A Farewell to Australia

            Well my friends, the time has come. The time where I look for the last time upon the beautiful Australian landscape, take my last breath of the now familiar Aussie air and take my first step on the plane to take me back home.  Although, now that the time has come, it almost feels like I am leaving home in a way. I have made so, so many memories here and the friends I have made here are some amazing relationships I feel are only just getting started but I know are here to last for a lifetime. 

Getting an early morning send-off as I get ready to board my 5:30 am flight,
the first of many on my journey back to the States

            It would be impossible for me to name all the people that have made this experience beyond anything I ever expected and I fear that I would incidentally leave someone out! But if you are reading this, even if we maybe only met once or had only a couple conversations, you played a part in this experience that I know has changed me for the better and this entry is for you.

Overlooking Townsville from atop Mt. Stuart as we await the coming sunset

            When I first began the planning steps of this trip, I knew that it was going to be one to challenge me, to push me to my limits, to grow me in ways that no other experience could have and to change me into someone that would hopefully set me more on the path for wherever God is taking me.  I can tell you now that I am not the same person I was when I said goodbye to my home in Oregon just 6 months ago.  I have grown in ways that I didn’t even know I could and I have so much more confidence in so many things.

Driving on the left (*cough**cough* wrong) side of the road for the first time

             I have learned to live more independently through this and it has opened my eyes to see another side of God’s character and not just the way God sees other people, but also the way people see me.  I don’t think I have ever felt so loved or a part of something so big as I did here!  It touched me to the point of tears to see the way that people commented incredulously at my leaving “so soon,” the friendships I have made here showing evidence that they are here to last for years to come.  I know it will not be the same, but I certainly look forward to keeping in contact with all my Aussie friends via Skype, email, Facebook and well, whatever else there is!

Lodge dinner!

            I have learned a whole heap of things in my time living here, from finding out the right way of eating Wheatbix (Never Eat Soggy Wheatbix I am told) to learning that “hey” is an acceptable way to end pretty much any sentence, hey. I now know what real Vegemite tastes like and that it’s a taste I don’t know if I could ever get use to! Sorry...  I have learned firsthand that koalas smell funny and that wombats are some dense little creatures.

            I have discovered that though Australia doesn’t really have anything called a skunk, flying foxes almost nearly fill that niche, with the smell aspect at any rate.  I have definitely developed a taste for Milo and kangaroo and I may or may not have bought and packed a giant tin of the first to take back to the States with me! Though the later I doubt I could get anywhere but Australia...
            I have been taught a whole heap of things in relation to rugby and I could probably honestly admit to you that I have learned to quite enjoy it now.  It’s nothing like American football at all and it’s a sport that I might just keep up on after heading back to the States!

            I have learned just how many kangaroo, wallaby and wallaroo type creatures there are and that no matter where you go, you are likely to find them in one form or another.

             Australia is not all this barren wasteland of red dirt and deadly critters that some people normally think of when they think of Australia.  Some of it is I guess, but not everything is out to kill you and it’s a land I could definitely envision staying in if that was my calling.

Completing the hike up Glacier Rock and taking in the overlook of the beautiful city of Cairns 

            This journey has given me an even broader perspective of the world around me and has helped me fall in love with yet another part of this world in which we live.  It seems to be the case every time I travel, and everywhere I go I leave a little piece of me behind. But I think it's safe to say that Australia has definitely gained a bigger piece. I will sorely miss the people and experiences I have grown accustomed to here and yes, I will even miss getting the micky taken out of everything I say and do!

            This will probably be my final blog entry as the intent here was to write about my trip to Australia which will have ended by the time I get this entry up.  I really want to thank you all so much for keeping up with these entries. I have really enjoyed writing them and I really do hope that those of you that kept up have enjoyed reading them as well.  Many have told me I should keep a blog going despite the fact that this one will be ending but, I don’t know. We’ll see I guess J.

Typical Aussie foods that any traveler into the land down under should always try...

Lamington - A sponge cake coated in chocolate sauce then rolled in coconut.  

Jelly slice - The bottom layer is a cookie crumb not dissimilar to crushed Graham crackers,then a layer of a condense milk mixture, then a layer of red Jello like stuff. 

Milo - If you don't like it to begin with don't worry, you will.  It grows on you :). It's like this chocolate malt powder not quite as sweet as hot chocolate mix that is best eaten either dissolved in hot milk, eaten off the top of cold milk, or sprinkled over ice cream. I wouldn't waste time mixing it with water though, it's just not the same...

Tim Tams - Kind of like this chocolate biscuit filled with chocolate and coated in chocolate.  We have them here in the States you know! And you definitely need to try a Tim Tam Slam which is biting the ends off both sides then drinking milk (or coffee, of Milo, of hot chocolate) through it then eating it.

Kangaroo - Tastes sort of like rabbit and deer combined but definitely has it's own distinct and gamey flavor.

Corcodile - I don't even know how to describe this one.  Just eat it.

ANZAC biscuits - A traditional cookie made with rolled oats, flour, coconut, and golden syrup.  But you need to make it yourself because the store bought ones just aren't the same as home baked ones!

Fish N' Chips - I really hope you all know what this is

Pavlova - It's like this meringue-based dessert with a crisp crust and a soft and fluffy inside.  Usually eaten with fresh fruit.

Weet-Bix - It's like this breakfast biscuit that looks like flakes of wheat squished together. I typically had them for breakfast with milk and sugar or honey.  But never eat them soggy! That's just sacrilege. 

Vegemite - Um yeah, of course!

The Last Days

            The next early morning started us off a little surprised, and frankly a little disappointed. The sunny blue skies of yesterday were long gone and replaced by heavy rainclouds releasing a dreary drizzle over the rolling green fields. But we were determined to still accomplish the day’s activities, putting on our Oregon and Alaska (and for Karen the Irish) weather hardened mindsets and brave the rainy walks we had planned in our thin raincoats and totally waterproof jeans (not).

 

Horseshoe Falls

            Our first walk was the two sites in one walterfall walk, trekking out to the beautiful Matai falls then trudging up the track another 2 minutes to take in the lovely Horseshoe Falls.  The rain began to pick up even more as we hurried back to our car, the rain coming down steadily as we emerged from the woods and hopped into the car. 

Matai Falls

            Continuing down the road, we took the turnoff to Porpoise Bay, well known to be the home of a large pod of the rare Hectors Dolphin. We sat in the car for a while there, parked parallel to the shores for a bit of carpark style dolphin watching.  I wouldn’t quite say with one hundred percent certainty that we saw them, but we all saw a number of brownish black patches cresting above the waves a little too far out to be rocks and the general consensus was a strong likelihood that they were dolphins.

            Continuing on a short ways, we parked the car again in the carpark of Curio Bay and braved once again the rain as we made the short walk to the oceanfront.  The bay is famous for the petrified forest that is still evident there, the tree trunks encompassed in rocks still evident even from the lookout above. 

            On the road again the skies finally opened up with all their fury and began dumping a pounding torrent of rain, the wind even joining in the festivities. We made it to the beginning of the Slope Point walk, the destination we knew boasting a funny little sight pointing to the South Pole.  Choosing to forego the little tourist geared jaunt through sheep fields and deciding to stay a little dryer for a little longer, we made our way to the final little featured site of Waipapa Point.  That we did brave, though I don’t know fully why in the slanting and pounding rain….

The lighthouse against the pouring rain at Waipapa Point

            But we did it by golly and hurried almost at a run back through the rain and to the safe and dry confines of the rental car.  Our scenic coastal drive complete, it was time to move inland and make the couple hour drive back to Queenstown.  Several stops later and we were back, the skies finally deciding they were done releasing their load and parting at last to show us the sun tinted snowy peaks of the surrounding mountains.  

The view of the mountains rising over the city from our hostel room balcony.

            The next morning it was time to pack up and head out, the bus coming in and picking up the crew from Nomads hostel at 9:15am. Crossing over the Lindis Pass, one of the highest driving points in New Zealand at 972 meters above sea level, we made our way to our second to last destination on our whirlwind trip of New Zealand trip. 

Lindis Pass

             As we went we began to see mountains more doused in snow, the lifting of the clouds revealing the white layer of powder their high altitudes storms had left behind.

Snow covered mountains stretching along the horizon

            We reached Lake Tekapo by 2:00 in the afternoon, the low light pollution town famous as one of the best star gazing places in the world. With a full afternoon to burn, Mom and I decided to brave the several hour hike up to the top of the neighboring Mount John, the freezing wind making us glad we bundled up well. 

            The trail wound its way around the lake side of the mountain, it’s muddy track ascending and descending the mountainside in a way that made us wonder if we were ever going to reach the top! A good hour later the track finally began to veer upwards for good, the rocky path leading us up and through the countryside littered with evidence of sheep grazing.

            Gosh was the scenery beautiful! The cloudy skies reflecting twinges of orange and purple. 

            We finally completed our trek to the top, probably right on with the 2 hour estimated travel time.  The view was breathtaking, the stargazing observatory behind us, the small town of Tekapo below us, and the vastness of Lake Tekapo stretching out beside us.

            We made it to the bottom just as the sun started to sink down the sky, the chill all the more biting and giving us the excuse to check out the giant, swimming pool sized hot tubs found right next door to our hostel. We left the small town early the next morning, our driver wanting to get started on what he thought of as a long and boring drive to our final destination of Christchurch. We took a short stop off to photograph an historic old chapel on the edge of town and then Jed, our driver popped in a comedian skit by Danny Bhoy to keep us occupied for the drive, and off we went.

The Church of the Good Shepherd

            We arrived at Christchurch in the early afternoon, finally getting to see the city well in the morning light that had been absent our last time through.  We took a long walk through town with Karen and Elena, another passenger friend from the Kiwi bus, and took in the sights of Christchurch.  Much of the city was destroyed in early 2011 when a massive earthquake hit, killing almost 200 people and severely damaging much of New Zealands second largest city.  Not surprisingly, there were massive construction projects and restoration processes underway all throughout the city and it was sad to see the damage done to some of the old historical buildings.

            But the city still runs as it must, the fountains in the park still running with all their gusto, the life size chess board set up on the sidewalk and the side street cafes still advertising their wares.

            Skirting all the construction and taking in the sights of town, we made our way to a classy little coffee shop in one of the downtown café strips.  One thing that was cool about the particular building we were in was that the city tour trolley actually periodically drove through the building.  That’s right, the big glass walls would open up, and the trolley would come rolling in on the track running straight trough the building and exit out the other side.  That was an odd sight to see the first time around!

             We then made our way to the Christchurch Cantebury Museum where they have on display a surprising array of items from all over Maori history and European settlement of New Zealand. 

Weapons, utensils, and trinkets made from  Pounamu or greenstone (what we would think of as Jade)

Traditional Maori carvings

            They have a fully replica of an old Victorian town, a couple streets zigzagging through the bowels of the museum and displaying fully believable shop fronts for things that could likely have been sold in those times and numerous replica shops that we could walk through and “browse.” I only wish I had had more time to see all there was to see! Unfortunately we got there right at 25 minutes before closing and our little self guided tour was certainly a very quick one.

Getting to ride a Penny-farthing!

            From there we made our way out the front doors of the museum and to the city’s biggest park, Hatleys Park and gardens. We simply walked around it for a while until dusk started settling in and we decided to go out in search of food for dinner.  We ended up choosing the nice little restaurant attached to our accommodation building, the café even having a special lower price menu for people staying at the hostel. 

            Mom and I chose to split the chicken curry which at one point we almost backed out on when they came back to us and said they had run out of rice and asked if we would like chips (fries) with that instead.  Karen assured us we really needed to give it a go as it is a very Irish style dish. And you know, I probably would have never pegged it as fantastic but it really was! You should give it a go some time.

Catching a glimpse of the now all too familiar sight of Townsville as my plane comes in for landing on the last flight of the long day flying out of New Zealand

           The following morning it was time to say our goodbyes, concluding our time in New Zealand and catching a bright and early 6:00am flight back to Australia.  And thus began what will be a full two or so days of travel before I rest my feet once more on American soil in the next coming days.  I will be finishing off this day in Townsville, where I will be staying with all my awesome friends and former housemates at the lodge for the night before I catch the first flight of many on my journey back home.

Chocolates, Castles and Lots of Little Penguins!

            For part of this week we were in the college town of Dunedin, boasting a history and culture more Irish inspired than any of the other New Zealand cities.  So, seeing as we are also traveling with our fellow Kiwi Experience trekker, Karen, who happens to be Irish, this week will have a few Irish terms/phrases of the day!

"You're laughing" or in Irish "Tá tu ág gáire" - means "everything's good" or "you're set!"

"Let's make like a shepherd and get the flock out of here!" - A very Irish phrase I am told and my guess is that this phrase is pretty darn self explanatory.  Kind of like "Let's make like a baby and head out!" or "Let's make like a tree and leaf!" You get the picture.

Looking down the coast on the outskirts of Dunedin towards Otakou Point

             We got up early after our first night in Queenstown, the rainy and dreary weather clinging to the city.  We packed our bags to leave to town, our Irish friend Karen leaving behind another “It’s not poo!” sign.  Our last night in Franz Josef she had unknowingly sat on a rather fair sized hunk of chocolate, the result when she stood up being a long brown stain smeared into the starkly white sheets of the bed.  Whoops! We felt the need to clarify that morning as we were checking out that it was NOT poo on the sheets and was in fact chocolate. So in Queenstown, we seemed destined to repeat a similar fate though this time with a bit of left over chocolate ice cream on a towel.

            So off to more southern parts it was, our destination after hours of driving being the college town of Dunedin.  Three hours later and we were there weaving our way through the lovely city, past the old chapels, small cathedrals, and beautiful stonework buildings…

Cool building in downtown Dunedin

…by the most photographed train station in the Southern Hemisphere….

The Dunedin Railway Station

….and finally to the information center. 

            With our bearings finally found and directions and a rough plan acquired, it was off to our first activity for the day; a tour of the Cadbury Chocolate Factory! I know, fantastic right? We got to learn how tons of different chocolates are made, see a number of the machines in motion, watch a chocolate fountain drop one ton of milk chocolate in under 60 seconds, and were given more chocolate than I can probably finish on this trip.  That may be hard to believe but seriously, it was a lot; all the while wearing the most attractive looking hair nets you can imagine.  Sorry, no pictures of that one though… ;)

Mom and I by the old Cadbury milk truck

            Heading out of the town of Dunedin, we made our way into the country hillside of the outer city, winding up through fields dotted with countless sheep and to the site of Larnach Castle.  The castle is one of the oldest buildings in New Zealand, its history definitely a sad and rather tragic one.  The castle has been restored in recent years, it’s beautiful stonework falling into significant disrepair in the mid 1900’s.

             Much of it’s original furniture has been returned in the past years, the indoors being beautifully styled in the Victorian era.

I think this may be the drawing room (?)

            The grounds are a gorgeous walk as well, boasting one of only five gardens nationwide with the title of “Garden of International Significance” by the New Zealand Gardens Trust.

            The skies beginning to show a twinge of evening light, we headed off from the beautiful castle, making our way further down the coast and out to Otakou Point and the Royal Albatross Center.  Beginning shortly after sunset, the center runs a little blue penguin spotting tour, a platform having been built directly below the center and right off the water where visitors can watch the penguins come ashore after a day out to sea.  While we waited for the skies to get dark enough, we walked to the lighthouse lookout, hoping for the chance to see the famed Royal Albatross.  And lucky us, we did!

The sun setting off Otakou Point

            I hadn’t quite realized how big they were until I saw one, boasting a 3 meterish wingspan landing it at the second largest albatross behind the wandering albatross.

Catching a royal albatross fly by

            Then it was finally time to see the penguins, the skies sufficiently dark and the guides leading us down the pathway and to the platform.  I couldn’t seem to get a good picture of a penguin for the lighting and the understandable “no flash allowed” policy, but I did get some good video footage of a number of rafts (as the swimming groups are called) coming ashore! And we were there for the July’s record breaking number of over 150 penguins coming ashore that night!

            Leaving behind the lovely city of Dunedin the next morning, it was off to explore the famed Catlins drive, the long coastal road composing the Southern Scenic Route of New Zealand between the towns of Balclutha and Invercargill. But first, we had to of course take a short hike up Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world! The distance of the short 161 meter street climbs a total of 47.22 meters vertically and averages at a gradient of 1 in 3.4 with the steepest section being 1 in 2.9.

             Checking the short and steep climb off the list and taking a short stroll through the Otago University campus, we began the long drive through the Catlins.  First stop was Kaka Point, the beautiful beach sporting some intense blue water and a walkway lined with colorful abalone shells. 

            A short coastal walk later and with sand still between our toes it was off a little ways down the road to Nugget Point.  We took a couple really short walks there, one to a yellow penguin view blind (of which we didn’t see any since it was only 3:00pm and they usually don’t come ashore until after 4:00pm) and then off to a little lookout point where we sat and ate our rather late lunch.

             The lateness in the day coupled with our slow progress through our scheduled drive made us realize we were unlikely to reach our intended destination at Invercargal.  Not wanting to drive the two hours in the dark and miss much of the Catlins in the process, we made our way into the visitors center of Owaka for some advice on accommodation in the Catlins.

             A room was booked at Hilltop Backpackers for us in the tiny town of Papatowai and we were off again to hit a few waterfalls before the darkness settled in for the night.  We made the 20 minute walk to Purakuanui Falls in under 10 minutes, stopping briefly to admire to beautiful falls and take a number of photos and then back to the car!

Mom and I in front of the Purakuanui Falls

            The darkness beginning to consume the skies, we arrived at the McLean Falls carpark right at dusk, speed walking down the path and 20 minutes later arriving just in time to see the falls in the fading light.  But then again, we had sort of planned to be there at dark, the creeping tendrals of night pulling out the last of the suns light and bringing forth the pinpoint green spotlights of glow worms. There were hundreds! Covering the damp stone walls and dotting their green light throughout the vegetation, that was definitely worth the 40 minute walk into darkness!