A Chinese New Year Sleepover

With a 4-day week-end at ISKL due to the holiday in Malaysia for Chinese New Year, we wanted to give Doug and Tracy a short break by having Reeve, Gabi and Rania for a Sunday night sleep-over. So, after church and a noon meal at our place for everyone, Doug and Tracy left and Nancy and I put all three kids down for naps. Afterwards we headed down to KLCC to tour the Petronas Oil Company's science-for-kids exhibit up on the 4th floor. On arriving, however, we discovered that Petrosains was sold-out for the day but that the adjacent dinosaur exhibit was available. So, we booked Petrosains for the next morning and enjoyed the "dinosaur experience."

Chicken nuggets at McDonalds followed the dinosaur experience prior to the journey home, baths and bed. On Monday morning after pancakes we headed back down to KLCC for Petrosains. All kinds of fun experiences were involved in the visit as the pictures illustrate.



Other happenings during the holiday sleepover included posing for pictures at Petrosains, exploring other parts of KLCC, having pizza at Pizza Hut, and reading stories at home. It might even be said that "a good time was had by all!" - rw

In the picture below, all of us are supposed to be really scared at the fearful prospect of being devoured by a dinosaur. And then, what about Rania?!!!

New Zealand - More Pictures!

One of the most impressive things about the South Island of New Zealand is the wide variety of landscapes as one drives from one part of the country to another. Sometimes you think you're on the Oregon Coast!
... and at other times you're blown away by the beauty of the multi-colored wildflowers. (Locals called them weeds; we called them Lupins!)


... so, much of the time we seemed to be taking pictures!

All of our lodgings were booked online well in advance of the trip. And, with two couples traveling together we were fortunate on some occasions to save money by booking a 2-bedroom unit with a kitchenette, and on one occasion, with a free washer and dryer right in the kitchen! And, it was great having such a good-looking couple traveling with us!

Again, waterfalls in Milford Sound were spectacular due to all of the recent rain.



One New Zealand highlight for all of us was the New Year's Eve trip across the lake at Queenstown on the MSS Earnslaw for a delicious full-course dinner at the Walker Peak Farm.

During the first half of our trip we had spectacular weather and thoroughly enjoyed it! - rw

Mt. Cook National Park

The last segment of our NZ trip involved driving from Queenstown to Mt. Cook (for 2 nights) and then to the airport at Christchurch where Gary and Susan had a flight out on Qantas for four days in Fiji before returning to Oregon. After dropping them off at the airport, we checked-into a B&B in Christchurch and continued to explore the town centre on foot.




Before leaving Queenstown, however, Nancy and Susan discovered lawn bowling in a beautiful park not far from our lodgings. The second picture was designed to portray Nancy’s glee at besting Susan in scoring! While driving toward Mt. Cook NP we had one 15-minute delay on the highway while a farmer figured out how to get his dairy cattle to abandon their blockade of the road.

We had excellent accommodations at the Alpine Lodge at Mt. Cook; however, rain was the order of the day during most of the time we were there. On our lay-over day we attempted to hike up the Hooker Valley for a spectacular view but had to turn back due to strong wind and rain that came into us on almost a horizontal plane.




“The Last Supper” (the last evening meal with the four of us together) was an amazingly delicious buffet at the Hermitage Hotel on the evening of January 7.

In spite of our inability to ever see the full mountain in all its glory, we did manage some fine pictures.




Back in Christchurch we said farewell to Gary and Susan on Jan. 8th at the end of a wonderful trip and then spent some time later in the afternoon wandering through the botanical garden very near the town centre. - rw

The Milford Sound Report

After leaving Queenstown on January 2nd, the four of us drove less than 200 km. to Te Anau where we spent the night at the Cat’s Whiskers Motel, owned by a very
friendly couple. By 8:30 a.m. on the 3rd we began the famous 120 km.
Milford Road that took us through dramatic mountain scenery to Milford Sound, with stunning fields of lupine en route. The weather was showery throughout causing us to abort a 2-3 hour hike to a picturesque summit after a ½ hour on the trail.
At a scenic roadside stop Gary Fawver entered into conversation with a kea, a parrot-like bird common to the area, a species which is so tame that many of them turn out to be real pests.














With Nancy driving the mountain road we arrived in Milford Sound in plenty of time for our 4:30 p.m. departure on the Milford Wanderer, operated by Real Journeys. The overnight cruise was a unique experience. The four of us shared a tiny “quad room” with two bunk beds and the showers right next door but the toilets requiring a walk upstairs to the stern of the ship. Dinner on board was first-class and breakfast the next morning more than adequate.


Before dinner Gary and Susan went for a nature cruise in a small “tender” that took 18 passengers on a 30-minute tour in the sheltered bay where we anchored for the night while Ron joined a bunch of others on a short jaunt in kayaks.
Again, the weather was never clear except in the middle of the night when both Gary and Nancy reported seeing stars overhead; however, the off-and-on rain showers—together with lots of rain on previous days—created literally scores of waterfalls that came plunging off the huge glacially-carved cliffs that surround Milford Sound.

Watching a pod of dolphins cavorting right beside the cruise ship definitely added to the experience.

Tonight (1/4) we’re staying in “chalets” at the Milford Sound Lodge entertaining a faint hope for clear weather tomorrow which would enable us to try the summit hike once again as we head back to Te Anau and Queenstown prior to two nights at Mt. Cook National Park. - rw