Grandma C works very hard at organising our holidays.
When researching shore excursions on our cruise to New Zealand (via Melbourne) last month, though, she found the ones offered by the ship, the Golden Princess, to be very expensive.
Indeed, some of the shore excursion for a day trip were about $300 each.
Looking for more affordable alternatives on the net, she chanced on this interesting offer by New Zealand Post.
In the little town of Akaroa, on the eastern coast of the South Island, close to Christchurch, the enterprising local franchisee of NZ Post offers rides with the postman as he does his 120 km mail run.
This is the van we travelled in.
On the day we arrived at Akaroa, we took the tender ashore and waited for the mailman to arrive. Interestingly, there was another couple from our ship who had also booked this tour.
The Golden Princess at anchor on the left, and a Holland-America Line ship on the right.
Another three passengers, from the Holland-America Line ship had also found and booked this ride.
The very scenic120 km mail run took about 5 hours, and we paid NZ$80 each for the privilege.
Decanter Bay - The road on the left hillside brought us to this point.
Delivering a case of wine to a thirsty farmer
Some of the stuff to be delivered
In this location, a number of letter boxes were housed in this shed, protected from bad weather.
Mid morning, we had a tea break with snacks.
Of course, we had the occasional traffic jam
Grandma C, on the beach of a beautiful bay
Beautiful country roads
My GPS track of our meanderings that day
Akaroa town centre
A view of Akaroa town
We were very surprised to learn that 120 cruise ships a year visit this little town. That's about 2 ships a week. A great side business for the NZ Post franchisee here in Akaroa.
We hadn't been to Penang since the late 70s, and when I learnt that the Sea Princess was stopping there, I was excited to go see the Peranakan Mansion I had heard so much about.
The website of the Peranakan Mansion states: "At the Pinang
Peranakan Mansion, the typical home of a rich Baba of a century
ago is recreated to offer a glimpse of their opulent lifestyle
and of their many customs and traditions. With over 1,000 pieces
of antiques and collectibles of the era on display, this Baba-Nyonya
museum is also housed in one of Penang’s heritage mansion of
eclectic design and architecture."
Thus, I was looking forward to spending a few hours celebrating my ethnic heritage and perhaps evoking some childhood memories.
As it turned out, the Peranakan Mansion was conveniently within walking distance from the Swettenham Cruise Terminal where our ship docked.
Impressive carved screens near the entrance
The central airwell - and looking up towards the second storey
We arrived just as a tour of the Mansion by this gentleman was about to start.
One of the many rooms, with furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl
Looking towards the central airwell
Looking down the airwell. Know what's on the table?
On the table were these cards, which as a child, I remember my mother playing with other female relatives. Check out this link.
Display cabinet with the nonya crockery
Vessel for drinking water
The beaded slippers of the nyona ladies
The beads with which these slippers were made
The kebaya for the younger ladies
And the baju panjang for the older ones
The Mansion has an adjoining building which houses the family altar.
There is so much more in this amazing collection of baba and nonya artifacts, some of which were so familiar from my childhood days. This was certainly an enjoyable visit.
Not having cruised for some time, I forgot that ships usually forbid photography at their shows. In addition, we arrived late for the first night's show and missed the usual warnings prohibiting photo and video taking.
So I happily took photos.
I was a naughty boy (smack on wrist!)!
After leaving Singapore, and a full day and night at sea in the Malacca Straits, we landed at Phuket and, as usual, Grandma C and myself took an excursion to see what we could see.
My GPS device and software at work, showing the places we visited
A photo of the new king at Cape Promthep:
View from the Cape - Rhapsody in Blue
I don't find temples and churches very interesting, so during the visit to Wat Chalong, while Grandma wandered off into the temple, I sat in the shade and watched this fellow sell and light up firecrackers for the worshipers.
The structure in which they set off the firecrackers
An armful of firecrackers
He hangs them up inside the structure
The exhaust fumes
I don't really care for cultural shows either, but this one was good as Grandma C got roped in in the audience participation section.
The above sewing machine is not much to look at, and certainly not worth a lot of money, but Grandma C wanted it for sentimental reasons, as it had belonged to her late grandmother, and the family had been wanting to get rid of it.
The machine was situated in Singapore, and Grandma C had several quotes to freight it over. The best one was about A$2500.
So when we saw an ad for a cruise (about A$3500 for the two of us) that included flights from Perth to Singapore, 2 nights hotel accomodation, and a 12 day cruise from Singapore to Perth, we had the idea of carrying the machine back to Perth ourselves.
With the help of a sister of mine, a handyman in Singapore was employed to dismantle the machine into three parts prior to our arrival, and we spent our day in Singapore packing the parts into boxes.
The three boxes
The concierge at our hotel (Furama Riverfront) was fantastic. He stored the boxes for us and, the following day, organised and packed a taxi for us personally.
Getting the boxes on to the ship was dead easy, and they all either fitted under the bed, or in the wardrobes and therefore took up no valuable space in the cabin at all. We were allowed 64kg luggage allowance each on the ship, and we did not even use up one person's entitlement.
The Hotel - I've never seen a busier hotel. People were checking in and out all the time!
2 views of Singapore from the Ship's deck.
I was amazed that the whole process of shipping the sewing machine went so smoothly.
Woke up the other Saturday morning to find on Facebook that Son No 1 had started his journey home from Florida where he had been working the three weeks prior, missing out on Easter with his family.
Of course, his flight wasn't as direct as that, as he had to make several connections. I think in the end it took even longer than predicted as he missed one connection!
Son No 2 then arrived a little later, with his dogs Zhaan and Molly, and asked if we wanted to spend the weekend at his holiday home in Lancelin (about 130 km north of Perth), as he had several chores to do there.
OK - so here's the only advertisement this blog has ever had, a shameless plug for my son's property which is available for short term holiday accomodation.
The Facebook page of the house is here, and, if you're ever inclined to visit Lancelin (pop. 600), you can book accomodation here.
People visit Lancelin mainly to go fishing and also to go 4-wheel driving on the large expanse of sand dunes, or go sand boarding there. You can also visit the spectacular Pinnacles, which is not too far away.
As for us, we had a relaxing weekend with the dogs Zhaan and Molly, while Son No 2 completed his chores.
I also went to fly my drone, as the property has a large backyard adjacent to undeveloped bush. Plenty of space with few people to bother.
I did lose control of the drone and Son No 2 had to run out into the bush to try and see where it landed whilst I kept it hovering as long as I could.
I'm not one for visiting churches and temples when travelling, but whenever I'm in our state's mid-west, I make it a point to visit one of Monsignor Hawes' creations.
The number of churches he's designed and built in the midwest amazes me. You can see a list of them here.
When in the little town of Mullewa recently, we visited one of his churches - the Our Lady of Mt Carmel.
Monsignor Hawes not only designed this church but also did a lot of the masonry work and labouring in the building of it.
I took some close ups of the stonework and bas reliefs.
The interior
Two of the many stained glass windows
The confessional
The piece de resistance for me is the baptistry. Here you see the exterior - the white dome opens up at the top to let light in.
Interior view, looking up the dome ...
... and the light streams down on the baptismal font.
It even has a gargoyle outside.
He also built a huge Cathedral in Geraldton (400 km north of Perth), which we did not visit on this trip.
We did go to Yalgoo, where there was another of his churches, but unfortunately it was closed when we werre there.
