Happy Travels

I've just returned from three weeks away - two weeks in New Zealand (including the RWNZ conference), followed a couple of days home to wash all my clothes, pat the dogs and see Mr Bailey, then off to Adelaide for the RWA conference.

Two things I learned about myself:
I love being away, seeing new places and meeting up with friends!
I love being home again in my own place, with all my dogs (and Mr Bailey) around me.

We've already had some photos from the Adelaide conference, so I thought I'd share a few from the NZ leg of my trip.

Leaving early on a Monday morning. This was about an hour into the drive and the sun was starting to peep over the horizon:

In Napier, I found a statue of a greyhound. It's like Napier was welcoming me personally!

The day I left Napier it was cold and rainy. I think Napier was as sad for me to go as I was.

Then it was on to Nelson, which has a gorgeous river walk.

And on the river walk was this very cool chair, honouring the NZ author Maurice Gee. Even more cool was that I was with his daughter, Emily Gee, who writes most awesome Regency and fantasy romances.

Also in Nelson, a cathedral. I love finding the cathedrals in towns I visit.

A quick trip from Nelson to Mapua for lunch. How awesome are these snow-capped mountains?

Seriously. How awesome?

Then a couple of days staying with fellow LoveCat, Barbara DeLeo. Her dog Cosmo made me very welcome.

 And onto the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference, where I was a guest speaker. Here I am enjoying the cocktail party with fellow guest speaker Jaye Ford.
  

The next night was the Awards Dinner, which was MCed by the amazing Barbara DeLeo. 

 The entertainment was a troupe of Regency dancers. Don't they look amazing?

In very exciting news, the winner of the short sexy Koru award was our very own Louisa George. That's her on the right, giving her acceptance speech.

 A quick selfie with Barb: 

Now I'm desperate to go back to New Zealand and explore the places I haven't seen yet. Tell me, is there anywhere you're desperate to visit? 

New Zealand Bound!

It's two weeks today until the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference - cue excited dancing! The RWNZ conferences are always a lot of fun and it's been a few years since I've been across the ditch to attend one, so my anticipation is high.

I'm actually leaving on Monday (gah! Someone needs to start packing!) so I can spend some time before the conference with friends, including fellow Lovecat, Barbara DeLeo. Then onto the conference itself, where I'm planning on catching up with more Lovecats - Yvonne Lindsay, Louisa George, and Sue Mackay. Sounding like a pretty fun time, right?

I'll be presenting two workshops, sitting on a panel, attending a dinner with my publisher, drinking cocktails, and chatting all things writing and books. 

But, as mentioned above, I haven't started packing yet. And although it's winter in both places, a sub-tropical Queensland winter is *nothing* like a New Zealand winter, so I'm starting to panic about having enough warm clothes. 

Any tips on packing for a winter holiday? Or things I should try and see while I'm there? All advice welcome! 

Something old, something New...

Noumea waterfront

Winter downunder means cold temps, runny noses and a hankering for heat. Around about July I get that Northern hemisphere need for sunshine (hey- it’s July so it must be warm- right?) so we often try to escape to warmer places. This year we decided we’d indulge ourselves with a week of rest and relaxation in New Caledonia. New Caledonia is a tiny collection of islands only a three hour flight from Auckland (I think it’s one of the closest Pacific Islands to Australia and New Zealand. Whilst it has a thriving tourist industry, it’s main income comes from nickel mining.)


We asked around- no-one knew much about it, no-one had ever been there. So, obviously, we had to go! Whilst I love to revisit familiar places (we go to the same camping spot each year)- we also adore exploring new countries and cultures. I'm one of those embarrassing mothers who talks to strangers, I love to hear peoples' stories- what makes them tick. 

John the tour guide and local ladies

I’m not sure what I was expecting- but we were very pleasantly surprised by the successful mix of european/ Kanak (indigenous)influences. After a lot of quite recent (1980s-90s) unrest things have settled down politically and there was a definite feeling of harmony. Colonised by France it has a real mix of French flair and pacific laissez-faire, all with a lovely French accent and gallic shrug.  

Award winning Tjibaou centre

I had two must-dos on my list: 1) No internet (for me) for the week so I could have total relaxation and read my too-large stash of books; and 2) I wanted to see turtles. The islands are surrounded by one of the world’s largest lagoons where, so I’d read, turtles happily laze away their days.

 at the museum

Item 1 was quickly thwarted by FREE Wi-fi in the hotel! I discovered that I have absolutely no willpower. By the end of the first day I was already uploading things to facebook!

So I decided to work on item 2. Turtles. The weather at the start of our holiday was gorgeous-a lovely thick heat that thawed our bodies and fed us great hope for a fabulous holiday.  We poured over our dive/snorkel brochures and planned our boat trip for the middle of the week.

cagou birds

By Day 3, however, the weather had closed in and we had cardigans and clouds for the rest of our stay- which put a downer on the idea of going snorkelling and seeing those lovely turtles! But the cooler weather meant lots of time to explore and learn more about this special place. 

We managed to fill our days. We took a tour out into the bush and ate a fabulous lunch of organic roasted venison with papaya salad at a restaurant owned by a woman with 24 kids!! (Some are adopted.) We met lots of friendly people, visited three museums, the amazing Tjibaou centre (designed by Renzo Piano who designed the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the new Shard in London) and great zoological gardens where we saw the cagou- the New Caledonian flightless bird. 

the turtle!

Then! We found the aquarium. Coral…yeah. Fish….check. Sharks…yeah. TURTLES! Well- turtle. I saw one. One. But it was just too gorgeous for words.

music is a common language

In the end it didn’t matter that the sun didn’t shine, we laughed and ate our way around and spent some lovely quality time with each other. Don’t be surprised if my next hero’s french, or the setting’s in New Caledonia- it certainly left an impression! [If anyone’s interested- I’m not sure I’d take the kids again- they had a great time, and would have been in heaven if they could have swam or snorkelled- but the prices for other activities/food/tours meant that we were conscious always of how expensive everything is there.]

So-what do you like to do? Stick to holidaying in the familiar or trying places a little off the beaten track?