Brunei

It was with great excitement that we were finally on our way to Brunei for Chinese New Year. We were not sure what we were going to see and do and had booked ourselves into Brunei Hotel. This was in a great location but it was a bit tired looking. It did provide a comfortable bed after a day of walking for what seemed like miles. And we did enjoy the g & t's for our night cap.

Across the road was the river which housed this delightful market. They are always a great place to visit and are an eyeful of wonderful colour and unusual products. These piles are dried fish, I know what they want with these but am sure I will never buy any!
On our walk we found the mosque that was built by the present day Sultan's father, 50 years ago. We were able to go inside and were absolutely amazed and stunned with the beauty and serenity of this building.
One of the views from a water taxi ride showed the contrast between the local peoples. this building stood out from many different places along the river.
We did notice on our ride that many of the houses seemed to have been burnt down. Our driver confirmed that this is what happens often. Above is one of the many fire stations along the river. He went on to tell us that the population on the river is more than what actually lives in the town. He was very proud of the All Black sticker he had on his boat and knew that we say 'kia ora' when greeting.
There are 17 primary schools on the water, almost as many Islamic schools and a number of high schools. The children get rides in school bus boats like the one above. It seems that the teacher also gets a ride in one of these too.
To get a taxi boat, you stand on one of these taxi stands and one will come racing over to you. We didn't try this but did get one from the riverfront near our hotel.
Shell Petrol Stations abound on the river and the price for a litre is 54.7c (Singapore). Everyone seemed to own a car or a boat. There didn't appear to be any boat rules...they taxi boat driver told us it was first there that has right of way. They all seemed to be going at a fast pace to get to the next stop or drop.
A typical taxi stand. They see a white face and raise a finger twirling it to ask if you want a ride. All prices are negotiable.
While down taking photos of the white mosque we were approached by a local asking if we want him to act as a tour guide..he wanted to take us to the big mosque (above) and to see the Sultan's palace for $12. We were brave and took him up on his offer and were we ever pleased we had done this. The big Mosque as the locals call it was beautifully stunning. It has 29 turrets which corresponds to the fact that he is the 29th Sultan of Brunei.
It didn't seem to matter from which angle you were there was always a photo opportunity and we made the most of it.
He dropped us off back down by the older mosque in town. The wind had dropped and the man made lake was still and great for reflections.
Even during the day it was picturesque. We were then picked up by a guide from MegaBorneo and were treated to two days in the Temburong National Park. We were taken on a ferry across to Bangar where we were met by our tour guides people and driven to the base of Bukit Patai, which was a steep walk up the hill to magnificent views.
One of the highlights on the way up was the wall here of layered rock wall. We were fascinated by it but our guide just wanted to walk on and on.
We found a rock that was encased in tree roots. It must have have been there for a very long time.
And finally we got to see the view. Wayne is talking with our guide about where we are in the world...what is which way and what is the other way. I was only interested in what I could see around and the views beyond. Then it was down the hill to the waiting van. After our walk we had the most enjoyable drink that I can remember - believe it or not - it was a can of cold coke.
Dinner that night was cooked in bamboo...sweet and sour fish, chicken and a fern along with rice and beef. We helped prepare the meal by putting it inside the bamboo. The hardest part was putting the pandang into the end to create a steam seal.
Not sure whether I was starving after our walk or that the food really did taste that great but we polished off most of the meal.
Around Trandie Marina (our homestay) were many different orchids. Above is a tiger orchid. Many of these orchid are attached to a tree and we were told that they find the plants floating down the river after floods and they catch them and create a show of them for the visitors that stay.
After a lovely sleep we were back up at 6.30 for breakfast and up the river at 7 by longboat and making our way to the beginning of the canopy walk. This was going to be a 1350 step climb to get to it. I was not looking forward to this but am so pleased that I did do it. It has been the best canopy walk we have done. It was not an easy walk but it wasn't too hard.
Here is Wayne on the first flight of staircases...it was like climbing stairs but they were like aluminium ladders that zig zagged up to the first level of the canopy walk. We climbed up about 12 of these ladders (following a tree all the way up) to reach the first walk of 60 metres and then it was another climb of a bout 8 ladders to the next 60 metre walk. After this walk we climbed the last 8 ladders to reach the top level. I wasn't game to climb any higher for the view but Wayne did.

you can see that I really did climb this. I must admit, it did take me a long time to climb down!
In the corner of this photo is Wayne looking up the climbing down tower. I guess we were about 60 to 80 metres off the ground.
On the way back to our homestay we stopped off to visit a waterfall. The walk was lovely and you could have been in any part of New Zealand with this walk. Unfortunately there was not much water flowing but Wayne was able to have a fish passage on his ankles and hands...no he didn't let them near his feet.
Finally we were back in Bandar Seri Bewagan where we had a short wander around and found a cafe that serves both local and western food.
For a few nights and days we certainly packed in many things but would love to go back again.

Saying goodbye to the family in the Coromandel was hard as we knew we wouldn't see them again till we are home next year. It was great to see the parents but also made us realise that they aren't getting any younger or fitter. We caught a plane down to wellington and and spent the night at Logan's hotel and then an early start to get the ferry across the sounds to meet up with Lloyd and Anna.

We rode all the way over inside as it was a bit rolly outside. We left Bradley in Wellington and picked up Logan. Logan slept all the way across, guess he must have had a good night at his works Christmas party! We had a small wait in Picton. We whiled the time away at a local cafe enjoying the seen and the view.

One of the highlights was to cycle our way to Renwick from Lloyd and Anna's house and visit a few wineries. Loogn was very keen to show us which ones we should visit and it was a lot of fun even though I was very tired at the end...think I had biked over 40 km's that day. My amazing packhorse had his backpack so we were able to purchase some quality wines.

Lloyd was very proud of his garden that he and Anna are growing. It did produce quite a variety of goodies for us to eat. We were most impressed with this.

I took time to take a photo of each or our boys in setting on their own without their knowledge. The photos show us exactly what they are like and it also shows them that we are very proud of them. Logan had picked this book up to read and didn't put it down until he had finished it.
Bradley was forever writing in his little notebook. He has a great talent for making words come alive.
Lloyd has finally found a passion that interests him and he is making the most of his studies to ensure he has a great career ahead of himself. it was wonderful to spend some quality time with both him and Anna and we are very proud that she wants to be part of our family.
Christmas day started with a champagne breakfast and then a walk down to the local river for the boys to have a swim in the water. It was a matter of the other two picking on the baby (although he is the biggest). It was fun to watch and see how these boys interact as adults considering how much they fought against each other as little guys.
Zena is still a well behaved dog and still delights in taking herself for a walk. We managed to take her a few times for one and were impressed that she had lost none of the training she had had as a puppy.
Anna is developing her skills of the fire poi and I even had a go. Was amazed at how hot it was while doing the twirling but also impressed that when the poi did hit you that you didn't actually get burnt, it just left a black mark on you.
Then it was back onto the ferry to Wellington where we spent our last few days before flying back to Singapore. No stop in Wellington is complete until you have been to visit Te Papa. This time round we saw the giant squid and were suitably impressed with it and the process that went into preserving it,
Our final photos were of the tui that were singing so beautifully in the trees on our walk back down Wadestown hill after visiting my uncle Dave.
Our trip home was not long enough but it did give us a good taste of home and some great quality time with the boys, and our extended family. it did make us realise that one day we will be back to live in New Zealand but also know that we are not quite ready to do it yet.

Poppa and Nana's Tree

One weekend we went to Rotorua and spend a couple of nights with Wayne's brother David. We were going to spread Poppa's ashes at the tree. Nana has been with her tree for a number of years now (15) and as Poppa passed away last year it was time for him to join her. Thanks Brigid for organising this.

We picked Logan up at the airport in Rotorua, unfortunately Lloyd couldn't get away for the weekend and he was the only grandchild missing. It was so good to be able to drive DINK1E while home. If only our holiday could have been longer.
Femy enjoyed catching up with all of Poppa's family.
Aunt Helen was looking very fit and well. Being Poppa's only sibling still alive it was a very poignant time for her.
The three brothers, Wayne, Ian and David.
s.

Christmas in NZ 09

After leaving work at 6.45 pm, we were on our way to Changi Airport to catch a direct flight home for 3 weeks in our little slice of paradise. On our flight we were asking each other what we missed most about NZ and high on the list was to see the bloom of the pohutukawa flower. Its our Christmas flower and it represents the beginning of summer. As was having fish and chips by the beach, eating a bacon and egg pie, chocolate fish, catching fish, lovely wine, walking on the grass and many more things. Throughout this blog you will see photos of some of the very things we discussed.
We took a drive up the local coastal highway and were amazed by the pohutukawa carpet on the road. No drive up this part of the coast is complete without a stop at Waiomu where I captured our oldest son Bradley juggling. A highlight of our trip home was that we could spend quality time with all 3 of our sons. that was so special. You guys do make us very proud of you.
Catching a sunset from the decking of our house is one of the many things we do miss. thankfully my lovely sister and her family are in our house and we are able to stay with them to make the most of the view while we are home.
As Beth is also an avid photographer, her children are use to posing. Jacob, Dominic and Claudia you are awesome.
And yes we did get to eat fish and fishs at the beach. We bought them in Coromandel and travelled a few minutes to Oamaru Bay. Fish and chips wrapped in newspaper, YUM!
Finally we arrived at our caravan for a little bit or r & r. Now this is one of the main things we do miss. We drive about 1 and a 1/2 hours to Papa Aroha to the camping ground. this place is truly bliss. We are so envious that Beth, Matt and their family get to use this place more than we do!!!! but Beth, our time will come!
Going for walks along the beach, along the road, across the grass is one of the pleasures of this place. And yes, men will still be boys and they climb trees. I even did climb up too! as did Bradley.

Along the road home we found this monarch butterfly having a drink from the clover flower.

Further along the beach we came across some birds that were trying to lead us away. This oyster catcher had a nest somewhere in the sand. We didn't see the nest but he made sure of it.

Beside the oyster catcher was a pair a dotterils. I was lucky enough to get a good photo of them. They weren't sure of us and tried all sorts of tricks to lead us away. Like the photo below where it is pretending to have damaged wings so that I could catch that instead of their eggs.

Wayne is using the tractor to put in the boat...still no name..if you have any ideas for a name, let me know. Bradleya nd Wayne went our for a fish and did bring some back so we could have fresh fish for dinner...so YUMMY.

Kayaking on the beach is always a treat.

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

When we first arrived in Singapore, we visited the wetlands as a group and have always said we would love to go back...well we finally did. It is a great place to see some of the wildlife that live in Singapore and a great place to take your camera for playing with.
The spiders here still amaze me...I don't particularly like them but they are big and colourful.

As you can see this one was almost as big as Wayne's hand...well the legs spread that far out!

The Giant Mud skippers are huge, the shell beside this guy is smaller than him and the shell is huge, more than a hand span.

While I was taking this photo I was being bitten by mosquitoes and started slapping my legs to get them off and Wayne was busy telling me to 'be quiet' which I couldn't do for some reason. My legs were literally black with the little guys and I did have repellent on. Needless to say I put more on and it kept them at bay for a while.

The butterfly stayed still long enough for me to get this shot.

I used my zoom to get this one of the dragonfly.

The tide was on its way in so there was plenty of birds to see. We went into the hides and sat and watched and were amazed at how many more you could see by just sitting and waiting.

The crabs in the mangroves climb the trees and they aren't small crabs. We found them hiding in knots of trees too.

Its not often a squirrel just sits and poses for the photo, but this one did. He was sitting on the railing of the board walk. Just after I took the photo he turned and looked at me and scuttled up the tree.

Up close and almost person with a monitor lizard.

While having lunch I noticed the couple beside us looking at what to me looked like wire on the decking, but it turned out to be a paradise snake. Not very long but quite slim. the cook came over to watch the otters playing and catching fish and almost put her hand on the snake which then promptly flew into the water and swam away.

walking back to the bus stop we met some locals who were eating a fruit of this tree. The flower is similar to pohutukawa to look at but the fruit is quite dry but tasty. They offered some for us to try, we did after we had seen them eat it first.

An amazing place to walk around, we spent most of the day there and it wasn't long enough, but our legs were tired after walking and decided to make our way home and promising to go back again.