A Complete Circle

Its truly said " what goes around...comes around" & also explains the nostalgic feeling we had  when we came back through the same gate at the DC airport as the one we left from for our big trip. Makes you feel that... life does come in circles.

First & foremost I would like to apologize to my readers for this late entry...as most of you know I had been to India for the past few weeks, so technically my vacation was not yet over. After an awesome time back home I'm back to relish the memories of our big adventure.

Back to our trip - As you all know my dear Hubby is very fond of numbers & he seems to have passed on some of his love to me, hence here are a few fun statistics

100 days
34  flights
51,044 miles flown - which is about twice the circumfrance of Earth :)
4K miles driven/sailed
31 cities
11 countries
5 Continents
4 times over the equator
1 Complete Circle



Trip map

Aloha !!! : Hawaii

Our trip to Hawaii, our last destination on the journey was truly relaxing. Here we were joined with our friends & the cutest baby, Kiwi. While in Hawaii we stayed at Maui for most of our time & Honolulu for a few days.

Maui is rightly called the land of sun, we got to see an amazing sunrise here at 10,000 ft at Haleakala. It was amazing to see that we were above the clouds, felt like being on top of  world (Also was a freezing experience). We spent most of our time relaxing at the beach and pool, making it a perfect transition from the long journey around the globe to the daily routine. We took our first helicopter ride here, which gives a great topographical view of the island & get to see some tall falls which are not accessible by any other means. 

In Honolulu we witnessed the insides of a warship at the Pearl harbour. Hawaii is truly called the rainbow state as not a single day passed w/o seeing a amazing complete rainbow & sometimes even two.

Polynesian Dance Show

One of the many rainbows

Chinamen hat island

With Friends

Sunrise at Haleakala

Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor

Nature's Postcard: New Zealand

New Zealand is by far the most scenic country I have ever seen. Each sight can be a postcard & each drive, breath taking. Its is like one of God's last created country which is untouched by civilization..no high rise buildings, no tall bridges,no multilane highways ....simply nature & at its best. It is only here that one can see a snow covered mountain & a warm sunny beach in the same frame.

Our journey here was the most unplanned one & yet the most fun. We landed in Auckland, picked up a car & just kept driving to Queenstown which is a 3000 km drive.The North Island comprises of a couple of thermal routes with geysers & mud pools while the South Island has amazing rivers, lakes & snow mountains. Cities we stoped along the way are Rotura, Wellington, Mouteka, Greymouth, Queenstown & Milford Sound.

All in all NZ rocks !!! & would love to visit this island time & again .....

Hot water pools, Rotorua

Valley around Queenstown

Beautiful black swans commonly seen throughout NZ

Cape Farewell



Lady Knox Geyser



Milford Sound

Lord of the Ring sites: Hobbiton, Mordor, Pillars of Kings on Kawarau River

Vinay Skydiving

Ice Covered peaks of Mt. Cook

Aussie land

While our stay in Australia we visited 3 main cities Sydney, Cairns & Melbourne. Although Australia may seem small based on the maps we have seen growing up but in reality it is much bigger . Check out the below map to see how well a lot of Europe is fitted into this island.

Sydney & Melbourne are mainly big cities with a couple of the historic spots around the town. But thanx to our host, my cousin Guddi we had a great time around Sydney. Vinay took some surfing lessons at Bondi beach & we saw the Blue mountains here. They seemed a bit over rated national park or maybe, its just that we had seen much better scenic reserves in SA before. Also here's where we met the cute & cuddly koala & kangaroo !!!

Cairns is a completely different town, very laid back & sunny. We did our first scuba dive here & visited a couple of waterfalls & rain forest with really funny tour guide. He goes by Barefoot tours & is one of the best ones we had in our trip so far .

Melbourne, of the 3 cities we saw seemed more fun. It has various modern art structures randomly placed around the city. It made the walk around the city a little more interesting.

With Guddi & Hanish in Sydney

 

12 Apostles along the Great Ocean Road

Koala Klub !!

Roo Rules !!

Australia & Europe comparision chart

Spectacular & Spiritual !!! : Thailand

Our visit to Thailand was split in two parts. The first one, which was the most fun one too, was the one to the lovely islands of Phuket & Phi Phi. After almost two months of just the 2 of us travelling; here we were joined by my nephew Ridaan & his family ;) It was fantastic !!

The islands here were the first & the only place in our trip where we got warm ocean water. It was crystal clear blue water where we did snorkeling, kayaking & swimming. Lovely beaches & land forms comprise of the landscape. Random rock structures standing in the middle of the waters make the sight so scenic.While at Phuket we also got to participate in an annual local festival known as Loi Krathong. We also got to see the famous James Bond Island & took day trips to couple of nearby islands. Locals here are very friendly & helpful.

Our second part of the trip was around the city of Bangkok. The city has over 200 temples of which we visit the 3 popular ones. One has a 5 ton pure gold Buddha idol, other one had a 46 meter long reclining Budhha & another one had 108 Budhha lined around the main temple.Each idol was simply serene & the temple, lovely. We also got to see the Royal Palace, which comprise of vibrant colored roofs which I absolutely love, ancient guards, tall shrines & pagodas.

Last but not the least, one of the most fun aspect of Bangkok was shopping !!! I'm sure every gurl who has visited the city would agree with me ;)

Ariel view of the Islands

Famous James Bond Island

Loi Kratong Festival

Colorful layered roof of the temples