http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2625747&id=1949055&l=0d6779ccb3
There are some photos from Syndey in the link above.
We left early Thursday morning and I had to take the GRE on Friday morning so we just went to the Opera house and saw the bridge because Patricia, Diogo, and Heidi have never been there. We took silly pictures and went shopping along the way. Then we decided to go to the world's largest IMAX theater and see Harry Potter 3D. The movie was terrible and they make you take off the 3D goggles after 20 minutes, but the screen was ridiculous.
Then Friday I had my exam, which went really well, then we did more shopping and had some awesome sushi. We also went to the Sydney Aquarium and saw the Dugongs and the whole place was Spongebob themed. They had Spongebob and his house and in the tanks.. I was in heaven. That night we went out to celebrate wherever the hostel gave us free drink vouchers.
Saturday we planned on going to Manly beach but when we got there we saw whale watching ships so we decided to do that. It sounded like the best idea because it was sunny and warm outside. But the boat was small and the waves were big... needless to say only Patricia managed to keep her breakfast. At least we saw some whales though.. but I'm not sure if it was worth feeling that sick. I swear half the boat was sick. Everyone else felt fine once they got off but I didn't so they all decided to have dinner in the spinning restaurant... I could hardly eat. It was pretty though because we got to see the city from light to dark and you can see everything. I wish I was hungrier because the food looked awesome too. We couldn't even think about going out that night.
Then Sunday we went home. It was a good weekend and I'm so glad my GRE is done with. Check out my pictures!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
New Zealand Pictures on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2616036&id=1949055&l=fbd7eeb83a
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2616062&id=1949055&l=f4602e35e9
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2616062&id=1949055&l=f4602e35e9
New Zealand July 5 - 20
Wow I have tons to tell about New Zealand. I thought I'd be able to get online more often to write but that was impossible. We left July 5 for Christchurch and got our campervan which looks exactly like the pictures. It was pretty small but at least we could stand up in it. Thank God we're short. It had a kitchen, shower, toilet, stove, dishes, seats and a table, and the table and couches turned into our bed. It didn't hold much but just enough and we decided not to shower or use the toilet in the van cuz we really didn't want to clean it out afterwards.... no way. It also had a fridge and the lights worked without plugging the car into an outlet but we had no heat which was killer sometimes. We couldn't afford to stay in a campervan park everynight for that so we traded in the TV for more blankets. We stayed the first night at Diogo's friend's place in Christchurch and I got to see the Uni I almost picked instead of UQ. It's sadly smaller than Gatton, but at least the pub had people in it.
July 6th - we headed to the west coast through Arthur's Pass which was awesome. I've never seen so much beautiful mountains but it took us all day to get through it. Driving through this whole country was awesome because every 20 minutes the landscape changed. At first it was green as green can get with lots of sheep and then it would change to rocky landscape with snow-topped mountains and then you'd be in the mountains. So cool. We parked the car when it got dark and slept just off Arthur's Pass (cuz it's really dangerous). In the morning we kept going and made it to Greymouth. We were going to go see the pancake mountains but we really wanted to make it to the hot springs in Hamner. At Greymouth we didn't stay long but went to the beach for a couple pictures. The beach was not a sand beach but a rock covered beach which was actually very pretty. From there we kinda took our time stopping in random towns and taking pictures with random things like beautiful scenery or weird looking cattle or giant statues. We passed through Reefton and had some amazing pies and then stayed the night near Reefton on the way to Hamner.
July 8th we made it to Hamner Springs and spent much of the day there. The hott springs were awesome. They had the pools filled with water from the springs that were each different temperatures and had different minerals in them. So we jumped in each one at least once. It was awesome to see the mountains from the hott springs (and much warmer). Then we got back to Christchurch that night. We went out for a bit but we left at a decent hour the next day for Queenstown. We stopped in a bunch of towns on the way there and took our time to get there. We got there Friday night and Diogo's friend (from Christchurch) Mariana met us there. It was late and cold so we just found a bottle of wine and chilled for the night.
Saturday morning we went Bungy Jumping at the Nevis site which was ridiculous. You fall 440 feet from this platform in the middle of a valley with a river running through. I've never been so scared in my friggin life!!! They suit you up in a harness and they also attach you by your feet. They put a cord on the side of your ankles for you to pull so you don't come back up like a fish but instead attached by your harness like in a chair. Diogo went first and screwed that up. It's not a big deal if you don't pull it but it was hilarous when he came back upside down. You have to pull the cord on your second bounce and he was pulling it all wrong. You have to pull it to the side but he was pulling it towards him. I was the next to go and it all happens so fast when you're getting all attached that you don't have to time to think about what you're doing. I didn't look down at all when I got to the platform cuz I'd flip. And next thing I knew I was falling. There's like no feeling like it. I thought my stomach would drop like in a roller coaster but it doesn't and the bounces don't snap like a rubber band like I thought they would but the first bounce you go halfway back up. Crazzyyyyy. It's the second highest bungy in the Southern Hemisphere and you feel like you're falling forever. Surprisingly I didn't scream but I could hardly talk when I got back up so... And I remembered to pull the cord the right way. That day we also did the sky swing at a different site. The guy made me wrap my feet around the ropes of the swing so that when you drop you swing upside down. This wasn't nearly as high as Bungy but you had to pull your own cord for you to drop and its still no picnic. Then you have to attach yourself to get pulled back up. So awesome.
Sunday we left for Te Anau and got there for the Glow Worm caves which were pretty sweet. They take you on a boat ride over the the caves across Lake Te Anau and the cave still has a river running through it so it's pretty young in cave terms. They take you through the cave and at the end they put you on a small boat with all the lights off and you can't make any noise because they react to light and noise. It was like the stars in the sky it was soo cool. Google "Glowworms" they're pretty cool. Monday we went on a bus ride to Milford sound and stopped at different spots in Fiordland National Park. We stopped at this spot called Mirror Lakes which (you guessed it), the mountains in the background are mirrored perfectly in the lake below.... so sick. Then we stopped at various mountains and glaciers to take pictures and went on a couple short trails. On our last trail, we got back and the tour guide found a couple of Kea's (they're the only snow mountain parrott in the world) and both me and Diogo got to feed them. I have videos of that. Then we finally made it to Milford Sounds which we took a cruise boat through. We saw some waterfalls and fur seals laying on the rocks and the captain practically got us right underneath the waterfall. We stayed another night in Te Anau.
Tuesday we headed off for Dunedin which actually ended up being my favorite town. When we got there we did the Speight's Brewery tour. Speight's is the number one beer in New Zealand and the brewery only brews keg beer and still has all old copper machines and all original machinery from the 1800s. The guy made it really interesting and at the end we got to try all their beers. The next day we went to the Cadburry Chocolate Factory and every time we went to a different room they gave us candy bars. I think we all rolled out of there. That place was cool and at the very end they take you to one of the silo's and drop 1 ton of chocolate through this fountain and it gets everywhere!! We also visited an old church from the 1800s and went to Lanarch Castle. It's the only castle in New Zealand which is actually only a mansion built by an Australian banker that looks like a castle. It's not even that old so I wasn't that impressed but it was still good to see it. We also drove all the way to the peninsula and saw some Albatross (they have an Albatross and penguin colony in Dunedin) but it was too expensive to go on the tours.
We drove out of Dunedin and camped. That was when there was an Earthquake in the South Island. We weren't anywhere near it but in the middle of the night I felt the car rock. Pretty sweet. We were already on the East coast and had parked by the beach. The next day we walked different parts of the beach and went through to Timaru. I thought there would be something to do there but we ended up finding nothing. So we just went back to Christchurch. By then we were beat and tired of sleeping in the cold so we spent the weekend in Christchurch. We also got sick and somehow we made it through the airport without being quarantined for swine flu. lol. Overall.... awesome awesome time. I swear I saw that whole country. Right now Diogo and I are making a video with all of the pictures and videos that I took so when its done I'll post it on youtube and you can look at it. I'm so glad to be back in Australia... I don't have to wear a winter coat!! School starts July 27 and for the next 3 weeks I need to study for the GRE that I'm taking in Sydney on August 7th. Wish me luck!!! I'll post more in the meantime.
July 6th - we headed to the west coast through Arthur's Pass which was awesome. I've never seen so much beautiful mountains but it took us all day to get through it. Driving through this whole country was awesome because every 20 minutes the landscape changed. At first it was green as green can get with lots of sheep and then it would change to rocky landscape with snow-topped mountains and then you'd be in the mountains. So cool. We parked the car when it got dark and slept just off Arthur's Pass (cuz it's really dangerous). In the morning we kept going and made it to Greymouth. We were going to go see the pancake mountains but we really wanted to make it to the hot springs in Hamner. At Greymouth we didn't stay long but went to the beach for a couple pictures. The beach was not a sand beach but a rock covered beach which was actually very pretty. From there we kinda took our time stopping in random towns and taking pictures with random things like beautiful scenery or weird looking cattle or giant statues. We passed through Reefton and had some amazing pies and then stayed the night near Reefton on the way to Hamner.
July 8th we made it to Hamner Springs and spent much of the day there. The hott springs were awesome. They had the pools filled with water from the springs that were each different temperatures and had different minerals in them. So we jumped in each one at least once. It was awesome to see the mountains from the hott springs (and much warmer). Then we got back to Christchurch that night. We went out for a bit but we left at a decent hour the next day for Queenstown. We stopped in a bunch of towns on the way there and took our time to get there. We got there Friday night and Diogo's friend (from Christchurch) Mariana met us there. It was late and cold so we just found a bottle of wine and chilled for the night.
Saturday morning we went Bungy Jumping at the Nevis site which was ridiculous. You fall 440 feet from this platform in the middle of a valley with a river running through. I've never been so scared in my friggin life!!! They suit you up in a harness and they also attach you by your feet. They put a cord on the side of your ankles for you to pull so you don't come back up like a fish but instead attached by your harness like in a chair. Diogo went first and screwed that up. It's not a big deal if you don't pull it but it was hilarous when he came back upside down. You have to pull the cord on your second bounce and he was pulling it all wrong. You have to pull it to the side but he was pulling it towards him. I was the next to go and it all happens so fast when you're getting all attached that you don't have to time to think about what you're doing. I didn't look down at all when I got to the platform cuz I'd flip. And next thing I knew I was falling. There's like no feeling like it. I thought my stomach would drop like in a roller coaster but it doesn't and the bounces don't snap like a rubber band like I thought they would but the first bounce you go halfway back up. Crazzyyyyy. It's the second highest bungy in the Southern Hemisphere and you feel like you're falling forever. Surprisingly I didn't scream but I could hardly talk when I got back up so... And I remembered to pull the cord the right way. That day we also did the sky swing at a different site. The guy made me wrap my feet around the ropes of the swing so that when you drop you swing upside down. This wasn't nearly as high as Bungy but you had to pull your own cord for you to drop and its still no picnic. Then you have to attach yourself to get pulled back up. So awesome.
Sunday we left for Te Anau and got there for the Glow Worm caves which were pretty sweet. They take you on a boat ride over the the caves across Lake Te Anau and the cave still has a river running through it so it's pretty young in cave terms. They take you through the cave and at the end they put you on a small boat with all the lights off and you can't make any noise because they react to light and noise. It was like the stars in the sky it was soo cool. Google "Glowworms" they're pretty cool. Monday we went on a bus ride to Milford sound and stopped at different spots in Fiordland National Park. We stopped at this spot called Mirror Lakes which (you guessed it), the mountains in the background are mirrored perfectly in the lake below.... so sick. Then we stopped at various mountains and glaciers to take pictures and went on a couple short trails. On our last trail, we got back and the tour guide found a couple of Kea's (they're the only snow mountain parrott in the world) and both me and Diogo got to feed them. I have videos of that. Then we finally made it to Milford Sounds which we took a cruise boat through. We saw some waterfalls and fur seals laying on the rocks and the captain practically got us right underneath the waterfall. We stayed another night in Te Anau.
Tuesday we headed off for Dunedin which actually ended up being my favorite town. When we got there we did the Speight's Brewery tour. Speight's is the number one beer in New Zealand and the brewery only brews keg beer and still has all old copper machines and all original machinery from the 1800s. The guy made it really interesting and at the end we got to try all their beers. The next day we went to the Cadburry Chocolate Factory and every time we went to a different room they gave us candy bars. I think we all rolled out of there. That place was cool and at the very end they take you to one of the silo's and drop 1 ton of chocolate through this fountain and it gets everywhere!! We also visited an old church from the 1800s and went to Lanarch Castle. It's the only castle in New Zealand which is actually only a mansion built by an Australian banker that looks like a castle. It's not even that old so I wasn't that impressed but it was still good to see it. We also drove all the way to the peninsula and saw some Albatross (they have an Albatross and penguin colony in Dunedin) but it was too expensive to go on the tours.
We drove out of Dunedin and camped. That was when there was an Earthquake in the South Island. We weren't anywhere near it but in the middle of the night I felt the car rock. Pretty sweet. We were already on the East coast and had parked by the beach. The next day we walked different parts of the beach and went through to Timaru. I thought there would be something to do there but we ended up finding nothing. So we just went back to Christchurch. By then we were beat and tired of sleeping in the cold so we spent the weekend in Christchurch. We also got sick and somehow we made it through the airport without being quarantined for swine flu. lol. Overall.... awesome awesome time. I swear I saw that whole country. Right now Diogo and I are making a video with all of the pictures and videos that I took so when its done I'll post it on youtube and you can look at it. I'm so glad to be back in Australia... I don't have to wear a winter coat!! School starts July 27 and for the next 3 weeks I need to study for the GRE that I'm taking in Sydney on August 7th. Wish me luck!!! I'll post more in the meantime.
Friday, July 3, 2009
A preview of my New Zealand Adventures
Here's the sites for some of the tours we are going to do in NZ.
http://www.partner.viator.com/en/3218/tours/Fiordland-and-Milford-Sound/Te-Anau-Glow-Worm-Caves-Tour/d756-2264RJ400
http://www.partner.viator.com/en/3218/tours/Queenstown/Queenstown-Nevis-Highwire-Bungy-Jump/d407-2454ZQN_NEVIS
http://www.partner.viator.com/en/3218/tours/Queenstown/The-Ledge-Queenstowns-Sky-Swing/d407-2454ZQN_LEDGE_SWING
Diogo's birthday present for me!:
http://www.viator.com/tours/Christchurch/Christchurch-Gondola-Dinner-and-Maori-Concert/d400-2950CLT07A
http://www.viator.com/tours/Queenstown/Doubtful-Sound-Wilderness-Cruise-from-Queenstown/d407-2264RJ301
http://www.partner.viator.com/en/3218/tours/Fiordland-and-Milford-Sound/Te-Anau-Glow-Worm-Caves-Tour/d756-2264RJ400
http://www.partner.viator.com/en/3218/tours/Queenstown/Queenstown-Nevis-Highwire-Bungy-Jump/d407-2454ZQN_NEVIS
http://www.partner.viator.com/en/3218/tours/Queenstown/The-Ledge-Queenstowns-Sky-Swing/d407-2454ZQN_LEDGE_SWING
Diogo's birthday present for me!:
http://www.viator.com/tours/Christchurch/Christchurch-Gondola-Dinner-and-Maori-Concert/d400-2950CLT07A
http://www.viator.com/tours/Queenstown/Doubtful-Sound-Wilderness-Cruise-from-Queenstown/d407-2264RJ301
My 21st!
Wow I had an amazing birthday. My friends and I (whoever was still left in Gatton) went up to the Sunshine Coast in Noosa for 3 days and my friend Taz rented out this awesome place for us and paid for it all. She's just amazing. It had a kitchen, dining room and living room with a balcony on the top floor and 3 bedrooms and a hot tub and grill on the bottom deck... just like Cribs style. We cooked dinner and just chilled out every night except we went to this Reef and Beef place on my birthday and got some amazing food and drinks. Also that morning the girls made this huuge brunch with pink champagne. How spoiled am I? Everyday we were tanning and sleeping on the beach and just enjoying ourselves. I just had the best time. I did miss everyone at home tho and thought about the big night I could've had at home but we'll have to postpone that til December. BTW my official day to come home is December 3rd (I'm not changing it again lol). Tonight we are celebrating Wayne's wife's birthday and my birthday at the staff club (we have the same birthday) and then tomorrow Diogo and I are going up to Brisbane to go to a BBQ and watch a band with some of his friends from Brasil. And then Sunday I leave for New Zealand!! I'll keep everyone posted on my adventures and hopefully I'll live to tell how scary Bungy jumping is!!! EEK Love you all!
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