New Year's in New Zealand

Wow! Here it is New Year’s Day 2009 in Queenstown, New Zealand, and we’re halfway through our South Island adventure already. Time has really flown-by. We arrived here in Queenstown in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve in a light rain and checked-into a very nice two bedroom unit at the Blue Peaks Apartments in plenty of time for our 6:00 p.m. cruise across the lake on the TSS Earnslaw for a fabulous buffet dinner at the Walter Peak Farm. After dinner we were even treated to a sheep-shearing demonstration prior to arriving back “home” at the dock at 10 p.m. From our apartment we had a great view of the Queenstown fireworks display at Midnight!

Our 2008 Toyota Camry rented from Budget has served us exceptionally well, with plenty of room for the four of us and lots of luggage space in the trunk. From Christchurch we drove to Kaikoura on Christmas Day but were disappointed when our 12/26 dolphin-watching trip was cancelled due to rough surf. Fortunately we were able to book a similar trip out of Picton where we spent some time watching a pod of Dusky Dolphins (a smaller variety) cavort around the boat. Our main event the next day at Abel Tasman National Park was a sea kayak trip (double kayaks) which turned out to be a lot more work than we’d bargained-for, especially in paddling against the wind. Weather, however, was clear and the scenery spectacular.











Rugged coastline scenery—not too different from the Oregon Coast—was the order-of-the-day along the west coast when we stayed overnight at Hokitika and Haast, visiting the famous “Pancake Rocks” at Punakaiki and both the Franz Josef and the Fox Glaciers.


Even though it was partially cloudy, weather was clear enough at all points for good photos. While the glaciers are retreating rapidly due to global warming, it’s really impressive to see massive glaciers so close to sea level. (By the way, since New Zealand is 18 hours ahead of EST, we were able to watch the ball drop in Times Square at 6 p.m. on New Year’s Day!) - rw

Christmas Eve in Christchurch

It was great to meet Gary and Susan Fawver at the airport in Christchurch early on Christmas Eve, check-into our B&B for the evening, have dinner and then walk to Victoria Square to take-in the annual YMCA outdoor "Christmas Carol Sing."
It was an inspiring experience to join with thousands of others in a beautiful outdoor setting to sing the familiar carols of Christmas. - rw

In route to New Zealand

On Saturday, December 20th, we took the bus to Singapore and spent three delightful days with Mario and Beth Saez, Felipe and Sofia. Downtown Singapore -- especially Orchard Rd. -- was decorated lavishly with Christmas lights, so we both took a free tourist bus down Orchard Rd. to see the sights. Also, we couldn't pass-up walking into the lobby of the famous Raffles Hotel in order to capture a picture of Nsncy in front of their Christmas tree.

One "adventure" while in Singapore was riding on the famous "Singapore Flyer" which is pictured above. Our ride was uneventful but we learned the next day that a glitch in the system had caused the ride to shut-down with all passengers trapped for six hours in the glass-enclosed cars, requiring some to be lowered to the ground by rappelling!

In just a few days we packed-in quite a bit of sightseeing including a visit to the famous Singapore Botanical Garden and Orchid Garden. The hybrid orchid pictured is called "The Nelson Mandela Orchid" as a remembrance of a visit of his to Singapore.
We owe a great debt of thanks to Mario and Beth Saez for their wonderful hospitality. - rw

An Early KL Christmas

On Christmas Eve both of us expect to be standing outside in Victoria Square, Christchurch, New Zealand to take-in the annual YMCA "Christmas carol-sing." All hopes of a white Christmas are gone, however, since it will be summertime down under in New Zealand. (But, we're sure looking forward to the trip!) Meanwhile, here in Kuala Lumpur we celebrated Christmas early with Doug, Tracy, Reeve, Gabi and Rania on Thursday, Dec. 11th which happened to be a Malaysian holiday. "Christmas Dinner" featured Nancy's traditional menu with ham, twice-baked potatoes, frozen fruit salad and frozen ice cream/oreo dessert.

The day before our family Christmas gathering, December 10th, was Gabi's 5th birthday which we duly celebrated with birthday cake and presents.

On Sunday afternoon the 14th, Doug's family was able to "re-locate" back at their home in Bukit Antarabangsa since the temporary access road to bypass the landslide had been considerably improved. - rw

Yes, Christmas is approaching!

Here it is the 7th of December, so it must be time to get ready for Christmas! Thanks to Nancy's careful preparations, the entry way is decorated (pix above), the artificial tree is up, having been purchased for "a song" from the previous resident of our condo apartment, and most of our '08 Christmas letters have been dispatched via Malaysian airmail. Nancy was able to purchase the skirt for the Christmas tree from an ISKL Christmas bazaar that offered quilted products made by women in Indonesia working for Agape, a Christian organization that channels all the sale income back to the quilters.

On this first Sunday in December we are hosting Doug and Tracy, Reeve, Gabi and Rania at our place for a few days after a disastrous landslide up in their neighborhood (Bukit Antarabangsa) that knocked out electricity and blocked the only access road to their house. At about 5:00 p.m. yesterday I picked them up -- all of them muddy after walking out on a jungle path with only what they could carry on their backs. With borrowed clothes from the kids of fellow teachers and with the help of our washing machine, things are okay for now. Providentially, they were in the process of selling their Jeep and were able last night to reclaim it temporarily. Otherwise, they would be down here without a car. As I am making this posting on our blog, the other Woodwards are still down at KLCC after all of us attended the children's Christmas program at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. (Notice Gabi and Rania as "sheep"! Mary and Joseph are in the back.)