The Long Trip Home-Subway-plane-subway-train-subway-plane-subway-train

I left my hostel in Singapore for the airport on Friday the 14th at 2.00pm Moscow time for a 6.00pm flight. The subway stop was about a 20 minute walk from the hostel and then I had a 45 minute subway ride on Singapore's ultra modern and timely MRT system.
I thus got to the airport a little after 3.00pm and proceeded for to the Qantas check-in counter. I had been trying to book an aisle seat on line without any luck, so I was glad I was early hoping it would help my chances to not be in a middle seat for the 13 hour flight. But no luck--only middle seats were left so I checked in and spent a couple of hours going through customs, security and dreaming about being in a middle seat with large people on either side of me for 13 hours. By the time we got ready to board I was ready for whatever.
As we were boarding the plane the head stewardess, looking at my New Zealand t-shirt, asked me if I had begun the day in New Zealand. I told her I had not but was there last week and loved it. I also told her that if anyone cancelled and she had an available aisle seat that my knees would love her forever and I would be internally grateful :). And she did. She took the time to look through the manifest and found an empty seat and gave it to me. I was thrilled. As it turned out not only did I have an aisle seat but I had an empty seat next to me. What a good start to a long journey.
As it turned out we spent 2 hours on the plane before taking off, just what you want on a 13 hour flight. But I had my aisle seat and was happy. So we ended up getting into Frankfurt a couple of hours late and by the time I went through customs it was about 8.00am Sat. the 15th. I was then going to take a subway into central Frankfurt and catch the 10.30 train to Cologne, where my flight to Moscow left at 2.50 pm. But while trying to check in the guy looked at my ticket and said If I wanted to just wait there I could as the train from Frankfurt to Cologne passed by and stopped at the airport stop that I was already at. So I did and that gave me a chance to walk around, get some coffee and stretch my legs. The train came exactly on time and we were off to Cologne. We arrived close to noon at the central station in Cologne and I stored my bags and walked around a while before taking the subway to the airport. Once there I checking in with Germanwings for my 2.50 pm flight only to be told it was running an hour late. Well an hour turned into 90 minutes but we finally left at about 4.30 pm arriving in Moscow (three hour flight-two hour time difference) at 9.30pm. I then went through customs, passport control, claimed my luggage and started looking for the train to central Moscow. I took the 10.30 train and arrived at the Kievesky metro stop at 11.00 and took the circle line to the Yaroslavl train station. I wasn’t too worried since Nadia had emailed me the train schedule and I knew that there was still a train at 00.35, another at 00.50 and the last rain at 01.15 am.
So I got to the Yaroslavl train station at 11.30 or so and got in line to buy tickets. But when I asked for tickets to Yaroslavl today the lady said Nyet (no). I tried several more time not knowing if there were no tickets or none that she would sell to me or if we were just mis communicating. Finally I got out of line and called Nadia and explained to her that I did not think there were any more tickets for that night, but maybe I was just confused. So I got back in line and then when it was my turn I handed the phone to the lady to let Nadia get an explanation for me. For a few minutes the lady just looked at me like I was crazy as I held the phone through the little hole in the glass and then even when she finally took it she did not realize that someone was already on the other end. Finally they talked and she returned the phone tome. Not only were there not tickets available there were not even any more trains that night. I considered spending the night with friends in Moscow but the subway closes at 01.00 and I did not know where anyone lived or even if they were at home. So I decided to spend the night in the train station and catch the 8.30am train on Sunday the 16th.The night was extremely interesting as the train station was occupied homeless people, people drinking and just looking for a place to sleep, people drinking and just wanting a warm place to drink and people waiting on trains. I tried to sleep but the fact that it was cold and I did not have any winter clothes, the bench was hard and I was a little concerned by a couple of the people that were watching me kept me awake most of the night. Once an hour or so a couple of policeman would walk thru the station checking to make sure you had a train ticket and so even if you wanted to sleep there was always a lot of activity. But all went well and I got to experience something new.
The train finally arrived at around 8 for boarding. We left at 8.30 and I arrived in Yaroslavl at around 12.30. Nadia picked me up at the train station and I was home by around 1.00am--47 hours after all the fun began. Suffice it to say I really enjoyed sleeping in a bed that evening. In fact sleeping in a room without strangers, not sharing a shower or waiting in line to take a shower, not having to put all things in a locker and repack the next morning, not using a public toilet for the first time in to months---life is wonderful with all the luxuries.
And it has now snowed 4 of my first 7 days back. :)

Snorkleing (for the first time) on the Great Barrier Reef

New Zealand

I am leaving New Zealand tomorrow and it has easily been one of my favorite countries. The people are wonderful, friendly, outdoors man, and very environmentally friendly. Couple that with the stunning beauty of the coast, mountains, countryside and cities and it has really been a wonderful two weeks. The train ride was great and I, yes even I, have met some very interesting people here. Strangely I have met 5 different people and/or groups of people from Wales.
Last night I was talking to these 5 students from Canada who have been here for 4 months and are leaving tomorrow. They bought a van and have spent most of there time driving around the south island camping, hiking and rock climbing. The van was a 1989 , very experienced model and I asked them if they'd many problems with it. They told me a story of how they were driving along and started smelling petro (gas). They pulled over and could see where it was dripping from under the car. Since none of the 5 (3 boys and 2 girls) knew anything about cars they drove slowly to the next petro station. But since it was Sunday the mechanic was not working. Anyway the attendant looked at it but couldn't fix it so he called the mechanic home. The guy came in, looked at the van, spent two hours fixing it and exchanging stories about the south island. After he had it fixed they asked him how much they owed. He said I was going to go home and BBQ with the family....."Gotta a beer?". So they gave him a beer as payment and he wished them well. New Zealand--you have to love it.
Tomorrow I am going back to Australia for a week. I will be in the northeastern part of the country, Carnies, hopping to see the Great Barrier reef and head into the outback for a day or two.
I have tons of pictures but they take so long to download on here that I have stopped doing it from Internet cafes. Instead I am putting them on facebook and downloading them on Kodakgallery. If you would like to view any of them on Kodakgallery and I have not been sending them to you drop me a line at bpersell@gmail.com and I will be be glad to send you the link and add you to the automatic mailing list.

A fear of Hieghts--Kaikoura New Zealand

I noticed last night that they had a great 4 hour hike called the clifftop walk and it started about a half mile from the hostel. The more I thought of it the more I was intrigued and decided to do it instead of whale watching. At worst I would save 130.00 dollars and at least I had done the whale watching before.So I got, did laundry and left the hostel about 8.30. The town in located on the northern side of a peninsula about a mile form the tip. On the other side is a village called Bayside and I began by walking for about an hour across the peninsula towards Bayside. It is a well marked walk and you head up into the hills and then cross over to the other side by walking along woods and pastures. It was Nice walk but I was a little surprised when it started descending, but the next thing I know I am back on sea level in Bayside. But it was a very nice walk.
Then I headed through the town, as the map indicated, until I reached the edge of town. It was a great walk along the coast and I really enjoyed it. but at the edge of town I noticed that the path went up the side of a cliff with no railing. Not a big deal to 99% of the world but to those of us who have a fear of heights. But I looked at it for a while and decide to go for it.I headed up about halfway and stop to take a break as I had planned. Then I continued and as I went around a curve I freaked out as the wind was blowing hard, the gravel path narrowed and the drop off on my right side was straight down. I stopped, hesitated, tried unsuccessfully to regain a normal heartbeat, and then slowing turned around and headed back down to the place I had taken a break,.
Wow. I sat and looked for a while thinking I should try again and eventually I did at a much slower pace but with the same result except not even as far up. I turned and headed for the bottom. It had been a good walk, I am scared of heights and that is that. I walked down to the bottom and found a place to sit, have a drink of water and regain my composure. After about 15 minutes I got up to leave but I could not help but re-examining the trail from my seat. Maybe I should try again. Just one more time. It couldn't be more than 30 more steps past where I had gone on the first attempt that it looked like the path headed inward. I decided to at least go to my resting place and look again.
After about 10 minutes of rest at my halfway rest point I went for it. Only 30 steps--don't look to the right, think about something else....Man the wind was blowing hard....but finally the 30 steps was over and I rounded the curve and ----major miscalculation on my part...it did not go inland yet....it continued for another 50 steps or so along the edge of the cliff. But what was I to do..I was too scared to try and turn around so 1,2,3,4,....53....I made it. Wow. I was winded, exhausted, excited happy --all at the same time.And now all I could see ahead of me was 10 or 15 minutes of walking on a 10 foot wide path 10 or 20 steps away from the edge. YES.
But I was not thinking properly because at the top of the next rise was another cliff side walk, and then another and then another....but I couldn't go back so I had fun after fun after fun...of course it did hit me along the way that maybe that is why they were called Clifftop walks. The views, when I looked, were incredible and I was doing kind of OK until the thought entered my mind about what might lay at the end of the trail. I wondered how the descent was. Well to close this story...the walk down was paved had switchbacks so it was not nearly as bad. The walk was the best hike I have ever taken. It ended up taking me about 4.5 hours and I would not trade it for the world. But I am so tired.....fear really takes a lot of energy :).

The National Park Train Station

National Park

This is such a different place than any where else I have been. People here are hikers. Some of them have just finished 6 and 7 day hikes and some are just beginning. Others are here doing 1 and 2 day hikes but it is definitely not a party hostel. Everyone was in bed before 10 and up before 7. It is 9 in the morning and the place is almost empty even though last night there were over 50 people in the dining room at the same time.

What an interesting group of people...ages 18 -63 from all over the world..at this little hostel in Tongairio National Park. The village of National Park is about 1/2 mile-1/4 mile in size and has about 220 permanent residences. The scenery is awesome as we are on a high altitude plateau with three volcanoes to the east and some small mountains to the west. We are situated almost in the middle of the north island of New Zealand.

Auckland--Sky tower--You can jump off of of here (as seen in one of the photos) or walk around the outer edge (4 feet wide) -If you love heights :)

Auckland--the Harbor--the ratio of yachts to people is higher in New Zealand than any other counrty

New Zealand

I arrived in Auckland, New Zealand last night and it is great to be away from the heat. The high here today is only 24 (76 F)
And I slept so well after spending three nights in the heat of Melbourne in a hostel room with 8 other people and no AC or even a fan.

I bought a train pass today and made reservations for a 7-day Train/Ferry tour. I can change it anytime I want to as long as I am finished 7 days after I start but here is what I made reservations for.
I leave in the morning Friday the 22nd at 7.20 am on a train to National Park a town in the middle of the North Island in a National park. I spend the night there and leave the next day at noon to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand situated on the southern coast of the North Island. I spend the night there and get up the next morning and take a 3.5-hour ferry ride across the Cook Straight to the South Island. I then take a train south to the east coast town of Kaikoura; well know for its whale watching which I intend to do. Another night in a hostel there before taking the train to Christchurch, also an east coast city. I spend the night there before taking the train across the country to Greymouth on the east coast. This is supposed to be one of the most scenic rail routes in the world as it traverses the New Zealand Alps.
I am looking forward to being on a train again and away from airplanes and airports. You get such a different view from a train and you can get up and walk around when you want to J.

Downtown Melbourne and one of the many creatures on the St Kilda beach early in the morning

I found a show for me and Rose to attend. Buddy Guy and Keb Mo in St Kilda right outside of Melbourne.

More Melbourne beach and another great sunset. the sunsets seem to last about 2 or 2.5 hours and are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Adeliade's lifegaurds putting up there boat for the night.

The beach at Adelaide, a cool ship memorial, Starbucks and an interesting tree

More Adelaide--Me on the second floor of Starbucks enjoying the view

Snip-its from Sydney

-My first three days in Sydney have been great. What a great city and I am staying at the best hostel yet.
-Going from -34 degrees in the middle of January to +96 at the beginning of February was a little shock to the body. Especially since the hostel in Kaula Lumpur did not have air conditioning and I shared it with 17 other people.
- I did a better job of packing this time. 14.7KG at the last airport check since I dumped my winter coat. This time I brought 2 pairs of pants, 5 shirts, 5 pair of underwear, 5 pair of socks, a pair of sandals and two books.
-Even the money in Australia is "down under". A 2 dollar coin is smaller than a 1 dollar coin and the biggest coin is a 20 cent piece, which is much larger than a 50 cent piece.
-Australia is a lot more expensive than anywhere else I have been on this trip and more so thanks to the falling dollar.-Every time I have ever thought of New Zealand or read anything about it, I always thought I might really like it--even enough to want to live there. Well I get to find out next week when I travel there for 11 days.
-I leave today for Adelaide for three days and my Hostel is on the beach so that will be interesting. Hopefully I can go to Kangaroo Island while I am there.
-Then I fly to Melbourne for three days ans hopefully a trip to Tasmania.
-Then New Zealand for 11 days flying into Auckland. I hope to go see the Fiords on the south Island while I am there but we will see.
_ Then back to Brisbane on March the 3rd with 6 days to do Brisbane and Cairns and hopefully the Great barrier Reef.
-Then I fly back to Sydney on the 9th for 2 days.
-Then on March 11th I fly back to Singapore.
-On March 20th I have a 14 hour flight from Hong Kong to London and I will then have 4 days to get from London to Yaroslavl.
-Between March 11th and march 20th I have no plans except I have to find a way to Hong Kong via--via--that is the question and I am still searching and asking fellow travelers.
-I noticed something funny--or at least funny to me. People drive on the left hand side of the road here ae they do in Thailand and Malaysia. But what I find funny is that everything seems to follow on the left. For instance on evelators everyone stationary stands on the left and the walkers walk to the right--just the opposite of the USA.
-Also I have noticed here and in Singapore that when you buy cigarettes the packages not only come with a written warning but also with a color photo attached of what cancer looks like. There are different photos of mouth cancer, lung cancer from the inside, etc, all in living color.

My first day in Sydney and a trip to the Zoo

Renowned for its many animals and 'THE ZOO WITH THE BEST VIEW"