The first 3 weeks of the trip will be spent in New Zealand. The flight out of Austin leaves on July 2nd, and lands in Auckland the morning of July 4th. We decided not to plan the entire trip for New Zealand yet. The current plan is to spend 2/3rds of the time on […]
Archive for December, 2009
Arriving at midnight in the Bangkok airport made it easy to get through Immigration, find a cab, and get to the hotel. After being in Bangkok, I have a feeling the Bali experience would have been different if we stayed in a large city like Jakarta. While Bangkok certainly has its 3rd-world moments, it really […]
Travel Date: 7.15.09 to 7.16.09 Before leaving Auckland, we made use of Base ACB’s Travel Desk to book some South Island time. Kez helped make most of the arrangements. After about an hour with her, we decided that since we were flying into Christchurch(CSC), we would stay there a night before making the 5-6 hour […]
Along the way back to Auckland, we stopped at a few different small towns. When we got to Whangarei , I was tired of driving through twisting roads in the rain, so we stopped for the night. Actually looked like it was going to be a happening Saturday night in this random town. However, after […]
On arrival to Despensar, I had to purchase a $25 Visa on Arrival (VOA) before going through Immigration. Just over an hour passed from the time I landed until the time I touched my checked-baggage. Before I could grab my bag, a man with some kind of badge grabbed it and escorted me to the […]
From Rotorua A few days in Auckland is you need before you decide it is time to get a little more mobile. That being the case, we went to the airport to find a rental car. Imagine my surprise when Jay and I handed the guy entirely different looking Texas IDs, one which a dog […]
On Tuesday we went Caynoning. We rappelled (or abseiled) down various cliffs and waterfalls. The canyon was located near Piha Beach. Click the picture for the album (currently only with pictures of me.)
On our second day in Auckland, we walked over 8.0 miles through the city. Google Earth File: NZ02.kml.zip (27k)
A stroll down Legian Street in Kuta will leave you exhausted, but if you like to haggle and buy cheap stuff – this is the place for you. The street is like a circus. Every few steps you will be asked if you want “transport”, “massage”, or to “have a look” in a shop.
The flight from New Zealand to Sydney was pretty short, but the overall day was long. We started first thing in the morning with a flight from Christchurch to Auckland, then the international flight to Sydney. By the time I made it to the room in the hostel, it was around 8pm.