Alaska with Mel & Clark...

Our last stop in the US before heading back to Christchurch via LA with our final destination of McMurdo Station, Antarctica, was Anchorage, Alaska. We stayed with Heather's sister Melissa and her boyfriend Clark...

They were kind enough to take us on a little adventure to Seward, Alaska. They had signed up for Public Use Cabin in the mountains outside of Seward which meant we would hike up to it and the hike was about 2 hours uphill on snow and ice, but the view alone was worth it...

While we had thought we packed enough provisions, Heather's sister Melissa ran out of Pringles so the next day, after some hiking and playing in the snow, we all hiked back down the mountain for a supply run into town...

This time it was early evening and so the hike back up was in the dark...

And all for Pringles! Heather's says "you call me a spoiled lil' princess!"
Clark and Melissa had not been dating that long so Clark was catering to Melissa's every wish, heating her pizza up just right, can't have a burnt smell-otherwise you get the Ferengy or nose turnup!... We ate great though with Thai food and even toasted bagels in the morning.
For entertainment we had brought along our portable DVD player and tried to watch The Incredibles, but Clark and I had a few too many beers at that point and were having way too much fun, so the girls had to keep yelling at us to quiet down, but had little success in that effort.
At night we slept in the loft and since the toilet was an outhouse, that meant climbing down the stairs/ladder in the dark which made Heather obsessively whip out her Zipka headlamp every time someone moved towards the trap door which blinding us as we went down the ladder! Fortunately nobody died going up or down the stairs regardless of Heather's efforts.
Overall it was a great time and a lot of fun with some great photo opportunities. From the sisters getting quality time...

To me wrestling Heather for some kisses...

The best part of hiking down at the end would be butt sliding in our snow pants...

Ah, but it was a FUN TIME!
Next stop would be our red-eye flight to L.A. to visit all too briefly with my friend Leah and then onto Christchurch...

Travel 2004, USA...

We flew into Boston from Rome, Italy to see Heather's grandmother and east coast family. This leg of our round the world tickets had us flying with US Airways and that was a BIG mistake! It was right about christmas time and US Airways was going through a bankruptcy and here it is the holidays and all of their employees are pissed off and so our flights on this leg of the tour were a bad experience! So bad, we've vowed to avoid US Airways on future travels and I even wrote a letter to US Airways and United (the Star Alliance head) and complained about the crap service and lost luggage. Oh yes, they LOST OUR LUGGAGE and we had to wait DAYS for them to deliver it and considering we were only in Boston for a few days that made for some irritating dealings with US Airways. Still, we got our luggage eventually and were able to enjoy some quality time with Heathers family.
Our itinerary was pretty tight through our US travels...

We ended up celebrating x-mas about 3 times that year from Boston to Green Bay to Parachute. Here's a photo of my neices and dad that x-mas...

and here's a picture of the tree at Heather's parents place in Parachute...

After all that we were pretty frazzled and just ready to head back to Antarctica and work for another winter.

Travel 2004, back to Rome...

After a week in Split, we took the overnight ferry back to Ancona and then hopped the train from Ancona back to Rome. This time we stayed at the Westin Excelsior Rome

The hotel was really well located

and gave us easy access to our favorite pizza place, which was a bonus. We didn't have much time left in Italy, so we did a bus tour and some wandering around the city but no big explorations or touristy ventures. I think we'd like to return to Rome at some point when we can spend a bit more time exploring and getting to know the place but between our travel schedule and our budget we just didn't have the opportunity.
Next we flew out of Rome, Italy and headed to Boston to see Heather's grandmother and east coast family.

Travel 2004, Split, CROATIA...

We arrived in Ancona Italy just a few hours before our overnight ferry was set to depart to Split, Croatia...

Now originally we were going to spend all our time in Italy, but then we realized just how expensive Western Europe is and decided to venture off a bit to Croatia and we were NOT disappointed! Croatia is inexpensive, beautiful and friendly! And if you're worried about learning another language to get around, don't be, Croatian schools are beginning to teach English as a second language and we had no problem getting around and enjoying the place as English speaking foreigners.
We had made arrangements online to stay in a comfy rental apartment. The owner of the place was a great guy named Bruno, and he picked us up early in the morning from where the ferry docked in Split. The apartment was clean and comfortable...


and Bruno was a great guy and we loved our stay at his place and the location was amazing, right on a hillside that gave a great view of the city of Split...


The city was beautiful and we spent a lot of time wandering through it and checking out all the local sights. Split has an ancient history that dates back centuries and the evidence of this is centrally located and easily accessible...

"The City of Split marks 1700 years since the beginning of the construction of Diocletian's Palace. Split, a city where every epoche since antiquity has left its traces, was conceived within the walls of the palace which was built by the Roman Emperor Diocletian as his private residence. The well-preserved palace has been listed as UNESCO's register of the worlds cultural heritage."

Oh, and it was close to Christmas and New Years, so all around the city were some awesome holiday decorations...


There was even an underground market that had some great offerings from local artisans...

And, of course, we found great little restaurants to dine at...

Overall, we had a FANTASTIC time in Split and do plan to go back. There is still so much more to see in Croatia and we loved it so much we're considering investing there! Maybe a second home on the Dalmatian Coast?!?!
So after a week in Split, we took the overnight ferry back to Ancona and then hopped the train from Ancona back to Rome.

Travel 2004, ITALY...

Next we flew into Rome, Italy and immersed ourselves in quite different surroundings. We stayed at the Sheraton Roma and it was nice...

but it didn't quite look like this. When we arrived it was early December and rainy and a bit cold, but not too bad. We managed a few trips into the heart of the city and did a bit of sightseeing...

You really can't go anywhere in Rome without stumbling across it's ancient history and while we were interested in that to some degree our real focus was on the food and wine! We tried a number of locations looking for the best pizza in Rome and a number of vintages of wine!

The pizza here is very different from any we've tried in the states. It's a much simpler blend of a thin crust, amazing sauce and light but tasty toppings cooked in wood fire ovens...

It is by no means junk food!
We also found some great food and beverages right at the local markets where we stocked up for our train ride to Venice. Nothing like a little picnic of prosciutto, olives, cheese, bread and wine while watching the scenery go by!
We booked our passage on Italy's rail system through Rail Europeand opted for the first class passage, which is just a little comfier and worth it!


We arrived in Venice later in the evening just as it was starting to get dark. I had booked us into a hostel on the island of Giudecca called Ostello Venezia and we reached the place via water taxi from the train station. We were VERY disappointed in this place and it rivals the crappy location of Bondi Sands in Australia! Ostello Venezia is a stark walled dormitory building with mens bunks upstairs on one side and womens on the other. The place was nasty dirty and reeked of pot smoke! We were so disappointed and, quite frankly disgusted, that we didn't even bother to stay one night and instead rallied ourselves and got on the next water taxi back to the train station and found the tourist hotel information office, which was still open! The tourist hotel office at the train station is a little office with one person working the desk, but she was great and found us a nice B&B within walking distance from the train station for the night! We got to the B&B after a little confusion with the directions, checked in, dropped our bags and then found an internet cafe to make a better booking than the Ostello.
We booked the rest of our time at the Hotel Danieli which is a gorgeous place and formerly a palace!...


YES, it REALLY looks like this and being close to the holidays it was also fantastically decorated with a huge tree and holiday trimmings everywhere. They treated us very well and the accommodation was AMAZING! Both Heather and I say that this is the finest hotel we have ever stayed in! Everyone was very friendly even when we stumbled through the doors in jeans sporting huge backpacks or carrying pizza boxes to munch on in our room! LOLOL Really, this was a highlight of our trip and made Venice that much more amazing.
We spent our days roaming the labyrinth of streets lined with cafe's, restaurant's, boutiques and galleries and managed to pick up a few unique items. One gallery that we especially loved was a colorful artist shop called Itaca Bottega Artistica. The place was filled with the work of the owner, artist Monica Martin showing a variety of beautiful perspectives of Venice...

Awesome work and we definitely bought a few pieces!
We also had to do the token tourist gondola ride through the canals and although it was a bit pricey, it was worth it!...


Overall, Venice was wonderful and we'd go back in a minute! We spent several days there and then hopped the train once again for our next location, Ancona Italy, which is a little port town on the eastern coast on the Adriatic Sea, and this would be our departure point for Split, Croatia via an overnight ferry boat trip!

Travel 2004, Back to Bangkok...

Back to Bangkok and the Shambara Boutique Hostel for a few more days before we head to Rome, Italy.
Bangkok is a must see kinda place... It's a sprawling city with numerous Buddhist temples, crazy traffic and wild nightlife.
The major mode of transportation is either tuk-tuk...

or motorbike and it's not uncommon to see entire families on one bike!...

Mostly Heather and I just enjoyed the Khao San Road area and a lot of visits to Pian's Beauty Salon and Massage. We did venture out one evening to the notorious Patpong district with its glowing neon signs, crowded night market and go-go bar hawkers trying to lure you into their clubs...


Definitely not a place for the meek of heart and something you'll likely never to forget.
We even found a place for Sushi in on Khao San Road, a nice little place called Taketei Japanese Restaurant...


Overall, we really LOVE Thailand and will continue to make it one of our regular stops in travel.

From Bangkok we flew to Rome, Italy and immersed ourselves in quite different surroundings...

Travel 2004, Krabi, Thailand...

So after a leisurely week in Koh Mook, we left the island via longboat and taxi to Krabi...

We had made reservations at the Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort

and while I'm not much of a resort kinda guy, I did find this place to be great. The staff was friendly and accommodating and everything was immaculately cared for!
Possibly the best part of the Sheraton was the martini bar and the open air lounge where you can sit and enjoy your cocktails and watch the sunset.

They have a great happy hour and the lovely staff will bring the martini shaker to your table, shake and pour it for you right there!
Another favorite for both Heather and I is roomservice and we gratefully indulged here in Krabi!

Ah, but we only spent one night in Krabi and then it was back to Bangkok for a few days...

Travel 2004, Koh Mook, Thailand...

From Krabi airport we were picked up by the taxi service for the Charlie Beach Resort on Koh Mook,

This island was soon to become one of our favorite places!
Our friends Rebecca and Richard, who I know from New Zealand, were doing a trip round the world themselves, and arranged to meet us on the island and when we arrived at the little port in our taxi, there was my friend Rebecca getting on board a boat! We weren't far behind in our own boat and after a quick, scenic trip we found ourselves on the beaches of Koh Mook!

We rented the "Beachfront Deluxe Bungalow" and it was very cozy...

and right on the beach!

Now besides being a secluded and off-the-beaten-path kinda spot, we were keen to do some diving and we found the dive shop, PP Princess, very helpful. We did a couple of dives out to a few locations via Thai longboat, one to Koh Rok...


which was amazing! We saw lion fish, sea turtles, lobsters, eels and any number of other colorful sea creatures. On Koh Rok we had our lunch and got to hike about for a bit. The island is beautiful and home to Lizards of enormous size!
Even the trip to and from our diving locations was great and you never knew what you'd see. We spotted flying fish by the dozen, sharks, marlin and jellyfish!
It was a great time for Heather and I...

But diving wasn't our only activity... We also did some sea kayaking and visited the Emerald Cave,

which is just around the corner on Koh Mook island.
"Tham Morakot (Emerald Cave), which is indeed a beautiful limestone tunnel that can be entered by boat during low tide. Moreover, it is named Emerald Cave for a reason; the tunnel stretches 80m before finally emerging into an open pool of emerald hue! It is truly an awesome sight."
And of course there's massages on the beach and just lounging in a hammock or snorkeling or... Well, you get the picture!
Every night we'd eat at Charlie Restaurant...

and the food was FAB! All kinds of fresh seafood grilled to perfection!
Basically, I don't think I can say anything bad about Koh Mook! It was just amazing and Heather and I can't wait to go back!
From here we headed back to Krabi for an overnight stay before heading back to Bangkok...