Swimming with Seals!

If you click on the photo, it will blow it up for a better view. There was no zoom on the camera!

In our quest to remain cold in New Zealand, we decided to try swimming with animals. We originally wanted to swim with dolphins, but the company was booked until the middle of January, so we decided to give swimming with seals a try. This could possibly be the highlight of our New Zealand experience thus far. We were suited up in a centimetre of wet suit from head to toe. We walked along the shore to where the seals were, and swam out to an island that they were swimming around. The wetsuit was better than a lifejacket. We were so buoyant, and surprisingly warm. We were (well I, Laura, was) a little apprehensive about being so close to wildlife, however it was amazing. When we got out to where they were they immidiately started to swim around us. They would come within inches of our body, including our face and at the last second, dart away. It is incredible how fast they are! I (Laura) am proud to say I took the picture above! We were in the water for just over an hour with the seals, however it seemed like 5 minutes. We both loved the experience and are now booked to swim with dolphins in the Bay of Islands, which is in the North Island of New Zealand.

Fox Glacier Hike

We decided to keep with the theme of freezing in New Zealand and went for a day hike on Fox Glacier. The night before we left it POURED rain so we were a little aprehensive to go, however we woke up to clear skies. We were fitted for crampons before we left and were then bussed to the Glacier. We had a 2 hour hike until we actually got onto the ice. This was the warm part of the day...

We walked on the ice for about 30 minutes and then had lunch. After lunch we were on the ice for another 2 hours. We thought we would be hiking most of the time, however the majority of the time was spent watching our guid cut stairs. We are not sure if she was doing that because she had to, or that she just really liked swinging an ice pick. Needless to say we spent a lot of time standing on the ice, and then it started raining. It sounds like it was not fun, but we laughed a lot and it was pretty neat to be walking on a glacier. We got to climb through several crevasses and go into a few caves. Although we froze it was still a great time.

River Surfing

Our next adventure was in the adventure capital of the world, Queenstown. Since we consider ourselves white water experts, we decided to give river surfing a go. We can white water canoe anytime....

River surfing is basically going down a river on a body board. We were bussed out to the start of the river and had a safety talk before we headed out and a skills lesson. We then were right into the waves. The water was about 10 degrees and once again, we are freezing in New Zealand. We did have 5mm wet suits which worked very well, and once we got moving we didn't even notice the cold. The ride down the river was awesome. The first part of the river was the biggest water. The guides were great and stayed very close to us. I was glad I had white water experience before, and so was adam. The rapids were pretty big, however there wasn't many rocks to dodge. The only frustrating part was that we had a group of 15, and only one river..........at times we were floating on top of each other. We had flippers though and were able to paddle away into an opening.

At the end they had a jet ski that we were pulled on, similar to tubing behind a boat. There also was a huge slide at the end that we went down on our body board, and then skidded across the water. It was a great day! For those interested, we went with Mad Dog River Boarding. You can check out the website.

Christmas in New Zealand!

Merry Christmas!!! Adam and I definately felt like we were somewhat near home at Christmas as it was freezing where we were in New Zealand. We spent Christmas eve at a campsite and made a very simple Christmas meal, and then we went to Milford Sound to do a cruise. The scenery was incredible. They say it is actually more picturesque in the rain, and it was definately raining. Apparently it rains 2/3 days. I think this may be the reason they say it is better in the rain, or they may not have business.....

We spent 2.5 hours on a small boat touring around the Fiord. There were waterfalls everywhere. We saw seals and also saw a very rare penguin which was neat. We made it out towards the Tasman Sea but the captain had to then turn around as it was way to choppy. Adam braved the cold and rain and went out on the front to look around. I took the picture from inside the boat...

It was a very nice way to spend Christmas!

Routburn Track

We finally decided to be active again since Nepal, and booked in to do the Routburn Track, which is a Great Walk in New Zealand. The hike was 3 nights/4 days. The first day we got a shuttle out to the start of the track, and then hiked for 4 hours to our first hut. The huts we slept in were great. They had gas stoves and bunks so we didn't have to bring a tent or stove. We slept in a room with about 30 other people, but it was fine. The second day was our longest day. We hiked for about 2.5 hours to a spot called Conical Hill. We then did a side trip to the top of Conical Mountain. The views were awesome. The picture is from the top of the mountain. We then had another 3 hour hike to our second nights hut. The third day was an easier day. We hiked for 3 hours to our last hut, and in the afternoon did another side trip to Key Summit. Again, the weather was great and the views were amazing. The last day was just an hours walk out to catch our bus back to Queenstown. We totally lucked out and had amazing weather and no rain for the 4 days on the track. The mountains were not as big as Nepal, but still very beautiful and impressive!

Queenstown, New Zealand

Well we safely made our way to New Zealand. We arrived late at night and spent our first full day making our way to the Adventure Capital of Queenstown. We spent 2 days exploring the city. Our weather was beautiful both days so we took advantage of it and went up the Gondala. We would have hiked up, however we were doing a 4 day hike the next day so we wanted to rest our legs........
At the top we had a chance to do a luge ride. It was pretty hilarious. We basically went sledding down a track. It was very touristy but still a lot of fun! The views from the top were great too. The rest of the time in Queenstown was spent getting ready to do our hike and relaxing around the town. It is still strange seeing Christmas decorations everywhere, especially with no snow!

Great Ocean Road

AP
After driving for hours Adam and I found our way to Geelong, which is the start of the Great Ocean Road. We spent 2 days traveling on the road and viewing the sights. The scenery was incredible. The first day we traveled as far as a place called Apolo Bay. We stopped here for the night. In the evening we watched kite surfers on the beach. This sport looks near to impossible.
The next day we drove to several lookouts, including the infamous 12 Apostles. The scenery is very similar to Cape Breton Island, or even Newfoundland. Our plan was to take our time exploring the sights, however we did not know that we were in Australia for fly season. The flies were worse than mosquitoes! The crawled all over us, in our face and mouth. Needless to say we only lasted a few minutes outside, and got through the second part of the road very quick. We stopped the second night in Warnonbool and then drove back to Geelong for our final day in Australia. The road was definitely a highlight of Australia, despite the flies!

Photo Album

Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia

Click on photo to see pictures of vietnam, cambodia and australia!

Surfers Paradise....

We have been driving down the coast for the last few days, making stops at Noosa, Surfers Paradise, Byron Bay, Lennox Heads, Ballina and Coff's Harbour. We have attempted body boarding and Adam has attempted surfing, while I lifeguarded from the beach. The waves were slightly larger than what we see in Canada however Adam did get up a few times. He looked like a pro to me! The campervan has been good to us, despite practically drinking gas like water. Thank goodness for mastercard.......

Fraser Island

After another long day of driving we made it to Hervey Bay to go to Fraser Island. Again, since we are short on time we just did a day tour. We took a ferry across to the island and then boarded a huge 4X4 bus. It was massive, and had about 50 other people. This was a bit of the downside. We also were one of the last on the bus so we had to sit at the back. This would be fine on normal roads, but since we are driving on dirt and sand it was slightly bumpy to say the least! We drove through the rainforest for the first bit and then out onto the beach. The island is completely made up of sand. It was neat flying along on the beach. We stopped at a ship wreck first which was ok, then went to a place called Eli Creek. You can walk up and then float down the creek. Unfortunately we only had about 20 minutes here. Then we headed to a resort for lunch. After lunch we did a nature walk that really could have been skipped, and then we went to the highlight, which is Lake McKenzie. It is an amazing lake that has pretty much nothign living in it and is totally clear. We got to stay here for a while laying on the beach and swimming. We also got to see a Dingo that was roaming the beach! It was a very brief tour of the island, but worthwhile!

Whitsunday Islands

After a day of driving down the coast, we stopped at Airlie Beach to do a day tour of the Whitsunday Islands. It was absolutely beatiful. We had a perfect day. We first boated out towards the islands for about an hour. We then stopped in at a cove to do some snorkling. It was amazing. The visibility was the best I have ever had. We saw loads of fish, including a giant fish that I think was the size of my honda. The coral was great too. We had over an hour here which was fantastic. After we cruised and had lunch and then went to a place called Whitehaven beach, Hill Inlet. We got dropped off on a beach and had to hike up to the top of a lookout. The picture is of us at the lookout. The view was awesome. The colours in the water were just like the pictures we had seen. We then got about 2 hours to lounge on the beach. It was great, however the only downside was that we had to wear lycra suits in the water to protect us from stingers (jelly fish). It was a bit of a pain getting into the skin tight outfits to go for a swim, and we did not look to stylish but we were protected from sun and stingers! After this stop we cruised back to the mainland. Great day!

Cairns/Daintree Rainforest

Adam and I flew up to Cairns after Sydney and picked up our Campervan!!! It is a little rough around the edges, but gets us from A to B. (and hopefully Melbourne!) We picked it up and immidiately drove north of Cairns to the Daintree Rainforest. It was strange driving on the other side of the road, btu we soon got the hang of it. The drive to the rainforest was very curvy, but beautiful! We stopped off at a the Mosman Gorge for a swim, and then found a campervan park just outside the ferry to Cape Tribulation. The next morning we took the ferry across to Cape Tribulation. The ferry is just a barge across a small river. On our way to Cape Trib we did a river cruise in search of Crocs, and we saw 2! Apparently that is good for this time of year. After we went to Cape tribulation Beach. It is beautiful but you can't swim becuase of the crocs. After we drove through a bit of the interior part of Queensland back to Cairns.

Our time in Cairns was amazing. We did a day dive trip out to the Southern part of the reef. We went with TUSA diving, which is the company I actually went with 6 years ago! We got to do 3 dives, which was amazing. Our second dive was incredible. We saw 2 turtles, 2 sting ray and one shark! The boat we went on was beautiful, and the meal we had for lunch was great. All in all, a great trip to the reef!!!

'

Sydney

Adam and I spent 3 days touring around Sydney. We arrived at 7:00am in the morning, so needless to say, we were tired! We headed straight to Manly Beach where I used to live. The weather was great so we layed on the beach and then I dragged Adam to see where I used to live. The picture is from the ferry over to Manly Beach. That evening we wandered around the Harbour and we quickly discovered that that night was the final of Australian Idol, and it was being held just outside the Opera House. It was packed with teenagers! We tried to get a glipse of the performance but it was sold out......

The next day we headed to the famous Bondi Beach. It was beautiful. Adam again layed on the beach and I actually got back on the running horse and went for a run! We spent some time as well just watching the surfers.

Our last day it rained so we actually just went to a mall, and then to the movies! It was relaxing to veg for a bit. We saw The Heartbreak Kid. Not nearly as funny as Something About Mary but entertaining.