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The LXRP work is progressing. New stanchions for the overhead wires being installed. The existing brown ones, probably in place since the railway was first electrified, are getting rarer by the day.
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Auckland and Waiheke Island
Okay, one more short update on my trip. Today, I decided to take the ferry over to Waiheke Island. This was one of the original ideas while I was planning this trip, and I was indecisive about whether I would actually do it. This morning, after breakfast, I walked down Queen Street to the harbour building with no real plan to jump on a ferry. But when I arrived, I decided “why not”.
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The gulls are frickin’ eager today. One nicked a chip from the table right in front of me.
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Whitianga and Coromandel
Arrived at Whitianga, my penultimate stop, yesterday afternoon. It’s a lovely little town on Mercury Bay, with a nice beach, quite a lot of water activities (fishing, boating, etc.), and some interesting costal rock formations.
One of them, Cathedral Cove, was recommended to me by one of my work colleagues, along with the person checking me in. I kind of wish I planned this better, for to see it you’d have to drive back south for 45 minutes, board a shuttle bus, and walk 40 minutes. If I planned this better, I could’ve done this before arriving at Whitianga. What I probably should have done is stay another day, which would’ve given me time to do this. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much time when I arrived, and while I did plan to go today, it would’ve thrown my scheduled out. Something for next time perhaps.
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Back in Auckland and doing something I’d never thought I’d be able to do: take the train. Nice new metro guys! 👍
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Tauranga And Rotorua
Arrived at Tauranga yesterday. It was another beautiful drive from Gisborne, along the Motu River at the foot of green mountains to Ōpōtiki, then along the coast to Tauranga. I remembered to stop and take a few pictures this time.
Tauranga was a place recommended to me by one of the kiwis that I work with. It’s a good recommendation, although it’s a lot larger than I was expecting. There’s an airport, a bulk load and a container seaport, and a railway connection, that crosses the bay on a bridge aside a footpath. It would’ve been good to grab a video of a train passing while on the bridge. Alas, my timing was all over the place.
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I made the point of not being afraid to push the ped crossing button yourself when you’re with someone. Well, this intersection in Rotorua is one where you absolutely must push the ped crossing button, continuously. If you don’t, you won’t get the green person. Took two cycles to discover this.
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Gisbourne
Arrived at Gisborne today. This is a brief stopping point around the east cost: I’ll only be spending the night here. I hear Gisborne is known for its wine, and I gather visiting vineyards or going to wine tasting are what people generally do when they visit. That’s not really my scene (more of a beer drinker myself). And, honestly, the reason I was attracted to Gisborne is because I know a town outside of Melbourne that shares the name, and I wanted to checkout its namesake (there’s also a Taradale outside of Napier which shares the name to a town in regional Victoria. Back home, you pass both Gisborne and Taradale on your way to Castlemaine, which is why I’m familiar with them).
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Napier And Havalock North
9th Oct 2026
Left Feilding today and headed to the Hawke Bay. The first stop is Napier for two nights.
The Scott Base B & B at Feildings was lovely. Hosted by Brenda, it was a very comfortable stay amongst a lovely part of the world. Very fine breakfast too. I can definitely recommend it.
I tried to find the caravan park we stayed at Napier the last time I visited, about 20 years ago. Its location relative to the town centre is completely lost to me, and the two caravan parks I checked did not ring any bells. Maybe it’s no longer there. I guess a lot can change in 20 years.
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Organised my gift for my niece’s upcoming birthday. She loves birds so I’m giving her a copy of Omnibird, as recommend by @Miraz. She may be a bit young for it now, but she’ll grow into it. She loves drawing too, and the pencils were only $7.00 NZD with the book, so that was a no-brainer.
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Pækākāriki and Upper Hutt
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It was an absolute pleasure catching up with @JohnPhilpin for coffee today. Great conversation about tech, music, and Micro.blog.
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Johnsonville, the Skyline Walkway, and the Inevitable
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A Day In Wellington
Visiting the botanical gardens and the summit of Mt. Victoria. Continue reading →
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Checking my foreign currency reserves to see if there is any I can offload on my upcoming trip. Current holdings are $8.70 SGD and $20.00 USD. No kiwis.
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I’ve been taking the tram to work recently, for uninteresting reasons (*cough* coffee *cough*). This usually involves a 5 minute wait at Flinders St. Today I wondered if I could walk one stop south at the Arts Centre, just across the river. Made it comfortably, with plenty of time to spare.
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Found this sticker for Yarra Valley Aviation on, of all things, a sign at Flinders St. Station. That’s where I took a few pilot lessons. There were people there who really did love flying.
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This cheeky little bugger has been eyeing my sandwich all lunch. Almost had an opportunity to help itself when I went to retrieve my napkin after the wind took it.
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Oof! I probably should do something about my leaky tap. This was how much was lost after 12 hours, about 750 ml. It was transferred to the kettle.
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It’s kinda strange seeing corellas in the middle of the city, in this case on the roof of Flinders St. Station. Not that it’s unusual, but that it happens at all.
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Went to a cafe and ordered a pulled pork toastie. It came with pear, which was a little surprising. What’s even more surprising is that it worked. The toastie was good. It helped that the pear wasn’t super sweet.
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Ivy’s fallen asleep on my arm. She prefers to tuck her beak into her left wing when she’s perched like this. I can’t recall seeing her use her right. Wonder if that’s just her preferred way to sleep.
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Finished work for the day so going for a walk. It’s an exceptionally nice day today. Although, the Box Hill skyline was a little hazy.
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A king parrot came by to feed on my neighbour’s berries. It was good enough not to fly away before I managed to get some photos of it. I was inside, and my windows are not the cleanest, so the pictures are not as clear as they could be.
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Being in Albury around noon, you’re likely to see the steel train come through. Although, today it was stopped to allow the departing Velocity train the right of way. Gave an opportunity to get a close up of it’s load.
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Prepared the spare room for a few family members (of the avian kind) that will be coming tomorrow for an extended stay. Had to cover the mirror with paper, just so they don’t fly into it (this is what all those old newspapers were for). 🦜
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