Quiet and relaxed...

...for now!

View from our room

...for 3 pounds a night...

Any more pens?

"No, but I'll try and help you with your school work"

Moped speedsters....

The fort at Diu

The fort at Diu proved to be a lot larger and more interesting than we anticipated. We were quietly sitting on top of one turret when a number of men and kids came up to smoke a splif next to us. The women told the men that they had to send the kids down before they smoked, and the men insisted that I take a photo of Michelle and the women and kids, although some of the women weren't so keen!

Wells

There are these flash wells that we went to look at in Ahmedabad. The wells weren't that flash but we met lots of people...the two guys guided us around the first well and the kids in the photos helped us to get to the second one...after they'd finished asking for photos!

Ahmedabad

Managed to get the memory card to read so here's a few pics....

1. The view from the Nehru bridge in Ahmedabad.

2. One of our meals...I believe this is called a thali? It's all veggie and intended to be perfectly balanced in terms of nutrients. We had to watch those around us to have any idea what to eat with what etc!

3. Animals are to be found everwhere including commonly on roads and around fresh food markets.

Diu

Pictureless again (I'll put some up asap), but Diu has been a bit of a revalation in terms of the peace and quiet. Compared to everywhere else we've been so far it's almost silent, with cheap beer, cheap food and cheap rooms to stay in.

The bus journey here was quite funny - either the roads were bumpy or the bus was lacking any suspension - we both took off a few times when we hit bumps! But we managed to get a bit of sleep and arrived here at 8 in the morning. We've looked around the huge fort on the end of the island and we've even got over our moped issues from Bali. We hired one yesterday and managed to get all around the island, although I wouldn't say that I was entirely comfortable when negotiating the narrow streets (I drove)...the main problem being that you can't second guess what movements a cow or a goat will make, so together with other traffic it can be quite tricky.

We made it around the island without incident seeing the various beaches and a small fishing town where we gave one school kid a pen and he came back with more kids to get some more! They wouldn't believe that we didn't have more pens in our bags!

All being well we're moving again tomorrow...can't remember the place but Michelle has it all under contol and I know that the bus leaves at 6am...

Assault on the senses

The Lonely Planet describes India as an assault on the senses and so it has proved so far. We were a little niaive (if that's how you spell it) as we got a 2nd class train ticket to Ahmedabad - how bad could it be? Hmm, by the end of the journey we knew many people well and they were all really friendly, but getting 19 in to a space the size of one section of an underground train is a little much for that time...and the constant procession of people coming up and down the aisle selling things or begging meant that smiling politely to say no became tricky. There were also what looked like men in women's clothes who clapped their hands and expected money...Michelle tells me that they have their bits chopped off at birth and locals think it's lucky to give them money...I don't know about them but I just wanted them out of my face pronto!

That all sounds bad doesn't it? But the people we've met have been great...today we got a bit lost looking for an ornate well and loads of kids helped us out...they kept asking us to take photos of them and they got really excited when they saw their pics on the digital camera screen. Then two of them took us through a sort of "posh slum" if there is such a thing, where we passed loads of people's "houses". A woman there asked Michelle to take a pic of her and her baby...it was really nice but she was in danger of getting mobbed as the number of people grew and grew so I had to call her away!

Yesterday we went to a Ghandi museum and everyone stared as they don't see white folk much. The bravest person came and asked where we were from and when Michelle answered "England" their murmurs rippled through all the people surrounding us like an echo! Then all the kids came up and shook our hand!

Tonight we're off to the Diu for some beach action (on the sleeper bus). I don't think there will be much sleeping though as there will be the constant noise of car horns...we haven't managed to get hold of ear plugs yet and it appears they are essential...although I can already hear car horns in my sleep! Also haven't managed to get hold of a pair of flipflops which I need - every shop I go in gets out their biggest pair and it's a 10 - as I'm a size 11 I don't think I'll be able to get any in India!

I'll try and put a few pics up next time - it's not possible here...

Cricket

Yes, sorry, a brief comment. Great to see the Aussies lose again. I don't mind most of their team but their coach Buchanan really annoys me - is it possible that all their success is in spite of him, not because of him? He claimed that England and New Zealand weren't giving Australia enough practise under pressure situations as we were losing too easily half way through the tri-series, so I just hope he has the good grace to thank us for helping if the Aussies go on to win the World Cup.

Language barrier...

We thought life was very easy in Mumbai as everyone speeks English, near enough, so we didn't bother to check that the film at the cinema was in English - the poster outside was and the title was so that was good enough for us. We had to leave after 5 minutes as it wasn't in English! That'll teach is for trying to learn about where we are...the film was about the Bombay bombings in the early 90s....

We're off to Ahmedabad tomorrow by train. Fingers crossed that the journey is a little easier than buying the ticket...you would have thought we were applying to enter Buckingham Palace with explosives, the amount of effort it took to get train tickets. Why they needed our passport numbers, address here, address in the UK, date of birth, sex, receipt from the ATM machine to show our cash was bona fide, etc just to give us some train tickets I'm not quite sure. The woman behind the counter didn't have change so off she went to get some and came back 10 minutes later with a cup of tea - a slightly different perception of customer service than in the UK! The train journey is a mere 8 hours...so all being well the the next post will be from Ahmedabad...

Settle a debate...

Is Michelle's hair going ginge again? I think it is...

She is claiming it isn't having only dyed it a week ago....

Tendulkar's

I dragged Michelle down for a drink at Tendulkar's - he has his own bar and restaurant. Cricket is played on every street corner, in every park, and is being talked about on TV all the time....for example, did you know that Monty Panesar has the largest hands in world cricket? That was headline news here...

I thought Tendulkar would be the main man here bit the main guy getting the headlines here is a guy called "Big B" - a Bollywood actor...he is starring in the movie just released, he stars in at least 2 adverts per advert break, and there are lots of rumours that he's going to run for PM! He is bigger here than Beckham, J-Lo, Tom Cruise etc etc it seems...

Mumbai

A bit of Mumbai architecture for you....

We went to Elephanta Island today but this connection is slow so I can't be bothered to wait around for pics to upload. If you feel the need to know what the caves and temples there looked like, just look back at pics on this blog from our time looking round temples in Thailand...it all looked much the same!

Indian humour...

This road sign is clearly an attempt at humour. The main thing we've noticed about India so far, more than anything else, is that they absolutely love their car horn. If the person in front slows down, beep your horn. If you're bored of waiting for the lights to change, beep your horn. If there is a lot of traffic on the road in your way, simply drive as you would if there was no-one else on the road, keeping your hand on the horn at all times.

Perhaps one day someone will explain to the locals that constantly pressing the horn makes the thing completely useless...everyone - drivers, cyclists and pedestrians - ignore it as the incessant sound of car horns is a constant...

And the other humourous thing is the taxi meter thing on the taxis here (also in the photo). No one thought that prices might go up when the taxis had meters put on...now there is a booklet that tells you how many times more than the meter you need to pay given that there has been a fair bit of inflation since the meters began. Currently all prices must be multiplied by 13! We've tried to avoid this by simply getting the bus - at 5 pence per trip it's a bit of a bargain...

Gateway to India

Apart from the first night we've stayed in Colaba, the touristy part of Mumbai. Lots of ex-colonial buildings etc which are interesting to see. This arch is the Gateway to India and the posh looking building next to it is the Taj Mahal Hotel - the grandest hotel around here...we pushed the boat out and went for dinner there last night (with me in shorts!) - total cost was the same as as pub meal in the UK. Sadly, the hotel hit the headlines on our first day here as an American air stewardess committed suicide there.

Off to India...

...tomorrow morning very early so the next post will be from there.

Feel free to comment - loads of people are emailing us saying that they are reading the blog and liking it, but very few comment...don't be scared!

Dead ducks...almost

Michelle had to get some water for these ducks quickly after feeding them outside our cabin, as the dryish bread was clearly sticking in their throats as they tried to swallow it...fortunately a disaster was averted. The pets that Michelle now wants in our dream home (many years away she reassures me) are a dog, some ducks, a sheep and 2 donkeys (as they don't like to be alone apparently)....sounds more like a farm than a home to me!

Not so super 14

We went and watched the Canterbury Crusaders v Queensland Reds on Saturday - met a nice guy called Chris who was a work colleague of Pies' who had got us free tickets. The actual game was a bit of a let down - loads of missed tackles which only backs up what is occassionally said about super 14 - that it's non-contact. But then some of the Saracens games I've seen at Vicarage Road have been far worse...

Even with no All Blacks playing the Crusaders still won, which was more about how bad the Reds were than how good the Crusaders were. The press have been going on about Brett - the Crusaders number 10 in Dan Carter's absence as "the new Dan Carter" - clearly they are as prone to hype and exaggeration as in the UK.

Washed away...nearly

Random incident...we were watching the waves lap against the coast at some "flats" near Christchurch on our way to Akaroa, about 5 metres away from the highest point the waves had come to. Michelle casually pointed out a big wave coming towards the shore and we laughed at this couple who were far too far out and were clearly going to get wet. We soon stopped laughing when the wave came a good 20 metres higher than all the others had! The poor couple simply held on to each other as the water reached knee height on them...I remained dry using my speed from the rugby field to leg it up the beach (that is a joke for those that don't know as I am extremely slow on the rugby pitch), but Michelle was even slower and got wet up to her ankles.

I got a bit of grief for leaving her behind to get wet, but which is better - two of us wet or one?! Michelle has since been referring to it as a bit of a near death experience!

We stopped to see these round boulder things by the sea at one point...somehow they remained when the cliffs eroded - I don't think anyone knows why...

Photography

As you may have noticed from a few of the shots on the blog, I've enjoyed playing around with the digital camera, safe in the knowledge that I can delete if the shots are rubbish, which they frequently are. Michelle tells me that my camera has become like my mobile phone was in the UK - always by my side! So I've certainly taken more than my fair share of photos, and so has Michelle (who is much more of an expert as she's done courses and everything!). But we're constantly amazed by the behaviour of otherwise sane looking individuals who think they are some kind of professional photographer....there seem to be a few groups...

1. The undercover agent - this type of photographer is a little embarrased to be taking pictures and keeps his camera hidden as much as possible, wipping it out to take a quick snap like a flasher in a kids playground, and putting it away just as quickly.

2. The attention seeker - this person (male without exception in my experience) has a really big camera ready to do paparazzi shots from miles away. They also carry a large tripod at all times, even when completely unecessary. They are very proud of their camera and often announce "don't mind me" as they clobber people around the head with a trailing leg of their tripod.

3. The abstract photographer - often seen taking pictures looking in the other direction as the rest of the group. Or, for example, taking pictures of the plant life when at the glaciers, as we saw.

4. The pro - not ostentatious in anyway but clearly serious about their photography. Any sign of a smile while using the camera is blasphemy as photography is a serious business. Spraggy would fall into this camp for example...

5. They gymnast - they want to get the best picture possible, even if it means contorting their bodies into any position or even standing on their head to do so. We've seen people run and slide into position on their backs to look up and take a photo!

6. The partner's worst nightmare - ok, so I could be accused of this. This type of photographer wants to get their partner in the foreground in front of every site there is. Of course , when the photos are seen there is no concealing the look of "**** off" in the eyes of the partner, as Spraggy pointed out to me in some of the photos of Michelle on this blog. I would like to point out that there have been people far worse than me at this while we've been away!

7. The model's assistant - this is the photographer who doesn't say a word or have thoughts of their own - they simply do as they are told, by the person they are photographing. At the botanical gardens in Bali we saw a woman nearly fall in to the lake she was so busy issuing instructions and pulling her top down and her skirt up to get that shot for her modelling file (we assumed!)

8. The loud mouth - the (generally female) photographer who shouts "take one from there" and "come here - that's the perfect back drop" etc very loudly so that the people she is with are very embarrassed.

9. The sex substitute - these photographers say things like "oh yes" and "that's it" with increasing enthusiasm as their "models" pose for them, taking several shots of the same scene, so that anyone who can't see what's going on but can hear thinks they've stumbled across the filming of a porn movie.

One of the many falls...

We've seen so many waterfalls that I've forgotten the name of this one! Apparently it is New Zealand's most photographed waterfall though....

Normal?

Animal hydes on the side of the road isn't normal, right???

Penguins!

Unfortunately we didn't have really high magnification cameras on us so that we could zoom in, so once again you'll have to take our word for this! If you can zoom in on the image you'll see some cute little penguins coming in from the sea to feed their young at Nugget Point. This particularly variety was the yellow eyed penguin and apparently there are only 3000 breeding penguins of this type in the world.

I think it would be fair to say that neither Michelle or I are ever going to make bird watchers, but the sight of these penguins coming ashore and making their way up the bank was really something....we even went back for a second look the next evening. I think Michelle regretted that though as there was a gale blowing through the hide we were in and it was freezing!

Agricultural

We really enjoyed the south coast of the south island - it really was very deserted though...even by Kiwi standards. Most of the roads became gravel paths and we had the odd encounter with wildlife again - this one involving huge numbers of sheep! We had heard before we came here that there were more sheep in New Zealand than people - this became evident down the bottom of the south island...

They also have herds of deer kept in fields like cows or sheep which isn't something I've ever seen in England.

Milford Sound

We had an early start one day to get to Milford Sound for our boat trip around the fyord (if that's how you spell it) - we didn't realise when we booked it that the only place that was really ok to stay nearby was 2 hours drive away! But we made it and it was a great couple of hours going around in the boat....it's difficult to get across the height of the scenery all around - you'll just have to take our word for it.

At one waterfall we closed in on, the captain told us there might be a little bit of spray, we thought we could handle that... It turned out to be a full on shower which had us and several others diving for cover!

Being friendly...

The question is, when do you say hello to people passing you? Obviously you don't say hello to everyone that walks past you on Oxford Steet - that would be impossible - and yet when you walk around the tourist attractions in NZ, we all say hello to each other as we pass at the relatively quiet spots. But when it gets "busy" (in NZ that means seeing half a dozen people in an hour), we go back to not saying hello. So the question is, how many people have to be around for a hello to be the right thing (as opposed to over-friendliness that seems out of place)? We've got it wrong a few times....

Michelle also promised to say "howdi" to the next group that passed because we were getting bored of "hi", "hi there" and "hello" (there are only so many ways to say hello!) but she bottled it when it came to it!

Selective memory

Here's an example of selective memory that I mentioned - these shops are all over NZ. I've since talked to a Kiwi who tells me that the shop is called "Champions of the World" but it seems pretty obvious that they are claiming to be world champions to me!