Destination #18: Discovering The Land of the Rising Sun: Japan

Tuesday 7 December 2010 - Tuesday 21 December 2010

Lost in translation in Tokyo

Always fascinating, occasionally frustrating, Japan is definitely the country that gave us biggest culture shock so far. We have rarely felt so foreign, useless and lost as in Japan. On the other hand, we have never met so many nice people, witnessed such a level of impeccable service and been treated so politely as in the land of the rising sun.

Japan is just such a refreshing change in many ways from other countries we have visited so far. There are only a limited number of people that speak English, so finding out even the most straight-forward things can be a struggle, but on the other hand we were often the only tourists in many places - and definitely in most if not all restaurants - and the Japanese are not only very polite, they also go out of their way to help you when lost (and that happened a lot, given that there are often no street signs and if there are, they are definitely not in English).   

It has to be said that I am not sure how we would have survived without our good friends and excellent hosts Soichi and Kazuko who guided us through the city and more importantly Japanese customs and traditions with patience and a smile (we probably would still be wandering around the Tokyo subway somewhere without them).

So here is how we did on our to-do list of the "weird and wonderful" that we encountered in the 12.5 million people metropolis we call Tokyo:

# Pressing all the buttons while sitting on a toilet in a Ginza department store and starting to slightly panic when you can't work out how to put an end to the water cannon that has been splashing your bum for the last 5 minutes - Tick

# Having a Bill Murray "Lost in translation" moment while strolling through Harajuku checking out the schoolgirls dressed as Alice in Wonderland - Tick

# Getting completely lost on the Tokyo subway, convinced that you are on the Yurakucho line while you are actually on the Hibiya line - Tick

# Strolling over the Tsukiji Fish Market early in the morning, gazing at those massive tunas while fearing for your life as you try to jump out of the way of those crazy electrical carts that prowl the market - Tick

# Choosing your Tsukiji sushi restaurant by just joining the longest cue you can find, having given up on trying to work out where that particular restaurant out of the Lonely Planet is located exactly - Tick

# Wondering how bizarre it is that you just managed to get a can of steaming hot coffee out of a Coca Cola vending machine while Soichi and Kazuko are slamming away on a driving range in the middle of Tokyo ...  at midnight - Tick

# Staring out of the massive windows of Soichi and Kazuko's amazing apartment on the 33rd floor on a clear morning and being able to see Mount Fuji more than 100km away - Tick

# Tying up the Omikuji (paper fortune) on the board outside Senso-ji temple in Asakusa, in the hope that the wind will blow away the bad fortune while you are still wondering what "Hearing a morning call of a cock, you will have to wait for a chance to come" was actually supposed to mean - Tick

# Despairing when the taxi driver who doesn't speak any English seems to be even more lost than you are, and that is even before you realise you don't have any cash on you and he doesn't accept any credit cards - Tick

So what else did we get up to? Well we did some shopping in Harajuku, crossed the famous four-way crossing in Shibuya, had a Gordon Ramsay styled breakfast with Mike in the Conrad Hotel, noodle lunch with Kobanawa-san in Ginza, coffee with Yumi in Yebisu and a memorable dinner with Miyanaga-san and Omura-san in a traditional Torisuki restaurant called Tamahide.

Eating Wagyu beef in Kobe

After 4 days in Tokyo, we flashed our Japan Rail Passes at Tokyo station and jumped on the Shinkansen bullet train to Kobe. At a speed of 300 km per hour, the Shinkansen are a fantastic way to travel through Japan and the trip took us just under 3 hours. The Japanese railway system is amazingly efficient, all trains are precisely on time and only stop at a station for up to half a minute. The carriages are extremely quiet as the use of mobile phones is seen as socially unacceptable (although funnily enough smoking is still allowed in designated carriages). And the best part is that all seats can be turned around, so if you don't like the person opposite you, you take your chances and press the button to swing your seat around. NS eat your heart out.

The port city of Kobe has a population of around 1.5 million and is best know for the massive 1995 earthquake that not only brought down many of the city's buildings, but also my first employer London merchant bank Baring Bank (thanks to good old Nick Leeson who had bet on an rising Nikkei Index, oops). The "foodies" probably also know Kobe because of the famous Kobe Wagyu beef (the dad of LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant liked it so much he named his son after it). Some stockbreeders are said to give their dwarf Kobe Wagyu cattle beer and a massage in order to get to the best end result: a fat, marbled beef which is rightfully considered a delicacy. We were more than happy to follow Per's recommendation - "Eat Kobe beef until you are broke" - and we have to admit that massaging the cattle clearly does bring home the bacon.

The real reason for coming to Kobe was of course to visit good old Robbie. Robbie, who works for the youth set-up of the J1 football team Vissel Kobe, has somehow managed to master the Japanese language and is as good as fluent (given our complete lack of understanding of the Japanese language he could as well speak Korean for what we know, but we will give him the benefit of the doubt). Drinking sessions were limited to two nights - ok maybe three  - and Rob only had to crash on the sofa in our gigantastic hotel room once.

Spotting whale sharks in Osaka

Just a 15 minute Shinkansen ride from Kobe lies Japan's third largest city, Osaka. Osaka Kaiyukan Aquarium is home to the mother of all fish tanks, showing off two massive whale sharks, a tiger shark a few leopard sharks and a hammerhead shark. A pair of mantas somehow cohabitate peacefully with this lot. And this wouldn't be Japan if they wouldn't dress up the scuba diver that feeds these guys in a Santa Claus suit.

Before catching our Shinkansen ride back "home" to Kobe, we couldn't resist but sampling the local specialty Okinomiyaki, which is as much as a pork and cabbage omelet, doused in a syrupy version of Worcestershire sauce. Not the most healthy dinner ever, but very nice nevertheless.

Hugely impressive Hiroshima

Another day-trip from Kobe on the Shinkansen brought us to Hiroshima. Hiroshima is sadly best known for the fact that it was the first city to be targeted by an A-bomb on 6 August 1945. The A-bomb leveled the city instantly and killed 145,000 people before the year-end. The hugely impressive Peace Memorial Park and Museum commemorates this historic event in an impressive way.

The story of 11-year old leukemia victim Sadako Sasaki is the single story that touched us both most. In 1955, 10 years after the bomb, 11-year old Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia. Young Sadako decided to fold 1,000 origami paper cranes, as there is a saying in Japan, that if you fold a thousand origami paper cranes your wish will come true. Sadako had only one wish and that was not to die. Despite folding over a 1,000 paper cranes on her sick bed, leukemia still got the best of her and Sadako didn't make it. In her memory, and of that of all Hiroshima children affected by the A-bomb, the Children's Peace Monument was built. Fittingly, the monument is surrounded by thousands of origami paper cranes.  

Hiroshima is not the most fun place to visit, but it is hugely impressive and sad at the same time. Definitely an everlasting impression.

Kyoto's temple bonanza

We spent four days in Kyoto and without a doubt this is the prettiest of the Japanese cities we visited. Kyoto was the imperial capital between 794 and 1868 and is considered Japan's cultural capital. It has no less than 1,600 Buddhist temples, over 400 Shinto shrines and 17 Unesco World Heritage Sites.

We had a good go at those 1,600 temples and managed to visit...ehmm four of them. We will have to do the remaining 1,596 when we come back. So far we ticked off the Kodaiji Temple, the flamboyant Kiyomizu-Dera (with great views over Kyoto), Nijo-Jo (technically speaking not a temple, but famous because its first owner Tokugawa shogun Ieyasu wasn't the most trustworthy of shoguns and fitted the whole place with "nightingale" floors that squeak at every move, making it difficult for intruders - and that bloke that was shagging his wife - to move about quietly, and last, but not least, Ginkaku-Ji or the Silver Pavilion. Despite its name, no actual silver was used for the Silver Pavilion.

In Kyoto we stayed in the small 7-room boutique Hotel Mume in the Gion geisha district and they managed to get us some reservations at well-hidden places such as Yata and Kokoraya, eating at sunken tables while being surrounded by confused locals wondering how those clumsy Westeners who seemed to be trying to kill the staff with chop-sticks managed to get in in the first place.

We finished off our Kyoto experience by walking Tetsugaku-No Michi or the Path of Philosophy. This is a 1.5km path that runs along a canal lined with cherry trees and which takes its name from 20th-century philosopher Nishida Kitaro who used to walk this path while meditating.

Eating cod sperm in a Hakone Onsen

No visit to Japan is complete without a visit to a real Onsen or traditional Japanese spa. All credit to Soichi and Kazuko who took us to one of the oldest and most renowned Onsens in Hakone, a place where emperors and prime ministers used to come to spend their weekends. Staying at an Onsen is a real treat, we stayed in a huge centuries old wooden house and before we had a chance to dip our toes in the steaming hot water a traditional nine course Japanese dinner was being served. And what a dinner this was, we had cod sperm (it tastes a bit creamy, no surprises there), sea snails (the gut is the best part), fried fish bones (very crispy), sweet potatoes (apparently the Japanese Emperor liked the sweet potatoes here so much, that the Onsen sent him a bag of it every year until his death), fresh sashimi, beef stew and a traditional Japanese desert. Fully satisfied, we shuffled towards the Onsen bath through the dark night and splashed ourselves into the hot water while looking at the stars in the sky. What a fantastic experience.

The next day we managed to drop by the Owakudani Natural Hot Springs which finds itself at the center of the Hakone volcano. This place is best known for its "magic" black eggs that are boiled in the Owakudani Natural Hot Springs. Each egg is said to prolong your life by no less than 7 years. Always in for some "black magic", we bought 10 of them for the 4 of us, adding 70 years to our lives or at least 16 and a bit years each.

Thanks to British Airways we even ended up with an extra day in Tokyo. A day Em gladly spent getting her nails done "Kazuko style" with glitters and other funky stuff. This also gave Soichi a chance to show off his new yellow BMW M3 in a garage that resembled the movie set of the "Fast and the furious". Billy Walsh did manage to get us on another flight the next day and reluctantly we left Tokyo. We had a truly amazing time here and special thanks is due to our fantastic hosts Soichi, Kazuko and Rob. You guys made our trip to Japan one never to forget. From Japanese ghosts to playing football on the top of a skyscraper, we loved every second of it. Damn we miss Japan already!

Next stop: Destination #19: Party like it is 1999 in Copenhagen

Destination #17: Thrill seeking in New Zealand

Saturday 20 November 2010 – Thursday 2 December 2010

New Zealand (NZ) is literally a freak of nature. The country has one of the most varied and spectacular landscapes we have seen to date, ranging from snow-dusted mountains and drowned glacial valleys to lakes with turquoise waters on a backdrop of rolling hills. And given that it wasn’t even on our initial list of 28, it almost hurts us to say that this is probably our favourite destination so far.

Spanning 268,680 square km, NZ is actually bigger than the UK. It is also one of the few countries in the world with more sheep than people. For every Kiwi – and there are 4.4 million of them – there are 8 sheep to keep him or her company. Surprisingly even the sheep are outnumbered, this time by a small rodent called a possum, of which there are no less than 70 million on the island. As these possums tend to chew through millions on tonnes of foliage a year, they also happen to be the most hated animal in NZ and the national slogan is “Kill a possum, save a tree”. Fortunately the possum has a tendency to jump in front of speeding cars at nighttime, making the “bunny suicides” look like mere amateurs.

Christchurch (South Island)

We arrived in Christchurch around 02:00 in the morning on the last flight from Sydney. As only hours earlier a massive explosion had trapped 29 miners in the Pike River Mine just north of Greymouth, the plane was packed with TV crews from various Australian news agencies. In the days that followed it became clear that there was not going to be a repeat of the Chilean miracle as further explosions in the mine put an end to the last remaining hope of getting the trapped miners out alive. A real national tragedy, plunging the whole nation into grief. 

Queenstown (South Island)

We got our first taste of the dramatic NZ scenery while driving our massive 4WD Toyota Highlander from Christchurch to Queenstown past the turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo and through towns with quant names such as Fairlie and Twizel.

Queenstown is the real deal though, a stunning place overlooking Lake Wakatipu with a cinematic background of snow-tipped mountains. More importantly, it is the self-proclaimed “Adventure Capital of the World”, and as such is basically a Disneyland for grown-ups. Bungee jumping, skydiving, jetboating, white water rafting, you name it they do it. This must be the best city in the world.

We kicked off our thrill seeking to do list in style. What better way to celebrate Emma’s birthday than by jumping out of a plane? We got those nice people at Nzone to toss us out of a perfectly fine airplane from 15,000 feet, making us scream like babies during the 60 seconds free fall (at 200 km per hour) before landing safely minutes later. A fantastic adrenaline boosting experience, at least with hindsight it was.

The next day we took a trip on a Shotover Jet through the rocky Shotover Canyons. These jetboats are basically speedboats on steroids as they attach a jet motor to the back of the boat. This means that a jetboat only needs as little as 10 cm of water to speed through the canyon. Our timing was spot on, as the previous day one of the guys had managed to crash his Shotover Jet into the canyon wall. The jetboat goes pretty quick and the 360 degree turns were very cool, but to be fair it doesn’t even get close to the skydive.

After that we got that bloke from AJ Hackett (yes the one that invented bungee jumping in the first place) to push me out of a small pod suspended over the Nevis River 134 meters below. I was a bit skeptical at first, especially when it became clear that the jumping sequence was determined on the basis of weight, which somehow meant that I was going to be the first to jump that morning. It felt a bit that the strategy was like “Let the fat guy jump first, if he hits the rocks we need to shorten the line”. It also has to be said that Emma – who chickened out herself – wasn’t being overly helpful when she felt the need to tell everyone after the jump “Yes, Fat Jesus can fly”. All in all a pretty awesome experience, but if I am honest, I would have to say that the skydive was definitely scarier as those 60 seconds freefall actually give you time to realise what is happening (well that would be, “I just stepped out of a plane, I am going 200 km per hour and the ground is approaching pretty quickly now”).

In between jumping off cliffs and out of planes we also managed to include some more relaxing experiences. We signed up for the “Ride of the Rings” on horseback with Glenorchy Dart Stables on two horses called “Boris” and “Harry”, galloping past some of the famous locations where Lord of the Rings was filmed. We also flew to Milford Sound for a day, taking the cruise through the fjord while spotting dolphins and being splashed by waterfalls. Emma, for some reason unclear to me, would like to point out that a naked Hugh Jackman jumped off one of these waterfalls for a scene in the movie “X-men Origins: Wolverine” (e.g. the one where he escapes from the laboratory).

We really loved Queenstown and special thanks is due to Sam & Guy for recommending the outstanding Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel, which we absolutely adored, and making sure we didn’t grow hungry by sending us to Fergburger for the best burgers in town. Fergburger’s slogan is “Ferg loves you” and they even have an official doctor’s note on the wall, confirming that somebody dislocated his jaw while eating Fergburger’s signature burger the “Big Al”. For what it is worth, our own culinary recommendations in Queenstown would be Wai at the pier, where we went for Emma’s birthday dinner and Pier 19, which was so good we actually went twice.

Franz Josef Glacier (South Island)

After 5 days of playing adrenaline junkies we left Queenstown behind and made our way over to Franz Josef Glacier on the West Coast of the South Island. This particular glacier was first explored by an Austrian fellow called Julius Haast and he named it after the Austrian emperor. We only spent one night in Franz Josef Village and as true tourists we walked all the way up to the terminal face to take our pictures before jumping back in our 4WD to start our drive up to Kaikoura on the North side of the South Island.

Kaikoura (South Island)

Until the 1980s, Kaikoura was a sleepy crayfishing town, but nowadays it is the whale-watching capital of NZ and it has an abundance of wildlife with whales, dolphins, seals and the occasional penguin stopping by on a regular basis. Taking no chances we went whale-watching on one of the boats of “Whale-Watch Kaikoura”. These guys have a success rate of 98% and even refund your ticket if they don’t manage to spot any whales. To be fair, they were pretty good and we are currently the proud owners of over 250 pictures of the tails of two massive sperm whales.

Kaikoura is a real picture-perfect peninsula town and there can’t be many places in the world which have snow-topped mountains that close to the sea. Of course we couldn’t help but dropping by the legendary “Kaikoura Seafood BBQ”, which is not much more than a roadside stall, but they make the best crayfish sandwiches in town.

Ohakune (North Island)

After eight days on the South Island we took the ferry to the North Island, first stop Ohakune, which, believe it or not, is NZ’s “carrot capital” (don’t ask). We found this amazing B&B called Manuka Lodge run by a guy from Brighton and his Kiwi wife. They also had a cat called Flaps, who was a legend in his own right. The brochure described him as follows: 

“Flaps the cat. Please don’t be falsely lured by his cuddly façade. He is a ruthless, calculating miscreant, rumoured to be the evil mastermind behind the 2008 Great Furniture Laceration. Under no circumstances must he be left alone in the lounge, however slumberous his demeanor – chuck him outside into the night; he can get into the garage where he has a bed. Also be prepared for him jumping into any windows left open at night.”

As true amateurs we of course left our window open when we went to bed, only to be woken up in the middle of the night by the ruthless, calculating miscreant himself.

We got up early the next morning for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a full-day hike, and reportedly the best one-day walk in NZ, which traverses active volcanoes and beautifully coloured lakes. We also passed Mount Ngauruhoe, which Lord of the Ring enthusiast would probably recognise as Mount Doom. Peter Jackson used Tongariro National Park as the setting for The Land of Mordor in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Taupo (North Island)

After all the excitement of the previous days, we decided to opt for some chillaxing on the shores of NZ’s largest lake, Lake Taupo. The town of Taupo itself reminded us a bit of Flagstaff, Arizona, a small, slightly isolated but charming place. We spent two days in Taupo and the best part was being able to watch the sun set over the lake from the hot tub on our balcony, while sipping Chardonnay.

Wellington (North Island)

We ended our NZ adventures in the capital, Wellington. On our way down from Taupo, we passed the completely forgettable town of Palmerston North. John Cleese probably described it best when he said: “If you ever do want to kill yourself, but lack the courage, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick”. In revenge, Palmerston North city council named a rubbish dump after the British comedian.

Wellington on the other hand is a nice city. It is a sort of smaller and sleepier version of San Francisco. We did manage to contribute to the local economy after getting a parking ticket for parking our car illegally outside the Ohtel hotel.

We spent two weeks in NZ and we can only admit that this is a truly fantastic country. Everything you read in the travel guides is true. NZ is definitely our favourite country so far.

Next stop: Discovering The Land of the Rising Sun: Japan

Destination #16: Adventures in Oz

2 November 2010 – 19 November 2010 + 2 December 2010 – 6 December 2010: East Coast of Australia from Sydney to the Great Barrier Reef

Sydney

Having left London on a Sunday evening we finally set foot on Australian soil early Tuesday morning, having lost a day in the process. First stop on our two-month Australasia trip: Sydney.

We quickly made our way over to Sue and Dave’s (Emma’s aunt and uncle) who didn’t waste much time before heating up the “barby”. They also got us hooked on a brilliant TV show called Junior Masterchef (basically a better version of Hell’s Kitchen with a bunch of 8 to 12 year olds cooking their socks off). I made a desperate attempt at mastering some cricket rules after Friday’s dinner at Keith’s and despite Paul and Dave’s best efforts I failed miserably (Sri Lanka did manage to beat Australia which, although I am not an expert, I am pretty sure it is not great news).

A visit to Sydney wouldn’t be complete without visiting Sydney’s key landmark, the iconic Sydney Opera House (which according to Debs is called “the Opera Thingy”). The Opera House was designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon who got the sack when he blew the budget. As revenge he took the blueprints back home with him to Denmark and never came back to Australia ever again. That is what I call throwing a tantrum! 

We also got ourselves on the ferry to Manly, completed the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb and walked along the beach from Bondi to Bronte following lunch at Iceberg’s with our old new best friend from South America, Erica. Even good old JdP from DB, who smartly relocated to Sydney, managed to drag himself away from his desk to come out for lunch with us during the week and even invited us for a good old barby over the weekend.

Myall Lakes National Park

After four days in Sydney we started to make our way up to Brisbane in the smallest rental car you will ever see, a small red Suzuki Swift. 

We encountered our first kangaroos while we were staying for the night at the Bombah Eco Cottages, close to Bulahdelah in the Myall Lakes National Park. We didn’t actually spent much time in the town of Bulahdelah, but the name reminded us so much of the movie Team America (“Durka Durka” anyone?) that we couldn’t resist mentioning it.

You know that you are in Australia when the sign on the door of reception reads “Attention guests, there is a red bellied black snake near the water tanks, please keep an eye out”. Needless to say, I stayed well clear of those water tanks because I have a similar relationship with snakes as Indiana Jones and at least he had a whip.

Byron Bay

From Myall Lakes National Park we drove up to Byron Bay, a former hippy beach-side town where surfing is a way of life. Byron Bay also happens to be the most easterly point of the Australian mainland. We spent a couple of days chilling out at The Summerhouse, a cozy small boutique hotel just outside of Byron with great views over the iconic lighthouse. 

We also managed to squeeze in a day-trip to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in the Gold Coast where we had our first encounter with Koalas (basically the laziest eucalyptus munchers you will ever see) and salt-water crocs (quite similar to koalas in terms of laziness but with as main differentiator that they don’t eat eucalyptus). The local croc was around 6 meters long and was weighing over a 1,000kg. He was called “Holy” and it didn’t take a lot of imagination to see why. Like true tourists we of course also had to have a go at feeding the kangaroos and their “Joeys” (the small baby kangaroos).

Brisbane to Cairns

We dropped off our rental car at Brisbane Airport and made our way over to the City centre to meet up with a familiar face from London: the legendary Tom Cribb. Cribb managed to give us a taste of the Brisbane nightlife by taking us to places with shady names such as Cloudland and Uber. The insult of the evening was courtesy of one of the bouncers when he told me that I looked like “that guy from the movie The Hangover”. I guess that means that my attempted Hugh Jackmann look hasn’t really rubbed off.

Feeling “rough as guts” the next morning, we checked out of our motel at the same time as some of the local LJs (ok, this may require some explanation, the Australian equivalent of the Foxtons chain of real estate agents is called LJ Hookers, enough said I hope). We even got a reborn Cribb to drop us off at the train station. After some necessary caffeine intakes, we assembled just enough courage to board Australia’s version of the Orient Express: The Sunlander. The Sunlander goes all the way from Brisbane to Cairns, a sweet 1,750km, or 31 hours. This fantastic journey along the East Coast of Australia took us past some of Queensland finest towns with grand names such as Bundaberg, Gympie North (our personal favourite) and Proserpine.

Bloomfield Lodge (Great Barrier Reef)

A 40 minute plane ride from Cairns, followed by a 25km bus ride through the outback and a 15 minute boat trip over the croc-infested Bloomfield River got us to Bloomfield Lodge, labeled “the most remote resort in the world” by Forbes Magazine in September 2010. Bloomfield Lodge is in a unique location, situated 30km north of Cape Tribulation and 60km south of Cooktown, it is nestled in between two World Heritage sites: the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. There is no mobile reception, no email, no nothing basically so you are completely cut off from the outside world. 

Besides meeting some fabulous people (special mention here for Bob (a hopeless fisher, but what a great guy) and Jean, Sam (a confused Englishman who thinks he is Australian) and Erin, David (another banker on the run) and Jenny and Iron Man Andy and Catherine) we also met two great characters: Paulie and Shayne. 

Paulie and Shayne were our local guides at Bloomfield and these guys are the real deal. Shayne once got stung by a baby stingray while fishing and had to get a 12-year old, to drive him to the hospital in his jeep, while he fell in and out of consciousness. They made it to hospital and he just survived. Shayne was full of stories of his adventures in the bush and he is clearly the real version of Bear Grylls. So here we go with a selection of Shayne’s all-time classic quotes during our stay:

On tree-kangaroos and the fact that they tend to fall out of trees: “Tree-kangaroos are great go-uppers, hopeless come-downers though”

On what to do when bitten by a python: “Go home, sit down, have a beer, if you are still alive by the time you have finished your beer, you go to work, if not, well, you don’t really have to worry about work anymore mate will you?”

While making us rub some leaves he found in the Daintree Rainforest between our fingers: “You feel that? Rub it in between your fingers. You feel that texture? Yeah? Just rub it, like that. By the way, those leaves are really poisonous.”

Ten seconds before cracking open a strange looking berry and putting it on the tip of his tongue: “You see these berries, 1 gram of that stuff can kill you”

On reincarnation: “I just hope I don’t come back as a male praying mantis, because you will only get one thrill in life” (e.g. the female praying mantis has a tendency of biting her male partner’s head off after mating…)

On the real Bear Grylls from the Discovery Channel: “He is a tosser”

Shayne told us that he is going to write a book about his adventures in the bush when he retires in a couple of years time. It is going to be called “Toenails in the pizza” and you better watch out for it, because this guy is going to be Australia’s answer to Sweden’s Stieg Larsson. What a legend.

What else did we get up to at Bloomfield Lodge? Well Em managed to catch the biggest – and for that matter ugliest – fish you will ever see during our day-trip snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef: a 8kg flowery cod. Paulie took us croc-spotting on the local river and we had tea at Bloomfield Falls just north of the aboriginal community Wujal Wujal (which means as much “many falls” in the local language as the Aboriginals have no separate word for big they repeat a word twice in case something is large). After six days in the wilderness we reluctantly left Bloomfield Lodge and returned to civilisation.

Next stop: Destination #17: Thrill seeking in NZ

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

After 249 days of traveling, we reached - and even passed - the half-way point of our "List of 28", having now completed 16 out of the 28 destinations on our list (and hoping to hit number 17 tomorrow). Hidden deep inside of us, there is a big geek with thick glasses and a love for statistics who is just screaming to get out, so we thought we would bore you a bit with our travel stats to date. 

So far we managed to clock up 160,808 km traveling around the world and we made it over to South Africa, Mauritius, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ireland, Holland, USA, Spain, Norway, Greece, Canada, Argentina, Chili, Bolivia, Peru, Israel, France, Scotland and Australia in the process.




In memory of the great John Candy (and I mean great in every sense of the word), here we go with our own version of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles". We even take it to another level by throwing some buses and a bunch of boats in the mix. Over the last eight months, we took 41 flights, dragged ourselves on 8 trains, got on 12 buses, boarded 2 boats and we hired 13 different cars. So on average we traveled 646 km a day, dragging ourselves on a plane every 6 days. You got to love statistics...

PLANES:

Total distance traveled by plane: 146,763 km

Number of flights: 41

1. London (UK) - Cape Town (South Africa) with Virgin Atlantic in February (9,634 km)

2. Cape Town (South Africa) - London (UK) with Virgin Atlantic in February (9,634 km)

3. London (UK) - Mauritius with BA in March (9,726 km)

4. Mauritius - London (UK) with BA in March (9,726 km)

5. London (UK) - Abu Dhabi (UAE) with Etihad in April (5,478 km)

6. Abu Dhabi (UAE) - London (UK) with Etihad in April (5,478 km)

7. London (UK) - Dublin (Ireland) with Aer Lingus in April (464 km)

8. Dublin (Ireland) - London (UK) with Aer Lingus in April (464 km)

9. London (UK) - Amsterdam (Neth.) with KLM in April (359 km)

10. Amsterdam (Neth.) - London (UK) with KLM in April (359 km)

11. London (UK) - Las Vegas (US) with BA in May (8,423 km)

12. San Francisco (US) - London with BA in May (8,640 km)

13. London (UK) - Barcelona (Spain) with Ryanair in June (1,138 km) *

14. Barcelona (Spain) - London (UK) with Ryanair in June (1,138 km) *

15. London (UK) - Rhodes (Greece) with Easyjet in June (2,792 km)

16. Rhodes (Greece) - London (UK) with Easyjet in June (2,792 km)

17. London (UK) - Bergen (Norway) with Norwegian in July (1,046 km)

18. Bergen (Norway) - Utne (Norway) with a Fonna Fly seaplane in July (123 km)

19. Utne (Norway) - Bergen (Norway) with a Fonna Fly seaplane in July (123 km)

20. Bergen (Norway) - London (UK) with Norwegian in July (1,046 km)

21. London (UK) - Amsterdam (Neth.) with BA in July (359 km) **

22. Amsterdam (Neth.) - London (UK) with BA in July (359 km) **

23. London (UK) - Toronto (Canada) with Canadian Affairs in July (5,731 km)

24. Toronto (Canada) - London (UK) with Thomas Cook Travel in July (5,731 km)

25. London (UK) - Dallas (US) with American Airlines in July (7,659 km)

26. Dallas (US) - Buenos Aires with American Airlines in July (8,455 km)

27. Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Salta (Argentina) with LAN in August (1,267 km)

28. Cusco (Peru) - Lima (Peru) with LAN in August (574 km)

29. Lima (Peru) - Miami (US) with American Airlines in August (4,198 km)

30. Miami (US) - London (UK) with American Airlines in August (7,139 km)

31. London (UK) - Amsterdam (Neth.) with BA in August (359 km) **

32. Amsterdam (Neth.) - London (UK) with BA in August (359 km) **

33. London (UK) - Tel Aviv (Israel) with El Al in September (3,560 km)

34. Tel Aviv (Israel) - London (UK) with El Al in September (3,560 km)

35. London (UK) - Amsterdam (Neth.) with Easyjet in September (359 km)

36. London (UK) - Edinburgh (UK) with BMI in October (534 km)

37. Aberdeen (UK) - London (UK) with BA in October (649 km)

38. London (UK) - Bangkok (Thailand) with BA in November (9,556 km)

39. Bangkok (Thailand) - Sydney (Australia) with BA in November (7,524 km)

40. Cairns (Australia) - Bloomfield Lodge (Australia) with Hinterland Aviation in November (124 km)

41. Bloomfield Lodge (Australia) - Cairns (Australia) with Hinterland Aviation in November (124 km)

TRAINS

Total distance by train: 4,522 km

Number of train rides: 8

1. London (UK) to Maastricht (Neth.) with Eurostar in July (373 km) *

2. Maastricht (Neth.) - London (UK) with Eurostar in July (373 km) *

3. Den Haag (Neth.) - Brussels (Belgium) with NS in September (137 km)

4. Brussels (Belgium) - Valence (France) with TGV in September (834 km)

5. Valence (France) - London (UK) with TGV/Eurostar in September (1,030 km)

6. Ollantaytambo (Peru) - Aguas Calientes (Peru) with PeruRail in September (47 km)

7. Aguas Calientes (Peru) - Ollantaytambo (Peru) with PeruRail in September (47 km)

8. Brisbane (Australia) - Cairns (Australia) on The Sunlander in November (1,681 km)

BUSES

Total distance traveled by bus: 2,441 km

Number of bus rides: 12

1. Salta (Argentina) - San Antonio de los Cobres (Argentina) - Salta (Argentina) in August (328 km)

2. Salta (Argentina) - San Pedro de Atacama (Chili) in August (905 km)

3. Oruro (Bolivia) - La Paz (Bolivia) in August (225 km)

4. La Paz (Bolivia) - Tiahuanaco (Bolivia) - La Paz (Bolivia) in August (126 km)

5. La Paz (Bolivia) - Puno (Peru) in August (214 km)

6. Puno (Peru) - Cusco (Peru) in August (388 km)

7. Cusco (Peru) - Ollantaytambo (Peru) in August (38 km)

8. Aguas Calientes (Peru) - Machu Picchu (Peru) in August (6 km)

9. Macchu Pichu (Peru) - Aguas Calientes (Peru) in August (6 km)

10. Ollantaytambo (Peru) - Cusco (Peru) in August (65 km)

11. Valence (France) - Aubenas (France) with TER in September (70 km)

12. Aubenas (France) - Valence (France) with TER in September (70 km)

BOATS

Total distance traveled by boat: 115 km

Number of boat trips: 2

1. Mauritius - Ille aux Cerfs in March (15 km)

2. Puno (Peru) - Lake Tititcaca (Peru) - Puno (Peru) in August (100 km)

CARS

Total distance traveled by car: 5,967 km

Number of car rides: 13

1. Wineroute in South Africa from Cape Town to Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and back to Cape Town in our Kia Jeep in February (145 km)

2. Day-trip in Mauritius in our Nissan Something in March (120 km)

3. Nevada / Arizona roadtrip from Las Vegas to Flagstaff and back to Las Vegas (US) in our Ford Explorer in June (812 km)

4. California roadtrip from Las Vegas - LA - Santa Barbara - San Francisco (US) in our Ford Mustang convertible in June (1,176 km) 

5. London - Amsterdam - London roundtrip in Ruth's Porsche Cayenne in June (494 km) **

6. Toronto to Parry Sound and back to Toronto (Canada) in our VW Jetta in July (450 km)

7. Toronto to Niagara Falls and back to Toronto (Canada) in our VW Jetta in July (142 km)

8. Crossing Bolivia from the Bolivian border to Uyuni in our convoy of Toyota Landcruisers in August (450 km)

9. Escape Uyuni to Oruro in our convoy of Toyota Landcruisers in August (314 km)

10. Israel roundtrip from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and back to Tel Aviv (Israel) in our Mazda 3 in September (120 km)

11. Scottish roadtrip from Edinburgh to the Isle of Skye, Inverness and Aberdeen in our Ford Focus in October (751 km)

12. The Inverness / Loch Ness tour with Frank and his beautiful Mercedes in October (55 km)

13. Sydney to Brisbane in our tiny red Suzuki Swift in November (938 km)

* RJ only one traveling

** Emma only one traveling