Raja Ampat, like being in a Disney Movie

Well, Raja Ampat isn't particularly easy to get to. It took a Drive to the airport, 8hrs to Jakarta, 6hr layover, 4.5hrs to Sorong, 3hr wait, 3hr ferry, 2hr speedboat just to get there!

We arrived at lunch time on Saturday to torrential rain. Despite only having 3hrs sleep over a 40hr period we were determined to not nap. We managed to stay awake for the 5pm briefing to find out what we were doing the next day and struggled through a 7.30pm dinner before a long sleep. 

Our second day called for an early wake up, luckily there were clear skies as we set off for our first dive of the day. We arrived near a pier and upon our decent saw a turtle, eagle rays and a million different types of fish. After a quick break and refuel we set off to our second dive site, at two tiny islands.

Day 3 was jam packed with a 7am call time. Our first dive of the day Melissa's Garden which was my absolute pick of the trip! I felt like Ariel in the Little Mermaid, floating amongst some of the most vibrant coral and marine life I've ever seen. Even better was that we had a private tour guide so could go at our own pace and take it all in.

We then stopped off at Piaynemo Island and hiked the 300 stairs to the look out. The view was phenomenonal. Second dive was at Batu Rufus where we saw a mantis shrimp (Doug's favourite animal) and swum in a real mermaid lagoon that was as colourful as a disney movie.

We then stopped off at Rufus Island for lunch and a relax before our third dive at Famwall where we spent most of our time following a turtle! 

Doug thought I'd done very well with all of the activities so I was finally granted a rest day. We had a bit of a sleep in, then after breakfast, we wandered to the other side of the island barefoot, snorkles in hand and trailed by a cat who clearly thought she was part of the group.

It felt like we had our own private island with no one in sight, or perhaps a deserted island where we had been stranded haha. Doug and I spent hours drifting over coral gardens, snorkelling until my book was calling.

After such a relaxing day all we needed was... a bump in the road. It turned out our ferry for our last day had been cancelled and our options were either leave a day earlier or pay $1600 for a private transfer. After having no luck with our travel insurers we decided on the less risky option and decided that this would be our last night in paradise.

Another early morning, another set of tanks. Our first dive of the day was at the manta cleaning station huge, slow moving rays sweeping past getting cleaned by their fishie friends. At one point the current picked up and I genuinely thought I was going to float off to sea!

We motored to another island for two more dives. The current didn’t let up and we definitely got a work out! 

We rushed back to catch the afternoon ferry to Sorong. However, it almost didn’t make it. A 30 minute delay then 3 hours with no air con (despite being in "first class", packed in like sardines... we were not particularly happy by the end of the ride.

Eventually we got in to our unintended stopover in the shanty town of Sorong... late, sticky and just in time to collapse before our early flight to Bali to see our friends!!

Ski Weekend in Queenstown

 After a VERY bumpy landing and barely touching down safely we did make it to magical queenstown in one piece. We jumped in our rental car and drove the 15 minutes into town where we sorted out ski gear, tickets and checking into our hotel. Our first night was an early one with dinner then a spa - ready for an early wake up. 

Day 2 consisted of skiing, skiing and more skiing. We went to the Remarkables and despite some heavy snowfall managed to get a good 6hrs of skiing in before making our way back to Queenstown and to Soda, a restraunt overlooking the lake. A quick pre-bed jacuzzi soak was required to rest our muscles. 

The next day was all about conquering fears - but first.... Frisbee Golf! Given I don't think I've ever thrown a Frisbee I wasn't surprised that Doug absolutely smashed me! Then after a Ferg Burger lunch it was time. I had somehow managed to stay away from videos explaining what I was about to do... first off Doug laughed his way down the terrifying 134m bungee drop (crazy) and then it was my turn. While I wasn't doing bungee, I had opted for the swing... something that I thought would be easier, turns out some people think the swing is worse. The swing consists of a 70m drop then swings you back and forth a few times until you are pulled up to safety... sounds easy right? No. After a few minor tears, shaking, massive anxiety, Doug managed to get me on it and safely strapped in. A massive squeal erupted out of me and down we went. Being pulled back up was almost as bad as being dropped!! Am I glad I did it? Yes. Will I do it again? No. Fatigued by my adrenaline rush nothing too crazy was on the cards that night... a walk through the towns pride festival, dinner and a soak in the jacuzzi when we got home was all I could manage.

On our third day the mountain weather was still bring unkind so we found ourselves dodging the rain and doing activities instead. A few games of bowling, shuffle board and a cheeky quaddie all sufficed as an excellent wet weather timetable. We ended the night with Coconut Margaritas at Margo's and hand made artisianal chocolates.

Our final day and the weather looked PERFECT. We woke up super early, stopped off for a pie at Ferg Bakery and tracked the hour to Cadrona. Despite the mountain being a touch slippery and neither Doug or I being able to fit chains properly we managed to make it safely up the mountain in one piece just in time for the first chairlift to open. The sky was bright blue, and a fresh 20cm of snow had fallen overnight making for the most amazing skiing. Doug and I tackled the Blue and Red runs with ease due to the powder snow and long, not too steep runs. After a full day of skiing (and a few hot chocolates) we were both exhausted but happy. We managed to find the ONLY Chinese place in town and tucked into an early dinner. I managed to find the famous hot cinnamon doughnut van on the way home and it was the perfect end to our little ski trip.

- K x

Tokyo

Day 1:

Waking up feeling a bit under the weather didn't dampen our spirits as Doug and I embarked on an unforgettable journey through the streets of Tokyo. After catching up on some much-needed rest, we ventured to Omoide Yokocho, better known as Piss Alley due to all of the bars and tiny hole in the wall eateries. We sampled many delights, some well known, some foregin but still exciting (whale?) and some that we thought we knew... but defintiely didn't (a very suspicious chicken). 

The highlight of the day? Mario Karting! Zooming across Rainbow Bridge and circling Tokyo Tower felt like stepping into a real-life video game, with Doug by my side as my co-pilot. The adrenaline rush was palpable as we navigated the bustling streets, laughing and cheering each other on throughout the exhilarating adventure.

Day 2:

Day two was packed with excitement as Doug and I delved into the heart of Tokyo's bustling districts. Starting off with a visit to Gigo 1 in Akihabara, we were both mesmerized by the endless array of tech gadgets and anime merchandise. The allure of the pokies added an extra thrill to our exploration, making it a truly unforgettable experience - although no wins on either of our parts.

Next up, we embarked on a high-tech sushi train adventure, ordering anything we wanted on an iPad watching our sushi whizz past us almost instantaneously! 

We then strolled through the eclectic streets of Harajuku (no Harajuku Girls) on our way a shrine where we received our fortunes.

When in Japan, eat as the Japanese do... so dinner was at Pizza Mauro - okay not strictlyJapanese but some of the most amazing pizza either of us has ever had. 

The night ended with a stroll through Kabukicho, where we said goodnight to Godzilla. 

Day 3:

Day three promised more enchanting experiences as Doug and I set out to explore Tokyo once again. Our first stop was Team Labs, where we were both immersed in digital flowers, running water and light rooms - all in the name of art!.  

Another sushi train lunch (I loved it so much the first time) fueled our excitement for the next adventure: attending a sumo wrestling tournament. The atmosphere was electric as we watched the mighty wrestlers clash in the ring, cheering on our favorites with enthusiasm - we even placed a few bets between us - but it was almost impossible to tell who would win!

I can't believe Tokyo, and our mammoth trip is at an end... did it satisfy our desire to see the world? Yes. But it has also sparked a monster and now all we want to do is travel again!!

Until next time,

- K x

The Happiest Place on Earth - Japanese Edition

Day 1: DisneySea Delights

 

Our adventure at DisneySea kicked off with a whirlwind of excitement as we embarked on a quest to conquer every ride on offer. We got in early due to our hotel privillages meaning we had access to some of the rides half an hour before the public!

 Here's the lowdown on our thrilling escapades, complete with our verdicts out of 10:

•           Journey to the Center of the Earth:8/10
•           Indiana Jones: 7.75/10 – so fun that we decided to watch the movie that afternoon!!
•           Raging Rapids: 8.25/10. We loved it so much, we had to do it twice... in a row! 
•           Sinbad's Adventure: 5.5/10 
•           20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: 6/10 
•           Aquatopia: 6.5/10 
•          Tower of Terror: 9/10 – my first tower of terror experience...and dare I say, I loved it!!
•           Fortress Experience: 2.5/10 
•       Mickey's Big Band Beat: 6/10  
•         Nemos Underwater Adventure: 7/10 
•          Soaring Fantastic Flight: 7.75/10 

 

The night was topped off by an amazing fireworks display over the park - a pretty magical day.

 

Day 2: Disneyland Adventures

After a heart-pounding 25 minute sprint to Disneyland, courtesy of Tokyo's cashless transport system, we almost missed our half hour head start but we were ready to dive headfirst into another day of Disney magic.

• Space Mountain: 8/10 
• Big Thunder Mountain: 7.5/10 
• Splash Mountain: 7/10 
• Cinderella's Great Hall: 6/10
• Monsters Inc.: 6.75/10 
• Pirates of the Caribbean: 6.75/10 
•  Star Wars: 5/10 
• Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters: 6.5/10 
• Pinocchio: 3/10 
•  Snow White: 4.25/10 

And there you have it – our whirlwind tour of Disneyland, complete with thrills, spills, and plenty of Disney magic!

 - K x

Palm Springs 🌴

Our brief stopover in Palm Springs turned out to be quite the adventure.

Originally planned as a catch-up with friends, conflicting schedules prompted a change of plans, allowing Doug and I to indulge in some retail therapy and culinary delights.

We stumbled upon a sprawling designer outlet complex, where I finally gave in to my shopping urges after showing remarkable restraint in London and New York. Doug even managed to find something for himself amidst the sea of luxury goods. Our day of indulgence culminated in a taste test of California's famed In-n-Out Burgers, I can confirm its the best fast food I've ever had!

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a golden glow over the majestic mountains, we were treated to a breathtaking vista from our hotel.

The following day began with an early trip to Walmart to acquire an additional suitcase to accommodate all my purchases, whoops!! They sell some very weird & wonderful things in Wallmart everything from 30 types of M&Ms to... $30 guns?!?!

With my new clothes safely packed in their bag, we embarked on a self-guided tour of the city's mid-century modern architecture, admiring th vibrant hues of its iconic doors. 

Our exploration continued into the desert, where we decided on a hike that led us to a oasis nestled among the sparse landscape. While the scenery was undeniably spectacular, the thought of tackling such terrain in the summer heat shocked us - it was 25 degrees in the middle of winter. 

We set out on the road to LA, making sure to make a pit stop for one last taste of In-n-Out goodness and a sneaky UberEats order of Levain Bakery cookies before our long flight to Tokyo...

Distance Travelled: 54,101km

Map:

K x

Thawing out in Jamaica.

Have you ever had an airline bring your flight 20mins forward, while you're at the airport?? After an extremely early wakeup and train to JFK we waited 40 mins to check in and another hour to get through security. Getting anxious I checked the flight details and between when we checked in and when we were at security the flight time had moved forward by 20mins! Doug and I sprinted and were the last ones on the plane! 

A 4hr flight and 1.5hr drive and I was handed a glass of champagne and finally in paradise. The rest of the afternoon was filled with relaxing reading in the sun (me) and Piña Coladas (Doug).

No rest for the wicked as we were up early the next morning for Scuba Diving! The resort we were staying at actually has complimentary Scuba - or as I like to call it, kids club for husbands. I fully expected to have to wriggle into a wetsuit as per usual, but was advised that the water was 29 degrees and a tshirt would be more than enough! To my surprise he was right! We jumped in and I would have passed out if I was in a suit. We descended and started seeing the usual sights, gorgeous coral, some fish and.... wait, what's that... a plane wreck! Yes at our dive sight was a small plane that had crashed 15 years ago, covered in coral and teeming with fish who had made it their home. We kept swimming and our guide started hunting lion fish which are pests in the area. After drying off, we ran over to our next activity, a corn hole competition! Doug and I played, and lost two games ... hmm probably not the sport for us. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing by the pool, finally an activity I excel at! 

Doug started Wednesday off with a dive while I enjoyed a sleep in. We then met at our first activity of the day which was a quiz on "how well do you know your partner". Unsurprisingly Doug and I were excellent at this and won! We then hung out at the pool bar and made some friends, a young couple who were actually eloping the next day. We spent a few hours chatting and playing cards with them before deciding we should teach them how to sail! We grabbed a Hobie Cat from the beach and were off! 

The next morning marked my second dive, and probably my favourite. The first ten minutes were fairly uneventful but then something amazing happened... I made a new best friend. I'd heard of the Remora fish before from Doug, they're little fish that stick to whales and sharks to help clean them and are totally harmless and quite friendly. I'm very glad I knew this information as a Remora decided I was it's best friend and kept sticking to me and followed me wherever I went. This fish, I'm not joking, followed me for 20 minutes playing and swimming around, sticking to my legs and nibbling on my pigtails. After our dive, and saying good bye to the Remora, it was time for me to do some reading. Not wanting to miss out on any activities, Doug jumped in the pool, piña colada in hand, to do water aerobics! He bopped along with the enthusiasm of a man 30 years too young to do water aerobics! Our final activity of the day was a 4pm sail, just the two of us which was lovely. 

On our final day, I decided that Doug simply had too much fun at water aerobics alone so I'd join him. Drinks in hand we set off for the pool ready to do some ridiculous moves. Well, I think the only work out I got was my abs from laughing so hard! A spot of reading was then on the cards before the final sail of our trip. The last activity for Jamaica was then a game of pool on the way to dinner. It was the perfect week spent in the sun, relaxing but with enough activities to keep Doug happy as well! We are already trying to figure out when we can go back!

Distance travelled: 49,758km

Map:

K x

Winter in New York

When Frank Sinatra sang “I want to be a part of it, New York, New York” it was for good reason.

There is just something magical in the air in New York isn’t there? 

After an uneventful 8hr flight and a very unglamorous train from Newark we checked into our hotel then walked across Bryant Park, past the glittering Christmas Tree and Ice Skating Rink. Our first stop was dinner at STK for their famous date night menu, consisting of Entree, Main, Dessert and a Bottle of Bubbles- the perfect way to toast to our first night in the city. 

Our second day in New York was a tale of two mornings, after 4 weeks spending 24/7 with each other I think we both needed some time apart. 

A girl from work was coincidentally in the city so I decided to spend the morning with her. 

I met her uptown for a true New York diner breakfast of pancakes! We then went to M&Ms World Times Square where we shopped up a storm and sampled all of the new flavours of course! 

Doug's morning went a little differently, he went to a bakery in Brooklyn, wanderd to Brooklyn Park then walked across the bridge. 

Upon stepping off the bridge he then saw his favourite calling card .... "China Town" where he had to indulge in a few dumplings. He then strided his way across town to a bar which was a favourite of Anthony Bourdain where you are offered a free hot dog with EVERY single purchase no matter what.

The three of us then met up for a very late lunch uptown at Tao, a little gem Doug and I discovered last time we were here. They have an amazing $25 lunch special and a $29 Three Martini flight (three Lychee Martinis for me!).

Doug's only request for New York was one show... a magic show! 

I begrudgingly agreed thinking oh this will be lame, but just go along with it. Words cannot explain how blown my mind was, magic is real and nothing will make me believe otherwise again. To get an understanding of what it was like, WATCH THIS LINK it was essentially 2hrs of stuff like this including intense audience participation from both Doug and I. 

Why do I think it’s real? Well, I was who he brought on stage in an act, which involved a card clenched in my fist disappearing. I still have the very card that I signed in my bag to show everyone! 

Our third day in New York was dedicated to a self guided food and walking tour. Stop 1 was Levain Bakery in Noho for one of their famous Two Chocolate Chip Cookies ... let's just say I was not disappointed - I was in warm, gooey, chocolatey cookie heaven. 

Next stop was Doug's dumpling tour of China Town, first stop was Tasty Dumpling where you can get 8 dumplings for $4, then onto Super Taste, which do little fried dumplings that look like tacos! We needed to work off all that food, so we decided to rug up and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to our next stop. 

Voted the Best Pizza in New York we arrived at Luigis where we actually met the owner Giovanni, who's family have been making pizza there since the 70s. We ordered two slices and it was insane. Super crispy base but super gooey cheese topping, the perfect pizza. As we stepped out, we realised it had started to snow - it was actually the first snow the city had seen in 700 days. Not wanting to get caught in a snowstorm we sought refuge in a nearby bar, the Skylark. We found their games corner and got stuck into Monopoly Deal (I won 2/3) and Scrabble (Doug won 2/3) only to realise we had been there 5hrs and it was 9pm! 

Our final full day saw more snow, we had tickets to Liberty Island so jumped on the ferry early. Doug had organised special tickets which meant we actually got to climb up into the crown of the Statue of Liberty! We climbed all 550 stairs up to the very top, it was very narrow and windy so my anxiety was a little high! Outside was still freezing and snowing so we decided to head to the West Village for the best cacio pepe pasta in New York (Via Carotta which coincidentally is Taylor Swifts favourite restaurant). Warm and fueled up, we jumped on the train to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to watch the Eagles play the Giants. I fell in love with the spectacle of the game, somehow cheering on both teams and loving the music and entertainment during each break (there was a corgi race). Every giants touchdown was met with fireworks and the crowd going wild. 

In a further stroke of luck both Doug & I both caught T-shirts from the cannon! I gave mine to a young kid, Doug kept his!

The Giants had an easy win so it was a very lively train ride back to the city. A very early night as we need to get up at 4.30am to catch our 8am flight to Jamaica!!

Distance Travelled: 47,245km

Map:

VIDEO HERE

K x