Well the cab has been called, and we have about 30 minutes left in The Village. All of our friends that are left over have stayed up to see us off at 4am. :)
It is so bittersweet to be leaving here. I have made so many close friends and can't imagine not being with them every day starting tomorrow. Though it will be so nice to get home, and get into a summer groove, it will be incredibly weird leaving what has become so normal over the last four and a half months.
I have a long travel period ahead of me... something like 38 hours door to door. Everything is packed and it's just so weird! Now that it's happening though... I'm ready to be going home. Hopefully I can enjoy my flights and not have any problems.
I suppose this may be the last, or second to last post on the blog. I hope you all have enjoyed reading through my adventures and I also hope that I have managed to entertain you all. It has been such an amazing semester and I cannot wait to tell everyone about it.
Hope all is well at home!
Love and miss you all!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Nearing The End
As I write this, we have already lost 4 people from our group. The next three to leave will be Trina, Steffen, and myself. We stayed up until 4am last night to watch Emma, Lauren, and Stephanie get in their taxi to start their treks home. It was so sad to see them go, knowing that I won't see some of them for quite a long time. We were so exhausted after they left, that we immediately went to bed and crashed. I woke up rather early this morning, walked down the hall to Lauren's room, and was so depressed to see it completely empty.
Being in Toowoomba without all of these people is so hard. Lauren isn't just down the hall, Alex's loud voice isn't booming through the house, and I can't text Stephanie with some witty comment or funny story. Being one of the last to leave is definitely hard. Tonight is my last full night in Toowoomba, as Trina and I are also taking a 4am cab tomorrow night. Tomorrow should consist of packing, having a few cocktails, and finishing off as much of our food that we still have as possible. Luckily we still have a rather large group of people to keep company with. Casey and Michelle will be in Toowoomba for two more weeks, and Tyler is here for the next semester. Though our group is smaller, we still are having a good time, making each other laugh, and trying not to get too sad about those that are missing.
This semester has been one of the most inspiring times in my life. I have met so many different and amazing people who have all given me a boost to become a better person. All of my friends here are so caring, loving, hilarious, intelligent, and beautiful people. Leaving them is going to be so incredibly hard. Knowing that we all may never be in the same place at the same time again, and especially not in Toowoomba, is so painful. I anticipate needing an entire box of tissues for my flights home. This semester has also sparked my love for traveling. I cannot wait to explore as much of this world as possible. Before coming to Australia I told myself I was going to take any opportunity that was given to me throughout the semester. I believe I did just that. Though there were still so many other things I would have liked to do or see, I believe that I did so much considering the time and money constraints. All of those I didn't get to, will just head my to-do list for the next time I'm down under.
This must be one of the most bittersweet times in my life. While I am so sad to leave my friends and the wonderful dynamic we've created, I am also ready to bid Toowoomba adieu and get back to beautiful Vermont! Summer in Vermont could quite possibly be my most favorite thing. The mountains are so beautiful, it's sunny and warm, and everyone is so carefree. I cannot wait to see you all and tell of the details of my semester! Even though I will be exhausted from 40 hours of traveling, incredibly jet-lagged, and maybe as greasy as a frialator, I will instantly be rejuvenated by the sight of family, friends, and beautiful Bethel and Burlington. I am so fortunate to have been able to experience this semester and all that it has entailed. But I am even more fortunate to be able to return to a place like Vermont.
I will do my best to post again tomorrow night before I leave. My flight schedule is something like this: Fly from Brisbane to Sydney at/around 11am (9pmEST Sunday) , Sydney to San Francisco, and then from SanFran to Boston getting in around 10:30pmEST Monday night. Should be in Bethel by 2am... which will of course feel like 4pm that same day. Super. :)
Can't wait to see you all!
Hope all is well!
Miss you all!
Being in Toowoomba without all of these people is so hard. Lauren isn't just down the hall, Alex's loud voice isn't booming through the house, and I can't text Stephanie with some witty comment or funny story. Being one of the last to leave is definitely hard. Tonight is my last full night in Toowoomba, as Trina and I are also taking a 4am cab tomorrow night. Tomorrow should consist of packing, having a few cocktails, and finishing off as much of our food that we still have as possible. Luckily we still have a rather large group of people to keep company with. Casey and Michelle will be in Toowoomba for two more weeks, and Tyler is here for the next semester. Though our group is smaller, we still are having a good time, making each other laugh, and trying not to get too sad about those that are missing.
This semester has been one of the most inspiring times in my life. I have met so many different and amazing people who have all given me a boost to become a better person. All of my friends here are so caring, loving, hilarious, intelligent, and beautiful people. Leaving them is going to be so incredibly hard. Knowing that we all may never be in the same place at the same time again, and especially not in Toowoomba, is so painful. I anticipate needing an entire box of tissues for my flights home. This semester has also sparked my love for traveling. I cannot wait to explore as much of this world as possible. Before coming to Australia I told myself I was going to take any opportunity that was given to me throughout the semester. I believe I did just that. Though there were still so many other things I would have liked to do or see, I believe that I did so much considering the time and money constraints. All of those I didn't get to, will just head my to-do list for the next time I'm down under.
This must be one of the most bittersweet times in my life. While I am so sad to leave my friends and the wonderful dynamic we've created, I am also ready to bid Toowoomba adieu and get back to beautiful Vermont! Summer in Vermont could quite possibly be my most favorite thing. The mountains are so beautiful, it's sunny and warm, and everyone is so carefree. I cannot wait to see you all and tell of the details of my semester! Even though I will be exhausted from 40 hours of traveling, incredibly jet-lagged, and maybe as greasy as a frialator, I will instantly be rejuvenated by the sight of family, friends, and beautiful Bethel and Burlington. I am so fortunate to have been able to experience this semester and all that it has entailed. But I am even more fortunate to be able to return to a place like Vermont.
I will do my best to post again tomorrow night before I leave. My flight schedule is something like this: Fly from Brisbane to Sydney at/around 11am (9pmEST Sunday) , Sydney to San Francisco, and then from SanFran to Boston getting in around 10:30pmEST Monday night. Should be in Bethel by 2am... which will of course feel like 4pm that same day. Super. :)
Can't wait to see you all!
Hope all is well!
Miss you all!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Byron Bay and some Severe Realization
Let me start off by telling you all that I finished my three finals, they went very well, and I'm on easy street until we head back stateside. :)
Anyway, back to my adventures. When talking to anyone in Australia about where I should go and what I should see I don't think a single person didn't say Byron Bay. So with one weekend left to travel, I decided that I was going to Byron Bay. I rented my first car as a 21yo, and told all of my friends that they were welcome to come and the car was on me. Sadly, because of finals and cashflow, almost no one could come. Thankfully, Lauren was able to come... so per usual, I had my travel buddy! After I went downtown and rented the car, Lauren and I had a leisurely morning in Toowoomba, got in the car, and headed south towards Byron Bay. Having a car to go places in Australia is such a simple luxury and it made me realize how much I miss my car.
The drive down to Byron was beautiful! Bright blue skies and an abundance of sun... until we got to Byron. Clearly. As we were heading south we saw this WALL of black clouds... which basically started about 1km north of Byron. However, even though it poured rain for most of the weekend, it was sunny in the times that we needed it, so all was well. Byron is basically a huge hippie/surf town. Everyone there has dreadlocks and is so laid back. It was perfect.
Our friend from UVM, Melissa - who studied in Perth this semester, had just been in Cairns for the last few days before this and was flying down to meet us in Byron, hang out there, and then come back to spend her last few days in Australia with us in Toowoomba... poor soul. It was so nice to see Melissa, as we hadn't seen her since we went to Sydney in March. I had forgotten how long ago it was when we went to Sydney, and that's when it first hit me that this semester was nearly over and I couldn't believe it.
In Byron we walked around through all of the shops, ate almost every meal out, went out, visited the lighthouse and the easterly most point in the Australian mainland, and also remembered our skills learned in Surfer's Paradise, rented a board, and did some surfing. It was just a few days in Byron, but it really was fun. Because it rains there almost all the time, it was so incredibly green. The lighthouse was very neat, and being on a hill, it provided for some beautiful views of the coast and the whales migrating. It was so nice. We also tried our hand at surfing again, which was pretty good actually. I was pleased that I remembered how and was still slightly able. Even with the rain, Byron was a great town and we had a good few days there.
Melissa came back home with us and spent her last weekend in Toowoomba, before flying to Sydney for a day to go home. She was lucky enough to ride on the TT Coaches on her way to Brisbane. Clearly we couldn't send her home without a ride in one of their death traps. Sorry if this bit about Byron was flighty... I just really want to blog about this next bit and can't think of much else right now.
Last night at 8pm we had a severe realization that things can go wrong, and do, and one minute you're having fun in Toowoomba, and the next you are on a flight back to Germany. Our roommate Alex got a call from home last night telling him that his dad's cancer was back and it had spread. The doctor said he might have two weeks, maybe two months, they didn't know. Watching Alex get this news really hit home. It brought us so close to pain and the realization that this could have been any of our family members. What seems like such an amazing semester, could have been ripped out from under any of us at any point. Alex was meant to meet his friend from Germany in a week and spend two weeks driving around Australia. However, he decided that he needed to be home. We all seemed to know what needed to be done. Casey and Michelle packed Alex's entire room, Lauren packed snacks, Steffen did so many logistical things that we never would have thought about, Stephanie started baking, Trina took care of Alex, and I booked him a new flight for Germany at 2am. This was our first test as a group of friends with something as serious and sad as this. I was so proud of us and how everyone did what needed to be done.
The worst part of all of this, is that Alex (and us), weren't intending for this to happen. His exit was unanticipated and we never had time to process it. He got the call at 8 and we were in the car to Brisbane by 10. It was a whirlwind of emotion and I was just not prepared for it. As he was walking through security, those of us that took him to the airport realized that we wouldn't be seeing him in quite a while, and never again in unit 73 of The Village. This is when it hit me that this semester is ending almost immediately. Sure, I knew that it was only a few days until I went home, but I guess I didn't realize that I am not going to see all of these new friends I've made... in quite a while. I'm probably going to be a wreck when it's time for the others to start going. Everyone here has become my family and some of my closest friends. Not seeing them everyday is going to be harder to get used to than coming to Australia in the first point.
This whole Alex thing instilled in me that even though you may have all of these plans, you can't control what actually happens in life. This wasn't how he was supposed to leave Toowoomba, and our weekend will be weird without him. However, we'll make it work, because we have to. My thoughts are with Alex and his family, and I am so incredibly thankful for my family's health.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
(4 days)
Anyway, back to my adventures. When talking to anyone in Australia about where I should go and what I should see I don't think a single person didn't say Byron Bay. So with one weekend left to travel, I decided that I was going to Byron Bay. I rented my first car as a 21yo, and told all of my friends that they were welcome to come and the car was on me. Sadly, because of finals and cashflow, almost no one could come. Thankfully, Lauren was able to come... so per usual, I had my travel buddy! After I went downtown and rented the car, Lauren and I had a leisurely morning in Toowoomba, got in the car, and headed south towards Byron Bay. Having a car to go places in Australia is such a simple luxury and it made me realize how much I miss my car.
The drive down to Byron was beautiful! Bright blue skies and an abundance of sun... until we got to Byron. Clearly. As we were heading south we saw this WALL of black clouds... which basically started about 1km north of Byron. However, even though it poured rain for most of the weekend, it was sunny in the times that we needed it, so all was well. Byron is basically a huge hippie/surf town. Everyone there has dreadlocks and is so laid back. It was perfect.
Our friend from UVM, Melissa - who studied in Perth this semester, had just been in Cairns for the last few days before this and was flying down to meet us in Byron, hang out there, and then come back to spend her last few days in Australia with us in Toowoomba... poor soul. It was so nice to see Melissa, as we hadn't seen her since we went to Sydney in March. I had forgotten how long ago it was when we went to Sydney, and that's when it first hit me that this semester was nearly over and I couldn't believe it.
In Byron we walked around through all of the shops, ate almost every meal out, went out, visited the lighthouse and the easterly most point in the Australian mainland, and also remembered our skills learned in Surfer's Paradise, rented a board, and did some surfing. It was just a few days in Byron, but it really was fun. Because it rains there almost all the time, it was so incredibly green. The lighthouse was very neat, and being on a hill, it provided for some beautiful views of the coast and the whales migrating. It was so nice. We also tried our hand at surfing again, which was pretty good actually. I was pleased that I remembered how and was still slightly able. Even with the rain, Byron was a great town and we had a good few days there.
Melissa came back home with us and spent her last weekend in Toowoomba, before flying to Sydney for a day to go home. She was lucky enough to ride on the TT Coaches on her way to Brisbane. Clearly we couldn't send her home without a ride in one of their death traps. Sorry if this bit about Byron was flighty... I just really want to blog about this next bit and can't think of much else right now.
Last night at 8pm we had a severe realization that things can go wrong, and do, and one minute you're having fun in Toowoomba, and the next you are on a flight back to Germany. Our roommate Alex got a call from home last night telling him that his dad's cancer was back and it had spread. The doctor said he might have two weeks, maybe two months, they didn't know. Watching Alex get this news really hit home. It brought us so close to pain and the realization that this could have been any of our family members. What seems like such an amazing semester, could have been ripped out from under any of us at any point. Alex was meant to meet his friend from Germany in a week and spend two weeks driving around Australia. However, he decided that he needed to be home. We all seemed to know what needed to be done. Casey and Michelle packed Alex's entire room, Lauren packed snacks, Steffen did so many logistical things that we never would have thought about, Stephanie started baking, Trina took care of Alex, and I booked him a new flight for Germany at 2am. This was our first test as a group of friends with something as serious and sad as this. I was so proud of us and how everyone did what needed to be done.
The worst part of all of this, is that Alex (and us), weren't intending for this to happen. His exit was unanticipated and we never had time to process it. He got the call at 8 and we were in the car to Brisbane by 10. It was a whirlwind of emotion and I was just not prepared for it. As he was walking through security, those of us that took him to the airport realized that we wouldn't be seeing him in quite a while, and never again in unit 73 of The Village. This is when it hit me that this semester is ending almost immediately. Sure, I knew that it was only a few days until I went home, but I guess I didn't realize that I am not going to see all of these new friends I've made... in quite a while. I'm probably going to be a wreck when it's time for the others to start going. Everyone here has become my family and some of my closest friends. Not seeing them everyday is going to be harder to get used to than coming to Australia in the first point.
This whole Alex thing instilled in me that even though you may have all of these plans, you can't control what actually happens in life. This wasn't how he was supposed to leave Toowoomba, and our weekend will be weird without him. However, we'll make it work, because we have to. My thoughts are with Alex and his family, and I am so incredibly thankful for my family's health.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
(4 days)
Friday, June 12, 2009
Home "sweet" Home
Back in Toowoomba after a 6 hour drive from Mitchell! The trip back was a lot better than the trip there because it was rainy on the way there, and today was one of the nicest days! The Outback looks so much more incredible in the sunlight!
It was weird driving in to Toowoomba today... a town that has seemed so small to me in the past seemed so large when entering today and coming from a town of 1,000. I walked to campus to mail a card today, and it seemed like forever since I had been here. The smell of curry that fills The Village filled my nostrils when returning from my walk... something that wasn't very missed.
I do miss Mitchell, and the people, heaps already! Everyone was so incredibly nice and accommodating towards us and I really felt like we were part of their family. I was wicked sad to leave everyone this morning. Mostly because I have a feeling I won't see most of those people ever again, but also because leaving Mitchell signified that it's time to start saying goodbye to people and places that have become so familiar and normal to me. I only have 18 days left in Australia and I already know they are going to go by too fast. I still have so many places I want to see and things to do, and I just don't have the time to do them. I've already made a list of things to do the next time I come.
However, it's time to start studying for finals as I have one Monday and another Wednesday. I'm hoping to go away for a bit next weekend, but we shall see.
It was weird driving in to Toowoomba today... a town that has seemed so small to me in the past seemed so large when entering today and coming from a town of 1,000. I walked to campus to mail a card today, and it seemed like forever since I had been here. The smell of curry that fills The Village filled my nostrils when returning from my walk... something that wasn't very missed.
I do miss Mitchell, and the people, heaps already! Everyone was so incredibly nice and accommodating towards us and I really felt like we were part of their family. I was wicked sad to leave everyone this morning. Mostly because I have a feeling I won't see most of those people ever again, but also because leaving Mitchell signified that it's time to start saying goodbye to people and places that have become so familiar and normal to me. I only have 18 days left in Australia and I already know they are going to go by too fast. I still have so many places I want to see and things to do, and I just don't have the time to do them. I've already made a list of things to do the next time I come.
However, it's time to start studying for finals as I have one Monday and another Wednesday. I'm hoping to go away for a bit next weekend, but we shall see.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Another small town
Mitchell, Queensland! Love it!
When I first found out that I would be going to Mitchell, and even more so after I saw the population on Wikipedia (1,000), I was a little apprehensive about spending two weeks in a town half the size of Bethel. That was, of course, before I met all of the wonderful people from Mitchell. Today marks the week mark of our arrival here.
The nursing quarters that we are staying in are really nice. We have a nice kitchen, nice bathrooms, heaters in our rooms, and a big TV in the living room. The best part may be that it is a 30sec walk to the hospital. The hospital is a small community hospital, but it is rarely quiet. We have four permanent residents which keep us on our toes, as well as various other outpatients that come to the hospital presenting with loads of different problems. Clearly I cannot divulge any of these problems, but I have been getting a proper nursing training. Which I was skeptical of before arriving. The nurses and other staff at the hospital have been so accommodating and incredibly nice since we have arrived. I feel like I've been here for such a long time. It's funny to get back into that small town feel and remember that everyone IS related and everyone DOES know everyone's business.
Mitchell itself is a quaint little town. Being the "Gateway to the Outback" it is very flat and looks a lot like grasslands. There is one main street with two grocery stores, a hardware store, two clothing stores, a butcher, a bakery, and a pharmacy. Most of the corners in town have hotels on them, with bars beneath. The side streets are mainly filled with homes, and a few restaurants or bottle shops. There is also one gas station. :)
Lauren and I had our one day off yesterday (Saturday) and we crammed it full of popular Mitchell activities. We woke up early-ish and went to the Spa. It's called a Spa, but it isn't a spa as we would think of in the US. It is essentially a natural hot-spring pool. The water was right around 100 degrees and it felt so good. There was another pool right next to the hot one that was kept at 70 degrees. Needless to say, I only went in there for the amount of time it took me to jump in and climb out as fast as possible. We felt a little out of place as we slipped into the massive hot tub with twenty other people from Mitchell... who probably all said to themselves: "Who are these people?" Regardless, we hung out for about an hour and a half before going back to the nursing quarters to get ready for the "Pink Bowls!" Now Bowls, or Lawn Bowling, is a popular sport here in Australia and is very similar to Bocce Ball. You stand on a rectangular court with 4 people per team, two bowls (NOT balls - even though they are spherical) per person, and a small white ball called a "Jack" which you are trying to come close to with your balls. Now, this particular game was called "Pink-Bowls" because it was raising money for Breast Cancer Research. Lauren and I were put on a team with two unfortunate, but very friendly and helpful bowls-veterans. I say unfortunate because, had they not had us on their team, the score may not have been 25-2 at the end. I would like to point out that Lauren and I each scored one of those two points that our team had. No big deal. The main difference between Bowls and Bocce is that there are 16 bowls all in all, and that they are unequally weighted: one size is heavier than the other, so the ball turns while rolling. Clearly this would be the case... make it harder than it already is. There was a raffle at the end of the day and one of my two tickets was picked to win a... Barbecue Kit. Complete with spatula, tongs, a machete-like knife, skewers and corn-on-the-cob handles. Now, what was I going to do with a BBQ Set?! I ended up giving it to one of the younger nurses who works at the hospital who said she needed one. In the end, we had a very fun day learning bowls, having a few beers, and meeting some great Mitchell people.
After the Bowls we went to an opening for the new historical society museum in town. There they had a traditional outback dinner where large holes are dug into the ground where heaps of hot coals are poured in, the food put in, then covered and cooked underground. Everything was delicious! There were two types of soups as the first course: Pumpkin and Pea and Ham. After that it was the main course which was a beef stew and also a curried sausage dish. These were sided with a traditional bread called Damper, which tasted much like shortcake. Desert was apple pie with custard and cream poured over it... SO RICH! It was a delicious meal and it was also very nice company. Afterward, Lauren and I were so tired that we walked back to the nurses quarters and called it an early night.
I have the morning off, but will be working a late shift tonight (2:30-11pm). Doing shift work has been interesting, and it's getting me excited for actually having a job at this time next year!
So Mitchell is great... and I'll be sad to leave on Friday. But I do plan to go to Byron Bay for a few days this weekend, or maybe next weekend. We'll see.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
When I first found out that I would be going to Mitchell, and even more so after I saw the population on Wikipedia (1,000), I was a little apprehensive about spending two weeks in a town half the size of Bethel. That was, of course, before I met all of the wonderful people from Mitchell. Today marks the week mark of our arrival here.
The nursing quarters that we are staying in are really nice. We have a nice kitchen, nice bathrooms, heaters in our rooms, and a big TV in the living room. The best part may be that it is a 30sec walk to the hospital. The hospital is a small community hospital, but it is rarely quiet. We have four permanent residents which keep us on our toes, as well as various other outpatients that come to the hospital presenting with loads of different problems. Clearly I cannot divulge any of these problems, but I have been getting a proper nursing training. Which I was skeptical of before arriving. The nurses and other staff at the hospital have been so accommodating and incredibly nice since we have arrived. I feel like I've been here for such a long time. It's funny to get back into that small town feel and remember that everyone IS related and everyone DOES know everyone's business.
Mitchell itself is a quaint little town. Being the "Gateway to the Outback" it is very flat and looks a lot like grasslands. There is one main street with two grocery stores, a hardware store, two clothing stores, a butcher, a bakery, and a pharmacy. Most of the corners in town have hotels on them, with bars beneath. The side streets are mainly filled with homes, and a few restaurants or bottle shops. There is also one gas station. :)
Lauren and I had our one day off yesterday (Saturday) and we crammed it full of popular Mitchell activities. We woke up early-ish and went to the Spa. It's called a Spa, but it isn't a spa as we would think of in the US. It is essentially a natural hot-spring pool. The water was right around 100 degrees and it felt so good. There was another pool right next to the hot one that was kept at 70 degrees. Needless to say, I only went in there for the amount of time it took me to jump in and climb out as fast as possible. We felt a little out of place as we slipped into the massive hot tub with twenty other people from Mitchell... who probably all said to themselves: "Who are these people?" Regardless, we hung out for about an hour and a half before going back to the nursing quarters to get ready for the "Pink Bowls!" Now Bowls, or Lawn Bowling, is a popular sport here in Australia and is very similar to Bocce Ball. You stand on a rectangular court with 4 people per team, two bowls (NOT balls - even though they are spherical) per person, and a small white ball called a "Jack" which you are trying to come close to with your balls. Now, this particular game was called "Pink-Bowls" because it was raising money for Breast Cancer Research. Lauren and I were put on a team with two unfortunate, but very friendly and helpful bowls-veterans. I say unfortunate because, had they not had us on their team, the score may not have been 25-2 at the end. I would like to point out that Lauren and I each scored one of those two points that our team had. No big deal. The main difference between Bowls and Bocce is that there are 16 bowls all in all, and that they are unequally weighted: one size is heavier than the other, so the ball turns while rolling. Clearly this would be the case... make it harder than it already is. There was a raffle at the end of the day and one of my two tickets was picked to win a... Barbecue Kit. Complete with spatula, tongs, a machete-like knife, skewers and corn-on-the-cob handles. Now, what was I going to do with a BBQ Set?! I ended up giving it to one of the younger nurses who works at the hospital who said she needed one. In the end, we had a very fun day learning bowls, having a few beers, and meeting some great Mitchell people.
After the Bowls we went to an opening for the new historical society museum in town. There they had a traditional outback dinner where large holes are dug into the ground where heaps of hot coals are poured in, the food put in, then covered and cooked underground. Everything was delicious! There were two types of soups as the first course: Pumpkin and Pea and Ham. After that it was the main course which was a beef stew and also a curried sausage dish. These were sided with a traditional bread called Damper, which tasted much like shortcake. Desert was apple pie with custard and cream poured over it... SO RICH! It was a delicious meal and it was also very nice company. Afterward, Lauren and I were so tired that we walked back to the nurses quarters and called it an early night.
I have the morning off, but will be working a late shift tonight (2:30-11pm). Doing shift work has been interesting, and it's getting me excited for actually having a job at this time next year!
So Mitchell is great... and I'll be sad to leave on Friday. But I do plan to go to Byron Bay for a few days this weekend, or maybe next weekend. We'll see.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef
For my Birthday dad gave me a trip up to Cairns (in northern Queensland) to go scuba diving for two days on the Great Barrier Reef! Thanks Dad! It was weird at first because this was the first time I had traveled within Australia by myself. Every other time I head off to some corner of the continent, it is with at least 1 other person. While I was apprehensive to be "alone" for the weekend, it proved to be something that I really needed.
On Friday morning, I bid adieu to the girls (who were still on their cleanse at the time... and not in the best moods:) ) and started off towards Cairns. Since I was traveling alone, I decided to spoil myself... I walked STRAIGHT past the Toowoomba Transit Terminal and RIGHT into the Greyhound. Never have I traveled in Australia in such luxury. There was leg room, cumfy seats, reading lamps, and shades you could pull over the windows. The cost isn't that much different, and I think that I have ridden my last ride on the ole' TT coaches. Part of me will miss the intense feeling of impending death as the van speeds down the range towards Brisbane. However, the other part of me likes much better to be comfortable.
Travel to Cairns was the usual: city bus, greyhound, train to the airport, flight to cairns, and shuttle to my hostel. My hostel was really nice. I was staying in a 12 bed dorm, but it didn't seem like it. There was a really nice pool in the courtyard, as well as a hot-tub. I put my stuff down, changed out of my warm Toowoomba clothes and into shorts and a t-shirt, and then walked around the town to see what was up. I walked all around the waterfront, through a few parks, and in and out of a few shops. by about 4 o'clock I was pretty hungry, so I made my way to an Italian restaurant and had my fill of pasta... as well as some vino. There was a movie theater right next door and I decided that since I didn't know anyone, and had only spoken to my waitress, that I would go to a movie. I saw a French film called Summer Hours. I didn't know it was french. Nor did I know that it was subtitled. Needless to say, I fell asleep in the middle - it was the wine. I think I may have been snoring, actually. I did wake up soon enough to catch the last half hour or so. Afterwards I headed back to my hostel, chatted with a few of my roommates (German and English - EVERYONE that's traveling in Australia is either German of English.) I called it an early night, as I was being picked up at 8am.\
The next morning the Cairns Dive Center van came swinging up to the YHA and I piled in with my gear so we could head to the dive shop. We filled out all the necessary health forms, signed our legal rights away, and were then taken to the dock. From here we got onto a smaller boat (probably 30 feet) which would take us to the Live-aboard boat which stays out on the reef for a month at a time before coming to Cairns to refill on fuel. The ocean was like GLASS... and I'm not exaggerating. I mean like a lake at 6am... it was FLAT. All the staff on the boat said that they had never seen it like that before. After two hours we made it to the Kangaroo Explorer (the live-aboard) and piled out things into our rooms before getting briefed on the boat. By this time I had chatted with a few people, and actually kind of made friends. A far improvement from the night before. After our briefing, we had lunch made by the chef onboard (delicious!) and then got ready for our first dive. Unfortunately I remembered, after I got on the boat, that I was only Scuba Diver certified and not Open Water certified. The difference is that open water can go anywhere with a buddy to a depth of 18meters and I can only go to 12meters with a certified instructor. Now, in the long run this wasn't so bad at all... I got to dive with a really cool guy named Tom who knew everything there was to see about the reef. So basically he would take me along and show me all of the coolest things. The downside to this was I had to pay $11 per dive... but such is live.
All in all we did 6 dives while I was on the boat, one of which was a dive at night with flashlights. Some of the highlights of what I saw are: white tipped sharks, clown fish, heaps of sea turtles on the night dive and I was able to swim with one on my last day dive for about 5 minutes, starfish, parrot fish, and some beautiful coral. I had forgotten how cool of a sensation is is to scuba... being weighless under water is so fun. Every once in a while I would just start doing flips or barrel rolls underwater. I'm incredibly glad that I did the night dive. If you asked me that morning if I would do it I probably would have said "HELL NO!" However, by the end of the day I told myself... I didn't come to the GBR to sit on a boat... I'm doing it. We did see a few sharks on that dive, but I just pointed my flashlight (or my 'torch' as it would be called here) somewhere else so I didn't have to see them. :)
That night we were so exhausted that we were all in bed by 11. Which is good, because the staff came around at 5:30am to wake us up for our 6am dive. The sun wasn't even up yet when they were knocking on our doors. It proved to make it's way just over the horizon right as I was diving into the water. It's hard to not want to get up with you are watching the sunrise over the Pacific while floating over the Great Barrier Reef. I rented an underwater camera and managed to get a few good photos. I'll upload those sometime soon. After our last dive we had a few hours before the little boat, the Sun-Kist, brought us back to Cairns. We all sat and sun bathed on the top deck of the Kangaroo Explorer and chatted. There were people from England and Germany (obviously), a few guys from America (also studying in Aus), a guy from Korea, a few Canadians, and a few people from Japan. It was fun to just enjoy the sun, look at the reef, and talk with people from all over the world.
As all good things do... it came to and end. We were back on the sunkist, with slightly more turbulent waters, and heading back towards Cairns. We docked just around 5pm and headed towards our hostels. That night, the two American guys, two of my English roommates, and myself went to a cheap restaurant with great food for dinner. Two people from the boat met us there and joined in on our fun and conversation. After a while they were turning the restaurant to "bar-mode" and the table we were at was being taken away. We spotted a huge table with 2 guys sitting at it, and threw ourselves into it. Whether they liked it or not. The group of people we had was so eclectic and random, but it was so fun at the same time. We talked, drank, and danced the night away, and I had a blast!
The next day I had a few hours before my plane left so I sat by the pool at my hostel and tried to get a tan. Heading back to Toowoomba, was not high on my list of things I wanted to do that day... but I had no choice. After meeting people, Cairns seemed to be a lot more exciting, and I didn't want to leave.
This week went well, school wise. I had a nursing lab test-out and also a presentation for my mental health class. Both of which went incredibly well. I'm now done with class and only have two days before Lauren and I take the Greyhound to Mitchell. We spoke with the two people that have been there for the last two weeks and they really like it. They said the accomodation at the hospital is really nice (free wireless! look for photos!) and that the nurses are too. They also said that the hot-springs there are amazing! So Lauren and I are actually kind of excited.
Sorry for such a long post... but Cairns was just that exciting! I'll probably post again once we're in Mitchell.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
On Friday morning, I bid adieu to the girls (who were still on their cleanse at the time... and not in the best moods:) ) and started off towards Cairns. Since I was traveling alone, I decided to spoil myself... I walked STRAIGHT past the Toowoomba Transit Terminal and RIGHT into the Greyhound. Never have I traveled in Australia in such luxury. There was leg room, cumfy seats, reading lamps, and shades you could pull over the windows. The cost isn't that much different, and I think that I have ridden my last ride on the ole' TT coaches. Part of me will miss the intense feeling of impending death as the van speeds down the range towards Brisbane. However, the other part of me likes much better to be comfortable.
Travel to Cairns was the usual: city bus, greyhound, train to the airport, flight to cairns, and shuttle to my hostel. My hostel was really nice. I was staying in a 12 bed dorm, but it didn't seem like it. There was a really nice pool in the courtyard, as well as a hot-tub. I put my stuff down, changed out of my warm Toowoomba clothes and into shorts and a t-shirt, and then walked around the town to see what was up. I walked all around the waterfront, through a few parks, and in and out of a few shops. by about 4 o'clock I was pretty hungry, so I made my way to an Italian restaurant and had my fill of pasta... as well as some vino. There was a movie theater right next door and I decided that since I didn't know anyone, and had only spoken to my waitress, that I would go to a movie. I saw a French film called Summer Hours. I didn't know it was french. Nor did I know that it was subtitled. Needless to say, I fell asleep in the middle - it was the wine. I think I may have been snoring, actually. I did wake up soon enough to catch the last half hour or so. Afterwards I headed back to my hostel, chatted with a few of my roommates (German and English - EVERYONE that's traveling in Australia is either German of English.) I called it an early night, as I was being picked up at 8am.\
The next morning the Cairns Dive Center van came swinging up to the YHA and I piled in with my gear so we could head to the dive shop. We filled out all the necessary health forms, signed our legal rights away, and were then taken to the dock. From here we got onto a smaller boat (probably 30 feet) which would take us to the Live-aboard boat which stays out on the reef for a month at a time before coming to Cairns to refill on fuel. The ocean was like GLASS... and I'm not exaggerating. I mean like a lake at 6am... it was FLAT. All the staff on the boat said that they had never seen it like that before. After two hours we made it to the Kangaroo Explorer (the live-aboard) and piled out things into our rooms before getting briefed on the boat. By this time I had chatted with a few people, and actually kind of made friends. A far improvement from the night before. After our briefing, we had lunch made by the chef onboard (delicious!) and then got ready for our first dive. Unfortunately I remembered, after I got on the boat, that I was only Scuba Diver certified and not Open Water certified. The difference is that open water can go anywhere with a buddy to a depth of 18meters and I can only go to 12meters with a certified instructor. Now, in the long run this wasn't so bad at all... I got to dive with a really cool guy named Tom who knew everything there was to see about the reef. So basically he would take me along and show me all of the coolest things. The downside to this was I had to pay $11 per dive... but such is live.
All in all we did 6 dives while I was on the boat, one of which was a dive at night with flashlights. Some of the highlights of what I saw are: white tipped sharks, clown fish, heaps of sea turtles on the night dive and I was able to swim with one on my last day dive for about 5 minutes, starfish, parrot fish, and some beautiful coral. I had forgotten how cool of a sensation is is to scuba... being weighless under water is so fun. Every once in a while I would just start doing flips or barrel rolls underwater. I'm incredibly glad that I did the night dive. If you asked me that morning if I would do it I probably would have said "HELL NO!" However, by the end of the day I told myself... I didn't come to the GBR to sit on a boat... I'm doing it. We did see a few sharks on that dive, but I just pointed my flashlight (or my 'torch' as it would be called here) somewhere else so I didn't have to see them. :)
That night we were so exhausted that we were all in bed by 11. Which is good, because the staff came around at 5:30am to wake us up for our 6am dive. The sun wasn't even up yet when they were knocking on our doors. It proved to make it's way just over the horizon right as I was diving into the water. It's hard to not want to get up with you are watching the sunrise over the Pacific while floating over the Great Barrier Reef. I rented an underwater camera and managed to get a few good photos. I'll upload those sometime soon. After our last dive we had a few hours before the little boat, the Sun-Kist, brought us back to Cairns. We all sat and sun bathed on the top deck of the Kangaroo Explorer and chatted. There were people from England and Germany (obviously), a few guys from America (also studying in Aus), a guy from Korea, a few Canadians, and a few people from Japan. It was fun to just enjoy the sun, look at the reef, and talk with people from all over the world.
As all good things do... it came to and end. We were back on the sunkist, with slightly more turbulent waters, and heading back towards Cairns. We docked just around 5pm and headed towards our hostels. That night, the two American guys, two of my English roommates, and myself went to a cheap restaurant with great food for dinner. Two people from the boat met us there and joined in on our fun and conversation. After a while they were turning the restaurant to "bar-mode" and the table we were at was being taken away. We spotted a huge table with 2 guys sitting at it, and threw ourselves into it. Whether they liked it or not. The group of people we had was so eclectic and random, but it was so fun at the same time. We talked, drank, and danced the night away, and I had a blast!
The next day I had a few hours before my plane left so I sat by the pool at my hostel and tried to get a tan. Heading back to Toowoomba, was not high on my list of things I wanted to do that day... but I had no choice. After meeting people, Cairns seemed to be a lot more exciting, and I didn't want to leave.
This week went well, school wise. I had a nursing lab test-out and also a presentation for my mental health class. Both of which went incredibly well. I'm now done with class and only have two days before Lauren and I take the Greyhound to Mitchell. We spoke with the two people that have been there for the last two weeks and they really like it. They said the accomodation at the hospital is really nice (free wireless! look for photos!) and that the nurses are too. They also said that the hot-springs there are amazing! So Lauren and I are actually kind of excited.
Sorry for such a long post... but Cairns was just that exciting! I'll probably post again once we're in Mitchell.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
One More Thing
I forgot to put this in...
Lauren, Trina, Stephanie and I decided on Tuesday to do the "Master Cleanse." Basically this consists of drinking the most awful digestion tea at night, a quart of salt water in the morning which immediately makes you have to have a BM, and then the only thing you can have during the day is a drink consisting of water, maple syrup, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper. Now, we weren't doing this to lose weight, just to cleanse our bodies of toxins. I drank the tea the first night, which was the most HEINOUS tasting drink I've ever tasted, and after 3 hours I realized that I can't go without eating... and I was out.
It is now day 3 and Lauren, Trina, and Steph are all still going. They all crave food, and some of them are thinking about dropping out... but they're still going. Crazy people.
Lauren, Trina, Stephanie and I decided on Tuesday to do the "Master Cleanse." Basically this consists of drinking the most awful digestion tea at night, a quart of salt water in the morning which immediately makes you have to have a BM, and then the only thing you can have during the day is a drink consisting of water, maple syrup, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper. Now, we weren't doing this to lose weight, just to cleanse our bodies of toxins. I drank the tea the first night, which was the most HEINOUS tasting drink I've ever tasted, and after 3 hours I realized that I can't go without eating... and I was out.
It is now day 3 and Lauren, Trina, and Steph are all still going. They all crave food, and some of them are thinking about dropping out... but they're still going. Crazy people.
The Latest
I figure an update is in order... and I'm waiting at the internet cafe for the last episode of The Office to finish downloading and I need something to do. This week was slightly more labor intensive, school wise. I have a group project coming up in my mental health class next week. I've been gathering information and putting my powerpoint together... shouldn't be too bad.
We are nearing the end of the semester, actually. Next week is our last week of class, then we have two weeks of clinical, then two weeks of finals, and then I'm on a plane home on June 29th. It's going to rush up so fast. I'm excited for class to be done, but slightly nervous for clinical. Lauren and I will be going to a TINY town (pop. 1000) called Mitchell for our clinical placement. It is 6 hours west of Toowoomba and is called "The Gateway to the Outback." At first we thought we were going to see absolutely NOTHING that involved nursing. However, everyone we have talked to said that because it is such a small facility, we will be involved with almost every patient that comes in. Instead of being in just a certain ward, we'll see everything. I've been getting more excited. I do still have to get my uniform though... so many things to do.
This weekend I will be traveling by myself to Cairns to scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef for two days, thanks to Dad! I fly out of Brisbane tomorrow and will be diving on Saturday and Sunday, then coming home Monday. I'm incredibly excited... but this will the first time I've been alone since I've been in Australia. Hopefully I'll meet some cool people though. Trina and some of our friends drove to Cairns over Easter break and they loved it. Needless to say there will be HEAPS of pictures to upload once I am back.
I don't know if it's been in the news at home or not... but there has been some TERRIBLE flooding in SE Queensland. It poured constantly on Tuesday and Wednesday. I think we have maybe seen 5 passing showers up until now this semester. It was very hard to get up for 8am classes when it was pouring with winds up to 50kmh. Being that Toowoomba is 400-500m above Brisbane, we have not had any flooding. But the rain is so incredibly necessary. Toowoomba's water reservoirs were at 9% before the storm. I'm not sure what they'll be up to now, but I imagine it raised a bit. On Tuesday the Gold Coast received 250mm of rain... basically like 8 inches. In ONE day. That is 1/3 of their annual rainfall. The reservoirs in Brisbane went from around 16% to 70-100%. It's amazing how much rain there was. I was reading online and apparently the reservoirs haven't seen anything near those levels since 2002. I also heard that Brisbane hasn't seen flooding this bad since the flood of 74. This might not have meant anything to me a week ago, but while I was in Brisbane I saw a marker of the water level and it was easily 6' high... and that was at a point that was probably 30' above the height of the river. It's so weird to think that I was just there on Monday and that the next day buildings and cars were all flooded. That's mother nature for you, I guess.
I called Greyhound [No TT-Coaches this time for me!! :)] and they said that there weren't any delays today from the flooding, and if the rain holds off tonight service should be good tomorrow. So I'm hoping it doesn't rain tonight because I only have about 2.5hrs from the time I get into Brisbane until my flight takes off.
I think that's about it for now... not much else to report on. I would like to send a big Congratulations to Ben and Liz for finally getting engaged! It's about time!
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
We are nearing the end of the semester, actually. Next week is our last week of class, then we have two weeks of clinical, then two weeks of finals, and then I'm on a plane home on June 29th. It's going to rush up so fast. I'm excited for class to be done, but slightly nervous for clinical. Lauren and I will be going to a TINY town (pop. 1000) called Mitchell for our clinical placement. It is 6 hours west of Toowoomba and is called "The Gateway to the Outback." At first we thought we were going to see absolutely NOTHING that involved nursing. However, everyone we have talked to said that because it is such a small facility, we will be involved with almost every patient that comes in. Instead of being in just a certain ward, we'll see everything. I've been getting more excited. I do still have to get my uniform though... so many things to do.
This weekend I will be traveling by myself to Cairns to scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef for two days, thanks to Dad! I fly out of Brisbane tomorrow and will be diving on Saturday and Sunday, then coming home Monday. I'm incredibly excited... but this will the first time I've been alone since I've been in Australia. Hopefully I'll meet some cool people though. Trina and some of our friends drove to Cairns over Easter break and they loved it. Needless to say there will be HEAPS of pictures to upload once I am back.
I don't know if it's been in the news at home or not... but there has been some TERRIBLE flooding in SE Queensland. It poured constantly on Tuesday and Wednesday. I think we have maybe seen 5 passing showers up until now this semester. It was very hard to get up for 8am classes when it was pouring with winds up to 50kmh. Being that Toowoomba is 400-500m above Brisbane, we have not had any flooding. But the rain is so incredibly necessary. Toowoomba's water reservoirs were at 9% before the storm. I'm not sure what they'll be up to now, but I imagine it raised a bit. On Tuesday the Gold Coast received 250mm of rain... basically like 8 inches. In ONE day. That is 1/3 of their annual rainfall. The reservoirs in Brisbane went from around 16% to 70-100%. It's amazing how much rain there was. I was reading online and apparently the reservoirs haven't seen anything near those levels since 2002. I also heard that Brisbane hasn't seen flooding this bad since the flood of 74. This might not have meant anything to me a week ago, but while I was in Brisbane I saw a marker of the water level and it was easily 6' high... and that was at a point that was probably 30' above the height of the river. It's so weird to think that I was just there on Monday and that the next day buildings and cars were all flooded. That's mother nature for you, I guess.
I called Greyhound [No TT-Coaches this time for me!! :)] and they said that there weren't any delays today from the flooding, and if the rain holds off tonight service should be good tomorrow. So I'm hoping it doesn't rain tonight because I only have about 2.5hrs from the time I get into Brisbane until my flight takes off.
I think that's about it for now... not much else to report on. I would like to send a big Congratulations to Ben and Liz for finally getting engaged! It's about time!
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Brizzy
It's a rainy day in Toowoomba... so I'm sitting in front of the heater in the living room and using my down time to catch up on the blog! This last weekend, Lauren, Trina, and I took off on the Toowoomba Transit for a nice relaxing weekend outside of Toowoomba and into Brisbane. Originally, we had planned to rent a 4WD and drive around Fraser Island for the weekend, but we didn't book in time. After spending just a short afternoon in Brisbane the weekend before, we decided to go for a whole weekend.
We arrived on Friday afternoon and it was so nice to be there. Brisbane is much warmer than Toowoomba, there are TONS of people, and it is just a much more interesting place. After checking in to our hostel I went to a place, as recommended to me the weekend prior, to get my hair cut. The last time I got it cut was the week before I left the US. It was time. I was nervous to get it cut in Australia because Crystal does such a good job at home. I also refused to get it cut in Toowoomba because I knew I would end up with a rat-tail or a mullet. I am not exaggerating when I say that 70% of the males here have rat-tails or mullets. 70%. So Brisbane it was. The cut actually looks pretty good. It's short, which is a nice change.
After that we walked around Brisbane and headed across the river to the south bank where we perused a craft fair, went to a delicious Italian restaurant, had some ice cream, and then went out. We had some suggestions for a few clubs to go to. We, of course, forgot said list at home. We roamed the streets of the club district, "The Valley," trying to recall from memory some of the suggested places. When we got home we realized that we saw most of them, and actually made it to a few of them.
On Saturday we decided to go to the Lone Pine Koala sanctuary, which is the first in the world. We took the bus out of Brisbane, for a mere $2.60 return - gotta love that student rate, to the sanctuary. I think the two main highlights there were the kangaroos and the koalas. They have a massive Kangaroo park... acres and acres of kangaroo and wallaby habitat. Now, the sanctuary is around 70 years old, so all of the animals there have been bred in captivity and are incredibly friendly. I pet SOOO many kangaroos and probably could have reached out and touched a joey poking his head out of his mom's pouch. I have some great photos! They'll be uploaded soon. What I found to be the most interesting was that they use their tails for balance, and they are almost solid muscle. I felt the tail on one of the biggest males, and it was rock solid. When threatened, they can lean back and balance on their tail and kick their opponent their there wicked-muscly hind legs. These legs have one HUGE claw in the middle, that can puncture important organs of their attackers. Also, one of the biggest species of kangaroos can jump as high as 4 meters... which is around 15 feet. After we had our fill of kangaroos and joeys, we made our way to the different koala exhibits. There were old ones, young ones, just males, just females, and the coolest one was of course: moms with babies. Watching that mom sit in the eucalyptus tree and having her little baby crawl all over her and in and out of her pouch was maybe the cutest thing I've ever seen. We stayed there forever watching them, and the baby was staring right back at us. After that we made our way to the "hold a koala" area. We clearly couldn't leave the sanctuary without holding a koala. Now, this obviously isn't free. In order to do so, you had to purchase one of the 10 photo packages they offered. The cheapest of which being $15. I opted for the $25 selection which came with a 6X8 photo of me holding the koala as well as 8 postcards of the same. All of the money goes towards the koalas, so it was a justified purchase. The koala was so much heavier than I would have anticipated, and his fur felt almost like a scratchy wool blanked. We all took our turns having the little guy, Goblin, lay on our chest as we smiled/posed away for pictures. All in all it was a great day! I would have hated leaving Australia and saying I hadn't seen a koala! You can see my picture here for 60 days: http://photo.koala.net/1605029504.htm
As it was nearing sunset we hopped back onto the bus and made our way back to Brisbane. We again walked to South Bank and had a terrific dinner at a Thai/Malaysian place. The food was absolutely delicious. What we've kind of realized about most restaurants here though is that because there isn't any tipping, the waitstaff kind of serve every table. At the Italian place I think we had 3 different people serving us. At the Thai place they were a little bit more enthusiastic. At last count we had 5 different people offer to take our drink order... within 5 minutes of sitting down. It was comical. Also, it may have been THE fastest meal preparation I've ever seen at a restaurant. I ordered a drink and my meal at the same time... the drink came in 6 minutes... 2 minutes after my main course. That night Lauren and I went back to the Valley, while Trina went to bed early. Lucky her.
Lauren and I came back around 2am... only to be woken up by Trina at 5:30am screaming at us, asking if that alarm noise from the hall was a fire alarm. I was still slightly foggy and was very confused... but after smelling smoke and seeing people in the other rooms across the courtyard in the middle of the hostel getting up and moving, we decided that it was indeed a fire alarm. We got dressed, I grabbed my most important/valuable possessions and we started making our way towards the hall. However, when we got there, the staff came on the PA system and told us that it was a false alarm and there was no need to leave the hostel. We were all very relieved, yet still confused as there was no doubt that we were smelling smoke. No less than 3 minutes after I had climbed BACK into bed... we were told that "yes, you do need to leave the hostel." Clearly the fire department had a bit more intellect than those running the front desk. So all 400 people staying in the hostel that night filed out onto the surrounding street corners while we watched the sunrise, griped about the confusion, and waited for the go-ahead from the FD. It was interesting to say the least.
On Sunday we had heard about a free concert series that happens every Sunday with local indie bands. We hopped onto the city cat ferry and rode it up the river to the venue, an old powerhouse... it was a wicked cool place. The band that played was called Skinny Jean. They were a funky group, but we liked their music. As we were walking back down the river towards the ferry stop we saw the ferry racing down the river towards the stop. We had to do it - we started running. Now, we weren't just running... we were running in front of this massive park where, I think, nearly half of Brisbane was pick-nicking for the afternoon. The cheers, whoops, and hollers only made me run faster, I think. We made the ferry. Obviously. We spent the rest of Sunday enjoying various shops, cafes, and we also walked all through the botanical gardens. They were nothing like those in Sydney, but it was still nice to walk through the grass and see some flowers.
Sunday night we decided to be lazy and get cozy at the movie theater for... TWO MOVIES! We started with "Fast and the Furious 4." It was alright, but it wasn't great. After that though, we saw "The Boat That Rocked." It was amazing. Such an interesting and funny movie. If it's playing at home... go see it. Trust me, it's a good one.
Monday was pretty laid back. We went to the immigration office and had our physical Visas stamped into our passports for a memento (since ours are electronic.) After that we just did more shopping and eating before we had to get back on the Toowoomba Transit to head back up the range. It was a great weekend, and I think Brisbane is one of my favorite cities of all time. It is so laid back, the people are nice, there is an intense artistic feel to it, and we haven't been disappointed with the food yet.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
We arrived on Friday afternoon and it was so nice to be there. Brisbane is much warmer than Toowoomba, there are TONS of people, and it is just a much more interesting place. After checking in to our hostel I went to a place, as recommended to me the weekend prior, to get my hair cut. The last time I got it cut was the week before I left the US. It was time. I was nervous to get it cut in Australia because Crystal does such a good job at home. I also refused to get it cut in Toowoomba because I knew I would end up with a rat-tail or a mullet. I am not exaggerating when I say that 70% of the males here have rat-tails or mullets. 70%. So Brisbane it was. The cut actually looks pretty good. It's short, which is a nice change.
After that we walked around Brisbane and headed across the river to the south bank where we perused a craft fair, went to a delicious Italian restaurant, had some ice cream, and then went out. We had some suggestions for a few clubs to go to. We, of course, forgot said list at home. We roamed the streets of the club district, "The Valley," trying to recall from memory some of the suggested places. When we got home we realized that we saw most of them, and actually made it to a few of them.
On Saturday we decided to go to the Lone Pine Koala sanctuary, which is the first in the world. We took the bus out of Brisbane, for a mere $2.60 return - gotta love that student rate, to the sanctuary. I think the two main highlights there were the kangaroos and the koalas. They have a massive Kangaroo park... acres and acres of kangaroo and wallaby habitat. Now, the sanctuary is around 70 years old, so all of the animals there have been bred in captivity and are incredibly friendly. I pet SOOO many kangaroos and probably could have reached out and touched a joey poking his head out of his mom's pouch. I have some great photos! They'll be uploaded soon. What I found to be the most interesting was that they use their tails for balance, and they are almost solid muscle. I felt the tail on one of the biggest males, and it was rock solid. When threatened, they can lean back and balance on their tail and kick their opponent their there wicked-muscly hind legs. These legs have one HUGE claw in the middle, that can puncture important organs of their attackers. Also, one of the biggest species of kangaroos can jump as high as 4 meters... which is around 15 feet. After we had our fill of kangaroos and joeys, we made our way to the different koala exhibits. There were old ones, young ones, just males, just females, and the coolest one was of course: moms with babies. Watching that mom sit in the eucalyptus tree and having her little baby crawl all over her and in and out of her pouch was maybe the cutest thing I've ever seen. We stayed there forever watching them, and the baby was staring right back at us. After that we made our way to the "hold a koala" area. We clearly couldn't leave the sanctuary without holding a koala. Now, this obviously isn't free. In order to do so, you had to purchase one of the 10 photo packages they offered. The cheapest of which being $15. I opted for the $25 selection which came with a 6X8 photo of me holding the koala as well as 8 postcards of the same. All of the money goes towards the koalas, so it was a justified purchase. The koala was so much heavier than I would have anticipated, and his fur felt almost like a scratchy wool blanked. We all took our turns having the little guy, Goblin, lay on our chest as we smiled/posed away for pictures. All in all it was a great day! I would have hated leaving Australia and saying I hadn't seen a koala! You can see my picture here for 60 days: http://photo.koala.net/1605029504.htm
As it was nearing sunset we hopped back onto the bus and made our way back to Brisbane. We again walked to South Bank and had a terrific dinner at a Thai/Malaysian place. The food was absolutely delicious. What we've kind of realized about most restaurants here though is that because there isn't any tipping, the waitstaff kind of serve every table. At the Italian place I think we had 3 different people serving us. At the Thai place they were a little bit more enthusiastic. At last count we had 5 different people offer to take our drink order... within 5 minutes of sitting down. It was comical. Also, it may have been THE fastest meal preparation I've ever seen at a restaurant. I ordered a drink and my meal at the same time... the drink came in 6 minutes... 2 minutes after my main course. That night Lauren and I went back to the Valley, while Trina went to bed early. Lucky her.
Lauren and I came back around 2am... only to be woken up by Trina at 5:30am screaming at us, asking if that alarm noise from the hall was a fire alarm. I was still slightly foggy and was very confused... but after smelling smoke and seeing people in the other rooms across the courtyard in the middle of the hostel getting up and moving, we decided that it was indeed a fire alarm. We got dressed, I grabbed my most important/valuable possessions and we started making our way towards the hall. However, when we got there, the staff came on the PA system and told us that it was a false alarm and there was no need to leave the hostel. We were all very relieved, yet still confused as there was no doubt that we were smelling smoke. No less than 3 minutes after I had climbed BACK into bed... we were told that "yes, you do need to leave the hostel." Clearly the fire department had a bit more intellect than those running the front desk. So all 400 people staying in the hostel that night filed out onto the surrounding street corners while we watched the sunrise, griped about the confusion, and waited for the go-ahead from the FD. It was interesting to say the least.
On Sunday we had heard about a free concert series that happens every Sunday with local indie bands. We hopped onto the city cat ferry and rode it up the river to the venue, an old powerhouse... it was a wicked cool place. The band that played was called Skinny Jean. They were a funky group, but we liked their music. As we were walking back down the river towards the ferry stop we saw the ferry racing down the river towards the stop. We had to do it - we started running. Now, we weren't just running... we were running in front of this massive park where, I think, nearly half of Brisbane was pick-nicking for the afternoon. The cheers, whoops, and hollers only made me run faster, I think. We made the ferry. Obviously. We spent the rest of Sunday enjoying various shops, cafes, and we also walked all through the botanical gardens. They were nothing like those in Sydney, but it was still nice to walk through the grass and see some flowers.
Sunday night we decided to be lazy and get cozy at the movie theater for... TWO MOVIES! We started with "Fast and the Furious 4." It was alright, but it wasn't great. After that though, we saw "The Boat That Rocked." It was amazing. Such an interesting and funny movie. If it's playing at home... go see it. Trust me, it's a good one.
Monday was pretty laid back. We went to the immigration office and had our physical Visas stamped into our passports for a memento (since ours are electronic.) After that we just did more shopping and eating before we had to get back on the Toowoomba Transit to head back up the range. It was a great weekend, and I think Brisbane is one of my favorite cities of all time. It is so laid back, the people are nice, there is an intense artistic feel to it, and we haven't been disappointed with the food yet.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Bunya Mountains and a Broncos Game
Last weekend we all rented an 8-seater van, and decided to have a few days of touring around Toowoomba. On Saturday morning we packed our lunches, put on our sneakers, grabbed our books, and made the 1.5hour drive to the Bunya Mountains. The Bunyas are located north-west of Toowoomba, and rise to an elevation of around 1300meters (Toowoomba is at 700.) Basically they are these steep mountains that raise up from the brown fields of the Darling Downs area. Essentially, they were like green islands growing out of the desolate land. The lush green grass and tall trees of all sorts were nothing like we had seen before around Toowoomba. We have grass here... but it's like grass at home that hasn't seen rain in a long time... kind of burned.
The plan was to do some hiking through the mountains. There are heaps of trails around the Bunyas, named for the tall Bunya Pine trees that make up the bulk of the trees there. These pines have pine-cones the size of soccer balls. There actually are warnings not to stand under the trees between December and April when they are falling.
As we were driving into the park we saw our first evidence of Australian wildlife... WALLABIES! Basically, wallabies and kangaroos are the same thing. The only difference is their height, kangaroos being taller. As a few of us chased a few around the grounds with our cameras, the others planned the hike we would be doing. After the wallabies retreated back into the woods, I laid down in the THICKEST most LUSH bit of grass I'd seen in a long time. It was quite hard getting up. Especially go go hiking.
The first hike we did meandered throughout the forest providing a few views towards the west as well as loads of informational signs on the trees, the wildlife, and the mountains. I think all in all we did 4km on this hike. We came back to the park and ate our lunch before driving further up the mountains to do another hike, which would bring us to the highest point in the mountains. We planned it perfectly, and we were able to watch the entire sunset from the summit. It was so beautiful. The sky went from a beautiful light blue, to yellow, to orange, and finally to the a deep red. It was gorgeous! We made it back down to the car just as it was getting really dark.
The drive home proved to be very tricky as the wallabies had all decided to come out to graze near the roadside. Now wallabies and much like deer, in the sense that they are (and Kep would agree with me on this one).... STUPID. Every wallaby, and I mean EVERY wallaby, would jump into the middle of the road when they saw our car coming... without fail. So a 1.5hour drive turned into 2 hours and 15 minutes... which was fine. I'd rather go 40kmh then hit one of those guys. The road to the mountains was also very interesting. Parts were only half-paved. This means that they paved directly down the middle of the road, and the other half (a 1/4 on each side of the paved bit) was left as dirt. The locals in their big off-roading-SUVs didn't seem to mind nearly throwing their vehicles into the ditch at 80kmh, but our Toyota van wouldn't have held up so well. We made it home safely though. :)
On Sunday we all piled in the van again, and drove to Brisbane for a Rugby game (not Aussie rules.) We were cheering for the Brisbane Broncos, and because this was like the rugby we have in the US, we actually kind of knew what was happening. Sadly, the Broncos lost the game... but it was incredibly close near the end. Regardless, it was nice to spend the day everyone in the afternoon sun, eating greasy food, enjoying a beer, and watching the game. We did a little walking around Brisbane... bopped into a few shops, and then called it a night and drove home. It was a great day, and it made me remember how much I liked Brisbane the first time we went. I think it may be my favorite city in Australia. Brisbane or Sydney... it's a close tie for 1st.
The plan was to do some hiking through the mountains. There are heaps of trails around the Bunyas, named for the tall Bunya Pine trees that make up the bulk of the trees there. These pines have pine-cones the size of soccer balls. There actually are warnings not to stand under the trees between December and April when they are falling.
As we were driving into the park we saw our first evidence of Australian wildlife... WALLABIES! Basically, wallabies and kangaroos are the same thing. The only difference is their height, kangaroos being taller. As a few of us chased a few around the grounds with our cameras, the others planned the hike we would be doing. After the wallabies retreated back into the woods, I laid down in the THICKEST most LUSH bit of grass I'd seen in a long time. It was quite hard getting up. Especially go go hiking.
The first hike we did meandered throughout the forest providing a few views towards the west as well as loads of informational signs on the trees, the wildlife, and the mountains. I think all in all we did 4km on this hike. We came back to the park and ate our lunch before driving further up the mountains to do another hike, which would bring us to the highest point in the mountains. We planned it perfectly, and we were able to watch the entire sunset from the summit. It was so beautiful. The sky went from a beautiful light blue, to yellow, to orange, and finally to the a deep red. It was gorgeous! We made it back down to the car just as it was getting really dark.
The drive home proved to be very tricky as the wallabies had all decided to come out to graze near the roadside. Now wallabies and much like deer, in the sense that they are (and Kep would agree with me on this one).... STUPID. Every wallaby, and I mean EVERY wallaby, would jump into the middle of the road when they saw our car coming... without fail. So a 1.5hour drive turned into 2 hours and 15 minutes... which was fine. I'd rather go 40kmh then hit one of those guys. The road to the mountains was also very interesting. Parts were only half-paved. This means that they paved directly down the middle of the road, and the other half (a 1/4 on each side of the paved bit) was left as dirt. The locals in their big off-roading-SUVs didn't seem to mind nearly throwing their vehicles into the ditch at 80kmh, but our Toyota van wouldn't have held up so well. We made it home safely though. :)
On Sunday we all piled in the van again, and drove to Brisbane for a Rugby game (not Aussie rules.) We were cheering for the Brisbane Broncos, and because this was like the rugby we have in the US, we actually kind of knew what was happening. Sadly, the Broncos lost the game... but it was incredibly close near the end. Regardless, it was nice to spend the day everyone in the afternoon sun, eating greasy food, enjoying a beer, and watching the game. We did a little walking around Brisbane... bopped into a few shops, and then called it a night and drove home. It was a great day, and it made me remember how much I liked Brisbane the first time we went. I think it may be my favorite city in Australia. Brisbane or Sydney... it's a close tie for 1st.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Melbourne
Sorry this has taken so long!!!
For my Birthday weekend, Lauren, Alex, Stephanie, Steffen, and I all decided to head to Melbourne for the weekend. It had been a few weeks since we had come back from New Zealand, and it was clearly time to be away from Toowoomba. The travel was a little hectic: Toowoomba city bus, Toowoomba transit, goldcoast train, taxi, plane, bus, walk to the hostel in Melbourne. The way home was very similar. Basically two 10 hour travel days.
Our hostel in Melbourne was very.... eclectic, and not terribly clean. The only reason we stayed there was because it was basically free. Their website said online that for three of those four nights we were staying the rate was only $.01. Now, this shocked many of us, so we even called to check before we booked. We were told that this was indeed the correct price. However, when we arrived to the hostel with our booking confirmations, we were clearly told that this rate was a mistake. I did manage to negotiate the rate... and we were given the $.01/night rate. There is a common phrase however, and I believe it is: you get what you pay for. And we did.
The slats holding my mattress up rarely liked to actually hold my mattress up, and the slightest move of the mattress sent me flying to the ground. This ended up providing for a fair bit of comic relief. They also offered us free breakfast every morning: white bread, butter, and jelly. But it was free, and that's all that really matters.
We arrived late Thursday night, climbed into bed (and fell), and got ready to enjoy Friday. We spent Friday walking all around the city. We ate tons of food, rode the tram around the city, went to a MASSIVE outdoor market selling crafts, cheap things, and tons of food. After we had walked more than our little feet could believe, we decided to go and watch a Rugby game (Australian rules.) Now, this may be the most confusing sport I have ever watched. It was a cross between NFL and soccer... but it took us most of the game, and heaps of questions to the people sitting around us, to kind of, almost, slightly know what was going on at the end. The team we decided to cheer for, the Collingwood Magpies (GO PIES!), ended up winning in the end, so all was well. At this point, it was about 11:00pm and almost my birthday, so we went to the nearest pub so I could have my first drink as a 21 year old. We all had a round of Jager, and then walked further out of the city to an area called Fitzroy where there are lots of pubs. We found one that was having 90s night, and we danced the night away to the sounds of yester-year.
On my Birthday we slept in a bit. The first thing we did was go to Melbourne 360, which is basically one of the tallest buildings in Melbourne, and you can go to the observation deck on the top. It was neat to see the city from so high, and the weather was beautiful that day. After that we went to the outlet mall... which was pretty pathetic actually, then we walked around town more and walked down along the river. All of these events were interspersed with various eateries: Krispy Kreme for breakfast, Greek for lunch, and BBNT which was an amazing fast-foodish Mexican place. Later that night, before we went out, we went to the casino to try our luck. I went in with $10, and I think I lost it all... but I was up $6 at some point. After the casino we went to a club for a few hours and danced. I had blisters the next morning.
Sunday was a day of rest. I think I slept until noon. After that we did a bit more shopping at the mall and then I came home to take a nap. That afternoon everyone but Alex went to see Wicked the musical! It was amazing! I hadn't seen it in a few years (I saw it in London freshman year) and it was nice to see it again, especially after I knew the music better. Once we got out, we went to BBNT for some more Mexican food and then went to the casino again. I did much better this time. I started with $15... I lost 10 at roulette and then won that back, as well as my 10 from the night before playing some weird $1 matching table game. I saved some chips as a memento. We called it a night soon after, as we had a long travel day on Monday.
All in all it was a great weekend! Melbourne is much like Sydney and Brisbane. An incredibly clean, and young city. It was crammed full of art all over the place, and may be one of the most cultured cities I've been to. I would go back in a heartbeat. It's one of my favorite places we went to. Check out the pictures!
Hope all is well!
Miss you all!!
For my Birthday weekend, Lauren, Alex, Stephanie, Steffen, and I all decided to head to Melbourne for the weekend. It had been a few weeks since we had come back from New Zealand, and it was clearly time to be away from Toowoomba. The travel was a little hectic: Toowoomba city bus, Toowoomba transit, goldcoast train, taxi, plane, bus, walk to the hostel in Melbourne. The way home was very similar. Basically two 10 hour travel days.
Our hostel in Melbourne was very.... eclectic, and not terribly clean. The only reason we stayed there was because it was basically free. Their website said online that for three of those four nights we were staying the rate was only $.01. Now, this shocked many of us, so we even called to check before we booked. We were told that this was indeed the correct price. However, when we arrived to the hostel with our booking confirmations, we were clearly told that this rate was a mistake. I did manage to negotiate the rate... and we were given the $.01/night rate. There is a common phrase however, and I believe it is: you get what you pay for. And we did.
The slats holding my mattress up rarely liked to actually hold my mattress up, and the slightest move of the mattress sent me flying to the ground. This ended up providing for a fair bit of comic relief. They also offered us free breakfast every morning: white bread, butter, and jelly. But it was free, and that's all that really matters.
We arrived late Thursday night, climbed into bed (and fell), and got ready to enjoy Friday. We spent Friday walking all around the city. We ate tons of food, rode the tram around the city, went to a MASSIVE outdoor market selling crafts, cheap things, and tons of food. After we had walked more than our little feet could believe, we decided to go and watch a Rugby game (Australian rules.) Now, this may be the most confusing sport I have ever watched. It was a cross between NFL and soccer... but it took us most of the game, and heaps of questions to the people sitting around us, to kind of, almost, slightly know what was going on at the end. The team we decided to cheer for, the Collingwood Magpies (GO PIES!), ended up winning in the end, so all was well. At this point, it was about 11:00pm and almost my birthday, so we went to the nearest pub so I could have my first drink as a 21 year old. We all had a round of Jager, and then walked further out of the city to an area called Fitzroy where there are lots of pubs. We found one that was having 90s night, and we danced the night away to the sounds of yester-year.
On my Birthday we slept in a bit. The first thing we did was go to Melbourne 360, which is basically one of the tallest buildings in Melbourne, and you can go to the observation deck on the top. It was neat to see the city from so high, and the weather was beautiful that day. After that we went to the outlet mall... which was pretty pathetic actually, then we walked around town more and walked down along the river. All of these events were interspersed with various eateries: Krispy Kreme for breakfast, Greek for lunch, and BBNT which was an amazing fast-foodish Mexican place. Later that night, before we went out, we went to the casino to try our luck. I went in with $10, and I think I lost it all... but I was up $6 at some point. After the casino we went to a club for a few hours and danced. I had blisters the next morning.
Sunday was a day of rest. I think I slept until noon. After that we did a bit more shopping at the mall and then I came home to take a nap. That afternoon everyone but Alex went to see Wicked the musical! It was amazing! I hadn't seen it in a few years (I saw it in London freshman year) and it was nice to see it again, especially after I knew the music better. Once we got out, we went to BBNT for some more Mexican food and then went to the casino again. I did much better this time. I started with $15... I lost 10 at roulette and then won that back, as well as my 10 from the night before playing some weird $1 matching table game. I saved some chips as a memento. We called it a night soon after, as we had a long travel day on Monday.
All in all it was a great weekend! Melbourne is much like Sydney and Brisbane. An incredibly clean, and young city. It was crammed full of art all over the place, and may be one of the most cultured cities I've been to. I would go back in a heartbeat. It's one of my favorite places we went to. Check out the pictures!
Hope all is well!
Miss you all!!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
A Million Thanks!
I would like to devote this post to you. To everyone who was kind enough to think of me on my Birthday. The letters, cards, and emails that poured in around my Birthday made my time so much better! It was so wonderful to get a brief update on everyone's lives back home, as well as to know that people were thinking of me. I had one of the best 21st Birthdays ever, and it was because of the love and caring that was sent to me. I appreciate it, and you all, so incredibly much!
Thank you SOOO much to:
- Denise and Rich
- Mickey Morehouse
- The Kims
- The Cahills
- Mary Jeanne
- Cousin Janice
- Bobbi Lensing
- Bill and Joanne
- The Hughes
- Tricia Cook
- Melissa, Clif, and Anna
- The Heitchues
- Grandma
- Memere and Pepere
- The Valatie Reeves
- Larry and Ellen
- Barb Smith
- Kim Smith
- Kay
- The Seymours
- The Judges
- George and Kelly
- M'Oncle Claude and M'Tante Annette
- Cousin Steve
- M'Oncle Alphie and M'Tante Stella
- Cousin Dick
- M'Tante Helen
Also a massive thanks to Mom and Dad for their great Birthday thoughts, gifts, and love while I'm away!!
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Thank you SOOO much to:
- Denise and Rich
- Mickey Morehouse
- The Kims
- The Cahills
- Mary Jeanne
- Cousin Janice
- Bobbi Lensing
- Bill and Joanne
- The Hughes
- Tricia Cook
- Melissa, Clif, and Anna
- The Heitchues
- Grandma
- Memere and Pepere
- The Valatie Reeves
- Larry and Ellen
- Barb Smith
- Kim Smith
- Kay
- The Seymours
- The Judges
- George and Kelly
- M'Oncle Claude and M'Tante Annette
- Cousin Steve
- M'Oncle Alphie and M'Tante Stella
- Cousin Dick
- M'Tante Helen
Also a massive thanks to Mom and Dad for their great Birthday thoughts, gifts, and love while I'm away!!
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Christchurch
On the way to Christchurch from Nelson, we made a slight detour to visit the town of Picton. Picton is basically the town you go to when you need to take the ferry to the north island. It did have some coffee shops and a small little village, but it was very industrialized besides that. We stopped to stretch our legs, get a bite to eat, and enjoy the warm sea air. Now, I believe that everything is meant to happen for a reason... and this is a prime example. After our coffee break we decided to run into a clothing store that was having a big sale. If we hadn't gone into that store, we would have left 5 minutes earlier and I wouldn't have seen my friend from HOBY, Chris Fahner, when we were driving out of town. It was SOOO crazy... I'm driving out of town and I see these three people walking down the sidewalk, and one of them is Chris. Now, I knew he was studying in NZ for the semester, but we hadn't contacted each other about getting together. How CRAZY is that?! Even if I was 30 seconds later, I would have missed him. I stopped the car and jumped out, and it was nice to catch up with him for a bit! Especially because HOBY is coming right around the corner and I'm missing everyone from it!!
After Picton we kept driving down through more wine country towards Christchurch. Christchurch was definitely the biggest city we had been to, and it was clearly apparent from the roads we were driving on. They were no match for Emma's directions though, as she got us right into the city and right to our hostel.
It turns out the Christchurch ended up being my favorite place in NZ. Before we got there I would have said Queenstown or Wanaka, but once we made it to CHC... I knew. Our hostel was located RIGHT SMACK DAB in the middle of the art district which provided for very interesting statues everywhere, museums, and live music everywhere. Across the street from our hostel was an outdoor market which sold food on Friday, and crafts on the weekend. I think we walked through the market every day, whether to look at the crafts, or to hear the musician that was performing that day. On Saturday we went and walked through the botanical gardens that were less than a block from our hostel. Even though it was fall, they were still very pretty! In the gardens we stumbled upon a rose garden with over 100 different species of roses. They were all in full bloom and it was such an incredible sight. It reminded me of my Great Uncle Claude... seems like something he would LOVE to see.
That evening we went back to our hostel and had some dinner and then, like every night that weekend, met up with our friends from Queenstown. Two of the guys who we met lived in a flat right in the center of CHC near Cathedral Square. They lived above two bars, which was always interesting because you had to walk through the back "outside area" of the ground floor bar, to get to their stairs. We always seemed to feel like VIPs. Once I was walking in and the bouncer grabbed me by my shoulder and all I said was "I live here..." I was let go. haha. It was really fun to get back in touch with these guys because they actually knew CHC and could tell us where to go and whatnot. Their flat was full of international people. Some studying, some working, and some just living. It was incredibly interesting to chat with people from England, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and other countries. I think there was only one Kiwi(nz) person there. We went out with them Friday and Saturday nights to this cool club called Boogie Nights. They played disco and 80s music, and it was so fun to dance to. We also went to a great Irish Pub... the band there played the BEST music. I think I knew every song they played. There was one from "P.S. I Love You" one from "Waking Ned Devine" and one from the Irish party scene in "Titanic." All in all, they showed us a great weekend, and we loved hanging out with them. It was great to say we actually had friends in New Zealand. Which we truly did, we even ran into them during the day at the grocery store and at the craft market.
On Sunday we started off at the market and then we all went to the museum down the road to look at the art. Some of those paintings were centuries old and they looked like photographs, the details were so remarkable... I was stunned. There was also heaps of modern art, which I really enjoyed as well. As we were leaving a Salvation Army band was playing outside of the museum, and I sat and listened to them for probably close to an hour. It was a perfectly warm and sunny day to sit and listen to a band. That afternoon Emma, Lauren, and I went "punting" down the Avon River. Basically this is like the gondolas in Venice... but with a German guy, and on a much smaller river. The couple sitting behind us was from the north island and they kept chatting up the punter. One question they asked him, was if he ever got stuck in the river (it was only like 1-2 feet deep). To which he replied: "The only time I ever got stuck was when I had a boatload of McDonald's Loving, Fat Americans." Lauren and I laughed, and kept out mouths shut... until they were all discussing the cost of universities in their countries. I turned around and said: "In AMERICA we pay nearly $40K a year." The reply from the punter was: "Sorry for my McDonald's comment." I thought it was funny, but it's an example of how much of the world looks at American with complete disdain. Such is life.
That night we went to our friends' flat to watch a movie, and then we called it an early night before we flew home on Monday. It was so bittersweet to leave. I absolutely LOVED New Zealand, and getting on a plane to go back to TOOWOOMBA, wasn't really what I wanted to be doing. However, at the same time, I wanted to get back and see everyone else that had gone up to Cairns for break. It was nice to chat with them and exchange stories about our trips. I already can't wait to go back to NZ. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life and the people, as a whole, are so incredibly nice, easy going, and laid back. It's just such a positive and happy atmosphere everywhere you go!
After Picton we kept driving down through more wine country towards Christchurch. Christchurch was definitely the biggest city we had been to, and it was clearly apparent from the roads we were driving on. They were no match for Emma's directions though, as she got us right into the city and right to our hostel.
It turns out the Christchurch ended up being my favorite place in NZ. Before we got there I would have said Queenstown or Wanaka, but once we made it to CHC... I knew. Our hostel was located RIGHT SMACK DAB in the middle of the art district which provided for very interesting statues everywhere, museums, and live music everywhere. Across the street from our hostel was an outdoor market which sold food on Friday, and crafts on the weekend. I think we walked through the market every day, whether to look at the crafts, or to hear the musician that was performing that day. On Saturday we went and walked through the botanical gardens that were less than a block from our hostel. Even though it was fall, they were still very pretty! In the gardens we stumbled upon a rose garden with over 100 different species of roses. They were all in full bloom and it was such an incredible sight. It reminded me of my Great Uncle Claude... seems like something he would LOVE to see.
That evening we went back to our hostel and had some dinner and then, like every night that weekend, met up with our friends from Queenstown. Two of the guys who we met lived in a flat right in the center of CHC near Cathedral Square. They lived above two bars, which was always interesting because you had to walk through the back "outside area" of the ground floor bar, to get to their stairs. We always seemed to feel like VIPs. Once I was walking in and the bouncer grabbed me by my shoulder and all I said was "I live here..." I was let go. haha. It was really fun to get back in touch with these guys because they actually knew CHC and could tell us where to go and whatnot. Their flat was full of international people. Some studying, some working, and some just living. It was incredibly interesting to chat with people from England, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and other countries. I think there was only one Kiwi(nz) person there. We went out with them Friday and Saturday nights to this cool club called Boogie Nights. They played disco and 80s music, and it was so fun to dance to. We also went to a great Irish Pub... the band there played the BEST music. I think I knew every song they played. There was one from "P.S. I Love You" one from "Waking Ned Devine" and one from the Irish party scene in "Titanic." All in all, they showed us a great weekend, and we loved hanging out with them. It was great to say we actually had friends in New Zealand. Which we truly did, we even ran into them during the day at the grocery store and at the craft market.
On Sunday we started off at the market and then we all went to the museum down the road to look at the art. Some of those paintings were centuries old and they looked like photographs, the details were so remarkable... I was stunned. There was also heaps of modern art, which I really enjoyed as well. As we were leaving a Salvation Army band was playing outside of the museum, and I sat and listened to them for probably close to an hour. It was a perfectly warm and sunny day to sit and listen to a band. That afternoon Emma, Lauren, and I went "punting" down the Avon River. Basically this is like the gondolas in Venice... but with a German guy, and on a much smaller river. The couple sitting behind us was from the north island and they kept chatting up the punter. One question they asked him, was if he ever got stuck in the river (it was only like 1-2 feet deep). To which he replied: "The only time I ever got stuck was when I had a boatload of McDonald's Loving, Fat Americans." Lauren and I laughed, and kept out mouths shut... until they were all discussing the cost of universities in their countries. I turned around and said: "In AMERICA we pay nearly $40K a year." The reply from the punter was: "Sorry for my McDonald's comment." I thought it was funny, but it's an example of how much of the world looks at American with complete disdain. Such is life.
That night we went to our friends' flat to watch a movie, and then we called it an early night before we flew home on Monday. It was so bittersweet to leave. I absolutely LOVED New Zealand, and getting on a plane to go back to TOOWOOMBA, wasn't really what I wanted to be doing. However, at the same time, I wanted to get back and see everyone else that had gone up to Cairns for break. It was nice to chat with them and exchange stories about our trips. I already can't wait to go back to NZ. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life and the people, as a whole, are so incredibly nice, easy going, and laid back. It's just such a positive and happy atmosphere everywhere you go!
Nelson
From Takaka we made the short drive to Nelson. Nelson is right on the north coast of the south island, and is maybe the size of Toowoomba. There wasn't a ton to do here, but we had fun regardless. The first night there was a showing of Ocean's Thirteen at the hostel, so we watched that... mainly for the free popcorn. The next morning we had to switch hostels again, so we drove across town to a smaller hostel with... get ready... it's almost unbelievable... FREE UNLIMITED INTERNET! It was so nice to get a proper Facebook fix... as sad as that sounds. I spent the better portion of the day doing that until we all decided to go for a short hike up one of the hills near town to go to the geographical center of NZ. It was pretty cool. There was a little monument marking the exact spot, and there were some beautiful views of Nelson, the bay, and the surrounding mountains. After this we went to a tiny pub across the street from our hostel where they had all locally brewed beers. We tried some really nice beers there. The rest of the night involved playing cards in the hostel. We went to bed early, as we had a long drive to Christchurch the next day.
Takaka
The drive from Fox Glacier to Takaka was incredibly long, but was made up for the by the SPECTACULAR views of the coastline and the very green mountains that ran into it. We stopped mid way at a place called pancake rocks to see the rocks, and to have some lunch. These rocks are a bunch of free standing, probably 50 feet high and carved by water, towers that look like a bunch of pancakes stacked up. It's hard to describe, but there are pictures of it in the Takaka album. One of the other more interesting things we saw on the drive was for about a 1km stretch of road on the coastline. Here, tons of people made Cairns (the self balancing rock towers) that line the roadside. There were easily thousands of them. It was raining hard at this point, but that didn't deter Lauren from making one of her own. Some of these towers used such small and skinny rocks, and it was amazing that they were still balancing through all the forces of mother nature.
10 hours later, and we arrived in Takaka. Takaka is the closest town to the Abel Tasman National park. Abel Tasman was the first European to discover NZ. He also discovered the small island of Tasmania, one of the states of Australia, but somehow managed to miss the main island of Australia. Nonetheless, he found NZ, and the National Park named after him is where he did a lot of his exploring... that is until the natives basically scared the crap out of him and ran him away from their island.
The next day was open to explore the park, as we only had a 2 hour drive to our next destination: Nelson. We saw the exact cove where Tasman first anchored his ships, we went on a beautiful hike to a fantastic waterfall. This hike involved a bridge that swung and swayed a lot, and had a limit of only one person at a time. I'm not huge on heights, and this bridge was testing that fear of mine. However, I made it, and was glad to see the falls at the end. We also read in the travel book that there was a great place to buy home made salami, called Golden Salami, and if we even remotely liked salami, we needed to go there and buy some. And we did. Oh boy did we buy some salami. After taking a bite of some of the samples, Lauren, Emma, and I (slightly to our dismay later on) bought a giant hunk of salami each. The old man who made it came out and chatted us up for a bit. It was clear he wanted some people to talk to, so we had a nice talk with him about our trip and NZ. He told us to check out this cool little nature park, right down the road, that would be the absolute BEST place for a child to play in. It was a small area full of giant boulders that had broken into tons of pieces with heaps of tall, green trees covered in vines. There were so many hiding places and alcoves... it was so cool. The trail throughout led us to the other side where there was a platform on the side of a cliff, maybe 60 feet in the air, looking out over the fields and the ocean. It was too cool. I wish I could have played there as a kid.
On the way out of Takaka we stopped at a converted-bus-restaurant for some delicious fish and chips, which we were all craving after hearing the radio DJ talk about it the day before. Once we were as full as could be, we piled in Ellen and made the drive to Nelson. This drive was maybe the most physically tiring drive I had done yet. Mainly because we had to drive over a huge mountain range. On both sides of the mountains, for 30km, it was switchbacks back and forth for what seemed like an eternity. The car was constantly in 2nd gear and the steering wheel was never in a straight position. I was always turning it from one direction to the next in complete 360 degree motions. Not only was this road incredibly windy, but it was also very steep. Poor Ellen was thoroughly tired when we got to Nelson... and so were my arms.
10 hours later, and we arrived in Takaka. Takaka is the closest town to the Abel Tasman National park. Abel Tasman was the first European to discover NZ. He also discovered the small island of Tasmania, one of the states of Australia, but somehow managed to miss the main island of Australia. Nonetheless, he found NZ, and the National Park named after him is where he did a lot of his exploring... that is until the natives basically scared the crap out of him and ran him away from their island.
The next day was open to explore the park, as we only had a 2 hour drive to our next destination: Nelson. We saw the exact cove where Tasman first anchored his ships, we went on a beautiful hike to a fantastic waterfall. This hike involved a bridge that swung and swayed a lot, and had a limit of only one person at a time. I'm not huge on heights, and this bridge was testing that fear of mine. However, I made it, and was glad to see the falls at the end. We also read in the travel book that there was a great place to buy home made salami, called Golden Salami, and if we even remotely liked salami, we needed to go there and buy some. And we did. Oh boy did we buy some salami. After taking a bite of some of the samples, Lauren, Emma, and I (slightly to our dismay later on) bought a giant hunk of salami each. The old man who made it came out and chatted us up for a bit. It was clear he wanted some people to talk to, so we had a nice talk with him about our trip and NZ. He told us to check out this cool little nature park, right down the road, that would be the absolute BEST place for a child to play in. It was a small area full of giant boulders that had broken into tons of pieces with heaps of tall, green trees covered in vines. There were so many hiding places and alcoves... it was so cool. The trail throughout led us to the other side where there was a platform on the side of a cliff, maybe 60 feet in the air, looking out over the fields and the ocean. It was too cool. I wish I could have played there as a kid.
On the way out of Takaka we stopped at a converted-bus-restaurant for some delicious fish and chips, which we were all craving after hearing the radio DJ talk about it the day before. Once we were as full as could be, we piled in Ellen and made the drive to Nelson. This drive was maybe the most physically tiring drive I had done yet. Mainly because we had to drive over a huge mountain range. On both sides of the mountains, for 30km, it was switchbacks back and forth for what seemed like an eternity. The car was constantly in 2nd gear and the steering wheel was never in a straight position. I was always turning it from one direction to the next in complete 360 degree motions. Not only was this road incredibly windy, but it was also very steep. Poor Ellen was thoroughly tired when we got to Nelson... and so were my arms.
Fox Glacier
This post will be short... I promise.
From Queenstown we drove 7 hours in the rain up the west coast to Fox Glacier. We drove through Wanaka on the way, and it was almost nostalgic to be back there again. It felt like forever since our time there. I didn't realize it at first, but Fox Glacier is DIRECTLY across the mountain range from Mt. Cook. It's funny how small the island was, and how "criss-crossy" our path was.
Our original plan was to do an afternoon hike on the glacier, but the rain was so heavy and the fog so thick, that we decided to have another lazy afternoon in the movie room at our hostel. I think I watched 3 movies that afternoon.
The next morning we got up at 5:30 in order to make the sunrise on Lake Matheson, which is right in town, had an hour long walk around it, and normally has incredible reflections of Mt. Cook in the morning on it's glass-still water. Sadly, the fog was still pretty thick, and while there was some reflection of the mountain, there wasn't anything that spectacular. Until we were back in the car on our way to Takaka... of course.
From Queenstown we drove 7 hours in the rain up the west coast to Fox Glacier. We drove through Wanaka on the way, and it was almost nostalgic to be back there again. It felt like forever since our time there. I didn't realize it at first, but Fox Glacier is DIRECTLY across the mountain range from Mt. Cook. It's funny how small the island was, and how "criss-crossy" our path was.
Our original plan was to do an afternoon hike on the glacier, but the rain was so heavy and the fog so thick, that we decided to have another lazy afternoon in the movie room at our hostel. I think I watched 3 movies that afternoon.
The next morning we got up at 5:30 in order to make the sunrise on Lake Matheson, which is right in town, had an hour long walk around it, and normally has incredible reflections of Mt. Cook in the morning on it's glass-still water. Sadly, the fog was still pretty thick, and while there was some reflection of the mountain, there wasn't anything that spectacular. Until we were back in the car on our way to Takaka... of course.
Queenstown
Sorry these have been so long... just grab a drink and a snack, prop your feet up, and enjoy.
From Te Anau we traveled to Queenstown... which is self proclaimed as the adventure capital of the world. Here you can go everything: skydive, bungee jump (started in NZ), para-glide, hang-glide, go on a jet boat, do helicopter tours. You name something adventurous and aimed at tourists, and they have it.
We pulled into our hostel (on a HUGE hill, again) called the Hippo Lodge and threw our stuff in. Literally. The window to our room was huge, opened out all the way, was right near the car, and conveniently was large enough for all of our bags. After we got settled we went and walked through the town. It is absolutely a ski town and is incredibly touristy. I would peg it as a cross between Woodstock, Killington, and Vail. Much like Burlington, there are steep mountains all around the lake there. We grabbed some thai food, ate on the patio, and then continued walking around and through loads of gift shops.
That night we met some really cool people in our hostel that live in Christchurch and were from all over: France, Romania, Spain, Australia, and some other places. They were all our age and seemed wicked nice, so we decided to go out with them that night. Now, this was Easter weekend... and what we didn't know was that no alcohol could be sold in NZ on Good Friday or Easter Sunday. So we couldn't go out Friday night until the clubs opened at midnight. We had a great time dancing, singing, and spending our night with our new friends.
The next day was a day that revolved all around FOOD! This started in the morning when we made a million pancakes from the free pancake mix provided by our hostel. After this delicious breakfast we went to a small craft market... which was right next to the target destination: Chocolate Patagonia. We originally just went there cones of their homemade ice cream (which were HUGE), but we were also suckered into a massssive piece of chocolate cake. We walked some of these calories off for a bit in the afternoon, only to go to the most well known burger joint in New Zealand: Fergburger. I told myself that I couldn't go to Fergburger and not order the biggest thing on the menu, so I did just that. It was a double cheese burger, with loads of bacon, and two fried eggs. I am pretty sure I had a heart attack with every bite. But boy was it delicious. I clearly washed it down with a tall glass of Speight's! Pride of the South! We went out again that night, and met our friends downtown. However, this night was Saturday and the bars were only open until Midnight (the start of Easter.) After which we all went back to the hostel, and chatted in the living room until the wee hours of the morning.
The next day our friends were headed off to Milford Sound, and we were moving to another hostel in Queenstown because ours was full that night. Stephanie, Lauren, and I enjoyed a nice walk along the waterfront while Emma went Paragliding. She really had a great time doing that. Later on that day, Emma, Lauren and I took the gondola up the mountain to do "the luge." This provided for some AMAZING views of the surrounding mountains, the lake, and all of Queenstown. The Luge is basically like an Alpine Slide, only the track is wider, you have to steer, and you have the ability to overtake people. We did 5 incredibly fun runs down the track and then enjoyed a small lunch on the patio of the restaurant at the top of the mountain. Once we were back to the hostel, I had to get some things in order for my clinical here in NZ, and while I was doing that the girls all went to a winery a little ways outside of Queenstown. Emma's mom owns an imported wine shop in Hong Kong, and this particular winery was one of her suppliers. The girls used this connection to get a free tasting and some nice discounts on wine. I was bummed to miss it, but I had to get my clinical stuff done.
Wow, okay... I think that sums up Queenstown. It was a very fun town for people our age, but very touristy. The next day we had a LONG driving day ahead of us.
From Te Anau we traveled to Queenstown... which is self proclaimed as the adventure capital of the world. Here you can go everything: skydive, bungee jump (started in NZ), para-glide, hang-glide, go on a jet boat, do helicopter tours. You name something adventurous and aimed at tourists, and they have it.
We pulled into our hostel (on a HUGE hill, again) called the Hippo Lodge and threw our stuff in. Literally. The window to our room was huge, opened out all the way, was right near the car, and conveniently was large enough for all of our bags. After we got settled we went and walked through the town. It is absolutely a ski town and is incredibly touristy. I would peg it as a cross between Woodstock, Killington, and Vail. Much like Burlington, there are steep mountains all around the lake there. We grabbed some thai food, ate on the patio, and then continued walking around and through loads of gift shops.
That night we met some really cool people in our hostel that live in Christchurch and were from all over: France, Romania, Spain, Australia, and some other places. They were all our age and seemed wicked nice, so we decided to go out with them that night. Now, this was Easter weekend... and what we didn't know was that no alcohol could be sold in NZ on Good Friday or Easter Sunday. So we couldn't go out Friday night until the clubs opened at midnight. We had a great time dancing, singing, and spending our night with our new friends.
The next day was a day that revolved all around FOOD! This started in the morning when we made a million pancakes from the free pancake mix provided by our hostel. After this delicious breakfast we went to a small craft market... which was right next to the target destination: Chocolate Patagonia. We originally just went there cones of their homemade ice cream (which were HUGE), but we were also suckered into a massssive piece of chocolate cake. We walked some of these calories off for a bit in the afternoon, only to go to the most well known burger joint in New Zealand: Fergburger. I told myself that I couldn't go to Fergburger and not order the biggest thing on the menu, so I did just that. It was a double cheese burger, with loads of bacon, and two fried eggs. I am pretty sure I had a heart attack with every bite. But boy was it delicious. I clearly washed it down with a tall glass of Speight's! Pride of the South! We went out again that night, and met our friends downtown. However, this night was Saturday and the bars were only open until Midnight (the start of Easter.) After which we all went back to the hostel, and chatted in the living room until the wee hours of the morning.
The next day our friends were headed off to Milford Sound, and we were moving to another hostel in Queenstown because ours was full that night. Stephanie, Lauren, and I enjoyed a nice walk along the waterfront while Emma went Paragliding. She really had a great time doing that. Later on that day, Emma, Lauren and I took the gondola up the mountain to do "the luge." This provided for some AMAZING views of the surrounding mountains, the lake, and all of Queenstown. The Luge is basically like an Alpine Slide, only the track is wider, you have to steer, and you have the ability to overtake people. We did 5 incredibly fun runs down the track and then enjoyed a small lunch on the patio of the restaurant at the top of the mountain. Once we were back to the hostel, I had to get some things in order for my clinical here in NZ, and while I was doing that the girls all went to a winery a little ways outside of Queenstown. Emma's mom owns an imported wine shop in Hong Kong, and this particular winery was one of her suppliers. The girls used this connection to get a free tasting and some nice discounts on wine. I was bummed to miss it, but I had to get my clinical stuff done.
Wow, okay... I think that sums up Queenstown. It was a very fun town for people our age, but very touristy. The next day we had a LONG driving day ahead of us.
Te Anau
After our time in Dunedin we piled ourselves and our things back into Ellen and made our way to Te Anau. This basically entailed traveling from the east coast to the west coast. An easy task. We thought it was going to take us near 5 or 6 hours, but Ellen and I were a great pair that day, and we made it in about 3.5, I think. It rained for most of the morning, which made driving not that fun, but once we got to Te Anau it was just overcast.
The hostel we stayed at was very nice. We spent the afternoon reading by the fire, watching movies in our room (there was a tv), and eating... obviously. Te Anau is basically the town where people who are going to see Milford sound stay in. However, we had no problem taking in a nice lazy day.
Early the next day, Lauren, Emma, Anja, and I got in the car and made the two hour drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound. The drive is only about 100km and probably could be done in an hour. But there are so many scenic places to stop and take countless photos, that the drive is usually drawn out. We watched as the sun burned the fog off, uncovering beautiful snow capped mountains and the bluest sky you could imagine. When we neared Milford, we had to cross a massive mountain range. This involved very steep, narrow, and windy roads as well as a very long and sloped tunnel which was only one lane. This meant we had to wait on either side for the green light to go through, which came every 15 minutes. It was so neat as we were waiting... we were surrounded by wicked tall mountains on 3 sides of us... including in front of us, where we needed to go. Emma, being from Hong Kong, and a southern part of England, had never seen proper snow before... these 15 minutes allowed her to make her first snowman. He came with us through the tunnel. Once we were through it was another set of steep and narrow switchback roads which led us right into Milford.
For the day we had booked a cruise down the sound, technically a Fiord, and out into the ocean. All of these fiords (in Fiordland... imagine that) had been carved out by glaciers thousands of years ago. The history was extremely prominent when you looked at the cliffs, the waterfalls, the valleys, and how the rock walls went straight down into the ocean. It hadn't rained there in a day or so, and as a result the waterfalls we apparently not that spectacular. But if those weren't good, I can't imagine what the fully flowing waterfalls look like. What we saw was beautiful enough for me! Some were small and trickled down the rocks, others were MASSIVE and were throwing liters upon liters of water over the edge of a cliff and into the water. Our boat was small enough, and the water was deep enough, that we were actually able to drive the bow of the boat under one of these waterfalls. Big, thick raincoats were available and we all donned them and felt the cold water against our faces.
As well as all of the glacial formations and the flora, we also saw heaps of fauna. When we reached the ocean there was a family? of dolphins which, lucky for us, seemed to be excited to see our boat and they gave us a nice 5 minute show. As well as Dolphins we saw a group of seals all basking in the sun when we were headed back down the sound. It was surreal to see all of these animals in their NATURAL habitat, and not behind glass at the zoo. I think it's how everyone should see these animals... it's so much more breath-taking and I'm very lucky to have seen them this way.
After our cruise we decided to do some of the nature walks on the road back to Te Anau. One was very short but brought us to these amazingly beautiful falls that were created from water carving tons of intricate holes out of the rock. It almost looked like a 40 foot drop of Swiss Cheese. It was incredibly spectacular, and sadly my pictures don't do it ANY sort of justice. The second walk we took was a lot longer, but it brought us through a section of the rain forest and explained the different types of trees. The walk took us to the edge of a small lake, and along the river leading out of the lake. The water, like everywhere else, was SOOO clear! The girls continued down the trail a bit, while I was taking photos of the lake. At this point a few birds decided to fly around and check me out. I tried calling them (like I know how to call birds) and one decided to take some interest in my Red Danskos. He came over, right to my feet, and started pecking away at my shoes. At one point, he even was standing on them. I got millions of pictures, and he didn't seem to be afraid of me as I moved around. I tried to get him to sit on my hand, and I could tell that he wanted to do it, but was slightly apprehensive. Nonetheless, I have a friend in those woods.
When we got back to Te Anau, we had to switch hostels, because the YHA we were staying in the night before was full this night. We moved to a hostel on the main drag which was on the lake in Te Anau. We renamed this hostel, "The Holocaustel." When we booked we were told our room had it's own kitchen and bathroom. This really excited us, until we saw that the kitchen was extremely small, had maybe one pot and pan, a spoon or two, and maybe a plate. Okay, perhaps the supplies weren't that meager... but I'm creating an image. Also, we couldn't get the heater to work for the first 5 hours or so, there was one ladder for the TWO bunk-beds to somehow share, and we weren't too entirely sure when the sheets were last washed. After we had decided that the room could have been similar to a concentration camp, the name was solidified when we noticed a giant decorative Star of David engraved into the cement brick walls. Thus, The Holocaustel.
That night, Lauren, Emma, and I went and did a Glow-worm cave tour. Basically this entailed taking a boat ride across the lake, and then going up into these completely dark caves, and taking a short man-powered boat ride up into a room in the cave where there are TONS of fly larvae which emit a green glow to attract food into their webs. They basically have the same glowing process as a lightning bug. Once in the boat, we had to be completely silent and have no lights on us, as to not scare the glow-worms. It was so incredible to enter the chamber of the cave with the worms. It was basically like looking at a sky of green stars. On the boat ride back to Te Anau, we were on the top deck (very windy and cold) but the stars were too radiant to not enjoy. One of the crew helped us learn how to spot the Southern Cross, which is a constellation that can only be seen in the southern hemisphere. That was the perfect end to the most magnificent day.
The hostel we stayed at was very nice. We spent the afternoon reading by the fire, watching movies in our room (there was a tv), and eating... obviously. Te Anau is basically the town where people who are going to see Milford sound stay in. However, we had no problem taking in a nice lazy day.
Early the next day, Lauren, Emma, Anja, and I got in the car and made the two hour drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound. The drive is only about 100km and probably could be done in an hour. But there are so many scenic places to stop and take countless photos, that the drive is usually drawn out. We watched as the sun burned the fog off, uncovering beautiful snow capped mountains and the bluest sky you could imagine. When we neared Milford, we had to cross a massive mountain range. This involved very steep, narrow, and windy roads as well as a very long and sloped tunnel which was only one lane. This meant we had to wait on either side for the green light to go through, which came every 15 minutes. It was so neat as we were waiting... we were surrounded by wicked tall mountains on 3 sides of us... including in front of us, where we needed to go. Emma, being from Hong Kong, and a southern part of England, had never seen proper snow before... these 15 minutes allowed her to make her first snowman. He came with us through the tunnel. Once we were through it was another set of steep and narrow switchback roads which led us right into Milford.
For the day we had booked a cruise down the sound, technically a Fiord, and out into the ocean. All of these fiords (in Fiordland... imagine that) had been carved out by glaciers thousands of years ago. The history was extremely prominent when you looked at the cliffs, the waterfalls, the valleys, and how the rock walls went straight down into the ocean. It hadn't rained there in a day or so, and as a result the waterfalls we apparently not that spectacular. But if those weren't good, I can't imagine what the fully flowing waterfalls look like. What we saw was beautiful enough for me! Some were small and trickled down the rocks, others were MASSIVE and were throwing liters upon liters of water over the edge of a cliff and into the water. Our boat was small enough, and the water was deep enough, that we were actually able to drive the bow of the boat under one of these waterfalls. Big, thick raincoats were available and we all donned them and felt the cold water against our faces.
As well as all of the glacial formations and the flora, we also saw heaps of fauna. When we reached the ocean there was a family? of dolphins which, lucky for us, seemed to be excited to see our boat and they gave us a nice 5 minute show. As well as Dolphins we saw a group of seals all basking in the sun when we were headed back down the sound. It was surreal to see all of these animals in their NATURAL habitat, and not behind glass at the zoo. I think it's how everyone should see these animals... it's so much more breath-taking and I'm very lucky to have seen them this way.
After our cruise we decided to do some of the nature walks on the road back to Te Anau. One was very short but brought us to these amazingly beautiful falls that were created from water carving tons of intricate holes out of the rock. It almost looked like a 40 foot drop of Swiss Cheese. It was incredibly spectacular, and sadly my pictures don't do it ANY sort of justice. The second walk we took was a lot longer, but it brought us through a section of the rain forest and explained the different types of trees. The walk took us to the edge of a small lake, and along the river leading out of the lake. The water, like everywhere else, was SOOO clear! The girls continued down the trail a bit, while I was taking photos of the lake. At this point a few birds decided to fly around and check me out. I tried calling them (like I know how to call birds) and one decided to take some interest in my Red Danskos. He came over, right to my feet, and started pecking away at my shoes. At one point, he even was standing on them. I got millions of pictures, and he didn't seem to be afraid of me as I moved around. I tried to get him to sit on my hand, and I could tell that he wanted to do it, but was slightly apprehensive. Nonetheless, I have a friend in those woods.
When we got back to Te Anau, we had to switch hostels, because the YHA we were staying in the night before was full this night. We moved to a hostel on the main drag which was on the lake in Te Anau. We renamed this hostel, "The Holocaustel." When we booked we were told our room had it's own kitchen and bathroom. This really excited us, until we saw that the kitchen was extremely small, had maybe one pot and pan, a spoon or two, and maybe a plate. Okay, perhaps the supplies weren't that meager... but I'm creating an image. Also, we couldn't get the heater to work for the first 5 hours or so, there was one ladder for the TWO bunk-beds to somehow share, and we weren't too entirely sure when the sheets were last washed. After we had decided that the room could have been similar to a concentration camp, the name was solidified when we noticed a giant decorative Star of David engraved into the cement brick walls. Thus, The Holocaustel.
That night, Lauren, Emma, and I went and did a Glow-worm cave tour. Basically this entailed taking a boat ride across the lake, and then going up into these completely dark caves, and taking a short man-powered boat ride up into a room in the cave where there are TONS of fly larvae which emit a green glow to attract food into their webs. They basically have the same glowing process as a lightning bug. Once in the boat, we had to be completely silent and have no lights on us, as to not scare the glow-worms. It was so incredible to enter the chamber of the cave with the worms. It was basically like looking at a sky of green stars. On the boat ride back to Te Anau, we were on the top deck (very windy and cold) but the stars were too radiant to not enjoy. One of the crew helped us learn how to spot the Southern Cross, which is a constellation that can only be seen in the southern hemisphere. That was the perfect end to the most magnificent day.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Back in Toowoomba
So this post is out of succession from all of the NZ ones, but I figured I would update everyone on being back in Toowoomba. We got back into town late Monday night and arrived to dinner made by Trina, Casey, and Michelle. It was very lovely, and couldn't have come at a better time. This week wasn't too bad. We had two assignments to do for class. Each of which wasn't that challenging at all. Aside from that, we've just been hanging out, playing cards, and eating. I went to the grocery store today and stocked up for the next week or so. It felt good.
We had originally planned to go to Adelaide this weekend, but we were so wiped from New Zealand (which was AMAZING) that we decided not to go. A nice relaxing weekend here in Toombay (as Casey's grandmother calls it) will really hit the spot. However, next weekend we will be going to Melbourne from Thursday to Monday. I'll be spending my 21st Birthday there. Which should be much more exciting than spending it in Toowoomba. Lauren, Stephanie, Steffen, and Alex are going too. We're all very excited, found cheap flights, an even cheaper hostel, and couldn't be more antsy to go.
Aside from that, I think that's about it. I'll try and finish the NZ blogs... but you all know me: I LOVE to procrastinate. They'll be up before I go to Melbourne though. I promise. It will give me something to do this weekend.
Hope all is well!
Miss you all!
P.S. Thanks to Michelle and Doug, as well as Memere and Pepere for the Easter cards! It was wonderful to have a pile of mail when I came back from NZ.
P.P.S HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! Love you!
We had originally planned to go to Adelaide this weekend, but we were so wiped from New Zealand (which was AMAZING) that we decided not to go. A nice relaxing weekend here in Toombay (as Casey's grandmother calls it) will really hit the spot. However, next weekend we will be going to Melbourne from Thursday to Monday. I'll be spending my 21st Birthday there. Which should be much more exciting than spending it in Toowoomba. Lauren, Stephanie, Steffen, and Alex are going too. We're all very excited, found cheap flights, an even cheaper hostel, and couldn't be more antsy to go.
Aside from that, I think that's about it. I'll try and finish the NZ blogs... but you all know me: I LOVE to procrastinate. They'll be up before I go to Melbourne though. I promise. It will give me something to do this weekend.
Hope all is well!
Miss you all!
P.S. Thanks to Michelle and Doug, as well as Memere and Pepere for the Easter cards! It was wonderful to have a pile of mail when I came back from NZ.
P.P.S HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! Love you!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Dunedin
After Wanaka we traveled a few hours from the central area of the southern island to the south east corner of the southern island. After many winding roads through sheep pastures and steep mountains, we crested a final hill which brought us down into the ocean side town of Dunedin. All of the buildings seem to be no taller than 3 or 4 stories... with a slightly Spanish feel.
Once we got oriented with the map and where we were (a task that takes us about 15 minutes when we come to every new town) we found our hostel. On the top of, maybe the steepest street I've ever been on. On a related note, the steepest street in the world (according to the Guiness Book) is in Dunedin. It's a big tourist attraction, but we seemed to not make it during our 2 night stay there. Our hostel was a culmination of 3 little houses all within the confines of a big fence. There was a hot-tub and a sauna. Both big draws. We settled in that day and then decided to walk around the town a bit.
The center of town is called "The Octagon." There is one main street that goes through the octagon, and the outside goes around this street in the shape of... yes, you guessed it: an octagon. There are loads of shops, malls, and restaurants around here... so we had a nice afternoon poking around in them. The other big draw in the center of town is the university in Dunedin. I forget the name, but Dunedin is a college town... and that uni brings in a lot of the population for the 2nd biggest city in the southern island.
The next day we decided to do all of the "sight-seey," tourist things. We got in Ellen and drove to the end of the Otago Peninsula. This road was another VERY windy road which on one side, had cliffs which were RIGHT against the road, and on the other... an eight foot DROP into the ocean. It was fine until a giant Toyota Camry decided it wanted to come around one corner half in my lane. For that split second I was very relieved to have the full insurance on our car. Thankfully, we didn't need it. I recovered and I think the other 4 bodies in the car may have thrown up their middle fingers at the other driver. At the end of the peninsula is the home of the Albatross (I forget which type) mating grounds. From what we found out, the Albatross' only land mating areas are in NZ... while they're not mating they fly all around the world from continent to continent. Their wingspan can get to be over a yard wide and they can fly at speeds over 60mph. Unfortunately, the albatross had left about a month before we were there. I read in Whitney Taylor's blog that she has been studying/marking albatross on Tern Island off of Hawaii. They very well could be the same birds... but she would know more about whether or not they are.
There is an Albatross information center, obviously complete with a gift shop, at the end of the peninsula where we learned some of this information. After we looked around a bit, we walked down the steep trail to she shore where we were told we might see some seals. We were not disappointed. Right there, in the ocean, not in a pool at the zoo, were about 15 seals swimming around and basking on the rocks. It was my first experience, in nature, with an animal I usually see in the zoo... and it was so amazing!
After we took numerous photos of the seals we took the only other road back towards Dunedin... the road on TOP of those cliffs I mentioned before. So the same windy roads, but with a 400ft drop this time. The views, however, made up for this death defying drive. The mountains all run straight down into these beautiful blue/teal/aquamarine waters. We were told at the albatross building that we might have a chance to see a penguin if we went to a certain beach half way towards town. So we traveled to the parking area, and started the hike down the sand dunes towards the beach. It was a steep hike on the way back, but very fun to run down barefoot. Once we were on the beach, we were happily surprised to see about 10 Sealions laying on the sand together. They were spread out in groups of 2 or 3 throughout the beach. At the end of the beach, near some cliffs with rocks at the bottom, there was a trail that lead up to the top of a bluff where some hiding places were stationed. These were basically wooden sheds with little windows to watch the penguin habitat from. The purpose for these is to keep the penguins from seeing humans, so they don't get scared, and leave the habitat. We sat in the "blind" for almost 30 minutes with no sign of a penguin... until we realized that what we thought was a rock, was actually a penguin sitting on the side of the hill. Perhaps sitting on an egg or nest or something. But without a pair of binoculars, there was no way of knowing. After we had taken enough photos on full zoom, that still didn't show much of a penguin, we walked back up the beach towards the car. A few of the Sealions had started to spar with each other. It was rather cool, but I was slightly afraid because I didn't know how close we should get, and blah blah blah. But we made it by safely, got to the car, and went back to the hostel.
That night we took a tour of the Speight's Brewery. Which is right down the street from our hostel. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, and very funny. The brewery gets all of their water for the beer from a spring that is directly below their brewery. They have been brewing, and using this spring water for over 100 years. They also use a special type of gravity fed brewing that I think is only used by a few breweries in the world. Most of the copper brewing equipment is around 60-80 years old, and it was very historical. It turns out that Speight's is the Pride of the South for over 100 years (their motto.) At the end of the tour we were able to go to one of the 7 bars in the brewery (there's one on every floor for the employees.) At the bar we were able to pour our own beer, and sample all of their 6 flavors. There was also no limit, and it seemed that throwing a beer down the sink wasn't a waste at all.
Rain came hard that night, so we stayed in the hostel and played some games. The next day we got in the car for a 4 hour drive to Te Anau.
Once we got oriented with the map and where we were (a task that takes us about 15 minutes when we come to every new town) we found our hostel. On the top of, maybe the steepest street I've ever been on. On a related note, the steepest street in the world (according to the Guiness Book) is in Dunedin. It's a big tourist attraction, but we seemed to not make it during our 2 night stay there. Our hostel was a culmination of 3 little houses all within the confines of a big fence. There was a hot-tub and a sauna. Both big draws. We settled in that day and then decided to walk around the town a bit.
The center of town is called "The Octagon." There is one main street that goes through the octagon, and the outside goes around this street in the shape of... yes, you guessed it: an octagon. There are loads of shops, malls, and restaurants around here... so we had a nice afternoon poking around in them. The other big draw in the center of town is the university in Dunedin. I forget the name, but Dunedin is a college town... and that uni brings in a lot of the population for the 2nd biggest city in the southern island.
The next day we decided to do all of the "sight-seey," tourist things. We got in Ellen and drove to the end of the Otago Peninsula. This road was another VERY windy road which on one side, had cliffs which were RIGHT against the road, and on the other... an eight foot DROP into the ocean. It was fine until a giant Toyota Camry decided it wanted to come around one corner half in my lane. For that split second I was very relieved to have the full insurance on our car. Thankfully, we didn't need it. I recovered and I think the other 4 bodies in the car may have thrown up their middle fingers at the other driver. At the end of the peninsula is the home of the Albatross (I forget which type) mating grounds. From what we found out, the Albatross' only land mating areas are in NZ... while they're not mating they fly all around the world from continent to continent. Their wingspan can get to be over a yard wide and they can fly at speeds over 60mph. Unfortunately, the albatross had left about a month before we were there. I read in Whitney Taylor's blog that she has been studying/marking albatross on Tern Island off of Hawaii. They very well could be the same birds... but she would know more about whether or not they are.
There is an Albatross information center, obviously complete with a gift shop, at the end of the peninsula where we learned some of this information. After we looked around a bit, we walked down the steep trail to she shore where we were told we might see some seals. We were not disappointed. Right there, in the ocean, not in a pool at the zoo, were about 15 seals swimming around and basking on the rocks. It was my first experience, in nature, with an animal I usually see in the zoo... and it was so amazing!
After we took numerous photos of the seals we took the only other road back towards Dunedin... the road on TOP of those cliffs I mentioned before. So the same windy roads, but with a 400ft drop this time. The views, however, made up for this death defying drive. The mountains all run straight down into these beautiful blue/teal/aquamarine waters. We were told at the albatross building that we might have a chance to see a penguin if we went to a certain beach half way towards town. So we traveled to the parking area, and started the hike down the sand dunes towards the beach. It was a steep hike on the way back, but very fun to run down barefoot. Once we were on the beach, we were happily surprised to see about 10 Sealions laying on the sand together. They were spread out in groups of 2 or 3 throughout the beach. At the end of the beach, near some cliffs with rocks at the bottom, there was a trail that lead up to the top of a bluff where some hiding places were stationed. These were basically wooden sheds with little windows to watch the penguin habitat from. The purpose for these is to keep the penguins from seeing humans, so they don't get scared, and leave the habitat. We sat in the "blind" for almost 30 minutes with no sign of a penguin... until we realized that what we thought was a rock, was actually a penguin sitting on the side of the hill. Perhaps sitting on an egg or nest or something. But without a pair of binoculars, there was no way of knowing. After we had taken enough photos on full zoom, that still didn't show much of a penguin, we walked back up the beach towards the car. A few of the Sealions had started to spar with each other. It was rather cool, but I was slightly afraid because I didn't know how close we should get, and blah blah blah. But we made it by safely, got to the car, and went back to the hostel.
That night we took a tour of the Speight's Brewery. Which is right down the street from our hostel. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, and very funny. The brewery gets all of their water for the beer from a spring that is directly below their brewery. They have been brewing, and using this spring water for over 100 years. They also use a special type of gravity fed brewing that I think is only used by a few breweries in the world. Most of the copper brewing equipment is around 60-80 years old, and it was very historical. It turns out that Speight's is the Pride of the South for over 100 years (their motto.) At the end of the tour we were able to go to one of the 7 bars in the brewery (there's one on every floor for the employees.) At the bar we were able to pour our own beer, and sample all of their 6 flavors. There was also no limit, and it seemed that throwing a beer down the sink wasn't a waste at all.
Rain came hard that night, so we stayed in the hostel and played some games. The next day we got in the car for a 4 hour drive to Te Anau.
Wanaka
We have free, UNLIMITED internet in the hostel we're staying in tonight... so I decided to make good use of it and update the blog a bit.
When I last left off we had left Mt. Cook and we were on our way to Wanaka. Wanaka is a very tiny town right on the lake... lake Wanaka. Imagine that. It's a very quaint town with a very friendly feel. The hostel we stayed in had a very nice garden with picnic tables which I used for a meal or two as well as some journaling. During our day there we decided to go kayaking for a bit on the lake. While it was pretty cold, and we got pretty wet, it provided for some amazing views of the mountains. The mountains here are so tall and so steep, and they all tend to plunge deep into a lake, ocean, or river of some sort.
After kayaking we went to a place called Puzzling World. Basically it was like a corn maze. There was a huge maze with towers in each corner (4) and the object was to find your way to each tower... in order. I think it took us about an hour or so. Some people finished before others... but those people also didn't find the towers in the correct order. Cheaters. Needless to say, that after all that walking, about 6km the place estimates, we were quite hungry.
Luckily, there was a BBQ on the green put on by the local christian churches in Wanaka. Now, the food was free... but we also were preached to a little. A small price to pay for free food. The sausages hit the spot and paved the way for a night of indulging in junk food. There is a terrific little movie theater in Wanaka that plays up to date (for Australia and New Zealand) movies 3-4 times per day. The theater is different though because in the actual theater there aren't rows of chairs... there are about 25 old comfy couches all mashed together. There is also an old VW Bug with the top off the you can sit in to watch the movie. It was very much like the drive-in. The feeling was laid back, you could spread out on the couches, and when the reel broke the owner stuck his head out from the projection room and told us it wouldn't be much longer. At intermission... yes, intermission... everyone goes back out to the lobby to buy homemade, still warm, cookies that are as big as your face. Popcorn, dinners, and wine are also available. I got popcorn and asked for butter to be put on it. The kid behind the counter had a confused look on his face and asked his boss if that was ok... she paused for a minute and said "Yeah, we can do that." About five minutes later she came back out with my popcorn with butter spread on it. Butter that she had to melt on the stove. Special. For me. We've been joking since we've been in Toowoomba that we are fat Americans because we always bake and we eat chips and things frequently. We've even converted our German roommate Steffen into a Fat American. But that night... I was a fat american.
Wanaka was a fabulous little town with such a feel of community. The man who rented us our kayaks (who also told us the lifestory of more than one of the townsfolk) also worked at the movie theater. Wanaka seems like a town where I could see myself living later in life. Everyone knows and cares for everyone else in the town, there are beautiful views, and it has a nice laid back feel.
On to Dunedin.
Miss you all!
When I last left off we had left Mt. Cook and we were on our way to Wanaka. Wanaka is a very tiny town right on the lake... lake Wanaka. Imagine that. It's a very quaint town with a very friendly feel. The hostel we stayed in had a very nice garden with picnic tables which I used for a meal or two as well as some journaling. During our day there we decided to go kayaking for a bit on the lake. While it was pretty cold, and we got pretty wet, it provided for some amazing views of the mountains. The mountains here are so tall and so steep, and they all tend to plunge deep into a lake, ocean, or river of some sort.
After kayaking we went to a place called Puzzling World. Basically it was like a corn maze. There was a huge maze with towers in each corner (4) and the object was to find your way to each tower... in order. I think it took us about an hour or so. Some people finished before others... but those people also didn't find the towers in the correct order. Cheaters. Needless to say, that after all that walking, about 6km the place estimates, we were quite hungry.
Luckily, there was a BBQ on the green put on by the local christian churches in Wanaka. Now, the food was free... but we also were preached to a little. A small price to pay for free food. The sausages hit the spot and paved the way for a night of indulging in junk food. There is a terrific little movie theater in Wanaka that plays up to date (for Australia and New Zealand) movies 3-4 times per day. The theater is different though because in the actual theater there aren't rows of chairs... there are about 25 old comfy couches all mashed together. There is also an old VW Bug with the top off the you can sit in to watch the movie. It was very much like the drive-in. The feeling was laid back, you could spread out on the couches, and when the reel broke the owner stuck his head out from the projection room and told us it wouldn't be much longer. At intermission... yes, intermission... everyone goes back out to the lobby to buy homemade, still warm, cookies that are as big as your face. Popcorn, dinners, and wine are also available. I got popcorn and asked for butter to be put on it. The kid behind the counter had a confused look on his face and asked his boss if that was ok... she paused for a minute and said "Yeah, we can do that." About five minutes later she came back out with my popcorn with butter spread on it. Butter that she had to melt on the stove. Special. For me. We've been joking since we've been in Toowoomba that we are fat Americans because we always bake and we eat chips and things frequently. We've even converted our German roommate Steffen into a Fat American. But that night... I was a fat american.
Wanaka was a fabulous little town with such a feel of community. The man who rented us our kayaks (who also told us the lifestory of more than one of the townsfolk) also worked at the movie theater. Wanaka seems like a town where I could see myself living later in life. Everyone knows and cares for everyone else in the town, there are beautiful views, and it has a nice laid back feel.
On to Dunedin.
Miss you all!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Mt. Cook
So I am still LOVING and having the most amazing time in New Zealand. I'm going to do a bunch of posts: one for every place we've been. I think it'll make reading easier and it will also help me compartmentalize the trip... if that makes any sense.
So Mt. Cook:
We took off from the airport in Christchurch in our rental car... a 2000 Nissan Primara Wagon. We named her Ellen. I took the wheel, and driving on the left proved to not be that difficult. Actually, by now I don't even have to remind myself of things like "little left, big right" or "stay left." It's all second nature. Although, when I go to change the volume on the radio my right arm instinctively thrusts straight into the door. I may have bruises...
After about 6 hours in the car driving through wine country, HUGE mountains (much like Colorado), and beautiful green hillsides, we made it to Mt. Cook. The views here were absolutely stunning. I have no way of doing them justice. Not with my descriptions, and not with my photos either. It's just too beautiful for anything to capture it.
The road to Mt.Cook just goes to Mt. Cook. It is 50km long and ends in Mt. Cook. The Village in Mt. Cook is basically just a 5-Star hotel, a cheaper motel, a cafe, and our hostel, and a gas station with gas 2X as much as everywhere else. There also appeared to be a school... but I can't believe that anyone actually lives in that town. Although, the nearest town is 40 minutes away, so that is probably why they have to have a school. We weren't really sure what to expect from the town, but once we got there we realized that we would probably be spending the evenings playing boardgames in our hostel. Which turned out to be a lot of fun. The drive was so exhausting that we passed out early the first night.
The next day we thought about what we wanted to do for the day. There were heaps of options: half and full day guided hikes up the glacier and Mt. Cook, some self guided short hikes, helicopter/plane rides over the glacier, kayaking in the glacier lakes, and even an AUTHENTIC Lord of the Rings tour/sightseeing adventure (I'm not even kidding, these are EVERYWHERE.)
We settled on a short day hike which we did in the afternoon (our alarm was still set on Australian time... so we got up 3 hours late. whoops.) We hiked up Hooker Valley and towards Mt. Cook. We didn't gain much elevation, but we did get some incredible views of the mountain peak. At the end of the trail was the base of the glacier as well as the lake from it's melting. There were huge chunks of ice floating in the water and it was SUPER windy. We hid behind a rock to have lunch, and then hiked back down. It was happy hour at the cafe when we got back, so we enjoyed some New Zealand beer called Speight's (you'll hear more about this in the Dunedin post.)
That night was again a lazy night... we played boardgames at the hostel and went to bed early. The next morning we got up and did our drive to Wanaka.
I'll try and update some more of these soon... but internet isn't terribly cheap here, so I have to ration myself. Pictures probably won't be posted until we're back in Australia... but we'll see. I should take advantage of not having a cap on how much data I can transfer.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
So Mt. Cook:
We took off from the airport in Christchurch in our rental car... a 2000 Nissan Primara Wagon. We named her Ellen. I took the wheel, and driving on the left proved to not be that difficult. Actually, by now I don't even have to remind myself of things like "little left, big right" or "stay left." It's all second nature. Although, when I go to change the volume on the radio my right arm instinctively thrusts straight into the door. I may have bruises...
After about 6 hours in the car driving through wine country, HUGE mountains (much like Colorado), and beautiful green hillsides, we made it to Mt. Cook. The views here were absolutely stunning. I have no way of doing them justice. Not with my descriptions, and not with my photos either. It's just too beautiful for anything to capture it.
The road to Mt.Cook just goes to Mt. Cook. It is 50km long and ends in Mt. Cook. The Village in Mt. Cook is basically just a 5-Star hotel, a cheaper motel, a cafe, and our hostel, and a gas station with gas 2X as much as everywhere else. There also appeared to be a school... but I can't believe that anyone actually lives in that town. Although, the nearest town is 40 minutes away, so that is probably why they have to have a school. We weren't really sure what to expect from the town, but once we got there we realized that we would probably be spending the evenings playing boardgames in our hostel. Which turned out to be a lot of fun. The drive was so exhausting that we passed out early the first night.
The next day we thought about what we wanted to do for the day. There were heaps of options: half and full day guided hikes up the glacier and Mt. Cook, some self guided short hikes, helicopter/plane rides over the glacier, kayaking in the glacier lakes, and even an AUTHENTIC Lord of the Rings tour/sightseeing adventure (I'm not even kidding, these are EVERYWHERE.)
We settled on a short day hike which we did in the afternoon (our alarm was still set on Australian time... so we got up 3 hours late. whoops.) We hiked up Hooker Valley and towards Mt. Cook. We didn't gain much elevation, but we did get some incredible views of the mountain peak. At the end of the trail was the base of the glacier as well as the lake from it's melting. There were huge chunks of ice floating in the water and it was SUPER windy. We hid behind a rock to have lunch, and then hiked back down. It was happy hour at the cafe when we got back, so we enjoyed some New Zealand beer called Speight's (you'll hear more about this in the Dunedin post.)
That night was again a lazy night... we played boardgames at the hostel and went to bed early. The next morning we got up and did our drive to Wanaka.
I'll try and update some more of these soon... but internet isn't terribly cheap here, so I have to ration myself. Pictures probably won't be posted until we're back in Australia... but we'll see. I should take advantage of not having a cap on how much data I can transfer.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
New Zealand
We landed perfectly in New Zealand. Sadly, it was dark when we landed so we couldn't see any of the beauty. However, when we wake up bright and early in the morning at our terrific accommodation... the arcade in the international terminal, we will go pick up the car and start our adventure. We have all of our bags stashed away, we have makeshift beds, we had a splendid dinner from the vending machine, and the last incoming flight came about an hour ago, so it has quieted down some. We bought some "supplies" at the duty free and will probably make use of them to enjoy the night more.
Here are some pictures of our set up.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The Toowoomba Show and Brisbane
The Toowoomba Show... Oh boy. Now I'm sure you've all been to a state fair, the Tunbridge Fair being a good example of one of those... so take the greasy food, the rides, the games, the animals, and the "less than clean" people and multiply it all by 3. That is the Toowoomba Show. Lauren and I hopped into a cab and went to the Toowoommba Show for the night last week. It was a fun night filled with lots of tasty, yet artery clogging food, walking through animal barns, people watching, and sitting and watching "The Biggest Fireworks Show Toowoomba has ever seen." This fireworks, or sparkler, show clearly didn't surprise me that it was the biggest Toowoomba had ever seen. It was weird how they did it... there were 3 rounds of fireworks, each lasting roughly ten minutes. Each one slightly better than the first. By the third round they were some decent fireworks... but they were definitely on the "Toowoomba Level." The one really interesting thing about the Toowoomba Show is that it is a town Holiday. So on Thursday (the day the show starts) practically everyone in town has the day off. This of course means that the bus doesn't run. Obviously. All in all... it was a really fun night. I'm glad I went. There will be some pictures coming.
Brisbane was really fun! The excitement started off Friday morning when Casey and Michelle came back from downtown Toowoomba with our RENTAL CARRRR! I was like a kid in a candy shop. Finally we had a car that was our own. No schedules of when the bus left, no Toowoomba Transit, and no taxi. It was perfect! Casey let me take a spin in our compact car around the student village. While pulling out of our driveway onto the street I turned the wipers on while trying to use the turn signal, and I pulled into the right side of the road... WHOOPS! The wiper and turn signal/headlights are are on the opposite sides of the steering wheel. After we finished packing our clothes and our food for the next two days we climbed in, selected a good radio station and proceeded on our way to Brisbane. Obviously we got lost in Toowoomba on the way out... you can't leave! But eventually we got on the highway heading east. We had the windows down, the music blaring, and we were free! Casey did a BEAUTIFUL job driving. Never once was he on the wrong side of the road or anything like that. Although I think the wiper instead of blinker tally was up to 6 by the time we got back to The Village.
In Brisbane we did a lot of walking around, some shopping, we went out to dinner, and then to some clubs. Lauren and I went on a massive ferris wheel that provided great views of the city... much like the London Eye in London. It was a great way to see the sights! We called it an early night though, because we wanted to get up early to make the most out of Saturday. On Saturday morning we remembered that there was a concert in downtown Brisbane promoting safe decisions for teenage youth. The host of VideoHits (Australian MTV) was there as well as the personalities from the local radio station. There were three bands that performed (we saw the last two) and they were pretty good. The first was a singer named Bob Evans, he was very good! The second was a band called The Butterfly Effect. They're apparently a famous band in Australia? The fame of all of these people was lost on us.
After the concerts we decided to cross the river and go to the man made beach that Brisbane has. Thankfully, this beach is not on the river... as it is a gross shade of brown. Instead, there are 2 man made pools with chlorinated water surrounded with beautiful white sand. It was so fun... we sat there for the afternoon until a MASSIVE rain shower came out of nowhere and soaked us. We hid out in the bathrooms until the rain passed. Once the sun came back out we remembered that there was a market (regarded highly in our travel books) right behind the beaches... so we did some looking and walking until it was time to leave. Like always, getting back into that car to head back to Toowoomba wasn't high on our list of things to do. But it had to be done.
Once back in Toowoomba we basically drove around all night. We loved our car so much that we didn't want to do anything without it. Sunday morning we took the car to a HUGE farmer's market downtown with INSANELY cheap fruits and vegetables. Yes, I even bought some. After that it was a rush to bring the car back and continue our slow lives in the Village.
Pictures from Brisbane will be coming soon.
New Zealand is coming right up - THURSDAY! I can't wait at all! I'm glad I was able to be the passenger in the car in Brisbane with a good driver, because I think it will be good practice for my driving in New Zealand.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Brisbane was really fun! The excitement started off Friday morning when Casey and Michelle came back from downtown Toowoomba with our RENTAL CARRRR! I was like a kid in a candy shop. Finally we had a car that was our own. No schedules of when the bus left, no Toowoomba Transit, and no taxi. It was perfect! Casey let me take a spin in our compact car around the student village. While pulling out of our driveway onto the street I turned the wipers on while trying to use the turn signal, and I pulled into the right side of the road... WHOOPS! The wiper and turn signal/headlights are are on the opposite sides of the steering wheel. After we finished packing our clothes and our food for the next two days we climbed in, selected a good radio station and proceeded on our way to Brisbane. Obviously we got lost in Toowoomba on the way out... you can't leave! But eventually we got on the highway heading east. We had the windows down, the music blaring, and we were free! Casey did a BEAUTIFUL job driving. Never once was he on the wrong side of the road or anything like that. Although I think the wiper instead of blinker tally was up to 6 by the time we got back to The Village.
In Brisbane we did a lot of walking around, some shopping, we went out to dinner, and then to some clubs. Lauren and I went on a massive ferris wheel that provided great views of the city... much like the London Eye in London. It was a great way to see the sights! We called it an early night though, because we wanted to get up early to make the most out of Saturday. On Saturday morning we remembered that there was a concert in downtown Brisbane promoting safe decisions for teenage youth. The host of VideoHits (Australian MTV) was there as well as the personalities from the local radio station. There were three bands that performed (we saw the last two) and they were pretty good. The first was a singer named Bob Evans, he was very good! The second was a band called The Butterfly Effect. They're apparently a famous band in Australia? The fame of all of these people was lost on us.
After the concerts we decided to cross the river and go to the man made beach that Brisbane has. Thankfully, this beach is not on the river... as it is a gross shade of brown. Instead, there are 2 man made pools with chlorinated water surrounded with beautiful white sand. It was so fun... we sat there for the afternoon until a MASSIVE rain shower came out of nowhere and soaked us. We hid out in the bathrooms until the rain passed. Once the sun came back out we remembered that there was a market (regarded highly in our travel books) right behind the beaches... so we did some looking and walking until it was time to leave. Like always, getting back into that car to head back to Toowoomba wasn't high on our list of things to do. But it had to be done.
Once back in Toowoomba we basically drove around all night. We loved our car so much that we didn't want to do anything without it. Sunday morning we took the car to a HUGE farmer's market downtown with INSANELY cheap fruits and vegetables. Yes, I even bought some. After that it was a rush to bring the car back and continue our slow lives in the Village.
Pictures from Brisbane will be coming soon.
New Zealand is coming right up - THURSDAY! I can't wait at all! I'm glad I was able to be the passenger in the car in Brisbane with a good driver, because I think it will be good practice for my driving in New Zealand.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
A while now...
It has been way too long since my last post! Sorry 'bout that.
Things keep going well down here. I've been slightly more pre-occupied with class, but still managing to have some fun on top of that. Well, as much as Toowoomba allows for. I have been here for over 6 weeks, and that is hard for me to imagine. Time has been flying by and I think that's really going to bother me come the end of June.
We didn't do too much this past weekend. Some of us went down into Toowoomba for dinner at the Hog's Breath Cafe. It's a chain restaurant much like Chili's or Applebee's and our friend Stephanie recently got a job there... so we thought it would be nice to surprise her. We were clearly her coolest customers that night. After dinner we went to a few bars and hung out for a while. It's weird... we went to one bar called Cube, and it was very modern, chic, and had a great dance floor. It would be a great bar... if it wasn't in Toowoomba. Now Toowoomba is a nice, cute little town... but it's pretty boring. Especially without a car. Regardless, we made our own fun. As we do every night.
Let me tell you all a little about USQ.
USQ is a pretty laid back university. Classes start, on average, 5-10 minutes late (which is perfect for me), we call all of our professors by their first name, and the way classes are set up is weird. Here I have 1 lecture for each class and then either a lab or a tutorial. (Have I talked about this before? I think I have... oh well.) The tutorial usually goes over the material learned in lecture, but sometimes has it's own new material. USQ itself is much like VTC, for those of you from Bethel. It is a smaller school, and most of the students commute from as far as an hour or two outside of Toowoomba. As a result, campus is usually dead on the weekends. 30% of the students here are international, and most of them live in The Village. In our classes we only have some mini assignments throughout the semester, and then we have a large exam at the end which counts for almost all of our grade. So I am taking this time now to have fun, before I have to buy a plot of land in the library for 2 weeks. I guess that's all I have to say about USQ... when I wrote this post in my head a few days ago while walking to class I swear I had more to say...
This weekend Lauren, Trina, Casey, Michelle, and myself are all going to Brisbane for a night. We're renting a car, driving to the city Friday morning, hanging out until Saturday night, coming back, and running some errands with the car Sunday morning before we have to return it. It should be interesting to drive on the left for the first time. Sadly, I cannot drive... as I'm not 21 yet. So Casey will be behind the wheel. Now this could provide for some serious entertainment, or some very empty wallets. You see, Casey is maybe the MOST "type-A" person I've ever met. He might also have a touch of OCD thrown in there as well. So watching him getting flustered behind the wheel could be slightly amusing. Providing, there are no semi-trucks coming our way.
This will be my last weekend in Australia for nearly 3 weeks. Next Thursday is when we leave for NZ for 18 days!!! Can't wait! The original plan was to go on this bus tour called Kiwi Experience, which basically drives college kids around for a few weeks. But it's pretty costly, and we decided that renting a car for 18 days would be cheaper, fun, and I'm sure... much more interesting. I'm currently in the works of finding car companies that will rent to under 21YOs. But from what I've seen so far, it should cut our costs in half. Now, the downside of this plan is that we won't meet all of the other kids on the kiwi experience, nor get the pre-planned route. However, there is a solution to everything, and for this, it's simple: follow the bus. So that is our intention, follow the bus, stay at the same hostels, and meet everyone :).
(Whitney Taylor, you will be glad to know we're not taking the KiwiEx.)
That's pretty much all for now. I have more photos from Toowoomba to add, but for some reason they're not uploading onto the blog site. I think you can still access them, though. Just click on the Sydney Album on the blog page and it will bring you to Picasa... somewhere, there should be a link to all of my photos. This should take you to all of my albums. Hope all is well on the homefront!
Miss you all!
Things keep going well down here. I've been slightly more pre-occupied with class, but still managing to have some fun on top of that. Well, as much as Toowoomba allows for. I have been here for over 6 weeks, and that is hard for me to imagine. Time has been flying by and I think that's really going to bother me come the end of June.
We didn't do too much this past weekend. Some of us went down into Toowoomba for dinner at the Hog's Breath Cafe. It's a chain restaurant much like Chili's or Applebee's and our friend Stephanie recently got a job there... so we thought it would be nice to surprise her. We were clearly her coolest customers that night. After dinner we went to a few bars and hung out for a while. It's weird... we went to one bar called Cube, and it was very modern, chic, and had a great dance floor. It would be a great bar... if it wasn't in Toowoomba. Now Toowoomba is a nice, cute little town... but it's pretty boring. Especially without a car. Regardless, we made our own fun. As we do every night.
Let me tell you all a little about USQ.
USQ is a pretty laid back university. Classes start, on average, 5-10 minutes late (which is perfect for me), we call all of our professors by their first name, and the way classes are set up is weird. Here I have 1 lecture for each class and then either a lab or a tutorial. (Have I talked about this before? I think I have... oh well.) The tutorial usually goes over the material learned in lecture, but sometimes has it's own new material. USQ itself is much like VTC, for those of you from Bethel. It is a smaller school, and most of the students commute from as far as an hour or two outside of Toowoomba. As a result, campus is usually dead on the weekends. 30% of the students here are international, and most of them live in The Village. In our classes we only have some mini assignments throughout the semester, and then we have a large exam at the end which counts for almost all of our grade. So I am taking this time now to have fun, before I have to buy a plot of land in the library for 2 weeks. I guess that's all I have to say about USQ... when I wrote this post in my head a few days ago while walking to class I swear I had more to say...
This weekend Lauren, Trina, Casey, Michelle, and myself are all going to Brisbane for a night. We're renting a car, driving to the city Friday morning, hanging out until Saturday night, coming back, and running some errands with the car Sunday morning before we have to return it. It should be interesting to drive on the left for the first time. Sadly, I cannot drive... as I'm not 21 yet. So Casey will be behind the wheel. Now this could provide for some serious entertainment, or some very empty wallets. You see, Casey is maybe the MOST "type-A" person I've ever met. He might also have a touch of OCD thrown in there as well. So watching him getting flustered behind the wheel could be slightly amusing. Providing, there are no semi-trucks coming our way.
This will be my last weekend in Australia for nearly 3 weeks. Next Thursday is when we leave for NZ for 18 days!!! Can't wait! The original plan was to go on this bus tour called Kiwi Experience, which basically drives college kids around for a few weeks. But it's pretty costly, and we decided that renting a car for 18 days would be cheaper, fun, and I'm sure... much more interesting. I'm currently in the works of finding car companies that will rent to under 21YOs. But from what I've seen so far, it should cut our costs in half. Now, the downside of this plan is that we won't meet all of the other kids on the kiwi experience, nor get the pre-planned route. However, there is a solution to everything, and for this, it's simple: follow the bus. So that is our intention, follow the bus, stay at the same hostels, and meet everyone :).
(Whitney Taylor, you will be glad to know we're not taking the KiwiEx.)
That's pretty much all for now. I have more photos from Toowoomba to add, but for some reason they're not uploading onto the blog site. I think you can still access them, though. Just click on the Sydney Album on the blog page and it will bring you to Picasa... somewhere, there should be a link to all of my photos. This should take you to all of my albums. Hope all is well on the homefront!
Miss you all!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Indian Culture
Now, I'm no expert on Indian culture... but the student village is made up almost entirely of students from India, so I think I have learned some things. I will share these with you.
Today is our roommate, Dev's, Birthday. He is in his final year here at USQ and has been living in Toowoomba and "the village" for almost 3 years now. On our first day he asked us how were liking Toowoomba, we said it was nice... he replied: "Give it a month." haha. Now last night at midnight (the start of Dev's Birthday) almost 20 of Dev's friends came with two cakes. Now this excited us greatly, because we all wanted some cake. But little did we know that all of this cake would be cut into nice pieces and then each would take one of these nice pieces, and "feed" them to Dev. I say feed loosely because they basically crammed them into his face, his hair, and unavoidably onto the floor! A very fun tradition, I think!
The other thing I've noticed is that Indians like to share things! Including houses. haha. I've said to Lauren that when we go back to the US it's going to be weird to not have a random Indian guy walk through my living room. Sometimes they come in to go see Dev in his room, other times they come grab a pot or a pan, sometimes they just walk through to go from their townhouses behind ours, to the townhouses on the other side. So needless to say, they keep it interesting.
I haven't noticed too many other fun Indian facts... but if I find any more, I'll let you know.
Other than that, things are good. We may try to go to Brisbane for a night or two this weekend... we need to get out of Toowoomba for a while. haha.
I have a quiz today in my Psych class, so I'm heading to the library to study for that!
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Today is our roommate, Dev's, Birthday. He is in his final year here at USQ and has been living in Toowoomba and "the village" for almost 3 years now. On our first day he asked us how were liking Toowoomba, we said it was nice... he replied: "Give it a month." haha. Now last night at midnight (the start of Dev's Birthday) almost 20 of Dev's friends came with two cakes. Now this excited us greatly, because we all wanted some cake. But little did we know that all of this cake would be cut into nice pieces and then each would take one of these nice pieces, and "feed" them to Dev. I say feed loosely because they basically crammed them into his face, his hair, and unavoidably onto the floor! A very fun tradition, I think!
The other thing I've noticed is that Indians like to share things! Including houses. haha. I've said to Lauren that when we go back to the US it's going to be weird to not have a random Indian guy walk through my living room. Sometimes they come in to go see Dev in his room, other times they come grab a pot or a pan, sometimes they just walk through to go from their townhouses behind ours, to the townhouses on the other side. So needless to say, they keep it interesting.
I haven't noticed too many other fun Indian facts... but if I find any more, I'll let you know.
Other than that, things are good. We may try to go to Brisbane for a night or two this weekend... we need to get out of Toowoomba for a while. haha.
I have a quiz today in my Psych class, so I'm heading to the library to study for that!
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Lazy Day
Today ended up being a very lazy day. We woke up late, had some breakfast on the porch, then proceeded to play cards for the better portion of the day. I introduced everyone to a Luttrell favorite - multiple person solitaire. It was an instant hit. We must have played close to 50 games today.
We paused the card playing to have a "family" dinner. Everyone brought something to contribute and we all had a really tasty dinner together. There was pasta with meat sauce, a roasted chicken, bean salad, and some nice appetizers. After dinner the solitaire continued, until all of the power in the student village went out for no apparent reason. We decided it was much more fun outside, so we pulled the couches out into the driveway and sat and watched the stars and the moon rise. After an hour or so we decided we should do a drive-in movie... so I brought my laptop out and we started a movie. Only for the power to come on 10 minutes later. But we kept the movie going anyway.
All in all, it was a good day.
Tomorrow I am going to the library to get my work done for this week. I am telling you this because the more I say it, the more likely this is to actually happen.
Hope all is well!
Miss you all!
We paused the card playing to have a "family" dinner. Everyone brought something to contribute and we all had a really tasty dinner together. There was pasta with meat sauce, a roasted chicken, bean salad, and some nice appetizers. After dinner the solitaire continued, until all of the power in the student village went out for no apparent reason. We decided it was much more fun outside, so we pulled the couches out into the driveway and sat and watched the stars and the moon rise. After an hour or so we decided we should do a drive-in movie... so I brought my laptop out and we started a movie. Only for the power to come on 10 minutes later. But we kept the movie going anyway.
All in all, it was a good day.
Tomorrow I am going to the library to get my work done for this week. I am telling you this because the more I say it, the more likely this is to actually happen.
Hope all is well!
Miss you all!
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