Livin' in a van down by the river

Well, we're not always by the river but we are living in a van.  A small converted minivan.  Renting a camper van is a popular way to see New Zealand as it provides a lot of flexibility and an easy way to see the famous scenery.  It allows us to be more independent and get out into the countryside.  (For that reason we have little access to internet, blogging, emails, etc.)  Our new home has two benches that can be converted into a bed at night.  Underneath the benches is some storage space for our clothes, back packs, cooking supplies, and food.  In the trunk area we have a tiny pump sink, cooler box, and gas burner.  It's wonderful to have our bags unpacked and feel like we have a home.  We bought some bins and trays to make the most of the small storage space.  Mom would be extremely proud.

We landed in Christchurch (on the east coast of the South Island) late on Valentine's Day and spent 2 nights there.  We were able to meet up with our friend Sasha who lives about an hour north of the city.  She recently spent 2 months in a camper van so it was great to get advice from her, catch up, and hang out.  Then we picked up our van and started driving south and west across the island.  The country is incredibly well set up for this kind of travel with lots of public bathrooms, picnic areas, and cheap campsites.  They have free maps and brochures to help you find camping spots and good walking trails.  Our first night was spent under some trees on a beach in a cove.  Another night we just pulled off the road into a turn-off and spent the night next to the beach and crashing waves.  Our first few days in the van we drove through some quaint gold mining towns that still look like they did in the 1860s.  The drive across the island was full of expansive valley and mountain views with almost no houses in between the scattered small towns. 

We arrived in Queenstown (near the west coast) which is situated on the shores of a bright blue lake with huge mountains rising all around.  It's a very popular place to do adventure activities and we hadn't seen so many people in one place our whole time here.  We met up with our friends Alex and Matt who planned their own vacation here in order to do a trek with us.  We soaked up the sunshine in the park with New Zealand wines and enjoyed Western meals. 

Our trek was one of New Zealand's most famous: the four day Milford Track which is on the west coast and ends at the Milford Sound.  There are only 40 independent "trampers" allowed to start the track each day.  We had to book it back in August!  Each night we stayed in a hut that had a kitchen area with gas burners and bunk rooms.  We carried our clothes, food, cooking utensils, and sleeping bags.  Being with Alex and Matt made the trek for us.  It was great to have time to talk while hiking and to share the experience with friends.  We hiked through beech rainforest and along rivers and lakes through the valley floor.  Our third day of hiking provided our best views.  When we reached the highest point we could see down into two huge valleys lined by green mountains and waterfalls.  It usually rains all the time but we got very lucky and had clear views into the distance.  During the hike we also saw several birds including the national bird, the kiwi.  The walk ended at Milford Sound which was carved out by glaciers and is now flanked by mountains covered in waterfalls.  We took a boat cruise out on the water to get a better view then headed back to civilization.

Alex and Matt flew to the North Island today while we returned to our van to continue touring the South Island.  We'll be heading up the west coast, through some national parks, and then cross to the North Island for our final week.  Since we are usually in remote areas we don't have consistent access to internet so our next blog may not be for awhile.  But we'll be able to share our stories in person soon!

Beach, diving, and luxury

Our last week and a half has been great. (Unfortunately, our memory card reader isn't compatible with our new memory card, so we're not able to post any pictures right now. We're sure our descriptions won't be able to do justice to our surroundings.)

We spent 10 days with Andrew who just completed a trip to many of the same places that we've visited on this trip. He's looking for work in Singapore and flew to Bali to meet up with us. the entire time was a lot of fun. The three of us, along with Andrew's girlfriend and her sister, drove to the northwest coast to Menjangan. The best diving in Bali is here, and we spent the next couple days diving in this beautiful area. Alex spent her time on the boat, snorkelling, and relaxing by the pool at our private villa. The diving was great. It's the rainy season, so visibility wasn't as good as it could be, but Chris et. al saw lots of beautiful fish, as well as sea turtles and a white-tip reef shark. The area is essentially a wall of coral that descends vertically for hundreds of feet. At one site the current whipped us along the wall for over a quarter mile, which was exhilirating.

We then headed to the opposite side of the island to Sanur, where Andrew recently lived for a couple months. It was nice to see where Andrew lived, and the town has a beautiful beach. We also got great massages for $7 for an entire hour's massage in a setting that was as nice as any spa either of us had been to.

From Sanur, we traveled a long day to the Gili islands off of Lombok (Lombok is the next island 5 hours by boat to the east of Bali). The three small Gilis are the epitome of tropical paradise. Gili Meno is the quiet, almost uninhabited one; Gili Trawangan is the party island; and Gili Air's atmosphere is in between the two. We spent the next four nights on Gili Air. (During this time, Andrew's girlfriend became his ex-girlfriend, so we separated from her and her sister.) It's a small island completely surrounded by beautiful white-sand beaches. There are no cars or motos or even paved roads; the only transport is by horse-drawn buggy. It only takes a couple hours to walk around the entire island. We stayed in a lovely bungalow from one of the island's dive shops. Since Chris and Andrew were diving we got a great deal. The days for Chris and Andrew were spent diving -- it wasn't quite as beautiful as Menjangan but they still saw lots of fish and more white-tip sharks. The coolest fish was the school of bumphead parrotfish -- these big fish (about 5 feet long) have huge foreheads and big buckteeth that they use to eat coral. We had our lunches and dinners at small restaurants that were right on the beach, which featured lots of freshly caught seafood. Overall, Gili Air was one of our top places on this entire trip.

We spent our last night on Gili Trawangan. It's more built up than Gili Air but still has a similar feel. And it's reputation as a party island is well-deserved. The clubs blast music until 5 in the morning. It was a fun time, although the hour of sleep we got wasn't the best fuel for our long trip back to Bali the next morning.

We've now spent the last several days in Ubud, the cultural capital of Bali. It's a great city with lots of shops, an abundance of art galleries, nice architecture, and the island's best food. It's the type of city to just chill out and explore for a few days. We spent one last night with Andrew where we had a great dinner and took in a cultural dance show. The setting, at night in front of a lit-up temple, was gorgeous.

And then, the luxury. Alex's friends gave us a gift certificate to the Four Seasons, which we've used in Ubud. This was without question the nicest hotel either of us had ever stayed in. Located a mile west of the city center, it's situated in a lush valley over a river. The hotel doesn't even have regular rooms, only suites and villas. Our suite was a two-story place with 30 foot windows looking out onto the valley. Upstairs was a powder room, a balcony, and a large living room with a big flatscreen TV. Downstairs was the bedroom, master bathroom with awesome shower and big tub, and another big balcony with chaises. Everything about the hotel was perfect -- complimentary fruit throughout the day, a big infinity pool overlooking the river, etc. They even lent sneakers to us for the gym, since we didn't bring any on this trip. The changing areas were more like spas than locker rooms. And off the gym were three smaller infinity pools (cold, hot, neutral temperatures), which had beautiful views.

We spent three nights there, and unfortunately were starting to get used to the luxury. Tonight we begin a long trip to New Zealand where accomodations will be a little different -- we've rented a camper van, which is what we'll be using for almost the entire time we're in the country. The camper van is essentially a mini-van with bedding and cooking equipment. We're excited and think it'll be a lot of fun; but it's no Four Seasons.

Beautiful Bali

After our wonderful time in Laos we spent a few days in Thailand.  First we stayed in Chang Rai, in the north, and visited a museum about the Golden Triangle, an area known for opium production.  The museum was high-tech and interactive, one of the best we've been to in Asia.  It traced the history of opium production through to today and its effects on society.  Then we spent a couple nights in Bangkok.  On our first day we had a chance to see the world's largest weekend market.  It certainly was extensive.  They sold everything from clothes to ceramics to garden tools.  It was easy to spend about four hours just in one of the sections of endless rows of stalls.  The next day we visited the impressive Royal Palace compound with its seemingly never-ending wats, temples, and ornate decoration.  We also visited another famous wat that has a HUGE gold reclining buddha in it.  Then it was an early flight to Bali.  The pictures do better justice to our time here to far than words could.

The first day we took a taxi south from the airport to a beach called Pedang Pedang, known for great surfing.  We had trouble finding a room until we luckily stumbled upon this gem.  It was certainly rustic (fan, thatched roof and bamboo building, outdoor cold shower, separate outdoor squat toilet) but charming and welcoming.  From our porch we could watch the surfers and the beautiful ocean.  At night we listened to the waves.  Two surfers were staying in the room next to us for months and were really friendly.  It was a great, low-key way to start our time here.

The beach nearby was gorgeous and practically deserted.  We were wishing we'd had time to stay one extra night.  But we had already booked our room at Le Meridien on the west coast so we left around noon.

Before the hotel we stopped to see Pura Ulu Watu, a famous seaside temple near Padang Padang.  It's set out on a cliff.  The temple compound is full of grabby monkeys so you have to guard your camera and take off jewelry.  The temple was nice but it was really the view that made it worth it.

Ahhhhh...the view from our balcony at Le Meridien.  The room was beautiful and it was so great to be back in air conditioning. The pool area was very fun, complete with a long waterslide.  There were private covered beds along the ocean's edge that you could relax in.  Our two days here were mostly just spent relaxing by the pool.

This is the temple Pura Tanah Lot that was a five minute walk from the hotel.  This picture was taken from their golf course.  It's apparently the most photographed temple in Bali (and there are a LOT of temples) because of it's picturesque setting out on this island of rock.  The clouds and sunset behind it were pretty amazing.  Luckily for us there were also a bunch of food stalls nearby so that's where we ate lunches and dinners.

After Tanah Lot we went to a small town called Munduk in the central highlands.  This was very different from being by the beach.  The area is much cooler and rainier than the coast.  It's lush, green, and there are rice fields and plantations throughout the area.  We hired a guide to take us on a walk that led us through cacao, coffee, and clove plantations and to two waterfalls.  Along the pathways we saw jackfruit, durian, bananas, pineapple, mango, and many other tropical fruits.  Later that night we were invited to a Bali wedding.  The groom was our hotel owner's grandson.  The reception was very relaxed with people coming and going as they pleased.  The bride and groom spent a few minutes greeting each guest.  We had some dinner from their buffet and many homemade sweets.  We were honored to be included and it was neat to see this cultural ritual.

That's all for now!  We're obviously loving our time here and have just joined up with our friend Andrew.