Pacifica Trip Diary – Day 21

Day 21: January 28, 2014

Today is the last leg of my trip home and something like back to the future.  I leave South Korea at 11:40 am on Tuesday and arrive at Chicago, Illinois at 9:00 am on Tuesday.  The flight was about 13 hours.  I had the same good service I had on other Korean Air flights.  I left at -9F from Chicago and returned to -9F.  In between my ranged from a high of 95F in Cairns, to a cool 70F in Queensland, to 40F in Inchon.  These were all daytime temperatures.

I returned home and began the process of unpacking and preparing for work which began the next day.

Trip Statistics

Activity	Number
Travel Days	21
Flight (Jet) Hours	60
Flight (Prop) Hours	1
Helicopter Hours	.5
Distance Traveled by Jet	26,318
Airports (non duplicated count)	6
Jet Boat Hours	1
Bus Hours	16
Cab Hours	1
Countries	3
Cities/Towns	12
Walking Hours	30

Cities/Towns visited

—Inchon, South Korea

—Brisbane, Australia

—Cairns, Australia

—Port Douglas, Australia

Mossman, Australia

Kuranda, Australia

—Sydney, Australia

—Christchurch, New Zealand

—Hokitika, New Zealand

—Arthur Pass, New Zealand

—Makarora, New Zealand

—Wanaka, New Zealand

—Arrowtown, New Zealand

—Queenstown, New Zealand—

Reefs

Green Island

Norman Reef

Michaelmas Cay

Pacifica Trip Diary – Day 20

Day 20: January 27, 2014

Today I left Sydney on Korean Air for Inchon, South Korea, the second leg of my trip.  The flight was about 10 hours.  We were treated very well, two meals, snacks, real silver ware and wine with our dinner.  There was plenty of electronic entertainment and opportunities to charge notebooks, e-readers, etc.

The airport at Inchon is like a combination of Rodeo Drive, Michigan Avenue and Fifth Avenue.  They had a small string ensemble playing, and fun things to learn and do at the Korean cultural store.  The only thing I didn’t see was a movie theater.

I spent the night in a hotel in Inchon.  It was a more traditional South Korean establishment with slippers inside a vestibule leading to another door into the bedroom.  Shopping around the hotel was not like the airport.  I would have liked to explore Inchon and Soul but didn’t have the time. But what I saw was intriguing.

Music at Inchon Airport

Inchon Airport

Sky Hotel Room

Shopping in Inchon

Coming in 2014: New Zealand, Australia, South Korea

I am planning a trip to New Zealand and Australia by way of South Korea. I like to preplan my activities so that I can pack in as many activities as possible within my time constraints, particularly when I hear that the dates I have chosen coincide with local holidays and vacation schedules, something I don’t usually do.

I started by booking a seven day tour of New Zealand through Active New Zealand. It will incorporate hiking, biking, kayaking, swimming and camping. This part of my trip I turned over to them. I just pay and show up. That is about as easy as you can get for planning. Then I determined the other weeks I would be in the area and booked my flight using frequent flyer points.

With my flight schedule intact and my week planned for New Zealand, my attention turned to Australia. Trying to see Australia in ten days is like trying to see the U. S. in ten days. You get the picture. After searching the internet, talking with people, and doing some reading, I set my sites on Cairns for my “base camp.” From here I plan to take day trips to see as much as I can of Australia, recognizing it is like going to Orlando, Florida to see the United States. I have booked a few days there and now looking for other unique adventures in the area. I will have some brief time in Sydney, but it is during a holiday weekend so I am deciding where to best schedule some fun. I am thinking about hiking the top of the bay bridge by the Opera House.

On my way back I have an overnight stay in Incheon, South Korea. I would like to extend that in order to explore some of the area before coming back to the states. I heard that they have tours of the demilitarized zone which I haven’t checked out yet.

I have explored some phone apps that are new to me. They include: Anchornote, My Wonderful Days, Passbook, Tip Calculator and Voice Memos. I haven’t used any of them yet, but will experiment with them before I go. I understand that they could help me journal my trip.

If you have information that you would like to share about these Apps, other ones, or the destinations I am preparing to visit, please respond to the blog or email me.