TBT- Skydiving in New Zealand

"I'd rather regret the things I've done than the things that I haven't"

Lucille Ball

New Zealand is an incredible country. The best way that I can describe it is that it feels undiscovered, like you could see a dinosaur walk past you any minute. It is full of amazing natural beauty and has something for everyone. I went backpacking around both islands with my friend Louise for about 6 weeks during our round the world trip. One of the highlights for me was our skydive in Wanaka.

Wanaka is a small town on the shores of Lake Wanaka on the south island about an hour away from Queenstown. It's a beautiful little town. Myself and Lou were lucky enough to have our college friend Kate meet us and also Gary, who is Louise's now husband.

Still as good friends today as we were back then (maybe even better)

Throughout our travels I had always said, with 100% conviction that I would never do a skydive. It wasn't even an option for me. Then, like so many other travelers before and after me, something happened to me in New Zealand. It's the adventure capital of the world and doing a skydive is almost normal here. Once we got to Wanaka, before I even knew what I was doing, Kate, Louise and I signed ourselves up for a skydive the next day.

I was so nervous that entire night, I still couldn't believe that I would be throwing myself out of a plane the next day. That morning we woke up and went to check with reception that the skydive was still happening. Unfortunately (or luckily, I wasn't sure) it was too windy and they postponed it for that evening but there were no guarantees that it would still happen. We would just have to return later in the day and see how the weather was. I breathed a sigh of relief and hoped a little that it would be too windy later in the day.

So instead of the skydive we decided to go and visit Puzzling World in Wanaka. If you ever go and visit Wanaka, make sure that you stop by Puzzling World. It's full of optical illusions and a huge outdoor maze.

We had so much fun and we had convinced ourselves that the skydive would be cancelled so when we got back to the hostel and were told that it would indeed be going ahead I think we all died a little.

We drove to the skydive site and were so surprised at how routine it was. Planes were going up every 15 minutes or so and the instructors were doing over 20 dives a day!
We had expected to have a lot of time learning what to do but really all we had to worry about was just to get out of the plane and how to land as we would each be attached to an instructor doing all of the work.

Our names were on the computer...there was no turning back now!

The three of us just before getting on the plane (don't let those smiles fool
you, we were petrified!)

We got in to our tiny plane and because I was the last to get in I was going to be the first out. Going up in the plane was the most frightening experience of my life, the plane kept getting higher and higher. At one stage I turned to my instructor and said "wow, we are high", to which he responded "yeah, we are about halfway up"

In the plane and ready to go.

Then it was time to open the doors, a mini heart attack later and my legs were dangling from the plane. I was beyond terrified at this stage and had my eyes closed but was forced to open them for the camera. Before I knew it, my instructor counted to 3 and we were rolling out of the plane. The second that we were out of the plane all of my fears were gone and it was replaced with an incredible adrenaline rush.

haha this photo sums up how I was really feeling, completely panicked!

But once we were out of the plane it was incredible!

I was floating in the air looking at incredible snow-capped mountains and feeling invincible. I could have gone straight up in another plane and did it all again  at that stage. The serenity while you are floating so high up is otherworldly. After I landed I waited for Kate and Louise to land and we all just hugged and jumped. None of us quite believing what we had just done and all of us pumped up with adrenaline.

Feeling on top of the world.

Reunited and you can see the adrenaline in our faces

Still, to this day I think it was one of the best days of my life and a moment that I'll never forget. I was so happy that I managed to do the very thing that I feared.

How about you? Have you ever done a skydive? Do you think you ever will?

Why you should consider adding Malaysia to your SEA trip

When I did my round the world trip I went to the "usual" countries on the backpacker trail in South East Asia. They are Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. I had an incredible time but a couple of years later myself and Jason were planning our first long holiday together and decided on Malaysia.
We had an incredible time there and I've swiftly moved it on to my top countries list.

Why did we love it and why should you go?
Here are some reasons:


It's South East Asia without the usual crowd:

So many people have done the typical SEA route that I myself did on my RTW trip. In fact it almost seems like a rite of passage. But very rarely is Malaysia put on that list so Malaysia ends up attracting only a fraction of the usual backpackers and therefore has a different vibe.

One of the islands off of Kota Kinabalu in Borneo.

It has awesome snorkelling:

We were surprised at how good the snorkeling was, I had dived/snorkeled in other Asian countries and on the Great Barrier Reef but this was the first place that I managed to snorkel with turtles. We also got to see lots of different reef sharks and tons of tropical fish (in the Perhentian Islands) and if you take a cheap flight over to Borneo you can dive in one of the top dive spots in the world, Sipidan.

Jason during our snorkeling trip in the Perhentian islands.

And while we are at it, incredible wildlife too:

While in Malaysia myself and Jason got to see huge monitor lizards, orangutans, crocodiles, a Gibbon and lots of other types of monkeys. If you want to see wildlife in SEA then Malaysia and more importantly, Malaysian Borneo is the place to go.

A mother and baby orangutan

A leaf insect.

It has a beautiful world class city:

Kuala Lumpur is a great city to spend some time in. It has the iconic Petronas towers, a bustling China town, the biggest mosque in SEA and so many things to do. The shopping is also world class.

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

It's a massive melting pot:

It's predominantly a Muslim country but there is a large population of Chinese, Indians, Thais and many other nationalities so you can eat some legit food from different places around the world in one day. We had some awesome Indian food, Chinese food, fresh fish and afternoon tea while in Malaysia. You can also go visit Buddhist shrines, Indian temples and Mosques all in one day. It makes for a very interesting country.

The mosque in Kota Kinabalu

The Batu Caves outside of KL

Preparing to enter a mosque in KL

A beautiful Hindi temple that we stumbled upon in KL

Eating some good Chinese food!

The seafood was second to none!

You can take a break from the humidity:

While in Malaysia you can visit some of the many tea fields in the Cameron Highlands. They are in the high country so you can get away from the humidity, sleep with a blanket and feast on tea and scones while looking at tea fields as far as the eye can see. Also in this area you can go trekking and see the biggest flower in the world (The Rafflesia)!

Enjoying the endless tea fields.

The Rafflesia flower.

It's the home of Air Asia:

I'm one of Air Asias biggest fans. The prices that they offer are second to none and with their hub being in Kuala Lumpar you can get a flight from any big city in Asia to KL for a low price.

The people:

Malaysian people are amazing! As with most other South East Asian countries, the people are warm and friendly and will welcome you with open arms.

Wonderful smiling faces!

It has everything you could ask for from an Asian country:

Beaches
Jungles
Temples
Great food
History
Shopping
and much more...
Sounds perfect right?

There are a couple of things to remember about Malaysia. Because it's a Muslim country, alcohol tends to be more expensive than other Asian countries. I was a bit disappointed when I realised that I wouldn't be able to sip on cocktails all day while relaxing on the beach. But if you aren't on a backpackers budget and can drink local beer then this shouldn't affect you too much.

Also they can be quite strict when it comes to Ramadan so make sure to check your dates and plan accordingly. We travelled during Ramadan and didn't have many issues except for when we took a 12 hour bus and realised that there would be no restaurants opened in the smaller towns that we were stopping at so we had to spend the day eating snacks that we bought from the shop. But other than that we had no problems.

I would definitely recommend visiting Malaysia to anyone and if you have enough time visit Borneo as well and make it a truly magical trip!

Day trip to Jeonju

Every year around this time the program that we teach for (GNET) take all of the teachers in the program for a day trip. I usually enjoy them as it gives me a chance to catch up with people and make some new friends. Last year we went to Haeinsa and it was such a beautiful area. This year we were told that we would be going to Jeonju.

Our bus left at 8 a.m. as it's a three hour drive from Gimhae to Jeonju. Our first stop was at an apple orchard to do some apple picking. It was in a gorgeous countryside area and the farmer had the sweetest little dog that we got to play with for a while.
I picked a few apples but we all managed to keep about 15 apples each (I'm sure there'll be a lot of apple crumbles being made this weekend in Gimhae!)

Myself and Jason on the bus bright and early.

The incredible views from the orchard.

The apple orchard.

One of the many apples that we picked

The adorable dog at the farm.

My lovely friend Ian took this photo.

After our apple picking it was time to drive in to Jeonju city and have some lunch. Jeonju is famous throughout Korea for having amazing food, especially bibimbap. After our bus getting stuck after going down a one way street we finally arrived at the restaurant. I'm not a huge fan of bibimbap (I have this weird thing where I hate mixing all of my foods together and that's exactly what bibimbap is) But we also got some paejeon which was the best I've ever had! Paejeon is a Korean style pancake made with lots of spring onions and usually squid too. It's really delicious!

Some of the GNETs enjoying our lunch.

After lunch we had 2 hours free time to explore the city. Jeonju has a big historical center right in the middle of the city where every building is traditional style. They had beautiful little stores and restaurants and a huge park with temples inside. After going to see the temples and the beautiful Autumn coloured trees surrounding them we decided to relax at a little coffee shop and people watch for a bit. Afterwards we got some delicious ice cream and wandered in and out of the shops.

The entrance to a small bamboo forest.

Autumn is well and truly here...and I love it!

The beautiful temple area of Jeonju...I just love those beautiful trees!

Then before we knew it it was time to head back to Gimhae. This was my first time visiting Jeonju and I'd 100% recommend visiting it to anyone that is visiting Korea. I'm sure that we were lucky that we went on a weekday because there were still tourists around...I can't imagine what it's like on weekends! But regardless, a part of me wishes that I lived there.

Myself and my good friend Ane standing in front of a 500 year old tree.

Hiking Mucheoksan

A couple of weeks ago myself Jason and Willy decided to go for a hike. Jason teaches right out in the countryside and sees a beautiful mountain everyday from his school. He's wanted to hike it for a while now so that Saturday was the perfect time.

The mountain in question was Mucheoksan in Saengnim. It is a beautiful mountain and is actually quite famous here in the south for it's rock climbing.

We had a great time hiking it, We parked the car and then had to walk up a road for about 30 minutes, that warmed us up quite nicely for when we actually got on to the path. We had left it quite late to begin the hike (3 o'clock) So luckily for us we didn't see many people of the trail.

Willy was off leash at the beginning but the more we hiked the more I realised how many scary drop offs there were and how close Willy was getting to them so we put his leash back on him.

It was at this point that I realised it was too dangerous for him to be off leash.

Jason and Willy on the way up.

It was one of my favourite hikes in Korea because after about an hour and a half hiking you reach a beautiful little lake with a nice pagoda and some benches to relax at for a while. When we reached the top we found a great viewing platform and were just in awe at the beautiful rays of light that the sun and clouds had formed. We stayed at the top for about 20 minutes, we would have stayed longer just taking it in but sunset was fast approaching and our stomachs were rumbling so we made the quick descent with an amazing sunset as our companion. The entire hike took about 3 hours.

The beautiful view from the top!

Willy wasn't too impressed at being stuck tied up to a tree while we climbed on to the ledge.

We made it!

Sunsets are something that you don't see very often in Ireland so it is the one thing that I never take for granted here in Korea and the places that I've travelled to. One thing I can 100% say about this country is that it has some beautiful sunsets!

That night we decided to cook some yummy pasta and relax with a movie. A perfect Saturday if I do say so myself! 

Beautiful Baenaegol

Last weekend our friend Derek invited us on a little road trip around Yangsang countryside with him and his girlfriend. With the weather being so beautiful we could hardly refuse. So we set off for an eye-opening day.

The drive to Yangsan itself was quite frustrating as we were stuck in traffic on the highway...not the best way to spend a Saturday. But once we met up with Derek we quickly got off of the busy roads and in to the countryside. I have to say that this area was probably the most beautiful area that I've been to in Korea!

Our first stop was at Gayajinsa which is a beautiful temple area along the Nakdong river. There were quite a few people cycling on the beautiful bicycle path along the river there. We went to meet Dereks two friends who had found a beautiful secluded little sandy beach area along the river. We spent some time just relaxing there and chatting before moving on to our next spot.

The beautiful Nakdong river.

Myself and Jason enjoying the beautiful sun!

Amy testing out the traditional swing at Gayajin

After leaving the beautiful riverside behind it was time to head to Baenaegol. Baenaegol is a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains on either side. It is filled with apple orchards, temples and pensions (Korean B&B's) It's a hugely popular place for Koreans to go during the summertime as it stays a bit cooler there than in other place in Korea and well it's absolutely beautiful there!

We had to drive over some beautiful mountain passes there and myself and Jason were both in awe at how beautiful the area was and how we had never even known about it before today!
After driving for a while we decided to stop off for lunch at a small family owned restaurant. We ordered some Samgyetang (Korean chicken soup). We were told that it would take about an hour to prepare but luckily for us they were situated right on a beautiful river so we were able to relax on the river bank while waiting.
It was the perfect day!

The river beside the restaurant

Jason and Willy walking along the beautiful river

Derek and Amy

A man and his dog.

I'm so lucky to have married him!

Me and Wil...

We enjoyed the peacefulness of Baenaegol so much that we decided to try and book in to a Pension next March with some friends to celebrate Jason's 30th. So without a doubt we'll definitely be back to this little slice of Korean heaven!

Enjoying the sunshine.

We got to witness this beautiful sunset on our way home.