Articles from this Category
10 January 2022
We left the Lake Benmore camp site at 0930, heading for Christchurch. It had come highly recommended that we try out the pies at Fairlie along the way. That recommendation came with the advice to order from the side window rather than the front walk-in area where a queue was almost guaranteed. The smoked salmon […]
8 January 2022
We woke to a glorious day with a maximum of 28 degC. Having come from MIQ with limited fresh air, I now have all the air and space that I could wish for. It turned out to be two days of doing very little. I sat down lots to enjoy the view and the sunshine […]
7 January 2022
Above: A train of SpaceX Starlink satellites. (Image credit: Marco Langbroek via SatTrackBlog) Leaving MIQ Today is my day of freedom! I was discharged from Managed Isolation & Quarantine (MIQ) at 1530. That’s 1h10 later than expected due to my delayed flight arrival 10 days ago. I consider myself very lucky to have managed to […]
2 January 2022
Above: Our daily (or twice-daily) walks are in the carpark and this adjoining courtyard. Increasing strictness of MIQ Today, I’m halfway through my 10 day Managed Isolation & Quarantine (MIQ) stay at Sudima Hotel Christchurch Airport. There have been some differences since my first MIQ stay over a year ago in 2020. New Zealand has […]
28 December 2021
Departing for Christchurch We boarded our replacement A350-900 around 0030, an hour later than its original departure time. Being Singapore, the ground staff started giving the boarding announcement inviting first the Business Class passengers, then high-status frequent flyers etc. Strictly per the manual. Then the senior staff member turned up and told all 27 passengers […]
19 October 2021
A journey born out of spite, as the world learns to live with Covid-19 I didn’t get to see Mum before she passed away a month ago and also missed her funeral. I do still want to get back to my hometown Kuching but airfares are ridiculously high. I would have paid the high price […]
27 September 2021
Ridiculously high airfares I had been wanting to go see Mum in Malaysian Borneo for a while now. But the need to do hotel quarantine there and also upon return to New Zealand was a deterrent. Apart from that, it seemed best to delay the trip until her helper finishes up in December and I’d […]
11 July 2021
Covid-19 travel restriction changes While in Queensland, we were puzzled that the restrictions surrounding our return to New Zealand were the same as that from New South Wales which was suffering badly from Covid-19. In contrast Queensland was having no or just one case a day. I had been expecting the New Zealand government to […]
10 July 2021
Above: Taking off from Brisbane, we fly over North Stradbroke Island which I ironically visited at the beginning of this trip. Checking in at Cairns Airport We both woke around 0300 after about 5h30 of sleep. We were halfway getting ready when our alarm sounded at 0320. We couldn’t get into the locked hostel kitchen […]
9 July 2021
Chilling We started the day with a long waterfront walk towards the south then the north. After that, we kept close to base as Kim was on the verge of sealing a deal for the purchase of a boat with his friend. After a light lunch of Vietnamese sandwiches, we took a swim in the […]