Foreign Lands

-- Beautiful quote taken from Bucketlistly.com --

Recent Travels // May 2016

A lot of things have happened since my most recent post, which was way back in 2015. Obviously I've done a terrible job of keeping up-to-date on blogging, but life got busy! And over the past year I made a point to enjoy the day-to-day instead of posting photos and stories publicly. (I do, however, still maintain a Flickr account, where I regularly post photos of my travels and day-to-day activities).

Here are a few of my favourite photos from my recent travels, which have included a road trip on New Zealand's gorgeous North Island, island hopping in the Philippines, a quick trip to re-visit Kuala Lumpur, and some family visits in Canada and the US.

^ Jays Game with family in Toronto, Ontario

^ Gorgeous Lake Waikaremoana in New Zealand

^ Beach Art on Wellington's South Coast (New Zealand)

^ Decorations on a historic church in Intramuros (Manila, Philippines)

^ Sunset from Eastland, New Zealand.

To quote Kevin Arnold from the Wonder Years, “Growing up doesn’t have to be a straight line, but a series of advances and retreats.”

John Muir

Taken from The Clymb's weekly email - I love John Muir and never actually knew this about him!

TODAY IN ADVENTURE

Muir Begins 1,000-Mile Trek

On September 2nd (that’s today!), 1867, the American naturalist-explorer, John Muir, left Louisville, Kentucky to begin his Thousand-mile trek to the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier that year, Muir had temporarily blinded himself while working as a sawyer. After spending six weeks in a dark room to recover, he re-committed his life to follow his dreams. So at the age of 29, he set off on this life-changing Thousand-mile journey with no planned route, and only a vague sense of his destination, but it would lead him down the path to becoming "the patron saint of the American Wilderness."

Windy Wellington

It's been five days since Josh and I arrived in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, and boy it's been great! I can honestly say this is the coolest, most vibrant capital city I've been to (albeit the smallest-- with a population of 200,000).

What makes it great? Tons of eclectic cafes and bars, really walkable, lots of free museums, better weather than the South Island, and very friendly people. We're really enjoying ourselves so far, although the job hunt does get frustrating. And parking is a nightmare, but that's any city...

Here's the Wikipedia synopsis of the city, just as an overview: "Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, sits near the North Island’s southernmost point on the Cook Strait. A compact city, it encompasses a waterfront promenade, sandy beaches, a working harbour and colourful timber houses on surrounding hills. Though sunny and mild most of the year, strong winter winds through the Cook Strait give it the nickname Windy Wellington." 



And windy it is! It's the southern hemisphere equivalent to Chicago, although I must admit I've never actually been to Chicago. Compared to Washington DC, it's less historic, more compact, has a beautiful harbour, and way more cool cafes and bars in a 20-minute radius. And it's so hilly-- it's like San Francisco with its steep, narrow side-streets. We cheer for our van each time we make it up a monster hill.



Anyway, the job hunt is going well so far. Josh and I both have interviews lined up, so hopefully we'll be employed before the Queen's Birthday holiday (June 1st). Until then, we're spending some time getting to know the city and hanging out with a friend from Sydney. Things are definitely looking up! Have a great rest of your weekend...

// lake tekapo //

Supervention Soundtrack

Queen Charlotte Sounds

Okay, so I'm finally trying to update my blog a little more regularly...

Currently, Josh and I are in a place called Picton, which is at the top right of the South Island.

It's a very small town, but the surrounding areas are so beautiful. Last night we watched the sun set over the town from a scenic viewpoint... it was nice to finally see the sun for a little while! (For the past week we have had non-stop downpours with zero sun). Just north of Picton is an area called the Queen Charlotte Sounds, which is a collection of hundreds of little inlets around a bay. Although driving the road that leads there is pretty nerve-wracking, we're glad we did it.

Picton is also the place to catch a ferry across the Cook Strait, which is the area between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. And it costs a pretty penny... for the van and two people it'll cost almost $300 NZD. Yikes!

Anyway, here are a few more pictures from our adventures...

^ Mirrored lake near Franz Josef Glacier

^ Accomplishing the tricky "DSLR Selfie"

^ Driving past Lake Hawea, near Wanaka

^ Waterfalls everywhere along the Haast Highway

^ One of my favourite birds here- this is the Fantail

Lindi's Pass, South Island, NZ

Posting from Franz Joseph, NZ

Hello, all! Currently I am in a place called Franz Joseph, New Zealand. It's on the West Coast of the South Island in a province called Westland... and home to the Franz Joseph Glacier. We are actually in a UNESCO World Heritage Area, as the Southern Alps meet lush rainforest meets the sea. It's a really geologically diverse place, to say the least. I just wish it would stop raining! It's been pouring for the past few days, and the 10-day forecast predicts nothing but showers and heavy downpours. :(

So, I have yet to see the glacier, but until then I am holed up in a pretty awesome hostel. Free unlimited wi-fi, free pastries and soup in the evenings, and then free breakfast in the morning. A nice break from living out of a campervan for the past 6 weeks, that's for sure!

Last week Josh and I were in Queenstown, which is supposedly the "Adventure Capital of the World"... which is complete crap in my opinion. They really stuff it down your throats there- everything is named something ridiculous like "Adventure this" or "Extreme that". You can't walk anywhere in that congested little town without being almost-hit by angry speeding drivers, probably on their way to a bungy jump. Totally not a relaxing place to be.

The town attracts quite an interesting crowd of adventure seekers, mostly (in my opinion) the ones who just want cool pictures of them looking adventurous and extreme for their Facebook profile pictures and Instagram feeds. I even had my iPhone stolen in the Queenstown Public Library by a backpacker. Yes- the librarian did see it happen. No- she didn't do or say anything because she "thought it might be his." And no- the library doesn't have close circuit cameras, so they couldn't give me a more detailed description of the guy other than "tall" and "barefooted". :(

We did meet some awesome people at our hostel, though. There were three British 22-year olds, Huw, Ryan, and Declan (all friends from back home), who were a hoot to hang out with. Really down to earth, hilarious guys who had loads of funny travel stories to share... as they just finished up traveling through Southeast Asia together. Josh and I were really glad to have met them.

The areas surrounding Queenstown are absolutely stunning. We stopped so many times during hikes and drives just to take in the beautiful scenery. We spent some time visiting Mt. Aspiring National Park, Lake Sylvan, Kinloch, and Paradise. Below are a few pictures of our 4 day exploration:

After Queenstown, we visited Wanaka, which is my favourite place in New Zealand so far. Similar to Queenstown, but much smaller and laid-back. Josh and I really enjoyed our time there. After Wanaka we took the Haast Highway to Haast, and then drove north up to Fox Glacier and Franz Joseph Glacier. It's been raining non-stop since we left Wanaka, so it's been difficult to live out of a campervan... hence why we're now at a backpackers. :)

I am currently uploading heaps of photos to Flickr, so feel free to check them out! I will try to do a better job updating this blog, but of course that's entirely dependent on having internet.

x

لا أبحث عن نصفي الأخر لأنني لستُ نصفًا

-I'm not searching for my other half because I'm not a half.

Getting Started in Christchurch

Wow! It's definitely been a while since I've updated this blog. I'm trying to think of where I left off! Josh and I traveled around Indonesia (specifically Bali and Lombok islands) for almost a month, and then we headed to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for almost two weeks. Unfortunately, I got really, really sick while in KL, and so our 3-day visit there was extended to almost 2 weeks. After 3-4 days of having a fever and sleeping all day and night, I finally had to seek the help of antibiotics to fight whatever sinus/throat infection my body was battling. It was kind of scary, to be honest, as I haven't ever felt that low and sick while traveling. Ever.

After a few days of actually being able to go out and explore the city of Kuala Lumpur, we flew to Sydney, Australia, and spent five days at the home of Josh's aunt and uncle. We rested, visited Cronulla Beach, and sorted through all of our luggage. We decided to donate some books and clothing in order to make our "checked baggage requirements" for our Jetstar flight to Christchurch, New Zealand... which is where we are currently. (It's hard to keep track, I know).

We have been here in New Zealand for almost a week, and our days have consisted mostly of administrative tasks (setting up bank accounts, filing for tax numbers, etc) and looking for used cars. For those of you who don't know, I am here with Josh on a "working holiday visa", which is a 1-year visa that allows us to work and explore the country. The weather here has been less-than-optimal --cloudy, rainy, and cold-- so we are looking to get out of this city as soon as possible. Also, the effects of the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 have had lasting effects here in Christchurch. It feels almost apocalyptic, with empty/abandoned homes, roadwork everywhere, and rundown shops.

Anyway, I seem to be updating my flickr photo page way more often than my blog (possibly because uploading photos requires much less writing, and I have an 'all-or-nothing' approach to blog posts... I like to write a lot, and when I don't have the time or energy, I just put it off). So, if you'd like to see some of my photos from the past 4 months, here is a link to my photo page. :)

I hope you are happy and well wherever you are in this world, and that you have a day full of sunshine. Surprisingly enough, it's a sunny morning here, so I'm going to enjoy a cup of coffee in the warm light. Enjoy your weekend!

Monkey Forest Sanctuary

Today we walked down to a place called the "Monkey Forest Sanctuary", where there are over 700 Balinese long-tailed monkeys. After paying 30,000 Indonesian Rupiah (about three Australian dollars) for admission, we were able to walk around and interact with the monkeys... which was interesting, frightening at times (let's just say I witnessed a monkey, probably the "alpha male", try to seduce a Japanese girl by laying on its back with its arms spread, its legs up in the air, and a big 'ol monkey erection pointed in her direction. Yikes!!), yet extremely hilarious at other times. Let this day go down in history as THE day when my boyfriend got pissed on by a monkey. And, just for clarification, this was no small amount of urine...

If you can picture this situation, please try. It's hilarious. Okay, so Josh was trying to feed a monkey by holding out his hand full of corn kernels. His hand was high above his head, so that a monkey would eventually jump onto him and perch for the quintessential Monkey Forest snapshot (which one did). However, once the kernels were gone, the monkey decided that he had to pee, and it absolutely could not wait. Believe you me, I will upload photos as soon as I can!

Indonesia

Wow, so we are in INDONESIA! I have hardly had time to update my blog to include my crazy Australia adventures, let alone this newfound Indonesian adventure. Today we went trekking through some rice paddies in a tropical rainstorm, and then visited some beautiful temples and sampled some delicious coffee and kombucha. Ubud, Bali, is truly a wonderful place! Here are a few pictures (until I have more time and bandwidth to upload more). Love you all!! x

Perth to Bali, Indo

Nothing beats trying to get some shut-eye awaiting an early-morning flight. Countdown 'til a proper night's rest in Bali!

Happy Christmas!

I've been traveling all over Australia and haven't had a chance to update this blog... So here are a few pictures from my travels so far. I hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. :)

x

^ Great Ocean Road, Victoria Australia

Welcome to SYDNEY, Australia!

I have just spent three weeks in one of the world's best cities... and here are some of my pictures thus far. (Technically it's been two weeks, since I traveled to the highlands to volunteer on an organic farm for 8 days). There are so many interesting things about this city- from the harbours and beaches and neighbourhoods... and the overwhelming public transit options ranging from light rail to subway trains to buses and ferries. I can honestly say that even on the days when I have 8 hours to explore by myself, I have yet to run out of something new to do/see, and I've met fellow travellers and locals along the way. I managed to get myself lost in a nearby beach town and hitchhiked twice to get back to where I needed to go. Haha! Although I must say that it's freaking expensive here. Yikes. It costs me about a dollar per banana at the grocer, which is how I gauge cost of living while traveling. I'd say most things are at least 2-3x more expensive here than in North America. (Except petrol, which is about the same as in the Toronto area). Let's just say I wish I applied for a working visa, even for the brief time I'll be here. It would've been nice to have subsidised my city stay a bit. Yikes!!

My favourite places so far?

• Royal Botanical Gardens- a huge, free park right beside the Opera House and Harbour Bridge with tons of walking trails and interesting things to see. I like the rose garden and the Government House, although I almost got arrested at the latter. Not even joking- I was with two other travellers I met while walking and we supposedly crossed a "no entry" boundary. Let's just say the officer was not a happy camper.
• The Bondi to Coogee Walk- which is a 5km trail on the rugged cliffs along the ocean from Bondi Beach (one of Sydney's main beaches) south to Coogee Beach. What a beautiful walk... Here is a picture of Bondi Beach from along the pathway:

• Newtown (neighbourhood)- full of interesting and eclectic restaurants, bars, shoppes, and graffiti... this district is super bohemian and forward-thinking (aka anti-capitalist and pretty hippie). Always great festivals and shows here. 

^ Hyde Park

^ Harbour Bridge

 ^ Sydney Fish Market and some Graffiti near Darling Harbour

^ beautiful purple trees everywhere!  ^ Chinese Friendship Garden 

^ Moustache Cafe in Manly  ^ Manly Wharf at sunset

 

^ Aboriginal-style art graffiti in Newtown  ^ more street art in Newtown 

^ graffiti somewhere in the CBD :)  Love this.

^ Bird of Paradise flower at the farm  ^ The other farm volunteers from Europe

^ Volunteering at Peppercorn Creek Farm just south of Sydney