The road trip! It’s day two, part two, and we’re at C Company House.
C Company House tells the story of loss and sacrifice with aroha.
It’s a road trip – day two
We discover, not for the first time, that we are easily sidetracked.
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 […]
All Souls Day Wander at Otatara Pa
What better to do on All Souls Day than wander around an ancient pa site?Otatara Pa is on the outskirts of Napier, approximately 13km from the centre of town. It’s one of the largest pa in New Zealand. The site is jointly managed by the Department of Conservation […]
The Narrow Road To The Deep North – it’s all about point of view
Nearly all the reviews of The Narrow Road To The Deep North by Australian Richard Flanagan, this year’s Man Booker winner, have been effusive. And I can see why. I came across one that isn’t. And, again I can see why.
School In America
Adventures of a Kiwi AFS exchange student. I knew from the tele that school in 1975 America was different from school in New Zealand. But there’s nothing like being there, living it, to bring those differences home. I left New Zealand, swearing that at school in America I’d […]
Why I am reading this year’s Man Booker winner
I picked the wrong winner. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves didn’t win the Man Booker. The good news is that for the second year in a row the prize has come down here, to the bottom of the world. New Zealand’s very own Eleanor Catton won in […]
My Dad, Tsunami, The Napier Soundshell, and Me
“You know, I once heard that your life is defined by what you do when presented with the need for a Plan-B.” As said to my blogging buddy, Dan, by his driver. If my father was a ghost this is where he’d hang out. It’s the Napier Soundshell […]
Breckenridge, Minnesota – my hometown for a year
Come with me down memory lane. I want to show you Breckenridge, Minnesota, my hometown while I was an exchange student during the 1975 -76 school year. These photos, except for one, were taken when I visited in 2006. Breckenridge sits at the junction of the Otter Tail and Bois […]
No Sting at Onga Onga
I and several others are partial to a drive in the country and a pub lunch. Last Sunday spring was in the air. (That didn’t last. It’s 7C, the wind even sounds cold, and I’m told the snow is low on the surrounding hills – I’m not going […]
Jill's Scene 
The korero