Sunday, July 5, 2015

The next adventure.....

The Big Plan

We are thinking about our next step forward.  Where should we go, what should we see, where to start out, what is important to see and do?? So many options!! If you have any great ideas, please let us know!

 

The first leg of the adventure...

We are looking to finish up working in Australia, roughly August / September / October / November or December? 2015,  then the first part of the adventure is to then take the truck and travel around Australia for 1-3 months, depending on how late in the year we actually finish work. The plan is to visit a bit more of outback Australia - the only issue currently is that we will finish up working during the wet season and this will mean heading north and travelling in the  northern tropical/ arid parts of Australia very difficult with many of the tracks closed.

Something like this trip but not for as long. http://www.expeditionaustralia.com.au/product/the-big-lap-dvd-series/ 
Would be really cool to see the sights of Australia, the tropical north really interests me the wildlife, desert, etc. So many places to talk about but really a trip to the top of Cape York, the Kimberley, the Great Sandy Desert are on the top of the list for us.

Then the second leg of our adventures......

We are really keen to do some backpacking in Europe, the Americas and a trip back to Africa if we can fit it in, which I'm sure we will be able to do but we (Michael especially) would love to also sail around, do some island hopping and cruising around... somewhere tropical would be lovely, diving and fishing etc.

The idea is to travel the world (well parts of it) as efficiently and as cost effective as possible, the age old problem with life is time versus money, the longer you take to travel the more options you can have and at a cheaper rate/find the best deal OR do things quickly and spend a fortune.  If we can plan the things we want to do well, the better off we will be in terms of getting the best bang for buck.  The further you read down this blog, the more you realise that Michael has had a big part to play in writing this, so it will be no surprise to anyone that knows us that he wants to travel around the world on a boat - possibly some of it on a yacht like this?? 
Beneteau Oceanis 473 - nah this is really too expensive!


The dreaming and scheming begins...

How about a massive sailing trip like this?? Start in the Mediterranean and almost circumnavigate the worlds' width to end back in New Zealand.

If we were to buy a yacht to so this trip; I think we will need something that is already set up for cruising, but it is still cool just to look and see what is out there.  As far as I can see, a well found, strong, simple sea-worthy yacht with the appropriate equipment can go just about anywhere!

The more I read, the more I realise that there is a whole production yacht versus purpose built blue water cruiser and those are two distinct camps. To be fair there is really is a lot to think about, obviously the production yachts are very common and a few people are crossing oceans in them but the old salts think that the traditionally purpose built yachts are the only option. I'm not really sure which is best, as long as you and the yacht are suitably prepared.

But I have found this awesome yacht with some of my preferred features; ketch, pilot house, multiple head sails, but it has a steel hull which i'm unsure on.  There are so many different websites to search and review, but as with everything there are positives and negatives.

One thing I have learnt is that the whole piracy issues in the Western Indian Ocean has led to a significant proportion of long term cruisers being stranded in Thailand/Malaysia, due to the unsafe waters to the West. Some more hardy sailors are turning South at the Seychelles and heading for South Africa, by then rounding the Cape of Good Hope then North towards Europe.  A significant concern for us and we know that it is a warranted concern by many, so if we just mince about the Pacific Islands or around the Med, then that would still be a good time! 

So you can find old but in good condition yachts such as this 37ft Rafiki cutter or
Pearson Vanguards, Tritons and Alberg 35's are examples of very well built, reasonably priced earliest production fiberglass boats, or so I'm told.  More research has lead me to find a Denison, and this interesting yacht Harmony 47'.  I have also been looking at chartering a yacht in the Mediterranean to see if that's a better option if we are unsure on the time.

It is really hard finding good advice on if it is possible to buy a yacht and sail around then sell only after a few months, or if you are just better to hire a yacht for a short period or to just crew on someone else boat. I also spend a fair bit of my time researching yachts (in case that wasn't obvious) and trying to learn about navigation route planning, generally how to sail around the world.  Some really cool yachts offering offshore experience include Mahina Expeditions and 59 Degrees North, John Kretchmer this looks awesome and I'm looking into it in 2016 to see if there are a few openings.  That could be a go!


Weekend Meandering

While Shahn was at a work conference in Brisbane, I recently ended up visiting a yacht yard in Manly, Brisbane and having a yarn to a old guy and his wife. They lived onboard a junk rigged catamaran, really cool people that have travelled a lot, they really rated the junk rig saying that for simplicity and safety the junk rigged yacht is superior to the conventional Bermudian rig. Then he offered to sell me his yacht as they are getting too old and wanted to down size. I may be dreaming a bit here but just trying to research it and see if we can give it a go, dreams are free!

Having a look at the Pirates of the Caribbean ship, was pretty cool.  It was Captain Jack Sparrows boat.

This is the old sailors yacht I was standing on when I took these photos of the Pirates of the Caribbean boat looked cool had a large mast and bow sprit ready to be hoisted.  They did quite a bit of filming in Moreton Bay as they received a grant from the Queensland Government so they could film for a cheaper rate than the US.
Having realised that we both need a little more sailing training if we are to plan a large scale sailing adventure, we have started the RYA sailing courses. The courses are a bit expensive but we will see how we go, it would be good to complete our Yacht Masters before we head away. So first up, Shahn and I have booked a whole weekend for sail training on a 40' yacht out of Brisbane - just to test the waters and see how go (there are pictures later on in the blog of the weekend) and if we really enjoy it, I'm really excited where that will take us..... 

While Shahn was on call for the long weekend, I spent the Queens Birthday weekend racing in the Wivenhoe Winter Marathon.  The Brisbane Valley Sailing Club is based on Lake Wivenhoe, they are a great group of people.  The weekend was a good turn out of people, water was bit chilly so I had to invest in a wetsuit.
Sunset on the first day of the Wivenhoe Winter Marathon.


Sailing information I follow, and cool blogs/vlogs

I have a few awesome blogs I read and watch regularly, if sailing is an interest for you and you have not seen any of these, have a gander as they are excellent!

A new You tube channel S/V Asgard and a few other that have awesome record keeping
S/V BEBE, SV Totem and SV Rover and they talk about budgeting and general planning.
A few cool movies to watch on YouTube
Books (other than the standard ones)

  • H. W. Tilman and his amazing books on sailing and climbing
  •  

Some really good websites for getting information are Offshore sailor, Setsail, Island Cruising Association. For navigation, there are some good apps such as Active Captain, Navionics, Isailor but there are so many different options and I have to say its difficult to see which is the best.  So have a look at Best apps and Best boating and sailing apps.

The sailing community have been awesome, these people that are having amazing adventures, one day maybe we can be doing the same.  I have found a few websites that can find crew positions if you are interested......
Crew Seekers, CrewBay, FindaCrew, Sailopo, Cruisersforum, Cruiser log, Sailing networks and Ocean Crew Link.  One interesting organisation is the World Cruising Club, essentially a fun race for cruising sailors.


Sailing around Morton Bay

As this blog has taken so long to write, we also have a few photos of our sailing weekend in Morton Bay.  This was part of the RYA Sailing course we did, it was thoroughly enjoyable and we learnt a lot of random things, like learning how to plot a course on a chart and predict tides using charts and tide rules.

Shahn super excited as we were discussing the route and planning the weekend away.

Shahn, Terry and Christophe route planning

Out on the water, Shahn showing us all how its done.  It was a mixed bag of weather, about 15-25 knots of wind and showers all over the show.

Shahn getting a work out on the helm, the smile is to hide the shear terror of how she was feeling, though it was not too windy (between 15-25kts).

Pulling up the anchor after our lunch. Terry giving steering directions.

Michael just trimming the main

The boys relaxing while Shahn does all the work, beating up wind to get to our anchorage for the night.

Looking for channel markers. Dusk is really the worst time to be travelling as the lights aren't on and trying to spot the markers was difficult due to low light.  Luckily, Terry had a chart for dead reckoning used alongside his Ipad with Navionics as a chart plotter.

We stopped off at Raby Bay for a hot chocolate and to buy some beers.  When we tied up there was a Johnny Depp Movie Marathon playing on a massive outside screen right by the water. The hot chocolates were awesome, the ones we had were like chocolate sauce and almost like the Italian hot chocolate, very nice after a cool night on the water.

Leaving the Marina to head out for some night sailing, this is very daunting but we both feel empowered that we know enough to make it around at night safely.
 Having a bit of fun night sailing, Shahn was in charge - I was just standing in.

Watching the channel markers as we made our way out into the bay 

Enjoying the rain as we passed the channel markers.

Waking up to find our bum hard aground in the mud, decided to get some study underway. Our overnight anchorage was between Russell and Karragarra islands.

Then we worked out the tide charts so we would know exactly how much time we would be on the hard.

As the tide went out we got our lean on.....


Mucking about while we waited for the tide. One really random thing was while we were aground on the mudflats, a junk rigged catamaran came sailing past, the same yacht I had been on a few weeks ago when wandering around a boat yard. (See earlier in the blog, near the Pirates of Caribbean boat pictures)

The water was lapping over the rail by the end of it.

Shahn showing how much of a lean we got on, I'm standing so that I am upright the correct way.  The bucket is there, poised so I could pee - very difficult to pee when on a greater than 45 degree angle.

Shahn making the most of a good spot in the sun to relax.

Finally after a few hours relaxing, eating and telling stories, we were underway.

Finding our way out down the channel

Shahn again, the skipper.

More playing about on the helm during our night sail back to the Manly Marina to get back home.

Christophe struggling to handle the rough weather......
Over the weekend sailing, we had an awesome time with heaps of fun on the water, night sailing was fun and we felt really safe and the yacht was very comfortable.  It gave us both a lot of confidence that we can sail a larger vessel together, we will need to work on our communication skills if we are to be better at it.  But we need to get on with it now! 

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,
Location: Queensland, Australia

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Spectacular Sights in South Korea

21st May -  31st May 2015

 The decision to go to South Korea was made on the fly, but it was a fantastic decision! The main reason was to meet up with Shahn's brother, Josh, who has been working at the shipyards in one of the southern islands (Geoje, 거제시).  We had not seen him since March 2014 so it was good to catch up, and Shahn's parents met us there - their first big overseas adventure, long haul flights, foreign languages and food. We were vising NZ in October/November so had not seen them in a wee while either.


Trying to get a bit of shut eye and being horizontal, winning!!

Flying into Bangkok before the connecting flight to Busan.

Michael and I flew into Busan after a hectic, but great flight with Thai Airways via Bangkok.  We got in at 7.30am, bright as bunnies and started to plan the day ahead, we jumped on the train and headed to the Busan Museum and their UN Monument.  The Korean Rail system has to be the most efficient and easy to use public network we have ever used, add to that the very helpful Koreans that would come to our aid when we were looking at maps.  

 We spoke no Korean apart from hello 안녕하세요 (pronounced: ann-yeong-ha-seyo) and thank you 감사합니다 (pronounced: gam-sahab-nida).  We also found that there was always an English button/page/menu to get you through, and if you looked slightly confused someone would always help you out - their English was exceptionally better than our Korean!!
After a fabulous morning buzzing around Busan, we found the bus terminal so that we could catch the bus down to Geoje.  We wandered into the bus terminal and looked for the sign "Geoje" and to no avail, looked at the automatic ticketing thing which had a English conversion section on it, still no Geoje.  Slightly frazzled and distressed, I walk up to the ticket booth and ask for 2 tickets one way to Geoje, she nods and asks for money typed onto a calculator to which I hand over wads of notes hoping that it will cover it.  Once I walk away, I look down at the ticket and its saying "KoHyeon", Michael is standing there shrugging.  So we go to a coffee shop and the lady ensures me that "... KoHyeon is the same as Geoje" - Could have ended up anywhere but we made it to Geoje no problems!
Geoje Region

 We stayed with Josh and my parents in a sweet little apartment just down the road from the shipyard where Josh had been working, so it was great to see where Josh had been living for the past 6 months.  We did a bit of sight seeing around the island as well as it was a long weekend (Buddha Day) we managed to see quite a bit of the Island.

 Shell Global's Youtube video on the Prelude.  It's purpose is a floating LNG plant to extract gas from offshore WA, Australia.  The "boat" is 488m in length, 74m wide and weighs over 600,000 tonnes fully laden.  An impressive project that my brother got to be a part of!

Prelude - almost 500m long, such a beast!

Prelude (Front section zoomed up)

Prelude (Middle section zoomed up)

Prelude (Back end, zoomed up)
The Smaller's (Darryl, Robbie, Shahn and Josh) with Prelude in background.

After checking out the monster FLNG around the bay, we tiki-toured onward around the coast to Windy Hill.  We were so glad we got there early as the roads were packed with tourists, then after we left to go to the next village.
The town of Sinseondae, on the side of Windy Hill.  All the houses had orange roofs that had big flat areas (Maybe to dry fish or rice on??)
The parents & Josh looking pumped to be there.  So many selfie sticks being used by tourists, just not by us!! Haha!
Eak trying a dried fish patty, not so many yarns with this lady but he tried.  
Also a side note for those following our blogs, the scar on Eak's right leg healing up nicely after the motorbike incident in Cambodia.
We went next to Okpo-Dong, a lovely city that again has stunning scenery, hills and greenery.  We parked on the top of a hill and saw another shipyard as well as great views of the city below.  The Koreans really know how to present things well!
Town on Okpo-Dong, a lot of the ex-pats live here instead of Geoje city due to its size.  That apartment there, 102, is a typical block where a company will offer accommodation to workers and their families as part of their employment package - a smart way to ensure that the employee is close to work and well accommodated.

Street Markets of Okpo, so much deliciousness was sampled in the markets.

Market styles of different Kim-Chi and the likes.


Hite - the local Korean Beer.  There were a couple of options, Cass was another beer but the Hite tasted far better.  Around $2 per beer, cheaper than water!!
We also went to the Geoje Shipbuilding Marine Culture Center, this place was incredibly interesting.  Explaining the different types of LNG options as well as their historical shipbuilding, like the Turtle Boat in the picture above built from 1590s onwards, they were used to defend against a Japanese invasion. 
Very impressive how they have built massive cities and left large hillsides forested and available for hiking so close to the city. Also lots of exercise equipment around everywhere. Towns are well organised and roads in awesome condition, South Korea really has its' shit together, very impressed.

 We went for a walk up the hill behind where Josh was living,  it gave excellent views of the city and the shipyards.  Fitness equipment was scattered along the hike which we had great fun using, we saw a blind man walking up and down the hill, lots of Koreans love their fitness gear so they had walking poles and high performance clothing.

Along the walk we found this new apartment block being built, Josh was loving the top notch electrical work with that guy installing the air conditioner on the left.  While Michael was loving the contraption to get the homewares into a new apartment.

View from on top of the hill, looking down upon Geoje and its' masses of apartment blocks. Such an efficient use of space, maximum accomodation with minimal footprint.


The final day in Geoje before we caught a bus up to Seoul, we went on a little tour of the Samsung Shipyard that Josh was working in for the Prelude.  It was a flying visit and Dad was quite disappointed with how quick it was as he thought they might show a bit more but from a safety point of view it was pretty full on.
Look at the vehicles on the road, the scale of this place was incredible!
The small truck on the road just shows how colossal all this equipment is, crazy! 

A casual 450 tonne crane and a 900 tonne crane in the background.

Seoul


We left Josh to complete his final week of work in Geoje, caught a bus up from Geoje to Seoul which was roughly 4 hours and then caught a couple of trains to get to our accommodation.  Like the seasoned travellers we are, we stood in front of a map long enough scratching our heads before some kind chap came to our assistance and told us which train to catch, all in all a great plan.

 FYI: Often the accommodation changes their name, I am unsure if they do this due to new management or if they do it to rid themselves of bad reviews on TripAdvisor etc but it is something I noticed in SE Asia too, a lot of rebranding happens.  So research the living life out of the places you are staying at, mostly by address.

We stayed at 88 Guesthouse which was located right in the middle of Myeong-dong, which was an exceptionally convenient location as it was close to the markets and the public transport.

Local restaurant in the Myeong-dong Markets, Dad chomping into some seafood and Mum being a vegetarian had limited options but always had something to eat (and always on her phone, classic Mum!)

These metal chopsticks are quite hard to use, very slippery!

We had stunning weather while in Seoul, lovely clear days and sunshine.  We wandered around the city using the trains as much as possible, so efficient and easy to use.  Dad had surgery to both of his feet less than 6months prior to this trip and we tried to minimise the amount of walking where possible, but when you are a tourist especially in a city, it requires quite a lot of walking as well as general standing. He did so well, but he was in a lot of pain!
We visited the War Memorial of Korea, it was huuuuge!! Opened in 1994, this war memorial museum was filled with incredibly detailed accounts of the many conflicts and wars that Korea and indeed South Korea has been involved in over the long history of its country.

"Statue of Brothers" at the War Memorial depicting the older/elder South Korean soldier embracing the younger North Korean soldier, symbolic of the Korean division in the 1950s.

The epic building housing the War Memorial Museum.


Panoramic of another monument depicting the toll the Korean war of the 1950s had on the people, both North and South Koreans - Soldiers and civilians alike.


Part of the UN Monuments at the war museum


Michael just playing around in the army gear.

A vast selection of equipment from the war.

Peace shrine.... or something like that. Darryl, Shahn & Robbie on the right.

Just enjoying the history in the museum
Since we were on the same side of town, afterwards we went to the tourist tower called the N Seoul Tower, located on the Namsan Mountain.  It marks the highest point in Seoul at 236m, and boasted beautiful panoramic views of Seoul. We caught the gondola up to the observation section, Mum hates heights and she was very mildly freaking out.
Taken from the top of the N Seoul tower. Cool view, South Korea really has done an awesome job of integrating parks and somewhat wild areas into its cities.

Not so far away from the motherland

 

Meeting up with Hannah Poole  

Michaels' friend from high school, Hannah, has been living in Seoul for the past few years teaching English to the very well educated kiddies of South Korea.  We were both keen to catch up, and we were keen to get a more local view on Seoul. 

Hannah took us all out to a traditional restaurant, which turned out to be a nice little vegetarian restaurant on the count that Shahn's mum doesn't eat meat. Hannah did an awesome job of finding somewhere to eat more traditional food as without meat, as Koreans are know to have meat with everything. Nice spot where we got to sit on the floor and eat traditional food. Eak thoroughly enjoyed the meal, everyone else thought there were too many mushrooms! but they are just picky....

Hannah then took us for a night out wandering the streets, where recently the city had opened up a once piped stream to the public, this has now become a local hot spot for art and an evening stroll.


Shahn cutting shapes.






Gyeongbokgung Palace 

The following day we were off to explore more of Seoul. We really wanted to see a palace, a few were recommended but we decided on Gyeongbokgung,  as it was not too far away and we planned our route using the TripAdvisor app. On a side note, the TripAdvisor app is amazing for South Korea. If you have a GPS enabled phone you can download the maps of interest then using the phone as a basic GPS to guide you around the city, the TripAdvisor app has all subway line, points of interest, eatery's, markets and its free!!!
 The whole palace was destroyed during the war and was rebuilt to reflect the original construction due to the significance of cultural history, prior to its destruction in the 1950's the palace was approximately 600 years old.

It was really nice weather, we just wandered around looking and talking.

We met the girl in the back of the image on photo (Hannah from Germany) while trying to find the best way to get to the palace. Hannah was also heading there so she hung out with us for the entire day. Told us interesting things about her life where she was from and so on. She was of Korean and German decent and found it very difficult to get about in South Korea, as many of the locals saw her as a Korean and would treat her poorly for being unable to speak Korean fluently, which she found frustrating.

Robwano, Mumma Bear (and her giant handbag!)

Just chilling enjoying the maze of building and pathways.

Among the swarms of tourists in the baking sun.



Beautiful craftsmanship, even though it has been rebuilt - it has all been done to be as technically correct and historically accurate as possible.

Waiting for the bus loads of tourists to pass through so we could enjoy the serenity of the temple.

Extensive waterways around the palaces

Backpacks, jandals and smiles!

Loving the Temples


A Chicken.

Such extensive temple grounds, took a good couple of hours to get through!





Eak's Early Morning Excursion

Early in the morning, I wanted to head out to the old part of the city and see the traditional buildings and designs so I went for a wander around and took some snaps.

Very cool houses, narrow little streets and gardens everywhere. Every spare section of ground used efficiently and beautifully.


The DMZ

Prior to visiting South Korea, we hadn't really considered how crazy the North vs South situation actually was/is.  We knew about the wars and the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) but didn't really comprehend how intense the whole situation is.  The DMZ is 250km long and 4km wide and literally divides the North from the South, considering the name suggests that it is "demilitarised" it is actually heavily guarded with military presence.

We ended up entering the DMZ via the third tunnel. Bit scary going down a deep dark hole, you could see the drilling marks where the North Koreans had worked away building the tunnel. Even worse was when you get to the concrete wall with a small slit where South Korean armed guards had stood waiting for troops from the North to attack.

Massive transmission lines crossing the river, near Paju, South Korea, supplies the North with electricity for the factories they have just over the DMZ. This provides cheap labour to the booming South and much needed cash flow to the North.

One of the hundreds of pill boxes the follow the DMZ border, with razor wire fences lining the river which marks the DMZ border.

The bridge to freedom
The evident gunfire damage to the train.


The famous railway station to nowhere..... The South genuinely hope that this railway will one day be used since the infrastructure is in place.



The Trans Eurasian Railway Network. Hopefully one day, North Korea opens up to the world and the South can get this built.

Admiring photos of Korea and the world (To promote travel via rail)

This may seem like the most ridiculous photo but the South Koreans have it covered!! This one rubber catch works on all three doors, mind blown.

Looking across into North Korea. A large "propaganda" city which the tour guide told us is completely empty.  The town called Kijŏng-dong, was built in the 50s and has large buildings - allegedly with timers to turn lights on and off, and cleaners to show "activity".  All a bit much to deal with!


The peace bell near the bridge to freedom.

DMZ border maintained by the South.

Night out in Seoul

We only took one photo of our night out with Hannah. She showed us an awesome time visiting many different areas, foods, drink and night life. So thank you a lot Hannah for your hospitality!! The drink she is holding up is a popular Korean drink called Soju, it was strong tasting, but good.

Bits and bobs from our time in South Korea. Hope you enjoyed our trip as much as we did!!


Michael's musings on South Korea

I'm unsure how such a large population harvesting marine life is able to be sustainable in the ocean? A vast amount of seafood seems to be consumed in every town. Also in summer Geoje really is a pretty area and yet we saw very few pleasure/ fishing craft on the water. Talking with some locals we found that in some areas the water was contaminated with waste and as such not utilised by the locals. I would be interested to know how they process effluent before disposal, when they are eating the seafood caught in the same area they dump it.

Very tidy cities despite their size, South Korea have really capitalised on inner city living where generally the buildings go up not out. Road quality was really good. Seoul was very clean and tidy, the people were awesome and helpful. I think you could spend at least another few weeks in South Korea exploring the regions.

Most impressed how far South Korea has come after the war, essentially being destroyed to being an economic powerhouse. Some Koreans think that the North and South will be united within 10 years, although only about 50% want this to happen. If they form one country under the democratic flag there would be a rush of economic migrants from the North to the South looking for work and a better life, and some Koreans think this could cause issues in work and housing availability. These Koreans also believe that it would be hard to change the mindset of the 'brainwashed' North Koreans. 

Talking with some locals and (Kiwi) Hannah, we found that the children have a very strict learning expectation driven from the parents and do very well at school and learn very fast. Although the pressure for children to succeed is extreme, so much so that they are often still doing school work in classes until 10pm as young as aged 10.

South Korea is a fantastic country, I would definitely go back for a visit and get out cycling or hiking which are both popular pastimes. You can really see how well the country is doing and how much of an influence they are and will be on the world.

 I guess now I also understand KPOP.....
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,
Location: South Korea
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)