Sleeping Through Southeast Asia

June.  How is it we've been here for six months already?  Pat and I have a list of places we need to visit before heading back stateside: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Milford Sound.  We even joke we'll catch one of those cruises to Antarctica that leave from Ivercargill (nevermind the $30K+ price tag).  So when we discovered Air New Zealand was having a sale on flights to Asia DURING a time we had a random two-week vacation AND there was an ultrasound conference in Singapore the same week, it seemed like a no-brainer to combine these wonderful coincidences into a little trip we have affectionately titled, "Sleeping Through Southeast Asia."

Auckland --> New Plymouth

Boat Ride from Batam to Telunas Island

Check-in, Singapore

Bassinet Seats -- Why hadn't I heard about this before?!

Overnight Singapore --> Auckland

Ferry Singapore --> Indonesia

Finally home, sleeping off the jetlag

After a few runs of these long-haul flights with young kids, we've discovered overnight flights (even though everyone sleeps poorly) are much preferred to trying to keep a toddler contained and entertained for 9+ hours.  So a few Mondays ago, we caught an 8pm flight from New Plymouth to Auckland, and then a 12:30am flight from Auckland to Singapore.  Arrived in Singapore 6am, pretty delirious, but excited to see a part of the world we probably otherwise wouldn't have visited (it's a 19-hour flight LAX --> Singapore).

Singapore, for those who don't know, is this tiny city-state and island country off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula.



Brief history: Settled in the early 19th century by the British as a trading post for the East India Trading Company, briefly occupied by Japan during WWII, became independent from the UK and made part of Malaysia in 1963, who expelled it two years later when it became its own sovereign nation.  At this point, Singapore realized it was this lonely, dopey little country, with no natural resources and decided the only way forward was to dedicate all its energy into becoming a financial hub.  Today, it's consistently ranked as one of the freest, most innovative, most competitive, and most business-friendly countries on the planet, as well as one of the least corrupt (along with New Zealand and the Scandinavian countries).  In the same vein, Singapore is extremely wealthy -- it has the world's highest percentage of millionaires, and it's estimated every 1 in 6 households has at least 1 million US Dollars in disposable wealth (Geez!).  This, it seems, would explain the miles and miles of high-end stores, fancy cars, and expensive wines that really hit you in the face when you arrive.  Not that Patrick complained while partaking in the free thousand-dollar-per-bottle whiskey tasting sessions at the airport.

In front of the 2-story Christian Dior store

High Tea at the Hilton

Nighttime view from the Bay

We did get to spend one night in the "Downtown Core," just to get the vibe, but our first nights were spent in the dingier Chinatown (75% of Singaporeans are of Chinese descent), which definitely has a more cultural feel to it.  Think: temples, mosques, underground fish marts, street vendors.  Even being in the "poorer" part of town, we felt completely safe and at-ease.  Singapore is known as a bit of a nanny state: you can't eat or drink on subways without triggering a $500 fine, it's illegal (for the most part) to sell chewing gum, there are mandatory death sentences for drug trafficking (and for murder), and there is a huge governmental push to "be nice to tourists," which I guess was great for us.

No durians (because they're smelly)

No making out

Fruit Market

I forgot to mention how insanely hot it was the whole time.  Lots of beers and smoothies during the midday sun.

 Truthfully, Singapore was great, and we were lucky to have a reason to check it out.  The food was great, the people were amazing (Quenton got no fewer than 5-10 requests to be in photographs with the locals -- I guess a blue eyed, red headed toddler is an oddity), and we even arrived during Singapore's annual "Great Singapore Sale," so got some nice running shoes at around 1/3 New Zealand prices.

I get all the ladies.  Also, I will cry and scream if you don't let me hang onto the subway handhold.

What Singapore doesn't have, however, is nice beaches.  For that, we took a 45-minute ferry ride from Singapore to Batam, Indonesia, and then another 2-hour ride on a modified fishing boat for one night on this unreal private island (http://www.telunasresorts.com/private-island/).  I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

Modified fishing boats

Villages on stilts

Private deck

Well, hello, empty beach

Taking it in

Infinity Pool

Last sunset

The Grand Lodge

All-in-all, a pretty whirlwind trip, but definitely worth it.  We're probably going to take a break from international travel for the time being (I think the kids are still recovering from the jetlag), but good news is Uncle Jon will be here in two weeks, so be sure to look for updates from our first visitor!

Autumn in The Sounds

Stated times do not include potty breaks and playground time

Well things are turning colder on this side of the world.  Our long summer days on the beach have ended and we are watching the sun set earlier and earlier.  The winter in New Zealand is not particularly cold, especially compared to USA's recent polar vortex standards.  However, they do seem colder, as no homes have central heating, the window's are all single-paned and insulation is pretty much nonexistent.  To be fair, our house is one of the better ones: we have a nice little fireplace that keeps us toasty in the evenings.  For the mornings, well... there are wool socks and a coffee maker I can set to automatic.

Instead of dwelling on the cold and wet weather, I thought I'd post about our recent trip to the South Island.

Our route across the Cook Strait and then sneaking through the Marlborough Sounds

We decided to start exploring the South Island with its northern tip, particularly the areas around Picton and Nelson which are known for their temperate weather and great hiking tracks.  So we bundled up the family, drove to Wellington, and caught the ferry across the Cook Strait to the south island.

The Cook strait is the sliver of water between the North and South Islands.  It is 14 miles wide in its narrowest point and is considered (according to Wikipedia) to be one of the most "dangerous and unpredictable waters in the world."  While we did get tossed a bit in the 4m swells, it was nothing a little Dramamine couldn't handle.

Getting nice and sticky before our long car ride

Kids meal on board (there was also a movie theater, a two-story playground, a cafe, a bar, and a person doing face painting and balloon animals)

Getting some fresh air once inside the calmer waters of The Sounds

Once we made landfall we decided we needed to get closer to the amazing landscape we saw on our ride in, so we booked a night at the Lochmara Lodge: an eco-tourism resort and aviary rescue in the scalloped bays of The Marlborough Sounds. Once there we would have access to the Queen Charlotte Track, kayaks, some fun short walks and some amazing views.

Water Taxi to Lochmara Lodge

Pano of The Sounds

Offering to share breastfeeding responsibilities with the sow

Mosaic Tile Sofa

The Punga People

Another Punga Person

"I'm going to put him back in the water because he lives there"

We then headed northwest to the equally beautiful Abel Tasman Reserve.  The drive was short by our current standards - 2.5 hours and really beautiful through some of the most productive wine country in New Zealand.

The Able Tasman Reserve hosts the famed Able Tasman Track, which is one of the Great Walks of New Zealand: a set of nine backcountry tracks managed to meticulous standards by the New Zealand Dept. of Conservation and said to traverse some of the most scenic parts of the country.

The entire Able Tasman Track is 60km and many people hike (called "tramping" in NZ) the whole thing in 3-5 days, stopping at various huts or campsites along the way.  We briefly considered this for our family, but after several practice trips where it became clear we would be mostly carrying our children, we decided a multi-day self-supported trek wasn't for us (maybe next year).  We instead opted for a one-hour boat ride from Kaiteriteri (all the way at the bottom) up to Bark Bay and then an 11km walk down to Anchorage Bay where another boat picked up Pat and the kids while I ran the last 12km back to our Bach in Marahau.

Patty Cake Break

If there's a rope swing, I will find it

Crossing Torrent Bay at low tide

A sacrifice to the god of fun

 

Then it was back to New Plymouth where life has been pretty busy.  Elise is big into swimming lessons, yoga, and ballet.  We even snuck in a trip to Tongariro for a trail race (thanks Pat for watching the kids for however long it took me to run 25K in the mud).  A race, I should point out, to which we almost didn't arrive because we inappropriately assumed there would be a gas station on the way.  Instead, as we were beginning to panic because we were running on fumes while dusk settled with two hungry kids in the back, we met a man on the side of the road who sold gasoline to farmers from a cistern in his backyard, and he graciously called his wife to meet us for a quick fill-up.  Thanks Paula!

Downward Dog

Tilling the winter garden

Five minutes from our house

Gasoline Angel

Quenton, in the meantime, continues to get crazier and crazier (running, climbing, talking, drooling).  It rains most of the time (sorry, California), so Pat took it upon himself to build an indoor play area as place for kids to climb and slide away their winter blues.  Not too shabby.

Speaking of kids and things that are crazy, my sister gave birth this past week to my awesome and adorable new nephew Apollo!  A million congrats to the Ahmed Family, can't wait to meet the little guy!