Hellooooo New Zealand!

We flew into Christchurch, NZ without a single plan in place for the week ahead. So exciting. New Zealand is absolutely beautiful. It’s autumn here and the leaves have all turned to brilliant shades of red, yellow, and orange. Christchurch is a very historic city, with brick streets, a trolley, and old architecture.

Liam, Jono, and Daryl (left to right) picked us up in a graffitied campervan that afternoon in the center of the city. CJ and I checked into a hostel and then our roadtrip crew went out for a night on the town. We ate supper at a really unique Mexican restaurant and then found a tiny Irish pub with live music.

In the morning, we set out to explore the surrounding towns, but as Jono and Liam claimed, “Kiwis are lazy” and nothing was open before 10am. (“kiwi” is a term for New Zealanders… named after the Kiwi bird) Due to Kiwi laziness, we returned to Christchurch and ate lunch at a vegetarian Indian restaurant with Liam. I was pleasantly surprised -my scrambled eggs were very good, which Liam says means they came from a very happy chicken. We spent the rest of the morning wandering around the city, which has several boutiques and gift shops. CJ and I took a trolley ride/tour of the city, which I really enjoyed. We saw a large Mauri tribe singing and dancing for tourists outside one store. The Mauris are native New Zealanders… the women have scary tattoos on their faces and are apparently known to pick fights with and thrash grown men. They looked absolutely terrifying but they had beautiful voices and drew quite a crowd.

The highlight of the afternoon was a gondola ride we took on the river through Christchurch. Daryl convinced the lady rowing to let him try… it wasn’t quite as easy as he thought and we nearly crashed into the bank. From there, we all piled into the campervan and began our 8hr road trip southwest toward Queenstown, NZ.

Sydney

After our school-free week on the Gold Coast, we headed off to Sydney. We took a quick flight down to Australia’s most famous city. Right when we arrived, we realized it was famous for good reason. We could have been in any country in the world for all we knew. The streets are busy, and full of people from all corners of the world. Molly and I found a hostel called Base right in the middle of the city. Base is a clean and efficient hostel, and it ended up being a staple of our journey. Our first afternoon in Sydney was spent walking around the city and finding out just where everything was. We came back to the hostel around 6:30pm and passed out on our surprisingly comfy beds. 14 hours later we woke up ready to explore Sydney by foot. Sydney harbor was first on our list. Along the harbor walk way we heard many street performers. Our favorite was Graham Francis, an 80 year old Australian version of Bob Dylan. He played a miniature guitar and harmonica at the same time. He sang old Australian folk songs and some others that he wrote. We sat and listened to him for a while. I loved it!!!

After watching the last street performer almost fall from his 12 foot unicycle, we walked around the city looking in random little shops. For lunch we got McDonalds to have on a picnic under an ancient tree at the Sydney Botanical Gardens. We were surrounded by dozens of very large white parrots. Molly decided tochase after them running barefoot, stepping in bird poop in the process. Kiiiiinda gross.

After lunch we found an art fair that wasn't much different than our local Minnesota art fairs. After mingling through the fair, we enjoyed a relaxing walk through the old European part of town.

When evening rolled around, I was VERY excited because Molly had planned a big surprise date weeks in advance. She walked me to the entrance of the Sydney Opera house, and I was blown away when I found out we were going to a concert! The show was called Scotland the Brave. There was a small orchestra, a large choir, many bagpipe players, and Scottish dancers. The music gave me the chills. I absolutely loved it. It was good enough for even a Norwegian to enjoy :)

The next morning we left the Sydney airport for Christchurch. Ready for a new adventure.

Fraser Island

The week before our final exams was a class-free week, so we decided we had to go on an adventure. We heard Fraser Island was a “can’t miss,” so with high expectations, we booked a 2-day trip. An ex-professional rugby player picked us up at 5:30am from uni and drove us up to Brisbane. In Brisbane we packed into a vintage 1980s Landcruiser (equipped with a snorkel.) aka Bushwhacker!!!

Our crew consisted of an awkward German couple, two Canadian-Indian girls and a friendly Aussie tourguide. Driving to the island was a crazy experience in itself. Just think about a time in your life when you drove over a huge pot-hole that made your head hit the ceiling of your car. We basically drove over one of those every couple seconds through many miles of endless rainforest (Molly loved the sensation of having her stomach in her throat.) Yes, it was lovely. After the off-road driving came beach driving. We drove for hundreds of miles on the beautiful hilly beach going about 70mph, right along the water. - best highway I’ve ever been on.

We took a fairy across a bay where the world’s biggest Great White shark was caught. We stopped at an old shipwreck on the beach and took a bunch of amazing photos. I got in trouble for going inside the ship. Whoops…

After the shipwreck, we did a 2 mile barefoot walk through the rainforest to the middle of the island, where we came across an epic dessert and freshwater lake. Our tour guide believed that the place had “good energy.” We agreed with him.

Just before sundown, we arrived at our hostel right on the beach. The whole area was literally infested with thousands of parrots. We felt like we were in the movie “The Birds.” It was nuts. Our relaxing night came to a bittersweet end after the awkward German couple beat us in pool.

Our second day on Fraser Island was one of the most relaxing days of my life. We were taken to a freshwater lake that was so clear and pure you could drink from it on its shore. It was the clearest lake I had ever seen, simply breathtaking. Don’t worry, we got some great photos. We spent a lot of time at the lake, playing catch with my super popular glow in the dark American football. Meanwhile, the awkward German couple soaked up the sun, looking very attractive in a speedo and bikini. Oh dear.

After the lake we went on a couple nature walks through the forests where they used to log these HUGE trees for wood flooring. They stopped logging the trees in the middle of the century, not for environmental reasons, but because of the rise in the popularity of high-heel shoes.

During our nature walks we came across dingos. We thought they were very cute dogs and they appeared to be pretty tame.We were proven dead wrong after hearing about a 12 yr old boy that recently got eaten by a pack of them. No worries though. I protected Molly from the packs of wild dingos. Overall, Fraser Island was incredible. It blew our expectations out of the water. If you want a good glimpse of our Fraser experience, look at our photos on Facebook. :)

Moreton Island

When traveling in a foreign country, should someone offer to take you out on his yacht to a beautiful island for the weekend, your answer should be simple. Heck yes.

On one of the most memorable weekends here in Australia, we went to our friend Jono’s parents’ house in Cleveland, not too far from Brisbane. They live in beautiful Raby Bay, which is about an hour boat ride from Moreton Island, an Australian must-see. In addition to living in a neighborhood much like Newport from the O.C., Jono’s parents own a 50ft boat, which we went out to sea in for the weekend. The boat sleeps 8, but most of us ended up sleeping on the upper deck beneath the stars. It was miraculous. The only issue we ran into was a giant bat swooping down at Liam and our Indian friend Daryl in the middle of the night. I’m quite sure Daryl’s screaming woke up the neighborhood in its entirety.

After a less than peaceful night for some, we woke up at 5am to set sail into the sunrise. Jono’s parents were incredibly hospitable, and served us snacks, lunch, and cider during our journey. Although it’s my dream to sail around the world, unfortunately my sea legs haven’t quite developed and I got pretty seasick on the way to Moreton. It took an hour to sleep it off, during which I apparently missed more than 30 dolphins swimming around the boat… drat.

Once we finally arrived, we anchored ship and took the dinghy (baby motor boat) out to a giant manmade shipwreck by the island. Jono’s dad said it was made to create a reef for marine life and to attract tourism. It worked. There were many boats and snorkelers in the area taking advantage of the beautiful weather and epic scenery. We went snorkeling around the shipwreck and saw oodles of tropical fish and coral. I was scared spitless when one of the girls spotted a stingray, which naturally Jono provoked, causing it glide toward us. Here’s my rationale: If the croc hunter Steve Irwin can’t handle a stingray, there’s no way I was about to take one on. Luckily, I think the ruckus I made was enough to scare him away. After snorkeling, we beached the dinghy on shore and played cricket on the beach. I’m a pretty lousy cricketer and won’t bank on being recruited any time soon. The rest of the afternoon was spent diving off the top deck of the boat, swimming in the electric blue water, and soaking up the sun.

After checking out trips in the travel center at Bond, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that Moreton Island tours cost more than $300, one expense we were happy to avoid.

Busy, Brizzy and Owl City

First off, I want to apologize to all of you readers out there. We have neglected you this month, but we will try make it up to you : )

We have been extremely busy with uni the last few weeks. Our schoolwork has been excessive and stressful, but we’ve still made time for fun and memorable experiences. Here’s a list of things we have learned in the last 20 days:

-Journalism sucks

-Don’t buy DVDs in foreign countries

-Owl City = The Beatles + Michael Jackson (when he was black)

-Bats still suck

-Molly wants a segway REAL BAD --> who doesn't??

-Australia makes Seattle look like a desert

-Journalism sucks

-Don’t mess with cyclones

The biggest highlight from the last few weeks was the Owl City concert we went to in Brisbane (Brizzy). One week before the concert, we found out tickets were sold out. Thank goodness we have a friend who is a rockstar…Molly got in contact with our friend Matt Decker, who is the drummer for Owl City, and he effortlessly put us on the guest list. Out of fear of driving into a heard of kangaroos on the wrong side of the road, we took a 2-hour train up to Brisbane. The concert was at the Tivoli Theatre, a unique and intimate venue built probably 100 years ago.

The line to get into the show must have been a kilometer long… About 85 percent girls… Average age-14 years old. Event coordinators told us they had been standing in line since noon (it was 6:30). We felt like we were about to watch the Beatles in 1964. The show was amazing. Each song sounded better live. The leader of Owl City, Adam, had a mustache that even the Monopoly man would envy. After the show we hung out with Matt and walked around the city.

We explored Brisbane the next day, walking aimlessly around the shopping district and China-town. It was a beautiful day, except when it started raining sideways, blowing grass clippings from every yard from the city in our faces. --> ahem, the grass clippings came from a weed whacker...we were walking right behind him during the wind storm. Brisbane was a beautiful city and we hope to get a proper tour from Liam or Jono soon.

The pic below is of an all-girl school. The girls reminded me of Madeline (anyone remember that cartoon?).

Over the last couple months Molly has found a few good deals on DVDs that she was really excited about. --> Fox & the Hound, Super Troopers, House Bunny...(alex ;) As it turns out, DVD players are ‘regionized’ and you can’t play foreign movies on them. Awesome. What this means is that when we pop in our favorite psychological thriller from the US into my rented Australian DVD player, it plays the whole thing in fuzzy black and white. Like Molly’s dated apartment, I guessed we’ve gone retro with our entertainment. Lovely expression below perfectly describes us being lost in Brisbane and my feelings toward DVD 'regionizing'. When we take over the world, first item on the agenda: Free the DVDs from their region captivity!

The weather has been frustrating to say the least. According to the weather news, we have only had two days without rain in the last month. It hasn’t been raining constantly though… We are often teased with sun and 80+ temps then minutes later it will be windy and pouring rain. The beach hasn’t been too tempting lately, with crazy cyclones tearing up the ocean. Molly wasn’t too psyched about me going surfing after a surf lifesaver got killed in the rough waves the previous weekend. I didn’t go…it was a good call. I'm so very wise :)

Despite busyness, cyclones, weed clippings, and journalism taking form of the anti-Christ, it's been a good month. We're in the process of planning a trip to New Zealand after final exams are over! Love you all and thanks for reading!

Moms, Tsunamis, and Salsa

Another week has flown by and our moms (and grandma) have returned safely to Minnesota. Last week, Joyce, Brenda and Donna went north to Cains, where they got to experience the rainforest and see the Great Barrier Reef. I heard mom picked a fight with a pelican at the zoo - I didn't ask, but I'm assuming she won.

On Friday, we decided to drive up the mountain to see the Natural Bridge and glow worms. It had been raining basically all week, and this day was no different. The next day, we all woke up early and spent the morning at the beach, then drove south into New South Wales with a couple of our Aussie friends to shop in Byron Bay. We took the most epic hike through a mountain and stood on the most easternly tip of Australia, where we could see the ocean from either side (I think this means we were closer to home from the other side of the globe) So incredibly beautiful!

On an exciting note, Australia is now on tsunami watch! We were with the moms at the Sheraton hotel when the Australian government posted signs about the beach being closed. We didn't think they meant it, but then sure enough, we saw police jeeps scaling the beach, kicking people off. Crazy.

Now we've sent the mom's off and are back to routine. CJ and I joined a salsa club a few weeks ago and are taking dance lessons every Monday night. It's really fun-- we're planning on going dancing this Friday at QBar, which is the tallest skyscraper on the Gold Coast and has a 360 degree view of the city and the ocean. In the meantime, CJ's been brushing up on his 'Jose' alter-ego and Mexican accent.

It's been raining like crazy here the last couple of weeks... I'm still appreciating the warmth, but I'd be happy for some sunshine pretty soon.

Mumsies

Our moms and CJ's grandma arrived here last Friday for a visit! They rented a car, which has perhaps been a little more of an adventure than they bargained for, but I'm proud to say they and the car are scratch-free and they're handling it like champs! As for me, I think I'll pass on driving on the left side of the road from the right side of the car. I can barely parallel park as it is....

On their first night here, we gave them apartment tours and showed them around Bond campus. They didn't get much sleep on the 14 hour flight, so we drove Brenda and Donna back to their hotel, and mom and I came back to my place to crash. The next morning we went to a huge surfing competition, which CJ had been at days prior for his journalism internship. It was amazing; we were sitting on a grassy hill right by the beach, watching the world's best surfers compete. Dad, you'd be happy to know that the competition was sponsored by a flavored milk company. :) We then went back to the Sheraton for lunch and for a walk on Main beach. CJ, Mom, and I took a swim in the ocean, which scoffed at Mom's intention of "keeping her hair dry," with the huge waves and undertow doing their best to knock us over.

We went to a Presbyterian church on Sunday morning, which had a really traditional service, with its congregation's median age at about 70. We had another afternoon at the beach in store for us and enjoyed a relaxed Italian dinner at Broadbeach before we called it a night.