tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-361266532011-04-22T11:07:29.308+12:00Hi everyone. I'm heading out on a 9-10 month journey around the world. Starting Oct. 21st, I leave San Francisco heading west. I'll be in Fiji for a week, New Zealand for 9 weeks, Australia for a month, Southeast Asia for 3 months, India for a month, and Europe for another 2 months. I'll use this blog to keep everyone updated on my travels. So tune in regularly for some personal reflections and local photos. And maybe some personal photos and local reflections.Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.comBlogger401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-1510016047756614462007-05-16T08:09:00.000+12:002007-05-16T08:19:46.854+12:00

Not really. So, as many of you already know and as some of you may have guessed, I'm back in the US, Oakland to be exact. And it feels pretty good to be back. I had a great time traveling around, but I just couldn't see myself out on the road for another 2 or 3 months traveling on foreign soil, at least not by myself.Anyway, I have no real plans now. I figure I'm still due for at least a

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-73420024916456746222007-05-06T19:33:00.000+12:002007-05-06T20:42:58.639+12:00

Ah, it's been a while. Sorry if some of you were patiently waiting on pins and needles to have a much needed dose of the Lukester. Basically the last month has been taken up with a week in Southern Thailand at Railey beach, near Krabi, and three weeks in wonderful Bali. I was originally going to spend a couple of weeks in southern Thailand but after just a couple of days I decided what I most

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-33021052791723947572007-04-05T19:54:00.000+12:002007-04-05T19:59:13.971+12:00

I'm no longer going to India. I haven't changed my flights yet, but I'm already planning on sticking around SE Asia until Mid-May. Going down to the southern portion of Thailand for a couple of weeks and then hopefully to Bali for three weeks. After that I will either continue onto Europe or just pack it in and go back home. It's been great so far but I am becoming tired of the travel scene.

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-21796735027464737612007-04-04T21:26:00.000+12:002007-04-04T22:56:03.531+12:00

Hey all. I'm back in Thailand now after spending the last few days in Cambodia. It was a short trip through Cambodia and I mainly only went there to see the temples of Angkor Wat. Cambodia has had a pretty gnarly recent history with lots of sorrow but I wasn't to up for that, so I skipped the museums in Phnom Penh. If you read Ethan's blog about Cambodia you'll probably get a good idea of why I

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-83418393902774577872007-04-02T22:07:00.001+12:002007-04-04T21:04:22.333+12:00

Saigon. Back in the big city. Back to crap loads of scooters and non-stop noise. Hanoi actually seemed to quite down around 9 or 10 but that didn't seem to be the case in Saigon. Maybe it was just the area I was staying. Walked around the city the first full day there, visiting the re-unification palace and the war remnants museum. Man, talk about a bummer. Not a fun place to visit. Met up with

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-57997279145857887372007-04-01T23:16:00.000+12:002007-04-02T00:41:56.672+12:00

Ok. After leaving Hanoi behind and sending Ethan off on his merry way, I took an overnight train to Hue. Spent a couple of nights there, bicycling around the town, and then headed to Nha Trang, where I stayed 8 nights. Didn't really do anything in Nha Trang except go diving once and eat and sleep and have the occasional beer. Caught a bus to Saigon after Nha Trang, but we stopped off at a town

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-48394565920146608132007-03-27T23:12:00.000+12:002007-03-29T12:42:56.209+12:00

So, after another day in Hanoi, Ethan and I took the night train up to Sapa on a "3 day/4 night" trip. Sapa is known for it's beautiful terraced hills and the cool weather. It's a big rice producing area where six different ethnic groups live. Our trip basically consisted of a partial day of trekking, staying overnight in a hotel, then two more days of trekking, staying overnight in a village

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-43394226984910190872007-03-27T02:15:00.000+12:002007-03-27T14:17:34.329+12:00

After a day in Hanoi, Ethan and I headed to Halong Bay a UNESCO Heritage Site designated such due to it's boundless beauty and magnificence, or something like that. No, really, it was cool. We headed out of Halong City on a junk, went to a big ass cave, putted around the islands, went swimming, stayed the night on the junk where we learned what the name meant ("What's that scratching noise?" "Oh,

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-68603002923641596022007-03-26T17:54:00.000+12:002007-03-27T02:40:32.939+12:00

Ok, it's been a while and I don't think I can sit and recount all of Vietnam at once so I'll do it in chunks. First is Hanoi. Ethan and I arrived by plane from Vientiene on the 2nd of March and did a couple of trips to Halong Bay and Sapa (to be covered in other posts) while based out of Hanoi.Even though we got off on sort of a wrong foot, almost got scammed by a taxi driver from the airport, I

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-58586924285731076262007-03-08T01:31:00.000+13:002007-03-08T01:32:26.233+13:00

Jerry left a comment and made me think that I should put a link to Ethan's blog and pictures somewhere in here....so here..http://picasaweb.google.com/ethan.ahlberghttp://ethan-thereandbackagain.blogspot.com/

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-83798145782594714092007-03-04T04:05:00.000+13:002007-03-04T05:31:46.031+13:00

Laos. Spent the roughly eleven days there before coming here, to Hanoi, in Vietnam. Very nice country and a nice change of pace from Thailand. I think only about 6 million people live in Laos and we could feel it. Most people live a simple life, pandering to foriegn tourists or surviving off the land, but everyone I met or saw seemed basically content and happy. The kids especially. We rarely saw

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-88099286316092509162007-02-18T21:05:00.000+13:002007-02-19T15:42:39.294+13:00

Hey all. Last time I posted from Bangkok where I was feeling fairly miserable with a pretty gnarly head cold. So two days in Bangkok and all I did was lie around in my room and try to feel better. I met Angie Wednesday evening and we went to the town where she works as a teacher of 3rd graders at a private school. Luckily for me, one of her student's mothers is a doctor and Thursday morning we

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-14192541868992933582007-02-07T18:32:00.000+13:002007-02-07T19:43:37.045+13:00

And in case you were wondering: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Boo-YaaSo I'm done with Australia. Spent 7 days in Byron Bay and then a week in Brisbane. Byron Bay was nice, but not quite what I'd expected...although I'm not sure what I actually did expect. I stayed at a hostel that was mostly full with a younger crowd that had the typical younger crowd agenda. I guess that used to

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-12289975479196764012007-01-24T11:15:00.000+13:002007-01-25T15:23:04.287+13:00

It's been a great week here in the beautiful harbor city, Sydney. I arrived last Wednesday and had a fun little plane experience. Look it's Sydney.And look, it's the airport. It's not usual that you see the airport like this when you thought you were about to land. We were pretty close to touching down, when the plane suddenly gained a lot of speed and altitude. Apparently there was a plane on

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-25730463870019107282007-01-21T18:10:00.000+13:002007-01-21T19:30:23.979+13:00

I'm in Sydney now, got here last Wednesday. Ended up playing poker everyday in Melbourne until last Sunday, 11 days straight. In total I think I was up about $700, which basically paid for most of my two weeks there. I should have quit a couple days earlier and I would have been up over $1500, in fact I should have quit about 4 hours earlier and I would have been up about $1100. It was all good

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-7229609530677470722007-01-10T18:06:00.000+13:002007-01-10T18:44:35.224+13:00

And yes, I'm still here... and I'm still playing poker. I reconsidered my cure and it turns out that I had mis-diagnosed myself and hadn't actually needed the cure yet, I'm up about $1100 now. But here are some of the pictures I've taken from around town in the interim. Church, oohh, neat Part of the building at the Federation Square (http://www.federationsquare.com.au/) and a statics problem

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-517912033658429002007-01-08T17:17:00.000+13:002007-01-08T17:19:58.299+13:00

At least temporarily. That's what a sobering losing session will do for you. I think I'll catch a flight to Sydney in a day or so.But I did get a hair cut today.

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-10305998916257605782007-01-07T23:18:00.000+13:002007-01-08T13:10:22.048+13:00

In Melbourne playing poker. The Aussie Millions tournament (http://www.crownpoker.com.au/) is going on and for some reason I feel an uncontrollable need to play poker everyday. I'm up about $500 and I've managed to wander around the city a little each day before somehow ending up here at the casino, but I can't seem to keep away. AAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!Ok, I'm sure to hear from at least one

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-9450724849264451442007-01-04T12:42:00.000+13:002007-01-05T12:58:25.037+13:00

WOOHOO!!!! It's consistently warm and sunny outside!!!! New Zealand was definitely great, but a little on the chilly and rainy side. Not here in beautiful Australia. I think the temp today in Melbourne will be in the low 30's (upper 80's to 90's). http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/ASXX0075.htmlI digress....My last week and a half in New Zealand was fairly mild mannered. So in order of events I

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-57670875644771097892007-01-01T13:29:00.000+13:002007-01-01T13:34:02.669+13:00

Well, this is probably my last post from New Zealand. I head on to Australia in a couple of more days. Unfortunately I'm in another one of those places with dodgy internet connections, so I'll probably have to wait until Melbourne to update my last week or so in NZ. But it has been fun, spending Christmas with the Smith family and getting in a couple more days of surfing while I was there and

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-27765296871965506262006-12-22T12:42:00.000+13:002006-12-22T15:24:55.030+13:00

It's nice to hang out at one or two spots for several days and that's pretty much what I've been doing the last couple of weeks. First four days in the Wellington area and then the last week in Raglan, one of the best surf spots in New Zealand (and the locals will probably argue, the world.) And now I'm back in the Wellington area where I'll stay until after Christmas. Where I'm off to after that

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-19873839886479922742006-12-17T13:18:00.000+13:002006-12-17T13:24:04.586+13:00

Hey all. I'm currently in Raglan after spending a great four days in Wellington with Erin and Andrew. Unfortunately the internet here is expensive and slow so I'm going to have to wait before uploading more photos. But I will say that I'm having a great time doing my best to surf my brains out here. Awesome left point breaks...and a beach break if you're so inclined. Hopefully the swell

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-52016927603877640222006-12-08T13:51:00.000+13:002006-12-08T15:31:34.123+13:00

Yeah, so I'm a bit excited right now. I spent the last couple days in the water and it felt so, so good. The waves were small and not so organized but it didn't really matter. Sunny days, surfable waves...I can't wait to get up to Raglan and spend a week or so there. mmmm....waves...But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself...again. I last checked in in Dunedin about a week ago. I ended up spending

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-861674365484120922006-12-01T15:06:00.000+13:002006-12-01T16:28:12.871+13:00

Hey all. I'm in Dunedin now, the first proper city I've been in since Christchurch three weeks ago. The last few days were spent on Stewart Island.Tuesday morning I caught a plane to Stewart Island. Fun 20 minute ride with just two passengers and the pilot. The winds were pretty strong and we had quite a few bumps on our journey. After hitting my head on the ceiling it finally dawned on me why

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-32429214252157147052006-11-28T13:05:00.001+13:002006-11-28T13:08:35.684+13:00

That it would be nice to have people post to a blog so I could see random pics of family and friends.If someone (Wes?) maybe started a blog and maybe made the username FAFO_Luke (for Family and Friends of Luke) and maybe the password just be luke, then anyone of you could post to it and put pictures up and stuff. That would be cool.I'm in Stewart Island now and the weather is sort of crappy and

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-61783020643982045162006-11-27T14:52:00.000+13:002006-11-27T16:53:28.128+13:00

Then it has to have all the killer motorcycle stuff from this last weekend. Absolutely awesome! A big weekend of racing and events in recognition of Burt Munro, the fastest Indian and a brilliant Kiwi. He took a stock Indian motorcycle that had a top speed around 50 mph, doubled that top speed once, and then doubled it again reaching almost 200 mph. I haven't seen the movie yet but I will, oh yes

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-46171930729580005662006-11-24T16:36:00.000+13:002006-11-24T18:08:04.384+13:00

That's what the folks in Queenstown would like you to think. And they're probably right.Let's see, they have...Bungy jumpingRiver SurfingWhite water river raftingJet Boat tripsParaglidingSkydivingThe thing with the parachute behind the boatGiant swingsLuging (although this didn't look all that adventurous) Coal powered steam ship ridesFishingAmerica's Cup sailboat tripsMini-Golf...over lava pits

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-11378732866726834192006-11-21T10:05:00.000+13:002006-11-21T22:25:19.205+13:00

Now that I'm somewhere Internet access is not ridiculously expensive, Queenstown, I can catch up a bit. Oh, and this is sort of a long one.First a summaryNov.13-16th (mon-thurs) Milford Track Great WalkNov. 17th (fri) recover from said Milford Track Great WalkNov. 18th-19th (sat-sun) walk first section of Kepler Track Great WalkNov. 20th (mon) go to QueenstownNov. 21st (Tuesday, oh yeah, today)

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-89550239391836009662006-11-17T11:08:00.000+13:002006-11-17T11:13:07.027+13:00

I thought I left these behind in Washington?I'm back from Milford and it was a great hike. These computers in Te Anau aren't set up for posting pictures so I'll have to wait and do it later. I just wanted to say hey.Oh, and if anyone wants to join in an exciting an new forum, Wes put one up and you can harass me to no end there, if you are so inclined. http://plate.net/luke/mmm....rain

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-1163210445137254832006-11-11T14:51:00.000+13:002006-11-13T11:11:53.777+13:00

Hey all,I'm in Te Anau now and we're heading out on the Milford Track tomorrow. Should be good times, especially when it rains (and it's almost guaranteed to rain.)The last few days have been action packed, or at least there's been a lot of moving around. We took the other cool train, the Tranz Alpine, from Christchurch to Greymouth on Thursday. Beautiful day and a beautiful journey. The trip is

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-1162977127334430412006-11-08T21:51:00.000+13:002006-11-13T11:06:05.264+13:00

It was pretty much rainy and grey in Christchurch the last couple of days so it was great to see the sun today (it's actually raining now but it's 9:45 so who cares.) I went to the botanical garden and around town a bit, so I thought I'd throw these pictures up. The Christchurch Yacht Club The mighty skippers... Duck just chillin' out Inside the conservatory Several flowering plants in the

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-1162770963163921602006-11-06T12:25:00.000+13:002006-11-13T11:06:04.927+13:00

Hey all you party people. I'm in Christchurch now and it's been a busy last few days. Halloween in Nelson was a blast. A bunch of ninjas showed up and started karate chopping everyone. I somehow managed a semblance of a "fancy dress" using my bed sheet, a couple of loaner sarongs, and some leaves. HAIL CAESAR!!!! Unfortunately I failed to get a picture of myself in my gettup. We were out until

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-1162331520548728202006-11-01T10:49:00.000+13:002006-11-13T11:06:04.616+13:00

So, I learned yesterday that my final paycheck from my last employer was "refused by the issuing bank" when I tried to deposit it. I'm in contact with some of the folks there already, but if there are any other coworkers checking out my exploits (i.e. management) and want to help me out, that would be super.Cheers

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-1162195421107892002006-10-30T20:29:00.000+13:002006-11-13T11:06:04.242+13:00

To New Zealand that is. I'm currently residing in Nelson, at the north end of the South Island. It's a pretty nice little town, but I'll cover that in another post. I think I need to fill in a few details from Fiji..Last time, I was at a sort of crappy resort called David's Place on Tavewa island. I think it's quality was a function of it's distance from the mainland (insert equation here). It

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-1161640928263564472006-10-24T10:59:00.000+13:002006-11-13T11:06:03.831+13:00

Bula!I'm in Fiji now, I didn't think I'd have internet access but the hostel/resort next to the one I'm staying at has access, so here I am. I'm staying at a place called David's Place on Tavewa island in the Yasawas. It's quite windy here and very overcast, not exactly what I was expecting. I will be moving on to another resort tomorrow that is more south in the islands and maybe the weather

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-1161387127779898382006-10-21T12:18:00.000+13:002006-11-13T11:06:03.464+13:00

And I leave on my first leg. I think this one will be the best, I hear L.A. is beautiful this time of year, especially in the airport. Yeah, so I go to LA from SFO at 5 pm and then onto Fiji at 8 pm for 10 hours of fun. Arrive in Nadi around 3 am. I haven't figured out what I'm doing there yet. Most likely I'll end up in the Yasawa Island group. Everyone says that it's the most beautiful part and

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-1161147527486520122006-10-18T17:40:00.000+13:002006-11-13T11:06:03.123+13:00

Ok. So I got my free haircut today. My head feels much lighter.BeforeAfterSo I don't have the greatest photo presence and I still should probably shave and do a little bit of a beard trim, but it looks all right and it'll be much more manageable.Here are a couple of pictures of my empty apartment (Wes asked for them) Oh and the couch is still there (ahem...Joe) Living room/ Dining room (

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-1161101013034488222006-10-18T04:41:00.000+13:002006-11-13T11:06:02.802+13:00

So, I'm a bachelor and I'd have to say I'm not the cleanest of guys. I wasn't nasty dirty or anything, I just didn't get around to dusting and vacuuming...pretty much ever. I think, in the five years I lived at my place, I could easily count the number of times I vacuumed on one hand and probably use my eyes to count the number of times I really dusted the place. And all this was very apparent

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-1161037374870543042006-10-17T11:13:00.000+13:002006-11-13T11:06:02.460+13:00

Hey all. What? Posting number 2 already? And he hasn't even left? In fact, it's the same day as his first post....he must be crazy...Nah, this is just cool. My friend Frank mapped out my itinerary on Google Earth and my friend Wes is hosting a site where you can pick up the file. You'll need to download Google Earth, http://earth.google.com/ , which you should do anyway, and then go to http://

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36126653.post-1161018091753338132006-10-17T05:54:00.000+13:002006-11-13T11:06:02.232+13:00

When you get done typing a blog entry, select it all and copy it just in case the entry doesn't get published, just like it did a couple of minutes ago. Doh! So, I'll try it again.4 days of work left, 6 days left in the country. My apartment is pretty much empty, just a couple of things left to move out, my phone is disconnected, my backpack is mostly packed, I've had all my shots, I guess I'm

Luke Hunternoreply@blogger.com1