We are sitting on Ios island in Greece waiting for our ferry back to Athens and then we are off to Venice.
Greece has been absolutely beautiful. We arrived in Athens early in the morning after a long overnight flight from Singapore. We only had one day to see Athens so we dropped our bags at the hostel and headed out to explore. We were a little relieved that the temperatures, although still incredibly hot (36!) were just pure heat, unlike the smog and humidity we had experienced throughout Asia.
Our hostel was really well located by the Acropolis so we got a combined pass and saw almost all there is to see in Athens in one day! We started at the Temple of Zeus then walked all around the Acropolis and up to the Parthenon. The crowds were insane though, and very different to the people we had been touring with in Asia. There were families and massive tour bus groups everywhere. After touring around for a couple hours we stopped for some much needed shade and lunch. We didn't think twice about ordering a Greek Salad. We had been quite fruit/vegetable deprived in the last couple weeks and were very excited for some veggies (and cheese!) In the afternoon we walked around an area called Plaka, hopped on a mini tourist train to see the rest of the stuff on our ticket, and had an early dinner with more veggies! We were exhausted from a long overnight flight and walking around all day. We also had to be up at 3:30 the next morning to catch our incredibly early flight to Santorini so we crashed around 10.
The last 5 days we have been on the islands in Greece with 2 days in Santorini and 3 in Ios. They have been spectacular and a nice rest after a busy few weeks in Asia. The day we arrived in Santorini Laura went on a dive in the afternoon that went through some caves. I rested on the black sand beach in Perissa and then we met up for dinner beside the beach before packing it in for another early night. After all, we had been up since 3:30!
The next day was lots of fun too. We went on a day boat tour to the volcano, hot springs and town of Oia on Santorini. The volcano climb was crazy. It was rather hot (possibly an understatement) but the views were beautiful. Once we got to the top our guide dug a hole about 1 foot down and picked up some of the rocks for us to touch. They were steaming hot! (The volcano is still active) There were also sulphur rocks which were steaming too. We made it back down to the boat, stopped for a quick swim in the hot springs before going to another smaller island, Thirassia, for lunch. The last part of the day we landed back at a port on Santorini near the town of Oia. The climb up to the town was quite long and steep so we opted for the donkey rides up to the top (fulfilling our Greek dreams!) Although quite scary when they just told you to hop on the donkey and it set off up the uneven rocky stairs and felt the need to walk right on the edge so we were nearly hanging off a cliff, it was really fun. We safely made it to the top, walked around the town a little and then settled by the castle to watch the famous sunset. The scenery was breathtaking and exactly like the posters I have had up in my room for the last couple years! The day ended with a bus ride back to our hostel and some much needed showers and rest!
The last couple days we have been on another island, Ios, which seems to have been taken over by backpackers and European students. We haven't done much here other than lie by our hotel pool and soak in the sun. We tried to rent ATVs yesterday to go around the island and see Homer's tomb but we needed a European drivers license so that idea was quickly shot down. The resting time has been wonderful though and a nice break from walking around all day.
We have absolutely loved Greece. The weather has been perfect and we haven't seen a cloud in about 5 days. There has been some gusting wind here though but I guess it makes it slightly cooler! We are off now on our ferry to Athens followed by two flights to get us to Venice tonight. Another long travel day!
Sorry for the lack of blogging but hopefully this makes up for it!
Hope you are all enjoying your summers as much as we are! We will try and make our posts a little bit more frequent!
Love Morgan and Laura
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wrappin' up Asia
Koh Samui
We arrived in Koh Samui in fine form, although the weather was a bit less than ideal. After spending the past few days trekking nonstop in 30+ degree weather, we were all happy for our little 5-day beach vacation. We spent our time in Koh Samui catching up on our reading, sleeping and tanning. The beach itself was pretty commercialized and was crawling with vendors carrying everything from ice cream to bedspreads.
We didn't completely sleep away our time, however. Our second second day on the island, we took a day trip to one of the neighbouring islands where Fiona and Morgan went snorkelling and hiking up to a beautiful viewpoint while I spent the day diving with a French divemaster, very nearly escaping a number of massive triggerfish.
Our last night, we took a boat over to Koh Phagnan island for the infamous full moon party. Covered in fluorescent paint and buckets in hand, we had a great time under the glowing moon. Needless to say, our flight the next morning was not the easiest one we've had.
Chiang Mai
With only two days in Chiang Mai, we decided to make the most of our time. We arrived in the afternoon from Koh Samui and took a nap to recover in time for the next morning. We woke up early for an "Adventure Trek". The day included feeding and riding elephants, hiking through the rainforest to a waterfall swimming point, more hiking and a visit to a nearby Akha village where we had the chance to see how the locals live. That evening, we went to the night market- an overwhelming market held every night that sells almost anything you could imagine.
The next day, we were up early again for our one-day cooking class. We were picked up at the hostel and taken to one of the local markets to pick up fresh ingredients. None of us have ever been able to identify so few fruits and vegetables. The meat section was also enough to make anyone a vegetarian for life. The class itself was fantastic. We were part of a group of about 14, but could each make our own combination of 6 the 24 dishes offered. The teachers were a riot, and the owner of the cooking school had a very dry sense of humour that made the day an absolute pleasure. Of course, it may have helped that we were given time to sit and enjoy each of the dishes we made. Some of the treats we are now all experienced in include spring rolls, pad thai, red curry, sweet and sour veggies, chicken in coconut soup, fried banana and mango with sticky rice. We had to be rolled home.
To walk off our day's activities, we explored the Sunday market that evening. We had spent about 3 hours wandering the market when the sun began to set and we had figured we had seen everything. Little did we know that we had actually not even entered the market itself, and found ourselves wandering a maze of streets lined with vendors and packed with both tourist and local shoppers for the rest of the night. Of course, the joy of markets on that side of the world is after going home thinking you've spent hundreds, you calculate the exchange to discover that you've left with bags of clothing and souveniers only to discover you've spent little over $20. Not a sight for any female to miss!
Kuala Lumpur
The next day, we deviated from the standard backpacker's Southeast Asia route and flew to Kuala Lumpur. Knowing we only had little over a day to explore, there wasn't much that our itinerary would allow, as most worthwhile activities are a little ways outside of the city. Morgan was unfortunately sick in bed for most of our time in KL, leaving Fiona and I to explore the city as a duo. At the advice of the hostel owner, we woke up early to get our tickets for the Petronas Tower bridge, only to discover that tickets for the entire day had been sold out by 8:30am. We made the most of it, however, and took plenty of pictures from terra firma. With horrid weather in the afternoon, the rest of the time in KL was rather uneventful, although we did manage to entertain ourselves around the city enough to still have a pretty great time.
Singapore
Our bus ride to Singapore was bright and early in the morning, and had us in town by the mid afternoon. With little time to finish up this post, I'll be brief in saying this: it's clean. Really clean. I was afraid to even so much as sneeze in public for fear of being fined. It was a tough couple days without gum. Some of the highlights in Singapore would include:
-a half our ride on the Singapore flyer, where we had a great view of the city
-visit to Merlion park to see the city's big... merlion.
-touring a few of the many cultural sections of the city
-Singapore slings at the famous Raffles hotel
-walking around Orchard Rd
-Harry Potter 5 on opening day (how could we not!?)
While our parents may be a little bit relieved to know that we're now back in the Western world, we're definitely missing SE Asia already. The temples, people, scenery, culture and of course the food will all be sorely missed!
We arrived in Koh Samui in fine form, although the weather was a bit less than ideal. After spending the past few days trekking nonstop in 30+ degree weather, we were all happy for our little 5-day beach vacation. We spent our time in Koh Samui catching up on our reading, sleeping and tanning. The beach itself was pretty commercialized and was crawling with vendors carrying everything from ice cream to bedspreads.
We didn't completely sleep away our time, however. Our second second day on the island, we took a day trip to one of the neighbouring islands where Fiona and Morgan went snorkelling and hiking up to a beautiful viewpoint while I spent the day diving with a French divemaster, very nearly escaping a number of massive triggerfish.
Our last night, we took a boat over to Koh Phagnan island for the infamous full moon party. Covered in fluorescent paint and buckets in hand, we had a great time under the glowing moon. Needless to say, our flight the next morning was not the easiest one we've had.
Chiang Mai
With only two days in Chiang Mai, we decided to make the most of our time. We arrived in the afternoon from Koh Samui and took a nap to recover in time for the next morning. We woke up early for an "Adventure Trek". The day included feeding and riding elephants, hiking through the rainforest to a waterfall swimming point, more hiking and a visit to a nearby Akha village where we had the chance to see how the locals live. That evening, we went to the night market- an overwhelming market held every night that sells almost anything you could imagine.
The next day, we were up early again for our one-day cooking class. We were picked up at the hostel and taken to one of the local markets to pick up fresh ingredients. None of us have ever been able to identify so few fruits and vegetables. The meat section was also enough to make anyone a vegetarian for life. The class itself was fantastic. We were part of a group of about 14, but could each make our own combination of 6 the 24 dishes offered. The teachers were a riot, and the owner of the cooking school had a very dry sense of humour that made the day an absolute pleasure. Of course, it may have helped that we were given time to sit and enjoy each of the dishes we made. Some of the treats we are now all experienced in include spring rolls, pad thai, red curry, sweet and sour veggies, chicken in coconut soup, fried banana and mango with sticky rice. We had to be rolled home.
To walk off our day's activities, we explored the Sunday market that evening. We had spent about 3 hours wandering the market when the sun began to set and we had figured we had seen everything. Little did we know that we had actually not even entered the market itself, and found ourselves wandering a maze of streets lined with vendors and packed with both tourist and local shoppers for the rest of the night. Of course, the joy of markets on that side of the world is after going home thinking you've spent hundreds, you calculate the exchange to discover that you've left with bags of clothing and souveniers only to discover you've spent little over $20. Not a sight for any female to miss!
Kuala Lumpur
The next day, we deviated from the standard backpacker's Southeast Asia route and flew to Kuala Lumpur. Knowing we only had little over a day to explore, there wasn't much that our itinerary would allow, as most worthwhile activities are a little ways outside of the city. Morgan was unfortunately sick in bed for most of our time in KL, leaving Fiona and I to explore the city as a duo. At the advice of the hostel owner, we woke up early to get our tickets for the Petronas Tower bridge, only to discover that tickets for the entire day had been sold out by 8:30am. We made the most of it, however, and took plenty of pictures from terra firma. With horrid weather in the afternoon, the rest of the time in KL was rather uneventful, although we did manage to entertain ourselves around the city enough to still have a pretty great time.
Singapore
Our bus ride to Singapore was bright and early in the morning, and had us in town by the mid afternoon. With little time to finish up this post, I'll be brief in saying this: it's clean. Really clean. I was afraid to even so much as sneeze in public for fear of being fined. It was a tough couple days without gum. Some of the highlights in Singapore would include:
-a half our ride on the Singapore flyer, where we had a great view of the city
-visit to Merlion park to see the city's big... merlion.
-touring a few of the many cultural sections of the city
-Singapore slings at the famous Raffles hotel
-walking around Orchard Rd
-Harry Potter 5 on opening day (how could we not!?)
While our parents may be a little bit relieved to know that we're now back in the Western world, we're definitely missing SE Asia already. The temples, people, scenery, culture and of course the food will all be sorely missed!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Cambodia
A little late now that we are halfway into our adventures in Thailand, but here is the update on Cambodia.
We arrived from Hong Kong into Phnom Penh and made our way to the hotel for the night. It was pouring rain so we decided to just stay at the Guesthouse and have dinner and then relax in the room for awhile.
In the morning we caught a very early bus to Siem Reap. We decided to spend the extra $3 and take the $9 bus instead of the $6 bus, but we still weren't expecting much. To our surprise though, the bus was quite nice, air conditioned and seemed relatively safe. We tried our hardest to stay awake for the 6 hour journey so we could see the scenery. We were mainly going through the rural areas which we later discovered is about 80% rice farming. It was very interesting and different than any of the farming we have ever seen.
We arrived in Siem Reap and got into our first tuk tuk (with all our bags). We were holding on tightly and hoping that we (and our bags) would make it safely to the hotel! The hotel was very nice and clean and we all had our own beds which was nice.
After deciding over lunch what we were going to do, we heading out to Angkor Wat for the first time to see the sunset. We climbed up a mountain to a temple but unfortunately just as a thunderstorm was approaching. We quickly went down the mountain again and got to the tuk tuk just in time to escape the rain.
The next day we were up at 4:30 to meet our tuk tuk driver and guides for the day. We heading to Angkor to see the sunrise, this time right over Angkor Wat. After we walked around the temples (Ankor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm) for about 8 hours. The temples are absolutely amazing. A lot of them are being restored and parts of the walls have crumbled but they were still very interesting. There are carvings on most of them all around and our guide was telling us all the stories. Needless to say we got home in the afternoon and were exhausted so took a little rest before heading out to the main market area for dinner.
The next day we decided to see some more temples (there is no shortage of them!). This time we just had a tuk tuk driver, not a guide so we went exploring ourselves. We saw Preah Khan, Banteay Srey and Banteay Samre. Again, very big and beautiful temples. We headed back to our hotel, got ready for dinner and went on a spending spree at the market where most things were not more than $4 (if that!).
Cambodia was a very interesting and eye opening country. We were frequently called "lady" and asked to buy anything. All around the temples were very young children who would walk ages alongside you insisting that you buy one of their bracelets or magnets or something. Interestingly, they would ask where you were from, then state the capital and continue with "If I tell you the capital, the PM, the population, the provinces and territories, etc., will you buy something from me?" It was quite difficult at times to continue to say no. It was also very interesting to see the difference between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, as Siem Reap has obviously been hit hard with tourism and is flourishing much more than Phnom Penh. Overall, a very interesting, and like Hong Kong, incredibly HOT country.
Back soon with an update on Thailand!
We arrived from Hong Kong into Phnom Penh and made our way to the hotel for the night. It was pouring rain so we decided to just stay at the Guesthouse and have dinner and then relax in the room for awhile.
In the morning we caught a very early bus to Siem Reap. We decided to spend the extra $3 and take the $9 bus instead of the $6 bus, but we still weren't expecting much. To our surprise though, the bus was quite nice, air conditioned and seemed relatively safe. We tried our hardest to stay awake for the 6 hour journey so we could see the scenery. We were mainly going through the rural areas which we later discovered is about 80% rice farming. It was very interesting and different than any of the farming we have ever seen.
We arrived in Siem Reap and got into our first tuk tuk (with all our bags). We were holding on tightly and hoping that we (and our bags) would make it safely to the hotel! The hotel was very nice and clean and we all had our own beds which was nice.
After deciding over lunch what we were going to do, we heading out to Angkor Wat for the first time to see the sunset. We climbed up a mountain to a temple but unfortunately just as a thunderstorm was approaching. We quickly went down the mountain again and got to the tuk tuk just in time to escape the rain.
The next day we were up at 4:30 to meet our tuk tuk driver and guides for the day. We heading to Angkor to see the sunrise, this time right over Angkor Wat. After we walked around the temples (Ankor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm) for about 8 hours. The temples are absolutely amazing. A lot of them are being restored and parts of the walls have crumbled but they were still very interesting. There are carvings on most of them all around and our guide was telling us all the stories. Needless to say we got home in the afternoon and were exhausted so took a little rest before heading out to the main market area for dinner.
The next day we decided to see some more temples (there is no shortage of them!). This time we just had a tuk tuk driver, not a guide so we went exploring ourselves. We saw Preah Khan, Banteay Srey and Banteay Samre. Again, very big and beautiful temples. We headed back to our hotel, got ready for dinner and went on a spending spree at the market where most things were not more than $4 (if that!).
Cambodia was a very interesting and eye opening country. We were frequently called "lady" and asked to buy anything. All around the temples were very young children who would walk ages alongside you insisting that you buy one of their bracelets or magnets or something. Interestingly, they would ask where you were from, then state the capital and continue with "If I tell you the capital, the PM, the population, the provinces and territories, etc., will you buy something from me?" It was quite difficult at times to continue to say no. It was also very interesting to see the difference between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, as Siem Reap has obviously been hit hard with tourism and is flourishing much more than Phnom Penh. Overall, a very interesting, and like Hong Kong, incredibly HOT country.
Back soon with an update on Thailand!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Hong Kong
Well, leg 1 of the travel has been completed. With 12 minutes on a half-thai keyboard in the Bangkok airport, please forgive the brevity of the update.
We left Sydney the morning of the 28th and flew into Singapore for a 5-hour layover enroute to HK. We are now travelling with Fiona, our friend from England. We arrived late at night and checked into the hostel on arrival so we could rest our tired heads. There is really only one word to describe the HK weather: humid. It's also just as muggy at noon as it is at midnight.
Monday we spent touring the mainland. We wandered the markets, walked in Kowloon park and stopped to take pictures outside the innfamous Chung King Mansion. The main thing to do in HK is stick to the malls to avoid the heat, which we managed to do just fine. At night, we stood at Avenue of the Stars to watch the nightly light show.
Tuesday, we ventured out of Kowloon and up to Ngong Ping. After a 30-minute cable card ride that literally took us into the clouds, we spotted the Big Buddha and stopped for a quick lunch at the monestary before heading to the Peak on HK island. We took the tram up (at an 89 degree angle) to watch night fall on the busy city. The view of all the lights was breathtaking. After a much-needed shower, we set out for dinner in LKF. Much to our surprise (and delight), all the clubs were celebrating Canada Day (known as Canada D'Eh in LKF, apparently). It was a welcome taste of home.
To our parents: don't worry. We are safe, happy and well-fed. We miss you lots, but not too much. We'll hopefully have a chance to update you from Siem Reap!
ศฟีพฟ ฟืก ทนพเฟื (Laura and Morgan... sort of)
We left Sydney the morning of the 28th and flew into Singapore for a 5-hour layover enroute to HK. We are now travelling with Fiona, our friend from England. We arrived late at night and checked into the hostel on arrival so we could rest our tired heads. There is really only one word to describe the HK weather: humid. It's also just as muggy at noon as it is at midnight.
Monday we spent touring the mainland. We wandered the markets, walked in Kowloon park and stopped to take pictures outside the innfamous Chung King Mansion. The main thing to do in HK is stick to the malls to avoid the heat, which we managed to do just fine. At night, we stood at Avenue of the Stars to watch the nightly light show.
Tuesday, we ventured out of Kowloon and up to Ngong Ping. After a 30-minute cable card ride that literally took us into the clouds, we spotted the Big Buddha and stopped for a quick lunch at the monestary before heading to the Peak on HK island. We took the tram up (at an 89 degree angle) to watch night fall on the busy city. The view of all the lights was breathtaking. After a much-needed shower, we set out for dinner in LKF. Much to our surprise (and delight), all the clubs were celebrating Canada Day (known as Canada D'Eh in LKF, apparently). It was a welcome taste of home.
To our parents: don't worry. We are safe, happy and well-fed. We miss you lots, but not too much. We'll hopefully have a chance to update you from Siem Reap!
ศฟีพฟ ฟืก ทนพเฟื (Laura and Morgan... sort of)
Friday, June 26, 2009
Well hello there...
Alright, so we admit to being a bit bad with the updates, but what's a few months between friends? So how do we begin to sum up the past three months of our lives... Well, it's been amazing to say the least.
We've done just about everything we could possibly have dreamed of. Starting off early with a helicopter extraction from the Grand Canyon in the Blue Mountains for a broken ankle, we knew Australia would be a wild ride. A weekend at surf camp, adventures downtown, the zoo, day trips to manly, going to AFL games (Aussie Rules Football) and nights out in Coogee were some of our favourite memories from Sydney.
Our trips outside of this great city were also remarkable. Chilly New Zealand over Easter break gave us the chance to see the beautiful mountains, the lush landscape and a fair share of sheep, as well. It was also adventure capital with horseback riding, glacier hiking/helicopter riding, lugeing, hang gliding and bungee jumping.
While our day trip to Canberra only gave us a few hours to explore the "city", we were glad we went and had a great time checking out the memorials and sitting in some important looking chairs at the parliament house.
The stu-vac (student vacation) was spent apart, although we both went on trips to the Whitsunday Islands up in Queensland. General consensus upon return to Sydney: we spent the semester in the wrong state. Beautifully sunny weather every day, perfectly clear waters and amazingly colourful life on the reef made for the ideal place to study for our exams.
Right, and a quick note to Mom and Dad... I never ACTUALLY promised you I wouldn't... well... you might want to scroll down to the bottom...
Alright, so many of you might ask what we're going to miss the most about living down unda. Below is a short list of things that will be hard to adjust to life without back home:
-Tim Tams. The greatest cookies ever made
-Weather forecasts that call for a high of 20 degrees. Every day (even if for only an hour around lunch)
-Footy (AFL) and the gorgeously toned players. Go Swans!
-Living within 20 minutes of 3 different beaches
-The Aussie accent
-Goon and Passion Pop
-Aussie slang
-The exchange mentality that if something goes horribly wrong on an assignment, there's nothing to worry about. After all, "we just have to pass."
-Looking right, then left before crossing the street
-Being asked where our accent is from and being seen as exotic when we answer "Canada"
-Finally, of course, our new friends!
These three months have been unreal, and we wouldn't trade them for anything. We've learned a lot here and had the times of our lives while doing so. Today we said goodbye to our personal effects and officially started living on a backpacker's wardrobe. We head out to Hong Kong early Sunday morning (Aussie time) for the official start of the after-exchange madness. Stay tuned, as we will be making use of tis blog primarily to keep in touch and provide updates on our position. If you're lucky, there may even be a picture or two. Below, we've written out our itinerary. Some small changes have been made since the initial plan, but all the stops are pretty much the same.
We miss you all so much and can't wait to see you in just under 2 short months! Please email us with your addresses if you expect a post card. Keep it real up North!
Surf camp 2 hours North of Sydney
Canyoning up in the Blue Mountains (pre-ankle breakage)
Hang gliding in Queenstown, NZ
Australia's favourite pastime
Beautiful New Zealand
Parliament house in thrilling Canberra
Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Islands
A typical Whitsunday sunset
Reef life in the Whitsundays
The Opera House illuminated for the "Vivid" festival
Mom, Dad... I never promised I wouldn't...
Loving life at 14,000 feet above Sydney
We've done just about everything we could possibly have dreamed of. Starting off early with a helicopter extraction from the Grand Canyon in the Blue Mountains for a broken ankle, we knew Australia would be a wild ride. A weekend at surf camp, adventures downtown, the zoo, day trips to manly, going to AFL games (Aussie Rules Football) and nights out in Coogee were some of our favourite memories from Sydney.
Our trips outside of this great city were also remarkable. Chilly New Zealand over Easter break gave us the chance to see the beautiful mountains, the lush landscape and a fair share of sheep, as well. It was also adventure capital with horseback riding, glacier hiking/helicopter riding, lugeing, hang gliding and bungee jumping.
While our day trip to Canberra only gave us a few hours to explore the "city", we were glad we went and had a great time checking out the memorials and sitting in some important looking chairs at the parliament house.
The stu-vac (student vacation) was spent apart, although we both went on trips to the Whitsunday Islands up in Queensland. General consensus upon return to Sydney: we spent the semester in the wrong state. Beautifully sunny weather every day, perfectly clear waters and amazingly colourful life on the reef made for the ideal place to study for our exams.
Right, and a quick note to Mom and Dad... I never ACTUALLY promised you I wouldn't... well... you might want to scroll down to the bottom...
Alright, so many of you might ask what we're going to miss the most about living down unda. Below is a short list of things that will be hard to adjust to life without back home:
-Tim Tams. The greatest cookies ever made
-Weather forecasts that call for a high of 20 degrees. Every day (even if for only an hour around lunch)
-Footy (AFL) and the gorgeously toned players. Go Swans!
-Living within 20 minutes of 3 different beaches
-The Aussie accent
-Goon and Passion Pop
-Aussie slang
-The exchange mentality that if something goes horribly wrong on an assignment, there's nothing to worry about. After all, "we just have to pass."
-Looking right, then left before crossing the street
-Being asked where our accent is from and being seen as exotic when we answer "Canada"
-Finally, of course, our new friends!
These three months have been unreal, and we wouldn't trade them for anything. We've learned a lot here and had the times of our lives while doing so. Today we said goodbye to our personal effects and officially started living on a backpacker's wardrobe. We head out to Hong Kong early Sunday morning (Aussie time) for the official start of the after-exchange madness. Stay tuned, as we will be making use of tis blog primarily to keep in touch and provide updates on our position. If you're lucky, there may even be a picture or two. Below, we've written out our itinerary. Some small changes have been made since the initial plan, but all the stops are pretty much the same.
Hong Kong- Jun 28
Phnom Penh- Jul 1
Siem Reap- Jul 2
Koh Samui- Jul 5
Chiang Mai- Jul 10
Kuala Lumpur- Jul 13
Singapore- Jul 15
Athens- Jul 17
Santorini- Jul 18
Ios- Jul 20
Venice- Jul 23
Rome- Jul 25
Madrid- Jul 29
Paris- Aug 2
London- Aug 5
Edinburgh- Aug 9
Dublin- Aug 12
Toronto- Aug 15!
Phnom Penh- Jul 1
Siem Reap- Jul 2
Koh Samui- Jul 5
Chiang Mai- Jul 10
Kuala Lumpur- Jul 13
Singapore- Jul 15
Athens- Jul 17
Santorini- Jul 18
Ios- Jul 20
Venice- Jul 23
Rome- Jul 25
Madrid- Jul 29
Paris- Aug 2
London- Aug 5
Edinburgh- Aug 9
Dublin- Aug 12
Toronto- Aug 15!
We miss you all so much and can't wait to see you in just under 2 short months! Please email us with your addresses if you expect a post card. Keep it real up North!
Surf camp 2 hours North of Sydney
Canyoning up in the Blue Mountains (pre-ankle breakage)
Hang gliding in Queenstown, NZ
Australia's favourite pastime
Beautiful New Zealand
Parliament house in thrilling Canberra
Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Islands
A typical Whitsunday sunset
Reef life in the Whitsundays
The Opera House illuminated for the "Vivid" festival
Mom, Dad... I never promised I wouldn't...
Loving life at 14,000 feet above SydneyWednesday, March 25, 2009
Melbourne: Great Ocean Road
So we are going back in time a bit here. School seemed to catch up with us and we forgot about the blog. After O Week, UNSW has "Week 0" which is supposed to be another prep week with a bunch of seminars on how to write essays and cope with stress and incredibly boring and useless things. So, instead of attending the seminars (which were NOT required), we decided to take advantage of the time off and jet down to Melbourne for 5 days. We left Sunday March 1st (yes, we are going way back in time), and came back Thursday March 5th.
On Tuesday we did a 12 hour tour of the Great Ocean Road, which is the coastal road that goes down South and to the West of Melbourne. We got picked up downtown on our super cool bus (which we have now seen everywhere in Australia) and started out on the tour. It took about an hour to get outside of Melbourne until we started to hit all the surf towns where Rip Curl and Billabong started. The tour involved a lot of driving, as the main goal was to see a sunset at the Tweleve Apostles. We stopped at various points along the way though.
The first stop was to see some kangaroos hopping in the wild. This was our first kangaroo spotting since we have been here, and even though they were far away we were very excited. The next couple stops were some scenic lookouts at high points along the drive. The views were absolutely beautiful and I've never seen so many nice shades of blue in the water. The weather was a little weird though, with gusting winds and rain at points. It made travelling at high speeds along cliffs in a little rickety bus a little worrying at times, but we made it alive!
From one of the beautiful lookout points along the coast.
The second major stop was to see some koalas in the wild. Again, our first real koala sightings, so we were on the lookout as soon as we got to the park. We finally spotted some koalas and got out of the bus to take some pictures. They are incredibly lazy animals, and all but 1 of them we saw were sound asleep. One did manage to wake up as we were looking at it, gave us some glares, yawned and then went back to sleeping.
The one koala that was awake and gave us a yawn!
The island archway, near Loch Ard Gorge.
Beautiful sunset over the Gorge.
A couple of the Twelve Apostles
On Tuesday we did a 12 hour tour of the Great Ocean Road, which is the coastal road that goes down South and to the West of Melbourne. We got picked up downtown on our super cool bus (which we have now seen everywhere in Australia) and started out on the tour. It took about an hour to get outside of Melbourne until we started to hit all the surf towns where Rip Curl and Billabong started. The tour involved a lot of driving, as the main goal was to see a sunset at the Tweleve Apostles. We stopped at various points along the way though.
From one of the beautiful lookout points along the coast.The second major stop was to see some koalas in the wild. Again, our first real koala sightings, so we were on the lookout as soon as we got to the park. We finally spotted some koalas and got out of the bus to take some pictures. They are incredibly lazy animals, and all but 1 of them we saw were sound asleep. One did manage to wake up as we were looking at it, gave us some glares, yawned and then went back to sleeping.
The one koala that was awake and gave us a yawn!The third stop along the way was the Loch Ard Gorge, a gorge where a ship crashed in 1878. There were only two survivors of the 51 passenger boat who climbed up the large cliffs to get rescued. We walked around the Gorge for awhile, taking some more beautiful shots. Before we went down into the Gorge though we had our first spotting of some of the 12 Apostles and other rock formations just off the coast, which we would be watching the sunset at later in the evening. However, because of the crappy weather, we didn't get to see much of a sunset from the 12 Apostles, but as we were leaving the Gorge the sun was poking through the clouds and we got to see a bit of a sunset.
The island archway, near Loch Ard Gorge.
Beautiful sunset over the Gorge.We finally made it to the 12 Apostles (there are only 11 left now) just in time to see the sun disappear behind the massive clouds. The sights were still beautiful though and a nice end to the long day before our 3 hour bus ride back to Melbourne.
A couple of the Twelve ApostlesSunday, March 8, 2009
Bundeena
Moving on to the 26th- we've nearly gotten you all caught up! We woke up early to catch the ferry (pronounced furry by our favourite Spaniard) to Bundeena National Park. We first had to take a train to the end of the line at Cronulla, a cute little town that has lots of nice shops and gives of a Stratford-esque vibe. The ferry itself was old and had that old ferry charm to it, if you can imagine that.
Upon arrival at Bundeena, we were told by our guide (one of the exchange coordinators) that we needed to prepare for a bush walk in which we would see large snakes, really big spiders and maybe a few deer (or dear!). She then went on to say that our goal of the day was to avoid being sent home in a wooden box. Lovely.
A little apprehensive, we ventured out on our bush walk. I, for one, was holding my breath for much of the walk because I somehow convinced myself that might just keep those monster spiders at bay. While we didn’t find any of the above mentioned creeplife, we did come across a number of other interesting things (most of which are pictured below). This included national heritage sites, nude bathers, native art pieces and even a real, live cactus!
Our “experienced” guide was highly competent and managed to get us lost about five times in two hours. By the third fumble, she started getting pretty creative with her explanations of why the trails weren’t quite the same as the last time she was there, or why a detour to see more of the bush we had been looking at for the last hour was so necessary. Frustrated, five of us decided to break off from the group to find the others that opted out of the walk to spend some time on the beach. Not to worry, though. Those of you who know me would agree this was a fantastic idea given my razor sharp sense of direction that relies on my never-fail intuition (yes, Mom and Dad this is Laura writing). It had taken us about 4 hours to get to where we were at that point. We were back to the beach in 20 minutes (okay, maybe Morgan had to take over navigating a bit).
The goal of the bush walk was to see some native artwork. There's some pictured below, feel free to share your comments. We reserve all judgement. Joking aside, the scenery was beautiful. There were fantastic views of small cliffs and the water. The bush was great too, though it did lose its lustre after walking in it for hours and collecting many a scratch and scrape (and hive- lucky me).
We caught a quick swim on the beach and then ventured out to catch the ferry home. It was while waiting with our feet dangling from the dock that I managed to accidentally sacrifice my only flip flops to the beautiful blue ocean. Morgan had a good laugh. The day ended with our first party at the Roundhouse, the university bar. It was a great way to party away the loss of my beloved sandals. May they rest in peace.
View from the ferry enroute to Bundeena
The bushwalk featured many a green bush.
View of our picnic lunch stop
Upon arrival at Bundeena, we were told by our guide (one of the exchange coordinators) that we needed to prepare for a bush walk in which we would see large snakes, really big spiders and maybe a few deer (or dear!). She then went on to say that our goal of the day was to avoid being sent home in a wooden box. Lovely.
A little apprehensive, we ventured out on our bush walk. I, for one, was holding my breath for much of the walk because I somehow convinced myself that might just keep those monster spiders at bay. While we didn’t find any of the above mentioned creeplife, we did come across a number of other interesting things (most of which are pictured below). This included national heritage sites, nude bathers, native art pieces and even a real, live cactus!
Our “experienced” guide was highly competent and managed to get us lost about five times in two hours. By the third fumble, she started getting pretty creative with her explanations of why the trails weren’t quite the same as the last time she was there, or why a detour to see more of the bush we had been looking at for the last hour was so necessary. Frustrated, five of us decided to break off from the group to find the others that opted out of the walk to spend some time on the beach. Not to worry, though. Those of you who know me would agree this was a fantastic idea given my razor sharp sense of direction that relies on my never-fail intuition (yes, Mom and Dad this is Laura writing). It had taken us about 4 hours to get to where we were at that point. We were back to the beach in 20 minutes (okay, maybe Morgan had to take over navigating a bit).
The goal of the bush walk was to see some native artwork. There's some pictured below, feel free to share your comments. We reserve all judgement. Joking aside, the scenery was beautiful. There were fantastic views of small cliffs and the water. The bush was great too, though it did lose its lustre after walking in it for hours and collecting many a scratch and scrape (and hive- lucky me).
We caught a quick swim on the beach and then ventured out to catch the ferry home. It was while waiting with our feet dangling from the dock that I managed to accidentally sacrifice my only flip flops to the beautiful blue ocean. Morgan had a good laugh. The day ended with our first party at the Roundhouse, the university bar. It was a great way to party away the loss of my beloved sandals. May they rest in peace.
View from the ferry enroute to Bundeena
This would be a national heritage site (the rocks under the water). We were instructed very sternly not to touch. We were all in such awe that we had to take a picture, though.
Aboriginal artwork. We think this one would be a representation of primitive roadkill.
The bushwalk featured many a green bush. View of our picnic lunch stop
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