Down Under

"...our neglect of Australian affairs is curious. As you might expect, this is particularly noticeable when you are a resident in America."

I could not agree more with Bryson. For most of us, Australia is a land of exotic animals, beautiful beaches, and surfing. All of which sound enticing for a nomad like myself but not enough to satiate my curiosity about this incredibly vast country. I needed to know more about this interesting place and reading Down Under helped me dive in head first.

I initially saw this book at the Sydney airport while waiting for our flight to Melbourne. I had never heard of Bill Bryson prior to this but the title and a peculiar picture of a pink map of Australia in an ice cream cone on the cover was appealing. Therefore, I added this book to my "must read" list while traveling. A little more than a week later, I stumbled upon a second hand copy at the Kuranda Market at a backpacker friendly price. The shopowner had little persuading to do as I walked out with my bargain buy.

We had a few rainy days and long bus rides while in Queensland which I welcomed as reading days. Bill Bryson immediately captivated me with his dry sense of humor. He presents the historical facts of Australia in an effortlessly sarcastic way. He pokes fun at the Australians while admiring their country at the same time. He does his research, presents the facts, and takes you on a trip down the unbeaten paths of Australia. This is a laugh out loud book, and sometimes at the most impromptu times.

Bryson does not neglect the aspects of Australia's past which are hard to swallow. He presents the history and shame of Australia in a way that most Australians are too embarrassed to admit. He addresses the convict history and the controversial injustice of the Aboriginees.

After ripping the country apart it seems as if his affinity towards Australia is impossible. To put it simply Bill Bryson has a love/hate relationship with Australia. This book is as dry as the country! Down Under was published in 2000 but the information presented is certainly pertinent today. Down Under is a must read for anyone who wants to know more about how this strangely hot, vast, and dry country thrives.

 

 

Kangaroo Prosciutto?!?

We took a self-guided day trip to the town of Kuranda, located about 45 minutes outside of Cairns. It is situated in the rainforest and is best described as a laid back hippie town. The town is filled with small markets that close promptly at 3 PM. There are plenty of hemp stores, tie dye clothing, and people with colorful dreadlocks around every corner. While we were there, we went to one of Lonely Planet's top rated restaurants for lunch, Petit Cafe. Jon had the lovely idea to order a crepe with kangaroo prosciutto. I must admit that ever since we landed in Australia I have had a frank disgust for red meat and pork but for some reason I thought that having kangaroo prosciutto would make me more of a "serious foodie traveler". I saw what the crepe looked like on another table and I thought that it was asthetically pleasing and possibly tasted "good". So therefore we ordered it...

Let me make this clear, I like kangaroo (the animal). We have seen quite a few since being in Australia and I love them. These big furry beings hop around on the side of the highway regularly. Honestly, when we decided to order the crepe with kangaroo prosciutto on it, I had no idea what I was thinking. So like any adventurous traveler I took a bite. First, I looked at it and all I could think of was the love I had for these marsupials. I still wanted to be like the revered Andrew Zimmern and so I took another bite...biggest regret ever! I hated it! It was horrible. We had to order something else for me!

Kuranda is a quaint town and a nice daytrip from Cairns. We learned more about the didgeridoo then we ever knew before. We even got to practice playing one.

It was an educational day trip and all I know is: at least I tried kangaroo while in Australia!

 

Rough Seas and the Great Barrier Reef

As the big dive boat violently rocked back and forth, bashed through rolling waves at full throttle and the sea spray rained down on us, I began to question just how resistant I was to sea sickness. It turns out... not as much as I previously thought.

We have spent the past couple days in Cairins, Australia. As some of the locals have told us, there's tons to do here as long as you get out of Cairins. Needless to say, we were excited to get out on the reef today.

Naturally, we picked the cheapest tour boat we could find, a large boat that carried around 80 to 100 divers and snorkelers. As we left the harbor, we realized just how rough the seas were going to be. I had only been sea sick once before at a young age and had this misconception that I had the sea legs of an old sailor. When I started to fidget in my seat, hug my knees and the feel the blood drain from my face, Christine looked at me with a concerned expression. Luckily I asked her to grab me a "souvenir" bag as the crew put it right before losing it. My only solace was that nearly half the boat seemed to be in the same condition. It should be noted that Christine does have the sea legs of a sailor and was completely fine the whole ride.

When we arrived at our first dive site, there was nothing I wanted to do more than get off that boat and into the water. Unfortunately, the sea wasn't any calmer at the site. Christine and I stuck together since it was so choppy and the current was pulling pretty hard.

Even though the snorkeling conditions were less than ideal, we had a great time after getting comfortable in the water. The Great Barrier Reef was amazing, huge and teaming with sea life. Our second dive site was even more beautiful than the first too.

One of the highlights of the day was seeing a large sea turtle that we were able to get really close to. Unfortunately after downloading my pictures, I realized that the fish eye lens on my go pro doesn't focus underwater so most of the shots didn't turn out too great.

Is this thing on?

We are planning on snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef again in Whitsundays and will hopefully have better conditions there. Some precautionary Dramamine may be in order just in case though.

 

We Believe in the Experience

We decided to trade in our hostel accomadation for a campervan...more like a campercube. We considered doing this in New Zealand but it was just not feasible. So when we had the opportunity to do this in Melbourne, we refused to let it pass us by. Tour buses really aren't our thing and public transportation can't take us to all the unbeaten paths. The cube gave us the flexibility we wanted while putting our home on wheels.

Ohh you think that print is bad?....well at least we didn't get this one we saw while we were in Lake Tekapo, New Zealand.

OR any of these interesting vehicles....

The company is Wicked Campers and they pride themselves on their colorful, funny, and usually also crude campers.

Jonathan drove on the left side of the road and kept his cool even after I had a freak out because I thought we were on the wrong side of the road.... which is just embarassing!

The tent was on top of the cube and when it was all set up it looked like this:

Pretty cool, eh?

We took the cube to Phillip's Island where we saw koalas in their natural habitat and little penguins emerge from the ocean and waddle to their homes for the night. They are the smallest of their kind and it was the cutest thing ever! We couldn't take pictures of them, so I encourage you to click the link above for a visual. The next day we drove to Wilson's Promontory or "The Prom" which is a national park with loads of kangaroos, rabbits, wombats, and we even saw a fox. Our camp ground was close to the Tidal River pictured below:

We did some hiking up into the mountains. I conquered my irrational fear of heights by standing on the summit of Mount Oberon!

We spent two nights at the campgrounds before making our way back to Melbourne and returning the car.

I am really happy that we decided to rent the campercube because we were able to move at our own pace while seeing the beauty of Australia. We are now in Cairns and looking forward to the Great Barrier Reef. Stay tuned for more of our adventures.

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone!

 

One Month on the Road

As of today, we have been on the road for a little over one month... living out of our backpacks, staying in hostels, pinching every penny and loving every minute of it. Sure, there have been some challenging times like a cancelled connection from Sydney to Auckland, but as Christine likes to remind me, "happiness is instant flexibility in a sea of constant change."

For our first three weeks, Christine and I made our way through New Zealand. We really packed a lot into those couple weeks too. After spending a few nights in Auckland, we decided to buy a pass for one of the backpacker hop on hop off buses in order to maximize what we could see.

We made our way around both the North and South Island and feel like we really got a taste of what New Zealand has to offer. We met some great people from all over the world on the bus and made some friends along the way.

Our New Zealand itinerary included:

Auckland - Largest city in New Zealand, Sky Tower and some amazing Asian food... laksa!

Waiheke Island - Cool little day trip from Auckland with a bunch of wineries and bohemian vibe

Paihia and Bay of Islands - Remote beaches and quaint, sleepy towns.

Cape Reigna - New Zealand's northern most accessible point, scenic views, sand boarding and driving down 90 mile beach.

Auckland (had to stop here again on our way south) - Exploring the suburbs after getting on the wrong bus.

Hot Water Beach - Amazing rock formations at Cathedral Cove and digging hot geothermal sand pools on the beach.

 

Waitomo - Black water tubing 60 meters below the surface with glow worms overhead.

(Will insert good photo of us in the caves someday when I can get it off a USB stick)

Rotorua - Maori cultural experience, hot springs and geysers that reek of sulfur.

Hongi - traditional Maori greeting

Taupo - Fantastic lake but crap weather resulted in missed opportunity to hike the Tongarirro Crossing.

River Valley - White water rafting grade 5 rapids and drinks with new friends.

Wellington - New Zealand's capital. Seemed like a cool city but everything shut down around 6:00pm.

Kaiteriteri - Ferry to South Island. Great beaches and laid back feel.

Westport - Fur seals and surfing in the Tasman Sea.

Franz Josef - No time to hike the glacier so we settled for drinks with friends.

Wanaka - Small lake town with some great views on the drive in.

Queenstown - Adventure capital of New Zealand. Running in the park, nightlife and exploring the mountain.

Tekapo - Tiny lake town and a nasty wind storm.

Christchurch - The earthquake, abandoned and ruined buildings, botanical garden, city on the rebound. Spent the night in a decommissioned prison.