Less than 2 months from my return I bought the next set of plane tickets :) I'm just that hungry for traveling again! This travel addiction is getting worse and worse I must admit :)
Anyhoo, this time I will be visiting Dubai for 7 days at the end of February - will visit my friend who has lived there for few years by now. Dubai has always seemed to me like this amazing cartoon like wonderland with wonderful beaches, newer before seen architecture, fancy buildings and strange coastal land formations (or should I say artificial islands instead?). I must admit I'm quite excited to go and check it all out, to wonder between those fabulous buildings I see from TV and web, to lay on those staggering white beaches (in February!) and to take a peak into the desert as well.
It will be a fun trip and it will be great to celebrate my birthday in Dubai next year :)
Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Echoes from Australia-NZ-California trip
This time I dove into everyday life basically instantly - returned to the office next morning. Transition was not very smooth, but weekend was close and that really helped. I have been back for 20 days already and the pace has still now slowed down - probably never will :) Making a note of giving myself more time in the future to get back into my daily doings. And no, it is not a very good idea to postpone things with adding a note of "will do once I'm back" - bad idea right there!
Now, but I came here to give a bit of a summary and to look back at the trip from my everyday life. Well, all in all - it was one of the greatest experiences, the places I visited were wonderful and I got a glimpse of a world I always dreamed of visiting. While being there I saw and heard of all those amazing things I didn't have time to do this time around. Even before I left New Zealand I already had plans forming in my head of all the things I should do once I return :) So yes, I have a plan to go back to Australia and to New Zealand at some point (just to visit of course). It is a must to include some tropical islands like Fiji or Samoa that time as well :) I'd like to see southern part of south island in NZ as well as Wellington. Many areas to discover in Australia of course - like northern coast. So yes, I liked both countries and I will return someday.
My friend asked what did Australia remind me of. Well, to me it is a big country similar in it's ways to US (I know Aussies hate me for saying that) having English traditions and customs. For me, that is a very strange mixture :) And for NZ I'd say it is exactly as wonderful as everybody has told it would be - the only problem here is that the surprise is stolen from you in that case. And the people, yes they were wonderful, mostly. Actually the most memorable ones were foreigners who had moved there. Bumped into couple of rude ones and those were all locals - just my luck I guess. I'm an optimist and I want to believe that people are mostly nice and friendly so I won't complain about the few rude ones, they can be found everywhere (except in Thailand probably).
Australia is this wonderful big mystery island at the bottom of the world that no one seems to get enough of. Now New Zealand can offer you much much more that one could expect from such a distant tiny country by the edge of the world. If I could choose only one place from Australia and New Zealand I could go back to - it would be Sydney. I can't say that I liked Australia best, but I can definitely say that during my travels I enjoyed the time in Australia a bit more. Next time I will find the same connection with NZ as well - just to make peace with the expectations :)
Now I have been totally ignoring my time in US - it was most wonderful to spend time with Jen and Kris, I have missed you! Thank you for taking the time for going on a road trip, I enjoyed it tremendously! Come and visit me soon!
California is wonderful, the ocean, the woods, the hills and mountains, the wines, the history, the cities, the fame, the technology - it's got everything. I'd go back there at any time.
About next travels - there will be trips sooner rather than later. I don't know how I will manage them with my strictly budgeted lifestyle in the next few months - but I will find a way like I always have. Traveling is an addiction and I have been infected all the way to the bottom of my heart with this one. It is an addiction I never want to recover from.
Thank you for listening and good night :)
Cheers mates!
Now, but I came here to give a bit of a summary and to look back at the trip from my everyday life. Well, all in all - it was one of the greatest experiences, the places I visited were wonderful and I got a glimpse of a world I always dreamed of visiting. While being there I saw and heard of all those amazing things I didn't have time to do this time around. Even before I left New Zealand I already had plans forming in my head of all the things I should do once I return :) So yes, I have a plan to go back to Australia and to New Zealand at some point (just to visit of course). It is a must to include some tropical islands like Fiji or Samoa that time as well :) I'd like to see southern part of south island in NZ as well as Wellington. Many areas to discover in Australia of course - like northern coast. So yes, I liked both countries and I will return someday.
My friend asked what did Australia remind me of. Well, to me it is a big country similar in it's ways to US (I know Aussies hate me for saying that) having English traditions and customs. For me, that is a very strange mixture :) And for NZ I'd say it is exactly as wonderful as everybody has told it would be - the only problem here is that the surprise is stolen from you in that case. And the people, yes they were wonderful, mostly. Actually the most memorable ones were foreigners who had moved there. Bumped into couple of rude ones and those were all locals - just my luck I guess. I'm an optimist and I want to believe that people are mostly nice and friendly so I won't complain about the few rude ones, they can be found everywhere (except in Thailand probably).
Australia is this wonderful big mystery island at the bottom of the world that no one seems to get enough of. Now New Zealand can offer you much much more that one could expect from such a distant tiny country by the edge of the world. If I could choose only one place from Australia and New Zealand I could go back to - it would be Sydney. I can't say that I liked Australia best, but I can definitely say that during my travels I enjoyed the time in Australia a bit more. Next time I will find the same connection with NZ as well - just to make peace with the expectations :)
Now I have been totally ignoring my time in US - it was most wonderful to spend time with Jen and Kris, I have missed you! Thank you for taking the time for going on a road trip, I enjoyed it tremendously! Come and visit me soon!
California is wonderful, the ocean, the woods, the hills and mountains, the wines, the history, the cities, the fame, the technology - it's got everything. I'd go back there at any time.
About next travels - there will be trips sooner rather than later. I don't know how I will manage them with my strictly budgeted lifestyle in the next few months - but I will find a way like I always have. Traveling is an addiction and I have been infected all the way to the bottom of my heart with this one. It is an addiction I never want to recover from.
Thank you for listening and good night :)
Cheers mates!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
discovering Brisbane - 7.09
Started off from Noosa on Monday morning around 10am, made it to Brisbane in a bit more than 2 hours. I was dropped off by my hostel, meanwhile Ave went back home, so I had close to 4 hours on my own. What to do what to do :) Decided to explore the city a bit.
From my hostel they gladly gave me the map of the city and already drew some lines on it where I could go for my exploration trip - so I followed the lines on the map :)
First stop was Botanic Gardens. What amazes me is that they have set botanic gardens up in the city center in one of the local parks - how nice is that? The same was in Hong Kong. This is perfect setup as it is easily accessible by everybody. Another amazing thing was that I saw tens and tens of people using the grass areas in the park for structured workout grounds. When I say structured I mean they were doing all kinds of exercises there - using cones for marking down different workout stations, doing jumps over the cones, doing squats with weights and on and on the list goes. Plus there were many many runners and step-walkers.
After Botanic Gardens the line on the map took me to the South Bank of Brisbane river. Park runs all the way alongside the river with beautiful recreation areas, gardens and a beach :) Yes, there is sort of an artificial beach built by the river - kinda nice, it is small, seemed clean and well organized with all the little fountains and passage ways. As Ave told me this is total tourist attraction and locals don't ever go there. A big sightseeing wheel is also located by the river. South Bank park ends with arts centers and state library. Never made it to the art galleries and exhibitions unfortunately, perhaps in Sydney I'll have time for that.
Our plan for the evening was to shop a bit, have a snack and head over to the movies. Met up with Ave by Queen Street Mall and started our shopping tour, but whaddaya know, most of the shops were closed by 6pm :( Ended up having a nice dinner in the middle of the pedestrian walk and cake at a local cafe shop.
By the time we arrived at the cafe shop it was dark outside already. We made ourselves feel like at home by the corner of the shop where there was a glass wall facing to the river (river was still one block away, but we were facing towards the river). As we were chatting away and killing time I kept noticing how the whole sky lit up from time to time. At first we did not pay whole lot of attention but the lightning grew bigger and bigger with every minute. About 30 minutes later everything grew really quiet outside, like the air was standing still. I guess most of you can already guess what came next :) Very extremely strong wind followed by harsh rain. Our seats were perfect for observing the storm, the only worry we had was how are we going to get to the movies if it is raining like mad outside. Anyways, at the time the rain arrived we were keeping our fingers crossed that those huge glass walls are strong enough as what was going on outside was absolutely crazy. People seemed to fly around outside due to the strong winds and horizontally pouring rain. It was a disaster outside, rain came in waves and people tried to run to shelters as fast as possible, whoever was left outside was soaked within seconds. We kept enjoying the view and counting down minutes to head out and be prepared to get soaked as well. about 1h later when we had to head out the rain was gone :D
Move we went to see was called "Young Victoria", sweet movie. We were both expecting whole lot more drama and tears, but that never happened.
From my hostel they gladly gave me the map of the city and already drew some lines on it where I could go for my exploration trip - so I followed the lines on the map :)
First stop was Botanic Gardens. What amazes me is that they have set botanic gardens up in the city center in one of the local parks - how nice is that? The same was in Hong Kong. This is perfect setup as it is easily accessible by everybody. Another amazing thing was that I saw tens and tens of people using the grass areas in the park for structured workout grounds. When I say structured I mean they were doing all kinds of exercises there - using cones for marking down different workout stations, doing jumps over the cones, doing squats with weights and on and on the list goes. Plus there were many many runners and step-walkers.
After Botanic Gardens the line on the map took me to the South Bank of Brisbane river. Park runs all the way alongside the river with beautiful recreation areas, gardens and a beach :) Yes, there is sort of an artificial beach built by the river - kinda nice, it is small, seemed clean and well organized with all the little fountains and passage ways. As Ave told me this is total tourist attraction and locals don't ever go there. A big sightseeing wheel is also located by the river. South Bank park ends with arts centers and state library. Never made it to the art galleries and exhibitions unfortunately, perhaps in Sydney I'll have time for that.
Our plan for the evening was to shop a bit, have a snack and head over to the movies. Met up with Ave by Queen Street Mall and started our shopping tour, but whaddaya know, most of the shops were closed by 6pm :( Ended up having a nice dinner in the middle of the pedestrian walk and cake at a local cafe shop.
By the time we arrived at the cafe shop it was dark outside already. We made ourselves feel like at home by the corner of the shop where there was a glass wall facing to the river (river was still one block away, but we were facing towards the river). As we were chatting away and killing time I kept noticing how the whole sky lit up from time to time. At first we did not pay whole lot of attention but the lightning grew bigger and bigger with every minute. About 30 minutes later everything grew really quiet outside, like the air was standing still. I guess most of you can already guess what came next :) Very extremely strong wind followed by harsh rain. Our seats were perfect for observing the storm, the only worry we had was how are we going to get to the movies if it is raining like mad outside. Anyways, at the time the rain arrived we were keeping our fingers crossed that those huge glass walls are strong enough as what was going on outside was absolutely crazy. People seemed to fly around outside due to the strong winds and horizontally pouring rain. It was a disaster outside, rain came in waves and people tried to run to shelters as fast as possible, whoever was left outside was soaked within seconds. We kept enjoying the view and counting down minutes to head out and be prepared to get soaked as well. about 1h later when we had to head out the rain was gone :D
Move we went to see was called "Young Victoria", sweet movie. We were both expecting whole lot more drama and tears, but that never happened.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Weekend at Noosa
Noosa is this wonderful area about 2h drive north from Brisbane. David and Ave took me there for a weekend. Here is the information I got from web:
"Noosa is a little piece of exclusive city suburbia located on the Sunshine Coast, 178 km north of Brisbane and with a present population of around 10 000. Noosa's resort area commences at Peregian Beach in the south and extends north through Marcus Beach, Sunrise Beach and Sunshine Beach to Noosa Heads. All are bordered to the east by the Coral Sea."
You'll find one wonderful beach after another one here, there are many of them and seriously gorgeous ones. Right next to the beach there is a national park with koalas living in it as well - it is just the most beautiful place one can imagine. Beaches are semi-private as the crowd is gathered just on the main beach and all the other 4 beaches next to it are basically deserted. Shore is sandy for quite far off the waterline, water is bright bluish-green and waves hit the shore with rhythmic humming - just like a paradise.
We arrived in Noosa around 1pm, dropped our things off at the hotel and headed to the beach. The beach took my breath away - I had already forgotten how beautiful the Pacific really is! Right by the beach there is Noosa National Park - we took a wonderful walk there, for about an hour, wondering on the coastline between eucalyptus trees (oh the wonderful smell of eucalyptus!). For dinner we voted for Thai kitchen - food was wonderful. One of the strange things was that the restaurant was not selling any alcohol, we wanted to have win with our dinner, so they gladly guided us to a liquor shop to bring a bottle back from there and enjoy that with our dinner. Just remembered another strange custom here - eating places offer lunch only till about 3 or 4pm and then the kitchen gets closed for couple of hours :) Food is served again from 6 or 7pm, which means if you would like to eat around 5 o'clock, it is quite complicated to find a place that serves food.
Currently there is also Noosa Jazz festival in town so right after dinner we got to listen to some live jazz in a nearby restaurant - what a treat!
This morning our plan was to sleep in as late as possible and then head to town for late breakfast. Guess what time I was wide awake :) 7:10! So much about sleeping in this time. Good thing was that I found free wireless randomly extending to my room - 2 hours flew by in a snap :D
HAPPY FATHERS DAY DADDY! :D :D yeap, today is fathers day here in Australia! Due to that fact all eating places were extremely crowded :( We still squeezed ourselves in and had long breakfast outside with ocean view - perfect start for our great Sunday. My breakfast consisted of a giant muffin and some hash-browns. Now the muffin, it was absolutely enormous, I have no clue how they manage to make such big muffins at all, it was huuuuuge, I could barely eat the whole thing :)
Next step was to rent a surfboard :), this went quite smoothly. As soon as we found free sand in the madness on the beach, I hit the water with the board and did not come out till 2h later :D So that was an experience I must say - water was extremely crowded with all sorts of surfers. Lot of them seemed to know what they were doing and I still found a quite big crowd of inexperienced ones like me :D Either way, my accomplishment was that I hit 2 really good waves and I got up on the board twice :D The problem was though that I could not align those 2 events :) All in all - I loved it, to be in the water with the board. I do realize that I need a whole lotta practice, but it is the best of the best to be in the water on the board!
The rest of the day went by sipping wine, listening to live jazz music, walking around by the river and by the ocean (of course, our favourite thing to do!).
Tomorrow morning we will head back to Brisbane, packing will have to wait till tomorrow as I'm dead tired. I have no idea when I'll find internet again so you have to manage with my twitter updates for some time again!
be good to each other and take care!
"Noosa is a little piece of exclusive city suburbia located on the Sunshine Coast, 178 km north of Brisbane and with a present population of around 10 000. Noosa's resort area commences at Peregian Beach in the south and extends north through Marcus Beach, Sunrise Beach and Sunshine Beach to Noosa Heads. All are bordered to the east by the Coral Sea."
You'll find one wonderful beach after another one here, there are many of them and seriously gorgeous ones. Right next to the beach there is a national park with koalas living in it as well - it is just the most beautiful place one can imagine. Beaches are semi-private as the crowd is gathered just on the main beach and all the other 4 beaches next to it are basically deserted. Shore is sandy for quite far off the waterline, water is bright bluish-green and waves hit the shore with rhythmic humming - just like a paradise.
We arrived in Noosa around 1pm, dropped our things off at the hotel and headed to the beach. The beach took my breath away - I had already forgotten how beautiful the Pacific really is! Right by the beach there is Noosa National Park - we took a wonderful walk there, for about an hour, wondering on the coastline between eucalyptus trees (oh the wonderful smell of eucalyptus!). For dinner we voted for Thai kitchen - food was wonderful. One of the strange things was that the restaurant was not selling any alcohol, we wanted to have win with our dinner, so they gladly guided us to a liquor shop to bring a bottle back from there and enjoy that with our dinner. Just remembered another strange custom here - eating places offer lunch only till about 3 or 4pm and then the kitchen gets closed for couple of hours :) Food is served again from 6 or 7pm, which means if you would like to eat around 5 o'clock, it is quite complicated to find a place that serves food.
Currently there is also Noosa Jazz festival in town so right after dinner we got to listen to some live jazz in a nearby restaurant - what a treat!
This morning our plan was to sleep in as late as possible and then head to town for late breakfast. Guess what time I was wide awake :) 7:10! So much about sleeping in this time. Good thing was that I found free wireless randomly extending to my room - 2 hours flew by in a snap :D
HAPPY FATHERS DAY DADDY! :D :D yeap, today is fathers day here in Australia! Due to that fact all eating places were extremely crowded :( We still squeezed ourselves in and had long breakfast outside with ocean view - perfect start for our great Sunday. My breakfast consisted of a giant muffin and some hash-browns. Now the muffin, it was absolutely enormous, I have no clue how they manage to make such big muffins at all, it was huuuuuge, I could barely eat the whole thing :)
Next step was to rent a surfboard :), this went quite smoothly. As soon as we found free sand in the madness on the beach, I hit the water with the board and did not come out till 2h later :D So that was an experience I must say - water was extremely crowded with all sorts of surfers. Lot of them seemed to know what they were doing and I still found a quite big crowd of inexperienced ones like me :D Either way, my accomplishment was that I hit 2 really good waves and I got up on the board twice :D The problem was though that I could not align those 2 events :) All in all - I loved it, to be in the water with the board. I do realize that I need a whole lotta practice, but it is the best of the best to be in the water on the board!
The rest of the day went by sipping wine, listening to live jazz music, walking around by the river and by the ocean (of course, our favourite thing to do!).
Tomorrow morning we will head back to Brisbane, packing will have to wait till tomorrow as I'm dead tired. I have no idea when I'll find internet again so you have to manage with my twitter updates for some time again!
be good to each other and take care!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
cairns - day 3 - whitewater rafting
All the tours start way too early. When I headed out of my room at 6:40, the tour guide was already running around the hotel nervously. Picking up all the rest of the group took another 30 minutes. Tully is located south from Cairns and is about 1.5h drive, Tully river is the best white water rafting place around here - river is winding through a rain forest with numerous waterfalls and other scenic areas. Today we are going to be passing about 9km on level 4 rafting river, maximum commercial level is 6 - adrenaline kick will be a nice one :)
Upon arrival we were divided into groups and lectured for about 30 minutes on all the safety regulations. Safety was mostly common logic - when in the water after falling in stay close to the surface as the current is quite strong and don't wanna get hit by the underwater rocks, keep the helmet and life vest on, when raft flips over get away from underneath as quick as possible etc. Once on the raft, our instructor Teddie went though some more safety regulations and moves we need to know before heading towards the rapids. Teddie was this short buff guy, he has been competing with Australian team all over the world as we found out. But oh those Aussies. He had scars all over his face and arms and legs, everywhere. And so on the first level 4 rapid he goes "do you all see that big triangular rock in front of us? yeah, that is where I got those 2 scars above each of my eyebrows - also broke upper 4 teeth when smacking my face on it full speed. that was my first rafting ever" we all looked at each other with horror :) He'd also give us good introduction when approaching another complicated rapid, one goes like so "see the edge there? 4 people have died on this one" :O, we all look at each other with frightened eyes. Aren't they suppose to tell us those things on our way back in the bus :D ??
Anyhoo, rafting was an absolute blast. Our team kicked ass - we did not flip over once, no one fell overboard and we were mostly fastest getting through the rapids. We ruled :) Later we got to see the DVD that was made, basically in all other rafts someone went overboard and I guess all other rafts flipped over sooner or later.
Wonderful times, we were back in town around 6pm. Now I have registered myself for 24h Internet, uploading photos and blogging is in progress. I'll probably get the photos organized tomorrow. Right now I'm gonna head to town to go for tea with Ave's friend and grab something to eat as well. Tomorrow morning is for resting :) My plane to Brisbane leaves at 16:40.
Tadaaa!
Upon arrival we were divided into groups and lectured for about 30 minutes on all the safety regulations. Safety was mostly common logic - when in the water after falling in stay close to the surface as the current is quite strong and don't wanna get hit by the underwater rocks, keep the helmet and life vest on, when raft flips over get away from underneath as quick as possible etc. Once on the raft, our instructor Teddie went though some more safety regulations and moves we need to know before heading towards the rapids. Teddie was this short buff guy, he has been competing with Australian team all over the world as we found out. But oh those Aussies. He had scars all over his face and arms and legs, everywhere. And so on the first level 4 rapid he goes "do you all see that big triangular rock in front of us? yeah, that is where I got those 2 scars above each of my eyebrows - also broke upper 4 teeth when smacking my face on it full speed. that was my first rafting ever" we all looked at each other with horror :) He'd also give us good introduction when approaching another complicated rapid, one goes like so "see the edge there? 4 people have died on this one" :O, we all look at each other with frightened eyes. Aren't they suppose to tell us those things on our way back in the bus :D ??
Anyhoo, rafting was an absolute blast. Our team kicked ass - we did not flip over once, no one fell overboard and we were mostly fastest getting through the rapids. We ruled :) Later we got to see the DVD that was made, basically in all other rafts someone went overboard and I guess all other rafts flipped over sooner or later.
Wonderful times, we were back in town around 6pm. Now I have registered myself for 24h Internet, uploading photos and blogging is in progress. I'll probably get the photos organized tomorrow. Right now I'm gonna head to town to go for tea with Ave's friend and grab something to eat as well. Tomorrow morning is for resting :) My plane to Brisbane leaves at 16:40.
Tadaaa!
cairns - day 2 - great barrier reef
Gathering for the tour started at 7:30, boat took off from Marlin Marina finger A at 8am.
The Great Barrier Reef is 2700km long reaching north to south right by Cairns. It is formed of batches of corals, which need shallow salt water and lots of sun to grow. There are various different types of corals (~400 types) and lots of sea animals (~4000 species of mollusks) and fish (~1500 different types) living alongside of it. We were warned many times not to touch the coral. Apparently it is not the crowds of tourists or global warming that is dangerous, but the touching - we wear lots of sunscreen and if that gets on a coral by our fingers, it dies :(
Our first snorkeling stop was about 1h boat ride away, called "Wonder Wall" located on the outer edge of Upolu Reef. It is just like a wall in the ocean - on one side is the coral and on the other side the wall goes into depth of the ocean. It is nothing compared to what I saw in Hawaii on Molokini island. Everything is much closer here, there are more different kinds of fish and the water is clearer. We are also allowed to swim around more freely, which I like :)
Once everybody gathered back on the boat the crew held a guided tour on a glass bottom boat. This way they were able to tell us all about the marine life and forming of coral reef. For an example I found out that even the corals sleep :) Right, they have feeding time when they are moving about with water, just like tall grass is moving in different directions with the wind, once the coral goes to sleep, it gets leathery look and is not moving around any longer. We were also explained of why coral dies and how dying coral helps to reproduce for the living coral.
Second snorkeling sight was by Upolu Cay, located about 30km from Cairns - a sand patch that rises out of the sea once the tide goes down. This we did after lunch as before lunch it was still under water :) That was my favourite! Little sand hills in a bright blue sea next to dark coral patches all around. As the sand was piled up there was very shallow water for about 50m down the stream, in shallow areas the water was extremely warm - I just laid there and did not wanna leave, ever :)
While snorkeling I saw nemo fish, turtle (from a distance this time), many different kinds of other fish (some were huuuge and some were tiny, some where plain and some were bright blue, like a colorful fish tank), saw a huge stingray (probably about 1.2m long) and a shark (can't remember what it was called, could it be black shark perhaps? it was also a bit over a meter long i'd say). Stingray and shark were hiding under a huge coral - one on one side and the other one on the other side, apparently they like to hang out together usually :) And of course many many different kinds of corals - some shaped like huge plates, some like fingers, some like cabbage. Corals were in many different colors and with lots of different types of fish swimming all around and inside of it. Snorkeling and staring at the complicated coral/fish/mollusk setting was like staring at an always moving art piece - you just stare and you are not able to take your eyes off as with every second the art piece changes.
On the way back we were served more food, cheese, fruit, snacks and cake. I happened to chat with couple of Germans - it is always my favourite part :) Also the crew was great! There was 6 of them total, two had worked on the boat just for 4 months, one moved here from London and the other one from Canada. Both of them said they got enough of the cold weather :) One of them expressed it in this format: it is 29C, water is 25C and it is WINTER at the moment!
After the trip I got back to the hotel, idea was to take a quick shower and quick nap, then head to town for dinner and a concert - nope that did not happen. I kept pressing snooze for about 20 minutes after that I gave up, had a quick snack and headed to bed for good :) Apparently adjusting and catching up on sleep takes a bit more than one 13h sleep ;)
The Great Barrier Reef is 2700km long reaching north to south right by Cairns. It is formed of batches of corals, which need shallow salt water and lots of sun to grow. There are various different types of corals (~400 types) and lots of sea animals (~4000 species of mollusks) and fish (~1500 different types) living alongside of it. We were warned many times not to touch the coral. Apparently it is not the crowds of tourists or global warming that is dangerous, but the touching - we wear lots of sunscreen and if that gets on a coral by our fingers, it dies :(
Our first snorkeling stop was about 1h boat ride away, called "Wonder Wall" located on the outer edge of Upolu Reef. It is just like a wall in the ocean - on one side is the coral and on the other side the wall goes into depth of the ocean. It is nothing compared to what I saw in Hawaii on Molokini island. Everything is much closer here, there are more different kinds of fish and the water is clearer. We are also allowed to swim around more freely, which I like :)
Once everybody gathered back on the boat the crew held a guided tour on a glass bottom boat. This way they were able to tell us all about the marine life and forming of coral reef. For an example I found out that even the corals sleep :) Right, they have feeding time when they are moving about with water, just like tall grass is moving in different directions with the wind, once the coral goes to sleep, it gets leathery look and is not moving around any longer. We were also explained of why coral dies and how dying coral helps to reproduce for the living coral.
Second snorkeling sight was by Upolu Cay, located about 30km from Cairns - a sand patch that rises out of the sea once the tide goes down. This we did after lunch as before lunch it was still under water :) That was my favourite! Little sand hills in a bright blue sea next to dark coral patches all around. As the sand was piled up there was very shallow water for about 50m down the stream, in shallow areas the water was extremely warm - I just laid there and did not wanna leave, ever :)
While snorkeling I saw nemo fish, turtle (from a distance this time), many different kinds of other fish (some were huuuge and some were tiny, some where plain and some were bright blue, like a colorful fish tank), saw a huge stingray (probably about 1.2m long) and a shark (can't remember what it was called, could it be black shark perhaps? it was also a bit over a meter long i'd say). Stingray and shark were hiding under a huge coral - one on one side and the other one on the other side, apparently they like to hang out together usually :) And of course many many different kinds of corals - some shaped like huge plates, some like fingers, some like cabbage. Corals were in many different colors and with lots of different types of fish swimming all around and inside of it. Snorkeling and staring at the complicated coral/fish/mollusk setting was like staring at an always moving art piece - you just stare and you are not able to take your eyes off as with every second the art piece changes.
On the way back we were served more food, cheese, fruit, snacks and cake. I happened to chat with couple of Germans - it is always my favourite part :) Also the crew was great! There was 6 of them total, two had worked on the boat just for 4 months, one moved here from London and the other one from Canada. Both of them said they got enough of the cold weather :) One of them expressed it in this format: it is 29C, water is 25C and it is WINTER at the moment!
After the trip I got back to the hotel, idea was to take a quick shower and quick nap, then head to town for dinner and a concert - nope that did not happen. I kept pressing snooze for about 20 minutes after that I gave up, had a quick snack and headed to bed for good :) Apparently adjusting and catching up on sleep takes a bit more than one 13h sleep ;)
cairns - day 1
Flight from Hong-Kong to Cairns was 7h, went by in a snap. Got some good movies in and short sleep again. Arrival was great as always, after so many hours of flying any destination probably seems like the best one ever :) Once out of the plane had a small chat with immigration about my finances, when I'm expected back at the office (thought I can forget about the office for now, but nope), why I'm here, when did I start planning the trip and what sort of visas do the people hold that I'm gonna visit. Nothing too surprising I guess, customs was smooth as well - including the cleaning of my hiking boots. I've heard from various people of how they are very careful about the soil that gets brought in here with various shoes, so they deep clean them :) so they did for mine as well, my hiking boots came back nicely packaged :D
After 36h of traveling I figured I should just stay awake as long as possible. Napping in the middle of the day won't work for me as I won't be able to get out of bed, this in turn would mess up the whole rhythm of sleep. Only way to manage staying awake would be walking around. Quick shower at the hotel first, change of clothes and to the town I went.
Cairns is a small place as seen by locals, about 130 000 people (town size is expected to double within few years). My hotel is located 1.5km from the center - there is a nice Esplanade connecting this area to the city center, just about 1.5km walk. Town itself is nice, many eating places, a big mall, quite large marina, parks, water Laguna and little arts shops. Laguna is great - it is located right by the sea, but as the sea is not very suitable for a swim (muddy shore and not very inviting, I found also warning signs about alligators), they have set up a shallow pool with all sorts of fountains for people to swim in. During the day it is packed with people.
At the moment there is Carin's Festival ongoing with a tight program. Happened to find one outdoor live music performance in city center, in the evenings there are pub performances all over town - perhaps tomorrow I'll catch one of those too.
While working on staying awake and walking around town I booked my next 2 days. Tomorrow I will be going to explore Great Barrier Reef and the day after there will be white water rafting - a bit more of an adrenaline kick :) Both are day tours including lunch and a tight program. While looking for a place to have dinner I ran into 2 Estonians on the street :)
Managed to keep myself busy till about 4 in the afternoon, by the time I got back to the hotel the time was 4:45. Bit of unpacking and then preparing for tomorrow's trip, I was done at 5:30 and that is when I fell dead on the bed. Tiredness took over and my 13h beauty sleep started :)
After 36h of traveling I figured I should just stay awake as long as possible. Napping in the middle of the day won't work for me as I won't be able to get out of bed, this in turn would mess up the whole rhythm of sleep. Only way to manage staying awake would be walking around. Quick shower at the hotel first, change of clothes and to the town I went.
Cairns is a small place as seen by locals, about 130 000 people (town size is expected to double within few years). My hotel is located 1.5km from the center - there is a nice Esplanade connecting this area to the city center, just about 1.5km walk. Town itself is nice, many eating places, a big mall, quite large marina, parks, water Laguna and little arts shops. Laguna is great - it is located right by the sea, but as the sea is not very suitable for a swim (muddy shore and not very inviting, I found also warning signs about alligators), they have set up a shallow pool with all sorts of fountains for people to swim in. During the day it is packed with people.
At the moment there is Carin's Festival ongoing with a tight program. Happened to find one outdoor live music performance in city center, in the evenings there are pub performances all over town - perhaps tomorrow I'll catch one of those too.
While working on staying awake and walking around town I booked my next 2 days. Tomorrow I will be going to explore Great Barrier Reef and the day after there will be white water rafting - a bit more of an adrenaline kick :) Both are day tours including lunch and a tight program. While looking for a place to have dinner I ran into 2 Estonians on the street :)
Managed to keep myself busy till about 4 in the afternoon, by the time I got back to the hotel the time was 4:45. Bit of unpacking and then preparing for tomorrow's trip, I was done at 5:30 and that is when I fell dead on the bed. Tiredness took over and my 13h beauty sleep started :)
Sunday, August 30, 2009
about 40 minutes to go
last set of e-mails have been sent. sitting at the airport, listening to music, tweeting, facebook and staring at the dark clouds outside. i have not snapped out of the daily hassles yet. yesterday was a long day.. preparations for Long Distance Triathlon started at 6am for me and event finished 11:30pm. it was a tough, fun, exciting and a happy day. i'm so proud of all of you who competed and all of you who assisted with organizing the event. i'm a lucky person to have such good people around me!
this morning alarm went off 9am, good solid 8h sleep, new morning full of hassles started. all in all i managed and i managed good. now there are 17 flights waiting for me in the next 6 weeks and then i'll be back where i started from. but that i won't think about before i'm off the last flight ;) .. and that won't be anytime soon :D
life is sooooo gooood :)
you all take care and be good!
stay tuned! liftoff coming up shortly :D
this morning alarm went off 9am, good solid 8h sleep, new morning full of hassles started. all in all i managed and i managed good. now there are 17 flights waiting for me in the next 6 weeks and then i'll be back where i started from. but that i won't think about before i'm off the last flight ;) .. and that won't be anytime soon :D
life is sooooo gooood :)
you all take care and be good!
stay tuned! liftoff coming up shortly :D
Saturday, August 15, 2009
technology rules :)
In order to keep you all up to date with my doings I have added twitter updates to my travel blog. It shows last 3 updates from my Twitter account. Through Twitter I can send updates from my mobile so I can send updates from anywhere now :) Oh the fun! I'll be testing it in the following couple of weeks. Also feel free to use RSS reader to get my new posts to your e-mail immediately.
About my travel planning and progress, well, not much to tell. My friend Ave who I'll visit in Brisbane is doing great work on figuring out our plans there. We will also travel to Sydney together. It will be so great to see her!
Currently I'm doing some local tourism in Võru, heading over to Tartu shortly and then on to Leigo Järvemuusika festival in the evening :)
About my travel planning and progress, well, not much to tell. My friend Ave who I'll visit in Brisbane is doing great work on figuring out our plans there. We will also travel to Sydney together. It will be so great to see her!
Currently I'm doing some local tourism in Võru, heading over to Tartu shortly and then on to Leigo Järvemuusika festival in the evening :)
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Exactly a month till packing needs to be finished :)
I need to have everything packed by the evening of 28th of August :) and no I'm not overplanning. The deal is the same as last year: I will be organizing a triathlon event that starts 6am on 29th of August and ends around 3am on the 30th of August. I have to be at the airport bit before noon on the 30th, which gives me couple of hours to get some sleep and that is it :)
The progress so far is:
- plane tickets bought and initial dates for all flights fixed
- travel, health and luggage insurance done
- Australian visa gotten
- training in San Jose arranged and U2 concert tickets purchased
Nothing else needed really :) Easy trip this time huh? Maybe I'm just a bit more spontaneous, maybe it is just the nature of the countries I'm going to - I don't know, but besides few accommodation arrangements (San Jose and Atlanta) there is nothing more to do :) I have decided that I won't arrange any local trips up front, I have looked up what I'd like to do and I'm betting on walking into organizers office the same day to take the trip. Same with car rental. So I just need to pack my bag at some point and that is it :)
It all seems so far away though, I'm not even thinking about it yet, no excitement, nothing. Must be the current busy schedule? Very strange.
The progress so far is:
- plane tickets bought and initial dates for all flights fixed
- travel, health and luggage insurance done
- Australian visa gotten
- training in San Jose arranged and U2 concert tickets purchased
Nothing else needed really :) Easy trip this time huh? Maybe I'm just a bit more spontaneous, maybe it is just the nature of the countries I'm going to - I don't know, but besides few accommodation arrangements (San Jose and Atlanta) there is nothing more to do :) I have decided that I won't arrange any local trips up front, I have looked up what I'd like to do and I'm betting on walking into organizers office the same day to take the trip. Same with car rental. So I just need to pack my bag at some point and that is it :)
It all seems so far away though, I'm not even thinking about it yet, no excitement, nothing. Must be the current busy schedule? Very strange.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Curious about the land down under
I've always wondered about what is there in down under, what is it like to walk upside down that is :D No need to wonder any longer as this is where my travels during fall vacation take me. Somehow I've always explained of why I have chosen a certain area for the next destination so here it comes again: my friend Ave moved to the down under land this year :) Her initial plan is to stay there for a bit, so I figured to go and visit her.
As usual, I got limited time for my travels and as usual I'm going to try to take most out of those few weeks I've got. Planned routes and destinations:
1. Cairns, AU - good 3.5 days
Will arrive there through Stockholm, London and Hong-Kong (please make it so that there are no tropical storms in the area this time, although I will be in Hong Kong airport almost to the date a year later!). Activities should definitely include some adrenalin kick, for an example bit of whitewater rafting? Definitely some ocean activities on a boat to study the Great Barrier Reef and water animals.
2. Brisbane, AU - for about 5 days
Noosa and Rainbow beach here I come with my surfing gear to have the best pancakes in the world :-P ! Hopefully some animal parks will be open during my stay, will check out some sand hills in the ocean (islands made entirely of sand!), the city and the beaches and spend time with my friend, and night clubs and all that this area has to offer.
3. Sydney, AU - 3 days
Of course the city, perhaps some cultural events. Oh and close to Sydney there are mountains called blue ;) and something about a tramway, will see what i can manage there.
4. Tasmania, AU - 3 days
Everything that this little island can offer in 3 days, will be in Hobart area, driving around by bikes and cars like a maniac :-P
5. Christchurch, NZ - 6 days
The city and the most beautiful train ride in the world plus ice climbing on glacier and ocean life with itsy-bitsy dolphins and couple of museums and animal parks hopefully, perhaps even some activities full of adrenalin rush.
6. Auckland, NZ - 6 days
The caves and more Maori culture and Rotorua and Rongitoto and all kinds of fun.
7. San Jose, US - 3 days
Short training course, work related, will try to snap out of the vacation mode and be down to earth for just 2 days.
8. Santa Cruz, US - 4 days
"surf city" is the nickname of this wonderful town in California, so I'll be just surfing.
9. Atlanta, US - 1.5 days
Just to attend U2 concert on the 6th of October in Georgia Dome :)
As of today I will be traveling mostly alone, I got one potential travel companion, but this is to be confirmed still. I'm particularly happy about the U2 concert on the last evening of the trip, tickets to the event are purchased :)
As usual, I got limited time for my travels and as usual I'm going to try to take most out of those few weeks I've got. Planned routes and destinations:
1. Cairns, AU - good 3.5 days
Will arrive there through Stockholm, London and Hong-Kong (please make it so that there are no tropical storms in the area this time, although I will be in Hong Kong airport almost to the date a year later!). Activities should definitely include some adrenalin kick, for an example bit of whitewater rafting? Definitely some ocean activities on a boat to study the Great Barrier Reef and water animals.
2. Brisbane, AU - for about 5 days
Noosa and Rainbow beach here I come with my surfing gear to have the best pancakes in the world :-P ! Hopefully some animal parks will be open during my stay, will check out some sand hills in the ocean (islands made entirely of sand!), the city and the beaches and spend time with my friend, and night clubs and all that this area has to offer.
3. Sydney, AU - 3 days
Of course the city, perhaps some cultural events. Oh and close to Sydney there are mountains called blue ;) and something about a tramway, will see what i can manage there.
4. Tasmania, AU - 3 days
Everything that this little island can offer in 3 days, will be in Hobart area, driving around by bikes and cars like a maniac :-P
5. Christchurch, NZ - 6 days
The city and the most beautiful train ride in the world plus ice climbing on glacier and ocean life with itsy-bitsy dolphins and couple of museums and animal parks hopefully, perhaps even some activities full of adrenalin rush.
6. Auckland, NZ - 6 days
The caves and more Maori culture and Rotorua and Rongitoto and all kinds of fun.
7. San Jose, US - 3 days
Short training course, work related, will try to snap out of the vacation mode and be down to earth for just 2 days.
8. Santa Cruz, US - 4 days
"surf city" is the nickname of this wonderful town in California, so I'll be just surfing.
9. Atlanta, US - 1.5 days
Just to attend U2 concert on the 6th of October in Georgia Dome :)
As of today I will be traveling mostly alone, I got one potential travel companion, but this is to be confirmed still. I'm particularly happy about the U2 concert on the last evening of the trip, tickets to the event are purchased :)
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Travel plans
I noticed that I have not given an overview of the travel plans. Here it is:
7.02 - St.Paul Minnesota - leaving Tallinn early morning and arriving in the cities at noon, will spend the day with Mare
8.02 - arriving in Duluth - leaving the Cities and arriving in Duluth, visiting with Nikki in Virginia Minnesota for 5 days
13.02 - leaving from Duluth, arriving in Kahului - spending the next 6 days in Hawaii, island of Maui
17.02 - luau :) - celebrating my friends birthday the Hawaiian way!
20.02 - Honolulu - spending the day in Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, leaving close to midnight to head back home
20.02-22.02 - spending couple of days on planes and airports on my way back home, arriving in Tallinn in the evening
:)
7.02 - St.Paul Minnesota - leaving Tallinn early morning and arriving in the cities at noon, will spend the day with Mare
8.02 - arriving in Duluth - leaving the Cities and arriving in Duluth, visiting with Nikki in Virginia Minnesota for 5 days
13.02 - leaving from Duluth, arriving in Kahului - spending the next 6 days in Hawaii, island of Maui
17.02 - luau :) - celebrating my friends birthday the Hawaiian way!
20.02 - Honolulu - spending the day in Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, leaving close to midnight to head back home
20.02-22.02 - spending couple of days on planes and airports on my way back home, arriving in Tallinn in the evening
:)
Friday, January 30, 2009
Taking off in a week
I have made no progress with anything basically :-P This just seems like such a relaxed trip, going mostly to familiar places and meeting with familiar people. This will be all so great - just an easy and relaxed get-away :)
Now I mentioned the weather, here is the proof:
....... brrrr?
vs.
Many of my friends have left the country, either for longer or shorter time. This in turn makes me itch for the airports :) Although it would be so much easier if I would not have to pack though, just drive to the airport and take off - maybe someday I'll be able to travel like that as well.
Now I mentioned the weather, here is the proof:
....... brrrr?
vs.
Many of my friends have left the country, either for longer or shorter time. This in turn makes me itch for the airports :) Although it would be so much easier if I would not have to pack though, just drive to the airport and take off - maybe someday I'll be able to travel like that as well.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
US trip 2009 - in less than a month
Next travel planning has started already some time ago :)
This time the road will lead to Hawaii ... well actually the plane will take ;) Full story behind the short winter vacation is that my freshman year roommate from UND came to visit me in Tallinn in May 2008. We hadn't seen/talked/written to each other for about 7 years or so. And suddenly she informs me in the beginning of the year that she will be in Sweden and would it be fine if she would stop in Tallinn as well. So she came to visit me for 5 days. Oh it was great, I had really nice time while she was here.
Some background information is needed: we both have our birthdays in February, hers is 17th and mine is 5 days later, we are same age. So she was saying of how an important and round birthday will take place next year and that her parents will organize a trip to Hawaii for her as a birthday present - she invited me to join them. My first reaction was: oh sure, like I could do that. After giving it some thought once I returned from my Asia trip I started to look for options of how I could join her in Hawaii. Finally I got the plane tickets right before Christmas :D
As my friend&co already had their flights arranged I just tried to get matching ones - I'll arrive in Hawaii on the 13th and will leave on the 20th. So just a week on the spot. Since I'm going to that side of the globe anyways it is a must that I stop by to see my friend Nikki and her family. I'll be arriving in Minneapolis on the 7th of February :) Will hopefully meet other people while visiting at the cities as well. Will see.
This time there are not many preparations to be made other than the flights and travel insurance (both done already). Of course I need to arrange the logistics and meeting people in the Cities but that is just peanuts to space (as Douglas Adams would say ;) ) It will be just traveling this time... not gonna be a backpacking trip as the few last ones have been - and that is totally fine by me :) It will be a great trip to spend some time with my dear friends on the other side of the globe - I can't wait.
Oh, the packing will be fun this time :) I'm going to Minnesota for a week where it is probably like -20C and then to Hawaii for a week where it is about +25C :D :D So I take my warmest jacket and then bikinis :D - that should do right?
This time the road will lead to Hawaii ... well actually the plane will take ;) Full story behind the short winter vacation is that my freshman year roommate from UND came to visit me in Tallinn in May 2008. We hadn't seen/talked/written to each other for about 7 years or so. And suddenly she informs me in the beginning of the year that she will be in Sweden and would it be fine if she would stop in Tallinn as well. So she came to visit me for 5 days. Oh it was great, I had really nice time while she was here.
Some background information is needed: we both have our birthdays in February, hers is 17th and mine is 5 days later, we are same age. So she was saying of how an important and round birthday will take place next year and that her parents will organize a trip to Hawaii for her as a birthday present - she invited me to join them. My first reaction was: oh sure, like I could do that. After giving it some thought once I returned from my Asia trip I started to look for options of how I could join her in Hawaii. Finally I got the plane tickets right before Christmas :D
As my friend&co already had their flights arranged I just tried to get matching ones - I'll arrive in Hawaii on the 13th and will leave on the 20th. So just a week on the spot. Since I'm going to that side of the globe anyways it is a must that I stop by to see my friend Nikki and her family. I'll be arriving in Minneapolis on the 7th of February :) Will hopefully meet other people while visiting at the cities as well. Will see.
This time there are not many preparations to be made other than the flights and travel insurance (both done already). Of course I need to arrange the logistics and meeting people in the Cities but that is just peanuts to space (as Douglas Adams would say ;) ) It will be just traveling this time... not gonna be a backpacking trip as the few last ones have been - and that is totally fine by me :) It will be a great trip to spend some time with my dear friends on the other side of the globe - I can't wait.
Oh, the packing will be fun this time :) I'm going to Minnesota for a week where it is probably like -20C and then to Hawaii for a week where it is about +25C :D :D So I take my warmest jacket and then bikinis :D - that should do right?
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