Travel Location: Whitsunday-Islands,Australia

Travel About: sailing

We all woke up early; breakfast was served at 7.30 am. Just after breakfast we geared up with a wetsuit to protect us against possible jellyfish, masks and fins. The beginners were taken with the small boat to the beach where they had time to fit the mask properly and slowly wade into the water. We two advanced just rolled back over the boat – diving style – near the reef. The corals started just a few meters from the shore and there was a great amount of different fishes around. We almost forgot the time and decided to go back on board about an hour later.

The next item on the daily program was morning tea and while we were sailing to the next location we enjoyed some tea and cookies. The next snorkelling location was on Butterfly Bay at north east of Hook Island. This time there were more corals. It was amazing to see the variety of corrals so close to the shore, similar to what we have seen in Cairns at the Great Barrier Reef.

We then sailed around Hook Island through the Hook Passage which is between the south end of Hook Island and the North of the Whitsunday Island. We moored at Scrub Hen Beach off Whitsunday Island.

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Travel Location: Paihia,New-Zealand

Travel About: wildlife-viewing,island,sailing,ferry

So we headed back north on thursday evening, but before I leave Queenstown, I forgot to mention that Amy P., friend from New York city (no, she’s not my girlfriend) and travel partner met the man of her dreams Thursday night. His name is Taylor, and at the moment he was traveling the world for a year. Amy danced the night away with him, but bid him goodbye as we left town. A chance meeting that may lead something more (he’s from Colorado) or perhaps she will always think of him when she thinks of Queenstown.

After our flight, we rented another car and headed towards Paihia, in the Bay of Islands. It was only a three hour journey, but there was a torrential downpour and curvy roads to overcome. Meanwhile, my travel partner was fast asleep, recovering from her night out. I have to admit I was wondering why we were driving so far in one night. We finally reached our lodging a little after eleven at night.

A good respite from working again…

The next day after a sumptious eggs benedict, Amy and I split ways. I walked along the grounds where the Treaty of Wantangi was signed. For history buffs, the treaty is the founding document for the nation of New Zealand signed between the Maori chiefs and an emissary of the king of England on September 6, 1840. Unfortunately, the Maori translation does not match the english, and it has been a source of conflict as the nation has evolved. The english version states that the Maoris ceded sovereignty to the king, while the maori version states that the King will protect the maoris as their subjects, but that they will retain their legal rights. Interestingly enough, the British did not take New Zealand by force as it had elsewhere, but decided to offer the maoris protection as white settlers from Australia and other parts of the world arrived.

James Busby, the settler who petitioned the King to provide protection over New Zealand, lived in the Bay of Islands in a pre-fabricated home from Australia. He was the Bristish official assigned to the area. His home is still there. The British government only gave Busby half of what he asked for in salary, and reduced the plans for his home to include only two rooms because they couldn’t afford more. Apparently working for the government hasn’t changed much over the years.

It was an easy going day for me as I visited the grounds. I finally had a chance to continue reading “Motherless Brooklyn” which I had been meaning to finish since I left Guatemala.

Later in the evening, we took the ferry to Russell Island, where I dined on Pacific oysters at Komatura, a restaurant along the shoreline.

The next day, I went for a run and thought I saw wild kiwis in the tree, but later realized that I must have been mistaken. Wild kiwis are small flightless birds that have nearly become instinct as pigs, dogs and cats were introduced to the country. They live on the ground and are the namesake for the citizens of this country.

Later in the morning, Amy and I joined a small yacht for sailing among the islands. Our skipper was Glenn, and his boat was named “She’s a lady”. We enjoyed the ride, and I even got to skipper a bit. There were six other people on the boat. The highlight, however, was that a group of wild dolphins swam along our boat, slapping the water, playing in its wake and generally surfing off of it. It was great to see the wild dolphins playing out in the bay. Don’t worry, I took many pictures.

I fly back to the US tomorrow, and I will certainly miss the beauty of New Zealand. I will also miss the beers. Speights, Monteith, and Mac’s are good brews. More importantly, I am reminded that every adventures that ends begins a new one. I will continue my reincarnation in San Francisco, and am scheduled to start a trial Monday afternoon. This however was a good respite from working again…

yours,

asit panwala

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Travel Location: Invercargill,New-Zealand

Travel About: natural-wonder,hiking,road-trip,trek,sailing,climbing,glacier

As some of you already know, I spent the last 2 weeks on a road trip in the South Island. The whole trip, while exhausting, was a total blast and absolutely chalked full of incredible scenery. Here’s a rundown of the trips events:

I flew from Auckland into Christchurch on Feb 7th, met up with some friends and we hit the road early on the morning of the 8th. I drove the whole day (so weird driving on the wrong side of the road at first, but I adapted to the change rather quickly much to the relief of my travel buddies) We headed south to Dunedin, where we crashed at a friends place and then the 5 of us took off the next morning after exploring Dunedin’s botanical gardens. We made a quick stop at Caroline Bay for lunch, picked up our last travel companion at Lake Waihola and then we headed out to the Catlands. They were beautiful. TONS of sheep and green hills everywhere you look. We even encountered some minor cattle confusion when we came speeding around a turn and right there in the middle of the road was a herd of stray cows running toward us. Sooo funny.

Anyway, we visited Nugget Point and Nugget Point lighthouse, (the southern most lighthouse in the WORLD!) and went on several short hikes out to Purakaunui Falls, McLean Falls, and Florence Hill – all so cool. I took 100’s of pics! By this time it was late afternoon (good thing it is summer here and does not get dark until 9) and we made one last stop at Porpoise Bay campground out in the middle of nowhere. It lived up to it’s name. We saw a huge pod of dolphins surfing the waves and leaping out of the water. There were a few people there who were swimming with them and I wished I had my wetsuit so I could have gone out. Unfortunately, the water is too cold at the southern most tip of NZ (it is only a 4 hour charter plane ride to Antarctica from there…burr!) so I was confined to the shore.

That night I stayed in my first hostile in Invercargil and after exploring the town, we retired to bed and got up at the crack of dawn to hit the road to Milford Sound. Milford Sound was incredible. It is known as the 8th wonder of the world and for good reasons. We took a sail boat ride throughout the sound through the towering cliffs and observed the many waterfalls and rugged mountains. We cruised through the sound out into the Tasman sea for a while and then returned to land. If you ever decide to travel to NZ, this is a MUST DO! Don’t miss Milford Sound! You’ll be sorry!

When the day was done, we drove back to Te Anau for the night and stayed at another hostile right on the lake. The next day we drove non stop to Queenstown, which is the adventure capitol of NZ. We rode up the gondola as soon as we arrived and took in the unreal views of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkable Mountains. At the top of the gondola is a lugeing track (a cement track you race little cars on wheels down – sooooo much fun). I had a great time with that. The next morning we went on this crazy hike in the Ben Lomond forest and a couple of us drove out to the Shotover river and went on the worlds most exciting jetboat ride. The boat weighs 3 tons, operates in 3 inches of water, has an incredible turning radius so you rip into 360’s constantly at no warning, and zooms through the river canyons getting you inches away from the gorge walls. Some people were screaming because it was scary at times, but I thought it was a blast. Overpriced, though. Not a must do, but a good time.

After leaving Queenstown on the 13th we headed to Wanaka and visited Puzzle Place, this trippy little place famous for the illusion rooms and great maze. Then we drove to Haast, stopping for a day hike and rock climbing at Fantail Falls on the way. From Haast we set out for Fow Glacier, one of 3 glaciers in the world surrounded by tropical forrest. When we got into town, we had time before our glacier hike, so we walked the trail around Lake Matheson (one of NZ’s most photographed places). We were blessed enough to make it to the viewing deck where the famous shots of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman are taken for the 5 minutes that the clouds cleared enough to see them. They view was reflected like a perfect mirror in the lake (I’ll put up a photo). It was truly PERFECT timing.

Then it was time to set off on the glacier hike! Fox Glacier was soooo cool. It is huge, and we only got to see a miniscule part of it, but it was great. Tons of fun hiking in those big spiky boots with crampons. I felt like a real explorer. Haha! One of the coolest parts about the glacier is the color of the ice. It is such a weird shade of blue. Very exciting, climbing on a glacier, especially because it is active and you can hear it moving underneath you!

We stayed that night in Greymouth and visited the Pancake rocks in Punakauki the next day, then headed to Kaikoura for whale watching. However, I got sick with the stomach flu and oddly enough (lucky for me, unlucky for my travel mates) the weather was bad so they canceled all whale watching trips for the day. So we all missed out! They opted to go wine tasting while I slept in the car, so not all was lost for them. They had a pretty good time and I ended up having to drive while sick for the rest of the day, seeing as to the ramifications of their fun. But it was still a good time.

We ended up back in Christchurch that day (the 16th, and spent all the next day at Christchurch’s famous flower festival, which was beautiful. Then the morning of the 18th came around and we got back on our plane and headed for Auckland! Fun times though, and I’ll never forget all the incredible sights! Really, I wont because I took 1200 pictures in the 11 days I was down there! But it is good to be back and settled in. I have some much needed catching up on sleep to do, so more later. I’ll have another entry up by the end of the week about international orientation (starts tomorrow) so hopefully I’ll have some stories to tell!

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Travel Location: Castro,Chile

Travel About: island,sailing,misadventure

On Saturday we woke up in the town of Osorno ready to drive several hours to the island of Chiloe. Unfortunately someone on the trip (We´ll just say that his initials are SJ) left the dome light on in the car all night. The car wouldn’t start and we tried pushing it down a hill to start it but that didn´t work either. We asked everyone we could see if they had cables and finally found some. Then I paid a taxi driver four dollars to let us borrow his car. Eventually we got the thing running and a few hours later we found ourselves in the town of Castro in the direct center of Chiloe. However, after we filled up on gas the car would not start again. We jumped it once more and drove a few blocks just to have the car die once more, this time in the middle of the street. The look on the locals´ faces was priceless as five gringos are pushing a Toyota Yaris down the street trying to find a parking spot. We just left the car there and went to find a hostel where we could stay for the night.

I assumed that it wasn´t entirely our fault because the car would not charge up and kept failing even after leaving the dome light on. What´s more is that the car had four spare tires on it and the steering was completely out of wack as the car waved back and forth when faster than 120 km per hour. Unfortunately, Alamo would not send us another car and told us to take it to a mechanic and pay for repairs, or go 4 hours to Puerto Montt to get a new car. We did neither and had fun in Castro that night. The next day we hopped on a bus and went to a town of Dalcahue where there was an artisan fair. From there we rode another bus to the town of Achao on an offshore island. On the bus is where things took an unexpected turn.

We asked to girls in front of us how much the bus was. They told us and we replied by asking where we should go in Achao. They said that there wasn´t much going on but that we should come with them to their house where we could stay the night and explore their ocean front field. We assumed that they lived down the street but after a fairy, two buses, and two motor boats, we arrived at their home on the island of Alao. We were told that around 50 people lived on the island. Cristina and her husband Felipe were staying in the house for a year while Felipe worked at the salmon farms. Cristina´s cousin Joselyn was staying for the week. We were nervous at first about not knowing what we were getting ourselves into but it worked out great. They immediately fed us and gave us plenty of beer while we all talked and laughed until our stomachs hurt around a tiny wooden table late into the night. The next day we had breakfast and lunch before leaving the island by a tiny boat once more. If the car would not have been such a lemon we would never had experienced a thing so great. We all exchanged numbers and now have new friends we would otherwise never know.

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Travel Location: Milford-Sound,New-Zealand

Travel About: natural-wonder,trek,sailing

We spent day before out trek packing our bags and as we were taking our day packs this was quite an operation(look at photo’s to see most of stuff was hanging off back our bag)! On the morning of the trek we took our car for its MoT (which we needed to sell it) – it was quite a nerve wracking time for us as our car had been through a car crash and was 13 years old, so we went for a coffee to calm ourselves down! We then got a phone call back at the campsite to say our car had ‘just scrapped through’ – yippee. So we picked it up and celebrated by having another coffee and muffin! With 2 coffees inside us we then felt prepared to begin our 4 day trek to Milford.

We caught the ferry (more free tea and coffee…caffeine levels were now dangerously high!) over Lake Te Anau. The weather was fantastic and we got amazing views of the mountains. Our first day involved an easy walk of 5km over flat ground to get to the Clinton Hut, where we would be spending our first night of the Milford Trek. We had lots of things to keep us occupied once we got to our camp…we went on a walk around a wetlands area, the hut warden took os on a great nature walk and Colette even went on a night glowworm walk. The first night was the only night we were going to have proper food! We had cooked a massive sausage casserole the night before and it was delicious.

The next day we had 16km to walk, mainly along the flat. Again the sun was shining and we got stunning views of the valley we were walking along. It was a really wide U shaped valley with a beautiful turquoise colour river running through it, which we were walking alongside for most of the day. We made it in good time and got to our hut for 2pm…both of us were quite tired and only ventured out to visit the lake and have a little wander around our hut. Tonights meal was our least favourite of the trek but we had Tim Tams to cheer us up after it! It was quite cold in the hut that evening so we decided to start a fire to warm us up.. Neither Colette or I have great skill at starting or maintaining a fire (although we are having to learn fast as it has been so cold in NZ!), so got some help from a lovely Australian couple called Kelly and Tim.

The next day we had to walk the top of Mackinnon Pass. We made it in good time and had a snickers bar to reward ourselves (you can tell food was our main motivator through the walk!!) The views at the top of the pass were very beautiful and we were again blessed with clear sunny weather (amazing since this is one of the wettest places in the world!!). There were some cheeky Kea’s at the top of the pass who would loved to have shared our food or even a bit of a boot(!!) with us. It was then a long walk down and about an hour before reaching our hut we diverted off the track to Sutherland Falls… a very impressive (and the highest in NZ) waterfall. We made back to our hut about 4pm and tonight had treated ourselves to an expensive freeze dried dinner. It was quite good considering and the Tim Tams were again a great dessert!

The next morning we woke up to rain…it had to happen sometime and at last we got to use our waterproofs! We had our longest walk today and needed to catch the boat at 2. So after an early rise we set off in the rain. It was great to see the valley in the rain as all these waterfalls appeared. We stopped for lunch but discovered that we couldn’t stop for too long as we got really cold. We got to sandfly point and were greeted by guess what ….? Sandlflies everywhere, they are horrible little black flies that come at you in swarms and any bit of exposed flesh gets eaten. Luckily we we were pretty covered up! We took refuge in the hut to wait for our boat across the sound to Milford. W were soggy, cold and dying for a cup of tea but we couldn’t fail to notice the beauty of the sound.It was quite different to Doubtful because the two plates ( Pacific and Australasian ) meet here and form huge sheer mountains that plunge into the sound. It was covered by mist and cloud sweeping around and was very mysterious and still.

It was sad to say goodbye to our group ( especially all the crazy Americans we met ! ) But we soon got over it when we reached our hostel with the best hot shower either of us had experienced. We both felt completely exhausted and weak. It was great when dinner time came around, our hostel gave us a lift to the Blue Duck Cafe and we stuffed our faces and enjoyed a spot of acholic beverage celebrating with a few friends that we made on route. We slept so well that night . .

The following day we went on a cruise on the sound, which allowed us to appreciate it more fully from the day before.

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Travel Location: Punta-Arenas,Chile

Travel About: natural-wonder,island,sailing,cruise,glacier

On to the Transbordadora Austral Broom in the drizzle and the greyness and it seemed I would be in a Pullman seat. There was a long seating area in the accommodation side of the vessel about 8 feet wide so JUST enough room for a narrow aisle and 3 seats across – seating for about 18 people in all, and very airless, with heat from the engines bellow!

The rest of the passengers in the Pullman seemed to be Chilean naval families, nobody had any English so I could see 36 hours ahead of me with no sleep and no one to talk to! There were also 3 or 4 cabins, with bunks for 2 in each but I had been told these were all taken – I knew Helen and Andrew had one. Then Ben arrived on board and it seemed there was only him in his bunk room – so the staff very discretely asked us both if we would be OK with sharing – and I got a bed after all! I was SO pleased – sleeping was going to be difficult on the noisy cramped vessel anyway!

Ben was wanting to film wildlife and record the journey to report back as to what might make a good adventure programme – can’t remember what programme it was, but sharing with him and talking about the landscape and being infected with his enthusiasm set me off drawing!

The landscape was really begging to be drawn anyway……..and I had learnt from Robert, our artist on the Cruise – just DO it!! So I spent the whole day alternately standing on deck drawing quickly with a pen and then taking these down to the galley, where we ate, to colour at the table. I produced quite a few – see what you think of them.

As in Buenos Aries, it was amazing how much I was able to communicate without language to the crew. Being on deck for so long was very cold and it became increasingly difficult to draw. I managed to ask to do my drawing in the canteen, (I probably looked frozen anyway!) and the galley staff were all delighted – I ended up donating a drawing to one of them!

We had not been out long when we made a stop at a small settlement on the north shore – Yendegaia – to drop off supplies, pick up post etc. I don’t think there was any overland route here, and the some of the crew and passengers went ashore for the ten minutes or so we were there to talk to the inhabitants.

We then continued up the channel – the total distance was about 500 kilometres and the first part of the journey lead us between some of the smaller islands, with mountains rising into the clouds and glaciers that reached sea level – which shows how cold it was! The two main Glaciers were the Italia and the Roncagli. As we went further north I guess it was too warm for them – those must some of the most northerly glaciers at sea level in the southern hemisphere.

The weather varied a lot though – sometimes we could see blue sky in the distance, which we never seemed to reach, sometimes the sun suddenly was shining brilliantly and there always seemed to be moisture in the air, ranging from drizzle to low cloud, but it never really rained very hard (it doesn’t anywhere really, compared to West Cork!)

When the sun did come out, in the clear southern air the colours of the mountains, the sea and the intermittent wildlife, mainly birds, was stunning. We had quite a bit of sun on the first day and after I had done several quick sketches on deck, I went down to the canteen to do some painting at the table – for anyone interested I used water soluble crayons, which I scribbled quickly with onto a pen drawing as the landscape slid by, took some photos of the scene and then, (when I got too cold up on deck!) went to the canteen to use a brush and water and refer to the image on the camera display to enhance the drawing – I was doing all these with the intention of making larger paintings at a later date, so really they are work in progress. You may be able to identify which shots are of which drawings (or you may not!)

Then I had to move out of the canteen when the meals started in the early evening so I went to rest on the bunk – luxury compared to what the Pullmans would have been like! With only 3 tables in the canteen the meals were served in 3 or 4 sittings – the last one always seemed to be me, Helen, Andrew and Ben! – and the food was ……… well basic really, with absolutely no provision for vegetarians! But this was a so much cheaper and more authentic way to travel than the tourist cruise boats, so I couldn’t complain. Yet again I wished I could speak Spanish so I could really communicate with the Chilean passengers and find out about their lives, although both Helen and Ben had some Spanish, so I felt lucky that they were there to help with communication on vital things like when and where did we eat! (it was only later when I went to bed that I noticed the ‘Schedule Eaten’ in the cabin!)

Slept OK, although in contrast to outside it was far too warm in the cabin even though we had turned off the radiator! So I woke very early and went out on deck, trying not to disturb my cabin mate as I did so, although Ben had asked to be woken if I spotted any wildlife. Which I did! After about half an hour, around 6 in the morning, there was a group of dolphins on the starboard side! Was about to go and get Ben when I saw he was over the other side of the vessel, already filming. Well I hope he got better footage than I – have been finding the delay of the digital camera very frustrating for shots of wildlife, maybe that’s one reason why I have more photos of landscapes.

During the night we had passed out of the Beagle Channel into the very south Pacific – the Chilean Ocean – and back in again to be amongst the islands in the Cockburn Channel en route to the Magallanes Channel. The weather was very grey, we went down to the canteen for breakfast when we were called and then back up on deck in good time to see the ‘Fin del Continente’ the very tip of the the mainland of the whole American continent. I didn’t get any really good photos of it – I tried to capture it on paper though..…

Our arrival at Punta Arenas didn’t seem long after that – maybe because I spent a lot of the day catching up on much needed sleep after such an early start and we had the meal routine to go through in the evening again – but it was not until 9 in the evening that we arrived. – it was still very grey and we all disembarked unceremoniously compared with my experience of coming off the Orlova in Ushuaia! Then straight onto a taxi – in Punta Arenas there was an amazingly good taxi service – a flat rate of 300 pesos and the taxi picks up people at that rate until he is full, then drops them off in sequence. My hostel was first, a house really, in the outer suburbs of the city, another single storey building.

Already in residency just for 1 night were 2 Americans, a lady who had travelled to Ushuaia in a VW Combi with her husband in the early 70’s, she was with her niece this time.  They had just come back from a return trip to Ushuaia  and she had a wonderful picture of herself from the 70′s by a signpost in Ushuaia in very hippie garb!  They too had been from there to Antarctica, but they had flown out, for only a few hours. Swapping tales I felt my journey had been far more ‘real’ and worthwhile and that I was really getting the best of everything……

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Travel Location: Chester,United-Kingdom

Travel About: architecture,sailing,cruise,zoo

Figures that it would be the wettest summer on record in England.  Floods, rail disruptions, and torrential downpours were in the news most days during the last week of our journey.  But, hey, we were on a canalboat (more popularly called a narrowboat in these parts) and given that it floats (hopefully), the weather shouldn’t be much of a deterrent.   But I’m getting ahead of myself here.

After dropping our rental car off in the Roman-era town of Chester, we hopped a cab for the 15-or-so mile journey to the canalside town of Bunbury.  After a wonderful lunch at the local pub (yes, a reoccuring theme) and a visit to the town’s Anglican church, we “took command” of our narrowboat and headed back toward Chester.

The kindness of strangers!

Now, for those of you not familiar with narrowboats, these are largely a English phenomenon – though we’ve rental similar watercraft in Ireland and France as well.  6’10″ wide, 45+’ long, and with a ceiling height of just a tad more than 6′- it serves as hotel, restaurant (do-it-yourself) and transport.  Cozy is a generous word to describe the experience – but this was our 4th time at it so we obviously manage!!! (…or we have bad recall!)

So after getting all of our luggage stowed away (I love those nautical expressions), we heave-hoed and set sail against the westerlies!  Perhaps, though, I exaggerate.  So, after untie-ing the mooring ropes, we set off toward Chester.

Over the course of the next week, we cruised anywhere from 1-6 hours a day, managed a pub meal once a day on average and went through some 28 locks between Barbury Junction and just shy of Ellesmere Port, all on the Shropshire-Union canal.  We had planned on traveling further, but the weather was not overly conducive to long days ”at sea.”  The one other pertinent fact about English narrowboats is that, like a sailboat, they are operated from the outside – fully exposed to the elements.  So when it rains, the “captain” gets wet!  I had two sets of rain gear – one that I brought from home and the other provided by the boat rental company – and used both sets on some days.

Luckily, most of the rain fell as showers – intense but not long in duration.  Thus, we were able to do several off-boat walking journeys, often under bright skies and billowing clouds.  And the English are nothing if not kind.  One reason we choose the Shropshire-Union canal in the area around Chester was so that one of our destinations could be the Chester Zoo, one of the largest in all Europe.  We moored where the guidebook said we should (Bridge 34).  A kindly, older couple were sitting on a bench near the bridge and we struck up a conversation, finding out that the zoo entrance nearest the canal was apparently closed last year – the new main entrance was now several miles from the canal (its a BIG zoo!).  Disappointment filled our faces – and the couple quickly offered to drive us to the new zoo entrance.  Figuring we could catch a cab back to the boat, we eagerly accepted their offer and away we went.

The zoo, by the way, was fabulous, with lots of criters in natural settings.  In the 5 hours or so that we were there, we saw most, but certainly not all, of the exhibits.  And we’ve never been so close to girraffes in our lives – very cool.  When it was nearing time to leave, we asked an attendent if there was another way out of the zoo, closer to the canal.  Eventually finding our way to what was basically the employee entrance, we asked the guard how to get back to the canal.  Another employee overheard the conversation, said that he drives right past the canal on his way home and, before we knew it, we were back on board our boat.  The kindness of strangers!

The next day was spent walking around Chester, is between or during cloud bursts.  The highlight was attending a sung Evensong service at the “Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary.”  The three of us sat just a few feet from the visiting American boys choir and more-or-less beneath the organ pipes of this magnificant cathedral.  An ethereal experience.  Followed, of course, by a pub dinner!

Several days later, we took a wonderful walk in the countryside, and then up a steep hill, to visit another castle – this one a ruin called Beeston Castle.  The sun was out, the temperature in the low 70′s, and it was a grand experience.  The view from the castle ramparts overlooked the entire route of our narrowboat journey; and the ticket shop also sold locally-made ice cream – the perfect combo!

Only the last day of our narrowboat journey did the weather turn really bad – downpours most of the day.  So we motored back to within 30 minutes of our base, moored for the remainder of the day – packed, ate, read, played games and, of course, walked to a very nearby pub for dinner.

The next morning, we returned the boat to the Bunbury base, caught a cab to the train and a train to Manchester.  We visited the local Science Museum, then I crashed,Gillian and Emma went to see Harry Potter V at the local cinema, we re-joined for a stroll around downtown Manchester, ate Indian food, and got ready for the next day’s flight home.  A perfect ending!

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Travel Location: Cat-Ba,Vietnam

Travel About: wildlife-viewing,beach,island,market,sailing,cruise,hostel,nature-reserve,noble-house

It took a couple of hours on the Bay to reach Cat Ba, so we were sunning on the deck of the transfer boat (John says: Where very kindly the skipper brought me a cold beer!), until we could bear the heat no more and went downstairs to the shade (John says: Here Lynne said, in that innocent 5-year old “I didn’t do it” voice, “I could use the laptop couldn’t I” She typed away merrily for the rest of the trip). As we pulled into the harbor of Cat Ba, we looked at each other and said that we may not stay here for long. It looked like a deserted Western town – you know where the sheriff has run everyone out and there’s one hotel, and one liquor store and a few locals sitting around smoking. Well, that’s what our first impression of Cat Ba was. Boy were we wrong!

If you are every in Vietnam – don’t miss this one.

We popped into the only hotel in town to ask where the Noble House (the name of our hotel) was. I can take you, the desk clerk said, on my motorbike. Okay then. So, with great aplomb, John saddled up on one bike and I took the “friend’s” bike, and we rode over the hill to the real Cat Ba Harbor. There were instances on the journey, where I was definitely muttering, I think I can, I know I can, I think I can, I know I can – just like the little engine who could – as the poor motorbike was going up and over the hill.

What we saw when we finally made it was akin to Brighton, with lights, and a pier, and a fountain, and people! It turned out that our hostel (loose description, because it was far from a hostel) was dead center of town, next to the post office, across from the pier, with the best views.

Noble House – if you ever go to Cat Ba, stay there. Our host, Peter is Australian (although his accent is English as he spent 12 years in the UK) and his wife is Vietnamese. The hostel is a four storey building facing the harbor. The ground floor is the restaurant, which pours out on to the street, so you can sit and eat there and watch the world go by. There is a mezzanine to lie around and play games in. Then, the piéce de resistance, a bar on the second floor which was open to the world.

We sat there and just gazed out for ages, it was brilliant. (John says: It was also Happy Hour, every third drink was free!) The third floor housed our room, which was okay, and was typical hostel – with a separate bathroom/shower (no actual shower, just a shower head and a drain on the floor of the bathroom). There was wicker furniture and a TV and fridge. All you really need. We had hit the jackpot again, as this was all for $22 a night and that included breakfast. Peter told us that most folk are in Cat Ba on a tour and only stay one or two days – we were there for four. He jokingly said after three you are considered an expat, after four, you are a positive local!

Peter set us straight on the lay of the land and how to pay for things – there are no ATMs on this island, everything is cash and we needed to pay for our hotel in US $$. There is a “place” on Cat Ba where you can go and get out dollars on your credit card. They charge a 5% commission, but as there is no other way of obtaining more cash than you bring with you, that’s your only option. I won’t go into more detail, because I’m sure it’s probably not kosher to do that, but we used it. We found an internet café too, although there must only be one phone line on Cat Ba as it was SOOOO SLOW! We did go early in the morning once, and that was much better – fewer people on I guess.

We walked around the market, but it was late in the day and so not much was going on. The Vietnamese take siestas from 11 – 3 every day. They pull out their hammocks, wherever they are, and string them up, and take a nap. So, at the market, the stall owners had frequently hung their hammocks high over their produce. (John says: If you have read any of our stories of Vietnam you will know by now I have fallen in love with Vietnamese coffee. The one thing we did see was the small filter cup that sits on the glass to make the coffee. We got one for about $1.50 and I can’t wait to use it. Now I just need to find the coffee!) No matter, this gave us an opportunity to walk around this side of town and see what was up. The weather was warm (bordering hot) and so it was a slow walk. As we got off the beaten track a little, one woman came up to me and shook my hand and smiled. She said something, but I’m not sure what she meant. I smiled back and said hello. All the kids we saw laughed, and giggled and shouted hello. In the market, the women loved my dress (the yellow one with the fringes cut) and would play with the fringes on the bottom and giggle and point.

Dinner that night was back at Noble House. We sat upstairs in the amazing bar and watched the people on the promenade and pier, and ordered dinner. At 8pm, the fountain right in front of the hostel came on and for the next half an hour put on a water show. Not quite the same as the fountains in Xian at the small goose pagoda, but pretty cool for a tiny island in Halong Bay. They also have street lights which are neon – yep, neon. They are – well – just check out the photo we took, they are hard to explain.

Next morning, after skyping the kids and going to an internet café and checking internet (which, remember, is SOOO SLOW) we headed back to Noble House where Peter rented us a motorbike for a whopping $6! Cat Ba is a World Biosphere and a Nature Reserve. They have the Cat Ba monkeys which are very rare. In fact, there are only 56 left in the world, and all of them live on Cat Ba. Needless to say, we didn’t see any of them. But what we did see were hundreds of butterflies. When we went up to the nature reserve we drove through positive swarms of them (well, maybe not swarms – but lots). On the way to the reserve, we stopped at the Hospital Cave, where a funny little man popped out and said he would watch our bike (we later discovered that there was a fee of 5000 dong (John says: We also discovered later that we could just have left it beside the road at the bottom of the track up to the hospital, but 5000 dong is 30 cents so what the heck!) while his wife (the cave keeper) charged us 50,000 dong each to enter the cave and showed us around. (John says: Lynne asked for a ticket to the hospital as a souvenir. The Cave Keeper just shook her head…I’m not sure every ticket sold is completely and accurately accounted for….)

The information on the Hospital Cave says that: during the war whilst attempting to destroy the US air force (in 1965 and 1972) the Vietnamese and Chinese army built a big hospital inside the mountain. The cave has three floors including a cinema, table tennis room, swimming pool and 17 rooms for quarters and wards. There is an entrance on one side and an exit on the other side of the mountain.

What this actually meant was that it was built, although there is no record of it being used – ever. The cinema is a huge room with the cave being the ceiling. The swimming pool is just a small concrete bath which was going to be used for physical therapy rather than actually swimming. All the 17 rooms were empty, it would have been nice if the government had actually gone one step further and put objects in the rooms indicating what they might have been, or even just labeling them on the outside. While we were being shown around, a tour group of about 8 came through, and their tour guide was telling the group completely different information than our cave keeper. We had been warned about the validity of what tour guides in Vietnam actually knew, so it was funny to see it in process. All that aside, it was an amazing feat. Just the thought of dragging all that concrete up the mountain, whew. (John says: Reading between the lines I think that this was a big mutual friendship thing between the Chinese and Vietnamese, the Chinese wanting to help the communist Vietnamese brothers in their time of strife (and therefore gaining access to the shipping lanes into Haiphong harbor with all the materials they were supplying) and the Vietnamese who could have used the manpower to better effect elsewhere not being able to say “Thanks, but no thanks” to their large northern neighbors. Witness the fact it was never used.)

Back on the bike and round the island again. We saw water buffalo, dragon flies, more butterflies, and green, lush fields with women working in them. Small villages, children coming out of school in their uniforms. It felt like being in the Motorcycle Diaries, (John says: The bike felt almost as old!) the movie about taking a bike through South America.

We made it back to Cat Ba town and had a very late lunch, and then John dragged me down to check out the beaches. They are called Cat Ba 1, 2 and 3. Original huh? (John says: Here they try to fool you with 1 in the middle with 3 to the right and 2 to the left!) Cat Ba 1 and 3 both have four/five star hotels on them, and one has a waterpark, so brilliant place for families. I can imagine people going there and not moving the entire time they are there. We decided to check out Cat Ba 2 the next day. I was tired, wanted to go back for a nap – or a glass of wine – and we did just that.

Next day, we headed out early for Cat Ba 2. It took about an hour to walk around the boardwalk which was erected on the outside of the cliff. You can’t get to Cat Ba 2 via road, only on the outside of this cliff or by boat. We rounded the corner of the cliff – and wow! This amazingly pristine beach appeared. A sheltered cove, with a restaurant, showers, no hotel, bathrooms and most of all, no people! There were grass huts with hammocks, which had a sign on saying tent for rent, so while I paid for that, John went back to the hostel to grab towels, camera, change of clothes, sun tan lotion and stuff we might need to spend a day in this little slice of paradise. It turned out that when you rented these grass huts, (along with being given bathroom and shower passes) a tent was erected inside the hut. Yep – a tent! We took pictures. Yet again language plays a part in our adventure. When John came back he couldn’t believe it. We only wanted the hut with the hammocks, but oh well (John says: We later found out that it was set up for an overnight stay. It had a quilt on the floor with pillows and a blanket).

We did actually use the tent, after lunch I took a nap while John read, and it was great to be out of the sun. We had lunch at the restaurant, which was great, and a glass of wine (which explains the nap). We did go swimming and a few others showed up, but the beach couldn’t have had more than a dozen people on it all day. I think it was just too far to walk for most folks. As the sun began to set, we gathered up our things and headed back to our hostel. Yet another great day. We were going to be going to Hanoi the next day and had still to organize that, so dinner, and drink in the bar, and then off to bed.

Our host’s wife told us we could catch an 8 am bus to meet the Haiphong ferry, so we were up at the crack of dawn again, having our breakfast and settling our bill. In true Asian fashion, our 8 am bus turned out to be a 9:15 bus, no matter. It took us to the top of Cat Ba where we picked up a fast boat to Haiphong. Goodbye Cat Ba – you are a pearl in Halong Bay, we will be back.

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Travel Location: Gili-Trawangan,Indonesia

Travel About: beach,island,nightlife,sailing

Ok, the Gili Islands better live up to their reputation. We’ve just arrived by boat and what a journey it was. Hell and nerve raising. I can honestly say I’ve never been on a boat, which normally fits 16 (had around 27 on it) plus… a double bed AND mattress beside my right arm and 72 eggs, a flourescent light and a bedroom mirror on my left. Crazy! And that’s not even considering the waves. We were on a typical Balinese fishing boat with a small motor. Hopefully our few days here will erase the 45-50 minute journey from my memory so I can make it back haha.

We began to erase some brain cells that night by going on the piss ) Arak Sunrise’s were flowing. The Gili’s aren’t majorly busy but there’s a bit of nightlife here. The Irish pub (there’s one everywhere!) Tir Na Nog is drawing in the crowd and we had a bit of a laugh with some local lads feeding us the ‘erb ) We walked home like two Thunder Birds.

The Gili Islands – Paradise..

The next morning we went to the beach across from our place. We thought we must have been still drunk when a vision appeared in front of our very own eyes – around 30 Norwegian girls wearing skimpy bikinis, if at all, frolicking in the water. Mouths open, bellies in ) That night, we ended up in the same bar having a few drinks with them. Hot as hell, not one minger among them, but frustratingly only about two with any kind of conversation skills )

Today, we got a bit of a shock! We had planned to spend an extra few days in Bali, going back to Singapore on a Friday to take in a weekend there and then off to Oz. On ringing Qantas, Denpasar it turns out our flight to Cairns is completely booked out for the month of October. So, our original date it is! We leave Bali now next Wednesday. With that in mind, we’ve decided to cut our stay short here and head back to Kuta tomorrow. It’s a pity as the Gili’s are paradise and the locals are really nice people. We won’t miss Ramadan though. Bloody hell. Chanting and singing noises blaring from the Mosque (which feels like it’s in our room) at 5am, noon and 8pm. It’s a bit much. I feel sorry for the locals though – only one meal a day, no drinking, no smoking etc. for a month as well as working their normal long day. Tough!

Anyway, in summary, I’d definitely recommend a visit to the Gili Islands [take an early morning boat over] and maybe come in August (before Ramadan) or Christmas – both the best times to visit..

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Travel Location: Halong-Bay,Vietnam

Travel About: natural-wonder,island,sailing,world-heritage-site

Dia 21 – 12 de Julho (Continuacao)

Viagem para Halong Bay

Halong Bay, Patrimônio da Humanidade

A viagem em direção a Halong Bay demorou cerca de duas horas e meia. Passamos o resto do dia na piscina e a noite, para não perder o costume, nos aventuramos para mais um mercado local. A parte mais legal não foi o mercado em si, mas o meio de tranporte que usamos: o cyclo, uma espécie de charrete de bicicleta. Detalhe, para ser mais divertido fomos os dois no mesmo cyclo e quase matamos o nosso bicicleteiro. Acreditam que mesmo com um inglês bastante limitado, ele fez questão de mostrar o quanto gostava da seleção brasileira (Ronaldinho, ele repetia sem parar!) e o quanto tinha ficado chateado com nossa performance na copa! Acho que não foi só ele…

Dia 22 – 13 de Julho

Halong Bay, Patrimônio da Humanidade

Hoje o dia foi dedicado à exploração da baía de Halong Bay, declarada pela Unesco Patrimônio da Humanidade por sua beleza natural. A bordo de uma embarcação típica, no passado dedicado a pesca, hoje apenas ao turismo, passamos toda a manhã e começo da tarde navegando pelas intermináveis ilhas. São cerca de 3000 ilhas, em sua maioria paredões rochosos inóspitos, moldados pela chuva e agua do mar. Cenário espetacular!!! Durante todo o percurso ficamos na parte de cima do barco, o solário, tomando sol. Nosso guia subia de vez em quando para nos contar sobre a baia e estava pasmo de como aguentávamos tanto sol. Aqui na ásia, de maneira geral o pessoal não gosta de tomar sol e estão sempre tentando se cobrir, com luvas, chapéus e máscaras. Para os asiáticos os ocidentais ficam tomando sol apenas porque, como sempre, nunca estão satisfeitos com o que têm…

No meio do passeio, desembarcamos para nos aventurar dentro da caverna Surprise Cave. A caverna é tão grande que caberia literalmente um campo de futebol dentro dela. Certamente a maior caverna que já visitamos e provavelmente visitaremos. Na caverna, Mingh foi mostrando com o seu apontador laser diversas imagens que a criatividade humana consegue ver, rochas transformadas em cavalo, buda, tartarugas, sepentes, pescadores.

Terminamos com um almoço de frutos do mar a bordo e no final do dia voltamos para Hanoi

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