Cairns Australia

Well, as most of you know I am back in the states now. But before I get to how I came to be back here I have to tell you about my last few weeks in New Zealand and my two weeks in Australia.
As you know, I was a nanny for a fabulous family and their two little girls. Unfortunately, because of financial reasons (among other things) Eoin and I had to leave NZ earlier than we had expected. I was sad to say goodbye to the girls and their parents, but we are keeping in touch through e-mail and have plans to meet up in Hawaii (hopefully!) and/or I can go back and be their nanny after I graduate with my DPT. Anyway, Eoin and I packed up, said our goodbyes and took a bus to Auckland where we spent our last night ever sleeping in the Auckland airport. Three times more than I would have liked to sleep there but it saves money. Oh well.

Our flight left Auckland at 5:30 AM and landed in Sydney a few hours later where we had to wait about 5 hours for our plane to Cairns. Cairns is at the northern east coast of Australia and is known for its hot humid weather, and easy access to the Great Barrier Reef (as well as rainforest's, sky diving and beaches). So as you can guess we were pretty busy! Our first full day in Cairns we went to Kuranda which is a small town about 27 km from Cairns and seems to be there for the sole purpose of the tourists. To get to Kuranda you can either take a gondola (Sky Rail) or a train. The train was built long before the sky rail and a bit before Kuranda as a means of transportation for the miners working up in the hills. It also seems as though the train was built for the people building the track, I don't quite get it but apparently in the end they knew that it would one day bring in a lot of money through tourism so I guess it all works out.
Eoin and I took the skyrail up to Kuranda. There are two stops on the way up where you can either get right on to the next gondola and continue up to the town or take a walk through the rainforest. We took the walks through the rain forest at both stops and were very glad we did so. At the first stop we learned that it is not a good idea to touch any plants you see because a large proportion of them are poisonous and will hurt you. We also learned not to eat anything that looks edible, because it will probably kill you. Don't you feel glad hearing this all now that I am home safe?? :)

After walking through the rainforest we got back on the skyrail and rode the rest of the way up to Kuranda. Kuranda is a small town with lots of tourist shops, restaurants, and attractions such as the Venom Zoo, Bird Sanctuary and Butterfly Garden. All of the attractions cost about $15 per adult and we only went to the venom Zoo. The venom zoo houses ONLY deadly animals except for a handful of geckos and tree frogs. They have a large variety of venomous snakes and spiders as well as centipedes, scorpions and other icky crawly things. While it was really cool to see all the different snakes to look out for in Australia and learn a bit about the spiders and other bugs the Venom Zoo is probably only really worth it for people that absolutely love bugs and snakes. However, we did get to get our picture taken holding a (non-venomous) snake. See?

We then walked around the town for a bit and checked out the various gift shops and even saw a people making candy at the candy shop. Very cool to see. We then took an ice cream break (I had mint chocolate chip...yum!) and decided to go for a walk through the jungle. Don't worry, it was on a clearly marked path and we could totally see peoples houses through the trees in some sections, so we were definitely safe. Except for the part about there being crocodiles in the river, but we didn't go near the water....

At about 3 pm we got on the train and rode back down to Cairns. The train goes through 15 tunnels and takes about 45 minutes to get from Kuranda to Cairns and it is known as one of the most scenic train rides in Australia.
That night was pretty boring...we ate dinner and went to bed as we were a bit tired still from traveling.

The next day we did some errands such as buying groceries and booking our greyhound ticket. We also walked around downtown Cairns quite a bit and found the wharf as well as the esplanade which has a pretty neat swimming pool that looks like the beach, its surrounded by sand and beach chairs and bbq's...very cool!

We couldn't stay out too long, because we had booked a tour with Wait-a-While tours and they came to get us at 2pm. Wait-A-While tours takes you into the rainforest and up close to lots of wildlife. We saw flying foxes (bats), musky rat kangaroo's, three species of possum, platypus and lots of different birds native to Australia. Part of our tour took place after nightfall and we were walking through the trees with large flashlights looking for animals. Ever slight sound I heard I'd shine my light in the direction and there would be NOTHING there. However, one time I did spot a possum (I believe it is called a ring tailed possum?) and another time Eoin found one. So we were pretty awesome at possum spotting. We got back to the hostel at around 11:30 pm and went straight to bed as we had a boat to catch early the next morning. We were going to the Great Barrier Reef!

yes yes, The GREAT BARRIER REEF! It took about 2 hours from Cairns harbor to get to the section of the reef our boat moors from. It is about 1 km off the shore of Green Island. Green Island is basically a fancy place where people who have so much money they don't know what to do with it go for vacation. I say this because rooms start at $600 per night and if you get a craving for oh, french fries its about $8 and a hot dog (JUST a hot dog) is $15. I am not joking. Those are the correct prices. Ridic?! Yeah. Green Island also has a reptile park where you can watch a crocodile feeding and hold snakes etc. But mostly its just a nice place to relax on the beach (but if you want to sit in a chair you have to pay $20...crazy!).

Anyway, our boat dropped anchor and we were given a quick lesson on where to swim (basically if you cant see the boat you went too far) and how to use a snorkel. Eoin paid a bit extra and got to do an introductory scuba dive. Me, being the wuss that I am opted to just snorkel for the way, which was pretty awesome too. While Eoin was scuba diving (for about 30 minutes) I went out snorkeling and noted some cool places to show Eoin when he came back from his trip. One of the cool places was where you could swim right over the top of the reef. There was probably less than a foot between me and the reef and there were tons of fish swimming all over the place and going in and out of little holes...very interesting and amazing. I was afraid that I was too close though, and I didn't want to disturb anything so I didn't stay there too long. There were other cool places where the corals were all different colors and the schools of fish were clustered together. There were a few really large neon blue fish that were hanging around as well, and some rather ugly black fish with scary teeth. I didn't like those, just the sparkly fish.

After we had about 2 hours to snorkel we got back on the boat for lunch. As expected, Eoin was still out in the reef while everyone else had started eating. I made him a plate of food and waited patiently for him to realize he was the only one in the water. It took him about 20 minutes to notice, and he swam back to the boat and ate as quickly as possible so that he could get back in the water. Unfortunately, everyone was required to go to Green Island for at least an hour. So we walked around the island and sat on the beach in the sun before the little motor boat came back to get us. When we got back onto our main boat there were about 5 sharks in the water right near where everyone would soon be getting in to swim and snorkel. The staff threw in some shrimp and other various meats to keep the sharks nearby but I guess they weren't that hungry because they soon swam away. Eoin went back into the water and I sat in the sun and read a book and drank some coke. Yummm. After about another 2 hours went by everyone was back on the boat and we were headed to Cairns.

On the way home, they hoisted the sails and the boat tilted to about 65degrees. Awesome. You had to hold yourself onto you seat or you would slip right off, and the waves came right over the sides and splashed us in the face quite a few times. I got quite seasick as well, and for a while I was pretty sure I was going to lose my lunch over the side of the boat. I am convinced the only reason I didn't get sick is because I couldn't move my legs (they were shaking sooo bad) to get myself to the side of the boat. I remembered (and was also told) to watch the horizon as that can help with seasickness, and it did. I felt a bit better and by the time we got back to the harbor and slowed down a bit I felt a LOT better. In fact, it was the first time in my LIFE that I did not puke while on a medium/small boat in the ocean.
I deserve a cookie.
Next blog. Brisbane!

This tree is formed when a "parasite" tree implants itself on the top of an already mature tree and then grows DOWN from the top. Looks pretty cool!

The Great Barrier Reef! I am sure Eoin will post better pictures as he had the underwater digital camera and I had the not so not wonderful point-and-shoot film camera.

Beautiful sunset outside Cairns. In this pond were some Platypi, and we watched them for quite some time.

Fiji!

Fiji is the first third world country I have been to and I did not know what to expect at all. I have never felt out of my comfort zone while traveling until I got to Fiji where I immediately felt like I was in between two places. You get of the airplane and are in a semi-rundown airport where men in Hawaiian print t-shirts are playing guitars and ukuleles and singing to you while another man puts a seashell lei around your neck and says "welcome home". Then, you are seated in a van and driven out into the dirty city. My first thoughts were, "What are we doing?" as we passes groceries, dilapidated buildings that would be condemned anywhere but are still open and fully functioning in Fiji and piles of trash all along the roadside.

Our hotel, The Grand West Villas, was about 5 minutes outside of downtown Nadi (pronounced, Nandi) and a short walk to Wailoaloa beach and several other backpackers and small hotels. Grand West Villas is a budget hotel, but is actually quite nice for the location. They had a fantastic swimming pool, decent restaurant (decent meaning prices were a bit much but the food was good) and very friendly staff. After dropping our things off in our room, Eoin and I got a taxi into to town to see what Nadi was like. Let me just interject for a second here and say that we were running on about 4 hours of sleep in the past 36 hours or so having spent the night in the Auckland airport. Not comfy. Anyway, half awake and definitely unaware of where we were and what to expect we got out of the taxi outside of a big gift shop called Jacks.

After poking around in there for a few minutes we walked down Main Street and took it all in. Downtown Nadi is not a place you want to be on 4 hours of sleep at 11:30 in the morning on an empty stomach. It is dirty and a bit sketchy and every single shop employee is trying to get you into their store with "good deals for you". One man came up to us and said "Bula", the Fijian word for hello and brought us to his shop. I'm not sure how it happened but we ended up sitting down for kava with this strange man and his friend. Kava is a drink made from kava root and is said to be tranquilizing, mind clearing and relaxing. Did I know this at the time? No. I thought I'd just be polite and go along with the Fijian tradition (I had read about kava before our trip and knew that in the villages it is customary to partake in the kava ceremony, never read about partaking in the ceremony in a shop though). Eoin opted not to drink the kava, as he was at the state of sleeplessness paranoia and thought it was drugs that would make us die. Silly Eoin. We clapped three times, said Bula, sipped some kava and clapped some more. The kava was a bit spicy, almost like ginger, and gritty. After the kava the shop keepers tried to get us to buy things, and we managed to sneak out and find something to eat. For about 9 Fiji dollars (which would be something like 4 USD) we got fish and chips and fried rice and some cokes. Delish.

Here I am drinking kava.

We were still feeling slightly unsafe and extremely tired so we got another cab back to the hotel and took some much needed naps. That was the extent of the excitement for day one in Fiji, and the next morning we felt much better. We woke up at 6 AM and caught a bus to the pier. There, we boarded a boat to South Sea Island, a private island where you can spend the day laying in the sun, snorkeling, kayaking, swimming, and scuba diving (for an extra charge) as well as free drinks, a buffet lunch and afternoon tea. It was by far the best day in Fiji and perhaps the best beach vacation I have been on. The beach was pristine, the water clear and warm and the sun was out all day. Eoin and I went snorkeling once with a large group out by a coral reef and once by the beach of the island. While out with the group we saw sea cucumbers, several types of tropical fish, and apparently there was an octopus but I didn't see it. Another thing I did not see, but definitely felt was sea lice. They are little critters that love to bit/sting you while you swim through the ocean. It hurt, and Eoin said he could hear me whining under water, but I seriously thought it was a jellyfish or something, those suckers hurt! Eoin went out a second time with another group to another reef afterwards and I took the opportunity to relax in the sun. During our buffet lunch, some of the Fijian's did a bit of a song and dance for us. It was somewhat like the Haka we saw in Rotorua, but not as theatrical and more focused on the singing. It was a really enjoyable day and I would totally go there again if given the chance.

South Sea Island as seen from the boat.

The performance during lunch.

Eoin and me on the beach at South Sea Island

The next day we had a lazy start and hung out at the pool for a while before going on a tour of Nadi. First, we went to the oldest/first village in Fiji. It was not what we were expecting because it is also the richest village, and all of the tours stop there so it is very modern and the locals have tables set up with things to sell. Our guide told us not to buy anything there though, because they go into town and buy their trinkets there and then up sell us in the village. Tricky! Anyway, we learned that the village owns several of the small islands tour companies use for day trips (much like South Sea Island) and gets a percentage of money from them. Our tour guide then brought us to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. The Sleeping Giant is what the locals call one of the mountains outside Nadi as it looks like a sleeping giant (creative, eh?). There is a garden at the base of the mountain filled with all different types of orchids, ferns and other interesting plant life. We wandered around the garden for about half an hour before heading back to the main hut for some fresh mango nectar, delicious! From there, we went into Nadi town and stopped by the oldest Hindu temple in Fiji, the market, and did a quick round of shopping for souvenirs before heading back to the hotel for dinner. It was a nice relaxing day but we also got to see more of the real Fiji which I don't think many vacationers get to see when they stay at the resorts.

Part of the village.

Orchids in the Garden of the Sleeping Giant

The market in Nadi

For the rest of our time in Fiji we mostly stayed at the pool side and occasionally wandered into Nadi town for gift shopping. We also checked out Wailoaloa beach which was about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. We were expecting the same sort of beach as South Sea Island, but were let down when we got there and saw a trash covered beach with no stalls of any kind (ice cream, snorkel gear etc). however, we made the best of it and read our books and watched the locals fish and ride horses, which was actually really cool to see. We had a quick lunch at one of the other hotels and made it back to Grand West Villas right before the rain started pouring.

Our last day in Fiji was spent sunbathing by the pool and drinking fruit smoothies. Can it get any better?

We are now back in Whangarei and I have found myself a job! I am a nanny for two little girls, Frida (3) and Zita (15 months). I work MTuThF and the occasional Saturday if needed. Not bad at all! They are very easy kids and I am glad I found the job. Eoin is still looking, but hopefully he hears back from a few places soon!

That is all for now, hopefully something exciting happens soon so I can update you all again!

Bye!

Rotorua and Auckland

Rotorua. Definitely one of my favorite places in New Zealand. Eoin and I were fortunate enough to get to visit this place three times. Our third visit was with Mike, and was very enjoyable. No visit to Rotorua is complete without Zorbing, and we all went rolling down the 200 meter hill. For those of you who don't know what Zorbing is, imagine being inside a hamster ball with warm water that is rolling down a hill. Super fun! Mike and Eoin each went seperately and then Eoin went again with me. I am a bit of a wuss (if you didn't know) and did not want to go Zorbing by myself. We also went luging in Rotorua. Just like in Queenstown, there is a skyline gondola with a luge run at the top. Unlike Queenstown, the tracks are much longer (2 km I believe) and there are more to choose from.

We definitely took advantage of all that we could while in Rotorua. My favorite part of our time in Rotorua this time was Mitai Village. Mitai Village is a reconstructed Maori Village that gives tours during the day and at night gives guided walks, hangi (a traditional meal cooked in the ground), and a cultural show.The hangi was chicken, lamb, potatoes, kumara and stuffing that is placed in the ground over hot rocks and covered with blankets and left to cook for three hours. It was delicious! While we waiting for the hangi to finish cooking, though, we watched a show about the Maori culture. We saw several examples of how Maori warriors trained for battle and used weapons. They also sang us several songs, and did a very impressive haka. A haka is a chant usually done before battle to intimidate the opposing side. The All Blacks do a haka during their rugby games. If you have time, look it up on YouTube...very cool stuff!After dinner (which was amazing!) and dessert (which was also amazing!) we went for a brief night walk through the village and saw some glow worms and eels. Ooooooo!

The next day I had a migraine, which was no good. So, unfortunately we didn't do too much exciting until later in the afternoon. We went to Waikite Hot Pools which is a place we had gone before. It is a bunch of hot tubs and pools that are filled with natural hot spring water. For $12, you can relax in hot pools with amazing views all around you. I enjoyed relaxing and Eoin enjoyed pretending he was stranded in the ocean and hung onto the decorative rocks for dear life.

If you ever find yourself in Rotorua and don't know what to do...Zorb, Luge, visit some mud pools and go to Mitai Village. You will not regret it.

After our time in Rotorua, we headed to Auckland. While there we didn't do too much as our funds were running low and Mike was headed home. We did get to go to the Auckland Museum which was pretty interesting but not as impressive as Te Papa. We also saw Wolverwine! Amazing! The cool thing about seeing Wolverine was that large portions of it were filmed in and around Queenstown. Eoin and I recognized a few places and that was really neat. This entry is really rushed, but that's mostly because we leave for Fiji in two days and I wanted to make sure I didn't leave you all hanging!

Right now we are in Whangarei (pronounced: fawn-guh-ray). It's not very impressive and there isn't anything to do. The job situation is looking pretty grim, and while I have applied to about 6 places I haven't heard back from anyone (except Glassons and they turned me down! Jerks!). So I don't know what the situation will be when we get back from our holiday in Fiji, but I will keep you posted!

Next update...Fiji!!!

Abel Tasman and Wellington

After we completed the glacier hike we got back in the car and drove to Greymouth. Greymouth is another place that no one really goes to unless they have to. And really, it was a 2 hour drive after a long day of hiking and we were really tired. We arrived at the hostel, cooked dinner and went to bed. The next morning we packed up the car again and went on a brewery tour at the Monteith's factory. I am not a big fan of beer, or brewery tours but the boys were into it so that was fun to see. They gave us samples of all their beers (7) and a glass of our choice after we had tasted each sample. Since I don't really like beer and Eoin had to drive, Mike got most of mine and Eoin's. After the tour we got back into the car and drove up to Marahau, the top of the south island, where the Abel Tasman Coastal Track is located.

The Abel Tasman Coastal Track is a 3 -5 day walk along an incredibly scenic section of beaches. To get to the end of the track you have to do the five day walk, so by doing the three day walk we got a little more than half-way on the track. We did the hike in three days, because (if you remember), I really hate hiking. But this one wasn't actually so bad. For the most part it was fairly flat with a few steep uphill climbs that wouldn't have been bad if I didn't have a backpack on. The best part was definitely the views and the various beaches along the way. We had beautiful, sunny warm weather the entire time and it was so nice to relax on the beach after walking for a few hours. While I was relaxing in the warm sun, Eoin and Mike went off exploring the beaches. The climbed on giant rocks, explored some caves and caused mayhem wherever they went. We spent our nights camping out in our tents just a few yards from the shore. It was like having one of those sound effect machines but 100 times better because it was real waves. Very relaxing! When we finished our section of the hike we waiting for a water taxi to pick us up and bring us back to the start of the track, where our hostel was and where we had left the car. We changed into normal clothes (we had been in polypro/dirty shorts for the hike) and drove off towards dinner and Picton. We ate a delicious dinner of KFC and McDonald's. Yummm?

After filling up on processed meat and deep fried potatoes we drove on to Picton, where our ferry to Wellington would leave the following morning. Our night in Picton was SO exciting. We showered and went to sleep. Jealous? We woke up early and got on the ferry by 8 AM and arrived in Wellington by 11:30. We dropped our stuff off at our friends, Jason and Tammy, house and took Mike on a bit of a walking tour of Wellington. I stopped in Glassons to say hi to the girls and then we went to a few of the book shops downtown.

The next day was definitely more exciting, Eoin and Mike went out to explore for a while I stayed back and worked on stuff for school. When I had finished my school work, I met the boys downtown and we walked through the botanical gardens.We took the cable car up and walked down the main walkway and back through down via Lambton Quay. Once again, I popped into Glassons (it's an addiction) and bought a nice coat. THANKS MOM!After I had my fun shopping, we went to Te Papa and did the abridged tour. We took Mike to our personal favorite parts of the museum and by dinner time we had made good use of our time. Dinner was a delicious meal from our personal favorite Fish n Chips place, Leo's. Tammy and I were girly girls and stayed in to watch Project Runway, but the boys went out and ran amok in downtown Wellington. The next morning was our last day in town, and we spent it packing up and eating as much Nando's as possible. Nando's is a Portuguese chicken restaurant that Eoin and I love more than anything, it is SO GOOD. Anyway, after eating we got back into the car and drove 5 hours to Taupo. Taupo is where Eoin was planning to sky dive.

Next time I will write about Rotorua, Auckland and Whangerei!Thanks for checking in everyone.

A view of the Abel Tasman Coast. Amazing!

A limestone structure with trees on it. This is one spot Eoin and Mike climbed up.

Eoin and Mike walking ahead of me on the way to one of the campsites.

The beach where we waited for the water taxi. Not bad, huh?

Franz Josef- it's cool!

After Doubtful Sound, Eoin and I headed back to our last weeks of work. Eoin's last day was two days before my last day which was April 14th. That same day, Eoin's friend Mike arrived for a two and a half week visit. It was good timing for Mike, because he not only got to see Queenstown (where there is SO much to do) he also got to join us on our road trip from the south island to the north island. Mike's time in Queenstown wasn't too exciting because Eoin and I had to pack up, clean the flat and sort everything out for the trip (get directions, book hostels etc). However, we did manage to get to Deer Park Heights (the now famous Queenstown attraction where I fed a llama) and Eoin and Mike also went to the luge. On our last day in town, we packed up the car and did a last minute clean up before heading out to Franz Josef.

Franz Josef is about 5 hours (by car) from Queenstown. It is the type of place you would drive right through and not even know it, seriously. Why would we stop off in a place more boring than Alfred during winter break? GLACIERS! Franz Josef village is home to the Franz Josef glacier which is 12 km long, and is the only glacier in the world that is growing and retreating as opposed to simply retreating. Now glaciers are cool to look at and all, but you really can't get a feel for how massive they are until you walk on one. Even I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into, but it was definitely worth it.

The day started early, about 8 AM, with a quick breakfast followed by a short walk to the Franz Josef Glacier Guides center. There, we put on thick socks, hiking boots, gloves, rain pants, hats and a rain coat before we climbed on board the bus. The bus drove us about 10 minutes down the road to the start of the park in which the glacier is located. We walked about an hour before we made it to the base of the glacier, where we were separated into groups of 10 and put on our crampons (metal hooks that go on your shoes to help you walk on the ice). THEN the fun could begin!

In order to get onto the glacier you had to climb up a series of steps carved out in the ice. There was a rope attached to the side to hold on to, and even though we had crampons on, it was still a bit slippery. We hiked up and around the glacier, a total of about 12 km (up and back) going through several ice tunnels, jumping across huge ravines and shimming our way through tight crevices. Oh, and did I mention the blue ice? Yeah BLUE ICE!! Eoin may say that the huge ravine was not huge or a ravine, but to me it was. If I have to go into a split to get to the other side, its huge. And if I were to misstep and fall, I would be several feet down and probably dead, so it was a ravine. Despite this, I still had a good time and was surprised at how well I did on the glacier, despite my lack of outdoorsy-ness and love of hiking. After about 6 hours we had hiked the glacier half-way up and back and were getting back onto the bus to the village.

On a side note, our tour guide was insane! He was constantly chipping away random pieces of ice, trying to start new caves by himself, climbing up on dangerous ledges and chopping away at them while he was standing on it and kicking over huge boulders that weren't even in our way. Ridic!

The glacier from afar...still about 45 minutes away from the base.

Here I am climbing up out of a huge hole!

Coming through a tunnel.

Mike, Eoin and I at the heighest point in our walk.

Doubtful Sound

Before we left Queenstown, before we quit our jobs and before Mike came to visit, Eoin and I went on an overnight to Doubtful Sound. We left on a Tuesday morning and took a tour bus to Manapouri, a small town situated on a lake. We hopped off the bus and waited for our ferry to arrive. The only way to get to Doubtful Sound is by ferry via Lake Manapouri. The ferry ride was about 45 minutes and when we disembarked we were met by another bus that took us to the dock at Doubtful Sound where our cruise would depart.

The Navigator is a good sized ship with several bunk rooms, viewing decks, dining room and an observation lounge. It sleeps 70 people (plus staff) and they have an amazing dinner and breakfast buffet, not to mention the fresh muffins and soup available as well.

We left the dock and made our way out into the fjord (yup, just like Milford Sound...Doubtful Sound is actually a fjord). There are three "arms" to Doubtful sound, and we went down each one. We stopped off in Crooked Arm (guess why its called that) and had the option to go kayaking or take a cruise in a tender boat. Eoin opted for the kayaks and I went in the tender boat (basically a small little motor boat) and took pictures. We were out cruising and kayaking around for about an hour before we got back on board, when they made the announcement that the "swimming pool" was now open. Guess who jumped in the freezing cold water....EOIN. Four other people also had a lapse in sanity and joined him in the water. Crazy crazy crazy.

After everyone was back aboard the ship we continued out of crooked arm and towards the sea. I got a bit seasick and wound up sitting the observation deck with my head on the window trying not to puke, while Eoin and everyone else on the boat were outside watching the fur seals play. I managed to watch the seals a bit, but really, all I could think about was not throwing up. Finally, to my relief, the captain turned the boat around and we headed back into the sound/fjord.

Then, it was (in my opinion) time for the best part! BUFFET DINNER! Lamb, chicken, roast beef, potatoes, kumara, 3 types of salads, rice, and bread. So delicious! Followed by an amazing dessert buffet...pavlova, chocolate cake, cheesecake and fruit salad. Definitely the best part.

By now it was probably 8 PM and they had a bit of a nature slide show for those that were interested, so of course Eoin and I went to that. It was about the animals we might see in the fjord and also about animals all over NZ (kiwi, possum etc). Apparently, there used to be Moose in the Fiordland National Park, but no one has seen them for years. There is one guy, known as the "Moose Man" who is determined to prove/find a moose. He goes out everyday looking for droppings, prints, fur ...anything. Well, apparently he found sound moose hairs a while ago and is 100% sure the moose are still out there. No one else thinks there are any though. Poor "Moose Man".

After the slide show, at about 9, we went to bed. Seriously. We were exhausted. Oh wait, Eoin and I played a few rounds of Connect Four and THEN we went to bed. The next morning there was another fabulous buffet... cereals, fresh fruit, yogurt, toast, hash browns, baked beans, sausage, grilled tomatoes etc. Followed by a "Sound of Silence" in one of the arms. Basically, we all stood outside on the deck and made no noise for about 5 minutes...this was a difficult task for Eoin. But it was cool, we could hear all the birds in the forest, the waterfalls, wind blowing through the trees...very neat experience.

We then went back to the dock and disembarked the ship, got on a bus and headed home. :( Back to work.

Eoin and some other people kayaking in crooked arm.

The Navigator

Another scenic shot of Doubtful Sound with the kayakers.

Update coming...I Promise!

Been sooooooooo busy with Mike's visit, moving from Queenstown, traveling the two islands and looking for a new job and apartment. Haven't had anytime to update but I promise you...a super long and awesome entry is on the way!

Alexa

PS: got ourselves a room in a sweet house with Filipino roomies. Applied to two jobs...looking promising!

Eoin's Dad visits and we walk the Routeburn Track

It's funny how I can go weeks without anything exciting to update about and then all of a sudden have so much to say. I feel slightly disorganised with this blog entry so bear with me, please. I have a feeling this will be quite a long entry.

Eoin's dad arrived in Queenstown on March 11th (Wednesday). Thursday and Friday are my days off, so the three of us did some touristy things together. On Thursday we did the Lord of the Rings safari tour in Glenorchy. I am not a huge LOTR fan so it was mostly just some nice scenery that I was looking at. We stopped in a few places that were important for the film, though. We saw where the cast and crew met every morning for make-up/costumes/food as well as the spot the elephant battle began. I think Eoin got more out of it than either David or I, but I can't say that he was particularly impressed with the tour either. After the tour, we did some grocery shopping and went home to make some delicious fajitas. Amazing.

On Friday we hopped on the TSS Earnslaw (the boat I also went on with my mom) and cruised over to Walter Peak Station. Walter Peak used to be a working farm with sheep, cows, and deer and is now a tourist attraction. We had a barbecue lunch, which was amazing (and worked out to be only about 10 dollars with our locals discount!) and saw a sheep herding and shearing presentation. The rest of the week I had to work, but I did manage to get up to the luge one last time with Eoin and David.

Here I am posing with a sheep!

All in all, Eoin and I definitely enjoyed eating at restaurants and having astronomical amounts of food in the flat. We don't need to go grocery shopping for the rest of our time in Queenstown (except for little things of course but really, that doesn't count!).

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The start of the Routeburn Track

For the past three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) Eoin and I have been out in the Aspiring National Park and Fiordland National Park hiking the Routeburn. Putting it nicely, I was not excited at all about this trip. I am so un-outdoorsy its not even funny. I sucked it up (eventually) and trudged along for 3 days in the alpines of New Zealand. It was a lot easier than the Tongariro Crossing, but there were still some steep sections and lots of narrow paths with long drop offs if you miss stepped. The scenery was amazing- rugged mountains with glaciers, waterfalls and moss covered trees all around.

Walking on the track. Day two.

We averaged about 4-5 hours of walking each day with water breaks and lunch thrown in. We spent the nights at huts situated along the trail. Our first night we each had our own bunk on a bunk bed. The second night we shared a platform with two other people. It's a bit odd but there was enough space that it wasn't too awkward. We were in bed by 9:30 at the latest each night, and on the trails by 9:00 AM each morning.

Not a very attractive picture, but this is me walking along the waterfall.

As much as I hate (and I do mean hate) hiking the Routeburn wasn't that bad. My legs are definitely sore today, and my feet are a bit tired but I had an "okay" time. (I am not saying I had "fun" though haha).

One thing I noticed on the hike, though, is the vast difference between Americans and people from other countries. While on the hike, there was a group of four Americans, roughly our age that were staying at the same hut as us. They were talking rather loudly and I overheard them talking about how the hike the next day was "only" 10 miles and that one of the girls could "run that in an hour". They planned to finish by noon the following day, and wanted to be the fastest ones on the track. They were complaining that the trail wasn't challenging enough and it was too easy.

Meanwhile, while they were rushing through the Routeburn, everyone else was going at a nice slow pace, enjoying the outdoors, taking in the scenery and having a good time with their friends. No other place I have been as had such competitive people as the Americans. It's not about finishing the quickest, or being first. It's about the overall experience. If you can run a mile in 6 minutes, that's great, but did you look around while you were running? Did you have fun? Did you take it all in? If you can run a mile in 10 minutes I bet you see more than the person who ran it in 6. Being fast, first or the "best" does not make you a better person. In fact, I felt embarrassed by the group of Americans in the hut. I feel that people everywhere get the impression that we ( Americans) are "too good" for them. We aren't. We just like to think we are better.

I could go on and on about this, and maybe its "anti-American" (which is a stupid term anyway), but no other country, that I have been to, parades their patriotism as extremely as we do.

Alright, enough babbling. I need to get showered and dressed and off to work. Today is Otago Day (which is somewhat like Independence Day but on a smaller scale and only in the Otago County) so I get paid time and a half!

Miss you all!

Moms visit part 2

So Mom is back in the states now, but this is the first chance I have had to sit down and write a blog. Now that mom is gone, I am back to working full time, which is good because I seriously need the money.

Anyway, where did we leave off? Milford Sound I think.... So, the night we got back from Milford Sound my boss gave me off work (which was totally unexpected and super nice of her!) so that mom and I could go see the Maori Haka show. We rode the gondola up Bob's Peak (the same place the luge and paragliders are) and waited for the show to begin. I thought it was a big hokie, but mom enjoyed it. The performers told us a bit about Maori culture and weapons and then did the Haka. Afterwords you could get your picture taken with them, I decided not to pose with them but mom did:

The next day mom and I went white water rafting. It was a beautiful day out, and our guide (Chief) was hysterical. No one fell out of our raft, but a few people fell out of other rafts. Mom and I were sitting in the front of the raft so we got completely soaked, but it was fun.

More importantly, the weekend of moms visit was my birthday weekend! We went to Dunedin. This is where my blog will get super interesting. We left Queenstown at 9 AM and I mistakenly told Eoin to head towards Invercargill for an hour. Once we figured out I made huge mistake we turned around and headed back towards Queenstown. We stopped in Cromwell at a fruit stand to get some cherries, and when we went back to the car it wouldn't start. Turns out, the plugs going from the battery were cut off. Some nice man fixed it for us and we went on our way again. Neither Eoin or I saw the sign for SH 8 (state highway 8) and again we went the wrong way for about 30 minutes before turning ourselves around again. We made it to Roxburgh (what should have been about 2 hours into our trip but was now something like 4 hours) when our engine exploded. Yep, that's right. Smoke, sparks, flames and bits of engine came out of the hood. Good job, car. Our 1990 Toyota Corona is now in the car cemetery. We got a ride to Roxburgh, where we tried to figure out what to do next...get a bus to Queenstown? A bus to Dunedin? A rental car to Dunedin? We were all grumpy and tired, but decided to continue on to Dunedin to celebrate my birthday. We took the bus to Alexandra where we rented a car and headed back towards Dunedin. We made it to the hostel by 7 PM. We should have been there by noon.

We ate dinner and went to bed, we were THAT exhausted. The next day was my birthday! We started the day with a tour of the Speights Brewery. Speights in a beer brewed in Dunedin and is known as the beer that "southern men" drink. Think- cowboys, sheep herders and scruffy dirty old guys. It was still a good tour though, and drinking beer at 11 AM wasn't so bad either. I am sure Eoin will have more to say about this since he is the beer connoisseur. After the tour, mom and I went to a spa and totally got the celebrity treatment. It was amazzzzzzzzzzzing. Massages, facials, pedicures, manicures, lunch and cake! Fabulous!
Eoin went shopping. So I think he had a good time? I don't know, it was my birthday..whatever.

Then we had to book it back to the hostel to get out to the Otago Peninsula to see the Yellow Eyed Penguins at Penguin Place.

Penguin Place is a reserve that is also part of a sheep farm where the yellow eyed penguins live. Yellow Eyed Penguins are native to New Zealand and are endangered...there are only 4,000 of them in the world. They are the third largest penguin (but are still quite small) and we got to see them up close. The tour brings you out to the sheep farm to the section the penguins inhabit. There are paths and trenches for people to walk on and peek through to see the penguins without interfering in their habitats. We saw a bunch of chicks and juveniles waiting on land for their parents to come back from fishing all day. Most of the juveniles had patchy spots where there feathers had fallen out and new feathers would grow. The chicks were covered in downy feathers. While we were there we saw about 5 adults come out of the sea and preen themselves before heading back to their habitats to feed the chicks.

Here is a short video of some of the adults:




It was so cool to actually SEE a real penguin in the wild. It's a very different experience than seeing them in a zoo or aquarium. After we completed our tour, we went to see the Albatross, they were flying all over the place and they were HUGE! Eoin saw a sign that said "Blue Penguin Sightings" so he and mom went down to check it out. They called me about 20 minutes later and I came down to the shore to see what all the fuss was about. Apparently, a whole group of Little Blue Penguins came out of the sea all at once. I missed that, and I almost missed stepping on a chick on our way up from the shore. The chick was walking right in front of me, and hopped up a few steps before heading into the bushes. I was less than a foot away from the fluffy little thing, and it was so cute!
Unfortunately, the flash of a camera disturbs the penguins (they have very sensitive eyesight) so we couldn't get a picture. But it was definitely the coolest thing I'd seen all day.

We drove back to Dunedin and had some dinner and two desserts (it was my birthday, after all) and then went to bed. We got up early the next morning and drove back to Alexandra where we dropped off the rental car and hopped on the bus to Queenstown.

Eoin and I are now without a car and are walking to work and taking the bus home. So I guess I am getting some exercise out of all this craziness.

That's all for now, it's my day off and I am cleaning and blogging and watching tv. I might do some laundry...don't be jealous!

Miss you all!

Mom's visit so far

Mom has been here since Monday (its Wednesday now), and we have crammed a lot into the past three days. I am an amazing tour planner.

On Sunday I went to get Mom from the airport, and that in itself was a task. Eoin had left the car lights on over night and the battery was dead by morning. Our landlady drove us into town, and while Eoin went to work I went to the bus stop. The bus was late, and so I was late getting to airport to get mom. We then had to take a taxi back to the apartment and the driver was nice enough to jump start our car. Mom hung out here while I went to work. Eoin came home in the early afternoon and brought mom to her hotel. We then went out for a quick dinner and discussesd the weeks plans before calling it a night.

Monday we did a double decker bus tour. The double decker bus is an import from London and brings you to the AJ Hackett Bungy Bridge, Gibbston Valley Winery and Arrowtown before returning back to Queenstown. It was a bit of a rainy day, so there was only one brave jumper at the bridge, but at least we saw something! The winery was nice, too, because I was thinking of doing a wine tour during the week. But we had our own wine tasting at Gibbston Valley for about $16 all together. Mom then bought 3 bottles of wine (did I mention it was 11 AM??). Arrowtown, which you might remember from an earlier entry, is a very scenic little place. We mostly just walked down the main road and poked through all the little shops. But it was nice anyway, and a good thing to do for a first day "adventure".

Tuesday was a bit more eventful. Even though it was still gross outside and rainy we went to the Kiwi Bird and Wildlife Park. It wasn't that exciting, especially for the price you pay, but if you REALLY want to see a kiwi then its a good place to check out. Mom thought Kiwi's were tiny birds like robins or something...but they aren't. They are about the size of chickens and they cannot fly. Just clearing that up for all you foreigners out there! After the park we went on a scenic tour of Lake Wakatipu, the lake Queenstown is situated on. The TSS Earnslaw is a steamboat that is fueled by one ton of coal each trip. The ride was about an hour long, and on the way back instead of commentary they had a sing-a-long. It was really cheesey, but the little kids and old people sure enjoyed themselves. After I went to work (4-8) Eoin, Mom and I had dinner at Hell Pizza (best pizza in the WORLD) and then went to the Minus 5* Bar. It is a bar made of ice, with ice sculptures, ice couches, and ice glasses. It was fun, but after about ten minutes it was kind of like, "Okay soooo can we go now?". Still, it is an experience you should do if you get the chance, very novel.

Today is Wednesday and so far it is the most action packed. It started with waking up at 7:25 AM and groggily getting into a taxi to the airport. We then hopped on an 8 seater plane, and took off towards Milford Sound. I didn't even puke, although I thought I was going to. I took a drammamine, so I fell asleep on the boat, but Mom had a good time seeing the seals and waterfalls and we even saw an dolphin! Crazy! It was the size of a whale, and swam right along side the bow of the boat. We then flew back to Queenstown where we ate some lunch and booked some seats at Haka. A haka is traditional Maori dance that tells a story using facial expressions and movement. If you want to see a haka, google it or even look it up on youtube, they are very cool and I am excited to see one tonight! We are also going to the luge, and to the grocery store and maybe even doing some laundry..the day just keeps getting more and more exciting!

Well, I know that you only come to my blog to see the pictures so...here you go!

Here we are, drinking wine at 10:45 AM. Can your day start any better??

Here is mom, re-enacting my now "famous" alpaca picture (found here:http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30775797&l=3cfae&id=49800283)

Here we are standing next to our airplane at Milford Sound. Can you believe we actually FLEW in that thing? Ridic.

I got a job!

How excited are you all? You are reading the blog of the newest memeber of the checkout team at Fresh Choice, the same grocery store as Eoin! Yes, I gave in and decided it was "okay" to work at the same place as Eoin. $12.50 an hour, 30-40 hours a week. Not bad, except that its not as fun as Glassons. But at least its money and I don't have to waste any more paper turning in CV's.

I haven't updated in a while because there really hasn't been much to say. My mom will be here on Sunday (two days!) so I am busy planning things for us to do. I will definitely update my blog while mom is here, so you can all see the awesome things we are going to do!

Also, the local news paper in Concord is doing a bit of an article about me and my trip to NZ. If you live in Concord, it will be printed in the Insider on feb 24th. I am basically going to be famous. So get your requests for autographs in NOW.

Miss you all! Updates and pictures coming soon!

Arrowtown and Deer Park Heights

Sorry I haven't updated in a while...my life has been SO EXCITING!

NOT

Sadly, I still haven't found a job and the temp agency I was working with has stopped calling. Apparently they only need hotel cleaners during the holidays, and those are over now :(

So now I spend my days doing the following routine:

Wake up around 9 and either a) go running or b) stay in bed for an extra 20 minutes

Shower and get dressed

Head into town with Eoin (he heads to work)

Drop of CV at any place I haven't already applied (I've handed out my CV 15 times)

Grab the news paper and look for jobs

Eat lunch

Walk home

Look online for jobs

Apply to jobs that are posted online

Clean the apartment

Watch TV/Surf the net/go insane

Eat dinner when Eoin gets home at 9-9:30

So, my days are pretty awesome.

That being said, on Eoin's days off we have gone on some awesome adventures. Our first adventure was to Historic Arrowtown. Arrowtown is about 20 minutes outside of Queenstown and was "born" during the gold rush. It is a really cutesy little town that has a bit of a New England feel to it. There are walking trails that we didn't get a chance to do (next time, we foolishly wore flip-flops on our trip) and you can even rent pans to search for gold in the river. One guy found a huge piece of gold and it was worth $15,000 NZD (this was a few years ago).

Our land-lady recommended we go to the Chinese Settlement located right in Arrowtown. During the New Zealand gold rush a lot of people from China came to the area to try their luck, and they did quite well. They built their own little community of houses, gardens and a general store/lodge/bank/bar and stayed there for a few years. Once they were satisfied with the amount of money they made, they left the settlement and went back to China.

The entry to the Chinese Settlement. An outhouse in the foreground and the shop/lodge/bank/ shopkeepers house in the background.

Some houses built into the rocks. The houses were really small, only a few had a window.

Another place we recently went to is called Deer Park Heights. It is a working farm and is also where several scenes from Lord of the Rings were filmed. There are pigs, chickens, sheep, ducks, goats, donkeys, llamas, alpacas, miniature ponies, yaks, buffalo and deer.

The animals roam free, except for the ponies and the huge pigs, and there are amazing views all around. The owners also supply animal feed and tins for you to take with you through the farm and feed the animals. AND GUESS WHAT!!!! I fed some animals!!

Me feeding a piglet. It was so gross.

From the top of the mountain you can see Queenstown. So pretty!

This is the cliff that Aragorn fell off of in LOTR....and Eoin fell off it too! Oh no! Good thing its only two feet off the ground :)


Alright, that's all for now. The Internet is really slow. I'm sure Eoin will write a much better entry than me, so check his blog in a few days.

Bye!

Milford Sound

Yesterday Eoin and I took a trip out to Fiordland National Park, hopped on a boat, and cruised around Milford Sound for a little over 2 hours. We weren't sure how the trip would go, because as we left Queenstown at 9 AM it was pouring rain. However, when we got to Te Anau (about 2 hours and 15 minutes from the sound) it was clearing up. It turned out to be quite a beautiful drive in the sunshine. We were in the rain forest and could see mountains covered in waterfalls all around us. Most of the waterfalls were thin but some were very big, and almost every one of them found their way to the roadside. There were drainage ways for the water that flows off the mountains along the roads and in some spots the plants along the cliffs on the road were "raining" on our car.

We got to the Milford Sound visitor center around 3 PM and waited for our boat to dock. Our cruise left at 3:45 and our boat was one of the smaller ones in the sound. This is a good thing because on the smaller boats you can go close to waterfalls, vegetation and animals. It was also good because there were not a lot of people on the boat so there was plenty of room to walk around, stand outside or find a nice warm place to sit once the rain started pouring down. Yep, our rainy day- turned beautiful day became a rainy day again. The rain held out until the last half hour of the cruise, so it actually wasn't TOO bad.

Milford Sound is actually a fiord, but when the English settlers arrived here in the 1880's there wasn't an English word for "fiord", there still isn't (that I know of). A fiord is made by glaciers and happens when a glacier carves out a "U" shape in the rocks/mountains. A sound is created by rivers, and carves out a "V" shape in the rocks/mountains.

Here is evidence that Milford Sound is actually a fiord:

Notice the "U" shape between the two hills? That's a fiord!

Another part of our cruise on the sound was getting close to the wildlife. Sometimes the crew spots (and points out) dolphins and penguins, but we didn't have any luck in seeing them. We did, however, see our millionth colony of fur seals! And they were doing what they mostly do when we see them, lounging around doing nothing exciting at all.

See for yourself:

Another highlight of our trip, that isn't offered on any of the large boats, was that we got to drink fresh glacial water! Two poor souls got suckered in to standing at the bow of the boat (holding trays of cups) and collect water from a waterfall. They got completely drenched, and we all got to laugh at their expense but later on the captain got us all back...that comes later...anyway, fresh glacial waterfall water is pretty good. It's full of minerals and stuff, and oh...it's yellow.

You can't see it in this picture, but I promise you it was yellow water. It is yellow from the roots of all the trees it meets on the way down the mountain.

So after we drank some yellow water, the captain informed us we were all going to get soaked. I, being somewhat smart, ran inside. Not Eoin. He stayed right out in front and got completely drenched by one of the larger waterfalls in the sound. He seemed to enjoy it, so that's good, but I stayed nice and dry.

Even though it was a bit windy and rainy, it was a great time and a lot of fun. The waterfalls were really cool, and the scenery wasn't half bad either :)

Until next time.....

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great New Years Eve and New Years Day! Eoin and I ventured into downtown Queenstown where there were supposedly 10,000 people in the CBD (Central Business District) along with live bands and whatnot. I think I counted 12 people. Okay, maybe I am being a little sarcastic, there was a crowd, but it was not 10,000 people. Maybe 5,000. Regardless, the live band, dDub, was pretty good. They were a reggae/ska band and they played music and then lead the crowd in a countdown to 2009. There were fireworks, which were awesome, and that is about it.

So it was a good NYE, nothing crazy or exciting.

The day after New Years Day (January 2nd) is also a public holiday here in NZ, so lots of shops/restaurants/attractions are closed. However, since I don't have a real job yet, I did some housekeeping on the 1st and 2nd and got paid time and a half (19.50/hour). Not too bad. But, I am never doing house keeping again. Some people are nice and strip the beds when they leave, and don't leave big piles of crumbs and dirt everywhere, but other people are plain old slobs.

I have a job interview on Monday with a place that supplies photographers to various attractions around QT. Hopefully, I get that job, and then I can be outside taking pictures of tourists rafting, horse back riding or whatever else they need me to take pictures of.

That's about it in terms of anything exciting happening right now. If you read Eoin's blog, you will have seen that he is doing this "101 things in 1001 days". Basically, you pick 101 things you would like to accomplish in 1001 days (2.5 years) and then you work on ticking those things off your list. I saw his list, and thought it looked like a good idea. So I made my own list, however, my list has only 56 things on it. You may call me a slacker, but I wanted my list to have things on it I'd really like to do and I didn't want a bunch of "fillers" in there just to make my list have 101 items on it.

Sooooo because I am sure you are really interested, here is my list!

Health:

Exercise at least 3 days a week for at least 10 minutes (0/143)

Go one week with no soda

Go one month with no soda

Vegan for a week

Go a week without products containing high fructose corn syrup

Enroll in a yoga class for at least one semester (four months)

Try one new food every other month (0/16)

See how much it will cost to get my moles removed

Have moles removed or start saving for it

Make one new recipe a month (0/32)

Go one month without eating at a restaurant or ordering take-out or frozen/pre-cooked dinners

Eat broccoli once a month(1/32)

Go one week without chocolate

Go one month without chocolate

First Monday of every month eat vegetarian all day (0/16)

Try eggs (fried, scrambled, omelet and hard boiled) (0/4)

Find out how much it will cost to fix my jaw

Save money to fix my jaw/get it fixed

Get Health Insurance

Daring:

Try a real roller-coaster with Eoin but not a scary one

Handle raw meat without gagging or making "guuuuuuuuuuh" sound

Do something that scares me once a year

Just for fun:

Watch 30 movies that are on the IMDB top 250 list (0/30)

Go a week without using the Internet except for essential emails

Spend my summers at Camp Micah

Get a really expensive/good massage

Eat seven egg rolls for dinner

Try ten new alcoholic drinks (0/10)

Try surfing

Go snorkeling

Eat dessert first

Get a dog

Go out on a date once a month with Eoin (0/16)

See a famous comedian live

Education:

Read 50 books (0/50)

Complete Pre-Reqs for grad program in physical therapy

Enroll in Grad-School

Become CPR certified

Double the money in my savings account

While in school, maintain at least a 2.9 GPA (would have been higher but science/math and I don't mix well)


Travel:

Visit two new continents (0/2)

Go back to Israel (or save for it)

Go on a romantic holiday with Eoin for at least 5 days at a nice hotel

Go to Universal Studios

Go on a road trip

Meet up with college friends

Go some place warm during the winter every year (0/3)

Community:

Donate $2 to charity for every item crossed off my "101 Things in 1001 Days"

Donate my time during the holidays for 30 hours (0/30)

Go through my clothes once in the winter and once in the summer and donate what I don't need to charity (0/5)

No Wal-Mart for 1001 days

Donate 500,000 grains of rice on freerice.org (0/500,000)

Recycle all my plastic bottles, even if I have to carry them home to recycle them( allow 12 exceptions 0/12)

What do you think? Hopefully I can do most of these! I will start a separate blog for keeping track of my progress. Anyway, here are some pictures :)

Look at the THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE in Queenstown for the New Years celebration! (ok so this was taken earlier in the evening, more people showed up as it got closer to midnight)

Queenstown from a jetboat. Sooo pretty!