Wrapping up 2015!

 

We’re almost getting to that time again, the new year is approaching upon us and soon we’ll be saying ‘Au revoir’ to 2015. Feeling truly grateful for this year, for all the blessings, health, places I’ve left my footsteps behind, ’once in a lifetime’ experiences that I wouldn’t trade it for the world and destinations that swept me off my feet. These highlights gave me butterflies as well as affirmation for the choices I made in life. To live in the present. To live for these moments.

 

I couldn't be happier with how “Minimalism” way of living has helped me to open my eyes to see what’s important in life and what matters the most. It all make sense now. Because for this very reason, it’s possible for me to go to these dreamy places. Determination and some sacrifice here and there worth the rewards in the end. By not accumulating more possessions, I realized that I already have more than I need and really appreciate them instead.  More space equals clearer mind so I heard. This way, I can focus more on doing what I love the most.

 

 

First travel this year was a summer weekend away at a coastal place in the North Island of New Zealand called Mount Maunganui. It was early morning departure, weather was bit chilly and we were cruising away on the lookout for Common Dolphins who are known to be the local residents here. Then 1, 2, 3….. a pod started to appear from a distance, they  came closer to the boat and racing alongside us! Mothers and calves. Captain slowed the boat down and whoever wanted to snorkel with them can jump into the water. It was adorable to hear their squeaky noise. We had to make funny noises in our snorkelling gear too to entertain them. I guess it takes two to tango after all!

 

Then came Easter. I whisked myself away to the South Pacific country called Kingdom of Tonga. From soaking in fresh water pool in Anahulu cave to going around the island on local rickety bus, Tonga was indeed a place I longed to return.

 

Long weekend trip to South Island before Autumn was next. My mission was to do some walks at the national park and check out tallest mountain in NZ. Unlucky with the weather, Mt Cook was shy to come out and play. Headed to Kaikoura, it was again unlucky to spot any Whales however thoroughly enjoyed flying experience above the mountain ranges and over Kaikoura ocean.  Followed by a short trek afterwards to Ohau Falls, watching pod of seal pups jumping in and out of the water. Such a cute performance!

 

I was on the plane back to South Island the following month for another attempt of Whale Watching. Why not since it was a free attempt! Second time lucky this time, it was awesome to fly over a Sperm Whale finally! Then a day visit to quirky Akaroa, admiring a French settlement town on the peninsula. A night spent in 'Jailhouse' afterwards, it's not as freaky as  it sounds, it was in fact a jail converted hostel. Still lived up to the experience I'd say!

 

Few months passed by,  came the big trip that I had been yearning for in over a year. South America! 6 weeks filled with adventures, cultures, trying new things that enticing, mesmerising and challenging.

 

Then a return trip to Tonga. Eua Island has definitely given me more than what I bargained for. Swimming with Humpback whales in their natural habitat, its friendly calf who were curious to us as we were to him! Hiked around national park, drinking water from a tree branch, devouring papaya, exploring numerous of caves to name a few.

 

Hiking trip to South Island, New Zealand on the weekend of November. Off-roading the road to Lake Coleridge, driving through Alpine forest, hiking the Port Hills track, submerging in the thermal pool of Hanmer Springs.

 

To close off this year, I'll be heading back across the ditch. Always been intrigued to see one of the whitest beach in the world, Whitehaven in Whitsunday Islands, Australia. They said it was so pure and clean, you can wash your jewellery in it! Not that I have fancy jewellery to wash ha!  Then bus up north to Townsville and short ferry ride to Magnetic Island to do some hikes and hopefully spot some Koalas, my favourite animal, living in the wild chewing on some eucalyptus leaves or perhaps having a snooze on tree branches. As what they do best!

 

That is all folks! my wrap up of 2015 adventure filled year. I’d say bring on the new year! To you who believe in dreams; keep traveling, keep dreaming, keep on keeping on....

 

 

 

Keeping It Real in Brazil

After spending a week on my own getting to know some locals and checking out this fabulous city of Rio(previous blog), I joined up with Tucan Travel and for the next 28 days we were traveling overland with 'Rosita', she's a bright yellow truck-converted bus who took us on an epic journey to countless beaches, local villages, colorful valleys, mountain ranges all the way from world's famous Rio to one of highest altitude cities in the world, La Paz in Bolivia. Since we were only a small group, it was great in terms of space we had in the truck for each of us. The truck can hold up to 30 people capacity however we were only 7 at that time plus 1 guide and 1 driver. It was much better arrangements. Inside the truck there were couple of tables for socializing, eating etc while at the back of the bus there was a bookshelf from South America Lonely Planet edition to kinds of novel genre to name a few. We all can help ourselves with any book we fancied to read while on the road. 

Colourful town of Paraty

We divided our group in to two, alternating who's in charge for doing the cooking and washing dishes. If one team was doing cooking & grocery shopping, the other team was in charge of the dishes afterwards. Our Tour Leader, Virginia(V) happened to have a formal Cooking background, I remember when we had Pizza night, she could whip up homemade pizza from scratch. The verdict? it was a restaurant quality, delicioso indeed! The rest of the meals were enjoyable too, by cooking our meals, we were always eating fresh home made dish! We didn't cook every night though, only when we were camping. Speaking of Camping, this was one of our accommodation type, we camped for around 2 weeks in total on many various places of Brazil and Argentina. As for the rest of the duration we were mixing between staying in Hostel Dorms and Hotels.

Paraty baby!

"Rosita" caught checking out the view  :)

First stop of this Tucan trip was a costal town of Paraty, around 4 hours drive from Rio. It's known as historic town surrounded with beaches and mountain ranges. We pitched our tent here and stayed for 3 days however we were quite unlucky with the weather. Only the first afternoon we arrived, it was a nice day so we tried to make the best of it and went to nearby beach and hit the ocean. We enjoyed the afternoon before sunset with few of potent Brazilian national cocktails, Caipirinhas in hand. It was proven that the Cachaca(local white rum made of sugar cane) content were very generous! No one was complaining obviously haha! We took a day cruise the next day although it was overcast in the morning and showers came later in the day, we did manage to do some snorkeling and cruising around nearby islands before the rain got heavier. More Caipirinhas please!

Marajuca Caipirinha-Caipirinha Passion Fruit

Local lady weaving in Paraty

Some entertainment we got going on here!

Our next stop from Paraty was Pantanal. Due to the distance to reach this place, we had to break the journey and stayed the night in a small town called Brotas. It's known as an Eco-Tourism destination. However, since we only arrived here in the evening, we didn't venture much of what this place has to offer. After pitching the tent, we had cold dip in the pool and devoured on pasta dish afterwards. We wandered around the small town center, had couple of drinks before we all hit the sack.

What a welcome sight in Pantanal!

Hungry boys?

Leaving Brotas the next rainy morning, we continued our way to Pantanal. After around 10 hours on the road, the ride became more bumpy. We were driving on gravel road, which finally, we were crossing into Pantanal region. Pantanal is one of the biggest wetlands in the world that is famous for its wildlife like jaguar, capybara (largest rodent in the world), caimans, howler monkeys, piranhas, colorful and exotic range of birds such as Macaws and Tucan. This was our home for the next three days with hammocks as our bed. I really loved this place and its simplicity. The accommodation was quite rustic, we slept above the kitchen. Yes it gets quite smokey at times, also don't get me started with the mosquitoes, they were in fact massive and somehow mauled us alive! However I tried not to be bothered with these minor distractions. We were all there to switch off, connected with nature and eat amazing Brazilian food that the cook prepared for us every day. Those were literally the things we did for the entire time. There was a river behind our accommodation and it was infested with caimans and piranhas! It seems they were not a threat to us vice versa, some of the guys were brave enough to jump and swim in that murky river. I had my feet soaked knee deep only though. We did horse riding and jungle trekking with our lovely guide, Pedro, who were in fact, always bare feet. Then we had jeep safari during day and night on the lookout of some exotic animals that call this place home. We saw a family of capybara as they were submerging into the river, they were in fact much cuter than a rat! we also came across a snake tried to cross the road in the middle of the night, then there was Tapir, an animal looks like pig but with trunk; and more caymans along the river, both dead and alive, we saw vultures in action, scavenging some dead animals. Although we didn't come across Jaguar on both of our safaris, overall it was still amazing encounters with the wildlife! In one afternoon we were cruising the river with Pedro and made a stop somewhere to fish some Piranhas. When we caught them, they made this distinctive noise and I couldn't help myself to quickly touch its sharp teeth. We took some of our decent size catch back to our shack kitchen and handed to the cook to work her magic on them and served it to us. How often do you have Piranhas on the menu for dinner? It turned out to be very tasty and meaty for a small fish. We demolished it in no time! Right to the very bone. Oh wait, the latter was just me lol. I have obsession with bones! Sometime I even wonder why I have couple of fangs.

Piranha

River Cruising

Every night we saw capybaras and foxes gathered around our place, lurking in the distance. It was so surreal to be surrounded by these exotic animals. Also they were harmless if you don't disturb them. Every morning we were awoken by a choir of Blue Macaws and other birds that constantly singing above our hammock shack. Strangely they were all making noise at the exact same time. That was our alarm clock indeed. Ah for me, Pantanal was truly one of my favorite places of all time. 

After bidding goodbye to this gem, we drove to Bonito. It's renowned of river snorkeling destination in the world, where the color was unbelievably crystal clear blue with high visibility to spot many colorful fishes in the distance, some of its famous resident were group of big and scary, Dourado. We camped again here and did some excursions like snorkeling in Rio da Prata river, visiting Gruta da Lago Azul, a cave where we took 300 steps down to the deep cavern to reach the blue lagoon. Stunningly beautiful! We also did Tubing in the river, where we were floating on our own tube passing some waterfalls and rapids. It was more kind of relaxing activity to spend the afternoon. 

From here we made our way to Foz do Iguassu or easily translated as Iguazu Falls. Due to its far distance from Bonito, we had to make a stop and slept overnight on the road. Waking up with sore back, we continued on to our final destination across Brazil. I think we were all pretty excited to finally see one of the biggest waterfalls in the world. To get to the falls, from the entrance, we had to hop on the bus and ride for about 10 minutes and from there, it was where the trek to the waterfalls started. Even from a distance we can already hear the roar and thunderous noise, it built up our excitements even more! As we finally saw the waterfalls, we were just standing there in amazement, trying to comprehend this massive mother nature right before our eyes. To see waterfalls on that scale with rainbows everywhere, falls roaring loudly on the background was just overwhelming. A breathtaking sight indeed! We then continued our walk following the trek surrounded by lush tropical forest to get closer to the falls. Then we got to the place called Devil's Throat, which was a footbridge where we could get closer to the falls and ended up soaking wet from the spray. I opened my mouth widely letting the Iguazu goodness quenching my thirst and screamed for more! It was one of the most surreal feelings I could ever experience! My admiration of waterfalls was at its peak! I could stand there without a worry in the world staring at the gushing water before my eyes and soaking at that immense power forever. 

Majestic Iguazu Falls

Once all the excitements calmed down, we hopped on the public bus and made our way to the adjacent country of Paraguay. Funnily enough, you don't need visa or passport to get through the border. From town centre we each paid about $3 Brazillian Real which was nothing and made across the border in 20 minutes. Paraguay at the border of Foz do Iguazu is known as shopping destination for Brazilian and tourists who were in the vicinity. It caters from cheap clothes to electronics. You do need to bargain to get best price though. 

Such a delightful time overall in Brazil! I miss it every time my memory brings me back there. Just writing this gave me butterflies, cherishing those moments spent in this beautiful and diverse country. Foz do Iguassu was the conclusion of our time here then we drove to the border, said "Adeus" to Brazil and headed to our next stop, Argentina! 

 

Brazil, OBRIGADA!

Cave with Blue Lagoon

Brazilian Flag

Rainbows everywhere. So pretty!

Devil's Throat footbridge

It's Rio Baby!

 

 

15th August 2015, I woke up with so much excitement, a year’s wait is finally over. The day I will see new continent of South America has come.  My route was Auckland - Rio de Janeiro via Santiago. Flying over Andes mountain from Chile to Brazil gave me buzz & butterflies! I can only sit there in amazement, looking out from my window seat to the mountains that were emerging between the clouds. We live in such a beautiful world, my friends.

 

 

Christ the Redeemer

 

 

 

 

 

I stayed 7 days in Rio on my own before I joined Tucan Travel, a company that specialized for touring South America. We were traveling 28 days by truck-converted bus that took us from Rio de Janeiro all the way to La Paz in Bolivia.  In between my sightseeing in Rio, my mornings were spent going back and forth to Argentinian Embassy, checking if my visa has been issued or not(Argentina was the country I visited after Brazil). These bureaucracy were such a hassle and time wasting process as it was continuation since I was still in Auckland. In the end, they didn't even issue my visa in Rio, instead it was right on the border city of Foz do Iguasu a day before crossing over to Argentina! Such a nail biting moment!

 

 

 

 

 

There was so much to do in Rio, I stayed few days near Copacabana beach so I can just walk there from my hostel. I admit that I like people watching, but not in a creepy way. In Copacabana and other beaches scattered around Rio like Ipanema and Leblon,  there were many characters and street vendors that were quite entertaining. Or there’s always beach volley ball match that I can watch.  I talked occasionally to locals, trying to pick up few words of Portuguese. Brazilians are very friendly bunch. They always willing to help or strike up conversations. I took city tour  for a day that took me to the landmark that is known as the most visited spot in Brazil, Christo Redentor or Christ the Redeemer. Standing tall around 38m on the highest point in Rio, you can see him from miles away at almost all part of this city. When the statue was lighted at night, he really looked like an angel from a distance. I then went to Escadaria Selaron that situated in Lapa. This is a famous staircase that was created by a Chilean Artist as dedication to Brazilian people. The stairs were covered in ceramics from around the world and in such a vibrant colour. Another landmark I visited was Pao de Acucar or  Sugar Loaf mountain, situated on a peninsula. Good timing for all of us to arrive there before sunset. We took couple of cable cars to the highest point and secured a spot to watch the last light of Rio. Sunset was breathtaking. Panoramic city view with the orange and yellow color set in the background and peninsula on the other side. Easily decided as my favorite City sunset to date. I also took public transports to go around as Rio has good system for buses and metro. It's the best way to see daily life of local people.

 

 

 

Sugar Loaf Sunset

 

 

 



 

 

I moved from my hostel in Copabacana to Lapa district, it’s on the other side of the city. Lapa is famous for ample of Samba bars, Brazilian live music and old colourful buildings. In some area, dark alleys in Lapa can be dodgy and dangerous. There were few occasions of robbery etc. Nevertheless, it should not stop you to go out and have some Samba boogie. You just need to be aware at all times where you are and what’s around you. There was this one place that recommended to me by a girl I met when we were both soaking ourselves under the sun in Copacabana beach. It’s called Rio Scenarium. So I went there one night and just from seeing how the place looked from outside, I was already sold. This bar has three floors with interior like a museum. You can walk around the bars and admire all the craft and arts covering the walls. When the band started playing Samba music, everyone was just melting to the atmosphere, dancing, singing and pulling strangers to dance floor to dance the night away. I thought for once I was in trance and just joined in with the crowd. If you ever find yourself in Rio, don’t miss this place!

 

 

 

Escadaria Selaron(Selaron Steps)

 

 

 

 

 

I went to visit Favelas out of curiosity. Favelas itself is a word in Portuguese for slums. The biggest favelas that we visited was called Rocinha, there are about 200,000 people living in this poor neighbourhood. I joined up with “Be A Local” walking tour and with a local guide, we were wandering the very narrow and labyrinth-shaped alley ways from the top of the favelas.  Seeing how they live their daily life, their tricks on how to get away from paying their electricity bills, visiting a day care centre, watching local boys performed Samba with just empty water gallons as instruments, watching how they built their shoe-box house on top of each other that can be up to six levels. It was such a mix feelings. Growing up in Indonesia, I’ve seen a lot of poverty myself. However, it’s still fascinating to see how people survive and live their everyday life as struggle yet still find goodness in it. There so many positive things about traveling and one of them is countless opportunities to connect with all human being regardless of who they are and where they live.

 

  

"Once a year, go someplace you've never been before" - Dalai Lama

 

 

Favelas of Rocinha

 

 

 

Alleyways in Rocinha

 

 

Lapa

 

 

Lapa

  

 

What's your size? -Copacabana beach-

 

 

 

Leblon Beach

 

 

 

Back On The Road

Since my last attempt to see Whales in Kaikoura has been unsuccessful(see previous blog), the operator from "Wings Over Whales" kindly gave free of charge for second attempt to all the passengers that were on the plane. I really wanted to see Whales, so when the next opportunity of long weekend emerged, I booked my flight and made my way back to this 'quiet yet thriving with wildlife' little town. 

Flying over Southern Alps

 

This time I didn't stay the night in Christchurch as I wanted to maximize my time in Kaikoura. So after picking up my rental car, I drove straight there. I stayed at Dolphin Lodge backpackers for two nights. It was a small backpackers with lively atmosphere. I spent the evenings sitting by the fireplace and hung out with other visitors and two cute house cats, Red and Blue. In the morning, I had my breakfast outside on the balcony overlooking the snow-capped mountains. A friendly German girl then joined me for breakfast. We started to talk from A to Z, I love hearing stories from other travelers, their adventures and misadventures. I felt uplifted afterwards. One of many things that I love about Solo Travel is the constant connections with others, whether they are people, nature or wildlife. You are alone but never lonely. There's always strangers you can converse to either at hostels, a park bench or long train rides. It might have never happened had you not been there by yourself. There is always moments of sharing, even if you're on your own. 

 

Red the cat at Dolphin Lodge

Not a bad view to wake up to at Dolphin Lodge

Second time around on the mission of this Whale Watching, we were back, up in the sky, circling above the same trench as we did last time, then finally spotted something on the surface that looked like a log. And then there was another log. As we got bit closer, the Pilot told us they were Sperm and Humpback Whales! I almost pinched myself! Sitting in the front of the plane next to the Pilot for the first time in my life and finally saw Whales beneath me was such a surreal feeling. It was a "once in a lifetime" moment really.  Another long life dream was ticked off. We saw when the Whales breathe, showing a spray from its blow hole that can be seen from afar, then its lifted the tail flukes out of the water as he went down for a deep dive. I was beyond stoked! Big shout to "Wings Over Whales" flight operator for giving me this second time around opportunity! The sighting of Whales and some Dusky Dolphins was something that I won't forget for a very long time.

Finally a Whale in sight!

Before we flew up, up and away!

Kaikoura from above

I then drove to Ohau Falls once I managed to keep my calm back from too much excitement in the sky. Ohau Falls is one of to go places for Fur Seal colony. It's about 20 minutes drive from Kaikoura town centre. Beautiful but a bit windy drive with ocean view on your right side for as long as your eyes can see. As I arrived in Ohau Falls, there was short trek to get to the falls that was passing by a stream. It was lovely bush walk. Despite the cold temperature, I really enjoyed the trek, loved the smell of woods, seeing the shaft of light through the trees and all the sounds of the chirping birds around me. Then I started to hear the sound of waterfalls, I was almost there. And here they were, Baby Seals jumping in and out of the water, greeted me with their playful poses and swimming under the freezing waterfall. It was like watching live screening of "Animal Planet" I really could not contain my feelings, the big smile on my cheeks really says it all! There was a lot of Awww moments, cuteness overload. Their big beautiful brown eyes, confidently striking one pose after another. Just by watching them, I was in total bliss . I was aware that the cold started to creeping in but I tried to ignore that feeling and stood there in amazement, not wanting to leave. 

Fur Seal Pups

From Kaikoura, I continued driving to Akaroa, a beautiful quaint French town. Since this place is a French Settlement, it was so obvious that all the French theme were all over the town, from shops, street names to historical colonial buildings. It is also known to be the only place in the world where you can swim with the smallest and rarest Dolphin called Hector Dolphins. My visit in Akaroa was short and sweet, I spent my day exploring this tiny town and around the waterfront on foot, taking some photos and eating fish and chips. Maybe next time I'll go back and stay the night. 

 

First glimpse of Akaroa

Beautiful Akaroa

Akaroa, quaint French town

I made my way back to Christchurch and this time instead of staying in my usual hostel, I wanted to try sleeping in Jail. Yes you read that right! Jailhouse Accommodation was used to be a historic prison back in the days up to late 90s before it was converted to hostel and opened to public in 2006. It is voted to be the Top Hostel in Oceania by Hostelworld as well as being consistently recommended place to stay in Lonely Planet. I must admit that I felt a bit intimidated when I stood outside looking at the building, the idea of sleeping in a cell that night just sounded creepy. However my feeling was quickly lifted with all the thrills and the excitements once I entered the building. Friendly receptionist or should I say 'Prison Guard' eased my nerves as he explained all what I needed to know about my stay there. He took me to my cell for the night and I was officially an Inmate. I then went to explore the complex and from my point of view, I think the facilities were great. This place was immaculately clean, it has spacious Dorm room and comfortable bed complete with hot water bottle next to my bed. What more do you need? As I continued walking, I found one original cell that has all the drawings from inmate who was there. It was good to admire them just as you admire art in other galleries. Staying in the Jailhouse was definitely different and unique experience, I quite enjoyed being detained for the night actually! And best thing was, I got to keep the key and managed to unlock myself out the next morning! #prisonbreak lol

 

Jailhouse Accommodation, Christchurch

Inside the "Jail"

Ohau Falls

Street names in Akaroa

Akaroa

What are you drawing, kind Sir? -Akaroa-

It's not just the destination that matters. Stop and appreciate the view

Here's Kaikoura!

Seal pups at Ohau Falls

First light of the day at 30,000 feet