Saturday, May 8, 2010

Fun with the Joe Family in Wellington!

Michelle and Craig’s thoughts:

One of the many highlights of our trip in the North Island was when we stayed with Christine’s family just outside of Wellington. Martin (dad), Joy (mom) and Raylene (sister) were wonderful host and hostesses. They live in this beautiful blue and white house on the cliff with the most spectacular views of the Tasman Sea. It reminded us of being on an island in Greece. We really loved all the full length windows along the one side of the house. We could sit anywhere and enjoy the breathtaking scenery. On a clear day, you could see the South Island and the sunsets are gorgeous!!

Martin is hilarious and entertaining especially when he’s with Donald, his friend and boat partner. We laughed so much with him. He acts like a grizzly bear, but he’s really a sweet man. Joy is so gentle and kind, and she has wonderful stories about her family. Raylene is so nice and easy-going. She is also a fellow traveler and was very informative of the places we were going to. We definitely picked her brain.

Martin loves his boat, Rampage, and fishing. If he had his way, he would be fishing every day. Obviously, our first day we went deep sea fishing. Along for the trip was his son and Christine’s brother, Andrew and his friend Jason, and Martin’s friends, Tony and Donald. Donald did most of the driving, but Martin was the one who decided where we fished. Martin was also teaching Donald how to spot places to fish. They have this monitor that tells them how deep the water is. Certain depths are good for fishing, depending on what your catching. That’s it for our knowledge.

Once Martin hollered that the men could start fishing, within minutes, Craig, Jason and Tony caught groupers. I was tired just watching them try to reel in the heavy fish from the deep water. It was long and agonizing. They all wore this belt with this holder that allowed them to place the end of their rod inside. It helped them balance and stabilize the rod while they struggled with the fish. Craig caught the biggest grouper. It weighed 33 lbs!! We were so happy and excited! Way to go!!

The men also caught these beautiful looking red snappers. We were definitely eating fish that night. The following day we went crabbing with Raylene, Andrew and his kids, Amanda and Ryan. Thanks Andrew for taking us out on your boat!!! Crabbing consists of a net attached to a buoy and bait (fish scraps). After about ten minutes of dropping the net, Raylene and Craig would pull it up and the crabs would be caught in the net. The kids helped distribute the crabs and threw the tiny ones or the crabs that had eggs (for conservation). It was so much fun! Afterwards, Joy, Pauline (Andrew’s wife), Amanda and I cleaned and prepared the crabs for cooking. I would like to thank Amanda for teaching me how to use the knife to snap the shell off the squirmy crab’s back and snap it in half. A great teacher! That night we ate fish, crabs and lamb shanks- we definitely had a great feast! The Joe family really know how to cook! Fabulous meals every day!

Martin and Donald were kind enough to show us around Wellington. Great views of Wellington’s waterfront from on top of the mountain.

We would like to thank Christine for providing us the opportunity to stay with her family. We would like to thank the amazing Joe family for letting us hang with them and feeding us scrumptious meals!! We had a fabulous time and we were very sad when we had to leave. We’ve already warned Christine that after this blog entry that there may be an influx of Sunnybrookites wishing to stay with her family when they visit New Zealand!! If that happens, we wouldn’t be surprised if Martin started charging for the services!! Ha! Ha! Just kidding!! Oh yes, if you go, bring a can of Tim Horton’s coffee!!!

Love,
Michelle and Craig

Friday, March 26, 2010

More fun in the North Island!

Michelle and Craig’s thoughts:

Okay, let’s continue with the North Island. Our next stop was Rotorua. Plenty to do in Rotorua and the surrounding area. The first day we visited the Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland. It is New Zealand’s most colorful and diverse geothermal area. We saw the Lady Knox Geyser shoot water and steam up into the air. We’ve never seen anything like that before. It was fascinating! So awesome! The area also had hot and cold pools, craters, mineral terraces, boiling mud pools and hissing fumaroles in a variety of colours. We just loved the different colours in the Champagne pool. It has a beautiful ochre-colored petrified edge. Quite stunning! Take note that the whole area had a pretty bad smell because of the sulphur. Don’t visit other sites after this thermal or people will look at you funny!

We also visited Te Puia. There we enjoyed a Maori cultural performance at the Te Aronui-a Rua meeting house and visited the Pikirangi Maori village. The performance was very entertaining. We also saw geysers Pohutu and Prince of Wales Feather and the boiling Ngamokaiakoko Mud Pool. We learnt that the bubbling mud pool is the result of acid gases and steam that cause the decomposition of minerals to form a white clay called Kaolin. The black sulphur turns it to grey and of course makes it so smelly. One of the weirdest things we saw was a hotel whose room balconies overlooked this large mud pool. The foul smell was so strong in that area, we can’t imagine people having a great time on their balcony. Yuk!

We took the Skyline gondola ride to the top of Mount Nongotaha and enjoyed the panoramic views of Lake Rotorua and the city. On the small mountain we went luging. A fun filled gravity ride on a three-wheel cart. There is the Scenic luge track which is a gentle ride through redwood trees, there is the Intermediate luge track with spirals and loops and the Advanced luge track which is fast and pretty exhilarating on the bumps. We went on five rides and they were pretty crazy. There were times when we went over bumps and curves and we held on tight as we flew off our seats. We could have done it all day. It was so much fun!

After Rotorua we stayed in Otorohanga to be close to the Waitomo caves. The highlight of the caves is the glowworms . We decided to book with the Black Water Rafting company and do a cave water rafting trip to see the glowworms. It was an adrenalin pumping underground adventure of tubing. We climbed down into the dark underground network, where streams spill, twist and turn to build a river canyon. Then we glided and floated down the river as we enjoyed the glowworm show on the vaulted limestone galleries above in the Ruakuri Cave. What was really scary was when we had to take leaps of faith over cascading underground waterfalls and hope we landed in our tube. It was an amazing rock, water and darkness experience. Crazy, but exhilarating!

Had so much fun!

Love,
Michelle and Craig

The Beauty of North Island New Zealand

Michelle and Craig’s thoughts:

Yes, we are very bad. We just completed 6 wonderful weeks in New Zealand and we are only entering our blog now. Do remember, that when we started this year trip, we warned you that we are very slow in entering journals. However, this is really bad for us!

Let’s see. When we arrived in Auckland it was early Sunday morning. The first thing we did was pick up our rental car. Thankfully, our motel was close to the airport and in the business section deserted on Sundays. Before we checked in, Craig practiced driving in the right side of the car and on the left side of the roads. He practiced driving into and out of the driveways on the opposite side. He concentrated on using the right hand for light signals, but occasionally the windshield wipers would go off! We don’t know how many times we would look left and right to make sure we could make a turn. We had to get used to “roundabouts” and looking at our right side mirror and understanding the rule of “right side always goes first“. It was very stressful in the beginning, especially after a long flight and going on very little sleep. Now that we’ve done 6 weeks of driving, we’re afraid we will have to relearn how to drive when we get back to Canada.

On our first day we visited Auckland’s downtown area and walked along their lovely waterfront. Customs Street is where people do all their shopping and the waterfront is where you’d find the trendy bars and restaurants. We also went up the Skyline Tower and enjoyed the view of the city. The next day we did a day trip drive to the Coromandel Peninsula. The landscape in New Zealand is amazing. Beautiful rolling hills and valleys, and gorgeous variety of vegetation. The drive along the coastline is breathtaking, not only because of the view, but also the ever twisting roads. Roads that are banked by a rock face on one side and a steep cliff on the other with no shoulders. We thought the drive in Hawaii was crazy, but New Zealand is just as nuts. We have never seen 15km/h road signs before, but you wouldn’t want to do anything faster around the tight narrow corners and there are multiple consecutive corners. We had to take turns driving because whoever was the driver would miss all the spectacular scenery. We stopped at many beaches along the way. One was called the Hot Water Beach where visitors could dig their own thermal spa in the sand between low and mid-tides. The Coromandel Peninsula is a gorgeous area. Really enjoyed the waves crashing into the rocks. Plenty of beautiful stops to sit and relax.

The following day we drove along the coastline in the Northland. The vegetation here is more lush because of the subtropical climate, which makes the scenery more enchanting. Also, this area consists extensively of Maori people than in any area of New Zealand. In the Waipoua Forest park we did some walks and saw the country’s largest living kauri tree, Tane Mahuta. It is 168ft high and has a girth of 46ft. It is about 1500 years old. The forest also contains around 300 species of trees, palms and ferns. Just gorgeous. We stayed in Kaitaia because it was a good base to travel the Aupori Peninsula the following day.

The peninsula is a thin strip of land no more than 12 km wide. We visited the west coast which is the famous Ninety Mile Beach. It’s the longest beach in New Zealand and is almost like a desert, with sand dunes that can reach 470ft high fringing the beach. It was amazing just standing on the beach and seeing the enormity of the area. We were there early morning and no one else was around. It was our private beach! We only drove a section of the beach because we were afraid to get stuck in the sand. Another awesome experience! Afterwards, we drove around the coastline in the area of Doubtless Bay and Bay of Islands. We stopped at several lovely beaches along the way including the Maitai Bay in the Karikari Peninsula and the beach in Paihia. Great places to relax and unwind. The towns along the coast are so cute and some have lovely cafes.

We cannot saw enough about the beauty of the coastline in New Zealand. It makes me, not Craig, want to cry because of it’s peaceful and inspiring beauty.

More of the North Island coming soon!

Love,
Michelle and Craig

Friday, February 19, 2010

Aloha from Maui

Michelle and Craig’s thoughts:

Okay, so we are in New Zealand and we haven’t written the Maui, Hawaii trip yet. Our excuse is we’ve been exhausted every night in New Zealand after a wonderful day of adventure activities and driving.

Aloha!! Let’s see, within hours of arriving in Maui, I, Michelle, knew that I could live there. Being an American island, they all speak English, have western toilets, they have similar Canadian laws, drive on the same side of the roads, beautiful beaches and weather, laid back attitude with island music everywhere (Marley is big there!), and I can easily fit in because I look Hawaiian! They just have to change their health care system and I’m there!!

We went whale watching on our first day. We have never seen whales before in their natural environment, only at the aquariums, so this was very exciting for us! It was a wonderful two hour boat trip. We saw plenty of whales just enjoying the day. They were breaching and flapping away. Afterwards, we visited the Ocean centre. A great place to bring children (or big kids like us!).

That evening we went to the Old Lahaina Luau to see a traditional hula and have a traditional Hawaiian meal. The hula was beautiful and entertaining. A “must do” if you’re going to Hawaii. The food was scrumptious. It was a buffet and there was a variety of dishes from octopus to a grilled top sirloin steak. Very thankful the plates were huge! There was this interesting dish called Kalua Pua’a. It is pig roasted in their beachside underground oven “imu”. Just before the meal, everyone gathers around by the beach and their men dig the roasted pork out of the “imu”. Nice.

The next day was our road trip to Hana. The Hana town is not the highlight of the trip, but it’s the journey along the coastline to get to the town that makes it fascinating and gut wrenching at the same time. The scenery is breathtaking. Gorgeous valleys, waterfalls, parks, beaches and a variety of plant life- bamboo, palm, evergreens, etc. It was paradise! However, it is the winding and twisting roads with frequent one lanes at the edge of the cliffs that causes the nervous laughs along the way. It’s tandem driving where the driver stares a few feet in front of them to concentrate on staying on their twisting lane while the passenger tries to calmly tell them if there is on-coming traffic on the one lane. The last thing you want to do is back up when you’re at the edge! So exciting!!

Just past Hana we went to the Haleakala National park. There we did a two hour hike on the Pipwai trail in the Kipahulu area. We went through an amazing bamboo forest and at the end of the trail was a 400ft waterfall. When we walked along the path of the bamboo forest we couldn’t help but think about the beautiful movie, “House of Flying Daggers”. There is this spiritual feel in the forest and as the wind gently blows you hear the soft knocking of the bamboo as they tap each other. Beautiful.

We stayed at Joe’s Place in Hana. It’s the best budget motel in town with simple rooms. We took the only ensuite room. There is a communal kitchen and living room. Highly recommend to bring your own lunch before driving up to Hana because there are no eateries on the way. The last place to get food is at Paia. We also brought our own dinner because the restaurants in Hana are very expensive. A hamburger for $18 at the Hana Ranch Restaurant. However, just past Hana there is this place called Bruddha Hut BBQ. It definitely has the best bbq. It tastes how Mom A makes it! If your lucky, the owner entertains you on how to open a coconut. It closes when the food runs out; which is around 3:30-4pm. So get there early!!!

The next day we went to the Iao Valley. We took pictures of the Iao Needle, a natural rock pinnacle surrounded by the walls of the Pu‘u Kukui Crater. The place was very peaceful. We then went to the beaches:: Big Beach and Kama‘ole Beach. A great place to relax and enjoy the rest of the day. Before we went to our motel, we drove to southern tip of the island, a place called La Perouse Bay. The bay is located in Ahihi Kina’u National Area Reserve There we saw the lava lands. Pretty amazing.

The next day we went on a helicopter tour. It was our first time on a helicopter. It was so much fun! Beautiful views, especially the Haleakala crater. Then we drove along the coast of the north eastern section of the island. Another gorgeous drive and quaint stops along the way. The rest of the day and the following day, we just stayed on the beach. We thought it was time we just chilled for awhile.

Note, we stayed at the Maui Coast Hotel in the Kihei area. We would recommend this place to others; however, do not book directly with the hotel, you can get discounts on the web.
Also, thanks to Jim and Greta for their invaluable information!!

Love,
Michelle and Craig

Saturday, January 30, 2010

On the Road Again

Michelle and Craig’s thoughts:

Yes, we are back! Hope you didn’t miss us too much!! We started the second part of our adventure in Western Canada for some alpine skiing on January 5th. We skied in Panorama, Kicking Horse, Lake Louise and Whistler. When driving to the first three ski resorts, we drove through some beautiful valleys surrounded by majestic mountains in Yoho and Banff National parks. The scenery was breathtaking.

The skiing was fabulous. We really enjoyed skiing in all the resorts. Loved skiing the bowls and glades. Great powder and awesome terrain!

We also went swimming at the Radium Hot Springs, dog-sledding at Panorama and a sleigh ride around Lake Louise. We had so much fun! Definitely a great experience! We even played ice hockey on Lake Louise- very Canadian!!

Being in Whistler -Blackcomb before the Olympic games was amazing. Olympic fever is definitely in the village. Banners are everywhere. People are buying anything Olympics: t-shirts, pins, hats, posters, etc. Every person we’ve encountered was not from Canada. It was so international and everyone was having a great time. We watched the Fire and Ice show at the base of Whistler mountain. There were fireworks, fire spinners, and skiers and boarders jumping through a ring of fire and doing tricks. At night, it’s a party at the village, but there is definitely serious skiers and boarders in the morning!! Unlike Cypress, Whistler-Blackcomb has plenty of snow and because the mountains are so vast, sometimes we felt like we were skiing on our own private hill. We skied the Men’s Down Hill and Super-G. Pretty awesome!! We wish Whistler and Vancouver the best during this exciting time!

Now that we’re battered and bruised, next stop is Maui, Hawaii. From the snow to the beach! What a life!!

Love,
Michelle and Craig

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Jambo From Tanzania

Michelle and Craig’s thoughts:

On our first day in Tanzania we knew that this place was special. We arrived at Dar Es Salaam early on Nov 1st. We then took a plane to Kilimanjaro in the afternoon. As we sat in the airport we watched the staff’s interactions. Everyone had a big beautiful smile, no matter what job they had or who they were interacting with. They were friendly, pleasant and welcoming. This warmth and courtesy has been seen with all the Tanzanians we have met. It’s hard not to smile ourselves because we’re so happy to be here.

After being immersed in the desert in Jordan and Egypt, the lush greenery we encountered in Arusha was wonderful. Our first day we met our guide James. We chose Roy Safaris Ltd. for our safari tour. It was recommended to us by our friends, Lee and Beno. We were very happy that we were given the same guide because they had great reviews about him. James is really nice, respectful and very informative.

We booked a nine day safari tour visiting Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park. With a 4 x 4 truck, James drove around each park as we stuck our head out of the top of the truck taking pictures and videos. Sometimes the animals were far and we took pictures using our zoom lens and other times the animals were right beside the truck completely ignoring us. Surprisingly enough, the animals totally ignore the trucks that drive through the area. There are strict rules when in the area and feeding the animals is a huge violation; thus, they don’t come up to the trucks for food.

The attitude for the animals seems to be business as usual. They hunt, kill and eat right in front of you. We’ve seen cheetahs and lions eat their prey and vultures, jackals and hyenas eating what’s left from a kill. Pretty awesome, especially seeing the cheetah eat the gazelle! We saw thousands of wildebeests migrating towards the rain. It was so fascinating! We’ve seen giraffes, monkeys, zebras, elephants, hyenas and other animals drink water beside us. There once was an amazing frenzy of zebras clamouring together in the river to drink and cool down It was of the most riveting sight to see. The cutest sight was seeing the young animals of the baboons, warthogs, elephants, zebras, hippos, lions, and rhinos. A great urge to take them home as pets was always the discussion. The funniest sight was watching the hippos get up from the water and start pooping and wiping their butts with their tails at the same time with lightening speed! We were always caught off guard and laughing when they did their performance, such that we were never ready with the video camera to film the dirty deed.

The lodges that we stayed in were located in the park; thus when going to dinner, we had to call security to escort us to the dining area because of the animals (lions, leopards, etc.) roaming around. One morning, we woke up to see zebras and a waterbuck outside our back window. We heard from the security men that there were a number of zebras that morning drinking water from the pool. Too bad we missed that!

We learned so much from James about the life and behaviour of the animals. It was fun trying to spot the animals before the others! We were getting pretty good at it. The safari was an experience we will never forget. Being in their habitat and watching them was an honour.

Love,
Michelle and Craig

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Better Beyond Cairo

Michelle and Craig’s thoughts:

Happy Halloween!!!

We are now at the end of our Egypt trip and it is time to reflect on our adventure in this country. Since leaving Cairo, the trip has been more relaxing. It started in the small village of Abu Simbel, where there were very few vendors and touts to harass us, and visiting the sites at a quiet time was a bonus. Then we went to Aswan and stayed at the Pyramisa Isis Island hotel which was a fantastic getaway from the hustle and bustle in the city. We had two days of relaxation by the pool and no early wake ups in order to visit a site (it’s always better to see the outdoor sites in the early morning or mid-afternoon to escape the heat and beating sun or try to). We always made sure we had down time in our trips to recover from baking in the sun all day. Being on the island was a wonderful treat and the people on the island were very nice and welcoming. When we wanted to do a little adventure in the city, we hopped on the complimentary hotel shuttle boat back to the main land. The ride itself on the Nile river was also a nice journey.

In Aswan, we visited the Aswan and High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk and the Temple of Philae.
After two days of being lazy, we started our Nile Cruise excursion. We booked a 4days/3nights Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor. We stopped at Kom Ombo and Edfu along the way. Our boat was called M/S Nile Dolphin, a 5 star deluxe cruise. It was a lovely boat and the staff were very attentive. The food from breakfast to dinner was scrumptious! No weight loss here!!! We had two guides during this time. We had Ali on the first two days and then Maria on the last days. They were very nice and informative.

As we sat in the sun deck and watched the scenery float by, we couldn’t help but imagine us being Pharaohs or Queens watching the lush vegetation with the harsh desert as its background and having servants asking if we needed anything. Yeah, dream on! Cruising on the Nile was magical and it was exciting to experience the sense of living history.

Our first stop along the Nile was Kom Ombo where we visited the Temple of Kom Ombo. The temple is dedicated to two gods- the falcon god, Horus and the crocodile god, Sobek. This is where we started to understand the meanings of the hieroglyphics, other than the ones from the guide books. The stories on the walls were amazing. We took plenty of pictures of the hieroglyphics!!

The next stop was Edfu where we visited the Temple of Horus. It is the largest and best preserved Ptolemaic temple in Egypt. The great thing about this visit was that we did it in the evening. The atmosphere was mystical. Spotlights on imposing structures and columns gave it a different life than the other temples we saw. It was breathtaking. Totally enjoyed the site!

The following morning we were in Luxor. Maria toured us around the Valley of Kings, Hatshepsut Temple and Colossi of Memnon. The Valley of Kings is a burial ground for the pharaohs in the limestone hills. This is where Tutankhamun’s tomb was found. The paintings in the chambers and tombs were stunning. We were very grateful for Maria in explaining the symbolic meanings of the paintings. It is amazing to see the great lengths they used to assist the pharaohs in the afterlife. Unfortunately, since last November, photography in the area is not allowed. This was because, as in Cairo, the guards were demanding money to take pictures in the tombs. Maria said that there were so many complaints of the harassment that they imposed a no-photo ban in the area. It’s too bad that they can’t control the harassment, especially from a country that relies on tourism.

Hatshepsut Temple is huge and mind-boggling. Imbedded in the hills, it was very impressive.
In Luxor, we visited the Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple. As all the temples we saw, they were both amazing to visit.

Oops, can’t write now because we have to rush off to the airport!!! Off to Tanzania!

Love,
Michelle and Craig