http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Shauna/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Shauna en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:37:08 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:37:08 +0000 Wow It started Tuesday morning Sept 22 and just finished today September 27th at about lunch time. I was into the beer at 9am on Tuesday morning and it didn't stop until my last sip of wine for breakfast this morning. And this was a sports trip...Every year students from Denmark Sweden Norway and Finland studying at Life Sciences Universities get together to participate in the Nordic Game http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Ostlandet/Oslo/blog-440204.html Started with the need for a tree fix.I heard from Linzy a friend at school that there was this quaint little town in the north west of Zealand called Tisvildeleje. How on earth you would say this I will never know. A little investigation found that we could get a 24hour regional ticket for 120DKK which was much cheaper than the return fair. So Adrien Mexico Denisa Albania Kristen Ameri http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Hovedstaden/Hillerod/blog-433981.html The trouble with living in a place for a length of time is that for one you fall in love with the place and for two you meet people who become your surrogate family whom you want to see again. Of course this isn't a problem in my case only created a bit of a detour in my Gisborne Copenhagen route.I gave myself 3 weeks 1 in Australia and 2 in Canada to reconnect with my past homes with t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/blog-426844.html So what springs to mind when you think of Denmark Danish pastry Hans Christian Anderson Great Dane dogs ice cream chewing tobacco Danish cookies in a pretty little tin tall blond and blue eyed happy people speaking in some strange throaty native tongue Scandanavia and Greenland.This was my knowledge of the Danes before stepping foot in the country where I would be living for the next yea http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Hovedstaden/Copenhagen/blog-427381.html I find myself at a loss for words don't worry it won't last.I remember taking the bus into Gisborne that sunny Saturday about 18 months ago. Thinking here I am moving to this small isolated town in one of the most isolated countries in the world knowing nothing about the place apart from the fact that Gisborne or Gizzy as it's affectionately known prides itself on being the first city in http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/blog-422791.html Drawing card to Northland perhaps the oldest and largest standing Kauri tree in New Zealand even worthy of its own name Tane Mahuta. Perhaps the romance associated with visiting the northernmost point of the country. Or maybe the thought of putting off autumn for just a little bit longer by climbing up to the warmest latitude New Zealand has to offer. Well the top of New Zealand didn't dis http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Northland/blog-396157.html Well for some strange reason I thought it necessary to run in more races this year than I have in any other given year. Normally I would do a couple but this year lets see...Oct Gisborne 14 MarathonNov Whakatane 18km trail runNov Eastwood hill 12 MarathonNov Coromandel 32km mountain runJan Port of Tauranga 12 Ironman run only.I didn't scrape through with any personal bests as f http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Bay-of-Plenty/blog-368763.html As a newbie to horseback riding I was gungho all guns a blazin so to speak. Had no point of reference as to the difficulty of this little undertaking I had signed up for. One of the guys at work lives on the station about an hours drive inland from Gisborne and mentioned this fundraiser that the station school was having. A camp out some good feeds including a traditional Hangi and a 6 ho http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/blog-339373.html I was getting antsy with 2 weekends in a row in Gizzy and needed to hit the backcountry big time. Good thing for me there's always others keen on the same. Charl Mags Julie a couch surfer who had been staying with me since Thursday and I loaded up the truck with probably more than one night's gear and headed out to the gorge. A treacherous drive but beautiful scenery between Gisborne and http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/East-Coast/Opotiki/blog-331366.html A beautiful way to kick off spring with an impromptu visit to Hicks Bay on the northern point of the East Cape. My adventure crew Charl Mags Debbie and Tim and our new couchsurfing friend Maria headed up the coast on Friday night for a weekend in a batch on the beach. If you've been up the East Cape of New Zealand at all you can picture it very well. Its common place to have to stop on t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/East-Coast/blog-323386.html We arrived back in Queenstown me as usual on a very full bladder. As soon as those bus doors open I shot out of there like a canon in search of the nearest loo and left Marielle to figure out where we were going to stay. With no options to speak of we stayed at Base possibly the worst hostel in Queenstown. We went to the internet to catch up on emails and I called Steph. We were tired I http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-253864.html So Tuatapare would rank right up there with B arrytown in my books except swap the beach for millions of sheep. This town is known for being the sausage capital of NZ and also the flast town in NZ to see the sun set on the south west corner of the country opposite of Gisborne on the north east where I'll be moving. Luckily we arrived late and were able to press on to Stewart Island in th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-251163.html I arrived safe and sound in Wellington to an abundance of welcome and hospitality from Lisa whom I met while in Italy John and his parents and Andrea and hers.I took in the local sites visited the national museum Te Papa and was treated like royalty with home cooked meals and a comfortable place to lay my head at night. John showed me how to live it up Wellington style where we visited the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington/blog-244703.html Fiordland National Park is a bit off the beaten track but boy is it worth it. My first glimpse into this natural wonder was a day cruise through Milford Sound. The drive in itself was spectacular with mountains so tall and jagged they looked as though they could cut the sky. Milford Sound actually a fiord did not disappoinwith the rugged coastline dolphins seals and waterfalls. The only d http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Fiordland-National-Park/blog-251151.html Well I left Abel Tasman National Park and headed down the West Coast. We stopped at the pancake rocks and blow holes a great geological feature for all you rock geeks out there and spent the night in Barrytown. Which what can I say is a bit of a hole. There's not much there but the entrance to a walk a beautiful beach and a pubbackpackers hostel. We made the most of it though with a fan http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-246095.html After 3 hours of sleep I made my way to the ferry and left Wellington for Picton on the south island. I boarded the Stray bus which was to be my mode of transportation for the next month and we headed for Abel Tasman National Park. From all accounts this was supposed to be a tour bus that catered more to the more adventurous crowd but my first crew appeared to be more from the lets just get http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Abel-Tasman-National-Park/blog-244706.html So the plan was to come to Australia for 3 weeks visit John and Neet make some quick cash and then head to New Zealand and that was 11 months ago...How does one sum up nearly a year of an entirely new life How does one describe all the amazing people I've met experiences I've had and places I've seen For someone with verbal diarrhea like myself I could write a series of novels in fact I http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-234825.html From hovering around zero degree weather in Tasmania to 42 degree blazing sun in Melbourne my body didn't know quite what to think but where there's sun and a beach there's Shauna As our wardrobes consisted of hiking boots quick dry shirts and toques we needed to do some serious shopping so we could fit in with civilization again. We hit the shops in our sleep deprived stupor and managed http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-234784.html What better way to spend a Christmas away from home than with 5 other displaced internationals. Back in September the idea was brought up to hike the 82km when all was said and done overland track from Cradle Mountain to Lake Saint Claire through the guts of Tasmania. How could I resistI wasn't disappointed. We hiked anywhere from 9km to 21km per day from the 2227th of December. Through http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/blog-234194.html Managed to make a 5 day weekend out of a one day music festival not bad. Andrea Colette and I flew to Sydney on Friday morning and checked in at the best hostel in Sydney Colette's parents house While she did the family thing Andrea and I headed into the city to see the sites that consisted of a few pictures of the opera house and the harbour bridge. The weather was not all that great http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-226785.html