After two weeks of looking at EVERY available property in DC and Northern VA we finally settled on a place and signed a lease! We move in on 01 Sep, but have no idea of when our shipment of furniture will arrive from Guam. The house is in a great location, very near to Eastern Market and a close walk to the Metro station for me.
Tom and I both started our new jobs this week. So far, so good. The process of house hunting was a full time job itself, so we are very happy to have that settled. I am pretty tired of living in a hotel and eating meals in restaurants and am looking forward to getting into our new place.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
In D.C.
We made it to Washington D.C. today. Hawaii was a nice stop for a few days, spending time body surfing and hiking. I added some more pictures from New Zealand in the post below, and I will post some more soon. For now, we need to find a place to live!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Overdue for an Update...all photos posted!
Disclaimer - Some of the photos will not upload, so I am just going to post the text, I promise to add the photos as soon as I can. I am adding some as I can grab access here and there.
So, it turns out that wireless access is not so common on the West Coast of New Zealand, imagine that.
We have been having a wonderful time, skiing, hiking, glacier gazing, caving, rafting, hiking, and driving. I will not do a long post right now, since this is our last night on the South Island, and we want to get out to see Christchurch some more. We fly to Auckland tomorrow, just for one night stay, then back to Guam. Don't feel too sorry for us though, we get four days in Hawaii before finally landing in DC.
We skied just one day. We learned that New Zealanders seem to like their slopes steep, and have a slightly more aggressive rating system on the slopes. The snow was great at the top, east cost icy at the bottom, but we had a great day. Harder skiing than we are used to, but beautiful views!
After skiing, we headed to Queenstown, stopping at some wineries along the way. The pass between Wanaka and Queenstown was quite hair-raising, but not as bad as the drive out to the first winery we visited. Here I am driving the van - that sign next to me says "Parachutes required". The drive was along the edge of a steep gorge - but I did fine.
The winery was right across the road from the bridge where bungee jumping started. I honestly thought I might try it - until I saw the gorge, and the bridge, and then I did not go anywhere near it.
Queenstown was OK, a bit too touristy and commercial for my taste, but a nice harbor.
We got rained out from our planned flight to Milford Sound from Queenstown - something we will definitely need to come back to New Zealand for. So, we headed back towards Wanaka and over the Haast Pass to the West Coast.
The pictures just don't capture how beautiful it was - partly because the mountain white caps blend in with the cloudy skies. Cloudy, rainy skies that did not go away for five days - and rained us out of a few activities. Anyway, here is another shot of Lake Wanaka, and then some of the drive.
We ended up on the West Coast, a beautiful, rugged coastline.
One of our goals was to see the glaciers, and maybe do a guided glacier walk. We saw the Fox Glacier and the Franz Joseph Glacier, but decided to pass on the glacier walk due to weather. Driving rain on a glacier just did not sound inviting. We did get a small weather window to hike out to the terminal face of the Franz Joseph though, and it was beautiful.
One very cool thing we did was caving and cave rafting. We hiked through a huge cave system and then floated on the river in the cave to see the glow worms, then out onto the river. The link to the website of the company is www.caverafting.com. There are pictures from our trip. Follow the link to "Online Photos" and then choose the Aug 3 Rafting Trip. There are photos of other people too, but Tom and I are in there.
If it looks like I have a black eye in some of the photos, that is because I do. I had a pretty good tumble skiing, and my goggle left quite a bruise under my right eye.
Near the rafting we also visited the pancake rocks on the coast:
So, it turns out that wireless access is not so common on the West Coast of New Zealand, imagine that.
We have been having a wonderful time, skiing, hiking, glacier gazing, caving, rafting, hiking, and driving. I will not do a long post right now, since this is our last night on the South Island, and we want to get out to see Christchurch some more. We fly to Auckland tomorrow, just for one night stay, then back to Guam. Don't feel too sorry for us though, we get four days in Hawaii before finally landing in DC.
We skied just one day. We learned that New Zealanders seem to like their slopes steep, and have a slightly more aggressive rating system on the slopes. The snow was great at the top, east cost icy at the bottom, but we had a great day. Harder skiing than we are used to, but beautiful views!
After skiing, we headed to Queenstown, stopping at some wineries along the way. The pass between Wanaka and Queenstown was quite hair-raising, but not as bad as the drive out to the first winery we visited. Here I am driving the van - that sign next to me says "Parachutes required". The drive was along the edge of a steep gorge - but I did fine.
The winery was right across the road from the bridge where bungee jumping started. I honestly thought I might try it - until I saw the gorge, and the bridge, and then I did not go anywhere near it.
Queenstown was OK, a bit too touristy and commercial for my taste, but a nice harbor.
We got rained out from our planned flight to Milford Sound from Queenstown - something we will definitely need to come back to New Zealand for. So, we headed back towards Wanaka and over the Haast Pass to the West Coast.
The pictures just don't capture how beautiful it was - partly because the mountain white caps blend in with the cloudy skies. Cloudy, rainy skies that did not go away for five days - and rained us out of a few activities. Anyway, here is another shot of Lake Wanaka, and then some of the drive.
We ended up on the West Coast, a beautiful, rugged coastline.
One of our goals was to see the glaciers, and maybe do a guided glacier walk. We saw the Fox Glacier and the Franz Joseph Glacier, but decided to pass on the glacier walk due to weather. Driving rain on a glacier just did not sound inviting. We did get a small weather window to hike out to the terminal face of the Franz Joseph though, and it was beautiful.
One very cool thing we did was caving and cave rafting. We hiked through a huge cave system and then floated on the river in the cave to see the glow worms, then out onto the river. The link to the website of the company is www.caverafting.com. There are pictures from our trip. Follow the link to "Online Photos" and then choose the Aug 3 Rafting Trip. There are photos of other people too, but Tom and I are in there.
If it looks like I have a black eye in some of the photos, that is because I do. I had a pretty good tumble skiing, and my goggle left quite a bruise under my right eye.
Near the rafting we also visited the pancake rocks on the coast:
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
New Zealand is Amazing
As promised, some pictures from Sydney.
The Opera House (and us) during the day:
And, at night:
One afternoon in Sydney is really not enough, but when this is what is waiting for you on the other end of the plane ride, who would stay in Sydney any longer than necessary?
That shot was our first glimpse of New Zealand, taken from the airplane.
We spent an afternoon and night in Christchurch before picking up our campervan and heading to the open road. We have no real itinerary, just going where the wind blows us. Our first night we pulled into a camper park at Lake Tekapo in the dark, and awoke to this:
Actually, we awoke at 0630 to the pitch black of night - this photo was taken at 0800 or so.
We hiked by Lake Tekapo to the Mt John Observatory, famous for Stargazing and astronomical research. The views were amazing, especially the clouds over the distant mountains. I could not get enough of those clouds, which I dubbed pilleated lenticular clouds:
In case you need a closer shot:
Here we are at the summit of Mt. John. I love my camera timer.
Tonight we are staying in Wanaka - I am actually posting this from the campervan. Tomorrow we ski!!
I found out tonight that my Grandmother passed away, please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. I will be remembering her everywhere I look in this gorgeous place, and as much as I wish I could be with my family at this time, I know she would want us to stay and enjoy where we are. As Tom reminded me tonight, Gram loved to travel and spoke often and fondly of her trip to Hawaii. I love you Gram, and I will miss you very very much.
The Opera House (and us) during the day:
And, at night:
One afternoon in Sydney is really not enough, but when this is what is waiting for you on the other end of the plane ride, who would stay in Sydney any longer than necessary?
That shot was our first glimpse of New Zealand, taken from the airplane.
We spent an afternoon and night in Christchurch before picking up our campervan and heading to the open road. We have no real itinerary, just going where the wind blows us. Our first night we pulled into a camper park at Lake Tekapo in the dark, and awoke to this:
Actually, we awoke at 0630 to the pitch black of night - this photo was taken at 0800 or so.
We hiked by Lake Tekapo to the Mt John Observatory, famous for Stargazing and astronomical research. The views were amazing, especially the clouds over the distant mountains. I could not get enough of those clouds, which I dubbed pilleated lenticular clouds:
In case you need a closer shot:
Here we are at the summit of Mt. John. I love my camera timer.
Tonight we are staying in Wanaka - I am actually posting this from the campervan. Tomorrow we ski!!
I found out tonight that my Grandmother passed away, please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. I will be remembering her everywhere I look in this gorgeous place, and as much as I wish I could be with my family at this time, I know she would want us to stay and enjoy where we are. As Tom reminded me tonight, Gram loved to travel and spoke often and fondly of her trip to Hawaii. I love you Gram, and I will miss you very very much.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sydney to Christchurch
We had a lovely afternoon in Sydney two days ago, then flew yesterday to Christchurch - I have some nice pictures, but can not post them up right now because I am in an internet cafe on their computer - just wanted to give a quick update. More pictures to come soon!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Katoomba "Bushwalking"
Today we did a five mile hike in the Australian Grand Canyon. The picture below is of rock formation in the canyon known as the "Three Sisters":
The conditions could not have been more perfect - clear blue skies, cool, but not cold and barely any other people around at all. The hike started at the top of the canyon:
The trail (and us on it) descended down, down, down many steps and switchbacks, through a beautiful Fern Glen and then traveled across the top of the valley (right where the sheer rock walls meet the forest in the picture above) to a series of waterfalls:
We climbed back out for the most spectacular views of all. That is Katoomba falls in the background:
Needless to say, I was just about in heaven. AND we saw wild cockatiels (I have no idea if I spelled that correctly). I took lots of pictures, but I will just share this one.
We are staying in an old 1920's style guest house in Katoomba, and it is charming. I like this town, it reminds me of Brattleboro, VT for anyone who is familiar with that town.
Tomorrow we leave for one night in Sydney, then on to New Zealand for the remainder of our time south of the Equator.
Cheers!
The conditions could not have been more perfect - clear blue skies, cool, but not cold and barely any other people around at all. The hike started at the top of the canyon:
The trail (and us on it) descended down, down, down many steps and switchbacks, through a beautiful Fern Glen and then traveled across the top of the valley (right where the sheer rock walls meet the forest in the picture above) to a series of waterfalls:
We climbed back out for the most spectacular views of all. That is Katoomba falls in the background:
Needless to say, I was just about in heaven. AND we saw wild cockatiels (I have no idea if I spelled that correctly). I took lots of pictures, but I will just share this one.
We are staying in an old 1920's style guest house in Katoomba, and it is charming. I like this town, it reminds me of Brattleboro, VT for anyone who is familiar with that town.
Tomorrow we leave for one night in Sydney, then on to New Zealand for the remainder of our time south of the Equator.
Cheers!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
First Stop, Cairns, Australia
This is me on the Esplanade in Cairns.
We arrived in Cairns late last night and spent the morning today walking on the Esplanade and having a nice breakfast before heading the the airport for our flight to Sydney.
We leave for Sydney in about an hour, then board a train for the town of Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. So far, so good, we brought the computer (obviously) so I will try to do periodic updates here.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
A-traveling We Go!
After a month of being displaced out of our house, a million loose ends to wrap up and all of the other things that go along with moving around the world again we are finally heading out on our way for DC (via Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, of course).
Tom and I depart tonight for Cairns, Australia, then on to Sydney for a few days before flying over to the South Island of New Zealand for 11 days of adventure in a camper van. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? We are both very excited about the trip.
We'll try to do some updates here, but we are not taking the computer (at least that is the decision at this moment) so we will be at the mercy of internet cafes.
Adios Guam!
Tom and I depart tonight for Cairns, Australia, then on to Sydney for a few days before flying over to the South Island of New Zealand for 11 days of adventure in a camper van. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? We are both very excited about the trip.
We'll try to do some updates here, but we are not taking the computer (at least that is the decision at this moment) so we will be at the mercy of internet cafes.
Adios Guam!
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