I can easily see how someone could become bankrupt in New Zealand. There are way too many adventure activities to try that all cost lots of money. I am beginning to think if I had come here first I would have never made it to Australia and had to go home after a month. Luckily I had a nice (cheap) week with my friends Dan and Penny. We spent a few days at Penny's family's beach house along with Dan's cousin and her boyfriend. The drive to the beach took us past plenty more sheep and introduced me to one of my new favorite activities- honking at sheep and watching them run away. Hilarious every time! The beach was gorgeous, surrounded by hills and with an old lighthouse, although a bit cold. We went swimming and body boarding, hiked up an extremely steep hill with some amazing views that made it seem like you were at the end of the world, and consumed lots of rum playing drinking games at night. Penny and I also baked my new favorite cookie, the afghan. They are chocolate biscuits with cornflakes inside and frosting on top. After 3 days at the beach we headed back to Palmerston North and the next day I said goodbye to everyone and got a bus to Rotorua.
Rotorua is surrounded by geothermal ponds, hot springs, geysers, and mud pools and has the lovely smell of sulphur wafting through the air. It is also full of adventure activies and other money sucking tourist activities. My first day here I went to Te Puia, a Maori cultural center. I went to a performance to see Maori song and dance and walked through a few exhibits. Te Puia has the Pohuto geyser which seemed to be going off the whole time I was there along with plenty of smelly, bubbling mud pools. I got to eat some corn that was put in a mesh bag and cooked in a hot spring. I also got to see a few kiwi birds. They have several mammal characteristics (including cuteness and not scaring me like birds do) but are also pretty rare to find nowadays.
After my day at Te Puia I got dinner and a movie and then came back to my hostel to read a book and go to bed. Three teenage Canadians and two English guys were staying in my room. The Canadians were very drunk and the Englishmen very bored and it was soon decided that everyone in our dorm room was going out, including me and another poor guys who was already asleep. Once I was offered free drinks I decided to join them but sleeping guy did not seem so happy with his invitation. Rotorua's nightlife on a Tuesday evening was a bit sleepy and soon after a group photo session in a bar the Canadians were crying and fighting in the streets. The Englishmen and I managed to round them up and get them to bed while police cars drove past us and stared. You have to love the people you meet in hostels.
Today I went to the Agrodome and went on a farm tour and to a sheep show. On the tour we drove through a kiwi grove and sampled some fruit and kiwi wine and played with llamas and lambs. The sheep show involved watching a sheep get shearedm a cow get milked, and dogs run across the backs of sheep. All very exciting stuff. I then headed down the road to try some zorbing. Zorbing involved jumping into a giant plastic ball filled with water and then rolling down a hill. It is like a cross between a roller coaster and a water slide. You are supposed to bring along extra clothes because you get very wet but I was not thinking ahead. The ride was great and I am glad to have done it but I did have to spend the next hour soaking wet until I made it back to my hostel.
Tomorrow I leave Rotorua for Waitomo to go abseiling and blackwater rafting in some glowworm caves. After that I head to the Poor Knights Islands for some diving and then to Auckland for a couple of days and then I begin my loong journey home. Next time I update will probably be back in New Orleans.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Goodbye Australia, Hello New Zealand
I have been in New Zealand about 4 days now and am staying with some friends through the weekend before I head up north to see glowworm caves and to go zorbing. It was pretty sad to leave Australia but I did have a good last week, despite the continuing rain.
When I got to Byron Bay I arrived at my hostel, the Arts Factory, and met up with Eline (whom I had met on Magnetic island and again in several other places throughout Oz). She was working at the hostel for free accomadation. The hostel is pretty big and very unique. I slept in an old covred wagaon which was next to a teepee and a doeuble decker bus that also were full of backpackers. The wagon was without power and was also home to several large spiders. The hostel also had yoga and didgeridoo classes, hammocks, a turkey and a giant lizard that wandered around, and lots of other interesting amenities. I styaed for 3 days exploring the hostel and the town of Byron Bay. The city is on the beach and is known as for being full of hippies and having a cool lighthouse that is the easternmost point of continental Australia. Now it is full of hip cafes and shops and lots of backpackers. I went on a day trip to Nimbin, a nearby town that is known as the marijuana capitol of Australia. It was an interesting place but unless you want to get high there is not much else to do. They do have the Nimbin Museum which is supposedly a history museum devoted to the counterculture but I think the people who built it were on drugs and it made absolutely no sense to me. On our way back to Byron we stopped at the home of an old American hippie who had moved to Nimbin in the 70's. Paul met us at the end of the road wearing a Yosemite Sam button down shirt and Hawain print sweatpants and showed us his junk sculpture garden he had been working on for the last ten years, made of computers and televisions and such. We then went and sat on his porch and ate watermelon and cracked macadamia nuts while it rained. We then went to see a waterfall but didn't stay too long thanks to the weather, before heading back to Byron where I made dinner with Eline and some other people at the hostel.
After three relaxing and mostly sunny days in Byron I headed up past Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast to stay with Amy (Flutterby) my first co-counselor at camp who hadn't seen in over 3 years. We had planned to hang out at the beach and do some hiking but that was not to be since it rained every day I was on the innapropriately named Sunshine Coast. We did manage to see most of the towns on the coast and get very wet trying to do some sightseeing anyway. It was good to catch up and after a big night in with Amy and her friends I flew away the next day to New Zealand.
I arrived in Wellington around midnight and headed to my hostel. The next morning around 6 I woke up to one of my dorm-mates having a very loud cell phone conversation from her bed in an Eastern European language. I am not sure if I yelled at her or not but hope that I did. I spent the morning at the Te Papa museum which was amazing. It's the national museum of New Zealand and was full of very cool and interesting exhibits about anything you could ever want to know about New Zealand history, culture, and ecology. I then walked around the city admiring the harbor and all the cafes. I did see a few Lord of the Rings relics but did not get to go on a tour to see them all. I then took the bus to the town of Palmerston North to stay with two more camp friends (Kiai and Frizzle or Dan and Penny.) It was a beautiful ride through a gorge. It was also full of sheep everywhere. I haven't done too much sightseeing yet but am excited to keep exploring New Zealand! I can't believe I only have two weeks left before I fly back to New Orleans.
When I got to Byron Bay I arrived at my hostel, the Arts Factory, and met up with Eline (whom I had met on Magnetic island and again in several other places throughout Oz). She was working at the hostel for free accomadation. The hostel is pretty big and very unique. I slept in an old covred wagaon which was next to a teepee and a doeuble decker bus that also were full of backpackers. The wagon was without power and was also home to several large spiders. The hostel also had yoga and didgeridoo classes, hammocks, a turkey and a giant lizard that wandered around, and lots of other interesting amenities. I styaed for 3 days exploring the hostel and the town of Byron Bay. The city is on the beach and is known as for being full of hippies and having a cool lighthouse that is the easternmost point of continental Australia. Now it is full of hip cafes and shops and lots of backpackers. I went on a day trip to Nimbin, a nearby town that is known as the marijuana capitol of Australia. It was an interesting place but unless you want to get high there is not much else to do. They do have the Nimbin Museum which is supposedly a history museum devoted to the counterculture but I think the people who built it were on drugs and it made absolutely no sense to me. On our way back to Byron we stopped at the home of an old American hippie who had moved to Nimbin in the 70's. Paul met us at the end of the road wearing a Yosemite Sam button down shirt and Hawain print sweatpants and showed us his junk sculpture garden he had been working on for the last ten years, made of computers and televisions and such. We then went and sat on his porch and ate watermelon and cracked macadamia nuts while it rained. We then went to see a waterfall but didn't stay too long thanks to the weather, before heading back to Byron where I made dinner with Eline and some other people at the hostel.
After three relaxing and mostly sunny days in Byron I headed up past Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast to stay with Amy (Flutterby) my first co-counselor at camp who hadn't seen in over 3 years. We had planned to hang out at the beach and do some hiking but that was not to be since it rained every day I was on the innapropriately named Sunshine Coast. We did manage to see most of the towns on the coast and get very wet trying to do some sightseeing anyway. It was good to catch up and after a big night in with Amy and her friends I flew away the next day to New Zealand.
I arrived in Wellington around midnight and headed to my hostel. The next morning around 6 I woke up to one of my dorm-mates having a very loud cell phone conversation from her bed in an Eastern European language. I am not sure if I yelled at her or not but hope that I did. I spent the morning at the Te Papa museum which was amazing. It's the national museum of New Zealand and was full of very cool and interesting exhibits about anything you could ever want to know about New Zealand history, culture, and ecology. I then walked around the city admiring the harbor and all the cafes. I did see a few Lord of the Rings relics but did not get to go on a tour to see them all. I then took the bus to the town of Palmerston North to stay with two more camp friends (Kiai and Frizzle or Dan and Penny.) It was a beautiful ride through a gorge. It was also full of sheep everywhere. I haven't done too much sightseeing yet but am excited to keep exploring New Zealand! I can't believe I only have two weeks left before I fly back to New Orleans.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
The Not So Big Banana
On the morning of New Year's Eve Guy and I headed into Sydney to have lunch with Sarah and her friend Kate. The city was already pretty crowded and we found a cute cafe to get some food. Unfortunately our waitress appeared to have been out celebrating a night early and it took us almost an hour to get our sandwhiches. All of us are the kind of people who get very grumpy when not fed so instead of a nice catch-up lunch it was a grumbling where-is-our-food-why-is-our-waitress-walking-out-of-the-restaurant kind of lunch. After we finally did eat we said goodbye to Guy who going to a concert and the rest of us went to find a nice spot from which to watch the fireworks. We decided on the botanical gardens which are right next to the opera house and have an amazing view of the harbour bridge, where the fireworks would be set off from. We sent Kate in to get a spot and Sarah and I went shopping for provisions, since we would have close to 8 hours of sitting around waiting for the show. We bought more sandwhiches, chips, fruit, and some Tim Tams. We also had 3 bottles of champagne that were not allowed in our viewing area. The botanical gardens would be selling wine and beer and there was no BYO. We decided that that was ridiculous and that we would be bringing in our champagne. We bought a bottle of Sprite and sent Sarah to the bathroom to empty out the Sprite and fill it with the champagne. Our flaws in this plan included that champagne bottles make a very distinct popping noise when opened and that angry ladies waiting to use a toilet are not very patient. Somehow Sarah managed to get all but a quarter of the 3 champagnes into the Sprite bottle, hurry out of the stall when a cleaning lady began knocking, and run down to the food court to find me and get the hell out of the mall we were in. When we got to the botanical gardens we had to go through two checkpoints and wait an hour to make sure we were not bringing in any contraband. When we got to the second checkpoint we saw several bottles of confiscated Coke and Sprite and realized that we were not the only geniuses with our great sneaky plan. Somehow the guard decided that our Sprite bottle actually contained Sprite and let us through. Sarah and I then found Kate and spent the next several hours sitting directly in the sun drinking warm champagne and eating chips and melted Tim Tams while waiting for the sun to set and the fireworks to begin. There was a skywriting plane which added some entertainment as it spelled out words and phrases like "Dance at 10". "sagm", and "Jesus." There was also a couple making out in front of us for most of the wait which was also very entertaining. At 9 a first set of fireworks went off and were incredibly cool. Then some barges flotaed around with lights on them around the harbour and then at midnight the second set of fireworks went off. They were amazing! It lasted almost 15 minutes and shot out of the bridge and from both sides of the harbour and the tops of buildings in the city. there were even heart shaped and cube shaped fireworks.
Almost immediately after the fireworks ended guards began coming through and telling us to leave. Kate and Sarah and I had planned to sit around for an hour and wait for the crowds to die down before trying to push our way onto a bus to Bondi. No such luck. We did somehow manage to get on the first bus we saw and climbed aboard along with a group of very drunk Brazilians who proceeded to sing loudly as we drove to the beach. Our bus driver was not so happy about this and would slam on his brakes whenever we hit a red light, sending me flying into the laps of a honeymooning couple across the aisle. When someone yelled at the Brazilians to shut-up they took it as a request to sing the Black-Eyed Peas song "Shut-Up." Finally the seriously pissed-off bus driver screamed for everybody to get off that he wasn't going any furthur.
Even though it was New Year's Eve and there was a huge concert on the beach all of the bars were shut and the only open establishment was Boost Juice. We got some smoothies and headed to the beach. We watched security guards wearimg shirts that said "safe Event" flirt with drunken teenagers. It was all very entertaining and we found a patch of grass to sleep in. As the sun was rising a wine bottle rolled down the hill and hit Sarah on the head so we all woke up and enjoyed the views of the sunrise over the beach and bottles and trash and sleeping revellers everwhere. The three of us began an exhausted walk along the cliffs to find a place open for breakfast, which we did in the town of Bronte. I then said goodbye to Sarah and Kate and continued on the cliffwalk back to Jenny's house where I fell straight to sleep on my bed made of sofa pillows. Guy and his friend arrived home not long after me and then Sarah called and asked if she could come sleep for a little while longer. All the beds and floor space of Jenny's house was taken up with sleepers.
That evening, once everyone was mostly recovered and caught up somewhat on sleep, Jenny, Guy, and I went to the city to see Elton John's new musical Billy Elliot. It was great! After the singing and ballet dancing was through we all went straight to bed, our first day of 2008 finished.
The next day I left Sydney behind and boarded a train to the beach town of Coff's Harbour. My neighbour for the 8-hour train ride was a 4 year old Indian boy who wanted to talk and play with me for the whole ride. Ignoring my head phones and magazine he made me watch him play games on his dad's cellphone and shouted "damnit" whenever he lost. After an hour or so he was climbing on top of me and singing High School Musical songs and begging to listen to my ipod. His mother, who was sitting behing me with his younger brother, kept yelling at him to leave me alone but he would yell back that I was his friend. He finally fell asleep and I few hours of peace before I made it to Coff's.
One of my reasons, other than breaking up the trip to Brisbane, for stopping in Coff's Harbour was to see the Big Banana, a giant banana on the side of the road. I thought this sounded very exciting and set off the next morning an hour walk across town to see it. Once I arrived and saw it across the highway I realized that I was expecting a much, much bigger banana. Maybe one ten times the size of what I was actually seeing. It was disapointing but since it was beginning to rain i crossed over and went on the banana experience tour. I learned all about the history of banana farming and the health benefits of banana before touring the plantation and eating some tasty samples. When that was over it was still raining so I sat down with my book to read and wait for the rain to stop. 3 hours later it was still raining so a lady in the gift shop called me a cab and I headed back to my hostel. Coff's Harbour is a beach town and other than seeing the big banana there is not much to do other than be at the beach. Luckily I had some cool girls in my hostel room and we chatted and had some beers while the rain poured down. The next day was not any better and I was very happy when it was time to board the train for Byron Bay that afternoon.
Well that is all the typing I can handle for today so I am off to explore Byron Bay, the "hippie" town of Australia.
Almost immediately after the fireworks ended guards began coming through and telling us to leave. Kate and Sarah and I had planned to sit around for an hour and wait for the crowds to die down before trying to push our way onto a bus to Bondi. No such luck. We did somehow manage to get on the first bus we saw and climbed aboard along with a group of very drunk Brazilians who proceeded to sing loudly as we drove to the beach. Our bus driver was not so happy about this and would slam on his brakes whenever we hit a red light, sending me flying into the laps of a honeymooning couple across the aisle. When someone yelled at the Brazilians to shut-up they took it as a request to sing the Black-Eyed Peas song "Shut-Up." Finally the seriously pissed-off bus driver screamed for everybody to get off that he wasn't going any furthur.
Even though it was New Year's Eve and there was a huge concert on the beach all of the bars were shut and the only open establishment was Boost Juice. We got some smoothies and headed to the beach. We watched security guards wearimg shirts that said "safe Event" flirt with drunken teenagers. It was all very entertaining and we found a patch of grass to sleep in. As the sun was rising a wine bottle rolled down the hill and hit Sarah on the head so we all woke up and enjoyed the views of the sunrise over the beach and bottles and trash and sleeping revellers everwhere. The three of us began an exhausted walk along the cliffs to find a place open for breakfast, which we did in the town of Bronte. I then said goodbye to Sarah and Kate and continued on the cliffwalk back to Jenny's house where I fell straight to sleep on my bed made of sofa pillows. Guy and his friend arrived home not long after me and then Sarah called and asked if she could come sleep for a little while longer. All the beds and floor space of Jenny's house was taken up with sleepers.
That evening, once everyone was mostly recovered and caught up somewhat on sleep, Jenny, Guy, and I went to the city to see Elton John's new musical Billy Elliot. It was great! After the singing and ballet dancing was through we all went straight to bed, our first day of 2008 finished.
The next day I left Sydney behind and boarded a train to the beach town of Coff's Harbour. My neighbour for the 8-hour train ride was a 4 year old Indian boy who wanted to talk and play with me for the whole ride. Ignoring my head phones and magazine he made me watch him play games on his dad's cellphone and shouted "damnit" whenever he lost. After an hour or so he was climbing on top of me and singing High School Musical songs and begging to listen to my ipod. His mother, who was sitting behing me with his younger brother, kept yelling at him to leave me alone but he would yell back that I was his friend. He finally fell asleep and I few hours of peace before I made it to Coff's.
One of my reasons, other than breaking up the trip to Brisbane, for stopping in Coff's Harbour was to see the Big Banana, a giant banana on the side of the road. I thought this sounded very exciting and set off the next morning an hour walk across town to see it. Once I arrived and saw it across the highway I realized that I was expecting a much, much bigger banana. Maybe one ten times the size of what I was actually seeing. It was disapointing but since it was beginning to rain i crossed over and went on the banana experience tour. I learned all about the history of banana farming and the health benefits of banana before touring the plantation and eating some tasty samples. When that was over it was still raining so I sat down with my book to read and wait for the rain to stop. 3 hours later it was still raining so a lady in the gift shop called me a cab and I headed back to my hostel. Coff's Harbour is a beach town and other than seeing the big banana there is not much to do other than be at the beach. Luckily I had some cool girls in my hostel room and we chatted and had some beers while the rain poured down. The next day was not any better and I was very happy when it was time to board the train for Byron Bay that afternoon.
Well that is all the typing I can handle for today so I am off to explore Byron Bay, the "hippie" town of Australia.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Rain Rain Go Away
I am currently in the beachside town of Coff's Harbour enjoying my second day of nonstop rain. Perfect weather for blog updating but not so good for anything else.
So the day after I arrived in Sydney I met up with my friend Guy. He had just arrived back to Australia after a year and a half of working and travelling all over the place. We walked around the city and then got picked up by his uncle and drove two hours north to Newcastle where I would be spending Christmas with Guy's family. Everyone was incredibly nice and so it was a great place to spend Christmas away from home. We went to the beach and for boat rides and while it was strange to celebrate Christmas in the summer it was not at all unpleasant. By the time Christmas rolled around the house was full of people and dogs sleeping in beds, on the floor, and in tents in the shed and backyard. There was lots of champagne drinking and chocolate eating, particularly out of one of the cousin's chocolate fountains. On one of the boating trips I even got to swim with a shark. We had been swimming in the estuary and had all just gotten back into the boat to nap (minus 14-year-old Oscar who was floating on an inner tube) when the shark was spotted gliding past our boat. Oscar was quickly pulled in and we followed after the shop for a while taking pictures. That night we poured over marine life books trying to determine what kind of shark we had seen and decided that it was a bull shark, one of the more dangerous varieties.
A few days after Christmas I left all the nice people in Newcastle to head back to Sydney for New Year's with Guy and his aunt Jenny, who has a house close to Bondi Beach. That afternoon I met up with Sarah (or Tiger, who I had stayed with in Perth and was now traveling after finishing up her semester.) We went to Bondi and I was amazed with how different it looked from when I was there in September. In the winter there had been hardly anyone at the beach but now it was packed with sunbathers and looked like it does in all the pictures. We then did the cliffwalk back to Jenny's house and went out to dinner with her. Early the next morning Sarah and I went on a bus tour to the Blue Mountains. Our first stop was at yet another wildlife park. Both of us had been to about 5 since we had been in Australia but we did manage to enjoy watching the echidnas eat out of bottles sticking out of termite mounds. We then went on a small hike to see a waterfall and when we got back on the bus to drive to lunch discovered that its brakes were not working. An hour later some vans picked us up and brought us to our lunch spot. No worries. We used the time to call some hostels and soon realized there was no chance we would be able to get a bed. After lunch we went and looked at the famous Three Sisters (rock formations) and then went to Scenic World, home of the world's steepest, and most terrifying, railway. I am not sure how hundreds of people have not fallen out of this train and slid down the mountain. When we returned to our new rental bus we discovered that it was stuck on the curb due to complex suspension issues that I don't really understand. Close to an hour later the situation was resolved and we were back on the bus speeding to make it to the Olympic Park and to get on our harbour cruise. Instead of a leisurely stroll around the park we had a quick drive through and then ran onto the boat. Despite all the hassles of the day the cruise was very relaxing and scenic.
The next day I decided to finish the Bondi-Coogee beachwalk. It was about a half an hour from Jenny's place to Coogee but it was excruciatingly hot. Coogee beach was just as crowded as Bondi but was full of cute cafes and shops. I went to see the movie Atonement to escape from the heat and the dragged myself back along the cliffwalk to Jenny's house where everyone went to bed early to be nice and rested for New Year's eve the next day.
I am about to run out of internet time so I better go get some more credit. New Year's Eve and trip to Coff's Harbour coming soon!
So the day after I arrived in Sydney I met up with my friend Guy. He had just arrived back to Australia after a year and a half of working and travelling all over the place. We walked around the city and then got picked up by his uncle and drove two hours north to Newcastle where I would be spending Christmas with Guy's family. Everyone was incredibly nice and so it was a great place to spend Christmas away from home. We went to the beach and for boat rides and while it was strange to celebrate Christmas in the summer it was not at all unpleasant. By the time Christmas rolled around the house was full of people and dogs sleeping in beds, on the floor, and in tents in the shed and backyard. There was lots of champagne drinking and chocolate eating, particularly out of one of the cousin's chocolate fountains. On one of the boating trips I even got to swim with a shark. We had been swimming in the estuary and had all just gotten back into the boat to nap (minus 14-year-old Oscar who was floating on an inner tube) when the shark was spotted gliding past our boat. Oscar was quickly pulled in and we followed after the shop for a while taking pictures. That night we poured over marine life books trying to determine what kind of shark we had seen and decided that it was a bull shark, one of the more dangerous varieties.
A few days after Christmas I left all the nice people in Newcastle to head back to Sydney for New Year's with Guy and his aunt Jenny, who has a house close to Bondi Beach. That afternoon I met up with Sarah (or Tiger, who I had stayed with in Perth and was now traveling after finishing up her semester.) We went to Bondi and I was amazed with how different it looked from when I was there in September. In the winter there had been hardly anyone at the beach but now it was packed with sunbathers and looked like it does in all the pictures. We then did the cliffwalk back to Jenny's house and went out to dinner with her. Early the next morning Sarah and I went on a bus tour to the Blue Mountains. Our first stop was at yet another wildlife park. Both of us had been to about 5 since we had been in Australia but we did manage to enjoy watching the echidnas eat out of bottles sticking out of termite mounds. We then went on a small hike to see a waterfall and when we got back on the bus to drive to lunch discovered that its brakes were not working. An hour later some vans picked us up and brought us to our lunch spot. No worries. We used the time to call some hostels and soon realized there was no chance we would be able to get a bed. After lunch we went and looked at the famous Three Sisters (rock formations) and then went to Scenic World, home of the world's steepest, and most terrifying, railway. I am not sure how hundreds of people have not fallen out of this train and slid down the mountain. When we returned to our new rental bus we discovered that it was stuck on the curb due to complex suspension issues that I don't really understand. Close to an hour later the situation was resolved and we were back on the bus speeding to make it to the Olympic Park and to get on our harbour cruise. Instead of a leisurely stroll around the park we had a quick drive through and then ran onto the boat. Despite all the hassles of the day the cruise was very relaxing and scenic.
The next day I decided to finish the Bondi-Coogee beachwalk. It was about a half an hour from Jenny's place to Coogee but it was excruciatingly hot. Coogee beach was just as crowded as Bondi but was full of cute cafes and shops. I went to see the movie Atonement to escape from the heat and the dragged myself back along the cliffwalk to Jenny's house where everyone went to bed early to be nice and rested for New Year's eve the next day.
I am about to run out of internet time so I better go get some more credit. New Year's Eve and trip to Coff's Harbour coming soon!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Happy New Year!
I know it's been forever and now I must pay for my laziness by trying to write about a whole month in one sitting. Here goes.
Melbourne - I spent a week with camp people for my friend Vanilla Ice's (Tim, but I don't think I've ever called him that) 30th birthday. He lives with his very cool roommate Vicki and a very cute but not very smart puppy named Bear. Other camp people came from New Zealand and other parts of Australia and we all had a great time talking about the kids and counselors. The week involved lots of tv watching, (I discovered the hilarious Australian tv show Summer Heights High and rediscovered the also hilarious first season of Beverly Hills, 90210,)playing with the dog, and singing karaoke. After saying goodbye to everyone I checked into a hostel in Melbourne for a few days to be a tourist. I was woken up my first morning in the hostel by the girl above me deciding to have an early morning cell phone conversation in her bed. I managed to block it out but when the same thing happened my second morning I was not feeling so nice anymore. Luckily the girl checked out that day. While in Melbourne I walked around some of the different neighborhoods, went to the Melbourne Gaol and saw where the hung Ned Kelly, and went to the very cool Melbourne Museum and saw lots of interesting things none of which I can remember at this point in time. I had a great dinner with one of my dad's dental friends at a cafe on the water with a great view of the city and the sunset. I could have spent plenty more time exploring the city but I had booked a tour to get me to Sydney.
Melbourne - Sydney - I was picked up entirely too early in the morning by Bones, my tour guide, for a 3 day bus trip that would take me to Sydney via the Snowy Mountains, Wilson's Promontory, and Canberra. Our first day we went hiking in Wilson's Promontory to a place called Squeaky Beach. We also went trough a walk to a field to look at kangaroos and wombat holes. I was already feeling a little kangaroo'd out but this walk included running from an angry magpie which is one of Australia's most dangerous animals. I am already not a big fan of birds so did not appreciate this one swooping towards my head with its sharp beak. This field was also covered in kangaroo poop, which meant so were everyone's shoes when our little wildlife walk was over. We then walked along another beach to see the sunset, which didn't actually occur until an hour after we finished our walk, and then went to bed to prepare for another early morning.
The next morning we all climbed into our bus and headed out to the Snowy Mountains to see Mt. Koscziusko, the highest peak in Australia, and do some hiking. A few hours into our drive along twisty mountain roads it began to rain and the dirty roads began to turn to mud pits. Our bus then became stuck in the mud pit and wouldn't move. Bones then informed us that the buses weren't supposed to be on the roads when it was raining and he was going to call the company and see what they reccomended, until then we should sit tight. For the next two hours we all sat in our freezing cold bus waiting. A few other cars then showed up with some vacationers who could not continue on their trip as long as we were blocking the road. It was decided that everyone should get out of the bus and walk a few kilometers down the road to where it was less windy and Bones were drive the lighter bus down to meet us. This did involve my whole tour group having to push the bus until it became unstuck and then walk through the mud pits while it continued to rain. Soon we were all back in the bus and onto paved roads again. Sadly do the rain and mist we could not hike up Mt. Kozzy, or even see it for that matter. We went on a shorter but still very wet hike and then got to our hostel a few hours eaarly to warm up.
Our last day involved a stop in Australia's capitol city, Canberra. Canberra has a reputation for being boring and for being the only place in the country where it is legal to buy porn and pot. We went on a tour of the capitol building from which the only thing I remember learning is that one of the houses passed a bill so that they (and only them) could have green exit signs rather than the required red ones so that it would match their color scheme. We then drove to Sydney and I decided that I had enough of bus tours and hiking for the moment. I cancelled my planned stay at the nearby Blue Mountains and decided to head up to Newcastle, where I would be for the Christmas holidays, a few days early.
Ok, I think I will have to save Christmas and New Year's for later today. I hope everyone had a great New Year's and is enjoying 2008!
Melbourne - I spent a week with camp people for my friend Vanilla Ice's (Tim, but I don't think I've ever called him that) 30th birthday. He lives with his very cool roommate Vicki and a very cute but not very smart puppy named Bear. Other camp people came from New Zealand and other parts of Australia and we all had a great time talking about the kids and counselors. The week involved lots of tv watching, (I discovered the hilarious Australian tv show Summer Heights High and rediscovered the also hilarious first season of Beverly Hills, 90210,)playing with the dog, and singing karaoke. After saying goodbye to everyone I checked into a hostel in Melbourne for a few days to be a tourist. I was woken up my first morning in the hostel by the girl above me deciding to have an early morning cell phone conversation in her bed. I managed to block it out but when the same thing happened my second morning I was not feeling so nice anymore. Luckily the girl checked out that day. While in Melbourne I walked around some of the different neighborhoods, went to the Melbourne Gaol and saw where the hung Ned Kelly, and went to the very cool Melbourne Museum and saw lots of interesting things none of which I can remember at this point in time. I had a great dinner with one of my dad's dental friends at a cafe on the water with a great view of the city and the sunset. I could have spent plenty more time exploring the city but I had booked a tour to get me to Sydney.
Melbourne - Sydney - I was picked up entirely too early in the morning by Bones, my tour guide, for a 3 day bus trip that would take me to Sydney via the Snowy Mountains, Wilson's Promontory, and Canberra. Our first day we went hiking in Wilson's Promontory to a place called Squeaky Beach. We also went trough a walk to a field to look at kangaroos and wombat holes. I was already feeling a little kangaroo'd out but this walk included running from an angry magpie which is one of Australia's most dangerous animals. I am already not a big fan of birds so did not appreciate this one swooping towards my head with its sharp beak. This field was also covered in kangaroo poop, which meant so were everyone's shoes when our little wildlife walk was over. We then walked along another beach to see the sunset, which didn't actually occur until an hour after we finished our walk, and then went to bed to prepare for another early morning.
The next morning we all climbed into our bus and headed out to the Snowy Mountains to see Mt. Koscziusko, the highest peak in Australia, and do some hiking. A few hours into our drive along twisty mountain roads it began to rain and the dirty roads began to turn to mud pits. Our bus then became stuck in the mud pit and wouldn't move. Bones then informed us that the buses weren't supposed to be on the roads when it was raining and he was going to call the company and see what they reccomended, until then we should sit tight. For the next two hours we all sat in our freezing cold bus waiting. A few other cars then showed up with some vacationers who could not continue on their trip as long as we were blocking the road. It was decided that everyone should get out of the bus and walk a few kilometers down the road to where it was less windy and Bones were drive the lighter bus down to meet us. This did involve my whole tour group having to push the bus until it became unstuck and then walk through the mud pits while it continued to rain. Soon we were all back in the bus and onto paved roads again. Sadly do the rain and mist we could not hike up Mt. Kozzy, or even see it for that matter. We went on a shorter but still very wet hike and then got to our hostel a few hours eaarly to warm up.
Our last day involved a stop in Australia's capitol city, Canberra. Canberra has a reputation for being boring and for being the only place in the country where it is legal to buy porn and pot. We went on a tour of the capitol building from which the only thing I remember learning is that one of the houses passed a bill so that they (and only them) could have green exit signs rather than the required red ones so that it would match their color scheme. We then drove to Sydney and I decided that I had enough of bus tours and hiking for the moment. I cancelled my planned stay at the nearby Blue Mountains and decided to head up to Newcastle, where I would be for the Christmas holidays, a few days early.
Ok, I think I will have to save Christmas and New Year's for later today. I hope everyone had a great New Year's and is enjoying 2008!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Tasmania
So I really wanted to write while I was in tasmania but internet there was ridiculously overpriced and there computers had weird keyboards that were difficult to type on. So I will do my best to remember what happened for the week I was there. I spent a day walking around Hobart before heading off on a 7 day tour to see the rest of Tasmania. The first day we went to Wineglass Bay, voted the best beach in Australia. To get to the beach you had to walk 1.5 hours up a steep hill and then down to the beach. While on the down part a girl from my group fell down and I told her not to worry, that I fall down every time I hike. Ten minutes later I was true to my word when I tripped on nothing and fell down. I ripped my pants and cut both of my knees. I walked and bled the rest of the way down to the incredible beach where I cleaned myself up and relaxed on the beach a while. It was then time for another 1.5 hour up and down climb from the beach back to the bus. This time up I passed a crazy guy doing the hike (barely) with his huge backpack and ran into a guy from my great Ocean Road trip. That night my group stayed in a little seaside town called Bicheno. Most people payed twenty bucks to go see little penguins (which by the way, used to be called fairy penguins but must now be referred to as little penguins because fairy is supposedly offensive.)Since I had just seen the little penguin parade and wanted to save twenty bucks I stayed behind and watched Australian Idol with an Irish girl named Geraldine. i also manged to rip my pants in a second place and with no sewing kit used some tape to make them wearable for the rest of the trip.
The next day we walked along another pretty beach in the bay of fires. it was rainy but still a very pretty walk. We spent the evening in the city of Launceston. Apparently this city is famous for its gorge. I had no idea it existed until after we left the town so i did not go see it. After we checked into our hostel I went and got dinner. I returned to find the hostel in chaos. A dog had gotten into the hostel and was chasing the owner's cat through the dining area. people were either standing on tables yelling or chasing after the dog. It was finally caught and dragged outside, only to make its way back in through another entrance a few minutes later. Poor Geraldine had been bitten or scratched by one of the animals as they fought on top her legs while she was eating dinner and had to go to the hospital. i spent the night talking with a Belgian girl and a deaf girl from Japan who could speak and lipread both Japanese and English.
The next two days were spent on the west coast of Tasmania walking through rainforests and visiting factories. We went to a chocolate and a cheese factory with very generous free sampling and to a paper factory and art studio. We spent the night at Stanley in a hostel right on the beach where we went for a sunset walk. The next morning we climed the Stanley "nut", a big Uluru type looking rock which has a short but VERY steep climb to the top. A few people paid to take the chairlift up and down and by the end I was wishing i had too. The views from the top were amazing. Around lunchtime we stopped to get fuel and ended up spending the next two hours at the gas station. Our driver experienced a brain fart and put diesel into the van. The fuel tank had to be drained and refilled. Luckily this was a very scenic gas station right by a river with a nice walking trail. I also got to drive the van about 10 feet which was very exciting since it was my first time driving on the wrong side of the road. Once the van got going again we went to another river to try and spot some platypus. None were spotted. We then headed to the city of Devenport for the night. We got there about 4:30 and thought we would have about an hour to walk around and see the shops. While not a very exciting place to begin with the whole city was shut down early for some sort of festival. i discovered this as I angrily walked down the streets wondering why all the stores and restaurants were closed over an hour before there signs said they would. I then tried to watch some Tv in the hostel. About every 2 minutes the clear reception would give way to static. I eventually gave up and went to bed early.
The next day we went to Cradle Mountain. This part of Australia is usually rainy and cloudy. It only has about 30 sunny and clear days a year. By some miracle we were there ona gorgeous day. I did a 2 hour walk around a lake at the base of Cradle Mountain and then a 3 hour boardwalk from the mountain back to our campsite. I am usually not good at taking pictures but I took tons along the walk. At dusk we went wildlife spotting and saw a womabt family including babies and some wallabies kickboxing.
The next day we drove to a waterfall. We were told we had a 3 hour hike there and back to get to the waterfall. Once you got the waterfall there was a very skinny suspension bridge to walk across. Once across two German girls and I kept walking thinking that the track was a loop. An hour and a half later we began to have our doubts. We got to a fork in the road and chose right and walked down a muddy yellow track. Half an hour later we decided maybe we should have tried left. We went back and past the fork another half an hour. Now an hour late from when we were supposed to be back at the bus we realized we would need to hike all the way back to suspension bridge and back down the path we had come, which would take another 3 hours. We had not eaten since breakfast and none of us had food or water. Somehow we practically ran back down the track and made it to the parking lot in two hours. Our whole group was sitting around and the driver had gone to the check out the places where we would have come out if we kept going down the road. All in all we hiked somewhere between 20-30k in 6 hours. The day was not over yet. We drove to a sand dune and had to climb up a very high and steep cliff of sand for some pictures and sand jumping. Very pretty and would have been fun but my legs felt like they might fall off at any moment. We also went to another beach to watch the sunset and look at dolphins through binoculars.
The last day of our tour involved more rainforest hikes and waterfalls and stopping in a town whose claim to fame was that they painted all the buildings with murals. We arrived back in Hobart late and my two German hiking buddies and I went looking for dinner. We walked around in the rain for an hour before we realized that Subway was the only open restaurant in the whole city.
The Cadbury Chocolate factory was not far from Hobart and had told people back in Melbourne that I would bring them chocolate so I booked a tour there the next day. I found out which bus to take and climbed on. I assumed that the bus would stop in front of the factory and that it would all be very obvious. After a while I asked the bus driver how much longer and she told me that I should have gotten off a while ago. When she heard what time my tour was at she told me I should get off now and call a cab. I got off in the middle of a Hobart suburb and could see the factory in the distance I decided to run there. Somehow 20 minutes later I arrived panting and sweating just in time for my tour. It was pretty cool to see and I ate way too many free samples. When i got back to Hobart one of the Germans and I made vegetables for dinner and then watched tv and went to bed. The next day I flew back to Melbourne. I will have to write about my time in Melbourne later since I am on my way to dinner!
The next day we walked along another pretty beach in the bay of fires. it was rainy but still a very pretty walk. We spent the evening in the city of Launceston. Apparently this city is famous for its gorge. I had no idea it existed until after we left the town so i did not go see it. After we checked into our hostel I went and got dinner. I returned to find the hostel in chaos. A dog had gotten into the hostel and was chasing the owner's cat through the dining area. people were either standing on tables yelling or chasing after the dog. It was finally caught and dragged outside, only to make its way back in through another entrance a few minutes later. Poor Geraldine had been bitten or scratched by one of the animals as they fought on top her legs while she was eating dinner and had to go to the hospital. i spent the night talking with a Belgian girl and a deaf girl from Japan who could speak and lipread both Japanese and English.
The next two days were spent on the west coast of Tasmania walking through rainforests and visiting factories. We went to a chocolate and a cheese factory with very generous free sampling and to a paper factory and art studio. We spent the night at Stanley in a hostel right on the beach where we went for a sunset walk. The next morning we climed the Stanley "nut", a big Uluru type looking rock which has a short but VERY steep climb to the top. A few people paid to take the chairlift up and down and by the end I was wishing i had too. The views from the top were amazing. Around lunchtime we stopped to get fuel and ended up spending the next two hours at the gas station. Our driver experienced a brain fart and put diesel into the van. The fuel tank had to be drained and refilled. Luckily this was a very scenic gas station right by a river with a nice walking trail. I also got to drive the van about 10 feet which was very exciting since it was my first time driving on the wrong side of the road. Once the van got going again we went to another river to try and spot some platypus. None were spotted. We then headed to the city of Devenport for the night. We got there about 4:30 and thought we would have about an hour to walk around and see the shops. While not a very exciting place to begin with the whole city was shut down early for some sort of festival. i discovered this as I angrily walked down the streets wondering why all the stores and restaurants were closed over an hour before there signs said they would. I then tried to watch some Tv in the hostel. About every 2 minutes the clear reception would give way to static. I eventually gave up and went to bed early.
The next day we went to Cradle Mountain. This part of Australia is usually rainy and cloudy. It only has about 30 sunny and clear days a year. By some miracle we were there ona gorgeous day. I did a 2 hour walk around a lake at the base of Cradle Mountain and then a 3 hour boardwalk from the mountain back to our campsite. I am usually not good at taking pictures but I took tons along the walk. At dusk we went wildlife spotting and saw a womabt family including babies and some wallabies kickboxing.
The next day we drove to a waterfall. We were told we had a 3 hour hike there and back to get to the waterfall. Once you got the waterfall there was a very skinny suspension bridge to walk across. Once across two German girls and I kept walking thinking that the track was a loop. An hour and a half later we began to have our doubts. We got to a fork in the road and chose right and walked down a muddy yellow track. Half an hour later we decided maybe we should have tried left. We went back and past the fork another half an hour. Now an hour late from when we were supposed to be back at the bus we realized we would need to hike all the way back to suspension bridge and back down the path we had come, which would take another 3 hours. We had not eaten since breakfast and none of us had food or water. Somehow we practically ran back down the track and made it to the parking lot in two hours. Our whole group was sitting around and the driver had gone to the check out the places where we would have come out if we kept going down the road. All in all we hiked somewhere between 20-30k in 6 hours. The day was not over yet. We drove to a sand dune and had to climb up a very high and steep cliff of sand for some pictures and sand jumping. Very pretty and would have been fun but my legs felt like they might fall off at any moment. We also went to another beach to watch the sunset and look at dolphins through binoculars.
The last day of our tour involved more rainforest hikes and waterfalls and stopping in a town whose claim to fame was that they painted all the buildings with murals. We arrived back in Hobart late and my two German hiking buddies and I went looking for dinner. We walked around in the rain for an hour before we realized that Subway was the only open restaurant in the whole city.
The Cadbury Chocolate factory was not far from Hobart and had told people back in Melbourne that I would bring them chocolate so I booked a tour there the next day. I found out which bus to take and climbed on. I assumed that the bus would stop in front of the factory and that it would all be very obvious. After a while I asked the bus driver how much longer and she told me that I should have gotten off a while ago. When she heard what time my tour was at she told me I should get off now and call a cab. I got off in the middle of a Hobart suburb and could see the factory in the distance I decided to run there. Somehow 20 minutes later I arrived panting and sweating just in time for my tour. It was pretty cool to see and I ate way too many free samples. When i got back to Hobart one of the Germans and I made vegetables for dinner and then watched tv and went to bed. The next day I flew back to Melbourne. I will have to write about my time in Melbourne later since I am on my way to dinner!
pictures!
I know it has been forever since I last wrote, but Internet cost exorbitant prices in tasmania and then I was without internet at my friend's place in Melbourne for another week. I will write about all the exciting things I did in Tassie and in Melbourne, but until I get around to it here are all but a few of my pictures so far.
Sydney
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018864&l=fa2e8&id=15400598
Outback
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018869&l=610eb&id=15400598
Brisbane and the Whitsundays
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018867&l=327ce&id=15400598
Queensland
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018895&l=f5301&id=15400598
Top End
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018896&l=f4707&id=15400598
Western Oz
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019723&l=171c4&id=15400598
Southern Oz
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019726&l=45a8b&id=15400598
Victoria
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020115&l=325fb&id=15400598
Tasmania
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018864&l=fa2e8&id=15400598
Sydney
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018864&l=fa2e8&id=15400598
Outback
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018869&l=610eb&id=15400598
Brisbane and the Whitsundays
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018867&l=327ce&id=15400598
Queensland
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018895&l=f5301&id=15400598
Top End
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018896&l=f4707&id=15400598
Western Oz
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019723&l=171c4&id=15400598
Southern Oz
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019726&l=45a8b&id=15400598
Victoria
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020115&l=325fb&id=15400598
Tasmania
http://colby.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018864&l=fa2e8&id=15400598
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