Brandon O'Brien

Thursday, November 28, 2019 @ 10:11 PM in 2019 New Zealand

Day 5

We had another quick travel day today, flying from Christchurch to Queenstown. The flight departed Christchurch at 10am and only took an hour to get us to Queenstown. We landed and got our rental car, then drove to the Airbnb to check in. This was probably the nicest Airbnb I've ever stayed at (and maybe will ever stay at). The views of Queenstown were freaking spectacular. They had a hot tub with the same views which was equally great. Definitely check out the pics for the views we had.

We left the Airbnb to see what Queenstown was all about. We started off walking around the tiny beach and harbor area of town. We came to a pub called Ivy & Lola's where we stopped for a beer and to admire the views of the harbor and mountains. Afterwards, Sam saw someone handing out some seeds to feed the ducks so she had fun feeding and trying to pet them.

We saw they had a big luge setup at the top of one of the peaks so Mike, Sam and I went up to do that while Anne stayed in the overlook area. The luge was really fun, but we kept getting trapped behind people that were going really slow. Even with the slowdowns, it was still a fun time and we got a few good thrills.

We got back to the Airbnb and then Mike and I went over to the local grocery to get something for Thanksgiving dinner. We decided on muscles with veggies, bread and wine. The dinner turned out being really good and was a nice alternative to a full Thanksgiving dinner. We enjoyed our meal with the incredible views I mentioned earlier in this post.

After dinner, we went down and sat in the hot tub for a long time. Being as far south as we were and the time of year, it was still light well past 10pm. Unfortunately the hot tub was on a timer and the jets / heater turned off at 10 so we weren't able to stay out there even longer.

Being in Queenstown for one day, Sam and I both agreed this is what we had in mind when we thought of New Zealand. The dramatic mountains everywhere, the adventure sports, the chill nature of the town, etc all perfectly matched our ideas of New Zealand.

Teaser photos:

New Zealand Pilsner

Sam feeding ducks in Queenstown, New Zealand

Skyline Luge in Queenstown

Thanksgiving Dinner at the Airbnb

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Tags: new zealand, queenstown, honeymoon

Posted from: New Zealand

Friday, November 28, 2014 @ 7:18 AM in 2014 Asia

The agenda for today was to head over to Lantau Island and visit the Big Buddah, Po Lin temple and then hit the Cheung Sha beach on the southern side of the island. We took the MTR to the island then got on a tram up to the Buddah and Temple area. Fortunately we read some tips that said to buy our tickets online instead of at the tram station and that paid off really well. We saved 10% and also avoided an hour and a half ticket line.

We opted for the glassed bottom tram on the way up. It was pretty cool but probably not worth the couple dollar upgrade. It was nice and sunny at the base of the tram but after the 20 minute ride up to the top we got into more and more clouds and haze. It was still nice up at the top and it made for some cloudy backdrops for the Big Buddah. The Big Buddah used to be the largest buddah in the world until a few years ago. I think it's still the largest bronze buddah in China.

We climbed the 260+ steps up to the base of the Buddah which wasn't too bad. There were some people that were really suffering on the way up though. We walked around and took some photos before heading over to the Po Lin temple area next to the Buddah. The temple must have been freshly painted really recently because all of the colors were really bright.

Once we got to the tram base station we found a bus that would take us around to the southern side of the island where the beaches were. The road between the port/MTR station and the beaches was extremely steep. The buses were having major issues getting over the pass. Fortunately it only took us about 20 minutes to get to the beach.

Trip Advisor said there was a restaurant in town but we couldn't find it. We ended up going down to the beach and found a little tour company that had a convenience shop. We got some beers and some chips since that's about all they had and spent some time on the beach. It started off being really nice but as time went on the clouds rolled in and it got a little more gross.

We got back on the bus and headed back to the station and then got off near Kowloon to try and find the goldfish market. We couldn't find it but instead we found a bunch of street markets and a giant flower market. We walked around a little more before heading back to the hotel. We're getting ready to head out for dinner now. Unfortunately we forgot the restaurant we wanted to go to closed earlier than we thought so we'll have to find something else to eat.

Teaser photos:

Big Buddah on Lantau Island

Incense at the Po Lin temple

Po Lin Temple

Cheung Sha beach

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Tags: hong kong, traveling, buddah

Posted from: Hong Kong

Thursday, November 28, 2013 @ 1:17 AM in 2013 Europe

Day 155

I had bought some eggs yesterday so I could make an omelette for breakfast this morning. I got everything ready and went to break the eggs but suddenly realized I had bought pre-hardboiled eggs. I had no idea such a thing existed. It was pretty depressing to realize no omelette would be made and I had to settle for a breakfast grilled cheese.

Another highlight of the day was laundry. It had been a while since I did a full load in an actual washer and dryer so I spent a little while doing that. Afterwards I went out in search of a flea market that some people were talking about but I never actually found it. I ended up just wandering through the city enjoying the small streets for a while before heading back to the hostel.

The 4 British guys who own the hostel said they'd make a Thanksgiving dinner tonight for all the guests. There's actually quite a few Americans here which is surprising so having a Thanksgiving dinner would be a nice treat. I had a late lunch of chicken fajitas again to hold me over until dinner.

I hung out at the hostel and then in the kitchen while some people started working on an apple pie. I drank some wine then started talking with some of the other travelers and hung out with wine and beers until about 10:15pm when dinner was finally served. Things run a little late here in Spain and it's taken some getting used to, lol.

Dinner consisted of chicken since turkey is pretty hard to find here. For sides we had mashed potatoes, gravy, peas/carrots, steamed broccoli and onions, stuffing and bread. It was all delicious and there was a huge turnout for the dinner tonight. I didn't eat nearly as much as I normally would at a Thanksgiving feast but for being in Europe it was as good as it gets.

After eating I played some card games and a couple rounds of Guess Who with some of the other people here. A bunch of them are heading out to a club but aren't actually leaving the hostel for another 15 minutes (at 1:30am). I don't feel like being out until 6am so I'm going to call it a night now. Depending on when I get up I might do the walking tour in the morning.

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Tags: daily journal, spain, seville

Posted from: Spain