Posts Tagged With: Travel

Rotorua and The Polynesian Spa

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Phil

Good evening from Rotorua, New Zealand! Brooke and I are settling into our cozy, yet simple room at the YHA Rotorua Hostel as we end our day in this charming and sleepy mid-sized town, alongside a lake formed in a volcanic crater.  This town is famous for natural beauty, geysers, hot mud springs and more. It is also the native home of Zorbing! Which we have absolutely no desire to do. Rotorua is just another one of many, many locations whose name is Maori in origin. There are two things we see everywhere we look in New Zealand: Maori cultural influence and backpacker camps and hostels.

Phil and a deliciously oversized Stella ArtoisWe’re hosting full bellies courtesy of a late dinner just down the street.We dined at a gorgeous and grand former local police station turned Irish pub aptly named “The Pig and Whistle” (get it?). The evening was made up of a giant Stella and a Giant (but not so fresh) Guinness, splitting a pork tenderloin and watching the opening heats of the Olympic Kayak and Canoe racing live from London. Go Kiwis!

The highlight of our day had to be our trip to the hot pools at the Polynesian Spa. In fact, it might have been one of the top highlights of our trip thus far. Hot mineral bathing in geothermal spring water that flows right under our toes in Rotorua. We don’t have a lot of photos to share because, you know, a brand new digital camera doesn’t mix very well with seven baths and spas lined with slightly corrosive mineral water. The spas provided amazing relaxation and just an incredible experience. It was really quite like nothing else I’ve ever done. I’m nobody’s Hemingway nor Steinbeck nor even E.L. James, so I feel like I’m not going to do this happening justice, but I’ll give it a shot:

The Polynesian SpaUpon arriving at the Spa, we chose the Adult Pools and Priest Spa package that ran us $25 USD each for unlimited time in the rejuvenating waters. This included access to seven separate pool areas in total – none deeper than about four feet. You quickly notice that those pools are slightly stinky (from the natural sulfur rising up), remarkably steamy and really hot. Each pool is kept at temperatures between 100 and 110 degrees

It is a very tactile experience. It is hard to focus on anything other than the warmth and the steam pouring in waves of clouds off your body. Man, if I was a local resident, I would be there every single day. So, sure, we don’t really understand how these thermodynamic spas work. Seems like we’ve been getting a crash course in various Geology lessons as we tramp across New Zealand. We do know that each pool had minerals that you can see floating in the water. And we know that a hot spa on a cool night feels amazing. And probably a hell of a lot more enjoyable than the awful sounding idea of a hot spa on a hot summer night.

In the pool closest to the lake, which was the hottest and our favorite, I had this sort of magical moment when the clouds finally cleared allowing me to at last view the stars of the New Zealand sky. It was then when I saw the Southern Cross for the first time. A set of stars I had never seen before. The stars here are bright and there are many. It makes it easy to understand why I came this way.

Hot Tubs await youWhen we decided we had raised our core temperature quite a bit and soaked it all in, we called it quits. Leaving the spa felt like walking out of a long message. Refreshing and soothing and leaves you feeling at ease. Brooke and I walked out of the Polynesian Spa in the cool New Zealand night feeling like we had some leftover steam still escaping from our bodies. Yeah, it was the highlight of the day soaking in those pools. Chalk one up for another worthwhile, memorable trip experience.

We’ve settled into Rotorua and will likely stay a couple of nights. The hostel has some thin walls and bathrooms down the hall, but the place is clean, modern, full of amenities and give us all the space we need. Tomorrow night, we think we’ll try our hand at a homemade meal in their eye-poppingly large kitchen. We continue to absorb and explore and learn and see and enjoy. Hmmm…I’m pretty sure that our clothes and our room smell a little like sulfur from the pools.

Just another gorgeous day in New Zealand

Just another stunning day in New Zealand – rainbow captured over Rotorua during an afternoon rain earlier today

Categories: City Visits, Diversions, Eating, Hotels, New Zealand, Oympics, Unusual Experiences | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 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

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

Our Map

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Phil

We recently discovered a great online tool called the Great Circle Mapper that allows travelers to document their flights on any itinerary by creating custom maps. The site also has a bundle of other fun maps to view and play with. Just for shiggles, we plugged in all of our flight info on the mapping program. After entering LAX-CAN-AKL-AKL-CAN-NRT-SIN-CDG-CPH-VIE-OTP-STR-AMS-GLA-LHR-ATL-EZE-ATL (whew!) here is what we found:

Flight of our RTW Trip

Flight Map for Europe Part of our RTW Trip

We booked this itinerary months ago, yet it still makes our jaws drop a little: Fourteen different international flights on five airlines covering 48,500 miles. Many of these stops (Amsterdam, Paris, Vienna and twice in Guangzhou) are just brief layovers on the way to final destinations. And, to be fair, a good chunk of the path includes portions of the journey that we’re taking over land. For example, Bucharest to Stuttgart will all be via car/train/bus over a few weeks. But still… great gravy on a platter, that’s a lot of miles! This map has given us some perspective for the scale of this trip.

Here are our three longest flights:

Los Angeles to Guangzhou= 7231 Miles (coming up Monday night!)

Singapore to Paris = 6,667 Miles

Guangzhou to Auckland (and back!) = 5,769 Miles

Man, that’s a lot of inflight movies and packs of peanuts. Our relatives in Canada surprised us with another type of map. They presented us with this low-tech but incredibly thoughtful travel map when we visited Manitoulin Island earlier this week. Ah, the benefits of marrying of into a family of teachers.

Another Map

Finally, on our last few hours in the Eastern Time Zone, we found this pleasant surprise in our inbox this morning: Silver Medallion upgrades to first class on our Cross Country “Flight 0” out to LAX from MSP tomorrow night. Since this flight was not part of our International Ticket, this is a nice treat. The complimentary upgrades that we get from time to time on domestic flights are, hands down, the best perk of the annual-earned Silver Medallion status on Delta. We rock the upgrade about 40% of the time. Not a shabby way to start a trip.
-Phil

Living the good life. Another Baileys on the rocks, please!

Categories: Doccuments, Flights, Transportation, Trip Prep | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Choosing Destinations

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Brooke

One of the first questions people ask us when they find out we are traveling around the world is, “How did you ever decide where to go?”  This is a very good question, especially since we have so many options.  The process of choosing where to go involved a lot of research and discussion, but in the end it wasn’t as difficult as we had imagined.

First, you should know that when you buy an Around the World ticket with Delta SkyMiles, there are some limitations.  We are required to go in one contiguous direction with no backtracking.  Next, we can only make six stops.  It is important to note, we can fly into one country and out of another and it only counts as one stop, so it’s more like six “takeoffs and landings”.  Also, you can only stop on a continent twice and the whole trip has to be completed within a one-year time period.

The Chart

Click to enlarge to read the SkyTeam RTW Award Rules…

Now, some people may look at these guidelines as restrictions which prevent free choice and movement.  We found the opposite to be true.  Deciding destinations for an around the world trip is quite daunting and we found these guidelines very helpful in getting us started.  Rather than restricting us, they really helped provide direction and a place to start.

The first thing we had to do is choose which direction we wanted to go.  We decided to go West to East for a couple of reasons.  First, this would have our first stop be in an English speaking country—either Australia or New Zealand.  This would help us ease into our world travels without hitting a major language barrier right away.  Another reason is so we can tackle the Asian countries early on our journey.  We anticipate these countries will provide the most challenging travel experiences due to the vast cultural differences, and we want to explore them while we are still feeling fresh and aren’t so worn down from months of travel.

One of 16 planes we might end up on...

Once we chose a direction, we sat down with a world map and started choosing destinations that the SkyTeam would fly.  We wanted to get the most out of each stop, so not only did we look at the country we would be flying into, but also what other countries we could get to from there.  We knew our first stop would either be New Zealand or Australia—we couldn’t go to both because we only get six  stops.  After asking around, the general consensus was the experience of New Zealand wins over that of Australia any day of the week.

For our European leg, we decided to spend the bulk of our time in Eastern Europe and we are pretty much ignoring western countries like Spain, France and Italy.  The reasons for this are twofold:  the western countries will be fairly easy to get back to in the future and they are so “westernized” that they won’t be as much of a unique experience.  We look forward to trekking through the Balkan states and seeing small villages that seem like they are relics from years past.

Another question we often get is, “Are you going to Africa?”  We spoke to several friends who have traveled extensively and sometimes strangers at parties and they all said the same thing, “Don’t miss Africa.  Go on a safari!”  This is great advice, but you may have noticed Africa is not on our list of destinations.  Here’s why: Africa is far.  Look on the map—to go to Africa and continue in one direction, without missing huge chunks of Europe, would be difficult.  We view Africa and particularly a safari as its own trip.  In addition, we are trying to keep our expenses low and an African safari can be quite pricey.  This is definitely something we’d love to do, we just don’t think this trip is the time.

After going through this thought process together, we then spent about three hours on the phone with a lovely woman at the Delta Rewards Round the World Ticket Desk. (Yes, that actually exists).  We went through each destination, looked for available flights on the SkyTeam, and changed airports when needed.  Luckily, our times are incredibly flexible and so we were able to move things around pretty easily—after all, what do we care if we fly into Buenas Aires, Montevideo or Santiago—they all get us to South America and we can get around from there.

I know everyone has opinions about where we are going and the choices we’ve made, but here’s the thing—we really can’t go wrong.  We chose to avoid areas of the world that we thought might be too dangerous, but otherwise they will all be new and interesting experiences.  Will they all be great?  Probably not.  Will we broaden our understanding of the world and create amazing memories everywhere we go?  Absolutely!

–Brooke

Categories: Destinations, Flights, Transportation, Trip Prep | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nerves

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Brooke

So, we are less than one week from the start of our RTW trip and I have a confession:  I’m nervous.  It is hard for me to pinpoint exactly why I’m nervous, but I am.  I’ve never traveled in this way before—we will be gone for almost four months and much of that time is unplanned.  Yes, we have hotels booked for each city we fly into, that way we have a place to go from the airport, but after that who knows what we’ll see and do?  That is awesome.  That is exactly how we want it to be.  However, I think that is also what is causing some trepidation.

I think it is inevitable that there will be days when we don’t know where we will be laying our head that night.  What happens when it is 9:00 PM and we still don’t have a place to stay?  Can I handle that lack of predictability?  Will I end up getting upset and will Phil and I end up fighting because of my discomfort with the situation?  I imagine when this happens we will end up having to stay in some real fleabag motels or we will end up shelling out too much money and staying in a far nicer place than we planned.  Ultimately none of this really matters—no matter what, everything will work out fine, and if it isn’t all smooth sailing, well it will make for a great memory.  Intellectually, I know this is true.  However, I think I won’t fully understand it until we actually begin our journey and have these types of experiences.

Don’t get me wrong, I am so excited for our trip.  We have been planning and talking about it for so long and it is finally here!  There is just so much that is unknown—I guess it is natural to be a little nervous.  Hopefully when I’m drinking my first Steinlager beer in New Zealand, I will take a deep breath, toast to my husband, and my nerves will melt away.

–Brooke

Categories: Budget, New Zealand, Random Thoughts, Reflections, Trip Prep | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Securing Visas for our Trip

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Phil

Truth be told, there are only a few things that one must do before embarking on a Round The World trip. Don’t misunderstand: there are boatloads of tasks that one probably should do to ensure an easier, lower-drama journey with minimal hassles. But one mandatory need that should be set before showing up at the airport is making sure that Visa and Entry Documents are all set.

Handy Visa GuideBy our math, our itinerary is sending us to at least twenty-three separate countries. We wanted to avoid any surprises and make sure we’re set lllllooong before arriving at customs. Lots of research ensued. The State Department has a handy, easy to navigate, up-to-date website that clearly lists the policies for Americans visiting just about every nation. We were delighted to find that the vast majority of countries we’re visiting have a similar policy: No advance paperwork or fee required for a 90 day tourist visa issued upon entry with a valid US Passport. Since we’re not planning on working or spending anywhere near 90 days in any one nation, this makes it easy breezy.

As with all things, there are a few exceptions. In remote and geographically isolated New Zealand, we’re told that officials often check that you have a round-trip or onward ticket (i.e. – a way to leave once your visa expires). They also check to see if you have funds to cover your time in New Zealand. Both Argentina and Chile have recently adopted a fee that reciprocates US Policy. In short, every American has to pay a $130 “Entry Fee” (not a Visa fee) as a sort of equalizing measure for what the United States government charges their citizens to enter America. Note that this Entry Fee is only collected at major International Airports. Sneaky, Sneaky. Therefore savvy tourists could enter through bordering countries.  Lastly, we learned that you seem to need passport sized photos for just about everything. Get a bunch because agency after agency keeps requesting them. Update:  just found out that it looks like the fee has gone up to $160. Joy.

In the end, there were only three countries that required us to secure Visas in advance of our visit: Vietnam, China and Russia.

Securing the Vietnam visa was a simple and intriguing process. We visited the Vietnamese Consulate in New York City which is right across the street from the United Nations in a non-descript office with other foreign government offices. Once in the office, we were directed to fill out some long forms that asked us to explain (in great detail) the nature of our visit.  They took our pictures, took our money (cash only), and told us they would have the Visas ready in a week. At first, they asked us to leave our passports behind, but we pushed back on that request a bit without a problem. In the end, the staff might have been a bit cold and not exactly helpful if you’re seeking any tourist info, but they got the job done efficiently and easily.  One week later, we picked up the visas and had them stapled into our passport. Total cost: $160 for both of us. In retrospect, we’re glad that we were physically in New York City and able to deal with the staff face-to-face. We are pretty sure that made things much easier.

The Russia and China Visa process were far more complicated but also a lot more interesting. They are deserving of their own blog posts that will be coming later this week.

We’re looking forward to having well-used passports stamped with the colors of the rainbow by the time we arrive home in November.

-Phil

Categories: Customs, Doccuments, Packing, Permits, Trip Prep | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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