I Hail From the Land Down Under!

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Hello Again,

I am now writing from the other side of the world, the amazing down under, Australia! Toilets really do flush the opposite direction haha and yes that was one of the first things i checked when i landed. Natalie and I have being in Australia for a few weeks now and have completed a lot!! We have both being very busy beavers and have had very little sleep due to it.

We arrived on an overnight flight from Bangkok to Sydney, where this extremely nice local paid for our Cab to Circular Quay. From there we hooped onto a Ferry and immediately saw the Sydney Opera house and Harbour Bridge. We ended up at the Taronga Zoo, where we met up with Brad my friend who i met last year while living in Zanzibar. Brad is a Marine Biologists at this Zoo and he trains and works with the Marine section. So we spent the day playing- watching with seals and sea-lions. After we went into the Staff section where they hand raise orphaned animals mostly Kangaroos.

We stayed at Brads for a few nights and i did as little as possible 😊, i ended up watching four hours of Son's of Anarchy on his Tv and made an amazing Homemade Dinner, first time in months!

On the 16th of Dec we flew out of Sydney to Alice Springs which is a town that is in the outback of the North Territory. Alice Springs is almost the Centre of Australia and while we were driving we actually past the centre point. From Alice Springs we started a weeklong tour that went from there down to Adelaide. This tour was great, worth every penny. We hiked up "Heart Attack" Hill to reach King's Canyon; this canyon was beautiful red stone with valley's throughout. One valley is called the Garden of Eden and it is a lush tropical forest in the midst of a desert!

After King's Canyon, which was also extremely hot, mid 40's for sure, we headed to Uluru (Ayers rock) for Sunset. We made it just in time and popped a bottle of Sparkling wine while watching the amazing sunset. That night we got Swag's and slept out under the stars. I was pretty nervous doing this since we were in Dingo country and had already seen some pretty nasty bugs around the campsite, but it turned out amazing. The next day we woke up around 4 am and headed to Uluru to watch the sunrise, we stayed there for a few hours took a lot of great photos and then walked around the base of the mountain. Uluru is definitely worth the visit into central outback, it would be such a shame to come to Oz and miss it.

After Uluru we headed to a few other rock mountains in the area, did a few more hikes and then headed to our second campsite, where we again got our Swags out and camped under the stars. The next day was mostly driving we stopped a few times for some scenery pics of the Dog fence, which is the longest fence in the world. The Fence was created to protect the huge sheep farms from the Dingo population. We also saw the breakaways, salt and pepper shakers and a few wild kangaroo's. We ended up in Coober Pedy, a town that is 70% underground. Apparently it is the world Opal mining Capital and yes I definitely bought a few Opals.

We stayed the night in a Dorm that was built in an old Opal mine. During the day we trekked around an actual Opal mine and after we went Noodling, which is what they call searching for Opals in Oz. Noodling is basically searching through massive dirt piles for Opals... not the most entertaining thing to do especially in 45 degree Celsius weather.

After Coober Pedy we went to Quorn and stayed here for two nights, we climbed a few peaks in the Flinders Ranges. We finished our tour in Adelaide where Nat and I immediately caught an overnight train to Melbourne. We arrived into Melbourne very early in the morning and i ended up been welcomed with my hiking boots and sunglasses stolen within 30 mins...I stayed here for a few days one of which was Christmas. I spent Christmas first on the beach and then hiding in my Hostel during a torrential thunderstorm that included Hail! Definitely first time i have had a thunderstorm on Christmas haha. The last night in Melbourne we went out to the Harbour Pier and watch as the local tiny penguins came in to their nests. They have 13000 penguins living in the Harbour and they go out every morning and come back at sunset to their nests. This was a pretty cute experience although it was FREEZING, not quite as cold as Canada but cold enough haha!!

I am now back in Sydney where i will be spending my new year’s camped out in Botanical Gardens by the City Harbour Bridge and Opera House. We have to go at 8 am to this park just to get a spot for the 9 pm and midnight fireworks, shall be a very long day but definitely worth it!

After New Year’s we are heading up the east coast to Cairns. On the way we will be staying in a Teepee, learning to surf, 4wheeling around Fraser Island, Sailing around Whitsunday’s and diving in the great barrier Reef!

I will keep updating everyone on my travels but until then have a Happy New year!!!

Leash

XOXO

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