Photos

A quick reminder for me when wanting photos on the hard drive. 

Hold the alt key while clicking on the Photos icon on the dock, while the hard drive is plugged in.  Then I can choose which version of Photos I want to open.  Hope that helps me!

Travel Musing Fiji

Travel Musings Fiji

- Tides are peculiar. I never really understood what we learnt in physics about the moon causing them. And it has been strange to see and feel their effects here as the sea has become hard to get to over the Rock and coral at some of the beaches. 

- Fiji is hot. Our first days in Nadi, I don't think I've felt so hot anywhere else before. So so sticky and humid and how I longed for air conditioning. I always thought it a nice luxury but here it seemed a necessity. Fortunately since we have been on the islands without AC, it had usually been windy enough to be cooled a bit. I don't like the feeling of never being dry, even after a cool shower I am sweating again before I am dry. And very gross how hard it becomes to pull shorts and knickers up after going to the toilet as thighs are so sticky. I think it's hotter than Uganda, Ghana, Queensland. I remember being shocked by the heat of Qatar at 6am getting off the plane but I wonder what it would be like there the rest of the time? 

- It feels like we have met more travellers during our time in Fiji than elsewhere and it's been a different sort of experience at each resort. 

At Barefoot Manta where we were volunteering we didn't have that great a time with fellow travellers. For meals we were on a table with the 10 volunteers, mostly English. They weren't horrible but every meal they spent on their phones which seemed strange but I wondered if that was just the youth of today. 

We were reassured when we moved to our next island, Safe Landing, where we met a lovely group of travellers. We tried to play a few card games with a nice group of three but we all chatted too much to get very far! And that evening at dinner the rest of the travellers put the tables together as they thought it was more sociable and we had a nice time chatting to a German couple. 

Sadly all the guests left the next day and John and I were left alone on the island waving them off. Fortunately a new lot of guests arrived. I was initially worried by the arrival of half a dozen lads and lassies from Essex, but we ended up getting on well with the lads, sharing our NZ Frenzy knowledge, learning about photography and playing lots of Push It and even Cut the Cheese!

From there we moved to White Sandy Beach. The travellers weren't such a great bunch there. We were the only Brits there, which was nice for a change. We got on well with a Swedish couple, playing lots more Push It. It was a rather down time with cyclone worries but we made it through, with the help of Daniella who was working there and her mother in Australia. 

At our final resort, Naqalia, we had a different selection of fellow guests each night. There were lots of different folks, some we got on with, others less so. There was an English couple from Nottingham who I somehow find quite hard despite the fact they were so talkative. There was also a couple who were living in Sydney. She was Chinese and my first impressions of her had been so wrong. She turned out to have travelled to all sorts of places in the world including Cuba, Iran, Iraq and Antarctica and was ever so kind showing us photos and sharing how to take good photos with our camera! 

Travel Musings New Zealand

I enjoyed posting my last travel musings on here so thought I would get another list going of further things that have occurred while travelling and I'd like to remember. I'm starting this on 28th January and I'll post it hopefully at some point in the future when I've added to it. This post so far has a more New Zealand basis whereas the last one was Australia. 

- The New Zealand people we have met out and about have on the whole been friendlier than Australia people. This has continued to be true the longer we are here. Kiwis seem to go out of the way to be kind and helpful and a South African we met said he'd been here 10 years and thought the same when he moved from Aus. 

- People in New Zealand also look a lot more normal, mainly because they wear trousers and sleeves at times. Also they seem to be a mix of shapes and sizes and aren't all bronzed. 

- Flower gardens - One thing that has struck my while travelling, is the feeling that English Flower gardens are better and more flowery than anywhere else I've seen in the world. I wonder if perhaps I have an idealised version of them, but I'm keen to check it out when we are back. Maybe it's just my grandmas were awesome gardeners so I feel that's how all English gardens are!! 

- I'm quite enjoying tree places. 

- Two things I was looking forward to in NZ were Grain Waves crisps and refuelling with petrol without holding on to the handle! Both have come to fruition!  

- A watch. I've always loved having clocks and telling the time. In Uganda my watch battery ran out. I tried to get a new one there but no luck so thought I'd save it till next country. I wondered about still wearing my watch to see my tan line. But I didn't. And then I decided that maybe this was the time (!) to go without, be a bit more relaxed and go with the flow. And there have been times where we needed to be somewhere at a particular time and it's been frustrating to have to check on the camera. But there have also been lazy afternoons and evenings that have been a joy to be timeless in. 

-I have never been one to use public toilets much, mainly because I don't need to go to the toilet that often and I figured I could always wait till I was home. Don't get me wrong, I did go to the toilet away from home, particularly at friends or restaurants but very rarely would I go to a toilet in a park say. Being in the campervan, and with the prospect of driving our toilet waste around and having to empty it ourselves, has meant I've leapt at opportunities to use toilets out and about. And generally I've been pretty pleasantly surprised! I used them in parks, only one of which was pretty bleak and scary! Almost all have had soap and toilet paper. I've even used some long drops. I've just used the first one that wasn't really pleasant at all and that prompted me to write. I will also add that I don't really like going to sleep with out a trip to the loo, or waking up without one nearby! 

-Possibly more surprising to me has been my slide into not necessarily showering in the mornings. I had thought that I just had to shower in the mornings, and indeed for years haven't got dressed without showering. Here it started by, 'we're going to an open water place this morning or doing exercise so I'll shower after that', and now it's almost like it's not on my radar at times that we are not at a campsite. This is definitely not something I will be continuing post camper but it's quite useful to have got into the situation of not showering every morning for now!

-Now somehow this one seems almost more gross to me than the last two - I feel I will be judged for recording this so I'm hesitant to... here goes - I've stopped brushing my hair!! I'll put down quickly that I'm still washing it every couple of days, it's just the brushing that's stopped. I was using a comb from the Japanese hotel and one day I didn't brush it early on as we were in the middle of nowhere not seeing people then I just kind of realised it didn't look any worse than when I did brush it! I do feel a bit like a 60s hippie but oh well!!

-I think I'm quite a fan of gorges. Well, at least we went to one that I really liked, so I'll have to test the theory out and see!

-I am quite captivated when driving along to see all the houses apparently in the middle of nowhere. I do so wonder what it would be like to live there. Part of me thinks it must be amazing and attractive and relaxing but then I reckon I'd find it hard being so far from shops and everything. I guess you'd have to be very organised.

I also really like seeing the mail boxes along the edge of the road - especially the unusual ones.

Road names are also really interesting and I enjoy wondering how they came about: Eighty Eight Valley Road, Brassknocker Road, Nurse Mary Lee Lane.  Also there were signs which at first I thought were political  which said 'it starts here...' and were then followed by a 5 digit number. I wonder if it's some sort of house numbering thing for farms or something?

-We got a free Spotify account with our New Zealand SIM card and we saved a few play lists. One of them was called 'hot country' as John and I have learnt that country music is pretty much the only place where our musical tastes overlap equally. It definitely became our most listened to music of the campervan. We hadn't heard of any of the songs before but soon developed 3 or 4 favourites and I like that whenever I hear those songs again I will be immediately taken back to those New Zealand roads.

-We also got in to listening to podcasts, mostly ones that were new to both of us. Dan Snow's History Hit was probably the one we listened to most, despite how annoyed I got with the poor sound mixing of the production and had to get used to lunging for the volume control at different points. We are becoming more knowledgable on historical things or at least far more aware of how much of history we are ignorant of! Historica! Another one that we kept coming back to was the Five Thirty Eight Elections podcast. We are still yet to learn what the title is about but it is covering the US Presidential Election from a pollsters and numbers point of view and we are quite hooked on this primary season mainly in astonishment at the rise of The Donald. 

-I've found it quite special in New Zealand to be in places where I can see no roads. I can't really remember this happening like this before. I was first struck by it on our first cycle near Wellington on the Rimutukas. We had just come out the other side of a tunnel and had a magnificent view into the distance and I realised I couldn't see a road. Wow!

-I've realised that lots of these thoughts and ideas come to me while we are on a walk and sometimes when driving. I guess that's when my mind is free-est to wander.

-This is a strange one but I have been interested in seeing poison traps around the national parks and such places. NZ is very keen on getting rid of introduced pests and there are quite a few signs and warnings that there are various poisons about. It always makes me wonder how they target the pests and not the native creatures. Hmmm?

-Something that has surprised me in New Zealand has been my fear at heights. I've not always been great at heights, but I've often thought I might be putting it on and it should be a mind over matter thing. The first major incidence was climbing up Mt Ngauruhoe.

I found the scramble up really hard and hated looking back down. It got so bad that I burst into tears and had to stop. I felt quite pathetic but it seemed very real. I also felt a similar but lesser feeling when climbing up Mt Robert, not wanting to look down despite knowing I was on firm ground. The other major problem has been swing bridges - I think that's what they are called though it doesn't seem to quite convey the right thing.

Several of them made me nervous as I walked over and I was never sure if it was the height, the width, the water below, that made the biggest difference to how scared I was. The worst was going to Rob Roy Glacier, just 15 minutes from the car park.

We never made it to the glacier and I had such a huge meltdown in the wind of the bridge. Worst ever and made me think I should never criticise or doubt anyone who has a phobia as I know my reaction was irrational but there wasn't anything I could do. Thank you to John for getting me over. 

-Think I may have mentioned this on my last travel musings but I shall say again how great my kindle is! I love finishing a book and perusing what's on there before making my next choice depending on my current mood. And it's so great that I can read it without having the light on while John goes to sleep. And I have been using the dictionary feature more and more. Especially useful with older books. Sometimes it's for words that I don't know, often it's for words I'm familiar with but could never define myself. 

-Unsealed roads - what's with that?!?!? I spent quite a while going backwards and forwards with my thoughts on unsealed roads in NZ. We definitely drove on a lot of them and it was always anxious wondering if the gravel would chip the campervan. They took us to some great places and sometimes I thought, "it's good that they slow us down so we take our time and appreciate the place and don't rush and it's like being in Anne of Green Gables time and this way places are kept quieter as not so many people go on them".  But whenever we turned on to one my actual thought was "Grrrrr"!!!

-I found it interesting to see the fruit for sale at the side of the road around the country. Sometimes it was a small stall outside someone's house and sometimes it was a larger orchard or market. I enjoyed seeing how different areas were big on different crops. There might be lots of signs for peaches and pears, and then a few days later all the signs would be for kumara etc. It wasn't until we got to Tauranga in our last few days that we started seeing kiwi fruit for sale. 

Things that I want to incorporate back home:

- In NZ, instead of using a salad bowl, they used a salad plate and it was much more attractive and pleasant to use. I also really liked one time how they didn't mix it, but rather had it spread out in sections so you could pick and choose. 

- Dips and crackers platters after work - whoop whoop! 

- This is a bit of a strange one, but the last two places we have stayed have had really nice constantly emitting air fresheners in their bathrooms and I've noticed them each time I've gone in. I've often thought them a bit of a waste of time before but am tempted to give the gels that you stick in the toilet bowl a go. 

-Keep making chapattis and tortillas as learnt in Uganda and made a lot in campervan. 

Travel Musings

I wrote this below intending it for our newlandswiththekirklands blog though I wasn't sure it would pass the John test as it was a bit different to what we have blogged before and indeed it didn't make the cut. So rather than it disappear I thought I would post it on here instead and let it live. I might also add a few more bits now I know it's not getting another audience! 

Travel musings

Being a backpacker is a funny thing. I don't think we have felt in quite the right demographic on this tour in Australia, but we have still enjoyed it and had a laugh with lots of different people and been taken to incredible places so it has been worth it. And I have been so pleased to have had John as my friend and ally and person to be with at the end of each day. 

Our time on this Loka tour in Australia has given me a few thoughts on things that I decided I would start to record here. Here are the smiles and trials of my travel musings...

- Looking down at my legs and feet and being surprised they belong to me as they have turned a different colour in this climate! I don't think I've ever had the tops of my feet and the soles such a contrast before. 

- We have stayed in about 7 different hostels and a friendly welcome at a hostel makes a huge difference to my impression of a place. 

- Camping for a night starts to seem appealing after some hostels!

- I can now use my 'old age' as the reason I'm not doing drinking games or going clubbing!

- I now know which type of shampoo bottle is most likely to squirt open in a rucksack and how long it takes to wipe up. And that how when you have learnt this, it is important to follow through and put said bottle in a plastic bag.

- I am very very glad that I seem to sleep so well and go straight back to sleep in hostels or trains or tents. 

- My phone lasts so much longer on Airplane mode before it needs recharging again. 

- The Spirit of Queensland train doesn't often run to time. It makes British trains seem punctual to the extreme - hanging around for over an hour at a very quiet station is not considered strange and there is not much hurry when the train does arrive. 

- Train journeys and delays are good for catching up with diary writing. 

- Shopping can take a long time when deliberating if 25p extra is worth it for Ainsley Harriot cous cous!

- Eye masks are really great! They help you sleep in in the mornings when light would normally awaken you and they are great at avoiding distractions on planes and trains (and boats!). 

- I can actually survive without the delicious looking gelato in Australia and after a while I even stop thinking about it! But when I have my first ice cream since UK, a 'Maxibon', it is so so delicious!

- The Swiss army really give you a Swiss Army Knife. 

- I don't like sleeping on the top bunk of a squeaky bunk bed! 

- Carrying a backpack is heavy, but heaving it on to your back is worse. But even worse is seeing the fellow traveller whose wheel had come off his wheely suitcase and now has to carry it awkwardly everywhere. 

- Having a kindle loaded with books is really wonderful for me travelling. 

- I can brush my hair with a comb when the hairbrush I had lost so many bristles, it wasn't really worth carrying around anymore. 

- John is good at starting conversations with new people. I'd rather try pretend I was invisible. 

- I have really enjoyed that fact that we've been in 'The Tropics'. It sounds so adventurous and I hadn't thought before that so much of Australia was in there. Although, admittedly the heat has been a bit too much a lot of the time!

- I don't enjoy the often present tear when travelling on a budget when deciding whether to spend money. Go for the cheapest hostel and then be disappointed if it's a bit grimy. Walk past all the cafes and try be content with the same cheap meal from the supermarket. Choose the cheapest airline and then the distress realising it doesn't include baggage and watch the air hostesses walk past you with the food trolley. I have got a lot better at doing things the budget way now though. Sometimes I miss the times when the only guilt of ordering a cake was the calories, not the cost, but on the while I adjusted. I love doing free things like geocaching and walking along the beach. And of course reading is an ever present free joy. And it has made me appreciate again how free of money worries my life has been. And we have been able to do all the big things we wanted and appreciate that ice cream and meal out when they came! [that last bullet point wasn't in the original blog]

At the moment we are very much looking forward to our time in New Zealand. We fly over there on 20th January. We are staying with our friends in Wellington for a couple of weeks. The thought of being in a home is wonderful - having a bedroom, a kitchen where you don't have to dry everything with a wet tea towel, a bathroom where you don't wear flip flops in the shower because you're just not sure about the floor...! Then we will be on the road in our rented camper van. At the moment that sounds great too. Being able to go where we want when we want. Not having to pack up again each morning. But I do wonder if we will find ourselves longing for the clean sheets of a hostel and not having to think about when and where to empty the toilet tank or longing for the space of a big kitchen. I've never travelled in a campervan before so it is definitely another adventure. How big will it be? How will it feel to drive? Any suggestions of easy cheap meals to cook in a campervan gratefully received! 

I have been pondering how and what to blog about generally now. It seemed easier when we were in Uganda to blog about things, I guess because we had more time. Now that we are 'travelling' I'm not quite sure how to do it. I've kept a blog for a few years but no one reads it so I haven't had to worry about what readers would think of it! And now we even seem to have a few people following the blog that we don't even know! My inclination now is to do a blow by blow of all the fantastic places we have been. But then some people have been kind enough to say they enjoy reading the blog and it's not just a showcase of photos so I'm not sure how to proceed?! We really do love your comments. Maybe if you read this you could comment letting us know how you would like us to blog from now on? Little and often? More or less photos? More or less writing? What we do or what we think of a place? Your thoughts would help us out 😀

Knitting - baby booties

Came across these photos as I was trying to make space on my phone so thought I'd add them here. H told me about these from her knitting book so I had a go at them on holiday in Yorkshire and sent to a friend who had a baby while we were away. Nice and easy to make! 

Wittertainment Correspondence - Finally Caught up and AALS

My most recent attempt at emailing wittertainement on 27th November 2015

Dear On The One Hand and On The Other Hand, (Mark seemed to say this every week in Spring 2015 and I'm surprised no one brought it up!)

Might as well start in the traditional way, L-T-L, 2nd-T-E, 1st-T-R-O? (Read Out?!)

I remember the days when I would listen to your much shorter show safe in my understanding of what movies to watch. If Mark liked it (Pans Labyrinth) I was to stay clear. If he didn't like it (The Holiday) then I could look forward to enjoying it. Then came the pivotal day of my listening life. Driving my sister to uni in Leeds, Mark reviewed Mamma Mia. My sister became a wittertainee but never again could I use my simple method of choosing movies. But fortunately after a while your programme became to me, what jaws is to sharks and tinker tailor is to spies (at least according to Mark), not about the films. Then I could continue to listen with enjoyment. 

Today is a big day for me as I am up to date for the first time since at least when I was married 3 years ago! I have tried many times to get my husband interested using the wittertainment methods. Thank you for your Leisure Society references as he is a big fan, but unfortunately I can still not call him a wittertainee. Consequently I have not been able to keep up with your lengthening witterings. 

I am up to date because three months ago we came to Uganda and you became my running, baking and scary-mutatu-journey companions while here. I started in September with last Christmas' show from the pub which seemed very strange in the heat of Uganda. Since then I have gone through awards season, the launch and results of Well Done U, missed another cruise, discovered witterpedia and cos play and heard about the odd film. Travelling here to Uganda on an arsenal related airline, I was blown away by the choice of films to watch and not being up to date with your good selves, most of them I didn't know anything about. Fortunately my aforementioned wittertainee sister is up to date and had told me about 'Inside Out' so that was the one film I watched and what a good choice. It was so good then to subsequently hear the review and the multiple weeks it stayed in the top 10.

While listening to the last year of podcasts I have been compiling a list of films I would like to see and I will look out for them on our onward flights next week from Uganda to Japan. I wonder what this list says about me?!

Pride

What we did on our holiday 

Belle

Boyhood 😀

Interstellar 

Still Alice 

Focus - mark says 😒 but still want to see

Train wreck

That Versailles one?!

Big hero 6

Amadeus

Silent running

The Martian 

Suffragette 

Now I also have to factor in AALS but I do enjoy a good cry so it shouldn't be a problem. 

Thanks for the wittering

Catherine 

Far too British to put my actual qualifications 

PS A personal thank you to Simon, who about this time last year gave my husband the primary science quality mark silver award at the Royal Institute. Thank you also for writing a card to my (still aforementioned) sister, Lizzie, saying congratulations on her new job! She was absolutely delighted with your card, thank you! I also enjoyed Itch Craft, that my husband bought for me for a Christmas present that day, and I would like to ask where you are with the possibility of a film, but as you are both so careful (!) about not mentioning your books on your show I feel it unlikely to get an answer!! 

Pps I'm clearly not a very good wittertainee as while in Uganda I spent quite a long time trying to get snapchat and have failed to ever get a message from you! Oh woe is me!

Knitting - bunting

I enjoy knitting and have fits and starts of doing some. I would like to go in to my knitting history more but I am at Tokyo airport about to go through security so will keep this one short!

I knitted this a lot in the last year and left the pattern in Uganda. I took a photo first and thought this would be a good place to have it for reference. 

Maybe even one day I'll work out how to turn it round!