PHA NGA BAY & KO LANTA

After weeks of travel all over Southeast Asia, with lots of movement and a pretty hectic schedule, we spent a week with friends sailing from Phuket around Pha Nga Bay, in the Andaman Sea. It was a very relaxing time, and a lot of fun. We stopped at Ko Hong, Railay, Had Khlong Dai (Ko Lanta), Hat Khlong Chak (Ko Lanta), Ko Phi Phi Don, Ko Phi Phi Leh, and one night off Phuket. These are not the most unknown corners of southern Thailand, but it was beautiful and fun, and we had one of the best meals of the trip at Ma Ma Klong in Rawai on Phuket. I took a "break" and let my professional friends take most of the pictures, but here are a few. After soaking up the sun, it was time for some wild times in Bangkok... coming soon.

Spectacular kayaking at Ko Hong, where we spent the second night.

One of our favorite spots, on the southern end of Ko Lanta. Pretty, quiet, and lush.

Ko Phi Phi Don, beautiful but crowded.

Above is Ko Phi Phi Leh, where The Beach was filmed. It was crowded and Maya Bay, tucked inside this dramatic island, was filled with loud tourist boats during the day. Luckily we were able to stay the night after most people left. I slept out on the deck, under the stars, and at sunrise kayaked in to the famous beach. We were some of the first people on the shore and saw schools of fish, a shark, and had a quiet time swimming in the electric blue water of one of most beautiful places I have ever seen. We departed at 9am as the hoards arrived. Our captain lamented that this spot had been "discovered." Crowded or not, it was special.

LOS ANGELES

It has been a long, fun, hot summer... with few posts.  We had a couple more trips away, to Maine, upstate, Cape Cod, and were lucky enough to get to end the summer in the sunniest of places, Los Angeles.

It is official: I love LA.  I like the weather, the architecture, the landscape, the food, the proximity to family, even the driving.  While I hatch my plan to get back to California, from whence I came, enjoy the highlights of my week of in our future place of residence:

First of all, Joans on Third is reason enough to want to move.  Above, the cheese counter.  This is where I would eat lunch every day if I lived out there.

Second: the Santa Monica Farmer's Market.  It makes the Union Square market look like a supermarket in 1970's Stalingrad.

Third, and most important... proximity to my family.  I spent a couple days down in San Clemente as well.

SPT DAY 37, 37 AGAIN, & 38-42: PAPEETE AND BORA BORA

Miles flown so far: 21,254

As a result of airline tickets purchased with mileage points, the attached blackout dates and other limitations, we were "forced" to stay 5 nights in French Polynesia on the way home.  We made the most of it by booking some time on Bora Bora: that magical, quasi-imaginary place of exotic paradise lost in the South Pacific.  This concept rings less true in the rainy season, when we were there.  We flew into Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia and the largest city on Tahiti.  We didn't see much of the city, but the airport cafeteria and the Tahiti Airport Motel (our layover for one night) were two things best avoided.

 

The tiny flight to Bora Bora the next morning took off into sheets of rain like I have never seen.  The waters parted in time for landing, and I was able to get a shot of the island and its resorts.

Almost every moment of our time on the island it rained, or was cloudy, or was cloudy and rainy.  Besides that, however, you could see what a special, beautiful place this was.  The colors of the water, sky and sand were otherworldly.

Our one good sunset.

And a rainbow!

The time we spent in Bora Bora was an unexpected luxurious addition to an already spectacular trip.  I am so glad we were able to experience it, even in the rain.  That said, I made some mistakes when arranging the trip that I wish I could have changed.  Staying at a resort on Bora Bora is not a good introduction to Polynesian culture and cuisine, and I knew that it would not be.  It is one of the most spectacular islands in the world, and the idealized version of the South Pacific (which is why all those resorts are there).  I will admit I wanted to fulfil the fantasy of an over water bungalow looking out over an azure lagoon.  I got this, and it was romantic and private and wonderful, despite the rain.  Beyond the room and the surroundings, I wish we hadn't felt so trapped at our specific resort.  The food was terrible and overpriced.  If our time in French Polynesia had not been such a tack-on to the planning of our entire trip, I wish we could have seen some of the less inhabited islands and sought out a more authentic experience.  I watched the No Reservations episode about French Polynesia and it seemed so much more interesting than the country we visited: eating food caught yourself in a breezy locally-built bungalow with no electricity looking out at several other uninhabited islands under thousands of stars.  In short, becasue of our hasty planning and limited time, our Polynesian fantasy was not fully realized, but it was a relaxing and peaceful stay, nonetheless.

A nice end to an epic journey to the other side of the world... and I really feel ready to go home!

SPT DAYS 26 & 27: MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS

Miles flown so far: 18,020

We awoke to more bright sunshine in Mangonui, but drove south to Whangarei (pronounced fun-ga-ray) to the airport, where the clouds were gathering.  Luckily we were flying out to Nelson, our entry point to the South Island of New Zealand.

The bustling Whangarei Airport.

I was not happy to see the approaching storm, especially since this little thing was our plane to Auckland, where we connected to an only slightly larger prop jet to Nelson.

All fear melted away, however, as we approached Nelson.  Despite the fact that the South Island is generally colder and stormier than the North Island, the Marlborough Sounds region enjoys New Zealand's sunniest micro climate.

We drove from Nelson to the funky port town of Picton, on Queen Charlotte Sound.  The next day we took an all day kayak and hiking trip on part of the Queen Charlotte Track, one of New Zealand's many wilderness hikes.  Some of these hikes last for days and you can camp or stay in pre-booked lodges along the way.  If we had more time, I would have loved to have done one of these treks, but we were not disappointed by the day trip we took.

The color of the water and the plant life were surreal.

A Shag, which is a sea bird we saw a lot of on the kayak portion of the journey.

The hike back.

An interesting little museum in Picton contains the remains of the sailing ship Edwin Fox.  Built in India in the 1850's, it carried cargo and passengers around the world and especially to New Zealand and Australia until the advent of steamers made it obsolete in the 1880's.  It served a few more functions (freezer for lamb meat, floating coal storage) before being beached in the 1920's, re-floated in the 1980's and finally incorporated into the museum in 1999.

The exterior hull.

The interior of the ship's hold.  Really creepy.  

ship image via Marlborough Online

SPT DAYS 23-25: MANGONUI, NEW ZEALAND

Miles flown so far: 17,602

After nearly missing an early morning flight from Sydney to Auckland, we rented a car and drove 4 hours up into the warm, sunny Northland of New Zealand's North Island to the little town of Mangonui.  We stayed with friends near sparkling Doubtless Bay, swimming, sunning, cooking and hanging out for a couple days.

The Northland is the part of New Zealand that has been inhabited by people the longest, which isn't saying much.  It is believed the Maori arrived from Eastern Polynesia about 1000 years ago, followed by the Europeans in the 18th century.  These islands were one of Earth's last untouched corners.  Above is a 19th century Victorian "villa" in Mangonui.

The beach.  The bizarre combination of tropical and subtropical plant types, the blazing sun, the cool ocean breeze... it felt like being in 3 or 4 vastly different places at once.

England?  Northern California?  Tuscany?  the Caribbean?

We had a dinner of fish and chips one evening in town at the local 'chipy.

Sunset with the town below.

We took a day trip to 90-Mile Beach.  Just a short 45 minute drive away was a completely different climate: windswept, chilly, rainy and gray.  We felt like we were in The Piano.  After walking on the beach for a while we headed back south into the sunshine.