Sunday, 22 January 2017

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)

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