family resorts and travel

Exciting Family Activities in Val D'Isere

2010-09-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

So, you have arrived in Val d'Isere safely with your family and you are staying in gorgeous chalets. Val d'Isere, however, is more than just luxury accommodation and has some great family activities that you and your children will find highly entertaining. There is so much on offer including climbing, skiing, ice skating, snowshoe walking and canyoning. It really will be hard to fit everything in during your stay, so here is a quick guide to a few of the activities that you can experience while staying on the resort - it may help you to decide what to try first!

Parcours Adventure
Open from early June until the end of August, the 'Parcours Aventure' in Val d'Isère is a brilliant adventure for adults and kids alike and will get them running with excitement from their chalets. Val d'Idsere is home to this brilliant adventure park that is a network of ropes, zip lines, bridges, beams and nets. They are suspended from the branches in eco-friendly ways that do not damage them and everything can be dismantled easily leaving the trees unharmed. There are three courses of varying degrees of difficulty, although children must be over 6 years of age and over 1.40 metres in height.

Activity Clubs
The summer activity clubs are a great idea if the adults want relaxation time in their chalets. Val s'Isere offers two great clubs for your children. There is 'Les Aiglons', which caters for children between 4 and 10 years old, where they will participate in dance classes, picnics, trampolines and much more. For the older children there is 'Junior Club', which caters for the 11 to 16 year olds. The older children's activities include canyoning, street hockey and climbing. These clubs are a good idea for your kids to meet other children and make new friends, and allows the adults the freedom to go off and try those more daring slopes.

Archery
Let your children pretend to be Robin Hood or The Green Arrow by taking them to archery lessons, an activity that can be enjoyed by both adults and children alike. Just make sure they don't attempt to shoot a bow in your chalets! Val d'Isere offers archery at the Parc des Sports Vallée du Manchet from June until late August. There are a great range of courses available from beginners to experts, so it doesn't matter if you have never shot a bow before. Children must be 8 years old, and children between 8 and 14 must be accompanied by an adult.

Trekking with Donkeys
'Trekking with Donkeys' is a wonderful activity if you are looking for something to get your family out of the chalets. Val d'Isere is a great place to get into the saddle and take your family on an outdoor adventure amongst the beautiful surrounds. There are stunning views of the lovely alpine scenery and great places to stop, picnic and explore the mountains. You can book short treks or long treks that involve lunch and dinner. The donkey treks cater to all ages of children and are perfect for families.

Top Resorts in Phuket - Keeping the Family Together

2010-09-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

The island of Phuket in Thailand is formerly known as Tha-Laang or Talang. It is the largest island on the west coast of the Andaman Sea. The 570 square meter area of Phuket provides spectacular scenery and soft white palm beaches. More tourists come to see the warm hospitality and great accommodations of fun-filled family resorts in Phuket. Here are the top family resorts you may want to visit.

JW Marriott Resort & Spa
JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa is an award-winning resort in a vast tropical landscape paradise. It lies on Mai Khao, the longest beach in Phuket. The 11 hectare resort offers tropical gardens, lily ponds and the preserved coastal wetlands. It is close to Phuket airport and a few minutes away from Blue Canyon Country Club.

This five star resort has 265 guestrooms, 10 meeting rooms with 10 restaurants and bars. There are three swimming pools that include the main, the shallow bubble pool and the waterslide. You can also workout at the gym and relax at their magnificent spas. The kids can enjoy playing at the area called kids club wherein they can play computers, doll houses and wooden toys.

The resort was ranked 8th among the top 25 Spa Hotels and Resort in the region by Smart Travel Asia.

Laguna Beach Resort
Laguna Beach Resort lies between a tropical lagoon and the Andaman Sea. This low rise resort is located at the land of Bang Tao Bay. It is just 20 minutes drive from Phuket International Airport. The 20 acres of land embraces a Thai architecture of local landscape and architecture.

The resort features a number of sports and leisure facilities. This includes three swimming pools and a waterpark. Families can enjoy playing tennis in one of the three outdoor courts and one indoor court for kids. A class of batik is also offered with a visit of the resort's two baby elephants. However, sailing on the beach and playing computer games will add fun to your stay.

Holiday Inn Phuket Resort
Holiday Inn Resort is at the heart of Patong Beach that offers white sandy beaches, tropical scenery, excellent food and a lively nightly. The resort provides a 265 themed room for the entire family. This includes a kidsuite, a pirate theme children's room, a standard room and a family suite. Rooms can accommodate two adults with 2 children less than 12 years old. Room's amenities offer electronic games, toy box, TV and video and a play station for kids.

The resort also offers premier resort facilities such as large swimming pools, Jacuzzis at the Busakorn Wing and a freeform pool at the Main Wing. Hence, a world class spa and a fitness center is an ideal place to relax and be healthy. Food lovers can enjoy a choice of Thai, Italian and international cuisines at the resorts restaurants and steakhouse.

Movenpick Resort & Spa
Moevenpick is surrounded by Karon Beach that showcases 140 elegant villas. This includes Garden Villas with outdoor showers with private pools and a Penthouse Pool. There are 194 Garden View and Deluxe Ocean Rooms set in an international standard of accommodation.

Resort facilities include a fitness center, four swimming pools, pool tables, tennis courts and gaming rooms. The Spa at Movenpick offers Eastern and Western treatments and exotic ambiance. Guests with children can play at the Play Zone. It is the largest club for children that provides indoor and outdoor entertainment such as a play station, internet access, a reading room, DVD lounges, sport utilities and craft activities.

Mövenpick Resort & Spa has something to enjoy for every family who visited the place. The fine golden sands and clear waters have made the place a dream destination for a family vacation.

Ramada Beach Resort
Ramada Resort in Karon Beach is a newly opened resort that features a unique Mexican Hacienda theme. It has 121 rooms and suites with warm lightings and comfortable design. This includes a standard room, deluxe room, duplex adventure suite, junior suite, two-bedroom adventure and a two bedroom family suite. There are also magical theme rooms like the Outer Space, Underwater and Castle rooms. Other rooms offer spectacular views of the sea.

The resort offers leisure facilities like the Kidzclub, Siam Adventure Club, Main and Dino Pool and a Tour Desk. Other services include audio and visual equipment, baggage handling, babysitting, dry cleaning, handicap facilities, a limousine, smoke detector and a switchboard.

Phuket's family resorts offers excellent services like any other top resorts in the world. This fun island presents a smile-filled holiday with its secluded and luxurious resorts to keep the family together.

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2010-08-20T10:08:00.001-07:00

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All Inclusive Caribbean Family Resort Tips

2010-08-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

For families, the true meaning of "Caribbean family vacation" is to stay in an all inclusive resort. This kind of resort has everything in one place - from the fine dining, to accommodations, to water and land sports, to transfers from the airport, and to all that an all inclusive Caribbean family resort has to offer.

All of the all inclusive Caribbean family resorts know how to entertain kids of all ages. The resorts were outfitted with families in mind, and what's more interesting is the fact that in all inclusive Caribbean family resorts, sailboats are bristling with toys and eco-adventures such as scuba diving. Now, if you are opting for a Caribbean family getaway, try to consider the following all inclusive Caribbean family resorts for these are widely known for their great service, amenities and facilities.

Beaches All Inclusive Caribbean Family Resorts

Generally, the Beaches all inclusive Caribbean family resorts include all the fun, adventure, as well as luxury that families want most, elevating then the family vacation to standards that are world class on the best beaches of the Caribbean. And, at the Beaches all inclusive Caribbean family resorts, the kids can share their vacation with Elmo and friends as Beaches caters to exclusive Caribbean adventures with Sesame Street.

SuperClubs All Inclusive Caribbean Family Resorts

Aside from the Beaches, there are also the SuperClubs all inclusive Caribbean family resorts that provide an ultimate vacation experience to families. The SuperClubs all inclusive Caribbean family resorts note only boast their great beaches, but highly pride their most comfortable accommodations, complete with complimentary amenities. All inclusive Caribbean resort can really help those who are traveling on a budget. Certain destinations in the Caribbean are perfect for all inclusive Caribbean resorts. Places such as Aruba, Cancun, St. Thomas, and the Bahamas have a wide collection of restaurants and amenities for tourism, making them well suited for all inclusive Caribbean resorts.

All Inclusive Caribbean Resorts Should Match Your Budget and Life Style

Although all inclusive Caribbean resorts seem to offer only one thing - that is, services for the price of one - these resorts do vary. Some all inclusive Caribbean resorts are designed for couples, some for singles, some for gays, and some for families. Also, all inclusive Caribbean resorts can differ according to the type of services included in the package. Some all inclusive Caribbean resorts offer accommodations right along with airfare and meals.

For instance, an all inclusive Caribbean resort like Sandals might offer you snacks and drinks anytime while others may only offer you the same at specific time periods. All inclusive Caribbean resorts are generally expensive. What you're actually buying when you purchase an all inclusive Caribbean resort deal is convenience and tons of worry-free fun. As such, all inclusive Caribbean resorts can provide you with great value. By getting an all inclusive Caribbean resort deal, you might end up saving some money.

When booking your vacation most websites offers a nice tool to allow you to choose a Caribbean vacation travel special. And if you want to find out more about what resorts offers what to families, just click on any of the resorts names and get info on:

o Kids' programs

o Kids Stay, Play and Eat Free

o Children's pool

o Teen disco

o Babysitter fees

o Dining and entertainment

o Beaches

High season in the Caribbean starts in January all through April. So if you want to get the best Caribbean travel special, then get the deepest discounts in late April or early May, and last into December.

Sydney Opera House

2009-12-12T19:11:00.000-08:00

While classes technically started on Monday, I honestly can't really call much of what we did class, but more of just exploring this amazing city.

Monday morning, we headed to "The Australian" Museum, featuring the history, life, and culture of the Aboriginal People.

After spending a couple hours exploring, we headed back to our hostel to get ready for our dinner at the Opera House. Every Stanford abroad program has one really nice Bing Dinner (the Bing Family is a major donor to all the stanford overseas programs), and ours included a fancy dinner and then ballet at the Opera House.

We got all dressed up and started an amazing night (best explained through showing a TON of pictures, starting before we even left the hostel)

Liz, Jocelyn, KL, Ryan, Elaina, Me, Lisa, Coop

we're trying to make this photo happen at as many events as possible :)

then we boarded the bus and headed off to the harbor.

Before dinner, we had time for a major photo shoot in front of the Opera House and Harbor Bridge

all the girls

The "manly men" (aka the only 12 boys in a group of 48)

The usual group of girls with the boys, ANeil, Ilan, and Will

Larkin Love (we were all in Larkin, and representing the Larkin 'L')

we got a little bored with the posed photos, so we had to mix it up a little, James Bond style...

Then we headed off to dinner at this gorgeous restaurant right next to the Opera House called Aria. The food was delicious!

Our delicious menu...

and amazing appetizer!

My lovely table

and the Bings were even nice enough to provide us with wine...

...so of course we did a popcorn toast!

After we finished dinner, it was raining, so we decided to run (it wasn't very far) to the Opera House

WE MADE IT!!! Coop and I led the run from dinner to the Opera House!

Coop, Me, and Shara

All wet, but still in a great mood since were at the Opera House!

We actually ended up missing the first (of 3) acts, but this was actually a good thing, since we were able to explore the opera house and of course take more pictures both inside the Opera House

and outside!

This is the ballet we saw

We finally made it inside

this is the view from our seats

during intermission

All in all it was one incredible night I'll never forget :)

Sydney Harbor Bridge

Opera House at night

Stradbroke Island

2009-12-12T16:56:00.000-08:00

After we finished celebrating our Australian-style Halloween, we began our Coastal Resource Management (CRM) course on Stradbroke. For this course, we learned a lot about “adaptive management” through a case study. Basically, we were all assigned to groups and had to prepare a 30 minute presentation regarding a hypothetic proposed resort at a site on Stradbroke. In addition to a lecture series, our class also consisted of traveling around the island, exploring the different parts to Straddie that would be effected by the building of the “Super Snappy Marina and Resort.”

Here’s the site, Amity, of the proposed development:

Our activities included...

...a tour the CRL mining site:

Since Straddie is a huge sand island, CRL mines the land for rutile and other elements, then revegetates the land after. The tour was actually really neat and we got to wear these awesome vests!

...a bush walk with Matt, a native aboriginal of Stradbroke. He took us around the island, explaining a lot of the Bush Tucker, or natural foods and remedies the aboriginal people discovered. A couple people in my class did research on Bush Tucker for our projects, and there actually a lot of chemicals found in popular Bush Tucker that is currently being researched with promising pharmaceutical potential, even for diesease such as cancer and AIDS.

Matt also showed up some traditional weapons and instruments,

along with how to make aboriginal body paint from rocks on the beach.

and start a fire!

and of course taught us how to throw a returning boomerang...lets just say not all us actually got our boomerang to come back to us.

...a beach tour. Yes, of course we had to check out the local beaches as part of our class. We weren’t allowed to swim here because of dangerous currents, but the deserted beach was gorgeous!

...a look at an already industrialized (and GORGEOUS) tourist area, Point Lookout.

We walked along this gorge, with an amazing view!!

The water was so clear! We saw tons of turtles and dolphins in the water!

KL and I climbed down and sat on the rocks to get a better view, pretty far back from the water, and got SOAKED by one huge wave!

While waiting for the bus, we had to take a picture in this perfect climbing tree :)

...a “mock town hall meeting” where each group was assigned a different role in the Stradebroke community, and had to dress up and role play about potential reactions to the resort

some of the costumes were AWESOME!

...a close up view of the local water system. This is Brown Lake - the water is actually brown!! It looks like tea, but its a completely healthy lake!

During our free days on Stradbroke, we spent one beach day at Point Lookout and another day we went scuba diving and sandboarding. Both of these experiences were incredible.

Our scuba boat launched from the beach, and since there was a decent amount of wind, the waves were HUGE. Our little boat sped off straight into the waves, and the ride out was an experience in itself - the staff told us to hold on tight and stand on the boat kinda like we were surfing and thats what we had to do to not fall overboard! It was soo much fun! After about a 30 minute ride out, we arrived at our first site where 4 of our group of 8 were sea sick! (a least I wasn’t one of them)

We saw some cool finish and coral on our first dive, but the highlight of the day was the shark we saw at our second site! We were able to get really close and pet it! only in australia....

overall, great dive, since we pretty much got an adventure speed boat trip free along with our 2 dives!

In the afternoon, we meet up with about 20 others and went sandboarding. This was so much fun!!

Between every dive we waxed our boards,

then slid down the (pretty big) hill.

We could go down sitting sled-style,

laying down,

and of course standing up!

Ready,

Set,

GOO!!

Yay I made it!

not all of our trips ended this successfully tho :(

After sandboarding we all had sand EVERYWHERE!!! and so much sand in my mouth!!! there gotta be some nutritional value right?

Group dogpile!

After a great time scuba diving and sandboarding, the day wasn’t over...it was my friend Coop’s birthday, so we headed out to celebrate. The Straddie Sports Bar was nice enough to stay open late for us - they stayed open til....(drum roll please) 10 PM!!!

We left Stradbroke, off to board our fight to Sydney! :)

Brisbane Free Days and Halloween on Stradbroke Island

2009-11-17T03:29:00.000-08:00

Leaving Heron Island, we boarded a bus and drove 6 hours to Brisbane. Civilization!!! It was so weird to be in a place with big building and so many more people. We could go to the grocery store, walk around for more than a mile in a circle, and actually feel clean for once (clean laundry!!!). Heron Island was amazing, but it was really nice to be back in Brisbane. We only really had a day and a half free, but we had one big goal we wanted to accomplish - halloween costumes. Halloween (along with Thanksgiving) really isn't celebrated down under, but we definitely weren't gonna let that stop us. For Halloween, we decided to create a costume with an Australian theme…

In order to understand our costume, I need to give you a little background information (including a couple pictures from the storybook).

While in the outback, our professor introduced us to a famous Australia children's book, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs.

This book was all about "gum nut babies". They are tiny (and cute) little babies that make their hats out of eucalyptus seed cases and are scared of big bad banksia men.

A group of 9 of us decided that we would be the gumnut babies and set off in search of costumes in Brisbane. Obviously there are no costume stores, but we made use of a variety of christmas decorations, creating skirts our of tinksel, then using these organic soilish pots for hats! We ended up safety pinning headbands to our hats so they would stay on our head. I'd say a pretty cheap and creative costume! :)

Here is all but one of the gumnut babes

Lisa, Jocelyn, Me, KL, Ryan, Coop, Liz, and Elaina (were missing Helen :( )

Gumnut babies always have cute names, and mine was "Bugga Boo"

Bugga Boo and Crackle Pot

New Zealand Crew - Liz was Snuggle Boo (we had fun coming up with names!)

There really isn't much nightlife on Stradebroke Island, but Ron took us to this little bar (i guess) called the Little Ships Club. There was a group of 20-30 people older than 40, and we spend Halloween dancing the night away to some good old music (Grease and the maracena definitely made an appearance).

Overall, we all had a great time, and by the end of the night, they annouced our group were all "club member" and that Little Ship was our "home club." They even gave me a (really nice) Little Ship polo shirt and made me give a little speech. Another girl in our group also got a little book about the history about the Little Ship Club!

Here's a picture of all the gumnut babies and "a man with a handlebar mustache" aka Will,

and a picture with our prof Ron Johnstone.

We all bought a lot of candy to share, and even brought it with us to do "candy toasts" :)

My favorite candy on this trip so far has been hokey pokies. We had them for the first time in New Zealand, and they are sooo good! Its pretty much a square honey malt covered in chocolate. Amazingness!!! :)

We have a week of classes on Stradebroke Island, then 3 free days before we head to Sydney.

Heron Island!

2009-11-12T05:49:00.000-08:00

Heron Island was absolutely amazing. After our 2 free days in Cairns, we took a 21 hour long sleeper train ride to Gladstone. This was really by first big train trip, and I was soooo excited (my only other train ride besides the CalTrain was the TransAlpine in New Zealand, and that was only 4 hours long). The trip was awesome! It was 21 hours of my life where I had absolutely every excuse to be lazy and do nothing! I watched 2 movies and had a great 8 hours of sleep on the train! For one of the movies, 10 of us squished into a 2 person cabin room.

In the morning we arrived at the tiny port city of Gladstone where we boarded a 2 hr ferry to Heron Island. Since Heron Island is so small, the ferry only included our group, along with other Research Station workers, and the resort guests, as these are the only people allowed on Heron Island!

We got off the ferry and stepped onto essentially paradise island. The island was absolutely gorgeous.

Here is a shot of the research station where we stayed.

After a short orientation lecture about pretty much all the dangerous creatures that could either kill you or cause you a severe amount of pain, they gave us all our own wet suits, mask, snorkel, and fins, so we could snorkel anytime we had free time...

as long as we had a buddy with us..

and I had KL :)

On the first day, we went on an "introductory snorkel" our to the shipwreck to show that we were all competent to snorkel.

Not all our the groups got as lucks as we did, yet our snorkle was amazing! We say 3 or 4 turtles and 2 sharks!

KL took this photo - its her favorite pic of the trip so far!

The turtles are amazing! They are not scared of us at all, and you can pretty much swim right alongside them! Probably my favorite animal...

and the sharks are completely harmless

Our life on the island was amazing. The food was ridiculously good! The chef Maggie took a little bit of warming up to, but after a few rough patches (including her yelling at us for the most absurd things then apologizing a couple minutes later) we became pretty good friends! Maggie fed us 5 meals a day! We had breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, then dinner. And by tea, I dont just mean tea. We had cake, muffins, biscuits, fruits and a ton of other delicious snacks.

Between lectures, we explored the island,

Me, Ilan, and Coop (you can see the shipwreck we snorkeled to in the background)

It took about 35 minutes to walk around the entire island! Some mornings I would go on a run, once or twice around the island! In the morning you could normally see a ton of sting rays in the shallow water, and one morning I saw a turtle on the beach! Definitely a great way to start the day.

After a couple days of mostly lectures, we headed out into the field for our lab groups. These labs included a reef flat lab where we went out and recorded the type of coral we found in the reef flat during low tide,

plankton lab, collecting plankton from a boat at 4 different locations over the reef, then once off the dock at night; invertebrates lab, which i actually missed since I was sick :( ; and coral lab where we were actually in a real lab conducing an experiment and using cool equipment

Probably my favorite lab was the fish lab, where we went on a snorkel and were given underwater digital cameras to take pictures of fish (and anything else cool we saw), then we identified some of the fish and presented them to our group.

Here are some of my favorite photos:

we saw an octopus...

then it got scared and changed color right in front of us!

There were soooo many sting rays everywhere

and some even let us get really close! (Thats me to the left staring at the ray.)

We saw a lot of giant clams

and of course a ton of pretty corals and fish

NEMO!!!!!

Of course, between all this class work, we still found for the essentials...

laying out on our essentially private beach

and of course taking tons of pictures!

many of which involved jumping...

This is from our last day, right before the ferry left! :(

We also watched the sunset almost every night

ANeil, Helen, Will, Me, KL, and Ilan

KL, Me, Lisa, and Liz

then went inside for an amazing dinner, then headed back out to look at the sky just lit up with stars. One night a couple of us even slept on the beach. It was freezing, but waking up to the sunrise was incredible!

During our free time, we also went on a bunch of snorkels at different spots on the island. Sometimes the water was warm enough that we didn't even need a wet suit!

were still trying to figure out how to smile underwater...

After our final (yes, in between all these pictures we actually had a lot of lecture and a TON of material to review for our final!), the Research Station threw us a party. Apparently somebody staying at the station just happened to have an entire DJ set up. So on research station on this tiny island on the Great Barrier Reef, we had an actually pretty legit party with a DJ, fog machine, and strobe lights!

Our professors even bought us a case of beer to celebrate finishing our final, which they helped us drink :)

Jocelyn, KL, Steven, Me, and Mike (a researcher on Heron)

Since I had already completed by TRP in the Rainforest, instead of having 3 days of TRP research on Heron lsand, I had free time! During this days, we played volleyball, including an intense tournament, with mixed teams including our tutors and professors. My teams didn't quite do so well, but at least we had fun right?!

We also had the opportunity to go on another boat dive, where we saw a ton of sharks and I touched a turtle! Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me, but there was this one "kodak moment" I will never forget, where I saw one turtle pretty close to me, then there were 3 sharks swimming in the background!

During most of the course, we weren't really allowed on the resort premise (apparently there had been some issues with groups in the past), but during our TRP days, we had one "resort visit" scheduled with a mandated dress code. We all pulled out our nice clothes which was a big change for our bathing suits and workout clothes we had been wearing pretty much every other day, and headed to the gorgeous resort.

Me, Jocelyn, KL, Ryan, Coop, and Elena

The bar was completely deserted, beside maybe 3 couple, just sitting next to each other and barely (if at all) talking. Since we had such a big group, we had a good time, but definately didn't feel like we missed out on much those other "non-resort visit" nights.

there were soooo many open tables/seats everywhere!

Since drinks at the bar were FIFTEEN dollars (which is an absurd price for poor college student, even in australia), 3 of my friends and I decided to each buy one drink and all share, so we all got to try 4 different drinks without paying a ridiculous amount of money!

At least the drinks were really good! They had all sorts of fruity tropical drinks! The resort even had a lifesize chess board outside. Even though I really don't quite know how to play chess, it was still pretty fun to try!

One morning, we also had the change to scuba dive through the resort. The research station gave us a special deal, letting us use their equiptment with a resort guide/boat, so we got a really good rate. The dive was awesome, and we saw sooo much amazing coral reef and gorgeous fish

getting ready for our dive

and in the water!!!!

The last morning on the island, we got up at 4:30 to watch the sunrise. It was unbelievable.

walking back along the beach after watching the sunrise

(Liz, Me, Coop, KL, and Ryan)

While waiting for the ferry, we had time for one last photoshoot...

Platypus TRP days and free days in Cairns

2009-11-01T03:40:00.000-08:00

In addition to our 4 classes, every student abroad also completes their own TRP, or targeted research projects. There was a variety of research options, and I ended up getting a project about the birds and pollination in the rainforest. However back in Brisbane when talking to my advisor, John Hall, he informed my group that we were going to a different site than previous years, then proceeded to apologize and ask us if it we were ok with monitoring platypus instead. Where we ok? YESSSS! We all informed John that it would be more than ok if our TRP involved platypus watching.

So here we were in Yungaburra with 3 days to conduct all our research for our TRP. Three other student and I, the “platypus crew” set up our experiment design.

Basically, the 4 of us each monitered a different region of a river for an hour, 3 times a day. (sunrise, midday, and sunset) for 2 days, hoping to find some trends.

Here's some pictures of the river:

Within each hour, we recorded how long each platypus surfaced for, and what they were doing at the surface.

on our last day, we also got into the water and took measurement of the river.

KL, Me, Eva, Joanna, and John Hall (our professor)

While jumping in the water in the river, I also had what I'm gonna call a near death experience with a platypus! So I thought that platypus were easily frightened animals, and scared by humans, but this definitely wasn’t my own experience. While in the water collecting the river date on our last day, our professor on shore calmly informed us that we were currently swimming with platypus (platypi?)!! A platypus had surfaced right about 10 feet from where we were measuring river width! We were all so excited that we just stopped working and stood there in the water. Next thing I knew, a platypus popped up less than a couple feet from me, surfacing between me and the shore. I screamed, and then was silent cause I didn’t want to scare the platypus. Our teacher, who tends to be easily concerned about our safety, freaked out, thinking something had happened. KL, watching the whole thing, informed John what had happened, and John encouraged me to back away slowly from where the platypus had been. Well, I was stuck in mud, but I eventually was able to move and make my way out of the river. APPARENTLY, platypuses are very dangerous creatures, as they have a barb on their tail that can cause a pretty painful injury. Nobody really knows too much about their venom since platypus aren’t known to attack. I personally think im pretty luck to have such a close encounter with a platypus; I mean, how many people actually get to swim with platypus! :)

In addtion to our own research, we also helped the other TRP students (there were 8 of us in total). One of my friends, Steven, ran a light trap at night to atractinsects.

Helping him actually made me somewhat interested in bugs for the first time ever!!

By the end of the second night, I was the one who was catching all the difference species of insects so our tutor, Claire could identify them. Speaking of Claire, she is amazing! Last year she was featured on Planet Earth as the glow worm expert, and is currently growing her own colony of glow worms in Yungaburra! So legit.

We used our flashlights (aka torches) to spell "bugs" out. Claire LOVED it!

On our last night in Yungaburra, we decided it was our turn to introduce the Australian to the American tradition of smores! KL and I went out and bought the closest thing we could find to normal marshmallows, chocolate, and gram crackers. We ended up with a Cadburry chocolate bar, candy package of normal and strawberry flavored marshmallows, and some malt crackers.

o ya, and we also didn't have a real campfire, but we improvised! :)

Claire thought they were a little sweet but John and Kate (owner of On the Wallaby) enjoyed them.

John, Me, Claire, Kate, and KL

It was a great way to end our time in Yungaburra!

We headed to Cairns, for 2 days off before Heron Island.

(how amazing does this look?? im soooo excited!)

We took one day to explore the city and relax

and we on my first scuba dive!!! IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!

A group of almost 20 of us all booked the same diving company.

It was an all day trip, including 3 dives and morning tea and lunch were both provided.

the boat we were on was called SilverSwift.

After getting back from scuba diving at each location, we were allowed to snorkel around if we had extra time.

They provided us with gear, including a full sting suit to wear under our wet suit.

These sting suits were awesome, especially since we jumped in the water at our first site and there were jelly fish everywhere!

After our first 2 dives, we headed out to the front of the boat to eat lunch, and lay out and warm up before our last dive. Ok so it actually wasn't that cold, but the sun did feel amazing!

Coop, Me, Liz and KL

Here are some pictures from snokeling, courtesy of KL's waterproof camera (we couldn't take it diving cause it doesn't go deep enough)

All the fish and colors were gorgeous,

and the corals were incredible!

The diving experience all-in-all was amazing, and I couldn't have expected more out of a first dive.

Now were taking a 21-hour sleeper train to the tiny port city of Gladstone where we're then heading out to Heron Island by ferry.

Coastal Forest Ecosystem Part 2 – Rainforest and Outback

2009-10-13T05:27:00.000-07:00

I am officially done with one class: Coastal Forest Ecosystems. We finished our final today! One class down, 3 to go - plus my own ‘targeted research project’ (TRP) - then I'm done with Australia!

The second part of the Forest Ecosystems course was completely different from the first (mangroves) but it was still equally amazing and ridiculous. A friend of mine described our experience as summer camp, and (despite the fact that I never actually went to summer camp growing up), I would complete agree.

We started out in Yungaburra within the Atherton Tableland (a volcanic plateau in North Queensland) staying in a hostel called "On the Wallaby". We then headed to Undara National Park to a resort/camping lodge. Its so hard to keep track of days here, since we are essentially in the middle of nowhere and have class usually through the weekends. Normally, each day we had 2-3 hours of lecture, then spent the rest of the day “in the field”. Our "field" was different types of Rainforests (did you know there’s such a thing as a dry Rainforest?…well there is! We learned all about it…) Here is a little break down of what we did each day.

Sunday

We arrived in Yungaburra and ventured off to the Curtain Strangler Fig Tree.

This amazing fig tree began when a seed was deposited in a branch of a tree (through animal droppings). The seed germinated and aerial roots grew down and around this host tree, eventually pulling it down (strangling it). It was pulled it into another tree at an angle, while the roots continued to grow 50 feet through the air to the ground, creating a curtain effect.

The original tree rotted away so you can almost see completely through it at places.

We also headed to the gorgeous Lake Barrine

where we walked around, exploring and finding some cool musky rat kangaroos. It’s really hard to take a picture of these animals, but they are essentially tiny little marsupials a little bit bigger than a rat, found in the rainforests of New Guinea and northeast Australia.

They actually hop around!

Musky Rat Kangaroos

They are hilarious to watch!

At night, we went on a night canoeing/wildlife spotting trip on a nearby lake. We saw a bunch of possums and musky rat kangaroos!

Monday:

We started with a tour of a tropical Rainforest walking around Lake Eacham (a crater lake),

then went for a little afternoon swim

before heading to a dry Rainforest at David’s Creek.

Tuesday:

Today was an early morning! One of our assignments included listening to the “morning choir” and identifying bird calls. Well, the morning choir begins before sunrise, so we were up and out the door by 5am! No worries though, watching the sun rise in the rainforest while listening to the calls Rainforest birds make is completely worth waking up for.

Morning Chorus Group

After a morning lecture we hiked through a tropical rainforest to this gorgeous waterfall pool

(where we swam of course)

then dried off and headed to Bonadio Farm.

The Bonadios are experiment then had a bbq dinner where we got to try both kangaroo (marinated this time) and crocodile. Both were surprisingly good! Since we were eating in a covered area pretty much in the forest, they put out a table of food and possums, bandicoots, and pademelons all came around to snack while we ate!

We also saw a joey (baby kangaroo) that was rescued after his mom was hit by a car. It was adorable!

After dinner, we took a tour of their glow worms caves! Not as many as we saw in New Zealand, but still really cool!

Wednesday:

One of our tutors, Claire Baker, is essentially an insect expert, and she gave us a bug lecture and let us hold Gretel, as GIANT stick insect!

We left On the Wallaby and began our 3 hour journey in our Troopies to Undara National park in the outback. We broke the long drive up with a swim in yet another gorgeous waterfall pool.

We hiked up to the highest rock, bird watching on the way up,

then sat and watched the sun set over the outback.

Thursday:

We explored the “schlerophyll forest” vegetation of the outback in the morning then had a guided tour of the Undara lava tubes. The view was crazy!

We hiked up and watched the sun set,

and it was just as amazing as the night before. After dinner we hiked back up to the same spot in the dark. We stayed for about an hour stargazing. You can see soooo many more stars than you can it home. I can’t even describe how many stars lit up the sky. Since this was our last night of the course, we headed back down for a campfire with roasted marshmallows (apparently the concept of s’mores doesn’t exist in Australia) and campfire songs!

O ya, and sometime during this busy day we attempted to find time to study for our final which was Friday morning.

Friday:

After an early morning kangaroo-watching walk, we took our final (yayyyy!) then began our trip back to Yungaburra. I stayed at Yungaburra with 7 other students, while the rest of the group headed off to Cairns for 5 free days. Since my TRP is in part of the Coastal Forest Ecosystems component of our class, I have my 3 research days in Yungaburra (but its okay cause I still get 2 days off when we join the group on Monday). We haven’t finalized our research plan yet, but it will involve platypus watching!

Week 2 - Daintree Mangroves

2009-10-11T22:28:00.000-07:00

Week 2: One Day of classes then off to Cairns

Monday, real classes started!! We had a long day of lecture, but it wasn't too bad since we were all excited to leave for Cairns on Tuesday.

Tuesday --travel day!!! I thought traveling with a group of 20 with softball was intense, but try 48 plus teachers/tutors! †Everything went surprisingly smooth. We landed in Cairns (pronoun "cans") and broke into our randomly assigned two groups (Bandicoots and Wallabies). My group, the Bandicoots were headed off to the Daintree for the Mangrove ecology unit of our forest unit, while the other group headed to Yungbarra for the Terrestrial Forest unit. After 4 days of classes, we would switch and complete the other part of the course.

There is a little ferry across the Daintree River, providing the only way to cross the river in order to limit the people visiting and preserve the rainforest.

Here is the little hostel we stayed at called Crocadylus:

We started off our Mangrove unit Wednesday morning with a Daintree River cruise down the Daintree River, learning all about the 30+ species of mangroves (actually just trying to write down everything our professor was saying really, really fast cause I actually had no clue what was going on and how I was going to remember the difference between all these different type of mangroves?),

cool little crabs,

and of course dangerous crocodiles

inhabiting the river.

After this cruise, we headed to lunch where I had my first experience eating kangaroo!!! †We had kangaroo burgers and it was surprisingly good! †Apparently we get to try marinated kangaroo and crocodile later in the trip!
We had some free time and a group of use took a jog to this gorgeous beach then went for a little swim!

For the rest of the course, we were broken up into our fields groups, including 8 students and a tutor. †How KL, Liz and I all managed to be in the same group of 8 is unbelievable, but im not complaining! †Each day, we set off into our "Troopies" (below) and headed into the field where every group was studying a different aspect of the mangroves. †The other 2 groups looked at the water and forest conditions, and we got to look at the fauna or animals in the forest (the best one if you ask me -- but it was also the one with the most hands on time in the mangroves with long hours and lots of mud!!) †On Thursday and Friday, we were out in the field from 8am to almost 6pm, conducting 4 mini experiments at 4 different sites. †I won't go into too much detail, but we look at epifauna (life in the trees), infauna (life in the ground), leaf teathering (basically tied leaves to strings and tested to see what leaves crabs like to eat more, which included a component where we had to catch as many crabs as possible in 15 minutes), and hebivory (how much insects eat the leaves).

Colony of fruit bats

Partner shot holding our "mangrove bible" (written by our professor)

Let's just say we got pretty dirty...

and of course since its a tradition, we had to spell out "beat cal" (which actually might happen this year considering Stanny football is currently undefeated in the Pac-10...of course the year im not there..great timing!)

It was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun...and because of the long hours both our tutor, Alex, and our professor, Norm treated our group to ice cream (amazing local Australian fruit flavors) both field days. †

Saturday we presented our data (yes, I actually learned a surprisingly large amount) and Sunday we headed to Yungbarra where we will finish the course in the rainforest!

Brisbane - Hiking Glass Mtn, Surfing, Koala Sanctuary

2009-10-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! I'd say we made the most of these 3 days off...

Friday, about 10 of us rented cars and drove out to hike the Glass House Mountains. We arrived around 2, under the impression that this hike would be a mildly difficult but overall, pretty easy hike.

The sign at the beginning stated: "steep, irregular surface and loose stones"

After about 10 minutes of very steep hiking (what we expected), the hike turned into a rock climb. Obviously it wasn't straight up, but the hike definitely required hand and foot climbing up the face of the mountain, maintaining "3-point contact" by keeping 3 body parts on the rock at all times. I've never done anything like this before and it was absolutely amazing. After climbing Half Dome this summer and today's hike, I'm really excited to get some more hiking in during this trip. Here are some pictures from the hike. It was just gorgeous!

Saturday morning, we still had the rental cars, and joined a larger group heading out to the beach! We left at 6am for Byron Bay, this gorgeous beach about 2 hours away, ready for our 9am surfing lesson!

The waves were pretty small, but it was still really fun.

We worked up an appetite and had lunch at this little cafe in the beach town of Byron Bay,

then headed back out to the beach for some more sun!

The beach was absolutely gorgeous.

After a long day at the beach, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner to celebrate our friend, Lauren's, 21st birthday. †

Sunday, we boarded the city bus and headed to the

LONE PINE KOALA SANTUARY

where we got to see and interact with a bunch of cool animals including emu,

Kangaroos

and even hold an adorable KOALA!!!

We even watched a cool sheep dog show. It's crazy how well trained these dogs are, and how the sheep are completely controlled by the dogs.

Week 1 Australia - University of Queensland

2009-09-26T22:50:00.000-07:00

It’s already been a week in the land down under! While it has gone by really fast, I have also done some AMAZING things within this short week! Its been pretty laid back since “real classes” don’t start til next week. Here’s a little breakdown of what we’ve done this week. Were staying in this nice little place called Benson Court Motel, and we have the whole place to ourselves :)
Every morning we get breakfast at the hotel, then hop on the city bus for a quick ride into to the University of Queensland where we meet up with the group. Our morning introduction course runs from 9-12, but get this, we have a MORNING TEA break at 10:30!!! Every morning, we have around a 20 min break, and the university provides tea, coffee, fruit, and some amazing pastry! It’s a great little morning pick me up! We have lunch at the Women’s College Dining Hall (apparently its the best dining hall on campus) then head back to class from 1-4.
During the first week, they also mixed in an introduction BBQ, campus tour, library tour (FUNN) and some other fun activities. A lot of the sessions didn't last all 3 hours, which was also a nice surprise, giving us some free time to explore!
Here is a pretty large group of us waiting for the ferry into the city heading out to a little local bar called "Down Under" Tuesday Night. Unfortunately...right after boarding the ferry, KL took a picture (below) with the flash on, and the driver wasn't very happy. 5 minutes later, we were back on the dock, and forced to take the bus into the city. It was a fun little adventure, and we learned our lesson that when they say no flash photograph they're not kidding!
Here's some pictures of campus, after the dust storm in Sydney. I guess dust storms like this don't usually effect Brisbane this much, so I guess were lucky that we got to experience it! It was really weird cause in the morning the sky was perfectly clear, then by lunch, the entire campus looked like this:

By Wednesday night, the sky was pretty much clear again, and we headed out to take a tour of the Australian XXXX (Fourex) Brewery.
It was an awesome tour through a working factory (we weren't allowed to take pictures), and it even included a free dinner afterwards!
On Friday, instead of having class, we all met up and played Lawn Bowling. It’s an Australian game a lot like Bocce Ball (ok so I’ve never actually played bocce ball, but everybody else says its pretty much the same.) Basically you are rolling a mini bowling ball on a grass field trying to get your team’s balls to land closer to the golf ball than the other teams.

Since we had this day off, a group of us decided to start our weekend off early and take a trip out to the Glass Mountains, about an hour from Brisbane! I'll let you know how it goes!

Day 14: Traveling to Brisbane!

2009-09-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm leaving the "vacation" part of my trip and entering the "work" part, I’m going to stop numbering the days and updating daily for a couple of reasons. First, I know it might be hard to believe, but I am actually going to be attending classes and potentially doing school work, so I may not have free time to update everybody. This also means I won't have time (or money cuz lets face it I’m broke by now) to jump off a building everyday and do other blog-worthy activities. But most importantly, my internet access is potentially more limited than it has been in New Zealand. I’ll update you when I can with new information. Stay tuned!!

Day 13: Waitomo Black Water Rafting

2009-09-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Wow. I can’t believe this New Zealand adventure we have been planning and looking forward to is essentially over! Today we finished our last ‘big’ event for the trip. Tomorrow we’re flying to Brisbane, to start a whole new Australian adventure, and today’s Black Water Rafting was definitely a great end to an amazing trip. Pretty much the main event for tomorrow is finding and eating Hokey Pokey ice cream. According to one of our bus drivers, it's a Kiwi favorite, and a must-try for any visitor. (looks good doesn't it!)

Black water rafting is the term used for any rafting underground. It's kinda like white water rafting, but in tubes. There are a variety of adventourous tours exploring the Waitomo caves, ranging in length, activities, and difficulty. After looking them over, we decided to go all out with the legendary, "Black Water Rafting Company's Black Abyss Tour".

As stated on the brochure, this tour involves:

Abseiling training
Abseiling 37 metres
Caving and walking
Cave tubing (black water rafting)
Glow worms
Jumps
Flying Fox
Climbing

I’d say we made the right choice!
We weren’t allowed to take cameras in the caves with us, but our guides snapped a few shots of us (available for purchase of course) during the adventure.

We started off the day (already cold but in high spirits)

by gearing up with our attractive wet suits, boots, and helmets.

Then we headed out to the cave and went through a quick lesson on abseiling (repelling) on land.

We then had the chance to abseil ourselves down a crevice (about the height of a 13 story building) before entering the cave.

We continued on foot for a bit, until we reached a zip line bringing us deeper into the cave. After a little more walking, it was time for a snack break! Yes, they brought snacks, which was a complete surprise to us! Our guides pulled out delicious home made molasses bars and hot cocoa, “warming us up before we jumped into the cold water.” According to our guides, this first snack break was originally implemented to help those hung over vacationers who just rolled out of bed without eating breakfast, giving them a little substance to help them from freaking out when they hit the cold water. Whatever the reason, the snack break was a nice surprise!

The water actually wasn’t too cold. Ok, is was really cold - but it wasn’t freezing. We headed into the water in inner tubes with our lights on, exploring different structures in the cave and making our own way through the water. On the way back, we all linked our tubes together and turned off our lights, as our guide pulled us through the water in the pitch black cave, illuminated only by the glow worms lining the ceiling. FUN FACT: guides (and individuals lost in a cave) use a unique glowworm formation to orient themselves when navigating in the dark!

Next we slid down a little slide (there was a slide in the middle of a cave deep underground),

did a little swimming (through some small spaces)

Then guess what? Snack break number 2!! This time is was a chocolate bar and hot Orange Spice drink! During this break, our guides showed us how to put our colorful plastic cups over our headlights, and using a special camera setting, we could spell any 6-7 letter word with the lights….he suggested "awesome"…we choose “2 legit”

Yes the camera I have also has this setting and yes I do plan to be using it in the near future!

Next we climbed up 2 waterfalls

And unfortunately I knew our adventure was coming to an end, as I saw a bright light beaming from a crevice down the way.

We hiked a bit back to our van, then headed back for the promised warm showers, bagels, and soup. Hot tomato soup and toasted plain bagels have never tasked so good to me! I couldn’t imagine a better meal to warm your body up after a good 4 hours in an underground cave!

We bussed to Hamilton, where we were able to find a local venue to watch the All Black, New Zealand’s National Rugby Team, play the Australian Wallabys. Originally, we wanted to actually go watch the All Blacks play, but none of their games fit into our schedule! We learned from Curly back in Waitomo that this was a big game for the All Blacks. They hadn’t been doing so hot lately, and if they lost tonight, they would have the longest losing streak even in New Zealand’s history. But…they won! We enjoyed a nice dinner (I mean lunch was free so we could spend a little more…) at this bar by our hotel and watched the All Blacks dominate Australia!

Tomorrow we’re heading to Brisbane!!!!

Day 12: Waitomo Glow Worm Cave Tour

2009-09-19T05:21:00.000-07:00

As weird as it sounds, the experience was actually like Disneyland! The Waitomo Glowworm Caves were awesome. The tour was about an hour long, and the first 30 minutes involved walking through the inside of the caves.

outside the caves (we couldnt bring our own camera inside)

Our guide was a descendent of the Mauri, and extremely informative and passionate about the caves and glowworms.

I won't go into detail about glow worms, but they are only found in New Zealand, and are essentially bugs that spin a web hanging down like a string to catch prey that looks like this in the light:

They produce a chemical light to attract other insects to their web, creating a cave lined with tiny lights.

The second half of our tour was on a boat floating down a river in the cave. It was absurd. It honestly looks like you're floating down Pirates of the Caribbean or It's a Small World, but even more amazing.

Here are some pictures, but even they don't do the caves justice. Its was beautiful!

Since the entire town of Waitomo consisted of about 3 hostels, a visitors center, and a couple shops/diners/bars (all in one of course), there wasn't too much selection to chose from for dinner and we headed off to Curly's Bar/Internet Cafe(dial-up)/Diner for dinner - a cute little place where we had dinner and desert :)

Day 11 - Travel from Queenstown (South Island) to Auckland (North Island)

2009-09-19T02:23:00.000-07:00

Today we left South Island, heading up to North Island. Since our flight wasn't til noon, KL and I went on a gorgeous morning jog. I had to bring my camera along, and since the path was really hilly, I took every opportunity to stop and take pictures :)

The entire jog was through a forest on a lake, ending at this little private dock (then i had to run back!); soooo beautiful.

We took a Super Shuttle to the airport, and flew to Auckland, where we checked into our hostel for the night. We ended up relaxing in a cafe inside a 24 mega-supermarket called Foodworld! Pretty much a laid back day.

Tomorrow we're busing to Waitomo where we will tour the glowworm caves.

Day 10: Horseback Riding and Ice Bar

2009-09-19T01:14:00.000-07:00

Off we go...
The drive to the ranch was about an hour and it was gorgeous (and free since our hostel had a special package).
The driver even stopped along the way for pictures, and pointed out Lord of the Rings filming spots.
We finally got to this tiny little stable, where we got all geared up with gloves, jackets, helmets, and riding boots.

Here's Winston, my horse...aka "The Troublemaker"
He's 13 years old and loves to be in the lead of the group, and if he's not first or second, he'll scare the other horses out of the path until he takes his place in front.

This is Andy, the adorable 1 year old dog that tagged along on our journey, following the horses and chasing rabbits as he goes! What's not to love here?
Throughout the ride, we passed gorgeous scenery,
crossed rivers,
stopped for a group photo shot,
and even had a little bit of excitement when one of the horses got spooked and took off in a full speed gallop down the trail. Apparently this has never happened before, but our guide handled it really well. We all got a QUICK lesson on dismounting our horses, then walked them (Winston leading, naturally) while our guide sped off after the runaway horse (and rider!). Within a few minutes, she was back and we continued our ride, but it definitely got our adrenaline pumping!

After a bit of rest...to the ICE BAR!!

We'd heard about the ice bar from a couple of different people, so we decided to check it out. Queenstown's ice bar is called Minus 5, since it's usually negative 5 degrees (Celsius of course) inside the bar, but it was -8 when we were there. Bit of a cold front.
They only let you stay for 30 minutes, which was long enough for us. It was pretty much like a regular small bar - inside a freezer.
The inside was decorated with unique ice statues and sculptures.

Even with the jacket and gloves, we were COLD. While you have to pay to get into the ice bar, admission includes a shot (in an ice luge) and a free mixed drink
in a cup made out of ice!

It was definitely a really COOL experience! (and apparently other Minus 5 locations around the world don't allow you to take your own pictures, so I think we chose a good one to visit!)

Day 9 - CanyonSwing

2009-09-17T01:58:00.000-07:00

I have never been this scared in my life.

To (willingly) jump off a cliff and free-fall 60 meters is actually crazy...but SO amazing! Before we jumped, they had me pose for this picture, leaning over the edge while holding on to me.

You can click on the photos for a larger view.

Apparently I was also attached by some small, insignifgicant bungee, but of course I couldn't tell it was even there. This was definitely the scariest part for me. Hanging over a cliff when it feels like the only thing coming between you and certain death is a man you just met holding your ~~life~~ harness in his hands - it's an insane feeling! (but I guess it did make for a good picture).

For my first jump, I chose the "Pin Drop," which is ranked 5 out of 5. You have to put your hands behind your back and jump sideways off the platform without holding on to anything!

I decided to do a second drop, and I let the staff choose which one they thought "was best." They chose the "Elvis Cutaway" so i could experience a backwards free-fall.

Yes, I screamed, but it was amazing!
Definitely a major head rush.

You think HE is praying...

I just can't describe the feeling you get while falling. Fortunately, I have it all on video! They take videos of everyone then show them to you after, when you've already jumped and just HAVE to buy it!

Here's a 3 min video of my 2nd drop: The scariest part of this jump was how the staff distracted me by telling me to look behind me at the sharp cliffs, then suddenly released me when I wasn't expecting it!!

After a traumatizing morning, we said goodbye to Caitlin who headed home to California. We spent he rest of the day relaxing, booking the North Island part of our trip, and chilling in the hostel. Tomorrow, we have an early morning planned, as the shuttle for horseback riding leaves at 8am...

Day 8 - Travel from Wanaka to Queenstow

2009-09-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

Since our shuttle didn't leave til 2pm, we decided to spend the morning just walking around the quaint ski-town of Wanaka.

After quite a bit of window shopping, we sat down in a little local coffee shop, ordered our "bowls" of coffee (coffee here come in small cups, so if you want what we would consider a normal amount of coffee, you can order your drink served in a large cup, or bowl!),
and after looking through many different brochures, decided we wanted to do the Shotover Canyon Swing in Queenstown.

After arriving in Queenstown, we checked into our cute little hostel called Bumbles Backpackers.
It was located right on the water and here is our view:

We pretty much spend the rest of our day exploring the city and planning the rest of our activities. Queenstown really is a cute place to just wander!

Day 7 - Skydiving!

2009-09-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

SO LEGIT. I cannot believe I actually jumped out of a plane at 12,000 feet. Ok, let's be honest, I should probably call it a fall, but at least it was a cool fall, since we exited the plane with a backwards summersault. Followed by...

45 seconds of straight free fall.

In a word...amazing!

We began our adventure on a shuttle to the hangar. We weren't sure whether or not we wanted to purchase pictures/DVD with our dive, but after hearing our options, we were SOLD on getting our own "cameraman" who would dive with us. He would film everything starting from when we first met our tandem diver in the hanger to our landing. He'd also take still photos during our dive!!! Only 3 divers could go at once, so we broke up in 2 groups; Liz and I were first!

After signing our lives away,

We practiced the important "free fall position"

with our dive group,

suited up,

harnessed up,

and were ummm...."reassured" after reading the HUGE warning label on the back of our chutes... (note the first sentence...)

We then took pictures for you to remember us by...

This is Grant, my amazing guide!

and we're off!

It was about a ten minute flight up to 12,000 feet, and Grant gave me a great scenic tour of the landscape and what we were seeing below.

My cameraman was taking pictures this whole time so I didn't have to worry about that at all!

The view was absolutely gorgeous!

Next thing I knew, the plane switched engines, and the first girl was out of the plane. Then Liz was gone. It all happened sooo fast, she was there one second...then all I see is this -

Now its my turn. Grant holds me (I'm actually attached by like 5 bajillion straps...) as I am essentially hanging outside of the plane. He tells me to smile for one last camera shot.

Then, I scream.

We flip out of the plane and FALL.

Its amazing.

Not only is the view magnificent, but I'm falling at 200 mph!

AHHHH!!! I hear Grant scream "yahhhooooo" in the background, and laugh to myself.

He told me in the plane he would let out an occasional yahoo just to let me know he was still conscious and with me :)
A couple minutes after pulling the chute and making sure my screams are of joy and not pure fright, Grant informs me that its been a couple of weeks since he's lost somebody. I feel lucky :)

We do some more flips and head on in for a landing.

We survived!!

We decide its time to celebrate!
and head out for some amazing pizza.

Again, we go all out with delicious garlic bread and 2 huge pizzas.

Yeah, its been an amazing day. Now I want to go skydiving again!!!!

Anybody wanna come with me?

Day 6: Travel Day - Franz Josef to Wanaka

2009-09-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

Today we boarded yet another Atomic Shuttle and began our 5 hour trip to Wanaka; it was another gorgeous journey. About 2 hours into the drive, we stopped for lunch at this little cafe - which was pretty much a real "Rainforest Cafe". I won't bore you with details about the drive, but here are some pictures of the scenery along the way.

After the long drive, we were starving, and since there was a huge grocery store right next to the hostel (reality check: no more upgrades and we're back to sharing a room with other people and bathroom/showers down the hall) so we decided to make food. By this point we're starving, but managed to whip up a surprisingly good and fast dinner.

and spent no time demolishing it.

This is the view from the kitchen on the 3rd story of the hostel. Gorgeous.

Unfortunately, we then find out KL's credit card had about 1,500 of fraudulent charges and spent the rest of the night trying to straighten it out (with multiple trips to the grocery store for some "cultural candy" to make everything better). We're still not sure how somebody got ahold of her info, but she cancelled the card so we're still hoping everything works out!

It was also around this point that we decided we're skydiving tomorrow for sure!! We had planned to skydive in Queenstown, but apparently Wanaka is the second best place in the world to skydive (second to Fox Glacier, but the weather wasn't good when we were there!)

Yes, we are all freaking out thinking about the fact that tomorrow we will be jumping out of a plane! AHHHH

Day 5: Glacier Hiking - Franz Josef

2009-09-11T23:32:00.000-07:00

No rain this morning! We headed down to the Franz Josef Glacier Hiking Shop (again maybe a 1 min walk) where we geared up with waterproof pants, jackets, boots, socks, and crampons (essentially strap-on spikes used later for hiking the glacier). We boarded the shuttle and headed out to begin our adventure.

(This is a picture from our drive)

We began the hike through a forest,

ending up in this rock plane leading up the glacier

then it was finally time to head up the glacier! (you can see it closer behind us now)

The first part of actual glacier time was through pretty dirty and rocky ice

Then we finally made it onto the uncovered glacier! AMAZING! We put on our crampons (below, look closely - our feet blend in with the rocks), and headed onto the ice! During the entire hike, our guide either carved our own path or modified an already laid out path (While these tours go essentially every day, the glacier moves 8 meters each day, so paths tend to be pretty destroyed each morning.

Our hike lead us up and down stairs
through tunnels,

holding onto ropes,
****
and through this little crevice (emphasis on "little" - this hike would be a good incentive to diet - these crevices are tight) the view looking up it was actually so TINY!
We finally made it to the top (well as far as the half day hike took you at least!)
had the chance to "hack our own path"
and drink fresh glacier water!
On the way down, while our guide was rescuing a camera that fell into a crevice, we found time to pose for another picture :)
We had way more ice time than I expected. A couple minutes before reaching the top, our guide asked what time it was, then said, "We're supposed to be off the ice in 5 minutes, well that's just not gonna happen" and we continued on! We've had amazing guides both days in Franz Josef!

Tomorrow we're off to Wanaka!

Day 4: Kayaking - Franz Josef

2009-09-10T03:27:00.000-07:00

Kayaking it is!!!! Actually, this choice wasn't weather dependent...we woke in the morning to learn it was forecast to rain, so we decided to hike the glacier (which we heard is fine to do in the rain), then pray for clear skies tomorrow (since kayaking is really best without rain which screws up the reflectiveness of the lake). However, the half day hike was all booked. Franz Josef is so small that there is only one hiking company. Apparently its rare that they are all booked up, but no worries. We decided to just head over and talk to the Wayne, the man that runs the kayaking tours (and the internet cafe) about a minute walk down the main/only road, however, he wasn't there. Upon returning to the hostel, we find out that Wayne just decides when he wants to work and randomly takes time off to travel and such, leaving tourists without internet or kayaking! We learn Wayne hasn't been in his shop the past couple days, so at this point, either Wayne is just sleeping in and will be in later (time essentially doesn't exist in Franz Josef) or he's actually gone and we're out of luck for kayaking. We head back to our room and chill for an hour, then decide to check back in on Wayne...who has finally arrived at work!!! By 10am we are all layered up and boarding his van heading out to Lake Mapourika about 10 minutes away.

Ok lets be honest...we did have time to pose for a quick picture in front of our adorable hostel before loading up...

Our gear includes these amazing "splash guards," which pretty much snapped into the kayak creating a seal so we didn't get wet! So awesome (and attractive right?)

(you don't have you lie ... I know you're jealous)

We opted for the guided tour, instead of just renting kayaks, so Wayne and the four of us headed out for a 3 hour-ish adventure (and work out...the lake is HUGE!)

Due to a little bit of bad weather, we didn't get an entirely reflective lake experience on the big part of the lake like some of the pictures we had seen, but Wayne led us into this little forest area where it was absolutely breath-taking.

We headed into the forest in a group, stopped for lunch, then each of us headed back individually a couple minutes apart so we could experience the reflection. It was so crazy!

Reunited after our individual trips through the forest :)

Looking back on the trip, we got the best of both world. We had a nice little workout and 'experience' paddling through some rough waters, and we also witnessed the amazing features of the reflective lake! In addition to a CD of pictures from our day, Wayne also included some of his pictures from calmer days on the lake, so we even have those too! Here are some of those:

Tomorrow its GLACIER HIKING!! Our tickets are already booked so rain or shine we're going!

Day 3: Train to Franz Josef

2009-09-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today was basically a travel day, but even a travel day in New Zealand is far from boring. Our goal was to get from Christchurch to Franz Josef, where we planned to kayak on a perfectly reflective lake and hike on a glacier! Instead of taking a direct bus/train from Christchurch to Franz Josef, we decided to take a little bit longer, more scenic route. We started the day with Starbucks (pretty much the only coffee place open at 7 in the morning) then caught a free shuttle to the train station. Its only Day 3 but the concept of "free" is still amazing!

Waiting for the shuttle to Christchurch Railway Station

Our first leg of the journey was a 5 hour Tranz Scenic trip from Christchurch to Greymouth, through gorgeous scenery.

Tranz Scenic Train Route

View from Arthur's Pass (they let you get out and take pictures!)

One of my favorite parts of this train ride was this viewing car they have, with open windows. While the view was amazing from this car, it was also just so much fun to be in there with the crazy (and really cold wind).

After arriving in Greymouth, we took a 3 hour bus ride to Franz Josef and checked into our new hostel, Chateau Franz. We were upgraded to a 6 person private room. So pretty much we had our own room with 3 sets of bunk beds, shower, bathroom, and full on mini kitchen (microwave, stove, fridge, hot water boiler - so clutch for our instant coffee in the morning). This hostel is adorable and our room is amazing! AND...there is FREE vegetable soup every night for dinner, and it was AMAZING! Ok maybe we were just really hungry, but anyway it works!!!

Chateau Franz Hostel

This entire town of Franz Josef is so tiny! You can pretty much walk up and down the main street in ten minutes; such a change from this morning in Christchurch. Depending on the weather, tomorrow is either kayaking or glacier hiking!