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World Adventure

May 2017 - May 2024
From New Zealand to San Diego in a year. The adventure of a lifetime. Read more
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  • 28countries
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  • Andreas and WhitneyWorld Adventure
    Day 75

    Koh Tao, Thailand

    July 27, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Whit and I arrived to Koh Tao after a two hour ferry trip from Koh Pha Nang. Since starting this adventure, other travellers have consistently had good things to say about this relatively small island with the highlight being its affordable SCUBA diving.

    At the recommendation of my brother, we rented a scooter and some snorkelling gear and spent one day visiting several different spectacular snorkelling spots across the island. We discovered a phenomenal Thai vegetarian restaurant and devotedly attempted to eat each item on the menu during our numerous visits. While we had reserved a SCUBA trip to 'the best dive site in the Thai peninsula',  unfortunately the weather failed cooperate, cancelling this excursion and dashing our hopes of diving in Koh Tao. After four relaxing days we left Koh Tao feeling refreshed and ready to travel to the city of Hua Hin, two hours south of Bangkok.    Read more

  • Andreas and WhitneyWorld Adventure
    1
    Day 80

    Hua Hin, Thailand

    August 1, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Andreas and I enjoyed visiting the coastal city of Hua Hin wjere we stayed at a hostel that reminded me of Harry Potter (possibly because I am currently re-reading the Harry Potter series). We rented a scooter for the duration of our stay and used it to explore the city and the surrounding areas.

    One day we rode the scooter an hour each way to see a giant waterfall. However, when we arrived with numb butts we realized that the waterfall was closed with a flash flood warning. We didn't mind as we went for a swim with the locals in the river and enjoyed the hundreds of butterflies fluttering around. The next day, we rode an hour each way in the other direction to a national park. There we hiked along the coast to breathtaking caves. The caves were around 150m tall filled with hundreds of stalactites and stalagmites. One of these caves even housed a Buddhist temple!

    One evening we explored the Cicada market. They had many delicious food stalls, as well as about 100 craft, clothes, and art markets. I found something I wanted to buy in just about every market, however I exercised self-control and only bought a beautiful navy blue scarf with gold embroidered feathers. I will be mailing this home! Just pretend that we bought you all presents there :)

    Next stop Bangkok, where we meet up with our New Zealand friends Paul and Arnetia!    Read more

  • Andreas and WhitneyWorld Adventure
    1
    Day 83

    Bangkok, Thailand

    August 4, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    When Whitney and I arrived in Bangkok, we headed straight to the airport to unite with our New Zealand friends Paul and Arnetia. Because of flight times and stopovers in various airports, Paul and Arnetia had been travelling for about 23 hours and looked exhausted! After greeting them at the arrivals gate, we rushed them to our airbnb near the tourist district of the city for a much needed shower and some rest.

    During our time in Bangkok, we spent one day visiting Wat Pho, a large temple complex housing a 100m long reclining Buddha statue; an hour 'sampling' at an upmarket award-winning grocery store (free dinner anyone?); as well as an evening partying on Khao San road where we met other travellers, convinced each other to eat insects (fried crickets), and visited an infamous ping pong show!

    After three days in Bangkok we had had our fill of big city chaos. Next we fly to Siem Reap in Cambodia to visit the Angkor Wat temple and its surrounding ruins.    Read more

  • Andreas and WhitneyWorld Adventure
    1
    Day 86

    Siem Reap, Cambodia

    August 7, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We said our goodbyes to Thailand (for now) and flew to the Cambodian city of Siem Reap. We felt as if we were transported back in time when we were picked up from the airport in a small tuk tuk and driven through the countryside to our upmarket hostel in the heart of the city. It was fun seeing the small children ride by on huge bikes.. they had to get a running start to jump up onto the seat.

    Our first evening we went to a phenomenal Cambodian circus performed by refugees from the Cambodian war. The circus school trains 1200 performers, musicians, and artists each year and there was some serious talent in that tent. The whole audience was engrossed and amazed.

    We spent a day exploring the city by bikes and haggling with vendors at the local market. I think we are finally getting the hang of this bartering business.

    Our final day we woke up at 4am to see the sunrise over the famous temple of Angkor Wat. It was amazing how many other people had the same idea as us. In the dark we walked with the masses to our viewing spot. As the sun rose we saw a spectacular sight as the temple pillars reflected onto the glassy lake below. It was a very special and surreal experience seeing these ancient ruins. We spent the next few hours walking around the temple enjoying the architecture and the ancient carvings. It is hard to imagine that elephants dragged each stone about 40km to the temple site in the early 12th century. Our tuk tuk driver spent the rest of the morning taking us to other temples. We saw a temple with large heads that reminded us of Aztec ruins as well as an overgrown temple covered by giant trees. Apparently this was the temple where they filmed the old Tomb Raider movie. It was an amazing experience we will never forget. Next, we bus to Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh.    Read more

  • Andreas and WhitneyWorld Adventure
    Day 89

    Phnom Penh, Cambodia

    August 10, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    While we only stayed in Phnom Penh for two nights, our experience of the city was generally positive unlike many backpackers we had met during our travels.

    We spent our only full day in Phnom Penh visiting Tuol Sleng (S-21), a high school turned Khmer Rouge prison, and the Killing Fields, where thousands of Tuol Sleng prisoners were executed and buried. The most poignant moment for me was the story of a 27 year old New Zealander who was captured by the Khmer Rouge while attempting to sail the world. Just like many Cambodians, he was tortured, forced to sign a damning confession, and executed. Personally, it is strange and saddening that despite the deaths of over two million Cambodians, the story of a same-aged New Zealander was needed to intensify this experience for me. My reflection is that his story made the Khmer Rouge's atrocities and the vicitims' suffering seem so much more real. Needless to say, it was a very quiet, sombre, and surreal day for our travelling party (watch the movie The Killing Fields if your interested in learning more).

    We now head to Koh Rong island off the southern coast of Cambodia for some RnR.    Read more

  • Andreas and WhitneyWorld Adventure
    2
    Day 91

    Koh Rong, Cambodia

    August 12, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Fluffy white sand beaches, lush jungle, turquoise waters... this island has everything. As it is a less developed island, we traveled to it without a booking and walked place to place until we found suitable accommodation. I loved our daily $1 fruit breakfast plates. We spent one day lounging at the beach and swimming in the clear warm water where my goggles came in handy! Paul and Arnetia, fresh from a NZ winter, got badly sunburnt, turning a distinct tomato red all over. We spent our evening eating barbecued fish on the beach.

    On one day we decided to 'splurge' on an eight hour boat trip that cost us $10 a piece. We went to a great snorkeling spot and fished like the locals with a hand reel (although we didn't catch anything). Our boat trip took us to Long Beach where we played a soccer game with a group of locals (soccer is definitely a universal language). We then had drinks in the waste deep warm water while we watched the sun set over the ocean. Next, the boat drivers cooked us a barbecue on the boat. When it got dark we swam with the bioluminescent plankton. It looked like the stars were underwater as people swam past us. It was an amazing experience we will never forget, and definitely worth the $10.

    Sadly, this was our last tropical island for a while. Next stop, the riverside town on Kampot.    Read more

  • Andreas and WhitneyWorld Adventure
    Day 96

    Kampot, Cambodia

    August 17, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Our group loved our time in Kampot. Kampot is a small city sitting next to a large river near the southern coast of Cambodia. We ate at a number of restaurants dotted along the river front. My highlight was a place called 'The Rusty Keyhole' which legitimately boasts Cambodia's best spare ribs on their menu. Needless to say, Paul and I demolished a huge portion of these at this fine establishment (not sure what the girls ate).

    We rented scooters on two of our days in Kampot. On one of these days, we travelled on dirt roads through rural villages to a series of large caves housing a small shrine. Even in this remote area, we had to fend off village children offering to give us unnecessary tours for money. On our other scooter day, we rode into the nearby mountains to an abandoned casino. It started to rain while up in the mountains giving the entire place an eerie feel. On our way back down, Whitney and my scooter got a flat tire. Being in the middle of nowhere without a usable cellphone, we loaded Whit onto Paul and Arnetia's scooter (like the the locals do) and slowly descended for 30 minutes to a roadside mechanic who spoke no English. Luckily I'm excellent at charades. All part of the adventure I guess.

    Paul and Arnetia now fly back to New Zealand while Whit and I head to Singapore to see our soon-to-be-wed friends from New Zealand, Brook and Jess.    Read more

  • Andreas and WhitneyWorld Adventure
    Day 100

    Singapore

    August 21, 2017 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We flew back to Singapore to visit our friends Jess and Brook from New Zealand. They moved to Singapore last month after Jess was offered a job there. It was so nice being in someone's home; unlimited body wash, face creams, hair masks, and makeup. We spent our first day exploring the huge Singapore aquarium; our favorite part was seeing the giant manta rays and hammerhead sharks. It was fun seeing Andreas and Brook together because it is always a nonstop stream of political and historical debates. That night we all went out for dinner and drinks. We attempted to go to karaoke, but it cost $300 to rent a room!!!

    The next day we went on a 10km hike through a forest and across a swing bridge. Our old travel companions Alli and TJ happened to be in town so they joined us. The highlight was that after an hour of me carrying a banana on the walk, I looked up to see a monkey charging me. I tried to hide my banana in my shirt but the monkey kept coming. I tried to stuff it down Andreas' shirt but he wasn't too happy about that; this monkey was pretty aggressive. In the end we had to sacrifice the banana and run away. The monkey looked pretty pleased with himself as he munched on my banana.

    That night we went swimming at Jess and Brook's pool and headed out to see NZ vs the Aussies in a rugby game. NZ dominated.

    Our final day Andreas and Brook stayed in their underwear playing computer games while Jess and I headed to the mall to shop for jewelry for her wedding. It was so nice having a bit of normality and to hang out with our old friends.    Read more

  • Andreas and WhitneyWorld Adventure
    Day 107

    Hong Kong

    August 28, 2017 in Hong Kong ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Our week in Hong Kong consisted of some much needed down time and wild weather! We spent time exploring various city districts and dined on the local fare with our guide Edwin (an old friend from Palmerston North). The local cuisine we sampled included chicken porridge, moon cakes (a dense sweet tart with solid egg yolk in the center), and milk-egg pudding. We also attended a Cantonese opera while in Hong Kong. Despite a slight language barrier, Whit and I both enjoyed ourselves attempting to follow a story of war, forbidden love, and deception. It's funny how even in different languages our stories are still so similar.

    Two serious typhoons struck while we were in Hong Kong. The larger of the two, Typhoon Hato, was a signal 10 storm, the maximum rating on this scale. Hato was so wild that it toppled a crane on a building adjacent to Edwin's apartment. Luckily this building was under construction so no one was injured.

    Relaxed and freshed, we now fulfill Whitney's dream of visiting Japan, where we explore Kyushu with Edwin and Tokyo! Arigato!    Read more

  • Andreas and WhitneyWorld Adventure
    Day 112

    Kyushu, Japan

    September 2, 2017 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We made it to Japan! We rented a car with our friend Edwin and embarked on a road trip around Kyushu, Japan's southern most island. Our first day was very eventful. First, our short flight over was delayed from 3pm until 2:45am (damn you cheap airlines)! After about two hours of sleep, we arrived in Fukuoka. We checked into our hotel for a few more hours of sleep. Waking up about five minutes before our check out time and we had just enough time to throw on some clothes before there was a knock on our door. It was the hotel manager asking us in Japanese to do some sort of interview (we quickly discovered that almost no one speaks English in the south of Japan). We hesitantly consented and found ourselves ambushed by a full news crew with cameras rolling. With bags under our eyes, I think we gave an interview about our opinions on the hotel not serving dinner? It was a very confusing but funny experience.

    That out of the way, we knew Japan was going to be a good time. We spent the next few days in our rental car exploring quaint towns and villages. We enjoyed a gondola ride and an impromptu two hour hike to a temple on a mountain. It is amazing how similar to New Zealand this area of Japan is. We spent one day (Edwin's birthday!) eating our way through a beautiful mountain town and perusing the unique shops full of anime, hello kitty, and chop sticks.

    One of my favorite parts about Japan is the public bath houses. Everywhere we stayed they had these mini spas that are separated based on gender. You shower very thoroughly before you get into the giant hot pool fully naked. Proper etiquette is to not make eye contact or talk to anyone else in the pool. Once bathed, you put on your kimono and take time to relax. I'm told most Japanese people do this twice a day.

    We also spent a day exploring an active volcano, Mt. Aso. We had fun walking through the tall grass, watching the horses play, and taking in Japan's natural beauty.    Read more

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