Many of our readers have asked the question, why is your outstandingly awesome blog named waterfallsandcaribous?
In 2007 we watched the movie Cocktail for the first time since we were kids. Dan, being a barman at the time, decided that he wanted to be like Flanagan (Tom Cruise) and work on the beach in the Caribbean getting paid exorbitant amounts of cash while flipping bottles and schmoozing rich American holidaymakers. He made a flippant comment to H-J about this idea thinking that it was nothing more than a pipe dream and the next minute H-J had scored a job in a very high level law firm in the Cayman Islands. Dan then looked hard to find and secure a job in a bar/ resort where they could be swimming in a waterfall – like the romantic scene in Cocktail.
We never did find a waterfall in the Cayman Islands seeing as the island highest point is 30 metres above sea level but we did set somewhat of a precedent for ourselves for wild and wonderful adventure.
We’re still searching for that scene, even now in Asia. Maybe the waterfalls (waterfallsandcaribous) represents us and trying to find moments together like that scene in Cocktail.
Just a quick sidenote before we continue…while Dan is a trained actor and H-J is a comparative religious studies major, we are not, and will not emulate the real Tom Cruise in any way, shape or form – the church of Scientology didn’t take the bait when H-J tried to get herself sucked in for research purposes and Dan really isn’t that cheesy.
So that explains the waterfalls part…now…caribous. Being a couple of Kiwis from down under we don’t really get to see caribous in our neck of the wood (or neck of the hood – coz we keep it gangster). So maybe the caribou represents something that we haven’t seen before and it gives us a reason to travel…the funny thing is we have never really tried to find a caribou. The caribou has never been in any of the countries we have travelled to. Somewhat of a convenient excuse to keep travelling and looking, don’t you think?!
To illustrate our views on finding a caribou here’s an analogy: Dan was a heavy smoker in his early twenties. After trying to quit numerous times it was recommended that he read ‘Allan Carr’s Easy Way To Quit Smoking’. In one of the first pages the book tells the reader to continue smoking while reading the book and stop smoking when you finish the book. Dan thought ‘sweet as!’ and continued chaining his durries and drinking his flat whites while he read the book. When he started to get further into the book he started to slow down his reading. At the second to last chapter he put the book down and stopped reading it completely. He never finished the book so accordingly justified that that meant he never had to give up smoking.
This is like our hunt for the caribou. While its something we want to see we aren’t rushing it as we are loving the sweet addictive taste of exploring far away lands, cultures and foods. There is a caribou out there… and we’ll find it one day. As the iconic New Zealand Mainland cheese advertisement states “good things take time”.
We are currently on the hunt again checking out KL, Singapore (pretty much to be fat bastards eating everything we can get our hands on) and India, a land that interests us for a number of reasons. The food, the history, the culture, the various sights and ideas that have influenced many other parts of the world; and more personally, for H-J, a chance to see up close what she spent a large percentage of her degree studying and for Dan, a time to find the Kolar Gold Fields, an area close to Mysore where his grandfather lived in his early years.
So stay tuned – we’re still here and still hunting, sucking out the marrow of every travel adventure we can find. Our posts will be a little less regular for the next couple of months while we’re on the road but we’ll do our best to document the goings on. And of course, we’ll keep you all posted on whether we manage to find that elusive waterfall moment…or even a pesky caribou!
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What a beautiful picture of the reindeer (caribou) and the northern light. I am familiar with both of them, but usually not together. From your story it seems you eventually have to get up north. The climate would not be as welcomming as in Singapore or India of course, but it might be nice for a day or three during summer…
It seems we might have to venture northward if we’re to really attempt to find a caribou! We’re liking the idea of turning up on your doorstep for a meal more and more, so be warned! 🙂
Fantastic ‘leaving Korea’ blog. I’ve so enjoyed them popping into my mailbox back in Dunners and look forward to many more from Hongkong, Can hardly wait! Meantime, enjoy your travels until you start your new jobs. xxxx
Internet in India is somewhat spotty (though far better than we expected, to be honest) so once we stop moving for long enough, we’ll post some updates/finish up our Korea blogs. We’re having a blast on our travels so far!
Awesome reasons for an interesting name….I’ve found myself wondering what I would do once I left Korea. Should have thought far in advance 😉
Have a safe journey, and of course update us as much as you can ^_^
Its sad to leave Korea behind but exciting to find what lies ahead on our travels! Very behind on our updates but working on it…
Good luck! Can’t wait to hear about your adventures, caribou-filled and otherwise! 😀
No caribous as yet but we’re staying positive, haha.
There are a few in Canada, maybe you should turn your sails and journey over here 😛
Poutine is enough of an incentive to get us there, haha. Caribous would just ben an added extra!
Haha love it! I knew there had to be a great story behind all the waterfalls… Ah you guys are awesome 🙂
It was actually really cool to sit down and write that post! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
To be fat bastards LMFAO!!! I like.
Its how we roll (quite literally sometimes, haha).
I loved this post – and everyone needs waterfalls and caribous moments in their lives!
Totally!
😀 Does this count as a cariboo? > >
http://www.google.co.jp/imgres?um=1&hl=ja&biw=1138&bih=535&tbm=isch&tbnid=g7sy9b0a1WzYOM:&imgrefurl=http://tr.onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Tony_Tony_Chopper&docid=x7Z22MHPD5x-PM&imgurl=http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090606121119/onepiece/tr/images/f/f6/Tony_Tony_Chopper.jpg&w=300&h=387&ei=DNd_UNLFKOyVmQWqlIDIDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=205&vpy=163&dur=1108&hovh=255&hovw=199&tx=96&ty=112&sig=103304618693515796193&page=1&tbnh=150&tbnw=115&start=0&ndsp=11&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:69
Sorry~ That link is obnoxiously long~ 😦
LOL!
Cheers and Happy travels!
Thank you! We’re having a blast so far!
And so the next chapter begins, I dare say this reply finds you both in between Korea, Singapore, possibly enroute to India and beyond. No doubt great eating adventures ahead and the general call of life to go and enjoy everything it has to offer! 🙂
In India at present! Currently sitting in an awesome cafe in Jodphur. We obviously have some blogging to catch up on!