Thursday My approach to travel writing is much the same as Mark Twain’s. He did a lot of peck and squint. Twain had a typographer (early model word processor). It didn’t have a delete button, which accounts for the length of Huckleberry Finn, War and Peace and a lot of Dicken’s work. Back in the … More I rest on my laurels
Wednesday J saw that someone had ignored the red card. She thought it was me. Who published this piffle? she demanded. I owned up, faced the music, and blamed the others. It was Sydney. I said Rubbish she said, Sydney doesn’t have thumbs. And he still flies with his feet sticking out the front. Ahh, … More Calamity
I spent hours writing last night, completing today’s blog entry. All ready for J to do a minor edit. J, though, has a mind of her own. One quick read through and the whole kit and kaboodle got a red card. She said “what a load of codswallop. It’s derivative, lacks humour, and (she took … More What a shocker
Sunday It’s bright and sunny this morning though I have lost track of which day it is and I only know about the weather because J had the radio on. Time becomes confused when beneath the bed. Ned the nipper hasn’t found me. J, though, did, and gave me a bit of a rark up. … More Under the bed
Saturday This morning the dog did not bite me. But yesterday he did. Ned the nipper came into the hallway and bit my leg. I was shocked. Clearly the little rascal has issues. With me. It didn’t so much hurt, rather it shocked. He didn’t penetrate through my trousers, but he did raise a bleeding … More This morning the dog didn’t bite me
27 August 2026, evening No not between J and I. More internal than that. Still, first things first. We arrived at our destination yesterday soon after 3.47. Well, actually, (if there is a space here and no word appears, blame J. She is actually not a fan of actually. She also doesn’t like exclamation marks … More A bit of an argument
You won’t believe that J’s dentist rang me when I was looking out from the knob at the top of the Kaikoura Peninsula. I don’t believe that either, mainly because it didn’t happen. What happened was the said dentist phoned J. The trail leading up to the phone call began in a Kaikoura café. We, … More To Christchurch and back
November 19, 2023 Yesterday we came home. According to Google the whole nine yards from New Plymouth to Carterton should take 4 hours and 25 minutes via State Highway 3, or 5 hours and 10 minutes via State Highways 3 and 1. We took seven hours, and I am not sure exactly where we went … More Rules
November 17, 2023 Well, it is raining today. Not unexpected. If anything, we thought the rain would set in yesterday. It was a good choice to do gardens yesterday and to leave the gallery until today. I can’t recall ever having described gardens as a good choice, but there you go. Describing gardens as a … More Gardens . . . and Len Lye
November 16, 2023 On the road again. Feels quite good, though as with the last trip the travel time, each day, is limited to three hours. I don’t enjoy driving as much as I used to. I guess somewhere along the way I got older. I particularly don’t like driving in traffic. I think the … More Small coastal cities
October 10, 2023 J told me I need to up my game. She said my writing goes from fringe to lunatic and she says I need to go in the other direction from fringe. She said a bit of fringe is fine; however as this is a travel blog, would I please do some travel … More On the road
18 October, 2023 I wish I hadn’t written about the head-landing seagull. J read it and now I can’t look at her. Every time I do she laughs like a drain. Guffaws even. Women do not have any idea how threatening men find guffawing women. And she has taken to calling me Perch. I just … More Perch?
October 15, 2023 I am about to write about seagulls, but it will have to wait a few moments while I do some further stuff about Flak Too (the speedboat). I have been trying to figure out the name and I have come to the following conclusion. It has to do with rooster tails. These … More Syd’s here … somewhere
October 14, 2023 We completed our circuit of the top of the South today – it started with Picton to Blenheim via Highway 6 to Nelson, where we stayed a few days and ventured over the Takaka Hill to Wharariki; then continued today, back along Highway 60 through St Arnauds and the Wairau Valley. There … More Full circle
October 12, 2023 Well, here we are, at the pointy end of the electoral cycle. The debates include boot camps, penalising beneficiaries for their reluctance to work, and claims that poverty will be solved by tax relief for the squeezed middle. In addition, at least one political party is advocating reform of gun laws that … More Wharariki
October 12, 2023 We boarded the Strait Feronia soon after lunch on Tuesday. Both the Tangaroa and the Ikaroa (NIWA ships) were just along the wharf, and it gave me a buzz to see them. Both are ships I have been to sea on. However, these are yesteryear memories. Cook Strait ferry trips never … More On the ferry again
So, are we likely to buy a campervan or a house bus? The jury remains out and probably the longer it remains out the less likely it is that we will buy a self-contained live-aboard vehicle. Much as I liked the past six days and enjoyed once again travelling with my bunk in sight (this … More The man in the blue hat #2
21 June 2020 Well here we are, day three of six living in a campervan. So far it has been better than I expected, and that’s not just the weather. The van is a Mercedes Sprinter. These have been around since the mid-nineties, though I think ours is a second-generation model (2013 on) with the … More The man in the blue hat #1
Off Highway One 