'Cos I'm leaving on a jet plane...

'Cos I'm leaving on a jet plane

Don't know when I'll be back again (but I do)

Oh babe, it's great to go...

Apologies to John Denver (who wrote it) and Peter, Paul and Mary (who made it theirs)

My bags are packed, it's early morn, Toy Boy's waiting, he's blowing his horn...

My little sister and I leave tonight for 12 days away - 

first stop is Bangkok, Thailand, 

2nd stop, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 

3rd stop, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

3 countries in 12 days - WOW!

The "reason" for the trip is to collect my niece (my sister's daughter), who has been at school in Cambodia for a term, but we will stop in Thailand on the way to have a look around, and in Malaysia on the way home to have a wee rest and some fun together.

I can't wait to see these amazing countries - here's a little taster photo from Cambodia

Not something we see everyday on the main street in Takaka!

I can't wait to get on that plane - don't you love that feeling of taking off for somewhere exotic?

I'm very excited!

Dunkleys Great NZ Craft Show South Island Road Trip

In New Zealand we like to think that our winters are mild in comparison to a lot of the world, but in the past week we had a polar blast sweep across the country.   And wouldn't you know it, it was the week that we chose to travel south for the Dunkleys Great New Zealand Craft Show South Island Tour!
We were surprised that the weather was fabulous - a perfect winter's day right over our notorious Takaka Hill, the equally notorious Wangamoas.  But when we got to the Kaikoura Coast in the east the sea was mountainous! 

There were waves the size of buildings coming right up to the road.  Fortunately we got there just after high tide - the water had been right across the road and there was lots of debris dumped there.

Even the poor seals that live there were right up by the road on the rocks trying to avoid the sea!  I couldn't get a photo of them, sorry - and I apologise for the quality of these shots - they were taken from the moving van - there was no way I was getting out of there, and we wanted to get away from there as soon as we could as the wind was buffeting the van alarmingly!

Up through the Hundalees the road was really icy.

Then we hit heavy snow through the Greta Valley

But the good news is....that we made it!  We set up the  show on Thursday afternoon and here it is!

And we won FIRST PRIZE for Outstanding Display!

Woohoo!  Thanks, Dunkleys!

Thanks to those people who dropped by to see us - and I apologise for being so busy that it was hard to chat - the crowd was overwhelming at times.

At the moment we're taking a couple of days out at Moeraki Beach - one of my favourite places in the world - just walking and cloudwatching.  The weather is now glorious!

It's a great place to just sit and watch the sky.

And there's lots of treasure to collect on the beach - it's a great place for sea-glass.

And I found a T-Stick!  Very topical at the moment as that's how I'm using the internet here ;).