Author Archives: Brooke

Bound to Happen

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Brooke

We knew it would happen.  It was bound to happen.  We figured, Japan, China, Vietnam–any place where the food was strange and the menus are in another language.  But no.  It happened here in safe, English speaking New Zealand–food poisoning!  After a rough night of sleep, Phil woke up feeling a little off kilter, which led to feeling awful as he “vommed” up the dinner from last night.  We didn’t go to some shady restaurant or anything.  This place was very highly rated on Trip Advisor.  And to be fair, the dinner was lovely, it was just the aftermath that left a little something to be desired.

We considered blaming Phil’s Aunt Joanne, who wanted to know if he had tried the lamb in New Zealand yet.  So, he ordered lamb.  Everyone can guess how that worked out.  I actually blame Phil, who touted cute pictures of lambs laying lazily in the fields as we drove through the countryside, then turned his back on them by eating lamb for dinner.  It is a bit of cosmic revenge, wouldn’t you agree?  Whoever is to blame, let’s just say it was a bit of a rough day for Phil, which is really too bad because it was a gorgeous, spring-like day here in Wellington.

Once we got Phil up and on his feet, we decided to take a drive along the Wellington coastline.  It is absolutely beautiful, with waves crashing against the shore, native birds swooping over the beach and people coming out in droves to enjoy the sunshine and uncharacteristically mild August day.  As we wound our way around the coast, we saw a sign for a penguin crossing!  How cool would it have been to see penguins!  Sadly, it was not meant to be.  However, we were able to glimpse the snow-capped mountains of the South Island as we looked out across Cook Strait.  Just seeing them made us even more sad we won’t be able to make it there on this trip.  Next time, I suppose.

What has been really great about today is getting to spend time with our lovely Air BnB hosts, Sara and Danny.  Knowing Phil wasn’t feeling up to par, Danny insisted we join them for a homemade dinner that “wouldn’t poison us.”  We sat on the deck, drinking wine and watching the sunset, as Danny cooked up a delicious dinner on the barbecue.  We talked about lots of cultural reference points regarding both America and New Zealand.  We were discussing all that we learned on our trip to the museum yesterday, when Sara brought up Danny’s film “Rage.”  Danny Mulheron is a director, actor and teacher at the Film Institute and he made a truly engrossing film about the 1981 Springbok Tour.  Never heard of it?  I hadn’t either until I visited New Zealand.  It is the fascinating story of the South African rugby team’s visit to New Zealand in 1981. Because South Africa engaged in apartheid, the Maori rugby players were not allowed to play against the Springbok when they played in South Africa.  Now that the team was visiting New Zealand, many citizens refused to stand by and support their racist policies.  The civil unrest that followed is fascinating and Danny captured it well on film.  We watched the movie alongside Danny and found it to be a very unique experience to screen a film with the director.  We have a lot more insight into his choices, the actors and the history of the story.  In short, we had an awesome evening!

Sadly, it seems our time in Wellington is winding down, as is our time in New Zealand.  Tomorrow, we begin the journey back north to Auckland.  We won’t make the drive all the way in one day, as it is rather far and don’t want to spend the whole day in the car.  We are just glad that Phil is feeling back to himself and we won’t have to change the name of our spaceship from “Vela” to “Vomit Comet”!

–Brooke



Categories: City Visits, Destinations, Driving, Eating, Health, New Zealand, Uncategorized, Unusual Experiences | Tags: , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Wellington, New Zealand

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Brooke

On the Cable CarDuring our time in New Zealand, we’ve slowly made our way south on the North Island. We started in Auckland, the largest city in the country, and now we are exploring Wellington, the nation’s capital. After one full day we can say with great confidence, Wellington is a wonderful city and probably the first city we’ve visited where we could imagine ourselves living. Unlike Auckland, Wellington has character and personality. It has a vibrant pulse and a livelihood that Auckland really lacks. We can’t get enough!

Wellington is a big city, with a very urban vibe, but it doesn’t feel overwhelming or intimidating. Situated on the coast of the Cook Strait and in the hills of the Rimutaka Mountain Range, its winding roads and steep hills are remniscent of San Francisco. Not only that, but the independent shops, restaurants and bars give it a very cool feeling that reminds us of the best parts of the Lower East Side in New York City.

So sleepy!We began our day at Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand. The new building and modern exhibits immediately impressed us. We were especially amazed by the holographic explanation of life on the boats of the Maori people when they first arrived in New Zealand. Another fascinating exhibit taught us about the fight for equality regardless of race, sexuality or gender. Their struggles are strikingly similar to those in America, though in many ways we are finding New Zealand’s ideals far more progressive. For example, they are an anti-nuclear country which caused a split in alliance with the U.S. in the early 80’s. Also, they have a member of parliament who is openly transsexual. Fascinating.

Grip Car 2After the museum, we wound our way through the city centre to Wellington’s famous cable car. Because this is such a hilly town, the government decided at the turn of the 19th century to build a cable car to help open up some of the neighborhoods in the hills to the shopping district downtown. It still gets used today by both residents who are heading home or to university and also by tourists like us who want to get a great view of the city. It has a rich history, and visiting the museum at the top was really interesting. The ride was a little freaky because the hills are quite steep, but it was totally worth it. The views from the top are amazing and if you are interested, you can also visit the nearby botanical garden and observatory.

Wellington

After such a busy day, we navigated our way back home using the city’s extensive bus system. When I say “home” of course I mean the home where we are staying. Our stop in Wellington is our first time using Air BnB. This method of finding accomodation lies somewhere between couch surfing and staying in hostels. People who have a room available in their homes post it on Air BnB, and then people can book it like a hotel room (though often for a much more affordable rate). We are staying with Sara and Danny, who have a beautiful home in the hills above Wellington. The views are amazing and they have been super welcoming. Danny and Phil spent much of last night testing each other’s trivia knowledge over a few glasses of wine. There is something really nice about staying at someone’s house, especially when it is as nice as this one is! Plus they’ve ensured us that it is safe to be here in an earthquake because it is a wooden home, therefore it will bend with the motion of the Earth. By the way, did you know Wellington is on a major fault line and regularly experiences earthquakes? We didn’t either!Awesome house!

After our lovely day in Wellington, we’ve decided that we need a little more time here. Phil found an amazing vintage/record shop called Vanishing Point and I know he wants to go back. We feel like we’ve only just begun exploring all the cute shops and interesting bars and cafes. Because of this, we are extending our time here for one more day. That is what is so wonderful about this trip. If we hate a place, we leave. If we love it, we stay a little longer. We really can’t go wrong!

-Brooke

Categories: City Visits, Destinations, Diversions, Exploring, Friends, Hotels, Museums, New Zealand, Random Thoughts, Self Guided Tours, Transportation, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | 10 Comments

It’s Weird when the Ground Steams

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Brooke

Hot Lava undergroundIt is not everyday that I find myself walking down the street and the ground is steaming.  Yes, here in Rotorua, New Zealand, steam shoots out of the ground in almost every direction you look.  If I were back home in the States, I would see this and think something is on fire or a factory is at work, but here it is just another one of nature’s wonders.

Phil's almost as tallWe began our second day in Rotorua doing what we couldn’t do yesterday due the rain:  go for a hike through the Redwoods.  We visited The Redwoods  Whakarewarewa Forest where there are groves of impressive California Redwoods.  Apparently they pale in comparison with the ones in the western U.S., but these are quite a bit younger.  They were actually planted from the trees native to the United States.  After looking at the map, we decided the 34 kilometer hike might be a bit much, but the 2.5k hike was not enough.  Like Goldilocks, we settled for the 7.5k walk which was just right.  It was well-marked and not too steep, though the climb to some of the look-out points definitely got our heart rate up!  The huffing and puffing were totally worth it to see the views from above the city.  We could see beautiful Lake Rotorua, but more impressive was the way the earth steamed as though it was about to burst!  The geothermal preserve below showcased an abundance of steam rising from the surface, but even farther away from that, off in the distance, steam clouds rise from the middle of the forest.

No 30k for you!After completing our hike, we went to Te Puia, a Maori village set on the geothermal reserve.  Here we witnessed some traditional Maori dances, including a Welcome Ceremony and a War Song.  It was interesting and impressive, though it seemed strange to me to clap after a song/dance done by warriors meant to intimidate their enemies.  I am always torn in these circumstances between exploitation and appreciation of another culture.  I did find it interesting, though I’d love a more authentic experience.  Such is the battle of the tourist, I suppose.  One of the best things about visiting Te Puia is that we were able to get up close to this amazing geyser, Pohutu (meaning “big splash”) which spews water 90 feet high at a temperature of 90 degrees Celsius!  Luckily by the time the mist reached us, it cooled significantly.  The sight of this water being under so much pressure that it springs from the earth is amazing.  Phil and I keep imagining what it must have been like for the very first person to discover this natural wonder–terrifying, I imagine!

Big Splash

Yummy!

Tonight, we are happy to be warm, dry and inside making our first home-cooked meal on the road (well, at least the first one we cooked ourselves).  We have found one of the major benefits of staying at hostels is the availability of the kitchen.  It is nice not eating out every night, plus a trip to the grocery store in another country is always interesting.  Lessons learned:  zucchinis are crazy expensive, but brussell sprouts are super cheap.  Also, a sweet potato is called a kumira.  I love it!  For dessert, we try two new candy bars:  Kit Kat Chunky and Moro Gold.

Tomorrow we head out of Rotorua toward Wellington.  We will make a brief stop in Napier, which isn’t too far from Mt. Tongariro which is an active volcano that began erupting today.  Yikes, as if we weren’t scared enough of volcanoes already!  Don’t worry, we promise to stay far away from any hot lava flows!

–Brooke

Categories: Diversions, Eating, Exploring, Hotels, New Zealand, Safety, Uncategorized, Unusual Experiences | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Raglan, Waitomo Caves and Hamilton, New Zealand

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Brooke

Even though we’re only a few days in, our time in New Zealand continues to be as wonderful as the sites have been breathtaking. We’re quickly learning that this is a country of boundless natural beauty. Without hyperbole, this land is simply stunning. We had an opportunity to see a good portion of it first hand today. Our third full day here was made up of a trip to scenic falls, a windy drive, a guided tour through the spectacular and legendary Waitomo glow worm caves and an evening with the most hospitable and welcoming couple in New Zealand, if not the Southern Hemisphere.

We left Raglan bright and early after completing our recent routine of “Breakfast and Wi-fi” at a local cafe. The locals were celebrating The Chiefs big rugby win last night. We’re also picking up on the friendly rivalry between New Zealanders and their nearest neighbors in Australia who are just “across the ditch” (the span of ocean separating the two countries). Every Kiwi we’ve spoken with has beamed with pride when they remark that New Zealand is 14th overall in the 2012 Olympic medal count while those Aussies only have a single gold medal to their name. Funny.

One note on internet access: Every single business we’ve encountered so far is a bit peculiar about their Wi-Fi. No one has true “free” Wi-Fi. With any purchase, you receive a code that gets you online for a set amount of data (50 mb) or time (1 hour). This is a bit hard to get used to.

From Raglan, we drove a short distance to the scenic Bridal Veil Falls. After a short voyage down a windy road (oh, have we driven on some windy roads far) and an easy 10 minute hike, we were greeted with the amazing site of water streaming 150 feet to the small limestone pool below. Quite the way to start a day of travel and siteseeing. Amazing. Less amazing was the twisting, slow-going gravel road that we then had to drive on for about 45 minutes. Were we lost? Did we take the wrong road? No, that’s just the way the path goes. White knuckle, can’t-see-around-the-next-corner driving indeed. A challenging, but interesting drive. And as bonus, there were picturesque sheep and friendly cows alongside the road to greet us. And we had the enjoyably music coming from New Zealand radio. Worth mentioning that the “Pop Hits of Today” in New Zealand are pretty much the same as the “Pop Hits of Today” in the United States. Maroon 5, Gotye, Katy Perry, and Fun. have all graced the spaceship’s radio to say hello.Our spaceship wound its way up and down hills and around small mountains as part of an incredibly scenic drive. Around each corner was another bucolic, green and sensational view. I’ve really never seen anything like it.

The Waitomo caves, the highlight of our day, was another experience all together. We paid for a combo ticket to visit two caves- Rakauri and Glowworm Caves. The Rakauri cave was a long tour through a twisting, beautiful set of caverns full of stalagmites (coming from the ground that “mite” touch the ceiling), stalagtites, columns, curtains, and more. We had an exceptional tour guide who made the experience outstanding. The magnificent underground beauty was stunning and we learned about the Maori history, background on the caves and just some stunning insight. They even showcase a big chunk of limestone rock that had been carved like a sculpture by just seven years of water drips. But the best part were the glowworms. Native only to New Zealand, these caves are inhabited by glowworms – tiny creatures no longer than four centimeters long that cling to the ceiling and light up the pitch-dark caves like some type of underground constellation. Just…wow. The boat ride at the end of the Glowworm cave through an underground lake was simply amazing and made our day. I could gush for pages about these two caves and the remarkable site of the glowworms.

No room for Phil in the cave

Planning future trips with FelicityOur evening, spent in Hamilton, was a completely different experience. Against all odds, we managed to meet and befriend possibly the nicest, most generous couple in the country. We met Ken and Marinota during our layover in Guagzhou where they had invited us to their place for tea (dinner) one night. Man, are we glad we took them up on that invitation! What followed was an evening of conversation, meals and never-ending hospitality from this enthusiastic, sincerely friendly,well-traveled duo. They helped us outline some future stops in New Zealand (each place was more of a “can’t miss’ than the one before!), talked travel, gave us insight into New Zealand culture (Ken calls the remote “the zonker”) and we even chatted it up with the neighbors – Jason and Felicity – who stopped by. Jason and Felicity are planning a trip to Van Wert, Ohio in December. Where? I thought I knew all the towns in Ohio! I’ve come 7,500 miles just to learn about a town in my own backyard I’ve never heard of. We had an amazingly fun night that left us exhausted (but that might have been the many glasses of wine.) Ken and Marinota, being the wonderful people that they are, even opened up their home to us and invited us to spend the night in the guestroom. As we said, exceptionally generous and absurdly gracious. Hooray for making new friends in New Zealand.

Next, we had west to the town of Rotorua and onward!

-Phil

Categories: City Visits, Destinations, Driving, Exploring, Friends, New Zealand, Oympics, Transportation, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Our Spaceship and more!

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Brooke

When planning our trip to New Zealand, we knew we would probably have to rent a car. Our research showed us that Kiwis rely heavily on driving, and public transportation options are limited outside of the larger cities. Since we are traveling on a budget, we didn’t want to spend exorbitant amounts on a car rental, so we looked through all the brochures we had and then discovered: Spaceships!

Our NZ HomeYou may or may not know that campers and campervans are very popular in both New Zealand and Australia. Lots of people who travel are looking for outdoor adventure and these provide that flexibility. The Spaceship considers itself the Swiss Army Knife of campervans. Housed in a Toyota minivan is our daily transportation as well as our nightly accomodations, if we so desire. There is a double bed complete with linens, a small refrigerator and cookstove, pots and pans and a DVD player and screen. The back of the van opens up and can be covered with a tent to provide more space. There is also an awning that can be put up on the passenger side door to provide shade. It is pretty awesome. Are we now planning to camp every night? Not necessarily. But campgrounds are in abundance here and it is nice to know that option is available to us. It is also a major bonus that we are in the off season: the Spaceship was by far the most affordable car rental we found at $29 NZD a day.

Once we picked up our Spaceship named Vela, we continued out of Auckland and began our journey south. This seems simple enough, except they drive on the left side of the road here and the steering wheel is on the right hand side of the car. It doesn’t seem like this would be that hard, but suddenly turning left and right takes a lot of thinking first. Luckily, Phil agreed to be our inaugural driver. He really did an awesome job, though he occasionally veered a little too close to the edge of the road. I can’t blame him–everything is so different. Merging traffic comes in from the left, you pass slow cars on the right. Turn signal is on the right of the steering wheel, windsheild wipers on the left. It didn’t help that we were taking some crazy, winding roads to get to Raglan, today’s destination. It felt a bit treacherous at points, and when we saw a car had flipped on its side after taking sharp turn around the hills, we decided we should definitely be a bit more cautious and watch our speed.

The coolest hostel in RaglanLuckily, Astronaut Phil piloted us safely to Raglan, a surf town just west of Hamilton. We took a long walk along the black sand beach where we saw a woman training her horse and a rainbow gracing the sky. Of course, often when there is a rainbow, there is rain. Unfortunately, we were about a 45 minute walk from the hostel when it began pouring. We looked like drowned rats when we returned. Luckily, Raglan Backpackers is a really nice hostel and they have electric blankets on each bed. Yes, please! We spent the next hour warming up and drying off.


Brooke in RaglanWe ended our night at the Harbour View Hotel Sports Bar which was packed with locals who came out to cheer on the Hamilton Chiefs in the Super Rugby finals match against the Sharks. We didn’t really know what was happening, but after about 15 minutes, we picked up on the basics and we are smart enough to follow the flow of the crowd. They cheer. We cheer. They boo. We boo. Not too hard. Besides, it doesn’t take any practice wincing at some of the hits they laid on each other. Have you ever seen rugby? Geez, that sport is violent. Now I understand why people think American football is for wimps.

That's not our dog!Tomorrow we board our Spaceship and continue our journey. It is amazing–everyday we see something new. What will it be tomorrow? I can’t wait to find out!

–Brooke (Astronaut in training)

Astronaut Training

Just before the rain
Raglan Backpackers

Gorgeous Scenery
Categories: Budget, City Visits, Destinations, Diversions, Driving, Exploring, Hotels, New Zealand, Sports, Transportation, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

China Southern Business Class

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Brooke

When we planned this trip, we knew we would be taking some very long flights. In fact, our very first flight from Los Angeles to Guangzhou, China was scheduled to be 14 and a half hours long. It is for this reason that we saved enough Delta Skymiles to book all our flights in the Business Class section of the aircraft when available. Even though it would require considerably more Skymiles, we knew things would be more comfortable for us, and now that we have completed our first flight across the ocean, we say that there is no other way to travel!

 

Brooke with her Golden TicketsWhen we checked into our flight using the SkyPriority line at the airport, we were greeted by the friendly China Southern desk agent who immediately started processing our tickets and filling out our VIP pass – an invitation to wait for our flight in the Skyteam Lounge. She also informed us that when we arrive in Guangzhou we should talk to the transfer agent and she will give us our boarding pass for the next flight as well as hotel accommodations. We were confused. Hotel accommodations? What was she talking about? She explained that we were leaving LA on July 30 and don’t leave Guangzhou until August 1 (yes, we have entirely lost the day July 31, 2012 from our lives because we crossed the international date line…how that happens, we have no idea). Because we have such a long layover and since they were unable to give us a more convenient connecting flight to Auckland, we are entitled to hotel accommodations for that time. We couldn’t believe it! What great news! But this was only the beginning!

So much room!After going through security, we arrived at the Skyteam lounge. I’ve never been to one of these lounges before and it was all I hoped it would be. There was a buffet of food–small snacks, but also some sandwiches and heartier items. There were sodas, water and freshly ground coffee. There was even a bar where you could make yourself a drink with liquor and mixers! And all for free? Now I know why some people head to the airport very early! Also in the lounge was a really nice bathroom with an area to freshen up. There are even showers available for those who need them and monitors with flight departure information so you can check on your plane. We took advantage of the free wi-fi to write a blog post and watched the American men compete in gymnastics at the Olympics. It was so great this far, could it possibly get better? Yes!

Nice!Once onboard the aircraft, it was a flurry of activity. There was a very plush pillow and heavy, large blanket waiting on our seat. In the seat back pocket in front of us were lots of goodies. First, we took off our shoes and placed them in the shoe bag provided complete with plastic shoe horn, and then we put on the cozy slippers they gave us. We couldn’t take the slippers out of their plastic covering before someone was whisking away the trash. At one point we counted how long it took for them to pick up trash we laid down–it was less than 10 seconds. There must have been 6 flight attendants solely dedicated to the 24 passengers traveling in business class. It was amazing.

Also in the seatback pocket was a pair of headphones and a goody bag. I just love goody bags. Whether it be at the hotel for a wedding or on an airplane, it is the little stuff that makes me so happy. The goody bag for the flight is a really nice little reusable zipper bag which holds an eye mask for sleeping, lotion, lip balm, a comb, toothbrush & toothpaste, and earplugs. What more could we need? Apparently more!

Our China Southern Alternative FootwearOnce we took off we were given a menu and asked to make dinner selections. We had already eaten, so we passed on dinner and ordered breakfast for later in the flight. They set up a lovely bar up in the front of the cabin with wine, alcohol, soda and juice. Phil ordered some white wine and it came with a little plate of mixed nuts. They even refilled the wine when he looked away for a brief minute. Amazing service.

At this point we were so tired, but didn’t want to close our eyes for fear we would miss something awesome. I’m so glad we stayed awake because the flight attendant came around offering personal entertainment systems–like a PSP which has games, movies, television, books–all kinds of things. This is in addition to the TV that is built into our seat, of course! We both took one and saw lots of great movies available (Phil finally got to watch Ides of March) and short informative videos about several destinations where China Southern flies.

A better breakfast than I get at homeAlas, we were exhausted. It was 12:30am LA time which means it felt more like 3:30am to us. So, we both pulled up our footrests, laid our chairs back and stretched out. Our chairs allow us to lay almost completely flat which was really great. It didn’t take long, cuddled under the warm blanket, head nestled into the pillow, to drift into a very comfortable sleep. We woke up to more snacks being placed out, a bottle of water by our side and even mouthwash in the lavatory. It’s an incredible way to travel – made a 14 hour flight fly right by- and we can’t believe that some people get to travel like this all the time.

Yeah, business class is definitely the way to go!

–Brooke

Categories: China, China Southern, Flights, LA, Transportation | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Los Angeles

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Brooke

We know that when you think of a trip around the world, you don’t think of Los Angeles.  However, our good friends at the Delta Skyteam think differently.  So, in order to embark on our journey to Auckland, New Zealand, we have found ourselves spending the first day of our journey in LA.  And let me tell you, we have had such a great day.  We are fortunate enough to have some good friends who live here, so we were able to spend our last day in the U.S. with them.

Santa Monica Pier

We started out spending time with Paula, a friend of Phil’s from back in Atlanta.  She and her 3 year old daughter gave up their day and drove all over showing us some of the great things about the city.  We first went to the beach in Santa Monica, famous for its beautiful white sand, “muscle beach” workout area, and of course, The Pier.  We walked along, spying different people trying to one-up each other in all kinds of feats of strength.  Phil tried his hand at rope-climbing, but it just wasn’t the same as it was in 5th grade P.E. class.  Sadly, a 10 year old girl quickly put him to shame.  I certainly would not have done any better and give him credit for trying. 

A Smoggy View

After the beach, we journeyed to the other side of LA, through the notorious LA traffic, up into the Hollywood hills to the Griffith Observatory.  Situated in the shadow of the Hollywood sign, the observatory is a lovely spot to get an amazing view of the whole city.  True, much of it is blurred by smog, but it is still really beautiful and I can imagine it is a great place to go to get away from the crowds below.  It is surrounded by winding hiking trails of varying difficulty which look like they would be a lot of fun if we were here for more time.

After our time with Paula, we met up with Murph (Mike Murphy), our friend who works on the NBC sitcom Whitney.  Since they are not yet in production, he had the time to show us around the lot where they write and shoot the show, as well as many other shows.  This kind of thing is old hat for Murph, but Phil and I got a real kick out of seeing the studio where they shot Seinfeld, Christina Applegate’s parking spot and the outside walls of the Big Brother house.  We even got a little homesick walking down “New York Street,” the place on the lot they use for outside shots on shows which are set in New York.

Finally, we were joined by two more friends, Frank and Jaclyn, for a delicious sushi dinner at Katsuya–Murph and Frank’s favorite sushi restaurant. We spent our last few hours before heading to the airport with good food, good friends, and great conversation.  All in all, today has been the perfect start for our trip!

-Brooke

Categories: Diversions, Driving, Friends, LA | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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