Hoi An, Vietnam

The Hoi An Photo Tour run by Etienne has made it to No 2 for activities in Hoi An in Trip Advisor. This tour was a highlight of my week in Hoi An back in November. Etienne really helped me to understand a little about using the camera I bought in Hong Kong - a Canon Powershot S95 (read review here).

I thought I'd post a few of the pictures I took that morning. The full album can be viewed on Picasa here. 

Feijoa glut

Feijoas were a treat from the supermarket when I lived in Dunedin. So it is bliss to have a tree in the front garden. High winds this week and they have all fallen to the ground - what to do? Well, feijoa sauce for a start. Next I'm going to try this recipe for Gorgeous feijoa almond cake. The neigbours have just dropped off a bag of limes, so watch this space.

The coop arrives at Cooper Ave

So, hello possums! Here is the chicken house, future home of Edna and Madge. And here too is Little Coop, alias Eva, riding her bike along to the playgound by the lake.

I bought the netting and the wheels and the rest of the coop is from bits that Tom had lying around. Right, Tom made it. I have to say my workshop (the garage) is not up to jobs like this - not to mention my skills.

Now I'm on the look out for a couple of laying hens, and I guess a few tools for the job, like bales of straw, gumboots and a shovel. And a basket for collecting the eggs of course - talk about jumping ahead, eh.

Two jumpers

Finally finished off the purple sweater that had been lurking around over a couple of winters. I had to incorporate a different colour to finish it off, having run out of the purple. I used a denim blue which is pretty inconspicuous.

The other one I call my Dixie Jumper, as it was knitted whiling away time in scenic spots in the campervan. While knitting this one I listened to a couple of audiobooks -- Murukami's Kafka By the Shore, and Aravind's White Tiger. So the colours kind of evoke those stories, which is nice too.

Being tourists

Took the kids, Matt and Natalia, to Waitomo for the day. We did the Spellbound tour, which included a boat trip 250 metres into a cave that was lit by millions of glowworms. Which, it turns out, are actually glow maggots. Then I snoozed in the car while they went black water rafting with Rap, Raft'n'Rock. From 8 in the morning when we left Rotorua, to 10 at night when we got home, it didn't stop raining. I guess a good day to be underground.

Camel trip, Rajasthan

I just have to post some images from our camel trek in India. I wasn't all that excited by the idea of riding a camel when I was booking the Rajasthan tour, but it turned out to be a bit of a highlight.

Geographically at this point we were less than 200 km from the Pakastani border - felt like the depths of nowhere. We traveled to the desert hotel by jeep from Jaisalmer, our mini-bus having broken down just as we left the town. The Intrepid tour leader, Uttam, had 3 jeeps organised in a flash, and the bus was at the hotel waiting for us the next morning.

It was cool, this being November. Looking at these photos again reminds of the sounds - just the wind and a distant noise of children and goats, drifting across from the camel-keepers' camp.

There were 13 of us on the 15-day Intrepid trip. Here is the mandatory group picture - probably the only one we took. I love that golden light.

Kawhia Kai Festival

Some photos from the weekend of the Kai Festival in Kawhia. It was misty all weekend, a thick sea fog. Didn't stop the kids from swimming and playing on the black sand beach which is right in the middle of the little town.