Brandon O'Brien

Wednesday, November 27, 2019 @ 10:00 PM in 2019 New Zealand

Day 4

Sam and I started the morning with another run. We didn't really have a plan but saw there were some paths to the north of where we were staying. We started jogging along and eventually came upon a footbridge that got all mangled during the earthquake in 2011. When we finished the run, we stopped for some pastries at Grizzly Baked Goods and then made our way down to Akaroa.

On the drive to Akaroa, we saw a little cheese shop that had some picnic tables out front and some nice views of the bay. We stopped and got some cheese, salami, crackers and wine and made a really nice little pitstop. Akaroa is known as a French settlement but nothing about the place would have made you think there was any French influence there. It's still a really quaint harbor town that was fun to explore. We started by checking out a little park and then walking around the harbor area.

Sam and I opted for a tour of the bay while Mike and Anne went to a vineyard. The boat tour was really nice, showing us a lot of the coastline that we never would have seen from the car. After we finished the tour, we met back up with Mike and Anne at a restaurant called Bully Hayes where we had some beer, muscles and paella. It was getting a little late and we still had to drive back to Christchurch, so we packed back into the car and set off north again.

When we were driving to Akaroa, we saw a huge beach called Birdlings Flat and decided to stop there on the way back to the hotel. The beach didn't have sand, but instead was nothing but eroded rocks. For some reason, Mike had the idea that we could drive onto the beach but we quickly realized that was a horrible idea as the rental van started to sink into the rocks. Rather than stopping and getting stuck, he was able to keep the van moving and got us turned around and back into the parking area. We were all pretty worried there for a minute that we might have to call a tow truck to get us out, haha.

Today was Sam's birthday so we stopped at a supermarket and got her some cake to celebrate!

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Tags: new zealand, honeymoon, christchurch, akaroa

Posted from: New Zealand

Thursday, November 27, 2014 @ 6:56 AM in 2014 Asia

Today was planned to be dedicated to beaches but unfortunately it rained pretty much the entire day. We started out by heading to Repulse Bay which was actually a pretty decent beach. We hung out there for a little bit until it started to rain. After moving under some tents we decided to head out and visit Turtle Cove Beach via Stanley which supposedly had some nice markets.

We took a minibus to Stanley which was interesting. The minibus drivers seem to go flying through these little narrow and windy roads. It's definitely a little on the sketchy side. Once we got to Stanley we walked around a little bit but it was pretty touristy and the market wasn't really anything special. It was still raining so we ducked into an Indian restaurant that had some really good lunch specials and had some good food.

Turtle Cove beach was next on the list and was definitely worth it. It was a much smaller beach and there were some really good shells that were surprisingly not picked over. It started pouring down rain again so we came back into the city to shower and change. We took a little nap and did some research to figure out where to find dinner and we found a lot of recommendations for Delicious Kitchen.

We went there and got the vegetable rice with fried pork chops and some "mock chicken" which is some kind of rolled tofu. Both were really good. They sat us at a table with an Indonesian guy who comes to Hong Kong a lot. He gave us a lot of helpful info about the city as well as some tips on other places we're going to visit.

After eating we went to the Wan Chai district and saw that it was really just a red light district and nothing like we were looking for. We took the MTR to the Central station and found a bunch of bars and people walking around. We hung around there for a while but the bars were all pretty expensive so we came back to the hotel to get some sleep.

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Tags: hong kong, traveling, beaches

Posted from: Hong Kong

Wednesday, November 27, 2013 @ 8:53 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 154

I'm not sure what stars aligned last night but I think I had the best sleep of the entire trip. I laid down around midnight and was out cold until around 8:30am. I don't think I moved all night I was sleeping that well. Once I got up I worked on ClearCheckbook a bit and had a good 50/50 hot chocolate/coffee mix.

Before lunch I went down to the big Mercadona supermarket and bought some stuff for the next few dinners as well as a few things for lunch. I came back and made a sandwich and then went out to explore. I had read good things about Plaza de Espana and saw that it was used in one of the new Star Wars movies.

It was about a 15 minute walk away and was a very cool area. The entire building is highlighted with really colorful tile work. The plaza is a big half moon shape with large towers on either end and an artificial canal that you can rent small boats on. There's a big fountain in the center of the plaza surrounded by a nice tile mosaic. All around the plaza are sitting areas that highlight cities throughout Spain, usually with a tile painting of some historic event that took place there.

I read my book there for a while then walked back into the city center. Along the way I found another one of those 100 Montaditos. It's the same place I went to in Valencia that serves €1 beers and sandwiches every Sunday and Wednesday. I dropped in for a couple beers and some small sandwiches to hold me over until dinner. The place was packed with big groups of people ordering 10+ sandwiches at a time. It was pretty impressive watching the cooks whip out all the food so quickly.

I came back to the hostel for a bit then started talking with a group of people who were going to head to this place they were calling the giant mushroom. I wasn't sure what they were talking about but they said it was supposed to be a really cool building with a bar on top. We all went over there and paid our €3 entry fee (which also included a free drink at the top) and got to the top for some great views. There is a crazy walkway that goes all around the top of the structure which the locals refer to as the mushroom. The actual name is the Metropol Parasol.

We claimed our free drinks and chilled up there and watched the sun set over the city. The walk back to the hostel was really nice. The streets are packed with people enjoying the night. There are (currently unlit) Christmas lights lining all of the streets. It's going to be great to walk around once they're all lit up.

I came back to the hostel and made some more fajitas since I still have that pollo asado seasoning that I bought in Valencia. I was thinking about doing the hostel dinner again tonight but I didn't feel like waiting until 9 to eat. I'll probably head up there for a drink in a bit though.

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Tags: daily journal, spain, seville

Posted from: Spain