Leprechauns and Hot Toddies

A few summers ago I made a spur of the moment decision and ended up making the trip across the pond to Ireland. I had a friend living in Belfast at the time so I ended up spending the trip in the north. Side note, if ever you visit Belfast via a flight to Dublin make sure you have both Euros and Pounds. I had forgotten that I was going to be in two different currency zones and ended up having to haggle for some chocolate milk.

Not fun.

View from the Causeway

Once in Belfast my first stop was a day trip up to the Giant's Causeway, one of the weirdest looking places ever. According to folklore, the columns are the remains of a causeway built by a giant who was trying to get across to Scotland in response to another giant's challenge. Thus the name. Created from a volcanic eruption the Causeway is made up of over 40,000 basalt interlocking step-like columns.

Giant's Causeway

Giant's Causeway columns

 Fun Fact: The Giant's Causeway is the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom.

Dunluce Castle

View from the edge of the Causeway

After the Causeway, we stopped by Dunluce Castle. Now not much more than ruins, Dunluce was a medieval castle originally built in the 13th century.

On the way back to the city, like any good university students, we decided to stop by The Old Bushmills distillery. One of the best perks of visiting Ireland is the easy access to a distillery or brewery. Established in 1784, all Bushmills whiskey is distilled at this location.


Fun Fact: The Old Bushmills Distillery claims to be and is generally considered to be the oldest distillery in the world!

After trekking through the natural beauty of the Irish countryside around the Causeway, I went to visit another one of Belfast's attraction: The Royal Belfast Botanical Gardens. Originally opened in 1828, the gardens are a 28 acre public park run by the Belfast City Council. They feature the world renowned Palm House as well as multiple sculptures throughout the park.

Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens

To cap off the trip I joined my friend at the semi final world bagpipe competition. Nothing caps off a trip to Ireland like listening to some highland music while hijacking a base drum for a photo op!

Land of the Rings

Back in 2006 I was given an amazing opportunity to travel to New Zealand with my high school's rugby team. We played three games (in each of which we got soundly beaten) and spent the rest of our trip enjoying all that New Zealand had to offer. Known for beautiful scenery, featured in the Lord of the Rings film, and mildly psychotic and rather dangerous activities, NZ was a slice of paradise for me.  

Auckland

We began our trip in Auckland, capital of the nation, on the North Island. Though we spent most of our time on the pitch, I was still able to see some amazing sights including the city itself. Auckland is one of the cleanest, quaintest, big cities I've ever experienced in my travels. Everyone I met made us feel extremely welcome; it felt like I was visiting my home away from home.

Lion's Rock

Our second stop was the iconic Lion's Rock in Piha. Also on the North Island, Piha is on the coast near New Plymouth. This was followed by a trek through the rainforest to see an amazing waterfall.

Fun Fact: Commercial bungee jumping began with New Zealander A J Hackett who built the first permanent bungee site in Kawaru, near Queenstown, in the South Island of New Zealand.

Taupo Bungee Jumping

My first experience with insane New Zealand versions of fun and games was in Taupo when I decided it was an excellent idea to bungy jump. On top of the questionable decision to participate in the first place I also had the brilliant idea to jump backwards. This was followed up by yet another brilliant decision to try Zorbing. For those of you who don't know, Zorbing is an activity where you put on a wet suit and climb into a giant plastic ball and get rolled down a hill.

Zorbing

Possibly the best decisions I have ever made. They were two of the most exhilarating experiences I've ever had. There is something you're able to learn about yourself when you push yourself to the limits of what you think you're capable of handling. And when doing so surrounded by some of the most beautiful views you've ever seen, there is no beating it.


Fun Fact: The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was filmed almost exclusively in New Zealand as it was able to provide the landscape required for EVERY location throughout all of Middle Earth. The New Zealand Army even helped to build Hobbiton months prior to filming in order to allow the plants to fully grow and flower.

I didn't think there was anything on this trip that would be able to beat my experiences on the North Island, and then we went south. Said to be rather rugged and barren, the South Island of New Zealand is not usually one of the most talked about places for tourists to visit. Luckily I was given the opportunity to visit it and discover what still is my favourite place in the world.


Milford Sound. Incredible. Stunning. Otherworldly. Virtually indescribable.

Milford Sound is on the South Island west of Queenstown and is, in my opinion, the most beautiful place in the world. I can't adequately describe it, so I will let the pictures do all the talking for me.

New Zealand. Birthplace of Zorbing. Home to some of the worlds best bungee jumping. Earth-spiration to Peter Jackson's legendary film trilogy, Lord of the Rings. Milford Sound. Need I say more? Go there. I guarantee you, it is worth every penny.

Disney vs. Disney

The happiest place on earth, brainchild of Walt Disney himself, Disneyland first opened in 1955. Walt died in 1966 before construction on "The Florida Project" began, but helped to develop it in the 60's. So what's the difference between the two?

There is a certain charm to Disneyland that just isn't there in the Florida park. You can feel the magic in a way that is indiscernible. You know that Walt himself rode the Railroad and the Jungle Cruise. You know that he personally designed the original park himself, and that gives the park an extra spark of magic. However, it is much smaller and is smack in the middle of a busy city. This erodes the illusion that Walt wanted.

Disneyland on Opening Day

Though in many ways a carbon copy of Disneyland, Disney World lacks the charm of the original park. Instead it boasts almost tenfold more rides and attractions as well as a much larger footprint. One of the most amazing things is the ferry entrance to the Magic Kingdom.

Both parks have spectacular firework shows, character meet and greets, and more Disney stage shows and parades than you could ever imagine. This being said, for me the biggest difference was the castle. In Disneyland it is Sleeping Beauty's castle; however, Disney World is home to the iconic Cinderella castle, trademark of Walt Disney Studios. 

Cinderella Castle Disney World

Sleeping Beauty Castle Disneyland

Fun fact: Doritos were invented in Disneyland as a way to use old tortillas. They were later packaged by Frito-Lay and sold regionally in 1964, expanding to national sales in 1966. 

The parks bring to life some of my favourite books and films from my childhood. They bring out the child in everyone, a special quality that many attribute to Walt's ideas and designs. If you haven't been yet then take your family and go now. Its an unforgettable experience that no one should miss.
 

 

San Diego

Last week I found myself in Southern California en route to San Diego. A close friend of mine had moved there to complete a PhD at UCSD and I decided to take advantage of having a "local" take me on a tour of the city. After fighting through Los Angeles traffic I finally made it into town.

One of my first stops was La Jolla Cove to see adorable baby seals (who wouldn't?!). The cove is home to Children's Pool Beach, a beach sheltered from Pacific waves by a sea wall. Originally intended as a safe place for families to go to the beach with kids, the beach quickly became a favourite nesting spot of the local seal population.

Throughout the drive south it occurred to me that the landscape looked oddly familiar, feeling like deja vu. It wasn't until visiting the cove at La Jolla that I realized what it was. I felt like I was in a Dr. Seuss book! The trees were freakishly similar, all they needed was brightly coloured leaves and they could have come directly from the pages of "The Lorax".

Palms of La Jolla

Turns out I wasn't going insane, Seuss had actually been born in La Jolla. According to my friend, the natural landscape of the area is renowned for having served as inspiration to his many landscapes illustrations.


The best part of the trip was when I was able to visit the San Diego Zoo. "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my" is right!! Among the many attractions was a one year old orangutang baby, zebras playing tag, and a tiger prancing around waiting for his handler to feed him meat kabobs through a gate.

Founded in 1916, the San Diego Zoo is a not-for-profit organization that is renowned for its global efforts to save endangered species. Specializing in conservation science and animal care, the Zoo has created a wildlife sanctuary that cares for more than 2,600 animals and over 1.5 million plant specimens including over 700,000 exotic plants.

Built into the natural rock formations of Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo is extremely hilly, as my calves can well tell you, providing an excellent natural enclosure for its inhabitants.

By far my favourite exhibit was that of the Giant Panda. In 1996 the Zoo worked out an agreement with China which allowed them to take permanent possession of two giant pandas and their young offspring. The terms of this agreement stated that any further offspring of the pandas would be sent back to China to help in the re-population efforts. Since then the Zoo has developed an extremely successful breeding program for the giant panda. Since her arrival in 1996, panda Bai Yun has had six offspring that survived into adulthood, the most recorded anywhere in the world outside of China.

 Want to experience San Diego Zoo for yourself? Check out their Live Feed Animal Cams!

 Why is a tiger striped? Because he doesn't want to be SPOTTED!

Projects, Pictures, Paperbacks and Planes

When I was assigned a blogging project for school, my first thought was, "Damn, I have nothing interesting to share in my life." But after thinking about it some more, and realizing that if I didn't complete this assignment I'd likely fail the course, I realized that I did have something to share: travel.

I have always been an avid reader and since reading about far off lands and mystical new places as a child, I developed a dream to see their "Earth-spirations". From Ireland to New Zealand, California to France I have so far managed to realize those dreams by visiting the worlds of Tolkien, Frank McCourt, Disney and Victor Hugo.

There is no greater feeling than being able to jump on a plane and in a few short hours find yourself in a place that you've never set foot in before but feel like you already know. So for those of you that have not yet had the chance in their lives to do so, or those of you that have and want to re-visit your journeys, I bring to you Notes From a Travel Nerd.