Some people will do anything for a bit of peace and quiet.

While on our travels around New Zealand the baby Maddogs whining really got to me. "Lets go and look at this" said Mr Maddog.



"Let me at it" I said.



Yeeehaaaaah!!!!







Bungy jump above the Waikato River, Taupo, New Zealand.

New Zealand - 5 in a camper van

The Maddogs did their usual thing as ever very last minute and booked flights on the last day of school term, and flew the next day meanwhile booking our camper van in the departure lounge at Chennai Airport! As always flying by the seat of our pants!



We arrived after an exhausting journey via Hong Kong and treated ourselves to a night at the Langham Hotel in Auckland and my first bath in weeks.



The we picked up our camper and made our way over to the Coromandel East Coast where we met up with our friends Lizzie, Henrik and their son and spent our days walking, snorkeling, spying on Stingrays. Then we headed over to Rotorua for visits to Geysers, Maori dancing/cultural shows, and the all important visit to a spa!



After that we made our way to Hawkes Bay to go and visit the vineyards and Art Deco city of Napier, where we spent Christmas day on a beach in the sun watching the surf.


New Zealand is just gorgeous, wide roads, green fields, mountains, fresh air, seafood, New Zealand Lamb, WINE!!!!!

Hot water beach on the Coromandel Coast where at low tide you dig your own hot water pool and the temperatures are as hot as a bath from the escaping water deep within the earth.

Coromandel Coast


Great to catch up with friends from the U.K. who were also in New Zealand at the same time.

Beautiful white sandy beaches

Where are the Mad Dogs for the Holiday Season?

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE MADDOGS IN.........

NEW ZEALAND!

The Humbling of Mr Maddog

Mr Maddogs department in the Company do a lot of fundraising within the local community and in recent months for a local school in the vicinity of the office where he works. He was asked to make the presentation of 200 flip-flops/thongs/slippers to the children. As all the children didn't possess footwear. There are hundreds of children in this city alone who walk around bare footed all the time exposing the risk to diseases especially during the monsoon season.

The brief was give an inspiring talk to the teachers and staff and present the flip-flop/slippers. We talked about it as a family and decided that a talk on geography and the world would be best. So armed with the Baby Maddogs world globe he went.

What he came back with was gifts from the headmistress and a deep humbling of the situation that these kids, parents and staff endure to just try and give children an education.

This my friends is a classroom believe it or not for 4 classes, they have to take it in turns to use the chalkboard.

No desks, no chairs and most of time not enough pencils and paper to write on.
But the kids are issued with a uniform and it's amazing to see them clean, neatly pressed, braided hair. The parents are immensely proud of the fact their children go to school so the kids wear their uniforms with pride.

A beautiful show of dancing and singing was performed by the older girls.....and....

the boys

Then Mr Maddog got into action giving a little lesson on where Scotland is!!!!

Then the presentation of the shoes started with the youngest child in the school

This is the Headmistress of the school giving gifts of significance to Mr Maddog a welcoming shawl and an apple. This lady used to work in one of the tall office blocks that surround the village and single handed started up the school as there was no education provision in the village and felt compelled to do something. Quite a lady wouldn't you say?

Mr Maddog returned home that evening deeply humbled by the contrast between what he saw that day and how privileged our own children were going to a school where there is no want for nothing.

A few weeks later we got an update from the school saying how the children were so grateful for their shoes that, can you believe this, they walk to school barefooted and carry the precious footwear to put on at school so not to spoil them or wear them out. This is despite being educated by the teachers that they are to wear them all the time. Makes your heart bleed.

This will not be the last you see of this school, we intend to do more. I'll keep you posted.

Kuala Lumpur and Langkawai

Kuala Lumpur - what can I say?


It's everything that Chennai isn't. Clean, orderly, has drainage and pavements, parks, portable water, reliable electricity, cinemas showing English language movies and the two most important reasons for us going........ Starbucks and SHOPS!!!!!!

Underneath the Petronas Towers that you see below is a huge shopping center full of 6 layers of shops, bars, cafes, cinemas, a concert hall, science park and lifts to wizz you up 30 odd floors to the sky bridge, which is the bit straddling the two towers.

This was the view at night from our hotel room - which was simply gorgeous.

I'm not ashamed to say that I lived in this shopping mall and the equally amazing Pavillion shopping mall for 3 days. The very first thing we did upon arrival was get tickets for High School Musical 3 which the girls simply loved. I got such a kick out of doing something that would be so normal back in the West but is really difficult to do for kids in Chennai when the dominant film language is Tamil. Your lucky if there is a suitable English movie every 3 months or so. So we did all the normal stuff that you do every week back in the U.K. but don't get the opportunity in Chennai.

We shall return to K.L. another time and poke our noses outside the hotel and malls and see something more of the city next time. I did ask Mr Maddog if fancied commuting ;-)

Langkawai

Our arrival at the tiny airport in Langkawai which was a bit like something from that series in the 70's - Fantasy Island?

6.30 p.m. we arrived at the hotel, 7pm we were sat at the beach bar having sundowners looking at this..........and breathe.......bliss.


The view from our hotel rooms - if this was India what would be missing from this scene?

Half the population using the beach as their local toilet.

One of the other nice things about getting away was being able to hire a car and DRIVE again and do sightseeing en famillie without a driver in tow. Here we are climbing an incredibly steep cable car up to the hills.

We made our way over to the other side of the Island to the Yacht Club to check out the boats and have lunch all happy and relaxed...

Well, while it lasted!



Baby Maddog #3 with her Auntie Margot (Also a Chennaitie Expat from Scotland) and me strolling along a clean beach.

One of the things we like about the hotel was it's supposed water sports but unfortunately the kit was poorly maintained and while Mr Maddog and our friend Bob (Our other Chennaitie expat friend) were sailing the backstay broke and the mast fell down . I had been out sailing myself with the girls only 10 mins before, we all had a lucky escape. It took a lot of persuasion to get the guys on the beach to rescue them! They didn't even possess any binoculars, I found the guys on the water 1/2 a mile out to sea on my long zoom lens. Tut, tut.

So, the next day Bob hired this.... I yelled for dear life, Bob lost his hearing. The girls and Mr Maddog loved it. I'm definitely more a wind powered kind of girl!

And 4 months later.............................

Coooeeeee - did you miss me?

I am alive and not succumbed to some nasty tropical disease.

No, I didn't jump back on a plane to home, I stayed on in Chennai, although I must admit I've been fighting the temptation to wander into the departure lounge of Chennai airport for some time. The endless traffic jam to the airport always seems to stop me literally in my tracks.

I shan't bore you with all the gory details of the past few months, no, that shall remain bottled up firmly in my British proverbial backside. Stiff upper lip - best of British eh? Accompanied with a jolly good swear every night when I turned out the lights. That's what the Brits do best 'make the most of it'. Although in a nutshell if I HAD and DID try to put words down I'm afraid that along with my other 15 attempted posts it they would have run a bit like this:

Looks like....., smells like......, feels like........... (you can fill in the blanks in your comments)

So let's face it who wants to hear about that - So I shall leave you with some photos.

THE EARLY DAYS

The infernal wait at the immigration office with Mr Maddog just about to lose the will to live with the youngest baby Maddogs.

Meanwhile Mrs Maddog sat in her own bubble as the hours ticked on reading the latest Country Living mag - dreaming of green fields and roses.......

The car got a makeover -Indian style for the Pooja festival - you actually drive your car around town like this. Banana leaves and all. Imagine, they do this to all vehicles, appliances like my refrigerator and washing machine! Something to do with asking the gods for another year of service and pleeeeease don't clap out on me. Judging by some of the early specimens on the roads you can't help but understand why - they need all the help they can get.

Eldest baby Maddog on her first day at school sans school uniform - note the jumper tied round her waist - it was in the high 30's deg c when we arrived but Arctic conditions (allegedly) in the classrooms with the A/C.

Going for a walk on our local 'clean' beach at a 5* resort, taken in November. Note the lack of thermals - people back home :)

Youngest baby Maddog going for a spin on the driveway with Gus and her favourite friend - the guard.

For all you folks back home - please note baby Maddog has not lost her perchance for dressing up for the occasion - like collecting your big sister from school in your flamenco dress. Middle baby Maddog with some of her chums from school.

Our trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia during Diwali/end October on the Petronas Towers sky bridge - very smiley here aren't we? I wonder why?

More on Malaysia to follow.