There and back again…

Well that was a short (but eventful) holiday in NZ, and now we are back trying to reset the old body clock and get back into the daily grind.

Our trip out included a leg on the new A380 double-deck airplane which is an amazing vehicle (just wish we could afforded to really experience it at its best)

Sue and I went with Jamie for a couple of weeks (less the time taken to get there and back and stopping off in Singapore) and spent our time there between Rotorua (known colloquially as Roto-Vegas) and Auckland (or just out in the country).

While in Rotorua we participated in several traditional activities such as:
Zorb (Jamie and I got into individual hamster balls along with a bath full of water and rolled down a hill on a slow spin cycle)
Luge (Travel up a hill in a gondola and then Jamie and I repeatedly slid down it again on a small wheeled sled)
Jet Boat Thermal Safari (Packed into a twin engine jet boat nicknamed the brute we rode down to geothermal park, wandered around it on foot, and returned again via jet boat and several 360 degree spins)
Polynesian Spa (Sit in sulphurous mineral hot pools until we became more wrinkly)

We had a couple of parties at Mum and Dad’s; one with selected neighbours and another for a couple of school friends and their families. It was good fun to catch up with every one (We have come to the conclusion that almost every memorable incident in our school years had something to do with Nic)

On the weekend we visited the Otara Market to soak in the culture and see if we could pick up a bargain or two.

We also visited Alexander Park Market where Mum and Dad have a stall before we went into Auckland to stay the evening.

The Shakespeare Hotel was our venue where we arranged to meet any friends who were available for a chat and a few drinks of the hotel’s own brewed beer.

A few people came and went and we enjoyed their company (except for Sue who was in her room suffering from an upset stomach). Craig stayed on with Jamie and me for a few more refreshing ales before a short tour of the town. Afterwards Jamie went out on his own to see if he could find any excitement (not much of a chance in Auckland on a Sunday night), he ended up in a bar with two others (one being the barman) feeling as he had walked into the start of a joke as they were a Scotsman and an Irishman with Jamie being the Englishman.

After picking up a car for the day we visited another friend for a coffee and drove around the waterfront towards my old hometown of Howick where we had a meal with an old work colleague.

Mid week we again went into town and this time the family stood around and watched as Jamie and I jumped off the tallest free standing structure in the southern hemisphere – twice (there was not many people doing the jump that day so we were given a chance to jump again for free, which Jamie ‘jumped’ at… …and I couldn’t let him think I was a coward)

Sue’s choice of activity was a wine tour, so we hoped to do this along with a trip to the beach to play on the sand yachts , unfortunately the wind was not strong enough, so we diverted and Jamie and Gary did electric go-karts instead. After this we went around the Scenic Drive to the wine area and stopped at Hallertau (because they brewed beer as well as made wine – unfortunately the wine was fruit wine and not to everyone’s taste). So we then went onto one of our favourites, Coopers Creek where we did enjoy a few samples before buying a couple of bottles. Unfortunately it was starting to get late in the day and we didn’t manage to get to any other vineyards.

After our visit we felt as if we were several sizes bigger as a result of the food and alcohol consumed. The portion sizes in NZ seem much bigger than we are used to (a light lunch at a café was a huge plate full and the fish and chips include two pieces of fish). We had a nice meal out in a good Auckland restaurant (the deserts were a work of art - what’s that foam stuff all about anyway?). Another good meal was had a local restaurant Chin Wags with the family. In Singapore too we out did ourselves when we ended up eating the largest and messiest chilli crab we have ever seen.