http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Cowboy-Jake-Down-Under/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Cowboy Jake Down Under en-us Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:29:49 +0000 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:29:49 +0000 I bought a little too much wine to drink in the two days before I head home so I've been having wine with breakfast lunch and supper. It's hard to pair wine with cerealActually I am leaving for the airport in a couple of hours and Nick and I have been busy packing and clearing his house out because he is moving out on Friday. Yesterday we went and watched 'Australia' the movie on opening night http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-348894.html Finally Irsquom going on the wine tour that I have been anticipating for weeks. Our day begins at 900am when our tour guide Peter picks us up in front of Nickrsquos place. There are two young English people already in the van and with the addition of Nick and I we had our group for the day. It is always nice to have a small group because you get more personalized service at the wineries http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-348299.html SydneyOkay so Sydney is really beautiful. When we flew over the city it was all sky scrapers and water. This huge city has water everywhere and the extent of the urban sprawl outward from the city centre was astonishing. We visited the Opera House Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Aquarium in the morning when we arrived. I took so many pictures and even a few videos at the aquarium so I http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Bondi-Beach/blog-348065.html Okay so Irsquom a little behind on my blogging but Irsquom going to make up for it right now. I might not go into excruciating detail about everything wersquove done since my last post but Irsquoll make sure to highlight the salient points.Fishing in Cairns was a really interesting experience. We went river fishing with our shall I sayhellip rustic looking guide His name was Darry http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cairns/open-water/blog-348055.html We arrived in Sydney today and I saw the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They were both very beautiful and I took many pictures but can't post them from the computer I am using to type this message. I will post them as soon as possible. We visited an aquarium today and I saw Sharks so I was so happy. They look so menacing and dangerous but they move incredibly gracefully in the wate http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Bondi-Beach/blog-347151.html ldquoThe Great Barrier ReefrdquoIt has long been a dream of mine to visit the Great Barrier Reef. Watching programs on the discovery channel and various documentaries has sparked a deep interest in this underwater city of biological diversity. November 19th 2008 will forever be etched in my memory as the day that I dove below the surface of the Ocean and swam alongside this ancient and sacr http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cairns/open-water/blog-346853.html lsquoRaging ThunderrsquoWhen we booked the white water rafting trip we had the option of regular or EXTREMEhellipit didnrsquot take long to make the decision.We were picked up from the hostel at 630am and driven by bus into the hills towards the Tully River which was actually used to film a scene from Jurassic Park how awesome is that It was about a 1.5hr drive to get to the destinatio http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cairns/Inn-The-Tropics/blog-346481.html Nick and I arrived in Cairns yesterday at 900am on a Qantas flight. Getting off of the aircraft we immediately noticed the intense humidity Cairns is known as one of the most humid places in Australia. At 900am it was already 30C and we drenched with sweat before we could even take our shirts off. We were picked up from the airport and shuttled to our hostel which is called NJoy. It is pret http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cairns/Inn-The-Tropics/blog-346208.html Irsquom writing this entry in an exhausted state because I have just spent the past 9 Hrs on a boat in the ocean fighting waves and fighting fish. The trip was a lot of fun and I can now say that I have caught fish in the Pacific Ocean. It was not a good day for fishing however I was able to catch several fish including a snapper and a Jew fish. I cleaned the Jew fish and prepared it with a l http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-345525.html I guess you were expecting to hear about my fishing trip but unfortunately it was cancelled due to high winds. This is the second time that I have had a trip cancelled for this reason. I was a little disappointed but did not let it ruin my day. Instead of fishing I went to one of the local noodle bars and ordered the Mee Gee Seafood box which was incredibly delicious. It had prawns tofu squi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-344963.html Today I spent most of my day working on a rollercoaster made out of popsicle sticks for one of Nickrsquos classes. Irsquoll post some pictures of it tomorrow when it is closer to completion. It has a loop a camelrsquos back and a turn better than Canadarsquos Wonderland Nick and I just got back from one of his friendrsquos place where we had a few Australian beers and I had some mo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Gold-Coast/Surfers-Paradise/blog-344369.html Today was a really exciting day because Nick and I booked our trip to Cairns and to Sydney. We have an incredible lineup of adrenaline pumping activities planned and we got a great deal. We will fly to Cairns on the 17th and we have a great activity planned that I wonrsquot give any details on right now because I want it to be a surprise You will be shocked. The next day we will be EXTREME http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-343952.html I haven't posted in a couple of days so I'll just quickly update everyone on what I've been doing. I have been exploring Nick's community. He lives in a great location and has a huge shopping mallretail shopping area close to his house. I'm still getting over the jet lag a bit so I have just been going to the mall and looking around. Everything here is sort of like back home except twisted s http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-343566.html Nick and I travelled to the Australia Zoo today. It was about 125Km away from his house but well worth the trip. It became apparent quite early that Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter who was tragically killed by a stingray is a national hero. The road leading to the zoo had many billboards featuring him and his family. You'll also see in the pictures that there are certain crocodile hunter fea http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-342906.html Nick and I are going to the zoo today. We are going to see koalas and kangaroos. I'm going to wear beige when we go to the zoo because you get 10 off of admission if you do. I'm not sure why. I'm going to take many pictures and I'll post them when we get back.Yesterday I ventured off to the mall and looked around. The mall was really nice but the prices were very high. The cost of living he http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-342706.html I arrived in Brisbane today. The route I took was from T.O. to LAX Huge crazy airport and then to Brisbane from there. The pilot announced during the flight that Obama had won the election and was giving his acceptance speech. I still haven't heard it yet but people are saying it was incredible. While I was waiting at the airport in T.O. I met Colin Mochrie from Whose line is it anyway I http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-342092.html