New Zealand

Things over in New Zealand have been quite busy since I last wrote.

New Zealand is gorgeous, first of all. It's rolling hills, mountains, volcanic landscapes, lush forests are just breath taking. Really, there is nothing like it. And yes, New Zealand is home to millions of sheep. They are everywhere, just like you may imagine.

I headed out to Piha the 3rd day I was here to visit a friend of mine from Calgary. I used to work with John at Keyera and John used to work with a guy named Geoff in Banff. Geoff now owns a backpacker lodge in Piha, which is where my friend John was staying - small world! It's gorgeous, by far the nicest hostel I have stayed in. It was awesome to see someone from home and even sweeter that we had a local to take us around. Piha is quite lovely, but very small. The lodge was right by the water so I got to spend sometime on the beach. We went out the night I arrived to the local RSA club (Returned Services Association) which is comparable to our Royal Legion at home. Had a great night. The next day John and I hiked to the nearest waterfall, which was lovely. I headed back to Auckland that afternoon and was off to meet my friend from England the next morning at the airport.

As soon as I met up with Karl at the airport we were on the go and haven't really stopped since. We picked up our rental car and headed straight out to Raglan where we had surfing lessons booked for that afternoon. Raglan is apparently the place to learn to surf in New Zealand. Surfing sure takes a beating out of you,. We had an awesome time. I'll admit I wasn't fabulous, but I still tried and had a blast. I also found my surf instructor pretty cute, which didn't hurt!!!

The next day we were off to Tangariro. We decided to hike the Alpine crossing the following day. The Alpine Crossing is an 18km hike through some of the most diverse terrain. It was absolutely wild. The land mass of Mt. Tangariro was created by many different eruptions from 6 different cones. We started our hike up through almost desert like terrain, then hiked through volcanic ash, walked around pools of beautiful coloured water (Emerald Lakes) collected in the craters and smelling of sulphur, crossed through patches of snow and after a long day hiked down the mountain through a rain forest. There were definitely moments of this hike that I wondered why I wanted to do it as it was extreme at times and the weather was unpredictable at best, but when it was all done it was a beautiful hike and well worth the 7 hours it took.

Christmas eve Karl, Lauren and her friend Cori and I had rented a cottage about 20min outside of Wellington. For 3 days we had planned to relax, cook and just have a good time not having much to worry about. The cottage was amazing. Exactly what 3 backpackers needed. The cottage had a hot tub, a fireplace, a full kitchen, laundry and best of all TV with a DVD player. We spent the 3 days cooking, drinking, hot tubbing, sun tanning and watching Christmas movies. Our Christmas feast was delicious. We made our traditional Canadian Christmas dinner and added a few English touches. And for those who aren't believers, I will attach photos for proof!! Thanks to Karl for cooking the turkey, something the rest of us weren't sure of. And, much to my surprise, I didn't get all that emotional. Maybe it just didn't really feel like Christmas over here, with the weather being so nice and not having all my family around. I did miss them, but I was proud to have been able to pull of a Christmas on my own with a few friends and on the other side of the world. The cottage experience was amazing and I will never forget this Christmas away from home. It couldn't have been any better.

Since we left Wellington, Karl and I have been on the go again. We stayed in Paraparaumu, although we didn't do much there. We headed to Napier. Napier is quite beautiful, an art deco town. We spent some time walking around and found a jazz bar to enjoy for the evening. We chatted up the owner and waitresses, drank to much and had to get up early in the morning to head out to Rotorua. I wasn't feeling all that well, and heading to a town that stinks of sulphur didn't help. Rotorua's population is 35% Maori culture, which are New Zealand's aboriginal people. The 16 lakes in Rotorua were all formed from the craters of extinct volcanoes. There is most definitely a distinct smell of sulphur wafting through the geothermal hot spots. But the town is awesome and very lively. We have a few things we want to do here before we head out to Piha to spend New Years eve.

I am loving New Zealand. You think it can't get any more laid back than Australia, but it can. The people are lovely, the country is beautiful. This country is alive - volcanoes, earthquakes, geothermal activity - it's amazingly unique.

Write soon!

Great Ocean Road Pictures

More Pictures - Melbourne

Melbourne/New Zealand

The rest of my stay in Sydney went really well. I stayed in Coogee with Brad and Nick, spent some time with some Australians that I met in Asia who happen to live in Sydney and also managed to meet up with my friend Annie's good friends from back home, as they were in Sydney for 2 of the days that I was there. I enjoyed Sydney and enjoyed staying with Brad in Coogee. I was a bit more dependant out there as it'sa ways out of the city, so by the end of the week I was definitely ready to try somewhere new.

I visited Canberra, Australia's capital city, for one night to visit a man that I met in Vietnam, as he had been wanting me to visit for some time. He and his girlfriend showed me around the city, took me for dinner and I left the next morning for Melbourne. It was a very short visit, and although I felt the city wasn't nothing too special, it was important to see the capital.

After a full day of travel, I arrived in Melbourne the next evening. Other than checking into my hostel, I just rested. I ventured around the city the next day. I went to the Melbourne aquarium, which was pretty cool. I also visited the Crown square, which is a conglomerate of shops, food and clothing, a casino and hotel and it's right along the Yarra River, which runs through Melbourne. There were some great views of the city from this place. I decided to check out the casino, lost $50 dollars at the blackjack table and won it right back on the slot machine. I took that as a sign and left. I ate dinner at the Crown square and had a coffee by the water. I wanted to get some rest as the next day I had a city tour, 6 hours long, which had I not done Melbourne would not interest me as much as it does now. Melbourne really is an AWESOME city with hidden gems down every alley way. It has a very underground vibe; hidden bars, restaurants, pubs, amazing graffiti in most of the alley ways. An awesome music scene, great culture...just a wicked city altogether. I really haven't seen anything like it before. A lot of the good bars and pubs don't advertise or even have signs up for that matter. If I didn't do this tour there would be a lot of places I wouldn't know existed. The architecture is a mix of old and new, but generally the city gives off a older feel. After 6 hours we were all fairly tired, but since I didn't have much time left in Melbourne a few of the girls that I met that day decided to check out one of the bars in the city. This bar was said to be a brothel, owned by Madame Brussel in the late 1800's. It is super cute; fake grass inside with patio furniture that you would picture a little girl to have and the servers are dressed up in tight tennis shorts and t shirts. The bar is located on the roof of the building, half of it's inside, the other half is outside. What a great way to end a great day.

My last day in Melbourne I decided to do a tour of the Great Ocean Road, a must see if you are in that area. The road hugs the coastline and has some amazing view points. We left at 8 in the morning and didn't return till 8 in the evening. We drove all day and were able to see 9 wild koalas from the bus which was pretty cool. I'm glad I got to see this.

Yesterday I left Australia, which was sad but it was time to start a new adventure. New Zealand so far is great, although I haven't done much since I arrived in Auckland mostly because I want to experience a lot with my mom and Aunty. Besides, I don't mind resting. I leave Auckland tomorrow morning to meet a friend from my old job in Piha, then back to Auckland to meet my friend who is flying in from England. Once he arrives, it will be go, go, go until my mom arrives in January, which I'm excited for. I'm trying to rest up as I am definitely feeling run down these days.

I'll post photos as soon as I can.
Write soon!

Photos from my Blue Mountain day

Top - rail car we took back up the mountain

Pictures from the Reptile Zoo

Sydney

Top photos are at the Reptile Zoo

Aboriginal man playing a Didgeridoo

Sydney Harbour Bridge/Opera House

I left Pam's house on Tuesday night. I had a great last few days there and I was sad to leave. I took Pam to see the film "Australia", which was fabulous, and if you get the chance to see it you really should. We shared some wonderful meals, even better wine and she sent me off on my 16 hour Greyhound journey. I'll miss her, she was wonderful.

The bus ride was an experience all on it's own. I crammed myself into 2 seats and tried to find the most comfortable position, which was nearly impossible. It was a terrible ride, and I am still paying for it. My back and neck haven't fully recovered.

I arrived in Sydney on Wednesday morning and headed straight to my hostel, which thankfully wasn't far from the bus station. The hostel was undeniably one of the nicest hostels I have stayed in so far, but it should be as it is also the most expensive. I explored some of the city before meeting up with a friend of a friend for dinner. Sydney is beautiful, there is no doubt. After a long day, I was picked up for dinner by Brad, Lauren's friend, who lives in Sydney. We had a great night. It was cool to hang out with a born and raised Australian.

Day 2 in Sydney was a day for exploring. I visited the famous Opera House and Harbour Bridge. A girl from my hostel and I walked down that way and spent most of the afternoon at the Harbour. It was quite amazing. And even more special to see as the architect of the Opera House had just died days before. You can't go into any of the rooms inside the opera house unless you have tickets, which I am hoping to get before I leave. Regardless, it is still quite amazing to see from the outside and in a prime location. I decided not to walk on the Harbour bridge, mostly cause we couldn't figure out where to go to get on it, and we didn't try all that hard obviously. I'm also afraid of heights, so yeah, I'm not bummed about this.

Day 3 I decided since I have always wanted to tour wineries, I would do that here as they have some of the best. I arranged a tour to Hunter Valley, which is an area outside of the city that is pretty much dedicated to vineyards,. This tour was a day trip and included 3 wineries, a brewery and a reptile zoo to finish it off. The wineries were beautiful, the wine was delicious. Because I hadn't slept the night before and I also didn't get a chance to eat breakfast, I was drunk by 11am. But I recovered throughout the day, especially after I had some food. It was also about 35 degrees, which probably didn't help. We didn't get back to the hostel until about 7:30 pm, after which I had a couple drinks with a roommate of mine and called it a night.

Day 4 I arranged another tour to visit Blue Mountains. Another "must see" in Sydney. Again, up and out early. We visited 3 different sections of the area of Blue Mountain. We hiked, which had a intense 15 minutes of steep climbing made worse by the extreme heat. I must be out of shape big time because I can barely walk today. I am beginning to tell people I hurt my ankle, as it's embarrassing to say I can't walk because I climbed stairs on a mountain. The mountains were lovely. I was able to see a couple beautiful waterfalls. We lost one of the girls on our tour and had to leave here there. She did phone about 30 min later, so our driver picked her up but that left me feeling a bit uneasy. Jesus, what would you do being stuck out here in 30 degree weather. I'm just glad it wasn't me. I also got the chance to see the 3 sisters mountain, which was pretty cool because it's a very iconic image of the Sydney area as well, also we have a three sisters mountain in Canmore, Alberta. Yesterday ended a bit earlier than expected so I went out for a few drinks.

Today I packed up and am moving out of the hostel and into Brad and his roommates apartment, which is in the Coogee area of Sydney, which is right by the water. Brad offered for me to stay there and at $36/night for this hostel, I decided if I wanted to stay a bit longer in Sydney that wouldn't be a bad idea. It may not seem like a lot, but I haven't paid more then $30/night and even that was above average. So the offer is sweet and I appreciate Brad helping me out like that.

Sydney has been an awesome experience so far. It's really the first time that I am completely on my own, and as scary as that seemed at the beginning, it turned out to be by far the best thing I have done for myself this trip. I have met so many people in 4 days, from all over the world. Some I may never talk to again, some I may, either way it's great to mix with so many different personalities.

Tonight I am meeting up with 2 friends that I met in Asia for drinks in Sydney. I look forward to that, as I haven't seen either of them in quite some time.

I'm not entirely sure when I'm leaving here, all I know is I have a flight out of Melbourne to New Zealand on the 17th. So as long as I am there a few days before I should be fine.

I'll post photos when I'm at a different computer.
Write soon!!!

More of the Gold Coast

I'm still on the Gold Coast, with Pam. It's been a great month here with wonderful company and beautiful scenery.

The weekend after I wrote last, Lauren and Carmen came for a visit. I must say it was great to see them. The first night they were here, Lauren and I, after our dinner, went for some drinks at a local hotel. It was nice to catch up with her. Over the next few days we explored. We swam , shopped, basically I'm a local so I showed them around. Lauren has a friend who lives close to Pam's, so we met up with him and his friends one night at a bar located in Surfers Paradise. I was sad to see them leave, although I keep in good touch with Lauren and will eventually meet up with her in New Zealand for Christmas. It was nice to be with the girls for a few days. Since they left the weather has not been that great. It rained constantly for a few days. The storms here are crazy, ripping off the roofs of some homes leaving certain areas in total distress. I didn't get up to much with weather like that, but it was also nice to have a reason not to feel that you had so much to see and do.

Last weekend I headed up to Brisbane with Pam's son Grant and decided to stay the night in a hostel that I have stayed in before. I visited the markets, made some jewelry at a bead shop and picked up a few things at some of my favorite stores that aren't on the Gold Coast. I hadn't had a cigarette for some time and decided that I would like to smoke this day. Well I made myself completely sick,  and suffered from a terrible headache. I had plans to go for dinner and find a coffee shop somewhere to write a bit, but didn't get a chance to do any of that. Instead I slept throughout the night, sleeping off my smokers hangover. I gave my pack of smokes away to a girl the next day who started crying and told me how nice I was and that her wallet was stolen that day. Funny, I didn't feel as though giving her smokes was that nice of a gesture, but hey she thought so, so I guess it worked out for us both. The next day was rainy and cool in Brisbane so after some walking around I went a caught the train back to Pams.

With the weather hot and cold, literally, I tried to get outside any moment I could. I did go to the beach on the only real nice day of the week. My sandal broke when I was leaving so I decided to walk barefoot, as ALL the Aussies do it so obviously it can't be that bad. I walked from the beach to a coffee shop and realized that I burnt the bottom of my feet so bad that my skin was peeling and I had blisters. They hurt so bad.  I have no idea how people out here do that, but I won't be attempting to imitate an Aussie anymore.

This weekend the Gold Coast kicked off Schoolie season. It's where all the newly graduated kids from all over Australia come out to the Gold Coast and party for a week or two. They said on the news that 25,000 kids were here on Saturday, of course the day I decide to head to Surfers and go up the Q1 tower. Surfers was a mad house, so many young kids everywhere. These kids were crazy and doing everything that new graduates would do regardless of where you are in the world. I was feeling a bit old, sadly. I did make it to the Q1 tower, 77 floors to the observation deck. From there, on a clear day, you have a perfect view of Surfers Paradise and well basically most of the Gold Coast. The elevator made me a little sick, it took about 30 seconds to reach 77 floors and it wasn't the smoothest of rides. The view was absolutely breathtaking. I sat up there for about half hour, staring in all directions enjoying all the different views. Just beautiful.

Today I am celebrating my 26th birthday with Pam and her family. Well 24 actually, cause as Pam would explain to me you don't have to count the years that you celebrate out of the country and this would be my second year. Ah, that would be nice. It's been a great day so far. I've talked with all my dearest friends and family and enjoyed a bit of the amazing weather. Pam bought me a gift and cake and we are going out for dinner and a movie later. It doesn't feel like my birthday, when I'm used to celebrating in a certain way with certain people in cold weather. So far it's been a great birthday. I am forever grateful to Pam for making me feel like a part of her family, and I've grown to love her as my own family.

Next week I will be leaving the Gold Coast. I definitely have mixed emotions about it all, as I've grown somewhat accustomed to "home" life again. But I really look forward to being on the go again, and seeing more of what this country has to offer, like Sydney and Melbourne. As sad as it is to leave this place and my sudo family, the next leg of my journey is about to begin and I'm really looking forward to it.

Pictures

These pictures were taken from Burleigh, another suburb on the Gold Coast. You can see Surfers Paradise from this viewpoint, as well as a group taking surfing lessons just below us.

Last few weeks on the Gold Coast

After leaving Brisbane, I headed out to the Gold Coast to stay with Pam, whom I met on my tour in China. Pam lives here with her son Grant and they have just been absolutely wonderful. I've really enjoyed this time, and being on my own has been exactly what I needed and I've been having a great time here.

The Gold Coast is made up of a bunch of different suburbs. Where Pam lives is about a 10 minute drive to Surfers Paradise and there are so many lovely beaches around here.

The first weekend I was here, Pam and I went for a day trip out to the Natural Bridge in Springbrook National Park and up to Tambourine Mountain. The Natural Bridge was created over millions of years by water tumbling through the roof of a basalt cave. It was quite amazing to see, and the National Park itself was beautiful. After our visit to the bridge we headed out to Tambourine Mountain which is about a hour away from Pam's house. We did some shopping, went to the markets, had lunch. It was awesome to have a local show me around.

The next week was pretty chill. I went to Surfer's Paradise, hung out at the beach which is pretty cool. Pam's son Grant took me out to Burleigh and Coolangata, 2 other suburbs down the coast and hung out at those beaches as well. The Gold Coast is quite a breathtaking coastline. We hit up a few of the malls around here and I'm happy to say that I completed my Christmas shopping last week and will be sending off my package this week.

Last weekend Pam took me out to Byron Bay, about 2 hours down the east coast. Byron Bay is so beautiful. Awesome beach, of course, great shopping... a very hippy area. I also walked up to the Cape Byron Lighthouse which is the most eastern part of Australia. It was quite the walk, and to be honest I didn't make it all the way down...only because I plan to go back there for a few days. But I did get some great photos.

This week the weather hasn't been that great. And when it has been, I've been reading at the beach or going for walks. It's raining right now, and is supposed to rain for the rest of the week, so the rest of it I imagine will be pretty relaxed.

Staying here with Pam has been so great for me, in every way. I am slowly getting used to being on my own and I have to say I am really enjoying it. It's been a completely different experience, making my own days, not having to worry if something I want to do or don't want to do will affect anyone else. I plan to do the rest of this trip on my own, well until my Mom and Aunt come out. I am just finding that I am getting much more on my own then I could with anyone. I plan to stay with Pam till the end of the month, then I will move on down the coast.

Write soon!