Costa Rica

Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

Una y media pulgada de la lluvia y un grillo entero.

Viuda negra araña. (Black Widow)

La entrada a la granja del tomate.

Plantain Tree














Muscadine Grape Vine

Rainforest Exploration

Thursday Dec. 14th - Thursday Dec. 21st

Plan:

Wake up early Thursday morning around 4:30am and drive to Charlotte, NC
(3 and a half hour drive). Then get on an airplane for a 4 hour flight to Costa Rica.
I found plane tickets from Charlotte to Costa Rica for $375 after taxes. Last year I
paid $530 to fly from Wilmington, NC to San Diego, California.

Charlotte, NC (CLT) to San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO)

Thu, Dec 14	11:15 AM to 02:25 PM	Charlotte, NC (CLT) to San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO) 4hrs 10min - nonstop

San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO) to Charlotte, NC (CLT)

Thu, Dec 21

03:25 PM to 08:30 PM

San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO) to Charlotte, NC (CLT) 4hrs 5min - nonstop

South Pacific Travel Route

Sea of Green

ASMITHLIFE

My long time buddy, Andy Smith, has recently started his 5 month expedition across SouthEast Asia and hopefully will be meeting me next year in the Southern Hemisphere. Check out his site...

www.asmithlife.blogspot.com

International Exploration Confirmed...

Dec. 26th-
Depart Wilmington, NC to Sydney, Australia
*layovers (Atlanta, LA, Fiji)*

Arrive in Australia on Dec. 28th at 12:25 in the afternoon

Hostels already booked...

Dec. 28th - Y on the Park Hotel
Dec. 29th - Y on the Park Hotel
Dec. 30th - The Schoolhouse Backpackers
Dec. 31st - The Schoolhouse Backpackers (Aussie New Years in King's Cross.)
Jan. 1st - The Schoolhouse Backpackers.

Jan. 2nd-

Depart Sydney, Australia to

Christchurch, New Zealand

Jan. 2nd - Base Backpackers Hostel

*South Island* - (in this order).

Canterbury Plains - Canterbury has two major areas of viticulture.

Lake Tekapo - Finely ground rock in the glacial melted waters give Lake Tekapo a beautifully unique turquoise color.

Queenstown - Queenstown is the adventure capital of New Zealand. The town is built around an inlet on Lake Wakatipu and offers skiing, boating, white water rafting, bungee jumping, skydiving, and there is also a rocket to ride! (www.flybywire.co.nz)

Fiordland - The extraordinary scenic beauty has earned this region a reputation as a significant sightseeing and walking destination, and a 'Must See' for anyone traveling to New Zealand.

Fiordland National Park is popular for tramping, alpine climbing and tourism and the popular attraction of Milford Sound is within the park boundary.

Mt. Aspiring - straddles the southern end of the Southern Alps.


*West Coast* of the South Island


Lake Paringa - A exclusive, luxurious lakefront hunting and fishing village in the West Coast of New Zealand

Mount Cook - Aoraki/Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand, a peak in the Southern Alps.

Franz Josef Glacier - descends deep into the lush rainforest of Westland's National Park, giving you the opportunity to experience the most dramatic glacial environment available to the general public anywhere in the world.

Okarito Lagoon - New Zealand's largest unmodified wetland covering 3240 hectares of shallow open water surrounded by magnificent Kahikatea & Rimu rainforests.


Hokitika - is the gateway to the South Westland World Heritage National Park.

Grey mouth - is on the West Coast of New Zealand at the west end of the road through Arthur's Pass.

Pancake Rocks - In the rocks are blowholes, through which, when there is a heavy surf, water spurts high into the air. The warm marine current that passes this way and the shelter afforded by the rocks produce a microclimate in which a rich subtropical vegetation (including many nikau palms) flourishes.

Paparoa Range - The western Paparoa Range is considered of international botanical value because of significant plant associations and rare species. It is the southernmost place where tree ferns and palms grow together. Some plants are endemic to or strongly centered on the area, suggesting that it was a refuge for plants during the ice ages.

Buller Gorge - very long swing bridge.

Nelson Lakes National Forest is centered on two beautiful alpine lakes: Rotoiti and Rotoroa. Craggy mountains, tranquil lakes, beech forest, clear streams and pebble 'beaches' are synonymous with Nelson Lakes.

Blenheim - The area which surrounds the town is well known as a centre of New Zealand's wine industry. It enjoys one of New Zealand's sunniest climates, with hot summers and crisp winters.

Marlborough Sounds - are connected to the Cook Strait at the north-east extreme. At this point, the North Island is at its closest to the South Island, and the inter-island road, rail, and passenger ferry service between Picton and Wellington travel through the sounds.

*North Island *

Wellington - is the capital of New Zealand, the country's second largest urban area and the most populous national capital in Oceania.

Napier - It is the second largest city in the Hawke's Bay region, which is the largest crossbred wool centre in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the largest apple, pear and stone fruit producing areas in New Zealand. It has also become an important grape growing and wine production area with the fruit passing from the growers around Metropolitan Hastings and then to Napier for exporting. There are large frozen meat, wool, pulp and timber tonnages passing through Napier's port.

Lake Taupo - the largest fresh water lake in Australasia. Visitors can sky dive over the lake, four wheel drive on volcanic farm land and pursue constantly active geothermal landscape.

Mt. Ruapehu - Blessed with outstanding natural features including the Tongariro National Park, the Whanganui National Park and the Whanganui River.

Rotura - not only geothermal interests, but botanical gardens and some interesting historic architecture. Known as a spa town and major tourist resort for more than a century, many of the buildings hint at this history.

Raglan - Eight kilometers from the Raglan township is Manu Bay, which features what is claimed to be longest, most accessible and consistent left-hand surf break in the southern hemisphere. On a good day a surfer can ride the wave for a distance of two kilometers. Manu Bay was featured in the movie Endless Summer.

Auckland - largest urban area in New Zealand. With over 1.2 million people it has almost a third of the country's population.


Jan ??-

Depart Auckland, New Zealand
to Nadi, Fiji Islands in the South Pacific

*Yasawa Islands*- Of all the Fiji islands the Yasawa (pronounced Yah-sow-wah) Group is the most archetypically `South Pacific'. Perhaps that is why both versions of Blue Lagoon were shot on location in the Yasawas. There are about 20 islands of volcanic origin which lie in a chain just off the northwest coast of Viti Levu. These islands are special because of their beautiful, isolated beaches, cliffs, bays and reefs, unspoiled by much tourist development. Because they sit in the lee of Viti Levu, the Yasawas are dry and sunny with crystal clear waters.


Jan.-Feb. ???
return home...

The Australia, New Zealand, Fiji Islands journey is already booked and paid for. I'm seriously thinking about going to Costa Rica for a week...

ILM - San Jose, Costa Rica

Mon. Dec. 11th - Mon. Dec. 18th

Roundtrip for $568.