traveller

Went for a trip around Owhango, Whanganui, Napier and then home, evidently a little faster than it should have been

A german restuarant that I used to like going to has closed, I went and had the pork knuckle before they closed, a little much really. But I toughed it out.

Saw Barry Morgan in The Dark Horse on TV, I think they had removed some of his more menacing scenes as Mutt the gangster

Been to Hampton Downs today, not sun burned this time. Always impressive to see the Britten. Nice classic Nortons too.

Was great to do 3 laps on the circuit.

A good day out with Darryl and Ian, and good to encounter Mark Colley there too.

Went north to visit Mike, who I have known for years but not seen for a long time.

Went to Kerikeri on the way, not so familiar these days, but I once lived in a tent somewhere behind those boats.

Mikes place was challenging to get in, steeply up, then down , then across a ford.

And A cabin for the night.

Mike

Mike’s place is regenerating bush, there are a few big kauri and puriri and so on, and lots of little ones.

Some interesting fungi too.

Brekkie in the morning.

Off to Rawene to go across the Hokianga, looks like a lovely area.

Not sure what to make of this near Broadwood

And back home again.

Very much the season here.Tomorrow and Boxing day family Xmas things.

Then going for a ride on the bike to the far north.

Next year I think is going to be an interesting year, changes etc.

Enjoying the coffee all the way

AI may have added the caps here, maybe not Intelligence

And I feel a little guilty that I like this so much!

I hope everyone has a great Xmas and New Year

I think I still have at least at least 1 more post to do from China too.

Friends from Germany have been here to visit, Juergen and Myriam, and tour around the Northern half of the North Island (Te Ika o Maui).

Myriam has documented their trip here

It has been great to see them, I last saw them in 2016 in Germany, and they were last here in 2005.

Finley has been, and is, in Switzerland checking in with the Uncles, Aunts and Grandparents.

I have been away with my mens group, and for dinner on Saturday with help from Andy, Coq au Vin, mash and beans.

And today the funeral of Ant Nevison, one of the Headless Chickens, a lovely man from an important time of my life.

We went from Nanxun to Suzhou in a car,gettindg driven along by this guy, his phone rings and his wife is behind us taking some other people somewhere. It can evidently be a small world even in China.

A wander around, more canals and alley ways

There was a car parking stacker

And somewhere along the way a nostalgic packet of Camel Filters I wish I had bought. They look safer that the other products around them!

Then lunch

There was more lunch, and the bridge pic was on the wall in the restaurant.

Then back to the hotel, past another notable motorcycle

And a snack.

When it got dark we went out for a short walk, a scooter being used to its potential.

Somewhere around here 3 young women wanted a photo of them selves with me!

We went to a traditional garden with lots of pavilions with furniture

They are giving nature a bit of a hand here with the mist. This The Classical Gardens of Suzhou, a Unesco World Heritage site.

Pingjiang road

Ping Jiang Road is a destination in Suzhou, a street of shops along a canal.

Got to try Hawthorns, nice candy crab apple like ?

Then later to another old part of town, Shantang St.

Wine Shop!

Also on a canal

More around there

Out the window of the fast train from Hangzhou

Then we are in Nanxun

And lunching, the chilli was the sort I like eating but agrees with me less.

The Thing in Nanxun, is the old town, a water town

Entering the old town are lots of places that will rent you traditional dress and make you up in the old style.

Then you are at the first canal.

There are shops selling the stuff for traditional calligraphy

And the opportunity to practice

Harmless I suspect

Not all glamour with the canals

These were pickles I believe

And there is some glamour to the canals

And yes coffee!

Some costume there

And along the canal

THis was I guess not the right time of year for Lotus Lakes.

This was in the mansion of the Liu family traders (unrelated)

Then a fruit shop on the way back to the hotel

A local car

The most serious motorcycle I saw in China. It lived in a fashion shop.

There is certainly plenty of more manual transport still about

Dinner was in a local restaurant, us and a big family that were going for it on the beer, and entertained that I was there I think.

Then we went back into the Old town at night

This was a Dao temple

Then copper artworks

LAst of the Nanxun Canals

Outside the hotel in the morning fish and veges for sale

Found another great coffee in the morning

And breakfast

And more canal maintenance on the way to the transport center.

Nanxun was great, there are similar towns nearby, like Wuzhen, which are I believe a little more international tourism oriented.

It really was nice to be in a smaller town. Sure there were plenty of people, but away from the tourist part the cafes, restaurants etc were great and the people really nice, and have time to chat.

At night in the rain, at the mercy of the deficient Chinese navigation apps, we arrived in Hangzhou.

We did manage to find the hotel though, another of these ones that was a bunch of room modules on a floor, in a high rise building.

The next day we joined a tour at West Lake, bus, boat walking, lunch.

Then a visit to a tea plantation where the hard sell went right by me

And to a silk firm with a misplaced sales pitch too. The products werelovely though.

Then to a rather large and impressive temple complex. I think I am a bit of a heathen taking photos there but …

I had spotted a sign saying there was an exhibition of “tech art” so dug deeper and we went there the next morning, after wandering around and pretty much failing to find me a coffee.

This was impressive

I have videos of them in motion, have not got the ability to run them here though.

This cart is apparently directed by the goldfish.

This fellow is a swimmer.

Not quite a Stradivarius.

A resting robot.

I think this is part of the fire safety system at the gallery, but it fitted right in with the exhibits in my mind!

There was a well known restaurant that Feifei had booked us into for lunch

Temple

That is a guilty looking lion!

Then back towards the centre of Hangzhou to go on a canal boat. This is the Grand Canal that runs up to Beijing. It would be nice to travel it more.

Next morning up again, bags packed, we left a bit of stuff there as we were coming back to the hotel.

On the metro/subway to the Train station, info shows where you are, in the network, and when at the station the way out, the facilities of the station etc and where they are.

We ended up here at the Hangzhou West Railway Station, to catch another fast train to Nanxun.

In theory that’s what it looks like outside, I wouldn’t know!

So China 2025, flew from Auckland to Haikou with Hainan Airlines

Soon after we arrived we were on a fast train to Sanya, at the southern end of the Island.

And then into a resort apartment. (A lot of Solar out there!)

On the other side

It is a beachy place

There was a typhoon coming, but I think this is standard there

And there are a lot of Russian holiday makers

And some interesting looking apartment blocks.

We went and had dinner with Feifei’s friend Teng Kun and her daughter Pang Wenrui , at a local hot pot restuarant.

Night street on the way back to the apartment

The next day the fast train back to Haikou, solarand Fish farming I think, hard to get a pic out the window at that speed

Out the Hotel wndows in Haikou.

Out to to explore a bit and get lunch.

There were alleyways of fashion shops there too

And as the day came to an end, traffic

Then we found a more touristy part

Feifei making a plan

and still more interesting street sculpturelife

Had dinner back at the Hotel, delivered to our room by a robot.

The next day we checked out the local museum.
Quite a maritime thing.

And the sort of island model that suits me

Then off past the bathroom information to fly off to Hangzhou.

More to come

Do take something like a leatherman/swiss army knife, in checked luggage.
Be aware of all of your batteries, camera, powerbanks, torch, etc not in checked luggage.
Deepseek, chatgpt etc mean you can talk to anyone.
eSIM in China was up to the task (Holafly) My Alipay connected to my bank all the time, could browse anywhere.
There are a lot of people in China, a lot!
There is a lot of life going on up the alleyways.
Robots are coming, delivering your dinner, cleaning the street.
The plain old electric taxis can sure accelerate!
It is hard to take a good photo out of a train at 250 km/h

Crash outside the kitchen window the other morning

Local council election time too

Art in the park worth a visit.

And down to Te Akau and Raglan with Darryl today.

Nice that the weather is getting friendlier.