Previous location: Glen Innes, New South Wales
Arrival Date: December 16, 2007
Departure Date: December 17, 2007
Current Location: Manly, New South Wales
Arrival Date: December 18, 2007
Departure Date: December 18, 2007
Next Stop: LA, California
Greetings from Manly Beach and Sydney. Today is our last day in the Northern Hemisphere. We depart for LA in less than 24 hours. Our trip has been grand and I thank you all for keeping up with my emails.
I posted more pictures to Picasa last night, feel free to check them out...or wait. I will be posting all my pictures from the last four months to Picasa when I return to the land of free unlimited wireless internet.
I will be visiting both of my homes in the next month. I will be in LA from December 19th-22nd, Tucson from the 22nd-29th, Steamboat from December 29th-January 5th and DC from January 5th on. If you see me, feel free to drill me on my adventures. There are many stories left untold.
Love,
Melissa
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Random Travel Update 14
Previous location: Brisbane, Queensland
Arrival Date: December 11, 2007
Departure Date: December 12, 2007
Current Location: Byron Bay, New South Wales
Arrival Date: December 12, 2007
Departure Date: December 16, 2007
Next Stop: Glen Innes, New South Wales
So diving the Great Barrier Reef on a four day long live-aboard was as fantastic as it sounds. We had a total of 15 dives, including one night dive and a shark-feeding! Us people were well fed too. The daily itinerary consisted of breakfast at 7am, first dive at 7:15am, second breakfast at 9:00am, second dive at 10:00am, lunch at 12:30pm, third dive at 1:15pm, snack at 2:00pm, fourth dive at 4:00pm, dinner at 6:00pm and dessert soon after. Our chef was very good about cooking Jon and I our own special vegan dishes including faux-sausage with beans; pumpkin and veggies with peanut sauce; bbq veggie skewers; and a fabulous baklava dessert rich in seeds, nuts and filo pastry.
The boat was gorgeous, and our room was very nice and equipped with its own ensuit bathroom (more luxury than many of the hostels we have been staying at on land.) The nights, when we did most of our traveling, were a bit rough. Jon and I both still felt like we were rocking though Brisbane, a good two days after reaching shore.
There are pictures, but I am not allowed to download them to these computers at the internet cafes (I left my iBook in Sydney) so everyone will have to wait another week or so for me to post everything. I know-boo. In the meantime, you can check out the pictures that I managed to transfer to Picasa before I left Sydney (check next email.) They are still missing their captions, those will come later along with hundreds of pictures from South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau that are currently sitting stuck (unviewable) on Webshots.
Brisbane is a great city. Seems like a good place to live. Vegans- definitely hit up the Alibi Room if you're ever in the area: http://www.thealibiroom.com . We had The Kombie Driver's Breakfast and it was pretty much awesome. Maybe too huge, but definitely a good thing. I should have taken a picture.
We arrived in Byron Bay last night. It was raining but we went out anyway only to be bombarded by the neo-hippies. It was an interesting anthropological experience for Jon who didn't grow up with 4th Avenue in his backyard. Tomorrow we learn how to surf!
Love,
Melissa
Arrival Date: December 11, 2007
Departure Date: December 12, 2007
Current Location: Byron Bay, New South Wales
Arrival Date: December 12, 2007
Departure Date: December 16, 2007
Next Stop: Glen Innes, New South Wales
So diving the Great Barrier Reef on a four day long live-aboard was as fantastic as it sounds. We had a total of 15 dives, including one night dive and a shark-feeding! Us people were well fed too. The daily itinerary consisted of breakfast at 7am, first dive at 7:15am, second breakfast at 9:00am, second dive at 10:00am, lunch at 12:30pm, third dive at 1:15pm, snack at 2:00pm, fourth dive at 4:00pm, dinner at 6:00pm and dessert soon after. Our chef was very good about cooking Jon and I our own special vegan dishes including faux-sausage with beans; pumpkin and veggies with peanut sauce; bbq veggie skewers; and a fabulous baklava dessert rich in seeds, nuts and filo pastry.
The boat was gorgeous, and our room was very nice and equipped with its own ensuit bathroom (more luxury than many of the hostels we have been staying at on land.) The nights, when we did most of our traveling, were a bit rough. Jon and I both still felt like we were rocking though Brisbane, a good two days after reaching shore.
There are pictures, but I am not allowed to download them to these computers at the internet cafes (I left my iBook in Sydney) so everyone will have to wait another week or so for me to post everything. I know-boo. In the meantime, you can check out the pictures that I managed to transfer to Picasa before I left Sydney (check next email.) They are still missing their captions, those will come later along with hundreds of pictures from South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau that are currently sitting stuck (unviewable) on Webshots.
Brisbane is a great city. Seems like a good place to live. Vegans- definitely hit up the Alibi Room if you're ever in the area: http://www.thealibiroom.com . We had The Kombie Driver's Breakfast and it was pretty much awesome. Maybe too huge, but definitely a good thing. I should have taken a picture.
We arrived in Byron Bay last night. It was raining but we went out anyway only to be bombarded by the neo-hippies. It was an interesting anthropological experience for Jon who didn't grow up with 4th Avenue in his backyard. Tomorrow we learn how to surf!
Love,
Melissa
Random Travel Update 13
Previous location: Brisbane, Queensland
Arrival Date: December 11, 2007
Departure Date: December 12, 2007
Arrival Date: December 11, 2007
Departure Date: December 12, 2007
Current Location: Byron Bay, New South Wales
Arrival Date: December 12, 2007
Departure Date: December 16, 2007
Next Stop: Glen Innes, New South Wales
So diving the Great Barrier Reef on a four day long live-aboard was as fantastic as it sounds. We had a total of 15 dives, including one night dive and a shark-feeding! Us people were well fed too. The daily itinerary consisted of breakfast at 7am, first dive at 7:15am, second breakfast at 9:00am, second dive at 10:00am, lunch at 12:30pm, third dive at 1:15pm, snack at 2:00pm, fourth dive at 4:00pm, dinner at 6:00pm and dessert soon after. Our chef was very good about cooking Jon and I our own special vegan dishes including faux-sausage with beans; pumpkin and veggies with peanut sauce; bbq veggie skewers; and a fabulous baklava dessert rich in seeds, nuts and filo pastry.
The boat was gorgeous, and our room was very nice and equipped with its own ensuit bathroom (more luxury than many of the hostels we have been staying at on land.) The nights, when we did most of our traveling, were a bit rough. Jon and I both still felt like we were rocking though Brisbane, a good two days after reaching shore.
There are pictures, but I am not allowed to download them to these computers at the internet cafes (I left my iBook in Sydney) so everyone will have to wait another week or so for me to post everything. I know-boo. In the meantime, you can check out the pictures that I managed to transfer to Picasa before I left Sydney (check next email.) They are still missing their captions, those will come later along with hundreds of pictures from South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau that are currently sitting stuck (unviewable) on Webshots.
Brisbane is a great city. Seems like a good place to live. Vegans- definitely hit up the Alibi Room if you're ever in the area: http://www.thealibiroom.com . We had The Kombie Driver's Breakfast and it was pretty much awesome. Maybe too huge, but definitely a good thing. I should have taken a picture.
We arrived in Byron Bay last night. It was raining but we went out anyway only to be bombarded by the neo-hippies. It was an interesting anthropological experience for Jon who didn't grow up with 4th Avenue in his backyard. Tomorrow we learn how to surf!
Love,
Melissa
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Random Travel Update 12
Previous location: Hunter Valley, New South Wales
Arrival Date: November 22, 2007
Departure Date: November 26, 2007
Arrival Date: November 22, 2007
Departure Date: November 26, 2007
Last Location: Hobart & Frenchman's Cap, Tasmania
Arrival Date: November 27, 2007
Departure Date: December 2, 2007
Current Location: Cairns, Queensland
Arrival Date: December 3, 2007
Departure Date: December 11, 2007
Next Stops: Great Barrier Reef!
We are keeping ourselves busy as usual here in sunny Australia. It
occurred to me while I was internet-less in the wilderness last week
that I hadn't sent out a list of our planned activities:
Our first night in Australia was spent climbing the famous Harbor
Bridge in Sydney: http://www.bridgeclimb.com
The next day we walked the city and experienced a play at the Sydney
Opera House. We spent another day in Sydney walking Bondi Beach.
We spent four beautiful days in Hunter Valley with our wonderful
hosts, Ian and Kate, who are good friends of Jon's parents before
preparing for our epic five-day trek through the Tasmanian wilderness:
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au
We spent one more day in the Tasmanian capital of Hobart before
returning briefly to Sydney to catch a flight to Cairns in Northern
Queensland.
We arrived here yesterday, napped in our hammock, rented a yellow
scooter, cruised around the promenade, received full body 40 minute
Chinese massages for $25 (together!) and sampled the local cuisine.
Today we jumped out of a plane at 14,000 feet with a 60 second
freefall and parachuted to the ground. I will try to post pictures
soon.
Tomorrow, we board The Spirit of Freedom for a four day SCUBA Diving
tour of the Great Barrier Reef:
http://www.spiritoffreedom.com
both very, that is, incredibly excited about this.
We will return to Cairns on Monday, wait for the nitrogen to dissolve
from our bloodstream, and then catch a flight the next morning to
Brisbane where Jon hopes to do some rock climbing. From there we head
a few hours down the coast to Byron Beach where we will spend the next
five days surfing, relaxing and trying not to get eaten by sharks.
From Byron, the goal is to take a train back down the coast of New
South Wales to Sydney where we will spend a few more nights before
catching our final flight back to the United States (Los Angeles then
Washington, DC).
There are many stories being made but limited internet time. The
pictures, once posted, will tell more.
Love,
Melissa
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Random Travel Update 11
Last location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Arrival Date: November 19, 2007
Departure Date: November 19, 2007
Current Location: Sydney, Australia
Arrival Date: November 20, 2007
Departure Date: November 27, 2007
Next Stops: Tasmania
There was fog. My flight to Dubai from Mumbia was delayed 3.5 hours.
I missed my connecting flight to Hong Kong, thus missing my connecting
flight from Hong Kong to Sydney.
Mark was great. We left the airport after a few hours of trying to negotiate an alternate course. I spent the night in Dubai. Booked a new ticket to Sydney direct from Abu Dhabi. Arrived at the airport at 8:30am. More fog, delayed again. Flight was 14 hours but otherwise great. Less than half of
capacity. Arrived in Sydney 12 hours late.
Met up with Jon.
Sydney is wonderful. I am happy.
Love,
Melissa
Arrival Date: November 19, 2007
Departure Date: November 19, 2007
Current Location: Sydney, Australia
Arrival Date: November 20, 2007
Departure Date: November 27, 2007
Next Stops: Tasmania
There was fog. My flight to Dubai from Mumbia was delayed 3.5 hours.
I missed my connecting flight to Hong Kong, thus missing my connecting
flight from Hong Kong to Sydney.
Mark was great. We left the airport after a few hours of trying to negotiate an alternate course. I spent the night in Dubai. Booked a new ticket to Sydney direct from Abu Dhabi. Arrived at the airport at 8:30am. More fog, delayed again. Flight was 14 hours but otherwise great. Less than half of
capacity. Arrived in Sydney 12 hours late.
Met up with Jon.
Sydney is wonderful. I am happy.
Love,
Melissa
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Random Travel Update 10
Last location: Goa, India
Arrival Date: November 08, 2007
Departure Date: November 16, 2007
Current Location: Mumbai, India
Arrival Date: November 16, 2007
Departure Date: November 18, 2007
Next Stops: Sydney, Australia (via Dubai and Hong Kong international airports)
India was an adventure. The last three weeks have been a whirlwind of
dodging scams, checking in and out of hotels (12 total), inhaling fire
fumes and auto traffic exhaust, making travel plans, trying to avoid
illness and seeing a few sites along the way.
I almost managed to make it out of India unscathed. My vegan diet at
home must do wonders for my adaptation to local cuisine. I didn't
encounter a single episode of diarrhea all month. Unfortunately, Mark
and I came in contact with a bit of poison ivy on our way to and from
our eco-friendly hut in Palolem (Goa) two nights ago. Luckily,
medicine is easy to come by here and our hotel has an on-call doctor
to assist us. We should be itch-free in a few days.
I have hundreds of pictures to post. With the exception on Goa, I
would not recommend India as an ideal vacation spot for those looking
to "get away from it all". However, it is a wonderfully picturesque
country, when you get past the pollution.
I have a million stories and only a few minutes of internet time.
There was the time Mark heroically fired our driver, Chandar, for
driving drunk while taking us from Agra to Rajisthan in the middle of
the night. We had to pull over in the middle of the trip, stay at a
roadside hotel, and take a local bus the next morning.
There was the time we had a rickshaw driver drive us around for an
hour "searching" for our hotel only to introduce us to a friend of his
who just happened to have a hotel nearby. Luckily I had negotiated
two rates in advance, one hundred ruppies for a direct trip to our
hotel, 50 ruppies for getting "lost". In the end, we got a free tour
of Jaipur, made it to our hotel, and saved 50 ruppies.
There was the time we were picked up by a resort spokesperson on the
side of the road in Baga (Goa) and promised one of four great prizes
if we only agreed to be taken for a 60 minute tour of the resort down
the street. We agreed to go and I was able to negotiate the sales
woman to let us pick up our prize of "7 free nights in Goa or Bali"
before the tour began. Then we took the next free cab to the
destination of our choice.
There was the time we booked a scuba diving trip out to a local island
in Goa only to be called five minutes before our scheduled departure
to be informed that our trip had been canceled due to the fact that
some military VIP required use of the island that day. Of course, when
we went to pick up our refund, we spoke to a group of 11 divers who
had just returned from a great trip with the same dive company.
There were hundreds of good moments too. The time I convinced a group
of small children to return their starfish collection to the sea so as
to prevent them from dying. The time I went parasailing with nine
Mumbians, half of whom seemed to be horribly scared of heights. The
time I rescued a butterfly from the tide. The time we went to an
"authentic" Rajisthani village for dinner, henna and human powered
ferris wheels (think Old Tucson Rajisthani style).
Traveling with Mark has been great. The beaches of Goa are beautiful,
and the weather has been gorgeous for us the whole time. No rain. The
handful of good people we came across were truly wonderful, and we met
two new friends on our train ride from Mumbai to Goa. I have a slight
tan, and apart from my poison ivy rash, I feel wonderful.
Our flight from Mumbai to Dubai has been delayed, so we are stuck at
the Marriott for six more hours. I don't mind, though I hope I don't
miss my connecting flight to Hong Kong. If all goes well, I will be
in Sydney in less than 48 hours.
Love,
Melissa
Departure Date: November 16, 2007
Current Location: Mumbai, India
Arrival Date: November 16, 2007
Departure Date: November 18, 2007
Next Stops: Sydney, Australia (via Dubai and Hong Kong international airports)
India was an adventure. The last three weeks have been a whirlwind of
dodging scams, checking in and out of hotels (12 total), inhaling fire
fumes and auto traffic exhaust, making travel plans, trying to avoid
illness and seeing a few sites along the way.
I almost managed to make it out of India unscathed. My vegan diet at
home must do wonders for my adaptation to local cuisine. I didn't
encounter a single episode of diarrhea all month. Unfortunately, Mark
and I came in contact with a bit of poison ivy on our way to and from
our eco-friendly hut in Palolem (Goa) two nights ago. Luckily,
medicine is easy to come by here and our hotel has an on-call doctor
to assist us. We should be itch-free in a few days.
I have hundreds of pictures to post. With the exception on Goa, I
would not recommend India as an ideal vacation spot for those looking
to "get away from it all". However, it is a wonderfully picturesque
country, when you get past the pollution.
I have a million stories and only a few minutes of internet time.
There was the time Mark heroically fired our driver, Chandar, for
driving drunk while taking us from Agra to Rajisthan in the middle of
the night. We had to pull over in the middle of the trip, stay at a
roadside hotel, and take a local bus the next morning.
There was the time we had a rickshaw driver drive us around for an
hour "searching" for our hotel only to introduce us to a friend of his
who just happened to have a hotel nearby. Luckily I had negotiated
two rates in advance, one hundred ruppies for a direct trip to our
hotel, 50 ruppies for getting "lost". In the end, we got a free tour
of Jaipur, made it to our hotel, and saved 50 ruppies.
There was the time we were picked up by a resort spokesperson on the
side of the road in Baga (Goa) and promised one of four great prizes
if we only agreed to be taken for a 60 minute tour of the resort down
the street. We agreed to go and I was able to negotiate the sales
woman to let us pick up our prize of "7 free nights in Goa or Bali"
before the tour began. Then we took the next free cab to the
destination of our choice.
There was the time we booked a scuba diving trip out to a local island
in Goa only to be called five minutes before our scheduled departure
to be informed that our trip had been canceled due to the fact that
some military VIP required use of the island that day. Of course, when
we went to pick up our refund, we spoke to a group of 11 divers who
had just returned from a great trip with the same dive company.
There were hundreds of good moments too. The time I convinced a group
of small children to return their starfish collection to the sea so as
to prevent them from dying. The time I went parasailing with nine
Mumbians, half of whom seemed to be horribly scared of heights. The
time I rescued a butterfly from the tide. The time we went to an
"authentic" Rajisthani village for dinner, henna and human powered
ferris wheels (think Old Tucson Rajisthani style).
Traveling with Mark has been great. The beaches of Goa are beautiful,
and the weather has been gorgeous for us the whole time. No rain. The
handful of good people we came across were truly wonderful, and we met
two new friends on our train ride from Mumbai to Goa. I have a slight
tan, and apart from my poison ivy rash, I feel wonderful.
Our flight from Mumbai to Dubai has been delayed, so we are stuck at
the Marriott for six more hours. I don't mind, though I hope I don't
miss my connecting flight to Hong Kong. If all goes well, I will be
in Sydney in less than 48 hours.
Love,
Melissa
Friday, November 2, 2007
Random Travel Update 9
Last location: Delhi, India
Arrival Date: October 31, 2007
Departure Date: November 02, 2007
Current Location: Agra, India
Arrival Date: November 02, 2007
Departure Date: November 03, 2007
Next Stops: Rajastan, India (Ranthambore, Jaipur, Pushkar)
The UAE was great. We visited Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Both modern, globalized, desert cities on the rise. I am a big fan of the desert. Though, as it turns out, sandboarding is not nearly as fun as it looks. Indoor snowboarding however, is a wonderfully good time. Camels are very dirty and smell horrible close up. I intend to post photos, but the connection speeds here in India are tragically slow.
Departure Date: November 02, 2007
Current Location: Agra, India
Arrival Date: November 02, 2007
Departure Date: November 03, 2007
Next Stops: Rajastan, India (Ranthambore, Jaipur, Pushkar)
The UAE was great. We visited Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Both modern, globalized, desert cities on the rise. I am a big fan of the desert. Though, as it turns out, sandboarding is not nearly as fun as it looks. Indoor snowboarding however, is a wonderfully good time. Camels are very dirty and smell horrible close up. I intend to post photos, but the connection speeds here in India are tragically slow.
Mark and I left Dubai late Wednesday night on a red-eye to New Delhi. India is pretty much everything anyone ever said it would be. Dirty, crowded and poor. Beggars are rampant and the pollution is sickening. Still the sites, when you get past the touts, are beautiful.
I am at an internet cafe now, fewer than 100 meters from the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is truly breathtaking, despite the thick layer of smog that surrounds the place. I have taken many photos. Hopefully, I do not lose my camera before they are all uploaded.
The food here is amazing. Better, perhaps, than anything I have ever tasted in the United States or anywhere. It is very much a vegetarian utopia with over half the restaurants serving only pure vegetarian meals. Even the McDonalds menu is over 50% vegetarian.
I am devastated that Webshots continues to hide my photos. I may have to re-upload everything to Flickr when I return to a first world nation.
Cheers,
Melissa
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