iNCOMMUNiCARDO

Arinsal, Andorra Christmas 2009

2009-12-29T09:28:00.005Z

We have just returned for a wonderful seven days skiing in Arinsal, Andorra. The snow was great and the resort picture postcard perfect with its dusting of white for Christmas. The view from our room. Cable car links Pal & Arinsal ski areas, this is a view in Pal. Cable car links Pal & Arinsal ski areas, this is a view in Pal.

Beginners area and a good looking debutant, Arinsal

The Magic Carpet, beginners area, Arinsal.

Christmas is upon us

2009-12-02T12:06:00.003Z

Well December is here and right on time came the first frost. How lovely to experience crunching underfoot. Not to mention all frozen puddles stomped on by the kids on their way to school. What fun.

We think iNCOMMUNiCARDO would make an excellent Christmas present.

And why wouldn't we?

Click here to Buy Now.

Press Release

2009-09-30T17:53:00.005+01:00

Intellectual Property. A cautionary tale. What can happen even when you think you have done everything to protect your product.

Ever had a great idea or an invention and then worried about how to stop someone stealing that idea? Just how do you go about protecting it? Getting patents, registering trademarks, proving copyright. There is a lot to do. And then when you've done all that how protected are you? Well just recently we have found out.

Whilst on a cycling holiday in Hungary where very little English is spoken and the writing is difficult to decipher: each evening after we had struggled to communicate in a local restaurant and got yet another surprise meal we would sit down to play cards and think: “if only we had some pictures to point at to help us communicate.”
Back home we came up with the idea of putting the two things together. Communication pictures and symbols on a regular pack of playing cards. A simple dual use product. Something to play with and something to point at.

Someone was bound to have thought of it already we surmised as is so often the way with a good idea. Extensive research failed to find one. We had ourselves a unique, simple and original concept.

Much research, testing, drawing and playing on the computer later and we had designed our pack.

We called it iNCOMMUNiCARDO. Now to business. Neither of us had set up or run a business like this before. We were determined to do as much as we could ourselves.

Through Business Link we got lots of very useful and amazingly: free help. We drew up a business plan and in December 2007: we formed a company: Fat Uncle Stuart Ltd, registered a domain name www.incommunicardo.com for our website, created and trade marked a name and logo and sent copies of our cards to ourselves in the post to provide official dated evidence of copyright.

Getting a registered trademark is a good idea and gives you legal protection in the country you are registered. You may want to get registration in more than one country. The best place for information about all this is the IPO website.

So far so good. Everyone kept telling us to get it patented. Where do you start with that?
The best place to start this process is the Intellectual Property Office or IPO. They have great website.

What can you patent? In a nutshell to be eligible to apply for a patent, a product must satisfy the following:

• Is your invention functional or technical?
• Is your invention new?
• Is there an inventive step?
• Does your invention have an industrial use?

iNCOMMUNiCARDO did not satisfy these tests so we moved on to Copyright. The law of copyright and its related rights in the UK is found in the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988

To satisfy Copyright a work must:

• Be a work, in other words, Copyright does not protect ideas for a work. It is only when the work itself is fixed, for example in writing, that copyright automatically protects it.
• Be original.
• Copyright applies to any medium including: written, theatrical, musical and artistic works as well as film, book layouts, sound recordings, and broadcasts.

“Copyright material is usually the result of creative skill, significant labour and/or investment, and, without protection, it would often be very easy for others to exploit material without paying the creator.”

Copyright is infringed where either the whole or a substantial part of a work is used without permission, unless the copying falls within the scope of one of the copyright exceptions.

iNCOMMUNiCARDO seemed to satisfied Copyright.
As Copyright is an automatic right, you don't have to apply for it, however we had already taken the time honoured precaution of mailing copies of all stages of creation if the work to ourselves.

And so IP was dealt with, or so we thought. We had our cards printed and in March 2008 went live with our e-commerce website. We approached and sent samples to various retailers. In October 2008 we embarked on a four month world tour to promote our cards.
We fully expected if we became successful that criminal “knock off” copies would appear about which we would probably be able to do very little. Ours might be a good product but even good things only get copied if there is money to be made otherwise why bother?

However in March 2009 we became aware that another website, registered in the UK, was selling a product that for all intents and purposes directly copied ours and claimed it was unique!. Someone had “ripped us off”!
Sure they were using a different name and different pictures but anyone we showed the actual cards to thought they were our cards. Not long after this we discovered that this same product was retailing online through a UK based adventure travel and travel clothing store. The very same store that we had approached to sell our cards and who had initially shown an interest before pulling out. Coincidence?

So how protected are we? Well having now engaged an IP lawyer it turns out like many things in law: only as deep as our pockets. What seemed all very clear at the start turns into the murky vagaries of legal maybes and strong possibilities.

The other party is not likely to want to settle it like gentlemen or they would have not copied you in the first place. So we will probably end up using the court system with the usual advice is that these sorts of cases can be very lengthy and costly and there is simply no way to easily assess whether it will go in your favour.

We wonder why when there is no certainty in the success of the product that they bothered to go to all that trouble to copy us when they could have simply bought ours or come to an easy and cheap licensing agreement?

The only people that might make any significant money out of our product at this time is, as seems always to be the case: the lawyers.
We are currently in negotiations and hope to come to some agreement. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and the more the merrier we say.
Below are some useful websites.
www.businesslink.co.uk
www.incommunicardo.com
www.ipo.gov.uk

What to pack for the big trip.

2009-09-01T09:58:00.003+01:00

iNCOMMUNiCARDO

Last trip we bit the bullet and each purchased a 'natty' pair of full length zipper trousers. Mine had the short, 3/4 and full length options; his had the 3/4 and full options. Naturally they were both beige and had part elasticated waists. (There comes a time for us all when you will wear clothes you had only previously associated with your mother - here we refer to the elasticated waist).

We felt a bit silly at first (this diminished the further from home we travelled), however they proved to be an excellent travelling item. They were so synthetic that not only did they not stain, when they did get washed they were practically dry straight from the washing machine.

I wore mine almost every day in one or other of their manifestations. I would offer this advice. Always try before you buy with this type of trouser as some of them are not comfortable at their 'zipper' joins.

Now that we have returned, they have gone back into the drawer, they are simply not for 'home' use.

What to do with our digital footprints when we die?

2009-08-30T11:32:00.002+01:00

iNCOMMUNiCARDO

When we go away travelling it is often the case that a will is made and our estate is put in order, because you never know?? (thankfully we manage to overlook the obvious statistical danger involved with strapping ourselves into our automobiles), however, how do we put our digital inheritance in order?

Once you are gone, without passwords our accounts will become firstly inaccessible, then dormant; forever orbiting cyberspace.

Probably a lot of this has happened already. So much so that this is what actually makes up the mysterious 'dark matter' that accounts for so much of our universe.

Anyway back to the matter at hand, should we leave behind a list of our usernames and passwords along with our bank account details?

Travel Insurance and Rio de Janeiro

2009-08-20T09:06:00.004+01:00

We were in Rio in January 2009, specifically, Copacabana. We stayed for about 5 days mostly in the Copa and Ipanema area, with the usual trips thrown in to Christo, football staduim etc. At no time did we feel unsafe, we also noticed that on the beach the locals happily went into the water leaving unattended on the beach: assorted bags, mobile phones, Ipods and so on. We have no doubt that there are dangerous areas of Rio, as there are of any city this size, however we can perhaps understand the reaction of the Rio police is the instance of the British Backpackers alleged insurance scam.

For insurance information visit travel Insurance.

More from Machu Picchu

2009-03-26T14:15:00.003Z

iNCOMMUNiCARDO

Machu Piccu, pictures cannotdo justice to this place.

Llamas love it, and keep the grass in check.

iNCOMMUNiCARDO makes it to MP. (It rained).

Our whole group make it to MP.

One of the hobbits makes it to Peru is search of Paddington Bear.

Inca Trail , thanks to Peter from Newcastle, NSW

2009-03-26T14:11:00.003Z

Don't look to the left, eyes on the trail.

Not MP, another ruin on the way to MP.

One of the overnight campsites.

The highest pass on the trail.

The start of the trail.

The Return

2009-02-05T13:45:00.003Z

Here is our last on board meal with BA, us at Heathrow, the car we hired to get home, our garden this morning, still snowing.

Rio, the Beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema

2009-02-05T13:25:00.006Z

We spent out last 3 days in Rio. Copacabana and Ipanema were very crowded on the weekend. There was lots of beach volleyball and soccer going on.

We also saw a fabulous tropical storm (last picture), we were pelted with rain and we had to run for shelter.

Rio, Christ the Redeemer

2009-02-05T13:20:00.002Z

Views from the hill....

First shot with Copacabana and Ipanema in the background.

A Day Trip and Derailment on the Serra Verde Express

2009-02-05T13:07:00.002Z

We decided to take this train as it is a very famous scenic route from Curitiba to the coast clinging to cliffs, crossing bridges through the rainforest.

Well we had rain, however, the was not the main detraction, the train derailed, look carefully at the wheels in this pic. No one was hurt, and they attached a train to the other end and hauled us back to Curitiba. Upon arrival without quibble all monies were refunded.

They did serve lunch in this dinky box.

This is a local news crew who interviewed passengers upon our return.

These are the workmen who tried to get us going again, note the cool hard hat on backwards.

Surprise, we are in Lisbon

2009-02-02T18:45:00.003Z

Greetings all. Due to the terrible weather in the UK, by which I mean worst snow in 30 years, our plane from Rio has landed in Lisbon. We are being looked after by BA in 5 star digs, we may get out tomorrow, we haven´t heard yet.

We spent what we thought was our last day of the trip on Copacabana beach soaking up the rays. Consequently we are finding Lisbon 'wintery' and cold. We may get some sightseeing in here tomorrow which would be nice.

We will post our Rio pics when we get back.

Another Post from Brasil

2009-01-27T15:50:00.004Z

Boy do fat bottoms rule here.
Big statues, some piano acordions and one for Micheal if he has been watching which I bet he has not. Rob Halfords. Car parts and heavy metal all here in Brazil.
Did I mention they speak a stupid language here I don´t know why anyone would want to speak it? (message for our very good amigos) Bringing back some rum.

Iguazu Falls

2009-01-27T15:32:00.006Z

Waterfalls. Yeah. Insect bites. Yeah. Animals. Yeah.
Very dramatic.
Now in Brazil and very little English and lots of Portuguese? What was God thinking?
From Curitiba in all the rain, and on to Rio. There´s nothing much I know of in Rio but....

See everyone soon. This may be our last posting. We shall see.

The Overnight Bus to Puerto Iguazu

2009-01-24T22:25:00.002Z

We caught the overnight bus to Puerto Iguazu with the Via Baraloche company, and discovered a really great way to travel. The bus seats, came coche, lay back like business class on a plane, there were blankets, air con, movies in english and pillows. There was also an evening meal, hot, served like on a plane, with wine, see picture below. After the meal there was champagne, then coffee and biscuits. In the morning there was breakfast. Amazing and now we are in Puerto Iguazu, we are visiting the falls tomorrow.

We visited a butcher shop in Iguazu and bought some steak, quite a fun experience with our limited language skills, which Stuart expertly cooked this evening. Argentine wines are really cheap here and an excellent drop.

San Telmo

2009-01-24T22:20:00.003Z

We wandered the the antique shops of San Telmo, BA, only to discover the same curios as available in Australia, interesting. There were some great posters, a Russian Orthodox church and caramel.We were disturbed that James Blunt is playing in BA.

The lunchtime tango.

2009-01-24T20:18:00.005Z

It is really quite sophisticated to lunch over tango, if you can manage not to laugh at the dancers antics. Stuart says it is a fighting dance, I agree it does seem combative. We both agreed the steak was wonderful, cooked to perfection and jolly tasty. There was a tango dance hall attached to the restaurant. We did not see any night time tango, as we were booked on the overnight bus to Puerto Iguazu.

La Boca, Bunos Aires, Argentina

2009-01-24T20:09:00.002Z

Today we visited and lunched in La Boca. It is the Italian area of BA, and the home of the famous Jnr Soccer Team and colourful corrugated houses. Along with San Telmo, it is a Tango area. We lunched on Argentine steak and were entertained by a Tango display. Very cultured. Of note was the fact that there were coffee beans in the salt shaker, a practice we mean to replicate when we are home.

Colonia, Uruguay

2009-01-22T18:47:00.003Z

We took the ferry over to Colonia, UNESCO listed old town in Uruguay. Very pretty town, cobbled streets and all. We drank cerveza, beer and watched the sun go down. A girl playing a red accordian was entertaining nearby, a good omen.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

2009-01-22T18:41:00.003Z

We spent a day wandering the various districts, including the Casa Rosa where Eva waved to the masses from the balcony. Julie is at the front of the casa and Stuart picture in the rear. There was a political demonstration going on, hence the water canon. All peaceful.

You can also see the English style post boxes.

The Old Town, Quito

2009-01-22T18:36:00.004Z

On our last day in Quito, we visited the World Heritage listed old Quito. There were political rallies going on, all peaceful. Stuart also had his shoes polished.

The Panama Pic

2009-01-22T18:33:00.002Z

The Panama comes in a natty travel box, as you can see below. There is a vast range in their price depending on the weave.

The Panama Hat

2009-01-19T13:43:00.002Z

Forgot to mention the Panama hat, native of Ecuador. We have seen plenty for sale since arriving in Equador. Whilst we greatly covet one, it would be too difficult to carry so we have to be content with looking.

Quito is at a decent elevation approx 2300M, as a result it is quite cool here and there is lots of rain. Not the weather we were expecting at the equator.

We fly to Argentina later today to investigate steaks and the Tango.

Otavalo, largest market in South America.

2009-01-18T22:24:00.004Z

On Friday (after the volcano trip), we took a local bus (approx 2 hours) to Otavalo. Otavalo, a largely indigenous town is located in a valley surrounded by the peaks of Imbabura, Cotacachi, and Mojanda volcanoes. Quite a setting, as you can see in the first shot which was taken from the balcony of our accommodation.

We went to the market Saturday morning, it was like being transported back to the 1970's with all the alpaca gear and woven bags. We did not buy anything, at this stage of the trip we are all marketed out.

This building was at the bus station and took our fancy as did the faded art deco style of the stadium following.

Cotopaxi, the Volcano visit.

2009-01-18T22:13:00.004Z

We took a day trip from Quito to Cotopaxi, which is considered one of the world's highest active volcanoes and at 5897m is Ecuador's second highest mountain.

Fortunately we drove most of the way up the volcano, then we ascended from about 4200m to 5000m on foot, thus breaking our altitude record set in the Inca Trail. We took our left over coca leaves, it was tough going, the final 25 minute slog part from the refuge hut to the glacier was in snow! It was very cold, and we were showered with frozen rain, not quite hail.

Behind these next shots is the glacier. There was a french climbing team with full ice gear getting ready to make the ascent to the summit over the glacier.

A Visit to the Equator

2009-01-15T21:26:00.004Z

Today we visited the equator, just 22km from Quito, approx 2400m ASL. The first two shots show us straddling the equator.

You weight less at the equator. Julie weighed herself and found this to be the case, with a printout to prove it. Stuart did the modelling for the photo.

The final shots are a statue commorating war victories (heroes del cenepa), and a typical Andean style painting.

Quito, Equador

2009-01-15T12:20:00.002Z

We flew to Equador yesterday, the photo is the meal on LAN.

Since arriving in Sth America we have been searching for the famed isles of caramel in supermarkets, well we found one in Quito.

Day 3&4 we arrive Machu Picchu(MP)

2009-01-15T12:12:00.005Z

Day 3 was a 10 hour trek, we crossed 2 passes, passed through a cloud forest, 2 high
passes. It was a very long day, and it rained in the afternoon.

Day 4 we were up at 4AM, rain, we made it to the SunGate (from where you get your first views of MP) the clouds prevented this. However, within the hour the cloud lifted and we had perfect weather for our time in MP. It was the most wonderful sight, and in such a dramatic setting, no pictures can do it justice. And as explained we have no pictures.

About the Trek, you are not allowed to go on the Inca Trail alone, hence the Trek group, porters etc.

The picture below is our entry stamp for MP, signed by our guide Freddie.

The Trek

2009-01-13T19:10:00.008Z

We love our little camera but for one flaw, the battery goes without warning, you cannot check the charge. The battery went on day 2 of the Trek, (we did not think to get a spare), so we await some photos to be emailed from other trekkers for days 3&4.

We opted for the classic Inca trek, 4 days, 45 km, crossing 3 passes at 4200m, 3900m and 3700m (or thereabouts). There were 8 on our trek, plus guide and porters.

The pics are of: the start of the trek, us somewhere on day 1 (an Inca site behind us), then all the group including the porters (local Andean extraction chaps- who did a bloody marvellous job).

Day 1 was a mere 5 hour walk to get us going. You have to carry your personal gear including sleeping bag and mat (or hire a porter to carry them for you). The porters carry the tents, food, dining tent, seats, gas bottles etc. By law they can only carry a max. of 25kg. God bless the little fellas.

You all start out together, the porters then go ahead to set up the dining tent for lunch. We catch up, eat and leave. They decamp and pass us again to sent up tents for all for the night, plus dining tent and cook the dinner. And so it goes.

Day one had us all huffing and puffing. But is was nothing compared to day 2 where we scaled the high pass of 4200m, the whole morning was up, no relief. Then the pass and downhill to our evening stop. Downhill on weary legs is no joyful thing. We were at our overnight camp by 2PM. We slept through until ´happy hour´ tea and biscuits at 5:30.

By the way the scenery when we could lift our heads was spectacular! Snow capped peaks of the Andes, so dramatic.
Day 3 was a 10 hour march. To be continued....

more pics from Cusco.

2009-01-13T18:55:00.007Z

This painting is in the cathedral in Cusco, it was painted by an Andean artist, and the local touch steals the show. The next shot is some of the dame critters, yes, guinea pigs (cooked) for sale on the street in Cusco.

The famous inca precision building blocks.

We walked up the hill to visit this statue (back of Cusco) as part of getting our legs and lungs ready for the trek.

Cusco, Peru

2009-01-13T18:39:00.005Z

We arrived in Cusco with time for the recommended 2 days acclimatisation before commencing the 4 day Classic Inca Trek. Believe me, you need it, on our first day, we were walking uphill and both of us had to stop. We were dizzy, you cannot catch your breath, there is none to catch, a very weird feeling indeed.

Stuart was set on acquiring some coca leaves for the trek, a big bag of coca leaves, (as he had seen on TV), you will see below how happy he looks during their purchase, the next shot is the bag in all its glory. The leaves saved us on more than one occasion on the trek , but more on that later.

The next 2 pictures were taken on the main Cusco market. The first is corn, the next the famous Inca chocolate and all its varieties.

This is the church in the main square in Cusco.

Still Lima

2009-01-13T18:30:00.006Z

View from the upstairs balcony at our accommodation in Miraflores, Lima.

We visited a museum in Lima where you can actually go into the storehouse, it was amazing in there, better than what was on show due to the sheer amount of pottery, you couldn't take photos. However the cactus was from the museum garden.

Also, we are pretty sure we spotted a likeness if Jesus in the tree following, see for yourself.

Lima, Peru

2009-01-06T14:44:00.006Z

On Monday we flew to Lima, another 2 hours back in time. We are staying in Miraflores, an upmarket beach side suburb. We partook of some Pisco sours (local white brandy cocktail that is finished with egg white 'frapped' with sugar)at sunset by the sea.

As you can see from the nativity shot, god´s catholic footprint is omnipresent here. As we were having cocktails a large cross was lit up on the headland.

Miraflores is known for the parasailers you can see in the following picture. There is a mishmash of building styles here, often in the one building.

The giant kissing statue is in ´Love Park´which sounds better in Spanish.

We have been surprised to find a casino on every corner.

Final Day Santiago

2009-01-06T14:36:00.004Z

We spent our last day in Santiago, a Sunday visiting the castle and the Museum. The dog was a co-owner of the place we stayed on the coast.

If you squint you can just see the mighty Andes behind Stuart in the first photo, taken from the top of the ´castle´ the fountain shot was at the bottom of the castle.

The other shots are in the museum.

More of Valpo

2009-01-03T23:35:00.007Z

We spent the day at the seaside, (once we had finished in the supermarket)- where we discovered that dental floss is such a valuable item that it is security tagged as shown below.

The beach is a busy affair as you can see, naval officers periodically wander through the sun-baking crowd, we don´t know what that is about. Stuart reports that swimming is off-putting due to the large amount of gold flakes in suspension in the water.

There are more dreadlocks here than Jamaica, and circus type acts as street performance are popular. We also saw a Punch and Judy show today.

Along the beach-front we wandered past the Easter Island head and the shark? Well it is the seaside!

Valparaiso

2009-01-01T22:14:00.006Z

Today we took the bus to Valparisso, about 2 hours from Santiago on the coast. It is famous for its hills and colourful houses as below.

Santiago, Chile

2009-01-01T22:04:00.007Z

Our flight with Lan Chile really knocked us out, we arrived hours before we left, the jet lag was shocking, worst ever, for both of us.
Once in Santiago, preparations were underway for NYE. We gathered that it is ´correct´ for girls to wear yellow knickers from the number of street stalls selling them.

Other Santiago news includes, statue people are here, dentists and medicos(street side waiting room featured).

The drink Stuart is consuming is an interesting mixture of nectarine juice, stewed nectarines and pearl barley - a Santiago favourite apparently, we liked it too.

Auckland

2008-12-29T03:57:00.004Z

here in Auckland. One day sunny one day rain. The weather is in complete balance here. Staying on the side of one of the old volcanoes called Mount Eden, just outside of town. The most fabulous thing we have seen is the metro cinema in town, behind all the space rockets in the picture, inside is all very spacy (not Kevin) and full of just fun stuff.
Off tomorrow for Santiago. Happy New year to everyone.

The Coremandal and the Big Kauri

2008-12-29T03:49:00.002Z

On Sunday we had a lovely drive up the Coromandal coast. We went for a swim at hot water beach and saw a big kauri tree.

Rotorua

2008-12-27T04:13:00.003Z

Why anyone decided this was a great place to found a town I don't know. The sulphurous smell must surely be damaging to the health. Other than the smell though it is quite nice.

Stuart gets an Esky

2008-12-26T20:06:00.003Z

This find has made Stuart's trip, he has already expressed sadness at leaving it behind when we leave NZ.

The Marlborough Wine Region, Sth Island

2008-12-26T19:57:00.002Z

We can assure all NZ sauv blanc fans that there will be no shortages of this wine in the near future, in fact there are plenty more vines due to come on line in the next couple of years. We drove through acreages of them.

Te Papa, the National Museum, Wellington

2008-12-26T19:54:00.004Z

In the National Museum, which is a fabulous building at the water front, our favourites included:

Skeleton of Phar Lap, 50's NZ painting, sculpture chicks and the Totem.

The Inter Island Ferry

2008-12-26T19:50:00.003Z

The day of our sailing from Picton to Wellington was perfect weather. We happened to sit next to a chap from Blenheim (wine area Sth Island), who gave us a full commentary as we left the sound.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T23:19:00.003Z

Christmas greetings from Art Deco Napier.

We awoke this morning to full sun, and a present of a mini NZ thong (shoe type) fridge magnet outside our door.

We are just back from a stroll around the beautiful deco buildings in the town centre and a stroll along the beach promenade.

Stuart will be cooking us venison for lunch, accompanied with wines from Marlborough (Sth Island) and Hawkes Bay (Nth Island)- we in fact are in the Hawkes Bay environs.

Julie and Stuart x

Queenstown to Greymouth - the Impossibly beautiful drive

2008-12-22T05:35:00.006Z

Today we drove from from Queenstown to Greymouth. It was an impossibly beautiful drive, we have loaded scenery photos of Fox and Franz Joseph glacier, Wanaka, Queenstown and others; do your best.

Orangs in Singapore Zoo

2008-12-21T01:29:00.003Z

These lovely little fellows in orange, my favourite colour.

Sea lion NZ

2008-12-21T01:27:00.002Z

This is the only sea lion we managed to spot and he stopped frolicking once I got the camera out of course.

Movie in Milford

2008-12-21T01:21:00.002Z

This is Julie in the mist of the Chasm waterfall in Milford Sound.

More Milford

2008-12-21T00:57:00.001Z

More of Milford Sound, the Homer tunnel, various bits, and the fur seals on a rock, nearly clubbed to extinction.

Milford Sound

2008-12-21T00:51:00.003Z

First some sheep, essential to NZ. Then the lovely purple lupins in MS and some other shots of the glacial cols of MS and the notorious and cheeky Kea the only alpine parrot who truly could be pining for the Fjords because it lives in Fjordland, and who chewed bits off the hire car.

South Island oddities

2008-12-21T00:45:00.002Z

These are some of the first bits of NZ. Our air plane meal, a sea lion, the Kraken wakes, the hotel So, and Christchurch on Hereford Street.

Queenstown - Bungy Day

2008-12-20T22:10:00.002Z

Today is B-Day and Stuart just completed the 134m Nevis Bungy, Julie watched and took photos. We had lovely sunny weather, however Stuart reports is was very scary. Those of us watching (about 8), were in agreement that he executed a near perfect launch - by which we mean a great dive out into the blue.

New Zealand

2008-12-17T07:38:00.001Z

Today we flew Sydney-Christchurch. At Sydney airport Stuart discovered grout graffiti, yes, that's right, in a fully tiled room, the Men's in Terminal 1 there is always the grout.

Rental car pick up went smoothly, we settled into our very funky hotel, called Hotel So. Off to Dunedin tomorrow.

Blue Mountains

2008-12-09T05:30:00.000Z

We have had a busy time working on the house and catching up with family and friends.
Pictures include: The view from front window, house-kitchen and hallway, Bondi Beach, Julie's family (the girls anyway) at Icebergs Bondi.

Singapre

2008-12-09T05:23:00.001Z

Singapore was hot and sticky. We amused ourselves with a trip to the Zoo, Raffles, the shops (hence another Christmas Tree).

The last picture is a Singapore concoction called Ice Kuchang. It consists of shaved ice soaked in food colourings, sweet beans underneath, topped with sweet corn then drizzled with carnation milk.

Malaysia

2008-12-09T04:31:00.002Z

Ever since the ritzy shops on the Ginza in Tokyo, we have been seeing giant Christmas trees. Here we have a selection from Malaysia. Further proof of their westernisation is the 'Gold Man' we spotted in KL.

Also included are the Petronas Towers, who once enjoyed the moniker of world's tallest.

Thailand

2008-12-09T04:24:00.000Z

We somehow lost our pics of Tokyo and Bangkok, however some of Thailand survived.
We loved the 'fashions', that children can go shooting and the 'pimp my ride' detailing of the mini buses.

Chinglish

2008-12-09T04:17:00.000Z

We loved the many amusing examples of Chinglish, Stuart even contributed one of his own.

Shanghai, Museum of Modern Art

2008-12-09T04:14:00.000Z

Even the communists were clamouring to get a pack of our cards.

Mt Hua Shan

2008-12-09T04:08:00.000Z

We took a day trip from Xi'an to My Hua Shan to climb this sacred mountain. It was the most arduous climb we have ever achieved. The last 2 km were almost vertical, you have to hold chains on each side, the path is very narrow, as are the steps and you have to come down backwards. However, the view from the top was spectacular.

Dentistry in Xi'an

2008-12-09T04:05:00.001Z

The dental hospital pictured below was right on the street front of a 6 lane road. Stuart reports that they were 'doing' endodontics.

Shanghai

2008-12-09T03:59:00.002Z

Shanghai is a city of contrasts. There are the sky scrapers and the shops, but there are also the backstreets where washing still hangs on poles from the windows. Over-seeing all this are the police in their electric noddy cars. We also enjoyed the medicine vending machines.

Terracotta Army

2008-12-09T03:17:00.000Z

We visited the army, it was an amazing site. On a good day (not the day we visited), the farmer credited with re-discovering the army in his field; is on site for photo opportunities. Short of this, there is an enormous emporium where you can buy your very own warrior and much else besides.

Forbidden City and Temples, Various

2008-12-09T03:12:00.001Z

We visited the Forbidden City , Mao's Tomb, Drum Towers, Bell Towers and Temples. There were many to see...

Supermarkets China Style.

2008-12-09T03:00:00.000Z

The supermarkets are a different kettle of fish to your run of the mill Sainsburys (UK audience) and Coles (Australian audience).

Here are some examples; ducks, chicken's feet and dogs?

Eating at the Beijing Scorpian Market

2008-12-09T02:49:00.001Z

At night out at the Scorpian market is a real eye opener. Amongst the 'delicacies' were: millepedes, beetles, scorpians and various sexual organs, we could go on. Stuart ate a scorpian (pictured below with a couple from Nashville)and a silk worm, including cocoon. Julie stuck to fried banana.

China, Beijing

2008-12-09T02:28:00.000Z

In Beijing we visited the Olympic site. The stadium was impressive and looked just like it did on the telly. You can just see the Water cube behind Julie's head. There are 6 lane highways constructed for the games that are eerily empty. In fact the site around the main stadium is vast.

We did a trip out to the much visited 'Badaling' section of the great wall. The section has been reconstructed, and we say thank goodness, it was very steep, both on the ramp sections and the steps. We had to come down backwards, clutching the hand rails.

Hong Kong 2-3 November 2008

2008-12-09T00:56:00.001Z

Here are long awaited pics of Hong Kong.

The nightly HK sound and light show.

There area many things you cannot do in HK, there are outdoor designated smoking areas.

The view from the top of the famous 'Peak Tram', it was here we ran into our neighbours from Hereford.

There is much building work going on. The new airport, which is massive, is all on reclaimed land. At this rate HK will be larger than Australia.

Eating out at HK airport.