Going Greek Disc 1 011

Going Greek Disc 1 011
Originally uploaded by Gogreek.

View from the plane. Taken by Janine. Testing blogging from flickr.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

More Crete Photos

P1010012
Originally uploaded by Ariadne2007.

Suffering from cabin fever after the third dull winter day in a row, so the only alternative is to think of the good times on Crete. Today I discovered some photos on a small picture card, that I had to use for a couple of days until I had downloaded my regular card. This one is of Janine & Annie taken during our walk around the village. There are other pics on flickr for friends & family to check out.

Soggy days

The Mamas & Papa at the Acropolis

It hasn't stopped raining since we got back from Greece, & it seems as if it's going to get worse. So I've been checking out some of my holiday pics to cheer myself up. I'm having trouble uploading pics from Picasa Web to my blog, although you can check them out via the Picasa link on the left.
After a couple of days the sun is now shining & I was able to upload pics from my computer. Only on Crete - a breakfast raki in Adoni's village!

Home again

A distant memory now.

Arrived Auckland Sunday morning. The thought of 9 degrees Celsius, was pretty daunting, but the sun was shining & it didn't seem that bad at all. Janine & I traveled on the shuttle to Tauranga, & the clear, sunny weather made for a pretty good trip. We stayed the night with Chris, Maureen's sister, & Bunny came over the next morning to drive us back to Opotiki. It was great to see Kerry waiting for us when we got back here. Tama was overjoyed to see us, & almost knocked me off my feet in his excitement. After a nice lunch of pizza & Bunny's great pumpkin soup, Janine had to drive back to Taupo - not the best thing to do while feeling tired & jet-lagged. Today I drove into town - reminding myself to keep left all the way. The first thing I did was buy myself a warm coat & another pair of thermals. Now I have to hunt out my things for work tomorrow. Oh well back to reality

Transit in Singapore

Using the free internet in Changi airport. Left Athens about 12 hours ago & had a good flight. My plan t0 book us into a window & aisle seat worked this time, with no one in the middle seat. However, the next leg looks as if it's pretty full so maybe we won't be so lucky. We were going to check out the free City tour, but apparently it could take longer than 2 hours by the time we get back to this terminal where the airport hotel is. If we don't turn up on time we're likely to lose our room, so we've decided to stay put. Plenty of stuff to do here in the meantime, & comfy seats as well. The holiday is over - too bad!

Back in Athens

After a noisy trip on the ferry last night it's good to be back in Athens again. Yianni welcomed us & got us into our same room as earlier at 9.00am. Had a bit of a rest with air con on before heading out to email. Was able to check us in via internet for both flights home, so that's a job well done. Later we'll be checking out our favourite souvlaki place for a great meal. These posts are not very rivetting I know, but at least you know we're still here. Have heard nothing from home, so I guess that no news is good news.

Last day on Crete

Tonight Janine & I take the overnight ferry to Athens. The weather has been wonderful for most of our trip, just one afternoon of thunderstorm & rain in the mountains. The biggest disappointment for me was not being able to catch up with Inge & Willem while we were all on the Island. Over the past few days we have spent time at the hostel catching up with old friends, & staying with Annie & Dave at their beautiful place in Orne. While there we drove to two of the most unspoilt beaches on Crete.

Back in Plakias

Just a short post to let you all know that I'm still here. So many stories to tell, but then again I'll probably not tell them. We said goodbye to Maureen, Julie, Deb & John this morning. It was quite sad, but Janine & I have another week on Crete, where we'll be catching up with Annie & Dave, & hopefully Inge & Willem. The Battle of Crete commemorations were excellent, especially Galatas Village pary was awesome. Got to sit at the top table among the top brass, & caught up with many Cretan friends. Sorry - but so much has happened & all of it memorable, that it's impossible for me to put into words. As the memories surface I might post more.

Santorini

Arrived in awesome Santorini this afternoon & discovered that we wouldn't be staying in my usual 'rooms' here. Instead we are staying at George's brother Panos's place. Fantastic site looking out towards the sea, & we have had a cool swim in the lovely pool, & also tried the lovely white wine. The rest of the crew got through about 4 bottles of red wine on the ferry crossing, so no need to describe the chaos on disembarking. I had my first totally sleepless night on the trip last night, so I wasn't up to the imbibing. For those of you who know George & Dina, you'll be pleased to know that they have a gorgeous son now. Artemis is 8 months old & is a real cutey. Not sure what we'll be doing tonight, but it will be totally random as usual. We have had some fantastic meals while in Athens, most of them as a result of trusting our judgement on our evening rambles.

Athens

Hello from a very warm Athens. 23 degrees at 6.30pm. Maureen & Co are very impressed with the Greek experience so far - they're big fans of eating fab Greek food outdoors. We walked up to the Acropolis this morning & checked out the Agora. Julie & Deb bought fresh bread, feta, pastormo & lots of other goodies for our picnic on the slopes of the Acropolis. The poppy display this year is the best I've seen, thanks to the cool, wet weather previously. Tonight we're off on more adventures, before we find another great place to eat. Julie has been a smash hit wherever we've been.

Singapore

The Mamas & the Papa have just had a fun ride on the Duck tour, then we're off to Little India. Hotel here is a disappointment affter Bangkok, but we're only here for the one night. Still having problems with my internet check in, seems like another stuff up from the NZ end. Janine & I were up at 3.00am to 5.00am this morning making a cuppa & repacking our bags. Some of us might go on the huge ferris wheel later. Much bigger than the London eye, & moves at a snail's pace.

The Mamas & Papa go to Greece

It's been so long since I've posted anything here, that I've almost forgotten what to do. After some very stressful weeks of planning I'm beginning to wind down before the start of our trip to Greece on Wednesday. The neighbours joined Bunny, Janine & I for dinner tonight. Real nice to have a bit of time together. Kerry called in yesterday on her way to Taupo to look after Philip while Mum's away. The time was too short, but at least we had a bit of catch up. Bunny will be driving Janine & I to Tauranga tomorrow, where we'll be staying overnight at Maureen's, so that we can be ready for our early morning shuttle to Auckland. I know that all the Mamas will be able to relax at last once we're on the road. I'm sure there will be plenty of good 'copy' to post over the next few weeks.

Waitangi Weekend

We've had lovely weather for the whole holiday weekend, but right now I'm wondering how I'll sleep tonight as it is still very warm. We went down to the beach late this afternoon to try & cool off, but the water was warm & the sun still hot, so the cooling off didn't last long.However it was beautiful down there & there was not a soul in sight, & Tama was happy. Click on the photos to see a better view of them

Summer hols at an end

First day back at work today & it was all good. I didn't do much over the holidays, but we had a few special days to celebrate during that time. On Thursday we went to Florence & Winston's house for dinner to catch up with Lisa before she heads off back to Edinburgh. Marg was there as well. It was lovely to see Lisa & to catch up with all her news. Florence & Lisa had prepared a beautiful Greek meal of barbecued lamb & beef, spanakopita, tzatziki, zucchini fritters & stuffed tomatoes. The 'piece de resistance' though was the baklavas made with their own walnuts.

Meeting extended family

Last Saturday we went to Papamoa for Maia's first birthday party. It was great to spend some time with Lee-Ann, Jamie, Steven & Maia. We caught up with Jamie's younger sisters Makayla & Caitlin, who were only toddlers last time we met. We also met Maia's dad, Kingi, & his mum, sister & family. The nicest surprise for us was to meet Shirley & Pete - very special people for Steven, Jamie & Maia. Maia thoroughly enjoyed her day. Obviously a very social girl.

Xmas Dinner

Xmas Dinner
Originally uploaded by Ariadne2007.

After all the stress of Christmas shopping it was so good to kick back & relax at the neighbours' place on Christmas Day. The day started with bubbly & presents, then nibbles, provided by Adrian, & eventually the meal itself. No room for the evening meal, so we lived off leftovers for a few days. Beats meal planning any day. More pics on Flickr.