SOLACE IN THE WIND This metal statue balances on the edge of Wellington harbour. He has a grimace on his face that is hard to interpret. Is he grimacing at the force of the winds that whip this city almost constantly - giving it the name Windy Wellington. (120km just this past week). Sometime it …
WELLINGTON! At the bottom of the North
I left the Coromandel on September 29th and took a bus to Auckland where I overnighted before rising early in the morning of the 30th to catch the Northern Explorer Kiwi Scenic Rail to Wellington. This would be my first time riding Kiwi Rail and being a person who grew up on trains, I was …
THREE MONTHS IN THE COROMANDEL
I arrived at the Auckland airport on the 30th of June where I was met by my next home/pet owners. I always try to arrive a few days before the homeowners depart (this time for a 3-month holiday in the UK). This way I have time to learn how things in the house work, the pet's …
NEW ZELAND! The Land of Two Islands
I have arrived WAY Down Under. The only land mass further south is Antarctica! For the next posts I will be telling you about my time spent exploring and house and pet-sitting on the North Island - but first a bit of New Zealand history. …
THE LAND OF ‘OZ’ – CONTINUED
MELBOURNE After 4 glorious, if extremely jet-lagged sunny days and nights in Sydney, it was time to catch an early morning flight to Melbourne where I had agreed to a 3-week house/pet sit in the suburb of Carnegie. (Car-NEIGH-geee). I landed on a very wet and soggy day and found the airport shuttle bus into …
THE LAND OF "OZ’
Oz - as the Aussies called their homeland, was my destination when I left Los Angeles on May 30th. I plan is to spend the next 11 months exploring a bit of Oz, a lot of New Zealand and a totally relaxing month in Indonesia on the island of Bali. First stop after a …
HOME!
When you get the offer to babysit your one-and-only, most precious granddaughter for 10 days while Mom & Dad take advantage of a business/pleasure trip to Australia, there is no better reason than to wave goodbye to Europe and return to sunny and warm southern California! I flew home on February 1, 2016, for the …
WINGING MY WAY HOME – WITH A STOPOVER IN THE UK
It's now February 1st, 2016, eleven months since I left home to go travelin' and it's been amazing! My allotted time in the Schengen countries has run out and anyway, I've been asked to babysit my darling Stella while her mom and dad take a well-deserved break and head to Australia on business/vacation. But I …
Continue reading "WINGING MY WAY HOME – WITH A STOPOVER IN THE UK"
TWO DAYS IN SEVILLA – OLA!
DAY ONE Welcome to Sevilla and the 'sport' of bullfighting! Sevilla is home of one of Spain's last premiere bullrings and why should I mention this first? Because just this past week the wife of 29-year old matador, Victor Barrio, watched as her husband was gored to death in front of her in the ring. …
ESPANA – GRANADA & THE ALHAMBRA
The Alhambra perched on a hilltop with the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountain as a backdrop American friends, Anita & Dick, who have made a complete relocation and now call Portugal home, invited me to join them and another couple touring Granada and Seville before my time in Europe is up. Of course, I said yes! …
My Home on the Roam 