Casa Tranquila, CR

From the hanging bridges, we drove around Lake Arenal and headed north Liberia. Here we stopped to grab some lunch and hit up a brewery- neither were very good, so we continued on our way pretty quick. We arrived at our new place, Casa Tranquila, sometime late afternoon. Immediately, we were so pleasantly surprised by the climate change. It had been so incredibly wet and humid in the middle of the country, but here it’s true beach weather. 

We took some time admiring the view from the back deck of Casa Tranqila, along with reviewing some selfie basics. I think we ended up with at least one good shot from the quick photo shoot. Then, we set off in search of food. Initially, we were looking for a highly recommended Italian place, but it was close as many places seem to be on Mondays. But, that was fine because we landed at the Surf Box for super tasty meals. The drinks were pretty good, too. And, they had eco friendly straws! 

Arenal, CR

We postponed our departure from La Fortuna by a couple hours because it just kept raining. We tried to wait it out since it is wet season and all, but it was just such a steady rain. Eventually, we figured a hike in the rain wouldn’t be the worst thing and packed up the car.

On our way across to Guanacaste, we stopped just north of La Fortuna for a hike through a cloud forest on the side of the volcano. I was expecting rope bridges with wooden planks dangling over the forest floor.. but, it wasn’t treacherous! There were beautifully laid hiking trails that wound through the gigantic trees and masses of ferns. The hanging bridges, more like metal suspension bridges, we intermittently placed throughout the 3k of trails. There were also two spots to go off the main path to see a garden area and walk down to a waterfall. We couldn’t get enough!

Turns out, the rain was perfect. The tree canopy blocked most of the heavy fall, so it was just a mist for us on the trails. There were some seriously steep inclines, (well, declines too) so there was just enough rain to keep cool, and actually keep the bugs away, too. We loved the sound of the rain falling through the upper canopy, and the monkeys and birds seemed to be loving the bath.

La Fortuna, CR

Hopefully I can squeeze several days into one post because the internet here seems to be incredibly slow.

We safely arrived to San Jose on Friday evening, and settled into our hotel for the evening after grabbing a car for the stay. Saturday morning we grabbed some bottled water and a few snacks, and enjoyed a delicious breakfast buffet from the hotel before leaving town. It was all relatively uneventful. Perfecto. 👌🏼

The two hour drive north to La Fortuna was absolutely beautiful. The winding mountain roads through the lush forests were just incredible. And, surprisingly, not entirely terrifying.

After arriving to town and finding our home for the weekend, we went to play at the highly recommended Baldi Hot Sprimgs. We couldn’t pass it up after all our fun digging for the sprimgs in New Zeeland. This, however, was a drastically different, though equally enjoyable experience. Baldi is actually part of a hotel; we decided that it’s almost comparable to Great Wolf Lodge. There are 27 pools layered down the side of the volcano: waterslides, swim up bars, mini waterfalls, sauna, and some cold pools mixed in there for refreshment. We had a great time pool hopping- we hit them all on the way up, then swam our way back down. Unfortunately, we have zero picture proof, but we did have a great time!

We grabbed dinner after, and it was delicious. It’s possible we found the best spot on the first night- both food and margarita.

We kicked off Saturday in an ecogarden. Along with one other Canadian, Jose guided us through his “backyard” to see all sorts of native wildlife. It was incredible. He was very informative and prepared. He had extra binoculars on had for us to borrow.

   

 

   

  

   

Oh, and Ryan ate termites! Apparently, they’re very nutritious and taste like mint. 

 

   

After we finished the tour, his family cooked breakfast for the whole group. It was the usual: rice and beans, eggs and fruit. Delicious! We also learned a bit about how to make traditional Costa Rican coffee in authentic coffee makers. We loved everything and wanted to do every program he offered by the end of the morning. 

Okay.

In the afternoon we went to Don Juan for a coffee and chocolate tour. The tours were very factual, but not much else to them. 

We did chocolates first.  It walked us through the whole process from seed to store. We were able to try the cocoa fruit right from the tree. It’s really slimy in its original form. Also, you have to just suck on it like the monkeys do,  like a hard candy. It’s toxic otherwise. 

The highlight of this tour was attempting to make our own chocolate bar. 

  

They do actually make the chocolate at this location. The coffee however is all in Monteverde because it grows better in  high elevations. We did get to try some of their coffee at the end. It was actually pretty good. I discovered that dark roast is actually pretty tasty. 

We ended the day with mass at St. John Bosco right at the center of La Fortuna. It was totally packed and entirely in Spanish. Also, possible the most humid mass we’re ever attended. 

Honolulu, Hawaii

It's been a while..
                            It's been a while.

I've neglected to write this last post for almost two weeks. Oh well. Here it is: the very last leg of our fabulous trip! It was mostly travel time, but a few noteworthy bits.

Here's the overview of the trip home:
8 Hour Flight - Auckland > Honolulu
8 Hour Layover - Honolulu (& the focus of this post)
8 Hour Flight - Honolulu > Chicago
6 Hour Layover - Chicago
     Highlight: we found an S-shaped couch to take a nap.
Quick Flight - Chicago > Kalamazoo

Okay, I probably could have skipped that part, but it might come in handy later.

So, Honolulu! What a great spot for a layover! This wasn't in the original plan, but flight times changed about a month before we left, and this was one of two options to get us home. I can't even remember what the other choice was because this was just too great to pass!

We flew out of Auckland at about 9pm on Monday, and landed in Honolulu at 7am on Monday. I think my times are right on that.. But, I'm 100% sure about flying out Monday night and landing Monday morning- we're time travelers! So, that's cool. But, even better was the opportunity to spend the day in Hawaii.

We arrived on time, but customs took forever. It's a weird airport. Immediately after you get off the plane in the international terminal, they bus you over to the domestic terminal to go through customs. It was a weird process, but we made it. We stopped quick to brush teeth and wash faces before heading out into the bright island sunshine.

We had our day all mapped out for this stop to make the most of our few hours there: Waikiki Beach and Honolulu Brewing Company. We ended up adding a quick early morning stop to grab some breakfast and coffee. We slept very little on the first flight.

We made it over to Waikiki around 9am, and it was absolutely beautiful! It was also a bit mind-blowing to think that it was still the Pacific. Instead of the cool, rainy winter weather of New Zealand made the ocean pretty, but unappealing. Now, because of the heat and sun, we couldn't wait to jump into the same ocean!

Anyway, we found some outdoor changing rooms along the beachside walk, and were much more comfortable in swim suits than long sleeves and pants. We walked a bit to find a slightly less popular spot, but even at 9 in the morning, the Waikiki Beach is packed. We ended up just picking a spot so we could drop our bags and winter coats to finally hop in the ocean. Boy, did it feel refreshing!

We could have stayed here for hours. We were amazed that just two weeks before we were skiing on snowy mountains. We also realized that less than 24 hours ago, we were hiking a volcano similar to the one we could see from the beach. It was kind of surreal.

Eventually, we figured we should start moving in the direction of Honolulu Brewing Company.. But, really we were hoping to find a shower. Remember, we left the house early Monday morning, hiked 3 miles up a volcano, grabbed dinner, hopped an 8 hour flight, and now swam in salt water. We were in serious need of a shower.

We ended up at a local spot, or at least it seemed to be. It was a rather hidden spot between two rock walls, right next to the marina. Out past the rocks it was surfer city. There were dozens on the waves out there! So, we hung out in the shallow water and watched the show.

Eventually, I accepted the fact that we were probably burt to a crisp. (Ryan did warn me.) Fortunately, we found an outdoor shower here that all the surfers used to rinse themselves and their boards when they were done for the day. We were hoping for one with soap/shampoo capabilities, but a rinse was better than nothing!

Next stop: Honolulu Brewing Company - Great spot! We finally had good beer again. And, their sandwiches were pretty decent, too. We lingered here for a while, enjoying the island vibe. Eventually, it was time to head back to the airport. We were well exhausted by that point, and onto our next flight toward home (and one step closer to a real shower).

Auckland, NZ - Rangitoto

We kicked off our last day with a walk on the beach just across the street from our apartment. It was a beautiful morning, and we met a old local and his dog. He was super friendly; all the people here are. If only it was warm, we could have taken a dip. (We’ll just have to save that for tomorrow.)

We’ve really enjoyed breakfast here, so we wanted one last one. We went just up the road to Hiniscus Cafe and ordered our two favorite dishes of the trip: pancakes and eggs bene. Oh, and flat white #15, we think, which is the last one. It’s very sad. The coffee was good, but the food didn’t live up to all the other places we’d been. Our recommendation- skip this one.

Since it’s our last day and all, we figured it was the perfect day to climb a volcano! We headed back down to the Queen’s Wharf to catch the ferry over to Rangitoto. If I’m being honest, this is am activity we didn’t research enough. We figured ferries would leave pretty regularly, maybe every 15-20 minutes.. not the case. We grabbed tickets around 11:30, and the next ferry didn’t leave until 12:15. Nbd, we entertained ourselves by walking around a bit and playing several games of What Am I Thinking? Quality. Anyway, the real kicker- the only way to get out to Rangitoto is the ferry, meaning that’s the only way to get back, too. The last ferry back leaves the island at 3:30. It’s a 30 minutes ferry ride and it’s about an hour hike up to the summit.. the car needed to be returned before 4:30. Yikes! So, realistically, we needed to be back on the 2:30 ferry to comfortably return the car.

That was definitely the long version. Short version: it was a challenging, fast-paced hike practically straight up to the summit of the volcano. We stopped very little on the way up for scenic viewing. It was grueling. About 15 minutes from the top, I was about over it. Then, about 8 minutes later, we hit the crater- the actual opening of the volcano.

This volcano last erupted 600 years ago, so it’s had a while to grow vegetation, but still a massive hole right there! (Right there.) There’s still a lot of lava rock, but a lot of green has come through, too. After stopping to admire the crater, the only thing between us and the summit was 60+ steps, and we weren’t stopping with 4 minutes to go! Good thing, too. The view from the summit made it totally worth the hike. Breathtaking, in all directions.

We did manage to catch the 2:30 ferry and drop the car off on time. Awesome, right!? We thought so, too. For our last event, we grabbed dinner at the first place we ate here - The Post Office. It was a satisfying way to wrap up the trip. It very much felt like we went full circle. I suppose we kind of did, at least around the North Island.

Auckland, NZ - Shops & Eats

It’s Sunday. Our trip has almost come to an end. We’re totally not ready to come back yet, but we still have two full days in Auckland.

We started the morning at St. Thomas More - crazy, right!? There are actually several churches around here, but we couldn’t pass on going to St. Tom’s. The church was packed- standing room only packed. We were a bit curious about mass after our Manly experience last year. We were very pleased! It was a bit more traditional than our own St. Tom’s, but everyone sang and responded. And, people didn’t talk through the whole service! Definite win.

After mass, we headed over to Fusion Cafe in Ponsonby for brunch. It was super tasty. Recommended. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping, kicked it off at a Ponsonby bookstore and ended with ice cream over by the wharf. It was pretty unremarkable. Auckland is a big city with a lot of people and quite a bit of construction. A couple of the spots were cute,  it we mostly found cafes, home stores and clothing boutiques. It was a nice confirmation that we were good not spending  more time in the city.

Back north, toward home now, to Deep Creek Brewery & Eats. It was another good stop. Btw- we’ve been super impressed with all the food in NZ; it’s significantly better than Sydney. Anyway, this stop was no exception. Good food. Decent beer. There was an India Brown Ale that was quite interesting, along with an IPA made with hops oil. Both new, always fun.

Waitomo, NZ - Glow Worms

Waitomo today!
We arrived around noon, and grabbed some tickets to the glow worm caves. The first available spot on a tour was at 2pm. All good. We went back around the corner to the Huhu Cafe. And, it was actually very good. Much better than hanging out at the half cafe near the ticket booth waiting for our tour outside.

So, lunch- delicious.
Next, tour in the caves!
Our group was huge, but our guide was awesome. She took us down many dark and damp steps down into the limestone caves. The caves are millions of years old, stalagmites and stalactites forming one centimeter every hundred years as the water slowly drips down. Our guide also pointed out some of the “art” around the cave walls.

Further into the cave, deeper and darker, we were able to see the glow worms! Well, they’re actually maggots in their larvae stage. They’re super cool! We turned all the lights off in the cave, and it was beautiful. The glow worms actually look like stars up there. But, the super incredible part was seeing their string webs hanging down. Our guide gave us a quick science lesson on the worms and their webs.

Finally, down to the boat! Here’s Ryan’s review:
 “Uh, it was... My jaw was open the entire time! I felt like an idiot when I went through because my mouth was so open, and I couldn’t stop looking up.”

We have done quite a bit of driving this trip. The landscape is beautiful around the country: snow-capped mountains, grassy rolling hills, tropical trees, rock cliffs, blue lakes and farmland. The farmland has its own beauty to it. It’s hard to go far without seeing cow or sheep. So, that said, this was my view for the majority of our travels.

Oh! And then we stopped at two breweries in Hamilton on our way up to our next place in Auckland.

Stop #1 Brewaucracy
Ryan wanted to go simply for the name. He claims it’s a really good name. Turns out you can’t technically buy beer there. They only do tasters and fill growlers. But, we had a handful of tasters, and loved the lady at the bar. It was a good stop!

Stop #2 Good George Brewing Co.
Quality place! We really liked this one. It always goes up in my book when they have food. We were familiar with the name since this is the places that brews for Hobbiton. They have good beer, possibly the best in the country. And, we ordered a taco platter- so tasty!