Articles from this Category
24 February 2020
The “main event” of my visit to Takaka is Farewell Spit, a long piece of land at the top of South Island. It was a little hard to coordinate the dates of the daytrip because it has to fit in with the outgoing tide and daylight hours. Eg. on a certain day, it may start […]
23 February 2020
Pupu Springs My plan for the day had been to revisit some of the sights around here, and discover some new ones. Talking to my hosts, some proved too much to fit into the day. It was just the driving as some would involve a long walk from the carpark. I invited Simon, an Australian-born […]
22 February 2020
Flying off again Today I make a 3 night trip to Golden Bay at the top of New Zealand’s South Island. By flight from Auckland, Nelson is the gateway to the area for me. My flight departs at 0945 and with light weekend traffic on the roads, I left home at 0725 and made it […]
8 February 2020
Inland Temples Today I had booked through Traveloka a 12h rental car-and-driver for IDR130K (USD9.50) plus petrol and driver’s lunch allowance of IDR50K. I had the itinerary all decided and it was all within their “In Town” zone. With a pickup at 0930, I lay in bed and decided to check the zonal map once […]
7 February 2020
Leaving Singapore I tried to spend some time with my aunt in the morning as it was a very short visit on my part. At her age and with her special condition, she keeps to a certain routine. It appeared she wasn’t too fussed with my presence so I didn’t push it. Heading to the […]
5 February 2020
I had a leisurely morning at the museum. Pekanbaru’s museum is named after Sang Nila Utama, the prince from the broader region that founded Singapore, changing its name from Temasek to Singapura (which the English later changed to Singapore). It was a simple museum where I learnt new things about the familiar, things that I […]
4 February 2020
Leaving hometown Today I make my way from hometown Kuching to Pekanbaru via Kuala Lumpur, so that I’d end up in Singapore and then Bali in a few days time to get back to New Zealand. The Pekanbaru stop was brought about by some frequent flyer points which were expiring. So why, not?! My departure […]
20 January 2020
Long awaited arrival We descended into Bali airport and landed at 0050 with the cabin lights dimmed rather than off. It was still plenty bright, just like during take-off some six hours ago. I wonder if there is a maximum permissible brightness. Other airlines I fly with simply turn the lights off completely. There was […]
7 January 2020
Above: Lake Pukaki on the drive back to Christchurch. The wind last night was worse than the night before. I had a long night sleep to make up for the interrupted sleep due to the wind and noise. After breakfast, we packed up and said goodbye and thanks to everyone. We hit the road around […]
6 January 2020
Despite the windy conditions, I slept quite well through the night. I did wake a few times wondering if the tent would blow over or if branches from the tree above would fall on us. Kim and I knocked on Brent’s caravan around 0815 for breakfast and a cuppa. It was around 1000 when Brent […]