Category: Caroline

It was not by choice that we got up at 4:30 am this morning, but after the debacle over our flights we were just pleased to still have one to Singapore, even if it was hideously early.
By now we are becoming somewhat connoisseurs of flying and with our flight to Singapore we have now sampled the last of the airlines that we are scheduled to fly with on this trip. So how does Singapore Airlines compare? Well, we were a little disappointed with their inflight entertainment which Virgin Airlines still holds the top spot for. See how we research these important things for you! It’s not all one big holiday you know 🙂
After almost ten months down under in Australia / New Zealand, Singapore was the culture shock we expected. The first thing to hit us as we stepped off the plane was the humidity which I’m not sure we will ever get used to. Then during our taxi ride to our hostel the heavens opened and the torrential downpour began. In just a few short seconds whilst running from the taxi into the door of our hostel we were drenched. Guess we will have to get used to this since we have come to this part of the world during monsoon season!
Our hostel is in the Little India area of town which as you can imagine has lots of character. But I’ll get to that in a minute, first: the hostel. We chose it because it had good reviews and I can see why, it is clean and in a good location. However, the best way to describe our room would be bijou! There are two single mattresses on the floor and then just the tiniest space beside them to prop up our rucksacks. The toilet / shower combo is described as a Singapore special. Just imagine a toilet cubicle on an airplane, complete with the concertina door plus a shower over the toilet. Hindsight may be playing tricks on me but I’d almost say the shower toilet in our first NZ campervan was bigger. However small room and toilet aside, all is forgiven because our room has air-conditioning. Bliss.
We collapsed on our beds for awhile waiting for the rain to stop. When it soon became apparent that it had no intention of stopping, we braved an outing. We managed to duck and dive under shop awnings until we found an umbrella stand and then we ventured off towards Mustapha’s, a famous shopping centre in Little India, known for stocking everything you can possibly think of at bargain prices. We managed to dodge the crowds and buy a few bits and pieces, the most exciting being Tiger balm (just in case we ever get a headache or an insect bite – hopefully not!)
My aunt had advised us to go in search of a banana leaf curry in Little India but unfortunately we failed on that mission. Although not for the lack of trying, in fact I think some of the restaurantuers that we asked if they had banana leaf currys were quite offended. One response was; No banana leafs, we have plates!! To absolve him of his indignation we felt obliged to eat at his restaurant and it was very yummy even if there was not a banana leaf in sight.

We may be on the other side of the world but recently we seem to be having a pretty good run of meeting up with people we know, mum and dad, my aunt and uncle, Dirk the campervan man and today the Oldhams. I worked with John O at school in Southampton but since then he and has family have emigrated out here. We met up with John and his boys at the aquarium (good job since it was bucketing down with rain!) They may only have been down under since Christmas but already I would say they are well on their way to being authentic Aussies. Jack and George have almost got the surfer dude hairstyle (it’s growing in nicely), they know all about the many dangerous animals down here and they’ve even had a few visit them in their garden. They maybe haven’t quite got the accent just yet but John’s got a ute and the boys love fishing (you can’t get more Australian than that!) They certainly seem to be enjoying the lifestyle down here and it was fab to see them so well settled. Of course I was completely smitten with little cheeky chappie Oscar again and wanted to steal him (I did try but he cried so I gave him back!)
Like the locals that they are they left us with a reccomendation to check out the cheesecake shop. Now usually Si loves his cheesecake but we have not been impressed with the Australian’s take on it. However, tonight all that changed, turns out that cheesecake from the cheesecake shop is to die for delicious. What a shame we are leaving Australia for good in a just a few short days (I wonder how much cheescake we could fit in before then).

Today’s day trip with my parents took us to Hilary’s Boat Harbour. It being Sunday the harbour was pretty heaving so in an attempt to avoid the crowds we took to the beach where dad had a run and I’m afraid to say I was not feeling fit or energetic enough to join him! Instead I got myself a Boost smoothie something I’ve missed since we lived in Sydney.
Feeling suitably chilled out after relaxing on the beach with my smoothie we drove back to my aunt and uncle’s for a culinary treat that was a taste blast from my past. Singapore curry. It used to be a Sunday tradition in our house. And I was reminded that almost everyone in my family can cook a mean curry and I haven’t learned yet (something for my to do list when we return.) My aunt’s curry was delicious….

The best thing about being in Sydney with my parents is that we will be seeing it in style, and so feeling suitably rested after our night in a luxurious hotel (a far cry from our 5 months of sleeping in a campervan) we set off to revisit some of our old haunts. It seemed as though Sydney was going to pull out all the stops and put on a good show, beginning with the weather. Despite it being almost mid-winter the sun was shining gloriously and so it seemed only appropriate to head to the beach. It was a perfect day to be at Coogee beach and we were almost fooled into thinking it was summer (to be fair a Sydney winter probably is hotter than a Scottish summer!). After breakfast on the beach and a brief paddle in the sea we were ready to walk along the coastal path towards Bondi. There were even a couple of humpback whales blowing and frolicking in the distance. At my favourite beach, Bronte, Si and Dad went for a swim and mum and I lounged on the beach, well we don’t want to exert ourselves too much!
Feeling rejuvenated we braved the last stretch and made it to Bondi in time for a spot of lunch at Icebergs. We enjoyed our food whilst watching the brave swimmers facing the cold of Icebergs pool and the Bondi surfers catching some waves, albeit tiddlers.
Our day of Sydney highlights was rounded off perfectly with a glass of bubbly at the Opera bar, we had just sat down when the fireworks began to light up the harbour bridge – it was almost as if Sydney was welcoming us back. Unfortunately mum and dad were sleeping off a touch of jet lag back at the hotel and missed the fireworks but we appreciated them. Thanks Sydney, it’s good to be home.

Last night we came to Papamoa beach to catch up with some old friends. I worked with Kelly at St James School about five years ago and since then she has been pretty busy, she and Paul have since gotten married and had themselves two little boys. It was great to catch up with Kelly and Paul again and very exciting to meet Josh (4) and Will (2). Those of you who have met Kelly and Paul can guess just how gorgeous these two little boys are. And those of you who have kids can guess just how hectic life is for the Savages now, especially since Kelly is now working full-time.
We started our Saturday morning (early!) with a swim at the local hot salt water pools, is there a better way to start your weekend? It was just the right combination of relaxing with a bit of exercise (one of the pools is a slightly cooler 34 degree for swimming) and a bit of fun. Not sure if it was Si or Will having the most fun as they raced on-the-back-of-a-turtle style with Paul and Josh.
After we dragged ourselves away from the pools Kelly took the boys home for a sleep whilst Paul, Si and I went off to climb The Mount. Probably not as impressive as it sounds since Mount Maunganui probably doesn’t really qualify as a mount as such. Nevertheless it’s an impressive mount / hill on the edge of the sea…. New Zealand may be on the brink of Winter but the East coast has that special sunshine ingredient which we love. So it felt like the middle of Summer to us (from Scotland…) There were lots of local fitties jogging past us (I’m sure one woman passed us twice!) whereas just walking to the top was exhilarating enough for us. The 360 degree views at the top were pretty awesome and worth the climb, especially since we had a local with us to explain the points of interest. Our family fun day in the sun was rounded off perfectly with a yummy kiwi barbie. Ah, it’s good to be home (well, obviously I mean we won’t get too settled here….)

Beach one today was Piha, home of Lion rock. The huge rock protruding out to sea does indeed look like a very large lion sitting on it’s haunches watching all the comings and goings of this world famous surf beach (once again I think the tourist marketing board might be playing fast and loose with their ‘world famous’, unless nearly every beach is famous for it’s surf!) It would have been a very effective Maori Pa back in the day as it’s steep, craggy climb certainly deterred us!
Beach Two:
Once again the stunning scenery of this country has been used as the backdrop to another film. This time the film was The Piano and the backdrop was Karekare beach (try to imagine a piano in the picture!). We haven’t actually seen the film but the beach has got a moody, dramatic air with the waves pounding, the sea spray causing a fine mist in the distance. We have managed to pick up a cheap copy of The Piano so our task tonight is to compare and contrast.

We have been in New Zealand now for the best part of two months and for almost all of that time we have had the reassuring view of Cat in her crib behind us. But like they say, all good things must come to an end and today we waved farewell to Cat and our convoy was down to one. 🙁
By now we have pretty much seen all there is to be seen in this country so we were really struggling to find some unexplored wee nook somewhere. After much searching of the map and guidebook we found such a corner just to the west of Auckland. We headed to Muriwai beach first to check out their gannet colony. Unfortunately most of the gannets have flown off and left New Zealand for the warmer shores of Australia (must be the time for leaving New Zealand!) However we did spot a couple swooping around so all was not lost.

Today’s destination was the Waipoua Kauri Forest home of the world’s second largest tree. With names like ‘God of the forest’ and ‘Father of the forest’ we were expecting some pretty big trees. Nevertheless we were blown away by the size of these giants. The world’s largest trees are the Californian sequioas which were pretty big, however when you see Tane Mahuta (God of the forest) emerge through the gap in the other big trees you could say it’s a pretty close thing. This giant is a whopping 6 metres wide and certainly lords it over the forest. Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest) is equally impressive. He is techincally New Zealand’s second largest tree because he is not quite as tall as ‘the God’ and his trunk volume (how much wood you’d get if you were to chop him down) is not as large, however, he is wider than ‘the god’ and has a girth of 16.4m which has to be seen to be believed.

Today began with an early start and a race up the road to get to the Bay of Islands. However, we did make time to stop at the Hundertwasser toilets. They are world famous so I know you will have heard of them. No? Well they were created by an ecentric painter / architect from Austria and well, lets just say, as public conviences go these are quirky!
When we arrived in Paihia we hooked up with Glen, our skipper for the day who promised to show us around the Bay of Islands on board his yacht, ‘She’s a Lady’ (I made the mistake of asking how she got her name and was told it was because she was high maintenance. Huh!)
Our track record with sailing led us to believe that the weather probably wouldn’t be great and it would no doubt rain. I’m thinking of our last day trip sailing from Brisbane, heart of the sunshine state but where it rained all day for our sailing expedition. Sure enough as we set sail it looked like a rather grey morning. There was also not a great deal of wind around (kind of a pre-requisite for sailing) which meant that we kind of drifted along in a very relaxed manner, which set the tone for the rest of the day. We drifted past many islands, some very exclusive and privately owned. How do the owners get to their homes I hear you ask. By boat more often than not but we did also spot a helicopter hanger (ah how the other half live!) As we came close to where the islands stop to reveal endless miles of sea, we chose our very own deserted island and dropped anchor. We passed up on the proposed swimming although we did brave a wee bit of kayaking, alas despite the glass bottom I saw nothing except some rocks and the sea bed. We also climbed the hill of our wee island and were rewarded with 360 degree views of the area and a light spattering of rain.
After what were quite possibly the best sandwiches ever we boarded ‘the lady’ once more and continued with thè ‘relaxed’ sailing back to harbour.

Today I learned a very valuable lesson, that is that you shouldn’t say you want to go mountain biking when what you actually mean is you want to go cycling. Turns out there is a difference. A big one.
Not really knowing what I was letting myself in for I agreed to cycle the twin passes of Hamner Springs. The bike hire shop offers a deal where they drive you to the top of the first hill and then you cycle the easy bits. Simon reckoned he was too much of an experienced cyclist to be getting lifts up hills and in the end we thought we would be cheap, load the bikes in our campervan and get them up the hill ourselves.
Now we expected the road up the hill to not be of the best quality and probably a little bumpy and gravelly but we were not prepared for quite the steep, muddy and pot holed affair that greeted us. So the plan changed, we would leave the van at the bottom and cycle up (or Si would and I’d push mine!). Finally after much huffing and puffing we got the bikes to the top of the hill and were looking forward to the prospect of freewheeling downhill. And it started ok, a little steep, narrow and bumpy for my liking but I was doing it. Then came the stream. Then came the uphill. What? Already? This was not what we were expecting! Maybe it’s only for a little bit. Half an hour later we were still pushing / carrying (Si) our bikes up. I began to realise that this was not just me, even the most serious mountain biker would not be able to cycle up this path. So that’s when I consulted the map and yes we had gone the wrong way! We could see the nice gentle gravel road across the valley that we were supposed to be on. The thought of going back the way we had come was not an appealing one so we carried on up and up and up. Si was an absolute star and my hero as he carried his bike up and then came back for mine, I struggled just walking up the hill (it was very steep!).
At last we made it to the top of the hill, which luckily joined up with the road we were actually meant to be on. However we were so exhausted that the thought of getting on the bikes we had pushed/ pulled/ heaved and carried (thanks Si) up the hill was more than we could bear.
After our sandwiches and a much deserved half muffin each we were feeling like we might be able to face a bit of downhill action. After all we were now at the top of the hill (the bit we could have been driven to if we were so tight with our cash!) and had been promised that the rest of the bike ride would be easy and mostly downhill. And at first it was. A bit bumpy but I would actually go as far as to say I was having fun. There was a little more uphill but that was ok, I managed to stay on my bike for most of that. And then came the extreme downhill. The very bumpy, very steep downhill that had me squeezing the brakes so hard I thought my hands would be forever stuck in the same position. We were belting down the hill so fast that there was only one thing that would stop us. The sight of two HUGE bulls in the middle of the road! One of them was staring at us in a very menacing manner and looking like he might charge at any second (I was pretty glad I wasn’t wearing red!). In the end we braved cycling past them (with no squeaking of the brakes so that we would be too fast for them to catch us!). Several hours later two weary cyclists returned their bikes with one of them swearing they might never get back on one again (no that wasn’t Si, although even he may be aching tomorrow!)