Happy 3rd Anniversary!!!

Happy Anniversary to Mr. & Mrs. Kaes de Jong! 3 wonderful years together experiencing so many amazing places. It has been a wonderful experience and I can't wait for us to make many more memories together :)

On that note, just a re-cap of our recent AH-MAZING trip to the Maldives!!!!

For those of you who don't know, the Republic of Maldives is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls stretching in a north-south direction off India, about seven hundred kilometers (435 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka and (250 mi) south-west of India.

Distance Travelled: 5 hour flight from Perth to Singapore, 2 hour layover, 4 1/2 hour flight from Singapore to Male, and a not-so-pleasant sea plane ride from Male to the South Ari Atoll where our beautiful paradise at Centara Island Resort began. {Side note: stormy weather, confined space, and the smell of diesel is NOT a good combo for motion sick sufferers...}

Our original plan for our Easter holiday and anniversary was to go to Japan to see the Cherry Blossoms in season. With the recent devastating effects on Japan, we decided to search elsewhere to spend our holiday. It turned out that the Maldives happen to be in great dive season and we headed off in hopes to see and snorkel with the famous {gentle giants} the whale sharks. Unfortunately, we weren't lucky enough to see them, but we did come across some some really cool creatures we haven't seen before.

The first time we have ever seen a sting ray! Unfortunately, we didn't have anything next to it to compare the size, but it was 6 to 7 feet in width and about 10 feet long!!! He was a pretty big fella.

We are very excited about coming home to Houston soon! It is been a year since we have been home and we are both in need of some family and friends time as well as some Mexican food!!!

Off to Paradise in the Maldives

As you know Easter break is coming up and we have several days of holidays. Anzac Day also falls on April 25, so we will have Good Friday, Easter Monday and Anzac Day off. Kaes and I loved our trip back in June 2008 for our honeymoon and since our Japan trip fell through, we decided to head back to the Maldives. We are staying at the Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives. It looks absolutely breathtaking and we are so excited to get there. It happens to be whale shark and manta ray season, so we have brought every piece of underwater camera equipment, lenses, HD video that we have to take diving! The resort also has a manta ray feeding station where groups of mantas come to visit each evening for feeding from the resort staff. We are definitely in for a treat :)

Check back for updates on our trip and if we get to meet any interesting new underwater friends!!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Kaes and I are so thankful to have family able to join us over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Being away from home can make you miss family more than you know. Luckily, Mom and Mawmaw came to spend the holidays with us and it was such a beautiful time of year for them to visit. I was grateful they were able to come and see where we live and the beautiful scenery around Perth.

The week started off with walking along the trails through King's Park. We walked the Lotterywest Federation Walkway that is elevated 170 feet in the air and boasts exhilarating views of the Swan and Canning Rivers, local indigenous culture and the diversity of Western Australian flora.

A few visits to Mosman Beach, also known to be a local dog beach to take Jaek and Chloe to see some fellow friends. The water was crystal blue and the sand white as snow. They love trips to the beach and with all the running and swimming, are exhausted by the end of the day.

Swan Valley is also another popular spot to show tourists when they come to visit Perth. It is about 30 mins northeast of the city and known for the Caversham Wildlife Park and Swan Valley wine region. Mawmaw was so excited to see some "real" kangaroos and loved they they came right up to her and she could even feed them. After Caversham, we had a nice lunch at Cape Lavender in Swan Valley.

Christmas morning we opened presents and had a full feast for lunch. Jaek and Chloe love Christmas morning and are thrilled to see what Santa brought them!

December is summertime and quite hot in Perth, so we decided to take a trip out to Rottnest (Rotto) Island to spend the day. Rotto is an island off the west coast and takes about 30 min by boat to get there. The island is absolutely breathtaking with beautiful clear water and pristine beaches.

A Quokka {marsupial found only on Rotto and a few other places in the world}

To wrap up the last few days in Perth, we took a day trip to Margaret River which is a wine region south about 3 hours. Wine tasting is always a must when visiting Margaret River, along with the trying to catch a glimpse of the native kangaroos. For lunch we stopped into Providore known for its fresh herb and vegetable garden grown right outside the restaurant. I love to sample all of their delectable jellies, sauces, and chutneys. Their spices are so fragrant and I always end up bringing a few packets home with me! We then decided to head further south down to Augusta where the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse looks out between where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet.

I can't explain enough how memorable it was to have not only my Mother, but my 85-year old grandmother come to see where we live. I hope she had a wonderful time visiting Australia and enjoying the land down under!

Cruizin through Milford Sound

Fiordland, South Island, New Zealand

Days 10-11

Total Distance: 2,545 kilometres/1,581 miles

Fun Fact: Milford Sound is actually a Fiord, not a Sound, by today’s definition. A Fiord is created by glacial action that produces u-shaped valleys with steep cliffs. Fiords are also characterized by shallow entrances that slope quickly seaward to deep water. A Sound is a river valley that has been flooded due to the land sinking below sea level.

Our trip through New Zealand has not only been adventurous, but we continue to see more and more breathtaking scenery with each new town we visit. We got into Milford Sound on Monday, November 1 and it was a bit dreary. This is the first weather we have come across that has not been perfect spring/summer weather. Luckily the 5 hour drive from Queenstown was quite picturesque and made for great places to stop and take more pictures.

Arriving into the small town of Milford to Milford Lodge where we stayed, we quickly realized that there was nothing in the town except for the ferry terminal so decided against staying our originally planned two nights and opt out of one. We had a lazy afternoon and hoped for better weather in the morning so our cruise would be a pleasant one.

The next morning we awoke to beautiful clear blue skies (I know I continue to use the word beautiful, but the weather really can’t get any better!) and decided to take the early 9:15 cruise through Milford Sound.

The cruise was amazing and it is hard to put into perspective how massive the Fiord really is. Take a look at the picture below of the small boat (by small it carries 300+ people) next to the rock face.

We were also lucky enough to see a colony of fur seals taking their morning naps after hunting all night. They are so precious with their sweet puppy faces!!!

 

Overall the drive to and the cruise through Milford Sound was breathtaking and we were glad we made the long venture to see the beautiful Fiords.

Queenstown – Home of the most extreme adventures on Earth

Queenstown and Glenorchy, Otago, New Zealand

Days 8-9

Fun Fact: Queenstown was the first place in the world to offer commercial bungy jumping.

Skydiving, Bungy jumping, Jetboating, Canyong swinging, white water rafting, and heli-skiing: all can be done in Queenstown - the adventure capital of the world!

Before stopping for the night in Queenstown, we travelled 45 kms north to the small town of Glenorchy. At the top of Lake Wakatipu that surrounds Glenorchy and Queenstown lies what I now believe is the most beautiful place on Earth. The view of Glenorchy towards Pig, Pigeon, and Tree island with the lush green trees, the lake as smooth as glass, and the snow capped mountains in the background was a memory we will never forget. The sun was shining just perfect enough to see the mountainside reflection in the lake. We decided it would be the perfect place to stop for a picnic lunch and capture as much of the scenery as possible.

After lunch we decided to do a bit of hiking along the Routeburn track. The track has many different walks and even has small huts to stay along the way as it is popular for many people to do the 3-4 day hike.

After hiking 3+hours, we were tired and headed back to Queenstown to book our next days adventures. We did happen to come across a Mexican restaurant called Sombreros, but of course were not too excited about the not-so-Tex-Mex food. It would have been really tasty to those who haven’t been fortunate enough to taste Tex Mex!

The next morning, we decided to do the jet boating (which I was not too keen on) and white water rafting combo down the Shotover River. The jet boat was too much like a jet ski and terrified me, but the white water rafting tour was amazing!!! Our trip commenced at top of Deep Creek and went through 16 kms/10 miles of grade 3-5 rapids before finishing up at Arthurs Point. Kaes and I had a blast, even with Kaes being thrown out of the raft on the last rapid!!!

After a full day of activities, we went to The Bathhouse, with another couple we met while rafting from Melbourne, for tapas and wine to top of a wonderful and adventurous day.

The Wonderful World of Ice at Franz Josef Glacier

Franz Josef, South Island

Days 5-6

Fun Fact: New Zealand has 3,155 glaciers. 18 of them are in the North Island with the remaining in the South Island. Franz Josef is the 5th largest in New Zealand with the steepest commercial climbing available.

After our incredible adventure in Kaikoura, and our long drive to Greymouth for the night, our next stop was to head south 235 kilometres to the township of Franz Josef, known for the breathtaking views of Franz Josef and Fox Glacier at Westland National Park.

The afternoon was a relaxing one catching up on emails and doing some laundry. We did take a short hour hike in the small town just north of Franz Josef called Okarito. The town is known to have a specific species of Kiwi that are only found there, but unfortunately, we didn’t see any on our hike. After climbing up the side of a really tall hill (it felt like a mountain, especially since we were expecting a pleasant stroll through the forest) we came upon an opening that looked out over the town of Okarito and the largest wetlands in all of New Zealand.

The next morning, we woke up for our 9:15 am full day glacier hike on Franz Josef Glacier. One really can’t put into words how large this thing really is. Just to give you an example, notice the picture below of the group of people walking on the glacier. It is not only enormous, but really hard to capture the beauty and magnitude of its size.

We spent 8 hours total hiking and 6 hours on the ice. It was about a 10km hike up rugged terrain and over ice, but with our crampons over our hiking boots, it made it quite easy to manoeuvre over the ice.

By the end of our cold and tiresome day, we had agreed that once again we had a once of a lifetime experience on our incredible journey through New Zealand.

Tomorrow’s agenda will be driving south 180kms to Lake Wanaka to see what it has it store for us!

Wines, Whales and getting wet with the Dusky Dolphins

Blenheim and Kaikoura - South Island, New Zealand

Days 3-5

Total Driving distance: 1153 kms/ 716 miles

Fun Fact: Kaikoura comes from the Maori word meaning Kai = to eat and koura = crayfish

Our day started with a journey from the North to the South Island along the Interislander Ferry. The 3-hour sail through the Cook Strait from Wellington to Picton was quite beautiful with majestic views of Queen Charlotte Sound.

We were originally planned to stay in Blenheim and do a bit of wine tasting, but changed our plans and drove further south to what used to be a whaling town in Kaikoura. We did make time to stop at the Montana winery in Blenheim while passing through for a delicious lunch and wine before heading to Kaikoura.

The quaint seaside town used to be known for killing whales over a century ago, but now finds prosperity in showing them off, along with the various other marine life such as albatross, fur seals, and dusky dolphins. The rest of the afternoon was nice and lazy as we took a stroll along the black rocky beach and took a quick nap in the sun while listening to the gentle waves hit the shore.

The next morning we got up bright and early for a full day starting with the dolphin encounter. Out of all the diving we have done, Kaes and I both agreed that this was one of the most memorable experiences we have ever had. After just a 10 minute boat ride, the captain let all of us off to get in the water to swim with the frisky mammals. We all had on 10 mm wetsuits, but the water was 14 degrees Celsius, which is 57 degrees Farenheit. I can’t begin to express how cold the water really was, but as soon as the dolphins were playing and circling us, we quickly forgot the sacrifice it took to see them in groups between 10-20 at a time, all very interested in what we were. Along with the dolphins, we saw the albatross soaring over the water with the longest wing span of any bird (pictured below) and playful fur seals. The pictures were taken when we got out of the water as we didn't bring our underwater camera :(

After our exciting morning, we didn’t think the day could get much better, but we were wrong. Our afternoon ended with Whale Watch Kaikoura. We saw a Sperm whale that was around 70 feet long stretching across the waters acquiring more oxygen before diving back down into the deep waters.

The day was one of the most memorable we have ever had. It is hard to describe the beauty and richness of New Zealand. Pictures do not begin to do it justice. We were scheduled to end up in Greymouth for the night, some 310 kilometres away. It was a long 5 hour drive through mountains and passes, but we could not have asked for a more perfect day.

Knocking on Hell’s Gate in Lake Rotorua & Lake Taupo

North Island, New Zealand

Days 1-3

Transportation: Air New Zealand flight from Perth to Auckland, 6 hours; Jucy Rentals for campervan; Interislander Ferry from Wellington to Picton

Total Driving distance: 703 kms/ 422 miles

Fun Fact: Sheep outnumber people 20 to 1 in New Zealand

Our adventure began landing into Auckland International Airport on October 23 at 6:00 am New Zealand time. New Zealand is 5 hours ahead of Perth time and 18 hours ahead of Houston time. It happened to be Labor Day weekend and we weren’t able to pick up our campervan until 11:00 am. Since we missed a night of sleep and didn’t get much rest on the plane, we stretched out on a few benches in the airport until time came closer to start our adventure. Once 11:00 rolled around, we were picked up by Jucy rentals, got our Jucy Charga, and were on our way.

First stop was Lake Rotorua, known for its energetic thermal activities and mud baths. Since it happened to be my birthday, Kaes and I decided to stop at Hells Gate (this is the only time I ever wanted to be in “Hell”) for a mud bath & spa. Hells Gate is the most active thermal reserve in Rotorua. The strong smell of sulphur was not pleasant, but the warm relaxing mud bath quickly made you forget the smell and was a great way to end our day.

Our next stop was in Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand covering 240 sq miles. Lake Taupo was formed by volcanic explosions from thousands of years ago and is now known to be the most famous trout fishing lake in the world, yielding in excess of 500 tonnes of rainbow trout annually. The drive around the town was amazing to say the least. I had always heard New Zealand was beautiful, but really had no idea that a place like this existed. The cute tourist town had shops, perfectly manicured gardens, and outdoor restaurants and pubs to enjoy the great weather and view of the lake.

Taupo is known for its picturesque scenery of lake views and snow capped mountains but also for the Waikato River and the spectacular Huka Falls. The full force of the river soars over an 11-metre (36 ft) ledge with enough water to fill two Olympic –sized pools every second. The brilliant turquoise color of the water crashes into a basin below, offering breathtaking views.

Our last stop for the evening was south where we stayed in the small beach town of Otaki at Byron’s Resort. Bright and early the next morning, we got ready and headed further south 70 kms to the ferry from Wellington to Picton, commencing our journey into the South Island.

Margaret River Weekend Getaway

Our trip commenced to Margaret River Friday afternoon dogs and bikes in tow. Margaret River is about a 3.5 hour drive south from Perth. Our first stop was the Margaret River Dairy Company for cheese and yoghurt tasting before checking into our cottage at Margaret House right in the main town of Margaret River.

The dogs were so excited to get out of the car and explore all the new smells. As we were unpacking, we were greeted by a bird similar to a turkey (but could fly) that came right up to the fence. Jaek and Chloe both were anxious to do a little more than just greet them and soon enough, Chloe was under the fence on a bird chase. I couldn’t help but die laughing at our little bird dog that has learned so much from her big brother. Luckily, they were able to fly quicker than she chased them. Not a great start to the trip as I just knew we would get an earful from the owners for letting our dog escape.

That evening after unpacking and getting the dogs settled in, we drove to the town a few miles down the road to walk around and find dinner. Our next stop was the Settlers Tavern for a few beers and an afternoon snack of their delicious Mexican nachos complete with pico de gallo and guacamole.

After enjoying the beautiful weather and doing a bit of people watching, we decided to go to the local butcher to pick up a few steaks to take back to our cottage to grill and grab a bottle of wine.

The next morning we headed back to town for breakfast to have a bit of food in our stomach before a full day of wine tasting. The wine trail in Margaret River is not only picturesque, but full of some of the best wineries in all of Australia. First on the list was a small boutique winery called Edwards Estate. We decided they had some nice wines, but since it was our first stop, decided to not be over zealous and buy the first thing we tasted. I was keeping a list of our overall favorites from the trip to help in buying at the local regional wine center on our way home.

Next on the list was Voyager Estate with its manicured lawns and white stone building that reminded me of being in Greece. I have to say that I didn’t try a wine there that I didn’t fall in love with. Our favorites were their signature Chardonnay and my very favorite, the Sauvignon Blanc Semillon with its crisp refreshing aroma and taste; perfect for drinking during our warm summer months ahead.

Leeuwin Estate was right down the road and is also another popular winery in Western Australia. They are known to have their arts series premium wine label that has a new piece of art as the label for each new vintage that is released. Kaes had been given an Arts Series Shiraz from a vendor last Christmas, and it was one of the best wines we have had since being in Australia. We picked up three bottles here that we both agreed on and headed up the road to Xanadu for lunch.

I was very excited to wine taste at Xanadu as we had done a bit of wine tasting the night before at the Wine Industry Association of Western Australia event in Perth. The 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon (did I mention I was a big fan of white wine?) is due to be released in February of 2011, but we were able to sample it at the event in Perth. The friendly representative from Xanadu gave us a bottle of their wonderful Chardonnay and convinced us that we had to have lunch at the vineyard after we told him we planned to head to Margaret River the next day. The 2009 Viogner (pronounced vee-on-yay) was by far my favorite with the flavors of kumquat and apricot that will go perfectly with a Thai or Indian dish.

After wine tasting and a late lunch, we headed back to the town to visit the Aboriginal Art Center and do a bit of tasting at the Margaret River Fudge Factory. (I know you are wondering if this place actually exists with its award-winning wine, superb cheese, and delicious chocolate; but yes, there is such a place) Then we headed back to the cottage to play with the dogs before taking an afternoon nap (wine tasting tends to make you sleepy, and we were on vacation) Dinner was leftover steak and potatoes while watching a movie.

Our last morning we woke up early to go bike riding down to the beach, only 5 miles away. Along the way, we came across some new friends.

They seemed quite docile especially considering that several of them had joeys in their pouch. They seemed just as curious of us as we were them. After we finished riding and got packed up to leave, we headed back to the field to take more pictures of our native friends.

Heading home we stopped at the Regional Wine Center to pick up our favorites from the trip, then headed back through Dunsborough as we heard there was whale watching at Cape Naturaliste Park. We couldn’t have asked for better weather and the breathtaking scenery of crystal blue waters with humpback and blue whales swimming so gracefully through the water.

It was quite a wonderful and relaxing trip for the long weekend that we plan to do again very soon!

All Aboard the Queen Scuba - Our Liveaboard Dive Trip to Bali and Komodo, Indonesia

The conditions on this trip were perfect with lots of sun and blue skies, calm water and a magical underwater world below.

The first day was at Moyo Island and was a nice easy introduction into the diving in this area. The dive sites are a couple of sea mounts that barely break the surface at low tide. A small area of bright white coral that has almost turned to powder has accumulated creating the perfect postcard picture. It’s easy to imagine yourself sitting there under an umbrella sipping a cocktail as time just slowly passes by. With clear turquoise water on the surface and sky, and blue water down below, we were excited to get in for the first dives of the trip. We saw Denise pygmies along with a brilliant blue ribbon eel and of course schools of jacks, rainbow runners loads of different kinds of anemone fish, angel fish, butterflies and some colorful nudies. Off to Sotanda for the third dive where we had the chance to see a collection of giant frog fish along with a couple black ribbon eels and little yellow bargabanti pygmy seahorse.

The next morning at Sangeang Island was full of our favorite small things and gave us the chance to really get into macro diving. With minute filefish, sawblade shrimp, ghost pipefish, a baby lionfish, snake eels, imperial partner shrimp and more nudies then we have seen in a long time. The second dive at “Hotrocks” showed why the current in Indonesia is famous. We had a chance to drift buy the bargabanti seahorses and get a quick look but mostly just flowed with the current and enjoyed the ride. The afternoon dive at “Rollercoaster” was another drift dive which provided the opportunity to get familiar with some of the up, down and all around currents in Indonesia. There were schools of surgeon fish, jacks and a couple tunas out in the blue while the bright colors of the anthias, the angel fish and butterfly fish, lit up the reef as we passed by. The night dive had the sighting of the hard to believe stargazer and loads of unusual decorator crabs, a mimic octopus, and a striped catfish.

Our third day at “Castle Rock and Crystal Rock” was filled with Pelagics, white tip reef sharks, giant trevallies, tuna, maori wrasse, and the best of all three spotted eagle rays swimming in formation above us and next to us for more than 45 minutes. The afternoon was filled with a trek on Komodo Island looking at the famous Komodo Dragons. That night we hit the cold water at “Pink Beach” with an amazing sighting of the poisonous blue ring octopus.

The next day was more water and lots of small stuff like cowfish, zebra crabs, ornate ghost pipefish, orangutang crabs, squat lobsters and pygmy seahorses. On the beach during the day we were able to see more dragons in their natural habitat strolling the beach.
The dives at “Manta Alley” were filled with humphead parrot fish and of course the elegant mantas. In the afternoon we headed back to Gili Banta for a stunning reef dive with beautiful coral and every imaginable reef species you could think of.

Our last two dive were filled with some incredible macro dives with seahorses, snake eels, robust ghost pipefish, thorny seahorses and the mimic octopus. Then we headed into the sunset on our journey back to Bali.