Hong Kong and Home

Linsley and I arrived home safely in PE yesterday, and our home was clean and tidy and had been well looked after by our friends who had stayed here while we were away. But let's go back to the departure.

Margi took us to the airport in plenty of time to have a coffee. There is a super kiddies play area in the food court so Logan kept himself busy until he discovered the escalators. Then it was up and down numerous times, with an adult in tow till it was really time to leave. After we had gone through the luggage exray area, Linsley was pulled aside, and asked to take off his jacket, and was frisked down! I didn't think he looked like a crook, but someone must have thought so. While one guy was searching him, his partner was talking to me and asking why we had been in NZ etc. Fortunately the plane was not full, so Linsley and I had the 4 middle seats between the 2 of us, so we took turns in stretching out.

We had taken off at 3pm, and after an 11 hour flight we landed in Hong Kong at 9pm. We caught the bus in to Hong Kong Island, as I wanted to see the city lights, and was sure I wouldn't be able to do that on the fast train, as it mostly travels underground. The bus took 45 minutes to get to where we needed to get off. Fred and Jo had given us very good directions, and we caught a taxi from the set place, and got to their apartment just after 11pm. Pretty late to arrive at someone's home when you have never even met them before, but they were waiting to greet us with a much needed cup of tea. They have a super spacious apartment, with stunning views over the shipping lanes to Hong Kong harbour. When the weather was clear we could see Lantau Island - which is where the airport is - and at any given point in time there were at least 40 vessels of varying sizes in view.

On Wednesday we caught the local 'light' bus in to Central HK, then walked to the ferry terminal, and caught the ferry over to Kowloon on the mainland. We walked around there till we got directions to the underground MTR (mass transit railway) and it certainly caters for the masses. There are just simply thousands of people in sight at any time. We took the MTR for only 3 stops (about 6 minutes) to get to where the cheap markets are. Linsley took one look at the mass of humanity there and wanted to turn around and go home again! However, we managed to walk a few blocks, then stopped at a little hole in the wall eatery, where we had a very tasty fried noodle and prawns meal. We bought a couple of things, then decided we had had enough of the crush. We walked back to Nathan Road - the main thoroughfare on this side - and caught a double decker bus back to the ferry terminal. As we had front seats at the top we had super views of Nathan Road and the shops and the crowds. We went to the space museum and walked around a bit. They were closing off a few areas and getting ready for the Chinese New Year celebrations which were to take place on the 23rd. We went back to HK Island on the ferry, then walked to the main bus terminal to catch a different bus back to Pok Fu Lam where the Clatworthy's live. As the buses take different routes we saw many different areas.

On Thursday we left early with Jo and dropped the children off at their school. It is really a playschool, but kids of 3 can read already. Jo and her children, almost 3 and 5, are learning to speak and read Mandarin and Sam, who will only be 3 next week, can read quite a few characters already!! Then we went with Jo to fetch a friend of hers at Happy Valley, and we all went to Stanley, which is at the far end of Hong Kong Island, so this was a super opportunity to see outlying areas. There is another huge market at Stanley, and Jo wanted to get costumes for her children for their new year party at school the next day. On the way we passed some apartment blocks which have huge gaps in them. This is so that the dragon spirits which live up in the mountains behind can get down to the sea below, and won't get trapped by the buildings. These gaps must represent millions of dollars worth of real estate, but evidently, unless they are there, the developers would not be able to sell any of the apartments in the buildings, as it would be bad feng shui. And as tall and beautifull as all these buildings are, they are built using only bamboo scaffolding!

We had a nap in the afternoon, and then took Fred and Jo out to dinner at a Thai restaurant in Kennedy Town that had been recommended to them. It was really nice, and we had a super meal. Fortunately they dont drink alcohol, as that is seriously expensive. At every restaurant you are immediately served either water or else green tea, and glasses are constantly refilled.

On Friday morning we caught yet another bus into Kennedy Town, which is an old area, but the closest shopping area to their apartment. We walked through a meat, fish, fruit and vegetable market which is 3 stories high. The fish are mostly still alive in small tanks. We watched one guy choose a fish, then the fishmonger bonked it on the head with a hammer, and started scaling it before it had even stopped moving! The fruit and veggies looked really bright and fresh, with many things I have never seen before.

After lunch we finished our packing, and Jo dropped us off at the A10 air-bus stop. We waited for 20 minutes or so for a bus, and saw the sights on the way back to the airport in daylight. There are just so many tall buildings it is difficult to know which to look at, and the bridges across the sea are beautiful. The container area of the harbour goes on for miles! We had plenty of time to kill at the airport, so after a meal we were sitting and reading when we saw a girl who was obviously a Rotary Exchange student, who looked a bit distressed. She had come from Perth, and due to a bad storm her flight was delayed, so she had missed her connection to Tokyo, where she was headed. Her cellphone wasn't working, so she was very thankful to use Father's phone to send a message to her hosts in Tokyo to say she would be many hours late.

The plane to JHB was completely packed, so no room to move. We got to JHB at 6:30 am, then caught the Gautrain to Marlborough, which is where Dale fetched us. It took only 9 minutes to get there, and cost us each R130. We spent the day with Dale and Derick, and basically just chilled out, and had a nice braai for dinner. Dale took us in to the main station at midday on Sunday, and the 20 hour train trip from there to PE cost us each R230! OK, it does not go quite as fast as the Gautrain, and we paid an extra R40 for bedding, but you get the picture. The stations can not possibly be described as good or clean or fresh, but the train was fine. The train manager was a very switched on lady, and she moved us to a compartment from the coupe they give you automatically when you are only 2 people, so we were very pleased about that. There are 6 or 8 police officers on board the train, and they are very visible, so we never felt unsafe or had any problems. The early morning coffee is delivered right on time at 6am too. As there was a huge thunderstorm about an hour out of JHB, the train had to stop as the lightning evidently disrupts the signals, so we were an hour late arriving in PE.

Jacco fetched us from the airport, and all was fine at home. After a quick bath we set off to go to the airport to say goodbye to Jannie, but as Linsley had switched off my car after the AA had jumpstarted it, we had to leave it parked in the road. We then set off in Linsley's car, which started fine, and took us along happily to the corner of Target Kloof and 6th Avenue, where it just gave up the ghost. It is very scary being in the middle of a busy intersection with an almost dead car. Linsley put it into 4 wheel drive mode, and we limped up the hill and turned off at Lloyd Road. We walked back home, and ran my car down the hill, when it started and after driving around a bit mine was fine. We got the AA man round again, and he said we should tow Linsley's one to a garage, but after a while we drove it there slowly, but the garage guy couldn't find anything wrong with it. He test drove it a couple of times, so we fetched it this morning and it took Linsley to work safely today.

So all in all we had a stunning holiday! It was so good to skype Margi this morning, and to see Logan's face when he saw us 'inside' his mommy's computer. After a while he had a huge grin, and called for Poppa. Margi said he has been going into our room there to look for us, so at least now he could see we were somewhere around.

OK, that's it as far as this blog is concerned. I have enjoyed blogging, and hope you have enjoyed keeping up with our doings and travels.

Prawns on the barbie

Margi and Andy wanted to take us out tonight, but we decided that it would be much more restful here at home, as Logan would be safely asleep in his cot by the time we needed to eat. So we had prawns, steak, fresh asparagus, salad etc and a rhubard and apple crumble to finish. And yes, Audrey, I know I am bigger than I should be!

On Saturday afternoon we went to Devonport, which is a pretty suburb on the North side of Auckland, which means it is across the bridge. We went to an old fort, and did a geocache there, but again Linsley was having a fit because it is all on a pretty steep hill, and Logan just runs and could fall and disappear pretty quickly, which means constant watching and catching and helping etc. The weather was iffy, but fortunately did not rain, although it threatened to a number of times. Beautiful views from up there back toward Auckland city, and good to  see all the yachts and boats in the harbour etc.  That evening we took a take-away supper to the beach at Mission Bay, and the wind was blowing like mad, and it looked really pretty with kite surfers on the waves.

On Sunday morning Margie had to go to the funeral for the father of one of her colleagues. The poor girl is only 26, and now both her parents have died, and her in-laws have also passed away recently. As the sun was shining in the afternoon we could finally walk across to the miniature railway setup 10 minutes walk across the lagoon from Margi's house. We met Scott and Grace and Roy there, and the 2 kids - and their parents - had fun riding on the trains. Evidently it is the first time Logan rode on the train without being scared. Afterwards we walked them to a park on this side of the lake, and the kids had fun there too.

Margi took leave today and tomorrow, and Brent and Cheryl came for tea this morning. This afternoon we just mosied around, and went to a couple of shops etc. This is really only done on a 'need to go' basis, as Logan loves running around, and to get as far as possible from whoever is trying to look after him.

We leave here tomorrow to go to Hong Kong for 3 days, and I am sure we will not have access to a laptop there, so I will only be able to finalise this blog on our return home next Monday. Cheers for now.

Only one week to go

Yesterday was Tuesday, and by next Tuesday we have to leave here. I am not sure that I can stand the thought of that. I will have to remember what one of our fortune cookies told us a few days ago - do not cry for what is past; smile because it happened.

On Sunday morning Margi went to do some grocery shopping early in the morning, then later we went with her to a chinese fruit and veggie store. It was very noisy and very busy and most interesting. Linsley bought some sweets - at least they look like sweets, but with everything on the package written in Chinese characters we are not 100% sure, as they taste pretty awfull. We also bought some dumplings, and had them for lunch, after which we left to go to see a Buddhist temple. Grace and Scott met us there, as it is close to their home. It is a most beautiful complex of buildings, and Grace told us that all the stone, timber and other building materials were brought over from Taiwan for the construction here. Down the length of two long corridors were sayings, written in Chinese and also in English, and they were very thought provoking. A group of monks were chanting in one of the halls. There was one huge, beautiful bell, and also a smaller one, beautifully worked, at which visitors could make a wish. Logan and Roy ran around in the gardens and made a bit more noise than they should have. We went to Grace and Scott's house for a coffee afterwards, then came home to cook a roast leg of lamb and veggies for dinner.

On Monday Logan stayed home here as usual, so not much got done, as he is on the go the whole time. He loves playing with water, pouring from one container into another and filling them up from a bucket. However, he also likes to go to play in a little rock pool in the back garden area, and after I discovered a couple more mosquito bites on him, I realised there were mozzie larva in that water. Andy has now put some oil on the water to suffocate the larva (or whatever oil on water does).

On Tuesday we just took it easy in the morning, and I reorganised a few of Margi's kitchen cupboards. After lunch we walked up to Panmure to take the books back to the library, and make a few purchases. We walked home snacking on a yummy packet of $2 potato fried chips.

Today, Wednesday, is a nice sunny day, so before it got too hot I did a bit of weeding and sorting out of the garden. No Julius here, unfortunately!

Well, that is as far as I got, and today is already Thursday! For some reason I could not download our photos, so did not want to send out this blog till I had the photos uploaded. Yesterday we walked up to Sylvia Park again and spent the afternoon looking through a few shops, but buying very little. Then today, Brent and Cheryl came to fetch us and Logan (who had an extra day off kiddiecare) this morning, and we drove out to Piha, which is an area about and hour away from where Margi and Andy live. Brent's family always had a 'batch' (which is what we called a holiday house) here until a few years ago, so it is to them like Kenton is to us. The sand here is black and with a magnet one can pull iron filings from it. We had stopped for a picnic lunch halfway here, at a place where there are magnificant 360 degree views, so altogether we had a good day.

New Year in the Bay of Islands

We are back home again in Auckland, which has had the wettest December in recorded history according to the telly. But let me start at the beginning .....

We repacked for another week away, and left home here last Friday morning (the 30th December). Andy still had to work that day, so he drove up by himself later. Unfortunately it was a rainy day, so we missed a lot of the scenery which must have been lovely, being mountainous and sea views all at any given time. We got up to Russell, on the east coast in the top section of New Zealand. Russell used to be the very first capital of NZ, and is set in an area called the Bay of Islands. this is well named as there are about 150 islands dotted around there - some big, and some tiny. It is absolutely beautifull there, with yachts in every little bay and around every corner. We stayed at a holiday park, and each couple had a little cabin, then we used the communal ablutions and kitchen. We had Logan's cot in with us. There was bedding there, but we had to take all our own crockery, cutlery and pots.

Other friends with us were Jo and Gerard with their 20 month old daughter Sienna, and Grace and Scott and their 2 year old Roy, so we were pretty overrun by munchkins. There was no enclosed area where we could let the kids run, and as the camp road ran thru the park, and the main road was just outside (yes, I do know that this is obvious!) we had to have a trail on Logan the entire time. He took one look at the cute little backpack we gave him for christmas - which hides a set of reins - and hated it on sight, so that was no help at all. Because of all the rain there was a lovely lot of mud around, which he made a bee-line for each time he got free. As this was right on the side of the road we could not leave him just to play in it though.

Jo had suggested that each couple host a 'come dine with me' evening, which was not quite like the telly evenings, as we had different sets of crockery, including a mickey mouse plastic plate and plastic cutlery, so the table settings were eclectic to say the least. It was great fun though. Margi and Andy went first - on new year's eve - as Margi had a murder mystery game she had been given for her 21st, and thought it would be good to use up time till midnight. Fortunately she managed to unearth a tape recorder, as the game had a tape which had to be listened to. With each couple having to jump up and take care of a child, and trying to get them to sleep etc, the game did not work at all, so eventually we just read the answer as to who the murderer was! Their setting was just-post prohibition Chicago, to fit in with the 'murder of Hal Cappone' mystery. Andy made the most delicious prawns and then roasted duck breasts, and Margi made sticky chocolate brownies for dessert, so it was delicious. (Their timing was off though, so we only ate quite late, which caused them to loose points in the scoring.)

Jo and Gerard were next, and they had an Arabian sheik's evening, with couscous, hummus, Moroccon chicken etc, and a delicious chocolate and cream cake - named Camel Dung Mirage in their menu! We had this outside under a gazebo which they put up.

Linsley and I were next, and I had invited them - as guests at our Tiger Sanctuary - to join the management for dinner. (I could not get any 'South African' paper on which to write out our invitation & menu except paper with tigers on it). I hung up a blanket with Springboks as rugby champions (thanks Colin and Aly for sending this to Logan when he was born) and had an african type of cloth on the table. I also had a liqueur bottle with animal print on the table, and we had candles, so our table was way better than any of the others' tables. For starters we had brown mushrooms with garlic butter and cheese topping as I could not get a watermelon. (I had wanted to do a watermelon, feta and mint medley.) then we had a bobotie, yellow rice, tomato salad, and 'brash broccoli', which is my famous broccoli salad. For desert we had  Malva pudding with custard and cream. I had also made a coffee cream liqueur, and made everyone drink it 'management style' which is my party trick way of tipping the drink from one glass into another, then upside-downing one glass and placing the other carefully on its base, by using one hand only. I was so proud of everyone, as they all managed without spilling - except for Linsley, who was the last to go, and who dropped one glass and bust it.

On the last evening Scott and Grace had an 'Asian experience' with various types of rice crackers and vietnamese spring rolls as starters, then very thin slices of beef and pork cooked over a Korean barbecue. This is a little machine which sits on the table, and cooks with gas, but also with steam, which keeps the food nice and moist. A few vegies were also cooked on the barbecue. For dessert they had bought some flavoured glutinous rice cookies, which were very different and tasty.

I am very proud to say we won!!!!!!! We were given 55 points out of 60, Margi and Andy got 51, Jo and Gerard got 48, and Scott and Grace 46, so we won the $40 stake.

While in Russell we did quite a few geocaches, and Margi is also enjoying this now. We also took the ferry over to Pahia; wandered through various museums and interesting graveyards - at one we saw the grave of the first white woman who had been born in NZ. We saw the flagpole which the Maories had chopped down 4 times in the 1800's before they left the fifth one; had coffees in various places, etc etc.

Andy had to leave to come back to work on the 4th, then Margi took us further north, and we got a nice motel room at Kaitaia about 4 hours away. We certainly needed the swim in the pool when we got there as it was hot. Linsley jumped into the pool, then jumped out just as fast, as the water was freezing cold! The next day was beautiful, so we drove 110kms right to the very northern point of New Zealand, which took about 2 hours of driving because of the roads being so twisty. If you go for about 400 meters on a straight section of road you think you have gone wrong and got on to the motorway by mistake! The scenery and lighthouse at Cape Reinga was very pretty, and one could see the waters of the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea doing battle just below. The Maories believe that the souls of their dead go back into the sea at this point, to rejoin their homeland, so it is a sacred place for them. Linsley had a fit thinking that Logan was going to jump over the little wall into the sea below! On our way home we stopped at a Kauri museum, which showed pictures etc of the huge Kauri trees, some of which have been carbon dated as 45,000 years old. The shop is built around a Kauri tree trunk, into which a staircase has been built to go up to the top floor of the shop.

We spent that night at the same motel, then set off on Friday to go south again towards home, through kauri forests and pretty farmland country. We stopped for lunch at a place where we could walk into the forest and see the oldest living Kauri tree. It is estimated to be about 2000 years old, and it is truly awesome to see. We spent that night in another nice motel in a town called Dargaville, and again just swam and explored the town in the afternoon. At one place we saw a couple who had dozens of dead possums on the back of their buggy!

On Saturday morning it was raining again, so we set off at about 9 for the last stretch of our journey to home. All the way through we had a lovely coffees and scones in a little restaurants, and on two occasions crossed from one side of a peninsula to the other by car ferries. This whole Northland area is very pretty! We got back to Auckland at lunch time, and Logan was so excited to see his daddie again. The poor little guy had been bitten by a mossie at Russell, and he still looks like a poor white, with sores all over him. Strangely, he had a bite on the fleshy part of each thumb, and these two bites turned into huge blisters. While he was running around at Kaitaia he fell twice on the driveway, and each time a blister went splat!

Last night Andy took us all out to a Japanese restaurant, and we had Tepinyaki, cooked for us by Tom, a Japanese guy who has lived in Auckland about 3 years. It was most delicious!

Christmas in the Coromandels

We are all safely back home again - just for 2 days though. Just enough time to unpack, wash everything, pack it all up again, and get ready to go away again on Friday. Last Saturday we set off from Auckland at about 10, and had a very pretty drive south to the Coromandel peninsula. It took us about 3 hours to get there, including a stop for lunch somewhere along the way. Andy had gone with his brother Phillip, and his parents were in there own car, and we were still fully packed up!

The town we stayed in is called Whitianga, and is very pretty. We had a duplex unit with 3 bedrooms, right accross the road from a very sheltered beach. There was fortunately a kiddies park just down the road, as Logan needed to get out there to play fairly regularly. There was no enclosed area at Aquasoleil, so he set off at a run whenever he got the chance. There was a stunning swimming pool there with a huge top step, and he loved to play there. Also, when the tide was out, there was a long stretch of beach for him to be able to play on, but obviously he went directly for the water each time. The weather was clear, but there was a cool wind some of the time.

Cheryl had got food poisoning on the wednesday before Christmas, so she was feeling very miserable the whole time, and could not eat with us at all. She and Brent left on the Monday morning to go home again, then Andy and Philip left on tuesday, as Andy had to get back to work.

On Christmas day, after the pressie session and a good breakfast, we left Logan asleep with Brent and Cheryl, and set off to go tO Hot Water Beach - about 40 minutes drive away. We had a spade with us to dig into the sand to be able to sit in the hot water that wells up in certain areas along the beach. However, the tide was still a bit high, so we were not succesful. We did feel the hot water by digging our feet into the sand, but could not sit down without the waves still coming up and wetting us.

The whole area is so beautiful! There is very little flat ground around - it is all little hills, with a range of pretty high mountains running down the whole Coromandel peninsula. The roads are in excellent condition, but are narrow - definitely only 2 lane roads. So there is no passing at all untill there is a sign saying 'passing lane in 2 kms'. There is some clear grassy ground, with lots of cows and very few sheep, but mostly the hills and valleys are covered with trees and thousands of beautiful tree ferns. When we left this morning, we drove from Whitianga - which is 3/4 of the way up on the right hand side of the peninsula, further towards the top of the peninsula, then across to Coromandal town, and down the left hand side of the peninsula. Once we got over the mountains much of this road runs right beside the sea which is 3 meters to the one side of the road, while the cliff goes upwards 3 meters to the other side of the road. Most beautiful!!

Tomorrow I have to organise things for our New Year's weekend. There will be 4 couples going up to Russell in the Bay of Islands, right to the north of the North Island of NZ. One of the ladies suggested that each couple does a 'Come Dine with Me' each evening while we are there, so this should be quite fun. However, we will be staying in little cabins in a campsite, and will have to use the communal kitchen, so I am not sure quite how things will work! Will have to report back on our return.