Sunday 15 December 2019

Land of the long white cloud - Nov/Dec 2019

NZ Christmas tree ... a yarn bombed Pohutukawa
We stayed in Auckland with our lovely friend Carol for a couple of nights whilst we went about dealing to jetlag and purchasing a vehicle.  We were also able to collect our kayak that we had left under Carol's house.  We were well ready for a summer of sea fishing.


Our next stop was a short five day sit in Mt Eden caring for 15yr old (failed guide dog) labrador Coco.  Very easy going, and only being up to a couple of short walks a day, she was easy company.  It seemed appropriate that we were required to slow life down a little to suit Coco's needs after the hustle and bustle that comes along with decamping across the world.



Leaving Auckland behind for a month on Waiheke Island, house and petsitting for a dear friend came soon enough.


Dogog and Violet are both 16 years old and Clare has known them, cared for them and lived with them at various stages throughout there life.  This was a 'homecoming' of sorts!


Dog enjoyed his daily walks at Palm Beach


Patterns left in the sand by the outgoing tide
And our evening walks in the dog park


Violet enjoyed lots of snuggle time


And lots of lounging around in the abundant sun being cute!


Some mornings we were up at 5am to be out in the kayak before the wind gets up and home before Dog even knew we had been anywhere.


Many snapper and a few trevally were caught and enjoyed by all .....


Violet loves fresh fish!

Trevally ceviche & homemade coleslaw
We discovered the delights and simplicity of homemade mayonnaise


We thoroughly enjoyed re-acquainting ourselves with the unique birdlife of New Zealand

Tuneful Tui

A couple of cheeky kereru (native pigeons)
Apart from all that, we had plenty of time to relax and enjoy some quiet time.

Monday 25 November 2019

Kuala Lumpar in pics - Nov, 2019

In front of the Petronas Towers
We decided on a five night stop over in KL.  Neither of us had ever been there and that 24+ hour flight to NZ is a total killer in one fell swoop.

Our digs .... Amethyst Love Guesthouse
The wee yellow one

One of our house mates

James relaxing in the communal foyer

The food .....
We didn't eat this but were fascinated by the size of it!

Amazing kebab sticks on Jalan Alor Street,
just around the corner from our digs
Breakfast at our favourite Indian on the corner
Dinner at the same Indian
Splashing out at a wonderful Vietnamese

Spring rolls, Vietnamese style
Our outings .....

Happy travellers

Petronas Towers

It was soooo hot this day that we had to stop
and paddle in the pool with the kids

Our wanderings .....
Hmmm, pleased not to understand Malay

Guan Di Temple, China Town



Hanging incense bells


We enjoyed the food, the weather and the people we met.  We also enjoyed our first experience with Grab, Malaysia's version of Uber.  We didn't so much enjoy our experience at the airport as we left.  We were required to go through Security again after being air side for several hours already.  James had his miniature tool set confiscated, much to his disgust!  He also learned that there is no point trying to reason with these people. Sigh ....

Next stop ..... New Zealand

Saturday 23 November 2019

Yorkshire Autumn - Oct/Nov 2019

Sunset on the river Ure
We arrived a couple of days early, by invitation to our sit in Lower Dunsforth, North Yorkshire.  We were met by a very friendly couple, homeowners David the Kiwi and Caroline.  The resident gaggle of very cheerful doggies, along with Lucky the three legged cat, were to be our charges for the next month.

Willow (Labradoodle), Eti (Golden Retriever), Misty (Labradoodle)

Lucky, who was found as a tiny kitten with a badly broken leg
The house was large, very comfortable and warm.  Dave had recently renovated Caroline's family home and what a splendid job he had done.  Caroline's parents, Peter and Val moved into a new cottage on the back of the property which David also built for them.  What a lovely arrangement this was.

We were technically only responsible for Eti and Lucky.  Whilst Willow and Misty resided at the cottage with Peter and Val, all three dogs roamed freely between both houses, gravitating toward wherever the action was likely to be.

Every afternoon we took them all for a river walk.  What well behaved, responsive and exhuberant girls.  Such a pleasure to take out and about.


It didn't even matter that there were so many mud puddles along the way. 



 Once we got home, caked in said mud, there was a special doggie shower to wash the girls off .... everyone loved it except Misty, who really needed it the most!

Before ..... 

During

After ....

Just like magic really!

Air drying method

No  excuse necessary ... this is just Eti's favourite pose

Lucky took a couple of days to come round to having new 'parents', as cats generally do, but once we made friends there was no stopping him.  What a character he turned out to be!


He also loves his sister.


And helping Clare with a spot of knitting!


Spotted skipping across the stones in the pond.  Quite a brave activity for a three-legged boy!  Then again, he loved nothing more than being out in the rain, coming in dripping wet.


James was pleased to be able to walk down to the river Ure where he spent many an hour fishing.  He is fairly familiar with the area, having been a member of a local(ish) fishing club for a number of years.  However, he had not fished this particular river before.


The girls and Clare would visit him on the daily river walk.


Not sure if the girls had seen a fish up close before!?!?
Misty was pretty keen to fetch them back as James released them :-)
 James was pretty pleased with his takings: barbel, bream, roach


Caroline's Mum and Dad came over for Sunday dinner each week and we helped them out with some lifting work for a charity with Peter is heavily involved in.  PhysioNet gathers discarded NHS equipment (crutches, wheelchairs to name but a few) and sends them to countries in need ... Ghana, Nepal etc.  What a fabulous and worthy cause indeed.

We had some beautiful autumn days and the girls just loved to be out in the yard.


When the weather was not so great, where else would they rather be?

Watching the Rugby World Cup

Sunday morning snuggle, of course

Time for bed
And then there was always this one ....


*Contented sighs all round*