Well, guys, I'm not going to lie. I'm extremely sad to be done traveling the world. Today was our last full day out of the US (we leave tomorrow afternoon for San Fran) and it's hard to believe the trip is almost over. I'm having some serious second thoughts about what my original post-trip plans were going to be (moving to NYC). I think I'm going to cast a MUCH wider net than I initially planned, but I'm trying to not think about that until I'm back home. It's going to be weird not seeing Jilbo Baggins on a daily basis, too.
Anyway, on to recapping our time in Auckland. This city is pretty cool. Yesterday, we mostly just wandered the streets and then hit up a brewery.
Today, we took a ferry to one of the smaller islands off the main drag. As I've said before on this blog, I really enjoy coastal cities. Devonport is one of those sleepy little towns with a coffee shop and book store on every corner. Jill and I spent a good portion of the afternoon reading and drinking tea. I picked up Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War. I know, I know, you're thinking, "Why are you reading young adult fiction? You practically have one foot in the grave!" Except, Robert Cormier's books are consistently creepy, dark and awesome. I'll probably finish it tonight and then return to The World According to Garp.
We also bought some cheese today. I'm exceptionally excited to try it.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Biking, Spas, and Maori Culture
Well, New Zealand is totally awesome. So far we've done Rotorua and Paihia. We head to Auckland tomorrow.
Mountain Biking
Yesterday, ArmaJillo and I went mountain biking with Jeff (family friend of Jill's). He took us to this awesome park and we rented bikes. As it turns out, biking combines 2 things that I am most terrified of: 1. moving at high speeds in an unenclosed space and 2. potential to knock my teeth out. At first, I was definitely not having fun. I was dodging trees, braking down hills and trying to not get TOO far behind. After a while, though, I decided I needed to stop thinking about what I was doing and just look at it as exercise. That made it a lot more fun. It also made hamfoot (the name of my sprained ankle) feel a lot better. (Yeah, the ol' ankle is still not better.)
Spa!
After biking, Jill and I went to the Polynesian Bath House. This place was awesome. Rotorua is a geological hot spot and there are a boat load of natural springs. We soaked in some sulfur pools for a while and it made for a very relaxing afternoon.
Sheep World
We left Rotorua yesterday morning to drive up to the top of the island to Paihia (which is in the Bay of Islands). On our way, we stopped at Sheep World. THIS PLACE WAS AWESOME. Not only did I get to pet a little lamb, but I got to feed emu right out of my hands. Some of the sheep were also dyed pink.
A Looong Road
It took us about 6 hours to drive up here (not including the stop in Sheep World). Our GPS took us the most ridiculous backwoods route possible. Once we arrived, though, we checked into our hostel. It's actually really nice. Someone also left a romance novel in the room, so I've been reading that. It's about a Sydney billionaire playboy and his former stepsister.
After we checked in, we decided to go to the bar next door for some nachos. We loved this place. The bartender, Derek, was really cool. It was just the three of us for most of the night, so we talked to him for a really long time. He's a fisherman so he showed us a book of some of his catches. They caught a great white one time that's jaws were big enough to fit 2 people. He also talked to us about aliens (outerspace aliens), ghosts and welfare. I think we're going back tonight.
Maori
Today, we headed up to the culture center and caught a traditional Maori performance. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my entire life. The music was beautiful, the movements were really cool and the performers were really fun.
We also received a guided tour of the grounds. It was just the tour guide, Jillaroo and me. I took a ridiculous amount of pictures.
Dead Pig
We saw a dead pig on the shore today. It was really weird.
Well, I'm out of internet time. I'll do another update at some point with more information on the Maori things we saw. It was really amazing.
Mountain Biking
Yesterday, ArmaJillo and I went mountain biking with Jeff (family friend of Jill's). He took us to this awesome park and we rented bikes. As it turns out, biking combines 2 things that I am most terrified of: 1. moving at high speeds in an unenclosed space and 2. potential to knock my teeth out. At first, I was definitely not having fun. I was dodging trees, braking down hills and trying to not get TOO far behind. After a while, though, I decided I needed to stop thinking about what I was doing and just look at it as exercise. That made it a lot more fun. It also made hamfoot (the name of my sprained ankle) feel a lot better. (Yeah, the ol' ankle is still not better.)
Spa!
After biking, Jill and I went to the Polynesian Bath House. This place was awesome. Rotorua is a geological hot spot and there are a boat load of natural springs. We soaked in some sulfur pools for a while and it made for a very relaxing afternoon.
Sheep World
We left Rotorua yesterday morning to drive up to the top of the island to Paihia (which is in the Bay of Islands). On our way, we stopped at Sheep World. THIS PLACE WAS AWESOME. Not only did I get to pet a little lamb, but I got to feed emu right out of my hands. Some of the sheep were also dyed pink.
A Looong Road
It took us about 6 hours to drive up here (not including the stop in Sheep World). Our GPS took us the most ridiculous backwoods route possible. Once we arrived, though, we checked into our hostel. It's actually really nice. Someone also left a romance novel in the room, so I've been reading that. It's about a Sydney billionaire playboy and his former stepsister.
After we checked in, we decided to go to the bar next door for some nachos. We loved this place. The bartender, Derek, was really cool. It was just the three of us for most of the night, so we talked to him for a really long time. He's a fisherman so he showed us a book of some of his catches. They caught a great white one time that's jaws were big enough to fit 2 people. He also talked to us about aliens (outerspace aliens), ghosts and welfare. I think we're going back tonight.
Maori
Today, we headed up to the culture center and caught a traditional Maori performance. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my entire life. The music was beautiful, the movements were really cool and the performers were really fun.
We also received a guided tour of the grounds. It was just the tour guide, Jillaroo and me. I took a ridiculous amount of pictures.
Dead Pig
We saw a dead pig on the shore today. It was really weird.
Well, I'm out of internet time. I'll do another update at some point with more information on the Maori things we saw. It was really amazing.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
NZ!
We're in New Zealand now and the horrors of Australia are just a distant memory. This country is beautiful! We're staying in Rotorua for a couple days with friends of Jill's family. They've been so nice to us and they are taking us mountain biking tomorrow. I'm pretty pumped. I'm also exhausted (we got up at 3:00 AM), so I'm going to call it an early night. I promise I'll do a better post soon!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Uh Oh
Well, Australia has not been doing us right. Jill and I had some serious car trouble today (we are safe, though) and are going to have to fight with the car rental company. When I'm not really upset, I'll tell the story. It's kind of humorous in how horrifying it was. It involves a wallaby.
Anyway, we went to Kakadu today. It was pretty cool. We saw some amazing aboriginal cave paintings. Some were over 5000 years old. I have to say, though, that South Africa spoiled me. The park itself wasn't as cool as ZA.
Sorry guys, but I'm a little too upset to blog. I just keep telling myself that we are safe and healthy and that's really all that matters.
Anyway, we went to Kakadu today. It was pretty cool. We saw some amazing aboriginal cave paintings. Some were over 5000 years old. I have to say, though, that South Africa spoiled me. The park itself wasn't as cool as ZA.
Sorry guys, but I'm a little too upset to blog. I just keep telling myself that we are safe and healthy and that's really all that matters.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Oz
Panic on the Streets of JoBurg
Let me tell you what, our trip to Australia was the most stressful travel experience of my life. First, our car was half an hour late to pick us up. We had given ourselves a pretty big cushion, though, so we didn't think we'd have any problems with getting to our gate with plenty of time to spare. Not so my friends, not so. Things started heading south when Jill tried to check in and the computer system couldn't find her reservation. We had to scuttle over to Lufthansa's queue to get it all sorted out. It took probably an hour in total. Then, we head back to Qantas airways and proceed to check in. Jill gets in no problem. They ask for my passport. The machine makes bleep noises. I start to sweat. The man hands me back my passport and asks if I have a visa for Australia. I reply that I do but I didn't print my email confirmation because it's supposed to be electronic. He tells me to bust ass down to the internet cafe and print out my confirmation email because the machine is just not recognizing my visa. This was 45 minutes before we had to be at our gate. So, Jill and I run through the airport, find the internet cafe and promptly discover the internet has been down all day. I'm trying not to cry and Jill's trying to log on to her phone to access wi-fi. I decide to run back up to the gate and hope I can sweet talk my way into getting into Australia. Then, like a flash of lightning, Jill comes running up in her New York City giraffe t-shirt and says she has access to wi fi on her phone. The heavens parted, gold rained from the sky and I pulled up my confirmation. And BAM! Now I'm in Australia.
Sydney
Sydney is amazing. The people are friendly and the city is really pretty. Jill and I spent a lot of time in the park by the harbor. It was lovely. I also bought a pretty ridiculous 1970s jumpsuit. I'm not going to lie, I look beyond awesome in it.
We did find ourselves in another awkward social situation, though, when we decided to go out with a group of people from the hostel. Nobody really talked to us and we went to some ridiculous club. They played Bob Dylan's Hurricane in its entirety - all eight minutes. It's one of my favorite songs, so I didn't complain, but that is a bizarre choice for a club.
Darwin
SUCKS. This city is filled with drunk kids being loud and trashy. I feel like I'm in Jersey. We did spend the day on the beach today, though, which was really nice and relaxing. I love the ocean.
Tomorrow, we head to Kakadu National Park. We have very high hopes. We have some hiking planned, including a trail to some shallow swimming pools.
Driving
I feel pretty comfortable driving on the other side of the road now. I still struggle with the turn signal, though, because it's on the other side of the steering wheel. I imagine I'll figure that out just in time to go back to the states.
Sorry for the brief update but I have some New Zealand trip planning to attend to.
Let me tell you what, our trip to Australia was the most stressful travel experience of my life. First, our car was half an hour late to pick us up. We had given ourselves a pretty big cushion, though, so we didn't think we'd have any problems with getting to our gate with plenty of time to spare. Not so my friends, not so. Things started heading south when Jill tried to check in and the computer system couldn't find her reservation. We had to scuttle over to Lufthansa's queue to get it all sorted out. It took probably an hour in total. Then, we head back to Qantas airways and proceed to check in. Jill gets in no problem. They ask for my passport. The machine makes bleep noises. I start to sweat. The man hands me back my passport and asks if I have a visa for Australia. I reply that I do but I didn't print my email confirmation because it's supposed to be electronic. He tells me to bust ass down to the internet cafe and print out my confirmation email because the machine is just not recognizing my visa. This was 45 minutes before we had to be at our gate. So, Jill and I run through the airport, find the internet cafe and promptly discover the internet has been down all day. I'm trying not to cry and Jill's trying to log on to her phone to access wi-fi. I decide to run back up to the gate and hope I can sweet talk my way into getting into Australia. Then, like a flash of lightning, Jill comes running up in her New York City giraffe t-shirt and says she has access to wi fi on her phone. The heavens parted, gold rained from the sky and I pulled up my confirmation. And BAM! Now I'm in Australia.
Sydney
Sydney is amazing. The people are friendly and the city is really pretty. Jill and I spent a lot of time in the park by the harbor. It was lovely. I also bought a pretty ridiculous 1970s jumpsuit. I'm not going to lie, I look beyond awesome in it.
We did find ourselves in another awkward social situation, though, when we decided to go out with a group of people from the hostel. Nobody really talked to us and we went to some ridiculous club. They played Bob Dylan's Hurricane in its entirety - all eight minutes. It's one of my favorite songs, so I didn't complain, but that is a bizarre choice for a club.
Darwin
SUCKS. This city is filled with drunk kids being loud and trashy. I feel like I'm in Jersey. We did spend the day on the beach today, though, which was really nice and relaxing. I love the ocean.
Tomorrow, we head to Kakadu National Park. We have very high hopes. We have some hiking planned, including a trail to some shallow swimming pools.
Driving
I feel pretty comfortable driving on the other side of the road now. I still struggle with the turn signal, though, because it's on the other side of the steering wheel. I imagine I'll figure that out just in time to go back to the states.
Sorry for the brief update but I have some New Zealand trip planning to attend to.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
This is Africa
Sadly, Jill and I fly out today. Of course, I've been crying all morning like the grandma that I am. Our trip has been wonderful and I couldn't have asked for a better experience, but it's really hard for me not knowing when I'll see Hannah and James again. They'll be back in Ohio in December, but I have no idea where I'll be and if I'll be able to get back to the Mother Land. I guess tomorrow is tomorrow and I'll just have to make peace with uncertainty (something I am not good at).
On a lighter note, Johnny, Carlos and Blake came over last night for KFC and a viewing of Troll 2. Best movie ever. Matthew, if you are reading this, we are buying this movie and watching it immediately upon my return. It was a pretty good send off for Dill Javis and me.
In conclusion, I am ridiculously sad to leave but am going to put my game face on for the next two weeks. I'm not sure when I'll get to update again, but I'll try my best.
On a lighter note, Johnny, Carlos and Blake came over last night for KFC and a viewing of Troll 2. Best movie ever. Matthew, if you are reading this, we are buying this movie and watching it immediately upon my return. It was a pretty good send off for Dill Javis and me.
In conclusion, I am ridiculously sad to leave but am going to put my game face on for the next two weeks. I'm not sure when I'll get to update again, but I'll try my best.
Kruger!
Due to some unforeseeable circumstances, Jill and I are still in Africa. Everything's fine, we're just flying out tomorrow (2 days later than planned).
Anyway, HandJ, Jilbo Baggins and I went to Kruger for the weekend. Let me tell you what, it was effing awesome. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm so glad we went.
Road Tripping
I've been taking anti-malarial drugs for a couple days and one of the side effects is weird dreams. On the drive up to the park on Friday, I was most definitely lucid dreaming. I have no idea what was real and what wasn't. I was telling Hannah that I was afraid to start talking in the car because I didn't want to sound crazy.
Stars
The stars in the park were crazy. Apparently I have never seen what the night sky is supposed to look like. The Milky Way was so bright and clear. I feel like I've been cheated my entire life.
Animal Sightings
We actually assigned a point system for animal spotting. You got one point for each new animal spotted and one point every time you spotted one of the Big 5 - elephant, rhino, leopard, water buffalo and lions. We stopped keeping track, though, so I don't really know who won the game.
Lion Kill
We went on an organized night drive through the park. After about 10 minutes, the driver stopped and shined a light on this tree. Turns out, there was a gen-u-wine grade A chameleon chilling in the trees. Honestly, my first thought was, "Are you freaking kidding me? You are pointing out a chameleon? I want to see some animals get destroyed." But, it was actually pretty neat.
As the drive went on, we got to hang out at a fresh lion kill. All the ladies were ripping apart a water buffalo carcass. It was BADASS. We were probably 15-20 feet from the animals and we could see them tearing flesh and crunching bones. There were a bunch of cubs, too, and a male lion passed out on his back with his paws in the air. We've all been there before, amiright? It's funny to me that the animals are completely used to having cars and people stare at them. They didn't even bat a lash at having spotlights shown on them.
We actually returned to the lion kill the next morning. There were two males still feeding and we were, again, within a stones throw. I wish I had a better way to describe it other than as badass, but I don't. It was just straight up badass.
Leopard
Later that morning, we were driving through the park and saw a cluster of elephants - including a baby - drinking in a stream. We stopped the car and watched for a bit. Then, out of nowhere, James goes, "OH MY GOD THERE'S A LEOPARD!" Chaos ensued. All four of us rolled our windows up and down, started swearing and laughing, and just generally panicked. I think it was the coolest moment of the trip to the park. I could have stuck my hand out the window and touched it, it was that close.
Baboons
At one point, we were driving through the park and a troop, also called a congress, of baboons came parading down the road. There at least 50 baboons, if not more, just walking towards us. I have to say, I've been pretty hard on baboons this trip. I think they are creepy and smell really, really bad, but seeing that many was pretty cool. I'm not totally sold on them, but I no longer want to barf when I see one.
The trip was truly amazing. I'm so glad we went.
Anyway, HandJ, Jilbo Baggins and I went to Kruger for the weekend. Let me tell you what, it was effing awesome. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm so glad we went.
Road Tripping
I've been taking anti-malarial drugs for a couple days and one of the side effects is weird dreams. On the drive up to the park on Friday, I was most definitely lucid dreaming. I have no idea what was real and what wasn't. I was telling Hannah that I was afraid to start talking in the car because I didn't want to sound crazy.
Stars
The stars in the park were crazy. Apparently I have never seen what the night sky is supposed to look like. The Milky Way was so bright and clear. I feel like I've been cheated my entire life.
Animal Sightings
We actually assigned a point system for animal spotting. You got one point for each new animal spotted and one point every time you spotted one of the Big 5 - elephant, rhino, leopard, water buffalo and lions. We stopped keeping track, though, so I don't really know who won the game.
Lion Kill
We went on an organized night drive through the park. After about 10 minutes, the driver stopped and shined a light on this tree. Turns out, there was a gen-u-wine grade A chameleon chilling in the trees. Honestly, my first thought was, "Are you freaking kidding me? You are pointing out a chameleon? I want to see some animals get destroyed." But, it was actually pretty neat.
As the drive went on, we got to hang out at a fresh lion kill. All the ladies were ripping apart a water buffalo carcass. It was BADASS. We were probably 15-20 feet from the animals and we could see them tearing flesh and crunching bones. There were a bunch of cubs, too, and a male lion passed out on his back with his paws in the air. We've all been there before, amiright? It's funny to me that the animals are completely used to having cars and people stare at them. They didn't even bat a lash at having spotlights shown on them.
We actually returned to the lion kill the next morning. There were two males still feeding and we were, again, within a stones throw. I wish I had a better way to describe it other than as badass, but I don't. It was just straight up badass.
Leopard
Later that morning, we were driving through the park and saw a cluster of elephants - including a baby - drinking in a stream. We stopped the car and watched for a bit. Then, out of nowhere, James goes, "OH MY GOD THERE'S A LEOPARD!" Chaos ensued. All four of us rolled our windows up and down, started swearing and laughing, and just generally panicked. I think it was the coolest moment of the trip to the park. I could have stuck my hand out the window and touched it, it was that close.
Baboons
At one point, we were driving through the park and a troop, also called a congress, of baboons came parading down the road. There at least 50 baboons, if not more, just walking towards us. I have to say, I've been pretty hard on baboons this trip. I think they are creepy and smell really, really bad, but seeing that many was pretty cool. I'm not totally sold on them, but I no longer want to barf when I see one.
The trip was truly amazing. I'm so glad we went.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)