Friday 28 November 2008

Napier and chocolate

Catch up time again. We're now in the South Island - and it is magical and more dice-with-death experience, this time on the Franz Joseph glacier. But before that back to the North and our sojourn with Paula.

P & Stevie are unbelievably busy - not just with the pocket dynamos but with work, re-doing the entire garden, garage sales, the gym and pilates, not to mention cooking for us - and Stevie was the kitchen star. His chicken curry and Paula's fab lemon cakes rate honour in dispatches.

We all on impulse bundled everyone and everything up in our cars for a few days in Napier, a city recreated in Art Deco after the 1931 earthquake and located in the Hawkes Bay wine region. Despite the ducktruck through the harbour, the kiwi in the aquarium and the kiddie heaven of SplashPlanet, my favourite was definitely lunch at the Mission vinyard, beautiful converted seminary set on a hill where we ate home-reared lamb and drank a Mission reserve Pinot Noir to die for. Not to mention the dark chocolate coated orange and cinnamon ice cream pud for Paula and me (K - avert your eyes)






The little chocolate-coated love muffin seemed to enjoy his desert too:


Have to rush now. J, waiting for our trip to a glacial lake, has dumped coats on the table and declared 'no pressure'! More follows later...

Before I go Big love and beams to Chris.

Thursday 13 November 2008

Quintessential New Zealand, eh?

We took a float plane (flying boat to me) from the mighty volcanic Lake Taupo for a tour of the distant mountains (all live volanoes - the manificent ski mountain Ruapehu with its blue crater lake, Mount Tongairo and the classic volcano shape of Ngaurihoe). Beautiful morning - clear blue sky and hot sunshine. The best weather we've had yet - stopped Jenks from shivering and whispering 'Fiji'

Here's some pix:








Deep joy to be using Paula and Stevie's computer - pics upload in virtually seconds compared to the 20 mins/half hour of Asia. We off with Paula to a 'ladies who lunch do' shortly, Josie and Thomas having been safely deposited as fairies and elves at the kindie. double deep joy.

Corn plaster update: J's come out with a monstrous cold sore. My pulled stomach muscle (an injury from clambering aboard the dive boat) finally better. Paula's looking askance at my prickly legs though. Heat's out here now - must take care. Love to all.

Monday 10 November 2008

NZ and best 5

A few folk have noticed we haven't updated the blog regularly. Oops - but admit it's nice to be missed.

We're in NZ now. Trekked over to the beautiful Coromandel coast for a couple of days and hooked up with Darrin and Andrea (LSE folks will remember Darrin - old colleague and friend from LSE now at Waikato. spent a few great days with them - especially Saturday. Jenks, Andrea and I went to Rotorua and geo-thermal wonderland, while Darrin slow-roasted a leg of lamb ready for our return, lit a fire and we all watched the NZ election results. V. quiet elction here - v. little prop posters and whatnot on the streets. Sorry to see Helen go -and D&A worried that new National govt may be hard right. There's always Australia....

of course Obama THE big news of the week. Time difference as large as it is we heard the news on NZ radio as we drove down from the Coromandel. Wierd - and doubtless we would have had a big event had we been in the UK. No doubting the interest here though - Obama all over the papers. We knew it was a big deal - but quite how big has only just dawned on me

the blog update top five favourite places visited...

in no order
Ha Long Bay
Fiji - for its fantastic diving, sunshine, beaches and that it had an edge - fascinating and not so simple country - the 'Fiji paradise' tourism stuff is 'bula'-shit. But it was beautiful endlessly interesting and the diving the best we'd seen in 20 years, magnficent and diverse coral.

Jenks scared the wits out of a poor reef shark on one dive, the terrified animal took one look at her, spun round and high tailed out in a cloud of dust. Marvellous. A couple of days later, our heroine of the high seas was chased out of own gentle harbour by a hungry 12 inch trumpet fish. She swears it was a monstrous eel. Uh hum.

Here's a couple of pix of Fiji - Nananu-I-Ra - where we stayed for a week and dived with Papoo, who knows the reefs like the back of his hand.





Sydney Memo from Sydney:
Please send funds sufficient for flat and modest boat. We are not leaving.

Memo from Fiji:

Please amend previous memo.Stop. Please send sufficient funds for modest Sydney accommodation, small boat plus expenses for yearly time-out in Fiji

The Mekong - that's Laos -from the amazing journey to Luang Prabang to the finish in Vientienne - the Mekong was unmissable.

We hunted around for the fifth - Siem Reap and the amazing wats, Hanoi and its constant buzz of motor bikes and street life and the best restaurant we've found on our travels (Green angerine) Byron Bay, Hunter Valley - but we decided on Hervey Bay - not just because we had a cool relaxing week in a self-contained apartment with a sunset balacony over the sea - and therefore easy smoking opportunities - but also because of the awesome whale watching and the spectacular wildlife shows treated to us just walking along the shore - the thousands of bats hanging out in woods and the show-off pelicans.

memo to Steff: we're completely miserable.