Roadsideamerica.com

Roadsideamerica.com has become a favorite website of mine when doing any kind of roadtrip in the USA. It lists tons of weird, off the beaten path things to see in both big cities and small towns alike. You never know when you are going to be near the worlds' biggest ball of twine, the SPAM museum, or The Field of Dreams. I highly suggest using this website the next time you travel just to see what fun and unique things are near your travels.

I bring this up because today I had a roadsidenewzealand experience. I visited a place, recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records, as having the 2nd longest place name in the entire world and longest in a country where English is spoken. The name on the sign that marks the hill is:

"Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukakapiki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­kitanatahu,"

which roughly translates as 'The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed, and swallowed mountains, known as landeater, played his flute to his loved one.' 

I almost never pose in my own pictures but this seemed worthy

Stacey and I rented a car for the day essentially to see this place. We drove 90min to get there and then immediately turned around and came right back to town so that she could catch her bus home and leave me all by myself. My trip just got real. I will now be traveling by myself for the rest of the trip.

My last few days have been spent in Napier, which is a coastal beach town known as the Art Deco Capital of the World. An earthquake leveled this area in 1931, and raised the ground 8 feet. They rebuilt the town in an art-deco style to save some money. It has a little bit of a feel of San Diego. The town essentially shuts down at 5pm, but it is a major wine producing region. We went on a wine tour yesterday for 60 bucks a person. A van picked us up from the hostel and then drove us to 4 wineries where we essentially got to taste every wine those wineries produced. Anywhere from 5-8 generously poured tastings. A cheese platter of some relatively fancy cheeses was also included.  This was just about the first good value I have come across in Australia or New Zealand.  We even went to dinner with people from the tour our age, 2 Americans from Charlotte and a woman from London, and drank more wine. It was a pretty good day.  After Stacey left me, I then drove to Cape Kidnappers and joined a Gannet Safari tour. 500 foot tall limestone cliffs and hundreds of these birds nesting and diving into the ocean below in search of food. Stunning views.

I will be off to Wellington tomorrow to photograph a lighthouse and then will cross over to the south island and go down to Dunedin for another lighthouse and another highly
anticipated roadsidenewzealand stop.  I will run/walk up the steepest road in the world. Who needs scenery?

Don't look back but always look back

So since I have the time and free wifi capabilities now, everyone get a bonus post today for their reading pleasure.

The title might more accurately read, "Don't look back but always look behind you" but that isn't quite as catchy. In general you should never look back in life. Once you do something or set your mind to do something, don't look back. No time for regrets. You can analyze any mistakes made or problems encountered after the fact so that you don't experience those same pitfalls again, but don't look back.

However, when traveling, always look back/look behind you. So often if we go for a hike, boat ride, or any journey for that matter, we are looking at where we are going and what is next to see. Very rarely do we take the time to look behind us and take note of what we just witnessed. Frequently, the scenery is even more interesting from this looking back viewpoint, especially photographically. The way the sun hits certain objects and reflects off water can create a completely different and more visually pleasing image. It also allows for a moment of reflection on where you just were and what you just conquered.

Stacey and I completed the 19.4km (12ish miles) Tongariro Crossing yesterday which peaked at over 1900m (1-ish miles high). It is widely considered New Zealand's greatest 1 day hike and is also considered one of the top 5 one day hikes in the entire world. It had volcano, desert landscape, volcanic rock, lakes, waterfalls, and forest. It was warm, bitterly cold and windy, rainy, and then warm again. It was the type of hike that made you both love and hate hiking. It was also the perfect hike to take note of where you were going and then reflect on how high you just went. Not gonna lie though, the time for looking back and reflecting on how high I just went was also time for me to regain my breath and let my heart rate get back to normal levels. But that's besides the point. Be aware of the moment. Be aware of where you are going and what you are doing. But most importantly, take a moment to look back.

Images from Tongariro Crossing

Smell

So I was driving back from Rotorua the other day and I smelled Cape Cod. It was the weirdest thing. Stacey and I had spent the day in Rotorua which is an area well known for volcanic eruptions that have given this area many thermal springs, geysers, and lakes that take on this beautiful turquoise hue. And of course with such features, the smell of sulphur permeated the air which reminded me of good 'ol Essex.

Waimangu

A bit of a back story to how our day started. It was a rainy day when Stacey and I departed Tauranga for Rotorua (every time I pronounce that name I sing it in the catchy tune of Roto-rooter), and the road to this town snakes down many hillsides. Well, halfway down one of these hills, the car shuts down, the entire dashboard lights up with red hazard signs, the brakes aren't working efficiently, and steering becomes difficult. Stacey is driving and courageously reaches across with her left hand to brace my right arm in an attempt to save my life, while I calmly tell her that perhaps she should put that hand to better use and place it on the steering wheel and steer us to safety. A bit of levity in an otherwise intense situation. Well, she steered us to 'safety' by stopping the car on a shoulder that didn't exist around one of those windy curves on the hillside. Another driver pulled in front of us to ask if everything was OK and also informed us that perhaps this wasn't the best place to stop. We both may be foreigners, but I don't think we look that stupid. Luckily, after turning the car off and then starting it back up again, all was well with the vehicle for the rest of the day. But upon hearing this story, her boyfriend wanted to take the car to the mechanic. So that night, we drove back down to Rotorua (about 45min away) to the Avis at the local airport and picked up a rental car which we needed for a trip the following day. We got to the airport and there was no rep at the counter. Luckily, the parking attendant who works alongside Avis in the airport called up her Avis buddy and was talked through the necessary steps to helping us get our car. Which brings me to smelling Cape Cod.

While driving back from the airport, I was hit with the smell of low tide at Barnstable Harbor. It was eerie how unmistakable that smell was. As soon as it hit my nose, I uttered to myself, "That smells like Barnstable Harbor." It was the smell of saltwater, muck, horseshoe crabs, razor clams, moon snails and the sea breeze. Sounds almost repulsive when writing about it, but it brought back so many pleasant memories. It's funny how a smell can trigger 32 years of memories and the people who made those experiences so memorable. It was certainly fun to reminisce and think about everyone back at home for almost the entirety of that lonely and dark 45min drive back to Tauranga. I hope that those of you reading have a smell, or something else that triggers one of your other senses, that reminds you of something or someone special because even for short periods of time those thoughts can make lifes' most stressful and hectic days seem enjoyable in retrospect.

Deep Thoughts, by Jeremy Gaynor

So today is kind of a lazy day and a laundry day so I figured I would share some deep thoughts with everyone.

So what if I have worn the same outfit everyday since my arrival? I would rather be slightly less fresh than constantly unpacking and packing my bag in search of clean clothes. Plus, I would rather have the dirty clothes on my body than in my bag so as not to make the clean clothes any less clean. Clean clothes have feelings too you know.

Getting stung by a wasp in the southern hemisphere hurts just as much as being stung by one in the northern hemisphere.

Corona beer costs about $8-10 per bottle in Oceania. Subway $5 foot longs are $7 dollars here. A McDonald's 1/4 lb with cheese-fires-drink is $7. Not now, not ever are these sound financial investments.

There is no beer in AUS/NZL that is over 5% ABV. I know many of you are fans of good 'ol Miller Lite and the like, but every single beer tastes the same here. All a weak lager with very little taste. And I have yet to see a Fosters anywhere.

Aussies and kiwis are some of the nicest people you will ever meet until 1am when you are trying to sleep in a hostel and they are drunk off their rocker seemingly oblivious to the fact that Jeremy needs his REM sleep.

I love slang in these parts. You know how we somewhat unaffectionately refer to redheads in the states as 'Gingers?' Well in Australia they call them 'rangas,' which just happens to be short for 'orangutan.' The local zoo was even having a promotion for rangas to visit at a discounted price until sensitive rangas protested.  Of note, Ginger Beer is actually quite tasty.

I know cricket is popular in these parts, but any sport where the fielders can wear floppy hats and they take a 30min tea break between teams batting has to have its authenticity challenged.

Physically fit people need not apply to your local Lawn bowling (essentially bocce ball on astroturf) club. This sports best 'athletes' tip the scales over 250 lbs and their spouses apparently don't want to give them an image complex, so they are gigantic right along with these bread winning athletes. Can you believe they actually televise this as well?

Aldi, Lonestar Steakhouse, 7-11, McDonald's, Subway, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Burger King all have found homes down here. Haven't eaten in one of them yet.

Making Pinot Noir is a painstaking process. So the next time you find yourself complaining about the cost of a good Pinot Noir, just know that a ton of effort goes into making those grapes just right more so than many other grape varietals.

If you think gas prices at home are bad, try driving here. About $2.30 per LITRE or around $9 bucks a gallon. Slightly less expensive in AUS vs NZL.

Whaddya know. My laundry is done. Time to put on the same outfit again. Cheers.

I promised them and now here they are

Lazy lump

Who you lookin' at

Phillip Island south of Melbourne

Split Point Lighthouse

Beauchamp Falls

12 Apostles on GOR

London Bridge on GOR

more GOR

Surfers Paradise

12 Apostles

Fraser Island

75 mile beach on Fraser Island

bleached coral on Lady Elliot Island

Lady Elliot Island by air

lady Elliot island palm trees

Auckland skyline

Here they come, all 3000 of them...no joke. 3000

Avalanche of sheep

Drivers side door view

front windshield view

Giant Te Paki sand dunes

more dunes. We walked this 'trail' to the top

and still more dunes

Cape Reinga Lighthouse

Cape Reinga Lighthouse

Cricket...more than just an annoying insect

It's also a sport that would never gain traction in America...EVER.  If we as a society complain about the length of a baseball game, imagine sitting a sporting event that is potentially 3-5x longer than your standard baseball game. That my friends, is a day at a cricket match.  Now having said all of that, I quite enjoyed my time at Gabba Stadium in downtown Brisbane watching the Aussies thump India in a one dayer.  Random travel experiences always resonate more than the planned ones. I had arrived at the Brisbane train station following my Great Barrier Reef excursion and was to meet up for one last day with cousin Jeff. Sent him some texts alerting him I had arrived, and despite him sending responses back to me, my phone never received them. So at about 2:30 I asked someone at the info desk if there were any sporting events going on in town for the day and it so happened that cricket was being played. It started around 1pm, so my natural instinct was to ask about how much longer it would be going on, figuring maybe there were 2 or so more hours. I would then have to weigh whether it was worth the effort to make it down to the stadium with 30 pounds of gear on my back. But the answer came back, "Around 9:30pm or so." Made my decision easy. So I went out to where the free bus was supposed to take people to the game and boarded with a married couple my age, Sharon from Israel and Chris from Australia who met while in Peru. Upon getting on the bus, the bus driver told me that since I didn't have a ticket, i would have to pay for bus fare. However, I had burned through all my cash since I was leaving the country the following day. Just as I was about to leave the bus, in modest disappointment, Chris told the bus driver he would pay for me and covered my fare to the stadium. I bought my ticket at the stadium and ended up being able to sit with them despite not having a ticket for anywhere near their section.  Chris was very nice about explaining the game of cricket to me and it also happened to be the first cricket match his wife had ever seen as well. She was far more bored than I, although the intense heat may have had something to do with that. We even talked baseball and other American sports in trying to compare cricket to them. I won't bore all of you with the rules of cricket, but the fans are every bit as crazy as those who attend Ravens game. People dressed up in country colors, face painted, men in bikinis and wigs, signs taunting the other countries, beach balls and the wave. What an atmosphere.

Traveled onwards to Auckland. Just another city if you ask me. New Zealand in general was sculpted from volcanic eruptions so the terrain is quite lush and hilly. One moment you feel like you are driving through the scenery of Lost, the next you are driving through vast farmland as if in the midwest, and then you have 90 miles of beaches as if driving the pacific coast highway.  My friend Stacey (whom I met while on my European trip 4 yrs ago and who just moved to New Zealand to be with a boyfriend 3 days before my arrival) and I drove up to the Northland of the north island in order to visit Cape Reinga Lighthouse. At the point of land where the lighthouse sits, the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea collide and you can see whitecaps where the opposite flowing currents meet. On the road up to the lighthouse we were stopped by a sheep herder who was herding sheep down to a farm to be shaved. We were stopped for a good 5-10min as more than 3000 sheep came barrelling down the road like an avalanche and engulfed the car. Never seen anything like that in my life. We also stopped at sand dunes that were mountainous. Not a spec of foliage to be seen. Pure sand up to the sky. Quite the views once finally getting to the top.  Anyway, that's what I have been up to.  Going to hike the Tongariro Crossing on Saturday, New Zealand's best 1 day hike and then to do some blackwater rafting and glow worm cave activities on Sunday. All the best to those of you reading along.

From GOR to GBR

So I swam in an aquarium today known as The Great Barrier Reef.  On a privately owned island resort known as Lady Elliot Island, I spent my day snorkeling with marine life while being serenaded by thousands of birds on this island sanctuary. The colors of the coral and fish against a backdrop of Pacific Ocean blue, lit up by the midday sun, was breathtaking at every turn of the head. I have never seen such beautiful aquatic wildlife without being separated by thick glass plates. Turtles, rays, squid, angel fish, butterfly fish and too many more species of fish to mention entertained me for hours. The flight from the mainland to the island was spectacular as well. It was hard to tell where ocean blue ended and sky blue began. My pictures don't really do this experience justice but I will attach videos of this day along with some pics/videos from the Great Ocean Road. The next time you hear from me will probably be from New Zealand. Cheers.

Apparently videos take forever to upload, so I will just have to load pics at a future date

Grrrrreat Ocean Road

Everyone needs to do themselves a favor and make their way to Melbourne Australia and drive the Great Ocean Road (GOR). It is spectacular. An embarrassment of beauty. Limestone and sandstone cliffs 10 stories high that overlook turquoise water and white sand beaches. Pictures don't really do it justice, although I tried my best to make it so. Just an amazing place. just inland from he coast is rainforest which provide a tropical backdrop for dozens of waterfalls. I had amazing company and hosts for my time on the GOR. James and Lydia (brother of my friend Tash, whom I stayed with in Melbourne) were fantastic. They are both chefs and I was treated to world class dinners with steak tons of delicious side dishes and homemade ice cream made ingredients straight out of their backyard. James also works for a company that provides helicopter flyovers of the GOR and was able to get me a discounted flight that gave me a birds eye view of this amazing place. I will try to post pics at a later date, but look it up on the web to get an idea of what I spent 3 days enjoying. Have spent the last 2 days in Surfers Paradise, just outside of Brisbane with cousin Jeff. Nice to have family on the trip and a comfy hotel bed to boot. i will traveling to Hervey Bay this weekend to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef and visit Fraser Island. Again, will post pics when not so rushed for time.

First class vs coach class

At the start of this trip I never expected to have a blog title comparing these 2 things, but here we are. So that flight leaving Dulles had only 17 people on a 300 person capacity plane. Figured I would get to spread out across 3 seats and have my own row for travel, but upon boarding we were informed we were being upgraded to first class. BEST FLIGHT EVER. A seat that reclined to completely supine with a legrest. Personal seat dividers and a relatively large screen TV. And amazing food. Filet of beef with roasted potatoes, sauteed spinach and cheesecake as well as a breakfast ham and cheese sandwich with breads. Oh and complimentary champagne upon boarding. Not bad for a backpacker. Of course that all ended on the Heathrow to melbourne flight as I sat in tiny coach class quarters with 2 dudes and didn't say a word to them the whole time. First class is really the only way to travel if you have the money. Typing from hong Kong Airport befor boarding plane to Melbourne. Hope not to get lost driving to my friends' place.

Dull-es

4am flight. Got to Dulles at 12:45am. I am all alone. Peaceful but boring. But at least I have free wi-fi. Us Gaynors have a knack for arriving at airports when no one else is around. We will never miss a flight...ever. As Dull-es this airport is right now, the journey has officially begun.

Human Carry-on Bag

So I was supposed to leave for my trip today, but that's not going to happen. Apparently the 1-3" of snow they got in London over the weekend slowed the airline industry to a grinding halt. So Instead of leaving at 10:25pm tonight I get to leave at 4am on Tuesday. Not like I was going to be able to sleep on the plane anyway, but it would have been nice to think that I could. Can't wait to see what kind of jet lag awaits my body upon my arrival in Melbourne so that I can be in peak physical condition to drive on the left side of the road.

So I have been trying to get all of my belongings for the entire year into 2 carry-on sized bags. Was driving myself crazy with this task until I realized I could just turn myself into a human carry-on bag. There won't be a pocket on my body that won't be stuffed with battery chargers/USB cables/phones/camera equipment etc., but at least I won't have to wait for luggage on the back end of the trip. Moral of the story, wear clothes with lots of pockets.