"Where are you headed?" Craig and I were on ferry to the south island of New Zealand with road map spread out in front of us. Looking up we saw a tall, nice looking (in a rugged sort of way), kiwi guy smiling at us.

"That's just what we are trying to figure out," I said as I explained our tentative plan. The stranger approved of our plan and then pointed to a spot on the map in the northern part of the island that read "Golden Bay."

"Make sure should save some time to visit this part of the island. My name is Bruce and I work for Golden Bay Glass. Look me up when you are in the area and you can camp on my yard."

And so two weeks later, a little tipsy from wine tasting all day, we found ourselves right outside Golden Bay and decided to give Bruce a call. Thankfully, he remembered us and came to meet us on main street and led us to his little cottage in a gorgeous setting right accross the street from the bay. Bruce was a great host. He took us to see some natural springs and the three of us stayed up late drinking beer and chatting. He gave us his spare bedroom and even though he left early for work he set out some muesli and soy milk for our breakfast And so we had made another friend on our travels..

That is Kiwi hospitality for you. We had several similar experiences during our five weeks in New Zealand. We stayed with some amazing people and they all have been truly hospitable and have made our stay much more enjoyable. Plus, we've made some great new friends!

There are literally millions of sheep everywhere. In fact, the population of New Zealand is 4 million and there are 40 million sheep! The scenery is magnificent. The highlights of our time here have been sky diving in Taupo, completing a 60 km great walk called the Kepler as well as several other "tramps," meeting heaps of hospitable and down to earth Kiwis, and just taking in the amazing natural beauty of this place.... while doing lots of driving... on the left side of the road!! We will do a longer entry soon, but just wanted to share some photos and let everyone know that we are alive and well. We leave New Zealand on the 22nd.. and head back to Thailand for two weeks. Then we fly back to San Francisco on November 8. We will be there for 5 days before heading back east for Craig's sister's wedding and the holidays. Our plan is to be back in San Francisco permanently in January. Any New Year's plans in the works?

We can't wait to see everyone!

Love,
Jess and Craig

As we went about our travels almost every time we told a fellow backpacker we were headed to Bali they said, "make sure you go to the Gili Islands off of Lombok." And so after our lovely week in Ubud, we set off to Gili Trawagan, the biggest of the three Gili's located off the northeast coast of Indonesia's Lombok. The journey took all day -- we had a two-hour drive to Padangbai, Bali where we caught a 5-hour ferry ride to Lombok, then we had an hour bus ride and finally took a rocky hour-long boat ride to the island. Our bus driver in Lombok warned us... and I quote, "Do not trust ANYONE at Bangsal." (the access port for hopping ferries to the islands).

We finally made our way to the much anticipated Island of Bali. I had been looking forward to this since before leaving--- so it was exciting to finally get there. The place is very beautiful (of course) and immediately you see the difference that makes Bali unique -- the artistic culture.

No. We didn't secretly attend Burningman this year. This photo is from a huge festival in Sri Lanka.... read on to hear about it!

Sorry we have been behind on the updates! We are in Kuta, Bali right now and are heading to New Zealand tonight!!!! After this entry, we'll do one on Bali and Indonesia and then we'll be caught up....

To continue from our last entry.....

During our week on Sri Lanka's east coast we slept in a mud hut, a fishermens' hut, at a locals' surf camp and in a tree house. Vasanta, a Sewalanka employee based out of Aragum Bay and Panama, served as our tour- and spiritual guide for this portion of our journey....

The first project I was involved with was located in town called Talpe-- very near the beach town Unawatuna which we called 'home base'. (nice place to base out of!) The program for the project was to design a "Retreat/Mtg. space" for Sewalanka on a plot of land that was donated to the organization. There is an existing bldg. on the site that is being 'adaptively' reused, and was in very good condition compared to other structures affected by the tsunami.
The site is incredible as it borders the ocean-- definitely the best site I've had the opportunity to work with.

We can't believe that the trip is now more than halfway over! Sri Lanka is amazing!! We leave in a few days, but we are so glad we made the decision to come here. We had a completely different experience because we were volunteering and interacting with locals on a daily basis. We've made some great friends. Also, the culture here is completely different than the other countries we have visited... people have told us that Sri Lanka is a mellow India.

Here are some more photos from Halong Bay and Hanoi, Vietnam.....

Crossing the street in Vietnam is like the videogame "Frogger." Well, at first you stand at curb and wait for a break in traffic which never comes. Then you eventually realize that you just have to go for it. So, you step into the street and walk straight accross trying not to panic or look at the hundreds of motorbikes coming towards you. You think they will run you over, but you have to have faith that they will avoid you and they do... as long as you don't make any sudden movements.