Home Again

Hi Everyone,

Well, I have made it back to New Zealand, Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud. The land of top loading washing machines that live in a room called a laundry and can be opened 5 minutes after starting to do a wash if you forget to put something in... among other things!

My trip to Paris was pretty good. The Metro strikes made it a bit hard to get around (though one of the key lines was still working). Had a hop-on-hop-off bus tour ticket for the first two days. The weather was very cold and a bit wet the first day and I spent the afternoon huddled under the sheltered bit of the top of an open top bus. I tried snails - the sauce was nice. Went to the Arc de Triumph, Eiffel Tower, the Galleries Lafayette shopping centre which has an awesome stained glass dome ceiling, the Grand Palace (an Art Nouveau building that also has an impressive ceiling and wrought iron work), Musee d' Orsay and the Pompidou Centre (which had just opened an exhibition on architect Richard Rogers). There are a few things I had to leave until next time (Notre Dame, The Rodin Gallery and the Catacombs - ran out of time!).

Back in London it was a crazy couple of days trying to get everything sussed before leaving. Managed to squeeze in visits to the London Eye and St Paul's Cathedral which had been on my things to do list for a while. The weather was stunning (maybe a little cold) and I had a great view from both. Saw the sunset from the top of St Paul's (at 4 in the afternoon!!!). Walking to the boarding gate at Heathrow I passed a lot of big images of London Landmarks. Most of them I could say I had been there/seen it - not bad seen I probably wouldn't have recognised them 8 months ago!

I spent one night in Hong Kong then flew to Beijing. I was a bit scared going to China, but my friend Yi met me at the airport and made sure we got into a legal taxi so that was great! I was a bit out of sync with the whole sleeping thing, and was pretty tired for the whole time I was there (its all a bit of a blur now!). I managed to go to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and ate Peking Duck (among many other Chinese Dishes!). Had a few issues with ATMs - couldn't get anything out of my HSBC account (even though HSBC stands for Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation!). Luckily my good old Westpac card from home worked - thank goodness for the overdraft!). One of the most enjoyable things I did was walking around the hutongs (old lanes and alleyways with single story housing) with Yi. It was a fun afternoon as we walked around with our cameras. We also called into a few of the small shops (I bought a hat that looks a lot like a tea cosy, among other things). To warm up, we went into a cafe for a hot chocolate - it was amazing, a really nice little cafe and I didn't feel like I was in China!

After China I headed back to Hong Kong for one night. Booked the accommodation on lastminute.com and ended up staying on Lantau Island, not near Kowloon in the city where I have stayed before. Was a bit worried about the transport to the Hotel, but managed to get the bus ok. Some of the road grades are as steep as 1:6 (they had signs saying this). It seemed to work ok and I wasn't to scared, but I did note that they are building a new road that has a much flatter grade! The prices seemed ridiculously cheap - bus tickets for an hour on a bus for about 1 pound. There was a great turkish restaurant about ten minutes from my hotel - I did enjoy the chinese food in China, but was a bit over it by then so the Turkish food was fantastic!

My favourite part of the time on Lantau Island was visiting the fishing village called Tai-O. I took a bus that took about 45 mins from the bay I was staying in. The village has many huts that are built on stilts. There is also a market where you can buy a lot of dried fish (if you wanted to that is...) among other things. I enjoyed walking around the village taking photos. There were a few tourists but not to many, and it was more relaxing than China probably due to two things - more people spoke English and people weren't harassing me to by things or begging. The weather was really nice (I even had to purchase a new hat - one that you see people in rice field wearing - would have cost about 2 pounds 50p). It was really nice not to be bundled up in thermals and a jacket etc, and to smell the sea air again!

The flight from Hong Kong was 40 mins shorter than it was supposed to be - only 10 hours something - fantastic! Am staying at my parents house in Te Aroha at the moment. My brother and his girlfriend are home from the UK (apparently his work permit has been approved in London and should arrive any day now!). My Dad's latest saying is something like "I had better go to work if I am going to keep funding this free hotel!"

We have managed to use up the internet allowance for the month already (it only started 28/11) and had to ring up on Monday and buy some more. I have been trying to upload all my photos. I think I am up to about mid/late October so far. If anyone wants to have a look the link is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wandering_surveying_triathlete/sets/ Apologies for the typos etc, been trying to get it done quickly while I have free net access!

Been talking to my old employers in Whakatane and it sounds like they might have work for me for three months at least and then I can reassess things. Still in negotiations, but don't plan to start until after Christmas as I want to chill out a bit first. Am off to Whakatane this afternoon (about 2.5hrs drive from here - why don't we have trains here?). Going to stay with some mates and catch up with everyone.

I think thats about all I've got to update you on. Its been good working/living/travelling/hanging out/catching up (delete as appropriate) with you this year. I've had a great time and will miss you guys (and crazy old London)! Will let you know if I plan to come back when I make a decision - don't expect it anytime soon though - it may take a while!

Take care and keep in touch!

Stacey