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January 31, 2006
Next up... Asia
Well, we are off to Thailand tonight after two weeks in Australia. It is hard to believe how quickly the last month flew by.
Our laptop was finally fixed here in Sydney so we are busy trying to get everything up on the site. We just put up several posts from December that we didn’t have time to upload back in Buenos Aires. The rest will have to wait for Bangkok.
More to come...
Posted by Peter Mork at 6:18 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 30, 2006
The Centre for Independent Study
This morning I met with Peter Saunder and Helen Hughes at The Centre for Independent Study. CIS is a leading think tank in Australia. Professor Saunders heads their Social Foundations program, while Professor Hughes is a senior economic fellow.
They loaded me up with books and pamphlets CIS has published. These will keep me busy on the flight to Bangkok and get me up-to-date on several issues within the Australian economy. We talked for about two hours with themes including free-trade, skilled and unskilled immigration, welfare, and much more. It was a lively discussion where there was some debate over issues like compulsory voting and immigration were everyone did not see eye-to-eye. Also, talking with Helen Hughes reminded me a good deal of talking with Milton Friedman when I had dinner with him a year and a half ago. Both are sharp, direct, and get right to the point.
Overall it was very productive for me and once I go through some more of the reading material I'll post on some of the topics discussed. In the meantime check out their website here: http://www.cis.org.au/
I spent a good part of the afternoon getting my notes into the computer and then the three of us headed out to a sushi place and had our farewell dinner to Sydney. Stacey leaves tomorrow for Adelaide in the south. Hard to believe but tomorrow night we'll be in Bangkok.
Posted by Peter Mork at 11:02 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 29, 2006
Tennis Final in the Shadow of the Opera House
Today, while the girls went to museums, I spent a good deal of the day in an internet café getting the last month of notes from my notebook into my computer. It is a long process and I'm not even close to done. Still I made some progress.
Tonight for dinner we bought food for a picnic for a third night in row. The event tonight… the men's finals of the Australian Open which features Roger Federer (#1 in the world) vs Marcos Bagdatis (a 20 year old from Cyprus that came out of nowhere to make it into the finals). American Express had set up a huge screen in front of the Opera House where people could come and watch it for free. There were hundreds of people there… a good many sporting Greek flags.
We watched the first two sets there as Bagdatis won the first set and then lost the second narrowly. We then walked back to the hotel where we watched the conclusion. By the time we were back Bagdatis had been blown out in the 3rd set and despite a valiant effort he lost the 4th set and the match. Federer accepted the trophy in tears. On that note it is off to bed.
Posted by Peter Mork at 11:00 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 28, 2006
Featherdale then Opera in the Park
This morning we headed to the Featherdale Wildlife Park located 45 minutes outside of Sydney. While not San Diego Zoo, it was a great experience. Highlights included petting a koala, feeding kangaroos, and getting an up-close look at various other species. Head over and take a look at the pictures.
In the late afternoon I met up with Em at the Opera House and we headed over to where Stacey had been saving a place for us in the Domain in the Botanical Gardens where a free outdoor opera showing of Madame Butterfly was talking place tonight. The park was absolutely packed with people and there was an incredible audio and visual system set up as the stage was too far away to make out everything. It was my first opera and I definitely liked it. Truthfully, though, instead of following the story line by line as they translated the Italian into English on huge screens above the stage, I just laid back and looked at the stars and listened to the music. Em filled me in periodically as to what was going on.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:55 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 27, 2006
Mozart's 250th Birthday
Today, after meeting up with Stacey in the morning, we squared away our hostel situation for the next few days. The last two days the three of us will be sharing a triple room at a hostel that has wireless internet so hopefully we'll be able to do some major uploading now that the computer is fixed.
For lunch we met with one of Stacey's friends George who now lives in Sydney. They actually met working together in England where they became friends. He showed us around a bit and took us to a great place for sandwiches which we ate by the Rocks overlooking the harbor. We will probably be meeting up with him again tomorrow to head to the beach.
After George headed back to work, we all jumped on a boat that was giving a tour of the harbor. It was a great sunny day, and the sailboats were out in force.
Tonight we did something very unique. In the botanical gardens overlooking the harbor and city skyline, the Sydney Orchestra preformed Mozart on a floating stage in the harbor for his 250th birthday. Afterwards, Amadeus was shown on a huge outdoor screen, a movie I had never seen before but would definitely claim is one of the best films I've seen in quite some time.
While the official tickets were sold out, we set up camp on the grass above the barriers where we had a partial but stunning view of all the action. We had Indian curry which remind me I will never picnic with again without napkins and utensils, although it was delicious. Stacey politely toughed out the movie even though she was not feeling well and was lulled to sleep by the great music. Once it was over we jumped in a taxi, dropped her off at her hostel, made sure she was ok and then were back at our place a little after midnight to call it a night.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:53 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 26, 2006
Australia Day
Today, we woke up, grabbed some breakfast, and then headed off to find Em's good friend Stacey who arrived in Sydney today. She will be working in the country for the next 6 months and then off to New Zealand where she will probably work another 6 months or so. We were lucky that it happened that we were in Sydney at the same time.
After an unsuccessful attempt to track her down at her hostel that included waking up one of girls who was sharing a room with her, we left her a message to meet us back at the hostel at 6:30 and we set off to explore some of the activities set up around the city. The whole world was out and about at Darling Harbor and we grabbed some lunch at one of the restaurants and just people watched for a bit. It is a truly international city with immigrants and visitors from all over. Everyone was decked out in the Australian flag.
Next we walked a bit around Sydney's downtown. At six thirty we met up with Stacey at her hotel and we all headed back towards the harbor and Circular Quoy where we grabbed some drinks at an open air bar that had a view of the stunning Sydney Opera House.
We tried to make it back to Darling Harbor for the fireworks, but the pubs were calling. An older couple that we stopped to ask about the fireworks told us we didn't miss much but gave us some great ideas about things to do for the rest of our time in Sydney. Tomorrow there is live symphony with an open-air showing of the movie Amadeus in honor of Mozart's birthday on the harbor and on Saturday night there is a free opera performance in the Royal Botanical Gardens.
With the fireworks already over we headed to a bar where we watched 20 year-old Marcos Bagdadis from Cyprus make his way to the finals of the Australian Open. It was a close match and he made a huge comeback from down 2 sets to none to win 3 sets to 2. I'm looking forward to seeing him play in the finals on Sunday.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:50 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 25, 2006
A Laptop as Good as New
It is hard to believe but our laptop's screen was cracked way back in Peru on November 6th. Since then the screen and our ability to use it has been steadily deteriorating and at this point is unusable. Toshiba USA has agreed to cover the repair under warranty but we've had some problems finding someone to fix it. With that in mind, we arrived in Sydney early and headed straight for the Toshiba headquarters who informed me via email they could repair it.
When we dropped off the machine they informed us it shouldn't be a problem and I gave them a copy of an email from Toshiba USA saying they would reimburse anyone who would do the repair. Everything looked good so we headed downtown to return our rental car and check into our hostel.
We're staying in Kings Cross, known as the red-light district and a traditionally seedy part of Sydney, but have read that it has some of the cheapest rooms in town, some great restaurants and a lively feel to it. The taxi driver gave us a short tour and a little background of the area which looks more like Hillcrest in San Diego than the a seedy area that I was expecting. Trendy cafes and restaurants line the streets as it has become an attractive place for many people to live as it is a short walk to downtown. Prostitution is legal, so regulated brothels exist on the backstreets and strip clubs abound.
After getting some food, we headed back to the hostel where there was a message from Toshiba. When I called they explained that they wouldn't fix the machine as they were worried about getting the refund. Worse yet they didn't even have the part in stock. Not what I wanted to hear.
I jumped on a bus to go pick it up (after barely missing the first bus to North Ryde) but when I arrived they informed me that they did have the part afterall. If I wanted they could install it and I could try to get the refund directly from Toshiba myself. I laid down the credit card and did it.
It was a great feeling turning on computer for the first time in over 2 months and being able to see the full screen.
Tonight we grabbed some excellent Thai food near the hotel and… quite happily… worked on the computer. Tomorrow is Australia Day so we are looking forward to lots of mayhem in Sydney.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:48 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 24, 2006
Australian Barbie (not the doll… a BBQ)
The majority of the day was spent in the car driving north. There were lots of signs warning us about potential kangaroos, koalas, and wallabies crossing the road but we unfortunately didn't see any. The area has been suffering from bush fires the last couple of days due to the high temperature and wind conditions. We passed some recently burned countryside and a fleet of firetrucks.
We pulled into Picton off the 31 Freeway and after a few failed attempts finally found a motel on the outskirts of town. The guy managing the place was named Andy and had been living in Australia the last few years. He was actually planning on heading to the U.S. to take a look at the lifestyle after he got married back in India next month so we were giving him some advice as he checked us in. As the conversation continued he invited us to eat with him and a few other regular guests as they were BBQing in the courtyard in front of the hotel.
In total, a group of about 8 people came and went during the feast we had a great time talking about everything from the Australian lifestyle, taxes, healthcare, immigration, eating beef, and much more. When it was nearing 1 in the morning Em and I finally called it a night as we have to get up early to make another attempt at getting our computer fixed in Sydney.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:43 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 23, 2006
Yarra Valley
We checked out of the hotel in the morning and by the afternoon we were in our hotel in Lilydale. Before the wineries closed we headed out to the Yarra Valley to visit a few and grab a bite to eat.
After eating at a café we stopped at two wineries where Em did all the tasting. I decided against even having a sip of alcohol given that I'm still getting used to driving on the left side of the road. Em had tried about 10 different wines by the time we got back to the hotel she had no interest in opening up the bottle we had just bought.
Instead I read on the balcony, while Em stalked the 50 cockatoos and other birds that were flying around the hotel. We finished the night watching Roger Federer beat Tommy Haas in the Australian Open during which we did open up that bottle of Shiraz. It was excellent.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:42 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 22, 2006
40+ Degrees C
Today we headed to the beach one more time to enjoy it before we depart tomorrow but the wind was so strong that you couldn't even be on the actual beach without getting whip-lashed by sand. Despite the wind, it is extremely hot and we joined the rest of the town lounging in shallow and cool water for a few hours.
Then we took the car and drove west along the Great Ocean Road to see some more of the countryside and sea. It is a beautiful highway that hugs the shoreline and cliffs which are covered with eucalyptus. It reminds me a lot of Highway 1 in California.
Tomorrow we are off to Lilydale just out side of Melbourne which is in the vineyard and wine region of the Yarra Valley. After a night we will head up to Sydney.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:37 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 21, 2006
On Holiday
This morning we changed accommodations to a more affordable hotel right down the road. The normal rooms are actually probably more expensive but this hotel has some budget rooms in the back that are small and don't have a view of the ocean. The hotel, called the Grand Pacific is an old mansion that seems to just hang of the cliff overlooking the Tasmanian Sea. The water here is cool but it is so warm outside it feels great.
Tonight, we set out again to look for the sulfur-crested cockatoos to get some more photos. We quickly realized that they are in fact very common and spotting them last night is something that we could do everyday. Up on the hill an elderly woman, who saw Em taking pictures of them across the street from her home, invited us into her backyard where we could see them a bit closer. She was really sweet and talked to us about the area.
For dinner we ate great food on picnic benches outside our hotel overlooking the water and watched some tennis before heading off to bed.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:33 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 20, 2006
Lorne by the Sea
Today we explored the town a bit and for the most part just relaxed on the beach. The town is lively because of the summer crowd. The weather is supposed to be extremely hot in the next couple of days and we are ready for it. It is a nice feeling know that we are going to be here for a few days and don't have to immediately rush off to some other destination.
We bought some food at the local grocery store to take advantage of the kitchen facilities. After a tasty pasta meal we set off walking across town to look for a place we could check email. It was unfortunately closed, but we noticed several big white cockatoos squawking and flying overhead toward the mountains.
We followed the street uphill to a small clearing where they were gathering in the tall eucalyptus trees above. I sat for about an hour watching the huge white birds with lime green feathers under their wings fly above me squawking with all their might. Em roamed around taking pictures of them, which became ever more difficult as the sun disappeared over the horizon.
After that adventure we headed back to get some sleep.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:31 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 19, 2006
Driving across Victoria
Today was a long day in the car. All in all we were driving more than 11 hours but we got to see some beautiful Australian countryside.
One thing that we enjoyed was listening to the Australian Open on the radio. It has just started in Melbourne but Venus Williams has already been knocked out of the tournament. As we drove through the middle of Melbourne listening to a very exciting match where an Aussie was in the process of upsetting another player and could see the actual stadium it felt like we should stop and join the excitement.
By the time we reached Lorne it was nearly 10:00pm and we didn't have a reservation at a hotel. A few places were full but we found owner who had to fill a vacancy as someone had canceled on him last minute. It was a bit out of our price range but he said if we would stay two nights he would cut charge us a one room rate, even though it is a two bedroom condo with a kitchen. The discounted rate was right in line with our guidebook's prices so I think we got lucky.
By the time we checked in every restaurant in town had closed their kitchen. The bar at the end of town took pity on us and brought out a cheese appetizer plate for us and I got the rest of my calories off two beers. Tomorrow I'll eat a big breakfast to make up for it.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:29 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 18, 2006
Down the Coast
It was raining today which meant a wet walk with all our gear to the downtown rental car station. Getting the car was no problem once we arrived and we were heading south on the coastal highway 1 before we knew it.
We pulled off at several tourist marked sites on the way down and had lunch in a small town near the coast. Heading off the highway toward the town we saw our first kangaroo and in the town the trees were filled with colorful parrots. So far the wildlife is living up to expectations.
Tonight we stayed above a bar/restaurant in the costal town of Nowra. The owner was extremely friendly and we actually had the place to ourselves. After exploring the town and walking down the beach (we saw more grey and pink parrots, called galahs, on the way down) we headed back to the hotel to have dinner. We ordered a great bottle of Australian wine the owner recommended and the meal was superb. Tomorrow we head past Melbourne to the beach town of Lorne in the south.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:26 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 17, 2006
Australia Here we Come
We caught our flight from Auckland to Sydney early in the morning. It is actually the same exact flight from Aerolinas Argentinas that we were on two weeks ago coming from Buenos Aires. It was a nice reminder of South America and it was fun speaking Spanish again during the flight.
We arrived in Sydney and caught the metro to our hostel which is located near Hyde Park. At the airport we checked into rental car prices and it looks like it will be the cheapest way for us to get down to the Melbourne area by renting the car for a week. I think it will also be a great way to see the countryside.
Once we checked in we explored the city, mainly the Darling Harbor area which is fairly close to the hotel. We had dinner at a restaurant near the water (the portion of ribs that I got was enormous) before calling it a night. Tomorrow we rent the car and head south.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:25 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 16, 2006
Last Day in New Zealand
We arrived in Auckland at about noon and headed straight to the place where we were finally going to get our computer screen fixed. Toshiba USA has agreed to honor the warranty internationally, even though technically it is only good in the U.S. I've been corresponding with a technician at a local shop and it looked like everything was ready to go.
We dropped off the machine and headed out to grab some lunch. When we returned the new screen was on the computer and it looked great, but they informed us that there was a problem. Toshiba Australia, who the shop would need to go through to get paid, said they would not cover the repair because the screen was physically damaged (it is hard to believe that this thing broke back on a bus in PERU!!!) and not faulty. More frustrating was the fact that while it is Monday here, it is Sunday back in the US so we couldn't contact Toshiba USA to resolve the issue. In the end the new screen came off, and the broken one was replaced. Depressing!!! Now we'll have to wait until Sydney to get it fixed.
We then drove to the Hides where we would be spending the night. Rodney wasn't home but Jiuan and Li-wen where there to get us settled after the long drive. Em and I decided to take a walk and explore the beaches to stretch our legs a bit after being in the car for basically two days straight.
On the walk as Em was picking up seashell off the sand we heard some one yell "Hey, you can't take shells off this beach!" I thought we were getting busted by some beach security guard but when we turned around we saw Rodney heading towards us. He's seen us walking on his way home and pulled over to give us a ride back up. We had to go one-at-a-time though as Rodney was driving his new Smart car that is quite a sight to behold. Check out the photo of it here.
Back at their house Jiuan made a great stir-fry dish for dinner and we had a great time talking economics and philosophy. Rodney introduced me to Menken's book Chrestomathy, which we were only torn away from when Jiuan suggested we go on a tour of the city before it got too dark.
It was a great last night in New Zealand and the Hide's are people we will definitely keep in touch with for years to come.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:22 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 15, 2006
Meeting Roger Douglas then Driving up the Coast
This morning Em and I headed downtown to meet Roger Douglas, a Finance Minister of New Zealand from the 1980s who was the driving force behind the free-market reforms of the period. These reforms, which included the liberalization of trade, elimination of business subsidies, and deregulation of the labor market are to this day extremely controversial.
We talked for a little over an hour and I left quite impressed with the man. Regarding the reforms I was particularly interested in the fact that the Labour Party (i.e. left-of-center) had put them through. It is obviously a question he gets asked about frequently. In summary, the principle he embraced was to remove privilege from the government's operations. But it required doing it across the board, rather than inadvertantly picking and choosing winners and losers. He also stressed that it was easy to get into office and to stay there forever by telling people what they wanted to hear. It was another thing to go in and push for real and positive change, even though it might be politically costly. Another point that he repeated about the reforms was that "Speed doesn't kill, uncertainty does." He stressed that while people have since embraced the new system introduced by reforms they had implemented in entirety (i.e. such as the elimination of farm subsidies and accrual accounting for the government's books), other reforms that went only half-way are still riddled with problems (i.e. health-care).
In terms of future reforms he recommended his book Unfinished Business. He also passionately discussed reforms specifically in health, welfare and particularly education. Several times he took away my notebook and to scribble down notes and examples to make sure Em and I were following him. All-in-all it was a great discussion and I'll have more on it at a later date.
Next up we headed to Budget Rent-a-Car where we were able to get a great deal on a car. There are so many people that rent cars in Auckland and drive them Wellington that they need people to drive them back. For this we got a nice car for $20 and we could return it with an empty tank, provided we got it to Auckland in 48 hours. Since our flight leaves in about 42 hours it works out perfectly.
We picked up our stuff at Edy and Wayne's and then hit the road. Wayne reminded me to stay on the left side of the road on our way up to Auckland. We encouraged them to come and visit us in California in July. And with that we were off.
The drive up the north island was beautiful and we pulled into Rotorua around 9:30pm where we had reserved a room at the youth hostel. After dropping off our stuff we headed to the thermal hot springs the town is know for which were open to 11:00pm. Once were in Em noticed that our $8 silver wedding rings from Tijuana had turned green and gold. I thought they would permanently stay that way and in a way it added to their character. But we showed the attendant of the springs and she had a remedy all ready to go as tarnishing of silver and copper is a frequent occurrence in the mineral rich waters. Tomorrow we head to Auckland where we will be staying with the Hides before leaving for Sydney on Tuesday morning.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:18 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 14, 2006
Wellington and the Beehive
Today Wayne and Edy gave us a walking tour around the city after breakfast at their house. Downtown we walked around the botanical gardens, saw a cricket game being played (and Wayne got me up-to-date on the rules of the game), checked out the Natural History Museum, and we even took a tour of Parliament and the Beehive. Quite a full day. Check out the pictures on our photo site.
Tonight, Wayne made a huge salad for dinner and we ended the night with a game of Chickenfeet that Wayne dominated and I came in last place. Tomorrow we'll be renting a car and heading back to Auckland after meeting with former Finance Minister Roger Douglas. It should be an informative meeting and we've gotten to discuss a bit of some key issues I'm interested in with Wayne and Edy to get some perspective.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:09 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 13, 2006
Up the Coast to Wellington
After a little wine-tasting outside of Blenheim, Trista dropped us off at the ferry at mid-day and after a few hours trip we were in Wellington. Wayne was at the station to meet us and once we had gotten our luggage we all jumped in a taxi to head to their home. On the way there, our taxi driver who was originally from Somalia but had lived in the States for a number of years had some nice things to say the U.S. I'm not blindly patriotic but it was a welcome change of pace after months of being on the receiving end of anti-American comments.
Edy and Wayne's home was beautiful (thanks in no small part to all the hard work they've put into it over the last few months). It is also within walking distance of downtown. Em used to work with both of them at CRES. Wayne had spearheaded a black rhino project in South Africa while Edy had worked in the Applied Chemistry and Endocrinology groups. They have recently moved back to New Zealand (Wayne's original home) where Edy now is with the Wellington Zoo and Wayne teaches conservation biology at the University of Wellington.
Tonight we headed out to dinner at a restaurant off of lively Cuba street and then grabbed some coffee afterwards. They are great fun and we're having a blast hanging out with them. Tomorrow they'll be giving us a walking tour of the city during the daylight.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:07 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 12, 2006
No Dolphins for Em
Today Em was hoping to head out on a boat that allows you to "swim with dolphins" who frequent the area right off the coast. She was confirmed to go after being on a standby list, and then at the last minute the trip was cancelled due to weather conditions. She was bummed but hopefully we'll have another opportunity to try something similar somewhere else on the trip.
We hung around the hostel for part of the day and caught up on writing, postcards, and some reading. I also entertained Riu, a six year-old from Japan with some card tricks he couldn't get enough of. He was traveling with his parents and 3 year-old sister, Halle. We had fun helping both the kids with their English as well.
Tonight for dinner we bought crayfish (a rock lobster with no claws) from the dock and cooked them up in the hostel. It was a great feast and we saved some money making it ourselves.
Posted by Peter Mork at 9:58 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 11, 2006
Alexis' Art Gallery
Before heading north we caught a cab over to Alexis' art gallery, Furniture on Art, located in Christchurch. Ian was up in Auckland for the day but we were able to meet her two children and take a look at her gallery. The work displayed by the artists she represents was fantastic. She also took us out for a "Frappachino" at Starbucks. It was a great taste of home.
By noon we were heading north in a small rent-a-car with Trista behind the wheel. It was a nice way to travel as we could easily stop to take photos or enjoy the view. We even headed down one side road to taste wine at a small winery. It was a beautiful trip.
We arrived in Kaikoura in the evening. By far and away this was the best location for a hostel we had seen yet (and the price was great). We were right on the water and a short walk from town. Again, I'll let the photos do the talking.
We all headed into town together and had a good meal at a local restaurant. It looks like a beautiful area and a perfect place to stop for a few days.
Posted by Peter Mork at 9:53 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 10, 2006
The Long Bus to Christchurch
This morning as we were making our way to Christchurch on a double-decker bus, the driver informed us that one of the belts had broken and he needed to pull off the road to wait for mechanics from the last town to come and fix it. They eventually had to send for another bus. All in all it delayed us about an hour and a half. Pretty ironic that this was the stuff that one would think would happen frequently in Central and South America, yet this was the very first time we had been stranded by a bus.
Once in Christchurch we started making our way to the hostel that was 5 or 6 blocks away. A girl who was also on the bus and heading to the same hostel introduced herself as Trista. She was from Canada but had been working in New Zealand for the last 8 months and was currently on vacation for 4 weeks. By the time we got to the hostel we had all agreed to rent a car together to make our way up to the ferry in Picton to save money on bus fare. Trista said she would drive as she was used to driving on the left side of the road after her time here.
For dinner we grabbed some sushi at a place down the street and had fun talking to the waitress, originally from Japan. It was great food and served in small portions like a Spanish tapas bar. After that it was back to our room. Em and I actually have our own balcony at this place but unfortunately we are leaving early tomorrow so we don't have much time to enjoy it.
Posted by Peter Mork at 9:50 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 9, 2006
Milford Sound
We were picked up by a guy from the kayaking company about 10 minutes before 6:00 and were shortly afterwards on our way to Milford Sound. On the way through the national park, on one of the stops to admire a view, a parrot-like bird called a kea landed on the roof of the car. Our guide explained that it had been recently ranked as the smartest bird in the world and as such there was a huge black market to export them as pets. He's personally been offered thousands of dollars by a customer if he could get one to her.
Milford Sound was incredibly impressive. A fjord, the area was carved by glaciers. Although this area is famous for being rainy and overcast, we happened to be there on a beautiful day. We kayaked around the water until a little after noon. Not only will photos not do the place justice, neither did my own eyes. Things are so large there that there is a "dwarfing effect." For example, there is a waterfall that is three times the height of Niagara Falls. I thought they were joking as it looked big but not "larger-than-life" type of waterfall you imagine when you think of Niagara. Head over to our photo page to take a look at some of the pictures of the waterfall.
Our guide demonstrated the "dwarfing effect" by pointing out a waterfall in the distance and having everyone guess how far away it was. I thought it was about a kilometer and when some people started guessing 2 or three kilometers I thought they were nuts. Three kilometers was the typical distance of a cross country course in high school that we could run in around 17 minutes. It looked like I could reach the base of the falls, even though I'm not in shape, in about 5 to 10min. I was shocked when he said it was 8km away.
After paddling around the sound for various hours we jumped on a boat and headed over to a marine aquarium that had been built a few years back along a rock face. It featured a spiraled stairway that let you walk down 10 meters below the waters surface. This was particularly interesting as in the Sound the top layer of water was fresh while about 6 feet down it became saltwater where sea creatures could live. Due to the frequent rain, the fresh water level fluctuates. It was a great set up that let you really see where the saltwater began with all the aquatic life.
We jumped on a bus back to town a little after three and were back in Te Anau a few hours later. Tomorrow we are off to Christchurch.
Posted by Peter Mork at 9:49 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 8, 2006
Glow Worms
The highlight today was heading across the lake on a tour boat and then making our way up a cave via smaller boats to see glow worms. I'd previously never heard of the things but Emily had read all about them. The cave which had a river flowing through it was pretty impressive. The worms hanging from the top of these caves, have chemicals in their stomachs that glow in order to attract insects that in turn become their source of food. The hungrier they are, the more they glow, lighting up the ceiling like stars. Unfortunately we couldn't get any pictures as photography was not permitted in the cave.
Back at the hostel we changed rooms as a double opened up for practically the same price as the bunk beds. Tomorrow we have to be up early to head to Milford Sound where Em has us signed up to do some sea-kayaking.
Posted by Peter Mork at 9:47 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 7, 2006
South to Te Anau
Rodney, Jiaun and Li-wen left early for a memorial service they were attending up the coast. We said good-bye and agreed we would try to meet up again in Auckland if possible. After they left I spent some time talking to Dave who owns the property we stayed at and the surrounding vineyard. We talked about Ayn Rand (the vineyard and future winery is named Anthem), politics, his background, and future plans he has to help advance the cause of liberty. Needless to say he is an extremely interesting guy.
Around 12:00 Ian and Alexis gave us a ride into town and after grabbing some lunch we were on our way to Te Anau on a small bus. I must say that this first bus in New Zealand had absolutely nothing on the buses in Central and South America. It was small, cramped, and uncomfortable. The highlight was a 6 year-old New Zealand girl on the way to see her grandparents who kept everyone on the bus entertained conversing with a couple from England sitting next to her.
When we got to Te Anau it was raining and we luckily were able to book two bunks in one of the hostels. Probably two of the last beds in town at that point. We decided to have a nice dinner in and ordered a bottle of New Zealand wine to celebrate making it through the first half of our journey. Towards the end of the meal we realized that we definitely were no longer in South America when the waiter/owner came up to us and asked us to leave as he needed the table. We laughed at ourselves, because in South America it always seemed a near impossible task to flag down the waiters for the bill when we wanted to leave. We were on our way out anyways so it wasn't that big of a deal but still a downer considering it was one of the nicer meals we had treated ourselves to on the trip. The rest of the time in Te Anau we didn't return to the place.
Before going to sleep we stayed up and talked with the two guys who were sharing our room with us who were from Israel. They had just found out about Sharon and his stroke and we had an interesting discussion about Israeli politics, U.S. politics and Iran. After the long talk we finally headed to bed after midnight.
Posted by Peter Mork at 9:41 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 6, 2006
Six Months Later
Although it is January 6th out here in New Zealand back home in California today is January 5th. That marks six months of traveling and the halfway point in our journey around the world.
In some ways it has flown by and in others it is hard to imagine all we’ll see in another six months of traveling.
We couldn’t have spent the halfway mark any better. We flew into Queenstown this afternoon where Rodney Hide and his son picked us up at the airport. Rodney is the ACT Party leader and a current member of New Zealand Parliament. Em and I have had a great day getting to know his family and friends over travel stories and of course... some discussions on economics.
We’ll be updating the site soon with more stories. In the meantime head over and take a look at Rodney’s site by clicking here.
UPDATE: In addition to the above, the day included mountain biking with Li-wen, hitting up the sauna, and talking about everything from New Zealand politics, to philosophy, to world travel and much more.
Posted by Peter Mork at 11:39 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 5, 2006
Into New Zealand
We were warned by friends from Sweden that customs in New Zealand was incredibly tough so we should declare everything. We did and as such making our way though immigration and customs was fairly easy. For example, we spent more time with the immigration officer talking about movies made in New Zealand than about our length of stay in the country.
From the airport we called a few hostels and found a room at Queenstreet Backpackers in downtown Auckland. Once on the bus into town it took me about 5 minutes to realize that the bus was driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Once check into the hostel we headed out to find some breakfast.
At first, ordering food was more difficult than what we were used to in South America which came as a surprise. Everything got cleared up when I told the owner of the store we had no idea what he meant when he asked if we wanted a "flat white" or a "long black" (i.e. coffee with milk or without). He asked where we were from and when we replied California he said he was originally from Korea.
That day we headed over to the Sky Tower to get a bird's eye view of the city. Em took some pictures of Auckland from what we were told was the "highest structure in the Southern Hemisphere" and we also got to see some people "base jump" by sliding down a cable from the roof of the building to the ground.
I had emailed Rodney Hide who is an MP in New Zealand who I had contacted in the past regarding his weblog. I let him know that we were in New Zealand and he replied that he and is family were down in Queenstown for the holidays and that while he would be willing to come up and meet us, we were more than welcome to come down and see them.
We decided to alter our trip a bit and bought a ticket to Queenstown in the South Island and then would make our way back up by land. After getting that squared away we grabbed some Chinese food for dinner before heading off to bed for some much needed sleep.
Posted by Peter Mork at 9:37 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 4, 2006
Who Says There are 24 hours in a Day?
We took off from the airport at 11:59pm on January 3rd. The plane had just arrived from Sao Paulo and was on its way to Auckland and Sydney so there was an interesting mix of Brazilians, Uruguayans, Argentines, New Zealanders, Australians, among others on the plane. It really struck me that we were leaving South America when Em told a teenager from Australia that it would be fine if they changed seats and she replied "Thanks heaps!" in a strong Australian accent.
After 13 and a half hours of flying (partially over the Southern Antarctic) we arrive in Auckland at 5:30 in the morning on January 5th. Who says there are 24 hours in a day?
Posted by Peter Mork at 9:36 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 3, 2006
Updating the Site
We were back at our favorite internet cafe today updating the site. I think the owner was sad to go when we rushed out the door at 8:00pm to head back to the hostel to get out bags. We've definitely been great customers for her.
It was easy checking in but it was bit sad leaving Latin America. I have a feeling we'll be back though.
We're off to the second half of our journey.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:02 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 2, 2006
Familiar Territory
This morning I was delighted when I walked into a pharmacy and the guy behind the counter sold me two packets of Cipro, only looking at the prescription to see what size of pills we needed. I’m sick of being sick and hopefully this will knock it out of me.
We then jumped in a taxi and headed back to the neighborhood near the Centro we stayed in our last visit in the city. We dropped off our dirty clothes at a laundry mat and spent several hours on the computer in a familiar internet cafe. We did get out though to enjoy some tasty empanadas for lunch.
Tonight for dinner we ate at our newest favorite restaurant “Cafe Libertad.” Inside they have pictures of the Declaration of Independence, the Argentian Constitution from 1853, and even Solidarity in the 1980s. Although it was tough to get to bed (it was so hot and humid here) we finally did. Tomorrow, sadly, will be our last day in Latin America.
Posted by Peter Mork at 3:10 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 1, 2006
Third Time’s a Charm... Back to Argentina
To start off the new year we checked out of our hotel, jumped on a boat for a 40 minute ride across the river to Argentina, and then headed to our hostel where we will be for the next 2 nights. It was fun being back in a familiar city—one of our favorites (although Rio and Caracas are big rivals). We are in a hostel in Recoleta so we headed out to eat at a parilla restaurant we had enjoyed in the area before called “Pura Sangre” and then spent some time waiting in the hostel courtyard. The people who were in our room before us were four hours late checking out due to the fact they had been up the entire night before. We let them sleep and we caught up on some reading.
Tonight we grabbed a bite to eat and caught up on some email. Tomorrow we will be spending the day getting our posts ready to update the site before leaving for New Zealand.