Where is Christy?

I'm home!

2007-04-16T10:15:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to let everyone know I'm home again! It took about 30 hours, my flight in Brisbane got delayed twice, but I landed in Atlanta at 7:00 PM on Saturday night. It was an awesome trip - thanks so much for everyone I got to see while I was there and everyone who commented here - it was really fun to have you guys along with me. :)

Last Day on Green Island

2007-04-13T03:19:00.000-05:00

Originally, I thought I wouldn't plan to do anything today. I had a few hours of nothing yesterday and the day before and that was more than enough, so my better judgment prevailed and I decided to make plans. I ended up deciding to go to Green Island.

Green Island is a small sand island about 45 minutes (by boat) from Cairns. There's nothing too remarkable about it I guess, but I picked up a book by Nevil Shute called A Town Like Alice in Alice Springs and some of the characters go to Green Island and it sounded pretty idyllic. When I discovered there were day trips from Cairns, I decided to check it out.

The day started out rainy and cloudy, and once again seasickness bags were handed out on the way there. Once we got there however, it cleared up pretty nicely. There was a nice little sandy beach where I rented an umbrella and spent a while reading. There was also some decent snorkeling in the area - I saw a lot of little fish in the reef areas just off shore. Here's a picture of the beach area from the pier:

Partway through the day I took a ride on a semisubmersible boat. It's kind of like a glass bottom boat to the extreme - the sitting area is completely underwater. We saw all kinds of fish, but it was hard to get a good picture. Here's one I got of a big group of fish that swam by. If the water had been clearer I'm sure we'd have seen more, but it was still pretty cool.

And another of a ramora (I think). They have suckers on the top of their heads and on the way back, one of these latched onto the window!

Then it was time to come back. Here's one last picture of me on the pier at Green Island. I look a little goofy because the sun was in my eyes, but oh well.

Tomorrow I head home. A bus will pick me up at 4:00 AM to take me to the airport, I'm on a flight to Brisbane, then another to Los Angeles, then a final one to Atlanta. I worked it out and starting from my 6:30 AM departure in Cairns, I'll be on planes or in airports for the next 26.5 hours. I think it will be a long time before I want to see an airplane again!

Thanks for following along and leaving comments - it's been really fun keeping this blog while I was gone! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it now - check back in a week or so and I'll have added a bunch more pictures. After that...who knows. :)

Visiting Kuranda via SkyRail

2007-04-12T18:45:00.000-05:00

Kuranda is a small mountain town near Cairns - its main attraction is that you can get there via a scenic railway trip or by a 7.5 km long cable car ride. When I booked my tour, I learned that the railway wasn't working because of a landslide, so I opted to take the cable car instead.

Here's the view from the car going up:

It stopped twice - once you had to get off and switch to a new car and the other was so you could walk through the rainforest if you wanted to. It was a really neat way to travel - so quiet you could hear the birds and so high you were looking down on the trees.

Kuranda has several things to do - I visited a "Venom Zoo" that had some of the most poisonous snakes and spiders in the world, traveled around through the shops, and stopped at the Butterfly Sanctuary. The had a large greenhouse filled with plants and butterflies, and it was pretty cool. I've never really been a huge fan of butterflies, but our guide was and she told us all about them.

I wandered around a bit more and then took the cable car back down. By now, the weather had turned to rain and it was extremely cloudy and foggy. This time it was a little freaky riding the car down!

Still really cool though!

I headed back into town and then spent the evening tracking down dinner and repacking my stuff. I also found something to do for today, which I'll explain in my next post.

Snorkeling on the Reef

2007-04-12T18:33:00.000-05:00

Wednesday was my day to visit the Great Barrier Reef. The bus picked me up bright and early, and after making sure everyone still wanted to go (high winds, choppy, etc etc), we were on our way. We arrived in Port Douglas, about an hour north of Cairns, and boarded our boat, the Silversonic. It took us out to the Agincourt Reefs. Everyone kept telling me the outer reef was much better, and this was about as far out as you could get!

The ride out was very choppy. I felt my stomach drop over and over again and I was a little worried I might get seasick for a few minutes. But then we were there! I really wanted to get certified to scuba dive before coming here, but I didn't have the time, so instead I signed up for an introductory dive. I debated about whether or not I should even write about this, but I've been pretty candid about everything else so I wanted to be about this too.

I got all dressed up in the scuba gear and got in the water, but I didn't go on the dive. The feeling of only being able to breathe through my mouth made me feel claustrophobic, and when we got in the water it was so rough I felt like I couldn't breathe. The last thing I wanted to do was freak out on the bottom of the ocean, so I returned to the boat, feeling more than a little embarrassed. This is one of the only things I can remember trying to do and not going through with for a long time. Anyway, I have promised myself that I will take a class so I can get used to the feeling of all the gear in the safe environment of a pool and return to dive the reef sometime in the future. I felt a little better when one of the other introductory divers also canceled out of his dive - a little less like it was all in my head.

Anyway, I spent the day snorkeling instead, and it was excellent! There were a lot of different types of fish swimming about - some were quite large - and many different kinds of coral. I was so close to most of it that I could have kicked it with my flippers if I wasn't careful! I didn't buy an underwater camera because I wanted to just enjoy it and not worry about taking pictures, so sorry for no pictures! After the first stop, we went to a second place called Turtle Bay. I made it my mission to see a turtle while we were there, and I did! I followed him around for a little while, but he could work his flippers better than I could work mine! I also saw a four foot long reef shark in the area! That was pretty cool too.

On the third site, the wind had picked up and the current was so strong it was virtually impossible to swim anywhere, so I didn't get to see much there. I did get to hold a coral that one of the dive instructors brought to the surface, and that was pretty cool too.

We returned to the boat and back to the hostel, where I had a bit of dinner and promptly fell asleep!

Darn...

2007-04-12T06:48:00.000-05:00

They're closing down the computer area I'm in, so I'll have to post about yesterday and today sometime tomorrow! Until then!

Tjakupai Cultural Center

2007-04-12T06:35:00.000-05:00

I arrived in Cairns Tuesday morning and after a bit of trouble finding my hostel (it doesn't actually have a storefront on the street where its address is!), I settled in. Almost every hostel has a tour desk where they help you book your activities, so I went straight there. I planned Cairns as my last stop because I thought it would be a good place to relax - kind of like a beach vacation within my overall vacation.

Cairns was not in the mood to cooperate however. It has been "unseasonably" rainy, windy, and overcast since I've been here. It's set to be this way until at least Saturday, so I won't have the chance to wait it out. However, I decided not to let it deter me - if the boats were going to the reef, then so was I!

In the end, I booked a trip to the reef for Wednesday, a trip into the mountains to see a town called Kuranda for today, and left tomorrow open, potentially for another trip to the reef. That left the rest of the day Tuesday, so I decided to go to an Aborigine cultural center to learn more about them.

It was very similar to the Maori cultural center. It started with a bit of a show inside. Several Aborigines taught a crowd of tourists the beginning of a fire ceremony and then they actually lit a fire in the traditional way - similar to how the Native Americans do it with rubbing sticks together.

Then we went in to the buffet. While we were there, they did another show on a little stage. One man played the didgeridoo while the others did a few traditional dances and a little skit. It was really interesting and also quite entertaining. The Aborigines have the oldest continuous culture on the planet, which I think is pretty fascinating.

Anyway, here's a picture of me with one of the main performers after the show (in what else - the gift shop)!

Crikey!!!

2007-04-09T02:50:00.000-05:00

This morning, I took a train out to:

Like the sign says, this is Steve Irwin's zoo. His presence was everywhere - if his spirit is still around, it's got to be haunting the Australia Zoo. His sayings and his picture are on all of the little plaques describing the animals, and you get the feeling that he's still there. It must be strange for his family to be there. In fact, the only indication you get anywhere in the park that he's not still around is a touching display of some of the many things that people from all over the world sent in after his death. I don't think I've ever actually seen an episode of The Crocodile Hunter, but I'm a bit more interested now that I've seen what else he and his family have accomplished.

The zoo was very nicely done. There were a lot of animals in nice little habitats and there were public feedings throughout the day. You could feed elephants, kangaroos, and farm animals or pose with dingos, (small) crocodiles, or snakes. I had my picture taken with a giant Burmese Python, but my camera batteries died so I only have the printout they sold me and no digital copies. It was one huge snake though! I did manage to take a few pictures before my batteries went - here's one of me with a giant croc they have on display. This isn't an actual crocodile, only an indication of how big one could grow if left on his own in the wild with no interference whatsoever. Most only grow to much less than this.

The highlight of the day was the live animal show in the "Crocoseum". This is a 5000 seat stadium that was built specially for the crocodile show. Here's a picture of what it's like.

Animal handlers came out and showed everyone snakes, falcons, cockatoos, and other colorful birds. They put on a very nice show. Then it was time for the crocodiles! We got a bit of luck - Terri Irwin (Steve's widow) was there to do the show herself! Here she is:

Steve's "best mate" also came out to do the show. They talked about the dangers crocs face in the wild and also told us a bit about the nature of crocodiles. Then they fed him several pieces of meat, while jumping out of the way of his jaws themselves! Here are a few action shots I got before my camera died.

This one was to show how high a croc can jump out of the water - about half it's body length!

And that was about it for the day! I walked around a little more and then caught the train back into the city. Tomorrow I head out to my last destination - Cairns, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. My plan is to go to the rainforest one day and visit the reef on the others. I'm there until Saturday, when I begin my epic journey home. Hopefully, I'll be able to update a few more times before then!

A Very Long Walk to Brisbane

2007-04-08T04:26:00.000-05:00

To my dismay, because today is both Sunday and Easter, the trains didn't start running in time for me this morning. I bought a ticket on the Skybus to take me back to the airport, but the pick-up was a little over 1 kilometer away. Did I do the smart thing and call a cab? No, of course not. I strapped on my backpack, told myself it wasn't that far, and huffed and puffed my way down the street. Well let me tell you, when you have 21 kg (46 lbs!) on your back and 7 kg (15 lbs) on your front, it is one helluva long way. I finally made it (and learned a lesson too) and was on my way to the airport.

The first plane we were on had a malfunctioning fuel panel, but they quickly got us on a new plane and we were off. I arrived in Brisbane at 11 AM, checked into my hostel (this one has individual bathrooms for each room - hallelujah!) and headed out again. My plan for the day was to go see some of these guys at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary was excellent. They had all kinds of native life in easy to access enclosures. I saw cassowaries and wombats, in addition to many of the other animals I've seen in other places, plus lots of new bird species. I took a picture of this dingo because the Humane Society told my parents their dog is part dingo, but I don't really see the resemblance, except that he also looks kind of dopey.

One of the big dras to this place is that you can hold a koala! I found out they are not very heavy (although they are the heaviest tree based mammal without a tail, in case you were wondering) and they are very soft. I asked the handler if they were smart, and she told me no.

The other really neat thing about the Sanctuary was the kangaroo enclosure. You could buy food and feed them, and they were really tame. Much more timid than those goats back in Queenstown!

The last thing of the day there was a sheepdog show, which was really cool. It made me want to watch Babe again. Here are the dogs chasing the sheep around.

Later, one of the dogs corralled the sheep into a pen and then sat on them. It was kind of odd.

And that was pretty much it for today! Tomorrow I'm going out to Steve Irwin's zoo, the Australia Zoo. I'll let you know how it goes! Oh, and for one last picture, in case you were wondering how far the Lone Pine Sanctuary (and Brisbane) is from a variety of places all over the world, I thought this little display was interesting.

The Sights of Melbourne

2007-04-08T04:18:00.000-05:00

For Saturday activities, Kerry offered to show me around the city. I met her at the Melbourne Museum, which had some very nice exhibits, and then we went to lunch. After lunch, we walked down to the National Gallery. There was this really neat wall that was kind of a sheet of water, and we discovered that the buildings behind it were actually made of legos! There were kids there making new buildings when we walked through.

After looking through the museum a little bit, we went back to Federation Square in search of drinks. This is a very striking area - neat architecture and a large outdoor sitting area. The International Comedy Festival is in Melbourne right now, so we sat and watched a little outdoor show before continuing on our way. Apparently, the design of Federation Square was quite controversial when it was built, but I quite liked it.

We went to the ANZAC Memorial and walked through the beautiful Botanic Gardens before catching a tram out to St Kilda, which was absolutely lovely.

There weren't a whole lot of people about, but the area was kind of like Little Five in Atlanta - lots of neat little stores and interesting restaurants. We had dinner at one and then browsed through a bookshop before having some excellent dessert at a nearby bakery. One the way back to the tram, we stopped at Luna Park for what Kerry said was a classic St Kilda picture!

I might have nightmares about that giant illuminated head!

We went back to my hostel and then Kerry went on her way, but not before getting the guy at the desk to take a quick picture!

After that, I went straight to bed - I had an early flight to Brisbane to catch this morning!

Arriving in Melbourne and Phillip Island

2007-04-08T04:09:00.000-05:00

I arrived in Melbourne around 9 on Thursday night. Kerry (Kerewyn) came down to meet me at my hostel and we went out dinner. They city was buzzing with people - Good Friday is a national holiday here, so it was like a Friday night. We went to a little cafe that Kerry found earlier and had a delicious dinner.

For Friday, I had booked a day tour to a wildlife reserve and to see penguins on Phillip Island. Unfortunately, I was the only one interested in the wildlife part, so my full day tour got cut to a half day. I wandered around Melbourne until 3, and then my group left for Phillip Island. We stopped once to take some pictures, and it was quite a lovely shoreline with waves crashing all over the place!

Phillip Island is a natural habitat for penguins, and in recent years the government has been buying back land to make it more hospitable for them. It's also a big tourist attraction. Every night at dusk, the penguins gather off shore and then come up on to the beach in groups of about 20 or 30. They then waddle off to their burrows. They do it in the same place every night, so there are grandstands built on the beach so people can watch. With my tour, I got the "Penguins Plus" package, which got me in the part of the stands where almost all of the penguins stop to rest, so I got to be about 10 feet away from them for the whole "Penguin Parade". It was great! The penguins were Little Penguins, the smallest breed, and they were less than a foot tall. They would come waddling up, making all kinds of noise, and then pause to shake themselves off just a few feet away from where we were. It was really cool, and quite amazing that they keep coming to the same places and don't see us as a threat. You couldn't take any pictures of the penguins, so I don't have any, but I did get one of this awesome sign on the way out of the parking lot.

Then it was back to Melbourne for the night.

Sightseeing in "The Alice"

2007-04-08T03:45:00.000-05:00

I found some cheap internet here in Brisbane, so get ready for some updates! :)

In the last post, I was talking about hiking through The Olgas. The next day I woke up and drove back to Alice Springs.

It was a long lonely drive, but I made it back with no troubles and went straight to the Desert Park. If you've read Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country (over here it's called Down Under), he talks about the park in there.

It was a really neat park. It had three or four different areas that showed the different kinds of desert there are in Australia. The Aboriginal people managed to figure out ways to successfully live in the desert thousands of years before white men got here and started going out and dying in it. There was an audio tour that talked about how to find water - what plants will be nearby - and how the life that lives in the desert survives. There are actually quite a few living things that thrive or survive in the desert. There was an excellent nocturnal house that had many endangered species in it. One of Australia's banes is imported animals - the cat and the rabbit have done a great deal of harm to the native life. Some of the animals only live in captivity now. I had the pleasure of seeing the bilby (the audio tour told me that there have been campaigns to replace the Easter Bunny with the Easter Bilby, some neat hopping mice, the echidna (the other egg-laying mammal along with the platypus), and a host of other lizards and snakes.

And I finally got to see one of these!

The enclosure for the kangaroos was fenced in, but you walked into it to see them, so you could pretty much walk right up to them if you wanted to! I guess they're pretty docile when they're well fed. The didn't really do anything but lounge around, but at least now I could say that I saw one!

After the Desert Park, I found my way to the hostel, had dinner, and stayed in for the rest of the night. I was tempted to go to a movie, but there was talk on the radio about assaults that had taken place near where I was staying (although they said there were suspects in custody) so I didn't want to take any chances.

The next day I drove around Alice and went to a variety of small museums. The first one was the School of the Air. There are about 16,000 people that live in the outback, including families on cattle farms and indigenous Australians. Instead of sending their kids to boarding schools, they are able to do distance learning. They get packets in the mail and have lessons over the internet (used to be 2 way radios). They do that until they are 13, and then they can continue distance learning with another school or go to boarding school. It was really ingenious, and apparently over 80% of the kids go on to university, although many of them return home to help run the cattle farms afterwards.

The next place I went was also uniquely Australian - the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Those 16,000 people also need medical care, so the doctors fly out to the communities and have clinics, as well as airlifting out emergencies. Each of the large cattle stations is required to have an airstrip so that the plane can land if it needs to. There are always nurses on call and a doctor can be almost anywhere in under an hour.

Just down the street from the Flying Doctors was the Pioneer Women's Museum. It was deserted, but I was right there anyway so I decided to check it out. I was really glad I did! There was a little old lady behind the counter who told me they had only recently moved into that building, which was the old jail that was about to be torn down. She also explained that the intent of the museum was to show case women who were the first to do anything, not necessarily "pioneer women". Inside the museum, there was a lot of information about both "pioneer women" (the first women in the outback), but also on pioneering women throughout Australian history. One of the things about the small museums here that really gets me is that you can imagine the people who put it all together - especially after getting the explanation about how they had just moved - I could picture the little old ladies deciding what to put into the museum. I guess all small museums are like that, but I felt it strongly here and also at the ANZAC exhibit in Sydney.

So anyway, I found the little museums quite charming. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for any more of them because it was time to go to Melbourne!

The Olgas (or Kata Tjuta)

2007-04-05T20:42:00.000-05:00

Well, it turns out my full day tour got turned into a half day tour because I was the only one booked for it! I called this morning to find out when we were leaving and they told me it wouldn't be until 3! It's been good though - I've had a chance to wander around Melbourne and do some window shopping. Unfortunately, since it's Good Friday, a lot of things are closed. I'm still really enjoying the feel of the city though!

Back to a few days ago, I believe we were up to Tuesday. On Tuesday morning, I got up at about 5 AM, hopped on a bus, and then hopped on a camel! I took a sunrise camel ride to see Uluru. It was awesome! The camels were a lot bigger than I thought they were, and a little intimidating. They were tied very close together, so I could just turn and pet the one behind me. She didn't like being petted too much, although she did nose me several times throughout the ride! The girl in front me developed a close relationship with my camel, whose name was Gonzi. I was fine with that until he got tired of her touching him and started to fidget! Apart from the hard saddle, the ride was very pleasant, and the sunrise was spectacular.

Here's me on my camel:

And here's Uluru at sunrise:

The Olgas looked really cool too - they started out almost black and then gradually lightened up. Here's a picture of them.

Today, my plan was to hike through the Olgas. I went back to the hostel and slept a bit, and then I went back to the park to start my hike. The guide book said it was a 7.4 km walk and that it was "steep in places". They weren't kidding! This trail was much more exhausting than the base walk around Uluru, but it was also more rewarding to me. The Olgas (Kata Tjuta, but I can't really pronounce it, so in my mind they're still the Olgas) are higher than Uluru and consist of about 34 domes. The trail wound through some of the domes and then out a bit to give a little perspective. I found it stunning!

Here I am, about 1 km in.

The Olgas are made up of a different type of rock than Uluru, so it has a different look. A lot of it looks like larger rocks smushed together. I'm not sure you can tell that from these pictures, but here are two pretty typical views from the walk.

By the end, I was exhausted. I headed back to the hostel to clean up and have dinner, ultimately going to bed quite early. I did see my favorite street sign so far on the way out of the park though (and then several times after that!).

I didn't actually see any kangaroos on the road, probably because they were all hiding from the heat in the shade. I did see some the next day in Alice Springs though!

Just a quick update

2007-04-05T08:19:00.000-05:00

I spent the day visiting small museums in Alice Springs, and then caught a flight down to Melbourne. Kerry was nice enough to come out and meet me and we had a nice walk around a bit of the city and a very good dinner. Thanks again, Kerry!

I'm going on a full day tour to Phillip Island (to see penguins!), so I probably won't be able to update again for a day or two. See you then!

Around the Rock in 4 hours

2007-04-04T03:42:00.000-05:00

After arriving at the Ayers Rock Resort in Yulara, I had one of the best burgers I have ever had (in spite of its exorbitant price tag), listened to the nightly band, and crashed early. In the morning, I was going to see one of the most recognizable images of Australia - Uluru, aka Ayers Rock.

I first stopped at the excellent cultural center and learned about some of the history of the area. It was very well put together and I enjoyed the exhibit. One of the most interesting things in it was the "sorry book", which is a book of hundreds of letters that people have sent along with rocks or dirt they took from the area. Uluru (and The Olgas or Kata Tjuta) is a place of religious significance to the Anangu (Aboriginal people of the area). It was so interesting to see all of those letters from people who took rocks and then regretted it enough to send them back. Some felt the rocks had brought them bad luck.

Then I continued on to the car park for the rock itself. It is pretty amazing. It's such a strange thing to have this huge rock towering in front of you. Here's the first sight you get:

That sign on the bottom left is asking people not to climb, and all those people are climbing it anyway. I read in my guide book before I went that it is not really appropriate to climb the rock, and everything throughout the park comes just short of begging you not to. I decided before I left the cultural center that I wouldn't climb, but I won't say I wasn't tempted when I saw all those other people doing it.

Instead, I set out on the base walk around Uluru, a 9.4 km walk. It was longish but fairly flat - the only difficult part was the heat. Oh, and the flies, which were incessant. I was swatting them in my sleep that night! Some of the most spectacular areas of Uluru are off limits to photographs because they are areas of special significance, but I took several pictures of the other areas. One of the neatest things about the rock is its texture - from the ground, the sides look like skin. I felt like if I reached up and touched it, it would feel like an animal. It's even more reinforced by the areas where the facade has been chipped away and you can see through to the tunnels under the surface - it's like a whole organism is enclosed within the rock. I'm rambling, but it really was neat.

After the hike, I went back to the hostel for a bit and then returned for sunset. It was quite lovely - Uluru changed from its characteristic red/orange through a variety of darkening colors. Just as the sun finally set, the moon rose.

I went back to the hostel and attempted to cook my own burger, which was a bit of a farce. (At this hostel, there was a place where you could buy a variety of meat and then cook it yourself on outdoor grills. All while listening to a local man perform on stage!) Then I went to bed early because I was getting up for the sunrise today.

Unfortunately, technical difficulties are going to force me to make you wait for the part of the story that involves camels! Until tomorrow...

ARGH!!!

2007-04-03T04:46:00.000-05:00

I have had two very lovely days here in central Australia, but I can't get any pictures up to show you just how lovely. Everything is ridiculously expensive here (tourists here are the definition of a captive audience), but on top of that many of the services are lacking. For example, I could use my computer in one of the hotels for ONLY $25 PER DAY. Or I can use the internet kiosks for the low low price of $0.20 per minute, which is what I decided to do, but I just found that the card reader is broken, so I still can't upload pictures!

Happily, my frustration with the "resort" I'm staying at has been outweighed by the excellent days I've been having. I will be in Alice Springs tomorrow night and will make a full update then, but for now I will just say that in the last two days, I've walked 16.8 km through some of the most interesting places in the world. Oh, and I rode a camel into the sunrise, but you'll have to wait until next time for details! :)

Skirting Alice Springs on the way to Uluru

2007-04-01T03:55:00.000-05:00

I flew into Alice Springs today, hopped into my rental car, and got on the road to Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock. Since the airport was on the south side of town, I managed to see absolutely none of Alice Springs! I'll be back to see it on Wednesday though, so no big deal.

Flying over the landscape was really awesome. It was like nothing I have ever seen before - I am going to try to look on Google Earth later to see if I can find some good pictures.

Driving was really strange. I saw about 15 cars in the first hour! It felt so deserted. I guess I am not cut out to live way out in the country (much less the bush/outback). The landscape was really interesting - trees here and there, lots of red earth, a few cows. I'm on an internet kiosk right now, so no pics at the moment, but hopefully later. The most surprising thing has been the bugs - they are everywhere! Worse than anywhere I've ever been before.

My room tonight is like a barracks - at least 20 girls will be sleeping in there. Should be interesting! Tomorrow I'll head out to see Ayers Rock or The Olgas, the other cool geological formation around here. I should have some good pics after that!

Blue Mountains and Aussie Rules

2007-03-31T10:02:00.000-05:00

This morning I again woke up early and got on a train, this time to the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are about 2 hours outside of Sydney (by train). They get their bluish color from all the eucalyptus trees that grow there. I was going primarily to see a geological formation called the Three Sisters.

The first part I saw was this lovely little waterfall.

I hiked through the foliage for about half an hour. Then I went and did the few touristy things that are out there - a skyway, a cable car, and a very steep railroad (used to be a cable transport system). This picture on the ralroad struck me as very funny - and then Indiana Jones music started playing as we plunged almost straight down!

A few minutes walk away were the Three Sisters. Here's a few pictures of them and the surrounding landscape:

It was really beautiful out there. Before I caught the train back, I saw an IMAX movie about the area, and it turns out they found a prehistoric species of tree there not long ago - there are only about 40 of them, but the species dates back to the dinosaurs!

Then I caught the train back into the city to go to an Australian Rules Football game, or Aussie Rules or Footy, as they call it here. It was awesome! It's very fast paced - no pausing, no timeouts - and really exciting. I had the rules mostly figured out by the end, but even not knowing what was going on I was really into the game. It was almost like extreme soccer if you could use your hands. I can't describe it. I bought my tickets early, so I was only three rows back!

In any case, the game was between the Sydney Swans (Swannies!!!) and the West Coast Eagles. The Eagles played a lot better than the Swans for most of the game, but in the end they won by only one point. It was thrilling!

I have some other cool pictures of the game, but my computer died last night before I could upload them. I'll try to upload them later, if only for the sake of my dear old Dad, who loves Aussie Rules!

Sydney: The City of Stairs

2007-03-31T09:56:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a day of stairs. Everywhere I went, from the train station to the opera house to the harbor bridge was nothing but stairs. I'm getting ahead of myself though.

My plan for today was to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I woke up a bit late but made it just in time to get all suited up. They give you a jumpsuit, a climb belt, a neat little device to attach you to a cable running up the bridge, and a radio. Then you start climbing steps. I couldn't take my camera, but I got these shots later that will show you where I was. We went all the way to the top, across, and then back down. The weather was gorgeous, and the views were incredible. It was a totally exhilirathing experience, and I highly recommend it!

Here's the bridge, and then a closer shot of the people climbing it.

After I climbed the bridge, I went over to the opera house to have the tour that came with my sunset cruise. It was really neat to be able to get inside the symphony and opera halls when they were just setting up. I have about five million more pictures of the exterior of the opera house, but in an effort to be interesting, I'll show you the interiors. Here's an example of some of the woodwork:

And here's what the main symphony hall looks like:

They were working in the opera hall, so I still wasn't able to get a good picture of it.

Since the day was clear, I decided it would be cool to go to the Sydney Observatory for the night tour. I had some time to kill first though, so after a quicky dinner, I whizzed through the aquarium. I got to see lots of great Australian fish and sharks, plus a gigantic crocodile and even a little platypus.

I made it over to the Observatory and took the night tour. I'll admit I was quite exhausted from the day and it was hard to concentrate. However, we did get to look through the telescope, and I got to see Betelgeuse (a star in Orion), Saturn (so cool!), the Moon, Alpha Centauri (the closest star to us, actually two stars), and a constellation called the jewel box. It was awesome to be able to see all those things, so in the end I was glad I went.

**Darn - I wanted to update about today too, but I'm just about out of internet time, and since I'm leaving here today, I don't want to buy more. I promise tales of mountains and football tomorrow!**

First Day in Australia!

2007-03-31T09:56:00.001-05:00

As you all know by now, I arrived in Sydney Wednesday night without incident. My extremely heavy backpack and I checked into the hostel and after making some blog updates, I passed out. Since I was still on New Zealand time, I woke up bright and early the next day. I got up and did some laundry, then took a shower and headed out for the day.

I started by walking towards the Australia Museum. On the way, I stopped at the Anzac Memorial that is dedicated to all of the Australian troops. It had a nice little exhibit with a real personal touch to it, and it was situated in the middle of a neat park. Unfortunately, the weather was muggy and overcast - the kind of weather where you're bathed in sweat the instant you step outside (Atlantans know it well), so I was eager to get inside.

Here is the Anzac Memorial:

The Australia Museum was right up the street, and had a large sign out front for an exhibit called "Eaten Alive!", so I knew I was in the right place. They had an exhibit about Aborigines, here called Indigenous Australians. I still don't understand their mythology completely, but maybe I will before I leave - there is a lot about it in various places. A few minutes after I arrived, there was a guided tour. I joined in and we toured through a room full of various skeletons, an excellent collection of gems and minerals, a collection of bugs and animals that can kill you, and another room full of stuffed animals (like the formerly living kind, not the plush kind). So I have now felt a kangaroo, wombat, platypus (much smaller than I thought), and koala. Hopefully I'll be able to see some of them living too!

The next thing I wanted to do was to go to the Bodies exhibit. It came to Atlanta, but I missed it. If you don't know what it is, it sounds totally morbid, but it really wasn't. It's basically "plastinated" human bodies on display. Okay, I guess it is morbid. Really it was totally fascinating to see what's going on under the skin. And I swear, it was really easy to separate the idea that they were actual bodies and just focus on the interesting part.

After that, it was time to get ready for the opera! First, I was going on a sunset cruise around the harbor. Luckily, the clouds had broken, so we got a very nice sunset. I'll post some pictures in a second. I was one of two solitary people on board, but I ended up sitting with the other gentleman, who was from Saudi Arabia, but had lived in America. We had a very nice conversation. Here are some pics from the cruise:

After the cruise, it was time for the opera! I went to see The Marriage of Figaro, which I knew nothing about except that I had heard of it. It is a comedy about Figaro and Susannah, who want to get married, but the Count they work for wants Susannah for himself; meanwhile, the Count's wife wants his attention back. In the end, it all works out happily! I got in trouble for taking this picture, so I don't have any good ones of the actual opera house during the performance. Here's my ticket, bill, and a chocolate they gave me.

The performance was wonderful! It was over three hours long, but it didn't feel like it at all. I think I'm going to have to check out an opera when I'm back home.

I went back to the hostel after the opera and fell asleep quickly - I'm not sure if it was the long day or the wine I had with dinner!

Happy birthday, Dad!

2007-03-31T09:55:00.001-05:00

I know I'm one day late, but I have a good excuse, don't I? :) <- That's my sweetest smile. Happy birthday, ya old fart!

I'm still here!

2007-03-30T08:12:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to post a quick update so my mother will know I'm still alive. Hi Mom. :) I have had two very packed and very neat days in Sydney, but my computer's battery is about to die, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to give you the full update! I promise I will catch up tomorrow night!

Random Pictures

2007-03-28T17:02:00.000-05:00

As you probably noticed (I know Lilia did!), there's been a whole lotta posting going on! That's because I finally have a reliable internet connection, so I'm able to catch up. It's about 8 AM here in Sydney, and I'm waiting for my laundry to get done before I head out for the day. This will be last post until at least tonight. I wanted to wrap up with some random pictures from our New Zealand trip.

My family sent me this a few days after I left. Isn't it sweet? (except for Jason, of course)

This is what my knees looked like a few days after I fell. They're still kind of purple!

Here is the tiny little part that caused all those problems in Queenstown:

And finally, and most scary, this is what happened to any fly that got in our campervan - Rebecca grabbed a book and smashed them! This one died explosively! Most of the others went quietly. In one night, she killed at least six, for which I was eternally grateful!

That's it for New Zealand - from here on out, it'll be Australia! Thanks for following along so far!

Whalewatching in Kaikoura

2007-03-28T16:45:00.000-05:00

Our last day in New Zealand was pretty typical of our trip - wake up, drive somewhere, do something cool, drive some more.

This time, we were driving to a whalewatching tour! We boarded the boat at around 10 AM and proceeded directly to where a whale had recently been sighted. It was a bumpy ride and felt a bit like a roller coaster - we could feel our stomachs drop after each big wave. Happily, no one got sick.

We pulled up to the where the first whale had surfaced just in time to see him dive down again. The whales go down to look for food for about 45 minutes and then come up for 5 to 15 minutes. Our timing was just off. So we quickly sped over to where the other whale in the area was last seen, and he surfaced as we pulled up.

I hate to say this, but the whales were actually kind of boring. I think it's because they are sperm whales, so almost none of them comes out of the water until they dive, which is when you get to see their tails. That part was really cool. Here's what the whale looked like when he was just hanging out and breathing:

And here's what he looked like when he dove:

After he dove, we drove back around to find the other whale again, who was due to surface. We watched him for awhile and then he dove again too.

We had hoped to see some dolphins too, but on the way back to the dock they told us that the main pod was too far away. However, we were lucky enough to stumble upon another pod of dolphins. We sat for about 10 minutes and watched them. They were so cool! They jumped up and did somersaults all over the place! There were at least fifty, probably more like 100. It was impossible to get a good photo of them, but I did manage to take one where you can actually tell it's a dolphin.

Then we were back in the dock. We returned to the campervan, and since we had a little extra time, we decided to look for the seal colony that was nearby. We found it, and were able to get really close!

There was another seal not too far away rolling around in the grass, which was neat. We didn't get too close though, because there were signs all over warning people that they bite if they feel threatened.

We drove back to Christchurch and returned the van. For our last night, we were staying in a pretty decent motel. It was strange to sleep indoors, be warm, and not rock the van every time you rolled over! It was like heaven. :) Here we are at dinner on our last night:

The next morning (yesterday, Wednesday for me and Tuesday for most of you), we got up and went to the airport to leave. I was really sad to see Rebecca go home and also to leave New Zealand, but it was a really wonderful trip and I couldn't have asked for it to be much better.

Sightseeing in Christchurch

2007-03-28T07:19:00.000-05:00

For Monday, we decided to properly explore Christchurch, and Jen and Victor (Roheryn and NZStrider) agreed to be our guides. We met them by the Chalice in the center of town. Victor's mother came along, and so did their young son, Timmy, who is a truly adorable baby. He got a lot of attention from Rebecca and me! After meeting up at the Chalice, we then went inside the cathedral. Here are pictures of each of those!

We rode the tram around, where I learned that the Chalice is meant to represent a swirl of leaves in the wind, as well as some other Christchurch history and trivia.

Next up was lunch, and then Victor volunteered to take us on a drive up to Lyttleton. Because the car was to small for everyone, Jen, Timmy, and Victor's mom stayed in the city while we went on our drive. The drive was really nice - even more so because Victor is truly a fount of knowledge about the area. He told us all kinds of trivia and history about the area and made it truly interesting. We eventually ended up at Cave Rock, down on the beach. Since the tide was low, we could walk right through it! Here are some pictures from the drive:

We went back into town and met Jen, Timmy, and Victor's mom at the Botanic Gardens. Here's a picture from just before we parted ways.

Rebecca and I headed out through the gardens and stopped at the museum, which was very well done and very interesting. There are lot of exhibits on Antarctic exploration in New Zealand, and this museum was no exception. They also had a really nice exhibit about the history of the Maori.

After wandering around for some time trying to find dinner, we eventually got fed and then returned to the campsite for our last night in the camper.

Two "Cultural Experiences"

2007-03-28T07:18:00.000-05:00

Sunday was our first day in Christchurch, and because we were tired and unsure what to do there, we decided to have kind of a quiet day. We started out the day by walking down to the nearby mall and seeing Hot Fuzz. The movie was really funny and we both liked it a lot. I bought a new watch to replace the one I lost, and then we went back for a leisurely afternoon at the campsite. I spent most of the afternoon trying to upload pictures in vain.

That night, we went to Ko Tane and the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve. This was advertised as a "Maori Cultural Experience" (the Maori are the native people here). I think we got a lot more than we expected!

We had a Maori woman guide us through. We only had a few people in our group, and only one man, so he was chosen to be the chief. We began walking through the reserve and the guide explained the significance of some of the trees and birds to the Maori. Eventually, a Maori warrior came out and challenged our chief. They do a lot of posturing and stick out their tongues to try to evoke fear in their opponents before dropping a token (in our case, some greenery). If the visiting chief picks up the greenery, it signifies that we came in peace. If he kicks it aside, we might be eaten for dinner that night after a long battle!

We entered the village peacefully, where our chief and the Maori chief sealed their friendship with a hangi (I'm not sure if it's "a hangi" or "the hangi" or just "hangi"). This is when they shake hands and press noses and foreheads together to signify a meeting of the minds and an acknowledgement that we all share the same breath.

After this portion, we moved on to a more contemporary Maori performance. Seven or eight people performed several songs. The women got up on stage to participate in one dance, and the men (man) got up on stage to do the haka at the end (one of the Maori dances - the New Zealand rugby team does it before matches to intimidate opponents).

We proceeded inside and had a very nice buffet dinner, and then took a tour of the wildlife preserve, which was way more than we expected it to be! We saw lots of native birds, including some really active Kiwis who got very close, a territorial swan, and some Keas - one of which perched on Rebecca for awhile!

We caught a bus back to our campsite and called it a night.

Milford Sound and Queenstown

2007-03-28T06:59:00.000-05:00

So, I believe when I last updated, our van had just been fixed after I tried to drive it over a wall. That night, we walked down into Queenstown for a bit, had dinner, and then crashed early.

The next day, we were set to go to Milford Sound, which has been called the eighth wonder of the world. We walked down into town and caught the bus. Except for having a carsick child in front of us, the bus ride was pretty enjoyable. It was nice to sit back and let someone else pick the route and manage the twisty roads. We stopped several times -

Once for a sheep crossing! We kind of hoped/feared that this would happen once, and it was kind of cool. Here's the best picture I could get from my vantage point on the bus:

We also stopped several times to take pictures. This is one of the prettiest spots - the Mirror Lakes.

After about four hours of driving, we arrived at Milford Sound and boarded the boat for our 2 hour cruise. Rebecca and I went up on deck to take some pictures and it was really astounding how beautiful it was. Gorgeous blue water, huge mountains, snowcaps in the distance...we sailed out to where the sound meets the sea and then turned around. We got quite close to a waterfall that was three times as tall as Niagara Falls, and then before we knew it, the trip was over. Here are a few pictures of what we saw - the first one is kind of washed out, but has a boat in it to try to help with scale.

We also had an unexpected benefit of seeing some seals sunning themselves on a rock, which was pretty cool.

The bus ride back was fairly uneventful, except that we saw the moon for the first time since we arrived in New Zealand. I'm not sure why we kept missing it even on clear nights - probably a combination of early setting and the mountains - but it was nice to see it again.

The next day was going to be our adventure day. We wanted to go jet boating and bungy jumping, but it worked out that we could only do one, so jet boating won out. We actually met some people from Snellville and Doraville while we waited in line! Here's a picture of me next to the Shotover River before we got on:

And here's a picture Rebecca took of the boat before us:

The driver got us extremely close to the canyon walls before veering off to do 360 degree turns (we even did one 720!). It was really exhilirating and I highly recommend it!

That was the end of Queenstown for us. We hopped back into the car to go to Christchurch. One last picture for today - we drove through Cromwell on our way to Christchurch, and they had this giant sculpture of fruit as you drove through. I just had to share!

Just a quick update!

2007-03-27T21:53:00.000-05:00

Rebecca and I are waiting for our international flights here in the Auckland airport, and I just wanted to take a second to say hello, and yes we're still here. :) I'm hoping it will be a little easier to update from Australia, but we'll see. I promise to catch up on the last few days as soon as I can! Hope everyone is doing well. Our flights leave in about three hours - Rebecca's to LA and mine to Sydney. It's going to be weird to be traveling alone - I know I'll miss having Rebecca here. She won't see this until she gets back, so I just want to say - it's been really great. I'm glad we could do this together!!!

I do dumb things, part 2.

2007-03-24T22:49:00.001-05:00

The internet is being a major pain today, so I'm having a lot of trouble uploading any pics, but for the time being, I thought I would at least tell you about my latest moronic activity!

The first dumb thing I did this trip was attempting to hop over a log and falling on my face - I took a lovely picture of my knees that I hope to post later. They are still a beautiful shade of purple. I also lost my watch that day - I suspect it's on the ground near where we parked - but I'll consider that a corollary dumb thing to the main one of falling down.

The second dumb thing I did was...wait for it...try to drive over a wall. Okay, so I didn't really try to drive over it, and it was only about 18 inches high, but it was still dumb. Here's the story...

Rebecca and I arrived at the Queenstown campsite after a really nice afternoon at Deer Park. We checked in and proceeded to try to find our campsite. The site maps are kind of hit-and-miss, and more often that not we end up in the wrong place, which is what happened this time. I started to turn a corner to get back to where we needed to be and hear a horrendous screeching sound. I stopped immediately - with that sick feeling you get when you know you've really messed up - and Rebecca looked out her window and informed me that I had run over a wall! I had turned the corner too tightly, not seeing such a low wall from my high vantage point, and gotten stranded on top of this wall!

At first, it didn't look too bad. There was no external damage to the side of the van and it looked as if a bolt had simply come loose. I had pushed the water tank up and dislodged the piece that held it to the bottom of the chassis. It looked like all we would have to do is hook it back on. Of course, nothing is ever that easy.

We both tried to lift it back into place, but it wasn't budging. Eventually, two Australian men came over and helped us out - informing us that the piece was bent and we would need a shifter or a spanner (one of those is a wrench, not sure what the other one is). Eventually, one of the Aussies took me to a car repair place, where a very nice Kiwi unbent the part. Then we went to buy some wrenches, and returned to the van, where everything was finally put back together.

I took a picture to show you what an inconspicuous little piece this was, but I can't seem to upload it, so I'll save it for next time. We were very lucky that it wasn't worse though - there is no way the campervan people will realize that anything went wrong, and in the end it cost $10 to buy a wrench to fix what could have been a major problem!

I'll do my best to update on Milford Sound tomorrow - I really want to get pictures up because it's just such a spectacular place! Today we're having a quiet day, with a "Maori cultural experience" tonight, and then tomorrow we're exploring Christchurch, hopefully with Jen (Roheryn) and Victor (NZStrider) for at least part of the day.

Getting to Queenstown and Deer Park

2007-03-23T05:57:00.000-05:00

We were really glad we didn't make the drive to Queenstown in the dreariness of Wednesday, because Thursday came up crystal clear and beautiful. We were back on the road, driving through some spectacular mountains. Here is one example of the scenery as we got close to Queenstown:

Beautiful, right? That's totally typical, and the picture doesn't even really do it justice. Just when you think New Zealand couldn't possibly be more beautiful, you turn the corner and it proves you wrong.

We pulled into Queenstown in the early afternoon and decided to check out Deer Park Heights. The sign said it was a "working deer farm", but we saw llamas, goats, deer, and donkeys as we drove through. In additon to being a working farm, it is also where many of the scenes from Rohan were shot for LotR.

I forgot to upload a recognizable movie location picture - sorry about that - but I do have some great pics from the Feed Station at the park. Here's what it looked like when we pulled up. Notice the expectant looks on the animals' faces. They know that some suckers have arrived to feed them! And yes, they are running over towards the van. The barrel on the left dispenses food for visitors to give to the animals.

We got some food, and it got crazy! The goats jumped all over us and also bleated to each other across the fields to come running! Rebecca and I both got dirty from the goats pawing us!

And Rebecca's favorite, the llamas:

We left the park and went to check in at the campervan site. Here I had my first (and only!) "incident" with driving the van, but I'll have to leave you in suspense because I'm out of online time. I'll just tell you that thanks to two very nice Aussies and an awesome Kiwi, everything turned out okay in the end! That was yesterday - today we went to Milford Sound, so I promise some awesome pictures!

More pictures and glaciers!

2007-03-23T05:50:00.000-05:00

I went back and added pictures to the Wellington post and the Nelson post, scroll down to check them out!

After leaving Nelson early in the morning, we drove for about 7 hours down the west coast and finally arrived at the Fox Glacier. The website (at least to my recollection) for the tour we went on said we would take a pleasant walk through the forest, climb some stairs cut into the glacier, and enjoy 40 minutes on the ice. HA! The pleasant walk was actually a steep set of stairs up the side of a mountain, up a 12 step ladder, up some more, back down, and then out onto the glacier. Quite a bit more rugged than expected! Still, we made it and it was well worth it. The glacier really is like nothing else. I guess I expected it to be like hard packed snow, but it is definitely ice. Here are a few pictures:

That doesn't even begin to show you how tall this thing was. It goes all the way back into the mountains (you can kind of see where it begins in the top of the picture). The guide said it was about 5 km from the beginning to the end - almost all up or down stairs!

And here we are, triumphant after our "pleasant walk":

It started to rain while we were on the glacier, so we got soaked (again!). However, not too much longer later, we were back on the road to Queenstown. Eventually, the road forced us to stop in Haast, which is where I made my last post. The next day, we rose early and got back on the road (more in the next post).

Lots o' driving and a huge block of ice!

2007-03-21T03:30:00.000-05:00

We're in another campsite tonight. We got up very early (the alarm started going off at 4!) and left Susan's at 5 AM, headed for Fox Glacier. We drove for about 7 hours before arriving. It was a rough morning, and suddenly all the signs New Zealand has everywhere about not driving while tired weren't quite as funny anymore! (Examples: Drink/Drive/Don't be stupid. STOP! and Take a Power Nap. Drowsy drivers are dead drivers!) Some of them are very unintentionally funny, but not so much when I seriously wanted my own power nap this morning.) In any case, we arrived at the glacier without incident, although it did start raining again on the way down. Hopefully it will be nice and clear tomorrow for the rest of the drive - I really want to see the Southern Alps in all their glory.

The campsite we're at is somewhat rural and has internet kiosks instead of wireless, so I can't upload pictures, and there's no way I can do justice to today without posting pictures, so I'll wait to describe it. In short, we walked a very long way up and down a mountain and then out onto the glacier for a bit. It was an unforgettable experience, and when I post pics tomorrow, you'll see what I mean. :)

(Susan - we had a great time at your house! Thanks again! We tried to stop in Makorora, but the weather and the dark wouldn't let us get all the way there - we're in Haast instead. Definitely going to have a good look around as we pass through it tomorrow!)

Lovely Nelson in the South Island!

2007-03-20T02:40:00.000-05:00

After the ferry ride over to the South Island, we got back on the roads and on our way to Nelson, home of Susan (Estelwyn). She very kindly offered to let us stay with her for the night, and Rebecca and I are both excited to be sleeping indoors! Woohoo!

The drive was very beautiful, although I did notice a lot of logging activity that made the hills slightly less pretty. We've been graced with beautiful weather again today, and the drive was enjoyable. We stopped for a quick lunch at The Clansman (as in Scottish) in Havelock before arriving in Nelson and meeting up with Susan. She met us at her lovely house and we went out the World of Wearable Art, which was really cool! Basically, New Zealand has a big event every year where people make this wearable art! Check out the link for last year's winner. It was really cool! After that we took Susan's dog to the beach and walked around for a bit. I am just so happy to have beautiful weather - it really makes a ton of difference!

Now we're back at Susan's and she and her partner (who is also very lovely) are making dinner while Rebecca and I are being rude and not helping, instead taking advantage of the internet. (Thanks again, Susan, it was so nice of you to host us!) Tomorrow we are going to drive down the west coast and go on a glacier tour, which should be another really awesome day!

Here we are after dinner: (Carrie, Susan, Rebecca, me)

Three days in Wellington

2007-03-20T02:05:00.000-05:00

We've spent the last three days in Wellington, which is a charming city. I already wrote a bit about Saturday, when we visited Wellington for the first time and saw some of the exhibits at Te Papa.

The weather was still nasty up on Sunday morning. Rebecca and I woke up early and got ready to meet Jennifer (Leggylass), who was graciously coming to pick us up. We were out on the curb at 9 AM, discussing how dead the campsite was, when we received a message from Jennifer making sure we knew about daylight savings time. It was actually only 8! We killed time until 9, and then Jennifer showed us the LotR sites of Wellington.

She took us to the quarry where Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith were filmed, although it was hard to make out where anything was. Then we went out to where Rivendell was filmed and also to the gardens of Isengard. It's crazy that all these things were filmed just outside of Wellington - they look like they are in the middle of nowhere in the movie! We drove up Mount Victoria a bit and then out to Miramar, which is where Weta is located. We drove by a pier where the Ventura (the boat from King Kong) is docked until they decided to sink it for a tourist attraction. We drove past a few other places of LotR significance (Chocolate Fish cafe, for one) and then returned to the Embassy theater to see Fellowship of the Ring. I haven't watched any of the movies in over a year, so it was very enjoyable to see one again, especially in that theater (where Return of the King had its world premiere).

Here are a few pictures. A bit of explanation - around the time Return of the King came out, the Embassy theater "sold" its seats and put little plaques on each of them to show who bought them. Here's the one that the theonering.net discussion board members bought:

And here's Rebecca sitting in Orlando's chair:

And finally, here's Rebecca and Jen:

After the movie, Jennifer went home and Rebecca and I went back to Te Papa while we waited for Alyssa (Choice of Luthien) to get off work at 6. She finally did and we had a good dinner at a place called One Red Dog (but terrible service). Unfortunately, we spaced and didn't get a picture with Alyssa this time. :( We took the bus back to the campsite and were both in bed within about 10 minutes of returning!

Monday morning arrived crisp and clear! What a relief to finally have some nice weather! Today we were meeting Daniel Falconer for lunch. We took the bus out to Miramar, arriving a bit too early, and had a very enjoyable and very quick lunch with Daniel before he had to return to work. He was very nice and aplogetic about not being able to show us anything, but that was okay.

Here we are with Daniel:

We did the tourist thing and wandered around a bit, and found this in the concrete outside Weta:

We went back into Wellington and did some shopping before taking the cable car up to the Botanic Gardens, which were very beautiful. Tired again, we took the bus back to the campsite just in time to receive word from Joanne (Eledhwen), who also happened to be in Wellington. We got back on the bus and met up with her for dinner at a wonderful restaurant recommended by Susan (Estelwyn) called Nicolini's, which was fantastic!

Here we are at dinner:

After dinner, we went back to the campsite again and went to bed.

This morning we got up early again to catch the ferry to the South Island. The weather has been beautiful again today and the ferry ride was excellent! Now we're in Nelson, which I'll make a separate post about shortly.

Lows to Highs - Caves and Pinnacles

2007-03-17T03:58:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay in updating - we've been staying in some rural places that don't have internet access! Even where they do have internet access, you have to pay to get it. Also, thanks agian for the comments! I wish I could respond to each one individually, like on LJ, but Blogger doesn't seem to do that!

After visiting Hobbiton on Wednesday, we got back in the camper and drove to Waitomo. Here we experienced our first night of campsite living. Some things were not exactly how I expected - there is really no place to store our stuff, so we are constantly moving it around the camper, which takes away one of the great plusses I expected - only having to unpack once. Some of the restroom facilities have been awesome, others not so much, and one place the bathroom in the van was preferable to the campsite. Yuck! Here are a few pictures from the place we stayed the first night - the sun came out early in the morning to give us a brief respite from the rain.

This shows the campsite, then our view, and finally the lovely dumpsite, which is the yuckiest part of this whole thing that I just had to share!

Thursday morning was our first truly exciting activity: blackwater rafting through the glowworm caves of Waitomo. We were both really looking forward to this, and it was nice to have an activity planned where the rain couldn't bother us. We suited up in our ice cold wetsuits and posed for a picture before hopping into a van and going to a river to pick out our innertubes and practice jumping into the water. For your enjoyment, here we are in our suits!

Jumping into the water was a shock to the system for sure! It was freezing cold and the wetsuits did little to warm us. We each had to jump backwards into the water to make sure our tubes were stable for us, but they didn't tell us to expect the freezing water. After that, we got back into the bus and went to the caves. We climbed down a little bit and then it was time to get into the caves.

It was exciting and very scary. You couldn't help but think about what would happen to you if you got lost or separated from the group. Luckily we had two excellent tour guides who helped everyone through it. We saw lots of tiny little glowworms on the ceiling of the cave and jumped off several waterfalls. We walked through the stream and rode our innertubes in equal amounts. I lost my tube at one point and went completely under, which was not terribly fun. At the end of the trip, they gave us each a chocolate fish and told us we were going to play a fun little game called "get out of the cave in the dark". We all turned the lights on our helmets off and followed paddled to the exits of the cave by following the glowworms. This truly was frightening, and it was very difficult to not reach up and turn that light back on, but we made it out without extra light. It was really a fun thing to do - challenging and exciting and fairly unique.

After the glowworms, we went to the Otorohanga Kiwi House to see some real live Kiwis. Kiwis are a bird found only in New Zealand, but they are nocturnal and rarely seen. This house keeps a darkened room with kiwis in it so that visitors can see them. They are very interesting birds! In addition to the kiwis, they had a whole outdoor area with lots of other types of birds and even a giant aviary with a section of forest in it. We had a nice afternoon stroll through the preserve and learned a lot about NZ's native birds. I didn't get a picture of a live kiwi, so this one at the entrance to the place will have to do:

It was back to the car to drive to Tongariro Crossing. Tongariro Crossing is called "the best day hike" in New Zealand and goes through a national park with several active volcanoes. One of them was used for Mount Doom in LotR, but even beyond that is was supposed to be a gorgous walk. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate. The rain and wind made it impossible to do the walk, so this was the first (and hopefully only!) major disappointment in the trip. Now we have two things to do when we come back someday - Rotorua (when we tell people we didn't go there, their jaws drop open - all I have to say is that Lonely Planet should have made it sound more like a must-see!) and Tongariro Crossing.

Instead of the Crossing, we decided to go straight for the Putangirua Pinnacles. Originally, we'd planned to do this as a side trip from Wellington if we had time, and now we had the time. The drive started out dreary and the drive often felt treacherous and wound around the sides of mountains and up and down hills, but it was also beautiful, as you can see in this picture.

Even better, as we got closer to the Pinnacles, the clouds lifted and it because a gorgeous day. After driving past thousands of sheep and cattle, we were greeted with this fantastic view of the bay.

We arrived at the Pinnacles at around 4:30 and got out to do the hour and a half walk. The ground was filled with rocks, as expected, and almost the first thing I did was fall flat on my face while attempting to hop over a log. Yes, I said I was going to hop over a log - stop laughing. In any case, I wasn't seriously hurt and only my knees (and my pride) were bruised. Here's the picture I killed myself for!

The Pinnacles didn't disappoint - they were stunning and strange. I am really interested in how they came to be like that. It seemed that water ran down the hills into the ocean and took the rocks with it, but it was such a unique formation it seems like there must be more to it. Here's a typical view of the area.

After the Pinnacles, we drove to the most scenic and least amenable place we'll stay this trip - the Lake Ferry Holiday Park. It was absolutely gorgeous, with a view over the bay, but it cost $1.00 to get five minutes of hot water to shower in, and the showers were filled with moths. We were only too happy to leave it behind this morning.

Bear with me - we're almost caught up!

This morning we got back in the car to drive along the sides of mountains again towards Wellington. We arrived around lunch time, and after taking care of some RV maintenance tasks, we caught a bus into Wellington. We wandered around for several hours, stopping to have lunch and visiting the Te Papa museum, which had several interesting exhibits on New Zealand art and culture, and a fascinating visiting exhibit on Egypt.

Now we're back in the camper and exhausted once again. Tomorrow Jennifer (Leggylass) is coming to pick us up and show us the sights.

Driving on the left to Hobbiton

2007-03-14T04:11:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday, Sam! Congratulations on being a teenager!

Thanks so much for the comments - it really helps me to feel connected! (Oh, and my camera is a Sony H2 - I'm really glad I got it before this trip!)

This morning started early, but that was okay because we were both asleep by 7 last night! We woke up at 5 AM to catch a bus back to the airport to get our campervan. After killing some time at the airport while waiting for the RV place to open, we finally managed to get our campervan and head on our way.

Here's our home for the next two weeks - inside pictures coming soon! It's big enough for everything but our luggage, but we'll figure something out!

Of course, here's where the real fun started. Driving on the "wrong" side of the road was not easy to get used to! Driving straight is easy - you just stay in your lane - in spite of having a minor reaction every time I saw someone driving towards me in the right lane (they're coming right at me!), I was able to get comfortable with this pretty quickly. What's more challenging is the turning and the roundabouts. I never really knew how much of driving is just instinct before today, when every instinct I have was wrong. Look left-right-left? Not unless you want to get hit and die. Roundabouts were a mindbender - yield to the right, drive to the left...it just doesn't feel natural. Add in a stick shift and that was our morning! I think I finally managed to get a little more comfortable as the day wore on, but it will be awhile before I don't have to consciously consider every decision while driving. One interesting thing about NZ is that we have seen a lot of signs encouraging us to slow down, drive safely, not drink and drive, and even take "power-naps" should we get tired. Very helpful! :)

After getting the van, Rebecca and I went to the grocery store to pick up provisions. Then we headed for Hobbiton, also known as Matamata, which is where the Alexander farm stood in for the Shire for LotR.

The tour was fantastic. Hobbiton is a very recognizable place, both in Middle Eartn and in New Zealand. We drove through a working sheep farm of over 1250 acres to reach the movie set, and the whole way was gorgeous scenery. It rained off and on, but cleared often enough to get some nice pictures. We wandered all over Hobbiton and got to visit Bilbo's hobbit hole, Sam's home, and Bagshot Row.

Here's me in front of the facade of a hobbit hole. Unfortunately, demolition of the set began before they realized they could run tours there, so this is all that's left.

Here is the view from inside Bilbo's place. That tree, and the lake beside it, are why the filmmakers chose this spot - it's just as Tolkien described it.

The guide made us hug the party tree and dance in the party field, and then we went back to town. From there it was on to Waitomo, where we'll go blackwater rafting through glowworm caves tomorrow morning.

The weather has been...challenging. We heard on the radio today that there were 140 km/hour winds and that the rain in Auckland had blow roofs off of houses! We experienced a good bit of rain and some strong winds, but made it through just fine. The biggest challenge was hooking the van up to the site and getting the oven started, but eventually we had a delicious supper of chili and crackers.

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that it's now about 10 PM and we're both just about ready for bed. Waking up early and driving in the rain all day really takes their toll! I did get some really nice pictures today, and I promise to post them in the morning!

The journey begins - we're here!

2007-03-12T22:52:00.000-05:00

Today has been the longest day...ever. At the same time, since I woke up yesterday, I lost almost an entire day! Time is weird sometimes.

We spent Sunday morning killing time at the hotel, waiting for Andy Serkis to come on. He eventually did, and he was very entertaining. He moved around a lot, so I only took a few pictures that didn't end up blurry. I really got the impression from him that he loves what he does and that's why he does it. He was somewhat misunderstood as Gollum and again as King Kong, but eventually I think the movie industry will look at him as a pioneer of motion capture. Here's probably be best picture of him - check out the New Zealand shirt!

Alex took us to the airport Sunday night, and we had plenty of time to mill about and complain about how expensive things were before we boarded the aircraft. We both had window seats, Rebecca about 12 rows ahead of me. I was sitting next to a woman and her daughter who were coming to NZ for one week and then Australia for two weeks.

I have to commend Qantas on the quality of their flights. Right off, your seat has a blanket and pillow in it. A few minutes into the flight, they had you an amenities pack, which has an eye mask, socks, and a travel toothbrush (and toothpaste). Then they served us dinner - chicken fajitas or mushroom pasta. The pasta was delicious! Then there was hot chocolate and coffee, followed by hot towels. Finally, they gave everyone a snack pack (potato chips, cookies, mints, and a bottle of water). Each seat had its own screen installed, with over thirty movies to choose from, as well as television and music. I watched Notes on a Scandal and later fast-forwarded through Casino Royale and Little Miss Sunshine. After dinner, I slept fitfully for about six hours. After waking up, they served hot and cold breakfast.

We finally landed 12 and a half hours after take-off at 5:00 AM local time (9:00 AM in LA and noon in Atlanta). After Rebecca got strip-searched in customs (not really, but they did check her hiking boots), we bought a ticket on the Airbus and came out to our hotel. They didn't have a room ready, so we had some continental breakfast and headed out to see Auckland. By now it was about 7:30 AM. We wandered around for awhile to check out Auckland. It seems nice enough, although I was a little disappointed to see Burger Kings on every corner (it's like they are the Waffle House of New Zealand!). I think the problem is that we're downtown, so most of the people nearby seem to be tourists. Finally, we caught another bus to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Adventure.

We took a few pictures of Auckland and Okahu Bay. It was really beautiful here - although windy as you can see from my flyaway hair!

Kelly Tarlton's was interesting. It was a bit of a letdown to me, but it was okay. They had a mock-up of the hut Scott and his men lived in while exploring Antarctica, complete with video from his expeditions from 1910-1912 (which he died on) and Shackleton's expedition in 1914. I found the video fascinating - to think men actually got out giant saws and cut through ice! Some of them survived on the ice for months - just amazing! After that, was the reason we decided to go here - time to get up close and personal with some penguins! We got to ride in a bobcat through the penguin habitat, which was pretty cool. A group of penguins, and then a mom or dad and a baby! (I'm pretty sure that if you click on any of these pictures, you can get to the full-size ones.)

After penguins, we saw a two-meter long stingray that weighed over 400 lbs, a giant squid (yuck!), and then a bunch of interesting fish.

By now, we were exhausted and yet it was still only about 11! We came back to the hotel and cleaned up a bit and then had lunch. (Mom and Margaret, you were right about the Tevas - they were a relief today.) We shopped for awhile, and now we're back at the hotel, trying to stay awake for a few more hours until it's reasonable to go to sleep! We should probably do more or see more, but it feels like we've been up forever and we're picking up the RV tomorrow morning. I can't wait to get it - it will be awesome to be able to settle down a little bit and not have to worry about moving my gigantic backpack again for two lovely weeks!

A few pictures from ORC

2007-03-11T13:43:00.000-05:00

My new camera takes great pictures, but I need to work on the steadiness of my hands! Here's a few of the ones I took yesterday...

Here's the group getting ready to go in (Rebecca, me, Heidi, Alex):

Billy Boyd answering questions:

David Wenham answering questions:

Why I couldn't live in LA...

2007-03-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was one loooooong day. I think I was up for 25 hours between sleeping (not including very brief naps). We topped off the night by going to a concert, and by the end of it I was almost comatose from exhaustion and from standing for hours (the band we were there to see didn't go on until after 11, which was 2 AM to me)!

However, it turned out to be very worth it. As the last band started to play (Beecake, whose lead singer is Billy Boyd who was Pippin in the LotR movies), Alex and Rebecca has moved forward while our friend Dusty and I hung back to lean on the wall. Suddenly, Rebecca rushed over and said in hushed tones, "Orlando Bloom is here!!!" Dusty and I craned our necks, along with about 10 other people in the audience and started debating whether or not it was really him. The club was really dark, and all we could really make out was tousled hair. However, it did turn out to be him! Rebecca downed a beer and mustered up her nerve to go and speak to him, and ended up getting a picture!

After the show, we actually spotted someone who looked very much like Viggo Mortenson darting into the VIP room - so basically we saw two of the rarest LotR stars in one night, while watching a third perform! It made me realize that if I lived in LA, I'd probably spend all of my time looking for celebrities - last time I was here I happened to be on the rental bus with Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe, which was pretty random. It wouldn't be long before I was seeing celebrities around every corner! :)

We're about to go down to find some lunch and then go to the convention. Billy Boyd is here today, but I'm more excited about David Wenham - he should be feeling pretty good after the release of his new movie 300 yesterday.

We're in LA!

2007-03-09T19:16:00.000-05:00

My dad picked me up at 4 AM today, and then we picked up Rebecca and headed to the airport. The flight was mostly uneventful, except for some extremely obnoxious children who were sitting in front of us. They were jumping on the seats, standing up and peering down at us, yelling incessantly - at one point the kid in front of me was standing on his seat, facing the rear of the plane, and letting out a loud yelp every few seconds! Where was his mother, you might ask? She was sitting right there, doing nothing. Argh!

Anyway, we're here in the hotel. Alex picked us up at the airport and we drove out to Burbank. LA is its usual charming self, complete with crazy drivers and vicious smog. We took a small detour to Target (I had a few moments of doubt regarding the gigantic backpack I brought as my luggage), had a delicious lunch at Outback, and then a quick nap at the hotel. The rest of the day will be pretty quiet, although we're going out to see a band called Beecake at 11 PM. Tomorrow will be a little more eventful - we'll get to see Billy Boyd and David Wenham (from LotR), as well as a few more friends.

Less than 48 hours!

2007-03-07T15:47:00.000-05:00

Wow, I can't believe it is really almost time to leave! I feel like I have done so much, and yet somehow I still have so much to do! Rebecca and I have three or four things that haven't already been booked, but other than that, we are pretty much ready to go. I keep thinking about things that we don't have nailed down - like driving directions - but so far it's all been manageable. The least manageable thing is going to be my backpack!

Creation finally put up the schedule for ORC (what we'll be doing this weekend) and even though I'm glad it's up, I'm so irritated with them for waiting so freaking long! If we had known there wouldn't be any major guests on Friday, we would not have decided to take a 7 AM flight to get there! Of course, it will still be nice to see our friends that are going to be there (thanks again for the ride, Alex)! That is really going to be one loooooong day. For us and my dad, who is very nicely taking us to the airport (he's picking me up at 4:45!!). I guess he's a pretty good father, but don't tell him I said that. Anyway, one good thing is that so far the flight seems pretty empty, so with any luck we'll be able to lay down and go back to sleep.

Inaugural Post!

2007-03-02T09:33:00.000-05:00

One week to departure - this time next week, I will be two hours into the flight to LA! I've decided to start telling people about the blog. I've got it all cleaned up and ready to go, so it's time to throw open the doors!

So...welcome to my blog! It will follow me, Christy (who some of you know as shuya) and Rebecca (who some of you know as deej) through our two week trip to New Zealand (with a brief weekend stop in LA) and then continue on with me to Australia! The interesting updates will probably begin towards the end of next week!