There are so many things to rave about, but to list them all would be too long, and better told over dinner or coffee (to my friends--hint! hint!). So to sum up, here are the Top 5 reasons why this is a honeymoon I won’t forget:
#5: New Zealand’s scenery
New Zealand is G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S to the nth power! Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” did not exaggerate. We passed by many mountains, forests, seas and lakes, and while technically, when you’ve seen one mountain you’ve seen them all, such is certainly not the case in NZ. With every turn of my head, I almost always find a sight that takes my breath away. Am just not sure our pictures will do them justice, but consider them a sneak preview of the real thing.
TRIVIA: The mountain range you see in the background of the pic below are called The Remarkables, and they were used to shoot the "Lighting of the Beacons" scene in LOTR's "Return of the King."
Oh, yeah, Australia wasn't so bad either.
This is a portion of Bond University, Eric's alma mater. Where students, adhering to Gold Coast dress code, go to class in shorts, slippers and tube tops. As Eric put it, if I had been one of his classmates here, "di kita papansinin."
At Surfer's Paradise in the Gold Coast. Water was freezing but the sufers were HOT!!!
At the Blue Mountains in Sydney, Australia.
#4: Soaking in a sulfuric spa
Rotorua in NZ is a hotbed of thermal activity, and the small of sulfur permeates all around. The smell wasn’t as noxious as I feared, although it still takes some getting used to. Bubbling mud pools and steaming geysers were the must-see's in this part of the trip. They may seem ho-hum when you read about them, but when you're really up close, it's an exciting experience. Nature never ceases to amaze me.
#3: Close encounters with the wild
I froze my ass off for one whole afternoon in the Otago Peninsula to see some of the world’s rarest animals in the wild.
Imagine hiking down this steep hill (with the gorgeous view that comes with cold, cold wind) to reach the beach below...
to view endangered species in their NATURAL HABITAT (how cool is that!!), like yellow-eyed penguins:
and Hooker seals.
After that, we climbed all the way back up the hill and then WENT DOWN THE OTHER SIDE to check out New Zealand fur seals. What a hectic activity, to the point that I actually got a fever that night. I say it’s because I got too cold but Eric insists it’s because I was too unfit for the hike and my body couldn’t take it, hmph. Still, that encounter still rates Grade A “Awesome” in my book.
#2: Uluru up close
I had always thought that seeing Ayers Rock (“Uluru” is the original name given to it by Australia’s aboriginal people) would be the highlight of my honeymoon, but that was eclipsed by "Awful" Experience #1 below (more on that later). Still, my visit to the Biggest Rock in the World definitely deserves special mention.
In the pic below, the line of people climbing up the rock in the background are those ignorant/disrepectful tourists who went ahead and climbed the rock anyway...
Despite this request from the aboriginal people.
And my #1 most Awful Experience…
I climbed a glacier!
When Eric and I first saw our itinerary for New Zealand, it included an “optional glacier climb.” We immediately knew this was an opportunity we would not pass up, and we were glad we went through with it. It was a grueling hike and really proved to me how un-agile I was. There were many times when I thought I would fall off the cliffs out of sheer exhaustion (and because those damn hiking boots were so heavy!), but I lived to tell the tale.
There are some things you will forever remember doing with the love of your life (the first kiss, the day you got married, etc.), but climbing a huge block of ice together is an experience entirely a league of its own.
And now we're back.
Next stop (hopefully), India!!!
