Back in the USA

Well, I made it back safely. Adam and I are staying at his parents' house in Palmyra, Pennsylvania. It feels strange to be finished traveling but not be working. I am waiting to hear back from MIT about my re-acceptance into the LFM program, probably in February. I don't have any firm plans until then. I want to start looking for jobs in Boston, so I have a backup plan or perhaps an internship until I start school. My stuff is there already so I plan to move there in the next few months. Adam is applying to business schools (Harvard, MIT, Dartmouth and UNC), so he's also waiting to hear back and searching the job market.

It is nice to have unlimited internet and cell phone access again. I have been busy sorting through pictures, catching up on all my paperwork and baking Christmas cookies. I have managed to sneak in a few Grey's Anatomy episodes too. I'm slowly putting pictures on the blog, so check out the earlier posts.

I wish you all the best for the holiday season and a happy new year.

Tahiti

Wow...this is what a tropical paradise is supposed to look and feel like. It reminded me of Hawaii, but quieter, less people and they speak French (which I love). We landed late at night so we stayed in a small hotel next to the airport. In the morning, we took the truck (a small bus you flag down) to Papeete. We caught the ferry to Moorea, a separate island to the Northwest. Just a note, the ATMs are tricky because they only recognize the software from certain banks. Mine did not work, so I couldn't get any cash. Luckily Adam could. It is easy to use credit cards however there is usually a $20 minimum.

Moorea is small, 62 km circumference, with a few towns and a lot of hotels. We found a cheaper hostel, Mark's Place. We had the dorm bungalow with a private bathroom. It was nice although quite damp, but far from the beach and the towns. We had a kitchen and there was a small store down the road so we cooked most of our meals. We rented bikes the first day to explore and bike to the beach. In front of the Tipaniers hotel is a nice little beach. A large reef surrounds the island about one km from shore. The waves break there (also where the surfers go), so the inner lagoon is calm and great for swimming and sitting in the shallow parts. There is a current though. There are classic palm trees and some white sand. There are better beaches near the Sheraton and the airport. The second day I hung out at the beach again while Adam and Conor went diving. The third day we rented a car and drove around the island. There is a great lookout at the Belvedere. The juice factory is not so great unless you want to taste strong fruit liqueurs or buy souvenirs. We splurged on a dinner out and watched the sun set over the ocean. It was quite romantic.



The last day we went to Pinapo (yes like pineapple) Beach for one last swim before packing up. We took the morning ferry back to Papeete, but our flight didn't leave until late at night. We stored our bags at the airport (easy but rather expensive) until we could check in (3 hours prior to departure). We found a great cafe to relax in. I love having fresh tuna on salads. There wasn't much to do since we didn't want to shop or walk around much in the heat. They do have a large central market and 2 nice parks. It was hard to believe that this was our last day of traveling.

New Zealand - North Island

The North Island isn't quite as spectacular as the South Island, but there are some interesting places.

Wellington
This is a great, smaller city that is supposedly one of the top cities in the world to live in. We really lucked out with a sunny day. The Te Papa National Museum (free admission) has interesting and well-planned exhibits. My favorite were the one about earthquakes and the one about immigrants. We ate lunch at the Mac's Brewery on the waterfront. All of their beers are great but my favorites are the Spring Tide and the Great White. I finally ate some green-lipped mussels. They were enormous and delicious. Adam and I wandered around town, through the parks and botanical garden. New Zealand did a great job with green spaces in the cities. Cuba Street is popular for restaurants.


Tongoriro Crossing
We got up early to drive to National Park. We met Andrew and Nicole again to do a big day hike. Nicole hurt her knee, so she didn't hike but she was nice enough to drop us off and pick us up at the end of the trail. It's a 17km hike through the most varied terrain I have ever seen. We lucked out again with a sunny day. The winds on the pass were fierce. Andrew, Adam and Conor decided to be macho and climb Mt Doom. Since I'm a bit wiser, I opted to keep going on the main trail and enjoy the hike. They made it, of course, but they had a rough time and we all hurting the next few days. There were craters, rocks, geothermal vents and turquoise colored lakes.



Rotorura
This is geothermal central. We stopped to view the Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland. The colored pools and the boiling mud pots were pretty spectacular, but not as impressive as Yellowstone. We found a great hostel, Treks Backpackers, that is new and clean. We went to the Polynesian Spa to soak in the natural hot springs. They have a nice setup. You can look out at the lake while soaking. It rained pretty hard that night so we found a good pub to hang out in. The Pig and Whistle has a good atmosphere and great food. I recommend the Moroccan lamb stew.


Waitomo
The caves are the only reason to go to this small town. Adam and Conor did the Black Rafting Company adventure tour which includes abseiling, jumping and floating around underground for a few hours. I opted for the calmer, warmer and lighter version. I walked into a cave to view the stalagmites and stalactites followed by a short boat ride to view the glowworms. Glowworms hang from the cave roofs and emit enough light to resemble stars in a night sky. I think they are impressive. There wasn't a whole lot happening in this town for a Saturday night. The only decent food is the pizza restaurant at the YHA hostel. Who knew pumpkin could taste good on a pizza?


Whangarei
This is the major town in the far northern part of the island. We stayed at the holiday park a ways out of town. There is a great trail and park along the river which we walked to reach town. We stumbled upon a laid back family brewery, Bauhaus Frings. The beer was good and the food was ok. Nothing really spectacular in the town.

Bay of Islands
This is a beautiful, tropical paradise. Adam and Conor went scubadiving again so I had the day to relax and explore. I drove, first time driving on the left side of the road, to Pihia. From there I rode a ferry to Russell. This is a quaint small town. I walked around and spent some time at the beach. It looks like a great place to sail and kayak.


Auckland
This is a great city. Adam and I walked all over, exploring several neighborhoods. We started with Devonport, which is a short ferry ride across the harbor. I recommend the walking tour up Mt Victoria and along the beach. The shops on the main street are fun to look at too and there are plenty of cafes. Next we hit up Queen Street and Albert Park , near the university. Again nice green spaces for a city. We walked through the Domain, a huge park with a nice conservatory and big museum, to Newmarket. This is the fashion district. We returned through Parnell which is more of the hip restaurant district. It reminded me of Georgetown in Washington DC. We had a delicious mussel dinner at The Occidental downtown. If you like mussels and a Belgian influence, I highly recommend this restaurant.

New Zealand - South Island

New Zealand is the most amazing country I have ever been to. If you have the means to visit here, you must. The scenery is unbelievable, the people are friendly and helpful and you can do any outdoor thrill activity you can imagine.

Marlbourough wine country
We stayed in a great hostel in Renwick, Watson's Backpackers. We rented bikes and rode around to several wineries in a 10km circuit. Most of the wine tasting are free and there are many cafes for lunch. The wines are delicious, especially the sauvingnon blanc. There are a probably 100 wineries in the valley and it's surrounded by mountains, which makes for a beautiful setting. It was a great day to spend an afternoon.
Abel Tasman National Park
This wilderness on the top of the South Island looks tropical compared to wine country. We hiked out along the coast on a very well kept path. Then we kayaked back with a guide. It was so gorgeous.
Nelson
This is a great small town. Green Monkey hostel has a homey feel to it and the owners are friendly. We watch the All Blacks game on TV with breakfast. They beat Wales. We didn't get a chance to visit the Mac's Brewery, but that is my favorite NZ beer so you should go there.


Christchurch
This is a fairly nice city with a British feel. There is a huge park with a great running trail and a beautiful botanical garden. Adam took the GMAT and did amazing. Foley Towers hostel is a great find near the city centre.
Franz Joseph
From Christchurch we drove over Arthur's Pass to the West Coast. It was a blizzard on the top. I loved seeing snow and broke out the Christmas music CD. We stopped here in hopes of taking a hike on to the glaciers, but the tours were full. It poured the next day anyways (typical for a place that gets 7+ meters per year). We did run in to Andrew and Nicole Jackson, friends from Seattle. It was great to catch up and hear about their trip. They are also going around the world, the opposite direction. (Check it out at www.jacksonstraveling.blogspot.com) We did hike up to the viewpoints for Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers. They were similar to Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, but no lake in front. We continued down the coast to beat the rain.
Queenstown
Lots of rain. It was kind of nice to sit inside for a day and read. We did stop on the way in to town to watch people bungy of a bridge. I was nervous just watching other people, so there is no way I will ever pay to jump off anything. On the other hand, Conor loves it and jumped off the tower downtown and the Nevis. Queenstown feels like a Colorado ski resort town. It is on a lake overlooking the Remarkables. These mountains live up to their name, especially since all the rain brought snow to the mountain tops. We stayed at the YHA on the lake, nice place. We went out with Andrew and Nicole one night and ventured into Minus 5, an ice bar. You dress up in warm clothes to hang out in the ice bar for 20 minutes. We had vodka drinks in glasses made of ice.


Milford Sound
We really lucked out with the weather here. We booked an overnight cruise on the Real Journeys Milford Wanderer. It was still raining/snowing on the drive South, but the blue skies appeared as we boarded the boat. The sun even came out later in the evening. We cruised down the fjord, astounded by the waterfalls off the vertical rock walls. It was beautiful. We kayaked a bit late in the evening. It was nice to get out on the water. They had a delicious dinner and breakfast for us. We toured the fjord again in the morning. On the way back to Queenstown, we stopped to hike at Lake Marion. The trail was too muddy for us to reach the lake, but the part along the stream is great.


Queenstown
We stayed another 3 nights here, but at Deco Backpackers. I liked this place better because it is smaller and has a rose garden. Check out Fergburger for huge and creative burgers. Buffalo Club is a good bar too. The Speights Alehouse has kumara fries, which I think are better than potatoes. We discovered a great running path along the lake. You can go either direction from town. We had beautiful sunshine this time so we spent a lot of time outdoors. I went paragliding. It was really fun. I loved floating over the treetops. I could have done without the tricks, but I think that is what the guides like. I'll post the in-flight photos later. Adam and I did some hikes, Creighton loop and up to the gondola. They were both steep but scenic. We all went canyoning (abseiling and jumping down waterfalls in a canyon) one day. Our guide was fantastic and I highly recommend the company, Deep Canyon. Adam and Conor jumped off a lot of cliffs, but I was happy with the abseils and slides. Wanaka, just North of Queenstown, is a great town. The ski area there, Treble Cone, is supposedly the best in NZ. I almost recommend staying there over Queenstown.
Mt Cook
We drove North again on the middle to East coast. We lucked out with the weather again and got a perfect view of Mt Cook. We drove up to the visitor's center and hiked in to Hooker Valley. It was a good trail with a great view of the glaciers and mountain.

Picton
We stayed here one night to catch the Interislander Ferry early the next morning. The town is pretty dead. The Indian restaurant was good and the supermarket did have some free samples. The Ferry was great. There is a big lounge deck with great windows to watch pulling out of the sound. It was a bit rough in the channel, but I survived. I guess I lost my sea legs already!

Australia

It was so great to be in an English speaking country again. I love the challenge of foreign countries, but traveling is so much easier when you speak the local language. Of course everything is more expensive in Australia as well. We were shocked to pay US prices for food and lodging. The weather was great...it's the beginning of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
The aussies are friendly and we met some interesting ones. I discovered a fabulous treat in this country...Starburst gummies and Natural gummies. There is a wider variety than I have ever seen and they are great for road trips and plane rides. My favorite is the Natural forbidden fruits.

Cairns
This is a small, resort town in the Northeast, near the Great Barrier Reef. They have a great downtown setup, with a swimming pool and coastal boardwalk. I went snorkeling and actually had a good time. I rode a catamaran to Green Island where I swam out from the beach to look at the reef and colorful fish. We also rented a mini car and drove around the inland forests a couple days. Cape Tribulation is beautiful. The beaches are nice on the coast but you can't swim because of the jelly fish. Mossman Gorge is also a great side trip. You can swim in the river there. We went west to Atherton Tableland to hike and see the waterfalls. They were pretty too. If you drive the waterfall loop, you have to stop at the dairy for a delicious lunch.

Sydney
Bondi Beach is the place to be in this city. The downtown is nice, the Opera House and Harbor Bridge are must sees, but it is much more fun by the beaches. We stayed in a cheap hostel right on the beach. There is a fantastic beach path called the Costal Walk that we ran on every morning. We did some sunbathing and Adam went surfing. We also took a harbor ferry to Manley Beach one afternoon. That seems like a great beach town too. It would be the life to live there and commute to downtown on the 15 min ferry.