Author: rr_admin

First of all – Happy Easter!

On our penultimate day in HK, we take the Ngong Ping 360 cable car to the big Buddha on Lantau Island.

We pass the airport from where we’ll be leaving for Japan. Built to replace Kai Tak, it’s built on reclaimed land and is quite the engineering feat.

A Chilean woman takes our photo.

After being blown around by strong winds pushing the cable car, we arrive.

A good place to have an escalator.

We arrive in Osaka at the tail end of cherry-blossom season.

‘So we grew together,
Like to a double cherry, seeming parted,
But yet a union in partition,
Two lovely berries molded on one stem.’ – A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Note the Sararīmen – the guys in suits – sitting on the benches, trying to stave off Karōshi.

The castle is surrounded by several moats, with curved walls built of enormous stones.

Osaka Castle has a long and turbulent history.

City view from the top of the castle.

Matcha-flavoured ice cream. Matcha is powdered green tea.

In a temple on the castle grounds, people tie small notes with their wishes on them to a fence.

We visit the Udema Sky Building.

A good place to watch the sun go down.

Riding the escalators in the top is fun.

Around our hotel are several small temples and cemeteries.

We’re fortunate to come across a rare exhibition of works by Vermeer and other Dutch masters at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts.

There’s a lot of commerce going on in Japan. Like most of Asia.

Sight or Insight of the Day

We admire this stackable garage in town.

We can imagine this becoming a thing in North America. Of course, it would have to be scaled up in size to accommodate two or three F-150 pickup trucks.

The sidewalks of Hong Kong are usually crowded with people.

Very different from the vast empty spaces of, say, Australia.

We wander around the Central district.

Today, a street stall provides lunch.

Sometimes we eat in fancier places. This is a dim sum restaurant recommend to us by our niece Julia.

We take the Peak Tram to Victoria Peak. As this is a ‘must-do’ for every visitor in town, there are enormous lines for entry.

The view is worth the long wait.

A sundowner on the Avenue of Stars. It’s Happy Hour.

This evening we happen to be at the waterfront just as the Symphony of Lights is beginning.

Maria signs up for a few yoga sessions in the nearby Peninsula Office Tower, linked to the famous Peninsula Hotel. The participants get a great view across the harbour.

These junk-like boats are a common sight.

Usually for tourist excursions. We use the iconic Star ferries to cross the harbour a few times as a change from taking the metro.

Early one morning, we go to Macau for a day trip on a fast catamaran. It takes about an hour.

There aren’t many Portuguese-speakers left, but the town still counts as part of the Mundo Lusófono.

Popular with Hong Kongers as a gambling Mecca. (There are no casinos in HK.)

The ruins of St. Paul’s church. Started in 1602 by the Jesuits.

Close up, the facade has an interesting blend of Western and Chinese elements.

A quiet alley is good for a rest.

We have lunch at the Restaurante Escada.

In the Macau Museum, we find this fascinating exhibit about cricket fighting. Below is a cricket fighting ‘arena’, some cricket cages and porcelain food bowls, and four ‘cricket ticklers’ with rat-whisker bristles.

Sight or Insight of the Day – Hong Kong and Macau

Hong Kong has some hellishly steep places.

Luckily, for lazy people there is the Central-Mid-levels escalator.

You have to walk down, though.

We can think of a few cities that could use something like this.

We arrive in Hong Kong after an 11-hour overnight flight from Auckland.

There are more people in Hong Kong (7.4 million) than in New Zealand (4.8 million).

I’ve wanted to come here ever since reading the absorbing James Clavell novels Tai Pan and Noble House decades ago. Maria read them too, much more recently.

We stay in a guesthouse in Chungking Mansions. We had no idea it was kind of famous/notorious. It’s certainly interesting – like a termite mound of humanity. Or a labyrinth. Or a rabbit warren. It reminds me of an ancient Roman insula.

There are light wells that open onto steampunk-esque vistas.

In fact, a lot of Hong Kong has a Blade Runner look and feel to it. The flashy skyscrapers and shopping malls are interspersed with densely-populated blocks of flats.

We purchase some local duds from a friendly woman at a Kowloon street stall.

We walk down busy Nathan Road in the evening, heading for the Temple Street night market.

We visit the Hong Kong Museum of History. Among the exhibits is a full-scale replica of a Cantonese Opera playhouse.

Including a view of the backstage. Much like we imagine an Elizabethan theatre.

Sight or Insight of the Day – Hong Kong

A notable detail about being back in Asia: the habit that many people have of wearing surgical masks.

Apparently this began as a (not very effective) preventative measure during the various outbreaks of airborne disease in Asia few years ago.

But now, many people seem to wear them as a fashion statement. As if it’s normal.

We find this so bizarre. It’s like being trapped in an episode of Black Mirror. It also makes people difficult to understand: in addition to being soft-spoken in general, a strong accent and a covered mouth make service-persons even harder to understand when they ‘re wearing a mask.

That is, ‘Farewell’, in good round English.

Time for a brief roundup of our journey back to Auckland. We spend a night in Mangawhai Heads.

We discover on this trip that a bowl of water set on the ground is a sure-fire duck attractant. They like to drink, or wash their beaks, or both.

One duck in particular spends all day with us. She sleeps at our feet, centimetres away. She has a pronounced limp when she waddles. We name her Jemma.

There’s no shortage of ducks in many NZ campgrounds.

We stop at Owera for a couple of days. Only 40 kilometres north of Auckland, it’s a relaxed beach town. Very popular for kitesurfing. Not surprising, given the gale-force winds that blow here.

A lot of activities in NZ involve jumping off of bridges, leaping out of airplanes, rafting down foaming rivers – you get the picture. Thankfully, we have transcended this age of adrenaline addiction.

In Auckland, we spend an afternoon at the zoo. We see some NZ animals, like keas.

I finally get to see a tuatara. Like most ground-dwelling creatures here, they are almost extinct.

We see kiwis in the kiwi house. (Q. where do New Zealanders go for information online? A. Kiwipedia)

We enjoy the Australian section for the wave of nostalgia we feel for that country’s awesome critters. For instance, they have a great Tasmanian devil enclosure.

We hope he strikes a more fearsome pose for the camera. He doesn’t disappoint.

Which reminds me, we book an appointment with a dentist while in Auckland.

Continuing the Aussie animal theme, we come across a pair of brolga cranes. Brolgas are well known for their graceful courtship dancing. In this case, one of the pair is totally uninterested.

I commune with a brace of emus.

We like the red panda. Looks like the love-child of a fox and a racoon.

Sight or Insight of the Day – Haere rā

We come full circle. When we first arrived in Auckland, I took advantage of the irresistible photo opp offered by this Vincent Street window. A few months and 7,500 kilometres later, it’s Maria’s turn.

So long, New Zealand. Thanks for being here for the world.

Back in windy Wellington.

We spend the large part of a day at the Te Papa museum. It’s huge.

With Easter coming up, Whittaker’s, an NZ chocolatier, makes chocolate kiwis.

The road to New Plymouth. The most prominent feature in this part of the country is Mount Taranaki, a dormant volcano.

Near Hamilton, we visit Raglan Beach. Popular with surfers.

The black sand is common on this side of the North Island.

Our next stop is Karekare Beach.

This is where the stunning beach scenes from Jane Campion’s classic ‘The Piano‘ were filmed.

Less than an hour’s drive from Auckland, it feels like the end of the earth.

It must’ve been a challenge filming here. The only access is by steep, narrow, twisting roads – not the best for transporting cast, crew, and equipment.

Next to Russel (via Whangarei) and the beautiful Bay of Islands. We make an excursion to Otehei Bay, on Urupukapuka Island.

We enjoy an outdoor lunch.

The island has lots of rewarding easy walks.

There is supposed to be the remains of a Maori pa on this headland. We can’t find any trace.

We drive north to Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of New Zealand. (At least, the northernmost point that is convenient to get to.)

Because there is no alternative, we stay at the Department of Conservation campsite at Tapotupotu. No electricity or amenities besides basic toilets, but very pretty in its isolation.

Our time in Australasia draws to a close. I’m going to miss the long-distance drives. I enjoy the ever-changing scenery. And turning things over in my mind. Ruminatin’ and illuminatin’ on the state of the world. Who knows, maybe I think too much.

We can’t go any further north – we return south. We stop at the giant Te Puki sand dunes that reach up to 100 metres.

After a few relaxing nights at Whatuwhiwhi on the Karikari peninsula, we drive to the Waipoua Forest and its gigantic kauri trees.

They really are majestic.

Our caravan park has a ‘kiwi rescue’ vehicle. We’re not sure how the onboard equipment is useful for rescuing kiwis.

We imagine a time when much of the North Island looked like this.

This inspires us to visit the Kauri Museum in Matakohe.

Sight or Insight of the Day – North Island Rambles

Kauri trees suffer from a disease called kauri dieback. The NZ government is doing all it can to protect surviving trees.

This includes obligatory decontamination of all footwear before entering kauri forests.

Everyone has to follow the rules.

The people and the government of New Zealand have put a lot of thought, money, and resources into this effort.

Somewhere in an earlier entry, we mention how the authorities and governments in Southeast Asia – the very people who should be protecting the natural patrimony of their countries – are in fact at the forefront of hacking down any remaining trees of value and replacing them with palm oil plantations for themselves and their cronies.

I’m not much of a tree-hugger, but I wonder with Bruce Cockburn – ‘if a tree falls in the forest, does anybody hear the forest fall?’

From further south, we drive up to Oamaru, a pretty little town. (Few towns in NZ are not.)

It’s the home of an upcoming Steampunk Festival.

Frankly, ‘steampunk‘ is a phenomenon that I just don’t get. But Oamaru has other attractions.

There are penguins.

And seals.

And water birds.

We head for Mt. Cook. We stop to stretch our legs at a rest stop that contains some Maori rock art.

We are back in the mountainous interior.

We eventually come to Lake Pukaki. Difficult to tell in this photo, but it’s an unearthly blue.

The lake is fed by the glacial melt of the Tasman River.

Approaching Mt. Cook, NZ’s highest peak.

These signs are regular sights around the country.

We stop at a salmon farm and leave with lots of smoked goodies for the road.

We think Kiwi deserves a gift. Somewhere along the way, we find an inexpensive paua-shell necklace.

Kiwi is almost exactly like Matilda in Australia in layout and reliability. It feels like being home.

‘Life rocks, when your living room rolls!’

.We spend a few days at beautiful Lake Tekapo.

The morning of our departure, a mist hangs over the lake.

Zagging back out to the east coast, we drive across a scenic road on the ridge of the Banks Peninsula. Poor Kiwi’s brakes heat up like an oven on these steep, twisty roads.

On this particular day, the landscape is as stark and brooding and enigmatic as a Nick Cave composition.

Next day is sunnier.

The town of Akaroa itself was founded by a handful of French families in the 1830s.

We stay in a campground above town with a panoramic view.

We then zig once more across the island over to Nelson, via Hanmer Springs and the Lewis Pass. And zag back to Blenheim in the Marlborough region to stock up on wine and visit the local Marlborough Museum. Of course it has an interesting permanent exhibit about the local wine industry. We enjoy a section about the cork-versus-screw-cap controversy. The results in New Zealand:

Then it’s a quick drive to Picton for the ferry back to the North Island.

Sight or Insight of the Day

Passing through the town of Little River, we see this unique accommodation constructed entirely of silos.

Having spent over ten years building silos in Europe at one time, I have to stop and investigate. I must admit, I often thought a modified silo would make an interesting dwelling.

Apparently I’m not the only one.

Note: people have been asking if we are in Christchurch at the time of these tragic events. No, we’re not – in real time, we are in New Plymouth, on the North Island. There is usually a considerable lag between blog entries. But thanks for asking.

We have good luck with the weather for a change.

We arrive in the fiordland region and make Manapouri our base. Just south of Te Anau, but without the crowds.

We luck out once more when we drive the Milford Road. This is 120 KMs or so of white-knuckle driving and eye-popping scenery.

We have no cruise scheduled and are pleasantly surprised to buy tickets for one departing in ten minutes.

On top of this, the weather is spectacularly sunny and rain-free. It rains a lot in this part of the world, as you might gather from the following bit of doggerel:

‘It rained and it rained and rained and rained
The average fall was well maintained
And when the tracks were simply bogs
It started raining cats and dogs.
After a drought of half an hour
We had a most refreshing shower
And then the most curious thing of all
A gentle rain began to fall.
Next day was also fairly dry
Save for a deluge from the sky
Which wetted the party to the skin
And after that the rain set in.‘ – The Rain (found in Architect’s Creek Hut, Westland Nat’l Park, New Zealand)

There’s no doubt fiords are beautiful to be around. Slartibartfast, the planet designer from ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy‘, won an award for the ones he made in Norway.

Next day, we take a cruise to Doubtful Sound.

This involves taking one boat across Lake Manapouri and a bus across the Wilmot Pass.

We get a rare shot of both of us, thanks to some friendly fellow-travelers from the North Island.

At the mouth of the sound, we see seals and albatrosses.

Back on land, we follow the southern scenic route, through Tuatepere, Invercargill, and the Catlins.

In Tuatepere, we have the unusual experience of staying in a campground/motel/backpackers hostel in which we are the only guests. We find some paua shells (known elsewhere as abalone) to decorate our table.

At the Florence Hill lookout, we stop to admire Tautuku Bay from above.

We are surprised to see a large flock of sheep marching up the beach. (You may have to enlarge the photo below to see them trooping out of the bottom right.)

We spend a few days in Dunedin. It’s very hilly.

The Scottish influence is everywhere. We visit the excellent Otago Settler’s Museum.

While in Dunedin, we are forced out of our accommodation by an Eagles concert. (Many fans made advance reservations.) This motivates us to visit the beautiful Otago Peninsula that starts at the edge of town.

Sight or Insight of the Day

On our Doubtful Sound cruise, we come upon a couple of albatrosses putting on an aerial show in front of the ship.

And a good south wind sprung up behind;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food or play,
Came to the mariner’s ‘hollo!’  – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Beautiful and graceful in flight, these are more than simply glorified seagulls.

We learn a lot more when we visit the Royal Albatross Centre at the tip of the Otago Peninsula. (So-called because there is a species called the ‘royal albatross’, not because of any kingly patronage.)

The young ones are really cute.

Several of the recent ‘Sight or Insight of the Day’ sections are about birds. Total coincidence.

So much for the Franz Josef Glacier. We were going to indulge in a ‘heli-hike‘, where you are whisked atop the glacier in a helicopter for a three-hour hike, visiting ice caves, etc.

Apparently it looks like this:

But we are socked in by rain and low-visibility weather for two days, grounding the helicopters.

On the plus side, the morning we leave I spot three keas flying overhead with their characteristic raucous squawk. Fewer than 5,000 keas exist – to see three together is surely a good omen.

So we drive south. Past the town of Haast, we navigate treacherous winding roads through a severe rainstorm. Signs warning of rockslides are everywhere. We are reminded of the vacationing Canadian couple who were killed in a rough-weather situation in NZ in 2013.

We wonder where in the country this incident took place. Looking it up at our next destination, we discover – it was driving in the Haast Pass, the same route we had just taken!

Eventually, the rain clears up.

We travel along two large, long lakes; Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea.

Just outside Lake Hawea Village is a small, low-profile campground.

It’s so beautiful and tranquil, we spend the next two days here.

Among the things we love on the lake is the way the view of the mountains changes with the time of day.

We decide to skip Queenstown altogether. After our idyllic few days in Lake Hawea, we can’t face the thronging masses in QT.

We do, however, stop for lunch in nearby Arrowtown. Originally a gold mining town.

Sight or Insight of the Day – Tempests and Takahēs

In the town of Te Anau, we visit a bird sanctuary. Among its denizens are several takahēs. Once thought extinct, they are rediscovered in 1948. There are now around 300.

Another local bird brought back from the brink of extinction are kakapos.

Large, flightless, and nocturnal, there are only about 150 of these guys left. They make a strange booming noise in mating season.

Spare a tear of sympathy for the ground-dwelling birds of New Zealand. They had a predator-free, heavily-forested home until the arrival of humans and their dogs, rats, and mice (and later, cats, ferrets, stoats, and foxes.) ‘Puir wee things‘, as the Scots would say.

Christchurch suffers a major earthquake in 2011. Empty lots and signs of destruction are still everywhere.

We visit Quake City, an informative exhibit about the quake and its aftermath. A worthy initiative – appropriately named ‘Gap Filler‘ – is to deliberately not leave vacant lots empty.

We enjoy this garden made of pool noodles.

In the Christchurch Art Gallery, we find this whimsical installation by Bill Culbert.

On our way out of town, we stop at the International Antarctic Centre.

You can pet the dogs at the IAC. We arrive just as their wrangler brings buckets of ice. Which the dogs immediately love to lie on to refresh themselves.

Across the street is the US Antarctic base supplier. Christchurch is a major point for shipping stuff down there.

You can see several ski-equipped C-130 Hercules aircraft used to do the heavy lifting.

We drive to the other side of the island over Arthur’s Pass.

Along the way are attention-demanding roads and spectacular scenery, including waterfalls. These falls are sluiced over the roadway.

We spend the night enjoying the mountains around Jackson’s Retreat, just past Arthur’s Pass.

The next day, we carry on to the Franz Josef Glacier.

Sight or Insight of the Day –

At Jackson’s Retreat, we are visited by troops of boldly curious wekas casually strolling around the campground.

We are told that one reason wekas are doing better than kiwis and other ground-dwelling NZ birds is because they are much more aggressive than these other birds in defense of their eggs, their young, and themselves. Good for you, wekas!

My goodness, it’s a couple of weeks since our last entry. We blame it on the less-than-stellar WiFi in New Zealand. We’re already rounding the southern tip. Here’s a brief entry as we begin to catch up.

We make it safely across the Cook Strait and head for Marlborough. Marlborough, is of course, wine country. We replenish our supplies.

Among the wineries we visit is Spy Valley. The winery gets its name from the Waihopai Station satellite tracking base down the road. Like its much larger cousin in Alice Springs, Pine Gap, it is the object of many protests. Sad that so many people don’t realize that we are the good guys. (To be fair, the protestors’ statement that the existence of the base means NZ is ‘working for Trump’ would give anyone the heebie jeebies.)

We rent bikes and cycle the Golden Mile.

It’s hot. We love it. Finally, we head down the coast to the Kaikoura Peninsula.

Kaikoura is the site of the first human settlement in NZ (as far as is known) about seven hundred years ago.

Very rugged, with lots of seals. You can get surprisingly close. According to the NZ Department of Conservation:

‘Before the arrival of humans, a population of about 2 million fur seals inhabited New Zealand. They were taken as food by Māori, and the onset of European sealing for meat and pelts in the 1700s and 1800s pushed them to the brink of extinction.’

Interesting wrinkly limestone rock formations all along this coast.

After a drive through more beautiful countryside, we arrive in Christchurch.

We visit the Canterbury Museum. Te Waipounamu – the Maori name for the South Island – means ‘place of greenstone’. There is an exhibit of greenstone carvings, including this hei-tiki.

I get a little one to hang around my neck.

We’ll be catching up to our present whereabouts soon. Stay tuned!

Sight or Insight of the Day – Te Waipounamu

We visit Ernest Rutherford‘s old workplace at the University of Canterbury.

A bored Ernest probably carved his initials in this lecture hall.

Physics joke: A photon checks into a hotel and is asked if he needs any help with his luggage. He says, “No, I’m traveling light.”