Freedom
I’d like to see some monkeys, not in the zoo, roaming free, I told my son during my visit to Thailand in 2013. Lopburi is the place for you, he said.
Jill's Scene
Here you'll find my thoughts about life, travel, books and, because I love a laugh, the occasional spoof. All this from the perspective of a small town, on an island, in a country that's too close to the Antarctic for comfort.
Nau Mai, Haere mai. Come on in!
Plenty in Pongaroa
Route 52 between Weber and Pongaroa wound on and on. There was paddock after paddock, sheep, lots of sheep, flowering broom, the occasional farm house (rare but we did see one or two), very few other cars on the road (make that three), and no shops, no service […]
Home through the boondocks – a photo log
The long road home from Gisborne to Napier takes you through the boondocks. Tiniroto Road, also known as the Inland Road, between Gisborne and Wairoa is almost as far off the beaten track as it’s possible to get in New Zealand without going off road. It’s 104km of […]
Eastwoodhill – a tree lover’s sanctuary
Never heard of Douglas Cook? Me neither. Or at least not until I visited Eastwoodhill, the arboretum he established between the 1930s and 1960s. Cook was a little eccentric for his times. Gardening in the nude and reciting poetry, as well as loving trees, weren’t the usual preoccupations of […]
Snow days
Snow has arrived in Minnesota already this year. My friends on Facebook are talking about it and two of my favourite Minnesotan bloggers are writing about it. Crooked Tracks has wonderful winter photos. littlelaosonthe prairie has advice on how to cope with snow for those from the tropics, especially Laos. […]
A Christmas treasure hits the stage in Waipawa
The temperature’s rising, the roses are blooming, BBQ’s are in and fires are out, boots are off and jandals are on. Yes, the season is approaching.
Summer comes early in Gisborne
Gisborne. Where the surf rolls in and the surfies are always out, where the sun shines and the beaches are sandy. And where, the summer I was five, I stubbed my toe in a headlong rush across the road to get to the water. It was a beauty […]
In which I realise driving and photography have a lot in common
It took me a while to get my driver’s licence. Years. I had the help of several teachers. They needed plenty of patience and I needed practice – lots of it. Along the way there were graunched gear changes, burnt out clutches, and bunny hops – on one […]
Craft Group
Waipawa Crafties meet erratically. Some of us produce consistently. Others (okay, me) not so much. In the two years I’ve gone along I have completed one garment – a woollen jersey (sweater). I have also started a knitted quilt, worked on a small Christmas themed cross stitch, persevered […]
Bangkok Street Scenes
The countdown has begun. It’s twelve months tomorrow since our last trip to Bangkok. And it’s seven weeks tomorrow until we leave on our trip to Laos, which includes a stopover in Bangkok. I can’t wait but I’m a grown up so I have to. As my Mum […]
Jill's Scene 
The korero