Singapore

Singapore: Jurong Bird park

Indonesia: Pet Market in Yogyakarta, Java

Yogya is simply amazing. Incomparable with Jakarta. Not that I don't like it, we hade a great time in Jakarta. But Yogya is way more magical. Our amazing couchsurfing host Danang helped us rent a scooter and took us to so many places. One of them was this pet market.

New Zealand: Helpx experience

Working holiday in New Zealand means picking jobs or volunteering, for most of travelers. We were not really lucky with picking jobs, we planned to do kiwi picking during last weeks of our stay but the weather was against us and we spent almost three weeks in our car. At the beginning of our New Zealand adventure, however, we did volunteering.

If you haven't heard of HELP X you better check their website, it is simply amazing. It is a very good database of people around the globe offering accommodation for few hours of work. You simply choose the region, country, see the offers and find what suits you the best. A farm, an organic farm, a host or a school, home stay or another project. You can find some really special offers, for example mushroom farm in Taiwan,  windmill construction or kangaroo farm. You can easily see what is the job, how many people they are looking for, if male or female, how is gonna be you accommodation, how many hours per day you need to work and you can also read the reviews from previous helpers.
As we were at the beginning of looking for job process this was our chance. First family we found lived few minutes ride north from Auckland, on a farm. Bronwyn and her British husband Tim and their two daughters were the sweetest people. It was not rally hard working we had to do but it was life on a sheep farm. See the full sheep experience HERE. 

Cambodia: Sihanoukville

My friend went Cambodia few years ago and I just loved her pictures of this cute little beach houses in south Cambodia. So it was immediately on our gap year list. After all the traveling around hot Asia this was a place where to relax and enjoy the sea. And we planed it very well, it was not the high season, we were almost alone there and the prices of the accommodation were really low. And in the end I was really happy we decided to go to Cambodia and not to south Thailand. It still a paradise but without the touristic madness.

Taiwan: Wulai 烏來

Na Tchaj-wanu (abych se držela klasického českého přepisu) máte park téměř na každém rohu, ať je Tchaj-pej jakkoliv betonová, o přírodu tu rozdhoně nění nouze. Jedna z věcí, které na té zemi miluju. Přesto to občas chce velkoměsto opustit a vyrazit na venkov.

Wulai je jasná volba. Z jihu Tchaj-peje se tam jede ani ne hodinku a i ta jízda samotná je pastva pro oko. Do údolí vede cesta podél řeky, dosela slušné serpentýny s výhlídkami na nekonečnou zeleň.

Bali 2014

Many say Bali is too touristic in these days. Yes, true. But still, I love it more than any other place. Beautiful nature, beaches, mountains. Beautiful architecture, basically every house looks like a temple. Delicious food. But most importantly, friendly people. They never stop smiling. And believe me that simply will make you smile back.

Gap Year

Ok, our gap year is over, we are sitting at place for too long now (even if the place is London). But it has been just few days since I was able to get all our videos from our travels as my external hard drive, the only place where I store it all, was broken. We are just so happy to have almost all of the pictures back and mainly all the videos. Now it's the time to learn how to edit them properly. Here is a little recap of our travels and one video: 

Cambodia: Khmer Cooking Class

We love food more than anything. Simply for us life is about food and therefore there is no traveling without a lot of food. it is nice to learn some local recipes from locals but why not to try a cooking class? When in Siem Reap we decided to try Tigre de Papier. Itis right on Pub Street and for a decent price you get to try preparing three courses you choose from the menu and of course, you eat them at the end. To be hones I wouldn't go to a cooking class where i cannot eat what I've cooked, haha. 

Video: New Zealand Adventures

New Zealand is where we started our gap year. And thanks to couch surfing we found some amazing friends. It wasn't our first time couch surfing. But it was a very interesting this time. We came to Auckland after little stop in Taiwan, ready to start new short life here. To find a job, to find a lovely place to live, meet new people etc. We came to Auckland little unprepared, I must say. We didn't book any accommodation and realized that all the hostels are fully booked. We tried to find a host on CS before, but nobody wanted us. Well, little desperate, we tried CS again. This time we didn't send individual messages. We simply wrote to Auckland wall, asking if somebody knows about a low cost hotel and if it is safe to sleep in a park. In few minutes, we had around ten messages and at least five calls from people willing to host us. And that is how we met Rory and Riley, two of the best Kiwis we've ever met. We ended up living with them for more than two weeks.  In January 2014 we went to a little trip organized by Rory and his brothers, out of the city, to the north of North Island. People usually prefer the South island, yes, but look, there are some really cool places up north, too! Rory took us to a beautiful quiet beach, we camped between the sand dunes, did some mussels picking and mussels bbq, had fun in the sea, watched wild dolphins, played ninja game, we were driving on the sand and visited some really scary caves. To go for a trip with a Kiwi is completely different from using a guide or Google. You will never find this cool places and adventures without a local.  Watching this now, in cold England, I wish that gap year lasted forever. And also we made a promise we will go back to New Zealand one day!  Here is a video from the trip and some pictures. 

Auckland: Skydiving - the best day of my life

I went to New Zealand with few dreams - to see the Middle-earth, to live on a sheep farm and to try an adrenalin sport. The two first dreams, or goals, were easy to fulfil - almost every corner of NZ is  a  Middle-erath and we were volunteering on a sheep farm during our first weeks. But the big adrenalin adventure took place during our last days in NZ, maybe because I was really scared to do something really crazy. My first idea was sky jump, or at least sky walk, in Auckland. Yes, it is the jump from the famous Auckland Sky Tower, you remember Beyoncé doing it. But I said no to this kind of adventure after I found out that it is actually a controlled fall. To make it clear, you are controlled by two giant ropes during the fall. Bungee jump was my number two. There is the famous, world's first, bungee close to Queenstown, close to Anduina river, by the way. But this few seconds lasting fun is super expensive. Besides, it is only 43 meters high bridge. So, skydiving it is! I must have been super bored (oh, yes, that was the time when we spent three weeks closed in our car because of the crazy rains) or what when I called to Auckland Skydive and booked my 13,000 feet tandem jump.
That day I called them again, as I was told, to make sure if the weather is ok for a tandem jump. Omg, I was praying for a storm! The feeling in my belly was worse than the one you get before going to a dentist. But we went anyway. I didn't want to look weak in front of M., so I just pretend I am fine. Actually, he was the weak one, he strictly said NO to tandem jumping and I simply couldn't make him.
To make me even more nervous, they told me to wait for a while, it was a very busy day at the skydive centre, one plane every thirty minutes. I made it to the very last plane of the day. It was only me and one girls from Singapore for tandem. Her boyfriend, just as M., was too scared to jump out of a plane. The rest of the plane? Skydiving students giving us encouraging smiles. I was smiling too, but maybe it was the smile of desperateness.

Kaikoura

Lord of the Rings - Paths of dead

Waiotapu

Celé naše cestování po Zélandu bereme velice "low cost". Slíbili jsme si, že se sem jednou vrátíme, až budeme milionáři a budeme tady objíždět všechny ty předražené turistické atrakce, helikoptérama, výletníma loděma, super luxusníma jachtama, zaplatíme si všechna ta dobrodružství, co stojí 500 dolarů a budeme jíst pouze a jenom v restauracích. Jako chudí pracující, kteří sotva dostudovali, teď jezdíme, jak říká M., "na punk". V autě z druhé ruky, kterému skřípou brzdy, ve kterém se ale spí jedna báseň, se stanem z Ware Housu, který byl ve slevě a spíme zásadně v těch nejlevnějších kempech, pokud v nich vůbec spíme. Restaurace nehrozí, máme roztomilý vařič a v asijských obchodech se zásobíme nudlema, pokud zrovna nevečeříme fazole!

Na téhle levné vlně jedem i co se samotných lokalit týče. Na Novém Zélandu je spousta věcí placená, i přírodní atrakce. To berem, však taky ta místa podle toho vypadají, jsou pěkně udržovaná! Ovšem ta cena by mohla bývat symboličtější. Ale nevadí, protože pokud člověk ví, kde hledat, vždy najde levnější nebo dokonce neplacenou variantu. Můj sen byl vidět opravdový gejzír. Jenže takových gejzírů zdarma v oblasti, kam jsme měli namířeno (Rotorua), moc není. Ale když už tedy jíme pět dní fazole a snídáme poridge, snad si můžeme dovolit jednu atrakci zaplatit. 

Whirinaki Forest park

Kerosene creek

Na Novém Zélandu je jen hrstka věcí, které si člověk dopřeje zadarmo. Ale dají se najít. Mnohdy je člověk nevygooglí, chce to spíše radu od známého. Kerosene Creek nám poradila naše spolubydlící, když jsme doma v obývaku marně googlili nějaké finančně únosné hot poools. Jedny jsme našli, v Tokaanu, ale jednalo se spíše o bazény než o něco přírodního. Shana nám poradila a poradila nám výborně! 

Taranaki falls and Tokaanu hot pools

Jestli v Tongariro National Park trávíte více dní a děláte tady více okruhů, v den volna je ideální vyrazit k Teäranaki vodopádu. Je to celé odpočinková procházka na zhruba dvě hodiny, žádné prudké stoupání, ani klesání. Je to poměrně frekventovaná trasa, je ideální hlavně pro malé cestovatele, ale nám naštěstí nikdo den nijak nenarušil. 

Taranaki vodopád stojí za to! Pro fotografa ráj. Překrásné místo. Dá se dokonce obejít, aby se na něj člověk dostal z horní strany. Na koupání to ovšem není, voda je nehezky ledová. 

Tongariro Crossing

Jsme fanoušci Pána Prstenů a tak jsme ten Mordor potřebovali nutně vidět. Měli jsme pět dní volna a tohle jedna z věcí, která je relativně blízko Aucklandu. Na Horu Osudu se dá vyšplhat, je to odbočka z trasy Tongariro crossing. Takže přesně tu trasu jsme si vybrali!

New Zealand via Instagram

Jsme tu něco přes dva měsíce, tak tady je taková malá ukázka toho, jak si tady žijeme!

Waitakere: Upper Nihotupu Dam

Minulý víkend se v Aucklandu udělalo krásně! S počasím to tady nění žádná sláva, během jednoho dne se tu vystřídají všechny čtyři roční období a na předpověď se tu moc spoléhat nedá. Každopádně jsme ráno z okna uviděli sluníčko, tak jsme vyrazili. Dobrá věc na Zélandu je ta, že tady máte vždycky kousek do přírody! A tím nemyslím jen nějaký parčík! Najde se tu pořádná džungle! A jelikož jsme milovníci zdejších stromů, do jedné jsme se vypravili!