What do big heads, body paint and a beautiful beach have in common?
Well, what do they have in common you ask? Easter Island!! Big Heads: This is the reason that most visitors go to Easter Island. These archeological attractions are famous worldwide. Body Paint: We were lucky enough to be there during the annual two-week Tapati Festival, and we got painted from head to toe and paraded around the town! Beautiful Beach: Though not blessed with many beaches, Easter Island has one of the best beaches that I have ever seen! It’s great! And did you know that the reason it is called Easter Island is because it was “discovered” on Easter Sunday? ...
Read MoreWhy we loved New Zealand.
We loved New Zealand. Absolutely and totally loved it. It was the most consistently beautiful country I have ever been to, the people were incredibly friendly, the Kiwi dollar is worth next to nothing so it was much less expensive than expected, there are 10x more sheep than people, there is free wi-fi (and wedding magazines!) in almost every public library, the sub-of-the-day only costs NZ3.90, and their wine regions are compact enough to bicycle around, among many other wonderful things. Though we spent a few days in Christchurch our NZ trip felt like it really started when we picked up...
Read MoreFamily Vacation in Oz (5.5 weeks in one post)
We spent December 2008 and early January 2009 in Australia. Our trip really consisted of five distinct parts. In the interests of catching up with the blog I am going to write briefly about each one of these parts in this blog post! Part 1 was pre-family vacation in Sydney, Melbourne (with Dan) and driving the Great Ocean Road. Part 2 was family vacation with the Suters, where we took in Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, Ayers Rock, the Great Barrier Reef and the Atherton Tablelands. Part 3 was in Airlie Beach and on the Ileola with the Suters, the Martin Suters and the Pelenskys over...
Read MoreThinking about Koala’s Backpackers? Think Again.
If you are thinking about taking a self drive 4×4 tour to Fraser Island and wondering who to go with, I would think twice about booking through Koala’s Backpackers in Hervey Bay. Our trip was fun – the 4×4 was sketchy but roomy, our fellow travellers were great company and for the most part the provided gear worked (make sure to check your ground sheet for holes before you set off!) – but the staff at Koala’s really are terrible and I would recommend going elsewhere. Here is the letter of complaint I sent back in January and didn’t ever receive a...
Read MoreThoughts on South Africa
Though three weeks in South Africa was not enough time at all (take note anyone planning on visiting), it was enough to convince me that it is an amazing place. As any local or visitor to the region will say, there are some horrifying things here – notably the vast vast gap between rich and poor (sadly, generally along racial lines) and the devastating effect that HIV/AIDS is having on this part of the world – but there are many more wonderful things. Neither Jon nor I really knew what to expect when getting off the plane in Johannesburg, in our airport transfer to Pretoria we...
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