Monday 25 October 2010
It was a very early morning, but we were up before the alarm clock. A bus picked us up. A lady was doing commentary on the bus, but she was pointing out things that no one would care about or remember. At any sight or "interest point", she would say "It is worth having a look at." As we were leaving another hostel, we saw two dingos. Wow, our first wildlife practically. Pretty sad. We were told that since it has been raining so much in Australia, the wildlife (including kangaroos) were not coming to the side of the road. So it is more difficult to spot. We got to see cows. That was real exciting, since we have never seen those before...At a rest stop, we saw 12 emus. It was kind of interesting seeing so many there.
A man later took on the driving and started talking. This man would not stop talking. Not that anything he was saying was important or relevant. He just liked the sound of his own voice. Later, he had us watch this horrible movie about camels. I never really cared for camels, but this movie made me dislike them with a passion!
The first sight we saw was a rock. Not Ayres Rock, but False Rock. Apparently, many people would go to see Ayres Rock, think this rock was it, and drive away. They never saw the rock at all! We climbed a hill with a lot of red sand. There were pretty good views of the outback here. Although, it was not the outback you would typically expect. For one thing, it was cold. Yes, cold and raining! Also, there was vegetation everywhere. It has rained so much in the outback that there is a lot of growth here. They got their average annual rainfall in just the month of February. Remember February is a summer month, and it has rained every month of the year. It was crazy. Not the typical desolate, dry, hot outback you would expect.
Our next stop was Kata Tjuta. We entered the national park. The colouring of these rocks were incredible. We were able to go across the path in the Gorge for a while. I used every bit of available time. I love hiking. There were so many flies that would land on people's backs, so the guide had a kind of whip. He hit us upon entering the bus to get them off, and just to be annoying.
After Kata Tjuta, it was time for Ayres Rock. We should have been able to see it, but it was so overcast, the clouds hid it. Finally, around one of the many bends, we were able to see it. It was huge! Apparently, only 1/5 of this rock is exposed. The rest is underground. The rock is supposed to change colour depending on the different times of day. Since it was raining so much, we pretty much got the same colour all day. We had two hikes around the rock. The first walk talked about the different sections of the rock and all the stories. The second one had sections we actually couldn't take photographs, because it is very sacred to the aboriginal people. We got to see some of the artwork. It was really neat.
So, I didn't mention this, but there were waterfalls on the rock. Since it was raining so much, there were literally waterfalls running down the rock. There were even puddles. In some of those puddles were tadpoles. These tadpoles could live underground for 5 years and then poke up during a rainfall...or so we were told. A downside to the abundance of rain was, we were not allowed to climb the rock. That would have been amazing!
Then we went to another view point of the rock. The sun poked out a couple times, so we got to see a little different colouring. It was quite spectacular. Then we went to dinner. So, I didn't talk about this, but throughout the whole trip, we have been eating like crazy. We had breakfast lunch and dinner, but we brought a lot of snacks. We weren't exactly sure how much they would feed us. So, we each ate: 4 apples, a bag of OJ, cheese and crackers, sandwich, some chocolate thing, Orange slices, cantaloupe, lollies, chocolate covered fruit and nuts, a crunchie bar, our own cheese and crackers, a musseli bar thing, salad, cabbage, sausages, tomato, pineapple...It was ridiculous. We were bottomless pits.
From eating all this food, we had a lot of rubbish to get rid of. We were going to get rid of it when we got to our hostel, but they were taking forever and we were losing motivation. So we were going to leave it on our seat. We didn't want the guides to think it was us, so we tried to sneak it on the seat in front of us. We didn't like that either, so we snuck it back and kicked it under the seat in front of us as if someone forgot it was there. I know, we were not very nice. In fact, we were just mean.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Alice Springs
Sunday 24 October 2010
So, the walls here are paper thin as well. We were rudely awakened by a group of hyper screaming girls. I mean, these girls were really SCREAMING...a lot. They would count to 3 or something and all join in. After the first few times, a couple guys joined in. All this was at 1:00 am. A while later, they calmed down, and a new group of people would go stomping through the hallway or talk loudly, or sing, or do whatever they could do to make noise. It was as if they were afraid not everyone in the hostel could hear them. Well, they needn't be concerned.
At just after 4:00, we got up to get ready. A lot of people were still up. I guess it didn't help our hostel is right next to a bar. Because we had to leave so early, we had to get a taxi to the airport. I know we didn't stay here long, but it was the only way to get to our next destination. Alice Springs. Because of the time, we got a surcharge. So fun.
We got to the airport really early again, and waited. There was a camera crew interviewing people on our flight. They actually filmed us boarding the plane. Alison and I saw a flash as we went through. We may be famous!
During the plane ride, I tried to sleep. I closed my eyes, rolled my head on one side, slept, rolled to another side, woke up, rolled to another side. I have pains in my neck from every angle. We arrived in Alice Springs and had to switch our clocks again 1.5 hours different from Adelaide. So weird. We followed the instructions of where to go, but no one was there. We waited a while, and someone told us we needed to be somewhere else. Okay.
We stood outside. In the outback. That's right! In the Outback!
The bugs here outnumber people 20:1 or something like that. So we were constantly flailing our arms around. It wouldn't have been so bad if they just landed on us, but they flew right in our face! They come in every direction! Because we arrived so early, the rooms were not ready, so we put our luggage in storage and asked for a map. The hostel guy was really good. He showed us the three points of interest in Alice Springs. Our main goal for now is FOOD! We were so hungry. We went to a place, but couldn't order lunch until 11:00. We were there around 10:30, so we had to wait. After lunch (which was huge and made us feel sick for eating too much), we walked around. We decided to go up a hill that overlooks Alice Springs. At first, we weren't going to do it, because the outback is filled with the most dangerous animals on Earth. Then we decided it was the only attraction we hadn't done and, quite frankly, we had the time. We carefully walked up the hill to the top. It was a better view than I expected. Then we climbed down. It was SO HOT! We went through a couple shops and then went back to our hostel to get our key. In our room, we have to slam the door to close it properly. Won't that be fun tonight!
We basically played games until an appropriate time to go to bed. We though 7:00 pm would be appropriate. Just remember that we have been travelling a lot in the past couple days, have been doing all kinds of things, and have been changing time zones almost daily. We are really messed up with time and are really tired. So don't judge us too harshly.
So, the walls here are paper thin as well. We were rudely awakened by a group of hyper screaming girls. I mean, these girls were really SCREAMING...a lot. They would count to 3 or something and all join in. After the first few times, a couple guys joined in. All this was at 1:00 am. A while later, they calmed down, and a new group of people would go stomping through the hallway or talk loudly, or sing, or do whatever they could do to make noise. It was as if they were afraid not everyone in the hostel could hear them. Well, they needn't be concerned.
At just after 4:00, we got up to get ready. A lot of people were still up. I guess it didn't help our hostel is right next to a bar. Because we had to leave so early, we had to get a taxi to the airport. I know we didn't stay here long, but it was the only way to get to our next destination. Alice Springs. Because of the time, we got a surcharge. So fun.
We got to the airport really early again, and waited. There was a camera crew interviewing people on our flight. They actually filmed us boarding the plane. Alison and I saw a flash as we went through. We may be famous!
During the plane ride, I tried to sleep. I closed my eyes, rolled my head on one side, slept, rolled to another side, woke up, rolled to another side. I have pains in my neck from every angle. We arrived in Alice Springs and had to switch our clocks again 1.5 hours different from Adelaide. So weird. We followed the instructions of where to go, but no one was there. We waited a while, and someone told us we needed to be somewhere else. Okay.
We stood outside. In the outback. That's right! In the Outback!
The bugs here outnumber people 20:1 or something like that. So we were constantly flailing our arms around. It wouldn't have been so bad if they just landed on us, but they flew right in our face! They come in every direction! Because we arrived so early, the rooms were not ready, so we put our luggage in storage and asked for a map. The hostel guy was really good. He showed us the three points of interest in Alice Springs. Our main goal for now is FOOD! We were so hungry. We went to a place, but couldn't order lunch until 11:00. We were there around 10:30, so we had to wait. After lunch (which was huge and made us feel sick for eating too much), we walked around. We decided to go up a hill that overlooks Alice Springs. At first, we weren't going to do it, because the outback is filled with the most dangerous animals on Earth. Then we decided it was the only attraction we hadn't done and, quite frankly, we had the time. We carefully walked up the hill to the top. It was a better view than I expected. Then we climbed down. It was SO HOT! We went through a couple shops and then went back to our hostel to get our key. In our room, we have to slam the door to close it properly. Won't that be fun tonight!
We basically played games until an appropriate time to go to bed. We though 7:00 pm would be appropriate. Just remember that we have been travelling a lot in the past couple days, have been doing all kinds of things, and have been changing time zones almost daily. We are really messed up with time and are really tired. So don't judge us too harshly.
One Day in Melbourne
Saturday 23 October 2010
So those girls got up very early this morning. They must not sleep. We went downstairs to eat breakfast. We had a lot of fruit to consume before the flight. We had 2 emergency apples and 2 punnets of strawberries. The apples had really thick skins and it took forever to eat. It felt like we had 1,000 strawberries. Wei love strawberries, but eating them all at once...Alison quit on me, and I was NOT about to waste them. I may not look at a strawberry the same way again. I love them, but I hope I don't have some toxicity level of something for eating so many.
At the terminal, they told the people who sit in the back of the plane to turn left, so we can board the plane at the rear. Well, there was no place I saw to turn left. We seemed to be the only idiots who couldn't figure out where to board the plane. The flight was only an hour, but it was a little delayed due to Melbourne traffic. When we got outside, it seemed more like a warehouse than an airport. We had to exit through a spinning gate. We got to the hostel and checked in. I thought this was the hostel where we would have a multi gendered room, but we ended up having a room to ourselves. YEAH! By the way, we went to Melbourne. Actually, we were in St. Kilda. There are a lot of restaurants and cafes in this area. We walked along them when...a mouse ran by us. We stopped dead in our tracks and inched our way forward, letting the mouse take the lead. We left a considerable distance between us and the mouse. The mouse was looking for a way into different places, but couldn't fit. Then it went to a corner, hopped up, and disappeared. Alison and I kind of stared, horrified. We made a resolution never to eat at the restaurant.
We stopped at a cafe for a while. I actually left first and paid for both of bills apparently. When Alison left, they made her pay as well. I told her what happened, and she went back to them, and got her money back. A bit unorganised if you ask me.
When we got back to the hostel, we went to bed. My bed was missing a slat, so when I sat on it, I sank...a lot. As I was sitting, another slat fell off. So I almost touched the floor! Well, I put that back in, but it was interesting during the night. I would turn and sink in unusual places. Alison said her bed was horribly uncomfortable. My pillow felt like it had scales in it. Very strange hostel.
So those girls got up very early this morning. They must not sleep. We went downstairs to eat breakfast. We had a lot of fruit to consume before the flight. We had 2 emergency apples and 2 punnets of strawberries. The apples had really thick skins and it took forever to eat. It felt like we had 1,000 strawberries. Wei love strawberries, but eating them all at once...Alison quit on me, and I was NOT about to waste them. I may not look at a strawberry the same way again. I love them, but I hope I don't have some toxicity level of something for eating so many.
At the terminal, they told the people who sit in the back of the plane to turn left, so we can board the plane at the rear. Well, there was no place I saw to turn left. We seemed to be the only idiots who couldn't figure out where to board the plane. The flight was only an hour, but it was a little delayed due to Melbourne traffic. When we got outside, it seemed more like a warehouse than an airport. We had to exit through a spinning gate. We got to the hostel and checked in. I thought this was the hostel where we would have a multi gendered room, but we ended up having a room to ourselves. YEAH! By the way, we went to Melbourne. Actually, we were in St. Kilda. There are a lot of restaurants and cafes in this area. We walked along them when...a mouse ran by us. We stopped dead in our tracks and inched our way forward, letting the mouse take the lead. We left a considerable distance between us and the mouse. The mouse was looking for a way into different places, but couldn't fit. Then it went to a corner, hopped up, and disappeared. Alison and I kind of stared, horrified. We made a resolution never to eat at the restaurant.
We stopped at a cafe for a while. I actually left first and paid for both of bills apparently. When Alison left, they made her pay as well. I told her what happened, and she went back to them, and got her money back. A bit unorganised if you ask me.
When we got back to the hostel, we went to bed. My bed was missing a slat, so when I sat on it, I sank...a lot. As I was sitting, another slat fell off. So I almost touched the floor! Well, I put that back in, but it was interesting during the night. I would turn and sink in unusual places. Alison said her bed was horribly uncomfortable. My pillow felt like it had scales in it. Very strange hostel.
Continuing Adelaide
Friday 22 October 2010
Our beds were really comfortable. We got up to go to Glenelg. It is a beach area, so we got our togs ready for a day in the sun. We got on the tram, and it was cold. Of course. We walked on the pier, took pictures, and walked along the shops. It is a cute area, but not a whole lot to do. We ended up sitting in a cafe (that had amazing pastries by the way). I really like pastries in case you couldn't tell.
We went to Tandonya Aboriginal Art, which is a cool shop of Aboriginal Arts and crafts. We went to the food market and bought two punnets of strawberries. We were really excited.
Alison got a text from Tiger Airways telling her to print her boarding pass. Apparently, this airline wanted us to print our boarding pass, or else we would have to pay $25 for them to print it upon check-in. So ridiculous. We have heard several people make comments on this airline. We have three flights with them, so we were a bit nervous. We tried to print off all our boarding passes, but only two of them were available, because our last ticket was a little over a week away. Well, it cost about 20 cents per copy, but 20 cents is much cheaper than $25.
Then we went to a museum. I really liked this museum. It was science, so not surprising. Fossils, ocean life, minerals...right up my alley.
So every city we are in, the weather seems to turn on us. We left and though we were in the clear for stuff happening. We just walked a little ways when a guy stopped me to ask if I could direct him (and a couple other guys) to a bar. The guy who asked me already looked like he had too much...of something. He was kind of slow and his eyes were unfocused. Then it started raining on us. We continued walking and there were these girls who were shouting out profanities. We just went past. I don't know if they were shouting at us or what.
We went to bed, but at 11, two girls came in and turned on the lights. I put the sheets over my head, but I couldn't breathe. I tried covering my eyes. Nothing would help. One girl took the bed under mine. She must have spent over 45 minutes just looking through her bag. It was so noisy! Then she and her friend would talk. It was well after 12 when they finally turned off the light, and even then they didn't go to bed. They kept typing...
Our beds were really comfortable. We got up to go to Glenelg. It is a beach area, so we got our togs ready for a day in the sun. We got on the tram, and it was cold. Of course. We walked on the pier, took pictures, and walked along the shops. It is a cute area, but not a whole lot to do. We ended up sitting in a cafe (that had amazing pastries by the way). I really like pastries in case you couldn't tell.
We went to Tandonya Aboriginal Art, which is a cool shop of Aboriginal Arts and crafts. We went to the food market and bought two punnets of strawberries. We were really excited.
Alison got a text from Tiger Airways telling her to print her boarding pass. Apparently, this airline wanted us to print our boarding pass, or else we would have to pay $25 for them to print it upon check-in. So ridiculous. We have heard several people make comments on this airline. We have three flights with them, so we were a bit nervous. We tried to print off all our boarding passes, but only two of them were available, because our last ticket was a little over a week away. Well, it cost about 20 cents per copy, but 20 cents is much cheaper than $25.
Then we went to a museum. I really liked this museum. It was science, so not surprising. Fossils, ocean life, minerals...right up my alley.
So every city we are in, the weather seems to turn on us. We left and though we were in the clear for stuff happening. We just walked a little ways when a guy stopped me to ask if I could direct him (and a couple other guys) to a bar. The guy who asked me already looked like he had too much...of something. He was kind of slow and his eyes were unfocused. Then it started raining on us. We continued walking and there were these girls who were shouting out profanities. We just went past. I don't know if they were shouting at us or what.
We went to bed, but at 11, two girls came in and turned on the lights. I put the sheets over my head, but I couldn't breathe. I tried covering my eyes. Nothing would help. One girl took the bed under mine. She must have spent over 45 minutes just looking through her bag. It was so noisy! Then she and her friend would talk. It was well after 12 when they finally turned off the light, and even then they didn't go to bed. They kept typing...
Going to Adelaide
Thursday 21 October 2010
We got up at 3:57 am. A very vile hour. We stood outside, and it was raining. We were told to put the keys under the door. It was not easy. There was no crack under the door, but this brushlike textures kind of made us nervous. There was hair and furry stuff under there. It took several minutes to get the keys under. As we waited for the shuttle, a bird started moaning. It got louder and louder. The pitch got higher until it sounded like it was screaming. I was going to record it, but it ran into the middle of the street. The shuttle came and it took 10 minutes to get to the airport. We had to wait a while to board the plane. The guy next to me and a guy a couple rows back kept making animal noises. It was very odd.
We landed in Adelaide. We picked up the shuttle to our hostel. Although we were dropped off at our hostel, the reception was on the opposite side of the street. So we got in, adjusted our bags, and took off. We walked through a mall area and tried to decide what to do. We went to an art gallery. Now, Alison is a great appreciator of art...well, a lot of art. I...am not. I enjoy making fun of it more than anything. I am not an art gallery person, so...going to the gallery was interesting. There was one area in particular that was unique. There was one of a monkey/woman thing feeding a baby. Alison went in first. When I came in, she was looking at me, and apparently my face really made her laugh. The problem was, it was one of those echo rooms that made any sound louder. So of course we were trying not to laugh, and of course not laughing was making it worse. I tried to cough it out, and the sound reverberated everywhere, which made us laugh even harder. We had to leave that room quickly. There was a girl there who was probably disgusted with us. There were several other rooms that forced me to bite my tongue.
After that, we went to a museum with Aboriginal artifacts. Then we went to the Botanical Gardens. It was really pretty, but not as big as I expected. Adelaide is a really nice city. I really like it here, even though it is really small and you can do it in a day.
We got up at 3:57 am. A very vile hour. We stood outside, and it was raining. We were told to put the keys under the door. It was not easy. There was no crack under the door, but this brushlike textures kind of made us nervous. There was hair and furry stuff under there. It took several minutes to get the keys under. As we waited for the shuttle, a bird started moaning. It got louder and louder. The pitch got higher until it sounded like it was screaming. I was going to record it, but it ran into the middle of the street. The shuttle came and it took 10 minutes to get to the airport. We had to wait a while to board the plane. The guy next to me and a guy a couple rows back kept making animal noises. It was very odd.
We landed in Adelaide. We picked up the shuttle to our hostel. Although we were dropped off at our hostel, the reception was on the opposite side of the street. So we got in, adjusted our bags, and took off. We walked through a mall area and tried to decide what to do. We went to an art gallery. Now, Alison is a great appreciator of art...well, a lot of art. I...am not. I enjoy making fun of it more than anything. I am not an art gallery person, so...going to the gallery was interesting. There was one area in particular that was unique. There was one of a monkey/woman thing feeding a baby. Alison went in first. When I came in, she was looking at me, and apparently my face really made her laugh. The problem was, it was one of those echo rooms that made any sound louder. So of course we were trying not to laugh, and of course not laughing was making it worse. I tried to cough it out, and the sound reverberated everywhere, which made us laugh even harder. We had to leave that room quickly. There was a girl there who was probably disgusted with us. There were several other rooms that forced me to bite my tongue.
After that, we went to a museum with Aboriginal artifacts. Then we went to the Botanical Gardens. It was really pretty, but not as big as I expected. Adelaide is a really nice city. I really like it here, even though it is really small and you can do it in a day.
Great Barrier Reef Adventures
Wednesday 20 October 2010
We got up and went straight to the boat terminal. We were early, but we didn't care. Anything to get out of that room! No one was at our company sight. This place had so many companies. Anyway, after 30 minutes, someone arrived. We checked in and started to the dock. As we headed out, we saw a man leaning over a rubbish bin and hacking up something. It sounded horrible, and we walked by very quickly. We boarded the boat, and the guide told us it would take about 1.5 hours to get to the reef. We would be there about 2 hours, then we would go to another reef and spend about 1.5-2 hours there. There would be a submarine ride depending on weather conditions. Then we would have 1.5 hours to return.
They told us that is was the very beginning of stinger season. That was all we needed to hear. We got the stinger suits right away. The ride was a little choppy, so people were popping in pills left and right. Some people did not make it though. One guy really ran to the bathroom and stayed there a while. When he came out, the boat hit a bump and he stumbled and had his hands outstretched on either side of him. I laughed a lot. It looked so funny, but I know he was sick. I guess I laughed at his expense.
I watched the water and marvelled at the beauty. Lots of people were sleeping, but I was wide awake and thoroughly excited. When we got to the reef, I got my suit on and and went to the back of the boat to put on the rest of my stuff. I LOVE the ocean!!! I love just being in the water and seeing all the creatures. Plus, this is the Great Barrier Reef! One of the seven natural wonders of the world! I was elated. Both Alison and I had underwater cameras. We went out together and explored for a bit. Alison was really nervous. Snorkeling is not her favourite thing in the world. She stayed out for a while, but went back. So I was out on my own for a while. I loved swimming around. The water was really warm. The coral was beautiful and colourful. Very unique; especially the brain coral. There were a lot of colourful fish. Big and little. I saw a fish cleaning another fish. I saw a ray buried in the sand (I saw a circle and a hint of a tail). There were fish with strange noses. There were so many HUGE clam shells that (as you passed by) colours would fade. I was swimming for 1.5 hours. When I returned, I felt a bit light headed and REALLY had to use the bathroom. When I am out in the water, I feel like I have to use the bathroom all the time. Which isn't easy to do with wet togs. I know, too much info.
We headed out to the second reef. I liked this one even better. Where we got off the boat, it was really deep, but the coral came up even closer to the surface of the water. The first fish I saw was HUGE! Fish were everywhere. I saw a fish open his mouth and spew a lot of food. I was sad I didn't get a picture of that! A little later, I saw a fish poop. Again, no picture. So disappointing! As I was swimming, I felt weird. I couldn't figure out why, but I realised something was hitting me on the back. It was actually raining. it was kind of cool.I then decided to swim around the edges of the reef and discovered a unique forest of coral. I hadn't seen coral like that. They were more like dead trees with no leaves. It was funny that, as I was approaching the edge of the reef, I started getting nervous. I caught myself looking out and expecting a big shadow of a dangerous animal like in Nemo. After all, it is "The Dropoff!" I liked swimming around the edges of the reef almost more than the reef. I could see layers, small fish in the reef, fish hiding in the edges of the reef, and (at times) big fish in the depths.
As you can see, I had an absolute blast. I came back to the boat after about 1.5 hours and went to the bathroom for like the 7th time. Seriously, how many times can a person go! I went more on this trip than I think I had for the past week!
After the trip, it was time for dinner. So we went to a Subway. As we were eating, I saw someone running, and then he was gone. Then there was major shouting, and people all over the place stopped and looked in one direction. Alison said a guy ran and pushed a guy hard in the chest. It sounded like they were throwing chairs or something at each other.
We also heard alarms go off in buildings. Not just one....two. We won't be sad leaving Cairns. We went back to the hostel to pack. We have to leave at 4:30 am to catch a 6:30 flight.
We got up and went straight to the boat terminal. We were early, but we didn't care. Anything to get out of that room! No one was at our company sight. This place had so many companies. Anyway, after 30 minutes, someone arrived. We checked in and started to the dock. As we headed out, we saw a man leaning over a rubbish bin and hacking up something. It sounded horrible, and we walked by very quickly. We boarded the boat, and the guide told us it would take about 1.5 hours to get to the reef. We would be there about 2 hours, then we would go to another reef and spend about 1.5-2 hours there. There would be a submarine ride depending on weather conditions. Then we would have 1.5 hours to return.
They told us that is was the very beginning of stinger season. That was all we needed to hear. We got the stinger suits right away. The ride was a little choppy, so people were popping in pills left and right. Some people did not make it though. One guy really ran to the bathroom and stayed there a while. When he came out, the boat hit a bump and he stumbled and had his hands outstretched on either side of him. I laughed a lot. It looked so funny, but I know he was sick. I guess I laughed at his expense.
I watched the water and marvelled at the beauty. Lots of people were sleeping, but I was wide awake and thoroughly excited. When we got to the reef, I got my suit on and and went to the back of the boat to put on the rest of my stuff. I LOVE the ocean!!! I love just being in the water and seeing all the creatures. Plus, this is the Great Barrier Reef! One of the seven natural wonders of the world! I was elated. Both Alison and I had underwater cameras. We went out together and explored for a bit. Alison was really nervous. Snorkeling is not her favourite thing in the world. She stayed out for a while, but went back. So I was out on my own for a while. I loved swimming around. The water was really warm. The coral was beautiful and colourful. Very unique; especially the brain coral. There were a lot of colourful fish. Big and little. I saw a fish cleaning another fish. I saw a ray buried in the sand (I saw a circle and a hint of a tail). There were fish with strange noses. There were so many HUGE clam shells that (as you passed by) colours would fade. I was swimming for 1.5 hours. When I returned, I felt a bit light headed and REALLY had to use the bathroom. When I am out in the water, I feel like I have to use the bathroom all the time. Which isn't easy to do with wet togs. I know, too much info.
We headed out to the second reef. I liked this one even better. Where we got off the boat, it was really deep, but the coral came up even closer to the surface of the water. The first fish I saw was HUGE! Fish were everywhere. I saw a fish open his mouth and spew a lot of food. I was sad I didn't get a picture of that! A little later, I saw a fish poop. Again, no picture. So disappointing! As I was swimming, I felt weird. I couldn't figure out why, but I realised something was hitting me on the back. It was actually raining. it was kind of cool.I then decided to swim around the edges of the reef and discovered a unique forest of coral. I hadn't seen coral like that. They were more like dead trees with no leaves. It was funny that, as I was approaching the edge of the reef, I started getting nervous. I caught myself looking out and expecting a big shadow of a dangerous animal like in Nemo. After all, it is "The Dropoff!" I liked swimming around the edges of the reef almost more than the reef. I could see layers, small fish in the reef, fish hiding in the edges of the reef, and (at times) big fish in the depths.
As you can see, I had an absolute blast. I came back to the boat after about 1.5 hours and went to the bathroom for like the 7th time. Seriously, how many times can a person go! I went more on this trip than I think I had for the past week!
After the trip, it was time for dinner. So we went to a Subway. As we were eating, I saw someone running, and then he was gone. Then there was major shouting, and people all over the place stopped and looked in one direction. Alison said a guy ran and pushed a guy hard in the chest. It sounded like they were throwing chairs or something at each other.
We also heard alarms go off in buildings. Not just one....two. We won't be sad leaving Cairns. We went back to the hostel to pack. We have to leave at 4:30 am to catch a 6:30 flight.
Finding Things To Do
Tuesday 19 October 2010
We went to bed pretty early so we could get up early today, just to get out of the hostel. We hoped the girls would not be noisy coming in during the night, but the air conditioner sounds like the Apocalypse, so it blocked out a lot of other sounds. I woke up a couple times thinking it was an appropriate time that I could get up. The first time, it was 3:00 am. The next time it was 4:00 am. The third time it was 5:54 am. We got up just after 6:00. We got ready really fast and practically ran out the door. The bathroom had no toilet paper. A couple girls in our room never bring the key, so the girls would constantly knock on the door. After we left, we realised they just leave the door unlocked all the time. Sounds safe...
We walked to the water and found a lagoon we could swim in. They have a lagoon, because the beach has crocodiles in it. There were so many people exercising, doing yoga, or who knows what else. We saw some unique positions that probably should not be shown in public, but what do I know...
We went back to the room, unfortunately, to change into our togs. We got our food (stale chips and salsa), and walked to the lagoon. It was really cold, but I was determined and went all the way in and waded. As soon as we were in the water, the clouds started rolling in. It got really cold, so we got out and sat on a bench to eat our food. Then we started walking around. We noticed an incredible amount of bicyclists and asked a policeman if something was going on. He said it was a famous three day track from Cairns to Cook (something) Marathon for bikes and people all over the world participate. How very cool.
We walked around and it got really hot. I got pretty toasted. Then we went to a cafe for lunch and had a pretty amazing sandwich. Our first real meal in a long time. Around 2:30 pm, we walked around again, and noticed EVERYONE was laying out in the grass. It was kind of a strange sight. I guess, since the beaches are infested with crocodiles, they lay out on the grass.
We walked along the boardwalk, that was built so you wouldn't go on the beaches. It was really beautiful. We got notice that one of our flights got changed. Oh the joy! While we were eating dinner, a lady was leading some kind of aerobics thing outside. She had a microphone and was really loud. She told them what to do, but after every 30 seconds or so, she would go "Woo!" Alison and I would mimic her a lot and laugh.
We got to our room and tried to sleep. My bed slants to the right quite a bit. I feel like I have a 30% grave on my bed. It is ridiculous. I have my own miniature Baldwin Street! It makes sleeping interesting. I have all my luggage on my bed, because I don't trust our roommates. There is not a whole lot of room here.
Well, I am super excited about tomorrow. I am about to complete on of my biggest dreams of swimming in the Great Barrier Reef! Oooooooooooooooo!!!!
So, I am not exactly sure when I will be able to put up pictures anymore. The Internet here is slow again, so I may have to wait. Sorry for prolonging things!
We went to bed pretty early so we could get up early today, just to get out of the hostel. We hoped the girls would not be noisy coming in during the night, but the air conditioner sounds like the Apocalypse, so it blocked out a lot of other sounds. I woke up a couple times thinking it was an appropriate time that I could get up. The first time, it was 3:00 am. The next time it was 4:00 am. The third time it was 5:54 am. We got up just after 6:00. We got ready really fast and practically ran out the door. The bathroom had no toilet paper. A couple girls in our room never bring the key, so the girls would constantly knock on the door. After we left, we realised they just leave the door unlocked all the time. Sounds safe...
We walked to the water and found a lagoon we could swim in. They have a lagoon, because the beach has crocodiles in it. There were so many people exercising, doing yoga, or who knows what else. We saw some unique positions that probably should not be shown in public, but what do I know...
We went back to the room, unfortunately, to change into our togs. We got our food (stale chips and salsa), and walked to the lagoon. It was really cold, but I was determined and went all the way in and waded. As soon as we were in the water, the clouds started rolling in. It got really cold, so we got out and sat on a bench to eat our food. Then we started walking around. We noticed an incredible amount of bicyclists and asked a policeman if something was going on. He said it was a famous three day track from Cairns to Cook (something) Marathon for bikes and people all over the world participate. How very cool.
We walked around and it got really hot. I got pretty toasted. Then we went to a cafe for lunch and had a pretty amazing sandwich. Our first real meal in a long time. Around 2:30 pm, we walked around again, and noticed EVERYONE was laying out in the grass. It was kind of a strange sight. I guess, since the beaches are infested with crocodiles, they lay out on the grass.
We walked along the boardwalk, that was built so you wouldn't go on the beaches. It was really beautiful. We got notice that one of our flights got changed. Oh the joy! While we were eating dinner, a lady was leading some kind of aerobics thing outside. She had a microphone and was really loud. She told them what to do, but after every 30 seconds or so, she would go "Woo!" Alison and I would mimic her a lot and laugh.
We got to our room and tried to sleep. My bed slants to the right quite a bit. I feel like I have a 30% grave on my bed. It is ridiculous. I have my own miniature Baldwin Street! It makes sleeping interesting. I have all my luggage on my bed, because I don't trust our roommates. There is not a whole lot of room here.
Well, I am super excited about tomorrow. I am about to complete on of my biggest dreams of swimming in the Great Barrier Reef! Oooooooooooooooo!!!!
So, I am not exactly sure when I will be able to put up pictures anymore. The Internet here is slow again, so I may have to wait. Sorry for prolonging things!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
The LONG Bus Ride
Monday 18 October 2010
Alison and I went to the bus terminal and waited. The bus arrived and we had a 12 hour bus ride ahead of us. Yuck! We were the only people who went all the way from Mackay to Cairns, but we had some interesting people. One guy put on WAY too much cologne. Another guy reeked of smoke. One guy kept swooshing and playing around with his drink bottle noisily. One guy had his i-pod on so loud, we could hear the music from several rows back. The bathroom door on the bus swung open and things rattled. At one point, the bus smelled really bad. So someone had to have made a mess in there...It made us sick.
My seat belt was strangling me for pretty much the entire trip. It locked on me throughout the trip. It was not comfortable. We brought our own lunch, but we needed to get dinner. The problem was, the driver picked the most remote places. The only thing we got was tortilla chips. We didn't know it until we ate them, but they were well past their postmarked date. They were VERY stale.
We made it to Cairns around 7:00 pm. When we arrived, it was incredibly dark. I smelled something like Banana Boat and looked around. I saw the guy on the other side was putting on the sunscreen and a straw hat. I thought that was a bit too much wishful thinking on his part. We got off very quickly. We went to the store to get some salsa. Then we went to our hostel.
When we arrived, there was a sign on the door saying to call him on his phone (the host). We called and he was on the side of the hostel down an alleyway. He made us just stand there until he was done with fixing the door or something. Then we went in a creepy looking storage area and we paid. He then showed us the way to our room. We had to maneuver a lot and duck under or around things. It looks as if the place used to be a store, which turned into a storage place, which turned into a hostel. It looks as if they shoved the stuff to various sides to clear out some space. He showed us the door and we went in. We could see through the window as the curtains don't close properly. As soon as I opened the door, I stopped in my tracks, stunned. It looked like a tornado went through our room. There are four bunks beds and glass doors and windows that are painted so people can't see in from outside. That's bad enough, but the girls who occupy the rooms are messier than anything. Everything imaginable is on the floor, desk, chair, beds...even Alison's bed had a togs top on it. Make-up, cute tips, clothes, shoes...EVERYWHERE!!! It was hard to know what to do with anything. We looked at each other and just thought "What are we going to do?" After the initial shock, we belly-ached a while. We put everything on our beds and tried to decide if we would risk the shower or not. We decided it would help us feel better. The showers were covered in mould and you can see through the windows. Or, people could see us through the window. It was very disturbing! Just two nights and we will be out of here!
Alison and I went to the bus terminal and waited. The bus arrived and we had a 12 hour bus ride ahead of us. Yuck! We were the only people who went all the way from Mackay to Cairns, but we had some interesting people. One guy put on WAY too much cologne. Another guy reeked of smoke. One guy kept swooshing and playing around with his drink bottle noisily. One guy had his i-pod on so loud, we could hear the music from several rows back. The bathroom door on the bus swung open and things rattled. At one point, the bus smelled really bad. So someone had to have made a mess in there...It made us sick.
My seat belt was strangling me for pretty much the entire trip. It locked on me throughout the trip. It was not comfortable. We brought our own lunch, but we needed to get dinner. The problem was, the driver picked the most remote places. The only thing we got was tortilla chips. We didn't know it until we ate them, but they were well past their postmarked date. They were VERY stale.
We made it to Cairns around 7:00 pm. When we arrived, it was incredibly dark. I smelled something like Banana Boat and looked around. I saw the guy on the other side was putting on the sunscreen and a straw hat. I thought that was a bit too much wishful thinking on his part. We got off very quickly. We went to the store to get some salsa. Then we went to our hostel.
When we arrived, there was a sign on the door saying to call him on his phone (the host). We called and he was on the side of the hostel down an alleyway. He made us just stand there until he was done with fixing the door or something. Then we went in a creepy looking storage area and we paid. He then showed us the way to our room. We had to maneuver a lot and duck under or around things. It looks as if the place used to be a store, which turned into a storage place, which turned into a hostel. It looks as if they shoved the stuff to various sides to clear out some space. He showed us the door and we went in. We could see through the window as the curtains don't close properly. As soon as I opened the door, I stopped in my tracks, stunned. It looked like a tornado went through our room. There are four bunks beds and glass doors and windows that are painted so people can't see in from outside. That's bad enough, but the girls who occupy the rooms are messier than anything. Everything imaginable is on the floor, desk, chair, beds...even Alison's bed had a togs top on it. Make-up, cute tips, clothes, shoes...EVERYWHERE!!! It was hard to know what to do with anything. We looked at each other and just thought "What are we going to do?" After the initial shock, we belly-ached a while. We put everything on our beds and tried to decide if we would risk the shower or not. We decided it would help us feel better. The showers were covered in mould and you can see through the windows. Or, people could see us through the window. It was very disturbing! Just two nights and we will be out of here!
Friday, November 12, 2010
To Mackay
Sunday 17 October 2010
These are the crocodile infested waters in Mackay. Does it look like a beach to you?
The alarm went off way too early. Alison went to get ready in the bathroom, so I stayed with the stuff. Our ride was at 6 am, so we wanted to be out by 5:50 a. At 5:35 a, a man came over and said my name. He said he was here with the shuttle and is about to leave. So I stripped my bed and rushed. I didn't even get to go to the bathroom! I don't think we left anything, but who knows!
We went through many bumps in the road, which didn't help me at all! I was trying not to think of Niagara Falls or running water faucets...At one point, the driver stopped. There was a dead wallaby in the road. So he grabbed it by the tail and chucked it in the bush. Mental note not to touch anything he touched. We made drove all the way to Brisbane International Airport. What we didn't know...the International Airport is completely separate from the Domestic Airport. So...we got off at the wrong airport! We had to pay and take a shuttle to the Domestic Airport. We were very irritated, since we paid for the transportation already. I told Alison we needed to have a $5 souvenir from Australia, and this was it. We checked in and went through security. Would you believe it? I got checked for the explosive test again! I thought this was supposed to be a random test! It was getting closer and closer to our flight time, and we couldn't figure out why the gate didn't show our flight. Then we noticed the time. It was an hour earlier than it was supposed to be. We were so confused, but it was the correct time. So...we had changed time zones from the time we left Byron's Bay to the time we arrived in Brisbane. Even though we were going North, we went back an hour in time! Very confusing! So now we had an extra hour to figure out what to do.
When we flew, we flew over the Whitsundays Coast. It was really beautiful. When we arrived in Mackay, we took a taxi. It was the only option. The frustrating part was the metre said $17.90 and he told us it was $20.90. Not very trustworthy. Oh well. We arrived in our hostel, which was a rainforesty theme I guess. After checking in, we looked through town. It wasn't what we expected. It seemed like it was a part of the Whitsundays Coast, but it was this nothing town in the middle of nowhere. We looked at a map to try to find where we would take the bus. We couldn't find any of the streets we needed. We walked down a street to a petrol station and asked. The kid who worked there didn't know, so he gave us the yellow pages. We turned around and asked a couple. They told us the bus station was not in the location the map said. The map was old, apparently. So we walked in the direction the couple told us and found it. It was a miniature place, that didn't seem right for the central bus station. The subway in town was a lot bigger than this!
After this ordeal, we decided to walk to the beach. It was a ways out there and it was incredibly hot, but we wanted to go to the beach. So we trekked out there. We got there, but it wasn't a beach. It was a sand lot with mud puddles and signs everywhere saying "Beware of Crocodiles." Wonderful! We took our pictures and were on our way back.
This is the picture from Brisbane to Mackay of the Whitsundays Coast.
This is the picture from Brisbane to Mackay of the Whitsundays Coast.These are the crocodile infested waters in Mackay. Does it look like a beach to you?
Delays and Byron's Bay
Saturday 16 October 2010
Our only picture of Byron's Bay. Imagine a beach...
We got up before the alarm, like always. We haven't adjusted to the times yet. We got ourselves packed and forced ourselves to choke down the last bit of peanut butter. Then we checked out and left the hostel. Then we just stood there a couple minutes trying to figure out what we could possibly do with our time. Our flight to Byron Bay did not leave until three ish, so we had a lot of time to kill. We ended up walking to Hyde Park and sitting on a bench to read.
We actually went back to the hostel, and ate lunch. We started playing Rummy and some guy was singing opera style. We would frequently burst into laughter. Then , we got a text saying our flight had been delayed for two hours. We did not have a lot of time in Byron Bay anyway, so it was going to cut our time down even more. We were very annoyed. We decided to just stop and wait outside in the freezing cold wind to be picked up. We arrived in the airport early and checked in. Then we went through the screening. Alison's bag had to go through three times. Then a guy pulled me over to check for explosive residue. Never had that one before. He used a Velcro like stick and rubbed it on my hands and the lining of my bags. It was weird. Then we went to our gate number. We just waited...and waited. While we waited, our flight got delayed again to 5:05. When it was getting closer to our time, we sat in the seats nearby, and it got delayed again to 5:45! We didn't even get to board the plane until around 6:00, and it didn't even take off until around 6:30. The winds were so strong, they only had one runway they could use. Some flights were cancelled and people had to change gates constantly. It was quite ridiculous.
Anyway, we did finally get on the plane. The lady next to us was asking how long we were staying. She was so disappointed we would be leaving the next day. She lived there, so she said how it was the most beautiful place in the world. We got off the plane and went to the shuttle service. We went to the desk...and no one was there...of course! Then Alison saw my name on a white board in a different location. Since the flight was so delayed, our service handed us over to another service. Interesting.
We drove and tried to see what was outside, but it was so dark. We dropped one girl off, but the drive was really narrow. The driver couldn't figure out how to get out. He got in and out of his van at least five times. A bus and a car were waiting for us. We finally got out narrowly missing scrapes. We got dropped off next. The first thing we noticed was two really big crowds of people. PARTY! So we checked in and got our linens. We made our beds...kind of...and quickly left to catch the free shuttle into town. It was bar after bar, party after party, drunk after drunk. We walked to get to the beach. We made it, but you couldn't really see anything. We took a couple pictures anyway and left. We went back to the shuttle and went inside. The guy in front of us smelled so bad. He actually left to smoke, but when he came in...the smell could have knocked me out cold. I breathed through my jacket. When we got back to the hostel, we were ready for bed. There were two ladies who where going to bed at that time too.
Our room was only supposed to have 8 beds, but they threw in an extra bed. I got the extra bed. I felt like I was sleeping on a skinny pole all night. I had the lumpiest pillow ever and it was really really hard. It gave me the illusion of sleeping on boulders. Not so pleasant. We met another roommate who already had a lot to drink and was falling over herself. Another girl was loud and said we could be lucky if she came in quietly. One of the ladies who went to bed kept saying over and over, "This is a great place. I love it here. I have never been to such a lovely place..." She obviously was ready to leave as well. We really liked them.
There were people talking vwey loudly right outside our door. We got a knock and it was the wrong room. People were singing, but couldn't remember the words to the songs. Around 2 am, we got our last two roommates. It was quieter then, but these girls were loud enough. Apparently, their luggage was lost. They got a phone call that they found the luggage. I understand their enthusiasm, but they kept saying, "YES!!!" over and over. I probably got an hour of sleep total! I was glad we were going to be leaving in the morning.
Our only picture of Byron's Bay. Imagine a beach...
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Last day in Sydney
Friday 15 October 2010
We were up and ready with our togs (swimsuits) ready for a bright and sunny day on the beach. Well, it was very cloudy and windy. We noticed everyone else was wearing long sleeves, so we put on our jerseys and headed out anyway. Along the way, we felt several raindrops. We continued, refusing to surrender. We found a store selling bus tickets to Bondi Beach and purchased two tickets. We actually went to Bronte Beach and took a path to go to Bondi. It was ridiculous to see us in togs and shorts, while the rain was pelting down and the wind was strong enough to knock us over. It took us 40 minutes to walk to Bondi. We didn't want to be out in the rain, so we walked around looking for a Subway. There wasn't any around, so we found a cafe. I had the most amazing chocolate croissant ever. We didn't last long here, and went back to the city. We went to the Opera House and sat for a while. Then we went to the National Maritime Museum. The most exciting thing there was a game to see if we could survive on a ship. Our first ship killed everyone one board. The next one, we survived, but we lost everything and owed money. They third time, we did really well. That is about it for today.
We were up and ready with our togs (swimsuits) ready for a bright and sunny day on the beach. Well, it was very cloudy and windy. We noticed everyone else was wearing long sleeves, so we put on our jerseys and headed out anyway. Along the way, we felt several raindrops. We continued, refusing to surrender. We found a store selling bus tickets to Bondi Beach and purchased two tickets. We actually went to Bronte Beach and took a path to go to Bondi. It was ridiculous to see us in togs and shorts, while the rain was pelting down and the wind was strong enough to knock us over. It took us 40 minutes to walk to Bondi. We didn't want to be out in the rain, so we walked around looking for a Subway. There wasn't any around, so we found a cafe. I had the most amazing chocolate croissant ever. We didn't last long here, and went back to the city. We went to the Opera House and sat for a while. Then we went to the National Maritime Museum. The most exciting thing there was a game to see if we could survive on a ship. Our first ship killed everyone one board. The next one, we survived, but we lost everything and owed money. They third time, we did really well. That is about it for today.
This is Bronte Beach. Notice the look of coldness.
We decided to ask someone to take our pictures. We were quite cold, but we got the beach in there.
Since it was raining, Alison tried to cover her bag so the stuff wouldn't get wet.
I decided to have a picture of Bondi Beach in the sand, since that was the reason why we went there. Too bad, it wasn't an ideal day.
Pictures of Blue Mountain
A view going through the Blue Mountain Tour.
Alison and I on the view. 
Me and the Three Sisters (the rock formation).
Okay, use your imagination. This is the Witches something. You can kind of see the lips, nose and eyes. 
Katoomba Waterfall.
More views.
Three Sisters.
Coal Mine.Blue Mountain
Thursday 14 October 2010
We slept pretty well considering the noise of the fridge, Alison's squeaky bed, and the kitchen noise. We were up at 6:30 and ready for the day. We had the room to ourselves again, so that was nice. We ate breakfast (granola bar and juice). We waited for our ride for the Blue Mountain Tour. A good portion of this trip will be waiting. When our guide came, he said that a couple on the tour went through a different company and paid quite a bit more than us. He told us to be discreet about it. We were happy we chose the right company. Most of the seats were full, so we went to the back of the van to sit. A lady and her two kids came next. The lady sat in a single seat, but the kids sat right next to me. The kids were entertaining each other, but moved a lot. So we occasionally got elbowed or kicks or something. The major issue was the smell. It was overwhelming at times. A couple of times, the boy lifted his arms. The stench just about knocked us out. We would try to cover our nose with our hand, breathe slowly through our mouths, and lean as if to look intently out the window. Also, they talked a lot, so it was difficult to hear the commentary.
We made a stop at one place. Alison and I got out to stretch and recuperate from the kids. We didn't stay long. It was a snack break. Our first real stop was Flat Rock. It was a big flat rock with no railing. The wind was strong. Very Strong. Alison asked the driver to take our picture. He was taking it when a gust of wind hit me, causing me to lose my balance. I felt like I was going over and instinctively grabbed onto Alison to steady myself. We were a long ways away from the edge, but my movement frightened the driver. He thought we were going over. We all laughed nervously and took more pictures to slow our beating hearts.
We stopped for lunch. Can we say...Subway? A guy talked to us for a while. We told him we were in New Zealand. He said he had travelled there a while. He asked where we had been, and every place we mentioned, he had some sort of negative comment to say about it. We gave up after a while.
We got back on the bus. and the driver stopped to point out kangaroos. I couldn't see squat. Because there were too many heads in my way, and I was on the wrong side of the car. Another time, I was on the right side of the car, but the kangaroo was so far away, it could have been a tree stump for all I knew. He then scooted the car up a bit...right in front of a tree stump. He started pointing out things from the kangaroo, such as a line. What line? There are hundreds of them...oh that's right. I'm looking at a massive tree. So no kangaroos for me.
Then we headed out for bush walking. The driver said we would have to choose what we wanted to do soon, but didn't explain anything. Then he passed out maps and was kind of abrupt all of a sudden. We got out of the car to see the Three Sisters, and he said we could go there or down steps or something else. He was not very clear, and we weren't sure what to do. So Alison and I started looking intently at our maps to figure out what to do. The driver suddenly turned around and took off while running into my map (which I had to lift up so he wouldn't take out my arms). Alison had to move away quickly as well. The lady with the kids made a face. We all followed him. We headed to another location to get more pictures. He turned the car around and asked what we all were doing. We decided to do the steps and take the cable car up.
So we took off in the bush. We were ready to be away from people. We first came to a formation in the rock that looks like a witch. Then we went to look at Katoomba waterfall. It was quite muddy and difficult to get to, but it was worth it. We went down so many steps, my legs started shaking. We went all the way down to a coal mining area. We walked through on the boardwalk and went up the cable car. It was a nice view. We met our group and waited. A couple people in our group got lost, so it took a while for them to get back. Then we had a long a smelly ride back to the hostel.
There was an ad on the radio about children and what they wanted to be when they grow up. It was an encouragement for children to get their BA and MA. The thing that was funny was, I thought the first kid said he wanted to be a pirate when he grows up. So, to be cheeky, I said to Alison, "I want an Masters in piracy." She then burst my bubble by telling me the kid said pilot.
While we were driving, the circulation of my legs was gone. They started going numb. When the driver finally dropped us off, I couldn't get out of there fast enough. The driver told us we were the quietest Americans he has ever met.
We had peanut butter for dinner. We are so sick of eating peanut butter. Alison hit her head hard on her bed, and I couldn't walk straight. We were both not feeling the best. We think the PB is getting the best of us.
We slept pretty well considering the noise of the fridge, Alison's squeaky bed, and the kitchen noise. We were up at 6:30 and ready for the day. We had the room to ourselves again, so that was nice. We ate breakfast (granola bar and juice). We waited for our ride for the Blue Mountain Tour. A good portion of this trip will be waiting. When our guide came, he said that a couple on the tour went through a different company and paid quite a bit more than us. He told us to be discreet about it. We were happy we chose the right company. Most of the seats were full, so we went to the back of the van to sit. A lady and her two kids came next. The lady sat in a single seat, but the kids sat right next to me. The kids were entertaining each other, but moved a lot. So we occasionally got elbowed or kicks or something. The major issue was the smell. It was overwhelming at times. A couple of times, the boy lifted his arms. The stench just about knocked us out. We would try to cover our nose with our hand, breathe slowly through our mouths, and lean as if to look intently out the window. Also, they talked a lot, so it was difficult to hear the commentary.
We made a stop at one place. Alison and I got out to stretch and recuperate from the kids. We didn't stay long. It was a snack break. Our first real stop was Flat Rock. It was a big flat rock with no railing. The wind was strong. Very Strong. Alison asked the driver to take our picture. He was taking it when a gust of wind hit me, causing me to lose my balance. I felt like I was going over and instinctively grabbed onto Alison to steady myself. We were a long ways away from the edge, but my movement frightened the driver. He thought we were going over. We all laughed nervously and took more pictures to slow our beating hearts.
We stopped for lunch. Can we say...Subway? A guy talked to us for a while. We told him we were in New Zealand. He said he had travelled there a while. He asked where we had been, and every place we mentioned, he had some sort of negative comment to say about it. We gave up after a while.
We got back on the bus. and the driver stopped to point out kangaroos. I couldn't see squat. Because there were too many heads in my way, and I was on the wrong side of the car. Another time, I was on the right side of the car, but the kangaroo was so far away, it could have been a tree stump for all I knew. He then scooted the car up a bit...right in front of a tree stump. He started pointing out things from the kangaroo, such as a line. What line? There are hundreds of them...oh that's right. I'm looking at a massive tree. So no kangaroos for me.
Then we headed out for bush walking. The driver said we would have to choose what we wanted to do soon, but didn't explain anything. Then he passed out maps and was kind of abrupt all of a sudden. We got out of the car to see the Three Sisters, and he said we could go there or down steps or something else. He was not very clear, and we weren't sure what to do. So Alison and I started looking intently at our maps to figure out what to do. The driver suddenly turned around and took off while running into my map (which I had to lift up so he wouldn't take out my arms). Alison had to move away quickly as well. The lady with the kids made a face. We all followed him. We headed to another location to get more pictures. He turned the car around and asked what we all were doing. We decided to do the steps and take the cable car up.
So we took off in the bush. We were ready to be away from people. We first came to a formation in the rock that looks like a witch. Then we went to look at Katoomba waterfall. It was quite muddy and difficult to get to, but it was worth it. We went down so many steps, my legs started shaking. We went all the way down to a coal mining area. We walked through on the boardwalk and went up the cable car. It was a nice view. We met our group and waited. A couple people in our group got lost, so it took a while for them to get back. Then we had a long a smelly ride back to the hostel.
There was an ad on the radio about children and what they wanted to be when they grow up. It was an encouragement for children to get their BA and MA. The thing that was funny was, I thought the first kid said he wanted to be a pirate when he grows up. So, to be cheeky, I said to Alison, "I want an Masters in piracy." She then burst my bubble by telling me the kid said pilot.
While we were driving, the circulation of my legs was gone. They started going numb. When the driver finally dropped us off, I couldn't get out of there fast enough. The driver told us we were the quietest Americans he has ever met.
We had peanut butter for dinner. We are so sick of eating peanut butter. Alison hit her head hard on her bed, and I couldn't walk straight. We were both not feeling the best. We think the PB is getting the best of us.
Exploring Sydney
Wednesday 13 October 2010
I thought I would share the pictures first, but now they are sent before some of the stories. That is okay.
Alison and I had a big discussion trying to figure out where we wanted to go first, but decided to go to Darling Harbour. It was pretty cloudy.
This is a place for lots of shopping, so it actually wasn't all that exciting for us. There were great views of the Opera House though. Then we headed out to Harbour Bridge. Getting there was interesting. We couldn't find where we could just cross. We finally found an entrance after many twists and turns. Then came the on slot of stairs. We made it across and got more pictures of the Opera House. The Opera House is actually made of tiles. It looked a bit different than you see in the movies of all white. Then we walked down a couple alleyways and cute walkways. One walkway was where the thugs used to hang out. We went to the Botanical Gardens and walked along the edge. We found stairs and decided to go up. Many people were running up and down the stairs, doing push-ups, stretching...We have noticed that there are only three categories of people here. People in business suits, people in jogging clothes, and tourists (in normal clothes). We were kind of curious why so many of the runners weren't working.
I found a water fountain. I turned the knob, and it came shooting out hitting me right on the forehead, which started dribbling down my face. Then I saw a flash and a guy was taking pictures...hopefully not of me.
We walked along and a place was handing out free Coon Sandwiches. It was cheese sandwiches (coon is a type of cheese). We found a place to sit and eat lunch. We got attacked by ants, so we walked through the gardens a while. There was some kind of marathon or something going on. Lots of interesting stretching a well. Bats were all over the trees and were quite active.
Then we went to the Art Gallery. We also went to a Cathedral, but they kind of kicked us out, because they were going to have mass. Then we decided to look for more appropriately priced fruit. We found a 7-Eleven (there are heaps around here). We went to the Opera House to see the sunset over it, but the clouds were rolling in. We didn't want to get stuck in the rain, so we started walking back. It was drizzling a lot as we walked. We quickened our pace...quite a bit. It came harder, so we started getting reckless and running out in front of cars. It didn't help that the streets lack some direction and signs. We were surprised they weren't honking and yelling at us. It rained even harder, so we sprinted to get to the hostel. We were getting quite wet.
The next challenge was to get to sleep. The walls here are paper-thing.
This was taken the night before we left. We are only allowed bottles of 100ml or less of liquids. My sunscreen bottle was more than that, so I had to find a bottle that was less. I had one, but it had a small opening. So I had to put the sunscreen in the bottle by using something skinny to push the stuff down in it. The only thing I had was an attachment to another bottle that Michelle gave me. It was a very slow and frustrating process.
Our first glimpse of the Opera House. It was very exciting!
We walked down a couple narrow pathways. This was an alleyway where a lot of muggings used to occur. There were plaques to share this disturbing information.
The front part of the Opera House. Notice, there are actually three separate buildings. They represent sails, if you didn't know. This was taken when we walked across the Harbour Bridge. We didn't go on the upper part of the bridge. We went on the part that was free.
The Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
Can you tell we liked the Opera House?
In the Royal Botanical Gardens, there were so many bats! On the top of this tree, I don't know if you can see it, there is a bird that we saw everywhere. It is white with a long black beak. Going back to the bats, they were so noisy.Here is one of the bats flying.
Our Travels Begin
Tuesday 12 October 2010
Well, here is a long overdue entry. I will do my best to keep up.
Alison and I got up and madly threw our stuff together for last minute packing. Anne and Alison got in the car, and I set the alarm. I was so used to getting in the back seat and immediately opened the door. Alison said my name, and I realised the front seat was open. In my panic, I opened the front door and realised it was the driver seat. I obviously revert back to my prior knowledge that the "driver should sit in the left side of the car", when in a rush. As I realised Anne was sitting there, I dashed over to the correct spot, thankfully before the alarm went off.
Alison and I went to the library to see if we could find an Australia Lonely Planet, but none were available. We had lunch at Dimitris (Mom, you jealous?). Then we walked around the city for a while. We got back to the Church and Alison played the piano. One of the ladies from the Church gave us a big hug to tell us goodbye.
A while later, Alister came over to say that Anne would take us to the airport. He walked us outside and gave us a big hug. He kept saying, "It isn't goodbye, but see you later." Anne was driving and as we got closer to the airport, Alison told her to slow down. It was really hard saying "See you later." Anne made us promise to go on the plane and have a good time. We know we will, but still. We told her it was her fault for making us so happy. She told us not to put the blame on her. So we said it was Alister's fault.
We got through and sat down to wait for our plane. At customs, they made me dump my peanut butter. Alison got through with hers. It didn't help that we only had carry on bags. Our flights were cheap flights, so we just brought carry on bags. So, we are travelling quite light for being gone a month.
A lady came by doing a survey on travelling. She asked us a lot of questions on where we travelled and what we did. We combined both of our travels. Then she wanted us to estimate our spending of food, accommodations, and other things. We were at a loss. How do you calculate something like that over 9 months! Then she showed us an i-site logo and asked if we have ever been there. OH YES! I-Site is an information centre based in every city in NZ. They have maps and people to help book tours. We have been there many of times. She basically hit the jackpot when she came to us, as we have been everywhere and done so many things. When she left (we got a free CD), we immediately boarded the plane. It took that long.
When we landed, we went through customs. I don't know what I expected exactly, but they didn't do anything but stamp my passport. That was easy! We then rang our hostel for our complimentary pick up. The first time, it didn't work. The second time, a person picked up, but it cut off. The third time we rang, I finally got to talk to somebody. The shuttle wasn't running, so we had to take the Sydney public shuttle and they would pay us back. We got the tickets. Another couple was waiting there as well. The person in charge of the shuttle told us to go to gate 32. We went there, but the van that was there wasn't for us. Another van arrived and said we needed to go to 34. We went and stood around for a long time. A shuttle came, and Alison tried to tell him where our hostel was. He cut her off and told her just to get in and tell him on the way. The couple that was with us gave us looks of surprise, because of the rude driver. I wasn't going to put my seat belt on, but he was a reckless driver. I thought it would be unwise to leave it off. He stopped at Domestic and said traffic was terrible. He collected our tickets, but we needed them for the hostel. We asked if we could have them back, so the hostel could reimburse us. Blank look. So Alison said it again. He said he didn't understand and I defined reimburse. Alison said, "Can we have the tickets back?" He told us they should have given us a receipt. Alison said, "Well, they didn't." He gave us tickets, but they were return tickets. The driver dropped us off first. The receptionist was really nice, but said they didn't give money back for return tickets. I said, "He wouldn't give the other ones back to us." She raised her eyebrows and said, "That's weird." Then Alison and I went to our room. There were 6 beds, but we were the only ones there." The bathroom had a sliding door, and you could see in it. It also wouldn't latch.
It was getting darker, but we both really wanted to see the Opera House. So we walked to the city (about 1 hour). We went through Hyde Park, which had some kind of food festival. As we walked, I saw something that looked like part of the Opera House, but I couldn't tell. As we approached, we just couldn't wait any longer. We literally ran all the way to the Opera House. There was a concert going on. It was really beautiful and it gave us the feeling that we were actually in Sydney...that we were actually in Australia. This was our biggest reason for coming here (well, the thing we wanted to see the most) and we got to see it on our first day. We walked along and just admired everything. There were lots of expensive restaurants that we were a little afraid to check the prices. The Harbour Bridge was cool to see as well. We headed back and purchased expensive fruit ($1.50 AUD each) and went back to the hostel to have our gourmet peanut butter sandwich and apple. I then rearranged my stuff so I could take my backpack tomorrow for our outing.
We made it!
Well, here is a long overdue entry. I will do my best to keep up.
Alison and I got up and madly threw our stuff together for last minute packing. Anne and Alison got in the car, and I set the alarm. I was so used to getting in the back seat and immediately opened the door. Alison said my name, and I realised the front seat was open. In my panic, I opened the front door and realised it was the driver seat. I obviously revert back to my prior knowledge that the "driver should sit in the left side of the car", when in a rush. As I realised Anne was sitting there, I dashed over to the correct spot, thankfully before the alarm went off.
Alison and I went to the library to see if we could find an Australia Lonely Planet, but none were available. We had lunch at Dimitris (Mom, you jealous?). Then we walked around the city for a while. We got back to the Church and Alison played the piano. One of the ladies from the Church gave us a big hug to tell us goodbye.
A while later, Alister came over to say that Anne would take us to the airport. He walked us outside and gave us a big hug. He kept saying, "It isn't goodbye, but see you later." Anne was driving and as we got closer to the airport, Alison told her to slow down. It was really hard saying "See you later." Anne made us promise to go on the plane and have a good time. We know we will, but still. We told her it was her fault for making us so happy. She told us not to put the blame on her. So we said it was Alister's fault.
We got through and sat down to wait for our plane. At customs, they made me dump my peanut butter. Alison got through with hers. It didn't help that we only had carry on bags. Our flights were cheap flights, so we just brought carry on bags. So, we are travelling quite light for being gone a month.
A lady came by doing a survey on travelling. She asked us a lot of questions on where we travelled and what we did. We combined both of our travels. Then she wanted us to estimate our spending of food, accommodations, and other things. We were at a loss. How do you calculate something like that over 9 months! Then she showed us an i-site logo and asked if we have ever been there. OH YES! I-Site is an information centre based in every city in NZ. They have maps and people to help book tours. We have been there many of times. She basically hit the jackpot when she came to us, as we have been everywhere and done so many things. When she left (we got a free CD), we immediately boarded the plane. It took that long.
When we landed, we went through customs. I don't know what I expected exactly, but they didn't do anything but stamp my passport. That was easy! We then rang our hostel for our complimentary pick up. The first time, it didn't work. The second time, a person picked up, but it cut off. The third time we rang, I finally got to talk to somebody. The shuttle wasn't running, so we had to take the Sydney public shuttle and they would pay us back. We got the tickets. Another couple was waiting there as well. The person in charge of the shuttle told us to go to gate 32. We went there, but the van that was there wasn't for us. Another van arrived and said we needed to go to 34. We went and stood around for a long time. A shuttle came, and Alison tried to tell him where our hostel was. He cut her off and told her just to get in and tell him on the way. The couple that was with us gave us looks of surprise, because of the rude driver. I wasn't going to put my seat belt on, but he was a reckless driver. I thought it would be unwise to leave it off. He stopped at Domestic and said traffic was terrible. He collected our tickets, but we needed them for the hostel. We asked if we could have them back, so the hostel could reimburse us. Blank look. So Alison said it again. He said he didn't understand and I defined reimburse. Alison said, "Can we have the tickets back?" He told us they should have given us a receipt. Alison said, "Well, they didn't." He gave us tickets, but they were return tickets. The driver dropped us off first. The receptionist was really nice, but said they didn't give money back for return tickets. I said, "He wouldn't give the other ones back to us." She raised her eyebrows and said, "That's weird." Then Alison and I went to our room. There were 6 beds, but we were the only ones there." The bathroom had a sliding door, and you could see in it. It also wouldn't latch.
It was getting darker, but we both really wanted to see the Opera House. So we walked to the city (about 1 hour). We went through Hyde Park, which had some kind of food festival. As we walked, I saw something that looked like part of the Opera House, but I couldn't tell. As we approached, we just couldn't wait any longer. We literally ran all the way to the Opera House. There was a concert going on. It was really beautiful and it gave us the feeling that we were actually in Sydney...that we were actually in Australia. This was our biggest reason for coming here (well, the thing we wanted to see the most) and we got to see it on our first day. We walked along and just admired everything. There were lots of expensive restaurants that we were a little afraid to check the prices. The Harbour Bridge was cool to see as well. We headed back and purchased expensive fruit ($1.50 AUD each) and went back to the hostel to have our gourmet peanut butter sandwich and apple. I then rearranged my stuff so I could take my backpack tomorrow for our outing.
We made it!
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