The last 5 days in Arrowtown

On Wednesday the 24th we walked the 5 miles round Lake Hayes which is near our cottage. In the afternoon Rob, Roger and I played 18 holes at Arrowtown Golf course which was just beautiful. I hired a random set of clubs but the whole experience was memorable (if the golf wasn't). The views and the course were a joy. Meanwhile the girls walked a small section of the Frankton to Queenstown trail ending with coffee at the Bathhouse overlooking Lake Wakapitu. The picture below is taken from Tobin's track (a walk we did later in the week) showing the lake in the background and golf course in the foreground:

On Thursday we travelled to Wanaka which meant driving over unsealed roads and through the towns of both Cardrona and Cromwell. In the former we passed a famous fence covered in various bras donated by visitors in support of research into breast cancer. We left a donation but sadly no bra!

At Wanaka we again completed a stunning five mile walk with a beautiful return trip, ending the evening at a local quirky cinema called Dorothy Brown's where you can order cheese and wine to take in with you. How civilised is that?

Over the next 3 days we went to the Cookies and Contractors Race Meeting at Omakau. Cookies are farmers apparently. It was a great little venue mainly for local farmers and their families. Needless to say I couldn't find a winner, but people watching was excellent and even Rob and Mo entertained us by ordering hot dogs that arrived battered and so disgusting that pictures have been banned (for now).

A wonderful 7 mile walk to Sawpit Gully followed the day after which took us high into the hills around Arrowtown with a meal out in the evening (Tapas) in the town itself.

On our last full day in Arrowtown we walked Tobin's Track (all uphill!) and after walking Lake Hayes again, we drove to the Remarkables Ski Resort above the town. The views were breathtaking as seen below and completed a great nine days. In the evening Jane and Roger (our hosts) cooked lamb shanks for us which finished things beautifully. They are a great couple, so generous and welcoming, a bit like most NZ folk.

So it's off to Te Anau today and Doubtful Sound tomorrow. We leave Arrowtown with great memories, new friends and feeling lucky to have seen such a staggeringly wonderful part of the world.

Beautiful Arrowtown

We arrived in Queenstown/Arrowtown (South Island NZ) on Saturday the 20th of February from Sydney in pouring rain, met by Rob and Maureen our good friends and holiday guides for the next 9 days!

The first stop was to pick up our executive hire car which is like something from the 1950's! Its actually a Japanese Nissan Tilda 2004 which has probably been round the clock at least twice! But hey it goes!

Our home for the first nine days in NZ is a wonderful cottage owned by Roger and Jane in a tranquil and beautiful spot near Lake Hayes. Jane had baked us macaroons to greet us and the place couldn't be better.

The rain stopped rapidly on day one and Rob and Mo gave us a quick tour to get us started on the NZ leg of our world adventure.

On the following day we walked the 17km Arrow and Kawarau river walk to Hackett Bridge bungee jumping station, declining the opportunity to jump when we got there!

On day 3 Rob and Mo were busy funyacking so we walked into Arrowtown via Christine's Hill and through Milbrook Golf Club (the venue for the NZ Open from March the 11th). The views and walk were stunning. On route we visited an old chinese gold mining settlement on the outskirts of Arrowtown.

Late afternoon we decided it was time for an adrenalin rush so went to the Shotover Jet Boat experience and had a dramatic ride down the the Shotover River Canyons. The ride is fast and furious with 360 degree turns in wonderful and very tight canyons. No cameras were allowed but our trustee tour guides were there to capture the moment!

Today we travelled to Glenorchy at the end of Lake Wakatipu with Rob and Mo. The Lake boasts a 99.9% purity level which makes it superior to most bottled water. We saw black swans and venues used for the Lord of the Rings movie. Glaciers were in the distance and the Lake itself was an unreal blue. It was truly awesome.

From one staggering place to another, we toured over unsealed roads in our luxury Nissan to Lake Moke. This lake sits in steep valley created by glaciers thousands of years ago. We walked around the entire perimeter and lunched half way round. It's almost impossible to describe how beautiful this area is. The colours, the mountains, the lakes and views have simply blown us away! 

We are out for a meal with friends tonight and I'm golfing with Rob and Roger tomorrow afternoon at Arrowtown Golf Club and probably spending the morning walking round Hayes Lake and possibly kayaking with our Scottish tour guides!

Final days in Aus.

Yesterday we took a bus to Bondi beach and walked to Coogee. Bondi itself was unimpressive but the walk was great and arriving in Coogee via Gordon's Bay was outstanding. The views, the power of the sea and weather all combined to make for a perfect day. Great for people watching as well!

We ended the day with guess what, another walk via the Centennial Park and the famous Sydney Cricket Ground. We returned exhausted but what a great day and sore feet soon recover!!

And so to our final day..........

An early morning stroll through the Botanical Gardens and round to Mrs Macquaries chair, followed by a bay walk to the famous Sydney Opera House. "Pictures" that will stay with us for ever!

It was then a ferry to Watson's Bay, taking in yet another walk, this time to Hornby Lighthouse and amazing views out to the Pacific Ocean. One "view" we tried to avoid, however, was the nudist beach en route! You wouldn't get that at Blackpool!

Our "Grand Finale" meal was fish and chips (Phil) and BBQ fish (Maggie) at the famous wharf side Doyles' cafe - established for over 5 generations.

We're going to be leaving Sydney with some fabulous memories of an amazing city, probably one of our favourites. We've been welcomed and befriended by some lovely people who have gone out of their way to show off their city and country, of which they are clearly proud. And not once did we have to remind them that Yorkshire won more gold medals than Australia in the London Olympics four years ago!

Goodbye Singapore, hello Sydney!

On our last day in Singapore we visited the iconic Skypark at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel which provided some great views of the area from the 57th floor including the Grand Prix track, the Marina Bay golf course and endless ships, coming or leaving a port that is second only to Shanghai in terms of size.

Gardens by the Bay sits below the hotel and was spectacular to walk and spend time in.

We left for Sydney late in the evening with great memories of some wonderful people, a clean vibrant city, a fantastic hotel and a fine introduction to Asia.

Australia for us meant Sydney and our first two days have been great. The city is easy to get round and like Singapore, public transport is fantastic. The highlights have included the convict museum which told some amazing stories of endurance and survival, but today has been truly spectacular. We walked from Spit Bridge to Manly, returning on the ferry in the evening. We experienced great views, new friends in the form of lizards and bird life (see below, and Maggie is still alive!), and witnessed some terrific surfing waves at Manly beach. We finished the trip with beers and food at a local craft beer place called Four Pines which was good as it gets! Returning on the ferry to Circular Quay was a great end to the day. The only disappointment has been no sign of kangaroos, koala's, Nicole Kidman or even Kylie but you can't have everything! Bondi and Coogee beach walk tomorrow!

Valentine's Day!

This morning saw us tackling the Singaporean transport system, taking trains and buses to and from Changi museum out near the airport. All went amazingly smoothly, testimony to the efficiency and ease of all the transport networks rather than our navigational skills! Excellent value, too, with a 20km journey costing less than $2 (£1!)

The Changi museum tour continued where yesterday's Fort Canning bunker tour left off. The museum is on the site of the original POW camp and the museum is dedicated to the thousands of prisoners for whom Changi was "home" from 1942 to the end of WWII in 1945. Not surprisingly it was a poignant and sad visit but one that was also full of amazing stories of bravery, resilience and friendship. 

On a lighter note, we ended the day taking a nosey at how the "other half" live in the Raffles Hotel then meandered back along the marina, where the Chinese New Year festivities were in their final throes. The Esplanade (and route of the Singapore F1!) was awash with stalls and with families celebrating and having fun. 

Tomorrow, our last day in Singapore, will see us visiting the "Gardens by the Bay" before we head to Sydney. More piccies to follow. 

Singapore

We arrived in Singapore yesterday morning after a straightforward flight from Manchester. Despite testing jet lag we managed a pretty full day yesterday with a trip to the amazing botanical gardens which is a UNESCO world heritage site founded in 1859 by Sir Stanford Raffles and developed by botanists from Kew Gardens. The site is free to enter but the orchid gardens (which were astounding) cost $1each! The gardens are one of only three to be awarded world heritage status and that includes Kew itself. Having left the gardens we went to Chinatown (the Chinese are the largest ethnic group in Singapore, so Chinatown isn't small), during which we had a fantastic storm that finally drove us to a local restaurant/cafe! It was full of locals and worked out really well.

Today we walked about 11 miles going from a local river walk to Little India and finally to Fort Canning Park. The Malay dynasty ruled Singapore from this vantage point in the fourteenth century but more recently its acted as a site for a fort and military base. What remains now has been developed into an Arts centre/hotel and the National Museum. We visited and took a tour of the Battlebox which is an underground bunker constructed in the late 1930's. It ultimately became the HQ for Allied Armed Forces as Japan invaded Malay and Singapore in 1941/2. After 55 days of the Japanese invasion, British command surrendered from this bunker, leaving 5,000 allied forces dead and 80,000 captured including Australians, Indians and British, the largest surrender of British led forces in history. Sadly we weren't allowed to take photo's but Maggie did win a little competition at the end amongst the visitors and came away with a copy of the surrender document!

We ended the day (as we do with most in truth) with a beer and a gin.

Ready for the off!

All packed and ready to go!