Tuesday, 5 December 2017

Gasoline/Lean Back/Supreme: The year in review (Part 1)

Well, it has been an incredible year so far so here is the 1st part of the year beginning with the best blogs of January & February 2017 with the most views starting with 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.

And the 2nd one is taken from Swerve City/The Energy/The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret: #SuperBoomBoom, A Start To Another Super Rugby Season (+ Kathryn Ngapo's 3rd visit to Whanganui & Diana Kent's 1st in 2017):

Well, the 2017 Super Rugby season has begun (Replacing #SuperBangBang for 2017 is #SuperBoomBoom), well...IT HAS BEGUN! (As the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung would say in the 1995 movie Mortal Kombat (Featuring characters such as Liu Kang (The protagonist/main hero from China who is a Shaolin monk), Johnny Cage (The world famous Hollywood actor who happens to be my favourite Mortal Kombat character), Raiden (The thunder god who doesn't fight or brawl in the movie), Sonya Blade (United States Special Forces soldier), Kitana (The Outworld princess), Kano (The Aussie criminal from down under), Scorpion (The yellow ninja & one of the iconic ninjas whose real name is Hanzo Hasashi who always says: GET OVER HERE!), Sub-Zero (The blue ninja of Bi-Han, the original who can freeze), Reptile (The green ninja) & of course, last but not least...Goro (The Shokan prince & reigning champion of Mortal Kombat) Well, not only that the Blues thrashed or should I say demolished the Rebels in the opener at AAMI Park in Melbourne as centre Rieko Ioane (Akira's brother) getting a hat trick of tries as they reach the half-century mark by winning the game 56 - 18 so here's the news report about that epic but most exciting game:

A hat-trick from Rieko Ioane gave the Blues a perfect start to their Super Rugby campaign as they beat the Rebels 56-18 at AAMI Park.

The youngster was outstanding on Thursday, with this result a message to the rest of the competition that the Blues will be a threat in 2017.

Other than Ioane, the visitors' try scorers were Pauliasi Manu, Matt Duffie, Augustine Pulu and Melani Nanai. Ihaia West kicked 16 points.

The Rebels were forced to make a late tweak to their backline as Mitch Inman was ruled out, meaning that Tom English moved to centre and Jonah Placid came onto the wing. The Blues meanwhile were hoping their new faces, such as halfback Pulu, capitalised on the disruption.

It was all the Blues early on as they were patient in possession and eventually moved 3-0 in front as pivot West slotted from 45 metres.

The Rebels struck back though on seven minutes as youngster Jack Maddock showed a calmness to put the ball back inside to halfback Nic Stirzaker who went over for the score, with the conversion from first five eighth Jackson Garden-Bachop making it a 7-3 lead to the home franchise.

That was cut to a point on 18 minutes when several picks for the line from the Blues ended with loosehead Manu getting the ball down.

The Rebels missed the chance to extend the lead to four soon after as Garden-Bachop was off-target, one of three missed kicks in the half. But he would have been a happy fly-half when West was charged down close to his line and the Rebels 10 grounded to make it 12-8 to the hosts.

From then on though the Blues dominated as first nice handling from left to right sent wing Duffie over for a converted try and after West and Reece Hodge traded penalties, a stray pass from Rebels flanker Jordy Reid near halfway led to Ioane sprinting over for a 25-15 buffer.

Hodge was again on target to open the scoring in the second-half, cutting the gap to seven points, but then the Blues onslaught went into full swing as halfback Pulu raced over from 40 metres out to make it 32-18 before Ioane claimed his second from distance for 39-18.

The Rebels were on the ropes and in their desperation were being picked off at will as a kick ahead saw wing Nanai the next to cross for the Blues on 58 minutes before number eight Akira Ioane set up his brother Rieko for a hat-trick. That was his last act to cap a fine game.

At 53-18 the match was starting to fizzle out as it neared its final 10 minutes, with a yellow card for replacement Rene Ranger giving the Rebels some welcome field position. But a loose line-out, which wasn't their first of the night, summed up a poor start to the season for the Rebels, with centre Piers Francis knocking over a late penalty soon after to put the seal on what was an outstanding victory for the Blues.

And it was yesterday that the rampant Chiefs have finally beaten the Highlanders after losing 6 straight games to open up their campaign at Forsyth Barr Stadium with a news report which is less exciting than the Rebels Vs Blues clash:

The Chiefs got their Super Rugby campaign off to a fine start when they claimed a desrved 24-15 victory over the Highlanders in Dunedin on Friday.

Strong defence and ability to takes their limited chances sees Chiefs win 24-15 in Dunedin 24-15 against the error-strewn Highlanders.

The result is a momentous one for the men from Hamilton as it ends a 6 match losing streak against the Highlanders.

With this being 2 New Zealand teams, it is no surprise that it was a thrilling affair as both sides ran the ball from all areas of the field although the Chiefs made better use of their chances and their execution inside the Highlanders' 22 was particularly impressive.

Although the Highlanders were competitive in the tight exchanges, they were unable to contain the Chiefs' ability to move the ball with pace and the visitors eventually outscored them by three tries to none.

The Highlanders drew first blood courtesy of a Lima Sopoaga penalty inside the 1st 5 minutes game but the came alive in the 10th minute when James Lowe went over for the 1st try.

This after he gathered a wayward pass from Aaron Smith close to the halfway line and the flyer showed great strength and determination to shrug off a couple of challengers before dotting down under the posts.

Aaron Cruden added the easy extras and the Chiefs did not increase their lead with Lowe again the chief protagonist when he intercepted a Waisake Naholo offload just outside the home side's 22 before racing away to score his 2nd try.

Cruden, once again, slotted the conversion which meant the Chiefs led 14-0 after the 1st quarter but the Highlanders didn't take that lying down and were soon camped inside the visitors' 22.

The 2015 champions thought they had opened their account in the 23rd minute when Naholo gathered a Lima Sopoaga crossfield kick before crossing the whitewash but his effort was disallowed when the Television Match Official (TMO) ruled that he had knocked the ball on in the process.

The hosts were dealt a massive blow on the hour-mark when their captain and fullback Ben Smith was forced to leave the field when he banged his head on the ground after competing for a high ball with Damian McKenzie.

The Highlanders continued to attack but the Chiefs stood firm in defence and 2 Sopoaga penalties, late in the half, was the home side's only reward before the interval.

The Chiefs continued to attack and were rewarded 2 minutes after the restart when Hika Elliot crossed for their 3rd try after combining brilliantly with Tawera Kerr-Barlow at a lineout inside the Highlanders.

That score caught the Highlanders by surprise and although they upped the ante on attack they couldn't breach the Chiefs' try-line.

Sopoaga added two further penalties midway through the half but Cruden secured the win for the visitors when he landed a three-pointer from the kicking tee in the 68th minute.

And the Reds had a 2 point win over the Sharks in a hard fought victory after a close quarters battle at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

And yesterday Kathryn arrived here for her 3rd visit (She was with her English partner Ken Branch during her 1st visit this year then with her son Ben Blain during her 2nd) the same day as we moved the gnomes (I told her about the honorary Jedi of Huia thinking she's no longer a Kiwi girl (Although my cousin Paige Williams (Cathey Middelplaats's daughter & sister of brothers Nico & Luca Mitchell (Although both Nico & Luca are kinda cute as Kathryn told me) is because I told her that she's a New Zealand girl with a Welsh surname like Thomas or Jones, Jenkins, Evans & Davies) along with Gemma so she revealed that she's pregnant so she must be having a son on the way (And Rosalie (Who is exactly Gemma's daughter so Gemma was with Hamish) is going to have a cousin & I was like ''What? Huia's going to have a baby boy. Are you serious?'' And I told Dad that his cousin is pregnant) so we had dinner which is salmon pasta because me & Pops were watching the rugby when the Highlanders played the Chiefs so we had dessert during the game so Pops went for the Highlanders so I was backing the Chiefs to win because I live in the North Island so the Chiefs ended up winning so I had a chat with Kathryn before I went to bed but this morning I saw Dad taking my stuff in & we were having breakfast just moments before we went to the market & looked at a house we looked for Kathryn (Although she's a good woman or should I say wahine compared to Aunty Tania because not only she's good looking) to live moments before we headed back to my new home which is 15A Kells Avenue (Well I have been living in my flat for nearly 3 years or so after spending nearly 25 years & 8 months with my Dad so I am hoping to get my life back on track by redeeming myself) so we had cold meat, cheese & salad with croutons for lunch & after lunch, I dried dishes & watered the plants & now doing my blog so I have been doing my usual gimmick listening to rock music (Such as Bush, Audiovent, Queens Of The Stone Age, Deftones, 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, Faith No More, The White Stripes, Lenny Kravitz (He's a black (Or should I say African American) rockstar along with William DuVall of Alice In Chains, Living Color & the late Jimi Hendrix), Blink-182, Linkin Park (My Malaysian friend Sophie's favourite band), Red Hot Chili Peppers (Used to be my favourite band, because now it's Breaking Benjamin), Foo Fighters (Used to be my favourite band also), Shihad & of course Pearl Jam because I listen 20 songs a day so I am getting used to it) while blogging.

So that is my 173rd blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 93rd this year (And it is only 20 days remaining until Christmas).

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