February Travels

I spent quite a lot of February enjoying this view.  It’s from my sister’s house in New Zealand.  I travelled there with another sister, the one who lives in NI so it was a kind of sisters’ reunion. Well three of five anyway. 

I 

The weather in New Zealand was glorious, warm and sunny every day without being too hot.  We spent most of our time in the area where she lives - on the coast just north of Whangerei on the North Island. There are some beautiful beaches and plenty of opportunities for water sports.  This suited sister Sylvia more than me - she was in her element, paddleboarding, swimming,  snorkelling.  I did swim a bit and paddled a kayak up a river one day but mostly observed from a safe distance.  I certainly wouldn’t have gone in the water if I’d seen this shark who turned up just after we got out. It is apparently a harmless bronze wailer but even so a bit scary.

During the second week of our visit,  we travelled down to Cambridge, south of Auckland where my niece was taking part in the New Zealand Rowing Championships.  We went along to Lake Kapapiro to support her races and also had some time to explore the area.  We visited Hamilton Gardens which were lovely  and Hobbiton, the set for some of the scenes in the Lord of Rings films. 

It’s long way to New Zealand. Previously when I visited I did the whole trip in one go - over 24 hours in the air.  This time we stopped over in Singapore and the journey was still fairly unpleasant with both of us suffering from jet lag.  We did enjoy the time we spent in Singapore, though it was rather too hot and humid for me.  We did all the touristy things including having a Singapore Sling in Raffles.  I loved the Orchid Garden in the Botanic Gardens and also the Gardens by the Bay where there is a free light show every evening. Singapore appears to be a very wealthy city. Everything is very modern, marble and glass everywhere and very clean - even the underground. It is full of shopping malls, expensive brands, hotels with rooftop bars and pools.

Back home now with Paul who had to cope with the dogs on his own for three weeks and the puppy still wakes up at night.  He preferred that to coming with me though - long haul flights are his idea of hell. It was good to escape the cold, wet February and to return when the days are getting longer and spring is on its way.