The night the hen refused to lay an egg

We will be arriving in the UK soon. We have had a lovely time in Bali staying with a family in central Bali, learning more about life in a village there. Our last day was special, because it was my birthday. Our hosts surprised me with a ceremony usually performed for such occasions in an intimate family setting, involving blessings, flowers and incense, and special foods and home made decorations.

We then traveled to the island of Nusa Lembongan where Sophia and Benjamin and I surfed for a whole week. We celebrated Benjamin's birthday there. This time together provided a very good space to reflect on our year so far. Surfing is a good metaphor for what we tried to achieve by taking Sophia, Benjamin and Helena on our adventure around the world this year. The waves are out there, you may get a push every now and then to help you; but ultimately you have to catch them and ride them, as best as you can. And then you have to paddle back to where the waves break to do it all again, because it is such a cool thing to do.

We are now less than one week away from going back to the UK. When we were in New Zealand we decided we wanted to visit the Buddhist monument of Borobudur in Java, as our last travel destination prior to coming home. The people of Java are predominantly Muslim and we arrived yesterday on the last day of Ramadan, which finishes with a huge party and holiday. Last night at 6 o clock, the small town of Borobudur and surrounding villages erupted with sounds of joy and fireworks. Everyone was out on the street. The mosques all through the valley were full with people celebrating and singing. The minarets exclaimed. All night long, from all corners, the sky was filled with the chanting of GOD IS GREAT. We didn't have much sleep, but who needs sleep when contemplating this eternal truth. Our host's chicken, terrified by the night's ordeal, refused to lay an egg that morning.

This morning we climbed up the Borobudur temple. Walking around its various levels which symbolise our earthly lives, and our struggles, we finally reached the top level which symbolises heaven. We walked around the central stupa, the symbolic boundary between heaven and earth. We were surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, which last erupted in 2010. The fields and valleys below were still misty, the sky was blue. The fireworks and minaret calls continued to exclaim GOD IS GREAT. Filled with such divine abundance, we are now ready and inspired to go home again after such an amazing year.

Komodo

And so we travelled from the top of the world in Rakaia to the tropical seas of Indonesia. We have spent the last 8 days in the Komodo region of the island of Flores. We stayed on a liveaboard initially, sleeping below deck by night. We went diving and the children went snorkelling, mostly at the same sites. The seas were quite choppy at times, but this didnt stop us enjoying it. Most mornings we would wake finding Benjamin and Helena at the front of the boat enjoying the roller coaster ride provided by the swell. Helena amazed the crew by her enthusiasm for the big waves, shouting with joy on the dingey rides with big waves. Sophia had her first discover scuba dive for a whole hour and managed to see three turtles and two cuttle fish. The children loved the fish books on board of the boat and were keen fish ID enthusiasts, spotting new fish species or juveniles on every snorkel.

The scenery in Komodo National Park is breathtaking as is the wild life. We have spotted sharks and turtles on just about every dive, and even got to swim with 8 manta rays! One day we went on land to spot the famous Komodo dragons; they are big!

After this we stayed on an island in a bamboo hut and swam with baby black tip reef sharks in the mangrove forests and shallow beaches every day.

Farewell Rakaia

We have left Rakaia with fond memories. We had a lovely farewell meal with Olwyn and Alan, and went for a final day skiing. Sophia, Benjamin and Helena have developed into capable skiers throwing themselves of blue/black slopes with no hesitation and full control. We are very proud of them!

I leave behind a great team of colleagues at the Medical Centre. The children leave behind new friends at the Rakaia School which they attended whilst we lived here.

Our time in Rakaia inspired us to come up with the following - clearly there'll be some adjusting to do when we get back to Cambridge!

Simply Delicious Apple Cake

This cake is the only cake I can bake, so it is fool proof, and delicious. It is a success in Cambridge, was a success in Golden Bay and is taking Rakaia by storm with requests for the recipe! It was originally passed on to us by our friend Lucy, so thank you Lucy   :)

Ingredients:
150 gr butter
2 large eggs
225 gr castor sugar
1/2 to 1 tea spoon vanilla extract
190 gr self raising flour, 35 ground almonds (the more ground almonds the better, reduce flour accordingly)
1.5 level teaspoons baking powder
about 3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
icing sugar for dusting

Instructions:
1. Heat the oven to 190C
2. Grease a 10inch/25cm loose bottomed cake tin
3. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat until just runny and pour into a large bowl
4. Add the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract and beat until well mixed
5. Mix together the flour, ground almonds and baking powder and sieve this into the mixture, and fold it in.
6. Put about half to 2/3 of the mixture in the cake tin.
7. Add the apple slices and arrange roughly on top
8. Spread the remaining mixture on top of the apples - it is always difficult to get this last bit of mixture smooth but don't worry as the blobs even out during cooking
9. Bake for about 45minutes, until the apple is tender when prodded with a knife or skewer.
10. Remove the cake from the tin, turn it upside down to cool on a rack
11. Dust with icing sugar and serve either when still warm or when cooled. This will keep well in the fridge for a few days.

Our current motto for our last week in New Zealand

Nature

Everywhere (well, almost everywhere) we go in New Zealand, we get the feeling you are in a Nature Reserve.

We stood under a tree enjoying wonderful sounds this Sunday, just a walk, by the river.

Spirals

Rakaia impressions

Some Rakaia pictures. We are loving our time in Rakaia, really because everybody is so friendly. Sophia Benjamin and Helena have really enjoyed going to school here. My colleagues at work are great. And in the weekends we go skiing (if there is no antarctic storm).

I was given this teddy bear. It is totally hand made, by a lady who is a local celebrity. She makes them out of birds eggs, of all sizes. When you open the arms, the egg opens and a kiwi bird is revealed. We will treasure this when we get home.

This is the view from the medical centre looking to the mountains - our play ground. This is a view typical of the Canterbury Plains - the mountains are totally covered in snow from top to bottom and stand out beautifully against the sky. 

Bone Carving in Golden Bay

In Golden Bay we were very fortunate to get to know Chris Bone, the bone carver. He has inspired several generations of current carving artists in New Zealand. We too were inspired by his lessons. We all had several sessions. You can see the beautiful pendants we made using bone and paua shell. We are planning to develop this hobby when we are back in Cambridge. The one in close up below was made by Sophia.

All of us in Chris' work shop

and then we went fishing

Just another day in Golden Bay. I had the morning off so took Benjamin and Helena to our local beach at Onekaka. The river mouth was full of schools of small whitebait type fish being chased by big kawahais. The chasing happened at the waters edge, right at our feet.

Within minutes Helena had hooked a big fish. It took Benjamin 20 minutes to land it as they are very strong and dont tire easily. I killed it, Jo cooked it and we all ate it.

This is the beach where we were fishing, looking out to sea, with the old iron works warf posts . It is impossible to think that one hundred or so years ago, this was a very busy warf with big ships off loading iron slacks. Quite different now, and often we were the only ones on the beach.

Christmas in June and Goofy Boarding

During our first weekend in Rakaia we went to Dunedin to meet up with AnneMarie, an old colleague and friend of mine. We stayed with her and her family and we celebrated Christmas in June, complete with dinner, carols and holly! It was lovely to catch up, meet their friends and play articulate. The children had great fun with Rusty the dog.

The next day we walked on the Otago peninsula and saw massive sealions, just lying on the beach, looking big, strong and formidable. Some were play fighting, some were surfing in the waves. We were reminded that the beach really is their playground, not ours. The beach was covered in yellow eyed penguin foot prints - we didnt see any of these penguins on this occasion. On our way back to Rakaia we huddled together outside in the cold and saw 100 little blue penguins come ashore in Oamaru after their day feeding at sea. They come ashore in groups and waddle together up the rocky coast and run the last bit to their nests. Hilarious to watch. The waves are massive, the penguins are very small, and they somehow survive each night and keep going back for more.

This weekend we went skiing at Mount Hutt, just a short drive away. Skiing kiwi style means you have to put on snow chains to be able to drive half an hour up the mountain on a narrow mud road to the ski field. Sophia Benjamin and Helena had lessons both days and on Sunday they went down the green slopes with us. I had snow boarding lessons which was BRILLIANT, the nearest I have got to flying yet. I found out I am a goofy rider, which means I board with my right foot forward (apparently most people ride with their left foot forward). Goofy or not, we are going back for more the coming weekend, and the one after that and the one after that - we are loving Rakaia.

Welcome Rakaia Style

We have arrived in Rakaia - home of the Salmon in New Zealand. We arrived in the dark on a cold rainy day but the log burner in our house had been lit for our arrival and we were warmed by the welcome treats left for us by members of the Rakaia Women's Institute.

We have internet access from home again, so we will be looking back and posting about some of our experiences in New Zealand. We have just said farewell to Golden Bay, a place very special to us.

New Zealand - Ter land, ter zee, en in de lucht (on land, in the sea,and in the air)

We are quickly making New Zealand our new adopted home. We have a house and a car. I started work a week ago in Tokoroa, and because the NZ health care system is based largely on the UK system,  work is  similar to that back home. Jo and the children have started home schooling in earnest this week; not quite like life back home but very stimulating.

The title of this post is named a famous Dutch amusement programme, because it feels we are creating our own show here for ourselves in NZ.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_land,_ter_zee_en_in_de_lucht


We have been surfing in Raglan.

And jumping off sand dunes

We have climbed volcanoes in Tongariro National Park (and are living on one in Rotorua!)








We jumped into the Wellington Harbour from a scarily high platform.

We are mountain biking daily in the famous Red Wood forests of Rotorua where we are living.

New Zealand is very beautiful and we are very lucky to be able to enjoy the great outdoors so much - we're off camping on the beach this weekend!

Christmas in Thailand

This year we had a Christmas we will never forget. We spent the time on two tropical islands in the Andaman Sea. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we spent on Ko Rok. We shared the beautiful island with a handful of others and quite a lot more monitor lizards and monkeys.

'our' beautiful island, with 'our' boat in the bay

Benjamin jumping off 'our' boat. Sophia is in the water, Helena is climbing the stairs out of the water.

our neighbour - a one and a half metre long monitor lizard

Father Christmas managed to find us even there.

We spent the days snorkeling around the beautiful reefs. On Christmas eve whilst snorkeling we were very lucky and saw 4 black tipped reef sharks swimming around a lime stone rock (see below) in the middle of the sea.