A Flantastic Christmas

We get to spend Christmas with Paula's family on a sheep farm. And it's a big family - there's Flannery's dotted all over the valley; they've been here for generations. Even the road is named Flannery Road. Around 40 of them show up for the celebrations. It's a non-stop sporting festival; we teach them Elsenham-rules cricket, which goes down a storm.

Down Under

We head off to New Zealand for Christmas, on the invitation of Andy and Paula. It's my first trip out of SE Asia since arriving in Thailand, and it's strange the things that come as a shock. First thing is the silence. We arrive in Nelson, which is ostensibly a city - but where are the swarms of people and the craze of traffic? At the B&B, we amuse the owner with our resilient habit of removing our shoes at the threshold. Meanwhile, I’m delighted to be able to drink from a tap, but horrified at the prospect of having to use toilet roll again. (Sorry to bring this up, but once you’re used to the cleanse of a jet wash, smearing on to paper does seem somewhat medieval)

Buying Nirvana

Shopping Monks

Our digital camera has never been the same since I spilled DEET on it several months ago. It literally has a mind of its own. Leave it on the side and every so often, it will switch on, spontaneously take a few snaps, and then shut down. More recently, it has become more moody, sometimes refusing to take photos, and then selfishly running the batteries down on its own.
So I head out for a replacement to my favourite mall. Pantip Plaza is a heaving, cramped shrine to all things Gadget. Shiny new laptops, decaying old PC innards, any software you want for £1; all digital life is here.
One thing I just don't get about it. It's always chock-full with monks. Presumably the monastic renouncement of all worldly goods doesn't apply to electronics? I take a quick photo to confirm my new camera is OK; the monks before me in the queue have just purchased a Canon A640.