New Zealand - Touring part 1

From Auckland we travelled down to Waitomo in our camper van, pretty easy drive through the country side, with it gradually getting less and less busy.

The camp site was excellent set amongst limestone hills covered in ferns, forest, and quite a few cows. Visited two sets of caves this morning - Glow Worm Caves and Aranui Caves. Excellent to see the glow worms in the dark as we floated down an underground river on a boat. Also saw some Cave Weta; particularly large and ugly insects which Lucy says can only be removed surgically if they latch on.

From Waitomo we travelled South and are now in Ohakune, which seems pretty deserted at the moment but apparently gets busier in the ski season. It's right next door Mount Ruapehu aka Mount Doom, and we intend to go on some 'tramping' (hiking) tomorrow in the National Park, also taking in Ithilien, better watch out for Orcs etc.

The journey down to here was pretty exciting as it's been pretty stormy - windy and rainy. Got blown about a bit in the high sided vehicle, and there were several trees down. At one point we had to stop as a tree was down across the road. It didn't last long as lots of locals appeared with chain saws and proceeded to annihliate it.

Off for cheese burgers now.

New Zealand - Auckland

Arrived in New Zealand and met up with Norman and Sheila (Lucy's parents) successfully at the airport. We're staying with them for a couple days whilst we explore Auckland, prior to picking up the camper van. In the evening we went out to a traditional sort of venue...an Irish Pub in the Viaduct Basin; a harbour in Auckland. Very nice steak and a pint of Speckled Hen at O'Hagans, certainly cheaper than Hong Kong. Lots of very expensive yachts and motor cruisers to look at.

Today we took the ferry over to Devonport and climbed Mount Victoria, an extinct volcano which isn't as high as the name suggests; a very short clamber to the top where there's a disappearing gun - a relic of when New Zealand was expecting to be invaded by Russia and they installed cannons on the Mount to repel invaders. The disappearing gun is a huge breech loading cannon that could fire a shell up to 5 miles, enough to deter any invaders perhaps - it was only fired once and then the locals all complained because the bang broke their windows.

We will probably be walking to the Auckland Museum in a bit for some culture, and hopefully to work off the large meal we just ate in the food court next to the harbour - GB should have food courts like they do out here, they're great.

Picking up the camper van tomorrow morning to start our travels around North Island, first stop Waitomo. Looking forward to having long queues of traffic behind me!

Hong Kong Day 2

We successfully ascended the Hong Kong Peak yesterday; via the tram that is, walking it looked a bit on the energetic side. It's been pretty cloudy here since we arrived so we were lucky the sun came out whilst we were up there, giving some good views of the Island and city.

There were several big birds of prey swooping around the Peak and Sky Scapers, not sure what they were; maybe Kites of some sort, or perhaps just pigeons! They seem very into their birds in Hong Kong with all the parks we've visited have an aviary of some description. The park near the peak had a great walk through aviary. Also visited the Zoological and Botanical Gardens; lots of monkeys and two Orangutans which were unexpected. They are running a breeding programme there.

In the evening we went down to the harbour and watched the Symphony of Lights which was quite impressive. Lots of lasers and lights positioned on the sky scrapers and buildings around the waterfront on Hong Kong island, which all go off in time to music. It was a bit of a brand advertising exercise really however 
worth watching; the Bank of America building was quite small in 
comparison to many others! (relevant for work).

Off to New Zealand via Sydney next. 

Hong Kong Day 1

We arrived successfully yesterday morning and are installed in our hotel on Nathan Road, Kowloon; a Novotel which is very nice. Had a walk around and saw the harbour and numerous shops. Must have been offered tailored suits, shirts etc about 25 times during the course of the day.

Have seen some interesting asian culinary delights so far; people eating chicken's feet in the park which looked particularly unappetising, and assorted testicles which I think we'll give a miss.

Today we're going to have a further explore and visit some of the older streets, as well as the odd temple, before perhaps going up the peak on Hong Kong Island. It's a bit cloudy and misty so limited visibility. This evening we'll go and watch the lights show down at the waterfront, near the clock tower, which we're looking forward to.

T minus one day and counting

One day until we set off on our travels now. All looking good - bags packed nearly. Passports not lost which is always a good thing. Just tried using Twitter via my mobile which seems to work well so should be easy enough to send updates to my blog whilst away - subject to network coverage and not being lost somewhere!

Question is, what have I forgotten? Bound to be something.

Pretty uneventful day in Norwich today. Busy at work trying to get everything ready and handed-over for whilst I'm away. Got some good back-up colleague wise so should be fine.

RBS shares seemed to bounce back today which is good, wondering whether to sell or hold. Should be able to place a deal from somewhere whilst I'm on hols but might set a target sell price. Could lead to more money to buy souvenirs made from various bits of Kangaroo anatomy!

Travel schedule reviewed

Reviewed the travel schedule tonight. We fly out to Hong Kong on Saturday and spend 2 or 3 days there; looking forward to ascending 'The Peak' and having a general wander, and seeing the lights show they put on around the harbour in the evening. Can't help thinking Hong Kong is going to be a bit like Blade Runner in it's look and feel.

Post Hong Kong we're off to New Zealand where we pick up our camper van to have a chug round North Island. Lots to see and explore there. Then off to Australia stopping in Sydney for a few days, before going onto Uluru and some bush treking and tucker, then Cairns for a few relaxing days. After that it's back to GB via Singapore. Lots to fit in over just 3 weeks so should be lots of photo's.

Well, first post on this blog. I’ve started this as an aide memoir, a place to organise ones thoughts, and to record anything exciting I might be getting up to for posterity.

For example my wife and I are about to travel to Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Australia on a 3 week holiday; we’ll it’s really our honey moon after getting married in August last year. If I can make it to the odd internet café I’ll be able to update this blog. If not it will be down to twitter updates via my mobile…if I have time between the various sight-seeing and exploring activities we have planned.