So it has been awile since we last wrote one of these. But we'll try to give you a quick break down of where we've been the last month.
Lets start off back in Byron Bay. We went on a Sea Kayak tour hoping to see dolphins. We were lucky enough not only to see dolphins but turtles, a huge unusual jellyfish, and some weird batefish that swim in like a swarm. Really wierd. Teh kayaking itself was great, water was more like a lake than an ocean. It was eerily calm but we still managed to flip our kayak while trying to surf a wave into the shore. Oh well it was fun. We were lucky enough to be joined by Liz (Jon's old Aussie exchange student) who has recently finished her PhD studying marine biology. It was great to have an expert close by. The rest of our time in Byron was pretty good. We made some close friends, had some exciting nights on the town and the weather held up so we could go boogie boarding a few times and hang out at the beach. We also went to Wet n Wild, the big water park just outside Surfer's and went up to the lighthouse to watch the sunrise on our last morning there.
Next stop was Belligen. Unlike last time we actually saw the sun- nice change, meaning we could actaully leave our hostel and do the things we missed out on last time. We went on a 25km bike ride one day through the farmlands of Belligen. The hills were a workout but we made it out ok. We also went on a rainforest walk which had some gorgeous waterfalls and stinging trees. These trees actually give you a sting thats worse than a bee sting that leave you in agony for a couple hours, so needless to say we avoided touching ANY leaves for the entire walk. During our stay this time we also met up with our friend Rhys whom we met on our trip up the coast, last time in Bellingen. We had a good night out with him again and hopefully he will be coming out to Canada so we can show him around our home a bit. All in all it was a much better stay than last time.
Newcastle came next for us. We timed it perfectly so we got three free pub meals while we stayed there. We also got into town just in time to catch the end of Surffest, the big annual surf competition which was pretty cool. We went on our first wine tasting tour in the hunter valley which took us to 5 of the different wineries in the area. We both weren't too sure which kinds of wine we liked but by the end of it all we had it pretty sorted out. Along with the wine tasting we also got to taste some cheeses, fudge, mustards, jams and relish - all very tasty. We had hoped to go to the beach to do some surfing, but the weather was horrible the days we had left there.
Finnally we had a new place to go to on our trip, Wollongong. The only trouble was trying to get there. We had to get a train in from Sydney, were directed to the wrong platform, had to run to catch our train, got off "heaps" of stops early, traveled back in the direction of Sydney to catch another train that would eventually take us to Wollongong. Anyways we finnally made it there and found our hostel, which was pretty nice- had our own room with bathroom, a kitchencupboard that locked and our own fridge. We even had our own verandah to sit on. Our buddy Dan called us the first evening we got in and pretty much kept us busy the rest of our stay which was great. Our first night in town he took us on a drive around town and we went to a pub he used to manage to have a few drinks and catch up. The next day we went to the beach because for once it was SUNNY! We hadnt seen much of the sun since Byron really so it was nice to just relax on the beach. That night Dan picked us up and we went and had dinner with he and Mel and their little girl, Imogen- what a cutie! Dan cooked up a delicious meal and we just caught up some more and hung out. THe next day we went to the beach again and did a little shopping and then that night we went out to dinner with Dan, Mel and Imogen to a local Vietnamese restaurant which was delicious- jeff is hooked! After dinner Mel had to take Imogen home but Dan took us to a couple local bars/clubs- it was a good night. The next day we just ran some errands around town and then Dan picked us up after work and took us back to their place as we were going to stay with them for a few days. We had to quickly get ready and then it was off to the footy match. It was an early game so we missed the pregame but we caught the main event. Rugby is definetly an interesting sport, but it was fun to attend and pick up some Aussie culture. After the game Mel went to drop Imogen off with her parents so Dan and us went out to get some food- we went to Amigos, a wonderful little mexican place. The food was great and according to the boys so was the worm in the Mezcal- clearly chels wasnt touching that, just a boys thing. We were joined by Dan's friend Matt as well. After dinner we finally got hold of Mel and she was on her way back to meet up with us so she picked us up and we went out to the local pub, Northgong and met up with more of their friends. It closed at midnight so next we headed over to another club close by and continued the partying. All in all, a stellar night! The next day we just took it easy; Dan's buddy Jeff came by and started up the BBQ for breakfast so we had some eggs and bacon and sausage to start the day and then hung out all day and had dinner again with Dan and Mel as it was our last night. After Imogen had gone to bed and we'd relaxed a while we finally got the opportunity to teach Dan the lovely game of Beer Pong- needless to say we've left the cups with him and he is practising for our return- he LOVED it!
Our next stop was Canberra which required us training to Sydney, and then hopping a greyhound. It was a long day of travel but we eventually made it in. Our first day there we went to the War Memorial Museum. This place is huge and had an extensive display of every battle Aussie soldiers have been involved in. Needlesss to say after 4 and a half hours we still hadn't seen everything but just couldn't browse through anymore- definetly worth checking out if you go there. That night we decided to check the big Canberra casino- we'd seen the sign and jeff had just about lost it so we HAD to go. Our first attempt Chels was dressed inappropriately and was denied entry...so we headed back so she could change her flip flops to shoes and then went and tried again. We were welcomed in this time and boy are we glad we went back- let;s just say the sign to the casino is trying to compensate for something- the casino was one little room with about 12 tables...no pokies...nothing....definetly not worth our time. Oh well. The next day we ventured out to capital hill and checked out the parliament buildings. Very large and beautiful. That was pretty much all we got out of Canberra as that night we were on an overnight bus to Melbourne.
Melbourne so far has been great. We spent our first day walking around the city just trying to get orientated and then on our second night we took in an AFL game- also a very interesting sport but the fans love it. The stadium holds 80000+ ppl which is ridiculous. We got nosebleed tickets for 19 bucks, not a bad deal really. We had a really great time at the game and then afterwards on our walk home we met some aussies who were laughing at the tourists taking pictures with possums and we ended up heading to a local watering hole with them, by the name of the Elephant and Wheelbarrow. It was a very messy but excellent night. Unfortunatley we failed to notice that we left our cel phone in the cab back to our hostel. We spent the next day calling cab companies and the pub etc etc trying to track it down when we got a call at the hostel from our friend Dan in wollongong saying he called us late last night and the cab driver picked up our phone and was dropping it off to us that night- how lucky is that! needless to say we were VERY thankful. Other than that we took in a Great Ocean Road tour yesterday which was very long but very spectacular. We left the hostel at 7am and got back at 10pm- pretty sure we saw everything we wanted to and we had a great group of ppl and perfect weather for the day. Today we got lost on the trams and then tomorrow we head to Phillip Island to see the Penguin parade- should be good!
Other than that we are doing well, the weather has definetly cooled down a bit, leaving chels with a bit of a cold AGAIN but we've just learned to bundle up again...beats the snow!!!(suckers!)We can't beleive we've only got 3 weeks left, better be off to enjoy it. Looks like we'll have our last 2 weeks in the Sydney area, next stop is Adelaide and then on April 30 we fly back to Sydney. Should be good.
Anyways, love and miss you all, talk to you soon!
Oh and we've each got a few more pics up:
Chels': http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2014609&l=20298&id=129500485
Jeff's: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15846&l=aa641&id=507914650
~chels~ + Jeff
