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Published: October 1st 2008
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mini-views2
View of NZ from plane Wow so it has been a busy couple of months! I really don't know where the time has gone.
Back in August, I headed to Auckland, New Zealand for two weeks with work. Honest, I did work. The two weeks went by quickly. Unfortunately, it was cold and rained every single day, but fun was still to be had. A co-worker and I headed for Mt Ruapehu for a little weekend skiing and relaxation. It was a four hour drive on highways in New Zealand, or so I thought. Turns out that highways in New Zealand are actually two lane country roads. Oh well, we did get to see lots of the country side and tons of sheep, cows, horses, and snow (to the delight of my co-worker). The place where we were staying was at the base of the mountains and built like an old wooden lodge.
Saturday morning lead to some disappointment. All mountains in both North and South Island New Zealand were closed due to weather. This seemed a little weird as we were 10min from the mountain and it was bright and sunny most of the day, but I was later informed that weather in
New Zealand is just that strange. So off we went to try and find some alternate entertainment. This resulted in a sheep hunting expedition. My co-worker being the typical city girl was completely fascinated with the sheep, lambs, and cows. She insisted that we go hunting so that she could take pictures. I hadn't let her all week because it was always pouring raining. In our hunting adventure, we came across the giant carrot. Little did we know we were in the Carrot capital of New Zealand.
Sunday was another closed day for the ski resorts, so we decided to head back to Auckland with a detour to the snow. Check out the skiing Kiwi (native new zealand bird). All in all a fun trip to New Zealand. I will have to head back to get some skiing in.
Back in Sydney, I didn't spend much time at home before hoping on a plane for Hamilton Island in the Whitsunday Islands. This is an absolutely gorgeous group of 72 islands in Queensland. It is also at the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef, but that adventure is for September's trip. I was in Hamilton Island for Hamilton Island
Race Week, similar to Key West in the US. Throughout the races, we saw several whales and turtles. It was a great week of sailing! We ended up sixth overall.
Before I knew it, my parents were arriving for their two week visit. A typical for our holiday, we had a full schedule. The first two days in Sydney included a tour of the Opera house (and 100s of pics), climbing the Harbor Bridge, checking out the aquarium, and doing a little shopping. Then it was off to Melbourne for a few days. Here we drove to Phillip Island to see the Koalas and little Penguins. We were even fortunate to see a baby koala! Then it was off to the Great Ocean Road for wonderful views and even some more Koalas. The hunt was on for kangaroos, but they had eluded us so far.
Next was a flight to Cairns at the top of the east coast. We were off for a skyrail trip across the rain forest into an aboriginal village. Kind of reminded me of the Costa Rican rain forests. Here we did a little sightseeing, shopping, and bird watching. The trip back was by
railroad past a couple of waterfalls. Cairns was nice, but we wouldn't be staying long. We were excited to get on the road for more kangaroo hunting and a trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Sunday was a long day trip to Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday Islands. We saw tons of banana plantations along the way and picked up some fresh fruit. About an hour out of Airlie Beach (right after the Giant Mango), Mom spotted the first kangaroos of the trips. What a wonderful find.
The Whitsunday Islands were as gorgeous as I remembered and we had a three days to enjoy them. First up was a relaxing day by the water and soaking up some sunshine. Then it was off to the Great Barrier Reef. We went with a local tour company that has a pontoon over a section of the reef. They offer an underwater viewing chamber as well as a semi-submersible submarine that does tours of the reef for those that do not want to get wet. I decided to go snorkelling and test out my new underwater camera. What great views and something not to miss if you are in Aussie!
Then
mini-Sheep
Look sheep in NZ... it was back to Sydney for two days before the two week trip was up. Time flies when you are having fun. A trip to the Zoo was in-store to see the animals and some of the best views of the city. A walk around the botanical gardens and up the AMP tower provide yet more opportunity for Dad to get pictures of the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge.
All in all a great trip and visit with the parents. Definitely not enough time for exploring Australia, but we managed to cover a lot of ground. The parents have landed safe in the US and are recovering from jet lag, and I had to go back to work. :-(
Today on a flight back from Melbourne, I saw Hugh Jackman! He was sitting a few rows up from me in economy with his family. Very down to earth guy.
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Adam Sadeg
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mini's
hi Beachy, whats up with the mini's ? Looks like great fun, I hope we can come down and see you. Still no baby yet! Adam