World Tour
2008
- Trip 5: Jan 05 — from Hobart, Tasmania, Australia by bus to Launceston; by plane to Melbourne
- Jan 08 — by plane to Christchurch, New Zealand
...one of the conditions of my one-year, multiple-entry visa for Australia stated that I must leave the country every 90 days; so we planned a short holiday to South Island of New Zealand.
- Jan 09 — by bus to Kaikoura
...for whale-watching, but the weather didn't cooperate.
- Jan 10 — by bus to Nelson
...did a walking tour of the city center the evening we arrived; the next day we went on a double-decker bus tour of the city proper; that afternoon, we saw the Da Vinci Machines exhibit at a local museum.
- Jan 11 — by bus to Marahua
..."home base" for our visit to Abel Tasman.
- Jan 12 — day-trip (by catamaran) to Abel Tasman NP and back
...went sailing on a fairly large catamaran; got dropped on a beach where we lazed around for a while (building sand castles and such); then had a long hike back "home" along the coast; during a walk around our campground later, we found some llamas for Pao to pet.
- Jan 13 — by bus to Richmond
...this was as close as we could get to where we wanted to go the following day.
- Jan 14 — by bus to Murchison
- Jan 15 — by bus to Hokitika
...after night-fall, we went to see the glow-worms, it's a magical sight.
- Jan 16 — day-trip (by bus) to Greymouth; by train to Christchurch
...got up early to get to Greymouth in time to catch the TranzAlpine train, which runs coast-to-coast (west to east in this case) through one of the most scenic regions of South Island.
- Jan 16 — by plane (overnight) to Melbourne, Australia
- Mar 15 — day-trip (by rental car) to Great Ocean Road
...I did this trip by tour bus back in 2003, but doing it this time in a rental car, with a group of friends, was much more enjoyable.
- Apr 09 — by plane to Bangkok, Thailand
...my second "forced" exit from Australia; Pao couldn't take time away from uni, so I had to go it alone. :(
- Apr 15 — by plane (overnight) to Cebu City, Philippines
...flights between Thailand and the Philippines were so cheap that it actually cost less to go to the Philiippines via Bangkok than it would have been to fly directly there from Australia.
- Apr 27 — by plane to Bangkok, Thailand
- Apr 28 — by plane (overnight) to Melbourne, Australia
- Jul 17 — by plane to Bangkok, Thailand
...Pao had finished uni, so we went back to Vientiane (by way of Bangkok) together.
- Jul 19 — by night-train to Udon Thani; by bus to Vientiane, Laos
- Aug 09 — by night-bus to Savannakhet
...for Pao to visit (and me to meet) her mom, grandfather, and younger sister; it was the tail-end of the rainy season and there was severe flooding in Vientaine while we were away; the bus service from Savannakhet to Vientiane was suspended for a few days, so we got "stranded" there longer than we had planned.
- Aug 18 — by bus to Vientiane
- Sep 09 — day-trip (by bus) to Udon Thani, Thailand and back
...one of many shopping trips to Udon and Bangkok during my time in Laos.
- Sep 16 — and backday-trip (by bus) to Udon Thani, Thailand
- Dec 05 — day-trip (by bus) to Udon Thani, Thailand and back
