Why Saipan

When we told people where we were going on our fall break holiday, Saipan was probably not one of the locations they would have ever guessed.  Besides the fact that not too many people knew about it, it took 3 planes and about a day to get there.  However, we had a few reasons for putting it on our list of places to visit.

Saipan Sunset

1.  Off the beaten path, but still an American territory.

I can honestly say, I've never heard anyone say they couldn't wait to go on vacation to a tropical beach on the shores of...Saipan.   As one of the islands of the CNMI or Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, it still is a territory of the United States, but it's definitely something different.  We didn't know what to expect.  Right away I noticed a large number of Chinese tourists.  I then found out that according to a Chinese travel website Mafengwo Saipan is the number one Pacific Island to visit for the Chinese.  It even beat out number two Palau and number three Fiji!  Local businesses kept offering Brian and I the "local discount" because we didn't look like tourists.  Hey, we'll take it!

Right across the street from our hotel were some very high end shops.  All the shops you would expect to see on Rodeo Drive were there:  Tiffany, Prada, Gucci, LV, just to name just a few.  If you know me, you'd know that I didn't step in there at all.  I did all my shopping at the ABC Store and the I ❤ Saipan store.

Along with the high-end shopping there's also this grand hotel-casino in the middle of Garapan.  Its bright, white, gold facade was almost gaudy.  The expansive lobby was adorned by a giant gold and crystal dragon chandelier.  The image here, just shows it's head.  Not pictured is the whole crystal body of the dragon that runs the length of the lobby.  The place looks only half-built from the outside, but it was still open for business.  I was told that Saipan is in the middle of some overseas employment issues, so getting construction back on track is proving to be a challenge, not just for this property, but for many others.  The damage from typhoon Yutu only exacerbates the problem of properties that look half-built.

One funny and interesting observation, the Chinese tourists LOVED driving brightly colored American muscle cars; pink, yellow, orange! You name it!  They also loved taking pictures with them, anywhere and everywhere.  Check out all these pink Mustangs lined up when we arrived at one of the observation points on the island.  This is where you're thankful for remote car keys that help you find your car.

2.  Clear Waters, tropical weather and beautiful beaches

If this is not enough reason to get you here, I don't know what is.  Seriously, there is so much blue water!  If you don't want to play around the beaches of Saipan you can always take a ferry just 10 minutes out to the small island of Managaha.  What a beautiful tropical paradise.  You can walk around the entire island in 15 minutes (even less since I just walk slow).  There are white sand beaches with amazing snorkeling.  Lots of boats leave from here to take you parasailing or on a crazy banana boat ride.

Banana Boating away from Managaha Island

We ate at the one restaurant on the island and I ordered some Shanghai lumpia! Yay! I got me some Filipino food!  Obviously, they gave us the "Local" discount.

We spent most of the time on the beach snorkeling.  There was so much fish to follow around.

The highlight here was the boat ride over.  Basically, we just drove to the dock in Garapan.  There are many private operations that will take you over to the island for $20 and you just let them know what time you want to be picked up from the island.  As we were driving over to the island, we asked about the Japanese Zero warplane wreck.  Our driver said he knew exactly where it was and it was on the way to the island.  We paid him a little extra to stop over the wreck so we can snorkel around for a bit.

The water was so clear you can see the plane beneath us even while we were still on the boat.  It had to be over 15 meters below.

This brings me to reason number 3.

3.  Diving - Deep diving and Wreck dives

Saipan and the Mariana Islands are located near the Mariana Trench which happens to be the deepest part of the ocean.  If Mount Everest were dropped into the deepest part of this trench, also known as The Challenger Deep, then the mountain's peak would still be a mile under water!  This means there is plenty of opportunity for deep dives here in Saipan.  Too bad, we're not big fans of deep dives.  We've been to 100 feet, but honestly, there is enough for us to see at 60 feet that we don't need to go much deeper than that.

The Grotto

There is a beautiful place in Saipan called the Grotto.  We went there to snorkel, but the rock formations and caves there are just amazing.  The way the light plays with the openings of the surrounding rock was mesmerizing.  While we were there, a free-diver dressed as a white mermaid was deep in the water having a photo shoot.  It was incredible how she stayed underwater for so long with just one breathe.  File that under "You don't see that everyday."  Along with all the snorkelers, there were many divers as well.  They made their way to the hole that leads towards the ocean where they descended even further.  The dive here can go as deep as 150 feet if you want.  The different rock formations, caves, and canyons are what makes this dive very popular.  We were satisfied just snorkeling here.  Be careful around here! The footing is slippery and wet.  Also, waves from the ocean come into the grotto and can knock you around a bit.

We did do some diving in Saipan to check out a wreck and some turtles.  We chose to go with Aqua Connections (using our local discount, of course!).  We dove Oleai Reef and the Ship Wreck.  The first dive, Oleai, felt like we were in an aquarium with a cool landscape of coral.  Here, we came across a nest of green sea turtles.  We saw at least five turtles on this dive.

The shipwreck was pretty cool to swim around, too.  Here we saw schools and schools of fish, I felt like we needed a crossing guard.  We also saw another turtle, a blowfish and a huge stonefish.  The visibility was absolutely amazing and the water temperature had to be in the 80s.

Mrs. Puff the blowfish

Stonefish

4.  World War II History

The real reason we came to Saipan was in honor of Brian's dad.  It was exactly 75 years ago, back in 1944 when his command was ordered to storm the beaches to take Saipan from the Japanese in WWII.  He was injured in the war and earned his purple heart here.  He never talked much about his time in the war.  We came here to learn more about this history and we brought his purple heart with us.  Below is the letter that his mother, Brian's grandmother, received during the war.

There are many historical sites in Saipan.  During our short time there we were able to see the last Japanese Command post, Suicide Cliff and Banzai Cliff.  The last two sites were so named because after it was clear that the Americans have won the battle, Japanese civilians, including women and children, were encouraged to commit suicide to avoid capture and honor the emperor.  It's surreal to imagine the horrific scenes as we stood there on those peaceful cliffs with amazing views of the island and ocean.

Looking out over Banzai Cliff

Finally, a visit to Saipan would not be complete without a visit to the American War Memorial Park.  This listed the names of the 3,250 Americans that died in battle.  In the visitor center, we watched a short video about the battle of Saipan and perused through the displays depicting different aspects of the war.  These included recorded first-hand accounts, actual diaries written by soldiers and citizens, and military items and pictures.

Learning about this history and being on the island where Brian's dad fought for our country was very special for our family.  Getting to Saipan isn't the easiest and it's a long flight, but it was something Brian has wanted to do and I'm so glad we did.

Papa's Purple Heart

Return of the Flame Trees

Japan has her cherry blossoms. Australia has her Jacaranda.  Saipan has her Flame Trees.

We arrived in Saipan just in time for their annual Flame Tree festival.  Multiple artisan tents and a stage were set up beachside.  Cultural performances, food, shops and art were all in display for the community to share.  The only thing missing was the star of the show, the Flame Trees.

This time of year, the flame trees are usually in full bloom.  The video above shows them in all their glory just a few years ago.  Their bright red flowers make the mountains of the Northern Mariana Islands look like they're on fire.  However, on October 25th 2018, the island of Saipan and neighboring island, Tinian, suffered a direct hit from Typhoon Yutu.  It was the worst storm to hit US soil since 1935.  The damage and the aftermath weren't highly covered by US mainstream media unfortunately because many mainlanders don't even realize that these islands are part of the US.

Along with over 3000 homes destroyed and $200M damage, many of the flame trees were laid bare.  In fact, the first thing I noticed about Saipan upon leaving the airport was the amount of damage still visible from the typhoon that happened over 6 months ago.  They are still cleaning up.  We drove by one tree that had a large corregated tin sheet from someone's rooftop wrapped and tangled around the top limbs of a tree.  There was so much damage.

I had to look hard, but after driving around the island I was able to see a few flame tree flowers in bloom.  Seeing these flowers and watching the islanders celebrate the Flame Tree festival was promising.  Just like the blossoms of the flame trees, the community will rebuild and continue to grow.

Heading Back to the US?

For Trenton's fall break we're headed back to the United States. well, at least a US territory, that is.  The beautiful and little known island of Saipan.  Saipan is one of the islands in the group called the Marianas, which includes Guam.  I'm sure you haven't heard too many travel websites luring you to visit Saipan, so you're probably wondering why.

Well, 75 years ago, June 14, 1944, Private First Class Paul R Thompson, Brian's father was part of the Battle of Saipan.  Papa, as we so lovingly call him, earned his Purple Heart storming the beach in Saipan.  This weekend, we're bringing his Purple Heart there.  We're returning to the island to experience the rich WWII history, explore the culture and dive the numerous wrecks.

This is the letter that was sent to his mother. We really take for granted how quickly news travels now.

Shotover Jetboat Adventure

It was still Day 2 of our New Zealand holiday.  After a morning of Canyoning, we refueled at the famous Queenstown restaurant, Fergburger.  There is always a long line here any time of day.  We went around 3:30 PM, after the lunch rush and before the dinner crowd, so our wait was just 10 minutes.

After lunch, we were ready for another dose of adrenaline.  It was time to try the Shotover Jetboat.  If you go to any tourist destination with a large body of water, odds are you will find a jetboat attraction.  They are the super fast boats that hold about 20 or so raincoat-clad people.  You see them zip around in circles, flying over waves and are a huge splash, literally.  I see the Sydney Jetboat all the time in the harbor but have never done it.  So, why do the one in Queenstown?

BT's POV for the ride

The Shotover Jetboat runs on the Shotover river.  The fact that it's not on an open body of water and instead along a river and inside a canyon adds even more excitement to the ride.  We get so close to the canyon walls, it was insane.  I sat on the left side, directly behind the driver and thought for sure we were going to hit the rocks several times.

My face for most of the ride

It was a blast.  Our driver, Niam skillfully maneuvered our boat through the canyon.  We did 180's, 360's and, yes, we all got wet.  Shotover, might not have the waves to jump like a boat on an open body of water (This was fine because I wasn't ready to taste more Fergburger.).  However, the thrill of going through the canyon is something those other jetboat attractions don't have.

But nevermind my description of it.  See for yourself in the video below.  Brian sat up front and center next to the driver to get the footage below.

Sailing on Duende

duende

/duːˈɛndeɪ/

(n.) the mysterious power of art to deeply move a person

Today, I experienced Duende.

Berthed at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia 

Captain Damien Parkes invited me to join his crew as they raced in Sydney Harbor this week and what I experienced was art, and yes, I was moved.  Sailing is a performance art with the yacht as the instrument, wind and water as the music, the captain as the choreographer and the crew as the dancers.  It was beautiful to watch and be a part of.


Duende is the name of Parkes yacht.  She is competing in the Club Marine Wednesday Summer Series that runs for several weeks.  There are just a few races left andthe Duende team sits in second place.

I have no sailing experience whatsoever.  I've been on a sailboat just twice in San Francisco.  I've seen races in San Francisco and most recently watched the start of the Sydney Hobart race on New Year's day from North Head as they all sailed out of Sydney Harbor.  The harbor was jam-packed with yachts and I had no idea how they didn't all just smash into each other.

Now here I was in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, home to the Sydney Hobart Race hopping onto the 50 ft yacht, Duende.  As soon as we motor out of the marina I see Ichiban, the winner of the 2019 Sydney Hobart.  Don't worry, we are not racing her! She's in a different class, but Duende is no stranger to the Sydney Hobart either.  She's been in that race for the last 6 years.

Ichiban, winner of Sydney Hobart 2019

We sailed around as the crew completed the setup. I'm sure there's some seafaring jargon I'm supposed to use here.  In Wedding Crashers, Christopher Walken's character said to Owen Wilson "We're tacking back around.  Do me a favor...ease the sheets and swing the jib starboard."  That, I can understand.  But honestly, they spoke a different language on the ship.  All I know is, they understood each other and they knew what they were doing.

When the race started, I couldn't believe how close all the boats were to each other.  I was still amazed that no one crashed.  Then we were off and it was fantastic!  I loved the wind in my hair and no sounds of an engine, just the water and the wind.  I switch sides along with the crew as we tacked.  I even sat on the upside gunwale, or the side edge of the boat with my legs dangling off, just like I've seen others do in the races.  It was so much fun.
When we came to the finish, we were up close and personal with the ship that had been tailing us for the entire race "Wild Thing."  It was close and we won't know results yet because I'm sure there are complicated things to consider like handicaps and such - much too involved for a first timer like me to understand.  

All I know is, I had an amazing time on the harbor today.  It was fun to see the camaraderie among the crew and listen to their stories.  Thank you to the crew for letting me tag along and a big thank you to Captain DP for the amazing experience!

Here's a highlight video from my point of view.  You'll notice it's taken from the stern.  I didn't want to get in anyone's way and mess up the race.

Canyoning Queenstown

A few years ago, I gave my husband a Canyoneering experience in Arizona for his birthday.  It was such a great time we wanted to try it in Queenstown.  On the morning of day two of our New Zealand holiday, we found ourselves in the lobby of Canyoning Queenstown for registration and a safety briefing for the Queenstown Adventurer half day outing with our guides, Alex and Derek.  Then our group of 12 hopped into the van to drive to their base camp closer to the canyon where we got geared up.

✓  Neoprene socks
✓  Wetsuit
✓  Hiking boots
✓  Harness
✓  Life vest
✓  Helmet

Then we were off! From base camp, there was another short drive to our starting point of Queenstown Canyon.  After a short hike uphill, we did two zip lines across the canyon before we repelled (abseilled) down into the canyon where we got to finally touch the water for the first time.  The water was cold, but it was a welcome treat after we had been sweating in our gear for the last 20 minutes.

For our first little waterfall our guide Derek told us to sit down with our back to the waterfall, cross our arms over our chest and fall back to slide down the waterfall head first and backwards.  Is that crazy enough for you? Basically, this was just a precursor of things to come.  For the next hour and a half, we abseiled, jumped, slid, swam, crawled and climbed through refreshingly cold water surrounded by the beautiful canyon and lush green forest.

It was exactly what we expected.  Our guides were great and catered to all levels of ability.  I do wish they took more pictures.  They didn't let us take cameras so our hands would be free.  They did allow the helmet GoPro, so we only have that footage.  Some quality group shots would've been nice to have.  It was a big group of 10, with varying degrees of swimming abilities, so it was slow at times.  The waiting could get chilly if you were in the water.  If we did it again, I'd want a smaller group, or at least a group that I knew, so that we could kill the wait time chatting or messing around in the water.

Other than that, I'd definitely recommend Canyoning Queenstown if you're in the South Island of New Zealand.  I'm looking forward to doing some more canyoning when we get back to Arizona.  Here's the video of our time in the canyon.

New Zealand, South Island

I didn't know what to expect from New Zealand.  Basically, since we're in the middle of "The Year Down Under", we might as well hop over to New Zealand and check it out.  Seriously, sorry Kiwis, but NZ was never on my radar.  I heard it's also left out of a lot of maps, too.

Now that I've been there, I've finally seen the error in my ways.  There has never been a more perfect place for me to visit! Adventure, nature, beauty, amazing people and did I say adventure?  This was my husband's birthday trip so we made sure all the good stuff was on the itinerary.  This blog post is basically our itinerary for the week.  Following blogs will have more detail on the activities.

Day one was a travel day, so our first stop on Day two was Canyoning with Canyoning Queenstown.  I usually call it Canyoneering, but I think they like to shorten words here in NZ (pronounced en zed) like their Aussie mates.  This amazing day was topped off by a meal at the iconic and always busy Fergburger.  This was followed by a ride on the Shotover Jet boat to help us digest.

Day three was a bike through the Gibbston Valley wine country using the self guided option with Fork and Pedal.

Day four was rainy, so it was the perfect travel day.  We drove to Te Anau, the city on the way to Milford Sound.  We walked around the quaint little town and, enjoyed the ziplining in the park and a delicious pasta and pizza dinner.  We opted out of doing the Glow Worm cave.  I'm sure it's cool and all, but they don't allow cameras and I've seen the videos.  So, I'm good with that.

Day five was Milford Sound, which everyone told us is not really a sound, but a fjord.  It was beautiful and the waterfalls were plentiful thanks to the rain the day before.  We took a cruise and checked out the underwater observatory.  It was a very scenic ride back as well.  We drove back through Queenstown and headed up to the town of Wanaka.

Day six we wanted to hike.  There are many walking tracks around the area, but we narrowed it down to a choice of two,  the Roys Peak hike or the Rob Roy Glacier hike.  Roys Peak is a treeless hike up a mountain through pasture and a fire trail, but there is a spot where people queue to get the most instagrammed picture in NZ.  I didn't feel like being part of that crowd, so we opted for the Rob Roy Glacier hike.  We were so happy with that choice.

That evening Brian and I went out for a drink and played some pool.  On our last game we bet that if I won, I would get to go bungy jumping the following day.  Guess what! I won! I really need to be careful what I wish for.  So, the next day, day seven we drove back down to Queenstown and on our way there, we stopped at AJ Hackett's Bridge Bungy and I did it!!

After that, I needed to add to my dosage of adrenaline that day so took the Skyline Gondola up to Bob's Peak and raced a few times down the luge.  It was a perfect day.  The weather was warm and the sun was out, and of course the view was gorgeous.  We even stopped at the Stratosfare restaurant to drink in the brews and views.

Finally, that evening Brian wanted to get back to the pool table.  Luckily, our hotel was walking distance to Harry's Pool Bar.  We ended up sharing a table with a bunch of guys that taught us a new game that allowed all of us to play.  It was called Killer.  We had a blast playing the game and hanging out with the locals.

Day 8 was a travel day back home.  Thank you New Zealand for the most amazing time.  Time to head back to relax on the beach and give my adrenal glands a good rest.

Great Barrier Reef

I'm happy to report that the Great Barrier Reef is still there and Coral bleaching has decreased in the last two years according to our Dive Center.  When the ocean water temperature reaches above 30 degrees, the algae inside the coral dies which in turn kills the coral and turns them white.  I was happy to hear, the bleaching has slowed down.  So keep up the good work on decreasing global warming people!!

Just a small part of the reef  as seen from the plane

25 January 2019, I did two dives while the boys did three.  We used the Silver Series Dive Centre and have no complaints. Our Dive Master, Gordon was great.

Dive 1. Escape.

My max depth was 18.5 m with a total bottom time of 48 minutes. Highlights of this dive was a cute little cuttlefish hanging out at the anchor area.  Also, a white tip reef shark lurking in the shadows.  I did well equalizing my ears with just minimal discomfort.  I did take one sudafed tablet an hour prior to diving.  It was raining hard when we first jumped in. The 48 minutes went by so fast!  While we were down there, we could tell some of the clouds cleared because the colors were more vibrant.

Trenton on the right foreground checking out the cuttlefish on the block

Dive 2. Chapel. I normally don't do the 2nd dive.  Either my ears hurt or I'm too tired, but I think the excitement of being in the GBR really helped.  Maximum depth 17.2 m, dive time 39 minutes.

The highlight of this dive was a cute little clownfish swimming in an anemone. Unfortunately, I broke the rule by not telling anyone, so nobody else got to see it.
Another highlight is when we climbed through this skinny gorge surrounded by coral. When I was climbing, I swam along with a school of tiny purple fishes and a couple big fish, too. This really tested my buoyancy to avoid hitting any outcroppings above or break off the beautiful fan coral that jutted into the opening.

At the end of our dive, the underwater photographer met up with us and took pictures.  Later when we looked at all the different professional photographs,  I decided I looked like a freak in all of them.  Brian was happy that my underwater self is not very photogenic and I'm saving him lots of money by not buying the pictures.

Following the anchor line up to the boat

Dive 3.  Pavona.

I sat out this dive.  Brian and Trenton did it.

This is a drift dive, so we dropped off the divers and the boat took off to meet them at the end.
The highlight for them were two grey reef sharks. clown fish with baby nemo. and Pavona the giant potato coral.  Picture a giant pile of potatoes that have just been dumped onto the bottom of the Pacific Ocean by a few 18 wheelers.

While the boys did their dive, Spencer and I snorkeled and practiced our free diving.

My overall experience diving the Great Barrier Reef was just ok.  A few reasons for this lukewarm reaction.

1.  Maybe I built it up too much in my head

2.  Apparently, it's rainy season, so we didn't get the colors popping as much as I expected

3.  The number of cool creatures we spotted was few and far between.  I expected more, but it might be the sites we visited didn't happen to have as many that day.  So, I'm going to chalk that up to a timing issue.

In conclusion, I will definitely have to dive GBR again when it's not rainy season so I can give it a second chance, and hopefully a better review.