Collendina Report No 534

Midweek beaching has got a lot going for it although our shower still has no hot water but we did see a new boiler being installed today and it is a big one.  The plover fence has been pulled down from our nearby vantage point.  Some mishap must have occurred to the the two chicks as it would only be two weeks into the five week cycle, so a fox or other predator must have been hunting. We could hear the new Growler fighter jet doing loop de loops from the beach but we couldn't see anything in the Avalon direction.

Long haired friend of plovers

The Ancient Future - Dark Age - Vol 1

After a cleanout these three volumes have come to me to read. Not since Mary Stewart have I read anything involving Merlin. Although in this book Merlin is a title given to wizards of which there is more than one. These wizards can also time travel which brings me to the usual conundrum surrounding the circular nature of who does what when.  I got confused at one stage but pressed on regardless. The author Traci Harding is an aussie and makes no issue of her main character also being an aussie 3rd dan taekwondo expert.  But it seems a tad out of place in the 6th century Welsh time zone.

Lets get Kinky

The Kinky Boots show is a riot.  All singing all dancing and the boots have to be red. This is the first show that I have seen without previously knowing something about it. Either there was a film version or hit songs have been heard on the radio or the writer has a Weber like persona. Even though Cyndi Lauper is well known. However the shoe show is a winner. At one stage the tranny is talking to the audience of a retirement home and he really was talking to that audience in a 1:00pm matinee timeslot.

RED

The Sex is in the Heel

New Zealand mapped

I have plotted two trips around NZ using photos on a google map. This recent trip had GPS coords on the photos so I could import them onto the map. In 2009 that camera did not have coords so I identified each photo the hard way and placed them on the map.  The import has a few issues. Sometimes the coord is wrong so the marker needs to be moved, also some editing of the titles is needed. Just swipe the link below, then right click to go to the map.

 https://drive.google.com/open?id=11fkCC8dIeNaQBiVJ0DpB2kk-mFQ&usp=sharing

Collendina Report No 983

We have used the Hoyts Kiosk for three days.  The Girl on the Train is a whodunit with the usual little tricks to throw you off the scent. Morgan is a SciFi thriller from Ridley Scott but I wouldn't pay too much to see it. Its been done before. Test Tube baby grows up and runs amok.  The last one was Light between Oceans. This is an Aussie film based on a book which I know I've read but I can't find any mention of in this blog. So I'm wondering if I read it in 2012 when it came out.  The whose who of old aussie actors are in this one.

A Chick Flick

I found the Stedman book on the shelf and it had flight tickets to Lord Howe Island inside. I new I had read it recently.

Collendina Report No 982

The Seaview 180 has earned its place today with the best view we have had yet. We have seen rays, various fish but today we saw a seahorse.  It had tethered itself to the bay floor around a small piece of sea weed growth.  It was a larger seahorse compared to the ones I have read about across the other side of the bay at Beaumauris but the nearby pier pylons seem to be the habitat of choice.

Collendina Report No 981

Those plovers are at it again. It has been 4 weeks since we were here and a Plover fence went up day before yesterday because chicks had just hatched two days ago.  We saw Plover police as well, who will be around til 20 Mar when the chicks will fly.  The park is deserted, so we have the place to ourselves. I used the pool for its original purpose, swimming!  I was in for 30 minutes. It is reasonably warm water. I built up to 4 laps without stopping. I'll try for 6 laps tomorrow. We were woken to a pelting of debris on our roof from the black cockatoos.

Plover Zone

Flying Bricks

Assignment in Eternity

I read this book and about half way through, the assignment was completed but the hero was killed. So I keep reading and we seem to be going off on a tangent that doesn't have any bearing on the previous plot but you never know with science fiction.  The first guys were superspys using their brains to full capacity and these new guys were also using their brains but for time travel purposes. Aha that's it, these guys are going back in time to help the first guy just before he gets blown up. No, I got to the end of the book and these guys lived happily ever after in another time and place.
Turns out this is a collection of four short stories put together by Robert Heinlein in the 1940s,  however in my copy there are only two.

Where are my other two stories?

Willaura Connection

Had lunch with cousin Linda today.  We called into their farm at Willaura at least 30 yar ago. Since then it has been fleeting meets at funerals.  I was tempted to call in when the GVBR was cruising within 20km of Willaura some months back.  The lap pool may have been tempting.  Its good that life on the farm can still be successful.  Grandpa has presented another volume of family history this time around the Fergusons.

Willaura farmhouse 1986

Ascot Vale Swim

About 30 yar ago a large group assembled every week at the AVLC for an aerobics class. These were very physical efforts for an hour. People like Auntie Patty and Karen Ostenreid also Paul Stork drove from Warrandyte each week.  I have been for a swim and swallowed water.  The pool was reasonably empty until the watercise took over three lanes but even then there were still two slow lanes. I lasted an hour but could not string together two laps in a row. Maybe next week.

an empty pool

Bucks at Munchen

Can't remember the last time I went to a Buck's Night but it must have been at least 30 yar ago. Munchen is a huge beer hall with huge beers as in one pint jugs all modeled on the real Munich beer gardens, one of which we did have lunch at about 4 years ago. The wenchs here don't seem to have that authenticity (cleavage) that they have in Germany. I had trouble lifting the one pint jugs so I settled for the half pinters. The whole do was well organised complete with our own bus.

Munchen Express

One pint at a time

The Prince and the Pauper

The twain mark is two fathoms down which means it is safe for the Mississippi river boats to pass through. Samuel Langhorne Clemens started using the name Mark Twain after he spent time working the river on a paddle steamer. Not sure why a riverman from the deep south would pick England and its King for a book about harsh laws and treatment of the populace. Some of the Olde Englishe speak is harder to read but still a classic yarn.

50c for a book published in 1880

MWC Revisited

Got the bicycle legs going again for a ride into Docklands, specifically for a yarn with some old workers at the very new MWC Head Office.  I only ever did one job in that building but the foyer has a cafe as they all do these days, so we had some lunch there.  The talk about what is happening and projects didn't sound any different than two years ago.  It is an interesting feeling to ride home and leave it all behind when they had to go back into the office to deal with stuff.

MWC Docklands

Hercule Poirot

These whodunits have distinct phases. First there is some kind of isolation of a group of people. Then their reasons for why they might want to kill someone are outlined. Then the someone is found dead. Then all those reasons are worked through again in more detail and finally the revealment of the killer is made and maybe an explanation of the piecing together.   Seems I don't need to read another Hercule Poirot.  He is a bit annoying. I think these stories are better watched than read. Evil under the Sun was the 19th title in 1941 with another 14 more after it.  I wonder if they got more and more complex over time. I may have to read some more of them after all.

beach murder

Drawing continues

Debbie's drawings are better according to  how much time is spent. This happens on holidays so I would say the next drawings will be a while. This one was started twice until she got the perspective right.

Governor's Bay

Sluice Box

This reminds me of Derwent Bridge today. There were times when we would turn up at the Derwent Bridge pub bedraggled, muddy and they would have the big fire place going and it was the end of January.  All the fire places are going here at Lewis Pass. We went down to the Lake Daniell's track but only walked as far as the Sluice Box, an impressive slot where the river squeezes. After that we drove up to the pass. This is where the St James walkway starts but our walking was around the short tarn loop. The last hour has been moving from hot pool to hot pool.

Gray Day but Blue Water

Get your hot rocks

Maruia Hot Springs

We are high on Lewis Pass and this internet is dodgy.  The bugs are ferocious but we still went outside into the hot pools.  There is a bigger indoor pool with a huge window looking out onto the river.

Bugs begone

Road Trip accommodation

We have driven no more than 4 hrs on any one day. The accommodations are a bit of a confusation.  We have stayed in a variety of these. The first pub was straight forward but then we stayed at a chalet that was a hotel then a lodge that was a B&B then another lodge that was a motel and a motel that were beach cabins.  I'm not sure what a bach is but we haven't had one of those.  The lodge which was a B&B meant we had tea around the table with two other couples which just happened to be Dutch. They would break into dutch half way through the conversation and they had never met each other before then.

Kowhai - Golden tree

More Hints for travellers

We always use travel style debit cards. There are advantages in locking them after a trip is finished as well as cutting out currency fees on exchange rates etc. However we discovered a trap.  We have a few currencies currently eg some euros from last time but 500 pounds which we bought quickly on the lowest point after the Brexit decision. Also we added a 1000 NZ$ for this current trip.  So we are travelling along merrily buying our coffee etc expecting that we will get an error when the NZdollars run out but no such thing. If you have money then your bills will start eating into it no matter what currency it is. Der we spent 70 of our cheap pounds in New Zealand before we topped up the NZ dollars. 

Crustaceans & Molluscs

New Zealandisms

The NZ$ is about the same as the AU$ at the moment. There are still some expensive aspects. There are no tolls on NZ roads but fuel varies up to 50c a litre from $1.90 to $2.40. We paid $2.40 in Lake Tekapo.  There are many one lane bridges and one end always gives way to the other end but which end depends on either a small red arrow or a big black arrow.  If there is a queue you may be able to use this as a means of getting ahead of a campervan.  Hitchhiking is alive and well in NZ. This is how we got around 40 yar ago however we have not picked up anyone in our small car.  The other hazard is touring cyclists, usually in pairs and with panniers and sticks poking out so that it will scratch your car if you get to close.  We always used YHA back then and these days they advertise YHA on TV commercials.  Backpackers have never had it as good.  YHA was all there was and now backpackers lodges are everywhere. You can tell it is a wet cold day as I am indoors typing this.

Ideal beach house even on a wet day

Abel Tasman National Park

This is a small park but a busy one.  Munster was keen on walking here two years back and did the walk from one end to the other. We hired a water taxi to take us to Torrent Bay and pick us up from Bark Bay, 4 hours later. It took two hours to walk the 6 km section. We took our time with a few side trips. One to Sandfly Bay which wasn't as bad as Sandfly Point some 40 yar ago on the Milford. In this place they weren't biting as bad. The boat ride was as rough as we have had. At times we were air born both the boat and us off our seats.

leafs

Falls River