After a few more days in Airlie Beach, Nikki, Marc and I hit the road again (in another less then swanky Wicked camper van) on our way down the east coast back to BrisVegas. We hit up Rockhampton, Bundaberg (Bundy Rum Distillery), Hervey Bay and Fraser Island, Anges Water and the Town of 1770, Noosa,the Eumundi markets and ended back up in Brissy to see Marc and Elicia off back to Canadia.
We did a tour to Fraser Island which was so necessary because its the world largest sand island.... covered completely in sand... crazy az! During this tour we stopped at the Central Station(a former forestry camp), walked along the Wanggoolba Creek (called silent creek because it flows over top of sand), drove along 75-mile beach, took a scenic flight ride around the whole island and got some stellar shots, saw the Pinnacles (made up of 8 different types and colours of sand), the Maheno ship wreck, Eli Creek and the final stop at Lake McKenzie (where I actually ran into someone I know from home).
We stayed in Beaches hostel that night and met 4 Irish blokes who were absolutely hysterical and provided us with an entertaining evening. The one dude, Michael, was putting together a massive collage of people he had met along his travels. The thing was, they all had to be cock-eyed. Our ridiculous pictures are now on FB for all to see.
The Bundaberg Rum Distillery was great too! We got to take a tour of the place and learn about the rum making process. Also stopped by the bar for some free drinks! We taste tested quite a bit that day, and I'm pretty sure it was only 11:30 in the morning ha ha!
Anges Water and 1770 were extremely small. So small, if you blinked you might miss them. We spent our time touring around and hanging out at the beach and met up with Fran, Jenny and Wendy from our sailing trip. We had a wicked reunion and a lovely BBQ feast for dinner at their hostel. Hopefully we will meet again in the UK one day!!
Noosa was another great surfer town. We stopped here for a day to do some shopping and to hit up the Eumundi markets the next morning. Noosa was a bit of a ritzy town with cool shops and a huge retirement community. The Eumundi market was huge with over 500 vendors selling everything you can possibly think of. We bought a few souvenirs before heading back to Brisbane. If anyone is ever around this town, I recommend going. It was amazing!
We had a few days left in Brisbane with my fam jam to chill out before Elicia and Marc had to fly back home. Monica took us her to her campus and showed us around. It was a beautiful day out and we had a nice photo shoot by the water. This was heaps of fun (no matter what anyone says).
The 6 of us had an awesome time together and it was hard to believe that the over a month had flown by already. Nikki and I said our goodbyes to Monica and Jay and made our way over to a night with a friend from home, Jenica! Jenica lives in Rubina, a lovely area around Bond University (Gold Coast). We had a nice catch up with her and she took us around to some of her favorite spots, her restaurant, Roberto's(where they make fabulous GF pizza)and Bumble's, a small, yet very charming breakfast joint in Surfer's Paradise with a great atmosphere!
After our great visit's, Nikki and I boarded a flight to Perth! Wild, wild west, here we come!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sailing on board the Condor
As predicted, Nikki and I slacked off big time and only blogged a total of 3 times while out in Oz (hey, 3 is better then none right?).
We can't just leave the site the way it is because no one will ever know what happened on the rest of our journey (and heaps happened!). Luckily, we both kept journals and are going to continue updating the blog with all our greatest memories.
We last left off in Airlie Beach- the gateway to the world famous Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef- as Nikki, Marc and I got ready to board onto our sail boat, the Condor, for our first ever sailing experience. Check it out here: http://www.sailing-whitsundays.com/WhitsundaySailing.php?id=1035
We walked over to the Airlie Beach Abel Point marina (just a short walk away from the main strip) to wait to board our boat. The marina is just beautiful. Man-made rock divider walls separate the boats from the ocean. From a birds eye view, it is extremely appealing and nothing like I have seen before. The water is crystal clear which only adds to the amazing view. Just before boarding, we met our deck hands, James and Tane, and we knew we were in for a good time when they announced to put all our "beverages" in the cooler and everyone started to pull out there numerous bags of goon to add to the pile. Please, we had a group of Irish on board... and no one parties like to Irish!
Our group consisted of our 3 deckhands, James and Amon(from New York, Tane (Kiwi) and Captain Dave (a BA sailor who has apparently won several awards for sailing to various locations in record time). ot only did we have prime crew members, we also met some wonderful people. Tyla, Fran, Harriett, Jenny, Wendy (from the UK), Yvonne and her gang (from Ireland), Carla (from Canada, what up!), some blokes and Sheilas from Germany, Mexico oh and I can't forget the Norwegian! We sailed to our first snorkel spot, Blue Pearl Bay and also where we docked the boat for the first night. Great snorkelling and an even greater sunset. I have got to hand it to the deck-hands, for being on a sailboat, my expectations for food were pretty low as I did not know what to expect. However, the food on this boat was unreal! They were so accommodating to my gluten-free diet too (as are most people in Aus because they actually know what it is there.... get with it Canada!). After filling our bellies with some great sailboat grub, we spent the first night under the stars chatting and of course, as they say in Australia.... slapping some goon.
The first night on board was a bit rocky. Marc, Nikki and I got our own private VIP room in the corner of the ship (since it slept 3 people) while everyone else slept in the open concept space on the bottom level. We heard rumours about these boats having a bad case of the bed bugs, but luckily, we didn't run into any. The only down-side was that our room smelled really bad. Other then that, it was a great experience (if you don't mind the boat rocking you all night).
Day #2: We sailed around the islands more, passing Hamilton Island, to Luncheon Bay (where we actually did not have lunch)to Tongue Bay and Whitehaven Beach, Nara Inlet and Caves Cove for more snorkelling and fun in the sun. Whitehaven beach was everything I ever imagined it to be and more. 98% silica sand.... fine enough to clean your jewelry with and fine enough to dominate your camera if it ever fell in the sand. The whitest and purest sand I've ever seen. We had a chance to walk to a wicked viewpoint where we snapped some pics and then went to play on the beach. We took mass amounts of pictures and literally just tried to soak up every once of that beach as we could. It was like a dream. As Nikki would say.... Livin the dream!
We hit another snorkel spot that day and did some more exploring before another amazing dinner. The second night, we watched another incredible sunset while rocking out to Tane's tunes on the guitar. Gotta love sing-a-longs! We also had a few competitions this night, one included: gather into groups with people from your own country and sing your national anthem the loudest. I'm proud to say the Canadians won... singing the anthem not only in English, but en Francais!
The last day, we ended our tour with another snorkel where Marc suited up in his wetsuit (which hugged him nicely) and paraded around doing squats around the boat. Typical. The snorkeling on this tour was amazing. Unfortunately Nikki stung her arm on some rando coral (which she said hurt heaps).... but at least she has a nice looking scar to prove she was there!
Just when we thought the tour was over, James and Tane announced a reunion party at Beaches (a local hostel) that night. We got together for some dinner and Mica's (an amazing drink) and a night of dancing. GREAT last night, GREAT memories and even BETTER pictures!
We can't just leave the site the way it is because no one will ever know what happened on the rest of our journey (and heaps happened!). Luckily, we both kept journals and are going to continue updating the blog with all our greatest memories.
We last left off in Airlie Beach- the gateway to the world famous Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef- as Nikki, Marc and I got ready to board onto our sail boat, the Condor, for our first ever sailing experience. Check it out here: http://www.sailing-whitsundays.com/WhitsundaySailing.php?id=1035
We walked over to the Airlie Beach Abel Point marina (just a short walk away from the main strip) to wait to board our boat. The marina is just beautiful. Man-made rock divider walls separate the boats from the ocean. From a birds eye view, it is extremely appealing and nothing like I have seen before. The water is crystal clear which only adds to the amazing view. Just before boarding, we met our deck hands, James and Tane, and we knew we were in for a good time when they announced to put all our "beverages" in the cooler and everyone started to pull out there numerous bags of goon to add to the pile. Please, we had a group of Irish on board... and no one parties like to Irish!
Our group consisted of our 3 deckhands, James and Amon(from New York, Tane (Kiwi) and Captain Dave (a BA sailor who has apparently won several awards for sailing to various locations in record time). ot only did we have prime crew members, we also met some wonderful people. Tyla, Fran, Harriett, Jenny, Wendy (from the UK), Yvonne and her gang (from Ireland), Carla (from Canada, what up!), some blokes and Sheilas from Germany, Mexico oh and I can't forget the Norwegian! We sailed to our first snorkel spot, Blue Pearl Bay and also where we docked the boat for the first night. Great snorkelling and an even greater sunset. I have got to hand it to the deck-hands, for being on a sailboat, my expectations for food were pretty low as I did not know what to expect. However, the food on this boat was unreal! They were so accommodating to my gluten-free diet too (as are most people in Aus because they actually know what it is there.... get with it Canada!). After filling our bellies with some great sailboat grub, we spent the first night under the stars chatting and of course, as they say in Australia.... slapping some goon.
The first night on board was a bit rocky. Marc, Nikki and I got our own private VIP room in the corner of the ship (since it slept 3 people) while everyone else slept in the open concept space on the bottom level. We heard rumours about these boats having a bad case of the bed bugs, but luckily, we didn't run into any. The only down-side was that our room smelled really bad. Other then that, it was a great experience (if you don't mind the boat rocking you all night).
Day #2: We sailed around the islands more, passing Hamilton Island, to Luncheon Bay (where we actually did not have lunch)to Tongue Bay and Whitehaven Beach, Nara Inlet and Caves Cove for more snorkelling and fun in the sun. Whitehaven beach was everything I ever imagined it to be and more. 98% silica sand.... fine enough to clean your jewelry with and fine enough to dominate your camera if it ever fell in the sand. The whitest and purest sand I've ever seen. We had a chance to walk to a wicked viewpoint where we snapped some pics and then went to play on the beach. We took mass amounts of pictures and literally just tried to soak up every once of that beach as we could. It was like a dream. As Nikki would say.... Livin the dream!
We hit another snorkel spot that day and did some more exploring before another amazing dinner. The second night, we watched another incredible sunset while rocking out to Tane's tunes on the guitar. Gotta love sing-a-longs! We also had a few competitions this night, one included: gather into groups with people from your own country and sing your national anthem the loudest. I'm proud to say the Canadians won... singing the anthem not only in English, but en Francais!
The last day, we ended our tour with another snorkel where Marc suited up in his wetsuit (which hugged him nicely) and paraded around doing squats around the boat. Typical. The snorkeling on this tour was amazing. Unfortunately Nikki stung her arm on some rando coral (which she said hurt heaps).... but at least she has a nice looking scar to prove she was there!
Just when we thought the tour was over, James and Tane announced a reunion party at Beaches (a local hostel) that night. We got together for some dinner and Mica's (an amazing drink) and a night of dancing. GREAT last night, GREAT memories and even BETTER pictures!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Up North down under = HEAT
Family, Friends, loved ones, ballers, school chums, whipper-schnappers...
It's been awhile....but we're still alive after having swam in shark waters and battled it out with the crocs:
We currently reside in Airlie Beach...gateway to the whitsundays island. Which is supposed to be on the top of your "to do list" when travelling to Australia. And going to Airlie without going to the whitsundays is comparable to going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower. Jaz, Espo (Jasmine's Boyfriend Marc)& I leave for a sailboat cruise (24m long, 28 people) tomorrow for 2 days 2 nights. Should be a little tight, but a definite different experience!! Airlie Beach (along with Cairns, the last big city we were in) you cannot swim on the beaches because of crocs and stingers. So these 23 cities have dumped HEAPS (aka alot of) money into a lagoon. (It's like a free Confederation Park for all you Hamiltonians out there!!) You can laze around and swim and play in the lagoon.
Last week we were in Cairns and did 2 seperate day trips: 1)went to the Daintree rainforest (oldest in the world) and saw beautiful amazing plants trees, wicked old vines....really neat! We had to cross a CROCODILE river (via boat ferry)..we were on a bus tour for the day. we also went to cape tribulation which is the greatest place of serenity I have ever seen! It's the only place in the world where Rainforest meets Historical sight (=Great barrier reef). 2) Day 2, we took a boat cruise out to Green Island (these 2 days were spent up in Cairns...google a map!). Green Island exposed us to the GREAT BARRIER REEF where we were able to snorkel and interact with the ocean itself!!!!! Finally...our first time swimming in the ocean!!! Jaz, her cousin Elicia & I splurged and went SEAWALKING to the bottom of the ocean floor! They slapped a wetsuit and water shoes on you (on Green Island), dinghy'd you out to a pontune boat that had a mass hole in the middle of it. They put a 20lb belt on you to weight you down, then as you descended down into the water, they put a 40kg astronaut helmet on just as your shoulders went underwater. The helmet allowed you to breathe underwater without having to use scuba gear (which costs an arm and a leg to do and gives you less then 10 minutes underwater apparently. Plus you need certification). Underwater the photographer would take pictures of you as he squirted a waterbottle of fish food in front of your helmet. The fish came swimming and brushed everywhich direction in front of my face!!!!!!! Thank goodness for cameras!! (once we figure out how to get pictures on an album where everyone can access it, we'lll get'em up! I'm thining July24-25thish. Sorry!!!
Anyways...that's a short blurb because I have 28 seconds left of internet!!
Until the next time....
oxo Nikki & Jazzzy
KEEP YOU STICKS ON THE ICE...(they don't even know what ice is down here...)
It's been awhile....but we're still alive after having swam in shark waters and battled it out with the crocs:
We currently reside in Airlie Beach...gateway to the whitsundays island. Which is supposed to be on the top of your "to do list" when travelling to Australia. And going to Airlie without going to the whitsundays is comparable to going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower. Jaz, Espo (Jasmine's Boyfriend Marc)& I leave for a sailboat cruise (24m long, 28 people) tomorrow for 2 days 2 nights. Should be a little tight, but a definite different experience!! Airlie Beach (along with Cairns, the last big city we were in) you cannot swim on the beaches because of crocs and stingers. So these 23 cities have dumped HEAPS (aka alot of) money into a lagoon. (It's like a free Confederation Park for all you Hamiltonians out there!!) You can laze around and swim and play in the lagoon.
Last week we were in Cairns and did 2 seperate day trips: 1)went to the Daintree rainforest (oldest in the world) and saw beautiful amazing plants trees, wicked old vines....really neat! We had to cross a CROCODILE river (via boat ferry)..we were on a bus tour for the day. we also went to cape tribulation which is the greatest place of serenity I have ever seen! It's the only place in the world where Rainforest meets Historical sight (=Great barrier reef). 2) Day 2, we took a boat cruise out to Green Island (these 2 days were spent up in Cairns...google a map!). Green Island exposed us to the GREAT BARRIER REEF where we were able to snorkel and interact with the ocean itself!!!!! Finally...our first time swimming in the ocean!!! Jaz, her cousin Elicia & I splurged and went SEAWALKING to the bottom of the ocean floor! They slapped a wetsuit and water shoes on you (on Green Island), dinghy'd you out to a pontune boat that had a mass hole in the middle of it. They put a 20lb belt on you to weight you down, then as you descended down into the water, they put a 40kg astronaut helmet on just as your shoulders went underwater. The helmet allowed you to breathe underwater without having to use scuba gear (which costs an arm and a leg to do and gives you less then 10 minutes underwater apparently. Plus you need certification). Underwater the photographer would take pictures of you as he squirted a waterbottle of fish food in front of your helmet. The fish came swimming and brushed everywhich direction in front of my face!!!!!!! Thank goodness for cameras!! (once we figure out how to get pictures on an album where everyone can access it, we'lll get'em up! I'm thining July24-25thish. Sorry!!!
Anyways...that's a short blurb because I have 28 seconds left of internet!!
Until the next time....
oxo Nikki & Jazzzy
KEEP YOU STICKS ON THE ICE...(they don't even know what ice is down here...)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
And then we called her Espacio...
Espacio... the name of our Spaceship rental campervan. She was a beaut and she was officially ours for the next 6 days. She was going to take us from Sydney to Brissy (that's Brisbane in Aussie talk).
We had 6 days to drive 1000 km North. Where the waves would just get bigger and the air, warmer. Driving through Sydney, was definately different and by different I mean driving on the opposite side of the car and the road. **(For those of you left wondering...Nicole IS still alive after Jasmine's IMPRESSIVE driving skills were displayed on the Australian roads!!!)** Driving through Sydney was pretty similar to driving through rush hour in TO except worse because it was on the wrong side of the road and we were still trying to figure out how that worked. We slowly figured out that Australia is TERRIBLE for road signage and we got lost endless amounts of times.
The entire coastal drive was filled with amazing beaches and scenery. We finally made it to Byron by day #4 passing some cool smaller towns along the way: Coffs Harbour, Port McQuarie and our favourite... Woolgoolga. Woolgoolga was a Omemee-sized village that didn't own a grocery store even. Low-key surfer spot, with a laid back campground called Spot X. We were on the main beach (Corindi beach) by 6:30am for a morning walk to catch the sunrise. Corindi had some great seashells that we managed to scoop up to make some hemp bracelets and necklaces with. As we were packing up to head out of Spot X, we met two new, little friends. Two townie kids from Woolgoolga stoped by on their bikes to befriend us. The little girl said she was going for surgury soon, so we gave her a Canada pin to bring her luck. In return, she gave us her small My Little Pony figurine to take with us along our travels. We named it... Woolgoolga!
We found ourselves back on the road, destination- Byron Bay! On the drive to Byron, we passed probably the world's smallest town (next to Snowball, ON) called Grafton! We managed to snap a quick picture for Marc's family too! Pictures will be coming soon.
Our first night in Byron, we hit the Beach Hotel (a local restaurant and bar) where a band called Forever Soul was playing. This group was phenomenal and played all the disco classics: Disco Inferno, Hot Stuff and everyone's favorite... Its Raining Men where random men from the audience were called up to dance. Hilarious and a first great night in Byron. The next day was beautiful and sunny, so of course, we hit the beach! The amazing thing about Byron is that almost every morning (if you go down to the beach early enough), you can watch the whales and dolphins swim by the shoreline. Its hard to believe, but they swim so close to the shore... about 50 feet off the shore. Some people even go out to swim along side them.
In Byron, there is also a really nice hike you can do that takes you up to the Byron Bay lighthouse- Australia's most eastern point. This walk was our favorite so far because the view from the top of the cliffs are amazing and we saw more whales, dolphins, sea turtles and jumping stingrays.
On a sidenote from Jazz: Australia has been just great for finding gluten-free food. I'm pretty sure it is mandatory here to state a product is gluten-free or contains gluten on food labels. The grocery stores have a wide selection of food and even a ton of restaurants have adapted their dishes too. In Byron, we found one restaurant called Earth n' Sea (we think) that sold gluten free pizza. Sounded great at the time, however a small pizza (equivalent to a Little Ceasars medium back home) cost us a total of $21 AUS. Outrageous... we got robbed! Other then that one encounter, I'm loving grocery shopping for the first time. It's like Australia knew I was coming... Australia is turning out to be better than expected!
Nicole's Noteable Neat things:
- EVERYBODY runs around here! There are trails along the coast with exercise benches randomly along the trail to do a full circuit workout. Barb...you'd love it.
- Everybody is SUPER friendly and very generous (very welcoming when you're travelling in another country)
- However...no one says "excuse me" or "sorry" if you bump into them, or won't move.
- Australian's say "How ya goin" to greet you.
- Dogs are SOOOO WELL BEHAVED DOWN HERE!!! When you're walking down a main strip of restaurants/shops, or going for a walk on a trail or a beach, dogs are NEVER on leashes! And about 90% of the time, the dog will take no interest in you when you walk by, because they're so engaged and excited to be with their master!
- BIGGEST disappointment: there is NO STREETMEAT when you come home from the bar. big bummer.
- everyone LOOVVVEESSSS Jason DeRulo & Pink! And NO ONE'S heard of Taio Cruz....really??
- favourite new word: Dodgey. Let's use it in a sentence.... "OY, did you see that surfie? he was Dodgey looking!"
- Heaps = alot of something.
- MULLETS ARE IN OVER HERE. (don't worry...we're not bringing it back)
SOOOOO Byron....(sorry we get sidetracked VERY easily!) Byron Bay led us to Nimbin...VERY DODGEY...which then led us to SURFER'S PARADISE!!! We walked around the city, RANDOMLY saw a girl that Nicole worked with from the Lonestar, chatted with her a bit. Next, stopped to talk to some locals who asked us if we wanted to do a pub crawl. They ended up giving us free cover and free drinks to an local establishment: SIN CITY. We both fit in to the dresscode; while everyone was laced up in stilettos and mini skirts, we found ourselves in beach mode: jeans/capris, thongs (= flippy floppies), sweaters, and "dressy" t-shirts??...and hadn't showered in 3 days. Let's just say, the australian men couldn't keep their hands off of us!! Surfer's Paradise led us to Brissy, where we ditched Espacio, and met up with Monica & Jay (Jaz's cousin and boyfriend).....(and yes Nicole's cousin Monica....I DID just clue into that now!!! lol). We're all showered up and recharging the battery here at family's place, as we await more family (Jaz's cousin Elicia & boyfriend Marc) to arrive first thing in the morning! And we will show this wonderful country down under how much more amazing our sweet home land is by celebrating Canada Day!!!
Sooo, as they say in Nimbin: wwooooooOOOOOowwww Grrrooovvvyyyy DDUddddeeeee.
Brought to you by: Nicolean & Jiz-mo ProducKshuns.
We had 6 days to drive 1000 km North. Where the waves would just get bigger and the air, warmer. Driving through Sydney, was definately different and by different I mean driving on the opposite side of the car and the road. **(For those of you left wondering...Nicole IS still alive after Jasmine's IMPRESSIVE driving skills were displayed on the Australian roads!!!)** Driving through Sydney was pretty similar to driving through rush hour in TO except worse because it was on the wrong side of the road and we were still trying to figure out how that worked. We slowly figured out that Australia is TERRIBLE for road signage and we got lost endless amounts of times.
The entire coastal drive was filled with amazing beaches and scenery. We finally made it to Byron by day #4 passing some cool smaller towns along the way: Coffs Harbour, Port McQuarie and our favourite... Woolgoolga. Woolgoolga was a Omemee-sized village that didn't own a grocery store even. Low-key surfer spot, with a laid back campground called Spot X. We were on the main beach (Corindi beach) by 6:30am for a morning walk to catch the sunrise. Corindi had some great seashells that we managed to scoop up to make some hemp bracelets and necklaces with. As we were packing up to head out of Spot X, we met two new, little friends. Two townie kids from Woolgoolga stoped by on their bikes to befriend us. The little girl said she was going for surgury soon, so we gave her a Canada pin to bring her luck. In return, she gave us her small My Little Pony figurine to take with us along our travels. We named it... Woolgoolga!
We found ourselves back on the road, destination- Byron Bay! On the drive to Byron, we passed probably the world's smallest town (next to Snowball, ON) called Grafton! We managed to snap a quick picture for Marc's family too! Pictures will be coming soon.
Our first night in Byron, we hit the Beach Hotel (a local restaurant and bar) where a band called Forever Soul was playing. This group was phenomenal and played all the disco classics: Disco Inferno, Hot Stuff and everyone's favorite... Its Raining Men where random men from the audience were called up to dance. Hilarious and a first great night in Byron. The next day was beautiful and sunny, so of course, we hit the beach! The amazing thing about Byron is that almost every morning (if you go down to the beach early enough), you can watch the whales and dolphins swim by the shoreline. Its hard to believe, but they swim so close to the shore... about 50 feet off the shore. Some people even go out to swim along side them.
In Byron, there is also a really nice hike you can do that takes you up to the Byron Bay lighthouse- Australia's most eastern point. This walk was our favorite so far because the view from the top of the cliffs are amazing and we saw more whales, dolphins, sea turtles and jumping stingrays.
On a sidenote from Jazz: Australia has been just great for finding gluten-free food. I'm pretty sure it is mandatory here to state a product is gluten-free or contains gluten on food labels. The grocery stores have a wide selection of food and even a ton of restaurants have adapted their dishes too. In Byron, we found one restaurant called Earth n' Sea (we think) that sold gluten free pizza. Sounded great at the time, however a small pizza (equivalent to a Little Ceasars medium back home) cost us a total of $21 AUS. Outrageous... we got robbed! Other then that one encounter, I'm loving grocery shopping for the first time. It's like Australia knew I was coming... Australia is turning out to be better than expected!
Nicole's Noteable Neat things:
- EVERYBODY runs around here! There are trails along the coast with exercise benches randomly along the trail to do a full circuit workout. Barb...you'd love it.
- Everybody is SUPER friendly and very generous (very welcoming when you're travelling in another country)
- However...no one says "excuse me" or "sorry" if you bump into them, or won't move.
- Australian's say "How ya goin" to greet you.
- Dogs are SOOOO WELL BEHAVED DOWN HERE!!! When you're walking down a main strip of restaurants/shops, or going for a walk on a trail or a beach, dogs are NEVER on leashes! And about 90% of the time, the dog will take no interest in you when you walk by, because they're so engaged and excited to be with their master!
- BIGGEST disappointment: there is NO STREETMEAT when you come home from the bar. big bummer.
- everyone LOOVVVEESSSS Jason DeRulo & Pink! And NO ONE'S heard of Taio Cruz....really??
- favourite new word: Dodgey. Let's use it in a sentence.... "OY, did you see that surfie? he was Dodgey looking!"
- Heaps = alot of something.
- MULLETS ARE IN OVER HERE. (don't worry...we're not bringing it back)
SOOOOO Byron....(sorry we get sidetracked VERY easily!) Byron Bay led us to Nimbin...VERY DODGEY...which then led us to SURFER'S PARADISE!!! We walked around the city, RANDOMLY saw a girl that Nicole worked with from the Lonestar, chatted with her a bit. Next, stopped to talk to some locals who asked us if we wanted to do a pub crawl. They ended up giving us free cover and free drinks to an local establishment: SIN CITY. We both fit in to the dresscode; while everyone was laced up in stilettos and mini skirts, we found ourselves in beach mode: jeans/capris, thongs (= flippy floppies), sweaters, and "dressy" t-shirts??...and hadn't showered in 3 days. Let's just say, the australian men couldn't keep their hands off of us!! Surfer's Paradise led us to Brissy, where we ditched Espacio, and met up with Monica & Jay (Jaz's cousin and boyfriend).....(and yes Nicole's cousin Monica....I DID just clue into that now!!! lol). We're all showered up and recharging the battery here at family's place, as we await more family (Jaz's cousin Elicia & boyfriend Marc) to arrive first thing in the morning! And we will show this wonderful country down under how much more amazing our sweet home land is by celebrating Canada Day!!!
Sooo, as they say in Nimbin: wwooooooOOOOOowwww Grrrooovvvyyyy DDUddddeeeee.
Brought to you by: Nicolean & Jiz-mo ProducKshuns.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Lunch at the Sydney Opera House
After about 17 hours of sleeping the whole first day away in Sydney, our second day was much more productive. We got up early, ate breakfast with some mates (that's Aussie for friends) and hit the Royal Botanical Gardens Australian style. This area of town was unreal. It was like being in the middle of a tropical island but still in the city... much like NYC Central Park, but alot nicer. While walking along snapping pics left, right and centre, we stopped to take pictures of wild cockatoos then got ambushed by those crazy birds. We then heard the worlds worst noise and couldn't figure out where/ what animal made it. We looked up and saw count dracula and his gang.... aka a whole lots of bats in broad daylight (no joke!). The Royal Botanical Gardens is massive and hits the waterfront where there is an amazing view of the Sydeny Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. There were also tons of people running in the Gardens... a bit weird since it was the middle of a Tuesday. (When we say tons of people....we mean SWARMS OF AUSSIE'S in runners and spanks!!!) We asked to stop someone to ask if there was a race or something going on, but apparently its quite common for Aussies to take off about 1.5 - 2 hours of there lunch time and go out running together. There are about 10 large running groups that go through the gardens each day... pretty cool!
We then thought it was a great idea to grab some lunch. But we didn't have lunch just anywhere.... we definately had lunch in front of the Sydney Opera House! After that, we toured around inside the main entrance and the gift shop. It was amazing!
Next, we shopped around the Circular Quay (pronounced Key not Quay) where there was a lot of neat boutiques and cafes. The Circular Quay is where all the ferries run from Sydneys suburb beaches. We grabbed a ferry over to Manly beach which is a really cool surfer town and area.
After we got back to our hostel from Manly, we ran into two ladies who looked rather familiar.... Katie and Raji (Jazz's friends from her co-op term at RIM). We ended up spending the next two days with them. We went to Darling Harbour, Paddy's Market, the Sydney Aquarium (we found Nemo Marisa!!!) and a trip to the famous Bondi Beach. We lost the girls after Bondi where they were headed up to Cairns.
We loved Bondi so much that we decided to spend a whole other day there. We were determined to walk to Coastal Walk: from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach. This walk should have only taken us approx. 3-4 hours, however we stopped about a thousand times to take in the amazing views along the coastal cliffs, therefore it took us about 5 hours. The path took us up and down cliffs into different beach coves where you could hike up and over the cliff rocks. There were many times where we didn't think we could climb them, but we pushed ourseleves and did it anyways... it was breath-taking and well worth walking the whole way. After a long day of hiking and climbing, we found our next adventure just about to begin...
We then thought it was a great idea to grab some lunch. But we didn't have lunch just anywhere.... we definately had lunch in front of the Sydney Opera House! After that, we toured around inside the main entrance and the gift shop. It was amazing!
Next, we shopped around the Circular Quay (pronounced Key not Quay) where there was a lot of neat boutiques and cafes. The Circular Quay is where all the ferries run from Sydneys suburb beaches. We grabbed a ferry over to Manly beach which is a really cool surfer town and area.
After we got back to our hostel from Manly, we ran into two ladies who looked rather familiar.... Katie and Raji (Jazz's friends from her co-op term at RIM). We ended up spending the next two days with them. We went to Darling Harbour, Paddy's Market, the Sydney Aquarium (we found Nemo Marisa!!!) and a trip to the famous Bondi Beach. We lost the girls after Bondi where they were headed up to Cairns.
We loved Bondi so much that we decided to spend a whole other day there. We were determined to walk to Coastal Walk: from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach. This walk should have only taken us approx. 3-4 hours, however we stopped about a thousand times to take in the amazing views along the coastal cliffs, therefore it took us about 5 hours. The path took us up and down cliffs into different beach coves where you could hike up and over the cliff rocks. There were many times where we didn't think we could climb them, but we pushed ourseleves and did it anyways... it was breath-taking and well worth walking the whole way. After a long day of hiking and climbing, we found our next adventure just about to begin...
Monday, June 21, 2010
Jumped off the plane at L.A.X.
June 17th- Mrs. D., Ms. Belinda, Amanda & John took us to the airport for farewells! (miss you guys already!!) Plane from Buffalo to Detroit had approximately 72 seats. Felt like we were on a private jet. T'was a ROUGH bumpy right...and Expedia steered us wrong, by not seating us together. Glorious.
Detroit to L.A. about 4 hours? Pretty good flight. Jazz sat beside a dude who wouldn't respond when she asked him how he was. Rad. The lady on her other side just spoke to her family sitting near her. I however, sat beside Pat & Duke from Detroit! (HEYYY GUYS!!! Hope you both enjoyed the wedding!!) Yes a wedding in Cali. My destination wedding for surrreeee.
Thenn.,...JUMPED OFF THE PLANE AT LAX!!! anddd we saw no celebs. Sorry everyone. We were feeling adventurous and decided to take the city bus to our hostel in Santa Monica - HI Hostel. While waiting for the bus, we met 2 French guys who happened to be headed to the same hostel! We befriended them and had a great bus ride. While wlaking to our hostel, we managed to catch the last 11 seconds of the final NBA playoff game... LA won and the city went wild! It was neat to be apart of. Got to the hostel, and got our keys for our room. Our roomates Orsina and Martina let us in our room (so we didn't need to use our keys). Chatted with them for 20, then decided to walk around a bit before bed. We wanted to make sure our keys worked before we left, but they didn't. Went down to the front desk to get them fixed...turned our, we went to the wrong room.
LA day#2 -- Got on the city bus at 8am. Our bus drived was WICKED!! He was our own personal tour guide. He even gave us free all day passes for the bus. We went to Beverly Hills, walked Rodeo Drive, wandered to the Farmer's Market & the Grove (a really great outdoor shopping area/celeb hotspot. Of course tho, no celebs.) Next we bussed it to Hollywood Blvd. and walked the famous "walk of fame." Saw Sid Grauman's Chinese theatre (with all the celebrity hand and footprints outside), the Kodak theatre, then booked a tour with the next Dolly Parton. We ate sushi that night, which was my first time trying Wasabi...which I thought was a scoop of avocado. To my surprise, it burned my mouth. Let's just say, I've never downed a pint of Budlight that fast in my life...
LA day#3 -- We checked out the Famer's Market which had lots of fruit, veg and cheese (Jaz fell in love with a Vanilla-cheesecake-cheesey-ricotta dip) which we dipped strawberries in for lunch. Santa Monica beach. It had a cool amusement park on the pier, lots of fishing, and many buskers trying to entertain for money. Went down the the Santa Monica beach and walked about to Venice Beach. It took us about an hour and a half. Venice Beach has alot of street vendours selling Bob Marley swag, Djembe drums, jewlery, sunglasses... They had this really neat skate/BMX park (you would have LOVED it Fabio and Justin!!) There were kids as young as 8-10 skating....doing tricks, nuts! That was short lived for us, we wanted to make it back to the hostel in time to change, eat and catch the bus for the airport. We ate dinner at a place called Buddha's Belly....Jaz recommended Thai green curry, which tasted AMAZING!!! After dinner, with packs on backs, we left (like...5 hours before take-off time) for the airport. This was officially the earliest I have been for anything...EVER. Jazz was chatted up by this 55 year-old, local-chatterbox-desperate for convo??? gentleman?? He kept talking about his ex-girlfriend. Yes I snapped a sweet pic (we'll post pictures when the library computers stop kicking us off every 15 minutes!!! sorry!!!). Again, arrived at LAX, haggered from the day in the sun.
LAX-Sydney -- hands down...longest plane ride EVER! 15 hours. Jaz slept 11 of the 15 hours. I was jealous. There were free movies, tv shows, music. They fed us supper and breakfast....and even had gluten-free meals for Jasmine. Lots of free snacks and drinks as well. The QANTAS flight team made the flight great (highly recommend for anyone travelling soon). We left at 11:50pm LA time, so it had already been dark for like....2-3 hours, but it kept being dark for another 13-14 hours of the flight. It's like we were flying into a dark hole. All in all, great flight. We were a bit tired, and still felt like napping though. We got to a meeting point in the airport to catch our (yet again Free) shuttle to our hostel when we met Anna from Virgina. She was staying at the hostel across the street, attending school here in New south Wales in a couple weeks. Once at the hostel (Maze backpackers) we checked in, then tried calling home. It took us actually 30 minutes to find calling cards, figure out the phone system and make phone calls (sorry families if we sounded stressed on the phone!) After that, we decided on 2 hours naps...which turned into 5 hours. Up and at'em for 4-5...enough time to unpack, explore, grocery shop and eat dinner. We slept the entire night through until 8am this morning. Now we find ourselved being called out on the streets by locals asking if we're from out of town; because we're not wearing winter jackets, rather shorts and short sleeves. The weather about 15-18C. Off and on clouds, but definitly warmer then a Canadian winter!!!! We now find ourselves scribbling a quick blog to our family and friends back at home, wishing you were here, and missing you lots!!!
From the Sydney State Library, this is Skittles and Gizmo signing off.... stay warm Canada!
xoxo
Detroit to L.A. about 4 hours? Pretty good flight. Jazz sat beside a dude who wouldn't respond when she asked him how he was. Rad. The lady on her other side just spoke to her family sitting near her. I however, sat beside Pat & Duke from Detroit! (HEYYY GUYS!!! Hope you both enjoyed the wedding!!) Yes a wedding in Cali. My destination wedding for surrreeee.
Thenn.,...JUMPED OFF THE PLANE AT LAX!!! anddd we saw no celebs. Sorry everyone. We were feeling adventurous and decided to take the city bus to our hostel in Santa Monica - HI Hostel. While waiting for the bus, we met 2 French guys who happened to be headed to the same hostel! We befriended them and had a great bus ride. While wlaking to our hostel, we managed to catch the last 11 seconds of the final NBA playoff game... LA won and the city went wild! It was neat to be apart of. Got to the hostel, and got our keys for our room. Our roomates Orsina and Martina let us in our room (so we didn't need to use our keys). Chatted with them for 20, then decided to walk around a bit before bed. We wanted to make sure our keys worked before we left, but they didn't. Went down to the front desk to get them fixed...turned our, we went to the wrong room.
LA day#2 -- Got on the city bus at 8am. Our bus drived was WICKED!! He was our own personal tour guide. He even gave us free all day passes for the bus. We went to Beverly Hills, walked Rodeo Drive, wandered to the Farmer's Market & the Grove (a really great outdoor shopping area/celeb hotspot. Of course tho, no celebs.) Next we bussed it to Hollywood Blvd. and walked the famous "walk of fame." Saw Sid Grauman's Chinese theatre (with all the celebrity hand and footprints outside), the Kodak theatre, then booked a tour with the next Dolly Parton. We ate sushi that night, which was my first time trying Wasabi...which I thought was a scoop of avocado. To my surprise, it burned my mouth. Let's just say, I've never downed a pint of Budlight that fast in my life...
LA day#3 -- We checked out the Famer's Market which had lots of fruit, veg and cheese (Jaz fell in love with a Vanilla-cheesecake-cheesey-ricotta dip) which we dipped strawberries in for lunch. Santa Monica beach. It had a cool amusement park on the pier, lots of fishing, and many buskers trying to entertain for money. Went down the the Santa Monica beach and walked about to Venice Beach. It took us about an hour and a half. Venice Beach has alot of street vendours selling Bob Marley swag, Djembe drums, jewlery, sunglasses... They had this really neat skate/BMX park (you would have LOVED it Fabio and Justin!!) There were kids as young as 8-10 skating....doing tricks, nuts! That was short lived for us, we wanted to make it back to the hostel in time to change, eat and catch the bus for the airport. We ate dinner at a place called Buddha's Belly....Jaz recommended Thai green curry, which tasted AMAZING!!! After dinner, with packs on backs, we left (like...5 hours before take-off time) for the airport. This was officially the earliest I have been for anything...EVER. Jazz was chatted up by this 55 year-old, local-chatterbox-desperate for convo??? gentleman?? He kept talking about his ex-girlfriend. Yes I snapped a sweet pic (we'll post pictures when the library computers stop kicking us off every 15 minutes!!! sorry!!!). Again, arrived at LAX, haggered from the day in the sun.
LAX-Sydney -- hands down...longest plane ride EVER! 15 hours. Jaz slept 11 of the 15 hours. I was jealous. There were free movies, tv shows, music. They fed us supper and breakfast....and even had gluten-free meals for Jasmine. Lots of free snacks and drinks as well. The QANTAS flight team made the flight great (highly recommend for anyone travelling soon). We left at 11:50pm LA time, so it had already been dark for like....2-3 hours, but it kept being dark for another 13-14 hours of the flight. It's like we were flying into a dark hole. All in all, great flight. We were a bit tired, and still felt like napping though. We got to a meeting point in the airport to catch our (yet again Free) shuttle to our hostel when we met Anna from Virgina. She was staying at the hostel across the street, attending school here in New south Wales in a couple weeks. Once at the hostel (Maze backpackers) we checked in, then tried calling home. It took us actually 30 minutes to find calling cards, figure out the phone system and make phone calls (sorry families if we sounded stressed on the phone!) After that, we decided on 2 hours naps...which turned into 5 hours. Up and at'em for 4-5...enough time to unpack, explore, grocery shop and eat dinner. We slept the entire night through until 8am this morning. Now we find ourselved being called out on the streets by locals asking if we're from out of town; because we're not wearing winter jackets, rather shorts and short sleeves. The weather about 15-18C. Off and on clouds, but definitly warmer then a Canadian winter!!!! We now find ourselves scribbling a quick blog to our family and friends back at home, wishing you were here, and missing you lots!!!
From the Sydney State Library, this is Skittles and Gizmo signing off.... stay warm Canada!
xoxo
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