We left Surfer's Paradise at 5:00am and didn't arrive in Bangkok until 11:00pm. It was a long day!! We had a second boost of energy however as we exited a taxi onto Ko San Road. The lights were shining, the music blaring and people were everywhere. We got checked in to the D&D hotel which was nicer and cheaper than any Australian hostel. Our first priority was to find a way out of Bangkok. So the next morning we made our way over to the train station. It turned out to be an epic bus ride, all the while we had no clue where we were really going. Eventually we made it and booked a night train to Surratthani and a boat to Ko Phangan. The rest of our time in Bangkok was spent wandering China town, shopping on Ko San Road, and our first Thai massage. Not a bad way to spend a day!
The night train was pretty crazy. We were both pretty exhausted and had no trouble falling asleep. We woke up in the morning and had a bit of a panic moment as Allie looked at her clock and it was half past 6 - the time when our boat was suppose to leave. Eventually we figured out that her clock was on Australia time and went back to bed.
As we got off the boat at Ko Phangan the sky, which had been blaring sun at us on the boat ride turned dark, the wind picked up, and within minutes we were stuck in the middle of monsoon rain. With no real idea of where we were going we relied on our trusty lonely planet and headed for the recommended cookies bungalow. It was a really quiet place and we were right on the beach, which was stunning. I fell asleep in our hammock and opened my eyes to the perfect view - sun, beach, and palm trees!
The next day we headed to the other side of the island to a beach which we would soon discover as being perfection. Hadd Juan was a much more secluded beach than the bustling area of Hadd Rin (the location of the infamous Full Moon Party. Within a few hours of being there I ran into a friend from back home. She took us up to her bungalow which was on the side of the mountain and the view was stunning! We chilled up there and then headed to Bamboo for diner. Bamboo has the most amazing food. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it! Then we made the trek over to Eden Garden. The most relaxing bar I have ever been to. Turns out another friend was there as well. What a small world!
After enjoying ourselves too much in this amazing part of the world, we headed back to Hadd Rin and off to the night boat to Krabi. All I will say is that it stunk, it poured and had I not taken gravol I would have been very sea-sick. When we made it to Krabi we were very ecstatic to be off the boat, but it wasn't until after 2 more taxis, 2 buses and a boat that we finally made it to Ko Phi Phi.
It was well worth the trip! The limestone cliffs and lush mountains that jetted up from the turquoise water was the picture-perfect scene of Thailand. This is where the movie the Beach was filmed and although the scenery was recognizable it was by no means a secluded area. Quite the opposite, it was teaming with tour shops, bars, stores and restaurants. All if it was a touch overwhelming especially after over 20 hours of travelling. We were so happy when we finally made it to a bungalow. Although it rained almost the entire afternoon we managed to get ourselves booked on a dive for the next day. We also had diner at one of the many restaurants that play movies while you eat.
Up early the next morning we headed out for our dive. We waited around for ages until we were finally told that our dive instructor was dead to the world, passed out in his room naked. There would be no dive today. Eventually we talked the owner into a complimentary snorkel to amuse ourselves that day. It was quite different from the Great Barrier Reef, and we saw many a cool fish, including a lion fish, and pie fish. Unfortunately my water proof camera gave out whilst diving down perhaps a bit too deep. Luckily it still takes pictures, but without the use of the screen its hard to know what your taking photos of. Before we headed back we stoped at a beach that was filled with monkeys. It was unreal how close we got. One guy was testing the boundaries by letting the monkeys crawl all over him. It looked pretty cool, but I don't think it was worth the massive bite he ended up getting. I freaked out a bit when they came charging at me as I was holding a banana. Our guide thought it was pretty funny though.
Finally we got to do out dive the next day and it was definitely worth it!!!!!! We were much more comfortable on this dive than the last which probably helped, but we saw so much more than on the Whitsundays. Here's a small list of what we saw: black tipped reef shark, sea turtles, moray eels, and a sea snake which is 8 times deadlier than the king cobra - didn't find that out until we were back on dry land. We did two dives and in between had lunch on Ko Phi Lay. For part of the time we were the only people on this little beach with just a run down shack on it. It was pretty unreal to swim off this beach where limestone cliffs rose up so high on either side of you.
Once we returned to Ko Phi Phi we hit up the beach for a bit. Although it was a bit crowded it wasn't a bad way to spend the afternoon. The only complaint was the wind which would blow the sand so hard up against you that it felt like millions of tiny pin pricks. As it was our last night on Ko Phi Phi we did a bit of wandering around the little shops and then treated ourselves to a Manicure and Pedicure.
Diving, Beaching, Shopping, Spa-ing = a day in paradise. We're excited to head north, but it's going to be hard to leave this place!!!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
My Last Australia Travel
After saying a very sad goodbye to Evatt, Devin, Allie, Jamie and I made way north to Brisbane. We hung out at the train station for quite some time when we got there, but finally boarded a bus to take us to Fraser Island. After almost 12 hours in transit we arrived at Hervey bay, only to be informed that we were heading over to the island that night, something we had not quite been expecting (well if I'm going to be honest about it, due to lack of organisation we really had no clue what we were doing). So onto the ferry we went, our fifth mode of transportation that day, only to encounter a overly friendly skipper who felt the need to dress me up as a pirate. Although this was mildly amusing, the diesel smelling rag that he put over my face and head was not.
Fraser Island is made almost entirely of sand, save for a few rocky headlands. It has gorgeous blue freshwater lakes that are far above sea level, which makes for an interesting geological phenomenon. The island is inhabited by many Dingos, which is a very aggressive and unfriendly dog, likened with the North American wolf. Our guide told us horror stories, one included his grandson being bitten by a dingo, but luckily surviving. The tour was very picturesque and relaxing, a much needed rest after our last week at Evatt. We did head to the bar one night though to watch the State of Origin Footy game, a rugby league 3 series game between New South Wales and Queensland. Unfortunately Queensland won, winning them the title as it was their second win. Surprisingly they still play the third game, but I will be out of the country and I don't think it will be showing in Thailand.
Next stop was a sail through the Whitsunday Islands. Unfortunately our first attempt to get up there from Brisbane was a miserable failure. We hoped on the train to the airport and when we reached the end of the track and had still not come by the domestic terminal, we knew we were in trouble. I made a hectic call to a cab and organized a pick-up to be at a station right when we got there. Of course we were not on the right side of the tracks, so had to lug our bags up and down 2 flights of stairs. In the cab we planned that I would run in as soon as we got there, and attempt to use my persuasive skills to get on a flight that was leaving in 15 minutes. Apparently I need to work on these skills because the lovely customer services agent was NOT going to let us on.
We spent the next 45 minutes figuring out every option and after deciding on 2 or 3 different options, we found another flight to just north of Airley Beach (the port of the Whitsundays). This flight to Mackay of course did not go smoothly. Our first attempt at landing failed and we had to fly back up and try again. Apparently Jet Star doesn't have the proper equipment to deal with heavy fog. Great! Luckily the second time went smoothly and eventually we got ourselves a bus to Airley Beach. Upon our arrival we decided we had recovered from Evatt and it was definitely time for a night out, and it did not disappoint!
The next day we set sail, with our casques of wine in hand, on the Atlantic Clipper. The 3 day trip included fun drinking games by night and snorkeling/scuba diving by day. Allie and I decided to go for a dive and it was an unbelievable experience. The water could have been clearer, but just to be fully underwater for half an hour was amazing in itself!
After our tour, and a plane/train ride later we arrived on the Gold Coast at Surfer's Paradise. Jamie's Mum works for the Marriott, so we got a room there for a very cheap price and lived in style for 3 days. Feeling a bit out of our league at the $57 buffet dinner, we went to the grocery store and ordered up plates and cutlery via room service. Not a normal request I'm sure. We had some very good beach/pool days. A lovely place to relax. Although it is very commercial and touristy, I think because it was the off season it was more enjoyable than it could have been.
Allie and I were then planning on heading down to Port Macquarie (where a lot of our friends from school live) and in a last minute decision Devin and Jamie decided to join us. After an 9 hour bus/train trip, Gen met us at the station and took us back to her place. Her house was lovely and her parents were amazing! We had a lamb roast for dinner over many bottles of wine. Her Dad was even generous enough to give Gen cab money for the night! We headed into town and had a great night. Lots of friends from Newcastle were around and it was cool to see them in their home town.
The next day I had to say goodbye to Devin. It is so hard to believe that I won't see her for so long. It will definitely be a change from spending almost every day with her for the last 5 months. But I was off on a camping trip with Sam and his friend Pete. The car was jam packed with a tiny spot in the back for me (my giant suitcase didn't help the situation). Luckily it absolutely poured rain for the next 3 days! We toughed it out in the tents the first night, but rented cabins the next two. It was a very relaxing trip up the east coast. We stoped in little town - Coffs Harbour, Yamba, Ballina - and then spent a night in the infamous Byron Bay. I really enjoyed it there, but it was much more commercial than I had expected and it was ungodly cold. I honestly don't think I have ever been so cold in my life!
During the days the boys went off Surfing and Spear fishing and i found many relaxing ways to occupy myself - not a bad way to spend my last week! We eventually made it back up to the Gold Coast and stayed at their friends place. It was actually a really nice house that they rented, it even had a pool, although the water was green and had beer cans floating in it! Allie joined us on the Saturday and we had a pretty big night out. Unfortunately Allie somehow lost her visa and ID, which considering we were leaving for Thailand in 2 days was not overly convenient. The next day, as the boys went off spearing, we went into town and did some last minute things before Thailand. For dinner Sam and the boys took us to a Chinese restaurant for dinner.
Then the next morning we were up at 4:30 am to catch a train back to Brisbane to fly out to Bangkok. Saying goodbye to Australia was hard, but hopefully I will be back soon. It was such an amazing time here with unforgettable people!
Fraser Island is made almost entirely of sand, save for a few rocky headlands. It has gorgeous blue freshwater lakes that are far above sea level, which makes for an interesting geological phenomenon. The island is inhabited by many Dingos, which is a very aggressive and unfriendly dog, likened with the North American wolf. Our guide told us horror stories, one included his grandson being bitten by a dingo, but luckily surviving. The tour was very picturesque and relaxing, a much needed rest after our last week at Evatt. We did head to the bar one night though to watch the State of Origin Footy game, a rugby league 3 series game between New South Wales and Queensland. Unfortunately Queensland won, winning them the title as it was their second win. Surprisingly they still play the third game, but I will be out of the country and I don't think it will be showing in Thailand.
Next stop was a sail through the Whitsunday Islands. Unfortunately our first attempt to get up there from Brisbane was a miserable failure. We hoped on the train to the airport and when we reached the end of the track and had still not come by the domestic terminal, we knew we were in trouble. I made a hectic call to a cab and organized a pick-up to be at a station right when we got there. Of course we were not on the right side of the tracks, so had to lug our bags up and down 2 flights of stairs. In the cab we planned that I would run in as soon as we got there, and attempt to use my persuasive skills to get on a flight that was leaving in 15 minutes. Apparently I need to work on these skills because the lovely customer services agent was NOT going to let us on.
We spent the next 45 minutes figuring out every option and after deciding on 2 or 3 different options, we found another flight to just north of Airley Beach (the port of the Whitsundays). This flight to Mackay of course did not go smoothly. Our first attempt at landing failed and we had to fly back up and try again. Apparently Jet Star doesn't have the proper equipment to deal with heavy fog. Great! Luckily the second time went smoothly and eventually we got ourselves a bus to Airley Beach. Upon our arrival we decided we had recovered from Evatt and it was definitely time for a night out, and it did not disappoint!
The next day we set sail, with our casques of wine in hand, on the Atlantic Clipper. The 3 day trip included fun drinking games by night and snorkeling/scuba diving by day. Allie and I decided to go for a dive and it was an unbelievable experience. The water could have been clearer, but just to be fully underwater for half an hour was amazing in itself!
After our tour, and a plane/train ride later we arrived on the Gold Coast at Surfer's Paradise. Jamie's Mum works for the Marriott, so we got a room there for a very cheap price and lived in style for 3 days. Feeling a bit out of our league at the $57 buffet dinner, we went to the grocery store and ordered up plates and cutlery via room service. Not a normal request I'm sure. We had some very good beach/pool days. A lovely place to relax. Although it is very commercial and touristy, I think because it was the off season it was more enjoyable than it could have been.
Allie and I were then planning on heading down to Port Macquarie (where a lot of our friends from school live) and in a last minute decision Devin and Jamie decided to join us. After an 9 hour bus/train trip, Gen met us at the station and took us back to her place. Her house was lovely and her parents were amazing! We had a lamb roast for dinner over many bottles of wine. Her Dad was even generous enough to give Gen cab money for the night! We headed into town and had a great night. Lots of friends from Newcastle were around and it was cool to see them in their home town.
The next day I had to say goodbye to Devin. It is so hard to believe that I won't see her for so long. It will definitely be a change from spending almost every day with her for the last 5 months. But I was off on a camping trip with Sam and his friend Pete. The car was jam packed with a tiny spot in the back for me (my giant suitcase didn't help the situation). Luckily it absolutely poured rain for the next 3 days! We toughed it out in the tents the first night, but rented cabins the next two. It was a very relaxing trip up the east coast. We stoped in little town - Coffs Harbour, Yamba, Ballina - and then spent a night in the infamous Byron Bay. I really enjoyed it there, but it was much more commercial than I had expected and it was ungodly cold. I honestly don't think I have ever been so cold in my life!
During the days the boys went off Surfing and Spear fishing and i found many relaxing ways to occupy myself - not a bad way to spend my last week! We eventually made it back up to the Gold Coast and stayed at their friends place. It was actually a really nice house that they rented, it even had a pool, although the water was green and had beer cans floating in it! Allie joined us on the Saturday and we had a pretty big night out. Unfortunately Allie somehow lost her visa and ID, which considering we were leaving for Thailand in 2 days was not overly convenient. The next day, as the boys went off spearing, we went into town and did some last minute things before Thailand. For dinner Sam and the boys took us to a Chinese restaurant for dinner.
Then the next morning we were up at 4:30 am to catch a train back to Brisbane to fly out to Bangkok. Saying goodbye to Australia was hard, but hopefully I will be back soon. It was such an amazing time here with unforgettable people!
Monday, June 18, 2007
The Last Month and a bit at Evatt
It's hard to remmeber everything that I have done in the past few months, because there has been so much! Evatt is definitly a place unto its own. I couldn't hold back the tears when I left, and I still can't quite believe that I won't be back.
Some of the Events:
Pub Crawl: The theme was rubix cube, which required everyone to wear 6 pieces of clothing of the 6 colours of the rubix cube. On the first bus trip everyone was given a number which corresponded with one colour. In order to discover what colour our number went with we had to exchange clothes and dress in one solid colour and then ask the judges if we had guessed correctly. If you did, you won, but if you didn't you had to go and get into another colour. It was pretty hectic, and made for some good times! We started really early and i was at home in bed, dead to the world by 11:00. Unfortunately, I managed to get myself a train fine, for not purchasing a ticket. It put a bit of a damper on the evening, but knowing me I will manage to get myslef out of it!
Trip to the Blue Mountains: Dev, Allie and I headed down for a weekend with Ainsley in her hometown of Lithgow, and did some sightseeing of the gorgeous blue mountains. It was sooooo amazing to stay at a real house, with a real bed, and someone to cook for you! Some of Ainsleys friends are in a band, but are all heading in different directions to work or travel. They had a massive going away gig, which involved much jumping dancing and singing, which is always a recipe for a good night!
Bar 121: Our sponser pub, which always means a great night of dancing to live music, mostly classic 90s tunes - always a treat!
Canteen Night: In order to raise money for cancer, we headed over to our campus bar to support some of the boys from Evatt who play in a band. They drew quite a crowd, along with Andy who promised to cut off his shoulder length hair if we could raise over $800.00. Amazingly we raised over $2000.00. An unbeleivable effort!
International going away party: This was supose to be a big event, again at our on-campus bar, but Newcastle was hit be a huge storm and this changed things. There was flash flooding, so many people had to abandon their cars, and one of the coal barges was washed up onto the reef only 10 meters off shore. The rain was terential, and basically acted like a shower. Needless to say nobody was overly keen to leave their warm, dry room. However we still made the most of it. A bunch of us girls got together in some old gruby clothes and went mud-sliding. It was an unbeleiable moment that I know I will never experience again. We got absolutely filthy sliding down hills and through puddles and then headed back to Evatt to cause a rucus. After dirtying up the window of the common room (which nobody would let us into) we headed over to Ted's pool (our colloage rivals. We went for a very cleansing swim after using a trash can to hop the fence. On our way back we did run into a few security guards, however they didn't seem to be too upset with us. In fact it was wuite the opposite, they thought it was rather halarious, so instead of getting in trouble, we got a picture with them.
After I had finished my last exam and handed in my last paper, it was so hard to believe that it was all over. On the one hand I feel so close to everyone here that it seems like I have known them forever, but on the other hand time has just flown by and it doesn't seem possible that my time here has come to an end.
Allie, Devin, her friend from Seattle, Jamie, and I are now heading out for a 3 week tour of the east coast. We are looking forward to the sunnier climate further north. Leaving Newcastle was bitter-sweet. I am so sad to leave, but also excited to do some traveling again. This has been the most amazing experience of my life and I am going to miss everyone and the lifestyle desperetly!
Some of the Events:
Pub Crawl: The theme was rubix cube, which required everyone to wear 6 pieces of clothing of the 6 colours of the rubix cube. On the first bus trip everyone was given a number which corresponded with one colour. In order to discover what colour our number went with we had to exchange clothes and dress in one solid colour and then ask the judges if we had guessed correctly. If you did, you won, but if you didn't you had to go and get into another colour. It was pretty hectic, and made for some good times! We started really early and i was at home in bed, dead to the world by 11:00. Unfortunately, I managed to get myself a train fine, for not purchasing a ticket. It put a bit of a damper on the evening, but knowing me I will manage to get myslef out of it!
Trip to the Blue Mountains: Dev, Allie and I headed down for a weekend with Ainsley in her hometown of Lithgow, and did some sightseeing of the gorgeous blue mountains. It was sooooo amazing to stay at a real house, with a real bed, and someone to cook for you! Some of Ainsleys friends are in a band, but are all heading in different directions to work or travel. They had a massive going away gig, which involved much jumping dancing and singing, which is always a recipe for a good night!
Bar 121: Our sponser pub, which always means a great night of dancing to live music, mostly classic 90s tunes - always a treat!
Canteen Night: In order to raise money for cancer, we headed over to our campus bar to support some of the boys from Evatt who play in a band. They drew quite a crowd, along with Andy who promised to cut off his shoulder length hair if we could raise over $800.00. Amazingly we raised over $2000.00. An unbeleivable effort!
International going away party: This was supose to be a big event, again at our on-campus bar, but Newcastle was hit be a huge storm and this changed things. There was flash flooding, so many people had to abandon their cars, and one of the coal barges was washed up onto the reef only 10 meters off shore. The rain was terential, and basically acted like a shower. Needless to say nobody was overly keen to leave their warm, dry room. However we still made the most of it. A bunch of us girls got together in some old gruby clothes and went mud-sliding. It was an unbeleiable moment that I know I will never experience again. We got absolutely filthy sliding down hills and through puddles and then headed back to Evatt to cause a rucus. After dirtying up the window of the common room (which nobody would let us into) we headed over to Ted's pool (our colloage rivals. We went for a very cleansing swim after using a trash can to hop the fence. On our way back we did run into a few security guards, however they didn't seem to be too upset with us. In fact it was wuite the opposite, they thought it was rather halarious, so instead of getting in trouble, we got a picture with them.
After I had finished my last exam and handed in my last paper, it was so hard to believe that it was all over. On the one hand I feel so close to everyone here that it seems like I have known them forever, but on the other hand time has just flown by and it doesn't seem possible that my time here has come to an end.
Allie, Devin, her friend from Seattle, Jamie, and I are now heading out for a 3 week tour of the east coast. We are looking forward to the sunnier climate further north. Leaving Newcastle was bitter-sweet. I am so sad to leave, but also excited to do some traveling again. This has been the most amazing experience of my life and I am going to miss everyone and the lifestyle desperetly!
Easter Holidays
Well I am definitly very far behind in my blogging so I'm going to give a quick overview to try and catch up! Devin and I had an amazing break. After we left Melbourne we drove for 3 days along the Great Ocean Road. The scenery was breathtaking, and we were both vying for the passengers seat the whole trip. We saw the Twelve Apostles which are huge rocks just off the coast. We were lucky enough to have gorgeous weather, which was a real treat. We spent a really fun night in Apollo Bay, a small town along the road. Shockingly Devin ran into a guy that she had met 6 months earlier in Vegas. Just goes to show what a small world it really is. We also went for a beach horseback ride, which I really enjoyed, and Dev would have too, if her horse hadn't been so damn lazy!!
Next we hit up Adelaide, had a bit of trouble checking into the hostel we booked because it's reception was closed, but eventually we sorted it all out. We went out to see a wineary the next day which was really fun, but completely exemplified the terrible drought South Australia is experiencing. After just one day in Adelaide we headed out on a tour of Kangaroo Island, where shockingly we saw tons of kangaroos! We also saw the cute Koala bears, sea lions, possums and some ancient whale bones. A very succesful tour, we had a great guide along with an outgoing group of travellers.
We then bundled up and flew down even further south to the Island of Tasmania. It's the biggest Island just of the South-east coast. We flew into Hobart and did a tour of the Cadbury Chocolate Factory which was unbelievable.We ate tons of chocolate and although it was amazing, I was a little disapointed we didn't see any umpa loompas! From Hobart we rented a car and ptetty much drove around the whole Island. The highlights included a national park where we saw wallabys and a platypus, the cradle mountains which jutted up behind a stunning lake, a cave walk with an underground cathedral and glow worms, and finally the east coast which included wineglass bay and some stunning sun-sets. The lowest point of the whole trip occured here in Tasmania though when we shared a hostel room with a very scary old man. He looked like he hadn't showered in days and furthermore felt the need to test normal social boundaries by waking me up in the morning by poking me in the ribs - very scary!!!
We had an amazing trip, but happily celbrated our return with an amazing night at town in Newcastle. Dev and I were reunited with Allie and we definitly celbrated in a big way. The perfect way to end a fabulous holiday!
Next we hit up Adelaide, had a bit of trouble checking into the hostel we booked because it's reception was closed, but eventually we sorted it all out. We went out to see a wineary the next day which was really fun, but completely exemplified the terrible drought South Australia is experiencing. After just one day in Adelaide we headed out on a tour of Kangaroo Island, where shockingly we saw tons of kangaroos! We also saw the cute Koala bears, sea lions, possums and some ancient whale bones. A very succesful tour, we had a great guide along with an outgoing group of travellers.
We then bundled up and flew down even further south to the Island of Tasmania. It's the biggest Island just of the South-east coast. We flew into Hobart and did a tour of the Cadbury Chocolate Factory which was unbelievable.We ate tons of chocolate and although it was amazing, I was a little disapointed we didn't see any umpa loompas! From Hobart we rented a car and ptetty much drove around the whole Island. The highlights included a national park where we saw wallabys and a platypus, the cradle mountains which jutted up behind a stunning lake, a cave walk with an underground cathedral and glow worms, and finally the east coast which included wineglass bay and some stunning sun-sets. The lowest point of the whole trip occured here in Tasmania though when we shared a hostel room with a very scary old man. He looked like he hadn't showered in days and furthermore felt the need to test normal social boundaries by waking me up in the morning by poking me in the ribs - very scary!!!
We had an amazing trip, but happily celbrated our return with an amazing night at town in Newcastle. Dev and I were reunited with Allie and we definitly celbrated in a big way. The perfect way to end a fabulous holiday!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Melbourne
Devin and I began out Easter Holidays on the train from Newcastle to Sydney. It was a gorgeous day and we were excited to be off for a few adventures of our own. In hindsight, the train ride was only the beginning of many encounters with some very 'special' and 'unique' people. The two guys sitting next to us were dressed up for the rodeo with cowboy hats, leather boots and some big shiny belts. They had an obvious interest in country music; their favorite song was "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy". We discerned this fact after about half an hour into the 2 1/2 hour trip, at which point we had heard this song over 5 times. Not only were they obnoxiously drinking amongst themselves, but also one of these delightful boys felt the need to show us a picture (which he pulled out of his wallet) of his truck after he crashed it. He was wondering if we could tell if it was a two door or four door cab. He seemed quite delighted by the fact that his truck was so smashed up from his reckless driving that we were unable to tell.
After departing the train, we hopped on a plane to Melbourne. On arrival, Devin's bag promptly arrived on the carousal, however my backpack did not have so much luck. So backpackless I headed into Melbourne and we got a tram to St Kilda. Conveniently, I did not right down the address of our hostel, so after some aimless walking, I remembered that I had the number of the Hostel in my phone, and were henceforth given directions.
St. Kilda is a suburb that is right on the beach with tons of cute shops and bars. Unfortunately, Melbourne is not a good city to spend time in if you have an uncontrollable shopping habit. We spent a lot of time wandering around the city (in and out of many shops), spent an afternoon in the botanical gardens picnicking and reading, and meandered through an amusement park. We even saw a cute little penguin out on the pier!
We also checked out the Crown Casino, apparently the biggest in the world. I had never been in a casino before, so it was all quite exciting. There was a massive amount of slot machines; it would be hard to imagine everyone being in use at once. Not only was it a huge casino, but it also had restaurants, shops, bars, clubs and a movie theatre. After we checked everything out we made our way into the "Las Vegas" room where I decided I needed to play some texas hold'em. Apparently my time playing poker in Helmcken in first year was well spent, because I made myself $50 (which covered one of three dresses I purchased that day).
I found a lot of similarities between Melbourne and Vancouver, so it goes without saying that I loved it. Although there weren’t tons of sites to see, I feel like it would be a very livable city, however it could do with a few more beaches! Oh yes, and my backpack eventually made its way back to me, which I very much appreciated!
After departing the train, we hopped on a plane to Melbourne. On arrival, Devin's bag promptly arrived on the carousal, however my backpack did not have so much luck. So backpackless I headed into Melbourne and we got a tram to St Kilda. Conveniently, I did not right down the address of our hostel, so after some aimless walking, I remembered that I had the number of the Hostel in my phone, and were henceforth given directions.
St. Kilda is a suburb that is right on the beach with tons of cute shops and bars. Unfortunately, Melbourne is not a good city to spend time in if you have an uncontrollable shopping habit. We spent a lot of time wandering around the city (in and out of many shops), spent an afternoon in the botanical gardens picnicking and reading, and meandered through an amusement park. We even saw a cute little penguin out on the pier!
We also checked out the Crown Casino, apparently the biggest in the world. I had never been in a casino before, so it was all quite exciting. There was a massive amount of slot machines; it would be hard to imagine everyone being in use at once. Not only was it a huge casino, but it also had restaurants, shops, bars, clubs and a movie theatre. After we checked everything out we made our way into the "Las Vegas" room where I decided I needed to play some texas hold'em. Apparently my time playing poker in Helmcken in first year was well spent, because I made myself $50 (which covered one of three dresses I purchased that day).
I found a lot of similarities between Melbourne and Vancouver, so it goes without saying that I loved it. Although there weren’t tons of sites to see, I feel like it would be a very livable city, however it could do with a few more beaches! Oh yes, and my backpack eventually made its way back to me, which I very much appreciated!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Evatt House & Visitors
Life has been unbelievably busy since school started. With the numerous Evatt events, multiple excursions with friends and a visit from my family, there has been little time for my studies. Nevertheless, I am enjoying my classes and managing to get assessments in on time!
My parents and brother flew down for their break in March for two weeks and we got up to so much! We started out in Sydney and went to Mannly Beach, Bondi Beach and the Toronga Zoo, which was massive and so cool. I pretty much fell in love with the koala bears! After a few days back at school, I went back down to Sydney and then we flew to Cairns in Queensland. It was drastically warmer and the humidity was unbelievable. We took an amazing trip out to the reef and luckily the overcast skies didn't matter once we were under the water. It was like a whole new world! The coral and number of fish species was unbelievable. We were even lucky enough to see a sea turtle, which was the highlight for me. We also took a drive up to the rainforest, which was very cool. The giant spiders were great to see, but it was a little disconcerting to look up and see a spider bigger than your hand above your head. We stayed in an area called Palm Cove and on one of my parents nightly walks they witnessed a fisherman reeling in a shark. Actually they said it took a few guys as it was at least an 8 foot shark and was fighting for its freedom. My mum however wasn't interested in staying to watch the whole thing!
After we flew back to Sydney we headed up to Newcastle and after some very poor navigating on my behalf we made it. I gave them the grand tour around Newcastle (which didn't take up too much time) and we spent a good deal of time beaching. We also headed up to Port Stevens for a day where I went for a bit of a surf (I still am very horrible) and then we went on a sand dune adventure. We started off with some sand boarding which was fun, but crazy tiring to climb up after riding down. We also took a drive out to "tin city" which is a little squatters town. It 'surprising' has an all male population and their lives consist of drinking beer, fishing, drinking beer, watching satellite tv and drinking beer. Their houses looked pretty dismal from the outside, however our guide said they were nice inside.
Sadly I had to say by to the Fam, and the headed back on an unpleasantly long trek to Vancouver. That weekend we had a commencement for Evatt House, which was so much fun. Everyone got really dressed up (I of course felt the need to buy a new dress) and we had a formal diner and then a night on the town. At the dinner awards were given out for academic acheivement, community service and more socially oriented awards were given as well. I was the embarrassed recipent of an award (I'm sure most of you can guess under which section my award came at). The night didn't end untill well past sun-up and was overall one of the funner nights thus far.
Other things I have been up to: we went into Sydney or the gay/lesbian mardi gras parade which was a crazy crazy night; took another trip to Sydney to see a footy game which involved beer drinking and eating meat pies, unfortunately our team lost to NZ by 1 point; had a sex trivia night at Evatt, where our block one best costume for our vaginamite costumes!
I have been having an amazing time and miss you all! Next I am off on another travelling expedition for Easter Break!
My parents and brother flew down for their break in March for two weeks and we got up to so much! We started out in Sydney and went to Mannly Beach, Bondi Beach and the Toronga Zoo, which was massive and so cool. I pretty much fell in love with the koala bears! After a few days back at school, I went back down to Sydney and then we flew to Cairns in Queensland. It was drastically warmer and the humidity was unbelievable. We took an amazing trip out to the reef and luckily the overcast skies didn't matter once we were under the water. It was like a whole new world! The coral and number of fish species was unbelievable. We were even lucky enough to see a sea turtle, which was the highlight for me. We also took a drive up to the rainforest, which was very cool. The giant spiders were great to see, but it was a little disconcerting to look up and see a spider bigger than your hand above your head. We stayed in an area called Palm Cove and on one of my parents nightly walks they witnessed a fisherman reeling in a shark. Actually they said it took a few guys as it was at least an 8 foot shark and was fighting for its freedom. My mum however wasn't interested in staying to watch the whole thing!
After we flew back to Sydney we headed up to Newcastle and after some very poor navigating on my behalf we made it. I gave them the grand tour around Newcastle (which didn't take up too much time) and we spent a good deal of time beaching. We also headed up to Port Stevens for a day where I went for a bit of a surf (I still am very horrible) and then we went on a sand dune adventure. We started off with some sand boarding which was fun, but crazy tiring to climb up after riding down. We also took a drive out to "tin city" which is a little squatters town. It 'surprising' has an all male population and their lives consist of drinking beer, fishing, drinking beer, watching satellite tv and drinking beer. Their houses looked pretty dismal from the outside, however our guide said they were nice inside.
Sadly I had to say by to the Fam, and the headed back on an unpleasantly long trek to Vancouver. That weekend we had a commencement for Evatt House, which was so much fun. Everyone got really dressed up (I of course felt the need to buy a new dress) and we had a formal diner and then a night on the town. At the dinner awards were given out for academic acheivement, community service and more socially oriented awards were given as well. I was the embarrassed recipent of an award (I'm sure most of you can guess under which section my award came at). The night didn't end untill well past sun-up and was overall one of the funner nights thus far.
Other things I have been up to: we went into Sydney or the gay/lesbian mardi gras parade which was a crazy crazy night; took another trip to Sydney to see a footy game which involved beer drinking and eating meat pies, unfortunately our team lost to NZ by 1 point; had a sex trivia night at Evatt, where our block one best costume for our vaginamite costumes!
I have been having an amazing time and miss you all! Next I am off on another travelling expedition for Easter Break!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Newcastle Uni, Australia
My first three weeks in Australia have gone by in an immense blur. I arrived in Sydney, and was picked up at the airport by Sim, who then drove me up to Newcastle, where I was lucky enough to stay at his brother's house for a few days before I could move on to campus. My first day in Newcastle I was able to enjoy a few wonderful swims in the ocean and experience some of the sites of the town.
Moving into Evatt House the next day was very exciting, I unpacked my bags, which, after living out of a car, was more thrilling than can be put into words. Most of the other students hadn't moved in yet, so it was pretty much me, a few Americans and all the Resident Advisers (RAs). I quickly came to realise that the RAs at Evatt, were going to be very different from those in Helmcken (my first year dorm). The RAs had organized a punch bowl for that night, which was made up of Goon (5L box wine) and a variety of juices. We enjoyed this punch bowl in the CAT room (the common room for Evatt Collage) where we played some games, including beer pong, King's Cup, and many others. The CAT room is rather impressive, with a large projector screen, sound system, ping pong table, pool table, fooze ball table and couches. A set up for some very good times.
Then on Sunday O-Week began...
All the first years and the rest of the internationals (who are 99.9% American) moved in and we had a BBQ and a getting-to-know-you evening. The week was jam packed full of events. We had a inter-collegiate day, where we played sports-day games, and then later went out on buses to Customs (a bar in Newcastle). We had a scavenger hunt with our block (aka building) and were forced to walk around Newcastle dressed in embarrassing costumes and take pictures doing some pretty funny things, including jumping off the pier and swimming in some of the dirtiest water ever (it compares to the marina water down at the Point).
For a more detailed and explicit version of O-Week please refer to my note posted on Facebook.
Classes began on Monday, and I was very excited by the fact that my 12 hours of class per week would be scheduled during Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, leaving me with a long 4 day weekend every week. The classes here are really not that different from at home, which was good to learn!
This past weekend, me and some of my fellow exchange students went on a surf trip up to Seal Rocks. It was unbelievably beautiful up there, and the beaches were surprisingly un-crowded, which made it even better. I worked on finessing my surfing skills, while most others had their first experiences on a surf board. We spent most of the day on Saturday surfing, and although we were exhausted that night, that didn't stop us from breaking some sort of record of number of pitchers consumed before diner. I am also happy to announce that my fellow Evatt friend, Cole, won Surf Camp Idol, which was rather exciting.
Now its back to another week of school, and unfortunately I had to make a trip to the doctor today due to an incessant cough. I guess I should have learned by now that my Mother is always right, and lack of sleep is correlated with getting sick!
Moving into Evatt House the next day was very exciting, I unpacked my bags, which, after living out of a car, was more thrilling than can be put into words. Most of the other students hadn't moved in yet, so it was pretty much me, a few Americans and all the Resident Advisers (RAs). I quickly came to realise that the RAs at Evatt, were going to be very different from those in Helmcken (my first year dorm). The RAs had organized a punch bowl for that night, which was made up of Goon (5L box wine) and a variety of juices. We enjoyed this punch bowl in the CAT room (the common room for Evatt Collage) where we played some games, including beer pong, King's Cup, and many others. The CAT room is rather impressive, with a large projector screen, sound system, ping pong table, pool table, fooze ball table and couches. A set up for some very good times.
Then on Sunday O-Week began...
All the first years and the rest of the internationals (who are 99.9% American) moved in and we had a BBQ and a getting-to-know-you evening. The week was jam packed full of events. We had a inter-collegiate day, where we played sports-day games, and then later went out on buses to Customs (a bar in Newcastle). We had a scavenger hunt with our block (aka building) and were forced to walk around Newcastle dressed in embarrassing costumes and take pictures doing some pretty funny things, including jumping off the pier and swimming in some of the dirtiest water ever (it compares to the marina water down at the Point).
For a more detailed and explicit version of O-Week please refer to my note posted on Facebook.
Classes began on Monday, and I was very excited by the fact that my 12 hours of class per week would be scheduled during Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, leaving me with a long 4 day weekend every week. The classes here are really not that different from at home, which was good to learn!
This past weekend, me and some of my fellow exchange students went on a surf trip up to Seal Rocks. It was unbelievably beautiful up there, and the beaches were surprisingly un-crowded, which made it even better. I worked on finessing my surfing skills, while most others had their first experiences on a surf board. We spent most of the day on Saturday surfing, and although we were exhausted that night, that didn't stop us from breaking some sort of record of number of pitchers consumed before diner. I am also happy to announce that my fellow Evatt friend, Cole, won Surf Camp Idol, which was rather exciting.
Now its back to another week of school, and unfortunately I had to make a trip to the doctor today due to an incessant cough. I guess I should have learned by now that my Mother is always right, and lack of sleep is correlated with getting sick!
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Duneiden - Lake Tekapo - Christchurch - Auckland
We arrived in Dunieden and there was some sort of fair going on in the center of town. We walked around for awhile and decided that we wanted to go see a movie later. First we hit up the grocer store and then went out to the park for a snack and a nap. We went to see The Pursuit of Happyness, which was very cute and then snuck into a campsite.
Unfortunately this entry includes a lot of driving time, however we also got to spend some time on some beautiful beaches. We arrived in a town that we thought we would stay in, but it wasn't very pretty and there was nothing going on, so we decided to continue on our drive and go to Lake Tekapo which is known for its very blue water.
True to its reputation, the lake was very pretty, and it was surrounded by snow capped mountains. We only got to spend half a day there though, because we needed to make tracks up to Christchurch. The drive was really nice, for quite a ways out of Tekapo the highway was lined with wild flowers of all different colours. We also made a stop at Shag Point, where we saw some Penguins. They were very cute, but looked pretty funny as they waddled around.
I liked Christchurch a lot more than I thought I would. I imagined as another big city like Auckland or Wellington, but it has a lot of character to it! We had some really good Greek food for diner, then bought some cookies and made a night of it back at the hostel. We stayed in the micro-camper for one last night, and although t was fun, I can't say I'm going to miss living out of a car all that much.
Now I am back in Auckland and am getting ready to fly to Australia today! I'm looking forward to staying in one place for awhile, and am interested to see what school is going to be like down here. I was sad to say bye to Ashley and have felt a little lost without her and AWE 610 (our car). It has been an amazing month, and I would highly recommend New Zealand for any traveller!
Unfortunately this entry includes a lot of driving time, however we also got to spend some time on some beautiful beaches. We arrived in a town that we thought we would stay in, but it wasn't very pretty and there was nothing going on, so we decided to continue on our drive and go to Lake Tekapo which is known for its very blue water.
True to its reputation, the lake was very pretty, and it was surrounded by snow capped mountains. We only got to spend half a day there though, because we needed to make tracks up to Christchurch. The drive was really nice, for quite a ways out of Tekapo the highway was lined with wild flowers of all different colours. We also made a stop at Shag Point, where we saw some Penguins. They were very cute, but looked pretty funny as they waddled around.
I liked Christchurch a lot more than I thought I would. I imagined as another big city like Auckland or Wellington, but it has a lot of character to it! We had some really good Greek food for diner, then bought some cookies and made a night of it back at the hostel. We stayed in the micro-camper for one last night, and although t was fun, I can't say I'm going to miss living out of a car all that much.
Now I am back in Auckland and am getting ready to fly to Australia today! I'm looking forward to staying in one place for awhile, and am interested to see what school is going to be like down here. I was sad to say bye to Ashley and have felt a little lost without her and AWE 610 (our car). It has been an amazing month, and I would highly recommend New Zealand for any traveller!
Queenstown & Alexandra
After river sledging we continued on to Queenstown. Pulling into town, I was reminded a bit of Whistler, with the wood cabins and funky shops and restaurants. There are two lakes in Queenstown and its surrounded by mountains, needless to say it is very beautiful. We grabbed a Ferg Burger for diner, which was absolutely delicious, but we were a bit shocked to see that this little restaurant sold t-shirts for 45 bucks a pop. We camped out of town that night at a DOC campsite that was really pretty and right on the lake, however it started raining which made Ashley and I very sad.
It was still raining the next morning, so we went into town and booked ourselves into a hostel and enjoyed a day of lounging and watching some of the worst movies I have ever seen. Ashley went down to the lobby to make a call to Nacho, a guy she met in Mexico when she was 15 and by random chance he stopped by our hostel with his friends who needed to use the Internet. Small world! We made plans to go visit them in Alexandra the next day and then went out and purchased a 3 litre box of wine for $20. Back at the backpackers we had a few drinks with our new roomies who were Irish, Scottish and Dutch. We played some games, which included drink while you think (and I fully confirmed that I am unbelievable horrible at that game) and of course king's cup. We hit up a few bars, but spent most of our time at Globe bar, where they were having a crazy hat contest, and of course Ashley was right in there!
We woke up the next day and enjoyed another Ferg Burger, and went for one of our typical naps in the park. I don't quite know why, but people tend to stare at us, as we lie there with our mattresses, blankets and pillows and enjoy a bit of a snooze on the grass. I guess this must be a weird thing to do, because we definitely get a lot of pointing smiling people looking at us!
We headed out to Alexandra, and met up with Nacho and his 4 other Mexican friends at their backpackers, which is just out of town. The cooked us a yummy meal of home-made potato soup, fish and veggies, plus a homemade salsa. For dessert, we had ice cream and lots of it. Because there are 5 of them and they all like different flavours, we had lots of ice cream to chose from. My personal favorite was the cookies and cream, sooo yummy! We went out that night and experienced some of the local flavour on Karaoke night. My personal favorite was the guy wearing short short rugby shorts, who sang almost every song, and left the bar later with a towel wrapped around his waist.
The next morning we went back to Queenstown, and not surprisingly, had another Ferg Burger. I really don't think I can describe how delicious they really are. We had planned on going to Milford Sound, which is suppose to me magnificent, however it was raining, and forcasted to rain the next day, and it was going to be a 9 hour drive there and back. Although I may regret it, we made the decision to head out to the east coast to Duneiden, and stopped off for one more night in Alexandra before we left.
It was still raining the next morning, so we went into town and booked ourselves into a hostel and enjoyed a day of lounging and watching some of the worst movies I have ever seen. Ashley went down to the lobby to make a call to Nacho, a guy she met in Mexico when she was 15 and by random chance he stopped by our hostel with his friends who needed to use the Internet. Small world! We made plans to go visit them in Alexandra the next day and then went out and purchased a 3 litre box of wine for $20. Back at the backpackers we had a few drinks with our new roomies who were Irish, Scottish and Dutch. We played some games, which included drink while you think (and I fully confirmed that I am unbelievable horrible at that game) and of course king's cup. We hit up a few bars, but spent most of our time at Globe bar, where they were having a crazy hat contest, and of course Ashley was right in there!
We woke up the next day and enjoyed another Ferg Burger, and went for one of our typical naps in the park. I don't quite know why, but people tend to stare at us, as we lie there with our mattresses, blankets and pillows and enjoy a bit of a snooze on the grass. I guess this must be a weird thing to do, because we definitely get a lot of pointing smiling people looking at us!
We headed out to Alexandra, and met up with Nacho and his 4 other Mexican friends at their backpackers, which is just out of town. The cooked us a yummy meal of home-made potato soup, fish and veggies, plus a homemade salsa. For dessert, we had ice cream and lots of it. Because there are 5 of them and they all like different flavours, we had lots of ice cream to chose from. My personal favorite was the cookies and cream, sooo yummy! We went out that night and experienced some of the local flavour on Karaoke night. My personal favorite was the guy wearing short short rugby shorts, who sang almost every song, and left the bar later with a towel wrapped around his waist.
The next morning we went back to Queenstown, and not surprisingly, had another Ferg Burger. I really don't think I can describe how delicious they really are. We had planned on going to Milford Sound, which is suppose to me magnificent, however it was raining, and forcasted to rain the next day, and it was going to be a 9 hour drive there and back. Although I may regret it, we made the decision to head out to the east coast to Duneiden, and stopped off for one more night in Alexandra before we left.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Wanaka
We somewhat enjoyed our epically long drive from Greymouth to Wanaka, although the weather was very dreary and we were feeling the painful aftermath of the previous night. We drove by Franz Joseph, on of the two glaciers, but felt un-inclined to leave the warm car for a rainy walk. So we continued down the windy road, and stopped in the wonderful town of Haas, which holds 3 buildings, a gas station and a few houses. We had a disturbingly expensive lunch, that left our tummies in a very sore state, and continued on our drive down to Wanaka.
By the time we arrived in Wanaka and found a place to park, the weather was taking a turn for the better, so we were able to enjoy our diner alongside the sunset. We were waken the next morning be someone banging on our window. Groggily I woke up to be told by a man that there WAS NO FREE CAMPING IN WANAKA. So we drove ourselves over to the nearest campsite and went back to sleep. After doing some laundry, we wandered around the town and made plans to go River Sledging the next day.
River Sledging is like white water rafting, but you are on your own sled. We geared up in wet suits and helmets and headed down to the river with about 7 other people. We had a bit of a lesson and then we were off. It was very fun, and would have been funny to watch. They attempted to keep us all in a row, which on our first trip wasn't overly successful. Our second time around was much more fun. We ripped down the river through the rapids doing pirouette turns and barrel rolls. Ashley attempted the cowboy style down one set of rapids, but quickly got a sled in the face, which she wasn't too happy about. We did a bit of cliff jumping, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I ended the day by turning around on my board, lying on my back and soaking up some sun!
By the time we arrived in Wanaka and found a place to park, the weather was taking a turn for the better, so we were able to enjoy our diner alongside the sunset. We were waken the next morning be someone banging on our window. Groggily I woke up to be told by a man that there WAS NO FREE CAMPING IN WANAKA. So we drove ourselves over to the nearest campsite and went back to sleep. After doing some laundry, we wandered around the town and made plans to go River Sledging the next day.
River Sledging is like white water rafting, but you are on your own sled. We geared up in wet suits and helmets and headed down to the river with about 7 other people. We had a bit of a lesson and then we were off. It was very fun, and would have been funny to watch. They attempted to keep us all in a row, which on our first trip wasn't overly successful. Our second time around was much more fun. We ripped down the river through the rapids doing pirouette turns and barrel rolls. Ashley attempted the cowboy style down one set of rapids, but quickly got a sled in the face, which she wasn't too happy about. We did a bit of cliff jumping, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I ended the day by turning around on my board, lying on my back and soaking up some sun!
Monday, January 29, 2007
Punakaiki and Greymouth
Our next road trip was down the west coast and I experienced one of the most beautiful drives I have ever been on. Our first destination was the delightful town of Westport, where we used the Internet and left as quickly as possible, just imagine your typical small town, and that was Westport. On our way out of town we stopped at a seal colony, which was really cool to see, but rather smelly. At the beach nearby, Ashley and I attempted to go for a swim with our body boards, however it was so cold, that instead we frolicked around and had a jelly-fish throwing fight, instigated by me of course.
From there we headed down to Punakaiki along the coast line. It was late afternoon and the sun gave the drive the most spectacular light. The ocean stretched out for miles, a sight that I am still not use to, and the coast is lined with rocky islands upon which the waves were crashing magnificently. In Punakaiki we stopped to see the Pancake rocks, which look like giant stacks of pancakes. It claims to be a scientifically unexplained phenomenon, and was rather curious to look at. We stayed and enjoyed the sun set there, and then enjoyed a meal at the local tavern, the only place open past 6:00pm.
We headed off early the next morning for Greymouth, a town of unexpected excitement for us. With some excellent navigating by Ashley, we found a near deserted beach, where we pulled out our mattresses from the car and enjoyed a relaxing morning of tanning and reading. We managed to drag ourselves off the beach by 1:30 in order to experience a Monteith's Brewery Tour, which is New Zealand's most popular beer. We were guided around this smaller scale brewery by a proud employee of the Monteith tradition, and enjoyed an excellent taste of their beers at the end. We had two favorites, the first was the summer beer which is made with honey and ginger flavours and was so unbelievably refreshing that at the end of the tour we just had to buy ourselves a six pack. The second was a lemon and lime infused beer, which was much better than any shandy I had ever tasted.
After finishing our Summer beer, on our prized private beach and enjoying a swim in the waves, we thought we might head out of town to see some glow worms in Hokitika. However, before we made it out of town, we past a large group of boys and Ashley, in order to ensure that we did not leave town without leaving a friendly name for ourselves, jumped out of the car to see where the party was at. And boy did she find it! We were quickly invited to a keg party, and provided our trusty micro-camper, for the keg's transport.
The party was in the style of a high school kegger, and it did not disappoint. We became known as the Canadians, and everyone knew our names, although we could not tell you any of theirs. Ashley in her truest tradition disappeared on me for part of the evening and partook on an adventure downtown, where she enjoyed some much needed time on the dance floor.
We woke up the next morning with a touch of a headache and a craving for McDonald's. We got ourselves together and pulled into the McDonald's parking lot where we were greeted by a few honks from the Dad and a bunch of the kids from the night before. When we entered the store we were greeted by "Oh! The Canadians!!" Needless to say, we managed to make quite a name for ourselves in the small, unsuspecting town of Greymouth!
From there we headed down to Punakaiki along the coast line. It was late afternoon and the sun gave the drive the most spectacular light. The ocean stretched out for miles, a sight that I am still not use to, and the coast is lined with rocky islands upon which the waves were crashing magnificently. In Punakaiki we stopped to see the Pancake rocks, which look like giant stacks of pancakes. It claims to be a scientifically unexplained phenomenon, and was rather curious to look at. We stayed and enjoyed the sun set there, and then enjoyed a meal at the local tavern, the only place open past 6:00pm.
We headed off early the next morning for Greymouth, a town of unexpected excitement for us. With some excellent navigating by Ashley, we found a near deserted beach, where we pulled out our mattresses from the car and enjoyed a relaxing morning of tanning and reading. We managed to drag ourselves off the beach by 1:30 in order to experience a Monteith's Brewery Tour, which is New Zealand's most popular beer. We were guided around this smaller scale brewery by a proud employee of the Monteith tradition, and enjoyed an excellent taste of their beers at the end. We had two favorites, the first was the summer beer which is made with honey and ginger flavours and was so unbelievably refreshing that at the end of the tour we just had to buy ourselves a six pack. The second was a lemon and lime infused beer, which was much better than any shandy I had ever tasted.
After finishing our Summer beer, on our prized private beach and enjoying a swim in the waves, we thought we might head out of town to see some glow worms in Hokitika. However, before we made it out of town, we past a large group of boys and Ashley, in order to ensure that we did not leave town without leaving a friendly name for ourselves, jumped out of the car to see where the party was at. And boy did she find it! We were quickly invited to a keg party, and provided our trusty micro-camper, for the keg's transport.
The party was in the style of a high school kegger, and it did not disappoint. We became known as the Canadians, and everyone knew our names, although we could not tell you any of theirs. Ashley in her truest tradition disappeared on me for part of the evening and partook on an adventure downtown, where she enjoyed some much needed time on the dance floor.
We woke up the next morning with a touch of a headache and a craving for McDonald's. We got ourselves together and pulled into the McDonald's parking lot where we were greeted by a few honks from the Dad and a bunch of the kids from the night before. When we entered the store we were greeted by "Oh! The Canadians!!" Needless to say, we managed to make quite a name for ourselves in the small, unsuspecting town of Greymouth!
Friday, January 26, 2007
Nelson and Abel Tasman
After leaving the sheep farm, Ashley and I headed towards Nelson and enjoyed a wonderful evening of sailing! We went out on a sail boat for $40 each and followed behind the sailing races that were going on that evening. We sat at the very front of the boat with our legs dangling over the edge. It got a bit rough and we both got rather soaked, but loved every minute of it! We brought a few beer on board and with just 4 other girls and the skipper on board, we had an excellent evening.
The next morning (after receiving a fine for where we had parked that night) we headed out on a water taxi for Anchorage, a destination in the middle of the Abel Tasman national park. This park has only been under government control for the past 60 years and those that bought up property before then, are lucky enough to have houses and cabins in a beautiful remote area. We set out on a 4 hour walk with just over 6 hours to do it in. We made a stop about halfway for some lunch and a quick swim and made it to our pick-up destination with an hour and a half to spare! But as we sat there waiting for our water taxi (wondering where it was) we saw a boat, looking very much like our water taxi, fly by. We took out our pamphlet and realised that although our ticket said to meet at Tonga, the actual meeting spot was half an hour past that. We raced up to where we were suppose to be, but besides a few families with their boats, nobody was there.
I got a little excited at the thought of being stranded and proceeded to attempt to build a fort. However the novelty of that wore off pretty quickly, so we decided to walk down the beach and ask the boaters for a ride. In the friendly kiwi tradition, they were nice enough to drive us to the beach they were heading for. The ride was actually quite fun, as it was kind of rough and we were bumping all over the place. After being dropped at this beach we realised that it was going to be a 4 hour walk back to our car, so we called up the water taxi company and had them pay for a boat to get us back. Finally, we reached our car and headed back to the next down to load up on groceries.
Unfortunately Ashley then realised that her purse was missing from the vehicle, so we headed for the police station to make a report. Ironically, we had earlier thought that our day could not get any worse, however for Ashley it did! The only thing of real value was her passport, but all her makeup, journal and contact info was in there as well. We went through the process of filling out the report, and then decided to stay in that town till we could call the passport office the next morning. We drove out to a nearby river to camp for the night. As we were setting up our micro-camper for bed I noticed that Ashley's bag was indeed in the car, but had been hidden under our mattresses! We both ecstatically jumped around, and decided it would probably be a bit too embarrassing to go back to the police station to tell the officer. Unfortunately for Ashley though, this story is one I will never let her live down, buahahah!!
The next morning (after receiving a fine for where we had parked that night) we headed out on a water taxi for Anchorage, a destination in the middle of the Abel Tasman national park. This park has only been under government control for the past 60 years and those that bought up property before then, are lucky enough to have houses and cabins in a beautiful remote area. We set out on a 4 hour walk with just over 6 hours to do it in. We made a stop about halfway for some lunch and a quick swim and made it to our pick-up destination with an hour and a half to spare! But as we sat there waiting for our water taxi (wondering where it was) we saw a boat, looking very much like our water taxi, fly by. We took out our pamphlet and realised that although our ticket said to meet at Tonga, the actual meeting spot was half an hour past that. We raced up to where we were suppose to be, but besides a few families with their boats, nobody was there.
I got a little excited at the thought of being stranded and proceeded to attempt to build a fort. However the novelty of that wore off pretty quickly, so we decided to walk down the beach and ask the boaters for a ride. In the friendly kiwi tradition, they were nice enough to drive us to the beach they were heading for. The ride was actually quite fun, as it was kind of rough and we were bumping all over the place. After being dropped at this beach we realised that it was going to be a 4 hour walk back to our car, so we called up the water taxi company and had them pay for a boat to get us back. Finally, we reached our car and headed back to the next down to load up on groceries.
Unfortunately Ashley then realised that her purse was missing from the vehicle, so we headed for the police station to make a report. Ironically, we had earlier thought that our day could not get any worse, however for Ashley it did! The only thing of real value was her passport, but all her makeup, journal and contact info was in there as well. We went through the process of filling out the report, and then decided to stay in that town till we could call the passport office the next morning. We drove out to a nearby river to camp for the night. As we were setting up our micro-camper for bed I noticed that Ashley's bag was indeed in the car, but had been hidden under our mattresses! We both ecstatically jumped around, and decided it would probably be a bit too embarrassing to go back to the police station to tell the officer. Unfortunately for Ashley though, this story is one I will never let her live down, buahahah!!
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Wellington to Bleihnem (South Island)
Our trip down to Wellington felt very very long. We were unbelievable tired from our ventures the night before, and I was very thankful that it was Ashley's turn to drive! We stop off in a town called Woodsville and took a 3-4 hour nap in our car at a park. Once we made it to Wellington we were still very tired, and after much searching around we found a place to park, made a sandwich and went to bed.
The nest morning we, being the rebels that we are, snuck into a nearby campsite in order to shower (the first real shower I had had in few days). We also made ourselves some breakfast and discovered a TV room, which we made plans to come back to later. We then hit up a beach outside of wellington, but were very disappointed when the clouds and wind prevented us from leaving our car.
We had a very early start to the following day. We woke up at a quarter to 6 (or so we thought) to make it to the ferry for the South Island by 7. By the time we got driving there, we discovered that it was quarter past 7 (note to self: don't trust ipod clock ever again). Luckily we made the ferry, although I almost got trapt in the car for the 3 hour sailing because I had hid myself in the back of the car (in order to only pay for one person to board the ferry) and there were many ferry officers standing around our car when we boarded. Then an officer approached Ashley and told her she needed to go upstairs because they lock the area where the cars are. He stood there until she left, but luckily, me being the stealth person that I am, I was able to sneak out of the car and upstairs without being detected.
When we arrived on the South Island it was a beautiful day and so we rented bikes and set off to do some wine tasting at the vast amount of vineyards in the area. We had a great time doing that, although with the wind (and my poor physical condition), it was fairly slow going. We picked up a nice pino rose and headed out to a sheep farm owned by a friend of Ashley's mom. We arrived to nobody home, but Ashley had been told where the key was, so we went inside and made ourselves at home. Snow and Judith arrived home later in the evening, and were so friendly and interesting to talk with. Judith made us some diner, and we chatted until it was time for bed. As we quickly have learned, the kiwis are so friendly and unbelievably generous!!!
Link to pictures of the North Island: http://uvic.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026911&id=122502204
The nest morning we, being the rebels that we are, snuck into a nearby campsite in order to shower (the first real shower I had had in few days). We also made ourselves some breakfast and discovered a TV room, which we made plans to come back to later. We then hit up a beach outside of wellington, but were very disappointed when the clouds and wind prevented us from leaving our car.
We had a very early start to the following day. We woke up at a quarter to 6 (or so we thought) to make it to the ferry for the South Island by 7. By the time we got driving there, we discovered that it was quarter past 7 (note to self: don't trust ipod clock ever again). Luckily we made the ferry, although I almost got trapt in the car for the 3 hour sailing because I had hid myself in the back of the car (in order to only pay for one person to board the ferry) and there were many ferry officers standing around our car when we boarded. Then an officer approached Ashley and told her she needed to go upstairs because they lock the area where the cars are. He stood there until she left, but luckily, me being the stealth person that I am, I was able to sneak out of the car and upstairs without being detected.
When we arrived on the South Island it was a beautiful day and so we rented bikes and set off to do some wine tasting at the vast amount of vineyards in the area. We had a great time doing that, although with the wind (and my poor physical condition), it was fairly slow going. We picked up a nice pino rose and headed out to a sheep farm owned by a friend of Ashley's mom. We arrived to nobody home, but Ashley had been told where the key was, so we went inside and made ourselves at home. Snow and Judith arrived home later in the evening, and were so friendly and interesting to talk with. Judith made us some diner, and we chatted until it was time for bed. As we quickly have learned, the kiwis are so friendly and unbelievably generous!!!
Link to pictures of the North Island: http://uvic.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026911&id=122502204
Monday, January 22, 2007
Rotorua - Taupo - Napier
We made our way into Rotorua, which smells like rotten eggs, and then headed out to a volcanic valley for our first tour of thermal activity. The valley we went to was last active in 1886, and it was amazing to see how much vegetation had sprouted up since that time. It was beautifully lush with lakes and rivers, that were steaming and bubbling. One of the lake had the most gorgeous coloured water I had ever seen. It was a deep turquoise color and was calling us to jump in for a swim (however the high acid level and temperature (45 degrees) prevented us from doing so). We hiked up the more challenging trail and I was amazed at all the noises, frogs, crickets, and birds filled the air with all their sounds.
We continued on down to Taupo in search if a free campsite we had heard about. We found it, and it could not have been more perfect. It was situated right along the river and surounded by trees and srubs. We jumped in for a bit of a swim and were carried quite quickly down stream. I found myself screaming as I ripped through some rapids in about one foot of water, and felt lucky to still have my bathing suit on by the time I was through it! That night we had our first succesfully cooked diner of saussage sandwhiches, and began to feel much better about our camping abilities.
The next day (after a rather late start) we headed in to town bought some beer and body boards and headed out to the hot stream. It's an area along the river were a smaller river with extremely hot water runs down into it. We putz around there for quite awhile until the sun began dip down behind the trees. After stealing some wood from behind some dumpsters in town we headed back to the campsite. We ended up joining up with some Czech guys who were camping next to us and managed to keep a fire going for quite some time (which was much better than our fire from the night before which was made from scrap wood from around the site and lasted about 20 minutes).
Our next destination was Napier, a town known for its art deco collections. We rolled into the visitors center, hoping to find a campsite as great as our last one, but were disapointed to learn that no such place existed. So we headed for the beach to enjoy the sun, however we only stayed for about an hour because we felt ourselves burning (the ozone is said to be the thinest down here). So we haulled ourselves and our mattresses to a park and took a litlle siesta under a shady tree. We then drove around for a bit and got ready to go out on the side of the road in a residential area. After being asked if our car had broken down and if we needed help, we had to laugh at ourselves, and continued on our way, with an unknown destination, but ended up parking at the beach where we saw 7 or 8 campervans ligning the lot. It turned out to be a great desicion as we met a ton of people (Dutch, German, French, Canadian) and eventually headed out to the bar, where Ashley and I got a much needed fix for Dancing! I ended off the night taking a swim in some nearby pools and then enjoying a beautiful sin-rise!
We continued on down to Taupo in search if a free campsite we had heard about. We found it, and it could not have been more perfect. It was situated right along the river and surounded by trees and srubs. We jumped in for a bit of a swim and were carried quite quickly down stream. I found myself screaming as I ripped through some rapids in about one foot of water, and felt lucky to still have my bathing suit on by the time I was through it! That night we had our first succesfully cooked diner of saussage sandwhiches, and began to feel much better about our camping abilities.
The next day (after a rather late start) we headed in to town bought some beer and body boards and headed out to the hot stream. It's an area along the river were a smaller river with extremely hot water runs down into it. We putz around there for quite awhile until the sun began dip down behind the trees. After stealing some wood from behind some dumpsters in town we headed back to the campsite. We ended up joining up with some Czech guys who were camping next to us and managed to keep a fire going for quite some time (which was much better than our fire from the night before which was made from scrap wood from around the site and lasted about 20 minutes).
Our next destination was Napier, a town known for its art deco collections. We rolled into the visitors center, hoping to find a campsite as great as our last one, but were disapointed to learn that no such place existed. So we headed for the beach to enjoy the sun, however we only stayed for about an hour because we felt ourselves burning (the ozone is said to be the thinest down here). So we haulled ourselves and our mattresses to a park and took a litlle siesta under a shady tree. We then drove around for a bit and got ready to go out on the side of the road in a residential area. After being asked if our car had broken down and if we needed help, we had to laugh at ourselves, and continued on our way, with an unknown destination, but ended up parking at the beach where we saw 7 or 8 campervans ligning the lot. It turned out to be a great desicion as we met a ton of people (Dutch, German, French, Canadian) and eventually headed out to the bar, where Ashley and I got a much needed fix for Dancing! I ended off the night taking a swim in some nearby pools and then enjoying a beautiful sin-rise!
The Kauri Coast and Raglan
The Kauri Coast was beautiful. We stoped along the way to see the largest tree I have ever seen (which is saying a lot for a girl from B.C.). It is the oldest Kauri tree and is named Tane Mahuta. It is said to take approximately 18 people to stretch the whole way around the base of the trunk. It was rather incredible! We made our way down to Raglan, a little surfing town on the west coast, and took a little nap, as we tend to do fairly often. When it began to get dark we headed down to the beach for a bit of a picnic. However with a rather intense wind our noodles barely cooked, and our corn was not as good as it could have been! After being heckled by two guys sitting on the bluff above us, laughing at our lame attempt at a meal, we called it a day.
First thing the next morning, after some tea and a muffin in a cafe, I rented a surf board and we made our way to the beach. I had a lot of fun playing around in the waves, although the current was very strong. We headed over to Manu Bay to witness on of the longest left breaking waves in the world, and we were not disappointed with the site we saw. Some unbelievably good surfers were out there, and we spent some time there just sitting and watching. That night we splurged a little and had diner out. I had a greek salad and I don't think it has ever felt so good eating vegetables. We ended our night with an attempt to set up our car for bed without getting out (because it was raining) it took some time, but we did managed to do it!
First thing the next morning, after some tea and a muffin in a cafe, I rented a surf board and we made our way to the beach. I had a lot of fun playing around in the waves, although the current was very strong. We headed over to Manu Bay to witness on of the longest left breaking waves in the world, and we were not disappointed with the site we saw. Some unbelievably good surfers were out there, and we spent some time there just sitting and watching. That night we splurged a little and had diner out. I had a greek salad and I don't think it has ever felt so good eating vegetables. We ended our night with an attempt to set up our car for bed without getting out (because it was raining) it took some time, but we did managed to do it!
Friday, January 19, 2007
The Bay of Islands and 90 Mile Beach
Ashley arrived safe and sound and after catching up we mad plans to get out of Auckland the nest day! We woke up bright and early and headed down to another hostel to meet a guy named Tom who found us a rental car. We were looking for a camper-van, and instead for the cheapest price of $60/day we got a micro-camper. It is a stationwagon which converts the back into a sleeping area, that works for us, but anyone over 5'6'' I wouldn't recomend it!
I began the drive (which is on the opposite side of the road) a bit nervously, but so excited to begin our road trip. Our first destination was the Bay of Islands and a town called Paihia (no clue how to pernounce that)! Unfortunately, it was raining when we got there, but that didn't stop us from touring the town. We stumbled in out of the rain to a hostel and read some of the guest books there where travellers had left info on places they'd been. We then headed to the beach and took a siesta in the back, which didn't end untill well past 8:00pm. At this point we were unsure of where to stay so Ashley boldly went up to a house that had a camper-van, that was brightly decorated, in the front yard. She ran back to the car saying that the home-owner Dean said we could park in his yard and to come in and join him and his friends for a drink. His friends were Simon and Will from Sydney and Fraser from Auckland and he had only met them today. He works with Frasers Dad, and was letting them stay at his place for the night. After a few drinks we headed out to the bar, where Ashley and I downed a piece of pizza, since niether of us had eaten anything besides fruit since breakfast. We had a great night, which led us to another bar later to play some pool (however I was the only one who ended up playing with some guys from Irealand, needless to say I lost pretty badly), and ended with a nice swim to top off the night. We ended up crashing in Dean's guest room, which he graciously offered us, and got a few hours of sleep before we were awaken with talk of a juice stand right across the street, which got us out of bed.
After exchanging e-mail addresses, Ashley and I said our thanks to Dean, and head up towards 90mile beach. We drove right up onto the beach and raced along doing over 120 clicks untill we reached the end. The waves were crashing in and the ocean stretched out forever, with nothing but more water on the horizon. The view on our other side was massive sand dunes, that looked just like I imagine they look in the desert. We were a little unsure of how to get back to the main road without driving all the way back down the beach and after talking to a few guys we headed for this turn off, which unfortunately got us stuck in the sand! I began digging and Ashley went ou to flag down some help. She came back in a truck and with a few pulls we were out of the sand! The guy in the truck told us to follow him back up the beach to a river that we could drive up and would lead us back to the main road. Driving up the river was halarious, we closed our windows pretty quickly as the water was flying up beside us.
Eventually we made it to Cape Regina at the top of the North Island. Here the Tasman sea and Pacific Ocean meet, and it made for a breathtaking view! Then we got back in our car and attempted to reach a town called Oponoto, however, due to poor navigating by me (that led us to the end of the road with a no exit sign on our right and left) and lack of gas, we stoped in a town called Rawene. We arrived there at 7:30 and everything was closed! We managed to find a campsite though and enjoyed a miraculous sun set, that made the stop so woth it! We had to laugh as we looked at the sight seeing map for the town, which included the grocery store, gas station, and practically every building on the main street, which took as 5 minutes to see. The next morning we got some good tips from the campers around us and made our way down the Kauri Coast.
I began the drive (which is on the opposite side of the road) a bit nervously, but so excited to begin our road trip. Our first destination was the Bay of Islands and a town called Paihia (no clue how to pernounce that)! Unfortunately, it was raining when we got there, but that didn't stop us from touring the town. We stumbled in out of the rain to a hostel and read some of the guest books there where travellers had left info on places they'd been. We then headed to the beach and took a siesta in the back, which didn't end untill well past 8:00pm. At this point we were unsure of where to stay so Ashley boldly went up to a house that had a camper-van, that was brightly decorated, in the front yard. She ran back to the car saying that the home-owner Dean said we could park in his yard and to come in and join him and his friends for a drink. His friends were Simon and Will from Sydney and Fraser from Auckland and he had only met them today. He works with Frasers Dad, and was letting them stay at his place for the night. After a few drinks we headed out to the bar, where Ashley and I downed a piece of pizza, since niether of us had eaten anything besides fruit since breakfast. We had a great night, which led us to another bar later to play some pool (however I was the only one who ended up playing with some guys from Irealand, needless to say I lost pretty badly), and ended with a nice swim to top off the night. We ended up crashing in Dean's guest room, which he graciously offered us, and got a few hours of sleep before we were awaken with talk of a juice stand right across the street, which got us out of bed.
After exchanging e-mail addresses, Ashley and I said our thanks to Dean, and head up towards 90mile beach. We drove right up onto the beach and raced along doing over 120 clicks untill we reached the end. The waves were crashing in and the ocean stretched out forever, with nothing but more water on the horizon. The view on our other side was massive sand dunes, that looked just like I imagine they look in the desert. We were a little unsure of how to get back to the main road without driving all the way back down the beach and after talking to a few guys we headed for this turn off, which unfortunately got us stuck in the sand! I began digging and Ashley went ou to flag down some help. She came back in a truck and with a few pulls we were out of the sand! The guy in the truck told us to follow him back up the beach to a river that we could drive up and would lead us back to the main road. Driving up the river was halarious, we closed our windows pretty quickly as the water was flying up beside us.
Eventually we made it to Cape Regina at the top of the North Island. Here the Tasman sea and Pacific Ocean meet, and it made for a breathtaking view! Then we got back in our car and attempted to reach a town called Oponoto, however, due to poor navigating by me (that led us to the end of the road with a no exit sign on our right and left) and lack of gas, we stoped in a town called Rawene. We arrived there at 7:30 and everything was closed! We managed to find a campsite though and enjoyed a miraculous sun set, that made the stop so woth it! We had to laugh as we looked at the sight seeing map for the town, which included the grocery store, gas station, and practically every building on the main street, which took as 5 minutes to see. The next morning we got some good tips from the campers around us and made our way down the Kauri Coast.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Auckland
My trip to Auckland began with a few tears as I said goodbye to my parents at the airport. Although I have travelled many times by myself, this time felt particularly unique as I was going away for a long time, and had no one waiting for me on the other end. The long flight from San Fransisco (12 Hours) to Auckland was surprisingly not as bad as I would have thought. With our own personal TV screens at each seat, and with almost an entire row to myself, I was able to watch a movie, eat some dinner, pop some gravol, and fall asleep. Although I woke up several times throughout the trip (twice to lightening striking every 5 second - It was so cool to watch!), I felt fairly rested when we landed at 5am in Auckland. I gathered up my 70 pound suitcase, back pack and shoulder bag and headed out to the "Super Shuttle" which took my to my hostel the Central City Backpackers. I got into my room right away, and lay down with my book for awhile until it was a decent time to go out and explore.
I began by walking down Queens street (the main shopping street) and felt right at home after passing four Starbucks in the span of 5 minutes. I walked down to the wharf, picking up pamphlets and schedules and decided I would head out to Mission Bay a nearby beach. I spent a few hours there relaxing on the grass, wishing the sky wasn't so overcast, and then grabbed a smoothie and headed back into the city. Unfortunately as I got off the bus the skies opened and I had to briskly walk home in my tank-top in the pouring rain. Back at the hostel I took off my sunglasses and had a gander in the mirror, only to see the worst sunglasses burn i have every witnessed. Apparently the sun is a tad stronger down here, and easily penetrates clouds! You think I would have learned this lesson after several burns throughout my lifetime... but no!
Today, I got off to a late start. I woke up way to early (6am) and took some gravol to fall back asleep, unfortunately I didn't wake up until 11:30 ...opps! I got myself ready and headed down to the ferry docks (after picking up a Starbucks latte, sunscreen, and aloe), where I caught a 10 minute ferry to Devonport. Devonport is a very quaint town with old Victorian style buildings and houses. I wandered around and made my way up Mount Victoria, where I marvelled at the spectacular view of both downtown Auckland and the surrounding Islands. I had to laugh at myself while taking the ferry over as the other tourists were old couples and families with youngish children and wonder if my interest in going there stemmed from the countless similar places I had been dragged to as a child travelling with my parents. Thanks Mom and Dad! Regardless, it was a beautiful place with cute shops, a beautiful park and beach, really the ultimate suburb.
The first few days I have been taking it rather easy and am looking forward to having Ashley join me and getting out of the city. I'm ready to road trip it up, with the tentative first stops being 90 mile beach and the bay of islands.
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