So I haven't blogged in weeks and that's probably because I haven't done anything exciting! All I've been doing is visiting the relatives in Gold Coast, which is an adventure in itself of course, and doing school work, sadly. But on a more exciting note this past weekend I went to Melbourne!! Where do I start? I got on a 9:00 flight and got in to Melbourne around 11:30. I then went to my friend, Jack's place. It was freezing, I slept on the ground, and he SNORED!! So lets start out by saying I was on little sleep that weekend. Friday morning we got up and went to the Queen Victoria Markets. They reminded me of the Lancaster farmer's markets. They had meat/seafood/whatever needed to be kept refrigerated in one area, fruit in another then the clothing/other shops in another. It was so nice! I bought a few souvenirs. We then hopped on the cable cars (or the Trams as they call them) and headed into the City. We walked all along the river which took us past Federation Square, kind of like Times Square except it's an actual square with no stores around it, they just hold events there. We also saw some great artwork, it looked like a 3 legged giraffe with 2 heads, and some graffiti down Hosier Lane. That night we went to a footy (AFL) game: Geelong vs. Collingwood. It's kind of like rugby but you can dribble and kick the ball. That was a cold game! Let me preface with Melbourne and New Zealand were about the same temperature, which isn't cold for the States, but for Brisbane it was freezing! It was probably 50 degrees and rainy. Anyways after the game we walked back to Jack's place to warm up and then I fell asleep because I was so tired!
The next day, Sam and Brianna, the girls from Brisbane who I went with, and then Travis- a guy we met in New Zealand and his friend drove us on the Great Ocean Road. We started out at about 9 AM and just drove. We stopped at Bells Beach, the 1 lonely apostle, and then the 12 apostles. For those who don't know the 12 apostles aren't the religious kind. There are between 6-8, depending on whose counting, big rock looking things just standing in the ocean. What has happened over the years is the ocean has eroded away the land that was in the middle and has left standing chunks of earth in the ocean. Who knows why they are called the 12 apostles, but they just are. We also saw a double rainbow here! It was so pretty!! Pictures are of course on facebook. After that we drove back, which took about 3 hours. When we got back we all met up with the rest of the Contiki-the group I met in New Zealand, and we went out. We first went to Crown, which is a casino and it's huge! I wish we had gotten there earlier because we could have walked around for hours! There was a movie theater, bowling alley, obviously games and bars. We ate a very late dinner there and then headed off to Retro. Retro is a bar that only plays music pre-2000. So they had Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, etc. and also a lot of Australian oldies which obviously most of us didn't know.
Sunday we got up late, went to the markets yet again and then hopped on a free tram that took us around the City. We didn't take it all the way around but we did see Parliament, a synagogue, and the wharf. That night for dinner we met up with more Contiki people and all ate dinner at World Bar. It was a great dinner! After that I just went back to Jack's and we watched some Australian news until I fell asleep. The next morning I woke up at 5 AM to catch a 7:30 AM plane to get back to Brisbane, and I am still catching up on my sleep!
Soon I will be going to Sydney and then it will be time to come home :( I will be happy to go home to see family and friends, but I will be sad to leave all of my memories and friends here in Australia!!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
New Zealand: part 2
So let me start from where I left off. Skydiving and river boarding were on Easter Sunday, which meant places couldn't sell alcohol unless it was with your meal. But somehow Barnaby convinced the hotel bar to stay open for us, hmm I wonder why and we just hungout downstairs for the night. The next day was another free day in Queenstown so a few of us walked around and bought gifts for some people back at home. That night we went to the best pizza place in town, Winnie's where we had buffalo chicken on top of our pizza. That was a new experience. Next we went to Cowboys, which is where all of those hick looking pictures are from on facebook. They had deer heads, bull head, etc. hanging on the wall; the bar stools were saddles; the bar taps were revolvers; and they even had a mechanical bull to ride! We stayed there for a bit then we had the option to go to an ice bar or to another club where we would all end up. I ended up at the club cause I didn't want to pay for 30 minutes at an ice bar. The next day we had to leave the beautiful Queenstown! It was so sad.
We then headed to Fox Glaciers where you could go on a glacier climb. I just hungout in the small little town with a small group until everyone got back. We then headed to our hotel in Franz Josef for the night. We stayed at the Rainforest hotel where there were supposedly hot springs that we could get into. In reality there were just 3 different hot tubs. They were 36, 38, and 40 degrees Celsius. The 36 degree one felt more like a warm pool and the 40 degree one was an actual hot tub. But they actually looked like pools, they were big and there was a little boardwalk in between them and going around them. There were also trees growing around them so it was very peaceful. We stayed in their for a little bit then headed off to dinner at the hotel. After dinner the bar had a rock, paper, scissors competition. That was entertaining to watch.
The next day we headed out to Christchurch, our last full day. On our way we stopped in Hokitika, which was another little town that had a Jade factory. It had Maori and Pounamu. I guess those are types of jade? I wasn't really paying attention. We then were off to some rock formation. These rocks were scenes in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Narnia. We couldn't climb on them but there are some nice pictures of them on facebook. Our final stop was Christchurch. Those of us who were leaving the group the next day were still able to eat dinner with everyone and hangout with them. Then Sam, Sara, and I headed to our hostel down the road.
The next morning we walked into the city to look at the destruction from the Earthquake. There was some broken and/or fallen buildings outside the city center, but most of it was in the middle because the epicenter was in there. We probably walked 2-3 miles there and back. As we were walking we had to find the main road that led in because everything else was fenced off with the military there. The New Zealand military had been sent in to help control what was going on. We finally found a road and headed towards the center. During our walk we found 2 demolitions going on, one was of an office building, the other was of the cathedral that most people have seen on the news. What was a bit eerie was there was a statue of Mary outside one of the windows of the cathedral that had been left undisturbed. We then walked back to our hostel and headed to the airport. And that was our trip to New Zealand. Everyone was sad to leave, but it was the best trip ever!
We then headed to Fox Glaciers where you could go on a glacier climb. I just hungout in the small little town with a small group until everyone got back. We then headed to our hotel in Franz Josef for the night. We stayed at the Rainforest hotel where there were supposedly hot springs that we could get into. In reality there were just 3 different hot tubs. They were 36, 38, and 40 degrees Celsius. The 36 degree one felt more like a warm pool and the 40 degree one was an actual hot tub. But they actually looked like pools, they were big and there was a little boardwalk in between them and going around them. There were also trees growing around them so it was very peaceful. We stayed in their for a little bit then headed off to dinner at the hotel. After dinner the bar had a rock, paper, scissors competition. That was entertaining to watch.
The next day we headed out to Christchurch, our last full day. On our way we stopped in Hokitika, which was another little town that had a Jade factory. It had Maori and Pounamu. I guess those are types of jade? I wasn't really paying attention. We then were off to some rock formation. These rocks were scenes in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Narnia. We couldn't climb on them but there are some nice pictures of them on facebook. Our final stop was Christchurch. Those of us who were leaving the group the next day were still able to eat dinner with everyone and hangout with them. Then Sam, Sara, and I headed to our hostel down the road.
The next morning we walked into the city to look at the destruction from the Earthquake. There was some broken and/or fallen buildings outside the city center, but most of it was in the middle because the epicenter was in there. We probably walked 2-3 miles there and back. As we were walking we had to find the main road that led in because everything else was fenced off with the military there. The New Zealand military had been sent in to help control what was going on. We finally found a road and headed towards the center. During our walk we found 2 demolitions going on, one was of an office building, the other was of the cathedral that most people have seen on the news. What was a bit eerie was there was a statue of Mary outside one of the windows of the cathedral that had been left undisturbed. We then walked back to our hostel and headed to the airport. And that was our trip to New Zealand. Everyone was sad to leave, but it was the best trip ever!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Trying for Results: New Zealand part 1
Oh my! That pretty much sums up my experiences in New Zealand. I will try to recap everything from the past week and if I forget something, well you probably won't even notice. So lets start from Wednesday night when we got there. To start they are 2 hours ahead of where I am in Australia so we got there at 12:00 AM. By the time we checked into our little hostel and hit the pillow it was probably 1:30-2:00. We woke up early the next morning to make the short walk to the Bealey Hotel where we were to meet up with our tour group. It was quite a brisk walk because it was a little chillier than we had expected. Probably between 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit. When we got to the hotel we checked in with our tour guide, Barnaby, yes that is his real name I looked at his drivers license, and ate breakfast with the rest of the group. The first day we traveled from Christchurch to Lake Ohau. On our way we stopped in Geraldine, which is a little town that is home to the Guiness Book of World Record's largest jersey aka a really big sweater. After that we headed to another little town on Lake Tekapo. The pictures were gorgeous! There was also a little church up on a hill that would have fit about 20 people max. for a service. We then headed to Lake Ohau lodge where we spent the night hanging out and getting to know each other a little better.
The next morning we had a "refreshing start" of 6:40. While we were on the bus we were able to see the sunrise over the mountains, which ended up being totally worth the early start. We were headed to Milford Sound on the West Coast, for a night/day on a boat. On the way we picked up a few new people and stopped at what we thought was the field where the "Hills are Alive" song was sung in Sound of Music. Well we were told to stay on the bus while Barnaby and James, our bus driver went out of the bus. The bus proceeded to play the Sound of Music song and they donned on their blonde wigs and frolicked through the field for about 2 minutes. Later they told us that this was not indeed the field where this scene was filmed, but that it was an entertaining place to stop. We then stopped at Mrs. Jones' fruit stand where there were so many different types of dried, fresh, and chocolate covered fruits! And they were so cheap, everyone got at least a few fruits to take a long with us as snacks for the rest of our trip. By this time it had started to rain which made everything cold and damp, obviously. But we were told that this was the best part of the trip because while we went through the mountains we would see waterfalls. Well leave it to Barnaby to be right, as we were travelling down a windy road through the mountains there were hundreds of little and big waterfalls. We found ourselves at the launch site of our boat. It was like an old fashion boat but obviously with a motor attached. We sailed to a little inlet that night where we had the option of going kayaking or going in a motorboat around the area. A bunch of us chose to go kayaking in the rain. Everyone got soaked and was freezing but there were nice hot showers waiting when we got back to the boat. That night we spent the night on the boat with 4 to a cabin in bunk beds. The next morning we sailed out to open water where it got really rocky and wavey. On our way back in, the skipper thought it would be a good idea to take a group picture in front of the open water. Little did we know that he was going to drive us straight into the waterfall. Luckily there weren't too many cameras to take the pictures so we were able to run inside before getting completely drenched from the waterfall.
Later that day we went to back up through the mountains to a cute little olden town named Arrowtown. It used to be a big gold mining, until all the gold was found and taken away. But I got a pretty Paua shell necklace from a jeweler there. Next we traveled to the Kawara Bridge bungy site where a few people decided to go bungy jumping. The Kawara bungy was the world's first commercial bungy jump. And no I did not go bungy jumping. After that excursion we ended up in Queenstown. We stayed at the Aspen Hotel for the next 3 days. The first full day we were there, I went skydiving in the morning and riverboarding in the afternoon. Skydiving was one of the best experiences of the trip! I jumped from 12,000 feet with an extremely attractive man strapped to my back, or was it I was strapped to his front. Oh well anyways, I was the last one on the plane, which meant that I was the first to jump out of the plane. The feeling is surreal. We were freefalling at 210 km/hr for 45 seconds. Then he pulled his shoot and we glided down the rest of the way. The view was amazing! There are some great pictures on facebook of us freefalling and at least 1 picture where my tongue is out. haha Later that afternoon I walked around Queenstown a bit while I waited to go riverboarding. Riverboarding is just what it sounds like, you basically are boogie boarding on rapids. The water was 10 degrees Celsius which ruffly translates to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. We had to wear so many layers in order to keep warm: a wetsuit, a wetsuit jacket, a life jacket, booties, and a helmet. We started up at the Roaring Meg rapids and traveled about 5 km down stream. After that we played around a bit on an old gold mining slide, swing and a jetski. Pictures are on facebook. It was so nice to get back to the hotel afterwards and take a long hot shower! I finally could feel all 10 toes after being in the shower for about 30 minutes.
The next morning we had a "refreshing start" of 6:40. While we were on the bus we were able to see the sunrise over the mountains, which ended up being totally worth the early start. We were headed to Milford Sound on the West Coast, for a night/day on a boat. On the way we picked up a few new people and stopped at what we thought was the field where the "Hills are Alive" song was sung in Sound of Music. Well we were told to stay on the bus while Barnaby and James, our bus driver went out of the bus. The bus proceeded to play the Sound of Music song and they donned on their blonde wigs and frolicked through the field for about 2 minutes. Later they told us that this was not indeed the field where this scene was filmed, but that it was an entertaining place to stop. We then stopped at Mrs. Jones' fruit stand where there were so many different types of dried, fresh, and chocolate covered fruits! And they were so cheap, everyone got at least a few fruits to take a long with us as snacks for the rest of our trip. By this time it had started to rain which made everything cold and damp, obviously. But we were told that this was the best part of the trip because while we went through the mountains we would see waterfalls. Well leave it to Barnaby to be right, as we were travelling down a windy road through the mountains there were hundreds of little and big waterfalls. We found ourselves at the launch site of our boat. It was like an old fashion boat but obviously with a motor attached. We sailed to a little inlet that night where we had the option of going kayaking or going in a motorboat around the area. A bunch of us chose to go kayaking in the rain. Everyone got soaked and was freezing but there were nice hot showers waiting when we got back to the boat. That night we spent the night on the boat with 4 to a cabin in bunk beds. The next morning we sailed out to open water where it got really rocky and wavey. On our way back in, the skipper thought it would be a good idea to take a group picture in front of the open water. Little did we know that he was going to drive us straight into the waterfall. Luckily there weren't too many cameras to take the pictures so we were able to run inside before getting completely drenched from the waterfall.
Later that day we went to back up through the mountains to a cute little olden town named Arrowtown. It used to be a big gold mining, until all the gold was found and taken away. But I got a pretty Paua shell necklace from a jeweler there. Next we traveled to the Kawara Bridge bungy site where a few people decided to go bungy jumping. The Kawara bungy was the world's first commercial bungy jump. And no I did not go bungy jumping. After that excursion we ended up in Queenstown. We stayed at the Aspen Hotel for the next 3 days. The first full day we were there, I went skydiving in the morning and riverboarding in the afternoon. Skydiving was one of the best experiences of the trip! I jumped from 12,000 feet with an extremely attractive man strapped to my back, or was it I was strapped to his front. Oh well anyways, I was the last one on the plane, which meant that I was the first to jump out of the plane. The feeling is surreal. We were freefalling at 210 km/hr for 45 seconds. Then he pulled his shoot and we glided down the rest of the way. The view was amazing! There are some great pictures on facebook of us freefalling and at least 1 picture where my tongue is out. haha Later that afternoon I walked around Queenstown a bit while I waited to go riverboarding. Riverboarding is just what it sounds like, you basically are boogie boarding on rapids. The water was 10 degrees Celsius which ruffly translates to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. We had to wear so many layers in order to keep warm: a wetsuit, a wetsuit jacket, a life jacket, booties, and a helmet. We started up at the Roaring Meg rapids and traveled about 5 km down stream. After that we played around a bit on an old gold mining slide, swing and a jetski. Pictures are on facebook. It was so nice to get back to the hotel afterwards and take a long hot shower! I finally could feel all 10 toes after being in the shower for about 30 minutes.
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