A Year of Sunshine

It’s hard to believe I have already been back in the U.S. for 2 months. While it is nice to be back and see family and friends again, there is not a day that Australia does not cross my mind. A year went by fast, too fast.

The idea of going to Australia was a bit last minute. A friend originally planted the seed in my head after telling me how much fun she had au pairing in Australia on a gap year. At this point I knew I wanted to travel before settling down with a long term job, but money for travelling was another issue. Being an au pair in Australia seemed like it would solve both problems and I happened to have plenty of child care experience and generally enjoy being around kids. Perfect fit right?  I began researching it and a couple months later I boarded a plane with two overstuffed suitcases and headed to a country where I knew no one. This was the start of an adventure of a lifetime.

I’ve learned a lot in the past year, not only that Australia is much bigger than you think and that there are millions of things to see that cannot be accomplished in only a year, but also a lot about myself. I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone by traveling all the way to the other side of the world all by myself, especially someone as afraid of snakes and spiders as I used to be. I have overcome many struggles and fears in the past year and I feel stronger and more confident now because of it. Here are some of the highlights and accomplishments of the past year:

1. Learning to drive on the other side of the road-it was harder coming back to the states and trying to drive again
2. Learning how to live with a family again after being on my own for 4 years-maybe one of the hardest parts of the past year
3. Jumping out of a plane- would do it again in a heartbeat!
4. Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef!
5. Trying Vegemite-not my cup of tea
6. Feeding wild Kangaroos
7. Defeating a giant killer spider-it was actually a harmless Huntsman, but the fact that I didn’t scream was an accomplishment in itself
8. New Year’s Eve on the Sydney Harbor-brilliant!
9. Climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge

10. Seeing the Nutcracker live at the Sydney Opera house

11. Traveling to New Zealand solo for 2 weeks-and ended up making some lifelong friends

12. Riding an elephant in Thailand

13. Drop bears- to all my Aussie friends, I will never fall for it.

14. Seeing wild monkeys in Bali

15. Cuddling a koala

16. TIM TAMS!-Thank God target sells them now

17. Bartering in southeast Asia-loving my new wardrobe

18. Exploring all the beautiful beaches along Australia’s coast

19. Surviving a tropical storm on a long tail boat off the coast of Thailand

20. Learning to surf-its not as easy as it looks

21. Making lifelong friends from all over the world

After such a great year it is hard to be back. Job hunting is stressful and the cold is starting to hit (there goes that yearlong tan I’ve been sporting.) I am excited to see what the future will hold though. Many thanks to the beautiful country of Australia and to my three wonderful host families for such a great year! I will be back for you Australia.

Surviving MH145 and MH783

After our Southeast Asian adventure it was back to Australia for a few days before our visas officially expired. We decided we would fly into Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory for a few days before parting ways. To get to Darwin from Bangkok we had to fly Malaysian Airways, possibly the most dangerous part of our trip (good thing we learned how to skydive first.) Surprisingly enough Malaysian Airways is one of the nicest airlines I have ever flown, with in seat entertainment (lots of quality movies to choose from), delicious meals, blankets and pillows, charging stations and the flight attendants had one of the prettiest uniforms I have come across, not to mention they were some of the friendliest as well. Minus a little turbulence due to storms over Singapore, we survived not one, but two Malaysian airlines flights (we had a layover in Kuala Lumpur) and landed safely at 4:15 am in Darwin (yay for comfy airport floors!). For being a small airport, Darwin customs was pretty intense. Maybe it was the fact that we were flying into Darwin out of all places in Australia and had noted on our arrival cards we were only staying in Australia for a total of 5 days which may have seemed a little suspicious, but the guards were friendly enough when we explained our situation. Unfortunately not friendly enough to extend our visas :(.

Darwin is known for its port, crocodiles and beautiful winter weather. After the cold of the south of Australia and the extreme heat of Southeast Asia, Darwin’s dry winter weather of 80*F, cloudless blue skies and a slight sea breeze was very welcomed. This is the Australia everyone dreams about; although, Darwin in the summer is not fun I hear. With not much of an agenda and only 48 hours we took it easy after our 3 adventure filled weeks of travel. We enjoyed sitting on the beach and watching the ships and tide come in while soaking up some sun and making our way down the many bars and restaurants that line Darwin’s main street, Mitchell Street.

The time finally came though when Diane was to head back to Sydney and I was to go back to Brisbane to gather all my other luggage before flying back to the States. We shared a tearful goodbye at 1 am in the Darwin airport, which was packed because apparently that’s when all the budget airlines schedule their flights. After 3.5 weeks of traveling together we still weren’t ready to part ways. I can honestly say Diane and I made the best travel buddies. Not once did we fight and our travels went smooth for the most part (minus our little incident in Bali.) We made all of our flights and managed to successfully not get on each other’s nerves. Luckily we are now only a short four hour drive away and hopefully will be reunited again soon!

The Best Travel Buddies Ever!

Thailand

One of the more popular destinations in Southeast Asia among tourists, Thailand has rightly earned her spot as a top travel destination. Whether you want to explore the city life of Bangkok or relax on one of the many islands, Thailand has it all and of course in my opinion the best cuisine in Southeast Asia. With so many places to see in Thailand we decided for our first time in Thailand to split our week by spending half our time on the western island of Phuket and the other half in the bustling capital city of Bangkok.

We flew into Phuket from Kuala Lumpur on a Monday afternoon. Phuket is pretty big for an island so the taxi ride (do be careful which taxi company you use. It is recommend to use the official government service located outside most airports.) from the airport to our resort in Karon took over an hour in rush hour. The driving culture in Bali and Thailand is pretty similar and from the outside eye doesn’t make much sense, who has the right of way I will never understand. This was reason number 1 we didn’t risk driving ourselves. One interesting cultural difference that happened to us twice is the taxi driver will stop in the middle of the journey for gas. He won’t ask the passengers he will just stop the meter and then go for gas. The first time it happened to us, you can bet we were a little terrified as to what he was doing, especially as the engine is left running as the gas is put into the tank.

We stayed in another amazing 5 star resort in Phuket, averaging again $25 each a night, located in Karon, an area on the bottom of the western side of Phuket. We were in a great location right in between the other two popular areas of Kata and Patong. The highlight of our hotel was that we were right next to an outdoor food market that had some of the best Nutella crepes (or pancakes as they call them) ever. We frequented the stall enough that the young boy who worked the stall everyday soon recognized us. The Nutella crepes are just the beginning of the amazing Thai cuisine. Thailand was the only Asian country that we did not get sick of the food after a few days. From green and red curries to delicious Pad Thai we could have stayed for weeks before we started to miss Western food.

Besides trying all the wonderful food and lounging by the hotel pool, we did venture out to go elephant trekking, because when in Thailand you have to. I vaguely remember riding an elephant at the zoo when I was younger, but elephant trekking in Thailand is completely different. We had a guide to lead the elephant, but instead of walking the elephant with a leash, he would sit on top of the elephants head to guide him. For us there was a bench attached to the elephants back, but the guide decided it would be a better experience if we took turns riding bare back on the elephant’s neck. Similar to horseback riding, but a whole lot scarier, especially when trekking through the Thai jungle. We survived though and the experience was well worth it, even if we ended up smelling like an elephant for the rest of the day.

Elephant Trekking

Another day trip we took was out to the island of Ko Phi Phi which is off the east coast of Phuket. The ferry took about 2 hours to get us to the island and with a tropical storm on its way it wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences (que the motion sickness.) Once we were close enough to see the island we had to disembark the ferry and hop on smaller long tail boats to get to land. That was by far the coolest part of the trip. There isn’t a whole lot on Ko Phi Phi besides the island resort, but out of all of the beaches I have been to, Ko Phi Phi is by far the best. With white sand and bright blue water that is at bath temperature, we could have stayed forever.

Longtail boats

Now remember that tropical storm that was on its way on our journey over? Well we almost outran it. We had boarded the long tail boats to get back to the ferry, and at this point you could see the storm coming. The water was rougher and the sky was dark. We were literally about to be the next boat to board the ferry when the rain started. Heavy rain. The waves and the rain were too rough to get up close to the ferry so we were stranded at sea until the rain calmed down a little bit 20 minutes later. By this point though we were soaked and had come close to tipping about 100 times. I give props to the drivers of the long tail boats though who managed to safely get us back to the ferry. The 2 hour ferry ride back wasn’t a whole lot of fun soaking wet and we were more than happy to get back to our hotel rooms and into a warm bath and fuzzy robes (because we could.)

Ko Phi Phi

Our next stop in Thailand was Bangkok, because no trip to Thailand would be complete without a stop in its world renowned capital city. Bangkok was a lot different than we expected. We decided to try out the public transportation system from the airport to our hotel and were left in awe. We first had to board a bus to get to the metro station. The system of payment on buses in Thailand is built a lot on trust. We boarded through the back door and then took our seats. When the bus started to move again a lady with tickets came around to collect your money. So much more efficient then making sure everyone pays before boarding the bus. The metro rail was also impressive. The first thing we noticed when waiting to board is that everyone forms neat lines to board, no pushing or shoving, whoever is there first is first to board. The metro is also spotlessly clean. Not what we were expecting from a city like Bangkok. I was very impressed and maybe the US can take a lesson or two from the Thais.

Now Bangkok was a lot busier than Phuket being a big city, so we had to adapt back to being harassed on the streets again. Tuk tuk, tuk tuk.. no thank you. Massage, massage.. no thank you. And so on. The shopping in Bangkok was a lot better though than in Phuket and not quite as expensive. We spent our first night walking around one of the biggest markets in Bangkok right outside Mo Chiat station. And then we spent our first morning with a trip to the famous Damnoen Saduak floating market. The shopping wasn’t that great at the floating markets, but the setup is something to see. To get to the more exclusive shops you can hire a long tail boat and have your guide take you to the different shops along the waterways.

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

That night we decided we’d try and experience some of Bangkok’s famous nightlife. While on our way out we of course stumbled across another night market and ended up shopping a bit before venturing further. Bangkok is known for its nightlife and red light districts and we ended up leaving a bit disappointed in it. It was hard to just find a bar to drink at without a “show.” And being harassed at every corner if we wanted to see a ping pong show was beyond annoying. While Bangkok was fun to see and does have some of the best shopping, I would go back to Phuket long before I made another trip to Bangkok.

The Hidden Treasures of Southeast Asia: Kuala Lumpur

If you asked a majority of Americans to point out Malaysia on a map they would have no clue where it was, even I would have struggled a year ago. When planning our trip to Southeast Asia we were originally planning on bussing and training it all the way from Singapore up to Bangkok, with a few stops in between. Malaysia was one of these. In the end the only train we ended up taking was an overnight sleeper train from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia and Southeast Asia’s newest capital. The thought of riding a rickety old bus cramped full of livestock and people for 20+ hours, added with no AC and 100 degree heat did not sound appealing, so we ended up flying onward after Kuala Lumpur.

The sleeper train was well worth the adventure though. It was pretty luxurious for a sleeper train in southeast Asia-blankets and pillows included, along with curtains that closed and night-lights. I think the coolest part of taking the train from Singapore to KL was border control. We first had to take a fast train to cross the border into Malaysia before boarding our sleeper train in Johor Baharu, Malaysia. And before boarding the fast train we were walked through border control, gaining an exit stamp from Singapore and then walking 100 meters to another room where we went through Malaysian border control and gained our entry stamp into Malaysia-all without leaving the same building and in a matter of minutes. Pretty cool right?

Petronas Towers

While I wasn’t too sure what to expect from Malaysia, it hadn’t really entered my mind as somewhere to travel to until we decided to use it as a pit stop on the way from Singapore to Thailand, it really surprised me as a country. Very similar to Singapore in ways, Malaysia is one of the more developed countries in Southeast Asia and also one of the newest. When you look at Kuala Lumpur and all the looming skyscrapers and towers it’s pretty amazing to think that none of it existed 50 years ago. The city has boomed fast and has some of the world’s coolest architecture.

KLCC Park

While we only had a little over 24 hours in KL, we managed to see most of the city. Another day would have been helpful to see some of the sites outside of the city, but it made the perfect pit stop. The number one attraction to see in KL is the impressive Petronas Towers, better known in KL as the twin towers. Like something out of a sci-fi movie the towers are the tallest twin towers in the world and from 1998 to 2004 were the tallest buildings in the world at 88 stories, now surpassed by Taipei 101. The Petronas towers were named after the Petronas Oil Company who occupies the offices of tower 1. At the base of the towers is upscale Suria KLCC, one of the largest shopping malls in Malaysia. The towers are surrounded by the KLCC Park spanning 17 acres including KL’s famous fountains and multiple walking and running pathways, making KL’s title of Southeast Asia’s Garden City well earned. We spent most of our time around the towers, enjoying the air conditioned shopping mall and admiring the nightly lightshow that takes place at the fountains.

Fountain Show

For being such a new city, KL has an impeccable public transportation system. Efficient, clean and cheap we found our way around fairly easily, only getting lost once in our search for a renowned curry restaurant. Malaysian food is heavily influenced by the large Indian population, but has an extra spicy flair to it. We found it to be some of the better food that we encountered on our travels.

If given the chance I would head back to Malaysia to experience more of what this growing country has to offer. 24 hours was not nearly enough time!

The Hidden Treasures of Southeast Asia: Singapore

Singapore is not a place many tourists think of visiting and in fact we were one of the few tourists there when we visited. Singapore is largely business based as it is centrally located and surrounded by water, making it a perfect trading post. But there is a side to Singapore that not many know about.

The Famous Marina Bay Sands

Singapore has a rich history and has switched rule numerous times from the British, to the Japanese, to being a part of Malaysia to the independent island country she became in 1963. Because of this Singapore has a rich Peranakan culture, the existing local born people that have survived years of changing rule. Their influence can be seen in the local Peranakan cuisine (a mix of Chinese and Malay cuisine) and colorful homes that still dot areas of Singapore. Being such a big trading city, coming in 3^rd in the foreign exchange market only 38% of the population are permanent residents. In a city of 5.5 million a majority are foreigners which makes for a unique culture. While the official business language of Singapore is English, the Singapore Government recognizes English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil as national languages.

Singaporean’s pride themselves on their low environmental impact and this can be seen from the moment you step off the plane into Singapore’s Changi International Airport. Everything is spick and span and not a piece of trash is found littering the ground. This is in due part to the crazy laws Singapore has. Littering will cost you $1,000 and community service for a first offense, not flushing the toilet will land you in trouble with the authorities, the sale of chewing gum is prohibited and even connecting onto unsecure public Wi-Fi can be seen as hacking. Whatever works I guess.

Singapore is probably most widely known for its luxury resort the Marina Bay Sands. Boasting a state of the art casino and a high end shopping mall, it’s a hard resort to beat. The hotel is partitioned into three 55 story towers that support the top platform boasting the rooftop infinity pool and rooftop club. Prices start at a whopping 379 SGD a night. While only guests are allowed entry into the pool area we were able to get up to the rooftop club area and have an $8 cup of coffee, cocktails started at $20 a piece mind you.

View from atop the Marina Bay Sands

Some cheaper options of things to see in Singapore include strolling down Hajji Lane and Arab Street in the Bugis area where you will find store upon store of beautiful authentic Arab and Muslim purchases for a great price. This is also the area to check out the Grand Sultan Mosque, also free! Another great place to visit in Singapore for shopping is China Town, which has some of the best stalls in Singapore and hosts some of the best restaurants.

Sultan Mosque

One of the coolest things we did at night was go to see the Supertree light show at the Gardens by the bay. Every night the trees host two completely free performances set to music and you will be dazzled by the lights and colors. You can even plan ahead and have dinner in one of the Supertrees!

Supertrees

No visit would be complete without snapping a picture of Singapore’s famous Merlion across the bay from the Marina Bay Sands. Yes you guessed it, its part lion, part fish that has become the national icon of Singapore. Other than attracting tons of tourists the Merlion isn’t much to see.

Merlion

Singapore keeping up with it’s green tendencies is home to one of the best Botanic Gardens you will come across. Although we only accidently stumbled across them, you could spend hours walking through the gardens admiring all the green. Our end destination was the MacRitchie Nature Reserve for the famous treetop walk, which was one of my favorite things to do in Singapore. Plan on spending a couple of hours climbing the trails from the Reservoir to the actual treetop walk and then coming back again. You may even run into some wild monkeys!

Treetop Walk

Of course no trip to Singapore was complete without doing one of my favorite things in any city I go to, trying all the wonderful local food-Singapore did not come short here! One of the famously cheap dishes which are hard to come by in expensive Singapore is the Bak Kut Teh or pork ribs soup. It really is as simple as it sounds with spices added to make it even more delicious. While I couldn’t quite get the hang of using a soup spoon and chopsticks to get the pork off of the bones, it was one of the most delicious soups I’ve tried. Legend has it that Bak Kut Teh started off with a beggar begging a pork noodle stall owner for food. The owner was himself not very well off and boiled his left over pork bones, added some soup and spices and voila! Bak Kut Teh was formed.

Bak Kut Teh

Another popular influence in Singapore is Dim Sum and Singapore has adopted Tim Ho Wan’s a famous Dim Sum eatery from Hong Kong. There is a reason it so famous! Think the freshest dumplings you’ll ever try, the best fried rice and a Singaporean favorite fried carrot cake! Maybe not the healthiest of foods, but by far the best!

To keep up with the always hot and humid Singapore heat (think 90’s every day) the Singaporean Ice Cream Sandwich was formed. Scattered around the city of Singapore you will find carts called Ice Cream Uncles selling the best ice cream sandwich you will ever have for a $1.20. You tell the ice cream uncle what flavor you would like and he will get the appropriate ice cream block out and cut you off a slice to be put in between two crisp wafers. The best cure to the Singapore heat.

$1.20 Singapore Ice Cream

We had 4 days in Singapore and while we had originally thought it would be too long, there was still plenty to be seen and a trip back is necessary somewhere in the future.

A Week in Bali

Just a couple things come to mind when thinking of Bali. Sun, sand, surf, yoga, but this Indonesian island is so much more, with a rich cultural history you could easily spend a lifetime uncovering all of Bali’s hidden gems. But what should you see if you only have a week and its your first time visiting (trust me you will want to come back a second and a third and a fourth time.) Aside from the original reasons of coming, to catch some sun and relax, maybe try a yoga class or retreat, catch some waves if you are into surfing, here are some of my must sees on a first visit to Bali.

The most popular and famous attraction is easily the Ubud Monkey Forest- who doesn’t love interacting with wild monkeys. For around 50 Baht (about 5 AUD) you can get into the park and feed the monkeys bananas-the only way to get the monkey to sit on you. As cute as they look, you need to be careful when getting close to these monkeys, they can and will get violent if they feel threatened. Some simple rules to follow:

1) NEVER look the monkeys in the eye-they take this as a threat.

2) Try not to show your teeth-also seen as threatening

3) DO NOT touch the monkeys, let them come to you.

4) Avoid wearing shiny objects into the park unless you really don’t want them anymore. The monkeys will be more than happy to take them off your hands.

5) Avoid going into your bag while in the park unless you enjoy being chased by a heard of monkeys who think you have food inside.

Follow these rules and you will have an enjoyable visit. The amount of people who didn’t listen to this advice and learned the hard way was unbelievable.

Another must see attraction is one of Bali’s numerous temples. As a whole Indonesia is predominately Muslim, but Bali is predominately Hindu. To get a sense of the importance religion plays here check out one of the many temples throughout the island. Its a running joke that there are more temples in Bali than actual housing, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this were true. The most famous is by far Tanah Lot, beautifully situated on the water, but if you don’t have the time to get out to Tanah Lot you will stumble across many other temples throughout your stay.

Another must see is a cultural performance. There are numerous types of Balinese Dance and seeing one will help you to understand more of the Balinese culture. We had the chance to see a Barong style dance, which the Barong is the magical protector of Balinese villages. Aside from learning more about the culture you will also get see some pretty decorative costumes.

Finally you have to experience shopping in Bali. While bartering can be intimidating, that’s half the fun. Out of all the places we visited in southeast Asia we found Bali to have the best selection of items to shop from and the best prices after bartering. A good rule of thumb is to go in with an amount you are willing to spend up to on an item and then make your first offer 70% lower than the price the seller will originally offer. If they won’t agree to your final offer, walk away. Nine times out of ten they will run after you and agree to your price. They will try to make you feel bad, but in the end if they agree to sell it to you for the lower price it obviously wasn’t a loss for them. Another good idea is to go in with small bills and make sure only the amount you want to spend is visible in your wallet or purse. Or hide your wallet until you have agreed on a price. They will try to take peeks into your wallet to see how much you really have. Definitely have a go though. It’s fun and you will feel proud of yourself at your newly found bargaining skills.

How to get around

The easiest and cheapest way to get from one place to the next is to hire a driver for either a half day or full day. For just 30 AUD a car you can have a driver for up to 5 hours to take you anywhere you want to go and for 60 AUD you can have the driver for up to 10 hours. Split between a couple people this is pretty cheap. Not only is it the cheapest way to get around but it is also the best way to learn more about Bali, as the drivers are local and are usually more than happy to share their knowledge with you. In one day you can see a good amount of the island.

Where to stay

Bali is quite large for being an island and it takes a couple of hours to get from one side to the next, so where is the best place to stay? It all depends what you want to center your trip around. Here are a couple of options.

Kuta, Legian, Seminyak region: Where most of the tourists stay, but good for being near to the beach, shopping and food. Legain is where we stayed, situated right in between the party town of Kuta and the upscale Seminyak. We found it to be perfect for a first visit as we walking distance from the other two, yet it was less crowded and quieter than it would have been staying in Kuta. There are lots of great hotels and resorts around as well. Hotels in Bali are great, for 50 AUD a night for two at a 4 star hotel with a buffet breakfast, its not a bad deal at all and we could have stayed forever.

Ubud: Is centrally located and a good jumping off point if you plan to hit all 4 sides of Bali. This is also where the Monkey Forest is and a lot of good shopping.

Denpassar: Close to the airport.

North Bali: Quieter black sanded beaches.

East Bali: Quieter coastal towns.

BEST TRAVEL TIP:

The biggest piece of advice for anyone traveling to Bali, if you are planning on exchanging foreign cash when you get there (which will give you the best value for your money if done right), make sure that at any currency exchange place you go, you are the last one to count the money and the last one to touch it. This is the biggest known scam in Bali and unfortunately we fell victim to it. What the exchange man will do is count out the money and then let you count it out in front of him, he will then gather the money back up and count it once more in front of you, no matter how closely you watch he will always manage to drop a good amount of the bills into a drawer you cannot see (even with two of us staring him down he managed to get us, I swear its magic.) When he does this, make sure you count the money out one more time before you leave, and you must be the last one to touch the counted money. Do not hand over any of your money until you are sure you have the right amount. If careful you will get the best value for your money this way with no commission fees.

Bali is a magical place and will be a great time no matter what happens.

Free Fallin’

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return. -Leonardo Da Vinci

Go time!

No backing out now…

14,000 ft above Cairns

1st one out

Oh shit!

Parachute success

You really trust me to steer the parachute?

Ground!

Life Begins at the End of your Comfort Zone

The Great Barrier Reef

One of the first things that comes to most people’s minds when talking about Australia is the Great Barrier Reef. This is well warranted as the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system. No trip to Australia would be complete without a visit, but knowing where to go in the reef is key. The Great Barrier Reef is over 2,300 km long or 1,400 miles for those who are metric challenged and consists of over 900 islands and 2,900 separate reefs. That’s pretty darn big. A common misconception about the reef is that it lies along the east coast of Australia, while in reality to reach the reef a boat is required as the reef is further out at sea, the coral sea to be exact and lies around the islands. While most of the reef is protected (not only is it a World Heritage Site but also one of the seven natural wonders) only certain parts are accessible to tourists. The two most common tourist access points are Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays and Cairns. I had the chance to go snorkeling in both parts.

Airlie Beach is a small coastal town who’s main purpose is servicing the boats that go out to the reef in the Whitsundays. The Whitsundays is composed of 74 different islands and was by far my favorite place to snorkel. A fairly untouched part of the reef as a majority of tourists go up to Cairns to see the reef, the water was calm and clear, making it easy to spot marine life and coral. The Whitsundays are also home to the famous Whitehaven Beach on the biggest island, Whitehaven Island.What makes it so famous is the vibrant aqua water and the white silica sand. We only had a day to explore the Whitsundays, but there are many tours that are multi-day where you can spend a couple of nights out in the Whitsundays.

Airlie Beach-access point to the Whitsundays

Whitehaven Beach

View from Whitehaven lookout

Cairns is the second and probably most popular access point. Most boats departing from Cairns will head to Green Island, about an hours ride away. We did a snorkeling day trip out to Green Island after the Whitsundays and were a bit disappointed by what we saw. While Green Island is beautiful, we did not find the snorkeling experience as nice as the Whitsundays. The water was a lot rougher making it harder to see and snorkel and what you did see was nothing as pretty as the Whitsundays. I think this is in part to how much tourism Green Island receives and you can see the toll it has taken on the reef there.

Cairns-access point to the Great Barrier Reef

Snorkeling off of Green Island

If given the chance and having to pick between the two parts of the reef, I would say to definitely choose the Whitsundays over the islands near Cairns.

New Zealand

KIA ORA! (Maori greeting of hi or literally meaning to “be well/healthy”)

I’m a bit late with this update, but adjusting back to reality has been tough after 2 weeks of amazing adventures. New Zealand is one of the most beautiful countries I have visited so far and is in high contention as one of my favorites alongside Croatia. Also known as Aotearoa or “long white cloud” by the native Maori (pronounced like moldy bread, a neat tip I picked up), New Zealand is only a 4 hour flight from Brisbane and thus the perfect Easter holiday destination. I was fortunate enough to have two full weeks off while my host family was on vacation and took full advantage of the time to explore a country that has been at the top of my list of places to go for quite some time now. While New Zealand isn’t anywhere near the size of Australia and could very easily be overlooked on a map, two weeks was barely enough time to even graze the surface of this spectacular country, but after two weeks of little sleep and pure excitement, I feel pretty confident that I did it justice. But not to fear, I will definitely be going back sometime down the road.

The first stop was Christchurch, the biggest city in the south island, even if it doesn’t seem that way anymore after the 2011 earthquakes. There isn’t a whole lot to do in Christchurch now, the aftermath of an earthquake that occurred 4 years ago is still very much as prevalent now as it was then. The whole town still feels like a ghost town with collapsed buildings and closed off streets around every turn. Looking at pictures from before the quake at a beautiful bustling city filled with street cars and gardens, it is hard to picture the same city today. That’s not to say the city doesn’t still have some charm left, the rivers still there and there are still a lot of green spaces, but it’s definitely not what it once was.

Christchurch!

The highlight of my stay in Christchurch was the chance to stay at the Jailhouse Accommodation Hostel. An actual prison starting in 1874 all the way up to 1999, the new owners have turned the existing cells into hostel rooms. The concept is pretty cool in itself, but add the fact that real prisoners actually stayed in the same cells makes it even cooler and maybe a little bit creepy. I can now say I spent a night in jail or rather two as I stayed there again on my way up to the north island after my tour of the south island. Were still only on day 1 though.

Jail

Day 2 after my very comfortably spent night spent in jail, I joined up with my Contiki group, who I would be traveling through the south island with for the next 9 days. Contiki is a tour company with tours all over the world specifically catering to travelers aged 18-35. When researching my trip to NZ, I considered doing the whole trip solo, but was recommended by a friend to look into a Contiki trip. Needless to say I am so glad I took her advice as these next 9 days would not have been the same if I had been on my own. Most of the others on the tour were also travelling alone and it was a great way to have instant travel buddies and now friends for life.

The first day on board the coach, another amazing perk of joining Contiki was not worrying about transportation, was spent traveling south to Franz Josef, the glacier region of the south island. The great part about the south island is the amazing scenery everywhere you go, which makes spending hours on a bus a bit more bearable. We arrived into Franz Josef late in the afternoon and spent our first night getting to know one another and of course watching the New Zealand vs. Australia Cricket final. A bit of conflicting interest in the group on this one as a majority of the travelers in the group were from Australia, yet we were in New Zealand. Australia prevailed in the end, making my trip back to Oz a bit easier.

Contiki Crew

Day 3 included a hike to the base of the Franz Josef glacier. To say glacier country is beautiful is an understatement, there are no words to describe the atmosphere around the glacier. The air is ten times fresher and you’re just in awe of the beauty around you. Franz Josef was one of my favorite stops of the tour.

Franz Josef Glacier

Day 4 marked another day on the coach using all the free bus Wi-Fi we could (although 300 MB was never enough for the day.) This time we were headed even further south to Queenstown, known as New Zealand’s resort town and adventure capital of the world. On the way to Queenstown we stopped in a tiny town called Wanaka and had the chance to try out their human maze, which looked way easier than it actually was. It only took us a good 35 minutes to get out… After a nice pit stop we were back on the bus and arrived into Queenstown that evening. The city of Queenstown itself is spectacular, situated between numerous mountains it is not your average city. Being situated so far south it was also the coldest I’d had to endure since being home for Christmas. It was almost refreshing though and the sun was still shining so all was okay. That night we went on a gondola ride up to the Skyline Restaurant in Queenstown where the views overlooking the city and lake were absolutely stunning. Not to mention the food! Buffet style and a travelers dream. The dessert room (yes room!) was an experience in itself. Name a dessert and they had it, and you could have as many as you wanted-maybe not the best idea. I definitely recommend a stop if you’re ever in Queenstown.

View from the Skyline Restaurant

Day 5 we had a scheduled ride on Queenstown’s top attraction, the Shotover Jet, a 360◦ Jet tour on the Shotover River. There’s a reason it is rated the top attraction in Queenstown. It was a fun 30 minutes of fearing for my life and I’d go again in a heartbeat. The drivers seriously have the craziest job and lots of skill, getting so close to the rocks you thought we were going to hit them. The rest of the day was spent exploring Queenstown and trying out the talked about burger spot, Fergburger, which did live up to its expectations! Not a bad lunch/dinner-the burgers are giant!

Shotover Jet

Day 6 was a day trip to Milford Sound. Milford Sound is probably the most known tourist destination in New Zealand and while it was beautiful, I wasn’t the biggest fan. The weather at Milford Sound is rain 99% of the time as it is an inlet formed by glaciers off of the Tasman Sea. The ride out to Milford Sound from Queenstown was 5 hours in itself and add on another 5 for the journey back, with a bus driver from hell, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience. New Zealand is just as beautiful everywhere else that a trip to Milford Sound after hearing all the hype about it is a bit disappointing. But I can say I’ve seen it now I guess.

Milford Sound

Day 7 I went horseback riding as an optional activity. To get to the horse farm we got to take the old TSS Earnslaw steamship from Queenstown across the lake to Walter Peak. While I used to ride when I was younger, I was not prepared for how hard the ride was going to be. We had a nice small group, one other girl from the tour, myself, the guide and of course the horses which allowed us to go at our own pace, which included cantering up mountains and trotting alongside some of the most beautiful and serene scenery outside of Queenstown. Needless to say I was a bit sore the next day, but the ride was definitely worth all the spectacular views we got to see.

Horseback Riding

Day 8 we left Queenstown to head to Dunedin, New Zealand’s student city and also the home to Speight’s Brewery, New Zealand’s famous beer. We were able to tour the brewery and afterwards taste some of the beers-and by taste it was pretty much a free for all as the guide was very gracious and let us try and sample them as many times as we pleased. Even though the beer was not up to my German beer standards, it wasn’t awful. We followed our tour with a dinner in their Ale House, pumpkin soup, beer baked garlic bread, lamb shank and mash. Amazing! We continued our night by checking out Dunedin’s student nightlife, which considering it was the night before Easter wasn’t too shabby. New Zealand and Australia have a law though that no alcohol can be served or bought on Good Friday or Easter, so come midnight our night was cut a bit short.

Speights Brewery

Day 9 or Easter was spent first off by a visit to the Cadbury Chocolate factory and cafe, because no Easter is complete without chocolate. The Carmelo hot chocolate was heavenly! Next stop was climbing Dunedin’s other claim to fame, Baldwin St. or the steepest street in the world-although there has been some debate whether it really is the steepest. After climbing the street and celebrating by rolling candy Jaffa’s (a small chocolate ball with an orange flavored coating popular in Australia and New Zealand) down the hill we were headed to Lake Ohau. Lake Ohau was by far the most secluded town we visited, but the views of the Southern Alps and the popular Mt. Cook visible from our lake front lodge were incredible. We celebrated our last night together as a group with a toga party and some illicit Easter alcohol.

Baldwin St.

Day 10 our last day was spent driving back up north to Christchurch. Fortunately most of us were spending at least another night in Christchurch before heading our separate ways so we were able to enjoy each other’s company for one last night. And even though I slept straight through it we got to experience one of Christchurch’s well known earthquakes. It was only a 3.8 magnitude compared to the devastating 2011 6.3 quake.

Day 11 marked the first day of my travels without my Contiki group and I found it a bit tough to travel alone after such a great trip. I left Christchurch bright and early with the NakedBus-a cheap traveler’s bus service in New Zealand and was headed up to Picton to catch the ferry to the North Island. I had a good 6 hours too many to explore the small city of Picton while I waited on my ferry, but fortunately I met another girl in the same situation and we explored and ate our way through the numerous cafes while we waited for our ferry. The Interislander ferry transports passengers and cars between the north and south islands. The ride itself takes a good 3 hours, but the ferry is well equipped to entertain its passengers for this long, with cafes, shops, a cinema, an arcade, a kids play place and numerous couches to nap on aboard the ship. I opted for the couches after a long day of traveling. We finally made it into Wellington, the capital of New Zealand and the North Island’s ferry port late that night. I was Couchsurfing that night, which I’d ever only done once in Brussels and never alone, so I was a bit worried how the experience would turn out. But I needn’t worry, my host was very gracious and picked me up at the ferry terminal and made me feel right at home. This marked night one of sleeping on a couch.

Ferry Ride

Day 12 I had the entire day free to explore rainy Wellington-the sun literally did not come out once the whole 24 hours I was there- and I took the time to try some of Wellington’s well known coffee, visit the botanical gardens and to explore the national Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Te Papa is a massive 6 or 7 story museum situated right on the harbor and the best part about it is it’s free for all! It is probably one of the best museums I have visited. It covered the history of New Zealand all the way from the Maori people, who are the first known inhabitants of the country, to the natural disasters that effect New Zealand. I think my favorite exhibit was the natural disasters, which pretty much any disaster you can think of effects New Zealand. Part of the reason for this is New Zealand is situated right on a fault line in between the Pacific and Australian plates. After being in Christchurch I found the earthquake exhibit extremely fascinating and it shows how much the geography of New Zealand has changed over the years and will continue to change due to its location.

Rainy Wellington

The museum also had a really interesting temporary exhibit about the airline Air New Zealand, showing how the airline has changed throughout the years, with different uniforms and plane changes. The coolest part was there 3D simulator showing what the future of flights may look like-think visualizers of being on a beach or in another city the whole flight. I definitely recommend checking out the National Museum if you’re ever in Wellington.

That night I had to catch another bus up to Auckland, the biggest city in New Zealand situated in the north of the north island. Auckland’s a good 10 hour drive from Wellington so I choose to take an overnight sleeper bus, which the sleeper part was falsely advertised and the bus was no different than a normal coach. Thanks NakedBus. It was a rough 10 hours trying to sleep on a bus, a packed bus nonetheless meaning I couldn’t lay out on the seats, and I was a bit exhausted when the bus got into Auckland at 6am. I managed to explore a little bit and to see the harbor before I succumbed to Starbucks and took advantage of their free Wi-Fi and outlets. I was Couchsurfing again in Auckland and once it was a reasonable hour again I met up with my new host, who happened to be another American from Michigan-small world! After dropping my bags off, not that I had that much since I decided it would be a great idea to not check a bag (although I am pretty proud of myself for making it two weeks with only a backpack) I headed off to grab lunch with a girl I had met on my Contiki tour who was also in Auckland now! It was nice to see another familiar face and helped a bit with Contiki withdrawal. I then spent that afternoon walking to and climbing up Auckland’s dormant volcano Mount Eden. The view of the city from the top of the volcano is absolutely amazing!

Volcano Climbing

After a night of no sleep and some intense volcano climbing I called it an early night and headed to bed for day 3 of couch/bus sleeping (at this point though I would have slept soundly anywhere.)

Day 14 I booked a day trip to Waitomo and Rotorua, two cities about 3 hours southeast from Auckland. Waitomo is known for its stunning glowworm caves and Rotorua for its mud pools and active geysers. The glowworm caves were pretty neat to see and we got to take a boat ride through the caves, illuminated only by the glowworms.

Entrance to the caves-no photographs allowed inside

In Rotorua our first stop was to a sheep farm (New Zealand is covered in sheep farms and is known for its sheep) and had the chance to see a sheep shearing and watch a sheep dog herd up the sheep. After getting the full farm tour we were off to see a Maori culture performance and the famous mud pools and geysers. The culture performance was interesting to watch and we got to participate in Maori song and dance. The whole city of Rotorua smells of a constant sulfur smell from the geysers, but it gets really bad the closer you get. We made it just in time though to see the larger of the two geysers go off. It was a pretty spectacular sight.

Sheep Shearing

Sheep Hearding

Just hanging out with some sheep

Maori Cultural Performance

Mud Pool

Geyser

Day 15 my last full day in New Zealand I had another day trip booked up to the Bay of Islands, literally a bay of 144 islands, almost as far north as you can go in New Zealand. Luckily it was a nice sunny day and the perfect day for a cruise to the famous Hole in the Rock (again literally a big hole in a rock.) Along the way we were able to see numerous dolphins swimming alongside our boat and some of the more famous islands. It’s absolutely beautiful around the whole area and I was sad I couldn’t have stayed longer.

Dolphins

Hole in the Rock

After a beautiful day the tour headed back to Auckland. I had the chance that night to meet up with another old friend, this time one of my good friends from Germany who just happened to fly into Auckland that afternoon for an internship. It was great to see her after 2 years apart and we enjoyed catching up over pizza, even though she was feeling a bit jetlagged.

Reunited!

The next morning I had to leave bright and early at 3 am for the airport. The whole two weeks had run very smoothly as far as travels plans went so it was only fitting that in my last couple of hours something had to go wrong. I had scheduled and paid for a shuttle through NakedBus ahead a time (once again thank you NakedBus), but after making sure to get to the shuttle stop extra early, the shuttle drove right past, which I think is even worse than not showing up. Lucky for me I got to take an extremely expensive taxi ride to the airport which is a good 45 minutes from the city. But the most important thing was that I made my flight back to Brisbane and more importantly back to my bed!

New Zealand was a great adventure and I will definitely be going back to do all the things I didn’t have the time to do this time around, mainly skiing in Queenstown and bungy jumping-really regretting not doing a bungy jump, but no worries I will be back New Zealand!

Moeraki Boulders

Surf’s Up!

These past two months have been crazy, I’ve cuddled a koala, I’ve learned to surf, I’ve been enjoying the beach, said goodbye to some really close friends I’ve made here 😦  and now I’m about to jet off to New Zealand for 2 weeks. I thought this year would go by a lot slower, but I’m already down to my last 4 months. Crazy how fast time flies! First the koalas, don’t be surprised if I sneak one into my suitcase on the way back, they are adorable. Their fur is not as soft as you’d think though, its actually pretty rough, but they are still adorable nonetheless. After 8 months of being over here, I finally made my way to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary here in Brisbane to cuddle my koala. While you can find koalas in most zoos, not many allow you to actually cuddle one, especially in New South Wales where it is supposedly against the law to cuddle one. But I finally got my cuddle and it was well worth the wait and almost worth the ridiculous price to get into the Sanctuary ($30 AUD) and then the additional fee to cuddle one ($18 AUD). Wouldn’t it be nice to make money off of being cute and cuddly and sleeping all day? Man do koalas have the life.

what a life

To make up for the ridiculous entrance fees the sanctuary did have some pretty neat exhibits. I got to feed kangaroos again, see some dingoes-who may just be even more adorable than the koalas even if they will eat you, crocodiles and snakes, pretty much all the typical wildlife that comes to mind when you think about Australia.

and more Kangaroos!

The cutest Dingo you’ll ever meet.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to surf for the very first time. Let’s just say I now know why surfers have such nice bodies. I signed up for a surf camp which was situated about 2 hours south of Byron Bay, a cute little hippy beach town 2 hours south of Brisbane where the best surf on the east coast of Australia is. The camp included three, two hour lessons-after lesson one I was dying so you can only imagine how sore I was come Monday, but it was well worth it. I was standing by my 3^rd try, which is the best feeling in the world. While I wasn’t amazing at surfing, I was surprised by how easy it is to actually stand up, which I thought would be the hardest part. The hard part was figuring out when to catch a wave though, which without the help of an instructor I am still hopeless at. Just means I need to get out and practice now, although I don’t think surfing will ever be my sport, my arms are not cut out for it! On top of our lessons we also went rafting, which after 2 lessons in one day was not what my arms needed-at least I have hulk arms now. But we survived and it was a good time, even if we tipped over a couple times. After living on the beach for the weekend it was hard to come back to reality in Brisbane, but at least I have my trip to New Zealand to look forward to this weekend. I’m travelling solo all over the North and South Islands for the next two weeks so it should be a good time! Until next time!

Learning to surf!