Shred the Earth for Molybdenum

Working at a mine is really cool and interesting. This picture is near the end of a 15 mile conveyor belt that starts 1,000's of feet underground at the mine. It crosses under the continental divide and goes for 5 miles above ground to the mill. Where does everything come from? The Earth.

Read about the Henderson Mine and molybdenum.

Back to Work!

I am lucky and fortunate to have found a job about 2 months after coming home from the big trip. I definately worked hard to find it and the hard work has paid off. The company is Aquionix and they do a variety of environmental work for many types of cleints. My shredding will now be limited but that is the price I must pay.

Aquionix.com

Bear Video

Koala bears eat leaves and sleep. This one happened to be eating when we saw him and it was really cool to see him in his element. The Great Ocean Road, Australia.

The Earth is Alive

While driving through Big Sur, California we came upon a traffic jam. We sat, talked and looked at the beauty. After sitting in the jam for 15 minutes at a stand still we saw this. It makes you realize that the Earth can eat you and your car. Respect your surroundings.

Alley Art

When you are busy and full of stress just get on your bike. Your life will be better for it. Hit a jump or 29 too.

The coolest alley in Christchurch, NZ.

The Best Place?

Every one that I speak with about our trip asks, "What is the best place?" As you can see, the best place was New Zealand. The country is the most scenic and pristine place ever. The people are kind and the dirt jumps looked so good. I would love to get back there someday but I will be happy with just going through the photos every so often too.

Food

Best Scenery in Colorado

The best spot in Colorado, so far.

Lone Eagle Peak

Start at 5:30 am. We will not see another person until 3pm.

Marmot.

Pawnee Pass

People of the World

Hong Kong

Huelien, Taiwan

Bangkok, Thailand

Tiger Temple, Thailand

Phi Phi Island, Thailand

South Island, New Zealand

Nadi, Fiji

Cambodia Boarder

Sydney, Australia

Beijing, China

Forbiden City, Beijing, China

The Great Wall, China

The Market, Beijing, China

Village Near Kunshan, China

Old City Beijing, China

China is Communist? Whatever that means.

China was our favorite place for culture on the trip. It is opposite of what you think.

We went to Hooter's in Beijing. Funny and sad.

Walking the Great Wall was humbling. Seeing these old, skinny men carry bricks in the wooden backpacks made me feel weak, lucky, and shocked. One stopped and said "Where are you from?", and I said "The US." Then his manager yelled at him to get moving after a 5 second break. We couldn't believe the entire situation.

Stacey and I loved walking the wall. We are so lucky to have walked with the master of the wall, Ed Davis.

One of the best experiences in China was riding bikes through the small streets of old areas and then ending up in a shopping mall. There is so much old and new fighting for space. the new is winning.

A farmer on the wall showed Ed his tobacco, which he grows in the fields below. He let us try it too.

Taiwan to Hong Kong

Taiwan was a great time with Derek, Ed and Ashley. This baseball game was super cool to see. Cheering the entire game is normal in Taiwan.
We are now in Hong Kong. This was on the first day when we walked all over and went to the top of Victoria Peak.

Then we went to Aberdeen on the other side of the island to see the floating village. It wasn't really much to see but the boat ride was cool and the apartment buildings are just insane. The contrast between people living on simple boats compared to people living on the 30th floor of a building is dramatic.

This is the view from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island at night. They have a music/light show daily which was very colorfull. This city is amazing, chaotic, and one of the most amazing places on this entire trip.

We stayed at very simple hotel the first two nights for $40 per night. Then we moved because the hotel wouldn't let us book for 3 more nights at the same rate. I found this hotel on Hong Kong Island for $50 per night with a pool. The elevator jammed on our way up to the room. It was actually scarey and we were in there for five minutes until we pried the door open and climbed out a few inches above one of the floors. The manager then upgraded our room to the Executive level. The view is unreal and the room is perfect. Today we barely left the room. We just read and drank coffee while looking up occasionaly.

True Taiwan Travel

Going South on the train.

Huge river channels flow out of the mountains every so often.  These must be raging at times.

Taiwan is hot and therefore has huge bugs.  Stacey has been bit by hundreds of mosquitoes.

This is how the average Taiwanese dresses on the hottest day of the year and doesn't even break a sweat.  I have no idea how this is possible but it is of course opposite of what you would do.

We rented a scooter and drove to the Taroko Gorge National Park.  The road was insane and amazing.  The way people drive was even more insane and amazing they are not all dead.  This is the best place we have seen in Taiwan.

This is a temple for all the people who died building the road.  It has been wiped out by land slides 3 times.  

Derek came down and we went cruising up the mountain to the clouds and the cold air.

Driving in the clouds.

This was a crazy little cable tram that was being used to transport cabbage from a different mountain or valley to where this picture was taken.  It had a wild pulley system and a man operating the engines while smoking and chewing bettel nut.

The views in the mountains were so good and not hot.

We found a nice little swim hole and had it all to ourselves.  

This is the rafting operation: boats being towed, little red boat getting ready to ram a boat to shore, no splash wars because the boats are too far apart, and no one paddling with their tiny paddles.

The people we went rafting with drove us to the next town and took us to get some fresh ice cream at a famous dairy.  Taiwanese people are the most generous of all the people we have met so far. 

 

Derek, Stacey and I enjoyed a few wheat beers for my 27th revolution around the sun.

We have been traveling along the East Coast of Taiwan for the past week.  We have seen lots of beautiful scenery, rented a scooter, drove the scooter up to 2, 600 meters above sea level, seen a 3,000 year old tree, slept in 92 degree hotel rooms, passed out from the heat, laid around all day watching movies due to the rain, traveled on a train with standing room only, and made new friends while rafting on my birthday. 

The rafting part was completely opposite from what you would imagine.  We are on the opposite side of the world, what else would you expect but the opposite.  There were about 200 people there and no guides in the boats.  We were given paddles about the size of your hand.  We didn't even need paddles because instead of having guides that ster you, they had 10 guys in inflatable boats with motors that would ram you out of the way of danger.  They even towed us through the rough sections because they knew that no one was capable of making it through.  The Taiwanese are not into rafting for the thrill, they are in it to get wet and splash the other boaters.  We experience 3.5 hours of constant splash wars even through the roughest sections with 5 and 6 foot waves.  I think I had my eyes shut for over half of the trip. It was completely shocking and a great experience.

 

Taiwan is on the Tropic of Cancer

Currently we are staying with Derek for a few days in Ilan, just east of Taipei.  He lives next door to his school.  He is on welcome duty this week and he has to open the car doors for the kids arriving at school.  He can say anything he wants because they don't have a clue what he just said.  He loves it!

4th of July in Taipei, Taiwan with a bunch of Americans that teach English.  Ed's world is much different than yours.

We went out to the Taiwan Beer Factory.  They throw a huge party every weekend evening and it was a good time.

Stacey and I cruised the streets a few times in Taipei.  The heat here is making it hard to do things day or night.  I shower at least two times per day and usually three.  The bikes bring some breeze and I figured out how to lock the bikes without a cable.

Very large memorial to Chang.

We went to the big night market and it was full of people and stuff.  There are so many little stores along here it would take forever to see them all.  The smells are very unique too.

Taiwan, Not What You Would Think Of

First Day in Tawain was all about cooling off in the river. Then it started raining and we heated up in some sweet hot spring pools while the rain came down, hard. Photo: Derek, Ed and I about to launch.
The next day was all about the beach and some German food. This is the liter of beer we recieved. Ashley and Stacey are stoked.

This was our favorite photo from Cambodia.

After the beach, we drove the scooters back to Taipei through the mountains and came upon this view.

A German salad.

Ed has this cliff so dialed in that he can drink beer while enjoying gravity.

Angkor Wat is an amazing place.

I have also added slideshows that act as links to the gallerys. Click it.

The night is never ending in Bangkok.

This was the biggest tiger at the Temple. His did not like me touching him so he whipped me with his tail. Stacey went before me and got a good kick from this guy.

The view from above Railay. The best place and beach in Thailand.

Welcome to Siemreap, Cambodia. Nothing in our lives prepared us for what life in Cambodia is like.

Angkor Thom is place of stone heads, all of them smiling.

Walking our way out of Cambodia.

Stacey and I are riding a scooter while taking this photo.

The first mistake we made was leaving the south of Thailand. After Phi Phi Island we stayed in Railay. This is the best place we have been in Thailand. Beautiful cliffs all around and once agian no cars, only feet here. We loved it there and we should have stayed but we decided to take the 12 hour over night bus to Bangkok. It sucked, but we made it alive. We did some more sight seeing in Bangkok and then we did a day trip to the Tiger Temple. This place has real big tigers that the monks take care of and you can pay them to pet the giant animals. It was crazy and it would never be allowed in the Western World. Then the next day we went to Cambodia. Like I said we should have stayed in the south of Thailand. We got scamed on the bus ride, then you got crap hotel and the place is a bit scarey. It all worked out fine and we were albe to see Angkor. Although we were depressed by the way things were around us, we did enjoy the temples and the experience, once it was over. After another 12 hour travel day we made it back to Thailand. Now we are spending a few days on the beach before we go to Taiwan to see Ed in his world. Traveling is not like a vacation, it is like having to go somewhere on a budget.

Ko Phi Phi, Thailand

Stacey and I are loving the tropical Island of Ko Phi Phi, as you can see from the picture. This place is near perfect and no cars are on the island, all transport is by foot and bike. This photo is from the pool at our hotel. This hotel was wiped out by the Tsunami in 2004. So many people here were killed and we heard a sad story from the worker at out hotel.
This photo is at the beach were "The Beach" movie took place. Beautiful. Were took a long tail boat out all day and ended the trip here. It is definately a place everyone should see.

Melbourne, Australia

Yesterday we went to a few vineyards in the Yarra Valley. Good fun.

While in Melbourne, we rented this beast of a car and drove the Great Ocean Road. It was wonderfull.

This is a part of the Great Road. To the south is nothing but Antartica.

After Sydney, we took the train south to Merimbula. There were kangaroos at the golf course so we went to see them. Stacey hit two on accident.

Video of Seals

This was at Separation Point at the north tip of the South Island. We hiked for about 2.5 hours to get out here. The wind was whipping on the other side of these rocks. It was one of the best points of the trip in New Zealand.

Australia

We went to a play at the Opera house last night and this is the city behind us.
Stacey and I went to Manly beach and rode bikes next to this dude.
We found a nice place to stay in Sydney. This is the view from the window.

We have walked around most of Sydney. Our feet hurt but it is worth the pain.

Loving New Zealand

From New Zealand

Currently we are in Wanaka, New Zealand. It may be the most beautiful lake in the world. The town seems nearly perfect. Lots of bars, coffee spots, and a dirt jump park in the pine trees. We have been traveling a lot the past 10 days so we decided to stay here for a couple nights to calm the nerves. Sleeping in the spaceship (campervan) is cold and not soft. The route has been great so far. We are still heading south toward Milford Sound, where we plan on staying for a few days. We are overwhelmed by the amount of things to see here. We will never see it all and the beauty doesn't stop. We will try our best. The link is to the other NZ photos. I have taken way too many but some are good.