Sunset #OnTheBay

Easter has come early. It's only January and hot cross buns are on full display.

You know you've arrived from a hiker's paradise when back the luggage on the belt is large backpacks from MacPac, Kathmandu or Northface etc. The photo is remarkable because we were leaving Queenstown with a clear view of the Remarkables (top left).

Queenstown must have the most rental car companies. I've counted 10 so far and that's not even the ones in the airport.

Wanna re-live the ✨kawaii ✨ magic? Well lucky ducks, guess what we have prepared! All of the Kawaiicon 3 talks are up on YouTube! Check em out! youtube.com/@kawaiiconnz

Photos from KohaCon are also online. It's been an amazing week last week. www.flickr.com/photos/4nits...

My photos from KiwiPyCon are online at www.flickr.com/photos/4nits...

The conferences are over and immediately the weather is bringing back the rain.

Why are all the Christmas trees all set up and lit and Xmas music playing in store? It's still 10 days to go.

My day 2 photos of #kawaiicon are now online as well in the same album at www.flickr.com/photos/4nits... Have a great Sunday musing over all the fantastic talks and conversations. Many thanks @kawaiicon.bsky.social Crüe, volunteers, contractors, venue staff etc. who brought the event to life.

#Kawaiicon? Yep, that's right. @mangopdf.bsky.social @kawaiicon.bsky.social

#Kawaiicon vibe. @xntrik.wtf @kawaiicon.bsky.social Photos are at www.flickr.com/photos/4nits... - this and others will be there soonish.

My Day 1 photos of #Kawaiicon are online along with the earlier uploaded bag and tag and axe throwing photos. www.flickr.com/photos/4nits... @kawaiicon.bsky.social

The quiet before the storm called registration at Kawaiicon. The doors will open in a few minutes.

Kawaiicon attendees get the full Wellington experience this year, including a welcome with a bang, aka noticeable earthquake.

Pre-Kawaiicon events: Bag and tag and a super special event for volunteers and speakers. More photos will be added to the album in due time from the coming two conference days. www.flickr.com/photos/4nits...

That #eqnz took a while to roll in.

Iconic Sydney at night.

On my way to Sydney... via an unscheduled stop in Auckland, having travelled close to 2,000km. Will be off shortly I hope all it seems that they've been able to resolve the electrical issue.

The Jewel at Changi Airport in Singapore all lit up in colour.

Back in the land of the fast cars and even faster trains though the later may come with long delays. Spending a few days away from people on small islans was good to get rid off my conference acquired cold. I wonder if smelling mash in a distillery helped clear the sinuses faster than usual. 😂

Amazing trip to the Isle of Iona and Staffa. On the latter is Fingal's Cave that beautifully showcases the 60 million year old basalt columns.

What do you do when you are on a smallish island? You visit much smaller ones. 😀 Not these pictured but Staffa and Iona which are a bit bigger than these.

Sightseeing on the Isle of Mull in Scotland had to include a visit to a whisky distillery. Here's the Wayback room at Tobermory Distillery. At the end of the you await two drams of different single malt.

Condensation over Edinburgh. Let #MoodleMootGlobal begin.

The flight crew just arrived. I guess that's a good sign that will be flying shortly. ✈️

On my second last train of five for today, going from Antwerp to Lübeck for #MoodleMootDACH. We are making good progress. It's not as fast as the 298km/h between Frankfurt and Cologne, but still good.

Flight 1 of 3 to Auckland is done. Europe is still rather far away though.

It was a rainbow afternoon. It was visible for over 1 hour from town all the way to Mirama and at times even a double rainbow. All of that after a brilliant double rainbow yesterday with there main rainbow visible dirt more than 45 minutes.

It's quite warm today and there is even a rainbows. What other good things will the day being?

The last day of my Japan holiday is coming to an end soon. It's been a place of extremes, idiosyncracies, hospitality, and amazing culture. I spent the day at the Edo Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum and at the Observatory of the Tokyo Metropolitan Gov. Building.

If there's ever a good city to have a suitcase go bust, it must be Tokyo. I've never seen so many stores that sell reasonably priced suitcases. It must be because of all the shopping tourists are expected to do to leave with at least one additional suitcase.

In the land of the plastic capsule toy. You don't even need to go into the store to buy it. Just use one of the many machines out front.

I wonder how these business hours were selected. Do they depend on the train schedule or in the morning the school drop off?

If you ever get the chance to see a performance of Kodo, I suggest you don't miss it. On the last day of their summer series at Asakusa Public Hall in Tokyo, they performed in front of a full house. Amazing artistry and awesome sound on all instruments, big and small.

Tengu points the way with his nose to Mt Kurama with a beautiful temple area.

Good to know that the last bear was seen on 5 February 2024. Good for the tourists, but I am not sure if it's good for the bear population in Kibune by Kyōto.

A piano bench 🤩 I love the Garden Museum on Mount Hiei in Kyōto because all the paintings are oversized, in frames, and mounted outside like this or on easels amidst flowers upon flowers. What an awesome way to present the impressionist art and take viewers through the garden.

Ready for the selfie generation: a smartphone stand on a little table.

This is a great way to contain trash bags prior to pick-up. Kanazawa was pretty windy, so it would also prevent the bags from migrating. These would come in handy in the Wellington CBD as well during cardboard pick-up, but might need some anchor hooks at the bottom to prevent them from flying away.

Waiting for the rain to stop a bit before continuing the sightseeing. I walked through the Arashimaya Bamboo Forest just in time before the rain started.

On the way down from Mt Inari in Kyōto. If you go up, you'll escape the crowds, and it's much cooler though still humid as.

Umbrellas are essential every day in Kanazawa and other parts of Japan: it's either raining or the sun is shining.

Shibuya Scramble in Tokyo, apparently, the busiest crossing in the world. It must not quite be rush hour.

If you thought immigration is painful in major US airports due to the queues, you haven't been to Tokyo. I haven't seen such a long queue in many years.

It's rainbow season at Evans Bays in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. #OnTheBay

Kia Ora Te Whanganui-a-Tara.

I'm going to sniff some windy air at the outdoor terrace at SFO before being on a plane for 13+ hours. The plants already remind me of NZ

One of three planes is done. The next one arrived so we should be off on time for the 13-hour trip across the Pacific.

Inner city waterfall in Montréal. It's raining pretty badly and it seems like buildings and streets can't cope. There's are also huge puddles everywhere.