Expedition Aotearoa – New Zealand

Travel days 26/27 December

It’s Boxing Day or Tweede Kerstdag back home – being either in Malta or Holland and most of our friends and family would be waking up to either inspecting all the gifts that were exchanged on Christmas Day or still trying to digest the excessive intake of food that had been consumed the previous day……. well for us it was finally waking up to a sunny day and my first prayer was of gratitude that our last day in Bali would be enjoying some sunshine after we had our breakfast and finished packing. Our pickup was scheduled for 5pm to take us to the airport well on time for our 9.30 flight to Sydney. So this was supposed to be a relaxing day before we started our 1 month expedition to New Zealand.

But no!! The weather gods did not grant us this last wish as when we hadn’t noticed that the skies had turned a dark grey with thick clouds rolling in and hiding away the sunshine – in no time the flood gates of heaven were open and the torrential rains came down! We were lucky to keep our room till 3 pm and then went for lunch in the lobby and settled our bill. Our pickup arrived early but that was good as it was still raining heavily and traffic would be horrendous!

 We arrived in good time at the airport and had a smooth check in. After spending some time wondering around the shops and having a coffee it was time to board our plane – we had a Qantas flight and our first experience of this company was very positive. Good (economy) seats; up front with loads of leg space and only the two of us in our row and  good meal before dozing off to sleep.  6 hours later arrival in Sydney for our transfer to Christchurch. But this is where it went somewhat wrong. Qantas uses Emirates from Sydney to Christchurch and where we should have had a 2 hour transfer time it ended up with a four hour wait as the Emirates plane from Dubai had a delay due to foggy weather in Dubai.

Not much to do than hang around and have some coffee and sent a message to our friends, Ralph and Eve who where going to meet us at Christchurch airport , that we would be late arriving. Finally made our last leg of our flight and arrived at Christchurch – and went through such strenuous immigration control. My hiking boots and sneakers had to be disinfected and all luggage scanned for any illegal food being brought in to the country! Well it was after 4 pm that we finally got out of the airport to find Ralph and Eve waiting for us. 

By the time we drove to Hotel Rendevous in downtown Christchurch it was already nearly 6 pm; however it was bright sunshine, so we decided to go for a walk around before dinner. This city centre had suffered badly during the 2011 earthquakes and there’s hardly anything left standing from the old colonial buildings. Gerry remarked that he has never seen a city which so many parking spaces…….. building have been torn down and temporary parking areas created; roadworks are still going on, and new buildings are being constructed still, but to us, it seemed that the heart and soul of the city have been torn away and it will take many more years before Christchurch down town gets the vibrancy back again.

Oh Island in the Sun – not – Lembongan

Christmas Day – Monday 25th December

Alarm goes off at 6.30 am !! But i was up already just before the alarm went off. We had already prepared our stuff the night before so after a quick shower, we were dressed and packed for our day of island hopping – but it was raining heavily!!! Why is the weather god punishing us?????

Quick breakfast and we climbed our way back to the reception area to wait for our pick up which arrived exactly at 7.30. 

Something very interesting – all the staff and now our pick up driver were wishing us all a merry Christmas! There is no Christmas spirit here although at the resort they do have some Christmas trees in the lobby and restaurant and have been playing Christmas carols but that does not make Christmas…….. Today it’s just another day on the island of Bali and we were going down to Sanur where we would be transferred on a high speed boat to Lembongan for the day. 

The drive down to Sanur in the rain took some 45 minutes as the traffic was not too bad so we arrived quite early for the transfer. There was quite a lot of activity on the beach – people gathering with suitcases, backpacks and other types of luggages. We were still not completely wide awake so we just sat there and took it all in!! Actually we were somewhat dismayed that not was raining so hard – it wasn’t going to be much fun on Lembongan……

Finally our high speed boat was ready so we were called to embark – well wading into the sea and being helped onto the little platform between the high powered outboard engines and we all found a seat indoors. The bouncy trip across took some 35 minutes in choppy waters and when we arrived it was again wading through the water to reach the beach and it was still raining!!! Everything looked so dismal!!

We hung around till about lunchtime and afterwards went on a trip on glass bottom boat to the coral reef. Gerry went snorkelling while I was the one taking the pictures. By the time we got back to the beach, the rain had stopped and a miracle took place – the sun came out!!! Finally we could relax on the beach till it was time for us to return to Sanur. Again the scrambling game of getting on board the high speed boat but this time it wasn’t too bad as the sun was shining – that makes a whole lot of difference!

Back at Sanur, we were again picked up and driven back to Ubud – we were quite exhausted and after showering and getting rid of the sand, we checked ourselves in for our flight to Christchurch tomorrow evening – yes our week in Bali is over – we’re off on our next leg of our trip: New Zealand !

 

Relaxing at Bali Spirit

Sunday 24th December

After a hectic day yesterday, we chose to laze around the resort today. Mind you the day started off with lots of rain so we only had breakfast at the latest possible time – 10 am.

The weather seemed to have cleared in the afternoon so we decided to go down to the pool and have a swim – however not before long the dark clouds gathers and we again had another downpour – we remained under the parasol to keep ourselves dry – after all we had our drinks and a card game so we were ok for a while. I even managed to read a few pages from my e-reader…….. However after about half an hour, I had had enough and rain or no rain decided to go back to our room for a warm shower and return to my book. Gerry only came up when it stopped raining……

Being optimistic, we booked a trip to Lembongan, an island off Sanur for the following day – Christmas Day! And keeping our fingers crossed that we would have bright sunshine the following morning when we would be picked up at 7.30 in the morning. So with an early start tomorrow we decided to turn in early as well…….

Our Beach Day

 

Saturday, 23rd December 2017

Today we had to rush through our breakfast as our chauffeur was ready and waiting for us at 9 a.m. As Ubud is in the middle of the island of Bali, we have not yet seen the beach and for Gerry, a true seaman, he cannot go far too long without seeing the sea………. And today we woke up to bright sunshine and perfect for our beach trip!

So our trip today was to Jimbaran Beach, some 1hr 15 minutes drive away depending on the traffic. Well traffic was bad! Not only the scooters but also so many cars and mini vans making their way on narrow 2 lane roads through little villages. It was only when we got to Den Pasar that the roads improved and then we got onto a toll road which has been built on stilts in the sea along the coast to ease the traffic towards the holiday beach resorts in Kuta and Jimbaran.

Jimbaran is located south of the airport and Kuta beach and is sheltered as it situated in a crescent bay. However, by the time we got to Jimbaran, the clouds had gathered from the sea and we had a strong westerly wind blowing that it was not pleasant to be on the beach. In no time it started raining!!!  We asked our chauffeur to take us to the eastern side of this little peninsula as there we should not have any strong winds. So we drove to Sanur and indeed, it was very pleasant here – there were clouds in the sky but these were white ones and the sun was shining.

Having wasted so much time trying to get to Jimbaran, we only had some 1.5 hours on the beach – we went on a long walk and just took in the scene when stopping for a drink. Sanur is a quaint place and actually this is a point where high speed boats leave for trips to other islands such as Lembongan, the Gilli’s and Lombok. There were quite a few backpackers waiting for their trip across to the Gilli islands.

When we arrived at our car, our chauffeur had already planned to make another stop – this time for lunch  and not far from Ubud – Bebek TebaSari  Restaurant – situated in luscious green rice fields and built in the traditional Balinese way – little huts surrounding a pond filled with giant goldfish!  Besides the service being excellent – we had Semara looking after us with her beautiful smile. Gerry ordered Nasi Goreng Special presented in a fusion way while I had a mixed satay of chicken and beef served with a heart of steamed rice. While waiting for our lunch we could take some scenic pictures of our surroundings and for me to enjoy a pot of green tea and Gerry his usual Bintang beer!

As this was a late lunch, for sure we will not be having dinner tonight! Our chauffeur said we only had 10 minutes driving back to the hotel, however as the traffic was quite horrendous it took somewhat longer and when we did finally arrive, we headed straight to the swimming pool for our daily dip! However our relaxing time at the pool was cut short as we were surprised with heavy torrential rains that we couldn’t actually leave but sheltered under the big parasol.  

Good thing it’s been raining – I’ve been able to update my blog in the meantime!

 

A walk through Monkey Forest Ubud

 

 

22nd December 2017

Today was supposed to be a relaxed day as we started off with  Balinese full body massage after breakfast. Our muscles really needed this massage with acupressure especially our legs and thighs – we are climbing up and down so many steps at this resort! After enjoying some herbal tea at the pool area, we left for our walk down to Ubud through the Monkey Forest.

We had a simple map with the directions to get through the Monkey Forest but we still had to ask our way – all the time we were told that the pathway was straight on…….. Anyway we did end up in the forest but all alone except for the monkeys in the high trees. At one point we saw and heard some people so we climbed up through the vegetation to another pathway and we were in the middle of the Monkey Forest Park. Here there were neat pathways and different types of signs explaining among other things,  not to look the monkeys in the eyes  – that sentence stuck into my mind ( thinking back to the incident at the Rotterdam Zoo where a lady was attacked by a gorilla who jumped over the moat as she used to go often and just sit and stare at him!)

It was fun watching these monkeys at play – there are some 100 monkeys around and the villagers look after the park as this is a holy area for them.

Finally we made our way to Ubud Palace where there was a marriage ceremony in progress – of course we weren’t invited but we did manage to get a glimpse through one of the gates – the women again were dressed in their traditional clothes and their makeup was perfect. The guests were being transported from the central parking to the palace by means of golf buggies and we learnt that depending which caste the guest belonged to, then the invitation would be for a specific day out of the 3 day celebration. 

Today we did manage to exceed our goal of 10.000 steps per day but by the time we got back to our hotel by taxi, we were quite exhausted to climb down the stairs for a quick swim and a cocktail – but we did!

Balinese Theatre, Kampongs, Rice Paddies, and Coffee Plantations

 

21st December 2017 – Getting to know another Bali!

Alarm clock went off at 7.30 this morning as we were going to have a busy day sightseeing with our guide Madi, or better known as Open. And……. the rain had stopped!!. When we planned this day trip with Open, he said he would be praying to his gods that the rain would stop for today – well he must have prayed hard!!

After an early breakfast, Open, together with the chauffeur Tomy, were waiting for us at the reception exactly on time – 9.am. Our itinerary was as follows:

~ visit the village of Batubulan to watch the Barong and Kris dance theatre; the story goes that the Queen Mother offers her son to Rangda, the god of evil . However the Barong, the god of goodness intervenes so that the son is saved. The costumes, dance and characters were really wel played and danced and the music – gamelan – was played by a full orchestra sitting on the side of the stage.

~ Our second stop was at the Kampong – a traditional family house dating back to the 1920’s and hardly changed since then. Typically there would be a number of families living in the enclosed areas with houses for the children in the south, for the parents in the west, the kitchens and cleansing areas in the south and the shrines and temples in the north. In the middle of the enclosed quarters there is also a main area used for official gatherings, weddings, funerals, births and special family meetings.Till only a few years back, the families would also have their own cows and pigs roaming on their own land just outside the kampong enclosures but nowadays this is no longer permitted especially due to the complaints from neighbours.

~ Our next stop is at the temple – The Desa Adat Batuan Temple – built nearly 1,000 years ago is a local Balinese Hindu temple looked after by the local residents of Batuan countryside. The temple is designed exquisitely,  full of Balinese ornaments and the roof temple building is made from the fiber of chromatic black palm tree.
It is strategically located beside the main road from Denpasar to Ubud. The village of Batuan is well known for over a thousand years, as being  a village of artists and craftsmen, old legends and mysterious tales.

Once the men had their sarong draped around their waists, we could get into the temple.

~ our last stop before lunch was at the Tegenungan waterfalls offering us  a glimpse of natural beauty against a lush valley landscape. The 20m-tall falls are located in the village of Sukawati. Of course we were not the only tourists and it was quite busy also with all the shops spilling over the sidewalks. Naturally everyone wanted to take the same picture from the same vantage point. Our guide informed us that we could walk down to the bottom of the waterfall by taking some 165 steps – as it was the middle of the day and quite warm, we were happy to admire the view from the top of the stairs.

 

~ after enjoying a light lunch we made our way to the  Tegallalang Rice Terraces which are famous for the beautiful scenes of rice paddies involving the subak (traditional Balinese cooperative irrigation system), which according to history, was passed down by a revered holy man named Rsi Markandeya in the eighth century. Tegallalang forms the three most splendid terraced landscapes in Ubud’s shared region, with the others being in the villages of Pejeng and Campuhan.

Again this was a real hotspot for Kodak moments and of course we were there to take part. Mind you it is very scenic and just like the pictures in most guide books. Am really glad we did get to see these rice fields.

~ our last stop was at the coffee plantation and exotic spices nursery. This coffee plantation  specialises in the production of Luwak coffee. Luwak coffee is the world’s most expensive coffee. The main factor of it’s high price is the uncommon method of producing such a coffee. It has been produced from the coffee beans which have been digested by a certain Indonesian cat-like animal called the palm civet or also civet cat. This is the reason kopi luwak is also called cat poop coffee or civet cat coffee. The feces of this cat will be collected, the coffee bean extracted, then roasted and ground. The short supply, in comparison with the high demand, the different taste and the uncommon production methods define the value of kopi luwak – the most expensive coffee in the world. Of course we did buy 200 grams of this coffee after having tasted a cup of this coffee which I must say is tasty!! We will only be using this coffee for special occasions, needless to say!

Monsoon in Bali and Temple Festivities

20 December 2017

Yesterday late afternoon, we were greeted with torrential rain when we arrived at DenPasar airport. The chauffeur who came to pick us up had to drive really slow and it took us some 1.5 hours to get to our hotel – The Bali Spirit Hotel just outside Ubud. It was difficult to make out where we were going as the traffic jams with all the motor scooters were all so chaotic! As I’ve been to Bali before some 7 years ago, i knew very well that the Balinese are very friendly people but this was new to Gerry!

At the hotel we were shown to our suite overlooking the jungle and river – from our balcony we could constantly hear the rushing murky brown waters of the river. After having freshened up we went down to dinner. This hotel complex is built on a hillside so it has steps and pathways going up and down between the luscious green foliage of the cultivated jungle. So we literally made our way down to the restaurant armed with umbrellas as we did not dare take the chance of getting wet on the way back. Our dinner was simple but ever so delicious – Gerry had a carrot ginger soup followed by a fillet pepper steak ( note this is imported as cows are  while I had a soto ayam (chicken soup – good for my cough!) followed by a seafood nasi goreng (fried rice).

We woke up quite late this morning but on time for breakfast – I’ve turned quite local here – fresh watermelon juice, slices of mango and pineapple……….. and simple nasi goreng zand green tea. This morning we were meeting with our travel agent to book a couple of activities and later on we both had a full body acupressure massage. Ee had such good masseurs that we booked another session for Friday. Well tomorrow we are going on a trip to a few villages, the waterfall and rice fields and some temples . Looking forward to this but also hoping that the monsoon we are having right now will have blown over. It has rained constantly for more than 24 hours!!

In the afternoon, we took the shuttle into Ubud town centre and although it was still raining, there were quite a lot of local people around as well as tourists. We’ve been told that right now because of the danger of the Agung Volcano erupting any moment now, tourists are staying away. Actually our hotel has only 6 rooms occupied right now…….

We visited the palace, the Puri Saren Agung which was the official residence of the royal family in Ubud. The intricate rock carvings and statues within the palace walls are magnificent – however there was quite some activities going on as though preparing for some festivity. Well later on we learnt that today was the last day of a religious temple ceremony held between 17-20 December to commemorate the day the temple was founded as well as Sang Hyang Widi Wasa  ( the day of the Gods). The ceremonies were held at the Desa Ubud Temple and there are various elements of offerings – all men and women are dressed very beautifully and carry offerings to the temple. There is also trance music and dance. Unfortunately we could not stay as we were not dressed appropriately. 

By the time our shuttle came to pick us up, we were totally drenched even though we had umbrellas but then the water was gushing around our feet and it was a miracle that we did not slip…….. Great to be back for dinner and a shower afterwards. nd looking forward to tomorrow’s trip! Goodnight all !! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Singapore and old colleagues catch up

 

 

Singapore, 17-18 December 2017

After a good night’s sleep we were ready to explore Singapore on the Sunday morning. An easy way out after travelling so far was to get onto the City Tour bus and enjoy all the views with the running commentary – besides doing the city tour, we also did the harbour tour – in an amphibian vehicle called???Ducky!!! Our tour guide on the harbour tour was very informative but also ready to take some good snapshots against various backgrounds such as the Singapore Flyer  – giant wheel and the symbol of Singapore, the  Merlion – a mythical creature with a lion’s head and the body of a fish and widely used as a mascot and national personification of Singapore

Of course we also had time to explore on foot the historical China town, a sharp contrast to the Marina Bay area, as it has low buildings mainly shop houses with the Chinese culture bursting out onto the streets. Food stalls with appetising fragrances of the Chinese cuisine can be found all along the streets and also beautifully ornate Buddhist and Hindu temples. Unfortunately we did not have time to go inside as we were not dressed appropriately and also it was time for us to return to our hotel ( also made up of a number of  converted Chinese shop houses on the Joo Chiat road) to freshen up and meet up with my old colleague Chrystie Dao with whom I had worked at ABN AMRO / RBS London. We were meeting up on the rooftop of Fullerton Bay Hotel which has excellent views of the harbour and the buildings across including the Marina Sands Hotel.

I haven’t seen Chrystie for quite a while so it was good to catch up and bring ourselves up to speed on a number of  colleagues we used to share. Although Chrystie could not join us for dinner as she had her parents visiting from Australia, she showed us the way to the food market, Lau Pa Sat, where she recommended that we try the chilli crab! well we were messy eaters as you don’t get the tools that you normally do in Europe to eat crab but it was well worth it!!

By the time we got back to the Venue Hotel, we must have walked some 8 km in total even though we did take taxis to and from our hotel. Anyway was quite exhausted by the time my head hit the pillow……

Following morning – i.e. the last day in Singapore, we took a taxi ride to the Changi Prison Chapel Museum. This was very impressive especially as even nowadays the same type of atrocities that took place during world war II are still taking place in different parts of the world.

By the time we got back to the hotel it was time to have some relax moments and then get ready to join my old colleagues from both Citibank days and ABN AMRO days who incidentally   had worked together at Citibank Tokyo and both are now in Singapore.To quote Takeshi’s words he used on facebook: “My ex-colleague in the Netherlands is the former boss of someone who is my ex-boss in Japan. All got together in Singapore with spouses. Diversity here with 2 Dutch, 1 Singaporean, 1 Maltese Dutch, 1 Taiwanese and 1 Japanese”  we had a great evening and a real example of diversity and inclusion which we have picked up in our banking careers.

Thank you dear friends in Singapore – we will have to come back again to get to know this spectacular country and its people even better!

Flight from Amsterdam to Singapore

Our trip started off well!  No traffic jams from Krimpen to Schiphol – Rick (Gerry’s grandson)travelled with us and  took the car back. Dropped off our luggage at KLM desk and made our way to the Plaza to meet up with Martijn and Tessa (my son and his girlfriend) who were seeing us off. A slight change – there was some shooting going on at the Plaza –  Starbucks – we could not go downstairs as everyone was rushing upstairs. After about a twenty minute commotion, we got downstairs and met up with my children – there was a lot of tweeting going – a guy got angry because his coffee wasn’t done properly and started brandishing a knife, threathening the people around him; police took over and shot at him.

Anyway , we did meet up with Tessa and Martijn and then left to proceed to our gate. Flight to Kuala Lumpur went off fine with a few turbulences. Normally I can sleep really well but because I have a bad cough was constantly awake and getting out of my seat to walk towards the pantry so that I would not disturb the rest of the passengers with my cough. 

We changed flights at Kuala Lumpur , however when we were at the gate to get on the Singapore flight Gerry noticed that we didn’t have our camera with us. So he raced back to the previous gate and got the security officer to go back on the plane to get our camera. I also noticed that our goody bag from Schiphol loaded with 4 tin boxes filled with Speculaas was was also left behind……… Anyway Gerry was my hero!! He did manage to get my camera back again and all in time to board the plane for Singapore. 

Our chauffeur was patiently waiting for us at Singapore Changi Airport and after Gerry had his first cigarette since leaving Amsterdam we drove to our hotel. The local time was 19.30  – while being extremely tired we did not crash into our bed but after freshening up and changing our clothes went out to stroll around the area. We found a food market where all the locals were happily munching and slurping away at their noodles, fish and vegetables. It all looked appetising so we decided to have dinner here – and it was great!. 

Back to the hotel where we crashed out till the following morning!

Checking we have all our gear!

Gerry checking that we’ve got all our gear together

As Gerry keeps saying: if we are missing anything, then we just have to buy it wherever we are.  For sure, we have packed our hiking shoes, sun cream, anti bugs cream, photo camera and of course T-shirts and shorts. We are ready to go! we’ve already checked in for our flight with Malaysian Airlines and have our boarding passes. Tomorrow afternoon, Rick – Gerry’s grandson will be coming over and joining us on our trip to Schiphol Airport so that he can take the car back to Krimpen aan den Ijssel.