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March, 2009:

Help Wandering Justin Find His Next Destination!

Mar 31st, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
4 comments

From blog photos

I’m looking for a new travel destination, and I need your help.
Now, in a perfect word, I’d board my own Austin Powers-esque 747 and tell the captain to take me someplace where:

there’s enough people to be convenient and friendly, but not enough to be crowded
I can see all sorts of awesome creatures (and possibly eat a few of them)
there are glaciers for me to explore
I can eat all sorts of weird-but-tasty foods
volcanoes rumble and geysers splash
the scenery never stops boggling my mind
I can enjoy a few bizarre activities
there’s enough city life for the nighttime hours to be as fun as the day
I can explore vast caves
At least several times per day, I turn to my wife and say “Did I really just see that?”

Basically, New Zealand, Australia, Costa Rica and the state of Washington would have to crash together in a collision to shake the world. And I probably shouldn’t hold my breath on that.
I’ve done a little of my own homework. Iceland is full of geothermal and glacial playgrounds, not to mention a Nordic smorgasbord of whacky foods. Japan, to a westerner, is frankly the land of WTF?, so I could really see that as an option. I’m not sure there’s enough isolated rural feel to slake my thirst for solitude, but I’m still willing to consider it.
So, my friends … where should I go next?
These are off the list because we’ve been there recently.
Australia
Belize
Canada
Costa Rica
Mexico
New Zealand
We’d prefer to avoid Europe unless you can make a really [...]

Riding the Sphere o’ Fear in Rotorua

Mar 30th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
2 comments

Dive into the Zorb … the sphere of all that is awesome!

Rappelling into the Dark – The Glow Worm Caves of Waitomo

Mar 28th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
16 comments

Descend into the depths of New Zealand with Wandering Justin and discover the glow worms of Waitomo.

New Pro Women’s Soccer League a Perfect Excuse to Travel

Mar 27th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
1 comment

I’m more about doing and less about watching, but the launch of the blandly named Women’s Professional Soccer league this year makes me feel like it’s okay to plop down in the bleachers. Why a WPS match instead of Major League Soccer or one of the European sides on their summer tours of the United States?
1. Principal – I want to support women’s sports. The WPS will be a high level of play with some truly fine players both established and emerging. They’re fit, technical and well-organized.
2. It’s good for the U.S. Women’s Team – A top-quality domestic league will give the U.S. women a way to make money playing (and endorsing) while pitting them more regularly against quality opponents. The national team’s quality went down when the old women’s league, WUSA, folded and other nations still had women’s leagues. Coincidence? No.
3. Affordable ticket prices – MLS also shares this benefit, so I may try to take in one of their matches, too. But supporting WPS will be my priority. I suppose I could get a two-fer if the two league schedules smile upon me: Then I could see the awfully named FC Gold Pride (almost as bad as the previous leagues CyberRays) and the San Jose Earthquakes … seeing Darren Huckerby in action is definitely a draw there. He was always fun to watch with Norwich City, and I hear he still has it.
4. The matches mean something – When Chelsea or Milan come to town, there’s a [...]

Competition Heats up with V Australia’s Debut

Mar 26th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
3 comments

Right about now, Qantas should really be thinking about what it can do better.
The launch of V Australia should really change the game for getting to Australasia from the United States. Before now, if you wanted to go to Australia or New Zealand from North America, you were flying either Qantas or Air New Zealand.
Fortunately for travelers, both have been pretty good options. And when I say “pretty good,” I mean pretty good once you’re aloft. The cabin crews are great. At the gate and on the phone, though, the best I can say is that the staff is icily polite but intractable.
Qantas has slipped in my esteem after the recent return from Auckland to Los Angeles. A flight that’s nearly three hours late taking off doesn’t amuse me, especially when the culprit was a door seal that should’ve been caught during a maintenance check. It gets even worse when this delay caused me to miss a connecting flight, and Qantas hung me out to dry (Qantas tried to tell me that, since I didn’t book the connection through them, that I was on my own. I pointed out that I tried to, and they refused.).
Still, the snarls you might hear about Qantas’ shenanigans have some basis in fact. And they open the door to V Australia to cut significantly into its business. As you might guess, V Australia is affiliated with the Virgin brand, which is really getting a lot of applause. It might come down to airline [...]

Remember what I said about construction?

Mar 23rd, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
1 comment

Alright, readers! The construction is moving along. As usual, there are problems. I’m hoping one of you might have the knowledge I seek.

I want to migrate all my old posts from this blog to Wanderingjustin.com so it won’t look so barren. I followed the steps about exporting, saving to the desktop and uploading to the new site. I found the steps online in a few different places.
When I’m done, WordPress tells me “All Done: Have Fun.” When I click the link, though, I’m not seeing my old posts.
The XML file, by the way, is only 995 bytes. Any suggestions?
Don’t worry, I’ll start posting the fun stuff again soon. I’m thinking a little something about Waitomo Caves.

Campers of Chaos – Wicked to Invade America!

Mar 20th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
4 comments

I’ve never rented a Wicked Camper. I’ve never even been inside one. Still, I absolutely love them for their skating-the-edge-of-good-taste humor.
And now Wicked is coming to America, bringing its crude and irreverently painted rental vans and distinct Aussie sense of humor starting in April 2009. They’ll open in Los Angeles and San Francisco to enrich our continent with cheap vans and even cheaper laughs. Soon, you’ll be seeing vans emblazoned with “If only men were as satisfying as chocolate …” or Black Sabbath logos in the United States.
My first encounter with a Wicked Camper was in Australia. I spotted an oddly painted, rough-around-the-edges van covered with a funny mural. I thought some crazed hippie had just taken some brushes to an old van and slapped a URL on there for a personal Web site or something.

From New Zealand Volume 1

Then, I started seeing them just about everywhere – all with different murals, jokes and off-color messages (and often an unshaven/unshowered German at the wheel). And I realized this was actually a rental company. According to its Web site, Wicked has artistic volunteers paint the vans – well, some are artistic!

From Australia

I was delighted to spot Wicked Campers in New Zealand … it was just a symbol that I was in a fun country, and it brought back great memories of Australia. It’s great to see a company that carves out an image that some will love, and others will hate – and embraces that. They even advertise that, if [...]

Land of the Aussies Versus Home of the Kiwis

Mar 19th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
6 comments

The crater of Mount Ngauruhoe

Since I’ve been to both Australia and New Zealand, I’ve had a lot of people asking me which one I like better. You can read my answer at the end, but now it’s time to figure out which one you should visit first. Here’s my take on some head-to-head comparisons:
Food – This is pretty much a draw. Both are relatively close to Africa and Asia, in addition to having a lot of European influences. If you can’t find good food in Australia and/or New Zealand, you’re just too picky and set in your ways. Because I ate camel, crocodile and emu on its shores, this round goes to AUSTRALIA!

From Australia

People – Australians are gregarious and have a natural exuberance. All you need to do to break the ice with an Australian is ask them about footy (Australian rules football), rugby or cricket. Boom, you’re in! With a Kiwi, there will be no need to break the ice. They are born talkers. They have a slightly more proper English vibe to them, though. You’ll find people in both countries pleasant and laid-back, for sure. But being a bit more loud and exuberant myself, I say advantage AUSTRALIA!
Scenery – The entire middle of Australia is desert. The coasts vary a bit. You’ll have rain forests, and even snowier patches! A lot of the continent is remote and unspoiled. It’s darn pretty. But holy cow, New Zealand will boggle your mind. There’s a reason epic movies and adventure-themed TV [...]

Your Hometown Doesn’t Have This

Mar 18th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
No comments yet

Scottsdale, Arizona … it’s kind of a misunderstood place. It gets a bad rap as a refuge for generic malls, Botox and silicon-enhanced residents, golf courses, $30,000-a-year faux-millionaires and rampant snobbery.
But there is coolness in its borders, especially toward the southern edge of this long, skinny city. If you wind up near McDowell Road, pull off the 101 Freeway and find Pop the Soda Shop. It’s been close to eight years since I found this little gem at its old location next to a “gentlemens club.” I’m still going to its new location to tap into the huge selection of bottled non-alcoholic beverages. I generally go for the exotics, those weird, hard-to-find colas and ginger/root/birch beers that I’ve never seen anywhere else.
Other people come for nostalgia along with their sugar fix: Sometimes, I see people -presumably Midwesterners- hauling pallets of brightly colored Faygo sodas out to their cars. Others go for the real-sugar tang of Coca-Cola products made south of the border.
I’ll tell you what brings me to Pop the Soda Shop: Sprecher, Mystic Seaport, Journey and Gales. I love ‘em all, even thought they sometimes frustrate me when they’re not available … especially Mystic Seaport. It’s actually been awhile since I’ve seen that, but I always have the memories. The MS cola, lemon cream and birch beer are all not to be missed.
If you’re lucky, Pop will also have Music when you visit. This is a brand of water that is worth mentioning. I know, I know … [...]

A Public Works Project for No Crocs Allowed

Mar 18th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
No comments yet

Hello, readers. I just wanted to give you all a warning … it’s going to be construction time here at No Crocs Allowed. I’ve heard advice from many smart people advising me that self-hosting is the way to go. I’ve armed myself with good tips, and I’ll start the process this week.
That will likely mean the cyber-equivalent of wolf-whistling construction workers, general messiness, false starts, budget overruns, traffic and noise. But in the end, I think things will be better here, both functionally and asthetically.
I plan to keep the presses going, so don’t count on any interruption of service. There’s just a slight chance things may look funky on your next visit. If you see anything, please feel free to e-mail or send a carrier pigeon. Thanks!
-WJ
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