Happy Birthday, Liam!

My youngest sibling turns nine today.  We weren't sure where we going to take the picture, but when you're driving around New Zealand, it doesn't take long to find an interesting location.  About halfway through our drive from Lake Tekapo to Hokitika, we saw huge, wavy boulders sitting on a hill, and thought it would be a good place to take pictures.  They turned out to be part of a national park called Kura Tawhiti, and we were able to climb on the boulders to get our picture with the sign instead of just standing in front of them.  The pictures of us on the boulders were taken too far away to see the sign clearly, but there's a closeup at the end.

Climbing...

Magge also did some climbing for her shot

Closeup of the sign

Too Little Time on New Zealand's North Island

We arrived in New Zealand more unprepared than we have been upon arrival in any other country so far.  We had bought guide books for Ecuador, Peru and Chile back in August of last year and had spent hours looking at each before entering the respective country.  In French Polynesia, we knew where we would be spending each night before we left Santiago.  All we knew about our plans in New Zealand was where we were staying the first two nights in Auckland, and that we are flying out of Queenstown on April 10.

The first thing we did after checking in was buy a New Zealand guidebook so we could start planning our three weeks here (we originally had four weeks, but the earthquake in Santiago and subsequent plane flight changes cut nearly a whole week out).  Following the advice of a number of travelers we met in South America, we decided to spend only a week on the North Island and the remaining time on the South Island.  I left Magge to find us a rental car while I did our taxes, which will be much easier next year when neither of us has income to declare.  By the end of the day, we had our car and picked out and the two spots we'd see on the North Island: Rotorua and Waitomo.

The Honeymoon Portion of the Honeymoon

Ever since Jeff and I first decided we would be doing our trip, people seemed to be confused that a year of backpacking was going to be our honeymoon. I was amazed at how many people asked me if we would be going on a separate honeymoon prior to our departure. Jeff and my mother keep insisting money does not grow on trees (I'm still not entirely sure I believe them), so a separate honeymoon before the honeymoon was not really a financial possibility. Unfortunately, in order to make our trip from Easter Island to New Zealand with our Around the World Ticket, we had to stop in Tahiti (life is so unfair). In an attempt to appease me for not having a traditional honeymoon, Jeff said Tahiti could be our honeymoon portion of the trip. Not overly disgruntled by the prospect of spending a year backpacking around the world to begin with, I happily accepted the offer.

McDonald's in French Polynesia

Beautiful Tahiti is home to tropical mountains, waterfalls, black sand beaches, light blue lagoons and three McDonald's. In continuing our quest to check out one McDonald's in each country we visit (except for Vietnam, which still doesn't have one... yet), we ate lunch at the location in central Papeete.

Chile Wrap-Up

Facts and Figures
Length of Stay:  Forty-two days
Miles Traveled:  3,555 by bus + 3,926 by plane = 7,481 total (10,346 since landing in Quito)
Cities and Towns Visited: Arica, Iquique, San Pedro de Atacama, Viña del Mar, Pucón, Valdivia, Castro, Puerto Montt, Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas, Santiago, Valparaiso, Hanga Roa
Intercity Buses Taken:  17
Flights Taken:  3
Disgusting Blisters Magge Developed:  4, at least
Natural Disasters Experienced:  1

Rankings in the full post.

Easter Island: Worth the Wait

When Magge and I realized that we could visit Easter Island (known as Rapa Nui in the native language) on our around-the-world-ticket at no extra cost, we knew we had to make the stop. 2,300 miles from Chile and 2,500 miles from Tahiti, it is one of the most, if not the most, remote inhabited places on earth, and we didn't know when we'd have another opportunity to see it. It was therefore heartbreaking when our flight was canceled after the earthquake and we thought we'd have to skip it. However, we were able to move the flights around, and even though it meant only being there for three days instead of six, we made it to the island. After all the waiting and uncertainty, it did not disappoint.

When Nature Throws You an Earthquake . . .

Due to our inconsistent internet access over the last couple weeks (and the exorbitant prices when it was available!), we are quite behind on our posts.  It also looks as though New Zealand will be offering a great deal of writing material, and Jeff (surprise, surprise) is fretting about us getting too far behind on our posts.  Since one of the major objectives of this blog is to create a magnus opus that we may look back on in years to come, we do not wish to leave out anything.  Consequently, my next few posts will not be nearly as detailed as usual and will rely heavily on pictures.

As would be expected with my mother, no earthquake was going to get in the way of us having an activity-filled vacation.  Yes, our Easter Island plans did not work out as hoped; however, we still managed to have a wonderful time together for our extended stay in Santiago.

Hostel Honeymoon on Spring Break

After six extra days in Santiago, we are headed to Easter Island for three days, followed by eight in Tahiti and Moorea. From what I understand, internet in both locations is slow and expensive, so we are unlikely to update the website until we get to Auckland on March 18. However, we will try to post short updates on Twitter, so you can either check the front page here or follow us directly.

Traveling Problem Child Corollary to Murphy's Law

There is always at least one crying or bratty child on your plane/bus/boat/train ride, and their distance to your seat is inversely proportional to the length of your trip.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

An earthquake isn't going to stop Magge's birthday signs.  We were supposed to be on Easter Island today, and the plan was to take this picture with one of the many moai (or as Magge says, "Easter Island head") on the island.  Since we couldn't be there, we hunted down this replica in Santiago.

We couldn't find out how to say happy birthday in Easter Island's native language, so this sign says it in Maori, which is supposed to be a closely related Polynesian language.

Earthquake Damage in Santiago

I obviously haven't seen the American news coverage of the earthquake in Chile, but in speaking to friends and family from home, it seems as though the message conveyed is that much of Chile, including the capital Santiago, has been devastated.  While that certainly has been the case in the city of Concepción and the surrounding areas, Santiago has largely been spared.  Buildings and infrastructure took some hits, but overall we have been extremely fortunate that it was not worse.  Over the last four days, we have spent time walking and driving around various neighborhoods in central Santiago, and we have only seen two instances of heavy destruction.