Nehemiah and Wes go to Australia and New Zealand

The West Coast

2009-12-16T06:42:00.018+13:00

On Sunday morning, the realization that the trip was soon going to be ending began to sink in. We were determined, though, to use our remaining time as wisely as possible. First on the agenda was a brief trip to Fox Glacier. I have seen glaciers before in magnificent settings such as at Glacier National Park in Montana, USA, and Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta, Canada, but never before have I seen a glacier so close to the ocean and so close to rainforest! It is truly a remarkable area and I think a good microcosm of the variety of New Zealand. We did not have time to go on a guided tour of the glacier, which would have been cool, but we on an adventurous hike of our own up along a mountain stream. After our hike we drove up the West Coast to Franz Jozef Glacier to eat. I had the best Prime Rib ever in this small, unassuming restaurant.

We continued up the coast until we arrived at Punakaiki. This is a beautiful area of New Zealand's west coast, somewhat similar to the drive on California 1 up to Big Sur. There are alot of beautiful features along the coast, such as the Pancake Rocks. We didn't arrive at high tide, however, so we were not able to observe the famous Panakaiki Blow Hole in action.

We traveled back down the coast to try to find something to eat. This proved more difficult than I had thought or hoped, as practically everything was closed in Hokitika. It was a shame, too, because Hokitika is known for its "flourishing gemstone industry" and I had wanted to check out some of the stores to possibly get a gift for my Mom. There were alot of cool looking jade stores. There was actually a small movie theater in the small town but to the chagrin of Wes it was only playing Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and Twilight. We were trying to burn time.... I'll explain why later.

We had to resort to getting dinner at the local Gas station- please note that there are far less dining options at your typical New Zealand petrol station than at Sheetz, per say. Wes seemed pleased with his selection- a "hot dog" that the guys working there heated up for him. The young guys working at the petrol station were nice and amusing- they trashed the local radio stations (all we could get in on the radio was a call for horse races and one Christian Rock station, I wish so bad I would have remembered to borrow Verena's tape adapter so we could have listened to my ipod!) and longingly spoke of the good music scene in Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland. I got a ham salad sandwich thinking it was a ham salad sandwich but it turned out to be a razor-thin piece of ham with "salad"- lettuce and tomato on bread. I also purchased a 1.5L container of Mountain Dew to keep awake for the drive across New Zealand to Christchurch. We'll get back to that later.

There was one last adventure for us to go on, though. We ventured to find the famous "glowworms" in Hokitika. As we arrived at dusk (around 9:30 PM) we were not quite sure where to go, so we ventured up a beaten path. Two other visitors must have thought that we looked where we were going and they followed us. The path, though, ended up taking us from the glowworm dell into a backyard of a house in a development- a prime example of the blind leading the blind. We headed back to the actual dell and the glowworms were out. It is hard to describe what they look like. They almost appear to stars hanging in the forest floor. It was quite spectacular, and I believe Wes was awestruck to a degree. I was not able to get any pictures or video as the light from the glowworms was so soft. (I could have on "Bulb Mode"- an unlimited open exposure, but I'm beginning to think that my camera does not have this mode even though a book I had says it does). It is amazing how much more powerful our eyes are compared to a camera. I had another moment where I wish I had kids at the Glowworm dell. A little girl came over to me and asked: "Sir, can you see any glowworms?" Which I replied: "Yes, right here I can see some." She hurriedly reported back to her parents:"That man over there sees some glowworms!". I heard her brother, who must have been not much older than 6 or 7 years old say later: "From this angle, I can see the glowworms much better!" I like those kids- they were cool.

It was now time for us to begin heading home. First up was the drive to Christchurch over Arthur's Pass, which would take a couple of hours. Arthur's Pass is supposed to be a beautiful area but we did not see any of it as it was PITCH DARK. It was almost like driving in a cave. There were no lights and we passed 3 cars I think on our entire drive into the Christchurch city limits. Granted, it was after midnight on a Sunday night, but this is one of the main roads in New Zealand! The drive was a bit harrowing and twisty at times- maybe it is good that we couldn't see, because we were probably driving on the side of a cliff! The drive was fun, though, as we talked about movies and music and all sorts of things- we had the type of conversations that you can and only will ever have when you are on a long road trip, far from home and familiar places, in awe of everything that you have seen, trying to make sense of it, and wondering constantly and incessantly what the future holds. It seems like these choice times are part of a select few moments where your thinking is clear and perceptive and hopeful and in focus, where it becomes easy to observe and understand everything. Then after a few minutes, the feeling begins to fade away, as some small and ultimately inconsequential matter begins to dominate your mind. You fight the feeling, because the arrival of clarity was so welcomed and you don't want it to leave, but resisting is just as futile as struggling to stay asleep during a wonderful dream after conscious thought barges in and announces that everything that you have just experienced was just a dream. I remember during the entire drive I was anxiously searching my memory, trying to remember something -some feeling, or some thought, or some matter- that I wanted to tell or talk about with Wes, but I couldn't remember what it was. There are just a few opportunities in life where you are able to really speak to somebody, the way we are meant to speak, bypassing the daily requirement of formal rhetoric or trivial dialogue... but I couldn't remember what I wanted to say. I still can't remember what I wanted to say.

Ellis Schoffstall must drive a camper on Skipper's Canyon Road!

2009-11-30T14:14:00.008+13:00

On Saturday morning, it was time to finally white-water raft! The lady who had booked the trip for us at our hotel the day before had scared me, because she said that the rafting would probably be cancelled because of all of the rain. It turned out just the opposite- the levels were almost perfect for great rafting!

We have no photos or videos of the rafting because you were not allowed to take any stuff like that with you. They took video at the final rapid, but not throughout, because there is no way to get people to various parts of the canyon with video equipment. It was also disappointing that the video that they took did not end up coming out in the end so we weren't able to get any. There are a couple of videos on YouTube of the final rapid, from other tours, but I know the water level was much higher and faster when we went- I can tell just looking at it, and our guides told us.

The drive to the rafting spot is absolutely ridiculous. You travel on the world famous Skipper's Canyon Road (generic video of the road can be found clicking on the link). This road beats out anything that I have seen even in the American West. We drove up in a rickety old bus hauling a trailer with a bunch of rafts on it. This road is crazy to drive even with a 4WD. There is a mountian biking trail along side the road. Most people complete the descent in about 40 minutes. A world champion did so in 5, however the owner of a mtn. biking rental outfit in Queenstown broke his pelvis on the trail. The canyon kind of reminds me of the Rio Grande gorge in New Mexico.

After our descent we arrived at our rafting location and it was finally time to go. We had quite the crew- the raft that Wes and I were on was made up of our English guide who had worked at some snowboarding/skiing resorts in the Northeast (US), a Scottish couple, an Aussie, and two Koreans. One of the cool things about New Zealand is how no matter where you are, there are generally people from all around the world.

After getting geared up and instructed, we started on our river adventure. I wish we could have pictures of our gear. It was the complete opposite of our attire at the kayaking! Instead of looking like lunatic medieval jesters, we looked like Jason Bourne. Solid black neoprene overalls, with the New Zealand fern across the heart. This pumped us up for the trip. Your clothes really do affect your morale and attitude! We felt like a special ops team going down the river to rescue someone.

The first several minutes, we coasted down the river at a calm pace, trying out our newly learned techniques at our guide's will. Here is a map of the river we did (you can also see the road we took to get into the canyon- to the right of the river.) Eventually, we would reach the first rapid of the day- the Grade 3 (Red Rocks). We paddled hard when we were supposed to leading up to the rapid, but when our guide yelled get down, the two Koreans just behind Wes and I did not. This caused our raft to turn perpendicular to the river, almost flipping upside down entirely, as we went through the rapid. I tried to hold on as my side of the raft was a couple feet off of the water, but fell down landing on Wes, knocking him out the raft and halfway into the river. At the last second, however, I redeemed myself by grabbing Wes and hauling him back into the raft saying "I got you" in the process (perfect overly-dramatic dialogue for an action movie.) The two Koreans were not so lucky. I think they both fell into the water, but the one who had probably fallen on the other was able to hang on to the side of the raft and pull himself back in. The other guy was flailing around in the river and appeared genuinely scared. His friend though wasn't pulling him back in- I don't know if he was rattled or what- so the guide yelled at Wes to pull him in, which he did. Then we all had to paddle like crazy downstream to reach the guy's wayward paddle which I reached out with my long arms and snatched before it was gone forever. Things calmed down after that, but it was quite fun and adventurous as we went through the different rapids. It is quite the view when you are going through a rapid.

We would eventually get to the Oxenbridge Tunnel where Wes had the privilege of steering the raft as we went on the river through a tunnel barely wide enough for the raft and barely tall enough for us to squeeze through! Right after the tunnel was the final rapid of the day. The rapid is normally just a Class 3, but when the water level is high this rapid amps up considerably. Our guide sort of beat around the bush telling us about the upcoming rapid, and then just said- well it is basically a 3 meter waterfall (about 9 feet), and 9 out of 10 rafts will flip at this level. Just as we were coming out of the tunnel we saw that the majority of the crew on the first raft to go through was floating down the river. Uh oh..... We paddled hard, our guide yelled GET DOWN.... we quickly sunk and were thrown to the right by the rapids. Our guide then yelled TO THE LEFT, as he had warned we must do if we didn't want the raft to go upside down.... we did (well we basically all did- in a picture we saw back at the lodge, everyone was to the left but the two Korean guys! and the guide was falling out the back- unbeknown to us- I guess he somehow grabbed the raft and held on) and we crashed back down and accelerated ahead to the calm river below. It was quite the fun ride, and we were proud that we had made it through. Another raft or two made it through perfect, too, but others would also have "casualties".

After rafting, we headed back to town and went up the gondola, to Bob's Peak which overlooks Queenstown. The views are stunning. Not only can you look at the wonderful views, you can also luge or bungee jump at Bob's Peak. Obviously, we went "luging", which was actually pretty fun. If you pushed it too far trying to beat a friend, you could get banged up pretty good because those things go faster than you think.

Sadly, it was time to leave Queenstown, but it was time for a long scenic drive through Wanaka and Mt. Aspiring National Park all of the way up to Fox Glacier.

I'll Buy You A Kebab!

2009-11-28T23:20:00.009+13:00

On Saturday, Wes and I got up before the crack of dawn (4:30 AM- the days are quite long in New Zealand- while it was getting dark between 6:00-6:30 in Queensland (they don't use DST there), it is getting dark around 10 PM here and light around 5 AM) to make the long drive back to Milford Sound so we could go on a morning kayak trip there. We traversed the Milford Road (about a 2 HR trip) once again as the sun came up. As we passed through the tunnel though the weather looked quite disturbed in Milford Sound. After suiting up into our laughable attire- check out the picture of Wes- could they possibly make it any more ugly and ridiculous?.... we headed out into the Sound. It is very humbling sitting in a kayak in Milford Sound. We paddled across the Sound close to the one waterfall and then started heading down the Sound. As we were doing this, we could see waves starting to form quite a distance ahead. About a minute later, we started to feel a strong wind, and within a few more minutes the waves reached us. I was in the front of the kayak, so some of the waves were crashing right on my face. Wes was in the back doing the hard work with the steering. I remember thinking: is this pretty normal since the weather here can be very changeable. Wes then asked our one guide, who told us: I've never been out here when it was like this! Very comforting! It really wasn't that "scary", it was more annoying than anything- having to row hard against a strong wind- 30 knots or so- and having cold water crash down on your face. It was quite the adventure, though! Wes and I had originally wanted to go on another expedition that had left earlier and went all of the way out to the Tasman Sea. Well, apparently they got the worst of it- winds over 50 knots that blew them straight backwards. A boat had to go pick them up.

We headed over to the one shore to get some shelter and a hot drink and eventually went back to shore. We met a couple interesting people, including an older man originally from Newport, Rhode Island, who now lives in Central City Philly. He has traveled all over the world, but he said the best trip he ever went on was a multi-day white-water rafting trip in the Grand Canyon.

After kayaking, we got some tasty lunch at the surprisingly affordable lodge before making yet another track down the Milford Road. Wes fell asleep pretty fast and I was driving I felt quite tired myself. In fact so tired, that for the first time in my life I had to pull over and sleep for about 20 minutes. Feeling refreshed, it was time to make the long drive to Queenstown- the adventure capital of the world.

We got in pretty late- it had been raining the whole day, which cancelled our evening plans. However, we ended up living for ourselves some of the lyrics in the famous Kiwi band Flight Of The Conchords one song, as we bought ourselves a Kebab!

The sky started to clear at sunset and I was able to get some nice pictures and video. Queenstown is quite a nice place and is certainly an adventure mecca.

The Eighth Wonder Of The World

2009-11-28T00:01:00.005+13:00

Rudyard Kipling once called Milford Sound the eighth wonder of the world. I think he got it about right.

On Thursday morning, we got up early and drove from Te Anau to Milford Sound. This drive is called one of if not the most beautiful drive in the world. I vote for most beautiful. As the sun was coming up we approached the Southern Alps with meadows of lupines strewn before colossal, snow-capped mountains. (I'm trying my best to make up for the lack of pictures). As we got closer the road became technical. Very technical. Switchbacks, one lane bridges, one lane in places in general, and very, very steep. All the while, though, the scenery got more spectacular. Rainforest, waterfalls pouring over cliffs, roaring rivers, alpine meadows. After about an hour of that, you come to the Homer Tunnel, and then after waiting your turn, you descend to Milford Sound.

Words and pictures will never describe Milford Sound. I have posted one picture from the part of the Sound closest to mainland, to give you an idea of the scale of the area. The white dot to the right of the waterfall is a large boat. The waterfall that you see is actually 8 km away from where the picture is being taken. The weather can be different at various areas of the Sound. When we left it was nice but cool. We got in the middle of the Sound and there were gale force winds, and then we arrived at the end of the Sound which borders the Tasman Sea and there was no wind, the water was a tropical blue, and it felt very warm. Everyone should go here once in their life. No wonder it was just voted the most scenic spot in the world by tourists.

After this adventure, we drove back the Milford Road a bit and hiked part of the famed Routeburn Track to Summit View. You start off climbing through mossy forest with ferns blanketing the floor and small waterfalls cascading everywhere, and then progress to a beech forest. Then you reach an alpine meadow before arriving at the top. The weather was absolutely perfect- the forecast had called for heavy rain. The weather is extremely unstable and unpredictable in Fjordland and especially Milford Sound, so we were very fortunate. After a nice relaxing hike back down the mountain we had a fun drive back to our hotel.

I again apologize for the lack of pictures. Believe me- we have LOTS of photos and videos. They will definitely be on the DVD.

We found where Joe Rath lives

2009-11-27T23:23:00.004+13:00

On Wednesday, before we left Dunedin, we headed over to see the steepest street in the world- Baldwin St. Dunedin is a cool town/city. It is like a mini-San Francisco. Colorful architecture, very hilly, and built around a bay. After finishing breakfast with our quirky hosts, we set off to find Baldwin St. How cool are people in this part of the world? Wes dropped me off to get directions- the only local business around was a veterinarian. I felt awkward going in, but went in anyway, and guess what..... they happily and eagerly told me where Baldwin St. was. I was almost certain that if I would have asked for the "Why you are shortchanging your pets if you don't by them IAMS food" poster for Verena that was inside, that they would have given it to me.

We climbed Baldwin St. which was quite fun. A German family with two young kids were actually rolling bouncy balls down the street. I'll post one of Wes' pictures which I think best captures the pitch of the street.

We then left Dunedin and headed across Sheepland (oh I mean Southland) towards Te Anau. This day was New Zealand at its best. We passed through the greenest fields I have ever seen. Sheep were everywhere, and the scenery changed by the minute. First it was flat, then very hilly, then there was scrub brush, then trees. Again I felt like I was in France, Italy, Scotland, and California all at once. Unfortunately, Wes slept through most of it and I was too busy driving to take pictures or video. The driving was quite difficult as gale force winds were blowing our small Nissan Sunny around the twisty roads. As we moved further west, the clouds moved in and it started to get very windy. We drove through very desolate country. At one point we didn't pass another road for nearly 100K, or petrol stations, or food. After stopping briefly for lunch- I got a hearty egg pie that the local workers enjoy- we arrived in Te Anau. By now it was raining quite hard so we abandoned our original plans and went on a local trail instead through a thick forest.

We lost the trail but then found it again, and it was quite a nice hike- the rain added a nice effect- however we ended up getting soaked. We then crashed at our hotel.

There have been some complaints due to the lack of pictures on the blog. Well, some of our connections are making it impossible to post pictures. I haven't been able to post any pictures that I have taken since we have left Australia. The photos I posted here of Wes' have taken 10 minutes each to upload. I'm sorry- you'll have to wait for the DVD. I'll try to be as descriptive as possible with my blog and you will have to use your imagination.... for now!

Update

2009-11-26T21:26:00.001+13:00

Sorry we have not been able to post. We have a garbage internet situation in Te Anau. Can't wait to post about Milford Sound and Fjordland.

(21) Days Of Autumn

2009-11-24T20:59:00.008+13:00

During our flight to Auckland Monday night, I was able to watch (500) Days Of Summer for the third time while Wes was able to see it for the first time. I was glad that the airline showed the movie- hopefully people who probably would have never seen it were able to see it.

We got through customs in Auckland around 1:15 AM. We had a 6:10 AM flight to Christchurch, so we just hung out at the airport. Wes slept a bit on the seats and floor while I typed up the other blog entries. While I was doing this, a flight arrived from the island of Tonga, and I was able to watch friends and families' joyfully reuniting.

I eventually woke Wes up and we walked over to the Domestic Terminal. We needed to get breakfast so I made my first purchase in New Zealand- at Macky's! The Kiwi special brekky was actually quite good- the best eggs I have ever had at a McDonalds, good sausage, english muffin, hash brown, and hot chocolate for about $5 US. And they had ketchup! The only thing I don't like about Australia (other than the tiny $2 coin which is so easy to lose), is the fact that there is no ketchup in fast food restaurants. However, they love their barbecue sauce (on hamburgers especially) which is pretty good. Wes and I never thought we would say this, but we have had too many chips the last few days and need a few days off from them.

Anyway, getting back to the play-by-play. We boarded the flight to Christchurch, and fell asleep immediately. I didn't wake up until it was time to get off the plane. Wes woke up just in time to see the incredible view over the Canterbury Plains. We then picked up our rental car and it was time to drive. I drove for the first leg to Dunedin, while Wes slept, and then we switched when I was getting tired. I quickly fell asleep in the passenger seat (on the right side!), but when I awoke, I was in awe of the scenery around me. The scenery was completely surreal. It looked like a mix of England, Scotland, France, Italy, and California. On the right was flatlands with rich, green grass with myriads of sheep grazing, but beyond them were snow-capped mountains. To the left, though, was azure blue water that looked like it belonged in the Mediterranean. The juxtaposition was jarring! lol. As we headed south towards Dunedin, the countryside got hillier, but all the more pretty. Unfortunately, the internet connection at the bed and breakfast that we are at is quite poor, so I am limited in how many pictures I can upload. You will have to wait for the DVD.

We would stop for lunch at a KFC, which had calla lilies in the flower beds. Dunedin is like a mini-San Francisco. Built around a bay, colorful architecture, interesting city design, and very hilly and pretty. In the afternoon, we headed out to the Otago Peninsula to visit the Royal Albatross Centre. This peninsula is gorgeous as you can see by the pictures we have posted. In fact, it may be my favorite place of all time now, narrowly edging out the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. The drive out (Wes drove out, I drove back) was very interesting too. The road is extremely narrow, there are blind curves, and there is no guardrail even though you are right next to the bay.

This trip has been a dream come true for me because I have been able to see my three favorite animals- kangaroos, koalas, and albatrosses. Why do I like albatrosses so much? Well, even though they are like birds, they act alot like humans and they are interesting in general. After they are raised by their parents, they leave their nest at age 1. They won't set "foot" on land again for 5 years. They spend 80% of their life (anywhere from 30-60 years) over the south Pacific. They sleep floating on the ocean. They can be in the air for days on end, can reach 70 MPH flying, and circumnavigate the globe almost for the fun of it, Despite the fact that they usually weigh over 20 LBS, their nearly 10 ft. wingspan (and the fact they have "shoulders", elbows, and wrists- unlike most birds) helps them fly so well. When they are 5 years old, they will begin to search for a mate who will be their lifetime partner, as they are monogamous. This will be the first time that they have set foot on land for 5 years so generally when they come in for landing they crash because they haven't used their legs before. They spend several days "learning to walk." If it wasn't for breeding, the albatrosses would probably always be over the oceann They generally spend 4 to 5 years searching for the right mate, "playing the scene" (as our guide said), and perfecting their mating dances and calls. After they find a mate, they will try for a chick once every two years. If successful, it takes a year to raise the chick, before it heads out on its own. During the next year, the parents take a break. Albatrosses are very loyal to their mates and families, too. While the one mate incubates the egg, the other searches for food. It the mate who is out to sea dies, many times the other mate will die too, because it will not leave the egg, hoping for the arrival of its mate.

The Otago Peninsula of New Zealand holds the only mainland colony of albatrosses in the world. All of their other colonies are usually on obscure and tiny islands in the middle of the ocean. What made today so special, too, was the fact that the albatrosses had just been laying their eggs, so this was the first day that people were allowed up into the observation area for quite some time. The weather was quite nice, too, and the albatrosses were more active than usual. Apparently it was the adolescent ones "partying". I was also able to see two albatrosses on their nests hidden in the grass.

What an awesome day! It really makes you appreciate creation and Jehovah!

Afterwards, Wes and I went into Dunedin and got some delicious pizza and this place right off campus from Otago University. My pizza was made of avocado, chicken, salsa, sour cream, cheese, onions, tomatoes, black pepper, and cajun spice. Wes' was a barbecue sauce based meat pizza.

These 21 days of Autumn have definitely shaped up to be the best that I have ever experienced. I met the nicest people I have ever met in Australia and am now seeing the most amazing scenery I have ever observed. It sort of feels like I have been looking for something my whole life and I have finally found it!

This Is Not A Rick Roll

2009-11-24T20:03:00.001+13:00

I promise you that you will not get Rick Rolled if you click on this link. It is quite an amusing watch nonetheless, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN75im_us4k

The Aviators

2009-11-24T03:57:00.002+13:00

Monday into Tuesday was all about flying and traveling. Wes and I left Cairns around noon for Sydney. It was quite sad. We walked right by the coffeehouse where we had enjoyed a coffee with Ian and Alessandro before we headed to Brisbane. I wish I could have left the airport and spent a few more days in Sydney.

We then caught our flight from Sydney to Auckland. After waiting a while to get through customs, we finally got into the terminal..... which brings us to the present. For the first time during the course of the blog, it has caught up to the present! Wes is currently trying to sleep.... I am typing this.... we are going to catch our flight to Christchurch soon. I think we are going to have to go down to another terminal, though, so I will leave you now. See you on the South Island where Wes and I will drive on the "wrong side" of the road for the first time!

Also, maybe I'll have to post a picture from our plane taken by..... Wes' new camera!

Glossary for Down Under

2009-11-24T03:53:00.003+13:00

Sorry the last two posts, were kind of lame. I'm kind of tired here at the airport and there is a bit of confusion about our next flight so I have been distracted. However, I knew I needed to catch up tonight or it would never happen because New Zealand is going to be crazy.

Since we had to say goodbye to Australia today (well yesterday technically), I thought I would post this Down Under glossary that we have been compiling. I'm sure that there are alot more terms that we could have. I just can't think of them right now:

America -> Australia

take-out, to-go take away

no problem no worries (but alot more common)

5 days till..... 5 sleeps till...

friend mate

congregation cong

utility vehicle ute

accommodation accomm

vacation holiday

hello g'day

fool, idiot turkey

yield give way

french fries chips

sunglasses sunnies

flip-flops thongs

swim trunks swimmers

hood bonnet

trunk boot

air conditioning air con

put seatbelt on… do seatbelt up…

school kids schoolies

McDonalds Mackys (nickname)

Breakfast brekky

Burger King Hungry Jacks

Goof around Mucking around

“forget you” stuff you

don’t care (mild) don’t give a stuff

a cool friend legend

take care, enjoy cheers

biscuit sometimes what we would call a cookie

lollies sweets, candy

Another cool fact:

While drive-thrus in America go in a counter-clockwise fashion around the building, in Australia they go in a clockwise fashion because the steering wheel is on the other side of the car.

There are some words that are swear words in Australia but not in the United States, and vice versa.

While we did not see a kangaroo in the wild, the brother from the Burpengary North Congregation that took out the service group saw one while he was out in service that day.

Jungle Book

2009-11-24T02:56:00.005+13:00

On Sunday, our last full day in Australia, Wes and I ventured into the Daintree Rainforest. This part of Australia is the only place in the world, where two World Heritage Sites border each other- the rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. First, Wes and I took the Skyrail over the rainforest to the village of Kuranda. The ride was pretty awesome and it is a nice town. I followed our shuttle drivers' advice and tried some of the local ice cream- pineapple/apple/passionfruit. It was brilliant!

After getting some lunch, we went on a rainforest walk, which culminated in us looking for a geocache for Joel. Geocaching is quite fun. The GPS was acting funky and we couldn't find the cache. However, using some common sense we kept going and eventually the GPS got us closer. Thankfully, we found the cache for Joel!

We then left Kuranda on the Kuranda Scenic Railway. It is quite scenic and has alot of history.... and you got a moist towelette while on board.... I guess this was to wipe your brow. Pretty much everyone's reaction was the same- can we trade this in for food. The packaging made it look like a Nutri-grain Bar. The whole rainforest is very nice, but it was not the rainy season , so Barron Falls was not nearly as spectacular as it could have been.

Sadly, our time in Australia was coming to a close....

Finding Nemo

2009-11-24T02:12:00.017+13:00

On Saturday, it was finally time for Wes and I to visit the Great Barrier Reef. We left early from Cairns' Marina and headed out to the reef. After a brief orientation it was time to snorkel and to do an introductory dive.

Unfortunately (ha ha) this is where things went bad from me. Wes and I were drawn into the first group. I was not nervous at all as we were getting ready or went into the water. However, as we went into the water I fell behind the group as I was struggling to get down the ladder under the boat. I think that I was too buoyant, but looking back it might have been that and I might have been accidentally treading water (natural instinct) and not allowing myself to sink. I had a fear of being underwater as a kid and I guess that a part of that still lingers. Anyway, I had been breathing fine underwater but as I was being "left behind" I started to stress and my breathing was not controlled anymore and I panicked a bit surfaced. By that time, the group was gone. As the morning progressed, I saw this happen to several other people, yet they were given several opportunities to regain their composure. This irritated me a bit, because I think that after I calmed down I would have been fine. There was no time to fit me in to give it another try. It was not the end of the world, as thanks to the wonderful lady at the hotel, we basically paid the same for an introductory dive as we would have if we would have just paid for snorkeling. However, I am still disappointed about what happened.

Wes did the dive and was able to see Nemo- although he didn't have the underwater camera so we don't have any pictures! He said that it was interesting but the breathing and trying to keep calm was a bit tricky. Maybe diving isn't for me.

The snorkeling was alot of fun, though as you can probably see from the pictures. Maybe it was because of what happened, or maybe it was because my expectations were too high, but the Reef didn't completely blow me away like I thought it would. The conditions were pretty good too, but I actually thought while the snorkeling was good here, it was actually almost as good in Cozumel. A few other people saw turtles and small sharks during our time, but Wes and I didn't. It still was good fun, and quite the experience. The reef really looks amazing from the air, too! After the reef, we went back to our hotel and fell asleep very early (8:30 PM!) as we were very tired.

Pictures are worth a thousand words... there aren't many pictures, so I'll have to write alot of words

2009-11-23T01:49:00.005+13:00

On Friday we would leave the Sunshine Coast and travel to Cairns. We said goodbye to John, as he kindly dropped us off at the airport. I had a major scare right after. I picked up my laptop and it was so hot it almost burnt me. I stupidly had a piece of paper blocking the fan of the laptop and I had not turned it off. I opened up the laptop and it had a blue screen of death. This laptop is our lifeline to the blog, communication, and reservations also. Thankfully, the computer just got too hot and turned off. I was worried that there might have been a power supply failure.

In the airport, we saw probably a guy who enjoys his job more than anyone else in the world. Unfortunately, I again do not have a photo. It is amazing despite the numbers of photos and videos that I have, that there are so many events that I don't have one for. Anyway, this guy worked at a tiny Krispy Kreme (apparently a big deal even in Australia) Donut stand in a far flung wing of the Brisbane airport right near an area undergoing a major renovation. Every time anybody would walk by he would get a gigantic smile on his face. I didn't think it was possible, but it grew even larger as someone approached the stand to purchase a donut. He would then rush about to fill their order. He appeared to maybe be from India. He spoke English well enough, with a bit of a heavy accent. I'm not sure if this guy I had it really bad and is just happy to be in Australia with this job or not, but it sure gave you a whole new perspective on stuff.

Our flight was relatively uneventful. Wes had a kid kicking his seat during the flight. However, my heart melted when we were walking to get our luggage. A cute little girl was holding her dad's hand and walking with him down the airport terminal. The walk to the luggage took forever (and made you walk outside!) due to the ongoing renovation at the domestic terminal. The dad, though, must have jacked his foot up very bad, as it was in a large cast and he could barely walk. However, his little girl was leading him down the path and continually made concerned looks over at him to see if he was okay. On this trip, Wes and I keep bouncing between wanting to adopt a kid or between wanting monsters from under their bed to get them at night. There was the horrible kid on our LA to Sydney flight. Then there was the cute little girl named Savannah (my favorite name!) at the Hurstfield congregation in Sydney, who kept smiling at Wes and I during the meeting. I think kids have the cutest accents, too. There was a little girl at the Australia zoo- "Mummy, is there going to be a tiger sho-ow? The tigers are very pret-ty." And a young boy- "Dad, are we going to be able to watch the koalas today or tomorrow?" I'm going to miss the Australian accent. :(. It makes me happy.

Anyway, after our flight we needed to get to our hotel. Unfortunately, this meant we needed to get a taxi (only the 2nd time in my life), because there was no shuttle. The taxi driver didn't seem to recognize the name of our hotel. Were we going to get one of the horrible taxi drivers from the Amazing Race? No, he was alright- he attempted to pass cars and make it through red lights even though we were getting charged almost by the second. However, our supposed $15 fare from the airport turned into $32. It could have been worse I heard. Also, we were saving alot of money on the ridiculous deal we got for our room so it was worth it. Being in Australia has helped change me from a half empty to a half full type person. For instance, I am not ruing any little bad thing that happened on the trip, or wishing we had more time in Sydney, etc. etc..... amazingly enough I am just thrilled about everything I have done, and overjoyed at all of the insignificant events, when put together, let us meet the people that we have met, and have allowed us to do the things that we have done.

When we got to the hotel, we met the nicest and most helpful hotel worker in the world. I really need to remember this lady's name and get her picture. We arrived at the hotel (the Cairns Best New Chalon- formerly a Best Western and nobody knows about the change) early, but the lady let us check in anyway. Also, they had the room under Mr. and Mrs. Nehemiah Ellsperman. Apparently, I am married and didn't even know about it. So the lady changed our room from a queen bed to two twin beds. She also has helped us save alot of money by booking our excursions herself and has given us priceless advice. By the way, the room was booked through needitnow which Bro. Norbury told us about. I'm so glad it did- it has helped us save alot of money. I never knew that a website was designed just for me- if you have procrastinated or needed to keep your scheduled open and need a room in Australia and New Zealand, just go to this website for lodging and other travel deals. I just booked an awesome Bed & Breakfast in New Zealand! This site rocks! Thanks alot!

We were dead tired and just wanted to chill the rest of the afternoon. Unfortunately (really need a new word), we were very hungry. We were sort of out in the middle of nowhere and did not want to pay a cab to go into town. Thankfully, Wes had the brilliant idea of ordering from Dominoes' Pizza. There was a somewhat local Dominoes that actually delivered- plus we could order online and spare the charge of a phone call! I will never make fun of ordering pizza by the internet again. The pizzas arrived fairly quickly! We tore into them ravenously. We each ate 1 1/2 pizzas. We chilled out the whole afternoon watching The Simpsons, Futurama, and other animated shows that were on TV. Later we would go to the pool. One problem was developing in our room, though. The fan of our air con unit was making a horrible noise. Switching it to another level sometimes helped. However, most of the time you just had to turn it off. It would then get very hot afterwards. That night we sat in our room and lamented the heat and also the lack of snacks and drinks in our room. (My Dad would not enjoy Australia as there is a shocking lack of desserts compared to America). We would get a big break, though, as I needed to use an ATM. The awesome lady at the counter said I would have to walk down the street to an IGA supermarket. I didn't even know one existed. It was a bit of a walk down the road, hidden by an old, derelict drive-in movie theater. And not only was there an IGA, there was a Macky's along with 4 other local take-away restaurants! My eyes lit up! I ran into the IGA and used the ATM, and then got two giant watter bottles 1.5L on the cheap, along with some 7Up and pineapple juice to make the incredible punch that Sister Norbury had made. Wes had been lamenting the lack of chocolate on the trip, but I couldn't bring myself to pay over 2 bucks for a candy bar. The next stop was the liquor store to get a 6 pack of beer. Then finally I made a trip over to Macky's and got a McFlurry for each of us. I rushed back to the hotel to surprise Wes, desperately hoping that he hadn't caved in and purchased another 3 dollar water or soda from the hotel's mini fridge. I came in about 45 minutes after I had left "for a few minutes." Thankfully, Wes hadn't purchased another expensive drink and hadn't fallen asleep. He thought I was dead, though. Then he noticed the wry smile on my face and asked what was up. The McFlurries, beer, water, punch, and our food lifeline for the next three days just down the street was what was up! We ate our McFlurries and drank our beers like kings!

Later, Wes would fall asleep as I began typing one of the other blogs. Wes acts very interesting when he sleeps. Shortly after I heard him sleeping, he sat up in his bed with his eyes open (very creepy) and muttered..... I'm not going to sleep on my hand because my hand will fall asleep! and then promptly went back to bed. Then he sat up again. I thought he was awake, but then realized he wasn't. I tried to tape him, but every time I did for awhile nothing happened. Right after I stopped the one time, he sat up AGAIN and gave two thumbs up. I busted out laughing but he didn't wake up, and the next morning he said he didn't remember any of it. What he did remember was this.....

When I went to bed the air con was on and was working normally. However, in the middle of the night, I woke up to the sound of a understandably grumpy Wes walking across the room. It sounded like a helicopter was in our room (it was the air con malfunctioning). As I awoke to that I heard Wes trip over something and fall flat on the floor. Woops.... I had left my trunk in the middle of the floor. Wes grumbled on the floor and gradually got up and adjusted the air con. He thought he turned it off but actually he turned it up the whole way but it somehow quited down enough that we fell asleep and slept almost through the night.

An interesting end to a somewhat uneventful day. However, it was one of those days where you remember the most and have the funniest memories. As I was walking alone back from the IGA, I remember feeling a huge grin come across my face....

Life is fun.

We Are Legends

2009-11-21T01:25:00.020+13:00

To be called a legend in Australia is a good thing, and I think Wes and I and the rest of the Brizzy (or maybe more accurately Morayfield or Caboolture) crew deserves the same recognition.

We woke up early on Thursday. Queensland does not observe Daylight Savings Time like New South Wales and Victoria (think Arizona) so it gets dark fairly early (for our standards) in late Spring- 6-6:30, but it starts getting light before 5 AM!

We tried to beat the heat to climb Mt. Tibrogargan. The climb was very adventurous. It was a relatively short hike, but one of the hardest and steepest hikes I have ever been on. The views of the valleys below were quite nice. We certainly earned those views!

After our climb we went go-karting at the Big Kart Track. Now please know that this is not your typical Central PA go-karting. The track we went on was 1.2 km long, and you needed to wear helmets. The cars were limited somewhat so you only needed to take your foot off the gas occasionally, but you felt alot of force going around the turns. We did a 30 minute session, and I became exhausted between minutes 10-15 and my lap times fell off, before I got a second wind and was able to run competitive laps again. Unfortunately, I was not able to get any pictures or video of our group. I took some of a group that went after we are done.

After that, we were on to our next adventure in the beautiful coastal area of Noosa Heads, but not before we saw a giant pineapple one of Australia's "Big Things".

At Noosa Heads, we climbed over a cliff-like area to a really cool section called "the blow hole." Unfortunately, the tide was low, but things picked up as the tide came in. There was all sorts of tomfoolery- including jumping into the water and getting blasted by crashing waves. As it was getting dark, everyone was encourgaed to leave even faster as a Blue Bottle appeared closeby.

The day was not done yet, though! We would then travel to the Sunshine Plaza. This mall certainly puts the malls we know to shame. I wish I would have had my camera along just to take pictures. However, I was able to enjoy another Bondi Burger!

Sadly, the night would come to an end as well as our time along the Sunshine Coast. Once again, Wes and I would like to send a huge thank-you to John Norbury and Mike and Keri for planning activities for us, driving us around, and most of all accompanying us and having fun! Also, another thank you to the rest of the Norbury family for the fun at the zoo and the accomidations, and also a shout out to Travis and Cameron who were alot of fun to hang around.

I think Wes and I lived more on Thursday than some people do in a lifetime!

I have been able to go a decent number of places, and on those trips, the destinations were always the highlight. The highlights of this trip have certainly been the people.

By the way, Wes and I are currently letting our mustaches grow! ha ha. I hope everyone along the Sunshine Coast is able to follow the rest of our trip!

The Island

2009-11-20T20:59:00.009+13:00

Wednesday was an interesting day as we traveled to Moreton Island off the Australia Coast. After John dropped us off, we took the hour ferry ride over to Moreton Island from the mainland. Up first, was a hike down the beach, and through the woods, to the "desert" of Moreton Island. If you look at the aerial picture on Wikipedia it is the large sandy area in the middle on the island (close to the coast on the left hand side). We climbed around on the dunes. Wes was quite tired after running up and down a few times. We were supposed to toboggan down the dunes, but the tour was full. So we unsuccessfully tried on our own....

After our exhausting adventures on the dunes we proceeded to enjoy the best meal of our lives. Time will fail us if we expound on this matter any more right now....... It was a cheap yet tasty and bountiful buffet.

In the afternoon, we swam out and snorkeled near some shipwrecks just off of Moreton Island. This is where Wes' afternoon started to go awry. When we got out to the shipwreck, Wes realized that something was in his pocket. That something was his digital camera.

Update: Memory card saved, camera not so lucky.

On the way back to the mainland, insult was added to injury as the postcard that Wes purchased for his grandma was confused for rubbish.

It still was a great day for the both of us. We enjoyed a spaghetti dinner that evening at the Norbury's which reminded us of home.

This very determined insect was dragging a spider away for a meal?

Wes takes a little spill on the dunes.

Tuesday

2009-11-20T03:31:00.000+13:00

Tuesday was the designated lazy day of our trip. We caught up a bit on sleep, and took care of some other necessities and enjoyed the Norbury's pool, as it was quite a hot day! Wes went to some shops and got an Australian haircut. Maybe I should of taken some pictures of us taking care of our laundry! In the evening, we attended the weekly meeting at the Burpengary North congregation. The friends are very kind there. Unfortunately, we have no pictures from the Kingdom Hall. More explanation later.

Where The Wild Things Are

2009-11-18T23:40:00.000+13:00

On Monday, we had a big treat in store for us! The Norbury's, who we are staying with, treated us and took us to the Australia Zoo. It is an amazing facility. After touring around in the morning, we saw the croc show at noon. In the afternoon, we were able to roam and feed wallabies and kangaroos and then I was able to get my picture taken holding a koala. We saw alot of other animals, too, but I will let the pictures do the talking.

And yes I did get to hold a koala. It was a boy- I forget his name.... I believe it might have been Byron. The koala's fur was very soft- like sheepskin.

In the evening, we would come back to the Norbury's tired but happy. Some may think we are evil, but we tried some kangaroo for dinner that night, since we were told we had to have some. We went from petting and feeding them to eating them in the same day! The kangaroo tasted like steak, maybe a bit sweeter.

After dinner, we messed around playing ping-pong, and then Wes and I somehow beat John Norbury and Cameron in the sloppiest game of billiards ever! Afterwards, it was time for sleep!

Where The Wild Things Are (Prologue)

2009-11-18T02:27:00.004+13:00

The background is not real, but the koala is. It is getting late and I don't have the full zoo post done, so I will just leave you with a tease and I will finish the zoo post tomorrow properly, along with a summary of today.

Bonkers!

2009-11-17T15:21:00.010+13:00

We woke up Sunday feeling refreshed and attended the meeting for the Burpengary North congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. After the meeting we got take away from Red Rooster, another fine fast food restaurant that we don't have in America, before going in the ministry for a bit. Afterwards, we would travel to the famed Sunshine Coast for some time at the beach. We went to the beach at Mooloolaba which was amazing. It is about the perfect beach. Even though there are a decent number of people there, everything seems to be balanced well. They don't call Queensland, The Sunshine State for nothing, too. The weather is brilliant. It has been warmer than normal- closer to 90, but feels great in the shade and there is usually a bit of a breeze. There were some decent waves, too, which made body surfing and throwing a footy around fun.

If you were wondering about the post title- apparently the song Bonkers! is as popular in Australia as it is in England as we had it played for us.

After the beach we headed back to Caboolture (a town near where we were staying) to play some basketball. Then it was time to eat. Wes and I went along and got Indian food to eat for dinner. It was quite good- the chili chicken naan bread was amazing. Mike and Keri (the young couple pictured) were kind enough to get us some pavlova- the famous Australian dessert! We didn't have a chance to have any in Sydney and Alessandro's mum said we must have some. Thanks Mike and Keri again! My mango pavlova was quite nice.

After dinner it was time for games. We then played a very entertaining game of Balderdash! Wes got us all with his fake plot for the movie "Hello, Trouble"- A businessman travels overseas only to fall for a free-spirited waitress who changed his life forever. What fun!

Barbecue in Brizzy

2009-11-17T12:53:00.003+13:00

After a short flight up from Sydney on Saturday afternoon we landed in Brizzy and were picked up at the airport and went to the Norbury's for a barbecue. We met alot of the local friends. Pictured is Travis and Mike. The lack of sleep and travel really caught up with me on Saturday, as I was quite tired during the barbecue and took very few pictures. However, it was encouraging talking to some of our new friends in the Brisbane area. I quickly fell asleep and had a great sleep.

I Miss The "Friends" In Sydney

2009-11-16T21:31:00.007+13:00

On Saturday morning, Alessandro (the guy in the picture with me and Wes) would take us back to the newly named "Weirdo Park" (the strange park with the voices and birds) to try to capture the strangeness of our first visit on video. It was still strange, but not quite the same. I think part of it had to do with knowing what the voices were (due to Joel's explanation), and also the fact that there were not as many birds present when we arrived.

We would then go back to Ian's family's house for a wonderful barbecue lunch. The food was excellent, and it was nice being able to relax on such a beautiful day in a beautiful back yard..... with the FRIENDS (ha ha, Ian). Sadly, our remaining time was quickly slipping away. We didn't have time to visit Bondi Beach, so instead we went to the other side of Botany Bay (across from Weirdo Park), where the end scene of Mission Impossible II was filmed. The area is quite scenic, and many people were out enjoying the beautiful day, including a wedding party who was having pictures taken. After that, we reluctantly headed to the airport where we shared an Australian coffee (INCLUDING ME!) with Ian and Alessandro. The next segment of our trip was to begin.

Before we move on to Part II of our trip, though Wes and I must again send our thanks to all those in Sydney who made the beginning of our trip so enjoyable. I have been many places and have met many brothers and sisters around the world, but I don't know if I have ever met anyone so friendly and hospitable. I will never forget an hour of the 72 or so that we spent in the Sydney area.

I have talked alot about Ian in the blog. He is one of the funniest and cool guys I have met. Thank you so Ian much for setting up so many activities for us, and for showing us around. Ian please thank your mother and father again for their wonderful hospitality. We wish we would have had more time to stay.

Thank you Alessandro very much for your help, too! You were alot of fun to be around. When the New York Giants win, I will at least be able to be happy for you! ha ha. And go Juventus! We hope you get to visit New York City again soon! Please thank your mom again for the iced coffees, and let her know that Wes and I have been able to have pavlova. Maybe next time we will get some of hers!

As we took off for Brisbane, we got a good look at Sydney and I thought of the friends in Sydney. I think of the friends in Sydney.

I'm On A Boat

2009-11-14T12:17:00.015+13:00

On Thursday night when we drove up to Port Stephens, we stayed with a brother and sister- James and Brooke Clark. In the morning, we were encouraged to try PROMITE (google it) on our toast. It is a vegetable-type spread. I can’t say I am as sold on it as Oporto, but it is interesting.

Port Stephens is a very beautiful area/town with a bay right next to the Pacific Ocean, a couple of hours north of Sydney. We were informed that many Sydneysiders enjoy taking holiday in Port Stephens. In the morning, Ian, Alessandro, Wes and myself hiked up to a high vista overlooking the bay and the ocean, which is considered “one of the top ten best panoramas in Australia.” It was quite scenic, and was a fun walk. There is an old radar station and some gunneries remaining from WWII. On our way down the mountain, we ran into a goanna! Afterwards, we grabbed some lunch. Then Ian, Wes, and myself went on a cruise to hopefully spot some dolphins and whales.

Our boat headed out thorugh the bay towards the ocean. Wes, Ian, and I went out to the bow to have the best views. We went right past the cliffs that we had just climbed on the way out from the bay. The ride was quite choppy at times! We had to hold on the railing tight, and we got soaked a couple times. After a while, the captain spotted a pod of dolphins but they were pretty far away. Finally, as we continued on, a pod came right up to the boat. There were about a dozen dolphins, swimming right in front of the boat, just beneath us. They swam with us for about 5 minutes. Occasionally, one or two would jet out to the side and jump and then they would race back in with the rest of the group. It was an incredible experience. During our cruise, two more pods would approach our vessel. We would also pass by some pretty cool, ragged islands. One of the tiny islands we passed is home to an extremely rare bird that does not nest anywhere else on Earth. Unfortunately, we were one of the few cruises not to see a whale this year (it is approaching the end of the season), but we didn’t really mind because we had such a good time and were able to see the dolphins and we were refunded with another pass. Here is some of Wes' video of the dolphins:

Ian was a huge help to me, as he channeled his inner-Ron Howard and did all of the filming on the boat, along with a few other places throughout the day. It was tough enough taking pictures while trying to avoid falling off the boat!

After our boat trip for three, we would meet up with the rest of our crew, and after having some drinks we headed back to the Clarks’ house for pizzas, and to look at pictures and talk.

We would then head back towards Sydney. In the guys car, we listened to Creed’s Greatest Hits and had a sing-along (sorry no video of that…. Right now!). I also finally remembered the name of the jacaranda tree- I know there are some Sydneysiders reading the blog now, so I will have to throw in some “inside jokes and comments” from time to time!

Before heading back to home base, we would stop for a gorgeous night view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. To add to our entertainment- some kid in the parking lot backed in to another car and then drove off. I’m sure that impressed his girlfriend.

Nevertheless, it was the perfect ending to a perfect day!

Sydney Harbour Bridge at night

Sydney Opera House at night

Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House at night

The Marina in Pt. Stephens

The "chips" are quite nice in Australia.

Ian enjoying an ice cold Toohey's New.

Wes attempting to drink a cup of coffee while the ship rocked back and forth.

It's Ron Howard! Wait no... it's Ian!

A friendly dolphin!

Wes is very hungry.

A goanna!

Panoramic view over Pt. Stephens

We had an awesome title for this post yesterday but now we forget it

2009-11-14T05:08:00.010+13:00

On Thursday, we started off our day by visiting the Australia Branch Office. Our tour guide was very friendly and was originally from Perth. After an excellent tour we were able to have lunch at Bethel. It was a Greek vegetarian lunch, but Wes and I both enjoyed it.

After the tour we were kindly dropped off at the local train station and we made our way into Sydney. We spent most of the afternoon touring the botanical gardens and Harbour. A thunderstorm broke our string of excellent weather, so we headed over to a very cool historic neighborhood- The Rocks- for dinner. On the way over, I was able to get a Green Apple gelato (mmmm.... just like I remember in Italy). We met back up with Ian and Alessandro and drove up the coast to Port Stephens.

Here is the problem with writing a post the day after and when you are tired- the quality of the writing is poor, and you forget all of the little things that made the day what it was. Oh well, I must move on if I am going to have a chance of getting any sleep tonight. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

There are some pictures of the birds in the botanical gardens and some sights of Sydney.

I have reached my 4 AM limit, so more pictures will have to come tomorrow. Along with a new post. Once I have got caught up, hopefully I will be able to upload some more pictures... and some of those pictures will have people in them, along with a bit more background on our awesome hosts! I listen to my commenter's requests!

I must now tease you.... Friday was a pretty awesome day..... here is a little preview of just a little of what made it such a cool day....

2009-11-13T02:50:00.006+13:00

Here are finally at least a few long-awaited photos from Wednesday. I'm afraid that a post for today's activities will have to wait until tomorrow night.

You wanted a picture of a kookaburra- you got one.

There are some photos of some trees at Ian's house.

The last picture here is a little preview of what we saw today. Hopefully tomorrow night I will be able to get two posts up with many more pictures. Should have more time.

I think we actually might be on LOST island

2009-11-12T08:47:00.002+13:00

After a long wait for our luggage, we were met by Ian Lyne, who was to become our host and pretty awesome tour guide of the greater Sydney area.

Also, to pick us up was Alessandro, Ian's friend, who is a very cool guy. We dropped our stuff off, and headed over to Cronulla, a very nice village on the beach, to pick up some sunnies (sunglasses). We purchased the sunnies at the Chemist (Pharmacy). An extremely friendly lady waited on us and wished us well on our trip. We then went to get something to eat. We ended up getting a Bondi burger at Oporto, which is the best fast food restaurant I have ever eaten at. www.oporto.com.au. This place apparently is the IN N' OUT BURGER of Australia- a different menu but the same great reputation all over the world. The lady who waited on us there was happy to inform us that there would be one opening soon in California. Maybe by the year 2100, one will open in Pennsylvania and my grandchildren will be able to enjoy a Bondi burger.

We took our Bondi Burgers to a nearby park overlooking the bay. I can't possible describe how perfect the weather is. Mid 70's, strong sun, no humidity, and a nice cool breeze. This is the nicest weather that I have ever experienced- nicer than New Mexico. After spending some time down near the beach we headed over to Kurnell, the spot in Australia where Captain Cook first landed.

Kurnell is located in the harbor just south from Sydney's famous harbor- the one with the bridge and opera house. This is one of the quirkiest, but coolest, places I have ever been in my life. The park located next to the harbor used for shipping, but it is still fairly scenic. Yet, the place is almost diserted. The only marking of Cook's historic landing which basically founded the country, is a small rock/plaque (in the harbor during higher tide), and a pillar/obelisk with a sign. There is also a small marker which also serves as a grave for the first man to die in Australia while settling the island. Nearby, there was a couple (basically the only other people in the entire park), cuddling on a picnic blanket. Unfortunately, I did not take my camcorder with me as we walked around Kurnell as things would become more interesting. As we continued along the path we started to hear very interesting bird calls. There were magpies, rainbow lorikeets, kookaburras, and giant ravens and crows. There calls are all very interesting to say the least. However, things would become even more bizarre. As we walked through a heavily-forested area, we all of a sudden started to hear whispers and conversations all around us. We weren't even sure exactly where the voices were coming from as they seemed to be coming from everywhere. Then, as we moved up the path we saw speakers on the forest floor. As we approached the speakers there seemed to be three different conversations going on. It was hard to understand what was being said- Wes thought he picked up "... this doesn't work. You can use mine....." among other nonsense. At the same time, we heard tribal drumming. At first, I thought the speakers were motion activated and explained things about the area you were walking by, but that apparently was not the case. It was almost like a microphone was picking up random conversations from far away. I wasn't sure what was going on, but was a little disconcerted that Ian and Alessandro had no idea what was going on either. At the same time we were standing in a jungle-esque area with the strange birds calling. The whole "whisper" event was hilarious, albeit a bit creepy, I just wish I could have recorded it. It was so surreal. I desperately want to head back to the park, if we get a chance, to see if Botany Bay National Park is just as strange the second time around. And maybe this time I will remember my video camcorder!

In the evening, we attended the meeting at the Hurstville Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. All of the friends there were extremely friendly. It is a very nice congregation. Afterwards, a few of us went to a local coffee shop.

It was a very eventful first day. There were smaller moments too, which I always enjoy. Driving on the other side of the road, seeing the different trees and houses, soaking in the beautiful weather in November, driving past a cricket pitch on the way to the meeting- all of the small things that let you know that you are traveling.

I am going to try to upload a couple of Wes' pictures now or maybe later. It is taking an extremely long time just uploading his pictures which are a much smaller file size. Bear with us, and thank everyone for following the blog and comments. It is currently a bit past 7:30 AM Thursday. We are leaving soon to visit the Branch and then go into the city this afternoon.

No Furbys Allowed!

2009-11-11T20:27:00.000+13:00

There were several different titles I considered for the first post, but I settled on.... No Furbys allowed. By the way, the Tiger Co. says that the correct plural use of furby is either furbys or furbies.

That's right- Qantas is a pretty cool airline, but what a bummer that they do not allow you to use your Furby on takeoffs and landings.

As we tweeted, we were dropped off at JFK International Airport on Monday evening. After we checked in we found out that we were not sitting together. However, the cool lady at the desk not only fixed that, but she upgraded us to the front row of premium economy for our flight to LAX. Our flight to LAX went fast as we had too many movies and shows to pick from Qantas on demand. (This sentence is written like an advertisement. Please improve this sentence if you can) ha ha. There was also a nice flight attendant who taught us much about the different Qantas aircraft and the problems at some of the large American airports that are outdated.

By the time we reached LAX, we were beginning to get tired, as it felt like it was 2 AM and we had only gotten a couple of hours of sleep the nights before.

After an hour of waiting, we were able to get back on our plane for the approx. 19 HR flight to Sydney. Our captain was to be none other than.... David Gray!!!! My family used to have a guinea pig named that very name- after the singer/songwriter. Things did not start off so well, though. What is scarier than snakes on a plane? That would be babies on a plane- screaming ones. A small child was sitting directly in front of us on our second flight and he started off very loud. This was not a good sign, as we needed to get a substantial amount of sleep . However, after rocking back in his seat for awhile, screaming and voicing all of thoughts out loud for a while , he calmed down when his Mom finally put the movie Up for him. He had his moments over the next 19 hours, but it could have been worse. Wes and I took our turns sleeping, watching movies, eating, trying to sleep, sleeping, talking to the Aussie beside us who ran in the NYC Marathon- first marathon, went to his first baseball game- Game 2 of the World Series, and went to his first NFL game- Chargers vs. Giants, while in the States. The flight was very strange as it was entirely dark until we almost reached Sydney. We had now experienced continuous dark for 24 hours or so. I believe this would help us acclimate to the time change much more quickly, though.

I woke up on the airplane just before we got to Sydney with another toddler staring at me quizzically, from his makeshift Qantas crib a few rows ahead of us. This child was younger than the other one, but much better behaved. The kid was kinda cute, but it was a little unsettling. Nevertheless, soon after we saw land out of our window for the first time in a long time. Were the feelings that built up in us as we saw Australia for the first time the same ones that Captain Cook must have experienced as he also saw the mainland for the first time? We were about to find out......

Soon to be released from Ellsperman Studios Vault!

2009-11-06T06:42:00.000+13:00

No, not Pocahontas III or Land Before Time XII.... a yet-to-be-named Blu-Ray disc of our trip! I have invested a bit in a nice camera and camcorder and will be taking lots of pictures and video during our trip. It will take quite a bit of time to edit and prepare, but at some point (hopefully around the time the Super Bowl comes around) a video production of our trip will be available. Now may be the time to spring for a Blu-Ray player with prices rapidly decreasing, and with our trip disc soon being available! :). I will be happy to provide anyone truly interested with a disc of our trip experience. The video will only be available in Blu-Ray format because the video will be high-definition and it will be too difficult to render in different formats, and because I want to give the scenery and experience justice. However, if you don't have a Blu-Ray player by the time I finish it, I am sure that we can arrange that you can watch it at our house or somewhere else.

Another way to follow our trip

2009-11-06T06:32:00.000+13:00

If you like, you can also follow @nellsperman on twitter.com for updates on our trip. It is free and easy to signup. However, I have been able to embed tweets onto the trip blog (this gadget worked unlike the google countdown to trip clock :( - you will see them on the upper right hand side of the page. So anything that we tweet will show up on the trip blog, and you don't have to sign up on Twitter to see our tweets if you don't want to. There may be occasions or days that we do not simply have the time or "resources" to do a blog post. In order to do a blog post (A) you need a wireless connection... and (B) the wireless connection has to be half-decent to be able to post any pictures... and (C) you need to have enough time and energy to do so. I will try my best to update the blog with good posts as much as I can. However, a simple tweet may be the best we can do some days.

The fuel to motivate me to keep up with the blog is comments! Comments let you know that people are reading and you are not wasting a half-hour to hour or so publishing each post!

We are going to Australia and New Zealand!

2009-09-19T09:34:00.000+12:00

Wes and I embark on our journey on November 9th and this is the website we will be using to keep you all updated! I hope you enjoy following our blog as we travel down under!