The Remarkable Remarkables

On Saturday, we snowboarded at The Remarkables, which is a resort close to Queenstown. It was smaller than Cardrona, but the weather and conditions were about the same.

Zack and I did hike up a little part of the mountain, hoping for some fresh powder, but we had no luck. The view was good though!

We spent more time at the terrain park on this day, trying to master (small) jumps and rails. This is definitely not our specialty, but it was fun to give it a whirl. Adam has a GoPro camera, so he was able to capture some videos of us in action! Well, Zack in action-me just being ridiculous.

More about our time in New Zealand to come...

Carving it up at Cardrona

Zack and I flew into Queenstown on Thursday, August 16. We explored the cute little town that evening and planned to meet up with our friends the next day at Cardrona Ski Resort. They had flown in on Wednesday and were staying in Wanaka, which is an even smaller town about an hour away from Queenstown. Anyway, we got up early on Friday morning and watched the sun rise over the mountains as we drove toward Cardrona...

New Zealand definitely has lots of sheep. Here is one group we passed by early that morning...

We drove up and up the mountain road...

We finally reached the resort and saw some snow!

We met up with Todd and Alena and Adam and Emily and their friend Kate (who lives in Wanaka but is from Denver too). Kate took this picture of the six American expats...

Now, to be honest, our expectations for snowboarding in New Zealand were quite high. We thought it would be just as good as, or actually better, than it is in Colorado. That assumption was completely incorrect. Cardrona is one of the bigger resorts, and it is TINY compared to the ones we're used to boarding. It seemed to have nearly all man-made snow, and the conditions were sort of slushy. But that didn't stop us from having fun! After almost two years, it was a blast to be on a snowboard again, and the weather was sunny and perfect. The views from the resort were incredible, and we had a great time cruising down the slopes with our friends.

Zack and I moved to Australia with no intention of ever snowboarding while we were here, so even though I had just gotten a new snowboard and outfit the year before we left, it's all back in the United States. To get by on this trip, my outfit and gear was a combination of borrowed, rented, and purchased op shop items! Zack, on the other hand, has had the same coat and pants for many years, so we could justify buying new stuff for him when we found a sale at a store called Auski in Melbourne. The funny thing is, he chose this combination of a blue coat and orange pants on his own, but everyone on the mountain seemed to have the same color combo! I captured one of his twins in the picture above right.

Tomorrow, I'll post about our day spent snowboarding at The Remarkables, but here's one last picture from the top of Cardrona...

Check out that view...the one behind the cute guy!
P.S. I have no idea what the mustache was about. 

Flying into Queenstown

Okay, I know it seems like all my posts are about traveling lately. I promise that we do lead somewhat normal lives most of the time. Well, maybe not completely "normal," but it just took me a really long time to finish all of the Thailand and Bali posts from our trip in July. In mid-August we flew to New Zealand for a long snowboarding weekend with Adam and Emily and Todd and Alena (other American expats). They had all been there before, but our big New Zealand trip is going to be over Christmas break this December/January, so it was all new to us.

We flew into the picturesque city of Queenstown on the South Island of New Zealand. For me, this was one of the best parts of the trip. The views were amazing, and I was so happy to have a window seat on the plane! It felt like we were flying just above the mountains, and I took tons of (illegal while flying) pictures. Even the little airport was surrounded by mountains. Here are some of my favorite shots...

My upcoming posts will talk about the snowboarding and other things we did during our New Zealand weekend. In the meanwhile, I'm doing really exciting things like teaching five year olds, folding laundry, and making dinner!

Stylish in Seminyak

In Bali, we stayed in an area called Seminyak. Kuta is the party place, kind of like Patong in Phuket, Thailand, and we were told that we wouldn't want to stay there. I'm glad we followed that advice. Seminyak was a beautiful area with a nice, clean beach, great restaurants, and amazing shopping. Zack especially had fun exploring the international designer brand stores. Here he is sporting his new hat, shirt, and swimming trunks. He's also sporting a mustache; I'm not sure what that's about!

We had an amazing two weeks in Thailand and Bali. We celebrated our final night with a fancy dinner at a place in Seminyak called The Living Room. Here we are looking tanned and relaxed. Zack also bought this shirt and the white linen pants on his Bali shopping spree, as well as a necklace and bracelet for me (you can't see the bracelet in the picture). Though it's nice to be "home," (whatever that means as an expat!) we sure do miss the warm weather and the beautiful beaches. Summer in Melbourne can't come quickly enough!

Bye bye beautiful Bali!

Here's a map of our travels:

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

Canang Sari in Bali

In Bali, you see these little offering baskets everywhere...in front of restaurants, on sidewalks, on the beach, along the street...everywhere! They are called coconut leaf trays called "canang sari," and they hold rice, flowers, incense, and small food items. The Balinese offer them every morning to their gods in thankfulness and gratitude. They are quite beautiful; the effort required to make one adds to the meaning of the sacrifice.

I must admit that when we first arrived in Bali and went to the money changer, I accidentally stepped on one when we got out of the car and headed toward the counter. I felt so bad! I have since read that it's not a huge deal if you step on one by accident, but I still felt terrible for committing such a cultural blunder within hours of arriving in Indonesia!

Remember how I said there are lots of stray dogs in Bali? Well, apparently they like to get into the food part of the canang sari left on the beach!

Beautiful Bali Beaches

We didn't do much in Bali for the three days we were there. Hanging out on the beach, shopping, and eating were the main activities of choice. Once we learned to ignore the people selling every item imaginable on the beach, we fit in lots of great relaxation time there. Compared to Thailand, Bali was sunnier and less humid and had darker-colored sand and chillier water.

"You want massage? Fresh coconut? Pretty necklace? How about watch? Good deal for you!"

We spent one afternoon boogie boarding. The waves were pretty fun. The next day, we rented surfboards. Bali is known for its awesome surfing, and it didn't disappoint. Even as beginners, we had a blast trying to conquer the waves!

This wave got the better of Zack and his boogie board!

I like the colors in this picture. Notice the stray dogs-they are everywhere on Bali's beaches!

One evening, we had a (very expensive) drink at the trendy Ku De Ta bar on the beach. It was a great place to watch the sunset, though I'm not sure we were cool enough to hang out there! I'll have a couple more entries about Bali over the next few days, but I'll leave you with a sunset picture including a stray dog!

Things We Learned in Thailand

In no particular order, here are some things we learned on our travels through Thailand...

My papaya fruit shake waits while I play the piano at a breakfast place.

1. You can never have too many fruit shakes in one day. I recommend trying all flavors. I also recommend getting a banana Nutella roti pancake dessert from a street cart every night.

2. Prices are cheap. There is no need to pay over $50 per night for a hotel (even $20 gets you something decent), and you can get an awesome meal for under $5.

Stray dogs in Phuket hang out in front of a crepe stand.

3. You are expected to bargain for almost everything you buy. We heard to start at about 30% of the original asking price. Walking away sometimes gets them to lower their prices even when it seems they won't budge. I also learned to play vendors against one another ("that guy said he'd give it to me for 150 Baht").

4. The currency is Baht, and it's about $3 for every 100 Baht. It's cheaper to change your money over there rather than here.

5. In some areas of Thailand, stray dogs run around everywhere. In other areas (Koh Phi Phi), there are stray cats. Go figure.

Pad thai with a Chang beer-Zack's perfect Thai meal!

6. Thai food is delicious, and we learned the difference between red, green, Panang, and massaman curries.

7. It is hot in July, and you sweat constantly. The water is nice and warm. Rain might come through for a bit, but it doesn't last long, and it usually feels good.

Just a small sampling of the scooters near Patong Beach.

8. Lane lines on the street mean nothing. Everyone seems to own a scooter or motorcycle, and I don't know how more people don't get killed on the roads every day.

Oh, how I wish I hadn't lost my other market pictures!

9. There is always some sort of market going on, including food, clothing, trinkets, etc. for sale.

10. Because tourism is a huge industry, learning English seems to be the biggest asset to Thai people looking to earn higher paying jobs. Most Thais know a few key phrases, but the ones who are more fluent seem to work in fancy hotels and resorts.

11. We learned to say "thank you," which is "kob kun krab" for men and "kob kun kaa" for women and "hello/goodbye" which is "sa wat dee khrap" (men) and "sa wat dee kha" (women).

Fire dancers outside a bar in Chiang Mai.

12. There are tons of temples (especially in Chiang Mai), and after seeing a bunch of them, you can get "templed out." Stray dogs tend to hang out here.

13. The drinks of choice are a Chang beer or a bucket of mixed alcohol. These are best accompanied with watching fire dancers along the beach at night.

See the sand crab?

14. Thai massages are incredibly cheap and not necessarily relaxing (they kind of hurt at times). You can get a one hour massage for the equivalent of about $4. You will get stretched out in every which way, and sometimes the little Thai lady will even walk on you!

15. There are little clear/white sand crabs on the beach if you look closely. They tend to scurry away from you quickly though, so they aren't a bother.

Durians for sale along the streets of Phuket.

16. The durian is a popular fruit in Thailand. Apparently it is an acquired taste. The smell alone is enough to make me never want to acquire it!

17. Thailand is a land that has been devastated by tsunamis. While lots of rebuilding has occurred, you find evacuation route signs posted everywhere.

A nice greeting in Railay Beach, Krabi!

18. The check-in procedure at Thailand hotels is so nice! Upon arrival, they usually ask you to be seated. Then they bring you a cold towel to wash up, along with a fresh fruit drink and sometimes even a flower lei while you fill out the paperwork. Such service!

Zack looks so big in this picture!

19. Tuk tuks are a great way to get around if you're just going a short distance. The larger red "taxis" are used by the locals, and they work well too.

20. Thailand is a photographer's dream, as long as your camera's memory card doesn't get destroyed. (No, I will never get over losing some of my pictures, but I promise to finally stop talking about it now!)

Goodbye Thailand; we hope to be back some day!