George White and Eva Ma
Hi Everyone! Welcome to our travel blog! Eva and I (George) met at the University of Washington in Seattle and were married a couple of years ago. While dating, we discovered we both had an unfulfilled desire to see a little bit more of the planet and had talked about taking an extended trip. Shortly after our marriage, we started planning and saving for a year-long trip around the world. We departed for our adventures in August 2009, after Eva's graduation, and returned to our hometown of Seattle in October 2010. We had originally hoped to keep a blog with our photos and experiences to share with our friends and family back home as we travel through the various countries, but have unfortunately fallen short due to lack of internet, time, and having way too much fun during our travels. Now that we are finally settled (at least for the time being), we hope to finish the blog for our own record, and for sharing our experiences and memories of our amazing year off with everyone. George and Eva
Travel Blog Posts
Red Hands and Blue Mountains
Published: May 10th 2011Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Blue Mountains
April 12th 2010
The Blue Mountains are one of the bigger draws in the Sydney area. That said, with the highest peak at 1,190 m, they really are more like Blue Hills. Australia is somewhat outgunned in the mountain department by other countries we have seen. Still, Australia's Blue Mountains are picturesque and they are only less than 2 hours drive west of Sydney. We headed into the mountains in our rental car on the afternoon of Monday, April 12th. We startled dozens of kangeroos as we arrived at the grassy Glenbrook campsite, just past the village of Hope. There were enough 'roos around that I couldn't help wondering whether they had ever initiated unpleasant incidents with people. In a man vs. kangaroo fist fight, I bet the 'roos would win, but much of it would depend on the ... read more
April 11th 2010
We never ever made it to the Great Barrier Reef, which depending on who you to talk to, is either really really great, or getting less great through overexposure as the years go by. Forgoing the premier diving area in Australia, we still got our dive fix in by doing some shore dives with Sydney's Abyss Dive School. This was not the best diving we had on our trip, and it was easily the most expensive. But we had one really unique thing going for us on this dive - a dive camera. This is the one blog where we can take you underwater with us. We met up with the friendly staff at the Abyss Diving School on the morning of Sunday, April 11th, picked up our scuba equipment, and drove with them over to ... read more
East Coast New South Wales
Published: May 8th 2011Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Myall Lakes National Park
April 7th 2010
One of our toughest debates about our Australian trip was whether we would head up north to Cairns, Queensland to check out the Great Barrier Reef. In the end, we decided not to go for several reasons including cost, time, and most crucially, the merits of the visit to the reef. The Great Barrier Reef has suffered a lot from overexposure to tourists, so we thought it could use a rest from dealing with the likes of us. That left us with a little problem of how to fill a reef-sized hole in our schedule. Victoria state boasts Australia's Great Ocean Road, but we were struck by all the big green areas on our map in the central area and along the east coast of the state of New South Wales, so we decided to head ... read more
April 1st 2010
It was a 12-hour ride from Melbourne to Sydney via the Country Link train service, but the ride was comfortable with some nice scenery and the surprise of seeing some wild parakeets along the way. That day was Thursday, April 1st. We were dropped off at the station in Melbourne by Aunt Julie, and met at the other end in Sydney by Eva's cousin Yan. From the bosom of the family... into the bosom of the family. Yan took us to his home in Rockville, a suburb of Sydney, where we met his wife Joan, his 1-year-old baby Linus, and Joan's visiting aunt, who graciously gave up her room and bed for us. Yan and his family were exceptionally kind to us during our stay with them, in spite of their busyness with 2 jobs and ... read more
March 31st 2010
While driving back home to Box Hill from our Great Ocean Road adventures, Eva and I got into a gambling discussion that brought Eva's notebook out. Back at Aunt Julie's place our discussions continued. We independently discovered the Martingale betting strategy (or Ma-White strategy) for roulette. To our tired brains, it seemed like a sure way to get rich - if only a dollar at a time. Alas, by the next morning our betting strategy didn't seem so certain. I did a little online research and eventually found the wikipedia entry for Martingale. I had a hard time explaining things to Eva. I thought it was obvious there could be no 'sure-fire' way of making money just sitting there as a Wikipedia entry. We spent the rest of the day depressed, like we had just lost ... read more
March 28th 2010
As the biggest island (or smallest continent) in the world, Australia has plenty of coastline, but everyone there knows what is meant by "The Great Ocean Road;" that moniker belongs to the stretch of Highway-12 along the Victoria state coastline from Torquay to Nelson. Fresh from New Zealand, we were used to some great coastline, but Australia's Great Ocean Road offers unique experiences for the most jaded coastliner. Where else can you watch kangaroos hopping on the beach, or marvel at the giant sea-carved towers, the Twelve Apostles, wondering how they got their name when you can only count 8 of them? We headed for the coastline on the morning of March 28th, driving west along Highway-12 through Geelong, Torquay, Anglessa, and Lorne. Along the way, we stopped at a couple of beaches and ate from ... read more
Cockatoos, Kangaroos, and Casinos too!
Published: April 10th 2011Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne
March 18th 2010
After the hub-bub and hurly-burl of Argentina and New Zealand, we were wiped out when we arrived in Melbourne, Australia. We were more than happy to be welcomed into the friendly arms of Eva's relatives: her Great-Uncle (NiangJiu GongGong), Aunt Julie (YueYue Niang Niang), and Aunt Ying (YingYing NiangNiang). We were met at the airport by Aunt Ying on the afternoon of March 18th, and taken to Aunt Julie and Great-Uncle's house in Box Hill, a suburb just outside the city. The table was already set with a spread of home-cooked (Chinese) food, such as we had not enjoyed since leaving Eva's parents. Somebody had told them I liked beer (an oddity in this family), and there was a can of Victoria Bitter they bought just for me. I admit that I felt a little aprehensive ... read more
March 17th 2010
On the morning of March 16th, we woke up in our tents to the sound of the ocean waves. After taking in one last view, we packed up our camping gear and drove from Kaikora to Christchurch, dodging sheep the whole way. We made our way to the Old Countryhouse hostel, which in truth was not so far from the downtown in spite of the name. Our first hour in the city and we were met with some remarkable luck. The hostel agreed to take our leftover fuel canisters off our hands, and gave us a spare duffle bag (which someone had left) to carry our tent and sleeping bags to Australia. Our guidebook told us that Christchurch was not quite as cosmopolitan and diverse as Wellington and Auckland, and a little more English. Well, I'm ... read more
Into the South to Abel Tasman
Published: March 13th 2011Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Abel Tasman National Park
March 14th 2010
Long before showing up in New Zealand, we were debating the issue "which island is best" with fellow travellers in Central and South America. There was no consensus. About half the people really preferred the North Island, and half the South Island. As it was, we spent most of our brief time on the North Island and less than a week on the South Island. But we loved our brief glimpse of the wild and sparsely inhabited South Island, and we really want to come back. We caught the Interislander ferry from Wellington on New Zealand's North Island to Picton on the South Island on the morning of March 14, 2010. Even though the ferry was boringly named, the ride was pleasant with amenities including 1) fried bacon, 2) comfy chairs), 3) friendly New Zealanders, and ... read more
Te Papa and Wetas in Wellington
Published: March 12th 2011Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington
March 11th 2010
We had just over 2 days in Wellington but really wished we'd had more! Welly was as fun as Auckland, if not more, and had Eva wondering how she could immigrate! We drove down from our DOC Mangahuia campsite to the Moana Lodge in Plimmerton, 20 minutes north of Wellington on March 11. Located in the Plimmerton suburb right on the coastline, Moana was one of the most comfortable and friendly places we stayed during our entire trip. It definitely had the largest and cleanest shared kitchen ever! During our short stay, we were conflicted between enjoying the comforts of Moana and talking to fellow travellers, and going into town. Still recovering from the Tongariro Crossing, body- and clothes-wise, we stayed in that first day and did laundry, taking advantage of the famous Welly wind to ... read more
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