fillingthegaps

Well I don’t suppose you can have every  day filled with excitement. The last couple of days I have spent quite a bit of time chugging up and down the commuter train line. Actually chugging is the wrong phrase – these trains glide along with slick speed and efficiency. Inside are quiet, orderly passengers who sit there doing their own thing or occasionally as happened today, start the inevitable conversation ( by sign language) are they all yours? 8 of them? 4 boys, 4 girls? Very good! Smiles and congratulations all round. Not a pierced eyebrow, nose or lip in sight. Not a tattoo in sight. Not even any ‘scruffs’ in sight. One gets the uneasy feeling that such personal decorations might just be agin the law in these parts.

The reason or the train travel, was to go in search of baking soda which is apparently what all thoroughbred greenies use for everything from washing your hair, cleaning your teeth and preventing ingrowing toenails to polishing the family silver.  It seemed that Rach’s supplies were getting low, and so we had to find more. Our couch surf host gave us the tip-off, where to buy this stuff in mega-sized packs. The spot was three stops down the line and so off went Rob and I in search of the dreaded white powder. We had been advised to go certain super market. This we eventually found, discreetly nestling in one corner of the biggest mega-mall I am likely to see for a long time.

Of course there was no mega pack to be found, but even if we had found it, we would not have bought it. With a mini-jar of vegemite costing HK$38, I shudder to think what the giant economy size pack of soda  would have cost.  So we returned, more  or less empty handed, apart from half the bread sections supply, for our breakfast.

But we have had some more interesting encounters: on the train a well-groomed lady (in her 50’s I imagine) insisted on giving up her seat for me (by crikey, I must be looking even more decrepit than I feared) She then proceeded to do the usual thing of counting the kids etc.   Later this evening we walked into noodle shop we had visited once before, a few days ago, The proprietor was delighted to see his little blond girls again and was all over them like a rather noxious rash. The girls endured stoically and without offending the owner. It paid off handsomely! At the end of our meal, the kids then all got served hot chocolates, and then we were all plied with pomelos and oranges! Sometimes it is quite helpful to have these little angles in tow!

Finally, if you are still with me, I saw a sight the other day that immediately had me thinking of a couple of good families I know, who have an addiction to a card game named “Shanghai”  Whenever they guy together with 10 mins on their hands, out come the cards. This group made me think of them, maybe in a few years time!

Oh, the title just refers to the fact that most days we seem to be waking up in a different bed, and most of them are fairly memorable – I’ll and a pic or two now and again,

     Couch surfing                                               Bangkok airport

Before I re-joined the Ayres Tribe, I did some training – walking around the block at a (for me) crisp pace, up and down the hilly circuit where I live. Just a half hour’s brisk walk, but I am so glad I did it, because today tested these old legs.

Yesterday we moved out to this ‘couch-surfing’ home – about 25 mins by rail from downtown Kowloon, Today we had to return to Kowloon and catch the ferry across to Hong Kong island to visit the Russian embassy, to lodge our visa applications. The embassy is open on Mondays(when applications are accepted) from 9-12,00. Plenty of time you might think. But by the time we had had breakfast and wrestled with a reluctant washing machine, time was fast running out. We walked to the rail station (about 1km)  and caught the train ok, but by the time we reached Kowloon it was almost eleven twenty. We still had to walk almost 2km to the ferry terminal, catch the ferry, get across to HK island and then walk to the embassy building. So speed was of the essence, and speed we did! Rob was striding purposefully; the the rest of us were either walking rapidly or semi-jogging. We were quite a sight as we sped through the crowded streets. But we made it with 15 mins to spare, and fortunately the Russians were friendly and co-operative. The lift up to the 21st floor was enjoyed by all – almost no sense of motion and the 21st floor reached in a matter of seconds. Quite fabulous.

After the business was  successfully concluded, we then sat in a sort-of park-like walkway and munched on our lunch – fortifying ourselves for a walking tour of some of the interesting bits of Hong Kong. We more or less followed one of the Lonely Planets recommended walks and hiked through Old China town sort of shopping areas, ascended the hill on the longest escalator in the world  – it took us 800m up the side of the Hill in a series of stages. Once at the top of course we had to walk back down again and then walk back to the ferry terminal, catch the ferry, walk back to the railway station, catch the train and finally walk to the market to have some dinner, before walking home. I am not sure how much walking we did, but we were on our feet from 9.30 am until about 7,0 pm and believe me, we were all quite weary! I repeat, I was glad I had done that training back in titirangi!

The children did marvelously: even the littlies who would normally have had a sleep or rest in the afternoon, performed very well. These kids can walk your socks off, no trouble at all!

A few pictures of today’s sights:

the team making dumplings/dim sums for tonight’s dinner

who was having a steamed pow?

High rise  buildings press in on every side

Fresh fish anyone? Never mind the unusual shop counter..

a murky Hong KOng skyline – iy looked better at night:

when you are travelling for a year, and your daddy isn’t Rockefeller all Bill gates, you have to watch your pennies (especially when your home currency takes a nose-dive, like the Kiwi dollar)  So we don’t spend any longer than you have to in a place that is expensive. Just to give you a little idea of our apartment block, this is a view down the air-well, viewed from our bathroom window!Waitakere Council would love it. A genuine plumber’s nightmare.

…but the rooms themselves were very tidy…..

And Hong Kong is expensive! Gone are the days when HK was THE place for a bargain p most things here are more expensive than NZ and even the REAL budget accommodation is costing more than we like to pay (HK$200 for a room for one night) Not too bad for just two of you but when you have 11 in a party, costs start to add up! So after 3nights in the Nathan Rd apartment block, we have taken a 20 min train ride down the line to Tai Poh Market, where we are ;couch-surfing for 3 nights. This is where a friendly soul opens up his house and lets you crash for free, if you can find somewhere to sleep, on the floor! Not as bad as it sounds. You get to meet some interesting people, they usually have a mattress or two, and there is no charge!

Our host here is a young Indian Expat, doing research at the local University. As a hobby/sport, he is a Uni-cyclist, and I have been admiring his bike in detail. We are all tucked into 2 bedrooms so it looks a bit like a refugee camp but we are very comfortable.

Rather amusing – Rob decided to buy some bread for tomorrow;s breakfast before we moved out of Nathan Rd in case we were not near any shops. When we got here we discovered that this place is like Orchard Rd in Singapore- Huge malls , glittering shops plus all-night fruit and veggie markets etc. Shops for Africa!

Tomorrow we take the train back to Nathan rd then catch the ferry across to Hong Kong Island to visit the Russian embassy  – to lodge our Visa applications. With good fortune they will be ready in a week. The kids are looking forward to the trip The ferry ride for one thing, and the lift in the embassy building goes like a rocket they tell me,so that should be fun!

Oh I have also got myself organized with new specs. After the cataract op I needed to change my specs. Had no time to  do it in NZ but now that the eyes have settled down I am able to get the specs organised, Ordinary specs take 2 hours but I am getting progressive lenses with Transitional lens material (instant shade correction for sunlight) and titanium unbreakable frames. All very flash, and I can pick these up in 4 days time (slight delay because the weekend came into that 4 day calculation!)

So life is going along nicely thanks. A few pics to let you see the terrain we have been travelling over.

The previous time I had flown with Thai Airlines was when I went to  Myanmar about 3 years ago. On that flight, the crew were evidently on the last leg of a long tour: service and food was decidedly sub-standard,  I was disappointed with the drop in standards and it was with some reluctance that I booked with Thai again this time. I’m happy to say my fears were not realised. The aircraft was  new and spacious, the crew were bright and cheerful and the food was great, The last leg from Bangkok to Hong Kong only took a couple of hours, and it went quickly, The decent into Hong Kong was through thick cloud and we only broke through at about 1000 ft, I was quite relieved to see the sea beneath us at a decent distance away. The only other t5ime I had flown in to Hong Kong was when the old airport was still running: some may remember the way the aircraft seemed to have to drop down between the high-rise buildings just a few feet (it seemed) away from the wing tips, Things are a lot less hazardous these days, I’m pleased to report’

In spite of the thousands of passengers pouring into the Customs entry zone. inside 25mins I was processed and walking out, anxiously scanning for a familiar face in the crowd’ (Rob’s  mobile had refused to work in Hong Kong and so our plans of doing a ;here I am, where are you?’ routine didn’t get off the ground. Nevertheless. as I walked out, in walked Rob, polishing off a container of noodles as he came,

So all was well, and we walked outside to a waiting double-Decker bus which took us right to our doorstep in downtown Kowloon.

I’ll tell you about these ‘digs’ another time. For now its enough to say they are clean and tidy and on the top (14th) floor of a very busy block. Seething with money-changers , food outlets and restaurants on the lower 3 floors, then a  rabbit warren of rooms above.

Weather has been wet. windy and cool and it was decidedly nippy when we all walked down to the waterfront last evening and watched the Light Display. Hong Kong is an incredible array of high rise apartment blocks and Commercial sky scrapers. Maybe not on a New York scale, but to see these towering buildings crammed together with al;most no space between them was an amazing sight. At l\\night of course these buildings become a series of twinkling tablets,and the commercial buildings add more color with their many huge neon signs. Viewing HK Island from across the water was thus a very pretty sight, but to add to the spectacle, for a period each evening some of the buildings put on an extra show. with laser beams piercing the night sky, and strobe lighting bathing some built.dings in bands of varying colours. It was  a good show and the attached pics do not do it justice

But now for a couple of intriguing human encounters.  The first was the young lady who checked my passport.  She was wearing (is that the term?) fingernail extensions. They were very long, white. with square tips, This to me was strange enough, but what really intrigued was the little band of diamonds across each nail at the junction point between real and false’

The second event was the crowd that gathered around our tribe when we were down on the waterfront. As Rachael has said in her blogs. once one person breaks the ice and asks  or points the question ‘are these all yours? a crowd gathers, chattering excitedly among themselves, then being photographed with the kids etc, Its a real circus, which the kids endure quite stoically 

well I am sitting here at the back of Starbucks, in Bangkok airport. I have gritty eyes and considering the fact that it is around 4.30am, Auckland time, I suppose it is to be expected. But it’s only 10.30pm, Bangkok time, and the place is humming.

I have found myself this quiet little back-water area where there is no foot-traffic at all, which is quite something. Its also a good spot because I have found an upholstered bench seat. Considering that I am here for the night – the upholstered seat is a bonus. I considered taking a hotel room for the night, but the scrooge in me, coupled with a bit of laziness, brought me to the decision that it really was not worth all the hassle of officially ‘arriving’ in Bangkok and then trotting off to a hotel and forking out a fistful of US dollars .for about 5hrs sleep – if I were so lucky!  In due course I will see if it is possible to fall asleep here, I am not hopeful: I have been entrusted with bringing Rob’s new digital SLR with fancy lens to Hong Kong. My past record of leaving my video camera in airports, taxis and restaurants with dreadful regularity makes me a mite nervous about sleeping in a public place with the precious cargo.

This journal is going to try and avoid the ‘what I did on my summer holidays’ format, but I really must make mention of the incredible cloud formations which we enjoyed for several hours of the trip. Having climbed steadily for about an hour through thick murk, we eventually broke through at about 10,000m = which is fairly high if you were thinking of stepping outside for a  stroll.

Clouds varied from thousands of acres of little cotton buds, to towering castles, to stuff that looked for all the world like the wind-blown foam on the beach during a storm. Then there was the unending blanket of soft white dimpled stuff – reminiscent of a king-size Pavlova or an ad for a giant’s mattress.  And the amazing thing was, at times, while looking down on all this pretty stuff, we were actually scudding along under an overhead canopy of more cloud. Now that stuff must have been really high.

Some of my fellow passengers were interesting – to watch, I mean. There were the beach bound surfies – in board shorts, flip-flops, T-shirts and a Bali bag of essentials. Ready to hit he Thai beaches running. Then there was the very smart chap sitting opposite me. A young, clean-cut Fijian Indian is my guess. Beautifully polished black shoes; crisp white shirt, conservative striped tie and immaculate black suit. The only rather strange thing about this ensemble, was the “Cambridge” label sewn down on the cuff of one of the jacket sleeves. Now  is this the new discreet version of printed T shirts, or was it a label to be removed once the suit was purchased? Or maybe Cambridge university has started a subtle advertising campaign. in these hard times?The two Indian lads sitting a few places along in my row were the opposite of discreet ‘class’. There they sat in their very cool shiny black leather jackets  opposite each other and had a hearty non-stop conversation in Tamil. Not a discreet conversation, you understand, but a hearty one filled with much laughter and loud exclamations. We all enjoyed it.Then there was the petite Asian lady – incredibly delicate-looking in her leopard-skin pant suit, but towing a large bright red moulded plastic cabin bag that looked suspiciously like a mobile missile-launcher, plus a designer back-pack and toting a handbag the size of a Kathmandu Sales carrier bag!And I have no doubt that  she would haul the lot onto the plane without the slightest distress or strain! Then there was the rather solemn Sikh with his maroon turban. I wondered if the colour was a fashion statement or a sign of rank? Finally there was this rather scruffy looking oldish bloke sitting quietly by himself – with a somewhat quizzical look on his face. Looked as if he was dressed for a bit of bush-walking, but on an aeroplane??? That was me of course.

ps my triumph over the padded bench was fairly short-lived. (picture to be added later) After a couple of hours (literally in the wee small hours) I decided upon a trip to the toilet. The airport was dead – not a soul was stirring. But when I got back, there was a body stretched out on ‘my’ bed – and fast asleep! He must have been hovering in a secret place, waiting to pounce. So the rest of the night was spent listening to Ravi Zacharias on my I-pod. Good stuff too.

I hear rumours that people are asking “Where are you going?” and all my dear father-in-law can answer is “Hong Kong”. That is true, but even though there is more to it than that, he has good reason for sounding so senile. He’s coming with us and our plans are fluid and constantly under revision. For example, we were loosely planning on heading through Scandinavia to get to London from Tallinn…..but we’ve been invited to spend some time with a family in Latvia and so we’re looking in to going that way. Why wouldn’t you?
But closer in the future…after Hong Kong, we take an overnight train to Shanghai, where we’ll take in the sights for a few days before boarding another overnighter for Xi-an, resting place of the famous Terracotta Warriors. We abide at a cheap youth hostel for a week (originally a traditional Chinese house built around an indoor courtyard apparently) before taking another overnight train, this time to Beijing. This is our launching pad for seeing The Wall and moving on to Mongolia….where we will stay in a number of gers (you know, those felted wool tents) with two or three different families. Then the train journey continues – four days and nights of it across Russia to Moscow. There we “couchsurf” (sleep on the couch of friendly folks who offer hospitality via the internet)….and then we’ll do the same in St Petersburg and Tallinn, Estonia……..after that? Scandinavia or Latvia? We’ll let you know when we do.

July and August will be spent on a history trip round Great Britain – for a couple of weeks one of Rob’s sisters will join us too. We’ll drag old stories out of Dad and record as many as we can!

After that Dad probably zips to Canada with said sister/daughter and then returns to continue on our odyssey to Europe.
Italy calls, Turkey offers good food, Romania is cheap, Poland has old memories….who knows where we’ll end up?
Can you see why this Blog Author is a bit vague about his plans? It’s not his fault.

Not that I am getting excited……………!

There are still a bunch of things to do but at least I have finished wrestling with a spreadsheet to keep track of the finances.

IT’s a mite distressing to find how much electrical gadgetry I have to cram into my padded backpack. What with notebook, external HD, camera, mobile cables and power supplies for all the gadgets , plus all the ‘valuables’– it adds up to a fair swag of junk. I cannot afford to do my favourite trick of walking off and leaving it somewhere,

Then of course there is Rob’s camera to bring along (still have not heard from the Insurance co. re payout?)

Then I need to go and get a last-minute fitting of a new pair of ‘ears’. 

Definitely no time to chase off and get both eyes re-tested for a  pair of specs after the cateract interlude

Then all that will remain (after clearing up the clutter in the house) will be to sit heavily on the suitcase and try and get the lid to stay closed. The weight is definitely over the limit – I’m rather glad I did not go with the idea of a backpack for that lot!

As Rob (rather hopefully) observed the other day: “once you have given us all the goodies it will be much lighter” LOL

Starting a Blog is no simple task for this old-ish chap.

Apart from the technical hurdles to overcome (eg how to add a ‘post’; how to import a picture or other image; what type-face to use; etc etc) there are the more disturbing philosophical issues to be faced: why do you want to write this? Who do you think would want to read it? Are you capable of writing anything interesting? What is interesting to you may bore the pants of other readers etc etc.

So for the sake of satisfying the casual enquirer, and also to keep myself on track, here is the background to this Endeavour

Profile:

I am the 77 year old father of 3 children: girl, girl, boy, 2 years between the first 2 and then a 6 year gap to the boy- an unexpected pleasure!

 My wife was a Chinese/Malaysian, which means that she was Chinese, but a citizen of Malaysia (until she came to live in NZ)  I say was, because 10 years ago she died in an accident involving an out-of-control car while we were out for a walk.

My two girls each had 3 children; my son had eight – blessing me with a total of 14 grandchildren

I have to say, because I am biased, that our children were blessed by inheriting the good features of the parents, while the weaknesses appear to have been suppressed!

Equally, the grandchildren have always given us cause for much delight. While she was alive, my wife, (the grandchildren’s ‘poh-poh’) poured a huge amount of energy and time into their upbringing.

We have been, and still are, a close-knit family with a lot of love, time and respect for one another.

Not long after I lost my wife, my son Robert suggested that I build on a small section in the same small sub-division, close to his own home (which he had just built)

So for the last 4 years or so I have been more or less sharing my life with Robert, Rachael and their 8 children. I should mention that Rachael Home-schools her tribe, so I see more of the children than had they been at school

Last October Robert decided to take a year off work, and the family embarked on a 12 month ‘pilgrimage’ starting in Singapore and traveling overland to eventually arrive in the UK. (You can keep track of their experiences by visiting their blog on http://blogs.bootsnall.com/kiwifamily/

I actually joined them for 5 weeks at the start of their journey – it was an opportunity to   re-visit my Malaysian/Chinese in-laws and further cement the bonds we have with them. 

 After a week in Bangkok with Rob and Rachael and tribe, I returned to Auckland and left them to continue their travels:  north to Chiang Mai and beyond.

The original plan was that I would re-join them when they arrived in the UK, but I found myself envying their experiences in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. I mentioned to friends that I wouldn’t mind being with them right now, and the answer I invariably got was, “why not”.

Why not indeed, so after making sure that my added presence was not going to be a burden, the die was cast. On the 5^th March I set off again to rejoin the group in Hong Kong .

There is more to it than that, but this is quite sufficient for the time being.

So this is the start of my Blogging career. I know nothing about this business but I am hoping to pick things up as I stagger along.

A few words of explanation: I called this site “filling in the gaps” because I am hoping to see a lot of the world that I have never seen before. I have travelled quite a lot in my 77 years, but there remains a lot of the world that I have not experienced first-hand. ( and yes, there will remain an awful lot I have not seen after this trip) Now I have the rather exciting priveledge of joining my son Robert, his wife Rachael and their 8 children in a semi-unplanned Odyssey across Asia, into Europe and the UK and possibly taking in some of Canada as well.

The object is to keep some sort of a record of the journey, both in word and picture, for the benefit of family and maybe a few friends if they are interested. The theory is that it will save me the task of sending bunches of  emails: anyone interested in what we are up to can take a look. And at the same time I will have record that I can actually read, with pictures added at strategic points in the story.

Of course Rachael is maintaining a superb record in her ‘Bootsnall” blog which you can access by clicking here: http://blogs.bootsnall.com/kiwifamily/

I thought that Travel had lost much of its appeal, but I have to confess to being quite excited at this coming adventure. I just hope the task of keeping this journal going does not prove to be beyond my capabilities!    

This is the Tribe