NZ

As I think I mentioned, we fell in love with New Zealand and are plotting a return trip as soon as our bank balance has recovered.  I found it to be a ridiculously beautiful country - I mean how much breathtaking scenery can one country have?  And as I've mentioned previously, this is only the North Island, the South Island is supposed to be even better.  Even though we are 'closer' to New Zealand in Singapore, it is still a ten-hour flight so it's not exactly on our doorstep.  But I feel very grateful that we had the opportunity to visit this year.

Taken from the air in the Bay of Islands - we were trying to get up to Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of the North Island but the weather was not kind and we had to turn back.

The marae (meeting house) at Waitangi, built to commemorate the signing of the Waitangi treaty between the Maori and the British Crown.  It turns out that the British and the Maori signed two very different versions of the treaty as the Maori translation did not reproduce the exact meaning of the English text.  Although the treaty still stands today, it has proved controversial since its signing.

Hawkes Bay with Cape Kidnappers in the distance and the town of Napier in the foreground - taken from our wonderful art deco lodge.

The Alpha Domus vineyard near Hawkes Bay, taken during our 'On Yer Bike' wine tasting bike tour

Cape Kidnappers - named by James Cook

Waitrose lambs!

The ferry making its way to Auckland.  Taken from Waiheke Island, a 45 min ferry ride from the city, but it is like another world

Susnet from our lodge on Waiheke Island

Redwoods at Rotorua

View south from Te Mata peak

Sydney

We arrived on a Saturday night and on Sunday Tim took me to Manly beach (above), a spot he had already visited on a previous trip.  The weather was gorgeous and we found a cute little restaurant, white-washed walls and views of the sea, for lunch.  As we sat people-watching, we were amazed at how impossibly good-looking Sydneysiders are - hot bods, not a pick of fat in sight, tiny bikinis, sun-kissed tresses.  We found out later that this was the first 'hot' weekend of Spring and the population of Sydney had poured out onto the various beaches along the coast.  Many of the people we saw, apparently, spend winter getting ready for summer so they can proudly bare (nearly) all and strut their stuff along the beach.  It was good to get that perspective, because otherwise I think we would have left thinking Sydney was the best-looking city in the world.

After that initial excitement, Tim spent his days working and I spent mine exploring the city.  I can see how pleasant life in Sydney would be, with the water, the parks and the beaches just a stone's throw away.  The only problem is being so far away from the rest of the world.

Three things in particular stand out:

1) getting up early and jogging through the Botanical Gardens to the Opera House.  The light was so clear and bright that early in the morning and we had such gorgeous views of the Bridge and the Opera House.

2) walking from Bondi beach to Coogee beach in the rain.  The weather put all but the hardiest of runners and walkers off but the views were spectacular and we arrived in Coogee just as the sun was setting.  It was magical and when we got to the end I wanted to turn around and do it all over again.

3) visiting the beautiful art deco inspired ANZAC war memorial in Hyde Park.  It got a red star in my guide book (a good thing) but I wasn't expecting it to be such a special place.  I found it very moving, particularly the sculpture 'Sacrifice' (see here for a pic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ANZACWarMemorial3_gobeirne.jpg).  It is the only war memorial that represents a soldier naked, in death. 

Here are a few pics of the obvious sights:

Early morning view of the bridge and opera house, with that special light I was talking about

More to follow!

Getting back to normal

We are finally back from our trip and getting back to normal.  Tim is already into the swing of things at work and I have a busy week of interviews and catching up with people planned.  It feels good to return to Singapore knowing that I have (new) friends to see and potential jobs on the horizon.  But we were both very sad to leave New Zealand.  It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen, and we have only seen the 'average' part so far - apparently the South Island is waaaay better.  And apart from amazing food and wine, stunning scenery, wonderful people and seeing a real kiwi in the flesh, I was thrilled to be able to wear jeans, my converse trainers, a hoodie and my gilet (as modelled below with my All Black friend).  More photos on the way.

Lunchtime at the Marina

Thunderbird

One thing I love about living here is the huge, deafening tropical storms (also love the clouds, but that's a different story).  We are in the middle of one at the moment.  Thunder that makes you jump out of your skin has been rolling over head for the last hour.  The rain is coming down in fast and furious sheets and the building site across the way is shrouded in mist, the banging drowned out by the sound of wind and rain lashing the trees.  Bliss. What I love most of all is that I am tucked up at home with a good book and I can put the lights on and feel cosy.  I have the balcony windows open to let in the cool, moist air and so that I can hear the thunder claps even better.  Actually, some of them are more like thunder explosions and I want to hide behind the sofa or under the covers, as if I was a little girl again.  But mostly I am an awed witness to Mother Nature's fearsome power.

p.s. just when you think it's over, and you are putting the finishing touches to your blog post, it all kicks off again.  What a great day!

Penang

Tim, Al and I made a short trip to Penang while Al was here.  It is a small island off the north west coast of Malaysia, just south of Langkawi and the equivalent of going to Edinburgh for the weekend - a short hop in the plane from Singapore.  We stayed in the heritage part of Georgetown, which was declared a World Heritage Site by the UN a while back.  It is a busy burg, bustling and brimful of quaint shophouses, one of which provided our accommodation for the three nights we were there.  The only downsides to being so central were the 5am call to prayer (we were hemmed in by mosques), the constant buzz of mopeds and the dog across the way that barked all night.  I'm not sure Tim caught up on his much-needed sleep.

A day and half would have been enough, but we amused ourselves for three days.  The guidebook said it was what Singapore used to look like, so it was good to see. 

Downtown Georgetown

Down by the harbour

Sunset

Chinese lanterns

Having an aperitif outside our shophouse

 One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the Tropical Spice Garden, about 40 minutes out of town.  It was wonderfully done and best of all, they had a giant swing and we had so much pushing each other back and forth.  It really is the little things.  The garden was full of mozzies and the 'organic' citronella oil that they provided did not cut the mustard, so I reverted to the 'burning the very skin off you' spray that you can buy in Singapore. Works a treat.  Although in the final count, Al was bitten 17 times and I escaped with a mere 10 bites.  Damn those mozzies!

On the swing

The swing in action!

Ridiculously happy

Friends and F1

What a lot of excitement we've had, two weekends in a row.  Our friends JT and Sarah book-ended their trip to Thailand with two stopovers in Singapore with us.  They were officially our first 'non-family' guests and I think we were able to provide a similar level of hospitality as that which I was lucky enough to experience when I stayed with them in London.  Their feedback was very positive anyway. Potential future guests: take note. 

We visited a bit of old Singapore (the Changi Prison Museum - I would give it a 5 out of 10) and quite a lot of new Singapore, down by the Marina.  We had the obligatory cocktail in the bar at the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel to take in the view.  Being a property man, JT was impressed with the scale of the building that has taken place in the last 50 years, especially as we had seen glimpses of the old Singapore during our tour of the Changi Prison Museum.

Taking in the view on top of the Marina Bay Sands

Awww, those two

Very impressive

We were lucky enough to get tickets for the Formula 1 night race last weekend and even had two seats in one of the stands.  While JT and Tim watched the start of the race, Sarah and I devised and implemented our buffet strategy at the Raffles Hotel's Billiard Room where we were able to enjoy some corporate hospitality.  You need to have a strategy when a buffet is as outstanding as that one was, otherwise you end up peaking too soon.  We did swap with the boys about half way through the race.  I didn't think I would like it, but was surprised at how exciting it was seeing these huge cars whizz past (too fast to take photos).  At one point, some brave track clearers ran out and started clearing the bit of road in front of us.  They were literally taking their life in the hands and I thought it was all going to end badly when Sebastian Vettel (who led for most of the race) turned the corner and accelerated.  The last guy made a dash for the side, just in time.

The lights of the F1

View from the stands - we were very close!

The aforementioned track cleaner who was almost ketchup all over the track

That blur?  Sebastian Vettel

We were sad to say goodbye to our friends, but know that we will see them again real soon.  Next visitor - little Al who is en route from Saigon as I type!