A new adventure - off to Slovenia

 Earlier this year Qantas Airlines partnered with Qatar Airways.  This was a good thing, as I got to use my Qantas airports, and try out the Business Class of Qatar Airways.

If I take into consideration the 3 hour shuttle bus to Auckland, the 17 hour flight to Doha, 3 hour transit, and 6 hour flight to Zagreb,Croatia,  and then a 2 hour shuttle to Ljubljana,Slovenia, it's a day and half travel. Jet lag will be fun.

Cashews, almonds and pistachios with minted lime juice 

The best thing about Business class with Qatar is their anytime A la carte menu.

 My plan was to have breakfast at about my normal time, which would be about 15 hours into the flight or 9pm Qatar time.

A variety of nibbles

Afternoon tea was just the right size to get me through the first movie. Raspberry tartlet chocolate mouse, fresh berries, club sandwich, scones with jam and cream, plus a hot chocolate.

 The chair had a number of options, and I was keen to try out the lie flat later in the flight.

The Q-Suites are like mini cabins. The sliding doors make the space nice and private, and there is a do not disturb option.  It was like being the only person on board.

Appetiser - tomato, basil, mozzarella, and bread

 I decided to have my evening meal while flying over the top part of Australia.

 First course, butter nut soup with breads.

 Second course, Chicken kofta with oriental rice.

 Third Course, Fresh berries with rose water syrup - delicious

 I also ordered ice cream as well, because I could.

 The chocolate course at the end.

This is the leg room / foot rest under the TV screen. The chair would move forward so I could have my feet up during the flight. and became part of the "bed" later.  The pink socks were part of the travel pack.  The blanket was warm.

Pink socks, eye mask, moisturisers, lip balm and air plugs. I like the pink ribbon / breast cancer awareness bag.

The chair lies flat and the cabin crew made up my bed, while I got changed into my complementary pjs.  They were grey and very comfortable. I spent the rest of the flight in them. This meant my own clothes didn't smell of "airline".

The noise cancelling earphones (provided) worked amazingly, and I got 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Once awake, the crew were very keen to provide me breakfast.

My choice for breakfast - muesli and yoghurt, assorted breads and jams,  fresh fruit, and french toast.

Every now and then, the crew would pop in and ask if I would like a hot or cold towel.  I always chose hot. Refreshing, slightly scented, and nice on my face and hands.

Doha airport in Qatar is HUGE. I had 3 hours in transit and grabbed a shower in the business class lounge.

The water was hot and plenty of it. Nice toiletries, and the towels soft.

I only had a 15 minute wait for the showers in the ladies bathroom.

The water feature in the lounge made the area nice and relaxing, but it was full of people.  The wifi was unstable, and only got a few moments to chat with Erik in Slovenia before we lost contact.  I took a train to my gate, and then the passengers were put on buses to be transported to the plane.

My next flight was to Zagreb in Croatia. Nearly six hours, and I will get there at 7am local time.

City of Doha at 2am

I decided to have brunch at 3am.  

My meal was fresh fruits including Dragon fruit and melons. A lovely salad with cashews and almonds.  Hot chocolate and crunchy ginger biscuits was my preferred beverage. I managed to get 3 hours sleep.

Sunrise over Slovenia. I arrived at 7am. Zagreb airport is delightfully small, and the shuttle picked me up.  I shared the Go-opti shuttle with a couple from Kosovo. The 2 hour journey took no time at all, as we all chatted and learned about each other's countries.

Oscar's bike packing adventure in the USA

Thanks to snow and sun-zero temperatures in Oregon, it was too dangerous to go bikepacking there. So now we’re doing a three-day trip around northern San Francisco instead. Day 1 involved a trip from the top of Mount Tam to Angel Island.

On day two of our bikepacking trip, we woke to some amazing views of San Francisco from our campsite on Angel Island. Oscar pointed out a large deer grazing nearby, and we saw about five vultures sunning themselves in a nearby tree!

We caught the ferry back to the mainland and, after breakfasting at a local cafe, we headed out. One of the other riders, Matt, had a problem with a repeatedly-breaking chain so we detoured to a store to get it fixed. We then cycled north to Fairfax where we passed the Marin Mountain Biking Hall of Fame. After heading into the hills, we had a few more adventures before reaching our campsite for the night at Samuel Taylor Park.

Another great day with about 50 km of riding — the three youngsters did all the route-finding and handled today’s challenges brilliantly. They were awesome!

We had a visitor in the night.  A hungry raccoon must have wanted the sandwich Oscar left in the bag!

Day three of our San Francisco bikepacking adventure started with a 300 metre climb up a steep firebreak road...there was plenty of hike-a-bike on this steep 2 kilometre section. At the top, we began riding along the Bolinas Ridge, and after another 10 kilometres of mostly uphill found ourselves on the tar seal with even more climbing. From there we finally descended to Pantoll ranger station and our campground for the night.

We celebrated our last night’s camping with a fire. Apparently the best thing about the trip was the food, but these three kids did amazingly well — they all had challenges but made it to the end with a smile. Given how much noise they were making, I think the children were less tired than the grown-ups!

The fourth and final day of our adventure began with a 6 kilometre descent from our campsite at Pantoll down to Stinson Beach, where we exchanged pedals for paddles and explored the lagoon for a couple of hours. We saw plenty of pelicans and seals, as well as tons of other birds. It was a great couple of hours, and afterwards the children got a lift in the car back to Muir Beach, while most of the adults cycled -- those final 10 kilometres were hard work for us grown-ups.

Our bikepacking adventure is over, but the memories are sure to linger.

Walk in the Woods

 Now that daylight savings is upon us, I can get a walk in the Redwoods after work.  The urchins tagged along too.

Pohutu Geyser

 The great thing about living in Rotorua, is that the thermal activity is always close at hand.  The view from the look out had the different colours of Rotorua, the sulphur and the steam.

 These mud pools are on our trail up to the lookout.

 It's Springtime, and the forest floor was full of ferns unfurling.

 There were a few puddles for Tighe to get his boots muddy.

 Just past the Waipa Carpark bridge, we tried out the new un-named track, it is full of tree ferns.  Looking forward to trying the trail out on the mountain bikes.

There were a few silver ferns in amongst the pongas.

One of the urchins described the forest experience as "feeling the spaciousness of the spaciousness".

Work on the house

 A few changes to the roof over the next month. First of all the leaking windows needed to sorted out.

A small crane lifted the window, and then the builders had to position it in the right place.

Looking forward to the roof being sealed and painted over the next few months.

Spring in September

 Spring is a little late this year. The Plum tree has lots of blossoms.

This is the view of the rear of the property. The cattle belong to the neighbours.