Kiwiblog

Seven of us decided to kayak to Ruby Island on Lake Wanaka on Saturday. It was a brilliant thing to do. Around 45 minutes each way, and a picnic lunch on the island.

This is the view from the picnic area we found on the island.

The group getting the bubbles and sandwiches out for lunch.

Tea Party Girl playing frisbee.

The view from the front of the island. Could never get sick of it.

Part of the island. It take barely 20 minutes to do a loop around it.

The view inland. Lovely clear waters.

Part of the track around the island.

Handy Girl coming into land.

It was such a hot day, a couple of us went around the lake and decided to go in for a swim. We learnt that no matter how hot the day, the water is still freezing! I lasted five minutes or so. despite the cold was a nice way to finish the day, before heading back home for drinks.

Definitely loving my Wanaka experience. Not spent much time here since I was a student and working on Cardrona Skifield.

This half day walk must rank of one of the most spectacular in New Zealand. I can not recommend it highly enough.

Even the drive to the starting point is superbly scenic. You drive for around an hour from Wanaka into the Matukituki Valley. Most of the 54 km road is unsealed and you cross around half a dozen fords, but they can be done without a 4WD. The drive through the valley is beautiful, with scores of waterfalls.

You park at Raspberry Flat and head off along the West Matukituki River.

You walk through farmland for around 15 minutes.

Then you have the swing bridge over the West Matukituki River. It is rather bouncy!

There is a fairly steep ascent, and then you get a nice view of the Matukituki Valley as you fork off it. Those who are doing overnight tramps continue up the valley.

A lovely backdrop at the rest bench, where Earnest Girl and I take a break.

You then head along next to the Rob Roy Stream, and again reasonably steep climb in places, but not too bad. You ascend around 400 metres in total. As you can see, a few challenges along the way.

If that rock came down, you’d need DNA to identify you!

They may call it a stream, but it is pretty strong as the glacier water flows down it. You spend most of your time next to the stream.

Almost at the top, this is the view of where you have come from.

Then you see the bottom of the Rob Roy Glacier. You end up less than 100 metres from it, and the ice is 15 metres or so thick I would say. Despite being so high up, it wasn’t too cold – even in t-shirt and shorts.

One of the waterfalls at the top.

The end of the track, with some information on the glacier.

One of the Keas that hangs around there.

Our group about to start the champagne lunch to celebrate making it up there.

Rob Roy Glacier

EveryTrail – Find hiking trails in California and beyond
Above is the map of the trail. It is 10 kms in total, and up took around 90 minutes and down around 75 minutes. Again, it is a stunning walk, and must be one of the best in NZ. We all had a great time.

In Queenstown I was staying at the Lake Hayes Estate, which is of course next to Lake Hayes. I’ve heard about the lovely walk around the lake, but the weather looked like I wouldn’t get to do it. However on my last day there, the rain stopped around 7 pm, so I headed out. It was around 15 minutes to the lake, and I did the circuit in around 90 minutes. The last quarter I jogged as I heard thunder and the rain started again.

On the path down to the lake, a paddock of deer.

You then start off at lake level on a nice path.

Then as you go up, you get a pretty great lake view. Bear in mind this is in the evening.

The path winds around the hills.

Another great lake view.

Then after you head down, you circle around through nice grass areas.

A very old house on the lakefront.

And a much more modern one. A lakeside house would be very cool. Many of them have boats out front.

And finally a bush walk path back to the beginning.

A very serene walk, if you are in the area.

Arrowtown

EveryTrail – Find the best hikes in California and beyond

Went to Arrowtown and Glenorchy yesterday. Arrowtown is lovely and did a quick 5 km walk alongside the Arrow River, which is above. Lots of people out enjoying it.

Then headed back to Queenstown and down around Lake Wakatipu to Glenorchy.

A sunbathing platform out from the wharf.

The view across Lake Wakatipu.

Glenorchy itself. Not a lot to do here, but a few cafes and some great views. Worth a visit.

I’m in Wanaka from 2nd to 5th or 6th of January and it seems Wanaka is one of those places easier to get into than out of.

They have no rental car agencies, and there is only one flight to Christchurch a day, costing $400!

There is a bus service to Christchurch, but I have a loathing of travelling on long distance buses.

So the purpose of the post is to see if any readers happen to be travelling from Wanaka to Christchurch around the 5th  to 7th of January and have a spare seat?

Failing that my Wanaka hostess has said she will lend me a piece of cardboard and a mini-skirt so I can show some leg off and try and hitch a lift!  think we can agree that is a scenario best avoided.

Two sweltering days for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

You know it is a rare day in Wellington when people are not just on the beach, but actually in the water. It was a rare no wind day. A perfect Christmas present for the city.

Took this while walking home from my parents place in Roseneath. A nice view to end the day on.

The next day I drove up to Vinegar Hill Camping Grounds near Hunterville, where some friends were staying.  It was also a blisteringly hot day and the campsite is just in a beautiful location next to the Rangitikei River. I wish I had the time to stay on.

Miss Z showing off her strength. It was a kids and dogs day during the day, with whiskey and poker for the evening!

This was doggie heaven. A river to cool off down, and lots to explore.

One of the favourite games was throwing a stick into the river and see the dogs retrieve it. The largest dog is a damn good swimmer and would battle a pretty strong current to stop the stick getting away.

The day got so hot, that eventually I took the plunge myself and decided to let the current take me down to the far end of the campsite – around half a km downstream. It was superb fun, except for the fact I hadn’t realised there was one set of rapids on the way! I got the odd cut but hell it was worth it!

So a great Christmas and Boxing Days with family and friends. Tomorrow head to the South Island to catch up with more friends. Not back in Wellington until mid to late January!

Did the Mt Vic loop walk this morning. At first overcast and looked like rain, but by the end of the walk, the sun had burnt all the cloud away and was sweltering. 85 minutes in total and you do 5 kms but a fair amount of uphill. It is basically a figure of eight loop.

You start at Charles Plimmer Park at the top of Majoribanks Street and head up on the Hataitai to City walk track. This is the one that had Lord of the Rings filmed just off it.

A view of central to southern suburbs as you head along the western side of Mt Vic.

That looks like some sort of observatory near Government House. Anyone know what it is exactly?

Nice shadowy bush track on the eastern side.

This tree is on a definite lean!

The Hataitai Velodrome, which you circle around.

Charles Plimmer Park where you start and finish.

There are literally scores of walking and cycling tracks on Mt Vic. If I loved lived next to it, I’d spend all my time exploring them.

The loop track isn’t signposted as such. It is a combination of four other tracks. But once you work out where to go, it is a great view of both the CBD and the eastern suburbs.

Last time I did this track, they found a dead person there the next day – hopefully no repeat this time!

As an centre-right person it is no surprise I have supported most of what the Government has done. But that doesn’t mean there have not been issues where I disagree with them, or support something from other parties, or give an opinion that isn’t helpful to the Government. I’ve had a quick look through the archives, and below are a surprising large number of links:

• I say National is the under-dog for 2014
• I call for Cabinet to be reduced from 20 to 12
• I call for significant caucus rejuvenation for 2014
• I labelled the National MPs blog “the greatest cure for insomnia ever invented” and a typical post as “so mind numbingly boring, that I only subject my eyeballs to them around twice a year, as they start bleeding as I read about some organic carrot farm they have opened“
• I blog in favour of Labour MP David Clark’s Mondayisation bill
• I praise Winston for his scrutiny of Whanua Ora
• I call for more funding of the Ombudsmen
• I blog in favour of removing the one seat threshold for MMP
• I say we should be ashamed of the slavery on our seas, and blog on this several times calling for the Govt to take action
• I support Trevor Mallard’s call for significant SOPs to be provided in advance to the opposition
• I supported the call for a full independent inquiry into the ACC Pullar issue
• I expose Vic Uni’s attempts to scam the PBRF system
• I said that taxpayer funding should not be used for Judith Collins lawsuit (it wasn’t)
• I label the first three months of 2012 as National’s Quartus Horribillis
• I mock the claim Murray McCully is not a micro-manager, saying “If Murray isn’t a micro-manager, then Grace Quek is a virgin“
• I submit to the MMP review for lowering the 5% threshold to 4%. My submission disagrees with National’s submission on almost every issue.
• I give Green MP Julie-Anne Genter a guest post on Roads of National Significance
• I support Charles Chauvel and Law Commission on a three warning approach to cannabis
• I pronounce the ACT Party dead
• I criticise John Banks for his lobbying on behalf of Kim Dotcom, knowing he was a likely donor.
• I blog in support of the Meatworkers Union over a proposed employment contract from Talleys
• I support Labour MP Su’a William Sio over comments he made
• I support David Shearer’s call for cross-party talks on superannuation and lifting the age to 67.
• I actively campaign against the Government’s proposal to raise the alcohol purchase age for off licenses.
• I call National’s stance on superannuation as fiscally not credible, and could damage them in 2014
• I criticise the handling of the Budget announcement on class sizes
• I support Labour’s criticism of the Housing NZ call centre
• I profile the 7th Labour Government and predict Jacinda Ardern will be the Prime Minister of it
• I call on the Govt to set up a royal commission on retirement savings
• I support some of Labour MP Iain Lees-Galloway’s alcohol law amendments on advertising
• I blog support for Labour MP Maryan Street’s euthansia bill
• I say the proposed constitutional reforms for Labour should result in a stronger party for them.
• I praise the appointment of Tim Barnett as Labour Party General Secretary
• I say it is not good that John Banks signed a donation return saying he did not know who his donors were, when he was involved in personally receiving two of the donations.
• I blog on how opposition MPs have made a positive difference with their private members bills
• I support the partial opening of Parliament up to the OIA
• I again say National should support David Clark’s Mondayisation bill
• I called on the Govt to delay the partial asset sales, to wait for the Waitangi Tribunal Report
• I criticise National for not getting more members bills into the ballot
• I blog several times in favour of Labour MP Louisa Wall’s marriage bill
• I slam the decision to delay the Ecan elections as “wrong”
• I praise Winston for his motion recognising Nancy Wake’s 100th birthday
• I praise Labour’s policy on reading recovery
• I say there is “no excuse for a mistake of this magnitude” on the incorrect info re a possible merger of Shirley and Chch Boys High Schools
• I criticise the Government for not supporting greater protection of the Ross Sea
• I support introducing a PMs question time to Parliament, to allow greater questioning of the PM
• I say there should be an inquiry into how NZ authorities deal with extradition requests
• In relation to the Chch schools announcement I say “I’m staggered by that degree of insensitivity and stupidity” and that “almost everything about the announcement was flawed”
• I publish staff numbers for ministerial offices
• I say the Govt should repeal Section 6A, not amend it
• I again label the Ecan decision inexplicable and “ wrong in principle and it’s wrong politically”
• I blog in support of Clare Curran’s amendment to the Patents Act, and against the Govt SOP, saying I hope ACT and United Future vote against National on this issue
• I say there must be a full inquiry into the MSD data breach and encourage donations to Keith Ng for his work
• I support Kevin Hague’s adoption reform bill
• I agree with Phil Goff on the pay rise for the MFAT CEO
• I support Gareth Hughes’ copyright bill to allow parody and satire as fair use
• I call for the Govt to hold an inquiry into the GCSB, modify the Chch schools proposal and change their stance on ECan elections
• I support Sue Moroney’s amendment to have calorie information on alcohol
• I say heads must roll over the MSD data breach
• I criticise National for the bill which would ban drug sniffer dogs from schools
• I blog Audrey Young’s ratings of National Ministers and comment they “have been a bit generous to a couple of Ministers”
• I blog against a National MPs members bill
• I criticise the Govt’s cellphone in car ban
• I credit Winston for his handling of the Horan allegations
• I say the Govt should not subsidise fibre with copper
• I praise aspects of the Greens ICT discussion paper
• I later say “I’m quite dismayed [with] the Government’s response to the Commerce Commission’s draft copper pricing determination” and “To be blunt the Government should shut the hell up on the Commerce Commission’s draft determination.”

I will use this post as a reference point for the next idiot who states that I always agree with National and never criticize them.

For around a year, I’ve had a problem where my web browser (Chrome) stops working a couple fo times a day, and I get the message:

The server at www.kiwiblog.co.nz (or whichever page it is) can’t be found, because the DNS lookup failed. DNS is the network service that translates a website’s name to its Internet address. This error is most often caused by having no connection to the Internet or a misconfigured network. It can also be caused by an unresponsive DNS server or a firewall preventing Google Chrome from accessing the network.

What is puzzling is that I still get Internet access for e-mail, tweet deck etc.

Now the problem goes away when I turn the ADSL wireless router off and on after the usual two minute wait to reboot. I assumed it was a router problem. However Vodafone kindly sent me a brand new router, and annoyingly the problem hasn’t gone away.

Anyone got any ideas what it may be? It is especially annoying if I type up a blog post and lose it, because the web isn’t properly connected.

Red Rocks

EveryTrail – Find hiking trails in California and beyond

This was a fun, but tough walk.

The first couple of kms are the popular walk from the Brooklyn Wind Turbine to the Hawkins Hill Radar. Uphill, but not too steep except at the end as you pass the Wellington Castle and the nice dogs there try to jump over the fence to rip your throat out.

Instead of turning back, you carry on past the radar, and carry along the 4WD track past a couple more communication buildings. You get great views of the western wind turbines as you head towards the trig station. Pretty windy up there.

The track from the trig on is more narrow and mainly downhill. It is incredibly steep in some places, and combined with gravel paths, the potential for disaster is high. I only fell over once (a nice grazed right leg to show for it) but at times had to side-step down the slope. It was tough going.

While mainly downhill, there are parts where you go back uphill again, and again very steep in parts. We did a total of around 250 metres vertically uphill and 600 metres vertically downhill.

Towards the end you hit the old WWII observation bunkers. Stunning views of the ocean and South Island. The map says there is a track to the right and to the left. However to the right looked like a cliff, smelt like a cliff, sounded like a cliff and we concluded was a cliff. We later learnt there is no path there now.

The path to the left (follow the yellow markers) turned out to have its challenges also. At first a nice walk down a valley, but then it joined another valley and the path turned into a stream. And while the stream had little water, it had a downhill gradient in places of 45 degrees or so. Think climbing down wet rocks, more than walking.

It was with some relief we hit Red Rocks below. A bach owner told us we were the only people that weekend to do the track. I was not totally surprised. Don’t get me wrong – I loved the challenge, and the views. But the steep downhill is not for the faint hearted.

We then had a three km walk or so around the coastline to the Te Kopahau car park. Almost 12 kms all up and took three hours 20 minutes.

Next week in the Mt Victoria loop track which will be considerably easier.

Otari Skyline

EveryTrail – Find hiking trails in California and beyond

Did this afternoon the Otari Skyline loop walk, which starts at the Troup Picnic Area and up the blue trail too the 800 year old Rimu tree. Then carry on uphill, with a fairly steep incline, until you cross the pine forest and hit the open. A bit further uphill gets you to the Skyline Track and you follow this North for a bit and then head back down to Otari via the yellow trail.

Took 1 hr 45 minutes, which was good as the guide book said two and a half hours. Some great views and good workout for the calves.

Southern Walkway

EveryTrail – Find hiking trails in California and beyond

On Sunday myself and Jordan and Ski Bunny Girl and Gym Girl did the Southern Walkway. My plan is to do 13 great Wellington walks over 13 weekends. This was the first of them.

Despite growing up in the southern suburbs, I had never done the Southern Walkway before. We started off in Island Bay and walked around the bays to Houghton Bay. I bored everyone with stories of my how I used to deliver papers there and my techniques for maximising tips!

Then up the hill through Melrose and Mt Albert with good views of the Southern and Eastern suburbs. Then you head down through Newtown hitting the boundary of the zoo and seeing the orangutans. Go through the hidden away Truby King Park which looked so nice I’m going to head back just to explore.

We then headed down to near Kilbirnie, then up Mt Victoria. Eventually hitting the lookout where the girls doted on a huge dog (it was only 6 months old, so will grow to double its current size which was already close to a polar bear!), and finally a winding path down to Oriental Bay, with some stunning views on the way.

The guide says it takes four to five hours, and we did it in two and three quarters of an hour so a reasonably good pace considering there are two hills large hills to traverse.

Next weekend is the Sanctuary to Sea walkway.

At Glee Girl’s farewell party last night and the theme was dress as a NZ icon. Almost everyone guessed who I was meant to be (and in fact many other guests borrowed the jersey and bag to get photos of them dressed up with them) but what was amusing were the variety of guesses for Glee Girl. They were:

• Paula Bennett
• Nicky Watson
• Chloe of Wainuiomata
• Lynn of Tawa
• Cheryl West
• Christine Rankin
• Penny (with my as Sheldon)
• Kim Kardashian
• Judith Collins
• Betty Turpin (Coro Street)
• Wilma (and Fred)

The correct answer was in fact Cheryl West!

I was very fortunate to be a guest of the United States Marine Corps for their birthday ball last weekend. It was held in the Amora Hotel Ballroom, and was a great night. They had a video presentation on the history of the Marine Corps, and various speeches as part of an interesting formal ceremony. Then after that the dinner and the dancing.

In the booklet we were given, they had some quotes from or about the Marine Corps over time. Some of my favourites are:

The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps! - Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States, 1945

Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don’t have that problem. 
Ronald Reagan, President of the United States; 1985

“Sometimes it is entirely appropriate to kill a fly with a sledge-hammer!” - MAJ. HOLDREDGE 

“Retreat Hell! We’re just attacking in another direction.” (Attributed to Major General Oliver P. Smith, USMC, Korea, December 1950.)

WARRIORS BY DAY, LOVERS BY NIGHT, PROFESSIONALS BY CHOICE, AND MARINES BY THE GRACE OF GOD.

The girls at my table like the last quote especially

Melissa Lee with Major General Ron Bailey, the commander of the Marines 1st Division. I’ve never seen a Major General dance Gangum Style before. We told Melissa that we expected her to be very proficient at it, as she is Korean

The US and Marine flags.

Cutting the cake!

Jordan and Stephanie having fun.

But not as much fun as these girls – that photo could have gone terribly wrong

Everywhere they are doing Gangnam Style!

Oh yeah, I couldn’t resist a photo with Glee Girl either.

Many thanks to the Marines and the US Embassy for a great night. Lots of fun, and great to support a fine institution. Semper Fi.

All the photos are from the US Embassy Flickr account.

Best dancer of the night was clearly Dr Duane McWaine!

I’ve been looking forward to the Tigers of Wrath for a couple of months. The publicity blurb is:

Beijing, 1974 – Trish and Pauline are Maoists on a New Zealand Students’ Association trip to Red China. Also on the trip is Oliver, a radical would-be writer.

Twenty years later Trish is a second term labour MP, plotting the dumping of Labour Party leader, Mike Moore.

I was not disappointed. It was a great play. Political geeks especially will love the second act – but it will appeal to a wider audience.

You first see Neenah Dekkers-Reihana as a young Chinese revolutionary brandishing a wooden rifle. Then we’re in the bunkroom of Trish and Pauline.

Pauline and Trish are fighting as only comrades of the left can – over purity. Trish wants to see the Great Wall of China, but Pauline lectures here that they are not here as tourists – they are here to learn Maoism and spread the revolution.

It soon becomes clear Pauline and Trish are lovers, not just comrades. Heather O’Carroll plays the staunch Pauline and Kate Prior plays Trish.  After a flaming argument, Heather storms out and the long haired Oliver (played by Nathan Meister) enters to check if Trish is okay.

The resulting scene is comedy gold. Oliver ignores her demands to go away, and tries to make apparent that he also likes Trish. After commenting on how remarkable her eyes are, and being challenged by her on what he means by that, he says “They are beautiful like two street lights outside a brothel”. She spends many minutes ridiculing him on this, and Prior does a superb job of portraying Trish as playful and vulnerable. She reacts better to another of his cheesy lines and they eventually bond over discovering they both have the book Middlemarch as their favourite read.

Act II is 20 years later in 1994. Trish is now a Labour MP married to Oliver, a lawyer. Neenah plays their teenage daughter, and she adds great comedy value to the act. We see Trish plotting with a colleague on rolling Mike Moore to replace him with Helen. The dialogue is absolutely credible, the list of who will vote which way pretty spot on, and the critique of Moore hilarious. They had actual quotes from the past such as Lange saying Moore is a pinball machine designed by a colour blind person. Also a great quote of how Michael Cullen is the sort of person who enters a revolving door behind you and comes out in front.

The line that got the most laughs was after Trish’s phone call, when she goes back to asking Oliver if he is cheating on her. She calls him a sell out as he is no longer doing work helping migrants for free, but is now an immigration consultant. He responds by proclaiming “Well what the hell is the Labour MP for New Lynn doing living in Herne Bay”. Huge laughter from the audience, as most (including Labour MPs there) correctly concluded that that line was not necessarily directed at Trish!

Act III in 2009 sees Oliver run into Pauline in a Mangere pub. They have not seen each other in 35 years and this is the first time they appear on screen together. Finally she recognises him as the “cunt who stole my girlfriend”. I won’t give the rest of Act III away, but its a good finale to the play.

The actors all performed really well. Quite a challenge to portray the same character 20 and then 35 years later. But the use of wigs on Oliver and a nice corporate suit for Trish helps them do the job.

An interesting profile on playwright Dean Parker in the Listener. He says he never went to China himself as he was a Trot not a Maoist! He obviously has some good sources in Labour as Act II was all too believable.

A very enjoyable play with some great acting which is a must see for political geeks.

Theatreview liked the play also. It is on until 1 December.

Saw this ODT article on my old Otago hostel:

The University of Otago will carry out earthquake strengthening at Carrington College over the summer holidays as it awaits the results of further assessments on some of its buildings.

The work at the residential hall Carrington College is part of a $50 million earthquake-strengthening programme unveiled by the university earlier this year.

At the time, Otago University chief operating officer John Patrick said it was hoped to complete strengthening work by 2019. After the first round of building assessments, only the Scott building – at between 25% and 30% of new building standard (NBS) for earthquake strength – was found to be earthquake prone.

Other buildings assessed in the round including the School of Medicine’s Lindo Fergusson building and Scott building, the arts building and the clocktower buildings were found to be less than the university’s draft target of 67% of NBS for its older buildings – meaning that work would have to be carried out to bring them up to that standard.

Since then, Linton House at Carrington College had been found to be earthquake prone – at 28% of NBS – in July.

Hmmn Linton House is the house I was in. Glad there were no earthquakes when I was at Carrington!

Mind you I may have contributed  to the lack of strength in Linton House. I heard about how the smallest room in the hostel (Linton 2) had a record of managing to get 40 or so people in it despite being something like 2.5m by 1.5m in size. It was called the closet.

I am competitive and like breaking records so tried to beat that one weekend. By having girls go on the shoulders of guys, we managed to fit 78 people into the room, which was truly impressive. We also had an ODT photographer perched on the top of the closet who managed to get a nice aerial shot of us in the room.

The photo appeared on the ODT front page, and not surprisingly was seen by the Warden who summoned me and went on at some length over breach of fire regulations, damage to the ceiling of the dining room (beneath us). My meetings with the Warden on such issues were semi-regular.

An earthquake during the 78 people in the room would have been very unfortunate. I suspect we may have made world news though, and possibly won a Darwin Award

This is the path into Ta Prohm. It is different to most of the other temples, in that it is still surrounded by jungle.

The entrance to Ta Prohm. It is the temple where Lara Croft’s Tomb Raider was filmed.

The incredible power of nature. Over 900 years this tree has forced it roots through huge solid stone walls.

If you were designing an ancient temple ruins set for a movie, this is what you’d design. It’s absolutely spectacular the blend of jungle and temple. If I wasn’t there in person, I’d think it was photoshopped. A must see.

Angkor Thom is a short distance from the more famous Angkor Wat. In some ways it is more impressive. Angkor Thom was the capital city of the Khmer Empire and the ruins cover 9 square kilometres.

The main entrance above the moat has scores of busts of gods and demons lining the sides.

The entrance into Bayon, the temple at the heart of Angkor Thom.

Touring Angkor Thom by elephant!

Bayon Temple.

The name, for those lost.

More of the wonderful artwork.

The inner temple.

One of the many faces of presumably King Jayavarman VII. who built Angkor Thom.

I got up at 4.15 am to go out to Angkor Wat to see it in the sunrise. Was it worth it? I’ll let you decide. These photos were taken around 5 to 8 minutes apart.

Was just magnificent.

Angkor Wat was built in the 1100s and is the largest temple complex in the world.

Th outer wall is 3.6 metres in length and surrounded by this lovely moat. Temples don’t usually have moats, as they are normmally associated with defences. But this moat it seems was created to help stabilise the foundations.

Heading into the outer structure.

The main structure with its three levels.

Angkor Wat took 37 years to build, and they think involved 300,000 slaves and 6,000 elephants.

An example of the carvings on some of the walls.

A former swimming pool on the second level.

The third level of Angkor Wat is “heaven” so the 12 staircases going up to it are known as stairways to heaven

More carvings. And yes the one on the left is ….

The view from the third level. Absolutely magnificent. I’m going back the next day at 5 am to see a sunrise from it.

Another view from the top, showing the tourists coming in.

The stairs down. Bloody steep.

A view across the moat.

Incredibly well preserved for something built in the 1100s.

We left the Mekong to head up to Siem Reap, which takes us through Tonle Sap Lake. The lake is the largest in South East Asia and unusually the flow changes direction twice a year, with the lake depth expanding and shrinking dramatically from one metre to nine metres! The area of the lake varies from 2,700 sq kms to 16,000 when flooding!

This is the view I woke up to.

There’s a lot of trees and bushes in the lake. Not all of them grow from the bottom. Many of the bushes just float on the water.

This is all in the lake itself – not off to one side.

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One of the launches we go out on. The Cambodian ones are pretty ancient compared to the ones we used in Vietnam.

Also in the lake, is a village of a few hundred people – and literally in the lake. All the houses are on stilts, so they are above the high tide in the wet season. You can’t walk from house to house, so every house has a boat. The kids local school is also on stilts, not on ground, so I guess they play water polo, not soccer.

A couple more elevated houses.

This is another floating market. But unlike the earlier floating market which was selling from boats, this is shops on rafts. Each house floats on the water. They don’t move around much, but can get towed if they have to move.

Many of the boats are worked by school age youth. They learn to swim around the same time as they learn to walk.

One person fishing, while the other tries to hold the boat stable.

This is their housing store. You want housing affordability – come to Cambodia! They sell everything from large logs to bamboo sticks, so you can build your own house.

As we were by the waterside, three of the kids who had been following us about dived into the water.

The Cambodian kids love high fiving people. Even the infants almost do it.

One of our group asked who one of the kids has light brown hair, when almost everyone else is black. The answer is that inevitable he has older sisters who use their younger brothers to experiment on with hair dyes!

This kid also followed us around, with his older brother. Adorably cute and innocent. Of course kids that age are naked all the time, but generally they tend to be at home, not walking about the city!

This was our last expedition on the water. From Monday to Wednesday we are in Siem Reap.

Oudong is the former capital of Cambodia from 1618 to 1865. Sadly hundreds of temples and stupas were destroyed here in the 1970s. However it is still home to the largest Buddhist temple in Cambodia.

This is the entrance to the Vipasssana Dhura. It is huge.

Inside is a stunning display of artwork. The walls and roof are all exquisite.

One of the wall panels

This stature of Buddha is huge. Reaches to the roof.

What they didn’t tell us in advance, is we don’t just observe, but actually had to take part in a Buddhist prayer ceremony for 10 minutes. I counted backwards from 600 to make the time go faster.

A statue in a lAke representing good. The crocodile at her feet represents evil!

I think that may be the tallest flagpole I have seen!

One of the few surviving stupas of former Kings of Cambodia.

We then drove to Kampong Tralach. On the way we passed several dozen of these trucks jam packed with Cambodians. I’m never going to complain about crowded public transport again!

The poor quality is due to window glare and being on a moving bus.

They were all transporting home staff from the local brewery – around 2,000 of them. Goodness knows what you do if stuck in the middle and need to get off.

A nice shot of the fields.

Then at Kampong Tralach, we had a half hour or so ride on oxcarts to the river.

They were very slow moving and pretty uncomfortable. A fun experience, but not something if you don’t do, that will make you feel your life is incomplete

Saturday morning we went to a small Cambodian village – around 1,000 population.

This is the local school. Kids attend school six days a week, but only in the mornings.

And the local kids are well used to having the tourists come through. We learnt a few words of the local dialect, and as usual donated goods to the school. They have an excellent culture here on encouraging you not to give money etc to individual kids, but to give to schools.

While Cambodia is a poor country, I have to say the kids appear pretty happy and education is deemed important. I think there’s a lot worse places you could grow up, in the developing world.

The local padoya or temple. I was amazed that even a small village such as this has a padoya, let alone such a grand one. It seems only the smallest of villages will not have one.

Very patriotic country – you see Cambodian flags flying everywhere – many houses have one.

A family riding on their motorcycle. A very common sight to see kids on them with adults, and looking like they are having the time of their lives. Cambodia is not quite so motorcycle heavy as Vietnam though.

Five on one bike was a record I think. Reminds me of the days when I managed around ten people in a medium sized car!

The main road through the village – few are sealed outside the cities.

A tapestry making machine. It’s made entirely out of wood and powered by foot pedals, so anyone could make one and go into business for themselves – as this family have done. Real innovation.

The upstairs of their house. This is a medium type residence. Not very poor or very rich. One mattress behind the curtains, as most sleep on the bamboo floor.  However note behind the pole is a flatscreen TV and a stereo system.

We hadn’t used this gangway before. Most are solid metal constructions. This was two planks, and rope hand rails. Definitely one at a time.

This was Security Prison 21 (S-21) and is now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Tuol Sleng means Hill of the Poisonous Trees.

It used to be a high school, but was turned into a torture centre. Around 17,000 to 20,000 were imprisoned here, with as many as 1,500 at a time. Almost all of them were tortured until they confessed to something.

When this place was liberated they found 14 corposes here.

The 10 rules of the camp, translated.

See those dark areas on the floor. That’s blood.

A photo of one of the corpses they found at the camp.  They were kept chained to the bed.

The torture included electric shocks, hot metal instruments, hanging, cutting with knives, suffocated with plastic bags, pulling out fingernails and pouring alcohol on wounds.

Pardon the reflection from the glass but near impossible to avoid. These are a small portion of the thousands of photos up on the walls of victims.  They were tortured and killed – not for anything they did, but just because of the paranoid genocidal rulers. One New Zealander also died at this camp.

The barbed wire was there not just to stop prisoners escaping, but on the higher levels to stop them killing themselves by jumping off.

This was a typical cell where one or more people would live.

The Cambodian flag flies at permanent half mast here.

Of the 17,000 who went into Tuol Sleng, just three survived.

The commander of the camp was Kang Kek Iew or Comrade Duch. He was free from 1979 to 1999. He lived abroad in Thailand and China and worked as a teacher of English and maths. He then became a christian lay preacher and once remarked “I don’t know if my brothers and sisters can forgive the sins I’ve committed against the people”.

He was right. A photojournalist tracked him down in 1999, and in 2007 he was put on trial. He was found guilty of crimes against humanity, torture and rape.  He was eventually given a life sentence with no parole. He is aged 59.

His prison cell will be like a five star hotel compared to the conditions in the prison he supervised.  Some crimes can never be atoned for, and his fall into that category.