Underwater Caving

The past few days have been so much fun. We went underwater caving in the NW (see pictures) where we were able to see glow worms, get some information about caves, black water raft with glow worms lining the ceiling, and finished up rafting down the river.

Today we went wine tasting and drove down the east coast.

A few pics from NZ

Top: Glacier walking on Franz Josef

Bottom: Visit to Puzzling World on a rainy day

Below: Atop Queenstown Hill

New Zealand

Spectacular! I have only a minute to write, but just wanted to let you know we're all safe and sound in New Zealand. We did a full day glacier walk on the Franz Josef glacier yesterday (amazing), lots of walks throughout the country and jet boating on the Shot Over River in Queenstown. I will post pictures later, but I think this is my favorite country yet...

Perth, Australia

Upper: Kangaroo with joey

Lower: Marianne and Brendan at Brendan's golf club.

Marianne and Phil at King's park overlooking the city.

Perth is absolutely lovely: parks, beaches, endless beaches, walks, bike rides, yummy food and Little Creatures beer. Phil and Brendan (my aunt and uncle) have been spectacular showing us around. Traveling around the world has been the time of my life, but I missed going out for long walks and not being hassled to buy things on the streets so Perth came at the perfect time. I could definitely see myself living here, it's such an outdoors area - reminds me so much of Portland in a way.

Some highlights:

We saw kangaroos and koalas yesterday. Kangaroos hide in the bush during the day to avoid the sun and come out of night. As we were driving home yesterday and the sun was setting, they were out in full force. They are such neat animals and nothing like them. To Australians, they're no big deal though.

The beaches. I can't express how absolutely beautiful the beaches here are. It's the end of winter here, but the weather is starting to get warm. I would say it was close to 70 degrees if not hotter as Phil took us on a walk along the beach where Heath Ledger was known for going and where they held the public part of his funeral.

Parks. There are SO many parks and all of them beautiful. Endless walking/running paths around the lakes and oceans.

Pictures - Ephesus (Turkey), Mykonos, Santorini and Olympia

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Pictures from Athens and Istanbul

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Continent #6 - Australia

We made it to Perth safe and sound. It's kind of nice to be out of the Muslim countries (although Bali is primarily Hindu) with an American passport with the last name of Jones. What a nutter pastor!!!!!!! It was all over the news in Indonesia.

Bali was such a wonderful place. The people are so kind and peaceful (a little different than the Egyptians) and there is so much to do. Meals were really inexpensive - dinners with appetizers, main courses and a drink or two were about $20 for the two of us. White water rafting was really fun and the monkey forest in Ubud was the coolest (if you read Eat, Pray, Love, Ubud is where she stayed for the three months). We drank the local beer, Bintang, while watching the sunset at Kuta beach. I got sick the last day and couldn't do much of everything. Brent was a good sport and didn't mind sitting out by the pool while I recovered in bed.

Arrived in Perth yesterday, the 11th. Perth is spectacular - I see why my uncle Brendan and his family love it here. We're staying in the granny flat at Brendan and Phil's place. We had an absolutely lovely dinner with Phil and Brendan at a place called the Naked Fig that was right on the beach. Today has been a lazy day. We FINALLY did our laundry. Something we had not properly done since Ireland (over a month ago). I went for a longish run in perfect running weather - sunny and around 60 degrees. I think I am going to really love it here.

Will be able to post some pictures later finally.

Bali kicks a$$

10 US Dollar = 60 minute massage with not one, but two masseuses. And strong ones. We probably could've bargained even further, but I really can't complain at all.

If you have ever thought about coming to Bali, go. Please, for the love of whatever you may believe in, go.

White water rafting, monkey forest and other things tomorrow...

Off to bed to get some sleep before the big day.

Egypt, oh Egypt

Brent and I are sitting in the Luxor airport with, literally, like 10 other people. Does no one else fly out of Luxor? It's kind of creepy but I suppose the airport is nice and clean and there was no line at the security. We're flying Qatar air to Bali via Doha and singapore. I have a feeling Qatar air is going to have some pretty sweet perks and good food. Anyhow enough about the Luxor airport...

We spent our first two days two nights in Cairo. If you ever decide to come to Egypt I recommend this length of time or less. Go to see the pyramids at Giza, the sphinx, Memphis, the egyptian museum and maybe the bazaar if you're into shopping. Once you're done that - get out of Cairo. It's impossible to walk anywhere. Crossing the streets islike the human version of frogger and people are constantly trying to give you their "business card". I felt bad for the people there that were being generally being friendly bc we had to completely ignore them.. You just never know. Our hotel was decent though and the staff accomodating- with breakfast stretching until 11. On the third night we took an overnight train to Luxor which was a comfortable ride after Brent convinced me to take an ambien.

Luxor, although known as the hassle capital of Egypt, wasn't THAT bad in terms of being hounded. A donkey pulled cart
man - I think they're called kaleshes - followed us for a mile and eventually got off his donkey and asked for a tip bc he claimed he gave us advice. This young boy - maybe 15 - also grabbed brents butt cheek, the right one to be exact. I thought he was propositioning him for sex but brent claimed he was trying to get his wallet. Either way, it was funny/scary to watch.

Other than that Luxor was awesome. The temples of karnac and Luxor were really cool. We also saw the Valley of the Kings and a few other sites on the west side. It's amazing how preserved the sites are in Egypt. Maybe it's because they get out a centimeter of rain a year, not sure... Looking at the mummies though, Egyptians are darn cool are preserving things.

We're currently now in the Singapore airport on our way to Bali, Indonesia. I've never been in a nicer airport in my life. They have a butterfly santuary?! Behind me is the largest plasma screen TV in the world. Also, we're riding Qatar Airlines... one of the best airlines I've ever been on.

Must go retrieve Brent. Write later...

In Egypt

Arrived in Cairo last night.... What a busy city. Everyone we've come across is working for tips so they all are incredibly nice. Our hotel is right near tahrir square. Taxis and honking all night through the window. Drivers are crazy. Nobody pays attention to lane lines and nobody uses headlights--as if they are trying to conserve energy. Temps in the high90's. We made triple sure both our hotels have working AC. We're off to see the Pyramids, the Sphinx and finish the day off by cruising down the Nile.

As a side note, we're majorly hurting for clean clothes. I refuse to pay the exorbinant amount hotels charge to get your clothes washed but also don't want to spend an afternoon in a laudamat.

Off to breakfast and our Cairo adventure begins...