PENGUIN PARADE

PENGUIN PARADE

Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia

Warning. Read with caution. The following is a bit of a rant about how we fell into a prime tourist trap, and may not revolve completely around fluffy baby penguins and stories about the cute ways they waddle. So, we arrived on gorgeous Phillip Island, Victoria, on Saturday evening. We drove ‘efficiently’ for 10 long hours after leaving Jindabye in order to make the famous penguin ‘parade’ by dusk. I’ll insert some positive points when possible, to avoid sounding like a Debbie downer. We had the best Subway, in a hurried drive-by stop, to make it to the southwestern tip of the island in time. Fresh bread from the oven, mmmmm….we were in a happy place! And speaking of happy, I’ve never seen the animated Happy Feet, but have always wanted to see penguins in their natural habitat. We proceeded with caution as we entered the built-up gates of penguin parade. Little did we know you had to pay to see the penguins in their natural habitat each evening. More than $20.00+/ adult for general stand viewing only! Then they’ve got the ‘prime viewing seats’, the private boxes (yes, just like at an NHL game), and plenty more options to entice the eager traveler willing to part with their impossible-to-rip (side fact for you) Aussi cash. With the thousands that flood this place every day, we quickly did the math. They’re making a killing! Best of all, they advertise it as a high standard of eco-tourism, as a non-profit organization with all funds going to natural conservation projects & protection. Ha, so with all the complaining we did…we couldn’t complain about all the money going towards ‘The Man’.

We can laugh about it now, but we were relentless as we complained on the beach that Saturday night. The guide who gave us the practiced introduction, before the penguins made it in from sea that night, was like a Nazi army-guard as he prowled around, making sure there were no cameras. Flash photography or not, there was no filming or photos allowed (so that you’d have to buy postcards in the giftshop!). It was hilarious to watch the crowds’ heads follow the guide around, making sure he couldn’t see any cameras as they snuck their way out of a sleeve for a zoomed-in image of the tiniest little penguins on earth! The main reason I wanted to see these little guys was to photograph them. I had my big SLR ready for action, but it’s not exactly inconspicuous to pull out, so it stayed in it’s case all night…leaving me completely disappointed. Our guide was throwing around the word ‘confiscated’, so I didn’t dare risk busting it out! Phew. Again, it would have been the perfect photography moments- but my hands were tied! So, we had our Phillip Island experience, it truly was awesome to see the penguins swim in from sea in their little families…waddle along the beach, and make their way inland for the night. The babies have fluffy grey down, and are nearly the size of the little adults. They waddle just like one of our favorite kiwi guys…it’s the most adorable thing! We were educated on the fact that waddling takes much less energy than walking. They’re definitely proficient in their ways!

Upon arriving in Melbourne the next day, we learned that you can go to St. Kilda and see the penguins for FREE…and not just that….see them WITH your camera and all the photography action you want! Ugh. Oh to be a sucker of a tourist, feels great. Good things the little penguins are so darn cute, we truly left with happy feet (and only slightly bitter thoughts). Cheers. d.

"Closest Thing To Heaven"....

As we made our way down from Byron Bay we were lucky enough to drive through Sydney (and take a drive over the Sydney Bridge courtesy of a fortunate wrong turn) and Stanwell Tops, which meant we were able to stop at say hi to the Wyghts again... We were so excited to

come "home" and see my Aunt Karen and Uncle Doug... After we bored them with our stories and excessive amounts of photos we continued on our journey and 90 minutes later we came to Jervis Bay, a local destination spot that came highly recommended by my uncle... But no amount of praise could prepare us for the wonder that is Hyams Beach...

Some people talk about falling in love at first sight; everything clicks and you just know that this is it... they say that they know "This is the person for me". Well, the moment I stepped foot onto Hyams Beach I fell in love....

We all did... We fell in love with the beach. The sand was white as and the water was the most beautiful turquoise. In fact, the sand was so fine and so white that the next day as I sat on the beach, cutting up strawberries to put in my yogurt for breakfast, I picked up one of my strawberries and seeing it covered in sand, I mistook it for sugar for a second longer than I should have... The only downside to this beach is that, as it's in a bay, it isn't a beach suitable for surfing... But it's one downside is out-shined but all the positives... Like all the amazing BBQ's just ready and waiting for us to have a cook out... Jod was investigating the mentioned BBQ and accidently turned it on but we had no idea how to turn it off... We ended up just walking away and crossing our fingers that we wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night to a massive fireball... Good news... No fireball...

I think we really are blessed to have similar personalities that blend so well... The only thing close to a fight was deciding who had to leave the safety of the hostel to the camper van to shut the windows in the middle of a massive down pour... We ended up solving it like rational adults... With rock/paper/scissors.... I lost.... But, if we had a girl who was dead set on living the partying, backpacker life every night she would be sorely disappointed because many nights involve turning in at 11 pm because the sun has gone down and there's only so much you can do inside a camper van and our favorite night was with just the four of us. Tonight was it. Keeping up with our tradition, we rejected the idea of a camp ground in favor of parking in the parking lot with the beach shower and toilets readily available and the beach only meters away.... Prime location actually. The beach was empty save for us after 7pm and we all enjoyed taking solo walks/dance/run in the waves along the beach at twilight... Brittany and I were amused to find that we both wrote messages in the sand on our walks... Hers; a prayer of thanks to the Lord... Mine; an international relations salutation... aka I wrote a hello message from the canadian girls to the navy base boys on the opposite beach... haha...

The next morning started off the same way we ended the night before; with a run on the beach. It is seriously the best way to start the day and I am positive that if we lived on the beach we would all become in tip top shape... I'd love an opportunity to test out my hypothesis... Maybe in February or March. Brittany said that she felt at home walking on the beach and I had to agree, which makes no sense coming from a girl who was raised in a landlocked, beach-starved province such as Alberta. It's amazing that a month ago I could count the number of times I've been to the ocean in my life on my fingers but now it's hard to imagine being without it.

Luv, V

December 4: Climbing Australia's tallest mountain: Mt. Kosciusko

We arrived in a small town called Jindabyne around 9:00 p.m. on the 3rd and found a very secluded place to park our camper-van for the night, near some public bathrooms right across from the elementary school. As you would imagine, a parking lot does not provide very much privacy, and once morning came, we realized just how in the open we really were and some weird looks were cast our way as we wandered between the van and the bathroom. Valena got a few extra looks as she was eating her morning granola and yogurt on the curb, right where parents were dropping off their kids for school. I can only imagine what the mom's were telling their kids as they passed her..."see Tommy, that is why you stay in school...you don't wanna be eating breakfast on the curb!"
I'm sure that all of you at home are wondering how we are surviving by parking in truck stops, random parking lots, gravel roads, etc...and using just public washrooms, but really, it's not THAT bad. It's pretty fun actually. It's always an adventure AND a surprise finding a place to stay for the night and discovering what it looks like in the daylight. Typically they are totally different, which leads to great stories and laughter. Maybe that's why we like it so much, there never seems to be a dull moment. We are also getting pretty used to being looked at strangely. I suppose I would too if I saw 4 girls crawling out of a camper van, all with bed head and making their way across a parking lot to the public bathroom...which by the way, do not have hot water. It's a good thing that it's been warm so far otherwise washing our faces with cold water would not be pleasurable. We are bad enough at taking regular showers, but could you imagine if we never washed our faces? That'd be a whole new dimension to traveling! And just to clarify a few things about us showering, or lack thereof. Since we've been traveling, we've realized how often we shower at home when it's not really necessary and have decided that instead of showering quite as often, we will wash in the ocean and go a few extra days without a shower. It's our way of conserving water. Now some may say it's not hygienic and gross, but it really isn't. Salt is an antiseptic and so we figured that since we are daily going into the ocean and saltwater, that it only makes sense to use that to keep ourselves clean. I understand that some of you at home may not totally understand or agree with our reasoning...but we are sticking with it!

Ok, now back to the real reason why I'm writing this blog. The next morning in Jindabyne, Danielle and I drove out to the National Park which is only about 15 minutes from town and as we were feeling very ambitious, decided to take the most difficult hike, which is the 21.5 km circuit combining the main range walk and the summit walk. Mt.Kosciusko's summit is 2228 meters high, making it the tallest mountain in Australia. The majority of the hike to the summit was on an old gravel road that was actually used until 1974, but as we got higher, the trail became a nice formed path with a couple of snow drifts for us to cross. It was a bit of a surprise for us to see snow in Australia. We knew that we were in the snowy mountains, but seeing as it's summer in Australia, we weren't expecting snow at all. Apparently it had snowed just two days before...what a sight that would've been! Lucky for us, it was perfect weather, sunny and blue skies. We were warned to bring warm clothes for when we reached the summit, so we each brought a jacket, but once we reached the top, it really wasn't that chilly. Apparently us Canadians can handle the cold and wind a bit better than Aussies. A lady even stopped us to take a picture of us wearing our shorts since she thought we were crazy! If only they knew what the weather was like at home! On our way to the summit, we reached the Seamans Hut, which was built in 1929 in memory of Laurie Seaman, an American who died while trying to ski cross-county Mt. Kosciusko. It was built to be a refuge for others that may need refuge while in the mountains.
We reached the summit around lunch time and took our time eating our lunches and taking pictures of the amazing view. We continued our way around the mountains on the Charlotte pass, where we crossed many more snow drifts, the famous Snowy River (which Dan was very excited about) and views of glacial lakes, Mount Sentinel and Watsons Crags. The terrain was very different from back at home. Boulders were everywhere, no trees in sight, and views that seemed to go on forever. We definitely got some good use out of our cameras that day. Overall the hike was not very strenuous, as the mountains here aren't near as massive as the Rockies back at home, but we did manage to get our hearts racing a bit. The last stretch of the hike is referred to as "the cardiac arrest." It consists of a continuous incline in the trail to reach the end. It's a good thing that Dan and I are in decent shape because I don't think that either of us were prepared to preform CPR on each other...we may be a bit rusty since neither of us have worked for a couple of months. Funny how those skills seem to disappear when you are on vacation!

We finished the hike late in the afternoon and didn't really have much time to relax. We rushed back to Jindabyne so that we could join Britt and Valena at the movie theatre to watch New Moon. None of us had seen a movie since leaving home and we were all really looking forward to it. Britt and Valena were extra excited, I think mainly because instead of coming on the hike with us, they decided to spend their day in a cute, little bookstore and were now seeking some interaction with the rest of the world. After the movie, and falling in love with Jacob, Dan, Britt and I decided to do a double-feature and watched Couples Retreat as well. I think we are all safe to say that we don't need to go to another movie for a while.
Jindabyne is a sweet, little mountain town that has a lot of character and something to offer to people of all interests. Being so close to the Kosciusko National Park, you could spend days hiking the trails, or if hiking isn't your thing, the town has shops and short walks around the lake to fill up your day. Apparently there is a nice campground right by the lake, but we prefer parking lots so we didn't check that out. There is just something about parking lots that attracts us. Maybe it's the fact that we don't have to pay, or else the adrenaline rush we get from not knowing whether we are gonna be woken up by a cop telling us we can't park there. Either way, whoever invented them really deserves a pat on the back.
Jod

Revisiting old friends in Newcastle

In a normal day at home, one would wake up and stretch and flip over and stretch some more before sitting up in bed and hopping in the shower to get ready for the day. But we are not in Lethbridge and a normal morning goes more something like this....After a sleepless night of tossing and turning, we open our eyes reluctantly. Stretching our arms out we get about 1/2 a foot till we reach the roof and are stopped. Deciding to turn over results in cramping of the muscles and/or rolling into our bedmate. Crawling over each other as we try to not wake the other girls, which is impossible...but the attempt is still there. After weaving your way down from the top bed, through the maze of luggage, it is just opening the sliding door to reveal that we are amongst a bunch of semis parked at the rest stop.

It is fact that we tend to be on the cheaper side and not want to pay for things that are a necessity so last night after driving late, we pulled over at a gas station that had a truck stop in the back and decided here looked as good as any spot, better even because of the close proximity of the dingy bathroom. It was an early morning waking up at 0630 and finding a McDonalds for free WIFI due to the loudness of the trucks coming and going. Let's just say we will try to find a more inventive spot to park before using a truck stop again! You know that it was not a good night sleep when Valena is up and out of the campervan before you...that girl can you usually sleep so hard that a natural disaster could occur and she would only realize it by reading about it in the morning newspaper!

After spending a couple hours getting a coffee and on facebook, we were on the road again and heading south to Newcastle to see Carmen, Megan and Bree; friends from a Contiki trip in Europe a couple of years ago. It is funny that in a few hours time I would see girls from a different lifetime; girls that I hoped to see again but never thought it would happen due to geography...but coming to Australia eliminates that obstacle! We enter Newcastle not really knowing much about the place, only that we have friends and a shower awaiting for us so here are a few facts about Newcastle.

1. It is the 2nd largest city in New South Wales

2. It is the largest coal exporting harbor in the world, exporting 88,880,000 tonnes of coal in 2007/2008

3. In 1989 there was an earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale.

Getting to Carmen's place was easy thanks to Betsy (our handy GPS). It was fantastic to see sweet Carmen and to introduce the ladies to her. We parked our little campervan in her drive way and were once again treated amazing! Hospitality is alive and well in Australia. Carmen's house become our house for 14 hours and we plugged all our macs in, our camera batteries and each got to have a shower, which was such a delight and much needed since it had been awhile! I can not describe to you how amazing a warm shower in a real house feels to the traveler. It is almost as good as Christmas morning! But better than that was spending the night with old friends. It is amazing how years can go by but friendships remain. It was fabulous catching up with each other's lives and discovering who we still are and have become. Carmen took us for a driving tour of Newcastle and we were pleasantly surprised at how pretty the city was! We then went to Darby's pub for a fantastic and cheap meal!! I would highly recommend this pub for food and good atmosphere, although I was lucky to have such great company. Bree and Megan met us five there and it was lovely catching up! It still was a "pinch me" night being with these ladies! Valena saw her first LDS missionaries here and was ecstatic and of course had to take a picture, and the whole ride home Carmen was educated on the LDS religion and was astounded of the serving aspect! I could just see the wheels in her head turning thinking about the upcoming task of painting the floor and how eager these boys are to help...I wonder if she had them assist her already and what else she has them doing!! Following super was the marathon of showers and the just the delight to be in a house, not a heated, squishy campervan and having a clean bathroom! Valena and I stayed up late, since we are the night owls of the group, just journalling, playing music and enjoying the quiet of the night. We got up early with Carmen as she left for work and were so sad that our stay was so short. Carmen is an amazing hostess and we were blown away how sweet she was to us! I am positive we will be back to visit them again once we return to the east coast! Keep checking our travels out and thanks for all the thoughts and prayers! XOXO Luv B

Yamba Baby!

November 30,2009

We have 3 words for anyone currently in Australia, or planning a trip to Aus: GO TO YAMBA! And in addition to that, go to Yamba

YHA hostel/café/bar! Best hostel yet- brand new building, pool, flat screen TV’s, great bathrooms, and the best part- the kindest, most enthusiastic extended family run this place! W

e had one of our top days in this amazing seaside town yesterday. We invaded the YHA the previous evening upon arriving in Yamba, searching for some fun things to do for our short stay. Signed up for Shane’s tour…and although he likes to call it his ‘bullshit’ tour (legitimately so for all the pranks & lies he fed us i

n 3 hours)…we think he should charge way more for this great tour around Yamba. We only paid $10 to Longboard @ Turner’s point all morning (with Shane & his expert tips)…free ride there, all our gear, and one of the best beaches & waves for our skill level so far! Such a fantastic morning! Then, another $10 got us the infamous Shane tour. And yes, we all survived it! Whoop, whoop! We got to: see kangaroos for the first time (!!!), go cliff jumping into 2 separate freshwater pools, walk along gorgeous beaches, check out incredible viewpoints, checked out the Angourie Reserve (known for some of the top waves in all of Australia, but because it’s a nature reserve…no surf competitions allowed here!). What a great host, he even scaled the rock walls with us (making sure we didn’t end up in the local ER) before jumping off the cliffs. Phew…what a packed day! Shane had our

entire gullible group believing that he had a red belly snake waiting in a cave to show us. Brittany was nearly hyperventilating, and chose to walk down the path to avoid being near a snake. We screamed, and then nearly peed ourselves as one of the German guys in our group went running down the trail like he’d just seen a ghost! Shane got us good. He also had us believing we were hand feeding piranhas bread, and that if we went swimming off the dock they would nip us for sure! Turns out

they were just regular, really hungry, snapping & jumping fish. And avoiding the BS for a few minutes, he told us there were elels in the pools we had been swimming in, lucky for Britt he waited until we were already out to share this info. We sooooo appreciated Shane’s sense of humor, his witty ways, his warm & welcoming presence, and the enthusiasm that he held in this tour! Upon arriving back at the hostel (which we weren’t even staying at), he gave us the grand tour, we met his gorgeous blonde Aussi kids (while they were enjoying iceblocks), and the rest of the family. We told him we’ll be back in March, looking for jobs. He has us convinced that we’ll be on short boards after only a couple months boarding in Yamba with them. Sold! Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the wicked restaurant at this hostel! They have a full menu of amazing seafood dishes to burgers, specialty coffees & desserts, etc…but highlight of my evening was getting lasagna for supper! I haven’t had any since leaving home, and I really miss my Mom’s lasagna... this stuff was so good, and only $5 with salad! Yamba has left us overwhelmingly impressed. We will be back. Peace. d.

Are we back in 1967???

Leaving Byron Bay we say goodbye to our favorite beach as of yet and the town that stole a little corner of all our hearts. This town will forever be a place of joy for us and we promise each other that we will be back to see the shores again and to properly surf the waves that beckon all new travelers to ride.

Onward a couple hours north to a little town hidden in the hills known as Nimbin. You would think that somewhere along the road to this town we entered a timewarp and were transferred back in time because once our campervan drove in we knew we "weren't in Kansas anymore". Into the colorful lan

d of freedom, love and peace; we had o

fficially entered the town of Nimbin...the most hippy town there ever could be in the 21st century.

I am not kidding when I say dreadlocks and the scent of marijuana was found on 9/10 of the habitants. We had arrived on the day of the market and behold were sheets of books about herbal remedies, an

ti-war, global warming and the free-spirit. Children were running naked and everywhere someone was sitting with their guitar singing

a tune. Everyone was "yeah man" and "hey" which were clear indicators that marijuana was alive and well used in this town.

We turned to walk on the main street and were amazed at the colors and shop signs (Bring-a-bong & Happy High Herbs) The most interesting place was the museum, which was adorned with sayings, quotes and a lovely tape showing how to make and smoke pot. It was a photographers delight in there and Dan took every opportunity to get as much of it on camera as possible! It was a crazy, beautiful display of artwork and creative genius. Valena's and my favorite part was watching the c

ops come in and search underneath items for pot and such! Too funny that they are trying so hard to crack down on the drugs and yet everyone around that place is high as a kite! Poor cops are fighting a losing battle but still the ever-eager tourists we are, tried to snap photos of them searching for the weed. Always the asian tourists we are with camera's ready for any opportunity to catch life on fil

m!

We spent two hours in Nimbin and couldn't wait to leave that time warp where the hippies were idealistic and radical. Not only was the town "interesting" but we were literally melting away in the 40 + degree weather, although according to Valena it was at least 49...her exaggeration gets worse the higher the temperature is!.

It was so warm you could breath in the heat and the relief of cold water bought from the local stores to quench your thirst evaporated quickly and turned into lukewarm water....mmmm! It was miserably hot and the best part was after finding our way

back to our campervan (no Volkswagen for us

unfortunately) Dan and I lost out and had to sit in the ba

ck in our swimsuits with no AC. Jodie and Valena were lucky to have it blasting on them in the front. But in the sauna in the back we were spread out but not touching cause any contact would just result in our skin sliding off each other's due to the extensive amount of sweat dripping off. In that kind of heat you don't eat, you can't sleep you are just dazed...kind of like those hippies!

I'm posting lo

ts of pictures because this place is worth the look! Love & Peace

B

Byron Bay and all the beauty that comes with it

As Britt previously mentioned, Byron Bay has definitely found a place in each of our hearts. It's the kind of place that you hear good things about and have these huge expectations, but in the back of your mind you are prepared to be let down a little. Fortunately, that was not the case. If anything, we were more impressed with Byron than we would've ever thought. We loved the laid-back, friendly attitude and made the most of our time there by enjoying the beaches and taking in all the beauty that was surrounding us.
We spent a couple of days surfing, first at Clarks beach, which they recommend for learning surfers, and then made our way over to Talos beach. The waves were pretty tame at Clarks, but Talos was another story. Luckily some nice Spanish boys came along and gave us some surfing lessons to prepare us, but still we were no match for the waves that we faced. After catching a few waves each, we spent just under an hour paddling back out to catch another. There seemed to be no break between the waves, quickly sucking all the energy from us as our arms turned into rubber. After realizing that we made it nowhere at all, we headed in and checked out another beach, the Pass and spent an afternoon sun-tanning and playing in the waves. It's amazing how strong the waves can be...you quickly realize that you are no competition against them!
We took a break from the beach one morning and went for the 8 km walk to the lighthouse which takes you along the many beaches in Byron to the top of a hill to the lighthouse, giving an amazing view of Byron Bay. We were all in awe with the views of the ocean, beaches and rocks along the way. I could've spent a whole afternoon just walking along and taking pictures, trying to capture the magnificence of it all. On the way back down from the lighthouse, I took a little detour and walked down to Watego Beach and the peninsula for another great view. The rest of the way back I walked along the beaches, partially aware that the tide was coming in, but still determined to get past the rocks and stay on the beach. At one point there was less than a meter of beach left for me to get by if I waited and timed it right...luckily I made it, with a couple scrapes from slipping down the rocks. Apparently flip flops are not the best for rock-climbing!
Our nights were usually filled with us walking around town, checking out live music either at The Great Northern or The Beach Hotel, hitting up the amazing bakery, or else staying entertained by the schoolies and their ridiculous antics. The people we met in Byron Bay were so friendly and it seemed that we weren't the only ones the fall in love at first glance. So many people working in Byron were just traveling through, but quickly changed their plans and haven't left since. After being there for only 5 days, it was easy to understand why.
If I were to recommend one thing to do in Byron during your stay, it would be to get up early to watch the sunrise. It is a perfect way to start of your day. Sitting on the beach, listening to the waves and watching the sun slowly creep it's way into the sky. Definitely worth giving up a couple hours of sleep for!
We were all sad to leave, but I have a feeling that we will return at some point in time before heading home. I'm sure that we will fall in love with many more places as our journey around Australia has only just begun. Stay tuned to find out our next destination with our campervan!
Miss you all at home, hope you are surviving the Alberta winter!
Jod

Commencement of Campervan Roadie!

Another milestone that occured the same day as my bday was our first full day in the campervan!!! Four girls, much too much luggage, one van and roughly 50 hours of driving ahead of us. We opted to get a GPS which we dubbed "Betsie" and if we were to have a MVP of the trip, Betsie would be first in line. She won our trust on our drive up the east coast from Sydney to Byron Bay when she took us around a highway detour... There were times when we were a little skeptical, especially when Brittany, who was driving, came to a tiny country road and a bridge that was barely big enough for us to fit over but she pulled through and got us to our destination and the scenery was absolutely beautiful! I can't believe Jodie and I ever wanted to save $90 and not get a GPS. Betsie has saved us from our own driving mistakes. Brittany and I make an especially bad team. When the two of us are in the front seat together we still manage to go off course, GPS and all... Imagine the wrong turns, fights, tears, and wasted gas if we were left to our own means.

There was a little trepidation when we were driving to pick up our home on wheels and my uncle actually ditched out before we saw it because he was so sure of our impending doom in regards of trying to fit all of our luggage and ourselves into one van. Luckily, it was bigger then the lil picture on the internet looked. In fact, after others had seen ours in comparison to other camper vans driving around, they dubbed her our 'Hilton on wheels'. Luckily we are all still in the laughing mode in regards to our little home for the next 30 days. We are being v. frugal (cheap) so we only plug in our camper in when absolutely necessary which has brought us much excitement trying to find a new place to settle for the night. Once in Byron Bay we infiltrated a local YHA hostel easier than we had thought. We lounged in their reading room, ate, showered and made friends with the staff there and within a couple days we had almost convinced ourselves that we were staying there. The only time we came close to getting caught was when our new staff friend (who rec'd free accommodation at the hostel) was remarking how expensive it must be to stay as long as we were (Byron Bay hostels are v. expensive in comparison to other cities) and asked how much we were paying each night.... Luckily, Jod is a quick thinker on her feet and stammered a deflective response and we remained under the radar. When it came to parking overnight, each night was somewhere different. One lesson learned; things always look completely different in the light of day. We would drive and think we found a great little parking space and then in the morning we would find ourselves a) right in front of a big "NO overnight parking" sign, b) 10 steps away from a campground, c) awoken by a cop and informed we were def. in a no-park zone.... Jodie (the early-riser that she is) wasn't there but the rest of us were passed out still when at 6 am when we heard a massive loud banging... We tried the whole "ignore it and maybe it'll go away" approach but the cop was not as dumb as we hoped cause he called out that he knew we were in there.... Danielle was the least stubborn of us and finally, she opened the door to get verbally reprimanded for camping overnight right in front of an elementary school... whoops.... Meanwhile, I was still blissfully passed out on the top bunk, the only movement I could muster was a lil hand wave when he asked if I was alive..

Everyday is an amazing adventure and i wouldn't change one part of it. Not one. Well, except maybe be home for Christmas. :) But we are so happy to have each other during this wonderful season and it's always good to try something new so we're all excited to experience our first Christmas on the beach and have a good ol' aussie barbie.

Cheers!

V

Byron Bay

This timeless surf town has been compared to by some as the "early days of San Diego". Beach bums, hippies, surfer boys and artists of all kinds roam the streets and make the unforgettable town the place to be for tourists and Aussies! We got completely taken with this town in a matter of moments of arriving and by the next day we all wanted to stay longer and were casually finding out what jobs could be found just in case we couldn't tear ourselves away from this place. We ended up sticking to our schedule and leaving in time....but with many backward glances as we drove away from this gorgeous place...thank goodness we didn't turn into pillars of salt!

Unfortunately we arrived at a time where schoolies were rampant. Schoolies is a term used by the Aussies for students graduating high school (ages 17-18). And we found ourselves in the midst of teenagers and youngins that were celebrating being done school and having the time of their life! It's kinda like Spring Break in Mexico for Americans/Canadians. We felt like old hens compared to the schoolies but it was entertaining when a 17-year old would try sweet talking to us only to be told how "ancient" we were. You have to give the kids credit for trying and they provided us with laughter at their efforts and amazing amount of charm. Were all seventeen year olds that witty when we were that young...I don't think Southern Alberta had that "degree of charm" in our boys or we would have been smitten at a young age and swept off our feet!

The main street was incredible; filled with enticing surfer stores, cafes and enough clubs to keep everyone out all night! I have to mention the 24 hours bakery because it entrapped all of us to spend money night after night on curry chicken pies and apple danishes! I kid you not, this is the best bakery by far and the pastries were so fresh that late in the night that is the only thing you crave! Jodie even splurged and got the caramel slice that we all were eyeing...she has good taste! We were hooked to this bakery because we met Mike and Mira. These sweet eastern Canadians not only shared the love for pastries with us but they also knew our friend. Long story short is that they in fact went to law school at the University of Toronto a year after our friend Khalid, a gem of a guy we met on Spring break in Cuba. Now if this isn't proof of how small this world is I don't know what else I can give you! Meeting these two Canadians was awesome and spending the next couple of days in Byron with them was so fun! We will never think of that bakery without thinking of you two!!

It is amazing the more places the go the more you feel like you belong and this can't keep happening because we already love too many places and see ourselves living in a few towns & cities already and our trip hasn't truly begun! But if there is anything to say about this town is it is a MUST to stop here. And plan to be here for more than a few days because you will end up falling for this town, the fellow travelers and the amazing beach!

We miss you all lots! Hope the snow comes soon to blanket the ground and trees with the glow of Christmas! Love you!

B

Birthday Week Fever- Nov 09

I am officially now longer 23 effective November 24, 2009... One more year till I hit a quarter of a century, until I am closer to 50 then being born... Oh dear! But I must say, if the first two days of being 24 is any indication, I think this is gonna be my best year yet. My family here in Oz and my three besties spoiled me absolute rotten, unfortunately alot of that spoiling involved amazing food which I will trying to burn off over the next few days with surfing... Win/win situation, no? For all you November birthday boys and girls out there, you'll appreciate my excitement to have my first birthday in 24 years with a guarantee of no snow, no coldness, no staying indoors! I felt like a little kid with all the possibilities of a summer birthday! But if that wasn't enough, we arrived in Byron Bay (aka Heaven On Earth) just in time for my birthday! Almost every single person we talk to states that, hands down, Byron Bay is their favorite slice of Australia. We arrived at 6 pm and by 6:05 pm we were in total agreement. The girls agreed that my birthday should last 48 hrs since I have to celebrate it both in the Oz time zone and my home time zone and who could disagree with my friends' great wisdom so I just went with it. Plus they gave me total vito power for the days activities... that kind of power is intimidating but I hope that I used my powers for the good of all.... Luckily this gave me more time to accomplish the birthday checklist that Brittany made me... Items from this list include (but are not limited to); surf, walk on the beach, eat choc chip banana pancakes, eat ice cream, hang with my besties, see a koala, dance, and get a kiss from an aussie bloke... We happened to stop at a Koala Hospital on my birthday and, as Danielle said, there's no worry about breaching patient confidentiality when your patient is a koala so there was a board with all the 'patients' diagnosis's and the interventions being implemented. Fittingly, there was a koala pt named "birthday girl"! Unfortunately, at the ripe old age of 22+ yrs she was labelled as 'ancient'... oh dear! All in all, I'd say I completed 99% of my tasks... My kiss was just a kiss on the cheek but that's all I was really after cause my heart is already occupied by the surf and the beach....

Luv V

All In A Sydney Day…Manly Beach to Wicked! (November 19, 2009)

I really have to blow our own horn here, and say we’ve become extremely resourceful travelers. We have had many days called ‘The best day yet’ as our heads hit the pillows, completely exhausted from packing so much into only 1 day. Today was one of those days. We began by heading into the city from Stanwell Tops. After riding the train into Circular Quay, we hopped off, gazing at the gorgeous Sydney harbor and Opera house. Brittany was ecstatic, and we had to pinch her a few times to ensure her that she was awake in the moment. Her childhood dream of one day seeing the Opera house had finally come to fruition, and it was almost as fun watching her, as it was to take in the sights. The giddy smile never left her face. The harbor bridge was stunning, and we look forward to driving across it when we pick up our campervan in a few days!

We hopped onto the ferry over to Manly beach. Apparently history has it that this beach was named by Cpt. Cook & his men as they sailed into the harbor, and after seeing so many masculine Aboroginal men on shore, gave it the name ‘Manly Beach’. We were expecting a bit more ‘Muscle-beach’ (L.A. style) scenery/ people-watching…but it was full of your typical tourist mix. The beach was packed, the waves were big, and we just soaked up the heat and beach-bummed it for the afternoon. Manly wasn’t as great as Bondi, in our opinion, but we enjoyed the sun a lil’ tooooooooo much! We all walked away with brutal sunburns after using spray sunscreen. Haha, apparently you have to spray AND rub it in well. We looked like we had random rashes across our sides, chests, and posterior legs from all the spots we accidentally missed. Whoops! Lesson learned the painful way. The shopping on Manly was awesome, great atmosphere, music in the streets, and an entire Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop! Yes, really! Deadly, but we were good girls and only nabbed a few samples before finding some really great Thai food instead. Valena & Britt bought adorable dresses, and we’re finding it harder and harder to have self-control with all the incredible shopping in Aus! Ugh- it’s torture!

So here comes the efficiency of our group of 4. Not only did we change into our bikinis on the ferry over…we brought our theatre outfits along with us to the beach. So, on the way back to Sydney harbor, rocking back and forth on the wobbly ferry we did a quick wardrobe change. We walked in sunburned, salty, and scalawag…and out in evening dresses and freshly sprayed perfume. It was hilarious trying to balance in the ferry restroom, but a few ladies seemed to be amused by our ingenious clean-up saying “Oh to be young and going out again!” “Have fun girls!”. Jodie snapped a group photo- she’s the queen of taking shots and managing to get all of our heads in- and the background! It’s pure talent.

The highlight of Sydney for me was going to see the musical Wicked! I had been looking forward to this since leaving home, and tonight was the night! We were mesmerized, enchanted, and completely blown away by the unbelievable performance at the Capitol theatre! The theatre itself was beautiful- Britt especially enjoyed the fairy-tale style bathrooms. The stage was unreal- so detailed- and the voices of the performers, alongside the perfectly conducted orchestra, was magical! It was like stimuli-overload as you took in the beautiful show. We even visited with the double-bass player in the orchestra before the show as we took pictures near the ‘Stage Entrance’ after coffees & tea at Gloria Jean’s. A very delightful night to remember! We were all humming a little ‘Popular’ through the park as we walked back to the train.

Bondi to Coogee - Nov 18

The day started off with a every early bush walk at 6 am. We were all used to getting up early to catch the bus when we were in NZ, but 545 am sure came fast and was not welcomed by us girls. But we all managed to get up and out the door by 6 with Karen in tow and met up with their neighbor, Jim, for a short walk to a beautiful waterfall. He had tons of little stories to keep us entertained as we made our way through the bush. We received a quick lesson about the eucalyptus trees, the aboriginals and some other history about Oz. Before we knew it we were at a gorgeous waterfall with an amazing view of the Royal National Park. What a great way to start the day! We got back to the house, refueled with eggs and yogurt, and went off to the Miranda mall for a couple hours, where Danielle and Britt got their Australian phones and then headed off to Bondi beach for the afternoon, meeting up with Valena at the train station. We got to Bondi beach and as soon as we saw the beach full of surfers and beach bums, we fell in love. Between the turquoise waters, white sand and beautiful people to stare at, we could not find one reason why we would ever leave this place (except for family and friends of course). After strategically changing into our bikinis with the help of a beach towel, we scurried down to the beach to sink our sand in the feet and walk down the beach. We decided to walk from Bondi beach to Coogee beach, which takes about an hour and a half, following the coast line, passing by little beaches along the way and beautiful views of the ocean. With the sun shining down on us, we were in bright spirits and off we went. We all really enjoyed the walk for the first hour and ten minutes, but then hunger started to get the best of us and we started to drag our feet, complaining about our rumbling stomachs, how hot it was, our sore feet, and anything else we could think of. At one point I was even dragging my white purse on the ground, cursing myself for packing so much into one bag. Luckily it took no time at all to get to our final destination from there and we were on our search to find food. We totally lucked out and found $5 steak with chips and salad. We couldn't believe it! We quickly got into line and about 10 minutes later we were all sitting down just gazing at our delicious meals (well, they were gazing, I was already scarfing mine down). Our luck didn't end there. After supper I was craving something sweet, so we went into Subway to check out their cookies. Much to my delight they had a new kind, a double chocolate chunk with half of it covered with white chocolate and milk chocolate drizzle. Valena being the deal maker that she is asked if we could have a sample, and we ended up getting a whole cookie to try. Well that satisfied my craving for sweets and we left for our next stop. We made it to the bus stop without any other distractions until we saw McDonalds across the street. Their 50 cent cones are just too good to resist, but somehow that night we managed to and instead Dan stopped there for a coffee fix. The rest of us went for a short walk down the street and ended up getting a container full of two different kinds of salads that we wanted to sample. We were bubbling with joy when Dan met up with us, and she joined in after being given a free latte with her coffee. Seriously, how many free things could we get in one night? Four Canadian girls in Australia seems to be quite an advantage for us and we plan to keep using it to get "samples" and saving money that way. Who knows, maybe by the end we could manage to get free clothes! Wouldn't that be ideal?
Luv Jod

Stanwell Tops and the Wyghts: November 16, 2009

We arrived in Australia yesterday, and for as crushed as we were to leave N.Z., we are already in love with this amazing country... So, to all you people who said we would love Oz when we were whinging about leaving NZ, you can say "I told you so...". Plus, we were lucky enough, for the second time in a row, to have someone waiting for us when we touched down. My Uncle Doug, my dad's brother, was kind enough to make the hour drive to the airport to pick us up and he was smart enough to bring the station wagon to fit all of our ridiculous amount of luggage... I think we've all come to realize how much we massively over-packed when we saw we each have about double what everyone else we encounter has; the sad part is, I thought I had done good in regards to packing.

I can't begin to tell you how fantastic they all have been already. We are set up in a fantastic lil studio with our own lil bathroom. Their house, in Stanwell Tops, is gorgeous, with an ocean view from the living room window, and you need only walk ten steps and you have your choice of fantastic hikes or bike trails. Due to the distance between our families, I've only met my cousins: Byron 12 yrs, Cheyenne 9 yrs, and Annelise 4 yrs, a handful of times, the last being 2.5 years ago. I am so excited for all the time I'll have to spend time and get to know my family here in Oz. These kids are fantastically cute... Their lil oz accents put them over the top. My Aunt Karen, our appointed activities coordinator, and my Uncle Doug have been so great to us. My Unc Doug even made a list of all the hip bars/clubs to hit, including one that is called the dry cleaners because that's where you go if you want to pick up a 'suit'... haha... we didn't end up going to any but we loved how they were always looking for a good activity for us. We are so happy to be in a family environment again, our new home away from home, and are so excited to spend a whole week here. We are getting worried though. Every place we go, we fall in love with it and it's gonna be very tough to decide where to settle down in the end... Which leads us to our second worry; WHEN will we settle down and work? We keep adding on more places we want to see, and things we want to do, that we have no idea when we are actually gonna start working... But I figure, if you are gonna have worries in your life, these are the kind you want...

Cheers!

V

The best of NZ!!

In our three weeks of traveling the North Island we can say we have a pretty good idea what are amazing finds in NZ and we can’t help but share them all with you! These are not only are favorites but if you ever do come to NZ they are a necessary part in being a true KIWI!!

Best chocolate bar: Moro Gold…it is by far the most amazing chocolate bar we have ever tasted!

Best Song: Slice of Heaven by Dob Dobbyn… Download it. Listen to it. Love it. Repeat it.

Best city: Wellington of course but don’t let the wind deter you, there is so much to see in this city and the people are gems!

Best beach: Raglan hands down. The surf is incredible and you have to see the black sand.

Best Tourist activity: It would be a tie between going deep into the caves in Waitoma; abseiling and repelling in waterfalls 80 feet below the surface or skydiving in Taupo (the views are amazing)!!!

Best ice cream: Hokey Pokey

Best candy: the amazing red raspberry licorice that is soft and contains white chocolate in the middle…pure delicacy right there and only in NZ!

Best sports activity: Go to a Rugby game!!! You will live the energy and the pace of the game and you will leave a convert to the sport!

Best hike: Tangoriro Crossing (for those who want to see some amazing emerald and blue lakes) and the mini-hike in Wellington to Mt Victoria

Best purchase: V- blow dryer with diffuser

B- a new flip to replace the last one & my designer dress

D- bow headband & skydiving dvd

J- Black Nike pullover

Best date spot: it’s in Wellington it would on the hike to Mt Victoria overlooking the city while you are surrounded by forest. It is in the scene for LOTR and it is a place where a girl could get swept off her feet easily without the guy having to do much!

Best place to go out: Courtney Place in Wellington

Best burgers: Supremo!!!! They are massive and cheap too!!

Best pies to try: don’t waste your money there are better things to eat!

Best place to stay: The attic or living room in Jaime Dunn’s house.

Best saying to pickup: Oh dear!

Best beer: Rattler

Best vacation spot: Hahai by far. It’s complete relaxation!

Best stray bus driver: Ricky…he always went the extra mile to book activities for us and even let us be the dj’s for a bit!

Best time of your life…go to NZ!

WHITE LIGHTNING’S HATAITAI HIT-OUT! (Saturday, November 14, 2009)

85 Moxham Avenue was the location for our incredible good-bye/housewarming/beer pong/All White’s soccer game party! It was unreal. The Wellingtonian guys went over-the-top with planning this party, making posters, name-tags (and nicknames for us all), buying food (total man-grub with all the sausage rolls, wieners, chips, & meat pies), and educating us on the best beer & wine choices while in New Zealand. And to top it all off, they all showed up in their best fashion- dress coats, shoes, and even a few ties were busted out! We were completely impressed, and not to be outdone, our plan of Canadian style jeans & T’s quickly turned into an emergency change of wardrobe. I think we pulled it off quite well, which is convenient when you can get ready at the same place the party’s at. We were staying in Jamie’s attic, which was the perfect set-up for us to glam-up with our flash-packer gear. I think we may have even showered that day, in appreciation for all the effort put into planning this awesome party.

The most anticipated event of the night was definitely the guys’ performance of their own Huka. They did not disappoint! They were strategic about getting it right, which was demonstrated by the in-sync rhythm of the chanting, moves & fierce looking faces. Shirts-off huka was the best one yet, even beating out the downtown version from a couple weeks earlier. We can’t seem to get enough of watching these boys in full warrior mode. We also watched the All-Blacks do their Huka before playing Italy @ 4am in the morning when the party started quieting down. Britt was relieved to beat out Ged in a game of ‘Toss the ball into the bowl’…avoiding having to snort a line of Paprika. Phew! We loved the company (a house full of great kiwis!), the music (danced the night away), the food (although we have had our fill of meat-pies for now) and loved celebrating the All-White’s first World-Cup qualifying victory since 1982! Valena ended up sitting next to the assistant coach of the team on our flight to Sydney the next day! He nearly laughed when she asked if he thought Canada would have a chance at making the World Cup ;-(. Our nick-names for the night were: Dan= E.C (for being mistaken for Elisha Cuthbert…and unfortunately sounded much too similar to EZ…yeah.). Valena= Danica Patrick (for her mad driving tactics around Wellington…Jamie always had to remind her the speed limit was only 50 km/hr through the Mt. Victoria tunnel cuz she would go 100km/hr). Britto=Darling Bridget (Spitz kept calling her Bridget on our last visit, and it just stuck with Britt’s classy demeanor). Jodie=Mrs.______(I won’t be posting this, but we all loved her name). A few of us enjoyed a lovely dinner on the floor of the sunroom the next day…after cleaning up the heaping post-party mess. The girls enjoyed their last Supremo burger, which will be dearly messed as we head to Aus. We were sad to leave Wellington, but have full hopes of returning next February for the 7’s at the cake-tin! Don’t forget our bet Matt- we return for the 7’s…and you owe us an obligatory visit to Canada! And Jamie, I think you need to join us in exploring the South Island next year! D.

Return to Wellington!!!! November 12, 2009

Today was our final Stray bus ride and the time was well enjoyed thanks to two games. One: kissing the lollipop man. Basically, whenever the bus saw a lollipop man, they'd stop and the first person who ran out of the bus and kissed him on the cheek without any explanation would win an ice cream or a beer. When we first heard this being announced, my first thought was this kindly old man was on the side of the road selling suckers. Turns out, flag crew on road construction are called lollipop men/women... One lollipop guy in particular was less than pleased when a girl from our bus kissed him... We got quite the stink-eye... The second game was no-one was allowed to say "mine" for any reason. If you did, and you were caught, the punishment was 10 push-ups... It's harder than it sounds but on the bright-side, all of us, except Jodie, got in some exercise while on the bus...

We arrived back in Wellington and when we saw the coastline for the first time again, we couldn't contain our excitement. When we wheeled our luggage up the stairs to 85 Moxham Ave, it felt like coming home but it was bittersweet. We were so excited to be back at Jamie's and Matt's we knew that we would have to say good-bye to our Stray friends. It's amazing how 2 weeks earlier, we had no idea who Grant, Mark, Andrew, Danny or Tom were and now we were all choked to say good-bye and know that they would be continuing on down to the South Island and we would stay in Wellington. Our flip camera continues to cement it's value to us by allowing us to capture memories of the people and places we meet and go to.... Sometimes, in the case of Grant and Mark, our memories were captured against someone's will... Sorry boys, but it was worth it.

Jamie and Matt set us up in the Attic this time as the living room was needed to prepare for the amazing White Lightning Entertainment sponsored party saturday night. These guys are flirting with danger by being so fantastic to us, we have half a mind to ditch the rest of our travels and just set up permanent shop here in their attic. Especially, when they introduced us to Supremo Burgers; the best hamburgers with the biggest buns we have ever eaten. We were hooked; not gonna lie, we ate there 3 out of the 4 days we were there.. The burger guy was quite amused when we kept showing up. I think he partly thought/wished we were there for him. Another friend of Jamie's we met, Ged, was kind enough to take us out to Eastborne in Wellington on his day off and show us around. He had a great plan of taking us on a ferry across but unfortunately due to a delay, so Dan could get stop by a drop in clinic, and the weather turning we stuck with a tour from inside the car. But we had a blast making pointless videos and house gazing. Man, there are some wealthy people out there in the hills of Wellington on the coast. Case in point; Some houses are so high in the hills, surrounded by trees that the only way to get up into the house is to build a over-priced cable car system to get you from the street to the house. We tried sneaking on one but we were no match for their security unfortunately...

We are really lucky to have hospitality like Jamie and his friends have shown us. Our tickets to Sydney are on sunday. We'll see if we're on the plane...

Luv V

The 15, 000 ft. DREAM: Skydiving Taupo - November 8

We truly have packed the most epic outdoor activities into one short week on the North Island. After sea kayaking, surfing Raglan, caving/abseiling, white water rafting, and hiking....Danielle & I undertook one of the best experiences of our lives! We went skydiving in Lake Taupo @ 15,000 feet. When we booked our stop over in NZ, right away I said that the one thing that I was going to do while I was here was to skydive because it was cheaper than Australia and the views are just spectacular. Our whole trip I have been waiting for the day to come and when it finally did arrive, I was so ready to jump out of that plane. We left Rotorua around 12:30, almost not getting onto the bus because of a few errors in our online booking, but once we got that all figured out, we were on the bus and headed for Taupo for a few nights and to do some skydiving. Danielle and I were semi-excited on the bus, just thinking about it, but I don't think it really actually set in until we were in the limo that picked us up from the hostel to go skydiving. I don't know if the limo ride made people more nervous or excited for the jump. With nine people in a car, all heading to go skydiving, knowing that within the next hour we will all have to jump out of a plane, there were a lot of nerves and emotions there. Andrew, Danny, Tom and Mark all decided to go skydiving as well and we all kept doing the hand check to see who's hand was the most unsteady. We were all pretty good at concealing how we were feeling. The guys actually admitted being a bit nervous and even considered backing out for a split second. I'd say that Danielle and I were pretty calm until we had to choose what height we were going to jump from. Then Danielle started to break down a bit. Her nerves were increasing and she started to feel nauseous, which Andrew thought would be cured with chocolate. Believe it or not, this time chocolate would not solve it! After some deep breathing and calming words from her friends, Danielle relaxed a bit and was ready to go. Initially, trying to save money, we planned on only doing the 12,000 ft. jump...but Danielle was an easy target to be sucked into doing te big jump, AND getting the DVD of it all. Not to be outdone, I joined Dan up there at 15,000 feet in the little pink airplane. Of course we were the lucky ones that got to go first out of our group, so we got all decked out in our coveralls, harnesses and snazzy flying caps, practiced the flying banana and were ready to go. Up we went in the airplane to over 15,000 ft. and then our tandem partners and then it was time to jump. When I was told to put my feet out of the plane, I was thinking "are you kidding me?!", but nothing was stopping me. I can't even describe the feeling of the free-fall from the plane. It's something that can only be experienced to be understood. Oh my gosh! Seriously - one of the coolest things either of us have ever done. Absolutely incredible! Insane, but serene, as we sailed down in tandem-mode. And yes, our parachutes DID open (Thank you Lord)...and Dan may have thrown out a swear as we dove down...forgetting that it was all on DVD waiting to be seen by her mom & dad at home. Oh dear! No regrets. Once we made it safely to ground, we were both on a high, not able to wipe the smiles off our faces and eager to try it again. It's such an exhilarating and addictive thing to experience! Definitely was well worth the money and hopefully if you are lucky, Danielle will let you watch her DVD to give you a better idea of what we are talking about.

Jod & Dan