Turnbull Family Pacific Tour 2015

I think the quality of life for Fijians is about average for a developing country. Their standard of living is about the same as Indonesians based on their incomes. Not as high as Thais, but much higher than Vietnamese. About 70% percent of the Fijian population relies on subsistence farming. Quality of life, based on the human development index, places it in the middle rank of countries. Average life expectancy is 72, a few years behind the developed world. The country certainly has its problems, which I think it's doing its best to resolve. One of the biggest issues it faces is racial tensions between the indigenous-Fijians and the Indo-Fijians. When the country gained its independence from the British in 1970, the Indo-Fijians wanted equal rights and privileges, while the indigenous Fijians were concerned about protecting their customary lands and communal life. We got a sense for this communal life when we visited a primarily Indo-Fijian market today. A lady saw us eyeing t...

We spent a few days in the town of Thames , a bit east of Auckland around a bay called The Firth of Thames. We explored the town and the area, and on Sunday we drove north up the peninsula's west coast to the town of Coromandel , a quaint small town having a motorcycle convention the day we arrived for a visit. There were mostly older people walking around in black leather pants (what's with that?), and looking at each other's chopper or hog motorcycle. There was also a community band in the street playing hits from the sixties and seventies, so we stopped off at a cafe to enjoy a flat white while listening to the band. The kids have been drinking ginger beer lately, which is much like ginger-ale but with a much stronger ginger flavour. So I bought them another brand of ginger beer called 'Frank's Damn Good Ginger Beer', which they enjoyed, as much for the name as the flavour. We then drove across to Hot Water Beach on the east side of the peninsula, where we w...

I have to admit we haven't done too much since we arrived in Nelson New Zealand, on the northern end of the south island. We're staying in a really nice place on top of a ridge with a great view of the ocean. I find when we are at a particularly nice place, I feel like staying close to home base and just relaxing. So without many recent activities to describe, here's a list of random things I've learned about New Zealand since we arrived on the South Island. 1. What a beautiful place. Everywhere you go the views and vistas are amazing. 2. Driving on the left is tricky. I keep walking to the car to get into the driver's seat on the wrong side, and I still think the turn signal should be where the windshield wiper controls are. Then there are the ever present round-abouts - ugh. I attempted parallel parking once with some success, but I kept shoulder checking over the rght shoulder. It's confusing. 3. There really are more sheep than people here. Something like...

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...

We've seen a few movies in New Zealand, and while we enjoyed them, what was more interesting was the movie theatres themselves. Unlike Canada they all seem to be independently owned and operated, and they are each quite different. In Te Anau, we didn't realise that we should have booked our seats days in advance. No matter, we still managed to get almost the last seats. We ordered popcorn for the kids, which were provided in white ceramic bowls, and waited in the adjacent Black Dog Bar while others ordered glasses of wine or beer for the show. Once inside the theatre, we placed our bowls and drinks on little tables between the seats and enjoyed the first half of The Martian. Next came the required intermission to get another drink. Others preferred a slice of cheesecake. The last theatre we visited was the Paradiso in Wanaka. This place was less upscale but no less unique. The theatre was filled mostly with sofas, along with a few regular theatre style chairs and one '50...

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...

The New Zealand All Blacks beat the Australia Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup finals on Saturday. The only reason I know this is because we were in Australia for the semi-finals and New Zealand for the finals. The kids really wanted to watch the finals at a sports bar or somewhere with a crowd, but we ended up waking up early Sunday morning at 5 AM to watch the game in our hotel room. Being in New Zealand, we cheered for the Kiwis. The rivalry between the Kiwis and Aussies was on full display during the lead up to the event. Listening to some Kiwis, they seem to see themselves as under-appreciated by their larger rivals the Aussies, who they consider brash. Which is funny since the two countries are such close partners in business and politics. Reminds me somewhat of the relationship between the U.S. and Canada. We drove south from Christchurch to a rural hobby farm near Oamaru . We enjoyed the drive through the countryside, which was very beautiful. The country has been turned into g...

On our last day in Sydney we visited the ANZAC War Memorial in Hyde Park. I'm glad we did. The building itself was beautiful. Built in the 1930's and constructed in an Art Deco style, it commemorates the Australian and New Zealand (ANZAC) joint forces that fought in the First World War, starting with the 1915 Gallipoli quagmire. The exterior stone statues and bronze reliefs were superb depictions of the Great War, and the interior was dominated on the lower level by a sculpture. It showed a dead warrior carried on a shield by his mother, sister and wife. It is based on the legend of Spartan warriors from Ancient Greece who were raised to come home from war either with their shield or on it. Clearly the experience for many families during the First World War was one of sacrifice and loss. I found it very moving. The memorial was re-dedicated in the 1980's to veterans of all wars, and inside we saw displays from the Boer War to Australia's latest involvement in Afghanista...

We're taking it pretty easy for our last few days in Bali, before we head off to Sydney Australia on Saturday evening. We thought about going to the beach today at the end of the strip but we heard there were a lot of hawkers there. So we're spending another day at the resort by the pool, near the ocean. I really like this spot near the pool, next to the seawall. It has some beach sand in a contained strip, with some beach chairs and umbrellas setup here. It's like we're at the beach, without being on the beach. Very nice. It seems to be low season here with few tourists. Sometimes we're the only patrons in the restaurant. Even so, there are many hawkers on the street as we walk to local restaurants and shops. As we stroll along, we are invariably asked every 50 or 100 feet whether we want to purchase sunglasses, whether we need transport, or if we want to go snorkeling. It looks to me like a great number of Balinese men around here are idle without much to do, at ...

Modern urban environments like Singapore have their charms, but I prefer a rural setting most of the time. When we take a holiday we usually try to strike a balance between time spent in the countryside and time spent in the big cities. There's usually a tug of war being city and rural time, since Catheleen and now John usually prefer what the cities have to offer. When we're home and weather permits, I really like to spend time at the cottage, closer to nature than life in the city. Even when at home in the city, when the lawnmowers aren't mowing, it's nice to sit quietly in the backyard on the deck, with a view of the surrounding trees and garden, listening to the cardinals come and go while the squirrels scurry by across the canopy of trees. I'm not a huge nature lover on its own. I do like to go for a nature walk or a hike on occasion, but I'm not a camper. I avoid the odd suggestion from Catheleen that we give it a go. I've never tried glamping (camping...

Yesterday we hired a driver to take us around northern Bali to see some of the sights and sounds. We visited a couple of temples of course. I thought one temple was particularly beautiful since it incorporated the natural landscape. It had massive statues carved out of the cliffs, along with whimsical rice terraces forming loops and waves around the palm trees, and waterfalls running down the surrounding forested cliffs. It was also nice to see that the temple was well used, with many people making offerings for sale in the community, or making special wedding decorations. It looked like a community effort. The men in Bali often wear sarongs at the temples and elsewhere. So I purchased one, since the shorts I was wearing were not sufficiently modest for the temples. Catheleen bought one too, and I made sure to purchase one made for men. I don't know what the difference was between the two, but I was assured I had the right one. Later on we stopped at a viewpoint overlooking a lake ...

Having visited other places in South East Asia, it is only natural I think to compare them to Bali. I can only imagine if we had come to Bali straight away from Canada, with no other experiences in Asia to draw upon, it would have charmed and amazed me as an exotic and beautiful place. I am still charmed, but it's a subtle spell. Just for fun imagine you didn't have to concern yourself with working for a living. Where would you live? Perhaps some in Canada would choose a tropical paradise like Bali, but I don't think I would like to live anywhere else but Canada. The main reason is Canada is my home, plain and simple. It's where I feel most comfortable, in a culture and environment, both urban and natural, I understand and like to think I appreciate. Perhaps the winters are a bit long for my taste, and I wouldn't mind skipping the odd one, but I think I would feel out of place without the seasons. I'm sure most of the Balinese would say much the same thing about...

John and I went exploring yesterday for a geocache, which we found in a school for the mentally disabled, sponsored by the Sjaki-Tari-Us foundation. John was very happy since he found something in the cache called a geocache coin , which is supposed to have a mission assigned to it like "bring me to every continent". John was thrilled because this one from Germany and did not have mission yet, so John can make one up. I was interested to speak with one of the teachers from the school. She said the school was founded and sponsored by people from Holland. The Indonesian government does provide some schooling for the mentally disabled, but it's limited to kids ages 7 through 10. This school provides schooling for kids outside of these age ranges. Last night we attended a performance called the Kecak Fire and Trance Dance, which was definitely worth seeing. The local community puts on these performances in a number of temples in the area. We were told at the end of the perf...

One reason I like to travel is to confirm that Canada is the best country in the world to live in. Kidding aside (sort of), when I travel I do try to keep an open mind to how others live, and then ask myself if they are on to something. For example, throughout the world I'm often impressed with the food on offer and wish we Canadians would pick up a few lessons from abroad. Maybe a few less hotdogs and fries and a few more fresh tasty meals instead - just a friendly suggestion. After enjoying another great meal at a mall food court in Singapore, jammed packed with the locals, I have to chalk one up to the Singaporeans. Great food, variety, quality and prices - and even a beer stand to get a bottle. Would it be so wrong if we could get such treatment in Canada? Cleanliness? Have to give Singapore another point. Yes Canada is pretty neat and tidy when we're not dealing with 'snirt' - that's my name for the mix of snow and dirt that we drag into our malls and busines...

We just left Vietnam today en route to Singapore. It's as good a time as any to reflect on our time spent in Vietnam. It seems visitors either love or hate their stay. I suppose it's easy enough to have a bad time or opinion. Just don't keep an open mind to other ways of living, or just focus on the lower standard of living. We were in the developing world after all without all the comforts and amenities of home. There would be a lot to complain about if one were so inclined. It was hard to communicate with the local people most of the time. The traffic was tough. It was often hard to walk on the street let alone cross it. We spent weeks walking in single file most of the time like we were holding a rope up the mountain. There was the constant beeping from motorcycles, mopeds and cars passing by at close quarters. There was the lack of safe work practises in the street. Just yesterday Catheleen was crossing the street when a wire from above fell on her feet; I don't kno...

Last night as we walked around the old city after dinner we saw a game of Bai Choi being played in a square. It was a bit like bingo but with music, singing and dancing. Each contestant received cards with Chinese chess pieces on each card, and the dealer randomly drew bamboo sticks from a box which bore the name of one of the chess pieces. The dealer or his assistant would then sing a folk's song about the piece.  I learnt later that the songs conveyed values like love, friendship or patriotism but with some fun mixed in. When a contestant had a match they called out and received a yellow flag, and when someone was the first to receive enough flags they won a small prize. The people playing the game seemed to be having fun and it was quirky to see the performances. There was another game down the street that anyone could play since it needed no Vietnamese language skills. Players would put on a mask so they couldn't see and would take a whack with a stick at a small hanging...

Yesterday we flew south from Hanoi to Da Nang and took a taxi to Hoi An , which is a much smaller place than Hanoi or Da Nang. The town name translates to "peaceful meeting place". It's a UNESCO world heritage site for its well-preserved South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Not too many of these old cities remain that haven't either been rebuilt as a more modern place or destroyed by one of the many wars. The reason for its preservation is a combination of factors, including the silting up of the local river, which made the city a sleepy place for a couple of centuries. On the way to our hotel by taxi from Da Nang, I spotted locals harvesting rice from the paddy fields. The fields were golden coloured from the ripe crop and had been drained of water to make for an easier harvest by people and machines. The machines on the field were being used to cut the stalks, and the people were carrying large bundles of yellow stalks laden with...

Yesterday evening on the boat we had another excellent meal with a wide variety of seafood, including local oysters served in the half shell and warmed briefly with fried and dried onions and garlic on top. The prawns were interesting since they were served with shells, heads and tentacles intact. Catheleen is pretty good at removing the shells and everything else, but I find I'm not in the mood for shrimp once I've witnessed this carnage. When the tour guide asked us if we had any food restrictions, Elizabeth piped in that, while she is not allergic to seafood, she doesn't care for it. John only likes shrimp and tolerates fish, so after a few courses of seafood, while Elizabeth was getting substitute chicken and beef courses, John wished he had also made the same request as Elizabeth. At dinner we spoke to two Canadians named Cory and Luke, the only Canadians we've seen for quite a while. They were on a ten day trip to Vietnam, and had just returned from trekking to a ...

Today was day two of our cruise within Ha Long Bay. I started the day with Tai Chi on the deck. I can't say I did it any justice, but I followed the instructor's moves as best I could. It was good to start the day with a little light exercise. In the morning we took a day boat through the bay past some of the two thousand islands that cover the area. Our destination was Cat Ba Island for some biking and touring. On the island we took a newly built road five kilometres inland to a nearby village - the old lower road was still under water. There was a lot of rain and flooding in the area about two months ago that has yet to subside completely. The last time it happened was about 90 years ago, and it has really hurt the villages on the island, who are only now getting their houses and rice paddies back. We took three bikes out, with Elizabeth on the back of our guide's motorcycle on the way out and John on the way back. Riding on a motorcycle was again a highlight for the kid...

We took the overnight train from Sa Pa to Hanoi, and then travelled by bus to Ha Long Bay to start a two-night cruise. Our guide Nam was very friendly and informative, and tried to give us a sense of life in Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular. He said people in Hanoi might wake at 4 or 5 AM and begin the day with some exercise. On our taxi ride from the train station in Hanoi around 4:30 AM we saw this first hand, with runners and cyclists dominating the street traffic before the sun rises. After exercise, people might have a noodle soup called Pho for breakfast. At the hotel this morning, while we waited for the bus to pick us up, I watched the scene across the street, where two ladies had set up shop on the sidewalk for the breakfast crowd. A mother arrived with her young child and ordered something that looked like porridge, and sat down on one of the ubiquitous small plastic stools that are everywhere. She fed herself and her child while a school age girl ordered the same...