Malley-Gram 2003-4



2003 - No. 4 www.malecek.com Jan-Apr 2003


While Gail and I were in the South Island Stephanie’s mother, Monique, and sister, Florence, were doing the North Island with her. They arrived back at Waiuku a few days after we did. We only had a day with Flo who returned immediately to France. But Monique was able to spend ten days with us. Steph, Flo, Monique After ruling out a S.I tour she and Steph settled for nearby outings and a tour of Northland. Monkey Catho Surprizingly, Monique had never played pool or billiards but she was a good pupil and caught on quickly. Steph and Monique's good friends Walter and Dorothy came out for a farewell meal. Walter and Dorothy	We met up with the Whites at the Cambridge Country Store where I bought a bottle of Blueberry Angelica (Liqueur). Over to Cambridge Motor Park where Whites settled into the 9-person cabin with kitchen while Malleys headed for the cheap 5-person plain cabin with fridge. After a lunch we then drove out past Lake Karapiro to climb Mt. Maungatautari. Christian had the lead and came us on track by finding the next orange triangle on a tree. We lost trampers along the way but amazingly Sally, who couldn't even walk a month ago, made it to the top - well, not exactly the top, but close to it. Back to camp for supper and games - Uno, cribbage and checkers.

	Waiuku Trampers Lake Karapiro Casino Cambridge
	Up and out of the cabins by 10AM. We stopped to do a Hillary Kiwi Walk along the Waikato River. Regrouped at the info centre in Tirau and decided to head on out to the spring. We drove to the end of Te Waihou trail which would gave us a shorter walk (too short and we didn't get to see the waterfalls and gorge - so looks like we will return one day and do it from the other end). Took a photo but since the viewfinder had been set for non-glasses things looked blury so I figured I left my glasses somewhere in van - only to be told I was wearing them! After a picnic we strolled along the stream - there was a plaque commemorating Prime Minister Helen Clark opening the pumping station in 1991 (60% of NZ bottled water comes from the spring). From there we drove onto Arapuni to cross the swing bridge and back again (52m above the river). Time for us to split - Ian and mini-Whites heading home while Su went with us to Mangakino. Bill arrived as we were resting to check on who was in the place. Feeling was that it was too cold to go fishing/eeling. I crashed and ate me fish 'n chips when I got up. Then we played a game of Scrabble Ne winning as she usually does.

	3 Tramps River Spring Bridge
	We left Mangakino around 10:30AM and went via Tokaroa to Tirau getting there at Noon. Since it is Anzac Day shops don't open until 1PM. But the Garden Center was (traditional for nurseries to flaunt the law and only a couple get fined) and we wandered about it. I got a Cyperus Alternifolius to use as a backdrop for my pool waterfalls. Put it in back of van and on the rest of the drive people reacted to it, probably because it kind of looks like marijuana. At The Big Sheep Wool Gallery we got a baby's woolskin rug and had it shipped off to my nephew Christian.

Malley Muses

We were offered river stones by a friend who wanted them removed from the yard. So it was three trips to Papakura. I used most of them to build a waterfalls going into the pool. The other two improvements were forced upon us as the pump and salt cell both broke down and were costly replacements. At least the pool water is no longer green.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

I’d like to see a show where the contestants are billionaires and each time they get a question wrong they have to donate a million dollars to a different charity.


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