The Daniel's Visit Down Under

The family left yesterday morning. :( So now its back to hostels and shower shoes for me. It was so nice to have them here! We spent the last half of their vacay in and around Melbourne. We rented a car and drove the Great Ocean Road outside of Melbourne. Its one of the world’s most scenic drives and it did not disappoint. The weather wasn’t the greatest as we headed out there but there was more to see than just the beautiful coastline. Our first stop was Bells Beach, home of some famous surf competitions. Contrary to its reputation there was not a single wave in sight!

We stopped for lunch at the Anglesea Golf Club, prime location for seeing kangaroos. As we drove into the club we could see dozens of huge kangaroos poking up through the bushes. We grabbed seats by the window and watched them hop around the course. We also saw bright red and blue parrots, so pretty! After lunch we continued down the road and headed towards koala country. We pulled off Great Ocean Road and kept our eyes peeled for the cute fuzzy koalas. Mom was the first to spot one as soon as we pulled onto the road. We ended up seeing about 10 koalas, most of them sleeping away in the treetops. One guy was eating. And that’s about all they do…eat and sleep.

After we left the koala area the rain had stopped and there was a perfect full arch rainbow over the ocean. We drove the entire length of the route and ended at the 12 Apostles. The 12 Apostles are these rock formations in the ocean, there used to be 12 but now there’s only 8. We made it just before the sunset so the light was actually really good for taking pictures. We stayed the night in tiny Port Campbell.

The next morning we drove back towards Melbourne and had much better weather. We stopped along the way to do this tree top rainforest walk. We walked along these steel bridges that take you higher and higher up into the treeline. Even though I bungee jumped for some reason these bridges made me really uneasy. They slightly sway and you can see the ground through the grated steel floor as you get further and further away from it.

After our rainforest walk we hiked to Triplett Falls, a beautiful waterfall tucked away in the rainforest. We drove back to Melbourne with a few stops along to way to take pictures of the coastline.

On my family’s last full day in Melbourne we took a winery tour to the Yarra Valley wine region. We visited 4 wineries (including one of 4 famous Domaine Chandons…home of Moet and Chandon sparkling wines) and had the opportunity to taste over 60 wines. I didn’t make it through all 60, our tour guide said if we tried all that were available to us we would have to have one every 5 minutes for the 4 hour tour. That’s a lot of wine. It was a great end to a great trip.

They left Melbourne yesterday morning and I stayed at the nice hotel as long as I could, then I packed up my stuff and checked into the hostel. It’s back to the backpackers way of life for me. In the elevator up to the hostel reception a girl asked Sarah and I if we were interested in doing some modeling for cash. We asked what kind of modeling and she said “nude, but its for an American website so its not like anyone you know will see it”. Apparently she didn’t pick up on our American accents. We politely declined then had a good laugh. We are staying here for the next week and a half and just taking it easy and saving money. This morning we slept in, then power-walked/jogged around the Royal Botanic Gardens and walked around town. When we left our hostel building this afternoon there were a million people standing outside and police everywhere. Sarah asked someone what was going on and they said there was a gas leak in one of the buildings on our block so they evacuated buildings around it…but not ours for some reason. The street, one of the main ones in the city, was closed for an entire block. Talk about a major traffic jam, and its not like the city trams can just go down a different street. When we came back it was all over and fortunately nothing exploded.

Next on the agenda is Cairns on June 7th. My friend Jamie, sorority sister and former roommate, is meeting us in Cairns on June 9th and is hanging out with us in Australia for a whole month! We plane to dive the Great Barrier Reef and see Kakadu National Park in Darwin. After she leaves we will head to Brisbane where our other friend Jessica is meeting us and staying for 2 weeks. In August we are planning on going to India and Thailand, then its back to Sydney to catch our September 2nd flight home. I’m excited to head north towards warm weather and beaches. Its pretty chilly down here in Melbourne, fall is in full effect!

(Internet wouldn't let me post all the pictures I wanted to, I'll add them separately later)

Otway Tree Top Rainforest Walk, about 30 m above ground at this point

12 Apostles

Great Ocean Road

Little siblings Laura and Mark at Triplett Falls

Flinders Street Station, Melbourne

On the road again...

After being in Sydney for 1 month we've packed up our stuff and hit the road to see what else Australia has to offer....

We spent the last week or so of our time in the Bondi house hanging out with roommates, going to the Sunday Markets at the public school, drinking at the pub in the nearby hotel and just living. I did actually get a job, though I never worked any shifts. It was for a promotions company and our interview (Sarah went too, as did 2 of our roommates) consisted of playing musical chairs to Lady Gaga and the interviewer telling us that if we are going to take/steal samples of what we are promoting to do it quietly. Well, that guy is "no longer with the company" and by the time they got someone to take over his job and get the new people straightened out we were moving. So yes I had a job, no I haven't made any money yet.

The day of our interview was Cinco de Mayo so we celebrated in the Mexican food place below our building, where the American alerted the not-so-Mexican staff of the holiday. We asked if they had specials because it was Cinco de Mayo but they did not. Our roommate from Oklahoma did wear a sombrero though.

Another day I gathered up a bunch of the housemates to do the coastal walk with me. Its a 5km walk that takes you on a path past 5 beaches: Bondi, Tamarama, Bronte, Clovelly and Coogee. The views are spectacular and the crazy Irish guys kept us entertained along the way. When we reached Coogee we jumped in the water with our snorkeling gear on and swam around for a bit. There were plenty of awesome fish to see and HUGE sea urchins, all just off the beach. We took a cab back to Bondi and bought $2 steaks at the store to throw on the barbie...err I mean barbecue...they don't actually saw barbie here, which is a tad disappointing.

I went surfing with some of the guys I live with one day at Bondi, I wanted to surf there before I left. Even though it had been about 3 weeks since surf camp I could still do it. Mind you I was a lot closer to shore than the good surfers.

One of the last big events before we moved out was Prom! The Irish guys came up with the idea then asked Sarah and I to work on the details so it was a proper American prom. Sarah, Lucy, Scott and myself made up the prom committee. We decided to draw dates at random to make it more fun. I was paired up with Matt from Oklahoma, we were Team America. Sarah got Luke from Ireland. On prom night all the girls got dressed up and waited on the roof for our dates. They all came up together with flowers and gifts for us! It was so cute! We had a blast dancing on the roof, someone sprayed champagne, and we even crowned a king and queen - crowns provided by Hungry Jack's aka Burger King! It was such a fun night and a good way to leave my housemates.

The family arrived on the 16th and we hit the ground running, first with a stop to the Rocks area to see the markets (Sydney has a ton of markets on the weekend, if you can't tell), then peak at the Opera House before taking a ferry across the harbour to have lunch at Doyle's Famous Fish N Chips on Watson's Bay. After resting a bit at their apartment we went to Darling Harbour for dinner where I had my first kangaroo steak, served rare!, then we watched Darling Harbour's awesome light show. The light show included 4 jet skis going around the harbour with fireworks on the back of them...didn't seem too safe but it sure looked neat!

The family came out to Bondi the next day to see my house, the beach, the markets, etc. They ended up staying out in that area all day and Brooks, Mark and Laura came back at night to go out with my housemates and I. The Irish guys were fascinated that Brooks was a pilot, and they couldn't get over how much Laura and I sound alike, and how big Mark is even though he's my little brother.

On the 3rd day of their visit we walked around Hyde Park, took a tour of the Opera House which was SO interesting, then we had dinner in Chinatown. I went home after dinner to spend some time on my last night with the housemates. I was SO sad to be leaving them, but I hope to visit them in all of their home countries in the future, it will give me an excuse to travel more!

On the 19th we left Sydney and flew to Hobart, Tasmania. I would have never thought in a million years I'd ever go to Tasmania, I mean it sounds like a made up place! We stayed at this adorable B&B called The Lodge on Elizabeth that was built in 1829. We got in late so we went to bed early. The next morning we took a tour of the oldest brewery in Australia, Cascade Brewery. Then we walked around the wharf and saw 2 bridges open for ships to come through.

The next day I finally tried Vegemite on my toast. Vegemite, for those who don't know and most of you probably don't, is a spread that Aussies and Kiwis love to put on toast. Its a yeast spread and you spread it very thin on buttered toast. It "just tastes salty" according to locals who have been eating it their whole life, but let me tell you. It does not "just taste salty" it tastes god-awful and I had to spit it out. Pleasant, I know. I hope none of the other B&B patrons saw me. And Aussies think peanut butter & jelly sandwiches are gross....

We drove to Port Arthur, site of a very historic prison. Australia was first inhabited by British criminals who were sent to the newly discovered, harsh continent to see what it was like, and to colonize it. And Port Arthur was set-up for the really really bad criminals who didn't even deserve a chance to die exploring the outback. The prison grounds were beautiful and the weather was perfect which made it a little hard to imagine how brutal it was. They had a cell that was totally pitch black where they put solitary confinement inmates. Mark thought it would be funny to go ahead of us and hide in there till we came to see it, but he ended up scaring this other couple who beat us to the dark cell. Haha! Oops!

The next day we drove a couple of hours to Freycinet National Park where we hiked to see magnificent views of Wineglass Bay. We saw wallabies in the parking lot too! And about 10 kangaroos, unfortunately all as roadkill though. That night we stayed in Bicheno and took a tour to see the tiny Blue Penguins come ashore for the night.

We left Tasmania this morning and now we are in Melbourne. Seems like a neat city so far. Tomorrow we will walk around town and see the sights, maybe so to an Australian Rules Football game. Then Monday and Tuesday we are renting a car and driving along Great Ocean Road for some spectacular views of this beautiful country!

Finally A New Post and Pictures!

It's been awhile! Sorry I've been slacking! (Post is after the pictures!) Our building! The front door is the white door on the left, next to the Mexican place

Floating stage in Darling Harbour on her 21st birthday!Awesome fireworks show in Darling Harbour

Luna Park in North Sydney

Hanging out with my new friend, Darryl the Dugong, at the Sydney Aquarium today. The mermaid was totally trying to flirt with him.

Darling Harbour during the day. I love it!

Our luxurious room. I took this picture from the doorway, yeah its pretty small.

I took this picture from my bedroom window. Although gorgeous, this bird is EXTREMELY noisy and likes waking me up at 6:30am every morning with its squawking.

Showing off my photography skills....

My front yard and gym (the black square with blue workout stations). Ahhh....perfection.

Now for the word part:

Since I last blogged I've just been hanging out and enjoying life in Sydney! We recently got new house managers and they have really cleaned up our house. It went from disgusting to liveable in just a few days! Sarah and I have still been running a few times a week in the morning, the trail is so gorgeous you don't even realize you are working out. The other morning I ran about 4 miles and it was really hot so I gave Sarah my iPod, etc and jumped in the ocean in my running shorts and sports bra! It was so refreshing, the water is the perfect temperature. We went swimming again this morning with some of our housemates and we got too far out and the lifeguards had to get on the loud speaker and tell us to come back closer...oops! There is a really strong rip on the side of the beach they call "Backpackers Rip" because so many backpackers don't realize its there and they get swept out to sea, the locals know better and just laugh at the tourists. They have rescued so many people from that rip they made a reality TV show about it called Bondi Rescue.

Despite not working we manage to keep pretty busy during the days. There is so much to see in Sydney. One day we went up in SkyTower for amazing bird's eye views of the city. Another day we walked around The Rocks area and went to the Museum of Contemporary Art where they had an exhibit by Yayoi Kusama, a very interesting Japanese artist - google her work. On the way home from the museum we saw the best rainbow I've ever seen in my entire life. It was SO bright and was a complete arch over the city. I didn't know rainbows could be that perfect! When we got home Sarah asked our housemate Scott from Scotland if he saw the rainbow and he said "yeah, and I found Cormack at the end of it". Cormack being the short Irish guy...aka leprechaun haha.

A couple of days ago Sarah and I joined Scott and Nina for their "Caesar Saturday" at a hotel down the road. Another friend Reuben from Germany was in town and had a car so we decided to take a mini road trip. We set off not really knowing where we were going and ended up driving into the city then walking around and eventually coming home. We were gone about 4 hours and didn't really do anything. But it was still fun just getting to know new people. I laughed for about an hour when Scott told us that the other day a girl told him his English was good. Haha he's from Scotland....English is his first language. That night there was a crazy lightening storm and thunder that shook the house. Cormack even saw lightening hit the ground close to our house.

On the 3rd Sarah's parents' friends David and Lynette had us over for breakfast and then drove us to Manly beach on the North side of Sydney. That afternoon Sarah and I walked to the Bondi Public School down the road for their Sunday market. I bought these 4 art prints that I absolutely LOVE from a local computer graphic artist. After that we went to Darling Harbor for their 21st birthday celebration. They had a floating stage in the middle of the harbor with live music, street performers, a parade, food stalls, etc. We got to see the Australian Idol winner perform and then the main act was this percussion group Taikoz that does traditional Japanese drumming. They were amazing and during their last song the best fireworks show I've ever seen went off. It was SOOO cool and free! Can't beat that! That was probably my favorite day in Sydney so far. That night after we went to bed the Irish guys (who had been drinking in true Irish fashion) got in a fight in the hallway over who was a better soccer player 10 years ago. Oh the joys of living in a shared house! :)

My family is coming in a week and a half and I'm so excited to see them, but its going to be sad leaving this house and all my new friends!!!