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August 23 Cinque TerreWe spent 2 days in Cinque Terre, Italy which is on the Italian Riviera and is very beautiful!! It was the least touristy, and coincidentally our favorite, place in Europe so far. There are 5 towns on the coast and there is an 8 mile hiking trail that connects them all. We spent most of one of the days doing the hike and exploring the towns. It was a surprisingly hard hike with lots of stairs which pretty much went down to the water at each town and way up in the hills in between the towns. It was also still pretty hot so we took the opportunity to swim at each town.
The towns were more beach resorty than we expected and we seriously considered staying an extra day there (and skipping Munich) to relax on the beach and recover from so many long days! In the end we decided that the hassle of changing our plans wasn´t worth it and we just made the most of the time we had there.
The area is known for pesto, olive oil, and wine, so of course we had to try lots of all of those! We never found any local wine that we liked but we are still just learning about European wines (we did a wine tasting event one evening in Rome that I think I forgot to mention where we learned a little and tried some great wines). By the time we left Cinque Terre we were starting to get sick of pasta =) August 19 Pictures have to waitWe can't post pictures from any of the public computers we are using because you have to install something and we don't have permission. So we'll do that when we get back to CO after 8/27. Rome(Aug 16 - 19)
We spent the last 3 days in Rome where we have been dealing with the crowds and heat. It is in the low 90s and I don't think we have seen a single cloud. It is also the busiest tourist month of the year and all the locals take the month off so many of the shops are closed. Of course it is still Rome and even with the heat and the crowds it is wonderful. We have gone to the Vatican, the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, and many fountains. We have been getting up early to avoid lines and then we take a nap in the afternoon to recover and escape the heat. Today we got a little bit of a late start and only got to the Vatican museum at 9am so we had to wait in a 45 minute line (luckily it was still early so we were in the shade). I have been to Rome once before but it is Chris's first time. I was here in the month of April before and have noticed a few differences... One is that the Spanish Steps only have flowers on them in the spring so they are much prettier then. The other is the use of the fountains in the summer - they are used constantly for filling up water bottles, drinking out of, cooling off, kids playing in them, dogs swimming in them, and people washing their hands and feet. It is quite entertaining to watch. We haven't gotten up the nerve to drink the water and it is more because of the things people touch the fountains with than the water itself. August 16 VeniceAug 15 & 16
We are in Venice now - it is Chris's first time but I have been here twice before. We spent the 1st day walking around town getting lost. We would see a pretty building in the distance and try to walk to it but would round a corner to find that there was no bridge on the road we were on or the road just dead ended. So we never found the building we were actually looking for but we did accidentally find a lot of other beautiful buildings and areas. We are overwhelmed by the crowds of tourists and the vendors trying to sell you stuff off the street; we are basically experiencing culture shock at being back in a western country and are still trying to enjoy it here. It rained a lot and we had to time our breaks with the rain - this is the first time rain has impacted our trip as we had a few quick storms in Thailand that didn't bother us while we were swimming and it didn't rain at all in Africa. We have been enjoying pizza, pasta, gelato, Italian coffee, and wine!!
Today is our second day in Venice and I am sick. I assume it is from something I ate or drank before we left Africa and I am very grateful that I got sick in a nice hotel instead of while we were camping! Chris went to explore the city alone and I am just hanging out on the internet. General thoughts on our time in AfricaIt was the best and most amazing thing either of us have ever experienced!! It was so different from anywhere else we have been and we got to experience a lot of the less touristy areas. We loved being on an organized tour but realize we need to be picky about the type of tour so we don't end up on a huge bus with all Americans (which we saw a few of at the airport in Vic Falls). Our small tour was perfect and even though camping meant packing extra stuff, being cold sometimes, and having to use bad showers and toilets, that would be our preference in the future as well because I think it gets you out of the major tourist areas and allows you to see some of the animals and land more naturally. We really didn't want to leave Africa and are already talking about where we want to go next in Africa. We got along with our tour guide so well that he offered to give us a private tour for just the cost of expenses if we ever made it back (that is if he doesn't come visit us in CO and meet a girl like he really wants to)! The company that finds volunteers for the lion encounter works all over Africa so we will have to look through their info too to see if we can come back for an even more local experience!
Safety - we are now in Venice and feel like we can really relax about safety - I didn't really realize how tense and on our guard we were until we were able to relax. However, it wasn't that bad and with a local tour guide to warn us of things (i.e. he told us not to walk to town in Victoria Falls because we would either be trampled by an elephant or robbed by the locals) we felt prepared for it! Malaria was another concern but our guide and the other guide we spent a few days with said they both had it 3 times and it was like the worst flu and hangover combined for a few days. Then you can't drink for 3-6 months because your liver gets messed up with Malaria and drinking can cause you to get sick again. We only got 1 or 2 mosquito bites the entire time so we'll have to see over the next few months how well our anti-malaria pills wok. Anyway, it doesn't sound bad enough to keep us away. Safari day 6 & 7We finally got to sleep in (which was especially appreciated after the booze cruise). We had to do laundry today but when we took it to the reception they said they couldn't take anymore laundry for the day. As we walked back to our tent with our bags of laundry a local woman approached us and offered to do our laundry (by hand) under the table. I had to meet her in the bathroom to negotiate and make the exchange - we ended up paying $30 but at least she was going to be able to put chicken in the soup for her children and pay for night school =).
We went to the falls in the morning and were shocked by the size! Chris has been to Niagara Falls and said he thought they were bigger but it was a long time ago and he was much smaller so they might have just looked bigger. In the afternoon we took a helicopter over the falls which was also beautiful.
During the day our guide went fishing with the other guides from his company and they were suddenly thrown from the boat as it capsized. They scrambled to get back in as quickly as possible because there are lots of crocodiles in the river. In the scramble our guide lost his glasses and was still trying to figure out how he was going to drive the next day when Chris and I left (everyone else in our group was continuing on for another 2 weeks). When the guides got the boat out of the water they found 2 huge holes in it - bite marks from a hippo!!! They have no idea why the hippo bit their boat and said that while it is somewhat common for a hippo to bump a boat and tip it over, they had never heard of one biting a boat. In the evening of day 6 one of the guys in our group realized he left his $2000 camera at the bar the night before (after the booze cruise). To make matters much worse, his passport was in the camera bag! He was filing police reports when Chris and I left!
We went to a market in the afternoon where we were given story after story about why we should buy from them - their kids needed food, etc. It was really sad but also a very uncomfortable shopping environment. We didn't buy much because we hated saying no. Chris also felt like it was a very unsafe place for us to be at night so we rushed out of there before it got dark.
Since we had to cross over into Zimbabwe for our flight (and we had to pay the visa fee), we decided to do an activity in Zimbabwe on the way. Unfortunately Chris didn't set our alarm clock correctly so we woke up 5 minutes before the trip left and we still had to pack up all our stuff. We ended up missing the transportation but lucked out because 2 other people also missed it and we took a taxi together to the Zimbabwe border where the tour company met us. Of course that was the only time things were actually on time and not on 'African time'. We didn't take showers the day before because we wanted to wait as long as possible before our long flights (and they showers were cold and full of mosquitoes in a malaria zone). We had to go to the activity and on to our flights without showers (and I am pretty picky about having a shower every day). We did a lion encounter where you walk and pet lion cubs. They breed the lions and the ones that don't encounter humans will eventually be put in the national parks. The 2 lions we spent most of the time with were 10 months old but were still really big (Chris remembers 150kg and I remember 150 lbs so somewhere between 150-300 lbs). We also spent a little time with two other lion cubs that were 15 months old and were almost twice as big. We got a ton of great pictures. As we were petting the more skittish lion she got pissed and snapped at me! I later realized that I had been leaning on her tail!! Her snap made us realize that even though they were somewhat domesticated, they were still very powerful wild animals. We met a couple people where were volunteering at the lion encounter for a few weeks to a few months which interested us so we got some brochures and will have to see if we can make a vacation out of it in the future.
From their we went to the airport where we spent 4 hours. We ran out of cash and had no way to get anymore as there was no money facilities (and just like most of Africa, they did not accept credit cards). We were pretty excited to get on the plane for some food and drinks! We still hadn't had a chance to brush our teeth after sleeping in so we went to the bathrooms at the airport to do this and used the 1/2 bottle of water that we had. The toilets were the worst we had seen by FAR!!! There was a garbage can outside the bathrooms with an old jug in it that was used to scoop water out. We are not sure how it works but it was somehow used to flush the toilets as there was no other way to flush them! We were quite thankful that we didn't have anything to drink and wouldn't need to use the toilets! Safari day 5&6We spent most of the next 2 days driving as we were headed for Victoria Falls. As soon as we exited the park we saw an entirely different Africa with the poverty that we had heard so much about. We started seeing small log and mud huts about the size of one of our bedrooms, lots of people waiting on the side of the road for public transportation or walking over 7+ miles to get to town, and we had to bring our own toilet paper into the bathrooms (or we could buy it from washroom attendants in some cases). The guides recently changed where we camped one night because on a recent tour some locals slit the tents and stole everyone's bags while the group was on the other side of the tents around a fire!
We drove for 10 hours on day 5 and finally left South Africa and entered Botswana. The borders were hectic and we were very thankful for our guide's help. Everything moves a little slower in Botswana; exchanging money took 1.5 hours because they ran out of money and had to go to the bank for more. It also took us 45 minutes to get sandwiches for take out. The last hour of driving was on a road with the biggest potholes we have ever seen! You go from 65 mph to sudden potholes and we saw many trucks and trailers with derailed axels. We saw one guy with a trailer of personal goods (like we were trailing with all of our stuff) on the side of the road and our guide told us he had to stay with the trailer so that the locals wouldn't steel everything. We later met him and his wife at the campsite and found out they were Americans traveling on their own! It reinforced our gratitude for the tour and the guide! We also saw a lot of cars that had been left and then completely stripped and our guide told us that once a semi full of bottled water flipped so his tour group checked it out and found that the driver was dead so they stocked up on bottled water before the locals got to it (and he had a similar story about soap).
The next day we drove into Zambia and that border was 'organized chaos' as our guide had warned us. You go through the Botswana departure immigration and then you have to take a ferry across the river where you go through the Zambia immigration. The ferry holds 1 semi truck and 2 cars so the truck drivers line up for miles and can wait up to 2 weeks! It has taken our guide up to 4 hours to get across the river in the past but we lucked out and hopped right on. The Zambia side of the border was a little more chaotic as we waited in line for 45+ minutes to pay for a visa (which had to be paid in US $) and then waited for our guide to deal with getting the van across for another 30 minutes or so. We saw our guide giving random people money and couldn't figure out why he was giving so many people money but he later told us it was all part of the process and the people just didn't where uniforms or anything to show they were officials. There were also a number of guards without uniforms but with large guns (AK47 or something) which our guide had warned us not to take pictures of!
We arrived at the campsite where we would spend the next 2 days around 2pm - it was the longest we stayed in 1 spot and the first time we had to relax (although our relaxing time got eaten up by slow service at a restaurant and signing up for activities). That evening we went on a booze cruise where we saw lots more hippos and monkeys, and another beautiful sunset. There were lots of other tour groups at the enormous campsite (there were 8 guides from the company we went through). Most of the other groups were large - 20-30 people and it looked like it was a constant college party atmosphere. We learned to appreciate our small, close group that all got along! There were 7 people on the tour with us: 3 Italians - 1 who just got his PHD in quantum physics, 1 who was working on a PHD in law, and one who just got her law degree and was about to start a job, 2 Brits - both had just got their bachelors in economics from a prestigious economics school in London and 1 was moving on to work with Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the other was going on to get a masters degree, and 2 Aussies - 1 was a chiropractor and 1 was a mechanic and they lived in a small town that Chris, Jackie, and Mark drove through when they did the great ocean road. August 15 Safari day 3 & 4Many of the people on our tour woke up to hear a lion roaring in the middle of the night! Our guide said it was about 1-2 Kms away.
We drove around the park a lot and saw lots of animals =) We were on the hunt for lions and leopards. For hours and hours we drove around and when we finally saw something it was so exciting. We found a crowd of cars at the side of the road and asked them what they saw. They told us they saw 2 male lions and a female down in the ravine about 10 yards from the road. We stayed there for about 30 minutes trying to get a glimpse of the lions. We saw bits of a head every once in a while and we saw enough to know it was eating a recent kill but we didn't get a good enough look to get a picture or anything. We counted it as half of one of the Big 5 =)
The next day our van broke down and we all had to take an area to watch while our guide got out of the car (which is forbidden and very dangerous) to look at the engine. We wasted a few hours with the logistics of getting a new van but luckily we had been following another van from the same company that was doing a similar but shorter trip, so all 9 of us hopped in their van. Later that day we went on a 3 hour sunset cruise and a 2 hour night cruise (with 20 minutes in between for dinner) in an open air vehicle (and it was cold at night). We didn't see anything very exciting for 4 and a half hours and were pretty negative for a while. The only somewhat exciting things we saw were hippos out of the water at night and a group of hyenas in the road. 1 of the hyenas was laying in the middle of the road and the others were standing around it. We were trying to figure out how it died when it lifted its head. Then another hyena walked further down the road and laid down. It turns out they do that because the concrete is warm! We got back from the night cruise at 9:30 or 10 and had a sunrise cruise that started at 5:30am! For the first 2 hours of the sunrise cruise we didn't see anything and so were again (or still) pretty negative. I had given up looking and was trying to sleep when the ranger suddenly stopped and told us she saw a leopard! We all jumped to our feet and were very excited. The leopard was laying in the middle of a field watching some zebras. We had a really good view of the leopard and watched it get up and move around for over an hour (and Chris got over 50 pictures of it)! We were hoping to see it attack the zebras but it just seemed to want to lay there. It made the hours and hours of not seeing anything worth it. Safari Day 1 & 2(Aug 7 &8)
We started early on day 1 and drove out of the city and into the country as the sun was coming up. Every sunrise and sunset we have seen has been beautiful!
We drove a lot on the 1st day but also went to an animal orphanage where we saw endangered animals in a zoo like setting. We camped on the river that was full of hippos and crocodiles. We had no protection from them but had no problems. As we were driving up to the camp we had to slow down for monkeys that were running across the road and we stopped for some elephants that had just crossed the road and were standing right beside it (the guide was afraid they might charge at us since they were so close so we ended up just speeding past them). When Chris got up in the morning there was an elephant drinking from the river that was about 20 feet from our tent. We went on a river cruise in the morning where we saw lots of hippos, crocodiles, monkeys, and giraffes. Chris earned two nicknames already - long lens and paparazzi - because he takes so many pictures and because the group is relying on him for some good shots.
We then went to Kruger National Park which is 2 million acres (bigger than Ireland). It reminds me of Rocky Mountain National Park and Yellowstone but there is about 1/10 the traffic and 100 times the wildlife. We were searching for the 'Big 5' which we learned came from hunting a long time ago - the Big 5 are the only animals that would turn around and attack the hunters if they were hit but not killed. We saw 3 the first day (elephants (hundreds of them), rhino (just 1), and buffalo (about 20 of them). We had yet to see a lion or leopard. Bangkok to Jo'burg(August 5 - 6)
As we arrived in Jo'burg a few thoughts came to me about Thailand. First, I forgot to mention the massage I had on the beach in Phuket. There was a hut with a bunch of mats on the floor and a bunch of people laid there in their bathing suits to get massages. It was a bit strange but it was cheap (about $10 for an hour). As I was getting my massage I opened my eyes and saw a small elephant walking down to the beach!
The other thoughts we had about Thailand after getting to Africa was just how poluted and unsafe it was! We were expecting Jo'burg to be scary but the parts we saw were surprisingly not at all! The only difference between home and Jo'burg appeared to be that there were electric fences all over. We later found out that we were just in the good part of town but still we felt a lot safer in Jo'burg than Bangkok where people were constantly trying to rip us off! We didn't see the poverty that that we had heard so much about for a number of days so our first impressions were shock and pleasantly surprised. There were guards all over the place (armed guards by ATMs) including at the bathroom in a mall. We had to use bathrooms at campsites, parks, and gas stations for an entire week and never once saw an outhouse. The grocery store in Jo'burg even had sanitary wipes for the carts! August 13 more blogs soonWe are just finishing up our time in Africa and since we haven't had internet access in a long time I have been taking notes and will now be transferring them to blogs. So here comes some blogs from the last week or so... August 04 The BeachWe went to the beach where they filmed the movie The Beach today! I was really excited but Chris hasn't even seen the movie so he didn't really understand. It was a really pretty beach but it certainly wasn't as secluded as the movie shows. Since they movie, it has become a big tourist spot so there were at least 100 other people there while we were there. There was also more trash in the water and on the beach than any beach I have ever seen!
Here is our trip so far in a nutshell...
Chris spent a couple days in Australia and tried surfing one last time. The water was only 60 degrees so he didn't last that long. He also had some lamb on the barbie, some wine from his winery, and some meat pies for one last time. We were supposed to meet in Sydney and then fly to Bangkok together but my flight was delayed and I missed my connection so we had to make the long flights alone and meet up in Bangkok.
We spent a day in Bangkok where we went to a market that was huge and had so much stuff that was so cheap!! I was in heaven =) Of course some of the stuff we bought is already falling apart! We then went to some beautiful buildings and landmarks but we didn't know what we were looking at because they didn't have any signs that we could read. We were standing on the side of the road talking about where to go next when some guy approached us and offered us a ride in a tuk tuk (3 wheeled cart/car) to see 2 more landmarks and then back to our hotel for $.30!! Things are cheap here but not that cheap. Anyway we took him up on the offer and went to 1 of the tourist sites and then he started taking us to a bunch of stores. The first store was a place where they make suits and we each got some stuff that will be tailor made and shipped back to CO for us - we are just hoping the quality is better than what we found in the market =) We spent a lot of time in traffic throughout the day because the city is too big to do on foot and traffic is just horrible!!!
Then we spent 2 days in Phuket. We went to Phuket to go scuba diving which we were going to do on the 1st day there and then we had to wait 24 hours before we could fly (so we wouldn't get the bends). Well someone screwed up and they never came to pick us up for the scuba diving trip! We spent a couple hours waiting/looking for them and then trying to find another way to go scuba diving but it just didn't work out. We were really bummed yesterday but after our trip today I think it may have been for the best! Today we went on an all day tour where we went to different beaches and swimming/snorkeling spots. The snorkeling was pretty pathetic compared to Australia and the visibility was pretty bad because it is the rainy season. We heard that the trips the day before (when we were supposed to go scuba diving) were absolutely horrible because it rained the entire day! So between the bad weather and the disappointing snorkeling, it may have been better that we didn't go scuba diving. We also got a free dinner out of the scuba diving ordeal because they felt so bad!
Some observations about Thailand: - traffic, traffic, traffic - and pollution to go along with it! Many people where masks when they drive a tuk tuk or scooter because the pollution is so bad - security is interesting. They check the trunks of every car before it gets near a hotel. They are looking for bombs. The trash cans in the airport are clear so that they can make sure there are no bombs in there. - Tsunami - there are tsunami maps and instructions all over. They tell you to go to higher ground if there is an earthquake and then show you different areas to go. - food - the food is definitely spicy, even the breakfast. It doesn't seem as Thai like as the restaurants back home but of course that doesn't make since this is Thai food in Thailand! It is just more basic/common stuff like chicken and rice but with a little kick to it. We were hoping to meet up with a coworker of mine so he could help us order some good and spicy food but it isn't going to work out so we will have to keep trying random stuff. July 29 Our August TripWell the time has finally come for our around the world trip! Chris left yesterday and I leave tomorrow. Since we were originally supposed to start the trip from Australia we have to go back through Sydney. Chris took advantage of that and went a couple days early to say goodbye to his friends and co-workers in Canberra (and he hopes to get some surfing in too). I already said goodbye to my friends and co-workers when I went back to pack up our stuff so I am meeting Chris at the Sydney airport in a couple of days. From there here is the plan:
July 30 - Aug 1 Chris in Canberra/Sydney, Australia Aug 1 - 2 Bangkok, Thailand Aug 3 - 4 Phuket, Thailand (for scuba diving) Aug 5 Bangkok, Thailand (again) Aug 6 - 14 Safari in Africa that leaves from Johannesburg, South Africa and goes through Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to Victoria falls Aug 15 - 16 Venice, Italy Aug 16 - 19 Rome, Italy Aug 19 - 22 Cinque Terre, Italy Aug 22 - 23 Munich, Germany Aug 23 - 27 Paris, France Aug 27: back home to Colorado!
We'll be blogging and posting pictures during our trip but, only when we are too tired to be tourists! We definitely won't be on the internet while we are in Africa but most of the other time we will have internet access. July 08 First time in Asia!After packing up our stuff in Australia I (Megan) went on to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to teach a class for work. It was my first time in Asia at all and to do so for work made it especially interesting. Here are a few of the many surprises:
- many of the toilets are 'hover holes' and all the toilets have hoses to rinse off instead of using toilet paper. I was constantly searching for a normal toilet and would plan my day so that I would be near a good toilet often enough =) Hover hole with hose Normal toilet with hose
- Asians love karaoke! There was one woman in the class from Japan that didn't speak at all during the course and was very shy... until karaoke time! She got on stage and sang a song (in Japanese) all by herself!! I would never be brave enough to do that!! - there is nothing really uniquely Malaysian. All of the products people buy from there are knock offs - pirated DVDs, jewelry, perfume, and European sports jerseys are very popular. Even the beer is fake - I had a Guinness that definitely wasn't a Guinness but sure looked like one. They also had fake Heineken and Carlsberg beer. I went to China Town one night with the other people I was teaching with and we were overwhelmed by the number of people and all the things they were offering to sell us!
- We stayed (and worked) at a Marriott hotel that was the biggest Marriott I have ever stayed at (and I have stayed at plenty). The rooms were twice as big as you would find in Europe and 50% bigger than the US. The lobby was the most shocking part though - it was so big and gaudy! The hotel had a 27 hole golf course and 4 restaurants (which was a good thing since I had to eat at the hotel for 8 days straight)! Labor must have also been cheap because the place was immaculate and you would see people cleaning grout in between the tiles or vents in the roof.
Traveling to Asia really opened my eyes to the limits of my previous travels - they have all been very westernized! I really want to travel in Asia more. I was also inspired by the many international assignments the participants of the course I was teaching had experienced. Hopefully I will get another chance to work and live abroad!
Goodbye Australia!Well I (Megan) went back to Australia recently to pack up our stuff and wrap things up. It was much harder than I thought it would be!! Work was surprisingly the hardest thing for me to leave because I really was in the middle of a very good role and when I was back there I saw some emails reminding me of what I would have been working on. I didn't have enough time to say goodbye to everyone I wanted to and many people were out of town anyway. That being said, it was nice to get closure and there are definitely some things we like more about the US so we are not unhappy that we are back. Chris will be going back at the end of July to say goodbye (on our way to our around the world trip).
May 25 Very Sad News And Our Unexpected Return to the US!As you may have heard, Chris's Dad passed away quite suddenly last week. We are so shocked and sad!!! Bob woke up in the middle of the night with pain in his arms and shoulder and flu-like symptoms but went back to bed. When Chris's Mom checked on him late the next morning she found that he had died (likely a heart attack) =(
Robert (Bob) Ihrman April 7, 1944 - May 18, 2008
We were on vacation in Western Australia when we got the call and it took 10 hours to get back to Canberra (for our passports) and another 30 hours to get to Pittsburgh. So we have been in Pittsburgh for the hardest week of our lives (especially Chris of course). We have decided not to return to Australia as we need to stick together as a family and support each other during these difficult times.
I will likely be going to Australia in about a month to pack up our stuff, on my way to Kuala Lumpur which I have had planned for a while for work. Between now and then we will be living off of the few things we packed up on our way out so that might get interesting. Chris is going to stay here in Pittsburgh for a while to help his Mom and then we'll all be back in Colorado.
We got the call early Monday morning after spending the weekend swimming with whale sharks and scuba diving in Western Australia. We were flying home on Monday anyway so we did get to enjoy that last vacation. We went with a couple of Megan's American coworkers and since our camera is still in Australia, we have shared a few of their photos below. It was truly an amazing experience that I would recommend to anyone who gets the opportunity! We found 3 whale sharks, the biggest being about 25 feet long, and they swim right near the surface so you just get in there and swim next to them. When you get in you have to make sure you get out of their way so they don't run into you! They feed on plankton and just open their mouths really wide to get as much in as possible and then filter the water out through their gills. Their mouth probably opens to be as tall as a person and twice as wide as a person (6 x 12 would be my guess) so it is quite a site to see that swimming towards you!
So the blogs will slow down from here. When we get our camera in a month we will post more whale shark pictures and we still plan to do our around the world trip in August so we will blog again then!
May 10 Roommate and Trip HomeWell we are getting a part time roommate starting in 2 days and he is famous! It is the winemaker at the winery Chris works at and he lives a couple hours away on the coast and needs somewhere to stay during the week. So hopefully we will learn even more about the wine business (and of course we will share lots of good wine). For those of you thinking of visiting, don't worry we already told him that we will be having guests and will need to work something out if/when it happens.
So we are 80% sure we will be taking the month of August to do our traveling and will be in CO at the end of the month. By Thursday we will be 95% sure as we have to start putting money down on some stuff. So we will likely be in CO from 8/26 - 8/31. We would love to see people when we are home (over Mexican food or a good micro-brew) if possible!
What's coming up for us? Well next weekend we are going to Western Australia to scuba dive and swim with whale sharks! It should be a pretty amazing experience! We have a long weekend at the beginning of June and were thinking of going to New Zealand to ski but the resorts are just starting to open then so it may not be the best time to go. We have to figure out something to do then because we don't get many long weekends from now until Christmas! Then at the end of June/beginning of July I have to teach in KL and will likely bring Chris and then stay a few extra days to scuba dive. So we basically have 1 big trip a month for the next few months which will make the time go by really fast and before we know it we will be back in CO! May 05 Great Ocean DriveChris, Jackie and Mark spent most of last week driving on the southern coast of Australia. The Great Ocean Drive is similar to Highway 1 in California. They camped for 3 nights even though it is getting pretty chilly here! Camping paid off because they got up close and personal with Koalas (they got some great pictures too)! The first night there were 3 koalas in their campsite. They also saw some neat coastal rock formations, waterfalls, and redwood trees that had been planted 80 years ago
We went to a nature preserve about 40 minutes from Canberra over the weekend and I got to see my first koala (way up in the tree sleeping as opposed to the ones they saw walking around).
We have tried to spread the traditions of Cinqo de Mayo but most people have never heard of it and just aren't that interested. Oh well, we are having Mexican food and some very hard to find and expensive margaritas!
See below for more photos of the GOR
April 30 MelbourneThe rest of our weekend in Melbourne was really good. We went to an island where you watch hundreds of the smallest penguins in the world swim to shore at sunset and make their way up the shore to their burrows. It was really neat! The weather sucked but we invested in the indoor viewing area so it didn't bother us! We also saw the tallest flowering trees in the world (the tallest trees in the world are in CA). On our last day there we went to the Fire Museum and the fire station next to it. Chris was in heaven with all the cool fire stuff and the elderly blokes volunteering at the museum were in heaven because Chris was so interested!! We ended up spending 3 hours there and Chris also started a collection of antique fire fighting things (too bad we found a similar item for 1/3 the price on ebay after we bought it)!
After the weekend in Melbourne Chris, Jackie and Mark went drove down the Great Ocean Road where they are still. They should be returning tomorrow and we'll share some stories and pictures (I heard they were really close to Koalas which I haven't even seen yet)! April 25 too much for 1 titleExtension, visitors, olympic torch, and AFL...
So I am about to accept a role that will keep us here through December or January. It is certainly longer than we wanted to stay but it is such a good opporunity that I can't pass it up. We'll have to take our around the world trip before November because our tickets expire so we will be back in CO for a few days at some point before Thanksgiving.
Jackie and Mark (Chris's sister and her husband) are visitting us now. We did Sydney on Tuesday and then they flew to Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef while we worked. We are spending this weekend in Melbourne and then Chris will go with them on the Great Ocean Drive while I go back to work (we'll tell you more about this when they return).
The olympic torch came through Canberra on Thursday but we didn't see too many protesters or arrests. There were soooo many China supporters that ther few 'pro human rights' supporters were just too out-numbered. There were fireworks at 6pm the night before (that's when it gets dark) and at 6am the day of (that's when it get's light). We went to see both. The morning fireworks were pretty crazy - it was us and about 500 China supporters and they were giving out free Chinese flags. There were bus loads of China supporters being brought in (and we also saw many of them on the road as we drove to Melbourne later that day).
Today we went to an AFL game (Australian Football Legue) which was a lot of fun. AFL is similar to Rugby and is much more fast-paced than NFL!! It was pretty exciting and the team we were told to cheer for won =)
Yarra River - Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) where we when to see the AFL Game
See Below for more photos of MCG and Cool fire stuff
more later. |
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