[New Zealand] Tramping Menu 爬山伙食篇

最近南半球的春天來臨，紐西蘭的許多朋友早就在蠢蠢欲動，
準備背上包包，登山鞋穿上，奔向美麗的山野中。

但是我每次出發前，其實最不期待的，就是去超市補充糧食！

總會想東想西，怕東西帶太多或負擔太重，
又或者食物不夠，到時準備看著人家的美食流口水，
然後不斷眨著史瑞克貓咪般的大眼睛，希望人家會分一口點心給我！

最後認清自己並沒有這種水汪汪的大眼睛，
於是只好發展出自己的 Tramping Menu！
這是一次又一次的經驗累積，加上每次與山友們的分享交流，
後來每次在超市補貨，愈賣愈上手，量與預算愈抓愈好！

每日平均 $7-$10 (每一餐不到 $3！)，絕對夠我每趟旅程都吃得飽，又吃得爽！
習慣了這套 Menu 後，就不再花費多餘的心力在這上面了！

[New Zealand] Tramping Gear 爬山裝備篇

常常很多人都問我，你背那麼大一個包包，裡面到底裝了些什麼?

然後又很多人說，你這麼瘦弱，真擔心你怎麼背得動這麼大一個包包! 

其實自從【一年前分享的行李裝備】之後，到了當地的生活經過了許多轉折。

從輕裝抵達，到了settle在一個地方後，東西開始累積又累積 ...

到了後來買車，原本想說要開車旅行，於是增加了不少所謂「公路旅行」的裝備。

但到了最後，卻又去掉了所有東西，
剩下一個大背包，陪我完成了剩下的旅程。

因為最後決定以徒步認識紐西蘭這美麗的國家，

透過Te Araroa (The Long Pathway) 來體驗南到北的風景，
(雖然後來並沒有全程走完，but that's another story)

於是後來的背包中，只帶了所有爬山所需要的東西，以及捨不得放下的的個人物品。

[Island of the Gods] Sunrise on Mt Batur the Volcano

It seems that most people don't really know the Bali other than the one with its beautiful smooth beaches and vacation villas.

I had no idea that Bali was in fact such a mountainous island, consisting of 17 volcanoes, the highest being Mt Agung! (meaning "Great Mountain") at 3031m, that is already as high as the 100 peaks in Taiwan!

[Bali from the sky! Now I recognize so many of the mountains, including Mt Rinjani of Lombok!]

[Island of the Gods] Paradise Bali vs Backpackers Bali

Over the past week, I've had the honor to attend a lifetime long friend's wedding in the Island of the Gods - Bali! I had no idea what to expect when I agreed to go. All I had in mind was that I was to be there for her on her special day. After everyone left when the wedding ended, I took a couple of days to explore the island by myself. Never did I imagine that I would experience such different Bali's: 

There was the Paradise Bali. 

The one with the beautiful and elegant wedding, with its opaque blue infinity pools, elegant contemporary simpleness, with dimly lit candle lights and soft dreamy music. The one with smooth black sand beaches and its perfect waves, laying under the equatorial sun with a glass of cocktail on a colorful beanbag chair. The one designed and constructed to live up to the paradise behind-the-desk people dream of having their vacation of a lifetime.

Then there was the Backpacker Bali. 

The one with unpaved streets, roosters running wild, with its scattered temples of intrinsic stone carvings, its prayers and sacred offerings and traditional dancing. And I don't mean just its distinctive Hindu culture, there were also the Muslim villages and everything else "Indonesian". The one with its mountainous landscapes, godly volcanoes and reflective lakes, its lush jungles and its fisherman coasts.

Just for fun, I wanted to compare the pictures of my two very different journeys throughout this dynamic island set so uniquely in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago. It's just so interesting to see how different it gets once you leave the Paradise Bali in the south and head towards the Backpackers Bali everywhere else! 

[Dunedin and Otago Peninsula] Where The Wild Things Are

[Hawkes Bay/Lower North Island] North Island - Everything Else

Finally, it has come to this day! Today is officially my last day in the North Island!!! I will be taking the bus from Hastings to Wellington tomorrow and finally crossing the Cook Strait to the South Island!

[Whanganui River] The Great Paddle/Float Journey

What I love most about river is:
You can't step into the same river twice
The water's always changing, always flowing.

[Taranaki] Golden Pouakai Circuit

(Please be warned that this post is going to contain lots and lots and lots of portraits of Taranaki ..., just because it is so irresistible and in my eyes, ever-changing from every perspective! Enjoy!)

[Taranaki] The Forgotten Highway

After a night of rest at an awesome holiday park in Harewa after departing the Taranki, today we stopped briefly at Stratford, saw the glockenspiel on mute (they say that there are sounds usually, but for some reason it wasn't performing right today), and took off on the Forgotten Highway - SH 43.

[Taranaki] All-Black Sand and Endless Sunsets

Oh Taranaki, you amaze me! I have been so intrigued and fascinated by this place, my brother keeps saying that I should just marry it. 

As they said, every story involves a love affair, and a sad one this is indeed. 

[Far North] Cape Maria van Diemen

Unreal. 

So Blue.

Amazing.

Just Unreal!!!

[Bay of Islands] Pools. Beaches. Waterfalls!

At the moment, I'm sitting in a beautiful house surrounded by fields and dense vegetation, somewhere in Kerikeri. Phil and Asia's place is just lovely! 

I love the huge windows with the afternoon sun pouring in, all the birds singing somewhere near the house, the cool breeze coming in through open doors, the vibrant colors and cute little items, such as cups and teapots all around the house. This impromptu office I've set up for myself today is just too ideal! 

Today is a day off after a few days of adventure since we left Whangarei, and I will be preparing to be on the road again tomorrow, exploring the rest of the Northland! 

The last days in Whangarei were of relaxation and experimentation (in the kitchen), jumping in pools, taking long walks, playing with kids, watching movies, and just a lot of conversations!

[Whangarei] An Escape to the Beginning of Summer

It feels like summer here!!! Although it is only the beginning of spring.

But all these beaches! All these coasts and bays and pools and cold beer!! Whangarei has me believing that summer is just around the corner!

Finally, after weeks of working in Auckland and random exploration of places outside of the city, I have finally left the place behind, and have spent the last few days in the beautiful Whangarei district in Northland. Here I will try to catch up filling you in of everything that has been happening ever since I arrived in New Zealand! Starting with what's been happening this week in Whangarei!

[New Zealand] 紐西蘭打工度假_UNICEF

UNICEF【聯合國兒童基金會】

從小對這個組織就有一種遙不可及的印象，

而現在，萬萬沒想到自己竟然有這機會，成為他們的一份子! 

[New Zealand] 紐西蘭打工度假_行前準備（出發後檢討版）

還沒出發就已經對自己的認識就又多了一些，
認清自己的個性、自己的習好、自己旅行的目的、對旅行的期待。
於是決定了自己行前準備的方向，
以下，僅供參考！

[Singapore] Humble Observations in 2015 【新加坡觀察】

Today marks the last day of my stay here in Singapore. Some would think that ten days here is too long for a holiday, others would think that it takes a life time to truly get to know this island-country (as with every city and every country). 

It's truly been an amazing time for me here, especially since this is the country of my childhood, where I established my perspective for this world, where my values for the connection between urban life and the natural environment were built. 

Throughout these few days, I've gotten to see the "typical" Singapore, the "past" Singapore from my memories, as well the super new cosmopolitan eye-blinding bling bling modern Singapore! I was SO amazed when passing the CBD district and Marina Bay for the first time after already spending an entire week here! How well my friend had me tucked away in the REAL Singapore, away from all the lights and buildings! 

However, I may have been hanging around the "typical" Singapore environment, I have not been around "typical" Singaporeans. My friends have made this experience so much more unforgettable than I had ever thought. 

I feel so blessed and lucky to have chosen to come to Singapore right now, when they are holding their SEA Games (already winning EIGHTY-TWO gold medals as of today!) as well as celebrating their SG50. It is also considered the rainy season now I think, so it's not as blazing hot and scorching everyday, but cloudy with a comfortable breeze all the time. 




Here I'd like to list my own insignificant observations I've made over the past few days, however minute and probably only interesting to my own self. This is my idea of Singapore in 2015: (criticism and responses are welcome!)

[Hike Taiwan] Smangus_Village in the Clouds 司馬庫斯

[village in the clouds]

[on our way to Yaya Q-Parung]

For the past two days, we visited the Atayal village of 司馬庫斯 - or in 泰雅族語 - Smangus. Despite the torturous drive up and down the mountains, it was a trip full of awe and grace. every few seconds, my heart felt recharged full of gratitude and love for the natural beauty of this island. 

It's been quite a while since I've given thought to the spiritual, at all, but being in what they call "上帝的部落", (or "Village in the Clouds"), I could feel the presence of a different kind of energy that draws visitors from far away, as well as the energy that their people is bound together by. 

For the Sake of a Few Lines

“For the sake of a few lines one must see many cities, men and things. One must know the animals, one must feel how the birds fly and know the gesture with which the small flowers open in the morning. One must be able to think back to roads in unknown regions, to unexpected meetings and to partings which one had long seen coming; to days of childhood that are still unexplained, to parents that one had to hurt when they brought one some joy and one did not grasp it (it was joy for someone else); to childhood illness that so strangely began with a number of profound and grave transformations, to days in rooms withdrawn and quiet and to mornings by the sea, to the sea itself, to seas, to nights of travel that rushed along on high and flew with all the stars-and it is not enough if one may think all of this. One must have memories of many nights of love, none of which was like the others, of the screams of women in labor, and of light, white, sleeping women in childbed, closing again. But one must also have been beside the dying, one must have sat beside the dead in the room with the open window and the fitful noises. And still it is not enough to have memories. One must be able to forget them when they are many, and one must have the great patience to wait until they come again. For it is not yet the memories themselves. Not until they have turned to blood within us, to glance, to gesture, nameless and no longer to be distinguished from ourselves-not until then can it happen that in a most rare hour the first word of a verse arises in their midst and goes forth from them.” 

― Rainer Maria Rilke, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge

[Hike] Shuiyang Forest and Shanlinxi 水漾森林與杉林溪

[Shuiyang Forest]

[Travel Taiwan] Hehuanshan Road Trip!!! 合歡山_環(半)島

‎Once upon a time ... it was really just about going AROUND the island. Honestly, the idea of going THROUGH the island never really struck me. But that's what happened over CNY break. It took me less than 24 hours to head out west from home and come back again from the east. Taking the early train from Miaoli, get on our one and most important mode of transportation and head down to Taichung into Puli and up into the mountains, and coming back from Yilan! Googlemap shows a total distance of 494km!!