Kristen and Dylan Cohon

We're Home

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:09:00 +0000

Thank you to everybody who followed our blog.

Hello New Zealand

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:08:00 +0000

Instead of taking a direct flight 17 hours from Melbourne to Los Angeles, we stopped off in Auckland to have a week of fun on the north island in New Zealand. We are excited about this leg of the trip because in addition to breaking up the excruciating travel, we also get so see one of the most beautiful parts of the world we’ve ever been to.

We are in Paihia, which is about four hours north of Auckland. We are staying at a really great house that looks out on the Bay of Islands. The view is amazing! The Bay of Islands reminds us of the San Juan Islands (in Washington State), except that the water is warm and bright blue.

Today we rode a ferry from Paihia to a cute little town called Russell. We enjoyed walking around Russell. While we were there we had lunch in a café, skipped rocks in the beautiful water, and got ice cream cones. Then we rode the ferry back to Paihia.

Tomorrow we are going on a boat trip through the islands. The company that runs the boat trip guarantees that we will see dolphins. We are even allowed to swim with the dolphins if we want.

In two days we are going sea kayaking around the islands. Then we are going to pack up and drive to Auckland. Along the way we are going to stop at some famous old growth forests and beaches.

Anxious to Get Home

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:49:00 +0000

I am sorry to announce that last week my grandfather, Gail Ringer, passed away. Sadly, that is the second grandparent we’ve lost since arriving in Australia. Kristen’s Grandfather, Ted Otto, passed away just as we arrived in Australia. Losing Grandpa last week, just days before we were scheduled to depart for America, reminded us of how much we miss our family and friends in America. We are looking forward to getting home and seeing everybody.

Goodbye Australia

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:36:00 +0000

On Sunday, the Flores Family brought us to the train station (in two cars because our luggage wouldn’t fit in one). It wasn’t until we were seated on the train to Melbourne that we relaxed a bit and had time to reflect. As the train pulled out of the station we were sad to see Albury disappear behind us.

It is surprising how quickly our 13 months in Australia have passed by. We can remember our arrival as clearly as if it were yesterday. It is surprising how deeply we have been affected by our year abroad. It was truly an unforgettable experience.

We arrived without expectation and embarrassed by how little we knew about Australia. Now we feel like Australia is home. We have learned so much about the country, traveled it extensively, and met so many great people along the way. We have also gotten used to the accents and the slang, the differences in the culture, and driving on the left.

We feel lucky to have met so many wonderful people and to have forged many lifelong friendships. It is difficult to leave knowing that we will be far away from all of the people we have grown accustom to seeing daily. We want to extend an open invitation to anyone we have met in Australia who would like to visit us in Seattle. Everywhere we went in Australia, we were shown nothing but the utmost hospitality, and we would love the opportunity to reciprocate. Both tennis players and non-tennis players should not hesitate to contact us.

We will miss you all very much! Thank you for a grand time.

Luggage

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:34:00 +0000

We didn’t realize how much stuff we acquired in Australia until it came time to get it all home. Wow we have a lot of stuff! It took us several days to deal with it all. We had to call Quantas to figure out baggage limitations, and then we set out trying to figure how we would comply with the limitations. We packed, re-packed, mailed some boxes, donated some things, and bought an additional suitcase before we finally finished packing. Before we left, we also had to contact our rental car company in New Zealand to make sure they would have a large enough car to accommodate all of our bags.

Last Day of Pennant

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:27:00 +0000

Luckily, Dylan had time to play one last day of Pennant at the Albury Grass Courts on Saturday. Dylan was pleased because he and Rodney won their match, and Dylan won both of his singles matches. It worked out well that he was able to play, so we could say goodbye to all of his tennis mates. It was especially sad leaving Rodney after spending so much time getting to know him over the last 13 months. In addition to being Dylan’s doubles partner and tennis teammate, Rodney and his wife Shirley have become some of our best friends in Albury, so we’ll really miss them.

Busy Final Week In Albury

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:19:00 +0000

For the last week of November, we stayed at Paul’s house. As you can imagine, we had a lot to do in preparation for the big move home. We even had to perform a preliminary mock pack to ensure that our luggage was within the airline limits. We also had to figure out what to do with our car, bank accounts, phones, etc. It is amazing how many chores accompany moving. We were on the go everyday (except Sunday, when we got a flat tire).

Our limited time was also spent trying to see of our friends so we could say proper goodbyes to everybody. Our friends were all very generous and hosted us for last minute meals to send us off. In the end, we were able to complete almost everything we had hoped, and say goodbye to almost everyone.

On Thursday, Paul and Amy hosted a full on going away party at Paul’s house, complete with flyers, pizza and hors d’oeuvres. The party was great fun and it meant a lot to us that so many people were able to attend. The flyers stated BYO but we bought a back up supply of alcohol, since we know how much Australians like to drink. It turns out that we overestimated and had plenty of leftovers. Oops. Our friends in Albury will be able to drink it (and remember us) for a long time.

Manly & Sydney

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:08:00 +0000

When we left the rainforest, we drove down Pioneer Valley to Mackay, and flew from there to Sydney. When we landed in Sydney, we drove to Manly. Manly is one of the oldest suburbs of Sydney. We were excited to get there because our accommodations were on the beach; and Manly is famous for its incredibly popular beach, which is usually packed with surfers, beach volleyball players, and topless sunbathers. We had been looking forward to taking surf lessons and relaxing on the beach.

Unfortunately, we barely set foot on the beach, because it was overcast and drizzly the whole time we were in Manly. We found this pretty ironic, since Manly is known for its beautiful weather (as well as its beach). Oh well. Australia needs the moisture more than we need the tan.

Despite the terrible weather, Manly ended up being really fun. One reason was that our friends Graham and Margaret rented an apartment that was four doors down the beach from us, so we got to hang out with them while we were there. Another reason we had so much fun was that since the weather was bad, we just went into the city a lot. That worked out well because Sydney is always fun, even if the weather isn’t so good. On the one day that we did get beach weather we took Blossom to Bondi Beach, which is another one of Australia’s famous and popular beaches.

More Fun In The Forest

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:50:00 +0000

Before we left the rainforest, we did some other cool activities. One of the fun activities that we did was platypus watching, something you can’t do anywhere else in the world because platypuses only live in Australia. We hiked to known platypus feeding spots along rivers and streams, and then we sat still and waited for the platypuses to come out of their dens to swim around and feed. They only eat at dusk and dawn, so we had to time our arrival just right. Unfortunately platypuses are not photogenic since they are small, dark colored, and they only surface when the light is low.

We also went on a great hike/walk. We went through a very dense forest with amazing trees. The trail ended at a swimming hole with a waterfall. What a great reward at the end of a hike! Kristen could not be talked into swimming, because we couldn’t guarantee there would not poisonous critters swimming in the water. Water snakes are evidently common in the rainforest, but it doesn’t seem to deter the locals from swimming, so Blossom and I didn’t let it deter us either. We jumped in without hesitation! (Actually…in all honesty…I made Blossom jump in first, and then once she survived I jumped in too.)

Forest Flying

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:59:00 +0000

While we were in the rainforest, we did one of the coolest activities we’ve ever done: forest flying. We hiked to the top of a ridge above a very tropical valley. Then we glided down a 900ft cable to a platform that was suspended about 90 feet high in a tree. Once we got to the platform we transferred all our harness equipment to a second cable line and glided another 500 feet down the valley, to the place we started our hike from.

Gliding was incredibly fun and a bit scary. At times we were over 100 feet above the forest floor, and the trees we brushed past were home countless lethal reptiles and insects. Our gliding equipment included a brake that allowed us to slow up and look at the wildlife in the treetops. The most impressive wildlife we saw was a colony of 4,000 bats. The cable passed within several feet of tree limbs that were lined with bats.

We enjoyed getting to meet Dave and Dona, the people who own the property we were on and run the forest flying business. Dave and Donna live mostly off the land, so as we hiked through the forest, they showed us what they eat. One of the most impressive things about forest flying is that Dave actually put the cable up. Because no helicopters would fly low enough to install the cable from above, Dave actually did it by himself, from the ground. He did it by shooting weighted arrows (with fishing-line attached) over the treetops, and then pulling the cable up. It took over a year. Amazing!

Into the Rainforest

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:21:00 +0000

Last Wednesday we left Airlie Beach and drove inland for several hours until we got to the town of Finch Hatton, which is located in Pioneer Valley, on the outskirts of Eungalla National Park. Finch Hatton has a population of less than 200 people and only consists of a few houses, one store, and one pub/hotel/restaurant.

When we got to Pioneer Valley, we thought we would be spending our first night at a cabin just outside Finch Hatton, but when we arrived we learned that we were off by a day, and our reservation didn’t start until the following night. Lucky for us the town Pub had rooms available, so we didn’t have to drive too far to find a place to stay for the night.

Staying at the Criterion (Pub) was one of the most authentic Australian bush experiences we’ve had. The pub is over 100 years old, and has a feel unlike any other bar we’ve been to. We really enjoyed spending time at the pub, playing pool, eating delicious pub meals, and mixing with the locals. We got along really well with some of the locals (especially Stewart, the pub owner).

The natural vegetation around Finch Hatton is dense tropical rainforest, but there are some farms (mostly sugar cane) in areas where the forest has been cleared. The rainforest is home to some spectacular and scary wildlife, including huge bird-eating spiders, tree-climbing pythons over a foot in diameter, and leaches that drop from shrubs onto humans. We got to see some impressive creatures, some of which we could never see elsewhere in the world, such as platypuses. We also saw turtles, lizards, thousands of bats, and even flying turkeys (see picture).

Life in the tropical rainforest is quite different that what we are used to. It was interesting to see a town where mobile phones and internet are still uncommon. We learned that many of the people in the area are rarely seen, because they intentionally built their houses in secluded parts of the forest where they can live entirely off the land.

Sailing to Whitehaven Beach

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:52:00 +0000

Yesterday we went sailing to one of the nicest beaches in the world. We left Airlie Beach early in the morning on the Camira, a 36 meter purple catamaran. The boat and crew were impressive. We first sailed to Hook Island, where we had “morning tea” (a.k.a. breakfast) and then went snorkeling on a small coral reef just off of the island.

Once we had all returned to the boat from snorkeling we set sail for Whitehaven Beach, on the eastern coast of Whitsunday Island. Whitehaven Beach is renowned as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. It is known for its pure white sand and perfectly clear water. The entire island is a national park, and you can only access the beach by boat or seaplane, so the beach is never too crowded. We were suspicious that Whitehaven Beach wouldn’t live up to all the hype, but it did! We felt like we were in a postcard; it felt fake. We loved swimming and playing in the little waves. The water was really inviting because it looked like pool water. We loved floating on our backs because we were more buoyant in this water than in pool water. The water was very warm but we had to wear stinger suits because it is jellyfish season. After playing on the beach, we had a delicious BBQ on the boat before sailing back to Arlie Beach. What a memorable day.

More Photos of Sailing to Whitehaven Beach

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:43:00 +0000

We Found Nemo!

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:22:00 +0000

For those who don’t know much about the Great Barrier Reef, it is a 1,200 mile stretch of living coral that runs along the tropical northeast coast of Australia. In whole, the Reef is the same size as 70 million soccer fields, which is also roughly the same size as the UK. Today we went on a boat trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. Seeing the Great Barrier Reef was one of the coolest things we have ever done.

Early this morning we boarded a 125 foot cruise boat that took us 60 miles off the coast to Knuckle Reef, one of the 2,900 individual reefs that comprise the Great Barrier Reef. Once we got there we docked at an enormous pontoon marine base for the afternoon. (The boat is docked at the pontoon marine base in the photo below.) The marine base felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. From there, we spent the afternoon snorkeling, riding in glass-bottom boats, playing on an enormous water slide, and lounging on the viewing deck. Kristen even got a massage at the spa.

The weather out at the reef today was mostly cloudy. At one point it even clouded over completely and rained a bit on us. In a way, we felt we lucked out not getting clear weather because it meant it was not too hot. Since it is stingray and jellyfish season, we wore wet suits (for protection) as a precaution. Otherwise, we would not have wanted to wear wet suits in this warm tropical ocean water.

Seeing the Great Barrier Reef up close was truly amazing. We went on a guided snorkeling trip and saw all types of coral and sea creatures. We saw fish that were so colorful they looked fake. We saw several of the fish that the cartoon character Nemo is based on. At one point we even swam right over a baby shark. Snorkeling in this water was more fun than our past snorkeling experiences because the water is so clear here that underwater visibility was great.

Wildlife

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:29:00 +0000

The wildlife we saw at Daydream Island was so impressive that it warrants a special post. We saw bats, kangaroos, wallabies, cockatoos, iguanas, and other amazing birds we don't know by name. On the island there were also several lagoons, which were packed with sharks, stingrays, and other cool fish. Blossom got to pet a stingray at feeding time. I am also including a picture of a huntsman spider (just from our house in Albury), so that you can all appreciate what house-spiders in Australia look like.

We Are In Tropical Paradise!

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:01:00 +0000

Today we are in Airlie Beach, Qld, on the Northeast coast of Australia. We just got back to the mainland after spending a few days out on Daydream Island, which is one of the beautiful resorts in the Whitsunday Islands. To get there from Albury we drove to Sydney, flew to Brisbane, flew on to Mackay, drove to Airlie Beach, and then took a boat to the Island. The entire island was one big resort, which had many amenities including restaurants, bars, pools, spas, shops, and lots of things to do for entertainment. It was very relaxing.

The weather up here in the tropics is hot and humid - it doesn’t allow us to get too far from either the beach or a pool. Stepping outdoors is like stepping into a hot steam-bath. Even our camera feels slimy to the touch in this climate. The weather has suited us fine though, since the most strenuous activity we’ve done in the last week has been either mini-golf or swimming/wading to and from the swim-up bar.

In addition to influencing our activities, the climate has also influenced our attire. We all arrived here with suitcases full of clothes, but it turns out we all over-packed. The only thing people ever wear here are swimsuits (and sometimes even less at the beach…). Since it’s perfectly acceptable here to go anywhere in a swimsuit, and it’s always uncomfortably sticky, that’s all you need. It makes getting dressed simple. All we do is wake up and put on whichever bathing suit we didn’t wear the day before. Too easy. (BTW, I am writing this blog outside at 10:30pm in nothing but my board-shorts...and I am sweating...profusely.)

Our favorite thing about traveling here is that everything here is picturesque. The water is very clear and turquoise. The palm trees are tall and loaded with coconuts. The sand is fine and squeaks under foot. It’s a lovely part of the world. Tomorrow we are leaving early in the morning for a boat trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. We are looking forward to seeing one of the natural wonders of the world, through a snorkeling mask.

We'll post again soon. -D

Our Final Days In Albury

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:04:00 +0000

Next week we are leaving Albury and beginning our vacation up the east coast. In the meantime, we have been enjoying our last days in Albury. Last week we gave George a bath. He was cooperative because he knows when he is clean people cuddle with him more. Yesterday Dylan was in the paper for tennis, but for once he wasn't excited about making the paper. The article was about a "thrilling" open pennant match, where Dylan and Rodney were leading their opponents, but ended up drawing (3 sets all) in the end. Dylan and Rodney had to have a drink to recover from the disappointment of letting that one slip.

Girls Trip

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:36:00 +0000

Blossom, Margaret (Graham’s Mum), and I recently returned from a 3-day trip through a couple of the country towns north of Melbourne. Our first stop was Hanging Rock. Before we left for our trip we watched the 1976 Australian classic movie titled “Picnic at Hanging Rock.” Legend has it that on Valentine’s Day 1900 four school girls disappeared while climbing around the rock. Eventually, one of the girls returned without memory of the events that occurred on the rock. The other three girls were never found. As we hiked, Blossom and I looked everywhere for signs of the missing girls, but we didn‘t uncover any clues. Oh well, the views from Hanging Rock were worth both the drive and the hike to the top.

Next, we drove on to Bendigo, a historic mining city. We stayed the night in the historic Shamrock Hotel. In the morning we took a tour of an old gold mine. Since there are no lights in the mine, we were each given hard hats with head lamps to wear throughout the tour. We also had to wear heavy battery packs around our waists, in order to power the lamps. We rode a lift 80 meters underground, where the tour took place. Blossom was selected to aide the tour guide in a couple of demonstrations. After the tour, we hopped on a talking tram tour. The tram took us down the main street and showed us all of the historical buildings and landmarks. It was a great way for us to learn a bit about the city.

Our last stop after Bendigo was Echuca. The main reason we went to Echuca was for the historic paddle steamer boats. We boarded one of the boats and took an hour long tour on the Murray River. Margaret says that this was the highlight of the trip for her. We were lucky enough to get seats at the very front of the boat where we had the best view.

Tennis

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 01:03:00 +0000

Since arriving back in Albury, we have played a lot of tennis. It's now officially the grass court season here in this region of Australia, so we have switched from clay, synthetic, and hard courts, to playing exclusively on the grass. It has been interesting getting used to the grass because playing tennis on grass is very different from all other surfaces. On weeknights, we play mixed dubs (Dylan/Blossom versus Kristen/Paul) and have some spirited and competitive matches. On weekends, Dylan plays in the opens against the best players in Albury. This weekend was the Albury Grass Court Club Championship. Dylan made the semifinal in the open draw where he lost to his friend Mark Shanahan in a close match.

Back in Albury!

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:30:00 +0000

This last week has been an excellent change of pace after a long car trip. We have spent lots of time relaxing and reading Harry Potter (K5, B7, D2), but we have also managed to pack a lot of fun activities into each day. Blossom has enjoyed meeting all of our friends. Early in the week, Louie and Rhea Flores (parents of our tennis friends Andy and James) took us on a drive to Beechworth, where we spent the day having lunch and shopping. Another highlight from this week was our visit to the local animal sanctuary. It was fun showing Blossom all of the Aussie wildlife and hanging out with the friendly kangaroos. On Thursday, Margaret (Graham's mum) taught us how to make her famous "slice" treat.

Ballarat

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:15:00 +0000

Rather than driving directly back to Albury from the Great Ocean Road, we stopped and spent a night in Ballarat. Although we all found downtown Ballarat charming, we spent most of our time in Ballarat at Sovereign Hill. Ballarat is one of Australia's oldest gold mining towns. Sovereign Hill is a partially preserved and partially recreated 1850s township where you can see exactly what it would be like to visit Ballarat in that era. While we were there we rode a carriage, walked into some of the homes, watched the blacksmith work, and watched them pour a gold bar worth almost $200,000. We also toured one of the actual gold mines and tried panning for gold ourselves. Much to Kristen's disappointment, we didn't get anything.

Great Ocean Road-Trip

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:41:00 +0000

We drove through many charming little surfing towns along the Great Ocean Road. These towns get too crowded to move in the summer, and then turn to ghost towns in the winter. The spring is known for coastal wind and rain, so it was not overly crowded for us. After two nights in Apollo Bay we set out for Warrnambool. Along the way, we saw some of the most spectacular coastal sights we’ve ever seen. The Great Ocean Road winds along the coast, sometimes through forests and farms, and sometimes along ledges that look out on the water. Every so often we would pull off at designated places to admire the amazing scenery. For some portions of the trip it felt like we were constantly getting out of the car and hiking to beaches and lookout points. Blossom offered to carry us when we got tired.

Map Reading 101

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:23:00 +0000

On our last day in Tasmania we drove North from Hobart to Devonport where we caught the overnight boat back to the mainland. When we got off the boat the next morning, we started our road-trip by driving west along the southern coast of Australia, towards the Great Ocean Road. Along the way we stopped for a meal in Geelong, then we set out for Apollo Bay. Kristen’s navigational skills set us back a good hour when the highway she swore would take us west to the Great Ocean Road (B110), actually took us east until we dead-ended at the tip of a peninsula. After a few laughs (and perhaps a few dirty words) we finally got on the correct highway (B100) and made it to Apollo Bay. (Good joke Kristen! We fell for it because it was raining so there was no sun, and the water was on the left because we were on a peninsula.)

More Fun In Tasmania

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:00:00 +0000

After exploring Northeast Tasmania, We drove down to Hobart to spend the a few days in Southern Tasmania. We found lots of fun things to do in Hobart, including shopping, walking around, going to movies, going to pubs and restaurants, playing tennis, and reading Harry Potter (D1, K3, B5). We also went on a couple of daytrips away from the city. The first daytrip we took was to a hiking area called Tahune Airwalk, located in the middle of a rainforest. Some of the trails took us along metal pathways that were suspended hundreds of feet in the air, and allowed us to look down on the treetops. Other hiking trails took us across long swinging suspension bridges over rivers. Another day we drove to a rainforest where we toured a cave and swam in a hot spring. The ferns in the rainforest were bigger than people.

Tasmania

kristencohon@yahoo.com (KC) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:56:00 +0000

After spending the weekend in Melbourne, we boarded a ship, the Spirit of Tasmania. It left at around dinner time and got in the next morning at around breakfast time. We had a room with our own bathroom and bunk beds. Although the main thing we did on the boat was sleep, there were lots of other things to do on the ship for entertainment. There were several restaurants and bars, a casino, a theater, and a store that sold everything from clothes to ice cream bars. On our way to Tasmania our ship went through a storm that made it challenging to sleep with all the rocking.

When we got to Tasmania we drove to Launceston and spent most of the day there. Then we drove over the mountains and along the east coast to a town called Bicheno, where we spent the night. In Bicheno we stayed in a really cool cabin with a view of the ocean. The highlight from Bicheno was the penguin tour. We toured an area where thousands of penguins waddle up on the shore at night to rest, mate, and sleep, before waddling out to sea before sunrise. Unfortunately, it was hard to get any pictures of the cute penguins because it was dark out and we couldn't use a flash.

Not far from Bicheno we found a Berry Farm that sold lots of delicious berry products. The ice cream was delicious!