SMALL PARTY OF NINE

After five months of travel, seven countries and a lot of anticipation the gang arrived in Bangkok ready "to let the wild rumpus begin," And so it did. The cold of Colorado was soon a distant memory the temperature in Bangkok, a steamy 90 with 95% humidity. With only a short time, the Grand Palace and several Wats (Buddhist temples) to conquer we forged ahead. Three days and some pretty yummy street food later we left the hustle and bustle of the big city and boarded our flight to explore northern Thailand and the charming city of Chiang Mai before hitting the beach. With plenty on the agenda, a trip to the Elephant rescue camp, Thai cooking class, trekking to the hill tribes and of course as many Thai massages as possible, there was no time to waste. We thought it would be fun to let our guest bloggers share some of the highlights.

- When in Chiang Mai going to an elephant camp is a definite must… so with only a moments hesitation after signing a liability waiver (which is practically unheard of in Thailand) we rode an opened back bus up into the soy bean fields with our guide “Bowie, David Bowie” to spend the day with the elephants. The view was gorgeous and the elephants magnificent. The elephants at the camp were rescued from Burma where they were abused. The camp was home to about 6 grown elephants and one adorable baby elephant named James Bond, much to the delight of the camp guides. Our day with the elephants started with each member of our large group getting the chance to climb aboard the back of one lucky member of the elephant clan. There are 3 ways to mount an elephant: (1) you can hoist yourself up by standing on the animals raised foot and then swing your leg over its back cowboy style (more easily said than done) (2) stand facing the front of the elephant grab a hold of the elephants large ears, the elephant will raise its trunk and you can scramble up the trunk onto the elephants back or (3) if you’re feeling particularly tenacious you can take a leap standing face to face with the elephant and hope to hurdle the elephants large head and land in a straddle position on its back. Option 3 offers the best chance for observer entertainment should the mount go wrong. After spending the morning taking turns getting on and off the elephant we had a lovely little lunch and then on we went to bathe the elephants in the river. The aforementioned liability form started to make sense once we all got into the water, elephants, camp participants and mahouts alike. The washing of the elephants turned out to be a sorry excuse for the guides to start a giant water fight, which Mike couldn't have been more excited about. Once the battle had ended, we all once again mounted our giant new friend. As usual, Mike and Carin were on the rouge elephant. Mike of course tried to wrangle his elephant back into submission while everyone else got back on their ride until it was only Carin left standing in the water with the elephants. In a state of mild panic Carin thought the guides were asking her to mount the elephant standing in front of her, unable to see that Mike had finally got his elephant under control and was laying in the water waiting, so in a slightly shrill voice, Carin eyed up the giant in front of her and asked the guide “how do you want me to get up there? It’s standing!!”. Eventually Carin found her way and we spent the rest of the afternoon letting the elephants graze and get a fabulous mud bath. The day was undeniably one of the most memorable experiences any of us will ever have. Jess

- After many eventful adventures in Chiang Mai the nine of us decided to take it easy by enrolling in a Thai Cooking class. Around three in the afternoon we all boarded the back of the truck and headed off to the farmlands slightly outside of the city. After many minutes on a bumpy dirt road we arrived at the cutest cooking school I have ever seen. We were treated to a brief tour of the organic garden where we smelled, tasted and learned about all the different herbs used in Thai cooking. Next we each settled into our individual cooking stations, equipped with a wok, single burner, pestle & mortar, and the necessary ingredients. The chef gave a brief demonstration and we began to cook our four courses, curry paste, red or green curry, chicken with Thai basil, tom yom soup, and what else… Pad Thai. Things seem to be going nicely until about half way into the green curry. Maybe it was the cold I caught from dad or it could have been the not so fresh chicken satay I scarfed down earlier from one of the many street vendors, whatever the cause I was soon white faced, covered in a cold sweat and I knew I was going down. My face was either going straight into my green curry or I would have to take a seat outside the cooking class I had waited to long to do. I opted for the seat outside and unfortunately will never know exactly how make curry. Luckily I have 7 others who do know how to make a successful green curry, plus a fabulous red curry made by the also fabulous Mike Small. After many cups of water and a few much needed and tender hugs from mom I rejoined the class and we finished making our big feast. My favorite part came right after the cooking, THE EATING! As we engulfed our meal we came to the conclusion that the best food in Thailand came right from our own cooking. So if anyone is ever craving“ fabulous Thailand food”, give anyone of the crew a call because we are more than willing to show off our
skills. Hannah

- From the enchanting beaches of Ko Pi Pi, to the fascinating markets and fish massages of Bangkok, to the scooters & magical New Year's Eve celebration of Chiang Mai. A once-in-a-lifetime incredible 2 weeks in Thailand. Best of all, we were with our dearest friends.
Eddysan "Massage King" B.

- The whole trip to Thailand was amazing, with the best part being that we got to see the famous "bigworld-smalltravelers" in person. What a treat! It was also great spending time with Jess, Hannah, Sue and Dani. My favorite day was the visit to the elephant rescue camp where we were employed for the day(even though we paid them). First we were told to strip down and put on our work camp uniforms which consisted of a one size fits all pair of denim pants (they were as wide as they were long and came with a belt already attached--efficiency at its best), and a matching denim top. I cringed as I heard Marcia's voice in my head--"double-denim,that's a glamour no-no!). Not to worry though, the little bamboo hats created a nice offset attracting one's eyes upward distracting from the obvious fashion faux pas. So off we went in our matching outfits to learn to feed, mount and command these amazingly large, beautiful, peaceful animals--who by the way are big sweet eaters. No wonder they are so big. They live on bananas and sugar cane! Anyway, we all got the opportunity to hoist ourselves up on top of them, bareback that is, speak to them in Thai, and feed them bananas as they wielded their humongous trunks up to grab the bananas. So imagine climbing up the side of an elephant grabbing the top of its ear and hoisting yourself over its ten foot wide back (my hip still hasn't recovered!). Then while you are on top with nothing to hold onto, and believe me it is high up, bunches of bananas are being thrown up for you to catch as you scream Thai commands at the elephant and suddenly its fire hose trunk is at you like no other one-eyed snake I've ever seen! It was scary and exciting and exhilarating all at once. I opted out of the front mount that we got to try next, but Mike's perfect spread eagle mount landed him smack on the elephant's forehead--nice air Mike! It was great fun watching everyone. They all deserve a big round of applause. After, we rode the elephants down into the river where we got to give them a bath and scrub them up. The elephants were happy to take care of all of their usual bathroom needs during bath time--I don't think I need to go into all of the graphic details---but just know that we were barefoot and hip deep in the water with them! Our guides were gracious enough to start a water fight so that we could all enjoy cooling down in the bath water. I was trying to be a good sport until I was whopped with a big splash of water and some got in my mouth! Carin and Mike's elephant was a bit feisty and gave them quite the ride--very entertaining! The rest of the day consisted of a trail ride, a roll in the mud, and ended with us planting sugar cane for a future meal. I don't want to be a blog hog, and there is so much more to talk about, but suffice it to say, I found this experience to be one of the top ten of my life. Truly spectacular! For those of you who need more--not to worry--I purchased a whole hour and a half DVD of the whole experience.So that was a highlight for me, but the entire trip was simply AMAZING! Thank you to Carin and Mike again for providing the opportunity for this once in a lifetime experience. AN

- Before we began our travels we received some good advice from Mike which helped us throughout our trip. He told us to let go of all our expectations because things simply do not operate the same way in Asia as they do at home. All this became very clear when we arrived at the beach, via 6 different types of transportation, and the hotel did not have our reservation. Several hours later we found accommodations and the time we ending up spending at the beach with Mike, Carin, Hannah and Jess was amusing, adventurous, relaxing and beautiful. We spent our days kayaking, snorkeling, laying out and even a little cliff jumping amongst some of the most beautiful rock formations and the clearest water we have ever seen. We shared some amazing experiences both at Railay Beach, Chiang Mai and Bangkok (also with Ed, Ann and Nicole)that will last a lifetime. Thanks to Mike and Carin for allowing us to join them on their extraordinary journey!! Our eyes have been opened to the world and we think that we might have caught the traveling bug:)

Sue and Dani

- Railay beach offers a fantastic array of adventures from rock climbing to kayaking and everything in between. Having already been kayaking and lacking the upper body strength of rock climbers we decided to embark on a sunset snorkel. The plan was to leave at 2 in the afternoon, hit 3 snorkeling spots, have dinner at sunset on a secluded beach, take a night swim with the phosphorescent plankton and be back by 8:30. As many of us know life tends to get in the way of all of your plans and things ended up going just a bit differently. Here are the highlights:
· Our guide’s name was Joe. Joe liked to drink. A lot.
· A storm came along after our first snorkeling spot and as we rocked back and forth in our small boat on the angry sea, Sue pleaded with Joe to take her back…the answer was “No”.
· Due to issues Joe had on the previous nights excursion getting to the preferred island for dinner we had a location change and Joe took us to the rockiest island in the vicinity of Railay beach and had us hike ashore. This was only mildly irritating in daylight but turned dangerous when the sun went down.
· Dinner was supposed to be served at 5:30. At 6:30, when people were reaching the point of ravenous, Joe happily assured us not to worry because more beer was on the way… dinner was served at 7:30 and shockingly it was absolutely delicious.
· Mike fell on the rocks trying to get back to the boat. Many of you may not see this as a highlight, but if you are part of the Small family, you most definitely will and so it has to be noted.
· When Joe tried to prompt everyone to go swim with the plankton in a string of slurred words, 4-year-old Oliver (a fellow traveler) announced to the group in his loudest and most adorable Australian accent “Don’t listen to Joe, He’s crazy.” All of us thought it; none of us were brave enough to say it.
· Carin fell off the shaky ladder trying to get out of the boat, hanging on with one hand she flailed above the barely calf deep water until the hands on deck could get her back on balance. Hannah and Jess laughed about it the whole way back to the hotel.The snorkeling was very good and the experience was quite an adventure. Overall I think most of us would do it all again. Jess

So there you have it. As you can see Thailand really left a lasting impression on all of us. Traveling with 9 people is definitely exciting, frequently funny, sometimes a little challenging, but always filled with love especially when with your dear friends and favorite girls.

Little Jewel

One of the joys of traveling for 10 months is the ability to be spontaneous and alter ones plans at the last minute... and so we did. Laos is a quiet little jewel in the middle of southeast Asia. Although only there for a week the gentle nature of the people was quite refreshing, the landscape surprisingly mountainous and the food, influenced by the French, was "magnific".

Each morning in Luang Prabang, while it is still dark, you are awakened to the rhythmic beat of drums and peaceful chanting that comes from one of the many Wats that adorn the city. As the sun slowly rises, old and young line the streets with baskets of steaming sticky rice and pink & white flowers, awaiting the procession of orange robes. No words are exchanged as this daily ritual unfolds, barefoot monks collecting their alms before returning to the temple for study and prayer. What a lovely way to begin the day!

After a 7 hour, harrowing bus ride twisting and turning through villages dotted along the mountains edge we arrived in Vang Vieng. This town appears to be Laos' little Cancun, with out a beach, but plenty of partying just the same. Every backpacker under thirty comes here to tube and partake in drinking massive amounts of alcohol served up by the many bars situated on the rivers edge. Not meeting the above criteria we decided to spend our day kayaking and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Things seemed to be going along quite nicely until the second set of rapids, at least we like to think they were rapids, and a strong side current and Carin was under the kayak trying to lift it off her head and Mike wasn't far behind both floating down stream. As Carin always says, every time she's in a boat with Mike we end up in the water, no exception here.

One last bus trip to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. A few more Wats to see and we were off to Bangkok, 12 hours on the sleeper train to meet up with our girls. Can't wait!

Two days later we will have a small party of nine travelers including An, Ed, Nicole and Sue & Dani. Looking forward to spending time with them in this wonderful part of the world.

One heartfelt shoutout wishing all our family and friends a joyful holiday and peace in 2010.

Tam Biet Vietnam

"The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they really are."
Samuel Johnson


Ha Noi, Halong Bay, Sapa


There's an endearing phrase used by the Vietnamese people that we found to be most apropos, "Same same...but different". Although the north and the south like to think that they are very different we found...

Both love their Pho and each region thinks theirs is the best, we think they're both yummy. Same same......

Each area has their local specialties but they all use rice to make just about everything. Same same....

Up north in Halong Bay people live on the water just like they do in the south on the Mekong. Same same....

Sapa and Hoi An are both charming villages where women make clothes, one sews and the other embroideries. Same same....

Rice is grown all over Vietnam, on flat land in the south and mountain sides in the north. Same same....

It's hot in the south and cooler in the north but humid in both. Same same...


Both have their own beer with very creative names to match. "Saigon" is king of beer in the south and "Hanoi" rules in the north. Same same...

There are more motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh and more cars in Ha Noi but incessant honking and traffic in both. same, same but not different.

We had an excellent time exploring the north part of Vietnam. In Hanoi, the capital city, we spent the majority of our time wandering through the old quarter. We toured the "Hanoi Hilton" where John McCain spent most of his time as a POW. Carin managed to get hit by a motor bike, don't worry the bike was fine. We sat with the locals on the little red kiddie stools enjoying the street food and ended each day at Fanny's the local ice cream parlor. Never got to see Ho Chi Minh, rumor had it he was in Russia with Mao. Needing a break from the city noise we boarded a Chinese Junk for a relaxing few days cruising, kayaking and caving on Halong Bay. Spectacular! Sapa, our final destination is where we visited the minority hill tribes. We took a two day trek with a our local 20 year old Black Hmong guide up through the rice terraces that cover the mountain side, did a home stay with a local family where we played Uno and did many shots of home made rice wine with our host, yes Carin too, and can't remember the rest. Before heading back we spent the morning at the incredible Bac Ha market, unlike any market we have been to so far.... At this market you could purchase a live water buffalo, pig, chicken, fighting rooster, puppy (we think for a pet, not sure) and the usual or in this case unusual food stuff. This is where the young girls from the surrounding hill tribes, dressed in the most stunning attire come each Sunday to, as we say, Hook Up. They seem to be pretty successful as most of the women have babies strapped to their backs. We would have loved to shown you this and all of Sapa's amazing color, but due to a technical glitch our pictures are locked on the memory card. Help!


Shoutouts

- Erik The food is even more delicious than it looks. Save your money and you can come here and try it for yourself.
- Mom Keep the comments coming. Maybe Skyping is in our future.
- Ricky & Liz Now that your seasoned travelers it's time to try Asia. No worries Liz the food is basically gluten free.
- Mike D If your getting a little itchy to do some more traveling Asia is the place to go. We think it might be less expensive than Mexico with a lot more young travelers. All look like their having a blast sharing adventures.
- Marcia We're at a loss, you didn't have Laos in your travel notes.
- An, Ed, Nicole, Sue & Dani, our soon to be traveling companions. Leave your worries behind and let the adventure begin.
- J&H our arms are ready, can't wait to have them filled.

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!

Our journey has taken us back to Asia and the wonderfuld world of Vietnam. Saigon is alive, crazy, hectic, and bursting with people, cars, motor scooters & bicycles. Ask any traveler and they will tell you that a hi-light in Ho Chi Min City is crossing the road. As Carin says, "if it wasn't for Mike, I would still be standing in front of our hotel on the same side of the street." It really can be a life threatening experience until you learn the ropes. There are a number of strategies you can try. Mikes favorite is to push Carin off the curb and see what happens. Just kidding. Carin's favorites are to walk up and down the street waiting for the traffic to clear (which it never does) or to find one of the 5 stop lights in the whole city and wait for the little green walking person. Only problem being no one obeys the signals and the sidewalks offer no refuge for pedestrians. Another good one is to look for the 85 year old Vietnamese woman carrying pots of soup hanging from a bamboo pole perched on her shoulder and follow closely behind as she crosses with ease. The real key is to gird up your loins, look straight ahead (in Carin's case grab onto Mike) and walk... until you reach the other side. We loved our time wondering through the city, checking out the sights, visiting the US embassy twice (long story), and especially the fabulous dinner with Ryan, our friend Ellen's son from Boulder and his fiancée Thi. They took us to their favorite place, Quan An Ngon. Thi, who grew up in HCMC, volunteered to do all the ordering and it was absolutely "delicious", which turns out to be the english translation of the restaurants name. The food was so good we braved our way back for lunch the next day. From the city we took a trip to the Cao Dai Great Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels, pronounced Gucci, which unfortunately Mike couldn't fit into, more about that later. The elaborate network of tunnels were used by the VC for sneak attacks on American forces.

Just a few hours south west of Saigon is the mighty Mekong Delta. This river begins in Tibet and flows into the China Sea, and is used for everything. We took a 3 day tour including bus, boat and bicycle to explore the area. What we saw was amazing, people literaly living on the water. There were floating markets, stilted houses on the river banks and fish farms right in the middle of the floating houses. The tour included a home stay with a local Vietnamese family, a visit to Chau Doc and a short trip across the river to a Muslim minority Cham community.

Continuing north along the coast we stopped for a little R & R at the beaches of Mui Ne and
Nha Trang. Although the beaches were wonderful we really loved skyping with the family on Thanksgiving and meeting Charlie from Buffalo, proud owner of the Texas Steak House & Barbecue who served us an authentic turkey day dinner with all the trimmings, yum yum, a nice change from rice & noodles.

Central Vietnam is home to the lovely, historic city of Hoi An, one of the few places untouched during the war. The old towns architecture is charming, the streets are motorbike free for part of the day and there are 267 tailors. The reason we mention tailors is because Carin decided to go with the flow and have a few pieces custom made. This is when the fun really began. Carin was trying to replace a pair of pants and add a pair of shorts to her collection. While looking through the five million bolts of fabric and trying to explain what she wanted, Carin noticed Mike who was supposed to be helping with the decision making, was fully engaged with one of the adorable young sales girls. She had him wearing a long sleeved Nehru shirt complete with chinese buttons and was asking if he would like a pair of matching pants. Out came the tape measure and and then the comments. You have to understand, the Vietnamese are very small boned, thin people. When measuring Mike's waist the girl looked up at him, patted his belly and said " Oh,very nice, happy buddha" . When Carin asked, whether she should have flaps sewn on the rear pockets, the girl started laughing and said "excuse me madam, but you have little bit of big bum so flaps not so good". It's okay Carin wasn't to insulted because the next thing we knew all the girls in the shop were talking and giggling about their little tushies and saying how they would love to have some. After multiple refits, mostly to let the clothes out, we hit the streets with our new duds. We took a cooking class (ha, ha) learned how to make fresh rice paper and then used it to make the best spring rolls, if we do say so ourselves. We also took a bike ride through neighboring villages on our way to the beach, took part in the full moon celebration and rode a motorbike along China Beach to Marble Mountain, where we saw beautiful Pagodas and Buddhist shrines inside natural caves. During the "American" war one of the larger caves was used by the VC as a field hospital.

By now you've probably figured out Vietnam is a very long country and we're only half way through. Our last stop before heading north was Hue, pronouned "Hway". It rained and rained and rained.

Time for a few shoutouts

-Gerri our dear sister-in-law, you know we love you babe. Thanks for making the drama queens trip to NYC so special.
-Mia, tell us what you're studying and we'll take some pictures of it.
-Ivi you never fail to crack us up, have you thought about writing for Letterman?
-N.I.C.E. very creative who ever you are. Can't wait to see what you write next!
-Sue F. you're quite the travel agent, we're glad to give you a little break from packing.
-Curry Lee maybe you and Sue can team up!
-Doug send some Chicken-E-Licken
- Jess and Hannah, eighteen days and counting. Good luck with finals !!
-Michele, we think some travel is in your future.
- Sue S. let us know if you will be lecturing any where close by Asia..S Africa..India..Egypt....
- Jan, glad you had a great trip to Guatemala, welcome home

-All, Thanks for the feedback on the video. We loved hearing from so many of you!!!

S.I.N.Z

"Beauty and grace are performed whether or not we sense them. The least we can do is try to be there." Annie Dillard

The South Island of New Zealand is breathtakingly beautiful. Jagged snow capped peaks, water ways carved out by glaciers and ancient forests grace the landscape. Like its sister island the hillsides are dotted with sheep. A variety of birds flood the sky. Seals & penguins can be spotted on rocky ledges basking in the sun, while bottlenose dolphins swim up for a closer look. Crystal clear glacier fed icy blue lakes are everywhere. There is a never ending surf that pounds the coastline. The south island is magical.


Tramping the Queen Charlotte and Abel Tasman tracks turned out to be quite the adventure. It always sounds easy during the planning stage from your comfortable living room. After renting backpacks, sleeping bags, cooking gear and packing a large amount of food for Mike including rotisserie chicken, we were off to our first of three huts, only to realize that these packs were really heavy. Four hours later and pretty darn tired, we made it to our first hut located on the beach, a wonderful spot n spite of the relentless sand flies. Between early morning tidal crossings, 35 kilometers of tramping, stopping to enjoy the views and a water taxi ride out we had an amazing, if not exhausting experience.


Queenstown, a beautiful mountain community situated on lake Wakatipu was the start of hours of decision making... should we bungy, 4 wheel drive, white water sledging or sky dive just to name a few of the activities. After consulting the local experts at the I-Site we settled on Funyacking/ jet boating on the Dart River, a day cruise on the Milford Sound, and an overnight cruise on the Doubtful Sound both are fiords. In the process we got to do a wee bit of kayaking, take an icy plunge in the Sound, and be surrounded by the most amazing scenery.


While there are not many people on the south island we managed to meet a few. In Nelson there was Rae & John, friends of Lisa in Brisbane, who made us a wonderful dinner and shared stories of their extensive travels all over the world. On the Abel Tasman we met a couple, about our same age from British Columbia, who sold it all and have been traveling on and off for the past eight years, very tempting. We had such a good time with Elsa and Yugo, our adorable, Portuguese bunkmates on the Doubtful cruise, we are now contemplating adding Lisbon to our itinerary. Finally the two 20 year old hitchhikers we picked up from the Netherlands who entertained us from Lake Tekapo to Geraldine with their stories of hitchhiking and tramping all over NZ. One of the absolute highlights of traveling is meeting amazing people from all over the world.


One last tidbit.. NZ. introduced Possums to controll the Stoats which were intoduced to control the mice and rat population, arriving with Capt. Cook, all to save the native birds like the Kiwi. Today NZ has 80 million Possums and a declining bird population. Not very effective pest control.

SHOUT OUTS;

Hobbs, The Embassy for notorizing was brilliant! We love you too.

Jessie, The package was the best!

Hannah, Five weeks and counting!

Our Friends and family, We miss you all.

N.I.N.Z.

New Zealand's North Island is simply lovely. It is quiet and spacious. The hills are green & lush and dotted with fluffy white sheep. Hawks soar in an endless bright blue sky. Huge pine trees and redwoods line up separating one paddock from another. Flowering yellow shrubs, red leaf trees and wild flowers follow along the aqua colored crystal clear lakes and rivers. Wineries and fruit orchards abound. The cities are small and the towns are charming. The North Island is beautiful!!

We began our adventure in Auckland with a killer breakfast, no surprise, and a walk about. Auckland is the most populated of all the cities in NZ (1 out of 3 live in Auckland). The main attraction is the Sky Tower (192 meters high). Why doesn't Denver have a Sky Tower? Next we headed off to visit Fran & Dennis, friends of Marcia's that she met while traveling in Egypt twenty years ago. Located fifty miles southeast of Auckland right on the water is their very quiet and beautiful B&B. We spent the night listening to stories about Marcia & Gerri and getting a bit of travel advice. Enjoyed another excellent breakfast and were off to the Waitomo Caves to see the glow worms. After spending an hour deciding how adventurous we were willing to be, we plunked our money down on the 3hr tube ride through the caves. OK, picture this, Carin in a full wet suit, helmet and caving light on, standing backwards, butt in tube, at the edge of a 4ft water fall preparing to leap into the freezing water below. The look on Carins' face was the best. Unfortunately we weren't allowed cameras. At one point we formed a six person chain, shut off our head lamps and floated in total darkness, guided only by the light from the glow worms, "sweet". The adventure ended with very hot showers followed by bagels & soup and chatting it up with fellow tubers. We were off again continuing our journey south stopping at Rotorua which is home to spurting geysers, hot sulfur springs and bubbling mud pools, all of which is located on an inactive volcano. It was a wee bit smelly! . We hiked in a magnificent redwood forest, checked out the green and blue lakes and spent an evening experiencing the Maori culture complete with singing, dancing and an authentic hungi dinner, meaning the food was cooked in a pit for three hours. It was all you could eat and Mike was in his glory. Our next stop was beautiful Lake Taupo, a hike to the Huka Falls and the beginning of the great decline, in health that is. By the end of the hike Mike was sick as a dog. Carin drove the entire 5 hours to Napier with Mike complaining, coughing and sneezing the whole way. As Mike will tell you it takes a mighty big cold to get him down. Carin got to visit Napier, in between trying to arrange "take-away soup" for Mike with our very enthusiastic B & B hosts. Needless to say Mike got no soup but Carin did take a great walking tour of the art deco buildings. It turned out Mikes cold was so big he shared it with his wife. His care taking skills did not measure up to Carin's as she was left alone in the hotel for five hours while he tramped around Wellington, our final North Island destination. You can imagine how well that went over, but our colds are getting better and we've have decided to continue traveling together.

One big shoutout to Chuck and Chris for keeping the EUI ship afloat and supporting this great adventure!!!

ROCK-N-REEF

Our journey has taken us where the rain forest meets the sea and the outback back meets the rain forest. We've gone through the hinterlands, tablelands and I-lands. After three weeks, two flights, a rental car, and a 1700km road trip we've only experienced a fraction of Australia. It's one bloody, big country.


ULURU, the Aboriginal name for Ayres Rock, along with Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) is quite the landmark in the middle of the outback. So what does one do at the biggest rock in the world? To start things off you get up really early, well not early enough, which makes the drive a little more exciting and race in your car to see the sunrise, where the light turns the rock a lovely shade of red. Then you walk the ten kilometers around, so you can admire it from every angle, and if that's not good enough provided you're not suffering from heat exhaustion , a little dehydration and craziness from the relentless flies swarming about your face, there's only one thing left to do, CLIMB IT! After finishing our trek around we sat down to relax, happy that we didn't have to decide whether to climb the rock since it was closed due to high winds. Climbing is a point of contention since it is a sacred place to the Anangu people and 34 visitors have died trying. Unfortunately for us the climb was re opened and we were faced with a decision, to climb or not to climb. After chatting with some Aussie mates we were convinced that climbing the rock was something we would remember for ever and "it would only take 20 minutes to get to the top ." How many times have you hear that? So the climb began with a steep ascent, totally relying on the soles of your shoes as there was nothing to grab onto. Carin was a bit nervous in the beginning but with warm encouraging words from her husband ( and a big shove ) upward she went. When the climbing became dangerously steep. there was a section of chain to grab onto. After about forty-five minutes we thought we'd made it to the top to find out that we were only a third of the way. With the water supply running low, blisters on our feet and the temperature rising we finally made it to the top. Ah, the thrill of victory. Except now we had to get down, and that was scarier than going up, at least for Carin. As we descended Mike took on the roll of Uluru cheerleader, encouraging both young and old climbers that they were doing great and to keep it up. By the end Carin thought he was going to get a job as an official guide. One last sunset, a load of laundry and off we flew to Cairns.

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF is Earth's biggest reef system, in fact it is the only living thing that can be seen from outer space. After renting a car , driving to Port Dougie ( as the locals like to call it) choosing a reef tour company from the 500 or so ( we of course chose the one that looked like it had the best lunch), fins and snorkel in hand we were ready to check it out, that is until the two hour boat ride. For those of you who may not know this, Mike gets a little sea sick on the open waters. As the captain cruised along at record breaking speed and the waves splashed up to the windows, Mike began to sweat like crazy and turned a lovely shade of greenish gray. The Canadian couple that we were sitting with asked " do you think he'll be alright? " as he crawled off to buy some motion sickness medicine. No worries, the boat stopped, Mike felt a hundred percent better and we found ourselves part of the most beautiful under water world .

A ROAD TRIP is just what you need to meet the locals and see the country. We traveled north to Danetree and up to Cape Tribulation where the rain forest meets the sea. Hiking, relaxing on the beach and enjoying the company of fellow travelers and great hosts at the B & B's. From there we drove a bit west and many hours south stopping in small towns along the way, enjoying national parks, looking for Kangaroos ( only road kill) and singing along to the great radio stations. Mike was really enjoying seeing how many trucks he could pass at one time on the narrow two lane road between Cairns & Brissie. The highlight for Carin was the " I told you so moment" after the police pulled him over for "dangerous overtaking." Luckily no ticket just a warning.

FRASER ISLAND the largest all sand island in the world (are we noticing a trend here?) .What a blast. The only way to get around is by 4 wheel, so we rented a Jimmy, watched a fifteen minute video on the do's and don'ts , received five minutes of instruction, signed a liability release and boarded the barge. There are no paved roads, the sand is soft and deep in spots, the tracks are rutted. The four wheelin was full on. Mike was in heaven. What makes this island so amazing is the clear fresh water lakes on the interior and ocean surround. Driving up and down the beach trying not to get caught in high tide made things a bit more exciting. We managed to only get stuck once. It turns out Carin is quite the 4 wheeler.

BRISSIE, our final destination. We were lucky enough to be the guests of the "cousins" Lisa & Alan their son Callum and Ruby their great big dog. Their daughter Maltilda was away at university in Tasmania. The minute we saw Ruby we thought of Sony which brings us to our connection -Dave & Lisa Compton. Aussie Lisa, who grew up in the USA , is Dave C's first cousin. They have been so wonderful, showing us around the city, taking us on a bike ride, up to the beach house and treating us like family. They really are quite amazing hosts considering when we arrived they were also hosting Christopher, a student from Germany. Brissie is a great city with wonderful parks, terrific public spaces, a world class arts complex all located along the Brisbane River. It was so nice to have a few home cooked meals and share thoughts and experiences with such lovely people that we can now call our friends.

A few shouties to our mates back home;

- Dennis & Diane, Carin is wondering if there are any tickets left for the concert in NY. She thinks it's worth the 22 hour flight. Keep the sports updates coming.
- Sue S, Your China pics were great. We will exchange travel stories. Good luck to Mark in his new school.
- Mom & Joe, Loved hearing your voices. What can you tell us about NZ?
- Ivi, You know we love you guys. You're always on our list. Thanks for checking in on the girls, and we hope to help you move into your new home in Boulder when we return in June. Ha ha.
- Dave & Lisa, The cousins are amazing, thanks.
- Cyndy, South Africa is known for having some pretty good golf courses. Check your May schedule.
- Jess, Love everything your doing.
- Hannah, Our little drama queen, thanks for keeping things exciting. (This one comes from dad.)
- Hannah, You are such a delightful daughter. Counting the days til December. (This one comes from mom.)
- Brit, Happy Birthday. Sorry Mike's cantina was closed due to extended travel. Should be reopened for the big 21.
- Lee, You are the best!! The eagle has landed and the trip will go on. Thanks for keeping us connected. Loved the extra goodies. See you in Cambodia.
- To all, enjoy the fall and stay in touch.