On to Australia – mostly a travelogue

Ray and I are sitting in the lounge in Auckland and thinking back about our adventures in New Zealand.

The last few days have mostly about seeing old friends and geocaching our way through some unusual locales in Nelson and on the way there. We did check up on easy to bridgeblogging and Ray made some comments on Judy’s blog www.judy.bridgeblogging.com cheating on BBO. We also had some discussion about it. I realize it is awfully easy to cheat online. After all when we practice Ray sits in an office only a few feet away and I can hear him cursing me, quite often. Fortunately he doesn’t give anything away when he does that.

When I think about the various cheating issues in sports of all kinds it is hardly surprising that bridge is not immune. I can’t remember any time where I actually did feel tempted to cheat although I can remember a number of times where I did have the opportunity to do so. But then again I am a bridge amateur so I don’t feel the pressures others are under.

We were very pleases to see Suzanne and Sarah again and we had a great time chatting, geocaching and generally getting caught up. You can see that they enjoy life in Nelson where the climate is mild, there is the ocean and the mountains and a different quality of life than in Toronto. Suzanne is part of the volunteer ambulance corps and seems to be really enjoying that while they both work as freelancers. Suzanne still does a lot of editing for Master Point Press and if anyone is writing fiction she gets our heartiest recommendation as a fiction editor.

Suzanne and Sarah welcome Ray to their home in Nelson

It was also amazing how quickly we found all our geocaches with so many helpers. Here Sarah is swinging from a tree branch just after a geocache find near the cathedral.

Yesterday we spent more time wandering around Nelson. The beach was a highlight. It was a beautiful sunny day and it was low tide revealing an enormous white sandy beach full of shells, birds and warm water. We also checked out Founder’s Park, too early for the day’s art festival but interesting non the less. We also talked and talked and ate and talked with Sarah and Suzanne.

Then a quick flight to Auckland. The most remarkable part of that was that there was no security at all. No passport check, no metal detectors, they barely looked at our boarding passes. If you happen to be nearr Auckland airport some time Ray and I heartily recommend the Toby Jug. The food was great and even I paid some attention to the cricket game between New Zealand and Bangladesh.