Viva Australia!

I'm here I'm here I'm here I'm hjear I'm heare I'm heare I'm here I'm here I'm here I'm hear I'm ehat I'm hear I'm rhear I'm hear!!
After oh-so-many years of waiting (and not so patiently either), I've finally set my feet down on Australian soil. First thing of the plane in Cairns I noticed how muggy and humid it was! It was wonderful to put on the warm-weather clothes that have been buried in the bottom of my backpack for the past six weeks. I jumped right into the Australian leg of the trip by arranging a trip for my second day there aboard the Passions of Paradise boat, destined for the Great Barrier Reef. There was a lot of snorkeling and sunbathing (a little too much of the latter by the looks of my very red back), and I even tried out scuba diving for the first time ever, which was such a thrill...once I actually stayed below water anyways. When our guide indicated for us to let go of the rope beneath the boat and start swimming, I was good for about 10 seconds before I started floating back up to the surface, trying like mad to get myself twisted around to swim for the bottom. The guide was looking at me with a "what the heck are you doing? are you okay??" look. I found it difficult to remember not to talk or laugh with the regulator in my mouth (yep, can't shut me up under water either), but I raised my palms upwards and shrugged "what's going on?!" with a panicked look in my eyes. He swam after me and attached another weight to my belt, and I promptly sank to the bottom of the ocean floor (which was only 7 meters deep). We explored the reef for about half an hour, and it was amazing to hang out under water for that long.

Two days after that, a fellow Calgarian girl working at the desk of the hostel asked if I wanted to work the AJ Hackett Illuminescence party Saturday night. AJ Hackett is the bungee site she also worked at, and she was recruiting workers for the party. In exchange for working, we were to receive a day of unlimited bungee jumps. Done and done. Or so I thought! The bungee site was in the middle of the rain forest, with a lagoon and two rocky tiers where the party was set up. It was madness, I had never seen a party of this magnitude...over 600 people, two djays playing at once (all electronica/techno junk though) and a third stage for fire throwers, drum performances and laser shows. My task was to pick up bottles and cups...in general, clean up after people. Good practise for parenthood (augh! Take it back!!) but I would often take breaks and watch people giving 'er on the dance floor. Talking to some locals, I found out that there weren't many of them there...most were travelers. I figured that explained some of the 50-60 year olds that showed up. They must not have known what they were getting themselves into!!
So anyways, I was at the water station, switching the big blue water bottles, when I tried lifting one and felt something go in my back (ah, so that's what happens when you don't lift with your legs!). I lasted another half hour (until 3 am, when I was supposed to be there until 5 am), then I bailed (nobody sober should be up until 5 am anyways!). The next day I was a bed ridden mess. Painful back, head cold, and still sunburned from two days before. My day of free unlimited bungees went unfulfilled. I bet you're thrilled at that news, Mom!! :)

Off to Townsville, where I did a little side trip to Magnetic Island, and was pleasantly surprised to run into two Irish girls on the ferry over that I had met on the Cairns reef trip. We spent the day beach hopping on the island, and koala hunting....since it's apparently the largest koala sanctuary in Queensland (or even Australia), we were sure we wouldn't be disappointed. We saw ONE!!! But it was cutest, sleepiest little gaffer ever.

I also had another first in Townsville: My first cockroach. I know, I am 25 years old and I have managed to go this long without seeing one, so it was about time. Maybe if I had seen them earlier in life, I wouldn't have reacted the way I did! I was strolling from the kitchen one night with a cup of tea in hand, when I saw something scuttling on the floor near the shelves where our food bags were kept, when it suddenly braked to a stop. I also stopped in horrified fascination, confirming that yes, that was indeed a cockroach, when all of a sudden the creepy little thing charged at me!!! It's like it could sense my disgust and went in for the kill (or heart spasm anyways). I literally jumped, raising a knee in defense and ran to the other side of the room, squealing "eeeeyAAAAAAA!" and leaving a trail of spilled tea in my wake. I turned to see who else was following suit...People on the patio craned their necks to see what the commotion was...meanwhile the girls lounging in the area, reading and visiting, looked at me, looked at the roach...looked back at me with disinterest, and a look that said "So?". I said "That's my first cockroach!!" and fled upstairs. On the way up to my room , I saw a girl sitting on the couch, with another roach climbing the wall just inches above her head. I didn't bother telling her. Because, you know, she's like pro at seeing them or something.

So, I've become more aware of just how huge this country really is, and I'm REALLY going to be motoring through...I counted out about 10 or 11 more places I really want to stop in at, so I can only stay about 2 or 3 nights in each place. I think I really could have used another month or so...

Cairns

With the Irish girls aboard the Passions of Paradise

With the fire throwers from the Illuminescence party...

Dude was scary!! It was weird to hear him talk, with his proper English accent...

From the top of Castle Hill, overlooking Magnetic Island...

...and overlooking Townsville

On Magnetic Island...obeying the "Swim within the stinger nets" signs

Coochi-cooing to convince him to jump into my arms

Underground cave dweller

Saying good-bye to NZ was a little heart-breaking, as its sad to think that I may not ever see it again. My last few days there were pretty low key, considering I was jumping from town to town every day. Spent some time in Mount Maunganui, which is pretty much a rich-Kiwi resort town...a one-bedroom apartment across the street from the beach (no houses I saw were actually on the beach), started at $1.5 million. There was one little campervan park, which was pretty weak in regards to size and landscaping, but the thing books up two years in advance! Apparently it gets super packed in the summer, and the backpacker bus doesn't do trips out there at that time of year because the traffic is so backed up...maybe even as bad as Sylvan Lake on a long weekend! So I felt fortunate to be able to check it out.
I also did a little side trip to the Coromandel peninsula, which was absolutely beautiful. We stopped at a hot water beach where our guide armed us with spades and we followed the throng of people down to the beach, where we could see steam curling up from the sand. The idea was to dig yourself a little pit and then wallow in the water which seeped up from below that was hotter than a hot tub. We were told the water could get up to 60 degrees Celsius, so in some spots we had to abandon our digging because we couldn't bear even standing in the ankle deep water! And on my last night in Auckland before flying to Cairns, there was a Tahiti dance group doing a performance in the hostel bar...I was talking to one of the dancers (Kaverah? He's on the left in the picture below), and apparently they had been in Canada this past summer, performing. It was pretty intense, with chanting and chest slapping (well, for the guys anyways), but it was an awesome treat for my last night out.

And the biggest misconception I've heard about Canada so far...

In the internet/lounge area of the hostel in Mount Mauganui, a Brazilian guy was picking away at his guitar, when he stopped to ask where I'm from. When I replied, Canada, he shuddered involuntarily and said "Brrrr....so cold". I replied yeah, it could get pretty cold for a few months of the year, but it wasn't like that the whole time. Then, in his broken English, he told me he had heard Canada has cities that are "down", as he slanted his hand towards the floor. I had no idea what he was talking about, so a guessing game ensued. After a few painful minutes, he managed to get his meaning across. He had heard that Canada has underground cities where people lived to escape the cold. Heehee!! The corners of my mouth started tugging upwards, but I stanched the laugher, as I just shook my head and said "Nope, don't got any of those".

I was tempted to tell a New Zealander though that yes, hockey is quite similar to curling...

Somewhere between Wellington and Napier

Huka Falls

Overlooking the beach from Mount Mauganui

Digging a wading hole at the hot water beach

Walking to Cathedral Cove

Sky tower, Auckland

Dance group from Tahiti shaking their groove thang

The inspiration behind the dance moves I'll be busting out soon

My last glimpse of NZ...

The end is near...

Ooooookie....so from the last post, it's become apparent that I've left the south island...after Christchurch, I went to Kaikoura (arg, it seems like I need to backtrack so much...I can't remember what I had for lu-pper yesterday). I wanted to swim with the dolphins, but those elusive little squeaks didn't want to swim with me. I suppose it was more the weather than anything though. Despite looking like a beautiful day out, it was apparently pretty windy out in the middle of the ocean with increasing swells, so it was cancelled the first day. The second day, we were out on the boat, and saw a small pod of dusky dolphins, but they were pretty antisocial, seeing as how it was their mating/calving season (I suppose a girl's gotta have her priorities), and the weather was picking up anways, so we headed back in to shore. I got most of my money back, so I decided it was an omen to skip this petty dolphin crap, and save it for the BIG BOYS OF THE SHARK KINGDOM muah ha ha!!!

The view from the back porch of the Kaikoura hostel

View from the Kaikoura peninsula walkway, atop the bluffs

Anyways. After Kaikoura, it was Picton for 2 hours...enough time to meet Anna-the-Pom and rent a car to head to Nelson. Nelson apparently gets the most sunshine in all of NZ...I can't really attest to that, seeing as how it was pretty rainy/overcast for three outta the four days we were there. But the day we chose to go to Abel Tasman for a day-long kayaking trip was super nice out, so I guess that's all that matters! It was a long 16-km paddle trek, and we saw several quiet, secluded beaches, heaps of seals, some jellyfish (one guy poked at with his oar, so I didn't have to) dozens upon dozens of bird species, and one particularly impressive miracle... me successfully supressing the urge to smoke my kayaking partner in the back of the head with my oar. She claimed that she had just been in Australia, where she had done a sea kayaking trip. So, of course, she must have thought it would be the most logical thing if I sat in the back and steered (even after me telling her I had no idea what I was doing), while she sat at the front. There were some particularly choppy parts, and I pretended I was Robinson Crusoe and paddled for all I was worth. But I couldn't understand why everyone was so far ahead of us. Then I realized it was because she had stopped paddling. And she was sitting back admiring the view, and for all the good it was doing, the oar might as well have been stuck up her...nose. Then she'd leisurely pick up the oar again, and do some dipsy paddles...then stop again. This continued a few times, and I sat behind her fuming, but biting my tongue. One of the guides, Katherine, came up beside us and asked Jennifer from San Francisco (aka lazy stewpid jurkface by this point) if she was okay, and she said yes. Questioned a second time, about 15 minutes later, she said "my hands are cramping up." And the third time, the million-dollar question was answered with "Yeah...I just don't want to get wet." My laser-beam death ray eyes were boring holes in the back of her head. But maybe I'm just being insensitive, because I know that when I signed myself up to paddle out on the ocean in a little plastic boat, the last thing I expected to happen was get wet. All barbs aside, it was an awesome day, and we were all hurting by the end...which was kinda cool, because it really felt like we had accomplished something!

Blue Thunder, aka Troy

From R to L: Moi, Sarah the Pom, Stewpid Lazy Jurkface in background, leaning over kayak

Anna and I headed back to Picton to drop off the rental car (thinking I had the hang of driving on the other side of the road and shifting with my left hand, I drove on the way back...and I only scared Anna about three or four times...but she's theatrical). She headed to Wellington, and I stayed for a wine tour, my first ever. I decided I like wine tours. Everyone's just so happy. One couple from Australia were particularly delightful (Alison reminded me of my aunty Carol) and told me I reminded them of Delta Goodrem...the other two guys from the UK agreed. I had no idea who this Delta Goodrem was, but I decided that anyone named after a geological formation of a landform where the mouth of a river flows into an ocean, sea, desert, estuary, lake or another river, couldn't be all that bad. (FYI she's an actress/singer from Aus, who I had seen on tv here but just didn't know it was her...and who I thought I bore no resemblance to at all, but meh. I'll take what I can get!)

While in Nelson, I hiked to the top of a hill, where there was a monument marking the exact geographical center of NZ.

Manhandling Troy on the open road

The Gargle-Swish technique perfected by seasoned wine connoisseurs

Then onwards to Wellington, the country's capital (via the ferry, where no alcohol consumption, therefore no drunk and disorderly arrests ensued)...I at least went to see the outside of the Parliament buildings. Then onto Napier...a great town that I adore, and didn't really want to leave. I was surprised that I was the only one on the backpacker bus to opt for staying at the Napier Prison...how many times do you get to stay in an old prison?! I think the fact that the bus couldn't drop people off right at the prison because the road was too narrow and couldn't turn around might have factored in...but it makes no difference to me, because this is the coolest place I've stayed so far!!! I was actually in my own little cell...female dorms were all full, so they gave me my own cell for the same price...muah ha! It was tiny and was kinda creepy at first, but it was so nice to not have to share a room with seven other people! I did the tour ...it was NZ's first prison, opened up in the 1800's and actually just closed in 1993. Was abandoned for 10 years, then reopened as a hostel four years ago. When it closed in '93, only five of the cells had toilets...all the others were still using pots. There were only ever four hangings here, and there's actually a cemetary with only one grave of one of the prisoner's hung. Another hang-ee was buried just outside the main wall, and his grave is marked with a bump. He was Maori, so that's why he was not buried within the prison walls. So, it definitely was a neat experience, sleeping in an old jail and hearing the torrid tales (my cell was occupied by the "good boys" only, so as far as they know, nothing terrifying or alarming happened).

My very own cell door, complete with deadbolt on the outside

After Napier, I left the Magic bus' well beaten path, and jumped onto the InterCity to Gisborne (smelliest bus ride ever...first the lady with the gag-inducing stale cigarette smell...then the school boy with two random patches shaved into his hairline and a serious case of B.O.) ...first city in the world to see the sun, as well as a sweet surfer town. The rain followed me all the way from Napier though, and by the time I arrived in Gisborne, it was torrential rain. Upon my arrival, I was quite dismayed to realize my plan of going to the travel center to find a hostel was kiboshed...seeing as the travel center was closed. I figured I could walk to the main streets of Gisborne and find a hostel...not an easy feat carrying three bags, an umbrella and a map. Crossing the street, I saw this long, huge puddle that I couldn't really get around, so I traipsed through it...only to discover it came up mid-calf. Luckily I was inappropriately attired in flip-flops and long shorts, which still managed to drag through the water. Then I missed getting nailed twice in the same freakin' traffic circle (the pedestrian lights were out due to construction). So I wandered the city streets, suprised to see that even though Gisborne is over 30,000 people, most shops were shut down by 5. I was about to use the payphone to call a hostel to see if they did pick-ups, but as I was throwing down all my luggage, I heard someone behind me ask if I needed a ride somewhere. Turning around, I saw a Maori woman in her mid-30s giving me a big, toothless grin. I had never been so glad to see a strange, toothless woman. She had three little kids with her, and I am not ashamed to say I jumped right into her dirty little van. As if reading my mind, she said not to worry, they were Christians, and she was also delighted to hear I was from Canada ..."Celine Dion!!!", "Shania Twain!!!" ...and she delivered me safely to the Flying Nuns backpackers (first a prison, then an old convent).

My time in NZ is coming to a close, and I'm finding myself burning through the north island. As I'm finally finishing this post, I'm in Taupo, but taking off again tomorrow morning. Ten more days of Kiwiness...

Folsom Napier Prison Blues

Operator: Yes ma'm, I have a Ms. Carolyn Walker calling...will you accept the charges?
Mar Mar: Yes, put her through.
Operator: Thank you, go ahead.
Carolyn: Hi Mom!! How are you?? (And thank you for accepting the collect call...)
Mom: Oh good, it's so nice to hear your voice! How are you? What have you been up to?
Carolyn: I'm pretty good. I took the ferry across the other day, and I'm now in the north island. I told you about the kayaking in the south island, and the wine tour...I haven't been up to too much the past few days.
Mom: Where are you right now?
Carolyn: In Napier. In the prison.
Mom: What?
Carolyn: In the Napier prison. I'm spending a few nights here.
Mom: Carolyn, what?!
Carolyn: Yeah, I got drunk and disorderly on the ferry, so I'm in the prison. And this is my one phone call. (Never mind that the ferry gets into Wellington, not Napier).
Mom: CAROLYN, OMG, ARE YOU SERIOUS?!
Carolyn: BAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...no. I'm in the old prison that's been converted to a hostel.
Mom: Augh!! You gave me such a start!!!
Carolyn: BAH HAHAHAHAHAHA

Even better than the time I told her I dropped outta college.

New Zealand 101

I'm back in Christchurch, after almost completing my loop of the south island...a few more places to hit up before venturing to the north, but it's hard to believe it's been three weeks. Seems like I just started, yet like I've been here forever...
I had been hanging out with a few girls from the UK (UK travelers are almost as much in abundance as the NZ pesky possum population...but probably more appreciated), and two girls from Sweden. Seeing as how the two Swedes were leaving today for Kaikoura, and one of the sweet little UKers, Ruth, was flying out as well, we decided to go out for pizza last night. I lost a chunk of hair in the process. I didn't bring a hair dryer with me, so to speed up the primping process beforehand, I asked my dorm buddy Anna if I could use hers. I should have known no good could come from it, because I've had several travel dryer mishaps in the past. Sure enough, the little bastee sucked in a tangle of hair and I admit to uttering a few choice expletives before managing to turn the dryer off. No amount of tugging could realease my locks of vanity, so I had to attack them with scissors. Poor Ruth couldn't bear witness and had to leave the room. Fortunately, the section I had to shorten by a few inches was underneath, so it's not noticeable...even if it was, I probably would have just fit in with the eccentric, hipster and volatile fashion sense of the locals.
It was at dinner that I decided I'm going to adopt as many UK terms and sayings as I can...made much more effective by a light lilting accent. They have an amazing way of making everything sound so...colorful and interesting. I love it. For example:
Carolyn: "This chicken satay pizza is damn good."
Ruth: "I know, isn't it just gorgeous?! The peanut sauce is just so brilliant!"
Carolyn: "The lamb is damn good too."
Expressive as a door mat, I'm sure.

Anyways. From Queenstown, I did a Milford Sound day trip and took a boat tour of the fjord. In some ways, it really reminded me of the boat trip Jesse and I did in Alaska (with mountains and the smaller waterfalls)...but maybe a little less cold. Milford Sound gets rained on about 300 days of the year (more than 7 meters!), and we just happened to get lucky enough to have a sunny day.

Charie, from Texas

While in Queenstown, I hiked up the gondola trail and also did the Queenstown Hill Walkway to the top of the mountain overlooking the town and lakes...

The Basket of Dreams, built for the year 2000...an ideal vantage point of the city below.

I was sad to leave Queenstown...it was such a nice, relatively small town, settled in the mountains, and had a lot to do and see, but I figured it was time to move on to Dunedin. There were quite a few travelers who were not looking forward to Dunedin, and said there wasn't much to do there...but when you're comparing it to Queenstown, adventure capital of the world, then yeah, I guess there's not a whole lot! I really liked it though...it was surrounded by great, rolling hills (which I was enthralled by...I loved the mountains, but I wasn't as blown away by them as a lot of the people I talked to were...mainly because some of them had never seen mountains before). It was an older city, with so many great buildings and cathedrals and churches, and little shops and pubs. Twenty minutes away on the Otaga peninsula was the only castle in the southern hemisphere, and Dunedin is also home to the world's steepest street (San Fran kicked up a fuss about that one, but in the end, good prevailed over evil, and it was officially put in the Guiness Book of World Records). I also visited the Cadbury Chocolate Factory, and learned that on average, per year, Japanese people eat 2 kg of chocolate, NZ - 4 kg, Australia - 8 kg, UK - 12 kg, Canada/US - 14 kg, Switzerland - 16 kg. Being the only North American, the tour guide asked if I ate 14 kg of chocolate a year...I l said no way, that's disgusting. Shortly thereafter, I lied about answering a trivia question right so she'd give me an extra chocolate bar as a reward.

On the bus, between Queenstown and Dunedin

The Cadbury Chocolate Factory, in front of a golden mound of Crunchie bars. The only pic I got, because they confiscated all cameras for the tour. Clever broomheads...

First Church of Otaga

One of the coziest hostels I've been in...I felt like I was in someone's apartment. There was even a little demon cat to maul your legs when you walked past.

Doesn't really look too steep from this angle...

View from the top



Dunedin University campus...first university in NZ.

Railway Station...the second most photographed building in the south, after the Sydney opera house (I feel like I'm giving a history lesson/virtual tour...you're all going to be so edumacated)

Rocking out with the Moeraki boulders. Bah hahaha...huh? A stop along the way, between Dunedin and Lake Tekapo.

Lake Tekapo...I was going to go into a little description of why it's such a vibrant blue...but I forgot my book which I was going to copy it from. Haha! It's glacier water...with some refratory sediments or other called "flour" ("refractory sediments"?! woo hoo!)...they hang in the water...and yeah, presto! Brilliant blue. Take that, Bill Nye.