Kota Kinabalu is the largest city in Malaysian Borneo. It isn't very big or attractive or much of anything, really. There is a night market, which is quite nice and there you can get a Filipino barbeque that is amazingly yummy and quite messy to eat. Our barbeque evening in the market was probably the most interesting thing we did during our first 3 days in KK. Mostly, we just relaxed around our hotel pool. That's the problem with pools, you lose all incentive to go out and discover the city (not that there seemed to be much to discover). After KK, we took the bus to Sandakan. We meant to take the 10 am bus, but it was fully booked and we could only get tickets on the 1 pm bus. When our bus was finally under way, it broke down. We then had to wait in a rainstorm for an hour for a replacement bus to come and pick us up. It's not as bad as it seems, we were able to sit and wait in our old bus, didn't have to stand in the rain. Unfortunately, the replacement bus seemed much more dodgy than the broke one and I am pretty sure the driver didn't actually have a licence. He wasn't very good at the driving anyway.
So instead of arriving in Sandakan at two in the afternoon as planned, we got there at around 10.30 at night, missing a whole afternoon of sightseeing in Sandakan. We quickly discovered that may have been a blessing. Sandakan is, on the whole, rather an unpleasant place. Dirty, ugly, hot with stary, leery men, most of whom were hairy, but luckily not too scary. We ended up spending most of our time in our hotel, which luckily had a rather nice rooftop cafe and bar. We even stopped going out for food after I saw a rat (yes, a great big, revolting rat!) running around in the restaurant next door. Everyone in the restaurant seemed quite surprized when we cancelled our order and left, as if rats in restaurant are totally Ok. Ugh!
After a couple of days of nothing in Sandakan, it was time for our jungle trip. We were picked up and first taken to Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary, where they save orphaned or injured orangutans and train them to go back to the wild. Some of them choose to live in the surrounding jungle after they have been released and can come back for feedings of milk and bananas if they want. We went to see a feeding. Sadly, only one orangutan came out of the forest for a snack, the others probably weren't hungry. Happily, the one who we saw had recently given birth, so she had a teeny, tiny, baby with her. The Cutest Thing Ever!
After Sepilok, we were driven to our jungle lodge by the banks of the Kinabatangan river. There we stayed for two days, going on lots of boat rides on the river and one trek in the jungle. The boat rides were great (apart from hard seat-induced achy bum). We saw lots of wildlife, all kinds of birds, a few crocodiles and 5 different species of primates, including the hilarious and lovable proboscis monkeys and a very fine and handsome orangutan male. The trek was a little bit more hard work and slightly less rewarding. It took about 3,5 hours. We trudged through the mud to a lake, rested there for about half an hour and trudged back. The only wildlife we saw were insects, mostly leeches. There isn't really much of a chance to see anything else, because you have to keep your eyes on the ground to keep from falling on your face in the mud. It was still a good thing to do, just to have been on a jungle trek. And it wasn't as bad as I had expected. Even though we were walking along in over 30 degree heat and very high humidity, we didn't actually feel all that hot. We seem to be becomong acclimatized to the tropics. Jungle bunnies are we! Also, even though I was bitten by a leech, that wasn't too bad either. It didn't hurt at all and I didn't freak out. (Although I must admit, that is only because I didn't notice the bite until the leech had long since sucked its fill and slithered off. If I had seen it gorging itself on blood from my armpit, I'm afraid a full scale freak-out may have occurred). Our house in the jungle was really nice too. We had a fan and en-suite and electricity. Total luxury! After two nights there we went back to Sandakan via the Gomatong caves. These are caves where edible birds' nests (for soup) are harvested. The caves are very fine indeed, beautiful and impressive and it is lovely to see the swiftlets (and even the bats) flitting overhead. Not all good, though. The cave is filled with a mountain of guano and is consequently rather foul smelling. It is also a breeding ground for some horrible creepy crawlies like poisonous centipedes and masses of cockroaces. We quickly regretted wearing sandals in there!
After on last night in Sandakan (the night of the rat incident) we took the bus back to KK. In our absence, it seemed to have transformed itself into a gleaming, cosmopolitan place. A throbbing metropolis of lovelyness. Maybe that's Sandakan's reason for being; to make Kota Kinabalu look good by comparison. Anyway, we had a lovely last evening in Borneo, eating obscene amounts of pizza and flolloping in our gigantic suite. Yes, SUITE! The hotel was hosting some sort of conference and all the cheapo rooms were full, so they were forced to put us in a suite. Ha,ha,ha,ha! We felt slightly out of place in there, still in our jungle clothes, but we enjoyed it nontheless.
Now we are in Singapore. It is different from Borneo. Everything is clean and organized and safe. There is a bewildering array of shopping malls here. I'm talking hundreds of really massive shopping centres, pretty much covering most of the city. We went to the supermarket. It was like going to heaven. There was cheese, lots of cheese. And yoghurt. Yum! We got tickets for the tourist sightseeing bus and have had at least a glimpse of most of the city. We even went on a river cruise today. We have wandered around Chinatown and Little India and sat in all kinds of lovely cafes and restaurants. It is pleasant here. But now it is time to leave. Off to Cambodia in the morning. I wonder what that will be like?
mánudagur, mars 23, 2009
Fra Bali til Borneo til Singapore
Forum fra Bali til Borneo, eyju sem er talsvert mikid staerri en litla Bali. Forum til Sabah sem er i Malasiuhlutanum. Lentum i Kota Kinabalu sem er hofudstadur Sabah og gistum tar 2 naetur. Okkur totti nu ekki mikid koma til teirrar borgar, litid um ad vera, heldur sodalegt svona og litid spennandi. Svo rigndi lika svo mikid ad vid eyddum mikid af okkar tima a hotelinu bara. Turftum svo ad koma okkur adeins sudur til Sandakan tvi tadan attum vid pantada ferd inn i frumskoginn. Maettum a straetostodina i KK an mida tvi hotelstaffid hafdi fullvissad okkur um tad ad tad tyrfti ekki ad panta fyrirfram, bara maeta a svaedid. Alla vega ta aetludum vid ad na rutunni klukkan 10 en tegar vid komum a rutustodina kom i ljos ad fyrsta mogulega ferd sem var laust i var ekki fyrr en klukkan 13. Tad er reyndar frekar fyndid system tarna, tad eru morg mismunandi rutufelog sem oll eru ad keppast um kunnana svo um leid og madur maetir a svaedid streyma ad manni fullt af monnum og reyna ad draga mann ad sinum midasolubas. Reyna ad taka af manni toskurnar svo madur verdur ad elta ta og ljuga tvi ad manni ad teir eigi laust miklu fyrr en allir adrir. Tad endadi med tvi ad eg turfti ad rifa bakpokann hennar Astu af einhverjum manni sem var ad reyna ad fa okkur med ser en vid vorum bunar ad finna annan bas sem atti fyrri ferd.....................hann var ekki sattur ad hafa misst potential kunna enda vildi hann ekkert lata toskuna alltof viljugur af hendi!
Logdum svo af stad rumlega 13 og eftir um klukkustundar akstur biladi rutan einhvers stadar uppi fjallarassgati i hellidembu. Tar turftum vid svo ad huka i ruman klukkutima adur en kom onnur ruta ad saekja okkur. Allt i allt tok ferdin 9 tima en hun atti bara ad taka 6. Ekki vart tad nu skarra sem tok a moti okkur tegar a leidarenda var komid. Sandakan er algjort skitapleis, vidurstyggileg og drepleidinleg. Ekkert nema ogedisdonakallar uti um allt ad senda manni fingurkossa og glapa og klaemast og litid vid timann ad gera tarna. Okkur fannst ekkert serstaklega speslegt ad vera ad rolta um tarna og sem betur fer var aedislegur takgardur a hotelinu okkar med agaetis utsyni sem var algjort haven. Vid reyndum einu sinni ad fara a veitingastadinn vid hlidina a hotelinu og vorum bunar ad panta okkur laksa til ad taka med en tegar Asta sa rottu vera ad rolta um inni a veitingastadnum fannst okkur nog komid, sogdum teim ad haetta bara vid pontunina okkar og halfuhlupum ut.
Frumskogurinn var frabaer. Forum fyrst til Sepilok sem er rehabilitation center og sanctuary fyrir orangutana og vorum heppnar ad sja eina orangutanamommu med litid baby tar. Forum svo inn i frumskoginn og fengum tar litinn kofa vid Kinabatangan ana. Forum i siglingar klukkan 6 a morgnana og aftur seinni partinn a daginn og forum lika i gongutur i gegnum regnskoginn (sem var frekar sveittur!). Saum fullt af dyralifi, alls kyns apa, fugla, krokodila o.fl. Nadum meira ad segja ad sja risa orangutan i sinu natturulega umhverfi. Flugurnar bitu okkur adeins og iglurnar bidu eftir okkur a hverju laufbladi tegar vid vorum ad ganga i gegnum frumskoginn. Madur turfti ad vera fljotur til tegar taer lentu a manni ad kippa teim af adur en taer bitu. Ein nadi samt Astu i handarkrikann en hun tok ekkert eftir tvi. Tad var ekki fyrr en eg tok eftir skritnum blett tar nokkrum dogum seinna ad vid fottudum ad hun hafdi verid bitin af iglu.
Turftum ad stoppa eina nott i skita Sandakan aftur eftir frumskoginn en tokum svo rutu aftur til KK. Eins og okkur fannst KK eitthvad litid spennandi fyrst ta fannst okkur hun aedisleg tegar vid komum tangad i seinna skiptid. Leid bara eins og vid vaerum komnar til Parisar ad vori til............i samanburdi vid Sandakan er allt yndislegt. Tad var lika einhver radstefna i gangi a hotelinu okkar i KK og buid ad leigja ut oll venjulegu herbergin svo vid vorum uppfaerdar i svitu sem okkur totti ekki leidinlegt.
Fra KK flugum vid svo til Singapore enn eina ferdina, en forum i tetta skiptid ut af flugvellinum. Ohaett ad segja ad su borg se toluvert mikid orduvisi en teir stadir sem vid hofum komid til i nagrenni hennar. Strax eftir ad vid hofdum tekkad okkur inn kom tessi svaka torrential trumustormur, tad var svakalegt ad fylgjast med tvi. Brjaladar trumur og eldingar stanslaust, laufblod fuku um allt og greinar brotnudu af trjam. Stormurinn klaradist svo jafn skyndilega og hann hofst. En Singapore er stormerkileg. Aldrei hef eg sed jafnmikid af alls kyns skiltum um tad sem ekki ma gera, og hotanir um 1000 Singapore dollara sektir ef madur hlydir ekki. Hvert sem madur litur eru risastorar verslunarmidstodvar og borgin er oedlilega hrein, varla ad sja laufblad a gotunni sem er skritid midad vid tad sem gengur a her tegar vedur gengur yfir. Hofnin her er svoleidis stutfull af gamum , kronum og gamalyfturum einhvers konar og uti um allt eru risafraktarar. Tratt fyrir ad frambord verslunarmidstodva her se meira en nog virdast taer alltaf vera fullar samt. Eg er ekki mikill addaandi svona verslunarmidstodva, finnst taer bara sjuga ur manni lifsorkuna en vid hofum nu samt kikt inn i 1 eda 2 tvi oft tarf madur ad labba i gegnum eitthvad mall til ad komast a naesta afangastad, og tad er audvelt ad villast inni i tessum risagimoldum. Skil samt ekki hvad folk er svona mikid ad versla herna tvi tetta er frekar dyr borg. Vid erum nu bunar ad vera her i 3 daga og forum svo til Kambodiu i fyrramalid. Agaett ad komast adeins i skipulag og snyrtimennsku svona a milli ringulreidarinnar annars stadar i Sudaustur Asiu. Hofum runtad um allt i turistastraeto, silgt nidur ana, forum til Sentosa og renndum okkur nidur einhverja rennibraut tar a halfgerdum kassabilum og saum vaemnasta ljosa- gosbrunna- og lasershow sem til er held eg.
Vid hofum lengi verid addaendur svokalladra travellatora, sem eru svona gongubelti sem manni lidur alltaf eins og madur se ad labba otrulega hratt a. A Changi flugvellinum i Sigapore er nog af sliku en her i verslunarmidstodvunum hofum vid fundid nyja utgafu af travellator, sem fer upp og nidur, samt ekki rullustigi tvi tad eru engar troppur. Vid kollum tetta uppgang og nidurgang.
I fyrramalid hefst svo adalaevintyrid. Turfum ad fara af stad eldsnemma tvi vid eigum flug til Siem Reap i Kambodiu, tar verdur kaos! Svo aetlum vid ad reyna ad koma okkur fra Siem Reap, til Phnom Pehn og yfir til Saigon i Vietnam. Tadan svo nordur upp allt NAM til Hanoi en tadan eigum vid flug pantad einhvern timann i april. Rutur, batar, lestar, tuktukar verda medal teirra farataekja sem vid munum ferdast med en tad a eftir ad koma i ljos hvernig tetta gengur allt saman. Hofum 18 daga til ad koma okkur fra Siem Reap til Hanoi, vonandi ad tad hafist!
Aetlum nu ad reyna ad vera spakar i kvold en i tessari ferd hofum vid haft tann leidindaosid ad verda fullsosadar sidasta kvoldid okkar a hverjum stad tegar vid eigum ad vera ad pakka nidur og fara snemma i bolid. Veit ekki akkuru, en tad gerist bara einhvernveginn alltaf! Her er bjorinn hvorteder svo dyr ad tad gerist orugglega ekki i kvold. Sjaum hvernig okkur gengur ad hemja okkur i Vietnam tar sem vid turfum kannski ad borga 20 kall fyrir bjorinn ;)
Set inn myndir fra Borneo og Singapore i naestu faerslu vonandi...........tad fer eftir gaedi netkaffihusanna i Kambodiu og Nam.
Logdum svo af stad rumlega 13 og eftir um klukkustundar akstur biladi rutan einhvers stadar uppi fjallarassgati i hellidembu. Tar turftum vid svo ad huka i ruman klukkutima adur en kom onnur ruta ad saekja okkur. Allt i allt tok ferdin 9 tima en hun atti bara ad taka 6. Ekki vart tad nu skarra sem tok a moti okkur tegar a leidarenda var komid. Sandakan er algjort skitapleis, vidurstyggileg og drepleidinleg. Ekkert nema ogedisdonakallar uti um allt ad senda manni fingurkossa og glapa og klaemast og litid vid timann ad gera tarna. Okkur fannst ekkert serstaklega speslegt ad vera ad rolta um tarna og sem betur fer var aedislegur takgardur a hotelinu okkar med agaetis utsyni sem var algjort haven. Vid reyndum einu sinni ad fara a veitingastadinn vid hlidina a hotelinu og vorum bunar ad panta okkur laksa til ad taka med en tegar Asta sa rottu vera ad rolta um inni a veitingastadnum fannst okkur nog komid, sogdum teim ad haetta bara vid pontunina okkar og halfuhlupum ut.
Frumskogurinn var frabaer. Forum fyrst til Sepilok sem er rehabilitation center og sanctuary fyrir orangutana og vorum heppnar ad sja eina orangutanamommu med litid baby tar. Forum svo inn i frumskoginn og fengum tar litinn kofa vid Kinabatangan ana. Forum i siglingar klukkan 6 a morgnana og aftur seinni partinn a daginn og forum lika i gongutur i gegnum regnskoginn (sem var frekar sveittur!). Saum fullt af dyralifi, alls kyns apa, fugla, krokodila o.fl. Nadum meira ad segja ad sja risa orangutan i sinu natturulega umhverfi. Flugurnar bitu okkur adeins og iglurnar bidu eftir okkur a hverju laufbladi tegar vid vorum ad ganga i gegnum frumskoginn. Madur turfti ad vera fljotur til tegar taer lentu a manni ad kippa teim af adur en taer bitu. Ein nadi samt Astu i handarkrikann en hun tok ekkert eftir tvi. Tad var ekki fyrr en eg tok eftir skritnum blett tar nokkrum dogum seinna ad vid fottudum ad hun hafdi verid bitin af iglu.
Turftum ad stoppa eina nott i skita Sandakan aftur eftir frumskoginn en tokum svo rutu aftur til KK. Eins og okkur fannst KK eitthvad litid spennandi fyrst ta fannst okkur hun aedisleg tegar vid komum tangad i seinna skiptid. Leid bara eins og vid vaerum komnar til Parisar ad vori til............i samanburdi vid Sandakan er allt yndislegt. Tad var lika einhver radstefna i gangi a hotelinu okkar i KK og buid ad leigja ut oll venjulegu herbergin svo vid vorum uppfaerdar i svitu sem okkur totti ekki leidinlegt.
Fra KK flugum vid svo til Singapore enn eina ferdina, en forum i tetta skiptid ut af flugvellinum. Ohaett ad segja ad su borg se toluvert mikid orduvisi en teir stadir sem vid hofum komid til i nagrenni hennar. Strax eftir ad vid hofdum tekkad okkur inn kom tessi svaka torrential trumustormur, tad var svakalegt ad fylgjast med tvi. Brjaladar trumur og eldingar stanslaust, laufblod fuku um allt og greinar brotnudu af trjam. Stormurinn klaradist svo jafn skyndilega og hann hofst. En Singapore er stormerkileg. Aldrei hef eg sed jafnmikid af alls kyns skiltum um tad sem ekki ma gera, og hotanir um 1000 Singapore dollara sektir ef madur hlydir ekki. Hvert sem madur litur eru risastorar verslunarmidstodvar og borgin er oedlilega hrein, varla ad sja laufblad a gotunni sem er skritid midad vid tad sem gengur a her tegar vedur gengur yfir. Hofnin her er svoleidis stutfull af gamum , kronum og gamalyfturum einhvers konar og uti um allt eru risafraktarar. Tratt fyrir ad frambord verslunarmidstodva her se meira en nog virdast taer alltaf vera fullar samt. Eg er ekki mikill addaandi svona verslunarmidstodva, finnst taer bara sjuga ur manni lifsorkuna en vid hofum nu samt kikt inn i 1 eda 2 tvi oft tarf madur ad labba i gegnum eitthvad mall til ad komast a naesta afangastad, og tad er audvelt ad villast inni i tessum risagimoldum. Skil samt ekki hvad folk er svona mikid ad versla herna tvi tetta er frekar dyr borg. Vid erum nu bunar ad vera her i 3 daga og forum svo til Kambodiu i fyrramalid. Agaett ad komast adeins i skipulag og snyrtimennsku svona a milli ringulreidarinnar annars stadar i Sudaustur Asiu. Hofum runtad um allt i turistastraeto, silgt nidur ana, forum til Sentosa og renndum okkur nidur einhverja rennibraut tar a halfgerdum kassabilum og saum vaemnasta ljosa- gosbrunna- og lasershow sem til er held eg.
Vid hofum lengi verid addaendur svokalladra travellatora, sem eru svona gongubelti sem manni lidur alltaf eins og madur se ad labba otrulega hratt a. A Changi flugvellinum i Sigapore er nog af sliku en her i verslunarmidstodvunum hofum vid fundid nyja utgafu af travellator, sem fer upp og nidur, samt ekki rullustigi tvi tad eru engar troppur. Vid kollum tetta uppgang og nidurgang.
I fyrramalid hefst svo adalaevintyrid. Turfum ad fara af stad eldsnemma tvi vid eigum flug til Siem Reap i Kambodiu, tar verdur kaos! Svo aetlum vid ad reyna ad koma okkur fra Siem Reap, til Phnom Pehn og yfir til Saigon i Vietnam. Tadan svo nordur upp allt NAM til Hanoi en tadan eigum vid flug pantad einhvern timann i april. Rutur, batar, lestar, tuktukar verda medal teirra farataekja sem vid munum ferdast med en tad a eftir ad koma i ljos hvernig tetta gengur allt saman. Hofum 18 daga til ad koma okkur fra Siem Reap til Hanoi, vonandi ad tad hafist!
Aetlum nu ad reyna ad vera spakar i kvold en i tessari ferd hofum vid haft tann leidindaosid ad verda fullsosadar sidasta kvoldid okkar a hverjum stad tegar vid eigum ad vera ad pakka nidur og fara snemma i bolid. Veit ekki akkuru, en tad gerist bara einhvernveginn alltaf! Her er bjorinn hvorteder svo dyr ad tad gerist orugglega ekki i kvold. Sjaum hvernig okkur gengur ad hemja okkur i Vietnam tar sem vid turfum kannski ad borga 20 kall fyrir bjorinn ;)
Set inn myndir fra Borneo og Singapore i naestu faerslu vonandi...........tad fer eftir gaedi netkaffihusanna i Kambodiu og Nam.
fimmtudagur, mars 12, 2009
Balipics
Our hotel
Our pool
We found a chopper platform with an amazing view
Asta on the chopper platform
Elephant playing tricks, I like it
Asta giving Harim the elephant some love
Elephant rafting
Harim says hello and smiles
A giant butterfly
Rice paddies
Hulda in front of the temple
Inside the temple
That's the way home, I know it! (it is very difficult to find your way around, like a maze)
A spontaneous parade, happens every day apparently in Bali
Offerings to the gods
The curious incident of the dog(s) in the nighttime.......there was after all a full moon......or maybe this is just the Balinese doggy-style? Balitime, excellent!
Bali was nice, I recommend it. Although, thinking back, we didn't really do much there, so this might be quite a short blog. Mostly we just hung out by our pool working on our tans, had some spa treatments and checked out the local restaurants. Perfect holiday behaviour, really.
We did take a car into Kuta one day to check the place out and do a spot of shopping. One must fine-tune one's haggling skills from time to time, just to them sharp. The Balinese are generally lovely, calm, unaggressive types but that all changes a bit when they've got you in their shop. Then it's the hard sell all the way, baby! One lady was absolutely astonished that Hulda only wanted to buy one pair of shorts from her and quite offended that I didn't want any shorts at all. Well, until I pointed out that my bottom wouldn't possibly fit into any of the shorts she had for sale. She conceded the point and let us be on our way. It was fun to go out and look at tat and buy a couple of things.
The highlight of our stay in Bali, and certainly the most interesting thing to write home about was our day of adventure. We went on a fun-filled tour around southern Bali. In the morning we went white water rafting on the Ayung river. It only had grade 1 and 2 rapids, so not too strenuous or scary but quite good fun. It's a good thing too, because the other people in our boat were really crap rowers so we would probably have gotten into trouble in a bigger river. Luckily, us Asbjornsdottir sisters have AWESOME rowing skillz! (And we also had a great river guide who may have had some part in us getting succesfully to the end). For the last part of our trip we jumped off our boat into the river and floated downstream. A beautiful sensation.
After a shower and change of clothes we had a most excellent lunch in Ubud. Then, that very afternoon, one of my childhood dreams came true. I got to ride an elephant! Woohoo! It was kind of what I had expected, only slightly more scary. Our elephant was an extremely skittish creature and on a couple of occasions she got startled. You don't really want to be on top of a startled elephant, they're not easy to control and they are absolutely massive! We had to hold on for dear life. It was still amazing, though.
The next day we had very achy muscles. I'm not sure whether it was from the rowing or from holding on to the elephant. Well, folks, that's pretty much it. We only had 5 days in Bali, so we didn't have time to do more exciting things. One facinating (in my opinion) thing that I learned in Bali is that Asta is an Indonesian name. So is Gusti, that was our river guide's name. Bintang is good but Bagus is great. Air is water.
Kisses!
We did take a car into Kuta one day to check the place out and do a spot of shopping. One must fine-tune one's haggling skills from time to time, just to them sharp. The Balinese are generally lovely, calm, unaggressive types but that all changes a bit when they've got you in their shop. Then it's the hard sell all the way, baby! One lady was absolutely astonished that Hulda only wanted to buy one pair of shorts from her and quite offended that I didn't want any shorts at all. Well, until I pointed out that my bottom wouldn't possibly fit into any of the shorts she had for sale. She conceded the point and let us be on our way. It was fun to go out and look at tat and buy a couple of things.
The highlight of our stay in Bali, and certainly the most interesting thing to write home about was our day of adventure. We went on a fun-filled tour around southern Bali. In the morning we went white water rafting on the Ayung river. It only had grade 1 and 2 rapids, so not too strenuous or scary but quite good fun. It's a good thing too, because the other people in our boat were really crap rowers so we would probably have gotten into trouble in a bigger river. Luckily, us Asbjornsdottir sisters have AWESOME rowing skillz! (And we also had a great river guide who may have had some part in us getting succesfully to the end). For the last part of our trip we jumped off our boat into the river and floated downstream. A beautiful sensation.
After a shower and change of clothes we had a most excellent lunch in Ubud. Then, that very afternoon, one of my childhood dreams came true. I got to ride an elephant! Woohoo! It was kind of what I had expected, only slightly more scary. Our elephant was an extremely skittish creature and on a couple of occasions she got startled. You don't really want to be on top of a startled elephant, they're not easy to control and they are absolutely massive! We had to hold on for dear life. It was still amazing, though.
The next day we had very achy muscles. I'm not sure whether it was from the rowing or from holding on to the elephant. Well, folks, that's pretty much it. We only had 5 days in Bali, so we didn't have time to do more exciting things. One facinating (in my opinion) thing that I learned in Bali is that Asta is an Indonesian name. So is Gusti, that was our river guide's name. Bintang is good but Bagus is great. Air is water.
Kisses!
Baun i Bali
Bali var aedi, vorum eiginlega strax a degi tvo bunar ad akveda ad tangad yrdum vid ad fara aftur, vera lengur og ferdast meira um eyjuna og naerliggjandi smaeyjar. Nadum bara 6 dogum tar og vorum bunar ad akveda ad nota eitthvad af teim tima i ad slappa bara algjorlega af, synda i lauginni og lesa i bokum. Vid gerdum alla vega nog af tvi, vorum lika bara flottar a tvi og pontudum okkur room service reglulega, drukkum ur minibarnum og letum faera okkur mat og drykki ad sundlaugarbakkanum, tid vitid svona hluti sem madur gerir venjulega ekki a hotelum tvi tad er svo dyrt. A Bali er tad nebbla ekki svo dyrt, vorum a hoteli sem heitir Mutiara Bali sem er svona litid Boutique hotel og tau eru oft odyrari tratt fyrir ad vera alveg jafn fin. Vid lagum to ekki eins og skotur allan daginn alla daga og gerdum ekki neitt. Forum adeins til Kuta og letum brjalada solumenn radast a okkur desperately ad reyna ad selja okkur hitt og tetta.....og ef madur spurdi hvad eitthvad kostadi ta var svarid alltaf tad sama....How many you want?? Eins og madur hafi eitthvad mikid vid 10 por af somu stuttbuxunum ad gera, eda 10 saronga!!!! Teir voru alla vega akaflega agengir en vid sluppum to nokkud vel fra tessu ollu saman, erum lika med svo litid aukaplass i toskunum ad vid hugsum okkur tvisvar um adur en vid kaupum eitthvad, og ta eru tad lika oftast bara eyrnalokkar eda eitthvad alika litid plassfrekt. Gengum lika adeins um i Seminyak, skodudum musteri og svoleidis. Adalutstaelsid fra hotelinu var samt dagsferd med Bali Adventure Tours. Vorum sottar snemma morguns og keyrdum nordur til Ubud og nagrennis tar sem vid forum ad river rafta nidur Ayung ana. Tad var otrulega gaman og hressandi, ringdi allan timann sem skapadi bara meiri stemmara. Umhverfid tarna storkostlegt og upp eftir ollum klettunum var buid ad grafa alls kyns myndir af hinum og tessum dyrum og taknum i steininn. Sidasta spolinn hentum vid Asta okkur ut i kukabrunu ana sem var ansi straumhord og tvilikt gaman ad liggja bara i flotvestinu og berast nidur med straumnum. Eftir ana turftum vid svo ad ganga aftur upp ur gilinu sem vid gengum nidur i til ad komast ad anni, tetta voru vel margar troppur og tok helviti vel i laerin. Tegar vid komumst loks upp a topp gatum vid fengid ad fara i sturtu og hafa fataskipti adur en vid gaeddum okkur a ljuffengu hadegisverdarhladbordi. Med okkur i ferdinni voru 4 akaflega hegomagjarnar, sjalfhverfar og pirrandi japanskar stulkur. Taer voru ad byrja ad borda tegar allir hinir voru ad klara tvi taer turftu audvitad ad blasa a ser harid og setja a sig meikuppid eftir drullugu ana. Hver hugsar annars um ad mala sig i 30 stiga hita? Vid turftum tvi ad bida i oratima eftir tvi ad taer klarudu oll 4 hrisgrjonin sem taer settu a diskana sina adur en vid gatum lagt af stad a naesta afangastad. Teim virtist lika alveg vera sama to allir adrir yrdu ad bida......tad a natturulega ad sla svona folk utanundir. Tegar taer loksins letu sja sig aftur keyrdum vid i Elephant Safari park til ad skoda alla filana tar. Tar eru 27 stykki, flestum hefur verid bjargad fra Sumotru en svo eru nokkrir sem hafa faedst tarna i gardinum. Forum a bak a fil sem var nu ekki alveg su traustasta tvi hun var naestum buin ad henda okkur af baki tvisvar sinnum. Hun faeldist vid minnsta tilefni og atti stjornandinn fullt i fangi med ad roa hana. Verd ad vidurkenna ad hjartad tok nu nokkra kippi tvi tetta eru flennistor kvikindi (samt ekki kvikindi, voda saetir og allt) og ekki spennandi ad detta nidur. Vard svo soldid stressud tegar stjornandinn okkar baud okkur ad taka myndir af okkur tvi eg helt ad hann myndi fara af baki og skilja okkur eftir einar tar. Tegar eg for a filsbak i Thailandi ta hoppadi kallinn tar bara af og vid Sigrun fengum ad sitja einar a hausnum a filnum en tad var mjog fint og afslappad tvi sa fill var ekki med musarhjarta eins og tessi. En Balistjornandinn for semsagt ekki af baki heldur tok bara myndir tadan. Gafum svo filinum adeins ad borda og fylgdumst med teim syna listir sinar. Tetta var mjog skemmileg ferd tratt fyrir japonsku leidindalummurnar. Sidasta kvoldid i Bali forum vid svo ut ad borda a stad sem vid hofdum fundid fyrsta daginn. Hofdum nefnilega sed ad teir bjoda uppa lemon cheese cake og langadi ad profa. Eftir matinn pontudum vid okkur tvi einn skammt af ostakokunni. Tjonninn okkar for yfir i naesta sal sem var eins konar bakari og kaffihus og kom til baka eftir nokkra stund med kokusneid a disknum. Kokusneidin var samt ekki gul a litinn heldur dokkbrun, sko sukkuladibrun. Eg hvordi hann hvort tetta vaeri lemon cheese cake og hann sagdi ja audvitad, ja ja ja. Eg benti honum a ad sennilega vaeri tetta nu sukkuladikaka en hann vildi sannfaera okkur um ad tetta vaeri sitronuostakaka. Tad var ekki fyrr en eg for yfir i hinn salinn tar sem allar kokurnar voru og spurdi stulkurnar tar hvort tetta vaeri nokkur ostakaka ad nidurstada fekkst. Skiludum sukkuladikokunni og fengum i stadinn alvoru sitronuostakoku sem vid bordudum af bestu lyst a medan vid fylgdumst med undarlegu hattarlagi hunda i nagrenninnu...........tad var nu einu sinni fullt tungl.
Bali er aedi, verdum ad fara aftur, vera lengur og hafa med okkur fleira folk svo vid getum leigt villu :)
Flugum svo til Kota Kinabalu i gaer med stuttu stoppi a flugvellinum i Singapore.
Bali er aedi, verdum ad fara aftur, vera lengur og hafa med okkur fleira folk svo vid getum leigt villu :)
Flugum svo til Kota Kinabalu i gaer med stuttu stoppi a flugvellinum i Singapore.
laugardagur, mars 07, 2009
OZ Pics
We're in Sydney, Yay
On our way to Luna Park
....for when things are generally pants!....otherwise, just use bras'n'things
I loooove my sheep, baaaaa
Flying foxes in the Royal Botanical Gardens
That spider was HUGE, trust me
At Mrs Macquarie's Point, with Sydney harbour in the background.....duh
Hulda the opera diva!
Hulda and her lollipop on Bondi Beach
Asta doing some pseudosurfing around Bondi and Bronte
Hulda and The Three Sisters in The Blue Mountains
Asta and her friend the kangaroo!!
Whenever I see a statue I have the sudden urge to do something silly..........
........and so does Asta!
Gearing up for the steepest trainride in the world!
Asta poser!
Sun sets over Sydney harbour
Sun sets over Hulda
föstudagur, mars 06, 2009
What we did in Sydney
Hello all.
We are now in Bali, soaking up the rays and vegging. We even had some body scrub therapy today and are smooth and glowing. I'm sorry we haven't blogged for so long, but as you can se we have been incredily buzy, ha,ha!
Sydney was most nice. We checked out many of the beaches, walked all the way from Bondi to Coogee and spent a day drinking beer and watching the surfers on Manly beach. And yes, they were manly indeed! We also spent a lot of time walking around town and taking it all in. We saw some beasties, flying foxes and giant spiders. We saw the Opera House from every conceivable angle, as well as the Harbour Bridge. We walked across the bridge from Kiribilli - a strage place where you really have to jump through hoops to get a drink. We ended up becoming temporary members of some swanky club! We did consider walking over the top of the bridge as well, but it was super expensive so we spent the money on beer, food and a trip to the Blue Mountains instead. The mountain trip was great. We got to see kangaroos and cockatoos in the wild, but sadly no koalas. We had to go to Sydney Wildlife World for that - we even sprang for a photo and koala stroking session there. We couldn't resist, they are such cuties. In the mountains we also got to enjoy some fanastic views, ride a cable car as well as the world's steepest train. I highly reccommend the train, it was quite scary but super fun.
As well as admiring some of the local wildlife, we had a taste of some too. We had pizzas with both crocodile and kangaroo. Crocodile tastes a bit like chicken but has the texture of slightly overcooked lobster. Quite nice, actually. Kangaroo is quite a dark, gamey kind of meat. Tasty but a little stringy.
Since we were staying in a hostel like the young people do, we acquired a bit of a social life in Sydney. There were always plenty of people to chat to and have a beer with up on the roof terrace. There were quite a few interesting characters up there. For example, a couple of Norwegian guys who had been living there for 6 weeks! They kept trying to get us to play poker with them. Probably because they had run out of money and were always too stoned or drunk to go out and find jobs like they were always meaning too. One of them actually ended up getting a job cleaning the roof terrace and looking after the plants there. Well, he was always up there anyway, so it seemed like the perfect solution for him. We also joined some of the people from the hostel at a pub quiz in the bar next door. We weren't invited to join anyone's team though, so we were just a little team of two. Had they only known of our mad quiz skills, I think things would have been different. We got off to a great start, in second place after the first round. Sadly, we dropped to third place after the second round due to a sub-par performance in the picture round. Then came round three...with a twist. It consisted of one single question but we could decide how many of our points we wanted to gamble on getting the question right. All we knew was that it was going to be a language-related question. We decided to bet all our points. Very sadly, and quite dissappointingly, the plastic things on the ends of shoelaces are not called flugelbinders. So we ended up losing it all! Oh well, whatever, never mind. By the way, we called our team Battle Cat.
So that's about it, really. We've been in Bali for about 24 hours now, and Sydney is becoming a faded memory. New things being seen, experienced and eaten every day so what's passed just gets pushed to the back of the mind. Strange how travelling can do that.
Sorry, no pictures this time, the computers at our swanky hotel don't want to speak to our cameras. We promise to try to find an internet cafe tomorrow where we can upload some pictures for your perusal. Kisses from balmy Bali!
We are now in Bali, soaking up the rays and vegging. We even had some body scrub therapy today and are smooth and glowing. I'm sorry we haven't blogged for so long, but as you can se we have been incredily buzy, ha,ha!
Sydney was most nice. We checked out many of the beaches, walked all the way from Bondi to Coogee and spent a day drinking beer and watching the surfers on Manly beach. And yes, they were manly indeed! We also spent a lot of time walking around town and taking it all in. We saw some beasties, flying foxes and giant spiders. We saw the Opera House from every conceivable angle, as well as the Harbour Bridge. We walked across the bridge from Kiribilli - a strage place where you really have to jump through hoops to get a drink. We ended up becoming temporary members of some swanky club! We did consider walking over the top of the bridge as well, but it was super expensive so we spent the money on beer, food and a trip to the Blue Mountains instead. The mountain trip was great. We got to see kangaroos and cockatoos in the wild, but sadly no koalas. We had to go to Sydney Wildlife World for that - we even sprang for a photo and koala stroking session there. We couldn't resist, they are such cuties. In the mountains we also got to enjoy some fanastic views, ride a cable car as well as the world's steepest train. I highly reccommend the train, it was quite scary but super fun.
As well as admiring some of the local wildlife, we had a taste of some too. We had pizzas with both crocodile and kangaroo. Crocodile tastes a bit like chicken but has the texture of slightly overcooked lobster. Quite nice, actually. Kangaroo is quite a dark, gamey kind of meat. Tasty but a little stringy.
Since we were staying in a hostel like the young people do, we acquired a bit of a social life in Sydney. There were always plenty of people to chat to and have a beer with up on the roof terrace. There were quite a few interesting characters up there. For example, a couple of Norwegian guys who had been living there for 6 weeks! They kept trying to get us to play poker with them. Probably because they had run out of money and were always too stoned or drunk to go out and find jobs like they were always meaning too. One of them actually ended up getting a job cleaning the roof terrace and looking after the plants there. Well, he was always up there anyway, so it seemed like the perfect solution for him. We also joined some of the people from the hostel at a pub quiz in the bar next door. We weren't invited to join anyone's team though, so we were just a little team of two. Had they only known of our mad quiz skills, I think things would have been different. We got off to a great start, in second place after the first round. Sadly, we dropped to third place after the second round due to a sub-par performance in the picture round. Then came round three...with a twist. It consisted of one single question but we could decide how many of our points we wanted to gamble on getting the question right. All we knew was that it was going to be a language-related question. We decided to bet all our points. Very sadly, and quite dissappointingly, the plastic things on the ends of shoelaces are not called flugelbinders. So we ended up losing it all! Oh well, whatever, never mind. By the way, we called our team Battle Cat.
So that's about it, really. We've been in Bali for about 24 hours now, and Sydney is becoming a faded memory. New things being seen, experienced and eaten every day so what's passed just gets pushed to the back of the mind. Strange how travelling can do that.
Sorry, no pictures this time, the computers at our swanky hotel don't want to speak to our cameras. We promise to try to find an internet cafe tomorrow where we can upload some pictures for your perusal. Kisses from balmy Bali!
Down Under
Hallo hallo og afsakid bidina, buid ad vera mikid ad gera sko.
Komum til Astraliu 26.mars og tekkudum okkur inn a Big Hostel, typiskt hostel bara, fullt af folki sem hafdi einhvernveginn ovart fest sig tarna og gerdi litid annad en ad hanga uppi a taki, drekka vin og reykja gras. Vid hofdum nu ekki tima til ad standa i sliku tvi vid turftum ad na ad skoda Sydney og allt sem hun hefur uppa ad bjoda a 6 dogum. Held okkur hafi tekist heldur vel til bara. Gengum mikid um borgina fyrstu dagana, skodudum okkur i Sydney Harbour, Darling Harbour og Chinatown. Forum einn daginnmed ferju yfir til Kirrabilli og aetludum bara ad setjast tar nidur og fa okkur einn ollarra eda svo. Tad reyndist hins vegar trautinni tyngra tvi mjog vida eru stadir med einhvers konar takmarkanir a vinveitingaleyfinu og mega bara selja manni afengi ef madur pantar ser mat og vid vorum nybunar ad borda. Okkur var ta bent a Kirrabilli Club, tar vaeri haegt ad kaupa ser bjor an tess ad eta. Fundum tann stad og vorum bednar um okuskirteini tvi tar turfti ad registera sig adur en madur for inn. Okkur fannst tetta ekkert litid skritid og voda vesen og vorum nattrulega ekkert med okuskirteinin okkar, enda ekkert ad fara ad keyra.....vid vorum ad fara ad fa okkur bjor madur! Ta var nu eitthvad haegt ad komast eitthvad i kringum tetta med okuskirteinid med tvi ad sla inn alls kyns upplysingar um mann i tolvu og gera mann ad "temporary member" i einn dag. Tvilikt sem var haft fyrir tessum eina bjor, tad var reyndar eitthvad casino tarna inni sem kannski skyrir brasid.
Vid lobbudum lika heilmikid um gardana i Sydney, The Domain, Hyde Park og The Royal Botanic Gardens. Tar saum vid ogrynnin oll af risaledurblokum (flying foxes) hangandi i trjanum ad kvaka (kvaka ledurblokur??) og blaka. Svo voru lika riskongulaer um allt i trjanum sem vid vorum ekkert atlltof hrifnar af tvi ad ganga mikid undir. Einn daginn tokum vid straeto til Bondi Beach og gengum medfram strondinni sudureftir til Coogee. Tegar vid settumst nidur tar til ad fa okkur kvoldmat vorum vid half "areittar" af sotolvudum manni. Areitnin folst to bara i ad vera rosalega pirrandi og leidinlegur og vera endalaust ad reyna ad setjast vid bordid okkar og vilja ekki fara. Mer tokst a endanum ad hrekja hann a brott og ta gaf madurinn a naesta bordi sig a tal vid okkur og tilkynnti okkur tad ad hann hafi nu verid ad spa i ad skerast i leikinn og hjalpa okkur en haett vid tvi hann vissi ekki hvort fulligaur vaeri kannsi med hnif......tessi gaeji kom voda vel ut med tessu commenti sinu.
Vid forum i dagstur i Blue Mountains og bordum tar ogurlega mikilfenglegt utsynid augum, hittum kengurur og cockatoos i sinu natturulega habitati, forum a olympiusvaedid fra 2000 og fleira og fleira. Otrulegt hvad manni fer ad vera illa vid folk i svona skipulogdum turistarutuferdum. Serstaklega voru leidinlegar brasilisku noldurkellingarnar, svissneska konan sem byr i London og hin kanadiska Elsie. Tad kvold tokum vid lika tatt i Pub Quiz a barnum vid hlidina a hostelinu okkar. Tad er skmmst fra tvi ad segja ad vid vorum i 3ja saeti ad leiknum loknum en ta var ein bonusspurning tar sem madur gat tvofaldad eda tapad hversu morgum stigum sem madur var tilbuinn til ad vedja. Vid akvadum ad fara "all in" og vedjudum ollum stigunum okkar. Spurt var um hvad litla plastdotid a skoreimum heitir og okkur datt ekkert betra i hug en Flugelbinder og topudum tar af leidandi ollum okkar stigum....ojaeja.
Tad var ein spurning i leiknum sem var tannig ad spyrillinn var ad spyrja um land og las alltaf upp fleiri og fleiri visbendingar. Folkid i salnum atti ta ad kalla upp tad land sem tad helt ad att vaeri vid. Visbendingarnar sem vid fengum voru m.a.: Ibuafjoldi er rumlega 20 milljonir og landid er a staerd vid Oregon. Medalaldur er 20 ar og lifslikur eru 57 ar. Adalatvinnuvegir eru sjavarutvegur, gummiframleidsla og eitthvad annad sem eg ekki man. I landindu eru 110.000 ferkilometrar af raektudu landi.
......einhverjar voru nu visbendingarnar fleiri en eg man bara ekki hverjar taer voru. Tad merkilega er ad vid heyrdum Island kallad upp oftar en einu sinni og oftar en tvisvar :) Samkvaemt tvi voru tvi tarna staddir tveir haaldradir Islendingar!
Fleira sem vid gerdum i Sydney..............vid kloppudum koalabirni, forum til Manly tar sem vid aetludum a strondina en vegna vedurs satum vid klukkustundunum saman a sama barnum og drukkum marga bjora, smokkudum baedi kenguru og krokodil.....ofan a pizzu og bordudum salat a einhverjum randyrum fronskum stad tar sem salatid hennar Astu samanstod af einum risastorum aspas sem leit alveg eins ut og tippi.
Vid mundum eftir tvi hvad islenska er otrulega gott og hentugt tungumal ad kunna oft a tidum. Tarf ekkert ad vera ad piskra neitt ef madur er eitthvad ad raeda hluti sem madur almennt myndi ekki raeda a almannafaeri, eda tegar madur er ad tala um folkid sem situr vid hlidina a manni. Asta var eitthvad buin ad vera ad spjalla vid einhverjar enskar stelpur uppi a taki tegar eg kom upp og ta for hun ad segja mer eitt og annad sem taer hofdu verid ad raeda o.fl. Svo var hun eitthvad ad segja mer hvadan taer vaeru og svoleidis:
A: Stelpan sem situr vid hlidina a mer byr i sama landi og eg (hun var samt ensk, var ekki med skoskan hreim)....i borginni sem er vid vatnid tar sem skrimslid byr.
H: Eg veit ekekrt hvada borg er vid tad vatn. Bryjar nafnid a henni ad ordi sem lysir tvi ad eitthvad se innandyra og endar tad a nafninu a skrimslinu?
A: Ja og i midjunni er ver
........alveg sosurugl sem tessar lysingar verda stundum. Svo gleymir madur ser lika:
H: Er verid ad spila stigaleid til himarikis?
......eins og ollum se ekki skitsama um tad hvort eg tali um Stairway to Heaven eda ekki, madur festist bara einhvern veginn i ofsatydingum.
I gar forum vid svo a faetur i Astraliu, flugum til Singapore i lunch og forum i bolid a Bali. Her er vodalega huggulegt og vid erum strax bunar ad sja ad vid verdum ad koma hingad aftur, vera ta i lengri tima og skoda okkur betur um a eyjunni. Verdum bara her i 5 heila daga og vorum bunar ad akveda ad nota tann tima ad miklu leyti i afslappelsi, reynum samt ad gera eitthvad snidugt inn a milli. Tad er bara svo fjari odyrt ad lifa her, og ekki kostar tad mikid ad fara i 1-2 klukkustunda dekur, nudd, hudmedferdir, fotsnyrtingar og fleira og fleira ogurlega girnilegt. Erum nu tegar bunar ad fa Coconut Body Glow medferd her a Mutiara ;)
Tvi midur verda engar myndir i tetta skiptid tvi tolvan her vill bara ekki tengjast myndavelinni minni bondum. Reyni ad koma Astraliu myndum inn vid fyrsta taekifaeri, lofa lofa lofa.
Sendum hlyjar Balikvedjum til allra sem nenna ad lesa.
Komum til Astraliu 26.mars og tekkudum okkur inn a Big Hostel, typiskt hostel bara, fullt af folki sem hafdi einhvernveginn ovart fest sig tarna og gerdi litid annad en ad hanga uppi a taki, drekka vin og reykja gras. Vid hofdum nu ekki tima til ad standa i sliku tvi vid turftum ad na ad skoda Sydney og allt sem hun hefur uppa ad bjoda a 6 dogum. Held okkur hafi tekist heldur vel til bara. Gengum mikid um borgina fyrstu dagana, skodudum okkur i Sydney Harbour, Darling Harbour og Chinatown. Forum einn daginnmed ferju yfir til Kirrabilli og aetludum bara ad setjast tar nidur og fa okkur einn ollarra eda svo. Tad reyndist hins vegar trautinni tyngra tvi mjog vida eru stadir med einhvers konar takmarkanir a vinveitingaleyfinu og mega bara selja manni afengi ef madur pantar ser mat og vid vorum nybunar ad borda. Okkur var ta bent a Kirrabilli Club, tar vaeri haegt ad kaupa ser bjor an tess ad eta. Fundum tann stad og vorum bednar um okuskirteini tvi tar turfti ad registera sig adur en madur for inn. Okkur fannst tetta ekkert litid skritid og voda vesen og vorum nattrulega ekkert med okuskirteinin okkar, enda ekkert ad fara ad keyra.....vid vorum ad fara ad fa okkur bjor madur! Ta var nu eitthvad haegt ad komast eitthvad i kringum tetta med okuskirteinid med tvi ad sla inn alls kyns upplysingar um mann i tolvu og gera mann ad "temporary member" i einn dag. Tvilikt sem var haft fyrir tessum eina bjor, tad var reyndar eitthvad casino tarna inni sem kannski skyrir brasid.
Vid lobbudum lika heilmikid um gardana i Sydney, The Domain, Hyde Park og The Royal Botanic Gardens. Tar saum vid ogrynnin oll af risaledurblokum (flying foxes) hangandi i trjanum ad kvaka (kvaka ledurblokur??) og blaka. Svo voru lika riskongulaer um allt i trjanum sem vid vorum ekkert atlltof hrifnar af tvi ad ganga mikid undir. Einn daginn tokum vid straeto til Bondi Beach og gengum medfram strondinni sudureftir til Coogee. Tegar vid settumst nidur tar til ad fa okkur kvoldmat vorum vid half "areittar" af sotolvudum manni. Areitnin folst to bara i ad vera rosalega pirrandi og leidinlegur og vera endalaust ad reyna ad setjast vid bordid okkar og vilja ekki fara. Mer tokst a endanum ad hrekja hann a brott og ta gaf madurinn a naesta bordi sig a tal vid okkur og tilkynnti okkur tad ad hann hafi nu verid ad spa i ad skerast i leikinn og hjalpa okkur en haett vid tvi hann vissi ekki hvort fulligaur vaeri kannsi med hnif......tessi gaeji kom voda vel ut med tessu commenti sinu.
Vid forum i dagstur i Blue Mountains og bordum tar ogurlega mikilfenglegt utsynid augum, hittum kengurur og cockatoos i sinu natturulega habitati, forum a olympiusvaedid fra 2000 og fleira og fleira. Otrulegt hvad manni fer ad vera illa vid folk i svona skipulogdum turistarutuferdum. Serstaklega voru leidinlegar brasilisku noldurkellingarnar, svissneska konan sem byr i London og hin kanadiska Elsie. Tad kvold tokum vid lika tatt i Pub Quiz a barnum vid hlidina a hostelinu okkar. Tad er skmmst fra tvi ad segja ad vid vorum i 3ja saeti ad leiknum loknum en ta var ein bonusspurning tar sem madur gat tvofaldad eda tapad hversu morgum stigum sem madur var tilbuinn til ad vedja. Vid akvadum ad fara "all in" og vedjudum ollum stigunum okkar. Spurt var um hvad litla plastdotid a skoreimum heitir og okkur datt ekkert betra i hug en Flugelbinder og topudum tar af leidandi ollum okkar stigum....ojaeja.
Tad var ein spurning i leiknum sem var tannig ad spyrillinn var ad spyrja um land og las alltaf upp fleiri og fleiri visbendingar. Folkid i salnum atti ta ad kalla upp tad land sem tad helt ad att vaeri vid. Visbendingarnar sem vid fengum voru m.a.: Ibuafjoldi er rumlega 20 milljonir og landid er a staerd vid Oregon. Medalaldur er 20 ar og lifslikur eru 57 ar. Adalatvinnuvegir eru sjavarutvegur, gummiframleidsla og eitthvad annad sem eg ekki man. I landindu eru 110.000 ferkilometrar af raektudu landi.
......einhverjar voru nu visbendingarnar fleiri en eg man bara ekki hverjar taer voru. Tad merkilega er ad vid heyrdum Island kallad upp oftar en einu sinni og oftar en tvisvar :) Samkvaemt tvi voru tvi tarna staddir tveir haaldradir Islendingar!
Fleira sem vid gerdum i Sydney..............vid kloppudum koalabirni, forum til Manly tar sem vid aetludum a strondina en vegna vedurs satum vid klukkustundunum saman a sama barnum og drukkum marga bjora, smokkudum baedi kenguru og krokodil.....ofan a pizzu og bordudum salat a einhverjum randyrum fronskum stad tar sem salatid hennar Astu samanstod af einum risastorum aspas sem leit alveg eins ut og tippi.
Vid mundum eftir tvi hvad islenska er otrulega gott og hentugt tungumal ad kunna oft a tidum. Tarf ekkert ad vera ad piskra neitt ef madur er eitthvad ad raeda hluti sem madur almennt myndi ekki raeda a almannafaeri, eda tegar madur er ad tala um folkid sem situr vid hlidina a manni. Asta var eitthvad buin ad vera ad spjalla vid einhverjar enskar stelpur uppi a taki tegar eg kom upp og ta for hun ad segja mer eitt og annad sem taer hofdu verid ad raeda o.fl. Svo var hun eitthvad ad segja mer hvadan taer vaeru og svoleidis:
A: Stelpan sem situr vid hlidina a mer byr i sama landi og eg (hun var samt ensk, var ekki med skoskan hreim)....i borginni sem er vid vatnid tar sem skrimslid byr.
H: Eg veit ekekrt hvada borg er vid tad vatn. Bryjar nafnid a henni ad ordi sem lysir tvi ad eitthvad se innandyra og endar tad a nafninu a skrimslinu?
A: Ja og i midjunni er ver
........alveg sosurugl sem tessar lysingar verda stundum. Svo gleymir madur ser lika:
H: Er verid ad spila stigaleid til himarikis?
......eins og ollum se ekki skitsama um tad hvort eg tali um Stairway to Heaven eda ekki, madur festist bara einhvern veginn i ofsatydingum.
I gar forum vid svo a faetur i Astraliu, flugum til Singapore i lunch og forum i bolid a Bali. Her er vodalega huggulegt og vid erum strax bunar ad sja ad vid verdum ad koma hingad aftur, vera ta i lengri tima og skoda okkur betur um a eyjunni. Verdum bara her i 5 heila daga og vorum bunar ad akveda ad nota tann tima ad miklu leyti i afslappelsi, reynum samt ad gera eitthvad snidugt inn a milli. Tad er bara svo fjari odyrt ad lifa her, og ekki kostar tad mikid ad fara i 1-2 klukkustunda dekur, nudd, hudmedferdir, fotsnyrtingar og fleira og fleira ogurlega girnilegt. Erum nu tegar bunar ad fa Coconut Body Glow medferd her a Mutiara ;)
Tvi midur verda engar myndir i tetta skiptid tvi tolvan her vill bara ekki tengjast myndavelinni minni bondum. Reyni ad koma Astraliu myndum inn vid fyrsta taekifaeri, lofa lofa lofa.
Sendum hlyjar Balikvedjum til allra sem nenna ad lesa.
miðvikudagur, febrúar 25, 2009
Kia Ora from Kiwiland
It is our last night in New Zealand and we have had a lovely time here.
Our very first day, after a little nap, we took the ferry to Davenport to meet up with Jeff and his friends for some drinks. Jeff is an old friend of Kari's and we had a great evening in a beer-garden with him and his mates. The next morning we wandered around central Auckland, just getting a feel for the city and basking in the sun.
Next, it was tourist time. We went on a 13 hour bus tour. I was pretty good. We went to Rotorua and saw a geothermal Maori village and were treated to some Maori dancing, singing and food. This time, I was not invited to join the performers on stage which is just as well since my singing is not nearly as fantabulous as my moves. After lunch and a little sightseeing in Rotorua, we went to the Hill of Zorb! And we went Zorbing while the grown-ups on our tour were awestruck by our bravery. It isn't actually scary at all (otherwise, clearly I would not have undertaken it), just a roll down a hill in a massive inflatable ball filled with water and our lovely selves. So much fun!!!! I am now looking into buying a Zorb for the hill at Reynisholar.
After recovering from our Zorb induced gigglefit (and changing out of our wet clothes) we continued on to the kiwi house where we got the opportunity to meet a kiwi named Ewan (bird, not person). He was very cute, extremely funnylooking and much bigger than we expected. I'd quite like to get a kiwi for Reynisholar too, but I don't think he would get on too well with Gusti the cat. Anyway, they're probably much harder to get than a Zorb.
Last stop on the tour was Ruakuri cave at Waitomo. There we saw some groovy stalagmites and stalagtites but the highlights, literally, were the glow worms. There are thousands of tiny bioluminescent worms living on the cave ceiling. They look like the stars in the sky, only closer. We took a dark boat ride under the worms and it was truly magical. Although, to be honest, it would have been magical had our boat not contained some blithering idiots who were more concerned about whether the worms micht fall on them or poop in their open mouths than just enjoying this unique and beatiful phenomenon. Perhaps those concerned about getting glow worm poo in their mouth should just keep said mouth closed? I think it would make the world a more peaceful and magical place. Despite a few annoying fellow tourists, it was a very good day.
Yesterday we went on another outing. We met up with Jeff again and he took us for a ride to the west coast. We checked out the beaches at Piha and Karekare. They are pretty cool. Karekare beach did feel a little familiar, though. Take away the trees and the surfers and it could almost be in Iceland. I had always thought that the New Zealand landscape would be similar to Iceland, but that was really the only time during our stay here that I've seen it. Well, apart from when we were at the geothermal place. And they seem to have far less sheep than we do. Apparently the farmers here are moving away from raising sheep in favour of the dairy industry. So we saw loads of cows, but very few sheep. The ones we did see were in a paddock with some turkeys. And we saw some cows in a field with ostriches. Very strange!
Today was our last day here really, as we leave for Sydney in the morning. We took a walk to Karangahape road (usually known as K-road) to check out the funky shops and funkier people, had a few drinks on Vulcan Lane (tiny lane, full of bars and cafes) and packed. Hulda did not end up throwing herself off the Sky Tower as she was feeling a bit poorly today. We both have mysterious colds. Now we are in an internet cafe, blogging for the benefit of you fine folks.
So now you are completely up to date with all our adventures on the other side!
My darling non-Icelandic speakers, please feel free to comment on the blog. Hulda gets loads of comments on her Icelandic posts and I haven't gotten any on my last English one. Otherwise I may start to think nobody is reading mine and will just use my internet time to read the latest gossip and play geo challenge on Facebook.
Sunshine and kisses from NZ!
Pictures:
1 Hulda on the ferry to Davenport
2 Asta coveting a yacht in Viaduct Harbour
3 Hulda by the sign to the geothermal Maori village. Quite a name, isn't it?
4 Hulda in the Maori village.
5 Asta by the geothermal mud pools.
6 Zorbing, woohoo!
7 Zorbing over, boo!
8 Loving the Zorb!
9 By the kiwihouse
10 The view over Piha Beach
11 On Karekare beach
12 Asta and Jeff on Karekare
Our very first day, after a little nap, we took the ferry to Davenport to meet up with Jeff and his friends for some drinks. Jeff is an old friend of Kari's and we had a great evening in a beer-garden with him and his mates. The next morning we wandered around central Auckland, just getting a feel for the city and basking in the sun.
Next, it was tourist time. We went on a 13 hour bus tour. I was pretty good. We went to Rotorua and saw a geothermal Maori village and were treated to some Maori dancing, singing and food. This time, I was not invited to join the performers on stage which is just as well since my singing is not nearly as fantabulous as my moves. After lunch and a little sightseeing in Rotorua, we went to the Hill of Zorb! And we went Zorbing while the grown-ups on our tour were awestruck by our bravery. It isn't actually scary at all (otherwise, clearly I would not have undertaken it), just a roll down a hill in a massive inflatable ball filled with water and our lovely selves. So much fun!!!! I am now looking into buying a Zorb for the hill at Reynisholar.
After recovering from our Zorb induced gigglefit (and changing out of our wet clothes) we continued on to the kiwi house where we got the opportunity to meet a kiwi named Ewan (bird, not person). He was very cute, extremely funnylooking and much bigger than we expected. I'd quite like to get a kiwi for Reynisholar too, but I don't think he would get on too well with Gusti the cat. Anyway, they're probably much harder to get than a Zorb.
Last stop on the tour was Ruakuri cave at Waitomo. There we saw some groovy stalagmites and stalagtites but the highlights, literally, were the glow worms. There are thousands of tiny bioluminescent worms living on the cave ceiling. They look like the stars in the sky, only closer. We took a dark boat ride under the worms and it was truly magical. Although, to be honest, it would have been magical had our boat not contained some blithering idiots who were more concerned about whether the worms micht fall on them or poop in their open mouths than just enjoying this unique and beatiful phenomenon. Perhaps those concerned about getting glow worm poo in their mouth should just keep said mouth closed? I think it would make the world a more peaceful and magical place. Despite a few annoying fellow tourists, it was a very good day.
Yesterday we went on another outing. We met up with Jeff again and he took us for a ride to the west coast. We checked out the beaches at Piha and Karekare. They are pretty cool. Karekare beach did feel a little familiar, though. Take away the trees and the surfers and it could almost be in Iceland. I had always thought that the New Zealand landscape would be similar to Iceland, but that was really the only time during our stay here that I've seen it. Well, apart from when we were at the geothermal place. And they seem to have far less sheep than we do. Apparently the farmers here are moving away from raising sheep in favour of the dairy industry. So we saw loads of cows, but very few sheep. The ones we did see were in a paddock with some turkeys. And we saw some cows in a field with ostriches. Very strange!
Today was our last day here really, as we leave for Sydney in the morning. We took a walk to Karangahape road (usually known as K-road) to check out the funky shops and funkier people, had a few drinks on Vulcan Lane (tiny lane, full of bars and cafes) and packed. Hulda did not end up throwing herself off the Sky Tower as she was feeling a bit poorly today. We both have mysterious colds. Now we are in an internet cafe, blogging for the benefit of you fine folks.
So now you are completely up to date with all our adventures on the other side!
My darling non-Icelandic speakers, please feel free to comment on the blog. Hulda gets loads of comments on her Icelandic posts and I haven't gotten any on my last English one. Otherwise I may start to think nobody is reading mine and will just use my internet time to read the latest gossip and play geo challenge on Facebook.
Sunshine and kisses from NZ!
Pictures:
1 Hulda on the ferry to Davenport
2 Asta coveting a yacht in Viaduct Harbour
3 Hulda by the sign to the geothermal Maori village. Quite a name, isn't it?
4 Hulda in the Maori village.
5 Asta by the geothermal mud pools.
6 Zorbing, woohoo!
7 Zorbing over, boo!
8 Loving the Zorb!
9 By the kiwihouse
10 The view over Piha Beach
11 On Karekare beach
12 Asta and Jeff on Karekare
Nyja Sjaland
Jaeja, best ad segja ykkur adeins fra Nyja Sjalandi adur en vid forum hedan. Lentum eldsnemma ad morgni eftir ad hafa flogid yfir adurnefnda daglinu, daegurvilltar og daudtreyttar. Beinustu leid a Hotel, ut i bud ad na i vistir og svo upp i rum. Voknudum einhverntimann eftir hadegi og heyrdum ta i Jeff, vini hans Kara og akvadum ad fara ad hitta hann. Tokum ferju yfir til Davenport tar sem vid fundum Jeff og nokkrar spaenkar vinkonur hans og fengum okkur nokkrar pintur med teim. Tau voru ordin vel sosud tegar vid komum tvi tad var eitthvad festival i gangi i Davenport. Tegar klubbafilingur var kominn i lidid skelltum vid systur okkur bara aftur heim a hotel enda ennta frekar treyttar. Notudum naesta dag i ad skoda okkur um her i Auckland, velja okkur einhvern dagstur ut i sveit og rolta og skoda allar snekkjurnar sem eru til solu a bryggjunni. Fundum alveg nokkrar sem okkur langar i, mig langar samt eiginlega meira i thyrlu.
Asta a Viaduct Harbour ad benda a alitlega snekkjuA manudaginn voknudum vid eldsnemma til ad fara a runtinn ut i sveit. Hinn brasiliski Flavio sotti okkur klukkan halfsjo, pikkudum svo upp 2 por a ordum hotel
um og keyrdum ut i sveit til Rotorua sem er frekar vinsaell afangastadur her a Nordureynni vegna jardhitans.......iss piss, jardhiti hvad! Vid heimsottum tar Maoritorpid: Tewhakarewarewatang- aoteopetauaawahiao ........ reynid ad segja tetta hratt 20 sinnum i rod!! Tad torp er helst merkilegt tvi tad er eins og Hveragerdi, t.e.a.s. byggt a miklu jardhitasvaedi. Allt vodalega heimilislegt, brennisteinslyktin og bubblandi drullupollar. Fengum ad sja stridsdans Maorifolksins sem adallega snyst um ad reka mikid ut ur ser tunguna og opna augun gifurlega mikid, og svo var sungid fyrri okkur og dansad adur en var bodid upp a Hangi - mat (sem er ekki latid hanga, heldur gufusodid halfgrafid i jordu.)
Vid ad spoka okkur Tewhakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao
Eftir ad hafa heimsott fleiri stadi i og i nagrenni Rotorua forum vid i ZORBID, bara eg og Asta samt, hindir vildu ekki fara. Djofull var tad gaman!! Vid trodum okkur inn i einskonar plaskulu sem er innan i annarri staerri plastkulu. Svo var vatni daelt inn i kuluna med okkur og kulan med okkur og vatninu i send af stad nidur brekku. Vid ondudumst naestum tvi ur hlatri alla leidina nidur tetta var svo otrulega skemmtilegt. Asta er nuna meria ad segja buin ad finna sidu a netinu sem selur svona Zorba.....vaeri agaetlega frabaert ad hafa eitt stykki a Holunum, grunar samt ad tollurinn af slikri sendingu yrdi himinhar.
Vid Asta i ZORBINUM besta a fleygiferd nidur brekkuna
Eftir Zorbfjorid forum vid i Kiwihouse og kiktum adeins a hinn fraega kiwifugl sem er ofleygur tjodarfugl Nyja Sjalands og er eitt tad furdulegasta dyr sem eg hef augum litid. Fuglinn er mikid staerri en madur a von a og er bara svo funny-looking eitthvad og kjanalegur
Fyrir utan kiwihouse ad knusa kiwifugl Eftir kiwihouse la leid okkar til Waitomo - i Glow-worm cave. Djupir hellar sem eru fullir af flurlysandi ormum sem festa sig i loftid og lysa tad upp eins og stjornubjartan himinn, ekkert sma flott ad sja. Eftir hellana keyrdum vid aftur i gegnum sveitina og heim a leid. Saum mun minna af saudfe her en vid hofdum att von a og sagdi Flavio okkur tad ad Nysjalendingar vaeru mikid ad faera sig yfir i kusurnar og mjolkurframleidslu i stad saudfjarraektar og ad rollum her hafi hridfaekkad sidustu ar. Saum samt nokkrar sem voru saetar og nyrunar, svipadar bresku rollunum. Fullt af beljum a leidinni, nokkrir kalkunar, strutar og einhverskonar lamadyr.
I gaer heyrdum vid svo aftur i Jeff og hann for med okkur i biltur ad skoda fallegar strendur her i nagrenni Auckland. Forum til Piha og til Karekare, mjog skemmtilegt og fallegt tar. Tad er svona rett haegt ad imynda ser ad landslagid her geti a einhvern hatt likst tvi islenska ef madur tekur burt oll tren sem na upp eftir ollu.
Piha strondin i baksyn
Fiflagangur a Karekare
Asta og Jeff a Karekare
Vardandi turninn ta er eg ekki enn buin ad stokkva og var ad fatta ad nu er buid ad loka honum, tad lokar allt otrulega snemma her. Er samt buin ad hugsa mikid um tad og langar tvilikt ad profa, svo er annad hvort madur myndi tora tegar upp a topp vaeri komid. ?urfum ad fara i fyrramalid ut a flugvoll tvi vid fljugum til Sydney a morgun. Veit ekki hvort eg nae tvi i fyrramalid, ef ekki ta hlyt eg ad finna eitthvad annad aevintyri til ad demba mer i einhvers stadar a leidinni.
mánudagur, febrúar 23, 2009
More on Samoa
Well, we're in New Zealand now, but I'm going to finish telling you about our stay in Samoa. I'll tell you about New Zealand in a day or two.
Our new beach huts were very nice indeed. The beach was one of the best in Samoa and the snorkling was great. We saw loads of colourful fish swimming about. It looked as if they were all glammed up for an eighties cocktail party, fluorescent pinks, yellows, turquoises and greens. Totally our style! The food at Taufua Beach Fales was really good too. There was always a huge selection of yummy stuff, both at breakfast and dinner. So our bellies were always full and bulging. Not a great look when sporting a bikini, but hey, what can you do? It would be rude not to try every single dish and have seconds of the particularly good ones.
We met lots of people at our fales as well, as it was a very sociable place. We made friends with a really nice couple from San Francisco, Ken and Elaine. They came with us on a day trip around the island, checking out a couple of waterfalls, the To Sua Trench and the Cave Pools. It was a really good trip. To Sua Trench is a big hole in the ground, filled with seawater anc connected to the ocean via underground channels. You can go swimming in there, but in order to do so, you have to climb down a 15 metre long ladder that I didn't really like the look of. So Hulda and I stayed above ground admiring the view from the clifftop while Ken and Elaine took a dip. Then we all took a walk to check out the lavafield and blowholes. Very cool. The highlight of the day, for me anyway, were the cave pools. THE BEST PLACE EVER! A cool, fresh, clean pool where you can swim into a cave to get away from the sun. It is on a lovely beach, but is fed by a freshwater spring. There are some very friendly fish in it, as well as a big eel that we were unfortunately unable to spot. And if you're feeling adventurous, you can take a 3 metre underwater swim to the next pool. I never feel adventurous, so I just swam in the lovely water and felt good. Ken and Elaine did the underwater swim, though. They turned out to be a couple of daredevils! But guys, if you ever go to Samoa, you must check these pools out, they are my absolute favorite place in a totally wonderful country. And bring swimming goggles, they are very useful if you want to do the underwater swim or just look at the eel.
On Wednesday night it was Fiafia night, which means dancing, drinking and fancy food. We got lobster for dinner and then a group of dancers came and performed dances from all over Polynesia for us. I accidentally ended up on stage performing some sort of hippity hoppity Polynesian dance, that I think is only meant to be done by young men. It was good fun and nice to hear from the other guests that they thought I was brave to go up there and dance. Especially since I had been such a chicken at the trench and the cave pools and the sliding rocks (they frankly looked dangerous). I am scared of many things, but dancing is not one of them!
After the dancing, a large group of us sat down and had a few drinks together. We even got to taste Kava! It tastes a bit like water with flour in it. The party carried on well into the night but we went to bed before most of the partypeople (I know, totally out of character for us). We are trying to keep to our new regime of early to bed, early to rise. That way we have more time to look at all the wonderful things there are to behold on this side of the world.
So we stayed at Taufua for three days and had a really lovely time, snorkling, socializing, sightseeing and lounging. When it became time for us to leave, our little rental car came in very handy once again. One of the other guests had become quite ill and needed to get into town so we gave her a lift. She was very grateful to get into an air conditioned car and be taken to a cool, calm place near the hospital where she could recover. I hope she started feeling better soon. Food poisoning and dehydration is so unpleasant. It can really ruin you holiday.
Our flight wasn't at the best of times, totally ruining our early to bed policy. From 2.40 in the morning to 6.40 the next morning. We flew across the dateline so even though it was only a 4 hour flight, it took more than a day, somehow!?!?? I don't really understand why all the flights to and from Samoa have to be in the middle of the night. It's not as if the airport is buzy. We tried to nap in our car in the airport car park for an hour. It was a little difficult to sleep because of all the people hanging about in the car park - a strange place to hang! After the rental place guy came to pick up our car, we just wandered aimlessly around the airport for hours, being stared at by the locals. I found it mystifying to be suddenly so interesting. We didn't get that kind of attention anywhere else on the island and it's not as if people should be surprized to see foreigners at an international airport. After and endless wait our flight finally took off. We were very happy to land in Auckland and go straight to our lovely bed for a lovely nap.
Photos:
1. Our beach fale at Taufua, Lalomanu Beach
2. Sun sets over Lalomanu beach
3. Hulda and her good friend Vailima (very good local beer)
4. To Sua Trench
5. Hulda admires the view at To Sua Trench
6. Asta refreshed after bathing in the cave pool
7. Lovely Samoan bus
8. Lovely Samoan family prefers truck to bus
9. Should Hulda do this?
Our new beach huts were very nice indeed. The beach was one of the best in Samoa and the snorkling was great. We saw loads of colourful fish swimming about. It looked as if they were all glammed up for an eighties cocktail party, fluorescent pinks, yellows, turquoises and greens. Totally our style! The food at Taufua Beach Fales was really good too. There was always a huge selection of yummy stuff, both at breakfast and dinner. So our bellies were always full and bulging. Not a great look when sporting a bikini, but hey, what can you do? It would be rude not to try every single dish and have seconds of the particularly good ones.
We met lots of people at our fales as well, as it was a very sociable place. We made friends with a really nice couple from San Francisco, Ken and Elaine. They came with us on a day trip around the island, checking out a couple of waterfalls, the To Sua Trench and the Cave Pools. It was a really good trip. To Sua Trench is a big hole in the ground, filled with seawater anc connected to the ocean via underground channels. You can go swimming in there, but in order to do so, you have to climb down a 15 metre long ladder that I didn't really like the look of. So Hulda and I stayed above ground admiring the view from the clifftop while Ken and Elaine took a dip. Then we all took a walk to check out the lavafield and blowholes. Very cool. The highlight of the day, for me anyway, were the cave pools. THE BEST PLACE EVER! A cool, fresh, clean pool where you can swim into a cave to get away from the sun. It is on a lovely beach, but is fed by a freshwater spring. There are some very friendly fish in it, as well as a big eel that we were unfortunately unable to spot. And if you're feeling adventurous, you can take a 3 metre underwater swim to the next pool. I never feel adventurous, so I just swam in the lovely water and felt good. Ken and Elaine did the underwater swim, though. They turned out to be a couple of daredevils! But guys, if you ever go to Samoa, you must check these pools out, they are my absolute favorite place in a totally wonderful country. And bring swimming goggles, they are very useful if you want to do the underwater swim or just look at the eel.
On Wednesday night it was Fiafia night, which means dancing, drinking and fancy food. We got lobster for dinner and then a group of dancers came and performed dances from all over Polynesia for us. I accidentally ended up on stage performing some sort of hippity hoppity Polynesian dance, that I think is only meant to be done by young men. It was good fun and nice to hear from the other guests that they thought I was brave to go up there and dance. Especially since I had been such a chicken at the trench and the cave pools and the sliding rocks (they frankly looked dangerous). I am scared of many things, but dancing is not one of them!
After the dancing, a large group of us sat down and had a few drinks together. We even got to taste Kava! It tastes a bit like water with flour in it. The party carried on well into the night but we went to bed before most of the partypeople (I know, totally out of character for us). We are trying to keep to our new regime of early to bed, early to rise. That way we have more time to look at all the wonderful things there are to behold on this side of the world.
So we stayed at Taufua for three days and had a really lovely time, snorkling, socializing, sightseeing and lounging. When it became time for us to leave, our little rental car came in very handy once again. One of the other guests had become quite ill and needed to get into town so we gave her a lift. She was very grateful to get into an air conditioned car and be taken to a cool, calm place near the hospital where she could recover. I hope she started feeling better soon. Food poisoning and dehydration is so unpleasant. It can really ruin you holiday.
Our flight wasn't at the best of times, totally ruining our early to bed policy. From 2.40 in the morning to 6.40 the next morning. We flew across the dateline so even though it was only a 4 hour flight, it took more than a day, somehow!?!?? I don't really understand why all the flights to and from Samoa have to be in the middle of the night. It's not as if the airport is buzy. We tried to nap in our car in the airport car park for an hour. It was a little difficult to sleep because of all the people hanging about in the car park - a strange place to hang! After the rental place guy came to pick up our car, we just wandered aimlessly around the airport for hours, being stared at by the locals. I found it mystifying to be suddenly so interesting. We didn't get that kind of attention anywhere else on the island and it's not as if people should be surprized to see foreigners at an international airport. After and endless wait our flight finally took off. We were very happy to land in Auckland and go straight to our lovely bed for a lovely nap.
Photos:
1. Our beach fale at Taufua, Lalomanu Beach
2. Sun sets over Lalomanu beach
3. Hulda and her good friend Vailima (very good local beer)
4. To Sua Trench
5. Hulda admires the view at To Sua Trench
6. Asta refreshed after bathing in the cave pool
7. Lovely Samoan bus
8. Lovely Samoan family prefers truck to bus
9. Should Hulda do this?
Bae bae Samoa - Hallo Nyja Sjaland
Jaeja, holdum afram Samoasogunni.
Sidast skildum vid vid ykkur tegar vid vorum a leid fra Aggie Greys til Lalomanu. Komum okkur tangad og fundum Taufua Beach Fales sem eru lika svona kofar a strondinni sem vid vorum i fyrst. Tetta var samt talsvert meira grand en fyrsta gistingin, smartari og skemmtilegri matur, meira af folki og ekki nandar naerri eins mikid af mossum. Otrulega fint bara, aedislegt ad hafa sinn privat kofa a strondinni og tessi strond er su allra besta i Samoa til ad snorkla, saum ogrynnin oll af otrulega litrikum og fyndnum fiskum og ymislegt annad skemmtilegt. Fyrsta daginn a Taufua kynntumst vid skemmtilegu amerisku pari, Ken og Elaine. Tau komust ad tvi vid morgunverdarbordid ad vid vaerum med bil og vaerum ad fara ad runta um eyjuna til ad skoda okkur frekar um og spurdu hvort tau maettu koma med, hofdu aetlad ad ad panta taxa til ad runta med sig allan daginn. Tau voru velkomin med okkur og vid forum fjogur og skodudum fleiri fossa, To Sua Trench sem er risadjup hola i jordinni med vanti i sem madur getur farid ad svamla i og skodudum lika Cave Po
ols sem er ferskvatnslaug sem naer inn i helli og haegt ad synda tar i gegnum grjotgong og koma ut i annari hellalaug. Asta elskadi tennan stad, vatnid frekar kalt og gott ad svamla tarna um. Ken og Elaine voru prydisfelgasskapur en tau foru svo naesta dag til Nyja Sjalands. Naestu dagar foru mikid i ad hanga a Taufua, borda goda matinn sem tar var i bodi alla daga (orugglega 5-6 mismunandi rettir a hverju kvoldi), spjalla vid folkid, svamla i sjonum ad skoda fina fiska. Tarna var mjog vinalegt svin sem stundum skellti ser undir kofann okkar til ad klora ser a stolpunum tannig ad kofinn okkar skalf og notradi, svo kom svinid lika stundum med manni i sturtu....hahahah. A midvikudagskvoldinu var svo Fia Fia show, tar sem hopur af heimamonnum dansadi fyrir okkur. Voda gaman, lika svadalegur elddans syndur tar. Tegar vid vorum ad tekka okkur ut a fostudaginn og leggja i hann til Apia fengum vid fregnir af tvi ad Claudia, tysk kona sem var tarna, vaeri ordin veik og vildi fara til Apia til ad komast i loftkaelt herbergi med klosetti, svo vid budum henni ad koma med okkur. Keyrdum tvi lengri leidina til Apia til ad alltaf vaeri stutt i klosett fyrir Claudiu og skiludum henni a hotel i Apia. Hun var mjog fegin ad hafa hitt a okkur og turfa ekki ad fara i einum ad storskritnu straetobilunum. Vid alltaf ad pikka eitthvad folk upp i bil med okkur ollum til mikillar anaegju ;)
ols sem er ferskvatnslaug sem naer inn i helli og haegt ad synda tar i gegnum grjotgong og koma ut i annari hellalaug. Asta elskadi tennan stad, vatnid frekar kalt og gott ad svamla tarna um. Ken og Elaine voru prydisfelgasskapur en tau foru svo naesta dag til Nyja Sjalands. Naestu dagar foru mikid i ad hanga a Taufua, borda goda matinn sem tar var i bodi alla daga (orugglega 5-6 mismunandi rettir a hverju kvoldi), spjalla vid folkid, svamla i sjonum ad skoda fina fiska. Tarna var mjog vinalegt svin sem stundum skellti ser undir kofann okkar til ad klora ser a stolpunum tannig ad kofinn okkar skalf og notradi, svo kom svinid lika stundum med manni i sturtu....hahahah. A midvikudagskvoldinu var svo Fia Fia show, tar sem hopur af heimamonnum dansadi fyrir okkur. Voda gaman, lika svadalegur elddans syndur tar. Tegar vid vorum ad tekka okkur ut a fostudaginn og leggja i hann til Apia fengum vid fregnir af tvi ad Claudia, tysk kona sem var tarna, vaeri ordin veik og vildi fara til Apia til ad komast i loftkaelt herbergi med klosetti, svo vid budum henni ad koma med okkur. Keyrdum tvi lengri leidina til Apia til ad alltaf vaeri stutt i klosett fyrir Claudiu og skiludum henni a hotel i Apia. Hun var mjog fegin ad hafa hitt a okkur og turfa ekki ad fara i einum ad storskritnu straetobilunum. Vid alltaf ad pikka eitthvad folk upp i bil med okkur ollum til mikillar anaegju ;) Ju og eitt enn um Samoa: Tar ganga logreglumennirnir i pilsum, sem teir kalla lavalava, mjog heimilislegt allt saman.
Tarna var eg farin ad hugsa mikid um arans daglinuna sem vid vorum ad fara ad flugja yfir, tessi daglina frikar mig algerlega ut.........vildi ekki fara yfir hana. Eg meina madur er bara ad gaufast a Samoa a fostudegi eins og enginn se morgundagurinn, fer svo i flugvel sem tekur fjora tima........og alltieinu er enginn morgundagur, tad er bara kominn hinn dagurinn!!! Halfkveid tvi ad fara yfir daglinuna bara. Flugid okkar var klukkan 2:40 eftir midnaetti a adfaranott laugardags og vid turftum ad hanga timunum saman a snarfurdulegasta flugvelli veraldar tvi vid urdum ad skila bilnum tar klukkan 23:00. Eg held ad a tessum nokkrum timum sem vid eyddum a flugvellinum hafi verid glapt meira a okkur heldum en a ollum hinum 9 dogunum a Samoa allri samanlagt!! Alveg spes, vid reyndum ad leggja okkur i bilnum adur en gaurinn fra leigunni kom ad saekja hann en tad var frekar erfitt tvi tad var svo mikid af folki tarna. Svo kom einhver drengur og lagdist a bilhurdina sja mer, held ad hann hafi jafnvel verid ad sleikja bilinn. Eg opnadi ruduna og reyndi ad tala vid hann en hann bara sagdi nokkur ord a Samoonsku sem eg ekki skildi og la bara a glugganum hja mer og glapti a mig, ta getur madur nu ekki sofid. Startadi svo bilnum til ad setja loftkaelinguna adeins i gang og ta brosti hann, veifadi, sagdi bye bye og hypjadi sig loksins eftir ad hafa hangid a bilnum i um 30 minutur krakkaofetid! En vid semsagt flugum i 4 tima og lentum a nyja Sjalandi a sunnudagsmorgni, laugardagurinn hvarf vid tad eitt ad fara yfir daglinuna bolvada.
Hulda og Vailima vinur sinn
To Sua Trench
Hulda daist ad utsyninu vid To Sua Trench
Asta vid uppahaldsstadinn, Cave Pools
Straetobill a teysingi framhja kirkju
Fjolskylda ad ferdast um gotur Apia
......sma konnun i lokin:
A eg ad stokkva nidur ur Skytower i Auckland eda ekki? Veit ekki alveg hvort eg tori.....
.....her er mynd af honum (stokkid er ur taeplega 200 metra haed!)
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