Rimu, an 800-year-old New Zealand tree.
Red River Gums, along the Lachlan River in Cowra.
S is for:
Stromatolites, ancient microbial communities at
Lake Thetis
Silver ferns in New Zealand.
Sailing in Mercury Bay, Coromandel Peninsula.
Swimming at Freyberg Pool along Oriental Bay
in Wellington. Pools in Costa Rica. In the seas and oceans of the world, Tasman
with family, Pacific on the Coromandel and in Hawaii, Lengths at Les Cardot,
bobbing in the Med along the Promenade des Anglais and hobbling along the
uncomfortable pebbles.
Shopping on Boxing Day along Lambton Quay in
Wellington for Peter Alexander pajama sets.
A return
visit to The Wool Company for another mohair and possum jersey, this time in
navy blue.
Baby Gap in
New York, hoodie for Baby Hadfield.
Beautiful
wool to knit for Baby Hadfield from La Droguerie in Nice.
For perfume
in Grasse at Fragonard and for L’Occitane treats from the boutique at the
factory in Manosque.
Sculptures by the Sea, Cottesloe Beach, Perth.
Secrets and surprises, Doreen in Sydney! This was one
amazingly well kept secret! Shawni is pregnant!
Soldes, summer sales in Paris, buying baby
clothes from Catimini, a French brand, for Baby Hadfield.
T is for:
Towns we visited, Jurien Bay, Cervantes,
Lancelin, Mansfield, Beechworth, Melbourne, Wellington, Whitianga, Coromandel
Town, Hahei, Kaikoura, Picton, Anakiwa, Nelson, Pohara Beach, Collingwood,
Palmerston North, National Park, Cowra, Killcare, San Jose, Tarcoles, Wailuku, Lahaina,
Hilo, New York, Paris, Juillac, Pompadour, Hautefort, Sarlat-la-Caneda, Eymet,
Bergerac, Saint-Emilion, Villeneuve-Loubet, Nice, Valbonne, Greolieres,
Tourettes – sur-Loup, Coursegoule, Manosque, Aubernas, Friardel, Bernay, Camembert,
Vimoutier, Orbec, Praze-an-Beeble, Lizard, St. Ives, St. Agnes, Fowey,
Porthleven, Yarmouth, Freshwater, Ventnor, Ealing in London, Cambridge, Walsham
le Willows, Edinburgh, Arkleby, Caldbeck, Brinkcrake, Liverpool, Carraroe, Lisdoonvarna,
Roundstone, Galway.
Turtles, swimming with a Hawaiian Green Sea
Turtle, Napili Bay, Maui.
Tongariro Alpine Crossing, hiking the 19.4 km through the
stunning volcanic landscape of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu .
Toiletpaper, Italian designers, Maurizio
Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari, take
over Galaries Lafayette for summer 2016, window and internal displays,
exhibition, installation under the dome. All comical and startling as were the Trompe L’Oeil windows and shutters of
Valbonne.
U is for:
Ulalena, mythical, lyrical and special
Hawaiian entertainment at the theatre in Lahaina, Maui.
Unbirthday celebration, lunch with Bruce and Cathy
Hostellerie de Plaisance, Saint-Emilion, a two star Michelin kitchen, The Fish
and The Chocolat, understated indeed.
V is for:
Vouchers from my Entertainment gift.
Volcanos: walking Tongariro in New Zealand,
birding Arenal in Costa Rica, hiking Haleakala on Maui and visiting Kilauea on
Big Island, Hawaii.
Ventnor, finding traces of my great, great,
grandmother Ann Argyle, nee Sibbick.
Visiting Old St Paul’s in Wellington.
Vaches a lunettes, a breed of Normandy cow whose rich
milk is at the heart of Camembert.
W is for:
Walking: 13 km along the Turquoise Way in
Jurien Bay, 14km Maindample to Mansfield along the Great Victorian Rail Trail,
Forest trails in the High Country, Jells Park in Melbourne, Mt Kaukau trail in
Welington, coastal trail to Cathedral Cove, Wellington Northern Walkway and
along Oriental Bay; Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway, Killcare and Putty Beaches,
Killcare to Hardys Bay. Joining the Johnz on their morning walk up the Iao
Valley to the viewpoint of the Iao Needle and meeting Joanna too, 12 mile
hiking through the Haleakala Crater on Maui. Along the Seine, with the late
setting sun catching the buildings, the gold gleaming and the Eiffel Tower a
striking red, white and blue.
Hiking in
the rocky, stony Moyen Pays of Province with fragrant wild lavender and vistas
across the looming Alps. Following some of the incredible 300 miles of the South
West Coast Path in Cornwall, stony paths, stiles and walls and purple heather.
In Ireland, the An Cheathru Rua Peninsula walks.
Weta, a New Zealand creepy, crawly and Weka, a cheeky companion on the QCT
Wool Bombora. Upcycled jewelry and knitting
installation for the Nest@Killcare. And
buying authentic hand—spun English Aran Wool
in Cumbria.
Wild Atlantic Way, dramatic scenic Ireland from the car
and the inclement weather too.
Y is for:
Yarra Valley, visiting Healesville Sanctuary to
meet the Australian wildlife and the best salted caramel ice cream by far.
Yiguirro, the clay-coloured thrush and the
national bird of Costa Rica, a confiding, gentle bird just like the people.
Z is for:
Zany street art in New York, ‘Van Gogh
Ear’, Rockefeller Centre.
Zawn a Bal, a breathtaking setting for a tin mine
in Cornwall.
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