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    1

    Ta Prohm & around

    7 Mac 2017, Kemboja 🌙 27 °C

    Today we went to Ta Prohm - also known as "Tomb Raider" temple, as this is where they filmed it. It was very different to the temples we saw yesterday, with much of it still in ruins and still undergoing restoration. They are working against the clock, as the trees and roots grow through the temple stonework and the jungle tries to reclaim the land. On the one hand, it is a real shame to see the already precarious structures being damaged further but on the other hand it has a strange beauty about the place. We all really enjoyed exploring the ramshackle temples and, if it weren't for the dozens of other people milling around, we could easily have believed we had just discovered them! The first 3 photos here are from Ta Prohm.

    Afterwards we went to the nearby temple complex of Banteay Kdei (photo #4). This was a better preserved site than Ta Prohm but not as well preserved as Angkor Wat or Angkor Thom that we saw yesterday. It had great long corridors of doorways, that you can see all the way through. It also has high vaulted towers between the corridors and many of these were homes to colonies of bats - which we could both smell and see! We also loved all the many brightly coloured butterflies we saw fluttering around at this site - we must have seen at least 6 different species just during one 10-minute rest stop. Slightly less welcome wildlife were the ants - we were reading an info sign and didn't notice until too late than Solana had stood in an ants nest - they were all over her foot and she got bitten several times, bless her. After much screaming, lots of cold water and a carry back to our tuk-tuk, she was OK....

    We managed to see Sras Srang (photo #5), the royal bathing pool (more like a large lake!), before we headed back to town. Cambodia seems to be a big fan of hammocks, in the same vein as Costa Rica. It is interesting because we didn't see any hammocks at all in Vietnam, until we reached the Mekong area where they started to make an appearance, but here they seem much more popular. Whereas in Costa Rica there were plenty of hammocks for the tourists (as you saw from our photos), here they seem to be reserved for the locals - many of whom appear to be quite fond of a siesta! The last photo shows Solana with Sing, our tuk-tuk driver for the past 2 days - she is quite taken with him and keeps asking us where he is.

    Finally, for those of you who were wondering, I have now seen my cherry tree in blossom to remind me of Springtime at home - thanks to Gemma for the photo of our garden. You can all sleep soundly in your beds tonight now!    Baca lagi

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    Siem Reap

    8 Mac 2017, Kemboja 🌙 27 °C

    Today we had a quieter day, catching up on trip planning, arranging transport, laundry, etc (not exciting, but necessary). We have decided to stay in Siem Reap for another few days, instead of our original plan to move on to another town in Cambodia. There is plenty to do here and it should give us chance to catch up on preparations for the next leg of our trip (we fly to New Zealand next week), as well as fortifying ourselves before the 10-hour bus journey to Bangkok and another imminent round of jet lag... Selfishly, it also means that I do not have to spend my birthday tomorrow on a bus! We went for a last swim in the pool of our fantastic hotel before we had to check out and move to a hotel across town (also very nice and above budget - a birthday treat!). We went out for a walk in a park by the riverside and saw lots of large fruit bats roosting in the trees - fascinating to see. Having missed out on the Foreign Correspondents Club in Phnom Penh, we found the FCC in Siem Reap and enjoyed a "happy hour" cocktail there this evening (whilst Solana practised her photography skills again!). We ended up going to an Indian restaurant tonight and, although not up to Bradford standards, it was better than we expected. We also saw a pharmacy that doubled (tripled?) as a mini-mart and money exchange shop - possibly an idea for pharmacies in Britain who are feeling the economic pinch?...Baca lagi

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    Julie's Birthday

    9 Mac 2017, Kemboja ⛅ 30 °C

    On Thursday we celebrated my birthday in Siem Reap. I had a few birthday cards (which Solana was very excited about and desperate to "help" me open!) and Laura even managed to find a bottle of fizz as a present, which was a nice surprise. In the morning we did a Cambodian cooking class. We visited the food market, then made some traditional Cambodian dishes. We both made mango salad to start, then Laura made beef lok-lak and I made fish Amok for main courses. They were tasty and, although some of the ingredients may be difficult to get at home, we would try to recreate them with substitutes where needed.

    In the afternoon we visited another temple (photos to follow in a separate post). In the evening, the hotel staff knocked at the door and brought me a birthday cheesecake, complete with candle! It was a nice touch and Solana loved it - she thinks a birthday is not complete without a cake & candles. For dinner we went to a Japanese shabu shabu restaurant - where you select items from a food conveyor belt and cook them in a soupy broth at your table. It was great fun (once we'd worked out to avoid the offal!) and they even had a bit of sushi - tasty. The day was rounded off by finishing off the bottle of fizz - a great way to end a good day.    Baca lagi

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    Last Cambodian temple visit

    9 Mac 2017, Kemboja ⛅ 30 °C

    On Thursday afternoon we went out in a tuk-tuk to visit one of the further out temples, Banteay Srei. Although this site was smaller than the others we have visited, it was more colourful (with stone shades of pink, yellow and grey) and ornately and intricately carved than the other sites we've visited. It has been good to see the differences between the different temple sites around Siem Reap. Although we haven't seen all of them, we feel like we've done enough to get a good flavour of the area, without feeling too "templed out".

    On the way to Banteay Srei we went to a butterfly centre and had an informative tour, seeing many different types of colourful butterflies and caterpillars. We also got to see some chrysalis, a little frog and some giant stick insects (plus more mosquitoes than we would have liked). Banteay Srei is about 40km out of Siem Reap and it was also good to see a bit more of rural life on the way out to this area. However, as I'm sure anyone who has ridden in a tuk-tuk will understand, it was a bone-shakingly bumpy ride - we had to hold on to Solana a few times...and we wished we had selected our most rubust bras for this particular journey!    Baca lagi

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    From Siem Reap to Bangkok

    11 Mac 2017, Thailand 🌙 28 °C

    Yesterday was our last day in Cambodia. We enjoyed a relaxing day, around the hotel pool in the morning, then we went out to a Cambodia BBQ restaurant for lunch. The BBQ was great - we got to cook our food (meats, squid & prawns) over a gas burner (like a camping stove), plus vegetables and noodles in hot soupy broth around the edges. It was great fun and tasty too - we wished we'd discovered this before our last day in Cambodia! We then visited the day market and bought a few things to take on to New Zealand with us (we know everything will be more expensive there). Later we went for another swim, then spent much of the evening sorting our stuff and re-packing ready to move on. We had another visit from the hotel staff again, this time bringing us some mini farewell cakes - the joys of splashing out on a more upmarket hotel!

    Today we spent the whole day travelling to Bangkok by bus. The journey took us about 9 hours, including 2 hours of border formalities (mainly involving queues). The bus was pretty comfortable and the journey wasn't actually as bad as 9 hours on a bus with a 4-year-old might sound (helped by the fact that she had a 2-hour nap along the way - although she's now still awake and it's after 9pm!). We arrived safely in Bangkok and we're staying in Asia Hotel - a place that Laura stayed in when she was in Bangkok 17 years ago... The first thing we noticed in Bangkok is the number of cars - far more than we've seen in either Vietnam or Cambodia, where motorbikes were definitely more the norm, and more than either of us remember seeing when we've visited Bangkok before 15+ years ago.    Baca lagi

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    One night (and day!) in Bangkok

    12 Mac 2017, Thailand ⛅ 28 °C

    After arriving yesterday evening, we have now spent our first full night and day in Bangkok. This morning we went to Wat Pho, one of Bangkok's largest temples. It is very colourful and ornate and we spent a good couple of hours exploring the temple complex, even though we've both visited on previous trips to Thailand. It houses the giant reclining Buddha, a 46m long and 15m high statue of Bhudda, covered in gold leaf - an amazing site. Around the statue are 108 bronze bowls and Solana enjoyed dropping coins into each of them for good luck. Solana seems to love the temples and, in particular, the Buddha statues - today she kneeled down in the prayer area and bowed and "prayed", observing and copying the Thai visitors praying. She is very interested in it all, and taking it all in, with plenty of questions (some of which we can't answer ourselves!).

    As many of you will recall (certainly those of you in our pub quiz team the week we had the question about him), in October last year, the Thai King Bhumibol died - he had been the world's longest reigning monarch at the time of his death and is highly revered here in Thailand. Many Thai people are still wearing black clothes or armbands or ribbons as a mark of respect and remembrance and there are pictures of him all over the city. The queues to visit the Grand Palace (where his body currently resides) were impressively long today. We had a tasty lunch in a little restaurant near Wat Pho, then got a taxi back to our hotel. The traffic in Bangkok seems to be incredibly busy - akin to rush hour on the M62 but at all times of the day and night! This afternoon we paid a visit to one of the hotel pools (there are 2!) and Jacuzzi.

    This evening we met up with my Thai friend Jee, who was studying for her PhD at the University of Bradford as the same time as me. We haven't seen one another for about 15 years, so it was lovely to have the chance to meet up again. We all went out for dinner (see last photo here) and had a good catch up. We plan to spend some more time together tomorrow too.    Baca lagi

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    Exploring Bangkok, avoiding the traffic

    13 Mac 2017, Thailand ⛅ 34 °C

    Today we had breakfast with Jee and she gave us some tips for how to navigate Bangkok avoiding the roads and terrible traffic. Jee had a meeting to go to, so we took her advice and walked to the canal and got on a canal boat. The boats move pretty fast and as a consequence, the canals actually have waves on them, like the sea. If another boat goes past, the passengers have to pull up plastic sheeting to stop getting wet! The boats were almost all full of locals and it was a great, fun, way to get around and much faster than the roads. We visited Phu Kao Thong (Golden Mountain Temple) - we had to walk up 344 steps in the Bangkok heat to get to the top but there were plenty of animal statues to look at, bells to ring and gongs to bong along the way, so they helped keep Solana (and us) motivated to keep walking. We were rewarded at the top by the sight of the large golden stupa and great views across the city (oh, and a cheeky ice lolly!). Afterwards we went to a big shopping mall and had lunch in the amazing food court there - it has inexpensive stalls with food from all over Thailand and beyond and we were spoilt for choice. We then came back to our hotel via the Skytrain, which runs above the roads around much (nut not all) of the city - again faster and more fun than the roads.

    In the afternoon we met up with Jee again and she took us to some cheap places to buy a few things for the New Zealand leg of our trip, including a great "60 Baht" shop (like a pound shop, only B60 is now more like £1.50 with the current rubbish exchange rates!). So hopefully you will see a few different clothes on the next leg of our trip. We also went out for dinner, followed by ice cream. It was lovely to see Jee again and do some catching up and a shame to have to say goodbye to her again so quickly... Tomorrow evening we fly out of Bangkok to Christchurch in New Zealand. It is probably for the best that we are leaving Thailand, as Solana keeps making comments about the King (who is on all the bank notes) looking "a bit like Harry Potter" (which she says about any male in glasses) - given the sensitivities around the recent death of the King and the respectful nature of Thai people, we were starting to get worried she might get us arrested for blasphemy if we stayed much longer! We're not looking forward to the next round of jet lag but we are looking forward to some cooler weather (just hope we have enough clothes to cope with it, after 2 months of the tropics!), different scenery and visiting some friends. Solana is also looking forward to some "home food".    Baca lagi

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    Onwards to New Zealand

    16 Mac 2017, New Zealand 🌙 11 °C

    From leaving our hotel in Bangkok, 6,500 miles, 3 flights and 23.5 hours later we arrived at our hotel in Christchurch, New Zealand. The journey wasn't actually too bad, although we had our drinking water confiscated on 3 separate occasions (twice due to some weird Australian rule - even though one of those times we were in Bangkok and we weren't staying in Australia, only transitting via Sydney)... Emirates were a great airline, again, including plenty of in-flight entertainment with lots of kids programmes - we let Solana have unlimited screen time on long-haul flights, so Solana loved it! We didn't get much sleep on the flights but Solana got some. She was tired though - she even fell asleep sitting on the luggage trolley whilst we were walking from the international to domestic terminal in Auckland to catch our 3rd flight, bless her - see photo. We have 2 nights in Christchurch, then head down to Dunedin for a few days, where we're looking forward to visiting friends June and Dave.

    Finally, massive congratulations to Gemma on your successful DPharm viva - well done Dr Quinn! Great news.    Baca lagi

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    Christchurch

    16 Mac 2017, New Zealand 🌙 14 °C

    Amazingly, all 3 of us managed to sleep all night, after going to bed at 11pm. We're hoping that will help to minimise the jet lag but the time difference from Bangkok is 6 hours, so not counting our chickens yet... We got up to a beautiful sunny day, temp 20C - perfect. We spent a lovely day exploring the city of Christchurch, getting plenty of sunlight and fresh air (again will hopefully help our body clocks to readjust). Firstly we wandered around the city centre, where the devastation from the earthquakes in 2010-11 is still very evident. Only 20% of the buildings were left standing after the earthquakes, so the restoration operation is taking a long time and we saw a lot of regeneration and building work going on. The city has a lovely feel about it. As part of the regeneration, some shops have been set up in shipping containers - see first photo, pretty funky and colourful! We also stopped to see the "cardboard cathedral" - set up following the damage to the original cathedral in the earthquakes, it is constructed largely from massive cardboard tubes - an impressive architectural achievement.

    After exploring the city centre, we found an amazing kids play park - easily the best we have seen on our travels so far, so we spent a couple of hours here and stayed for a picnic lunch. Solana absolutely loved it, especially the water park section (until she fell and cut her lip and knee...). When we finally managed to drag Solana away, we visited the botanical gardens - they are massive and we only explored a fraction of them in the couple of hours we had. We also saw quite a few birds - at least 6 different species already (some of them very familiar from home, as many were imported from the UK in the 19th Century). Afterwards we went into the Canterbury Museum, which had some interesting displays on the history of human life in NZ, NZ birds (we learnt the bird importation fact there!) and Antarctic exploration - we could have happily stayed longer exploring the other exhibits but they kicked us out at closing time... On the way back to our hotel we stopped for dinner. The food prices here are even higher than we were expecting (might need to revaluate our budget!) but we managed to find a pub where it was "steak night", so we had a tasty meal there without breaking the bank.

    Apologies in advance to our friends James & Lou, and any of you who are also following their blog - we are now more-or-less following their footsteps through New Zealand but in reverse, so prepare yourselves for some similar blog photos!    Baca lagi

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    Down to Dunedin

    17 Mac 2017, New Zealand ⛅ 26 °C

    We picked up our hire car (a Ford Focus) and left Christchurch in the morning. It is a nice feeling, being in possession of our own wheels and in control of our own destinies again... We headed South on highway 1 - the best-maintained road we've seen since leaving home! The journey down to Dunedin was quite a long one but the scenery along the way was lovely and we stopped off at a couple of places along the way to break the journey. We couldn't resist stopping at Oamaru, after our friends James & Lou blogged about it being one of the best towns in NZ. We found another kids play park there, which we all enjoyed (as you can see from the photos!), with a café nearby serving great tea. It is lovely to be back in a land which appreciates its cuppas... We had a walk along the seafront there, to see whether we could spot any penguins - we found a penguin road sign but no actual penguins - I think we were a bit too early in the day, as they usually come onto the land closer to dusk. We arrived in Dunedin in the evening, where we're staying with friends June and Dave for a few days. It is lovely to see them again and their house is beautiful, with the most amazing views out across the bay. We had dinner with them and some lovely NZ wine (the first decent wine we've had since leaving home). Solana also enjoyed playing with their Grandaughter's toys, after 2 months of playing with the same few tiny toys we've been able to bring with us (we're a bit worried she won't actually want to leave the house now)... We're looking forward to a few days exploring the Dunedin area with some "locals" (they're from Yorkshire but have lived here for about 15 years).Baca lagi

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    Find Penguins? Yes, we did today!

    18 Mac 2017, New Zealand ☀️ 33 °C

    June and Dave took us for a day out around the Otago Peninsula today. We went along the coast road and enjoyed the beautiful scenery in the sunshine. We also saw lots of seabirds along the drive - gulls, oystercatchers, black swans. We went to the albatross centre at the end of the peninsula, where we learnt some interesting facts about albatross and penguins, and bought a hat and gloves for Solana (it was a bit chilly in the wind today). We saw several royal albatross flying around outside, around the cliffs - they are impressive birds, with a wingspan of 3 metres. The 2nd photo shows a royal albatross, although the photo doesn't do it justice. We also saw some fur seals basking on the rocks below (3rd photo - spot the seals!). Afterwards we went on to Allan's beach to look for sea lions - there were none there today but we all enjoyed a walk along the beach and we also saw a gull catching and eating a crab for its lunch, before heading to a café for our own lunch.

    In the evening, we went to "Penguin Place" in the hope of seeing some penguins - and we weren't disappointed. Solana got to see her first penguin in the wild and they were yellow-eyed penguins, the world's rarest penguin species (with only about 1,000 left in the wild - 400 or so of these on mainland NZ). We saw several, including a pair with a scandal (see 1st photo here) - a female who already had a partner (they usually pair for life) but has recently been seen cavorting with a younger male (seen in the photo) - it's a shame we won't be here to see who she chooses in the next mating season! June and Dave made us a delicious dinner when we returned later, with cheese & biscuits after - the first "proper" cheese we've had since leaving home, delicious. June and Dave are very hospitable and it is lovely to have some adult company to talk to too. We're enjoying our time here very much.    Baca lagi

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    Around Dunedin

    19 Mac 2017, New Zealand ⛅ 30 °C

    This morning we went with June and Dave to Orokonui nature reserve, enjoying some stunning views back across Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula along the way. We enjoyed a walk through the forest there and saw some native New Zealand birds. They have built a fence around much of the reserve, to keep out the introduced predators that attack the birds and eggs, so some of the endemic NZ birds that are now rare in the wild are protected here. Birds we saw included the Takahe (see photo #4 - the world's largest water rail), the tui and the kaka (large parrot). We also saw Otago skink (small lizards) and Tuatara (a rare NZ lizard, unchanged since dinosaur times). NZ actually has no native mammals except 3 bat species (a fact I had no idea of before coming here), so the ecosystem here now looks very different to how it did 150 years ago before significant European settlement... We also enjoyed a picnic at the reserve and the sun continued to shine for us - although we understand that the NZ weather is as variable as the British weather, we're not sure how long this sun will last... We're also pleased to report that we haven't had much in the way of jetlag since arriving in NZ from Bangkok - so either it is very delayed, or we've been lucky!

    After Orokonui, we headed up the coast to Moeraki and walked down to the beach there. On this beach are the "Moeraki Boulders" - large, very round stones that are actually formed by concretion - they form in a deposit of mud or sand when minerals (mainly calcite) from the groundwater cement some of he sediment into rock. We're not sure we fully understand how they were formed but they look impressive! We have another day in Dunedin tomorrow, when we plan to spend some time in the city itself and also buy a few things to take onwards on our journey.    Baca lagi

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    Southern Scenic Route

    21 Mac 2017, New Zealand ☀️ 8 °C

    Yesterday we spent the day in Dunedin, stocking up on cheap travel stuff & a few warmer clothes (thanks to June for the tip about Warehouse) and groceries (thanks to Wendy for the tip about Pak n Save!). We also visited the Otago Settlers Museum and the botanical gardens, spending an enjoyable hour or two in each. We are now entering the 2nd half of our “big adventure” – and hoping that the 2nd half will be as enjoyable as the first half has been....

    This morning, the time came to leave the comfort and hospitality of June & Dave and head out on our own again. Thank you so much again to June & Dave for a really lovely few days, with our spacious en suite room, full board, free WiFi and kids toys, great company and our own personal and knowledgeable tour guides – easily the best “hotel” we’ve stayed in on our trip so far!

    We set off on the Southern Scenic Route – as the name suggests, this is a longer but more scenic road, following the coast South and West from Dunedin. The weather today was significantly cooler, about 12C, and breezy at times. Our first stop was Kaka Point, where we had a delicious picnic of sushi, bread & cheese, with a view. A bit further on we saw a sea lion lounging around on the beach – great to see. We did short walks at Nugget Point and Roaring Bay – one to a penguin hide but there were no penguins to be seen (a bit early for them, as they don’t usually head up to land until later in the afternoon). The roads were mostly good but a few were gravel tracks, including one 14km detour on a gravel road – we’re working our rental car hard! Along the way we encountered a farmer moving her sheep – there were dozens of them all over the road but she told us to just “keep left, keep driving, they’ll move”! We couldn’t drive on for laughing at the sight of at least 200 sheep all around the car – it was like passing through a sea of sheep, with all their faces looking up at us as they passed by! We did a short walk to Purakaunui waterfall, through some native forest (which looks like the kind of vegetation you imagine was widespread when the dinosaurs were roaming the Earth). In the early evening we visited Curio Bay and we managed to reach there around low tide, so we got to see the amazing petrified forest on the beach – dozens of tree trunks, all fossilised in the rocks – amazing to see. Whilst there, we were also lucky enough to see a yellow-eyed penguin coming ashore for the night – we saw it waddling all the way across the rocks – a magical sight. We finally reached Invercargill around 7:30pm, ate tasty fish & chips (which seem to be a pretty cheap and tasty meal here, so I’m sure it won’t be the first time we eat f n cs), then spent the night in a motel on the edge of town.    Baca lagi

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    North on the Southern Scenic Route

    22 Mac 2017, New Zealand ⛅ 14 °C

    This morning we visited Queens Park in Invercargill, where Solana enjoyed the aviaries and small animal enclosures - but rain stopped play when we reached the play park area! We headed back onto the Southern Scenic Route, this time driving North from Invercargill. We stopped on a headland near the town of Riverton for a picnic lunch - but the weather was still a bit wild (wet, windy & chilly), so we made it a "car picnic". Whilst there, we saw the amazing sight of a very large flock of seabirds (black petrels we think) feeding on what must have been an even larger shoal of fish just beneath the surface. There were many hundreds of birds feeding and more kept arriving the whole time we were there, so that in the end there must have been a couple of thousand birds, making shallow dives into the water to feed - fascinating to watch. As we drove away, we also saw a spoonbill feeding in the estuary. Clearly our lunchtime coincided well with that of the birdlife today! Our next stop was at Gemstone Beach, where we had a windy but mostly dry walk - although we didn't find any gemstones. We stayed in a cabin on campsite/holiday park - cheaper than a hotel/motel but still with en suite plus kettle & toaster. It was ideal for us and I think we'll be staying in more places like this. Best of all the site had a "kangaroo jumper" - like a giant trampoline, that we all enjoyed bouncing on before dinner!.We enjoyed a tasty dinner in a nearby restaurant, before an evening walk down by Te Anau Lake.Baca lagi

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    Milford Sound

    23 Mac 2017, New Zealand ⛅ 34 °C

    Today we drove from Te Anau to Milford Sound, stopping at various viewpoints and short walks along the way to enjoy the scenery. Amongst the most scenic stops were the Mirror Lakes (1st photo) and “The Chasm” where a waterfall has burst its way through the surrounding rocks, leaving weird rock shapes in its wake. Arriving at Milford Sound and during our 2.5hr boat cruise through the fjord, the scenery was breathtaking. It is called a “Sound” but it is actually a fjord (they just didn’t have that word in the language when it was first discovered!). It was very much like some of the Southern Norwegian fjords and there were a number of waterfalls along the sides of the fjord. Laura and Solana ventured out on deck when the boat was taken close to one of the waterfalls and they got quite wet! We all enjoyed the boat trip and we got to see some native plants and more seals in addition to the great scenery. We also got to go to the Underwater Discovery Centre – a floating marine platform where you can see some of the marine life in the fjord. It is effectively a reverse aquarium – we are in the “tank”, whilst the marine life is free to go wherever it wants in the sea. We got to see some rare black coral (which actually looks white when alive, black when dead), that usually grows at depths of a few hundred metres but grows much closer to the surface in the fjord. We also saw some fish (mostly wrasse), tubeworms and giant mussels and clams – all without getting wet! We drove back in the evening, so it was a long day – but worth it.

    A few days ago, we heard the very sad news that Laura’s Dad, Barrie, has finally lost his long battle with cancer. He was comfortable, peaceful and was with his wife Joyce and Laura’s sister Jackie. Although not unexpected, it is still difficult news to hear, especially when we’re so far away from home. He has been in our thoughts a lot as we’ve been travelling around, and will continue to be so....    Baca lagi

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    Te Anau to Wanaka

    24 Mac 2017, New Zealand 🌙 12 °C

    We drove the rest of the Southern Scenic Route today, up to Queenstown, where we enjoyed a scenic picnic by the lake. We didn’t partake in any of the adrenaline activities that Queenstown is famous for but we did see a few taking place, including parasailing and a strange activity where people in wetsuits with what looked like a jetpack strapped to their feet appeared to stand on large “stilts” that were actually jets of water! After lunch we drove on to Arrowtown – an old gold mining town from the mid-late 1800s – where we spent an enjoyable couple of hours. We saw the old huts in the “Chinese settlement”, where people came over from China in search of gold – interesting history, similar to the gold rush in California. There are 2 routes from Arrowtown to Wanaka, our destination for the night, and we opted for the scenic mountain pass route. En route we passed through a small town called Cardrona and we glimpsed what looked like bras on a fence as we drove past – we turned around and drove back to find out what it was all about and bizarrely found hundreds of bras tied to a long fence, collecting money for a NZ breast cancer charity. A great idea – amusing and serious both at the same time! We stayed in a “budget cabin” on a campsite (“budget” only by NZ standards – still £55 per night, without bathroom – accommodation here is expensive). On the plus side, the campsite offered a free shuttle into town (2km away), so we took advantage of that and enjoyed a pub meal, washed down with great NZ wine. Afterwards we walked back along the lake to our campsite, to walk off some of the excess calories consumed at dinner! It was a mild evening and back at the campsite Solana enjoyed playing on the swings and trampoline in the dark and we really enjoyed seeing the stars come out as the sky got darker. By the time it was fully dark, the stars were amazing – amongst others we saw Orion upside down, the Southern Cross, and we saw the Milky Way very clearly, running nearly 2/3rds of the way across the sky. The sky really was fantastic – we haven’t seen stars as good as that since the amazing dark clear skies when we were camping in South America 12 years ago...Baca lagi

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    Wanaka, puzzles & wine

    25 Mac 2017, New Zealand ☀️ 14 °C

    We liked Wanaka so much that we decided to stay another night. This morning we went to Puzzling World – a great place, full of puzzles and illusions. We started in the large outdoor maze, which said it usually takes 30-60 minutes to solve. We thought it looked pretty straightforward and that we’d be able to do it faster (as does probably everyone who visits) but an hour later we had found all 4 coloured towers successfully yet we were still searching for the exit! After we viewed the indoor exhibits, we stayed for lunch in the café, enabling us to have a go at some of the puzzles that were out on the tables there – great fun. After necessary shopping & laundry, we went back to our campsite, left the car and walked up to the nearby Rippon vineyard. The vineyard setting was amazing, with views right across the lake and mountains – there was a wedding reception going on when we arrived and we agreed it would be an amazing location for a wedding (and no, it wasn’t ours!). We did a wine tasting of 6 different wines whilst we were there and it was a lovely way to end the afternoon.Baca lagi

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    West coast to Fox Glacier

    26 Mac 2017, New Zealand ⛅ 5 °C

    We left Wanaka today and headed on up the West Coast, stopping at some of the many scenic viewpoints along the way. One place we stopped was Fantail Falls, a waterfall where many people had made small piles of the very flat rocks lying all around – so we decided to add to the display whilst we were there. In parts the road ran along the coast, creating more vantage points – although these ones were short lived for us, as the notorious West Coast sandflies that several people had warned us about were out in force! This, together with the rain, resulted in another “car picnic” for lunch. We got to Fox Glacier mid-afternoon and we really wanted to see the glacier so, despite the rain, we decided to walk the trail that takes you closest to the glacier face. Needless to say we got very wet – but we did get a reasonable view of the glacier, despite all of the cloud covering the tops of the surrounding mountains. We were pleased we got to see the glacier – and also pleased when we checked into our motel and found it had a tumble dryer we could use for $2!Baca lagi

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    Glaciers & gloworms

    27 Mac 2017, New Zealand ⛅ 23 °C

    This morning we drove to Lake Mathieson, where we walked partway round the lake to see the great view of the mountains and Fox glacier reflected in the still water of the lake. It was an enjoyable walk, through native rainforest – that looked different from the vegetation we’ve seen elsewhere in NZ – and even more prehistoric. We then drove on to Franz Josef glacier, where we again did a walk (longer than yesterday’s walk to Fox glacier but flatter and drier!) to the closest point you can get to the glacier on foot. The views were fantastic – the glacier was clearer than the Fox glacier yesterday, partly because the weather was clearer but also because you could see more of the tongue of the glacier before it disappeared up over the mountain. It was that amazing blue “toothpastey” colour that glaciers have- striking and well worth the walk.
    After a quick picnic, we drove on to Okarito to see the wetlands area, where we got to see the rare white heron and a kingfisher (and more sandflies...). We then drove on to Hokitika, where we spent the night. We had fish & chips for dinner, sat on a picnic bench on the seafront – where fish & chips taste best! We then went for a sunset walk along the beach – the sea was quite wild, with large waves and many tree trunks washed up along the sand, the sea is clearly not calm very often here. When it got dark we walked to the “gloworm dell” and we got to see hundreds of the small gloworms (fly larvae) shining their blue-green light in the darkness. It was fascinating to see – hundreds of tiny dots of light all around us, like tiny stars shining.    Baca lagi

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    Great West Coast Road

    28 Mac 2017, New Zealand 🌙 17 °C

    This morning we went to the "National Kiwi Centre" in Hokitika, a funny little wildlife centre that looked more like somebody's hobby. It was interesting nevertheless and Solana loved it. We saw some very large NZ eels and got to feed them. As the name suggests we also got to see some Kiwi birds - they are now so rare and difficult to see in the wild that this will almost certainly be the only ones we get to see during our trip to NZ... We also went "fishing" for crayfish there - we each caught one but sadly had to throw them back into the water (they looked like they'd have made a very tasty lunch!).

    Today was the day of Laura's Dad Barrie's funeral. As we had made the very difficult decision not to make the long journey back to the UK to attend his funeral in person, we spent a lot of time thinking about him today and it was fitting that today was the day we drove through the little village of Barrytown....

    Travelling further North, we stopped at Punakaiki to see the famous "pancake rocks" - unusual rock formations that look like stacks of pancakes. There were dramatic sea views from here too. After checking into our cabin in Westport for the night, and cooking pasta for dinner, we went for a walk to see the local seal colony. The sun was setting by the time we arrived, so the light was not good for photos of the seals but we got to see some young seals playing around on the rocks - adorable.    Baca lagi

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    Grapes, guinea pigs and golf

    30 Mac 2017, New Zealand ⛅ 28 °C

    After visiting the seal colony near Westport again before we left, yesterday we drove inland past rivers, forest, orchards and vineyards to Nelson, on the North coast of the South Island. Apparently this is one of the sunniest and warmest parts of NZ and the weather is being kind to us so far here - 25C and sunny today. Although the air temperature in NZ is often not that high, we've noticed that the sun here feels particularly strong - stronger than it would be at a comparable temperature in the UK. Sadly, we have had to cut Kaikoura (where we had planned to go whale watching) out of our itinerary, as the most direct roads both in and out are both closed at the moment (one temporarily and the other is still being repaired following the earthquake in that area last year)... Happily this has given us more time to slow down our pace of travel a bit (moving on most nights was getting a bit tiring) and o explore the Marlborough region in a bit more depth. Internet access is more difficult here in NZ, so I'm not keeping up with the blog daily like we usually could in Asia - going forward there may continue to be days with no posts, then several posts at once when we have decent internet.

    Today was a fun-packed day of family fun, exploring the area around Nelson and Richmond. We started off with a morning vineyard visit and wine tasting - we got to see the ripe grapes, ready for picking and to taste half a dozen different wines - a great way to start the day. We then went to a place that had a guinea pig village - a funny place where the "hutches" were mocked up as a school, castle, bakery, hostel and even a maternity hospital! Solana absolutely loved it and it has made her even more desperate to get a guinea pig as a pet when we get home (I think I'm going to have to give in on this one...). We then went to Waimea vineyard, where we did more wine tasting, this time whilst enjoying a delicious lunch sitting outside in their gardens. Across the road from there was a farm where we were able to go raspberry picking, eat a fantastic berry ice cream and buy some fresh fruit and vegetables (including the giant celery she's pictured with here) to help improve our diet! After visiting one more winery and sampling their wares, we drove across to Rabbit Island and spent some time on the beach there. It was a lovely beach and we all went for a paddle. We hadn't taken swimming stuff with us but that didn't stop Solana stripping off, streaking across the beach and into the sea (you'll be pleased to hear that we didn't follow suit)! Back at the holiday park where we're staying, we rounded off the day with a round of crazy golf - the first time Solana has tried it. A fun day was had by all.    Baca lagi

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    Groundhog day?

    31 Mac 2017, New Zealand 🌙 16 °C

    We all enjoyed yesterday so much that we had a similar day today. This time we started the day with a trip to Natureland in Nelson, a cross between a farm park & a zoo. We enjoyed feeding the farm animals (though Solana enjoyed that less than us, after choosing to feed the slobbery cows first!), touching lizards and seeing more native but rare NZ birds. We visited another vineyard for a wine tasting and lunch - all enjoyed a delicious lunch platter there, sitting in the gardens next to the vines and lily pond (felt like we were in a Monet painting). After lunch we visited the Berryland farm again for another of their berry ice creams - some of the best ice cream I've ever tasted. And afterwards we went back to Rabbit Island, this time with our swimming gear, to enjoy some more beach time. We rounded off the evening with another round of crazy golf - it got more competitive today and ended in me & Laura having a dead heat! We're enjoying this area of NZ a lot and we're pleased we decided to slow down the pace a bit here.Baca lagi

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    Marlborough region

    1 April 2017, New Zealand 🌙 17 °C

    There was one day we spent in France a few years ago, in a small town called Tain L'Hermitage in the Rhone Valley, that was close to perfect (go there if you are ever nearby). Today came close to that...

    We left Nelson this morning and drove to the Marlborough region. Our first stop was Havelock, where we stopped at Cullen Point (thought of you Katherine!) and walked up to the viewpoint where we could see across Pelorus Sound, a beautiful view. Havelock calls itself "The mussel capital of NZ", so we couldn't resist the restaurant called The Mussel Pot for lunch. We all shared a mussel platter, with green-lipped mussels cooked a number of different ways, plus chips - delicious, especially washed down with a glass of local sauvignon blanc.

    We then drove on to Blenheim, the "capital" of the Marlborough region, where we're staying for a couple of nights. We arrived mid-afternoon, so we decided to visit one of the many wineries on the way to our motel. One of the first wineries we passed was the iconic Cloudy Bay - we called in and saw the vines, full of grapes ready to be harvested, and fittingly the sky was indeed cloudy! We indulged in a wine tasting experience there, where we got to taste 9 different wines in all and we treated ourselves to a couple of bottles (including a Pelorus fizz, named after the Sound we saw earlier today). It was a great experience, even if we did blow the budget there! Afterwards we called into an artisan chocolate shop and got some free samples to taste. We then spent the evening relaxing in our surprisingly spacious motel room and planning our last few days here in the South Island before we get the ferry across to the North Island. And to top it all off, the clocks go back an hour here tonight, so we get an extra hour in bed (Solana permitting!).    Baca lagi

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    Plenty of shags in NZ!

    2 April 2017, New Zealand ⛅ 19 °C

    This morning we found Pollard Park in Blenheim - a large green park, with some lovely Japanese and rose gardens and another great kids play park. We also found some large conkers and hundreds of very large acorns (many over an inch long) there - clearly some British tree species have been introduced here, as well as birds. Later this morning we headed up to Picton to do a boat trip in the Marlborough Sounds. The scenery was good but the wildlife was even better. We got to see many seabirds, including 3 different species of shag (similar to cormorants - sorry to disappoint anyone who was hoping for a racier blog post!) including the spotted shag (2nd photo) and rare king shag (3rd photo - this bird only lives in the Marlborough Sounds, nowhere else in the world); we also saw shearwaters, skua and red-billed gulls (the latter of which tried to steal our picnic lunch!). We saw some seals along the way - young males resting on the rocks, so we were able to get quite close for good views of them. We also got to see a pod of about 50 bottlenose dolphins, swimming all around the boat; some of them came up very close to our boat and they were fantastic to see, even Solana didn't mind being woken up from her nap to see those guys! We stopped at Motuara Island, a small uninhabited island where predators have been eradicated to help restore some of NZ's endemic bird populations, so we saw some unusual land birds there including NZ robin, fantail, saddleback and bellbird. Still no whales spotted but it was a great day and we're crossing our fingers for whales the day we get the ferry across to the North Island....Baca lagi

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    Wine on 2 wheels

    3 April 2017, New Zealand ☀️ 13 °C

    We hired bikes for the day today and spent the day cycling around, visiting some more of the Marlborough vineyards. Solana was comfy in a trailer on the back of my bike and we managed the cycling OK, despite neither of us having ridden a bike for a number of years (it is, of course, like riding a bike!). We visited 6 different wineries in all and we tasted some of the wines at each of them, making a few purchases to fill our panniers along the way. The scenery was lovely too, riding past the vines, some of which were full of ripe grapes and others had been picked already. The weather is about to turn colder and rainy from tomorrow, so many of the vineyards are rushing to get the grapes picked before the rain sets in; we even saw some of the grapes being harvested today. We also stopped for lunch at one of the wineries - enjoying another delicious platter of seafood, charcouterie and cheeses, whilst Solana enjoyed a "bratz platter" (the kids version). We have now spent over our budget almost every day in the past week, so we'll need to find some cheaper/free activities in the North Island - some of which will happily involve sipping our way through the healthy wine stocks we have gathered over the past few days....Baca lagi

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