Bintan, Indonesia

Life has been hard on the road over the last five months ( I feel your sympathy ), so we jumped on a ferry for a couple for hours and sailed to Bintan for a couple of days of beach R&R.

The trip across the Malacca Straits was bumpy to say the least, but it was an amazing journey as we passed through one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Pretty much all sea trade between the Orient and the Occident, other than that to the Good Ole U S of A, has to pass through the narrow bit of water between Sumatra and Singapore ( hence Singapore's strategic importance ). The water was so full of huge oil tankers, bulk carriers and container vessels, that the ferry had to weave it's way across to Bintan island. We would not have come off well in a collision with ships this size ! Interestingly, some of the ships were registered in Douglas, Isle of Man. I doubt they'd fit in the Irish Sea, never mind Douglas harbour.

"Bintan lsland is the largest of 3,200 islands in the Riau Archipelago and the 3rd largest of 27 provinces in Indonesia. It was on the island of Bintan that the Sultan of Malacca found refuge from Portuguese attack in the 16th century, mapping tales of legendary importance when Bintan grew as the centre of the powerful Johor Riau Sultanate." Which is all very nice, but to be honest, all we wanted somewhere to laze on a beach for a couple of days before heading back to the drizzle of Blighty. And we got that in spades. It's a real island paradise just like in the brochures. Food was good too. The Indonesian's like it a bit spicy ( arse like a dragon's nostril ! ), but the flavours were great.

Anyway, a couple of days here were great, but now we have to head back home.....

Singapore

Singapore may be an equitorial island republic just off the coast of Malaysia ( you could throw a stone across ) , but it has a very Western feel to it. The population of four and a half million is predominately of Chinese origin, with a good lump of Indian, Indonesian and Malaysian thrown in for good measure, but the official language is English - a hangover from being a major naval and commercial centre in the British Empire. Pip pip !
The island was apparantly a small fishing port when, in 1819, at the behest of the British East India Company, Sir Stamford Raffles turned up and reckoned, that with a bit of guidance, the place had the makings of a major strategic port. By the time the island became independant in the 1960's, it was a huge urban centre with global military and trading importance.
It's a pretty affluent place, as evidenced by the huge skyscrapers in the centre, but it is run with considerable social conscience. Ethnicities that under colonial rule were loosely segregated into seperate areas of the city are now encouraged to mix. Don't drop your litter here, or deface a wall with graffiti or you'll face a $1000 fine. Try and smuggle in some Bolivian Marching Powder and you get the chop. Ouch.

Anyway, enough waffle. It's a really interesting place to spend a few days. Beautiful colonial buildings jostle with modern office blocks for space. Restaurants abound, are generally very cheap, and choice is abundant with Indian, Thai, Chinese, Indonesian and British ( sticky toffee pudding - Yes !!! ) readily available. The people are polite and helpful. The public transport works. The weather is a touch too warm, but that's better than a touch too cold. Unfortunately, Singapore is also great for shopping. Every silver lining has a cloud.. . . .. .

There is also a night zoo. Great idea this, but unfortunately we went at the weekend... along with the rest of Singapore. Arse. Enjoyed eating the animals much more, especially the Chilli crab from Jumbo seafoods ! Mmmmmmm.

Christchurch

Final stop of our New Zealand tour is Christchurch, biggest city in the South Island at two hundred thousand inhabitants. A few of which we know. Graham and Maree are mates of Becky's from London and they very kindly put us up for three nights. Bill and Sarah are mates of mine from years back when I worked in Bicester for a company called Reynard Racing Cars.

Our first day here was a bit grim as the weather was awful. Never mind, we just jumped into the car and drove into the countryside to Hamner and then sat in some goethermal pools for the afternoon. The rain was a bit cool in the top of your head, and we all stunk of sulphur afterwards, but not a bad way to spend a rainy day.

The second day was much nicer, so we met up with Bill, his mate Tom and his daughter Niamh for a tour of Christchurch. The town centre is a bit like Oxford or Cambridge, with nice parks, rivers and old buildings. They even have folks with punts on the river.


After that we headed up Summit Road. Like most places in New Zealand, Christchurch is only a stone's throw from a volcano crater, and the top of this one gives great views out over the city and the Canterbury Plains beyond. Just on the horizon, are the Southern Alps, about fifty miles away. Me and the Dog got roped into a game of tig with Niamh which left me panting and the Dog stuck in a bus shelter window....


So, that's it for New Zealand. We've just dropped Becky and The Dog to the airport so they can head off to Oz. We'll grab a bit of lunch and then we'll be back to the airport for our flight to Sydney and onto Singapore.



Here's a sweep from the volcano crater rim down onto the city. For those that know Bill the Mill, you'll note that he is still wearing the same pair of shorts he was wearing when he left England about eight years ago...

Dunedin

Well, we needed to start heading back towards Christchurch as our flights to Singapore draw closer, so we decided to make camp in Dunedin. Dunedin was originally set up by Scots immigrants and was to be named New Edinburgh, but to avoid confusion, they decided to adopt the Gaelic version, Dunedin, instead...

We were all a bit weary and The Dog had infected some of us with his filthy cold, so we took a lazy train trip up the Taieri Gorge. Nice 1920's carriages, nice cups of tea, nice gorge and generally a nice day out for tired folks. Nice. Oh and seeing as Dunedin is the Kiwi home of Cadbury's, we also indulged in a tour of their factory. Very nice.

The following day was a bit drab, but we headed out up the Otago Peninsular in hunt of Royal Albatrossesesesessssseses. Must admit, I thought this was going to be a bit of a wild goose chase ( ho ho ho ! ), but we actually got to see three nests, one of which was close enough to allow us to spot the incumbant portly chick, and we were also treated to a flying display by up to four adult birds. These puppies have about a ten foot wing span ( and a massive aspect ratio for all you aerodynamicists out there ) and seem to expend virtually no energy as they float by at a considerable lick. Apparantly once the juvenile birds leave their nesting site, they will not return to land for a minimum of about three or four years. Watching a very large seabird try and land for the very first time is a real treat once they do decide to return....

Here's ( very ) brief flypast by one of the beeeg birds.