The Matiz meets Jeju: Waterfalls, Black Pork and Falling Water

With underwater scenes imprinted on their minds, the Harringtons were soon on the road, listening to an increasingly rowdy muffler, heading toward Seogwipo, Jeju's primary city on the southern end of the island.

Tourist maps and guidebooks for this area of the island tout numerous glorious waterfalls and previous travelers to the southern coast of Jeju had highly recommended these very falls as important to the Jeju experience. So it was, the Harringtons began their waterfall spotting, oohing and ahhing.

The Matiz meets Jeju: The night of Orange Maekoli

Following a jam-packed day of famous Jeju sights and flavors, the Harringtons were eager to get some beach time in so Mike could swim and Melissa and Lady could lounge. Fortunately, island life lends itself well to finding beaches and providing exactly what it was the couple was searching for. With very little effort, the couple soon had their parasol spot paid for and staked out, Melissa lounging, Lady crashing and Mike getting ready to dive into the cool, refreshing ocean.

The Matiz meets Jeju: Arrival, Lava Tubes and Love

Successfully finding the ferry terminal, loading themselves, the car and the dog and managing to avoid seasickness, the Harringtons were thrilled to pull the Matiz off of the ferry and begin their island adventure the evening of August 17th.

First things first, the Harringtons began circumnavigating the island and looking for a supermarket in order to purchase some dog food for their three-legged companion. With adult-like responsibilities out of the way, it was simply time to roll the windows down and keep their eyes peeled for the first night's camping location.

Fortunately, it didn't take much effort for the couple to find a suitable campground near enough a small town where they could grab some dinner and begin settling in for an evening of rest set to the backdrop of cheerful camping Koreans and a few firework explosions.  

Waking in the morning well rested and ready for Jeju-Action, the couple stuffed their mouths with some Paris Baguette Cake and made their way to Jeju's famous Lava Tubes.

Our Last Matiz Road-Trip: Village Camping and Catching a Ferry

With bellies full and having enjoyed a gorgeous sunset, the Harringtons said their farewell to Mandy and the city of Busan and headed west in search of a place to camp. Being near the coast, the couple assumed that finding a beach would not be entirely difficult. As the couple neared Suncheon Bay they noticed signs for Hwapo Beach and determined that that was their destination and where they hoped to camp for the evening.

Unfortunately, the signs for Hwapo Beach suddenly disappeared and no longer offered any hope to the increasingly tired and unsure couple. So after Melissa offered her opinion on what to do, Mike did the exact opposite (because slowly but surely the couple is learning that, in terms of directions and decisions on the road, Melissa's instinct is never correct) and soon enough the couple was pulling off onto a small dirt road which showcased signs for the mysterious Hwapo Beach. Expecting to find a sandy beach near these newly discovered signs the Harringtons were a little unsure about the concrete docks which seemed to be the equivalent of Hwapo Beach. Nonetheless, sleep was coming on heavy and the docks provided an acceptable place to set up camp and so it was the Harringtons set up camp and woke up to discover they were in fact in an incredibly quaint and peaceful fishing village.

Hitting the Road with our Last Galma Guest

Ready to enter full out vacation mode, the Harringtons and the 'last Galma guest' loaded up the Matiz early on the morning of Wednesday, the 15th of August. The goal was to arrive in and enjoy a bit of Busan with a couple more days of Busan-enjoyment to follow.

The Matiz was packed full with people, belongings and of course a sweet little 3-legged dog.

After making the mandatory, Korea-rest-area Pit Stop, the man Harrington suggested stopping in Gyeongju where many dramas have been filmed/set and where the couple had previously road-tripped and enjoyed the sights immensely the winter before. The warmth of spring and summer had worked their magic on the city of Gyeongju and all who occupied the Matiz were grateful for their decision to stop over.

Pensions, Beaches and Green Tea: Happy Birthday Buddha

In order to perfectly round out the month of May, the Harrington's were thrilled to come face to face with a three-day weekend. Monday, May 28th of 2012 happened to coincide with the lunar date dictating Buddha's birthday (or arrival on earth) and allowed many residents of South Korea to enjoy an extra day of sleeping in and/or exploring the peninsula. The Harrington's made the most out of the weekend by celebrating, barbecuing, camping and exploring.

Saturday got off to a slow start with Melissa putting the finishing touches on a cover letter and resume for a dream job and Mike gathering the necessary items for a successful weekend which included tents, sleeping bags, home-made root-beer and home-brewed cider and beers.

With their tasks accomplished and fully yearning for a get-away, the couple loaded up the car and headed just south of town to Jang-tae san a recreational forest boasting a Sky Tower and Tree-top Tower walkway. However, the forest wasn't the sole purpose of the Harrington's outing, rather the couple was heading off to a Pension where they would spend the evening and the following morning celebrating Ryan's (one of Mike's soccer buddies) birthday. The afternoon and evening were filled with barbecued duck, pork, beef, a few veggies, more than a few pitchers of beer and bottles of makgoli, birthday cake, food offerings to and from Korean families at the same pension, a roaring campfire and numerous drinking games.

Morning came all too soon for some of those celebrating, including the Harrington's who struggled to sleep on the hard, heated floors of the pension. Regardless, the crew cleaned up their site, grabbed some orange juice, soaked up some morning sun along the river and went their separate ways with most returning to Daejeon while M'n'M made their way into the recreational forest and further South to the coastal city of Yulpo. 

As mentioned earlier, Jangtae-san boasts a Sky Tower and Tree-top walkway which provided the Harrington's a pleasant start to the day but were nothing entirely impressive or worth ranting about.

Five Years Ago: Of Road-trips and Proposals

The week following Melissa's graduation from the University of Wyoming, Mike and Melissa loaded up the Dodge Neon and hit the road for Southern Utah. Always up for beautiful scenery, fresh air, dreamy hikes and adventures the couple was eager to celebrate the upcoming summer vacation and Melissa's life as a college graduate (Mike was on a 5 year plan, engineering will do that to you).

The road trip began with Mike and Melissa passing through the snowy border of Wyoming and Colorado and eventually arriving in Southern Utah where they would spend a week exploring Arches National Park, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park and the surrounding towns and outlying areas.

A couple days into their trip, on May 9th, 2007, Mike got a bit persistent that the couple take on Angel Falls. A trail in Zion National Park that promised a gorgeous view of the area and had a small reputation of killing hikers who missed their footing during the last stretch to the main outcropping.  In an oddly whiny and pitiful mood, Melissa agreed but huffed and puffed her way up the trail nervous she would soon be a statistic in Zion National Park's brochures.

Fortunately, the couple made it to a large outcropping and rather than chance their way to the very top opted to stop for a bit of a photo shoot showcasing dives off the cliff piggy-back rides, the Lewis and Clark pose and a few others.

South Coast Camping and Nam-hae Island Tour

Having enjoyed lantern festivities, cool night air and the worlds most succulent roasted chicken, the Harrington crew and couch guy made their way toward an unknown destination in hopes of finding a piece earth upon which to set a tent. Falling asleep in shotgun, Melissa offered little to no help in anything having to do with settling in for the night. However, the commitment and determination of man Harrington to camp in Korea with the wits of a SmartPhone finally had the crew somewhere - on the south coast - of the peninsula, near a park, between ocean and rice field with a tent full of rambunctious adjummas (Korean for funky old women, much like the one seen here -- in the second video) within earshot. Like manly men, Aaron and Mike set up the tent and soon after, all were drifting in (and occasionally) out of sleep with Lady sliding around sleeping bags for the ensuing night.

Morning came quickly for Melissa, as is to be expected, so she took care of some business including walking Lady Annyeong through some nasty, destructive Korean flora that was eager to prick and stick onto fur and pajama pants. While getting all the prickly character's off of the Lady and finally settling in to read some Dracula while letting the boys sleep Melissa ran her fingers over the Lady and made a most unpleasant discovery amongst her white fur-coat, a tick. So it was, with squeals and gags Melissa aroused the men and coerced the Man into extracting the nasty little blood-sucker who so desperately wanted to be cast as Count Dracula on poor little Lady's neck.

From tick extraction and tent collapsing one naturally heads further south to explore the islands that be. For this crew, that was Nam-hae Island, full of joyous wonders such as American Village and German Village (neither of which were visited this round), desolate October beaches yearning to be a part of energetic and exciting photographs, raw, bony, spicy fish and simple, stunning seaside beauty.

Let it be known, that getting off the beaten track and/or enjoying Korea in the off season is sure fire way to rejuvenate the worn and weary Native English Teacher.