Coming to an end...

So this is most likely my last post on my time in AU and NZ... although I might update it a bit as I finish some photos... or transition a blog to my life in SF, who knows :)

Let's begin with the NZ trip that I haven't covered.

After Franz Josef, I took a long bus ride through interesting terrain on the way to Queenstown. Initially we were still on the western side of the Southern Alps, which meant we began in lush rainforest and abundant evergreen. We made our way past the alps and into more of the middle of the South Island. The environment changed pretty instantaneously from the green rainforest to high desert... with different flora and whatnot. It was very pretty... reminded me a lot of Rohan from Two Towers. We headed down further past the 45th parallel (half way between the equator and the south pole), which is ideal for wineries. We saw a bunch along the way to Queenstown. Made it into Queenstown fairly late, so I just explored a bit before going to bed.

Woke up really early to start my day trip to Milford Sound. The day was perfect and it was amazing how quickly we became dwarfed by the mountains and forests in Fjordland Park. Stopped in a nice spot for lunch and then headed through the mountain (big tunnel that goes under the mountain). Once out, we made our way down to Milford Sound and took a 1.5-2 hour cruise around. It was awesome.... if you haven't seen Milford in photos, you can check out my facebook album, but googling it is best, because you can see how cool it looks in all types of weather.

After that trip, it was mainly making my way over to Christchurch and then flying out. Christchurch was quite bizarre to see, as the CBD is a red zone, with all entrances to it blocked off by military personnel. To add to that, most houses looked fine, but occasionally you'd come across a partially destroyed home/church or a pile of rubble on a lot. It was also cloudy and cold that day and people were eerily quiet... so it was very post-apocalyptic looking... like something out of Children of Men or The Road.

Early (and I mean early as in 2AM) I got up and got ready to catch my shuttle to the airport. Then I flew back to Sydney. Overall my NZ trip was exactly what I was hoping for, and I can't wait to travel back there and see more of the country... and bungee (didn't this time) :)

So that's it for my last trip. More to come on my final days in Sydney.

:)

South Island!

So it's been a few days since my last update, which, with my busy travel schedule, means that I have been a few places.

Did my lord of the rings tour in Wellington, which was fun... I let my nerd-flag fly and saw parts of Helms Deep, Minas Tirith, Rivendell, Isengard, and the Shire... even better, I was the only one booked that morning, so I got a personal tour :)

Later I took the ferry, which was a bit delayed, causing me to reschedule things a bit for that night. I got into Picton later that evening and checked into the YHA there and made some dinner.

Woke up next morning and went for a run before it started raining too bad. The area was really cool with the rain clouds and foggy patches around the mountains. Later caught the coach to Nelson, where I walked around for a bit and enjoyed the fall colors starting to form... ooops I mean AUTUMN... say "fall" to Australians or Kiwis and they whine about it ;P

Caught a very early bus this morning and wound along some great views of canyons and rivers. Stopped in Punakaiki and saw the pancake rocks (refer to my facebook album for photos), and finally made it to Franz Josef (about a 10 hour drive total).

Now I am warm by the fire, and will hike around the glacier and rain forest tomorrow

After that, another long bus ride to Queensland in 2 days

:)

on a side note, Christchurch had another quake last night, but things appear to be fine for when I get there

In the land of Mordor...

In the fires of Mount Doom!

Got into Wellington after some delays a couple days ago and took a nice coach ride up to Taupo yesterday. It's on a huge lake (Lake Taupo) and has some beautiful scenery in addition to being a cool town.

Today I woke up at 5 to catch a bus up to Tongariro Alpine Crossing. It's an 19.4 Kilometer hike that goes over a ridge and saddle between two peaks (1 of which Mount Doom is based on) and then down around some volcanic lakes, hot springs, and finally into the hills and woods on the other side. You could also go up Mount Doom or the peak on the other side. The Mount Doom one looked a bit intense, so I enjoyed it from afar and did the other summit, which was around an additional 3 k round trip (so about 22.5 k/13.67 miles total).

We started out in some cool fog as the sun began to burn it off up above us. Hiked through some lava fields and up a huge series of stairs called "Devil's Staircase." Then through a crater on the saddle and up another somewhat strenuous ridge. From there I went on the side trail and got some nice views, then headed back and finished off the trip in about 6.5 hours total. And, lucky me (maybe), I got to see and hear a Tui (pictured above... not taken by my camera, because the one I took sucks) in the forest near the end of the trip.

Now I am a bit exhausted, understandably, and am going to have a nice, relaxing evening back in Taupo before catching a bus back to Wellington in the morning.

Back in Wellington I plan on doing the Te Papa museum and also my nerd-indulging Lord of the Rings tour :)

New Zealand-Bound

I have packed my bags and moved out of my apartment and am writing this on the eve of my final big trip.

I leave tomorrow morning for 11 nights in New Zealand, and will be visiting at least 9 cities/areas. I'm really excited for it all and will do my best to leave smaller updates, rather than a long one once I am done.

After that I have a few more days to enjoy in Sydney and am then off to LA and finally San Francisco on the 26th.

Still not sure if I will go bungee jumping or not... you'll find out eventually :)

FLIES!!!!!!!

More on the title in a bit....

I just got back from a 2-night trip to Uluru. It was a great escape from the busy, but fun Sydney I have been in.

I flew in on Sunday afternoon and settled down in the hostel at the resort area. Went on a bunch of walks the whole time I was there (yes around Uluru, but also just around the desert). I was fortunate to come on an off-peak time, so there weren't so many others around.

Another fortune but also misfortune was the fact that it has rained a ton recently in Uluru. The result was a bloom in all sorts of plants and flowers, which made the desert either an intense array of greens (plants) or oranges, reds, and purples (sand and flowers). This made for the perfect time to photograph the area. Now comes the downside: FLIES!!!! (remember the title of this post?). The rains brought an overwhelmingly high number of flies to the area. They didn't bite, so that was a plus. But that's as far as anything positive goes with the flies. They landed anywhere and everywhere on you, and you could sprint or walk and wave your arms around and they'd still find you. I should have just bough the 6-dollar bug nets that you put over your head... but I didn't, so I dealt as well as I could. The biggest inconvenience with the flies came whenever I wanted to take a photo (and this was only an issue during the day when it was hot and they were out). If I wanted to stop and take a photo, I had to plan it out, get the camera ready, take in a deep breathe, quickly hold still and take the photo. If I waited or faltered, they would land on my lips, or in my nose, or on my ears, or somehow get between my sunglasses and my eyes.

OK, enough whining... In the long-run, the trip was great and I am glad I was able to go.

Over the next two weeks I will be most likely just hanging out around Sydney and continuing to volunteer with the bush restoration and whatnot. After that, I am out of my apartment and off on my last trip before I go back to SF. Still formulating it all, but it will definitely include New Zealand (most likely South Island) and will possibly include Cairns or Darwin... we'll see what mood I am in.

Alright, that's all for now... I have been saving, renaming, and editing photos, then uploading them to facebook for the last 3 hours... I need sleep

:)

Youtube Symphony Update

Hey, if anyone is interested, here is the full performance of the finale:

http://www.youtube.com/user/symphony?feature=chclk

The highlights I personally liked are as follows (with time location so you can find them easy if you like):

-17 year old guest conductor did a beautiful, relaxing piece: 00:33:00

-Very cool electronic and improv mix with classical parts in "Mothership": 01:46:00

-Amazing sand artist (although the matinee version she did was better) with a cool violin piece: 02:09:00

-Stravinsky (of course I would add him): 02:20:00

Enjoy :)

RAIN!!!

It's been very rainy for the last few days, but it's not too cold, so I can go out in it :)

Went running with Frontrunners this last Saturday and picked up my Frontrunners shirt (hehe prolly only one of the things I will actually buy here to take back... limited luggage + limited budget = limited souvenirs). And the run was nice because it rained a ton before and then right after, so I got a nice, rain-free run.

Later that day I went to the Youtube Symphony finale matinee (the grand finale was the following night). The program was visually amazing, along with the sounds and songs, of course. They projected images and art all over the inner chambers of the concert hall. During the grand finale they did the same images on the outer sails as well. Highlights for me were 4 pieces. One was conducted by a 17-year-old conductor which was very relaxing and enjoyable: Danza Del Trigo from the ballet Estancia. Another was the premier of Mothership, which featured electronic artists and improvisational pieces by four special guests... it was visually great as well. The third was a violin piece called the Ascending Bird (not to be confused with the Lark Ascending), which was written by two guys in their 30's/40's who were present and playing in the piece. The highlight of the particular piece was sand artist, Kseniya Simonova, who did live sand art accompanying the piece. If you've never seen sand art before, definitely check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo . Finally, I loved the finale, which was the final 3 dances of Stravinksy's Firebird. I got hooked on the song when it was written as a suite for Fantasia 2000, which you can check out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oSTyWYGJ6E . I found that piece to be the finest of the film... the one most like the original Fantasia.

Anyways, all of that was very fun to go to and I might go to another show mid-April which will have Nobuo Uematsu's work from the Final Fantasy series performed.

This week is pretty laid-back. I am most likely going to plan a trip for Monday through Wednesday of next week to Uluru or Canberra, but will update before it's finalized.

On a completely random note, I tried my first custard apple yesterday. If you have never had one, I suggest you do... it's a bizarre fruit that is quite delicious. The outside resembles a mix between an avocado and an artichoke. This is broken open or cut to reveal a pulpy-soft inside. The inside peels apart similar to the flakes of a fish fillet (yeah, weird) and the consistency is almost that of a soft custard). It is called different things in other areas of the world, but here is some info on them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vet2wp5j7dI

OK, that's it for now :)