The Final Chapter...for now

With every good trip, you have to end in a bang! Matt is starting Stanford Business School in the fall, and I have been eagerly searching for a new position in the area. We will move into a brand new on-campus apartment, meet all new friends and learn a new city. Its like traveling, but you stay put.

So to go out with a bang, Matt had a surprise for me. Because we were on a budget, we bought every flight we took with different airlines, not accruing miles (oh no!) to save money. With this in mind, Matt used all of his United miles left over after the honeymoon, and bought two First Class one-way tickets from Frankfurt to Denver.

I liked the sound of first class, especially after feeling like super low class in Europe with the prices, and then Matt told me the perks. On the airline we are flying with, Lufthansa, First Class passengers are treated with exceptional care. They do not just offer you a special lounge; they have built a First Class Terminal! Insane!

As soon as we entered the "Top Costumer Building," Matt and I were escorted to the lounge infront of the lounge.

In this lounge, they offered us free nuts (the nice kind, like cashews and almonds) and checked our tickets to make sure no rif-raff got in. Then they took our luggage and boarding passes, and took us to the private security line.

Once through security, they opened the doors to the labyrinth. Our personal assistant showed us the cigar lounge (with free cigars), the free restaurant (where you could order almost anything including fresh gelato) and free wifi (Matt's favorite part). Now I know this much detail may show my lack of experience in first class, but guess what, I was impressed! Our assistant showed us where the massage chairs were, then let us know she would come back to get us around boarding time. First Class boards last so that we dont have to be "inconvenienced." Then this wonderful woman told me the icing on the cake. "We have a limousine service to take you directly to the plane. You will not have to walk." My first thoughts were, "Maybe limousine means something different in German?" I know, I know I have been traveling for too long and everything sounds foreign now. After Matt reassured me that he heard the same thing, I got super stoked.

We are now in the lobby enjoying the perks of the upper class. I maybe the wolf in sheep's clothing, but if I eat and drink quietly and make sheep sounds, I should be in the clear.

I will post about the limo issue after we land. Here we come USA! We missed you!

Germany... Yah!

Munchin’ on Munich

Our friend Hunter, recently moved from San Francisco to Munich last fall. We crashed with him and got the true Munich tour. First off, Hunter took us to the home of Munich’s biggest beers! It was scrumptious…

Hunter is an English teacher, as well as a women’s softball coach to the German locals. We went to his game on Saturday to cheer them on – American Style! Needless to say, they couldn’t handle what the Rock was Cooking, so both games finishes with the Mercy rule. YAY Hunter’s Girls!

We thanked Hunter for his graciousness and headed on to Berlin.



Berlin is for the Hardcore

Berlin looks like I thought it would. Dark overcast, graffiti everywhere, people avoiding your eye contact – actually its like New York. The sites in Berlin were limitless though so we had to plan carefully.

Our first stop was the Wall. The Berlin Wall museum is a couple short videos of what used to happen around the wall, during the wall was built and after it came down. This takes place across the street from a section of the Wall still standing and has a tower for you to climb and see the Wall.



Next to the Wall is a cemetery, where the story is told that people dug up the graves and moved them just to build this wall. They had a respectful display remembering those that were hurt emotionally and physically during this time.

Another museum Matt and I visited was the Topography of Terror. This was Germany’s timeline posted on a brick wall, and different exhibits on the Holocaust.

We left there in need of something a little lighter and headed for the Salvador Dali museum. This was better than the Van Gogh to me. Dali is known for being crazy and eccentric, and his museum was a great representation. In the lobby they had couches shaped liked big lips, and a piano in the middle of a fountain. It was a great display of his many works, and inspiring to the abnormal.

Berlin had a fun nightlife, but Amsterdam was a tad better. We did meet some nice Canadians (I know, they are EVERYWHERE) who took us to a hipster bar, and we hung out for an evening.

The best thing that Berlin offered was a shut down airport. Berlin has three airports, and they are slowly shutting down two of them to make a Mega Airport. One has been shut down successfully, and they let visitors walk all over the tarmac. Matt and I were very happy to do this, but when I saw the sign for segway rentals...I knew what had to be done. Segway Racing!

Germany all in all was a relaxing section of our trip. This is our final country and I feel that Matt and I enjoyed hanging out with locals, more than doing some of the more well known things.

Matt and I finished Germany by heading to Frankfurt. We met with our friend Matthew and had a great German meal of pig knuckles.

We both agree that we are sad to see this trip end, and recognize this has been a trip of a lifetime. We are not home sick, we just miss a couple things: Mexican food and grocery stores.

Austria Has No Kangaroos

Matt and I were told by a number of travelers that Austria was a must see! We took their advice and booked four nights in Innsbruck. Austria is like the clean friendly Germany, great German beer and sausages to be had. One thing that is Austria did not copy from anyone is their Alps.

Matt and I bought the Innsbruck Card which got us free rides on all public transportation, entry to all museums and above all free rides up and down every mountain gondola and ski lift around. We met up with our friend Mondo (see Italy post) and conquered as many beautiful mountaintops as we could. I am posting all of these landscape pictures on facebook, I know there are a ton, but it was gorgeous I couldn’t stop taking pictures!

Landscape was not all Austria had to offer though, my friends. Did you know that Schnapps is made in Austria? Did you know that there is a store dedicated to trying all of the flavors like Baskin and Robbins? No? Neither did we…

It was glorious! My favorite was a tie between Cappuccino and Whisky Cream. By far one of my top favorite stores on this trip!

As we were exploring Innsbruck one morning, Matt and I happened upon a ruckus in the main town square (yes its that small). There were bicyclists all over drinking coffee, and a man on stage speaking in German, introducing different men and women in logoed spandex. We asked a local, and they informed us (in an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice) that this was Tour de Austria and we just happen to be at the major starting off point. What luck!

After a great time in Innsbruck, Matt and I boarded a train headed for our good friend Hunter in Munich.

Italy Mi Amoré - Pizza, Pasta and Wine

Cavalino and Venice
While in Amsterdam, I booked an apartment that said it was in Venice but right on the beach. You would only have to take a short boat ride to reach the city. When we arrived to Venice and then our new apartment, this was not the case. We took an hour boat ride to Punta Sabionni and then were picked up by the house owner. Her name was Brunna and she only spoke Italian and a little bit of German – not helpful. After playing charades in the car for about 45 minutes, we arrived safely to her beautiful BnB. She had bikes to loan us so we could ride 10 minutes to the beach, so we got over our frustration. No internet, but soft warm sand for days. Matt and I decided we would enjoy a few days here, then go stay in Venice to experience the city. This was no mistake. We both got a nice tan and met some fun Serbian friends who invited us to a disco tech (aka club). We danced the night away, speaking to the only one of the group who spoke English (then he translated to his friends what we said) and had a great time. All-in-all Italy was getting off to a great start!

We said our good-byes to Bruna and the beach and headed into Venice for some sight-seeing. Our hostel was a student dorm converted and had no A/C. For those of you who have not yet made it to Venice, it is pretty hot during the day, and for some reason it got hotter at night. They did have internet though, which Matt was thrilled about (he was going through withdrawals) so we were ok.

After settling in, Matt and I made a new friend from Cali named Mondo. He was traveling alone around Italy, so I decided he needed to join our group. We went to a nice Italian dinner of pizza with pecans on it (yum!) and some house red wine. Italy has amazing food: pizza with crazy toppings and home cooked pasta is available everywhere! The only slight problem is that this is just about the only thing offered everywhere. So if you aren’t the biggest fan of the bread and cheese combos, you may want to skip this trip. After getting filled up, we met up with some Aussies for the popular Venice experience: Sitting on the steps over a canal drinking a Spritz. A Spritz is a mixture of white wine, soda water and some nasty orange liquor that makes you have a bitter face more than a lime. Matt liked it, I stuck with whisky. We woke up the next day a tad hung-over but ready to get some good interneting done – book the next stay. Matt checked his facebook account and read me a message from his future GSB classmate who lived in Italy. Fede from Italy invited Matt and I to a party for the weekend. This party is going to be in a castle. I’m sold.

We relax that night with some friends and dedicate the next day to true Venice sight-seeing. We begin our day with Mondo and a young girl from Indonesia and we head to the fruit market. We grab some fresh breakfast then snag a Gondola for a ride around the city.

We were shown Casanova’s house, Maco Polo’s church and a variety of other churches that I don’t remember – but they had nice Italian architecture.

We go to the top of the tower in San Marco Square, which gave us a killer view of all of Venice. Then we took a boat ride to the island of Moreno to see glass blowing first hand.

This was a cool thing to watch, and then walk around all of the complicated glass sculptures that came out the same process as a giant vase does. The island had really intricate life-size glass sculptures as well. It was incredible! We finished up with Moreno then boated over to Boreno. Boreno is the island known for lace and bright colored buildings.

The old tale about the bright colored buildings is that when the men are drunk and wanted to come home, it was easier for them to find their house if it was bright pink or green. Makes since to me ☺ We concluded our stay in Venice and hopped a train to Verona for one night.

Verona was a short stay because we were to be picked up the next morning by Fede's friend Anna and then taken 2 hours away to the Castle. Matt and I used Verona as a laundry city and skipped out on the overly tourist Romeo and Juliet balcony.

Epic 48 Hours

The next morning at 10am, our new friend Anna came to pick us up. She had studied for a year in Colorado so we were able to communicate quite well. We picked up two more people who flew in from Rome just for this party. This is when Matt and I knew that these people did not party in a castle every night, but it was a special occasion. Anna told us that the owner of this castle was Fede's best friend Giorgio. Giorgio decided to throw himself a birthday party and Fede a good-bye party all at once. After a two-hour drive into Italy’s beautiful mountains, we arrived in a city called Cles. We met Fede for lunch (he is a hoot!) and he explained that Giorgio’s last name was Cles. The town was named for his family, and his family was noble men who owned this castle and now run a vineyard. Giorgio was the last heir now and was trying to fix up the castle so he could live in it full time. Now I was extremely intrigued to meet this guy. Matt assured me that if the prince of this town wanted to marry me that I could run off and become a princess, no hard feelings. I told him not to worry because I haven’t even seen him yet (jk).

So we drove up to the castle and I have to say I was not disappointed. We met Gorgio – super super sweet and single (for all you single ladies out there) and were given a tour of the grounds. They had a barn area where a full wet bar had been installed, a grassy area where they brought in a huge pizza oven, a DJ stand for some groovy tunes to be played later and a nice wooden stage for “the ladies to dance on later.” I asked how many people where expected tonight and he Gorgio replied with ease, “About 150.” Matt laughed and told them that was bigger than our wedding.

The party got started around 7pm, which in Italy meant that it is still light out. The barn/dance hall was closed off, and people were told to go to the multi-level grassy area for paninis and drinks. There were pitchers of home-made mojitos and spritzes with about 500 nicely cut paninis on display. Around 8pm an acoustic guitarist came to serenade the guests. The kegs were tapped and bottles of beer were then brought out for the next course – PIZZA! Now I love pizza (duh) and I love chocolate (double duh) but when I heard there was a way to combine both, I flipped! After making 150 people cheese pizzas, the pizza workers decided it was time for dessert. They made pizza dough and put it in the wooden stove bare, then removed it when it was cooked and smothered Nutella all over it. This created the perfect melted chocolate pizza ever!!! This was by far my favorite part of the party. People’s food began to settle and the dancing was starting to get crammed outside, so they moved the party into the dance hall/barn. They transformed this wooden building into a candle lit club, complete with an open bar. It is about midnight when the disco starts, and people are acting like its 4pm. We danced the night away, avoiding the Jaeger Shots being offered to everyone, and decided it was time to call it a night around 3:30am. We were supposed to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor in the castle but it was cold, so we decided to sleep in Anna’s car (Matt got the passenger seat and I got the back seat). This was an epic night.

The party ended around 6:30am with Champagne, oranges and croissants for breakfast (these are the best hosts ever!) Matt and I woke up around 9am and decided we needed to do our part, so we cleaned up the plastic cup covered barn until people woke up. Giorgio came into the barn and told us to come into the castle for breakfast around 10:30am. People were hung-over is an understatement – but everyone faked it pretty well. Matt and I actually felt great, but we did leave three hours early. A giant sausage buffet with leftover oranges were offered to the 10 guests that had passed out all over the castle. Then people reminded us of the day’s plans: White water rafting. This is also a reason Matt and I wanted to crash a little early.

We met at the rafting place around 3pm with 20 people ready to either raft or throw-up. Everyone was pumped once the wet suits were on! We spent about two hours in the chilly water rafting through the Italian mountains. This view was spectacular and I loved every minute.

We completed rafting then cleaned up the castle a little more. A bunch of us went to dinner and then we sadly said goodbye to our new friends. If they couldn’t be any sweeter, Giorgio and Fede made sure that Matt and I have two bottles of the Cles wine to have for the rest of our Italian trip. Epic 48 hours.


Cinque Terra

We made a plan with a couple people in Venice to meet up in Cinque Terra on Monday by 11am. We didn’t book any housing and had the genius plan to just wander around and find a place when we got there. They name Cinque Terra means five cities or five villages. So we figured we would find somewhere to sleep if there were five cities of options. We ran into our two Canadian friends and our buddy Mondo. On the train into the Cinque Terra, we meet a couple Aussies (they are everywhere) that mention where they are staying and they may have openings. We hop off at the city right outside of Cinque Terra and found great places for everyone in our group to stay.

The highlight of staying in these five cities is there is a hiking trail that goes from one end to the other. So the next morning that is what we set out to do. The first hike between city one and city two took about 2.5 hours but the views were incredible. We stopped in each tiny city to have a look around.

The whole day hike took about 8 hours including stopping for meals here and there. We ended the day by taking the train back to our hotel which was right across the street from the beach, and relaxed with our feet in the sand.

We decided as a group the night before that we wanted to rent a motor boat to tour the cities by water. Mondo and Matt did some research and we found that with 6 people we could rent a boat for the day, including groceries, for 35 Euro a person. It was a steal and we all jumped on it. We cruised our Bimini top motor boat around all day long. Stopping here and there to jump into the water in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Everyone got some great sun, and no one got seasick. It was a great success.

The next day the boys wanted to go on another hike in the other direction through some old train tunnels. I decided I would stay home and do a little job hunting. They had a blast and came back desperate to go swimming in the nice cool water. Cinque Terra is a great hidden gem, and I recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Swiss = $$

Switzerland is a very clean and quiet country – well the parts that Matt and I went to were. They do not use the Euro, instead they use the CHF (Swiss Franc) which was lower than a Euro, but their prices were WAY higher! $1.40 US Dollar = $1Euro and $1.20 US Dollar = $1CHF.

Now besides the shock in prices after leaving Amsterdam, we did have a good time in this pristine country. We first arrived in a city called Bern. This is where Albert Einstein grew up, and his house is still standing. The tourism office for Bern offers all tourists a free bike rental for the day. Matt and I took advantage of this immediately, and rode around this city finding all of the hidden treasures. One thing we found were bears.

I know what you are thinking, “Elka, this trip is about how you happen upon random awesomness – but bears?!” I know, I was stunned too. Matt and I were riding our bikes around and came upon a statue of bears. Matt and I thought it was cute, so we took some pictures and continued on the ride. Then we turn the corner and look down, and we have now found a HUGE cage with four bears inside. This cage was not protected enough for my comfort, but the baby bears were super cute.

After scoping out Mother Nature, Matt and I found a nice relaxing café right on the river dam. They glassed in the area so it would be a better view.

The day was gorgeous but coming to an end, so Matt and I turned in our bikes and with luggage in hand headed to the train station.

Next stop Luzerne! Luzerne is another great city in Switzerland. No free bikes were offered, but we walked around the small city and found its beauty near by. Pictures are on FB. Switzerland was a short stop over, next stop was ITALY!!

Amsterdam

Amsterdam was more fun than Matt and I had expected. First off the prices were way lower than Paris (YAY) and second off the “Clever Dutch” were friendly happy people who were glad to openly speak English.

Anecdote:
Matt and I had dinner with a GSB’s brother in Amsterdam on evening. As we are walking out of the restaurant and Matt is paying, I grab a large individually wrapped mint. I open it and ask the cashier, “This isn’t a roofie (date rape drug) is it?” Without missing a beat the cashier replies, “Yes, it will come into affect in 3 hours when you are far away from here so we don’t have to deal with you. We put the Queen’s face on it so you know it came from the clever Dutch.” The mint did have the Queens face printed on the mint, but no side effects (except for good breath) came about. Best Hollander ever.



The first day we got there Matt and I relaxed in our new apartment with our hosts. We rented a bedroom from a two-bedroom apartment, and shared it with a nice married couple.

After a little R&R, Matt and I were off to explore the city. Our gracious hosts loaned us bikes, so we could explore Amsterdam the way it was intended.

On Friday night, Matt was sick of just talking to me (jk) so we decided to sign up for a Red Light District Pub Crawl. We participated in a pub crawl in Queesntown, NZ but the participants were underage Americans - so it was a tad lame. This Pub Crawl was a tad more exciting. We met people from all over the world, and partied hardy - pics on FB.


Our first tourist site was the Van Gogh museum. The building was small, but the collection was divine. They allowed you to get right up next to the pictures to where you could see each brush stroke. They did not, however, allow you to take pictures of any paintings.

We visited the Anne Frank House as well.

After the museum, we happened upon an interesting sign advertising Amsterdam’s new slogan.

We went to the tourist town that had windmills, wooden shoe factory and a cheese farm. We were able to walk around and sample the dairy - plus Matt and I were able to try on cool shoes too.

Amsterdam was an inexpensive fun place with great canals and great people! We didnt see any tulips, but maybe next time :)

Paris Part Two

Matt and I enjoyed every street in this city. Locals are friendly, and the transportation is designed well. The second day we were in Paris, Matt and I bought Metro tickets and took a 45-minute train ride out to the Versailles. The Versailles is a palace that many kings of France lived in. The grounds all around the palace are filled with water fountains and beautifully groomed plants. The palace itself was a haven for gold. Everything was over the top for the royalty (no wonder they started a Revolution).

The third day, after spending an entire day outside at Versailles, Matt and I agreed it was time to check out the Louvre. We spent a little extra and received the best audio guide ever! It had a touch screen, pictures of what you should be seeing and three different tours ready to walk you around the entire museum. It definitely enhanced our tour. We strolled around the Louvre and checked the history.



And many many more treasures…

We had a great time then headed home for the night.

On our last day in Paris we went to the Eiffel Tower. We waited in a line for about 45 minutes, but I didn’t care. The line curved under the tower and around the legs. You were able to stare at the underbelly of this creation before you climb to the top.

We didn’t know it, but Matt and I got in the one entrance line that led you to the stairs and no elevator. So we sweated a little to get to the first floor (13 mini-flights of stairs), then we climbed and heaved to get to the second floor (1,000 flights of stairs)…but we made it! The second floor view is equal to the Vegas Effiel Tower.

We were “allowed” to take the eleveator to the very top, and this we were thankful. The view was incredible and breath-taking.

We finished the night off at Moulin Rouge, where no pictures are allowed to be taken – ever.

All in all Paris was a delight! Next stop Amsterdam

I Love Paris! Day 1

When I was in 3rd grade, I had a Social Studies project where I could pick any one famous thing and build a model and write a paper on it. I chose the Eiffel Tower. My mom helped with the paper, and mom and dad helped me with the tower. We used popsicle sticks and it took us a whole week. We bought craft wood glue, and my hand got tired from holding the hair dryer for so long trying to make it dry. The last step was to spray paint and draw a thermometer for the top. It was our best creation ever :)

Now I am 26 years old and am finally able to see the real thing. Dreams really do come true!

We began our Parisian tour at our beautiful borrowed apartment in North Paris. We can see the tippy top of the Tower from our window!

Our sweet host for the week greeted us with coffee, chocolate crossants, and a bottle of red wine. This is the life!

We put down our stuff and were off to conquer Paris. First stop, the Arc de Triomphe!

It was beautiful, and right in the middle of the famous street, Champs Elysees.

After strolling around, we received an email from our host, inviting us to a flat party at her friend's. Now I don't know how many of you have seen the great film Breakfast At Tiffany's (if you haven't go rent it ASAP), but there is a party scene where they shove about 50 people into a tiny apartment where everyone is smoking and drinking and just being posh. Take that scene and subtract the size of the apartment and people, and that's what it was like. The host was even in a little black dress! She had cheese, baguettes and wine galore - plus a killer view of Paris.

We hung out as long as we could, between the cigarette smoke and jetlag we were spent, and then headed back and called it a night.

China Tour

China was a blast and a blur. Matt and I enjoyed a relaxing and fun filled 5 weeks, but are happy to enjoy the non-blocked internet elsewhere. We will not spend 40 pages telling you every detail, but we wanted to post a fun list of things we acknowledge and learned from the wonderful country.

*This list is not to offend or piss off anyone from China, related to someone from or in China or anyone who loves Kung-fu movies.*

1. After 5 Cocktail dresses are appropriate anytime anywhere...

2. Along with #1, heals are expected to be worn by all women, with any outfit, day or night. *Exception only being Chucks*

3. Smoking is allowed everywhere.

4. Spitting is allowed everywhere. On a bus, in a memorial museum, visiting a temple? Spit away!

5. "If you ain't first, you're last" The entire population of China is in a hurry to be first for everything. Trains, planes and operas with assigned seats are no exception. People will run and push over small children to be first. If you don't join in, then you will be last. I will take this time to apologize to lil Zhou for the subway incident, but I wanted to be first… and another tooth will grow in its place.

6. No one is fighting, they are just on their cell. People in China enjoy cell phones like any other country up to date with technology. Unlike other countries, the language of Mandarin and Cantonese sound like people are fighting, even if speaking at a normal tone. Add the insecurity of the other person possibly missing a word of what you said, and you have people screaming "angry" sounding words everywhere - restaurants and buses included.

7. Look both ways - and then look again. As many of you know I have learned this lesson already in the streets of San Diego. What you may not know is that bicycles and Vespas are just as dangerous, if not more, than cabs in China. No matter what color a light is, look 12 times then run!

8. Shopping Rocks! Everything is cheap and made to look like it's not. Enough said :)

9. You are the main attraction. Be it Lama Temple or the biggest amusement park in China, nothing is more interesting than the white person near by. Hope your hair looks good, because they want a picture with you - holding a peace sign.

10. "Hello" - you will hear this one word more times then you can count. People see whitey and think about it while you walk by, then shout it back to you when it comes to them, "HELLO!" Feel free to say it back, or say "Hello" back in Mandarin to really mess with them.

Pictures from this incredible journey are now up on Facebook… Enjoy!

New Zealand - Part 1

New Zealand was incredible! The sights, the people, the sights, the food, the sights! The natural beauty of this country was so underrated, I felt overwhelmed at every turn. Australia was pretty, very beachy and fun, but NZ had this small town feel with mountains, greenery and beaches galore.

After spending near an entire month exploring mostly South Island, Matt and I still have a long to-do list of things for our next trip back.

We arrived in Christchurch on April 2nd and immediately picked up our new home on wheels: Jucy Chaser Camper aka Vinny the Van.

It was from there with our new friend Vinny that we proceeded to a small town called Methven to meet up with Matt’s friend Bobby. Bobby moved to NZ from the States a little over a year ago and hasn’t looked back since. Now that our journey is complete, Matt is extremely envious of him.

We stayed with Bobby for a few nights and set up the camper. He is a geologist, Dr. Dirt, so he was happy to take us on a nice hike towards Mt. Sunday. This was the mountain where some of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was made. Aside from its nerdy interactions, this area was our first peek of NZ’s natural beauty.

We packed up our stuff, said “Cheers” to Bobby and began our second road trip of this world adventure.

Our first loop was to cross over towards the west coast using Arthurs’s Pass, up the coast exploring Hokitika - Westport, then back to the East Coast through Murcheson, then down to explore the Hanmer Hot Springs and head back towards Christchurch. This entire loop took about a week.

Arthur’s Pass is a skinny road that winds you through the mountains, all around the forest and drops you at the sandy coastline. In the beginning of the Pass you can stop at a look out and find a Kea hanging about. Bobby described these birds as “flying monkeys”, and we were warned multiple times not to wear shiny things around them.

We camped out a few nights and made it to the tiny fun town called Hokitika. This area was right on the sand and had much natural beauty, but little nightlife. Thanks to Matt’s handy dandy tour book, we discovered that this city had a privately owned movie theater with couches for seats. We entered into this one room building and enjoyed a nice comfy showing of a movie called Get Low with Bill Murray. The owner was very friendly, and the experience was a perfect ending to a long day of driving.

We woke up the next morning ready to go, looked at the map and saw the next stop was the Pancake Rocks. Hearing this I became extremely hungry and couldn’t wait to stop there… They didn’t taste as good as I’d hoped but were incredible to see up close.

Up next, we headed north and found (Matt’s words) THE BEST CAMPING SPOT EVER!! It was free, which was great, and right off the beach. And according to a sign, we might see a penguin (we didn’t, unfortunatey).

We parked in and decided to take a nice stroll on the beach before making some dinner, when all of a sudden…I locked the keys in the van. Now in the last van, Matt let the battery die so everyone makes mistakes. We calmly and rationally (and loudly) expressed our plan of finding a house – the next one was 2km away – and asked to use a phone. Well the one house that was semi-near was vacant. So we walked to the street and Matt eagerly flagged down a sweet woman in a tiny car and asked for her cell phone. Tina introduced herself and offered to take us to her house around the corner. She graciously allowed Matt to look up the AA number (just two As in NZ, not AAA) while she made us a nice cup of coffee. The pop-a-lock guy came and all was well. Matt made us Van-rittos for dinner that were YUM!

The next day we were heading straight to Hamner Springs where I could enjoy some warm hot springs before dark. On our way we found this:

You can’t just not go on there… So we explored this long bridge and the fun areas around it. It was at this time I saw that you didn’t have to just walk back on the bridge, you could fly! Matt was chicken happy to walk back and take my picture.

We finished up on the bridge and headed straight for the pools. Now I didn’t take any pictures of these pools, mostly bc I was submerged into sulfur water, but also because I wanted to relax. This was like an adult water park filled with five different pools, all at different temperatures. And did I mention there were three different water slides? It was a great birthday eve for me ☺

I woke up the next morning in our RV park, headed for the outhouse showers and noticed my birthday gift from the RV Park owners.

I knew it was going to be a good day. We headed to Christchurch to meet up with our friend Kelly who we met in Sydney. He and his son joined us for lunch, and told us about the best places to see in the South Island. Now I don’t know many 13 year old boys--if I did that would be weird--but Kelly’s son Connor was the coolest kid ever. He knew all the band members to Led Zeppelin, quoted Family Guy and South Park, loved chocolate – Matt said that this just reaffirmed he married a little kid, lol. We said our goodbyes and back on the road

This still being my bday, Matt asked me what I wanted to do? I said, in these exact words, “I want to drink with a bunch of really old guys so I feel young.” Matt waved his wand and poof we were in a tiny pub in a tiny town called Amberly, in a pub filled with old men who just got off work. We made great friends, and the owner offered us a spot in the back to park over night.



By the end of the night, the back was rocking out to the juke box, everyone sang me “Happy Birthday” and I got a Kiwi Trucker hat and a drink on the house. Definitely one for the books.

The next morning we pulled out of the bar lot, and headed for a nearby beach parking lot to make breakfast. We finished our eggs and headed to Wine Land. No this isn’t an amusement park… although that’s a good idea… it was the land of different wineries. We picked the biggest one and strolled inside. Matt informed the wine expert that this was our first tasting. This gave this man a chance to roll out the big guns. We smelled, swirled, tasted and swished over 12 glasses of wine! Thank goodness we could chill in the camper afterwards. It was a blast, and the wine guide was drinking right along with us. We sobered up, had some lunch and started back toward Methven for laundry and relaxation.

On the way we stopped at Castle Hill Station so Matt could use the climbing shoes and chalk he borrowed from Bobby to scramble around on some big boulders. He got high enough that he had to turn back (or climb up over the top) since he didn’t have a rope.

Safely back on the ground, Matt found a shortcut in the form of a skinny, 10-mile dirt road that cut almost an hour off our drive back to Methven.

Road Trip!!

We landed in Melbourne mid-afternoon, and checked into our “being renovated” hostel. The room looked like a nice hotel – which was a great upgrade from the two bunk beds in a shoebox before. We walked a few blocks and found Little Italy, and enjoyed free wine with a 3 course pasta meal. When I tried to order water the waitress looked at me strangely and said, “Wine?” so I tried to then describe water (very hard) and then settled on the wine.

Day 1 of Road Trip

Matt and I took a train and two buses to the Wicked Camper lot to pick up our new home on wheel for the next few nights. The “fun” aspect of this brand of campers, is they spray paint interesting pictures (or ugly and inappropriate) on the side of their vans, to make them distinct. Ours wasn’t too horrible.


The inside had a table that converted into a bed, and that was about it. Matt said this will be great practice for the “luxury camper” we will get in New Zealand… This was an understatement.

There is a sticker on the dash of the van that says, “Every great journey begins with a flat tire.” Our great journey began with a dead battery in the Kmart parking lot. After picking up our new auto, and trying to drive on the left side of the road, we found a mall and stocked up on pillows, blankets and food for the week. Matt left the headlights on (ha!) so we came back to a no-go vehicle. Luckily Aussies (and Kiwis) are more hospitable than Southerners – and I would know – so a man with a family near by offered to give us a jump.

A quick laugh and some directions to the freeway later, we were on our way to the Great Ocean Road!

Our first stop was Torque, where it was a beach park, complete with sunshine and crashing waves. It was here that Matt realized our two front tires were almost flat. We made a quick stop to the gas station to fill them up, then back on the road.

Now van troubles aside, this drive had the most fitting name. The road curved along the cliffs and made one with the mountains surrounding it. Only for moments were we too far to smell the salty air and hear the roars of the water. It was truly a Great experience.
I will post the pictures on Facebook, because I cant pick the top pics. The drive straight through can take a day or two, but we stopped probably every couple hours because it was so breath taking, it became distracting to drive.

The first night in Ole Besty (if you name a car, they will last longer) we stayed in a small town called Lorne by the river. This campsite was filled with other campers, and interestingly enough full sized Cockatoos swarming around the trees, happy for any scraps. The next morning we packed up our stuff and hit the road again.

Day 2 of Road Trip

Today was the day we left the Great Ocean Road and headed into the jungle area. There was a cool park Matt read about called the Ottway Tree Top Walk, where they had a steal walkway that took you through the different levels of the trees. Sounds nerdy, but it was awesome! We we nearly a football field in the air on a steal tower “swaying like the trees do”, it was a little scary, but very fun.

We completed out cool walk through the jungle and decided we needed to find a place to park the camper. We didn’t want to pay again for a cold shower and noisy neighbors, so we found a free spot with just a Port-o-potty around. It was there that we met the true Aussies!

Benjamin is a grocery owner, and his girlfriend Sue is the Deli Counter Manager (super cute!). Ben was like an Aussie Ken doll that came complete with a giant Machete knife, rough leather hat, and a black thick jacket. Oh and an awesome “Croc Hunter” accent and swagger.



Matt and I are not seasoned campers, as most of you know, so when we were shopping for food for this adventure; Matt thought it would be fun to let me take charge. So as I am like Lucille Ball in the kitchen, I got the “Can’t Fail” meals: soup in a can, beans in a can, bell pepper, cheese and of course hotdogs. So when we joined the Aussie Pro camp, where we were offered a nicely cooked roast with carrots and potatoes; I was able to throw soup in a pan and offer that as a dessert. It was hilarious, but they appreciated it. Oh and we brought wine, so maybe that’s why they liked us ☺ We played cards and relaxed, swapped stories of the States. All in all it was a good night.

Day 3 of Road Trip

We woke up on this day and said farewell to our new friends, and headed back to the Great road that was calling our names. On this day, we saw a lot of named sites – more touristy stops – The 12 Apostles (which there are only 8, there was 9 but one fell – talk about good marketing), the Gibson Steps (awesome beach that ends at a cliff. Matt said it was like Inception), The Bay of Islands (we liked it better than the Apostles) and finally the Grato (awesome hidden pool down below the cliff top).

We were stopping and starting so much, you would have thought were a city bus; but it was worth it because every stop was better than the last! We completed our day of visits and headed for a spot recommended by Ben called Blanket Bay. On our way to this secret free camping spot, we pulled over because we spotted about seven Koalas just hanging out in the trees! I couldn’t reach them to play, but I did snap a pic or two of them sleeping.



We got back in the car and continued down the unpaved road to our campsite, when all of a sudden I stopped the car completely. Matt asked why, I was slapping him and yelling get the camera, and then he looked up. There was a 6ft Kangaroo in the middle of the road staring my van down. Now sidenote: These are NOT the cute kangaroos that I hand fed and played with at the zoo. We were warned that these animals will run into your car and smash you up with kicks and punches if they feel threatened.

So Matt grabbed the camera and I flashed my lights (it was during the day, but I thought he would get the hint). The Kangaroo then turns to our left and waits, then 3 other Kangaroos follow him (2 babies so flippin cute) hopping about 4 feet in the air into the brush away from the van. Now that’s what I call an Aussie experience.

We finally made it to Blanket Bay, and set up camp right on the beach. Our neighbors were two Aussie chefs who were happy to share a brew and their thoughts on “good food.” With the fire still burning and the ocean calming down, Matt and I called it a night.

Im sorry to make you all go to two places, but because internet is either not available or $5 for 5 minutes, I will post all pics on Facebook, for your enjoyment instead of on here. I apologize for any inconvenience :)

Sydney - Take Two

Matt and I left the beaches of Collaroy and took a nice bus into central Sydney on Monday morning. After checking into our great 4-share (two sets of bunk beds with a bathroom) we checked out our to-see list. Matt looked at my #1 to-do and suggested we go to the Koala Park!

I was excited...

After a train, a bus and a long walk we finally made it to the Koala Sanctuary! Matt immediately made friends with three birds that loved to follow him around.

We explored the park for a little while and came across the Grey Kangaroos. Now before I left my mom suggested I get a little saddle and try to ride one. I was skeptical at first, but when I saw them up close, I think she was on to something.

After hand feeding Kangaroos (video on FB soon) we went on the main event, the Koalas!! I named him Carlos but the woman in charge called him Shawn. So Carlos the Koala and I hung out for a little while. Matt and I were able to snuggle him, pet him, rub his ears and scratch his back. All in all I have to say it was a very successful trip to the park.

When we arrived back to the Hostel in central Sydney, Matt and I were introduced to our roommates Mic and Mac. They were fun Swiss-German boys who were ready to party, with fun accents :)

Day 2 of Central Sydney was a warm sunny morning. So warm in fact that Matt wanted a hair cut to help him cool down.

Before:

Since we are on vacation, Matt decided to experiment, and told the guy to just take it all off...

After

I loved it! and so did Matt :) It gave him a cool edginess to his boyish face and made him look more manly.

We completed our barber-shop-duo and headed to the ferry port. Matt loves boats (as most of you know) so I got to pick the island, as long as it required a ferry ride. I did some research on the nearby islands and picked Cockatoo Island for our adventure.

This island, in Matt's words, is a combination of failed experiments by the British. Cockatoo Island used to be a shipyard, an orphanage for misbehaved girls, a prison and now a tourist site.

We were just about the only people on this deserted island, wandering around like we owned the place. Its the perfect venue for paintball or a horror film... But either way we had a blast. There was even two freaky caves that lead you through the middle of the island, where prisoners sought cover during the bombing of Sydney Harbor.

Day 3 was a day of beaches. Matt read in our guide book that there was a killer walk from Bondi Beach to Coogie Beach - about 5 Kilometers (3ish miles). Little did he mention it was all on the cliffs. The sites were beautiful, though the trek was tiring. We did get a great tan, and worked off any fatty foods we had eaten in the past week. While on our adventure, we passed 3 different smaller beaches and a hidden bay that backed up to the street.

It was worth the journey, and I recommend it to any and all that are near Sydney. After our long walk, Matt and I chose a rocky pool where the ocean waves splashed over the rocks and added fresh chilly water to the area. It was refreshing and the ocean waves were powerful.

We concluded our evening with a relaxing stay at the hostel where Matt ran into a current Irish Stanford Bus. School student named Paul. We quized him about married life as a student, then called it a night. The next morning we headed straight for the airport and were off to Melbourne, Australia.