New Zealand. North Island.

The ferry landed in Wellington at 10 on Sunday night. The sat navs in all our devices failed us. Our hippy van's petrol gauge was on red. We had no map. How were we going to find our Travelodge? I hailed a taxi and followed it to our hotel via a service station. A bargain ten dollar ride.

In the morning we headed north. On route we stopped at a second hand bookshop. We got back in the van and the battery was flat. What to do? Luckily there was an old bicycle lying by the roadside and so using that, wire, yoghurt pots and sticky backed plastic I was able to fashion together a small generator to recharge the battery. Also we phoned an emergency number we found on the windscreen and were soon back on the road.

Lots of people had told us that the scenery in the South Island was so much better than the North. Maybe so. But the North Island was also very beautiful. Rolling hills, volcanic mud pools and geysers, lakes and snow-topped mountains.
More family. More memories. We were made very welcome in New Zealand. Lots of lovely people. Thank you all.

New Zealand, South Island.

We landed at Christchurch and took the shuttle to our hotel, a good five minute walk away. In the morning we picked up our hippy van and headed South to Dunedin. I've never been particularly interested in visiting New Zealand but so many people have told us how wonderful it was I was looking forward to discovering the attraction.

Dunedin was very nice. We stayed in a lovely B&B, ate well in a very English pub and drove down to the ocean, a stone's throw from Antarctica. (More of our adventures here on Jill's FB.) Then we headed north, winding through the mountains, stayed at Queenstown, situated in The Remarkables (great name for a mountain range) on Lake Wakatipu (great name for a lake) and continued on to Fairley, via the turquoise Lake Tekapo, and the next day arriving back in Christchurch.

In Fairley we noticed how many British birds there were chirping away in the trees. We saw thrushes and blackbirds and sparrows. How had they made the long journey from one side of the world to the other? By boat of course, brought by early British settlers.
The mountains and lakes of the South Island are simply stunning. This was the wonderfulness. Jill thought them even more spectacular than Yosemite.
In Christchurch we stayed with Jill's cousins, Colin and Erica, where we rode Molly, one of their Clydesdale horses. They took us on a sobering tour of Christchurch, still putting itself back together after the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. Fallen down buildings, rubble, the horrors of liquefaction, but a feeling of resolution and hope amongst the people. Most moving, on a strip of flattened land in the city centre, 185 empty chairs, painted white. One to represent each person who had died.

T

Roo Round-up

Or... Roger's final thoughts about Australia. If I were to live here, based on what I've seen so far, I'd go for the New South Wales coast. Lovely climate, fabulous beaches.

Almost deserted beach at Nambucca Heads.

Sydney has crept into my Top Five Cities in the world.
Despite my fear of heights we've been to some spectacularly high places.

 The Blue Mountains

Watching young people on a waterfall, standing on wet rocks above a 100 metre drop was not fun.
The Aboriginal problem. We've talked to many people about this and there is a problem but no one knows how to solve it. It's our fault, along with our Euro-neighbours, for colonising everywhere. The Aboriginal population is invisible. We saw some excellent contemporary work by indigenous artists at the superb Margaret Olley Gallery. Very political and hardly a dot in sight. Also a recreation of MO's house, which doubled as a studio.

Margaret Olley's sitting room.

At noon the sun is in the northern sky.
Only saw kangaroos twice in the wild, despite the estimated 50 million that live here. Saw no poisonous snakes nor any spiders - although they tend to come out as the summer hots up. Nor koalas. We saw lots of birds though. And heard them. They are SO LOUD. The Bush is full of scrubby bush and so is the outback.
And finally - it does get cold here, especially south of Sydney.

Grooving in the Sydney Area

No, we haven't forgotten the blog! Had a lovely time in Manly. Had a great time in Glenhaven. Lots of pics on our FB pages. Heading north in our camper tomorrow. Jill has stocked up with provisions. We have mozzy repellent. We will be vigilant for roos at dusk. Wish us luck in our Chubby two-berth. Onward!

The Royal Botanic Gardens

Things to do in Sydney. Lots to choose from. The view from the ferry is a brilliant first look at the city. Amazing. Jilly was quite literally jumping up and down with excitement. We visited the Museum of Contemporary Art right by the harbour - and that had some very interesting stuff. We had cocktails 47 floors up, overlooking Sydney from a revolving bar, courtesy of Rowan and we spent a lovely afternoon in the Royal Botanic Gardens.

They cover 30 hectares of land alongside the Opera House and overlooking the harbour and contain 9000 varieties of trees and plants. Very beautiful, especially in the sunshine. And so much to see. I particularly enjoyed the cacti, the ferns (the mosquito fern, for example, soaks up chemicals and poisons in water and is used to combat pollution), the ancient calyx plants and the birds and eels.

This part of Sydney was one of the first areas cultivated by the British settlers it seems. They quickly turfed the natives out and took the area over. Recently an Aussie said to me - We should give the Aborigines their land back and stop giving them benefits and hand outs. I replied - that's a lot of prime real estate. I think he was still intending to keep the best bits.

The Flying Doctor

Today we visited the Flying Doctor museum in Alice Springs. I can vaguely remember The Flying Doctor on the radio in the 50s. And the TV series that began in 1959. Their catchphrase was "Flying Doctor to Wollumboola Base."
An excellent and informative exhibition. The service was started by the Rev. John Flynn in 1928 with one aircraft, a DH 50 named Victory. Now it has 66 aircraft and operates all over Australia.
The Flying Doctor radio and TV series, I guess, was one of the first docu-dramas or soaps. The first was, of course, Land Based Nurse. In the series, written for Strand magazine, (citation needed) they called her Florence Nightingale. I do wonder which exec. came up with that name. And whose bright idea it was to give her a pet.
"I think she should have a dog."
"No, a cat would be better. It could get all tangled up in the bandages. That would be hilarious. It would go viral."
"Don't be daft. YouTube hasn't been invented yet."
"How about we give her an owl?"
"That's even dafter."
"She could keep it in her pocket."
"Hmmm, could work..."

Don't press that button!

Never say awesome again...

We have now seen something that is truly awesome. Uluru is awe inspiring. The largest monolith on earth and worth travelling half way around the world to see. A strangely magical place, even though I had steeled myself against getting caught up in any mystical stuff and nonsense! There is just something about the rock, its beauty, its setting in the middle of the desert, its colour, its shape, its markings... Never to be forgotten. Up there in my Days to Remember with dog sledding in the Arctic. I feel very lucky to be able to travel like this.

I've still not cracked uploading photos - something to do with Apple v Microsoft I think - but Roger is going to add some to illustrate this and if you can, see my Facebook page where I will put some of the photos I took.

It rained in Japan, it rained in Perth. It rained in South West Australia. It hasn't rained in Alice Springs, but the day before I arrived it rained so hard that the usually bone dry and barren desert blossomed with a dense covering of wild flowers. Mostly white, quite a few yellow, some deep red, a few a violet-blue, purple and pink.

I was looking forward to seeing the arid red centre of Australia. Well the earth everywhere is definitely very red, or perhaps more accurately very orange. But the desert? More lush, fertile, green plain than arid waste!

I should be used to my watery journeys by now but I was surprised to be driving through floods half an hour after arriving in Alice. As he slowed down to splash through the usually non-existent river which had burst its banks and spilled over the road, our shuttle bus driver told us: "This is something very few tourists see." Oh lucky us!

We learned the names of quite a few plants on our trip yesterday thanks to trainee tour guide Roz, whose aunt and uncle were the well-known botanists Mary and Basil Smith. Roz searched out a plant which bore two different coloured flowers for us and an upside down plant which sprouted leaves at the top and flowers at ground level. We saw desert myrtle, the yellow gravilia, wattle, acacia, desert oak and, of course, lots of different types of eucalyptus, or just gum trees as they call them here. There is apparently too much of a sort of grass, the name of which I can't remember, which was planted in the 70s to provide food for cattle and which spread into the desert, and many clumps of spinifex, which can give you a nasty wound if you cut yourself on it, but which has useful resinous roots which provide a local glue.

We saw lots of desert flora, but no fauna except for a dead lizard and a few birds, one which looked like a cross between a pigeon and a plover and which might have been a type of cockatiel. I'm still looking for kangaroos in the wild. Apart from a fleeting glimpse of a few in a field near Perth, and some pretty green parrots, the only wildlife we've seen has been in the zoo.

Yesterday I learned that not all boomerangs are designed to come back.  There's one called the No 7, which is made from the root of the mallow tree, which only goes one way.

Off now to explore Alice Springs and to seek out Kevin...

Our Berth in Perth.

We've been staying with Peter "Rock God" Brown and his wife Fay. Peter and I were in a band together in our early teens, The Pathfinders. His family emigrated when he was sixteen. On our first day we drove north up the coast to Hillary's Boat Harbour. The beaches are big and sandy and the sea is a beautiful blue. Then we met Monique, Luke and Penny for lunch at the famous Cicerello's, a fish and chips establishment at Fremantle, known locally as Freeo. 

On Tuesday we visited Caversham Wildlife Park and got

up close to some indigenous Australian wildlife. And in the evening we got on down with the kids (average age 73) at the Blues Club in Bull Creek.

On Wednesday we headed south to visit the wine country. All the towns and villages, the suburbs around Perth, are surrounded by bush, a scruffy wasteland of scrub. But as we headed into South Western Australia the landscape changed to rolling hills and forestland.

En route we stayed in the frontier town of Bridgetown in a lovely old wooden house being renovated by friends of Peter and Fay's, Ziggy and Rosie. Ziggy's garden has avocados, lemon and grapefruit trees. The weather is wet. Where is the hot and sunny Australian weather I've heard about? We visited three wineries in Margaret River and bought a few bottles of wine, enough to last us until we board the plane to Alice Springs.

And so here we are on Friday, now at Monique and Penny's. Luke is at work, blowing things up at the iron ore mine. And we are about to head into town to buy an edition of Ticket to Ride to feed our addiction to Trains.

Hello Australia

So here we are down under. Had a good flight from Japan via China. The weather is sunny here in Perth, although not quite as warm as we were expecting. I have a suitcase full of short-sleeved shirts. Had a look round Perth today. Lots of space and glorious sandy beaches. Excellent fish and chips for lunch at Cicerello's in Fremantle. Not much else to report as yet. Limited internet and FB - so watch this space for news of our further adventures.

Sayonara

And so our visit to Japan draws to a close. It's only been a week but it seems longer, we've packed so much in. So here are a few random observations to leave you with.
1 Toilets are usually very modern. Some have a control panel that would tax the ingenuity of Captain Kirk. I particularly like the button with musical notes on. This plays the noise of running water, so that any bodily noises you might make cannot be heard by anyone outside the cubicle.
2 There are Shinto shrines everywhere. This is what you do. Wash hands at the water bowl. Use the scoop in your right hand to pour water on to your left and vice versa. Approach altar and remove your hat. Throw a coin into the offertory box. Ring bell to summon God into the shrine. Bow twice. Make a wish in your heart. Clap twice. Bow once more.

3 When feeding the deer in Nara park remove the paper wrapper from the crackers or the deer will eat that too.
4 Geishas have nothing to do with sex. The life, traditions, customs and behaviour of a geisha is very complicated indeed. It reminds me of the Gormenghast trilogy. Not as traditional as you might think though, only going back to the beginning of the 18th century. They sing, dance, act, entertain and make tea - primarily for the pleasure of men. Apparently sexual pleasures can be found elsewhere.

Too busy

I'm very busy doing things so don't have time to write much! Still can't get pix on here so am putting them on FB. Roger is keeping you up to date so that's okay.

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet.

We are about to board carriage 16 of the Shinkansen Superexpress Hikari 513. Colloquially known as the bullet train. An army of cleaners are doing their thing. Usefully the men wear smart blue overalls and the women wear pretty pink ones. This helps us all to tell which is which. They leave and the guard, in his cap and smart cream suit, who looks like Sulu, welcomes us aboard. The train looks amazing from the outside, being very sleek and bullet-shaped, but is slightly disappointing inside. It's seating is basic, although there's plenty of room, and more like First Capital Connect than Star Trek, which is how I imagined it would be. The loos are basic too. But it is all very clean. Southern Rail could do with a team of cleaners boarding after every long journey.

I'm hungry. I can smell food, all around us our fellow travellers are eating. After stopping at a couple of local stations we pick up speed. We are travelling very fast although it doesn't feel it of course. The guard, who obviously has lots to do, passes by every now and then. Each time he enters or leaves our carriage he turns and bows.
The train is bound for Shin Osaka via Toyahashi, Nagoya, Gifo-hashima and Kyoto.
A trolley arrives. Jill has sandwiches and I have a Bento box. Unfortunately I start eating the contents before I think to take a picture. Two large cold rice-pudding and black seaweed balls, a small piece of cooked fish, a slice of calamari, a little ball of something white and pasty and a pickle. Jill is not impressed but I think it's delicious. Another lesson Southern Rail could learn.
We pass Mount Fuji and Jill takes a picture. You can see it on her FB. We think it's Mount Fuji - it's very cloudy.
And so three and a half hours later and spot-on time, we arrive at Kyoto, and look for our connection. Down more stairs.
.

On the Road Again

We are heading for Kyoto. As you know, we are travelling light. Just two carry-on sized suitcases. However, the last couple of days have been retail-heavy, what with presents we've bought for people and stuff. So the cases are heavier and we've accumulated a back-pack. So we head for metro. It's 30 degrees. I'm wearing shoes, those odd short socks that come round your ankles, my jacket, my hat, and carrying my suitcase, the backpack and my man bag. We go from Asakusa to Ueno, to the mainline JR Rail, to Tokyo. Lots of escalators, but lots of stairs too. Up and down stairs I have to carry both cases. I counted, I think, about 37 sets of stairs. Maybe not quite that many. It's hot and humid. I'm sweating, Jill's perspiring. We find the station platform. Struggle to the other end, where our reservation will be in carriage 16 and wait. Ah... but we have misread the ticket. We are booked on the 12.33 - not the 12.03. On we go down more stairs, up more stairs, until we are finally in the right place. Phew, it's a scorcher.

Things We Like About Japan So Far.

Knowing what to order in a restaurant because there is a plastic model of the food displayed outside (see picture).
The friendliness and helpfulness of the people. If you ask someone for directions they look on their phones and get other people to join in the search.
Melon pan - a delicious bread we've taken to eating for breakfast at a little café nearby. No tourists there. You take off your shoes and sit at a low table - you do have to remember to ask for hot - not iced - coffee though.
The huge Don Quijote megastore on five floors, open 24/7, selling everything from basic and exotic foods and toiletries, through stationery, camping equipment, kitchenware, electronics and haberdashery to plastic gorilla masks, bunny ears, strange pants for men with bananas attached and other Japanese fun items of dubious nature. Generally cheap, lots of discounts and bargains. A cross between a pound shop and TK Max.
And The Hub Jazz Bar... although that's more specifically a Tokyo thing.

A Room With a View

We're on the twelfth floor. Jilly's coped despite her lift phobia. The room's quite cool. Quite a shock to step outside into 30 degrees C of heat. Today's plan has been thwarted. All the art galleries are closed on Mondays. Tonight a sushi restaurant and jazz at a nearby bar.

Picture Problems

I'm still trying to upload pix so for now just reporting: Love Tokyo. Today we ate melon pan and iced coffee for breakfast. No melon involved. Japanese equivalent of a croissant I guess. Will ask Laurent to get the recipe. We need melon pan in Loches. Tomorrow morning we will have the same but will remember to ask for the coffee to be hot!

Walked through Sensoji Temple park and caught the train to Yoyogi Park. Loved the Rockabilly dancers - pictures to follow soon. Wondered what bird or other creature was making a strange buzzy chirp so asked a man who looked like he might know. He did and explained in accented English that this was a large insect with fast... he flapped his arms and we provided 'wings'. We were very pleased. "I thought you looked like a man who would know," I told him. "Yes," he said, "I'm a biology teacher!"

Hoppy Warning.

Day one. We had lunch in the sunshine at a café. I thought I had ordered a beer called Hoppy. Hoppy IS a beer, a very weak one, about 1.8%. However it is served in quite an unusual way. Imagine my surprise when the waitress presented me with a large, litre-sized jug half full of ice and neat alcohol. Then tipped the beer into it. It did taste very nice, but to be honest, I don't remember much of what happened after that. It's a sort of fuzzy blur.

Bathroom Surprise!

We are in our hotel room. It's quite a nice surprise sitting down on a warm, heated toilet seat. There's a control panel next to you with several interesting options, one of which is a spray of water directed upwards at your bottom. I tried this but I had the setting too high. It felt like I was being prodded from down below. I jumped up and the spout of water shot between my legs giving me an unexpected face wash. Jill tried it and reported that she found it quite pleasant.

Colombo Airport and Beyond.

 Here we are then at Colombo Airport, Sri Lanka. The first leg took about 10 hours, overnight. Jill slept but I was mainly awake. Sri Lankan Airlines is recommended by us. Some good films. I watched the first Captain America.

Then a seven hour wait at the airport. 2 points if you can spot how I managed to photograph the aerial view. Nowhere to buy books or magazines in the airport. But lots of touristy gift shops. And a very nice, cheap restaurant with a view of the planes. Lots of curry-style dishes. Also a stall of Buddha-related merchandise. Then onwards to Japan. Another ten hour flight. Again, unlike Jill, I couldn't sleep.

 I watched the second Captain America film. Narita airport was pretty straightforward and quick. We are only carrying hand luggage so no waiting at the baggage carousel.

Then picked up our week-long rail pass and caught the train into the city. We are in the Asakusa area. This involved a three stop journey on the metro from Tokyo station. The metro is very similar to the tube, with
the same schematic map design. But could we find where we were supposed to go? No. Well, yes - eventually. It was very busy and confusing. Maybe it was the heat, nearly 30 degrees C, or the Japanese writing everywhere. Outside the station a very friendly rickshaw driver explained how to find our hotel. And here we are.

And we're off...

Bit of a dodgy start though. The National Express coach was delayed for an hour and a half due to accident on M23/25 junction. So we caught the taxi - train - tube and just made it. Right now in transit at Colombo Airport, Shri Lanka. Blessed by Buddha as we arrived. Shri Lankan Airlines is very good. Stewardess' in trad-style uniform. Lovely peacock blue seats. Good service. Even the food was okay. And we left on the dot and arrived on time. It was a short day. 9.30 pm to Midday in just ten hours. Next stop Tokyo.

Packing almost done. Last bits and pieces to do. Ooooh.... exciting.

More Testing

Unfortunately not the one in Paris.  Two points for guessing where.

Jill buying bananas at the market in Loches. We will no doubt be buying bananas from many exotic markets on our trip.

TEST posting. Roger speaking. On Thursday 1st September, 2016, Jilly and I set forth on our around the world adventure.