Honeymoon

New Zealand, South Island

Hi All-
It is with mixed emotions that I write this blog entry. We just left New Zealand and arrived in Bora Bora (our plane just happened to be stopping in Tahiti on the way home). While we have immensely enjoyed our travels, I think both Steph and I are ready to return home, sleep in our own bed, cook our own food, develop a regular routine again, and most importantly see our friends and family.

Since our last update a few days ago we have driven over 1,000 miles around the coast of the South Island and experienced some of the wonders New Zealand has to offer. We had an incredible time at Fox Glacier; hiking, climbing, sliding and crawling into and around the various crevices, caves and other ice formations. While the day started off beautiful, the clouds moved in quickly and we had to be taken off the glacier quickly to avoid being stuck there for the evening. We made our way up to Nelson and Abel Tasman national park in order to hike from one beautiful bay to another. We weren’t disappointed…and were lucky enough to come upon 50+ dolphins eating and playing just off the coast. We were also treated to the most intense rain/hail either of us has ever seen just minutes after we returned from our hike. Finally, we spent our last few days soaking up the beauty of the coastline and stopping in some of the charming coastal towns before returning to Christchurch to catch our departing flight.

I’m guessing we will have only one more/final blog entry from this special journey. Thanks for all your emails and comments. It has kept us from getting homesick and made our trip even more special. We eagerly await coming home and seeing everyone.

Brian & Steph

Milford Track, New Zealand

Hi all-
We just returned to Queenstown after spending the past 4 days hiking the 33.5 mile Milford Track in Fiordland National Park, New Zealand. A little sore and with a blister (or two) to show for our efforts (see Steph’s feet pictured below…new hiking boots might not have been the best idea!!!), we have been spoiled by the magnificent scenery of the past few days.

Massive rainfalls in the days leading up to (and beginning of) our trip, made for an auspicious start as the lake which you must cross to begin the trek had risen rapidly and the boat dock was 2 feet underwater when we arrived. However, the cold and rainy start made the next two days of perfect weather even more special as we thought we wouldn’t see the sun our entire trip. Walking along the trail in the lush green forest alongside countless rivers, streams, lakes and waterfalls, we were in awe of the massive peaks rising from both sides of the canyon floor.

Did I mention waterfalls? The rain from the previous days caused water to cascade down the mountainsides in thousands of waterfalls. It was magical! On our third day, we were also lucky to have a clear day (as it was supposed to be cloudy and raining) as we were able to hike up and over MacKinnon Pass with postcard views in all directions. Furthermore, just as the waterfalls began to dry up, it began raining again on our third night and we spent our last day hiking, albeit very wet, watching the water racing down every crack and gully towards the valley floor. Unbelievable!

The next day, which also turned out to be beautiful, was spent taking a boat ride in the Milford Sound before returning by helicopter to Queenstown over the snow-capped mountaintops. I must add that another “wow” came out of our collective mouths as we nearly scraped the tops (or sides) of the jagged granite peaks. Thus, we have been lucky enough to have seen this spectacular area by land, sea and air.

Upon returning to Queenstown, rather than rest (we can do that back in the USA) we decided to partake in a few of the adrenaline rush activities New Zealand (especially Queenstown) has to offer. We began by taking a jet boat ride up and down the Shotover river at high speeds, as the driver barely missed the narrow canyon walls while intermittently doing a few 360’s. Pure adrenaline rush! I’m also very proud of my wife who strapped on a bungy cord, and did a beautiful swan dive from the 140 foot high Kawaraua Bridge to the river below. Way to go Steph!

We are planning on leaving Queenstown tomorrow morning and spending our last days in New Zealand driving up the west coast of the South Island before making a brief stop in the South Pacific on our way back home. We’re excited to see everyone soon.

Brian & Steph

Steph Bungy Jumping

New Zealand

Hi all (I guess “good day mates” still works...but with a slightly different accent)-
It’s hard to describe the beauty of New Zealand. Unique, awesome, striking, gorgeous, beautiful, majestic, etc. could all work…but breathtaking might be the best way to describe the Kiwi landscape. From a scenic point of view, nothing we have seen even comes close to the variety and raw natural beauty of New Zealand. Amazingly the country only has a population of 4 million people. Perhaps this is the reason for vast quantity of untouched land. Note this is also the land of adventure travel. If you have ever desired to go cave spelunking, bungee jumping (up or down), repelling, white-water (or black water) rafting, jet boating, sky-diving, canyoning, gliding and countless other adventure sports…than this is the place for you.

We spent our first week here on the North Island driving from sea to shining sea (they aren’t that far apart) through the lush green rolling hills stocked with sheep and cattle. We checked out many of the beautiful beaches, experienced black water rafting in the Waitomo caves (complete with glowworms),”bathed” in the natural hot springs in Rotura (think smell of rotten eggs) and visited a few of the small sleepy towns.

We returned to Auckland to catch U2 in concert (fortuitous timing) before flying down to Christchurch to begin our two week journey on the South Island. We have now been on the South Island for a few days and have made our way to Queenstown. The green countryside of the North Island has given way to awe-inspiring mountains and lakes on the South Island. No complaints…if you are into that sort of thing!!!

We are leaving tomorrow for a four day hike on the Milford Track. It is supposed to be a fabulous hike with incredible scenery. However, it is pouring rain today (and has been for a few days)…so we are hoping it lets up a bit so we can actually appreciate some of the majestic views.
Brian & Steph

Australia- Sydney and Cairns/Great Barrier Reef

Good Day Mates-
The land down under has lived up to its billing. Sydney is a wonderful city resembling a combination of the best parts of San Francisco with the beaches of San Diego. We liked the restaurants, nightlife, beaches and overall atmosphere. We found the people to be quite laid back and friendly (even with their funny accent!) and were sad to leave after only 5 days. I can see why people come here to visit and end up never leaving.

After Sydney we headed up to Cairns to take a 5 day diving course, with 2 days of instruction in a classroom/pool and 3 days on a boat in the Great Barrier Reef. Overall, an amazing experience given the vast array of colors/landscapes inside and surrounding the coral reefs including tropical fish, sting rays, eels and even a shark (taking a nap). I must say that I was proud of my formerly terrified wife. She overcame her fear of the water (and sharks) to explore a whole new underwater world. While it probably still doesn’t rank as her favorite activity, by the last dive I actually think that she began to enjoy her time underwater. Luckily we had good instructors and a fun group on the boat… …which made the trip even better. However, waking up at 6:30AM this morning to listen to the internet feed for the Michigan/Ohio State game after a night of partying with the dive group was especially painful…made even more so after a Wolverine loss in a tight game!

Unfortunately, our time in Australia is coming to an end as we are taking off for New Zealand in a few hours for our last adventure before heading home in less than a month.

Brian & Steph

Africa

Hi all-

We have returned to civilization (Johannesburg, South Africa) after over two weeks visiting various game camps in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. It has been quite a long time since our last update as we have been without any internet or phone connection while “in the bush.” We began our African journey 3+ weeks ago in South Africa and had a wonderful time with Steph’s mom Brenda and my parents, who met us in Zimbabwe and traveled with us for a little over a week. People were definitely confused about our unusual honeymoon…doesn’t everyone bring their parents along?

Later today we are departing for Australia for the final leg of our trip. It’s amazing to me that we have been gone for just over four months and have already visited 21 countries on 4 continents. We love the comments and emails…so keep em’ coming.

Brian & Steph

P.S. Enjoy the pictures! Most were taken by Steph, but a few slipped in that might have been taken by my dad or even me.

South Africa 10/13/06-10/21/06 & 11/06/06-11/08/06

We spent most of our time in South Africa in the south taking in the beauty of Cape Town and the wine region nearby. If anyone is in this part of the world and likes inexpensive yet amazing food and wine, we highly recommend a small town about an hour outside of Cape Town called Franschook. It is a picturesque town with vineyards everywhere and terrific hikes in the mountains above. Cape Town is also fantastic due to its beautiful mountains and beaches, perfect weather, and friendly people. Furthermore, we have been through Johannesburg 3 different times (where we are now) and spent most of our time here learning the political history of South Africa while trying to understand apartheid and how/why it existed. We saw the aftereffects of apartheid in certain impoverished areas of the city by touring the streets of the inner-city and a shantytown (with a guide who has dedicated his life to assisting those in need). We toured a few “houses” (actually shantys-1 room with no running water or bathroom), visited a housing project and spent some time at a “pre-school” for 52 kids from 2-6 years old housed in a woman’s 1 bedroom “house”…who runs the program for free based on small donations from the community. Many of the children were orphans or children of HIV infected parents (3 have HIV/AIDS) from incredibly impoverished families. Amazingly, most of the people/children we met were in good spirits despite their hardships. Very eye opening to say the least!!!

Namibia 10/22/06-10/25/06

“Man it’s hot. It’s like Africa Hot. Tarzan couldn’t take this kind of hot.” – Biloxi Blues. That is the best way to describe the Namib Desert at this time of the year. Temps were peaking out around 110 during the day while we were there. Fortunately our bungalow had air conditioning, unfortunately, it didn’t work. Our bodies were rudely awakened by the heat and 5:30AM wake up (although not that well). Now the positives. It is absolutely breathtaking in the desert. The colors are vibrant, the sand dunes are incredible and a peaceful serenity exists. We hiked up to the top of a sand dune called Big Daddy (320m vertical climb) and had a blast running down the steep side in the deep sand to the bottom. Other highlights included a hot air balloon ride at sunrise and spending an afternoon riding a 4-wheel ATV around the desert. Aside from some springbok, Oryx, reptiles and bugs…not many animals were around. On the plane ride home the pilot was teaching me to fly the 6 seater plane (only the 3 of us on board) and I took the controls for about 15-20 minutes. Lots of fun!!!

Zimbabwe 10/25/06-10/29/06

Still hot, but closer to 100 degree highs. Almost felt like winter after Namibia. Influences from President Mugabe could definitely be felt as Victoria Falls was close to empty (our hotel was at 40% occupancy…up from 20% last year). Serious economic issues plague the economy and people of Zimbabwe seemingly forced by poor government policy. This was highlighted when visiting the open-air market, where the people were clearly the most aggressive of anywhere on our trip due to the realities of economic hardship. Victoria Falls (the waterfall) was pretty incredible even in low season and the game camp we (Brenda, Steph and I) stayed at on the Zambeze river made for some very memorable moments. Notably, we spent an afternoon on a canoe trip down the Zambeze while passing roughly 100 hippos (one who surfaced about 5 feet in back of our canoe), a few crocs and being mock charged by a large bull male elephant near the river bank (see pic below). Let’s just say that I would be VERY surprised if Steph or her mom would ever make a repeat voyage (possibly due to my canoeing skills…or lack thereof). While a bit nerve-racking, I thought it was definitely the most memorable experience of our safari…and a lot of fun to boot. We also saw some incredible wildlife including lions, elephants, herds of cape buffalo, zebra, wart-hogs, etc.

Botswana

Botswana-10/29/06-11/6/06
After being joined by my parents (Brenda had joined us a few days earlier) we headed to Botswana to visit 3 game camps. Luckily the weather cooled down and was much more comfortable! We spent a week + with our wonderful guide, Gregg Hughes, learning about animals, tracking their movements, taking pictures and enjoying each other’s company. Some memorable moments include my dad and I getting stuck in camp as a herd of elephants refused to move when heading back to our rooms for a mid-day nap; baboons waking us up by jumping on top of our tents early in the AM; my parents being unable to sleep one night due to a herd of cape buffalo who decided to cozy up (snorting and moving throughout the night) under their tent…the tents were raised on a platform; almost running over a full grown male lion taking a nap in the tall grass (see pic below), watching a different lion get up and have a quickie with his lady; and watching a jackal nervously consuming his newly killed prey (a baby impala).

Israel

Hi all-
We are now on a plane from Tel Aviv to Johannesburg to begin our African adventure. After a wonderful week in Turkey, we spent the past 5 days in Israel. Since this was our first trip to Israel we spent most of our time in Jerusalem soaking up the local sites, museums and rich history. Jerusalem was crowded and colorful as we were in Israel during the middle of Sukkoth (a holy week long holiday giving thanks for the harvest).
In addition, we spent an afternoon in Tel Aviv, caked ourselves in mud from head to toe (see picture) before going for a “swim” in the Dead Sea (more like float given the 32% salt water ), hiked up to Massada and took a helicopter ride along the border separating the West Bank from the rest of Israel. It was amazing seeing the close proximity between the Jewish settlements and their oft-hated Arab neighbors (sometimes only separated by a street or a concrete wall).

We had a wonderful and knowledgeable guide who never seemed to tire of answering our numerous questions. We spent many an hour discussing both biblical and current issues surrounding Israel (which are somewhat intertwined), including the conflict with its neighbors, its political system, its allies and enemies, the internal Arab/Jewish issues, etc. I must say that I was most surprised by the internal struggle between the various Jewish sects over religious issues (mainly orthodox Jews with differing views) and the return, or lack thereof, of land (potentially forming a Palestinian state).

We learned that Israeli people are warm and helpful while also somewhat pushy, usually late, and generally poor drivers (who love to honk their horns). We thought the food was quite good (usually served in very large portions) with lots of vegetables and salads and middle-eastern flavors. Notably, the shwarma and falafel was excellent.

We’re really excited about South Africa and the game camps in the next few weeks. I’m sure Steph will be taking many great photos for you to enjoy.

Best,
Brian & Steph