Slummin' it with Mama and Papa

Temple of the Emerald Buddha
Originally uploaded by camandkristin.

We arrived in Thailand after an uneventful flight from Auckland, via Sydney, and pulled into our hotel where my (Kristin's) parents were joining us to spend three weeks travelling with us. You could tell they were happy to see us, as they were outside in the parking lot waiting for us when we pulled up. They had been in Bangkok for a day already, and had splurged on a nice hotel for them (and us) for the first night before they converted over to being "backpackers". They are now slumming it with us :)

We spent our first day in Bangkok navigating the skytrain, metro, river boat, and taxi systems. A taxi in Bangkok is basically usless, as it can't get through the congested streets. No wonder there are a million scooters on the roads. We made our way to Wat Phra Kaew, where there is the Grand Palace, the Emerald Buddha, a model of Angkor Wat, and about 12 billion bits of tile, gold and other glittery things that cover all the walls. It's quite a thing, and if it weren't of extreme religious importance to the Thai people, I'd venture to call it gaudy...

That same night we caught a night train north to Chiang Mai. We splurged on air conditioning, but didn't take a sleeper car- don't want Mum and Dad to get too comfy too early! We spent 3 days in Chiang Mai touring around, including a day trip out to the jungle to do some elephant riding and Bamboo rafting. Our guide Rambo (of all things...), named my parents Mama and Papa (guess who was "Tiny Baby"...) and since then we have learned that is their name to pretty much all Thai people. It's quite funny really, but is obviously meant as a term of respect.

Riding the elephants was great, although we all have the moral "issue" tugging at us, but I was thrilled to have the opportunity to be that close to them. We also did some river rafting on a bamboo raft, with Cam standing "Huck Finn" style at the back.
Chiang Mai has a lot of great things to offer- like 30min foot massages for $1.50, or a full body massage for $5. And there are enough markets around to keep even the most avid shopper busy for days. And we're not the most avid shoppers...

After Chiang Mai we took another night train back to Bangkok- this time opting for the sleeper car which was great except for the fact that they didn't feed us. Fortunately we had a few supplies in our bag, so we all supped on 2 peices of bread and 8 ritz crackers with peanut butter! Mum and Dad are true backpackers now ;)

Upon arriving in Bangkok we changed our plans for the millionth time, and decided to book a flight south to Phuket to get ourselves closer to the beaches. We had some hours to kill, so left our backpacks in the security of the travel agent at the trainstation and went off to find an air-conditioned mall. We had our first experience with a swindling tuktuk driver which ended with us being left in the middle of some Bangkok ghetto and him getting no money. We found a reputable taxi and got to the mall eventually. There is something to be said for the skytrain system... Anyway, after wyling away the time we returned to the train station and found our bags on the floor outside, with a rope draped over them as a feeble attempt at security. Super. Amazingly they were all there and intact.

We caught our flight to Phuket which arrived an hour and a half late putting us in a pickle as we had no where to stay and it was 11pm. But, as usual, we managed and found a taxi and a guesthouse (a real slummer- my parents are doing well...). To top off the already long and painful day, Cam found that his bag had been opened and a small money purse stolen. The purse contained only coins that we have been collecting from all the countries we have visited, and was intended as a gift for our neice and nephew, Jessie and Luke. Now some complete idiot has a bunch of money he can't use, and we have lost one of our most valuable possesions- as it is completely irreplaceable. We know it was a baggage handler at the airport, because after finding our bags outside at the train station we checked that everything was there, which it was.

Anyway, the next day we spent a much needed day of rest at Patong beach, which must be the tourist capital of all of Thailand. We saw far too many speedos and topless women for our taste (isn't it strange how those who shouldn't, do?), but enjoyed the swimming. We all came home sunburned, especially Mum and Dad who have winter skin right now :) Patong is 30 minutes from Phuket Town. Phuket Town is where the "real people" live, and where we stayed. Patong is where people go and come home saying "We LOVE Thailand", but who haven't seen more than the 30m of beach infront of their resort. Patong was an area that was hit by the tsunami, but the only visible signs of it happening now are the replanted palmtrees on the brand new beach promenade, and the "Tsunami Evacuation Route" signs pointing up the hill.

Today we bussed to Krabi which already looks more promising for our style, and tomorrow we will investigate a few more of the beaches in this area. Tonight Mum and Dad don't have a/c in their room- let's see how that goes...

Overall we are finding Thailand great, but it is interesting to see the difference between the tourist scams here and in South America. We can't put our finger on it, but overall it is less enjoyable than in SA- their scams here must work too often, they don't have the time for people like us!

Until next time...
Kristin and Cam

Happy Valentines Day!

Sunrise over Tasman Bay
Originally uploaded by camandkristin.

Valentines Day marks our last night in New Zealand- our 7 weeks here have passed so fast, it's hard to believe we've been on the road for 137 days! Tomorrow we catch our flight to Thailand, where we start our 3rd leg of the trip, and will certainly experience mild culture shock (not for the first time...).

We have spent our last few weeks here crossing off the final "must dos" on our list, starting with seeing the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers on the west coast of the South Island. You can spend a bunch of money to walk on the glaciers, but we decided just to walk up to them and view them from a bit of a distance. They are just large chunks of ice, after all. But these are things you must do when travelling with a geography major. From there we followed the west coast up to Punakaiki where we saw the phenomenon of the Pancake Rocks, and the amazing blowholes that have resulted from the ocean forming the limestone cliffs. We lucked out to be there at a nice high tide, and spent a while getting soaked by sea spray while simultaneously protecting the camera from the same spray... This camera is a serious liability!

From Punakaiki we bee-lined across Arthurs Pass to head back to Christchurch. We spent a night in the Pass fending off two Keas (alpine parrots who love to chew the rubber around your windscreen or doors) and the next morning did a little impromptu caving. There is a 362m long cave that has a river running through it (waist deep) which you can walk through, unguided, provided your torch is bright enough. We learned that ours weren't after we rounded the first corner and plunged into darkness. So, we worked our way back out and came across a family of 7, each with a torch bright enough to singlehandly light the way, so we tagged along with them and made our way through the cave. It's one of the only free things you can do in NZ and that alone made it very cool!

We then returned our camperwagon in Christchurch and reverted back to being true backpackers. We actually enjoyed the freedom- in a strange way having everything you own on your back is oddly comforting. We took the bus up to Nelson at the tip of the South Island, and booked a 3 day kayaking trip into Abel Tasman National Park- certainly one of the most beautiful areas we've ever seen. We camped there for two nights, paddled about 40km, spent some time with a family of seals curiously swimming and playing around our boat, navigated up rivers that became accessible at high tide, pretty much exhausted our shoulders and sat in wet clothes for 3 days. If you're ever wondering about your relationship- strap yourselves into a double kayak, call one of you "navigator" and one of you "steerer" and have at 'er... ;)

From Abel Tasman we headed back to Picton, caught the ferry to Wellington where we spent another night with Lincoln- our personal tour guide, and then headed north where, as you may have already read, we had the windscreen "incident". After 2 days of solid rain and a few leaks in the new windscreen seal (now repaired) we were determined to "get outta dodge" and leave stinky Rotorua behind. But before we could leave, we had to go Zorbing :) The sky cleared, the sun came out, and we rolled down a hill inside a big ball, filled with water. Because, why wouldn't you?! Kristin wasn't planning on becoming a Zorbonaut, but after Cam came down giddy as a kid at Christmas, she decided to give it a try and, sure enough, shrieked her way down the hill with glee! Not sure who dreamed it up, but it's a good idea for sure.

From Roturua we headed up the Coromandel Peninsula to Hot Water Beach. At the beach you can find hot spots under the sand where you can dig a hole which then fills with water (up to 64ºC) and gives you an instant hottub. We found the hotspots, but the tide never went out far enough to be able to dig a hole- but it is quite a sensation to stand with your feet dug into the sand with your toes burning, but being knee deep in ocean water!

Then we made it back to the Smith's house in Pukekohe and spent a day getting ourselves in shape to head to Thailand. Cam has burned his 12th CD of photos, some of which you can enjoy in our Flickr gallery.

So, despite our few minor mishaps, and the significant hit to our budget, we leave New Zealand with nothing but fond memories of the times we've had here, and particularly, the people we've met.

Until next time...
Cam and Kristin

Ohmigod, I think we've been hit by lightning!

6 days left in the country, but we couldn't get out without just a bit more excitement... We have returned back to the North Island, and are therefore back in the comfort of the Smith's Kombi- which we missed dearly as we toured around the South. We picked up the Kombi in Wellington on Sunday, and have since been trundelling up the east coast to visit all the spots we missed on our way down. Yesterday we were on our way to Rotorua and for the first time in weeks it began to rain. I casually commented on how nice it was to have the warm dry Kombi (since we've been tenting for the last 3 weeks). Then it started to rain harder. And I mean- real rain. The type of rain that we see at home that actually makes you stop work to look out the window and watch. Like, a LOT of rain. Again, I commented- "We haven't seen rain like this in ages." And then- KABOOM!! We both jumped 3 inches from our seats and, had it not been for the seatbelts we would have both suffered concussions. It took us a second to realize that the windscreen was shattered- not cracked, but shattered. Cam said "We've just been hit by lightning" (and is now driving with no hands for fear of touching things...) but the white glow was just from the light refracting in the million cracks. We flicked on the hazards and pulled off to the side of the road to appraise the damage. The Kombi is from 1973, and so is the windscreen- which means no laminated glass. There were a few holes, appropriately placed over Cam's lap, the water was coming in, but we feared to touch it or even drive in case the whole thing caved in on our laps. We saw a sign pointing up a side road to a nursery only 600m away so we carefully made our way up there, Cam viewing through the 2 inch hole, both of us wearing our sunglasses to protect our eyes. The nursery was, of course, down a windy little road that we would barely be able to navigate in good conditions, let alone in the gray, pouring rain, wearing sunglasses, and looking through a shattered windscreen. We did make it to the bottom and Cam opened his door to check where we had parked and, realizing we were in a small lake, he closed it again. Oops. The windscreen collapsed in our laps causing Kristin to shriek and the owner of the nursery to come out. Now the pouring (POURING) rain was coming into the van, as though it could get worse. Ah, but it can. Turns out when the rain is just that heavy, and the van is on just the wrong angle, and all the forces of the universe combine, water can leak in the back and quite effectively soak all bedding and cushions on which you plan to sleep...

Fortunately, Carl (the owner of the nursery) is the nicest man on the planet (rivaled with the man who returned our camera...) and he helped us get the front end of the Kombi under cover, and then stayed with us while we sorted out the next steps. This included letting us make long distance phonecalls, inviting us up to the house for a warm cup of tea and biscuits (to soothe Kristin's visibly frazzled nerves), helping us clean up the glass mess, and then, with his wife (Cherry) and daughter (Amanda), offering us dinner and a warm evening in their home. We didn't tell them about our wet bedding as we already felt they had done too much for us, so we patched together a warm and dry enough nest in which to sleep, and did so in the Kombi in their driveway. This morning we woke to sun- fortunately, and after touring their 12 acre property (how ironic is it that we end up at a nursery, with an owner who loves flowers and photography...) we drove into Rotorua to get the window repaired. When we had called yesterday and told the glass shop what vehicle we were driving, we were recieved with a laugh :) Turns out 73 Kombi glass isn't the easiest to find. However, they managed to ship it overnight from Auckland, and at 11:30am we were told it would take about 30 minutes to put in... 2 1/2 hours later we pulled out, after the shop foreman had struggled to make it fit and told us "I did the best I could." Comforting... Anyway, the van is patched up, everything is dry, we're only one day behind, and we have met some more fantastic kiwis!