End of Thailand, first day in Hanoi

Wooow so much happened since I last wrote!! Chiang Mai ended up being my favorite place in Thailand, and as much as we tried we just couldn't leave! I think we ended up staying 8 or 9 days in total? In addition to the cooking class and elephant training. we did a 2 day/1 night "trek" (jungle hike) and stayed in a bamboo hut with 7 other people who we ended up getting really close with. 4 of the Irish guys went and a girl from Wales, one from England, and one from Denmark. The crew was amazing and we had more fun than I could have thought.

We had 2 guides, one of which was the most hard core mountain man I have ever met in my life. He was leading us around in full camo, was carrying around a musket, barely spoke english, and was probably like 60 years old but could make anything out of bamboo. He even sewed up one girls backpack when it broke with bamboo thread he made on the spot. Talk about a badass.

While we were hiking there on the first day one of the Thai guides asked if we wanted to have them buy a pig from the local town and have a pig roast for dinner. I laughed; obviously they were joking, doesn't it take days to cook a pig or something like that?

No, they certainly were not joking. We were busy chopping and cooking the rest of dinner at camp when they brough a LIVE pig, our very own Wilbur, in a cloth sack and with him slung over mountain man's shoulder asked who wanted to kill it. Montana and I stayed inside and plugged our ears but could still hear the squeals of Wilbur as Gerry from Ireland knocked his head in with a wooden plank. And here's the shocker... me, Maggie Fitzgerald, ex-vegan and vegetarian, ate some of it. And it was frickin' amazing. I know I'm being graphic and gross here, but the point is, this is how people in Thailand live and have lived for centuries. As much as I wanted to cry when I heard this whole thing going down, I had to realize that people up in the hills of Thailand don't have the luxury of running to costco and getting enough perfectly-packages, somewhat guilt-free pork to feed a village. And once we Westerners picked off the good meat, some men and women from the village came over and ate the rest. I mean everything. Waste not!

The next day we had a pretty hard hike, but swam in a waterfall and went bamboo rafting, which is basically standing on long narrow flat rafts made of bamboo and having water fights. Like my brother said, much of my time in Thailand was basically a big water fight. And that's why it was awesome!

After that we stayed in Chiang Mai for a couple more days, fully intending to leave each morning we woke up and just not being able to leave our new friends and amazingly cheap and nice hotel. When we finally left, we went to Sukothai for a day, rented bikes and rode around seeing the ruins of the ancient city, it's many temples and Buddha statues. It was good but a bit lonely; there wasn't really anyone staying at our hotel. So we decided after that to head straight for the backpacker's heart of Bangkok, Khao San road. This place was insane, I mean people everywhere, food vendors, hawkers, beggers, at every hour of the day or night. People drinking cheap wiskey (Sang Som) out of plastic buckets, a la full moon party, all hours of the day. We, however, spend much time by our hotel's rooftop pool to avoid the chaos (though it was a bit chaotic up there too, as many other people had the same idea). The first night we ran into two of the girls we met in Chiang Mai and spend much of the rest of our time in Bangkok hanging out with them, which was soooo good, especially after being so sad to leave them in Chiang Mai!

That's a weird, bittersweet thing about travelling: Some of my favorite memories have been making new friends from all over the world, and some of my saddest times have been leaving a group of people and being on your own again. When you're travelling, I feel like friendships form so much faster and stronger than in "real life." Backpackers have similar mindsets, and I would say in general are extrememly outgoing and willing to step out of their comfort zones. Also, so many people are travelling on their own that everyone is constantly trying to meet people. Therefore, you form bonds in a matter of days with people from all corners of the world, and when you leave them it's so easy to say "I'll be coming to [insert country here] soon and we will get together!!!" Then you are facebook friends, tag each other in photos to remember the good times, but in reality it's highly unlikely you will ever see these people again. It's not being cynical, it's being realistic. So it's important to just take what you can from the friendships you form and try to learn as much as you can about yourself and other people in the process. Or at least that's how I'm looking at it now.

Leaving Bangkok was weird; I'd only been in Thailand for a little over 3 weeks but it felt like sooo much longer. It's definitiely one of my favorite countries I have ever been to, and I know that I will be back someday... hopefully sooner rather than later!

Yesterday morning we flew into Hanoi, Vietnam early early. One word to describe Hanoi and my experience with Vietnam so far in general: Hectic. No one really speaks English, and don't even get me started on the driving. I though Italian drivers were dangerous until I went to Guatemala; I though Guatemalans were reckless until I went to Thailand; and I though Thai drivers were mad until I came to Vietnam. It literally took me 30 minutes to cross a street this morning. THIRTY MINUTES. That was a bad moment. Followed by a good moment: Finally reaching the Vietnamese Fine Art Museum, where I was virtually all alone among some really breathtaking artwork (the laquer paintings were my favorite; you don't see a lot of that in the West and it's quite beautiful). Followed by more bad moments: being heckled by motorbike taxi drivers my entire walk back. Followed by good moments: sitting and having an amazing Vietnamese coffee (rich coffee with condensed sweetened milk added; heavennnnnn!) overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake with the beautiful Ngoc Son Temple on an island in the middle.

Also, I have never been to a place where I am so much of a spectacle to the local people. In Thailand being white and blonde didn't feel weird because everywhere I went people were so used to tourists. In Hanoi, there are backpackers, sure, but not even a fraction of the amount you see in major Thai cities. My blonde hair makes me stick out like a sore thumb. Children stare like crazy. I was in the airport reading a book minding my own busines and did not even notice a man come sit next to me while his friend took a photo of us until after it happened. I was creeped out until I realized that I'm just plain weird looking to thse people.

Today when I was walking around I had several Vietnamese women smile hugely and say "welcome to Vietnam!!!" Well, they only say that because I'm putting on the facade that I am from Canada. I know, I know, it's stupid, but you should see the looks Montana and I have gotten from travellers when we say we are Americans travelling in Vietnam. It's like a "ohhhh, awkward for you" pained expression on their faces. I've had plenty of Americans tell me they never had trouble with the Vietnamese people while travelling here, a few even said that they were told "don't worry, we don't hate you!" But I've also had an Australian say he was harassed badly in Vietnam for being from Oz, since they occipied Vietnam during the war. If Australians are harassed, I can't help but wonder how some people still feel about Americans. And honestly, who can blame them? I am only going to be in Ho Chi Minh city for about 8 hours, but the one thing I realy want to see is the war remnents museum. I was never properly taught about the Vietnam war in school, I don't know if that's my experience or the experience of most Americans of my generation. I have heard the museum is hugely biased, as one would expect, but I am trying to educate myself about what really went down.

I'm reading a book right now called "Last Night I Dreamed of Peace," which is the actual diary of a young Vietnamese woman who was a medic in the field during the war, and died when her clinic was bombed by American troops. It's one of the best selling books in Vietnam, and has been called the nation's "Diary of Anne Frank." It's powerful stuff, that's for sure; I can only stomach a little bit at a time so I probably won't even finish before I leave.

Tomorrow we are going to do a 2 day/1 night cruise on Halong Bay. I've heard of people who have done it and loved it. We get to swim, cave kayak, look at the beautiful scenery, and it's pretty much just backpackers our age who go which will be fun. After that, it's half a day in Ho Chi Minh City, then on my way home!!! I am getting excited to go home, but am certainly going to make the best of my last days here. Hopfully will get another chance to update before I head home! Maybe during one of my 2 massive layovers, ughhh......

Elephant pics

I will write a big update on the wonderful Chiang Mai soon, but just wanted to post these photos from our day hanging with elephants. Enjoy!

http://www.woodyelephanttraining.com/blog/photo-gallery/?shashin_album_key=205

Week 1 in Thailand

Happy Easter everyone! It's so bizzare to be in Thailand during Easter; everyone is Buddhist and there are no bunnies or egg hunts anywhere! Booo. I can't remember the last time I wasn't with my family for Easter and it's making me a bit homesick, buch such is the life of a traveller...

I've been in Thailand for a little over a week now, but it feels like it's been forever! In the past 9 days we've celebrated Songkran (Thai new year), taken 2 overnight trains and 1 overnight bus, had an all-nighter beach party at Full Moon in Ko Phangan, and basically just haven't gotten a lot of sleep.

The Full Moon Party was so much fun, we stayed in a pretty cramped dorm but got to know all of our roommates and had a blast hanging with them and meeting people from all over the world. People go a bit crazy with neon day-glo paint which does NOT come out of clothing I have discovered (oh well, lasting memories). The beach the party was on was actually gorgeous; I expected something dirty after being on the trash-laden Kuta Beach in Bali. But it was very pretty and the water was warm and clear and shallow and perfect to lay around in during the day time. We were there for 2 days, then on to another island nearby, Ko Samui, where we stayed at a nicer hotel and had a couple days of relaxing by the pool. I wish we had explored the island a bit more, but we were more than happy to lay around, and everything on the island was insanely expensive (by Thailand's standards, that is) so we figured we would save up for more adventures in the North.

After Ko Samui, we basically spent 2 days and 2 nights travelling up to Chiang Mai, with a day in between in Bangkok. Bangkok is a cool city, as I've said before, but being there for about 10 hours in between train rides isn't ideal, so we just explored a bit and then saw Scream 4. Yes, we saw Scream 4... I know it may seem a shame to some people to use that time seeing a movie, but what is better than a cold movie theatre on a hot day? Especially when you don't have a room to go back and relax in?

It's taken me a while to really get the full message of how much Thai people love their King. He is the longest reigning current king or queen in the world, and his face is everywhere: on every piece of currency (don't you dare step on a coin, or you are insulting the King), in shopping malls, billboards, on random buildings... Anyway, in the middle of the movie previews everyone around us stood up as a montage of the king with the national anthem of Thailand came on for about 3 minutes. I guess they do this before every movie in theatres. Then we were in the train station waiting for the train and at 5 o'clock a bell rang, everyone got silent and stood up, and the national anthem played again. Pretty sure it happens in the morning as well. In the states we can't even say the Pledge of Allegiance at public schools or someone will sue the school system for making their child say the "G" word. Things like this would not fly in the states, that's for sure.

We got to Chiang Mai yesterday morning after a 14 hour train ride, where we made friends with some Irish lads who we continue to run into about 12 times a day... anyway, Chiang Mai is amazinnng! It's the second biggest city in Thailand with a whopping population of 150,000 people (following Bangkok with over 9 million), has gorgeous temples everywhere including right across from our hotel, and has so much to do. The last 2 days we have wandered around a bit, and last night we met up with Katrina, our housemate from junior year who is living around here teaching English for a year. What a small world! It was great to see her and have her show us some cool places, and hear adorable and hilarious stories about the Thai kids she teaches.

Tomorrow we are taking a Thai cooking class all day, which is out of the city and we get to go to the market in the morning and pick out all the ingredients, and then make some 7 or so dishes. I can't wait! The day after that I think we are going to an elephant sanctuary, where you bathe and play with the elephants for the entire day, and they limit the number of people who go so everyone gets their own elephant to pal around with for the day. We are also going to do a trek, which is huge in Chiang Mai, and is basically like a hike in the mountains and then staying overnight (or 2 or 3 nights if you want) with a Thai hill tribe. I've heard from several people that it was their favorite thing they've done in Thailand, and a good workout to boot. Sounds good to me!

It's starting to hit me how soon I will be home... less than 3 weeks. I really don't feel like I've been gone for going on 8 months, and I know it will be a very bizzare and probably somewhat depressing transition back into the states. It's not like going abroad for a semester, where you jump right back into university for another year and a half. People keep asking what I'm going to do when I get home, and I just shrug... I know what I WANT to do, but looking for a job, a real-life CAREER job, and living at home for who knows how long(no offense mom and dad) is going to be veryyy different and probably not the most fun thing ever. I am ready to be home in many ways, but I've got the travel bug, and I've got it bad. The idea of settling into a 9-5 job that I could possibly have for years to come literally makes me sick to my stomach. But we've all got to grow up sometime, eh?

Okay, enough with the self-pity. I'm going to head to the night markets now, because I'm in Thailand and when the heck am I ever going to be in Thailand again?!?!

Cheers,
Maggie

Waterfights and clay masks: welcome to Bangkok

Yesterday morning we said goodbye to Bali and took off for Bangkok. Though I did enjoy Bali and had a great time, Kuta was a bit of a dump, and I wish we had rented a car or taken a tour to see other parts of the island like the huge rice fields and isolated temples... it's hard to get out of the touristy stuff when you're just there for a bit.

We arrived in the Bangkok airport early afternoon and while waiting for a bus into the city noticed the bus company employees were running around with squirt guns and had white sunscreen looking stuff smeared across their faces. Odd, I though, but hey, this is Thailand, who am I to judge. Then we got in the bus that was covered with handprints of the white stuff, really everywhere. Hmmm... something weird is going on here. As our bus tried to make its way through the jam packed traffic of the central city we noticed more and more people running around with squirt guns, throwing buckets of water at unassuming tourists in tuk-tuks (open air taxis) and smearing what we finally figured out to be clay on each other.

We finally found out that it was the last day of the Thai new years celebrations, which last 3 days and are basically a free for all water party with food stalls everywhere and music, everything a major festival has. What an amazing time to arrive in the heart of Thailand! We were planning on catching an overnight train or bus down to Surat Thani, where we could take a ferry to Ko Pha Ngan, where the full moon party is. However, they were all full by the time we got there so we booked a cheap hostel, threw our valuables in plastic bags to bring with us and went to find the heart of the celebrations. We ended up in hordes of hundred of thousands (I've been trying to google the exact number, because I have never been surrounded by so many people in my life) of people soaking each other. As we passed people with clay in their buckets, they would gently put some on our cheeks and say "happy new year" in Thai. Thanks to my blonde hair and our dead-giveaway tourist excitement, we ended up probably the most squirt-gunned and clay painted people on the street. All was fun and games until I got clay in my contacts and had to blindly duck behind Montana to make our way out of the hoardes, who continued to party for the better part of the night (I know this because our hostel walls were made of cinderblocks with empty centers... awesome). Anyway, we were giddy from being thrown face first into one of the biggest Thai celebrations of the year--what an awesome thing to be a part of, without even planning to!!

Today we are wandering around Bangkok looking at some temples and whatnot, and then embark on a 12-14 hour overnight bus ride that we have heard is quite a pain in the behind, but hey, it's all part of the experience right??? Soon enough I will be covered in day glo celebrating another holiday, the full moon party (though not so much a Thai holiday as an enticement for party-hardy and gullable tourists such as myself to pay double the price for accommodation, food and drinks).

I have wanted to come to Thailand for everrrrrr, and now that I'm finally here I can't wait to see and do everyyything!

Bali: Australia's mexico (but better)

If Bali is Australia's Mexico (where Aussies come for beaches, scenery, cheap souveneirs, and a party atmosphere) then Kuta is Cabo. Same shopkeepers beckoning, same amazing cheap food on the street (though bali takes the cake on this one: Montana had arguably the best tacos of her life in our hotel restaurant in kuta), same skinny kids running around trying to sell you bracelets, same 18-25 year olds sipping fruity drinks out of enormous souveneir cups at bars... These things you find in any touristy developing country, but Bali does the amazing job of maintaining a culture and beauty that few other places do.

Everywhere you walk their are beautiful, moss-covered stone entryways and statues of animals, where the Balinese place daily offerings of incense and flowers-not sure if this is a Balinese tradition or specific to Buddhism, I will have to find out. The ocean is the absolute perfect temperature, and I am itching to rent a surfboard when we get back to Kuta. Yesterday Montana and I got hour-long Balinese massages in Kuta for under 5$... competition is fierce in the streets and massage places are everywhere. Now I have a high threshold for pain, and I suppose maybe I should have told her to not put so much pressure on me when I started wincing, but I figured I wanted a REAL Balinese massage, and besides, it would be worth it after, right? Well, my body did feel like jelly and I was incredibly relaxed, but started to worry when bruises started to form on my lower back last night, and to my horor were dark purple when I woke up this morning. Of course I'm sure they weren't helped by my fall in the rain last night, but yeah... I guess maybe next time I should tell her to restrain her freakishly strong little hands.

Today we took a shuttle to Ubud, which is about an hour drive north of Kuta. Or 2 hours if you count the amount of time you spent holding your breath thinking you were going to run over someone on a scooter, and the driver's munchie stop. Ubud is beautiiiiful! It's so relaxing, and a nice break after the busy streets of Kuta. I'm sure those of you who have read Eat Pray Love already have an appreciation for Ubud, but being here is really amazing. There are cute shops everywhere, not nearly as many tourists in Bintang tanks, beautiful rice fields... tomorrow we are going to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary to see some temples and some fiesty monkeys.

We've got a day and a half left in Ubud, then back to Kuta for a night, then we fly off to Bangkok on Friday. Part 1 of Southeast Asia has been everything I hoped for, and I know it's goign to fly by so am doing my best to take it all in and do as much as I can. Can't wait for what's to come!

This is my next destination...

BALI, HERE WE COME!!

3$ hour long massages, 1$ beers, markets, temples, beaches, beaches, and beaches.... 5 days of bliss to come

Farewell, Oz

Well it's my last few hours in Australia before I head to the Darwin airport for Bali... I'm trying not to think about leaving this amazing country but I didn't sleep last night just thinking about how amazing this whole experience has been. For fear of getting too emotional, I am going to wait until I am back in the states to get sentimental and whatnot. For now, I have BALI, THAILAND, AND VIETNAM to look forward to!! Hard to be down in the dumps with a month of adventure awaiting me. Soooo... here's to Australia, my home of the last 7 months, and everyone who has made this adventure some of the best times of my life... cheers to you and see you again soon!!! Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!!!

Dream come true! This was in January but just now was able to upload it

WA: Wild Wild West

Wow, so much to update on! It's been a while since New Zealand, but we have definitely slowed the pace down. After we flew out of NZ, we went to Melbourne for a few days. I don't know if it was because we had just left the quiet of the country or because we were anxious to get to Perth and be settled somewhere for a while, but Melbourne was a bit... well, i don't really know how to describe it. Our 700-person hostel may not have been cleaned since the millenium; we saw several couples screaming, and I mean screaming, at each other in the street, which was quite odd; and every time we tried to go to a restaurant or bar we had read about it was literally impossible to find.

Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful city (the highlight for sure being Captain Cook's cottage, an aunthentic 19th century experience involving dressing up as the captain and his wife themselves... photos to come soon!) and I'm sure if I had been there for more than a few days it would have been more impressive and we would have been able to see a great deal more sites and get to know the city more. I do hope to go back someday, especially when I am not a starving backpacker and can afford to sample all of the famous Melbourne cuisine (and not stay in a hostel with 700 other backpackers).

We have now been in Perth for about a month, and it's a really great city. It's somewhere that the majority of Australian East-coasters, especially the young ones I know, have never been to, and when I told people I was going to live in Perth for a bit the common reaction seemed to be a blank look, followed by a "whyyyyyy would you go THERE?"

Well what do they know!!! I have loved my experience here!

Perth is really a well-rounded city: It's got a beautiful river, the Swan, plenty of beaches with bath-warm Indian Ocean water, a huge university, and a laid-back feel that you can't find many places on the East Coast. AND the people are wonderful!!!

The initial reason we decided to get off the well-beaten backpacker route of the east coast and head over to Perth is because Montana's stepdad has family here, a few of whom Montana had met before. Her cousins (second cousins, third, whatever, they are family to me now as well!) came to stay with her family in Venice Beach a few years back, so we were welcome to stay with the family in Perth.

I can't explain how wonderful it is to be welcomed into a foreign city with open arms, homemade meals, and a proper bed. Tony's (Montana's step-dad) aunt, three cousins, and most of their children have stayed in the area, and are all extremely close. Maria, the aunt, is a 90-year old firecracker with a sharper memory than I have. She hosts weekly meals at her house for her granddaughters and was more than eager to tell us their family history and how "we" (yes, I include myself as a Mathews now) all fit in.

Anyway, it has been such a pleasant experience having a support network here and people eager to show us around and make sure we are getting on alright. Montana and I did not end up working in Perth since we'll only be here a month in total, but having places to stay with her family has made it alright that we've got no cash flowing in... Hopefully I've still got enough for Asia! But seriously, I am going to miss all of Montana's family so much, already had to say goodbye to a few of them and it was quite sad!

I spent a weekend in Sydney a few weeks ago, and realized how much I miss it!!! It was so wonderful to stay with Jill, see everyone from Coogee, and wander the city. Despite the rain, it was as lively as ever, and I love the hustle and bustle. I would looooove to move back there for graduate school for a few years or something, I don't think I will be able to stay away for long! But no Australian husband as many had feared, so no worries, I will not be moving here for good!

Out for a family picnic by the beach, and going to enjoy these last few days in sunny Perth before off to Darwin for a few days and then ASIA for a month! I can't explain how excited I am for that, but the fact that I am only going to be in Australia for less than a week is actually breaking my heart. Not quite ready to face it yet :/

Glowworm caves, canyoning, Queenstown, and the rest of the end

We have been doing so much lately and I haven't had a lot of opportunities to be online so there is quite a bit to update on!

The vibe in New Zealand is still a bit down at the moment due to the earthquake. The initial shock is over for most people, but there is still 24 hour news coverage and heartbreaking stories about personal tragedies. It's hard to turn your eyes away from the news when it's on everywhere but we have managed to get going on our adventures and really lived it up in our last few weeks.

"Underworld Rafting" and glowworm cave tours were a big highlight. We did this on the West coast, in a tiny town called Charlstown, which was reccomended by the tour guide we met on the castle. There are other glow worm tours hugely publicized down in Queenstown but we were SO glad we did this one because it ended up being just the two of us and the guide. Sweet as! We got decked out in wetsuits, carried our tubes through the cave, learned a lot and sat in the dark for a while and experienced complete darkness. You may think you have experienced this before there is nothing like it. Eerily calming for sure. At the end we got in our tubes and floated along looking up and the thousands, maybe millions of tiny glowworms on the celing. They looked like fireflies, but stuck in one place, so basically like stars. Super cool experience, apparently there are some places in the states that do it and if you ever get the chance it is highly reccomended! The area surrounding the caves was breathtaking as well, they have filmed several movies there as it was lush rainforest and mountains all around.

We made our way down the coast and stopped at Franz Josef glacer, which was cool, except the day was a bit tainted by finding out about the Christchurch earthquake.

Next we went down to Wanaka, which is a beautiful (but expensive) resort town, reminded me a bit of Tahoe. Here we did canyoning, which is huge in NZ. You start at the top of a river (that is obviously in a canyon), repel down sides which can be quite high, do some zip-lining, jumping, and sliding. It was super fun but got a bit intense at the end when our guide stopped us and starting peering around suspiciously. Right before we were going to repel into a huge waterfall. Like 3-4 stories high. So the 3 girls go down, I am last, and some lady who works for the company comes over and is yelling things to our guide across the canyon. The guide, Millie, says "ummm yeah we need to get out of the water, it has risen too high) but I still need to get down this waterfall or else there is no way out of the canyon. So I go down the "dry way" next to the waterfall, but still have to swim across the waterfall which by now is gushing down twice the water is should be. I am hidden behind it trying to undo myself from the cables but my hands are so numb I can't do it and no one can see me and basically thinks I am drowning so the guide swings down Tarzan-style out of nowhere and undoes my ropes. After that we still got to zipline but couldn't be in the water. It was pretty exciting, not exactly scary but got my heart pumping for sure.

Next we headed down to Queenstown, which of course was just as gorgeous as every other place. We stayed in a hostel there and it was really fun to hang with people our own age (as great as holiday parks are, they are full of old British couples... not my scene). We also didn't have to drive for a few days so that was nice, the Dutchess needed a break for sure.

We headed to Te Anau next, which is a cute little town on a lake that pretty much acts as a base for exploring Milford and Doubtful sounds. These are in a huge national park called Fjordland, and naturally are a ton of Fjords on the ocean. On the drive in our tour guide, Ian, pointed out several places where scenes from Lord of the Rings were filmed. He was quite a character, an older, friendly local who was keen on pointing out tree avalanches (it became a joke between us, so if anyone is interested in learning about them I would be happy to tell you) and never turned off his mic the whole ride so we heard a lot of awkward breathing over the speakers. Then we took a couple hour cruise and had lunch which was fun, and we made some friends... I have said it before and I will say it again but MAN Brits are hilarious!

I now have wireless for a month or so in Perth, and even though half of my NZ pictures were eaten by my dumb computer, I will post some in the next couple days!

Cheers,

Mags

We Are Safe

I have received many worried emails and facebook messages from friends and family worried about me and Montana's safety after hearing about the huge earthquake in Christchurch. We are fine, across the south island on the west coast in Wanaka, and didn't even know there was an earthquake until we took a rest stop at a cafe from driving all day and saw it on the news.

It's pretty scary stuff, we are watching the news now and buildings are down everywhere, the death toll is 65 confirmed and rising. Keep the people of Christchurch and New Zealand is your thoughts and prayers-- this is the second major earthquake to hit the south island's largest city since September.

We managed to avoid the floods in Queensland, the cyclone in Cairnes, the floods in Melbourne, and now the earthquakes here. I am counting my lucky stars and thinking of those who have not been as lucky.



***
Feb 24th

EDIT:
Montana and I just heard that the hostel in Christchurch that we stayed in when we first arrived in New Zealand has been totally destroyed by the quake. It is assumed that everyone who was inside the hostel at the time is dead. It's one thing to hear about a far away disaster, but knowing that people staying in the same exact place we did were killed... probably some staff or long-term stayers we saw and interacted with at some point... gah, it's terrifying. There are over 300 people still missing and it's been over 48 hours since the earthquake hit. It's hard to believe that in this day and age we still can't pinpoint when and where exactly natural disaster will strike.

Life is short and precious, this is another reminder to go out and make the most of every moment we have.

Abel Tasman: Rock Beds and Moldy Pasta

Our Kayaking trip turned out to be quite the adventure, as does everything that Montana and I set out to do. We left on a beautiful day and had a great start, although regretting not doing some push ups in the weeks before to prepare. I can't even explain how beautiful the national park is, hopefully the photo above will does it some justice.

Over three days (which turned out to be basically 2, as you will see) we saw not only beautiful landscapes but a seal colony, including the cutest baby seals hopping around and playing in the water, and a blue penguin swimming near our kayaks. So cool! Apparently there were orcas the second day we were there but they were north of us and we didn't find out until the day we left... huge bummer, that would have been awesome.

When we arrived at the kayak company base early in the morning, we felt pretty prepared and good about ourselves when the German/Swedish couple we were getting a ride with showed up with an esky (cooler) and... get this... A ROLLY SUITCASE, to try to cram into the kayak's cubby holes. Oh by the way, they were not only kayaking but taking a two day hike, which apparently a rolly suitcase is good for.? While they scrambled to put their things into bags, we exchanged glances with the guide and tried not to laugh. Americans aren't as dumb as we are made out to be, that's all I have to say. The first day was great, with calm weather, great beach time, and a (mostly) successful go at setting up the tent.

The second day was... interesting. Montana was having a bit of seasickness and we both were ill-rested because we thought we were hardcore enough to camp without sleeping pads. Mistake #1. Mistake #2: I viewed this trip as a mind/body cleansing, and underestimated the energy exerted by kayaking, and brought probably not even half the amount of food I should have. So Montana, generous as always, offers me some of her bags and bags of pre-made pasta when I had gone through everything except a handful of nuts, an apple, and a granola bar. Of course we open the pasta and it has gone bad. Moldy, all of it. Naturally.

But wait, mistake #3 was before this I think, and really wasn't a mistake on our part (we blame the national park's lack of warning signs). We were pulling up to a beach, Frenchman's Beach to be exact (you can always count on the French to play a mean trick at your expense), when we realize there is a rock in front of us, very close to the surface. And one to our left. And one to our right. Oh, wait, we are SURROUNDED. Luckily some guy had just drove by on his stupid boat telling us he would confiscate our kayak if we did not put our life jackets on, I protested that I was trying to get my Australian tan back but he was not buying it. So when our kayak inevitably got wedged between rocks we sent a silent thank you to the mean man on the boat for yelling at us as we flailed around trying to get out of our spray skirts and avoid the rocks. When we finally did get out and onto the beach and begin to get the water out of the kayak, a man paddles over and says "oh hey, there are rocks there, you are supposed to get out on the other side of the beach." REALLY? we hadn't noticed at all. Would have been helpful 20 minutes ago dude. While we watched the tide go out that afternoon from the safety of the beach we saw more and more rocks emerge from where we had attempted to land. In total, it was a giant bed of about 30-40 rocks. And no sign??? I'm sure we weren't the first and won't be the last to capsize in the rocks.

The last day we had to be back by 3:30 pm, but awoke to angry growling stomachs and decided to get the heck out of there. Left camp by 9:00 am and did a 3-4 hour trip in 2 hours. There is nothing like the motivation of food to get your somewhere in a hurry. Thoughts of bacon (by the way, many of you will be happy to know I am now a full-fledged meat eater) and eggs and toast danced in our heads and the two hours was mostly silent except for grunts of exertion. As we happily chowed down on burgers and fries--sadly, breakfast was over--we watched tired kayakers roll in all afternoon and laughed at ourselves and our ridiculous experience. Another adventure turned... well, I don't know, more intense adventure than we bargained for I suppose... and we wouldn't have had it any other way.

Ode to NZ

New Zealand, how I love thee. With your ever-changing landscape, each place more beautiful than the next. I feel spoiled with how lovely everything is, it's getting harder and harder to take it all in!

We have been driving up the East coast and it's been great fun. We stopped back in Christchurch for a few days to stay with my friend Britt and a house she was house-sitting, and although getting there was quite the struggle (more on that later), it was so worth it to see her and hang out for a while in one place. I helped out in the garden since they are WWOOFing (Willing Workers On Organic Farms, look it up if you have not heard about it, it's a pretty cool global program), and went on a bike ride into town with her and her boyfriend, panting behind them in their hardcore biking outfits on their tandem bike they will be travelling the South Island on. Pretty awesome.

On the way up we went on a drive out to the Albatros center on the Otago peninsula near Dunedin, and saw the Larnach castle, the only castle in the country. It was pretty cool, although I'm sorry to all you bird lovers but Albatross look exactly like giant Seagulls. Anyway, we were getting tea in the castle and this middle aged NZ tour guide sat down with us for about 40 minutes and made us write down everything, and I mean everything, he said we should do on the South Island. Like 3 months worth of stuff. He didn't care if we wanted to hear it or not, he was going to tell us anyway and not leave us alone til he was done.

This is why I love New Zealanders... I don't know if it is the adventurous and non-touristy crowd the Island (especially the South) attracts who are super friendly and not, for lack of better term, Ugly Americans." But we have had every local tell us all the advice they know, and they sincerely want us to have the best time possible here. National pride runs in their blood.

Teaching ourselves to drive has been... Well, interesting. Literally no one tought us into about a week of us struggling on our own. Actually stalling at every light. We would spend extra hours to get all the way around big cities and avoid every single light and stop sign. We are getting the hang of it, though it still causes a bit (a lot) of anxiety. Luckily, 5 months in Australia has gotten us used to being on the left side of the road so that's not so much of an issue.

Yesterday--yes, Valentines day-- Montana and I went wine tasting in Marlbourough, which you may have heard of from it's famous sav blancs. It was so much fun. Great wine, great company, great weather. It was us and 6 older couples from the UK who were so friendly and nice. Love the English.

Tomorrow we are heading off for a 3 day/2 day kayaking trip in Abel Tasman national park on the northern point of the South Island. It should be an adventure! Wish us luck. Will put pictures up when my jurassic computer decides to upload them.

Miss everyone!
xoxo

To the van!

Greetings from Dunedin! Above is the lovely Dunedin train station, a very nice place to arrive in this beautiful city.

Plans changed and we found out that Montana's aunts van is not in Queenstown, but in a little town on the Southeast coast, so that's where we have been headed. We took a 6 hour bus trip down here a couple days ago and got to see some scenery, it actually looks a lot like Ireland with the little towns and the sheep and green hills. Beautiful!

Dunedin is such a cute town, it's actually named after Edinbourough (don't ask me how the two names are connected but apparently they are..) and has a lot of Scottish heritage. We arrived to bagpipes playing in the central square, which made the haul to our hostel a little bit better. Yesterday we went on a bike ride, followed by a tour of the Cadbury chocolate factory--nothing like chocolate samples to make you feel better about how out of shape you are... or wait, is that counterproductive? whatever...

It's pretty cold here, which is nice, and the clouds and mist make everything pretty. However, I am ill equipped to deal with cold weather. When unloading things to send home with my family in the gold coast heat and humidity, keeping jackets, sweatpants, long sleeved shirts, etc. was the last thing on my mind. Oops. Good thing New Zealand is home to some of the best wool in the world, I can get myself some hats and scarves, and who knows, if I have some free time in the wildreness maybe I will try my hand at knitting again!

Alas, I am off to get the van, learn to drive a manual, and begin roughing it hard core for the rest of the month. Wish me luck! I couldn't be more excited :)

The adventure begins... again!

Hello from New Zealand! We arrived in Christchurch, which is on the eastern side of the south island, late last night after two days in Manly visiting friends after leaving Brisbane.

Christchurch is a lovely city; it is not to big and not too small, has beautiful weather and amazing people. It also has a bit of a European feel from it, which is a nice change from Australia, where you don't really feel the colonial history of most places I have been so far.

Today I took a stroll around town, enjoying the sunshine and a break from the scorching temperatures we had lately in Australia. I walked down the bustling pedestrian malls and through a small market, past the arts center (this is a very artsy city) and through the botanical gardens. We are leaving Christchurch tomorrow to take a long busride to Queenstown on the west coast to collect our van we will be living out of for the next month, but we will come back here in a few days to explore some more and see one of my best friends, Britt, who will be housesitting here!

We are staying on the south island for the entire month of February, and I could not be more excited. I have loved everything in Australia but I can only take so much of big cities--I have been craving adventures and the outdoors, and that is exactly what we are going to find in New Zealand! Though we don't have a definite itinerary yet, which is actually kind of nice, we know some things we want to do for sure.... a 3-4 day kayaking/camping trip in the amazing Abel Tasman national park, whale watching on the east coast, hiking through the Caitlins in the south, trekking the Franz Josef glacier, and black water rafting through glowworm-filled caves, to begin with.... Jealous?? :)

So I will be updating a lot since I will have a lot to talk about, haven't been so good in the past but will be now that I am adventuring a lot more!!!

Cheers from the land of the Kiwis,
Maggie

again, overdue...

It's been a while! These last few weeks have been a whirlwind. My fam came to sydney for new years, then we took off to go to cairnes, snorkeled in the great barrier reef, and saw where the rainforest meets the sea! It was gorgeous. Then we flew down to the gold coast, where the weather was pretty bad but we had a blast anyway. The east coast is so beautiful, so many beaches, surfers, warm water, national parks, crazy animals.... love it. We got a surf lesson also which was very fun! Pat can now say he is a surfer :)

Montana and I are in surfer's paradise right now on the gold coast and managing to stay away from the massive flooding in most of queensland. It's so sad, they are calling the floods the biggest natural disaster in Australian history. Nuts! Our plans originally, based on the fact that it is SUMMER here and supposed to be NICE weather, was to go up the coast to fraser island, which has a bunch of adventure stuff to do, and to Brisbane... but the roads anywhere north of here are closed and Brisbane is basically underwater so we are trying to figure out what to do for the next 2 and a half weeks before we go to new zealand. Hopefully will be able to come back to Queensland at some point when the weather is better!

Here are some pictures of family adventures: