Greetings and Salutations from New Zealand: Part 1 - “The South Island”

Where do we begin?…Christchurch - the South Islands biggest city. We spent six nights here; two at the central hostel and the other four “couch surfing” with friendly locals. We couch surfed with Nat and Blair and their dog Holmes. They were a very nice couple and we thank them a bunch for cooking dinner and providing a bed for two nights. Blair was quite an interesting fellow – never willing to let ‘The Man’ get him down. Blair took us to a beautiful spot to do a short hike and take in some beautiful NZ scenery. We drove around the Port Hills and marveled at the breathtaking mountainous landscape surrounding the city. He then dropped us off downtown where we met up with our next couch surfing host, Andrew. Andrew is a green stone (Jade) craftsman. He is very passionate and knowledgeable concerning the native Maori culture and it’s connectedness to green stone, which is sacred to Maori people. We spent two nights filled with good food and interesting conversation including all the “hot spots” to find green stone in nature. We did end up stopping and searching at some key riverbeds and beaches but to no avail. We had some time to kill before our camper van would be ready so we decided to rent a car and head north to beautiful Kaikora. This is by far is the best place to see seals up close in nature in New Zealand. A seal barked at Tim when he got a little too close for comfort. We did a short hike up a steep incline where we had farmland and mountains to our right and the magnificent waves of the Pacific crashing on our left. This was our first magical taste of the vast differences in New Zealand’s landscape. Before leaving we tried Paua burgers (a type of clam in a dough batter and fried). This NZ favorite came highly recommended by our NZ friends; we were not big fans, they aren’t as good as our yummy New England clam cakes! On our way back to Christchurch we decided to soak in the hot sulpher springs in Hamner Springs. These springs were nice but they did not compare to the ones in Hot Sulpher Springs, Colorado.

On Thursday May 14th we picked up our camper van, which we would have for the next 20 days. The particular company we rented from (Escape Rentals) has a fleet of 170 vans completely covered in unique artwork. We really loved our van! Our first stop was Mt Cook – the tallest peak in NZ and where Sir Edmund Hillary (first person to climb Everest) trained. Unfortunately the weather at Mt Cook was rainy so we only stayed one night. We headed south towards Queenstown passing what were the most beautiful lakes we had ever laid eyes on (Lake Takapo and Pukaki). The water was a bluish green color that glistened in the afternoon sun overlooked by snow-capped mountains – such amazing beauty.

Driving into Queenstown we were surprised with the quaintness of this little city. It had the appeal of a small ski town. We walked around and had a quick dinner at “Fergburger” before departing to our camp destination near Lake Te Anau, in Fiordland National Park. So sad, the weather was complete crap so we missed the beautiful Milford Sound and settled on a 25 minutes mini film at the information center. We will be back to NZ and spend more time in Fiordland, and in warmer weather. We decided to head north and hopefully find a break in the cold rain. We were following our very beloved ‘Lonely Planet’ NZ guide book to the “must see” spots; the Franz Joseph Glacier was our next intended destination. To get there we had to drive through Wanaka and the ride there was quite memorable. Deciding to take the more ‘direct’ roadway we embarked on a small mountain pass and regrettably began a very steep climb. It was dark and rainy at this point and we were not looking forward to the very windy drive this would be. Maybe 20 minutes into the climb we saw warning signs with pictures of boulders crashing down the mountain. We thought this was kind of funny at first until we saw huge boulders in the middle of the very narrow road we were on! It is funny how you feel when real danger is quite possibly going to crush the life out of you but you have no choice but to keep driving. At the top we started to see signs that said “school bus zone” - good comic relief (If kids are routinely transported here it can’t be too dangerous). Finally we arrived safely at our campground.

Waking up in Wanaka we learned that the only road to the west coast glaciers was closed due to icy conditions. While we waited for the road to re open we went to “Puzzle World” which is a huge complex of mazes, games, all sorts of optical illusions and puzzles galore. We played with some brain teasing puzzles for a while, until we found out the road was clear so we were on our way. We stopped at Fox Glacier (near Franz Joseph) to spend the night at our third and far from our last camper van park.

In the morning we went for a hike at Franz Joseph to see the glacier. The great part about having our own car was being able to stop at various little spots, whether it was to gaze at a waterfall or look for green stone beside a babbling brook off the side of the road. We pulled into the first town on the West Coast, Hokatika, where we went to Serpentine Beach (on the advice from native jade expert and fellow couch-surfer, Andrew) to look for green stone and hopefully view some penguins nesting at dusk. No luck on both accounts. We drove towards Punakaki where we were excited to see the spectacular “Pancake Rocks”, massive limestone rocks that look like stacks of pancakes, the cause of which remains a scientific mystery. We were so impressed by them and the blowholes that shot water hundreds of feet up in the air. Our pictures really don’t do this site justice, so if you’re ever in New Zealand, it truly is a must see. After Punakaki our next stay was in Golden Bay – the most northern part of the South Island. We stayed at a very quant YHA run by a fellow named Alan who had to “chomp the last bit down” before showing us around. While in Golden Bay we went to a natural spring reservation. The water here is so pure and clear (claimed to be the clearest in the world) that no contact of any kind was allowed. We took pictures. We left Golden Bay and set out for Picton. Picton was our last stop in the south and where we would catch our ferry to the North Island. We did a pretty intense hike on ‘Snout’s Trail’, which at the end opened up to a clearing overlooking the beautiful sounds. Tim climbed down to the rocks and made friends with a lone seal looking to play. We contemplated taking some mussels from the shore to cook for dinner (the legal allotment is 50 per person) but decided against it because of the long hike back. We stayed in Picton one extra night than planned because the ferry was cancelled due to rough seas. Finally, after hours of waiting in the ferry line we boarded on Sunday evening and embarked on a three-hour journey across Cook Straight. It was a bumpy ride.

On the road again!

After all the public transport (buses, trams and trains) we were glad to get out on the open road in our own car…well, our rented car.  We decided to fly out of Sydney to NZ because we could store some luggage for one month there at the Sydney YHA, free of charge.  Also, the cheapest flights were out of Sydney.  We picked up our car at Avis in downtown Melbourne on Monday, May 4th.  It was supposed to be a Hyundai Getz two-door manual, but we were upgraded to a Toyota Camry at no additional cost.  Tim reckons it was much better to have had an automatic over a manual due the high volume of traffic in the cities.  Traffic is the manual car’s one true vice apparently.  So we said farewell to cat woman and hit the open road destined for fun.  Our first stop was in the Grampians National Park in Victoria.  While driving into the Park the sun was setting and many kangaroos were frolicking about on the sides of the road.  We stayed at the YHA ‘Grampians Eco Lodge’ for two nights.  It was by far the best YHA we had experienced, mainly due to the really nice facilities and secluded location.  There were also Kangaroos sunbathing right outside the hostel and chickens poking around!  We did a four-hour return hike nearby and experienced some spectacular views.  At night we would make gourmet meals and talk of our New Zealand adventure to come.  We left the Grampians destined for The Twelve Apostles – ancient rock formations along Victoria’s southern seacoast formed by erosion.  The weather turned from rain to sun as we surveyed the magnificent rock structures.  They were once connected to the coastline thousands of years ago but now remain as individual rocky islands towering in height.  We traveled further on Australia’s southern coastline famously know as Great Ocean Road - beautiful views but a very long and winding road.  We drove straight back up through Melbourne and onward to Sydney. 

While on the highway we watched the sun set beautifully over the hilly landscape, not long before I drifted off to a peaceful sleep. A while later I woke to the feeling of the car slowing down and Tim putting on the hazards and slowly getting out of the car. I was startled and was asking, “What’s the matter? What’s going on?” Tim was frantically brushing off his shoulders and acting freaked. Finally he told me a large spider was in the car, on the dash. I was sure he was over reacting when I insisted he get back in the car and keep driving. Then! Oh my Gosh, I saw it scramble across the dash in my direction. It was big and black and quite scary looking.  After briefly debating on a plan to get rid of the spider Tim put on his ‘mittens’ and with a wad of tissue tried swiping the spider out of the car.  (Why Tim refuses to just squash the horrible insect I don’t know).  He missed on the first try but insisted that he got it out on the second swipe.  We never actually saw it on the ground for confirmation so we continued to drive with some anxiety, especially because our plan was to sleep in the car.

 Sometime shortly before midnight we pulled over at a McDonalds rest stop to sleep for a few hours.  We slept in our sleeping bags with the trunk folded down.  It didn’t quite work out as envisioned and we basically ended up entirely crouched in the fetal position in the trunk.  In the morning we drove to place called Wollongong, famously known for its great surf.  Tim had wanted to catch some nice Australian waves before we left.  Wollongong’s reputation as a great surfing town as it turns out falsely precedes itself.  There is one shop in all of town to rent boards from, and the boards are foam (which is lame). When we visited Byron Bay a bit further north earlier on our trip we discovered a plethora of quality surfboard rental shops, and good waves.  So we left Wollongong and made it into Sydney for the evening.  We stayed at the Glebe YHA, a nice familiar hostel where we had stayed two months before.

The next day we secured our luggage storage at the Sydney Central YHA and made for the airport.  We were destined to arrive in Christchurch, New Zealand late that night.  Our Kiwi adventure was about to begin…

 

By Julie M Vakalis

Contributions: Timothy James Aloysius Parker

Crazy Cat Lady

Hello, Everyone!

Last time we wrote we were in Melbourne getting ready to see Cirque Du Soleil on Easter weekend.  We were house sitting at the time and taking care of two lovely dogs.  It was a most memorable and enjoyable stay.  The Monday after Easter we moved into an interesting accommodation..."life with the cat lady".  We were in pretty desperate need of a place so we went for a quick viewing of the house in Mt Waverley, near where Julie worked, and thought it was decent enough.  The cost came at $150/week, which was good for two people.  Not until we actually moved in the next day did we realize the bad conditions around us.  'Cat Lady' worked at a vet clinic and during her time there she adopted 7 cats and two small dogs, one of which was very ill.  Not only was the abundance of animals in such small quarters illegal by Melbourne law, it created for an environment of horrible smells.  It also wasn't helping matters that 'Cat Lady' put the liter boxes in the kitchen and directly outside of our bedroom door so that between cooking and going to bed we were constantly exposed to grossness.  And, going to the 'toilet' at night meant climbing over the two dogs, bowls of nastiness, and their piss mat in a very small hallway.  Animals aside, heating also presented to be a problem - we had none!  And Melbourne was freezing this time of year some nights (lots of Antarctic fronts).  We could see our breath in the cold air as we lay in bed (I sit here now and laugh about it).  Most nights we would put our thermals on, climb into our two-man sleeping bag and huddle together for warmth.  In the end we did survive with some funny memories.  "Cat Lady' tried to get us to pay more money for utilities which was very shady because she had mentioned nothing of it previously.  We gave her a small donation.

Although we both loved Melbourne and are happy that we spent the bulk of our time there we are glad to be done with work and to be moving on to new experiences elsewhere - New Zealand!

 

 

Cheers!

 

T&J

Melbourne!

We flew into Melbourne March 11th and immediately began searching for work and housing. This would prove to be a very stressful and demanding task. Australia’s economy is in a downturn just like back home. Work and Travel (our organization that sponsors our visa) has not been of any help in finding employment. They are a fraud, which we will divulge over another time. We stayed at the YHA Oasis for the first 9 days as we scoured the web for housing and jobs. The kitchens at this YHA were exceptionally crowded which resulted in many late dinners. (On a side note we each have eaten more omelets while traveling here then in the entire 2008 calendar year.) March 15th was my birthday! We did an intense early morning yoga class with an Irish bloke named Owen at a nearby studio. We walked around the waterfront most of the day and saw a beautiful rainbow over the Yarra river. We capped off the evening with our first dinning out experience in Melbourne. Tim went for the steak sandwich and I had the yummy vegetable risotto. Finally by March 20th things had begun to fall in place. We found a job posting at the YHA for a temporary work placement in a vacuum repair shop in southern Melbourne. Because I was not having much luck with massage work and with Tim’s imminent anticipation over landing a customer service role, I took the job. We had also found a place to live for 3 weeks. A young couple in north Melbourne was traveling to the US and rented out their room to us. Two other men rented out rooms in the house – David, a Mexican student here studying; and Lester, a hermit who we never really had any dialog with. By week two Tim was still struggling to find work. He accompanied me each day to my new job on the train and met me when I got off work. Finally, Tim received a call from a local marina at Port Melbourne for some casual work. They interviewed him and called him back two days later with an offer. With the two of us working we could feel more relaxed. Melbourne is definitely a fun and bustling place. We did a lot of exploring and found that there is always something to do in the heart of the city. We have just moved into a new place for the long Easter weekend. We are house sitting for a nice couple and looking after their two dogs, "Titch" "and Santa". The house is amazing! It has three bedrooms, immaculate hardwood floors, and is located in a more swanky part of town. We found the house sit opportunity on Gumtree - a craigslist type website of Melbourne. They’ll return on Monday so we have two days to secure our next housing stint. We will only be in Melbourne for another three weeks. We are going to rent a car and take a drive to Phillip Island, Great Ocean Road, and the Twelve Apostles before making our way to Sydney to fly to New Zealand. We’ll spend our last month in NZ traveling around both Islands. Tonight we are going to see Cirque Du Soleil: Dralion! It is opening night and we are very excited. Bye bye for now!

Julie

Queensland Fun in the Sun!

Wow…it has certainly been too long. Apologies, we’ve been busy. So the last place we left off was Airlie Beach. We arrived at around 9am after a long 12 hour bus ride from Hervey Bay. We checked into our hostel and began to survey the area. This was a beaching party town. We decided to cool off at the beach and on our way we learned that nobody swims at the beach, due to the infestation of deadly “Stingers”, including the Portuguese Man of War, Bottle Necks, Box Jellyfish and several more that I can’t name. The alternative was the lagoon, an enormous man made saltwater pool. It was massive and neatly shaped with asymmetrical curves. We were discussing our lack of work situation and thinking of where to travel to next. Feeling a little discouraged, we made our way to a health food store for a bite, where we came across a bulletin board full of postings. Someone in Innisfail (hour south of Cairns) looking for help around the house in exchange for a free accommodation; a caravan parked in his back yard! Being the gypsies we are, we decided to give it a try, “to live like a local” as the post read. But before making it to Innisfail we had a little more exploring to do. We were in very close proximity to the Whitsunday Islands; we could see them from the forbidden beach. While in Sydney we saw some amazing pictures from a local artist from the Whitsunday’s, so we were looking forward to experiencing it for ourselves. We booked a day trip to go snorkeling. When we boarded our boat “Ocean Rafters” we were pleased to see it was a small group we’d be snorkeling with (it’s less crowded in the ocean, so your not getting kicked in the face with other swimmers fins’). The boat ride to get out to the island is the fastest in Airlie Beach. We were flying, riding waves, doing 360-degree spins, and turning so fast it felt like we were going to flip. It was awesome; extreme boating. To top it off we had a very entertaining host “Will” who kept things interesting. We stopped at a beautiful beach first where we trekked up a mountain to this incredible view of the islands. The sand was 98% silica, the softest cleanest sand we ever saw…beautiful. After rolling around in the sand (great exfoliater) and eating a lunch provided by the boat we set off to snorkel. The coral was described to us as really young and therefore more colorful. The fish were also crazy colorful and in abundance. Unfortunately no sea turtles were seen that day. We were able to get off a few shots before our ‘waterproof’ camera broke (water got in). Tim is replacing it with a better model for roughly the same price, once we arrive in Melbourne. On the way back to the marina we stopped at some fancy hotel that had a lagoon of stingrays, sharks, Nemo’s and more. All and all for $109/person it was a pretty good deal for the day.

We had a fun time in Airlie Beach but as nomads must do, we moved on. This time to Mission Beach, an hour south of Innisfail. The hostel was set in the rainforest and with rainforest living comes rainforest insects – spiders. ‘Crab spider’, as we dubbed it was harmless but nonetheless scary. We named it “Crab” because it looked like a big furry crab moving along the ceiling. Mission Beach was a bit lack luster compared to other spots we’d been, but we made the best of it. We spent most of our time in Mission Beach looking for Wallaroos – in the roo family but a smaller variety. We were lucky to spot a group grazing on a hillside and got close to one, one day at sun down, it was just as curious of us as we were of it. We also did our first yoga class in Australia while there. On Sunday March 1st we left for Innisfail. When we arrived Steve, our new host, instructed us to walk to the house and make ourselves at home because he was still in Cairns and heading home. The house was cozy, but had a ‘work in progress’ feel to it. Steve had been building it up for a few years. It contained all the essentially elements like running water, electricity, etc. After the last big cyclone tore through the area two years back the ‘clipboard’ people had been kind enough to give Steve some new windows and gutters. The Government in Australia messes about with all the peoples’ tax money it seems except when it matters most (i.e.: Bushfires, Floods, Cyclone damage, etc). Government workers come by with their clipboards after major devastation and hand out sums of money to everyone in the form of home repair. Steve offered us the option of paying $100/week for the spare bedroom inside the house or the trailer in the backyard for free. Both options would require 10 hours each of help around the house. We chose the trailer. It was comfortable enough with a double size bed and electricity. We had full use of the house’s facilities as well. Steve was an interesting character. He spent a lot of time in South America in his youth utilizing his artistic abilities to pay his way (i.e.: Didgeridoo and jewelry making, etc.) He had many funny and amazing stories to tell. While we enjoyed the company of Steve we did not enjoy the town of Innisfail. It is a very small town white trashy kind of place. There are no tourists, no shopping centers, no lagoons, and no fun beaches, just McDonalds to get free internet. We had abandoned our effort to secure farm jobs. Every time we heard someone speak of farm work it was usually negative, bad pay and exhaustingly labor intensive. With these anecdotal stories and our own experience on a farm for a day we lost our ambition for it. The new plan has become to move to Melbourne and find work in the city. We will remain there until we head to New Zealand for the last few weeks of this overseas adventure.

We are currently in Cairns, the biggest tourist destination in Northern Queensland and a nice change from Innisfail. We have been swimming in the lagoon, eating local cuisine, doing some shopping, and SNORKELING THE GREAT BARRIER REEF –WOOO! Yesterday we left the marina at 8:30 am on a high-speed motor yacht called ‘Silver Swift’. (Note: The Great Barrier Reef is not one connected reef but rather an intricate maze of smaller reefs in very close proximity to one another). On this particular day we ventured to Flynn Reef on the outer part of the Great Barrier Reef. Over the course of the day we did three separate snorkel spots with each one lasting about 40 minutes to an hour. Again no turtles but we did see two sharks (white tip – small and harmless), clown fish, clams the size of microwaves, parrotfish and much more. We rented an underwater camera have took loads of pictures. When you hop off the boat, which had giant stairs leading right into the water, you are about 15 – 20 feet from the bottom. After swimming about 20-30 feet away from the boat the depth varies from 3-10 feet depending on the structure of the coral underneath. There is so much underwater life and we had such a great time surveying it all. They would blow a giant horn above and below water when it was time to go. After many head counts by several crewmembers we would be off to the next spot. The weather was perfect and the crew was very helpful. Unless you want to scuba dive for the experience of scuba diving we recommend just snorkeling. You see all the same stuff with less having to deal with heavy equipment, and it’s cheaper. On average a snorkel swimmer probably spends close to an hour longer in the water doing his/her own thing than a novice scuba diver on these day trips.

Today is Tuesday, March 10th. Tomorrow we fly to Melbourne on a 9:45am flight with Jet Star. We have a picture account online that will eventually display all our pictures to everyone for free. The only problem so far is finding a fast enough internet connection to upload the pictures. Otherwise it has been taking over 10 minutes to upload one picture. We’ll get it together soon though. Bye for now!

J&T

Hostel Living

All of our nights here in Australia have consisted of sleeping in a hostel.  Some nights we share a room with 3 to 4 other guests, other nights its just me and Julie.  For the most part the people we encounter are friendly and harmless.  We have shared with Canadians, French, German, Italian, English, Australian and one American (Conner from Georgia).  I thought the English blokes were the most friendly while the French were the most reserved.  The Germans just like to party.  We have stayed exclusively at Youth Hostels of Australia (YHA's).  They are a chain of hostels, privately leased or owned but all with the same membership.   4-6 share mixed dorms are about $25 AUS/person a night.  The Private Double bed rooms we have recently been getting are about $50-$65 AUS/ room per night.  We have stayed in the following YHA's: 1) Sydney Central YHA. 2)Sydney 'Glebe Point' YHA. 3) Byron Bay YHA. 4) Maroochydore YHA. 5) Hervey Bay YHA. 6) Airlie Beach YHA.  Friday we will depart for Mission Beach YHA set in the rainforest about an hour south of Cairns.  If you looked at these YHA's on a map you can see the progress of our northward journey.  *Try this link: www.yha.com.au/hostels/map_popup_overall.cfm

*Remember, we are traveling up the east coast in Queensland.

A couple of memorable moments in YHA world.  

Sydney Central: Our first hostel in Australia. This was a big hostel and supposedly the creme de le creme of hostels. It was clean and the bathrooms (communal of course) were big easy to get ready in. We roomed with an english couple our first night that were nice, but kept to themselves for the most part. Our second night we roomed with a canadian girl and a guy from Belgium who swore a lot as he unpacked not knowing we were napping in our respective bunks. It had good kitchen facilities and a cinema room with cushy bean bags and pillows scattered throughout. A 15 minute bus ride brought us to our next hostel stay; Glebe.  

Glebe YHA: There was this older Aussie fellow who walked around with no shirt on.  He was very hairy.  I commented to Julie on the state of his nakedness in the kitchen.  At least put on a shirt if you're gonna cook some eggs with everyone else.  We had to switch rooms for our second night there and guess who we get roomed with?  Sure enough, naked Dave.  As it turned out, Dave was a very friendly (and very shy) person.  We enjoyed our time befriending him. Where the normal person would get a point across in 20 seconds, Dave would take 2 minutes.   Glebe Ultimately ranked high on our ranking system of YHA's.  Good kitchen, nice TV room, and fun hangout area on the rooftop.  And a library nearby with free wifi.  Allow me to just comment on how much of a luxury it is to find free wifi near the hostel.   

Byron Bay YHA:  A definite party town, and thus a party hostel.  The hostel was great for its proximity to the beach and local shops.  It provided free boogie board and bike rental; we took advantage of both.  Julie has the scars to prove it, hahaha.  We went to a local pub that had really good food and live music, a place called The Rails (Much better than the shady alternative, 'Cheeky Monkey').  We roomed with two German guys who were quite rambunctious.  They were definitely entertaining to say the least.  They turned us onto Maroochydore for a good place to find farm work.  We also roomed with three 7 foot tall English guys who had arrived on a 12 hour bus ride from New Castle.  They were very nice as we chatted about the cost of living throughout Australia.  They said Perth (west coast) was really expensive.  

Maroochydore YHA:  Using the advice from the Germans we went to Maroochydore looking for work.  Upon arriving we immediately felt cozy and comfortable.  This particular YHA was very small but had good facilities which is the most important aspect.  We mainly rank on Kitchen, Bathroom, TV room, and overall ambiance (ie: pool, hammocks, etc.) An added plus; free breakfast.  They front desk managers helped us get our first farm work experience, picking ginger.  We will elaborate on that day later, but let's just say it only lasted one day.  There was a bit of a french click at this hostel which kind of turned us off because we felt an inability to connect.  After three nights at this hostel we moved on to the next stop of our choice Hervey Bay.

*(Note: Sometimes there is a method to picking which YHA we go to and other times it is quite random.)

Hervey Bay YHA:  An immediate feeling of a relaxing secluded resort atmosphere, which we were in need of.  Set up quite differently than our other accommodations; this YHA had Bungalow type rooms. This was the first time we took advantage of the private room, it seems to have gotten less expensive for this type of stay as we have moved north. It's kind of a novelty to share a room with strangers as you back pack, but nice to be able to have peace, quite and privacy on occasion. Hervey Bay had it's own restaurant and bar (inexpensive and good). It had a beautiful pool, hot tub, and great hammocks. We also enjoyed feeding the ducks that took up a home on the pond in the center of the hostel grounds.  After a nice bike ride on Monday we came home in the afternoon to find the Oscars on.  We watched the last hour and were pleased to see Sean Penn win best actor and Slumdog get best picture.  Seeing Ben Kingsley introduce Mickey Rorke as a nominee was just bizarre, I don't know why.  

Airlie Beach YHA:  Nothing 'amazing about this YHA but it does have good kitchen facilities and we share a bathroom with only one other room.   Tomorrow we are taking advantage of a one day speedboat and snorkel adventure.  It's really hot here.  There is no swimming in the ocean because of deadly 'stingers' or jellyfish.  We respect that fully, so we visit the local man made lagoon here in town.  It's just a giant pool, but nice.  And when we go snorkeling tomorrow we will be wearing stinger suits, so don't worry people.  While here we happened upon a health food restaurant where on the bulletin board we found a very interesting post.  A couple north of here in Innisfail, one hour south of Cairns, is looking to provide accommodation in exchange for household chores (ie: gardening, cooking, etc.).  They will also help us get banana farm work.  Julie called them and it all sounds great.  We will arrive there late this weekend, but not before stopping off at Mission Beach YHA in the rainforest!  Thats all for now folks!

T & J

New South Wales to Queensland!

Hello, Family and Friends

We have come up with a rough plan for our Australian adventure. We were in Sydney, which is full of activity and back packers galore; the job market is tough there. We have enjoyed our time taking in some of the sights, Sydney Harbour was beautiful. We saw the famous Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, which you can see in our photos. There is a tourist activity that people partake in that was pretty cool to witness; you can actually climb the bridge and we saw a large group of people climbing on a very windy day! We also saw an “Aboriginal” guy playing an instrument and trying to sell CDs. He was encouraging all the onlookers to take photos of him, which of course we did. We met a native Melbournian who gave us a very unbiased and intelligent education on aboriginals. Apparently, with the setup of ‘reservations’ they exist in a fashion much like that of Native Americans. Some are integrated into mainstream society, while most remain in their own territories. But we digress…the plan!:

We have purchased a “get on get off” bus pass from Sydney to Cairnes. We can get off and on at our own leisure within two months but cannot back track. So, we will work on farms as we migrate north towards Cairnes where we will make arrangements to experience the Great Barrier Reef. We currently are in Maroochydore (our second stop after Sydney). We stopped in Byron Bay on Monday. We had a fun time there which included such activities as 'boogie boarding', toured the local town, went bike riding, seeing the lighthouse on Cape Byron; the most easterly point of Australia. We left Byron Bay on Wednesday, just as the rain arrived and headed north to Maroochydore. Maroochydore is a quiet little suburb with all the fun things every town seems to have in Australia - beach, surf, snorkeling, kayaking, etc. We may have a farm job here in the coming days. The full season kicks off in March so we are hopeful. We want to work here for a bit and then make our way to see some koalas and go sailing - http://www.koalaadventures.com/. We get deals through our organization. Internet isn't always easy to come by, so bare with us. Tons of pics to come.

Julie and Tim

Next Blog entry title: "Hostel Living: A day in the life of a mixed dorm"

Hello Everyone

Julie and Tim are in Sydney baby! We had a wonderful time in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lots of interesting people and yummy food to be had. We saw Sea Lions on Pier 39! Jaden would have loved it! They barked at each other and were either fighting or love making (video to follow). We went to four yoga classes in about five days. They love to chant in the yoga classes out there. Kevin and Devin were wonderful hosts, we really felt at home with them. Kevin will look after the car while we are away. He will use it for his friday night drag races on San Pablo Ave in Emeryville. We left the 'city' Sunday night and braced ourselves for a 14 hour plane ride...yikes! We were served dinner (Salmon)on the plane at about midnight, California time. Through a restless night sleep in an upright seated position we somehow awoke early Tuesday to find that we only had 3 hours to go, and that we had traveled forward in time skipping Monday the 9th of February 2009 _(Thanks for the Adavan Devin - Julie). The flight overall went by quickly. We found our contact at the aiport after a short search and were lead to a van taxi with some other travelers. We were driven to the YHA Central (Sydney's best Hostel in town). Since Tuesday we have been living out of our backpacks, searching for employment and a place to live. I think we have tentatively decided to move away from the cities and try to find work on a farm where we can save a decent amount of money for travel fun later. We will let you all know what is happening in the coming days. Our number is 0450432757. Dial the following:

011 61 2 (Sydney's 'City Code') 0450432757

That should work. You'll all have to figure out how you want to pay for that if you decide to call us, we hear calling cards are the way to go.

Julie and Tim

California

We made it into Mountain View, CA late Wednesday night January 28th. Tim's friend Jeff Lang welcomed us to his home to stay for a couple nights. Jeff is a freelance yoga instructor in the area and we are very envious of the lifestyle he leads. He took us to breakfast on Thursday morning and we explored Silicon Valley. In the afternoon we met up with Jeff's friend Lauren and got yummy felafel. After lunch we went to a fish/reptile store where we witnessed Jeff fall in love with a yellow and pinkish striped "king snake". He would later go back and buy it. After a busy day of walking around and taking in the sites we were looking forward to one of Jeff's yoga classes. The style of yoga he teaches is bit unorthodox to the usual flow styles that we're used to. We did the spider and frog crawls; definitely a fun and challenging class. After yoga Jeff took us to a delicious Ramen noodle restaurant - that's right, Ramen. This is not your average cup of noodles. The dishes are elaborately prepared and quite tasty. The next day we met up with a friend of Julie's, John Hawley. He took us up a very windy mountain, where we would eventually arrive at the state park Big Basin. It was so amazing to see the very old and tall red woods. A cross section of one of the trees indicated that it was almost 2000 years old! We took a hike through one of the trails before heading down to grab a bite. Very hungry, we quickly spotted a large Whole Foods where we scarfed delicious burritos. We capped the night off by having a few drinks at a local Irish pub, Scruffy Murphy's. Fun times in Sunnyvale! Onward to the 'City'...

Scary Road

After Las Vegas we set out destined for California. Upon reaching the State line we ran into a road block on I-15. Rather than taking our chances on waiting it out we turned around began searching for a way around the closed section of the highway. Looking at the GPS, it seemed clear that if we simply went back to the last exit, hopped on route 161 and headed west that we would eventually arrive at I-15 ahead of the road block. So we made our way down this desolate stretch of road hoping it would not take too long. The road did not have many labels on it so we quickly became confused as to where we were. We were at least headed in the right direction - west. Then we happened upon an intersection, again with no labels. A woman in a white car was also at the intersection coming from the other direction and she stopped to roll down her window. We rolled down ours as well. We explained we were looking to get back to I-15. She said all we had to do was go straight ahead; the road would turn to dirt for a bit and it would pop us right put to I-15. She seemed trustworthy enough so we went straight, toward the mountainous incline in the short distance. As we drove on we went through a little town with very few homes, one church and not a human in sight. We began to think that our surroundings were very similar to that of the horror movie "The Hills Have Eyes". As the incline became a bit steeper it forced us to slow down to about 15mph. Dust was engulfing the car as we chugged along the dirt and rock, praying we didn't get a flat. As if we needed any added suspense, we suddenly approached a house on the right with a human sized dummy hanging on a tree limb by a noose tied to its' neck. (It was a white doll, so I don't think it was a racial thing, which was my first nauseating thought). I was thinking "oh God, our killers are gonna pull up on ATVs and hold us at gunpoint and....." you get the idea. Active imagination. With no cell phone reception I truly felt like we were helpless to even call for help. Nonetheless, we were confident that the road was going in the right direction. After about a half hour of this off road expedition we FINALLY came to pavement on the other side of the mountains and saw signs pointing to I-15. Unfortunately we did not capture any footage of what we learned later is called 'Kingston Road' in Sandy Valley, NV. All Internet accounts describe this drive as very scenic and enjoyable, assuming of course that one has a proper vehicle for such terrain. But no stories of anything bad happening or anything like that. Just another normal desolate dirt road to the locals I'm sure but to two native New Englanders something much more nerve racking.

California happenings to come soon....

Julie

Nevada

On Monday morning we left Denver and made our way to Las Vegas, NV. A snow storm coming in from the west forced us to head south to New Mexico. We stopped in Santa Fe for lunch around noontime. I kept waiting to see the Santa Fe skyline off in the distance as the GPS drew us closer and closer, but nothing. Then we arrived in Santa Fe, Nevada's capital, yet we still saw no buildings. Apparently Santa Fe isn't like most cities. The city is made up of 2-3 story clay-like buildings sprawled out for miles. It was very cool stuff. We didn't spend much time there but would love to return and visit more of the cool shops and restaurants. Julie is very excited to visit the city someday with mom, auntie Mare, and her sisters. After lunch we set off on the road destined for Sin City. We became very tired half way through Arizona and stopped at a Best Western in Flagstaff. About a mile before the hotel however we encountered a 'white out'. The snow was so thick and coming down so fast I could barely see 3 feet in front of my car. Our night time road enemy (the 18-wheeler) suddenly became our ally as I used the lights off the one in front of us as a guide through the terrible weather. We made it to the hotel safely, went for a quick soak in the hot tub and then fell asleep. The next day we had a small breakfast provided by the hotel and set off on the road again. Arizona is much like New Mexico with the rolling mountains off in the distance, although the rocks seemed more red. And much to Julie's dismay we had still not seen any untamed wildlife (ie: mountain lion! 'Roar' Jaden!) On the Nevada/New Mexico line we encountered the Hoover Dam - a very cool sight to behold. We stopped to take in the scenery for a moment and then left for Las Vegas! I called the Sheas to say hello and by chance Big Pat had received an offer in the mail about cheap hotels in Vegas. I then began calling some of the Harrah Hotels before settling on the 'Flamingo'. Vegas is town of unlimited fun and activity. Julie and I had never been attracted to Vegas before but after seeing all it has to offer we definitely conclude that it is a fun time. We gambled a bit on roulette, enjoyed a buffet at Planet Hollywood hotel, and then saw a hypnotist show which was very funny. We didn't get to explore all the hotels on the strip but we would just like to say that the Bellagio is one of the nicest hotels we have ever seen. It is the one with the water fountains out in front that are synchronized to music. The money I lost on roulette will be given back to me as a credit at the Flamingo as part of a promotion from joining the rewards club for Harrah's casino's. So we will be returning in June (Note to Amy, start planning for the weekend of June 13th and 14th, make it happen!) Cheers! Tim

And the two kids traveled westward!

Hello All! Much has happened since leaving New Orleans. Julie and I set out on Tuesday afternoon (after watching some of the inaugural events) destined for Denver. We stopped in Shreveport, LA for dinner at a Japanese restaurant called 'Tokyo'. The food there was very good (miso soup, chicken lettuce wrap, spicy tuna roll, and salmon). Deep in the Dark of Texas we drove on through the night making it somewhere between Wichita Falls and Amarillo before having to pull over and rest for a couple of hours. This was extremely exhausting and the scary 18 wheelers were dominent throughout Texas. The skyline in Dallas at night was very bright and colorful, pretty to look at. Sometime around dawn we hit the road again determined to make it to Denver by dinner time. We crossed the New Mexico/Texas line in the late morning on Wednesday. While Texas had been flat and boring New Mexico began to exhibit plateaus and rolling mountains. It was awesome witnessing the major changes in our countrys' geography. Despite not having slept much at all since leaving New Orleans we felt invigorated to be in a new state and closer to our destination. Soon we were into Colorado where the weather was absolutely beautiful, 70 degrees! The Rockie Mountains are abosolutely breath taking. Our first night at Pat and Sarah's in Denver consisted of a delicious meal purchased at Whole Foods (salmon, steak, shrimp and potatoes) and prepared by Sarah. We were extremely tired and after dinner and soon went to bed. On our first full day in Colorado Julie and I wasted no time in experiencing what this awesome state has to offer. We drove up to Boulder in the late morning and did a small hike on one of the nearbye mountain trails. After a short, but tiring hike we headed west to Hot Sulphur Springs, CO (about 2 hours). We visted the hot springs resort which has about 25 man made pools with natural hot spring water flowing throughout. The suplher may not smell great, but it does wonders for the skin and hair. Julie enjoyed the hottest tub at 112 degrees while i preferred a temp of 108-109 degrees. Around sunset we left the hot springs, grabbed some lovely dinner at a nearbye pizza restaurant, and headed back to Denver. The ride home was little nerve racking at times because Hot Sulphur Springs is nested way up in the mountains where there are some trechorous roads. With the GPS leading the way and warning me of all approaching sharp turns I navigated us back to Interstate 70 successfully and safely. On Friday morning Pat, Sarah, Julie, and myself all left to go skiing at Copper Mountain (about 2 hours away). Pat was able to get us a discount on lift tickets which saved us about 80 bucks. Pat and his best man Chris (who met us there) headed off to the difficult trails while Julie and I tried some easier slopes. Learning how to ski is not something one picks up at the snap of a finger and as Julie stuggled to find her bearings I encouraged her to not give up and keep at it. With my help we were able to get down a few runs before going into the lodge for some lunch. After lunch Pat, Chris and myself all headed back out for some black diamonds and moguls. Julie and Sarah relaxed in the lodge and had some good bonding time. As a small snow storm began to blanket the area with several inches the ride home from the mountain turned into quite a spectacle, ultimately taking us over 4 hours to get home. We estimated that about 40% of all the cars and trucks on Highway 70 were stuck on ice. Traffic was about 5-20 mph for most of the way as people spun tires and pushed cars in the middle of the highway. Luckily, we were in Pat's brand new Susuki which had four wheel drive and is a stick shift. All of Pat's worries on the capibilites of his new car were put to rest as the car successfully made it through the snowy and icy conditions. Later that night Pat went up to Boulder to see a show and Sarah, Julie and myself stayed in and watched a movie. On Saturday morning Julie and I did some yoga and headed to the Boulder Rock Gym. We climbed the walls for about two hours before becoming really hungry. We then went to the Mountain Sun restaurant on Pearl Street in Boulder. I had a delicious burger while Julie enjoyed a Tempe Reuban. This place is great. They give you free apps while waiting for a table and the food and beers were quite tasty. After eating we went back to Pat and Sarah's and prepared to go to a show at the Filmore theater. Umphree's McGee was in town and Pat and all his friends are big fans. The show was pretty good. They are kind jammy with hard rock and reggae elements. We made it home after a long night of music and partying and lucky us; Sarah made the most yummy grilled cheese sandwiches which we violently consumed before falling into a deep and restful sleep. Today (Sunday Jan 25th, Happy Birthday Ray!) was a pretty restful day. We had a delicious breakfast at a place called Lola in downtown Denver and then napped for most of the day. We are now preparing to get some dinner and then rest up for a long drive tomorrow. Originally we were going to travel to Salt Lake City and spend the night. But now with snow moving into the region we have decided to drive South to Santa Fe, have lunch and then head directly West to Las Vegas. My friend Kevin is currently in Las Vegas on a business trip. We will redevous with him. Denver was non-stop and we had a great time. We are thankful to Pat and Sarah for hosting us and look forward to seeing them again in June at the wedding! Goodbye for now friends!

Tim

Hospitable Bill

We stayed at Tim's uncle's place just outside of New Orleans. Uncle Bill provided wonderful accommodation for us on this chapter of our across America trek. We strolled the infamous Bourbon Street (where Tim was suckered into a shoe shine at a price of $12), gambled at Hannah's casino off Canal Street, and surveyed the remaining damage of this notable American city in the wake of Katrina 3 years ago. While Tim prefers to figure out directions and locations of places on his own, Julie is an asker - never hesitating to engage the local population for information on just about everything. New Orleans is a fun party town, but not a place either of us would want to live. There is a lot of poverty here, low property tax which translates into poor public school systems, bad roads, corrupt gov't (so Bill tells us), too much fried food, and lax drunk driving enforcement due to the acceptance of drinking as a mainstay to the culture and business. Despite all this we did have a great time. The weather was awesome and a nice change from the freezing conditions we had been experiencing days prior. New Orleans would be a fun place to visit with a group of friends looking to party for a short time. Mardi Gras 2010 anyone? Julie and Tim depart LA on this historic inauguration day and as they drive westward into the setting sun they are hopeful for the future of good things to come.
J&T

Alabama the beautiful

We left DC at 7:00 on Saturday morning, stopped at Starbucks for some coffee and set out on the open road for the next 12 hours towards Alabama. We had started using the Garmin GPS by this time and i would just like to say that this device is truly wonderful. We got in around 7:30pm and met Carrie at her house. After reminiscing for a bit we ordered some pizza and hung out until Chris, Carrie's husband, got home. Chris is a big Red Sox fan, which I found strange given the fact he has never lived in the New England area. Carrie says when he was a young boy he loved the beards on the Red Sox players and that's how he became a fan. We played card games until about midnight and then headed off to bed. Julie and I were both extremely tired by this point and were relieved to feel the touch of the pillow (and Tinkerbell sheets) to our heads. The Queen air mattress was quite comfortable. In the morning we were greeted by the lovely Charlotte, Carrie and Chris' daughter. She is an absolute delight (As you can tell from the video below). After a delicious breakfast Carrie made for us, we packed up and set off in beautifully warm weather to New Orleans. We drove through a bit more of Alabama and then entered Mississippi where the bulk of the days driving took place. We got to Tim's uncle's place around 6:30pm. He lives 10 miles outside of the city. He took us to dinner at 'Copelands' which was very yummy. Tim had shrimp and pasta and Julie had pecan encrusted catfish with broccoli. We then rented a movie and fell asleep five minutes into it. Today is gorgeous outside and we are preparing to go downtown to Bourbon St and have some lunch. Bye for now!
J&T

Freezing in Washington DC

Holy crap its cold! Cold cold cold. We arrived in DC around 1:00pm, checked into the Hyatt and set off at about 3:00 to do some sight seeing. We saw the white house, the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial before we began to really need to get out of the cold. A local Starbucks provided a warm haven for a short while before we made our way through the National Mall and back to our hotel. We went for a swim in the hotel pool and then headed out for some dinner. After an unsuccessful attempt to find a particular burrito place, a kind gentlemen pointed us in the direction of many restaurants. It was colder than before! Both starving, we settled on fast food Indian, which was pretty tasty but probably not the healthiest of choices. We are now back in the hotel room preparing for bed. Tomorrow we will leave at the crack of dawn and begin driving to Alabama. Best of dreams to all on this frigid January night!
J&T

Tim and Julie's night in Yonkers

We arrived at Buddy's at around 7:00pm. Buddy had ordered us dinner (Hibatchi and Sushi) and it was very delicious. We enjoyed great conversion during dinner while waiting for more friends to come. Kat and Damian came over around 9:00 and we played several games, including 'catch phrase', 'scene it', and 'Texas hold em'. Julie has amazing beginner's luck at Texas hold em. Julia (Buddy's wife) arrived at 10:30 from her class and she joined the festivities. Buddy and Julia are a lovely couple and we thank them so much for their hospitality. We capped off the night by watching the new episode of The Office where Andy learned of Angela's affair with Dwight. It is currently 7:30AM. Julia is making us coffee as we prepare to depart for Washington DC. I was telling Julie before we went to sleep, I said " Julie, this is going to be a great adventure I can feel it." Our first night was a success and we look forward to more.
Stay Tuned!,

T & J

Pics and Video from our last night in Rhode Island at the Vakalis home.

Last night in town

Tonight, Julie and I along with family and friends will all rendezvous at the Vakalis house to have our last dinner in Rhode Island for 6 months! We are going crazy doing our last minute packing, but that was to be expected I suppose. Last night Julie and I said goodbye to our dear friends at the Cerro house. After a yummy dinner we bid farewell and looked forward to our next meeting in Beaver Creek, CO in late June for Pat and Sarah's wedding.

Julie and Milly having some quality bonding time before the trip. Milly 'Witchy Cat' is presently going through her rebellious tween times and creating a bit of frustration for mommy Amy.

Final week in Rhode Island - Preparations

Our Australian Visas were approved late last night by the Australian government. All arrangements to depart the country have been made and are finalised, including our flight out of San Francisco. We are anxious, but very excited. The last thing I need to do is get an oil change and pack my bags. We leave for New York on Thursday. More to come...