http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Cassandrew/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Cassandrew en-us Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:12:59 +0000 Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:12:59 +0000 The Cook Islands are a group of 15 islands or atolls stretched out across the South Pacific. We have spent the last ten days on the main island of Rarotonga the largest of the group at 67 square kilometers. Arriving at 230 in the morning we disembarked the airplane and walked across the tarmac to the smallest airport we've ever been in. We were greeted by a warm tropical breeze and a local p http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-455445.html After testing gravity in Wanaka we made the short drive south to Queenstown a small town overlooked by the Remarkable Mountain Range. We took a gondola ride up the side of one of the mountains which provided a fantastic panoramic lookout over the town below. Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of New Zealand and from the mountain we watched people bungy jumping and paragliding. Afte http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-452484.html Why jump out of a perfectly good airplane The answer we've found in New Zealand is why not But before we get to that we'll update you on the first half of our South Island road trip. We travelled to the South Island via the Interislander Ferry. It was huge and as we boarded we thought it looked more like a cruise ship then a ferry. We had a bit of a storm for the crossing so it was a li http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-451882.html Kia Ora What a beautiful country this is Our first week in New Zealand was spent exploring the North Island. When we arrived in Auckland we were very excited to meet up with Hui our friend from home who is currently studying in NZ. Hui was the first person we've seen from home since we started our journey and it was great to catch up with an old friend We wandered around the city together a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-449030.html We spent a bit of time in the city of Cairns before and after our dive trip. Walking along the esplanade we looked out into the mudflats and all the interesting wildlife it had to offer. We spotted a flock of pelicans more species of crab than we could keep track of and to our surprise mudskippers It was fascinating to watch these little guys part fish part reptile they039re like ev http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/blog-445964.html We have just returned from a two day dive cruise on the Great Barrier Reef. Neither words nor pictures can do it justice amazing wouldn't even begin to describe it. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest living organism is visible from space and is one of the Natural Wonders of the World. We were able to do six dives while on our cruise and we also enrolled in an Adventure Diver spec http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Great-Barrier-Reef/blog-442834.html We have spent the past couple months living in the tropical laidback city of Darwin. With a population of approximately 100000 Darwin is the capital of the Northern Territory and home to about half of the Territory's residents. It's a great city and we both feel very at home here. Andrew has been working as a mechanic for Thrifty enjoying being able to get his hands dirty and the less st http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Darwin/blog-440608.html Back from our Asian adventure it was time to face reality and find some work. We were unhappily surprised to discover that all of the places who had told us there would be work in three weeks before we left for Asia were telling us the same thing now. We decided to make our way down the South West coast to the wine region of Margaret River. We stopped in the small coastal towns along the way http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/blog-424541.html After another short flight we arrived in Bangkok. We planned to see Thailand's capital on the way back so we went directly to the train station where we bought tickets for the 13 hour journey to the city of Chiang Mai. We decided to treat ourselves to a firstclass sleeper cabin although outrageously priced by Thai standards it was a rare opportunity for us to actually be able to afford fir http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-421936.html Our first day in the beautiful Phi Phi Islands was spent scuba diving. Diving was the primary reason for our travel here and we had planned to join in on some local dives around the islands. Upon our arrival we were informed that for the last nine days divers had sighted both whale sharks and manta rays at a dive site far offshore. It was two hours out into the open ocean by speed boat and t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceans-and-Seas/Indian/Andaman-Sea/blog-410354.html As our plane arrived above Phuket Thailand we were treated to a complimentary scenic flight as we circled the beautiful islands below while we waited for clearance from Air Traffic Control. Once we arrived and passed through Customs we were absolutely bombarded by people Taxi taxi sir 600 baht.. We were barely able to make it through the mob but eventually found the airport shuttle whi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Phi-Phi/blog-410343.html Travelling to Asia wasn't part of the original plan. We were already on this side of the world and we thought when else in our lives would we be able to just spend a couple of extra weeks working in the sunny fields of Australia and then jet off to Asia for a while Since we had a bit of a gap in our plans in Australia because of the harvest seasons we thought now was as good a time as any. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-401656.html We spent a few days in the pretty city of Adelaide before beginning our journey to the west. Despite it's population of 1.2 million the city still maintained a smalltown feel with stately Victorian buildings rather than skyscrapers lining the downtown area. Our new friend Chuck whom we had met working at the vineyard in Mildura lives in Adelaide and had invited us to stay with him while w http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Perth/blog-396681.html We finished the 2009 grape harvest and were ready to hit the road Before leaving Mildura we decided to take a day trip to Mungo National Park. Remote and isolated the park is home to at least 40000 years of continuous human habitation. Human remains found on site in the 1970s that have been dated at over 40000 years are not only the oldest archelogical findings in Australia but is also th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Great-Ocean-Road/blog-393846.html Well it's been a while since our last entry we've been busy working away in a vineyard in Northern Victoria and we've saved up enough money to buy ourselves a car With our 1993 Holden Commodore wagon we can now travel to more places stopping to see or do things along the way whenever we want We're currently staying in the district of Sunraysia the place with the most sunny days in all of http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Mildura/blog-384777.html Tasmania is a truly amazing place. Lush rainforest jagged mountains pictureperfect beaches and rolling countryside all crammed into one little island and overrun by unique and almost comical creatures echidnas wallabies and tasmanian devils just to name a few. Our last week at the apple orchard was more play than work. One evening Robert the owner of the orchard took us on a ldquoc http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/blog-368817.html Merry Christmas and Happy New Year We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you all the best for the New Year Although it doesn't really feel like Christmas time without our families friends and winter jackets it has certainly been a Christmas we won't ever forget Here's what we've been up toWhilst in Canberra we realized it was time to put the work into our Working Holiday http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/blog-358376.html What we've learned in Australia so far1. Everyone's your mate.2. The UV Index doesn't stop at 10.3. The people like the cars travel down the wrong side of the road.4. It hurts to carry your pack on sunburnt shoulders.5. McDonalds has 30 cent ice cream cones and free wifiOur Air New Zealand flight was more comfortable than expected with an empty seat beside us and a plethora of movies t.v. sho http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Australian-Capital-Territory/Canberra/blog-352623.html After Nanaimo we had a couple more stops to make before we headed down to California. First on the list was Victoria. With a historic look and warm atmosphere there were even some palm trees we enjoyed ourselves at our last stop on Vancouver Island. We walked through the downtown area and down along the coast. We found a popular spot a pier jutting out into the ocean with a lighthouse at http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/blog-350500.html Wow. The Rocky Mountains are truly incredible. Driving from Calgary the mountains appeared upon the horizon as we headed to Banff National Park. They looked impossibly big but continued to grow as we got closer. Once surrounded by mountains we reached the park gates paying our entry fees getting advice on road conditions and bears we headed into the park. Our first stop was the Banff townsit http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Nanaimo/blog-345442.html