Marlborough light
Unfortunately, we had to leave New Zealand on Friday. Wow – what a great relaxing vacation – it was just wonderful! From there, we flew to Bangkok for a few days. It’s 180 degrees different from New Zealand – hot and busy, but also fun!
Our last few days in Blenheim were great. On Wednesday, we made the beautiful 1.5 hour drive down the east coast to Kaikoura, a lovely little seaside town. The big attraction there are the seal colonies – it was so fun to pull over on the side of the road to watch the pups! We also took a walk off the highway up to a waterfall; in the winter, the seal pups play there, but alas, we were too early in the season to see them so we had to be content with watching them play on the rocks on the beach instead. The waterfall and short walk to it was also nice – it reminded me of the rainforest in Costa Rica. After a nice lunch, we headed home in time for grilled pork chops and a nice bottle of wine for dinner.
The rest of our time in Marlborough we just spent relaxing – reading, a little shopping, watched a couple of movies – and I finished my jigsaw puzzle.
Friday was spent traveling all day from Bleinheim to Auckland, then our 11 hour trip to Bangkok. Here we are staying at the lovely Mandarin Oriental Hotel on the river – such a beautiful place. I love having breakfast at the cafe overlooking the river and watching the boats go up and down. We’ve also found a couple of neat little restaurants nearby that we have enjoyed. I really like this part of town – I feel like there is more to see and do within walking distance of the hotel. And I found a nice little affordable spa a few blocks away that I have visited a couple of times!
Tongue Thai
Yesterday morning we rented a longboat for a two hour trip around the canals – fascinating. Lots of crazy places and small temples along the way. I felt a bit like a peeping tom, as we drove past the little river houses and watched the people go about their daily routine of washing clothes, sweeping, bathing the dog, brushing their teeth, shopping at the little floating markets going by their homes. A different life. And it’s interesting to see a fancy hotel and then next to it a little shanty of a house. So much wealth and then so much poverty.
Canal Art - Red Man
Bangkok Canal
Laundry Day - Bangkok Canal
This has been a fabulous vacation and it’s not completely over yet!