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.
1 comment:
So relieved to hear that you are completely miserable. All's well then.
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