I write to you as I am about to leave the North Island. I've had a wonderful time here. Amazing sights, some good weather and some bad, and even a few disappointments.
I'll start when Stephanie and I left Rotorua. On our way out we stopped at Wai O Tapu, a geothermal reserve. We saw some boiling mud back in the city but here there was more. A lot more. We walked along a path through the park for two hours and saw water of every colour, blue, green, red, yellow, and of all temperatures, sometimes even boiling. And of course there were small mud volcanos spewing more mud metres into the air. Sometimes the steam was so thick I couldn't even see. Other times I the caverns and caves were so deem I couldnt even see the mud at the bottom. I could only hear it boil. It was a great walk. The only bad thing about it was the smell of sulfer. It was strong beyond belief. I smelt like sulfur for days. All my clothes have a stench. I even washed everything and I can still smell it. Yum.
Like I mentioned before I've had a major disappointment. We stayed in Taupo for a few days so we could walk the famous Tongariro Cossing, the self proclaimed "New Zealand's greatest one day hike," which really says a lot. That morning we woke up at 5 am to catch the shuttle bus at 6. We were on our way and about 30 minutes later the driver gets a call saying that the road ahead was closed due to a major accident. And that was the only road out there, so the bus turned aound and went home. So Stephanie and I decided to extend our stay and try again tomorrow. However the shuttle busses wouldnt drive due to bad weather, making it not safe to walk the crossing. And the forcast predicted rain all week. So instead of waiting around doing nothing we left for Wellington. We are (especially me) truely disappointed. Oh well, there will be other magnificent hikes to do.
On a lighter note, we arived in Wellington three days ago. As it turns out, my friend's Carly's parents are here for the summer (your winter). I haven't seen them in years but nontheless they were more than happy to spend the day with us an show us around the city. Rick and Julie took us all around. We walked up a bunch of stairs, took in great views of Wellington, walked back down through the botanical gardens, toured the city centre, and saw the government buildings and parliament. Rick actually works in the old government building built in the 1800's, so we had special access to it when it was closed. It was a very cool building in that it is completely built of wood, although I could have sworn the outside was limestone. Later that day the even took us for dinner at the Green Parrot, an institution here in Wellington. That filled my steak needs nicely.
The next day we woke up and went to the Te Papa museum, New Zealand's national museum. It was a hands on type of place, much like the Ontario Science Centre. There was a bungy jump simulator (which I didn't do) and an earthquake simulator (which I did do), and other electronic games and technology that expressed New Zealand's history, culture, and unique animal life.
For dinner I called Rick and Julie and they invited us out for dinner again. They're such nice people! This time we had some delicious authentic Indian. Delicious. It was nice to finally to see people I know. Maybe it even makes me a little homesick. Oh well, March isn't that far away.
See the pictures of Wai O Tapu and Wellington at
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2113834&l=9ce55&id=58000349
and
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2113840&l=c607e&id=58000349
Tomorrow we take a three hour ferry to the south island. The next day we go to Abel Tasman National Park for a cruise and a day hike. We are very excited becasue we have heard such great things. I'll tell you all about it in my next post. Thats it for now, see ya in the south.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Auckland to Rotorua Part Two
Last I left off was at the hot water beach in Whitianga. I'll continue my last posting from there. Near the beach was Cathedral Cove. We walked along a trail for 45 minutes to get there, and on that trail we could see way out into the ocean looking at magnificent lava-formed islands and cliffs. The beach at the end of the trail was very similar. Cliffs, archways, caves, and islands all formed by lava and lava flows. The water was nice if not a little cold, but there was one island that we could jump from at about 3 metres high. That whole day we spent there was loads of fun.
After Whitianga we spent a day on the Magic bus that took us around the central north island and we got see all sorts of trees and hills and sheep. They say that the sheep outnumber the people here 30-1. The highlight of that day was our stop in Waitomo where there is a vast network of caves. We went "black water rafting." Basically all that is is floating down the caves in inner tubes in pure darkness or with our headlams on. The caves were magnificent but I was a little disapointed that there werent any rapids like I was led to believe. There was a small drop however and a 20 foot steep water slide. The best part of the caves were the glow worms. There were billions of glowworms that lined the ceilings of the caves. As we floated down a river 60 metres below the earth's surface in pitch darkness we were in awe looking at the strong blue/green light illuminating from glow worm shit. It looked like a sky full of stars.
Now we are Rotorua, one of the tourism capitals of New Zealand. That is becasue of the geothermal activity of the city. And of course the whole city stinks. Sulfur. Yum. Yesterday was my birthday. Going out with those friends I mentioned in my last posting is what I consider my true celebration. On my actual birthday we took it easy, walked around the city and had a few drinks at night. However I was born on the 22nd, New Zealand's 22nd is not the day that I was born. At the time I was born in Canada, it's actually the 23rd here. So I have to celebrate both days just to be safe. So, today we went to Hell's Gate spas. They have crazy geothermal activity there, with loads of natural boiling water, mud, and sulfuric acid that will burn your skin right off. There was even a 10 foot mud volcano that was spewing lava. We were lucky to see that. The highlight of course was our hot mud bath, the first time I have ever had one. Then we went into the geothermal pool at about 41 degrees celcius. After my cold shower I had the smoothest skin in the world.
See all these pictures at http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111565&l=b6431&id=58000349
and
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111585&l=28801&id=58000349
Tomorrow it's back on the magic bus and off to Taupo where we do the Tongariro Crossing, an awesome eight hour hike. I'll let you know all about it in a few days.
Thats all for now, till next time.
After Whitianga we spent a day on the Magic bus that took us around the central north island and we got see all sorts of trees and hills and sheep. They say that the sheep outnumber the people here 30-1. The highlight of that day was our stop in Waitomo where there is a vast network of caves. We went "black water rafting." Basically all that is is floating down the caves in inner tubes in pure darkness or with our headlams on. The caves were magnificent but I was a little disapointed that there werent any rapids like I was led to believe. There was a small drop however and a 20 foot steep water slide. The best part of the caves were the glow worms. There were billions of glowworms that lined the ceilings of the caves. As we floated down a river 60 metres below the earth's surface in pitch darkness we were in awe looking at the strong blue/green light illuminating from glow worm shit. It looked like a sky full of stars.
Now we are Rotorua, one of the tourism capitals of New Zealand. That is becasue of the geothermal activity of the city. And of course the whole city stinks. Sulfur. Yum. Yesterday was my birthday. Going out with those friends I mentioned in my last posting is what I consider my true celebration. On my actual birthday we took it easy, walked around the city and had a few drinks at night. However I was born on the 22nd, New Zealand's 22nd is not the day that I was born. At the time I was born in Canada, it's actually the 23rd here. So I have to celebrate both days just to be safe. So, today we went to Hell's Gate spas. They have crazy geothermal activity there, with loads of natural boiling water, mud, and sulfuric acid that will burn your skin right off. There was even a 10 foot mud volcano that was spewing lava. We were lucky to see that. The highlight of course was our hot mud bath, the first time I have ever had one. Then we went into the geothermal pool at about 41 degrees celcius. After my cold shower I had the smoothest skin in the world.
See all these pictures at http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111565&l=b6431&id=58000349
and
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111585&l=28801&id=58000349
Tomorrow it's back on the magic bus and off to Taupo where we do the Tongariro Crossing, an awesome eight hour hike. I'll let you know all about it in a few days.
Thats all for now, till next time.
Auckland to Rotorua
So much has happened since I last wrote. Where do I begin? Ah yes, I'll start with the Bay of Islands. We departed Auckland for the north and stayed in Paihia for two nights. It is a nice little town with magnificent views over the ocean. But the best part was out day trip up to the northernmost point in New Zealand, Cape Reinga. You can even see a picture of me being the northernmost person in the country. At the very peak is the lighthouse which is just about as far north as you can go. The views from the top of the hill are spectacular. You can see both coasts of NZ, with great rock formations on either side. A nice long beach on the west is also nice to look at. The greatest part was that we could actually see the line where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. The Tasman is green and the Pacific is blue in colour. Looking north from the cape the deviding line is visible. Its a great sight. On our way back to Paihia our bus took us to some sand dunes to go sandboarding. I was so excited because I also went sandboarding in Peru and that was a blast. The bus took us through the bottom of the dunes literally through a small river. We stayed there a good hour climbing and sliding down the dunes at top speed. Great fun. As we left the dunes we drove down the famous 90 mile beach (which is actually only 64 miles, but 64 mile beach just doesnt sound as cool). We stopped for about 30 minutes over the hour that we drove on it. It's a magnificent beach that seems to have no end. There were also thousands of clams that were washing up on shore. And some people were eating them. This English guy who was devouring them told me that you can eat anything raw from an unpolluted sea. So I ate some. I smashed them together to open them and poped them in my mouth. They were ok. Kinda salty. So that was the Cape Reinga and the Bay of Islands.
Two days later after a short stop in Auckland we arived in Whitianga. Stephanie and I liked this place a lot. Our hostel was a converted old folks home and still had that atmospheare to it, like 60's decorations and probably the first colour TV ever made. We met some cool people there and were reunited with another girl from our free day tour in Auckland. It was great since they also had a car. The best part of this area was the Hot Water Beach. This was incredible. It's a nice beach with hot springs that run under it. So in low tide, you can dig a ditch in the sand that will fill up with water at 65 degrees celcius. Our own private hot tubs! So there are two low tides a day, and on that particular day the low tide was at 3 am. So the five of us decided to hire some spaids and drive out there to do some midnight bathing. We got there at about 1 am. We dug a very nice pool but the water that came through really was over 60 degrees and was imposible to go into. It was literally burning. Scolding. So we abondoned that pool an kept digging looking for cool water. We found some, but that water was too cold. So we kept diggin out and joined some scolding hot water with some cold water and tried to mix it together. But that was futile, it wouldn't mix except for a thin line where the hot met the cold. So we all jammed together our hot and cold pool at about 2:30 am. Despite the manual labour involved it was a lot of fun and the stars were so good it looked like you could reach out and touch them.
So it seems that I'm being kicked off the computer. And I still have so much more to say! I'll probably get back on tomorrow to write some more, so talk to you then...
Two days later after a short stop in Auckland we arived in Whitianga. Stephanie and I liked this place a lot. Our hostel was a converted old folks home and still had that atmospheare to it, like 60's decorations and probably the first colour TV ever made. We met some cool people there and were reunited with another girl from our free day tour in Auckland. It was great since they also had a car. The best part of this area was the Hot Water Beach. This was incredible. It's a nice beach with hot springs that run under it. So in low tide, you can dig a ditch in the sand that will fill up with water at 65 degrees celcius. Our own private hot tubs! So there are two low tides a day, and on that particular day the low tide was at 3 am. So the five of us decided to hire some spaids and drive out there to do some midnight bathing. We got there at about 1 am. We dug a very nice pool but the water that came through really was over 60 degrees and was imposible to go into. It was literally burning. Scolding. So we abondoned that pool an kept digging looking for cool water. We found some, but that water was too cold. So we kept diggin out and joined some scolding hot water with some cold water and tried to mix it together. But that was futile, it wouldn't mix except for a thin line where the hot met the cold. So we all jammed together our hot and cold pool at about 2:30 am. Despite the manual labour involved it was a lot of fun and the stars were so good it looked like you could reach out and touch them.
So it seems that I'm being kicked off the computer. And I still have so much more to say! I'll probably get back on tomorrow to write some more, so talk to you then...
Monday, January 15, 2007
Auckland
Hello again from Auckland, the City of Sails. Tonight is our last night here and Stephanie and I have had a good time. It is a very nice city. Everything here is extreme. The buildings, the sailing, the jumping, the rides, everywhere you go there is something extreme to do. On an average corner downtown there's some sort of ride that will send you 100 metres in the air. Auckland is home to the Skytower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere, and you can go basejumping off of the observation deck (attached to a harness of course). They love their sailing here along with their rugby. It's a really fun city.
Our second day we went to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Underwater World. This is a really cool aquarium. They had a whole penguin habitat filled with king penguins and another kind that I don't remember right now. They even had a safari vehicle that went through the sub-zero habitat for an up close and personal look at the birds. Very cool. Even cooler than that, half the building is an aquarium with filled with huge sharks, stingrays, fish, and other New Zealand species. The best part about it is the glass viewing tube that takes onlookers through the massive tank. So there's 180 degrees of viewing pleasure. And there is even a conveyer belt to take you through the whole thing. We are glad we went there.
Today we went on a free tour of Auckland. Yup, a free tour. It was great. They took us to the harbour brige and allowed us to walk accross it, which usually costs about $25 and is not open to the public. They put a harness on us so we would'nt fall off too. The views of the city from here were spectacular. The photos we took are nice. And of course, becasue this is such an extreme city, there was bungy jumping from the middle of the bridge. I didn't do it, but I watched others from our group take the plunge. After the brige we ate lunch at a park on the beach, and then after that we went for a beautiful walk on a dormant volcano with great views of the forests, other volcanos, and the city. (There are three dormant volcanos within Auckland city alone. There are about 15 just around it!) The whole mountain was fortified in the early 1900s becasue there was a rumor that the Russians were planning an attack. Needless to say the Russians never did come here, but the forts are pretty cool. I went swimming at the bottom of the volcano where it met the beach. The water was so nice and calm.
Photos of all of this can be seen at http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2107096&l=3555f&id=58000349
So thats it for Auckland. Stephanie and I booked ourselves on Magic tours, which is a a travel plan designed for backpackers. It takes us all over the place on coaches, with experienced tour guides as drivers. It is a hop-on hop-off sort of thing, so inbetween traveling we can stay as long as we want. It's a neat system and we will hopefully meet lots of travellers on the way. Tomorrow we go north to the Bay of Islands which should be beautiful. I'll let you know all about it when I get there.
Cheers
Our second day we went to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Underwater World. This is a really cool aquarium. They had a whole penguin habitat filled with king penguins and another kind that I don't remember right now. They even had a safari vehicle that went through the sub-zero habitat for an up close and personal look at the birds. Very cool. Even cooler than that, half the building is an aquarium with filled with huge sharks, stingrays, fish, and other New Zealand species. The best part about it is the glass viewing tube that takes onlookers through the massive tank. So there's 180 degrees of viewing pleasure. And there is even a conveyer belt to take you through the whole thing. We are glad we went there.
Today we went on a free tour of Auckland. Yup, a free tour. It was great. They took us to the harbour brige and allowed us to walk accross it, which usually costs about $25 and is not open to the public. They put a harness on us so we would'nt fall off too. The views of the city from here were spectacular. The photos we took are nice. And of course, becasue this is such an extreme city, there was bungy jumping from the middle of the bridge. I didn't do it, but I watched others from our group take the plunge. After the brige we ate lunch at a park on the beach, and then after that we went for a beautiful walk on a dormant volcano with great views of the forests, other volcanos, and the city. (There are three dormant volcanos within Auckland city alone. There are about 15 just around it!) The whole mountain was fortified in the early 1900s becasue there was a rumor that the Russians were planning an attack. Needless to say the Russians never did come here, but the forts are pretty cool. I went swimming at the bottom of the volcano where it met the beach. The water was so nice and calm.
Photos of all of this can be seen at http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2107096&l=3555f&id=58000349
So thats it for Auckland. Stephanie and I booked ourselves on Magic tours, which is a a travel plan designed for backpackers. It takes us all over the place on coaches, with experienced tour guides as drivers. It is a hop-on hop-off sort of thing, so inbetween traveling we can stay as long as we want. It's a neat system and we will hopefully meet lots of travellers on the way. Tomorrow we go north to the Bay of Islands which should be beautiful. I'll let you know all about it when I get there.
Cheers
Friday, January 12, 2007
Gotta love overnight traveling
For pictures that go with my last blog, please see Melbourne's photoes at http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2104020&l=18947&id=58000349 and St. Kilda at http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2104030&l=a79fa&id=58000349. On our last day in Melbourne I wanted to go to the Victorian Parliament building (also the old Australian Parliament) for a free tour. So I dragged Stephanie along and I had fun, becasue, well, I like that stuff. There's a good picture of me yelling from the speaker's chair, but for some reason they didn't let me sit in the Queen's throne. Something about respect, I don't know.
Yesterday night we flew to New Zealand. It was an overnight flight and it arived in Hamilon (which is about 150 km south of Auckland) at 2:00 am. We ate an incredibly juicy burger at an all night burger joint and then took a coach up to Auckland at 5:00 am. We eventually got in to our hostel at 7, but check-in wasn't untill 10, so we slept on the sofas in the cafe for 3 hours. Needless to say I'm quite tired now, which is partly why I'm on the computer now instead of exploring the city more. Anyway that's just a small update. Soon I will be exploring the world's playground - aka New Zealand.
Yesterday night we flew to New Zealand. It was an overnight flight and it arived in Hamilon (which is about 150 km south of Auckland) at 2:00 am. We ate an incredibly juicy burger at an all night burger joint and then took a coach up to Auckland at 5:00 am. We eventually got in to our hostel at 7, but check-in wasn't untill 10, so we slept on the sofas in the cafe for 3 hours. Needless to say I'm quite tired now, which is partly why I'm on the computer now instead of exploring the city more. Anyway that's just a small update. Soon I will be exploring the world's playground - aka New Zealand.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Melbs
So here I am in Melbourne, soaking up the sun and putting aloe vera on my burnt face. It is so hot here. I've been here for a week and today is the first day under 30 degrees. It's a high of 29.
Other than the heat and burns Melbourne has been good to Stephanie and I. The city is beautiful and there are art sculptures everywhere, it's like the city is one big museum. The city centre is huge and there are loads of people. Huge skyscrapers, museums, and many many little hidden alleyways which are the gems of the city with nice cafes, resturaunts, bars and clubs that line the alleys. The coffee here is amazing. I'm not much of a coffee drinker but I can't get enough of it here. Every time we walk by a little cafe I have to stop for one. I can't say enough about it. Starbucks doesn't quite make it like that. Superb coffee.
We stayed in Melbourne city centre for three nights and then we were told by random passers by that the city was good, but the suburb of St. Kilda is where all the fun is at. So we packed up our stuff and took the streetcar (tram) down to the southern end of the city where the beach is at. It is beautiful here. We are in a very nice and friendly hostel, and the scenery is spectacular on the beach (although the water is cold here). The peer is one of the highlights, where we got a great view of the city and a cool breeze over the ocean (not to mention coffee!). There is also good nightlife. Yesterday night we went to a good bar with great live music. It really rocks here.
I guess thats all I have to say about Melbourne. We had a long time here and it's been fun. Tomorrow we fly to New Zealand and we are really excited about going. The scenery there is supposed to be out of this world. Talk to you from Auckland!
Other than the heat and burns Melbourne has been good to Stephanie and I. The city is beautiful and there are art sculptures everywhere, it's like the city is one big museum. The city centre is huge and there are loads of people. Huge skyscrapers, museums, and many many little hidden alleyways which are the gems of the city with nice cafes, resturaunts, bars and clubs that line the alleys. The coffee here is amazing. I'm not much of a coffee drinker but I can't get enough of it here. Every time we walk by a little cafe I have to stop for one. I can't say enough about it. Starbucks doesn't quite make it like that. Superb coffee.
We stayed in Melbourne city centre for three nights and then we were told by random passers by that the city was good, but the suburb of St. Kilda is where all the fun is at. So we packed up our stuff and took the streetcar (tram) down to the southern end of the city where the beach is at. It is beautiful here. We are in a very nice and friendly hostel, and the scenery is spectacular on the beach (although the water is cold here). The peer is one of the highlights, where we got a great view of the city and a cool breeze over the ocean (not to mention coffee!). There is also good nightlife. Yesterday night we went to a good bar with great live music. It really rocks here.
I guess thats all I have to say about Melbourne. We had a long time here and it's been fun. Tomorrow we fly to New Zealand and we are really excited about going. The scenery there is supposed to be out of this world. Talk to you from Auckland!
Friday, January 05, 2007
Good start to the new year
I write to you from Melbourne, Australia where it's currently 35 degrees and I feel like I'm melting. I haven't seen much here yet but what I have seen is truely beautiful. We flew in from Cairns yesterday, which was hot and wet. Here it's hot and dry. Big difference, but I'm dying to escape the heat and dreaming of diving naked into snow. Anyway I'll tell you all about my exciting 4 days in Cairns, where I spent new years. That night was fun. They had a very nice fireworks display on a barge from the pacific ocean. My next three days were full of excitment:
January 1st: Cape Tribulation rainforest. We booked ourselves on an eco-tour of the Australian rainforest at Cape Tribulation and Daintree. The area is a World Herritage sight, it's 135 million years old (oldest in the world) and is special becasue it's one of the only places in the world where the rainforest meets the ocean. It's incredible seeing the thick trees and bushes go all the way to the beach and in some places even the water. We had a great tour guide, saw some rare wildlife, swam in an incredibly fresh water creek, and walked along the massive boardwalk through the rainforest. It actually looked a lot like the Amazon in Peru. We also went on a cruise of the Daintree river on a nice small boat, crocadile hunting. Unfortunatly due to the high tide we couldn't find any. Oh well, it would have been nice to catch a croc, but at least we caught an aligator in the Amazon about a month ago. We fed kangaroos there to. This was a truely beautiful place. Photos at http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096805&l=24596&id=58000349
January 2nd: Skydiving. Thats right, I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. We just signed up and went. I jumped tandem, with an experienced guide who jumpes seven times a day. Five of us tourists boarded the incredibly small plane that took off right away. There was no turning back now. It's funny how I didn't even think that much of it until the place took off and I was sitting there attached to a man with a parachute. That's when it hit me that I was really going to jump out of that thing 12,000 feet high (I swear it's a lot higher when you're up there, we were way obove the clouds! I wasn't that nervous either until the door of the plane opened and I stuck my feet out siting over the edge. That was the scarriest part. The guide said to me are you ready? There were 3 people behind me and there was only one option at that point: out the plane. I wanted to answer do I have a choice but I said in a very squeeky voice, "Yeah!" So then we jumped which was so sureal but I remember it vividly. We went into a 30 second freefall that felt more like 30 minutes. It was hard to breath with all the wind but the rush was incredible. We were going about 120 miles per hour (with a tiny parachute deployed the whole time preventing us from falling at 180 mph). So we're falling and I can see the city of Cairns, the rainforest, and the reef out in the distance. It was such an awsome trip. And then came my happiest part of the fall, when the parachute deployed. Yay I'm going to live! From then it was just plain fun with no worries. I even got to controll the parachute for a while too. We landed smoothly on our feet, disconected, and I gave Stephanie a hug after one of the most extreme things I have ever done. But don't worry family, I've done it once and I don't have to do it again. I'll stick to whitewater kayaking for my thrills. There are some photos of Stephanie and I in out jump suits at http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2099939&l=a2ed9&id=58000349
January 3rd: Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. This is why I came here and it was worth it 200%. Before I even describe it I can safely say that this is the greatest thing that I have ever done. We took a cruise two hours out there and two hours back on a tall catamaran that was very nice just by itself. But I just couldnt wait to get in the water. When we finally got off the tranfer boat onto this little sand island on a small glass-bottom transfer boat, I put on my fins and jumped in the water. I couldnt believe what I saw! Crystal clear water and the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Billions of brightly coloured tropical fish and hundreds of species of coral. There were giant clams over a metre long. I even found Nemo. I never got tired and could have stayed there all day. But after 2 hours we got back on the boat, had a nice buffet lunch and went to another location that looked like it was in the middle of the ocean. It was called Paradice Reef, and it really does live up to its name. This place I thought was even better than the last. It was deeper so I could see more, and it allowed me room to dive down and chase some fish. There was one fish about 2 metres long and much much bigger than me that came right up to me! I was scared, I thought it was going to eat me. But it decided not to and it swam away. I could have stayed there and snorkeled all day, could never get tired of it. But unfortunatly the boat wanted to leave and it was a two hour ride to the shore. So I reluctantly said goodbye to the awsome reef and got back on the catamaran. Stephanie and I bought some underwater disposable cameras that we used, and you can see these pictures at http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2099941&l=e73f9&id=58000349
Unfortunatly underwater disposables are only so good. So when you look at the photos imagine an abundance of colours and massive coral and millions of fish that you can't quite make out. The pictures aren't so hot but the memories will last with me forever.
So in three days we experienced three very different things. Traveled in three of the four elements: Earth, wind, and water. Now I have to go find some fire to play with to make it complete. Talk to you soon.
January 1st: Cape Tribulation rainforest. We booked ourselves on an eco-tour of the Australian rainforest at Cape Tribulation and Daintree. The area is a World Herritage sight, it's 135 million years old (oldest in the world) and is special becasue it's one of the only places in the world where the rainforest meets the ocean. It's incredible seeing the thick trees and bushes go all the way to the beach and in some places even the water. We had a great tour guide, saw some rare wildlife, swam in an incredibly fresh water creek, and walked along the massive boardwalk through the rainforest. It actually looked a lot like the Amazon in Peru. We also went on a cruise of the Daintree river on a nice small boat, crocadile hunting. Unfortunatly due to the high tide we couldn't find any. Oh well, it would have been nice to catch a croc, but at least we caught an aligator in the Amazon about a month ago. We fed kangaroos there to. This was a truely beautiful place. Photos at http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096805&l=24596&id=58000349
January 2nd: Skydiving. Thats right, I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. We just signed up and went. I jumped tandem, with an experienced guide who jumpes seven times a day. Five of us tourists boarded the incredibly small plane that took off right away. There was no turning back now. It's funny how I didn't even think that much of it until the place took off and I was sitting there attached to a man with a parachute. That's when it hit me that I was really going to jump out of that thing 12,000 feet high (I swear it's a lot higher when you're up there, we were way obove the clouds! I wasn't that nervous either until the door of the plane opened and I stuck my feet out siting over the edge. That was the scarriest part. The guide said to me are you ready? There were 3 people behind me and there was only one option at that point: out the plane. I wanted to answer do I have a choice but I said in a very squeeky voice, "Yeah!" So then we jumped which was so sureal but I remember it vividly. We went into a 30 second freefall that felt more like 30 minutes. It was hard to breath with all the wind but the rush was incredible. We were going about 120 miles per hour (with a tiny parachute deployed the whole time preventing us from falling at 180 mph). So we're falling and I can see the city of Cairns, the rainforest, and the reef out in the distance. It was such an awsome trip. And then came my happiest part of the fall, when the parachute deployed. Yay I'm going to live! From then it was just plain fun with no worries. I even got to controll the parachute for a while too. We landed smoothly on our feet, disconected, and I gave Stephanie a hug after one of the most extreme things I have ever done. But don't worry family, I've done it once and I don't have to do it again. I'll stick to whitewater kayaking for my thrills. There are some photos of Stephanie and I in out jump suits at http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2099939&l=a2ed9&id=58000349
January 3rd: Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. This is why I came here and it was worth it 200%. Before I even describe it I can safely say that this is the greatest thing that I have ever done. We took a cruise two hours out there and two hours back on a tall catamaran that was very nice just by itself. But I just couldnt wait to get in the water. When we finally got off the tranfer boat onto this little sand island on a small glass-bottom transfer boat, I put on my fins and jumped in the water. I couldnt believe what I saw! Crystal clear water and the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Billions of brightly coloured tropical fish and hundreds of species of coral. There were giant clams over a metre long. I even found Nemo. I never got tired and could have stayed there all day. But after 2 hours we got back on the boat, had a nice buffet lunch and went to another location that looked like it was in the middle of the ocean. It was called Paradice Reef, and it really does live up to its name. This place I thought was even better than the last. It was deeper so I could see more, and it allowed me room to dive down and chase some fish. There was one fish about 2 metres long and much much bigger than me that came right up to me! I was scared, I thought it was going to eat me. But it decided not to and it swam away. I could have stayed there and snorkeled all day, could never get tired of it. But unfortunatly the boat wanted to leave and it was a two hour ride to the shore. So I reluctantly said goodbye to the awsome reef and got back on the catamaran. Stephanie and I bought some underwater disposable cameras that we used, and you can see these pictures at http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2099941&l=e73f9&id=58000349
Unfortunatly underwater disposables are only so good. So when you look at the photos imagine an abundance of colours and massive coral and millions of fish that you can't quite make out. The pictures aren't so hot but the memories will last with me forever.
So in three days we experienced three very different things. Traveled in three of the four elements: Earth, wind, and water. Now I have to go find some fire to play with to make it complete. Talk to you soon.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Kayaking with dolphins and more pictures
Oh yeah, I also went ocean kayaking with dolphins in Byron Bay. Anyway here are some newly updated pictures:
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096801&l=b68b6&id=58000349
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096804&l=0a457&id=58000349
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096805&l=24596&id=58000349
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096801&l=b68b6&id=58000349
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096804&l=0a457&id=58000349
http://uwo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096805&l=24596&id=58000349
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