Finally MAUI + recipe

Tomorrow morning early, we're finally leaving LA for Maui. We were suppose to leave on Monday morning, but last week I developed laryngitis and had no voice for three days - no pain at that time but it all developed over the next few days, sore throat, pain in both ears, drippy nose, and cough. On Sunday, we were having a few friends of Brian's over for brunch. We've been staying with our kids, Brian and Grace, who have been wonderfully supportive. I'was concerned that we had overstayed our welcome, but we were assured we hadn't. Unfortunately, Grace has developed some of the same symptoms.

It's now Friday. Brian also started to develop some symptoms before we had left. Grace had the great intelligence to go see her doctor immediately for an antibiotic, so by yesterday she was feeling a bit better if not 100%. Hopefully Brian will too. It was so wonderful staying with them. Art is feeling under the weather too. I haven't been good to those I love.

MAUI, we're here. We had to get up around 5am yesterday to get the car back and be two hours early for our flight. We had a quick bite at the airport. I had called American a couple of days before to see if they were serving any food. l was told they were and I ordered a Vegan meal, closest to what I usually do. However, once on board, we were told that they would have snacks for sale. I hadn't brought any food as I had ordered some, so it was a bit difficult. The airlines are really something these days - what a a difference from when we traveled in the 70s: free baggage, pillows and blankets in coach, meals served and could be ordered, to name just a few changes. I love to travel, so I need to just accept the changes, which I do. I usually bring my own meals with me, but due to the misinformation, I hadn't this time. It was very disappointing.

We arrived safely with only a somewhat bumpy ride to remember. Any safe arrival is a good trip! My ears were fine but are still clogggd. Hopefully, they'll both clear by the next flight on the 18th. Our first stop after picking up our car was a Whole Foods, directly across the street from the car rental. We were both tired, so it was a short shopping, just stuff for breakfast and lunch for the next day/days.

Our rental condo is cute, a one bedroom with full kitchen. However, I went to make my morning green shake, had all the ingredients in the blender, and the blender didn't work!!! Luckily, there was a couple across the way who were sitting on their balcony. I walked over with my unblended shake and was able to use theirs. I called my contact for the condo, and we should have a new blender by this afternoon.  Since I use it almost every day, this is a very good thing.

We have a few people to contact, friends of friends and also our Chi Gung Teacher, Bruce K. Frantzis has recently moved here. I hope we get to see them all. We're also looking forward to seeing some of the people who work with Bruce who also moved.

There is so much to see and do on Maui. Since we want to relax a bit and recuperate, we'll need to pace ourselves.

I'm reading a really good book, the third in a trilogy, Sunrunner's Fire, by Melanie Rawn. I really like her fantasy novels, which include dragons and a type of magic. I brought beading with me. When I complete my April BJP (Bead Journal Project) I will post it here for you to see. The shape has to be the same for for each month. I chose a goddess doll pin, and she's small. I've really been enjoying creating them. Here's January's doll, just to give you an idea of what I'm doing:

A fast recipe:

We had roasted veggies at Brian's one night, served over quinoa.

The Quinoa -

Brian added grated lemon and orange rind, some mint and cilantro, and a touch of olive oil, sea salt and fresh pepper, all after the quinoa was cooked. (A 1-2 combination of quinoa to water). It was delicious.

The veggies -

whatever amounts you choose

brussel sprouts

sun chokes (I'd never used them before and can't imagine why not)

onion

fennel

carrots

fresh garlic cloves

touch of olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and basil

Roasted at 425 for 1/2 hour.

So, that's it for now. Hope you are all enjoying your day whatever you are doing.

Life's an Adventure 2011 with a couple of recipes

Okay, so I haven't exactly kept up with my blogging, but I'm determined that will change, starting now.

I have a three month window before my next CAT Scan is due. It's not easy living in three month increments, but that's the way it is for right now. Luckily, we can take advantage of the time for travel, one of my favorite things, and it nurtures me. I had another surgery this past October and I've healed well, but it has taken more out me than the previous ones did. My stamina is not as great as it had been and will be again, so I find that I need to rest most afternoons. This trip to Hawaii will provide that. We're renting condos or small cottages on the different islands, where we can take our time with sightseeing and still get plenty of rest. That's the premise for this trip, as verses our one to New Zealand last year, where we were always on the go, two nights in one place and three or just one in another. Not this time.

03/24/11 I'm in San Francisco at the moment, ensconced in a warm bed (cool outside of it) in a wonderful craftsman type house on Mississippi St in the Potrero section of the city. I love being a member of both ATC (Affordable Travel Club) and USServas, two organizations which enable us to do this at a low or no cost. We've been a member of USServas since the early 90s, when we traveled to Italy. We came home from that trip and signed up as hosts; so, we're both hosts and travelers, but you don't have to be one in order to be the other in Servas. As a member of ATC, you need to be both; however you can say "no" to a request if the timing isn't good for you. We've met people from around the world who have stayed with us and vice versa. I have lots of those stories I could share, but that's for another time.

Going back to 03/22/11 -
I flew into San Francisco on Virgin America to meet up with Art, my husband, who had already been there for five days for a workshop with our Chi Gung teacher, Bruce Frantzis. Art had a hiatus of 3 nights before his next weekend workshop. I really like Virgin America. Not only do they fly out of Ft. Lauderdale instead of the madhouse of Miami, but the seats have more leg room and the rates are usually really good for flying to the west coast. We've flown them a few times and it's always been a pleasure.

However, I bought my own dinner, as my diet has remained restricted, self-restricted. My doctor told me that I should continue doing what I'm doing, as it's working. Yes, I've had four surgeries, but they have all been for localized and encapsulated tumors. The type of cancer I had is called MMMT (malignant mixed mullerian tumor) or carsinosarcoma. By any name, it's not pretty - it's a rare and aggressive type. My doctor told me, at my last visit, that with this type of cancer, the prognosis is one to two years; my original diagnosis was over three years ago and I'm still here! So, yes I have a self-imposed diet that isn't always easy when we eat out at restaurants or friends' homes, but it seems to be working for me. We're all individuals and as such each case is so totally different.

For this dinner, I made myself a delicious big salad of mixed greens, shredded carrot, jicama, clover sprouts, cucumber, radish, a hard boiled organic egg, and some home make roasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds, with a dressing I've recently worked on. Here is the dressing recipe:

Yummy Dressing for 3 - 4
1/4 cup Flax Seed Oil
1/4 cup fresh Lemon Juice
1 tablespoon Bragg's Amino Acids
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon Umboshe Plum Vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Agave
Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Any other herbs can be added. I've used Greek Seasoning Blend (The Spice Hunter), and at another time fresh basil or oregano.
Mix all together and serve. It keeps for several days in the refrigerator.

I arrived after 11:30PM and we stayed at the Hotel Whitcomb, an older hotel, nicely located with a very comfortable bed. Of course, by the time we got into the bed, it was after 4:00AM Florida time and I was exhausted. Not a good thing but easily remedied with sleep.

03/23/11 -
We slept late, had brunch at the hotel, and then walked to a Farmer's Market close to the hotel. We had stopped to buy an umbrella first, as it was drizzling and looked as though it would get worse, which it did. The market was small but nice. I bought some veggies for my morning shakes for the next couple of days and discovered a new fruit, Shingli, something like a Chinese Pear but a bit sweeter, We had a taste each but didn't buy any then. Hopefully, we'll see them again. Always great to find something new.
After the market, we went to the Asian Museum right near by, and saw their Bali exhibit. By that time, I was feeling tired again, so we headed off to our ATC host's home. Once there, we both took a nap. Art had had a vigorous several days at the workshop, not to mention the time we went to sleep the night before, so he was a bit tired too. Out host recommended a local organic restaurant called Aperto. The food was delicious; I had the plank-roasted salmon with steamed greens, delish, and Art had one of their specials, a Quail dish. I can't believe all the restaurants near our host's home, many of them either vegetarian, vegan, and/or organic. There's even a Japanese organic one. Why can't we have more vegetarian, vegan, and organic restaurants in our area of SE Florida? Why???????

03/24/11
I made myself a vegetable smoothy for breakfast. Jo, our host, made breakfast for Art, as that's part of the ATC deal - accommodations and breakfast for $20.00/night. Not bad. My Shake:

Green Breakfast Shake for 1
12 ounces filtered water
1 teaspoon phION Super Greens (or any powdered greens)
1 gourmet cucumber, cut into large chunks (you can use just part of a larger cucumber)
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
bunch of sprouts
1/2 avocado
some sort of greens - bok choy, collards, dino kale, and spinach are greens that I've used alone or in combinations - whatever you have on hand
Put all in a blender and blend. Chew your shake as you drink it.

A bit after breakfast, we ran a few mundane errands, such as dropping Art's dirty clothes off at a local laundromat and a stop at Whole Foods for filtered and alkaline water. Then we headed off for lunch (I know it sounds as though we ate lunch directly after breakfast, but it was a good 3-4 hours later) to Yank Sing, the best gourmet Dim Sum restaurant I've even been to in the States. I've had better but only in China. They are a bit expensive but well worth  the splurge, especially since I was almost totally off my diet. I didn't have pork, beef, or dairy, but lots of wheat in the dim sum skins and a bit of sugar in some of the sauces. Taking a break from restrictiveness for a special meal is all part of the plan.

After lunch we went to the CA Academy of Sciences. It was wonderful. I think it's mainly for kids, but aren't we all kids at heart. It had a rainforest inside a huge bubble and you walked to the top on a spiral stairway abound the perimeter. Butterflies and birds flew freely. As a matter of fact, they checked you for errant butterflies before you were able to leave the enclosure. Then we toured their aquarium showing both the local and foreign coral reef eco-systems. The museum closed at 5:00PM and we went back to our host's home for a late rest before dinner.

Dinner was great at Herbavore on Valencia St, not too far from where we were. They were so accommodating it was wonderful. I ended up have a vegan grilled vegetable basil pesto pasta using rice noodles. I'm hoping to get the recipe, although I was told they didn't give them out, and I'll add it to the cookbook. Yummy, yum, yum!!!

03/25/11
I'm sitting in the San Francisco airport, waiting for my flight to Los Angeles and the kids. Art left for his workshop which will start around 6:30Pm tonight and go through Sunday evening. It's been a nice day so far. More or less leisurely breakfast and we met a friend and her 8 month old son at his swimming lesson, called Le petit baleen, the little whale. He loves the water and it was such fun seeing Dorothy and Evan. Another friend from our Chi Gung group who is doing the weekend workshop too, is out staying with Dorothy. Once Dorothy and Evan had to go home for lunch and a nap, we drove Craig to pick up his rental car and then we three went to lunch. Again, to a vegetarian restaurant near our original hotel. We had seen this place on our way back after the Farmer's Market but hadn't been hungry. I had hoped we'd have time to try it and it's funny how things work out. Craig's car rental place was only about 3 or 4 blocks from the restaurant. So, we had a lovely walk over. I had steamed veggies (perfectly done) over brown rice with a tahini lemon sauce. I hope to get that recipe as well. It was light and lovely.

So, this brings me up to date. See you soon.

Ramblings from March to May 3, 2010 with a recipe

3/31/10

We watched Julie and Julia last night, which has inspired me to start blogging again. Since we returned from New Zealand earlier this month, it has been a whirlwind, so in reality, there has been very little time to sit and write. I still have tons of things to do that have been pushed aside until now.

We had a couple of days, after we got home, before Brian, our older son, flew in to help celebrate my Uncle Irwin’s 90^th birthday. My sister, Karen, drove over from the west coast of FL, and our other son, Steven, came up from the Kendal area; so, we had a houseful that 1^st weekend home from our seven week trip. 

The party was wonderful, from the music to the delicious food served. We ate, laughed, and danced. We got to meet May’s (my uncle’s lady) three sons from the Boston area, who were all in FL for the party. We look forward to seeing them again.

Brian stayed for the week, but Steven went home on the Monday, while I drove over to the west coast for a visit with my sister and good friend Reggi, at whose house we stayed. We had a great time talking and beading and exploring. Of course, much of the time was spent on food, talking about it, buying it, or preparing it. We went to the Whole Foods Market in Naples on our way home, to be sure we had organic food to cook. Reggi was away for the first couple of days, so we were cooking for only two, not that three makes a big difference, especially when you have two working together prepping and cooking, it takes no time at all.

04/20/10

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, and probably again, that it’s unreal how fast the time goes by. I really meant to write my blog on an almost daily basis but if you’re looking at the dates, it’s been close to three weeks since I last added anything. It’s been three weeks of walking in the mornings, yes! I’ve finally started to walk with my neighbor, Phil. We used to walk four or five times a week before my last surgery, but had stopped at that point, and now we’re back at it. It feels good to be up and out in the mornings. Walking with a buddy makes the time go quickly then too.

04/29/10

I got up from the computer to get a glass of water, and didn’t get back to this blog until now.

05/03/10

OPPS. Certainly didn’t write much on the 29^th, did I? I must have be distracted for the moment. Have you ever read about AAADD. Here it is, so you’ll know what I’m talking about:

AAADD

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.

Somehow I feel better, even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -

Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden. 

As I turn on the hose in the driveway,

I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,

I notice mail on the porch table that

I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table,

put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,

and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back

on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think,

since I'm going to be near the mailbox

when I take out the garbage anyway,

I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table,

and see that there is only one check left

My extra checks are in my desk in the study,

so I go inside the house to my desk where

I find the can of soda I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,

but first I need to push the soda aside

so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The soda is getting warm,

and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the soda,

a vase of flowers on the counter

catches my eye - they need water.

I put the soda on the counter and

discover my reading glasses that

I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk,

but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,

fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.

Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we watch TV,

I'll be looking for the remote,

but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,

so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,

but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers,

but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table,

get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to

remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

the car isn't washed 

the bills aren't paid

there is a warm can of soda sitting on the counter

the flowers don't have enough water ,

there is still only 1 check in my check book,

I can't find the remote,

I can't find my glasses,

and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,

I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,

and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem,

and I'll try to get some help for it,

but first I'll check my e-mail.....

Can you relate? I can. This must be what happens to me. This is NOT an original, although it would be nice if I had written it. It was in an email sent to me and then I found it again on the internet in a joke site.

I find that I’ve started spending more time on writing my cookbook, so maybe I should just post that writing, starting with a recipe. Although, I’m working on the intro to the book, not recipes at the moment, but…..

Here’s one I’d love to share:

Ginger-Almond Spread

I use this as a base for a sandwich on a rice wrap, and then I add sliced cucumber, tomato, and avocado. Sometimes, I thin it down a bit and use it as a salad dressing. It’s delicious on steamed broccoli too.

½ cup almond butter, organic

½ teaspoon Real Salt or other Sea Salt

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated

½ teaspoon dehydrated organic onion

1 lemon, juiced 

1 garlic clove, chunked

Filtered water

Put all the ingredients, except the water, in a food processor and blend well. Taste and adjust the ingredients (sometimes I add more lemon juice or dehydrated onion). It will need to be thinned with some filtered water. Add a bit at a time, as you want to keep it thicker so it can be spread, and when needed, it can be thinned to use it as a dressing.

Bon Appetite.

March 7-9

Once again several days have passed, and we’re now sitting in Fiji Airport, at 8PM on the 9^th, waiting for our connection to LA and then Miami, where we will arrive at almost midnight on the 9^th. We’ll have traveled over 31 hours in total, from when we left this AM for the airport in Auckland.  It will be good to be home with memories of such a magical trip.

March 7

We were up early again as we had a lot of territory to cover on this our next to last day before traveling home.

Our first stop was at Cape Reinga, an amazing spot. It’s the only point I know of where two oceans meet, The Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. We have pictures showing waves coming from two different directions meeting and crashing against each other. Wow!!! The walkway you followed was lovely to walk, with signs explaining about how the Maoris view this place. They believe that it’s where their spirits go before going beyond. The flora is different and a bit stunted due to all the salt water. There’s a lighthouse at the point which isn’t very tall in relationship to others we’ve seen, but on this point, it doesn’t need to be, as its light can be seen for miles around.

Once we returned to the starting point, there were a few Maoris asking/selling the planting of about five different types of plants, to help keep the soil from eroding and some had fruit for the birds to eat. It was a package deal of the plant you chose actually planted, a postcard of Cape Reinga, a card with the exact longitude and latitude of your plant, and a pen, all for 20.00 NZ, about 15.00 US. So, after planting the plant we went to our car and found a flat tire. One of the Maori men helped us change to the spare, a donut type thing. It was on Sunday, mid afternoon, and no place was open by the time we could get down to them to fix it, so we had to deal with that tire until Monday. Luckily not a big deal.

Given that, we still went exploring. We stopped at Spirit Bay where we had a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful bay with a gorgeous beach; I found some treasures for my bead embroidery.

On the way down the Cape, we also took a road which lead to the starting point of the Ninety Mile Beach tours, which drive along the sand dunes. It wasn’t at the beginning of the dunes, as you could see sand in both directions for as far as you could see. Quite impressive!

Our drive down to the Ferry across the Hokianga was a very pleasant one. The ferry holds up to about 27 vehicles and takes about 15 minutes to cross. On the crossing, we were parked next to a couple from Montana. Good conversation – this was their third trip to New Zealand.

The views on the road down to Kaihu, where we were staying for the night, were beautiful. Such eye candy all over the place, from the gorgeous water views to the peaceful pastoral ones. It just never stops. No internet at that stopover.

March 8

WE had driven past the Waipou Forrest the night before. Our original plan had been to stop there on our way south for the night, but due to the flat tire, we didn’t arrive at our destination until close to 8PM, so we hadn’t had time to stop to see the Kauri trees. Our goal was to see Tane Mahuta, considered the granddaddy of the Kauri trees there. Talk about massive. In the parking lot, we met a young Israeli man whose camera had broken and had wanted a photo of himself in front of Tane Mahuta. So, now we have to email him the photos we took of them.

Another stop in the forest was at the Four Sisters, four Kauri trees whose bases have grown together but whose trunks are separate. We walked all around them, as it started to rain.

After going north, we then had to go south to have the tire fixed in Dargaville. It was a nice town and it didn’t take as long as I had thought it would to fix the flat, which was due to a nail we had hit.

By that time, it was around 2pm and we wanted to go to Gulf Harbour to see the marina there; it’s a 1000 slip marina. Immense!!!!!!!!

Finally, we arrived back where we had started, with Meryl and Michael, our ATC hosts in Northcote, just north of Auckland. We went out for dinner in Takapuna, about 8 minutes away. The restaurant we tried had a special on Mondays all day, a kilo of mussels done is one of five ways. So, we had one order of mussels and one order of a lamb shank, last chance for NZ lamb. Both were delicious.

March 9

So, today. We had packed last night for the most part, but still needed to tweak it a bit. I travel with my own packer, who is amazing – great spatial vision. We were up early to finish up and then left after breakfast by 9AM, as the airline required that we arrive three hours in advance. We’ve been traveling ever since and still have hours to go. At least this leg is at night, about 11 hours, so we should be able to sleep.

See you soon. We’ll talk.

March 6

Addendum

This was supposed to be about food as well as thought, and I realize that I haven’t spoken about food very much. But, that’s the way it is.

However, I did mean to mention about the market that was in the town center when we arrived in Paihia on the 4^th. There was a woman selling fresh fish;  her husband is a commercial fisherman and had brought in tuna that morning. All I can say is YUM. I put a bit of wheat-free tamari and lemon juice on it and Art grilled it. That with a delicious mix of curried vegetables (broccoli, onion, carrots, red pepper, and a bit of fennel) and a big multi-thing salad made a great meal that night.

On the 5^th, the Cunard line’s Queen Mary was visiting on her world cruise. The locals put on an Art Festival in the same city center green area as the fair from the day before. They had some nice art and loads of interesting crafts, from knitted goods, to dyed silk scarves and felted ones, wood carving and turning, and lots more.

March 6

We were up early again in order to have our Maori cultural experience. What a time we had. We were the only people in the group, and our Maori hosts were wonderful. I can’t wait for you to see the waka, or great canoe, in which we traveled. Although we didn’t learn to paddle, as there were only the two of us, registered for that tour, and two of them and they used the faster paddles (small outboard engine, it was more than we ever expected. On the way to their Marae, or meeting place, Hone gave us a history lesson about his ancestors and their travels on the oceans. Judy was handling the faster paddles while we were engrossed. Once there, we were invited onto their sacred space and more info was divulged. We were also invited to talk about what brought to this place in time. It was all very moving. We found out that they’re good friends with Manu and Ata, the Maoris we met when we were at Bruce’s workshop almost two summers ago. While at the workshop, we had dinner with Manu and Ata one night, and on the last day, they did a healing ceremony for me/on me. Both are healers here in their country. Unfortunately, we had not been able to reach them before we arrive in NZ, and although I’ve emailed Ata a couple of times, we’ve never heard back. Judy said that she would call with Manu’s phone number; so, we’re hoping to still get in touch.

While still at the Marae, two others, who tend the land for the tribe, came over with tea and sweets, including delicious kiwis. They have a wonderful garden, tend sheep, and have roosters and chickens.

After leaving the Marae, we continued on the river to Hururu Falls, a local tourist destination. It was great seeing it from the water. It’s a nice waterfall but very short.

The tour was suppose to end between 12:30pm and 1:00. We didn’t get back until 2pm. It was a wonderful time.

On our way out of Paihia and Kerikeri, we stopped at Rainbow Falls, not far from where we stayed. Talk about a waterfall. Wow!!! There were a multitude of different falls from the same source of water, all different amounts. Another set of great photos you'll eventually see.

The ride north and west to Pukenui, where we’re staying tonight, was nice. We stopped in Mangonui, a lovely little town on Doubtless Bay. There was an artist’s co-op we ventured into. Kathy, who was manning it for the day, is a knitter and quite good. She’s also a sailer and Canadian. For years now, she and her husband have been living for 6 months a year in Canada and 6 months on their boat here in NZ. She was full of info on cruising grounds. Very interesting.

We’re at a BBH tonight in a renovated house over a 110 years old. Thank goodness the kitchen isn’t that old. I made a nice stir-fry of veggies and tempee over some rice noodles. I also baked the other Zimbabwe squash we had bought. It was as sweet as the first one. I have enough food for a whole other meal.

March 1 - 5

Can it really be March already? I let this go another day, so today is actually the 5th. We're covering so much territory, all of it great, and time keeps moving forward.

March 1


Before we left Lake Taupo, Peter had us follow him to show us the mural that he worked on in town. It was about 10 years old but still vibrant.  So, after that, off we went away from Acacia Bay towards Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula.

Our first stop was at Orakei Korado, a totally natural hot springs, cave, with a thermal mud pools. You arrive at the center and have to take a short ferry ride across the lake to reach it. It's a walking tour that takes about an hour to an hour and a half to do. The place was amazing. It was totally natural and the scape looked so foreign. There were several geysers, none of the bigger ones went off when we were there, but we did see a couple, and the sulfur aroma was not too harsh. Again, great photos. The cave was a real hike both up and down and there were several mud pools, each had different size bubbles which plopped and then radiated out.

From there, we drove to Rotorua for a picnic lunch at the Gardens. We walked around a bit and drove around a bit and left. The architecture was really interesting, but we had decided that we wouldn't go to a Maori experience there. We were planning on doing something in the Paihia area, within the next few days.

We stayed in Whitianga with Servas hosts, Heather and Tony, both in their late 70s. What an inspiration they are! They're so full of energy and life. It was really a wonderful and interesting visit. They're world travelers.

March 2


In the morning, Tony took us around Whitianga, from down to the beaches to up the hill, showing us a fabulous view. It's a cute small town with an organic market - not every town has one. The beaches were lovely. Our next stop with Tony was to a Kauri Grove about 40 minutes away towards Coromadel Town. We hadn't seen Kauris before - they're huge and their bark is very different from everything we've known. It almost looks like scales of a fish. The scales fall off from time to time, and that's how the trees protect themselves from vines growing on them and suffocating them.

Back home to Heather we went. She had been expecting us and fixed us lunch. This is really unusual when you stay with Servas hosts. Usually, they make breakfast and one dinner, and you, as the travelers, either take them out for dinner or cook the second night. Even when you spend the day together, which sometimes happens if they're not busy and your plans can accommodate it, you will rarely have lunch at home. With Peter in Taupo, when he took us around, we took him out for lunch, which is usually what occurs. Heather and Tony were generous with both their time and efforts.

We left them after lunch to go to Cathedral Cove, a truly amazing place. It was about a half hour drive. But then, it's suppose to be a 45 min walk - not for us. It's a bit rocky and steep in certain areas, so it took us a bit longer to get there, and then again, to go back. However, we did make it in both directions, as one woman said to me as we had just started the trek and she was just finishing it. And, of course, we were there for a while, Art taking photos and me practicing a bit of Chi Gung. The beach is beautiful and there is a natural big arch worn through the rock at the end of the beach, which opens onto the next beach. It was a huge archway and really felt like a Cathedral when you were inside it.

It was necessary to go within about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs of low tide, and this was right after the tsunami was expected, after the quake in Chile. We weren't sure what it was going to be like, as we had heard that the tides were faster than usual in turning around. It was fine when we were at Cathedral Cove, but we were a bit late getting to our next destination, Hot Water Beach. We got to see people in the pools they had dug, but the tide was definitely in and started to wash away the pools in which they were sitting. The idea there is to dig a pool out and warm/hot water fills in, so you can sit in your own hot spring pool. So we saw it but didn't get to participate.

On the way back to Heather & Tony's, we stopped at a potter's home studio, advertised on the main road. It was really interesting, as they had built their own home and it was all art. It had been featured in a magazine, and we were able to see the article. We had a great time talking with them but didn't buy anything.

I cooked dinner for Heather & Tony, a very vegetable pasta dish (rice pasta), large salad, and I made an herb butter, but the bread had been made by Tony.

March 3


We left Heather and Tony and drove to Coromandel to explore a bit. It's a neat little town, but we really liked Whitianga better and were glad that we had stayed where we did. We went to see a couple of potters just north of town, and I finally bought something but not a mug, which is what I usually buy on a trip. I have a whole collection of different mugs and really remember buying each one at an art show or on a trip. so, they bring back memories. I bought a neat small rectangular dish and I can't wait to use it. Petra, the artist, uses a couple of different types of glazing techniques, and I particularly liked the salt glaze.

Near Petra, we had lunch at a really great organic cafe; the salad was wonderful with some pear in it and lots of veggies. Art had the vegetable lasagna.

Then, we had to buggy. It was a really long drive, and we didn't have any reservations for the night's stay, as we didn't know where we would end up. We wanted to get as far north of Auckland as we could. We ended up in Orewa, a seaside resort area. It was really tough getting a room, but we finally found one right on the beach. Our room opened onto a lawn, which we had to cross to get to the beach. It was a lovely night but really late when we finally ate dinner.

March 4

Chi Gung was lovely on the beach the next morning. Our room had been like a studio with a sitting area, queen bed, and small fully equipped kitchenette. There were 2 packages of chocolate chip cookies and envelopes for hot chocolate. Art was in heaven.

We left and headed north, sort of. We kept taking the coast roads, which were filled with beautiful agricultural areas and seascapes. We had a picnic lunch under a tree on an estuary in Mangawhai. What a lovely spot. There were several houses sharing the same view.

We had to drive through Paihia to pay for the tour we were going to take on the 5th; it was a full day cruise called the Cream Trip, as they really do deliver groceries, including dairy products, and the mail to the outer islands in the Bay of Islands. We're staying at BBH in Kerikeri, and it's a Farm Stay, an orchard farm. Lovely place and nice people.

March 5

We had to be dockside by 9:15am, for a 9:30am departure. It was a beautiful day today, although it started out cool on board, as the catamaran cruises at about 14 knots and the wind was from the south. Luckily, we had brought something to put on, but quite a few others hadn't. We visited a multitude of the islands in the bay, not getting off but navigating past slowly. Our skipper was not only a great skipper but also gave a lot of history along the way. We went to Hole in the Rock, at the very end of the Bay of Islands, and cruised through it. It was really a treat. We were sitting next to two other couples, a young couple from Melbourne, Australia, and one a bit younger than us from Reno, NV. We had a lot of fun just talking as well as watching the sights. When we arrived at one of the islands, everyone got off. Art and I joined John, the Maori guide, who did a walking tour to give us the history of his tribe and that place. During the trip, we chased to an area where a pod of bottle-nosed dolphins were playing. We must have followed them for almost a half hour. It was great. We could see one baby and its mother; all the others seemed grown. I love dolphins. When we were cruising in the 80s and would see dolphins, all seemed right with the world; it was such a serene feeling.

We're still in Kerikeri tonight.

Feb 21 - Feb 28th

Feb 21

It’s now the night of the 24^th and who remembers what happened four days ago. So much, in reality, and all our experiences have been magical. I’ll have go back and see if I can reconstruct our days.

It’s good that I’m keeping an itinerary; otherwise I wouldn’t know where I was on which day. So much is packed into each one.  We spent the 21st in the Dunedin area. There’s so much to do there that it was hard to choose. This will be a stop on our next trip.

All of our stops were on the Peninsula, just outside of Dunedin. We first went to Larnach Castle, the only castle in the whole country. It looked like a castle with a tower, from which the view was incredible, overlooking the Bay and almost all the way to Dunedin. It was really a manor home. The gardens surrounding it were beautifully done. We only had time to visit a couple of them, as we had reservations for the Albatross Experience.

The Albatross tour is run by the DOC (Dept of Conservation) and is situated above the nesting area of the Royal Albatrosses. They study them and have been for years. We saw three nests but weren’t rewarded by seeing any chicks, as the nesting birds never got up to stretch while were there. We did see an albatross fly, as one of the young adults was circling around the area. It’s really interesting, as the birds fold their wings in thirds when at rest. Their wingspans are about 3 meters wide. They had a video camera watching another area we couldn’t see directly, which was of the duck-billed birds. We did see a number of those.

Then, we had about 20 minutes to get to our next tour, Nature’s Wonders, where we were in 8 wheel drive vehicles, on roads where we traveled up it felt like 60 degree roads, so the 8 wheel drive was really needed. All we saw were in natural environments. We saw fur seals with their pups. One pup was so cute – they were all so cute – as it moved from rock to rock, up a steep incline, following some birds. I was afraid it would slip and fall, far to the water, but it was sure footed (flippered). As it approached the birds, they flew away. What a surprise? The little fellow (maybe it was female, but who could tell?) slowly made his way down again. We got to see some blue penguins who were hiding in rocky caves, as they were molting and weren’t waterproof at this point. At another spot, we viewed a couple of yellow-eyed penguins. The land is all owned by one family, who has been giving tours for the last 40 years. They whole family work it, and they were there; we were talking to a man before the tour started who turned out to be Dad. The older son, a real cutie, drove our vehicle. Of course, he paid most attention to the two beautiful young girls from Germany.

It was a full day.

Feb 22

This was a travel day. We did go to the Art Museum in Dunedin in the morning and then left for a long drive. Our ultimate goal was Hanmer Springs, but we didn’t plan on making it until the night of the 23^rd.

We did have an interesting experience on the way. We passed a house with wonderful stained glass windows – Art hadn’t seen it, so we turned around and went back. We got out of the car and I was walking towards the house while Art shot some photos. I heard people talking inside, so I called Hello. Turns out that a young couple own this old Church, because that’s what it was. The stained glass windows weren’t the originals, although parts of the originals were used in the new ones. They had bought the property, which included the church, and had built their house on it. Now, they were renovating the church into a guest house. It was fantastic, with Gothic arches throughout. I really loved what they were doing with it. We talked further, and she is an artist with her studio also on their property, just a short walk from the church. So, off we went to her studio. Really nice work.

Feb 23

Hanmer Springs. We got there around 6pm, and after checking in, we dashed off to the hot springs for which they are famous. It was great. Soaking in the hot water, then going into cooler water. The place was so well done and so attractive.

Feb 24

We traveled to Kiakoura, which is on the coast. We got there in time for our Whale Watching tour. We got to see two whales at different times, another seal colony, and a couple of different types of albatrosses. It was a great tour. After the tour, we were going to travel on, but as we hadn’t made any reservations, we decided to stay in Kiadoura. It was charming, and although it was touristy, it still called to us.

Feb 25

We booked for Picton to make the 2pm Ferry across to Wellington. However, we did have time to stop at a scenic overlook, which turned out to be a fabulous spot to watch a seal colony. More pups!!! There was a natural pool made by the rocks, high in the rocks, and there was a whole group of about 8-10 seal pups playing in the pool. They were such a treat!!!

On the crossing, we did some planning on where to go & for how long on North Island.

Once we arrived, we returned to our Servas hosts in Lower Hutt to pick up the bag of foods we (I) had left there when we first crossed to South Island. It was really nice touching bases again with them, but we had decided we wanted to be in Wellington, near Te Papa, the wonderful museum, which we were going to visit on the 26^th.

We ended up staying at a BBH, backpackers place, where neither of us liked the energy, but we figured it was only one night. There were also a lot of smokers, which we hadn’t seen before. It was a big place and maybe that had something to do with it. Anyway, it was only one night.

Feb 26

After visiting Te Papa, which was wonderful and took most of the day, we headed out to Palmerston North and lovely Servas Hosts, Robyn and Kevin Salisbury. We really enjoyed their company and were sorry that we only planned on one night with them. We were their first Servas Travelers. They told us they were spoiled for anyone else, a nice thing to say. We’re hoping that they will come visit us in FL.

Feb 27

Before taking off for our next stop, we attended a Farmer’s Market with Robyn and Kevin. It was huge, but they produce wasn’t organic. Still, it was interesting and we did buy some produce.

Then, we headed north to Acacia Bay, next to Taupo, on Lake Taupo, and our next Servas Host, Peter Cox. We took the long way there. Instead of going straight up the inside of the Country, we headed for the coast, going through Hastings and Napier. We stopped at a winery for lunch before getting to those two towns, and lunch was lovely.

I keep meaning to mention Cattery to you. A kennel is where you can board a dog, and a cattery is where you can board a cat. They are separate places, although sometimes one place advertises itself as a kennel and cattery. I just love the word – Cattery. Thought I’d share that with you.

Have you ever had a Black Boy peach? It has a dark skin and is purple on the inside. Neither of us cared for them, but it may have been that they weren’t completely ripe.

Before we got to Taupo, we passed a sign saying Scenic Overlook. That was all. So, we decided to take a look at the scenic part. It turned out to be the most fantastic waterfall – actually it was one source of water for three falls. Incredible. Pictures to follow. Yeah, yeah, I know – where are the photos? They’re coming.

Feb 28

Peter is a dear. He took us around to see Huka Falls. It was a true force of nature. Lots of photos of this one. Then we went to a place where they blow glass, but no demonstrations were going on. We had a delicious lunch there. I had wanted to go to the Mosaic Sculpture Garden, and the artist was a friend of Peter’s. It was incredible, as she had created a whole living room outside made of mosaics!  

Our afternoon was filled with sailing on Lake Taupo in Peter’s 22 ft. boat. The winds were light, but it didn’t matter. He took us to a cove where some years ago an unknown Maori had carved a huge, and I mean huge, Maori face on a tallllllll rock. There were also carvings of a big lizard and other creatures on the rocks at the base of the tallllllll one.

I needed lemons, so Peter went to his neighbors and picked a couple for me. I cooked a delicious stir fry dinner.

That’s all for now.