June 22nd at 05.35 our flight from San Paulo arrives safely at John F. Kennedy airport in New York, but noooooooo we can't get off the plane cause the immigration/customs staff don't start until 06.00, so we sit in the plane until we're allowed to disembark. Apparently all the people on the plane had international passports, so I was the only one in the US line, which meant I got to fly through to the baggage claim and within minutes my bag was there and within a few more minutes I was outside the security doors meeting my dad.
We were out of the airport parking lot by 06.45 . . . I think that's some sort of record, since my plane was scheduled to arrive at 06.20.
The reason I am bothering to post about being back in the USofA is mostly because my first experience back was not the greatest and to be honest rather embarrassing for the US! I decided it was a good idea to use the toilet before heading out on our 6 hour drive back to the Adirondacks. So after using the toilet I went to wash my hands and to make a long story shortish, there were 8 sinks, 8 soap dispensers and not a one of them had any soap in them! Then I went to dry my hands and neither of the two hand dryers were working and there was no paper towel. Having done a boat load of travelling at this point, I was ashamed of the quality of service I was receiving - I mean I found these things in developing countries without a problem, why can JFK not get with the program . . . or does the cleaning staff not come in till 08.00?
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Friday, 9 July 2010
Rio, Brazil
A few hours after our ferry dropped us off from Ilha Grande we arrived in Rio. Since we'd hit quite a bit of traffic and I was leaving in 2 days, I wanted to make the most of my time here, so I got an afternoon city tour. We visited Christ the Redeemer, drove by the beaches, drove into downtown (old city), drove to where the carnival is held to see all the bleachers, visited the soccer stadium, where they have a museum, and took the gondola up Sugarloaf just in time to see the sunset!
The following day, I took a favela tour, which was AWESOME! As you can see from the photo below this favela is built on a hill, so first we were dropped off at the bottom of the hill and then took motorbikes up to the top of the hill to start our tour. You walk all the way down through the "slums" and meet the local people, avoid eye contact & take no photos of the drug dealers, and I thought it was the highlight of my time in Rio.
Here is an example of the art work which comes out of the area:
This is one of the paintings my mate bought since I don't have a photo of mine - amazing huh???
That afternoon, after the favela tour, was the second Brazil match & everything in Brazil was shutting down, so we quickly changed into our green & yellow outfits and walked down to Copacabana beach to watch the match on the jumbo-tron. Amy & I (as you can see below) got tired of standing up during half time so we decided to relax in the sand, but you can see all the legs surrounding us, cause there were thousands of people there! Luckily for us, Brazil won again, so the city was happy.
My last day in Rio, I had a taxi coming around 3pm, so I didn't do much of anything, had breakfast, packed my bag, showered before the taxi arrived and hung out with my mate who were lucky enough to be staying a few more day.
At 2pm the taxi arrived, took me to the airport & that evening I flew from Rio to San Paulo, then had a few hours in the airport while I waited for the second half of my flight into New York.
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Ilha Grande, Brazil
A short 50 minute ferry ride from mainland Brazil and we arrived in Ilha Grande (Big Island for those of you who don't speak Portuguese). We settled into our rooms and went to check out the pool, which turned out to be FREEZING cold! So we decided to take a walk around the downtown & see what the beach had to offer. At this point, I start to feel a bit headachey & sore throaty & over all just crappy, so after a short walk, I head back to the hotel & sit by the pool in the shade. By dinner time I'm in bed, not hungry and just wanted to sleep until I'm better.
The next morning our plan was to do the hike which goes to all the beautiful beaches, but I cannot even get out of bed. So off they all went & I stayed in bed until around noon, when I got too hot & stuffy in the room, so I went back out to my shady chair next to the pool, which was great, cause nobody was there. I even spent a bit of time dangling my feet in the freezing cold water, it made me feel a lot better.
That night I eat a little pizza, but was still not really hungry. The next morning, I eat breakfast & went right back to my pool side shaded chair and relaxed. Our 3rd day I was a bit more active and went looking in a few shops before the England match, but after it was over I went right back to bed. On the 4th day, we went right to the ferry for a 9am departure and were picked up on the other end and drove to Rio!
The next morning our plan was to do the hike which goes to all the beautiful beaches, but I cannot even get out of bed. So off they all went & I stayed in bed until around noon, when I got too hot & stuffy in the room, so I went back out to my shady chair next to the pool, which was great, cause nobody was there. I even spent a bit of time dangling my feet in the freezing cold water, it made me feel a lot better.
That night I eat a little pizza, but was still not really hungry. The next morning, I eat breakfast & went right back to my pool side shaded chair and relaxed. Our 3rd day I was a bit more active and went looking in a few shops before the England match, but after it was over I went right back to bed. On the 4th day, we went right to the ferry for a 9am departure and were picked up on the other end and drove to Rio!
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Paraty, Brazil
As you can tell from the title, next on my adventures was Paraty, Brazil. In order to get there, we had to take 22.5 hours of buses . . . sounds like fun right? Well as it was our last long haul over night bus, I decided to fork over the US$50 to get an upgraded seat on the cama bus (semi-cama is what I'd been riding it's like an economy airline seat). Cama seats are more like business class airplane seats, where they recline almost completely & are wider, so easier to sleep in & move around in. We got on the bus, organised my seating area (water bottle out of bag & into seat pocket in front of me, blanket out, shoes off, iPod out, etc). As it was only about 6pm when we boarded the bus, I decided not to go right to sleep since the journey was 17.5 hours long! By 9pm, I was so bored I had to try to go to sleep just so I didn't want to scratch my eyes out of boredom. It's tough to sleep on a bus when Brazilians are also on the bus because, they just love to talk, walk around, don't say excuse me when they bump you, and often like to bribe the driver into stopping extra places to drop things off or pick things up (I'd say mostly illegal dealings) 17.5 hour later, we arrived in San Paulo, which is a freakin huge city! We arrived at the bus station, collected our bags and then walked to the far end of the station to get on our next bus, but this time it was a much smaller bus, just a mini van type thing, which could hold 20 people comfortably. Away we went towards Paraty and just 5 hours later we were there! We settled into our hostel and then did a little walking tour of the town. Had dinner and went to bed.
The next day was the first Brazil match for the world cup and the town was all decked out in green & yellow. My mate & I decided to take a jeep tour of the surrounding area which would end and have us back in town in time to watch the match. What we did not realise was that the tour company had given the English speaking guide the day off . . . we did not learn this until the first stop (about 40 minutes outside of the town). Luckily for us there was a bilingual couple also on the tour who were able to translate the important bits to us. It was a bit annoying since of course the couple could not translate everything, but the scenery was divine! We saw lots of small waterfalls, which had it been warmer we could have swum in. We also saw 2 rum distilleries, one of which was run by water power! The tour ended just in time for the match to start, so we went to find a restaurant where we could see the match and get a bite to eat, as it was nearly 3pm and we were rather hungry! Brazil won 3-1 and the town went MENTAL!!! All night long people were dancing in the streets, everyone was in green and yellow, there was music blasting out of every window, and everyone was happy.
The next morning, we left at 8am and drove just over an hour to catch our ferry over to Ilha Grande.
The next day was the first Brazil match for the world cup and the town was all decked out in green & yellow. My mate & I decided to take a jeep tour of the surrounding area which would end and have us back in town in time to watch the match. What we did not realise was that the tour company had given the English speaking guide the day off . . . we did not learn this until the first stop (about 40 minutes outside of the town). Luckily for us there was a bilingual couple also on the tour who were able to translate the important bits to us. It was a bit annoying since of course the couple could not translate everything, but the scenery was divine! We saw lots of small waterfalls, which had it been warmer we could have swum in. We also saw 2 rum distilleries, one of which was run by water power! The tour ended just in time for the match to start, so we went to find a restaurant where we could see the match and get a bite to eat, as it was nearly 3pm and we were rather hungry! Brazil won 3-1 and the town went MENTAL!!! All night long people were dancing in the streets, everyone was in green and yellow, there was music blasting out of every window, and everyone was happy.
The next morning, we left at 8am and drove just over an hour to catch our ferry over to Ilha Grande.
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Iguassu Falls, Argentina & Foz de Iguassu, Brazil
As I mentioned in my last post, we'd been in Salto, Uruguay which is up in the north west corner of Uruguay, so a taxi drove us about 40 minutes across the Uruguay - Argentina border and dropped us off at a bus station, where we proceeded to get on a yet another night bus for 10 hours. This night bus however, was not nearly as nice as the buses in Chile, it was cold & they did not offer blankets or pillows.
10 hours later we arrived into the bus station, where a mini bus picked us up and drove us to see Iguassu Falls from the Argentinian side. (they are half in Brazil & half in Argentina) The cool part about this side of the falls is that you can walk out on these metal walkways so that you are "on the top" of the falls. It's a great view and you can feel the mist everywhere you go, because the force of the water is so high it almost feels like it's raining.
After a few hours exploring there, we drove across the Argentina - Brazil border and spent the night in Foz de Iguassu, Brazil, which is just the Brazilian side of the falls & since they speak Portuguese instead of Spanish, the name changes a bit. The following morning we went to see the Brazilian side of the falls, which I think I actually enjoyed more, because you see the falls from further away and you can see how wide & vast they are. I mean the Argentina side is great, but if I had to chose just one, I'd chose the Brazilian side.
On our second day in Foz de Iguassu we decided we'd take a day trip over into Paraguay. It took about 20 minutes to get to the border and about 2 seconds to cross it cause nobody checks at all, which just amazed me! We hung out there for about 3 hours, walking around the shops and street vendors before deciding we really wanted to see the Itapu Hydro Electric Dam which is on a river which divides Brazil & Paraguay, so off we went to see Itapu. If you've never seen a hydroelectric dam, it's pretty darn cool! It was the world's largest one, until recently when China's new dam was commissioned. We ended up there at noon, which would have been a fine time, aside from the fact that the English version of the movie & tour are only at 11am and 2pm . . . we didn't have time to wait till 2pm, so we took the Portuguese tour & luckily the guide spoke English as well and translated for us. That evening we took another night bus, this time for 17.5 hours to San Paulo, Brazil and then changed buses and rode from another 5 hours until we arrived in Paraty, Brazil. More on that another time . . .
10 hours later we arrived into the bus station, where a mini bus picked us up and drove us to see Iguassu Falls from the Argentinian side. (they are half in Brazil & half in Argentina) The cool part about this side of the falls is that you can walk out on these metal walkways so that you are "on the top" of the falls. It's a great view and you can feel the mist everywhere you go, because the force of the water is so high it almost feels like it's raining.
After a few hours exploring there, we drove across the Argentina - Brazil border and spent the night in Foz de Iguassu, Brazil, which is just the Brazilian side of the falls & since they speak Portuguese instead of Spanish, the name changes a bit. The following morning we went to see the Brazilian side of the falls, which I think I actually enjoyed more, because you see the falls from further away and you can see how wide & vast they are. I mean the Argentina side is great, but if I had to chose just one, I'd chose the Brazilian side.
On our second day in Foz de Iguassu we decided we'd take a day trip over into Paraguay. It took about 20 minutes to get to the border and about 2 seconds to cross it cause nobody checks at all, which just amazed me! We hung out there for about 3 hours, walking around the shops and street vendors before deciding we really wanted to see the Itapu Hydro Electric Dam which is on a river which divides Brazil & Paraguay, so off we went to see Itapu. If you've never seen a hydroelectric dam, it's pretty darn cool! It was the world's largest one, until recently when China's new dam was commissioned. We ended up there at noon, which would have been a fine time, aside from the fact that the English version of the movie & tour are only at 11am and 2pm . . . we didn't have time to wait till 2pm, so we took the Portuguese tour & luckily the guide spoke English as well and translated for us. That evening we took another night bus, this time for 17.5 hours to San Paulo, Brazil and then changed buses and rode from another 5 hours until we arrived in Paraty, Brazil. More on that another time . . .
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Montevideo & Salto, Uraguay
So I know it's been forever since I last updated & I apologise for that, but the internet connections in Argentina & Brazil were not the greatest & since I was limited on time I didn't want to waste an hour in an internet cafe updating the blog, so I'm going to try to give a few short updates over the next week or so, so you can see how the trip ended up.
Last time I wrote I was headed to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. We arrived there safely, settled into our cold hotel room and went out for Chinese. The service was horrible but the food was tasty. The following morning I went on an organised city tour, which was very cool! I got to see the first world cup stadium (football/soccer) which is just outside the city centre and it was for the 1950 match. We also got to see the beaches and the old city centre with it's cobble stone streets and section of the old city wall which they've saved.
From Montevideo, we headed north west to Salto, Uruguay. We spent a day & a half there, which from my point of view is more than enough time. It's a town known for it's spas and not much else past that!
The following day we headed back into Argentina to see the Iguassu Falls . . . more on that later
Last time I wrote I was headed to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. We arrived there safely, settled into our cold hotel room and went out for Chinese. The service was horrible but the food was tasty. The following morning I went on an organised city tour, which was very cool! I got to see the first world cup stadium (football/soccer) which is just outside the city centre and it was for the 1950 match. We also got to see the beaches and the old city centre with it's cobble stone streets and section of the old city wall which they've saved.
From Montevideo, we headed north west to Salto, Uruguay. We spent a day & a half there, which from my point of view is more than enough time. It's a town known for it's spas and not much else past that!
The following day we headed back into Argentina to see the Iguassu Falls . . . more on that later
Monday, 7 June 2010
Colonia, Uraguay
Sorry I wasn´t able to update from Beunos Aires because as it turned out I spent less than 24 hours there . . . I know some of you who have been there are now screaming at the computer screen because you told me BA was one of your favourite spots in all of South America, BUT such is life . . . I´ll just have to come back :-) Jo & I chose to spend extra time in Pucon and miss out on time in BA and we´re both happy about our decision, no regrets.
We arrived into BA around half 2, were at the hotel by half 3, and eating Argentinian steak by half 4 - YUMMERS!!!! In the evening we went to see a tango show & had an introductory level tango lesson. We all thought we were doing amazingly well until later on when we saw the proffessionals, were we realised we have a lot to learn about tango! We got back to the hotel around midnight from the tango show and went straight to bed. Jo´s flight was at 11am the next morning and my ferry to Uraguay was leaving at 10am.
I arrived into Colonia, Uraguay around half 11, dropped my stuff off at the hotel and went to explore the marina area and find a spot for lunch. I had a delicious salmon meal. Then wondered around the town, saw the lighthouse, the city wall and gate, checked out a few touristy shops, and then decided to walk to the bull ring, which was opened in 1910. The only problem with my lack of Spanish was that what I didn´t realise is that it´s not still open (lol), so after walking 5K down the beach to see this bull ring, you can´t go inside, you can only walk around the outside. It´s still an interesting building and the weather was nice to be walking down the beach. So around half 5 I turned around and started to head back to the city centre, enjoying the sunset as well. At 8pm we went out to dinner for Brett´s birthday, but I was so full from my salmon lunch I just had a salad.
Today I´m heading to Montevideo, which is about a 3 hour bus ride from Colonia. I´ll be there for about 2 days before heading north to Salto. I am enjoying Uraguay so far, but I do miss my Pucon breakfasts!!
¿Hey anyone up for going to Chile in December or January to climb a volcano? I´m thinking of it as a 33rd birhday present to myself . . . but I don´t want to go alone. I know great cabins we can stay at and there are lots of other amazing things we can do in and around Pucon . . . think about it!
p.s. sorry for spelling errors, the spell check here is for spanish only!
We arrived into BA around half 2, were at the hotel by half 3, and eating Argentinian steak by half 4 - YUMMERS!!!! In the evening we went to see a tango show & had an introductory level tango lesson. We all thought we were doing amazingly well until later on when we saw the proffessionals, were we realised we have a lot to learn about tango! We got back to the hotel around midnight from the tango show and went straight to bed. Jo´s flight was at 11am the next morning and my ferry to Uraguay was leaving at 10am.
I arrived into Colonia, Uraguay around half 11, dropped my stuff off at the hotel and went to explore the marina area and find a spot for lunch. I had a delicious salmon meal. Then wondered around the town, saw the lighthouse, the city wall and gate, checked out a few touristy shops, and then decided to walk to the bull ring, which was opened in 1910. The only problem with my lack of Spanish was that what I didn´t realise is that it´s not still open (lol), so after walking 5K down the beach to see this bull ring, you can´t go inside, you can only walk around the outside. It´s still an interesting building and the weather was nice to be walking down the beach. So around half 5 I turned around and started to head back to the city centre, enjoying the sunset as well. At 8pm we went out to dinner for Brett´s birthday, but I was so full from my salmon lunch I just had a salad.
Today I´m heading to Montevideo, which is about a 3 hour bus ride from Colonia. I´ll be there for about 2 days before heading north to Salto. I am enjoying Uraguay so far, but I do miss my Pucon breakfasts!!
¿Hey anyone up for going to Chile in December or January to climb a volcano? I´m thinking of it as a 33rd birhday present to myself . . . but I don´t want to go alone. I know great cabins we can stay at and there are lots of other amazing things we can do in and around Pucon . . . think about it!
p.s. sorry for spelling errors, the spell check here is for spanish only!
Friday, 4 June 2010
Pucon, Chile Part 3
Well a slight change of plans, we´ll be leaving tonight from Pucon to Santiago via bus (10 hours) and then getting a flight from Santiago to Beunos Aires tomorrow morning. We stay in Pucon slightly longer than planned but arrive in BA at the same time (lol)
Yesterday the four of us went to visit a Mapuche family and we got to dress up in their clothes, ride their horse, eat their food and just hang out in their house with them drinking wheat coffee around a fire. It was amazing! Ruben´s dad is Mapuche, so he translate most of it and what he couldn´t he says in Spanish and then Phillipe translates into English . . . as you can guess conversations were a bit slow, but they were such friendly people. Of course it´s set up for tourists (like us) but instead of having a group of 20 it was just the 4 of us with them. Then we were suppose to have a BBQ, but it had rained heavily all day, so we went shopping for food (aka meat and potatoes) and Ruben cooked the whole meal, while I lay on the couch watching Beverly Hills 90210 (re-runs of what I use to watch in High School LOL) Jo and Phillipe came over to eat as well. Meals are eaten much later here, so we had dinner at 11pm so by time dinner was over and we were just relaxing in our living room, I fell asleep on the couch.
When I woke this morning at 8.45am, I realised I had to shower, pack, clean the kitchen and catch the bus which was leaving at 10am. So of course I jumped outta bed and raced to the shower, got dressed and started to pack and never even noticed that Ruben wasn´t sleeping anymore, so when I ran downstairs to start on the dishes I nearly fell over to see the whole kitchen and dinning room were completely cleaned up! Then we got the knock on the door from Phillipe to say no bus, all that rushing around for nothing, but at least it´s all done now :-)
I got some good photos at the Mapuche village house and last night at dinner, but need an internet cafe where I can upload them.
Okay, off to get some lunch now . . . will try to write from Argentina soon
Yesterday the four of us went to visit a Mapuche family and we got to dress up in their clothes, ride their horse, eat their food and just hang out in their house with them drinking wheat coffee around a fire. It was amazing! Ruben´s dad is Mapuche, so he translate most of it and what he couldn´t he says in Spanish and then Phillipe translates into English . . . as you can guess conversations were a bit slow, but they were such friendly people. Of course it´s set up for tourists (like us) but instead of having a group of 20 it was just the 4 of us with them. Then we were suppose to have a BBQ, but it had rained heavily all day, so we went shopping for food (aka meat and potatoes) and Ruben cooked the whole meal, while I lay on the couch watching Beverly Hills 90210 (re-runs of what I use to watch in High School LOL) Jo and Phillipe came over to eat as well. Meals are eaten much later here, so we had dinner at 11pm so by time dinner was over and we were just relaxing in our living room, I fell asleep on the couch.
When I woke this morning at 8.45am, I realised I had to shower, pack, clean the kitchen and catch the bus which was leaving at 10am. So of course I jumped outta bed and raced to the shower, got dressed and started to pack and never even noticed that Ruben wasn´t sleeping anymore, so when I ran downstairs to start on the dishes I nearly fell over to see the whole kitchen and dinning room were completely cleaned up! Then we got the knock on the door from Phillipe to say no bus, all that rushing around for nothing, but at least it´s all done now :-)
I got some good photos at the Mapuche village house and last night at dinner, but need an internet cafe where I can upload them.
Okay, off to get some lunch now . . . will try to write from Argentina soon
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Pucon, Chile part 2
So my mate Jo & I have decided we´ll be leaving Pucon on Friday morning and taking a 22 hour bus to Beunos Aires, Argentina. I think I can easily speak for her as well and say that neither of us is looking forward to leaving, but at the end of the day, we both need to get to BA by Saturday night, so this is the longest we can stay. But, I´m determined to try to come back here at some point. In the mean time I will just have to keep in touch with the people I´ve met, some of which hope to be in America later this year (yeah!) so we can hang out then too.
Yesterday, Ruben took me to a small town south of Pucon to see a less touristy town and to see the beautiful lake. The weather wasn´t exactly fantastic, but we had a great time playing on the jungle gym and walking around the marina before stopping for some chocolate caliente (hot chocolate). After that was just a quite night at home, I made spaghetti and we watched Friends in Spanish - No my Spanish is not that good, but my knowledge of nearly every episode of Friends makes it easy for me to understand it!
Well, just wanted to check in, we gotta run to figure out how to explain that we want to buy tissue paper, hmmmmm!
Yesterday, Ruben took me to a small town south of Pucon to see a less touristy town and to see the beautiful lake. The weather wasn´t exactly fantastic, but we had a great time playing on the jungle gym and walking around the marina before stopping for some chocolate caliente (hot chocolate). After that was just a quite night at home, I made spaghetti and we watched Friends in Spanish - No my Spanish is not that good, but my knowledge of nearly every episode of Friends makes it easy for me to understand it!
Well, just wanted to check in, we gotta run to figure out how to explain that we want to buy tissue paper, hmmmmm!
Monday, 31 May 2010
Pucon, Chile
So we were suppose to leave Pucon on Friday, but my mate Jo and I decided to stay a bit longer. The town is so beautiful, from every where you can see the snow capped volcano. Pucon is also in Chile´s lake district, and there are something like 10 to 15 large lakes in the area, and tons of other tall volcanos which aren´t active. Did I mention the volcano we were suppose to hike the other day is an active one? From my bedroom window between 5 and 6am I can see the top section of the volcano glowing from the lava, without even getting out of bed . . . how amazing is that?
Yesterday, Phillipe drove Jo and me over to check out another lake, it was so beautiful! Only problem was I lent my camera to Ruben cause he was guiding a group up the volcano, so no photos, but I think Jo got a few good ones which hopefully she´ll share with me!
Weather is still cool, but the clouds are much higher and so if you´re in the sun it doesn´t feel so bad.
Yesterday, Phillipe drove Jo and me over to check out another lake, it was so beautiful! Only problem was I lent my camera to Ruben cause he was guiding a group up the volcano, so no photos, but I think Jo got a few good ones which hopefully she´ll share with me!
Weather is still cool, but the clouds are much higher and so if you´re in the sun it doesn´t feel so bad.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Santiago & Pucon, Chile
Safely arrived into South America (a new continent for me!) a few days ago, after a long 11 hour flight from Auckland to Santiago. Country is beautiful. The first day I went to two coastal villages, names now evade me. Then took a 10 hour night bus from Santiago to Pucon (south) and we were suppose to hike up the 2000m volcano today, but it´s rainy and has lots of strong wind, so it´s postponed till tomorrow.
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Time Zones
So I just had a wee look at the world map and learned that in about 7 hours I will have made it around the world, since I've been to Hawaii before and on my way to Santiago, Chile this afternoon, I will pass that point! I also had a look at the time zone map and realised that when I land at 12.10pm (Chile time) it will actually be 11.10am on the east coast of America and 4.10pm in England.
I had forgotten how much further east South America is when compared to North America. So for the next month I'll be one and two hours ahead of New York and four and three hours behind London.
Okay, that's my fun fact for the day . . .
Auckland, New Zealand
Arrived here a few days ago. First on the agenda was to go to the top of the tallest building in the southern hemisphere, The Auckland Skytower, which is just around the corner from the hostel I'm staying at so I did that in the afternoon, when the weather was pretty good, a few clouds but no rain. The view was very nice and they even have a glass floor in the lift and at different spots around the viewing area, I of course could not walk on them, cause I'm a wimp!
That evening I went to Commerce Street to look for a pizza store, which my dad's mate in NYC's financial adviser's brother owns (did you follow that connection?) The street luckily isn't that long & in amongst lots of Chinese restaurant's is Sal's New York Style Pizza. I walked in & asked for Kieran. "Yes, I'm him" the man said. So I went on with the explanation of how I knew him and that his brother had sent me to say hello. He smiled and said that was a first! I got a slice of pizza, to test out how authentic it really was. Amazingly it was spot on! Come to find out, he imports all of his ingredients from America, WOW!
The next morning I went to Kaiheke Island, which turns out to be the 3rd most populated island in all of New Zealand. It's a 40 minute ferry ride from Auckland. Many people commute to Auckland for work from there. The island also has a lot of artist living on it. The weather was not fantastic, cloud covered and on the ferry back to the city it started to rain.
The following day, I was schedule to go sailing with my dad's mate from university, but the weather here in Auckland has not been working in my favour. It poured with rain and pretty strong winds, so the sailing race I was going to participate in got cancelled.
Yesterday I thought I would spend the morning doing laundry and packing, but the dryer here at the hostel is so bloody old that it took forever to dry my clothes, and it's not like I had that much, but I had my jeans in there and they took a long time to dry! Turns out my laundry wasn't ready till 2.30pm! Then I spent a bit of time on the phone with my parents, since once I leave New Zealand, I'm not sure when I'll have phone access again. Followed by packing up since check out is 10am and I didn't want to do it last minute.
Finished packing and noticed that 3 new girls in the room, but we only had 2 beds free. After dinner I came back in and they were all drinking and eating smelly fishy food in the room. I decided I wouldn't say anything until 10pm, when guests are suppose to leave and I'd have an excuse to kick one of them out. But at 9.30pm, Nicole came into the room and couldn't stand the smell, so she asked them to leave. I realised now that these girls were sooooooo drunk, they could barely stand up! I was glad they were leaving the room and sorta hoped they'd pass out on the couches in the lounge area and never come back :-)
No such luck, at 11.30pm, all three came stumbling back into the room. Two climbed into their beds and passed out, the third sat on a chair and sorta didn't know what to do with herself, she kept falling over and sliding off the chair, so I finally got off my bunk bed and asked her to leave (aka escorted her to the lift). I thought all was fine, Nicole and I were joking about how drunk they were and how badly they would feel in the morning, when all of the sudden the girl on the lower bunk sat up and started to puke all over her bed and down the side by the wall. Nicole and I, grabbed our purses and run to reception. Announced what had happened and they upgraded us to a twin room for the night, so we went back to the smelly room, collected our things and headed to our new room. All I can say is how glad I am that this happened on my last night of my NZ hostel staying or I might be worried about future repeats of this.
I am heading to Santiago, Chile this afternoon, but after last night had to go and get a Dunkin Donuts Coffee Coolatta for breakfast cause we weren't able to get to bed till nearly 1am and then Nicole had to wake up at 6am to catch her bus, so not a lot of sleep was had!
That evening I went to Commerce Street to look for a pizza store, which my dad's mate in NYC's financial adviser's brother owns (did you follow that connection?) The street luckily isn't that long & in amongst lots of Chinese restaurant's is Sal's New York Style Pizza. I walked in & asked for Kieran. "Yes, I'm him" the man said. So I went on with the explanation of how I knew him and that his brother had sent me to say hello. He smiled and said that was a first! I got a slice of pizza, to test out how authentic it really was. Amazingly it was spot on! Come to find out, he imports all of his ingredients from America, WOW!
The next morning I went to Kaiheke Island, which turns out to be the 3rd most populated island in all of New Zealand. It's a 40 minute ferry ride from Auckland. Many people commute to Auckland for work from there. The island also has a lot of artist living on it. The weather was not fantastic, cloud covered and on the ferry back to the city it started to rain.
The following day, I was schedule to go sailing with my dad's mate from university, but the weather here in Auckland has not been working in my favour. It poured with rain and pretty strong winds, so the sailing race I was going to participate in got cancelled.
Yesterday I thought I would spend the morning doing laundry and packing, but the dryer here at the hostel is so bloody old that it took forever to dry my clothes, and it's not like I had that much, but I had my jeans in there and they took a long time to dry! Turns out my laundry wasn't ready till 2.30pm! Then I spent a bit of time on the phone with my parents, since once I leave New Zealand, I'm not sure when I'll have phone access again. Followed by packing up since check out is 10am and I didn't want to do it last minute.
Finished packing and noticed that 3 new girls in the room, but we only had 2 beds free. After dinner I came back in and they were all drinking and eating smelly fishy food in the room. I decided I wouldn't say anything until 10pm, when guests are suppose to leave and I'd have an excuse to kick one of them out. But at 9.30pm, Nicole came into the room and couldn't stand the smell, so she asked them to leave. I realised now that these girls were sooooooo drunk, they could barely stand up! I was glad they were leaving the room and sorta hoped they'd pass out on the couches in the lounge area and never come back :-)
No such luck, at 11.30pm, all three came stumbling back into the room. Two climbed into their beds and passed out, the third sat on a chair and sorta didn't know what to do with herself, she kept falling over and sliding off the chair, so I finally got off my bunk bed and asked her to leave (aka escorted her to the lift). I thought all was fine, Nicole and I were joking about how drunk they were and how badly they would feel in the morning, when all of the sudden the girl on the lower bunk sat up and started to puke all over her bed and down the side by the wall. Nicole and I, grabbed our purses and run to reception. Announced what had happened and they upgraded us to a twin room for the night, so we went back to the smelly room, collected our things and headed to our new room. All I can say is how glad I am that this happened on my last night of my NZ hostel staying or I might be worried about future repeats of this.
I am heading to Santiago, Chile this afternoon, but after last night had to go and get a Dunkin Donuts Coffee Coolatta for breakfast cause we weren't able to get to bed till nearly 1am and then Nicole had to wake up at 6am to catch her bus, so not a lot of sleep was had!
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Rotorura, New Zealand
Well I just officially applied for my job as a Research Associate at University of Massachusetts (I think I spelled that right . . . gonna have to learn that one!) Medical School so I can work with the former director of Trudeau Institute, Dr. Swain. She does flu research, of which I know little to nothing about. On the plus side her 2 post docs, Tara & Kai, whom are mates of mine are moving to Mass with her, so at least I'll have 2 friends :-)
On the leg front it's def getting better, just so freakin slow. Goes to show I should have gotten stitches when it happened, but then again that would have been from unsterilised needles in PNG, and goodness only knows what I would look like now if that'd been the case, maybe getting my leg amputated at this point!
I leave New Zealand on May 23rd for Chile and end up in Brazil on June 20th, then on to JFK :-)
Well I better go get some lunch now and see what Rotorura has to offer which doesn't risk introducing an infection into my leg . . . so far all I've seen are mud baths, thermal spas, etc etc Luckily tomorrow I'm off to Auckland, so I won't be tempted to take a dip in the spas!
On the leg front it's def getting better, just so freakin slow. Goes to show I should have gotten stitches when it happened, but then again that would have been from unsterilised needles in PNG, and goodness only knows what I would look like now if that'd been the case, maybe getting my leg amputated at this point!
I leave New Zealand on May 23rd for Chile and end up in Brazil on June 20th, then on to JFK :-)
Well I better go get some lunch now and see what Rotorura has to offer which doesn't risk introducing an infection into my leg . . . so far all I've seen are mud baths, thermal spas, etc etc Luckily tomorrow I'm off to Auckland, so I won't be tempted to take a dip in the spas!
Sunday, 16 May 2010
Wellington, New Zealand
Arrived safely yesterday after 3 hours on a HUGE ferry, one that's big enough to have 4 levels, level 1 has trains, level 2 trucks & cars, level 3 general public, level 4 special class (you pay $20 extra to go there - I didn't so I can't tell you much about it).
We managed to avoid the bad weather which was arriving in Picton as we were leaving & when we arrived here in Wellington the weather was cloudy but not pouring with rain as it had been earlier in the day.
I'm staying at the Base Backpackers which is very nice, sorta a NYC feel to it with high ceilings and the lift is that old school type like dad's apartment use to have.
Yesterday afternoon I had a bit of a walk around town, down Courtenay Place, through the Courtenay Quarter, which is known for theatres, galleries and hostels. Then down Manners Street, through the Cuba Quarter, known for funky boutiques, art galleries, cafes and the opera house. Then onto Willis Street through the Lambton Quarter which is renown for high end shopping, heritage government buildings and the cable car.
Once I got to the cable car I took that up to see the view of the city from above and then decided to walk back down to to the city via the walk through the Botanical Gardens, which are beautiful even though it's fall here and none of the flowers are out. At the end of the walk I took a mini detour so I could see the Parliament building which is also called the Beehive - you can guess why!
Today I went to see Te papa, the Museum of New Zealand, which was amazing - you can get lost in it's 6 levels with all of it's displays. I also walked along the waterfront area, until it started to rain, then I came back home.
We managed to avoid the bad weather which was arriving in Picton as we were leaving & when we arrived here in Wellington the weather was cloudy but not pouring with rain as it had been earlier in the day.
I'm staying at the Base Backpackers which is very nice, sorta a NYC feel to it with high ceilings and the lift is that old school type like dad's apartment use to have.
Yesterday afternoon I had a bit of a walk around town, down Courtenay Place, through the Courtenay Quarter, which is known for theatres, galleries and hostels. Then down Manners Street, through the Cuba Quarter, known for funky boutiques, art galleries, cafes and the opera house. Then onto Willis Street through the Lambton Quarter which is renown for high end shopping, heritage government buildings and the cable car.
Once I got to the cable car I took that up to see the view of the city from above and then decided to walk back down to to the city via the walk through the Botanical Gardens, which are beautiful even though it's fall here and none of the flowers are out. At the end of the walk I took a mini detour so I could see the Parliament building which is also called the Beehive - you can guess why!
Today I went to see Te papa, the Museum of New Zealand, which was amazing - you can get lost in it's 6 levels with all of it's displays. I also walked along the waterfront area, until it started to rain, then I came back home.
Friday, 14 May 2010
Picton, New Zealand
Since I last wrote, we've been on the move! Left Queenstown early in the morning and took a bus to Fox Glacier. Where the weather did not work in our favour. The recent rains had closed the walking tracks to the glacier and the day's clouds were thick & low, obstructing good views of the glacier and mountains near by.
Sara went to Lake Matherson and walked around it, ever hopeful the clouds would "burn off" as everyone promised they would do in the late afternoon . . . well they didn't but the walk was still beautiful and the reflection photos with the sunset on the clouds was beautiful.
Next morning boarded the bus up to Greymouth, where we boarded the Tranzalpine train to Christchuch. It's a 4.5 hour trip, over 231km, 19 tunnels, a 73m viaduct, and at it's highest point is 737m above sea level! Amazing scenery on this train trip! Spent the night in a hostel in Christchurch, before getting up early to catch the 7am Transcostal train from Christchurch to Kaikoura.
10am, arrived at Kaikoura, all whale watching trips were cancelled due to the high winds (120kph gusts apparently) so we spent the day browsing the shops. Next morning at 10.15am, we boarded the Transcostal train again for a 2 hour trip to Picton.
Picton is the town where the ferry leaves from to go to Wellington. For those of you not familiar with NZ geography (don't be embarrassed, I didn't know until looking at a map once I got here) but there are 16km between the south (which I'm on now) and north island. There isn't a bridge or tunnel, cause the Cook Straight is so deep they can't build one! The straight is also considered one of the 4 most dangerous to cross because the weather can change so fast, one minute it can be as calm as glass and within an hour can have 4m swells - or so they tell me.
Today's adventures included a boat tour of the Queen Charlotte Sound - very beautiful!
Tomorrow is the 3 hour ferry to Wellington.
Sara went to Lake Matherson and walked around it, ever hopeful the clouds would "burn off" as everyone promised they would do in the late afternoon . . . well they didn't but the walk was still beautiful and the reflection photos with the sunset on the clouds was beautiful.
Next morning boarded the bus up to Greymouth, where we boarded the Tranzalpine train to Christchuch. It's a 4.5 hour trip, over 231km, 19 tunnels, a 73m viaduct, and at it's highest point is 737m above sea level! Amazing scenery on this train trip! Spent the night in a hostel in Christchurch, before getting up early to catch the 7am Transcostal train from Christchurch to Kaikoura.
10am, arrived at Kaikoura, all whale watching trips were cancelled due to the high winds (120kph gusts apparently) so we spent the day browsing the shops. Next morning at 10.15am, we boarded the Transcostal train again for a 2 hour trip to Picton.
Picton is the town where the ferry leaves from to go to Wellington. For those of you not familiar with NZ geography (don't be embarrassed, I didn't know until looking at a map once I got here) but there are 16km between the south (which I'm on now) and north island. There isn't a bridge or tunnel, cause the Cook Straight is so deep they can't build one! The straight is also considered one of the 4 most dangerous to cross because the weather can change so fast, one minute it can be as calm as glass and within an hour can have 4m swells - or so they tell me.
Today's adventures included a boat tour of the Queen Charlotte Sound - very beautiful!
Tomorrow is the 3 hour ferry to Wellington.
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Queentown, NZ Part 4
Today was horseback riding in Glenorchy, about 45 minutes outside of Queenstown, where much of Lord of the Rings was filmed. I was hoping to take lots of photos, but seeing as I was riding a horse & we were busy trotting & cantering around the rivers edge. We also were crossing rivers, where even on a clidesdale who is 18 hands tall, my feet were getting wet - for those who don't know it's a bloody tall horse, making my point that even on a tall horse I got wet aka the river was deep!
It was amazing - I loved every minute of it!! Plus the group I went with was Elle, our group leader and me. Yes, that's correct I got a personal tour, so we were able to trot & canter instead of just walking - it was FABULOUS!! Thank you Dart River Stables for a wonderful afternoon!
This photo was taken just as Charlie (brown horse) was turning to bite Drum on the nose, apparently he was a bit jealous of all the photos being taken.
Saturday, 8 May 2010
Queentown, NZ Part 3
Spent today out on Dart River in a jet boat, similar to a jet ski, except a boat. The boat is propelled by a jet of water ejected from the back of the boat and different from a power/motorboat that uses a propeller below or behind the boat, a jetboat draws the water from under the boat into a pump-jet inside the boat, which in turn expels it through a nozzle at the rear of the pump-jet. Jetboats were originally designed by Sir William Hamilton for the purpose of travelling in the fast-flowing and shallow rivers of New Zealand, specifically to overcome the problem of propellers striking rocks in such waters. I can tell you that this activity would NEVER have happened in anything but a jet boat, hopefully you'll be able to see this from the photos I'm putting up now.
We also took some photos in the area where Coors Beer Comercials are filmed along with Lord of the Rings!
Check these photos from yesterday & today out HERE
Tomorrow is horeback riding :-)
We also took some photos in the area where Coors Beer Comercials are filmed along with Lord of the Rings!
Check these photos from yesterday & today out HERE
Tomorrow is horeback riding :-)
Friday, 7 May 2010
Queentown, NZ part 2
Sara's first full day in Queenstown and she didn't actually stay in Queenstown (lol) instead she went off to discover Milford Sound. It was a 5 hour coach drive over with lots of stops for photo ops along the way and then a 2 hour cruise on the Mitre Peak Cruise boat. No dolphin spotting, but lots of fur seals, rainbows, and waterfalls. The weather was perfect, sunny with off and on clouds. Sara is still in amazement of the colour of the water, her camera doesn't do it justice! It was an all day trip and she was exhausted when she got home last night, but managed to go out to dinner ta 8pm with Doug, Kory and Alexis who were staying in the same room that night.
Today, she had a bit of a catch up on sleep and didn't get up till 9am! Having nothing official planned for the day, she wondered around town, booked a 2 hour horse ride for Sunday afternoon and grabbed some lunch before heading off to the Kiwi Birdlife Park. She spent a few hours there, learning about Kiwis and other native birds of New Zealand. She arrived just in time for the Kiwi feeding, so she was able to see the Kiwi up close. Very hard to do in real life as they are shy nocturnal birds. She also got to meet a tuatara, the closest thing to a living dinosaur. It has a third eye on the top of it's head which we can't see, but it can detect light & dark through it, so it can see if predatory birds are flying overhead - pretty cool huh?
After the bird park, she headed up the gondola to take in the views of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. She also hiked the skyline loop track for even more stunning views of the lake & the Remarkable mountain range, which is starting to become snow capped.
Today, she had a bit of a catch up on sleep and didn't get up till 9am! Having nothing official planned for the day, she wondered around town, booked a 2 hour horse ride for Sunday afternoon and grabbed some lunch before heading off to the Kiwi Birdlife Park. She spent a few hours there, learning about Kiwis and other native birds of New Zealand. She arrived just in time for the Kiwi feeding, so she was able to see the Kiwi up close. Very hard to do in real life as they are shy nocturnal birds. She also got to meet a tuatara, the closest thing to a living dinosaur. It has a third eye on the top of it's head which we can't see, but it can detect light & dark through it, so it can see if predatory birds are flying overhead - pretty cool huh?
After the bird park, she headed up the gondola to take in the views of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. She also hiked the skyline loop track for even more stunning views of the lake & the Remarkable mountain range, which is starting to become snow capped.
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