Thursday, June 30, 2016
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
La Luna de miel-- Peru Jungle
We arrived in Iquitos after a 24hr journey and hopped on a moto taxi to our hostel. Remember when giving directions in Spanish to taxi driver not to mix up malecon (Boardwalk) with mericon (homosexual). Once we arrived at our hostel on the malecon we quickly embraced the busy streets of Iquitos, the gateway to the Amazon. The following day we took off on a speed boat up river following the Amazon North until we branched off onto a small tributary called the Tahuayo River. The water changes from muddy brown to dark black.
We met our jungle guide, Edson at the Tahuayo Lodge. Edson grew up in the jungle and knew the area like the back of his hand. He could spot things that we would have just walked by without even noticing. We told him we weren't his average tourists, he said "alright no limits!", and that we wanted to have a more adventurous experience. I think he had been waiting a while to get people like us because he took advantage of this and hiked us until we were ready to throw in the towel. We did many full day excursions some starting before sunrise. Most days we speared and caught our breakfast and lunch. We dined on Piranha, Dragonfish, Amazon pike, Bass. We ate plantains with the occasional coconut grub and water vine to wash it all down.
On our excursions we found poison dart frogs, monkeys, turtles, sloths, Pink River Dolphins, Giant River Otters, opossums, and identified over 50 different species of birds which is a small fraction of the 1800 species that exist in the country. During the night adventures we found giant tarantulas, and even saw a wolf spider eating a frog. One day we built a raft and paddled it across a lake filled with Black Caiman. Edson was scared, but we knew no limits. On our last day we spotted a 6ft rat-tailed boa constrictor up in a tree. We figured we each gave an ounce of blood to the healthy mosquito population by the end of our ten days in the jungle. We were feeling a wee bit jungled out by the time we said adios to our amigo Edson.
Once back in Iquitos we took a white knuckle turbulent plane ride to Lima where the concrete jungle was waiting for us. This jungle quickly made us miss the real jungle. Although, we were happy to meet up with Eugene's friend from California, clean our super dirty jungle clothes, and then book a luxury night bus ride to a surf spot on the Northern Coast of Peru. The surf on arrival was all time. The wave called Chicama is said to be the longest wave on earth. After four days of wind, sun and tasty waves our bodies had had enough. The wave is so long and the current is so strong that the only way to get back is to get out of the water and walk back to the point which is a half mile walk every time. Now we're in Huanchaco catching the tail end of the endless winter swells.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Aloha Everyone, We're getting Married!
You’re invited to
celebrate with us! We hope to see you
there!
We are having a small private ceremony in an old growth
redwood forest in northern California on June 1st 2016. We love parties and our family and friends so
we will be holding two celebration events following the ceremony, one in
California and one in Maryland. The west
coast reception will be held on Friday, June 3rd at the Mill Valley
Outdoor Art Club hosted by Doug and Lisa Canepa. The east coast reception will be held on
Friday August 5th at Ostertag Vista hosted by Dennis and Kathy
Bridges. Everyone is invited to attend
both parties or come to the celebration that better fits your location and
life schedule. Both of these events will
be fun and (dressy) casual.
West Coast Party
The celebration on the west coast will be held in Eugene’s
hometown of Mill Valley in the Bay Area. If you are traveling to California, the San
Francisco Airport and the Oakland Airport are close and serviced by many different
airlines. There are a few options for
places to stay in the area. The Holiday
Inn Express Mill Valley is about 10 minutes from the venue. The phone number is 1-800 HOLIDAY; when you
call to make your reservation mention that you are a part of the Canepa Wedding
group to receive a discount promo code. Another
option in Mill Valley is the Mill Valley Inn. Please feel free to call us if you need help
deciding on where to stay.
East Coast Party
The celebration on the east coast will be held near Katy’s
hometown outside of Frederick, Maryland. If
you are traveling to this event either the Baltimore/Washington Airport or
Dulles/Washington D.C. airport are both 45 minutes away and serviced by many
airlines. We have a block of rooms
reserved at the Frederick Courtyard Marriott.
Please call 800-257-3000 or 301-631-9030 to make your reservation and
let them know you are with the Bridges-Canepa wedding party. You can click the link to make your
reservation. Book your group rate for Bridges Canepa
Wedding . We will also be providing a shuttle service
to and from this hotel to Ostertag Vista for the party.
Our Life Plan and our Honeymoon
We are starting a new chapter, not only are we getting hitched, but we are also leaving Hawaii and moving to the mainland. This new life will look very different than
our tree house life in paradise.
As many of you know we LOVE to travel and like to go on extended
adventures. We are traveling to Peru for
a six week honeymoon in between the wedding celebrations. After the celebration in Maryland, in August
we will start our new life in Marin County.
We don't know what our new life will look like and where we will be living. Because of
our situation we aren’t sure what to do about a registry and the gift-giving
aspect of getting married. So, if you
are in the gift giving spirit may we suggest gift cards to places that have
things that will eventually fill a home once we get a home and decide what
that home will need. If you like hearing
about our travel journeys and want to contribute to our adventure and follow
our blog while we are gone you may want to donate to our honeymoon fund. We will be going on an Amazon Expedition for
10 days, taking some Spanish classes, visiting Machu Picchu, going backpacking,
and renting surfboards to find some Peruvian waves. Please give us your email
so we can include you in our blog posts. You can bring it to the party, email us, or send it in the mail.
kdbridge@gmail.com 332 Panoramic Hwy
raseugene@yahoo.com Mill Valley, CA 94941
kdbridge@gmail.com 332 Panoramic Hwy
raseugene@yahoo.com Mill Valley, CA 94941
Gift Cards/Gift Certificates
suggestions: Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Crate
and Barrel, Pottery Barn, Heath Ceramics, Williams Sonoma, Etsy, Barnes and
Noble, REI, Southwest Airlines, Amazon, Proof Lab. Surprise us!
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Surfs UP!
Every time we visit Taranaki we get absorbed by its surreal
beauty, the great ocean waves, and the awesome camp spots. This time we were luckier than last time. We
managed to get a week full of tasty waves and sun kissed days. Our legs were
tired from surfing. Ready for a break, sitting on a canoe sounded good, but the
weather turned grey and our canoe trip was cancelled. I guess it’s another reason to come back.
On our way to Tauranga we stopped over in Taupo at a thermal
spring waterfall and took a dip. We
headed to visit our cherry-picker kiwi friend and ended up staying at his house
for a week helping on his mom’s flower farm.
Their family was one of the first British to settle on the peninsula at
Plummer’s Point. After a recharge from
the farm we were stocked up on fruit and ready to hit the open road again.
We decided to take the longer route to Raglan so we could
check out Waitomo area and
Kawhia Beach on the west side. The pristine forest, stunning waterfalls, and
glowworms made the long way worth it. Kawhia
Beach is the mouth of a beautiful harbor and holds a hot spot that can be found
at low tide. We found the hot water spot, and
we were the only two people there! We rolled into another week of surf, sun, and
fun in Raglan. We met some Californian surfer
friends who were heading to the east side to catch some waves. We caravaned it together and scored. After surfing for a few days on the Coromandel we headed to “the”
Hot Water Beach and dug a sand jacuzzi for the four of us.
Before heading back to Raglan we got word that space was available
to work exchange at an eco-retreat overlooking the surf break. The stars were aligning because the waves
started pumping. Eugene was happy. We
get to stay in a real bed in an old train caboose. We’ve had warm days and very cool nights with
winter creeping in and travelers around us leaving.
Surf Time
Thursday, April 24, 2014
More pictures
Apples
We secured our apple picking gig and had one week to kill
before our 3 week sentence. It was
perfect timing because we wanted to head to the hippy town of Takaka and the
Farewell Spit. So over the hill we went
to Golden Bay. Farewell Spit is the
northern most part of the South Island where birds migrate from all over the
world to feed and nest. After checking
out the spit we headed to Wharariki Beach to check out the rock
formations. There are a lot of beautiful
beaches in New Zealand but this was by far the coolest beach in New
Zealand. We planned it right and hit the
beach on the low tide so we could enjoy the Sandstone rock arch formations to
the fullest. Slightly weary of stepping
in seal poo again we avoided deep exploration of the caves. As we headed up the sand dunes toward the
parking lot trying to figure out where to sleep that night we ran into some
hippies heading out to the beach to party.
So we figured if they can sleep on the beach than we can too. So that night we decided to give Frenchy a break
and sleep under the stars.
The next morning we woke up early and headed to Pupu Springs,
a freshwater spring sacred to the Maori.
The water source bubbles up from the bottom of the pools and is the
clearest water in the world. Water
rushes up through the sand at 14,000 liters per minute. I can understand why the natives considered it
to be sacred because it was magical. Then
we headed to Abel Tasman National Park where we camped at the best campground
in New Zealand where Eugene only left the hammock once all day to go for a swim
in the ocean. On our way back towards
Takaka we stopped at the Labyrinth Rock Garden which is geologically interesting, due to its age of
250 million years old. The limestone
walkways were amazing, but also weird because there were McDonald happy meal
toys hidden around every corner to surprise you and made us feel as if we were
being watched by hidden trolls.
When the fun was over, it was time to work, so we headed to
the Mahau Orchard to carry out our duty the next morning. Apple picking has got to be one of the
physically hardest jobs we’ve ever tried.
The bag is comfortable to wear but weighs about 40lbs when it’s
full. The bins hold about 2,000-3,000
apples and you get paid by the bin which tops out at about 35 dollars. They want you to fill four bins per day to
make minimum wage. There was only one
day that I actually filled four bins; Eugene never made it to four. The Kiwi guys we worked with were filling six
bins a day and while they were working they looked like they were processed. They
ate lunch standing up and never took breaks.
They were professional apple pickers.
The best part about working on the Orchard was all the free fruit, the
kitchen, and the hot shower we got every night. Oh the simple things in life… Stocked up on fruit and some money in our
pockets we decided to head to Kaikoura one last time in search of some tasty waves
before leaving the South Island.
We actually found some tasty waves for a few days and then a cyclone hit and we were stuck staring at each other in Frenchy for two days. We finally escaped, hit the Marlborough Sounds one last time and caught a ferry across the Cook Straight back to Wellington on the North Island. Where we indulged in the city life for two days hitting up all you can eat sushi and rubbing shoulders with the NZ elite at the House of Parliament.
We actually found some tasty waves for a few days and then a cyclone hit and we were stuck staring at each other in Frenchy for two days. We finally escaped, hit the Marlborough Sounds one last time and caught a ferry across the Cook Straight back to Wellington on the North Island. Where we indulged in the city life for two days hitting up all you can eat sushi and rubbing shoulders with the NZ elite at the House of Parliament.
latest pictures
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Wine, Surf, Kayak
We headed to the Marlborough region to the flat town of
Blenheim. Blenheim doesn’t have any
tasty waves but it definitely has some tasty wines. It was the first region to grow grapes
successfully on the South Island with world class results. Seemingly endless rows of grapes sprawl out
around this wine lovers paradise.
Although, you’d have to be a little buzzed up to want to live in
Blenheim or take a job there because for NZ standards “it’s pretty much a
shithole”. We were offered a job making
wine for two months, 12hrs a day, and 7 days a week working the graveyard
shift. We took the job. We thought about it. And then we said, no
thank you. We’ve been enjoying our
freedom too much here in New Zealand to work like that.
So back to Kaikoura we went in search of some tasty waves. Tasty waves and fantastic weather is what we
found. We camped on the beach for free
right in front of the surf spot for a week.
Eugene was in heaven!! After enjoying ourselves we returned to Blenheim
to finish off the vehicle requirements for Ol’ Frenchy. We had to get a new windshield and new tires
with an alignment; so now Frenchy is flasher than ever with her new Warrant of
Fitness.
Voluntarily jobless we decided to go for an overdue kayak
trip for Katy’s Birthday. We stocked up
on supplies and drove to Elaine Bay where we met Neil who rented us a beast of
a double kayak for our trip. The next
day we set off into the sounds to paddle from Elaine Bay to Okiwi Bay via
D’Urville Island. We spent the first two
days in the Outer Pelorus Sound where we saw Gannets dive-bombing for fish;
found a sunken kayak that we tried to revive to no avail; and caught our first
Blue Cod.
The third and fourth days were spent on D’Urville Island, where
we had our own private bay with Fur Seal and Penguin friends to keep us
company. On D’Urville we caught three
more Blue Cod; went snorkeling for Green Mussels; and paddled the clear waters
while looking across the Cook Straight to the North Island. On our last day we woke up early to time the
low tide so we could safely paddle through the French Pass. It is a narrow crossing which can be
treacherous at times. The waters were
calm and our timing was smooth to make the slack tide. With the worry of the trickiest part of the
paddle behind us we dropped in our line to hook one more Blue Cod to have on
our last evening at Papawai Bay. They
are so delicious!! We ate better on our
kayak trip than we do normally in good Ol’ Frenchy.
The Marlborough Sounds kayak trip was a definite highlight
of our New Zealand adventure. After Neil
picked us up in Okiwi Bay he let us shower and recharge before we headed out to
the next adventure. Which is less
exciting…….picking Apples!!!!? So we now
find ourselves set up to pick apples for 4weeks in the Tasman region. So be on the lookout for those imported
Braeburn Apples from New Zealand picked by us truly!!!!
Wine, Surf, Kayak
Wine, Surf, and kayak
Saturday, February 22, 2014
East to the West
After driving through the ruins of Christchurch we trucked
it to Kaikoura in search of some tasty waves.
In Kaikoura we found sunshine, fish and chips, and some long gentle waves. We take turns riding our longboard, Eugene goes
first. Later I suit up and swim on out to trade off. On our first day waves
were gentle and allowed us to try some tandem riding. We managed to both stand up and ride at the
same time for a split second!!! After the first day the ocean went flat so we
promptly headed out to the Kaikoura Peninsula to look for wildlife. We saw sea
lions basking in the sun and Hector Dolphins off shore. The next day we drove two hours down a dirt
road to Isolation Hill. Here we hiked
into a valley and up a river to an ancient water carved canyon. Some sections
looked like a Sawcut Gorge. Our hiking boots now needed to be dried.
We woke up the next day to find rain in the forecast for the
next week in Kaikoura so we decided to follow the sun and head to the west
where spells of fine weather were on tap.
We geared up little Frenchy and took off over the mountains through
Lewis pass straight to the other side of the island. In Westport we decided to venture
towards Karamea. From Westport there’s a
one way road to sleepy Karamea town, the gateway of the Heaphy Track. On the way there we stopped at the Denniston
Coal Mines for a walk through history and to view the area from a serious
vantage point high in the bush. Further on down the road we headed to the
Oparara Basin, deep in the Kahurangi National Park. The Oparara Basin holds many hidden
treasures. It’s another long road to the end of nowhere but beautiful bush and
limestone cave/archways await you.
At the parking lot we
realized another flaw in Frenchy. There
are no indicators on the dash when you leave your lights on, no sound, no warning,
just you and Frenchy. So our battery died so we found the flaw too late and
spent the night in the park, at the parking lot. We tried five times to push
Frenchy up the ‘wee’ hill and give her a jump start to get her going. The battery didn’t hold a charge until the
next morning when we tried one more time and got her going to get us out of
there and onto our Heaphy Track adventure.
The Heaphy track is incredible. It takes you through palm
studded beach to moss fringed Beech Forests. One of the best forest walks in New
Zealand. We hiked four days along the
beach and into the foggy hill tops and back down. In the park there are nikau palms, giant tree
ferns, supple jack, carnivorous snails, and feisty wekas. Wekas are native
flightless birds that are curious and a bit pesky when they steal your trash
bag and try to hide it from you.
After the 40 mile walk we decided to check out the Karamea
Music festival which happens once a year on the Estuary. There was a great sunset followed by a clear
night and a full moon rising. It was hard to dance after hiking but we managed
to shake a leg. When we left we forgot
about high tide and had to forge the estuary to get back to Frenchy. We got belt level in water and felt sorry for
the snails under our feet while trudging through the mud. After Karamea we headed back to Westport
where we surfed, recharged and were reluctant to leave the west coast but all
good things must come to an end. With rain in the forecast we followed the sun
back to the east side to the town of Blenheim.
We are in search of a job harvesting grapes, getting Frenchy her next
registration, and of course….finding some tasty waves.
East to west pics
East to west
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