Tirohanga Section of Cycle Track

Headed out late afternoon yesterday to check out the newest section. Walked to Kelly's Beach & back to car - c55 minutes. Weather is meant to deteriorate over the next few days, so I thought I'd better make an effort. It was pretty hot though. Will need to go earlier or later in day over summer.

Batten down the hatches!

First decent rain for a while. Great for the garden, but not so good for tv viewing. Rain fade paints an interesting picture, but at least there's nothing important on to be ruined by it. The strong winds are what I hate. Off to bed with a new book to try & insulate myself from the elements.

Town end of track

Checked out the bridge access site on way home from town this morning. Piles are in place on town side, & plenty of activity taking place Snell Rd side. So it looks as if work is on schedule.

Walk to Otara River

Jocelyn & I walked from Hukuwai to Otara River stopbank & back after work today. Sun was shining, but the breeze was cool. Pretty warm by the time we headed back on return trip though. Trucks working at the end of the road taking the soil etc that the diggers had produced. Road surface along stopbank area pretty rough yet with larger metal, but great to see the progress. Good to get a different perspective of the town from the river.

River walk Whakatane

Left here in sunshine, but by the time we got to Whakatane the day had become grey & chilly. Walked to the Heads from town. The reconstruction on the huge slip still going on - looks like an open caste mine. Can't believe that some people are still living in these houses directly below it.

First attempt @ mobile blogging

This looks like a handy app. Let's see if I can insert a pic.

Long time No Blog

Thinking of using blogger more often rather than fb, but recently have had too many frustrations with blogs not posting.  Wondering if the new Blogger interface will be any good!!  Well it looks OK - that's a relief.

Blog updating

Well I'm going to have another go at seeing if my post updates correctly. The wet & windy weather is just perfect for mucking about with such things. Could be a welcome change from Greek grammar. Unless of course if it doesn't work! Then there's no question - I'll be forced to resort to an ouzo or two to numb my addled brain.

Chasing my tail!

Following my own blog at blogger.com DOES NOT update my blog posts as suggested on forums.  I wonder why I ever thought it would?

More Frustration!!

Why is my blog not updating?

Reconnecting

I haven't posted anything since just after my return from my last trip to Greece in May.  Blame it on Facebook. It  does the job pretty well.  I bet many other part time & small time bloggers who have tried fb & other social media sites are doing  much the same.  I've been checking out some of these sites recently & have read so many interesting topics.  There's barely enough time in the day for me to take it all in. If I do decide to continue blogging again I might try a different blog platform, because while doing a Google check on my blog, I was astounded to came across another Ariadne's Thread. Thankfully it had nothing to do with guiding travelers through the maze of Greek travel. I understood that my blog title was unique to me.  Am I mistaken?

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.