Blue Mountains and Aussie Rules

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

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!

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!

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!

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

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

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

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"

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

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!