Japan and home sweet home

We left Cairns on Monday and flew 8 hours to Tokyo on Monday afternoon. We left Cairns in 30c and arrived to 9c in Tokyo pulling the hoodies out of the rucksack as quick as we could. Emma, Matt and I headed for the toilets in the airport and there were shrieks from the cubicles as we discovered the great toilet seat additions. From heated seats to built in bidet to driers blasting hot air and on one toilet even a toilet flushing sound to spare the embarrassment of noisy toileting sounds.

Tokyo is insane. The noise, lights and staff employed to stand on the streets outside shops with a microphone advertising all the stock. Well as it was all in Japanese I assume that's what they were doing. Maybe they were just taking the mickey out of the dopey looking tourists. As a pedestrian you have to behave like a vehicle and walk in the correct 'lane' in the underground stations. The sheer volume of people was so unexpected coming from NZ were there are so few.

We picked up a map from the hotel and stood outside trying to make head or tail of it. As all the writing was in Japanese characters we had turned the map round and round trying to work out which way was up until we finally found a letter version on the back. We had a great day walking through the streets and trying not to gape at all that made Tokyo so different to everything we'd seen on our travels. Things that stand out are the skin whitening salons and the smoking rooms where you look in and see a bunch of people sitting at a long table just, well, smoking.

We collapsed into bed that night after all our walking and I quickly logged on to make sure our flights were ok for the next day. Lucky I did because it turned out that our flight had been cancelled due to the BA strike. Trailfinders very helpfully sorted it all out and we got a Virgin flight that was only an hour later meaning less of a wait for our London-Dublin connection. We arrived home on Wednesday evening not really at all sure what time of day it was or whether we should be hungry or not. Matthew and Emma were really excited to be home and dying to see Scruff who gave us a lovely welcome. We've all been waking up in the middle of the night and so we're exhausted by 6pm but this morning matthew and emma went into school to say hi to everyone before the Easter holidays. They both got a hero's welcome which they were overcome by. So our trip is over and we're home and getting settled in. We're browner (Mick) rounder (Me) taller (Emma) and with a few new teeth (Matt). It's lovely to be back, especially after such a great trip which so exceeded our expectations. Thank you to everyone who read and also to everyone who commented.

The Homeward Journey

Sydney

We arrived into a sunny Sydney mid afternoon and after getting settled into our hotel we decided to see if we could walk down to the harbour. As we were walking Emma happened to look up and said 'Is that a bat?' We looked up and saw that the sky was filling up with E-NOR-MOUS bats that seemed to be about the size of Matthew! We had known that they would be there but I thought that they might be something that you might see by going to a special 'hide' in a specific place (which I certainly wasn't planning to do) and definitely didn't expect them to be flying around my head like something out of a Stephen King novel. We walked (a little faster) towards the harbour that was starting to get lit up as the light faded and then we saw the Opera house and the Sydney Harbour bridge which both looked so impressive. There was a Massive Attack concert on outside the Opera House so it was jam packed but we managed to get a bite to eat in one of the restaurants that is part of the complex.
The following day we got the bus out to Bondi Beach because after a summer of watching 'Bondi Rescue' on TV I was keen to see the lifeguards in action. Purely to see if their lifesaving techniques differed to our of course :)

Bondi is filled with beautiful bodies, fine golden sand, warm sea and lots of jellyfish. The waves were fantastic for playing in so the others splashed about I assigned myself chief bag minder which happened to be a handy spot for watching bronzed beauties jogging up and down the beach. I unfortunately took off my necklace because it was getting hot against my neck and forgot to put it back on again when we were leaving which I was very annoyed about. It is now probably waiting to be discovered by someone building a sandcastle.

The following day we went to the aquarium and Wildlife World at Darling Harbour where we saw lots of things that live in the sea around Sydney making me more determined to keep a very close eye out next time I was at the beach. On Friday we got the ferry across the harbour to Manly beach which is like a smaller version of Bondi but a bit more like a resort and we spent the afternoon swimming and making sand sculptures. Emma got stung by a blue bottle jellyfish (portugese man of war) on the ankle which produced a ring of blisters. I ran to a lifeguard (any excuse) and asked what I should do. He told me that it would be sore for an hour but that an ice cream and a bag of chips would help. I dopily asked if they were to to be applied to the blisters and he smirked and said 'as a distraction' out of the corner of his mouth and with a toss of his sun bleached hair he was off.
Cairns
On Saturday morning we were off again this time to Cairns or 'Kehns' as were were coached to pronouncing by our Aussie friend, Rebecca. We were immediately hit by the heat when we arrived. It was about 30c but the humidity was something we weren't used to. We only had a short time in Cairns and our visit there was mainly to see the Great Barrier Reef so we immediately asked if it would be affected by Cyclone Ului that was due to hit the Queensland Coast the morning we wanted to see the reef. We were told that thankfully it wouldn't as it was quite a bit further south but that it had made the sea a bit choppier so visability wouldn't be as good.

Our trip included a ferry to Green Island where we snorkeled for a couple of hours and then on to the Reef where we moored alongside a pontoon anchored at the edge of the reef and were able to snorkel off there for the next 4 hours. This is the trip we took The day we got was really hot and sunny and 28c and the water was 29c so you could stay in for ages and not get cold. We all suited up with jellyfish proof suits and snorkels and fins and got in together.
I had been expecting lots of colourful fish but we weren't at all prepared for just how amazing the coral would be! The floresant blues, greens and oranges didn't look like they could be possible in nature. To quote a line from a film it was like 'being in a screensaver' When we got out of the water Matthew and Emma were nearly overcome with how fantastic it had been and said it was most amazing part of our entire trip.

'bleedin typical' or 'kiwi as'

I've been trying to think what makes NZ different from other places that I've visited. For me the most striking thing is probably the landscape and the lower hills in particular. They are very abrupt in that they rise very steeply from nothing and then look as if a green blanket of grass has been laid on top so that they and just one colour from top to bottom.
Flat White and silver fern.
The coffee here is excellent. I don't know if it's because they often use a double shot of expresso or that the coffee is just good quality but the flat white has been my staple diet here and I'll miss it madly. The silver fern on the top of this one is a nz emblem and displayed everywhere.

Sand Flies
little buggers. I have 4 bites that are itching like crazy as I type.

Fush 'n' chups

No overflow
Wierd. It's something I only noticed halfway through the trip so it may not be everywhere but our last 4 houses haven't had any. Maybe they're just very careful with tap/overflow safety.

corrigated iron rooves
About 90% of houses in the smaller towns and wop wops here have corrigated iron roofing. It's also used a lot for sculpture especially at the entrance to towns in the north island.

Barefeet
Ok so maybe not typical just to NZ but I like the way shops often have signs to leave your muddy shoes outside.

Language.
The nz accent isn't very strong to the Irish ear but there are a few things that make it different. Adding 'ay' to the end of a sentance for example. As in 'It's another hot one, ay' and also adding 'bro' or 'cuz' as a friendly gesture. Most kiwi is adding 'as' like 'sweet as' or 'hot as' without adding a noun after. On the other hand a friend here said a text I'd sent was very Irish because I'd sent 'I'll text you in the morning so' Took me a while to realise it was the 'so' that made it Irish.
People
The people here are genuinely friendly. Not in the smile-for-the-tourist kind of friendly but in a more relaxed way. In supermarkets I have found the cashiers start conversations with you as if they already know you. Here's a conversation I had with the cashier in Fresh Choice I hadn't seen before.
Her: Hi, how are you today?
Me: not too bad
Her: what've you been up to?
Me: er, trying to avoid the sun mostly. I'm not used to it.
Her: Yeh I can see you're a bit red, your necklace has made a mark too. Your top's lovely. Ok, you got everything? Bye and enjoy the rest of the week.

They want you to like NZ and to enjoy your time here. They are quite like the Irish were about 20 years ago getting giddy with excitement when a celebrity says they like the country. I think recently the Irish have stopped caring as muchbecause we were rich enough that it didn't matter what others thought of us but who knows, maybe that will change again now.
We are back in Wellington again after a long week of sorting through stuff we can't bring with us. Giving some away to Emma and Matthew's friends accompanied with long hugs and promises to write and email and to meet up again in Ireland when they're on their Overseas Experience. We even gave away all our weaving creations to a friend who was having a garage sale. We left Takaka after 6 great weeks there and drove 100km before we reached our first set of traffic lights. So today we'll head to the bright lights of the city and in the morning start our last 10 days of a new adventure before arriving home.

Goodbye Golden Bay.

We're in our last few days in Golden Bay and as of today our last week in New Zealand too as we leave for Sydney next Monday. Matthew and Emma finished school at the end of February so we've had a few days of doing all the things together that we didn't get to do while they were in school like fishing.Emma managed to catch 2 spottys. They were both a little sad at leaving school as they had both made good friends and enjoyed the experience. They left with goodbye cards and presents and promises to meet again before we leave. We are all talking of what we'll miss when we leave Golden Bay and things like the sun, warm sea, sandy beaches feature high but most of all it's been fantastic to be able to spend time together without having any deadlines, work, homework and after school activities. What we won't miss are the sand flies.
We took another trip into Abel Tasman National Park last Friday but this time by car.

We drove the only road that goes into the park and on to Totaranui beach. The beaches in Abel Tasman are fabulous with colours of the sand, sea and sky almost too saturated to believe. Sitting on the beach made me think of how lovely it is here. There are things I am looking forward to when we get home though. Seeing friends again, shops that are open for longer than 3 hours the entire weekend, more than 1 bar of phone coverage and, dare i say it, work.
Today I'm taking Emma back to the doctor with a sore wrist. She hurt it on a trampoline weeks ago and it still hasn't got any better. Hopefully it's not anything more serious than a sprain. (Update: yes thankfully just a sprain)

Just photos

A VERY brave Stephen crossing a swing bridge on the way to Wainui Falls. For someone who doesn't like swing bridges this was a very scary one to cross.

Mick drying like a mermaid on a rock after diving into a swimming hole in the river. I also got a photo of him stripping off to get into his togs but maybe the blog isn't the best place for that.

A typical 'bush track' with small tree ferns.

A cicada which really drum up a racket once it gets warm enough. They've been the soundtrack to our trip.

Some colourful beehives that we've seen dotted here and there around the country.

some original advertising

Like in the U.S. the letter boxes are at the ends of drives and gateways here and there are quite a few inventive boxes like this milk churn along with the standard ones.

Jill and Steve.

Jill at Wainui Falls

An Australasian harrier or hawk which you see lots of here. Usually feeding off dead possums on the roads or hunting over fields

Jill with a (thankfully dead) Weta on her shoulder. Yuk!

Yet another weaving class

Tata Beach, our favourite. Mick, Emma and Matt are in the water in this one.
I can't really believe we've only three weeks to go before we're home again. Just a week and a half more here, then back to Wellington, on to Sydney for 3 days, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef for 4 days and Tokyo for 2 before flying back to Dublin.

Everything going swimmingly.

I waved goodbye to Jan, Sam, Holly and Charlotte in the tiny nelson airport feeling sad that we wouldn't be seeing them for another couple of months. They are staying in Invercargill until after Easter and will come back to Ireland at the end of April. Mick then made the same 100km journey to pick up his parents in Nelson the following day and they will stay almost next door to us for the next week. They have been in NZ since the start of February treking up glaciers and visiting a few of the same places we've been. Unfortunately we had torrential rain the first day they came which thankfully cleared that evening for Catherine's arrival.
On Friday Emma and Matthew had a school swim competition between the 4 neighbouring schools which Jill, Steven and I went to watch while Mick and Catherine sea kayaked. Matthew and Emma both swam their fastest and Emma won all the races she entered. Matthew's swimming has improved enormously because he's been swimming everyday in school. This is a picture of Matt's friends trying to cheer him up when he was getting bored of watching all the races he wasn't in. Emma getting out of the pool clutching the winner's orange stick.
Because the weather yesterday and today was absolutely scorching much of it has been spent on the beach. Today we went to Tata beach which has beautiful golden sand and turquoise water and spent the day dipping in and out of the sea and lathering on plenty of factor 30.


Hearing that it is -4 and snowing at home just doesn't seem believable and has made Matthew and Emma jealous of the snow they're missing out on all over again. This next photo is of PuPu springs which has the cleanest water in all of NZ.

I've slipped into a sort of Takaka malaise and I've let the blog slip a little. Also Jan, Holly and Charlotte came up on Sunday so having to test out all the cafes, beaches and river pools has been exhausting :) Charlotte is a dream baby just like Holly was. She never cries and smiles lots. It's been lovely for Matthew and Emma to have Holly and Charlotte up to play too and to show them our excellent swing over the river behind the house.

Last Saturday we had the Mardi Gras in Takaka to celebrate Waitangi Day and Matt and Emma were holding the Tungiwha for the parade. After the parade was over and we were waiting for our 'fush 'n chips' Emma and Matthew asked could the ride on the shoulders of Sugra the unicyclist which he very kindly let them do although my heart was in my mouth.
Matthew and Emma are both really enjoying school and are full of chat about all the fun they had when they come out each day. The teacher did have to have a word with Matt one day last week. She was talking to them (ironically about having to listen) and Matthew 'didn't think her announcements were that important so I carried on reading about what to do in case of a tsunami.'