The Professor and the Private Eye: Adventures Abroad

The rain let up briefly around sunrise, and there was a brief period of sun around 2PM, as we came north, but otherwise it’s been a consistent downpour, with blustery winds on the coast. We went out for a brief hike from out campsite after breakfast, along a swollen river, crossing two bouncy suspension bridges. The forests here continue to amaze us. California forests are beautiful, but they are ecologically almost desert-like in their sparsity. These are tropical forests and jungles. Ferns, tree ferns, vines, trees, lichens, and shrubs are all a vibrant (and shiny, from the rain) green. Every town we pass through has a water conservation sign on it, with a dial from blue to red. Given how much rain we’ve seen, this seems oxymoronic, but it seems like they don’t have large reservoirs like we do, and I suppose they have rainy summers. 

Our thought had been to either do a gold rush hike through tunnels and timber tracks, or a hike to see two Kauri trees. Unfortunately both involve some steep climbs, which in the rain, with Aleko in a carrier, can be precarious. Plus if he times out when we’re at the end, making him sit soaked through another 90 minutes of rain seems like a bad idea. He lasted about 25 minutes in the morning hike rain. Unfortunately, given the weather, there’s not much to do. We swung by Hot Water Beach (geothermally active beach so at low tide you can dig holes that fill with wonderfully warm water), but low tide was at7:15 and that’s a bit late – night falling as the roaring surf comes in sounds a bit tricky to manage with the Captain. We stopped by a small art and crafts store and bought some gifts as well as a new car for the Captain, a Kiwi bird with wheels and a pull string. So we’ve driven up to a camping spot above Cathedral Cove and are gazing out at the roaring sea as it breaks on the rocks, playing with the Captain, a warm dinner in our bellies. We’ll either spend the night up here or head down to a car park campground in an hour or so. 

– The Professor

The rain let up briefly around sunrise, and there was a brief period of sun around 2PM, as we came north, but otherwise it’s been a consistent downpour, with blustery winds on the coast. We went out for a brief hike from out campsite after breakfast, along a swollen river, crossing two bouncy suspension bridges. The forests here continue to amaze us. California forests are beautiful, but they are ecologically almost desert-like in their sparsity. These are tropical forests and jungles. Ferns, tree ferns, vines, trees, lichens, and shrubs are all a vibrant (and shiny, from the rain) green. Every town we pass through has a water conservation sign on it, with a dial from blue to red. Given how much rain we’ve seen, this seems oxymoronic, but it seems like they don’t have large reservoirs like we do, and I suppose they have rainy summers. 

Our thought had been to either do a gold rush hike through tunnels and timber tracks, or a hike to see two Kauri trees. Unfortunately both involve some steep climbs, which in the rain, with Aleko in a carrier, can be precarious. Plus if he times out when we’re at the end, making him sit soaked through another 90 minutes of rain seems like a bad idea. He lasted about 25 minutes in the morning hike rain. Unfortunately, given the weather, there’s not much to do. We swung by Hot Water Beach (geothermally active beach so at low tide you can dig holes that fill with wonderfully warm water), but low tide was at7:15 and that’s a bit late – night falling as the roaring surf comes in sounds a bit tricky to manage with the Captain. We stopped by a small art and crafts store and bought some gifts as well as a new car for the Captain, a Kiwi bird with wheels and a pull string. So we’ve driven up to a camping spot above Cathedral Cove and are gazing out at the roaring sea as it breaks on the rocks, playing with the Captain, a warm dinner in our bellies. We’ll either spend the night up here or head down to a car park campground in an hour or so. 

– The Professor

After our hike, we continued south, to our second and final cultural stop, Rotorua. Rotorua is a large lake that was once the crater of a volcano. The whole city is geologically and thermally active. Walking through a park near the lake, a railing surrounds a fissure in the ground from which billowing, sulfurous steam emerges. There are many thermal spas, lots of extreme sports (no fewer than two Zorb establishments on the way in), and vents everywhere, with pillars of steam scattered throughout the city. 

In addition to all of these, Rotorua is a center of Maori culture. In the 19th century, Maori from villages in the area became guides for dignitaries to the local pools and geysers, and traveled to Australia and London to perform ceremonies and share their culture. Today, there is a large museum and several active villages that provide tours. We went to the less glitzy of the two, Wharakarewarewa. Our guide showed us the pools in the village, ranging from 90C to a jacuzzi-like bubbling cauldron that is 190C. Several smaller vents have wooden and cement boxes built around them, with lids one can close; these are for cooking. You can put food in a pot, put it in the box, go to work, and when you come home dinner is done. Or, you take food and hang it on a rope on the end of a stick and swish it through a pool, like shabu-shabu at a grand scale. They siphon off some of the hot water, which runs through channels in stone or cement for tens of feet, cooling, before emptying into bathing pools. She said that much as other people in other climates have evolved to extreme conditions, some people in the village can bathe in almost 70C water (158F). 

The rain started to grow heavier, so we decided to head back north. On one hand, we would like to go to Tongariro, to see the volcanoes (Mordor! Mt. Doom!). But with this rain, they will be shrouded in mist and hidden from view. Plus, that will be further south and so mean a longer drive back over the next few days. So instead we are heading to the Coromandel Peninsula, where there are amazing rocky beaches that look like they could give Ton Sai in Thailand a fair comparison, gold rush trails and tunnels, and Hot Water Beach. Tonight we’re at the Dickey’s Flat campground right by Karangahake Gorge. We think we will likely spend our last night (Wednesday) at Ray’s Rest, a beachside campsite on the west shore of the Firth of Thames, so we can quickly get to the airport the next morning. So tomorrow night is up in the air – we’ll see how things go and maybe make our ways up the west coast of the peninsula. 

– The Professor

Nobody bothered us parked just outside the park. We woke up to the sounds of all kinds of unfamiliar birds, cicadas, and the occasional bleat from a sheep in the adjacent field. We drove into the (small) park, strapped the Captain into his carrier, and set out for a two hour hike up to the top of a cliff. Wenderholm is an example of a nature reserve that New Zealand is trying to create more of, where they exterminate mammalian pests and return the ecosystem to be much closer to how it was before colonization. So there are signs everywhere about poison and dogs are not allowed, because they might eat the poisoned bait. The park includes what used to be a farm and sits at the mouth of a river. The river ends in a final oxbow that leaves a large, beautiful sandy beach at its end. 

Departing on the hike took a while because the Captain wanted to watch the families of ducks that wandered through the campgrounds. We climbed up to the cliff through jungle, surrounded by a loud chorus of cicadas. Steep portions of the climb had wooden steps or walkways with grippy plastic mesh. Before you start the hike, there are stations to wash and disinfect your shoes. The Captain learned a new word: “jungle!”

On top of the cliff, we could see the Pacific, with a few sharp islands in the distance and one yacht anchored about a mile away. There was one person on the beach. What struck us again was how such a beautiful location, in places we have visited before, would be developed or developing, with hundreds of people. We saw a few other hikers, most of whom were in their fifties or sixties. 

Hike complete, we headed back to Auckland for our evening entertainment: the Auckland Blues were playing the Highlanders in the first match of the Super Rugby series. We drove to nearby the stadium for lunch, finding a small organic grocery store where we could get some cooking staples. The Captain’s been only enthusiastic about eating pasta, so we bought ingredients for a few pasta like dishes we know he likes a lot (homdros, lentils with rice, etc). And wow is meat cheap, so we picked up two steaks. 

We then headed to a camping park within Auckland, parked, showered, and visited the pool before heading on the bus to the match. The park had a small room with a TV and some books. The Captain was so happy to run around on carpet, sit down, and read. 

Getting to the match was a bit of an adventure. We took a bus to Britamart, the central transit hub, then took a train to the stadium. The train was packed with Blues fans, hooting and hollering and cheering. A woman sitting next to the Private Eye commented that it was an embarrassment that rugby is the national sport and these hooligans represent the country. There was a bit of the bullying, brash, and bellicose English punter, but as the Private Eye pointed out, the first time the Giants won the World Series fans did set a MUNI bus on fire. 

It turns out we had awesome seats! We were in the family section (no alcohol), so there were lots of other families there. We were in the front row, right up on the pitch, in the corner. This meant that when play came close to our corner, the players were only 100 or so feet away. We were facing west, so could see the sun set as the match began. We left with the he score close (22-24, Highlanders ahead) so we could miss the crush on the train home. 

It’s been a long time. Now it’s the professor, the private eye, and the little captain. We’re about to depart on our first family adventure: New Zealand. We’re renting a camper for 11 days to explore the north island. We’ll then spend 3 days on Oahu with the private eye’s family, before returning home. We figure that a camper will give us freedom in deciding where to be when, while also keeping us in parks. We hope to take a picture of the captain in Hobbiton, see glow worm caves, see a rugby match, and spend a lot of time hiking.

– The Professor

We spent 100 days abroad: beaches, cities, temples, jungles, rainforest, scuba diving, zip lines, food, culture, poverty, affluence, and many wonderful new friends.

Best day: our first day at Ton Sai/Railay beach, rock climbing for nine hours on magnificent karsts jutting from the Andaman Sea.

Best meal: tied between two sausages, both from street vendors, one in Chiang Mai, one in Luang Prabang. I’d never had such a combination of textures, flavors, and a wonderful spiciness before. Street food was generally best, cheap restaurants not great.

Best food: Singapore.

Best lodgings: Bali Sesak on Gili Trawagnan. A cozy bungalow with AC for the hot midday, a comfortable bed, a private outdoor bathroom with shower, a shaded lounging area under the bungalow, wonderful hosts, all for $18/day.

Most surprising moment: seeing a woman dressed in head-to-toe black, wearing a niqab, laughing and clearly grinning as she held hands with her boyfriend/husband.

Most dangerous moment: riding in the back of pickup trucks on winding mountain roads . Seeing the carnage of a just-happened accident in Laos made the danger very apparent.

Scariest moment: diving in strong current in Gili Trawagnan, needing to climb hand over hand across the floor 30 meters down with 70 bars of air left.

Place that most deserved more time: sort of a cop out due to its size, but Indonesia. We only saw Bali, the Gilis, and Yogyakarta on Java. Sumatra, Borneo, Komodo, Sulawese – all places I wish we had time to see.

Top recommendation: the Gibbon Experience in Laos. Ziplining hundreds of feet above the jungle floor with local guides who were once poachers but now put their siblings through school for English.

Most emotionally moving: Cambodia and its cultural specter of the Khmer Rouge and constant, dangerous reminder through the tremendous danger of the countryside due to land mines and other unexploded ordinance. A tremendously rich history and cultural tradition, almost obliterated in 4 years by madmen.

Hardest thing: in Southeast Asia, the general cultural dislike of public affection. Not being able to hold hands with The Private Eye or put my arm around her in public wore thin pretty quickly.

Things I would do differently:

Bring different (nicer) clothes: I brought mostly very casual clothes and beach wear. But most of the places we were (except the beach vacation spots) dressed more formally and nicely than I expected. Of course if I’d read up on this I would have known, but I didn’t. Once there, finding clothes that fit me well, were nice looking, and easy to clean was nearly impossible. I’d have brought, in addition to my Psylo pants, two pairs of light, easy to clean pants, as well as light shirts with collars (perhaps short sleeved). The most important thing is that they dry quickly. I would bring three sets of mosquito resistant clothing and have arranged somehow that I wouldn’t carry them around SE Asia, just pack them when leaving for Peru.

Bring more first aid supplies: everything seemed to heal more slowly in the tropics. We used up our band aids pretty quickly. Of course it was easy to buy more when they were really needed (my scrape on Gili Trawagnan), but often scratches and such aren’t a big enough motivator to find a store. Specifically, alcohol wipes, band aids, and medical tape.

Carry a sum ($500?) of American dollars in a safe place: there were a few situations where ATMs were either unavailable or we needed to pay a lot of money. Having a stash of US dollars would have saved me a bunch of worry in a few tough spots.

— The Professor

At 8 am, we boarded a slow boat back to Yurimaguas. Jefe did not come with us this time, he was apparently helping the police to stop poachers (!) and couldn’t make it. The boat was traveling against the current this time, so we spent a pleasant lazy 22 hours in hammocks watching the river go by, and the sun set, and the moon rise, and the flat front of the boat glide like a flying carpet under the stars. Our fellow passengers were people,and chickens, and one rabbit.

I saw two dolphins as we got underway. One gray dolphin, and one bufeo.

We got into Yurimaguas at around 6 am. We showered at a hotel, then caught a collectivo back to Tarapoto. We flew back to Lima, where we were to spend two days, and then return to San Francisco.

– The Private Eye