Ferry ride from Hell..no Wellington....to serenity of Queen Charlotte Sound.

As I mentioned: We were due to sail on Arahura Interislander Ferry this morning from Wellington to Picton, that is from the bottom of the North Island to the tip of the South.


We left Lambton Quay at around 11am and quickly saw how expansive the harbour and spread out the city was... and, I stole a glance at the sky even now and then, and the water....


It was definitely getting rougher and the wind was picking up. The Captain came over the PA system and said that there was "a bit of wind expected once we got out into Cook Strait", in fact he said "it was blowing a gale" and the waves were around 8-9 metres high!


Wooohh....


This was a new experience for me! Better check the status of those lifeboats again...



The crew got busy handing around paper vomit bags and ice while food and trays crashed off the shelves in the cafeteria.
Apparently ice chips really help if you are feeling seasick or nauseous, and whilst my daughter had her face in a cup of these for about 45 minutes without respite, I was ok if I watched the land, and sucked on an ice chip when the big crashes came.
Getting rougher, and roughter...The waves were crashing over the bow.. and this was no small boat. Time to head up to the back of the boat and stick our heads out into the wind, and try not to get our fingers jammed in the doorway when the door closed. Going up stairs holding a backpack swinging around on your back, in one hand and a child in the other, means there is no hands free to hold on to any hand rails, so you have to trust your sense of balance implicitly.

I even rang my husband to tell him what conditions I was sailing in.... he was thrilled! Blow all the cobwebs away I guess he thought...

Oh better get a picture before the sea calms, if that ever happens... and the boat stops the listing...

Many others joined us up the back with their cups of ice....

to be continued....

Norway or New Zealand?

This is the picturesque Belmont Regional park which, as I said is under the juridsdiction of my politician cousin.

Was it whimsy, or do these scenes look similar to rural Norway, minus the flat topped mountains and predominantly red painted houses???

This is but a few footsteps from Cousin's house, and how wonderful it would be to take a stroll in this area when one so wished.

The hills afforded some protection from the winds too, and the babbling brook lends to nature's theraupeuticity. Is it possible that I no longer need to travel to Norway to see such scenery? Something to ponder about....

Wellington architecture continued....

Inside the gorgeous little church in Central Wellington.... I would have loved to get married in such a fine example of timberwork. And it even had the smell of good timber: Kauri (see below) from New Zealand. The church itself is now only used for Weddings, baptisms and funerals etc...

Kauri trees come from the Agathis Australis family and have cousins in the Australian Karri and the Fijian Kauri. The New Zealand trees are the giants of the family and are second only in size (in the world) to the Redwoods. They were once found in areas over ¾ of New Zealand but are now confined to forests in the upper regions of the North Island. The trees were milled extensively, as they are famous for their long straight lengths of timber. It has the highest volume of timber of any known tree in the world. Over a period of years, firstly for shipping, and then for housing, the tree was nearing extinction. It is now protected and cannot be milled for any reason. However, because of its beautiful sheen, which some say changes color in various lights, and the beautiful grain from the head and the stump of the tree, it is prized for the making of furniture and crafts.

The Beehive... New and older national parliament buildings of New Zealand
and the parliamentary library... Looks a bit like a monastery, but a beatiful piece of architecture.

Day 3 Te Papa, Beach and Wind energy

A slight shower greeted us Sunday morning and we spent an hour of so hunting down a friend's family history at Petone library.
To our surprise we found a connection with Sandra's family... is everyone in New Zealand related in some way to another in the Hawkes Bay area????





Wellington promised to live us to Melbourne's weather reputation as four seasons in one day... as the sun came out, allowing us to have a picnic lunch on the beach. The children had a great time and I saw the harbour at its best. It really is a huge natural harbour surrounding by breathtaking mountains and forest.

The old part of Wellington has some beautiful houses:many perched on the absolute top of the ridge, and especially around Oriental Bay, one could be forgiven for thinking you were in San Francisco.


After all, New Zealand is on a fault line, has a cable car, has houses perched on perilously steep cliffs and mountain sides, ending in a beautiful harbour, and lots of wooden architecture of the early 20's - 30's prevails... then there is the earthquake issue.New Zealand had around 15,000 earthquakes each year, mostly in the North Island, but very few are felt. The town centre in Napier in Hawkes Bay was flattened in 1987 from a big quake.

There is footage of this in the Te Papa Museum, central Wellington, which has free entry. An earthquake house gives a simulation of what it was like to be in Napier on that fateful day. The terrible rumbling the pre-empts the shaking and rattling, and movement is ominously terrifying. Really gives you an idea without experiencing the danger, of what it is like to live through such an event.


The Moari exhibits are also interesting and one can sit inside a Moari meeting house where they occasionally hold council meetings.... it is quite dark inside but has an atmosphere of solemnity and seriousness.





Don't forget to see the Kiwi and the Giant Squid, both preserved and dead of course. Children are well catered for too, with dress ups, games, activities and play areas that allow for interactive learning.




Travelling through the main centre of Wellington, we had a quick peek at the BEEHIVE, a name given to the building that houses the National parliament. A rather stately old building stood nearby in the form of the Parlimentary Library.

We did stop to see the Cable car and the magnificient view from its top station, but did not have time for a ride. There is a small museum in the top station that outlines the history of the Cable car, some older examples of the cars and you can go downstairs to see the cable mechanism at work.

The largest wooden building in Wellington and a truly unique fully timbered church where my cousins parents were married was secondary stops on our way to the Wind Turbines atop the Karori Reserve. Some energetic Wellingtonians were jogging up the narrow 5 kilometre road in very windy conditions. We almost got blown away! The wind turbine was the first and it was experiemental, built with Danish technology. While being able to sustain winds of up to 200km/h, it shuts down when the winds goes over 80km/h.





The experiment was a success so several more turbines were installed to feed in to the city's power grid. This is really something for cities with regular strong winds to ponder about.... but I guess you do need a back up on a still day.....

Wellington New Zealand in a gale!

Day 4 New Zealand
Wellington to Picton


5am, 6am, 6.30am... I was awake. The wind was 48 knots and had been howling for most of the night, breaking the continuity of sleep for much of the night.

We were due to sail on Arahura Interislander Ferry this morning from Wellington to Picton, that is from the bottom of the North Island to the tip of the South.



The early morning ferry had been cancelled due to bad weather and when I arrived at the Aotea quay, the sign on the checkin counter described sailing as "HEAVY" !!!!!!

Would we survive, which was something we pondered about as we loaded our bags? The weather looked ok for the minute, in the large expanse of harbour.... but the words of my cousin's husband Bill, rang in my ears, " You will be ok for the first hour!!!" Eek! It was a three hour journey.

We headed about and the happy mood of fellow passengers was infectious. None appeared overly worried about the weather. As I wandered around keen to find a good seat, I noted a bar, several in fact, ( did people really drink alcohol when the sea promised to get rough??) a large cafeteria style kiosk and souvenir shop, even a full scale cinema. The thought of watching a movie in the dark whilst the ship was tossed around in Neptune's domain like a top was more terrifying than being thrown overboard!!! So we settled down and found a window seat on the lower passenger deck after watching the cars and trucks drive up into the bowels of the ship.


The ferry had been made in Aalborg... Good danish design I was thinking...
let me check the state of the weather again... it looks like a storm was approaching.

I still use a Clothes Line... it is more environmentally friendly.

But I don't follow the unwritten strict code of ethics, my aunt once followed in the rules of clothes washing in years gone by...

THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES OF THE PAST:

1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes – walk the entire lengths of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.
2. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang “whites” with “whites,” and hang them first.
3. You never hung a shirt by the shoulders – always by the tail!. What would the neighbors think?
4. Wash day on a Monday! . .. . Never hang clothes on the weekend, for heaven’s sake!
5. Hang the sheets and towels on the outside lines so you could hide your “unmentionables” in the middle
6. It didn’t matter if it was sub zero weather … clothes would “freeze-dry.”
7. Always gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were “tacky!”
8. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed item.
9. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.

Day 2 New Zealand

The view from Cousin Sandra's house was breathtaking. I could sit there day and night taking it all in.

Normandale and Lower Hutt is quite a pretty part of Wellington. They obviously cater for the young too.... as there was a skatebowl with a fantastic view...

Whilst Sandra had a "nanna nap" and Heidi was exploring Sandra's secret garden, I explored the local vicinity.

A little walkway revealed some hidden native gems.

Although a little muddy, the pass was pleasant in the light misty rain and the size of the tree ferns unbelievable. They just don't grow this big in my part of the world. Too hot, I guess.

The gorse plant was introduced but did provide a lovely splash of colour amongst the many shades of green in the wintery landscape of Lower Hutt, Wellington.

We also had the privilege of seeing into some of the homes of the Wellington residents, as we visited the garage sales with Cousin Sandra. It is surprising what some people want to sell, and try to sell. Many were lined up outside waiting to go in early in the morning.



Of course we had Fush and chups for dinner, bro!!!

Healthy skin is window to your Health

When you see someone with crystal clear skin, they almost glow with good health. If one is sick with a cold flu or worse, the face is the first sign something is wrong, they may have pallor, or dark circles, a frown, and generally do not glow. They may try to cover it up but the skin gives tells the true situation.

'Exposure to the sun, stress, a diet lacking in nutrients and too little sleep all damage your skin, and it's no use slathering on moisturiser and hoping for the best."While small serves of stress can be good for you, chronic stress can block valuable enzyme reactions in the body," explains nutritionist Karen Fischer, author of The Healthy Skin Diet. "The first symptoms of unmanaged stress often include fatigue and dull-looking skin. If you don't learn to relax, premature wrinkles, dark circles under the eyes and skin breakouts can soon follow."

This intriguing book is written by an Australian nutritionist with a holistic viewpoint, and has many, many good sensible guidelines for inner health as well as common skin conditions that are often treated symptomatically by the medical fraternity. There is no cure for eczema they will say, you just have to learn to live with it...! But there are answers out there. Often the problem is our liver with is the detoxification organ that is struggling to cope with the onslaught of modern lifestyles. Here the following extract outlines the basics of a sample diet from the book designed to initiate a healthier vitamin enriched diet that will give you results in terms of your skin's appearance very quickly.

FREE THE HEALTHY SKIN DIET EXTRACT:
Five-Day Sample Diet Plan:
Extract from The Healthy Skin Diet, Week Two:
Meals:

Breakfast
Day1 Green water with Muesli (see recipes), ground linseeds and almond milk
Day 2 Green water with Mango and Buckwheat Crepes (see recipe)
Day 3 Green water with Porridge (see recipe)
Day 4 Green water with Muesli (see recipes), ground linseeds and almond milk
Day 5 Berry beauty porridge with almond or soy milk (see recipe)

Lunch
Day 1 Healthy hamburger
Day2 Cajun chicken breast served with sweet raspberry, avocado and watercress salad (see recipes)
Day 3 Tuna and avocado wrap (see recipe)
Day 4 Rich Mediterranean pasta salad (see recipe)
Day 5 Salad sandwich with creamy mayo (see recipe)

Dinner
Day 1 ACV drink (see recipe) followed by lamb stirfry (see recipe)
Day 2 Apricot chicken (see recipe) with brown rice
Day 3 Entree: 2-6 fresh oystersMain: Prawn and sweet chilli stirfry (see recipe)
Day 4 Creamy chickpea curry (see recipe)
day 5 Slow roasted lamb with steamed greens (see recipe)

Snacks
Day 1 Brazil nutsOne piece of fruitSpot-free skin juice (see recipe)
Day 2 AlmondsVegetable sticks with hummus (see recipe)
Day 3 Smoothie recipe of your choice (see recipes)
Day 4 Avocado salsa with four wholegrain wheat crackers (see recipe)
Day 5 Raw nuts

This informative book gives everyone regardless of their lifestyle truly something to ponder about....

New Zealand - Land of the long white cloud

Wellington, and the view from cousin Barbara's beautiful abode in Khandallah.





Then the next day we experienced the typical unpredictability of Wellington weather. Rain and wind, followed us around Eastbourne.

Once again the sun was out and the view from Wainuiomata road was breathtaking. We went out for a little sightseeing. Cousin Sandra showed us around Wellington and the Belmont Regional Park, which is under her juridsdiction. Sometimes I felt like I was in Norway, except the houses were a little more English.

You can read more about the history of Wainuiomata here....
http://www.wainuiomata.co.nz/history.php

Off to New Zealand

We start the journey here at Brisbane International





The flight was so smooth and air New Zealand definitely has more leg room than Qantas. I no longer felt like a sardine.....
going well so far... the first glimpses of New Zealand
and the first sign of snow on Mt Richmond.