Phuket, Thailand

Hello! My Spring Break has come and gone (sadly) and it's kinda funny to think of it as Spring Break as everyone is just heading back to school in the U.S. Anyway, I planned to spend the first week of my time off in Phuket, Thailand. Despite it being "wet" season, there were some really nice days of beaching and boating it. The first two days were rainy, but that just meant exploring the surrounding towns and the Buddhist temples that Thailand has to offer. We ( I went with a friend) had booked a few activities prior to leaving, which ended up getting jumbled around during the week based on weather. The first two days were sightseeing and the end of the week was outdoor adventuring ( and ELEPHANTS).

Okay, it is it is now several months in the future, I am writing ( and maybe crying) finishing this post from my travel themed bedding in New York. I know, I promised myself I would keep up with this, but when you're having the time of your life, it's just  not as fun to stop and write down every moment. This is going to be a recap based on photos I have from Thailand and things I remember from each photo to break up lengthy text.... so here we go friends!

 Okay, so one of the first stops was Big Buddha, although there are several big Buddhas, this is one of the more  popular ones. It was under construction, but still allowed visitors to walk through some prayer happenings on the inside and take some photos of the views and pretty decor. Somehow we ended up at Big Buddha twice, but I didn't mind giving this masterpiece a second look.

Wat Chalong Temple: As a self proclaimed barefoot walker, exploring these temples without shoes after a rainy day was marvelous. The gold and red accents and the peaceful atmosphere made exploring the Buddhist temple and it's surrounding area a must do.  We stopped at a side street market after and grabbed some coffee and smoothies from the local vendors, which always have interesting combinations of things. Including the popular:

Banana Pancakes! This seemed to be a popular street food, but it was really more like a Crepe with chocolate/nutella and bananas folded in.

James Bond Island

Boats, snorkeling and Island hopping! If I remember correctly, I think we spent about 3 days going on  boats/canoes and visiting islands. We visited James Bond Island, where the classic film franchise reigns over this entire area, Phi Phi Islands, Ao Phang Nga National Park, and Coral Island. Canoeing was lead by a local tour guide, and involved ducking down into caves while searching for bats hanging from the ceiling and was one of my favorite moments on the trip. Every boat we went on had more than enough fresh fruit to offer, lunch included and cost maybe $40 for a full day trip. Snorkeling also became a new passion of mine, except for this one time our guide  proceeded to throw food into the water to have hundreds of tiny piranhas come out. Beautiful blue waters and colorful fish are worth it though ( in the swimmable areas).

The main attraction of this post of course is the elephants! After some extensive research and an hour drive, we ended up at Phuket Elephant Sanctuary due to the ethical tourism of free roaming big eared animals. Animal abuse for entertainment is a huge part of Thailand's culture, and I really wanted to make sure I was contributing to a less harmful type of tourism. We were considered guests in the elephants territory, so we followed them around from a distance in our high Wellington boots. These elephants are so cute! Majority of them are old and former performance animals, but playful and active all the same. I even fed these lovely guys with sugar cane and watermelon  at the end of the day.

These are some random photos from being a tourist in Old Phuket Town, little China town in Old Phuket Town, Kathu waterfall and a look-out spot! I feel like Thailand was one of those vacations where you end up learning more than you thought you would, as I attempted to learn how to "wai" and learned more about Buddhism and squat potties than I ever expected.

See ya later Thailand! I'll be back for you and your sun!

New Plymouth and Mount Taranaki

Hello friends!  It's been another two weeks ( I think) since I last wrote a blurb with some photos, so expect double the dosage of your weekly Claire this time around. My parents have come and are now enjoying Sydney, Australia while I take pre-spring break tests. I loved having them here and getting to show them around Welly, as well as traveling with them. The first weekend after their arrival, we headed  off to New Plymouth to explore Egmont National Park. It was a five hour drive, which Jack (did I mention he also came?) was not too pleased about. We made it to Egmont, which is home to Mount Taranaki, a beautiful snowcapped mountain.....which I didn't really get to see, as it was foggy and rainy that Saturday. We ventured on a trail anyway, figuring that we had to do some hiking as we had traveled this far. The sights were wonderful and calming, until we came across a stream that had risen too high for us to get across by foot. It was the last leg of our hike as well, Mar was not having it and so we had to turn around and hike back the same way we came. The rain put a damper on things ( pun intended) but we made the best of it so here are a few snaps from the National Park:

We stayed the night in New Plymouth and hung around some nice sulfur pools, which was warm and cosy but also freezing when you weren't in the water. If you can't tell, I'm finishing writing this post a few weeks later, because life gets in the way sometimes. We stayed at a really cute bed and breakfast that night, and the name didn't stick with me, but I did enjoy sipping hot cocoa by a crackling fire and catching up on some netflix.  The town was small and not very busy, yet seems like it would be a hotspot during the summer season with its 4 person bikes and mountain views. Before heading back to Welly, we stopped at the beach and took some more photos, so here we are folks:

I fell in trying to get an artsy photo, serves me right

If you look closely, you can see how dorky Martin is and wrote "Farnan"

I'm planning on getting my Thailand/ Bali and Australia posts up sooner, as next week is  not as busy and I'll be hanging around quite a bit ( Fingers crossed). I hope you enjoyed this family weekend away! I miss my parents quite often, so getting to see them was so enjoyable. I also had a week of not paying for my own food so that was also great!

Queenstown, New Zealand

Hey there friends! I have made it to my study abroad destination of New Zealand, but with a slight detour from my host city of Wellington. My program held an orientation in Queentown for 4 days so we can meet some people going to different universities in NZ and have some fun! I arrived at 4 p.m. to a hostel, went to dinner and then pretty much fell asleep, but my first full day was beautiful. We got up at 6 am and took a bus to Milford Sound, a long 5 hour trip. Completely worth it though! We stopped a few times along the way for photos in Fiorlands National Park and a little cafe for a coffee. The mountains were beautiful and the boat ride was peaceful ( and included some seals and dolphins!).

Also, the water is so fresh you can drink it, so we all filled up our bottles from this stream

The next day was a day of information, including a Maori performance class where we learned a song ( apparently that is used by the All Blacks Rugby Team) and a game. I also went luging up the Queenstown mountains! We took a gondola up to a ski lift, and sat in these odd little black plastic boxes with bike handle bars. It was really cold yet really entertaining ( although I crashed on a turn at one point, oops). Here are so pictures from the top of the mountain, where we also ate dinner on our last night there.

The next day was a free day, so I chose to go bungy jumping. Queenstown is actually the place it originated, and we passed the first one on our way up the mountain. The ride from the town center to the place we were jumping was about 40 minutes which really heightened our nerves. A group of girls from my program and I went together and we were all newbies. To get to the jumping platform , you have to take a gondola across to a box suspended over a canyon. The gondola ride itself was terrifying and made us want to turn back. We waited for about 45 minutes in the hanging box, all suited up, nerves high, but due to the winds being too strong, we couldn't jump. We were sent back to the main base to wait some more as it was cold at the jumping station. I was pretty bummed out that I might miss the opportunity to bungy as it was our last full day. However, the staff ( who were the coolest, chillest people ever) informed us shortly after that the wind had died down and we could go leap. ....And I did it. The first 2 seconds were pure horror on the free fall, but after that it was the most amazing thing ever. You feel so alive even though your dangling by a cord strapped to your ankles. Oh also this was 143 meters of a jump, called the Nevis, which is the highest in NZ. Go big or go home, right? 

Later that night I met up with my roommates whom decided to go luging instead of jumping and we went to one of the ice bars of Queenstown. It was $36 for two cocktails, entrance and the ability to wear their parkas. However, you had 30 minutes to chuck down these frozen themed drinks served in ice cups, so that was interesting. It was a tiny room with some ice sculptures, a bar and some seats ( covered in fur so your butt doesn't get cold). It was one of those things where we could say been there done that sorta thing. It was okay- a lot of syrupy drinks and cold noses in my opinion.

That was our last night before heading out to Wellington, so we visited some local bars as well, but failed to get Fergburger like a true tourist would! I want to go back for a weekend hopefully and do some more of the extreme sports! Well, I know this is super long, so sorry, but hey! I finally posted something!