Australia & New Zealand Summary.
Jan 24, 08:54 PM · from the mouth of JakeAlright, alright… I’ll write up a little something about my trip. It’s rough repeating myself over and over again. I planned on making a handful of posts over on Re¢ently but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. There’s lots of little things to get accomplished. Maybe if I didn’t have to go to work everyday. ;)
I did put up two-hundred and sixty pictures on flickr Monday and I’m still trying to get through them and add in some titles and tags and stuff. I wish I had less touristy ones, but what can ya do? I originally shot about five-hundred and fifty so be happy you don’t have to click that many times to see them all. ;)
So what good would this be if I didn’t include at least a decent run down of what occurred. The good and the bad. ;) Let’s start with the day I left, and all the fun traveling. I was sick. A lovely cold attacked me, proving I’m not a ninja. I also successfully lost my breakfast on the way to the airport. Thank you Dunkin Donuts, your large, styrofoam cups saved the car. So after Kate found me some Dramamine we headed off for Sydney.
Sydney was a pretty good start to the trip. We started with New Years Eve and the Sydney fireworks. The fireworks were nice, the the drunken crowds were not. At one point we moved to a mellower place and had to bypass a “street brawl.”
We also spent some time at the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World (seen at right). It was lovely to see all the native creatures. We bought a special ticket that gave us access to both parks and the Sydney Tower, which we visited the next day after having lunch with a friend of Kate’s.
Finally I took a walk by myself down to the Opera House to check it out. Unfortunately it was too late to go on a tour, but I took a bunch of pictures.
New Zealand was a short hop away. Starting in Christchurch I took a detour to the 24 hour clinic where I was diagnosed with a sinus infection and given ten day’s worth of antibiotics. No beer for Jake. :( That night though we had a superb dinner, even without my sense of smell I could taste how good it was.
Now we start a whirlwind of running from place to place on a bus. I started with an Air Safari tour. up and around the nearby mountains, including Mt. Cook, the highest peak in the land.
A couple days later we were on a boat in Milford Sound. Before dinner we went out in some kayaks and got a little tour. Until someone fell in the water toward the end. Upon returning to the boat, Kate and a bunch of other people decided to jump in the water and go swimming. Well, swim back to the boat and jump in again anyway. I did not have enough clothes with me to be so brave. The following morning we were treated to a drive out to the Tasman Sea. More stories and these interesting waterfalls that sometimes gusts of wind hit them and they break up into mist going back up the mountain. One of the crew referred to them as Viagra Falls. And everyone’s favorite of course, dolphins.
Onward to Queenstown we go! Where there are many exciting activities. I fell off a bridge, went for a boat ride, met some kiwis, and did some other various touristy things like shopping, etc.
The Dart River Safari had some interesting stuff involving LoTR and a river boat you do 360’s in. And the Kiwi Park was a nice walk and we learned some interesting things. Though Kate and I (mostly Kate) got teased for it not involving danger.
After the few days in Queenstown we did the most invigorating (you would love it Yimmy) hike up Fox Glacier. A good four hours roundtrip you start in dense forest at the bottom and walk up and around the glacier.
Finally we head back to Tasmania and Kate’s new apartment. These days are spent relaxing and getting Kate settled. They were just as fun as the rest of the trip, just less riding on busses. Hobart is a port city and Kate resides in Sandy Bay, right next to the water.
So along with Salamanca Market and doing a ghost tour we had lots of leisurely walks along the water and good sea food. In fact on the last night I treated Kate and her friend Myonghee to dinner at a fancyish place right on the water. That was to thank Myonghee for picking us up at the airport and driving us around we needed it.
The driving included a trip to Bonorong Wildlife Park where I got to see some Tassie Devils and the wombat pictured above. Also she picked us up after we bought a few too many appliances at Big W. Which for Bryan and John… It’s not directly affiliated (it’s owned by the local Woolworth’s chain) but looks and acts exactly like Walmart. Right down to the smiley face and “rolling back” prices. It was very eerie.
Sadly I had to come home. I love you guys, but I easily could have stayed down there in the sun enjoying myself. Besides it’d give you guys a new place to visit, and you’ll have a place to stay. ;)
The melancholy trip home was capped off by an extra day being added to the flying. We had a fire sensor malfunction in one of the cargo holds. So our plane had to land in American Samoa. Not too far from my start in Tassie. After a lovely eight hours of waiting in the terminal we were off again. Without luggage. Because of the extinguishers in the cargo hold firing. Now we’re in Hawaii for a couple hours and finally I get to San Francisco. Only it’s too late to get another plane so I’m off to a hotel. After a lovely shower and returning my dirty clothes to my back I get to fly first class to JFK. Arriving home at about 8am Tassie time. About forty-eight hours after I waved goodbye to Kate from the airport shuttle.
If you’d like to read more about this interesting journey Kate has posted a couple times on her site (and she’s a much better writer than me). And I have a couple on Re¢ently also. Plus I hope to write more, and be a little more in depth about various highlights.
Whew this has taken a while to write. Hopefully there are no typos, I’m too tired to fix them. I have now ended my sabbatical from the site. ;)
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