TravelStream™ news feed for member hoods on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/hoods en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:43:52 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1123030080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1123030080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1123030080/tpod.html Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:43:52 -0400 The Scenic Route to B-School

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Berkeley, California, United States

July 1-3Berkeley, CAAfter two days of apartment searching on our whirlwind stop in Berkeley we found a great apartment six blocks from UC Berkeley's campus beating out 25 other applicants and decided to get to Maine early. We changed our flight to Maine for the 4th instead of the 6th and were on our way to have some scrumptous lobster!July 4-17New Harbor, MEAlex has been going to this quaint Maine village every summer of his life. Also as many of you know we got engaged at Pemaquid Point Lighthouse nearby. Each summer we visit for at least one busy week of fun with family and friends. This two weeks was no different. We had a couple of days' down time before Alex's brother, Dave and his wife, Doleen, came up for the weekend to attend a cousin's naval retirement ceremony festivities in Brunswick. Amy's mom, Tricia, her husband, Carl, and Amy's brother, Bryan also came up to spend a week in Maine, first with the Hoods in New Harbor and then with friends Susan and Ben in the Bar Harbor area further north along the coast. It was the first time Amy's family had been to Maine and they had a great time. Good friends, Aaron and Emily, from Rochester drove up for our last weekend. As always, Maine treated us right with good weather and lots of delicious lobster dinners. You can't beat it.July 17-19Washington, DCA quick stop in DC to see folks one last time and pick up our car to head cross country was a treat. We got a chance to catch up with our friends and former colleagues, which was a lot of fun. Thanks to all those who were able to make it out on a "school night" for happy hour at Buffalo Billiards. Alex got together with Greg, Tony, and Darby and hit a Washington Nationals game. It was wonderful to see familiar faces after being away for 4 months. DC will always have a special place in our hearts and who knows we may be back!July 20-21Des Moines, IAThe first leg of our cross country trip through never-ending corn fields included an overnight stop in South Bend, IN with the obligatory driving tour of Notre Dame and a much awaited visit with friends Lisa and Brad and their 6-month old little girl, Alice, in Des Moines. Alice is a doll and has two great parents. Thanks Lisa and Brad for your kind hospitality. July 22-24Badlands, Mt. Rushmore and Black Hills of South DakotaLeaving the corn fields behind we embarked on the national parks tour but not without a big letdown first in Wall, SD at Wall Drug which had been advertised as the place to visit across the whole of the state. Lots of kitsch but not up to expectations. Alex did ride the enormous jackalope on the grounds, however.The Badlands are in fact "bad". This rocky landscape is hot and desolate. It was appropriately used as the backdrop for a scene in the movie Starship Troopers. It reminded us of the area around Uluru in the Australian Outback. We hiked several of the shorter trails and even made the steep climb to the top of the Badlands Wall that separates the valley from the plains. The rock formations had colorful striations of various layers and the effects of erosion over the years produced some very interesting sculptures. Taking leave of the Badlands, we made our way to a more man-made phenomenon - Mount Rushmore. We made our base Keystone, SD and explored both Rushmore and the Black Hills from here. We stayed at the "Mount Rushmore View Hotel", where if you went outside your room, went to the end of the deck and strained your neck to look out under the roof, you could see the Presidents' faces from a distance. Learning about how they sculpted the mountain was interesting, but we felt that Mt. Rushmore was a "been there, done that" sight. The nightly illumination ceremony featured a stirring patriotic film. We also hiked a portion of the beautiful Deerfield Trail in the Black Hills.July 25-28Cody, Wyoming, Yellowstone & Grand Tetons National ParksOn the way to Yellowstone we stopped in Cody, Wyoming, named for Wild Bill Cody, for the night. After a meal of barbeque we headed to the nightly Cody Rodeo, which was quite a trip. There were a lot of dusty wranglers, horses bucking off riders, cowboy hats, jokes made by the rodeo clowns, and, of course, the pungent smell of manure -- we had a blast!We were amazed at the quality and diversity of places to stay within Yellowstone Park. Some hotels were very historic, top-end establishments, serving succulent gourmet food. Others were simple, clean, and pet-friendly. We were very lucky when we called the central booking hotline for the park's accomodations and got "the last rooms in the park" for two nights due to cancellations. In our travel books, the places that we stayed were only available to those that book 9 months in advance. We stayed our first night at the Old Faithful Lodge and Cabins, a stone's through from the geyser. The second night we stayed at the southern portion of the park in Grant Village and had a wonderful meal at the nearby park restaurant. We found that lunches at the high-end restuarants were very reasonable, since we are still on a budget. Even after all of the travelling we have done in the last 5 months, Yellowstone was one of our favorite spots. Within one park there are beautiful mountains, the chance to get away from eveyone and hike on your own, interesting geysers, strange-colored hot springs, tons of wildlife, and neat, historic places to stay. We'll definately go back. The key to being a tourist at Yellowstone is the wildlife sightings. Here is a synopsis of wildlife adventures:-First day: Saw tons of bison. Bison covered the landscape and crossed the road, causing a traffic jam. We went on a hike to Cascade Lake to find a moose, but saw none. Stopped by some elk with huge antler racks hanging out by a pond.-Second day: Decided that we were not going to leave the park until we saw a moose. Drove over 100 miles (round trip) up to the area of the park that is in Montana. No moose. We did see three black bears and some pronghorned antelope. No moose. The sun went down. We were tired. As we pulled back up the Old Faithful Lodge, very close to the tourist center of the entire park...there he was...an enormous bull moose, antlers and all, was hanging out by the turn off. We parked our car illegally, ran over and got some pictures before some jerk started honking at all of the cars that were blocking his way to Old Faithful (ours included). Grand Teton National Park featured some Ansel Adams-type scenery of the Snake River bending in front of picturesque mountains, framed by towering pine trees. On our fabulous 3 hour hike on Cascade Canyon Trail we saw two more moose hanging out by the water's edge. We snapped some great pictures and moved on to Idaho.July 29Preston, IdahoIf you haven't seen the movie Napoleon Dynamite, please feel free to skip this paragraph because if you read it without this context, you will think we are dorks. If you have seen the movie, and hopefully you have seen it multiple times, we made the pilgrimage to Napoleon's home town in the middle of Idaho (read the middle of nowhere). We stopped for tatertots, got inside Preston High School, snapped a shot of Uncle Rico's van, stopped by Napolean and Pedro's houses and picked up an appropriate amount of tacky souvenirs. "Sweet!"July 30-31Salt Lake City, UtahFrom the middle of nowhere, we spent a day and a half in a very prominent city . . . that is, among Mormans the world over. We toured Temple Square with two young missionary girls from Haiti and France doing their obiligatory stint for the faith. It was an interesting place that appears to have a lot of money and volunteers. Except for the Temple (which is closed to non-Mormans), Tabernacle (under renovation unfortuately) and the Assembly Hall, all the other buildings were modern, with multi-media exhibitions inside explaining the religion's precepts and history. We attended a very nice organ recital in the Assembly Hall and on Sunday filed into the Conference Center across the street that covers 10 acres to see the Morman Tabernacle Choir's performance for their weekly broadcast of "Music and the Spoken Word". The Choir was amazing as was the Orchestra and organ that accompanied them. We then took our leave of Salt Lake. The long drive to Reno across northern Nevada was the most boring drive of the trip with flat, desert surrounding us the whole way.August 1-2Reno, Nevada"The biggest little city in the world" doesn't have much to offer unless you are in to gambling. We did have a little luck though. We decided to put $5 in the slots to see what we might get. At the Elvis quarter machine, Amy quickly won 50 quarters. Being up by $7.50 we called it a night and went to cash in our ticket. On the way, a lady stopped Alex and asked if he would like 2 floor tickets to the Stevie Nicks concert that night for free. She had gotten them as comps herself but couldn't go because she had a little boy with her that night. We couldn't believe our luck and headed over to the concert. On the way we say a scalper trying to sell some tickets to a few tourists and got an idea - 5 minutes later we had sold the 2 tickets for $50. The guy got a bargain since being floor tickets the face value was probably lots more and we were $50 richer! We decided that we had had enough hiking for a while and only passed by Lake Tahoe figuring we would definitely be back for skiing this winter. WE'VE MADE IT to Berkeley ending our 5 months of relaxation and adventures and are ready to start new in a great new city. Thanks for following us around the globe, we will be sending along our new address and phone numbers in an email. Come see us on the left-coast!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1118879760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1118879760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1118879760/tpod.html Tue, 05 Jul 2005 01:15:11 -0400 The Scenic Route to B-School

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Nadi, Fiji

June 15 - 23============Taveuni IslandAfter 3,721 km (2,312 miles) we said goodbye to Romney (our little campervan) and New Zealand to head to Fiji for one night in Nadi before flying on Taveuni. Taveuni Island is the "Garden Island" of Fiji and on Thursday we settled into our bure (a Fijian cottage) at Coconut Grove Beach Cottages in Matei at the northern end of Taveuni. It has three bure and is run by an energetic American named Ronna. She has two dogs - Gracie, older and very well-mannered, and Kirby, 14 months and more than a handful. The staff was wonderful as were the meals. We chose to purchase the meal plan so we ate lunch and dinner there each day. By the end of the week we had tried most of the tasty options, including lobster and filet mignon. The dinner menu changed nightly so there was some variety. Our first night we went to a "lovo" (food is steamed in a pit in the ground covered by palm leaves) at the home of one of the staff in her nearby village. The kids entertained us with a "meke" (traditional Fijian dancing) and other songs. It was a fundraiser for the local school. Another night we even had dinner on the beach under a thatched canopy. The beach was nice (when Kirby wasn't throwing wet, sandy coconuts around and chasing flies) and the views were incredible. Amy enjoyed a massage on the beach one afternoon. The island, particularly the southern half, receives a lot of the moisture in Fiji and supports a lush rainforest. We chose it, though, because of the fantastic diving on the Rainbow Reef (so called because of all the colorful soft coral) in the Somosomo Straits (between Taveuni and Vanua Levu). Fiji is called the "Soft Coral Capital of the World" and it lived up to its name. We completed two dives each morning for five days and our last day we relaxed. The dive company we chose, Aquaventure, was small and personal. A full boat was only six people so it was very chilled out. The divemaster would choose the dive sites each day based on the currents. We mostly did drift dives which was new but easy enough for us. Our very first dive was the Great White Wall. It is the most renowned dive site in Fiji and only divable when the currents are flowing just right. It was an amazing sight to look down at a wall that plunged over 650 ft. and was covered in brilliant white soft coral trees. It was like looking at a mountain covered in snow covered trees. We also dove the Purple Wall which was smaller in scale but much the same with deep purple coral trees. We also saw lots of fish and marine life including two hawk's bill turtles, an octopus, blue ribbon eels (looks like a bright blue and yellow dragon head), and of course white-tipped reef sharks (harmless). The coral in Fiji lived up to its reputation and we enjoyed each of our 10 dives (about 6 hours underwater).On Wednesday, our last full day, Amy went on the Lavena Coastal Walkway with another couple while Alex relaxed at the beach (and nursed his 'Delhi Belly'). The guided walk towards the southern end of the island therefore it was a bit rainy for part of the time. It followed the beach and ended at a beautiful waterfall where we swam and had a picnic lunch. The guide and some others took their turns on the waterslide as well.On Thursday, our flight left in the afternoon so we spent a leisurely morning on Taveuni before heading back to Nadi and then on to the Yasawa Islands for the last week of our trip. Our landing back in Nadi was a little interesting as our puddle-jumper got a flat tire upon landing on the left side and the brakes were sparking heavily on the right side. We literally hobbled back to the terminal! We would highly recommend Taveuni to anyone considering a visit to Fiji.June 24 - 30============Nanuya Lai Lai, Yasawa IslandsBefore catching the Yasawa Flyer catamaran out to the islands we overnighted in Nadi after our flight from Taveuni. Thankfully we checked our email after dinner at our hotel because we were met with a surprise email. . ."Good Morning, I am the Manager of Blue Star Backpacker. We had some serious problem yesterday afternoon with our staff on the island! I'm really sorry, I know that this communication arrives late, but everything happened yesterday! Please reply me because I can't take your reservation, at the moment we don't have most of the staff, they all left without notice! Fijian way to work! ~ June 21st"At 8pm with this new piece of information we went straight to the travel agent in the hotel to see if she could sort something out for us in time to catch the boat the next morning. After phoning (by radio phone) at least six places, she could only find space for us at the Sunrise Lagoon Resort. It was on the same island as Blue Star but still operating so we took it to avoid delaying our plans and having to stay in boring Nadi any longer. We got the Yasawa Flyer high speed catamaran the next morning and made our way up to Nanuya Lai Lai island for Sunrise. On our approach by boat our initial thoughts were that it was basic and rustic but ok. However within the first 30 minutes of setting foot on the island we were very disappointed with what we found at our "all-inclusive resort". It was like a very badly maintained summer camp but with a Fijian twist - thatched huts and disinterested staff. Lunch was very small and consisted of some sort of shepherd's pie-like square of ramen noodles and canned meat and topped with flaked mashed potatoes along with a wilted salad. The meat looked like dog food. Additionally we were on the windward side of the island so there were extremely strong winds buffeting the beach and "resort" all the time. This is fine to keep away mosquitos but not so nice when you want to lay on the beach and relax.When we first got our room with en suite bathroom we stupidly thought that it would be too noisy at night being right beside the dining area/lounge so we asked for another bure thinking that the shared facilities would be ok. This was the worst thing we could have done. We got the last bure on the property which unlike the others didn't have electricity and wasn't close to the bathrooms which were disgusting. We spent a restless night itching mosquitos and kicking ourselves for leaving the other room that was wooden, not thatch, and had its own bathroom. [Later some other people were in the bure next door and found that a roving chicken had laid eggs in the corner of the room!]In the morning we devised a plan of action. Plan A was to hike to the other side of the island to the resort that we had heard from others was really nice to see if they had rooms available that we could reserve after wresting our cash back from Sunrise. It's high season in Fiji so of course they didn't have any available rooms. However they were sooo kind and said that we could use their beach if we wanted. The resort is Nanuya Island Resort and is on the Blue Lagoon (as in the movie by the same title). It was amazingly beautiful and very nice. We then resorted to Plan B. We went back to Sunrise and asked to have our private bure back so that we could be more comfortable and take showers without having 50 other people use the same bathroom. We would eat the meagre breakfast at Sunrise then hike across the island to Nanuya to relax on their beach in the morning and afternoon, eat lunch there, and walk back via the beach at low tide to Sunrise around 4pm for dinner and sleeping. We adjusted our expectations and cultivated a positive attitude about the situation. Overall, the week turned out very nicely. We thoroughly enjoyed our beach time at Nanuya and basked in the sun and tropical paradise of the Blue Lagoon. The water was blue and crystal clear. We even went snorkeling one morning on the Lagoon's reef and saw lots of fish. Alex stayed in their hammocks most of the week while Amy laid on the sand tanning. It was what we had wanted - a week of doing nothing but sitting on the beach reading and sleeping. Our last night on the island and last night of this unforgettable trip we took a water taxi over to Nanuya for dinner to celebrate by ourselves instead of with 50 backpackers. The boat ride over was a bit harrowing on the Sunrise side with rough seas because of the wind and our "driver" who had come over without a flashlight, but once we hit the other side of the island it was tranquil. We indulged in champagne, dinner and dessert at Nanuya and our taxi (this time with a flashlight) took us back for our last night at Sunrise. It was yummy and the perfect end to our trip! The next day we boarded the Yasawa Flyer happy to be leaving Sunrise and made the journey back to Nadi to catch our flight back to the States. It left Fiji Thursday at 11pm and we arrived in San Francisco at 9:15pm the same day - crazy! We had essentially had two Thursdays by the time we finished our flights because we crossed the Date Line. A few tips on choosing accommodation in Fiji:1. "Resort" means many things to many people - there isn't a standard2. Don't stay on an unprotected, windward side of an island3. Make sure you get recommendations from reliable people who understand your tastesWe would highly recommend Nanuya Island Resort to anyone. The staff were friendly and the meals delicious. It's more expensive than the other Yasawa Islands' backpacker resorts but worth it. In the end, our budget wouldn't have supported a stay at Nanuya because of the price that wasn't inclusive of meals, but we were lucky to be able to enjoy this little piece of paradise as much as we could. Berkeley welcomed us back stateside and we spent a couple of crazy days looking for apartments. We found a great one with lots of character and a lovely backyard close to campus and are looking forward to moving in August 2nd. Before this we will be in Maine visiting family and friends and back in DC for a couple of days before making our last journey cross-country over the last two weeks of July. We are headed across on the northern route and are excited to see parts of our own country that we haven't seen before. We will then settle down for a while in the Bay area and enjoy a couple of years in Berkeley. It will be a blast! We always love visitors and still have a pull-out couch for family and friends. We expect to get a dog sometime in the fall so we will let you know about the new addition to our family as soon as we can. We will be sending along our new contact details but in the meantime, we hope you enjoyed following us on our trip. We have incredible memories to last a lifetime and loved sharing our experiences with you. We look forward to seeing many of you soon and getting back in touch personally. If anyone wants recommendations or advice we are always available. Keep safe and enjoy life! We will probably send another update from the road, so stay tuned...A few pointers to anyone considering taking a trip like ours:1) Do it. We never regretted it. We would constantly turn to each other and say, "This trip was a good idea." or "This is sooo much better than work".2) A couple of handy things we brought along: *Small bike chain -- to chain our backpacks to hotel beds, etc.*Stuff sacks -- we packed our clothes in little stuff sacks that were little larger than footballs. This made for easy packing.*First aid kit -- we felt a little anal packing as many medications and supplies as we did, but we used the first aid kit a lot!*Sleep sacks -- our friends Susan and Ben bought us silk sleep sacks that we used when sleeping on particularly unappealing beds. It kept the grime and mosquitos out. We used them a lot!*As few clothes as possible -- we had four shirts, two pants, and two sets of shorts each, though we could have done with less. Our backpacks were one or two sizes bigger than a school backpack. Since they were only about 12-15 pounds each, we could run to catch buses and lug them around for long periods if needed.3) Record your experiences as you go, whether online or in a journal. This helped us relive the funniest parts of our trip that we might not have remembered otherwise...and we could share our trip with you!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1118790780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1118790780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1118790780/tpod.html Mon, 13 Jun 2005 23:00:33 -0400 The Scenic Route to B-School

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North Island, New Zealand

June 12=======Bay of Islands --> DargavilleStill feeling completely exhausted after our vigorous swim with the dolphins the day before, but being conscientious travelers, we pressed on to see more history and heritage of New Zealand. Our first stop was the grounds of the British Resident (highest official before the Treaty) where the Treaty of Waitangi was originally signed and New Zealand came under the protection of the Crown. On the grounds is also a Maori war canoe and an intricately carved meeting house as well as the Busby house. It was a beautiful day and the Bay of Islands was particularly stunning from this vantage point on the coast.During our stop in Picton awaiting the ferry crossing to Wellington we had learned about kauri trees in a gift shop selling carved bowls. The trees are second only to the Californian sequoias as the largest trees. They also hold great significance for the Maori people. In the past they could be found all over the North Island but now after the devastating effects of the early logging industry in NZ, there are only a two substantial stands of these trees left (though there are small stands of trees elsewhere). We were both interested in learning more and seeing these trees so after the Treaty grounds we drove west and down the "Kauri Coast" on our way back to Auckland. The west coast is subject to more precipitation than the east coast and as is typical we ran into some rain but as always the scenery was beautiful. The rain stopped just as we got to the spots where two of the largest (in volume and diameter) kauri trees stand - the Waipoua Forest Sanctuary. The first one was called Tane Mahuta, "Lord of the Forest", named for the Maori god of the forest and is the largest kauri tree in New Zealand. It is estimated to be 2,000 years old and over 50 meters tall (over 170 ft). The second tree we saw was Matua Ngahere, "Father of the Forest" which has a trunk over 5 meters (over 16 ft) in diameter and believed to have the widest girth of any kauri tree in New Zealand. There were of course others in this sanctuary and all of them were absolutely stunning. It's amazing that they have survived for so long.After our last tramp through the New Zealand forests, we decided to try free camping again for the night since it was much warmer than the last time. We found a nice spot by the water just south of Dargaville and stopped there. June 13=======Dargaville --> AucklandCampervan Update: We finally decided on a name for our faithful campervan - Romney. Lovingly named after our favorite New Zealand sheep species - meaty, numerous, and white. We felt these attributes succinctly described our transport over the past 17 days.We continued on towards Auckland but made an early morning stop at the Kauri Musuem in Matakohe around 9am. Alex didn't think the $12 admission was worth it but Amy went in to check it out. It was interesting but kind of hokie and Amy agrees it wasn't worth $12 but it had a great shop! Live and learn. We also stopped at Sheep World - can't get much hokier than this - to check out their wool products before finally getting back to Auckland in the early afternoon. Auckland is our last stop before we fly to Fiji for two weeks of fun and sun. There won't be electricity on our island and no phones so in the afternoon we stocked up on books and finished up some administrative stuff that we needed to do on the Internet. We fixed our last big meal of soft tacos in the campervan for dinner.June 14=======AucklandMost people arrive in Auckland and then immediately head out to other places in New Zealand. We decided to give the city a chance and see what it had to offer for our last day in New Zealand. As larger cities go, Auckland is like the rest. It deserves a day but after that you can move on. In the morning we went to the Auckland Museum to see their Pacific and Maori collections. They were both interesting with lots of items on display. It seemed though that we picked school field trip day as lots of little ones were running around with pieces of paper in colorful uniforms sticking their noses on the glass to try and draw what they saw - their chaperones weren't much better. Walking around the city center you have your normal stores. The dominating building in the Auckland skyline is the Sky Tower with its observation decks though too expensive to actually get to see. We'll be satisfied tomorrow when we leave that we gave Auckland a shot and our expectations were met. We will be sad to turn Romney over but are excited to move on to Fiji and the South Pacific sun. We will have limited email access in Fiji over the next couple of weeks but will be in communication as much as we can.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1118467620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1118467620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1118467620/tpod.html Sat, 11 Jun 2005 03:32:33 -0400 The Scenic Route to B-School

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North Island, New Zealand

Wow...we are still feeling the adrenaline rushing through us. We had two back-to-back amazing experiences to tell you about...but first some more drinking and driving (don't worry, not done simultaneously).June 8======Wellington --> NapierWe woke up in Wellington and took a bit of a walking tour around town before heading off to Napier and Hawke's Bay wine region. In Wellington, we did a bit of shopping and cruising around town during the morning. Then we saw the Treaty of Waitangi, where the Maori Chiefs allowed New Zealand to become part of the British Empire in the 1840s in return for full ownership of their lands.After our morning in Wellington, we made our way up to Napier, the largest town in the Hawke's Bay wine region for some more twirling, swishing, and tasting of wine. First, a long drive of twists, turns, sheep, and more sheep.June 9======Napier --> Lake TaupoWe visited the first Hawke's Bay winery, Mission Estate, while some Billy Idol-wannabe was also sipping wine with some groupies. He must have been someone important because after he was done tasting and talking on his cellphone, the helicopter picked his group up and they went to the next. We humbly went back to our campervan, made some roast beef sandwiches and ate them in the parking lot. We stopped at two other wineries, Esk Valley and Esk River, on our way up to Lake Taupo. We bought a bottle of Savignon Blanc at Esk Valley for the yummy sausages we BBQ'd up that night for dinner after hundreds more kilometers up to Lake Taupo.Lake Taupo is dead in the center of the North Island and is a sunken crater from a volcano that is now filled with water. The scenery is beautiful, but it stinks (literally). This is one of the most geothermically active areas in the world and sulfurous steam was spewing everywhere out of rocks. We visited the "Craters of the Moon", that looked like...well you can imagine what it looked like... and featured bubbling mud, steaming craters, nasty smelling air, and good views. We settled for a night at the motor park with sausages in our stomachs and sulfur in our noses. Great combo, huh?June 10 - Adrenaline Rush #1============================Lake Taupo --> AucklandWe decided before we arrived in New Zealand that we were going to skydive at Lake Taupo because the views are fantastic, the price is relatively cheap, and it is the "skydiving capital of New Zealand", or so the pamphlet (and our friends Laura and Steve) said. Thanks guys! After the first few flights were called off at Taupo Tandem Skydiving because of the foggy morning conditions, we were finally tapped for our drop on the 12:50 flight. We were thankful to see two other groups go before us (and come back safely). Alex watched the safety video three times. Then it was our turn to suit up in our skydiving suits. This is tandem skydiving, so we were literally strapped to our tandem skydiving master's belly as they did all the hard work of keeping us stable and pulling the chute. After we were in our outfits, we saw our two tandem masters parachute in from the last round of skydivers, strip off their parachute backpacks, put on new ones, and rush over to us for safety checks. We were quickly ushered into the little plane and were on our way up to 12,000 feet for the drop. Alex was the first to go and got the "window seat" which meant he got to sit next to the flimsy door as we circled up to the proper altitude. Alex's tandem master strapped him all in, opened the door and then flipped the switch taking Alex's picture with his legs dangling over a lake at 12,000 feet travelling over 200 miles per hour. One second after the flash went off, Amy was watching her husband sail toward the ground and she was up next. Not concentrating on the exit photo or where Alex might be, she took a deep breath and jumped. We both agree that there are two ways to explain the feeling of skydiving. On your face, you feel the wind of a cold Rochester-style extremely frosty gust or like someone had just opened a scuba diving airtank on your face. Our forty-five seconds of freefall was a strange sensation -- we did not really feel like we were falling, but just hovering at a high altitude above the ground. Alex tried to make it a point to relax and take in the sights of the lake as did Amy. Then it was time for the chute. After our "masters" pulled the rip cord, there was a jerk upward and we drifted back towards the airport. Alex's tandem master did some quick twirls after Alex assured him that he had a strong stomach. Sailing down in the parachute was peaceful and refreshing after the blustering freefall, and were both adrenaline-filled. Amy didn't get quite the personal interaction from her tandem master that Alex did but enjoyed the "ride", twirls over the airport and all, immensely. About four minutes after we dropped out of the plane door, we were safely on the ground giving each other high-fives. An amazing experience for an amazing trip.June 11 -- Adrenaline Rush #2=============================Auckland --> Bay of IslandsYou may remember that we struck out trying to swim with the dolphins in Kaikoura and ended up with more of a bird-watching cruise. This time we struck gold up at the Bay of Islands at the top of the North Island with Dolphin Discoveries. The conditions were absolutely beautiful and it was not long before the spotter on our extremely fast catamaran had spotted a pod, or group, of bottle-nosed dolphins frolicking nearby. We motored up to them and took some pictures, but were not allowed to swim with them because there was a baby in their group. Apparently, the baby dolphins nurse about 20 times an hour and any disruptions/distractions to their feeding schedule leaves them in a dangerous position. Their blubber has not yet built to protect them from the cold so they rely on near constant feedings to keep them warm.After checking out a few more islands, including where Captain Cook had his first run-in with the Maori locals when he first "discovered" the area, we happened along another pod. This time, we saw that another nearby boat had already suited up for swimming with them and it was confirmed that they were a group of adolescents, with no babies! We were the first two to strip off our clothes and put on our wetsuits to slip into the 64 degree water. These are wild dolphins, so our encounter with them was unlike a SeaWorld experience where dolphins are tamed, fed, and held captive to swim with tourists. These were wild dolphins who were letting us swim with them for their own entertainment value. In order to keep their attention, we were instructed to sing or chirp to them through our snorkels, swim in circles, and to dive down to them. Our small group of five chirped, sang, and swam like lunatics and the dolphins ate it up. They came up from under us, swam beside us for a look, and circled around our group. As we stayed longer, the dolphins became more comfortable with us. Of the group of 10-15 that we saw, about four were really interested in interacting with us. We could literally hear them chirping back to us underwater in response to the strange noises we were making through our snorkels. They also seemed to like it when you shook your head to imitate their shaking their own heads. As some of the divers got cold, we had more of the dolphins' attention. They nearly skimmed our skin and brushed our shoulders as they swam by. It was a really exhilarating feeling when you could get and hold eye contact underwater. One dolphin had a dead fish that it was showing off to us and it played fetch with itself, hurling the fish into the air. Eventually, Alex was the only one in the water and he got a very close and intimate time with this pod. While Amy was snapping pictures on-board, Alex got to play with four or five different playmates. They checked him out and then would swim straight at him, as if playing chicken, and then would skim right by on one side. The few minutes alone with the wild dolphins was something that he will never forget. What an amazing experience!!!After our swim we continued out to Cape Brett and Hole in the Rock. It is a huge limestone outcropping off Cape Brett that has had a huge hole worn through it by the ocean currents. It was a perfect way to end the trip with watching the sunset through the hole. Next...further exploration of the North Island, a trip back to Auckland, and off to Fiji...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1118122620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1118122620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1118122620/tpod.html Sat, 11 Jun 2005 02:43:36 -0400 The Scenic Route to B-School

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South Island, New Zealand

June 4======KaikouraWe woke up early to go to Dolphin Encounter to see if the swimming with dolphins tour was operating that day - the weather looked terrible - cold, rainy and foggy. Of course, it wasn't so we signed up for the next day's early tour at 8:30am. Now, Kaikoura is known for swimming with dolphins, whale watching and seal sightings. We decided not to do the whale watching because of the steep price so finding seals was our only option . . . that is until we made a stop at the tourist information center. You might not believe it but right there in NZ there was a basic color brochure advertising a sheep shearing show - go figure the locals cashing in on tourists with the livestock they already have at the ready. We couldn't resist, it was cheap at $10 each and would provide fun photos and laughs on a rainy day. We didn't neglect the seals though. We drove down the peninsula to the seal colony to have lunch and watch out for the seals. We didn't have to wait at all. They were already there posing for pictures and looking quite photogenic. There had to be at least 5 really large NZ fur seals, some on the grass and others lazing on the rocks. One in particular was a poser. Tourists, especially the Japanese, were swarming and of course not heeding the 20m distance that the Dept. of Conservation requested that humans maintain between themselves and the wildlife. The seals didn't seem to mind though and everyone came through unscathed. After lunch we met Peter, the sheep shearer, for our private sheep shearing show. No one else showed up for the 1:30 demo. He donned his coveralls and leather moccasins for more traction. He first brought out his resident ram for us to feed along with Blackie, another sheep that had chocolate brown and black wool. She was intent on getting at the food pellets while Pete gave us pellets to feed to Ram Man. He had just been sheared the day before so he was feeling a little chilly. After the feeding, Peter described the shearing process to us and then brought out a ewe who needed shearing. He said that he would hold her in a special position so as to make her more comfortable (don't know how it was more comfortable - see photos - but we rolled with it). He took 3 minutes to shear her from bottom to top producing quite a lot of wool and a freshly shorn ewe. He took her back to her stall and then came out to us to tell us the rest of the his process before sending the bales of wool off to be processed. Evidently 70kg of wool is pressed into one bale - all he had on the table was 3 kg which looked like alot. Peter then took us over to another part of the shearing shed to wrap up the presentation. Think of the guy in the picture above giving this story: "Now folks, you see, there are four different kinds of sheep prevalent in NZ. First you got your Merinos, they like the high country and produce fine wool. Then you got your Drysdale, they produce in 6 months the amount of wool that another sheep would produce in 12. Next you have your NZ Romney, most common sheep and good for both eating and wool. Finally you have your black-faced South Suffolk which are usually mixed in a bit with the NZ Romney since they grow faster in order to get your NZ Romney lambs to grow faster in order to ship them to the processing plant earlier. Works like a charm!"Being fully educated on sheep shearing and the four main types of NZ sheep, we received a souvenir - some delightfully soft, freshly shorn sprigs of Drysdale wool in a plastic bag complete with the wool type and name of the owners on a slip of paper. After our culture lesson we decided to head up the coast a little ways to the roadside shacks, notably Cays Crays, and check out the local crayfish to add a zip to our dinner. Well . . . NZ crayfish are not the kind of crayfish you might think of from New Orleans - larger prawns. These crustaceans are in fact NZ spiny lobsters. Don't worry though it was nothing in comparison to sweet Maine lobster. The tail meat was quite substantial, but had quite a fishy taste. Full of lobster we went to sleep with dreams of dolphins leaping in our heads.June 5======Kaikoura --> Abel Tasman National ParkAwaking at dawn and blindly pulling on our clothes we made our way back again to the Dolphin Encounter office. There was a bit of a delay while the skipper radioed in the final decision for the tour that morning. In the end all systems were go. It would be a bit choppy but ok for the boat to go out. We suited up in wetsuits, took our hoods, gloves and booties with our snorkel gear, got our briefing and boarded the boats. We had agreed to subject ourselves to 53 degree water with 5-7mm wetsuits on a cloudy, misty morning. Did we want to swim with wild dolphins or what!? We motored around the bay for a good hour and even had a small plane circle the area to see where the dolphins might be. Our Dolphin Encounter turned into an Albatross Encounter because we couldn't find any dolphins but there were albatross everywhere (usually it is the other way around). Go figure!! We had tried our darnedest to swim with dolphins but evidently it wasn't meant to be. We got great albatross and seabird sightings out of the hour plus boat ride though and only had to pay US$14 for both of us. (They charged us an "operational" fee even though we didn't swim with the dolphins). Dolphin Encounter was a professional outfit though and quite sorry for us that we hadn't found any dolphins -- the even sent up a plane to look for dolphins while we were cruising around. Since the dolphins are wild they couldn't have predicted their behavior which is understandable.We decided to keep moving and try swimming again in the Bay of Islands north of Auckland at the end of our trip - in warmer waters. The campervan then made a break for Abel Tasman National Park where we had booked a full day kayak trip for the following day. We couldn't resist stopping at a few wineries in the Marlborough region which is famous for its Sauvigon Blancs as we passed through on our way towards Nelson and the park. We picked two that seemed interesting. Both were excellent - Cloudy Bay and Seresin (winery owned by Michael Seresin, maker of Harry Potter movies, among others) - and they both distribute in the US. Our drive took us up to our next day's jumping off point, Marahau, before we stopped for the night. June 6======Abel Tasman National ParkAnother early, chilly morning greeted us but with the sun promising a lovely day of kayaking. We had chosen Kaiteriteri Kayaks on recommendation from the couple, Sarah and David, who we had convinced us to rent the campervan in the first place. Their brochure was fun and colorful too, so why not?! Our 1-day "Royale with Cheese" trip was guided by a friendly and boisterous Maori guy. He greeted us with a huge "Kai ora" (Hello). It was a fantastic day and much better than our last kayaking foray in Halong Bay. The sun was out and our guide led the trip in a Maori fashion - that is with chants, singing, and lots of background on Maori culture and tradition. We ate a delicious packed lunch on a beach and topped it off with a mochachino prepared by our guide on the spot. After lunch was the big excitement. We found a group of 5-month old seals playing in a sheltered pool off Pinnacle Island. Evidently this was unusual both that the baby seals were there and that we could get close enough to play with them (in summer its too crowded and very regulated but no touching though). They loved our paddles and swimming around our boats in circles. They were so inquisitive and a couple even jumped right up onto our kayak - one in the back by Amy and one right in front of Alex and his camera. It was an incredible experience and the absolute highlight of the day. At the end of our leisurely paddle up to Bark Bay in the afternoon we hopped a water taxi back to base and got out of our wet socks and booties. Our guide ended the day with a Maori farewell called "hongi" - the ceremonial touching of noses. Alex had personal-space issues.June 7======Abel Tasman --> WellingtonAfter our last adventure on the South Island, we were ready to head up to the North Island. Our ferry from Picton left at 1:30pm so we were up early cruising the scenic, winding road to make it on time. The ferry was almost the size of a small cruise ship and had quite a few of the same amenities but obviously not as luxurious. The crossing through the Queen Charlotte Sound (in the Marlborough Sounds) was calm and scenic, but once we hit the Cooks Straits is was extremely windy and choppy. Neither of us were seasick thankfully. We arrived in Wellington in time for an hour or so at the Te Papa Museum - NZ's national museum. It was an interesting stop with lots of Maori culture to learn about but it also seemed like a great spot to visit with kids with all the interactive exhibits. We hit the Maori exhibits primarily and then headed to our lovely Top 10 campground for the night. More to come on our Griswald-ish foray on the North Island . . .Campervan update================Alex was a little nervous that the van would break down in the middle of sheep country, so when we heard a noise coming from under the front seat (where the engine is), we were a little nervous. Alex has no car repair skills, whatsoever. We had tried our best to make sure that the van was well maintained. Alex even had the oil checked (by removing the front seat and checking the dip stick) shortly before the rattle started. We gave it about 30 minutes to settle and it did not go away. Alex stopped the van, whipped up the engine compartment open and found the culprit. The guy who had checked our oil a few miles back had let a coke bottle fall onto the engine and then shut the compartment on top of it. The coke bottle came out a little melted and sticky -- it could have been a lot messier. Alex "fixed" the campervan, folks.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1115704740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1115704740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1115704740/tpod.html Sat, 11 Jun 2005 02:24:06 -0400 The Scenic Route to B-School

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Darwin, Australia

May 6 =====After our long night of travelling we crashed at our hostel in Darwin and slept for most of the day, finally getting up to do some laundry and make our way around town on a short walking tour. It seems that most of the historical points of interest in Darwin were blown away by the cyclone in the 70s and have been restored. Darwin was also a primary staging area for the Australian military in WWII. The Japanese bombed the harbor due to its strategic location in the region. There is a lovely Esplanade that we walked along at sunset following the shoreline. It was here that we had our first sighting of Aboriginal people. Unfortunately they seemed to be living rough/homeless in the city and not traditionally on their land. The co-habitation of Aborigines alongside with white Australians seems to be a problem that has been slow in finding a solution. However, in Kakadu National Park we began to see ways that they are working together for mutual benefit.May 7=====We have become relatively early risers on this trip. Today was especially early with our 6am pick-up by our guide from Wilderness 4WD Adventures for our 3-day trip to Kakadu National Park. There were 9 of us total - 2 Dutch guys, 2 Danish women, a Canadian, an Israeli, and 3 of us Americans. As it turned out our group was rather relaxed and mellow, which was great. The other American was a student from Minnesota having finished his study abroad in Sydney. We really enjoyed talking with Barak, the guy from Israel. He had a great sense of humor. It was a good group. Our guide was great too. He had just gotten back from 6 months of vacation camping around Australia and Fiji and we were his second trip back.We traveled out to Kakadu in a 4WD Toyota Land Cruiser with a trailer attached. We sat in side facing seats so it did get a little close with 8 of us in the back but we managed just fine. Our first stop was to see some native fish, barramundi, and feed them. They had just been fed by another group so weren't that ravenous but Alex did manage to almost get his fingers taken off by a big chomp from one of the fish taking the bait. After a long drive to the park itself, we had some lunch beside a billabong (a freshwater, natural body of water similar to a lagoon) in the shadow of what the first white settlers called Nourlangie Rock (though our guide said they misunderstood the Aborigines and got it mixed up with the neighboring rock, Nawurlandja, so the names should really be switched). Regardless, we walked around the base to see some great rock art at the Anbangbang Gallery. You could see kangaroos, fish, people, all clearly even though the paintings were thousands or hundreds of years old depending. Each of the paintings were a story used by the Aborigines to teach and record their traditions and stories for future generations. Fascinating.After this cultural lesson, we hiked up to the Nawurlandja Lookout which provided sweeping views of the escarpment, Nourlangie and Anbangbang billabong where we had lunch. The escarpment is a ridge of rock running through Kakadu. It was a steep climb but worth the effort.Having some exercise we all agreed it was time for a late afternoon swim. Our guide took us to Moline swimming hole in the southern part of the park. Unfortunately, on the way there we hit a juvenile hawk and though our guide wrapped it in a dish towel and we tried to nurse it, the little guy didn't make it and our guide buried him in the dish towel on our way to the swimming hole. It was a cool, refreshing freshwater pool with a small waterfall. Swimming was our means of bathing over the next 3 days so we took advantage of this opportunity to cool down and wash off. That evening we stopped at a campground not far away and were treated to a huge meal of buffalo burgers, sausages and steaks on the barbie (aka grill) with pumpkin, potatoes and mixed veggies cooked in the coals to the side. As we got ready to retire, Amy was minding her own business brushing her teeth and spitting into some tall grass by the campsite when she heard some rustling in the grass - thinking maybe other campers. Finishing up she thought it might be something else and pointed it out to the guide. To everyone's surprise - even the guide's - a huge black wild pig with large tusks walked into the light of flashlight. The guide chased it away and came back amazed at its size. Leave it to Amy to almost spit on a wild pig when it is just under her nose while brushing her teeth. With the wild pig taken care of we hit the hay in our swags (canvas sleeping bag with mattress on the bottom) to go to sleep under a sky full of zillions of stars. We could see the Southern Cross and the beautiful Milky Way.May 8=====The second day was full of walking and swimming. We walked to Motorcar Falls and had a nice swim and then walked on further to Kurrundie Falls which had a two-story waterfall. Both Falls were welcome refreshment after hot walks. The walk back from these pools was unfortunately 1.5 hours so we were ready for a mid-afternoon lunch. For lunch and sunset we stopped at Gunlom. This pool was not as secluded as the others and not as interesting but great for lunch and a quick nap. To end our day we hiked up to the top pools of the waterfall and watched a beautiful sunset.That night on the way back to camp and a dinner of burritos, our guide spotted an olive python soaking up the heat in the road. Our guide was quite comfortable with reptiles so he gently picked up the snake (about 8-9 ft. long) to show us. The snake was relaxed and didn't mind being handled though our guide was careful in how he initially picked him up. Then everyone got a chance to touch and hold the snake if they wanted to. It is an understatement to say that Amy is not at all fond of snakes so she only touched it in the slightest and got the shivers. Alex, on the other hand, seemed to have a bit of courage stored up so he not only touched it but posed with it around his neck for a picture (taken by our friend Barak as Amy was standing much farther away and was not getting any closer)! After this excitement we headed back to camp for another night of good food and star-gazing. Unfortunately, no wild pigs this evening, but during the night we were serenaded by one or more dingoes and the constant buzz of mosquitos, which was comforting.May 9=====Third day without a shower was leaving us a little antsy for our return to Darwin, but first wandered through the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Center. It was an informative museum on the life of Aborigines. We then had lunch at Cahill's Crossing that is just across the East Alligator River from Arnhem Land. Arnhem Land is the exclusive territory of Aboriginal tribes and you need a permit to enter. At Cahill's we were able (barely) to see our first crocodile. There are two kinds of crocs in Kakadu - freshwater and estuarine (can live in salt or fresh water). The estuarine are the aggressive ones that will attack and kill people though at the time of year we were in Kakadu (end of the wet season/start of the dry) they were still quite spread out over the park and had not been forced into smaller areas like the plunge pools and gorges. Each year at the start of the dry season the pools and gorges are surveyed for estuarine crocs prior to opening them to the public. If ones are found they are removed to other areas. Swimming was at our own risk due to park liability so there were signs warning of crocs at most pools but the pools we swam in were all very clear water and crocs were not likely to be there - we always made our guide go in first!The last leg of our trip was a boat cruise on a billabong on the Mary River. We got an up close and personal view of an estuarine croc here. It was about 8-9 ft. long and didn't look aggressive but the skipper said it had been exhibiting strange behavior in the past couple of times he had seen it so he wasn't trusting of it - obviously! Unfortunately 3/4 of the way through our cruise something snapped on the boat and it wouldn't start so we had to be towed back to the landing by a group of men fishing. At the landing we saw a freshwater croc that was only about 3 ft. long as well as a large group of wallabies (looks like small kangaroo). On our way back to Darwin, our guide screeched to a halt, jumped out and went chasing after a frill-neck lizard. He caught it on a tree trunk and pried it off for us to see it flare its frill collar. It was a colorful and interesting creature. While we were standing there the sun was setting (most colorful one yet) and Alex got a picture. Wow!After all our wildlife sightings we were all ready for showers and food when we got back to Darwin. Most of us met up later at a pub for a complimentary dinner and spent the rest of the evening trying to win a AUS$100 bar tab in a pub quiz contest. Our guide even showed up later for a drink or two. It was a great way to end a fun trip with a good group of people.May 10======Alex made the sensible suggestion to fly to Alice Springs instead of taking the more expensive 23-hour bus ride. Before our flight though Alex wanted to hit the Indo-Pacific Marine aquarium in Darwin. It was quite a walk from town, but an interesting little exhibition. Our short flight left in the early afternoon and we arrived in Alice Springs in time to walk around town a little bit before dinner. Our next "roughing it" adventure will be a 3-day tour to Uluru (aka Ayers Rock).
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1117761900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1117761900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1117761900/tpod.html Wed, 08 Jun 2005 02:43:31 -0400 The Scenic Route to B-School

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South Island, New Zealand

May 29======ChristchurchAfter an early morning flight from Sydney to Christchurch, it was the time we had been waiting for . . . taking possession of the campervan. If anyone is interested in the exact specifications of our mighty, motorized vehicle then you can go to the following link: http://www.pacifichorizon.co.nz/trade/2berth.html Once duly briefed and inspected, we drove the quite top heavy vehicle to downtown Christchurch, managed to parallel park and hit (not literally, thank goodness) the Sunday crafts market and the Christchurch Art Gallery for a little culture. After a grocery store run we pulled into the Christchurch Top 10 Holiday Park for our first foray into holiday park camping. A holiday park is essentially a campground with tent and powered sites for campervans as well as cabins and motels for those driving a car. Top 10 is one of the better chains and they give a 10% discount each night if you join their membership scheme - which we did. The park has the usual amenties including kitchen, TV lounge, Internet and laundry facilities. The lady at reception gave a broad smile when we told her it was our first time driving a campervan and staying in a holiday park. All the Kiwis have been super-friendly and it was a pleasant experience cooking our first dinner and pulling out the bed for a good night's rest. It is definitely close quarters, but ample space to sit and cook at the same time.Why did we rent a campervan? It was recommended by nearly everyone who had spent time in New Zealand that we bumped into along our travels. The country is set up for campervan. There are pull offs by the side of the road for camping, loading up on water, emptying tanks, and for getting propane tanks filled. Nearly every vehicle you see on the roads between tourist destinations are campervans. So when in Rome....A little vocab lesson: Campervan = no toilet / shower. Recreational Vehicle = shower / toilet. We are in a campervan. Let's fill up with diesel and be on our way...May 30======Christchurch --> OamaruAfter a quick breakfast we had a quick look at the Christchurch Cathedral and Square before making a stop at the Salvation Army store to pick up a couple winter jackets since in fact it is winter in New Zealand. It was one of Alex's better ideas this trip. Two jackets and two books = $16 USD.With our secondhand jackets purchased we took off south down the coast from Christchurch to the small town of Oamaru. The drive was very scenic and Alex learned to drive a large, slightly underpowered diesel machine. The land was relatively flat on the coast but to our left you could see the mountain ranges so we had scenic vistas complete with sheep grazing in the pastures surrounding us. It was hard not to get the camera out and take thousands of pictures. You may ask yourself what Oamaru has to offer . . . well, penguins. This small town has a colony of rare yellow-eyed penguins and a blue (aka little) penguin colony. For the yellow-eyed penguins, there was a hide set up above the beach where you could try to spot some of them coming ashore in the late afternoon. Winter unfortunately is not a season when penguins proliferate along the coast, but huddling together with all our layers on we spotted 4 penguins return home. Of course we couldn't see if they really had the yellow band around their eyes since they were far away, but we could clearly see a fat seal wallowing on the beach as we walked back to the car. Our second stop of the evening was the blue penguin colony as they come ashore later than the others. You have to pay for the privilege to sit in a grandstand and view the homecoming of these little guys and gals though. So we bought our tickets, watched the video and listened to commentary while anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first raft (group of penguins that come ashore together) of penguins to arrive. There were about 30 in the first raft and they were adorable. Very blue on the back and white on the front which evidently is good camaflouge in the water from predators. They waddled up the rocks that had been nicely cemented for them to make their way across a gravel path, through a wire fence and into the vegetation where nesting boxes had been placed by the park service in an effort to increase the penguin numbers in a protected environment. There were several more rafts that came ashore and we watched enthralled with these funny-looking birds. A total of 70 came home this night. We then went to the camp ground and cooked up some dinner before bedding down for our second night of campervanism. Unfortunatlely, we could not take any pictures, but the pengiuns were quite hilarious as they went through their routine of getting out of the water, feeding their young, and then squaking around their nest. May 31======Oamaru --> QueenstownWe were treated to a long day of driving but the landscapes were incredible. The road inland to Queenstown as we headed across to the west coast climbed through the Southern Alps whose tops were capped with snow. This portion of the trip required a lot of driving, but with the surrounding landscape it was the journey that made our days rather than particular towns or attractions. Just a little south of Oamaru, we stopped briefly to see a geologic phenomenon - the Moeraki Boulders. These spherical rocks were actually formed within the cliffs on the beach and as time eroded the cliffs the boulders fell out onto the beach. Originally, sixty million years ago these rocks were formed around a central core of carbonate of lime crystals which attracted minerals from their surroundings. They were quite interesting to check out. Queenstown is the adventure activity capital of NZ and where the bungy jump was invented by AJ Hackett. Other activities including jetboating, swinging, whitewater sledging and river surfing just to name a few more interesting activities on offer. They all seemed like adrenalin rushes and we got a rush just finding out how expensive they are to do. Since our $ doesn't go as far on this part of the trip as the first half we have selected our priority activities and unfortunately nothing in Queenstown fit the bill. For dinner though Alex was hungry for some lamb and we found a great, inexpensive pub (Speight's Ale House) that served generous portions of marinated lamb shanks. Even without our adrenalin rush we went to sleep happy.June 1 ======Queenstown --> Fox GlacierWe woke to a chilly morning in Queenstown but of course you must have a tramp before breakfast . . . so we headed up Queenstown Hill for some panoramic views before we started out for Fox Glacier. However, we did eat some "brekkie" beforehand.On our northwestern drive towards the west coast we got the bright idea to try out a little free camping at Lake Matheson nearby Fox Glacier for the night. "Free" means exactly that however, our camper doesn't have a toilet/shower though we figured there was plenty of places in the bush. We arrived after dark but could still make out that a couple of other people had the same idea we did. Our heater doesn't work without electricity though with a few extra layers and cooking over gas heat we managed. After dinner we played cards and slept under three duvets. Unbeknownst to us the overnight temperature dropped below zero and a very frosty, rainy morning greeted us as we got out of our warm, cosy bed. The next day we learned that our first free camping night was actually the coldest night of the year thus far. June 2======Fox GlacierAgain, no day in New Zealand is complete without a morning walk so we headed just across the parking lot where we had stayed the night to Lake Matheson for a circuit that provided the beautiful reflection of Mts. Tasman and Cook on its surface. The mountains were visible (though shrouded in clouds by the time we finished our walk). In the afternoon, and in the pouring rain, we joined our group from Alpine Guides for a hike up and onto Fox Glacier. It was still raining but they gave us raincoats and waterproof pants along with our boots and crampons (they are the spikes you buckle onto the boot for walking on ice). The glacier was huge. After the Tasman Glacier, Fox Glacier and nearby Franz Josef Glacier are the next largest ones. We walked down to the terminus (end) of the glacier and then hiked up the lateral moraine wall (side) and finally put on our crampons for our climb up to the top surface of the glacier via steps carved earlier by guides. It was incredible to see other hikers in comparison to the height of the glacier and the blueness of the ice was beautiful. It was awe-inspiring. After our hike we checked out the glow worms in a little forested area on the edge of town - pretty cool. Back at the holiday park we cooked dinner and slept warmly with our electricity cord plugged in.June 3======Fox Glacier --> KaikouraYet again after breakfast we took a walk (though the shortest yet) up to a lookout point for the Franz Joseph Glacier a little north en route to our trek back across the country to the east coast town of Kaikoura. It was a long day (7.5 driving hours and 500 km) but we made it into Kaikoura's Top 10 Holiday Park before the office closed for the evening. We were ready to swim with dolphins.
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Sydney, Australia

May 20======We love Sydney! Our first glimpse of it was of the beautiful skyline from our Qantas flight from Cairns. At the airport, Eloise, a former colleague of Alex's, was there waiting to pick us up. What a nice feeling it was to see our first familiar face since we left Shanghai. Eloise was a tremendous host for our two weekends in Sydney and we had a blast catching up with her. The first evening we went up to the area called "The Rocks", which is the oldest section of Sydney, directly under the Harbor Bridge. We then walked along between the snazzy apartment buildings and hotels and around to the Sydney Opera House. Sydney Harbor is truly a special place. The bridge, downtown, including the financial district, ferry terminals, botanical gardens, and opera house are nestled together on this cozy, protected harbor. It is not one of those massive ports, but gives a sense of intimacy and friendliness endemic of many of the Australians we have met along the way. We had dinner at the Australian Hotel, a famous traditional pub near The Rocks that served up delicious pizzas. May 21======In the morning, Eloise took us a few minutes walk from her apartment to Bondi Beach. On our walk from Bondi to Bronte Beach, we saw surfers taking on the crashing waves and families taking in the sun on the beach...AND THIS IS THEIR WINTER! We had brunch overlooking the beach as a reward for our power walk to Bronte.Eloise dropped us at Paddington Market, an arts and crafts market that had a similar feel to our old DC haunt, Eastern Market. We picked up some gifts after some bargaining. From there, we took a taxi to Circular Quay to catch the ferry to Manly, a nearby town. The ferry offered us great views of the harbor as we passed right next to the Opera House and between all of the sailing yachts and coves on the way to Manly. It was a picture perfect day, so we got some great pictures of the bridge and the Opera House along the way. That night, we decided to bust the budget a bit and attend a symphony at the spectacular Sydney Opera House. We saw Mahler's 9th (and last) Symphony, where he clearly contemplates death. The acoustics were tremendous and it was one of the trip experiences that will be a highlight. Beforehand, we caught some of the talk that explained the symphony conducted by one of the trombonists and then enjoyed the sights and sounds from "the nosebleed section". We were a little embarrassed about what we were wearing, as we are traveling very lightly and don't have any dress clothes, but were thankful when we saw that the locals were dressed in an array of clothes -- from tuxes to jeans. Alex vowed to take Amy back to the restaurant that sits in the front "sail" or "shell" of the opera house before they see another performance there. It looked exquisite.May 22======After our night of culture on the town, we got some culture in the stadium. That's right--you've seen it at 2:00am on ESPN2 and scratched your head--it's Aussie Rules Football. On another picture perfect day, we caught the Sydney Swans take on the Western Bulldogs at the Cricket Ground that doubled as the Aussie Rules pitch. Eloise did her Australian duty by teaching us how to properly eat meat pies (involving careful spreading of ketchup with the index finger). Amy got a little crazy and ketchuped her pants. We had some beer and got sunburned watching the game and admiring the skyline. And again, this is their WINTER.After a close game that led to victory by the Swans (called the Swans because of their ability to sail high to catch the ball -- though the name sounds a bit wimpy), we did what comes naturally after attending a sporting event in Australia (or anywhere), we headed to the pub. After a few libations and visit to the liquor store, Eloise made us dinner at her house...and that's about all we remember until we woke up the next morning (with a slight headache). May 23======On Monday, Eloise had to go to work, so we decided to head off on our own for a few days. We rented the cheapest possible car from the no-frills rental company called Bayswater and drove a few hours to the Blue Mountains, with a quick stop for lunch at the skate / bike half-pipe to watch some kids do their stuff. The main site in the Blue Mountains was the so-called "Three Sisters" who were frozen in rock for protection by their father, according to Aboriginal legend. Also according to the legend, their father lost the magical stick required to unfreeze them after they were safe and sound. We were amazed that there actually is a blueish tint or haze to the "Blue Mountains" that is a result of an oily excretion from the leaves of the eucalyptus trees that dominate the area. We even saw a womat on the side of the road, but Amy chased it off trying to take a picture. We stayed the night at the YHA and even took in the new Star Wars movie at the IMAX theatre in town. It was much better than the most recent two.May 24======After a light rain in the morning, we set off on a 8km walk that took us from Govett's Leap, along the edge of the cliffs, past several waterfalls, in the Blue Mountains range to Evans Lookout, and back. After the rain had ceased, the sun came out and we removed a layer of clothing every 200 feet until we felt like we were carrying around half of our trip wardrobe. The morning rain scared away all other hikers, so we had the trail completely to ourselves.After a long drive in the afternoon, we arrived in Cessnock, the small town completely surrounded by the vineyards of the Hunter Valley winemakers. We decided to stay in the upstairs portion of a pub because it was cheap and had character. We were happy when all of the character (and characters) finally left the pub at 12:15am, when the pub closed. Our daily budget unfortunately does not go as far in Australia as it did in Southeast Asia, so we have been on the look out for cheap eats. In Cessnock this means looking for restaurants that have an "N" used as a conjunction in a cheesy name. The first night we ate at "Cork N' Fork". The second night was "Swill N' Grill". May 25======We woke up early to book a winery tour aboard the "Cheers Bus" that eventually took us to 5 wineries, a cheese / chocolate shop, and a brew pub. We were pleased with the bus tour because the driver was very knowledgeable about wines and got to know our tastes very quickly. He would often suggest certain wines or tell us that we may want to pass on others. Also, we were able to leave the driving to him. We enjoyed tasting the specialties of the region, including Chardonnay, Semillon and Shiraz. We also got to taste some new types of wines for the first time, such as Verdelho and Chambourcin.During the day, we visited Pepper Tree, Ernest Hill, Tullock, Lucy's Run, and Ivanhoe. Of the five, we enjoyed Lucy's Run, a small winery run by a former Cathay Pacific pilot. We even got to meet Lucy, the winery's namesake, a peppy dog with battle scars from fights with invading kangaroos. We also enjoyed the wines at Tullock a great deal. We even saw a famous kookabura bird outside one of the wineries.We were dropped off by the bus back at the pub, where we soon dropped into bed for a long nap before dinner at the aforementioned Swill N' Grill.May 26 ======We decided to head off to a few wineries on our own and enjoyed the individual attention we received. We visited Cockfighter's Ghost (owned by Poole's Rock), home of our new favorite Semillion, and Piggs Peake, a small winery that Amy choose because of the funny name and the cool label. We also hit Peterson's Champagne House, which specialized in sparkling reds. Because the sparkling Merlot tasted a strange to us and we happened to hit the winery just as the geriatric bus had unloaded, we left quickly. We had a fabulous lunch at a cheese factory, where we choose three cheese from a menu of dozens and they were served with bread, crackers, olives, and marinated vegetables. Dinner was equally interesting. We ate at an Irish Pub which was a little generic with mediocre food. The interesting part was they had a "Grill your Own Steak" feature. You went up to the counter to choose your meat and then you grilled it on the large indoor grill in the next room. May 27======We woke up very early and drove back to Sydney, crossed the Harbor Bridge, made a wrong turn and headed straight into Sydney rush hour. We were still able to drop our wines and backpacks at Eloise's before having to return the car to King's Cross (which is similar in seediness to King's Cross in London).Alex had heard that the Sydney Aquarium was fantastic and it lived up to its reputation. We spent the entire day there. They had two massive tanks, one filled with sharks, and the other filled with fish from a coral reef, that you could walk through, on top of, and beside. They were impressive. We were there during the feeding hour for the reef tank and watched the big leopard shark and manta, as well as the schools of jacks and batfish attack the food. Swarms of smaller fish got the leftovers. The scale of these tanks was amazing...the next best thing to diving. We also took some time to explore The Rocks and the Darling Harbor, which surrounds the Aquarium. We met up with Eloise, had a glass of wine, and ordered pizza take-out. The night ended as the lights went out during a local blackout!May 28======Eloise got us up and going on a 10km walk to Manly from a nearby area called Spit. The weather was cool and sunny, perfect for trekking along the beaches, cliffs, and in front of the swanky houses that lined the coast. From Manly, we drove to Newport and had a late lunch overlooking the water, just in time for sunset.For dinner, we walked a few minutes to Bondi Beach, close to Eloise's apartment, and found an outdoor Greek / Italian place that served up a pasticcio that rivaled that of the Washington DC Greek Deli on 19th Street.Thanks again to Eloise for being such a great host and for showing us the highlights of your spectacular city. We both agreed that we could easily live in Syndey. No problem. And if this was Winter, we can just imagine how nice Summer is!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1116551640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1116551640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1116551640/tpod.html Sat, 21 May 2005 20:18:12 -0400 The Scenic Route to B-School

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Ribbon Reefs outside Cairns, Australia, Australia

Total time underwater in three days: 10 hours 8 minutesTotal dives: 12Number of sharks seen: 5-10Distance between Amy's foot and a shark at Challenger Bay: 2 feetMay 15======After spending another night at the very cool backpacker's hostel named Annie's Place in Alice Springs, we did some laundry and headed back to the airport. We flew up to sunny Cairns, home of the Great Barrier Reef with some British newlyweds (David and Sara) that we met on our trip to Uluru. We found a hostel on the Esplanade called Hostel 89, that was clean, basic, and actually had a coin-up air conditioner. After grabbing some dinner with David and Sara, we slept our last night on land before our 3-day diving adventure.May 16======We met up with the crew of Mike Ball's Supersport at the Cairns Colonial Club in order to catch our bus to the airport. From there, we headed to the airport for our puddle jumper flight 750 feet above the reef. We sat right behind the pilot and had some great views of the reef on the way to Lizard Island, where our dive boat awaited. There were quite a few different dive boats that offered 3- or 4-day trips out of Cairns. We paid more for Mike Ball's Supersport, but I think it was the right choice for us and was well worth the extra money. The dive crew was friendly, the operation was professional, and the boat was just fine. One big lesson that we have learned on this whole trip is that you get what you pay for. We wanted to splurge a little to make sure that we got a top rate operation. We ended up really happy with Mike Ball. Anyways, back to the story...Our first day consisted of three dives at a site called Cod Hole, named for the gigantic potato cod that lurk around this area of the reef. When we dove in, the cod came right up to us and practically acted like lap dogs, except they were a few hundred pounds each. Beautiful plate corals jutted out from the rocks that looked like bird baths for the teaming damselfish and chromis. On the second dive, we took the zodiac boats away from the Supersport for a deeper dive. A few sharks and big bumphead parrotfish (the ones that chew on coral to create sand) ruled the area. On the night dive, we stepped into the water under the floodlights of the boat -- otherwise, it was pitch black. We had underwater flashlights that were the only things that lit up the coral and fish. When we shined them on the corals, we could see the little red beady eyes of crabs and shrimp staring back at us. We looked for the green eyes of the harmless white tipped reef shark and found just one. Big potato cod followed us around and used our lights to hunt by. One big potato cod swam within a foot of Amy. We kept track of our dive buddies by the color of the glow stick attached to their tank. Not really that exciting of a dive, but a good confidence builder for dives to come.The food on board was plentiful and delicious. We quickly fell into the rhythm of dive - eat - sleep - dive.May 17======Five dives today! The morning dive at Vertical Gardens was much more exciting than Cod Hole. We had a day of confidence-building dives under our belt (though we have Advanced Certfication we still considered ourselves novices) and the diversity of fish was amazing. Some fishy favorites were the trumpet fish, several types of clownfish hosting in anemones, a few lionfish, nudibranch, and a giant clam. Schools of fish, large and small, were unfazed as we joined their schools. They just moved around us. We dove down to 96 feet because when you do multiple dives in a day, you cannot go any deeper than your first dive. For this reason, we always were conscious to go deep on the early morning dives. The second dive was the first time that we dove without an accompanying dive master, which was a big milestone, as this was only our 20th dive ever. Magnificent fish and both soft and hard coral made for a "wow" at every turn of the head. We then cruised to our next site, Pixie Pinnacle, a large pillar of coral that rose out of the reef's floor from about 200 feet down. We dove in a clockwise direction around this pillar, checking out all of the nooks and crannies for life. In one nook, there was a flame file shell, which was a bright red scallop-type animal, with long red tentacles that protruded from the end of its shell. It also had a phosphorescent strand on the front of its shell that lit up like a current of electricity or a small underwater lightening bolt. We were again surrounded by orange and purple anthias that were happy to let us join their schools.After a massive lunch and a weak "Reef Ecology" course on the boat, we hit the water again for our first dive to last over one hour. We stayed around 43 feet, which greatly extended our air-time. While the visibility was a bit worse than our past few dives, we could still see the shoal of chevron barracuda that followed around the reef shark. Our night dive at Challenger Bay was much more exciting than the previous night's. As soon as we went down, we were surrounded by speeding 2-4 foot jacks (or trevellies) that were hunting in small groups around the reef. They swam towards our lights to search out smaller fish. A white tipped reef shark passed right under Amy's flippers (though she thankfully did not see it until a few seconds later). We felt like we were spectators of the nightly hunt.After spending nearly 4 hours underwater that day, we were exhausted!May 18======Four dives today. Our first two dives were at Steve's Bommie, which was our favorite site of the trip. Visibility was outstanding and the water was remarkably calm. Amazing coral that was the home to schools of anthias. We saw a den of two lionfish that hung around and waited for smaller fish to enter their turf. Alex decided to rent an underwater camera for the day, so check out the pics above. The picture of the clowns in the anemone (above) was the first one he took. He soon realized that this was beginners luck and that underwater photography was not easy. For each shot that came out well, there were twelve shots that did not. It just seemed like luck which ones came out at all. It was a true test of buoyancy control (arguably the hardest skill in diving) to get still enough to take a picture. The other challenge is that you have to get ridiculously close to your subject in order get a shot at all. If the fish moved, the camera produced a blur. All this concentration made Alex suck up his air very fast on the first dive -- it only lasted thirty-four minutes. The second dive with the camera at Steve'e Bommies was better. Alex concentrated on enjoying the dive and not on the camera and ended up getting better shots. A photogenic colony of clownfish (like Nemo for you Disney fans) occupied the top of the bommie, which is a large cluster of coral. We saw a rare leaf scorpion fish camoflauged in the coral. Beautiful vivid colors were everywhere.Our third and fourth dives were at Flare Point. We stayed right around 30 feet in order to get enough light to take photos and to get the most out of our air tanks. Alex got a nice shot of a boxfish (like a puffer) that he entered in the boat's photo contest. While Amy and Alex tried to build grassroot support for the photo among the crew and passengers, the professional photographer with five thousand dollars worth of equipment and a Japanese girl won. That evening we played some party games with the crew and had a feast of BBQ shrimp. We fed the shrimp shells to the hungry jacks that were using the light on our boat for hunting. May 19 ======After 12 dives, we shed our gills and returned to Cairns. We decided to rent a car and drive up to Cape Tribulation, which was home to a combination mangrove / rainforest and a deserted beach. Alex got a chance to refine his driving skills on the "wrong" side of the road that he picked up while living in the UK. It was a peaceful drive and the beach was beautiful. During the drive we came upon a huge, wierd-looking bird which was the rare cassowary. Apparently, these birds are endangered and fairly dangerous. We didn't know any better, so Alex pulled over the car and Amy snapped some cassowary action shots.We returned to Cairns, had an Italian dinner and bottle of good Aussie wine and fell asleep.May 20======After spending the morning unsuccessfully uploading pictures to the Travelpod, we caught our three hour flight to Sydney to meet up with our friend Eloise, a former colleague from our favorite defunct stock exchange. She is doing wonderfully and we will have many more stories to tell about Alex's new favorite city: Sydney. Stay tuned...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1116147720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1116147720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hoods/pacificcircle05/1116147720/tpod.html Sat, 21 May 2005 20:13:41 -0400 The Scenic Route to B-School

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Uluru, Australia

May 12======Our 6:15am pick-up by Sahara Outback Tours came while it was still dark. Even from this early beginning we knew that this tour was going to be quite different from our last in Kakadu. The bus was bigger to begin with and there were more people on the tour (18 vs. 9), including our guide who was also older than our last guide though was quite youthful with his dreadlocks. It was also a more mature crowd. In Kakadu we were the oldest along with the Danish women, but this time around we were the youngest. Americans also were in the majority in our travelling group (8), followed by 3 Germans, 3 Dutch, 2 British and a Korean guy who was quiet. This tour was to be a little heavier on creature comforts, we found out.It took us about 5 hours to reach the Uluru area. Along the way we stopped at a couple of cattle stations for fuel and snacks. Our first one though provided the opportunity to have a quick camel ride for AUS$5pp. At 8am in the morning, we hopped on the back of a camel named Blackie and we led around a track with the last part being in a full run. So much fun though a bit bumpy! We reached our permanent safari camp around 1pm and had lunch. Now, our last trip we didn't shower, slept in swags, and were expected to help considerably in the preparation of meals. This trip we had clean, hot shower facilities, slept in permanent tents with actual twin beds inside with sleeping bags and sleep sheets provided, and our guide rushed around getting the food prepared while anyone who wanted to could help out but it wasn't mandatory.In the afternoon we drove out to the Kata Tjuta (meaning 'many heads'; aka the Olgas) and hiked around to the Valley of the Winds. These rounded dome-like monoliths are composed of whitish sedimentary sandstone and were painted a beautiful color orange-red by the iron in the sand that had been blown around and covered the rock. We caught a little of the setting sun on the Olgas before heading over to Uluru for the famous sunset viewing. This was the first opportunity for us to bust out the fly nets that we had been advised to purchase. The flies in central Australia are ridiculous. They are numerous and annoying. You are swatting at your face all the time though at least they don't bite. Amy was glad that Alex purchased the nets though she may not have realized their importance at the time of purchase. She still called him a dork for wearing his.The sun setting on Uluru is captivating as the rock turns from reddish-brown to deeper shades to charcoal as the sun sets. The sunset was equally spectacular. White clouds glowed golden in a blue sky as the sun went down turning to red then violet as it dropped below the horizon.We headed back to camp for a delicious dinner prepared by our guide of steak and sausages with lots of accompaniments. We slept like rocks in our warm and comfortable beds.May 13======Our guide woke us early for our drive out to Uluru for sunrise. We started our base walk around the rock before sunrise and got a close-up view as the sun rose quickly illuminating the entire rock bringing out the brilliant red-orange color. Halfway around the rock, visitors are able to climb to the top of Uluru though the Anangu (Aboriginal people who take care of the rock) prefer that people not climb since it goes against their spiritual beliefs. It is a balance though it seems. Our guide was telling us that though the Aborigines don't want people to climb, they get 50% of the entry fees to the park and it has been speculated that attendance would drop significantly if the climb was closed. For now, the visitor's guide strongly urges you not to climb and gives the reasons for this request. We thought we might climb up, but in the end, after having gotten about 50 ft. up to the starting point of the chain rail that you follow all the way to the top, we didn't and continued our walk around the base. We finished our visit to Uluru by noon and were on our way to the next camp site for the night after lunch. We had another delicious meal of marinated drummies and veggies cooked in large pots over a campfire. By this time, the group had warmed up to each other and we particularly hit it off with the British couple, Sara and David. They had gotten married in January and their honeymoon was this 6-month trip. They had loads of good information for us for New Zealand and have even talked us into renting a campervan for our 2 1/2 weeks stay. It should be interesting.May 14======Another early morning out to hike around the rim of Kings Canyon, South of Uluru, before heading back to Alice Springs in the afternoon. It was a great hike and in some respects we enjoyed it more than the Olgas or Uluru. It was composed of two different layers of sedimentary rock and had lots more interesting features. The canyon walls were spectacular colors - lines of black, red, and white (underlying rock). There were also these dome features where weather had eroded the rock to create a city of domes on top of the canyon. There were also eerie-looking ghost gums (kind of eucalyptus with white bark) growing out of the rock crevices.After a picnic lunch we headed back to Alice Springs though on a much different path. Our guide drove us on bumpy, unpaved roads through a couple of national parks to meet up with another bus to take us back to town while he went on with several of the group for two more days on the trip.Arriving back in Alice we had a great dinner at Annie's Place and crashed after a wonderful trip. Though we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the desert landscapes, we realized we are definitely coastal people who prefer water to sand. We are looking forward to our time on the Great Barrier Reef. It should be a main highlight of our trip.
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