12/31/07

Singapore

After a grueling 24 hour flight including the disconcerting experience of jumping into tomorrow by crossing the International dateline, we arrived in the delightful city of Singapore. We are taking advantage of a promotion by the Singapore government called the Singapore stop-over plan which provides inexpensive accommodation, hop-on-hop-off bus service and admissions to numerous attractions. With the hop-on-hop-off bus we have been able to see all of central Singapore and appreciate the contrast of the glass high rises and the traditional shuttered waterfront low rises, and been able to visit sites such as the famous Raffles hotel, the Sultan’s mosque, Clark Quay on the river and each unique community.

We visited the National Botanical Garden where there is a superb orchid collection. Here they cross-breed special hybrids to honour celebrities, so there is a Nelson Mandela orchid, a Margaret Thatcher orchid, etc. The garden also has a Rainforest area and an Evolution garden tracing the development of plants on earth. We also went to the Night Safari, an area of the Singapore Zoo which you visit at night to see the nocturnal animals in their natural settings. We found the whole city to be fascinating-it is a crowded commercial Asian city which manages to be clean, modern and safe. This is a strong multicultural society with Chinese, Indian, Malay and European influences. You can see women in saris or chadors alongside businessmen in suits, children in plaid school uniforms and teenagers in the most up-to date fashions. There are ethnic communities such as Chinatown, Little India and Arab Street which maintain unique religious buildings, shops and restaurants. Shopping is a major sport in Singapore with vast areas of shopping centers, such as all of Orchard Street. While we were there they were removing the ornate Christmas decorations on the streets and buildings and putting up the even more ornate Chinese New Year decorations. There is activity all day and night here.

South Island, NZ.

We arrived in Christchurch after a 10 hour flight from Singapore. We are getting accustomed to Kiwi ways: driving on the left, pronouncing “e’s” as “i’s” and watching cricket on TV. The NZ speech is delightful. We are learning new vocabulary and pronunciation. Yesterday we went to the dairy where we bought a Chilly bin for our boot and put it in our trundler. (translation: We went to the grocery store where we bought a cooler for our trunk and put it in our shopping cart.)

We traveled to Akaroa, a historic town located on a long bay in a sunken volcanic crater. The drive took us through sheep fields, vineyards, and farmland of olives, walnuts, fruits and vegetables. In the Akaroa harbour there are many species of sea birds, blue penguins and tiny Hectors dolphins. We visited Birdlings Flat which is a long gravel spit – about 12 km where the Maoris used to trap eels. Many of the pebbles on the beach are semi-precious stones.

We had an enjoyable day in central Christchurch visiting the museum and art galleries around Cathedral square. Christchurch is a city of 340,000 which reminds us very much of Calgary about 40 years ago but with more Victorian and Edwardian era heritage buildings. There is a distinct British flavour with streets named Worchester, Tennyson, and Gloucester and punters on the River Avon. The museum presented a fascinating account of the Maoris life, and explained how they hunted the Moa bird to extinction. With the loss of their most important resource they began to battle with each other for resources. The Cultural Center is located in buildings of the original Canterbury College and provide workshops for artisans, craft markets, etc. One building presents a display about the life of Ernest Rutherford, the Nobel prize-winning scientist who discovered the nucleus in atoms. His original lab and lecture hall are preserved in their original form.

After that we drove down the east coast to Dunedin, a Victorian city. Enroute we visited Oamaru which is famous as a nesting site for yellow-eyed and blue penguins. We unfortunately didn’t see any since they stay out at sea during the day and return to roost at dusk. We did, however see seals. We stayed in a delightful bach on Warrington Beach. The following day we drove across the southern part of South Island to Te Anau, a lakeside community at the entrance to Fiordland National Park. We went to Milford Sound where we took a cruise in the spectacular fiord. As a result of the heaviest rainfall we have ever experienced, the vista along Milford Road and in the fiord was one of a steamy foggy mystical land. The rain creates tens of thousands of “temporary” waterfalls which stream down the sheer vertical rock faces of the volcanic mountains. In the five hours between entering and exiting the Sound, the pretty streams had become raging torrents, and the pretty ribbons of water trickling down the rocks had become violent cascades.  It was amazing.

Jordan has been taking many pictures which need some editing. Then we will try to load some up to our website at www.members.shaw.ca/berndt . So far our trip has been great but tiring – jet lag has set in a bit. The airline lost Erich’s suitcase – we think it fell off the baggage cart onto the rainy tarmac in Los Angeles, where it was probably hit by a truck. It arrived in Singapore two days late but damaged. Many of the clothes were water damaged and stained, and there were sand and particles of rubber in the case. So, we quickly went suitcase shopping and looked for some new shirts since many of Erich’s drytek clothes were discolored due to being near other wet clothes. Oh, well, they tell us Northface and Marmot clothes are available in Queenstown. We’ll probably need all of our warm clothes when we travel up to the glaciers – there still is a lot of snow in the mountains.

Best wishes from down-under,

Carol, Jordan and Erich