Thursday, December 27, 2012

Not punch-drunk, just drunk.

Hello again explorelooselyrs.

Today I am coming from you from a little speck near the top of the North Island called Paparoa.  It's a place of windy gravel (mud) roads, small lifestyle farms, and mosquitoes the size of jet-planes.  Why am I hear? Well that's mostly due to the fact that my best friend Amanda has purchased a small 5 acre farm in this place with her brother Colin.  And since I was up in Warkworth for Christmas, Carl and I decided that we may as well make the effort to get up here for a visit.

OMG I had NO idea how isolated this place is.  To put it into a bit of perspective, the closest 'city' (and I do use that term rather loosely) is Whangarei and that's an hour's drive away.  It took Carl and I an hour to drive here from Warkworth.

It IS a really nice farm though.  And Amanda's parent's have bought the 12 acre farm next door.  So it's all one big happy family up here.  In fact they're staying with Amanda and Colin until the renovations are finished on their farmhouse.  Also up here are the people Amanda stays with when she has shifts at North Shore hospital, Sean and Leonie and three of their kids, Chantelle, Brianne and Jayden.  So it's a full house, but it's been fun.  The kids and I hang out and play cards or on Amanda's Wii, or we mess around with Amanda's chocolate lab, Ellie.

Between the two farms they have 8 cows, 3 girls, 5 boys and 5 laying hens.  Brianne gets really excited because it's currently her job in the morning to go and check for eggs.  Not sure how long that lot are planning to stay, Carl and I are here till the 2nd when we'll make our way back down to South Auckland.

On the 3rd we'll head south to New Plymouth, picking up Kay on the way and spending a couple of days with Carl's mum there with the plan being to be back in Palmy on the 5th with  Carl returning to work on the 7th.

So it's been a good long holiday for us.  I may post some photos if Carl deems any of the ones he's taken to be worthy.

Otherwise hope you all are enjoying your Christmas/New Year's break and I'll see you all on the 5th!!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

High-flying Muay Thai Elephant Monks.

(not necessarily in that order)

So it was our final day here in Phuket.  Got off to a bit of a late start, but then it wasn't like we had to be anywhere.

The real adventure began in the afternoon when we were booked in to go on the Elephant Strolling excursion.  Our guide met us at reception, then took us down to the jeeps that would transport us.  They were so cool they even let Mokona drive:



The first stop on the tour is actually Wat Chalong.  Lol.  However this time we had the guide so it was a lot more interesting as we learned about the history of the buildings and a little bit more of the Buddha story.  Oh and apparently the monks that we saw in the little building in the back ARE actual monks, not statues.  Go figure.  Oh and one of them is one of the three monks who started building Wat Chalong.  Cool.

Outside there was a bit of a commotion going on.  Turns out a young man is preparing to become a monk.  



His family cut his hair and then he shaves the rest off and changes into a white outfit.  He then goes into a nearby building to meditate and prepare and then finally comes out in the orange or yellow robes of a monk.  So that was a neat addition to our tour.  It's not every day you get to see that.

As we were taking photos, Carl noticed this keyring on an Asian guy's camera bag.



Hell yeah everyone loves NZ.

We then went inside the secondary temple to pay our respects to the three monks.  They're three bronze statues that represent the first three.  We placed gold leaf on the statues for luck.



Finally we went back to the jeeps and headed off to the elephant safari park.  The first thing we did was have a ride in a wagon drawn by two oxen.:




Ok I will say here that is was NOT the smoothest ride ever.  The wagons bounced over every single rut in the track, with a lot of back and forward swaying owing to the oxen's gait.  Which of course is more like a plod.

After that was done, we were given a Thai cooking demonstration, showing us how they make a spicy papaya salad, which is apparently a really popular dish in the northeastern part of Thailand.



Oh yeah, we also got to sit on the back of a water buffalo:



We then we herded up the hill to where the elephants waited.  And OMG if I though the ox-wagon ride was bad, it has NOTHING on that.  Because of the elephant's slow and steady gait, we were swaying side-to-side, but also back and forth.  It was like our asses had no idea where they were supposed to go.  Good thing we were strapped in.  It was fun though.  And one of the elephants liked sticking his trunk up between the people in front of him whenever he got close enough.  It was hilarious.



After about twenty minutes of butt-sliding, elephant farting, trumpeting and rapid-fire Thai conversation fun, we were let off and taken over to a building where they had the monkey show.  They brought out their female monkey who was quite content to sit on her bench and hold hands with anyone:



Apparently they train monkeys to pick ripe coconuts, because of course they're experts at it.  A monkey can pick anywhere between 800 to 1000 coconuts a day.  Awesome.  So they demonstrated how that worked, before bringing out Sam the superstar.  He walked a tightrope on his back legs, rode a tricycle, did some weightlifting and then did a hell of a Michael Jordan impression:



From the monkey show we then headed up to the main event.  The baby elephant show.  Before it started we were all given the opportunity to have our photos taken with the elephants.



The show began and the elephants did some amazing tricks.  They sat and posed,



Shot hoops



Played darts,



And kicked Carl's ass at soccer.



They also gave massages.  Though when I said I wanted a Thai massage, that wasn't what I meant.



And this poor guy got more than he bargained for.  He got a massage with a happy ending.



Finally we were able to feed them some well earned bananas.



And that was pretty much the end.  It was back to the jeeps and back to resort.

Once we got back, Carl and I wandered up to the main theatre to check the events board and noticed three guys in boxing shorts.  On the stage was a few gloves and pads.  Turns out they were doing a Thai boxing demonstration.  And as you might have imagined, Carl got right into it.



But of course I quickly got horrendously bored so I wandered out to the trapeze to catch up with the circus guys.  And managed to talk myself into actually giving it a go.  Of course Carl, having perfect timing, finished up with his Muay Thai lesson and came out just in time to see me suited up and about to climb.

Don't take my word for it.  Here's photographic proof:

Me climbing


This is me near the top


And finally me swinging


Before landing safely in the net:


So there you all go.  I actually did it.  And inspired by me, Mokona gave it a go too.



Though he didn't do so well lol.

And that was pretty much it.  Oh, it was multicultural night tonight.  So at the pergola they had a range of games and activities from different countries.  The best one was the Korean soju.  They'd pour a glass of beer, then on top of the glass they set out two skewers and then balanced a shot glass on them.  Then soju (which is very strong rice wine, basically Korean vodka lol) was poured into the shot glass.  Then you had to bang your head on the table so that the shot glass unbalanced from the skewers and fell into the beer.  Then of course, you drank it.  It's the Korean jaegar-bomb!  Lol.

So yeah, thus ends our adventures in Thailand.  Hope you all have enjoyed following along with us on our journey.  I won't close this blog because hey, I'm not planning on stopping traveling any time soon.  But that's it for now.

We fly out at 4:25pm.  We'll be back in NZ at 1:20pm tomorrow.

See you all then.

Pictures from yesterday:

Pictures of yesterday's adventures.

The bocce ball rematch.  Note my excellent form (yeah right).
 This is Phil, one of the circus guys, climbing up, hand over hand to set up the second trapeze for the catch.  Look at him go.  Bet his P.E teachers in high school LOVED him.
Carl doing the double, knee-hang and preparing for the catch.


Stretching out...

And got it!


End of the catch, time to let go.

Kelly presenting him with his certificate to say he'd pulled it off.

It is kinda cool actually.

Forgot to mention this.  This was actually a dinner option from last night.


The circus crew salute the woman in charge after their fabulous Pandora show.  Lol.  Apparently she can be a bit of a bitch.

So there's the promised photos.  We leave tomorrow so I'm going to go to bed, get up early and give you today's post before we pack the computer up in preparation for heading to the airport.

Take care.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

More high-flying antics and natural pyrotechnics.

Brief post to sum up the day (it is nearly 3:30am local time).  Pictures will be coming along later as soon as they're put through post-production.

It was a stay at the resort and do nothing day, with nothing pretty much being the operative word.  After we'd finished up our nutritious (kinda) breakfasts for the day, Carl decided to go and try out the golf course, leaving me pretty much to my own devices for the better part of the morning.

So just what is a girl to do with x amount of hours to kill? What else? I went and lounged by the pool with a cool drink and a steamy romance novel.  Which I finished.  Damn.  But that was ok, because I had come prepared.  Once the book was done, I plugged in my iPod and listened to some tunes while working on a bit of writing of my own.  Excellent.

After Carl had had his fill of the golf course (with his sandals full of sand from the amount of time he spent in the bunkers *snerk*) we decided to hold our ultimate, thirteen point winner-take-all bocce ball grudge match.  I won.  13 points to 3.  Ha.

By the time that was over, the circus G.Os were setting up the trapeze for the afternoon group.  Carl was keen and raring to go because this afternoon he'd been declared ready to try for a catch.  Which, as the name suggests, is where you swing out, hang upside down and then swing up and let yourself be caught by the person manning the next trapeze.

And of course, the little show-off pulls it off first time.  I was hoping for a dramatic spill, but I suppose that the catch was pretty spectacular so it was kinda worth it.  He even got a certificate saying that he'd managed the feat, which he is incredibly proud of.  I didn't give it a go because really that just isn't my thing.  I don't really like being upside down and especially not whilst swinging.  I am not an adrenalin junkie.  I never have been and I don't really intend to start now.  I'll leave that kind of thing to the people who actually get a kick out of it.

Once Carl had completed his great achievement, we headed back to our room to chill (and give him time to let the adrenalin rush wear off) before we headed out to dinner.

Tonight's entertainment was supposed to be the Pandora show out at the main trapeze.  However, just before 8pm a tropical thunderstorm rolled in.  Along with the fantastically bright flashes of sheet lightning and booming thunder, there was rain.  Not exceptionally heavy, but steady.  And hot.  Unlike most of the rain we get in New Zealand, this rain was basically like standing in a lukewarm shower.

Anyway, as a result the Pandora show was moved inside to the theatre, and it was still spectacular.  The circus guys performed three different acts, with Thai dancing in between.

After that, Carl headed over to the bar to hang out with the circus guys while I headed back to the room for a little while to dose myself up on painkillers and anti-nausea drugs as I had a headache that had come on with a vengeance.

However once they'd kicked in, I felt tons better so I headed back to the bar and had a few drinks and met a few new people, had some awesome conversations and ragged on some of the G.Os.  It was great.

And now it's 3:45am.  And surprisingly, Carl and I are two of the last 2 people in the village to go to bed (that we know of anyway).  How often does that happen with us?

Anyway, tomorrow afternoon we are going on the elephant safari, because hey, you CAN'T come to Thailand and NOT ride an elephant.  I mean seriously.

For now though, I think sleep is in order.

Stay cool all.  And stay tuned for pictures.

Boats, Blessings and Monkeys, Oh My!

It's really hard to believe that in just 3 days Carl and I will be heading home.  We've had such a blast here that the time seems to have just sped on by.  But I think we've really made the most of our time here and that's really what counts.

Today was a day out and about.  And it started at about 7:30 this morning.  Cos that's when we had to get up in order to be able to have breakfast before heading over to sign up for the daily snorkeling trip.  So we got there and got signed in, got our lifejackets on:



We then walked down the beach to where we were picked up by one of the long-propeller boats and ferried out to an even bigger boat which took us north up the coast.



About half an hour later we pulled into a quiet cove and the engine was cut and we were told that we had 40 minutes of snorkel time so get our asses into the water and start swimming.




It was absolutely incredible.  At first the water seemed to be empty, but as my eyes adjusted to seeing through the goggles, I could see whole schools of tropical fish swimming in and around the rocks below me.  At one point I think I saw some purple coral and some anemones.  There were angelfish and bright neon blue fish.  It was just amazing.  Like actually being allowed to swim in a giant aquarium.  I could have floated there for hours just watching the fish.  It was so relaxing.

But like all good things, it couldn't last all day so we were summoned back to the boat so we could head back to Kata beach.  On the ride back we were given cool lemon-scented towels to wipe the salt off our skin and glasses of cold filtered water, as well as being offered cold slices of watermelon and pineapple.  It was so nice.  And of course it was another pretty hot day so we were pretty much dry by the time we got back.  Oh, Carl didn't swim, he just sat on the boat and took pictures.

After a quick shower to wash the salt and sand out of my hair (and probably some krill as well) we went to lunch before walking out to the street and haggling for a taxi to take us up to the Big Buddha (the giant statue in a photo from our visit to Wat Chalong).  The combination of heat and the exertion from snorkeling meant that by this time I was getting pretty sleepy, so I nodded off once or twice on the drive up there.  However once we arrived, I perked up (standing and walking meant concentration so I had to be at least somewhat alert).  And I really am glad I went, it was simply stunning.

It was built (or is being built I should say as it's still under construction) not only to honor Lord Buddha, but also in celebration of the king's 80th birthday.  Which I think is wonderful.  They are so proud of their monarchy here.

We wandered around the bottom of the hill, and into a pavilion where as well as the usual touristy souvenir stands, there were places where you could donate either 100 or 300 baht and get a piece of marble to write your name on and thus contribute to the building of the Big Buddha:

Which I thought was a neat idea.  Carl did too so we bought a small square and signed it.  We then wandered down the left side of the pavilion and saw this little fellow:

And he wasn't alone either.  There were at least five of them climbing the trees and then on to the roof of the markets.  It was amazing how totally unafraid of us humans they were.

At the very back of the market, there was a square where a small shrine was set up where you could burn incense for luck.  It was guarded by a very diligent temple cat:

Well, semi diligent anyway.  There was also a Buddhist monk who offered blessings for luck, protection, money and love.  Carl and I got blessed and also received a woven bracelet each.  It looks like a friendship bracelet, but I guess it's a trinket or something to reinforce the blessing.  Either way they're pretty neat.

On the other side of the market pavilion was a place where these boards were set up:

 Yep that's a NZ five dollar note there on the top left. I guess some people just took what little change they had in their local currency and donated it.  Which is pretty cool.

There was a LOT of it.  And I could only recognize a handful of the currencies.

We then finally headed up the hill to the base of the Big Buddha itself.  And if it looked spectacular from the bottom of the hill, that was NOTHING to actually being under it:

Magnificent.

Although this sign puzzled us a bit:

Um at 45 meters high, he's a bit big to hug anyway.

But it was simply amazing.  Even though there were signs that it was definitely still a construction zone, the entire place just radiated this sense of peace.  Everyone was just wandering, there was no feeling of being rushed or hurried.  And everyone was just so polite and reverent.

 One of the designs that I think is eventually going to run all the way around the base of the statue

Here it is side on.  It's not as thick as you'd think from looking at it.
This bell was tucked into a corner.  I think it might be slated to hang above what I think will be the main entrance to under the statue:

Which is here I think.  With two magnificent statues flanking it.  I so want to come back in maybe 5-10 years and see it when it's fully complete.

Up another small hill at the top was a lookout.  There were these gold chimes in the trees that tinkled every time the wind blew.  It was beautiful.


And a bit of commotion near the path turned out to be this guy.


Completely fearless...and completely addicted to coca cola.

Because we were getting a bit hot, we headed back down and spotted another temple cat on guard:


And lastly here's Carl standing next to one of the blocks of marble they're using in the construction:


It was about 4pm when we got back to the resort.  So we just chilled out in the room watching movies on tv before heading out to dinner.  After dinner we had a drink at the bar but I headed back to the room because I was hot and completely wiped out.  Apparently I missed a hell of a show cos Carl got dragged up on stage to act in a little skit put together by the costume designer.  But what can you do?  I probably would've fallen asleep there anyway.  Bed was the much better option.

That's it from our Friday out and about.  Hope you're enjoying our adventures so far.

See you all soon.