NZ - Conclusions and final photos

BIG QUESTIONS
You're maybe wondering how much the whole trip (Singapore included) cost. Flights and everything added up to £7950 (so just under £4000 per person). 

Generally New Zealand was fairly expensive! Some trip experiences were very expensive. Most gift shops were pricey, which was a pity. Food definitely cost more compared to the UK. Entrance fees to attractions and eating out that wee bit more than at home. Cappuccinos, beers, wine and takeaways all roughly the same. Petrol was slightly cheaper, while the bargain buy was certainly the flight: Auckland to Christchurch only cost £43.50 per person. 

While the motorhome, with petrol costs and camp fees seemed more expensive at the time, my calculations have found the car hire / Airbnb alternative (with food spend being higher) was not that different in the long run. More relaxing though and more of a holiday. 

LIKES
⏮ New Zealand was very clean and tidy
⏮ People very friendly and laidback
⏮ The campsites were excellent
⏮ Toilet dryers always worked !  Yes, really
⏮ The eye-catching trees - Pohutukawa, Rimu, Norfolk pine, Kahikaka, Cabbage tree, Kauri
⏮ No deadly creatures (ok two spiders, but no snakes)
⏮ The condition of the roads
NOT likes
⏮ The truck drivers on those roads - they are dangerous
⏮ The guide books and maps underestimate the driving time you'll need
⏮ Roadkill, mostly possums, a major pest in New Zealand. Apparently there are 70 million of them !
⏮ The Christchurch shootings, that happened one week after we'd been there.

NOTED & LINKS TO
⏮ All Maori names end in a vowel. And trying to pronounce them is crazy. We gave up !
⏮ And the guide books and maps under estimate the driving time you'll need

Link > Bill's New Zealand beer blog

QUOTES

"The danger is that when people find out what an interesting place New Zealand is, they may come in crowds... I strongly advise you not to make too much of the tourist sights except for yourselves" GEORGE BARNARD SHAW (1934)

and The TIMES magazine (2019)

"Don't do travel for the 'gram. Geotagging Instagram hotspots cause copycat travel, social media travellers swarm to locations to replicate experiences and pictures. Remember: to hype a location is to threaten it with destruction. If you find somewhere nice, be discreet.

*This reminded me of the queue on Roy's peak for the scenic viewpoint. A prime example of the word getting out and crowds forming.

This blog is therefore me being discreet... not sure I succeeded though. (Photos don't fully do it justice - so that's under stated).


FINAL PHOTO GALLERY
Places not covered previously. On the road. Maori stories. Silly selfies. And family, friends and US.

 The Pinnacles, Coromandel Peninsula

 Unreal Pohutukawa tree with air plants hanging from it. Coromandel

 Lovely Waitomu Beach Cafe, across from tree above.

Weird road to folly: Chateau Tongariro at Whakapapa (pronounced 'fa-ka-pa-pa')

 Hokitika Beach sign

 Wonderful reflections. Lake Hawea 

 Mount Cook from west side appears through cloud ring

 Chilly morning by Lake Te Anau. 

 Christchurch: earthquake damage - (whole street corners were like post war sites).

 Impossible Maori name for Te Puia, Rotorua

 Pelaton up ahead. Lake Pukaki

 Live Juicy camper van. Very Green and highly visible

 Otira Hotel. Gollum on the roof

 Taupo McDonald's - the coolest they say?

 Lots of cows - we coined the phrase 'over cowding' !

 Always lots of road cones

 One of the best cappuccinos (Lake Matheson, nr Fox Glacier)

 Margaret at the wheel

 Bill at the wheel

 Campsite Lake Wanaka

 Lake Taupo

 All the cousins night out

 Being silly - Billy

 A pro shot... ? Taken by an airbnb host

 Prefer this one.

 And this one too

That's NEW ZEALAND (the big one)

  ◀  The End  ▶

Singapore 2019

On February 12th we jetted off en route to the other side of the world - New Zealand specifically. Pausing briefly to acclimatise with a sleepover for three nights in Singapore, attempting to limit the effects of the flights and time differences involved.

Here's the Singapore story - in photos. (New Zealand will follow when I find the time to sift through the 2,000✭ pictures and videos that we came back with from an amazing 5 week adventure).

Singapore was called Singapura, which translates as Lion City in Sanskrit, by Sang Nila Utama, a Sumatran Prince after he thought he saw a lion on the island but there have never been any lions so it was probably a tiger.

PHOTOS >>>

 The iconic Marina Bay Hotel

 The unique Gardens by the Bay

 Amazing Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay

 Inside the Cloud Forest dome

 Stunning orchid in Flower Dome

The 'must be done' drinks in the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel (pictured above.) While costing 32 Singapore dollars EACH ! (about £18), this one off experience saw us exit the building before the alcohol tricked us into a second round. 

On Valentine's Day (right) one of our better 'selfie' attempts. Clearly taken before we saw the final bill...

We also manage to catch up with a friend from Long Island. Dianne who works for the airlines was in town on a short layover - here we are (below) about to sample the curries at RAS - The Essence of India, on Clarke Quay.  

 Margaret after a visit to her Singapore hairdresser

 The Little India district - near our hotel

 Spoilt for choice in Chinatown - hmmm 'Soursop Drink' anyone ?

 Very Singapore 1: cheap items 3 for $10

 Very Singapore 2: They love a sign and a fine: Up to $500 for this (above). 
And (below) a sign in a toilet, a Gentle Reminder that says "Please help to keep the toilet clean as we progress towards a civilised society" !

 ✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭

As some of you are aware my phone malfunctioned mid trip and all the photos I'd taken up to that point and saved to the micro SD card in my phone appeared lost forever.    

The computer/phone shops back in London gave me little hope of repair and I had given them up... 

Then Scott said try a USB Card Reader in my computer and download some recovery software called EaseUS. Amazingly this worked and I was able to successfully recover all my Singapore photos, plus the first 11 days on the South Island of New Zealand, including the hike up Roy's Peak overlooking Lake Wanaka. Very happy about that in particular as it was a long walk up. 

✭ So the total is now a wee bit higher than at first thought... just need time to get on with it !

–  The MORAL of the story : Never give up !  –

✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭

A Magical Musical Tour - nothing is real !

LIVERPOOL > BLACKPOOL > PORTMEIRION

A few days up North starting in Liverpool and the full Beatles trip. The resurrected Cavern Club in Mathew Street, Bus Tour along Penny Lane (bus shelter / barbers / bank) very strange to Strawberry Field, childhood homes and a scouser commentary with music and a sing-a-long to tunes as we roll up outside The Beatles Story exhibition.
Brilliant !
City of Liverpool full of listed buildings and lots of places to eat and drink. Great !

Glass floor - top of the Tower

Next stop Blackpool. (Via a lovely sunny day's drive along the coast to Southport and then Lyham St. Annes). We wanted to see the illuminations (only on for two months a year) and while stretching for miles they perhaps are not as outstanding as once they were.
To the top of the Blackpool Tower in glorious sunshine was well worth it, as was the ballroom, watching couples twirling and spinning around, quite hypnotic in an old time dancing sort of way. 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s tunes mostly, with the odd 60s song tucked in there too.
Generally Blackpool is tacky and whiffs of horse drawn cartoon carriages mingle with Fish 'n' Chips. Phew !

The comedy carpet beneath the tower is loadsa fun though. Laugh !

(left) Comedy Carpet - (right) illuminating

North pier beach from the Tower

Couples twirling around the beautiful Tower ballroom

Final port of call > Portmeirion, North Wales. However driving there through a storm (called Callum) probably wasn't clever but we'd only seen rain forecast, no mention of a storm blowing in. Margaret's birthday celebrated on the Friday evening. Steaks !
It did pour down while wandering around the fantasy village designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis in the style of Mediterranean Italy. Raining !
We need to visit again in better weather so in the words of 'The Prisoner' TV series filmed in The Village > Be seeing you !

Brilliant - Great - Phew - Laugh - Steaks - Raining - Be seeing you.







➽ ➽
Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever: was a double A-side single released in February 1967. Two of their very best songs, incredibly it only reached No.2 in the UK charts.

Hello Goodbye x

Californian Gallery

Lots of pictures from the San Francisco Trip >

Pacific Ocean backdrop.  Great photo by Donna.

Toes in the Ocean. Had to do activity and shot. 

Other obligatory shots: Cable Car ride. And (Margaret) at Fell Street in San Francisco.

Monster hire car - Chevrolet Tahoe.

(left) Sign reads "hello marijuana, goodbye hangover" - and (right) Parson Jones, Redwood Tree 1300 years old !

Dianne, Toni and Joanne at Painted Ladies, San Francisco.

Tomahawk Steak. To quote our Debbie: "Soo Good" 

Toni and Jimmy looking very much at home.

Francis Ford Coppola's Winery Pool area.

(left) Crazy curves of Lombard Street, San Francisco







Also here's a couple of dumb videos to watch >

Bill being silly at Lombard Street: Actually doing a Michael Portillo impression. FYI

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcLZlO2Q640

And waves of Canadian Geese. Lake Merritt Park, Oakland

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dObI4GJqKiU&feature=youtu.be

Bobby and Bill talking music - probably.

Scroll down for FULL story below ⬇

San Francisco Reunion

Wind the clock back to December last: I innocently sent an email to friends in America asking if they had it on their radar that this summer it would be 40 years since we all meet in San Francisco. Suggesting it would be great if we could all met up again..... well while we were away in Cape Town, amazingly the idea grew to the point that it became fully organised - dates, places to stay, people to see again - all we had to do was book a flight to California. 'The Big Reunion on the West Coast' was on !

"It was ALL about the people" was how Margaret described the trip on our return after two weeks of good old American hospitality, socialising, catching up and making new friends.
Here's a basic breakdown of our visit that saw us accommodation hopping 4 times in perfect harmony.... follow the map below (scale in miles, to be strictly American).  

First stop: Daly City.
Six of us in an Airbnb only a short drive into San Francisco.
Which included Dancing in Dolores Park to 'Uptown Funk'.
Don't believe be just watch (left)

And the obligatory photo outside the apartment (2108 Hayes Street) where I first meet everyone in 1978.
(Picture Below)

40 years and counting - M&B with Joanne, Carol and Jimmy and Toni.  Photo Anon

Next stop: Oakland.
Carol had flown home and the five of us stayed in Joanne's son's apartment across the bay in Oakland. Dianne (Jo's sister) was also with us for a few days.
We did the City streets in our monster truck (Chevrolet Tahoe) and celebrated Joanne's birthday. 
A night out at Drake's Dealership is accounted for here >>>

Moving On: Week Two
Joanne (along with Dianne) had gone off to cruise the Mediterranean Sea and Gary drove the four of us north to Debbie's home in Santa Rosa. We had visited during the first week but this time we stayed and enjoyed lovely towns, beautiful wineries, a majestic Redwood forest, the Pacific Ocean, Bodega Bay (where Hitchcock filmed 'The Birds'), Francis Ford Coppola's Winery Pool Day and generally had a ball with everyone.
Scroll back up to the map if I have lost you.

Our Fourth and final place came with a magnificent view. Gary's house in Sausalito overlooked the bay. See my 'Hockney' like photo montage below.

Gary took us on a scenic drive around to Point Reyes Station and Highway 1 coastal road and back via an English pub and Mill Valley. 
We said fond farewells from Sausalito but not before drink's at Hal's and another BBQ at Gary's and more group photos - which was what it was ALL about.

In some sort of chronological order:

Winery picnic.
(L to R) Gary, Frank, Jimmy, Joanne (at back), Debbie, Margaret (at back), Carol, Bill, Grace, Toni and Donna.
Do we all look intoxicated ?   Photo Donna Bianchi

Wine Tasting.   Photo Donna Bianchi

This is my favourite shot. Giant Redwoods.  Photo Donna Bianchi

At Coppola's Pools.  Photo Deborah Gustafson

In Sausalito with Hal, Debbie and Tim.  Photo Donna Bianchi

At Gary's house.  Photo Donna Bianchi

Finally (left) trick photo >
If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair


Photo credits:
With thanks and love to Debbie and Donna and Joanne.




A Gallery of extras images will follow later.