Good People Along the Way

For the past two days (well we left 2 nights ago, but have been busy) we have been in Wellington staying in the lovely home of our new friends - Margaret and Dave and the real head of the household - Tigger!

Tigger and company were introduced to us through another new friend of ours from our travels, Caroline, who we met in Poland. Caroline is the neighbor of our hostess in Poland, Maria. And remember Maria is our friend Carissa's cousin - Phew!! It was so nice of them to host us and we enjoyed our time there.

But Margaret summed it up really well on our last night, when I was thanking her for their wonderful hospitality (and good cooking - Michael especially liking the homemade lamb sausage). Margaret is exceptionally well traveled and had in her travels also experience very generous hospitality and being that it is difficult to return that hospitality to the same person - you instead pass it on to someone new....as we hope to do down the road in our life.

We met up with Jay and Carla yesterday and plan to go whale watching tomorrow.

Sheep Dodging

Yesterday I drove the rental car for the first time. I have never driven on the opposite side of the road (not "wrong" side, just different- I keep trying to say). It was pretty strange, we keep turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn indicator because everything in the car is the complete opposite as they are in the states, but after doing it for awhile I got used to it and stopped being nervous- that is until I had to drive through the sheep stampede!

The entire county of NZ has 4 1/2 million people (probably the population of Denver metro from Ft. Collins to CO Springs) but there are 40 million sheep. And yesterday as I was driving this totally curvy road this farmer was herding his sheep right down the highway! At the time I didn't think it was very funny, because sometimes the babies would just stop right in front of my car and baaaa and I was terrified of hitting them because I did as the other drivers did around me and just kept driving through the herd.

This and That

So.....we decided to sleep last night (Sunday) in Waganui before heading to stay with a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. We didn't do much there, except visit a black sands beach (see flickr) and see Borat. It feels like a sleepy little town, and a nice break from the touristy places we have been going. Today, we will work our way down the west coast of the north island to Wellington.

Thermal Pools

Saturday, we went and checked out the Wai-O-Tapui thermal area. First off we saw the lady knox geyser. We were somewhat disappointed in it as they trigger it to go off as opposed to it going off naturally. From there, we walked around the thermal pools. They were quite impressive being multi-colored and very vibrant.

After the thermal pools, we took a soak in the hot springs we went to the day before. We opted to visit the spring that had the hot and cool streams. We soaked in there until we were as wrinkly as a shairpei. The combination of the hot and cold enable you to stay a long time in the water. We had a nice chat with other visitors as they stopped by and got some suggestions for traveling.

Today our plan was to drive to Tonganero National Park and do the Tonganero Crossing. Well, the weather had different ideas. It was gloomy and overcast....so we skipped the hike and are heading to the shore. We were disappointed about missing the hike as they shot the Mordor scenes there from LOTR there. We could see it from a distance though.

Other musings....
- The hostel we stayed in was the best we have stayed in so far. Clean and very friendly. We were quite pleased with it.
- We have met many Americans in New Zealand. There were about 8 staying at our hostel. It was nice to chat with them.

Buck naked in New Zealand

So far, and we have only been here like 4 days, we LOVE New Zealand!

We are in Rotorua, which is on the North Island, it has the most thermal activity in all of NZ and is full of bubbling mud pools, gurgling hot springs and gushing geysers (we haven't seen any geysers yet, but plan to see some tomorrow).

Today we went on a nice hike around a beautiful, crystal clear lake and then went to 3 all natural, totally free hot springs! Michael and I love to go to hot springs in CO, but these were by far the most beautiful to date! Had to walk a little ways into the bush to get to them. (see pictures on flcker)

The first one was listed in our guidebook. There we meet another tourist who had a hand drawn map to another one. We get there and there is one buck-naked Kiwi! He informs us that this particular hot spring, very tiny with a great waterfall, is nude only. When in NZ...so we stripped down and got in with him. Super hot, but felt great. He also told us about how good the lava ash mud (not the official name but I don't remember what he called it) was for the skin, so we covered ourselves in it, then rinsed off in the waterfall!

Then he told us about another hot spring that actually was a junction of 2 springs- one hot water and one cold water so we went over there to check it out. He came with and told us a lot about NZ.

First thoughts on New Zealand

So, we just arrived in New Zealand last night. It took all day to get from the blue mountains to Auckland (9am-10pm), but so far its worth it. The people are quite lovely, and it appears to much cheaper here than Australia. We are renting a car tomorrow to tour around it. After checking into our hotel, we found out that renting a car was going to be just a little more than taking the bus. We figure the extra freedom will be worth it. Ok, that's all for now. We haven't done much in Auckland today. Ash is getting her hair cut right now, and we spent the morning doing planning on new Zealand.

The Blue Sorta Mountains

So, we decided to escape the craziness of the Australian cities and head to the nearby Blue Mountains for a couple of nights. It was nice to be out in nature and hiking, something we really haven't done since Slovakia. Well, after taking the train from Sydney, we arrived in Kotoomba. The first thing we noticed was that it wasn't really the mountains. More like foothills, or cliffs. There was no visible peaks to us. This isn't to say it wasn't nice, as it was quite relaxing but its a
misnomer to call them mountains.

Yesterday, we did a really nice hike through the park. We walked along a cliff edge and saw some local sights (some waterfalls, three sisters, cockatoos, echo point) check flickr for pics. We enjoyed our time here, but it pales in comparison to the American West.

It was a lovely national park and very well organized. You can walk to the park from the town, or take a shuttle bus. There was also a lot of attractions nearby.....caves, skyways, scenic railroads, etc. We opted to hike instead of ride.

Other musings....
- We head to New Zealand today. I write this from an airport lounge. We are excited about New Zealand, but recognize that it signifies the end of our trip. :-( Only 23 days left until we head home.
- We are quite excited to meet our friends Jay and Carla in New Zealand. We are going to have a blast.
- Australia was nice, but its pretty much just like America with funny accents and driving on the wrong side of the road.
- I would like to put a museum in my basement when we return to America. For some reasons, museums make me sleepy and it would nice to have a way to fall asleep when I have insomnia.
- Coopers Pale Ale is a very good beer. Not sure if its available outside of Australia, but we really enjoyed drinking it.
- Both Ash and I have that lingering cold. We would like to get well!

Real life stuffed animals

Despite the fact that we are both feeling a bit under the weather we went to a wildlife park about an hour outside of Sydney today and are SO glad we went- we saw some totally crazy animals!

Both of our hands down favorite were the Koalas! They were so freakin' cute I could hardly stand to look at them- way cuter in real life than even in stuffed animal life!!! There were tons of them and all they do is eat and sleep and the positions they sleep in are totally hysterical.

My second favorite animals were the Tasmanian Devils, I don't think Michael liked them because he thought they looked like big rats, which they kind of did but I liked them anyway. We were really looking forward to seeing them at feeding time because about 15 minutes before feeding time they started getting really cranky with each other- hissing and growling and showing their BIG teeth- but we wandered off to see if the big Kangaroo (nearly 6 ft tall) had gotten out of his shady spot he had been lounging in all day! Because I really wanted to see him hop around...he was still napping, but we saw another smaller Kangaroo eating very near us and we could tell something was in her pouch....and a little baby Joey popped his head out!!! (see picture on flcker) I was so excited I started crying!

But because we stopped to watch the Joey, we missed the Devils at feeding time, but we still got to see a little after feeding feistiness!

Other Australian animals we saw included- Wallabies, Emus, Bilbies, Quolls, Crocodile, Fruit Bats (we really liked those too!) and lots of really crazy looking birds.

G'day Mates

So after a long travel day (is there any other kind?), we made it to Sydney yesterday. The travel day shouldn't have been too long but the mini-bus from the Sydney airport to our hostel took longer than the plane ride. Strange. Anyway, they actually say G'day mate in Australia. I somewhat thought it was just a catch phrase, but I have heard it said to me numerous times.

Today in Sydney we had a relatively full day of sightseeing (didn't spend a penny either until Dinner). We walked over to the Royal Botanical Gardens and looked at the harbor. Sydney is quite lovely and the weather while not perfect is much better than Melbourne. The Botanical Gardens were nice with lots of birds and plants. The birds were all quite strange looking. We thought we would see more strange birds on our trip, but outside the kingfisher we saw in Thailand, nothing too exotic. Until today that is. We saw some odd ducks (check flickr) along with a wild parrot and very large ravens.

From the botanical gardens, we headed around the bay to see the Sydney Opera House. It was just as cool as the pictures show. We wandered around the Circular Quay and watched some street performers. There were several aborigines playing the Dierado, which was pretty cool. After that, we checked out the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was a decent museum, with one excellent exhibit on some aussie modern artist. I can't remember his name, but we both liked his stuff especially the Manta Ray and the neon rhinoceros.

Other tidbits....
- Ashley was slightly sick in Melbourne, and I have seem to have caught it. Nothing to serious, just a cold.
- We have figured out that Germany actually is deserted. They are all out traveling. Sydney is loaded with them.
- We are back to hostels for our accommodation, as my mom commented, its a steep drop from where we stayed in Thailand. But hostels are nice cause you can cook (we got sick of eating out in Thailand). Plus, the showers are relatively normal and the bathroom sinks actually have hot water.
- Australia is definitely expensive, mostly cause the dollar is weak. We are managing to stay on budget by cooking.

Wet and Cold

So, our plan before the trip was to have basically an endless summer. Start out in Europe during the summer, have India during the fall (when its not summer just feels like it), a little splash during Thailand dry season (warm again) and then finish it up with later spring early summer down under. Well that got shot down as soon as we got to Melbourne. Its downright chilly here.....and rainy. Quite annoying, hopefully Sydney (where we go tomorrow) is warmer.

We really didn't do that much today except check out two museums. The first was on Australian art. The facilities were quite nice, however outside the aboriginal art, the art was lackluster. The second was the international art museum. It had both nice facilities and art, but we lacked the time to explore it fully.

Other musings.....
- Our total travel time from our hotel in Thailand to our Hotel in Sydney was 31 1/2 hrs. It didn't feel that bad due to a combination of nice airport lounges and Xanax.
- Our budget will feel the pinch in Australia. Our accommodation willl take up over 50% of our budget, which won't leave that much money for food or sights. We handled it well in europe, and I think we can do it here. Plus, we banked up a solid reserve in Thailand.
- Its nice to hear people speak English.
- Ashley and I were looking forward to western food, but all we have had in Australia so far is Indian fare. HA!

Lady Boys

Last night, we went to a show at Simon Cabaret. The whole production is staged by Lady Boys, or Katheoy in Thai. These are Thai men/boys who have chosen to live their lives as women as opposed to men. It seems to be accepted throughout Thailand, as we have seen many women who we suspected to be men in actuality. To learn more, check out the wiki page. But its not like we are going to ask them. So anyway, we went to check out the show....essentially a drag show. It was top notch, as the performance were well rehearsed and choreographed. They danced, and lipsynched to a variety of tunes. Many of them looked exactly like women, but the shoulders on some gave them away. Overall, it was quite a hoot and a good ending to a visit to Thailand. We just wish we had brought our camera. I don't know why we always forget it!!!!

Musings.....
- We have really enjoyed Thailand. We set out to spend about 8 days here, and are actually spending 27 days. What a change. Its quite easy to travel and the locals are friendly, plus its very reasonable on the wallet.
- We spent the last two nights in Patong, which more of a touristy area. I am so glad we spent the bulk of our beach time (16 days) in less touristy areas. Not only is it cheaper, but it was cleaner, safer and way more relaxing. We liked both Ko Phayam and Ko Jum light years more than this area (or the Marriott and all of its luxury).
- I read a ton of books in Thailand. English books were widely available, if not slightly pricey. Some of my reads include - long way down by hornsby (quite good), the lincoln lawyer by michael connelley (another good one), Indigo Slam by Robert Crais, Backpacker by some unknown author, Jane Eyre by Bronte (very good!), Kim by Rudyard Kipling (god awful), Trace by Cornwell (almost terrible), a clancy novel along with a couple of others that I cannot recall. I am simultanously reading an Elizabeth George and Lonesome dove. I read Lonesome Dove about 18 years ago, and am re-reading it. Ash has first dibs on it, but I pick it up when she is snoozing.
- I listened to my ipod quite a bit.....favs included Jackie Brown soundtrack, Tool (10,000 days is a great album), and American Analog Set. For some reason, I can't remember what else I listened to.....must be something else we did a lot of in Thailand.
- I write this in the internet area at the Royal Silk Lounge in Bangkok Airport.....another perk about traveling so much for work was getting status and free access to the VIP lounges!

Ko Jum

We just got back from another deserted island. Its also on the Indian Ocean side of Thailand, but further south from Ko Phayam. It was truly delightful. The island was somewhat similar to the first one, but there were no crabs and the surf was lackluster. However, the accommodation was a little nicer (still no hot water) and the water definitely clearer. We really didn't do all that much during our visit there, except read, drink, swim and walk. But we did take another sea kayak adventure (hopefully pics to be posted later) to a nearby island and snorkeled. Before the Tsunami, the snorkeling at Ko Jum was supposedly pretty nice. However, the Tsunami destroyed much of the coral nearby and the related marine life. We still saw some cool fish but not as many as we would have a few years ago.

The bungalow we stayed at was owned by a British ex-pat, so everyone hanging around was British or Scottish. It was so nice having people to chat with in both our native tongues! Plus, they had a wide stock of English reading material. The food at the bungalow was not as good as it was at Ko Phayam, but still pretty tasty and cheap. An added bonus was satellite TV in the bar (not in our room), where we could get caught up on the elections. So glad to see that the democrats won, its time for a change in America.

We leave for Australia on Monday afternoon. So probably not many updates until Weds. It take over a day to get there from here.

Out of Shape

As Michael said we are on this beach filled with totally in shape hippy rock climbers and it has helped motivate us to get some exercise. Before leaving on this trip Michael and I both thought we would be so tanned and in shape backpacking around, however the oppisite has happened- we drink a lot of beer and take tuk tuks (little motorized three wheel taxi things)

But yesterday we got motivated and did this short but pretty strenous hike to the other side of our island (passing monkeys along the way) to the nice beach, then shed our clothes (we did have our suits on underneath) and took a really nice swim.

Then today even though we didn't go to bed until around 2am, we went sea kayaking. We loved it! We went all around the island we are staying on and then to a far away island. We are sure we will be feeling it tomorrow as it was a mega workout compared to what our arms have been getting ie: lifting beers to our mouths!

Loi Krathong

On Nov 5, we did a bit of cultural voyeurism. Loi Krathong is a festival on the night of full moon in November. I have no idea what the festival celebrates. Our guidebook covers it, but only what happens not why. Nor did I see any information on it last night, but a Thai guy told me it was like Thai New Year and you make wishes. Basically, you float banana leaf boats/baskets filled with flowers, incense, a candle and a coin for good luck. People also light these paper balloons. So, last night at Ton Sai, we went out got really drunk and floated a basket along with watching others floating baskets/balloons. It was pretty cool.

There was a full on party atmosphere happening.....bands, raves, fire twirlers, etc. Very hippiesh but also a nice time. They celebrate every full moon with a party at many places in Thailand, but only once a year is Loi Krathong. We really enjoyed the little bit of Thainess that we saw last night.

The beach (Ton Sai) we are staying at (you can hardly call it a beach) is a backpacker hangout, specifically of the rock climbing kind. There are loads of Americans here which is a nice change as we have seen so few in recent months. The beach is basically rocks, so not much swimming going on but there are tons of other activities. At low tide, we can wade around a set of rocks to get to a real beach. From here, we head to Ko Jam, which from what I gather is even more isolated so not much updates from there. There is internet here, but its 4 Baht a minute, which is about 6-8x what we have been paying.

Ko Phayam

Spent the past 4 nights at the most picturesque beach I have ever seen in my life. I didn't think beaches so noncommercial and empty still existed in the world! But we found one in Southern Thailand. We took a 2 hour ferry ride to the island, then to get to our bungalows you have to take a 10 minute motorbike ride because the island doesn't have any cars on it. The beach has about 5 different bungalow resorts (for lack of a better word because I won't call a place with no hotwater and no AC a resort!) But our bungalow was really cute, and we had tons of "friends" living there with us- everyday without fail we had a new frog inside our room or outside in our bathroom (oh yeah, also don't call places with open air bathrooms a resort) On our front porch we saw a snake, a huge hermit crab and a big lizard! The beach was great, so quiet, many times Michael and I were the only ones on the whole beach!

And the beach had tons of crabs- hermit crabs were everywhere as well as tiny and medium size regular crabs (see flickr for pics). We pretty much chilled out big time- reading/napping in the hammocks, drinking fruit shakes, walking the beach and drinking beers and watching the sunset.

Tonight we are in Ao Nang, pretty touristy little beach in way Southern Thailand (south of Phuket), tomorrow we take 2 boats to another island called Railey to go to a Full Moon Festival party. Internet access will be limited once we are on the island. Loving life in Thailand!!!

Best Body Surfing Ever

So for the last few days, we have been at Ko Phayam (Ash will write more about it later). It was absolutely amazing place - totally tranquil and isolated.....but no internet. We just chilled out for a few days and read - which was an absolute relaxing time. The beach was pretty nice, about 3 km long with white sand. The water was relatively clear but did have some debris and silt.

One of the best things about the beach was that it was awesome for body surfing. The first day there was no surf, but it picked up every day. Since the beach is very wide and with a gradual incline, waves break slowly. You can easily catch a wave and ride it for a long time (assuming that it was big enough). It was great fun standing out there and catching waves. I do wish there were more waves to catch, but the seas were relatively calm while we were there. Hopefully we will get pictures up soon, but no promises. Although we really didn't do anything worthy of taking photos.