5August2011
Posted by Gill under: 2011.
1. Micah and family time!!
2. Daytrip to Powerscourt House & Gardens – extensive grounds and views to Sugarloaf Mountain. www.powerscourt.ie
Yummy lunch at Avoca cafe www.avoca.ie with delightful “window shopping” – we need one of these experiences at home!
3. Daytrip by DART (train) to Greystones with views of the Irish coast. Discovered another yummy lunch spot – Three Q’s in Greystones Village – mmm so much for the diet! But quite a lot of walking too 
4. Yachts, fishing boats and ferries passing by the lounge window.
5. Summertime!
See new photos.
4August2011
Posted by Gill under: Background.
We have created an album for our photos and will keep adding to this album as we go.
Go to the address below to check new posts – if you would like to comment on any photo(s) you will need to create a Google account- just follow the steps!
https://picasaweb.google.com/margilphotos
3August2011
Posted by Gill under: 2011.
Safely in the lovely little village of Dalkey, Dublin with one very cute little grandson who has an Irish passport! So great to meet him at last! Micah is doing very well now and is full of smiles and “chatter!”. Enjoying lots of cuddles, chat and walks around the village together.
The temperature here is definitely a shade or two cooler than Shanghai and London but very pleasant for strolling! Great sea views being enjoyed too from Matt and Kat’s apartment right beside the cliff edge. Yesterday we also enjoyed some views of Dublin city from the top of the Google building including the new Landsdowne Road stadium, just a stones throw from Matt’s office.
Finally today, had my first good cafe coffee since leaving home so all is good!
Working on some photos!
31July2011
Posted by mark under: 2011.
The Yu gardens were a stunning start to the day – originally a private garden over 2ha, 16 years to build during the Ming dynasty. Now under cultural preservation – beautiful vistas, rock formations, bonsai, relics etc, the zigzag bridge of 9 turnings, lotus pools, turtles and very large koi carp!
By now very hot and hazy, not clearing so decided to spend rest of the day hopping between air-conditioned attractions as much as possible! The Urban Planning Exhibition Centre was an excellent choice displaying Shanghai, past, present & future. Amazing models of the city with light display & including the deep water port accessed by 34 km bridge , photo histories and plans for the future – 9 new cities, 60 towns, more rural villages and all the associated infrastructure including eco considerations – amazing!! Next stop Shanghai Museum was less appealing to us but LOL – feature exhibition is Maori taonga from the Otago Museum!!
We ended the day caught out (literally) by a large thunder and lightening storm and downpour. Sheltered in a flash hotel lobby and planned our return strategy over a beer! Off to Heathrow in the am! Glad we did river cruise etc yesterday- poor views in the haze today!
30July2011
Posted by mark under: 2011.
Very hot in Shanghai today – bit hard to know how hot cause Mark’s usual source of such information – Google search is blocked here! Checked in about 10.30 am had a rest and freshen up and then walked about 10 mins to the Bund area – had an explore – went through a cool cable car tunnel (Bund Sightseeing Tunnel) under the river and then up the iconic Oriental Pearl Tower for lookout over the city. Did a tiki tour of the city then jumped on a twilight river tour – whereas the city is perhaps a little drab and dusty during the day, at night it comes alive as the buildings old (neo-classic) and new (all shapes & sizes) on both sides of the bund are lit up with lights many quite fantastic creations. Fascinating! Ongoing view of the lights from our window! Drinking heaps of water!!
23July2011
Posted by Gill under: 2011.
Micah arrived 10 weeks early in Dublin on February 19th 2011 after 4 anxious weeks hanging in there! He is now progressing very well indeed and we have booked to go and visit! We leave at the end of July flying to Dublin via Shanghai. After a couple of weeks in Dublin we will depart for several weeks of cruising around – Croatia, Greece, Prague and Russia – Moscow to St Petersburg. Home mid-September and hopefully we will have avoided the worst of the NZ winter! We will keep you posted on our travels via this blog.
1June2011
Posted by Gill under: 2010.
To briefly catch you up on our news – the edited New Year letter
Matt and Kat remain resident in Dublin – Matt is loving his work with Google as a Site Reliability Engineer. Kat is working freelance from their home in the suburb of Dalkey, right on the Irish coast , where she is inspired by the views of the Irish Sea not too many metres from their door. We are very excited by their news that we are to be grandparents in early May – hence our holidays later in the 2011 year when we plan to head to Ireland!! Matt and Kat were “home” in NZ briefly for Christmas – was great to see them and the bump! (the little “Brown” kiwi).
Andrew and Sarah have had a great year fine tuning their house and garden in Hamilton East – the garden flourishes and keeps us well supplied with yummy produce. Andrew continues work as a senior manager for Dick Smith and Sarah at World of Water – aquariums and fish. It is great having them close by and keeping us on our toes!! They are looking forward to a cruise in May 2011.
Chris managed a brief trip home for a week in early November between changing positions on Hayman Island (5 star resort). He is currently a Butler and thoroughly enjoying different opportunities, networking and being responsible for all aspects of his guests’ holiday! The Great Barrier Reef remains for the moment a great place to live, work and dive.
Mark returned fulltime employment in September accepting a position as CEO of Life Unlimited a disability service provider based here in Hamilton. After 3 years as a consultant there are some changes to adjust to, but he is enjoying the change of focus with responsibility for ongoing leadership of an organisation in a field he knows well at grass roots level. Fishing and gardening remain key leisure time interests.
Gill continues to work in the early childhood sector. Weekends away at Waihi Beach have featured frequently for us this year and “fair weather” fishing is starting to appeal – culinary creations using the product without having to catch it remains way ahead though! Sadly this year (while I was away doing earthquake duty in Christchurch) our little dog Buddy was put to sleep after a brief period of declining health. She was about 14 years old. I have missed her more than I thought I would.
Thoughts of our relocation to a smaller property and the beach are featuring on the radar though proving an initial challenge – where and when to start with! Meantime we continue to enjoy our river views and tranquil surroundings and have spare beds and coffee / tea ready for visitors!! Do invite yourselves for a visit if you are in the area.
13October2009
Posted by mark under: Background.
A brief stop over in Hong Kong – changing airlines mean schedules do not match – checked into Novotel Citygate near the airport – opportunity in the morning for a ride on the gondola across the bay with great views of the airport and through peaks to a village and back again. Very pleasant way to spend an hour or two.
Checking in for flight back to Sydney with Cathay Pacific and on to Auckland with Qantas – and now Cathay have very helpfully offerred a seat on the direct flight to Auckland – arriving 7 hours earlier which is a great way to finish the travels. Fourteen flights in the whole safari become thirteen
12October2009
Posted by mark under: Background.
Arrive in Dubai around midnight – the busiest time apparently for the airport. The Emirates flight is parked on the tarmac miles from the terminal and 15 min bus ride to the terminal! long queues at customs! a shouting match between some Arabs when some people made a mistake and were perceived to have jumped the queue. Hotel is comfortable but not 5 star on the beach – couldn’t afford that – sigh! Welcome sleepin in the morning. Visit to the gold souk – well out of my depth there!!
Afternoon went on a desert safari – turned out to be 45 4WDs from the company met in the desert – our driver a Pakistani been in Dubai for 30 years was intent on giving maximum thrills – was an excellent experience – defintely exciting and not for the faint hearted. Some people tried boarding down the sand slope and others of us had a brief camel ride, then a decent BBQ dinner and bellydancing show. Overall was a great experience – clearly Dubai needs more than one day to do it justice! Never got to the beach, the waterfront developments or the malls – last on my list anyway…
To be fair the new Emirates terminal is very impressive – the check in hall was huge and no queues – the whole process was very quick even though I was finding my way – kiosk terminal to print boarding pass – no queue at bag drop – no queue at immigration or security – maybe 20 mins at most to get from entry to airside, and there were lots of flights going in a short space of time. Had an airbridge to flight this time – the first time in 4 landings/takeoffs. Overall I am impressed by the new Dubai airport and Emirates as an airline. Bound now for Hong Kong.
10October2009
Posted by mark under: Background.
An interesting, encouraging and productive week working alongside CCBRT to monitor and evaluate a programme funded by NZAid and cbm. CCBRT (Comprehensive Commuity Base Rehabilitation Tanzania) is a Tanzanian based organisation established originally by cbm and now an independent entity. Services are centered around a disability hospital – about 200 beds in Dar es Salaam and an outreach clinic in Kilimanjaro. The hospital has a very busy eye department providing treatment and surgery and an orthopaedic department. From these bases also significant programmes seek to identify and assist and support people with disabilities in surrounding communities. CCBRT also have an ambitious project they are fundraising for now to build a maternity hospital at the Dar es Salaam site – on the basis of seeking to prevent disabilites many of which are a direct result of poor birthing practices and care.
The project we were evaluating is based in Manzese (a large informal urban slum area in Dar es Salaam) – the focus of the work has been establishing a day care centre where children with disabilites are cared for and supported 6 hours per day Mon – Fri providing relief for the mothers. Many men leave their wives when a child is found to have a disability so mothers are left to care alone. There were one or two fathers also involved. As well as providing support, physio excercises, skills and information the day care also provides time when mothers can be supported to develop income producing skills
So the week involved:
- meeting all the key staff at Monday morning meeting
- visiting the Manzese Day Care Centre and the mothers support group
- visiting and talking with the local school principal where the day care is located, another school where 2 children with disabilities are mainstreamed, and another school where there are 4 classrooms for deaf children integrated with the school – typical classrooms have 100 children – the classrooms for the deaf had about 20 and the children had made great progress
- talked to the Manzese local authority exec office and committee who are supporting the initiative
- visited another similar but different day care in another urban slum area funded by EU
- visited the very impressive Mibinti Centre run by the CEO’s wife where woman who have had vaginal vesticular surgery (to cure fistula problems (incontinence), which can occur after prolonged or difficult childbirth attend for up to 18 months training to develop income producing skills making a range of quality handcrafts
- the programme was arranged very thoughtfully so that field visits took place in the mornings so that the afternoon when it gets very hot we were involved in discussion, debriefing and report writing in the office
All in all CCBRT is a very impressive and professional organisation. The Manzese project although it had a slow start was now at a very encouraging point and going well – the day centre building which had undergone major refurbishment was a practical and welcoming environment. We were able to discuss and consider with the CCBRT staff the challenges and issues to be addressed for the next stages.
The week ended with an invitation on Friday evening to join the CEO and other staff at a reception hosted by KLM airline celebrating 90 years, and to give a modest donation to CCBRT. The reception was in the most upmarket hotel in town on the top floor overlooing Dar port and harbour – drinks and food and embassy and diplomatic staff and whos who of expats. Very interesting other side of life to Manzese.
Saturday a quiet morning and to airport in afternoon – got a lift with another aid agency – traffic was very heavy so we ended up taking some “short cuts” and driving “high speed” through slum roads – an interesting experience!! Skilfull driver thankfully. Flight to Dubai on the way home.