Day 34 of 100: Arriving at Franz Josef Glacier from Christchurch

Bottom of Franz Josef Glacier

We rushed to the Sydney airport to fly to Christchurch, New Zealand last night after the Sydney Bridge climb. We didn’t know what to expect in Christchurch considered that they just had a 7.1 earthquake and seems some buildings were seriously damaged. When we took the taxi to downtown, seems like majority of the town are fine.

Another early morning for Selina and I because we took the Transalpine train today from Christchurch to Arthur Pass then coach to Greymouth then another coach to Franz Josef. The train was nice. I think it is very similar to the scenic train in BC/Alberta that people take from Vancouver to Jasper or Banff.




We finally arrived in Franz Josef and we checked into Glen Fern Villa. The front desk operator was super nice and we were a bit surprised that it wasn’t just a hotel room. It is a whole house with a backyard. The whole villa was surrounded by snowcapped mountains as the background and facing a huge farm.





We enjoyed the new home a bit then we rushed to visit the glacier. We are going to take the helicopter to the top of the glacier the next day so we were walking to the bottom of the glacier today. I had never seen a glacier in my life. Strange but true given i studied in Norway. Hmmmm...anyway, we saw the bottom of the glacier from far but people told us it took 1.5 hours to walk back and forth. It really didn’t look that far but when we started walking, we knew that it really takes at least 1.5 hours of intensive walking to get back and forth. It was raining a bit but we kept on walking and we finally got rewarded for the up close view of the glacier.

Day 33 of 100: Sydney Bridge Climb

This morning, I met up with my other friend , Selina who would take the adventure with me for the next 2 weeks. Good luck, Selina! We met up at Sydney Hilton for breakfast and then we headed to the Sydney Bridge to climb the bridge. Fortunately, the weather was good and the sun has come out. We arrived, we changed into jumpsuits, we practised with climbing the stairs and we finally went out to the real thing. We pretty much walked on the narrow catwalk alongside the bridge structure until we arrived at the arch of the famous Sydney bridge. Selina was afraid of height so need to thank her for experiencing this with me. We walked to the highest point of the arch and then across and came down. Of course, we could pretty much see all the surrounding area from the top of the bridge but tourists like selina and i, would automatically lock our eyes on one of the most iconic structures in the world, yeah, you guessed it right...the Opera house. The whole climb was about 3 hours and it wasn’t that demanding as selina originally thought. Since we were not allowed to bring camera, we pretty much have to purchase the official yet expensive photos at the souvenir store. Here are some shots we took from the adjacent tower and you can see i was trying to swallow the opera house...LOL

Can you see those people climbing up the Sydney Bridge???? We were one of those in the morning.

Having fun with the Opera House!

Artistic Shot from Selina (Thanks!)

Day 31: GOING DOWN under

I took the Singapore airlines biz class to Sydney today. Since i was staying at the airport hotel, it was just a 5 mins walk to check in. As i am also Star Alliance gold member plus biz class, check-in was done in 3 mins. The flight was smooth and i don’t think i need to say more for the 1st class service, entertainment and food on board with Singapore Airlines.

A few hours after departure, i finally saw the northern point of Oz. I was kinda excited because i always wanted to go to Oz. Seems like people are super nice and friendly and the natural scenery of the country is amazing. But isn’t it Canada like that too? I guess so...Anyway, when we flew pass alice spring, i had my camera ready because i thought i would be able to see Ayres Rock from the air as the sky was cloudless for miles and miles. I was disappointed. The landscape was totally red so i guess it would be difficult to spot the red rock from the rest.

Far north of Oz

Arriving in Sydney finally but it was it a bit rainy. I checked into Sydney Hilton which was attached to a historical building. Since it was dark and rainy, i couldn’t tell my first impression of Sydney. I walked to the harbourfront to search for the famous landmark, Opera house. Still there & still nice with lights on at night. I walked around a bit and hopefully i would have better luck the next day to form my “1st impression” of Sydney.

just jumping in front of Sydney Tower

See what the Aussie did to the Queen!!!

Day 30 of 100: Hotel Raider: Crowne Plaza Changi Airport

Swimming pool

Due to the 6-hour delay of my flight from Hanoi to Singapore, I finally arrived in Singapore at 8am. I wasted one night of hotel at the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport but oh well , Cest la Vive. I found this hotel conveniently attached to the airport so basically 5 mins from arrival hall, you are at the lobby. I checked in and got to my room...hmmmm..very interesting. It is very modern but the design is not shy away from boldness. Take a look at my room and you will know what I mean. It is hot in Singapore so i decided to take a dip into the swimming pool. Interesting as well because the pool water tasted so clean...didnt feel like i was dipped into a pound full of chemical. I actually felt like i was swimming in distilled bottle water....the feeling was actually quite interesting and i have never had the same feeling about pool water. So, if you have a chance to stay in this hotel, try the pool for sure.

Lobby

Day 29 of 100: Leaving Hanoi on a day that doesnt exit in calendar !!!!



Lynn and I got our own spa appointment today. I was determined to have my hair cut today in Hanoi. Do you wanna check out the before and after photos?


Before Hair Cut



After Hair Cut



Since i finished my hair cut earlier, i was walking around Hanoi a bit for some last minute shopping. Guest whom i bumped into? My boat jumping buddies from the halong bay tour!!!




My boat-jumping buddies (Joe, Rachel, Rob, Jerome & me)

 I was supposed to fly to Singapore tonite with Tiger Airways. My first time with this budget airline but i got my 3.5 hours flight for US$2. Yes $2 for my ticket but $75 for the taxes.....hahahha..but compared to what we use to pay in Canada, it is still very cheap, eh? Problem today was after i said goodbye to Lynn and took and an hour taxi to the airport, i realized my flight was delayed from 9pm to 4am. WHAT? Luckily the check-in counter was opened so at least i can check in my luggage. I decided to took and hour taxi back to Hanoi hotel and sleep there for 3 hours then took an hour taxi back to the airport at 1:45am. By the time i arrived at the airport, it was almost 3am. May be because the immigration officer was too sleepy. Today is Sept 30, 2010. He picked up the stamp and switch the date by one. So I got the stamp to prove that i left Hanoi on Sept 31,2010....AHHHHHHHH....i left Hanoi on a date that doesn’t exit...LOL..

Immigration Officer stamped Sept 31, 2010...LOL...



Day 28 of 100 Hanoi 1000-year celebration

It just happened when we were at Hanoi that the whole city was gearing up for the city’s 1000-year celebration. We noticed that the whole city was decorated by colourful banners, balloons and , of course, giant political propaganda posters and statues. Nightly laser night shows at the famous centre lake as well. Of course, the city was flooded with people walking around even at mid-night. This reminded me what Vancouver was like during the Winter Olympic in February 2010. I have never seen so many people during day and night in downtown Vancouver.

It just happened when we were at Hanoi that the whole city was gearing up for the city’s 1000-year celebration. We noticed that the whole city was decorated by colourful banners, balloons and , of course, giant political propaganda posters and statues. Nightly laser night shows at the famous centre lake as well. Of course, the city was flooded with people walking around even at mid-night. This reminded me what Vancouver was like during the Winter Olympic in February 2010. I have never seen so many people during day and night in downtown Vancouver.

Day 26 of 100: Halong Bay

We arrived at the kangaroo cafe very early in the morning for the halong bay tour. Pretty interesting group we had in the tour. In addition to Lynn and me, we had Robert & Rachel from UK, Joe from US, Jerome from France, a family of 4 from Melbourne, Oz and 4 friends traveling from Malaysia. Not much interaction at the beginning of the 5-hour coach ride from Hanoi to halong bay. The traffic was really bad and it probably took us more than 1.5 hrs to get out of the city. Of course, you would expect the normal washroom and shopping breaks the tour guide would take you.

Finally we arrived in halong bay and we are on the boat. First time we have to be face-to-face around a long table for lunch and it was a bit awkward at the beginning. Be honest, i havnt joined a tour for a long time so it has been a while that we need to “fight” for food with “strangers”...

Halong Bay

on the Junk boat

Famous Halong Bay

AMAZING CAVE

In the afternoon, the boat arrived at the Amazing cave. At the beginning, the cave was kinda small and nothing really amazing about it. When we moved to the 2nd and 3rd caves, the size are getting bigger and bigger. Even though there were color lights to shine on the limestones, it wasn’t THAT amazing. However, when i started to look at the pictures i took, wow....all the color came out nicely and I just cannot believe my eyes. See pictures below and i was really amazed with the pics.




Jumping from the boat..."if you jump, i jump.."
In the afternoon, the boat was staying in a relatively calm harbour. My tour-mates started jumping from the boat. They started to jump from the 1st (lower) level but they moved on to the top of the boat (3rd level). I’m a slow starter so I started low but eventually graduated at the 2nd level. It was very fun and people from other boats started to think we were crazy!...Seems like we were the only boat in the area that people kept on jumping.

My boat jumping buddies: Rob, Rachel, Joe, Jerome & me

At nite, the captained had to start the engine so that there was electricity overnite. My room was the closest to the engine room. However, I couldn’t stand the smell of the gasoline so i volunteered to sleep on the deck. It turned out to be a wonderful way to experience halong bay. It wasn’t hot at nite, it wasn’t humid. With the sea breeze, it was just perfect. Also, the junk boat was in the middle of the sea and far from civilization. I could see the sky full of stars at night. I didn’t really want to fall asleep as i felt amazingly good in the setting.