Rain, Rain Go Away

“If you wait for the weather, you’ll wait forever”

If it is rainy here in the morning, there is almost an equal likelihood of it remaining icky in the afternoon or it becoming beautifully pleasant. I learnt this (and the opposite) over the past couple of days. I forced myself to get out of bed on Thursday to go to Tiritiri Matangi, because the boat only goes three times a week. This is an island near Auckland that has been turned into a bird sanctuary and they have the famed Kiwi and all other kinds of native New Zealand birds. For those who don’t know, since New Zealand floated off from the rest of the world many moons ago, birds didn’t have any predators like mammals and therefore some of them lost the ability to fly. Their populations are dwindling now given the introduction of man on the island and all the pets we brought with us.

Thursday’s weather looked like something right out of the movie Armageddon, but I decided to give it a whirl. The boat ride over there was horrible and the ginger tablets I took before to settle my stomach almost made their way back out again. I survived, though, and by the time we got settled on the island the weather was looking pretty good. Actually, it turned out to be a fine afternoon and I saw land dwelling Takahe (looks like the Pukeko which is my favorite bird so far), kingfishers, bellbirds, stichbirds and tons of Tui (they are great because they have this little tuft under their chin). Sadly we didn’t see any Kiwi, they are nocturnal.

For these last couple of days in Auckland I decided to visit the Waitekere Ranges, located on the western Auckland Shore along the Manakau Harbor. The weather today looked like it was going to be quite nice, but I was driven home by the pounding rain. I did get to enjoy the scenery including a couple of black sand beaches. The misty conditions made the sand look almost violet and it was truly amazing. This morning (pre-rain) I went out to Piha and climbed up Lion Rock, which is situated right on the beach in the surf. Instead of sensibly following the sandy part of the beach to the rock, I decided to make a beeline right for the rock (through the water). I have waterproof boots and the water level looked reasonable. That was incorrect assumption number 1 since I ended up stepping right into a ditch that was waist high in water! Didn’t I feel foolish? I still made the climb though and the view was sweet as, defiantly worth getting sopping wet for.

Live Vicariously, Read Books

While in Australia, I was nearing the end of my Everest Book, written by Sir Edmond Hillary. It had been a fitting book, as he spent a lot of time in Papakura (part of Auckland), where I have also been staying. It was a good read and nice because it was a little tough to digest too many pages in one sitting.

Books are a necessity on the road. There is a lot of spare time and I can only be alone with my thougts for so long before I get a little stir crazy (Note: walkman did not make the cut into my backpack). Given the impending journey back to New Zealand and only the Tasman Sea to look at out my tiny airplane window, I headed for the book store. I found my next read, The Wrong Way Home, as a great second hand bookstore and got it for merely $10 aus. Another travel book, fitting since I too am traveling. Peter Moore decides he's going to travel from London to Sydney without taking a plane and tells us of his journey. Although rough on American tourists at points, it was great. Actually it was so good that I blew through it in a matter of days.

I finished the last few days while milling around Auckland and then boarded the train to venture back to Papakura. It was my first ride without the comfort of a good book. Wow, the journey feels so much longer! I was forced to stare blankly out the window at the dark nothingness and the people on board. The worst part is that at the stops, you can't see any signs indicating where you are (they are oddly placed because I couldn't see them in the daytime either). I'm not sure why I feel the need to know what station I'm at but I think it is more comforting watching the 16 stops go by instead of the minutes (approximately 50).

At least it is better than taking the ferry, where even if I take some ginger tablets I still turn ghostly white and have unnatural visions of providing food to all the fishies and seaguls.

Coast to Coast and inbetween

I took the train into Auckland the other day to tackle one of the things on my 'do before we leave the city' list. I wanted to complete the Coast to Coast walk which takes you from Auckland's Viaduct Harbor to some other coast. It's claim is that you get to see the Auckland Domain, Mt. Eden, One Tree Hill and various parts of the city.

I grabbed a map of the route, which I must say was one of the worst city maps I have seen. None of the roads you didn't travel on were named, therefore when I went astray (and oh did I go astray) I couldn't get back on track easily. Now they also have arrows along the route at various intersections that are supposed to help you on your way. I guess I was expecting too much when they would be similarly located along the journey. Like 10 meters up on the telephone poles, three feet from the ground on wooden poles, or just on the same side of the road. No suck luck and I walked right passed a few, and therefore I got to see a bit more of the city than the 16 kilometre walk offers.

My recommendation is skip the walk, take the bus. The best parts of the walk are the beautiful Domain, Mt. Eden, and One Tree Hill with the last two offering great views of the city. The most ironic thing (and the only reason I took my camera from my pack) was the cows and sheep grazing on these various parks and extinct volcanos. One medium sized cow gave me an odd look and a large MOOOO! and then advanced towards me at an alarming rate. I decided it was time to head on.

By the way, a crazy lightning storm the other day blew through the modem at my home away from home, rendering it useless. An explanation for my lack of blogging recently. It is odd how much we get accustomed to having the internet available 24/7 and nice to let it go for a short bit here and there.

Sudsy

It is a wierd feeling when you empty all the clothes you've got in the washer (minus the ones you are wearing, of course) and they don't fill the alloted space. The washer here is one of those under-sized, over-priced contraptions too. Does that mean it would be a quarter load in my washer at home?

I thought about taking off the last of my clean clothes just to justify the load. Wouldn't that be embaressing, though, having someone walk down and I'm in my birthday suit? All in the name of getting the most out of my dollar.

I decided to remain clothed, but maybe I should have tried to make a friend with a fellow backpacker who needed to wash a few items.

Where Do You Come From

In our travels around Australia, it has been relatively easy to figure out from accents when people are from the UK, Australia or New Zealand. For some reason, people rarely think we are from the US. Mostly I have been pegged as a Canadian, but have also gotten European and specifically German. To their credit, it seems that this country is not a hotspot destination for Americans (although I can't possibly understand why).

The other odd thing is that when I was working in New Zealand making outbound calls, people would often had the phone over and say "it's some American". How do they know so easily on the phone and get thrown off course when I am in person?

I guess it is better than getting pointed at and hearing "Stupid American".

The Island Green

We went south for a few days to Mission Beach, which offered the opportunity to lay out at the beach. (Cairns has all the action, but the beach is just a mud flat. The lagoon they built just isn't the same thing.) While at mission we stayed at the Treehouse Hostel, which was interesting. It is located a bit out of the center and you get shuttled back and forth. The setting was beautiful and the building really did resemble a treehouse with it's very own pool and patio, numerous hammocks and your own private view into the rainforest. The only negative were the showers, which i am happy to have left behind. I'll leave you with the following: unisex bathrooms, shower stall doors that don't lock, and no hook for your towel.

Today was my most favorite adventure in Queensland. We took a ferry out to Green Island and i snorkeled in the morning and afternoon, took a 30 minute stroll around the tiny island and at all other times basked in the sun taking time to relax. If I had only reapplied suntan lotion, life would be perfect. I'm sure the time I was snorkeling was super crazy sun exposure.

I'll pay for that one tonight. But it was well worth it. We were able to walk right off the beach and snorkel to see coral, schools of fish and starfish. I stoped when there were a bunch around me and could hear them eating the coral. What a crazy experience! I could have stayed there forever.

Stephanie did a scuba dive and since it has been ages since she went under decided to go with an intro course. Anyone who wants to scuba dive can just go along and they do most of the work for you and you still get to see awesome sites and all the fishies. So no need to run out and get your certification, you just pay a little more. I thought about going, but was just really put off on my last dive trip so stuck to the snorkeling.

Lemonade Tastes Yummy

The lost luggage has turned out to be much less of an inconvenience because we went snorkeling today without any hassle to change dates and get $50 to play around with. It still did cost us a day, though.

Today's conditions at the reef were probably better than yesterday's anyway. We took a large catamaran out to the outer reef, the Hastings Reef. Stephanie and I did two separate snorkeling journeys, each being a little different. We really got into the reef on the second one. It was low tide and before you know it you are swiming right on top of it. Back on the boat you could really see the coral sticking up from the water.

I hope my underwater pictures come out. We were one of the lucky few to encounter a sea turtle. He was so cool, just gliding along. We saw a bunch of colorful fish too, but the coral itself was a lot less colorful than I was expecting. The boat guide said that is partially because of the sun bleaching it.

Given that I can extend my plane ticket back to New Zealand through 29 September, I was totally in for a tour of more of Australia, including the wonderful Ayers Rock. It is amazing how big this place is though and how difficult (i.e. expensive) it is to get around. I always say there is a give and take between time or money, you have got to have one. Here, it seems you have got to have both. My new thought is that I will just extend my time in Sydney and surrounds (including the Blue Mountains).

It's Lemonade Time

After a morning spent at the beautiful Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, I left the city appreciating it much more than I had originally. I think I expected more and was disapointed by what it had (or didn't have) to offer.

At the youth hostel the other day Safari Pete, a quirky tourism fella, had an auction and Australia information session and I won the bid on a snorkeling trip at the Great Barrier Reef. We organized it for Sunday, the day after our arrival in Cairns (the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef).

Upon arriving at the Cairns airport, an anouncement requested the presence of Stephanie. I was quite excited thinking our luggage arrived on an earlier flight and we wouldn't have to spend any time waiting at the carrosel. Of course, given this horrible unlucky streak I have been on that was not the case. In fact they told her one of her bags went to the wrong airport. Mind you, both our pieces of luggage were under her name and you guessed it - It was my luggage that was misdirected.

Now I have a scheduled snorkel trip but am sans bathingsuit, towel and most importantly contacts. What is the point of going if I can't clearly see things further than a foot from my face? I have my fingers crossed that they let us reschedule. My luggage will reportedly arrive tommorow morning at 9am. As compensation they provided me with a toiletries bag (which is really quite nice) and I can get a $60 voucher tommorow from the office. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

When life hands you lemons...

Great Ocean Road

Steph and I boarded a small tourbus yesterday morning at 6:45am, and arrived back about 36 hours later. The tour included 10 people including 2 Tawianese, 2 Japanese, 2 South Koreans, us, a brit and a kiwi (tourguide).

We traveled down the Great Ocean Road, which was really quite beautiful and considered a "must see" by the tourist industry (not that they're biased or anything). Personally, I think the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia was better. We did get to see a bunch of koalas, and you certainly don't see them many other places. They sleep most of the day, but we saw some move (slightly). The 12 Apostles were pretty cool (although again you could see some of the same in Canada). I took a 10 minute helicopter ride around them to get a birds eye view. The actual ride was really the best, with the takeoff my favorite part.

After seeing tons of rocks, the tour headed inland for more rock viewing but this time it was in the Grampians. This whole area was amazing with a two hour hike up and over a whole lot of rock formations. Anyone who makes it to this area, definatly spend some time hiking it. After our hike back down to town, we saw like 20 kangaroos and some little Joeys chilling at the Cricket grounds. That was so amazing!

The best part of the tour was not skipping out on driving (which I think would have been great), but instead was just that the guide knew where to go see the koalas and roos and there was never a hassle with getting lost. I was really excited with the small size of the group, which allowed for more flexibility.