It's a Birthday Bali

Okay, so it wasn't the biggest birthday party I've ever had but it was certainly the most relaxed and stress free. I arrived in Bali after a quick one day stop in Singapore (more to come on that bizarre city). I only had 6 nights and didn't have much of a plan.

I imagined landing and instantly hearing Florence and the Machine the Dog Days are Over and feeling like this kid:

 

By the way, this is the ONLY Eat, Pray, Love reference you'll see in this blog and if you don't get it then you missed the best part of the film which is Florence and the Machine. Instead, I was met with a nutty amount of traffic and congestion. Huh? I thought I was going to ride bikes in the country side and meditate and shit. No frolicking in the rice fields, just motorbikes, motorbikes and motorbikes. I arranged to stay at a guest house which worked out fine except for the fact that I was trapped because the free motorbikes they provided scared the living hell out of me. (Again, I imagined leisurely drives through rural Bali not two, six or eight lane traffic). So after one night I pulled the "but it's my birthday" card and booked a swanky hotel with some points I racked up on my credit card. This was the first time I spent more than my budget on just a hotel but it was well worth it. 

I did manage to squeeze in a tour of Southern Bali my first full day that gave me a taste of the Balinese culture. We started going to turtle island (most turtle islands are tourist traps, this was no exception) and then hit the beach. Here are some pictures of the Indian Ocean and the monkeys that greeted us while walking back up from the beach to meet our driver. 

The highlight for me was Uluwatu Temple and seeing a traditional Balinese dance. Unlike some other dances, this one featured a chorus of 50 dudes chanting instead of having instruments. The story I had just learned from a museum 3 days before in Singapore in an exhibit. Here are the pictures of the temple and performance at sunset: 

After moving to my super nice resort I just spent time chillin in an air conditioned room and swimming in the two enormous pools. I finished some books and took naps and honestly wouldn't have remembered that it was my birthday until the staff brought me a cake. While I would prefer celebrating with my twin sis, it wasn't half bad being alone reading by the pool. 

My last day included a bike tour of rural Bali and it was a perfect way to end my visit. This is what I had heard of Bali being - peaceful and quiet. Our tour guide told us tons of information on the land of a thousand temples. 

So Bali wasn't exactly what I expected but what I will remember is how much I loved the Balinese people. They are absolutely hilarious and have a great sense of humor and are overwhelmingly welcoming. 

Tomorrow I head back to Singapore and then on to Kuala Lampur. More posts to come!

Ballin' in Sydney

After coming back from my trip to Melbourne I was offered a place to crash for the next week with my friends Brian and Dervilia, an Irish couple I met in Cartagena. They were so sweet to offer me a place to stay and I was excited about being able to spend some time with them. What they failed to mention is that their apartment was amazing. I opened the door and blurted out "Man, you guys are ballers!". Of course, they thought it was the most American term they had ever heard in context and I've been hearing about it since. Once again I feel overwhelmed with gratitude and am so thankful to have met them. Derv and Brian were incredibly kind to take care of me for the last week and I can't wait to return the favor once I settle back in NYC.

The past week I played the role of the typical tourist. I quickly moved into the Irish inner circle and hung out with some super nice people from all over Ireland who were interested in seeing the sights as well. I went to museums, the aquarium, wildlife center and did a couple great cliffwalks. Here are some shots from my tourist week.

Here are my top 5 observations about Sydney:

1. The weather is great and sunny a lot of the time

2. The shopping here is unreal and the women are babes and all nicely dressed.

3. There are beaches IN the city. It's one of the most "liveable" city in that sense.

4. Syndey is expensive (I know, I know, you've heard it from me before but I thought it was worth saying again).

5. Aussies are some of the most chill relaxed people I've ever met. Even in the city, the have the most laid back attitude.

I will definitely miss Syndey but I'm ready to move on once again. Thanks to everyone who hosted me in my 3 weeks in Australia!

Next stop: Singapore.

Spending Money Like I have it in Sydney

Again, I'm sorry for not posting for a while. I've been in Sydney and internet time here is almost 3 dollars an hour! Bah! So it's difficult to upload pictures and write a post but I'm doing my best. Thanks to all of you for the reminders, now I know some of you actually read my blog!

I was so excited to come to Sydney because one of my good friends from school lives here and is studying to get her phd. Carolyn and I were urban studies dorks in school and get along great so couldn't wait to see her life here and what she thinks of the city. Her cutie finance is from Australia and they've shown me around a ton.

The first week was spent hanging out with Carolyn and Brad and getting to know the city a bit more. It's a great place but I think it's incredibly expensive. I paid 4 dollars for a coke (I know I know, I shouldn't be drinking that crap anyway). The quality of life here is amazing and people are always out and enjoying the ridiculously nice weather. Unlike NYC and a few other American cities, at night (most nights) it cools down here and there's an awesome ocean breeze. I took advantage of the great weather and swam as much as possible in Carolyn's pool and the beaches here that are inside the city - nuts!

After the first week I took a trip to Melbourne. In total, the trip took 3 days and I met some great people. My tour guide was a Kiwi who lived in Australia but worked for a bunch of summers in New Hampshire. Small world. He doesn't know it yet but we'll get married one day for sure. We took a few good walks along the way, one of which lead to one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. Check it out!

I also saw real kangaroos in the wild! I thought they were kind of scary at first but they seemed to just be chillin in the middle of nowhere.

The next post I'll write about my time back in Syndey with some great friends I met traveling in South America.

Much love,

Me

Back to the heat: Paihia, Bay of Islands and Cape Reinga, New Zealand

I was super bummed when I actually checked out my dates for my stop in New Zealand. It seems that with the travel days I only really had about 10 full days there. Then I started to do some research on what to do in and around Auckland and realized there is tons to do there and I had a feeling I wouldn't be disappointed.

New Zealand is absolutely gorgeous. As soon as you head north 20 minutes from Auckland you are all of sudden in beautiful country side. The way you travel around NZ, particularly if you're a solo traveler, is through the numerous bus companies around and book a package. I booked with Stray bus a trip that would take me from Auckland up to Paihia, a day trip to Cape Reinga, and then back to Auckland.

Here are some of my shots from the ride from Auckland to Paihia:

A picture of an 800 year old tree:

A quick stopover to take a ride in a glass bottom boat at a marine reserve. We saw sting rays!! 



Paihia (it was aight)



Paihia was really really pretty. The water is an unbelievable blue/green. For the first time I thought, "oh yeah, I guess this is the South Pacific".

After the third day of chillin on the beach I took a trip up to Cape Reinga. This is the spot where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific. The day was overcast so it was near to impossible to check out the water but I got a few good creepy shots.

A long way from home!

Our trip involved going to the sand dunes right before the beach to do some dune surfing. It was tons of fun but that hill was super hard to climb and took like 5 minutes to get to the top. Here are some pictures of the dune surfing and people eating it:

Then it was on to 90 mile beach on the Tasman side of the island. For all those who are curious, it isn't actually 90 miles long. Back in the day they knew that cattle could travel 30 miles in one day. Since it took the cattle 3 days they assumed that the beach was 90 miles long. What they didn't take into consideration is that it's much harder for cattle to walk on the sand as they use much more energy. The beach is actually about 55 miles long.

Some surfer enjoying no one in sight:

The trip was totally worth it although it was overcast. Don't let the pictures fool you - I got one killer sunburn that day because I didn't reapply frequently enough.

My last little adventure was a trip to the hole in the rock. (The picture above isn't the real deal, just another hole in a rock). I took a boat ride and saw some of the 144 islands in the bay on a very fast speed boat. Apparently it is the fastest in the bay and we went over 100 km per hour. Woo hoo! The experienced was enhanced by the classic rock playlist. Thank you to Matt and Jasmine for helping to sponsor the hole in the rock tour! It was soooo much fun and never would have done it if it weren't for their Christmas gift.

It was a short but adventurous trip to New Zealand! I can't wait to go back and check out the rest of the country. Now on to Sydney to catch up with some friends and more sun!

Much love,

Maggie

Auckland, New Zealand

I've landed! Well, to be honest, I landed well over a week ago. It's been incredibly difficult to write blog posts here as the internet is crazy expensive (like 4 USD an hour) and getting pictures uploaded is a nightmare. But here I am!

The flight from San Fran to Auckland was about 13 hours long. It really wasn't all that bad since I decided to watch as many movies as humanly possible. It was pretty funny to be in the midst of my 5th rom com to notice that in one of the scenes Jason Bateman is talking on his cell phone right outside my front door. I tried to tell the woman next to me and was about to yell out, "That's my old front door!" but of course, she was asleep. (If any of you want to check it out it's in the movie the Switch).

After traveling for a while in Spanish speaking countries, arriving in New Zeland was a breeze. I just asked people when I didn't know where things were, they understood me, and gave me the answer. Simple. Here are some of my initial thoughts about Auckland:

- The city is clean and smells like flowers!

- It's summer here and the weather is great, like 80's everyday

- The internet is way too expensive and free wifi is impossible to find

- Driving 20 minutes outside the city is like a different country

- All the women wear super cute clothes and I need to watch it so that I won't go shopping

That's it for now! Sorry this post is so short but I paid like 10 dollars to download pictures today! The next post will be all about my trip to the North of New Zealand.

Greta Goes Glocal

It's been a while! Thanks for staying with me during my travel break. It's been a great few weeks of seeing my family and good friends.

I arrived in New Hampshire during (surprise!) a snowstorm. I left NYC at 10 in the morning and got home at 8 at night so it was quite a journey. From then on it was full on Christmas mode before my siblings and siblings in laws came up to NH to celebrate. Our fam has increased significantly and it's a tight fit in the Hureau house with all of us there. Needless to say it was great to have everyone there and Nes (although his stocking didn't make the pic below, I promise it was there) came home on Christmas Eve after being deployed for while. Check out the holiday shots Jasmine took!

 With some of the cousins, with the sweetest new addition: Katherine. She is so darn cute.

 Brothers and sis:

Adjusting to being home was cake. It's amazing how simple it is to get back into the swing of things, watch ridiculous amounts of television, and do nothing all day long. Then all of a sudden, it's time to hit the road once more. My first (somewhat unofficial) stop was San Francisco. It's the farthest west I've been (I know, insane) and all of my friends rave about the place.

Believe the hype, people. San Francisco is great. While I wasn't the best tourist I did see some sights and managed to spend some quality time with some cool people. (If you are reading and I didn't get to see you I'm very sorry! I'll be back for sure to see everyone and do that damn Alcatraz tour that kept on selling out on me). A big shout out to those who took care of me and delt with my crazy anxiety the couple days before leaving.

It's hard to believe that the second half of my trip has commenced. It feels like yesterday when I boarded the plane to Bogota. I couldn't be more ready to get back to traveling, seeing some friends I've met along the way and catch up with those living abroad.

Here are some photos of the (very cold) San Francisco:

Funny story about this picture. I decided to let Grandma give me a fortune. The card said, and I quote, "A friend will urge you to take a trip. Don't do it. Your best interest lies in remaining at home. I'm depending on your good sense to lead you on the right path". Clearly Grandma doesn't know my good sense or me. Boo to her and her fortune.

 Very very excited:

 Yay! Fun streets!

As many of you have guessed, yes, I'm already in New Zealand. There isn't too much to report as the first 24 hours were spent sleeping off my crazy jet lag. But more soon to come!

Bad Country, Part Dos and Back to Nosara

Little point of clarification: Mal Pais means Bad Country. Many were confused, sorry, I meant to integrate the translation in the last post! (BTW the picture above is the view from our hotel on the beach, hollar).

So, Phil arrived in Mal Pais safe and sound and E.J. and I were happy to introduce him to the tranquillo attitude of CR and the beach. Most of the time we spent was watching the sun set or chillin with cutie dogs around town. The boys took to surfing a bit but I mostly just sat on the beach. I wish there was more to report but, really, we didn't do much! Our one activity was to find the Montezuma waterfalls. After a beautiful drive and a short hike we found the first of three waterfalls. I kind of freaked out about the hike (which, in my defense was a bit insane to do in wet flip flops) and talked the guys into throwing in the towel and we stumbled apon a deserted strip of beach and jumped in. Check out the pics that E.J. took of our trip!

Waterfall:

Our own private swimming spot, this was Phil's happy place:

This is my happy place:

The cousins are awesome and it was great to chill with them for a bit before heading back to Nosara. If you have the chance, check out E.J.'s pics on my picasa album: http://picasaweb.google.com/mahureau/MalPaisCostaRica#

My trip back to Nosara was simple and easy and I managed to stay in a hostel there for a few nights before crashing again with Sarah and a couple of her friends. They were so nice to host me (again) and all three have amazing energy and are doing great work at the Nosara Yoga Institute. I loved them so much that I took pictures of them being awesome on the beach:

It's time to move on from Costa Rica and go home for a couple weeks. My stop in CR was an amazing one and I definitely needed it after South America. I am so thankful for reuniting with family and friends and meeting new, great people. On my last full day in CR, Fred (pictured above) taught yoga on the beach at sunrise. It was my first offical yoga class and I was terrified but there were many perfect things about the experience. He first asked us to write a word in the sand and I of course chose "courage" because of the moment but also for the first half of my trip. He then asked those people to reflect on their training experience and I traced my steps to arriving there. Most of the work we did was partner based and Sarah and I did it together and then we jumped into the ocean. In so many ways it summed up my first leg of traveling. I couldn't be more ready to go back to NH with the family for a couple of weeks.