Down Under

Well, I made it. I am officially Down Under. Though having been on the move for 3 weeks, I was virtually useless my first night in Noosa, passing out in front of the TV at roughly 8:30pm. The next day was Christmas and I spend my morning at the beach. That's right, the beach. I must say it was quite nice, even for someone who can't stand the ocean. I was spending time with a friend of mine who lives here, and we in turn spent the holiday with her family, who have a farm spanning roughly 500 acres. I know, spending time with a family you don't know may not be the ideal situation, but it was actually quite enjoyable. They were extremely welcoming and I felt very much at home. It actually reminded me a lot of Thanksgiving, seeing that all we did was eat nonstop for 2 days. I'm not one to criticize their Christmas tradition!

I actually got to take a little driving tour of the property and help them out with a few minor maintenance jobs that had to be done. Later that night, we were discussing all of the dealy creatures that exist in the country and I was informed that nearly all of the deadly snakes have been seen on their land, or live in the area. (Note: 7 of the 10 deadliest snakes live here) Now, I am no farmer, nor do I have the proper attire with me to act like one, but the next time I go out on the farm to help I will be sure to wear something other than my thongs (Australian for flip-flops, so don't let your minds get carried away)! While I did not encounter anything that could kill me that day, I did have a python sleeping in the tree above me soon after.

The days following Christmas have been relatively uneventful, I'm sorry to say. However, I am pleased to say that I've seen a Kangaroo! (hold the applause) However, I flew to Darwin last night and since landing I don't think I've stopped sweating. It is not the most comfortable of places. It is kind of like Miami in the summer, so if you like traveling to Miami in the summer, this is a great place for you. For me, someone who has become used to dry weather, this has been a problem. I think I lost a few pounds just walking around this morning, but luckily my walkabout didn't last all day, because starting in the early afternoon, it began to pour. And pour. And pour. Luckily it decided to clear long enough for me to get some dinner and ramble on a bit on this webpage!

For those of you who are interested, I have a new phone while here in Australia, so if you feel like showing me some love, give me a ring: +61 4 1624 1045 (if you can't figure out the +, just dial 011 instead).

My schedule:

12/28-12/31: Darwin

1/1-1/2: Kakadu Nat'l Park

1/3: Katherine

1/4: Tennant Creek

1/5: Alice Springs

Destination Unknown

The past week has seen my chaotic schedule continue with very little break, but I really can't complain. After spending 2 nights in Wellington (NZ's capitol), I managed to be in full swing with a cold, to the point that I could not speak without having severe pain in my throat and my nose running like a faucet. However, there was a cruise on Lake Taupo that could not be missed and no minor illness was going to hold me back from proudly displaying my Toga!

The cruise was a blast and once it was done, we took our party (and wardrobe) to a local bar a created a scene of our own. I mean, I can say that I would act any differently if a group of 30 people came into The Shoe (or any other local pub) looking like we did. If nothing else, we provided them with some amusement!

The next day found me in Rotorua, where I was went Zorbing. For those who don't know what this is, basically it is a giant rubber ball, with a second smaller one suspended inside it. You get in the small one, add water, and get tossed down a hill. If you need a better explanation, google it! Great time and I can now say that I have a very good idea how my clothes feel in the wash. Once dry, I took the gondola up to a peak overlooking the town and lake, then hit the luge park for a bit, where I witnessed a few friends fail to understand the idea behind breaks and go flying off the track, luckily incurring only minor injuries!

Dinner was a trip. Went to a Hangi dinner, which is the traditional food for the Maori (NZ's native people). While dinner was good, they had us participate in the Haka, which is there dance. Now, anyone who has seen me dance before knows just how coordinated I am, and this display was not much better. However, I am sticking to the fact that 5 minutes of preparation would have been extremely helpful, especially seeing that I was performing (with others) in front of 100 or so people. I had the general moves down, and got into some of the chanting as well (Ka Mate, Ka Mate, Ka Ora, Ka Ora). You'll be pleased to know that there is video of this, and once I get it off of my friends camera, you'll all have a good laugh.

Before arriving in Waitomo, our stop for the night, I was able to make friends with some of the locals:

Next, I threw myself underground to do some black water rafting, which was really cool. Got dressed in full wet suit and took a small hike through caves in, sometimes, complete darkness, before doing some rafting in the same conditions. The highlight was definitely the glowworms. As I floated, I was able to look up and see florescent worms on the roof of the cave, which resemble the stars. It is really tough to paint a good image of this, but for anyone whose done it, I think they will agree that it is a very unique experience.

Next stop was Paihia, in the Bay of Islands. This was my home for 2 nights and was by far the warmest tempuratures I've felt since being in New Zealand. The area is great and was very relaxing, and seeing that all I've done since getting here was run around, it was a much need break. I opted to take a ferry across the bay to the small town of Russell, where I spent much of the day at a secluded cove with a friend. Other than a few people coming and going, it was empty.

The past couple of days have been spent in Auckland, which frankly is nothing special. If you've been to any other city in the world with over 1 million people, you've seen it. However, there was certianly a bright spot here, one that comes with pink and orange lettering! For those that know me well, you can imagine how happy I was:

I don't know how it is that they don't have one in Denver, but they do in Auckland. Tomorrow morning I head off for Oz, where I'll spend the next 2 months or so. Clearly I am looking forward to it!

Pride of the Dirty South

Well, it's been a week since I last posted, due mostly to ridiculously slow internet connections and problems accessing webpages. It's been one hell of a week: Late nights, early mornings, little sleep, and lots of sights. In short, it's been a blast! I've circled much of the South Island of NZ, starting by heading to Lake Ohua. Stayed at a really isolated hotel overlooking the lake but unfortunately the weather didn't really cooperate with us, raining most of the evening, but still managed to have a good time. I was able to see for the first time how stunning the landscape is here. Even in less than ideal conditions, it was amazing. Moved on to Milford Sound on the west coast, caught a boat for a cruise and overnight stay, and was surrounded by cliffs hundreds of feet high on either side and waterfalls emptying in everywhere. Got to get off the ship for a bit and do some kayaking to explore some of the caves and decided to jump 20 feet off the top of the ship into the Tasman Sea--FREEZING. Temperature was said to be 14 degrees Celsius, but think New England ocean temps for a comparison. Needless to say, it was energizing. This was my first ever overnight on a ship and given the tight sleeping quarters, I was pretty surprised at how well I slept. To give you an idea of what I was looking at:

I then made my way to Queenstown for 3 nights. This town is awesome. Much smaller than I had expected but a lot of nightlife. Yeah, there is shopping and plenty of extreme activities to keep everyone busy (it is the birthplace of bungy jumping), but the nightlife is insane! Took a gondola ride up to the top of the town for dinner the first night, and was able to overlook the entire town and surrounding harbor. The first two nights involved some serious pub crawling, and the group that I am traveling with made outselves known from the start. We hit up a ton of bars, including Minus 5, which is a bar made entirely of ice and kept at -7 degrees at all times (20 or so degrees F). After 30 minutes in there, my entire body was shaking and could barely hold onto my drink (whose cup was made out of ice, mind you).

By the end of the night, think 5 am, we were all (yes, this includes me) dancing on the bar and getting sprayed by the bar tenders Coyote Ugly style! Flames were involved! It is safe to say that I was not pleased to have to set my alarm for 1 hr 15 min after I was going to sleep, but needed to get up for a jet boat ride the next morning. If you want to see what this is, check out http://www.shotoverjet.com/ but it was pretty cool, as the boats operate in just a few inches of water and do 360's on a dime. For those interested in Lord of the Rings, I saw where they filmed a bunch of scenes as well, but I don't like the films. I was so tired that day that I nearly fell asleep on a bench leaning agains a lamp post on the main street in town. I try to stay classy.

Feeling as though I had done Queenstown right, I left heading towards glacier country to get some excersise (something that crawls until 5 am don't really help with getting). This place was wild. All around us were temperate rainforest shrouded in mist and then there is the massive Fox Glacier sitting among it. I went for a hike, crossing some small streams, and found my way to the top of the it. I've done this before, but it never gets old walking around up there.

I spent the night in the small town of Franz Josef, which was surprisingly more fun than I would have thought for being in the middle of nowhere. The evening's festivities here were no different than the previous few, and waking up the next morning was less than enjoyable, but was a necessary evil as I needed to make the long trek back to Christchurch (where I began) before catching the ferry to Wellington on the North Island, which is where I am now. The hotel I'm in now is by far the nicest since beginning the trip, if for nothing else other than the fact that the shower has good pressure and a consistant tempurature throughout my entire cleaning. So far, I have experience, scaulding tempuratures followed immediately but numbing ones, pressure that more closely resembles someone urinating, and lighting that I barely allowed be to find my way around. So, this was a very welcome stop for 2 nights. There are a few things that I've come to realize: The showers are not going to be great, I will continue to average 4 or so hours of sleep per night due to consuming copious amounts of alcohol (no dad, I am really not an alcoholic), and there will be table dancing at every stop in New Zealand! Sorry folks, I don't have footage of me actually on there, but trust me, it has been happening.

Beginning tomorrow morning, my upcoming travels are as follows (all days for USA and on the North Island):

Tuesday: Taupo

Wednesday: Rotorua

Thursday: Waitomo

Fri/Sat: Bay of Islands

Sunday-Tuesday: Auckland

Keep the comments coming, I want to see more! If you want more bar stories, I already have plenty so let me know (pictures will follow as well).

And We're Off

Well, I am happy to say that I'm writing to you all from New Zealand and that all flights went smoothly. This was almost not the case for the guy who sat down next to me on the plan in LA as we were boarding, trying to tell me that I was in his seat. He thought the flight was going to DC, and was extremely concerned when he found that he boarded a flight for Sydney, Australia. I have no idea how he got on the flight, but we were all rather amused and he rushed to grab his carry on baggage and raced out of the plane to track down his correct gate. However, while the flights were fine, I will say that US-based airlines suck. In my 14+ hrs in the air with United Airlines, I was served 2 aweful meals and was advised that drinks are no longer complimentry. The "beef" that I was served (and trust me, the alternative could not have been any better) more closely resembled a slab of gefilte fish gone bad than anything that came from a cow. And, aparently my airfare across the Pacific was not enough to warrant a free Bud Light Upon changing planes in Sydney and hopping onto an Air New Zealand flight to Christchurch, I was shocked to see a plane's whose interior looked brand new. On top of that, there was screens in each seat back, free entertainment, the flight attendants were friendly, I was given a really good meal (on a 3 hr flight, mind you) and free drinks. My advice, fly foreign carriers. I'll be doing in again in 3 weeks.

Enough complaining for now, as things are going great so far. Been in Christhchurch for the past couple of days and have been able to see the city and was able to get out with a friend who lives here to see everything outside of the city. The area is really nice, and the water in the harbor looks more like the Caribbean than the Pacific that I expected. (If I had my UBS cable on me I'd add the photo) For those of you who are interested in following, I head out tomorrow to (all locations are on the South Island):

Monday (Sunday US): Lake Ohau
Tuesday (Monday US): Milford Sound
Wed-Friday (You get the picture): Queenstown

Cheers!

A Pirate Looks At 30

So, it is now a couple of weeks since my 30th birthday and I must admit that this is not exactly where I thought I'd be:  unemployed and, until recently, living in my friends extra bedroom.  (Mike, I owe you big time!)  However, I can also say that being out of work for the past 2 1/2 months has been a blast!  Being able to spend my time with family and friends, and traveling between NYC, Las Vegas, San Fran and Denver has been the exact break that I needed after a less than stellar year.  OK, maybe these weren't best places for conserving my non-existent cash flow, but they were fun as hell.  So now I find myself less than 24 hours away from my first flight and, I'm quite certain, the most exciting (and somewhat ballsy) adventure of my life.  My bag is as packed as it is going to be, and considering I need to cram enough stuff for 5+ months in there, I think I've done a pretty good job.  After months of planning, it is hard to believe that in two days I will be relaxing on the South island of New Zealand, no doubt exhausted from a full day of flying and catching connections to the other side of the world, though very much ready to explore the first country on my itinerary.  Now I just need to keep my fingers crossed that my flights are on time, I make my connections, my luggage joins me and I remember my Ambien!  And while I catch a flight to summer, I hear the words of a great poet, "There's just too much to see waiting in front of me, and I know that I just can't go wrong!"