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My grandson, Dan is turning 21 in early September so as a present I decided on a four night break in Prague. We hunted for deals together and decided on a package deal with Jet2, which was by far the best deal. Dan had some ideas of where he wanted to visit after conversations with his friends.

At 5.45 Thursday August 29th we were transported to Manchester where we took off on the 8.30 flight. Coming into Prague I was impressed and surprised to see how green and forested areas of the countryside were, particularly as large swaths of Europe had been overcome by extremely high temperatures. And from several thousand feet looked very brown.

Prague had been forecast with temperatures of 30C and as we emerged from our taxi the forecast was clearly correct We arrived at our fairly basic hotel, Le Petit Hotel Prague and off loaded our luggage. The lift wasn’t working so there were immediately five flights of steps to climb.

After acquiring some maps from the hotel receptionist we set off to walk into town. Dan had found a Czech restaurant that he wanted to try, where TripAdvisor had. said they were welcoming to British people. The walk was very informative and I was amazed at the beauty of the architecture. Trams constantly passed us and the next day this became our more regular form of transport. The sun was gradually burning off the morning mist although it remained quite humid.

Our first view of the River Vltava was exciting and when we crossed the bridge there was a great view of the castle. After negotiating a number of streets we came to a narrow alleyway and shortly after arrived at our destination. It was extremely hot by now so I ordered water and Czech beer; Pilsners. It came cold with a frothy head, which took up a third of the glass, but it was very refreshing and we drank as we perused the menu. Having both settled for authentic Czech dishes; they duly arrived and the waiter kindly photographed us.

After lunch, which was quite late by the time we got there, we retraced our steps to the hotel and made enquires about the tram. The one other thing Dan was very keen to do on our first day was walk up to the Petrin Tower, which he had been told was a fantastic vantage point for seeing the city at night. He’d found another authentic restaurant called “Wine O’Clock”, but read it was very small so chose another as a back up.

After showering and in my case changing we took the number 17 tram into Prague centre. Having alighted, Dan negotiated us through the busy Charles street, which was thronging with tourists, down some side streets. Wine O’Clock was both small and full, so the manager told us to email for a reservation. We retraced our steps and Dan navigated us to plan B, where we were shortly joined by a group of Germans away on a boys’ weekend.

Leaving the cheery Germans behind we headed for the nearest bridge ,where there was a fireworks display. We seemed to be walking for ages until eventually we came to the gardens at the bottom of Petrin hill. We climbed and climbed and were rewarded with some nice views. Eventually the tower, lit in The Czech Republic colours came into view. Sadly, when we arrived the tower was closed and we discovered there was a Funicular railway. Dan called a taxi and we decided to return, both going earlier and catching the railway. We had walked for the day in total 14 kilometres. I was both hot and tired, but I’d gained a feel for the geography, which would be further enhanced with our all day tour on Friday.

Part II

When we awoke the following morning it was like waking up to fairyland. Everywhere there were high snow clad mountains and even the valleys had a dusting of snow. We were in Switzerland. We had to wait for our steward to come to lower our beds and return the cabin to its former configuration. The train manager visited me followed by the chief steward, Francesco who redid my bandage for me and prescribed Champagne as medicine.

Almost immediately a whole bottle of Tattinger arrived at the cabin. Our steward brought us breakfast, which consisted of finely chopped fruit, bread, pastries and preserves. We were offered tea and coffee, but were soon happily imbibing the champagne. 
We continued to pass through the mostly beautiful scenic countryside with dramatic mountains on both sides.

Eventually, after a series of long tunnels, the scenery began to change. The snow was still on the tops of the mountains, but not in the valleys.

As happened the previous night, the Maitre’d visited us and assigned us a dining================= car for lunch. We were to dine in the “Etoile du Nord”. When lunch was announced we made our way to our restaurant. I was delighted to find that this was run by Giussepe, my saviour from the night before.

Even the menus feature the individual names of the restaurant cars along with the beautiful menu.

Again the food was exquisite and it was lovely being served by Giussepe and his team of Mirko and Massimo. I chose a bottle of French wine to go with the meal based on my many visits to France with Brian.

Susie, who didn’t like duck was able to change it for something else.

As with the beef the previous night the lamb simply melted in your mouth.

The lovely thing about the meals is that it is so beautifully presented and the quantity is just perfect. The cheesecake for dessert was equally beautiful.

While we were having lunch we crossed into Italy and began to see the lakes. We eventually came to Lake Como, which is just stunning.

After the beautiful scenery of Lake Como the countryside gradually flattened out and wasn’t quite as scenic. It was time to make sure we had all our belongings and our cabin bags packed before we arrived in Venice. Due to a number of factors we were two hours late arriving, but I was happy to spend more time on such a beautiful train as the Orient Express. We had been served afternoon tea in our cabin so there was no danger of going hungry. The tea set is also beautifully engraved.

All too soon we arrived at Santa Lucia station where we were met by a representative of Venice Simplon and transferred to our hotel by shared water taxi, which in itself was an experience.

Part 1

After sitting on a coach on a train going through the Channel Tunnel a short drive took us to the station where the Orient Express was waiting. The first impression was of a train with a long series of blue carriages with shining white roofs. It is quite something to behold and I was filled with excitement at the prospect of boarding such a beautiful train. The stewards were lined up outside in their beautiful blue uniforms and the Restaurant and bar staff in their white jackets

Our steward showed us to our cabin and I sank into the couch, admiring the luxury of the furnishings and the beautiful wood and marquetry.

Our cabin luggage had already been placed in the room so once we were settled our steward came and poured us a glass of champagne in the beautiful Venice Simplon glasses.

Shortly after the Maitre’d arrived to discuss table arrangements for dinner. We were to dine in the restaurant car “Etoile du Nord”. In the meantime we sat and watched the passing countryside as the train raced through Pas de Calais, sipping our champagne.

Having negotiated our way around each other Susie and I were finally ready for dinner. The attire for the evening dinner was formal, so we had both brought lovely cocktail dresses. Walking along the carriages to the dining car required a lot of care. While the carriages themselves are old they are drawn by different trains in each of the different countries that we pass through. The trains mostly travel at 120mph, but the carriages are approved to travel at 160mph. This causes quite a degree of rocking and you need to take great care when you are walking, especially in high heels. 
We arrived at Restaurant Car “Oriental” and were shown to our seats. The tables were set in Silver with beautiful ly engraved crystal glasses and engraved dinner service.

I had decided that a bottle of champagne was definitely required for our first meal on board.. The Maitre’d suggested an Italian one so we decided to accept his suggestion.

There were four courses and the beef for main course was exquisitely cooked so that it just melted in your mouth and dessert was beautifully presented. 

After dinner I decided to use the nearest facilities before heading to the bar with Susie. I was just passing through the service car when the train gave a giant lurch and threw me into a sharp edge, which sliced my arm. I was attended to very quickly by a lovely waiter called Giussepe who bandaged me up very nicely. Susie and I decided after this that ‘all the jerks were in France” We proceeded to the bar where a couple of Amaretto Sours definitely helped with the pain. The pianist was playing and it was all very redolent of the bygone age of luxury travel. 

When we returned to our cabin it was transformed into two beds one above the other, of which the upper I was happy to use. There was a ladder to assist in the ascent. I love the sound of the the wheels of the carriages on the line and the bed was very comfortable. In previous years my husband Brian and I had travelled on the motorail and slept in a similar fashion. This was just rather more luxurious. 

I awoke on the Sunday morning, 5th May, 2019 with as much excited anticipation as a child on. Christmas Eve. The idea was that we would have an early breakfast followed by showers. There are no showers on the train. I was letting Susie have a bath first while I went down to platform 2 at Victoria Station from where the Belmond Pullman was departing. We were going on this as far as Folkestone for the first part of our journey. I was hoping to maybe check in then go back to the hotel to get ready. In fact I was so early that the Belmond Pullman staff were only just setting up, which was fascinating itself.

When I finally spoke to the check in desk I could not register without my bags so I went back to the hotel room only to discover that Susie was only just getting in the bath. The next minute there was a loud noise accompanied by some curses from Susie. It later transpired that she had broken her toe. She was also suffering with a sore shoulder from carrying the luggage the previous day so a porter from the hotel helped us to the Belmond checkin.

Shortly afterwards the Belmond Pullman arrived at the platform.

We had been allocated seats in Lucille.

Inside the carriages were very beautiful, each with their own individual marquetry. It was quite special to sit in such beautiful surroundings.

The journey to Folkestone was only two hours so lunch was served fairly promptly. As one would expect the food was beautifully presented and tasted absolutely delicious. It was described as “brunch with Bellini to drink.” The girl serving these was very kind and gave us a couple of extra glasses.

The Belmond Pullman meandered through the Kent countryside and all too soon we were at our station in Folkestone where we transferred to coaches for the next leg of our journey through the Channel Tunnel. A small band serenaded us as we made the transfer.

From a very small child I have been fascinated by trains. I love that form of travel and the sense of excitement of an impending journey. Therefore, travelling on The Orient Express became number one on my bucket list of things I wanted to do.

The journey I chose is the route from London to Venice. I asked my daughter, Susie to accompany me.

I’m a person who likes to preplan as much as possible, so well in advance I booked what looked like s nice hotel in Venice, the Savoia and Jolanda.

As the first part of our journey was on the Belmond Pullman from London Victoria Station, I booked us into the Grosvenor Victoria Hotel.

We were due to leave London on 5th May so we needed to travel down on the train the previous day. It was only when I came to book the train ticket to London that I realised travelling might not be as straightforward as normal. The train from Chester, leaving at 13.55 was going to take 5 hours and 4 changes to London, due to engineering works at Euston. Between us Susie and I were taking two large suitcases, two cabin bags and clothes” carriers for the glamorous clothes we were wearing on the train,

The morning of our departure for London I approached the day in a leisurely and relaxed manner savouring the excitement I felt about the impending journey, After a morning of beauty treatments I was pottering about waiting for my grandson to take me to the hairdresser as I had lent my car to my granddaughter, when he suddenly came rushing in and said you have to go now or I’ll call you a taxi. My daughter’s husband had been out riding his motorbike when a gang had driven up in a car and stolen the keys from his bike. Dan needed to go and rescue him. My lovely relaxed day was no longer. Dan dropped me off at the hairdresser and charged away in his car. Susie picked me up after the hairdresser and dropped me back home. As she drove away I remembered that I had changed the keys of my house to the bag I was taking away with me and that was inside the house. I was locked out and the taxi was coming in twenty minutes.

I knocked on my neighbour.’s door and like a “Knight in Shining Armour” he came to my assistance. He brought a very long ladder from his house and managed to open a window in our upstairs conservatory. I watched as my despair turned to hope as he scurried up the ladder and through the window. A few minutes later I was in my house. Dan returned home five minutes later and we were on our way to the station picking up Susie en route.

After a minor panic over tickets at the station we boarded the first of our five trains; the one to Crewe. The first two changes were relatively painless, but the second train was delayed at Birmingham New Street and this impacted on our change at Banbury. Susie carried more than she should and hurt her shoulder. We took a taxi from Marylebone to The Grosvenor Victoria Hotel. Relaxing with a Gin and Tonic in the bar an hour later I finally felt my holiday had begun.

S

After our enjoyable cycle the previous day Emma and I set off from thr Port at Dordrecht in the early afternoon. Our efforts of the day before had clearly set a trend and other passengers had borrowed bikes to cycle around Dordrecht. It is a pretty place with lots of canals and bridges.

I had been going to try to navigate, using Google Maps, but Emma has an Apple Watch, so she could refer to the directions on her wrist, making navigating a lot easier so she set off in front. We seemed to go a very circuitous route around Dordrecht, passing some nice buildings en route.

After crossing numerous canals we finally reached the outskirts of Dordrecht and Emma continued to navigate with clear directions to left or to right. We had to go through a tunnel with some kind of obstacle halfway up the hill. It turned out to be a parked truck; leaving just enough space to squeeze by. Alighting from this Emma indicated to turn right and we came to the village of s-Gravandeel. We stopped here for a few minutes and were delighted to see a mother duck and her young ducklings waddle by.

The only problem with the route that Emma was following was that it was a walking route, because we suddenly found ourselves approaching a main road without a cycle path. A motorist stopped and told us we were on the wrong route and we needed to go back to the tunnel so we retraced our route through the village and pretty soon picked up the cycle path. It must say that for a cyclist Holland is the perfect country.

We were well out in the countryside now and had been cycling for nearly two hours so lunch was now uppermost in our minds. We were cycling through a village, which seemed to be built just on either side of the road. Emma stopped to look for somewhere to eat on her Google maps and I photographed a typical Dutch Church.

,According to Google there was somewhere to eat in the next village; which was about three miles away. On the way we cycled on a beautiful dyke with a small canal to the right and a long row of just budding poplar trees. I managed to get a photo while cycling with Emma up ahead.

The village of Strijen came into view and we could see immediately that it was of a more substantial size. We made a couple of enquires as we seemed to be just in a residential area and were reassured that there was indeed a pub very close. The centre of Strijen proved to be a little gem. It was lovely and sunny so we sat outside to be near the bikes. Having ordered a Dutch beer for me, a cup of tea for Emma and been given an indecipherable menu in Dutch I crossed the road to photograph the very pretty canal and 18th century pub where we were eating.

The patron of the pub was very friendly and spoke excellent English. He asked us if we’d like a translation of the menu to which we quickly concurred. It was lovely sitting in the garden soaking in the sun and listening to two elderly gentlemen putting the World to rights, well that’s what I guessed as they were speaking Dutch. Our food arrived and my goats cheese salad with nuts tasted delectable. It was the perfect place for lunch and just what I had hoped for; part of the adventure of a long cycle ride. We couldn’t linger any longer, because according to Emma we still had 15 miles to cycle and we needed to make the boat by 6.45pm.

We set off on our way along the main route, but then turned off and after 100 yards picked up a designated cycle way, which was built on a dyke. Eventually we shared it with the odd car of local traffic as there were now houses on either sides of the canals served by private small bridges. It was similar to the road to Strijen. This went on for about 9 miles, followed by a slog up and over a very long bridge running alongside a motorway, with cars coming more slowly in both directions. Finally we were across on a quiter road and rewarded with signs to Willemstad.

We came to a point where we could see sails from the yachts in the harbour and Emma directed me along a path, which quickly became grass but was still okay for cycling. Emma who was behind me distracted me by calling out just as I became aware that there was a flock of sheep chasing me on the side of a small hill. I lost my balance and in trying to retrieve it did a very slow motion tumble to the right. Fortunately it was grass so I wasn’t hurt. Emma was laughing hysterically at the whole scene. We then came to a gate with an electric fence and a style so Emma lifted the bikes over for me to take on the other side. An interesting short cut!!! Then it was through another gate and along another path where the welcome sight of Brabant awaited us. We could see the windmill of Willemstad and that it looked pretty, but as the boat was leaving in 15 minutes the thought of a cup of tea was more appealing after our exertions. We had had a lovely ride.

Our first full day of the cruise dawned cold but beautiful with a cloudless blue sky. I had only booked one tour for this short cruise as I hoped to spend the rest of the time borrowing bikes from Brabant and cycling through the countryside to villages where we could sit out in the sun while having a well earned drink. This day ticked all the boxes.

After breakfast Emma, Day and I borrowed bicycles from the boat and headed off along a wide path beside the River Rhine. I had no idea where we were going so it was very much a question of just keep pedalling until we stumble across something suitable. Although there was beautiful sunshine the actual air temperature was 9C and at times there was a steely wind that cut through my light coat,

A number of people had told me that Holland was completely flat so I was quite surprised to find I was having to work quite hard to climb up an extended incline. The cycle paths were absolutely brilliant, running separately from the main road and having their own designated set of lights. It made me feel quite safe, although I was a bit perturbed to find that it was also used by motor scooters.

We eventually left Arnhem so I decided it was time to enquire whether the direction I was heading in would actually lead to my intended target. There was a young man walking a Staffordshire Bull Terrier heading towards me so I decided to stop and ask if there was any kind of coffee shop or similar establishment on the way we were going. He was very polite and gave me the welcome news that there was indeed exactly what we wanted in about three kilometres. I thanked him and headed on up the next hill with renewed vigour.

Shortly after we came to the village of Oosterbeek and some way through the town we came upon some kind of garden centre with a delightful cafe in front with tables and chairs placed invitingly in the sunshine.

It was beautiful sitting out in the sun and drinking our different choices of beverage. Emma had a Latte, Day a mint tea with fresh mint in hot water and naturally I had a Blonde Beer!! We were all delighted to find that we had expended 350 calories on the ride so far, obviously the effort cycling uphill had been with it.

Eventually we set off on the return journey as Brabant was sailing over lunchtime and we had to be back on board well before. The good news was that the return leg was mostly downhill and I was enjoying the thrill of speeding when I was overtaken by a lady on a large scooter who gave me a rather disdainful look. Apparently she had been trying to overtake me for some time, but I kept moving in the same direction, thus preventing her manoeuvre. The girls were watching it from behind and thought it was hilarious.

A couple of bridges before we returned to Brabant the girls decided to stop and take some photos of themselves with the graffiti in the background for posting on Instagram. It was a very colourful bridge with the graffiti very tastefully done.

The bridge the closest to where Brabant was moored had been the subject of the famous film” A Bridge Too Far”. We returned the bicycles to Brabant and sat down to some lovely lunch. Later in the afternoon I attended a lecture by John Hughes on bulbs at Keukenhof, which was extremely interesting, particularly as we will be visiting it.

Upon my return to our suite I found Emma in a distressed state. Her hot water bottle had burst and scalded her very badly over quite a wide area. The crew were very helpful with bringing ice and a lady first aider came up to see if she could help. Eventually some Aloe Vera was produced and Emma came down to the Gala Dinner. Prior to this I’d had a Prosecco as part of the Captain’s Cocktail Party, during which we were introduced to senior management of the boat and the Captain, who is from Holland. It was a night for dressing up so I wore a lovely red dress and the girls looked lovely in theirs.

We had a splendid meal with very good wines. For me my Chateaubriand was the peak of the courses. After dinner we went to the upstairs bar where there is live music and further enjoyed an Amaretto Sour for Day and me a Brabant Cocktail for Emma. Apart from poor Emma’s accident it was a very satisfying day on all counts.

After returning from my adventures in New Zealand it was head down, back to work and coping with the vagaries of a winter in Britain. Fortunately that is behind me now and with Spring upon us I am now looking forward to my short cruise from Dusseldorf to Amsterdam.

Since staying in Vienna for three weeks to attend Master classes on the piano in 1974, when I took a river trip on the Danube to Durnstein and back, I had harboured a desire to go all the way to the Black Sea on the River Danube. For years I had scoured the travel section of the newspapers and looked online, but every company stopped at Budapest. Then finally in 2017, when my daughter Susie and I were on a Fred Olsen cruise around the Baltic, there it was. Fred Olsen had hired a small boat called “Brabant” and it was going from Romania on the Black Sea to Dusseldorf. As it was an experimental first year I immediately booked Susie and me on it. It was an amazing trip, which will appear on my blog at a later date.

While on that 25 day trip I asked the travel representative if there were any short trips that Susie, her daughter Emma and I could do this year, 2019 and he produced the above also called Holland in Bloom so I booked us on that immediately. Sadly things have not gone to plan

Up until Thursday, January 24th, I had spent my time in Auckland exclusively on the North Shore. I was, however to spend my last day in New Zealand with my cousin Lynette, from the Tippett side of the family who lives in St Heliers. Cath drove me there in the afternoon and Lynette, husband Michael and daughter Georgia were all there to greet me. It was another glorious afternoon so after some general chat Lynette drove me and Georgia down to the waterfront. The tide was out, but the views of Rangitoto were still stunning.

We set off walking from Kohimarama in the direction of St Heliers and bade farewell to Georgia, who was off to meet a friend, and continued our walk in that direction. This was an area I once knew well, having stayed there frequently with a friend in my teenage years. I was impressed by the boardwalk, a new development, that now runs along most of the seashore.

As we walked I was delighted to see the New Zealand Kingfisher, a bird I had seen a number of times on this trip, but never in a good enough position to photograph. It was clearly hunting in the rock pools revealed by the very low tide,

We retraced our steps and continued on to Mission Bay where we sat for a while and chatted. There was a lot to catch up on, although Lynette had been following my blog, and had visited me in Chester in 2014. It was very pleasant indeed sitting there and watching all the birds hunting on the seashore. A container ship made a rather beautiful silhouette as it passed by.

A man sitting on the seat next to us had come to feed the birds and they came flocking to him, some even eating out of his hand.

After a very pleasant period in the shade; it was pretty hot in Auckland, we walked back to the car. When we returned to the house Daisy, their Labradoodle was there to greet me. Michael, Lynette’s husband said that he always took her to a park fairly early in the morning before it became too hot, so I said I would join him and walk around it. After a very convivial evening I retired to bed and was duly awake about 6am the following morning.

This was my last day in New Zealand and what a magnificent day it was. As soon as Michael was ready Daisy and I bundled into the car and drove the short distance to the park, which according to my photo is Madills Farm Recreation Reserve. Dogs are allowed on early in the morning. I had found that similar legislation had applied to beaches and other reserves, either early morning or late afternoon seemed to be doggy time, which, given how hot it was, was probably for the dogs’ benefit.

Daisy was clearly in heaven rushing round the park, but made a beeline for me when she saw me walking past.

After walking several laps of the park I made my way back up the hill which was a really Steep incline to their house. I had breakfast, did my last bit of packing, took some photos and then it was off to Auckland Airport. Lynette drove me through a number of streets that I had once known well and were little changed from my days at University, All too soon we were at the airport.

I left my cases at check-in and Lynette met me for a cup of coffee. We had one last chat then it was time to say goodbye to her and to New Zealand.

On the flight from Auckland to Singapore I was on the big 380 plane, with my pod in the upper deck. It was amazingly smooth on take off for such a large plane. My seat was wide enough for two people and the cabin crew were extremely attentive. I like the nice touches of Champagne before and after takeoff and the lovely white table cloth they put on your table in preparation for your meal. I had five hours to kill at Singapore so that was devoted to catching up with my blog. I had had the trip of a lifetime and it was really hard to leave all my New Zealand cousins and friends. Fortunately I am equally blessed with family and friends in Chester and England so that helped to dull the sorrow of leaving. One thing is for sure if I have the health and money to go again I most certainly will.

I hope my posts have given readers a good taste of New Zealand and thoughts for places to visit if they are able to go there. It is certainly a very exciting place with some real hidden gems. The architecture is distinctly different, but many places are modern towns and cities. The scenery is spectacular.

I hope to write some more blogs in April and May so watch this space.

When the early settlers came to New Zealand they brought a bit of home with them like English birds, Stoats, cats, Gorse and Bracken. New Zealand had only a bat as a native mammal so over the years these introduced mammals have reaped havoc and destruction on the native birds. Because of a lack of predators a number of them had become either flightless or poor flyers and were easy prey for the stoats and cats. Consequently a number were now either extinct or endangered. Some like the Moa had been hunted to extinction by the Maoris. Because of the proliferation of rats and stoats and the Australian Possums the only way that endangered species could be protected was to take them to islands, which were free of these pests. Tiritiri Matangi is one of these islands.

Cath had done a lot of sailing and remembered the island as a farm with pockets of native bush. There had been a light house ther; constructed in 1884 and lit on January 1 1885,, but little else. A huge planting programme was undertaken for ten years from 1984 to restore a lot of native bush and habitat suitable for the endangered birds. It was done by an army of volunteers and had been the brainchild of zoologist John Craig and botanist Neil Mitchell, but others also contributed enormously including a former lighthouse keeper. These days it is a very well established sanctuary and it is possible to see a number of endangered birds.

We took the ferry from Gulf Harbour on the Whangaparaoa Peninsular. We hadn’t booked, which apparently is normally essential and were lucky to find room and a 20 minute ride later we were there.

Anxious to set off so we weren’t caught up with other people on the boat, Cath and I were detained by a volunteer who insisted we must listen to the ranger, whom we couldn’t hear anyway. We had a map, which we’d received on the ferry and set off to walk around the whole island in the opposite direction from the majority of the others on the ferry. There is only one trip a day so catching the ferry back was rather vital. We were rewarded instantly with a rather good view of a Variable Oyster Catcher sitting on the rocks.

We were soon in denser bush and a black bird flashing by caught my attention. On closer examination I saw that it was a Saddleback, one of New Zealand’s most endangered birds. It was burrowing in the ground and flinging it over its shoulder, clearly looking for food. It was hard to get a good photo because the Saddleback was never still, but I made a video. The Saddleback has a brown section in the middle of its back that looks like a saddle.

I was extremely excited at seeing this bird, but unfortunately Cath had walked on and didn’t see it, but I couldn’t call her for fear of it flying away. As we walked on we saw a few little brown birds waddling about on the ground and in the undergrowth and thought they were some type of Quail. Upon reading our information leaflet we discovered that they were, in fact, the Fernbird, another I had never seen before. We were very fortunate to come upon three of them and they obligingly walked out into the sunlight. With their mottled brown colouring they blend into the grass extremely well.

I had been aware that there was a New Zealand South Island Robin, but I’d never known there was also a North Island version. Like its South Island counterpart it is also grey, but with a lighter grey breast, and less white. They are both inquisitive birds and it is plain to see how they would be an easy target for predators. We saw a number during our first couple of hours on the island.

The paths wound up and down steeply in places and we had to keep referring to our map to make sure where we were., the idea being to make for the most northerly point of the island where we were hoping to sit down and eat our lunch. There were so many amazing distractions on the way that we were taking our time tin reaching there. One bird I saw flying a lot was the Red-crowned Parakeet, Kakariki. It was one of the earlier birds to be reintroduced to the island and seems to be thriving. The problem with trying to photograph it is that it blends so well into the green of the leaves it is almost indistinguishable. I was fortunate to find one on the top of New Zealand flax, a favourite food of a number of birds.

Another bird that blends beautifully into the greenery of the trees is the New Zealand Wood Pigeon. Unlike the European bird, which is largely regarded as a pest the New Zealand bird, Kereru, is very beautiful. We chanced upon it gorging away in some tree. I was making a video of it when it came so close that it filled the entire screen. Trying to find it in the numerous photos I had taken was a challenge, but I did find a couple where it was more obvious. The white of its underneath makes the contrast, but even that could be mistaken for flowers or leaves from a distance.

Amongst the most elusive of the birds on the island is the Stitch Bird. Some movement in the trees attracted my attention and I was absolutely thrilled to see some flittering about by a partially hidden bird feeder. I saw them both in the tree and inside the feeder and believe they were Stitch birds rather than the North Island Bellbirds.

On of its characteristics is the upturned tail like a Wren. Again they are harder to distinguish in the bush.

Cath and I reached the point, which was in brilliant sunshine with view of the Whangaparaoa and out to Little Barrier Island.

We found a shady spot to eat our lunch and observe a few birds flying about, mostly Parakeet. Prior to lunch I observed Cath photographing something and rushed up, arriving just in time to see a Takahe. We learnt that there were two pairs on the island; one by the lighthouse and the other pair where we were. My photo is largely obscured by grass, but Cath took a good one. This bird was smaller than the ones I nad seen in Dunedin.

The east side of the island has more flax and less dense bush. It was lovely to see a type of gull resting in a tree.

We generally saw fewer birds here or ones we had already photographed and eventually we both ran out of batteries. There were some steep climbs and descents as we wound round pretty coves and eventually reached the lighthouse at the Southern tip of the island.

At the lighthouse we had a complementary cup of tea and made our way back to the ferry down the Whattle path. This had steps and had clearly been built for the majority of visitors to the island who go that way to the lighthouse.

It was a very exciting and memorable day and Aucklanders are very fortunate to have such a wonderful gem for bird life so close to the city.