There and Back 2005

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February 27, 2005

Where to begin?

I have started this post about 5 times but am still not sure where to begin. I've decided to start with right now and work my way backwards...At this very moment, 1pm on Monday the 28th, we are sitting in an internet cafe on Dee St. in Invercargil. It's actually more of an odd little cluttered room packed with computers than a cafe, but it's the cheapest computer place we've found in weeks so it'll do. (Click the link below to continue reading...)

We made our way from Te Anau to Invercargil yesterday afternoon--stopping at the Clifton Caves (which would have been great had I had a flashlight. Without the flashlight it was basically just a short, nerve-racking walk in complete darkness) and the Totara forest (which was incredible and luckily didn't necessiate a flashlight). There's something very cool about standing at the base of a huge, 1000 year old tree. I think Andy is posting a picture of it, so take a look. But I have to say the best part about yesterday was the fact that we weren't in a rush! It was great to be able to stop whenever we wanted and not feel like we had to constantly be on the road zooming to our next destination! And I must say that after 4 days with a 40 lb. pack on my back all day it was pretty great to put that bag in the trunk and hit the road in the Corolla!

Despite, and in some ways I think partly because of the 40 lb. pack, the Milford Trek was a wonderful experience. The terrain was not very difficult, the summit was only 1154m so we've done much steeper hikes, but the duration of the hike was the challenge. Suprisingly, since that area is one of the wettest on Earth, we only had one day of hard rain. It was the third day, the day we reached the summit (the Mackinnon Pass) that we had the rain. Until I got freezing cold, I was loving the rain. It added a bit excitement to the day and it made the waterfalls even more spectacular. There was one waterfall in particular(Sutherland Falls) that was amazing. It was gigantic--608 m high!--and it was so powerful and loud! We were probably 20 ft from it and we were getting totally soaked by its spray! Shortly after we left Sutherland Falls, continuing on the trail towards our next hut, we met a morepork (a type of owl)which was definitely one of the biggest highlights of the trek for me. Andy spotted him first and at that point I was about 15 feet from him. I tried to slowly get a little closer but he flew off to a nearby branch. His flight was almost silent. He just appeared to glide from branch to branch. In the end we got about 5 ft. from him and Andy got loads of great pictures. The bird was so curious about us and was watching so intently at how Andy was using the camera. It was fascinating. I could have stayed looking at the moreprk for hours, but we moved on so that other people who had come along the trail behind us could get a good look at him as well. In addition to the morepork we met quite a few interesting birds on the trip--the South Island robin actually pecked my toe! There is a large number of big, flightless birds in NZ and I love them all! The takahe is a beautiful one, but those are endangered so we only saw one in captivity. But we saw loads of wekas on the trail--funny looking brown birds that kind of remind me of ducks. Unlike the rest of my family, I have never been much of a bird person, that is until now. I can't get enough of the birds here and am sure that I now know more about rare species of NZ birds than I know about any bird at home! Oh, and speaking of birds, you all need to look at the picture of the crazy seagull. That bird was wild! He was screeching and chasing all the other seagulls away--I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants! Okay, back to the Milford Trek--another highlight of the trip was the people we met. There were actually quite a few other Americans (even 2 other people from Boston) which was strange since before that Andy and I hadn't met any other Americans on the trip. Andy and I had both been missing home a little so it was really nice to have some Americans to talk to--especically ones from Boston! There were also some pretty serious hikers in our group and it was interesting to hear all the places they'd been. Some had done 2 week hikes in Nepal and a few had hiked the Austrian Alps on multiple occasions. They were full of great stories and since there was quite a bit of down time at night we had more then enough time to hear them! There was also a German guy on the trip named Toby who we ended up running into last night here in Invercargil! We had a few beers with him and had a great time thinking back on our Milford Trek experience! Now onto the one outstanding lowlight of the trek--FOUR days without a shower. Hadn't ever gone that long without a shower and don't plan on going that long again. The bunk room full of unshowered hikers was absolutely repulsive on the last night! Andy didn't seem to mind but I was seriously grossed out! There's so much more I could write about Milford, but will save some stories for when we get home!

A couple days before we left on the trek we had the incredible experience of climbing Fox Glacier. What a great time! We got to the town of Fox Glacier around 1pm and were lucky enough to get pulled from the standby list to take the 1:45pm hike up the glacier. They gave us each some extremely well-waxed boots, wool socks, and a pair of crampons and we were on our way! The first part of the hike was about an hour or so up through the rainforest just to the left of the glaicer. Imagine it---glacier and rainforest, side by side! The we got onto the ice. Unlike most glaciers which are very slow moving, this glacier moves about 1 m a day so each day the guides need to go out and carve a new path for us to take across the glacier. Even as we were walking our guide was carving out some steps in the ice where it was particularly difficult to walk. The crampons were awesome though and I always felt like my footing was sure. The ice was incredible--it had a beautiful blue tint to it (due to the high density of the ice and the fact that the blue wavelenghts are the only ones that get reflected.) We were on the ice for 2 hours, just walking around and taking in the views and then we made our way back down. It was definitely one of the most exciting things we've done on the trip!

Alright, I think I am going to sign off now. We're hoping to make it to the Invercargil museum this afternoon, but are feeling a bit lazy today.

As always, I miss you all and hope you're doing well! Thanks for the comments, we love reading them!

xoxo

Posted by Kate at 06:57 PM | Comments (5)

February 25, 2005

And we're done!

Since internet access is very expensive in this small tourist trap of a town called Te Anau, I'll keep it very brief. We've completed the world famous Milford Track! It was truely amazing, waterfalls where ever you look, glacier right next to rainforest and a lot of walking. Us and 38 other people completed the track yesterday, they were a great bunch of people. We were the youngest. Anyhow, as soon as we get to a place where the gouging isn't so bad we'll upload some pictures and write a proper post.

By the way, thank you all for the comments, we love reading them! One of these days we'll take some time and respond to some of the questions so we can dispel myth and confirm trueth. For now I can confirm that Kate does like fish.

Posted by Andy at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)

February 15, 2005

Sheep, Cows, and Pine Tree Farms.

As Kate mentioned we've been on the go since leaving Auckland. Our little diesel Toyota Corolla has treated us well, although I'm a bit nervous about the transmition fluid levels. I check it daily and daily I add more fluid. Otherwise I'm hopeful that the brown car will get us safely, albiet slowly, to our next stop. (click below to read on)

The drive from Auckland to Rotorua (which means 2nd lake in Maori) was uneventful aside from a parting blow that my intestinal parasite threw at me. Thank god for there being a McDonald's on every street corner, and the bathroom was clean too.

Upon arrive in Rotorua we navigated to city streets to our Backpackers (thats what they call hostiles in NZ and Australia). It was a nice surprise to find the rooms, kitchen and bathrooms emaculate and it was also nice to be in a more laid back atmosphere deviod of the drunk 18 to 20 year olds that bumbed around Auckland backpackers.

After getting the lay of the land, we did some grocery shopping and headed to a place that, ealier, looked busy and advertised a $10 meal and beer. As we walked to the place, we realized that the entire city had left and gone home. Apart from the odd backpacker with the same bewildered look on there face as on ours, and a random collect of local teenagers stomping around, the town was dead.

We had our dinner and beer, sheapherds pie and lager, then had no choice but to go back. On the way home, Kate said that the town was like a movie set. I'd say that was a good description. Still, with the sheer number of bars and eateries you would have to conclude that at some point the town gets hopping. The funniest and strangest thing we saw was a brightly lit Chinese resaurant that was completely empty but had a sign on the door saying "Sorry, restaurant is full." Maybe everyone in Rotorua turns invisble after 5 pm, that is something I hadn't considered untill now.

The next day we set off for Gisborn. This is the easterly most city in New Zealand and the place where Captain Cook first landed on his voyage of discovery in the mid to late 1700's. Despite being the first European to vist many lands in the Pacific and South Pacific, Cptn Cook has only a few places named for him. The first place is the Cook Island in the South Pacifc and the other place that comes to mind is the Cook Straits, the stretch of water between New Zealands north island and south island. Many argue that cook lost his mind towards the end of his second voyage where he died a bloody death in Hawaii and was, by some accounts, eaten by the native Hawaiians.

Back to Gisborn, this was a smallish city with about fifty to sixty thousand people and in many way the same look and feel as Rotorua. The streets were laid out in a grid and most buildings stood no more than 2 stories.

After checking into the backpackers, we headed up to the top of a hill that over looked Gisborn and the body of water Cook named Poverty Bay. When Cook sailed into Poverty Bay his attempts to land and reprovision were thwarted by the local Maori Tribe, so onward he sailed, low on food and supplies and as a reminder of his experiences there he left the name. Just north of Gisborn is a place he named The Bay of Plenty, as you might expect, his attempts at provisioning there were somewhat more succesful.

At the top of the hill we had a light dinner of cheese, crackers and wine that we shared with a Chinese sailor who wandered up. His ship was taking on a load of plywood. He spoke fairly good English and was very nice company. We talked a bit about China and the tremendous growth and building that has been taking place there. He talked about his wife and child who was 11 months old. He shipped out 7 months ago. He quized us as to how he could emmigrate to New Zealand but we didn't really have any answers for him and suggested he do a search online.

When I asked why he wanted to move to New Zealand, without hesitation he said it was the air. The air was so fresh and clean to him. At home he said the air was foul. I suppose he hoped for higher wages too but his initial response was interesting.

After the hill we headed back down to the town. Similar to Rotarua, we observed that after 5 pm, the city shut down. We walked around to a number of bars only to find them empty, not even a friendly bar keep behind the bar praying that we come in and make his night worth while.

We managed to find a few people in one pub where we had a beer then returned home.

The next day it was on to Napier. The scenery was more or less the same each day. Huge tracks of pasture land with sheep and cow busy munching on grass set against a backdrop of denuded mountains with the random tree farm thrown in here and there. It was a very unnatural picture. Quite the opposite of what I thought I'd see in NZ.

I should mention though that inland from the highway is a huge natural reserve that is said to be New Zealands last frontier and it would be there that, had we ventured, we would have seen a more wild rugged and natural landscape. Sadly, time did not permit so maybe next time.

When the European settlers first arrived in this area they agressively chopped down the forest for lumber and to make way for the huge number of sheep and other grazing live stock. The affects of this campaign are drastically evident. Still, the sheer size of the mountains made for some rather dramatic vistas and I'm glad we came the way we did.

Napier was a very cool city, positioned on the southern end of Hawk's Bay (also named by Cook). In 1931 it was leveled by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake. The earthquake shifted the landscape up and in the end Napier was 40 square kilometers bigger than before. The rebuilt city was formulated on the Art Deco style of architecture. It was fun just walking around looking at the buildings.

After getting settled at the backpackers we set off for Mission Winery. The wine tasting was free and they produced a wide variety of reds and whites. Our favorite was an oaked chardoney (no idea how to spell that). Feeling quite relaxed from the sampling of wine we headed back to town to get cleaned up for our Valentine's Day dinner.

We had both been craving some good local seafood (Kate likes seafood now) and decided that we ought to splerge. We drove around town looking for the right place only to find it two doors down from the backpackers. We made reservations but they were late in the evening and our hunger got the best of us. So we cancelled and went to a place just down the road a bit. The resaurant had a beach town feel to it, you'd just as comfortable eating there in a nice oxford and kakhi's as you would in a t-shirt, board shorts, and flip flops.

Don't assume that, becuase a restaurant is less than a quarter mile from the water it will have good seafood. The mess that we were served smelled foul, but we had to give it a try. After all, maybe its supposed to smell bad here, we thought. NOPE! It was bogus, so we just moved it to a table far from ours, hoping the wait staff would get the hint and ask if there was a problem (which they didn't). We finished our beers, praying it would wash the demons out of our mouths and went on.

As kate mentioned, we went to a bar and fell victim to the drunkest guy in Napier. It was still fun though and reminded me of how friendly the Kiwi's had been so far.

Napier to windy Wellington, more sheep, cows and bar mountains. Wellington seems to be a vibrant cosmopolitan city. Everyone here is dressed in the newest fashion, guys with thier faux hawks, expensive designer sunglasses, expensive jeans and sneakers, and the girls with their hair died a million shades of blonde, pointy designer high heels, and expensive dresses. Similar to the styles that you'd see in Dublin.

Still craving some good seafood we decided that we'd buy some fresh fish and cook it ourselves. If you want something done right, do it yourself I say. So we bought some monk fish, that for all I know could have been caught a million miles away and shipped here. We cooked it back at the backpackers and I felt a bit sheepish as I pan seared it with butter, garlic, salt and pepper, and white wine (Mission Winery Chardonay) while our backpacker brethren made ramen noddles, or spaghetti. One Aussie was compelled to say "Now thats a right propper meal". I didn't know if I should say thanks, or blush with embarrasment but it was well worth the effort. None of the fish went to waste and the resident cat even partook in the feed.

We met a couple of guys, one 22 year old Swedish adrenaline junky, and a laid back 29 year old Brit. They met in Australia and had been traveling together for a while, although initially I though they might be "together" both mentioned girlfriends. We had a nice time hanging out untill the walk home from the bar when the discussion between the Brit and myself turned to politics. Now I'm ok with people having legitmate opinions and view points but this guy was off in outerspace.

He was confident that the US government perputrated 911 for the sole purpose of securing oil. That sort of conspiracy theory just angers me and I was still mad this morning. Oh well, I just tried to calmly explain that there is no basis in fact for this theory but he seemed reluctant to conceed.

So that pretty much brings you up to day aside from our time in Auckland. The only thing I'll mention about Auckland is that it was a very cosmopolitan city and a fun place to visit. The most memorable things in Auckland for me were the terric Japanese food we had at Tanuki and a private yatch.

First, Tanuki was a small Japanese sake house. They had a long list of fancy sake for the taking and I chose one that was in the "Traditional Plain Ol' Sake", it was served chilled and was very nice, so nice in fact that I had two 150 ml servings. We ordered 8 cali rolls and 8 spicey tuna rolls and they were awesome! The atmosphere was jovial and relaxed and the wait staff were attentive and friendly. If I ever find myself in Auckland, Tanuki will be a first stop.

Now this private yatch. It was a converted ocean going tug I estimated at between 150 and 200 feet long. The ships name was Arctic and based out of the Bahamas. At first I assumed her to be a reserch vessel given the name and it being docked in a NZ port. I was shocked when one of the deckhands said it was privet. She was beautifully maintaned and had no less then 6 or 7 smaller boats on board ranging from 20 foot whaler, a 30 foot cruiser, a speed boat, a number of smaller craft like zodiacs. Aside from the boats there must have been a half doze jet ski's. At the stern where I estimate the towing gear would have been prior to the conversion was a large tiled pool, jacuzzi, and pool bar. Impressive to say the least. We were dieing to know who owned it but were too shy to ask the deckhand.

Tomorrow, we are off to the south island and I'm hoping we can slow down a bit. I purchased a guitar yesterday and I'm eager to find a session here in New Zealand but unlike Boston, there are not many and as fate would have it, they are never going on when we're in town.

Posted by Andy at 09:29 PM | Comments (4)

The North Island--At Break-Neck Speed

We got our car on Saturday--little silver Toyota Corolla with lots of personality but not too much pick up. We headed out of Auckland a few hours after we bought the car and we've been on the road ever since. Our first stop was in Rotorua, known for its sulfur springs. The town was basically deserted and smelled like rotten eggs, but we found a grocery store, some cheap dinner, and great accomodations (after 2 nights at the Fat Camel, this place felt like the Ritz!) On Sunday we made our way from Rotorua to Gisborne via the East Cape. We had met a few people in Samoa who raved about the East Cape, but in my opinion they had hyped it up a little too much. The ocean views were beautiful and the farm land was nice, but it was basically the exact same scenery for 6 hours. The roads were fun though--twisting and turning through the mountains at 60 mph. The speed limits were crazy--I'm a fast driver and all, but going 60 mph on a narrow road around sharp corner on a steep mountain (with no barrier to prevent us from plummeting to our death) seemed a little obsurd. We seemed to be the only ones on the road with that sentiment though, people were passing us left and right. So we had a night in Gisborne (no rotten egg smells, but equally as deserted) and then made our way to Napier, known as on the the best examples of an Art Deco town in the world. The town was very nice, right on the ocean and full of really beautiful buildings. A little more lively than the other towns, but not by much. I think at 5pm everything in New Zealand shuts down and people run for cover. Shops are closed, restuarants and bars are empty, streets are bare. Very strange. But we did manage to find some delicious sashimi, followed by some disgusting dinner, followed by a couple beers with the drunkest man in Napier. He was a big Patriots fan--told us about 25 times that he watched the game with "Jess whose brother was actually texting her from the Superbowl." Maybe it was 30 times. Oh, and we went to a great vineyard in Napier--Mission Estate Vineyard. The oldest one in New Zealand. Free wine tasting and great views of the city. And now here we are in Wellington. Got here last night. It's kind of cool and windy, but it's sunny at least! We've been so lucky with the weather. Everyone has told us that it has basically rained all summer here, but we haven't had a drop all week. Now that I said that it's probably going to start to pour. Today we have a bunch of errands to take care of and then tomorrow we have the ferry to the South Island. I'm excited to see the South Island--the North has been great, but I think I was expecting it to be nicer. It may be that we have had to cover too much ground in too little time. It's hard to appreciate things when you're rushing to get to your next destination. After Milford we'll be able to slow down a little.

Hope you are all well at home!

xoxo

Posted by Kate at 08:46 PM | Comments (2)

February 11, 2005

Gimme Samoa!

After staying in Apia for two days, we split a taxi with an Aussie family and a British girl to a place called Lalumanu in the south east corner of Upolo. The Aussies were Max, Leo and their mother Amy. Max and Leo were 18 and 16 respectively and Amy appeared to be in here 50's. They had been just about everywhere in the world and were great traveling companions. The British girl was Ingrid and she was doing a solo trip around the world for 8 months which is really impressive considering she is only 18.

As an aside, Max demonstrated perfectly the Aussie wit and humor that I enjoy so much. We were all talking and getting to know each other in the taxi and I was asking him about Bundaberg Rum and Cola's, a favorite of mine and an Australia specialty. We talked a bit about the various domestic Australian beers and which ones he liked. Then me mentioned boxed wine and that it was quite popular with people his age. He said boxed wine is great because "At the end of the night, you just plop the box on your head for a helmut, and you have the bag for a pillow when you need pass out."

The drive took us along the coast at times and through some rather steep and jagged volcanic mountains. The coast was as you might expect, palm fringed white sand beaches dotted with fishermans fale's and canoes. The interior near the mountains was less populated. There were a few cattle ranches but most of the land was either rain forest or coconut plantations. In the coconut plantations there are usually two other crops that grow beneath the coconut trees, bananas and tarro root.

About an hour after leaving Apia, we arrived at Lalumanu's Taufua Beach Fales. An audible thud was heard as I stepped out of the taxi. It was my jaw hitting the white sand as I gazed out on an absolutely perfect tropical beach. Coconut trees lazily swayed in the cool ocean breeze, and small waves gently rolled in from the tourquoise waters behind the barrier reef.

Standing on the beach and looking off to the left is one of the 7 smaller islands that make up the Samoan island group which totals 9 when you include Upolo and Savai'i, the two largest islands. It was uninhabited and looked like it could have easily been the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Stevenson spent his last years in Samoa.

We spent two days in Lalumanu snorkling, swimming, enjoying our new found friends, and feasting on the most wonderful meals. Our accomodations came with two meals per day which I assumed would be uninspired and less than filling. How wrong I was! The meals, breakfast and dinner, were huge. Breakfast was fresh eggs, pancakes, dumplings, fresh fruit, coffee, tea, toast, jam, coco rice (rice cooked in coco and milk with a lemon leaf in it), and lots of ther goodies. Dinner was no less impressive, fresh tuna, sushi, pasta salad, potato salad, papaya, vegetable stir fry, all washed down with Vailima, the domestic beer of Samoa (a very nice beer).

The fale and meals cost 50 Samoan Tala a day, which worked out to be $17 US per day. It must be one of the best bargans going in the world.

After Lalumanu, we took a taxi up to the ferry on the oposite end of the island. This ferry would take us to Savai'i. The drive took about 2 hours and 15 minutes, which is a bit longer than it should have. This was due in part to a bit of a communication problem and I realized this when we turned onto the road to Apia.

In Apia we explained that we wanted the Ferry and feeling confident that our destination was know we were off again. But the next stop was the airport. At first I thought "Oh, the airport, they must have the ferry at the airport", but that notion faded fast as we pulled up to the section of the airport labeled "Departures". I tried again to explain our desired destination through a serious of hand gestures and about every English word I know that describes boats. I was relieved when we finally pulled up to the warf.

At last we made it to the ferry and crammed our way aboard a big old ferry. In Samoa there is not such thing as lines. If you stand in a line, you'll be standing there for ever as everyone simple pushes you aside and steps in front of you. This was made evident at the ferry ticket office and the boarding process. I know I should be more culturally sensitive but lines to me seem so basic and should be cross culturally accepted. Oh well, on the boat we were and after an hour and half we arrived on Savai'i and were immediated ushered into a van for the trip to Tanu Beach Fales.

Savai'i was described to us as more beautiful and more like the heart of Samoa. In fact the word Savai'i means homeland and each polynesian island has a place with a similar name. The name you might be most familiar with is Hawaii, which is spelled and pronounced differently becuase of the difference in the two languages, but you can see the similarity.

The drive went by quickly and we made aquatences with two Kiwi women and one of the many family members that run Tanu Beach. Tanu Beach was less dramatic than Lalumanu but had larger more spacious and more comfortable fales.

We spent a total of four days there of which three were spent fealing rather uncomfortable from a stomach problem I'd picked up.

On the third day we took a tour of the island with a company called Green Turtle Tours. It was great. First we stopped at a cave that was actually an old lava flow tube.

Next we visited a series of blowholes along the coast. They too were created during a lava flow and were quite a site to see. As the waves came in the water would accelerate through the tubes which were back from the waters edge about 100 feet, then shoot out of the holes. The noise was very loud and you could feel it in your core like the finale at a fireworks display.

Our guide would nimbly run up to the hole and drop a coconut in just as the water was about to errupt. The coconut would be launched at least a hundred feet into the air. It was really incredible. We were told by one of the other passengers, a very funny Korean guy named Troy (very thick accent), that these were the largest blowholes in the world.

As we walked back to the van Troy muttered to himself, but loud enough so that we all could hear, "Thanks for risking your life to show us the trick with the coconuts".

From the blow holes we ventured on to a giant banyan tree with a canopy walk. The canopy walked turned out to be less exciting than as described in the Lonley Planet guide. The banyan tree was, however, very cool. At its base it was no less than 15 feet in diameter with hundreds of airial roots extending down from all levels of the tree to the forest floor.

Next, it was onto a much needed swim under a water fall. At this point we had sweated it out in the van and a bunch of small stops for long enough and the cool fresh water was heavenly.

At each stop, a local family was paid a certain amount of money, all of the land with these attractions is owned by the residents and they seem to rely partially on the tourist dollars.

Well, by this point your probably sick of reading so I'll wrap it up. We left Tanu Beach Fales on Tuesday at 10:30 am for the ferry at 2 pm, and ultimately the plane for Auckland at 3:30 am. We met a great German couple before leaving Tanu Beach who had the same flight as us, so once back on Upolo we split a cab back to Apia where we ate and drank beer until around 11 pm. Then back to the airport for our flight. At the airport we waited in the longest line in the world for checkin, and didn't actually check in for our 3:30 flight until about 3:29. I was loosing it a bit at that point but we made it aboard and safely to Auckland. The flight was miserable though as my stomach "issues" had not yet gone away. "Where will you be?". On a friggin' jet 30,000 feet in the air damn it!

Despite the Kiwi's warning that Auckland wasn't a nice city we are finding it to be quite nice and relaxing. I'm only now recovering from my intestinal problems so it has been a bit easier walking around the city today.

We're going to attempt to post some pictures so check that out when you get a chance.

Oh and one last thing, for those interested, there is a Dunkin Donuts in Auckland.

Update: Uploading the pictures is taking way too long, it must be a very slow connection here so we'll have to resume uploading later.

Posted by Andy at 12:24 AM | Comments (8)

Samoa to Auckland

We loved Samoa--I mean, there's nothing like sitting on a tropical beach with amazing views and nothing, am I mean nothing, to do but read Gone with the Wind (great book, can't believe I haven't picked it before) and sip cool Vailima (the only beer in Samoa). And the water was incredible. As warm as a bath tub and full of fish. Out fale (hut) on the beach was so close to the water that at night we could hear the fish jumping around in the ocean. Incredible. We spent a few days on Upolo (the island we originally flew to) and then took a ferry to Savaii for the rest of the trip. In all we went to 3 different areas and I'd have to say my favorite was on the south east coast of Upolo. The village is called Lalumanu. It was very remote and had the best views from the beach. We're in the middle of figuring out the picture sitation but hopefully they'll be up on the site today so you can all take a look at the view for yourself. It's impossible for me to try and explain anyway. But all that said, we were happy to embark on the longest day of traveling in our lives, and make our way from Samoa to Auckland. It was so strange because leaving Samoa we crossed the date line so we basically skipped all of Wednesday. Figures we skip my favorite day of the week! Anyway, so here we are in Auckland. It's a great city--Andy says it reminds him a little of San Francisco, but is definitely has a very British feel at the same time. We're particularly impressed because we met a few New Zealanders in Samoa who didn't seem to have anything nice to say about Auckland at all. We were just happy to be in a city again--I think in comparison to Samoa, Hampton Falls would be considered a booming metropolis! We treated ourselves to a warm shower (only cold ones on Samoa), a tour around a museum, a beer at an "Irish" pub, a fancy dinner, and coffee and dessert on our favorite street in Auckland--Vulcan Lane, cute little street with loads of cafes with tables outside. It was such a great day! In Samoa there was basically no choise what you had for dinner, or any mean actually, you just eat whatever the family who owns the fale makes. Don't get me wrong, the food was delicious (especially in Lalumano--I had the best tuna steak I have ever had, honestly, I can't stop talking about it) but it was just so nice to go to a restaurant where we had a choice of foods and we could eat inside a building with walls and air conditioning and no flies buzzing around the food. Okay, so enough about food---we spent today on a hut for a car. Went this morning to a backpackers car market and saw one car in particular that we liked, but decided to keep hunting around, ended up going back to the car market around 4pm and found out the car needed a new gasket (or something like that) and so we're not getting that one. Found a German guy who's selling his car and think we'll probably take that one. It's a white station wagon, a nissan, I think. Looks good to me, except it's manual. Looks like I'll have to learn the stick after all but I'll be learning how to shift with my left hand which will be a little stange, but whatever, I am kind of excited about it. I'll let Andy get us out of Auckland though! We'll be heading out of Auckland tomorrow if all goes well. We need to see as much as we can of the north island before heading south, but we also need to be at the Milford Sound by the 22nd so we're definitely cutting things close time wish.

Anyway, I have a million more things I'd love to write, but if I wrote it all I'd be in this internet cafe all night and I should save some good stories for when we retunr anyway. Oh wait, now that I think about it, the internet cafe may actually be a step of from the Fat Camel Hostel, so it may not be the worst idea to stay here all night. And at $2 an hour, it may be about the same price as the hostel, well, almost. Okay, true to form, I am rambling now, so I am really going to stop writing.

Talk to you all later.

xoxo

Posted by Kate at 12:22 AM | Comments (0)

February 08, 2005

Its Hot hot hot!

I'll have to keep this short becuase were just stopping off in Apia for a while before our flight at 3:30 this coming morning.

We've been on Savai'i for the last four days, unfortunately I wasn't feeling that great. The refrain from the imodium AD add "Where will you be?" kept running through my head as we toured the island yesterday. Fortunately I was to be safely back at the Tanu Beach Fales (our accomodations for the last couple days) when nature struck.

I won't go into to much detail now becuase I want to gather my thoughts on the last 5 days. For now we're both hot and tired and ready for some laundry facilities and cooler weather. We've only had internet access here in Apia and the connection is way to slow to attempt uploading any pictures. Hopefully we'll have some up in the next week or so.

We'll be in Auckland, New Zealand tomorrow at 9 am, and Mom and Dad, I'll try and give you a call then if not today.

Lots of love from the South Pacific.

Posted by Andy at 10:53 PM | Comments (3)

February 02, 2005

Oh My God We're Here

After a long day of traveling we finally made it! Our fale is incredible---like a big tree house fitted with a hugh bug net and all! It's hot and humid but I am loving it after all the cold at home---don't worry guys, I've got the 45 sunscreen in action! Today we're tacklign a 5m waterfall drop and tomorrow I think we're going to head eouth east to the Taufau beach fale. Saturday we may take the ferry over to Savaii'....but really, the beauty of this is we can do anything we want so we're not making to many plans, just sort of going with it!

Posted by Kate at 04:50 PM | Comments (3)

Comments are up

The comments are posted now, it takes a while since I have to check a button to allow them to be posted. I wanted to make it automatic but I couldn't figure it out before I left.

We just got up from a nap and are headed down to the center of town for some food and to see a Samoan concert at a place called Aggie Grey's.

Okay, this is Kate writing now--

Thanks for the comments guys! And wanted to tell you that we jumped down a 5m waterfall today! So cool--even though I was terrified at the top and do have a little bruise on my bum.

Andy says it's time to go.

xoxo

Posted by Kate at 04:50 PM | Comments (4)

We Made it!

We've made it to beatifull Samoa safe and sound after nearly 20 hours in transit. Stepping off the plane late this morning was amazing. The air was hot and humid and a traditional Samoan band greated us passengers as we collected our luggage.

The band consisted of a eukileli, a bass made up of a 5 gallon pale, a broom stick and some twine, a guitar and a mandolin. The music they made was amazing. The harmoney singing in native Samoan language made me want to stay at the airport!

We were soon in a taxi headed for Apia, the capital of Samoa. After a very informative 40 minute drive with a man named Tau we arrived at Seipepa Fale, our home for the next couple days. We were shown to our fale, a traditional Samoan hut which is open to the air with thatched roof and woven palm leaf blinds.

Almost as soon as we hit our beds, the roosters started to crow, then the dogs started to bark, but I wasn't bothered as I was far too excited for sleep.

I did manage a few hours of rest and at 8 am we conviened at the central fale for a communal breakfast. The breakfast was just as I pictured it, a wide assortment of fresh fruit, fresh baked bread and jam, and some hot tea served in coconuts.

We just returned from a walk around Apia. Its a very busy place with the ever present crowing of roosters, dogs lazily roaming around a the people heading in all directions. From almost all those we past we were greated with a smile and a hello or "Talofa", which means good morning or hello in Samoan.

We've made arrangements to head to the more rural part of Upolo, which is the island we're on now, and in a few mintues we're headed to a natural slide in the rainforest. It should be great as there was a fair bit of rain last night.

Saturday we'll head to Savai'i, the other main island where we'll spend the rest of the time. Savai'i is more rural and more beautiful. Can't wait to get there.

Thats all for now.

Posted by Andy at 04:30 PM | Comments (4)