Author archive
4 February 2020
Leaving hometown Today I make my way from hometown Kuching to Pekanbaru via Kuala Lumpur, so that I’d end up in Singapore and then Bali in a few days time to get back to New Zealand. The Pekanbaru stop was brought about by some frequent flyer points which were expiring. So why, not?! My departure […]
21 January 2020
Leaving Bali Today I make my way from Bali to hometown Kuching for Chinese New Year and family time, via Singapore. Normally it is far more convenient to connect via Kuala Lumpur but with the festive season ahead, the fares worked out better through Singapore. Neither choice was that cheap but I still think I […]
20 January 2020
Long awaited arrival We descended into Bali airport and landed at 0050 with the cabin lights dimmed rather than off. It was still plenty bright, just like during take-off some six hours ago. I wonder if there is a maximum permissible brightness. Other airlines I fly with simply turn the lights off completely. There was […]
19 January 2020
Getting stuck … or unstuck? I had hurriedly googled a few possibilities for handling my nearly 7h18 delay in Sydney, before proceeding to the gate. I got to gate later than I normally would have. It was actually a perfectly-timed boarding onto Virgin Australia’s 737-800 to Sydney. It was a pleasant flight with a light […]
19 January 2020
Cheap way home Today I slowly make my way towards my family in hometown Kuching for Chinese New Year. At this time of year flights there are expensive, but I found a special deal to Bali for NZD544 return, on Virgin Australia with great connections. Allowing for nightstops and the shorthaul flights to Kuching, it […]
7 January 2020
Above: Lake Pukaki on the drive back to Christchurch. The wind last night was worse than the night before. I had a long night sleep to make up for the interrupted sleep due to the wind and noise. After breakfast, we packed up and said goodbye and thanks to everyone. We hit the road around […]
6 January 2020
Despite the windy conditions, I slept quite well through the night. I did wake a few times wondering if the tent would blow over or if branches from the tree above would fall on us. Kim and I knocked on Brent’s caravan around 0815 for breakfast and a cuppa. It was around 1000 when Brent […]
5 January 2020
Kim arrived from Auckland at 0925 today. Despite the bad weather (again), everything went like clockwork. I picked him up from the airport, went to the supermarket to get some groceries for our camping hosts before going to the car rental agency. We had to add Kim as an additional driver simply by showing his […]
4 January 2020
Quite surprisingly, I woke to good weather today. Purau Bay looked even better in the improved weather conditions. I thought I’d make the most of the good day by exploring Christchurch city, a place I was once very familiar with. But the earthquakes of recent years have changed the cityscape considerably and I had never […]
3 January 2020
I arrived around 1130 and was picked up by a friend for a yumcha lunch together with several university mates. The afternoon went quickly with endless chats in the restaurant and at a friend’s house. I had organised my rental car for 1700 so that it would coincide with our intended return time on the […]