My old Kiwi friend Richard and I go back to the late 1970s, when we were both working in the Wellington Child and Family Clinic. I was training in psychiatry, and he was training to be a child psychologist. Many of the other staff there were radical feminists, and Richard and I huddled together for mutual support. Over the years we have had many adventures together; tramping, skiing and sailing. Here is a brief video of one trip we did together.
Recently Richard has had some bad health news, and we decided to do a road trip together in the North Island of New Zealand.
There were two others who used to ski with us at that time, Doug and Mark. Both psychiatrists. We all got together for a meal in Wellington the night I flew over.
The four musketeers: Mark, Doug, me and Richard
View from Richard and Rob's house in Wellington
Richard
Rob
We took the bus up to Palmerston North and Fielding to collect a car from some friends who had been borrowing it. Then on to Whanganui, to stay in an AirBnB. Whanganui has collected a number of creative artists. Good pottery and glass-work.
Next on to New Plymouth, a city near a major volcano, Mount Taranaki.
The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
New Plymouth street art
Waitara
We went for a four-hour tramp up Mount Taranaki
Mokau, on the coast north of New Plymouth
Looking back at Mount Taranaki
Drone shot looking north from Mokau
Turkeys, sheep and horse enjoying some shade.
Near Lake Taupo
Lake Taupo
Toetoes and Mount Ngauruhoe
Going up Mount Ruapehu in the gondola
Tensing and Hillary
From the skyline on Mount Ruapehu.
Tongariro River
From Turangi, near Lake Taupo in the centre of the North Island, we drove to Hawkes Bay, on the East Coast. We took a back-country road with very little traffic. Some textured landscapes along the way.
A new pine plantation
Napier was devastated by a major earthquake in 1931. Some of the rebuilding featured art deco architecture.
A Tesla Performance Stealth outside a craft shop.
Te Mata Peak
Ross
Ali
Ralph
Cathy
A couple of hobos getting off the bus to Wellington. Corona virus fear goes global.
Richard and Rob's grandson Freddie
Rob
