Tuesday 14 April 2009

Tuesday was a travelling day as we drove from Queenstown over to Christchurch to catch an evening flight to Wellington on the North Island. One interesting stop was at a monument to the Sheep Dog in Mackenzie County. It was erected by farmers in the area to recognise the invaluable services to sheep farming by the Collie. It is in the most beautiful lakeside setting

Easter Monday: Trip to Milford Sound

We had a long and wet day today. We set off from our Hotel at 7.00 a.m. for the 4 hour drive down to Milford Sound. Milford Sound is actually a fiord not a sound as it was carved out of the landscape millions of years ago by glaciers. It was discovered by a Welshman who was exploring the Tasman Sea looking for seals and ventured into this small inlet only to find a magnificent and beautiful “water world” within. He named the place Milford Sound after his home town of Milford Haven in South Wales. It was misty and wet today which meant we couldn’t see the tips of the mountains surrounding the water but instead we were rewarded with hundreds of waterfalls some of which the boat was able to sail right into. We had a 2 hr cruise around the sound, got very wet but enjoyed the magnificence of nature at its best. We saw seals and a solitary dolphin too. It was certainly worth the long trek down there.

Sunday 12 April 2009 (Easter Sunday)

We were up at 6 a.m. and after an early breakfast Saboohi and I paid a final visit to the Minnehaha Walk. The weather was damp and grey for most of the morning as we drove down to the coast, through the Haast region, stopping off at Thunder Creek Falls, Makarora (where we visited a fruit farm) and Lake Wanaka on the way. Just before we reached our destination for the next 2 nights, Queenstown, Saboohi and I along with 7 other members of the tour were dropped off at the Shotover River Canyon for our Jet Boat ride. This was a truly exhilarating ride, weaving our way, at speed, through the rocky canyon. The river was shallow and fast flowing and at times we felt as though the boat was going to slam into jagged rocks. It was well worth the $109 charge. Later this evening Saboohi fulfilled one of her lifetime wishes to complete a bungy jump! Queenstown is the birthplace of bungy jumping so it was fitting that her first jump should be here. We took the gondola ride up to the Sky Swing Deck overlooking the town. It was getting dark and although fully booked already Saboohi managed to get herself a jump for that evening. I don’t think Saboohi had fully appreciated just how scary this was going to be before she actually stood up there on the ledge waiting to jump. At one point she actually thought she would not be able to jump. It took all her courage to step over the edge but she did it! What a sense of achievement - she said that it was the scariest thing she had ever done and I can believe it!

Saturday 11 April 2009

We had a long drive today, across the Southern Alps of South Island. We drove through Arthur’s Pass and on to see both Franz Joseph Glacier and Fox Glacier. We had planned to take a helicopter ride up to both glaciers so that we could walk on them but the weather drew in and the flights were cancelled. Our hotel for the evening was the Glacier Country Hotel in Fox, a very small but busy little village nestled in the valley. The highlight of the day turned out to be a walk through the native bush near to the hotel, called the Minnehaha Walk. It was like walking through the forests of Narnia, with tall trees and palms, all covered in thick damp mosses and lichens. The forest was dense and a vivid shade of green throughout, it had streams and bridges and was truly magical. Interestingly, the Chronicles of Narnia were filmed here in New Zealand and we can see why. After supper at the hotel we returned to the bush to see the glow worms. It was beautiful.

Good Friday 10 April 2009: New Zealand

A beautiful but chilly morning in Christchurch. We went to bed at about 6.00 pm last night and slept through to 6.00 a.m. this morning – that’s Jet lag for you! The morning was spent on an organised city tour on the coach which included a trip to the Christchurch Museum. Highlights here included memorabilia from Captain Scott’s expedition to the South Pole. He embarked from Lytlelton Harbour and when he failed to return from his trip in 1912 the artefacts that were recovered from his final resting place were brought back to Christchurch. After lunch we visited the Art Gallery which had a special exhibition of paintings by a local artist, Rita Angus. She is long gone now but her work was really beautiful and unusual. We had never heard about her before. We then went for a walk through the Botanical Gardens, green and lush with a river running through it on which you can hire boats and canoes or go for a punt. It is Autumn here now and the foliage on the trees is changing colour; oranges, yellows, reds...really beautiful.

Wednesday 8 April 2009: Singapore

We were up early this morning so that we could we spend time at Singapore Zoo. It is one of the top 5 zoos in the world and it certainly deserves it’s international reputation. The Zoo is arranged as though you are walking through a rainforest with animals housed within areas or large enclosures which contain natural vegetation. There are no cages and no high rise fences. Some of the birds, lizards and even monkeys can roam quite freely amongst other inhabitants and visitors alike. We saw White Tigers, Proboscis Monkeys, Tigers, Giraffes, Hippos and Polar Bears and watched a fantastic “Elephants at work and play show” during which 4 Asian elephants illustrated their logging skills as well as their painting skills! We took public transport out to the Zoo, the MRT (their equivalent of the tube) was modern, fast and reliable and we were both amazed at how all the people here speak English and all the signs and information is in English too. It cost just £4 each to get to the Zoo and back even though it was a 2 hour round trip.
At 16.30 we were picked up from our hotel (Peninsula Excelsior) and taken to the airport for what was to be the longest leg of our journey. We flew from Singapore to Sydney, arriving at 5.00 the next morning and then after a 3 hour wait, flew on to Christchurch New Zealand. We arrived in New Zealand at 13.30 the next day local time.

Singapore -7 April 2009

Our first day in Singapore started with a half day tour of the city, taking in the National Orchid Garden, Thian Hock Temple, Little India and Merlion Park. The temperature is hot and humid at the moment even though we had a few showers throughout the day. The orchid garden was truly spectacular and as a special reminder of this beautiful place (the orchid is the national flower of Singapore) we bought a RISIS gold covered orchid (only available here in Singapore). There are hundreds of different hybrids here, many of which have been named after celebrities and VIPs. The pure white “Princess Diana” orchid was particularly stunning. This afternoon we went to the famous Raffles Hotel for afternoon tea and gorged ourselves on sandwiches, cakes and some more traditional Singaporean delicacies. A harpist entertained us throughout with popular tunes and songs from the musicals. Raffles Hotel also contains its own mall of specialist shops and in one of them- Elliott & Carmen- Saboohi purchased the most beautiful pearl necklace especially for my birthday. Once I had tried it on she insisted that I left the shop while she squeezed them down to the price that she felt was reasonable –poor things didn’t stand a chance. To finish the evening we sat in the outside bar in Raffles Hotel and enjoyed a very strong and tasty Singapore Sling. A great first day.