Cure For The Itch/Forgotten/Pushing Me Away/Runaway: The South Island family trip review (+ the Formula 1 report after a long hiatus)

It was on the 10th of January that our entire family went on a trip to the South Island so we left Whanganui for sure so we went through towns before we reached near Wellington to catch the ferry to Picton there so I'm using Poppa's diary about the full rundown of the trip to the South Island:

Tuesday, January 10th, 2017:

Check Vodafone account - Put $50.00 more on it.

Contact Mercury Energy re credit card number.

0800-10-18-10 (Phone No.)

Stopped in Otaki for morning tea - sausage roll (Tania), brownie (RJ) ice creams made with fruit (Me & Whetu)

Saw Ham between Porirua & Wellington.

Good trip over on the boat -. cloudy - misty at the beginning cleared going over.

The house is great - large with shop out - I slept in outside studio

Prize Giving at the Wanganui Chronicle - 14 Jan 11:00am

Had fish & chips dinner.

Wednesday, January 11th, 2017:

Went for a walk around this part of Picton where the Book a Bach is.

Breakfast

Went to I-Centre & then to Governor's Bay - had lunch & a game of cricket. Went to Karaka point hook out - then to the Domain Victoria Park - then o Resto for a drink - home after seeing Ham's message - no key. Had a big sleep. Tania made dinner - broccoli - fries - chicken. salad.

Thursday, January 12th, 2017:

Breakfast - tidied up & packed up

Headed to Nelson - stopped in Havelock for morning tea. Drove on to Nelson - found Tahunui Beach - found Arcadia Motel - extremely clean & tidy.

Drove into town. looked around - Cathedral - Cottages in street where we stayed. Came back & had went for dinner to Noodle Canteen later. Whetu & Rajean had been to WOW went to M10 & bought a gnome on a bike with a cart.

Friday, January 13th, 2017:

Went to Motueka & then to Kaiteriteri - went on the Golden Bay boat trip - magnificent like last time. Glorious weather & sea.

Came back to Motueka. Had lunch at Armadillos - old Post Office Hotel - $10.00 steak lunch. Then to I. Centre & then to Aunty Vera's and Marnie's place. Had a good time with cousins - talk
Afternoon tea.

Came back home. Had a snooze - had supper - salad chicken toast etc.

Went to Warehouse to get Whetu swimming togs.

Saturday, January 14th, 2017:

Tidied up & got out for Hanmer Springs. Beautiful scenery on the way - rivers - mountainous hills & lots of native bush & forests. Stopped in Murchison for a snack. Stopped around Maraia Springs for lunch - sandflies everywhere - Drove on to Hanmer Springs - went for a lovely soak in the pool.

Had cooked dinner - salad - chicken etc.

Nice motel unit - Ham & Raewyn in the unit 2 along.

Sunday, January 15th, 2017:

Went for another swim after breakfast - excellent - and then set off for Christchurch 122km away.

Stopped in Culverden for gas.

Think we had sandwiches for lunch.

Got to Christchurch about 3:55pm.

Went to Supermarket - Tania mad a great meal of spag bol with peas in it.

Planned Monday's programme

Monday, January 16th, 2017:

Went on Tram Ride, saw container shopes/cakes.

Saw old Cathedral. Had ''bings'' for lunch. Raewyn's friend Richard with us & his daughter Mandy/Madeline.

Went on Punt on Avon - great trip - saw ducks & dead eel.

Came back. Whetu and I went to Westfield & Ham, Jansen, Rejean & Tania went on the Gondola. Went to Countdown Supermarket to get stuff for tea.

Tuesday, January 17th, 2017

Had breakfast - tidied up

Went to Lyttleton - Corsair Bay. Governor's Bay - Diamond Harbour.

Had lunch at Diamond Harbour. Pizza etc.

Came back - went to the Pak n Save to get some stores.

Tania made - spag bol - Bruschetta with tomato & cucumber

Going to movie.

La La Land. (Unfortunately, couldn't come because it was sold out)

Saw the Christmas Lights Article - Chronicle

Wednesday, January 18th, 2017:

Going to Akaroa - on sailing ship

Will look around Akaroa town.

Postponed - strong winds

Tania & Rejean to the Canterbury Museum

Ham & Raewyn to Westfield shopping centre

Richard (Raewyn's friend came to lunch.)

Ham, Tania, Jansen & Rejean went to the Antarctic Centre.

Thursday, January 19th, 2017:

Breakfast & Tidy up

Air Force Museum at Wigram - fantastic display - saw photo of Murray Abel. Many planes on display. Did Mosquito Simulation. Had morning tea

Went out to Akaroa. couldn't go on sail boat - too rough.

Looked at I centre & shops.

Had lunch

Came back - went to Pak n Save

Had pizza/salad/cheesecake

Friday, January 20th, 2017:

Breakfast & tidy up & pack car.

Drove to Murchison & then Blenheim. Stopped at a lake.

Coronation Court Motel $350.00 2 rooms - 6 people.

Went to Speight's Ale House for dinner.

Saturday, January 21st, 2017:

Packed car - tidied up. Drove to Picton. Short wait - went souvenir shopping first.

Drove to Whanganui - stopped for petrol & pie.

Got home about 4:00 - 4:30pm

Went to Countdown after dropping Jansen off

Home - unpacked car

Dinner - Pork & chicken.

And what do I think of the trip? I think it was great but oh so awesome so I am going to remember this, for a long time eh?

And Donald J Trump has been inaugurated as the new President of the United States on the 20th of January over in Washington DC (USA's capital), whatever.

And I had Japanese food such as Sushi for lunch on Monday & it felt c'est magnifique (That's magnificent en Francais mon ami/in French my friend), Ganbatte masu! (Do your best/keep going/persevere in Japanese).

And finally my so called hiatus in Formula 1 (I 1st followed Formula 1 way back in 1999 (Mika Hakkinen (Who became the 2nd Finn to win the title followed by the last Finn to capture it was Kimi Raikkonen who won it in 2007 before Lewis Hamilton in 2008) was the defending champion who won in 98 & retained it in 99 so my childhood hero was probably Michael Schumacher (Who was the 1st German to win the title because he is a 7 time world champion in 1994 to 95 before Britain's Damon Hill won it in 1996 followed by Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 & Mika Hakkinen in 1998 to 99 & 2000 to 2004 before Spain's Fernando Alonso won both world championships in 2005 & 06 then Raikkonen won it in 2007) as a 7 year old when TV One had broadcasting rights to the sport (Although it was until 2005 when Sky took over the broadcasting rights since 2006) until 2015 in which I stopped following it because of Lewis Hamilton (I was backing either Sebastian Vettel (Who was the 2nd German after Michael Schumacher (Vettel won it from 2010 to 13) & before Nico Rosberg) or Nico Rosberg to win the world championship but Hamilton was a very good driver because I used to don't like him that much because of his race victories so far) but now I am tipping Hamilton to win the 2017 title to become Britain's most successful driver because he is tied with fellow Briton Sir Jackie Stewart, the late Jack Brabham of Australia, Austrian Niki Lauda (Who was in the 2013 movie Rush played by actor Daniel Brühl) & Brazilians Nelson Piquet & Ayrton Senna (Who was the last Formula 1 driver to die before Frenchman Jules Bianchi who was the recent F1 driver to die) with 3 F1 world championships so far (Hamilton 1st won it in 2008 then it was Jenson Button in 2009 & Sebastian Vettel who won 4 world championships in a row from 2010 to 13 before Hamilton took over in 2014 & 15) is over as Germany's Nico Rosberg (Son of Finland's 1st world champion in 1982 Keke Rosberg because Nico Rosberg was born in Wiesbaden in Germany so his father is from Finland but he is classified as a Finn-German) wins his maiden Formula 1 World Championship for 2016 (His debut was in Bahrain 2006 where Alonso won the race) after finishing 2nd in Abu Dhabi behind 3 time world champion Lewis Hamilton winning his 10th race of the season (Although Rosberg won 9 races (He won in Australia, Bahrain, China, Russia, Europe (Although the race is held in the streets of Baku in Azerbaijan which is a medieval city), Belgium, Italy, Singapore (Although the grand prix is held under lights) & Japan (That was Nico Rosberg's last win of his F1 career) compared to Lewis Hamilton's victories in Monaco (He broke the hoodoo at motorsport's premier event or should I say crown jewel), Canada, Austria under controversial circumstances, his home race in Britain, Germany, Hungary, United States, Mexico, Brazil & Abu Dhabi while Red Bull only won 2 races (Compared to constructors champions Mercedes (Won 3 constructors championship titles since 2014 (Although the rules have changed ending the V8 era that began in 2006 because the 2.4 litre V8 has been replaced by a 1.6 litre hybrid V6 because one of the drivers such as Fernando Alonso labeling the Formula 1 V6 hybrid era cars as rubbish because it has been disappointing & what do I think of it? Well I label it as a piece of trash because of the engine noise which sounds like a vacuum cleaner (Well it has not been possible for Sebastian Vettel & Red Bull to claim his 5th world title way back in 2014 because of the rule changes being implemented which helped Lewis Hamilton & Mercedes's chances of winning the title) with Lewis Hamilton twice (2014 & 15) & Nico Rosberg once (Last year in 2016) winning 19 races) with the youngest F1 driver on the grid from The Netherlands, Max Verstappen (Son of Jos Verstappen) claiming victory in Spain (He managed to break Sebastian Vettel's record as the youngest race winner in Formula 1 history at 18) after both Mercedes cars were taken out & Australian Daniel Ricciardo in Malaysia (Although Lewis Hamilton's engine had blown during the race) during the season because Hamilton won the last 4 races of the 2016 season but not good enough to secure the driver's crown by 5 points) before announcing his retirement which shocked the world of F1 because Rosberg has been replaced by Finland's Valtteri Bottas who moves from Williams to Mercedes on a 1 year deal after the young Canadian bloke Lance Stroll (1st Canadian to race in Formula 1 since Jacques Villeneuve (1997 F1 world champion & son of the late Gilles Villeneuve) who was the last Canadian to compete before Stroll because he is exactly 18 years old because he graduated his way from Formula 3 after winning the European crown) has replaced Bottas because his billionaire father Lawrence (Who may be Canada's answer to the current president of the United States, Donald Trump) reportedly spent $80 million to get his son's race seat after originally replacing Brazilian Felipe Massa because Massa originally announced his decision to quit the sport but however he elected his decision to stay at Williams.

So that is my 4th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 84th overall (Only 16 to go until I reach the century mark).

P.S. I wanna run away
Never say goodbye
I wanna know the truth
Instead of wondering why
I wanna know the answers
No more lies
I wanna shut the door
And open up my mind

And here are my favourites just like All Black Waisake Naholo

Rugby ground: Westpac Stadium
Rugby player & why: Anton-Lienert Brown, such a good player but clairvoyant (Used to be Kieran Read, Richie McCaw, Joe Rokocoko & the late Jonah Lomu)
Food: Pasta (My favourite for 17 years)
Actor/Actress: Arnold Schwarzenegger (But I like both Tom Cruise & Samuel L Jackson)
Singer/Band/Music Type: Any rock band but Breaking Benjamin is my personal favourite
Holiday Destination: Wellington (New Zealand's capital)
Non-rugby sports team: FC Barcelona (La Liga)

Going Under/Papercut: 1 year anniversary of Nan's passing & Kathryn & Ken's visit to 15A Kells Avenue (My last blog before the family trip to the South Island)

Well, it was on January 6th, 2017, 1 year after Nan's passing where I had a big lunch with the family then a few hours after having a light dinner, Poppa's sister Kathryn & her English partner Ken Branch had just arrived & we had a chat there before we went to bed then yesterday we went to Caroline's to meet Bob & Helen Chong from Palmerston North so Pops & I had a creamy mushroom & chicken pasta there then Dad (I rang him because Kathryn & Ken (I told both of them about going to Narlea's for Christmas) were here so it was 11:00pm because he was in bed) & Jansen came & saw us before heading back to 15A Kells Avenue to have some more chat but I told Kathryn & Ken about the curse behind the All Blacks Rugby World Cup defeat in both 1999 & 2003 ruined by a 1997 movie Anaconda (I have seen the movie like last month in March of this year) which is kinda funny as well as both Kathryn & Ken went to a Six Nations game between England & France because they have been to the Stade de France before for a rugby test match & to see how is Gemma, Huia & Ben were doing so that was it hours before we had a light dinner where we had sandwiches then we had more discussion because I had to watch some more YouTube about the rugby so far where the All Blacks opened our Rugby World Cup 2007 with a win against Italy then I had a moccha & a chocolate coated biscuit for dessert as well as having 2 brandy chocolates where I had both a dark & white one (Well I gave Kathryn' email address because I have Gemma's & possibly Huia's but Ben doesn't do emails).

And this morning on the 8th of January 2017 where we had a great breakfast just before we said goodbye to them so last night I wrote a letter to Kathryn & Ken may the force be with you & wrote P.S. Hasta la vista baby, I'll be back because I love Kathryn so much but I told her that I love Gemma, Huia & Ben so much because I had already said hi to Kathryn's children for me so it was an emotional farewell to both of them because I like Ken so much because he is my friend now compared to Rejean & I might be friends to Kathryn's children as well.

And finally all is well alive & kicking as I went to do some garden jobs before I went on the computer today to look up Youtube videos such as Tom Cruise's 1990 Nascar flick Days Of Thunder (Well, I might watch that movie on TV3 Thursday but I don't know what we are doing because we will be in the South Island so imagine that) & the 2013 Formula 1 movie set in 1976 rush before we had lunch to deal with where I had leftovers such as pasta, potato salad & some of Uncle Nigel's savouries before we headed downtown to go to Warehouse stationary to get something then to Mitre 10, The Warehouse (I had new crocks before going to the shop which is everything about New Zealand but I had to perform the Ka Mate haka because I pushed the stomach of the kiwi toy which plays the Ka Mate haka itself) & New World to get more stuff & now so here I am, doing my last blog before the South Island trip that we are going.

So that is my 3rd blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 83rd overall (Only 17 to go until I reach the century mark).

P.S. And we went to the home of the Prakash's last night because we had a great dinner here so I did enjoy that one so it felt so great because we had starters 1st & I quite liked the starters then we had the main course which I can't remember now & having that dessert so it was kinda cool.

Man In The Box/Plush/Vasoline/Would?: The sequel (Seeing the movie Moana today)

Well, today I felt like I was going to the movie Moana (Although all 3 including Pops, Aunty Tania & Rejean/Giuseppe came as well as Jansen went to that movie because I had a ice cream dipped with chocolate & nuts as well as popcorn & a Pepsi Max soft drink but the movie is about a sweeping, CG-animated adventure about a spirited teenager who sails out on a daring mission to prove herself a master wayfinder and fulfill her ancestors' unfinished quest. During her journey, Moana meets the once-mighty demi-god Maui, and together, they traverse the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous fiery creatures and impossible odds but the movie felt great because it was way better than Rogue One & the movie features Dwayne Johnson AKA The Rock, Auli'i Cravalho, Nicole Scherzinger (Formerly of The Pussycat Dolls), Alan Tudyk from Rogue One & of course Kiwis Jermaine Clement from Flight Of The Concords & of course Temuera Morrison who played Jake 'The Muss' Heke from Once Were Warriors (He turned 56 on Boxing Day 2016 on that occasion because he was born on the same day as my Malaysian friend Sophia Ong) since I originally couldn't watch the movie so I did & I did enjoy that movie so it was good that I finally saw that movie because it is the 2nd movie that I saw after seeing The Avengers on New Year's Day & after that, we went to Cafe 141 to have lunch there where I had a satay chicken wrap & a butter chicken pie there (Although I drank a vanilla flavored Coke Zero) before we went to my flat but the pool table is gone because Dad sold the pool table because I was getting some stuff for shaving & I saw my Dad telling him that I watched the movie then we went to Trafalgar Square to get some stuff at both Countdown & The Warehouse before we went to Supercheap Auto & Pak'n'Save to get the dinner for tomorrow then we headed back to 15A Kells Avenue to end an incredible day it was & saw the family pics for 2015-16 & now so here I am writing my 2nd blog of the year 2017.

So that is my 2nd blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 82nd overall (Only 18 remaining until I reach 100).

P.S. I went to Exotic Thai Restaurant with Poppa, Aunty Tania & Rejean/Giuseppe & I quite like the food there because it is yummy there so I had a Tom Yum soup for starters but I can't quite remember the main course that I had but it felt great the restaurant.

November Rain/Stairway To Heaven: My 1st ever blog of MMXVII

Well it's official, 2017 is finally arrived (So I'm into my 6th year of blogging) so I will be doing my 1st ever blog of the year so far because yesterday on New Years Day, we kicked the year off by going to the Waimarie paddle steamer boat & I quite enjoyed it so it's not the 1st time I have ever been on a paddle steamer like this before we had a big lunch at Rutland because I was going to feel like I was having pasta you know like pumpkin spaghetti that I had & I quite enjoyed it before heading back home to paint the boat & water the plants as well as having a light meal several hours or minutes before watching The Avengers movie (Well I 1st saw that movie way back in 2012) to kick off the year it was.

And so many to look forward to this year as our family go on a trip to the South Island & the British & Irish Lions rugby tour to New Zealand as they take on the New Zealand Barbarians or Provincial Unions XV, all 5 New Zealand Super Rugby franchises, a New Zealand Maori All Blacks representative side & 3 test matches with our very own All Blacks (Both in Auckland & 1 in Wellington) & the Super Rugby season (Can the Hurricanes triumph once more just like last year? Because they could go back to back just like the Chiefs last did it in both 2012 & 13), the Rugby Championship (Will the All Blacks go unbeaten once more to retain the title that they have won last year?) & the end of year Northern tour against France, Scotland, Wales & possibly Canada because I would be following the rugby for 2017 not only that I'm rugby mad (Well I have been a rugby fan for a long time) but well I have not only got much to say right now.

And finally my personal highlight of 2016 has to be going to the Hurricanes home Super Rugby games in both Palmerston North (Against the Force where I have now been to the new rugby museum 4 days ago) & Wellington (Against the Jaguares where I saw both film sets of the movie which is coming out next month on Waitangi weekend Pork Pie & the Scarlet Johansson movie) as well as an All Blacks test against Wales in Wellington (The night before meeting my aunty Cathey Middeplaats, her husband John Mitchell (Not the former All Black & current USA rugby coach) & my 3 cousins Paige Williams (Cathey's daughter), Nico & Luca Mitchell (Cathey & John's sons) & being a nightwatchman for the 1st time ever for the Light Up Your Home competition last month (Although we did win the best newcomer section because we were in Hanmer Springs during our trip to the South Island).

So that is my 1st blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 81st overall (Only 19 left until I reach 100), we will look forward to seeing you next time.