Sunday, November 18, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Greetings from the South Pacific!
Hello all, we are in the beautiful country of Tonga, in the Vava'u island group. We are staying at the Mala Island resort on the tiny island of Mala, leaving today for another resort closer to the main town. What a relaxing time we've had! Yesterday we took a boat out and snorkeled at a place called Coral Gardens. It was amazing! We will post pics ASAP. As an interesting side note, for anyone who is a fan of the band The Cure or Prince, the owner of the Mala Island Resort was in and produced for both groups. Needless to say, we've heard some wild stories! We will write again soon.
Love,
Chandler & Michael
Love,
Chandler & Michael
Thursday, November 15, 2007
tonga...
...more to come, i promise. so beautiful. not much chance for internet. we flew from tongatapu and are on mala island in the vava'u group. snorkelling with large fish. all's well...
m
m
Sunday, November 11, 2007
NZ fun facts
Well, we packed up all of our cold weather gear, shipped it home, turned in our campervan, had a very nice dinner in Auckland and flew to Tonga. It's HOT!!! A beautiful place in the world-more later.
We wanted to wrap up NZ with some tidbits of info we gathered throughout our trip:
-driving on the left is wierd for the first day-C kept saying 'think left', as she made sure her seatbelt was secure.
-1 litre of petrol ranged from NZ$1.55 to NZ$1.98
-most cars are small and fuel effecient-no Hummers
-'cooked breakfast' consists of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato, mushrooms, and toast. Baked beans, lamb kidneys and spagetti also available.
-a 'flat white' is similar to a cappicino-'long black' an americano
-burgers come with beets and shreaded carrots
-4 million people-40 million sheep; 135 sheep per sq. kilometer
-trail lengths are given in appox. time, not distance
-sayings you will hear often: 'good on ya' mate'-'good as gold'-'no worries'
-a pint of beer is 6-9$NZ
-don't order cocktails-8-16$NZ and very weak
-i've hit 1 bird in my life (in the car) before our trip-3 in 5 weeks in NZ-they are kamikaze
-prepare for 4 seasons of weather everyday
-Stephanie asked about 'heli-skiing', which is taking a helicopter to the top of the mountain and skiing/snowboarding down. In addition, you can heli-hike, heli-mountainbike, heli-land on a glacier, and probably heli-shop, if you would like.
-the first bungy was in NZ. the tallest is 135meters-the permit is in place for 215meter jump. thats just silly.
-when tramping in the mountains, secure your boots at night or the kea (the only alpine parrot) will snag them.
When we think of more we'll update, NZ is awesome-we are looking forwaed to retuning!
We wanted to wrap up NZ with some tidbits of info we gathered throughout our trip:
-driving on the left is wierd for the first day-C kept saying 'think left', as she made sure her seatbelt was secure.
-1 litre of petrol ranged from NZ$1.55 to NZ$1.98
-most cars are small and fuel effecient-no Hummers
-'cooked breakfast' consists of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato, mushrooms, and toast. Baked beans, lamb kidneys and spagetti also available.
-a 'flat white' is similar to a cappicino-'long black' an americano
-burgers come with beets and shreaded carrots
-4 million people-40 million sheep; 135 sheep per sq. kilometer
-trail lengths are given in appox. time, not distance
-sayings you will hear often: 'good on ya' mate'-'good as gold'-'no worries'
-a pint of beer is 6-9$NZ
-don't order cocktails-8-16$NZ and very weak
-i've hit 1 bird in my life (in the car) before our trip-3 in 5 weeks in NZ-they are kamikaze
-prepare for 4 seasons of weather everyday
-Stephanie asked about 'heli-skiing', which is taking a helicopter to the top of the mountain and skiing/snowboarding down. In addition, you can heli-hike, heli-mountainbike, heli-land on a glacier, and probably heli-shop, if you would like.
-the first bungy was in NZ. the tallest is 135meters-the permit is in place for 215meter jump. thats just silly.
-when tramping in the mountains, secure your boots at night or the kea (the only alpine parrot) will snag them.
When we think of more we'll update, NZ is awesome-we are looking forwaed to retuning!
Friday, November 9, 2007
Tonga bound!
Hey guys,
Thanks for all of the responses-we love it!
Busy week, we fly to Tonga today!
Updates later-look for a NZ fun observations page.
Love,
M&C
Thanks for all of the responses-we love it!
Busy week, we fly to Tonga today!
Updates later-look for a NZ fun observations page.
Love,
M&C
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Aoraki/Mt. Cook
After the Milford trip C and I travelled around the southern coast of NZ, through the 'Catlains'.
After several nights in the huts and several weeks in our campervan we needed some luxury. We booked a great spot in Kaka Point, took baths, slept in a bed, washed all of our aromatic laundry and aired out our 'travelling bunkhouse'. It felt great.
On our way north we hit the coast we were lucky enough to see both yellow-eyed and blue penguins. We are in love with the NZ coastline.
After this wonderful downtime, we headed back inland for what will most likely be our last chance to see the 'Southern Alps'. After all of the rain we recieved in the earlier portion of our trip, we have been very lucky recently, as the pictures can prove. Another fantastic day as we hiked through Hooker Valley up to Aoraki/Mt. Cook and the glaciers.
Northbound, we head back to Picton and our ferry to the North island.
After several nights in the huts and several weeks in our campervan we needed some luxury. We booked a great spot in Kaka Point, took baths, slept in a bed, washed all of our aromatic laundry and aired out our 'travelling bunkhouse'. It felt great.
On our way north we hit the coast we were lucky enough to see both yellow-eyed and blue penguins. We are in love with the NZ coastline.
After this wonderful downtime, we headed back inland for what will most likely be our last chance to see the 'Southern Alps'. After all of the rain we recieved in the earlier portion of our trip, we have been very lucky recently, as the pictures can prove. Another fantastic day as we hiked through Hooker Valley up to Aoraki/Mt. Cook and the glaciers.
Northbound, we head back to Picton and our ferry to the North island.
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