Author archive
27 May 2020
Kim seems to have a revolving door stream of visitors. As we leave today, David is flying down to join him here. After picking up Dave at the airport after 0900, we called by A J Hackett’s bungy jump site at Kawarau Bridge. They had said on the phone yesterday that they were fully booked […]
26 May 2020
Today we took a drive to Wanaka. I’ve been several times before but this time Kim wanted to take us to the National Transport & Toy Museum. We had a recommendation to grab lunch at Big Fig cafe. It certainly didn’t disappoint. They had a good selection of salads available. Three salad choices with a […]
25 May 2020
This morning, Greg left us, flying back to Auckland. For ourselves continuing in Queenstown, we have an easy day catching up with friends over lunch and dinner. We walked into town again late morning for lunch with Caroline, an old friend of Kim and Jo’s. She along with her husband Ross have owned various restaurants […]
24 May 2020
Jetboating We had it in our head that we should do some activities in Queenstown this trip. Over recent years, prices gone crazily high due to the tourist boom. Kim saw a special for jetboating and gave them a call. K-jet’s one hour jetboat ride was normally priced at $135 per person. They were running […]
23 May 2020
Today, Jo and I flew down on the 1230 flight to Queenstown for a minibreak. It’s our first travel experience in the post-Covid world. As we’re still under some restrictions in New Zealand, physical distancing is still required in public places. As a result, there were a few quirks in our travel experience: Entry into […]
30 March 2020
For an introvert, lockdown wasn’t too difficult. All businesses except for essential services were closed. Practically it was only supermarkets that were open. No cafe, takeaways. OK, it was a hassle to not have a fallback to eat out. I’m pretty good with cooking. I did miss my gym, yoga and swimming. I enjoyed the […]
28 March 2020
Many people like to vilify large corporations but I think small businesses can be equally bad. Just before our lockdown, I went to our local neighbourhood greengrocer. Broccoli was $6 and cauliflower was $14 per head, while prices were normal at the nearby supermarket. I will remember this when choosing where to shop in the future. […]
24 March 2020
I was meant to fly out tonight. But nope. It would been pure dumb. But it would also have been impossible with various legs of my itinerary cancelled. It was a bit of a process to get everything cancelled and refunded. Timing was critical as I wanted, as much as possible, the provider to initiate […]
20 March 2020
I have friends and family who are wondering what to do with their travel plans, especially flights, in the coming months. They have been asking my view on what to do. No one knows how long this pandemic will disrupt travel for. First of all, if your travel is not imminent, don’t do anything hasty! […]
19 March 2020
In the meantime, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand had all closed its borders to foreigners. Covid-19 cases climbed rapidly in many countries. Travel was no longer wise. Travel restrictions and low demand meant that many flights had been cancelled. The risk of getting stranded was very high, in addition to the risk of getting an […]