Te Akau Tourist Update

The travel blog - according to David and Karyn -

Well everyone the time has gone so quickly since we landed on Thursday night.  it has just been so much fun with such a wonderful and enjoyable group of friends.

Of course David was already in Hong Kong with his travelling pal Ian Farrelly and was due to meet up with the intrepid travellers after we landed (that's another story in itself - read on).

We departed Auckland on Thursday just after noon and settled in for our 10.5 hour flight - time to read and catch up on work - oops no, they had decided to disable to wifi on this plane so no joy there - then again maybe that was a good thing (says Karyn).  Unable to catch up on emails it was movie time!

We landed a little later than expected and gathered ourselves together under the leadership of our trusty guide Lawrence and off we headed to the hotel.  Thinking that we had missed David and Ian, we were on the bus on en route to the hotel, only to find that we had in fact left them behind at the airport - oops!  A quick taxi ride for them!

So we checked in and met in the bar for a night cap which was a really relaxing and pleasant way to start our adventure - everyone was fairly tired.

Friday was a day spent doing whatever everyone wanted - there were a mixture of tales told on the bus out to the races that night - some spent the day by the hotel pool, some went sightseeing, some went to the zoo, some went shopping, some thought they were on a "hop on hop off" bus when they were actually on a normal bus and weren't stopping at the tourist spots!

Then finery and fascinators on, we were off to Kranji at 4.30pm with the first race due to kick off at 6pm.  We settled into our corporate box which has a stunning glassed in viewing area over the whole course.  Hamish Hayes and Merv Rowe got the punters' club underway - and despite some doubts expressed as to whether they really knew how they were investing our "hard earned" - they were the heroes of the night when after the last race we received $110 back for our $50 investment!

Over dinner we enjoyed the nine race programme and whilst we might not have been able to cheer home a Te Akau winner - the highlight was undoubtedly the stunning performance by Kevin Hickman's Jimmy Rea to finish second in the $500,000 Group 1 Singapore Guineas - a simply massive effort from his wide draw.  With the potential to pull or over-race, there were few options from the draw other than to settle back - but his finish was sensational and his sectionals must have been outstanding!

It was great to have Mark Walker and Gus Clutterbuck call in and spend some time with us on what is a busy "work night" for them and also have Julia Walker with us too.  Of course no chance to see their children at Kranji as you cannot attend the races in Singapore unless you are 18 and over!

So by 11.15pm our first race day was over and off we headed back to the hotel - the young ones (and some more senior chaperones) decided to paint the town red - and judging by some of the eyes this morning at breakfast - the town wasn't the only thing red!  We have it on reasonable authority that some arrived home at 4am after going to the wrong hotel! Memo to self - ensure "Clear Eyes" is part of travel packs!

A bright and early start for us this morning as David and Karyn met up with Julia Walker and our two god children Zavier and Alexis and what delightful children they are.  We hadn't seen them for two years and they are growing so fast - it was just lovely to have breakfast with them and hear their exciting news - they are coming to New Zealand for Christmas!! This was the best news we could have - by then it will be five years since they have been home and we just can't wait to welcome them back for a couple of weeks.

As we write we are about to head downstairs to grab the bus out to Kranji again where we are going to visit Mark and our stable and our horses! We are really looking forward to that.  Due to security, you can't visit the stables on race days so this year we are doing an afternoon visit.  The last two tours we actually went to track very early to experience trackwork - mind you, we could have simply picked up some of the contingent from town and taken them out with us ha ha!

Tonight we will be dining at Ku de Tat and it is a magical experience - a stunning building with a breathtaking view over the city as you can see below.  Then tomorrow we are back off racing with seven runners to cheer along.