Wildlife
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Gili Air – laid back vibe, vibrant skies and turtles
The 3 hour fast ferry from Nusa Lembongan to Gili Air was spent sunbathing on deck, watching dolphins and getting a glimpse of Gili Trawangan. Gili Air is beautiful, its sunsets are fabulous with the volcano Mount Agung on Bali silhouetted and reflected in the shallow sea and coral reef. Gili Air is fabulous for snorkelling amongst turtles, you don’t have to go out on a boat, just rent fins and snorkel set and swim off the beach. Amazing experience, saw green turtles and hawksbill turtles amongst a million colourful fish We have loved our stay on the island of Gili Air. There are no cars or regular mopeds on…
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Bali – Ubud, rice terraces, temples and monkeys
So now we are in Bali, short ferry ride from Ketapang, Java to Gilimanuk Bali. Then a 5 hour taxi to Ubud, the cultural and spiritual centre of Bali. Our home for a few days is tranquil and overlooks rice fields yet just a short walk to an array of bars and restaurants. This is Bali, a place of beauty coupled with mass tourism, will we like it? Only time will tell. We have now seen two sides of Ubud, Bali. The first was a quick stop at the famed Tegallalang rice terraces. (Couldn’t bring myself to take photos here) Once a place of beauty, now more of a theme…
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Indonesia – Sumatra – Bukit Lawang
Following our jungle adventure in Borneo we flew to Sumatra having a luxury 2 night stay in Medan, the capital city. From there our base has been the jungle village of Bukit Lawang. Great little rustic village in a great setting on the banks of a river. We have spent 2 days exploring the village and its surrounds, walking amongst rice fields, clambering through bat caves and learning how they make brown sugar, tempeh and tofu. We have had our fair share of rain and storms too but then we are in a rain forest! Tomorrow we embark on another adventure, a 3 day jungle trek and wildlife spotting in…
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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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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: South To Kaikoura
We are seriously beginning to think that there isn’t a single drive in this country which is anything less than spectacular. From Motueka on the edge of Abel Tasman we retrace our steps though Nelson city and Marlborough wine country then, turning south past Blenheim we are suddenly confronted by terrain completely different from all previous scenery: large barren hills devoid of greenery, the first treeless tracts of land so far. Bone dry straw coloured landscape. Slowly the green returns, as do the lines of vines, until we rise over the top of the next hill and there stretched out before us is the incredible turquoise ocean which will accompany…
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On To South Island: Abel Tasman
Out of the airbnb by 6am, a short drive to Wellington port, through the gates and into the line of cars, trucks and camper vans all ready to leave the shores of North Island and head south. Two hours later we’re all still here, waiting for the ship’s “technical issue” to be resolved before we can drive up the ramp and on to the Bluebridge Ferry, then, just as we are starting to fear hearing the word “cancelled”, the bollards are withdrawn and we’re on our way. The crossing is flat calm with not a wave in sight, but what really intrigues us is that for the latter two hours…
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Waitomo, Taupo & Raw Power
Sometimes you have to do something illogical to make the most of things when travelling, and so it is as we leave Rotorua to head to our next destination, Taupo, via a somewhat staggered route. The most direct route would be less than 100km but a detour west is the only way we can take in something which we want to see, so we dogleg our way across to Waitomo and then back across to our next base. What attracts us to Waitomo is the cave network in the hillside which is home to a particular species of glow worm, the arachnocampa luminosa, and seeing them turns out to be…
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Poovar & The Ayurveda Hospital
At last, right in the final knockings of this 8-week Indian odyssey, the stars finally align sufficiently for us to make a journey by train. It’s fifty odd minutes late pulling into Varkala, then trundles its way slowly through tropical scenery and past the bustling city with the commendably long name of Thiruvananthapuram, until we reach our stop at Neyyattinkara. It’s not just the place names which are longer than in England either: the train has many, many more coaches than you will ever see back home, consequently the station platforms are much longer – and so are the journeys. This train, number 16526, began its journey in Bangalore (Bengaluru)…
