Famille Summerbelle

Reefton

It was like driving through a one road town in a spaghetti Western.

Another busy day...

...looking for pebbles on the beach on the East Coast.

The most beautiful place on Earth

It is isn't it? We haven't been everywhere yet, and perhaps we haven't even been to enough places to be so bold, but I find it difficult to believe that there may be a more beautiful place than New Zealand.

Don't get me wrong, everywhere you go you'll find something or some place beautiful - and many places perhaps benefit more diversity (we'd say France for one!). But it is the endless awe inspiring beauty of New Zealand that makes it so distinctly special. Every hill or bend (in our beautiful Sunrise Holidays Motorhome) shows you something as spectacular as you have just left. We're getting complacent with the photography - it is difficult to justify to Ophelia the 'every 5 minute' stopping.

Here's a selection - believe me, there are a hundred for every one of these!
These includes shots from Wanaka, Cardrona, Queenstown and the truly unbelievable Milford Sound (thanks especially to Mitre Peak whose boat tour was fantastic).

Happy in the South Island

When we sat down for dinner this evening, we talked about how lucky we have been with our journey. It seems as though each country offers us a new perspective, something very different and it seems always at the right moment.

Truth is we scarcely planned this trip. What with house moving, making sure all was fine with Famille Summerbelle whilst away and general family chaos, we just started with Japan, looked at where the plane went afterwards and made a few quick yes/no choices and here we are. I think sometimes things work best when you just turn up.

New Zealand is drop jaw beautiful. Perhaps the most striking thing for me is that it is so beautiful and so marvelously untouched. You travel for hours and hours through perfectly inhabitable countryside, yet see no one. As we sat eating dinner - atop a mountain overlooking Queenstown - we could see vast luscious green mountains without a single hut or man made object. It's like a big secret.

New Zealand: Now that's what you call a welcome!

Well, it is my brother - and the artwork is the talent of the younger members of the family, Abbie and Morghan. Thanks girls!

Not just that but we were given some lovely cookies and some warm clothes (!) for our journey around the fresher parts of the South Island.

Occasionally, we get to use our blog for a shameless plug - so this one's for the family. Any time you are in New Zealand you've got to come stay in this place: the Blenheim Palms Motel. Best hospitality, finest weather and wine in New Zealand. I'm sure you'll get a very small discount if you mention Famille Summerbelle ;-)

Goodbye Oz

We had a ball. Everyone so friendly, the scenery was stunning and life by the beach suited us just fine.

And we saw those Kangaroos.

Thanks especially to Simon and Bernie who gave us the finest barbecue steak we've ever had.

Melbourne

We've arrived in Melbourne after 8 days of camping, beaches, barbeques, whales, kangaroos and roadkill wombats (still haven't seen a live one sadly...).

We have our own private loo. Heaven!

Melbourne has a distinctly different air about it. Perhaps a little more cosmopolitan and certainly it feels a little more 'used' than the rest of Australia. Which we find all really rather nice.

The weather is not so grand but unlike Sydney, it feels that there is still plenty to enjoy when the sun doesn't shine.

Our Australian odyssey ends on Wednesday as we move on to New Zealand. I'll be honest, Australia was supposed to be my least favourite destination of our trip and I can say safely that my head has been turned, it is a wondrous country with so much energy and so much beauty.

It's nice to be wrong sometimes.

Kangaroos!

Ophelia was very excited today. After 4 days of driving down the coast we have finally seen these lovely creatures. We are staying in Pambula, on the Sapphire coast, camping on the beach side. The kangaroos run freely around us eating the grass and coming close to the camping-car. They are very friendly and seeing 'le petit bebe dedans' as Ophelia says talking about the little Joey was very special. We also went for a walk on the beach and saw a whale jumping out of the water. It's the whales migrating season at the moment and you get to see lots of them around this area.

Sydney to Melbourne

It's a lot easier to understand Australia when the sun shines.

It is such a beautiful country, with an awesome coastline which really comes alive in the nice weather. Over the weekend it was great to watch the families who had taken the two or three days to camp, surf, swim and eat delicious camp barbeques.

It's so different to our life in London - and that is why we are so happy to be taking this trip.

The coastal road (Princes Highway) is a lovely amble down towards Melbourne, punctuated by luscious national parks and long sweeping beaches. It is difficult to know where to stop because the choice is endless.

We have one complaint. We haven't seen a kangaroo. We made the mistake of telling Ophelia about Kangaroos and we haven't seen one. The tension is building - we have been told of many beaches where kangaroos just hang around between the bush and beach. But we haven't seen them.....I guess it will make it all the more special when we do....if we do!

Sydney with sunshine

is heaven! After 4 days of rain and cold weather we really enjoyed some sun for a lovely walk from the famous Bondi Beach to Covelly. The sea had a stunning turquoise colour and big waves attracted lots of surfers. We were also able to enjoy the open air 'Sculpture by the Sea' annual exhibition along the coast.

So to Sydney

We've never been this far away from Europe!

Arriving in Sydney was pretty smooth, although along the way we learnt that we aren't big fans of night flights and that the difference between very new planes (like the A380 that we took to Singapore) and very old planes (like the 1970s Jumbo Jet we took to Sydney) is huge - most of all the noise, dust and squeaks.

The temperature is much cooler here in Sydney (early 20s C) and is actually very welcome. As beautiful, relaxing and welcoming as Langkawi was, we realise now just how much we really do love being in a city. The noise, the people, the hustle and the choice of food and shops was fun to experience once more. Perhaps we'll change our minds after a few days.

We're yet to truly get under the skin of Sydney, but our first impression is that it is a very young city with lots of buff people jogging! The traffic lights seem to change really quickly (which I guess is why there aren't many old people..) and the shops are pretty much the same as we get in the UK. I bet it's lovely when the sun shines - we'll hopefully see before the week is out....

We visited Paddington yesterday. Some very nice houses, cute little shops and leafy streets. It was nice to see blossom in October (such tourists!). We saw this great photographic exhibition called Art and About as we walked through Hyde Park:

Goodbye Langkawi

Bon Ton Resort

This is where we are staying in Langkawi:

Bon Ton is a privately owned resort which we found out about by reading a blog post by Irene from Bloesem. Her favourable post and the evidently unique style of the place really attracted us.

On arrival we were not disappointed. Bon Ton is a collection of traditional Malay houses (mostly fishing houses) exquisitely and sympathetically restored to create an idyllic resort village. Where we are staying is a former colonial house (repainted in the familiar black and white favoured by the British Colonists) which forms part of a new development of houses due to officially open early next year. If you are interested you will need to book early - many people before us had discovered Bon Ton and it is often completely full. It is spacious, luxurous and wonderfully original. We could not be happier here!

The restaurant serves traditional Malay dishes with a few international offerings. An evening aperitif taken on their Sunset Deck watching the sunset is an unforgettable experience.

Langkawi

We've been in Langkawi for four days now, although this is the bit in our trip where we are struggling to remember which day or even what time of day it is. Heaven.

Langkawi is a beautiful tropical island on the west coast of Malaysia and unbelievable close to Thailand (Phuket). It is a reasonably untouched island, with a pretty effective eco-system still in place which is nice to experience. There are lots of tropical forests, palm trees, luscious foliage and incredible wildlife including Water Buffalo, Monkeys and Monitor Lizards - that was a bit of a shock when we woke on the second morning to our unimpressed neighbour....

Where we are staying is magnificent. It's called Bon Ton Resort and we'll talk about it in the next post.

There are a number of very plush hotels on the island, a couple of which we visited yesterday evening. They are cleverly built into the forest with meandering paths running through to picture postcard beaches.

Awesome though they are, you can't help but imagine the destruction required to build these immense facilities. It doesn't feel very eco friendly...

We have arrived in Langkawi at the change of the season. In fact, as I write this we are experiencing the first day of the new season: a more intense heat and less wind! The first few days were stormy, fresh and from the poolside of our hotel we experienced a few dramatic sunsets - as the picture above shows.

Ophelia is enjoying the endless trips to the pool and the affections of her new friends here at Bon Ton. We also enjoyed a nice little dip in the ocean, all the time with an eye on the monkeys trying to make off with our towels...

Singapore

Just 3 nights in Singapore. We arrived from Japan on one of those huge airplanes with two full floors (I think there were 500 people on board!). Ophelia liked the stairs - a great new addition to her flying experience.

Singapore is, well, not really us. The weather is nice and we have a big pool at the hotel. Perhaps as an immediate contrast to Japan it doesn't fair well. It's a pretty busy place, and everything is either new or just about to be new. Everywhere we have been, they have a great deal of construction going on, particularly on Sentosa island where they are building what looks to be something to rival Disney.

Shops are big, international and air-conditioned.

My wallet was stolen. I guess that didn't help!

The people and the food have been lovely. It's just the environment: it's so different to Japan and if I'm honest so scarily familiar. Maybe that's the problem...

Langkawi next. Very exciting!

Thank you Japan

I don't think our world trip could have got off to a better start than the two weeks we have just spent in Japan.

I (this is Simon!) had a trip to Japan just once a couple of years ago, and had always believed that Julie would love the place. But somehow, I think the experience seriously exceeded any expectations from either of us.

So we thought it appropriate to just say why. Here's our 10 favourite things about Japan (in no particular order):

1. The incredible warmth of EVERYBODY. Always courteous, friendly and happy - in shops, on trains, in hotels, restaurants and just walking the street.

2. The respect that everybody has for their environment. Japan is the cleanest (and most crowded) place we have every been to.

3. The love people have for children. Ophelia was a real hit (perhaps sometimes because she is a bit of a novelty) and everywhere we went, women and men would stop to play with her or just listen to her intense ramblings! It's not that people don't love kids everywhere, of course they do - it just seemed more obvious and again just very very warm.

4. The beautiful little (and sometimes hidden) shops. Japan - and Tokyo in particular - has some incredible shops with beautiful products presented in very well thought out spaces. It's a delight to go shopping.

5. The love of great design products. Julie I think nailed it when she said that Japan has the perfect mix of European, American and Asian (mostly Japanese) products. They search for the best and bring them all together in these little shops.

6. The way people dress. People are not just beautifully presented but have some really interesting mix of styles. It's lovely just to see. Julie in particular liked the high socks and beautiful shoes...although none of them fitted her..!

7. The food. Amazing amazing fresh food. Not just the fish - the fruit, the other meats - even the pasta! We ate in an Italian restaurant (Ophelia LOVES pasta) and had one of the best pasta meals we have ever eaten. All of the pasta was made freshly in front of us!

8. Heated toilet seats.

9. Presentation. This is in some of the other points but I think it deserves it's own point. Japanese people don't have that much space, there are 30 million people in Tokyo alone. The thing is, it never feels too crowded and I think that's because they know exactly how to present everything - from objects in shops, to storage in houses and food in bento boxes. It's exquisite.

10. The trains. I just love the trains.

Beyond these ten things, we'd just like to make a special mention to a few very specific Japanese people who showed us a little more intimately the best of Japan. Takako, Hiromi, Kazumi, Fumie and Rie from Paumes, Michi and his beautiful family you ALL made it it great.

Thanks! x

Manga

We very happily stumbled across the International Manga Museum in Kyoto and stopped for lunch and a good look around. Both of us are reasonably interested in 'whimsical pictures' as Manga translates, and found it fun to spend an hour or two searching among the work of great Manga stars like Osamu Tezuka (creator of Astro Boy and the beautifully illustrated story of Buddha) and the Year 24 Group (a group of female Manga Artists). They also had a fantastic exhibition of international Manga, including a great collection of DC Comic's Superman series: I think Ophelia probably had the most fun in the children's library. They had a fabulous international collection of kids comics.

Kyoto

We rented 2 bikes when we arrived in Kyoto which was a great way to discover all the hidden temples. We went to Gion, the famous Geisha's district, and the oldest part of town. We saw a few of them in the Yasaka Shrine. As it was Saturday we were also lucky to see a traditional wedding. We also came across Ichizawa Hanpu Company, a lovely shop which sells only canvas bags hand made in Kyoto. This was our last attraction before going back to Tokyo tomorrow. It's Kyoto Tower.Great design.

Plastic Food

This is how you choose your dish in many restaurants here in Japan...It all looks very real but it's entirely plastic! Ophelia wishes she could have the same to play with! You can get you own plastic food in the UK at Replica.

The Bullet

As a family we love trains. Actually more precisely, Julie HATES planes so wherever possible we stick to the ground and take trains. We know there are some great train journeys to be had, but as a train experience the Shinkansen (or the Bullet when I was a kid) has got to be amongst the best. I can't think of many modern trains I'm genuinely excited about travelling on. All the stuff you are told is true - they are super quick, they always arrive and leave on time, they are clean like everything else in Japan! It's the stuff that we found out for ourselves which really made it great....the fabulous Bento boxes for lunch (why don't we eat 'packed lunches' as adults in the West?), the incredibly genial guard who bows at either end of the carriage. The nice old lady who made Ophelia a paper swan (you can't make that stuff up!) and the variety of toilets and washing facilities. The phenomenal leg room....okay, that's for me....and of course the fabulous view of Japan and Mt Fuji. Isn't there some Zen saying about the journey being more important....