The World of Brooke & Micah

Ya mon

2009-07-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

Ya mon, we finally in Belize, mon.

Arriving in Belize was by far the most friendly and easiest country we have arrived in so far. We were greeted by George, our taxi driver, with a huge white smile contrasted by his lovely dark skin. Every other word was mon, ya mon.

He drove us swiflty to the boat dock in Belize City where we set sail to Caye Caulker, about a 45 minute boat ride. The day was unusually beautiful, the water was crystal clear, not even blue, clear mon! As soon as we got off the boat we noticed a sign on the ground "Caye Caulker - Go Slow". We checked into our lovely one bedroom house overlooking the soccer field and headed to the best beach/bar ever. It has picnic tables in the water and cheap drinks . . . nice mon.

We swam, drank rum punch, swam, drank rum puch, you get the picture right? Not a bad day mon. We snorkled and saw nurse sharks, Portugese Manawhars and many tropical fish.

Caye Caulker is a tiny island , only 8km long and about 50 yards wide. There are no cars, only golf carts and the streets consist of white sand and nobody wears shoes. We kept seeing the same smiling faces each day and made many friends. One of these friends was named Ras, who lives on the most amazing boat ever, he invited us up for a mango and a chat. We also met a man named Kenny who rescues animals on the island and has a vet come to him once a month to spay and neuter his new pets. This man must have about 35 cats and three dogs. We bought some big bags of dog and cat food and would visit Kenny and his animals each day we were on Caye Caulker.

Most of our days were spent diving off picturesque docks and drinking coconut rum and cokes. Mmmmmm. It tasted like the beach, minus the sand of course. We celebrated our one year wedding anniversary-yay!- at the beach bar and were treated to freestlyles about love from the locals, mon. Hahahaha, it's true! We had a yummy romantic dinner at Agave and then headed back to our cute little house . . .

The last day was by far the best. The rain had stopped and we decided to book a full day snorkeling trip on the second biggest reef in the world. The first place we snorkled was called "Shark and Ray Alley". Quite a fitting name I must say, mon. As soon as we dropped anchor nurse sharks and giant manta rays were circling our boat. We hopped right into the water and came face to face with some of the most beautiful marine life we've ever seen. Nine foot nurse sharks, manta rays about eight feet wide, huge colorful coral reefs and we even saw a few sea turles! It was one of the highlights of our trip by far, mon. We then went over to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye for lunch, not quite the isla bonita Madonna sang about. But it was cool enough, I think we were spoiled by the beauty of Caye Caulker.

We slept good that night and knew we had quite a journey ahead of us in the morning. Now it's off to San Ignacio, Belize to go caving and see some Mayan artifacts.

-B

Puddle Jump No-More

2009-07-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

7/10/09
Needing to get back up to the northern part of Central America we decided to fly instead of bus it. Our bus route would have taken us through the now unstable Honduras and it would also take us way too long. We booked our flight to Belize-leaving from Bocas Del Toro Panama. The only flight they had stopped first in San Jose, Costa Rica , then in San Salvador, (overnight) and then onto Belize city. Annoying flight but it was our only option.
While waiting in the terminal a storm blew in that would have frightened passengers waiting to board a 747. When our plane taxied up to our terminal a let it’s full load of 6 passengers off I knew we were in for a really rough ride.
We boarded in disbelief and silence. The half hour flight was one of the longest most uncertain times in my life. Brooke and I were holding hands and closing our eyes through the roughest plane ride ever. The engines were cutting out and the plane was bouncing up and down like a small boat getting tossed around by rough seas. I could see directly into the cockpit where the pilot struggled to keep his clipboard on the seat next to him. He even looked nervous. There would be clear skies as I looked out my window--then I would see a massive dark grey cloud and brace myself. Our heads were smacking the ceiling and I really did think we were going to crash. After dropping fifty or a hundred feet and hearing the engines sputter I just couldn’t make myself believe that the plane could take much more.
When we landed I was speechless. Maybe this was normal, maybe not, but it was new to me.

Sloth and Frog

2009-07-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

Bocas Del Toro-Last Day
7/9/09
Needing to move on but not really wanting to we decided to squeeze in one more activity filled day. We booked a tour over to some nearby islands to check out some dolphins, coral, and deadly, (but friendly) red frogs.
We started off by snorkeling some beautiful reefs at Caye Coral. Brooke swam right into a huge jellyfish and paid the price.After we had some lunch at a restaurant right over the same reef we snorkeled. Next we headed over to Isla Bastimentos for a beach day, (It made me miss Stonesteps). Bastimentos is home to these little cute poisonous frogs. We spotted one and promptly took pictures of it. I finished off the day by renting a buckled boogie board from the rental shack. It was about 4ft and breaking right on the sand, I was the biggest dork on the beach and couldn't wipe the smile off my face. On our way back to the boat we spotted a lazy little sloth hanging in a tree about 50ft up. I love sloths.

Bocas Del Toro

2009-07-19T05:47:00.000-07:00

Bocas Del Toro 7/6/09-7/8/09
Puddle jumper from David to Bocas=30 minutes orBus ride/water taxi=6hours
Plane.
Bocas Del Toro is a beautiful group of islands of the northern coast of Panama, really close to the Costa Rican boarder. We decided to come here in the initial planing of the trip back home, and we were really looking forward to it as this is our first stop on the Caribbean and our "u-turn" spot in Central America.
When coming to these places you never know what to expect. Photographs don't tell the story at all, you can never really get a feel for it until you are actually there. Flying in instead of busing it is a much better way of getting a perspective of the land. It looked amazing from the air and we couldn't wait to get on .
The tiny airport is only about a two minute walk from downtown and with all the accommodation in that area it wasn't too much of a hassle to be selective about where were stayed. We walked around and checked out almost every hotel. We finally decided on a place called Casa Amarilla--really cool place and it had a refrigerator, so important in this climate.
After we checked in it was only around noon so we grabbed a shuttle to the nearest swim able beach, Bocas Del Drago. We had lunch in the shade at a sand floored restaurant, horrible service, good food. This seems to be the norm in Bocas. After lunch we took a stroll along a beach front path past basking starfish and stingrays.
The next day we grabbed a water taxi and headed over to Isla Bastimentos about a 15min ride across the channel. We relaxed on an idealic yellow sand beach. I had rented a board b4 we took off a was hoping for some waves. It was OK looking, but the water was 82 and clear, hard to resist. I surfed for about 2hrs in absolute slop and had a blast. Later in the day/evening we went out on the town. We discovered a bar called Iguanas, (very original) and took advantage of ladies night. Free drinks for Brooke!
Next day was rained out and we were long overdue for a day of nothing so we decided to just plan the rest of our trip--oh and I think Brooke was a little hung over too...hah!

I Still Like Buses...and Borders

2009-07-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

San Jose, CR to David, Pamama

7/4/09-7/6/09

After a long horrible bus ride from Nicaragua to Costa Rica we pulled into to San Jose at about 4pm. Starving we found a great little Indian food place next door to our hostel/hotel and dug in. After we just went back to the hotel and decompressed from the most claustrophobic bus ride ever. All the seats were broken and the would recline all the way back--almost flat. They call the seats semi-cama which means semi-bed, this would have been cool if they worked. So for 10 hours every time the bus speed up the seats flew back, when it stopped they flew forward--it was rad.
So anywho, we went to bed and woke up only to have to get on another bus, this one bound for David, Panama. Yeah! another boarder crossing!
Boarder crossings in C.A. are terrible. This one bordering Costa Rica and Panama is particularly bad.I won't bore you with details but let say they modeled this crossing after a rubix cube. Pay this person $1 walk to a window, pay another person $2.50 walk to the corner, pay the guy in the food stand 75c and so on.... All this with no directions.Actually now that I think about it in hindsight it was kinda fun.
We arrived in David, Panama latter in the day and did the same as the day before--decompressed in the hotel. David is not the coolest city, it's just kind of a crossroads town with nothing much to offer, no matter, we just came here as a stop over on our way to Bocas Del Toro on the Carribean. So we had a day to kill and decided to head out to Boquete, a really beautiful mountain town about a one hour bus ride out of David. Not much to do in Boquete but cruise around. I now see why AARP chose it as one of the top 10 places in the world to RETIRE, not vacation--very quiet and geriatric. There was one awesome highlight in Boquete, an animal sanctuary called Paradise Gardens. It is run by expats from the US and it in inhabited by all native species. Highlights include a Jaguarundi, Toucan, Margay, Capuchins, Tamarins, Anteaters and tons of other cool animals, highly recommended.
Vamos a Bocas Del Toro manana!

San Juan Del Sur

2009-07-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

San Juan Del Sur
7/1/09-7/3/09

Leaving Grananda early in the morning we set off for a mildly confusing search for our bus to San Juan Del Sur. After a few shady characters directing us towards sketchy ally ways we found our way to the Rivas, the gateway to San Juan Del Sur.

San Juan Del Sur is a dusty little backpacker/surf town that sits in a small bay. There is no surf in the bay--but many spots are only a jeep ride away. Brooke and I checked into our hotel and cruised around town to find some food and a proper board rental for the next days beach day.
With the entire towns board rental options consisting of softtops I finally found a shop with something under 8 feet--unfortunately it was a 6' fish. This would have to do. On another note San Juan is home to Encinitas expat Tom Eberly, it was strange to see every kid on an Eberly surfboard, a sight that brought me back to the 80's

Later in the evening we tried out a delicious spot for dindin recommended in our guide book. A strange Indonesian decorated restaurant that served good Italian food and sangria. Super good and satisfying we turned in full.

Capital Cites

2009-07-04T04:06:00.000-07:00

6/26 to 6/27/09

Leaving El Sunzal meant catching a bus to San Salvador. Not the prettiest of cities. With the assistance of one of our fellow bus passengers, (a women,usually the only trustworthy people in these cities) led us to the bus station that was to get us to our next capital city. We got to our bus station just on time, purchased our tickets and proceeded to to wait for a bus to Managua, Nicaragua. Our bus was suppose to arrive at 8:30am which would put us in Managua just before dark. Come 11am the bus pulls into the station--shit, this puts us in Managua well after dark. On the way to Managua we passed through Honduras--the medias newest favorite latin american country in turmoil. With their President hiding in Costa Rica and riots in the streets we opted not to do anything but pass though. Arriving in Managua we jumped in a cab and hightailed it straight to our hotel. There were signs in the lobby saying to not walk the streets at night, so we had the front desk call us a pizza--our first US style food since we left.

Managua is a gnarly city, not just in the crime sense but it's past is rather sad. The entire city was destroyed in 1972 by a massive earthquake that killed 10,000 people. It was then rebuilt only to be destroyed again by hurricane Mitch in 1998. In between that there has been a massive civil war.As of now there are no plans to rebuild the city and it remains a flattened mess of ghettos and open air markets. So we got the heck out and cabbed it instead of chicken bus to Granada, Nicaragua.

6/27-6/29/09

Granada, Nicaragua

We arrived in Granada late morning and checked into our hospedaje. A nice place run by a scantily clad Nica women named Valeria. We tossed our bags on the bed and went for a stroll around the city.

Granada is a beautiful

500 year old city set right next to Lago De Nicaragua. The town was never destroyed by earthquakes like Managua so all of the old colonial buildings are still intact. The next few days were spent exploring the region. We went to Masaya--a smoking crater of an active volcano, paddled and motored around Lago De Nicaragua and just enjoyed walking and eating the city. Oh and we also got to visit an island in the lake with monkeys--they jumped on our boat, let us pet them, and then stole our stuff.

Spiders, Thunder and Hornets, Oh My!

2009-06-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

6/25/09
One would think since a place was named Playa El Sunzal there would be plenty of beach access right? (Playa means beach for all you mega gringos out there). After our hammock session, Micah and I headed to the beach, or so we thought. We walked for a good mile without seeing any sort of beach access. Mind you the walk was along the main highway so semis and trucks loaded with 20 people as it's cargo were flying by honking their horns. We finally found a restaurant that had beach access, so we had a cuba libre and went to the beach.

The beach was so so, nothing too spectacular. We bronzed for about two minutes before the humidity started to get to us, we were drenched in sweat so jumped into the 85 degree ocean to cool off, which did not work too well.

After our mini beach experience, we trekked back to our little hotel for a dip in the pool which was very nice and refreshing. Our bellies were beginning to rumble so it was time for some dinner. We headed across the street to the dirt floored pupuseria. Pupusas are fat little hand made tortillas stuffed with various types of ingredients. Micah and I opted for the bean and and cheese stuffed pupusas which were ridiculously delicious. After our dinner, which was $1.50 mind you, we headed back to our hotel.

As soon as we stepped foot into our rinky dink room, it began to pour rain. We have never In our lives heard thunder crack through the sky as we did that night. The lighting lit up the street light free dirt roads like it was midday. We sat outside for about 20 minutes and watched the spectacular storm. We were sleepy so we headed back to our room to hit the hay. We noticed an exceptional number of hornets in our room but didn't complain, what do you expect for $15 a night? So we laid on the bed in our travel sheets hoping no hornets would take a liking to us in the middle of the night. Little did we know that was the least of our worries.

Micah woke up screaming due to the giant bugs who thought his hair would make a great place to sleep for the night. We flipped the light on and it was like that scene from PeeWee Herman where he gets dropped off in the desert and then he turns his flashlight on and sees tons of animals. We saw hornets, spiders, mosquitos, flies and I'm pretty sure I saw a pterodactyl. We hid under our sheets for the rest of the night and got the eff out of there at 5:30 the next morning. Since the gates weren't open yet, we had to climb under a fence with our bags through the mud. Adios Playa El Sunzal, El Salvador, Nicaragua here we come!

LA-Guadalajara-DF-Guatemala City-Antigua-El Salvador

2009-06-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

6/23-6/24
Right now we are sitting in the doorway of our hotel watching the city fly by. We arrived in Antigua, Guatemala this morning after a harrowing bus ride from Guatemala City though the hills to Antigua. We walked around the beautiful old city--complete with volcanoes erupting all around, 16th century old churches, (all were destroyed in an earthquake in the mid 1700's--some restored, some not), cobblestone streets and tuk-tuks--a three wheel transport similar to some I've seen in pictures from India. Not much to do in the city but walk around and check stuff out.

Food here is incredibly cheap and we ate like kings and queens at a really good restaurant that evening for heca cheap. We had some rum drinks, including the delicious coco y limonada con rum; made with chunks of frozen coconut, fresh lemonade and a healthy Guatemalan portion of rum. With dinner was some Andean music accompanied by a strange ginga girl of 18 on a violin--it sounded really good though.

With not much else to do in Antigua but climb volcanoes, (which were kinda erupting) we decided to move on to El Salvador. We booked a private tourist bus instead of jumping on a chicken bus to make our boarder crossing easier. This however was foiled when we arrived at the border. With only about 8 people in line we figured this would not take much time at all--and with or Guatemalan driver to help us get though the line it was going to be cake. After about a half an hour in line we noticed that each of these eight people had 20 to 30 passports in their hand. Needless to say it took a while....

6/25
At this moment we are in El Sunzal, El Salvador swinging in hammocks above our semi-rundown $15 a night hotel. We are happy.

Gracias por su tiempo

Honeymoom Coming Soon...

2009-06-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

With Africa in front--almost winning the hosting region for honeymoon we pulled out last minute and decided to make the relatively quick hop over to Guatamala to start our Centro American holiday.

Departing on the 23rd of June, returning on the 23rd of July we will have one month to make our way from Guatamala to Panama--then from Pamana back to Guatamala. We will be traveling mostly on and a little off the PanAmerican Highway through seven countries consisting of; Guatamala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and finally Belize.

Stay tuned for wicked good updates.

Dirty 30 on Mt. Whitney

2008-09-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, we lag big time on posting, it's difficult to get around to it but we'll try and be better, we promise!

So, Micah's 30th birthday was August 22nd and what did he want to do? Oh, just climb the tallest mountain in the 48 contiguous states, that's all. What happened to getting drunk and drowning your sorrows in your old age? So, we found out that so many people want to climb the mountain that you must enter a lottery in February in order to get a pass to climb it. So I think this is my out, right? Wrong. They give out certain number of passes on the day you wish to climb to people who just show up to take the place of the no shows. So . . . that's right, we lucked out and got a pass . . . yipee.

So we camp at the base of the mountain on the first night, car camping, so we were in luxury compared to what was ahead. There was a beautiful river running behind our campsite that was filled with fish, but freezing! And guess what likes to eat fish in the forest? Bears . . . can I get another yipee.

So we explored the river and Micah found a rattlesnake, we didn't see any bears thank goodness. The area is really purty, as you can see. Almost all westerns were filmed in this little desert area right out of meth city, I mean Lone Pine, where we camped.

I didn't sleep very well because I knew what was in store for us the next morning, climbing 14,500 feet with a 39 pound backpack. Again, yipee.

To be continued . . . .

Rehearsal Time

2008-07-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

The wedding rehearsal went smooth and then it was off to Peabody's in Montecito for some dinner and drinks for the rehearsal dinner. Here are some pics of the lovely evening.

We Tied the Knot!

2008-07-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

So we haven't blogged in forever, so we are going to move in reverse order here but I figured I would start with the most important post of them all.

Micah and I were married on July 12th, 2008 in Montecito (Santa Barbara area) on Butterfly Beach with just our parents and siblings there. Our dear friend Reverend Chris Cote married us so his beautiful prego wife Marie came along as well as my own personal make-up artist Jen. Well, she's my best friend who happens to do make-up too.

The wedding was so perfect, we wouldn't have done it any other way. Here are a few pics that our wedding photographer sent us. We should get the rest by the end of this week.

Enjoy!

xo Mrs. Brooke Mattson

Finally . . . .

2008-03-27T14:38:00.001-07:00

Some pics from SF! We had so much fun and we by far were the best dressed 80's couple at the bar. Thanks to Carson and Ryan for showing us such a great time!

Off to SF

2008-02-14T07:49:00.000-08:00

We are off to good ole San Francisco tomorrow morning. We are going up for our good friend Ryan Gessay's 30th b-day. Should be a blast. Planning on seeing an 80's cover band on Friday night then on Saturday riding the trolley all around the city with Bloody Marys in tow. Who knows what the rest of the weekend has in store for us.

Date Night

2008-01-25T09:34:00.000-08:00

Micah and I went on a date last night. We started off with some Thai food then went to Eagle Bowl in San Marcos to bowl. Much to our dismay, it was league night and no lanes were open all night. Ugggg. *Note to self: do not go to Eagle Bowl on Wednesday nights. So, we really had an itch to Bowl so we drove up to O'side to the super chic Surf Bowl.

Started our first game off with a pitcher of beer (of course, we were at a bowling alley, how could we not). Micah's score was 97 (ouch) and mine was 107. Not so great for either of us. After the first game we were all warmed up and ready to shred. Hence, me starting game number two off with a turkey. That's right folks, three strikes in a row . . . . ZING! I proceeded to get a total of six strikes for the game and two spares. With a total score for me of (drum roll please) 179!!! That's like the best ever. Of course I beat Micah, he got a measly 115. Ha, what an amateur.

Quick question . . . has anybody been to the U.S. Virgin Islands? St. Thomas? St. Croix?

xo

B

Boo-Hoo

2008-01-21T10:16:00.000-08:00

I have a tear rolling down my cheek as I write this. No, nobody died, the Chargers lost to the Patriots yesterday. The San Diego boys put up a great fight though, the media said it was going to be a major blow-out but 21-12 is not that bad. I think I may not watch the Superbowl this year considering there are two of my least favorite teams in it, the Giants and the Patriots . . . eww.

On to more happy news, my parents and I went to Cirque Du Soleil's Corteo on Saturday night. Wow, I don't even know words to describe the show. It was so beautiful and the music was great, I would highly recommend this to anybody. I found tickets for about half price on www.goldstar.com. My favorite part was women wearing 20's style french boudwa (I know that's not how you spell it) twirling on contorting themselves while on giant chandeliers. Is it too much to ask to have that at my wedding? Yeah, I guess it is.

See ya,
B

Recommendations

2008-01-16T12:59:00.000-08:00

A little help here . . . does anybody have any recommendations for wedding photographers, DJ's, florists, bakers, etc. in the San Diego area? Starting to look around for all the above and then some for the wedding and would like some help . . .

Go Chargers!

2008-01-14T11:57:00.000-08:00

Holy crap, how was the Charger vs. Colt game on Sunday??? Chargers totally kicked booty despite all of the unfair calls. And awesome TD by Volek, who would have thought? I hope Peyton Manning cried himself to sleep last night.

As for next week against the Patriots . . . watch out Tom Brady, here we come!

It's Official

2008-01-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to our wedding website. Please take a look and sign our guestbook.

I know, more nerdiness, but you know what? We are so excited about getting married that we want to share our happiness with everyone!

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/BrookeMarshall&MicahMattson

xo

The future Mrs. Mattson

Congratulations

2008-01-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

. . . to the San Diego Chargers on an ass-kicking playoff game. Way to make those Titans cry all the way back to Tennessee. Good job boys! Do it again next week and take us all the way to the Super Bowl!!!

Engagement Party

2008-01-05T11:53:00.000-08:00

Our engagement party went just as planned . . . pure fun. The food was great (thank you Ricos), the drinks were great (thank you booze) and the company was even better (thank you friends). If our wedding is half as fun as our engagement party, we are in for quite a treat.

Thank you parents for throwing us such a great party. The Mattson 2 with special guest Dylan Raasch played an amazing jazz set, then DJ Chris Cote played the best dance tunes ever that got everybody moving.

Our Adventure Continues

2007-12-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

So we have been back home in good ole California for almost a month now. It took us about a week to get over the jet-lag from three different countries and three different time zones.

Oh, I almost forgot! Micah proposed our last day in Bali! After five and a half years of dating, he finally did it, got down on one knee, asked my parents before he popped the question and everything. We couldn't be happier. Stay tuned for engagement party shannanigans and photos after the weekend.

I think we officially are living the white trash lifestyle now. By that I mean living in an RV. Uh-huh, that's right, I said an RV. Not really by choice, some family drama I don't want to go into. But, we are making the most of it. I mean, just lifting the blinds from our "bedroom" in the morning and having the beach right there is not too shabby. We even have Christmas lights! This is totally temporary though. We will be moving into one of my parents houses that they rent out soon enough. We will have a real house and a real yard with real grass (no astro turf like we have now in front of the RV).

If anybody would like to come down for a visit, give us a call and we'll tell you the campsite number. We are at Carlsbad now and will be "moving" to Cardiff tomorrow.

P.S. Congrats to our good friends Jason Weatherly and Leah Hsieh on the birth of their adorable son, Ryder Paul.

Kuta Buddha

2007-11-17T19:45:00.000-08:00

Bali is such a beautiful place, besides the litter on the streets, the rabid mangey dogs and the traffic, it is truly a treat for the senses. The air smells of incense, temples border dodgy alleys, and the food it quite tasty. Let's see, where can I begin. Lets start with the weather.

Ever heard of hot and humid? Well that does not even do justice to the 100% humidity of the Bali air. The sun is brutal, even in the shade you get sunburned. I tried to go for a jog with Sasha in the morning while the boys surfed Canggu . . . I thought I was going to die from heat stroke. I wussed out and power walked while I watched Sasha's cute little behind jog down the beach and back to me. She's gnarly.

We got back from our sweat-fest and the boys were back shortly after. Micah, Brendan and I went to the water-park in Kuta, called "Waterbom". It was alright, it felt good being in the water considering the unforgiving heat. I went on one scary slide called the "Boomerang" and then watched the boys fly down narrow tubes of water (and probably pee, eww). I used to be so gung-ho when it came to scary rides, but I have officially become a wuss. The "Boomerang" was enough for me then it was off to the "Lazy River" and the swim up bar.

A $3 cab ride back to the hotel and we were ready for food and drinks. We dined on delicious fish and sipped the local alcohol, "arak". It's like a strong sake made from rice and sometimes made from coconuts. The cocktail we took a liking to was called "arak attack" which consists of arak, lime, and honey. Yum-eh!

Shopped around a bit (knock-off heaven) and shredded on our scooters. Off to Padang-Padang tomorrow!

SYD 2 BALI, that's in Indonesia!

2007-11-10T17:22:00.000-08:00

Back Sydney, off to Bali

We started our day off flying from Ayers Rock back to Sydney where we were going to meet up with some friends from Encinitas (Benji & Greg) for a little clubbin'. We got a pretty cool room right in Manly Beach, (1/2 hour or so from Sydney). As the night rolled around we put some food in our bellies and proceeded to make party. Got to bed @ 2am.

Waking up feeling like ummmm not that good, ate a little breaky then left for the airport. In the terminal right next t our gate was the first flight of the new Airbus Jet....there was a big party and we got to see it take off.....the thing was f-ing gigantic...two stories all around, queen size beds, bar, and can hold like 500 people.

I hate arriving in foreign countries late at night. Landed in Bali @ about 11pm, customs is sooo confusing, we waited in about 20 different lines and finally made it through. Our driver was waiting on the other side with a sign saying Brok Marcel, so awesome. Checked into UN's (our hotel) and fell to sleep

Woke up, looked out our door across the pool and low and behold was 'ol Brendan Raasch. After a little breakfast we rented scooters and tossed ourselves into the madness that is Bali traffic. No words can describe the driving in Bali. So we scooted around, shopped, went to Kuta Beach and met up with Frankie and Sasha from Enc. They had been in Bali for a week or so already, they showed the hot spots and low spots.

Fun day.

Ay! there's that Rock

2007-11-08T21:12:00.000-08:00

Awesome flight from Cairns to Ayers Rock. The Red Center of Australia, it's called this because it's red......wow. And this is where the alien rock they call Uluru lives.

In the "Uluru/Kata Tjuta" park the are two rock outcroppings, Uluru aka Ayres Rock, which is a single solid rock-and about 45km's away is a series of giant rocks called the Olgas or Kata Tjuta. Flat for 1000 of km's in either way around them. Both are very sacred places for the Aboriginal people, and should not be climbed! I was thinking a curse of the Pharaoh type scenario, so I did not climb. People do climb the rock though....pricks, they will get the curse.

The town only consists of 1 hotel, 1 store ($50 6 packs of beer), 1 restaurant, and home to the biggest spiders in the world....think you're hand walking around. Brooke being an awful arachniphobe was not keen on this feature.

So for the next two days we cruised around the desert in our little Hyundai seeing the sights, taking hikes and watching the sun rise and set. Really amazing place.

S.S. Puke

2007-11-08T21:01:00.000-08:00

Finally, the Great Barrier Reef. This has been something I have wanted to do my entire life. Considering the GBR is diminishing tremendously by the day and may not even be around in 20 years, I feel very lucky to have seen it with my own eyes.

Being the pirates Micah and I are (or wish we were), we hopped onto the super tough ship that would take us out the the GBR. It was more like a luxury catamaran than a ship, and with a name like "Reef Magic", I guess we aren't such pirates after all. Anyways, the day was nice and sunny, the seas a bit rough, but we could handle it. Micah popped a couple of ginger pills to avoid sea-sickness and off we went.

Ok, so, have any of you seen the movie Problem Child 2? You know that puke scene when they are on the ride at the fair, where one person pukes then another one follows and it's just a giant puke fest? Well, I felt like I was smack dab in the middle of that scene about 15 minutes into the 1 1/2 hour ride out to the GBR. People were puking left and right, running towards the back of the boat with full cheeks and green faces. I know it sounds gross, but it was actually quite comical . . . I think because we were practically the only ones who did not get sick.

We finally arrived at "Marine World" which is an anchored down, big snorkeling platform that lays beside a part of the GBR. Our boat pulled up beside and it was time to get in the water!!!! With snorkels on and fins flapping, we were the first ones in the water and the first ones to get our photo taken with "Wally" the Maori Wrase fish. He lives in that area of the reef and is very friendly. He swam right up to us for his photo-op.

I cannot even begin to describe the beauty of the coral and fish. It was so beautiful and bright, I'm talking full on 80's under the water, not just the temp, but the colors. Everything was fluorescent blue, green, pink, etc. It looked like al the fish were wearing zinc oxide on their faces.

We took a quick break from snorkeling and took a ride in a semi-submersible boat where we got to see more of the reef, the really deep parts and a lot more coral. We stayed out there for about five hours and came back to port feeling great. We dropped off our amazing van and stayed in a hotel where we slept for a few hours, tomorrow . . . Ayers Rock!!

xo

Brooke

The Daintree

2007-11-05T21:15:00.000-08:00

We finally arrived in Cairns, it only took us two weeks, whoa. Long time driving but a beautiful one. The surroundings have changed from desert and farm lined roads with kangaroo and koala crossing signs to thick rainforest lined roads with kangaroo and koala crossing signs.

The campsite we stayed at was the best one yet, more like a resort, complete with mini-golf, pools, golf carts, ping pong, tennis, and b-ball. Micah and I played two rounds of mini-golf and guess who won? Me, duh, I kicked Micah's little behind both times.

We woke up bright and early and headed up to the Daintree National Park which is pretty much a gigantic rainforest. First thing we did was take the good ol' "Croc Express" boat ride through the mangroves in search of, well, crocs. We saw tons of birds, a tree snake and still no crocs. Boo-hoo. "Oh look, there's one" our guide whispers. "Where, where . . . holy s@!t" I whisper back. There he was, a not so impressive four feet of scales and teeth. Even though he wasn't that big, it was really exciting to see a croc in the wild.

Early afternoon rolled around and it was time for Micah to hit the skate park. While he shredded I strolled down the boardwalk that runs along the beach and saw some of the biggest pelicans I've ever seen in my life. I swear they must have been six feet tall. There were tons of nerdy birders watching the pelicans in all their splendor, equipped with binocs, North Face khaki cargos, kakadu and camo button ups. I think I had a better time watching them the the actual birds themselves. Seriously, is there anything nerdier than bird watchers?

When Micah was finished skating we took a quick dip in the man made lagoon because, once again, we could not go in the beautiful Coral Sea due to all of the deadly creatures just waiting to get a nibble of a tourist appendage.

Can't wait til tomorrow, we are off the snorkel the Great Barrier Reef!!!

xo

Brooke

From The Goldy to Whitsundays

2007-11-03T00:04:00.000-07:00

Said goodbye to Andy, Carley, Kalani, Jarrah, Corey and Sarah then started off on a 1200km marathon. First we had to drop off "the van we do not speak of" in Brisbane, exchanging it for a beautiful new campervan. God liked us again.

Clocking major km's and one overnight stop we arrived in the dirty backpacker haven of Airlie Beach. Filled with beer swilling 18-21 yr old "world travelers". Really they just go from country to country getting wasted, I guess there's nothing wrong with that. I found out the walk of shame exists in every country. No shortage of people walking in the streets @ 7am in last nights clothes.

The town itself is really cool and beautiful. No swimming in the ocean though....box jellyfish and irankanjis inhabit these waters...nothing but palm trees, white sand, turquoise water and "kill you in 10 seconds" jellyfish. I know you love it Chris! So Brooke and I found a skatepark and shredded all day, Brooke was ripping. It was her favorite skatepark so far.

We caught a ferry out to the Whitsunday Islands, same shit out there though. Beautiful, look but don't touch. We did hang out with some really cool Cockatoos though.

A couple days in Airlie was enough, and with our time in Aus coming closer to an end, we decided to get on the road to Cairns (only a couple hours away), our jump off point for the Great Barrier Reef.

Pancho, Lefty & The Cisco Kidd

2007-10-28T02:42:00.000-07:00

Last days with Andy. So much fun. Started out with a sweet drive down to Byron Bay for a little bronzing and touristing. Whales came by the beach to say hi to me, (not Brooke). Then we headed on back to Andy's and started cooking up a vegi feast.

Later in the day we took a trek up a mountain to the tippy top of the cliff. There a lighthouse sat, and the most easterly point of Australia. And I saw a sea turtle from there, he waved hi. Fun.

After dinner and some drinks everybody was lookin for some action.....DJ "AWord" hosted an awesome post diner dance-a-thon...just what we needed

So much fun, going to miss Andy and his family. Hope to see them sooner than later.

Oh yeah, I have know idea why I called this Pancho, Lefty & the Cisco Kidd.

Laura. Coco and Bunny

2007-10-28T02:11:00.000-07:00

While Micah was staying with Andy on the Gold Coast, I went up to Noosa Heads with Laura and Coco (aka Sarah and Corey). Corey grew up in Noosa so we drove up to stay in his dad's beautiful home and relax for the weekend. We got in late on a Friday night after about a two and a haf hour drive, had a cocktail with Corey's dad, and hit the sack.

Sarah and I woke up and took a walk through Noosa Heads National Park which sits right above the beach. The walk started off great, it was sunny, not too hot and brush turkeys were digging nests right off of the trail. Then, IT happened. God only knows where these flies blew in from, but I can only imagine that they came from hell. Our leisurely stroll through the park turned into a sprint to the finish line so the flies wouldn't get us. We felt like those little African kids you see in those commercials where they try to get you to donate money. I'm talking flies in the eyes, covering all exposed skin. The view was great though, well, what I could see through my fly infested eyes was crystal blue water, white sand beaches, and palm trees (at least I think).

Sarah and I ate a delish brekkie and then hit the beach where we met a couple of Sarah's topless friends. Sarah and I stuck out like sore thumbs and must have looked like American prudes considering we both kept our tops AND bottoms on. Even grandmothers were strolling the beach topless, not a pretty sight my friends.

After we swam and bronzed at Main Beach, we hit the town. Had some cocktails and dinner and then hit the "Surf Club" where the fun began. They had a terrible live cover band who I thought was soooo bad until they played Devo. My dancing shoes came out and the sweat started to drip. Sarah and I hit the dance floor until closing time, which was about 12:30 while Corey drank his brewskies and watched from a distance. Corey found a bracelet on the ground that said "Laura" and gave it to Sarah, hence the nickname "Laura". Then it was time for "Reef". All I have to say is . . . whoa. Sarah and I made up some of the best dance moves EVER, like "the bunny", hence my new nickname, "Bunny" and the "straight legged bend and snap to half bunny". We had a fan club, people totally copying our moves and asking to take pictures with us, yes, we are THAT good. We walked home at 3am sweaty and sore and looked at the beautiful stars. I began to call Corey, "Coco" for no apparant reason and it just stuck.

The next morning was a long and tiring drive back to the good old Gold Coast where I reunited with Micah and began another adventure . . . .

xo

Bunny

oz mate

2007-10-21T02:54:00.000-07:00

Hello ya'll,

Arrived at Andy's house.....what a palace. Amazing views of all the famous Gold Coast surf spots and a beautiful forest like setting, complete with sketchy wildlife! His family was waiting at the door to greet me with open arms, (Brooke was off in Noosa with Corey and Sarah, getting bronzed and meeting up with us in couple days). I was treated to a grand tour by the kids Kalani & Jarrah, then fed a fabulous feast by Carley, with bellies filled we slept well.

Next day Andy and I met up with some old Aussie mates that used to frequent the Encinitas area...we skated like we were 15 again...minus the beer, I swear it makes you skate better, try it!

In a Big Country

2007-10-21T02:09:00.000-07:00

. . . dreams stay with you, like a lovers voice, on a mountain side . . . stay ah-live. Ok, ok, enough of the song lyrics, it's time to brag.

Yes, that is me feeding a kangaroo, yes that is me holding a koala, and yes, that is Micah getting killed by a snake. Don't be jealous. Micah and I made our way up to the Gold Coast where the souped up cars race through the streets like when we were in high school and where towns have names like Miami, Palm Beach, Mermaid Beach, etc. Sound like Florida to anyone? That's what I thought.

We arrived at our old buddy Sarah's house, where she lives with her Australain boyfriend Corey, or "Coco" as I like to call him. We went to dinner and went straight to bed afterwards because Micah and I knew we had a big day ahead of us. We woke up bright and early and headed to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. We took a stroll through the reptile exhibit where Micah was strangled by a giant plastic snake and was spitting reptile facts at me left and right. We got up close and personal with a couple of crocs and saw one chow down on a little critter, I think it was a big mouse.

We then rushed over to the koala exhibit. We paid a small fee to hold a koala, and let me tell you it was worth every penny. The koala we got to hold was named Elroy. He was quite soft. I think he really liked me, he reached his arms out, grabbed on to me tight and became quite comfortable when he layed his head on my, eh-hem, boob. Micah was a little jealous. That's right people, I got a new boyfriend and his name is Elroy.

We saw a snake show which was pretty cool, we learned that Australia has eight of the ten most deadliest snakes in the world and got to see a few of them. We meandered through the walkways and saw some cassowaries (world's dealiest bird), wombats (cutest thing ever), a twenty foot croc and then it was kangaroo time! We walked into a big open enclosure, a petting zoo if you will, where we were immediately surrounded by kangaroos. We fed them, pet them, and jumped aound a bit. Some females even had little joeys in their pouches! It sounds cute but honestly, it lookes like and alien or something. All you can see are these long feet and a couple of hands with long claws poking out of a stomach, very Total Recall-esque.

The next day we were off to the Australia Zoo. This was the zoo that belonged to Steve Irwin, which his wife now runs. It was really cool, a big focus on crocs. We saw some of the most beautiful tigers and the cutest tiger cubs! Oh yeah, and dingos too! I got to pet a wombat and a baby croc. Geez, I am the luckiest girl in the whole wide world, or the nerdiest. Either way, Micah and I had a blast!

xo
Brooke

Syd & Beyond.....

2007-10-15T02:23:00.000-07:00

YO!! Whud up kid!

Hanging in Sydney Dawg!

Lame.....

We have been laggin on the blog, I know you guys say you don't care.....but I know you've checking it... right, right?

Well, we saw the sights of Sydney. Pretty great city. Had a bear of an allergy attack, worst thing ever. All day sneeze fest, from the Opera House, to the ferry around the harbar, even in the Aquarium! 10hours of sneezing, !!ACHTUNG!! & GAZOONTITE!!
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We cruised around the city for a couple days via buses and trains. Ran into a madman dancing on the beach in his chonies. People love to wear the most offensive beach gear in Bondi...hence the tan 'dicktogs'
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So the van you see in the photo is a thing of evil. This thing was put on the earth to test the stability of Brooke and I's love for each other. WORST THING EVER. I can't describe the awefulness of this van in words....I will not even attempt. We will leave it at that and never metion the name, "WickedCamper" again..

Thanks and Goodnight

Micah

Brooke Marshall-Occupation: xtreme sports lenswomen

2007-10-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

Brooke's becoming quite the photographer. I was in need of a photographer for all my special moves, but did not have the budget to pay for a powerful lensman.

I'm just grateful she is able to document these special moves.

Joking aside the b.s.t.s. is pretty cool...seriously folks, right?

micah.

Air-Raid Sirens and Glo-Worms

2007-10-07T03:29:00.000-07:00

Who ever hasn't woken up to air-raid sirens should really try it, especially when sleeping in a campervan at 5am in a different country, it really adds to the experience. Yes, Micah and I woke up to what we thought were air-raid sirens our last morning in Raglan, turns out it was just the fire department calling it's local volunteers. Scary none the less.

We headed down to Waitomo Caves where we had a jump on the trampoline and a quick sleep before waking up to go "black water rafting." No, that doesn't mean rafting down sewer water, it's waaaaay better than that. We went caving, in the pitch dark, freezing caves of Waitomo. We had to dress in really sexy, not smelly at all wetsuits (actually, it smelled like, well, when you pee in you wetsuit), and helmets equipped with spelunking lights, which Micah and I wear at home on a regular basis, so we fit right in. We hiked down into an underground cave with stalagtites hanging from the ceiling. We had inner-tubes with us so when we got to the deeper water parts of the cave, we hopped in them, by being forced to jump off waterfalls, backwards, into who knows where, and looked up at the pitch black ceiling. But wait, what are those stars doing in the cave? Oh, those are glo-worms? WHOA! It looked as if we were staring up at the Milky Way as we floated through the cave waters. We couldn't feel our hands or feet and our lips were purple but we didn't care, it was so incerdible to see these glo-worms shining.

After we were treated for hypothermia (I joke, I joke), we headed off to Rotorua, first stop, thermal pools. It felt so nice to thaw our icicle bodies in these naturally hot pools. The only bad thing was that the whole city smelled like rotten eggs due to all of the thermal activity.

The next day we were all warmed up and ready to go . . . . street louging, yeah that's right. We rode a gondola way up atop a mountain and then louged down it. First run went well, second run, uhhhh, not so much. I (meaning, me, as in Brooke) was feeling a little too comfortable and sped past two kids, Micah, and then the turn got the best of me. Yes, I munched it, ran into the railing, stopping myslef from flying over the edge down a realy steep hill by using my ankle as a brake . . . not a great idea. I threw myslef back on the louge like any louge champ would do and proceeded to the finish line, only to have Micah laugh at me as he sped by me, not knowing I nearly lost my life just moments before. Once we got to the finish line he saw my tears and felt bad for speeding by me and taking the win. I have fully recovered and I am ready for more.

Oh yeah, and we went to a wildlife preserve where we pet lion cubs, fed wallabies, llamas and emus (the emu tried to bite Micah's hand off but was luckily unsuccessful).

Cheers!

Lady and the Tramp

2007-10-07T03:23:00.000-07:00

So I guess New Zealand has a thing for trampolines. Every single campsite we went to had at least one, they call them "supatramps". Micah and I became quite good at our trampoline skills along the way, here's a few photos for your amusement and envy.

Where Do I Begin?

2007-09-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

Sheesh, I feel like we have been to a million places since our last post, well, make that four to be exact. Our first stop was to a place called Whatuiwhiwhi ("wh" is pronounced "f"). It is in Doubtless Bay on the west coast of the north island. We hung out on a beautiful beach there, jumped on another trampoline, rolled down a couple grass hills and met some really cool people. Oh yeah . . . how can I forget . . . we were asked to babysit a strangers 18 month old while they ran to get some dinner. Yeah, I know. We did and thought it was quite odd, but everybody is so friendly here I suppose that was not out of the ordinary.

Now Micah takes over . . .

Next stop was Ahipara, suppose to be an amazing wave.....no such luck. Fun campground though, complete with ping pong, wild dogs and real live Germans! I completely destroyed Brooke at Scrabble and she continued to kill me @ ping pong.

Piha was our Vdubs next parking lot. "Piha!" the birth place of NZ surfing. Once again skunked, blown out and messy. Had a hellish drive to get to the beach too......think Big Sur on the wrong side of the road.

We got the hell out of Piha and headed over to Raglan....billed as Leucadia in the 70's by visitors that have been to both, and I could see why. Pretty clean, a little messy, filled with pround people that kinda don't want you there but are too friendly to tell you that.

We stayed for 2 days. There was a skatepark right next to the campground, the wave was about 3 mins away and town was a 2 minute walk. Highly recomend visiting Raglan. Oh yeah Brooke killed me @ ping pong again....

Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road

2007-09-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Who ever invented driving on the right side of the car on the left hand side of the road was obviously drunk. We picked up our campervan and were thrown right into the wacky New Zealand way of driving, everything opposite of what we are used to. Micah did a great job though, but with those round abouts, throw in poring down rain, sheesh, pretty scary. You definitely need two people to get you through those, one to drive and one to direct.

Our first stop was in the Bay of Islands. We stayed along a river edge at the base of Haruru Falls in a cool little campsite with a trampoline and a little bar and restaurant. We took a kayak over to the fals and rowed our way down the river a ways. We took a ferry over to a little town called Russell. The water was crystal clear there and it reminded us a bit of Mendocino in Northern California.

The weather has been ok. Today is the first day we have had so far without rain, but the day isn't over yet. We have arrived in Doubtless Bay and are staying on a beach campsite called Whauhuihui. It is tropical looking but still a little bit cool. It is warming up though the farther north we drive.

Auckland, New Zealand

2007-09-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

So we made it. We are in Auckland, New Zealand. It's a really cool city, it sort of reminds us of a low-key NYC, not as much hustle and bustle.

We went to the best museum ever. NZ Maritime Museum, very hands on experience. You could touch everything, even go aboard a few of the old ships that were on display. I wanted to steal a boat but it was too heavy.

Later that day we cruised over to the tallest building in the Southren Hemi, The Sky Tower. We rode the elevator 60 stories up to the tippy top. Saw somenot so smart people bunjee jump off of the building, yikes. During our visit to the tower we got punched in the face by jet lag. Instantly sending us into a sort of walking coma. We barley made it back to our hotel.

Until next time.

Micah & Brooke

More toe injuries & Charger victories

2007-09-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we won the opening game, but I lost my battle with toe saftey.

LT rushed for a TD and threw for a TD, (reciever Antonio Gates). But I managed to rip off my ring finger toenail....just 24 hours after I fractured my pinky toe.....WTF??

Hopefully I will not hurt me feets anymore.

Love,

Micah

Big Bertha

2007-09-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

So, we have booked a campervan for the New Zealand portion of our trip. Check out the pics, it looks so friggin' cool! And I get my wish of a shower in the campervan. Well, almost. It's an outdoor shower, but a shower it is. We have a TV with a DVD player and everything, I know super tech, right? Hahahahah. It has a stove, a fridge, a closet, storage, etc. And no, the horse does not come with the campervan, shucks! (See last pic)

This will be the last few days we have in our place too. Gonna move all weekend (we've been doing a little bit every day so it's not too overwhelming) and we have Monday to clean then it's off to mommy and daddy's place. We'll be gone before we know it!

xo, Brooke

Three Countries and a Baby

2007-08-31T09:27:00.000-07:00

We went to the hospital this morning to visit the Heits and little baby Campbell. He is too perfect, as the pics show. He was a whopping 5lbs. 14oz. and 19". Enjoy the pics.

On a different topic, we are going to let everybody know our travel schedule so if you so happen to be in the same country that we are at the same time we are, we can meet up! Also, if you all have friends in any of the counries we are going to, or even friends of friends, please let us know. We have found that it is the best way to meet people and see the country in a different way. We met up with a friend's cousin when we were in Chile and had a great time . . . So, back to the itinerary . . .

-Leave LAX on Sept. 18th, arrive in Auckland, New Zealand on Sept. 20th. We'll rent a campervan and drive the whole North Island and then hop on a ferry and drive as much of the South Island as time allows.

-Arrive in Syndey, Australia on October 6th. We will rent a campervan there too and drive the East Coast al the way up to Cairns. The we take a flight from Cairns to Ayers Rock on October 23rd. Then it's back to Sydney on October 25th. That night we'l meet up with our friend Greg Fernandez and party it up one last night in Oz.

-Arrive in Densapar, Bali on October 26th. There we will meet up with Brendan and live like royalty for ten measly dollars a day!

-Leave Bali on November 12th and get back home on November 13th. But who knows, maybe we'll stay longer!

A New Addition

2007-08-30T08:35:00.001-07:00

Congrats to our dear friends Justin and Elizabeth Heit on the birth of their baby boy, Campbell! Now Jadyn has a little brother, we have no doubt that she will be a great big sis. We'll post some pics of him as soon as we get them. The pic above is just the three of them, awaiting a new family photo with little Campbell.

On a totally different note, we went to the Padre game last night and had a blast. Although Micah and I got separated at the end of the game. Since he has no cell phone, I was about to start posting missing signs with his picture on it all over PetCo Park. I even went as far as going into the men's bathroom yelling "Micaaaahhhhh, Micaaahhhhh". I ended up leaving and taking the trolley over to the coaster station and guess who was sitting there on the coaster, yep, Micah. Apparantley we had just missed each other and he sprinted to the coaster station since he didn't have a trolley ticket.

And for those San Diego sports fans, how excited are you that the Pads and Chargers play at home tonight?!? It's going to be a great night of TV and cheering, hopefully I'll get my voice back by tonight so I can lose it all over again.

xo, Brooke

Yeah for Brendan Ranch, I mean Raasch

2007-08-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

We couldn't be more thrilled . . . just found out our good friend Dr. Brendan Raasch (Micah and my mate, Micah's bandmate, iced-tea enthusiast, etc.) will be coming to Bali/ Lombok and staying the same dates that we are!!!! F*@k yeah! Now Micah will have a surfing buddy and we'll have another person to experience all the coolness that Bali has to offer. Yipee, we're so happy!

Furst Stop: Mom and Dad's House

2007-08-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

Well, Boogie and I have decided to move out of the house (thoughtfully giving our palace to Brendan & Michelle) and living with our understanding parents. Reverting to our high school places of dwelling for one long week, we will be preparing for our trip.

We just recently purchased tickets to New Zealand, Australia and Bali/Lombok. Our tix our are from like September to November...but whatevs...the only thing we need to come back for is our starving cat so we might be back in '08.

Love: us