Spring Break in Thailand

For those of you following our blog you know as a family we have gone to Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand since arriving in Singapore about 1.5 years ago. For Spring Break, we decided it was time to see more of the "real" Asia, so we booked a trip to Thailand. This is not always an easy prospect - because while the Thai people tend to be peaceful there have been many government protests in and around Bangkok since we have been in Singapore. As a result, we decided to set our sights on Chiang Mai in the North and Phuket in the South. You can see from the map at left the location of both cities in Thailand and its proximity to Singapore.

We started in Chiang Mai which is the largest and most culturally significant city in Northern Thailand. The city was founded in 1296 and is home to many temples and has a vibrant art community. We stayed in a quaint hotel near the river in a residential neighborhood and spent the three days doning a number of things we had not done before. The first day we took a tour guide and went to see a number of temples. The first one was called Wat Phrathat Doi Sutep which is the city's most famous temple, was built in 1383 and sits atop a hill overlooking the city. It was a very pretty temple with more Buddha's than could be counted. Below are some pictures taken in and around the temple ...

After a long day seeing temples (with only a minor amount of complaining from the kids) we decided to go out to grab a bite to eat. We hired a cab on the way to the restaurant, but on the way back we got adventurous and hailed a tuk-tuk. For those of you who are unfamiliar with a tuk-tuk, it is a common mode of transportation in Asia. See picture below...

As you can imagine, it is not the safest mode of transportation in the world and I beleive at one point Jo Ann said we were bad parents for taking our kids in one of these, but you know what they say about When in Rome...

Christmas in New Zealand - Franz Josef

Our last destination on our trip was the town of Franz Josef. It is on the west coast of the country very near the ocean and is the location of the Franz Josef Glacier. This would also be where we would spend New Year's Eve - in bed and asleep long before midnight. The drive from Franz Josef to Queenstown was very scenic and included beautiful lakes, mountains, waterfalls and the ocean. Here is one of the waterfalls we stopped at along the road to see...
Once thorugh Wanaka, this "major road" we were traveling contained at least 20 one lane bridges - one of which was at least half a mile long. At this point, we realized just how few people actually reside or visit this part of the country. The most exciting part of visiting Franz Josef was the heli-hike we had planned up onto the glacier. The weather was questionable when we arrived at the starting point of the journey and we had to wait for a while to make sure the weather was OK - something about the fact they wanted to make sure if they dropped us on the glacier they could fly back up to get us, because it was a long hike down. We all agreed this was a good plan. Once we got the OK to go, we had to get suited up in the appropriate gear. As is often the case, there was a lot of complaining about boots that did not fit, pants that were uncomfortable, etc., but all was forgotten when the helicopter took to the skies...
None of the Spitzer's had ever flown in a helicopter before and we did not know what to expect, but it was a great experience. The pictures below of the glacier from the helicopter are beautiful, but cannot do the view justice as the different colors of the ice - especially the blue - are not easily discernable.
After about a 15 minute helicopter ride up to the middle of the glacier, it was time to land and do some hiking. Landing on a helipad made of glacier ice was interesting and as we got out and stood around I thought to myself...it is really windy up here. Then the helicopter took off and the wind disappeared and we were left in the calm and cold of the glacier standing with 10 other people and a guide. From a distance glaciers look like snow, but they are definitely ice so we all had to put on crampons in order to safely hike around. Ice axes were optional, but we grabbed a couple to feel like true adventurers. Here is a picture of Jo Ann and the girls prior to setting out on the hike...
Now when most people think of glaciers they think of large crevaces that open up and swallow hikers and then close just as quickly. Our guide assured us this only happened in the movies, and so off we went. Here is a good picture of Jo Ann and the girls with their crampons and ice axes in front of a large ice formation. All of the movement of the glacier creates amazing formations of ice, large pools of water, tunnels and holes where streams disappear. It is a landscape unlike any of us had ever seen. Here are more pictures from our time hiking on the glacier

After about one and one half hours of hiking on the glacier the helicopter came and picked us up and took us back to town. We were all tired, but thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to see a glacier up close. It was an experience none of us will soon forget. It was December 31st and that evening we met up with two other family's from Singapore for dinner as we were all in Franz Josef during this part of our trips. We had a great time visiting about what we had seen and done during our time in New Zealand.

The next morning we drove a little further up the coast to Greymouth, turned in our well used rental car and took a 3.5 hour train trip across the country to Christchurch. This was another fun experience for the girls who had never been on a real train (subways do not count) and gave Darrell a chance to enjoy the scenery as opposed to focusing on driving all the time. The next day we boarded our flight back to Singapore. We all agreed it was a great trip and we may have to go back again if we are in Singapore another year.

Christmas in New Zealand - Queenstown (cont.)

Now that we had been in New Zealand for over one week, we realized we needed to do something to offset the cost of this trip so we headed to Arrowtown which is a small town about 30 minutes away from Queenstown. Arrowtown is on the banks of the Arrow River and is the sight of the New Zealand gold rush which began in 1862. It is a quaint little town that has been very well preserved. Since we knew little about panning for gold we thought we would ask a local...

unfortunately he was not much help. So instead we decided to go to the local museum to learn more about the history of the town and the gold rush. It was a really nice museum in the middle of town and Anna especially liked learning how to use an old telephone operator station.

After visiting the museum we grabbed our shovels and pans and it was off to the river. Here is a picture of Darrell and Anna working hard - while Megan appears to think she can find gold just by looking in the stream. Or maybe the problem is Dad was too cheap to rent three pans:-)
Anna working hard to try and find some gold...

Darrell thinks he has found something, but it turns out to be a shiny rock.

Anna decides to try her luck in the bigger river over the rocks in the background.

After a couple hours of panning all we had to show for our efforts was wet feet. That's OK, though, because it was another beautiful day in New Zealand.

Christmas in New Zealand - Queenstown

The next leg or our journey took us from Te Anau to Queenstown, or should I say back to Queenstown as we had driven through the town earlier in the trip. Queestown sits in the middle of the Remarkables mountain range on the shores of lake Wakatipu. It claim to be the adventure sports capital of the world which includes bungee jumping, para-gliding, jet boating, white water rafting, etc. The Spitzer's enjoyed watching all of these activities but were a little more sedentary in our pursuits.


We stayed at a nice condominium right on Lake Wakatipu...below are a few photos of the view from our balcony
The first day we took the gondola to the top of Bob's peak where we went on a couple of luge rides and took in the breathtaking scenery. The pictures below show the view from the gondola (note the cable included in the picture) and the top of Bob's Peak


The best part about riding the luge is the cool helmets...note at this point Darrell was taking the pictures so there was no proof of him wearing one of these stunning pieces of headgear

Day two in Queenstown was planned as one of the highlights of the trip - a four hour horsetrek through the mountains. While Jo Ann and the girls spend many waking hours on horseback each week, Darrell spends time working to pay for all of the horseback riding. This, however, was going to be the girls first time to see their father on a horse. I think they actually doubted I could ride, but I proved them wrong as I walked, trotted and even cantered my horse up and down mountains and through a mountain stream. It was just the four of us and a young guide - who was born and raised in Finland - and we had a great time. The girls loved the freedom to do what they wanted on a horse in the wide open spaces instead of riding around an arena. Darrell even got high marks from the guide, despite having very little experience. Maybe I have learned something from watching them ride the past three years.

Megan and Anna ready to ride. Again with the headgear...not too flattering but better than what was worn on the luge, although these did include the requirement of wearing a hairnet underneath. I thought we were supposed to get cowboy hats?

Pictures of the mountains and valley that we rode through during the trek.

Lunch at the halfway point included authentic cowboy food such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, sunmaid raisins and granola bars. Also notice the "canteen" Anna is drinking from.

One last picture from the ride with the whole family. It was truly a wonderful day with perfect weather, beautiful scenery and a chance to get away from it all.

Christmas in New Zealand - Te Anau

On December 22nd we left Lake Tekapo for Te Anau, where we would spend Christmas. As with last year in Australia, Christmas in this hemisphere still seems strange for a bunch of Midwesterners used to cold and snow in December. It is also hard to do the whole "gift opening around the tree" on Christmas morning when there is no tree. We did put up a tree at our house in Singapore and opened gifts the day before we left. The girls both received Ipod Touches which were put to good use on the long plane and car rides during our trip. Anna also had to spend her birthday - Decemeber 19th - packing and flying to New Zealand. At least she got a "birthday cake" on the Singapore Airlines flight as evidenced above.


Te Anau is towards the southwest corner of New Zealand and is considered the gateway to the Fiordlands. We spent five nights here which included an all day bus, boat, bus, boat, bus, boat and bus trip to Doubtful Sound. The scenery was spectacular, although it was rainy and overcast most of the trip - which is typical for the Fiordlands. While on the boat in the actual fjord we saw dolphins and a sea lion colony along with numerous waterfalls. It was a long day, but well worth it.


Looking back across lake Manapouri after finishing our first boat ride on the way to Doubtful Sound.





Our first view of Doubtful Sound.

Jo Ann and me with Doubtful Sound in the background. Notice the multiple layers of clothing as summer in the fiordlands does not usually include shorts and swimsuits. After the heat and humidity of Singapore we loved every minute of it.

A view of Doubtful Sound from the boat cruise.

While in Te Anau we also took a trip to the glow worm caves which included another boat ride across a lake. While the cave was quite small, you ultimately end up in a tiny boat in the center of a pool in the cave in total darkness so you can see the glow worms on the ceiling. They look like stars in the night sky. Christmas Day was spent cooking a very good Christmas Day meal - mainly thanks to Jo Ann and Megan - with the relatively few kitchen supplies at our disposal and spending time together as a family. The remaining day in Te Anau was spent taking a minor hike, exploring the town and I took my first run since the marathon back in early December.

Christmas in New Zealand - Lake Tekapo

One of the benefits of living in Singapore is the opportunity to visit places that are extremely far away from the U.S. New Zealand definitely qualifies - as it was even a nine hour flight from Singapore!! We landed in Christchurch on December 20th and headed to Lake Tekapo for the first stop on our trip around the South Island. As with our trip to Australia last year, one of our priorities was to get away from the hustle and bustle of life in a big city. The South Island of New Zealand has just over one million residents which equates to a population density of about 19 people per square mile – which is a welcome relief from Singpore where the population density is 18,214 per square mile.

We spent two days in Lake Tekapo at a beautiful Chalet at the edge of the lake. The lake is surrounded by mountains – as are most lakes on the South Island – and glacier fed which made it an amazing turquoise blue color. The kids enjoyed skipping rocks in the lake and playing a round of miniature golf while everyone had a good time hiking around the top of Mt. John and taking in the beautiful scenery.

The view from the porch of our Chalet at Lake Tekapo. We ate breakfast each morning outside - what beautiful scenery to wake up to each morning.

Jo Ann, Megan and Anna at the top of Mt. John.

Darrell, Megan and Anna at the top of Mt. John. While you will notice we all had hiking boots on, we must admit we drove to the top and just hiked around.

The four of us in a field of flowers at the base of Mt. John.