The world's slowest internet

Is on this boat.  So, it's unlikely there will be any updates for the next couple of weeks.  This will immediately be followed by a ridiculous number of updates.

Stay tuned...

Unavoidably scatological – 10 January 2009

New Zealand is trying to eliminate camper waste in their national parks.  One initiative is the use of “poo pots,” which are exactly what they sound like.  These pictures say it all:

Training ground for legends (Mt. Cook) – 8 – 11 January 2009

In case you don’t know, Sir Edmund Hillary (the first man to climb Everest along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay) was a Kiwi, and did much of his training and early climbing in the Southern Alps of New Zealand – including Mt. Cook.

The scenery here is stunning. The first full day we got a slow start and decided to try and hike to Hooker Valley. We made it about an hour into the hike before the rain went from a light drizzle to a full-fledged downpour. Thankfully we were able to take shelter in a hut and ride out the worst of it while we ate our lunch. Net-net, though, the rain pretty well took care of that day.

The next day was beautiful, though, and we were able to hike up to the Mueller Hut. The round-trip time was almost 8 hours, but in contrast to Mt. Roy in Wanaka it was an enjoyable hike. Snow-capped mountains and glaciers dominate the landscape.







The scenery’s not all, though. There are also BUGS!







Plus, there are Keas – parrots that are clever (and annoying). Jennifer found reference to a kea that managed to lock some climbers into their cabin by sliding a bolt on the outside of the door into place. Evidently it watched them come and go and figured out how to lock the door. Here’s a Kea that gets a little too close for comfort:





On the way out of town it rained on us again – so it turns out we made the best possible use of our time.

Soliciting book recommendations

We're getting on the boat to Antarctica tomorrow, and I'm desperately looking for ways to kill time over the next three weeks.  Net-net, if you've  got any good books you think I should read please let me know :)

Unlike Phil Collins, I wish it would stop raining down (Te Anau and environs) - 5 - 8 January 2009

A post that's sure to be filled with digressions...

We drove from Wanaka to Te Anau, via Queenstown.  Queenstown is the biggest city we've seen in awhile, and we took the opportunity to grease the wheels of commerce.  We've started buying Icebreaker shirts to supplement our existing wardrobe.  There's two bits of shtick with them:  First, you can enter a "baacode" from your garment and find out which farm the wool in it came from, and second, they claim to be odor reducing (meaning that you can wear them multiple times without washing).  We're going to test the second to the breaking point.

As for the "baacode" - well I love puns, so that's a plus.  I was a little disappointed in the execution, though.  I expected to be able to track the wool down to an individual sheep - instead it shows you the farms where your wool came from and offers up a video from each farm.  "Normal" people (whoever they are) probably prefer the video approach.

Somehow we ended up eating at a McDonald's in Queenstown.  It's turned into our default place.  After a good passive aggressive march across town where we can't agree on a place (or time) to eat, we'll both end up so hungry that we just go to McDonald's in defeat.  On some level it feels like a squandered opportunity to be eating McDonald's in a foreign country.  On another level, I loves me some french fries.

Te Anau is a place you go so that you can go other places.  It's a nice small town, built on a lake, but most people go there so that they can visit the Milford Sound area.  You can stay in Milford Sound proper, but there's nothing to do there at night and two places to eat.  Te Anau has 6 or 7 places to eat, and nothing to do at night...

We arranged to go kayaking with Rosco's Milford Kayaks on the 6th, and arranged for them to pick us up in Te Anau.  The pick up is nice, because it's about an hour and a half drive from Te Anau into Milford.  On the way in the driver took the opportunity to discuss the cancellation policy.

It turns out that if they cancel your kayaking trip you end up going on a boat tour of the Sound and a tour of the underwater observatory.  Guess what we got to do...

It wasn't just raining, there were also winds in excess of 100 kph.  Obviously I was disappointed, but I was also glad they canceled the trip.  I had mixed feelings about the tour - but I also didn't want to get up at 4:30 am the next day to try again.  So I spent the next couple of hours on top of the boat, bundled up in my rain gear, taking hundreds of pictures.  Hundreds of pictures that didn't really turn out worth a darn.

Here, though, are a couple to give you some idea of the weather:

I guess I should look on the bright side; without rain you can't have rainbows:


Yep, I'm mister sunshine!

When we got up on the 7th there was more rain.  After being cooped up during our stay in Franz Joseph, though, we decided to go ahead and try a short hike.  We hiked up to the Howden Hut, which was a 2-3 hour trek.  There wasn't anything to see (courtesy of the fog/clouds) but it beats sitting in the hotel room all day.

Tell your girlfriend Monica, that we're in Wanaka - 2 - 5 January 2009

After the glacier (and the rain) we got out of Franz Joseph and moved on to Wanaka.  It's not a large town, but after the bustling metropolis of Franz Joseph it's positively hopping.  

Digressing for a moment - Jen used up most of her Sudafed in Auckland, fighting her sinus infection.  Since then we've been looking for something with pseudoephedrine but no pain medication.  Unfortunately most towns we've been in are pseudoephedrine free.  Wanaka, however, had exactly what we were looking for.

We did one nice walk and one not-so-nice walk here.  We went up the Mt. Roy path which I expected to take about 5 hours.  Instead it took 7 and a half.  It was a complete and total beating.  Here's my best picture for all that effort:

Yep, sheep.  They may be cute, but they're not exactly rare in New Zealand.

The next day we went up to the Rob Roy glacier.  We got out much earlier and had the trail to ourselves on the way up.  This walk was a lot of fun.  There was a swinging bridge that reminded us of Nepal, and lovely scenery.

Here's a picture of a dried riverbed on the walk:

And here's man-ox with the glacier (or the washed-out part of the picture where the glacier should be):

Either no posts or a lot of posts - coming soon!

We're packing up to head on to Easter Island tomorrow morning.  Because of the flight schedule we'll be spending three days there, and I'm pretty sure that's too much time.

Of course I'm not sure what sort of Internet access we'll have, so I'll either be doing a lot of blogging, or none whatsoever.

Cheers!

Take me out (Franz Joseph Glacier) - 30 December 20008 - 2 January 2009

After our great Kayak adventure, we moved on South to the Franz Joseph glacier.

We noticed on the map that there was a place named "Cape Foulwind" and being the mature folks that we are, decided we needed to stop by.

In spite of the wind (and the picture below) the air is actually quite fresh:





Originally we planned to ice climb and whitewater raft while we were in town - Ice climbing on the 31st and rafting on the 1st. The rafting folks wanted us to move to the second, though, because it was supposed to rain on the first.

Instead, it rained on New Year's Eve - all day. Our climbing trip was canceled, so we took the opportunity to grab lunch and check out the entire town. That took about two hours. We ended up having a nice, quiet New Year's Eve in our hotel room.

The 1st was a beautiful day, though, and we got to go ice climbing. I really enjoyed it (more than Jen, certainly) although the loaner boots gave me a blister on my right heel that I've still got two weeks later.

Here are shots of both of us climbing, along with a shot of a tour group climbing the glacier:








On the second, it was raining again.  It rains so much that they have indoor ice climbing.

To the South Island (Taupo -> Wellington -> Motueka) - 27 - 30 December 2008

After Taupo we drove on down to Wellington where we spent the night and caught the Interislander ferry down to the South Island.  I can't say if it's one of the most beautiful ferry rides in the world; my ferry experience is somewhat limited.  I can say that it was relatively uneventful and that they do a nice job of providing distraction for any kiddos on board.  In addition to the two movie theaters (showing Madagascar 2 and High School Musical 3) they also have a play area and put on a magic show.

A word of advice if you ever end up on one of these ferry rides:  Get to the reclining chairs early.  We missed our chance and ended up sitting in one of the lounges.  Also, if you're asked if you want chocolate or cinnamon on your cappuccino, know that you can only choose one.  Jen tried to get both and got served a steaming cup of attitude.

We spent out time in Motueka at the Avalon Manor hotel, and it was really nice.  I'm noticing a trend, though.  All of the places we're staying have big flat-screen TVs, but no one has an HD signal.  Plus, you get about 6-10 channels.  Oh well, we're not really doing this trip to watch TV (or eat McDonald's).

In Motueka we went Kayaking.  This was my first time in a kayak, but I've been in a canoe plenty of times, so it wasn't too unsettling.  We went with Kaiteriteri Kayaks and had a very nice time.  We did the Seals and Remote Coast trip but in spite of the picture we never had a seal jump up on our kayak.

We did manage to get plenty close to seals, though.  Here's our guide, Gareth, offering up a high five:

Taupo - 23 - 27 December 2008

I already blogged about Christmas Day proper, but there was more to our stay in Taupo than just a nice hike on Christmas Day.

For one thing, I found out two disturbing things that need to be relayed to my friends at Yum!

1. http://www.yumfoodcompany.co.nz belongs to a deli/catering company that shares space with an (outstanding) wine store here.
2. KFC doesn't have biscuits!

I _love_ KFC biscuits, and Jennifer agreed on Christmas Eve that we could eat there.  We went into the store and gave the menu a once-over.  Then a twice-over, and finally a thrice-over.

Rolls, but no biscuits.  We ended up having dinner at McDonald's.  Which, BTW, does not have biscuits on their breakfast menu.  Oh well, add it to the list of food I'll be gorging on come May.

We visited Orakei Korako, a geothermal park well outside of town.  The weather wasn't very cooperative (which will become a theme over the coming days), but we still had a good time.  As usual, sulphurous air led to cries of "get the matches!"

Here are pictures of one of the mud pools and Elephant Rock, both from Orakei Korako:

The day after Christmas we went on the Tongariro Crossing trek.  This is a hike of roughly 18 kms (around 11 miles), and is marketed as the most famous one-day tramp in New Zealand.

I'm sure that it's spectacular when the weather cooperates, but we spent most of the trek in cloud.  Instead of a long, leisurely walk, everyone just went straight through as quickly as possible.

I think this sums it up nicely:

Old enough to know better, but I'm still too young to care (Rotorua, NZ) - 21 - 23 December 2008

(Alternative titles:  "Man-Hamster?", "Two sheep enter, one sheep leaves!")

On the off chance that you don't know, New Zealand is a hot spot for "Extreme" sports/activities.  It's the birthplace of bungy jumping and it seems like every town has at least two or three different activities available where you can risk life and limb in exchange for a few ducats.

The first time we came to Rotorua I saw pamphlets for something called a Zorb featuring the tag-line of "Be the Hamster" and glossy photos of people in a giant sphere, rolling down the side of a hill.  I was fascinated by the idea, but didn't do it.  I guess I was more responsible then.

Since that first visit, the Zorb has spread throughout the world, and was even featured in a Toyota commercial:

And I'm glad to say that this time both of us completed a zorb ride - although it really was a passive activity in our case.  They keep a list of people who manage to stay upright in the zorb but neither one of us stayed on our feet through the first curve.  It's still fun, though.

After the Zorb, we went to see the Agrodome sheep show.  We skipped it last time we were here, although Jen saw the show with her friend Cari when they came to New Zealand in 2003.  It takes about an hour, during which they introduce you to the different sheep in New Zealand, show you how they shear a sheep, and basically fulfill any lingering need you might have for sheep trivia.  Like most of these shows it caters to both little kids and Japanese tourists.  Evidently I'm about 30 years too old to be picked to milk a cow.  And yes, I'm still bitter.  Here's a picture of Jen being accosted by a sheep:

After that, we went to Skyline Skyrides where we both rode the luge and I rode the skyswing.

The next day we visited the Kiwi Lumberjack show, where Jen got picked for a log cutting competition.  She won, of course.  Unfortunately technical difficulties prevent me from uploading the video.  Maybe once we're somewhere with better connectivity.

And here's her prize:

After the show we toured the farm, and then we went to the Blue Lake on the outside of town.  It was very busy with people swimming and boating during their Christmas vacation, but once we got past those areas the path was quite peaceful.

For our evening's entertainment we attended the Te Po culture show.  This is the second one of these Jen's done, and she thought it was the better of the two.  At Te Po they actually pull audience members up on stage and let them participate.  There's actually video of me doing the Haka (or more accurately failing to do the Haka) but since this is my blog it's not going to be published here.

All in all an eventful and fun visit to Rotorua.

I'm not going to hurt you Wendy! (Sydney/Auckland) - 15 -20 December

We moved on to Sydney (again) and then on to Auckland, New Zealand.

Sydney was mostly just a stop to catch our breath and repack, but I had hoped to get out and see most of Auckland.

Alas, it wasn't to be.  Jen came down with a sinus infection and didn't really feel like getting out of the hotel room.  I walked around the downtown area a little bit, but didn't really do anything exciting.  In spite of the post's title, I didn't get _that_ stir crazy...

Yes I would like some cheese with my whine (Guam redux) - 14 December 2008

After Palau we had to get back to Australia.  This time we flew through Yap (Ray somehow knew that they had the biggest coins ever) to Guam and then to Cairns.

Once again, we got into Guam early in the morning and didn't leave until late at night, so I tried to string together the same arrangement of rental car + day room.  This time, though, the Day's Inn was full.

Since the Day's Inn isn't typically the gold standard in accommodation, I decided to book us into the Ramada (formerly the Imperial).  This turned out to be a mistake.

I don't know if we drew the short straw in the room lottery, or if all of the rooms in the hotel are arranged the same way, but this was the worst layout I've ever seen in any sort of living space.

Typically in a hotel room the bathroom will be carved out of one of the corners of the room.  This lets the builder use the room's outside walls for a bathroom wall, and creates more of an open space for the bed and furnishings.  Here, instead, they carved a bathroom out of the middle of one of the walls.  This created a room with two areas and a tiny hallway.

The area with the bed was too small for a person to walk on either side of the bed, while the other area was stuffed with too much furniture.

Compounding their mistake, they placed the air conditioner at ceiling level in the tiny hallway - meaning that it blew cold air out and immediately sucked it back in.  Effectively it thought the room was the same temperature as the air it blew out.  I had to crank the thing down to 15 degrees C (that's 59 F for you imperials) just to make it tolerable.

And we had a lovely view of the windows of another room in the same hotel - across a space of about 5 feet.  All of that to say if you're going to Guam, don't stay here.

After a few fitful hours of sleep we grabbed lunch at McDonald's.  Now I'm not exactly up on kid culture, but there were kids having a birthday party there and one of the workers had to wade into the melee in a full Hamburglar getup.  

I didn't realize the McDonald's characters were still around and publicised.

A brief word about the "bats" thing

Wondering what's up with all the bat references?

Several years ago we started having regular Scrabble sessions with our good friends Ray and Brooke.  Since we only lived about a block apart we could visit, have dinner, and play a nice game when we all had a free evening.

I didn't play Scrabble a lot as a kid.  I'd love to tell you it's because manly children don't play Scrabble but I was probably sitting in front of my Commodore 64 using a hex editor to alter the attributes of one of my characters in Wizard's Crown instead of doing something manly.  Suffice it to say that my tactical understanding of Scrabble is roughly equal to my tactical understanding of softball (which is an embarrassing story for another time).

And based on a cursory review of this blog, my spelling is not that great anyway

All of that to say that I had a tray full of letters that I couldn't do anything with, plus a blank tile.

Which I used to convert "bat" to "bats."  

This led to a marathon session of chop busting that is still referenced to this day.  In fact, Ray and Brooke adopted a bat at Carlsbad Caverns and named it Chadwick.  I hope that bat never commits such a faux pas.

(Oh, and in case you're curious - Brooke would regularly whup us at Scrabble.  She'd put down two tiles and make words in 8 different directions on a triple word score.  It scared me a little.)

Like survivor, but with food and no competition (Palau) - 6 -13 December 2008

After making several desperate calls to the cab companies in Sydney, we boarded the plane to start our journey to Palau

We began with a flight to Cairns, and then had to wait for our next flight which left after midnight. This flight (on Continental Micronesia) took us to Guam. The only problem is that it got us to Guam around 6 in the morning and our flight didn't leave until that night.

We managed to get a room at the Day's Inn for the day and grabbed some shut eye. Guam feels just like the United States – we ate at Subway, watched American television, and when we went to the airport we bought all the magazines we’ve been missing.

We spent two nights at the Palau Royal Resort before boarding the ship. It was nice enough but it caters to Japanese tourists so we had issues with the food choices for lunch and dinner. Also, the TV remote was in Japanese, so while I was able to figure out on/off, channel, and volume controls there was an array of other buttons that I just avoided on principal.

This was our first liveaboard dive experience, and I have to say that we really enjoyed it. We did a lot of diving, as you’d expect - 20 dives in a single week. We also took the Nitrox class, meaning that we’re certified to dive with enriched air. In case you’re curious, Jen still uses less air than I do by a significant margin. And yes, I managed to bite through a mouthpiece during the week that I used it.

Here are a couple of pictures that the crew took while we were diving in the ocean:




We also got to visit a jellyfish lake, which you may have seen on Survivor Palau. We snorkeled here, spending about an hour swimming and watching the millions of jellyfish swim around us:

Little iPhone Lost - 5 December 2008

We made a mad dash to the airport to catch our flight to Palau (via Guam).  We stayed up late the night before packing and all of the synapses weren't firing.

When we pulled up to the terminal, I put my iPhone in airplane mode, and must have left it in the back of the taxi.  I didn't get a receipt, and honestly don't even know what taxi company it was from.

When I realized it was lost I was despondent.  Jen watched me sit on a bench outside the terminal writing down the phone numbers for all the cab companies.  She also tried calling my phone, but since it was in airplane mode (and locked) there was no luck.

All of that to say I no longer have a phone, and probably won't until we're back in the States for awhile.  It's been about a month - I'm starting to accept that it's gone.

It does make the phantom phone ringing even more ridiculous, though.

Jen didn't know what phantom phone ringing is.  It's when you think your phone is ringing in your pocket even thought it's not.  In my case it even happens when there isn't a phone in your pocket.

Sydney - 1 -5 December 2008

After Lizard Island, we moved on to Sydney.  We had a belated Thanksgiving dinner (traditional steak, yum!), did some shopping for our impending dive trip, and spent a morning at the zoo.

It's funny - when you sign up for the guided zoo tour they expect you to have kids with you.  The poor women (both elderly volunteers) did a double take when they realized it was just Jen and me.  They rallied quickly, though, and did a nice job taking us through the zoo.

We saw a koala:

We also saw an echidna getting into some food that wasn't meant for him.  Before this picture he was actually hanging onto the bowl upside down, but I wasn't fast enough with the camera to get that:

Then there were the Quokkas.  We had never heard of these rat-looking things before, but there were two of them running around in the pen for zoo school.  The funny part was hearing one of our guides refer to them as "Naughty Quokkas" in an Australian accent.  Try saying it - I'll wait:

Last, but not least, here's some video of a bat coming over to say hello.  Too bad there weren't bats (plural):

Lizard Island - 26 - 30 November

After our out and back on the Great Ocean Road we left Melbourne to fly to Cairns and then on to Lizard Island.  This resort, on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, was our favorite place when we came in 2003.  It's especially nice if you dive, since it is an easy day trip to several sites that can normally only be reached on a live aboard.

One of these sites is the Cod Hole where the dive operators are allowed to feed giant potato cod.  The practice is so well established that the cod are like large underwater dogs.  They follow the dive master as soon as he or she hits the water and demand their treats.

Unfortunately the red bass in the area also know the drill, and they can occasionally bite.  I guess they are ill-tempered sea bass.  Thankfully we didn't have any mishaps.

Here's a picture of me, playing the part of the Cod Whisperer:

Image courtesy:  Jennifer Hodges

The following were all taken during a snorkel during our last day on Lizard:

And if you didn't spot the octopus above, here's some (admittedly shaky) video: