Turnbull Family Pacific Tour 2015

We're back at the Hilton for an afternoon by the pool. It's not as hot today which is nice, and it's certainly been good to get to the pools this week, something we missed in Australia and New Zealand. It gives the kids access to some exercise. Yesterday we visited the Sobeto Thermal Mud Pool. I wasn't keen on going at first. Something about the thermal part didn't appeal - it's already hot here. Also I wasn't thrilled about the mud part - who wants to get all dirty? But as it turned out it was a fun activity and I'm glad we went. When we first arrived at the mud pool in bathing suits with cameras in hand, we were presented with buckets of mud drawn from the mud pool. We proceeded to coat ourselves in mud from head to toe, and then we let the it dry. I found it cooling to be covered in mud. I can see how this works for elephants and other animals. It must be the combination of protection from the sun and the slow evaporation effect from the drying mud w...

We stayed for two nights on the west coast near the town of Franz Josef . It rained much of the time. Not surprising since the westerly winds off the Tasman sea dump eight meters of rain a year onto this part of the world. No one in this country seems to own a dryer by the way. Of all places, this rainy location could use some dryers. I don't think there are too many "good days for the drying" here, as some Irish travellers we met in Vietnam would say. Instead Kiwis for the most part seem to hang their clothes to dry on the line. We learned this time and again when we only found a washer at our accommodation. Maybe it seems strange to say, but I can't say I have hung many clothes on a line before our trip to New Zealand. It's not rocket science, but I learned on windy days that everything needs a peg or two to stay above the dirt below. A unique custom we've noticed in New Zealand lately is people walking around barefoot. We've only seen it a few times si...

When we drove up to Milford Sound yesterday we stopped and hiked a few short trails. In New Zealand they call it "tramping". Along one tramp we saw signs warning not to touch any small green pellets, which were rat poison. We learned that the national park staff were trying to control the rat population, which is not native to New Zealand. In fact besides a few bats, no mammals are native to New Zealand. Like Australia, New Zealand has suffered the effects of invasive species like rats and rabbits. For instance, they tried to control the rabbit population by introducing possums, but that not only didn't work, it created a possum problem. One of the biggest issues with some of these mammals now roaming the wilds of New Zealand is they are hard on the birds. The lack of native mammals over the last 80 million years since New Zealand starting drifting away from Australia was a boon for the birds, and led to the development of some flightless species, including the kiwi and ...

We've slowed down the last couple of days. I think it was because the weather turned for the worse. On Monday we had such a beautiful day with warm dry winds blowing in from the north. Yesterday the weather changed to blustery, cold and wet weather coming in from the south. Which is strange to me, like many other things. The days are getting longer, the sun tracks in the northern part of the sky from right to left, cold weather comes from the south, and I'm driving on the left. All opposite from what to expect in Canada. Oamaru has an impressive Main Street with large imposing white limestone buildings on a broad avenue. Some of the buildings are very beautiful with Corinthian columns and ornate facades, all built in the late 1800's when this place was booming with profits from a gold rush and other businesses. Now the town is much smaller, and I found it strange to find so few people on the street, which was built at a time when the future seemed brighter. I am told that w...

Before leaving the coast, we visited Hyams Beach in Jervis Bay, which was purported to have the whitest sand in the world. The sand was fine like sugar and was very white. But what we liked the most was the feel of the sand itself, which squeaked and sang under our feet when we walked on it. I don't know why this was so. One theory is the fine sand grains are uniform in size and shape and somehow resonate when the particles rub against each other like crystals. The kids must have spent a good half hour jumping around in the sand before they tired of it. When John and I had our hair cut in Sydney last week I chatted with the barber. He was very interested to find out we were from Canada and lamented that he wished he had four seasons including winter, since it's too hot in Sydney sometimes. I was surprised and didn't know what to say. Maybe I should have told him to be careful what you wish for, or you might end up with five months of winter. I've had a few encounters...

On our first day in Australia I walked down the street from our apartment in Sydney and stopped in at a 7-eleven convenience store to grab a sandwich. The attendant was chatty and after discussing his trip to Vancouver Island, he talked up their coffee maker and suggested I try the coffee. I wasn't expecting much from a 7-eleven but thought what the heck. I was confused by the options though. Did I want a long white or a short black? I went for the long white - whatever that was. It was very good and tasted much like a latte. By contrast the next day we visited a Starbucks and I didn't find the coffee as good. Australians are not a pretentious bunch, but they could be about their coffee. It's excellent and they're willing to pay a few dollars more to have it made to order. No ready to pour drip coffee pots are to be found here. Starbucks tried opening up some stores in Australia but most of them closed down a few years later. It turns out Australia already had great co...

At times we practise the Aussie salute, waving our hands in front of our face at regular intervals to prevent bush flies from landing on our face, and entering our nose or mouth. After awhile I started to look around to confirm that everyone was doing it, including the locals - yes most people were saluting. The bush flies looked like house flies but are attracted to us to feed. I was surprised to find them in downtown Sydney - but there they were, especially in the parks. I understand the flies used to be an even worse nuisance, until the Australians introduced foreign dung beetles a few decades ago that significantly reduced the bush fly population. I would tell you why the beetles helped but it's gross, so look it up if you're interested. I don't think I would want to move to Australia just because of this. Sorry Australia, amazing place and all, but what's with the flies? After learning about the beetle, I started wondering what other foreign species have been intr...

We've learned something about the fauna in Australia over the last couple of days. The animals here, as most everyone knows, are very different from other places. We visited the zoo a couple of days ago, and saw a platypus, koalas, a Tasmanian devil, and an assortment of kangaroos. The platypus had to be one of the strangest creatures I've ever laid eyes upon. He was swimming in a tank, back and forth, wiggling his bill from side to side. He looked like a mix of parts from other animals with its duck-like bill, otter-like body, and webbed feet on the side of its body, and eyes like a lizard. He was every endearing in a way. The zoo breeds these creatures, but we didn't see any baby platypuses, which are called puddles. In the zoo we spotted some koalas, including a mother and baby. They were sleeping in the eucalyptus trees with their faces tucked into their arms. I understand they sleep 20 hours a day so it's not surprising that we caught them napping. We also were abl...

We've been staying in Legian, Bali the last few days. The weather is perfect with sunny days and consistent highs of 28 with lows of 24 Celsius. The kids had two days of surfing lessons, two hours each day. They acquired a lot of rashes and scrapes from their lessons though, so they took a break today to rest and heal up. John's fingertips were scraped up somehow, and when he did his math homework on his iPad later in the day he complained that some blood was streaking his screen - yuck. They might try skipping the lessons tomorrow and we'll just rent the boards. I might try a boogie board - that's more my speed I think. We have been strolling along the beach near sundown the last couple of days. The first time we walked along the long beach we went south and walked through a couple of small streams which were emptying into the sea. After the second stream we noticed a sewage smell. We cleaned our feet after that and started walking the other way. There is definitely ro...

Last night we had a great meal at an Italian restaurant, although we may have eaten too much. The portions were much bigger than we thought. No worries, we had left over pizza the next day. After dinner Catheleen and I wandered around. I don't know how many Hindu temples there are here but they are everywhere. It's an interesting mix to see restaurants and shops squeezed in on the street between temples. We definitely had the feeling that we were far from home, but yet we had a sense of relaxation. Today we visited the Bali Bird Park . It was an excellent day where we saw up to 250 species of tropical birds from Indonesia and around the world. Many of the birds we visually stunning with such brightly coloured feathers. But the best thing about this place was the close interaction we had with the birds. Something I suspect would not be possible in Canada for health and safety concerns. I think the locals are less fussed about that here. Upon arrival we had a chance to hold some...

It's our second day in Bali, an island in   Indonesia. We flew here from Singapore yesterday, and we're settling into our surroundings. We're planning to stay here in Indonesia for about a month, with most of our time spent in Bali and some time spent in Java. We're currently in the town of in Ubud , a little bit inland. I really like our accommodations. The room is its own building, surrounded by gardens, stone walls and gates, all overgrown with plants, trees and vines. This morning as I sat on the veranda I looked out over the stone gravel path, strewn with fragrant yellow flowers that fell overnight from the tree above. I gave a flower to Elizabeth and she put it in her hair - she looked very pretty with a big smile on her face and a flower in her hair.  The resort is set in the middle of working rice fields, which I think is unique and scenic. Sitting at the pool, I looked out across the terraced rice fields, where a few workers were preparing the fields for ne...

In the evening we had dinner in the same bay in Koh Tao where we were yesterday. The kids befriended the local dog named Durian. He was a big dog with black and white markings that looked like a pit bull, and the kids fawned over him shamelessly. I wonder how he got his name. We suspect he likes to eat Durian. I think we all slept well on our second night on the boat, either because we were tired or because we were more used to sleeping on the boat. In the morning after we woke up it rained for 20 minutes or so and we needed to batten down the hatches to keep the rain out. We spent the morning in the cove paddle boarding and snorkelling. Somehow Elizabeth and John talked the first mate Dont into giving them joy rides on a paddle board behind the dingy. John would stand up on the paddle board, holding onto a rope attached to the board for balance. For the afternoon we sailed back to Koh Pha Ngan and I steered the boat for much of the way with the wind running perpendicular to us on a be...

Last day pool-side in Koh Samui before we go sailing for a few days. We were told last minute that the sail boat operator wanted cash payment so we needed to rush to find the right combination of bank card and ATM to meet the payment. I really dislike these last minute scrambles but that's travelling for you. John was disappointed when there were no geocaches in the area, so I convinced him to place his own geocache for others to find. He needed some help but he found a container, hiding place, and learned how to log the information on the geocache site. Elizabeth was the first person to test out finding the cache, and managed to locate it with some hints. We went back to the same resort yet again for more time by the pool and the sea. I do like floating in a warm ocean, which I've been able to do the last few days. I think most people these days would rather use the pool at the resort overlooking the ocean with a drink in hand. I like that too but there's a peaceful pleasu...

We went to the night market last evening. On our way out the door we saw two orange lights in the sky, as if Mars and his new-found twin decided to visit Earth and oversee our night out. Or maybe it was a couple of airplanes, but the lights weren't moving. I later learned that these orange dots in the black sky were floating lanterns being lit and released from the beach. When we first arrived at the market we were welcomed by the aroma emanating from closely packed food stalls, presenting all manner of homemade foodstuffs for sale. The area was packed with tourists mainly. While listening to the guitarist sing Bob Marley and Paul Simon tunes, we ordered a few appetizers for our stroll. I do enjoy Thai food which offers a lot of variety, but I do crave other foods now and then. Tonight I went for the pizza while Catheleen stayed traditional and had the Pad Thai One lady I met was selling varieties of insects, and I suppose I must have stayed at her stall too long since she asked me...

Another wake up call by the local wildlife on this early morning. I don't know what the creature was, but it sounded off at dawn like a whiffle ball being whipped around at increasing speed, followed by brief silence and a squeak. Repeat three or four times. The first time it happened it startled me out of bed - I thought something was happening in our room. But I think it was outside and just very loud. Nobody else had heard it - they all thought I was crazy. We don't let the kids pet the dogs for the most part, many of which are languishing about to stay cool from the heat of the day. John and Elizabeth are more interested in the cats, which are harder to spot, and the kids always seem to be on the lookout for felines. Some of them are missing parts of tails, maybe because there are so many motorcycles zooming about on the street and sidewalks, and sometimes the kids spot mother with kittens. But for the most part they appear to be reasonably well taken care of, as we see mos...