Friday, January 11, 2008
2 Months Today...
...we've been in Perth!! We are sorry we haven't been in touch sooner! Perth started out a bit lack lustre as we were missing the magic of New Zealand and in a mad scramble to find a place to live and how to get around this massive city, all while staying with friends and tring not to impose too much! Eventually we got sorted and found a place to stay in an absolutely perfect location. 30 minute walk to my work, 10 minute walk to Andrew's new job(!), the shopping centre, groceries, library, movie theatre and most importantly..the ocean!!! 20 minutes down the road and you can walk for miles from beach to beach...Tonight in fact we are heading down for a beachside barbie. (free for use!)
We have been exploring Perth and are loving it more and more as the days go by. It is summertime here and the livin' is definitely easy! Perth is a city of blue skies and sea breeze and we've had rain twice in 2 months! (hence the drought Australia is battling!) The coast line is so beautiful and you can drive or walk or cycle as many people do the whole length of it. Andrew is determined to surf and has been practicing faithfully every spare minute he has. All in exchange for a little shoulder physio to the guy who runs the surf shop and he gets loads of good tips and a friendly chat each day he goes in. Work for me is busy and going well but we're both itching to be done and re-start the adventure! It has been such a change of gears to be settled in one place, and it has been nice, but we've got the bug and are looking forward to moving on. We have just started to plan our itinerary for over East and SouthEast Asia as well.
Christmas in Perth was an experience!! I will apologize now to everyone back home for what I will say in the next few lines! (hee hee...winter sucks!!!!!) We treated ourselves to a little gateaway south of Perth for 5 days where we stayed in lovely B&Bs and explored Margaret River's famous wine region and the stunning coastline through Bunbury to Donsborough, Yallingup and beyond. We absolutely loved it!! The wine tour was great including the authentic 'bushtucker' lunch where we sampled smoked kangaroo, wild turkey, wild berries and all sorts of yummy chutneys and spreads. Andrew was brave enough to sample a wichity grub (picture to follow) but he said it tasted like dirt!! The weather was fabulous the entire time, heating up to the forties on boxing day but we mostly lounged on the beach and took in the many sites down south which make it such a popular holiday destination for Perthites. The pictures will explain more. We did have the traditional seafood dinner on Christmas Eve but Christmas Day dinner was spent on the beach with a chicken and a bottle of wine! It doesn't get much better! (If only we could have had a few familiar faces around :) New Year's was quiet and we mostly chatted about our good fortune to be where we are and doing what we're doing.
There is so much left to see in Perth and we're trying to fit it all in from wildlife parks to more beaches and markets and snorkelling and loads more. We have decided to fly to Cairns at the end of February and campervan the entire east coast and up the middle! Another great adventure we're sure! After that we fly to Bangkok and are hoping to do most of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam! We're hoping to make Malaysia if we can fit it in! So please stay tuned as there will be many more stories to tell.
Love and miss you all back home,
SarahandRoo
We have been exploring Perth and are loving it more and more as the days go by. It is summertime here and the livin' is definitely easy! Perth is a city of blue skies and sea breeze and we've had rain twice in 2 months! (hence the drought Australia is battling!) The coast line is so beautiful and you can drive or walk or cycle as many people do the whole length of it. Andrew is determined to surf and has been practicing faithfully every spare minute he has. All in exchange for a little shoulder physio to the guy who runs the surf shop and he gets loads of good tips and a friendly chat each day he goes in. Work for me is busy and going well but we're both itching to be done and re-start the adventure! It has been such a change of gears to be settled in one place, and it has been nice, but we've got the bug and are looking forward to moving on. We have just started to plan our itinerary for over East and SouthEast Asia as well.
Christmas in Perth was an experience!! I will apologize now to everyone back home for what I will say in the next few lines! (hee hee...winter sucks!!!!!) We treated ourselves to a little gateaway south of Perth for 5 days where we stayed in lovely B&Bs and explored Margaret River's famous wine region and the stunning coastline through Bunbury to Donsborough, Yallingup and beyond. We absolutely loved it!! The wine tour was great including the authentic 'bushtucker' lunch where we sampled smoked kangaroo, wild turkey, wild berries and all sorts of yummy chutneys and spreads. Andrew was brave enough to sample a wichity grub (picture to follow) but he said it tasted like dirt!! The weather was fabulous the entire time, heating up to the forties on boxing day but we mostly lounged on the beach and took in the many sites down south which make it such a popular holiday destination for Perthites. The pictures will explain more. We did have the traditional seafood dinner on Christmas Eve but Christmas Day dinner was spent on the beach with a chicken and a bottle of wine! It doesn't get much better! (If only we could have had a few familiar faces around :) New Year's was quiet and we mostly chatted about our good fortune to be where we are and doing what we're doing.
There is so much left to see in Perth and we're trying to fit it all in from wildlife parks to more beaches and markets and snorkelling and loads more. We have decided to fly to Cairns at the end of February and campervan the entire east coast and up the middle! Another great adventure we're sure! After that we fly to Bangkok and are hoping to do most of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam! We're hoping to make Malaysia if we can fit it in! So please stay tuned as there will be many more stories to tell.
Love and miss you all back home,
SarahandRoo
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
"Jumping" Back into it!
Hey Folks!
We are back after a long break from blogging. Well...where to start. Since we last left you a lot has happened. Sarah changed her look (notice the piercing in her nose)! I jumped out of a plane from 12, 000 ft over some of the most beautiful scenery in the world (Over Isengard for you LOTR fans) and we left the lush green country of New Zealand for the Hot Continent of Australia.
I would have to say jumping out of a plane is one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life. I can't describe how amazing it felt, I was ear to ear grinning and was on a high for about 3 days after. All I can say is: DO IT! Sar and I were also blessed with beautiful weather when we got back to Queenstown, and it is very clear why this is so many travellers favorite city in New Zealand. One of the mountain ranges that surrounds the city is called the Remarkables, and for good reason, they are stunning! It was extremely hard to leave Queenstown when the time came.
We continued our journey up the east coast of the South Island through Christchurch en route to Kaikora. Kaikora was up there for Sar and I as our favorite destination. The sun was shinning, the water was a magnificent blue and there was still snow on the tops of the mountains. From the water we heard numerous times that it is supposed to be the best view in the world. Very hard to beat with the ocean and mountains so close to each other. All along the coast of Kaikora is an extremely deep gorge, which drops off very close to shore. This makes ideal conditions for all sorts of sea life: whales, seals, sharks, fish and of course dolphins! Now, the dolphin pods here are know to get up in the hundreds. The type of dolphin found around Kaikora are the extremely acrobatic and playful Dusky Dolphins.
If you've been looking at the pictures then you probably already know that we went swimming with them. Again, we really lucked out, the water was calm, the sun was shinning and the dolphins were playful, despite loosing a few friends a few days before to become Killer Whale food. It was amazing! The more you interacted with the dolphins the more they played with you. It was hilarious because they also react to the noise you make so everyone in the water was doing their best dolphin calls. It was such an amazing experience.
While Sar went on one of the nicest hikes she did all trip (Dang), I went fishing. We caught a ton of sea perch and I caught only one of two blue cod caught that day! We also pulled up some cray pots to catch some NZ rock lobster...I wasn't so lucky with this. I pulled up the first one, and inside was a giant Conger Eel which had a delicious lunch of crayfish...I helped with the second one and this time a giant octopus was on the cage, he too had a nice lunch. So, with one cray pot left we left it in the hands of these two japanese girls (girls are always better fisher"men"), and JACKPOT! There were about 25 rock lobsters in this one! And we finally got our tasty lunch! We cooked up a monster feast of lobster and fish that night with a couple of other buddies who went fishing...3 monster lobsters and about 8 pounds of fish between 5 of us!
Unfortunately we had to leave the South Island to make sure we had enough time for the far north. We were supposed to do the Tongarriro Crossing on the way up but due to a forgetful driver (he left Taupo without us in the morning) we missed it...I havn't been that mad in a very long time. As a consilation, Sar and I went to a hot river to try and cool off...it kinda helped except for the fact it was the nicest weather of the whole trip!
At least we had tons of time to do the Bay of Islands up north. We stayed in Paihia for about 5 days...the first 3 all being rainy and miserable...dang. By chance these two girls in our hostel asked if we wanted to tramp out to Cape Brett. We caught a 45 min water taxi to a bay about a 2.5 hr hike away from the hut on the point of the Cape. It was pouring rain the whole time and we were essentially hiking in clouds. We had to jump over streams that had turned into small rivers, hike on narrow trails with sheer cliffs on either side with VERY strong gusts of wind and up and down massive ridges...WOW...It was by far the hardest (and scariest) hike we have done. But it was all worth it. When we got to the hut it was really cool. It used to be lived in by the assistant lighthouse keeper. The sun came out that evening and I made some hooks and a makeshift reel and tried some fishing...the only thing I caught was a huge wave in my shoes! The next day was so much nicer, we could actually see the Bay of Islands in all its glory! It was amazing that we couldn't see all of the islands the day before because of the rain and fog. That hike was REALLY hard!
Kiwis have to be some of the most friendly people in the world. We finished our hike about 2.5 hrs before our shuttle was supposed to pick us up. We went looking for something that might have a phone, instead we got picked up by a school bus and used the drivers cell phone as he drove us halfway there, and then a couple of guys picked us up off the side of the road and insisted on giving us a ride into town (we weren't even hitchhiking!). Amazing!
After the hard days of hiking we took the easy route up to Cape Reinga, the northern tip of NZ where the Tasman and Pacific oceans meet. We took this cool, jacked up 4X4 dune rider. Cape Reinga is believed to be where the Moari people depart the land of the living through the roots of a Kauri tree located on the last peice of land. It is a very spiritual place for them. The tree itself is cool because it is the only tree growing on that part of land. The day also included some sand boarding and a drive down 90 mile beach (which is more like 90km beach!).
Our last day in New Zealand was spent on Waiheke Island just off of Auckland. It is well know for its Wineries and beaches. We did a tasting at probably one of the most scenic wineries around, Cable Bay. It was just beautiful and the wine was tasty.
Now we are in Perth desperately looking for a place to live. We are fortunate that some friends are letting us crash until we find a spot. Sar started work yesterday and really likes the clinic and the area she is working at. I am just on house hunting detail. No fun for us until we have a roof over our heads! That's it for now. We will try to be a bit better at blogging!
Miss you all,
SarahandRoo
P.S. Mom they call trucks and stuff a Ute, so your name is all over the billboards...you're famous!
We are back after a long break from blogging. Well...where to start. Since we last left you a lot has happened. Sarah changed her look (notice the piercing in her nose)! I jumped out of a plane from 12, 000 ft over some of the most beautiful scenery in the world (Over Isengard for you LOTR fans) and we left the lush green country of New Zealand for the Hot Continent of Australia.
I would have to say jumping out of a plane is one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life. I can't describe how amazing it felt, I was ear to ear grinning and was on a high for about 3 days after. All I can say is: DO IT! Sar and I were also blessed with beautiful weather when we got back to Queenstown, and it is very clear why this is so many travellers favorite city in New Zealand. One of the mountain ranges that surrounds the city is called the Remarkables, and for good reason, they are stunning! It was extremely hard to leave Queenstown when the time came.
We continued our journey up the east coast of the South Island through Christchurch en route to Kaikora. Kaikora was up there for Sar and I as our favorite destination. The sun was shinning, the water was a magnificent blue and there was still snow on the tops of the mountains. From the water we heard numerous times that it is supposed to be the best view in the world. Very hard to beat with the ocean and mountains so close to each other. All along the coast of Kaikora is an extremely deep gorge, which drops off very close to shore. This makes ideal conditions for all sorts of sea life: whales, seals, sharks, fish and of course dolphins! Now, the dolphin pods here are know to get up in the hundreds. The type of dolphin found around Kaikora are the extremely acrobatic and playful Dusky Dolphins.
If you've been looking at the pictures then you probably already know that we went swimming with them. Again, we really lucked out, the water was calm, the sun was shinning and the dolphins were playful, despite loosing a few friends a few days before to become Killer Whale food. It was amazing! The more you interacted with the dolphins the more they played with you. It was hilarious because they also react to the noise you make so everyone in the water was doing their best dolphin calls. It was such an amazing experience.
While Sar went on one of the nicest hikes she did all trip (Dang), I went fishing. We caught a ton of sea perch and I caught only one of two blue cod caught that day! We also pulled up some cray pots to catch some NZ rock lobster...I wasn't so lucky with this. I pulled up the first one, and inside was a giant Conger Eel which had a delicious lunch of crayfish...I helped with the second one and this time a giant octopus was on the cage, he too had a nice lunch. So, with one cray pot left we left it in the hands of these two japanese girls (girls are always better fisher"men"), and JACKPOT! There were about 25 rock lobsters in this one! And we finally got our tasty lunch! We cooked up a monster feast of lobster and fish that night with a couple of other buddies who went fishing...3 monster lobsters and about 8 pounds of fish between 5 of us!
Unfortunately we had to leave the South Island to make sure we had enough time for the far north. We were supposed to do the Tongarriro Crossing on the way up but due to a forgetful driver (he left Taupo without us in the morning) we missed it...I havn't been that mad in a very long time. As a consilation, Sar and I went to a hot river to try and cool off...it kinda helped except for the fact it was the nicest weather of the whole trip!
At least we had tons of time to do the Bay of Islands up north. We stayed in Paihia for about 5 days...the first 3 all being rainy and miserable...dang. By chance these two girls in our hostel asked if we wanted to tramp out to Cape Brett. We caught a 45 min water taxi to a bay about a 2.5 hr hike away from the hut on the point of the Cape. It was pouring rain the whole time and we were essentially hiking in clouds. We had to jump over streams that had turned into small rivers, hike on narrow trails with sheer cliffs on either side with VERY strong gusts of wind and up and down massive ridges...WOW...It was by far the hardest (and scariest) hike we have done. But it was all worth it. When we got to the hut it was really cool. It used to be lived in by the assistant lighthouse keeper. The sun came out that evening and I made some hooks and a makeshift reel and tried some fishing...the only thing I caught was a huge wave in my shoes! The next day was so much nicer, we could actually see the Bay of Islands in all its glory! It was amazing that we couldn't see all of the islands the day before because of the rain and fog. That hike was REALLY hard!
Kiwis have to be some of the most friendly people in the world. We finished our hike about 2.5 hrs before our shuttle was supposed to pick us up. We went looking for something that might have a phone, instead we got picked up by a school bus and used the drivers cell phone as he drove us halfway there, and then a couple of guys picked us up off the side of the road and insisted on giving us a ride into town (we weren't even hitchhiking!). Amazing!
After the hard days of hiking we took the easy route up to Cape Reinga, the northern tip of NZ where the Tasman and Pacific oceans meet. We took this cool, jacked up 4X4 dune rider. Cape Reinga is believed to be where the Moari people depart the land of the living through the roots of a Kauri tree located on the last peice of land. It is a very spiritual place for them. The tree itself is cool because it is the only tree growing on that part of land. The day also included some sand boarding and a drive down 90 mile beach (which is more like 90km beach!).
Our last day in New Zealand was spent on Waiheke Island just off of Auckland. It is well know for its Wineries and beaches. We did a tasting at probably one of the most scenic wineries around, Cable Bay. It was just beautiful and the wine was tasty.
Now we are in Perth desperately looking for a place to live. We are fortunate that some friends are letting us crash until we find a spot. Sar started work yesterday and really likes the clinic and the area she is working at. I am just on house hunting detail. No fun for us until we have a roof over our heads! That's it for now. We will try to be a bit better at blogging!
Miss you all,
SarahandRoo
P.S. Mom they call trucks and stuff a Ute, so your name is all over the billboards...you're famous!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Whale of a good time
Hey Everyone! We have done so much and have so much to tell you all about our adventures since last time...but we are going to leave you in suspense! There are some new pictures up on the flickr account so just click the link on the previous post...talk to you soon.
Love
SarahandRoo
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Sheep Shearing Fun
Hey Everyone,
Sar and I are stuck in Invercargill at the moment due to some good Southland weather (Rainy and VERY windy). Well, we havn't done too much since our last post so this will be a quickie. We spent the past 5 days in Te Anau: the gateway to Milford Sound. Our first day out of Queenstown to Milford took an unexpected twist because the earthquake had caused some landslides and this closed the road to Milford Sound for a number of days. We made the most of one of the most beautiful days of the trip so far exploring the world famous road to Milford. The highlight being a great hike up Key Summit, which is the first day of the Routeburn hike. The views of the snowcovered peaks are not done justice by the photos. It turned out to be a great day!
We went for an overnight cruise in Milford Sound the following evening. It was so cool. The road up is amazing. We got our taste for winter with the snowcovered ground and massive mountains. The coolest part was going through the Homer tunnel...a man made tunnel through the mountains with only enough room for one coach at most points (our driver had to reverse halfway back up the tunnel). When we got to the other side of the tunnel it was amazing to see how dramatic the mountains are. They are so much steeper then any I have seen before. It was even more evident when we reached the Fiord where they meet the ocean. Once we arrived we had a few minutes before we boarded our boat for the next part of our journey. We cruised out to the Tasman sea, I jumped into a Kayak and Sar jumped into the speed boat and we explored the Fiord. I got soaked and Sar saw a Penguin (who got the better deal??). We had a whole meal of food and it was delicious. We woke up in the morning to a great surprise! Milford came alive with the rain. I have never seen so many waterfalls in my life...one about every 10 feet. Again the road was closed so we got trapped on the boat for a few more hours (and a free lunch). Unfortunately our bus thought we were stuck for the day and left without us...leaving us trapped in Te Anau for 3 more days...oh well!
Today we did a farm tour in Tuatapere, we got to feed little lambs and shear some ewes. Sar got to drive the quad bike with everyone else in the trailer (Dave you would've be proud!). Sar was amazed at how much wool comes off of a sheep (they look really skinny without all the wool). I had the pleasure of shearing the worst sheep the farmer had ever had! I had to put it in a headlock while shearing it. After all our hard work we were treated to some local sausages for breakfast, Tuatapere is the self proclaimed sausage capital of New Zealand (Mr. Nicoletta, not as good as yours!).
Unfortunately, we were unable to go to Stewart Island today because the seas were way too rough...which means we have to come back to NZ again some day!
Miss you all,
Love,
Sarahandroo
p.s. More pictures on the link!
Sar and I are stuck in Invercargill at the moment due to some good Southland weather (Rainy and VERY windy). Well, we havn't done too much since our last post so this will be a quickie. We spent the past 5 days in Te Anau: the gateway to Milford Sound. Our first day out of Queenstown to Milford took an unexpected twist because the earthquake had caused some landslides and this closed the road to Milford Sound for a number of days. We made the most of one of the most beautiful days of the trip so far exploring the world famous road to Milford. The highlight being a great hike up Key Summit, which is the first day of the Routeburn hike. The views of the snowcovered peaks are not done justice by the photos. It turned out to be a great day!
We went for an overnight cruise in Milford Sound the following evening. It was so cool. The road up is amazing. We got our taste for winter with the snowcovered ground and massive mountains. The coolest part was going through the Homer tunnel...a man made tunnel through the mountains with only enough room for one coach at most points (our driver had to reverse halfway back up the tunnel). When we got to the other side of the tunnel it was amazing to see how dramatic the mountains are. They are so much steeper then any I have seen before. It was even more evident when we reached the Fiord where they meet the ocean. Once we arrived we had a few minutes before we boarded our boat for the next part of our journey. We cruised out to the Tasman sea, I jumped into a Kayak and Sar jumped into the speed boat and we explored the Fiord. I got soaked and Sar saw a Penguin (who got the better deal??). We had a whole meal of food and it was delicious. We woke up in the morning to a great surprise! Milford came alive with the rain. I have never seen so many waterfalls in my life...one about every 10 feet. Again the road was closed so we got trapped on the boat for a few more hours (and a free lunch). Unfortunately our bus thought we were stuck for the day and left without us...leaving us trapped in Te Anau for 3 more days...oh well!
Today we did a farm tour in Tuatapere, we got to feed little lambs and shear some ewes. Sar got to drive the quad bike with everyone else in the trailer (Dave you would've be proud!). Sar was amazed at how much wool comes off of a sheep (they look really skinny without all the wool). I had the pleasure of shearing the worst sheep the farmer had ever had! I had to put it in a headlock while shearing it. After all our hard work we were treated to some local sausages for breakfast, Tuatapere is the self proclaimed sausage capital of New Zealand (Mr. Nicoletta, not as good as yours!).
Unfortunately, we were unable to go to Stewart Island today because the seas were way too rough...which means we have to come back to NZ again some day!
Miss you all,
Love,
Sarahandroo
p.s. More pictures on the link!
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