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A no longer puzzled Ben
After much hard work and determination, Ben was finally able to put together the puzzle he starting working on at Puzzle World and later bought because he has prestidigitation Okay, so I've been wanting to say that for so long and now I have the chance (even if people stare at me all funny, haha).
Well, after fully recovering from partying Sydney style, we said goodbye to the weekend and got excited for the week (not that it makes a difference for us when we're traveling, since every day is a weekend, 😊~~~~~ ) Monday morning, we headed down to Manly again with the intention of taking the ferry to the Taronga Zoo, but opted for the quicker bus instead. The zoo was fantastic. It sits right on the other side of the harbor so the views of the Opera House and bridge are fantastic, especially where the giraffes hang out. We wandered first through Wild Australia, where we saw koalas, kangaroos, emus, wallabies, wombats and a bunch of other native ozzie animals. We also parused through Asia and Africa, seeing everything from lions and tigers and bears (oh my) to fishing cats to spiders and reptiles. The highlights were definitely the seal show and the bird show where many of the animals performed some pretty extroardinary tricks. The zoo and the animals in particular were fantastic and not
Terrific Te Anau
Erica strutting her stuff after a loooooooooooooong hike in Te Anau. Just call her Joanna wilderness because she is so outdoorsy these days :) hiding, unlike many experiences we've had in the US where the animals cannot be seen, and the views behind the animals made it even better. We ended the day with the DaVinci Code, as we were quite intrigued by all the world hype around the movie (and of course because we both loved the book and wanted to see the movie).
Tuesday morning, we caught the bus to the city and the train to Sydney airport and caught a quick flight to Brisbane. After briefly getting lost in a cab, we signed our papers and happily drove off in our newly rented Nissan Pulsar. Because of our lovely sense of direction, we made it to the Sunshine Coast, without even needing a map and found our accomodation in Alexandra Headland with ease. We rented a wonderful 1 bedroom apartment, using the linkds provided by ginz (our NZ travel agency) to find cheap, last minute hotels. The hotel is awesome. We have our own, fully equipped 1 bedroom apt with a full kitchen (dishwasher included), washer/dryer, cable TV (CNN and 3 movie channels!), outside table and chairs and spa bathtub. The hotel itself has a few pools, lagoons, sauna and
Lake Tekapo was gorgeous
Content in our NZ purchased ski jackets, we spent just one night in the gorgeous town of Lake Tekapo, where the backdrops were breathtaking even a gym! We are right across the street from the beach and there are shops, bars, a casino and even a supermarket on the premise. Not too bad, eh?
We spent our first full day on the beach and at the pool, enjoying life to the fullest. It being winter here, the beach is relatively empty since people think anything below 75 (25) degrees is cold. While the days are lovely, the sun does set early and it gets quite cool in the evenings.
The next morning, we got up quite early (5:25 am) to meet our monster tank truck that was going to take us to Fraser Island. A lovely English friend of mine (not mentioning any names Carly) suggested that we go to Fraser Island and she was definitely right! We drove to Noosa Heads where we crossed the river on a barge, and then our bus driver/tour guide Ken, made a right turn and next thing you know our highway had turned into a beach! We drove along the beach, for an hour, literally over the crashing waves. To our right were the Colored Sands, massive sand dunes that were chock full of minerals,
Sydney sunshine
The perfect way to recover from a hard night of partying was to chill out on the rocks in Palm Beach, a suburb of the the northern beaches of Sydney causing the sand to glow brilliant gorgeous colors. We stopped for morning tea (and biscuits of course) before continuing on to Rainbow Beach where we boarded a ferry, truck and all and sailed to the island. We then drove along another wide highway, I mean beach up the coast. We saw wild dingos along the way and tons of fishermen who were competing in a big fishing competition that week. Our first stop was Lake MacKenzie, a gorgeous crystal clear, bright blue lake with a pH of 4.5, meaning that our skin and hair felt nice and smooth after a dip. The sand was so white and soft...it was like heaven. The busloads of screaming tourists couldn't ruin the magnicent beauty of the lake. We found our group and were treated to an authentic Aussie BBQ, complete with steak, fish, and sausages on the barbie and plenty of salads and fruit on the side. An iguana even came and dined with us. There were people from all over the world on our tour with us (OZ, NZ, England, Scotland, South Africa) so it made for wonderful conversation, even though everyone was at least twice our age. After lunch, it was
Laaaa laaaa laaaa
After they heard us singing outside the Opera House in Sydney, they offered us both auditions back on the bus for another bumpy ride to the rainforest, where we took a lovely walk around and saw some incredible plants, trees, and other wildlife. We were exhausted, but the 3 hour bumpy journey back again on the beach, chasing the tide, made for a perfect ending to a great day and afternoon tea against the red sand dunes was the perfect culmination.
Yesterday, we spent the day around the hotel recovering from the previous day's escapades. You all must go to Fraser Island on your next trip to OZ.
Today, it was up early to hit up the Eumundi markets, an ENORMOUS market where all sorts of products are sold, from fruits, veggies, art, jewelery, trinkets, close, soaps, etc. We wandered around for a few hours, sampling all the free products and services we could and even managed some self control and bought just a few things. It was awesome.
As you can tell, we are still loving our trip. Every day is different from the next and we're doing the best job possible between balancing our full days with days of leisure. Australia so far is much different from NZ, obviously, but they
Brrr
This is what the people in Antarctica wear to stay warm, however Erica was still cold wearing all this in the Antarctic Center!! are both incredible. We still miss you all and hope you are enjoying the blogs still (and the pictures). Keep the messages coming, but don't forgot to sign your name (whoever messaged us last forgot to let us know who they were).
Hugs and kisses,
Ben and Erica
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Emily Tex
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I miss ya!
I was just catching up on your blogs...this past week or two have been very hectic...I read them with the biggest smile on my face! I cannot wait to see you!