Our Time in India

Continuing our story....

2009-06-25T10:46:00.005-05:00

I have designed the new blog to continue the story of our life as we live in the United States. You can find the new blog at www.greenamericans.blogspot.com.
Stop by and let me know what you think! I may not have as much to write about but we'll see. I have learned you never know where life may take you!

Back to reality...gulp

2009-06-17T22:36:00.011-05:00

Well, we are back in the "real world". I realize what truly incredible experience India was now that I am back to reality! What a life we had over there. Everyone wants to know how I feel about being back. Well, lots of different emotions. I can't say that I am sad to be back but I do miss India. I can't imagine 2 years ago I would have uttered those words. But I do miss it...the colors, sites, cow lined streets, the people, less hectic schedules, etc. There are a lot of things I don't miss...dirt, poverty, UHT milk, shopping at Fresh and Frozen, cleaning produce, etc. We seemed to pack quite few things in the last few weeks of life in Chennai that I wanted to share with you. I am so thankful that we had our time in India!

Sundar and his family

Outside Bhaskar's gate

Bhaskar and his wife, two sons, mother, sister and nieces

The kitchen

The packers~did a great job!

Put this in the sea shipment please...see you in 2 months Logan

Millie's last walk to the beach with Aruna

Logan and Harry (will miss him climbing over the wall!)

A trip to Pondicherry~past the salt mines

The finished product heading to market

The reason we went to Pondicherry~to get a photo of the right eye

Cute huh? She should really paint those toes

Wide Load coming through

Lotus flowers in a temple pond

Chilling out by the pool at Fisherman's Cove (we stayed here when our house was packed up)

Checking Millie and Cleo in at the airport

Our neighbors were on the first part of the trip!

Waiting in Frankfurt Germany...halfway home

Millie and Cleo under the engine...glad they didn't forget them!

I have really enjoyed keeping this blog the past 20 months or so. It has been a fantastic way for me to journal our time in India! I am glad that I have been able to share our experiences with friends and family. I am also very thankful that I have been able to use this blog to teach others about our experiences of being an expat in Chennai India! I have loved being able to handle the technical aspect of publishing this blog. I have truly enjoyed photographing the part of the world we have been blessed to see. I am not sure exactly what to do now. I do want to continue blogging but will most likely begin a new blogspot so that Our Time in India can remain just that...Our time in India. So check back and I will let you know were you can see Our life in the US! Thank you everyone for you love and support!

Back in the USA

2009-06-12T21:52:00.003-05:00

We have now been back in the US for 4 days and are beginning to get over jet lag. It was a very busy week last week with the packers, end of school and saying goodbyes. It is hard to believe that our time in India is over. Seems like a dream in one way that we were ever there. But we were and what a great experience it was! I still have several more blogs that I need to add about things that we did before heading back to the US. I hope to work on it in a few days. I just don't seem to have the time like before since I am now the housekeeper, cook, driver, and gardener!

Happy Birthday Logan

2009-06-12T21:48:00.002-05:00

Today Logan is 11 years old. I can't believe how big is he getting! Seems like he was just a baby. We can't imagine not having him in our family. He adds such a dimension to our family...mostly laughter and noise:) He is a great kid and loves to keep us laughing. We are so proud of him and all he does. We are truly blessed to have such a great son as Logan. Happy Birthday Logan! We love you very much!!

See you later...not farewell

2009-06-02T13:23:00.006-05:00

One thing about leaving anyplace whether it is leaving a home or leaving a family reunion, goodbyes are hard for me. I cry at the drop of the hat! Saturday night our dear friends Alan and Juliet hosted a party in our honor, the last time we would all be together in India. Over the past year we have gotten together with 4 families, 10 adults and 10 kids for dinner and drinks every Friday or Saturday night...sometimes both! We have made such good memories and have had so much fun together. We have learned to understand British and Scottish people talking. Yes, they speak English but it sounds a wee bit different than the Midwest English we were used to. We have learned a lot of terms and phases. The evening began with some cocktails on Alan and Juliet's rooftop while hearing the ocean waves crash and the warm breeze blowing. Then we headed down to dinner where Juliet once again set a lovely table! She should be a party planner because she can make a table look gorgeous! We toasted with champagne flown in from London (thanks Ian!) and started dinner. I had no clue what we were in for after dinner. They presented us with a beautiful collage of photos from our travels we have taken! Everyone knows how I love photography and I always wondered how I could display the photos, now I know! Ted had managed to sneak our hard drive over to Yan's house where they all spent hours cutting photos apart. It is awesome! But the evening wasn't over...they gave me a beautiful Saree as well as some head decorations and some beautiful decorated rubber gloves so when I have to go back to doing my own dishes I shall feel like a queen! Of course to go along with it Ted was presented a Maharajah hat and a flashing ganesh decoration. To complete the evening we were given a list of things that we could do back in Illinois to make it feel a bit like India.

Stop the local garbage pickup and sprinkle it liberally around your yard.
Allow the cows to roam freely about your property and neighbors property.
When asked for directions always give directions even if you don't know where they are trying to get to, and simply point them back in the direction that they just came from.
When having repairs done in your home, insist that the electrician or plumber, be accompanied by a small boy and only allow them to use a single screwdriver while doing the work.
While driving your car use the horn liberally.
Put up a guard shack at the end of the drive complete with a log book and record everyone who comes and goes.
Have your morning constitution overlooking the stream in the woods.
When driving just drive down the center of the road. Make sure to use your horn a lot.
Stop and pee along side the road frequently.
Throw any trash we may accumulate in van out the window.
When giving an answer refuse to answer yes or know, just bob your head sideways.

The great group that helped make India a great experience

Jane Goodall's visit

2009-05-30T23:17:00.003-05:00

Several months ago our neighbors hosted a fundraiser cocktail party where Jane Goodall was the guest speaker. I can remember watching her on TV as a child and was fascinated by the life she led living with the chimpanzees. We were able to have our photo with her and get an autographed book. Unfortunately Ted was unable to be there as he was en route to the US.

Please don't say thank you

2009-05-28T10:00:00.002-05:00

I was at store today shopping for some silver jewelry. Whenever I shop, unless I am extremely irritated with the shop, I am polite. I like to say please and thank you. But today the sales clerk, very nicely said you don't need to say please and thank you, I am here to serve you. I told him I believe being polite (saying please and thank you) was important to me. I explained that by me being polite he could still help me and that I felt it would be rude of me to forget my manners! The other funny thing was he kept wanting me to sit down while looking at jewelry but the fact that I am so short made it hard to get a good look at the jewelry, so I stood. I actually joked and asked if he would get in trouble if I didn't sit down:) Soon I will be back to the US where it will be hard to find a salesclerk in a three mile radius of the store and I will wish for a brief nanosecond I was back in India!

Traveling ATM

2009-05-27T11:54:00.007-05:00

We needed to get quite a bit of cash to purchase something for a friend who had to leave India suddenly. Banking in India is an interesting experience as is just about everything else. The bank that we bank at, or I should say Ted banks at (I am not on the account-too much paperwork involved for that!) is located in the city and is quite a drive in and I hear from Ted quite an experience inside. I have never been inside since I am not on the account. But I have an ATM card with Ted's name and use it to get rupees at just about any ATM. The ATM however limits the amount of money you can take out, that is if the ATM has power. It is not uncommon for ATM to either be out of cash or unable to give cash to due power outages.

note the sign written on cardboard~power cut

Since we needed a large amount of rupees today we emailed the bank president to request money to be delivered. We have done this once before and I must say it is pretty convenient! The guy drives a two wheeler to the house with a brief case loaded with rupees. He comes in and Ted gives him a check. The only glitch was that Ted made the check out wrong and the guy spoke no English, but we got it figured out! So we got the rupees, ordered our friends stuff and didn't have to visit the bank or the ATM everyday for a week! I am quite sure I will never again have an ATM show up on my door step!

17 years of wedded bliss

2009-05-23T01:01:00.003-05:00

Today Ted and I are celebrating 17 years of marriage! If anyone would have said on our wedding day that we would celebrate 2 anniversaries in India I would have laughed in their face! But here were are! We are being joined by friends this afternoon for a Midwest cookout complete with beef ribeyes smuggled in by Ted! I am so blessed to have Ted for a husband and as a result three beautiful kids! Happy Anniversary Ted, I love you!

Another Chicken Bike

2009-05-18T01:48:00.006-05:00

We were driving down the street and I saw live chickens being weighed on scale outside a shop. I asked Bhaskar to turn around so we could see how these chickens would be transported, instead of turning around he just backed down the busy street. Makes sense, this is India after all...what road rules?? We saw the chickens coming toward us, they were tied to a bicycle! More photos of a chicken bike. I seem to be a bit obsessed with this but only a few more weeks and I will never see anything like this again! The guy didn't seem happy at all while I was filming and taking his photo but as soon as we passed him he was smiling from ear to ear!

Koimbedu Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Market

2009-05-16T00:36:00.007-05:00

Thursday morning I arose before dawn to begin the drive to one of the largest fruit, vegetable and flower market in Chennai. The market actually starts to set up around 2 am, wholesale goes from 5-7am and it is open to the public from 7-9am. My friend Liz and I left at 5 am and arrived around 5:45am. It an amazing sight to see the hustle and bustle of this huge market just as the sun was rising. There were lorries and bicycle carts all over the place waiting for goods to be loaded. We started on the vegetable side. I have never seen so many vegetables in one place. The colors were fantastic! We saw so many vegetables some that we had never seen before. People were eager to pose for photos but had a bit of a hard time understanding that I couldn't give them the photo. I wish I could go back and give them a copy but it would be impossible. I was constantly being told to get out of the way as people were on the move with produce! I can't tell you how many times I got wacked with a sack of something! There were a few bicycle carts but no shopping carts or trolleys here. Mostly it was pure and simple man power. Men carried gunny sacks on there back, they had metal hooks hooked through the bag to hold them. Others carried baskets on their head piled high with boxes and some just stacked things on their shoulders. The market was alive with people! I kept thinking that this was what India was all about. We must have walked for about 2 hours and then we headed to the fruit section. There were rooms piled high with mangoes, watermelon, bananas, pineapples, etc. We bought a few things. One interesting thing was that a few times prices were quoted to us by a young person and when the older person came over the price shot up drastically! People continually asked where we were from. One laborer who had very good English asked my why I was in India. Of course I told him that my husband was working here. He wanted to know what I did so I told him I was a mom with kids and just stayed home with them. He then looks at me and says, "You are a housewife." That still makes me laugh because I didn't think he would understand if I told him I was a housewife. Too funny! So an incredibly wonderful experience again in India. I really enjoyed getting out and experiencing what India is really about. We discovered that we missed the flower section but at that point we were so hot and sweaty we decided we would just imagine what it would have been like! Enjoy the photos of a very busy market in Chennai!

Market at dawn

Tea time

Banana leaves that will be used for plates

Sorting limes

Chili peppers

Beautiful eggplant

Sorting coconuts

Beans and peas...what gorgeous colors!

Celebreties in Chennai

2009-05-13T03:23:00.008-05:00

One advantage of being an expat besides living in a foreign land is being able to experience things you can't or wouldn't in your home country. Yesterday I had two awesome experiences! The first was a cooking demonstration by world famous Italian chef Antonio Carluccio, in which he prepared several dishes. He seemed just what a Italian chef should be...round and jovial! He kept the ladies laughing with stories and jokes. The event was concluded with a lunch that included one dish in which he demonstrated. It was a fun morning! To make the event even more memorable they took my photo while there (not the best but oh well) and it was in the Indian Express today! I was surprised when a friend asked if I had seen my photo! So if you are interested check out the Indian Express.

The evening ended with listening to author Jeffrey Archer discuss his new book Path to Glory. He has written a number of best seller fiction books, none of which I have read. But now I have a signed copy of Path to Glory which I am anxious to begin reading. He is an extremely popular author in India and he is touring 12 cities here. I think he said his books are published in 6 Indian languages! His talk was followed by a buffet dinner. It was a fun evening out with my neighbors Dave and Liz (who took my photo). Keeping busy these last few days before Ted returns is helping time pass faster.

Interesting fruits

2009-05-11T04:53:00.005-05:00

I looked out the window to see Sampeth getting something out of the tree. This tree has this curly fruit hanging all over it. This is the same tree where I often see and hear green parrots, which are difficult to photo! I wandered out back to see that Saraswathe had a pile of this fruit gathered up in her Saree. They offered me to try one, at first I said no and then decided to be really brave. Not a bad taste. A bit sweet, sort of reminded me of raw cauliflower but with a bit of a woody texture. As the fruit ripens it becomes a beautiful shade of pink. Very interesting. They told me the name but of course I couldn't begin to pronounce it let alone remember it so just enjoy the photos of this interesting fruit.

The chicken bike and the rickshaw horn...

2009-05-07T10:35:00.009-05:00

It was a glorious day in Chennai. Ever since last year when I first saw the chicken bike I have had this internal nagging that I had to capture it on film or well digital format. So I scheduled the morning to drive the streets of Chennai looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. I of course had to explain the whole needle in the haystack to Bhaskar! We drove for sometime with no chickens in sight. We were driving through one area and Bhaskar said it was where Brahman people (strict vegetarians) lived, so we headed to the meat eater section! But again no chickens on bikes. I was beginning to lose hope when Bhaskar announced we would drive to the wholesale chicken area which happens to be by the used car part (ie junkyard) of Chennai. I kind of felt like I was cheating but hey I am desperate, only another month here so desperate times called for desperate measures. We drove through and saw no activity. I had actually decided that I would pay someone some rupees if they would just tie up some chickens for the photo. Alright, please keep your animal rights views to yourself. When at last we had a photo! A guy had about 10 chickens tied to his scooter but then we struck gold and saw a guy tying chickens to his BICYCLE! So at last I got my chicken photo!

A banana shop

a goat stallA cock fight

Do you want that chicken with or without with flies?

Chicken scooterThe chicken bicycle!

Logan also did something today that he has always wanted to do...reach out the window and honk an auto rickshaw's horn. We kept our eye out for the perfect opportunity when finally it happened. Bhaskar slowed down and told the driver that Logan wanted to honk the horn and he did it! What day. I guess for some of us it doesn't take much for a good day huh?

Logan fulfilling a dream :)

The wine shops

2009-05-02T00:47:00.007-05:00

The local wine shops are an interesting place. Alcohol in India is not available in the grocery stores but must be bought at a wine shop. The wine shops are all over the place and seem to be a pretty popular place, especially on pay day. I really love the whole ambiance the wine shop has to offer.

What a job!

2009-04-27T08:33:00.003-05:00

Last week Bhaskar and I were in the city and all of a sudden we came across a guy, naked except for a little piece of cloth in the front and a harness. We drove by and I asked Bhaskar, "did I just see a naked guy in the street?". He said, "yes, ma'am." Well of course my reply was to turn around so I can photo this guy. No one seemed to be bothered that this white lady was taking photos. For the sake of little eyes I have photoshopped in a leaf to cover his rear end. This guy apparently is a government employee and his job is to crawl down the sewers and do who know what. Evidently these guys have to be able to hold their breath for quite along time as the fumes can be lethal. It is not uncommon for men to succumb to these fumes and die. But unfortunately the government believes these workers can be easily be replaced. You just try telling that to their loved ones.

Here is an interesting article if want more info: sewer workers in Chennai

New Zealand-finally the end!

2009-04-25T11:33:00.014-05:00

Dunedin was the next stop on our two week tour of the South Island of New Zealand. Dunedin (pronounced Done Eden) was actually founded by Scottish and the name Dunedin is the Celtic name for Edinburgh. Dunedin is home to the Speight's Brewery which we toured and everyone got a sample of beer. The kids had fun helping Ted fill his cup. The tour guide was fantastic and it was really interesting to learn the process of beer making. They have a tap outside so townspeople can come and fill up water jugs. This is the water used in the beer as well. The spring produces a huge amount water daily. We also toured the Cadbury factory and sampled lots of yummy chocolate as well as learning some about the chocolate making process. We also drove up the world's steepest street according to the Guinness Book of Records. We wimped out and drove both up and down. I must admit it was a bit creepy as it was steep! We did not stay in Dunedin but stayed out on the Otago Peninsula. We had the most incredible day ever when we were guided around the Peninsula with wildlife filmmaker Robert Brown. His knowledge of the animals and environment were amazing. He gave me some photography tips as well. Everyone really enjoyed the day and would say this was probably our favorite day in New Zealand. We saw the nesting boxes for the little blue penguins (they hunt in the day and come in at night). The peninsula also is home to yellow eyed penguins but they are solitary animals and harder to find as they to just come ashore at dusk. Robert took us all around to secluded areas where we came face to face with both male and female sea lions. One female sea lion even had a pup which we could see and even hear it nursing! It was so interesting to watch them. The male sea lions that we saw were teenager sea lions and really tried to "strut their stuff" by trying to keep the females out of the water so they would stay near them. One of the males charged us but we were told just to stand our ground and they would stop which is good because they have very sharp teeth. Many them had radio devices on them which will monitor their activity for 6 weeks. Why on earth scientists need to know how deep they dive is beyond me. The teenager male was constantly going after the females. They weren't being mean just simply bugging them. It reminded me of the way dogs play fight. The next stop was to go to the tip of the island, Taiaroa Head, to get a glimpse of the royal albatross. This is the only mainland breeding colony for any of the albatross species in the southern hemisphere. I really didn't know anything about them before going so learning that their wingspan was over 3 meters or 9 ft and that they can weigh over 20lbs was impressive! Imagine one of those hitting your windshield. Fortunately that will never happen as they are sea birds. Our guide told us to come back towards dusk when the winds picked up so we could see the birds soar to land. They looked enormous in the sky.
After our two nights in Dunedin we headed towards Mt. Cook. We stopped to see the the Moeraki Boulders. The kids had fun climbing on them. When we stayed in Franz Joseph we were only about 20 miles from the Mt. Cook village but due to the mountains you can only reach it from the east. Unfortunately the weather was rainy so we didn't even get to see Mt. Cook, but considering we had fantastic weather the rest of the trip I can't complain! After one night in the village of Mt. Cook we drove towards Christchurch. We stopped at the famous Church of the Good Shepard at Lake Tekapo. The drive to Christchurch was a much easier drive as we crossed the Canterbury Plains that is primarily farmland. I missed seeing the mountain scenery but this just confirmed our wonderful 2 week adventure was coming to an end. We headed the apartment and repacked luggage and headed for the airport the next morning for a long, long flight back to Chennai. The first thing I noticed when I got off the airplane was the lack of the wonderful crisp clean air of New Zealand!

Logan filling up his water bottl~with water

Pouring beer

Robert Brown showing us some sea weed

Little Blue Penquin boxes

A teenager male sea lion

A mama and her baby

He was yelling at me!

A Royal Albatross

The Moeraki Boulders

I was goofing off, the kids always do stuff like this when I am taking photos! Mason was trying to get a photo of the church and I couldn't resist!

Church of the Good Shepard

Lake Tekapo~don't you love the blue water?

Again, thanks for your patience with these entries and for all the photos. I took so many photos it was hard to decide which ones to post. I will be back to blogging about India next! I have some interesting photos I took last week!

And if anyone is interested in more photos you can click New Zealand for more photos

New Zealand - part 5

2009-04-23T11:51:00.019-05:00

Wanaka, Queenstown and Milford sound were our next stops in New Zealand. I hope you aren't growing tired of New Zealand but this is such an great way for me to document our trip. We had a fairly relaxing drive to Wanaka, not too long of a drive so we took some nice stops. One stop was at a beautiful waterfall that came crashing down into a river. We spent quite a but of time building rock towers. The kids took of their shoes and walked through the freezing water to get to the island. We enjoyed walking around Wanaka and going to Puzzling World we where explored an outdoor maze. We also toured Gibbston Valley winery and sampled some of their wines. We were able to see the wine cave where the wine turns into wine! We hiked to the top of Mt. Iron (elevation 549m) where we had beautiful view of the town, mountains and lakes. Stunning! Plus it was a good hike! The kids grew tired about 5 minutes from the top so we left them to build rock towers and went the rest of the way. The drive to Wanaka to Queenstown was great, we drove on the Crown Range Road which offered us spectacular views
We stayed in Queenstown for 3 days and the manager upgraded us to a three bedroom apartment. The kids were thrilled to be able to spread out. It was the nicest apartment yet! We enjoyed walking around the town. We rode the gondola up the mountain and then rode on the luge. The kids had a blast. We took a stroll by the harbor and the botanical gardens.
From Queenstown we left very early and made our way to Milford Sound to see the ever famous Mitres Peak. The drive was once again beautiful to Milford Sound. There were waterfalls, mirror lakes, grassy knolls and snow capped mountains. We drove through the Homer Tunnel which is at a fairly steep grade for 3/4 mile. It is one lane and there was a stop light to help the flow of traffic. Up to this point we had incredible weather but this day it was very overcast. I am thankful it didn't rain though! We then went to the dock to board our boat to do the Milford Sound tour. When checking in I asked if the boat was pretty full so they moved us to another boat with only about 2o other people versus 150 people! The boat also included a stop an an underwater conservatory where we could observe the marine life.

The Wine Cave

Lake Wanaka

View from Mt. Iron

Ready for the luge (Queenstown)

Lake Wakatipu~Queenstown

Queenstown Botanical Gardens~Logan helping Emily up the tree

Homer Tunnel-Milford Sound

Mitres Peak, Milford Sound

New Zealand- part 4

2009-04-22T22:27:00.008-05:00

Before planning this trip I had no idea that New Zealand had glaciers. Just another thing that makes New Zealand such incredible country. The two most famous glaciers are the Fox Glacier and the Franz Joseph Glacier. We arrived for our half day glacier hike at 8:45 am, well more like 8:55 am because we can never be anywhere on time! When we arrived they told us that Emily may not be tall enough to go on the hike. But after a manager came and spoke with us and Emily they decided to let her go. We were in the slow group which consisted of mostly folks in there 60's and 70's and our family. We had to get all the necessary equipment which consisted of boots, wool socks, a gortex jackets and our spikes for our boots. We boarded the bus and drove about 10 minutes to the park. It was probably a rough 40 minutes to the base of the glacier. We climbed up steep paths where there often streams of water flowing. Sometimes we hiked along the river bed where chunks of ice from the glacier could be found. Often there were waterfalls spouting of the rock faced mountains. It was just beautiful. The guide had Emily and Logan up front with him so he could help in difficult spots. They did better than I did! What a workout that day was. When we got to the base we were told we would only be hiking up about 1/4 of the way. Of course my first reaction was what a rip off but two hours later I changed my mind! At the base of the glacier we put on our spikes and got some lessons in walking and off we went. The first part was about 100 ice carved steps. They had a roped hooked in the ice for you to hold on to. There were some really steeps steps. We thought it would be cold but by this time the jackets and sweatshirts were tied around our waist, the sun was out and we were working hard. We hiked about 2 hrs the the "top" of where we were going. It was a beautiful view. The ice in some spots was the most beautiful shade of blue, it is hard to describe.

The trailMason and and ice chunk

Logan tightening the bolts that secure the rope

Emily and the waterfalls

A crevice in the glacier...love the blue color!

Franz Joseph Glacier

The base of the glacier

We were extremely exhausted after finishing up around 2pm. We head back to the Glenfern Villas and rested. The next day we began our drive to Wanaka. The drive of course had several major stops on the way. The first stop was just about 30 minutes from Franz Joseph to Lake Matheson. The lake is know for its calm water in the early morning hours where you can see the mountains reflection...an absolute mirror image! It was so beautiful. We walked around the lake which took about 1 hour. I think by this point every time the van pulled off the road the kids went into panic mode...how long of a walk this time was the question!

Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman

New Zealand- part 3

2009-04-19T06:28:00.018-05:00

We traveled from Nelson to Franz Joseph Glacier....a long day but it was fortunately filled with lots of beautiful stops. We drove past beautiful vineyards. Evidently the vines that are close to being ready to harvest are covered with netting to keep the birds out. We did see some grapes being harvested on the east coast but failed to get a photo of it. Our first stop was the Buller Gorge Swingbridge near Murchison where we walked across a suspension bridge. The river was very beautiful and the trails were fun to hike on. We saw a very old mining shaft. One interesting sight were twin waterfalls that are from the epicenter that produced the 1929 earthquake. The boys enjoyed riding the flying fox back across the gorge. We continued our drive toward the west coast. I was finally at the wheel, learning how to drive on the wrong side of the road (uhm..I mean the left side). I was driving along when suddenly the I was on a very curvy one lane road. I hit the brakes as I didn't remember seeing a sign for a one lane bridge. One lane bridges are extremely common and a bit scary when you can't exactly see what is around the corner. Well, I stopped and Ted woke from his sleep and helped me out. We saw a mirror up ahead that showed the rest of the curve and we fortunately made it to the other side! This section of the road I believe is called Hawks Crag. Another very interesting one way bridge we went on shared the bridge with trains. I am not sure how it works but they are certainly clever to create a one bridge for vehicles and train. We were constantly amazed at the excellent road work through out the entire island. They keep the roads in good shape and continually keeping the road markings current. We made a lunch stop at spot on the west coast. The kids had fun climbing on the rocks. Logan and I got our picture taken just a big wave headed towards us. We escaped without getting wet though. We enjoyed stretching our legs until the sandflies enjoyed biting us! Ouch, they are tiny little bugs worse than mozzies! The next stop was Punakaiki, know for the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. These limestone formed rocks have formed into what looks like thin pancakes. And depending on the tide the water flows into caverns and is forced up into geyser like blowholes! I was amazed at seeing the forceful nature of the water. When a large wave hit you could actually fill the earth move! There were other stops that we could have made but we still had several hours before reaching Franz Joseph Glacier so the rest of the family was glad that the wheels kept turning!

The beautiful vineyards south of Nelson

Logan playing at the Buller River

Twin waterfalls caused from the 1929 earthquake

The boys on the flying fox over the Buller River gorge

The mountain mist

A lunch break until the sandflies found us!

Logan and I about to get washed out to sea!

Can you see what they are showing??

Punakaiki National Park(Pancake Rocks and Blowholes)

Emily

Trains and vehicles share this bridge!

This one lane section (Hawks Crag) requires a leap of faith and a mirror

Near Greymouth

New Zealand- part 2

2009-04-14T05:15:00.006-05:00

In Blenheim we stayed at a lovely 2 bedroom apartment called Brydon on Rose. We enjoyed staying here, they had a trampoline for the kids to play while we sat out and grilled beef under the brilliant star filled sky! The weather was crisp and cool, it was their fall time and was fabulous! The next day we headed north to Picton where we took a scenic (AKA-very curvy) road towards Nelson. Picton is a lovely waterfront town that connects the North Island to the South Island via the ferry. It seems to be a pretty lively little town. We enjoyed the harbor views of the Queen Charlotte Sound, one of the four sounds that makes up the Marlborough Sounds which is what the top of the South Island is consisted of. Due to the tropical vegetation is looked like what I would expect an island in the South Pacific to look like. We managed to find a great trail that walked along the Sound. We took our time driving to Nelson. I really got good at finding anything remotely scenic to look at! I had 3 things within reach the whole trip: camera, map and travel book!

Ted wished he was flying this seaplane!

A busy shipping port (lots of timber ready to head out)

A nice tramp through the forest

Mason checking out the clear water!

Logan

Nelson was a really nice town as well. We stayed at the Moorings which was an awesome apartment! It was located on the mudflats. That was a really interesting site. I guess the mudflats rely on tidal water because there were actually boats tied up in the mud. Nelson also had beautiful beaches and a very nice playground where the kids had fun burning off some energy. Believe me, they had plenty after being in the car all day long!

The mudflats

Emily on top of the whale

New Zealand - part 1

2009-04-10T22:07:00.014-05:00

After arriving in Christchurch we had most of the day to explore the city. It really is a lovely city, so clean and green, such a contrast to Chennai. The Avon River runs through the city and the kids had fun feeding the ducks that flocked the banks. We strolled through the most beautiful botanical gardens. I have never before seen such enormous tress. And there was a fantastic rose garden filled with tons of rose bushes. Even the boys enjoyed smelling the roses.

We then headed north to Blenheim but enjoyed making several stops along the way. It was so refreshing to be out driving ourselves and seeing very little traffic! We made a wonderful stop in Kaikoura which is well know for its whale watching and dolphin swimming. We had considered doing one of these but considering the water temperature and the large waves that are quite common we decided against them. We did meet a couple who did the whale watch and said it was a waste of money so that may us feel better for our decision. We hiked on trails around the bay at Kaikoura and saw a fur seal colony. The sky was such a brilliant blue and the water was so clear. We thought we would only hike for around 30 minutes but it turned into about a 2 1/2 hours hike. On the way back Emily decided to hike to the top of one the hills as she had forgotten her camera as she said the view was beautiful. So I decided to hike it with her. When we got the top, I trailed behind abit she announced that I probably shouldn't have followed her, I was getting kind of old to be doing that!

Our family on top of Seal Point, Kaikoura

Hiking the hill

Climbing the fence

Mason, Ted and Logan

Look at the cows on the hill, hope they are afraid of heights

Some winding roads!

Home safely

2009-04-09T05:37:00.002-05:00

We arrived in the wee hours this morning. Ted and I were very tired but the kids were running around the house like hummingbirds. I suspect tonight they will drop like flies! The journey was long, over 18 hours of airplane time and several hours of airport lounge time. I have definitely decided that traveling is wonderful, it is just the getting there that is no fun. Ted is busy catching up on work and preparing to fly to the US in a few days. I have been joking that his body clock won't have any idea what time zone to be on. So in a few days when the house is quiet I will work on posting about our New Zealand trip. Ted and the kids were so patient with me as I photographed New Zealand. It was truly an incredible adventure! So check back in a few days and I will hopefully have some more photos posted!

The Land of the Kiwi

2009-03-27T05:25:00.004-05:00

Just a quick post to let you know we are safely in New Zealand. It almost seems like a dream. The beauty of this nation is unbelievable to the eyes. Such a beautiful world we live it! We spent one day in Christchurch, one in Blenheim and today we are in Nelson. We are touring the country counter clockwise...wish we would have gone clockwise so the site seeing areas were more accessible. We are managing driving on the left...no scrapes, we hope to keep it that way. I even drove yesterday along the coastline. Tomorrow we are heading down to Franz Joseph Glacier...a long drive so this post will end now as I need to get some rest! Enjoy a few photos of the journey from Christchurch to Nelson.

Our next adventure

2009-03-23T11:54:00.003-05:00

Tonight we are flying out to the South Island of New Zealand. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined I would set foot there, but it seems I will! Visiting Australia was such an incredible experience I can't imagine how New Zealand could be better. It is a long journey, one I am not looking forward too! It is about 5 hours to Hong Kong, then a 3+ hour layover then an 11 hour flight hour flight to Auckland and finally 1.5 hour flight to Christchurch. Sounds fun doesn't it? It is interesting though when I am excited about spending the 3 hours in the Hong Kong airport as it will be clean with nice western shops and food! We land in Christchurch in the morning and will pick up our rental van and stay the night before our tour of the South Island. You can pray for safety as we drive on the left side of the road! I hope to be able to post some photos to the blog while there so stayed tuned! I am anxious to try out my new wide angle lens Ted gave me for my birthday! So off to the land of the Kiwi!