For the northern summer of 2011 our life consisted of doing very little – but doing it very well. On the fine sunny days – pretty much every day between May and October – we spent time at our villa pool.
And after a hard afternoons sunning and swimming it was a short walk back to the cottage for a G &T, a beer and some time to recover from the stress of the day.
I took this shot on a trip across the South Island a couple of years ago. The day started off overcast and raining in Christchurch but the further west we drove the better the weather became.
As we climbed up into the Southern Alps the sun was starting to show and the low grey cloud was clearing.
For no particular reason I was looking through our photo archives and came across a half dozen shots we took of the piazza outside St Peters a few years ago. I’ve never stitched them together before. But now I have, they actually make a half decent panorama despite being from a camera quite low on megapixels.
As a matter of interest the Pope often gives blessing to the crowds in the piazza on Sunday from the window of the building in the centre of the shot. Top floor, second window from the right.
It’s not often a single post can appeal to a range of different interests – but this one really hits the mark. It’s a picture of the dogs in our front yard but it offers so much more.
For dogs lovers it’s Bella taking some time out from patrolling the front gate with Poppie still on guard in the background. She’s wondering why I’m lying full length on the grass – hence the quizzical look.
For gardeners it’s a study in lawns – check out that lush green growth clipped to perfection and standing to attention – defying a hot and dry Wellington summer’s afternoon which is arguably one of the best summers anyone can remember.
For photographers the shot was achieved with the camera flat on the grass and was one of about 30 shots taken as the girls wandered around.
The camera used was my Nikon D7000 with a Nikkor 18 – 70mm zoom lens set to 50mm, the aperture at F9 to keep Bella in focus and to throw Poppie slightly out of focus, and the shutter speed at 125th of a second to freeze any rapid movement. In Photoshop I replaced the original image of Poppie with one from another shot so she was looking up, cropped the shot using the rule of thirds (Bella’s head is about 1/3 of the way down the shot and 1/3 of the way in from the right), removed the distracting bright round hole in the gate, sharpened around Bella’s face and generally corrected the colour. Simple.
I’ve included the original shot for comparison.
In order from left to right – Georgie, Bella, Macey, and Poppie.
We had a “house full” of people for Christmas day – and briefly during the afternoon a “couch full” of dogs. Thanks to my dog wranglers for organising this shot.
It was a fun old year at our place. As always there seemed to be a lot happening but when I look back at the photos we’ve taken, our trip in August and those puppies – well Bella mainly – seem to dominate.
As the holiday season comes to its inevitable end, the team at our place want to thank all our friends and family for a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Whether it was spending time together in Wellington on Christmas Day or catching up in Auckland for a few days, it was a great holiday break. Thank you all.
As they say in Italy – Buon Natale e felice anno nuovo.
I’m a cricket fan. In fact I’m sitting watching the Black Caps play Pakistan as I write this and waiting for Kayne Williamson to score his double century – hopefully.
And as a show of support for the late Phil Hughes, today, the bat was out.
From the balcony of our hotel room in Positano we could look across the road and see the back yard of a small villa which was perched on the edge of the cliff overlooking the bay. An elderly couple live there and every evening they sit outside, side by side and enjoy the sunset.
Sometimes one gets the other a drink and sometimes one or the other nods off to sleep. But every evening they are there, sitting next to each other.
We first noticed them years ago and every time we visit Positano we see them again, each time a little older, a little slower and a little frailer. But always together.
Last weekend felt a little like summer. After weeks of changeable weather it felt like things were calming down and warming up.
Ideal for an al fresco breakfast in the back yard in your PJs.
One thing Jean was set on buying, even before leaving home, was some form of sleeve or holder for her MacBook Air. She was waiting until we reached Rome so she could visit Via dei Condotti and the Louis Vuitton shop.
Via die Condotti runs from the base of the Spanish Steps to Via del Corso – 4 blocks of premium shopping. Every European luxury brand is on the street. Gucci is on the corner at the base of the Spanish Steps. Valentino is next. Then it’s Prada and Dior. A little further down is Louis Vuitton. It just keeps going.
We headed into Louis Vuitton’s three storey shop and were greeted warmly (well Jean was as she had one of the shops fine products over her shoulder) and asked what we were looking for. Yes, of course they have laptop sleeves and bags. Yes we’d be delighted to follow the staff member to look at some options.
The shelves are full of product all perfectly displayed. The staff (who seem to out number customers by three to one) are immaculately groomed and dressed, and the store is spotless with none of the usual retail clutter you see elsewhere.
None of the bags on the shelves are used as samples. If you are interested in a bag, a sample is available from drawers below the shelves, each bag in a special holder to protect it. The staff also wear gloves to handle the merchandise.
Of course if you purchase an item, it arrives already wrapped from somewhere else in the store.
Our modest “laptop sleeve” rapidly turned into a messenger bag. But which size – there were three – and which pattern – modern or traditional? The price started to climb.
In the end a selection was made, aided somewhat by a glass of champagne, and was charged to Jean’s account. Yes, scaringly, ever since she bought her first bag 6 years ago, Jean has an account.
God help us all.
Travelling to London via Hong Kong and then back from Rome to Auckland via Hong Kong gave us the ability to compare the Premium Economy class offerings on the two airlines. And although it’s called the same name, the reality is that the offering is quite different.
Air New Zealand were one of the first airlines to offer this “better than economy but not business” class when they phased out first class and promoted business class to lie flat beds.
The general Premium Economy offering is simple – greater legroom and wider seats in a separated cabin area with a range of added comforts – a dedicated check in, better food and drink, amenities packs, welcome drinks – all which vary by airline.
With Jean and I being tall, the key benefit is the added legroom. This is even more important given the distance we travel and the time we spend onboard.
Until this trip we have been dedicated Air New Zealand customers and have seen their Premium Economy offering evolve over the years from a basic “greater legroom” product through to the specially designed seat pods that they introduced about 4 years ago.
But two years ago Air New Zealand made changes to their Airpoints programme which removed any advantage for us booking and paying for their Premium Economy seats. So this trip we threw ourselves on the open market and simply went for the best deal we could find – which turned out to be Cathay Pacific.
We discovered our trip was, in fact, a codeshare between Cathay Pacific and Air New Zealand so our trips between Auckland and Hong Kong were on Air New Zealand metal and the legs between Hong Kong and London/Rome were on Cathay – the same Premium Economy class but very different experiences.
In terms of legroom and seat comfort there was not much in it. Cathay had 8 seats across the cabin, Air New Zealand had nine – but the Air New Zealand seats felt wider. Legroom was expansive on both.
The cabin ambience was better on Cathay mainly because the plane (an Airbus 350) was new versus Air New Zealand’s 777 which was in need of a refit or replacement with one of their new Dreamliners.
The service was much better on Air New Zealand. Meals were better quality and served on china, not plastic, and there were cabin staff dedicated to the premium economy section. If you wanted something, it was there, immediately.
Cathay Pacific, on the other hand served standard economy food on plastic plates – and wine from plastic glasses. The cabin staff served both premium and economy cabins, but they still managed to answer our calls quickly and efficiently but did slip a couple of times.
Because of the comparative ages of the planes, Cathay’s entertainment offering was more comprehensive and higher quality with touch screens and excellent screen clarity. Air New Zealand struggled to compete but, talking to staff, things are looking up with upgrades to the 777 fleet just around the corner and the first Dreamliners already operating across the Tasman.
So who wins? Air New Zealand by a small margin – but when they are flying with better planes it won’t be a contest. They just know how to do things well, and to make passengers who have paid extra for a little comfort feel it’s money well spent.
Much of our holiday was booked by our travel agent, the lovely Petra, and the team at House of Travel in Wellington. As always, everything was organised perfectly and went off without a hitch.
But this trip there was a bonus – House of Travel’s iPhone app.
We punched in our booking code after downloading the app and had our itinerary available in an easy to digest and easy to use form on our phone. It was amazing the number of times we used it – to quickly check a departure time or to confirm a flight number when completing an arrival card – it was incredibly useful.
And there’s much more to the app than just the itinerary. There is a plethora of options available.
I’ve been involved with designing and developing a few mobile apps and can appreciate the time and attention to detail that has gone into this app. It’s a great piece of work.
I’ve just checked the app and it has archived our holiday itinerary and is ready for our next trip. Nice.
This gallery contains 6 photos.
It’s not often that we make a restaurant reservation 4 months in advance. And it’s even less often that they come back and advise that, even with that much advance notice, they cannot confirm a table on the terrace – we … Continue reading
We arrived back in New Zealand earlier in the week after 4 fabulous weeks away. We were greeted by warm spring weather (which has now turned back to winter) and two very happy puppies who, after an initial frenzied greeting, proceeded to ignore us just to make a point.
The last few days have been spent recovering from jet lag and unpacking – as well as returning to work because, let’s face it, the holiday has to be paid for somehow.
There are still a number of posts to write covering such things as our dinner at the 3 Michelin Star restaurant La Pergola in Rome, some thoughts on modern air travel, how purchasing a laptop case on Via Condotti in Rome can turn into something much more and the temptation of Hong Kong duty free shopping.
I’ll post these over the next few days – just as soon as I write them.
La dolce far niente 