As it’s almost two months since my last story and we are now in 2025…we are long overdue for a catchup

Waiwera beach on a summer morning sunrise last week…December/January have been a mixed bag as far as summer goes…plenty of rain, cool evenings, a few runs of sunshine, and the odd gasp of temperatures rising towards late 20’s

My middle son and family moved back to Auckland in mid December so lots of grand baby activities…

Christmas was a family affair

This year with brunch at mine and dinner at the bach …. We were locked and loaded by early evening! (Tucked up in our beds)

The garden bloomed in the lead up, Christmas Lillie’s right on cue…

The sunflowers, regrown from last years seeds harvest towered over the tallest member…(yes even George)

And Mary Rose has been showing off all summer! This head had 30 blooms! While the flower side of things did well, also too did the vege garden, we have been enjoying fresh lettuce, a few feeds of beans as they start to come on, tomatoes coming out our ears, and

Round carrots….. perfect for the Xmas roast!

The holiday period threw us a curve ball…Covid finally came into the camp! Lex and baby Luka were first to get hit! Jax, Steph and the kids left on Boxing Day for a their away holiday so may have dodged the bullet, although baby Henrys first three days away were plagued with the symptoms! Trudi had work, (sometimes this is a good thing) and George and Jess were dog sitting at their house! Dan and I thought we had also dodged the bullet, but on New Year’s Eve I came down with the mild version(still didn’t show positive on those silly tests) and three days later Dan got a nasty dose! Which put him to bed for the last week of his holiday!!

In between it’s been babies…

Babysitting….

Car shows (Kumeū hot rod show)

Orewa Hot Rod…the annual Tyler and Gran’ma take the bus and get an ice cream excursion…..

This was the calm before the weekend storm!!!

Trudi and I took a trip a couple of weeks ago to visit the Wanganui Carters and begin Graeme’s birthday celebrations early!

We visited Bason Botanic Gardens for a picnic and afternoon in the sunshine (temperatures soaring towards 19 degrees)

Picnic by the lake followed by

A meander through the winter gardens

And summer gardens!

Now, all those around me are back at work…and I am picking up the pieces of a busy holiday time…. Cleaning out cottage for my visitors, slapping a weatherworn garden (after the recent storm) back into shape, holding the babies when needed (who needs yoga), housework, homework and the odd but of recreational sewing!!! Looking forward to the next two months of overseas visitors, weddings, and hopefully a more settled summer!

2024 is nearing its end and I have been back home (NZ) now for 9 weeks…. although not so much at my house. The wanderings continue…

2024 has welcomed two new members to the Bonnici-Carter clan…. Dan and Lexi now have Luka in their family

and Jaxon and Steph have Henry

Both boys will be 7 months old in the middle of December, crawling and rolling and trying to get up and running….Tyler my first grandson will be 4 in february and is following in the footsteps of the busy Bonnici boys!

Dan has been growing his building business this year and Jaxon has been studying for his real estate career, will be licensed after Christmas ready to go with his new job in Auckland. George has been beavering away in his IT world and continues to have contracts extended…he and Jess took a 2 month holiday in the middle of the year to Japan and other Asian countries…and will be looking forward to the next one!

I retired in the middle of June and Trudi (my friend) and I embarked on a Thelma and Louise 89 day adventure, visiting Malta, Sicily, Fumel (south of France), Barcelona, Lisbon and Paris before returning to NZ at the end of September, tanned and healthy.

NZ weather was not so kind to us for the first 6-8 weeks and our tan disappeared and home jobs (Sue) and work jobs (Trudi) kicked in with a vengeance…

A couple of weeks of planting my summer garden….

From this

To this…already enjoying lettuce and courgettes!

Cleaning gutters, spider spraying, car maintenance, and lots of grandson time…

Three weeks after my return, my friend Carolyn visited for two weeks, and we embarked on another Thelma and Louise Road trip in my Cortina (Rubi) to the Cortina Nationals with a 100 other Cortinas from around New Zealand, road tripping to New Plymouth with Dan for a (cold) weekend of fun activities.

Then continuing to Tauranga for a few days and catching up with Auntie Barb for her 90th birthday

Before Carolyn left, we had a girl’s night out with “Cooper Alan” at the PowerStation, my favourite singer of the year…such a great concert!

I then had a week to gather myself (do more home jobs) before heading to Katikati (Jaxon and Stephs home) to help with sick kids and celebrate their success in selling their house and buying another one in Red Beach (10 minutes from me) so we will all be on the Coast by Christmas, except George and Jess who are happily ensconced in their own town (Auckland) flat..

From Katikati I cross countried to Wanganui to spend a week with Graeme(Russ’s brother) and Brenda….lots of op shopping, yummy dinners and topped off with a christmas show before heading back to Katikati for a few days …

Back home yesterday to my flourishing garden

…and overgrown lawns….all slapped into shape with pruning, weed eating and lawnmowing. Trudi has been house and plant sitting so all was well and healthy.

As the year comes to a close …. With the fat man in the red suit looming large in our little peoples world, we celebrate another year around the sun with everyone following their dreams and aspirations. For me, still not at pension age….a restful retirement is a myth, don’t think I have ever had such long lists!!

A few Random snaps..

Sunday morning found the hungry Waiwera crew at the port in New Plymouth for breakfast!

The earliest opening at @ 9am!

So we wandered around the carpark avoiding the waves crashing over the rock walls

It seems a popular name for small islands near the NZ coastline is Sugarloaf…snap of New Plymouth Sugarloaf! (we have one at Waiwera!)

Breakfast done and it was off to join the next excursion! A cruise into the hills to Midhirst… farm with collection of cars and a hall converted into a mens shed! I went in dans car (gave Rubi a rest) and we followed the old boys , missed a turn somewhere in the hills…

Understandable after navigating one way rock tunnels

And one way bridges! We got there in the end! With a detour!

Just in time to shelter from the rain before heading back to have a nap before another big night….the prizegiving dinner!

After a fantastic weekend of activities Rubi (my red cortina) came 3rd in the Mk4/5 category!!

So two wins for the Bonnici clan this weekend – with the raffle win and the car success!

Three tired kiwis hit the road again on Monday….Dan heading back to Waiwera and Sue and Carolyn heading cross country to Tauranga for a couple of days!

Rubi the Red Cortina turning heads all the way!

Night one adjusting to communal camp sleeping found the three of us awake at 2am having a cup of tea and a yarn….before a big day! Lights out at 3am and a few more zzzz’s before up and out in our bad boys to ‘Show and Shine’ at the reserve near the beach!

The rain held off, the wind blew and the coffee was great, as the 90 cortina’s lined up in all their glory…

From oldest…

To modified…

These little beauties in all the colours (and more) of the rainbow!

Sedans, two doors and wagons…

Minus surfboards! As these were apt to carry in the 70s! A mix and mingle and education (for me at least) on the specifics of the MK1s of the 60s to the MK5s of the 80s and everything in between….and some very interesting backstories!

We all took tickets in the (fundraising) raffles which were drawn just before the planned cruise left!

And yours truly won…. A car cleaning kit!!! Never win a thing in my life and now I have a lifetime of cleaning products! But a win is a win!!

We then all cruised out on the planned convoy…heading south to the coast rugby club rooms – the home of the Barrett (All Blacks) boys!

And others! Where the club put on lunch for the crew!

The rain has rolled in and the round the mountain (Egmont) ride became less and less inviting! We chose to roll back towards town…and settled in for a bit of R&R before the big dress up night!

We pulled out the stops … had a fantastic dinner (lamb shanks) trivia quiz (not in the top three) dancing and the best sleep ever! The three campers sharing their intermittent night noises!

And up and ready to go for Sunday activities!

Well back in NZ for four weeks and I have put my “Sheryl” hat on and hit the road from Auckland to New Plymouth for the Cortina Nationals!

Rubi is my new ride…1979 MK4 cortina (the red one) and Dans 1982 MK5 (the white one) stopped at Orewa coffee cart at 7am for refreshments for the first leg to the Auckland Bombay meetup to travel in convoy at 9am!

A bathroom stop and leg stretch before hitting the road!

And an added bonus my great friend Carolyn from Brisbane flying in yesterday to join the adventure!

Off we went, four on the floor (yes had to get my manual driving memories from the archives!)

Next stop Otorohanga where we all (about 30 cars) met for a lunch stop …. Then a cruise (about three hours) for the final leg to New Plymouth – convoys came and went between trucks, hay bailers, toilet stops, road works and a few raindrops!

At the hotel to wipe off the bugs and bird poo!

As cortina’s from every corner of NZ rolled in….

We are in for a big adventure!

Three months of wandering has finally come to a close, the last day in Paris prepared us for our homecoming(weather wise at least). Temperatures dropped, wind ripped up the Rue de Clichy, and Rain fell..

As the wanderers one more time braved the elements in search of one last treasure… that was after finally finding a hairdresser to give us one final tidy up before returning to home shores… the blow waves were certainly an unnecessary addition to the process as within minutes the were washed and blown away!

The final evening was spent with final admin and packing, and Trudi entertaining her latest friend Bert…not as planned, cocktails on the nearby rooftop terrace (due to the weather bomb hitting Paris) …

And as the old saying goes…all good things must come to an end..

Luggage overload…taxi to the international airport at 7am Wednesday, first 12 hour flight to Singapore with changeover to a 10 hour flight to Auckland …gaining a few hours time zone and touching down on home soil at 10.30 pm Thursday night!

Dan was there to meet us (and bags) and we arrived at Sue’s house at 12.30 pm (after a 30 minute traffic jam on the harbour bridge at midnight) welcome back to Auckland madness!

Friday passed in a jet lagged blur…of collecting cars, grocery shopping, each wanderer unpacking, at respective abodes, washing and for me….family time, babies and Tyler time…

So for now…it’s settling back into the real world! Thank you to Trudi’s friends who have come in this journey with us…I won’t tag her in all my stories moving forward (and bombard you with my future wanderings) …. but you are welcome to continue travelling the world with me anytime….

Sunday and Monday in Paris we were joined on our wanderings with my friend Sally who is kindly putting us up for our stay here

So off we went on Sunday….keeping a close eye on the rain forecast to Montmartre in Place de Clichy….if you watched the Olympic cycling road race you would have seen them traverse the cobbled streets of this area!

So here we were in the queue to take the cable car up…

To the cathedral on the top of the hill, we persevered with the queues as the 300 (or so) step climb did not look inviting…

The last bit we could easily manage….and then the crowds..

Viewing the church….

And the view of Paris!!!

Padlock fences have certainly become a thing in Paris (and many other parts of Europe these days)…

And you can buy your padlock(and key) and cheap nasty tin Eiffel towers from the hawkers laying their wares on a mat!

We the wandered into the village…

Trudi fascinated by this statue(actually a human) who she waited to move for 30 minutes….he didn’t and she eventually did and joined Sally and I for our morning coffee…

Next to a plethora of souvenir shops…

Art (oil painting) galleries

Caricature artists…

And Throngs of people!!!

Not being one for crowds we headed downhill (this time on foot)

Shadows on walls…another piece of art…

Steep cobbled streets…

Chained up bikes…

More steep streets and finally….

The famous Moulin Rouge theatre..booked out well in advance….then…

Sally’s favourite Irish pub…lunch and a drink…the day that promised rain was holding out beautifully!!

Where Trudi almost (S instead of P) found her name on the vinegar bottle for our chips!

After lunch we went around the corner to the 2nd largest cemetery in Paris – Montmartre Cemetery…

Where family’s have houses…

The original owner of the Moulin Rouge has statues!

And Rugby players have carved plaques!

Many more famous muscians and Jewish family’s…a very interesting visit as Sally could tell us about many of the people lying at rest here.

Nearing late afternoon we utilised our three day transport pass and took a bus home to Clichy…just beating the rain for an evening in, and a light dinner of baguette, cheese and pate!

Today…Monday, promised to be very wet but changed overnight so we roared off to the metro(train) and headed towards the River Seine to take our Baton riverboat trip! We arrived at the Champs Élysées and headed towards the river…

Passing the Petit Palace

And the Grand Palace as we walked to the Bateau Mouche(the riverboat operator of choice) catching the 11am one as the sun was breaking through…

Off we go!!! Down the river…

The grand Palace glass top dome where the Olympic Taekwondo was held!

Under the first of many bridges spanning the River Seine

The bridge to Des Invalides with its golden statues!

The Louvre museum (home of the Mona Lisa)…

The riverboats moored along the shores of the river…

Hotel De Ville which has been the headquarters of the municipality of Paris since 1357…

And Notre Dame cathedral dating back to the 4th century now under reconstruction after a five destroyed its roofs in 2019!

We then headed back up river past…

The Eiffel Tower, after a sunny break in the weather, the clouds were once again rolling in..

Making a U-Turn, by the railway bridge, opposite where the Parisian Australian Embassy is, where Kevin, Rols and Sally have all worked..

Having done the tourist trip and spying most of Paris’ landmarks, with less humans, we left the city centre and trained back to place de Clichy for lunch…

Trudi’s fabulous rectangular pizza, and Sue lashing out and taking dessert for lunch….

The infamous, Crepe Suzette! Butter, syrup and liquor added to flames at the table…delicious and rich, but I had to have (at least one time)!!

At this time rain was threatening, having left us alone all day, Sally headed home and Sue and Trudi dug around in the op shops (that mum and I had found many years ago!) came out to RAIN, umbrellas up, poncho on and we battled on to look for bargains..however gave up and jumped on bus and headed home around 4pm!

And the day ends with Sue writing and Trudi, Sally and Stephanie (Sally’s daughter) playing cards!

Yesterday was fairly uneventful as a full travelling day from Lisbon to Paris….taxi…plane….bus….taxi, leaving at 7.30am and arriving at our destination at 5.00pm…Apart from the crazy taxi ride to the airport in Portugal where the driver thought he was in an F1 race!

Today we set off to visit the palace of Versailles……

Which meant navigating the Paris metro (train system)…. And three trains, many stairs, escalators….and walking around in circles (underground) we finally arrived at Versailles…in the south of Paris around midday!

Along with thousands of other tourists…

Already having decided that we were not queueing to enter the castle…and a wander around the outside and the gardens (and not lining up for three hours to get inside) was our best option…

This palace was the home to the French king Louis XIV in the 17th century and also the French government…

Lots of gold…fences…to keep the non paying tourists out!

We then wandered through the archways…

To the gardens….which are now also fenced off, another queue and another entry fee…

A glimpse through the fences…

The palace and the tourists!

Statues

Water fountains…

So bucket list ticked, we left the palace and the bedlam and wandered through the town of Versailles…in search of a coffee…stumbling on a produce market…selling….

Flowers, fresh fruit and vegetables…

Dried fruit and nuts and…

A smorgasbord of olives…

Also a great coffee and a not so great loo!

We commenced our homeward journey…taking the first train through to the Eiffel Tower stop…

The centre of Paris still sporting the remnants of the 2024 summer Olympics…and again the crowds of tourists!

This driving bridge is still only a walking bridge where the Olympic rings stand proud and where many of the events (triathlons, marathons) crossed to their finish line.

Getting really hungry by this time we followed our noses until we found a cafe area, many of whom were closing as it was after the 12-2pm lunchtime slot. We did find a pizza place open and shared one between us….before walking off the main drag towards the Metro (train) back to our abode in Clichy!

More residential and much quieter than walking on the edge of the Seine River…clutching our bags!

Again the maze of stairs, escalators and train options…to be finally helped by a young French girl who assured us we were finally on the correct platform for our final train leg!!! The trains all day were full and several times we were swinging from the bars as standing room only! No such thing as giving up your seat for the old gals!

Not to waste a moment…up and out by 9am to catch a train from Lisbon to the seaside town of Cascais….

Zooming under The Vasco da Gama Bridge, spanning the Tagus River near Lisbon, Portugal, it is the longest bridge in Europe, stretching over 17 kilometers and arriving in Cascais around 10am….in need of a coffee and snack!

Not particularly successful, as it was the smallest cappuccino and americano we have had to date (even though we asked for large- would hate to see their regular!) and what looked like bacon and egg pie turned out to be a (cold) nasty odd looking meat wrap which neither of us could eat….and to add insult to injury – the Loo was closed for cleaning….

Take 2 – another coffee (mainly to find a loo) and no food! At least this time the coffee was good and the loos were open!

Things were really just starting to open….

We left the cobbled streets of the same old tourist shops (full of faded Ronaldo t-shirts!)

Past a Merry go round without children (yet) …. and headed to the waterfront of this fishing town…

Beach volleyball but NO hands only kicking and heads!!!

The fishing boats in the harbour…

The entrance to the fort and Marina….

Entering The Cidadela de Cascais – Forte de Nossa Senhora da Luz e Torre on the point overlooking the Marina…

Art structures and bikes….

Old and new…yellow is definitely a colour of choice for buildings in this area…

The entrance to the Marina…

And a cool drink overlooking the sea…

Complete with a doggy cafe…

Which was actually full of cardboard boxes!

Seagulls perched high on the wall looking back to Cascais township…

Flagpoles through the fortress walls..

Taking in the architecture and villas along the waterfront…

Still a slight hint of gothic…

more yellow…

Bougainvillea and mural art on all walls….adorning the town…

More seagulls!!! (And Trudi!)

Sandy (and rocky) beaches being enjoyed in the late summer warmth of the afternoon…

Back to the train station for a 50cent loo stop, I must say public toilets in this part of the world are sadly lacking…and there is a limit to how many coffees or drinks one can imbibe out on a day of exploring…and it becomes a viscious cycle…drink – loo – drink – loo….

We caught our train back to Lisbon centre..and stopped in at a bottle shop on our 20 minute walk back…

Greeted by some cute cork art and a terrible smell of dried fish for sale…yes in this bottle shop one obviously adds dried fish and sardines as their snacks to their wine!!!

So the late afternoon is to be jamming all our travelling possessions into our little rolly bags ready for an early start tomorrow!!! Next stop Paris!

This morning we decided to walk to the new town (Lisbon city centre)

We got to the main square and went in search of our morning coffee!

This monument is in the middle of the huge empty square…

In thru the gates and the busy tourist area..,

We found a coffee further down where the prices got cheaper …

And we brought a snack (pastry) …. then as all the shops were opening at 10am we strolled the street..,

Superman holding fort in the sweet shop…

And Spider-Man inside…this is where it got interesting…as the lady in the shop told Trudi to hold onto our bags as pickpocketing is rife…a little nervous we clutched our back packs on our fronts as we navigated beggars and shop owners following us around (obviously thinking we might steal). Feeling decidedly uncomfortable we headed back to the waterfront and …took a seat to decide our next move…

This chap was moving rocks, with a container out for money…there are a lot of beggars here…After catching our breath we decided to stick to the waterfront – more tourist less beggars…and here we lucked out…a fabulous girl in a TukTuk offered us a deal we couldn’t refuse…a tour round Alfama….our hood…where we felt safe!!!!

She was fabulous, our car all to ourselves and she took us to all the places we didn’t see yesterday!!!

Gardens..,

Viewpoints!

Castles….

More viewpoints….

Out to the city…

And down to the sea…

Cops moving cars with a jack….

And “love” padlocks on the fences..

This area felt so much safer as our crazy driver chatted and laughed with us to a photo shoot…

In our electric vintage car!!!

She then took us back down to the Fado(Portuguese music) museum, where we took our mid arvo refreshments …

Listening to an English busker…who we of course encouraged…(with coins)

Then it was a visit to the Fado (Portuguese music) museum…

Trudi listening to the music…

These guitars and ukeleles which play the thoughtful music…

And the faces of Fado music…

We were not far from our house so wandered back home resting for our last day of exploring Lisbon tomorrow!