Off to New Zealand! ; Swimming with dolphins...

(posted from Arthur’s Pass Cafe, Arthur’s Pass, NZ)

(This post covers 21 January - 18 February, 2013)

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Monday, 18 February -

This morning we were up at 0615 for our dolphin-swim appointment at 0820.
We drove to Akaroa and parked right next to the main wharf. After our briefing at 0830 we suited up in wet suit and booties (along with the other ten swimmers) and headed out toward the sea on the big, modern catamaran. The cat was chosen both for its stability and for the ability to place the engine and propulsion unit forward and away from the stern and the swim ladders. A nasty prop
We seemed to have no good luck at first and I was starting to wonder whether we’d get to swim when two dolphins approached and attempted to ride our bow wave. We were going a bit too slow for that but they seemed to enjoy swimming alongside.
We entered the 61-degree water which at first took our breath away. But once it had filled up the wet-suit and our bodies warmed it, the sea seemed quite pleasant. We had a small chop-- about one-foot waves--- but they had a long period and were quite comfortable.
Labashi and I made our way out to the far edge of the group and that seemed to be a good place to see lots of dolphins. We’d see them approach and sometimes come up only two feet away. We had diving masks and snorkels and we soon learned to put our faces in the water as soon as we saw them come anywhere near our direction. They didn’t always surface again and sometimes went right under us.
We had been warned not to touch the dolphins and we didn’t, even though they sometimes came within arms reach. They were constantly on the move, darting between us, perhaps, but never pausing.
We swam with them for about 30 minutes before the boat backed to each of us in order to board the ladders in an orderly fashion. The boat has rear controls and side-thrusters so the captain is right there in view of the swimmers boarding and can keep the boat under control very nicely. It was again to our advantage to be further from the boat for we had some good sightings after the pickup sequence started.
After serving us hot chocolate and telling us more about the Hectors, we had a final few minutes among a group of five or six before we headed back.
Back at the wharf we all stripped off the wet suits and booties and had hot showers. Labashi and I had brought along our toiletry kits and waited until everyone else left before having ourselves a nice hot shower each. The others had just had a quick rinse.
After dropping our wet stuff off at the van we walked through town to the fish-and-chips shop. Today’s catch was guernet and a portion of fish and chips was $10.50 but you have to buy the (largish) ketchup and tartar sauce packets at $.60 each. The drinks were also expensive-- a ginger beer and a 22 oz water were $4.20 each. Fortunately, the fish-and-chips portion was large enough for us to just share one.
After lunch I was knocked out by the Dramamine we had taken this morning but Labashi didn’t seem to be affected. She shopped while I napped for a half-hour. We then spent an hour at the library/espresso shop on wi-fi.
We then visited the shop with the listing for free camping in our Native Parks guide and it turned out to be a ‘misunderstanding’. The shop ran tours of penguin-nesting colonies and track-walks. They only offered a spot in the driveway of one of the employees if someone was on a multi-day walk.
The girl suggested we could drive up Lighthouse Road to spots up there so we gave it a shot. The road was very steep, in places so steep I wasn’t sure first gear was going to pull us up there. We saw one pull-off across from a sheep-loading ramp which would work in a pinch but we’d be very exposed if the wind picked up.

Up at 0615 for our morning trip; drove to Akaroa in 35 min; parked at wharf. Suited up after briefing and went out. No luck at first, then good luck for 35 min swim. We at outside of ring and got lots of viewing. Afterwards had lunch at fish and chips (expensive paid for ketchup and tartar), 4.20 soda or water. I napped while L shopped. Went to native lands listing then up lighthouse road and back, then tourist road to Otetopatu Reserve. Stayed for night. Saw Crux, satellite, small magellanic cloud, Orion nebula, Milky Way. Out by starlight.

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Sunday, 17 February -

We left Waihora Park late this morning. We were up a bit late at 0800 but had lots of little chores and never left until 0930.
We were almost half-way to Akaroa but the second half is the hilly one. We first hit Little River, though, and stopped at the visitor’s center and art gallery. I’ve taken quite a liking to New Zealand cappuccinos and mochaccinos and the Hummingbird brand is a good one. The art work was high quality.
We arrived Akaroa around 1330 and immediately started looking for a dolphin-swim charter. That was the whole point of Akaroa for Labashi so we didn’t want to miss out. We booked with Black Cat charters. Cost was high... $145 per person... but then again these are the world’s rarest dolphins and they are wild, not trained. The trip is limited to 12 swimmers and it’s from a largish catamaran so the boat should be nice and stable.
We then walked along restaurant row along the beach but the town and all the restaurants were very crowded.... Sunday, you know! We ended up back at the van and had a nicer lunch than we would have had in a crowded and noisy restaurant.
After lunch we walked back to the old French side of town and up to the Giant’s House. This turned out to be a home far up on a hill which the owner had surrounded with large (giant!) plaster figures, all covered in small mosaics. It was creative but not worth the $40 admission price to us. We could see enough from outside the gate to see it wasn’t for us. If it had been a $5 per person fee, we might have gone for it but no thanks at $20 per person.
We walked back toward the van and stopped at the library/cinema/espresso shop for a cuppa and a wi-fi connection.
We then walked back to the van and drove from Akaroa to Okain’s Bay Campground. The camping app said the fee was 1-5$ but it was $12 per person. When I hesitated, the girl said she’d give me the group rate which was $10 per person.
We selected a spot in a grove of trees and while Labashi started supper I went walking. I soon found a zip-line and a bike track (a course for kids up and down through the woods) and the beach.
After supper Labashi and I walked to the beach looking for penguins or seals. We had a beautiful moon rising as the sun set and it was nice to be out on the smooth-sand beach all by ourselves. There was also a creepy sea-cave nearby that we explored a bit until we remembered we were in earthquake country. This area feels very remote though it’s really only a few hours from Christchurch.
Back at the van I did a bit of blogging catch-up and set up alarms for tomorrow’s early start.

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Saturday, 16 February -

This morning I found the nearest grocery store on the GPS. While Labashi shopped I texted Andrew to call (incoming calls are free). We went over the water pump issue and it turned out to only have some air in the system. Once I left the faucet on to let the pump push the air out, it started pumping water. That’s great! I was thinking we were in for a day of rushing around trying to get a water pump replaced.
We then went on to Westfield Mall where I bought minutes for the phone (Andrew only provides the phone, not minutes) and we went to the K-Mart where we bought a mattress topper (the van mattress is too thin) and a cheapie quilt. Labashi likes to have a lot of covers and since Andrew dropped the van off to us, we couldn’t ask for more like we had in South Africa.
After our shopping we wanted so see more of Christchurch so set the GPS for Sumner Beach. That was only a half-hour trip but along the way we saw a Home Depot-like business--- a “Mitre10 Mega”. We looked for a fitting for the fresh-water tank’s vent but didn’t find one. Apparently Pex isn’t a thing yet in New Zealand.
We then drove on to Sumner beach and walked the beach for an hour.
We needed to get to a campsite for the night so set the GPS for Waihora Park. But because of our new position our route took us up the steep hills northeast of the city. That was a beautiful drive--- until the top, where a sign said the road was closed due to landslides. A GPS alternate showed another route but we also found it blocked by a landslide. We ended up taking a shortcut down the mountain but came out very close to where we had first started ascending. But we didn’t regret the trip up the mountain.... we had a spectacular view up there.
Back at Waihora I talked to Adelle about her listing on the Rankers web site (the listing for her campground) and then I sat out a bit to watch the stars but soon faded. The sun goes down about 20:45 and the sky is still light until 21:15 or so. Wow--- I love summer!

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Friday, 15 February -

Today after our Uncle Toby’s Cheerios we went into Christchurch to the Botanical Garden. We went to the DOC office seeking maps and assistance and were mostly successful.
We then walked through the beautiful Botanical Garden to the Museum. We started through and I realized I’d have to move Budley or risk a parking ticket. While Labashi toured the Maori section she so badly wanted to see, I walked back to the van and moved it to the Re:Start Mall parking lot on the advice of a museum staffer. Parking was $1 an hour there and $3.10 an hour at the meters.
Labashi was about finished with the section when I returned and I joined her for the rest of the first floor. We had entered the museum thinking we’d spend an hour there and three hours later had only done the first floor!
We flashed through the second floor and then headed down to Re:Start. This is a section of the city where the earthquake rubble was pushed back and a few blocks of shopping area was built out of shipping containers. The city had purchased over 1000 shipping containers right after the 2010 earthquake. In three months, an architectural firm had designed and a contracting firm had built, a shopping mall from some of them. Others were used to make barriers against falling rock around the base of some hills.
We used the free wi-fi around Re:Start to check in at home and did some shopping for New Zealand specialties--- like possum-and-merino socks and gloves. Everything seemed so expensive, though. Sweaters were over $200 and even a pair of gloves was $40.
I also used wi-fi to fix a problem with online billing for my Tracfone. I’ve been extending service without any problem and now I get a reject while in New Zealand. I bought minutes on both phones to extend service until after my return to avoid losing accumulated minutes.
After some searching online, I decided I wanted to get a New Zealand map chip for my GPS. I had the rental one, a TomTom, but I didn’t like it at all. If I was going to do this I needed to do it now before we left Christchurch and got away from the city.
I found one at a Map World about 20 minutes away.... so far as I could tell the only place to get it in Christchurch. We drove over there and I bought the chip with the New Zealand and Australia maps for NZ$249. That’s about $40 more than I would have had to pay for it in the US but I don’t have much choice.
One thing I’ve learned. Bring your own stuff; don’t depend on the outfitter.
That evening we drove back to Waihora Park for another delightful night in the country by ourselves.
But that evening we had another problem. The water pump quit. I measured the water in the tank and it was only down about one-third. I didn’t have cell service so couldn’t call Andrew from there. It would have to wait until morning.

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Thursday, 14 February -

This morning we had Uncle Toby’s Cheerios for breakfast at our camping spot at North-South Holiday Park.
After packing up, we headed to the nearby Antarctic Center and spent a few hours there. The entrance fees were very high at NZ$80 for entrance to the museum, the penguin feeding, the 4D film, and the Antarctic Storm Experience.
We were just in time for the penguin feeding so went there first. We first watched from an underground aquarium window with a view of the person feeding them above. As the feeding continued we moved to a half-and-half view, then to an above view. The penguins were indeed very cute and we saw that many of them had infirmities and that’s why they were at the center.
Next up was the 4D Experience. This was a 3D film of a trip to and in among the ice of Antarctica with the added dimension of water spray and moving seats to simulate what was on the screen. As the bow of the ship fell in heavy seas, we’d feel it in our seats and water would spray us in the face.
At one point we’re ashore looking up at icicles and one breaks off and seems to pierce right into us.
After lunch in the parking lot, we went back in for more. In addition to the historical artifacts we also participated in an Antarctic Storm. We donned rubber overshoes and heavy coats and entered a room of snow and 18-degree temperatures. As the simulated storm approached, the room darkened and the wind began to shriek. The anemometer only recorded a wind strength of 25 miles per hour but the wind-chill it brought was very real.
After the museum we decided to go to the local Department of Conservation office for maps and guidebooks. The GPS showed it downtown but when we got close it was obvious the office was no longer there. I checked the Official New Zealand maps app on the iPad and it showed the office back near the airport, where we had come from. We followed those directions and thought we had it made when we saw a Department of Conservation flag atop the building. But there was a sign on the door saying the office had recently moved to the Botanical Garden visitor’s center.... just a few blocks where we left from for this fruitless search.
We determined that we’d get there too late if we had any delays at all so we headed out to our first campsite out in the country. I had picked this one from the Official New Zealand maps app which had led us astray for the DOC office.
But we found Waihora Park with no difficulty. But there was nobody there and no instructions. We’ve seen this before, though, so we just went ahead and selected a campsite and checked back a few hours later to pay.
That’s when we met Adelle, the wifely side of the caretaker couple. She was a trip.... a bit sassy and very funny in a country-gal way.
While waiting for Adelle to show, I met two Austrian guys. One had been working for the last five months on the North Island and had taken a two week vacation to tour the South Island with his buddy.
Waikora Park is a local park next to a country harness-racing track on one side and a Department of Conservation plant nursery on another. A rail-trail for walking and bicycling was nearby and it had a children’s playground complete with tree-house and an old enclosed lifeboat for children to play on and in. It also had a bar-be-que of a type I’ve not seen before. In this one, you light a gas flame by pressing in a button and it heats up a stainless-steel surface where you cook your food. After cooking, you clean down the surface with the provided tools. The gas to run it is free.
After supper we walked to the rail-trail head where we found a railway station building open and equipped much like it had been in the early 1900’s when it served the local farmers and ranchers.
We then walked back to the van and set up for the night. By 2100 we were already asleep.

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Wednesday, 13 February -

We again walked to the truck stop and this time shared a ‘homestyle’ breakfast--- two eggs, English bacon (more like a ham), sausage (more like a giant hot-dog), a McDonalds-like homefries triangle, and toast. That one cost us $20 but since we were sharing and had plenty of food, it seemed about right.
Back at the room I made calls to our bank via Skype and they said the problem had been cleared overnight. No information was available on why the transaction had failed.
At 0900 I met Andrew, our host from Cruzy Campers, at the reception office and we drove on to our room. There he went through the van with us and we signed the papers. He was turning the van over to us here rather than taking us back across town to his place. His wife had other business nearby a bit later and would pick him up.
All plans went out the window when we smelled natural gas as we were going through the instructions on how to turn on the gas. Andrew had just bought a new tank and installed it on the way here but I could hear a leak and Andrew, who didn’t have good hearing, could smell it.
Andrew called his wife and told her to meet us at a local mall. We had asked for directions to a mall for our provisioning so he wisely decided to take us there to go ahead and shop while he worked through the problem.
I came out to check an hour later and he had replaced the bottle and adapter but still had the smell. We determined it had to be a leak in the regulator. He went off with his wife to buy one and I hung out for 20 minutes until his return. That did indeed fix the problem.
We continued shopping and stowing until near supper time and then bought a takeout meal from one of the food-court shops. We had a wonderful stuffed baked potato and barbequed beef with potato wedges-- our first meal in the van.
The van’s license plate says ‘Budley’ so that’s it’s name. When I use the cell phone to call Andrew callerID also identifies me as Budley.
Since we were familiar with North South Holiday Park from our evening there last night, we returned for our first night in the van.
We got organized fairly quickly and settled down to a comfortable, but colder, night. The temperature was around 45 degrees.

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Tuesday, 12 February -

We crossed the International Date Line a few hours out of Auckland. At Auckland airport, we had a mess. We felt okay but had to go through multiple passport controls. We had a long line for the first only to then have to retrieve our baggage to be scanned into the country...in our presence. That meant we had to get our baggage from the carousel and lug it to and through another long line. When one of our bags came through the tech spotted hiking shoes and Labashi’s were taken and cleaned while we waited wondering whether there was going to be a big problem about it. In the end she was issued a warning notice but it could have been an on-the-spot $400 fine if the hiking shoes had been heavily encrusted with dried mud.
The hiking shoes problem came about because we hadn’t declared them. The problem with that was the form asked if you had any hiking boots or shoes which had been worn outside. Haven’t ALL shoes been worn outside? Also, the shoes in question were not a classic hiking shoe but rather a cross-over between a hiking shoe and a sneaker. If the form had said “Do you have any shoes with a lug or lug-style sole?”, we would have answered yes.
We then had the choice of waiting for the bus or walking ten minutes to the domestic terminal. We chose to walk since we thought we’d have a problem loading and unloading the luggage and the buses only ran every fifteen minutes. That was fine but when we got to the terminal the blue line getting us there continued down the sidewalk to the end of the terminal. We went the whole way to the end only have to re-trace the entire distance through the terminal back to the Air New Zealand check-in.
After yet another trip through a security scan we waited about an hour for our flight.
In Christchurch, we retrieved our baggage and I saw a Vodaphone store nearby. I bought a New Zealand SIM chip for the GSM-frequency phone I had bought in South Africa last year. Cost was $30 but includes $20 in talk-time at .22 per minute.
When I tried to pay for the SIM chip with my credit card, the transaction was rejected. This was particularly irksome since I had contacted my credit union at least four times about our travel plans for New Zealand. Fortunately, I had picked up some cash from the ATM just before going to the Vodaphone store.
I used my new phone to call the campground for a shuttle pickup and we soon were in the capable hands of Kristen. She shuttled us directly to our room and we took quick showers and crashed.
We woke in about four hours-- about 1700 local time. We walked to the nearby truck stop and had comfort food-- hamburgers and fries with a beer for me and a glass of wine for Labashi. For NZ$28 or about $23 US. Fortunately, though we had ordered and paid for a plain burger each, they were garnished wonderfully and we had no complaints.
On the way back to our room I bought $5 worth of internet time (an hour) and used the time to check mail and make a Skype call to check our answering machine.
We went back to bed about 2030 local (about 0230 body-time) and slept heavily until 0630 (local).

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Monday, 10/11 February --

Enroute to New Zealand we were served our first meal, a supper, about an hour after takeoff. After supper I watched the movie ‘Looper’, then also tried to nap but to no avail. Cabin lights then went down for a few hours.
About halfway through the flight I caught a few minutes of sleep but it didn’t refresh. But about 10 hours into the flight I put my seat back a bit and caught a short nap that for some reason refreshed me greatly. I don’t believe I slept more than 5 or 10 minutes but woke feeling much livelier. Labashi said she hadn’t slept but a few minutes either and also seemed to feel better.
We then watched another movie. I tried a New Zealand one, “My Secret Wedding”, about a Chinese-ancestry girl marrying a European-ancestry New Zealand guy.
Two hours before landing we were served breakfast and that seemed to revive everyone.

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Sunday, 10 February -

We woke a bit late and had a long breakfast with our hosts. We just hung out chatting until loading up for the run to the airport at 1330.
At the airport we suddenly realized we had a problem. We were thinking we could check a bag and take a carry-on plus a personal item. However, the weight limits were much lower this year. I had apparently looked at the limits for our South Africa trip last summer and missed the lower weights now allowed. The only way to continue was to check another bag... for $150 more! I briefly thought of just throwing away enough to get down a bag but I was afraid of any unforeseen delays from that point on might cause us to miss our flight. We ended up checking a third bag. We definitely have some planning to do for the trip home.
Our flight to LAX got underway on time and was non-eventful. We had a bit of turbulence but only for a few minutes at a time.
At LAX we had to transition from the domestic system to the international system so that meant catching a bus to another terminal and then checking in through security again. Each pass through security was a bit of a hassle, mainly because the put-everything-back-together side is too short. You just barely get your shoes on and others are coming through behind.
We boarded for our flight to Auckland about 2145, a full hour before departure and settled in. Our seat assignments had been changed at the last minute but only to improve them, i.e., to allow us to sit together. The plane too off on time and we wee on our way for the 13-hour leg of the flight.

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Saturday, 9 February -

Today’s the day!
We put in motion all the plans to shut down the house and armed the security system after loading the luggage in the car.
We then drove to Labashi’s brother’s home in Northern Virginia, not far from Dulles Airport.
We had a very pretty day for driving and arrived at her brother’s home at 1530. At 1845, we all went out to look for a pass of the International Space Station. I had received an email from NASA’s Spot the Station program this morning telling me there would be a pass tonight so I looked up the flyby times for Northern Virginia on spaceweather.com/flybys.
I had the iPad along and used the GoSatWatch app to try to find the space station’s icon while it was still below the horizon. The position didn’t look right and I then remembered I had set the location manually and it had been set for West Virginia location. I was still in the process of getting this squared away when Labashi saw a moving light. It wasn’t in quite the right place but it was close. That one turned out to be another satellite. We had a two-fer going!
And sure enough, the space station appeared on time and where predicted. It was much brighter than the other satellite. It was bright enough, in fact, to be what I call a ‘sizzler’. It’s so bright it’s easy to imagine you can hear it making a sizzling sound. Spectacular!!!!
After the big success with the sighting, we went to dinner at the local Bonefish restaurant and had a wonderful time chatting away the evening.

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Friday, 8 February -

Today we packed our clothing and incidentals. That doesn’t sound like much but lots of decisions are made in the process.
Late that afternoon I walked along the creek near home with rain threatening and got in 16K steps for the day.
That evening we watched the new ‘Gold Rush’ episode. We also learned we’ll miss the finale.

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Thursday, 7 February -

I started packing my electronics bag today. I have GPS, multiple tactical flashlights, headlamps, portable UV water purifier, 12v power inverter, ipod and cords, and spare batteries for all. I ran an errand to the post office and along the way heard a helicopter close overhead. It was a small copter under contract to trim back the power lines running from Three Mile Island, the York Haven Hydro Plant and the Brunner Island coal-fired steam plant. Dangling from the copter is a long cable and an array of ten 26-inch circular saw blades powered by a motor in a cage at the top of the array.
I was quite busy running around today so I have 6000 steps in before I started my walk along the creek. I made my first 16K day today.
That evening we finished off the ‘Closer’ disk.

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Wednesday, 6 February -

I made arrangements with Andrew at Cruzy Campers to meet at our campground the day after our arrival in Christchurch. In addition to campsites, this campground -- North South Holiday Park -- has cabins and ‘ensuite’ rooms with bathroom and shower. But what draws us to this one is they have a free airport shuttle and are used to dealing with foreigners coming in or leaving via the airport. Also, there’s a truck stop across the street where we can reportedly have a hearty meal.
That afternoon it was very cold yet... around 30.... but sunny. I convinced the Concours to start and headed to town. I was surprised to find the creek road very muddy and only the tracks of other vehicles were clear. I had to stay in the narrow tracks to avoid the mud.
After Starbucks, I returned via Rudy Park and walked there for 7K steps on the Fitbit.
That evening we watched two episodes of ‘The Closer- Season 7’. Yeah, it’s time to close this one down. The plot lines are getting thinner and thinner.

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Tuesday, 5 February -

More New Zealand planning this morning, then we drove up to Bethany for an early dinner with Mom and Dad. We went out to Texas Roadhouse. This visit turned out to be a disappointment. They served half of our baby-back ribs only partially cooked and too tough to cut. The manager took them back but instead of replacing them, we waited out a cooking process. Mom and Dad finished their meal before we got ours.
I got my walk in at Bethany before and after the meal.
That evening we watched a ‘Mad Men’ episode. It doesn’t have the same old magic. There are enough flashes of inventiveness to keep us interested but it’s not like the early years.

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Monday, 4 February -

Today we were heavy into the New Zealand trip planning. Labashi loves this run-up to the trip. She has books and we watched movies and she spends hours and hours on the web researching each little detail about the Maori culture and places to visit.
That afternoon I walked my four-miler along the creek for my Fitbit steps. That evening we watched two ‘Mad Men’ episodes.

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Sunday, 3 February -

This morning we watched ‘Sunday Morning’ and then I walked my four-mile creekside walk in a very comfortable 35 degrees.
That afternoon we watched the Rugby Sevens championships from Wellington, New Zealand. This was our first exposure to Sevens and these matches were great! The seven-man game is much faster (and shorter) and we saw amazing reversals of fortune. We were hoping to see the All-Blacks in the final but they were eliminated in a nail-biter. Then we saw England come back from an early-in-the-match shellacking to beat a powerful Kenya team. We, and the Wellingtonians, were rooting for Kenya.
We then watched the Super Bowl. We usually only watch a few play-sequences before getting bored but this one was different. We watched the entire game.

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Saturday, 2 February -

Today I spent much of the day writing up instructions on how to restart our home’s systems... just in case Labashi’s brother or sister have to stay at our house in the unlikely event of a family emergency during our absence.
That afternoon I bundled up for today’s 25-degree high and walked the two miles to the bridge and back. With the wind in my face one direction I was cold going and warm coming back.
That evening we watched another New Zealand film, this one ‘Out of the Blue’. It’s the story of guy who one day snapped and started very methodically shooting up the small village.

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Friday, 1 February -

Today I took a Starbucks tour to grab up all the DoubleShot Lights I can. My two-case order didn’t come in at my regular Starbucks and they tell me they’ve been discontinued. I’ve heard this before but just in case I buzzed over to the East York and Park City shops and bought up their Doubleshots stock-- three cases total.
Of course part of my reasoning in going to Lancaster was also that I could get my day’s steps in walking the Mall.
That evening we watched the new ‘Gold Rush’ episode.

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Thursday, 31 January -

I took Labashi to her appointment this morning and used the wait-time to find an alternate way home via roads we’ve never seen. I also took a short walk at Springettsbury Park but the cold wind was howling today so I didn’t last long.
After lunch at Isaacs we walked at Galleria Mall to accumulate the day’s steps.
Back home I read Expedition Portal to see what the builders are doing as far as carrying propane for their stoves and water heaters. I’m using the one-pound portable tanks and am happy with that solution but I like reading about what the more-complex build-outs are doing.
That evening we watched the extras on ‘An Angel At My Table’.


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Wednesday, 30 January-

Today was a very warm but foggy morning and then a rainy afternoon. I spent the morning on the web and by lunch time Labashi seemed to be getting a bit frantic about her to-do list for the day. I volunteered to run the errands in town. I zipped off to the post office and in to Lowe’s (where I got in 6000 steps going up and down the aisles!). I took care of the grocery shopping and banking tasks and stopped at the State Store to buy ingredients for a special cocktail.
Back home I used those ingredients--- Canadian Club whiskey, St. Brendan’s Irish Cream, and Kahlua--- to make a drink our tax prep specialist had told us about. Her husband had done the Chilkoot Trail last year and swore that the miner’s favorite drink was an “Alaskan Duck Fart”... equal parts of the ingredients (though some recipes call for Crown Royal rather than Canadian Club). Not bad!
That evening we watched ‘Trout Bums- New Zealand Kiwi Camo’, a low-budget fly-fishing film. I liked seeing the backcountry but there was too much fishing footage in this fishing film! Tying flies, casting flies, watching flies float, watching fish take flies, and even catching some of them (that refers to the fact that they missed a lot of fish until they learned to pause two seconds before setting the hook).
We also watched ‘An Angel At My Table’, a film about New Zealand poet Janet Frame. What a life!

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Tuesday, 29 January -

I spent much of the morning reading Expedition Portal forum entries on pop-up camper builds for trucks. To my taste the builders are going too tech-heavy but I did find a good series of posts (in another section) from a guy who simply outfitted a small box truck with a bed and ice-box and basically lives like a backpacker but with a much more comfortable tent.... and he’s been doing it full-time for several years. He makes the case for keeping it simple and getting out there.
That afternoon I drove up to Bethany and walked for a bit, then took Dad’s car for its inspection appointment. After returning, I then walked the walking trail around the perimeter of the Bethany West grounds.
That evening we watched the pilot of ‘Annika Bengstrom’, a Swedish TV series about a crime reporter. We see lots of cues reminding us of ‘Wallender’ and ‘The Girl WIth The Dragon Tatoo’ series we loved.
We also watched a few TED talks via Netflix Instant.

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Monday, 28 January -

Today we had our annual tax-prep appointment. The appointment itself is fun! Our tax-prep specialist also travels and has lots of stories to tell.
I then dropped Labashi off and went on to Bethany and Capital City Mall for 8000 steps and 15-or-so stairs.
That evening we watched ‘Kawa’, a New Zealand movie about a Maori guy whose father died, leaving him in a senior position in the community and having to work through coming out as a gay man in this very conservative community. We were in it to learn more about New Zealand ways but it turned out to have a very good story to tell.

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Sunday, 27 January -

Labashi went to tea with her tea-buddies today. I fired up the Miata for a short run to clean off the disc brakes and circulate oil and top off the battery.
The temperature was up around 30 so I then got the Concours running and headed down to Starbucks and then Rudy Park for my walk. We had had snow yesterday but the roads were fairly decent-- just white with salt and I had to be careful of the grit outside the tire tracks and on corners. Everything went well until I went into Rudy Park and found the road snow-covered close to the parking area. I turned around and left rather than ride that packed-down snow (ice!) and rode to the ball-fields park (at the mill-- I can’t remember its name). I knew there was a sun-exposed road and a little corner of the parking lot where I might find a spot for the Concours without crossing ice. That was indeed the case.
I walked from there up the rail-trail segment to Rudy Park and made a loop in Rudy before heading back.
We made a run over to Deb’s Pizza for sandwiches that evening. We’ve been working through all the food in the fridge and freezer so we can turn if off during our trip rather than lose another fridge as we had a few years ago.
That evening we watched two episodes of ‘Mad Men’ Season Five.

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Saturday, 26 January -

I drove up to Bethany and Capital City for my Fitbit walk and visit to Starbucks and spent the rest of the afternoon on the web, mostly on Twitter, Reddit, and the various news-junky sources... with an exploratory detour over to RedState and Drudge.
That evening we watched ‘A Better Life’, a very good movie set in LA about a man trying to keep his son out of gangs. We then finished with a ‘Mad Men’ ep.


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Friday, 25 January -

This morning I ran Labashi over to a half-hour appointment near Rudy Park and spent the wait-time walking in the 18-degrees-and-windy cold. I’m glad it was a short appointment!
We then went on to the nearby Galleria Mall to add some steps. Then it was a quick visit to the York Historical Society gift shop to look for some small Pennsylvania-themed gifts for the NZ trip.
Back home I did a few clean-up chores and scheduled an inspection for Dad’s car. I then wrote an excruciatingly-long email to my brothers about the HomeSitter and what to do, who to call, etc if they can’t reach me in the wilds of the Pacific.
That night we watched the new ‘Gold Rush’ episode.

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Thursday, 24 January -

This morning was only 12 degrees so I drove up to Bethany and then Capital City Mall to get in my steps (I’m still making my daily 10K goal).
Back home mid-afternoon I called tech support for the HomeSitter and went over details of how it works. I had hoped I’d be able to call in to the box and disable it if it became a nuisance but that’s not possible. But I did learn there’s a method to call in to the box even when it shares the line with an answering machine. You just have to call in, hang up, and call back within three minutes. If the event is still going on (as in a power outage), the box will tell you that.

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Wednesday, 23 January -

We received a call from the HomeSitter at 0130 this morning. In my groggy state it took me a few seconds to realize the phone call I was seeing on my cell phone was from my home number.... obviously the HomeSitter.
The recording told me the temperature had dropped below 45 degrees and there had been a power outage. I punched in the code to tell it to stop making calls (before it woke my brothers up!) and headed downstairs.
The HomeSitter was right! I had made the mistake of placing it near the outer wall in a spot where insulation had been removed during the heat-pump installation. I checked the temperature with my temp-gun and it said the wall was 44. But just a few inches away, fully inside the room, the temperature was 52.
I couldn’t account for the power-outage message, however. I hadn’t noticed the power go out and my alarm clock’s display hadn’t zeroed (as it does in any power outage of more than a few seconds). I realized later in the day that this message had probably come from my starting a power-outage test (by unplugging the unit) but then abandoning the test before the alert threshold.
Later that morning we drove up to Bethany and I walked the halls while Labashi picked up Dad from the hospital. We then checked some medical issues for him and lunched at the nearby Isaac’s before going home.
I still had a few errands to run--- one of them to buy a roll of insulation for that problem I had been alerted to.
We spent the evening working on the web, mostly on New Zealand stuff.

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Tuesday, 22 January -

Today was very cold (16) and windy so we drove up to Capital City Mall for 7K steps. We lunched at the SaladWorks there and then hit the local Staples for a print cartridge before going over to see Mom.
Back home I reserved our seats online for the partner airlines (United and Virgin) for the US legs of our trip.
That evening we watched ‘Gold Rush’ and ‘Africa: Congo’.

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Monday, 21 January -

Today we went to Mom and Dad’s apartment. Dad’s in the hospital for a few days so we’re making sure everything’s set up and working for Mom. Labashi made breakfast and I did some walking. The facility is wonderful for that.... miles of halls and lots of stairs, all virtually empty. I walked 7000 steps toward my 10K goal for the day.
Back home later that day I caught up and posted the blog. I then called Air New Zealand to try to get Labashi an aisle seat but to no avail. My finished up my step count with a few laps around the house.
That evening we finished ‘Revenge’ Season 1.


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