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Monday, January 14, 2002

We breakfasted, finished packing, loaded the car, and said goodbye to Bill and Pauline. On the road north at about 10 am, and had a good run up the coast, then inland to the Lewis Pass. The weather fined up, and we actually had some sun and blue sky for a while. The road winds up river valleys through native beech forests; only the very occasional farmhouse to provide any sign of habitiation. At Springs Junction, the clouds rolled in again, and it was soon raining steadily. This rain continued off and on until we arrived in Nelson at 4.30 pm, and made driving rather difficult.

We found the motel and booked in; rang our friends Carol and Ross, and arranged to come round for tea. As it was impromptu, we stopped at a supermarket and bought sausages, bread and things before driving to their home for a very pleasant evening. I've known Carol for upwards of 45 years, and we always have a lot to catch up with when we get together.

We were back to the motel at 11 pm and parked very quietly. Tomorrow will be a shopping day, so hope the weather will be kind.

Tuesday, January 15, 2002

We arose leisurely, and -- surprise -- it was raining. We donned our rain gear, and drove into the centre of Nelson to find a parking lot. After about 15 minutes, the rain cleared up and it was hot sun. I had to return to the car with jackets, and collect my sun hat. We spent a couple of hours looking through a secondhand book shop, also a string of 'antique' (actually junk) shops. It now being 12 noon, we had lunch and decided to leave the main street shopping until tomorrow morning.

Carol had informed us of a Tibettan Buddhist groups who were constructing a sand mandala at a local college hall. This is made from coloured sand, laid down in minutely detailed patterns from very narrow funnels tapped with a stick. I've seen this done elsewhere, and was interested to see it again. Unfortunately, it was the monks' day off -- so we missed seeing the action but were able to view the two-thirds-finished mandala. We went back down the road to another group of old shops selling 'junk'; and Joan bought up a stock of small dishes/plates which she uses for dispensing biscuits and cakes at home. She also found a Laura Ashley stockist and bought a hew bedspread for our bedroom.

We went back to the motel for a rest, then out to a seaside restaurant to meet up with Carol, Ross and the children. We had a nice meal; I tackled a fresh flounder (I don't mind eating fresh fish!) and there was a good deal of chatter. Afterwards we strolled along the embankment footpath for half an hour before going our separate ways. We've been packing, and I'm finishing these Kronikles before bed.

Wednesday, January 16, 2002

We packed and left the motel, and went into the city centre for some shopping. I managed to find a couple of paperbacks: Elizabeth Moon's Against the Odds (her latest in the Serrano saga) and the latest Harry Turtledove Colonisation Aftershocks. Plenty of reading for the boat trip tomorrow <g>

The weather was sunny and hot. A leisurely drive to Picton; we stopped for lunch under a tree in a parking area, and again for a Popsicle. The road travels through pine forests and up a long winding grade to the saddle at 360 metres. Just past Havelock, a small village at the head of one of the sounds, the road went up to another saddle with a lookout. We slogged up a track for 15 minutes and were annoyed to find that the scrub at the top had not been trimmed for a long time -- so the view was fragmentary. I did get some pix of the sounds, though. These are drowned valleys which come a long way in from the sea.

We arrived in Picton about 3.30 pm, booked into the motel, then rested until going out for a meal at an adjacent tavern. Joan had beautiful fish (one benefit of being close to prime fishing waters), and I had a ham steak.

An early night again tonight, although the ferry doesn't leave until 10 am, we still have to front up at 9 am at the wharf.

Thursday, January 17, 2002

All go again, this morning -- and was on the ferry wharf at 9 am, loaded, and away at 10 am. A beautiful sunny morning with a little streaky cirrus in the sky, and only a gentle chop on the water in Cook Strait. Docked in Wellington and away on the dot of 1 pm. We stopped at Lindale Farm Park at Paraparaumu for a soup lunch, then drove steadily on up the island. We loaded up with fruit and vegetables at a stall on the south side of Otaki, and carried straight through over the Volcanic Plateau to Lake Taupo. Food called us to a stop at a KFC in Taupo -- which we ate in a parking lot which overlooks the lake with a clear view down to the mountains, then a clear run home to arrive back at 8 pm.

Unpacked the car; opened the pile of mail, fired up Sissy to get over 400 emails, then flicked through the Daynoters pages to update myself. Great to be back on ADSL, after GSM and POTS connections for the week. Now off to bed.

Friday, January 18, 2002

A good night's sleep worked wonders; up and running at 7.30 am for a change. I needed a hair trim, so we drove over to our hair salon at 10.30 am; then into town to check up on my Epson scanner -- which still hasn't reached NZ, apparently. Then to the supermarket to do a top-up shop for the weekend, and back home. I did some office work until lunch; then at 2.30 pm we drove over to the doctor; Joan needed some antibiotic for a chest infection, and I wanted the doc to check a small raw area on my leg -- just over an area where the veins/capillaries have come up to the surface. Having had a father who suffered with varicose ulcers on both ankles, I am rather paranoid about things like that. However, he saw no problem with it and prescribed some antibacterial ointment.

I picked up the Adobe Acrobat 5 upgrade package from the courier, where it had been languishing for several days. On attempted installation, it informed me that I needed to have V.4 on hand -- but I was upgrading from V.3. There was a NZ 0800 number quoted, which I rang and was connected to a support centre somewhere in Asia. I was taken through a variant of the standard install by a very competent lad who spoke understandable English, and all went well. Adobe have done a Microsoft-type install for this situation: I had to give the V3 serial no., then quote a six-digit number displayed on a dialogue panel; he generated a six-digit code for me to enter, and the setup then proceeded normally. On inquiry, he told me that this number was hardware-dependent and if I needed to change the hard drive, I would be required to get another unlock code. I forgot to ask whether there was a limit on the number of times this can be done, but I would expect some sort of check to be made -- otherwise it would be pointless. I know Adobe have had to get tougher on their upgrade supplying, but this sort of thing is starting to get a bit ridiculous. I said to him that I was a confirmed tinkerer with computer innards, but he didn't seem to think there was any problem.

Oh yes... more rain tonight, and showers for the weekend. And the lawns need mowing again.

Saturday, January 19, 2002

It rained off and on, all night -- but the day has been dry and the weather guessers say there's an anticyclone here for the next week. Joan went off with Joanna and Ethan to start on purchasing his school uniform and shoes. He starts a new school this year, and that means new clothes. He's growing fast, anyway (his projected height is 6 ft 7 in) so last year's school uniform won't fit anyway.

I caught up on Daynoters' doings and did a little surfing. After lunch, I got back onto the tiling job that had been in abeyance; I had to strip the paint off the ensuite bathroom window, then prime the edge for painting. Regular readers might remember that the tiles are about 1 cm wider than the window board, so I glued a new strip on the edge to pack it out. This is raw wood, so has to be painted. The tile adhesive lifts paint off, so I had to get rid of that...

I've also started preparations for my photo school next weekend; I've had several people phoning in so there should be a good muster. I have to make up some viewing cards; these are offcuts of matte board with a 75 x 50 rectangle cut out. This is to help the attendees learn the art of 'pre-visualisation' -- being able to see a photo without peering through the viewfinder all the time. I hope the weather stays reasonably fine over the weekend; otherwise I'll have to take my alternate programme of indoor photography.

Sunday, January 20, 2002

Applied another coat of paint on the ensuite bathroom window edge -- and that was about all the real work for the day...

However, I did a little rummaging on the 'Net for arrangements and styles for my Technics KN3000 keyboard. It has been sitting virtually unused (except for Eli's fiddling) for a couple of years, and I have decided I better get some 'chops' back. For non-musoes, that means scales and finger exercises, and practicing things. I haven't lost much, but work is needed.

<old fogey warning>
I started playing piano in 1949; learnt for two years in boarding school, and played off and on since. I've had a number of organs and keyboards, but the KN3000 dates back to 1996. The music I play -- like all of us, really -- is the music I grew up with. Big band swing, jazz, the pops of the day from 40s to 50s; but I do like a lot of subsequent stuff, as long as it's musical and not just modulated noise. I'm comfortable with the electronic 70s groups like Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, and guitar players like Manzanera. But I loathe hip-hop, rap, garage and other 90s sounds because they are mostly drum noise without any redeeming features that I can discern. So of course, I play what I like.
</old fogey warning>

Jo, Don and family; niece Deirdre and son Michael all came here for the evening meal tonight -- it was Deirdre's birthday yesterday.