[jdbob]

Watch out in Marlborough for the rest of the month! Drove down to northern california today, flying from San Francisco on Sunday, arriving Tuesday in Nelson and then staying in Blenheim until the end of the month. Then two days in Welly and two days in Masterton.

Have made some contacts with some folks with similar hobbies such as model railways and amateur radio. Might also try some geocaching if the weather cooperates.

[Smiler]

Have a good trip and safe driving :nice1

Sorry we're missing you but I promise we are not leaving Welly because you are on the roads. :D

[Avalon]

My dad is a member of the GB amatuer radio society! (Its all gibberish to me im sorry). And he can talk the hind leg of a donkey about model railways too.

Unfortuantley - we are leaving for the UK on the 5th April - but if you are about before you can holler and im sure he'll be happy to meet for a drink or something.

Enjoy your trip

[Smiler]

Helen

Gary is a member of the one here in Welly ZL6QH if dad ever wants a trip up.
www.zl6qh.com (http://www.zl6qh.com)

It is such a beautiful place, I even don't mind going with him, minus the anorak and weak lemony drink of course. :uhoh

[jdbob]

Flight from San Francisco to Auckland wasn't too bad, had three seats to myself so I could sort of stretch out. Went through the inquisition from immigration and customs for no apparent reason. Maybe I should have gotten a haircut before I went? At least they didn't do a cavity search. All sorts of questions about where I will be staying and what I will be doing. What's my favorite color. What's the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow, etc. I guess they have to justify their job somehow.

Blenheim has quite a vibrant downtown area which is good to see. Going to do some exploring in the local area today. Need to find out where the Emergency Management building is before a meeting Thursday night. Also going to check out the Omaka Aerodrome, I understand they have scenic flights, assuming the skies clear up, it's overcast now.

[Oregonkiwi]

What's the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow, etc.
:laugh

Don't take the inquisition too personally, I think we all have tales of encounters with various airport personnel. We visited NZ a few weeks ago, I got some sharp questioning as we were LEAVING New Zealand, I said I'd been visiting my parents, and I guess that didn't match with the US passport I was traveling on - "Your parents? How long have they been here?" etc... had to go into the whole spiel about dual citizenship blah blah... And there's all the "casual " questions that US officials ask to catch you out, like "You live in Roseburg? How far is that from Portland?" - asked in a friendly tone, but still, you know he didn't actually care about the answer, just wanted to see if we knew it.

Wow, John Day to Nelson, bet you felt like you'd been traveling a week when you finally arrived! We did the same thing, drive from OR to N. Cal., stay with in-laws, drive to SFO... really feels like you've traveled a long way.

[noobie]

Might also try some geocaching if the weather cooperates.

Woohoo! Geocaching is one of my favorite activities. My first find was a few days after the September 11th attacks (I remember commenting in the log on how quiet it was without planes flying overhead).

Now I'm saving my pennies for the New Zealand City Navigator for my GPS. $250 (ouch)!

[jdbob]

Weather not been very nice here, in fact I've gone and caught a cold :(

I guess you can't win them all. Still hoping for some sunshine before I leave the south island.

[JohnM]

Hey jdbob,
Can you recommend accomodation in Nelson? I am coming there the first week in May for a few days. It's just me.....so a decent hotel would be fine. I'll be looking at jobs and seeing if I'd like to live there.
Thanks!
John

[jdbob]

Sorry John, I've never stayed in Nelson so can't help you.

[jess]

jdbob -

hope your cold is going away and you start to feel much better!! :)

J

[jdbob]

Thanks Jess. Cold still hanging in there but we got some sunshine earlier and the day so I went out playing tourist. Just put some more photos on my blog (http://jdbob.blogspot.com)

[jdbob]

Finally decided to go see a doctor when I got to Masterton to make sure it was just a cold/flu and not some exotic south-pacific ailment. She had me get some Dimetapp liquid caps, hard to say if they actually do anything, but I'm slowly improving.

Got first class treatment from a couple in Masterton. They took me around to see all sorts of model railway layouts and fed me dinner two nights :raebanana

I'll add Wairarapa to my list of "suitable" locations, however I'm no closer to finding a spouse :uhoh

[dawn]

My dad is a UK radio ham, GW4 SAE if anyone fancies a chat, I'm sure he'd appreciate me announcing this here lol

Remember to drive on the left!