Washington, DC, USA

Home Sweet Home. It's hard to believe that it's been seven months since we last touched American soil. Some things have changed (what are these new fangled I-Pod touches?) and some things never change (Us Weekly still sucks me in). Within an hour of touching down in LA, we had a bagel and coffee and roamed the aisles of Target. Ahh, the little things. We were fortunate to ease back into American culture with our friend Reina in LA (she made amazing Chili and corn bread) and Mike and Brandon in San Diego (we were immediately sucked into Ugly Betty). Both filled us in on all the gossip we missed and blessed us with good California weather before we finally returned to winter. Things have yet to slow down--if anything, our pace has quickened. Within our first week in DC, we leased an apt., moved our stuff in, started a job and filled our social calendars for the next few weeks.

So it's finally time to wrap up the blog and say goodbye to our trip around the world. This is our last post so you'll have to find another site to read on Monday mornings (may I recommend www.usmagazine.com). It goes without saying, this was a trip of a lifetime, but we'll spare you the sentimental babble. Instead we'll finish with a cumulative best-of list. Thanks so much for following along with us!

erin and geoff

Countries Visited: 12 (including California)

Number of Flights: 24

Missed Flights: 1

Miles Flown: approx. 37,000

Number of trains: 20

Beds Slept in: 66

Nights sleeping in a Van: 10
...Bus: 1
...Train: 10
...Airport: 1
...Under the Stars: 5
...Plane: 3
...Boat: 2
...Jail: 0

Passports Lost: 0

Baggage Lost: 0

Books Read: 52

Things we Missed Most: Bagels, Bluejeans (ek) Football Season (gsp)

Things we Missed Least: cell phones, election coverage

Favorite Food: Tibetan Momos (ek), Vietnamese Lemongrass and Chili Chicken (gsp)

Favorite Beer: Indian Budweiser

Worst Beer: Anything Australian. Fosters is NOT Australian for beer!

Cheapest Beer: Bia Hoi- 12 cents

Favorite Place: Leh, India

Best Beach: Ao Phranang, Railay, Thailand

Best Hostel:Dragon Town Youth Hostel, Chengdu, China

Best Airport: Singapore

Worst Airport: Delhi, India

Wonders of World visited: 2

World Heritage Sites visited: 25

Nicest travelers: Italians

Funniest travelers: Japanese

Musicians we heard in all 12 countries: Fergie, Phil Collins

Person we know with the most look-a-likes (doppelgangers): Dave Rees

Scariest Moment: Arriving in Mumbai at 3 a.m., taking a 30 mph taxi, windows open, no seatbelts, no locks, through Dharavi, the biggest slum in the world.

Top Five Best Moments:
5: Singing Karaoke with Mark in Tokyo
4: Seeing the Dalai Lama speak to 10,000 Tibetans in Northern India
3: Taking a camel safari through the desert of Western India
2: Bungee jumping in New Zealand with Kerrie
1: Hugging a Panda!

Place we'll most likely return to: Leh, India

Nadi, Fiji

Bula! Greetings from Fiji on Day 204!

After spending one quick night in Nadi on the mainland, we boarded our ferry to the outer Yasawa Islands. Our first stop was the island of Nacula near the famous Blue Lagoon. We stayed in thatch bures right on the beach and spent our days doing pretty much nothing. Our location was fun because the main bure at the "resort" would welcome local villagers each night for kava drinking sessions. Kava is a root that locals soak in water and drink ceremonially instead of six-packs or rum. It tastes like dirt and doesn't get you drunk so the tourists stay away. You can even see the locals wince when it's their turn to drink.

We spent our nights hanging out with other travelers and the locals learning a lot about traditional Fijian culture. Here, more than anywhere else we've been, we've been able to sit down with locals and learn about their culture without having to hear it from a guide or a bus driver. After dinner one night, we broke out our deck of UNO cards and were delighted to learn that the villagers knew all the rules and an energized game soon broke out.

After attending two church services in the village on Nacula, we traveled south by ferry to the island of Naviti. We got to Naviti just in time for the rain and a rumor began to spread that a cyclone was heading our way. News in Fiji works like the "telephone game" in elementary school and there are 333 islands so its gets kinda distorted some times. The one newspaper we saw was a week old and addressed nothing except 9 pages of rugby scores and 1 page of a somewhat inaccurate breakdown of the Iowa caucuses (according to Fiji's main source of news, Obama has already won the presidency). The cyclone apparently struck one of the larger islands and bounced back to sea so we ended up with rain and quite a bit of wind. Our room in Naviti had a tin roof so we stayed mostly dry.

From Naviti, we took a small motor boat out into the Perfect Storm to meet our ferry. We were in about 10-15 foot swells and as Erin stepped off our boat onto the ferry, we dropped about ten feet below her. She's glad she didn't look back. Eventually we both made it onto the ferry with our wet stuff to see about 40 other tourists puking their guts out. Luckily, we only had to travel for about 20 minutes before disembarking at our last island stop, Drawaqa Island.

Drawaqa was a great location because although there was not any power anywhere on the island, it was privately owned. This meant sleeping with the windows and doors open which made it nice to enjoy the sea breeze. The sun finally came out and we had the place pretty much to ourselves and spent our days hiking, lying on the beach, snorkeling and fishing. It should be noted that on our last fishing trip, ERIN CAUGHT A FISH, which is a first for her (she actually caught 2, and I caught zero).

We arrived back in Nadi last night on the ferry and head out for LAX later tonight. Somehow we arrive in Los Angeles later this afternoon - I think it has something to do with the International Dateline but I'm hoping Air Pacific operates a time machine. We'll be in LA for a night and San Diego for 3 before flying back to the east coast. We'll post one more time, a final tally of sorts, before putting this blog out to pasture. Can't wait to see everyone soon!

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Auckland, New Zealand

Guest Bloggers:
The Koreys

Here we are again, 3 months later, traveling with Geoff and Erin through Kiwi-land. We've learned more about Maori culture, volcanoes, and Kiwis than we ever thought possible.

We spent several days in Rotorua, a geothermal area, where sulphur steam jets and bubbling mud were dotted all over the landscape. We spent an evening eating Maori BBQ (Geoff's favorite) and learning about their culture through song and dance. Dad really got into the aerobic chanting. We finished off the stay with our one and only viewing of the Kiwi bird in a Kiwi breeding center. New Zealanders have adopted the Kiwi as their national symbol, but will soon have to find a new one when they become extinct in the next 10 years. The sheep are lining up as replacements since there are ten sheep for every one person. We have a new appreciation and understanding for merino wool and New Zealand lamb shanks.

The one thing Erin can't get over is the abundance of avocados for 20 cents a piece. Sadly there are no Tostitos to be found or we would be eating guacamole every night.

We had hoped to finish up our road trip with some "tramping" on the famed Tongariro Crossing, but we were unfortunately stopped by our first cloudy/rainy day. We were able to get a nice hike in, but unlike Frodo, we were unable to climb Mt. Doom (Mr. Ngauruhoe). Fortunately we got a great view driving in of the Tongariro Range and the beautiful Lord of the Rings scenery.

It's hard to say goodbye to Geoff and Erin after such a fun road trip, but they're excited for their vacation from their vacation in Fiji. Had it not been for them we may not have taken the opportunity to travel to the other side of the world. We're just happy they're coming home soon.

**Erin's Editors Note**
We're off to Fiji for 12 days and most likely won't have electricity, let alone internet. Look for our next post when we hit the U.S. on the 22nd.

Rotorua, New Zealand

The party keeps on rolling with the Koreys arriving before we can even say goodbye to Kerrie. I don't know if she's cursed or blessed, but she spent another full day in Fiji on Air Pacific's dime before arriving in Greensboro as the clock struck New Years. It was sad to see her go after our adventures, but always exciting to see my parents across the globe.

Our pace has slowed a bit (although not that slow for pensioners), as we've taken to walking the volcanic city of Auckland before heading out for an island getaway. The Koreys excel at one thing, and that's kicking back with a cocktail and taking it easy. We spent a few days on the island of Waiheke enjoying the vineyards and olive groves. We got my mom out on her first kayaking trip around the island, and while she can't raise her arms high enough to brush her teeth now, she is hooked on paddling. She picked a gorgeous area to start her kayaking career. All of us agreed, that Waiheke would be our vacation spot of choice if we were Kiwis. (That means native New Zealanders--not birds)

We're now in the city of Rotorua, also known as Rotovegas. Whoever came up with this nickname has never been to Vegas, because there are no casinos here, but it's still a fun and adventure-filled city. It's most well known as the birthplace of Zorbing. Of course Geoff and I gave it a whirl (literally). We couldn't convince my parents to get in, but they had a laugh watching from the bottom. The basic concept is you jump in a giant plastic ball (a la hamster ball), fill it with water and roll down a hill. I actually got nervous at the top (not sure why), but Geoff and i jumped in the ball, took a few steps off the edge, and were launched down the hill getting sloshed all around in the ball. I'm not doing the Zorb justice, but it was fun and I laughed the whole way down, up to the point where we got spit out the ball at the bottom.

Don't discount my parents as non-adventurous--my mom was super excited about luging down the mountain like we did in Queenstown. The four of us helmeted up, and jumped on the luges for a spin down the mountain. I, of course, sped down with reckless abandon. My dad was going at a pretty good clip until I passed him. Geoff, being the good future son-in-law, kept behind my dad. And my mom sped down the course in the back, almost running a girl off the track. That's my mom! Everyone agreed we could go on a family Amazing Race.

Our trip is moving too fast, and after a Maori cultural night tonight, we'll be heading off to Lord of the Rings land to hike the hobbit path. I'd make a LotR joke here but I'm one of 5 people who never saw it. I think i just had my visa revoked.

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Christchurch, New Zealand

Guest Blogger: Kerrie

As a professional counselor, it is my ethical duty to stay abreast of important therapeutic breakthroughs...so I am pleased to announce that I've found my new calling: thrill therapy, as they call it in Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world. (Maybe I can write off my trip as "continuing education?!"). At any rate, we tried our best to take advantage of the seemingly endless "therapeutic activities"...and it was just what the doctor ordered! I know Geoff has already shared about our bungy jumping adventure off Kawarau Bridge (which I think we would all agree was the highlight of our trip)....but the fun didn't end there. We started our Christmas Eve day with a white-knuckle ride on a high speed jet boat through Shotover Canyon. Better than any roller coaster - we literally came within a foot of the canyon wall and our driver was fond of 360 degree turns. What a rush!

We followed the Shotover Jet with a gondola ride up a mountain with spectacular views of the city and frequent sightings of para gliders and skydivers. At the top of the mountain was a luge course, which was basically a curvy, downhill track on which we raced little seated scooter-things (see above picture). Though maybe not as dangerous as some other activities, I did manage to find my inner child as I gleefully passed other joyriders around hairpin curves. This was by far the cheapest of our Queenstown escapades, so we treated ourselves to 3 rides each.

The Kiwis are not nearly as hyped about Christmastime as Americans...but we did bring some holiday cheer to our car park (where we parked the campervan for 2 nights). Erin thought ahead (of course) and was prepared with Santa caps, homemade stockings, and a paper tree-in-a-box. Geoff helped out a neighbor by writing a letter to her children from "Father Christmas," and we sang a few Christmas carols before cooking our Polish Christmas Eve feast (sausages, sauerkraut, mushroom soup, mashed potatoes, focaccia bread and wine...Mmmm).

After being adrenaline junkies for a few days, we slowed down a little in Wanaka (about an hour north of Queenstown). We thought Puzzle World would be a nice change of pace. This place was filled with puzzles, illusion rooms, mind tricks, and a life size outdoor maze. Despite our combined 11 years of graduate school, I think our minds were puzzled a little more than we bargained for. Thank goodness Geoff finally finished his puzzle, or we might still be there (I'm not sure if he was competing with himself or all the 10 year olds surrounding him!)

We finished up our South Island Tour with some good exercise: a small hike up Mt. Iron near Wanaka...and then a half-day hike in the Mt. Cook area. It was a bit cloudy, so our views weren't ideal, but Mt. Cook is the highest point in the Southern Alps. We hiked along the Hooker Valley and saw our first glacier...it was a pretty cold walk!

On our way back to Christchurch, we stumbled across our last big thrill: the annual fair in Timaru, cited as the "highlight of the Timaru calendar year". And by "thrill," I'm not referring to the Ferris wheel, the sketchy Gravitron with the drop-out bottom, or the arcade games. I'm referring to the unbelievable number of mullet haircuts we saw. Girls... boys... young... old... apparently it doesn't matter what side of the globe you're on, a country fair is a country fair.

I'm sad that my visit with Erin and Geoff is coming to an end...but I think the thrill therapy will help us enter 2008 with a new lust for life and respect for gravity. Happy New Year!

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Queenstown, New Zealand

Merry Christmas everyone and seasons greetings from Middle Earth! We are happily in New Zealand and turning the volume on our NZ roadtrip up to eleven. We spent a fun, final day in Australia with our local friend Chris who we had met a few weeks back on the cross-country train. We then uneventfully flew over to NZ to meet Kerrie but she was unfortunately not so lucky. Well, she was unlucky enough to be delayed in Fiji, so things could have been worse. Anyhow, after 5 flights (which is, I believe, the most flights it takes to get from any one point on Earth to any other - Greensboro, NC to Christchurch, NZ in this case) and only a few hours behind schedule, Kerrie arrived in town. Of course, her luggage is spending the holidays in Los Angeles. No worries - nothing could have made Erin happier than Kerrie's arrival AND a good excuse to go shopping!

After a quick bit of planning, we decided to share our time together on the southern end of the South Island. It's really funny because "Southern Pride" is a big deal here in the "Deep South" and I even saw a tractor trailer painted like the General Lee. Small world. We picked up our own mode of transportation, our campervan, in Christchurch and headed out with our fingers crossed. Luckily the campervan has an automatic transmission, lots of room and a working sink and stove.

We spent our first day on the east coast in a town called Oamaru. We spent the evening watching blue penguins return to shore, fight and mate - they're like little midshipmen, blue uniforms and all. We parked our campervan along the beach that night and awoke the next morning for coffee and dolphins. NZ has a very liberal camping policy so it's pretty much kosher to just camp anywhere you can park your car. From Oamaru, we headed south to Dunedin, stopping to visit the Moeraki Boulders (naturally created, large, perfectly rounded boulders on a beach) along the way. In Dunedin, we toured the Speights Brewery before tasting the goods and spending another night along the beach. Still in Dunedin, we toured the Cadbury Chocolate Factory the next morning and then tried (mostly unsuccessfully) to walk up the World's Steepest Road.

From Dunedin we drove west along the Presidential Highway (connecting the towns of Clinton and Gore - really). We arrived in Te Anau on the west coast and again found a great campsite along Lake Te Anau. We couldn't figure out how it wasn't already taken by someone else until the next morning when our campervan got stuck. With the help of some friendly Aussies, we built a make-shift cobblestone road and were able to get out. After spending another day in Te Anau, we headed north toward Milford Sound and spent the evening cooking steaks on a fire pit in a meadow filled with purple flowers and surrounded by mountains.

We awoke early the next day to make the drive to Milford Sound. We got off to a slow start when our spare tire fell off the bottom of the campervan after about 10 feet but we made it up the scary, winding roads to Milford Sound in time for our kayaking tour. We then spent about 4 hours kayaking among cruise ships through the Milford Sound. There were only eight people on our tour (5 kayaks) and when the wind increased, we grouped up, raised a sail and quietly skipped across the sound. Not a bad way to spend a day.

From Milford Sound, we worked our way back down the scary, winding roads and headed east for Queenstown. Once again, we found ourselves camping right on a giant lake at the footsteps of a mountain range with hardly anyone else around. Of course, Erin and Kerrie have been eagerly awaiting our arrival here because this is the home of bungee jumping, as well as many other psychotic pastimes.

We got up this morning and drove straight to the AJ Hackett jump center at Kawarau Bridge. After watching a few Japanese tourists take the leap (including one 12 year old who I think fainted off the ledge), Erin and Kerrie quickly signed up. In deciding who should go first, Erin pointed out that she jumped out of the plane first so it was Kerrie's turn. It's good to know she keeps track of these things. Kerrie then suited up and got ready to go. When the staff asked her if she wanted to dip into the Kawarau River 43 meters below, she said "surprise me!" Good call. Kerrie then stepped on the ledge, the staff counted down and - nothing. Kerrie then took a deep breath and after a second countdown she was off, head-first, coming up short of the water and swinging around. Erin was up on the bridge jumping up and down yelling "You go girl!" (Who let the Americans in?).

Erin was next up and without any hesitation she walked out to the ledge smiled for the camera, blew me a kiss (I checked, there was nobody behind me) and jumped. I don't think they even had time to do the countdown. As Erin was falling, the lady next to me said, "Damn, that girl has no fear." Because she didn't jump out too far, Erin took a more direct route down and actually dipped into the river, head-first, up to her waist. It looked pretty, freaking radical.

After listening to Erin and Kerrie replay their jumps and watching a few more wackos take the leap, I decided, screw it, I'm not going to be at the birthplace of bungee any time again soon so I might as well give it a whirl. The scariest part was actually when I charged the jump to my credit card because that's when I realized, "Oh shit, now I have to walk outside and jump off that bridge!" Within 5 minutes, I was strapped in around my ankles and shuffling out to the edge. Erin had given me great advice by telling me not to look down so I just stared straight out at the mountains. The countdown was from 5 and I told myself I was jumping on one, and surprisingly, I actually did. Falling head-first and watching the river approach was totally surreal. I didn't quite reach the water but did get an excellent bounce. I think I also let out a primal scream, though it's all kind of a blur. The best part is, the people at the bungee center comped us DVDs of our jumps so we'll always have video proof. All in all, I feel I've sufficiently answered the question "If Erin jumped off a bridge, would you?"

So now we're chillin' out in Queenstown and trying to decide what to do next. We hope to get in some white water rafting and perhaps a visit to Mt. Cook, which is our best bet for a white Christmas. Although we're all sad not to be at home for the holidays, this will definitely be a Christmas that none of us will forget. Happy holidays to all!!!

Whitsunday Islands, Australia

Now is the time in the blog when you may want to stop reading. If you are buried in snow or getting drenched by rain, you're not going to want to hear about our three day sailing trip through the Great Barrier Reef. Or about us swimming with sea turtles. Or the whitest sand and bluest beach we've ever seen. Or our race with another sail boat on the open water. Yes, this is probably a good time to hit the ESC key.

Before we could start our sailing trip though, we had to drive South from Cairns to Airlie Beach. A simple task it seemed, but not only have neither of us driven in 6 months, neither of us has ever driven on the left side of the road. But like every other travel experience, Alamo just handed us the keys and the map and wished us a safe trip. Eek. It was actually a simple straight shot through some pretty desolate but beautiful areas of the Australian coast. While Geoff was white knuckled most of the way, he successfully got us there only turning on the windshield wipers every other time he wanted to use his turning signal, and almost running out of gas once. A success considering.

Airlie Beach is a small beach town meant mostly for the jumping off point of sailing trips to the Whitsunday Islands. Because of this jellyfish nuisance, we still couldn't go in the ocean and instead spent our days at another Lagoon we affectionately call Backpackers Club Med. Maybe I missed this detail, but I definitely did not know that most of the Australian coast is unswimmable in the summer months due to killer jellyfish. The term beach really means pretty area to look at, but not to swim in. It's a total taunt since the water is as blue as the Caribbean, but too dangerous to swim in. Hmph.

After a two days of hanging out, we embarked on our long awaited sailing trip. When picking which boat we wanted to book, we went for the biggest and fastest boat, resulting in us being on a trimaran called the Avatar--a catamaran with a middle hull for sleeping. With 26 other people, we set sail on a sunny morning, destined for more beaches and snorkeling (and lots of jellyfish). About an hour in, Geoff and I realized that the 1/2 litre of suntan lotion may not be enough for 3 days. It was hot and we were cooking in the sun while sailing (i know, life is tough). Someone even commented on Geoff's regular application, of course it was the same guy who was tomato red by the afternoon.

After lunch we anchored at our first beach to swim and sun on. Here's the catch--because of the jellyfish, everyone has to wear stinger suits while in the water. They are full body wetsuits, some even with gloves and hoods. When we hit land and all piled into the water, it was like a Fantastic Four convention at the beach. In word, we all looked ridiculous (but no one got stung).

Both nights were spent on the boat, meeting new friends and drinking bad Australian beer. And when it was time for bed, we retired to a little cubby on the side hull, with a hatch that opened to the starry night sky. It was pretty damn cool falling asleep under the stars to the rocking lull of the boat (luckily the waters were calm).

Day two had me peeping out of our cubby to watch the sun rise over the ocean (Geoff was out cold) and pulling my pillow out to continue sleeping on deck. Once the troops rose, we docked at Whitehaven Beach and swam off one of the whitest beaches in the world. We walked through the small tide pools that developed between sandbars and found a school of baby reef tip sharks looking for food. Our stinger suits never mentioned anything about being shark proof.... They were friendly and we were able to walk right next to them while they fished for breakfast. It was a lot less daunting them seeing them underwater while snorkeling.

Our first snorkeling adventure finally made us understand what the stinger suits were for. As we entered the water, it felt like we were swimming through clouds, which were really billions of pin head sized jellyfish floating through the water. At first it was distracting and a little scary, but after a while you forgot about it. That is until Geoff grabbed my arm and pulled me away from a 4 foot jellyfish floating through the water. I don't think my suit would have saved me from that.

One of our best snorkeling moments so far on our trip was swimming with sea turtles. We were dropped in the water near a turtle heavy area and within a few minutes Geoff spotted a 3 foot sea turtle swimming on the ocean floor. We commenced being the Turtle Paparazzi. We stayed 5 feet behind him (or her) and swam for 20 minutes with it, rising with it to the surface and following it back down. We called people over to see it and just like any turtle celebrity, he had 7 people following his every move with underwater cameras. It became more exciting when our turtle joined some friends and began eating a huge jelly fish. I thought it was originally being attacked, but then watched as the turtles ripped its tentacles off. It was cool.

Sadly our trip went too fast and we put the sails up for a trip back to the mainland. Because our boat was a former race boat, our crew's ego fueled them to chump the other sail boats heading back to land and when we arrived earlier than expected, they turned her around and we set back out to find some more competition to beat. I'm now convinced that sailing is quite difficult, but even more convinced that i want a sailboat! (with a crew of course)

We're back in Sydney for a last day in Australia before we head to New Zealand to meet up with Kerrie for the adrenalin rush part of our trip! We've been blessed with travellers karma (resulting from tipping, being extra polite, etc) and because our hostel messed up our reservation for a 8 person dorm room, we have been upgraded to a top floor double room with bathroom overlooking the city. Moral of the story: it always pays to tip well.

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