Kangaroo Island 2013 part 4

Kangaroo Island 2013 part 3

Kangaroo Island 2013 part 2

Duck Lagoon

Pennington Bay

Remarkable Rocks

Remarkable Rocks

Admiral's Arch

Kangaroo Island 2013 part 1

Myself and Steven on the Remarkable Rocks

Fresh from our trip in Manila, Steven and I ventured out to Kangaroo Island with Peter from Canberra and Michael from Pennsylvania. It was a huge relief for my partner and I because this one was a real vacation.

It was still the middle of summer so most of our days were comfortably warm. We were spared from rainshower and that was a blessing--driving around with an ordinary sedan would not have been possible with muddy dirt roads.

It is expensive to get there as Sealink is the only company that offers ferry service. It is also expensive to stay there because all the parks require their visitors to pay separate fees--that means if you visit three parks in a day, you need to open your wallet three times as well.

It is worth the expense because the island is really not that spoilt. Kangaroos, wallabies and koalas are in the bush or rotting on the roads. Numerous penguins and seals inhabit the island. The caves, rock formations and the beaches are quite beautiful and clean.

climbing Little Sahara

Steven on the tallest sand dune in Little Sahara

Peter and Michael on the Remarkable Rocks

Myself, Steven, Michael and Peter at American River

I went crazy taking shots so it will take some time to show the photos on this blog.

Corregidor Island 2012

I have flown dozens of times. I have been on bumpy roads and numerous boat rides on rivers and seas.

But I had never been so nauseous until our trip to Corregidor Island. Some of the tourists were late and the captain tried to compensate by racing through big waves.

As a result, half of the passengers were throwing up or could not even sit up. I was in the toilet most of the time puking air and I counted the minutes that was left until we reached shore.

And when we did, I wanted to go back to Manila on a plane. Thank goodness the way back was way slower so nobody really threw up.

Anyway, the island is still beautiful and the forests unchanged. Macaques and eagles are still roaming around. Nature is slowly reclaiming the ruins as the government hesitate to invest some money on tourism.

Steven and I felt that we should stay the night next time. The rainforest seemed to have more stories to tell than the tour guide.

Last of the Baguio Photos

Mine's View Park

taken from the balcony of the rented house

taken from the balcony of the rented house

another balcony view

 

houses surrounding China Town

taken from the centre of Baguio City

More thoughts on Baguio

I had been wanting to visit Baguio City because tourists consider it as one of the best vacation spots in the country. I grew up in Manila, moved to Thailand and then to Australia and it was only a few weeks ago that I was able to visit this popular city.

My entire family packed their bags, hired a van, cooked a lot of food and endured the six-hour drive to the summer capital of the Philippines. Along the way, we saw waterfalls left and right. The green mountains were covered by clouds.

Upon seeing the city itself, I was deeply disappointed because it reminded me of the ugliness of Manila. It was crowded and polluted. The landscape was littered with houses and apartments. The traffic made my ears ring and my nose sneeze.

Fortunately, we were with someone who used to live there. She was also able to speak the local dialect and ask for directions. We went to a hot springs resort that only locals know about. The pool water was hot enough to cook an egg and looking up, we could see green mounntain peaks and the blue sky looking at us.

All of us loved the vacation. It provided us a ten-degree lower than in Manila relief. It also gave us a chance to have a great experience together and that is hard to do when Steven and I are living overseas. I really hope we will share another experience like this very soon.

inside the van

Lion's Head

taken from the rented house

keeps me warm

checking Adelaide news

pointing at the clouds

suffering before seeing the statue of Mary

taken at a souvenir shop

China Town

Lovely with her strawberry ice cream

my father with a butter fly

passengers at Burnham Park

rowing at Burnham Park

another passenger

Steven at Mine's View Park

the gang at Mine's View Park