Awesome Auckland

December 16, 2016

Arriving in Auckland we were hit with a wave of traffic - something we hadn't experienced yet in this country! One third of New Zealand's total residents live in Auckland, so that explains the increased congestion. While it was very fun (and inexpensive) to stay in so many hostels and meet a lot of international travelers, in Auckland we decided to stay at an airbnb with a local! We stayed in an area called Point Chevalier, only about 15 minutes to the city. Our first afternoon we checked out a popular area called Ponsonby where there are a ton of cute restaurants and shops! We ventured into an alleyway (apparently where all the cute places can be found in New Zealand) and happened upon a great little marketplace area.

On December 3rd, we headed to Piha Beach - a spot recommended to us by a friend of Allie's and my mom. Piha is known for its great surfing and its black sand beaches, caused from volcanic materials. Oh man, was this beach beautiful. It had bright green tropical hills leading right up to it and amazing rocks and cliffs surrounding it. One large rock, called Lion Rock, you can hike part way up and get a great view of both North and South Piha beaches. I had never seen sand that color before - it looked like pepper! It was pretty hot on our feet but I couldn't believe how soft it was. We sat for quite awhile enjoying the beautiful scenery and watching the hundreds of surfers catching endless waves.

On Sunday we had scheduled to turn in our rental car (made it the whole trip driving on the wrong side of the road unscathed!) so we did that in the morning and spent the day downtown. We walked along the water, checked out Queen street (the main drag), and the many souvenir shops in the area. We went to the National Art Gallery (check that off as another museum for us!) and Albert Park next to it. At the park they were filming an episode of the Power Rangers! 1) Who knew the Power Rangers were still on TV? 2) Who knew they filmed in New Zealand?! I had no idea, so that was pretty fun to watch.

The next day we stayed in the Point Chevalier area and headed down to the little beach in the area. There were quite a few people swimming but we were happy just sitting and people watching. We were able to get to know our airbnb host, Robyn, a bit which was fun and she had a very cute little house!

Sadly, this is where Allie's road ended. She headed back to the states and I was set to stay in New Zealand for two more weeks - as a lone wolf!

Highlights:

1. Piha Beach - stunning views and a very unique looking beach.

2. Ponsonby Road - so many cute shops and restaurants!

3. Auckland City Waterfront - great areas with views of the harbor.

Lessons Learned:

1. If you are going to travel with someone for 6 weeks, make sure its somebody you get along with. Luckily, Allie and I are great travel buddies! We definitely had a lot of bonding time but I'm so glad we embarked on this adventure together.

Thanks for following along!

The Great Kiwi Outdoors

December 8, 2016

After talking with Erin and realizing we didn't have much time left before heading to Auckland, we needed to make a decision on which part of the North Island we would see. We decided to explore more of the awesome New Zealand outdoors and do the Tongariro crossing. The Tongariro crossing is a 12.1 mile trek across New Zealand amazingness. It is considered to be the best day hike in the country. It was a filming location for the Lord of the Rings (I really need to see these movies) and for those that know them the location of "Mount Doom." The walk is mostly through volcanic terrain as there are three volcanoes in the area that are highly active. The best way to access the hike is to go to the town of National Park and have a shuttle bus deliver you to the start of the hike and then pick you up at the end.

Arriving the afternoon in the small town of National Park it was foggy, pouring rain, and pretty cold - pretty much ideal hiking weather. As with every tourist who comes mildly unprepared, we visited the tiny local gas station (the only store in town) which carried gloves, winter hats and ponchos at a premium price. But after seeing the weather we were hook, line and sinker. The lady at the cash register even made it a point to tell us we could not return our ponchos even if they went unused!

We woke up the next morning, jumped on the transport bus along with 40 of our closest friends and made our way to the trail head. No rain and only a few clouds! We couldn't believe our luck. We got to the trail head and there were hundreds of people everywhere. I guess we weren't the only ones that had heard this was a good hike.

This is one of the most incredible hikes I have ever done! I couldn't believe all of the different terrain we crossed. We started out on flat ground, my kind of hike. Straight ahead of us laid Mount Ngauruhoe (or as the Lord of the Ring lovers know it, Mount Doom). We had a steep uphill (which included nicely made steps) to get us around/over Mount Doom and then walked along a large valley to get to our next mountain pass. After getting up on the ridge of the next mountain, we came across a beautiful blue lake with grasses all around it. A little bit further we saw Red Crater, where there were old lava flows and an amazing red color to the soil. From there, we slid down the loose scoria (felt like we were in snow) to get to the beautiful Emerald Lakes. Minerals around the lakes cause the bright green/blue color and many steam vents in the area cause the sulphur smell (not my fave). After taking our time admiring the lakes, we kept trucking along. All of a sudden, we came out on the side of a mountain covered in grasses and could see unbelievable views of more mountains and Lake Taupo. At the very end of the hike, we were back in the rain forest - green, mossy, and it felt like it had just rained. Such a great hike with varied landscapes and so much to look at. I kept thinking during the hike, is this real life?! I felt like I was on a movie set!

We stayed in National Park that night and went to bed suuuuper early after our long day. The next day we headed onto the big city of Auckland!

Highlights:

1. All of it, minus the steep uphills.

2. Great weather...we really lucked out. We talked to another American that had done it a few days prior and she said it was rainy and cold and they couldn't see anything!

Lessons Learned:

1. The Youth Hostel Association (YHA) in New Zealand is great - they have hostels all over the country, in good central locations and are very well run! Would highly recommend staying at these.

2. More sheep on our way to National Park!

3. They really know how to sucker a couple tourists!

Windy Welly

December 4, 2016

We arrived in Wellington to beautiful, sunny weather. It was so fun to come into the city on the ferry, because we got a great view of it from the boat. We were so lucky in Wellington, because we were able to stay with another great host - Allie's childhood friend, Erin. She lived right in the heart of the city in a very unique and fun area called Cuba street. She also had the cutest apartment! Before arriving in Wellington, several people had told us it was a combination of San Francisco and Seattle, and I can definitely see why! Walking around with Erin the first night there were so many cute restaurants and bars that she pointed out - also a lot of very unique and cool artwork. The city had a great vibe. We also saw some of the impacts of the recent earthquake in Wellington. Erin had some damage in her apartment and she also pointed out the buildings that were closed due to potential issues after the quake.

After getting a preview from Erin, the next day Allie and I went out to explore the city while she worked. And we learned why it is nicknamed Windy Welly - it is definitely windy! With Wellington being New Zealand's capital, we walked down along the river to get to the Beehive which is a part of the New Zealand Parliamentary precinct. We missed the tour, but looked around in the lobby for a bit on our own. The Beehive is the Executive Wing of the parliamentary complex and looks exactly like a real life beehive. It is a very famous and recognizable building in New Zealand. From there we headed for the Wellington Cable Car (shockingly got lost trying to find it), which transports passengers up a steep hill in the city to get to the Botanic Gardens and the Cable Car Museum, among other attractions. After walking around the Botanic Gardens for awhile we headed back into the city to check out the Te Papa Museum - New Zealand's National Museum. This was so worth it! The museum was incredible - six floors of a wide variety of displays, from information about New Zealand's natural environment to Maori culture. We first started in the natural environment area and learned more about New Zealand's earthquakes. It was incredible. Since the recent 7.8 earthquake, New Zealand has had thousands of aftershocks - many of which Wellington has felt (it sits right on a fault line). After learning more about earthquakes (and scaring ourselves) we headed to learn more about the transformation of New Zealand (around 85 percent of the land was covered in forest before people came, now only about 25 percent remains forest). We also were able to learn more about the Maori culture. After a great visit to the museum we headed back to Erin's and she cooked us a delicious meal of mussels - they have big giant green ones here!

Wellington was a great city to explore - not too big and not too small, with a great artsy and funky feel. We were very grateful to our host, Erin, for showing us her amazing city! Now onto Auckland.

Highlights:

1. Staying with Erin - she was an amazing host!

2. Te Papa museum - I'm not one for museums, but this one was great! (And free).

Lessons Learned:

1. New Zealand doesn't mess around with earthquakes.

2. We now have traveled via almost every form of transport - ferry, car, plane, bus, train, cable car, boat!

3. Everyone here is so friendly! People are happy to give us directions or answer questions anywhere we go.

4. New Zealand has great cafes - every town we have gone they have great places to enjoy a cup of coffee.

On the Open Road - Kiwi Style

December 2, 2016

Once we made it to Wanaka we immediately knew this was a place we wish we would have had more time to explore. It was a small ski town, very similar to Queenstown but more quaint. For Thanksgiving dinner we had burritos and tacos from a food truck (very delicious and so Thanksgivingy). We walked around the lake in town and checked out the famous Wanaka tree (a tree coming out of the middle of the lake - so weird!). After our short town in Wanaka we headed on the road again, this time our next destination was Franz Josef which was about 4 and a half hours away. A Wanakaian (or maybe Wanakan?!) asked me where we were headed next - when I told him Franz Josef he said, "Ahh the place where rain is made." And boy did we learn that. Most of the drive this day it rained - and it dumped buckets after we arrived in town. We tried to see both the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers however it was too cloudy and overcast to see anything. I guess our lucky streak with the weather had finally run out. The front desk guy at our hotel showed me a picture of the glacier in the lobby, so I guess that'll have to do.

We woke up the next morning and watched a bit of the Apple Cup (and that is all I'll say on that subject...) and then headed out on the road to our next stopover - a tiny little village called St Arnaud. Driving through the countryside we couldn't believe the number of sheep! An endless amount! Someone told us at one time it was 40 million sheep to 4 million people in New Zealand and I believe it. We have also seen a ton of cows and a good amount of deer! In the little town of St Arnaud we stayed at a bed and breakfast with a great woman named Helen. She lived in a beautiful southwestern style house...only 100 meters from a fault line (eeeek!). Apart from that, she talked to us about her town (350 people), the recent earthquake, her sheep and goats, Trump (eeeek!), birds, and taught us about Maori culture and some of their language. It was really fun to stay with a local and learn a lot about New Zealand from her. It wasn't until here that we started seeing affects from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the northeast corner of the South island on November 14th. Due to damage to Highway 1 (the country's main highway) the road through St. Arnaud became a detour for all traffic headed north, causing a lot of changes for this little village. We also began to see (and feel) lots of pot holes and signs of road construction, which Helen told us to expect driving further north.

After our fun stay in St. Arnaud we headed for Picton - where the next day we would catch the ferry to Wellington, on the North Island. In Picton (when there was a break in the rain) we headed up to a lookout called Karaka to see the views of the water. It was beautiful! Picton was a cute town right on the water and we covered all the shops in about an hour.

On November 28th we boarded our ferry to the North island, which looked like a cruise ship! It was massive! We walked in the bottom of the boat and there were huge semi trucks and cars lined up to be taken over. Once we got inside, there was a movie theatre, cafe, dining area, kids room, and a couple observation decks. Quite a nice set up for the 3 hour ride over to the North island!

Highlights:

1. Wanaka - definitely somewhere I'd like to go back to!

2. Staying with Helen in St. Arnaud.

3. Enjoying the Karaka lookout in Picton with the sun out!

Lessons Learned:

1. After spending so much time with one person in the car, they are bound to hear your belting-it-because-im-in-the-car-alone voice. Sorry, Allie.

2. They don't like road shoulders here in New Zealand.

3. The scenery while driving is just spectacular - I must sound like a broken record because I keep saying "It's so pretty" over and over again.

4. After searching high and low for kiwi birds, a lady in a tourist shop told us they are nocturnal. Face to palm.

The Road To Milford Sound

November 27, 2016

One of Milford Sounds thousands of waterfalls.

One of the things we decided we'd like to see prior to coming to New Zealand was Milford Sound. Getting to Milford Sound is a bit difficult, as there is only one road in and out. After Queenstown we headed for Te Anau about two and a half hours away from Queenstown (and about an hour and a half from Milford Sound). Te Anau is a very cute town with a lot of great hiking nearby in Fiordland National Park. Our first day in the area we headed to hike part of the well know Routeburn track and did a hike called the Key Summit Track. It was a couple hour hike but gave us some unbelievable views of the mountains - and luckily we had great weather! It was sunny for most of the day and relatively clear out, so we could see pretty far. The trail was very well maintained with some areas of it being boardwalk over wetland and marsh areas. It was so green and there was tons of moss and ferns everywhere - definitely reminded me of the Pacific Northwest!

The next day we made the trek to Milford Sound, as we were staying there one night in the Milford Lodge. I was picturing Milford to be a little town, similar to what we had already seen - not the case! The only thing in the Milford area was the Milford Lodge (where we stayed), one cafe, and the Milford Sound visitors center - that's it! Driving up there it was quite rainy and we had more windy and narrow roads. As we climbed higher and higher, we were both totally blown away. Although called Milford Sound, it is actually a fiord (created by glacial erosion) located in the Fiordland National Park. Milford Sound is one of the wettest places on earth raining around 200 days of the year, with average annual rainfall of 22 feet. On a sunny, dry day there are actually only two permanent waterfalls. On a rainy day, approximately 40,000 waterfalls form in the area and come crashing down sheer rock cliffs. Unbelievable! We (luckily) hit it on a rainy day, so were able to take in all the waterfalls in their glory. We were both in shock on the drive up - we had never seen anything like these rocks and cliffs and waterfalls before, and we hadn't even seen the water yet!

We started off Thanksgiving Day with a cruise around the water so we got to see some of the waterfalls up close. We were also able to see seals and penguins from the boat! After a bit of a cruise, we were dropped off at Harrison Cove to kayak, which we were both super excited about. The kayak company gave us fleeces, rain jackets, rain pants and hats to wear while out on the water (it was a little cold). Allie and I channeled our inner rowing abilities (I have very little of this) and paddled around with our group for a little over an hour. We got to see some additional falls up close, learn more about the climate and the water, and saw some more penguins! The penguins we saw were called Tawaki penguins and they are actually an endangered species, so it was pretty special that we got to see them up close. After a great time kayaking we headed to the Milford Sound Underwater Observatory - picture a reverse aquarium, where the humans are in the glass and the fish are free to come and go as they please. The observatory is 10 meters underwater and because of the areas unique underwater environment, there are corals and sea life that you see that is typically only found at depths of more than 500 meters. It is the only place in the world where this is possible! Both of us just couldn't believe the day we had (Happy Thanksgiving to us!) and right after we got done with our tour, we hit the road to start getting further north and onto our next destination, Wanaka.

Highlights:

1. Milford Sound. Although I wasn't able to get very many good pictures due to the weather, this was truly a once in a lifetime experience. The landscape was like nothing I've ever seen before!

2. Key Summit Track - a great hike in a beautiful area.

Lessons Learned:

1. On their hiking signs, the Kiwis say "3 hour return" - meaning it is a 3 hour hike.

2. New Zealand has SO MANY hiking trails - too many for one trip, so I'll have to come back!

3. The food here is amazing - everything is so fresh and tastes so good! Even in these tiny small towns, they have great food.

4. Per a tip from a friend, we discovered licorice in New Zealand - one kind is black licorice with chocolate inside. It sounds terrible, but it is the most delicious thing you have ever tasted!

5. We have met a lot of Americans in New Zealand! People from California, Montana, Missouri. Crazy!

6. When they say Milford Sound is one of the wettest areas in the world, I think they are right - it rained non-stop the whole time we were there!

Quality Time in Queenstown

November 26, 2016

After a verryyy long day of travel (depart Brisbane at 5:45pm, land in Christchurch at 12am, depart Christchurch at 7am) we landed in Queenstown around 8:30am on November 18th. I was fighting my every urge to sleep on the plane because the plane ride was so breathtaking. Out one window coming into Queenstown we could see the ocean and out the other unbelievable snow capped mountains - called the Southern Alps. After landing we made our way to Glenorchy, where we had booked our first nights stay. When booking places for Queenstown, we were unaware at the time that the Queenstown International Marathon was going on the same weekend we planned to be there - which brings in about 9,000 runners (plus families) into this small town of about 12,000 people. So, needless to say, housing options were limited. So the first night we stayed in Glenorchy which is about 45 minutes outside of Queenstown. The majority of the drive is along Lake Wakatipu, which is New Zealand's longest lake. The colors were amazing - steep bright green mountains jutting out of bright blue water. It is said to be one of the most scenic drives in the world, and I would agree! Once arriving in Glenorchy, we checked in to our bed and breakfast and then I headed out to an area just north of there called Paradise, where they filmed some of the Lord of the Rings. Now, I'm not a fan of the Lord of the Rings (and I haven't seen any of the movies) but they sure know how to pick movie locations. The drive to the location was through part of Mount Aspiring National Park - there were stunning green snow capped mountains. After seeing the amazing scenery I decided I may have to give the movies a try.

The next morning we did a walk in Glenorchy and checked out more of the lake (a popular wedding photography spot we learned) and the small town, we headed back down to Queenstown. Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of New Zealand so there is a lot of advertising for bungee jumping, jet boating, sky diving, mountain biking, and zip lining. Luckily (as mentioned before) Allie and I are about the same level of adventurous (not a lot) so we had already gone in to Queenstown not planning to do any of these crazy things. Our first day there we checked out all the marathoners finishing the race and checked out the town. The town of Queenstown is very cute and reminded me of a small Colorado ski town.

The rest of our time in Queenstown we hiked to the top of the Skyline Gondola (amazing views of the lake and the mountains) and walked through the Queenstown Gardens - a beautiful park and gardens right next to the lake. We also ate at Ferg Burger, a famous burger joint in town. After hiking up to the Gondola we were pretty hungry but decided to wait the 45 minutes (and a 50+ person line) to get a burger. Both Allie and I were pretty skeptical about how good this burger could be (we had heard from quite a few people to go there) but weren't sure what all the fuss was about. The fuss was worth it! The burger was one of the best I have ever had! I can't even describe why, it was just so delicious.

Up next we are headed to Te Anau, which is near Milford Sound!

Highlights:

1. Glenorchy - a very quaint town but there were a couple great walks and some great scenery.

2. Hike to the top of the Skyline Gondola in Queenstown!

3. Ferg Burger - so worth the wait!

Lessons Learned:

1. Roads in New Zealand are much narrower and windier than in Australia. And there are no passing lanes!

2. I cannot get over the scenery in New Zealand - it is just so beautiful.

3. The kiwi accent is much different than the Aussie accent. We have to refocus!

4. Aotearoa is the Maori Name for New Zealand, meaning "The Land of the Long White Cloud." Many of the town names, landmarks, lakes, etc. are Maori words which are difficult for us to pronounce! The Maori people are the indigenous people of New Zealand and the Maori language is one of New Zealand's official languages.

5. We are still directionally challenged.

Thanks for reading!

Coug Reunion on the Gold Coast

November 21, 2016

After a great time in the north part of Australia we flew south to Brisbane. We were hosted by our friend Yas, who was our soccer teams athletic trainer in college. He couldn't believe we were 30 (and neither can we most of the time). He luckily said right off the bat that we pretty much look the same and he was glad he could still recognize us.

We stayed with Yas in Brisbane, in the West End area which is a super cute area with lots of shops and restaurants. Our first day we walked downtown across one of the pedestrian bridges to meet Yas at his work. We did a full loop of the city, seeing the South Bank area, city gardens, parks, and riding the hop on, hop off boat system - so cool! That night we ventured up to Mount Coot-Tha (the highest peak in Brisbane) and checked out the super moon!

On Wednesday Yas took the day off to tour us around the Gold Coast area. We went everywhere! We first stopped in a place on the Gold Coast called Surfers Paradise and went up the Q1 building (the highest residential tower in the Southern Hemisphere) to the observation deck. We went up to floor 77 and had a great view of the coast. The Gold Coast area is home to 446km of canals which is actually 9 times more than Venice! So crazy! From the deck you could see a 360 degree view of the city, down the coast, and out into the ocean. It was amazing and I didn't even get scared being up that high. From there, we went to a cute little hippie beach town called Byron Bay. We went out to the Byron Bay lighthouse and the most eastern part of mainland Australia. The water here is such a great greenish blue color! And we didn't realize this until later, but the beaches in Australia don't have seaweed. And they were all extremely clean. From Byron Bay we went to Point Danger which is the border between New South Wales and Queensland (and also has an awesome beach!). After that we went to Noosa National Park and did a short walk to a lookout over the beach and a view of the city. On our way we had to dodge a bunch of ugly looking wild turkeys! After seeing another spectacular beach we ventured back to Surfers Paradise and back up the tower to see the views at night. It was such a great day, and thanks so much to Yas our wonderful host!

The next day Allie and I got ready to fly to our next adventure location - New Zealand!

Highlights:

1. Seeing Yas after 9 years!

2. The views of the Gold Coast from the Q1 tower!

3. Byron Bay - the town and the lighthouse were both great.

Lessons Learned:

1. Although we have felt 30+ for most of the trip, Yas thought we looked the same as we did in college! Woo!

2. The beaches on the Gold Coast are more accommodating for swimmers than the North - no gator or stinger warnings here.

Slathering On That Sunscreen

November 17, 2016

Before coming to Australia, Allie and I decided two things at the top of our list in this country were seeing the Great Barrier Reef and sailing the Whitsunday Islands (a collection of 74 islands off the east coast). So, in order to see the Reef we went to Cairns and then rented a car to get down to Airlie Beach to sail the islands. Here was our driving route, including stops overnight: Cairns -> Townsville -> Airlie Beach -> Mission Beach -> Cairns from November 6th to 14th.

On November 6th we arrived in Cairns around 8:30am after a 3ish hour flight from Sydney (Australia is big) and were shocked at how hot and humid it was. We checked into our awesome hostel (Dreamtime Travellers Rest - would highly recommend), ready to bust out our bathing suits, and as our gal is checking us in she says 'do NOT go in the ocean as there are sharks and crocodiles in there. If you are going to swim, only swim in the lagoon area.' Ummm excuse me?! We knew sharks were a possibility but didn't even think about crocs. And didn't think either would be right on shore. Oh boy. So, after hearing that news we walked around town for awhile (sweating profusely) did some much needed laundry and booked our Great Barrier Reef tour for the next day (after asking many questions about sharks and crocs).

Early the next morning we caught our tour bus and headed out to a river to embark on our day long adventure. We booked with Frankland Island Tours and were able to take a cruise boat out to Frankland Island. They are the only company that has access to this island through an exclusive deal with the city. We really lucked out with our tour - the company could accommodate around 100 people on the boat although on our day we only had about 30 people total - thanks Monday! Once arriving on the island, we saw several sea turtles in the clear bright blue water and went on a "bush walk" around the island with our Aussie guide, Jack. He told us all about the reef and different animals on/around the island to include; massive oysters, fish, sea turtles, sea urchins and shells. It was so interesting to learn about the reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living thing on earth and has survived three ice ages. It is the size of 70 million football fields and can be seen from outer space! There are over 600 types of hard and soft corals and many are named after what they look like; plate coral, brain coral, cabbage coral, etc. After walking around the island for about 30 minutes and checking out different shells (and Allie picking up almost every one) Jack stopped to inform us about a certain type of shell that is highly deadly - if the animal inside stings you it can kill you nearly instantly. I let Jack know that would have been helpful information 30 minutes ago! Sheesh! After our bush walk we had a guided snorkel tour of the reef where Jack lead the group and would help point out turtles and different sea life and coral to us. Allie and I were pretty scared of seeing a shark, but luckily made it through the day unscathed. As we were loading back onto the boat to go back, a shark jumped out of the water and ate a fish right near our boat! The guides couldn't believe it! Neither could we....luckily our shorts were already wet. And, we were done with our water activities for the day. Had we seen that on the way out there would have been NO WAY we would have gotten in the water (even though they are harmless reef sharks).

After our great day of reef exploring, we hit the road for about three hours to make it to our first stopover in Townsville. Townsville was an interesting town with not a ton to do. The highlight was hiking up Castle Hill, which had a nice lookout of the city as well as Magnetic Island which is a popular tourist destination. We also learned about another friendly Australian animal, the brown snake, which also has the ability to kill you within five minutes. A real gem of a guy told us about these about 3 minutes in to our hike so needless to say I think we got up the hill a lot quicker than we originally planned. After spending two nights in Townsville we hit the road for about another three hours to make it to Airlie Beach for our sailing adventure!

Sailing the Whitsunday islands was my first time sailing and definitely an amazing experience! We arrived in Airlie Beach and booked a tour with a company that actually takes a racing sail boat (sailed in the America's Cup in the 70s) out through the islands. It was much narrower than I thought it was going to be and we had over 30 people on the boat! Luckily, I hustled to the back of the ship and got a seat behind the captain - with all the other wusses. The wind was pretty strong when we started out, so the captain said he was going to change our route a bit for the day. We sailed for about 2 hours to start and then arrived at Whitehaven beach, which is the number two beach in the world and the largest of the Whitsunday islands! It was nothing like I had ever seen before. The sand was so incredibly white and soft - 98 percent silica! We exfoliated our skin and they said we could even polish our jewelry with it! Typical for Australia, though, they strongly suggested we wear stinger suits before going in the water at the beach. They have these stinger jelly fish that are the size of your thumbnail and if you are stung in your mid section, they can shut down your respiratory system. So, needless to say, Allie and I wore the suits before getting in the water. After doing a short walk around the island and the beach, we stopped to snorkel and then sail back to Airlie Beach. On the way back luckily I got my same seat in the back because boy did I need it. Let's just say I am not going to be a skipper of a sail boat or a pirate anytime soon. The wind really picked up on the way home and we were sideways for most of the ride. Count me terrified for yet another time on this trip!

After sailing (and neither of us getting sick!) we headed north and ended up stopping in Mission Beach, a cute small beach town a bit further north than Townsville. Driving into Mission Beach we went through a Cassowa (looks like an emu with a colorful mohawk) preserve area so there were some pretty crazy road signs, but unfortunately we didn't see one. Mission Beach is known as the best place to sky dive in Australia so that is a big reason a lot of people visit there. Luckily, Allie and I are both pretty lukewarm adventurers so skydiving was not on our list. But we still enjoyed the town and met some interesting people at our hostel that night from Canada and Germany.

Driving in Australia was quite the experience. Driving on the left side of the car and the left side of the road was something that was foreign to both Allie and I. We got our rental car in Cairns (a snazzy white toyota carola hatchback) and started out on the road. Luckily, Allie drove first so I could watch her. A few things to note about Aussie driving: everything is (clearly) in kilometers, they do not mess around with their road signs (i.e. 'Survive this drive' or 'Stay alert, stay alive.'), where we drove there were lots of two lane roads, TONS of sugar cane fields along our A1 route which meant a lot of sugar cane railroad crossings, blinkers and windshield wipers are on the opposite sides (something I could not get used to), there was McDonalds (or Maccas) in every small town, most of the road signs must be made for tourists because they were constantly reminding us to stay left, we saw heaps of camper vans and our same type of rental car. We were surprised at how jungly the drive was and we saw a lot of farming and agricultural areas. There were lots of cows - at least we think they were cows - most of them looked pretty skinny with weird bumps on their necks. We also saw wild camels...who knew those even existed in Australia?!

Once we safely made it back to Cairns with no bites, stings, car crashes, and bellies full of Maccas we got ready to head to Brisbane! Or as the locals call it, Brissy.

Lessons Learned:

1. Things in Australia that can kill you: a certain type of shell that looks very similar to lots of other shells, sharks, stingers, crocodiles, brown snakes, driving on the other side of the road.

2. Things that can't kill you in Australia: TBD.

3. Northeast Australia is pretty humid (even in spring time). And tropical.

4. Even though we were pretty much sideways on that sailboat, we didn't tip over. Thanks, physics.

5. Sugarcane smells funny.

6. You can always count on Maccas for food and free wifi (they call it wi-fry, how awesome is that) in the middle of nowhere Australia.

7. There is a reason all these Australians are tan - it was so sunny and hot!

Highlights:

1. Frankland Island tour out of Cairns - its not everyday you get to go to a private island and see the Great Barrier Reef! Also, I would highly recommend this company - they did a great job!

2. Sailing the Whitsunday Islands - such a unique experience and got to see a beautiful beach!

3. Driving - although we were pretty terrified at first, Allie and I got the hang of driving on the wrong side - watch out for us when we get back to the states, we'll be all confused!

4. The people - our crew and guides with both companies were great - very friendly and informative and it was fun to talk to locals.

Thanks for reading!

Captain Jack leading us around the island.

Sydney and Blue Mountains and Randwick! Oh My!

November 9, 2016

We arrived in Sydney the afternoon of November 1st and checked into our hostel in central Sydney - only about 200 feet from the bus station. Best news ever for this back of mine! (I weighed my backpack before I left and it was 29 lbs, although it feels a lot heavier than that). We walked down to Darling Harbor at sunset and there was a lot going on. November 1st was the Melbourne Cup (horse racing) and they say it is the race that stops a nation. There were tons of parties going on with men dressed in suits and women in dresses and large fancy hats. Unfortunately, Allie and I didn't get the 'fancy' memo, and were wearing our scrubbiest clothes with baseball hats. Luckily, a restaurant near the water let us in so we could get a bite to eat.
The next day we set our goals high to see most of the Sydney tourist sites - we saw the Sydney Harbor Bridge, Opera House, historic Rocks district, the Circular Quay, and the Royal Botanical Gardens, which are all in one area of Sydney about a two mile walk from our place. My favorite part of seeing those areas was the Opera House. It is such a unique piece of architecture and we later found out that the architect was Dutch and due to a disagreement with the city regarding a piece of the interior design, he walked off the job and never saw the final product! After seeing those spots we walked back through town to see Hyde Park, the Art Gallery of New South Wales (had some great displays, including my favorite bike sculpture) and the Anzac Memorial.
The next morning we woke up early and met our tour guide, Mark, who bused us to the Blue Mountains for a two day, one night experience. A large part of the Blue Mountains is incorporated into the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Site which was appointed in 2000. First, on our way to the mountains we stopped at Featherdale Wildlife Refuge and got to see/feed kangaroos, koalas, wallabies and Tasmanian devils (ugly little guys). It was fun to see all the different animals! From there, we headed to the heart of the Blue Mountains and stopped at Scenic World which has a skyway, scenic cableway and the steepest passenger railway in the world. We were able to ride all three attractions, see waterfalls, walk through the jungle, and have some great views of the Jameson Valley as well as the Three Sisters rock formation. Although I've never been to the Grand Canyon (its on my list) the Blue Mountains and Jameson Valley was like the Australian Grand Canyon. It was such a fun day! That night we stayed in the mountain town of Katoomba - a very cute town and a great hostel!
The next morning we were picked up for our tour of the Jenolan Caves. We didn't know a ton about the caves prior to going, and all our guide told us was it would be a bit of a driving to get there and it was a little bit of a winding road at the end. We thought okay, we can handle that. IT WAS THE SCARIEST DRIVE EVER! 'A little winding' meant a one lane, super narrow, very winding road in a HUGE tour bus which felt like the front half of the bus was going off of with every turn. It was terrifying! But luckily, once we arrived at the caves we knew it was worth it. The Jenolan Caves are the oldest known caves in the world, at 340 million years old. I couldn't believe how big they were! We went into the Lucas Cave, which has an area called "The Cathedral" which stands at 54 meters high. They even host weddings in there! There are stairs, handrails and trails throughout the caves and they also have special lighting and even sound systems inside. It was incredible!
After safely making it down from the caves we made our way to Randwick, a suburb on the southeast side of the city. We stayed at an airbnb with a really nice Kiwi and Aussie couple in their apartment near the ocean. We loved the Randwick area as it had tons of cute shops and restaurants (and some of the best thai food ever!). While we were there, we walked down to the beach and did a sea walk from Coogee beach to Bondi Beach (Bondi is one of the more well known beaches in the area). It was Saturday and really nice weather so there was a ton of great people watching and also a Sculpture by the Sea event going on. The walk took a couple hours and once we made it to Bondi Beach it was like MTV Spring Break. It was a HUGE beach with lots of pretty people running around, all of whom were pretty well tanned. I was glad I wore the one piece to cover up this white bod. After checking out the beach we headed back to Randwick and went to bed early. The next morning we woke up at 4:30am to catch our flight to Cairns to see more beaches and the Great Barrier Reef!

Lessons Learned:
1. Most Australian people are tan. It's just a fact.
2. If you are not a tan Australian, wear lots of sunscreen (don't worry, I have been).
3. People's interpretations of "a little winding" can be vastly different.
4. Sometimes its nice to do an organized tour - we were both thankful we didn't have to drive on that road and we got to learn a lot from both of our tour guides on the way!

Highlights:
1. Sydney Opera House - such an iconic landmark and really amazing architecture.
2. Blue Mountains - if you are in Sydney it is definitely worth the 2ish hour drive to get here! Amazing views!
3. Randwick - we loved the charm and slower pace of Randwick - it also had some very unique places!

Thanks for reading!

Capital Canberra

November 3, 2016

We arrived in Canberra at 6am on October 31 after an overnight bus trip (8 hours) from Melbourne. I considered wearing my stay puft marshmallow man costume for the ride, but it wouldn't fit in my backpack. So, we get off the bus in Canberra and are hit with a stream of FREEZING cold air. It was so cold! I still haven't figured out the conversions (that's a whole other story...) but it was about 39 degrees farenheit. Neither of us were quite prepared for that shock. Luckily, Canberra is not a very big town so we found our hostel close to the bus station, were able to check in and go get a hot coffee and breakfast. Our first day in Canberra we walked over 10 miles - all by about 1pm. Oh the perks of being up at the crack of dawn! Canberra is the capital of Australia, so we visited the Old Parliament House and the beautiful gardens next to it. We walked up to Capital Hill to the new Parliament House and learned about the Australian government (tough to do on 5 hours of sleep). But it was an amazing building with very unique architecture, beautifully kept grounds, great views of the entire city, pretty artwork, lots of little Harry Potter kids running around, and of course great coffees and pastries. After taking in the government buildings we passed through the National Portrait Gallery and then went on a walk around Lake Burley Griffey - a large lake that runs in front of the government sector and the rest of the city. This is where we (unintentionally) logged quite a few of those ten miles. The walk was beautiful though, with lots of greenery and spring flowers blooming everywhere. That afternoon we took a nap, had pizza and wine, and went to bed early - pretty much the best day ever.

The next morning we woke up and got brekky (yes this is actually what they say for breakfast) at the mall. There's not a whole lot happening in central Canberra, but let me tell you this mall was hopping! We went there for breakfast each morning (as did the rest of the town it seemed) and the food was amazing - really fresh and there was a wide selection. After brekky we walked to the Australian War Memorial, which included a museum. Now, as you can probably already tell I'm not much of a museum person. However, this one was incredible. It had a ton of information, artifacts, displays and exhibits surrounding the Australian military (we only had time for the WW1 and WW2 sections) as well as a beautiful memorial area that honored all members of its armed forces. The memorial area was flooded with poppies which is a symbol for war remembrance.

Although there wasn't a ton going on in Canberra, we were glad we stopped through and were able to see the capital buildings and the memorials.

Highlights in Canberra:

1. Australian War Memorial - a really amazing memorial and museum.

2. That mall food!

3. Lake Burley Griffin - just maybe plan on renting bikes rather than walking.

Lessons Learned:

1. Distances on a map often look shorter than they actually are in real life.

2. When you see 'bike hire' places everywhere, there is a reason they are there.

3. After an overnight bus trip and 5 hours of sleep, book activities that require little to no brain power.

4. Get a fit bit (thanks Patty!) for travel - it is so interesting to track how much you are walking!

5. There are free water fountains all over the cities here - so all you have to do is bring a water bottle and you're set!

6. The cool kids call it "straya" which = Australia.