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Borneo – in search of the orangutan
We have just had the most amazing trip which exceeded expectations. We flew out to Pangkalan Bun in Borneo (known as Kalimantan in Indonesia) to meet up with our klotok (traditional wooden boat) our home for a couple of nights. Apart from the wonderful experience of sleeping on the deck of our boat surrounded by the sounds of the jungle and eating fresh local food, our main reason was to view orang-utans in their natural environment, what an incredible experience this was. I will let the photos talk…….. Although our time in Kalamantan was mainly about orangutans, there was so much more to the trip. The boat was fun and…
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Indonesia – Jakarta, Java
We have just spent a few days in Jakarta, Java, the capital of Indonesia. A sprawling city with a handful of interesting places to visit, however the traffic is unbelievable and with a useful metro system still under construction, travelling between areas is extremely time consuming by taxi, tuk tuk is marginally quicker. Anyway Kota Tua (old town) is dominated by Dutch colonial buildings. Its square is full of life, colourful bicycles to rent, live music and happy people is the theme and as usual we (rather me) are stopped by locals for selfies on numerous occasions as usually happens in Asia (I guess its the blonde hair! 😆) other…
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Indonesia – Postcard from Java
After 1 night in Jakarta, a fabulous 3 hour panoramic train journey took us to the city of Bandung, West Java and after good night sleep we got over our feelings of jet lag. Today, our first day exploring the region’s amazing places, the highlight, White Crater, a volcanic crater lake. Other sites …. tea plantations, rice fields, volcanic hot pools and a walk across what is claimed to be the longest suspension bridge in South East Asia. Our time in Bandung is done, heading back to Jakarta now. Bandung is not a particularly interesting city, with really just one cool street and a handful of art deco buildings however…
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Some News From The Hungry Travellers… No Travelogue But A Book Instead…
We are delighted to say that our travels are poised to recommence this week, after what has been for us a lengthy stay in the UK – a whopping 74 days in fact. During this time we have been absent from the blog world for reasons we’ll explain below, but Michaela is still posting updates on Instagram, you can find these at @michaelasharman. Later this week we will be leaving the UK for three months touring the islands of Indonesia, essentially west to east, taking in what should be some hugely exciting locations. We won’t though be posting on this blog site in the style we have previously, but instead will…
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Full On In Hong Kong
How can we describe Hong Kong to those who have never been, or to those who are intrigued as to how it’s changed since passing from Britain to China almost thirty years ago? It’s difficult to know where to start. A city where the presence of the ultra modern is totally unmissable yet where traditional ways of life still exist, just out of sight. A city with the best and most comprehensive – and varied – public transport system we’ve ever encountered. A city with such an extensive network of footbridges, walkways, promenades and subways that it’s possible to walk a considerable distance without crossing a single street. And, a…
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The Final NZ Chapter: Mt Cook, Lake Tekapo & Akaroa
Another long drive, yet another great cafe stop. Honestly, the ability of New Zealand to keep coming up with unexpectedly good food in terrific little cafes is ridiculous and after all these weeks we still haven’t found a bad one. Today, eggs benedict and a long black in Kurow, delicious as ever, served with a smile and, wait for it, a 15% surcharge because it’s Easter Monday. We’re en route to Lake Tekapo but detouring to Aoraki Mount Cook, the highest of all of New Zealand’s mountains at 3,724 metres above sea level and another of this country’s iconic sights. Unfortunately the cloud cover is stubbornly thick and the famed…
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NZ Road Trip: Wedding Weekend In Warrington
My nephew Jack, my sister’s boy, came out to New Zealand with his girlfriend on a short term work visa, liked what he saw, applied for residency, and soon started his own business. That was fourteen years ago or thereabouts, and it’s abundantly clear that returning home will never be on his/their agenda. So here we are, after another long drive along these spectacular routes, back on the east coast of South Island in the hamlet of Warrington some twenty minutes north of Dunedin. The rather lovely ceremony is, in keeping with both the character of the happy couple and with kiwi culture, unconventional and innovative, taking place in the…
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NZ Road Trip: Queenstown To Milford Sound
Heading out of Queenstown towards our next destination we detour first to the small but absorbing Arrowtown, another gold rush town but one with an additional draw. Like Reefton before on this NZ odyssey Arrowtown has all of the classic looks of a gold rush town, so reminiscent of those in California and, we are sure, other locations worldwide, its main street looking like something from the Wild West. But there’s an additional twist here in the shape of the reconstructed and renovated Chinese village where the homes of emigrants from that country came in search of fortune. How odd it must have been to hear rumours – rumours is…
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Queenstown: Both Popular And Beautiful
We leave Franz Josef in the heavy weather which caused us to miss out on the glacier flight, on one of those mornings where any excursion out of the car is a dash to the next piece of shelter in a race against the downpour in order to stay as dry as possible. The early part of our route takes us through the “other” adventure village, Fox Glacier, but this morning’s cloud cover is so thick that we don’t even catch a glimpse of the glacier itself, just an immense white curtain excluding it from view. If there is any benefit on a morning such as this then it is…
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A Day On The Road: From Kaikoura To Glacier Country
With seven hours’ driving time ahead of us to make it to our next destination, we decide that our best option is to make a full day of it and allow for a few stops in small towns along the way, rather like we have done previously on our US road trips. So with the darkness of night still awaiting the sunrise and Kaikoura still asleep we drop the motel key into the night box, pull out of the car park and turn to the right, out on to the highway, the ocean away to our left rolling in heard but not seen. It’s still dark half an hour later…
