I am currently sitting at my dining room table in Lynbrook with my suitcases strewn throughout my house. Obviously, I am no longer "down under." I wanted to write this one last post to just close off my trip.
I could not have asked for a better last hoorah in Sydney. Although I had a lot of time dedicated to studying for a final, I was able to spend time with friends and doing things that I still wanted to do. Also, when I got back to Sydney the weather was amazing. (Even though when we were in New Zealand the weather was amazing too, but still cold). Several days were spent hanging out on the beach, roaming through the city, meandering through the markets, etc. Several of the last nights we were there, I got to watch the sunrise on the beach with some of my favorite people. The last night I was there, or I guess the last morning, I was convinced to go surfing in a dress. That is the kind of random experience that makes traveling exciting.
So I guess there's no need for me to continue. I'll take this time to pull an awards show speech and thank my loyal readers. I hope you enjoyed the journey I have taken you through. I would like to thank my new friends for giving me some amazing memories, and my old friends for sticking with me no matter how far apart we are. Most of all, I will publically thank my parents for giving me the opportunity to travel and also for not panicking and contacting international officials when I fail to call or email for a few days.
A little part of me will always be Down Under and it will always be sunny in Australia.
Until next time, because there will be a next time...
Cheers,
Lara
Monday, November 23, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
I can't drive a car, but I can fly a plane: Kaikoura, NZ
Long title, yes. Let's get right on it...
6/11/09
My roommates were heading back to Sydney today but I had plans to stick around for a few more days. Their flight was in the early afternoon so I decided to take an early (7am) bus to Kaikoura, about 2 and a half hours north of Christchurch. I fell asleep for most of the bus ride which I Was happy about because I was exhausted but sad because I missed the scenery. I figured I would get to see it on the way back to Christchurch. I got to the hostel a little before 10am and my room wasn't ready so I locked up my stuff and meandered into town. I fell in love immediately. The hostel was right on the Pacific Ocean and I could smell the salt. You know, that ocean smell. It reminded me of home. But it's so much stronger here. I was able to hear the wakes breaking, but there were small, none more than a foot. The beach isn't exactly one there you would want to go swimming. First of all, the water was freezing and the beach was rocky. Town was about 2km for the hostel, about a 20 minute walk. It was small, just a strip of stores really. So I just went to the grocery store and came back tot he hostel. I had lunch ans tried to figure out what I was going to do. I decided to just grab a book for the book exchange shelf. Most hostels have these and I think it's a really good idea. Backpackers spend so much time actually traveling from one place to another and reading is a way to pass the time but you wouldn't want to carry around so many cooks. So you have one or two and at each hostel you drop off those and take new ones. So, I took a short book with plans to finish it that day. I read outside then it got a little too cold so I moved inside and just sat on the couch with a view of the ocean and the snow topped mountains and finished the book. I felt quite accomplished. I went to bed early because I knew the next day was going to be one of the best days of my life.
7/11/09
People may think that I am exaggerating that I think this could rank up there with one of the best days of my life, but it was absolutely incredible. I got up early with plans to rent a bike and ride down to the seal colony on the Kaikoura peninsula, about a mile away. However, I knew I was going to be rushed because I had something special scheduled at 10:30. I had initially planned to leave Kaikoura in the later afternoon and stay two more days in Christchurch but after seeing how little there was to do there, I decided to extend my stay in Kaikoura another day. So the seal colony would wait until tomorrow. I sat outside in the warm sun, once again looking at the beautiful blue water at high tide and the snow topped mountains. At 10:30, Adam the pilot picked me up. I was off to the Kaikoura airstrip to FLY A PLANE. And by fly a plane I mean actually take control and fly. When we got to the airstrip Adam briefed me on what we were going to do and basically told me how a plane worked. It was pretty cool that I really knew what he was talking about. He was throwing in some fluid dynamics/mechanics terms and I was wondering if most people actually understand him. We were flying a little two seater Cessna plane. The seats were side-by-sde. I got to see all of the controls and monitors and everything. I even got one of those cool headsets. I knew it was going to be awesome. So we taxied up to the runway, he told me how to take off, and then I did. I pushed and controlled the throttle and pitch of the airplane! It was so cool. I did not think I was actually going to be doing that much. He controlled the rudder at the beginning (kind of the stability mechanism, it's a flap at the back of the plane) but I got to turn it. We got up to 2,000ft and stayed at about 80-100 knots. It was funny because we were talking about altitude and I told him that this was nothing because I jumped out of a plane 14,000ft in altitude. I'm just that badass. I got an amazing view of the mountains and the coat. I was able to take a few pictures and a quick video but I wanted to get back to controlling the plane; that's what I was up there for. He took over the controls and showed me how 2-G feel and how negative-G feel. Both were very weird, especially in such a little plane. Then he did a roll, which was awesome. I couldn't even explain it. It was definitely the coolest thing I did during the entire trip. I mean, how many people can say they have flown a plane and gotten to do a roll in it. I had a 20 minute flight and it went by so fast. I felt like I was up there for no time. He even taught me how to land. Keep 60 knots and then lift the nose of the plane slightly with the throttle right before you touch down. It was amazing. I didn't say anything about not having a drivers license. Adam just said, "If you can drive a car, you can fly a plane." I just of giggled to myself. I guess I technically can drive a car, I'm just not allowed to. The peddles to control the rudder were in the same place as the gas and brake peddles. Basically, when you turn left, you push the left peddle and the rudder turns left. If you don't turn the rudder, the nose of the aircraft will swing right before it turns left. It's all technical, and you know I'm clearly a pro now... But I wish I could go take some more flying lessons but a. I don't think they would let me and b. I looked it up and they are only out of Macarthur Airport, too far away. I called my parents after I flew and told them about the next crazy thing I did and surprisingly my mom wasn't nervous at all, but in fact jealous. I expected the same reaction I got when I went skydiving. The entire day, I could not stop smiling. I was so happy.
It was also nice being alone for a little while, being on my own schedule, not having to compromise with other people for a few days. Traveling with 5 other people can be difficult so the time to myself was relaxing. After I talked to my parents I walked back into town, got some coffee and cake, went back to the grocery store where the kid doing checkout was no older than 15, and they found myself in this recycled fashion store. For the most part it was a museum of costumes made from random collected material--bottle tops, old jeans, the stuff you make casts with, ties, plastic bags, mirrors, etc. They were incredible and quite absurd. There was also some clothing on sale, but none of it was exactly my style, and I have to say some of it was pretty ugly. They also had a bunch of artwork and I did end up getting one thing because I thought it was absolutely beautiful and hand made by the people who own the museum. I think it was worth it. So I went back to the hostel, cooked some dinner, then started on a new book that I actually picked up from the Birdsong Hostel a few days back.
When I decided to go to bed, I went to my room and there were two French girls in there speaking very fast. I could pick up a few words here and there but I definitely could not understand what they were saying. They the fourth person came in. She was in her 60's and immediately started talking about her life. She was from Toronto and has literally traveled all over the world. She has traveled all over Australia and all throughout Europe. She said she hitchhiked through some places and such. It was absolutely crazy. I could never imagine doing that now. I was happy when she stopped talking though, because she was going for a while... I fell asleep once again to the waves breaking on the rocks. I could definitely get used to that.
8/11/09
I'm getting lazy so I'm going to sum the end of this trip up real quick. I woke up and checked out of the Kiakoura hostel. Then I walked over to the Kaikoura peninsula and checked out the seal colony and climbed up the hill to get an awesome panoramic view of the area. It was beautiful. But I took some pictures and headed back. I got a bus to Christchurch at 4pm and by the time I arrived I basically just ate and went to bed. My flight was too early to stay awake.
9/11/09
I woke up at like 3:30am to get on a 4am shuttle to the airport. Exhausting. It was an interesting travel day, filled with adventure and exploding bottles of rum, but that story is just way too long to be fully told. I got back to Sydney around 6pm and started the end of my adventures down under...
Ok, finally done.
6/11/09
My roommates were heading back to Sydney today but I had plans to stick around for a few more days. Their flight was in the early afternoon so I decided to take an early (7am) bus to Kaikoura, about 2 and a half hours north of Christchurch. I fell asleep for most of the bus ride which I Was happy about because I was exhausted but sad because I missed the scenery. I figured I would get to see it on the way back to Christchurch. I got to the hostel a little before 10am and my room wasn't ready so I locked up my stuff and meandered into town. I fell in love immediately. The hostel was right on the Pacific Ocean and I could smell the salt. You know, that ocean smell. It reminded me of home. But it's so much stronger here. I was able to hear the wakes breaking, but there were small, none more than a foot. The beach isn't exactly one there you would want to go swimming. First of all, the water was freezing and the beach was rocky. Town was about 2km for the hostel, about a 20 minute walk. It was small, just a strip of stores really. So I just went to the grocery store and came back tot he hostel. I had lunch ans tried to figure out what I was going to do. I decided to just grab a book for the book exchange shelf. Most hostels have these and I think it's a really good idea. Backpackers spend so much time actually traveling from one place to another and reading is a way to pass the time but you wouldn't want to carry around so many cooks. So you have one or two and at each hostel you drop off those and take new ones. So, I took a short book with plans to finish it that day. I read outside then it got a little too cold so I moved inside and just sat on the couch with a view of the ocean and the snow topped mountains and finished the book. I felt quite accomplished. I went to bed early because I knew the next day was going to be one of the best days of my life.
7/11/09
People may think that I am exaggerating that I think this could rank up there with one of the best days of my life, but it was absolutely incredible. I got up early with plans to rent a bike and ride down to the seal colony on the Kaikoura peninsula, about a mile away. However, I knew I was going to be rushed because I had something special scheduled at 10:30. I had initially planned to leave Kaikoura in the later afternoon and stay two more days in Christchurch but after seeing how little there was to do there, I decided to extend my stay in Kaikoura another day. So the seal colony would wait until tomorrow. I sat outside in the warm sun, once again looking at the beautiful blue water at high tide and the snow topped mountains. At 10:30, Adam the pilot picked me up. I was off to the Kaikoura airstrip to FLY A PLANE. And by fly a plane I mean actually take control and fly. When we got to the airstrip Adam briefed me on what we were going to do and basically told me how a plane worked. It was pretty cool that I really knew what he was talking about. He was throwing in some fluid dynamics/mechanics terms and I was wondering if most people actually understand him. We were flying a little two seater Cessna plane. The seats were side-by-sde. I got to see all of the controls and monitors and everything. I even got one of those cool headsets. I knew it was going to be awesome. So we taxied up to the runway, he told me how to take off, and then I did. I pushed and controlled the throttle and pitch of the airplane! It was so cool. I did not think I was actually going to be doing that much. He controlled the rudder at the beginning (kind of the stability mechanism, it's a flap at the back of the plane) but I got to turn it. We got up to 2,000ft and stayed at about 80-100 knots. It was funny because we were talking about altitude and I told him that this was nothing because I jumped out of a plane 14,000ft in altitude. I'm just that badass. I got an amazing view of the mountains and the coat. I was able to take a few pictures and a quick video but I wanted to get back to controlling the plane; that's what I was up there for. He took over the controls and showed me how 2-G feel and how negative-G feel. Both were very weird, especially in such a little plane. Then he did a roll, which was awesome. I couldn't even explain it. It was definitely the coolest thing I did during the entire trip. I mean, how many people can say they have flown a plane and gotten to do a roll in it. I had a 20 minute flight and it went by so fast. I felt like I was up there for no time. He even taught me how to land. Keep 60 knots and then lift the nose of the plane slightly with the throttle right before you touch down. It was amazing. I didn't say anything about not having a drivers license. Adam just said, "If you can drive a car, you can fly a plane." I just of giggled to myself. I guess I technically can drive a car, I'm just not allowed to. The peddles to control the rudder were in the same place as the gas and brake peddles. Basically, when you turn left, you push the left peddle and the rudder turns left. If you don't turn the rudder, the nose of the aircraft will swing right before it turns left. It's all technical, and you know I'm clearly a pro now... But I wish I could go take some more flying lessons but a. I don't think they would let me and b. I looked it up and they are only out of Macarthur Airport, too far away. I called my parents after I flew and told them about the next crazy thing I did and surprisingly my mom wasn't nervous at all, but in fact jealous. I expected the same reaction I got when I went skydiving. The entire day, I could not stop smiling. I was so happy.
It was also nice being alone for a little while, being on my own schedule, not having to compromise with other people for a few days. Traveling with 5 other people can be difficult so the time to myself was relaxing. After I talked to my parents I walked back into town, got some coffee and cake, went back to the grocery store where the kid doing checkout was no older than 15, and they found myself in this recycled fashion store. For the most part it was a museum of costumes made from random collected material--bottle tops, old jeans, the stuff you make casts with, ties, plastic bags, mirrors, etc. They were incredible and quite absurd. There was also some clothing on sale, but none of it was exactly my style, and I have to say some of it was pretty ugly. They also had a bunch of artwork and I did end up getting one thing because I thought it was absolutely beautiful and hand made by the people who own the museum. I think it was worth it. So I went back to the hostel, cooked some dinner, then started on a new book that I actually picked up from the Birdsong Hostel a few days back.
When I decided to go to bed, I went to my room and there were two French girls in there speaking very fast. I could pick up a few words here and there but I definitely could not understand what they were saying. They the fourth person came in. She was in her 60's and immediately started talking about her life. She was from Toronto and has literally traveled all over the world. She has traveled all over Australia and all throughout Europe. She said she hitchhiked through some places and such. It was absolutely crazy. I could never imagine doing that now. I was happy when she stopped talking though, because she was going for a while... I fell asleep once again to the waves breaking on the rocks. I could definitely get used to that.
8/11/09
I'm getting lazy so I'm going to sum the end of this trip up real quick. I woke up and checked out of the Kiakoura hostel. Then I walked over to the Kaikoura peninsula and checked out the seal colony and climbed up the hill to get an awesome panoramic view of the area. It was beautiful. But I took some pictures and headed back. I got a bus to Christchurch at 4pm and by the time I arrived I basically just ate and went to bed. My flight was too early to stay awake.
9/11/09
I woke up at like 3:30am to get on a 4am shuttle to the airport. Exhausting. It was an interesting travel day, filled with adventure and exploding bottles of rum, but that story is just way too long to be fully told. I got back to Sydney around 6pm and started the end of my adventures down under...
Ok, finally done.
Adventures in Christchurch: New Zealand, continued
I would be better about posting but my computer keeps dying. And it has been absolutely beautiful outside so I've been at the beach instead of by my computer. I think you understand. So where were we...
4/11/09
We left Lake Tekapo early and headed to Spencerville for what I was most excited for--The Adrenalin Forest! Once again, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect because I didn't do any of the planning but it sounded pretty cool. Basically, it was a ropes/challenge course. There were zip lines (what they called "flying foxes") and ladders (horizontal and vertical), and all different kinds of rope challenges. I stayed in the back for most of it and took a lot of pictures so I don't think there are many of me. Laura only did 2 courses (the rest of us did 4, but we could have done up to 6) so she took pictures the rest of the time. There was only one challenge that I had a really hard time with. There were hanging ropes with stirrups at the end and two parallel ropes to hold on to. The goal was to move your foot from one stirrup to the next by shifting all of your weight to the other foot. All of my muscles were shaking whiles I was doing this. There was a Scottish guy helping us out with the course, like talking us through some of the challenges and he really helped me with that one. I was so relieved when I got to the next platform. At some point through the course I must have banged my leg on something because I got a pretty good size mark on my leg (it is still there now). It didn't bleed or anything, it kind of looks like a burn. But it definitely hurt for a while. There were a bunch of really fun challenges like the Indiana Jones swing and the Spiderman swing. Essentially for both you held onto a rope and swung into a net or a web. Really run. My muscles were really sore after the whole course. It's probably a good thing we stopped after 4 courses. The 5th and 6th were even harder and I don't know if my body could take it. Sad...
So after that we headed to out final stop as a group--Christchurch. It was only another half hour or so from Spencerville, which was good because I think we were all very sick of being in a car. We checked into the hostel and got some dinner ($4 fish and chips, that's were its at) and then figured out plans for the night. They had 2-for-1 drink coups for this bar at the reception desk so we grabbed some of those and decided to check it out. To say the least, it was dead when we got there. It was a pretty big place, 154 Bourbon St, and there were maybe 5 or 6 other people in there besides us. We got our 2-for-1 drinks and moved on. The people at the reception desk at the hostel told us about some other bars to check out in the area so we decided to try to find them. We passed one bar with a lot of people outside so we thought that might be worth checking out. But before we could go in, this guy stopped us and told us that although it looks busy it wasn't any fun because it was all of his business partners. I guess he saved us some time. So he told us of another better place to go, which was the same place the hostel told us about. It was called His Lordship. When we got there it was kind of slow but there was a live band setting up so we decided to stay. And we were very glad we did. The band was more like one lead guy playing guitar and singing and another guy doing percussion and some background vocals. The lead guy was awesome. He had a reggae feel about him. I was really surprised by the music he played. Some Kiwi music along with Ben Harper, Bill Withers (Lean on Me, classic). The amusing thing about that last song... So the same guy we ran into earlier in the night came to His Lordship with some of the people he worked with. They were all pretty hammered at that point but we were talking to them and having a good time. For whatever reason, when the band started playing Lean on Me, we all got into a big circle and started swaying and kicking, like Rockette style. It was pretty hysterical. When he played any Kiwi song, the guys made sure we knew it, they would keep yelling "This is a Kiwi song!" over and over. When the band stopped playing, which must have been before 12 (they didn't play long at all), we decided to leave. we weren't too disappointed though because we were all tired from the days adventures.
5/11/09
Day 2 in Christchurch was much less eventful. We initially had plans to go on another gondola over the city and walk on a few paths where the gondola ended but we figured it could not top the beautiful gondola ride we had in Queenstown. Also in an effort to save money, we decided to figure out new plans for the day that were preferably free. Unfortunately, that started with retuning Deli, sadness. She was a good car. But we lasted without her. We decided to walk around the city a little and try to find the actual Christ Church. We did, and we walked through it. I actually assumed that it would be much larger than it was. But it was very beautiful with some wonderful stained glass windows. We took some pictures and left, probably spent no more than 10 minutes in there. We continued to roam with no real direction. There was a tiny market in the city center right outside the church where there was this chalice structure (hard to explain). There were vendors selling clothes, jewelery (mainly Paua shell), and other random items. Nothing too exiting. We didn't stay long. We went into a Starbucks right next to the market and realized that the red cups are back. Jackie Dolan, you must be excited! On that note, it's really amusing to see all of this Christmas stuff everywhere. It is the same theme as it is at home--red and green, Santa, snowflakes, etc. However, it's hot here during Christmas, so no snowflakes. I think it's odd that they completely adapt to Northern Hemisphere Christmas images. But I guess, what else could they use? Moving on... We roamed though some of the over expensive stores and then decided just to go back to the hostel. Everyone decided to just sit on the courses in the lounge and read, I wrote for a while and then ended up napping on the couch. Kind of seemed like a wasted day but we really couldn't find anything else to do. At night we went back to 154 Bourbon St for some more 2-for-1 drinks (By the way, it was not on Bourbon St). Then we roamed to some other bars that we heard about and they were all so dead. It seemed like no one was out. Or maybe there were a lot of people out but they were too spread out at different bars. We joked about herding them together into one bar so it is busy and fun, I guess that was kind of a NZ sheep joke. So, we went back to the hostel early and I set my alarm really really early for the next day...
4/11/09
We left Lake Tekapo early and headed to Spencerville for what I was most excited for--The Adrenalin Forest! Once again, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect because I didn't do any of the planning but it sounded pretty cool. Basically, it was a ropes/challenge course. There were zip lines (what they called "flying foxes") and ladders (horizontal and vertical), and all different kinds of rope challenges. I stayed in the back for most of it and took a lot of pictures so I don't think there are many of me. Laura only did 2 courses (the rest of us did 4, but we could have done up to 6) so she took pictures the rest of the time. There was only one challenge that I had a really hard time with. There were hanging ropes with stirrups at the end and two parallel ropes to hold on to. The goal was to move your foot from one stirrup to the next by shifting all of your weight to the other foot. All of my muscles were shaking whiles I was doing this. There was a Scottish guy helping us out with the course, like talking us through some of the challenges and he really helped me with that one. I was so relieved when I got to the next platform. At some point through the course I must have banged my leg on something because I got a pretty good size mark on my leg (it is still there now). It didn't bleed or anything, it kind of looks like a burn. But it definitely hurt for a while. There were a bunch of really fun challenges like the Indiana Jones swing and the Spiderman swing. Essentially for both you held onto a rope and swung into a net or a web. Really run. My muscles were really sore after the whole course. It's probably a good thing we stopped after 4 courses. The 5th and 6th were even harder and I don't know if my body could take it. Sad...
So after that we headed to out final stop as a group--Christchurch. It was only another half hour or so from Spencerville, which was good because I think we were all very sick of being in a car. We checked into the hostel and got some dinner ($4 fish and chips, that's were its at) and then figured out plans for the night. They had 2-for-1 drink coups for this bar at the reception desk so we grabbed some of those and decided to check it out. To say the least, it was dead when we got there. It was a pretty big place, 154 Bourbon St, and there were maybe 5 or 6 other people in there besides us. We got our 2-for-1 drinks and moved on. The people at the reception desk at the hostel told us about some other bars to check out in the area so we decided to try to find them. We passed one bar with a lot of people outside so we thought that might be worth checking out. But before we could go in, this guy stopped us and told us that although it looks busy it wasn't any fun because it was all of his business partners. I guess he saved us some time. So he told us of another better place to go, which was the same place the hostel told us about. It was called His Lordship. When we got there it was kind of slow but there was a live band setting up so we decided to stay. And we were very glad we did. The band was more like one lead guy playing guitar and singing and another guy doing percussion and some background vocals. The lead guy was awesome. He had a reggae feel about him. I was really surprised by the music he played. Some Kiwi music along with Ben Harper, Bill Withers (Lean on Me, classic). The amusing thing about that last song... So the same guy we ran into earlier in the night came to His Lordship with some of the people he worked with. They were all pretty hammered at that point but we were talking to them and having a good time. For whatever reason, when the band started playing Lean on Me, we all got into a big circle and started swaying and kicking, like Rockette style. It was pretty hysterical. When he played any Kiwi song, the guys made sure we knew it, they would keep yelling "This is a Kiwi song!" over and over. When the band stopped playing, which must have been before 12 (they didn't play long at all), we decided to leave. we weren't too disappointed though because we were all tired from the days adventures.
5/11/09
Day 2 in Christchurch was much less eventful. We initially had plans to go on another gondola over the city and walk on a few paths where the gondola ended but we figured it could not top the beautiful gondola ride we had in Queenstown. Also in an effort to save money, we decided to figure out new plans for the day that were preferably free. Unfortunately, that started with retuning Deli, sadness. She was a good car. But we lasted without her. We decided to walk around the city a little and try to find the actual Christ Church. We did, and we walked through it. I actually assumed that it would be much larger than it was. But it was very beautiful with some wonderful stained glass windows. We took some pictures and left, probably spent no more than 10 minutes in there. We continued to roam with no real direction. There was a tiny market in the city center right outside the church where there was this chalice structure (hard to explain). There were vendors selling clothes, jewelery (mainly Paua shell), and other random items. Nothing too exiting. We didn't stay long. We went into a Starbucks right next to the market and realized that the red cups are back. Jackie Dolan, you must be excited! On that note, it's really amusing to see all of this Christmas stuff everywhere. It is the same theme as it is at home--red and green, Santa, snowflakes, etc. However, it's hot here during Christmas, so no snowflakes. I think it's odd that they completely adapt to Northern Hemisphere Christmas images. But I guess, what else could they use? Moving on... We roamed though some of the over expensive stores and then decided just to go back to the hostel. Everyone decided to just sit on the courses in the lounge and read, I wrote for a while and then ended up napping on the couch. Kind of seemed like a wasted day but we really couldn't find anything else to do. At night we went back to 154 Bourbon St for some more 2-for-1 drinks (By the way, it was not on Bourbon St). Then we roamed to some other bars that we heard about and they were all so dead. It seemed like no one was out. Or maybe there were a lot of people out but they were too spread out at different bars. We joked about herding them together into one bar so it is busy and fun, I guess that was kind of a NZ sheep joke. So, we went back to the hostel early and I set my alarm really really early for the next day...
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
New Zealand road trip, continued: Too much activity for a catchy title
So, continuing from the last post...
2/11/09
We got up early to do one of the things we were most excited for: gondola ride and luging! I let my roommates do most of the planning for this trip because the two weeks before were chaotic for me, so I honestly did not know what to expect from this part of the trip. When I heard gondola I was thinking boat ride like in Venice, and when I heard luge I was thinking ice. I was wrong. We were able to walk to the gondola from our hostel which was pretty exciting because I think Gina was pretty sick of driving by that point. The gondola was a little 4-seat cable car that lifted up the mountain. We got amazing views of Queenstown. It was beautiful. Once again, I tried to take pictures but I don't know how well they came out. The luge track was at the top of the mountain. They were kind of like go carts without motors. Any chance I get to drive something though, I get excited. We did two different tracks: a "scenic" one and an "advanced" one. The only difference was the more advanced one had steeper falls and tighter turns. Since there was no motor, the speed was dependent on the steepness of the track. It was really fun, and I definitely could have done those tracks a few more times, but we had plenty more things planned for the day.
When we got back to the hostel, we had lunch and I had initially planned on going skydiving again. But, somewhat last minute I decided against it and went horseback riding with my roommates instead. I think it was a good choice. We got picked up in town and when we got to the stable our guide, Gale, assigned us all horses. I got Charlie and Gina got Mac (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, anyone?). It was pretty amusing because the two of them seemed to be competing the entire time for the front of the pack. Mac always won. Typical Charlie. We rode for over two and a half hours, but it flew by. There were some parts when I was definitely kind of nervous. We were going up and down mountains and Charlie was walking very close to the edge of the path at some points. We saw a lot of sheep (not surprising) and cows during the ride. In fact, one cow was actually on the path where we were riding. It kind of just stood there as we passed, but then as someone's horse passed (I think it was Jackie's or Lauren's) the cow literally jumped off the edge of the mountain. Gale said it just walked down, but I don't see how you walk down that steep of an edge. Suicidal cow. Anyway, we saw some amazing views during the ride. I tried to take some pictures but I was also holding on for dear life at some points. Towards the end we were going through a bunch of rivers or creeks. Mac would go through the deepest part of the river, so Gina got kind of wet. Charlie insisted on trotting every time we got out of the water, so that was kind of scary and made my bum hurt real bad. I think he just wanted to catch up with Mac though. When we got back to the stable, I had a significant amount of trouble getting off the horse, and I knew I was going to be in a lot of pain later.
We got back to the hostel at like 8pm, got dinner, but didn't do much that night. We had more driving the next day...
3/11/09
Luckily we didn't have to wake up as early because we weren't in any rush to leave Queenstown. We checked out at 10am and headed to Lake Tekapo. We didn't really have many plans there, it was more of a stop over between Queenstown and Christchurch. The YHA hostel in Lake Tekapo was booked so Lauren found a villa for us. We got the sweet hookup. It was three bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, balcony, huge living room. Since we didn't really have anything to do there, it worked out nicely that we had a comfortable place to stay. We intially had plans to do this "skate and soak" package, but we were under the impression that it was ice skating and hot tubs. When we realized it was roller skating and warm pools we decided to save money and find something else to do. Instead, we played in the freezing cold Lake Tekapo for a while. Really, you can't come to Lake Tekapo without actually playing in the lake! So, we took some pictures and hung out there for a while then roamed around some more. We found a playground with swings, and jungle gym build like an elephant, a tractor, and a seesaw and naturally we spent about an hour there. We were like 10 year olds making up games and stuff. Oh to be young again... After some miscommunication between Chelsey and I ended in me being throw off the seesaw into woodchips (why they think those are safe, I will never understand), we decided to assess the rest of our day. Since there was basically nothing else in town, we decided to cook family dinner! And by that, I mean we decided that I cook dinner. We we went to the only grocery store in town (which happened to be at the gas station...) and picked up some necessary supplies. But this grocery store had NOTHING. It was amazing. I have no idea how people live there. Anyway, we ended up making salad, garlic bread (pre-made, not too impressive), and baked ziti with chicken (with jarred sauce, I was ashamed...) Of course we were extra classy and got some goon to go with it. The dinner was definitely successful and a lot of fun to cook. I'm excited to go home and cook again, and I think my family is excited for that too. The rest of the night we just spent playing cards, first out on the balcony then in the living room in front of the fireplace when it got too cold. It was definitely a relaxing day but I think it was needed after the excitement of the previous few days and upcoming days.
More coming, I promise...
2/11/09
We got up early to do one of the things we were most excited for: gondola ride and luging! I let my roommates do most of the planning for this trip because the two weeks before were chaotic for me, so I honestly did not know what to expect from this part of the trip. When I heard gondola I was thinking boat ride like in Venice, and when I heard luge I was thinking ice. I was wrong. We were able to walk to the gondola from our hostel which was pretty exciting because I think Gina was pretty sick of driving by that point. The gondola was a little 4-seat cable car that lifted up the mountain. We got amazing views of Queenstown. It was beautiful. Once again, I tried to take pictures but I don't know how well they came out. The luge track was at the top of the mountain. They were kind of like go carts without motors. Any chance I get to drive something though, I get excited. We did two different tracks: a "scenic" one and an "advanced" one. The only difference was the more advanced one had steeper falls and tighter turns. Since there was no motor, the speed was dependent on the steepness of the track. It was really fun, and I definitely could have done those tracks a few more times, but we had plenty more things planned for the day.
When we got back to the hostel, we had lunch and I had initially planned on going skydiving again. But, somewhat last minute I decided against it and went horseback riding with my roommates instead. I think it was a good choice. We got picked up in town and when we got to the stable our guide, Gale, assigned us all horses. I got Charlie and Gina got Mac (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, anyone?). It was pretty amusing because the two of them seemed to be competing the entire time for the front of the pack. Mac always won. Typical Charlie. We rode for over two and a half hours, but it flew by. There were some parts when I was definitely kind of nervous. We were going up and down mountains and Charlie was walking very close to the edge of the path at some points. We saw a lot of sheep (not surprising) and cows during the ride. In fact, one cow was actually on the path where we were riding. It kind of just stood there as we passed, but then as someone's horse passed (I think it was Jackie's or Lauren's) the cow literally jumped off the edge of the mountain. Gale said it just walked down, but I don't see how you walk down that steep of an edge. Suicidal cow. Anyway, we saw some amazing views during the ride. I tried to take some pictures but I was also holding on for dear life at some points. Towards the end we were going through a bunch of rivers or creeks. Mac would go through the deepest part of the river, so Gina got kind of wet. Charlie insisted on trotting every time we got out of the water, so that was kind of scary and made my bum hurt real bad. I think he just wanted to catch up with Mac though. When we got back to the stable, I had a significant amount of trouble getting off the horse, and I knew I was going to be in a lot of pain later.
We got back to the hostel at like 8pm, got dinner, but didn't do much that night. We had more driving the next day...
3/11/09
Luckily we didn't have to wake up as early because we weren't in any rush to leave Queenstown. We checked out at 10am and headed to Lake Tekapo. We didn't really have many plans there, it was more of a stop over between Queenstown and Christchurch. The YHA hostel in Lake Tekapo was booked so Lauren found a villa for us. We got the sweet hookup. It was three bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, balcony, huge living room. Since we didn't really have anything to do there, it worked out nicely that we had a comfortable place to stay. We intially had plans to do this "skate and soak" package, but we were under the impression that it was ice skating and hot tubs. When we realized it was roller skating and warm pools we decided to save money and find something else to do. Instead, we played in the freezing cold Lake Tekapo for a while. Really, you can't come to Lake Tekapo without actually playing in the lake! So, we took some pictures and hung out there for a while then roamed around some more. We found a playground with swings, and jungle gym build like an elephant, a tractor, and a seesaw and naturally we spent about an hour there. We were like 10 year olds making up games and stuff. Oh to be young again... After some miscommunication between Chelsey and I ended in me being throw off the seesaw into woodchips (why they think those are safe, I will never understand), we decided to assess the rest of our day. Since there was basically nothing else in town, we decided to cook family dinner! And by that, I mean we decided that I cook dinner. We we went to the only grocery store in town (which happened to be at the gas station...) and picked up some necessary supplies. But this grocery store had NOTHING. It was amazing. I have no idea how people live there. Anyway, we ended up making salad, garlic bread (pre-made, not too impressive), and baked ziti with chicken (with jarred sauce, I was ashamed...) Of course we were extra classy and got some goon to go with it. The dinner was definitely successful and a lot of fun to cook. I'm excited to go home and cook again, and I think my family is excited for that too. The rest of the night we just spent playing cards, first out on the balcony then in the living room in front of the fireplace when it got too cold. It was definitely a relaxing day but I think it was needed after the excitement of the previous few days and upcoming days.
More coming, I promise...
Monday, November 9, 2009
Hello best 11 days ever, it was nice to meet you: New Zealand Road Trip
After 11 days of traveling, I am finally sitting in my bed. And of course my first actions were shower, laundry (after my clothes got soaked in rum, but that's a later story), eat, and now sharing all my fabulous stories with you, my loyal readers.
This trip was such a whirlwind that I barely know where to start, so logically I will start from day 1. First I will introduce the participants in the trip: my roommates Gina, Lauren, Laura, and Chelsey, and our neighbor Jackie. Usually I am one to take the reigns on planning things, but because I was so crazy busy with school work the two weeks before we left, I barely contributed to the planning process. So, Chelsey provided us all with DETAILED itineraries before we left. And this is what happened...
30/10/09
We got to the Sydney airport bright and early for our flight to Christchurch, got through security without any issues, then it was DUTY-FREE TIME! Now, most people may not get excited about this, but if you knew how much liquor cost here, you would understand our excitement. But we had an even better surprise. While we were shopping, we realized that there was a woman handing out samples. Samples of liquor! So, naturally, Chelsey, Lauren and I booked it over there. At 8am we were taking shots of Baileys. It did a really good job in knocking me out for the flight.
When we got to the Christchurch airport, we picked up our final participant in the journey, DELICA! (Our rental car. Or should I say "Luxury People Mover," as written on the website.) We went to the rental car desk and the price was higher than what was originally quoted because they didn't include the under-25 surcharge before. Damn fees. But, we sweet talked our way into getting the GPS for the week free.
Our first stop on the journey was Hokitika on the west coast of New Zealand. It was about a 3.5 hour drive from Christchurch. We saw a lot of sheep. And that was really it. Sheep, cows, beautiful snow-topped mountains, fields, and sheep. In Hokitika we stayed at the Birdsong Hostel which was actually really nice. We dropped off our bags and went to "town" but it was pretty much one road and almost nothing was open by the time we got there, which was no later than 7pm. But, we did find this one take-away place and I got a huge portion of some awesome fish and chips for NZ$7 (like US$5.50). We then stopped at a food store to pick up sandwich supplies for the next days adventures and some other snacks. This food store had the greenest bananas that I had ever seen actually being sold. But the woman working there said it was fine and that "they would be yellow by tomorrow in this heat." Heat?? We were walking around in sweatshirts, jackets, and scarves. (Surprisingly, she was right...) When we got back to the hostel we were planning on hunting for glow worms but it wasn't yet dark enough, so we walked over to the beach. It was less than a 5 minute walk, but we had to cross train tracks. I, unlike some other people I know, luckily did not eat it on the train tracks (sorry, too soon? hahah). The sand was so black. And because I always find it necessary to touch the water, I took off my shoes and frolicked in the Tasman Sea. Not to my surprise, it was very VERY cold. But it was beautiful, the scenery and everything. We got there and the sun was setting, there were beautiful mountains, the water, everything was just amazing. There was a huge piece of driftwood on the beach that kind of looked like the piece of coral I made out of Styrofoam. Also, every time I see driftwood I get all sentimental about Picch's class. BFTP. We didn't want to be out there when it was dark so we went back to the hostel. When it got dark enough, we drove down to the dell (about 5 minutes drive) and prepared to search for glow worms. It was so dark. Luckily we grabbed a flashlight before we left. We were all holding onto each other walking down the walkway and we didn't see anything too special and they we realized that the walls all around us were glowing. It was pretty cool. They are actually firefly larvae. These just constantly glow instead of just flashing. It's a reminder that they are bitter (Curious George movie anyone?). There really wasn't much to see, so after that 5 minute mini-adventure we just went back to the hostel. There was a little lounge in the hostel with a small fireplace and some tables so we were sitting in there for a little while. I was working on my paper and everyone else was playing cards. There was another guy who was staying in the hostel who was being really creepy. He just sat there, not doing anything. They asked him if he wanted to play cards but he said he only plays when he drinks, but he still just sat in the room staring. It was a little creepy. Anyway, I finished my paper (wooooo) and went to bed very excited for the next day's adventures...
31/10/09 - HALLOWEEN (not that it mattered...)
We left Birdsong early and headed to Franz Josef to hike a glacier. You know, no big deal. But we got to the check-in office early so we got a chance to shop around in the little town (once again, veryyyy little). Then the people who worked in the glacier hike office briefed us on what to expect from the trip. They told us the equipment that they would be supplying, including a few articles of clothing. They had a mannequin displaying everything. Chelsey got really excited and basically yelled "Is the fanny pack included??" The woman talking to us just looked at us weird than said yes and moved on. Later we were wondering why she gave us a dirty look but it was only until after we stopped thinking about it that we realized that "fanny" here has a much different meaning. So, they are called bum packs. We embarrassed ourselves. Several, several times. So we got all of our equipment and then got on a bus up to the glacier. We had a 4-5 hour hike ahead of us. From the bus to the actual glacier was about 2km. Throughout that walk our guide, Ryan, would stop and give us some geologic history of the area. Naturally I was interested in this. I got into a debate about something with him, and I still think I'm right. He said that the glaciers appear blue because light is refracted, I said it was because light is scattered. According to the USGS, I was right. Yes, I did just look that up to prove that I was right, not that it matters to anyone but myself. I really am a nerd... Anyway, he showed us a fault line that runs through the valley and explained how the area is well overdue for an earthquake. This made Lauren very uncomfortable because she had a dream the night before about earthquakes. Luckily, nothing like that happened. This whole part of the hike was probably the coolest for me because I got to see how everything interacts--the glacier, the mountains, the fault line, the weather. All the stuff that I had been studying for the past few years was now in front of me. I was finally living in the world that I have been studying. When we were hiking on the glacier (like, legitimately digging the crampons on our feet into the ice) I tried to take pictures. But, it just would do no justice. It was so beautiful. The glacier had a blue tint to it, which was the source of the debate between Ryan and me. Going down was so much scarier than going up, I was digging my spikes in as much as possible. When we got to the bottom I was somewhat happy that I made it out alive (I did slip a few times which was kind of scary) but I was also sad because it was so beautiful up there I wanted to stay.
When we got back to the hostel we were all pretty exhausted we just showered and went to bed. Apparently, everyone had stayed up to read and talk for a little while, but I started snoring almost immediately when I climbed into bed. Typical. No complaints though because we had another early morning the next day.
1/11/09
We left bright and early once again for Queenstown, collectively our favorite stop throughout the trip. The drive was absolutely beautiful, but very long. After several trips to and from Charlottesville, I'm used to long car rides. And we had Chelsey's mix CD's getting us through. But the scenery was breathtaking. Once again, I tried to take pictures but it just would not do it justice. I took a few videos of us driving, just because I could. There were more snow-topped mountains, and green mountains, lakes, creeks. There were these one-lane bridges over creeks and Ryan (our glacier guide) told us that they are only one lane because they are regularly washed away. Comforting.
When we finally got to Queenstown, we went directly to our first activity--jetboating over the Shotover River! Basically, you get in a jetboat with about 10 other people and the driver takes you on a thrilling ride through the canyons and gets you soaking wet. But its ok, they give you a raincoat. It was a lot of fun and the canyons were really beautiful. We did 360's, during which we got the most wet, and they were a lot of fun.
After that adventure we went to the hostel and checked in. We walked around the city for a little while (this time it was more than a little town, quite refreshing). We decided to get some dinner at this pizza place Winnie's. We were really hungry but it was actually pretty good. Upon returning to our hostel, we made plans for the night. First we went to this place the Thirsty Ram and I thought of Ms. Shannon Moody, because I feel like a bar with that name should be on her campus. Then when we realized that kind of sucked, we went back to Winnie's and had a really good time. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped at Fergburger, the Queenstown equivalent to the White Spot. But sooooo much better. Mouth watering... Anyway, we got back, went to bed, and not surprisingly, the next day was filled with even more adventures.
But, that's all I'm going to write about for now, I have picture to upload and such. I'm a busy girl, what can I say. Don't worry, I know you are on the edge of your seat. Day 4 of my 11 day journey is on its way...
Until then...
Cheers,
Lara
This trip was such a whirlwind that I barely know where to start, so logically I will start from day 1. First I will introduce the participants in the trip: my roommates Gina, Lauren, Laura, and Chelsey, and our neighbor Jackie. Usually I am one to take the reigns on planning things, but because I was so crazy busy with school work the two weeks before we left, I barely contributed to the planning process. So, Chelsey provided us all with DETAILED itineraries before we left. And this is what happened...
30/10/09
We got to the Sydney airport bright and early for our flight to Christchurch, got through security without any issues, then it was DUTY-FREE TIME! Now, most people may not get excited about this, but if you knew how much liquor cost here, you would understand our excitement. But we had an even better surprise. While we were shopping, we realized that there was a woman handing out samples. Samples of liquor! So, naturally, Chelsey, Lauren and I booked it over there. At 8am we were taking shots of Baileys. It did a really good job in knocking me out for the flight.
When we got to the Christchurch airport, we picked up our final participant in the journey, DELICA! (Our rental car. Or should I say "Luxury People Mover," as written on the website.) We went to the rental car desk and the price was higher than what was originally quoted because they didn't include the under-25 surcharge before. Damn fees. But, we sweet talked our way into getting the GPS for the week free.
Our first stop on the journey was Hokitika on the west coast of New Zealand. It was about a 3.5 hour drive from Christchurch. We saw a lot of sheep. And that was really it. Sheep, cows, beautiful snow-topped mountains, fields, and sheep. In Hokitika we stayed at the Birdsong Hostel which was actually really nice. We dropped off our bags and went to "town" but it was pretty much one road and almost nothing was open by the time we got there, which was no later than 7pm. But, we did find this one take-away place and I got a huge portion of some awesome fish and chips for NZ$7 (like US$5.50). We then stopped at a food store to pick up sandwich supplies for the next days adventures and some other snacks. This food store had the greenest bananas that I had ever seen actually being sold. But the woman working there said it was fine and that "they would be yellow by tomorrow in this heat." Heat?? We were walking around in sweatshirts, jackets, and scarves. (Surprisingly, she was right...) When we got back to the hostel we were planning on hunting for glow worms but it wasn't yet dark enough, so we walked over to the beach. It was less than a 5 minute walk, but we had to cross train tracks. I, unlike some other people I know, luckily did not eat it on the train tracks (sorry, too soon? hahah). The sand was so black. And because I always find it necessary to touch the water, I took off my shoes and frolicked in the Tasman Sea. Not to my surprise, it was very VERY cold. But it was beautiful, the scenery and everything. We got there and the sun was setting, there were beautiful mountains, the water, everything was just amazing. There was a huge piece of driftwood on the beach that kind of looked like the piece of coral I made out of Styrofoam. Also, every time I see driftwood I get all sentimental about Picch's class. BFTP. We didn't want to be out there when it was dark so we went back to the hostel. When it got dark enough, we drove down to the dell (about 5 minutes drive) and prepared to search for glow worms. It was so dark. Luckily we grabbed a flashlight before we left. We were all holding onto each other walking down the walkway and we didn't see anything too special and they we realized that the walls all around us were glowing. It was pretty cool. They are actually firefly larvae. These just constantly glow instead of just flashing. It's a reminder that they are bitter (Curious George movie anyone?). There really wasn't much to see, so after that 5 minute mini-adventure we just went back to the hostel. There was a little lounge in the hostel with a small fireplace and some tables so we were sitting in there for a little while. I was working on my paper and everyone else was playing cards. There was another guy who was staying in the hostel who was being really creepy. He just sat there, not doing anything. They asked him if he wanted to play cards but he said he only plays when he drinks, but he still just sat in the room staring. It was a little creepy. Anyway, I finished my paper (wooooo) and went to bed very excited for the next day's adventures...
31/10/09 - HALLOWEEN (not that it mattered...)
We left Birdsong early and headed to Franz Josef to hike a glacier. You know, no big deal. But we got to the check-in office early so we got a chance to shop around in the little town (once again, veryyyy little). Then the people who worked in the glacier hike office briefed us on what to expect from the trip. They told us the equipment that they would be supplying, including a few articles of clothing. They had a mannequin displaying everything. Chelsey got really excited and basically yelled "Is the fanny pack included??" The woman talking to us just looked at us weird than said yes and moved on. Later we were wondering why she gave us a dirty look but it was only until after we stopped thinking about it that we realized that "fanny" here has a much different meaning. So, they are called bum packs. We embarrassed ourselves. Several, several times. So we got all of our equipment and then got on a bus up to the glacier. We had a 4-5 hour hike ahead of us. From the bus to the actual glacier was about 2km. Throughout that walk our guide, Ryan, would stop and give us some geologic history of the area. Naturally I was interested in this. I got into a debate about something with him, and I still think I'm right. He said that the glaciers appear blue because light is refracted, I said it was because light is scattered. According to the USGS, I was right. Yes, I did just look that up to prove that I was right, not that it matters to anyone but myself. I really am a nerd... Anyway, he showed us a fault line that runs through the valley and explained how the area is well overdue for an earthquake. This made Lauren very uncomfortable because she had a dream the night before about earthquakes. Luckily, nothing like that happened. This whole part of the hike was probably the coolest for me because I got to see how everything interacts--the glacier, the mountains, the fault line, the weather. All the stuff that I had been studying for the past few years was now in front of me. I was finally living in the world that I have been studying. When we were hiking on the glacier (like, legitimately digging the crampons on our feet into the ice) I tried to take pictures. But, it just would do no justice. It was so beautiful. The glacier had a blue tint to it, which was the source of the debate between Ryan and me. Going down was so much scarier than going up, I was digging my spikes in as much as possible. When we got to the bottom I was somewhat happy that I made it out alive (I did slip a few times which was kind of scary) but I was also sad because it was so beautiful up there I wanted to stay.
When we got back to the hostel we were all pretty exhausted we just showered and went to bed. Apparently, everyone had stayed up to read and talk for a little while, but I started snoring almost immediately when I climbed into bed. Typical. No complaints though because we had another early morning the next day.
1/11/09
We left bright and early once again for Queenstown, collectively our favorite stop throughout the trip. The drive was absolutely beautiful, but very long. After several trips to and from Charlottesville, I'm used to long car rides. And we had Chelsey's mix CD's getting us through. But the scenery was breathtaking. Once again, I tried to take pictures but it just would not do it justice. I took a few videos of us driving, just because I could. There were more snow-topped mountains, and green mountains, lakes, creeks. There were these one-lane bridges over creeks and Ryan (our glacier guide) told us that they are only one lane because they are regularly washed away. Comforting.
When we finally got to Queenstown, we went directly to our first activity--jetboating over the Shotover River! Basically, you get in a jetboat with about 10 other people and the driver takes you on a thrilling ride through the canyons and gets you soaking wet. But its ok, they give you a raincoat. It was a lot of fun and the canyons were really beautiful. We did 360's, during which we got the most wet, and they were a lot of fun.
After that adventure we went to the hostel and checked in. We walked around the city for a little while (this time it was more than a little town, quite refreshing). We decided to get some dinner at this pizza place Winnie's. We were really hungry but it was actually pretty good. Upon returning to our hostel, we made plans for the night. First we went to this place the Thirsty Ram and I thought of Ms. Shannon Moody, because I feel like a bar with that name should be on her campus. Then when we realized that kind of sucked, we went back to Winnie's and had a really good time. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped at Fergburger, the Queenstown equivalent to the White Spot. But sooooo much better. Mouth watering... Anyway, we got back, went to bed, and not surprisingly, the next day was filled with even more adventures.
But, that's all I'm going to write about for now, I have picture to upload and such. I'm a busy girl, what can I say. Don't worry, I know you are on the edge of your seat. Day 4 of my 11 day journey is on its way...
Until then...
Cheers,
Lara
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Hate to burst your bubble...
But don't expect an update for the next 11 days. I know all my avid readers are crying "WHYYYYYYY???" Well, it's simple.
I am shipping off to New Zealand for 11 days! We are leaving tomorrow morning and coming back Monday night. Hanging with the Kiwis in Kiwi-a-gogo-land for a few days, I think so.
I'm going with my roommates Gina, Lauren, Laura, Chelsey, and our neighbor Jackie. It's going to be pretty insane. I will have SO much to write about when I return. Don't worry, your insatiable thirst for hearing about my adventures will be satisfied then.
But until then...
Peace, love, kiwis, and koalas.
I am shipping off to New Zealand for 11 days! We are leaving tomorrow morning and coming back Monday night. Hanging with the Kiwis in Kiwi-a-gogo-land for a few days, I think so.
I'm going with my roommates Gina, Lauren, Laura, Chelsey, and our neighbor Jackie. It's going to be pretty insane. I will have SO much to write about when I return. Don't worry, your insatiable thirst for hearing about my adventures will be satisfied then.
But until then...
Peace, love, kiwis, and koalas.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Holy ****: One month left
Sorry for the profanity, it's the only way to express my amazement that my time here has FLOWN past. I still remember writing my first post about being alive and finding it amusing that Asian people can have Australian accents. The theme of this post is basically summarizing what I've been doing in Sydney lately and what I have coming up in the near future.
Like I said in the last post, I feel like I have been neglecting my adventures here in Sydney. After all, I am studying here so I should have more stories about being here. All throughout October has been the Crave Sydney Festival. It is a combination of food, art, culture, etc. I've gone to a bunch of events with a bunch of people. I went to the Latin festival in Darling Harbor at the end of Spring Break with my friends Matt and Ken who were stopping over in Sydney after their trip to New Zealand. Some of my roommates also came with us. There was a ton of Latin food, music, art, crafts. There was a woman at a booth who told us if we got our picture taken we would get cupcakes. So, that we did. They gave us this little gift bag with 2 cupcakes each! That pretty much made my day. We roamed around for a little while and then it started POURING so we decided to go to happy hour. Logical, right?
Actually, the day before I decided to roam around Sydney by myself and I was looking for the Latin Festival but I couldn't find it. (Turns out I was in the wrong part of the Harbor. Clearly, I don't go there enough.) I did stumble upon a craft fair in The Rocks, one of my favorite parts of Sydney. It's hard to explain The Rocks. Everything is kind of old fashion looking. There are a bunch of bars and little pubs. One of the most popular clubs, The Argyle, is down there. It's right by the water. Some of the sidewalks are cobblestone, maybe giving it the name "The Rocks." Anyway, it's really nice down there. Quaint, in a way. So I wandered through the market stopping at some of the booths and talked to a few of the vendors. Asked them their stories, suggestions they had for things to do in Sydney and around Australia, etc. I got a few presents for people (and myself...) while I was there as well.
Also in The Rocks is this restaurant Pancakes on the Rocks. It is apparently one of those "must do" things here. It is a 24-hour restaurant and I really wish we knew about that earlier because we have always been looking for late night food. NOTHING here is open late, surprisingly. We went there a few nights ago I got the most amazing chocolate pancakes. So good. They had normal food too, somewhat iHop-esque. Honestly, I'm not really sure why people rave about it so much but it was fun.
[If you haven't noticed yet, this isn't going to be in any chronological order. It's more of a stream-of-consciousness thing.]
Another part of Crave Sydney was the Night Noodle Market. I suggested going to my roommates and they thought I was joking based on the name. Yes, it does sound pretty ridiculous. Gina and I decided to head over there one night. It was in Hyde Park in central Sydney. To start, Hyde Park is beautiful. It is one of my favorite places in Sydney. Kind of reminds me of parks in Manhattan. Anyway, When we were walking up to the market, there were huge pictures posted on both sides of the pathway. They were part of the "Art and About" section of Crave Sydney. There was a booth where you could vote for your favorite and Gina and I did that, mainly just because the entry could win you a free digital camera. Anyway, after voting we continued our journey to the noodles. There was some live Asian music playing and every kind of Asian food you could think of. Himalayan, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, etc. We got some Thai food but it honestly wasn't that great. We were planning on going back, but we just never got the chance. I think it is still going on so maybe we will make it back there before it ends.
In keeping with my environmental roots, I decided to go to the Live Green House exhibit, another part of Crave Sydney. Sydney is really environmentally conscious, so seeing this whole exhibit with new tips on how to use the three R's (reduce, reuse, recycle!) was really cool. This other company was doing a presentation on vertical gardens that was pretty interesting, but I didn't get to see too much of it. It was pretty much about maximizing space and resources by growing plants on a wall, basically. It's kind of hard to explain. From there, I went to Paddington Reservior and listened to some jazz music and then I went to Paddington Market. The latter is not part of Crave Sydney. It happens every Saturday outside this school in Paddington, a suburb of Sydney were a lot of good shopping is. I roamed around, not really looking for anything in particular. A lot of the clothes are times-ly, in the words of Kerri Horgan. Aka, a lot of the clothes were pretty weird looking. There was a guy selling chocolate and I got into a conversation with him about a bunch of stuff. He gave me a ton a free samples and even offered to give me some to take home! People are so nice. I probably should have limited my chocolate intake though because I went to yoga right after...
Last Sunday was also the UVA va UMD football game! Well, it was Saturday back at home but here it was Sunday at 7am. Rough. So we got up early, I made some guac, put on my orange and blue dress and pearls and went to watch the game with my UMD friends. Just as we predicted, it was an INCREDIBLY embarassing game for both teams. However, Virginia won and I still rub it in their faces. I am very glad we won though because if we lost I would never hear the end of it from at least 5 very passionate Terps.
My roommates and I have also been planning our upcoming trip to New Zealand! We are leaving a week from today!! Crazy... Here is a little taste of what's on our agenda:
We are landing in Christchurch, renting a car, hiking through Franz Joseph Glacier, hanging out in Queenstown, going to Lake Tekapo... that's all I can remember right now... but my roommates are leaving on the 6th but I am staying until the 9th. So I believe I am heading up to Kaikoura (about 2.5 hours north of Christchurch) to do this eco-tour. Me = nerd. On the 9th, bright and early, I am flying to Melbourne. Then on the 10th I am flying to Alice Springs--no, not the chicken (bad joke). On the 11th I'm going on a 3-day tour through the Outback and then I'm flying back to Melbourne on the 14th. I'm hanging out in Melbourne for a few days then flying back to Sydney on the 16th.
Then, more adventures around Sydney and... I don't want to say it but... home on the 22nd.
Well that's all I can think of for now. I should get back to work. Yuck.
Cheers!
Like I said in the last post, I feel like I have been neglecting my adventures here in Sydney. After all, I am studying here so I should have more stories about being here. All throughout October has been the Crave Sydney Festival. It is a combination of food, art, culture, etc. I've gone to a bunch of events with a bunch of people. I went to the Latin festival in Darling Harbor at the end of Spring Break with my friends Matt and Ken who were stopping over in Sydney after their trip to New Zealand. Some of my roommates also came with us. There was a ton of Latin food, music, art, crafts. There was a woman at a booth who told us if we got our picture taken we would get cupcakes. So, that we did. They gave us this little gift bag with 2 cupcakes each! That pretty much made my day. We roamed around for a little while and then it started POURING so we decided to go to happy hour. Logical, right?
Actually, the day before I decided to roam around Sydney by myself and I was looking for the Latin Festival but I couldn't find it. (Turns out I was in the wrong part of the Harbor. Clearly, I don't go there enough.) I did stumble upon a craft fair in The Rocks, one of my favorite parts of Sydney. It's hard to explain The Rocks. Everything is kind of old fashion looking. There are a bunch of bars and little pubs. One of the most popular clubs, The Argyle, is down there. It's right by the water. Some of the sidewalks are cobblestone, maybe giving it the name "The Rocks." Anyway, it's really nice down there. Quaint, in a way. So I wandered through the market stopping at some of the booths and talked to a few of the vendors. Asked them their stories, suggestions they had for things to do in Sydney and around Australia, etc. I got a few presents for people (and myself...) while I was there as well.
Also in The Rocks is this restaurant Pancakes on the Rocks. It is apparently one of those "must do" things here. It is a 24-hour restaurant and I really wish we knew about that earlier because we have always been looking for late night food. NOTHING here is open late, surprisingly. We went there a few nights ago I got the most amazing chocolate pancakes. So good. They had normal food too, somewhat iHop-esque. Honestly, I'm not really sure why people rave about it so much but it was fun.
[If you haven't noticed yet, this isn't going to be in any chronological order. It's more of a stream-of-consciousness thing.]
Another part of Crave Sydney was the Night Noodle Market. I suggested going to my roommates and they thought I was joking based on the name. Yes, it does sound pretty ridiculous. Gina and I decided to head over there one night. It was in Hyde Park in central Sydney. To start, Hyde Park is beautiful. It is one of my favorite places in Sydney. Kind of reminds me of parks in Manhattan. Anyway, When we were walking up to the market, there were huge pictures posted on both sides of the pathway. They were part of the "Art and About" section of Crave Sydney. There was a booth where you could vote for your favorite and Gina and I did that, mainly just because the entry could win you a free digital camera. Anyway, after voting we continued our journey to the noodles. There was some live Asian music playing and every kind of Asian food you could think of. Himalayan, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, etc. We got some Thai food but it honestly wasn't that great. We were planning on going back, but we just never got the chance. I think it is still going on so maybe we will make it back there before it ends.
In keeping with my environmental roots, I decided to go to the Live Green House exhibit, another part of Crave Sydney. Sydney is really environmentally conscious, so seeing this whole exhibit with new tips on how to use the three R's (reduce, reuse, recycle!) was really cool. This other company was doing a presentation on vertical gardens that was pretty interesting, but I didn't get to see too much of it. It was pretty much about maximizing space and resources by growing plants on a wall, basically. It's kind of hard to explain. From there, I went to Paddington Reservior and listened to some jazz music and then I went to Paddington Market. The latter is not part of Crave Sydney. It happens every Saturday outside this school in Paddington, a suburb of Sydney were a lot of good shopping is. I roamed around, not really looking for anything in particular. A lot of the clothes are times-ly, in the words of Kerri Horgan. Aka, a lot of the clothes were pretty weird looking. There was a guy selling chocolate and I got into a conversation with him about a bunch of stuff. He gave me a ton a free samples and even offered to give me some to take home! People are so nice. I probably should have limited my chocolate intake though because I went to yoga right after...
Last Sunday was also the UVA va UMD football game! Well, it was Saturday back at home but here it was Sunday at 7am. Rough. So we got up early, I made some guac, put on my orange and blue dress and pearls and went to watch the game with my UMD friends. Just as we predicted, it was an INCREDIBLY embarassing game for both teams. However, Virginia won and I still rub it in their faces. I am very glad we won though because if we lost I would never hear the end of it from at least 5 very passionate Terps.
My roommates and I have also been planning our upcoming trip to New Zealand! We are leaving a week from today!! Crazy... Here is a little taste of what's on our agenda:
We are landing in Christchurch, renting a car, hiking through Franz Joseph Glacier, hanging out in Queenstown, going to Lake Tekapo... that's all I can remember right now... but my roommates are leaving on the 6th but I am staying until the 9th. So I believe I am heading up to Kaikoura (about 2.5 hours north of Christchurch) to do this eco-tour. Me = nerd. On the 9th, bright and early, I am flying to Melbourne. Then on the 10th I am flying to Alice Springs--no, not the chicken (bad joke). On the 11th I'm going on a 3-day tour through the Outback and then I'm flying back to Melbourne on the 14th. I'm hanging out in Melbourne for a few days then flying back to Sydney on the 16th.
Then, more adventures around Sydney and... I don't want to say it but... home on the 22nd.
Well that's all I can think of for now. I should get back to work. Yuck.
Cheers!
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