NZ/Aus Days 1, 2 & 3?: The 40 Hour Journey

Well, here we go...a new style of travel for us...with a baby! And we're starting big: a two month journey through New Zealand and Australia!!! We're going to lay this disclaimer out right at the start - you're going to be jealous of how amazing our baby is. There, we said it. We know we're incredibly lucky but we're also going to take all the credit. We're here to prove that you can still live the travel life post-childbirth. Or, at least, we're hoping to...

Baby determined when our first day began. We had gone to bed with our fingers crossed that she'd sleep until at least 3 am since we didn't actually need to be up until 4. We rose at 2:45 to feed her - not bad. There was no going back to sleep now. Our travel day had officially begun. It seemed she could sense our excitement. We tried putting her back to sleep after nursing so that we could finish our last-minute packing more efficiently, but she rolled around in her crib wide-eyed and laughing. She at least didn't need any attending to.

Without too much trouble, we got to the airport and through security and had enough time to eat a big breakfast before boarding our plane. The flight to L.A. was fairly uneventful. Baby nursed on the plane while everyone else was boarding and fell asleep at take off. So far she doesn't seem bothered by the pressure changes in her ears. She slept through us watching a movie and then played for a bit. I was thankful we'd brought our nursing pillow as she happily stretched out and kicked and slept on it.

It was Erin's first time in LAX and she quickly saw the truth to its reputation. After going in circles for a while and receiving dismissive unhelpful assistance from staff, we finally found our way out to street level and got ourselves to our nearby motel. The Super 8 Inglewood...yeeeah! It was actually really nice and suited our needs perfectly for the next few hours as we waited for our next flight. Baby played on the bed with the few toys we'd brought, slept in her stroller, and enjoyed our little outing to a great taco place for take-out (and we thought we wouldn't get to use Spanish on this trip!) She seemed a bit perplexed that she was able to be outside in a footless sleeper without multiple layers and coverings.

At 6pm we headed back to the airport, nervous because of the huge line we'd seen at security when we'd left. But it wasn't that bad and we ended up with an hour or so to kill before boarding. At this point it was well past Baby's  bedtime and she was definitely getting frustrated with the constant waking and falling asleep (needing to be taken out of the stroller at security, getting on the plane, etc). But it didn't take too long after take off for her to pass out and we were able to transfer her into the bassinet at the bulkhead. We'd been skeptical that she'd sleep in it but she was probably so exhausted at that point that she didn't notice. We were able to eat dinner and watch a movie/snooze for most of the flight. She held her normal routine of sleeping for 11-12 hours, walking only once to nurse. She fell asleep almost immediately after nursing, went back in the bassinet and timed it perfectly to wake up next right around the time they were slowly raising the lights to feed us breakfast. She even woke up the same way she does at home - laughing happily to herself.

All in all, it was a fantastic flight and we were so proud of our little traveller! We proceeded through customs where she got her first-ever passport stamp, collected our bags and switched terminals. This is where things started to break down a bit. Baby was upset nursing in the family washroom because other people could come in to change diapers, and upset with this last plane ride, falling asleep only right at the end, but it was thankfully a short flight (1.5 hours) and before we knew it, we'd navigated our way to our first Air BnB apartment. 40 hours in the books and we had a smiling, laughing baby at the end of it all, presumably just as glad as us to be back in a home.

P.S. I wasn't sure how to label the post since we technically lost an entire day to travel. So let's just go with this...

Highlights of a Mexican Christmas

We went to Mexico at Christmas and meet up with the Partners in Wine. It was awesome. At some point, we'll tell you about it and post pictures.

Three and a Half Years Later...

I'm feeling guilty about never writing about this trip, but too much time has passed to do it justice with an accurate recount. Instead, I'll list some memories below that I want to hold on to and share just a few of our favourite pictures. Thanks for understanding!

Tulum

Playa Del Carmen

- we met up with Kristen and John who were still on their big trip

- they picked us up in a rental car at the airport and had brought us little slushy welcome drinks and made us a sign!

- John was recovering from a near-death experience and hospitalization from dengue fever!

- we ate tons of delicious tacos and tostadas, and drank delicious margaritas and coladas, and played countless games of Wha-bam!

- we day-tripped to Tulum to see the ruins and visited a cenote

Climbing the ruins in Coba

Progresso

- on our way to our next accommodation, we visited the gorgeous ruins at Coba and climbed to the top of them; we had a delicious lunch at a beautiful indoor courtyard in Valladolid where they made the guacamole at our table
- we stayed in a charming beachhouse that lost power each evening and was in the midst of a windstorm when we arrived
- we celebrated Christmas with paper hats, decorations, and a photo shoot on the beach; John and Craig flew kites and got one stuck on the neighbour's roof
- Kristen felt ill so Craig and Erin visited a series of cenotes alone; Craig had a major allergic reaction to the horse-drawn carriage ride and ended up wearing his snorkel goggles to help cut down on the dander; we got stopped by la policia on our way home and were hassled by the officer because we didn't have our passsports...we each thought we were going to end up in jail in only our bathing suits

Puerto Morelos
- on our drive there we stopped at Chichen Itza; the number of tourists and tour groups and stalls made for a much less atmospheric visit than Coba (we thought we'd arrived right at opening but hadn't realized there was an hour time difference between there and Progresso)
- we arrived in PM to find the sewage system in our rental to be backed up and "stuff" coming up through the shower drain
- the town was lovely: quaint, quiet, much less touristy, and beautiful with a good beach for relaxing
- we found a great taco and guac spot with the biggest margaritas imaginable
- we celebrated New Year's dancing on the beach (reminder to watch those great videos of John dancing in the sand), and celebrated our great friendship, having now journeyed through three countries together post-Antarctica (with two more countries together in the near future!)
- Craig got stopped at airport security and questioned about an unusual dark spot that showed up on the scanner (the Cards Against Humanity game); we both cringed when the officer reached in and pulled out a card to read. We thankfully weren't detained.

There! At least that's something. Now there's just the fact that we also visited Portugal (July 2015) and Cuba (Dec 2015) that're left unaccounted for...

Day 352: Wedding Bells

Nearly one year after we left the country to travel, we took a big step on another huge adventure and got married. The day was exactly what we wanted: a casual outdoor ceremony and reception, with a long afternoon including lounging at the dock and a firepit. We made all of the food ourselves (with a huge thanks to our family members) and it was delicious!

The small dock ceremony was special to us for a few reasons.
1) We had our dear friend Alex officiating. He is a childhood friend of Alex and a university friend of Erin's and it was at his wedding that we met. Alex did a beautiful job tying our lives together through a well-prepared speech that was so personal to us.
2) We had guests warm a stone for us, with all of their wishes and advice and lay the stones on the dock to create the altar on which we would stand to be wed.
3) Erin walked up the aisle to one of our favourite songs, 7th Fret Over Andres by Woodpigeon, a song that's very meaningful to us written by a Calgarian band.
4) Erin's ring is comprised of the two sapphires we bought in Madagascar and Craig carried and kept safe since October. For a reminder of that story, visit our Madagascar entries.

To see pictures from the day, a list of charities from our registry, and the recipes from our wedding lunch, please visit www.highfivewdding.blogspot.com

Day 317: A Canadian Homecoming

There was no better way to return to Canada than to fly into the nation's capital, Ottawa. The tiny international airport boasted an unlimited number of Canada flags, signposts in French and English, and it even smelled like home! The customs official who greeted us was overwhelmingly friendly, gathering all of the necessary information in that Canadian way that made it feel more like a conversation with an old friend than a stiff bureaucratic exchange. He genuinely seemed excited for us and gladly stamped the last pages of our passports. Waiting on the other side of security were Craig's brother and sister-in-law, smiling away to welcome us to Canadian soil.


We - and our bags - had made it home safely. We'd somehow managed to carry our two Concho y Toro wine glasses successfully since April, through three countries and eleven flights! We stopped quickly at the grocery store, where we ran around excited to be reunited with all of our favourite foods, then cheersed a terrific journey.




The next few days that followed included a plethora of catch-ups with family and friends, a visit to the wedding venue to see it for the first time, and many heartwarming glances at the many flags that adorned every street corner. In Ottawa we passed by the parliament buildings, walked across the bridge into Quebec to see the view looking back across the river, and played trivia with Craig's old team.



Our days were riddled with moments where we tried to adjust to a North American life again. The waitresses brought us water - for free - and it was from the tap! We couldn't help but fill up our water bottles lest we leave such a precious resource behind. Public toilets were clean and they flushed, though it was hard to get rid of the habit of tossing the tp into the bin rather than the bowl. And we immediately felt disconnected by our lack of cell phone or constant availability to data. Things seemed to move much faster and our days were suddenly much fuller than before. And one of the biggest challenges was the lack of one-on-one time we had...although great to be surrounded by so many friends and family members, it easily became overwhelming.


We headed on to Toronto and were greeted by more friends and family members. In amongst the time-consuming wedding planning, we managed to squeeze in a few social gatherings and tourist outings. We watched the Jays demolish the Yankees at the Dome and traipsed around a very busy Toronto Zoo with Erin's nieces. It was so good to be home. Sometimes being a tourist in your own town is just as fulfilling as being on the road!

Day 316: Race You Back Home

Our final video perfectly encompasses how we feel about returning home. We're excited to see our family and friends, eat whatever we want, be reunited with "new" clothing, and, of course, get married. It's also a chance to reset our "normal" life by finding a new apartment and looking for new jobs.

But leaving life on the road will certainly be a challenge. Finding a way to keep the adventure going while we work full-time will have to be a priority. We'll try our best to keep the memories fresh so that we can incorporate what we've learned into our daily lives.

Set to music by Elizabeth and the Catapults, we'll take you through our journey by including one picture from every single place we visited on the trip. But it's balanced, as our feelings are, with our desire to come home. We hope you enjoy it!

Days 306-315: Popoyo Pacific

After ten glorious days on Little Corn Island, we took an interesting "ferry transfer" back to Big Corn. Blanketed by a plastic sheet to help impede the pounding rain, we felt just like sardines squished into a tin can. From there, a flight back to the mainland, followed by a long taxi ride, took us to our hostel, and the Pacific side of the country. A quick glance at "Melting Elephant" ensured us this would be nothing close to ordinary. Its Flinstonesque vibe seemed fun until we had a look inside our Water Tower room. A tiny window was the only thing to let in a breeze, so we were forced to pay the extra for air conditioning. The poorly outfitted room was upgraded by the king-sized bed, so we figured we wouldn't be too hard done by for our remaining ten days.

The week and a half consisted of apartment searching, wedding planning, job applications, and a few swims a day in the rough waves. Popoyo Beach is surfer paradise, so we saw lots of tricks and lots of wipe-outs. Our favourite time of day was sunset, when the water came in close, and the breeze strengthened.

Unable to avoid spending a night in Managua, we hitched a ride back to the capital city with the hostel owner. We spent our last afternoon working further on our many return-to-home tasks. Our emotions exhausted from it being the last night of the trip, we focused as best we could, and headed to bed early to get in a few hours sleep before our early flight back to Canada.

Days 301-305: Exploring a New World

Photo by Albert Kok (*Note: any underwater pictures are just representations of what we saw taken by other people)

Little Corn Island has much more to do other than just lying on the beach or taking a casual swim. After a relaxing Day 300, we were ready to continue the adventure on number three hundred and one. We woke with the sun, grabbed our beach gear, and hit the road. After walking nearly the entire way around the island, to our favourite beach spot by the incredibly expensive Yemaya Resort.

This would be our second time snorkeling on the island, and really, Erin's second time snorkeling ever. She'd tried it a few times prior but never with much success. We'd since met many people who have the same problem she does, starting to hyperventilate when she tries breathing while looking underwater. Intent on conquering this obstacle, we'd rented gear our third day on Little Corn. We followed the 7-Step Program we'd developed and within no time, we were snorkeling together panic-free! If you also have trouble snorkeling, here are some tips:

Find a shallow, sandy area with calm water. It doesn't even matter if there are fish. The important thing is that the water is calm.

Leave the flippers behind to start. Make yourself feel as comfortable as possible by only changing one variable at a time.

Step 1: Use the mask without the Snorkel
First, get used to swimming under water with the goggles on. For Erin, this wasn't new, but if you're used to blowing out through your nose while you snorkel, you need to practice exhaling through your mouth.

Step 2: Practice breathing through the snorkel on land.
This might sound silly, but if you're a nose-breather, this takes some getting used to. Practice deep, calming breaths.

Step 3: Add the Snorkel
Just like in Step 1, take a deep breath above the water, then put your face in and breathe out. The brain has trouble breathing in while seeing that you're under water; it's clearly an illogical thing to do. So the panicky part will always be on the breath in. If you need to, lift your head up to breathe in, then look in the water to exhale. This is why it's helpful if you're in shallow water so you can easily stand up.

Step 4: Swim and Snorkel
When you're ready, breathe in and out with your face under the water. If this is still difficult for you, find something to focus on, like a fish or a shell, to distract your brain.

Step 5: Get Prepared for Waves
The hardest step: intentionally put water in your snorkel and practice blowing hard to get it out. It's handy to have a sympathetic yet slightly mean fiancé on hand to shovel water in your snorkel so you're forced to practice.

Step 6: Add flippers
Now that you're a breathing pro, add in the flippers. You'll have more speed and less flexibility. Get used to them before you move into choppier water.

Step 7: Find a Deep Reef
You're ready to move to a more interesting beach with things to see. Try to find reefs with extra depth so you can go vertical if you need to without damaging coral. The calmer the water, the better, until you're more comfortable.

With these relaxing conditions it took us less than half an hour to be on the other side of the island with a few waves and lots of stuff to see. We snorkeled at three different beaches and loved them all. The first, at the rocky outcropping, had tons of fish and a wall which we could snorkel along. We had not heeded our own advice here; the water was very shallow above the reef and this led to an exciting and scary moment when Craig discovered a stingray a few feet from us with a 1.5 m wide wingspan!

At the second beach, just on the north side of the rocky outcropping, Erin spotted a much smaller ray burrowed under the sand. The water was deeper and calmer here and quite enjoyable.

The third beach on Day One of snorkeling was in front of Yemaya resort. The water here was especially blue. We swam over a reef with bigger fish and found ourselves in deeper water. Hoping to see a turtle, we pressed onwards. Erin was enjoying watching some fish when Craig, who had ventured further, swam up to her quickly. She could tell something was up. "OK," he said excitedly, "Do you want to see a shark? "

Photo by Todd Barrow

Feeling adventurous, she agreed, and he led her back to where he'd been. It was the first time she'd seen a shark in the wild and Erin was super proud of herself for doing it intentionally! The nurse shark was ~8 feet long, and resting under a rock. Craig had almost swam into the shadowy figure as the water had gotten shallow by that point before spotting it.



So after such a successful first day in fins, we were excited for a second day out. Unfortunately, it had rained heavily the night before so it was cloudier and the waves had picked up strength. We tired quickly and were disappointed that the nurse shark was not in its hiding spot. After swims at a few different beaches, the highlights of the day did not surpass a massive bright orange starfish, and some large parrotfish.

Photo by Kevin Bryant