Penang Chinese New Year festivities. The year of the Dragon (January 2012)

We have had numerous festivities here in Geogetown for the Chinese New Year which started several days before the 23rd of January. Friends off SV Labarque, Elizabeth and Patrick, have been in Penang for previous New Year celebrations and wrote encouragingly of the events. We have not been disappointed and Elizabeth has been a great source of information and director of social outings.
New Years eve was in the grounds of City Hall which was beautifully lit. There were demonstrations of physical and musical talent followed by fireworks

 Chingay (pole)  juggling from head to head was pretty spectacular

and Pole Lion dancing was nail biting as the dancers nimbly leapt from different heights

There are 2 men inside each suit and the acrobatics performed were astounding

Dragon dancing

Waiting for the bus to go to the Govt chief minister open house festival with fellow cruisers Elizabeth and Patrick (SV Labarque) and Nick and Jan (MV Yawarra 11. The bus and Ferry terminal are just next to the Tanjung city marina and offers a cheap and excellent service.

The event was held at the Penang International sports arena ( Pisa) at Relau...Food was provided and it was very well organised. Our group made it in the local newspaper

Dragon salad

Chief minister Lim Guan Eng and his wife Betty Chew were present to greet and hand out 9,120 mandarins!

Queens Bay Mall shopping centre was the venue for mask changing and dragon dancing

The mask changing was spectacular. We counted 12 changes at the speed of a blink of the eye. We couldn't  see how it was done and even on slow motion on the camera it was undetectable.

The next day was the Prime minister (Najib Razak) of Malaysia's open house with festivities. Unfortunately the music was too loud so we didn't stay long. This was held at the marina complex.

We decided to leave the huge crowd and go to the peaceful setting of Fort Cornwallis
The fort was built when Capt Francis Light (East India company) first landed on Penang Island in 1786 of Nibong palm then later in brick

An hour and a half on the bus (which cost 2 MYR=65cAUD) took us to the busy market town of Ayer Itam where we watched the 200,000 lanterns and coloured lights lit at dusk at the Kek Lok Si temple.

Overlooking the town

Eric and I climbed to the top of the Pagola and had an amazing view.

 Just as the lights came on my camera battery went down. The following lit photos are from a fellow yachties camera

The bronze Goddess of mercy towered 100ft above us and the intricately carved pillars beyond to hold the roof. At the bottom of the centre of the picture you can just make out Jan and Cathy

We had the priveledge of going to an Indian dance graduation/ initiation (Selangai Poojai) where the dancers were introduced, then after bowing and thanks to parents were taken to their teacher where formal greetings were given. Their teacher placed bell anklets on them before they took their place with their colleagues.

Musicians

Chinese New Year cultural and Heritage day brought an end to the week long festivities with dancing, singing, cultural displays, stilt walking, craft and arts, comedy shows, fashion parades, story telling, acrobatics, opera and orchestra

The colours of the costumes and the choreography of the dancing was most appealing

Gamelan Drummers

We couldn't see all the events on as alot overlapped at the same time at different locations and the crowds were like being in a sardine can. The food was great with many stalls offering numerous traditional foods.

Tonight starts the "Hokkien New Year" festivities. This makes our 3rd New Year this year!!

Relaunching "Erica" and voyage to Georgetown, Penang for Chinese New Year January 2012

On the 10th January after 11 mths on the hardstand maintaining and improving gear and systems,  we detached the landbased items like shaded workshop, outside kitchen and shower facilities and made our "Erica" shipshape and ready for launching. This involved the travel lift lifting her and taking her to the Langkawi port wharf, about 100m.

We waited 3 days for the crane operator to lift us off the wharf into the water, during which time we attended to last minute details and enjoyed the sights on the water of local fisherman setting off in their boats and planning our next voyage

The Crane driver and hardstand management finally co-ordinated but we had to wait for a squall to blow over and risk the Friday 13th superstitions

The "All clear" was given and the strops placed for the lift

"Splashdown"

All went well apart from a few minor details.. A newly installed toilet had a leaking seal, the tachometer decided to go on strike and our newly gassed refridgeration lost all the Freon gas! A leak somewhere?

 Another few days at anchor in Kuah harbour was needed before we departed for Georgetown, Penang

We left Langkawi 6 days later and motorsailed 20nm to Palau Paya, a popular diving island and marine reserve where we spent the night. We tied up to a large bouy and enjoyed the afternoon swimming and reading.

As the sun was going down and we were enjoying a wine in the cockpit several marlin leapt out of the water not far from our yacht. We then heard a "sighing" sound and saw to our amazement a whale surfacing only 20m away.. Neither was what we expected as these waters are pretty fished out.

The next morning at 0430hrs Cathy dropped the mooring lines and got us underway for Penang, a 40nm trip. On sunrise we were able to visualise the many unlit fish traps which can be an extreme hazaard at night. We plotted these on our navigation system for future reference

Fishermen off Penang Island

We arrived at the Tanjong city marina and friends aboard SV Labarque helped us with the mooring lines. This marina is falling apart and alot of the pontoons have washed away. We were here 13 mths ago and it is very rolly in certain conditions and the ferries dock 20m away causing a big wash.

Nz visit 2011-2012

We are back aboard our home "Erica" in Malaysia. Eric spent 2 mths in NZ where I joined him for a month after my 3mth working contract in Australia.We are getting things organised for her relaunch after being out of the water for 11 months doing renovations and maintenance. It will be wonderful to be floating again, having a sea breeze, and preparing for our next adventures,onwards to Sth Africa

Our trip to NZ was full on but really satisfying to be able to help out.....I helped Eric with renovations at our daughter Kellie's and neice Rohan's cafe "Cosset" in Auckland

and repairs and maintenance on Eric's mum's house in Tauranga.

Eric attended cousin Connie and John's wedding in November in Fielding with his Mum which was most enjoyable as he hadn't seen much of his Dad's side of the family for some years.

When I arrived back in December, we had the pleasure of seeing his nephew Clayton marry his partner Trish of 9 yrs, at a lovely beach in Coromandel.

It was wonderful to see his sister and brother in law and extended family again at their beautiful home.

A very quick trip to Warkworth where we lived for many years was squeezed in before Xmas to catch up with good friends. As always there wasn't enough time to see everyone but we enjoyed seeing the familiar countryside and some of our favourite spots. This was taken at Green's Point which holds many good memories. ( 400m from our past home at Sandspit)

Xmas morning was spent in Tauranga at Eric's mum's and my  sister and brother in law's home for the afternoon and evening where 25 of my family congregated. Esme and Mark are wonderful hosts and always put on a wonderful event and accomodate the masses.

While we were staying at a motel in Coromandel a display on the wall inspired me to take photos of NZ icons and memories of what makes the New Zealand culture.

I enjoyed getting photos of the above list and added some of my own starting with the NZ flag
                                                                                                         

The silver fern is used by sports teams as their emblem and is NZ's national symbol

This fern has a distinctive silver colouration on it's underside which has made them useful for laying along tracks for night walking.

 The Rugby world cup which was won by our NZ All Blacks put NZ in quite a head spin.
The haka ( traditional Maori war cry, dance or challenge) is performed before their matches to proclaim their strength and prowess in order to intimidate the opposition

Kiwis are flightless birds native to New Zealand and is the nickname used internationally for people from New Zealand

Kiwi Fruit once known as the Chinese gooseberry was renamed in the 1950's for export marketing reasons.
A bacterial disease called PSA which affects the vines and fruit has been threatening the export industry

Kiwi fruit is a popular topping to our national dessert "Pavlova" named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova who visited NZ with a ballet company

 Due to our love of the outdoors the Barbeque has become a popular way to cook food in the summer months.

Smoking food, particularly fish is also popular

The traditional Maori way of cooking food is by using heated rocks buried in a pit oven. This is used for special occasions but food can be bought commercially. This truck was parked out of Paeroa on my way to Auckland to tempt the weary traveller

 

Fish and chips wrapped in food wrap and newspaper is always special. We ate fish and kumara chips (NZ sweet potato) beside the beach at Whitianga 

Because I was the 100th customer I was given a chocolate fish ( choc coated marshmellow in the shape of a fish) The chocolate fish has an important role in kiwi culture as a reward for a small job done well

When eating at the beach one is always surrounded by seagulls and their squawking call as they scavenge for leftovers

Because NZ is surrounded by the sea on all coasts the beach for swimming, surfing walking, boating, picnics and lying in the sun is very popular

The Kiwi bach, a small holiday home, are an iconic part of New Zealand history and culture. This one was photographed at Whitianga Beach

 The dinghy, a small rowing boat, used either alone or as a tender to a larger boat is seen in most kiwi back yards or on the beach. This one was a popular resting place for these oyster catchers

Along with the beach lifestyle goes the footwear.. The kiwi Jandals

Coffee drinking has become a popular pastime and the lattes, flat whites, cappucinos, to name a few, are up with the best in the world

During WW1 the mothers, wives and girlfriends of the Australian and NZ soldiers were concerned about the nutritional value of the food being supplied to their men, so they produced wholesome biscuits which would remain fresh and unspoilt during transportation... Known as ANZAC biscuits

Toetoe ( Giant tussock grasses) are an iconic part of the NZ landscape and were used by the Maori people to line the walls of their traditional housing, for pipes,straws, arrows and weaving.

Flax is seen growing extensively and was invaluable to the Maori people for clothing, cordage, basket making and sandals to name a few. This picture was taken at Coromandel

The pohutakawa was in full bloom and it seemed to be a particularly good year. I was told it indicates a long hot summer.
With its crimson flower it has become an established part of the New Zealand Christmas tradition.

NZ Kauri trees are one of the largest and longest growing trees in the world. Due to its straight grain with few knots it is a popular building material. It is very difficult to obtain now, but we were lucky to buy heart Kauri to build our yacht

Bush walking and tramping are a popular NZ pastime 

and for the adventurous.."Bungee jumping" started by AJ Hackett ( a kiwi) and Henry van Asch in the mountain setting of Queenstown, New Zealand

Boating and sailing are an important part of most Kiwis lifestyles. Heightened by the America's cup challenges and hosted in Auckland in 2000 and 2003

Icecream at the end of a hot summers day is popular, but especially "Hokey Pokey" which is vanilla icecream peppered with crunchy bites of honeycomb toffee

Lemon and Paeroa (L&P) is a popular NZ fizzy drink originating from Paeroa, NZ.  A spring with unique mineral water was found and by adding lemon it was found to be a very pleasant drink.

Manuka trees and honey are native to NZ and the honey is renowned for it's healing abilities with natural antiseptic qualities for digestive ailments and healing wounds and leg ulcers.

The tui... A native honey eater with a unique voice.. It took me ages to get this picture as the Tui flitted from tree to tree and with a delay on the digital camera I has some interesting shots!

The Pukeko or NZ swamp hen.

With their bright blue plumage and red beaks, they easily stand out against the New Zealand greenery, particularly when their white tail feathers begin flashing in alarm. Just why they have struck a chord with the Kiwi psyche is hard to say, but you'll find their images on all manner of art and craft works.

 Paua is unique to NZ and the shell is used extensively  in jewellery and craft as well as the meat being a real delicacy

Pipis are a small shell fish dug up from the sand at low tide and associated with summer holidays.
They are delicious cooked on the BBQ or steamed

Weta are well known spiny- grass hopper like native insects which live in rotting vegetation and dark areas. They are one of the world's largest insects and are nocturnal.

The Huhu Beetle....Most of us are aware of the loud whirr which signals the flight of our biggest beetle which is attracted to light and frequently enters houses at dusk or dawn. It can give a painful nip with it's mandibles if handled roughly, but it is harmless

The Katipo  is our native spider related to the Australian redback and American black widow. It is poisoness but reports of a bite are rare as it only bites in self defence. It lives in the sand dunes coastally.

There are alot of other things that I could add but it could go on forever...

So many of us choose to live overseas for better opportunities and earning potential but we always remember the things that "Make New Zealand HOME"