Perfect Place For Parrot Lovers, Hotel Hana Lodge near Rotorua, New Zealand

 We had arrived in Auckland, a major seaside city on New Zealand's North Island. We slept off jetlag staying with friends for a couple of nights before driving south. Hotel Hana was our first hotel stop  near Rotorua, famous for its erupting hot springs.

As we drove up the drive to our hotel, a rabbit scampered across into the grass.

Photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

An impressive, imposing, fun and friendly hotel, isolated at the end of a long drive through trees and bamboo, to a building with a grand staircase. 

To the side of the hotel is an outdoor pool. It was cold and some insects had settled, but we enjoyed the outdoor spa bath.having lifted off the lid, and the two person sauna, having switched it on during the guided tour from the manager. 

The outdoor area had towels. No shower but the compact house hotel was conveniently alongside. 

Our bedroom's en suite bathroom had amazing tiled floors. The hotel was full of colourful paintings by an artist inspired by Chagall. If you had a large holiday or investment budget you could buy one. The paintings were for sale

Sculptures were scattered through the grounds giving the whole place a surreal feeling. 

Best of all were the parrots in human high cages on the front slope.

The rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Sculpture at Hana Hotel. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Anything the hotel could or should add? Maybe showers by the sauna. And the outdoor pool could do with heating and daily cleaning with suction hoses or a greenhouse style cover with anti insect doors. 

The food was fabulous. Except for soup being too salty, but that was instantly replaced with an alternative starter. The croissants at breakfast were dry. 

However, you can forgive a couple of little glitches with a quirky hotel, obliging, chatty, friendly, informative staff - and those wonderful, beautiful parrots!

Free Museum In London, The Horniman - in a free hilltop park with view over London and animals

Problem
Where to go in London which won't cost a fortune? A wonderful all-weather activity, indoor and out.

Answer
The Horniman Museum. The Museum is free.

The gardens are free. Masses for children to do in the museum and outside in the grounds.

Indoors - free
1 The global world collection of oddities that Horniman collected on his travels around Asia, India and Africa. Supplemented by updated information from the coutnries concerned.

Go to the upstairs gallery and look down.

2 A huge collection of stuffed animals and birds - a bit like the Natural History museum collection out at Tring collected by the Rothschilds.

3 A vast number of musical instruments. Click on buttons to hear them play.

Indoor gift shop will keep you amused for some time whether or not you buy. Lots of things which make a noise, such as soft toy birds from the RSPB, which sing.

Musical instruments based on those from around the world, such as maracas.

Items to paint with washable pens supplied, and then wash. Choose from a backpag, pencil case, pillow case, duvet, four placemats.

The design is the world which kids can colour in. Hours of fun - providing you can make it clear they decorate this item and nothing else - but if they did at least the paint in the pens supplied is washable.

The indoor cafe has assorted foods and drinks and seating.

Outdoors - free
Park And Views
The hilltop park with flower areas has views over London and its skyline. I immediately spotted and identified the pointed Shard from a distance. The display aboard points out Wembley Stadium and arch to the left, The Gherkin and several more buildings to the right.

A statue of a goat drew my attention to the entrance to the animal area with goats and rabbits. I went there first which proved a good idea because it closed early. The guinea pigs were hiding when I was there.

Outdoor ice cream kiosk attracts those walking through the park and not going into the museum.

Practical Visitor Details
Nearby station
Forest Hill (has a fish and chip shop opposite and pubs which have to provide drinking water for free because they serve alcohol.

Horniman Museum and Gardens
100 London Road
London SE23 3PQ
Tel: 020 8699 1872
horniman.ac.uk

Photos will be added later.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, author and speaker.

Learn Welsh words for cow, duck and rabbits

Problem
How do you remember Welsh animals?

Answer
Look for letter combinations.

Welsh - English
buwch - cow (think of b for bull, u for moo, w third letter of cow, c first letter of cow)
crwban - tortoise (think of it being cruel to ban a tortoise CRwBAN)
cwningen - rabbits (CheWING carrots and breeding like rabbits aGaiN)
hwyaden - duck (how why a D uck)

English - Welsh
cow - buwch
duck - hwyaden
rabbits - cwningen
tortoise - crwban

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, author, speaker, and teacher of English and other languages.

The Future of Food Production and Diets - What Would Benefit the world?

Travelling around the world you encounter different diets in different cultures. The Muslims and Jews don't eat pork. The Jews don't eat shellfish and won't mix meat and milk at the same meal. Hindus don't eat beef.

Animal lovers avoid battery farmed eggs and veal. Vegans avoid eggs and milk. Vegetarians eat vegetables and fruit and grains.

Health-conscious people aim for organic food.

Dieters go fro fruit juices and avoid starches. (Other diets avoid fats, or sugars.)

Americans avoid Malaysian vegetables, grown in 'night soil' - manure or sewage; whilst Malaysians avoid Australian vegetables 'grown in chemicals'.

Arab countries and poor countries admire the fat and wealthy, well-fed look.

Western countries like the thin and energetic look this century. (In the painter Titian's day fashions in female forms was obviously different. Maybe painters preferred patrons who were and looked wealthy.)

Shakespeare did not like the lean and hungry look. (But Shakespeare and Marlow also liked drinking in taverns.)

As for drink, Muslims and Hindus are against alcohol. But the Irish and British are fond of alcohol. In the last century it was safer to drink alcohol than polluted water.

What of the future? We hear and read a lot about global warming. The UK is now proving wines.
Foods from distant lands are imported.

If you were a visitor from Mars, what would you think would be the best solution?

Hindus who don't eat meat, to preserve cows and oxen, work animals which roam freely, eating wherever and whatever and belong to the ruling classes?

The Chinese and / or there view that you eat anything with four legs except a table? (That would include stray dogs.)

Certain African tribes which eat insects?

Eating game? This would include lions, birds of prey, and so on.

Eating domestic pets? Rabbits?

Licensing all animal owners.  Marking animals, not just sheep and cows, and dogs, but also cats and chickens.

Killing animals which eat or attack humans? This would include crocodiles, some elephants, lions, jaguars, leopards.

Killing animals which eat others? This would include killing lions and foxes. Large snakes. Crocodiles.

Killing animals which eat crops or damage trees. This would / could include d e e r, birds.

Introducing animals which eat others?

Moving animals which eat others' eggs? (Removing hedgehogs to new places when they eat birds' eggs.)

Allowing everybody to eat everything like the Chinese?

Making everybody vegetarian like the Hindus?

Having meat-free days, just as the Catholics used to eat fish on Fridays. Copying some Indian groups have vegetarian day? Giving up wheat food which was given up in Lent after using up the wheat leftover from last year in pancakes, to ensure no contamination by mould of the new crop?

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, researcher, author and speaker.

Easter Eggs, Travel and Springtime - Eggs-actly!

England's contribution to Easter festivities is an abundance of chocolate Easter eggs. They are in the shops already.

Let's look at the history of Easter eggs. The Russian royalty had Faberge eggs encrusted with jewels. Peasants would paint ordinary eggs in pretty colourful patterns. The eggs is a symbol of life worldwide.

Chinese eggs
The Chinese celebrate with eggs. The so-called hundred year old eggs are just eggs which look a hundred years old.

Jewish eggs
A boiled egg features in the Jewish Seder night.

The symbols of eggs are pagan, pre-dating Christianity and our Common Era. Nowadays you can buy chocolate eggs and chocolate rabbits in supermarkets. Speciality chocolate shops offer other varieties.

English Eggs
The Cadbury's chocolate egg with a creamy centre of white with a yellow imitation yolk is still a UK  favourite for children and adults alike. Highly calorific. Wrapped in silver foil.

A German contribution is the Kinder surprise with a small gift inside.

Last year, 2014, in London, England, we indulged in Blumenthal's chocolate egg from Waitrose supermarket, set in edible mock straw, some kind of rice paper.

This year, 2015, in England I see white chocolate bunnies in Tesco Express, and chocolate chicks, neatly alliterative, filled with Smarties.

That's a quick pick me up when travelling. What about my teeth? Fortunately, the supermarkets also sell fruit, pears are a good price, and you can also buy yourself a toothbrush. You are supposed to renew your toothbrush every three months. Better to get a new toothbrush than new teeth.