The Coast

The past week or so has been jam packed with activities. Im gonna try and catch you up on them, I could write for hours on each but ill try and keep it brief.
On Wednesday the 18th we did my favorite thing of the whole trip and Mandys second favorite. We went on an all inclusive overnite cruise. It was 180 NZ dollars. It was on a boat called The Rock and it used to be a ferry but was rebuilt specifically for this purpose. There were 15 customers, half the capacity, and 4 crew. They were our age, sooo nice and easy to talk to. Ir really made the trip. We left at 5pm, cruised 2 hours to our mooring. There where two full bars on the bottom, a pool table, open back deck,and upstairs bedrooms and showers. We had a shooting contest on the way out which i got second in. I was pretty upset cuz the winner got a beer! When we got to dropped anchor it was in the bay of the biggest island in the area. We fished for Snapper and Mandy caught the first fish, also good for a free beer. We fished for a few hours drinking beer and watching the sunset against the islands. The best scenery of the trip so far in my opinion. I caught the second fish of my life but it was a few cm shy of being a keeper. After fishing they cooked us a steak dinner (real food is amazing!) Mink, one of the crew, volunteered me to give a predinner speech. After dinner we went nite kayaking around 10 pm. There is phosphorescence in this area so with each paddle stroke it looked like there were hundreds of blue sparks around it. We paddled around the bay in the dark and headed back to the boat, had a quick swim in the freeing water, and had a beer around the on deck campfire. The next day we got up for the sunrise and then ate breakfast. They took us on a walk on the big island we were docked at. We saw some endangered birds then set off to another island for another walk and more beach time. So far everywhere we go in NZ the scenery is great and this trip definitely had some highlights. We did some snorkeling, which didn't compare to the great barrier reef and then did some kayaking in the light of day. on the way back we had the sushi that was minutes away from being alive and uni(urchin eggs) that was only seconds, it was quite good.
We had made an American friend and she bummed a ride with us back to Auckland and we stayed with her and her friends, they were great.
Over the next two days we went to a couple beaches on the Cormandel Peninsula. One was Hot Water beach and it actually had a hot spring under the sand. So we joined about a hundred others, rented a shovel and went down to the beach to dig our own hot tub in the breaking surf. It was awesome. In some spots the water was too hot to sit in, but it felt great and we spent the day lounging in the pools. The following day we went to the very famous Cathedral cove which had a huge archway way leading through a sandstone cliff leading from one beach to the other, Great views. Sorry im so rushed right now but theres an old librarian yelling at me to get out of the library. Ill catch u up as soon as possible!

Its hard to get internet in New Zealand

Ok, so much for bite size blogs. I think were a week past our last post so heres Mandy for some recaping.
Friday the 13th-
Today was our big day for Koala's I mean we couldn't leave Australia without seeing them!! We went to the Koala Sanctuary just 30 minutes out of town. It was voted last year as one of the top ten zoos in the world! They had over 135 Koalas and chris and I got to touch a few, and I couldn't resist so I had to pay to hold one!!!!! THe zoo had a lot of birds, dingo, wombat, tasmanian devil, and KANGAROOS!! We got to pet the kangaroos they were really tame and really really lazey. One had a baby in her pouch and we took way too many pics. WE also got a slobbery kiss from one of the sheep herding dogs! After we went on the City Cat (a ferry that travels on the river), watched a free jazz band in the park, and searched for cheap food (not easy in the city) we finally found a place that had $6 steaks! Great last day in Brisbane!
Sat the 14th
Today we had some time to kill, so we went to the museum again and took picutres. Jordan and Melissa you would appreciate the ones we took of a cut out of dinos chasing each other!!! Our faces in the cut outs are so funny chris says I look constipated!!!! Chris went to a few art museums as well and we just relaxed before we had to go to the airport. Chirs got crapped on by a bird today, all over his arm hahaha it was really funny especially since he wa giving me crap about taking so long right before it happened!! Not much happened today we said goodbye to the warm weather and our tans and journedy to New Zealand!!!
Sun 15th
WE got into our hotel like at 1am sooo dam tired but we made it. OUr hotel had a giagantic kiwi on top of it (i was too tired to take a pic but it was pretty ridiculous). We woke up and almost missed our bus. In fact we had 2minutes to fun with our heaving backpacks on and somehow made it in time. WE met some great locals on the bus. We tried to tell the bus driver where the heck we wanted to go, but all the dam names of everything in NZ are so similar and nothing is pronoucned the way it is spelled (emma I am sure you experienced this!!!) we had some help from these locals on the bus though and they have us a map and directions. The friendliest people we have ever met probably. THen we jumped off the bus and literally went to the other side of the street and caught the next one (we were seconds from missing this one too) Got off and had to walk a ways to get to our campervan called the SPACESHIP!!! after a couple of hours we were on our way. A little crazy the van is bulky and everything is backwards down here. Poor chris i made him drive first had we at blinkers, wipers, and lights all going crazy at once haha it was really funny, until I had to drive!!!! It was a little hard to get use to but we are getting better. It was a little stressful bc the first place we drove through was Auckland (big city, and lots of one ways, no parking) we got stuck in a parking garage and had to pay $4 dam dollars just for entering funny now but at the time we were a little annoyed. WE went grocery shopping (figured out that no one knows what a grocery store is, it is called a super market oops my bad!!) and finally made it out of the city to Uretti where we camped. WE got a little lost on the way and a nice man showed us where to go. (everyone here is so friendly I love it!!) We made our first meal in the campervan, which was really fun. THe van is small but has everything you need stragetically packed and put togehter its pretty well! By this point we were so tired and went to bed It had been a really long day.
Mon 16th Uretti -> Ruakaka Beach-> Waterfalls->Bay of Islands
After checking out we went to our first beach, Ruakaka beach, which was right next to the campground. It was like our own private beach, there were two other people and it was so awesome. The mix of blue water, jagged mountain islands, and rain forest make for quite the sight when set behind your typical beach scene. After breakfast we headed north toward our destination, The Bay of Islands, which is the top right corner of NZ. The drive up was nice, we stopped at a scenic 30M waterfall. THe landscape here is incredible, its like if Bolivia and Ireland had a baby that grew up to be an adrenaline junky whos favorite movie is Jurrasic Park. We got to our destination, booked a sailing trip that swims with dolphins for the next day, made dinner at a park on the beach, and found a parking lot to park in for the nite.
Tuesday 17th Bay of islands
Today we decided to switch our tour from a full day of sailing to an overnite allinclusive cruise for the following day. We parked above the bay off the greens at a golf course and cooked breakfast against the million dollar view. We went on a hike afterward to a viewpoint of the bay. At this point i think its been 3 days without a shower so we were getting desperate. We found a public pool for a swim and very long communal showers. Feeling much better now we had another scenic dinner and a beer at a local fishermans bar with huge marlin everywhere. The Chomos' would have loved this barn not to mention the whole town.

Were still way behind on the posts and we have been soooo busy. Its pretty tough getting internet but we will do our best.

Brisbane

Today is our third day in Brisbane and was the busiest by far. Our first day was very low key, we pretty much kept to the hostel after flying in. Our second day, we did a little grocery shopping, took a dip in the pool and went for a really nice walk through the city. Brisbane is built around the Brisbane river in the middle of the eastern coast. There are tons of bridges, 4 we can see from our hostel. We walked through downtown, along the river and through their botanical garden. A few trends we're noticing about Australian cities: 1.Beautiful gardens full of plants, trees and birds we have never seen and cant stop staring at.2. Very clean and well kept. 3. Great beaches! Even if there aren't any natural beaches they will make amazing sand covered pools laden with palm trees and fountains (Beaches also contain all the details of trend #1).4. Awesome architecture.5. Very friendly people.6. Extremely expensive coffee, also brewed coffee is practically non-existent.
* Trend disclaimer* We have only been in 3 cities, all major, so our observations are probably extremely biased. Anyway, back to today. We walked for what felt like 20 miles over the 9 hours we where out exploring the city. First we went to St. John Cathedral; The most amazing church Ive ever seen... by far. Its the biggest Gothic cathedral in the southern hemisphere, but don't quote me on that. It is a classic French Gothic style cathedral. It took a 103 years to build and was finished last year. It was made of all stone, has a vaulted ceilings with stone ribs and was enormous. This combined with amazing windows, choir pews that took 60 years to carve, and an art exhibition from the guy who created the speedo suspended in the arches (Don't worry it was rated G). I'm glad i brought a big memory card for my camera.
After this we walked across the river to the mall. It was 3 blocks long with an outdoor courtyard to match. We walked through the farmers market then back across the river to hang out in the sun at their beach. A little more exploring took us to the museum, which was a great one, and free i might add. We only had 30 minutes there till it closed. Then we crossed the river again and watched the sun set from the bridge. Then back to the hostel where we made dinner and showered. At this moment we are , quite fittingly, listening to "i come from a land down under" and getting ready to go share a pitcher. Its 9 pm here and 3 am there, have a good morning!

Great Barrier Reef and Road trip

Because we spent all friday on the Great Barrier reef im gonna hand it over to the resident Marine Biologist on this trip.
On friday we decided that we would take a boat out to the great barrier reef!! This is the one thing that we both really wanted to do while in Australia. We took a large vessel called the Offsprey out of Cairns Marina and traveled to two outer reef sights; Saxon reef, and Hastings reef. Onboard the crew was great, and really really funny. WE met some nice people from Ireland and the Netherlands and chatted on our way out which took about an 1.5 hours. During this time we also took a mini class on how to scuba dive:) We planned to do an introductory dive at the first reef!! So exciting, we couldn't wait to be underwater with all the fish, coral, and SHARKS (didn't see any sharks sorry Anna). Chris and I put on all the gear (weights a ton I though I would sink right to the bottom!) and jumped in. We had to do two skill tests before diving and then we linked arms with two others and the insturctor and went for it! WE saw a ton of coral. I guess just a chunk can be anywhere between 50-70yrs old so amazing. THere were a ton of fish and giant oysters which closed up if you touched them. Our favorite was looking at all the colorful coral I think. Our dive was 18minutes at a depth of around 8meters. If felt like it only lasted 2minutes though. BUt after we snorkeled for a while longer and got back on the boat for a big Australian BBQ YUM!!!
THen we made our way to Hastings Reef. THis was the best stop of the day. Chris and I snorkeled for about 35min and saw so much stuff. THe coral was even more colorful here and the fish had such unique patterns. Before we got out we say WALLEY, one of the biggest wrass fish in the world that can be only found at a few places. He was really friendly and you could touch him (chris said he was really slimmey!) THen we went on a semi-submersible boat and saw the reef that way. It was cool to be in, but we wish we would have just spent the rest of the time snorkeling ,but good expeirence. On the way home the seas were really rough and the crew said that they hadn't seen such bad weather in a long time. Great timing huh?!! Half the people on the boat got seasick puking in bags. But not us we had been waiting for our free wine and cheese, and we took full advantage especially since no one else was having any!!! the boat was rocking so much that chris almost ate it in the boat with his wine (everyone laughed at him hehe; sorry chris had to tell everyone) On the boat there was suppose to be an Elvis entertainer but he had called in sick that day (how funny would have it been to have him sing "Im all shook up" with people seasick!) BUt we made it back safetly. I ended up being outside for most ot the way home and got soaked. It was such a fun day but we were so tired so we had din and went to bed. Our favorite Day in Australia so far!


The day after this was just as packed. We woked up early again, this time for a trip up to Cape Tribulation. The rain forest comes right up to the beach here and at one point you can stand on the reef and reach out and touch the rain forest. We got picked up by our bus and our got on our way. Our guide was some sort of hybrid comedian-botanist-dj-tour guide. He was great he made the day amazing. He remembered all our names (there were only 12 of us)and was constantly talking to us and making jokes. It would take me forever to go into detail so im gonna do a quick recap of the day.

After an hour of driving we did a one hour croc cruise on the Daintree river, and saw a couple crocs. Then we did a rainforest walk through the mangroves. Followed by arrival at Port Tribulation, a short time on the beach and lunch. Then on the way home we stopped at 3 lookout points on the way home then into Port Douglas, which is a resort and tourist town, for a short walk. Then we went for a swim in Mossman Gorge, where a river runs through the rainforest, and we went swimming. All in all it was a busy day and we got to see a lots of sights, all amazing. Afterward we went out for an couple beers with Tom and Alex, this was followed by a late nite Mcdonalds run where Tom had to take pictures of us dipping our frys in our milkshakes so he could show his friends. Lets just say we didnt dispell their perception of American obesity.

Sunday Nov 8 was a relaxed day. We went to the biggest themed stain glass church in the world for mass(Very pretty), went for a walk, barbequed at the beach, did our shopping,swam in the lagoon pool, and ate our first real meal in two weeks.

So now its monday and we said good bye to Cairns and jetsetted to Brisbane. Our hostel here is rad, complete with roof top pool with a view, pub, movie room, yada yada. We have free internet here so we should be able to give you more managable bite size posts.

In Cairns!

So we are in Cairns Australia right now for those of you who dont know its at the North Eastern Coast near the top of the Great Barrier reef. Before i fill you in on Cairns though i have to update to this point. Here we go.

Nov 1- This was our last full day in sydney so we went into downtown right next to the opera house and went to an enormous street market in an old part of town called The Rocks. Then we took a ferry 30 min out to across the harbor to a place called Manly(you can tell by the name that they named it after me). The coolest thing about this place was that it had back to back beaches. Where the ferry docked it had a short beach for the locals and about half a mile across town, running parralell with the other beach was a very long very crowded beach. It was much more touristy. It was a cool little town with plenty of shops.
After we got back into sydney we had a bite to eat in the shadow of the opera house with a great view across the water at the bridge then it was straight home to rest. We were pooped at this point, it feels like weve been on our feet the whole trip.

Nov 2- This was our second travel day, we took an afternoon flight to Cairns and got to our hostel without a hitch at 7pm or so. Our hostel was called the Northern Green house and it was great, we couldnt have been happier with it. It was mine and Mandys first hostel experiance. And to enhance the experiance we took the risk of staying in a mixed dorm room with 6 beds. The mix was a little unbalanced because it was mandy and 5 guys, all our age, all great. There where two Germans, a Dutch guy, and an Irishman.Right when we walked in Tom, a very fun talkitive German, climbed down from his bunk in his underwear and and jokingly announced " Now that theres a girl i guess we have to wear pants." That first nite the six of us had drinks at the hostel bar and got aqainted. Alex (one of the Germans)and I ended the nite with a quick McDonalds run.

Nov 3- On this day after catching the free hostel breakfast we explored the town, swam in the beatiful lagoon that was an enormous salt water pool, and didnt swim in the ocean due to the signs that show crocs biting people. Cairns is beautiful it is full of tropical birds, trees, and flowers that are straight out of National Geographic and none are in short supply. To get our fill of the plants we took a trip to the botanical gardens for a few hours and made another friend along the way; shes an english girl and is very funny. We made dinner in the communal kitchen and visted with our new friends til bed time.


Nov 4- Over morning coffee we took turns asking questions with a few of the guys, eg: "Is your college really as crazy as it is on american movies?" The day before we had signed up for sailing in the office without knowing any of the details. At noon the hostel gave us a ride to the Yacht club where we were assigned to a boat and informed what kind of race we would be running. Keep in mind we have never been sailing. Visitors who sign up are put aboard various boats who meet for the weekely yacht club race. The winner gets a bottle of rum. We were with a really friendly group of folks who greeted us warmly; they pulled us aboard and we were off without a word of instruction, a word of warning, or a word about where to locate a life vest. Our ship, The Silver Shamrock, was world champion in 98 and was fast and could turn very well. So much so that mandy and myself thought we capsizing anytime the sail was filled with breeze, the boat was regularlly reaching a 40 degree list (i would know because i was keeping a close eye on it) but apparently this was normal because the crew didnt seem to notice. So soon enough we followed suit and enjoyed ourselves with them. It was a great experiance; plenty of excitment, scenery and clinging to cables. Afterward we went to the Yacht club with them for complimentary food and drink. Our boat got 3rd out of 13(no doubt thanks to us, haha)and they gave us a proper introduction to the rest of the club, everyone is so friendly and outgoing in this country! As if this day wasnt long enough we went out with our roomates for a nite on the town and had a blast. We did a trivia nite together, had beers, and danced plenty. While we were dancing on the table Tom lost his balance and fell over backwards hitting his back half way down on a bench. Scary at first but hilarious once he popped up smiling and laughing. He did have a welt on his back the next day tho.


Nov 5- Two basic things happened this day. We recovered from the nite before and we moved all our stuff on foot to our second hostel in 90 degree heat. The two of these things together made for a miserable walk. We booked two different hostels a while ago just to get a different experiance and also to have a private room incase the dorm was a disaster. We were sad to leave, but the new found privacy was nice. We did a few chores and a little swimming also but nothing too strenuous.

Nov 6- OK we are caught up and back in the present, hooray! sorry for the long post but the internet is hard to find free here and we are always busy. I am going to let Mandy fill you in on what happened today since shes a marine biologist and we went diving on the Great Barrier Reef. We are healthy and happy, hope you all are too.

Busy! Blue Mountains and Opera House

This is our last nite in Sydney and we've been busy since our last post. On Friday we got up around 7 again got ready and headed off to the Blue Mtns. It was about 3 hours each way but we ended up getting round trip train tickets for 14 bucks. We got to a town called Katoomba and walked about 2 miles to the Katoomba reserve. This section of the Mountains was a combination of the Grand canyon and a rain forest. It was a clear day and you could see for miles, the scenery was great. We walked to a number of view points, several waterfalls and onto one of the Three Sisters ( 3 consecutive sandstone spires). From here we took the long trek back home, got a shower, and went out to a bar with the guys called Sheafs. There was an outdoor courtyard and dancefloor with an excellent live band. We had a very fun, very long day.
On Saturday we slept in a bit then the 4 of us went down Bondi Beach for like 4 hours. I (Chris) surfed, or attempted to surf, for about an hour or so and had a great time doing it. After this and some beach exploration Mandy and I headed back home to get ready to go into down town Sydney to go to The Sydney Opera House to attend a symphony in the main Concert Hall. When we were getting ready to go i got a bad surprise. I put my shoes on and in my left shoe i realised my sock was bunched up in the end of my shoe. 20 minutes later it was bugging me enough to take off my shoe and fix it. It wasnt my sock...it was a huge cockroach and it was stuck to the end of my toe, still alive. I would give it about an inch and a quarter in length, "the biggest one dans ever seen." So that sucked but the symphony was an incredible experiance. Before hand we had a drink on the pier at a bar right on the water with the opera house on our right and the Bay Bride off to the left. Probablly the finest place Ive ever had a drink. The Symphony was by Russian composer Prokofiev and consisted of his Classical Symphony No.1, 2nd Violin Concerto, and Syphony No. 5. It was our first sypmony and it was so impressive to see a world class sympony( The Sydney Symphony), at a premiere venue, conducted by a renowned conductor (Ashkenazy).
The two of us are absolutely beat right now so were going to sleep. We will post again tomorrow while were at the airport. Hope your all great, take care.