Articles from this Category
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 […]
5 January 2020
Kim arrived from Auckland at 0925 today. Despite the bad weather (again), everything went like clockwork. I picked him up from the airport, went to the supermarket to get some groceries for our camping hosts before going to the car rental agency. We had to add Kim as an additional driver simply by showing his […]
4 January 2020
Quite surprisingly, I woke to good weather today. Purau Bay looked even better in the improved weather conditions. I thought I’d make the most of the good day by exploring Christchurch city, a place I was once very familiar with. But the earthquakes of recent years have changed the cityscape considerably and I had never […]
3 January 2020
I arrived around 1130 and was picked up by a friend for a yumcha lunch together with several university mates. The afternoon went quickly with endless chats in the restaurant and at a friend’s house. I had organised my rental car for 1700 so that it would coincide with our intended return time on the […]
9 November 2019
Despite the sleeping pill, I didn’t sleep that deeply this time. During one of the interruptions, I took another half and had about 4h in total. I managed to catch the crew as they were wrapping up their sale of breakfast. I was surprised that I’d be hungry at 0400 Malaysian time, which was 2h […]
2 November 2019
Today I pick up friend Michelle from New Zealand who will visit and stay till my departure. She arrived yesterday morning and will leave five minutes before me next week. I had asked her to stay in town for the first night and given her some sightseeing tips to start off her stay before I […]
31 October 2019
Cruising the Bosphorus Today I have to kill the entire day before my flight to Kuala Lumpur at 0135 tomorrow morning. I stayed indoors after breakfast to attend to admin before checking out at 1130. My rough plan was to hop on one of the ferries. At one station, they were going to Hydarpasar which […]
30 October 2019
Dolmabahce Palace After breakfast, I took the tram to Dolmabahce Palace. This palace had been on my radar since my first visit 27 years ago. But having seen a few opulent palaces through the years, in fell down my priority list. But now, I have done and repeated many things in Istanbul, so it’s popped […]
29 October 2019
Leaving Sharm I got to Sharm el Sheikh airport just after midnight. With my departure at 0340 I expected check-in to open at 0040. A queue had built up and airport security started checking documents to enter the check-in area. I then realised it was for the Pegasus flight to Istanbul. I had a short […]