Apr 2007

Spend this morning in Wai-o-tau Thermal Wonderland, it is difficult to describe and the photos just look like pools of mud but they were amazing to see. We walked over a couple of massize steaming pools (smelt ugly - looked cool!) and saw an eruption (!) (http://www.geyserland.co.nz/)

Then in the afternoon, we decided to drive across the mountain range, it didn't look that far on the map but it took about 4-5 hrs on these single track, gravel roads that were pretty scarey when you met a truck or caught a glimpse of the drop at the side of the road. I did alot of the driving here as the winding roads made me feel travelsick when I was a passenger.

When we got through the mountains, we had to drive another 1-2 hrs to find somewhere to sleep but when we did, I was happy cause it had a spa bath! Finding places to stay that are cheap and cheerful hasn't been a problem luckily, they are usually much better than you would expect for what you are paying (which is less than you would pay in UK).

Drove down toward a town called Rotorua, where there is alot of thermal activity which creates hot springs etc. As we got closer to the town, the smell in the air got really eggy, we later found out this is caused by all the thermal activity.

By the time we had got to the town, we had missed last admission to most of the thermal places so we decided to stay overnight and go first thing in the morning. But the smell was so bad that even when we found a motel with a spa bath, movie library and xbox rental, which would be perfect under any other circumstances, we decided to look further afield! We drove toward the 'thermal wonderland' to look for somewhere close and found a quaint little motel with a natural hot spring in the garden. It wasn't warm enough to venture in though.

Drove for hours and hours and hours (well, thats what it felt like anyway!) Ended up in a twon called Thames, it has a high street straight out of a film set. We stayed in a Western style motel too, you have to see the photos to believe it (but I haven't got my camera today to upload photos - oops)

Drove all the way to Cape Reinga today - the farthest north point of New Zealand. Road turned to gravel about 30km before getting there and were getting dodgier along the way. But the views were spectacular. As it was a conservation area, it was not inhabited so we had to drive 1.5hrs back to find food and a bed. We found a quaint little lodge right on the beach and stocked up on peanuts and pretzels – sorted!

Slept late yet again, by the time we got up it was time to check out and pick up the car. Thought it was going to be a nail but it is not bad - an automatic though so it took us a while to get going!

We headed north, towards the Bay of Islands, stopping at some waterfalls on the way.

Some of the towns we drove through look like they are straight out of western films.

Ended up in Paihia in a motel which overlooked the bay and found a little Thai place for tea - couldn't ask for more!

Went to the doctors today about my manky mozzie bites as my legs are still swollen and it hurts to walk - never a good sign! I think I even grossed the doctor out! Got some anti-biotics for 10 days and some dressing and ointment which needs changing everyday so yet another trip to the pharmacy to stock up on medical supplies!

Arrived in Auckland 11am local time - both knackered! Went to the hotel and slept most of the day, only got up to eat! Managed to stay awake long enough to watch Music and Lyrics, but it wasn't really worth the effort!

Flight tonight from Singapore to Auckland so we checked out and left our lugguge at the hotel for one last lot of exploring. It was raining today but still really warm. We went to a street market but loads of the stalls were closed, maybe there is an extended Easter break here?

Went to the cinema to see Shooter and it was really well air-conditioned, so much so I wished I had a jumper - a thought I hadn't had in a long while!

When we went to the airport, we got to take advantage of all the free goodies we had heard about, the free internet and xbox 360. Didn't get to the massage chairs though.

9.5hr flight to New Zealand, legs are still swollen from those nasty mozzie bites and the flight didn't help...

Went to the beach today but we were prepared this time! I felt pretty rough though as my cough has come back worse over the last few days so off to the pharmacy again to try some cough syrup. We spent a few hours on the beach, just chilling out and swimming in the sea. The view from the beach was pretty weird as you can see hundreds of tankers floating off the shore.

We stopped at Chinatown on the way home and as we both adore Chinese food, you would have thought it would be easy to find somewhere to eat but everywhere seemed closed, don’t know if it was due to it being Easter Monday or just because it was mid-afternoon. We finally found an almost deserted food court and there was a vege place there so it was cool.

We walked around the markets, there are lots of tailors and they all wanted to sell Mark a shirt – shame he doesn’t wear them!

Went to an island just off Singapore called Sentosa, it is kind of like a theme park and beach resort mixed in one. The day didn’t particular start off sunny but by the time we got there I was seriously regretting putting on jeans. We used the MRT (like the tube) and cable car to get there, the views from the cable car were pretty cool, I’ll post the photos up when I find a computer that can cope!

We spend a bit of time on the beach but we just weren’t prepared so we were too hot. We checked out the 4D cinema – the pirate film with effects was cheesy but cool!

Went to Clarke Quay by the river for tea and ate on a floating restaurant which I have to admit, made me feel a little queasy at first! But the food was good so I soon got over it.

Got up and got a taxi to the airport - in plently of time I thought at 7:20am but the arrival information said his flight had already landed. I hoped he was still collecting his lugguage and hadn't wandered off and luckily we found each other just outside the arrival gate - kisses and bear hugs all round!

He was quite tired after his flight and I was wide awake as I hadn't changed time zones so we went back to the hotel so he could have a sleep while I did some laundry - the excitement!

Our hotel was in the part of Singapore called Little India so when we went exploring later round this area, there was plenty of choice for food, just a shame neither of us are big fans of indian food!

Even though I am writing this 2 weeks after, I can still remember how sad I felt to be leaving Tacloban, maybe because I still miss it and want to go back!

We woke up early that morning to pack our stuff and spend some time with the family, most of whom were at the house instead of the store which was nice. We had a feast for breakfast, including my favourite vege spring rolls, I have got no worries about eating non-breakfast food at this time of the morning anymore!

We had some small gifts for the kids which they seemed to really like, colouring books and pencils, toy cars and play-doh. We also left behind lots of clothes, some at the orphanage, some with the community centre and some with the family.

Nanay Marlyn, Jec-Jec, Twinkle, Shay-Shay, Chic-kay and Kelly all came to see us off with Ethel and her little boy. Unfortunately they couldn't come into the terminal with us so we said our goodbyes outside.

Then we were on our way to Manila, we had been in Tacloban for 3 weeks but it had felt like just days and both Joy and I wanted to stay :o(

The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful, when we got to Manila we had no trouble changing from the domestic to international terminals, unlike the way in. We had to hang around for a while before checking in but it was better than the mad rush we had before!

Did some last minute souvenir shopping but still couldn't find a thimble - sorry Mum!

Arrived at Singapore at about 9:30pm, and it was time to say goodbye to Joy. I walked her to her gate and she only had about 10 minutes to wait so I made her promise to text me when she got on the flight – but I couldn’t hang around as I had to claim my luggage. I am really glad Joy decided to come with me, it was a great experience to share and I’ll think I’ll miss her after spending everyday together for 3 weeks!

As I got in a taxi to the hotel, I was worried about leaving Joy before she had got on her flight but she text me not long after I had checked in and got to my room so I was able to relax! The air conditioned room felt far too cold for me and I had to sleep with several layers despite the fact the temperature was the same as in the Philippines, around 34 degrees. Even the hot bath didn't do much to warm me up but it was nice to have one!

I set 3 alarms clocks for 6am the next morning so I could go and meet Mark off his flight at 7:45am.

Oops, I have let the blogging slide abit since leaving the Philippines. I didn't really have much of a chance in Singapore, there were a few cafes dotted about but there was alot to see aswell as catching up with Mark after not seeing him for three weeks!

I am surprised that it is so difficult to find internet cafe in New Zealand, this is only the 2nd one I have seen after being here over a week. It was so easy to find internet cafes in the Philippines and I assumed it would be that easy everywhere. I am going to catch up with all the missing entries at a later date as I forgot to bring my diary!

We have nearly finished our New Zealand exploration part of our trip, even though we only had the North Island do, it feels like we have just seen a fraction of it all. But what we have seen has been fab...

It was no joke - we set our alarm for 4:30am and when we went downstairs at 5am, quite a few people were there, even Nanay Marlyn's sister with a guitar! Then there was cake - I'm not one to turn down food but I struggled to eat that early! We went back to bed at 5:45am when most people left.

So, it is our last full day today. We are writing our last blog entries from the Philippines before going downtown for the last time and then to the orphanage for the last time. Then it is our farewell dinner tonight. It feels like we have only been here a week!

I don't think it has quite sunk in yet but I think it will when we leave the orphanage for the last time later... In hindsight, it would have been nice to stay for longer as we have enjoyed both our homestay and our work placement but then it would have been even harder to leave.

I am really sad to be leaving here but I am really, really looking forward to seeing Mark, I meet him off the plane in Singapore on Saturday at 7:45am (local time). This has been the longest we have been apart in 11 years and I've missed him!

Last day working at the orphanage today. We are going to pop in on Thursday (our day off) to say goodbye but I think we are just delaying the inevitable as I reckon there will be tears and not just from the kids. We took easter themed colouring sheets and sweets for them.

We asked if we could take some photos of the kids as it was our last day and Matt (the other volunteer who works there) thought that they would agree but the head nun said no. We were really disappointed as we just want some pictures to remember them by. It might be an idea to get Matts email address in case he has more luck than we do and manages to get some.

Went to Bo's again for a couple of hours and then back to the house so Joy could have her afternoon nap!

It is Nanay Marlyns birthday tomorrow and we got her a little gift of a glass candle holder which we had to wrap in bubble wrap and brown tape as we didn't think to get any paper. Also found out that is tradition to get up at 5am to sing 'happy birthday' - I thought it was a joke!