Christchurch, New Zealand

Guest Blogger: Kerrie

As a professional counselor, it is my ethical duty to stay abreast of important therapeutic breakthroughs...so I am pleased to announce that I've found my new calling: thrill therapy, as they call it in Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world. (Maybe I can write off my trip as "continuing education?!"). At any rate, we tried our best to take advantage of the seemingly endless "therapeutic activities"...and it was just what the doctor ordered! I know Geoff has already shared about our bungy jumping adventure off Kawarau Bridge (which I think we would all agree was the highlight of our trip)....but the fun didn't end there. We started our Christmas Eve day with a white-knuckle ride on a high speed jet boat through Shotover Canyon. Better than any roller coaster - we literally came within a foot of the canyon wall and our driver was fond of 360 degree turns. What a rush!

We followed the Shotover Jet with a gondola ride up a mountain with spectacular views of the city and frequent sightings of para gliders and skydivers. At the top of the mountain was a luge course, which was basically a curvy, downhill track on which we raced little seated scooter-things (see above picture). Though maybe not as dangerous as some other activities, I did manage to find my inner child as I gleefully passed other joyriders around hairpin curves. This was by far the cheapest of our Queenstown escapades, so we treated ourselves to 3 rides each.

The Kiwis are not nearly as hyped about Christmastime as Americans...but we did bring some holiday cheer to our car park (where we parked the campervan for 2 nights). Erin thought ahead (of course) and was prepared with Santa caps, homemade stockings, and a paper tree-in-a-box. Geoff helped out a neighbor by writing a letter to her children from "Father Christmas," and we sang a few Christmas carols before cooking our Polish Christmas Eve feast (sausages, sauerkraut, mushroom soup, mashed potatoes, focaccia bread and wine...Mmmm).

After being adrenaline junkies for a few days, we slowed down a little in Wanaka (about an hour north of Queenstown). We thought Puzzle World would be a nice change of pace. This place was filled with puzzles, illusion rooms, mind tricks, and a life size outdoor maze. Despite our combined 11 years of graduate school, I think our minds were puzzled a little more than we bargained for. Thank goodness Geoff finally finished his puzzle, or we might still be there (I'm not sure if he was competing with himself or all the 10 year olds surrounding him!)

We finished up our South Island Tour with some good exercise: a small hike up Mt. Iron near Wanaka...and then a half-day hike in the Mt. Cook area. It was a bit cloudy, so our views weren't ideal, but Mt. Cook is the highest point in the Southern Alps. We hiked along the Hooker Valley and saw our first glacier...it was a pretty cold walk!

On our way back to Christchurch, we stumbled across our last big thrill: the annual fair in Timaru, cited as the "highlight of the Timaru calendar year". And by "thrill," I'm not referring to the Ferris wheel, the sketchy Gravitron with the drop-out bottom, or the arcade games. I'm referring to the unbelievable number of mullet haircuts we saw. Girls... boys... young... old... apparently it doesn't matter what side of the globe you're on, a country fair is a country fair.

I'm sad that my visit with Erin and Geoff is coming to an end...but I think the thrill therapy will help us enter 2008 with a new lust for life and respect for gravity. Happy New Year!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Cheap Vegas Hotels

Queenstown, New Zealand

Merry Christmas everyone and seasons greetings from Middle Earth! We are happily in New Zealand and turning the volume on our NZ roadtrip up to eleven. We spent a fun, final day in Australia with our local friend Chris who we had met a few weeks back on the cross-country train. We then uneventfully flew over to NZ to meet Kerrie but she was unfortunately not so lucky. Well, she was unlucky enough to be delayed in Fiji, so things could have been worse. Anyhow, after 5 flights (which is, I believe, the most flights it takes to get from any one point on Earth to any other - Greensboro, NC to Christchurch, NZ in this case) and only a few hours behind schedule, Kerrie arrived in town. Of course, her luggage is spending the holidays in Los Angeles. No worries - nothing could have made Erin happier than Kerrie's arrival AND a good excuse to go shopping!

After a quick bit of planning, we decided to share our time together on the southern end of the South Island. It's really funny because "Southern Pride" is a big deal here in the "Deep South" and I even saw a tractor trailer painted like the General Lee. Small world. We picked up our own mode of transportation, our campervan, in Christchurch and headed out with our fingers crossed. Luckily the campervan has an automatic transmission, lots of room and a working sink and stove.

We spent our first day on the east coast in a town called Oamaru. We spent the evening watching blue penguins return to shore, fight and mate - they're like little midshipmen, blue uniforms and all. We parked our campervan along the beach that night and awoke the next morning for coffee and dolphins. NZ has a very liberal camping policy so it's pretty much kosher to just camp anywhere you can park your car. From Oamaru, we headed south to Dunedin, stopping to visit the Moeraki Boulders (naturally created, large, perfectly rounded boulders on a beach) along the way. In Dunedin, we toured the Speights Brewery before tasting the goods and spending another night along the beach. Still in Dunedin, we toured the Cadbury Chocolate Factory the next morning and then tried (mostly unsuccessfully) to walk up the World's Steepest Road.

From Dunedin we drove west along the Presidential Highway (connecting the towns of Clinton and Gore - really). We arrived in Te Anau on the west coast and again found a great campsite along Lake Te Anau. We couldn't figure out how it wasn't already taken by someone else until the next morning when our campervan got stuck. With the help of some friendly Aussies, we built a make-shift cobblestone road and were able to get out. After spending another day in Te Anau, we headed north toward Milford Sound and spent the evening cooking steaks on a fire pit in a meadow filled with purple flowers and surrounded by mountains.

We awoke early the next day to make the drive to Milford Sound. We got off to a slow start when our spare tire fell off the bottom of the campervan after about 10 feet but we made it up the scary, winding roads to Milford Sound in time for our kayaking tour. We then spent about 4 hours kayaking among cruise ships through the Milford Sound. There were only eight people on our tour (5 kayaks) and when the wind increased, we grouped up, raised a sail and quietly skipped across the sound. Not a bad way to spend a day.

From Milford Sound, we worked our way back down the scary, winding roads and headed east for Queenstown. Once again, we found ourselves camping right on a giant lake at the footsteps of a mountain range with hardly anyone else around. Of course, Erin and Kerrie have been eagerly awaiting our arrival here because this is the home of bungee jumping, as well as many other psychotic pastimes.

We got up this morning and drove straight to the AJ Hackett jump center at Kawarau Bridge. After watching a few Japanese tourists take the leap (including one 12 year old who I think fainted off the ledge), Erin and Kerrie quickly signed up. In deciding who should go first, Erin pointed out that she jumped out of the plane first so it was Kerrie's turn. It's good to know she keeps track of these things. Kerrie then suited up and got ready to go. When the staff asked her if she wanted to dip into the Kawarau River 43 meters below, she said "surprise me!" Good call. Kerrie then stepped on the ledge, the staff counted down and - nothing. Kerrie then took a deep breath and after a second countdown she was off, head-first, coming up short of the water and swinging around. Erin was up on the bridge jumping up and down yelling "You go girl!" (Who let the Americans in?).

Erin was next up and without any hesitation she walked out to the ledge smiled for the camera, blew me a kiss (I checked, there was nobody behind me) and jumped. I don't think they even had time to do the countdown. As Erin was falling, the lady next to me said, "Damn, that girl has no fear." Because she didn't jump out too far, Erin took a more direct route down and actually dipped into the river, head-first, up to her waist. It looked pretty, freaking radical.

After listening to Erin and Kerrie replay their jumps and watching a few more wackos take the leap, I decided, screw it, I'm not going to be at the birthplace of bungee any time again soon so I might as well give it a whirl. The scariest part was actually when I charged the jump to my credit card because that's when I realized, "Oh shit, now I have to walk outside and jump off that bridge!" Within 5 minutes, I was strapped in around my ankles and shuffling out to the edge. Erin had given me great advice by telling me not to look down so I just stared straight out at the mountains. The countdown was from 5 and I told myself I was jumping on one, and surprisingly, I actually did. Falling head-first and watching the river approach was totally surreal. I didn't quite reach the water but did get an excellent bounce. I think I also let out a primal scream, though it's all kind of a blur. The best part is, the people at the bungee center comped us DVDs of our jumps so we'll always have video proof. All in all, I feel I've sufficiently answered the question "If Erin jumped off a bridge, would you?"

So now we're chillin' out in Queenstown and trying to decide what to do next. We hope to get in some white water rafting and perhaps a visit to Mt. Cook, which is our best bet for a white Christmas. Although we're all sad not to be at home for the holidays, this will definitely be a Christmas that none of us will forget. Happy holidays to all!!!

Whitsunday Islands, Australia

Now is the time in the blog when you may want to stop reading. If you are buried in snow or getting drenched by rain, you're not going to want to hear about our three day sailing trip through the Great Barrier Reef. Or about us swimming with sea turtles. Or the whitest sand and bluest beach we've ever seen. Or our race with another sail boat on the open water. Yes, this is probably a good time to hit the ESC key.

Before we could start our sailing trip though, we had to drive South from Cairns to Airlie Beach. A simple task it seemed, but not only have neither of us driven in 6 months, neither of us has ever driven on the left side of the road. But like every other travel experience, Alamo just handed us the keys and the map and wished us a safe trip. Eek. It was actually a simple straight shot through some pretty desolate but beautiful areas of the Australian coast. While Geoff was white knuckled most of the way, he successfully got us there only turning on the windshield wipers every other time he wanted to use his turning signal, and almost running out of gas once. A success considering.

Airlie Beach is a small beach town meant mostly for the jumping off point of sailing trips to the Whitsunday Islands. Because of this jellyfish nuisance, we still couldn't go in the ocean and instead spent our days at another Lagoon we affectionately call Backpackers Club Med. Maybe I missed this detail, but I definitely did not know that most of the Australian coast is unswimmable in the summer months due to killer jellyfish. The term beach really means pretty area to look at, but not to swim in. It's a total taunt since the water is as blue as the Caribbean, but too dangerous to swim in. Hmph.

After a two days of hanging out, we embarked on our long awaited sailing trip. When picking which boat we wanted to book, we went for the biggest and fastest boat, resulting in us being on a trimaran called the Avatar--a catamaran with a middle hull for sleeping. With 26 other people, we set sail on a sunny morning, destined for more beaches and snorkeling (and lots of jellyfish). About an hour in, Geoff and I realized that the 1/2 litre of suntan lotion may not be enough for 3 days. It was hot and we were cooking in the sun while sailing (i know, life is tough). Someone even commented on Geoff's regular application, of course it was the same guy who was tomato red by the afternoon.

After lunch we anchored at our first beach to swim and sun on. Here's the catch--because of the jellyfish, everyone has to wear stinger suits while in the water. They are full body wetsuits, some even with gloves and hoods. When we hit land and all piled into the water, it was like a Fantastic Four convention at the beach. In word, we all looked ridiculous (but no one got stung).

Both nights were spent on the boat, meeting new friends and drinking bad Australian beer. And when it was time for bed, we retired to a little cubby on the side hull, with a hatch that opened to the starry night sky. It was pretty damn cool falling asleep under the stars to the rocking lull of the boat (luckily the waters were calm).

Day two had me peeping out of our cubby to watch the sun rise over the ocean (Geoff was out cold) and pulling my pillow out to continue sleeping on deck. Once the troops rose, we docked at Whitehaven Beach and swam off one of the whitest beaches in the world. We walked through the small tide pools that developed between sandbars and found a school of baby reef tip sharks looking for food. Our stinger suits never mentioned anything about being shark proof.... They were friendly and we were able to walk right next to them while they fished for breakfast. It was a lot less daunting them seeing them underwater while snorkeling.

Our first snorkeling adventure finally made us understand what the stinger suits were for. As we entered the water, it felt like we were swimming through clouds, which were really billions of pin head sized jellyfish floating through the water. At first it was distracting and a little scary, but after a while you forgot about it. That is until Geoff grabbed my arm and pulled me away from a 4 foot jellyfish floating through the water. I don't think my suit would have saved me from that.

One of our best snorkeling moments so far on our trip was swimming with sea turtles. We were dropped in the water near a turtle heavy area and within a few minutes Geoff spotted a 3 foot sea turtle swimming on the ocean floor. We commenced being the Turtle Paparazzi. We stayed 5 feet behind him (or her) and swam for 20 minutes with it, rising with it to the surface and following it back down. We called people over to see it and just like any turtle celebrity, he had 7 people following his every move with underwater cameras. It became more exciting when our turtle joined some friends and began eating a huge jelly fish. I thought it was originally being attacked, but then watched as the turtles ripped its tentacles off. It was cool.

Sadly our trip went too fast and we put the sails up for a trip back to the mainland. Because our boat was a former race boat, our crew's ego fueled them to chump the other sail boats heading back to land and when we arrived earlier than expected, they turned her around and we set back out to find some more competition to beat. I'm now convinced that sailing is quite difficult, but even more convinced that i want a sailboat! (with a crew of course)

We're back in Sydney for a last day in Australia before we head to New Zealand to meet up with Kerrie for the adrenalin rush part of our trip! We've been blessed with travellers karma (resulting from tipping, being extra polite, etc) and because our hostel messed up our reservation for a 8 person dorm room, we have been upgraded to a top floor double room with bathroom overlooking the city. Moral of the story: it always pays to tip well.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Print Christmas Coloring Pages.

Cairns, Australia

Guest Bloggers: Mom And Bob

G'day Mates. Dinky Di as we're in Banana Bender Country, Cairns to be specific, and it's Becky and Bob's turn on the blog. First, a little about Cairns (pronounced Cannes). It's north of Sydney and in the tropics. The temperature is high, almost as high as the humidity. We flew in from Sydney with Geoff and Erin into 85 degrees and 90% humidity. Sydney is flip flops and Cairns is bare feet. Sydney is high speed and Cairns is island time. Our first day out was a bit of a downer because we were hoping for some beaches and swimming. Our apartment was a few k's from town at the north edge of the Esplanade. As we walked into town a sign caught our eye which advised "Danger! Crocodiles. No Swimming!" Luckily in town was a saltwater lagoon -- a man made 'safe place'-- which satisfied our sun worshipping needs. We spent most of our time in our salt water pool at our hotel which had a 'hot tub' that was colder than the actual pool. Even though it's the start of summer here, it's a slow time which is perfect for us.

Our first full day was about relaxing about town and capped off by a home cooked BBQ by Geoff and Erin outside on the hotel grill. Geoff was thrilled to finally work the grill after a 5 month drought. Here is where we planned our reason for coming up here: The Great Barrier Reef.

Day 3 had us on board the Ocean Spirit sailing off to Michaelmas Cay with four full hours on the Reef. The weather was the best we had seen in a week and we were accompanied by about 130 other adventurous souls, all bent on surviving sunstroke and drowning. Becky and Bob conquered sun protection by renting Lycra "stinger" suits, while Geoff and Erin religiously slathered on 30 SPF. Bob was sure that Geoff had applied enough sun block to change the pH factor of the Coral Sea. But it worked and there were few casualties from the sun. In the contest to see who could swallow the most salt water, it was pretty much conceded to Bob. There were some amazing sights to see as we snorkeled and scuba dived our lungs out. About four hours of water time pretty much wore us all out, so the almost two hour ride back to land was a great time to wind down, drink a beer, and share our stories. Someone ask Geoff about the giant turtle! It was a most memorable day.

Our highlight of Day 4 was exploring Kuranda Village in the tropical rain forest. After a scenic taxi ride through sugar cane fields, we boarded a 4 person gondola for a 90 minute ride towering over the rain forest to the village. What fun to see a tropical rain forest from a swinging cable car as we crossed the tree canopies 50 meters above, Barron Falls Gorge and several waterfalls. Kuranda Village was a quaint town where we enjoyed the local markets, "Authentic Australian Outback" stores (kangaroo shirts and boomerangs), and small cafes. Our post lunch homemade tropical ice cream was even provided by a former Army guy who treated us with a military discount. Changing modes of transport to return home, we boarded the Kuranda Scenic Railway, an old, squeaky train that took us back around the mountains and through tunnels with beautiful views of the ocean in the distance.

We finished our Australia trip with a final relaxing day in Cairns enjoying the Saturday markets and some local music. Hanging out in town and enjoying the lagoon was a great way to spend the warm summer day together-- and to say goodbye to this tropical paradise before we return to the East Coast snow. Sunday saw Bob and Becky off to New Zealand for a few days, and Erin and Geoff began their trip down south to Airlie Beach. A memorable and happy holiday was had by all!

Sydney, Australia

Well, we've all made it to Sydney and have been covering LOTS of ground. We were really excited to greet Mom and Bob and still can't believe that they traveled this far to see us. Mom and Bob quickly learned that this ain't no elder-hostel trip after we spent the first afternoon in town walking about 10km. On day 2, Erin and I let Mom and Bob sleep in as we went on an adventure of our own.

Erin has been trying for some time now to convince me to skydive or bungee-jump and neither of those are likely to occur. However, as a consolation, I did agree to do the Sydney "Bridge Climb" which is a walk across the top beams of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Upon seeing the bridge in person, I immediately began to worry that my fear of heights would get the best of me. I even started humming "Hard Knock Life" in the shower, perhaps subconciously hoping that a large Indian man would rescue me in a helicopter if things got out of control. Nevertheless, we arrived at the Bridge Climb HQ, dressed in the company jumpsuits (questionable choice of outfits), and prepared for the "walk". Luckily, there was a wall of fame of previous climbers that included Frankie Muniz which provided an extra bit of inspiration (if that punk can do it, I have to).

Off we went through the underbelly of the bridge framing, up the stairs of the concrete pilon and onto the ladders to begin our ascent. On the first ladder, I considered pulling a Zabka and faking a calf injury ("Back to School" anyone?) but the images of Muniz and Punjab in my head forced me to soldier on. We popped out at traffic level (8 lanes of morning commute) and kept climbing ladders until we had nothing in front of us but a staircase walk up the arch of the bridge to the top. The climb provided awesome views of Sydney Harbour and the Opera House and our guide would occasionally pause from making fun of me to offer historical points of interest. We reached the summit (it was a climb after all), crossed over a steel mesh catwalk with the lanes of traffic about 40 stories below, and descended the other side of the bridge. The whole thing actually ended up being a lot less scary than expected and I'm sure the harness and safety wires had something to do with that. Still, don't expect any upcoming bungee-jumping stories from me.

So back to Sydney and Mom and Bob, we spent the remainder of the weekend walking through the Royal Botanic Gardens watching flying foxes (aka fruit bats) swarm overhead, touring the Sydney Opera House facilities and backstage, attending a performance by a Sudanese folk musician at one of the Opera House venues, exploring historic Sydney and its weekend markets, taking the ferry to Manly Beach (too many budgie smugglers for my taste - look it up) and occasionally eating.

Sydney has about 4.5 million people and 40% of them were born in another country. One of the consequences of this is that in Sydney you don't hear too many Australian accents and the food is mostly Asian (Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese for us so far with Indian/Malaysian on tap for tomorrow). Bob was content though to get an emu pizza at a pub.

Today, we had another busy day traveling out to the Blue Mountains and Sydney Olympic venues for some basic tourist sightseeing. The highlight, however, was our stop at a wildlife park. Within minutes of our arrival, we were petting koalas and hand-feeding kangaroos and wallabies. The koalas were very sweet but feel less fuzzy than they look. The kangaroos and wallabies were very tame although one roo did bite my finger, nearly sparking a boxing match. We also all got our first glimpse of a tasmanian devil of the non-looney tunes variety and the elusive wombat, which to our collective delight, poops in cubes rather than pellets. Yet another example of how weird Australian animals can be.

Completely exhausted, we're off to the tropical city of Cairns up north for the next 5 nights to see the Great Barrier Reef and (hopefully) get some rest!


BubbleShare: Share photos - Delicious Christmas Recipes.