2016

2016 that started with fireworks at nearby Straits Quay has been a solid year for the Guy family based in Penang, Malaysia. Helen and I have maintained good health and are both fairly physically active. Coco must be the fittest little dog around too….enjoying long walks and runs on the beach. We have had visitors state our address at the guardhouse only to be told…that is where Coco lives. She gets more plaudits than Helen and I together in comments from AirBnB guests. She had a minor set-back in the year when she had an infected seed embedded in her forehead. She had to wear a lampshade but at the end of the week she acted like it was not there. She is an affectionate dog but things still have to be on her terms.....such as the compulsory game of football each evening.

The times generally have been financially tough this year with not so many people travelling and more hosts in the area has seen us in a quiet year as B and B hosts. We really only have guests on long weekend holidays. Helen continues to run her English classes on a one-to-one basis. Students may leave but are soon replaced by another. Helen also has her book group and maintains an interest in various cultural activities in Penang. Elsewhere Nikki has had another successful year with her medical studies while based in Wellington and staying with sister Alison in Lower Hutt. She is holidaying with Neal in Okinawa while doing some more lab work there. Dani is very active in her job as sports promoter for the Cambridge (UK) Council having changed jobs form a similar NGO organization. We caught up with Dani earlier in the years when she stayed with us for a week and we caught up with Nikki when we went to New Zealand for the Ashcroft reunion.

In April Helen and I flew to New Zealand and stayed with David and Lyn in Auckland before driving north to check out some places in Northland. We then drove to Masterton for the family re-union. The reunion celebrated the 100^th Anniversary that grandfather Rev Basil Ashcroft led locals to the top of nearby Mt Maunsell to erect a commemorative cross remembering 7 local men who died at Gallipoli. It was good catching up with the cousins and their offspring in two well-organized days. In Masterton we stayed with Gary and Di Stewart ….renown superhosts. The ANZAC ceremony at Tinui was enjoyable and even made the local TV news.

Earlier we had hosted Ron and Georgie from Tasmania. We had introduced them to various photo-opportunities around Penang that included the silent auction (fish being the commodity), Thaipusam, the streets of George Town and the Bee-eaters and Kingfishers at Penanti. We later went to Fraser's Hill where we stayed with Stephen Hogg and his family and met Bob the Palm Civet.

In photographic terms 2016 was also successful. Local shooting was again dominated by the action at Penanti. This year the Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters arrived in much reduced numbers for some obscure reason. Later the numbers of Blue-throated Bee-eaters was also reduced but still present in sufficient numbers for good action shots. 

It is the 5^th season I have photographed these colourful fliers. It was my favourite White-throated Kingfisher pair that really put on a show while raising their 3 chicks. I am eternally grateful to this pair of birds who allow close-up photographer and especially the very pretty female.

I have been quite photographically competitive this year. I have had my best year internationally with over 150 awards (medals or honours) and in January won both the Nature and overall award for Photographer of the Year (2015) in the Australian Photography Magazine. I also won the Australian Photographic Society's Nature photograph of the year ...with another Kingfisher image. I  have entered the most prestigious British Natural History Museum's yearly Wildlife Photography competition ( Formerly BBC Wildlife Photographer of the year) in the last 2 years. I have now been short-listed twice but so far no prize. I have sent another entry this year.

Brother David also suggested I enter images in a travel photo competition run by an Auckland travel company.....I won a spot prize, which was possibly the highlight of the year......a blue cup that would rival the Bledisloe Cup and the William Webb Ellis trophy..

 January to June are the photographic months locally. The weather then gets wetter or the atmosphere smokier after that. This year has been generally wetter than usual. In previous years at this time I have started making Kefir, ginger beer and bread…all of which continues. My aim this year was to make pies and sausages. Pies are easier and require less specialized equipment. Making sausages requires a meat grinder, a sausage stuffer and sausage skins (animal intestines). I was helped in this direction by Mr Kenwood and some imported entrails. Like bread making there are many recipes and techniques to try before arriving on favourites. Current sausage favourites are Moroccan and Spanish with Merguez and Chorizo…where burger patties are also made.

We have had several friends stay with us during the year. My friend Nick Baker has been here twice and enjoys the Pub Quiz and exploring the nature of the area. It is always good shooting with him as his areas of interests are somewhat different from mine and it is always a learning experience.

In October and November when the local action ceased in the wet season I travelled to Cairns and Brisbane to get some local action and colour. I shot for a week in the Atherton Tableland with Colin Stewart, a friend from Singapore before basing myself in Brisbane and catching up with Glen and Debbie and family. The main shooting subject seemed to be Bowerbirds but other colourful birds did not miss out. The behavioral antics of Bowerbirds are always fascinating to me. Australia's only resident Bee-eaters ( Rainbow Bee-eater) were also a target.

We had house-sitters from Tasmania stay at our house and mind Coco while Helen joined me on the Gold Coast. We stayed with friends Bim and Tania for 2 nights near Noosa before returning to Glen and Debbie’s for 2 nights. Bim and Tania were in Penang for a few years before returning to Queensland and semi-retirement (although the picture below suggests full retirement).

Later we watched Nathan play basketball and had a nice meal out with the family. Glen is doing well as a mining consultant and Debbie is busy as a nurse…working night and day shifts.

Helen and I then flew to Ayers Rock via Sydney where we stayed for 3 nights. We enjoyed viewing the rock in various lights and also nearby Kata Djuta. It was our first time in the red interior although it was somewhat green when we were there. We particularly enjoyed the installation art by Bruce Munro called “Field of Lights’ that consisted of 50,000 solar-powered lights in an area adjacent to the famous rock.  

From Ayers Rock we flew to Alice Springs for a further 3 nights. We both joyed Alice with the dry Todd River across the road from the hotel and we went for a trip around the town to various features plus another out into the McDonnell Ranges. There was also some time spent with the Western Bowerbird at the local botanic gardens (it was a chance encounter…I swear).

From Alice we boarded the Ghan for a 23-hour trip to Darwin. It was a nice experience and the food was excellent. We stopped for several hours at Katherine and had a boat-trip to see some aboriginal art. We had two more nights in Darwin before returning to Penang via Singapore. At home we were greeted by a very enthusiastic dog.

Our original plan regarding where we lived was that we live in Penang for around 5 years and then look for another suitable base. The enveloping philosophy was that we wanted somewhere cheap to live while maintaining certain standards. Penang has fulfilled that wish and Malaysia has figured several times in the top 5 countries in the world to retire to based on a number of criteria. In several areas Malaysia is a basket-case but we are happy with our micro-groove here. We have made a number of friends and our local environment is good even with the addition of an offshore island. The seaside walk is a major feature where on a good day we can observe up to nine otters and at a certain time of the year the sea at night twinkles with bioluminescent jellyfish. We are also walking distance of three supermarkets. We also enjoy the weekly pub-quiz at Healy Mac's Irish pub and more than half the time finished in the first three. Images below from 2016 Christmas Quiz...Mike is from our team...collecting the Vodka for 1st prize and Helen collecting a share of the jackpot. The question was...'what is the most popular Christmas dinner in Japan'

Both Helen and I have been somewhat stunned at the higher cost of living in both Australia and New Zealand. Official data has NZ running at exactly twice the cost of living as Malaysia. There are a few downsides in that there are not the civic facilities that the antipodean countries boast nor the consumer choice. Our current plan would be to stay here at least 2 more years and then do something adventurous, health allowing.

A largish house like ours needs fairly constant maintenance and recently we have upgraded the outside garden and repaired some inside problems. We had a possible damaging leak while we were in NZ but were saved by vigilant friends doing an inspection regularly. The culprit was PVC piping that ramifies through the third floor ceiling space. It is not able to cope with the extreme heat that occurs there and cracks. We will soon get all this piping replaced. There has been a general warning issued to the whole estate regarding these pipes. While the standard of construction is high locally caution is needed and replacements have to be made occasionally. Currently the Malaysian economy is not very healthy and there is an oversupply of houses and particularly apartments in the vicinity. BUT we like our house and  even have our own resident wildlife. We even have a resident Lesser Dog-faced bat who comes in to feed most nights.

Even on a nearby hill walk there is wildlife and even a cryptic Tibetan temple complete with prayer flags.

We wish everyone all the best for Christmas 2016 and for the year 2017. I usually try to find a Christmas picture and the best for this year was a 'Tanzanian Christmas tree" adorned with Lovebirds....appropriately.