Final Train to Auckland

Christmas was very nice.  The family came to Mum and Dad's for lunch.  In the evening I went on a small foray to Muriwai with Nikki and Olly.  My other west coast adventures were a trip to Piha, also with Nikki and Olly and a drive to South Head (of the Kaipara Harbour) with Mum and Dad (pictured at South Head). 

On Christmas Eve Dad and I took the train from Helensville to Auckland.  Why?  Well, in my whole life I had never taken a train through Huapai and Kumeu, because there was never a service until a couple of years ago.  There is only one train a day in each direction between Helensville and Auckland and the service was being cancelled from Christmas Eve.  So it was our final chance to catch the train.  It was interesting getting a different perspective on what is otherwise fimiliar countryside.  Helensville train station-

Aunty Lois had her 60th birthday party and Dad turned 65.  I had a chilled out evening with Graeme and Celia and friends for Celia's birthday.  Colleen and Dave, the "kids" from New Plymouth, popped by for a couple of hours on their way north in their camper van.  I caught up with Jessica, Kirsten and Paul over the last week, each visiting NZ from Australia where they are all doing very well. 

My boxes finally arrived from the UK last Wednesday.  I expected it to take a while but it was a little frustrating that it took them three and a half weeks to get from the wharf in Auckland to me.  Oh well.  At least I have my laptop now.  Which means that I was able to get my iphone working.  I hope to never be parted from my iphone again...

A lot has happened this year, most of it good.  2010 might be a little bit quieter but hopefully just as interesting and as enlightening.

The Beach

The weather has turned summer-like, finally!  I am looking forward to a traditional NZ summer- sunburn, cold water, ice creams, relaxation and sand that scorches your feet.  I made my first pilgrimage to the beach on Thursday with Graeme and Celia.  Celia just heard that she had landed a job as we headed to the beach.  Graeme and I are still both gentlemen of leisure.  We went to Cheltenham beach in Devonport.  It was a lovely day.  As expected the water caused some amount of hyperventilation, especially as it reached our nether regions, but it was actually quite pleasant after the initial shock had passed (much better than my brief dip at Sumner beach in Christchurch nearly three weeks earlier).  It was good to just laze around on a quiet beach.  Cheltenham beach with Rangitoto island in the background-

Apart from going to the beach I have been trying to do some more constructive things. I have spoken to two recruitment agents, so my job hunt is underway.  Mum and Dad had a party for friends and family at their place a week ago to celebrate Mum's 60th birthday (actually on 25 December, but an inconvenient day for a birthday).  I was kept quite busy for a few days with planning the party.  The party went off really well.  I have done a bit of Christmas shopping.  Yesterday was my great uncle Sam's 90th birthday- a good chance to catch up relatives I have not seen for a long time.

The stuff I freighted from London should clear Customs this week.  I will get my beloved lap top and my tent in time for summer.  Hooray! 

The Custard Square of Destiny

One of the great things about New Zealand is the ubiquitous custard square, which can be found in almost any bakery.  It is one of my favourite foods in the world, a delicious combination of yummy, gooey custard, flaky pastry and icing.  I cannot help eating them although I have had some bad ones since I returned to New Zealand.  Sometimes the custard has the texture of tofu and a pretty rank flavour.  The worst example was from a bakery in Matamata- I only ate half of it.  The custard square I bought yesterday from the Bakehouse Cafe in Kumeu was quite good, although a little the worse for wear after I dropped the bag holding it-

According to Wikipedia the custard square is known by other names in various countries, such as Mille-feuille, Napoleon, vanilla slice, cream slice and custard slice.  But, as Shakespeare said:

 "What's in a name? that which we call a rose
  By any other name would smell as sweet,..."

I made lunch today for Nikki, Olly, Graeme and Celia.  Admittedly Mum and Dad assisted to some degree.  It was a very pleasant and relaxed afternoon.  It was rather odd getting together on a working day.  But quite satisfying as well.

On Friday I went to the Mt Eden pool for a swim with Anna-Lisa.  We finished watching the "Sex and the City" movie.  It was good and kept up the tension right till the end. 

I had lunch with Nana last Wednesday, with Aunty Lois and Kevin last Friday, with Kim on Saturday and with Aunty Margaret on Tuesday.  My life is a social whirl, it really is.

I met Nikki and Olly in town on Saturday afternoon.  They had arrived in NZ from the UK the day before so were still jet-lagged.  We explored some of the pubs of Auckland and had dinner at the fantastic Food Alley.  Olly was keen to see a band.  We ended up at Live Bar.  Jet lag caught up though and we only saw the earliest band, which was playing some form of heavy metal (I am sure that it can be better categorised but it was beyond me).  Probably not the best musical option in all the circumstances.

Keeping it real

I have been able to catch up with a few friends over the last week or two, now that I have my own car.  I had a lovely meal at Mary Joy's Saturday week ago with a few of her friends.  My first proper outing since I got back.  Last Sunday Brian and I went and saw the latest Bruce Willis action film, "Surrogates".  No, it had nothing to do with babies.  It was a fairly standard thriller of the out of control futuristic technology and evil futuristic mega corporation genre (think "Robo Cop", "Minority Report").  Also, why is the last guy on earth always a really smart scientist ("The Quiet Earth", "I am Legend")?  What if it was Trev from Palmerston North who was the last representative of the human race? 

I went to the dentist of Wednesday.  I need a filling.  

I had a fun day with Anna-Lisa on Thursday at Miranda hot pools.  It was probably unecessary for me to go there as I have nothing to actually unwind from.  Still, it was good.  And Anna-Lisa makes a mean sandwich.

On Saturday I had dinner with Richard and his dad Hugh.  Hugh cooked a very nice roast and I was reacquainted (my, was that a struggle to spell) with the pleasures of whisky.  On Sunday I drove Richard down to his place in Te Puke and had a relaxing afternoon and evening there.  We discussed New Zealand television and comedy and contrasted the confidence of New Zealand culture today with the still evident "cultural cringe" we saw during our childhoods- things really have changed remarkably.  I spent a little time with Richard and Alaina and their children Cole and Silke this morning before driving back to Auckland.

I always like to do a little "pilgrimage" to Mt Maunganui when I am down Tauranga way.  This is a view of the Mount on what was an overcast and chilly spring day-

Avensis

I arrived back in Auckland last Tuesday. Dad had arrived back from his trip to the UK. I am staying at Mum and Dad's. After three weeks in Thailand I have been finding it pretty darn cold. As well as spending time with Mum and Dad I have had lunch or dinner with Nana most days. So life has been pretty quiet. I have managed to unpack, mostly. My main goal over the last week was to buy a new car. I have been to a lot of car yards and done a lot of internet searches. I have spoken to many used car salesmen. A few I liked. But the majority do make you feel like they're the lions on the savanna and you're the limping gazelle in the herd. Anyway, I found a car I liked-

I know, I know!  I don't like white either.  But it was right in so many other ways.  It is a Toyota Avensis, 2004, 2L, automatic.  I wanted a manual but they were hard to find. 

Now that I have bought a car I can start to focus on other pressing matters, such as catching up with friends and family and watching TV...

Ko Chang

Ko Chang is a small island in the andaman sea and should not be confused with its much larger namesake on the east coast. One of my visions of Thailand was a small hut on a quiet beach. Ko Phi Phi was not that sort of place, at least in my pric range. Ko Chang fitted the bill perfectly; there is no mobile phone coverage, no internet and no mains electricity. I stayed at "Cashew Resort" a collection of small bungalows and a restaurant on the beach. It had only reopened in the last few days, in preparation for the dry season tourists. As a result it was still very quiet, with only a few people staying. I stayed for four days, walking from my bungalow to the beach, reading in the hammock, thinking about things and enjoying the great food in the restauant. The generator would kick in for 3 hours at night, providing flickering light that was just bright enough to allow you to find your way round. Cashew Resort is owned by a Thai couple but was mostly staffed by Burmese, as Ko Chang is very near Burma. The other permanent resident was David, a 70-something resident who has lived there for 10 years with his cats and a local Burmese guy. The sunsets were sublime.

I travelled from Ko Chang to Bangkok yesterday, which involved a long boat trip to Ranong, a motor scooter ride to the Ranong bus station, a 10 hour bus trip from Ranong to Bangkok and from there a taxi ride to my accommodation. A fun day. I may have been better off flying...

I am flying back to Auckland today. I have had a great time in Thailand. I will be back.

This marks the end of almost six months of travel. I do not know whether this also marks the end of my alternate reality. I have done almost everything that I had in mind to do back in April. I love it when a plan comes together.

Ko Phi Phi

From Siem Reap I returned to Bangkok by minivan, which took about 8 hours. The next day I travelled to Ko Phi Phi. Realising that it was a 12 hours bus trip to Phuket, followed by 1 1/2 hours on a ferry from Phuket to Ko Phi Phi, I instead flew from Bangkok to Phuket and took the ferry from Phuket.

Ko Phi Phi is an island in the Andaman Sea and part of a national marine park. Nearby is Ko Phi Phi Ley, the location of the beach in the movie "The Beach". The islands are famous for their spectacular scenery. Ko Phi Phi has some beautiful beaches but it is a lot busier than I had imagined (perhaps wishful thinking on my part that it should be otherwise). However, it is very laid back, with no vehicles and an island vibe. It is still rainy season so it has rained on and off. Nevertheless, the rain has had very little impact on what I have done. I spent my first day at the beach.

Ko Phi Phi is packed with outfits offering diving and scuba courses. I decided to take the literal plunge and signed up for a two and a half day PADI dive course. This involved quite a lot of reading and an exam (which was a cinch). The hard, and scary part, was the diving. In most respects it was all a lot simpler than I had imagined and I was comforted by the "safety first" attitude that appears to apply to diving. I had a total of four dives, all of which included learning drills as well as "sightseeing". The deepest dive was to 18m, which is part of the requirement for the diving qualification. It was amazing to be able to go under the waves and to view the coral reefs and multi-coloured fish. The instructors were great, being patient and very helpful. My first instructor was Cliff from New Orleans. He looks and sounds a lot like George Bush! It did not seem fair to mention it. Cliff had to pull out after a day and half because of sinus troubles. My new instructor was Julien, a young Frenchman. I really wanted to say that New Zealanders had had bad experiences with French divers (an allusion to the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland by the French) but I held my tongue.

I have stayed at a basic but adequate guesthouse- cold showers are not a problem in this climate. I went on a long-boat tour today out to Phi Phi Ley and had a great time snorkeling and chatting to fellow travellers.

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat and the other temples in the vicinity really have lived up to the hype. They are quite amazing- enormous and seemingly out of place in the middle of the jungle. I have spent four days in Siem Reap, the town close to Angkor Wat. I bused here from Bangkok, which took most of a day. Siem Reap was suffering from quite bad flooding when I arrived. When the tuk-tuk driver told me that he might have trouble getting to the hostel because of flooding I did not believe him, thinking it was one more scam. But he was right.  It took two days for the water to recede.  For the first two days of my visit I only visited the temples.  Getting to and from the hostel required walking through some very murky water so I did not venture into town in the evening.  This is the a view from the hostel a day after I arrived... and then two days later.

I hired a tuk-tuk and driver for two and a half days to take me to the many temples around Angkor Wat.  Visiting every temple is an interesting experience as you are assailed by adults and children selling water, books, bracelets, cloth and postcards- "For you only one dollaaaar", "You only buy from me", "You buy when you come back, ok".  The Cambodian people were very friendly though.  It would have been nice to be able to buy something from everyone.

 

A couple of photos.  Sorry, no captions, as I am running short of time.  

Bangkok

I arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday and stayed till Friday. Bangkok is an experience. I really only started to get a handle on it, and my bearings, after two days. The highlight for was the abundant, cheap and very tasty food. My afternoon at the "Grand Palace" was great-

I had two Thai massages (the legitimate kind) while I was in Bangkok. A very painful but hopefully beneficial experience. I stayed in a very nice hostel just off Sukhumvit Road, one of the main tourist hubs in Bangkok. I had my own room, so did not rough it. I certainly did not feel out of place as an unaccompanied older male. One example of the male sex tourist was the Australian and his Thai girl sitting next to me at a restaurant charging about 50 Baht (about £1.00, $2.30) for a main course. He would have been about my age. He was talking to her about himself in some sort of Thai accent, presumably so that she would understand him better. There are lots of things that I could say about what is wrong with sex tourism. But what really struck me was just what a f**king cheapskate he was! He could at least have taken the poor girl out somewhere a bit nicer.

My bargaining skills have started to improve although I suspect that I am still pretty easy prey. There are plenty of transport options in Bangkok. I have used just about every type of transport in Bangkok, including the metro, skytrain, tuk-tuk, taxi and one terrifying ride on the back of a motor scooter (I do not why that seemed liked a good idea).

So long and thanks for all the fish

Reality is ultimately only a state of mind. I learnt a long time ago that your environment does not affect your reality- you are just you in a different place. But a different environment can help you to better appreciate your reality. I arrived in London in 2007 with a clear idea of who I was, after years of trying to figure that out. My ideas about other people and the world as a whole were not quite as developed, but I had some idea. The last last two years have helped to resolve this point. With that the whole big picture has zoomed into focus. Or at least that is how it seems. The goal now is to somehow mesh my reality with that of the rest of the world. I will think about that one while I am in Thailand. The thing that made London tolerable in the worst times was to always be myself. Not a revolutionary idea, you might think. The last few days have brought home to me the consequences of not being myself...
I have had a lovely few days with Dad, who arrived in London last Wednesday. We had days out to the British Museum and Greenwich. Dad also patiently helped with packing. And it was great catching up with Taylor and Ernie.
Ben gave me a spontaneous hug before I left. Zoe was more concerned to know where my lap top (and cbeebies games) had gone. In a container on a ship was not a satisfactory answer.
I am sitting on a Thai Airways plane (without personal monitors!), so I cannot pontificate any longer.

Caterham and London

I have been staying at Jane and Ian's place for two and a half weeks. I have spent quite a lot of time with Ben and Zoe and I have dropped then off and picked them up from school quite a few times. I am getting to know some of the mums, but I cannot say that I am in with the in crowd just yet. Ben and Zoe are cute and energetic as always. Over time I have gotten to know their routines and limits so that plaintive cries of "Mummy said that we can!" or "Mummy lets us do it!" are now met with a little bit more scepticism.

My main goal on returning from Wales had been to sell my car. I sold the car to the first person who answered my advertisement, which was a lot easier than I had expected.

I have caught up with a few friends. Mark and I tripped around London looking at a few of the less "touristy" sights. One was Ely Place in Holborn. Ely Place is a cul-de-sac and is not technically part of London but is an enclave of Cambridgeshire. The reality appears to be less interesting, with a notice for the Borough of Camden attached to one of the lamp posts in Ely place. We had a pint at the "Old Cheshire Cheese" one of the oldest pubs in London. It has an atmospherically gloomy interior.


I had a great night out with Jessie, James, Celia, Graeme, Nikki and Olly last Friday. On Saturday they and James' (and Graeme's) parents visited Buckingham Palace. For budgetary reasons, and because lavish decoration does start to pale after a while, I skipped the Palace and joined them later at the Royal Academy of the Arts, to be meet by a very long queue for the exhibition. On Sunday I caught up with Caroline who cooked me a lovely meal.


I had lunch with Manuela yesterday in Marylebone. It was all very nice until we went to leave and realised that Manuela's handbag had been stolen! Luckily she did not have much of value in it. However, her house had been burgled on Monday, so she was not having a good week. Manuela's mobile phone was found today, but not her handbag. Yesterday evening I had a long chat with Ernie over a few pints.

Jame's recently commented that he thought my blog was perhaps not "personal" enough. I agree that my thoughts and feelings are rarely expressed other than in a cursory manner. However, on the whole, I think that this blog is remarkably open, at least for me. Should I reveal more? Well, as OMC said, "Wanna know the rest? Hey, buy the rights..."

Wales

I spent four nice days with Jane, Ian and the kids after returning from Europe. On Wednesday I drove to Snowdonia in Wales. I was caught in a massive traffic jam on the M25 for two hours trying to leave London, but it cleared just before I was about to give up and go home. I camped for three nights in Snowdonia in a camping ground that was at least half mud. On Thursday night there was a big storm but my tent held up well. My goal in Wales was to do a few of the things that I had not had a chance to do when I visited last Easter. Top of my list was to climb Mt Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. The day was not great but the climb was relatively easy. It was very crowded at the top, with a lot of people having come up on the narrow gauge railway that goes to the top of Mt Snowdon (the "cheats" route). Climbing Mt Snowdon meant that I had climbed the highest peak in each of England, Wales and Scotland (as well as the highest peak in Ireland). Climbing those peaks was not exactly the same as climbing Mt Everest without oxygen but it has been fun. On top of Snowdon-

On Friday I went on the narrow gauge railway from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog and back. The railway winds through a picturesqe route in the countryside. I also visited Portmeirion, a small Italianite village in Wales. It was built by an eccentric Englishman over 50 years from 1925. It is a place I have wanted to visit for a long time, as it was featured in the TV series "The Prisoner". I had watched repeats of "The Prisoner" in NZ in the 80s. Portmeirion village-

On Saturday morning I went on a tramp to Molwyn Bach, a "mountain" near Blaenau Ffestiniog I had visited last year, when it was covered in snow. So it was interesting to see it in the "summer" (top temperature about 18C with intermittent showers). On Saturday afternoon I drove to Liverpool, because it was relatively close and because I was curious about it. On the way I stopped on Bounday Road in Chester. As the picture shows it looks like an ordinary suburban street. Except that the houses on the left hand side are in England and those on the right are in Wales. It is the only urban area on the English/Welsh border where this happens (and as far as I am aware there is no equivalent place on the English/Scottish border). It would be fascinating to learn more about the place. For example, do people on the English side have English accents and those on the Welsh side Welsh accents? I could have knocked on a few doors to find out but I do not think that they would have welcomed my interest.

I cannot say that Liverpool is the nicest city I have visited but it was pleasant enough and the Scousers add atmosphere. On Sunday night I stayed with Nikki and Olly in Chippenham. Nikki's friend Jordan (a NZ guy) also stayed. On Sunday we visited Avebury (more standing stones) and the White Horse of Uffington (my third visit but still one of my favourite spots in England). I drove back to London in the afternoon with Jordan, who needed to catch a train from London.

Travelling to Wales completed the itinerary I had put together in April for my travels with my car. So my next goal is to sell the Focus and to then prepare for my trip to Thailand and my return to NZ.

Belgium

I spent my first night in Belgium in Antwerp. Scandalously, I did not sight see in Antwerp (or buy a diamond). My main goal in northern Belgium was to visit the town of Baarle-Nassau/Baarle-Hertog. Baarle-Hertog is a Belgium enclave within the southern part of the Netherlands. The Belgium bits are not continuous, but are scattered around the town in sections. The result is that, as you walk down the main street, you cross the border of Belgium and the Netherlands several times. Border markers on the main street-

The Dutch part of town is called Baarle-Nassau. A map helps to make a little more sense of what I am talking about-

There are border markers in some parts of town. Otherwise, the most obvious sign that you have crossed the border is that the number plates on the cars change. The locals have taken advantage of the situation. For example, there are several shops selling fireworks in the Belgium parts of town- the sale of fireworks is more strictly controlled in the Netherlands. And in the Dutch parts of town there are several brothels, for corresponding reasons. Me in front of the house with two buildings numbers (because the border passes through the front door!)-

I spent two nights in Bruges. Bruges is another place that had a golden era followed by hundreds of years of relative poverty, in Bruges's case because the canal leading to the the city silted up. So the city was preserved and is now home to many many Australian backpackers. Bruges is lovely-

The city of Ypres is about an hour's drive from Bruges (nowhere is very far from anywhere else in Belgium) and is another war themed destination, this time in relation to World War 1. Ypres was on the western front throughout the war and was completely destroyed. The battle of Passchendaele was fought nearby. I visited the very good In Flanders Fields museum, which has exhibits relating to the various battles for Ypres and the horrors of the war generally. Ypres was rebuilt after the war. The older buildings are exact replicas of the pre-war buildings. I visited the nearby "Yorkshire trench", which was excavated about 10 years ago. The trench system has been partly recreated. It is in the middle of an industrial estate-

On Saturday I took the ferry from Calais to Dover. I had a fantastic six weeks in continental Europe.

Germany

I spent a few days in Germany on my way back to the UK. I started in Dresden, a relatively short drive from Poland. Accommodation was hard to find and I ended up staying at a camping ground. If I had done a little research I would have discovered that it was the weekend of Dresden's annual festival. So I was quite lucky, as there were many free concerts and a carnival atmosphere. Although Dresden was in the former East Germany it does not look like a typical "Soviet block" city, with some exceptions-

Dresden is famous for its Baroque buildings. But it is most well known because of the destruction of the city and those buildings by Allied bombing during World War 2. The centre of the city has largely been rebuilt and it now looks much like it did before the war. I went on an excellent tour of the buildings. The guide showed photos of the burnt-out buildings taken after the bombing, to contrast the now perfectly reconstructed buildings. This view shows the Elbe river and the dome of Frauenkirche, a church that was destroyed in the bombing and which only reopened in 2005.

From Dresden I went to Rothenburg. Rothenburg had been a very prosperous town but it then fell on hard times. The happy result was that its medieval buildings were preserved. It is now a hugely popular tourist destination.

My final stop in Germany was in Karlsruhe. Karlsruhe is a very nice city and home to the German Supreme Court. But my reason for going to Karlsruhe was to visit my friend Linda. Linda and her mother Liliana were very hospitable and Liliana made very nice Croatian meals. Linda took me on tours of Karlsruhe, including her neighbourhood and the botanical gardens, as well as of nearby Ettlingen. We also went to Bad Herrenalb, a town on the northern edge of the Black Forest. We went for a pleasant walk in the Black Forest. Liliana, Me and Linda-

It was then goodbye to the autobahn and on to Belgium.

Poland

My first stop in Poland was Krakow. It was quite strange visiting Poland. It is one of those places that seemed very distant and "exotic". Krakow is the most popular tourist destination in Poland. Unlike many other Polish cities Krakow escaped destruction in World War 2 and is now a World Heritage Site. Krakow was the seat of Polish royalty for hundreds of years. I visited the Cathedral, which contains the tombs of royalty dating back hundreds of years. The central square of Krakow is huge and contains many spectacular buildings:

Not far from Krakow is Auschwitz/Birkenou, the complex of Nazi death camps. I spent the afternoon on a tour of the sites, which still contain many of the original buildings. It was very sobering seeing for real a place that I had only before seen in documentaries and movies. It is hard to comprehend that more than a million Jews were killed in that one area. But seeing the sites brought home to me that those events really happened, that the perpetrators and victims were real people and that the Holocaust really only happened relatively recently.

From Krakow I travelled to Wroclaw, a pleasant city with many Gothic and Baroque buildings. I had a day off in Wroclaw and took it easy. From Wroclaw it was a relatively short drive to Germany and the end of my travels in eastern Europe.

Slovakia

I eventually made it to Slovakia, after returning to Croatia to pick up my clothes. My goal was the "High Tatras" in northern Slovakia. Because of the delays caused by my own forgetfulness, I did not make it all the way to the Tatras on the first day. Instead I stopped in the city of Lucenec, only because it was a useful stopping off point. I stayed in a two star hotel, which was quite luxurious compared to camping and staying in hostels. The lift had an exterior door but no interior door, so I could see the exterior doors passing as I went up. I have never seen a lift like that before, except in my nightmares. I only used it once and after that walked to the 4th floor. In the morning I drove to the High Tatras. The Tatra mountains are the biggest mountain range in central Europe and the highest part is in Slovakia. The highest peeks are a bit over 2600m although they do not seem that high from a distance as the elevation is already about 900m. I camped but did not rough it, as the food in the camp restaurant was good and was very cheep. The High Tatras from the camp:

I spent two days walking in the Tatras. On each day I walked up to around 2000m. At that height it was pleasantly cool and the views were great. It is possible to take a cable car to one of the highest peeks, Lomnicky stit. There are no itermediate pylons holding the cable, simply one very long cable which takes the cable car from about 1600m to over 2600m. It looks incredible and absolutely terrifying. The chicken in me came out again and I did not use it. It was great getting out and about in the outdoors and getting some exercise.

Before leaving Slovakia I went to the Dobsinska ice cave, which is a world heritage site and, as the name suggets, a large cave filled with ice. Visitors are taken through in large groups with a guide. Unforunately the guide only gave his commentary in Slovak. However, the cave was amazing.

Dubrovnik, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Podgora, Zagreb, Osijek

Dubrovnik is always a nice place to visit, if for no other reason than to swim in the amazingly clear (if a little chilly) waters.
It was very hot while I was there, so going for a swim was a must. I visited Srd, the hill behind Dubrovnik, where there is an old fort. In the fort there is an interesting exhibition on the Serb attack on Dubrovnik and surrounding areas and their unsucessful attempt to take Srd, which was the key to their plan to take Dubrovnik.

A couple of hours from Dubrovnik is Prevlaka Peninsula, which is at the very south-eatern tip of Croatia. It is a a key strategic point as it guards the entry to Montenegro's Bay of Kotor. Prevlaka was administered by the UN after Serbian forces withdrew and was only returned to Croatia in 2002. It is now a park. It had the scariest spiders I have ever seen- their webs were strung between trees at least 3 metres apart and the spiders themselves were enormous. The most interesting part of Prevlaka was exploring the many abandoned army buildings.

From Dubrovnik I drove to Lake Skadar, in Montenegro. It is a large lake and is partly shared with Albania. It is continuously refreshed from springs at the bottom of the lake.

Driving in Montenegro is fairly terrifying. The roads are bad and drivers love to overtake on blind corners.

From Montenegro I drove back to Croatia and then to Mostar in Bosnia. Mostar is and was famous for the old bridge which linked the Muslim east bank of the Neretva river with the majority croatian populated west bank. The bridge was destroyed by Croatian forces during the war. When I visited in 1996 the Muslim areas were largely rubble and a small rope bridge had been put in place of the old bridge. The Croatian areas were intact. It was a very disturbing place to visit- at that time I did not feel comfortable taking photos, so I didn't. There was far more traffic on the roads when I visited this time (in 1996 UN APCs were a common sight), the old bridge has been rebuilt and the old Muslim section rebuilt. It was nice seeing the old part of Mostar as it had looked before the war. However, many of the other bullet-ridden and bomb scarred shells of buildings are still there, I guess because no one can afford to demolish them. From Mostar I went to Sarajevo, a city I could not bring myself to visit in 1996. There are visible scars from the war but it is also obvious that much of the damage has been repaired. I did a very interesting tour to the tunnel which was the only land route into Sarajevo during the Serbian seige. It was interesting that in both Mostar and Sarajevo most women were dressed in a way that was indistinguishable from Croatian women. Head coverings were rare and I did not see any women wearing the burka. The language spoken by Bosnian Muslims is very similar to Croatian, but is called "Bosnian". I won't go into the politics of language here.

From Bosnia I headed back to Podgora and spent a pleasant few hours with Niksa and Ana. I then set off for Zagreb. I spent the weekend in Zagreb with Nena. We visited her nice bach in the country by the Kupa river. Nena's friend Goranka fed me very well and Goranka's son Ivan was his usual rambunctious self.

From Zagreb I went to Osijek, a city in the northeast of Croatia. That part of Croatia is largely flat and is a significant agricultural area. Osijek was nice if not terribly exciting. I visited Vukovar, a city to the east of Osijek, and nearby Ovcara. At Ovcara there is a memorial to civilians and soldiers from the Vukovar hospital who were massacred and buried at Ovcara by the Yugoslav army and serbian irregular forces after they overran Vukovar.

I set off from Osijek to Slovakia on Wednesday morning. I experienced my first rain in three weeks. Over an hour into the journey and just after crossing the Hungarian border I realised that I had left a bag to dirty clothes at the hostel in Osijek. So I headed back to Osijek and back through the Hungarian and Croatian border posts. I picked up three Polish backpakers at the Croatian border post. They were trying to get to Osijek. It was a bit of a squeeze but I felt sorry for there as it was a public holiday in Croatia so there were no cars heading to Osijek from Hungary. They were lucky that I am so forgetful. I retrieved my clothes from the hostel and headed north again.

Nick Papa- 18.03.1940 - 24.07.2009

Uncle Steve, Nana, Me, Dad and Uncle Nick, March 2009

Uncle Nick worked 363 and a half days a year. He closed his shop on Christmas Day and on ANZAC Day morning. Uncle Nick was always there. As children we would make play houses from his road signs and wooden fruit boxes. We would go into the orchard with Uncle Nick when he picked fruit. When we were older he allowed us to serve customers in the shop. We loved using the till and the electronic scales. Uncle Nick patiently taught us how to use them. Uncle Nick never displayed his emotions openly, but that really did not matter. And sometimes you could tell what he was thinking even if he did not say anything.

Uncle Nick gave a speech at his 40th birthday party. He said that now he was 40 he would have to start slowing down. That was his understated sense of humour. I thought that he was being serious- when you are 8 years old 40 does seem pretty old. Uncle Nick always knew what was going on in Kumeu and Huapai, often from his customers. If he knew something that was likely to interest you he would not just tell you straight off. He would hint at it and try to get you to guess what it was about, just to the point where you started to get a little annoyed.

Uncle Nick went to the markets early in the morning every Monday and Thursday. We would occasionally go with him, getting up at what seemed to us to be an unbelievably early hour. It was surprising to see Uncle Nick in a completely different world, a world where he seemed completely at home. It was amazing to watch him deal with ease with an auction process that to us was almost impossible to follow.

He loved to tell us where he was when significant events happened. He told us that he was in the orchard picking fruit when when the news came through that President Kennedy had been assassinated. He was proud of the fact that he remembered seeing American soldiers in a military jeep when they were stationed in NZ during Word War 2.

After selling part of his property in 1997 he went on what was only his second trip overseas. Although he said that his trip to Australia did not really count anyway as in 1973 you did not have to take a passport. He visited Croatia and the United States, two places that he had really wanted to visit. One of my great pleasures in life was just being able to pop in on him and Nana, knowing that they would be there. I really enjoyed visiting them on a Friday or Saturday night and watching a game of rugby or rugby league with them. When I was there Uncle Nick would usually check the value of his shares on teletext. The shop was very successful in later years. He developed a reputation for selling white fleshed nectarines and peaches, which he moved in large quantities. He really did seem content and very happy with life. It is so hard to imagine that he will not be there any more.

Uncle Nick was an orchardist. Uncle Nick died from the effects of liver failure. Dad was with him when he died. We loved Uncle Nick and will miss him very much.

Podgora- Part 3

On Monday evening I had dinner out with Bepica, my grandfather's cousin. I then had a very pleasant chat with Bepica and his wife Ilonka on their balcony overlooking Podgora. On Tuesday morning I had morning tea with Lili, Lada and their friend Carmela. Niksa cooked a nice lunch and Mate, Nikolina, Marion and their families came for lunch. It was a relaxed afternoon. After lunch we spent some time in Vlado's courtyard (I am obliged to mention that Vlado feed us some very nice prsut) and then I went with a walk around the old village with Niksa and Marion, Niksa acting as tour guide. In the evening I watched "Naked Gun 3" with Niksa and Ana and Ana kindly did yet more of my washing. This morning I visited the cemetary and had a nice lunch with Vlado and Tatjana and the ubiquitous Huso. I had a very nice time in Podgora.
In the afternoon I drove to Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik and the surrounding region are completely separated from the rest of Croatia by Bosnia and Hercegovina, which extends all the way to the sea at the town of Neum. So a drive to Dubrovnik requires a drive through Bosnia and Hercegovina, which does not take long, as the coast is only about 10km long. The nuisance factor is that it is impossible to buy car insurance for Bosnia and Hercegovina in the UK, which means that the drive, while short, is completely uninsured. Of course nothing happened, but I could not help feeling a little nervous. I arrived in Dubrovnik at 6.30 and found accommodation without any problems. The weather continues to be sunny, with temperatures in the low 30s.

Podgora- Part 2

Later on Sunday afternoon Niksa took me to the park on the Biokovo mountain and to the summit of Biokovo. The drive was hard going for Niksa in a small car, without power steering and on a very narrow and steep road with many hairpin turns. The summit, Sveti Jure, is at approximately 1700m, so it was quite a drive. The views from Sveti Jure were amazing, especially as the air was very clear that day. In the evening I chatted to Ruzica, a cousin of my grandfather. Ana make a very nice meal of roast chicken and pasta, which she was concerned to discover was similar to the meal I had had for lunch at Tatjana and Vlado's. Of course I was not concerned at all. On Monday I joined Lada and Zoran for their daily visit to the beach with their children. I had lunch with Niksa and Ana, Niksa's children Mate and Nikolina, Nikolina's husband Marion and their children Lucija (3) and Patrick (a few months old). Mate's son Ivan (9) was there also. Lucija is lovely. Ivan can only be described as precocious- his English is already very good, even better than Vlado's. Lunch was very good and was courtesy of Marion. Mate and I in the yard of the "Papa house"-

Podgora- Part 1

I arrived in Podgora on Friday. Podgora is a town in Dalmatia in Croatia. Both of my grandfathers came from Podgora and my father's mother came from Zivogosce, which is a few miles south of Podgora. Podgora is idyllic, with lovely beaches and a relaxed atmosphere. Not far behind Podgora, the Biokovo mountain rises up almost vertically to well over a 1000 metres. But the best thing about Podgora is visiting my charming and very hospitable relatives. While I've been here I have stayed with my father's cousin Niksa and his wife Ana, who have been incredibly accommodating. I spent most of Saturday with my father's cousin Lili, her daughter Lada and son-in-law Zoran and their three very cute children Petar (5), Vid and Iva (2 1/2 year old twins). I had a lovely and very relaxed day with them. On Sunday I had lunch with another of my father's cousins, the lovely Tatjana and her irrepressible husband Vlado. I had a very nice lunch, which was made by Vlado. In the picture is Vlado (on my right) and Huso (on my left). Huso is the local gardener and a popular guy.

Pula

Pula's most famous sight is the fantastic Roman colloseum-

There were some other interesting Roman remains in Pula, including a triumphal arch. It was very hot in Pula, in the 30s. The colloseum and other Roman remains were in the central city, which is always interesting, as the remains can appear just around a corner on streets that are otherwise "normal". On Tuesday evening, I went with Tomislav and Miha, two "typical" Croatian guys, to a nightclub in town. The place was packed and most of the crowd appeared to be made up of teenagers or at best people in their early 20s, although Tomislav and Miha were convinced that they were older. Anyway, it was interesting and Tomislav and Miha were good company. In the morning I slept longer than I had intended, because of the night out, so did not leave Pula until after 11. I had another 600km drive, to Podgora. Most of the drive was on a very good motorway, with a speed limit of 130km/h. I arrived in Podgora at 8pm.

Istria

On Monday I drove from Munich to Porec in Croatia, passing through Austria and Slovenia on the way. Driving can be a bit frustrating as you pass so many places on the way that would justify a stopover for a day or two. Hopefully I will be able to visit some of the places I by-passed on the journey back. The only event of note on the drive to Porec was being pulled over by an unmarked police car a little bit south of Munich. I did not know what I could have done wrong but I was nervous. Were they going to fine me for not using beam deflectors. I had bought all the required equipment for driving in Europe- fire extinguisher, warning triangle, reflective jacket, first aid kit etc. In the event they searched me and the car for drugs! I am not sure what justified the search other than I was driving a foreign car, but I saw no point in arguing the toss. After making a thorough search of the front and back of the car they lost interest and opened the boot but did not search it. Which was just as well, because I had 20kg of cocaine hidden in the tyre well.
Porec is in a region of Croatia called Istria, which is very near Italy and which has been controlled by the Venetians and Italians at various points in history. The architecture of the cities is quite "Italian". Porec's most famous sight, the Euphrasian Basilica, is a world heritage site. The Basilica contains amazing Byzantine mosaics, which were created in the 6th century.

On Tuesday, as well as sightseeing in Porec, I visited Piran, a city on Slovenia's tiny coast. The Slovenian coast is also in Istria, crammed between Italy and Croatia. Piran is another very Italian town, with narrow alleys and stucco clad buildings. It has an impressive cathedral, which was unfortunately closed for viewing between 1 and 5pm, "siesta" time. From Piran I drove to Pula, also in Istria. I am staying in a camping ground with a very nice beach.

London, Aachen, Munich

I spent some of last week dealing with car issues. I caught up with Jo and discussed our respective travel plans and the pleasure of not working. And Ben and Zoe continued to enjoy the presence of my lap top.

I got away on Saturday morning, taking the ferry from Dover to Dunkerque (white cliffs pictured) and then driving through Belgium to Aachen in Germany. Aachen is most well known for its cathedral. Yesterday I drove from Aachen to Munich, a trip of 620km (my longest one day drive ever) on the autobahn. Not particularly exciting or picturesque and the excitement of no speed limit was limited by my not particularly sporty car and frequent stretches where a speed limit of 60 or 80km/h in fact applied. Driving on the right has not been a problem, although it is hard to get it wrong on the motorway. It helps being in a right-hand drive car- for me a left-hand side driver's seat is more difficult to get used to than driving on the right. I stayed in a suburb of Munich last night at a hostel. I had a pleasant night with Nick and Gemma, a young English couple. I also chatted to Eric from Florida who looked a lot like a character from the Simpsons.

London

I caught the ferry from Rosslare in Ireland to Pembroke in Wales last Sunday. I had originally planned to spend two weeks travelling in Wales. But I lingered too long elsewhere, so my time in Wales was a total of 3 hours, the time it took to drive from Pembroke to England. On Sunday night I stayed at Nikki and Olly's place in Chippenham. Nikki made a very nice dinner and plied me with pimms.

On Monday I drove to Jane and Ian's. I am staying with them at the moment. I have spent most of the week planning the next part of my travels, working through two months of mail and organising things for my trip into Europe. It has been great spending time with Ben and Zoe, my nephew and neice. I went to their annual sports day on Friday, which was fun. The weather has been great, reaching the 30s earlier in the week.

On Thursday evening I caught up with Mark in London. The weather was very pleasant and very different from the weather during winter...

Summer inTrafalgar Square:

Winter in Trafalgar Square:

Aran Islands and Cashel

Something that I had wanted to do but did not think I would have time to do was to visit one of the islands. Since I ended up with a bit more time I back tracked to County Clare and caught a ferry from Doolin to Inis Mor, one of the Aran Islands. On the way to Clare I stopped to go to the beach and for a very "bracing" swim. I spent Thursday night at a small port town named Kilrush and stayed in another eerily deserted hostel. The ferry to Inis Mor stopped for one hour at Inisheer, one of the other, smaller Aran Islands. This afforded enough time to clamber round the main sight on the island, the remains of O'Brian's castle. On Inis Mor I hired a bike. I loved cycling round the quiet roads of Inis Mor. In the aftenoon I cycled to Dun Angus, the remains of a 2000 year old fort on the edge of high cliffs. I merrily traipsed along the edge of the cliffs only to read later that tourists had died after being blown off the cliffs. It was another warm day. In the evening I went to the local pub, which happily was holding a beauty contest. It was fascinating to hear Gaelic being spoken on the islands.
On Sunday I caught the ferry back to Doolin and from there headed for Rosslare on the east coast of Ireland. On the way I stopped at the Rock of Cashel, one of the most famous historic sights in Ireland. On the rock are the remains, in varying states of disrepair, a cathedral and a chapel. There is also a round tower, looking like something that Repunzel would have been kept in. The Rock of Cashel:

On the way to Rosslare I stopped at Waterford and had brief look around and McDonalds for dinner. As I had to be up early the next morning to catch the ferry I slept in my car- quite comfortable actually.
This morning I caught the ferry from Rosslare to Pembroke in Wales, from where I am writing this post.

Anna's Feet

Staying at the hostel in Dingle were Anna and Maria, Scottish Swedes (or Swedish Scots). They have lovely Scottish accents and were very nice and great fun to be with. Anna was suffering from several ailments, including sunburn, a sore neck and an undiagnosed problem that meant that she was finding walking difficult. One of the offending feet is pictured. Other than some sunburn there was no obvious sign of her ailment.

Dingle Peninsula

The Dingle Peninsula is in south west Ireland and includes Ireland's most westerly point and its highest road pass, Connor Pass. While I have been here it has been warm and sunny. I went to the beach on two afternoons. The water is not super warm but it was no worse than Auckland at the equivalent time of year. Since the weather was nice I walked up Mt Brandon, a little shorter than Carrantuohil but in the fine weather the views were much much better-

I drove around the western end of Dingle Peninsula, dodging convoys of large tourist buses on single lane roads. The most interesting sight on the drive is Gallarus Oratory, a 1000 year old religious building built completely from stone. I also stopped to look at beehive huts (stone buildings which, as the name suggests, look like beehives) and Dunbeg Fort. I stayed in Dingle, a vibrant little town packed with tourists.

The Burren and Killarney

The Burren is a rocky area in the northern part of County Clare. I stayed in a nice little town named Kilfenora. On Thursday night I went to a local pub and listened to some traditional music. On Friday I tripped around with Taylor, a beautiful and engaging young woman from Arizona. We visited Corcomroe Abbey, Dunguaire Castle, the Corofin town museum (very good), Poulnabrone Dolmen and discussed the social habits and religious beliefs of the dolphins.

From the Burren I went to Killarney. I stayed in a hostel in the country, about 10 miles from Killarney. I was the only guest while I was there. The hostel had newspapers from 1982. It was all a little eerie. My main goal was to climb Mt Carrantuohil, at 1039m the highest mountain in Ireland. The day I climbed was fine but the mountain was cloud covered above about 300m. I was told that the view from the top is great in fine weather. Oh well. I lost the track on the way back down, which was fun. I made it back OK but I was about a mile off course. The picture of me at the top gives an idea of the conditions-

I quite liked Killarney, it is a compact town with lots of amenities. On Saturday night I went to the cinema and watched the film "Terminator Salvation", which had nothing whatsoever to do with Ireland.

Carrick

Some Irishmen I met in Derry recommended visiting Carrick, which is about 40km west of Donegal. So I booked there for two nights, just to avoid my constant "one night stands" in each place I go. The hostel was quiet, with only a few people staying. Nina (a weapon of mass distraction) and Mary were nice young women from France and Belgium. On Tuesday night I went to a local pub with Nina and Simone, an outgoing young Italian guy. We were the only foreigners in the pub. It was a great night, with a group playing very good folk music. On Wednesday we had morning tea at David's place; David is an englishman who was playing the previous night and who lives in Carrick. I then took my "children", Nina, Mary and Simone, in my car to Slieve League, the highest sea cliffs in Europe. We walked up on the cliffs for about an hour. The cliffs were spectacular. We then went to Donegal from where Nina, Mary and Simone were catching buses. I returned to Carrick and had a very interesting chat with Shaun, the owner of the hostel. Among other interesting facts, he explained that many of the local farmers were older single males who were made to leave school in the 70s when EEC subsidies meant that there was a lot of value in farming, while the women left to go to university. A fascinating conversation.

Slieve League

On Wednesday night I went back to the same pub as the night before, with a pleasant French couple, Marie and Jacques. The pub was much more crowded than the night before and unfortunately the music was not as good.

Belfast and Derry

On Sunday I took an early ferry from Cairnryan in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland. It was only a short crossing, which was just as well, as we were "trapped" inside the ferry- we could not go out on deck. Larne is quite close to Belfast. On my way to Belfast I stopped and had a look round the castle at Carrickfergus. It started to rain heavily at that stage. Rather than doing a tour of Belfast I visited the transport museum. The exhibits were excellent. My favourite was the DeLorean exhibit (pictured below). The DeLorean is most famous from the movie "Back to the Future". Belfast is, strangely enough, the "home" of the DeLorean. The DeLoreans were built in Belfast (thanks to generous government subsidies), until the company went bust.



It was sunny and warm on Monday morning, so went for a walking tour around the more infamous parts of Belfast. The area around Falls Road is a Catholic enclave in a largely Protestant city and one of the most well known flashpoints of the "Troubles". It is mostly calm now although the "peace wall" still separates that area from the surrounding Protestant area at night. Pictured below is one of the murals on Falls Road.

Flags are the most obvious signs of the allegiance of particular neighbourhoods. I am sure that there are many other, more subtle, ways in which the distinctions between the communities affect people in Northern Ireland. For much of the rest of Monday it rained. I went into central Belfast and did a little shopping. From Belfast I visited the "Giant's Causeway", a World Heritage Site famous for the hexagonal shapped rock formations. The car park charged an extortionate £6 to park so I parked 1km down the road and walked back. The causeway was interesting. I spent Tuesday night in Derry (or Londonderry, depending on your political persuasion). Derry is famous for its city walls, which are still intact and quite imposing.

From Derry I drove in to Ireland (there are no border crossings or even signs to indicate that you are crossing the border), bought petrol (it is cheaper than in Northern Ireland) and then whent to Malin Head, a nice spot and the most northerly part of Ireland. From there I drove to Carrick, in County Donegal.

Glasgow

A photo of me looking excited on the summit of Ben Nevis.

Glasgow comes with a lot of "baggage"- it does not get very good press, not helped with the TV programme "Taggart". But maybe it was the warm weather, maybe it was the grid system, which means that the city is quite well layed out, maybe it was the park next to the Burrell Collection, but I really rather liked it. Downtown had the usual shopping centres and high street chain stores, but it was not nearly as bad as, say, Leicester or Cardiff. In fact, in some ways is reminded me of Auckland. I did not visit the infamous suburban tower block areas, which do sound pretty dire. The Burrell Collection is Glasgow's most well known museum. It is relatively small and contains items collected by Mr Burrell over his life. He left them to the city, which then waited 40 years to build a museum to house them. The museum is located in a very nice park. It was well worth the visit.

Ben Nevis

On Thursday night I stayed in a hostel a few miles from Fort Augustus (at the sourthern tip of Loch Ness), in the countryside. It was like stepping back in time, to about 1983. The hostel must have been built during that time, as it was a near perfect 80s time capsule. There was dark wood paneling, cavernous but soulless room, aluminium glazing, those glass, crystal-like door knobs and carpet with a pattern that defies description. It was all in surpirsingly good condition and quite comfortable. It should be a listed building.

My goal yesterday was to climb Ben Nevis. It was a perfect day, with high clouds and little wind. The views from Ben Nevis were superb. It was a relatively easy walk up, as there is a well maintained track the whole way. There was snow from about 1200m and the summit was largely snow covered. It got cooler nearer the top, as you would expect. I got to the top in two and half hours. I spent an hour on the summit. It was busy but not horribly- I had chosen to go on Friday as I figured it would be busier on the weekend. The summit.

The drive along the A82 from Fort William to the hostel by Loch Lomond was the most enjoyable of my whole trip. The road had two lanes but was quite wide, a verge (not that common), was gently windy, largely free of traffic and the landscape had a very NZ look to it. I drove for two hours but I could have driven all day on roads like that.

Dun Carloway Broch

I mentioned the Broch in my post below. An amazing sight. By the way, "Dun" is pronounced "doon" not "done", so you can avoid making the same mistake I did.