Ugh

What the hell is wrong with me?  I'm two weeks behind, and still have to write about New England, Philadelphia, and a few days in Washington, D.C.

/acknowledges laziness

He's down with OPP

A friendly officer, willing to let me take his photo.

Stands for Ontario Province Police; they patrol the small towns throughout the province.  And speaking of the OPP... I saw a few of their cars at the border crossing south of Thunder Bay.  I was randomly (??) selected there for questioning by the customs or immigration officers, not sure which.

What a waste of time; they must have asked me about 30 questions.  Did they really need to ask me where I went to college?!  No!  But they did answer all of the questions I had for them too, although I'll never know if they told me the truth.  Like they'll never know if I told the truth!  Bwahahaha!   /rubs hands together in perfect mixture of glee and villainy/

Anyway, I met the officer above somewhere along the north coast of Lake Superior, where I stopped to visit the lighthouse in a really small town.  There was very little to see along that drive, which took a couple days, but overall it was a nice drive.  The scenery was nice -- pine trees, mostly, and gentle hills.  And I got the impression that a lot of people visit the area in summer to stay in summer cottages, but there sure wasn't a lot to do.

I don't know the full story, but north of Lake Superior, people stack rocks everywhere.  If you know they are there, you'll see them all over the place, like on ridges along the highway.

Things were more interesting near Sault Ste. Marie (pronounced Soo Saint Marie, for those who don't know), but I'll write about that later.  I'm going for a jog while the weather is still cool.

North through Minnesota

After leaving Iowa, I drove north through Minnesota.  It was never my intention to spend a lot of time there, but I did see a couple of things -- or tried to, at any rate.

Heading towards Minneapolis (which has bad traffic, by the way), I stopped in a small town to see the William W. Mayo house, of Mayo Clinic fame.  It's just a little old house, but could have been a nice way to break up the drive.  But it was closed, due to the state government's shutdown.  I read a few days later that Minnesotans were running out of alcohol too; I guess people must buy it from government-own facilities or something.  Hehe.

Closed!

So that was a bust.  I also stopped in Mankato, because a good friend of mine used to live there and practice law.  Now maybe I just drove through the wrong parts of town, because Mankato looked nothing like what I imagined my pal would want to live in.  The first half -- more than half, actually -- was on giant strip mall.  It just went on and on... and I can't imagine my pal liking that at all.  As I was heading out of town, I stopped for a while on this really hippy retail street.  Crystal shops, yoga studios, healthy shake stores, etc.  I liked that street, at least, especially its used book store, but can't imagine my friend there either.  So Mankato was kind of a bust, too, as I just wanted to get out of there.

Ah well, I covered quite a bit of distance in the car that day, despite the stops, and spent a nice night camping south of Duluth.  Not the most interesting of days, I guess, but I knew I'd have days like this when I started on the trip.  And outside of Minneapolis and a little bit Mankato, the roads in Minnesota were a pleasure to drive.  Open and very little traffic.  In fact, there were stretches in southern Minnesota were I could drive for several minutes without seeing another car.  Several minutes doesn't sound like a lot, until you think about the last time you drove anywhere and didn't see another car for 5 minutes.  It just doesn't happen in most places.

Heading off again soon

So... I thought that when I returned to the States on May 1, I would keep writing. Not every day, but every few days, at least. To wrap up my thoughts about my big trip, to write about my days loafing around DC and Cleveland, and what was coming up next. But no. I was LAZE-EE and frankly, bored of writing. I'm not a writer by nature and had to be very disciplined to do it almost every day on my trip. But I'll pick it up again because I'm about to start travelling again.

This time, it will be a road trip across North America! My route is ... well, all over the place, but I'm heading towards Iowa first, stopping to visit a few friends along the way. After that, I plan to see a little bit of everything, including Canada, but NOT including Alaska or Hawaii. The former is just too far away and the latter cannot be reached by car.

So watch this spot for a few more bits about what I've been up to lately and more importantly, to find out more about the USA.

Day 108: Dragging my ass all over Cusco (April 25, 2011)

I wouldn't call today a "nightmare" because it wasn't that bad, but this was one of the more annoying days of my trip.  Despite having thousands of visitors to Machu Picchu every year, the region is not very visitor-friendly.  Maybe most people books their trip through travel agents and so don't have to deal with all the hassles, but for an independent traveler, it's a real pain to get tickets, etc.

First, nothing is signed very well.  Even big and basic stops like the train station, although I managed to find that without too much difficulty.  And buying my train tickets went pretty smoothly.  But then I needed to buy my actual ticket to Machu Picchu.  I could wait until I got there, but I didn't want to risk the tickets selling out, or the ticket booth not being open when I needed it to be.  But only one place in Cusco sells tickets to Machu Picchu, and it is not signed at all.  Nor is it close to anywhere that tourists might naturally be, like the train station or the main plaza, or near museums.  Three different people gave me decent directions on how to get there, and I walked past it 3 times until I finally found it.  Then the ticket office was bizzare.  You have to book your ticket in one line, and pay for your ticket in another line.  And the lines aren't signed, not even in Spanish.  It was a real drag.  But I did get to see a lot more of the city on foot, and got my exercise for the day.

Some Incan ruins in Cusco.

A church -- one of many.

I'm hopeful I made a good plan for myself.  I'll take a local bus tomorrow to about halfway to Machu Picchu, where these is an old city named Ollantaytambo, which has some ruins of its own.  I'll spend several hours there then catch the train to Aguas Calientes, the little town near Machu Picchu.  The next morning, I'll wake up at about 5am to take a bus to Machu Picchu.  Well, my plan is to get up that early.  If I don't, I won't be able to beat all the tour groups that arrive on the train at 9:30, and I'd really like to see the place before it's completely swamped.  Since I know it will be my second-to-last early monring for my whole trip, I should be able to get up in time (the last early morning being the day I return home and have to catch a 7am flight).

Speaking of self-motivating, my mild headache continued all day.  Still not bad enough to get in the way of doing anything, but slightly painful and annoying.  So I stopped to get some anti-altitude sickness medicine, and I learned that among other maladies caused by altitude sickness, sleepiness and general malaise are two common effects.  So I no longer blame my own laziness for just wanting to lie around all day.  I blame the altitude.

Day 107: Cusco, Peru (April 24, 2011)

Happy Easter!  No, mom, I didn't go to church.  I considered it, being in a foreign country on one of their holidays, but in the end I couldn't drum up the enthusiasm for it.  And, unlike that parade night in Bali, Easter is a holiday I've seen before.  I just would have seen it in spanish today instead of english.

Part of my lethargy (but I admit, not all) was due to sleeping really poorly last night.  My room was freezing, even with a space heater.  But the poor little heater puts out heat equivalent to about one candle, trying to warm my whole room.  And I just can't fall asleep when I'm that cold.  :(  Tonight I started heating it much earlier, so I think i will sleep OK.

I've also had the tiniest of headaches all day.  It's not getting in my way at all, but I can feel it.  /complaints finished/

I did wander around town today.  A lot of things like museums were closed, so it was mostly exploration and stopping for a meal.  Cusco is pretty commercialized -- at least, a whole lot of tourists come here and a lot of local industry caters to them (restaurants, shops, tours, etc.).  There are even people who dress up in traditional peasant garb and lead animals around, hoping you'll pay them to take a photo.  But unlike several places I've seen, Cusco still looks like it did hundreds of years ago, and that's pretty cool.  I'm under the impression that a lot of the private buildings (like my hotel) have renovated on the inside but the outside is still the same.

I tried something new for dinner tonight --alpaca, which is the smaller cousin of the llama.  It wasn't my favorite dish on my trip, but it wasn't terrible.  It was just kind of ... boring.  The meat tasted like the most generic meat ever.  Not like beef or like chicken.  Just "meat."

Alpaca in mushroom sauce.  Nothing fancy.

My other meals in Peru have all been pretty good, though.  The fruit is fresh and plentiful.  And the avocados are amazing!  Both here and in Chile -- great avocados.  A local fish dish called ceviche (or cebiche), which resembles the raw fish in coconut milk served in Tahiti, is also pretty good.

Tomorrow I must buy my tickets to Machu Picchu and the train to and from.  Or I will wind up spending the last week of my trip sitting in Cusco.  And while I'm not kicking myself for not getting out every single day, I will kick myself if I don't see the one thing I came to Peru to see.  I'm feeling really unmotivated though, much more than at any other point on my trip.  Not like I'm dying to come home, more like I'm tired of making plans and getting myself around and all the bother.  Argh, sorry, whining again!

Day 104 (?): From Santiago's Airport (April 21, 2011)

This might end up being my post for the day, depending on my connection in Lima, Peru, and if anything interesting happens between now and when I fall asleep.  I'm writing from Santiago's airport, which does not offer free wifi, but nearly all of the cafes here do, so I bought a juice and got the wifi password from a cafe.

I don't like it here (the airport, not Santiago itself), not because the airport is a terrible place.  Other than the lack of real free wifi and the less-than ideal signage, the airport is fine.  Well lit, clean, enough seating, non-invasive security check, etc.  I think I'm just having one of those days. 

For example, because I wasn't sure I was at the right gate, I wandered to the next one to check at the counter and I left my laptop there.  I realized it about 2 minutes later, and I went back and it was where I left it but still... that was careless of me!  And earlier, before I came to the gate area, my chocolate caliente was very bad.  Not even like Swiss Miss powder mix (which I actually like, but recognize it's not the highest quality).  Just warm brown water.  :(

The worst was when I exchanged some money.  I'd forgotten to exchange my French Polynesian francs when I left Tahiti (a common error on my part, forgetting to exchange my money) and, knowing that a lot of planes from Santiago go to Tahiti, I tried to exchange it here to some chilean pesos.  I thought I had about 44 U.S. dollars worth of francs, but when I exchanged it for pesos, I only got about $14 in pesos back.  Thinking I'd made a mistake with my mental math, and that I either forgot how much my francs were worth or how much pesos were worth, I looked up all the exchange rates at www.xe.com/ucc (an up-to-date site for exchange rates).  Turns out, I was right -- my francs were worth about $44!  Now, I'd understand if I'd gotten, say $38 worth of pesos for my $44 worth of francs.  Exchange rates at airports aren't great, after all.  But to get $14 instead of $44?  There had to be a mistake, right?  So I returned to the exchange counter and learned that no... the rate this bank gives between pesos and francs really is that terrible; it was not a mistake.  Lucky for me, the guys at the counter returned my francs for the pesos.  I'm bound to get a better rate somewhere, and losing $30 was just silly.

Finally, my plane was supposed to leave 2 minutes ago and I don't think it's even at the gate yet.  My first delay of the journey!

I did have one minor victory:  By buying tonight's dinner here at a little cafe to take with me on the airplane, I managed to spend all but some loose change of my chilean money, so that's one less currency I need to worry about exchanging later.  I hope it doesn't continue to be one of those days...

Day 101: From Easter Island to Santiago, Chile (April 18, 2011)

Today was mostly a traveling day.  I took one last walk around the town in Easter Island, then stopped at a cafe to read a book about the town's history.  I didn't finish the whole book, of course, but I got through  the time of its discovery by europeans.  And I did my "speed reading" trick for most of it, where I just read the first sentence of each paragraph.  It worked in high school lit classes for boring stuff like The House of the Seven Gables.

The church in Hanga Roa (Easter Island's "city")

Between noon and 9pm, I was enroute from Easter Island to Santiago (I sprang ahead two hours, too.  Or at least I think I did -- I actually have no idea if I'm writing this at 10:40 or 11:40 local time).  Since I arrived in Santiago so late, I only had time to run down the street to grab dinner.  Walking back, I happened to notice this hovering far above the city:

I'm armed with a map and a guidebook of the city, and hope to have fun exploring the next couple of days. 

Day 96: Back to Tahiti (April 13, 2011)

Today was a long day, as in boring long, not difficult long.  Having little to do on Moorea, I took an early ferry back to Tahiti.  The ferry terminal is the city Papeete (which is the capital of French Polynesia?  Not sure?) and when I drove through Papeete on my way to Moorea it looked like there might be things to see there.  Well, being an actual city it was easy to walk around, but really, it was just a series of expensive shops, markets and cafes.  There were only so many pearl necklaces I could look at before my eyes started to glaze over.  I also wound up drinking three double espressos today, as I stopped at cafes along the way.  I usually cut myself off at 2pm, but I was so antsy for something to do, I just kept on drinking.  Hope it doesn't screw me up for my overnight flight to Easter Island.

Oh, that's another reason today went so slowly... I'm itching with anticipation to get on the airplane to the stop I've been most looking forward to!  I've been paranoid my entire trip that something was going to get in the way of my flight there.  A cancelled flight, terrible weather diverting the plane, having to return home early for some reason.  It's so remote and so few flights go there, if something went wrong it would really put a dent in my plans.  I'd also originally made it one of my first stop, instead of one of last stops, because I'd originally mapped my route going around the world to the west, not east.  So having to wait for it has made me extra anxious.  I'm almost afraid to write about it now, for fear of jinxing myself before my plane actually leaves lol.  I've still got another 4 hours before take-off, and I'm camping the lobby of my first hotel, which is across from the airport, because it's got free wifi (I'm addicted.  And striving to relieve the boredom).

I don't feel like I need to write a separate post about my thoughts on Tahiti.  I did a couple of fun things here -- swimming with marine animals and going to a fun show --  but overall, it wasn't a great stop for me.  In the few days before I arrived, I was sort of optimistic that I'd enjoy my time here, if for no other reason than my expectations were so low that they were bound to be exceeded.  And learning about the migration of people all over the South Pacific piqued my interest.  Alas, French Polynesia turned out to be as uninteresting as I'd feared.  /shrug/  It wasn't terrible -- not by a long shot -- it's just not the place for me.

I sure hope I'm not as disappointed by Easter Island.  It too is a mere island in the South Pacific.  But I'm counting on the novelty of all those stone heads to keep me entertained.  Even if they don't do anything but sit there, they will be really cool to see in person.

Day 94: Moorea (April 11, 2011)

Maybe other islands in French Polynesia are more exciting than Moorea and Tahiti, but I don't get what the big draw is, especially considering how far and expensive this place is. Yes, the islands are beautiful, but they are hardly the only beautiful places on earth. And there really is very little to do here, and all of it expensive: Shopping for pearls, renting boats or jetskis, dining (ok, that's both fun and necessary, but can be done anywhere), maybe seeing a show. I think I'd be bored even on a honeymoon when all I wanted to do was loll around in bed and maybe get a massage or something. It seems like everything here could be acquired elsewhere, and for a lot less trouble. OK, the stingrays and sharks were cool. But worth the effort to get here? Hmm...

I'm mostly just hanging out at the motel, catching up on my writing today. I had lunch at the fancy hotel across the street, which makes yummy french-style grilled cheese sandwiches. And like my el crappo motel, and the beach we played on yesterday, even the fancy hotel is overrun with chickens and roosters. They just wandered all over the outdoor dining room and the reception area like they own the place.

Tied with the mosquito and the fly as my least favorite animal on this trip.

Monday on Moorea, like on Broadway, is a "dark" day, so there are no shows or anything to entertain me. I should be able to go out to see one tomorrow night, but I will spend the rest of today reading and catching up on my writing. And maybe reliving the 1980s a bit by playing a text adventure video game. So expect some updates about stuff from other parts of my trip, and maybe a final post or two from French Polynesia before I leave here on Wednesday night.

Day 91: Auckland, NZ to Faa'a, Tahiti (April 8, 2011)

What a long day!  It felt like two days, it was so long!  And it was surprisingly long considering how little I did.

I am so not motivated to write tonight.  I've felt that way a lot the past couple of weeks.  I either had a very full day and I was tired and didn't want to write, or I did almost nothing and wasn't inspired to write.  :(  Sorry, I'm whining.

Morning began with breakfast, packing and a few errands in Auckland.  I had a last few minutes with Rachel and Andrew, then they dropped me off at the airport on their way to a wedding elsewhere in NZ.  Auckland's airport is large-ish, some areas have plenty of comfortable seating, but gate areas are a little crowded.  The wifi is not free (boo!).  The security checkpoint was pretty standard: no removal of shoes, just a metal detector and bag scan.  The lines were too long though, because most stations didn't have staff.

The flight was uneventful, meaning... no problems.  Besides the awesome Richard Simmons video, I watched Toy Story 3, which I've been wanting to see ever since I watched Toy Stories 1 and 2 a couple of months ago.  And Heavenly Creatures, a New Zealand made film about a murder in 1950s Christchurch.  I saw it several years ago but watched it again since I've now been to the town.

It was dark when the plane landed in Faa'a, which, if you don't know (and I didn't until recently), is a city on the island of Tahiti, which is one of several islands in the territory of French Polynesia.  I've already squawked about the price of the hotel, and I've got to say... I am not getting my money's worth.  I know French Polynesia is expensive and all, but this place isn't near anything except the airport and it doesn't even have a pool.  The air conditioning is mediocre at best and the hallway lights just... turn off, so everyone stumbles around in the dark.  :\  Since it was dark when I arrived, I slept for about 7 hours, then it was strangely light again when I woke up.

I spent a large chunk of the later part of this very long day talking with people back at home -- mom and dad, a couple of friends.  That was really nice, but makes for a lame blog entry.  Hunger finally drove me out to the chinese restaurant across the street, where I had a delightful meal:  A raw fish salad in coconut sauce (think sashimi on cucumbers, in sauce).  Yum!  Something tells me it's not an "authentic" chinese dish, but adapted to local tastes.

I'm worried about my next stop, the island of Moorea, which is across a bay from Tahiti.  I'm heading to Moorea because it's cheapter than Tahiti (and apparently nicer as well, we'll see).  But the hotel I'm maybe staying at never confirmed I actually have a room.  And I have some backup places in mind, but I have no idea where anything is relative to each other.  Or how often the buses run to get me around the island.  Or whether my backup places will have room, etc.  I know there are many hotels on Moorea, the trick will be finding those that are not too far over my budget.  So tomorrow has the potential to be a really annoying day. 

Day 86: The Bus, New Zealand (April 3, 2011)

I spent eight freaking hours on the bus today, getting from Wellington to Rotorua.  That's eight hours.  And this one didn't even have commentary or photo stops along the way.  So it was eight hours of watching farmland and dinky little towns roll by.  I underestimated the size of New Zealand and overestimated the speed of buses.

The good news is, I'll be in Rotorua for a day and a half, then in Auckland for 3 days, so my internal travels are almost done!  Rotorua, on a Sunday night at 7pm, is a ghost town.  The grocery store was open, as was a sushi restaurant, so I stocked up on food for the next couple of days and had some mediocre sushi tonight.  The food in New Zealand has generally been quite good.  They have a lot of baked goods that are flavorful and filling.  So tonight's dinner was a bit of a letdown by comparison.  No big deal.  I might actually go so sleep early tonight so I can get an early start tomorrow, and see as much as possible.

Finally, I am staying in the smallest motel room I've ever seen.  It is larger than those coffin hotel rooms in Japan, but just barely.  There is a single bed, which stretches the entire length of the room, and a 24" wide expanse (lol "expanse") of carpet next to it, and a shelf above the bed.  And that it it.  The door does not even open all the way.  Oh well, at $27 USD/night, I'll take it.

That's my room, seen from outside the window.

Day 84: Travel to Wellington (April 1, 2011)

Being April Fool's Day, I wanted to write a very silly account of my day. But let's face it -- I'm just not that funny. So here was my day:

Bus to Picton; ferry to Wellington; managed not to throw up; walked to hostel; ate; read; booked future hotels; ate. Fell asleep at an unusually early hour. And did I mention I ate? I was ravenously hungry all day. Maybe my cold is demanding to be fed?

Day 79: Christchurch, NZ (March 27, 2011)

I have an ear infection!!  /outrage/  Well, better an ear infection in New Zealand than something nasty in someplace scary.  And since I have antibiotics with me just for this very malady, I can treat it and will feel better in a couple of days.  (If you're wondering, I get ear infections about once every other year, so I can identify them and know how to treat them.)

Mushrooms.  Completely unrelated to anything else in this post.

The forced sedentary day wasn't so bad, though:  I have the rest of my South Island visit planned, and a good idea of what I'll do in the North Island.  So I can relax and start travelling tomorrow.  I'm a little worried that my itinerary (trains and buses, with one tour along the way) will prove to be a bit dull.  If the scenery is beautiful, as it supposedly is, it should be fine.  If it's dull, it's going to be a long week!  Also, I'm a little paranoid that my heavy head led to some mistakes in my bookings.  Probably not, but by now you know how paranoid I get about upcoming plans!

I did make it out later in the day when I was feeling close to normal.  At my host's suggestion, I rode a bus out of town a little to a suburb on a hill that overlooks the city.  It was dreary, which I usually like, but it was bad for photographs of the distant skyline. 

Ah well, I got some fresh air and exercise and got to see more of the city.  It seems like a nice town, a comfortable and pretty place to live.  When it's not recovering from a recent earthquake, that is.

This was a house, down the street in the opposite direction.

Day 78: Christchurch, NZ (March 26, 2011)

Woke up this morning with a very sore throat and stuffy head.  Well, I went to bed last night with a minor sore throat, which I'd hoped had been caused by changes in weather or lack of sleep (both can give me sore throats... hell, everything gives me sore throats...)  But I guess it's either a cold or my allergies have hit really hard, after not bothering me at all for 2.5 months.  /sighs and rolls eyes, feels sorry for self/

So I stayed tucked in bed until early afternoon, when hunger drove me out to the bakery and grocery store.  I bought some meat pies (yum), locally-made soups (yum) and fruit and veggies (boring but good for me).  My B&B in in a residential neighborhood that borders a ... what do I call it? ... light industrial park area.  When you can buy tires, new kitchens, that sort of thing.  So I didn't pass anything really nice on my way to the shops, but I did see some remnants of the earthquake that happened about 5 weeks ago.  Most buildings (that I saw) are still standing and don't have obvious damage.  Others appear to only have mild damage, but must be pretty bad because they are fenced off and completely empty.

About 3 houses down from my B&B.

On the drive from the airport last night, I couldn't see a whole lot because it was dark, but a large number of streets were blocked off because they are ripped up.  And we have to boil the tap water before we drink it (the B&B host does that for us).

When I returned, I slept for about 4 hours, probably caused by a combination of lack of sleep in Melbourne and my fuzzy head.  And let's face it, I enjoy a good nap, and I don't think I've had one since Singapore.  This means I'll be awake until 2am, but that's probably good because I need to figure out bus schedules and stuff, get myself out of this closed-down town.

UPDATE:  I can't believe I forgot this part.  At one point during my nap, I was awoken by ... something.  At the time it sounded and felt like a large truck rumbling past, or someone upstairs dropping a large box of books, but my first thought was "earthquake!"  Turns out it was an earthquake -- well, aftershock.  But for some reason it didn't phase me at all, maybe because it was so small and I was so tired, and I just went right back to sleep.  Chet, the owner of the B&B told me they've been getting aftershocks at least once a day, but most of them are very small and don't cause damage.

Day 77: Melbourne (AUS) to Christchurch (NZ) (March 25, 2011)

I only had a few hours this morning and afternoon in Melbourne before I had to leave for the airport. Maartje and I walked through the Melbourne Botanical Gardens, which a fellow traveler said was really nice (it was). 

I discovered something while at the botanical gardens that made me really angry with myself.  My camera, which is quite good, actually takes better photos in "automatic" mode than it does on a specific setting!!!!  (Those were exclamation points of outrage, at myself for not knowing this!)  I don't know if that is true in all cases, but at least on days that are very bright but cloudy, my camera has never been very good.  Until I tried the auto setting.  /Grrrr at myself for not learning more about my camera before!/  And I know that a lot of my photos so far have been good, but of course I'll wonder what could have been even better, had I let the camera just do its thing.

Then I showed Maartje some of the alleys and things I saw on my walking tour a few days earlier. I didn't even charge her for the private tour. We spent quite a bit of time just chit-chatting over a cup of coffee, too. About travel and families and girl stuff.

While touring the graffiti-covered alleys, we came across this couple and their photographer taking wedding photos.  Way cooler than a boring old garden trellis, that's for sure.

Looks like the groom forgot to change his pants.

My train rides to the Tullamarine Airport were kind of annoying. The trains and trams in Melbourne seem pretty extensive and reliable. But due to not being familiar with the different train platforms and lines, I managed to get on the two least efficient trains possible. But I made it to the airport in plenty of time. Tullamarine is big, clean and pretty efficient, and parts of it are kind of science-fictiony. I don't know if it has dedicated sleeping areas, but there are enough couches and out of the way places that people could sleep if they wanted to. It supposedly has free wifi, but something is wrong with it, as I am currently connected but can neither send nor receive data. :( (So you'll be reading this long after I write it, although you probably will anyway because most of you are sound asleep as I write.)

Security was the norm: x-rays and bag scan, nothing unusual. Oh well, there was person weighing people's carry-on luggage just before the security gate, and if anyone exceeded the 7kg limit, they were sent back to check-in. I haven't seen that anywhere before, either the bag weighing or being sent back.

By the time I post this, I will probably be in Christchurch, New Zealand, unless the wifi magically turns on before I leave the airport. My review of Australia will follow in the next couple of days.  [The next morning:]  Yup, I'm posting on Saturday morning from Christchurch.

[So time to add a bit more:] My flight to New Zealand was uneventful and on time. I got to my B&B around 1am. The only unusual event happened at the Christchurch airport when one of the airport's dogs that sniffs for quarantined materials (and maybe drugs? I dunno, but I was told it was looking for quarantined material) went crazy over my carry-on backpack. The lady with the dog wound up taking everything out of it without finding any fruit or meat or drugs (among other things, she had to touch my dirty hankie haha) and the dog still had his nose buried deep in the bag. I told her a cat had tried to pee on the bag about 5 days earlier, and suggested that was the cause of the dog's excitement. Who knows?? Eventually the woman shrugged and commented that that the dog's behavior was weird, and she repacked my bag and I went on my way. I guess we'll never know.

Day 73: Sydney to Melbourne (March 21, 2011)

Being a travel day, there wasn't a whole lot of excitement.  Oh wait, I did break one of my cardinal traveling rules ("There's carry-on luggage and there's lost luggage!") and checked one of my two bags at the airport, and sure enough, it got lost.  I've actually been checking my bags on most of my flights, and haven't had any problems.  But today I left the check-in counter feeling a bit worried, as I hadn't gotten to see my bag move along the conveyor belt; it just sat there.  Well, the airline had called my hotel in Melbourne even before I arrived to say they had located my bag and it would be dropped off for me late this evening.  So no big tragedy (yet at least).  And I always carry on my most important items:  Paperwork, camera, laptop, book, medicine.  And I wear two pairs of underwear.

I missed my noon photo today.  I thought about it while enroute to the airport, but when noon itself rolled around, I completely forgot.  And didn't remember until about 6pm when I was all comfy in my hotel room.  I've only missed two or three days, and I know I shouldn't get mad at myself for missing them, but I do anyway.  And I'll be mad at myself for hours.  Today's self-loathing reminded me of this time I went out for brunch in Durham, North Carolina.  I forget the name of the place, but it was kind of pricey for Durham -- and for students on a budget! -- but I could usually make their omelets last two meals.  But one time I had half my omelet packed up then I left it on the table.  I was mad at myself for a week.

Anyway, despite those two mishaps, my journey to Melbourne was easy.  As always, in a new city, I had to learn to use the public transportation, but Melbourne's seems really good.  I especially like that it has trams, which go even more places than the trains (the subway) and are above-ground, so I can view the city as I ride.  I arrived later in the day, but had time to go out for dinner.  One of the guys I met while touring the Red Center is from Melbourne, and he recommended some places to go, so I dined on the "Italy Street" (not its real name) then had a nice ride back to my place.  Sadly, Adrian, who gave me the tips, won't be around this week to show me anything in person.  But I just heard from Maartje, who will be in Melbourne in a few days and will stay at the same hotel as me (I wish I'd known, I could have smuggled her into my room for at least one night; it has bunk beds).  That should be fun.

To make up for being such a homebody in Sydney (which I did like, it just wasn't very exciting), I will be quite busy in Melbourne.  I've booked one half-day city tour for tomorrow and two full-day tours for my last two full days in town.  So I should have a lot of photos and stuff to write about.

Finally, let me raise a toast to the unsecured wifi in some neighboring building!  This hotel charges $8/hour for wifi (or $25/day), which I was not going to pay.  So I thought I'd be scrounging for free wifi at cafes all over town.  Instead, I get it in my room on someone else's network.  I hope it lasts!

UPDATE:  I got my missing luggage just after midnight on the night it was lost.

Day 72: Sydney (March 20, 2011)

I am embarrassed to admit that I spent a large chunk of my last day in Sydney eating, chatting with a friend on the internet, watching a movie, and eating.  Well, embarrassed is too strong a word, because that's how I might have spent any ordinary rainy day if I were at home.  Except I'm not at home, I'm halfway around the world and maybe I should have gone out more instead.  This could be a day where I look back on my trip and wonder if I should have spent at least some of that "wasted" time exploring the town.

Having said that, I don't regret any of the time spent chatting with my friend.  The people I've stayed in closest contact with are not the people I expected to.  It's been a really nice surprise, and I don't feel like my other friends have forgotten me or anything.  But I sure didn't expect that "make new friends at home" would be something that happened while I was away.  :)

So, you get off easy with this post because it's short due to lack of content.  Here's the fourth pet I tended to while in Sydney:

"Mr. Pee"

Day 62: Darwin to Alice Springs, Australia (March 10, 2011)

This morning, like the morning before I flew to Darwin, I was nervous about my next destination --Alice Springs -- and about booking a tour once I got there.  I have no idea why I've been nervous the past two times I've changed locations.  Darwin and Alice Springs are certainly two of the easiest places to visit, and I really hadn't been nervous at any other time, even when I didn't know where I'd sleep once I arrived, or what I'd see once I got there.  /shrug/  Anyway, the feeling of nervousness disappeared as soon as I got off the plane.  Australians continue to be very friendly, and most fellow travelers are too.  I say "most" because there was a drunk french woman at the hotel last night, annoying everyone hanging out in the lobby.  She was such a stereotype -- too skinny, chain smoking, and drinking too much wine, although I normally don't think of the french as drunks.  It could have been worse.  She could have started to mime.

The weather in Alice Springs is wonderful.  From what I could tell from flying over it, it's a city in the middle of nowhere.  The landscape of the surrounding territory has some rocky areas, but most of the land looks fairly flat.  There's low humidity and it's warm but not hot.  And the air is among the freshest I've experienced, rivaling the great plains and mountain states in the U.S.

My hotel is in the category I think people in Australia refer to as a "backpacker's inn" or maybe a budget inn or even hostel.  If I hadn't already mentioned this, and I probably did because I'm really uptight about money, Australia is pretty expensive, even by U.S. standards.  Even by Washington, D.C. standards.  So to save money, I'm staying at shabbier places than I've grown accustomed to.  (And I'm still not saving money, because even the budget inns are more expensive than the nice places in Asia.)  So far, neither of my hotels has been bad, but they have shared bathrooms and pretty spartan living quarters.  Some of the rooms are group rooms with bunkbeds (which are cheaper than singles, but I'm not poor enough, or young enough maybe, to chance bunking with a pack of drunk college kids) and other rooms are singles or doubles.  The hotel I'm in in Alice Springs is pretty comfortable, although half of the rooms here are either in (1) trailers or (2) converted sheds.  (Mom and dad, if times get tough, just add a porch to your shed and rent it out.)

My 3-day tour to Ayer's Rock, which from now on I will strive to call Uluru, like the locals, starts on Saturday, so I have this evening and tomorrow to explore Alice Springs.  From the looks of it, Alice Springs has even less going on than Darwin, but I budgeted 6 nights in the area so I'd have plenty of time to get to Uluru and back, before heading to Sydney.  Unless my evening excursion into town tonight turns out to be really interesting, this will probably be my only post of the day.

Day 55: Ubud, Bali (March 3, 2011)

A super lazy day, I'm almost embarrassed by how little I did.  Especially considering that most of my days here have been pretty lazy.  Well, I did spend about 4 hours out with some fellow travelers, having lunch at this cool little place in the middle of some rice paddies.  Among other things, we talked about whether we liked Bali.  I think all of us agreed it hasn't lived up to our expectations.  Ricardo visited Bali about 34 years ago, and to him it is vastly different from what it used to be.  He thinks the inflow of tourism dollars has really changed the area for the worse, and that people aren't as kind or spiritual as they used to be.  That makes me sad to think a once-cool place is changing for the worse, and homogenizing in the process.  And I'm contributing to it just by being here and spending my own tourist dollars.

I failed to get a group photo with all of my dining compansions, so instead I'll post these scarecrows that we passed on the way to the restaurant.

Finally, a reader asked me about my semi-outdoor bathroom.  I can't capture it all in one shot, but here is the "outside" wall.  If the camera could scroll up, you'd see the room is open to the sky above these rocks and plants.  The walls to the sides and behind the camera are real walls, with a ceiling.  When it rains, I have to make sure my stuff is away from the green side of the room.  The frogs sneak in through a small hole in the wall.