Shelley Munro Blog

You’ve probably already guessed I love to travel, and India is one of my favorite destinations. For sheer variety you can’t beat India. It has it all: history, palaces, temples, pomp and ceremony, wild life, gorgeous beaches, fun shopping, tasty food. People either love India or hate it. There are no half measures. It’s vibrant and in-your-face, and one day I hope to return. I’ve traveled to India twice and taken my travel experiences, combined them with teenage memories of Agatha Christie mysteries and come up with a book called Wanderlust. Anna is the tour leader for overland tour OE68. It’s a tale full of love and murder…

Below are thirteen destinations included in Wanderlust.

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On 5th November 1605 a man called Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the British houses of parliament. He was part of a group of men and their mission was to kill King James and several of his leaders by setting barrels of gunpowder below the room where a meeting was to be held. Guy Fawkes was meant to light the fuse but the plot was discovered, Guy was captured and subsequently hung.

As early as 1607 the day was celebrated. King James declared the day a public holiday because he was so pleased the plot was foiled. Ever since, Guy Fawkes Day has been a time for merrymaking. It is a holiday that both children and adults can enjoy. And the fun really begins when darkness falls, then “the “Guy” is tossed onto the bonfire, and set alight. Then the fireworks go off, and “the Guy” goes up in a flames.

With our English connection (we’re a member of the Commonwealth and Queen Elizabeth is our sovereign) we celebrate Guy Fawkes day here in New Zealand. During past years accidents with fire crackers, injuries and property damage have increased to the point where there is continual talk about banning the sale of fireworks. This year fireworks went on sale on 2 November. Already we’ve had accidents and fires. Personally, I’m not a fan and our little dog is terrified of them. Things are a little easier now she’s going deaf but she’ll be sleeping inside for the next two weeks until everyone in the neighborhood uses up their supplies! It wouldn’t worry me at all if firework sales are banned to the public and only public displays were allowed. We normally have a family get together, a BBQ and when it gets dark the fireworks come out.

Does anyone else celebrate Guy Fawkes day? What do you do to celebrate?

We had an awesome weekend in Rotorua and Taupo, although the weather wasn’t the best. I’ll post some photos later in the week but my highlights for the weekend were spending time with hubby, going to the Blueberry and Honey places (lots of yummy samples) and our visit to Wai-o-tapu, a thermal area between Rotorua and Taupo. I see Wylie has tagged me with the same meme that Rhian has so visit tomorrow and I’ll reveal all about Auckland.

When we were in Samoa earlier this year we visited Robert Louis Stevenson’s house. He suffered from ill-health for most of his life (thought to be tuberculosis) and spent time traveling through the South Pacific searching for a climate that suited him. In 1890 he purchased land in Samoa. He died suddenly on 3 December 1894 at the age of 44.

The house is in the middle of bush and surrounded by lots of grass and tropical plants. There’s a view over the trees to the sea.

The above photo is taken from inside the house and shows what the view is like.

We were given a guided tour around the house by Margaret who was very knowledgable and answered all our questions. I loved this place because we were actually allowed to touch. The valuable first editions, were of course, locked up but mostly there were none of the ropes and barricades found in stately homes.

The above photo shows the formal room. The wall paper is all batik style and that’s a lion skin on the floor.

This is a first edition of Kidnapped.

The above photo is Robert Louis Stevenson’s medicine cabinet complete with bottles and potions.

And this is me on the staircase. If you’re interested in learning more about Robert Louis Stevenson, check out his Wikipedia page here.

Don’t forget to visit me over at Nalini’s blog today. I’d love some company. Oh, and I’m giving away a prize

It’s my sister’s birthday today and I went over to meet her for morning tea. Happy birthday, sis!

I have a release date for WANDERLUST. It’s coming out on April 18, 2008. Once I get myself organized I’ll put up an excerpt on my website.

And finally here’s a few more trip photos. The first is of the Pride of Aloha, the ship we cruised on. It’s very pretty with its lei of flowers. The ship is moored off Kona on the Big Island. This was the only place where we caught tenders from the ship to get to shore. We moored at a wharf on all the other islands.

This is the view from our cabin porthole when we sailed past the Kaua’i Coast.

And this is me aboard the ship at one of the happy hours at the poolside bar. There were 2000 passengers on board the ship. I don’t know where they all hid because I didn’t see them! The only thing we ever needed to queue for were the lifts. After the first time waiting we gave up and hit the stairs all the time. Hmmm, come to think of it that was Mr. Munro’s idea. The sneak had me in training for that hill climb and I didn’t realize!

Mr. Munro suggested it. “We should climb Diamond Head,” he said. “We’ll go as soon as we wake up.”

“Sounds good,” I agreed. “We need some exercise after eating all that food on the ship.” Right about now my inner self should have been shouting, “No! No! Bad idea.” Sadly, my inner self appeared to have had one margarita too many and was on holiday.

We started out, walking along the canal, heading toward Diamond Head. It’s the big hilly volcano thing in the photo below. About halfway there my inner self decided catching a bus would have been a good idea.

“It’s not much farther,” Mr. Munro said.

He lied but finally, finally we arrived at the park. We purchased our tickets.

“Where do we go?” I looked around and frowned. I looked up and up and up. “Surely not up there?”

“Nah,” Mr. Munro said. “This way.”

He lied again. It was all the way up there. We had to go past people with sharp elbows, people who dawdled and the cheerful people who had already climbed to the top and were coming back down. They were disgustingly cheerful because they knew how much I suffered…

We passed puffing, red-faced people. We climbed 99 stairs, walked through a tunnel and squeezed under an obstacle and up a hole. We huffed and we puffed. Or rather I did. Mr Munro never huffs or puffs because he’s fitter than me. Finally, finally we stood on the top to look down on Waikiki.

“I need a beer,” I said. “A big beer.”

This is me recovering my puff at the top of Diamond Head.

And this is me at the bottom. No beer but Mr. Munro bought me a shaved ice instead.