Australia Pictures

Australia

The Deadliest Country on Earth

Over my two week Easter break I decided to go to Australia! It was massively fun, and coming back was a sad, sad experience that devastated me for at least a week. Regardless, going to OZ was a great highlight in my southern hemisphere experience.
I began my adventure by flying into Sydney. My good friend Christy is studying there so I stayed at her place before we went off exploring the continent country. We went and hung out at her friends place that night and the next day we flew up to this stunning place called Byron Bay. We met up with my two other friends from Santa Barbara, Jess and Kristin while we were spending time in Byron. It was raining the entire time we were there, but we all still loved it. Such a surf town, but with tons of stuff to do. I will definitely return one day. The town was considerably packed because there was a 5 day music festival that was going on when we were there. We went to the last day of it and I got to see Ben Harper, Xavier Rudd, Missy Higgins, and Jason Mraz. It was a great show minus the fact there the entire venue had anywhere from 4-6 inches of mud because of the rain! The next day we took a bus up to a place called Hervey Bay which is basically a gateway to the famous Fraser Island. Hostels in Hervey run camping excursions on Fraser and they gave us these overally top-heavy, 4 wheel drive tanks, crammed 10 of us in and said go. HA. I laugh now, but i was worried for my life most of the time we were driving. We were doing some serious off-roading and I really felt like we were going to roll. I mean it. The last day we were there one of the cars from a different company flipped on the beach. 2 people died and 4 more were heli-vacated to Brisbane hospital.But, besides all that Fraser was full of beautiful beaches, scenic views, and gorgeous Lake McKenzie, and offered the perfect environment for adventure seeking. We all liked it so much that we decided we wanted to stay another day on the island. We were planning on staying at this extremely classy resort, but on the last day Christy and Jess met some overlly friendly Australians who offered to let us stay with them at their campsite. They provided food and everything and let me tell you, they had beach camping down to a science... They had a refrigerator and freezer, two pantries, a 4 burner stove, a huge canvas covered living area and air mattresses in all of the tents. Not to mention a shower unit with hot water available. They were only staying on the island for 10 days, but it looked like they could have lived there for months. Anyway, after a great night with them we got off the island and headed to Brisbane. Both Jess and Kristin went back home after that because all of the Aussie univeristies only got one week while I got two. So Christy and I met up with our friend Samantha Leigh who studied abroad from Brisbane in Tahoe when I was a senior in High school. We caught up on everything while she showed us the city. The next day Christy flew back to Sydney, but I stayed an extra day with Sam. When I flew back to Sydney I stayed with my old roomate from this past fall, Kai. he lives in a dorm and was able to get me free food the entire time I was there. I had some great times in Sydney. There are a ton of beaches all around and most of them have good waves. Kai took me to this place called "The Baths" at Coogee Bay. It was basically just a bunch of rocks that made a big pool but the waves smashed up on them and you could hide underneath all sorts of little caves and watch the water come over. I spent the rest of my time in Sydney just checking out the city and trying to take it all in. I wish I could have seen more places in Australia, but the country is colossal. I could have spent two weeks just in Sydney.

Abel Tasman

I recently went on a weekend excursion to the beach paradise known as the Abel Tasman region. Billy and I did a three day trek through the region and stayed in huts we had reserved along the way. The place is gorgeous, filled with bays and beaches that blow you away. The pictures don't really do it justice, but take a look anyway. =)

The busses on the way there didn't 'match' our schedule, so we had to hitch hike (using homemade hobo signs). Seven rides and around 5 or 6 hours later we got to the trail head, but far too late. People were looking at us like we rode the short bus to the track, so we decided to take a water taxi halfway to our first hut. The second day we hiked around 25 kilometers and passed out early consequently. The final day was a short 2 hour hike out, where we hitched a ride to Nelson and took a bus to our ferry. Epic weekend.

Abel Tasman

Hey Look a Transvestite

So, school is in session now and my life has suffered a dramatic loss of excitement. Compared to traveling around one of the most beautiful countries in the world any kind of school would be boring, but I am taking considerably hard classes and so most of my time now goes to studying of some sort =( . That is not to say that fun has left the building though. Living in a city is great because there are so many things to do ALL the time. Last night I was walking down the street and Brett McKenzie, from Flight of the Conchords, was coming the other way! I got his J Hancock on a twelve pack of beer I was carrying (it was all I had). However, being the small town boy that I am, living in the city has also shocked the hell out of me. Take, for instance, the 3 or 4 transvestite prostitutes that I pass by whenever I walk home late at night. Yes, they did hit on me once, and yes I did run away utterly afraid. Wellington seems to have no shortage of trannys either. They hang out in different locations throughout the city and as a result people I know alter their walking route home to avoid the whole situation. It really is a situation. But extremely disturbed men isn't a good representation of Wellington. Overall, being the capital of New Zealand, it is a very active, compact, business oriented place. It actually is one of the safest cities I have ever been in. I am loving the city, and the culture, more and more as I get to know it better.

This weekend I am going to Abel Tasman national park to backpack for two nights and three days. It is an incredible place and I am excited to say the least!

Mystical Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Southern Adventures

Southern Adventures

On the Road

The trip down the North Island was really fun, highlighted by bungee jumping and an amazing stay at Tara's family friends house. The Prosor's have a house in Gisborne that is totally self-sustaining. They collect all their own water and are completely powered by solar and wind energy. On top of that, they have an incredible view to enjoy from their incredibly beautiful house.

This past week I have been traveling around the South Island with Billy, Tara, and a French girl named Sandy we met at the international orientation. It was definitely too short, we only had 7 days, but we covered most of the island and had some amazing experiences.
We drove straight to the far south to visit our friends in Dunedin but it rained the whole time we were there. Not too much fun. After that we went to Milford Sound, and my life changed forever. It is the most beautiful place I have EVER been. Hands Down, no competition. Sorry Tahoe. Considerably remote, ridiculously raw, and serenely pristine, it is a magical place. We took an overnight cruise through it and got to see the whole thing. Probably took way too many pictures which I will put up hopefully tomorrow. After that amazing experience, we went to Queenstown where I went hang gliding and had the most incredibly delectable burger of my life. FERGBURGER. the name itself is great, but the burgers are enormous and literally every bite is an experience in itself. I ate two with some fries and could barely move for the rest of the night. Totally worth it. After Q-town we drove up the west coast, stopping at some towns and sites to take in the south island experience. We stayed a little outside of Fox Glacier which was totally overrated and the next day drove up to Nelson where we had a wild night with some crazy kiwi rugby players. Today we took the ferry out of Picton straight to Wellington.
I finally get to move into my apartment tomorrow which is exciting, but University also starts tomorrow so it's bitter sweet.


The waterfall is called Huka Falls, in Lake Taupo which is New Zealand's biggest lake.