I arrived in Taupo on Monday morning. This is one stop from my first trip to NZ that I really did not want to miss this time around. Taupo sits on a beautiful lake that is huge! I found out its the size of Signapore...are you kidding me! And Signapore has a larger population than NZ. Nice! Either way, its a town I always wanted to come visit and has a hike that I've been dying to do. When I arrived at 10 am, I quickly found a hostel to check in to. I choose Rainbow Lodge. Its ok as far as hostels go. Thus far its been quite quiet which is pretty much what I'm looking for at this point. I put myself into a 3 bed dorm and only one other girl was in, ... read more

I rolled into Sydney tired and irritated. And even from when I left the US, I didn't think I'd like Sydney that much. I mean, you hear about it all the time. People mention Australia and then immediately mention Sydney. I didn't want to like it. I definitely didn't want to fall in love with it, but with an hour, there I was...completely mezmorized by her charm. For those of you afraid that I wouldn't come home...be happy I didn't start my journey in Sydney. I started off on Tuesday with needing to get food and coffee. I was so sleepy from my trip in that morning and asked the lady at the hostel reg desk for a recommendation. She sent me across the street to this teeny tiny cafe. I met the owner, I quirky ... read more

5:45 am came really early! I actually got up at 5:15 and was all ready to go by 5:45. Our hostel was the first stop for pick ups. This made me really happy because no one would be sitting in the front seat. We were greeted by Dan...our tour guide and quickly loaded up. It was quite cold in the morning...and I was bundled up in my sweatshirt (or jumper as they call it here) and blue jeans. I got on the bus with Karen - same girl from Adelaide hostel and the train and then David - 20 yr old German. When Dan got in the van, I asked if I could sit in the front seat. He said, yes...please. Awesome! This trip was 3 days and lots of driving and the last thing I ... read more

On Thursday morning I got up at 5:45 am and I'm not going to lie, I had a bit of a wine induced hangover. I had to move quickly though to get my bags over to the storage area and get ready for my next trip. Today I was headed out with the Groovy Grape folks again, this time for a 2 day, 1 night tour of Kangaroo Island. I had read an article in Budget Travel mag years ago called, the 10 best islands you've never heard of and Kangaroo Island was on the list. I tore out the page and saved it until now. As it turns out, plenty of people have heard about this island, but that does nothing to diminish its reputation. I was super excited to be seeing part it! I ... read more

It was an early start on Sunday morning in Melbourne. I decided the best way to get from Melbourne to Adelaide was to go by tour - 3 days, 2 nights - and do the Great Ocean Road and the Grampions. the only downside, the tour picked up at 6:40 am. I was part of the first stop, so the nice thing was I got to pick my seat early. Often times, this is a critical choice for a tour. I picked a seat in the front due to my car sickness issues and figured that if need be, I could hop in the front seat with the driver. Our tour guide for the trip is Dave - 24, from Adelaide and being doing tours to Kangaroo island for quite a while. This is his first ... read more