Last Day

1/4/12

Leaving today. We headed out of hotel and I was quite surprised when they charged us $2..one for each LOCAL phone call that we'd made during our stay. Shannon and I and also made a quick trip to a mall to browse.

We hailed a taxi shortly thereafter and headed to the airport. Now we're sitting in Fiji after our first flight waiting to head off for LA, before a 3 hour drive when we'll finally be home! We're really excited to see Tobias and be back in San Luis but it is sad to leave here. What a great trip!

- Craig

Bridge Climb Day

1/3/12

Today is our last full day in Sydney! We got up relatively early. We had breakfast and were searching for a bus by 9:30am. We took the bus out to Bondi and skipped dealing with a train and bus transfer this time, which was much nicer.

Getting to Bondi earlier it wasn't as packed as the last time we ventured out here. But instead of hanging on on Bondi we did a 2.5km walk over to Bronte Beach. This beach was great..not nearly as packed as Bondi and it had huge waves! We played in the waves for a long time but it was pretty tiring so we spent the rest of the time until around noon sun bathing.

We walked back to Bondi and caught the bus back to Sydney.

Once we were in Sydney we stopped by a chain restaurant we'd been wanting to try: Pie Face. They are everywhere in Sydney and sell pot pies..overall pretty good and a good value also.

After lunch we headed over the the Sydney Harbour Bridge where we were going to do a bridge climb. It took quite a while to get suited up but eventually we headed out on to the bridge. I didn't feel nervous at all..until we were on a catwalk where we could see straight down to 100 meters or so below us. I started feeling a little uneasy at that point but not too bad.

Our climb overall went off without a hitch and we made it to the top of the bridge! It's really high up there with a great view of the city. We asked our guide how much a harbour-side apartment goes for an he claimed $600/week. Ya right! We also saw Bill Gates' yacht parked in the harbour; apparently he was in Sydney the same time we were.

After the climb we headed out to dinner with Clay and Shea and a very fancy restaurant called The Cut. Shea's parents gave them a free Sydney dinner for Christmas and we got to take part. Thanks Ellersons! It was really good. I had a 4-hour roasted Wagyu beff steak that was massive. Shannon had Barramundi filet w/ a smaller type of lobster in addition. We also ate some Sydney oysters and shared two bottles of wine.

Then it was off to bed for more reading!

- Craig

Mission: Impossible

1.2.12

Woke up not feeling good at all. My allergies are in full swing right now. The sudden season change from winter to summer must have finally caught up with me. Luckily I brought some flonase so now I just have to wait for it to start kicking in. We had another lazy morning, laying in bed and reading. Around lunch time we finally got up and out of bed and went out in search of Wagamama. I had been to this restaurant when I was in London and saw signs for it our first day in Sydney and had been craving it ever since. We found it and had some delicious bowls of ramen. I had a chili chicken which helped to clear out my sinuses.

We then went over the the IMAX theater that holds the largest screen in the world. It's 8 stories high. We saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. We both enjoyed the movie and really enjoyed seeing 8 stories of Tom Cruise kickin' ass. From their we had our own mission impossible: to get to the other side of town to meet up with Clay and Shea and use the restroom in 20 minutes. It was close and we had to run, jay walk, and jump over a few small children but we made it with a minute to spare.

Our mission impossible was to meet up for a walking tour of the Rocks which is the oldest part of the city where the convicts first came and settled. There are lots of cool pubs and restaurants in this area and a few pubs that are currently fighting for the title of oldest pub in the city. After our tour we went to a bar got a pitcher of pimms and had a Wagyu burger. Wagyu beef is really popular here and I think its just like a special kind of beef like Kobe beef or something. Also they love beets here and they put them on their burgers in place of pickles.

- Shan

New Year's Day

1/1/12

Happy New Year!

Woke up leisurely this morning and walked to the grocery store to get some breakfast food. They don't refrigerate their eggs in the grocery stores here, they just have them out on the shelves. After making breakfast and being lazy for a while we walked over to central station to take a train then a bus to Bondi beach. I think everyone else in Sydney had the same idea as us because beach was packed and we were basically all laying on top of each other. It was a nice beach but just way too many people. Also you had to swim in between the flags and some people were trying to boogie board or body surf and we were scared we would be trampled by the boards.

Finally we decided we were sick of the crowds and made our trek back to the apartment. We went to Darling Harbor for dinner at a restaurant where Clay could try a croc burger. I got a salad that had pumpkin in it, apparently aussies really like pumpkin and put it in everything. My allergies started bothering me today. I thought I might be getting sick again but I think its just allergies. I took some meds so hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

- Shan

New Year's Eve

12/31/11

Happy New Year's Eve

Early start today. We caught our 7am flight to Sydney and then took a taxi to our Hotel. We couldn't check in just yet so we left our bags at the reception and decided to explore the town a little. We checked out the Sydney Aquarium which is located in darling harbor. The aquarium was PACKED! Everyone and their entire extended family was in Sydney for new years so we had to fight the crowds for every creature we wanted to see. We saw a duck billed platypus, giant lobsters and giant crabs, sharks, huge string rays and this manitee/dolphin thing that reminded us of tobias.

After the aquarium we thought we would try to find where our dinner reservations would be so we wandered the city for a while found our restaurant and went back to the hotel so we could nap before the big night. Our hotel was pretty underwhelming after staying the Beth's boss' condo but we had our own room, a queen bed and our own bathroom so we were happy.

Once we woke up from our nap we started getting ready to go out. Since I was wearing heels I thought maybe it would be a better idea to take the train instead of walking, but our train conductor told us to get off 2 stops before we were supposed to so the train really didn't save my feet any. Luckily I brought along some flip flops in by purse. Our reservations were from 7:30pm to 2am and we got there about 8:30 so most people were well into dinner so we had to catch up. We had an array of appetizers and bread, then our “mains” of an assortment of skewered meats were served. At 9 we had to take a break from eating to watch the first set of fireworks. The restaurant had an outside area over the harbor facing the Sydney Opera House, so we had a great view of all the fireworks right above the opera house. A band and DJ were alternately playing on the main stage and we had a great time dancing. We were then served some delicious desserts, did some people watching while drinking our unlimited alcohol, and all the sudden it was midnight. We rushed outside just in time for the start of the fireworks. We could see fireworks going off in four different locations and they were amazing; even some of the high rises in the CBD (Central Business District) had fireworks on top of them. We didn't have that good of a view of the bridge but it was still one of the best firework displays I have ever seen.

After a few more drinks and some more dancing we made the trek to our apartment. It was about a mile and a half walk. The main streets were all shut down to cars and they were filled with people walking. There was so much energy in the city everyone was buzzing. When we get back to our apartment we sat out on our 15^th floor balcony and listened to the commotion going on down on the streets. A great night.

- Shan

Gold Coast -> Brisbane

12/30/11

We woke up lazily and had a slow breakfast consisting of toast, coffee, and cereal. We read on the 8^th story balcony of the amazing condo we had had the good fortune to stay at the night before.

Unfortunately the weather didn't seem to want to cooperate with our plans of making it a beach day. We said goodbye to our hosts and started driving through the local towns, looking for a place for lunch since it was a little too cold to hit the beaches just yet. We ate at a sushi restaurant and got back in the car. By this time it was raining and didn't show any signs of letting up so we headed back to Brisbane.

We lounged the rest of the day and played cards with a couple of Beth's friends that night. Beth cooked a nice Asian inspired meal and got our bags packed for Sydney before falling asleep on the couch for the final time.

-Craig

View of Brisbane:

Gold Coast & Animal Sanctuary

12/29/11

We slept in for quite a while, recovering from our late nights and early mornings of the past few days. When we finally got up and ready to go we piled in the car and Beth drove us to the Gold Coast. Her bosses had invited us to stay a night with them.

Our first stop, since it was supposed to be sunnier the following day, was to go to the animal park and we'd do the Gold Coast beaches on the 30^th. The animal park was really great. They had tons of cool creatures. Shannon and I got to hold a koala and get our picture taken with it. Koalas are quite cute, but they really stink! He reminded us of Tobias.

While in the park we also saw a huge python, a massive monitor lizard, and some turtles. From there we headed over to the kangaroo area where we were able to pet and feed kangaroos. Almost all the females had joeys in their pouches, who were really cute. We never got to see any of their faces, but their legs or some other random body part was usually hanging out. We then headed over to the crocodile area, where we watched some smaller freshwater crocs get fed, then had a look at the humongous salt water croc. He was a little over 15 meters (45 feet)! Apparently during a flood at some point he had even escaped the zoo!

From there we headed over to the bird area and checked out the Cassowary. It's the most dangerous bird in the world, and kills more people in Australia than crocs and snakes combined (at least I think that's what they said). It has a big bone on top of its head and uses that to head butt its prey to kill or knock them out.

After the aviary we wanted to see some dingos since we missed them on Frasier Island. We saw them briefly but they were pretty boring...just dogs. We moved up from there to the area that took up most of our time at the zoo: the koala nursery! Probably the cutest place on the planet.. pictures below. We stayed there for quite a while and then checked out some Tasmanian devils before watching a bird feeding and heading off to Beth's boss' place.

We were half-heartedly hoping for our own room since we'd been sleeping on two pushed together twin beds, bunk beds, and a couch. Once we got there, we were blown away! They had a 4 bedroom condo overlooking the beach and it was really amazing. They were fabulous hosts, cooking us kangaroo steaks, sausages, vegetables, and giving us plenty of beer and wine. Then they bought everyone gelato for dessert. After that Shannon and I shared a romantic moonlit walk on the beach before crashing upstairs in our own room.

-Craig

Frasier Island

12/27/12 – 12/28/12

Today we had another very early morning. We were awoken at 3:30 AM by Shea so that we could drive our “hired” (that's the term they use for rented) car to Hervey Bay so that we could take the ferry out to Frasier Island. I took the first shift, from 3:30 til around 6:30. It was good to a try driving on the other side of the road so early when no traffic was around. Right when we started driving there was a police car behind us but I guess I wasn't doing too poorly and he didn't pull us over.

After arriving at Hervey Bay a little early we had time to grab breakfast and coffee and a nearby shop before jumping on the ferry for a ride to Frasier Island, which took a little under an hour. When we arrived we were greeting by our nine-toed tour guide (more on that later) and off we went. It was a huge bus and Frasier Island is the world's largest sand island. This meant that we drove on sand almost the entire time so it was a bit of a bumpy ride, which Shannon and Shea weren't too fond of.

Our first stop was a fresh water lake in the middle of the island. Frasier Island is a really amazing place off the coast of Australia but with a whole bunch of rain-fed fresh water lakes. The water was very clear and Shannon and I swam out to the middle of the lake. Unfortunately I had forgotten to bring my swim trunks so I was stuck swimming in my shorts the whole time. I made due though and was able to swim every place we went.

After that we grabbed some lunch with our group (nothing too exciting, just sandwiches) and then headed out for a walk along a fresh water creek that ran through the middle of the island. The stream was quite beautiful and the water was so clear. I even tasted it and it was very fresh. There were catfish and eels living in the stream, but we didn't see any. We were able to spot a couple of lizards along the path. After the river walk we headed over to another lake. This one was one of the more famous Frasier lakes and was really clear. Our guide told us that the sand is so fine that women use it to polish their jewelry and exfoliate their skin. We took advantage of this and rubbed sand on ourselves and each other. I even used to clean my ring a little bit. We had tea and coffee at this place before driving back to the lodge.

At the lodge we were able to shower and then read some while enjoying a beer or two while we waited for dinner. It was taco night for dinner (not the greatest food..) we saw a pretty cool thunderstorm not far off. As we got into bed after dinner the thunderstorm moved a lot closer and tons of rain started pouring outside our window. When we lost power we all decided it was time for sleep.

The next day we woke up in our bunk beds (everyone had their own single) and did a little reading before heading out for breakfast. We had some basic breakfast food and then headed out on the bus for day 2 of our tour.

We drove for a while with our tour guide promising that he would find some dingos for us that day. We drove around 80 km/hour along the beach, which was pretty fun. We went until we came to a small fresh water “river”. It was quite small but our guide told us that people floated down it. We floated a bit with no tubes but the water was pretty chilly at around 9:30 in the morning.

Shannon and I then waded into the water and just generally played around. We also laid out in the sun and read.

From here we headed over to a nice look out point on top of a large cliff overlooking the ocean. According to our guide sometimes you can see sharks in the waters below but it was too murky from the previous night's rain so we couldn't see much. The view, however, was breathtaking and we got some great pictures. After this we had lunch down on the beach.

After lunch we drove over to a spot called Champagne pools. Unfortunately the water level was dangerously low and we had to vacate instead swimming in them. We ended up going to some sand dunes instead which were a lot of fun to jump off of. We played in the dunes for a bit before heading down to the beach and swimming for a spell. Our tour guide was very cautious of a group of Koreans, telling us that Koreans are known for going out too far and having poor swimming skills.

From the beach we headed to the island's resident ship wreck. We took pictures here and heard the story of the wreck. Apparently the Japanese bought the bought for scrap metal and removed the motor from it before towing it back to Japan. Shortly after they started the weather got rough and the ship was detached from the larger ship that was dragging it. With no one on board and no motor the ship went its own way and crashed onto the shores of Frasier Island.

After checking out the wreck we got back in the bus and headed back down the beach. Sometime around here our guide told us of how when he was 10 he jumped on a motor bike on Frasier Island and crashed into a tree. The crash resulted in the loss of one of his pinky toes. He held it up to Shea's face and asked if she wanted to touch it.

Once we had driven back to camp it was almost dinner time. We didn't get to see a dingo. Dinner the second night consisted of Asian food which in my opinion was better than the taco night we had the night before. About an hour after we'd finished eating a van picked us up and took us to the ferry, which deposited us back on the mainland about 45 minutes after that. We got back in the car around 9:30 PM and started the 4 hour drive back to Beth's place in Brisbane. I drove the first 2 ½ hours before being relieved by Clay. Shannon and I woke up in Brisbane and we promptly fell back asleep.

-Craig

Boxing Day

12/26/12

Happy Boxing Day!

Today we got up early to catch our 7am flight to Brisbane. The flight was only an hour so we didn't have much of a chance to sleep on the plane. We rented a car and Clay's sister, Beth, met us at the airport. Today was a pretty relaxing day. Beth took me and Shea shopping for food and we picked out a bunch of Australian candies, chips, beers, wines, etc to try. We then proceeded to eat, drink, play cards, and hang out by the pool all day. It was nice to have a break from all the activities we were doing in Cairns.

- Shan

Christmas on the Reef

12/25/12

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We decided to spend Christmas (and our last day in Cairns) on the Great Barrier reef snorkeling and scuba diving. The boat took about an hour and a half to get out to the reef and we had breakfast during the ride. I took a Dramamine an hour before or so and ate some ginger candies and my motion sickness wasn't bothering me too much. Once we got there Craig and Shea geared up for scuba diving while Clay and I got our snorkel stuff together. We were in the water for about an hour and saw some pretty cool creatures. Our favorite were probably the giant clams. They were huge! Craig would dive down to touch them and they would close their clam shell a little bit. We also saw angle fish, nemos, a few jelly fish, and lots of other fish I don't know the name of. Then we cruised on over to a second dive location where we all just snorkeled. Here we saw a white tipped reef shark! Since it was Christmas we had a feast for lunch and then some wine and cheese for the ride back. It was a tropical Christmas like I had never experienced before.

We had made reservations online for a restaurant to have Christmas dinner at but they were closed so we walked around forever trying to find a place that was open to have dinner at. We were all so exhausted from the day that we basically ate in silence thinking about laying in bed and going to sleep. On the walk back to our apartment I broke my sandals. :(

-Shan