Hello New Zealand

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We Found Nemo!

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

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.