Australia

 

Photo Extravaganza!

Australia - August 01, 2006

New photos have just been uploaded for Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and New Zealand! We'll be adding descriptions and stories in the very near future (as well as adding additional photos for Australia). There is one small catch: We've decided to switch our photo system over to Flickr. It's definitely not as pretty, but will save us literally hundreds of hours. We loved our gallery, but it required us to create multiple lines of code for each entry, which was very time consuming. And coding the entries needed to be done while we were online, limiting what we could do when our internet access was limited (which it often is). So, for the time being (or until we can figure out a better solution), THIS will be our new photo home.

I am writing this from Cairns, Australia at the moment. We had an opportunity just a few days ago to fulfill one of my life dreams, scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. It was an amazing experience to say the least. We rented an underwater camera and will be posting photos of the dive in a week or so. In just a few hours we're off to Asia, our fifth continent of the adventure. We'll first fly in to Singapore and will then travel overland all the way to Vietnam, traveling through Malaysia, Thailand, Laos (possibly) and Cambodia over the next two months. We are very excited about a few potential projects in Asia, including a house rebuilding project, a rural project in China and several various projects in India. More information is definitely on the way. There will be some amazing opportunities for you all to get involved as well. Stay posted. Until next time... -Lee

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The "Favorites" Lists

Australia - July 24, 2006

Today officially marks the midway point in our adventure! To mark this occasion, we have decided to compile a list of some of our favorites and and not-so-favorite memories from the past 6 months of travel.

Favorite Country
(Both) Bolivia

Favorite Cities
(P) Lausanne, Switzerland
Sydney, Australia

(L) Buenos Aires, Argentina
London, England
Lausanne, Switzerland

Least Favorite Country
(Both) Paraguay. Can also be referred to as Hellaguay.

Least Favorite City
(P) Asuncion, Paraguay
(L) Ciudad de Este, Paraguay

Best Hostels
Hostel Inn Marco Polo in Bariloche, Argentina
Free breakfast and dinner, free internet/WiFi, free movies, free travel bookings, free coffee, very trendy cafe/bar, great staff

Hotel Esmeralda in Coroico, Bolivia
Sub-tropical surroundings, huge rooms, private balconies and spectacular views.

Hotel Playa Blanca (Salt Hotel) in Uyuni, Bolivia
A hotel built completely out of salt blocks in the middle of the incredible salt flats. It's rumored Madonna even stayed there.

Worst Hostel
HI Hostel Campo Base I, Mendoza, Argentina
If you've pulled a Tour of Duty in a submarine you'll feel right at home here.

Favorite Meals
(P) Fondue at the Junod Residence in Switzerland
Any food at Las Islas in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Fruit Salad, Cochabamba, Bolivia

(L) Crepes at the Junod Residence in Switzerland
Indian food with Mr. and Mrs. Boys Smith in London, England
Fruit Salad in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Burrito at the Bearded Monkey hostel in Granada, Nicaragua

Food We Crave The Most:
(Both) Liquados (fruit smoothies) for $0.40 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Dulce Saltenas in Bolivia
(L) Ice cream in Argentina
(P) Sliced Mangos in Honduras

Most Affordable Meal:
Baguette, Soup, Side Salad, Main Entree and Desert
$0.56
La Paz Bolivia

Most Epic Commute:
(P) Water taxi from Caye Caulker to Belize City
(L) Entering Santiago, Chile. There's something amazing about riding into a metropolis and looking up to see the second highest mountain range in the world just a few miles away.

Worst Commute
(Both) Santa Cruz, Bolivia to Asuncion, Paraguay
Besides the fact that this was a 30 hour bus ride on bumpy dirt roads, we also had the privledge of getting our laptop, digital camera and a slew of other items stolen on this horrid journey.

Most Crowded Vehicle
Huaraz, Peru: 21 people & 1 chicken in 15 passenger mini-van

Best Trek
Santa Cruz trek in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. There are more than 50 peaks over 18,000 feet in this region! By contrast, North America has only three such mountains.

Favorite Moments
(P) Mountain biking on the World's Most Dangerous Road
(L) Base jumping off the 630 foot Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand

Best Gear
(Both) iGo universal power, External micro hard drive, Laptop, iPods, GoreTex jackets
(L) Shure E3c headphones, Custom-molded earplugs (for the really loud nights), Waterproof ASolo shoes with Vibram soles
(P) Deuter waterproof backpack cover, Cocoon silk travel liner, U3 compatible USB thumb drive

Must-Haves For the Long Term Traveler:
Audio books from Audible for those long bus rides or endless hours/days of waiting at bus terminals and airports.
Anything from PacSafe
A Skype account.
First Need water filter

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