From Queenstown...

We've covered some serious ground since leaving Motueka.  We drove South through Hamner Springs where we went for a soak in a strange hot springs/water park thing.  Then we were off to Christchurch where we stayed with Denise, one of Margaret's friends.  We saw some pretty hilarious prop comics perform in the Busker's Festival--a collection of street performers and variety acts that lasts ten days.  It was nice for us poor travelers to get some free entertainment. 

After our one night stint in Christchurch we charged over to Lake Tekapo to meet our friend Tyson.  We spent the day swimming, throwing rocks and basking in the sun.  We slept right on the lake shore under the extraordinary southern hemisphere stars.  After packing up our slightly moist sleeping bags we set off to Mt. Cook National Park.  We hiked in for an overnight stay up to Ball hut.  The hike was easy so we had some time to just sit in the sun above a crackling glacier.  There was a fancy radio set up in the outhouse next to the hut we slept in.  We got to here the Ranger talk to all of the people staying in the huts around the park.  We got to listen in on a hillarious conversation about a very full outhouse somehwere deep in the park.  We all giggled when the Ranger instructed the campers to use the 'poo stick' to try and wiggle out some extra room. 

We climbed a somewhat sketchy rockslide to get a better view of Mt. Cook, which was covered in glaciers and ice.  The park is a big mountaineering hotspot (or should I say cold spot har har har), and most of the hikes through the park are precarious to say the least.  As we hiked out it rained on us and we got to test out our new rain gear.

We parted ways with Tyson, he was headed East in search of surf and we headed off to Milford Sound.  When we settled on a campground it was pouring rain.  There were about 10 campervans and then us in our three person tent.  We set up our stove in the rain and made some veggie soup with some TSP (textured soy protein mmmmm).  I think we were the entertainment for the night for all the people snuggled up in their vans.  In the morning we drove the rest of the way to Milford Sound for a cruise through the fjord.  The rain had stopped and all of the rainforest-covered mountains looked magical with the sun shining through the misty peaks.  It rains on average over 7 meters in fiordland.  It helps explain why even the sheerest peaks coming out of the water are covered in green.  The skipper told us that even though we were on the sea there is layer of fresh water that usually stays around 3 meters thick.We decided to spend another day at our campsite because it was so epic. 

We are now in Queenstown  preparing for a 8-9 day tramp through the Dusky Track--also apart of Fiordland national Park.  It will definitely be really wet and muddy.  We decided to hire a mountain radio to get weather reports and to communicate if we get stranded and need help.  We went to Stu's upholstery (?) to rent what we thought was going to be a little hand held thing, but instead got thorough instructions on how to set up our 'simple' aerial for our radio...  frist we have to climb a tree to get the transmitter 4 meters in the air, then run wires to the ground 20 feet away then hook it into a clunky box.  If we do get stranded, hopefully we can set it up before we run out of food. 

More Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56993065@N03/

Burger King in NZ still sucks (and is expensive)

We arrived in New Zealand without any hiccups.  All of the hostels were full so we checked into a 'hotel' in Auckland.  Apparently spontanaeity isn't the best strategy to find shelter in the heat of the school holidays.  After setting our  bags down, we decided Burger King was our best option for food for reasons that still escape me.  As we sat and enjoyed our ten dollar BK meals we absently gazed at the muted TV to see four hairy men thrusting their hips at us.  Next they were silhoutted by the setting sun, under an outdoor shower rubbing themselves (look up bearforce one if you want to see the video for yourself).  We were all puzzled why this was playing in BK.

The next day we caught an early bus to Hamilton and then a connector out to Ragland where we met a friend who is working in a hostel there.  We camped in a holiday park.  Basically, that meant our three person tent was squished between two caravans and a road.  We had a beer with some locals at the dive bar.  They played an odd assortment of Nsync, Madonna, Cindy Lauper, among other gems from the 90s.

Our next stop was Taupo.  We got up at 5 in the morning to get to the great walk in Tongoriro.  It was about 20km hike plus a 700m climb up Mt. Doom.  This side hike was rather treacherous.  The mountain seemed to be entirely made of small pebbles that swallowed your feet.  While it took us about an hour to scramble up the volcanoe it was a quick 15 minute run/ski/almost-eat-shit-skid down the face.

At the top of Mt. Doom.  Skyler pushing a boulder onto some orcs

Bollywood production.  What you can't see are the minicoopers to the left of the wheelchair gang.

Wellington

Wellington city center

Outside our hostel window.  Two cyclones converging = lots of rain

Margaret and I on the beaches of Abel Tasman

We returned to Taupo exhausted and decided to stay in the hostel for the shower and bed.  We all woke up at about 2 to some seeerious rain.  Glad we weren't free camping.

We decided that most of the things we are excited about are on the South Island so we set our sights on Nelson.  We made it to Wellington, a very neat town that is smushed between a ring of hills and right on the water.  It feels small and intimate but is still a vibrant city.  The walking signal to cross the street reminded me of the warning sound you might hear if there was a breech in your spaceship or submarine.  I found it made my crossing brisk and with purpose. 

After getting settled we went for a walk on the docks where we saw a man come into harbor that had just finished sailing his multi-million dollar boat from South Africa to Wellington by himself.  He was the third place finisher for that leg in a solo sailing race around the world.  We then walked further down and ran into a bollywood film production.  It involved a group of people in wheelchairs, three mini coopers and a gang of motorcyclists.  The minicoopers squeezed by the wheelchairs by driving up on the side of the dock while the pursuing motorcyclists got cut off by the chaotic wheelchairs.  It seemed to be some bizarre adaptation of the Italian Job.

In the morning we took the ferry to the south island and then bussed into Nelson.  We are spending a few days with my Aunt in Motueka, before we strip down our packs and head out for the wilderness. 

On the Tongoriro hike... I think this is where Frodo destroyed the ring

That's it for now!  Probably won't be able to post for another week or two.

Road trip and now a Change of Plans

We had a blast on our road trip down to Melbourne.  The weather was pretty gloomy on our way down.  We ended up camping in the rain the first night but had some great weather after that.  We finally saw some kangaroos on our last day of the trip. You can see more pictures on my flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56993065@N03/

Tuesday we packed up shop at Lucas' aunt's house getting ready for our bussing adventure up North.  Wednesday I lugged everything into the city and met up with yet another Santa Cruzan, Leah, for a beer at the Opera house.  When I met up with Lucas and Skyler they had bad news... our bus to Byron Bay was cancelled.  For those of you who do not keep up with the news, Northern NSW and Queensland are experience biblical floods.  Yesterday on the news I saw a flash flood torrent tossing trucks and SUVs like bouncing twigs down a creek.  I'm a bit dissapointed we won't get to see the great barrier reef or the whitsunday islands or any of the tropical rain forest, but were not going to let it slow us down.

Our bus pass was supposed to be valid to go all the way up to Cairns and we could hop on and hop off at any of the stops along the way.  Since our mini traveller pass is now the most expensive one-way bus ticket to Coff's Harbour, we are canceling our bus ticket and are heading to New Zealand early.  We leave for Auckland tomorrow and will hopefully have better weather over there.

So, farewell Australia.  

If you are craving more pictures and stories check out Lucas' and Skyler's blog and flickr:

Lucas Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57181626@N08/

Skyler's Blog:

http://theadventuresofskyler.blogspot.com/

Catching Up

Since the last post, much has happened.  I'm going to try fit in the highlights, so I apologize if it doesn't all flow together.  Lucas and I got second in the beach volleyball tourney in Brighton.  We profitted $80 woo!  That almost pays for our entry into the next tourney.  It was pretty similar to a tournament in Santa Cruz, except they play thumping techno beats instead of reggae, the courts are pristinely flat instead of bowled out, and the afternoon wind is something fierce.  We were exhausted by the finals (our 9th and 10th game), and as soon as the game ended it started raining with 30mph gusts (http://www.flickr.com/photos/56993065@N03/5311388879/lightbox/).

We've been doing some yard work for Jalleh, Lucas' aunt, as a present for her hospitality.  Luckily we haven't ran into any redbacks or anything else that will kill us.  The other day I was hanging up my clothes in the back yard and when I turned around to see this vicious looking lizard ready to attack.  Luckily nobody was around to here me squeal.  As it aggressively walked up the steps toward me I realized it was going for the strawberry patch.  I later learned it was harmless, but those strawberries could've easily been my pinky toes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIlQ9cc-zAM

During the rainstorm that came in after the brighton tournament, Kayvan and Jalleh took us up North along the coast a bit to see some great views of Palm Beach.

Since the last post Lucas and I have been spending much of our time with his family. I feel so fortunate to have been apart of their Christmas celebration. I've been spoiled with so much good Persian food, I'm not going to know what to do with myself when we hit the road. Christmas felt  like a good ol'e American Fourth of July.  The main differences were people were wearing Santa hats and kids were playing wiffle cricket and rugby, rather than baseball and football.  We spent the day at the beach snorkeling and playing some mean smashball.

A few days later our friend and travel companion, Skyler arrived.  We took the ferry across the bay into Sydney, where we walked around the Opera house and explored the botanical gardens.  We saw some incredible flying foxes, some nice roses, a sweet succulent garden and some cool statues.  

Yesterday we got to Mrs Macquerie Point at 10 in the morning to get a spot to watch the Sydney fireworks show.  We were stoked on the way over because the park looked empty when we were crossing the bridge into sydney.  When we arrived we realized we were about 6000 people back in the cue.  By about one we had a spot inside.  Garrett, Chloe, and Shelby, our other friends from Aptos, met us there later.  After several hours of dice games, some napping and lots of water and sunscreen we got to see the fantastic show.  We didn't get to see all of the fireworks but we got to see the ones that shot off of the bridge very well.  Here is some footage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vju3h2XtzZw

Today we rented a rather compact car.  The roads are narrower and you drive on the left side here, but Lucas did very well getting out of the Sydney.  We only hit one curb and turned onto the right side of the road just once.  Tomorrow we begin a road trip down the coast to Melbourne and will be coming back on the 7th in time to play in the New South Wales Open beach volleyball tournament on the 8th.  

Here are some Pictures from the last few weeks.  Too many to put on the blog, but they're here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56993065@N03/?saved=1

Meat pies and Lawn Bowling

Today is a lazy day, seeing we've been working and playing hard all week.  Thursday we finished working with Hans the painter, and played an epic 8 person king of the beach well into the evening.  At about nine when we finished we turned off the flood lights above the courts and made our way to the bus stop, thoroughly exhausted and content.  The guys are all kind and hilarious; so far there haven't been any bad attitudes.  There are really only two Australians, everyone else is European.

Yesterday we met up with our old friend Daniel Demars, who arrived here earlier in the week.  We had a hit around with the guys on the beach, put on a sweat, then had a swim.  Then we went to our new favorite bakery and had some $2.80 meat pies.  For those of you who haven't had a meat pie, it's just what it sounds like.  A flaky pastry crust filled with all sorts of different meat fillings.  So far I've enjoyed the satay chicken the best.  The classic steak pie filling can be rather 'dog foody' if you get it at the wrong place.  We've had a meat pie just about everyday we've been here just in the interest of saving money.  Eating out here is way expensive... a meal under $10 means you are eating at Subway, MacDonalds, Happy Jacks (the Australian Burger King), or in our case the Manly Bakery.  Alcohol is also a bit more expensive than the states.  You would be caught dead if you found 1$ well drinks like I did in Iowa.  Their cheap beers on tap are about 5$ for a portion of a pint.

After our meat pie we made our way to the local lawn bowling club.  I had always imagined a lawn bowling club to be a snooty place where old people play croquet and drink tea, being careful not to drop their monocles.  Oh boy was I wrong.  Lawn bowling is actually quite similar to bocce ball, only you have 2 or 3 teams with eight balls per team.  In the club house we found cheap alcohol, slot machines (where I 'earned' three dollars off of my one dollar investment!), a restaurant, and lots of people getting a jump on the soon-to-be sloppy friday night.  It really is remarkably similar to bowling but without stinky shoes or greasy bowling balls.  Some pics...

 Lucas demonstrating a proper lawn bowling stance

Good form Daniel!  Gooood form!

Tomorrow we will be playing in a beach volleyball tournament at Brighton beach about 30 minutes south of where we are.  We're not sure what the prize money is like, but it sounds like it will be a fun tournament.  Further off on the horizon is the NSW open January 9th and 10th, and that tournament is $1000 first place, so there will probably be some good competition for that one.

Manly Scenic Walkway

Sunday we made the two hour walk from Clontarf to Manly along the scenic walkway (these are district names, and yes, I'm pretty sure Contarf is the name of a smurf).  This was the same pathway we took the other night when we were ambushed by spiders.  We went snorkelling and saw some fish, but the water has been a bit mucked up from the recent rain storms.  We did see a ray and some interesting fish, but the snorkel I'm using is clearly made for a six year old and promptly fills with water.

On another note, we've secured a job helping a family renovate their newly bought home.  We spent the first day breaking stuff and pulling out carpets; today we washed walls and sanded annoyingly small nooks and crannies for six hours.  It's great to be making some extra money though, and we don't have to worry about skin cancer seeing that were working inside.  Anywho, here are some pictures from the scenic walkway, or if you want to see bigger and better quality go to here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56993065@N03/

 Lucas looking fierce

 Sweet pathway

 Downtown Sydney is over the hill there

 You can see the Manly Ferry that goes into Sydney.

Xmas carols and spiders

Last night Lucas and I went to a Christmas carol concert with his grandparents at the manly cricket field. I was expecting a group of carolers on a little stage on the street corner, but instead found a jumbotron screen, an orchestra, a mini petting zoo, food vendors and lots and lots of children. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. One moment a small rudolph the reindeer would leap over my legs, the next moment a twirling fairy would knock over a cooler of drinks. Every carol would end with a lost child announcement. The Christmas cheer and the warm air, combined with a few sugary treats and little adult supervision made for a wild show. Thankful not to see any seizures or projectile vomiting we left the concert.

Lucas and I decided we would walk back to his aunt's house to save our bus passes for a longer trip. We figured we would take the scenic route along the shore and be home in about an hour. An hour later we were in the bush carefully walking with Lucas' headlamp to spot massive spiders that had strewn their web for us to walk through. What was a gorgeous stroll along the bay was now a frank introduction to Aussie's nocturnal wildlife. I was trying to look past Lucas to help spot spiders in his light when I saw the grand-daddy of all spiders approaching his face. I tried to yell out but all that came was a "guhhhahh!". His head passed under by no more than 5 inches. We eventually made it back after another hour of walking and 20 or 30 spider webs. From now on we are walking on the street at night.

Today we played heaps (as they say in Oz) of beach volleyball and tomorrow we are working our first job doing yard work. More pictures coming soon!