9/1/16
Jennifer and I flew out of Nashville this afternoon. The flight was only 1hr 20 min but we lost an hour going to EST. We took a taxi to our hotel, the Belmond at Charleston Place. This is the first trip where we have seriously splurged on the hotel. The bellhops and check-in staff were very courteous, carried our bags, gave us dinner recommendations, etc.. The room has pretty fixtures and a spaceous bathroom and we get turndown service! (This consists of a barely-English-speaking woman asking if we want a bag of ice and two water bottles each night, but hey, it's something!) We even have robes and slippers!
Tonight, both got dressed up (dresses!!!) and we went to dinner at Fleet Landing, an excellent seafood restaurant right on the harbor. I had the snapper (catch of the day) and Jennifer had the red fish. Jennifer's fish was definitely the best, but we both had amazing side-dishes of pimento cheese grits! I've never had grits and I'm told they can be very bland, but these were AMAZING. We walked around a bit and speculated about the impending storm and then we came back and went to sleep.
9/2/16
Tropical storm Hermine (soon to be Hurricane Hermine) has arrived! Since it was so yucky outside, we took advantage of our swanky hotel's fitness facilities (we both ran on the treadmill) and indoor pool! Then, we had lunch at what would soon become "our" Subway. (We ate lunch their every day.) We walked down Market Street a bit, but all of the shops were closed because of the storm. We made a quick stop at Rainbow Row (Charleston's version of San Francisco's "painted ladies"), a row of 9 pastel-colored Victorian homes. They are so very pretty! We even walked through the French Quarter a bit (walking by Toast, Hyman's Seafood, Fig, Jestine's, the Rooftop Bar Erika told me about, the customs house, and Tradd Street). I was very excited to find Tradd Street because I'd been reading a fiction novel called 55 Tradd Street.
All this time we'd been walking, it had been looking like rain but out of no where, it began to pour. Jennifer and I were walking our way to "The Alley," a fun bowling alley that Shep Rose (star of the Bravo reality TV show "Southern Charm") had told me about on Twitter. Neither Jennifer nor I wanted to give up and call an Uber or cab so we kept running from gas station to bus stop to take cover. This wasn't a little rain either. The winds were blowing the stop signs around like they could snap off at any moment. Finally, about 4 blocks from our ultimate destination, we took the free trolley until we got almost to the stop. Jennifer spotted The Alley before I did and I kept saying "I don't see it!" Just as I noticed the sign, a car flew by and splashed me with water from head to toe! It was just like something out of a movie.
The Alley was so much fun. We had to wait 2 hours for a lane to open. (Shep has 90K followers on Twitter so that may have influenced how packed it was!) I discovered that the bar stocked "Not Your Father's Root Beer." Recently, I've become obsessed with hard root beer (alcoholic root beer) but I had only ever tried "Best Damn Root Beer." I'd been telling Jennifer for weeks how I wanted to try NYF, but wasn't willing to buy a whole 6 pack to find out. Needless to say, I gave it a try at The Alley. It was amazing! Apparently, 3 beers is my sweet spot for bowling because I broke 100! Jennifer is always brave and tries local beers. She had one called a Tough Pludder that tasted like chocolate and coffee. It was yummy!We had an absolute blast, and we never would have done something like going bowling if it hadn't been for the storm, so thanks, Hermine! Oh and while we were at The Alley, I saw Craig's girlfriend Naomi (both cast members on "Southern Charm.") I went into the ladies' room to work up the courage to ask her for a photo, but when I came out she was gone. *sigh*
For dinner, we had the famous Hyman's Seafood. (unfortunate name but INCREDIBLE food). Even in the storm, we had a 20 minute wait but they had an adjacent gift shop we could browse through to stay out of the rain. NOTE: We walked by the place the following night and people were lined all around the street and they were quoting 2 hour wait times, so again, we can thank Hermine for our short wait! I had the mahi and it was killer! (Jen had the best seafood the first night but I won this round!) They even had a baked sweet potato and don't get me started on the hushpuppies. (I had point blank asked that they not put them on my plate but when they did anyway, I was secretly thrilled. They tasted more like fried doughnut holes than any hushpuppy I'd ever had.) Also, we both had the famous Bloody Mary and stole our glasses. (keeping our Irish tradition)
9/3/16
Today, we slept until 8:30 and then took our time getting ready before we hit "our" Subway for early lunch. Afterward, we took a carriage ride! Our driver's name was Dana, and she explained that our mules names were Toast and Jam. It was hilarious to hear her explain about mules (since I'm from Columbia, "mule capital of the world"). Carriages in Charleston are very regulated. There can only be 20 on the streets at any given time and they are assigned one of three possible routes. They have no idea what route they will get until they reach a metal "bingo" box where they draw their route and get a special license plate. Also, there are lots of fines! If they let the mules poop on the street or eat someone's flower boxes or don't yield at the right redlights, it can get them a $15,000 fine and if they get two, the whole company could lose its license. I was expecting it to be a little two-person carriage, but it actually had seats for 12+. We went by the "spooky" haunted jail. (Convicts typically only lived 100 days from the time they were put into the jail. The driver told us she doesn't take the haunted tours because she took a group there once and was attacked by bugs. She told the story of Lavinia, the first woman to be executed by hanging (for theft) and how she told the spectators she'd see them in hell as they hung her. We also saw lots of houses where the windows or porch ceilings were painted "haint" blue to ward off evil spirits. This came from the Gullah people of West Africa. We also circled lots of churches. Dana said they were ABC (All but Catholic). We also saw some of the architecture, beautiful Charleston "singles" which were skinny houses built with the side walls facing the street to take advantage of the ocean breezes. The houses had "fake gates" that led to no where and beautiful porches they called piazzas. (pee-a(as in apple)-zuhs). If the gate was open, it was an invitation to neighbors to "come on in." In the olden days, when people thought it was sacrilegious to show, the only way anyone could relax was to close the gate so everyone knew you weren't available for entertaining.
After the carriage ride, we walked through City Market, an indoor/outdoor market selling all kinds of goods, especially sweetgrass baskets which are hand-woven baskets made from the various grasses that grow around South Carolina. They have a very long history that goes back to the baskets used to cultivate rice in West Africa. We met one lady who told us all about the history and took a lot of time with us. There were so many people selling them it was a bit overwhelming. I got a fan, some roses fashioned from the sweetgrass and a little mini-basket I will use as a Christmas ornament. Jennifer got a real basket for her mom. After the City Market, we walked down the fancy section of King Street. We got iced coffees at Starbucks and magnets at Walgreens. We also stopped at several stores where Jennifer and I both got earrings (pineapples for each of us, some studs for Jennifer and a really pretty pair of dangling crystals for me). I also bought a necklace at another store that I planned to wear with my pretty black dress. (I didn't actually get to wear them but that's ok...)
Next, we did the Harbor Tour! It was SO BEAUTIFUL! The weather was perfect. The water wasn't even choppy. Hermine cleared the way for what the boat captain said was the best weather he'd seen in months. We could see Patriot's Point with the battleships and Ft. Sumter which is actually NOT where they fired the first shot of the Civil War, but that's what everyone says. We got to see the Ravanel Bridge (Ravanel Sr was a senator who was responsible for securing the funding for the bridge. His son is the Ravanel on "Southern Charm" who also ran for office even after being convicted for cocaine.) We saw some beautiful homes with harbor views. Bill Murray has a house (or his ex-wife does) on one of the islands. The sun set while we were on the cruise and it was perfect. I could have stayed out there forever. We finished off the night with dinner at Tabbuli where they were smoking hookah! It was a really chill, fun vibe and we had great food! (Greek salad with grilled chicken, falafel, babaganous, hummus and pita bread). Finally, we had Peace Pie! (gourmet ice cream sandwhiches at a place next door to Hyman's.) We debated about flavors, but we ended up with S'Mores and we split one.
NEW ZEALAND / AUSTRALIA 2016
1/13/16
I'm currently on a flight from Nashville to Los Angeles where we'll board a Qantas flight to New Zealand. Mom and Dad came to get Stella and to take me to the airport. I was so very stressed about packing this time! (even more stressed than I usually am!) Mom came up last weekend to help me pack my clothes. Jennifer had a comprehensive check-list in an Excel spreadsheet that cracked me up but was extremely helpful. I tried to mimic everything she did. Poor Stella has been clingy ever since she saw the suitcase in my bedroom floor. I know Mom and Dad will spoil her rotten. Mom was even talking about getting a baby sling so she could carry her on walks. Jason loaded up one of his old mp3 players with tons of music and even a one hour sound file of thunderstorms to help me sleep on the plane. The flight from LAX to New Zealand will be the longest yet -14 hours! For some reason, I had convinced myself that this flight to LAX was only 4 hours, but it's closer to 5. I really wish we had Star Trek warp speed or better yet "beam me up" capabilities. I love the fly, but I so hate to sit! Jennifer and I were counting the trips we've taken together and this is number 7. (We almost forgot the cruise!) I'm super excited but also really nervous. My trip "preparation" included glancing at some travel books I checked out of the library, watching a couple travel DVD's and completing the "Lord of the Rings" series Shana lent me, most of which was filmed in New Zealand. It's a far cry from the level of "study" we put into our "Stan" trips with UTM, but maybe this will leave room for surprises! I feel so lucky to have this opportunity for adventure. Now if I could just skip that pesky flight part...1/14/16 (US)/ 1/15/16 (NZ)
My how things have spiraled downward so quickly! Jennifer and I found the international terminal at LAX (with no help from the Southwest gate staff) only to be informed that our Qantas flight was running 2 hours late, which meant we would absolutely miss our connection from Sydney to NZ. Naturally, I was in a panic! I called Gate1 from a restaurant (III Steakhouse which was really yummy!) and the customer service rep spoke horrible, broken English and told me she was "googling" info on other flights. She offered no help in the situation.
1/15/16 (US)/ 1/16/16 (NZ)
Today was so jam-packed that I didn't do the greatest job of keeping notes in my journal. It was more bullet-pointed, free-form lists.- Waitemata Harbour Bridge
- 2,000 ships in the harbour; they have a "boat garage" where the boats are stacked on top of each other
- The Kiwis are very bitter about losing the America's Cup to the Swiss team, who had actually hired several New Zealand crew members.
- Viaduct Harbour (sailing)
- Christmas trees -- They bloom with red flowers only during Christmas time.
- Rangitoto -- This island is the most active volcano they have. No one is allowed to even stay there overnight.
- Beautiful homes along the water; average $750K but the ones we saw were $5M-10M.
- 15% of the population is Maori
- Michael Savage (Socialist) monument; view of harbour and Rangitoto
- Auckland History Museum
- City of Devonport (We rode the ferry to this little Edwardian town with great views of the harbour)
A more comprehensive version of today's events that I wrote later:
We finally arrived in the city of Auckland around 9:30pm. However, not all of our group made it on the Air New Zealand flight. Some of them were on a later Qantas flight (Debi and Kent and several others). We had to wait for all o them to arrive before the bus would take us all. I think I was delirious from the 15 hour flight because waiting for the others didn't really bother me. It was almost midnight when we checked in. The hotel was really nice, and for once, Jennifer and I didn't get the shaft on the room! We had an incredible view with glass windows floor-to-ceiling across 3 walls! The beds were skinny but incredibly soft, and it was nice and cold in the room. I slept like a rock. We even got our own robes! In the morning, we boarded the tour bus for a city tour of Auckland, the "City of Sails." The Waitemata Harbour Bridge and Sky Tower were the points we could orient to. There were boats everywhere. The harbour held over 2,000 boats and there was a boat garage where you pull your boat in and they stack them up. Claudia, our tour guide, told us the America's Cup story. Apparently, New Zealand is always a champion but one year they lost to Switzerland. It turns out there were 6 people from New Zealand who had been hired to crew for that team. She was obviously bitter about it! We pulled the coach over to take some good phots and then we continued on through an are with incredibly beautiful mansion homes. Each was different architecturally but all had windows to take advantage of the spectacular views. Claudia initially told us the average cost was $750K per home which I thought was pretty cheap for these mansions. Then, she explaine that was just an "average" and the homes we were seeing...couldn't finish the journal entry because Kathy and Sue were chatting me up on the plane. Will fill in later!
1/16/16 (US)/ 1/17/16 (NZ)
Today is Jennifer's birthday! This morning after breakfast, we boarded a smaller plane (but with a lot more leg room) from Auckland to Queenstown. On the flight, I sat between Kathy and Sue . |
| View of the Remarkables when we landed |
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| Jennifer's birthday pavlova |
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| Lake Wakatipu |
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| Maori dancers |
1/17/16 (US)/ 1/18/16 (NZ)
Random things:- Shelob scenes filmed in a bowling alley we saw
- Peter Jackson bought the land to keep developers out
- Storm washed away the film set so that they weren't able to do certain scenes. It was so intense that the equipment actually blocked a turbine!
- One actor was afraid of flying. Another was afraid of water and insisted on a body double. Orlando Bloom actually rescued him when he fell in.
- Skipper's Canyon 4X4 trip.
Ours for Fr0dos. Jennifer, me, the Jamisons and Chris were together. I sat in the front next our driver, Martin. (Martin was from Denmark. He'd spent a few years in NYC and his wife is a famous florist. He has two daughters, one of whom gets $10k from NZ tourism board for writing/performing a song; his wife did wedding of a Saudi prince. He likes to fly fish and also takes people on the Milford Track. He has lots of strong political views, which he didn't mind sharing.) Such beautiful scenery including the river that Liv Tyler crossed with Frodo on horseback and said "If you want him, come and claim him." We took an old mining road that was cut during the gold rush. It took almost 8 years to build and it went almost straight through the mountains. There's were two formations, "Hell's Gate," which they blasted through the hard way. Then, winter froze some of the rocks and they saw them crack and used that philosophy for "Heaven's Gate" that was much easier. Only one kind of grass (tussock) was nativve. Originally, it was all a vast tundra landscape. Someone imported pine trees and now they've decided they're a nuisance and not natural to the area, so they've sprayed them to kill them. There were also beautiful purple foxglove flowers that the Kiwis consider "weeds." Martin told us a story about the miners' store. The women he hired to work in the store kept marrying the miners so he advertised for a fat, ugly woman! Then they got a fat, ugly woman but she was too heavy and killed the horse on the journey up and she still got married!
We crossed one oof the first bungy-jumping bridges and Barb told me to stand on my hands while Chris took my picture. The bridge is over 100 years old and it's crazy all our vehicles went over it! It rained some but that just added to the atmosphere. We stopped at the old Skipper's Canyon school for a spot of tea (coffee for me). The bathroom was like an outhouse. There was a little trail beside it that I just "had" to climb. Jennier came, too, and of course, I feel on the crazy pine nuts and dumped coffee on myself but we laughed our asses off!
1/18/16 (US)/ 1/19/16 (NZ)
As we were on the bus to Milford Sound, Claudia told us some stories based on Maori legends. One of them was about why it is always so rainy here. They said the gods (whose names I couldn't begin to spell or pronounce), Sky Father and Earth Mother loved each other so much they had too many children and there was not enough space. One of their children, the forest, tried to separate them. He waited for them to fall asleep and then he pushed with all his might and his father was pushed into the sky while his mother was pushed into the floor, and when they awoke, the father was so said that his tears rained down. She also talked about the possum again. She said there are now 60 million possom in NZ and they eat 20,000 pounds of vegetation each night. She said they came from Australia but they have no natural predator in NZ. They are super-cute not like our opossum, but Claudia thinks they're a waste. They add their skins to Merino woll and make soft, lovely yarn. They also poison them. It is pretty rainy today, but that is actually good for us because it means there will be waterfalls! Jennifer and I got up early but I thought it was 7:15 in the lobby. It turns out everyone was already on the bus but there were still good seats in the front! As we drove, Claudia pointed out the tons of bike trails. One from Mt. Cook goes all the way through the countryside to Omaru. It's 300KM long. We also saw lots of deer from the windows. They actually farm the deer (keeping them constrained using tall fences). Side Story: The night of the Auckland dinner, Kathy, Sue, Mary Jane & Debi got the giggles because when Norberto was talking about his failed marriages, he said he had a bad "picker" but the women immediately thought he was saying bad "pecker." They couldn't stop laughing. He got furious and said how he speaks 4 languages, etc... He didn't know Kathy had told us the story so the next night when he butted into our steak dinner, he said "let me ask you something...have you ever heard the phrase "bad picker"?" I had to force myself not to laugh. Jennifer was really good and said it made sense in that context!
fjord--carved by glacier (steep sides); mountains go just as deep beneath the water and it's straight down which allows the boat to get close
sound--carved by a river
Milford Sound -- 8th Wonder of the World; one of the wettest places in the world. Filled with salt water because it's part of the Tasman Sea. Rain water is fresh water and sits on top of the salt water.
We made a quick stop at Lake TeAnau. We grabbed some postcards and rushed to the water to take photos. Manuka oney--white flowers; antiseptic & medicinal properties.
Beech trees--all their trees are evergreen. Some leaves fall but never all of them and they stay green.
We also made a quick stop at the Mirror Lakes. They weren't all that impressive. However, I did finally bring out the selfie stick but it wasn't really worth it. I didn't see any sand flies but Claudia said they can be a nuisance. Jennifer got bitten. The Maori said god put sand flies in the beautiful places to keep you from lingering too long and overcrowding the beauty.
We went under the mountain through a long tunnel. When we got to Milford Sound to board the cruise ship, Claudia handed us tickets and told us we had reserved tables on the top floor. I was putzing around getting Jennifer to take pictures of me in front of the ship with Mitre (the tallest peak) and the sound in the background, not paying attention to the line forming. We got on board and realized there were tons of people in the buffet line so we headed upstairs to grab a table, only to find that the Patels had grabbed all the best seats and saved them, sending the others to get their food. By the time we got back downstairs, we were probably #396 out of 400 in line and spent at least the first 35 minutes of our cruise around the 8th wonder of the world in a buffet line! Half the food was gone and everyone else was on the top of the ship seeing the incredible beauty. At least one of the Indian dudes insisted they bring out more rolls! I did have some yummy sweet potatoes and Jennifer's yucca. (She called it yuck-a. I called it yumm-a!) However, I was so excited to see ketchup but it wouldn't open and it finally burst all over me and my new Shotover Jet Boat t-shirt and white shirt underneath. Jennifer had a Tide pen but I was already in a "state" because I felt like I had messed up our whole experience. Eventually we went up to the top of the ship and saw some indescribable beauty. The mountains were so tall they were out of scale. We saw a Norwegian cruise ship that looked like a tiny dingy. (The cruise ships don't usually come that close, but our bus driver said they'd had a medical emergency on board.) We saw an amazing waterfall 50 stories tall and we got close enough to get sprayed. Legend has it that if you are sprayed at the waterfall, it takes 10 years off your age. Alan said he needed to stay under for a few minutes. ha! We also saw some adorable seals frolicking (or napping) on the rocks. Jennifer and I took a ton of photos including doing crazy Zoolander poses. It was actually fairly warm and it didn't rain on us. We'd had the perfect amount of rain during the bus ride that made the waterfalls perfect! These peaks were so tall and huge that words can't describe them.. We saw a little seagull that looked like a fly. Also, we had a view out to the Tasman Sea. It really was incredible. I feel bad that I had one of my little perfectionist temper tantrums. Now, we're on the bus ride back. Not nearly as exciting as the way in so I am chilling with some tunes on Jason's mp3 player.
tussock gras--looks like really furry thistle but it is grass. It covers all the hills and gives them a fluffy brown look
not a lot of pet dogs; they are all working dogs. However, most people have a cat. 30 million sheep, 6 million dairy cattle, no mad cow disease; no covered sheds because of weather; they feed outside year round; deer are raised on farms; mainly kept for antlers; 1 million deer; some alpaca; deer have longer, higher fences and they can't jump out
Dairy and tourism are typically equal. >3 million tourists last year overtook dairy; NZ exports dairy to 140 countries; mainly dry milk powder
1/19/16 (US)/ 1/20/16 (NZ)
After breakfast, we went to Arrowtown, a famous gold-mining settlement from the 1800's. For $3 each plus a $20 refundable deposit, Jennifer and I tried our hands at finding gold. We took our pans and set off toward the river, but had to ask a father walking his little girl for directions. We panned for about 15 minutes and snapped some photos before taking a quick walk and returning to the bus. The next stop was the Kamarau Bridge, the famous first ever bungy location that A.J. Hackett jumped off in 1988. When we got off the bus, the shun was shining off the water and it was phenomenal. Jennifer and I had said that if conditions were right and the wait wasn't too long, we'd do a tandem bungy. I didn't realize Claudia had called ahead and reserved a spot for me! However, tandem counts as 2 spots and they wouldn't allow it, so I was all on my own. I had to explain about my neck injury and they cleared me to jump. Ken (one of the Patels) went first and I felt kind of bad because our tour bus crew seemed more excited for me than for him. I was definitely scared and worried about my neck. They kept telling me to dive out head first and not by my feet in order to avoid injury. They wrote 2 numbers on my hand --63 (my weight in kilograms) and 51 (my jump number). The jump was 44 meters or 143 feet. Ironically, the waiver you signed said "toe tag" at the top. The guy Ken went first and I heard one of the workers (who were all in their 20's and tattooed) tell him they were sorry they probably couldn't get him into the water because they had just changed chords. (Each chord gets used about 400 times.) I was fine with that! I missed Ken's jump, which is good, because Jennifer said he went feet first and seemed to bounce a lot. Then it was my turn! They had me step into the harness and tightened the straps. Then, they wrapped towels around my legs and wound chord all around them really tight. I had to "waddle" out on the platform. I heard a cheer come from our tour group and the worker said "Wow, you have a cheering section." I waved to the camera and gave a thumbs up. Then I jumped! It wasn't the stomach lurch like on a roller coaster and it wasn't lung-crushing like skydiving. It was just blissful freedom! When it bounced at the bottom, it felt like a big swing. I started screaming "I love it! I love it!" When I was still in the air, they told me from a boat to grab hold of a pole to pull myself in. I grabbed hold but couldn't maintain it, so it took a couple times. Then, they laid me down in the boat and I took off the harness. I told one of the guys in the boat I was from Nashville and he said he'd gotten kicked out off the same Nashville bar 3 times but he couldn't remember the name. I had to walk up a huge amount of stairs all the way to the shop. Jennifer bought my photos/video pack for me as a present. It was an amazing experience and I am so proud of myself! Next, we went to the Gibbston Winery for lunch. It was a buffet which cracked us up given our last buffet experience with the Patels. I had salmon and tasted Jennifer's lamb (which reminded me of steak) but I wasn't really hungry. What was really funny was that the last course (dessert) was fruit, but it was still buffet. Jennifer and I had been talking with Sue and Chris and being leisurely when one of the Patels leaned over and said "Are you going up there before we go back for seconds?" We jumped up! There were just a few kiwis left and Jennifer said she was going to take them all so the Patels wouldn't get them! Next, we stopped at a famous ruit stand where Jennifer and I tasted some world-famous manuka honey. (A single jar cost $90!) Now we are on a long bus ride to Dunedin. We arrived in Dunedin. Jennifer and I met Sue in the lobby to walk the "Octagon" that makes up the center of Dunedin. We walked to the train station, saw an old cathedral (1848) and found the statue of Robert Burns, the Scottish poet. His nephew founded the Otago province. When Sue came back to the hotel, Jennifer and I got Subway and brought it back to the room to have with our wine and have been Facebooking, Snapchatting, and watching "Guardians of the Galaxy." Tomorrow, we have a 9-noon tour and then we're on our own. I think we are going to tour the Cadbury Factory!1/20/16 (US)/ 1/21/16 (NZ)
Olveston House -- 1904-1906; father rabbi; daughter Dorothy was adventurer and never married; house seemed small compared to Hapsburgs and other palaces Jennifer and I have seen but it had full electricity, space fore maids, funnily enough chandeliers from Paris but wallpaper from Buffalo, NY and refrigerator from Dayton, OH. Love the Juliette window that looked down on the dance hall; huge billiard room; ;table weighed 2.2 tons; Dorothy liked to hike the Southern Alps and take photos; I think she seemed very independent; never married; our guide was Canadian and didn't seem to know much; Kathy kept getting in trouble for leaving the room and going ahead.30 min to Baldwin Street! (steepest street in the world); Otago University train station (ditched the old Patels after they had me photograph them from every angle, even asking me to run across the street so I can get the top of the train station in the photo). Cadbury tour! Such fun! Siri was our guide. There was a sensory room where we could fill a cup with liquid chocolate (milk, white, or dark) and add any toppings we wanted, like coconut, sprinkles, pretzels, bananas, and Oreo crumbles. I filled mine twice! Siri told us there was a surprise at the end of the tour. We went into a purple silo that had a 1 ton waterfall of chocolate! The chocolate is recycled one time per year. There was chocolate splatter all over the building and stairs. I would hate to be the one who has to clean it each year! It smelled so yummy! They're famous for the Jaffa, which has a dark chocolate center surrounded by orange. Every year there is a contest where they roll Jaffas down Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world according to the Guiness Book of World Records. It has a 35% gradient 100ft to 350 ft. Super steep! We climbed it and everyone did but the older Indians and Kathy. The Cadbury tour was SO much fun! After the liquid chocolate and the explanation about using "crumb," the sensory experience where we could smell the canisters. We got even more chocolate, the kind we don't have in the states (pinky, something with pineapple that tasted like banana when I sneaked it a few days later, fruit and nut, some kind of candy that they called smarties but were really like M&Ms). This factory was predominantly used to make jaffas and anything with a marshmallow base. We thought about buying some t-shirts but ended up getting some Jaffas and a magnet.) Then, we went to Knitting World, but it was super expensive! ($47 for one skein of multi-color possum/wool blend that Jennifer said would barely make a hat). We didn't buy anything. We stopped by the tourist center and then went to Subway. The same guy waited on us as yesterday. It's funny because when they ask for your order, they say "What're you after?" We got foot longs so we can have it for both lunch and dinner. Then, we asked the hotel concierge how far to St. Clair's Beach. She said 35 minutes. It took us slightly over and hour! (at a brisk pace) The beach was beautiful! There is a famous seal named Mum who helped repopulate the seal population and there was a statue to her. Now, we are at the Esplanade having beer (Jennifer) and shiraz (me). While the beach is beautiful, the water is ice cold! There were people swimming in bikinis and trying to surf! It was so much fun! I'm a little scared I'm getting too tipsy to walk! Jennifer says it will be fine! UPDATE: We actually made it home 3 minutes faster than we got there, and we had some really deep conversation. It was a good day.
1/21/16 (US)/ 1/22/16 (NZ)
Based on the stories we heard about from the people on the bird-watching cruise, Jennifer and I had the most fun! Sue said not to tell Kathy we went to the beach because she'd be so upset! We checked out of our Dunedin hotel today, and we are going to be on the bus a long time. Claudia is telling us a lot about income tax rate, etc... not exactly riveting. They have lots of social programs like sole parent support, teen parenting, job seekers, etc... but everyone gets the same amount, including their "social security." It's not based on your income like ours. Also, she says Kiwis don't budget well. For every $100 they make, they spend $117. (That includes their mortgage, but still!)I did like the story of the official Kiwi dessert, the Pavlova. Supposedly, a famous chef got distracted by the Russian ballet dancer Pavlova and he forgot to make his dessert. His oven was still hot, so he mixed up some egg whites and sugar and stuck it in the oven. He told the dancer the dessert was inspired by how light and sweet she was! Claudia says the dancers went on to Australia next and the Australians made the same thing and claimed they invented it. (She said that's what the Aussies always do! ha!) I'm so glad Jennifer and I had the Kiwi Pavlova for her birthday in Queenstown because a lot of people (maybe no one but us) didn't get to try it.
I didn't realize we had a 1 hour stop at Oamaru, farmouse for its white sandstone and Victorian buildings. It also has a steampunk museum with a railroad car with skeletons and a kids' playground with steampunk-inspired swing set (Charlie Chaplin bicycle). Jennifer and I took off the wrong way down an industrial road with no shade (again). Luckily, I had some sunscreen in my purse. I kept trying to get her to turn back, but I guess I wasn't forceful enough again. Finally, we turned back and we found the pretty Victorian street that led to Friendly Bay and the Pacific coastline. We barely had time to snap some photos and head back. We did stop in a store that said "It's always Christmas." There was an older woman at her sewing machine making little triangles out of Christmas material. She was really sweet and knew Nashville for country music and said she watched American Idol on the "telly" last night. She liked Keith Urban and said he was "cheeky." She actually used to live on the Gold Coast in Australia and is one of the few Kiwis we met who didn't bad-mouth Australia. She told us to try the prawns! I wish I had bought something from her!
We stopped in Timaru (where Claudia is from) where we had lunch at Speight's Ale House The choices were lamb, chicken burger, fish and chips and vegetable korma. It started with a bunch of breads with hummus and pimento cheese. I made a mistake by ordering the vegetable korma. It was insanely spicy! I actually sent mine back and the waitress brought me some plain steamed veggies, which made me very happy. The dessert course was INSANELY GOOD! Jennifer and I got two different things so we could try each other's. We originally thought we'd get the chocolate trio and cheesecake, but when I read the description of the banana joffrey, I knew I wanted it. It was INCREDIBLE. It was like a hot banana bread with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. Jennifer loved it, too! It was so good I may dream about it. Jennifer and I also had Speight's Ale. We sat next to Debi and Kent, and Kurt and Marilyn.
I didn't write anything else after Timaru, but we took a plane to Melbourne and checked into our hotel. I remember feeling so sad to leave New Zealand and say goodbye to Claudia and wondering if Australia could ever compare to the beauty we saw there.
1/22/16 (US)/ 1/23/16 (AZ)
We got on the bus this morning and we almost left Chris behind because Pam can't count! The first photo stop was at the Melbourne Museum and Exhibition Hall. It was raining so some people didn't even get off the bus! Next was St. Paul's Cathedral. We also saw Cook's cottage which was his parents' house from England that he had brought here brick-by-brick and had re-constructed. We looked at the beautiful Fitzroy Botanical Gardens. There were some gorgeous flowers in the greenhouse and Jennifer and I got an Asian lady to take a great photo! WE went to the Shrine of Remembrance, which was to commemorate lives lost in all wars in which Australia fought. They even had a shrine to commemorate the horses that died. From the stairs, we had a good view of the Melbourne skyline. They have lots of modern art and sculpture in this city. We just happen to be here during the Australian Open tennis match. It's at the Ron Laver Center. Melbourne is definitely a sports lovers' town. We could see the huge tennis stadium (where thousands of people are currently congregated), a big dome inspired by a soccer ball and rugby ball that was partially architected by the players, and the cricket stadium ( where India was playing Australia, which elicited cheers from the Patels). We went to the 88-story Eureka Sky Tower where we could view all of Melbourne, especially the many sports towers. We drove by the Crown hotel/casino, which is owned by Jack Spade who ironically, announced his engagement to Mariah Carey with a 35-carat diamond engagement ring this week! After the bus tour, Pam wanted us to meet in the hotel for a few minutes. Norberto leaped off the bus and told her he'd get the info from somebody else. Then we took a little conference room. One of the twins asked a bunch of stupid questions in a booming voice even though we were starving (hangry) and I had to pee so bad! Afterward, Jennifer and I set off on our own. I felt so awful because I made use eat at Subway (that had NO chips or apples or anything) because of my total food paranoia. At least it was fast! We walked to Parliament and took photos with the kangaroos (boxing poses and regular). Some Aussies took our photo and we took theirs. Then, we went to the Windsor Hotel which Pam had really talked up, but we were not impressed and didn't see any gold leaf. We didn't go into the ballroom, though. After Subway, we made a pit stop to the room, then we did the Eureka Tower. We passed Flinder's Railway station and some other beautiful buildings. We caught the City Circle tram which we rode for the full tour. For dinner, we're at a place called "Time Out" that looks out on Flinder's Station and had the Australian Open playing on the big screen. I had a Pimms (oranges, lemons, cucumbers, strawberries, Sprite, ginger ale & Pimms). It was yummy. I had a fabulous veggie sandwich with sweet potato! I had asked them to substitute the Fat Boy fries or some spinach. Somehow, he brought me a huge pumpkin salad (entree) that was to-die-for, the veggie sandwich and fries (which Jennifer ate some of). She had a chicken mushroom penne and two pints o lager. Now, we're people watching. I am so glad we didn't do the penguin cruise because they won't be back until after midnight and we have to have our bags out by 7! Oh, we also walked Clinton Street which had the fancy stores like Prada, Gucci, etc... The crazy thing is it's only 6-ish and not only were all the shops closed, but they stripped everything out of the windows! (every bag, bracelet, article of clothing, etc...) I guess that's to deter theft, but it was so odd!1/23/16 (US)/ 1/24/16 (AZ)
Today we left Melbourne and flew to Sydney. Naturally, the Patels tried to get in our way and I ended up with Jennifer at the back of the bus from Sydney airport onward, which meant it took forever to get off the bus at every stop. We stopped for the "postcard view" of Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. All the Patels got in front of us and took photo after photo with all 10 of their cameras. We finally butted in, but the light wasn't great. We drove through the city for an introductory tour, but honestly, this tour guide (Pam) seems really disorganized. She describes things but not well and we were supposed to have lunch at 1:30 but it was 2 and she told us if we weren't on the bus at 2:45, we would be left. It took practically 20 minutes to get off the bus behind the Patels and I guess they could see I got frustrated because Nina made a comment that in their culture, they take care of their elderly. It made me so angry. We all crammed our faces with fast food in the food court. I tried to be healthy but the bread was buttered and I know the veggies were dripping in oil. Afterward, we finally went to the hotel. Pam had screwed up our bridge climb time. (Originally, the intinerary said AM but she booked for 3PM.) Thankfully, Kent and Debi changed theirs and told us so we could change ours, too. (We meet in the lobby at 9 and our climb is 9:55.) It takes 3 hours. I hope Jennifer doesn't hate me for doing it. I honestly didn't realize how expensive it was! We got that straightened out and then Jennifer, Chris, and I walked to the Sydney Opera House and took the tour. The construction of the Opera House was filled with difficulties. There were arguments about design, the budget wasn't even close, and the winning design hadn't been really proven to be structurally sound. Interestingly enough, there were 250 submissions for the contest and the one chosen (#218 done by a 38-year-old Danish architect named Jorn Utzon) had been discarded early on. If not for the American judge (of Finnish descent) who had come late to the judging and said #218 should win, we might not have had the incredible architectural masterpiece we have today. There were many fascinating tidbits on the tour and I want to research more, ,but there is only so much I can remember in my jet-lagged state. There were 2789 seats. The pipe organ had 10,0000 pipes behind the walls. The seats and ceilings and everything in the room is made from wood which contributes to the amazing acoustics. The tour guide said it took 10 years to install the organ and another 2 years to tune it! We didn't get to see the main opera house, just the room for the orchestra and a room where they do a cabaret show. Plus, we saw the Utzor room. Mr. Utzor left Sydney before the construction was complete and he never returned. (Very bitter eelings about how the construction was handled) It took rom 1958-1973 to finish. His son helped with the Utzor room and supposedly, Mr. Utzor was on good terms with Sydney when he died in 2008, bbut it is sad to think he didn't see his work in person. It took many, many tries to get the structure to stand! (inspired by the sails in the harbour) They only lose about 30 extra tiles per year, and they have 300K saved. After the tour, we had a drink along the water ($18 for a shitty Bloody Mary), but the view was good! We walked around "the Rocks," a shopping/eating area built in the original community of rock buildings built by Australia's first settlers, the convicts. Jennifer and I had room service for dinner. Tomorrow, after the climb, we are on our own. I hope it goes ok!1/24/16 (US)/ 1/25/16 (AZ)
After we finally made it down the elevator (crazy elevator said it was going down but kept going up and down and up and down sporadically), we had breakfast. (By the way, our hotel is called the Menzies which apparently isn't nearly as funny to Australians as it is to us.) When I turned the knob to pour the All Bran cereal into my bowl, the whole glass canister collapsed and fell! I was worried this might have been a bad omen for the day, but I couldn't have been more wrong! It was a fantastic day! We met Pam (tour guide), Kent, and Debi in the lobby and walked down to the bridge. Pam was actually very nice to us and gave us some good tips. All of us were so excited to climb! (Debi and I hit the bathrooms twice before the climb!) We all stripped down to our undies and put on our jump suits! (They had the baggiest inseams!) We had straps to attach our sunglasses and hats, and a wipe for our faces. We couldn't wear any jewelry and we had to go through metal detectors and take a breathylzer! (The breathelyzer was hilarious. We each counted from 1 to 5 into the handheld machine. I don't think it actually did anything.) There were 14 of us, including a father/son from Perth, a man from the UK and a couple from Iceland. Our tour guide, Brandon (who went by "Brando") led us up and talked the whole time into our headsets, explaining the history of the bridge. It was fascinating. The architects didn't tell the government that it was an arch bridge rather than a traditional cantilever bridge until it was almost done. Initially, the farmers sent letters of complaint because they thought they were going to have to get their horses over the actual arch part. They didn't realize there would be a road beneath it. Brando did a great job eplaining what it was like for the builders of the brdige. It was the 1930's and the workers had no harnesses or safety precautions of any kind. There was a "cook" who heated up the rivets and then took tongs and threw them to the "catcher" who had to catch them in their sand-filled buckets and then get them into position for the riveter to nail them in. There were 6 million rivets to be done this way! The poor catcher had to take a lot of risks to catch the red-hot rivets because he could be fired for missing too many. Out of 6 million, only 10,000 were "misses" and wound up in the harbor. Only 17 people died (3 on site and the rest in the steel mills) which is incredibly low considering! While up there, Brando pointed out lots of buildings (like the clock tower that was the tallest building at the time but looks tiny in comparison to the skyscrapers today.) He also pointed to "Pinch Gut Island" where the really bad convicts got sent for fighting. They only got fed once per week. The views from up there were incredible. None of it was scary, though I didn't love the ladder climbing, especially going down in reverse, but it was so worth it. Oh, and we saw these few people going up the bridge without their jumpsuits or even being tethered/hooked in. Brando seeemed really surprised about it, too. It turns out it was an Australian female pop star, Jessica something..., who is going to broadcast her singing from the bridge during tomorrow's Australia Day festivities. After the bridge climb, we stopped at the Australian Hotel for a pint of ale (an amazing cider named Dirty Granny for me) and some pizza! Jennifer and I split the "Coat of Arms" which had emu on one half and kangaroo on the other. I actually really loved the kangaroo side, especially the cranberries! I had two pieces of the kangaroo side and a tiny piece of emu. I love Kent and Debi! We had so much fun. They took off to tour the opera house and Jennifer and I set off on our own. We stopped by the Contemporary Art Museum to get the view from the 4th floor, as Pam suggested. We took the ferry to Manly Beach and walked all the beaches: Shelley Beach, Manly Beach, North Steyne Beach, and Queensclif. The water was rough because of the strong winds and the beaches were officially closed, but that made it perfect for surfers We saw tons of them, including surfers all in the water by the "Shark spotted today. Swim at your own risk" signs! There were lots of little shops on "The Corso" including a souenier store with kangaroo balls! (no just the good-luck scrotum but the full-on hairy balls) Next, we walked the Botanical Gardens all the way to MacQuarie's Chair. I still don't get the significance of the chair and I felt bad that we walked all that way, but as Jennifer said "we had planned to walk the Botanical gardens anyway!" There were so many beautiful trees and exotic flowers an dalso some really cool sculptures. We walked and walked and walked. Jennifer's phone says we did 12 miles even without counting the 1,390 steps from the bridge! We had room service again just like last night (steamed veggies for me and the kids' fish & chips for Jennifer). Such a fantastic day!Update: The pop star walking the bridge was Jessica Malfoy. She is going to sing the national anthem in both Aboriginal and English from the top fo the Harbour Bridge for Australia Day.
1/25/16 (US)/ 1/26/16 (AZ)
Happy Australia Day!
We got on the bus early and threw our backpacks onto the bus in the 2nd seat so we could beat the Patels We're off to the Blue Mountains and Featherdale Wildlife Park. It looks stormy, but I'm hoping it will hold off! So, the weather today was terrible for the Blue Mountains!!! It was so foggy you couldn't see anything at all. It was worse than when we went to the Matterhorn in Switzerland. There was a place called "Scenic World" where we stopped and you could ride 3 rides: the railway (red) that was the "steepest passenger train" in the world. The first time Jennifer and I rode, we were in the very backk. There was a black button on the seat that let you control how steep your seat was. We were sad, so we did it a 2nd time and got the front seat! We walked a little bit in an area that seemed like a rain forest straight out of Jurrasic Park. It was lush and green and WET! (misting rain in additional to the thick fog) Pam told us about some birds, but we really didn't see any! (There's some bird called a lyre bird that is supposed to be able to mimic any other animal. We also rod the scenic skyway (yelllow) that had a row of clear glass panels on the center that you coul walk on. Unfortunately, the entire thing was fogged up so you couldn't see anything. We were obviously high up in the air (like int he Smokies) but you couln't tell it by our vview! Finally, there was a plain cabelway car (blue). You truly couldn't see jack because of the fog. Also, there were a ton of Chinese tourists and they are so loud and aggressive and never heard of forming a line! inally, poor Chris got lost and waited and waited and then Pam got off to go look for her and then the bus driver got off to go look for Pam. I felt bad for Chris. She had taken a trail to see the 3 sisters formation (which Pam said is "in a completely different canyon") and when she realized she wasn't going to make it, she actually jumped on a shuttle bus to come back. Pam seemed a bit pissed.We stopped in Learu for lunch. I felt really bad because I told Jennifer I was just going to Woolworth's for a banana (which I did) but as I walked around the town by myself while she was gone, I saw the Jamisons go into a little bakery and get meat pies. The bakery had one that was cheese and veggies and it was so cute and little, I had to try it. It was pretty yummy! (It probably had 1000 calories) I ended up sitting with Marilyn and Kurt, Southwest (Penn) & Dorothee only because I was scared I'd get lost like Chris. Jennier came back and had tried the chicken, mushroom & leak version and had sat with Chris and Sue. Then whehn we ot back on the bus, Pam gave us each a little store-bought lammington (aka lammo) She said it was an Australia Day traidition. Now I can tell Linda I had a meat pie (sort of) and a lammo. Next, we got on the coach and drove to a scenic spot calledd Echo Point, where you could see the Three Sisters rock formation.) The aboriginal story i sthat a witch octor had 3 lovely daughters and didn't want anyone to harm them, so he turned them to stone. He turned himself into a large bird, but when he did, he dropped his "magic" kangaroo bone so he's never been able to turn them back and he's still scratching around looking or it todady.) We got an Asian tourist to take our picture, but he ended udp taking a selfie video of himself. Too funny! We're on the bus to Featherdale now. Pam told us about some of the animals we'll see. She says I can pet a koala here but not hold it. She says tehre's a placce in Cairns where we can hold them, though.
We just finished up at Featherdale Wildlife Park & it was amazing! Not only did I get to touch the most adorable koala bbear ever, I also got to pet kangaroos evven closer than when we werre in the Nashville Zoo! I actually had tears in my eyes when I go to pet the koala. I went back in line twice! We saw lots of animals like womats, wallabees, a Tasmanian devil, ingoes, tons of birds (which I didn't care for) and tons of snakes & reptiles (which I DEFINITELY idn't care for!) I got some ggoo pics, but I coul have stayed there all day!
Just had the worst ddinner in history We were supposed to go to this placce in Sydney Darling Harbour called Nick's where we could be close the firewords. It was supposed to be a 3 course ddinner. The first course didn't have any veggie options It had asparagus with prosciutto (ham), so I askedd the waiter if he could take it off 7 he claimed it couldn't be done. Then, they proceeded to ring the entire Patel famliy a veggie version, so I asked them to fixxx mine. It all went odwnhill from there. We got there at 7 and didn't get any food by 9pm. The fireworks started, so we went outside to see them. Naturally, they served our food as soon as we got up and didn't offer to re-heat it or do anything. It was a total shit show. The chicekn was nasty and the so-calleld brownie desserrt was a dry hump of clay. Ihated every minute. If not for two glasses of wine, I would have been miserable. eorge, the old Indian who had me taking his photo the whole time, sat in a chair that was broekn and he fell right into the loor! He's 76! It could have been really bad. The fireowrks were just ok, in my opinion. It hink Nshville has better. I really hope things get better by Cairns. I'm ready to go home. I wouldn't feel this way if we were still in Queenstown. I hate to say it, but een koala bears can't save Australia for me.
1/26/16 (US)/ 1/27/16 (AZ)
OK, I spoke too soon. Things got better! We flew to Cairns where we're staying in a super-nice Holiday Inn and Jennifer and I got a room with a balcony overlooking the pool with an ocean view! We checked in and saw it as we rolled our bags in and couldn't believe it! My feelings were hurt when Kent and Debi invited Marilyn and Kurt, the Jamisons, and several others to dinner but purposely excluded us. Jennifer and I and Chris walked down the Esplanade to town on our own and got a couple souveniers and had dinner at Barnacle Bill's. I got a kangaroo steak! I asked or it well done and the waiter had a fit. He said it would be tough. (He was very cheeky!) When I inisited, he brought it cooked well downe and it came over mashed sweet potatoes, and green beans!! and I even got ketchup. I loved it! Jennifer got the prawns and "bugs" (crab-like) and Chris got the barrmundi fish! All the dishes were wonderful and we all shared each other's!1/27/16 (US)/ 1/28/16 (AZ)
This morning, after breakfast, we took a bus to the boat launch and headed to Green Island, our first stop. Jennifer and I got chairs on the beach and took our time getting our snorkeling gear. Eventually, we got in and it was amazing! At first, I thought it was going to suck because we only saw some muddy grassy stuff but I ventured out further and couldn't believe my eyes. There was a huge parrot fish in purple, blue, pink, and green crunching away on some other fish and also munching the reef! I swear I could hear it! Then, I came nose-to-nose with a turtle! He was huge--my entire wing span! I saw so many cool fish in brilliant shades of blue, yellow, green and orange with crazy-shaped lips and fins. I thought things couldn't get any better and then we got on the boat to the outer reef! (Some cider and beer helped, too!) We docked at a pontoon boat and there was literally nothing ese in the water for miles. We got the lycra suits (both Jennifer and I got little jellyfish stings at Green Island and everyone got the suits for the outer reef. They were actually quite flattering!) I have no words to describe the coral and the fish! Big, little, ugly, beautiful, bright, alive, moving, living, breathing--INCREDIBLE! The shallow reefs were the last places to see the fish and corral. Some of the corral was shaped like cauliflower. Some like brains. Some reminded me of Snuffalufugus from Sesame Street. The fish ranged from tiny little electric blue fish to GIGANTIC fish with strange cones on their heads or oversized lips and some had spots or stripes or "fanny" fins. They were just indescribable. I was sad to get back in the boat. Jennifer and I stayed on the top deck. The worst thing to happen was that I went to get us more apple cider and mine rolled off the deck into the ocean while Jennifer was taking a photo of Norberto and I was distracted. He later tried to convince us there was a small child critically injured by a flying car. Such a kidder! We came back and had dinner at a place called Nando's. I've never seen one in the states, but Jennifer's friend Kyle is a district manager up north and the food was good. Now, we're drinking wine and Facebooking. It was a great day!1/28/16 (US)/ 1/29/16 (AZ)
This morning, the majority of the group did the optional full day to the rain forest. Jenniffer and I didn't do it, and I think a handful of Patels stayed back, too. After breakfast, we walked to the casino that had the wildlife dome on top. For $25 each, we got to hold a koala and take a photo. The one we held was named MIcro and he was born in 2011. He was so beautiful and soft! We had to cross our fingers as if we were "a tree" for the koala and he hugged our front. I loved him so much. We literally only got 5 seconds before they took him away. Now that I think back about it, I feel sad. I hope they don't keep him there alone all the time. At Featherdale, they have several so they have friends. I wish I had thought to ask.After that, Jennier and I took the public bus (#110) to Palm Cove Beach. Pam had mentioned it as one of the Northern Beaches we should try. I probably should have looked at the map with the beach names first (it would have triggered the memory that there was another one she mentioned called Macchan that was closer). It took 45 minutes on the bus with some seriously stinky people to get there. When we finally arrive,d the beach and water were indeed stunning, but we noticed there were no beach chairs or people or swimmers or anyone all. We finally saw a sign that the beach was closed due to jellyfish. I went up to a very handsome (and very young) lifeguard and asked what was happening. He said ALL the beaches in Cairns were closed because of the jellyfish and that it couldn't be helped. It's their jellyfish season and they are the dangerous kind not just hte annoying, singing kind. I felt a little better that it wouldn't have mattered what beach I picked; it still would have been closed. However, we were still really disappointe. I asked if there was a public pool. He said no but pointed to a luxury hotel called The Beach Club that had a spa called Peppers and recommended we walk in "like we owned the place." We were scared but that's what we did!! We walked right by the sign that said "registered guests only after this point." The pool was insane! It had actual sand beach and palm trees! it also had a waterfall and swim-up bar and comby beach chairs in the shade. We swam for a while and then laid by the pool before we tried to walk along the beach for a bit and get the bus back. I asked some dlivery guys wheere the bus stop was and he pointed the way and told us to just hail the bus like a cab. He saiddd they'll certianly stop for two good sorts like yourself. ha! it worked! Funnily, when we got on, the cash machine was broken, so we all got to ride free! The air conditioning was so nice. It was terribly hot out there. Jennier remmebered tha tPam told us that it's opposite here in QUstralia. At ohme, its cooler in the Norht, but here, you go north toward the equator. It was hella hot. Tonight is our last dinner and then we travel all day tomorrow! Dreading that. Will describe the dinner tonight.
We took mini-buses to the dinner at a place called Ochre. The dinner was much better than Nick's in SYdney, but I would have rather had Nando's. ha! I had the barramundi which was wonderful! I was upset with HJennifer because she (I thought) was dengrating our beach day. The others were bragging about their day on the railroad nad rain forest, and she said we spent 45 minutes on a stinky bus to get to the closed beach. It made me so mad I pulled her aside and said "I'm sorry you had such an awful time." She said I was reading into it, but it messed up the dinner for me. I sat on the side near Sue, Kathy, Marilyn, Kurt and NOrberto. The best part was tdessert. This time we had the Aussie version of pavlova. Pam admitted she thought the Kiwis inventted it but Australia perfected it. I do think this was better than the one we had in Queenstown but nothing has come close to the banana joffrey at Speights's.
1/29/16 (US)/ 1/30/16 (AZ)
Today is the day we go home. I hope our flights work out.POST SCRIPT: Our flights did NOT work out. There was an electrical storm in Sydney that delayed our flight out for a couple hours. We missed our connection in LAX by less than 20 minutes. There were no more Southwest flights. I basically started crying at the SOuthwest counter. The woman told us to go to the end of the concourse and turn left and there would be a hotel. We stayed there for the night. When we checked in, I asked a bunch of questions like whether they had continental breakfast (I think I was delusional). SHe said they didn't but gave us a card or a complimentary hot breakfast. At that point, JEnnifer got teary-eyed. We spent the night there and flew home the next day.
FINAL POST SCRIPT: I went to work Monday but felt rotten and left early. I stayed all day Tuesday but felt even worse. When I got home, I had a fever of 101.2. A trip to the doctor the next day confirmed I had Influenza Type A. NOt sure if it was the sick kid on the plane or Arlene and the Patels, but someone on the trip made me sick. It was a really, really rough course. I've been home a little over a week and I"m just starting to feel better. Even the flu can't dampen what was an incredible adventure, though. The best trip of my life so far!
Savannah and Tybee Island, GA
11/5/15
I picked up Katrina around 6:15am and we headed out on vacation. We hit traffic in Atlanta for some crazy reason (I purposely avoided rush hour) but otherwise the drive was uneventful. Note: I-16 is the most boring stretch of highway you can imagine. Be prepared! Stop for gasoline/bathrooms before you hit this 100-mile stretch of nothing. There weren't even any billboards to look at! On the way down, we noticed that a lot of the exits had red and white "arms" that could come down to block them. Katrina astutely observed that this was due to storm evacuation routes. (They block the exits so both sides can be used to route evacuees.)
We drove through a tiny corner of Savannah on our way to Tybee Island. I was so excited to see the huge live oaks with the mossy overhangs and the adorable pastel-colored houses.
Then, we finally crossed over to Tybee Island and I was even more excited to see palm trees and creeks filled with tall grasses. When we got to the hotel, my excitement was crushed. The website said the hotel had been recently renovated. If renovated means a coat of paint on the outside and possibly some carpet in the hallway, then maybe you can call it renovated. However, we were assigned a room that was dirty. (cobwebs were everywhere, which means it couldn't have been cleaned recently). The telephone didn't work. The main lamps didn't have light bulbs, and there was a giant bug in the toilet. When I complained, they moved us down two rooms to one that was equally gross. Luckily, Katrina travels with Lysol and sprayed down the beds. We quickly made our way out of the room and down to the beach. (Oh, and did I mention we were on the first floor and our door opened to the PUBLIC beach parking lot!))
The beach itself was gorgeous and the big sand dunes with the tall oat grass made it feel very different than any other beaches I've been to.
We walked around a bit and had dinner at Fannie's. (live music and a funny, flaming bartender who told us he'd lived just about everywhere, including Alaska and he and his partner just picked up and moved to Savannah on a whim!) After that, we drove around and found the famous Tybee Lighthouse and then came back to the room to crash.
11/6/15
This morning, we hit the road toward Savannah, stopping at the Bonaventure Cemetery on the way. We happened upon the statue to Gracie. (I'd read about this one in guidebooks. The little girl died around the age of 6 from pneumonia. Her father was an innkeeper and to this day, it's said that she haunts the place.) Savannah loves its ghost stories. When we got to Savannah proper, we found that there is NO parking available in the city. Luckily, we put the Visitor's Center into the GPS and not only found reasonable ($7 for the day) parking, but also found a great sighseeing trolley. This one had actors who boarded periodically and told stories about the area. We saw Forrest Gump (the famous "Life is like a box of chocolates..." bench is in Savannah.) We also saw the Waving Girl (who is on the race medal). The story goes that this young woman was supposed to be wed and her beau was shipped off. She waited for him for 44 years, waving her kerchief at every ship that landed. We saw the Old Pink House (a fancy restaurant these days), the city courthouse (with a gold top), the beautiful cathedral, the birthplace of Juliet Lowe (founder of the Girl Scouts), the First African Baptist Church (the one Porsha visited on Real Housewives of Atlanta, revealing that she thought the Underground Railroad was a real train), and all the famous 22 squares making up the city. We also went by many of the famous restaurants like Lady and Son (Paula Deen's restaurant) and some of the ones Anoop recommended like Vinnie Van Go-Go's. We rode up and down Albecor and Bull Streets. The timing worked out perfectly because as our tour ended, Christina was just getting into town and we met her and walked around a bit, ate a yummy Italian meal at Corlione and then boarded the ferry to the island with the Convention Center where we picked up our race packets. Then, it was back to the horrid hotel early to get ready for race day. Unfortunately, I was an anxiety-riddled mess and only slept around 2.5 hours the entire night.
11/7/15
I started getting ready at 3:45am and Christina rolled her bag down to our room (she checked out after the race to drive home). We got on the 5am trolley into town and made it to our corrals with a lot of time to spare. The humidity and fog was thick. I was so scared that I wouldn't be able to make my projected 2:05 that I didn't go all the way up to my assigned corral (8). Instead I stopped at corral 11 where the 2:15 pacer was lined up. I think that was a mistake because I spent a lot of energy trying to get around slower runners at the beginning. In fact, this race was so big and so poorly organized, that I never actually got out of the "pack." I've done huge races before (like Disney) and it's always jam-packed at the start, but the crowd always thins out quickly and you can find your groove and some breathing room pretty easily. That wasn't the case with this race. I was smashed up against other runners for the entire course. The streets were often narrow and people were coming to a dead stop right in the corners, so we were always having to scoot around each other. I had expected the course to be beautiful and take us through the historic sections, but we ran through some of the poorest, most run down areas I've ever seen. (Tiny houses that looked like they were on the verge of falling down. There were lots that had signs posted on the front doors saying "Condemned by the city due to code violations.") We also ran on a section of the interstate. I knew it was humid, but I don't remember feeling hot. It was more sticky and hard to breathe. I found out later it was 78 degrees with 95% humidity. There was not enough water anywhere on the course. Hundreds of us were trying to hit the water tables at the same time and they were offering us an individual cup to hold while they poured it. It was a nightmare. There was no Gatorade. The water stations weren't marked so you had no idea when they were coming, even if they had been properly staffed. There weren't even good mile markers. I was feeling strong by mile 8 and even started to be upset with myself that I hadn't pushed a little harder. Then, I hit a wall. It was so hard to keep going when I couldn't get hydrated. At mile 11, I took a little cup from a kid on the side of the street. I thought it was juice. Imagine my surprise when it was BEER! As thirsty as I was (and yes, beer has carbs!) I spit it out and threw the cup down. I had passed the 2:15 pacer miles back but she caught and passed me at mile 12. When I finally crossed the finish line (2:16:58), I staggered through the crowd as best I could, but the spectators were surrounding the finish line and not letting anyone through. I grabbed a banana, some more water and some chocolate milk and several snack bags and tried to get OUT of the course, but I kept getting pushed and couldn't go anywhere I managed to find a break in the crowd and headed toward a big mossy tree in the shade. I started to sit down and then things got dark and I was magically in the dirt and people were stepping on me. It was awful. I turned my phone on and messages from my dad and Melissa came in. I was so emotional, I burst into tears. Melissa called me and I boo-hooed that I would never do another one. I laid under the tree until Christina finished and then we caught the shuttle back to Tybee. The shuttle driver was hilarious (Cindy). She kept up a steady stream of stories and even tried to turn into Parker's (a gas station chain) to get beer for a couple of the guys. Thank god they told her they were only kidding. She did take a group to Arby's after she dropped us off, though!
Christina and I took our medals out onto the beach and took some photos. Finally, we showered and went to Spanky's for lunch. Christina left and Trina and I decided to drive back to town. It started to rain and we stopped at Savannah Bee Company in Wilmington (just outside Savannah). I think both of us thought we were going to have to turn around and go back due to rain so we tried to find something to entertain us. Savannah Bee company actually turned out to be really fun! The owner told us about all the different kinds of honey, including tupelo which is very rare because it only blooms a few days out of the year and the previous year's crop hadn't come in. We both bought a small set of honey and miraculously when we came back outside, it had stopped raining! We circled forever to find parking but finally found a great garage just near the City Market. We had to-die-for chocolate martinis at Lulu's Chocolate Bar. (The Milky Way for me and the White Chocolate for Trina, followed by a "shot" of Lulutini) We walked around City Market which is a fun pedestrian area filled with shops and live music. Trina got a slice of pepperoni at Vinnie Van Go-Go's and I got a Georgia Peach Sangria in a to-go cup! (You can walk around the streets with your alcohol like you can in New Orleans). We also tried a bunch of the famous cookies at Byrd's Cookie Company. My favorite was the Scotch Oatmeal, made famous in 1924. I also liked the Georgia Peach cookie. Neither of us bought cookies (though I was SO tempted). I did buy a little bracelet for Melissa for her b-day and some gourmet dog treats (sweet potato and honey) for Stella. There were tons of runners walking around with their medals and t-shirts. I wish I had thought to do that! It's funny to see how we were all walking (clearly very sore!). We finally headed back to Tybee and went to bed. This time, I slept like a rock.
11/8
We got up fairly early and walked along the beach one last time. It was SO windy on the pier that I wondered how the birds were able to stay upright. Then, it was back on the road again. Luckily, Trina drove a lot so I could wiggle around and get more leg room. All in all, it was a great trip. Although I would never, ever do that race course again, I would love to come back to Savannah one day!!!
I picked up Katrina around 6:15am and we headed out on vacation. We hit traffic in Atlanta for some crazy reason (I purposely avoided rush hour) but otherwise the drive was uneventful. Note: I-16 is the most boring stretch of highway you can imagine. Be prepared! Stop for gasoline/bathrooms before you hit this 100-mile stretch of nothing. There weren't even any billboards to look at! On the way down, we noticed that a lot of the exits had red and white "arms" that could come down to block them. Katrina astutely observed that this was due to storm evacuation routes. (They block the exits so both sides can be used to route evacuees.)
We drove through a tiny corner of Savannah on our way to Tybee Island. I was so excited to see the huge live oaks with the mossy overhangs and the adorable pastel-colored houses.
Then, we finally crossed over to Tybee Island and I was even more excited to see palm trees and creeks filled with tall grasses. When we got to the hotel, my excitement was crushed. The website said the hotel had been recently renovated. If renovated means a coat of paint on the outside and possibly some carpet in the hallway, then maybe you can call it renovated. However, we were assigned a room that was dirty. (cobwebs were everywhere, which means it couldn't have been cleaned recently). The telephone didn't work. The main lamps didn't have light bulbs, and there was a giant bug in the toilet. When I complained, they moved us down two rooms to one that was equally gross. Luckily, Katrina travels with Lysol and sprayed down the beds. We quickly made our way out of the room and down to the beach. (Oh, and did I mention we were on the first floor and our door opened to the PUBLIC beach parking lot!))
The beach itself was gorgeous and the big sand dunes with the tall oat grass made it feel very different than any other beaches I've been to.
We walked around a bit and had dinner at Fannie's. (live music and a funny, flaming bartender who told us he'd lived just about everywhere, including Alaska and he and his partner just picked up and moved to Savannah on a whim!) After that, we drove around and found the famous Tybee Lighthouse and then came back to the room to crash.11/6/15
This morning, we hit the road toward Savannah, stopping at the Bonaventure Cemetery on the way. We happened upon the statue to Gracie. (I'd read about this one in guidebooks. The little girl died around the age of 6 from pneumonia. Her father was an innkeeper and to this day, it's said that she haunts the place.) Savannah loves its ghost stories. When we got to Savannah proper, we found that there is NO parking available in the city. Luckily, we put the Visitor's Center into the GPS and not only found reasonable ($7 for the day) parking, but also found a great sighseeing trolley. This one had actors who boarded periodically and told stories about the area. We saw Forrest Gump (the famous "Life is like a box of chocolates..." bench is in Savannah.) We also saw the Waving Girl (who is on the race medal). The story goes that this young woman was supposed to be wed and her beau was shipped off. She waited for him for 44 years, waving her kerchief at every ship that landed. We saw the Old Pink House (a fancy restaurant these days), the city courthouse (with a gold top), the beautiful cathedral, the birthplace of Juliet Lowe (founder of the Girl Scouts), the First African Baptist Church (the one Porsha visited on Real Housewives of Atlanta, revealing that she thought the Underground Railroad was a real train), and all the famous 22 squares making up the city. We also went by many of the famous restaurants like Lady and Son (Paula Deen's restaurant) and some of the ones Anoop recommended like Vinnie Van Go-Go's. We rode up and down Albecor and Bull Streets. The timing worked out perfectly because as our tour ended, Christina was just getting into town and we met her and walked around a bit, ate a yummy Italian meal at Corlione and then boarded the ferry to the island with the Convention Center where we picked up our race packets. Then, it was back to the horrid hotel early to get ready for race day. Unfortunately, I was an anxiety-riddled mess and only slept around 2.5 hours the entire night.
11/7/15
I started getting ready at 3:45am and Christina rolled her bag down to our room (she checked out after the race to drive home). We got on the 5am trolley into town and made it to our corrals with a lot of time to spare. The humidity and fog was thick. I was so scared that I wouldn't be able to make my projected 2:05 that I didn't go all the way up to my assigned corral (8). Instead I stopped at corral 11 where the 2:15 pacer was lined up. I think that was a mistake because I spent a lot of energy trying to get around slower runners at the beginning. In fact, this race was so big and so poorly organized, that I never actually got out of the "pack." I've done huge races before (like Disney) and it's always jam-packed at the start, but the crowd always thins out quickly and you can find your groove and some breathing room pretty easily. That wasn't the case with this race. I was smashed up against other runners for the entire course. The streets were often narrow and people were coming to a dead stop right in the corners, so we were always having to scoot around each other. I had expected the course to be beautiful and take us through the historic sections, but we ran through some of the poorest, most run down areas I've ever seen. (Tiny houses that looked like they were on the verge of falling down. There were lots that had signs posted on the front doors saying "Condemned by the city due to code violations.") We also ran on a section of the interstate. I knew it was humid, but I don't remember feeling hot. It was more sticky and hard to breathe. I found out later it was 78 degrees with 95% humidity. There was not enough water anywhere on the course. Hundreds of us were trying to hit the water tables at the same time and they were offering us an individual cup to hold while they poured it. It was a nightmare. There was no Gatorade. The water stations weren't marked so you had no idea when they were coming, even if they had been properly staffed. There weren't even good mile markers. I was feeling strong by mile 8 and even started to be upset with myself that I hadn't pushed a little harder. Then, I hit a wall. It was so hard to keep going when I couldn't get hydrated. At mile 11, I took a little cup from a kid on the side of the street. I thought it was juice. Imagine my surprise when it was BEER! As thirsty as I was (and yes, beer has carbs!) I spit it out and threw the cup down. I had passed the 2:15 pacer miles back but she caught and passed me at mile 12. When I finally crossed the finish line (2:16:58), I staggered through the crowd as best I could, but the spectators were surrounding the finish line and not letting anyone through. I grabbed a banana, some more water and some chocolate milk and several snack bags and tried to get OUT of the course, but I kept getting pushed and couldn't go anywhere I managed to find a break in the crowd and headed toward a big mossy tree in the shade. I started to sit down and then things got dark and I was magically in the dirt and people were stepping on me. It was awful. I turned my phone on and messages from my dad and Melissa came in. I was so emotional, I burst into tears. Melissa called me and I boo-hooed that I would never do another one. I laid under the tree until Christina finished and then we caught the shuttle back to Tybee. The shuttle driver was hilarious (Cindy). She kept up a steady stream of stories and even tried to turn into Parker's (a gas station chain) to get beer for a couple of the guys. Thank god they told her they were only kidding. She did take a group to Arby's after she dropped us off, though!
Christina and I took our medals out onto the beach and took some photos. Finally, we showered and went to Spanky's for lunch. Christina left and Trina and I decided to drive back to town. It started to rain and we stopped at Savannah Bee Company in Wilmington (just outside Savannah). I think both of us thought we were going to have to turn around and go back due to rain so we tried to find something to entertain us. Savannah Bee company actually turned out to be really fun! The owner told us about all the different kinds of honey, including tupelo which is very rare because it only blooms a few days out of the year and the previous year's crop hadn't come in. We both bought a small set of honey and miraculously when we came back outside, it had stopped raining! We circled forever to find parking but finally found a great garage just near the City Market. We had to-die-for chocolate martinis at Lulu's Chocolate Bar. (The Milky Way for me and the White Chocolate for Trina, followed by a "shot" of Lulutini) We walked around City Market which is a fun pedestrian area filled with shops and live music. Trina got a slice of pepperoni at Vinnie Van Go-Go's and I got a Georgia Peach Sangria in a to-go cup! (You can walk around the streets with your alcohol like you can in New Orleans). We also tried a bunch of the famous cookies at Byrd's Cookie Company. My favorite was the Scotch Oatmeal, made famous in 1924. I also liked the Georgia Peach cookie. Neither of us bought cookies (though I was SO tempted). I did buy a little bracelet for Melissa for her b-day and some gourmet dog treats (sweet potato and honey) for Stella. There were tons of runners walking around with their medals and t-shirts. I wish I had thought to do that! It's funny to see how we were all walking (clearly very sore!). We finally headed back to Tybee and went to bed. This time, I slept like a rock.
11/8
We got up fairly early and walked along the beach one last time. It was SO windy on the pier that I wondered how the birds were able to stay upright. Then, it was back on the road again. Luckily, Trina drove a lot so I could wiggle around and get more leg room. All in all, it was a great trip. Although I would never, ever do that race course again, I would love to come back to Savannah one day!!!
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