VicariouslyBob

White Sands and Blue Waters

As I sat on the night bus not having fun, I tried to keep focusing on the cruise I had signed up for the following day and not the uncomfortable seats. I had heard amazing things about the sailing experience and had high hopes. I’d seen enough of pictures and postcards to know that the area was spectacular. Now if the bus would just hurry up and get me to Airlie Beach I would be immensely happy.

Doubtful Verse

Sorry for the interuption of OZ posts, but the other day was beyond words - or at least words I know.

I took a trip to a place called Doubtful Sound on the South Island and was moved to write poetry (or at least haiku). There was a stretch (maybe about 13 km) that was perhaps the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life. Out of this world.

Snow capped mountains poked through misty clouds. The snow was replaced by a temperate rain forest as the hills fell into dark green valleys. The beech trees were wild - they didn't have any leaves and the branches were twisted and covered with moss and ferns. It was so beautiful and its frustrating to know I can't describe it adequately.

Of course, I was in a bus and it was killing me that there was no way to stop and take pictures or even take a closer look, but it was awesome. Unfortunately, the bus tour or a multi-day walk are the only ways to reach this place easily. For the trip I was on, we took a 45 min boat ride to the bus for 22 km then 3 hours on another boat in a only slightly less spectacular place.

Perhaps it is fitting that I only have memories of it and not photos.

Today will be a top 5 highlight from my trip.

Eventually (in the next week) I'll get some photos of the cruise on Doubtful Sound posted.

Finding Nemo

Other than sugar cane farming, Cairns is primarily known as a tourist gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and Cape York. The town isn’t that large and is primarily made of hotels, restaurants and crap shops (a.k.a. stores that cater to tourists). I was staying in a 6 person dorm room at a brand new backpacker’s hostel called Gilligan’s. And other than the Sheratons I stayed at in Vietnam and Bangkok, this was the nicest place I’d stayed at on the trip - except for the fact that I would be sharing my room with 5 others.

Oz- in the Beginning

Walking around Sydney felt odd for the first couple of days. For the first time in 6 weeks, I was just like everyone else (probably a bit stranger but only you guys know that). After walking around Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Bangkok for 7 weeks I was no longer the minority. Gone also was cheap food. Air-conditioned rooms with satellite TV for $ 8. Strange & exotic people. Eating un-identifiable food hoping not to get sick.

My friend Wade was nice enough to let me crash at his place during my stay in Sydney. His flat was in Waverly which is quite close to Bondi Beach and was a great place to base myself and also free. Since I didn’t have a plan for my Australia trip and more importantly, didn’t have any warm clothes, my first day was spent wandering over to the mall at Bondi Junction to buy warm clothes and to visit travel agents to sort out the rest of my time in Oz.

That day, I also had the first of what turned out to be a staple of my Aussie diet. No, I ‘m not talking about beer, although that was a big part of my nutritional pyramid. I’m talking about the humble pie. We really don’t have an equivalent in the states, although I suppose a chicken pot pie is probably the closest comparison. If there was a pie completition in Athens, I think the Aussie’s would be up on the top of the podium. The pies in Oz were awesome. Flakey crust filled with all sorts of savory fillings: Beef and peas, beef and mushroom, lamb and veggies, Beef Burgundy, Thai chicken, etc. The pie quickly became my food of choice, especially after a night out.

I had planned on 17 days in total and had a shortish list of places I wanted to see. After consulting with a couple of travel agents it was pretty much sorted out. A couple of days in Sydney followed by a trip up to Queensland for diving and a sailing trip on the Whitsunday Islands. Then it got a bit more vague and was dependant on my ability to get tee times at a couple of golf courses in Melbourne, which ultimately worked out. After Melbourne, I needed to return to Sydney to catch my flight to Auckland.

With my plans sorted out, I headed out to see the main sights in town. The weather was spectacular as I strolled around the harbour. The Opera House looks like all the pictures you’ve seen, yet is still very impressive. The Harbour Bridge is a big bridge - not that amazing as bridges go, but a nice complement to the skyline. I also spent one afternoon riding the ferry from Circular Quay out to Manly and then back again at sunset. One morning, after having brunch with Wade and his girlfriend Carmen, I walked up the coast from Coogee to Bondi Beach and then hung out in Bondi working on the internet and booking a sailing trip for the Whitsunday Islands. That pretty much sums up the major point on my itinerary for my initial stop in Sydney.

Overall, I really enjoyed Sydney but it lacked the exotic edge that I’d grown accustomed to in Asia. My conclusion was that it would have been better to visit in the summer when the beaches were warmer and it would be an amazing place to live. But the best part about my visit was hanging out with my old and new friends. Watching the Australia vs. England rugby match with Wade and his mates. Catching up with my B-school friend, Guy, for beers one night. Having a Vietnam reunion/Darling Harbour pub crawl with Lucy, Sue and Sean was a blast. These are the thing that stood out as I headed off to the airport for my trip to Cairns.

I’ve posted some pictures of Sydney in an album called Oz the Beginning.

Weeks = Days

In addition to my pathetic ability to spell - which has been noted and will be reflected in the quality of the gifts the commentee(s) will receive upon my return - I appartently can't differentiate between weeks and days when writing mass e-mails.

Let me correct my error.

I only spent 18 DAYS in Australia, not 18 weeks.

I think the typo was wishful thinking, especially since it is very cold on the South Island of NZ. The low temp will be -4 C tonight with a high of 6 C on Sat. Not quite swimsuit weather.

If I survive my adventure at the Cardrona Alpine Resort in the morning(40 minutes north of Queenstown), I'll be updating the site later this week.

Where I've been....

....and where I'm at.

San Deigo. Los Angeles.

Hong Kong Airport

Vietnam: Hanoi. Halong Bay. Sapa. Hue. Nah Trang. Dalat. Mue Ne. Ho Chi Minh City. Cantho. Chau Doc.

Cambodia: Phnom Penh. Siam Reap.

Laos: Vientiane (only 30 minutes so it really doesn't count). Vang Vien. Luang Prabang

Thailand: Bangkok

Hong Kong Airport (again)

Australia: Sydney. Cairns. Cape Tribulation. Airlie Beach. Whitsunday Islands. Melbourne (Via Mackay). Sydney

New Zealand: Auckland. Bay of Islands(Paihia). Rotorua. Waitomo. Wangarui. Wellington. Kaikoura. Christchurch (This is where I am at the time of this writing - the pink line on the map is the plan for the next week). Correction. I'm in Franz Joseph on the west coast and will have completed a one day glacier hike by the time you have read this. After I leave Queenstown I really don't have a clue which way I am going to travel. I wanted to do a trek at the Milford Sound but the route is closed due to winter. Maybe another trek somewhere else. We'll see.

For the geographically challenged, I've tried to map out my route as specifically as I could on the attached maps for you to follow along with. The dashed lines represent flights.

Bangkok....

Not a lot to say about Bangkok. It is a very boring place.

I reckon that you could have more fun at a dramatic reading of the Salt Lake City White Pages or at a scrapbooking convention than on the streets of Bangkok. I basically ate cookies, drank milk and played solitaire on my computer in my hotel room for two days while waiting for my flight to Sydney.

Yawn!

Laos

Is our hero alive?

In our previous episode…

The State Department warning about Laos Airlines replayed over and over in my head as I boarded the flight from Siam Reap to Vientiane the next morning wishing I had some Valium.

Tune in next time to see if I make it alive and unharmed to Laos…

Angkor Wat?

Once in Siam Reap, I loaded all of my stuff on a motorcycle taxi at the airport and went to Smiley’s Guest House. After a nap and a shower, I strolled around town for a couple of hours and had a delightful lunch of some sort of curry. Other than its proximity to one of the most famous temples in the world, Siam Reap doesn’t really have anything of note to see other than a bunch of shops that cater to the tourists in town to visit Angkor Wat.

Upriver to Cambodia: Heading to Phnom Penh

There were very few details about the logistics of the border crossing except that we would be leaving our comfortable boat and getting a different one to Phnom Penh. We pulled to shore and waited for 20 minutes for the guide to come get us for immigration control. Slightly upriver was a small house with two red and white gates and a Vietnamese flag flying above and then about 50 yards past that was another house with a Cambodian flag - the border. Other than that is was unremarkable. Not surprisingly, there were no big signs saying, “Welcome to Cambodia, Have a very Khmer Day.”