Tom & Norma's World Tour

Arrival in Delhi

2012-01-31T07:54:00.000-08:00

Less than 36 hours since we landed in Delhi and what tales we have to tell already! Our flight was fairly uneventful, though it felt long as we left Glasgow at 1.p.m. on Saturday (having been in the airport since 9 a.m.) and landed in Dubai just after midnight local time, though just after 8 p.m. UK time. We then had to wait over four hours for our connection to Delhi, and were served breakfast as the sun rose over the sub-continent. Our watches moved on another hour and a half and we landed in Delhi a little after 9 a.m. on Sunday. Immigration, customs, changing money, and negotiating a taxi to our hotel took us to early afternoon, so we thought we'd catch up on a little lost sleep, but the street noise was such that we were only able to doze. Being next to the street wasn't the best for sleeping but our room had a balcony so we were able to enjoy the sight and sound of bands gathering and young men dancing in preparation for Beating the Retreat which was due to happen later that evening.

At 6 p.m. we met with our group leader and the rest of our G Adventures tour group, and set off to a restaurant for our first meal. There are two Canadian couples of roughly similar age to us, plus another Canadian travelling alone, a young English couple, a Scots girl and another six young females of various nationalities, mainly Swedish or French. We spent much of the evening talking to one of the Canadian couples, from Vancouver, who have travelled widely, mostly with G Adventures, and are experienced sea kayakers. We should explain that G Adventures, which used to be called Gap Adventures, is a Canadian company.

On the way to the restaurant we were taken down a lane which we can safely say we would never have ventured into by ourselves. We certainly got a flavour, and a few aromas, of Delhi. The food was excellent and cheap, the beer was Kingfisher, and the wine was much too expensive for us, even the local variety which we were told is not that good anyway. Maybe we'll just become beer drinkers for a while.

2012 Trip to India

2012-01-25T04:21:00.000-08:00

Yes we are off again, to India this time. We are not very fond of February in UK although January hasn't been too bad so far. Anyway we were inspired by Alison Robertson's trip to India and during a particularly wet spell in November we went into Trailfinders to make enquiries. We came out with a plan of what to see on a four week stay. Don't go into a travel agents on a wet day---it's like going into a supermarket when you're hungry.

Tom has had a long term wish to take me there and share some of what he saw on his travels in 1969. I agreed to go as long as it was with some degree of comfort. The trip starts in Delhi with a tour to Jaipur, Agra and Varanasi. It's then back to Delhi and we are on our own to Shimla by the toy train. It could be cold in Shimla as there is usually snow on the ground in February so the thermals are packed but it will be a chance to chill out (probably literally) after a busy tour. This is followed by a plane south to Cochin in Kerala and a private tour round spice plantations, wildlife reserve, backwater tour on a houseboat and a couple of nights on the beach.

It all sounds good, travel advice has been sought and we are packed ready to go from Glasgow on Saturday 28th January.The kindle has cut down on books and we really have cut luggage to a minimum.

Journey's End

2011-02-25T12:32:00.000-08:00

We are home now and it's time to complete the story. But first if you look back over the past few posts, as far as Mui Ne in Vietnam, you'll find a few photographs have appeared.

Our flight from Siem Reap in Cambodia to Bangkok was the shortest of the whole trip at just 35 minutes in the air - followed by an hour to clear all the formalities to be allowed into Thailand, then another hour in a taxi into the city to find our hotel. That was not as easy as we expected because our taxi driver had never heard of the hotel and couldn't find it. Eventually he had to phone for directions, but it was worth it. Last time we were in Bangkok (also on a brief stopover) we had stayed in one of the big luxury hotels on the outskirts and travelled into the city on the elevated railway called the Skytrain. This time Norma had picked out a "boutique" hotel near the river and the Royal Palace. It turned out to be practically in the river and had only 12 rooms, but very friendly and a similar standard to the other hotels we had stayed in. We arranged a late checkout and a return taxi to the airport for our flight home, scheduled to leave just after midnight the next day, and set off to explore.

Among other things we crossed the river to the Wat Arun temple at sunset, visited several markets including the Flower Market which was only a short walk from our hotel, took a trip upriver and back on the Express Boat (quite an experience especially the return trip at rush hour), and almost by accident found ourselves wandering through the main backpackers area.

Our flight back to London in a packed British Airways 747 was tolerable. Since it was overnight with a time shift of seven hours we both slept quite a bit of the way. Then finally it was on to Edinburgh, arriving about 9 a.m. This flight was also full, but the passengers were very different - all business suits, huge briefcases and no checked baggage. We felt a bit out of place, especially carrying a large coolie hat!

We collected the car, visited Uncle Tam who seems to have done well without us and arrived back in Kinnesswood by lunch time. Thanks to our kind neighbours, all is well at home. We now need to sort out our photos so we can find an unsuspecting audience to show them to. When we get to that stage, hopefully soon, we'll post some of them on Flickr and put a link up here.

Pythons in pots

2011-02-22T23:15:00.000-08:00

We started the day early and were soon on our way to the further away temples. Each had been built in a different era and had different architectural styles. By now we were used to the carvings of snakes, gods, dancing girls, lions, crocodiles and other mythical creatures. The religious symbols were a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist with a few variations thrown in. The temples were largely abandoned hundreds of years ago and when they were discovered - and in some cases plundered - by Europeans the work started to reclaim them from the jungle. During the recent wars they were the site of some of the fighting between the Vietnamese army and the army of Pol Pot. You can still see some of the bullet holes.

Our next visit was to the Land Mine museum set up by a Cambodian who had lost his parents during the war and become a child soldier. He had set hundreds of mines himself and taken part in much of the fighting. Eventually he took his chance and defected to the Vietnamese army. After the war he could see the effect of the mines and started to disarm mines himself. His ambition was to set up a mine museum and a school for the child victims of landmines, which he did with the help of various agencies. We watched a film, narrated by a Scot, which interspersed shots of mine disposal with pictures of the children at the school, taking part in activities such as football on crutches and jumping into the river. It was a very moving visit and it is only when you see the results that you realise that the mines are still maiming and killing people. Enough educational material has been collected to give a few talks on the subject.

Our lunch was organised by the tour and was at a hospitality school organised by a French NGO. Students have to be suitable candidates, well motivated and have a reasonable education. They are given experience in hotel management, cooking, cleaning and serving at tables. All of the school's students have so far got jobs in hotels and restaurants. Our experience in restaurants here is that all staff are very well trained to please and try very hard to speak English.

As an addition to our tour we had asked to see the floating islands in Tonle Sap, Cambodia's own inland lake. We knew about Angkor Wat before we went but these were a complete revelation and a fantastic photo opportunity. The lake is extensive but the water is quite low at this time of year. We set off in a boat and on the way saw people swimming, mending nets, fishing, building houses and delivering groceries. However when we saw the first village on the lake we were astounded by the scene. It was not as colourful as Lake Titicaca but equally busy and on a much bigger scale - over 80,000 people live on these floating islands. There were children playing a ball game in a floating school, a temple on stilts, a crocodile farm and many small fish farms. Children here must learn to literally sink or swim at an early age. Health and safety did not come into it. The pots mentioned in the title were large aluminium pots just big enough to hold a small child with a python and a stick to paddle with. I think the idea was to offer visitors the chance to be photographed holding a python but we easily resisted the temptation. We thought of our four grandchildren in a similar scenario then thought "Oh no!".

Quite a day and not finished yet. We watched the sunset from yet another temple on a hill top (climbing again) then rushed back to shower and change for an excellent buffet meal and a show of classical Hindu dancing. Only Bangkok left now before our final flight back to UK.

Temples and more temples

2011-02-22T22:47:00.000-08:00

We were again met by our guide, named Ti, and taken to our accommodation. He has turned out to be a most solicitous guide who gave us very strict instructions on putting our passports in the safe, charging up our cameras and bringing our hats. We got used to it after a while but it was a bit like going on a school trip. "Have you been to the toilet yet?"

He suggested a tour of the town and environs the first night so after a swim and a wander ourselves (which included a fish foot massage - you put your feet in a large tank and they are gently nibbled by dozens of tiny fish) we met up and he took us by Tuk Tuk (small motor bike transport) to the outskirts of the town where many hundreds of people were having what he called a picnic - it was a collection of stalls where there were spit roasts, second hand clothes, a fun fair and lots of dancing later evidently. Where they all came from we're not sure as there were still thousands in the town attending to the tourists.

We started the next day with the tour of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. They are as magnificent as we expected though there was a bit of a surprise that they were clear of all vegetation. These sites have been used in a number of films, including famously Tomb Raider. We could just picture Angelina Jolie in action here. We had a break for lunch and a swim to cool down before starting the tour again. Now we moved on to the smaller, less famous temples and there was greater evidence of jungle growth on these. Some even had huge mature kapok trees growing right out of the walls - pictures will follow, we promise.

The plan had been to return to Angkor Thom for the sun set, but dark clouds loomed and it started to rain - most unseasonal we were told and no chance of seeing a sunset, so we diverted to the museum in Siem Reap, before meeting up with our friends from Vietnam at the Blue Pumpkin. Since Dennis, who had suggested we meet there had last been in Siem Reap ten years ago something like eight other restaurants called the Blue Pumpkin had opened, but luckily we all picked the same one, and Dennis was the only one who had trouble finding it. We had a great evening and all felt like real world travellers.

Last look at Saigon

2011-02-19T22:55:00.000-08:00

Our last night with the group in Saigon was celebrated with another lovely meal, a bit more pricey than on our journey but very nice indeed. It was sad to say farewell to the group and to Thuy but we have all their e-mails and we hope to catch up with Louise when she goes to Leeds University. There are also four others who are going on to Siem Reap and we have arranged to meet them at the Blue Pumpkin restaurant there on Sunday night.

It was quite a relief to have a long lie the next morning, collect our laundry and have a good look around Saigon. Following hints from one of the guide books we set off down to the river, following the "Quiet American Tour". We had coffee on the 5th floor of the Majestic Hotel, a bit more than usual but well worth it for the view of the river. Massive development is going on here and to go back in 5 years will probably see enormous changes to the city. It has a real buzz and we found it an interesting place to walk around, despite all the warnings we had been given beforehand.

Some last minute shopping was done, a last meal then we set off on Saturday for the airport. It is very modern and a pleasant place to pass a couple of hours. We even found some Illy coffee - pure heaven. Our flight to Siem Reap was on time and even arrived early. We had to join the long queue for visa on entry then came through the nicest airport building we have been in to be met by our Cambodia guide.

Cu Chi Tunnels

2011-02-18T03:44:00.000-08:00

After our early start we drove about 70 kilometres to the area of Cu Chi. This is north west of Saigon. The people of this area, despite being in the south, were supporters of the communists in the north. During the fighting with the French some tunnels had been built in this area and were used to great advantage to conduct guerilla warfare. When the Americans came the tunnels were increased and to begin with no one even knew they were there. 16000 people lived down there during the war and proved a real thorn in the flesh to the Americans. We had a really interesting visit, starting with a propaganda film from the 1960's. We then saw how well hidden the entrances were and saw some of the weapons made, usually recycling ammunition captured from the Americans. The Viet Cong also set some horrific man traps and had every trick in the book for catching out their enemies. Dogs were used to scent out the Viet Cong but they started using American soap to fool the dogs and wearing uniforms captured from soldiers.

This picture shows one of our group trying out an original tunnel entrance. Not too many of us were small enough to fit through it, but the Vietnamese had thoughtfully widened a 50 metre length for the benefit of western visitors like us and we all duly crawled through. However there was an opportunity to come out about halfway along and several of us were very glad of it. We could not imagine living that way for literally months on end, only coming out at night to fight.

Some of the group also bought ammunition and had the opportunity to fire weapons on the range run by the Vietnamese Army. Our snack on this trip was to try tapioca along with some tea made from a local leaf. The tapioca wasn't too bad. It was a slice which we dipped in ground up peanuts - much better than the school dinner variety.

We were glad to see that this is now a peaceful area, very attractive countryside and mostly vegetable growing and rubber plantations. Our guide was a small boy living in Hanoi after the war and Thuy remembers that he only had one set of clothes a year, with new ones for the Tet holiday. There were also food shortages and rationing. He often had to get up at 1 a.m. to start queuing for food or his family might miss the chance that day.

This was our last trip on the bus and we were very appreciative to have had such a good driver who kept such a clean tidy bus and got us here in one piece. We heard the news about the boat sinking at Halong Bay and were glad this happened after we had been there as otherwise we would have been sleeping on deck or going by canoe!Darwin has had a cyclone since we left and record rainfall for the month so we were pretty lucky with our time there.

Dynasty Beach Resort

2011-02-18T03:00:00.000-08:00

We moved on next to Mui Ne, a quieter but more modern beach resort, more of an old fishing village which has expanded. On the way we had superb views of the coast and the fishing fleets which have usually returned from their early morning trips by the time we are on the road.

We have also been learning about the crops grown along the way. After the paddy fields - and stopping to take pictures of water buffalo crossing the main highway pulling loads of sand - we moved on to a much drier landscape which to the Australians was reminiscent of South Australia. The main crop being grown there was tapioca (we can hear the groans of those who endured it at school dinners). Many crops like this were laid out on the fields to dry in the sun. Sugar cane is also grown here.

A downside of travelling through the countryside is the litter. It is everywhere, mostly plastic and it has been a constant part of our discussions. The towns, even when there is some litter - inevitable when there are so many street markets - seem to have an army of cleaners who sweep up, and there seem to be small businesses which recycle cardboard, cans, plastic bottles etc. In the rural areas however there doesn't seem to be the same effort put in and litter is everywhere.

As we approached a steep hill we met up with a bus load of touring cyclists who were obviously being given the chance to have a good long run downhill at the end of their day. They appeared later at our hotel, resplendent in their lycra.

Apart from the resort hotels the main attraction of Mui Ne is the sand dunes. After trying out the hotel pool (bliss) we set off for the dunes and after a steep climb saw the sun setting. We were then given sand sledging instruction by a couple of boys, one about the same size as Calum. Our sledges were flexible plastic boards with a couple of rope handles. The boys poured sand on the plastic, told us how to sit with the board curled up at the front then wheee - off we went. We both gave it a go but as you can imagine it was the young ones who kept going back for more.

Our meal that night was across the road and as usual it was a good choice. Although the lunch and evening meals are optional most people are glad to go with our guide Thuy's choice as he has given us lots of different experiences - hot pots, barbecues, grills, and even a restaurant in Hoi An where the owners rolled us pancakes and fed them to us with great gusto. Mui Ne was a very nice place, and the hotel was perhaps the best of the whole trip. We were sorry not to have more time around the pool. However the fleshpots of Saigon beckoned and this was not a sitting around holiday.

As we set off the next day we were told it would take 4 hours to do 200 kilometres. We were a bit dubious as we started on a dual carriageway where no one could come straight at us from the other direction and traffic was light anyway. Not only that but there were lovely gardens up the middle of the road being lovingly tended by an army of gardeners, planting and watering. There were also side roads towards the dunes but no buildings we could see. There were huge billboards advertising new resorts as yet mostly unbuilt. Golf courses were clearly to be a big part of these resorts.

After a few miles of this we came abruptly to the end of the gardens and the dual carriageway, and soon ended up back on the same old A1 road. This time there seemed to be even more pot holes and signs that it was supposed to be improved in the near future. It certainly took us a good while to get into Saigon where the traffic was even madder than before. A lovely evening meal followed though we were to have an early start in order to see the Cu Chi tunnels before the crowds arrived.

We'll try to add a picture or two when we can but the computers here leave a bit to be desired.

Mud mud, glorious mud

2011-02-17T18:46:00.000-08:00

On the road to Nha Trang we had several stops for photo opportunities. We had asked the guide for a chance to stop and take really good photos of the rice planting. He must have taken the hint about this as he then asked the driver to stop at a place overlooking a fishing harbour. It was the most amazing sight to see the fishing boats which were unloading their catch. They are extremely colourful especially in the numbers massing in the harbour. They use small bamboo coracles to unload the fish from the boats. On the beach there was unloading of fish, mending of nets and general noise and colour. We were high above it all snapping away.

To our delight we also stopped at a fish market where the catch was being unloaded. We saw ice being chopped up and delivered to the hold of boats just about to go out to sea. Most of the fish buyers were women who were haggling over the price of the catch then loading it up in various ways to take to the local market. It was a shock to many of the group who were not used to the smell of fish in such quantities. We then stopped for lunch and guess what---it was fish. Usually we asked for the set menu for lunch though by now squid had lost its appeal. Thankfully Charles would finish off any squid left by the rest of us.

Nha Trang was a huge beach resort with all the usual attractions on offer, very different from the fishing villages we had passed. We took a walk along the front to see how the Vietnamese enjoy a seaside holiday. Our meal that night was a barbecue with clay barbecues set on the table in the middle of each group of four. It was a crazy experience----health and safety didn't come in to it and the food was really delicious.

The next day we had a boat trip out to a coral reef. Some people snorkelled or swam and there was an option of going in a glass bottomed coracle to view the reef. The surprise on board was a lady who offered to do a massage or other beauty treatments. To explain the boat had wooden seats which were then laid flat for the massage and then laid out as our lunch table. What fun we had as people took it in turn to have a massage, a pedicure, manicure or threading (when threads are used to remove hairs from the body). She was very good and great fun. Needless to say the men didn't go for the threading! There are not many secrets left among our group now.

The grand finale to the day was an optional visit to the mud thermal springs which nine of us took advantage of. We started with mineral showers then were given a mud pond to get in (nine person size) and it was filled with a mud mixture. Fifteen minutes in there then we had to dry off in the sun, water jets to clean us off then a pool of clean water. We finished the process with a swim. What a great time was had by all and after all this treatment we all slept like logs.

On the road to Saigon

2011-02-13T06:17:00.000-08:00

We now set off for the longest day of road travel, made even longer by the roads being clogged up by people travelling back to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) after the Tet holiday.The first real stop before lunch was to view the memorial site of the My Lai Massacre. We watched a documentary with an American presenter, linking a survivor of the massacre and a soldier who had taken part. We can remember the story unfolding in the late 60's. It was a sombre group who settled down to lunch and someone proposed a toast to peace. Our sights and sounds of Vietnam is certainly giving us a flavour of recent history and making us aware of the continuing effects of the Vietnam War such as the use of Agent Orange. There are still children being born who suffer the effects of this defoliant and some areas have not yet regrown.

On our journey there were so many sights to remember. We'll list a few:-

*People in the rice paddies planting rice, replanting where it is too thick and continuous working of the soil, all standing in knee deep water.

*Crazy traffic with lorries and buses overtaking other lorries and buses as well as the continuous line of motorcycles

*Bicycles and motorbikes piled high with vegetables, cardboard boxes, plumbing pipes, chickens by the dozen,pigs and anything else you might want to carry from one place to another.

*Children cycling or walking back from school in their neat school uniforms along Highway Number 1, even small children on their own, and needless to say no footpath.

*Potholes by the hundred, some as big as tank traps, on what is Vietnam's main highway.

*Many near misses.We will not be trying some of the manoeuvres at home or there would be major road rage incidents. They all passed with much tooting of horns and shrugs from our driver who was extremely laid back.

*Some spectacular viewpoints and road passes, but none as spectacular as the Hai Van Pass on the same road south of Hue.

We finally arrived at Quy Nhon to a hotel which was described as a "stopover" hotel, but it had a lovely swimming pool, and was an atmospheric place to have dinner.

Cookery School in Hoi An

2011-02-10T23:31:00.000-08:00

First we should tell you that the previous post now has a couple of photographs to illustrate it.

Although our hotel in Hoi An was a very good one, it was very noisy during the night with a tour group arriving at 1.00a.m. and phones ringing at 6.00a.m., never mind the school next door starting at 6.30. Norma was O.K. because of ear plugs but most folk didn't have a good night's sleep. However after a splendid breakfast we set off on a walking tour of the town.

First stop was the market, particularly the fish and vegetables. As our guide said, no one shops in the supermarket and there are daily visits to the market to buy essentials. It was a wonderful experience of sounds, smells, and of course photo opportunities.

There are about 20 old houses to visit and they sell tickets in 5's. We saw a couple of houses still lived in by families, the Hoi An museum, an ancient bridge and a Chinese temple. The shopping opportunities were plentiful. The town is known for silk, pottery and lantern making. A few purchases were made and the bags must be getting heavier by now.

We had the afternoon free to look around on our own, take more photographs, including one with a couple of old ladies selling bananas. It looked for a moment as if Norma would have a new career in the fruit business. That is not a banana stuffed in her mouth.

The highlight of the day was setting off for an evening meal which we were to cook ourselves with the help of our Vietnamese chef. He provided the ingredients, the implements and a running commentary as we attempted to cook a chicken salad Vietnamese style, spring rolls, grilled fish, crispy wontons, and other delicacies. It was great fun as we took it in turns trying to manoeuvre the spring rolls in a wok with giant chopsticks. We all felt we had learned something and enjoyed the meal as well.

It was another early night as we had a long day of travel ahead.

Not the Ghan to Hue

2011-02-10T22:43:00.000-08:00

What can we say about the train trip to Hue? Well it wasn't the Ghan. We were sharing a cabin with the guide rather than two other people so that gave us a bit more room. We had been warned to bring snacks for breakfast as catering on the train was quite basic. So were the toilets but they did keep working. To be honest we slept quite well and were better equipped than most for breakfast as we had found a pastry shop and bought some nice bread and a small banana loaf as well as orange juice which turned out to have yogurt in it. It was a long journey though the views were interesting and we were adopted by a little girl for part of the journey and kept her entertained with the help of William.

Lunch when we arrived followed by a shower and free time in a very nice hotel revived everyone. We took a boat up the Perfumed River, admiring the views and trying to ignore the sales talk. Every tourist visit is a sales opportunity for someone. Our destination was Vietnam's version of the Valley of the Kings - who needs to go to Egypt? - the tomb of one of the eighteenth century kings of Vietnam. We heard amusing stories about the number of concubines he had and learned that the statues of the mandarins guarding his tomb were so small because he was a little person himself so no statue could be bigger than him.

Our evening meal (all meals except breakfast are optional), was an entertainment as we were to dress up as mandarins. One couple became the King and Queen for the evening. We were adorned with robes and hats for the occasion, very splendid and more impressive than those of the Burra pantomime. We also had our own music group who played and sang traditional music while we ate. Hue has a music school so it gave some of the students a chance to play for an audience. We were a bit surprised when they finished by playing Auld Lang Syne. The food was excellently presented and delicious. One of the fruits which is quite common here is the dragon fruit, which we had never come across before but is obviously familiar to the Australians. The total cost of this banquet, including drinks, was about ten pounds a head. Food is very cheap so our day to day costs are not high. It was a great fun evening with lots of photos to prove it and much kidding on next day with our king and queen for the night.

Next day it was a morning bus ride to Hoi An, a lovely town, the old part of which now has World Heritage status. It was about 120 kilometres but the journey took about 4 hours due to the traffic and a couple of high passes. There were very interesting views on the way and a chance to observe the very rural way of life of most of the Vietnamese people, tending buffalo, planting rice and hoeing vegetables. It's a very colourful view as you pass, especially the markets. There are more bicycles in the country but still plenty of scooters and motor bikes. The loads carried are amazing.

Children were cycling home from school at 10.30-11.00a.m as they start at 6.30a.m. They also have an afternoon session which finishes about 5.30. We stopped at Da Nang, the third city of Vietnam and a main base of the US Air Force during the war. Lunch was a complete fish banquet, chosen if you wanted from the fish tanks in the hall of the restaurant. This blog does seem to have a surfeit of meal descriptions!

Our next stop was the Marble Mountain, both to admire the carvings and to climb the many steep steps up the mountain. We didn't know what to expect and it didn't disappoint. We approached a cave, went in and turned a few corners to find ourselves descending into a a large cave, reminiscent of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" We expected Harrison Ford to appear any minute. What gave it atmosphere were the huge carved Buddhas set into niches in the walls, adorned by the usual ornaments, offerings and joss sticks. After exploring one cave we were told to turn anoher corner where there was an even bigger Buddha-it was worth the climb! Our guide also pointed out the vantage point the Vietcong had in order to fire on the American base during the Tet offensive.

After arriving in Hoi An we opted out of the evening meal as we wanted something light and had a wander round the old town. It was very atmospheric with the lanterns strung across the street and the people gathering along the river bank, watching entertainment and taking pictures of each other beside giant lanterns, part of the festival.

More on Hanoi

2011-02-09T06:48:00.000-08:00

As it is still the Tet holiday people were wearing their best clothes and posing around the lakes to take pictures of their families. This particular family were very photogenic.

On our tour of Hanoi with the group we queued up early along with several thousand others at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. We really had to stick to the rules, walking in twos, not talking and keeping our hands out of our pockets. Ho Chi Mhin's body was in a huge building which was built just for this purpose. We had read a book about the Vietnam War during our journey so realised how important a leader he was to the Vietnamese and his portrait is everywhere, including on the banknotes. Every October/November his body is taken to Russia for re-embalming. He died before the end of the war and did not want to find himself the subject of such a personality cult but his wishes wre over-ridden.

We then visited the Presidential Palace which was used more as an administrative centre, the small house which he lived in and then the simple house on stilts which he lived in for the rest of his life. Our final visit was to the "Hanoi Hilton", named as such by the American pilots shot down and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese. The most famous resident was Senator John McCain.We had also visited the Military Museum beforehand and seen many of the warplanes and helicopters which had been captured in the war. The prison was built by the French and in its time housed many prisoners, both criminal and political. The description of the treatment of prisoners in the days of Indochina were quite horrific.

We also visited some temples which are very colourful as you can see. They are also very busy during the Tet (New Year) holiday but no one seems to mind if we take pictures.

Our guide is very experienced and speaks very good english. Our fellow travellers include two Australian couples, an Australian family and two English couples and we think we will get on with them all splendidly. We were taken out the first night for a meal to get to know each other and it's very helpful to have omone who can advise on the local food. The second night we mostly went to the hotel restaurant where the speciality was a hotpot, a bit like fondue except you have a pot of stock and add whatever you choose from the vast choice of meat, fish and vegetables and finally you can drink the soup. It's a very sociable way to get to know each other. there wre very tasty little pastries to follow-the French influence no doubt.

Lastly that evening we had to gather our luggage and set off for the station at 11.00p.m. We were sharing cabins and off on a 12 hour trip to Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam.

Hanoi Impressions

2011-02-08T06:06:00.000-08:00

We have now been in Vietnam for a week and are still getting used to the traffic, the money and the food. After our trip to Halong Bay we returned to our hotel and had a couple of days to explore the place before we were due to head off to the Cuc Phuong National Park. Mostly we wandered around explorng the places mentioned in the guide book and missing out the ones at the beginning of our main tour. There are several large lakes in Hanoi, mostly in the middle of parks, and as it is still the lunar New Year holiday there were many people enjoying the activities on offer.

We realised we had to make an early booking for the Water Puppets which are a popular entertainment with locals and visitors alike. The puppeteers were waist high in water behind a screen and an orchestra played appropriate music for the action which took place in a water filled auditorium. There were several short stories which were explained in our programme. It was well worth seeing and we were even allowed to take photos.

We then went off with a driver and a guide on a private trip to the National Park. It was set up during the Vietnam War - a bit of a shock to think that it was happening then - and even opened by Ho Chi Minh himself. We went for a couple of walks which mostly consisted of going uphill to see an ancient tree and a couple of caves. We stayed overnight in a cabin by a lake and had an entertaining walk in the dark trying not to stand on the frogs which were congregating round the lake.

We were astonished by the number of young people who were visiting the park on their scooters and motor bikes. They were on holiday and it was probably busier than usual. Unfortunately they had not been trained in eco-schools and the amount of litter they left was pretty awful. On our last morning we visited the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre where we saw some rare monkeys, some called langurs, and learned about the programmes to save them from hunters and encourage a breeding programme.

We learned a great deal from our guide about education in Vietnam, the status of teachers (who are visited every year by their pupils either in the holidays or on a special day. They bring flowers and gifts though the teachers have to give them tea in return). However it is not a well paid job and our driver had given up teaching to take up driving. We hear there has been a lot of rain in Scotland recently. Maybe we should take up growing rice like they do here.

Back in Hanoi we joined our main tour group for the trip down to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon to you and everyone else), starting with a formal Hanoi tour then an overnight train to Hue.

Good Morning Vietnam

2011-02-04T03:43:00.000-08:00

We had to pay the balance of our trip to Halong Bay in cash, US dollars, as soon as we arrived in Vietnam, so we had drawn some cash in Singapore. A young lady arrived to collect it and give us our tickets, and we were to be picked up at our hotel at 7.45 next morning, so not much time to do anything else. It turned out there was an ATM in the hall foyer, so I drew out a little local currency to see us through the trip. I calculated that the Vietnamese Dong (yes no jokes please) came in at 2000 to the US dollar so I drew out 200,000 - that should do. On the way to Halong City we stopped at a rest stop and bought two coffees and a small bottle of water. They charged us 60,000 dong, or nearly a third of our money! Next followed a panicky recalculation. In fact there are about 20,000 dong to the US dollar - I had lost a zero. The good news was we had only spent about $3 or slightly over two pounds. The bad news? I had only drawn out $10 worth of local currency to last us three days, and we never saw another ATM. Luckily we still had about $85 in dollar notes which enabled us to pay our bar bill and a few tips at the end of the trip. Back in Hanoi we became instant multi-millionaires by drawing out two million dong - enough for a couple of days.

Back to the trip and it was quite a hair-raising ride to Halong Bay. Our driver headed down the highway, weaving in and out of traffic along with thousands of Vietnamese on motor cycles, more tour buses and all the other traffic, many making their way home for the Tet holiday and carrying gifts for the family on the back of the motor cycle, a traditional tree, a flat screen TV, or a mountain of vegetables. Three on a bike was not uncommon, often a small child sandwiched between the parents, mostly with face masks to keep out the traffic fumes, and sometimes with two children on board. Some of the adults wore helmets (though we believe it is the law to wear them) but never the children. We are still trying to figure out the rules of the road though we came to the conclusion that they must be very good drivers since no one seemed to hit anyone else. According to one of our guide books the first rule of the road for visitors to Vietnam is never to hire a car and drive it yourself, and we are inclined to agree.

Once we arrived in Halong Bay, in rather cold and wet weather, we transferred to our boat and met up with the other passengers. We were the only kayakers out of the ten in the group and not all were on the boat for two nights. Our fellow passengers on both nights were good fun, interesting people, Australians (via Germany and the Philippines), Californians, an Italian, New Yorkers, Hungarians and Norwegians (who had lived in South Africa and Hong Kong).

The weather improved as the trip went on. Our first afternoon was spent climbing to a couple of viewpoints, hard going but well worth it. It was all we expected and our kayaking trip was very special. We even had the chance to observe monkeys at very close quarters. The food was excellent as long as you liked seafood and gave us a chance to try things which we would not normally have ordered.

The pictures show the view from one of the big (and very popular) caves, our first night group having dinner, and one of the monkeys. Vietnamese (and co-incidentally Chinese) New Year arrived at midnight on Wednesday to much sounding of horns in the Bay. Next morning we found a small "lucky bag" with a piece of chocolate on our door handle, while meals were served to the sound of Abba singing "Happy New Year" continuously. Now we are back in Hanoi and enjoying a really foreign but surprisingly friendly city.

To Darwin and Beyond.....

2011-02-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

In Alice Springs we had a day of sorting out, a little shopping and a bit of lazing by the pool in 40 degree plus heat. We also saw some of the reptiles we might have met but thankfully didn't in a visit to a reptile house, and then visited the museum dedicated to the Flying Doctor Service. It was all very interesting. We met a young couple who were just about to start working in one of the aboriginal communities, science teachers who were very enthusiastic about the year they were to spend there, including what they would learn about the outback. It was a refreshing attitude after seeing some of the social problems around Alice Springs. Education seems one of the answers.

We headed for Darwin by plane, a short and pleasant journey. Darwin gets a bad press between the weather, the crocodiles and the jellyfish. Well we liked the place. Although it was officially the wet season and the TV weather forecast had the usual rain cloud and lightning flash we had two days of sunshine with not a crocodile in sight. There is a new waterfront development with wave pools, lovely seating areas and expensive shops and flats. It was hot but not as hot as Alice Springs, maybe mid-thirties. We visited Lyon's Cottage, a small museum and art gallery and were interested to read about a family called "Bald" who had a residence here. After enquiring we found out that there were lots of roads etc named "Bald". More research is required.

Our hotel was quite luxurious - probably the best so far - and again a pool to chill out in, but it was only an overnight stop before heading to Singapore. We had a very interesting companion on the flight, a German lady who had retired from her job as a lecturer but was now travelling the world on cruises, lecturing about the countries she was visiting. She claimed to have visited 160, putting our 46 or so into perspective. Her open-minded, positive attitude to other countries and indigenous people was refreshing and entertaining.

It was only a few hours to Singapore and we arrived in pouring rain, which didn't stop the whole time we were there, but we were doing laundry and catching up in a very nice hotel with a covered link to a shopping centre, so it hardly mattered.

Next stop was Vietnam Airlines and on to Hanoi. It was a lovely flight once we left the turbulence behind. We would happily recommend Vietnam Airlines to anyone. The service was excellent, and the legroom on a modern A320 Airbus was the best we've seen. Arrival at Hanoi was trouble free and our visa on entry was sorted out by a collection of bored officials before our baggage had appeared. No more flights for three weeks thank goodness.

As promised there was someone waiting with a board with our names on it for our hotel transfer. He told us to wait and disappeared for a few minutes. Then he returned, moved us to another part of the airport and disappeared again. This happened several times until we were at the taxi rank, where we assumed he was finding us a taxi, but no, he turned up himself in an unmarked car and proceeded to drive us incredibly slowly down a broad dual carriageway towards the city, with other traffic whizzing past on either side with horns blasting, all the while talking away on his mobile phone. Finally he pulled over to the side of the road near a big junction and apologised for a two minute delay. A motorbike appeared from the side road and pulled up to the passenger door. Words were exchanged and we heard money being counted out and changing hands. Were we being sold into slavery? Was this part of a Graham Greene novel? Well no actually. The driver apologised again and drove us to our hotel at the same speed as the rest of the traffic, leaving us with an unsolved mystery. Maybe it happens every day in Hanoi.

The Red Centre

2011-01-29T00:32:00.000-08:00

After the luxury of the Ghan we arrived in Alice Springs to 40 degrees plus. Our hotel was booked with WOTIF ( equivalent to lastminute.com) and although the room was basic we were next to the pool and had a chance to do laundry and have a look around.

Our wake up call was 5.00a.m. as we were being picked up at 5.55 for our camping trip to the Red Centre. Was this a good idea? Would we survive 40 plus degrees in a tent? Would the spiders, reptiles, searing heat finally finish us off?

Our vehicle was an offroad, air-conditioned bus. After picking up our fellow-travellers (we were happy to discover we were not the oldest ones on the trip), we set off for Uluru with several stops on the way to stretch our legs and refill the water bottles. The distance from Alice Springs to Uluru and our first camp site was around 500km and took over 6 hours. The tents were built on platforms with proper beds. There was no air conditioning but they seemed fine. We helped unload the food and store it in the enclosed kitchen which was well equipped with the very necessary large fridge freezer, fan, tables and benches.

After a quick lunch we drove to Uluru, going all the way round the rock and hearing much about it before setting out for a short walk. Although it was afternoon it was quite debilitating to walk in that heat and good supplies of water were very necessary. We then gathered with hundreds of other tourists from dozens of other coach parties at the "Sunset Viewing Site" where tables were laid out with champagne, orange juice and nibbles for us to watch the sun set on the rock. As it happened clouds intervened at the critical moments and the sunset was nowhere near as spectacular as it should have been, but it didn't seem to matter too much.

We were all in bed early as we had to get up at 4.15 to see the dawn - not a problem as we were all exhausted but some of our group were unable to sleep in the heat. We were warned that it gets cold at night but that seems to be only in the southern winter. It was probably still in the mid-thirties for us. Dawn over Kata Tjuta (formerly known as the Olgas) was much more impressive than the previous night's sunset, but nowhere near as impressive as our early morning hike through Kata Tjuta. It had to be early morning because the walks are closed from 11 a.m. on days when the temperature is forecast to go over 36 degrees. Incidentally that also meant that climbing Uluru was also banned - not a problem as our guide explained to us very clearly that, although it's not actually banned, the indigenous people don't like it and we didn't fancy it much anyway.

The rest of the day was taken up with a visit to the tourist trap - sorry resort - at Yulara, then another long drive to King's Canyon, broken by a stop to gather firewood for a campfire at our new campsite. The campfire was very sociable and the food, cooked in large cast iron pots on the campfire, was excellent.

Next morning another early start then a choice of walks at King's Canyon. One of us opted for the easier walk inside the canyon, and one of us took the more strenuous option of the spectacular Rim Walk. Finally another long drive back to Alice Springs.

The pictures in the text are, in order, gathering firewood, King's Canyon, champagne at Uluru, a perentie lizard at King's Canyon (he's about 5 feet long and not full grown), and our guide Nick cooking dinner on the campfire. Maybe someone smarter than us can figure out how to put them in the right places on an Apple computer!

The Ghan

2011-01-28T15:35:00.000-08:00

Our trip on "The Ghan", the famous train that runs from Adelaide all the way across Australia to Darwin, was planned as one of the highlights of the whole journey. At this time of year it only makes one run a week, so if we wanted to break the trip and see the Red Centre we had to get off at Alice Springs and go on to Darwin four days later by air. Our schedule didn't allow for a full week in Alice, and anyway the heat would probably have wiped us out completely. The forecasts the last couple of days were for 43 degrees and the locals reckoned it was nearer 46. The train of course was fully air-conditioned and the height of luxury. We were in Gold standard, thanks to many of those who attended our party and are hopefully reading this account. That gave us a reasonably sized double cabin with en-suite shower and toilet - just a little smaller than a Northlink cabin - all our meals in a very smart restaurant car, full bar service, and a fantastic view of the outback rolling past our windows for 26 hours.

After we passed Port Augusta, about 5 hours in, it was really empty - the occasional road, a few emus, kangaroos in the distance towards dusk and early morning, but surprisingly large numbers of sheep and cattle. They don't call them ranches here, they are sheep stations or cattle stations, and the biggest one, which is in South Australia, is bigger than Belgium. In fact it was nearly lunchtime on the second day before we left South Australia and crossed into the Northern Territory. When we stepped off in Alice the train was only halfway on its way to Darwin.

Can you spot Norma in this view of the dining car? Much of the interest was in our fellow passengers who we got talking to at mealtimes and in the bar. There was a honeymoon couple who were engineers, based in Sydney but travelling all over the region together setting up and trouble-shooting new power stations. Another older couple lived near Melbourne in an area with lots of expensive holiday homes. He worked as a general handyman looking after them. She had been on several camping trips to the Red Centre and had persuaded him he should see it too. There were two ladies from Darwin going home after a shopping trip to the big cities, and an American who claimed to work in the US Embassy in Moscow. He was a bit strange and we were convinced he must be CIA (probably we've been reading too many thrillers) but we kept running into him in the Red Centre where he was on another tour bus which we kept meeting. But more of the Red Centre next time. For now many thanks to everyone who helped to make this part of the trip possible.

Adelaide

2011-01-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

Our time in Adelaide was dominated by the trips we made with a company called "Bums on Seats", kindly booked by Jean as our Christmas and Anniversary present. Another major factor of our stay was the "Tour Down Under" which was happening throughout the week. It's an annual cycle tour in stages, a bit like the Tour de France, and including this year a farewell appearance from Lance Armstrong. It was a novelty getting into a hotel lift with a lycra clad cyclist holding his bike (upright since it wouldn't fit in).

The first day we took a tram to the seaside area of Glenelg, a lovely sunny day but windy and we had an enjoyable walk along the beach. It was the first place where Europeans settled in South Australia and still looks quite elegant along the seafront. The city of Adelaide is lovely with extensive parks and lovely gardens. It should have an "in bloom" award if they exist here. It was certainly a pleasant place to walk around.

Our first trip outside Adelaide was to the Murray River. We had a pleasant run through the hills to the north east of the city, then over some very dry country to the river, which we crossed on a chain ferry. The river was full and fast-flowing but most of the locals were expecting much more water and floods in a couple of weeks when the water reached them flowing down from the interior. We then crossed back over further downstream, but not at the town of Murray Bridge where we had previously crossed it in the train, because the road bridge was closed for maintenance.

The next day was spent mostly in the town of Hahndorf, which had been settled in the 1840's by German immigrants, and still had many German characteristics. While we were there the Tour Down Under passed through. We are reliably informed that Lance was there but 100 plus cyclists passed us in the blink of an eye, so we had no chance of recognising anyone. The trip also included visits to various South Australian wineries, very educational!

On our last day we took a train to Port Adelaide where we hired a double kayak for a couple of hours and visited, among other things, a mangrove swamp within the port area, and a number of shipwrecks. All this in stifling heat.

Water water......

2011-01-19T02:49:00.000-08:00

Apart from an obsession with Princess Mary of Denmark (who comes from Tasmania and is a Donaldson to boot), the press here is full of news of the floods which have swept through Australia and even affected the north east of Tasmania, particularly Scamander and St Helens. Scamander broke the state record for rainfall in 24 hours last Thursday, and the road to St. Helens was partly washed away. We missed all the excitement as we were further south, but on Saturday we were heading back via Hobart and the obligatory visit to Salamanca Market. Not much was bought there due to the terrible exchange rate. Every time we have two coffees and a piece of cake between us it costs ten pounds or more. It's Scandinavian levels here.

After a night sorting out our things in Scamander and packing a box to send home-mainly family memorabilia but it still weighed more than 12 kgs - we set off to return the hire car, and meet Jean and Vic in Launceston where they had been at a wedding. On Sunday afternoon we headed up to the Cataract Gorge where the river was in full flow. It was quite scary and there had been a rescue the day before where a young couple were stranded by the sudden flash flood, being rescued by helicopter after three hours. We took loads of photos and some video to capture the ferocity of the water. The river by the way is the South Esk. In the middle of Launceston it joins with the North Esk and from then on it's called the Tamar - go figure as they say.

Next day we said our goodbyes and caught the plane to Melbourne. There we met up with Rachel Clarke, Tom's second cousin from Invergordon who has been working in Melbourne for the last four years. The next day was an early start to catch the "Overland", the train to Adelaide. On the way we were able to see some of the flooding which was affecting north west Victoria, though even more was expected later. It was a long journey but very comfortable and not as tiring as flying. We arrived in Adelaide to warm sunny weather - at last!

Wildlife

2011-01-15T03:04:00.000-08:00

On our visit to Bruny Island on Thursday we walked from Adventure Bay to Fluted Cape on the southeast corner of the island and we were lucky enough to meet several wallabies and an echidna . None of them seemed in the least bothered by our presence as you can see. The interesting thing was that they were all out and about in the middle of the day, as both animals are basically nocturnal and only usually seen at dawn or dusk. Another walker we met suggested that this may have been because the dull, overcast and rather cool weather had confused them. Whatever it gave us a great opportunity to see them in daylight.

Our last day in the south before heading back to Scamander was spent at Cygnet, another farming and apple growing centre which hosts Tasmania's biggest folk festival. We wandered about during the day taking in the atmosphere, then had tickets for the main hall concert in the evening, which featured the Sydney Russian Balalaika Orchestra (no really!), Fred Smith and the Spooky Men's Chorale singing Urban Sea Shanties (honest I'm not making this up!), a Maltese group from mainland Australia, and a very fine Scots/Australian string band. It was a great night. The only problem was we had to drive back to our accommodation late at night - about half an hour on quiet country roads successfully avoiding all the wallabies, possums, and bandicoots which stray onto the roads at night. The roadkill you see here in the mornings has to be seen to be believed.

Weather

2011-01-15T02:04:00.000-08:00

When we set off on our third week here in Tasmania in our hired car we thought we would be sunning ourselves in the south of the island. Unfortunately our travel week coincided with the big weather fronts in the Big Island. Luckily we had a window of opportunity each day which enabled us to make the most of it.

After leaving Hobart we set off for the airwalk at Tahune, a long drive in after a very interesting visit to the apple growing town of Geeveston. Among many other characters we learned about there was a lady who was a stalwart in her community. She had very poor eyesight all her life and only learned to drive when she was in her 60's. She kept a bale of hay at the end of her garage to aid with parking! She was renowned locally for her driving, believing that it was not necessary to use more than the first two gears. We all know folk like that. Tahune is a forest site where you can walk on an aerial walkway at treetop level as well as cross two rivers on swinging bridges.

Southport was our base for two days, a basic cabin with no T.V., no mobile reception and a car with no radio. It rained and rained that first morning. After a revision of plans and a break in the rain we decided to risk it and set off on unsealed roads to reach Cockle Creek, the furthest point south in mainland Tasmania. Luck was with us and we walked to the sculpture which commemorates the whalers (or the whales caught here in the 1800's). Yes Richard, William is with us and enjoying his holiday. Another beach walk took us to one of the whaling stations, later a pub and a connection to another Thomas Smith. They are everywhere.

The next day was a bit misty but not a problem as the itinerary started with a visit to the hot springs and thermal pool at Hastings, last visited with Mhairi and Rona about 26 years ago. Our next camping hut was a bit more sophisticated with T.V. and mobile reception and we began to realise what was going on in Queensland. In fact the TV had 24 hour coverage of events there. We planned to visit Bruny Island the next day and luckily it stayed reasonably dry. After a short ferry crossing we drove to Adventure Bay where many early explorers landed, Matthew Flinders, Captain Cook, D'Entrecasteaux, and Captain Bligh of "Mutiny on the Bounty" fame. A walk to the point of the island followed but much more of this in the next blog.

While we were away in the south of Tasmania, Scamander had had its own flood with lots of water pouring into several of the local townships and many roads closed. On Friday it was the north west which was most affected. We had made a good choice for our few days away.

Fish and Chips

2011-01-08T14:54:00.000-08:00

We have had a couple of longer walks from Diana's Basin to Burns Bay near St Helen's, along a lovely beach, sand all the way and nothing to be seen but a couple of 4-wheel drives----a strange way to admire the coastline! Vic kindly dropped us off and agreed to pick us up. Luckily we eventually found ourselves in mobile phone range and able to call him.

A trip was arranged for us on a fishing boat, mainly to scatter mum and dad's ashes but also to try our hand at fishing for the local catch. We were all up at 5.30 for a 7.00 start at St Helen's. It was only 8.00a.m. and we were having a little dram to toast their memory. The boat was called the Salt Shaker and the skipper was Rocky Carosi. He and his crew member were very helpful to the novice fishermen and we ended up with a reasonable catch of sea perch and gurnard (?). As you can see from the pictures the shark which Vic caught was not a meal for us all but we ended up with a lovely lunch from the Blue Shed, overlooking the sea and our catch became several meals over the next couple of days.

On Friday we were all invited for dinner to a couple Jane and Vic know in Scamander. Loretta is a Sicilian Australian, which means she talks like an Australian and cooks like a Sicilian so it was a great meal. Chris is an aging hippy - we know he's happy to be called that - and regaled us with tales of his time in Britain in the early 70's, including playing darts with Eric Clapton. However Tom was able to impress him by telling how he had seen Jimi Hendrix live in concert in 1967.

On Sunday we picked up our hire car in Launceston and headed down to Hobart where we met up with Keith and Diana Jones, then on to the far south of Tasmania for a week. More on that soon.

New Year on the Sunshine Coast

2011-01-03T15:10:00.000-08:00

We made it to Tasmania on schedule last Wednesday, and the sun was indeed shining. We are staying in the house that belonged to Tom's Mum and Dad, next door to his sister Jane, in a little village called Scamander, which is a seaside resort on the north east coast about ten miles south of the town of St. Helens. Miles of beaches and lots of walks in the forestry on the other side of the Tasman Highway. It's peak summer holiday season here so it's relatively busy - lots of camper vans on the road - but it still looks empty to anyone used to beach resorts elsewhere. This is the view along the beach looking south from Scamander.

Our mornings so far have been largely taken up with clearing and cleaning in the house - it lets us feel we're earning the free board and outstanding evening meals. In the afternoons we have been exploring the area on foot. We've discovered Shelly Point, a real treasure trove for shell collectors, and we've also been up to the Skyline Tier Lookout. It turned out to be a long dusty walk mostly on forestry roads and we didn't see a soul, just one wallaby briefly in the trees and a big 4-wheel drive in the distance. This is the view from the lookout, with Scamander spread around the bay in the centre of the picture.

On New year's Eve we all went to Binalong Bay, another little resort just beyond St. Helens at the start of the Bay of Fires, for a barbecue with Vic's brother Pete and his family. That's how to bring in the New Year Aussie style.

On New Year's Day we went to the races at St. Mary's with a crowd of Jane and Vic's friends. Not racing as we know it, it's called pacing and the horse doesn't gallop it trots, pulling the jockey - sorry the driver - behind in a little two-wheel buggy. Out of ten races we managed to pick one third place, so not much success there! We still have a couple of walks in mind then next week we plan to hire a car and head down to Hobart.

Starting Again

2010-12-14T04:08:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened to us since our last entry in this blog in April 2008. We have left Shetland after 32 years and moved to the Scottish mainland. Sea Kayak Shetland stayed behind with Angus and Wendy Nicol, so we are both officially retired now. Norma's Mum and Tom's Mum and Dad have all passed on. The grandchildren (still four of them) are growing up fast, but we see a lot more of them since we are so much closer. And we are off on our travels again, so the blog is being resurrected.

On December 27th we fly to Tasmania for three weeks. Then we will travel through Australia - by Melbourne, Adelaide, and Alice Springs to Darwin at the end of January. Next stop is Hanoi, and the Tet (Chinese New Year) holiday, a kayak trip in Halong Bay, then a tour through Vietnam and Cambodia, returning home via Bangkok about the end of February. Not quite as adventurous as three years ago maybe, but bear with us and we'll try to entertain you - and yes the bear will be with us, William that is.

Signing Off

2008-04-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

We finally made it back to Shetland on Wednesday morning, to flat calm and bright sunshine. Every thing seems to have survived pretty well except the polytunnel which suffered more than a bit in the winter gales. Even that was repairable thanks to the sterling efforts of our neighbours. It's been patched up and the cover might just last the summer.

We promised a few more pictures before we signed off so here goes. This is a typical street scene in Buenos Aires - yes really! It's a pedestrian precinct and there are various sorts of street entertainers everywhere, including tango dancers like these ones.

This is the Plaza Mayor in Madrid last weekend.

And finally this is William, complete with a badge for each of the seven countries he's visited and a Peruvian hat, being re-introduced to Calum and Silvana in Edinburgh.

This blog is now officially complete. In due course we hope to upload a lot more pictures to a photo-sharing website - not sure which one yet - and you never know, we may do it all again some day!

Completing the Circle

2008-04-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

After 3 days in Madrid re-acclimatising to Europe - Madrid was cool and cloudy with quite a bit of rain and a huge thunderstorm on Monday - we flew back to Edinburgh via Gatwick on Wednesday. Again it went like clockwork. The flights were on time and our luggage turned up on the carousel without a hitch. In the end we lost nothing on the whole trip, and only one flight (Qantas from South Africa to Australia) was significantly delayed. Every hotel and guest house we booked was expecting us and every airport greeter we were expecting was waiting for us. This world travel is a snip really! Perhaps we best get home to Shetland before our luck fails. We had been planning to get the Monday night ferry from Aberdeen to be home Tuesday morning, but Northlink are on refit schedule so there isn't one. We will be on the Tuesday ferry and home on Wednesday. In fact we nearly couldn't make that because it was almost fully booked when we called this morning.

Meantime we have been catching up with elderly relatives, daughters and grandchildren, all of whom seem to have survived OK without us, and especially young Theo Donaldson, Rona's second baby, who arrived on St. Valentine's Day, when we were in New Zealand. We'll post a few more pictures when we get home and have access to a proper computer.

Buenos Aires

2008-04-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

After a 4 hour flight across the Andes from Lima, we had a long taxi ride into Buenos Aires, passing the famous Obelisco and arriving at our fairly central accommodation. We were initially a bit confused by the double currencies of Argentinian pesos and US dollars, and had what we thought was a quite expensive meal by Peru standards, but after a good sleep and some reflection we realised it was actually quite cheap.

Just a few thoughts about money in South America. Ecuador uses US dollars as their currency, credit cards are widely accepted and we had no trouble drawing cash from ATM´s, but cashing American Express Travellers Cheques took most of a morning. In Peru the local currency was the sol, but many prices were quoted in dollars. Peru Rail for example would not accept payment in any form other than cash dollars. Most ATM´s dispensed either dollars or sols. In Argentina the local currency is the peso but the symbol for it is "$". Some things like hotel rates are quoted in dollars but then it´s shown as "U$S". That was the reason for our first night confusion. Most annoying though was that many places, including restaurants and hotels, will not accept credit cards, or will surcharge massively if you want to use one. The ATM´s will only dispense pesos even if they say they offer a choice, and they are all subject to a daily limit of 300 pesos which is less than 50 pounds. Eventually we discovered a bank that could bypass this limit but we had to queue for over an hour to do it. None of this information matched what our guide books told us.

We took a couple of bus trips in and around Buenos Aires, the first being delayed due to mass demonstrations about the complaints of the farmers. It was quite interesting seeing the main square gearing up to the expected influx of demonstrators. The second day was a public holiday to remember the Malvinas ( Falkland Islands ) war. We thought we should just keep our heads down! Judging by the editorials in the local papers there are still some issues to be resolved.

We did a walking tour which was very different and much more informative than the bus tours, then followed this up with a visit to Eva Peron´s grave, the Evita Museum and of course the balcony where she made her speeches (and the other balcony where Madonna practised her speeches for the film ). Eva Peron and Madonna have a lot in common besides being actresses.

Buenos Aires is in many ways quite European and a lot different from Lima or Quito. Our walking tour guide quoted a well-known film director (whose name we have forgotten) as saying its citizens are Italians who speak Spanish, and think they are English living in France. We could certainly see all these elements, but there is another side to Buenos Aires. In the evening the smart areas of the town centre fill up with the cartoñeros. They are the hidden poor who come to rake through the garbage in the streets for anything of value, and leave a considerable mess in the streets. Most Argentinians seem not to even notice them. They live in the poorest neighbourhoods like La Boca, and the shanty town under the motorway flyover next to Buenos Aires´s smartest neighbourhood, Palermo, whose inhabitants shop at Armani and Gucci and employ people to walk their dogs for them. Local heroes, much celebrated in posters and T-shirts, include Evita (of course), Che Guevara and Maradona. We passed up the opportunity to buy a T-shirt showing Maradona scoring the famous "Hand of God" goal against England. After all we have a few English friends and family.

Lima

2008-04-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

Lima is a huge city, spread over a large area on the Pacific coast. We stayed in Miraflores which is a pretty upmarket area south of the centre. On Saturday we walked down to the sea, visited a very posh shopping mall, then returned via the central square, the Ovalo, where it was party time with lots of people doing the tango.

At night we went to a restaurant recommended by our hotel, which had a fantastic floor show of Peruvian dancing, not to mention some pretty good Peruvian food served buffet-style. The camera battery ran out before the end but this should give you the idea.

On Sunday we took a taxi uptown to the Museu de la Nacion, but it was closed for renovations, so we diverted to another museum. In the afternoon we walked to another archaeological site just a couple of blocks from our hotel. This one was apparently a burial site for one of the pre-Inca cultures. It`s a huge structure built entirely of adobe or mud-bricks. According to the guide it never rains in Lima, so that`s why mud bricks survive so well!

Of course there had to be one final visit to the markets near the Ovalo. We are just coming to the end of five days in Buenos Aires now. It`s on to Madrid and the last leg tonight.

And Now With Pictures!

2008-04-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

Finally we found a computer that lets us upload some pictures. First this is us boarding the train from Puno to Cusco.

This is a view of Cusco looking down towards the main square, the Plaza de Arma.

And here is William (yes he´s still with us) trying out a carved Inca seat. Note the smart Peruvian hat!

Finally for now this is Machu Picchu with llamas grazing among the ruins, and Huayna Picchu towering over it.

There are many more pictures on the other camera but one of our memory cards was declared faulty by a camera shop here in Buenos Aires, and we are reluctant to risk the card in the main camera until we get home.

On to Machu Picchu

2008-04-02T15:56:00.000-07:00

We left you by the shores of Lake Titicaca. Next day it was on to Cusco on the Andean Explorer, one of the highest train journeys in the world. The La Raya pass is over 4000 metres or about 14000 feet. We were gasping for breath at the stop. For once on a train we were travelling first class. That´s because there is only one class on that train, and it includes a meal, a free drink, and a Peruvian folk group singing and dancing in the observation car and all down the aisles. Sadly we can´t show you pictures yet because we are in Buenos Aires now and the local internet cafes don´t allow us to put in a CD. We´ll just have to save that for later.

Cusco is a beautiful historic town. It was the Inca capital, and the Spanish capital at first until Lima took over. It´s not as high as Lake Titicaca so the altitude was bothering us less. However it seemed to be bothering other people a lot more. We heard a few tales of illness and there always seemed to be a doctor being called to our hotel. This seems as good a point as any to say that the Terra Andina Hotel in Cusco was the best and friendliest hotel we have seen in South America, and none of them have been bad.

We had a couple of days to explore Cusco and the nearby Inca sites at Sacsayhuaman (it´s pronounced "sexy woman" as the guides all tell you) and Pisac. Our guide at Sacsayhuaman gave us a lot of insight into the Inca civilisation, which helped a lot when it came to our visits to Pisac and Machu Picchu.

What can we say about Machu Picchu? It really is the most dramatic and amazing place. We had most of two days there, with a thunderstorm rolling around the first day - lots of thunder and lightning but thankfully not much rain - and a misty start on the second day turning to warm sunshine and perfect views. The normal way of getting to Machu Picchu from the railway stop at Aguas Caliente is by bus up a steep winding unmade road that seems to go on forever. There is a path up but not many people use it. On the second day we decided to walk back down and were rewarded by seeing some amazing butterflies, flowers and birds. In Aguas Caliente we stayed in a sort of tree house at the Rupa Wasi Eco-lodge (sounds very grand but it wasn´t really). The food however was absolutely top class.

On Saturday morning we took a taxi from our hotel to Cusco airport at 8.30 a.m. and by 9.30 we were already in the air on the way to Lima - we were shifted to an earlier flight which was already boarding. Then we had a couple of days in Lima, or to be exact in the rather posh Lima suburb of Miraflores, where we visited an impressive pre-Inca burial site right in the heart of the town, before flying on to Buenos Aires.

Easter in Peru

2008-03-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

Now we are in Peru after a short flight from Quito. Our rest day in Quito was spent looking for a laundry (unsuccessful--so back to the bathroom sink to rinse the salt of Galapagos out of our clothes) , and working out how to send a parcel from Ecuador ( successful eventually after a lot of red tape---and parcel tape!) It´s our fifth parcel so far so hope they are winging their way to Mhairi. It´s the only way to combine shopping with travelling light.

Lima was as busy as we expected but we were only there overnight before flying to Arequipa. We were most amused by the amount of people carrying boxes of Dunkin Donuts on board. The people at the airport welcoming the incoming flight with balloons and banners were obviously waiting for their next delivery of Dunkin Donuts.

Our hotel in Arequipa was described as Colonial/ Baroque and it was certainly very splendid with antique furnishings, each room different. We opted for the library room but unfortunately were too busy or too tired to actually read any of the excellent choice of travel books. We explored the very beautiful and old Santa Catalina Monastery which covers about five acres. It´s a very peaceful place, more spacious than we would have thought but originally the nuns who lived there could take a servant or even a slave with them. It also had splendid views towards El Misti--very aptly named as by late morning the mountain seemed to float in mid-air.

In the afternoon we took a bus tour of Arequipa and district, learning about the crops grown there, the Inca terraces which are still in use, and visiting a couple of old buildings. On Good Friday there were special celebrations at the Cathedral and in the main square. We decided to eat overlooking the square so saw the splendour of the Easter candlelit procession with all the local churches parading figures, mostly of the Virgin Mary dressed Spanish style with mantillas.

Next day it was up early (again) for the bus to Puno on Lake Titicaca. This took about 6 hours, a comfortable ride on a newish highway with snacks provided by the smartly dressed stewardesses. Puno is nearly 4000 metres high so we´ve been taking the tablets and drinking coca tea. The effects of altitude sickness have been much less marked than in Quito.

Another early start was required to take a boat trip to the Uros islands--a huge tick in Norma´s case ever since she read about Thor Heyerdahl and the Kontiki, as he came here to learn how to build reed boats. We had a very informative guide and can now tell you how to build a floating island--first you take a few tons of totora reeds......!

There followed a two hour crossing to Taquile, a real island which was equally if not more interesting. The 2000 people live on a beautiful fertile island and as well as subsistence farming they produce fantastic craft work for themselves as well as to sell to tourists. Women spin using a drop spindle as they walk along and then produce very fine woven goods. The men do the knitting--absolutely superb articles, particularly hats---red santa claus type hats with patterns similar to Fair Isle. We could go on about Taquile and its hats forever but will save further details for the lecture tour.

Just one wee story--when we were in the square they were celebrating Easter Sunday in the Catholic Church. When the important people of the island---they wear black hats--came out of the church they were heading up to the top of the island to make an offering to Pachamama--Mother Earth to the pre Inca people. This might be called keeping a foot in both camps!

More pictures when we get a better internet connection. Cusco and Machu Picchu next!

Galapagos Part 2

2008-03-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

Well we promised you Galapagos 2 - the sequel - and here it is. Everybody has probably heard of Lonesome George, the last living Pinto tortoise. We called along the Charles Darwin Centre where he lives but he appeared to be out (or more likely sleeping indoors) but we did meet a few of his cousins from other islands. This fellow is about 5 feet long.

Probably the most amazing thing about Galapagos is how close you can get to the wildlife without disturbing them. This is a Galapagos Hawk and we were about 6 feet away from him and two others when we took this picture.

You must have heard of the blue-footed booby. Actually they are very similar to gannets and fish in the same way, although they don´t go so deep, and we don´t remember any gannets with feet this colour. This one is hatching two eggs, and the chick you can see was hatched while we were there.

Finally just to prove there really was some kayaking involved, here are a couple of our companions with a sealion swimming alongside.

It Was Awesome!

2008-03-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

The title owes something to the fact that we spent our week in Galapagos with six Americans. Five of them are pictured here with us at dawn (yes really!) on Isla Bartolome. The view is apparently featured in the movie (oops! Americanism again) "Master and Commander". We haven't seen it but the view is certainly something special. By the way Hutch our kayak leader is on the right wearing the shirt. They were a great bunch and we had a few adventures which we'll tell about later.

Everyday started around dawn (6 o'clock in the tropics) and included a hike, a snorkel, and a paddle at least. The wildlife was every bit as amazing as everyone told us and every bit as approachable. Here are a pair of Magnificent Frigatebirds in the middle of a courtship ritual - male on the right with the huge red pouch, female on the left with the blue ring round her eye - that apparently is how you tell the Magnificent Frigatebird from the merely Great (and much more common) Frigatebird. Well you learned something new every few minutes in Galapagos, especially with Juan, our extremely patient and knowledgeable Naturalist Guide.

Just to prove how good we were at getting up in the mornings here is another dawn shot, this time on our last morning. This is the famous, and quite spectacular Kicker Rock.

Back to the animals now. Galapagos sealions were everywhere and we have loads of pictures but we thought we'd show you the much less common Galapagos Fur Seal, which despite the name is actually a sealion as well, and related to the New Zealand fur seal.

One of the really special moments of the trip came when one of the crew spotted a pod of orcas during a passage between islands. We were able to get close enough to get a fantastic view of them feeding on a school of fish while blue-footed boobies, frigatebirds, noddies, and pelicans swarmed around hoovering up their leavings. Thanks Miguel! Even in Galapagos these sightings are special.

We could go on - we have around a thousand pictures between us - but we can't fit it all on a blog. Watch out for Galapagos 2.

Peace Breaks Out

2008-03-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

We were very pleased to see that, after we had been in Ecuador for less than 24 hours, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela settled their disagreements and there won't be a war. Actually we were asleep for most of that time anyway, catching up after a long and very confusing journey from New Zealand. We left Auckland at about 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, and after about 11 hours in the air we arrived in Santiago in Chile about 4 hours before we left Auckland. We then had to fill in Chilean Immmigration forms and have our passports stamped before collecting our luggage and walking through to the Departures Hall to join our flight to Ecuador. Our passports were stamped again and we reached Quito at 8.45 p.m., still on Thursday. The combination of jetlag, altitude (Quito is over 9000 feet up) and general confusion (it's sometimes called senility) meant that we slept round the clock, but we're fine now and war has been averted while we slept.

Tomorrow we have to be up for a bus at 7 a.m. which is taking us to the Saturday market at Otavalo, which just happens to be in the Northern Hemisphere, so we cross the equator on the way, but thankfully not the International Date Line again - that would be too much. Sunday we are up early again for the flight to Galapagos.

Smelly Rotorua

2008-03-05T00:44:00.000-08:00

Actually we didn't find Rotorua nearly as sulphurous as some places in Iceland, but we took the opportunity to go to a Maori concert and meal. The meal was a hangi, which involves steam cooking the food in the ground. We already knew that, having been to one in Voe with Kester.

As you can see there was plenty of food.

The real thing, involving a party arriving in a waka (war canoe) and performing various dances and songs, including a full haka, was quite an experience.

Actually we could have organised our own hangi as the campsite had it's own steam cooking ovens set into the ground. The suggested recipes including cooking times like "4 to 8 hours" and "all day if possible" - definitely not fast food! After the hangi we had a night time tour of the neighbouring wildlife park, complete with kiwis. The Rotorua campsite had hot tubs fed from the same volcanic sources, but on Monday night we stayed at Miranda where the campsite had a full swimming pool fed by hot springs. It really was like swimming in a hot bath - luxury! Just up the road at the Firth of Thames we visited a bird reserve with thousands of migratory wading birds, some familiar and some not so.

Now we are back in Auckland having returned the camper van unscathed. Today we visited Waiheke island just half an hour out into the gulf. This is the view of the ferry heading back to Auckland, just visible in the distance.

Tomorrow it's a flight to South America. Due to time zones and international datelines it seems we will arrive in Santiago about five hours before we leave New Zealand - no we don't understand it either!

Heading north again

2008-03-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

As we said in our last entry we hired a kayak for the day on Wednesday. It was a bit crowded with three of us in a double! Here's William getting ready to paddle with us.

It was an absolutely perfect day. We paddled across Queen Charlotte Sound to Lochmara Lodge where we had coffee. As you can see it's an idyllic spot. We must go back some time - for at least a week.

For our last day in the South Island we were walking again. This time it was the last section of the Queen Charlotte Track, so just the middle bit left! Then it was an early start for the ferry on Friday and up to a strange town called Dannevirke, which was originally settled by Danes. On the way we stopped at the National Wildlife Centre at Mount Bruce where we finally saw a couple of kiwis. No pictures though - because they are nocturnal they were in a special building which is dark through the day and lit up at night.

Since then we've visited Napier, which is an art deco town, rebuilt after an earthquake in 1931, and Taupo where we got mixed up with the NZ Ironman competition, and now we are in Rotorua. More on that later.

Time Running Short

2008-02-25T21:24:00.000-08:00

After Dunedin we headed back to the west - well after all Mhairi and Mark said we couldn't leave without visiting Wanaka! The campsite was great- spa baths with a view of the mountains.

We resisted the urge to stay longer and headed for the coast through the Haast Pass. The forecast was rain but it never really happened. The gorge at the Gates of Haast was immense and judging by the amount of water in the river it had certainly rained recently. North of Haast we diverted to see the Fox Glacier. We've seen glaciers before but not with palm trees in the background.

We stopped for the night at Hokitika, at a campsite on the beach, and just across the road from the Glowworm Dell. The rain arrived during the night so we didn't hang about in the morning. It was on up the coast, past some spectacular scenery and pounding swell - pictures to follow again! - and improving weather as we crossed back over to Picton. Today we've been walking the outer section of the Queen Charlotte Track, delivered and collected by water taxi, and tomorrow we've booked a double kayak.

New Zealand's Other Island

2008-02-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

Stewart Island is about the same distance south of Bluff in New Zealand's South Island as Foula is west of Shetland but the ferry is a bit different. It's a catamaran carrying around 60 passengers at 24 knots, and that's even in a 35 knot headwind which it was on Sunday. Lots of spray and whitecaps and banging through waves, lots of sick passengers, but we reached Oban on schedule in just under an hour. That's right, the only village on Stewart Island is called Oban, and just across Paterson Inlet are the islands of Iona and Ulva. Ulva is a bird sanctuary and the best place to see many native New Zealand birds which have been decimated by introduced predators like rats and cats elsewhere in NZ. This is a weka, which is a sort of flightless native hen, a bit smaller than a kiwi.

We had a couple of days there walking and soaking up the unique atmosphere. There is a strong connection here with both Orkney and Shetland. The earliest European settlers came from Orkney and there was a failed settlement in the north of the island by Shetlanders. Traill, Scollay, Peterson and Leask are all local names, and we found ourselves walking past Vaila Voe on Monday. We loved it and were really sorry to leave, but thankfully the weather had improved by Tuesday afternoon and we had a much more relaxed return trip.

We are now in Dunedin having visited Larnach Castle and the Albatross Centre on the Otago Peninsula today. This is a Royal Albatross and chick on their nest on the tip of the Otago Peninsula. This is their only nesting site other than the Chatham Islands. We were in a hide as part of the tour.
Dunedin is a bit of a culture shock itself. We knew it was a sort of southern version of Edinburgh settled by Scots Presbyterians, and we knew there was a statue of Rabbie Burns in the city centre but we really didn't expect the main streets to be called Princes Street and George Street, or to see buses going to Corstorphine and Portobello. Lots of school pupils seem to be wearing kilts as part of their school uniform, and the Water of Leith flows through the centre and past the Botanic Gardens. There's even a miniature copy of the Scott Monument - in Princes Street of course!

A Perfect Day

2008-02-15T15:21:00.001-08:00

We awoke about 5.30 a.m. with a text from Mhairi to say that Rona and Keith had a new addition to the family born on Valentine's Day-- Theo Finlay Donaldson, 6lb 8 oz-- mother and baby both doing well.

Seriously we were awake anyway as our kayak trip was to start at 6.30 a.m. with a two hour bus journey to Milford Sound. After a stop for coffee and biscuits we proceeded to our start point and were given suitable clothing to wear and thorough instruction. The weather was clear--not always the case here where there are 200 days of rain a year. After breaking into two groups we set off in doubles across Milford Sound avoiding the many tourist boats and admiring the magnificent scenery. Our group tried sailing and once we got the sail up and running we certainly made good progress. After lunch on the rocks we separated to help a couple of less experienced paddlers who were struggling a bit in the breezy conditions. We met a few NZ fur seals along the way, swimming behind us and sleeping on the rocks.

We met an interesting Welsh couple on the tour. We thought we were quite adventurous but they had done most of their early travelling by train and bus as far as Mongolia, China and Vietnam. Mmmmm--food for thought for next time!

On the return bus journey we had a couple of stops to admire views and have hot drinks by the river. Back in Te Anau by 6. Days just don't get much better!

Routeburn Track completed!

2008-02-14T01:03:00.000-08:00

They said it was one of the best walks in the world and we are certainly not going to disagree. Despite a series of gloomy weather forecasts and tales of how wet these mountains are we had three days of glorious weather, especially the middle day when we were mostly above 1000 metres crossing the Harris Saddle. The views over the Hollyford Valley were absolutely spectacular and the path itself seemed to be going through the most beautiful alpine rock garden. Here's a shot of the view from Harris Saddle with the shelter in the middle and the Darren Range mountains behind.

Although we were reasonably fit for the walk itself it was the first time in years either of us had walked any distance with a heavy pack, so it was great to relax in the DOC huts at night. The path was beautifully maintained and the huts were excellent with onsite wardens. The Mackenzie Hut warden in particular has an alternative career waiting for him as a stand-up comedian. Dehydrated food was fine on the Track but it was great to get back to Queenstown and a really good Indian last night. Which reminds me - we nearly didn't get back to Queenstown at all when the bus we had booked seats on drove straight past us without stopping, leaving us over 150 miles from our camper van. Needless to say there was no mobile phone coverage, but we are eternally grateful to Linda and Harold from California who cheerfully volunteered the back seat of their hire car to our muddy feet. They took us as far as Te Anau where we cadged a lift on a Real Journeys tour bus. Never mind Kiwi Discovery - at least you came clean on the mistake and gave us a full refund - which paid for the Indian!

Queenstown - Adventure Capital?

2008-02-10T00:51:00.001-08:00

After an excellent stay at the Banks Peninsula, we travelled on to Queenstown via Lake Ohau, visiting some MacKay relations--Norman and Barbara--who must have one of the best views in New Zealand.

We had a very pleasant night there before continuing on our journey to Queenstown. The adventure continued with a jetboat trip on the Shotover River. That's us in the second row with the empty seat behind me. We only lost one --- only kidding!

We are now preparing for our three day walk on the Routeburn Track - watch this space.

Have camper, will travel - south

2008-02-06T00:55:00.000-08:00

We are now in Akaroa on New Zealand's South Island, and we have certainly had a few adventures already. First we collected the van, filled up at the supermarket and headed out on to State Highway 1. First night was with the surfies at Raglan on the west coast, then on to the glowworm caves at Waitomo and the Tongariro National Park. This is Lord of the Rings country and we had a splendid walk in the shadow of Mt. Doom, sorry Ngaurehoe, for that is its real name. Next day was dull and misty, a bit like Scotland, so we moved on down to Wanganui and the Kapiti coast just north of Wellington where the sun was shining. However it wasn't shining next morning. What do you do on a wet day in Wellington? You go to Te Papa, the national museum, to see an exhibition about the Scots in New Zealand (and a few other things) then you get the ferry to the South Island. The next couple of days were spent at Kaikoura, the main whale watching centre. Again we went for a walk then, after a couple of false starts, we got out on a boat trip to see the sperm whales, which are more or less always around there. We also saw dusky dolphins, New Zealand fur seals and various seabirds including albatross. Now we're in Akaroa which is picture postcard beautiful, and a little bit French. Tomorrow we're off to see more dolphins, and we've hired a kayak. Should be fun!

Goodbye Oz - Hello NZ

2008-01-31T02:04:00.000-08:00

Another week another country as they say. Our last few days in Tasmania were taken up with good deeds - clearing out the elder Smiths' garage mainly. Here are the Smith family gathered together and smiling for the camera, all except Vic. Well someone had to take the picture.

We are still down under but a little bit further right - about 1500 miles in fact. Auckland is busy and hot and we've met some old friends from Burra. Not one of those "small world" co-incidences, we knew Bobby and Mabel would be here and we had a phone number for them. We spent a pleasant evening in the Queensferry Hotel (!) catching up on news of home, and comparing notes on forthcoming grandchildren and winter holidays in hot countries.

Yesterday we went up the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere, and watched some slightly crazed kiwis (or tourists maybe?) jumping off. The longest bungy jump in the world it's claimed.

Today we took the ferry to the volcanic island of Rangitoto in Auckland Harbour where we shared our lunch with some very friendly small birds. Finches we think but if anyone knows better we'd be interested to know.

Tonight we had the most amazing Thai meal here in Auckland, but tomorrow it's back to pasta when we pick up the camper and head south.

Adventure Before Dementia

2008-01-25T03:35:00.000-08:00

We are back in Scamander now after almost a week in Tasmania's Wild West and a short visit to Hobart - still one of the most relaxed cities we've ever visited. But the west of Tasmania is world class and we saw it in perfect weather. First we stopped at Crayfish Creek, staying overnight in a rather creaky treehouse with Jane and Vic. We all went on to Footrot Flats and Dismal Swamp - those early explorers really knew how to make a place sound attractive! We drove over a road called the Western Explorer, nearly a hundred miles of gravel with almost no other traffic, through a mixture of temperate rainforest and button grass plains, to an old mining village called Corinna on the Pieman River, deep in the Tarkine Wilderness. There we took a boat trip to the mouth of the river, and paddled up one of its tributaries in an open canoe.

We also did a couple of walks in the rainforest and fed the wallabies and possums in the evenings. Here's William making a new friend at feeding time.

But perhaps our most memorable encounter was in the canoe on the Pieman River when we met a tiger snake swimming along, and, yes, they are poisonous.

After Corinna we crossed the river on the famous Fatman barge and drove through the old mining town of Zeehan to Queenstown. From there we travelled the West Coast Wilderness Railway to Strahan, panning for "gold" on the way.

In Strahan we came across a camper van from Queensland with a slogan that really appealed to us. It said "Adventure before Dementia". That'll do us!

While we're talking strange encounters, we drove back from Hobart on the Midland Highway, which goes through places with names like Brighton, Campbell Town, and Jericho (on the Jordan River of course!) As we were driving through Bagdad (local spelling) we met a convoy of Australian Army trucks heading south. Hmm...

On the Water Again

2008-01-16T21:55:00.000-08:00

This is Coles Bay, about 50 miles south of Scamander on the Sunshine Coast. It's on the Freycinet Peninsula, just on the edge of the National Park that includes the famous Wineglass Bay, said to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We walked there the last time we were in Tasmania two years ago, but this time we wanted to paddle. We hired a double kayak for the day from Freycinet Adventures and explored a bit. There are plenty of other beautiful beaches in the area, most of them deserted like this one. We were staying just down the coast at Swansea Backpackers - a very modern and fairly luxurious hostel with a pub and restaurant attached. There are also several wineries in the area plus a large walnut plantation.

The next day, Wednesday, we went over to Campbell Town and up the Midland Highway to Launceston. On the way we detoured into the forest to look for the Lost Falls viewpoint. They were certainly lost - there was no water at all! This whole area has been suffering badly from drought for years, and in the farming areas the fields are brown and dusty. We're off to the west coast this weekend and the Tarkine Wilderness.

News from the Sunshine Coast

2008-01-13T03:27:00.000-08:00

The northeast coast of Tasmania is called the Sunshine Coast and it's a popular holiday area, mainly for Australians. The weather on average is warmer and sunnier than the rest of Tasmania, and there are miles and miles of clean empty beaches. Scamander is just a small village at the mouth of the Scamander River, about ten miles from St Helens, which is the district centre. Today we were walking in the Winifred Curtis Reserve, then along the beach where there was a surf life saving carnival taking place. Tomorrow we are off to Coles Bay where we hope to hire kayaks.

Meanwhile William has been making new friends. Here he is on top of Table Mountain (you probably can't see it but he now has a South African flag pin alongside the Shetland one) then with a young lady friend called Pollie, here in Scamander (and now with an Australian flag pin). Note the beach in the background.

Down Under At Last

2008-01-11T03:48:00.000-08:00

First of all check out the last two posts - there are pictures now.

Can't believe it's almost a week since we posted from Jo'burg. At that time we thought we'd be flying to Perth WA that night. In fact our flight was delayed almost 24 hours thanks to technical problems with Qantas. They put us up in a pretty classy hotel, but we still spent pretty much all day Saturday and all day Sunday at the airport. It was quite a relief to finally get airborne. The result was instead of three days in Perth we only had two, and one of those was taken up by the booked trip to Wave Rock on Tuesday (Norma's birthday). We did our best with a boat trip on the Swan River and a walk in the park on Heirisson Island but really Perth needs more time. Then it was another Qantas jumbo to Melbourne and on to Launceston in a Dash 8. After our earlier experience we didn't much enjoy reading about the Qantas jumbo that lost electrical power 15 minutes out of Bangkok. According to the Australian paper we read in the air as we left Perth the battery backup was only good for an hour, so it would have been bad news if it had happened over the ocean. This had all happened while we were flying over the Indian Ocean in another Qantas jumbo that was almost a day behind schedule because of a technical fault. Lovely!

Wave Rock is over 200 miles east of Perth in Western Autralia, so it was a long day in a 4WD bus, which fortunately was air-conditioned because it was very hot (41 degrees in the shade and there wasn't any shade). We've never been so happy to climb back into a bus! The rock itself is one face of a huge granite mass which has been eroded by the wind over millions of years into the shape of a huge breaking wave about 15m high.

Much more about Tassie to follow.

Leaving South Africa

2008-01-05T03:35:00.000-08:00

As promised a couple of pictures from Addo Elephant Park. We have an elephant and also a bunch of dung beetles clearing up what the elephant left behind. Everything has a purpose!

We are now in Johannesburg Airport filling in time - about 8 hours of time - before our flight to Australia. Yesterday we visited the Addo Elephant Park, which is just east of Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. By lunchtime we were thinking of renaming it Addo Warthog Park, and our guide was scratching his head wondering how you can hide 450 elephants in a wildlife park. We had seen plenty of warthogs and kudu (antelopes with curly horns), vervet monkeys, lots of colourful birds, a large tortoise and a lion's pawprint - mustn't forget the amazing and enormous dung beetles - but no elephants. Then in the afternoon we found them, at least 50 ranging from a large bull to baby around a couple of weeks old. They paid us not a bit of notice, grazing right up to the road and strolling across in front of us. We also saw zebra, a solitary jackal, and several other varieties of antelope, then right at the end a small group of buffalo. What a day! Our guide was great as were our hosts at the V&A Guest House in Port Elizabeth who organised the trip for us.

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T04:29:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Mossel Bay, South Africa, and we hope you have all had a great start to 2008. We certainly had a great finish to 2007 in Cape Town. We've been to the top of Table Mountain by cable car then down by the so-called easy route - our legs are only just about recovering. We took the train to Simonstown - that was an experience to be told later under the title "Welcome to the South African experience". Then on the 31st we had a truly memorable day, touring the townships with Cape Rainbow Tours, finishing on Robben Island, from which you get the best view of Cape Town and Table Mountain.

Again much more to tell - William is having quite a time of it. New Year at the V&A Waterfront may not quite match Edinburgh's Hogmanay but it was great fun and the weather was probably better! Then up again at 5.30 to get the bus to Mossel Bay, where the local motto seems to be "Live life slowly!" I guess we'll have to work on that!

Off At Last!

2007-12-27T02:10:00.000-08:00

Tom, Norma and William (yes that's his name, by common consent!) are finally on our way today. The picture shows William being introduced to our three grandchildren - Silvana, who's holding him, Vaila, sitting on Rona's knee, and Calum, the thoughtful one on the right, not forgetting the fourth grandchild who'll see him on our return in April. All being well the next post will be from South Africa. Meantime we hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to 2008 as much as we are!

A Short Diversion

2007-12-17T13:11:00.000-08:00

We know that lots of people have travelled round the world from Shetland (including us 23 years ago) but not many have started by going to Belfast via Edinburgh. As it happened Andrew (son of our friends Margaret and David Kay from Forfar) was getting married in Randalstown near Belfast on December 10th and we got a bid! The day of the wedding was perfect - sunshine, blue skies, a little bit frosty - and the reception in the Dunadry Hotel was outstanding. The food was great, the hotel itself was really impressive, and the ceili band really got the company going. Then the disco came on at just the right time for the older ones to slope off to bed.

Since our only previous visit to Northern Ireland had consisted of driving straight through from Larne to the border (although Norma had been there on a caravan holiday when she was about ten years old) we had decided to stay on a few days to explore. We toured the Antrim coast in a hire car and learned that the coast road was built in the 1830's by an engineer called William Bald from Fife, who just might be in Norma's family tree. We photographed our travelling companion on a windy morning at the Giant's Causeway.

Then we headed down to Down (couldn't resist that!) where we stayed a couple of nights with Mike and Cheryl McClure and family in Castlewellan. Mike is well-known in sea kayaking circles and has been to Shetland a couple of times. With his assistance I was able to test myself against the tides of Strangford Narrows in a Force 6, while Norma explored the St. Patrick Centre in Downpatrick. We also had a drive around the famous Mountains of Mourne and got thoroughly lost in the Castlewellan Peace Maze (we cheated!). On our last day we explored the excellent Ulster Folk Museum then drove straight through Belfast on the motorway to the airport.

Two more things to report - Northern Ireland people are probably the friendliest we've met on our travels (we'd heard that but now we know it's true). And we haven't named the bear yet though we have a few suggestions. There's still time for a few more suggestions before we decide at Christmas. We leave on Thursday 27th.

A Fellow Traveller

2007-11-29T14:42:00.000-08:00

Before we set off here's a view of where we are coming from. This is Bridge End looking south towards Sumburgh. It was taken yesterday. If you look closely at the left hand side you can see some red sea kayaks. Our house is the white one to the right of them, just behind the garage with the brown door. Bridge End Outdoor Centre, where Sea Kayak Shetland is based, is in the centre of the picture, and the bridge after which the community is named is just to the left.

Now the big news is that the travelling party has gone up to three in number! Here's a picture of the newest member of the team. We can't tell you his name because he doesn't have one yet. Any suggestions for a name for him should be sent by comments on this blog (in the light of recent events one possible name has already been ruled out!). We hope to take pictures of him in various locations as we travel around the world - for the grandchildren of course.

Incidentally both these pictures were taken with the new camera. For anyone interested in these details it's a Nikon D40.

The Itinerary

2007-11-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

(Don't worry we won't bore you with every detail, just the main elements!)

Prologue
We will probably leave Shetland on the ferry to Aberdeen on December 6th. We'll be in Belfast from the 9th till the 13th - going to a wedding on the 10th then a few days to tour around (if the weather is good) or shop in Belfast (if the weather is bad). Then it's back to Edinburgh for Christmas.

Part 1 - South Africa
We leave Edinburgh on December 27th and fly to Cape Town via London. Four days there to see the sights, then on New Year's Day we get the bus to Mossel Bay, a seaside resort a few hours east along the Garden Coast, a couple of nights there and on to Port Elizabeth, where we get the plane to Johannesburg on January 5th.

Part 2 - Australia
We arrive in Perth on the overnight flight from Jo'burg on January 6th, then on to Tasmania on the 9th, arriving at Launceston at 8.30 in the evening. We'll be based in Scamander until the 29th when it's time to head for........

Part 3 - New Zealand
Arriving in Auckland at 1 a.m. on January 30th. We collect our camper van from Ara Rentals on February 1st then it's off for 4 1/2 weeks! The only fixed point is that we'll be in Queenstown in the South Island on February 10th. We plan to walk the Routeburn Track over the next three days and because it's peak season it's essential to book the hut accommodation in advance. So it's Routeburn Falls Hut on Monday 11th, Lake MacKenzie Hut on the 12th, and back to Queenstown on the 13th. We also hope to do some kayaking, probably around Marlborough Sound but we haven't booked that yet. Otherwise we'll see where the road leads us. The camper is due back on March 4th and we fly out on the 6th, so we'll have a day in Auckland to get ready for the next leg, which is of course.....

Part 4 - South America
This is where it gets complicated! Our flight from Auckland takes us to Santiago in Chile where we change planes and carry on to Quito, the capital of Ecuador, arriving there just a couple of hours after we left Auckland - except we will have had a long day's travelling and crossed the International Date Line! The next day in Quito is free, which is probably just as well. We join up with the OARS group for Galapagos that evening, and spend the next day with them in Quito before flying out to join the catamaran in Galapagos on Sunday 9th. The next week is spent on the ship touring around the islands, kayaking, snorkelling and walking. Back to Quito on the 16th where we have another free day before flying to Lima on March 18th. Are you still with us? Well the next twelve days will be a whirlwind tour of Peru - Arequipa, Puno, Lake Titicaca, Cusco, Machu Picchu, back to Cusco and then Lima. On Monday 31st March we fly from Lima to Buenos Aires.

Epilogue
We now have 5 days in Buenos Aires, which may include a ferry across the River Plate to Uruguay. On April 5th we catch an overnight flight to Madrid for our last stopover. Three days later it's back to Edinburgh via London, arriving at 5.45 p.m. Then we'll think about coming home!

First Post

2007-11-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

In December 2007 we will set out on a round-the-world trip which will take in 4 continents and 7 countries, and last 4 months. This blog is intended as a way of letting everyone know where we are and what we are doing along the way - hopefully with a few pictures and possibly even the odd video clip.

We expect to leave Shetland around the 6th of December, going first to Edinburgh then on to Belfast where we are invited to a wedding. We'll have a few days in Northern Ireland then it's back to Edinburgh for Christmas with the family (two daughters and three, going on four, grandchildren).

We fly out from Edinburgh on December 27th to London and Cape Town. After ten days in South Africa it's next stop Australia where we'll have a few days in Perth before going on to Tasmania for three weeks. The whole of February will be spent in New Zealand where we have hired a camper van and booked accommodation to walk the Routeburn Track. We also plan to do some kayaking around Marlborough Sound.

March sees us crossing the Pacific to Santiago then on to Quito in Ecuador where we will join an organised trip to the Galapagos Islands. It's run by an American company called OARS and involves living on a catamaran, sea kayaking and walking on several different islands. Next stop is Peru where we hope to visit most of the major destinations, including Cusco, Macchu Pichu and Lake Titicaca. The last two stops are Buenos Aires and Madrid, before we get back to Edinburgh in mid-April.