Motu life

Garry and I are currently enjoying 11 nights in Rarotonga, the largest of the Cook Islands far flung tropical islands. We’ve based ourselves at Motu Beachside Art Villas. This is a collection of comfortably appointed self catering boutique villas set among flawlessly maintained tropical gardens overlooking Titikaveka Beach on the island’s south coast.

The view from our premium oceanfront villa is magical. We’re enjoying an uninterrupted view of the island’s aquamarine lagoon framed by swaying tropical palm trees. We honestly couldn’t chosen a better venue if we’d tried. We’ve already visited a couple of other highly rated resorts for dinner reservations. However, so far, none have proven better than Motu Villas. 

Our overnight flight, courtesy of Jetstar, also proved uneventful. The six hour flight departed an hour behind schedule giving us some much welcome extra dining time in the First Class lounge. Jetstar started flying direct to Rarotonga less than three months ago. It currently flies three times weekly using an Airbus 321neo, the newest aircraft in its fleet. 

At the last minute, we managed to score a couple of exit row seats towards the back of the plane. These ultimately proved the most spacious seats available thanks to an extra wide aisle reserved for a flight attendant’s fold down seat. Garry loved them so much he’d already changed our return flight’s assigned seats before we’d even pushed back from the gate. I managed to get about four hours of light sleep while Garry spent the entire flight watching movies on his iPad.

In fact, the only disappointment so far has been the weather. It’s been predominantly cloudy with a warm, but persistent, easterly trade wind blowing throughout the day. Our taxi driver last night assured us the winds were rather unseasonal. He claimed that the weather had been calm and sunny all last week. Fingers crossed it'll improve for our trip to Aitutaki.

However, despite the wind, we’ve ventured out each day for a leisurely stroll along the beach, and a brief knee-deep paddle in the sea. The sea temperature is said to be a relatively comfortable 24C. At some point, we’ll make an effort to get ourselves truly wet. Oh yes, in case you’re curious, motu means “island” in the local Polynesian language.

The list goes on

I’ve recently mastered the art of creating HTML tables in my blog posts. You can see the fruits of my labour here and here. These pioneering efforts have inspired me to create a table listing every country and territory I’ve visited, along with the date of my visit. Below is my final masterpiece.

For now, I’ve kept my dates simple and have listed them as MM/YY. These were relatively easy to source thanks to passport stamps, blog posts and travel documents I’ve kept on file. However, it’ll take a lot of archive searching to pin down an exact date for some locations, so I’ll save this refinement for another day.

I’ve also included a short list of countries that I’ve technically visited i.e., I’ve crossed the border into their sovereign territory. However, I’ve not counted them because I never left the airport, got off a bus or ventured more than a few feet into the country. Years ago, I set some minimum thresholds for counting a country, or territory, on my list. Two or more of the following must occur for it to be counted:

1. leave the airport or port of entry,
2. eat a meal in a local establishment i.e., do more than sleep in a hotel,
3. see one or more local sights (and it must be more than just a statue outside the airport gate),
4. sleep overnight in a venue outside the airport (excluding transit stops if I never leave the hotel).

Over the years these rules have resulted in some quirky “non-compliant” visits. For example, my first visit to Jordan occurred courtesy of Royal Jordanian Airlines in June 1990. I was travelling with a group from Singapore to Vienna, via Amman. Upon arrival in Jordan, we were bused to a transit hotel for a few hours of sleep before returning to the airport for our next flight. I’ve never counted this stopover. Instead, my first visit to Jordan is listed as December 2005 when Garry and I visited on an organised tour.

This same trip saw me visit Yugoslavia for the first time. Our flight from Amman to Vienna made a brief stop in Belgrade. We sat on the tarmac for less than an hour while the aircraft refuelled. Nobody joined or left the flight, and we weren't allowed to disembark. While we waited, the crew opened the front door of the aircraft to give us some fresh air. However, the security guards would quickly wave us away if we ventured too far up the aisle.

All in all, it was a rather odd flight. There were about ten of us on the plane, most of whom were part of the group I was travelling with. We were also accompanied by several security guards – three if I recall correctly. We were travelling on a Middle Eastern airline and tensions were high in the region. At the time, Saddam Hussein was threatening military action against Kuwait. He ultimately invaded the country two months later, in August 1990.

I also recall meeting a middle-aged woman who was flying alone. We got to talking and I learned that she was off to see her doctor in Europe as she simply didn’t trust the healthcare system in Jordan. This was my first taste of the decadent expat life on offer in the Middle East.  

For the more technically oriented, this flight was also the first and only time I've ever flown a Lockheed Tristar. Likewise, it was my first time flying business class. Our group was upgraded at the airport in Singapore. However, the upgrade ultimately offered little more than a larger seat with a deeper recline, and we were still served standard economy-class meals.

Likewise, until February 2016, I’d had the dubious distinction of visiting Thailand five times but never left the airport. On each occasion, my visits were merely transit stops while flying with Qantas to and from Europe. As you can see from the list I’ve also visited North Korea twice, but again, for less than an hour and only because I crossed a few metres into North Korean territory while on a tour of the DMZ, north of Seoul.

As for the visit to Paraguay, it occurred when my tour bus traversed the length of the Itaipu Dam. This dam straddles the Parana River marking the border between Paraguay and Brazil. The same river in turn feeds the spectacular Iguazu Falls.

UPDATE: 24 April 2025

I've revised the table below to reflect a new holiday we've booked this week and one we've recently completed.

COUNT	COUNTRY	DATE
Europe
1	Austria	Jun 1990
2	Belgium	Jun 2008
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina (Yugoslavia)	Jun 1990
4	Bulgaria	Jul 1990
5	Croatia	Oct 2009
6	Czech Republic	Oct 1996
7	Denmark	Aug 1990
8	Estonia	May 2008
9	Finland	May 2008
10	France	Oct 1990
11	Germany (East & West)	Aug 1990
12	Greece	Aug 1990
13	Hungary	Jun 1990
14	Iceland	Apr 2008
15	Ireland	Oct 2008
16	Italy	Sep 1990
17	Liechtenstein	Aug 1990
18	Malta	Nov 2007
19	The Netherlands	Oct 1990
20	Norway	Aug 1990
21	Poland	Feb 2019
22	Portugal	Oct 2006
23	Republic of Macedonia (Yugoslavia)	Aug 1990
24	Republic of Montenegro	Oct 2009
25	Republic of Serbia (Yugoslavia)	Jun 1990
26	Romania	Jun 1990
27	Russia	Dec 2006
28	Slovenia (Yugoslavia)	Jun 1990
29	Spain	Oct 1990
30	Sweden	Sep 1990
31	Switzerland	Aug 1990
32	Scotland	Nov 1990
33	England	Oct 1990
34	Wales	May 2009
35	Vatican City	Sep 1990
Central & South America
36	Argentina	Nov 2005
37	Brazil	Nov 2005
38	Chile	Nov 1998
39	Panama	Aug 2008
40	Peru	Oct 2005
Africa & Middle East
41	Egypt	Nov 2005
42	Jordan	Dec 2005
43	Morocco	Oct 1990
44	Oman	Dec 2008
45	South Africa	Oct 1996
46	Turkey	May 2007
47	United Arab Emirates	Dec 2007
48	Zambia	Oct 1996
49	Zimbabwe	Oct 1996
North America
50	Canada	Oct 1983
51	Mexico	Aug 2008
52	USA	Jul 1983
Oceania, Pacific & Antarctica
53	Antarctica	Dec 2010
54	Australia	Nov 1988
55	Cook Islands	Sep 2023
56	Fiji	Sep 2018
57	French Polynesia (Tahiti)	Nov 1998
58	New Caledonia	Jan 2024
59	New Zealand	Born here
60	Samoa	Sep 2024
61	Tonga	Aug 2025
62	Vanuatu	Jan 2024
Asia
63	China	Oct 1998
64	Hong Kong	Mar 2000
65	India	Feb 2002
66	Indonesia	May 2000
67	Japan	Apr 1998
68	Macau	Mar 2000
69	Malaysia	Jul 2002
70	Singapore	Nov 1990
71	South Korea	Sep 2003
72	Taiwan	Jan 2003
73	Thailand	Feb 2016
Border Crossing (not officially visited)
74	North Korea (x2)	Sep 2003
75	Paraguay	Nov 2005
Scheduled trips
76-88	Caribbean	Jan 2026
Sighted at ground level
89	Albania	Sep 1990
90	Israel	Dec 2005

Dancing in the 80s

I’ve just returned from a four-day weekend in New Zealand. I flew in to join my brothers and their families for an early celebration of Mum’s 80th birthday. The official date ticks over in less than three weeks. However, Garry and I will be in the Cook Islands at this time.

My quick jaunt across the Tasman got off to a superb start. I bid for a last-minute Premium Economy upgrade on Air New Zealand’s Boeing 777 flight. This was the best thing I could have done. I scored a bulkhead window seat with extra legroom and an empty seat beside me.

The Premium Economy cabin is surprisingly well-featured, offering space and comfort that was once the equal of business class in the pre-lie-flat bed era. As a result, I ended up enjoying at least twice the space as the herringbone-seated sardines in Business Class next door – with an equally impressive dining menu and considerably more privacy.

On Saturday we all enjoyed a fun-filled lunch at the Neighbourhood Kitchen in Tauranga. Mum was in fine form. She was full of beans, dancing little jigs, and highly animated all afternoon. She's actually dancing another jig in the group photo that opens this post. Mum even sang us a childhood song that none of us recognised or could recall hearing before. It really was lovely to see her in such good spirits.

Her sister, Pam, will be flying in from Christchurch to join the family for a second celebration later this month. I’m sure Mum will enjoy her second party just as much as the first.  Happy Birthday, Mum!

Mum and I also enjoyed a refreshing stroll on the boardwalk along Main Beach on Friday. Mum enjoyed herself immensely. In the end, by the time we were done, we'd walked almost 2kms. The weather also played its part. The highlight for me was discovering a New Zealand delicacy known as "Lollie Cake".  It's basically a classic cake batter filled with pick-and-mix sweets like Strawberries & Cream, Smarties, and Jaffas.

On Sunday I took Mum to visit Dad's memorial plaque. It was Father's Day in New Zealand so this felt like an appropriate gesture. My brothers and I were a little unsure how Mum would react. These days we never know which memories remain sharp and strong. 

She definitely registered Dad’s name when I pointed it out. She read it aloud and said “ohhh…” as if she recognised it. However, that was the extent of the moment we shared. She then wandered off to read other plaques nearby. Dementia is a strange beast at the best of times.

Country No.4

I first visited Australia in 1988. It became the fourth country on the list of those I’ve visited. I was flown to Sydney on 16 November by Procter & Gamble for a series of interviews after being shortlisted for its graduate intake program. At the time I’d just finished the final exams required to complete my Bachelor of Management Studies at Waikato University. The US giant flew me and one other candidate across the Tasman to meet its senior executives and determine which of us would fill the single intake position on offer.

The company put us up in a hotel for three nights. We then endured two days of meetings, psychometric testing, and interviews at its Villawood campus in Western Sydney. I recall being taken for dinner at The Rocks one evening and enjoying a meal in one of the original sandstone buildings at Campbell Cove. It was quite the introduction to Sydney dining with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge as a backdrop.

I decided to extend my stay for another three nights at my own expense. I booked a homestay room with a couple living in Hunters Hill and spent my time exploring Sydney’s most iconic sights including Bondi, Manly, and the recently opened, Harbourside Mall at Darling Harbour. I also booked a day tour to Canberra and experienced my first taste of the Australian capital. I must admit that, given this all occurred in the pre-internet era, I don't know how on earth I managed to book a homestay.

Procter & Gamble offered me a sales role in New Zealand, rather than a graduate placement. I wasn’t surprised. During my final interview with the Managing Director, I’d expressed uncertainty about what I wanted to do with my career. At the time I decided I’d be honest about my motivation on the basis that if they hired me at least all parties knew where they stood.

However, I wasn’t interested in spruiking the benefits of soap and toothpaste to regional pharmacies. Instead, I flew home on 22 November ready to spend a year working full time on a friend’s dairy farm. My time on the farm ultimately set me on a path that saw me return to Australia 15 months later.

Little did I know that, as I flew into Sydney for a six-month training course in February 1990, my life would never be the same again. 33 years later I never could have imagined that my graduate interview would become the first of hundreds of flights I’d eventually make in and out of Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport. This blog only captures a handful of them.

Sadly, I didn’t take any photos during my time in Sydney. As a result, I’ve scanned a few old photos of me at university to illustrate this post. I can’t see this guy spruiking acne cream any time soon.

Saturday in Macau

I've experimented with preparing a Kodak-era post. My chosen subject? Macau. It's taken more than five hours to research the following post, draft its copy, and then scan and edit all of the hard-copy photos. Converting my pre-digital photo albums into niffy blog posts is clearly going to be a massive project. I've always said that this task would become a retirement hobby. After today's effort, I think that boast has proven rather prescient. 

I visited Macau on a day trip from Hong Kong on Saturday, 18 March 2000. It was an interesting time to be visiting this former Portuguese colony. Just four months earlier, on 20 December 1999, Portugal had transferred the sovereignty of Macau to the People’s Republic of China. I was curious to see how much had changed since the handover.

I'd arrived in Hong Kong two days earlier. From the moment I landed the weather had been poor – or rather – the air pollution had been extreme, to say the least. Increasingly, as China's economy develops, the Pearl Delta was, and still is, frequently smothered by a dense blanket of smog in Winter. 

During my visit, the view of Kowloon from my company’s office simply vanished into the haze. This was all the more alarming given its location in Two International Finance Centre, a waterfront building overlooking Victoria Harbour's narrowest stretch.

I caught an early morning, high-speed hydrofoil ferry from the Sheung Wan terminal to Macau. The trip across the delta took just under an hour. Sadly, haze smothered the coast for much of the journey. Before arriving in Macau, I’d mapped out a comprehensive walking tour. The final route took me past most of the Special Administrative Region’s popular colonial highlights, plus a few sights commemorating the 1999 handover.

My first destination was Guia Fortress. This historic complex sits on Guia Hill, the highest point on the Macau peninsula. Its two most famous sights include the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Guia and the Guia Lighthouse. The lighthouse was constructed between 1864 and 1865, making it the first Western-style lighthouse ever erected along the Chinese coast. Both buildings are painted brilliant white and finished with stunning mustard highlights. Sadly neither building was open to the public that day.

While on my way to Guia Hill, I took a brief detour to view the Arco Oriente. This 28-metre-high monument was erected in 1996 and sits above a major underpass on Ave. do Dr. Rodringo Rodriques. Its looping arch of steel portrays Macau as the intersection of Chinese and Portuguese cultures. It was built to commemorate the friendship between Portugal and China in the lead-up to the colony’s handover. Almost thirty years later it’s interesting to read the commentary online. Apparently, the monument is rusting, temporarily cordoned off, and generally despised by the locals.

The next stop on my walking tour was the picture-perfect, pastel-lime chapel of St Michael. Set in the beautiful, landscaped Catholic Cemetery, this small chapel, built in 1875, is one of Macau’s most iconic locations. I was surprised to learn that, despite appearances, this isn't Macau's oldest cemetery. In fact, it's one of its more recent colonial additions, having only been opened in 1854.

From here it was onwards to Fortaleza do Monte. This colonial fortress, on Mount Hill, overlooks Macau’s most famous sight, the Ruins of St Paul’s Cathedral. It also offered superb views of Macau’s densely populated districts and a spectacular view back towards St Miguel Arcanjo Cemetery.

However, without a doubt, the highlight of the day was my visit to St Paul’s Cathedral. Almost any mention of Macau includes an image of this iconic structure. It's an elaborate building, built between 1602 and 1640 by the Jesuits. At the time, it was one of the largest Catholic churches in Asia. It was destroyed by a fire during a typhoon on 26 January 1835. Today, all that remains standing, is its intricately carved southern stone façade.

 

The façade sits on a small hill and is reached by climbing 68 stone steps. It's decorated by carvings of Jesuit images with Oriental themes, such as The Blessed Virgin Mary stepping on a seven-headed hydra, described in Chinese characters as 'Holy Mother tramples the heads of the dragon'.

The façade is impressive, to say the least. Behind it, a series of carefully preserved stone stub walls outline the original building's footprint. A series of handy tourist plaques (in English) bring the structure of the building and its history to life. I spent almost an hour exploring the ruins before moving on to my next destination.

The Lonely Planet recommended a walk down Rue de São Paulo. This narrow, winding, cobblestone street is lined by beautifully restored colonial buildings. Each building is painted in pastel hues making for plenty of classic Instagram-worthy moments. Sadly, it’s one of the last remaining places where you can still experience the original look and feel of Macau’s colonial past.

My walking tour then took me towards the southwestern shores of the Macau peninsula. This included a stroll along Nam Van Lake. On the edge of this artificial waterway is the Macau Government Headquarters, another stunning colonial building, finished in elegant terracotta hues. It was once the Governor’s Residence. Today, it’s the official office of the Special Administrative Region’s Chief Executive.

My final tourist destination was Portas do Entendimento, also known as the Gate of Understanding. This rather austere monument, consisting of two concrete pillars, sits at the end of a short causeway on the shores of Macau’s Inner Harbour. It’s another Portuguese-commissioned edifice. This one symbolizes a desire for harmonious relations between Portugal and China, that is, between West and East.

Much like the Arco Oriente, two decades on the monument is rather neglected. It's in an increasingly dangerous state of disrepair and has been cordoned off from the public. There’s clearly a theme emerging here. That is, in an increasingly nationalistic era, structures invoking the dying days of colonial rule are clearly much maligned. I guess I was lucky to see them in their prime.

After walking for more than 7kms I decided I’d done enough sightseeing for one day and caught a taxi back to the ferry terminal. However, my return ferry wasn’t scheduled to leave for another 90 minutes. On a whim, I decided to treat myself and booked a helicopter flight back to Hong Kong. Earlier in the day I’d noticed a heliport next door to the terminal, and a second heliport next to the ferry terminal in Hong Kong. The flight took less than 15 minutes. Sadly the view was limited thanks to lingering smog haze. An occasional ship would suddenly appear out of the haze below and then vanish just as quickly.

I've finished this post with an image above showing a high-speed ferry sailing past the Amizade Bridge. This four-lane bridge links the Macau Peninsula with Taipa Island, one of two main islands that, along with the peninsula, make up the Macau Special Administrative Region. It opened in 1995 and was the second crossing to link Taipa Island with the mainland. The ferry passes under it en route to and from Hong Kong.

Foodie week

Garry and I have been traveling to Melbourne at the end of July (or early August) on business for the last eight years. Every year our company exhibits at the annual Reed Gift Fair held in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Southbank. It's our biggest trade show of the year.

It's always an intense week that kicks off with an early morning flight to Melbourne followed by two hectic days of setting up our trade show booth. We then spend five days exhibiting at the show itself. The final day then concludes with a five-hour flurry of activity as we break down the stand and pack it away for another year.

In between all of the business activities, Garry and I always try to find time to indulge our foodie interests while we're in town.  Over the years we've dined at some of Melbourne's top restaurants and enjoyed some memorable meals. This year was no exception.

We kicked off our foodie week with a reunion dinner at Rockpool. A good friend, Jon, was in town from Vancouver. He was speaking at a conference so we made the most of being in the same town at the same time.  Later in the week, we dined at Nobu for the first time since our memorable evening in Hong Kong in 2009. We also had dinner with our staff at Meat & Wine Co, as well as enjoying a Thai meal we traditionally have at Bang Pop on our final night in town.

However, this year's main event was an evening at Embla, a tiny "hole in the wall" wine bar on the edge of the central city.  It had been recommended to us by friends. We also received plenty of positive feedback from other locals whenever we dropped the name in conversation on the trade show floor.

Embla proved to be a real find. The restaurant gave us a table in the back corner. This offered plenty of cozy ambiance while giving us a view of the entire room, including its tiny kitchen containing a spectacular flame-fed grilling oven. The menu was limited but every dish we tried was a genuine taste sensation. We ultimately decided that the vongole with pork sausage was the evening's stand-out dish.

It just goes to show that sometimes the big culinary names aren't the only foodie game in town. We'll definitely be back to try Embla again.