Out Of Office

I’m sure it would be considered demeaning, but I amuse myself by saying Fiordland in a Swedish Chef voice. Fiordland, bork, bork, bork. We’ve spent the past couple days in Te Anau – with driving trips up towards the Milford Sound (and naturally Fiordland National Park). This area has very steep (granite?) cliffs, and gets a bunch of rain. So there’s already hundreds of waterfalls, and hundreds more pop up when it rains. We took a boat tour, and took a bunch of short hikes today – absolutely beautiful (and hard to capture the scope with a camera – but we tried).

But going back (Sara has already posted some of these pics…) we left Christchurch and ended up in Franz Josef for two nights. This is “glacier country” and we hiked to visit both main glaciers here. Awesome to see, but sad to see how much they’ve receded in the past decade. From there, we ended up in Wanaka for a night – a very relaxed ski town. On that drive we got some great landscape captures with Lake Wanaka providing mirror reflections of the mountains. Side note: my nephew was the first to catch the Mission Impossible reference for Lake Wanaka. After that we spent two nights in Queenstown which itself is a hub for outdoor adventure (and trying to sell things to tourists!). But again, on a beautiful lake with mountains surrounding.

Speaking of which – that’s a recurring theme here – beautiful lakes with mountains surrounding them. And waterfalls. If you love waterfalls you need to come to New Zealand. It reminds us of a mix of the Pacific Northwest though with the mountains of southwest Colorado (San Juan Mts). Water is abundant on our hikes – and the forests show it with ferns and mosses everywhere. But the mountains are gnarly rock and jut out of nowhere.

As for lord of the rings, we’ve visited a few places (although not intentionally – I had to pull up this map). Our whole trip is on the south island, which includes four filming locations (north island has five). Mount Sunday (Edoras), Kawarau Gorge (Anduin River), Paradise (Isengard), and Twizel (Gondor). Of those, the only one we’ll completely miss is Mount Sunday – it’s in the middle of nowhere. We drove through Twizel and the Kawarau Gorge. Paradise is a bit difficult – we’ve certainly not been there (and it’s hard to get to), but we’ve circumnavigated it by being in Queenstown and Milford Sound. Clear as mud? Well – the locations aren’t as obvious as you might think.

Anyhow, enjoy the pics…

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#foxglacier #newzealand #glacier

A post shared by Fish (@theflyingfishes) on Sep 20, 2019 at 3:03am PDT

The title goes back to the first couple days we were in Brisbane. We had just eaten at a BBQ joint, and one of the staff came out an asked “How ya travelin?” – unfortunately for Sara he was facing her. Our faces likely immediately displayed confusion – first we wondered if we heard him correctly. Then we started wondering if we were really supposed to tell him ‘well, by plane, then by car, and we walked here’ – no that can’t be right. After a few awkward seconds, and us probably going “uhh…” – he said – “Was everything ok?” – whew – “Yes, it was great!”. Looking it up, and in retrospect, it’s obvious he was just saying “How’s it going” – although in Australia the popular phrase is “How are you going?”, which all means – “Are you/is everything ok?”.

But, the answer to the literal question, is we’re travelin’ great. We made the road trip down from Sydney to Melbourne, and then west past that out to the Great Ocean Road – and had a great time. We managed to catch all the “weird” Australian wildlife we expected – Kangaroos, Wombats, Wallabies, Koalas, Echidnas, Parrots, Kookaburras, Ibises, Cockatoos, Emus, Black Swans, Lorikeets (small correction, I called them parakeets in my last post). Other than feeding the Kangaroos (which were super gentle – and soft!) the Koalas and Wombats (basically – giant guinea pigs) were our favorites. I guess technically we missed the platypus and some penguins, but it’s a big country! And of course the landscape, both countryside and oceanfront were beautiful.

Australia really surprised us – we didn’t expect to like it as much as we did. Given the time, we’d definitely come back and visit again. But as so happens in most of my posts we landed in New Zealand yesterday. We’ve got 14 days to road trip around the south island – starting in Christchurch – and feel like we’ll fall in love. They’re very strict about making sure you have a flight back out when you come visit – hah! Stopped at a pub last night and sampled some of the local craft beers – they’re doing a great job – even had New Englang IPAs and Milkshake IPAs – woohoo! Except for being surrounded by an ocean, the landscape (and people) remind us of Colorado. The guys sitting at the table next to us last night had a sister living in Denver, and we chatted for a bit. They were excited to visit there some day!

Of course, barely any mammals in NZ, so pictures will probably be all landscape. But hey, you take what you get. Speaking of pics..here’s some more from Australia…

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#twelveapostles #australia #greatoceanroad #travel

A post shared by Fish (@theflyingfishes) on Sep 18, 2019 at 3:29am PDT

Sydney was a cool city – but if this trip has taught us anything about ourselves (or reaffirmed it), we like nature better than cities. We’re now on the drive between Sydney and Melbourne, which has been amazing.

Our first stop was to Depot Beach – and it couldn’t have been better. When we walked up to the house there were kangaroos in the back yard munching. We got out some bird feed for them (later picked up rabbit feed at the store), and the congregated around and gently ate out of our hands. Of course, the bird feed quickly attracted a BUNCH of parakeets too. Colorful and boisterous, though also pretty pushy bunch those parakeets. Later, some King Parrots also showed up.

Once we had our fill of feeding the wildlife, we took the short stroll down to the beach for sunset, and Sara noticed a fin in the water. Pretty soon we noticed about a dozen fins in the water – the dolphins were swimming right at the beach down the hill. We sat there for about an hour watching them, and trying to get some good pictures. What an amazing welcome to our home for 2 nights! Being the thrifty people we are, this also saved us from booking a dolphin watching tour in the nearby town 🙂

Now we’re back on the road, with a quick night in Metung (surrounded by water), and on our way to Wilsons Promontory National Park, where Sara promises Kuala and Wombat sightings.

Internet has been rough in Australia – none in Depot Beach, very slow here. We were spoiled in Malaysia with gigabit fiber most places! So we’re getting pics posted as possible – they’ll show up eventually!

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#depotbeach #australia #kangaroo #wildlife #travel #beach

A post shared by Fish (@theflyingfishes) on Sep 9, 2019 at 3:29pm PDT

I’d apologize for being a little lazy in my posting – but then again, I’m the one on vacation, so no apologies! We had an amazing relaxing time on Gili Meno, and then I thought I’d update after I had the conveniences of a wifi connection in Brisbane for 5 days. But after waking on Gili Meno at 5am, and arriving in Brisbane at 1am, followed by anther day of broken sleep, and me getting a head cold/flu (fortunately Sara escaped that), we’re now on the road between Brisbane and Sydney and you’re finally getting an update 🙂

First of all, it was almost culture/price shock arriving in Brisbane. It’s what we’re used to from the United States, but after a few weeks in Malaysia and Indonesia, $10 for a meal seems like a fortune. That could buy me 2-5 meals! Nonetheless, after mentally adjusting for the prices, Brisbane was a really cool place. Everyone was friendly – like asking if we needed help while staring at Google maps (even for just a few moments), or making sure we knew how to use the city’s rental bikes (a great system), or changing our car reservation when we realized we didn’t need it until the day we left the city. Just genuinely good people.

But also super relaxed. We stayed in the Central Business District, but were nearby the botanic gardens, which is connected to a river walk – that you can wander for miles on both sides of the river. It’s certainly a city where people like to spend a lot of their time outside. Lots of people hanging around with the friends in the parks, concerts & picnics at the parks, local markets (crafts/farmers markets), climbing along the cliffs on one side of the river, and of course lots of people biking and running.

It probably helps that we had wonderful “spring” weather there – sunny mid 70s day, mid 50s night (it is subtropical in Brisbane), but we really enjoyed our time there. On several occasions Sara said “I could live here”.

Of course, we’ve moved on. We’ve had two days of driving and adventure along the coast down towards Sydney, and we arrive there tomorrow afternoon. Yesterday we did a 18km trek around Lamington National Park – with lots of waterfalls, and today did some more coastal exploration (Port Macquarie was nice). Onto pics (mostly catching up Indonesia)…

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#australia #hiking #bushwalk #waterfalls #binnaburra #lamingtonnationalpark #nature #gooutdoors

A post shared by Fish (@theflyingfishes) on Sep 3, 2019 at 3:28am PDT

So then my favorite section…

• “No Junk Mail” – this is perhaps the most amazing thing in Australia. Wandering around Brisbane, this sign was placed on most mailboxes. I wish we could do this!
• Kangaroo’s – Haven’t seen any yet
• Koala’s – Haven’t seen any yet
• Wallaby – Yes, we had a glimpse of one.
• Brush tailed possum – Yes, we saw several!
• Laughing kookaburra – Haven’t seen, but heard. OMG – you have to click and hear these things. (not my video

Despite the first couple chill days in Ubud, we don’t sit around long. The next couple days were spent with a daytrip (car w/driver) out to Gitgit twin waterfall (there’s a ton of flowing water and waterfalls in that area) and a couple temples. Sara already got those pics up. After that, it was a LONG walking day out to see some famous rice terraces. Generally is was a nice walk through the countryside – passing beautiful rice fields on the way – but perhaps a bit too long of a walk in the heat.

Yesterday and today were perhaps the more prototypical Bali days – spent at a beach resort. This is where my Marriott status comes in handy – upgraded to a studio room which has a ladder directly out to the lagoon. I’d say pool – but the resort is surrounded by a number of fresh, and salt water lagoons. They left us an amazing basket of fruit to try – had a mangosteen and purple dragon fruit last night. WOW. I need to find more dragon fruit in my life! (mangosteen was pretty yummy too). They also left a star fruit – which Sara and I love (we had them the first time in Costa Rica) – and have saved that for last. Depending on ripeness – they vary from super tart to slightly sweet-tart. I have a feeling this one is on the sweeter side.

Anyhow, all this is to say, the past coupe days – and next 6 are all about the beach. Tomorrow we transfer to Gili Meno – a super small island – and have a beachfront villa with nobody else around. Side note: Andrew has been excited about this place from the initial planning! But, I can’t promise updates – no internet at the next property. I’m guessing there will be cell service. If not, any updates will come sporadically as we find internet on the island.

Now pics (more to come):

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#tamanayuntemple #bali #indonesia

A post shared by Fish (@theflyingfishes) on Aug 19, 2019 at 12:46am PDT

And bullet points:

• Bali is beautiful but I find it a bit too busy for my liking.
• The income disparity between the locals and tourists is obvious.
  • Last night one of the young (21 yr old) waiters was basically begging – not for a tip – but for a good review on yelp so that his management would keep him around full time (right now his hours depend on how busy the resort is). His dream? To work on a cruise ship – one of the Bali careers that is seen as lucrative.
  • In Ubud, a older gentleman was trying to sell me a wooden box for only $1 US A beautiful wooden box, and at that price a good value – but didn’t need a wooden box. It makes me feel guilty – of course I can’t give everyone in Bali $1 – and he wasn’t looking for charity! But it’s a good reminder to support local business when possible.
• The Balinese have been super friendly. Amazing people.

Well, I have taken 2,500,000 Indonesian Rupiah  out of the ATMs so far. So I guess that makes us multi-millionaires. What lofty sum does it take to be a millionaire here? $70 USD is about 1,000,000 IDR.

We arrived in Bali a couple days ago, but got in late Thursday and stayed by the airport. On Friday we transferred up to Ubud – an artsy hippy town in Bali. Kinda reminds me of Boulder (in the old days) but even more artsy hippie. Saturday was Indonesia’s independence day – and promised to be busy and heavy traffic – so that turned into a pool day. Finally got out and wandered much of the town today. They have a beautiful ridge walk leading up by rice paddies, a sacred monkey forest, and a couple bustling streets with shops and restaurants. Maybe too bustling for us.

But lets get to the sacred monkey forest. It’s a forest run by the village connected to it, with Hindu temples, and appropriately about 600 Macaque monkeys that they feed. These are the same monkeys that I’ve posted pics and videos from before, so I didn’t care about them as much. And technically the monkeys are free to leave – but I’m not so sure they’re completely wild since they get fed 3 times daily. Sounds like and all-inclusive resort to me! But alas, it was a very relaxing walk in the woods with some amazing sculptures, statues, big old trees, and streams. Onto the pics…

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#ubud #ubudbali #campuhanridgewalk #bali #travel

A post shared by Fish (@theflyingfishes) on Aug 18, 2019 at 3:46am PDT

Care for some bullet points?

• Bali is much more temperate than any of the spots we visited in Malaysia. Low to mid 80s during the day, and high 60s/low 70s at night. Feels comfortable.
• But it was a bit of a shock coming here. We had worked our way from busy places to remote places in Malaysia – and jumped right back into busy Bali.
• Bali has a “Taxi Mafia” that makes getting around a bit of a struggle. Disappointing that Grab (essentially the Uber of SE Asia) is difficult here.
• I say it’s busy – but that’s probably not characterizing it properly. The roads are tiny (usually just 2 lane, no shoulder). There’s a LOT of scooters. Some streets – like the one we’re staying on aren’t wide enough even for a single car. There usually aren’t any sidewalks and barely any crosswalks (we love walking). Makes it seem crazy and busy for us getting around – essentially playing frogger in real life.
• It’s probably best to get your motorcycle license before coming to SE Asia. I didn’t and wish I had! Many people online said you didn’t need one for scooters, but…
  • Some people won’t rent you one without it
  • Even if they will, it’s not a great place to ride without some experience (they’re crazy!)
  • Apparently cops are more likely to check foreigners for licenses – so I’ve avoided.
• OK, that’s probably too many bullets. Until next time…

I think I’ve previously expressed that it’s been hot here, but the past couple days have been a whole different level of hot. Yesterday morning when I woke up, I looked at the current conditions and noticed that it was 97% humidity. It was only 75°, but felt like 83°. This morning we got up to take a little hike out by a waterfall in Santubong National Park in Sarawak (currently in a home-stay only 1km away) . In the 4 miles that we walked on a loop trail, my entire shirt and shorts looked liked I took a dip in the waterfall – but I didn’t. Sara and I have traded off being extra “hot” at times, but rarely at the same time. Today we shared in being uncomfortable. Currently sitting on the veranda writing this (in the shade) and the weather says it’s 95° with 55% humidity and feels like 107 °. Whew!

So in Kuching/Sarawak we’ve have a ton of adventures – and a lot of luck seeing wildlife. I already detailed the Proboscis monkey and Bako sightings. Since then we’ve visited a nature reserve with Orangutans, and managed to see two females, took a road trip and passed by a very large Asian Water Monitor (we think) on the road. At Wind cave we witnessed thousands of Dusky Fruit Bats, and also some other smaller echo-locating bats. Yesterday on a boat tour we saw Irrawaddy Dolphins, some more Proboscis monkeys, and a couple wild crocodiles (which are apparently very numerous here). We’re loving Borneo for the wildlife! I guess they like the heat better than us 🙂

I have yet to dig through some pictures, so when that happens Sara will probably post more to Instagram.

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#sarawak #malaysia #orangutan #wildlife #nature #gotravel

A post shared by Fish (@theflyingfishes) on Aug 11, 2019 at 5:48pm PDT

Our first sightseeing stop in Sarawak was to Bako National park. This required a bus trip, boat trip, and a bunch of trekking. For Sara, the only IMPORTANT thing there was seeing the rare Proboscis Monkey. Sara sometimes sez promiscuous monkey (hah). They have 3 types of monkeys at the park, and at first entry we caught some of the very cute silvered leaf-monkeys chomping on a tree. No good pics (forgot my camera again, doh!), but checked that one off the list.

Next, we started hiking up a short, but steep trail. There are 3 trails that have some probability of seeing the proboscis- this was the first. We got to the top, very hot and sweaty, with no monkeys. But there was a nice overlook! About 3/4 of the way back down, we came across a couple staring into a tree – and figured we should do the same. There sat a proboscis monkey – they’re very big compared to most monkeys! He sat there munching for a while, letting us take pictures and video (just with our phones) – before moving on. Super awesome! He also made the funniest sounds – somewhere between a snore and a sigh – I’ll post a video of that. A bit later – two more crossed the path presumably following the other one.

We followed that with a LONG hike to a waterfall. Came across some Bornean bearded pigs, a couple wagler’s pit vipers, wandered through the rainforest and a very dry plateau with an abundance of pitcher plants. A biologically dense journey!

After that, while hydrating at the cafe, some Macaque monkeys (same as earlier video) stole someones watermelon. Monkey mission complete!

Sara got pics up yesterday. After the 32k+ steps yesterday, we chilled out today – but will head back to the food festival later! Yum.

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#pitcherflower #flowers #flowerstagram #pitcherplant #rafflespitcherplant #borneo #bakonationalpark #sarawak #malaysia #wildlifephotography #wildlifephotography #nature #naturephotography #jungle #travel #southeastasia

A post shared by Fish (@theflyingfishes) on Aug 9, 2019 at 5:57am PDT

And because I love bullet points..

• Bonus! No leeches on this hike (though we wore proper shoes).
• Kuching seems like a sleepy place. We’re staying right by the waterfront (river) – which gets lively at night – but otherwise is very calm. Generally we like it.
• Not to keep harping on the “value” of Malaysia – but after Singapore almost everything seems like a bargain here.
• Tomorrow is a national holiday – and a big Muslim holiday – Hari Raya Haji  We’re gonna try to get out, but will probably stay low key.
• So much more nature to explore here. Caves, Irrawaddy dolphins, orangutans…stay tuned.

Singapore was a blast. We got down to the Supertree Grove (man-made trees) for the evening light show, took a trip out to the MacRichie Reservoir park to hike and walk the Tree Top Walk, and did our usual city wandering. It’s a beautiful, clean city, with wonderful architecture – but the pictures are better for showing that!

Onto the title though, we’re now in Kuching, Malaysia (Borneo) – the City of Cats! There are cat statues all over the city – and we’re headed to the cat museum today. Just arrived yesterday afternoon, but were lucky to figure out they’ve got a month long food festival going on a few blocks away. We stopped by last night for some good local eats – our favorite – street food! 🙂

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#singapore #southeastasia #waterfront #cityscape #nightsky #travel

A post shared by Fish (@theflyingfishes) on Aug 6, 2019 at 12:38am PDT

Random musings:

• One of the favorite dishes in Singapore is “Carrot Cake” (Chai tow kway), it comes in white or black varieties. However, it’s not made from carrot, and is definitely not a cake. It’s made from rice flower and white radish (“white carrot”) and we found it to be delicious. Can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
• I did get video of some Hornbills in Langkawi that I never posted. Maybe I’ll get to that someday soon.
• Speaking of videos, got one of river otters in Singapore. Guess I have a lot of videos to post.
• Back to Langkawi (again), our host had a baby (maybe pygmy?) goat – and of course Sara wants one now (it would follow her around)