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  • Video and Photo of the Day Posts

    Joseph and Penny

    In Nepal, we will be doing the Annapurna Circuit trek.  The 22 day trek takes us into the Nepalese Himalayas to see some of the tallest peaks in the world.  We met another British couple and together we have hired a guide and a porter to accompany us.  This means 22 days without any Internet access.  As a kind of blog ‘hold music’, we have preloaded some of our unpublished pictures and videos.  They will appear automatically one per day while we are gone.

    Enjoy and cannot wait to share our trekking pictures with you when we return!

  • Welcome to Kathmandu

    Penny

    Streets_of_kathmanduAfter 3 days of travel, 3 flights and 2 overnight layovers, we finally arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal.  The
    city is a shock to the senses and it greets you immediately after getting off the plane.  Traffic, dust and people are everywhere! 

    Kathmandu is the exotic-sounding capital of this  mountain kingdom. The city is overcroTypical_tourist_streetwded, roads are usually simple alleyways that only fit one car (and no sidewalks) and scam artists are a plenty.  But even after being scammed out of money twice on our first day, we feel that the magic of the city that attracted hippies in the 60’s is still alive.  The Nepalese, even the
    con-men, are very friendly people.  Most also speak English which has made getting around the tangled maze of streets much easier.

    We are staying at the ‘famous’ Kathmandu Guesthouse. The hotel’s outdoor cafe makes great Nepalese Masala tea that warms you up in the cold mornings and evenings.  It is our escape from the noise and chaos of the Thamel district in
    Kathmandu.  After I cross the gates from
    the street into the guesthouse courtyard, I always breath a sigh of relief.

  • The Great Ocean Road

    Joseph

    We spent most of our time in Melbourne
    enjoying the city, site seeing and being with friends and newly discovered family members.
    But after a few days of that we figured we should head out and see
    the gorgeous ocean scenery aroundRugged_coastline
    the city.  We borrowed Evan’s car and headed out
    for a drive along the Great Ocean Road. 

    The road makes its way to the coast
    about an hour and a half outside of Melbourne.  We rounded one corner
    and there was the golden coastline, rugged cliffs and blue water.
    The waves begin to crest far out and you can see the white wake of
    five or six parallel waves making there way toward land.  The
    coastline is different than those we’ve seen in other places because
    of its impression of immense size.  The views are unobstructed and you can
    see the coast continue out into the distance. 

    Split_point_lighthouse_1
    It was a Monday afternoon of a long
    weekend and we could see that traffic was starting to get heavy going
    back into town.  So when we hit a picturesque lighthouse at Split
    Point, we pulled in to have a look before heading back into town.

    Our time in Melbourne reminded me of
    some of the good things we have waiting for us back at home;  friends
    and family, a nice place to live, great food, etc.  The drive back to
    Melbourne also reminded me of one thing I don’t care for; traffic.  We eventually made it to the Eureka Towers condo building
    (tallest building in Australia at 88 stories) where we’ve been
    staying with our friend Evan.  We spent our last night in Australia
    at a delicious restaurant in the scenic old suburb of Williamstown. 

    Next we head to Nepal!

  • Hey Mate!

    PennyMelbourne_city

    Evan_and_penny
    Fer dinkum mate!  According to Australians, this is English…  We took a flight from Cairns and
    headed to Melbourne a few days ago.  We took a break from our hostel living and were invited
    to stay with our friend Evan while in the city.  Evan, who studied with
    us in McGill and lived in Toronto for a few years, recently moved to
    Melbourne and was nice enough to host us. Since our arrival, we have been enjoying the simple things in life like hosting dinners, watching movies and having BBQs.

    Melbourne is a beautiful city with great architecture.  In some ways, Melbourne is similar to Montreal with a mix of beautiful old buildings and modern high-rises.  Street_performerWe have spent a lot of time on the Southbank near our friend’s apartment.  The Southbank is filled with shops, restaurants and cafes that line the paved boardwalk.  This being a long weekend in Melbourne (it is labour day!) the  boardwalk was packed with people of all ages.  Also, many street performers gather around the area and entertain passersby.  We have been entertained by a prop-comedian and a tightrope flame juggler!Fireball_show_1

    The Southbank is also home to the Crown Casino where we met my second maternal cousins.   On Saturday night, we met Jennie, her husband Spiro and brother Nick.  We had a great night enjoying some great Italian food and some very yummy gelato (it is very popular here).   The fireball show was amazing – the only way that it could be explained is "giant towers spewing gas fireballs".  Just take a look at the pictures.  We felt the heat of the fireballs from 20 feet away!

    Just want to say a special thanks to Evan for his hospitality, Ben/Marie/Ben’s Dad for the amazing BBQ and to my once-lost-and-now-found cousins for a great Saturday night!

  • Diving the Great Barrier Reef

    Joseph

    We arrived in Cairns, Australia with only one thing on our to-do list; see the Great Barrier Reef.  In that way we were like the majority of tourists in this town.  It is basically a jumping off point for people who want to scuba dive or snorkel on what is often rated the best spot in the world. 

    There’s a wide variety of operators offering everything from half-day glass-bottom boat tours toReef_quest_boat
    multi-day live-aboard luxury diving cruises.  We went for a mid-market 3-day/2 night diving trip with a company called Deep Sea Divers Den. 

    At 8 AM they collected us from our hostel and took us to their offices to complete payment and fill out the paperwork.  They asked me for my scuba diving certification card….ooops, I had forgotten that in Canada.  In Vietnam and Thailand when I wanted to go diving they had asked me for my card too.  But  when I told them I didn’t have it on me, well, they let me dive anyways.  No big deal. 

    The guy from the dive shop started to say that I could go snorkeling instead or dive with an instructor up to a max of 12 meters.  I hadn’t come to one of the best dive sites in the world to go snorkeling though.  He agreed to search for my certification record in the PADI database.  In a minor miracle of modern technology he found my name and agreed to let me dive. 

    Geared_up
    An overcrowded boat called the Reef Quest took us to an outer area of the Great Barrier Reef.  From there I did my first dive of the trip.  I buddied up with a friendly English guy called Winston and we jumped into the water.  My first impression of the reef wasn’t so good.  The visibility was poor and the coral in the reef was not in the best condition.  I came out of the water thinking that maybe this side trip was going to be an expensive mistake. 

    After the first dive though we changed location on the reef and this time the visibility was good and the coral was in better condition.  My spirits lifted even more when I saw the huge variety of fish on the reef; including clownfish, parrotfish, flowering cod and literally dozens of other species.  Later that afternoon we did an at-sea transfer to a larger, less crowded ship called the Ocean Quest, where we would spend the next two nights. 

    After a nice dinner in the large dining room we suited up again for what would be my first ever night dive.  The sky was dark as the group waddled out to the dive deck at the back of the boat wearing our scuba gear and fins.  I had a large flashlight in my right hand.  The external ship lights were on and we could see shapes moving in the water around the boat.  They were fish being attracted to the light.  Then we saw the unmistakable shape of a large shark pass under the lights.  Then another, and another.  I had a moment to realize that not only was I willingly jumping into shark-infested waters in the dead of night, but I had paid for the privilege.  I looked up to the top deck and could see Penny and some others watching us as we prepared to jump in.  She was shaking her head.

    The moment I was in the water I swung my flashlight beam around in a wide circle and there rightOn_dive_deck
    under the boat was a large whitetip reef shark.  I paused long enough to make sure it was ignoring us then followed the rest of the group down into the dark.  The coral was teeming with life as usual; the colours looked different under the artificial light of out flashlights.  We soon attracted a group of  4 Giant Trevally’s or GT’s as they are known.  These large fish are opportunistic hunters and followed the beam of our lights gobbling up any small fish that were stunned by our powerful lights.

    The next day I did two more dives and snorkeled twice with Penny.  On some reefs the water was so shallow that you could actually see more by snorkeling on the surface than by diving.  We saw all kinds of beautiful fish and then went back on board and tried to identify them on the large charts.  Unfortunately, we don’t have a waterproof camera so we have no underwater photos to post.   

    Between dives we hung out with my dive buddy Winston and his fiancee Charmaine.  They were also on an around the world trip and we swapped a bunch of travel stories.  Despite a bad start, the trip overall was great.  And as a bonus, after being surrounded by divers for three days Penny has said she might consider getting certified too! 

  • Climbing Mount Doom

    Joseph

    We’ve added photos to the New Zealand album.  Enjoy!

    When we reached the north island we had
    one main thing that we wanted to do; the Tongariro Mount_doom_1
    Crossing.  Tbe
    Crossing is a 1-day, 17 km walk that takes you through dramatic
    volcanic landscape.  It has a stark beauty that was the reason it was
    chosen as the filming site for the Mordor and Mount Doom scenes from
    the Lord of the Rings movie. 

    It so happened that a friend from work,
    Gord, was planning on doing the Crossing on the same day.  We met up
    the night before for some catching up before having a big pasta meal
    that Penny prepared.  Full of carbs for the long walk the next day we
    called it a night and went to bed early. 

    At 6 AM the next morning our shuttle
    took us to the departure point where we started our walk in the dark.
    The landscape was barren and rugged with a few patches of hardy
    grasses and tiny whiteGord_and_joe
    flowers being the only plants growing.  We
    followed a sloping path up that was easy walking at first but
    gradually became steeper.  After the steepest part of the climb we
    came to a “saddle” where we had to decide whether to climb to the
    summit of Mt Ngauruhoe (the real name for Mount Doom) at over 2200
    meters in altitude or continue along the regular path.  Being the
    adventurous group we were we headed off to the volcanic slopes and
    started to climb.

    As the path was unmarked, we followed
    another group of hikers and headed up the loose, sandy, rocky slope.
    With every step we took we would slip in the loose ground and making
    upwards progress was difficult.  “There’s got to be a better path”
    was our refrain for the first hour.  Then off to our left in the
    distance we saw hikers taking a firmer and more secure path where
    they were making much faster progress than we were.  We briefly
    attempted to cross over to where they were but the ground between us
    was too loose and dangerous.  We perched on some rocks to rest and
    decide what to do.  After about 2 hours of hard climbing we could see
    that we had less than a quarter of the way to go.  But the climb had
    been very tough and the slope had increased in steepness to what Gord
    and I estimated was about 40 degrees.   As we sat there, basketball
    sized rocks came tumbling down the hill from the group ahead and
    narrowly missed us.  We were beaten. We reluctantly agreed to give up
    and head back down.  Somehow we had taken the wrong route to the
    summit and would not climb Mount Doom that day.   

    Red_crater
    Our attempt had taken a total of 3
    hours and left us drained for the remainder of the Tongariro Crossing
    walk.  Back on the regular path, we had one more steep climb that
    brought us to the steaming red crater.  The ground felt warm to the
    touch and steam swirled about.  We descended from there to have lunch
    on the shore of the sulfur-smelling Emerald Lakes.

    The rest of the way was mainly
    downhill.  Because  of all the time spent trying to climb Mount Doom,
    we had to maintain a steady fast pace to make it back in time for our
    shuttle pick-up at the end point of the hike.  This was easy because
    a couple of us had to use the toilet and were in a rush anyways.  At
    5 PM we dragged ourselves onto the shuttle, exhausted and looking
    forward to a good meal and a beer in the hotel lounge.

    Gord – thanks for a great hike and
    making sure we set a fast pace.   

  • From Glaciers to Beaches

    Penny

    Franz_joseph_glacier_1For the past few days, we have been
    making our way north on the West coast of the South Island of New Zealand.  According to
    many, the west coast drive is among the most beautiful in the world.
    The road passes by small towns and villages (some only have about 100
    residents, if that), beautiful
    beaches, national parks and many scenic
    areas.  The landscape is very diverse and changes constantly.  One moment you are face to face with a huge glacier the next you are picking pebbles on a gorgeous ocean beach.

    Along the way we have made random stops
    to enjoy some of the sights and activities that the different towns
    and villages have to offer.  To date we stopped in places like
    Puzzleworld, an old gold mine, an old gold mining town, a fishing
    village and have completed many short but lovely walks to different
    view points, waterfalls, glaciers, beaches and fur seal colonies.  The
    sights and activities have been varied, ranging from amazing to
    just weird.  Here are some of the highlights and how we have been spending some of our time in New Zealand.Finishing_the_maze

    • Puzzleworld is a children’s and adult’s
      playground located in Wanaka.  The site allows people to
      play with a
      variety of puzzles and brain teasers.  They also claim to have one of
      the world’s largest modern mazes which was built in 1973 and for $10
      NZD per adult, you can wander the maze and visit their illusion
      rooms.  It took Joe and I a total of 40 minutes to complete the maze
      (usually takes people between 30 minutes to 1 hour).
    • In Franz Joseph, we were unable to book
      the tour we wanted to climbed the Franz Joseph glacier (it was full).
      So we visited the glacier independently.  After climbing over
      barriers with signs claiming “Extreme Danger” – we weren’t the
      only ones – we were able to get really close to the glacier.  We
      were happy to save the $180 NZD.
    • The Department of Conservation in New
      Zealand has established many short and long walks along the  popularView_from_west_coast_lookout
      tourist route of Highway 6.  A short 10 minute walk in Tauranga Bay
      took us up close to a fur seal colony.  Another 30 minute walk lead us to some gorgeous waterfalls.

    New Zealand is a small country but around every corner there is something to do.  It’s unlike countries in South East Asia where there is usually a pretty clear top 5 list of things to do.  Here there are literally hundreds of places to go and things to do and just deciding where to stop out of the many choices becomes the challenge. 

  • Photos added

    We have posted photos from our Milford Track walk in the New Zealand album.  Enjoy!

  • The Milford Track

    Clinton_river
    Joseph and Penny

    In 1888, Quintin Mackinnon, a surveyor
    and explorer was commissioned to cut a track up the Clinton river
    valley from lake Te Anau in southern South island of New Zealand.  He
    did this and discovered a pass through the mountains which is now
    named after him.  The track itself is named after its end point,
    scenic Milford Sound.  Within only a couple of years tourists started
    to arrive to walk what was described as the “finest walk in the
    world”.  Quintin Mackinnon served as the first guide on the track.

    Over a hundred years later and the
    Milford Track is still the most famous walk in New Zealand.  It is
    53.5 KM long and takes 4 days to walk.  Nowadays though, people have
    the option of being guided or walking independently.  Guided walkers
    sleep in huts with showers and have their meals prepared for them,
    even getting wine with dinner.  Independent, or Freedom walkers as
    they are called, stay in basic huts with large bunkrooms to sleep and
    communal kitchens.  No showers.  They have to carry all their own
    food and prepare it at night. 

    Forest_mountain_sky
    We signed up as independent walkers
    back in July.  But to be honest we didn’t even know that there was
    the option of having a guided walk.  There were plenty of times
    during the walk that we would have welcomed not having to carry our
    food and to have a nice shower.

    The walk follows the Clinton river, an
    ice cold river of completely clear water, and then goes up over the
    1100 meter Mackinnon pass and down to Milford Sound.  At the lower
    altitudes we walked through lush primary forest, moss clung to all
    the trees and rocks and there were pure water springs to fill our
    water bottles.  On the morning of day three, the windy and cold
    Mackinnon pass greets you after a rocky 600 meter ascent.  But the
    views of the valley and nearby snow capped mountains areThe_end
    breathtaking.

    This was our first multi-day walk where
    we had to carry our food, clothing and sleeping bag.  We
    suffered a
    bit from the slow ambling pace we got used to in Asia over the last 4
    months.  We were usually one of the last walkers to reach the hut
    every night.  But we were in no rush and took our time to enjoy the
    scenery and take lots of photos.  As a result we have 383 pictures!
    Don’t worry though we’ve only put 16 in the New Zealand album. 

  • Update

    We are currently on a 4 day walk in the south of New Zealand.  We’ll have lots to write about the famous Milford Track when we get back!