Photos, Superlatives, and Stats!

We are pleased to announce that all our trip photos are now available online. You can see them at the following link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zudnic/collections/

Way back when, we promised some superlatives. Here they are.

Hotels Etc.

• Best Meal: We splurged on a high-end meal at the Victoria & Albert Waterfront in Cape Town.
• Worst Meal: Something that appeared to approximate Kraft Mac & Cheese that we made in Kaikoura, New Zealand.
• Best Hotel: Tie, Park Plaza, Beijing; Cradog B&B, Ireland
• Worst Hotel: Cactus Jack's, Rotorua, New Zealand - cold and grungy.
• Best Bed: Cradog B&B, Ireland
• Worst Bed: Our first hotel in Xi'an, China. The Chinese for some reason insist on rock-hard beds, and this was the worst.
• Best Bathroom: Park Plaza, Beijing
• Worst Bathroom: Jolly Boys Backpackers, Zambia - someone needs to tell these folks that shower curtains need to be changed at least once a year. And some hot water would be nice too.
  
• Best Breakfast: tie, Hotel Rugenpark, Interlaken, Switzerland; City Lodge, Johannesburg, South Africa. Both these places had wide variety of breakfast foods, attractively laid out.
• Worst Breakfast: Il Fiori Napoli, Naples - at an otherwise very nice B&B, breakfast here is coffee and a croissant they may or may not feel like heating up in the microwave.
• Wierdest Hotel Room Feature: The ceiling-mounted heating element at our hostel in Launceston, Tasmania. Heat rises, people.
  

People and Experiences

• Best Locals: South Africa. The nicest people in the world, we swear. At Kruger National Park, they volunteered to teach us the local way of barbecue, braai. When we visited other parts of the country, including very poor areas, we encountered nothing but wonderful people.
• Worst Locals: China. People are unwilling to help clueless foreigners, not to mention the spitting.
• Most Overrated: Italy. It's not that pretty (except Capri) and the people there are very rude. We left a bit bewildered why so many people rave about it.
  
• Most Underrated: South Africa. Such a wonderful country, beautiful countryside, spectacular animals, and the aforementioned locals.
• Best Trains: Austria - leather seats and waiter service.
• Worst Trains: China. People spitting on the floor, grimy walls, and no space.
• Best Flight: Tough to say, but generally flights on Cathay Pacific and Qantas had the best food and service. Qantas had by far the best inflight entertainment.
• Worst Flight: The one that was made the worst by the Airline was from Krakow to Dublin, departing at 6:00 AM, the flight attendant wouldn't allow passengers to spread out to empty seats. Madrid to Cairo had the worst time, departing at 12:30 AM and arriving at 3:30 AM. Also our JetStar flight from Melbourne to Hobart, Australia, was delayed by 3.5 hours.
• Best Airport: The quick, easy ones that weren't under construction, had decent food options, didn't gouge you on departure taxes. These included Queenstown, New Zealand; Cairns, Australia; and Krakow, Poland.
  
• Worst Airport: Livingstone, Zambia. Four flights departed around the same time - and the check-in room is about the size of your average Starbucks.
  
• Most Chaotic City: Tie, Naples, Italy and Cairo, Egypt. Cairo doesn't even have traffic lights. And in Naples, Vespa scooters follow no rules and are everywhere. Cairo:
• Most Relaxing City: Kaikoura, New Zealand - at the foot of the mountains, but on the ocean, Kaikoura is as beautiful a town as you will ever see.
• Most Peaceful Spot: Cradog B&B, Freshford, Ireland. Satellite TV, rolling hills, and two friendly dogs.
  
• Scariest Place: Johannesburg, South Africa - the crime rate here is out of control.
  
• Best City for Eating: Bangkok. Everything is wonderful and cheap.
• Worst City for Eating: Yichang, China. Very few restaurants, we had to eat at our hotel, which was pretty abysmal.
• Best Surprise - Capri Island, Italy. We went there on a whim, after missing a ferry to Positano. Capri is nothing short of stunningly beautiful. Who cares that it's a tourist trap?
• Biggest Disappointment - Madrid. For a major European capital, it's pretty boring.
• Best One-Day Activity - Swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura, New Zealand; diving the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.
  
• Prettiest City: You can't beat Cape Town's stunning location, and the cliff-clinging towns of Italy's Cinque Terre region are postcard-perfect.
• Ugliest City: Yichang, China.
• Happiest Moment: Watching four lionesses attempt to make dinner out of a herd of giraffes; reaching the top of the Devil's Ladder while climbing New Zealand's Tongariro Crossing.
• Scariest Moment: When we took the "scam bus" from Bangkok to Siem Reap, Cambodia, the bus stopped 5 km from the border and the driver demanded our passports for "express visa service" - then sped away with them on a moped. We got them back, thankfully.
• Best Find: Just north of Kaikoura, New Zealand, we found an isolated pool at the foot of a waterfall, where we found dozens of baby seals playing.
• Coolest Nature Experience: The aforementioned lion strike, plus seeing the world's rarest species of penguin lumber out of the water and back to her nest for the night in New Zealand.
• Most Interesting People We Met: Jim and Sheri, who are driving their Land Cruiser around the world for five years, through some pretty godforsaken places. Their website is worth a read.
• Most Rustic Country: Cambodia by a long shot. A gas station:
• Most Eye-Opening Experience: Driving through rural Cambodia and seeing the crushing poverty; Sam's Cultural Tour in Cape Town, where we got to visit the townships.
• Lowest Moment: Duct-taping together a ripped plastic shopping bag because we needed it and we were out of spares.

You might also be interested to hear the list of things that were confiscated by airline personnel in various places around the globe: duct tape, cans of tuna fish, re-usable ice bricks, mustard. All of these things are serious security risks, obviously.

Also, in one of our first blog posts, we listed some stats on the trip. After actually going, the numbers have been revised.

• 44,521 49,420 flight miles
• Five continents and at least nine 21 countries (including the Vatican)
• 17 24 airports
• Five Nine airlines (American, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, JetStar, Hainan, Air China, Comair (South Africa), British Airways, Iberia)
  
• This is a map of all our flights:
• If you're interested, these are all the airports: Boston, USA (BOS); Los Angeles, USA (LAX); Auckland, NZ (AKL); Queenstown, NZ (ZQN); Melbourne, Australia (MEL); Hobart, Australia (HBA); Cairns, Australia (CNS); Ayers Rock, Australia (AYQ); Sydney, Australia (SYD); Bangkok, Thailand (BKK); Siem Reap, Cambodia (REP); Hong Kong, Hong Kong (HKG); Beijing (Peking), China (PEK); Xi'an (Xian), China (XIY); Yichang, China (YIH); Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB); Cape Town, South Africa (CPT); Nelspruit, South Africa (MQP); Livingstone, Zambia (LVI); London - Heathrow, UK (LHR); Cairo, Egypt (CAI); Madrid, Spain (MAD); Kraków, Poland (KRK); Dublin, Ireland (DUB).
  

Our First Leg is Over!

We're blogging today from my old friend Catherine's house. She and her husband were nice enough to put us up in Auckland for a night.

Later today, we're off to Australia. We're sad to be leaving New Zealand. It's amazing how quickly the first leg flew by. We take some heart in knowing that this was one of our shortest visits.

We had a bit of an odyssey trying to find a copy of the Lonely Planet for Australia. Books here are ridiculously expensive - the Lonely Planet book that costs $30 in the US is NZ$60 here. We called every used bookshop in Auckland and managed to find one for $11, after turning in a few paperbacks we had already finished. That was pretty satisfying.

Anyway, we apologize for not blogging for a few days. We were up in Paihia, in the far north of NZ, just relaxing a bit. While there, we were able to stay at a really magnificent hostel called the Saltwater Lodge. The place was the best hostel we had stayed at so far. NZ is set up for travelers and there are hostels throughout the country, where the quality of type of accommodation varies widely. We've been getting double rooms, which sometimes feature their own bathrooms and sometimes don't. All hostels have a kitchen so you can make your own food.

I am sure some of you have been wondering about our accommodations, so here is a photo of our room at the Saltwater Lodge.

Why was this room the best one we had so far? A few reasons:

• It's spotlessly clean
• It has a king size bed (as opposed to a full or queen)
• It has a TV (not in the photo)
• It has heat - in NZ, heat is sometimes not included
• It has an ensuite bathroom
• They provide towels
• And - this one is really shocking - it has its own fridge!

Most hostels provide some of the above, but to find a place that had it all was truly wonderful.

The TV was key because it was Tuesday, and that's the night House is on here in NZ :) The hostel was doing some construction and we thought we could only stay one night, and when we found out that we could stay a second, Gina was literally jumping up and down.

Also, here's a photo from a town called Tirau, where there are several buildings built out of the wavy corrugated material that Kiwis are so fond of.

That is a corrugated Jesus, although Catherine's husband Greg, who is from Tirau, calls it the Corrugated Osama.

Also, here's a photo that shows a very typical scene as we drive through NZ.

Finally, I thought I'd share some thoughts about New Zealand. It's a really fascinating country, with only four million people at the corner of the world. The locals here are fantastically friendly, welcoming and accommodating. I'm sure that has helped tourism take off here, as it's the industry that keeps the country afloat. Historically, sheep farming was the main industry here. But, I read that the number of sheep in NZ has gone down by 20% in the last 10 years, caused mainly by a steep decline in wool prices. (Wool that used to command $6 per kilogram now goes for $2.)

Kiwis know that opportunities are overseas. London is full of expatriates, who all moved there right after college. Lots don't come home, contributing to a major brain drain. The country is also very tight regarding immigration.

Those factors, plus the weight of the social democracy here and the fickle nature of tourism, makes me think that the coming decades will make it very tough for the country to continue to prosper. Count me amongst those who love this country and wish it all the best.

Anyway, onwards to Australia. We'll be in Tasmania for five days, then flying to Melbourne and driving to Sydney, where my friend Tom will be flying in for the drive up to Cairns in the far north. I am really excited!

Farming is Cool

Today in Rotorua we went to a tourist farm show, called the Agrodome. It was a brilliant example of tourist kitsch, but we loved it. We got to see a sheepdog round up some sheep, and a guy shear one right on stage.

The best part was that Gina got to milk a real cow. On stage. In front of about a hundred adoring Japanese tourists. And yes, there are pictures!

Here's also another shout out to Gina's mom, who sent us on this trip with a few Purell wipes. Suffice to say Gina was pleased to be able to use them after that experience. She said it felt greasy. This, you see, is why I chose not to partake of the cow-milking. The funny thing was, when the presenter asked for volunteers, her hand shot in the air like a teacher's pet answering a particularly tough question. A once in a lifetime opportunity, I guess. At least there are pictures so we can be sure to never let her forget it.

Here I am in front of a real, live Merino sheep.

Finally, as an added bonus, we blogged a few days ago that we saw seals swimming. We took a little video with our camera and we're pleased to be able to post it here. It may not be available until Sunday morning, 6/3 thanks to YouTube. Hopefully it'll work!

Rotorua is Stinky.

Quick post as we don't have a lot of time at the internet cafe today..

We just arrived this morning in Rotorua, in the center of the North Island. The entire town smells like rotten eggs due to the nearby volcanic vents. We're planning to do some of the touristy stuff here, like go to a sheep shearing show.

Yesterday, we completed the Tongariro Crossing, a fairly strenuous one day hike across the Tongariro volcanic complex. The weather was fantastic. As my mom and Jill will recall, last time I did the walk it was absolutely pouring rain. Very nice to do the walk and be able to see it. It was windy, cold and steep, so we're sore, but we had a great time. Here are some pix:

Don't worry, it was perfectly safe. The volcano hasn't blown since '93 :)

At some point we will find a better internet cafe and post some more photos and such.

Windy in Wellington

Hi Guys!
This is my first crack at the blog. Bob has been primarily in charge of it. We have been under the gun having to pay at the Internet cafe and he has been having a really good time with it.

We have make our way out of Kaikoura which was brilliant as the locals say. We were leaving Kaikoura and a woman who runs the place suggested that we stop at Ohau lookout and waterfall. We stopped at the lookout and there were hundreds of seals and sea lions just lying around enjoying the day. There were a few playing in a crevasse in the rocks that had made a natural pool. Spend a good bit of time watching them. We went over to the waterfall thinking that not much could beat that. We did about a 10minute walk into the forest and came to a beautiful waterfall with a small pool at the bottom of it. There were about 20-30 baby seals jumping and playing have a gay ol' time for themselves. They were only about a foot away from us. Nice to see nature in the wild rather then an aquarium like we do at home.

Finished the day in Picton at the top of the south island, which we thought would be a small nothing town but proved to be quite a nice place. We spent the night and took the ferry boat over to Wellington the next day. The ferry was really interesting. We drove our Corolla onto the bay of the boat along with all the trucks carrying sheep and cows.. so it left this great urine smell absorbed into the apolstery of the car. Really an enjoyment. But as you have read, with our car that would take the cake wouldn't it?

We are in Wellington now and were a little shell shocked at the scale of this city. We have been surrounded by sheep, cows mountains and populations of no more then 100 that a "big city" (loosely termed) felt a little wierd. Hope all of you guys are doing well and enjoyed the well deserved warm weather.

Getting Ready to Leave!

We're in the final throes of preparations to leave. Our flight departs at 7:40 AM tomorrow. I'm glad that we had a few weeks to get our ducks in a row.

A few common questions we've received..

Q: How do you pack?
A: Very carefully. We have taken care to buy and pack clothes that are light and made of nylon or polypro, so we can wash things as we go along. I am bringing three pairs of polypro pants that zip off and convert to shorts, a few nylon tops (both short and long sleeve), and about ten days' worth of underwear. We're expecting more warmer weather than cold weather, so we brought some layers and are leaving our winter coats. The bottom line is that we will have to wash our clothes several times as we go along, so we've brought easy drying and layer-able clothes.

We're also bringing a first aid kit and some peripherals like headlamps, raincoats, Excedrin, prescriptions, etc. Suffice it to say our bags are stuffed to the brim.

Q: Why are you so busy? What kinds of things do you have to do to prepare?
A: There are a ton of things that go on in everyone's life over the course of a trip of our duration. We had to take care of all those things in advance, or transition them to someone else to take care of for us while we're gone. Not to mention all the stuff we had to do to directly prepare. Here are a few examples:

• Ensuring my health insurance from my former company is extended, that Gina is on it, and that it's paid for.
• Sweet-talking health insurance into overriding prescription refill limits (basically, we need a much longer supply than would normally be needed).
• Buy any supplies we didn't need (we are keeping REI in business).
• Little things like canceling our Netflix subscription.
• Visas - we needed visas in advance from Zambia and China. Thankfully services exist to get them for China, so we were able to avoid a trip to New York to get that. And with a major assist from my old friend Will in Washington DC, we were able to have our Zambia visas issued at their embassy there. All told, we spent about $700 on visas for these two countries.
• Compiling phone numbers for our credit cards and such, just in case they're stolen.

Itinerary Change
We decided to add in a side trip to Tasmania. We booked a flight to Hobart and we'll spend five days there. We also decided to hire a car in Australia and drive the whole way from Melbourne to Cairns, instead of taking the train.

So we are shoring up the final things and we're off tomorrow!

-- Bob