Alright so after Alice Springs we headed over West to Perth. It is the last major city that we planned on visiting that we hadn't yet (that means that soon enough it will no longer be a WE in these sentences :(. ) . We arrived in Perth on the 13th and for the most part our trip to this city ended up being more of a reunion with some old faces. We first went out for lunch with our friend Nozomi, who we met in Mooloolaba. She took us out to a Japanese restaurant and Amanda tried tuna and sushi... pretty big day. Then later on in the week we met up with the Scottish girls a couple of times... even squeezed in a movie night... little things that you take for granted at home. On one of our last nights we went to one of the many Karaoke restaurants in the area and I sang a duet (which means I actually sang into a microphone! Let me just say that that took many months of preparation for me to actually do it... luckily no casualties and therefore no regrets). The next day Amanda and I took the train to Fremantle, which is a city close by, so that we could check out their market (which was decent, but we weren't overly in the mood to do any serious shopping - the town itself is very beautiful and looks like a classically restored town). Aside from that Perth was just a quick stop in our tour over here... although we did begin training in Perth. And Michelle you had better watch out because we are both planning on entering the half-marathon this year.
Miss you all terribly. Take care, Amanda & Ryan
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sorry about the delay!
Hey Folks,
I apologize for not posting pictures or updating lately but internet has been super expensive lately. I am presently trying to load pictures but I only have 5 minutes left and it is about half way done. Hopefully they all load but I doubt it. As soon as we can find some cheaper internet we will give you a more detailed report on our travels as well as some more pics.
Take Care,
Amanda
PS We are OK and travelling to Margaret River today.
I apologize for not posting pictures or updating lately but internet has been super expensive lately. I am presently trying to load pictures but I only have 5 minutes left and it is about half way done. Hopefully they all load but I doubt it. As soon as we can find some cheaper internet we will give you a more detailed report on our travels as well as some more pics.
Take Care,
Amanda
PS We are OK and travelling to Margaret River today.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Alice Springs
Well for those of you who follow our blog religiously you are in for a treat! Two posts in the same week!! Crazy I know. Well we are now in Perth and figure that it is time that we back track and update you on our tour through the Red Centre (literally the sand is red). We flew in to Alice Springs on the 8th and were immediately hit with the heat (at this time of year it gets up to 40 degrees on average) and also literally hit, mostly in the face, with FLIES! I have never been so close to going crazy in my life as I was constantly swatting flies from my face and anything else they fancy. The next day we took off for our tour at 5:45am! (We actually woke up early enough for that pick up)
This portion that explains the trip is pretty much from the brochure with a few personal insights.
1st Day - Kings Canyon - spend the day hiking (a good couple of hours up and down) the canyon, with plenty of time for the north and south walls, and a swim in the Garden of Eden waterhole (slippery rocks as you try to gracefully slide your way in to the cold/hot water that is home to many tadpoles). We have dinner (pasta & meat sauce) while viewing the sunset over the ranges (personally we enjoyed the sunset at Carlo Sandblow better). Then we slept under the stars on top of our swag (essentially a bigger version of a fully body sleeping bag with a mat inside) in our own sleeping bags (I woke up to the sight of a bull about thirty feet away from me - making a lot of noise I may add).
2nd Day - The Olgas (Kata Tjuta) & Ayers Rock (Uluru) - the morning's spent on a rewarding hike through the Valley of the Winds at Kata Tjuta. After lunch it's off to Uluru for a leisurely guided base walk around the rock and visit to the informantive cultural center. Then we watched the sunset on the rock.
3rd Day - Ayers Rock (Uluru) - did a 9km walk around about more than 3/4 of the rock's perimeter. Amanda and I did it in an hour and a half much to the surprise of our tour guide. Woot Woot! And we still managed to take about 40 pictures of the massive rock. We will be sure to post all of them soon.
After our tour was done Amanda and I spent an extra day in Alice Springs so that we could do a tour of the School of Air, which is essentially a centralized correspondence school that allows students in isolated areas of the Northern Territory to receive education. Everything is done through a live feed. The teachers teach lessons from the studio that we visited while their students follow the lesson on a computer answering/asking question over microphones, head sets, and chatrooms. It was incredibly interesting to learn about and even more refreshing to hear about how engaged the students are in their own learning - no behaviour problems and no late assignments. I may just have to come and teach here...ha. The students also have a home tutor that can be hired or just a parent that will retain weekly contact with the instructor to make sure that the student is on the right page. Really an interesting concept.
That is all that I can think of for right now off the top of my head. Hope to talk to you all soon again.
Ryan and Amanda!
This portion that explains the trip is pretty much from the brochure with a few personal insights.
1st Day - Kings Canyon - spend the day hiking (a good couple of hours up and down) the canyon, with plenty of time for the north and south walls, and a swim in the Garden of Eden waterhole (slippery rocks as you try to gracefully slide your way in to the cold/hot water that is home to many tadpoles). We have dinner (pasta & meat sauce) while viewing the sunset over the ranges (personally we enjoyed the sunset at Carlo Sandblow better). Then we slept under the stars on top of our swag (essentially a bigger version of a fully body sleeping bag with a mat inside) in our own sleeping bags (I woke up to the sight of a bull about thirty feet away from me - making a lot of noise I may add).
2nd Day - The Olgas (Kata Tjuta) & Ayers Rock (Uluru) - the morning's spent on a rewarding hike through the Valley of the Winds at Kata Tjuta. After lunch it's off to Uluru for a leisurely guided base walk around the rock and visit to the informantive cultural center. Then we watched the sunset on the rock.
3rd Day - Ayers Rock (Uluru) - did a 9km walk around about more than 3/4 of the rock's perimeter. Amanda and I did it in an hour and a half much to the surprise of our tour guide. Woot Woot! And we still managed to take about 40 pictures of the massive rock. We will be sure to post all of them soon.
After our tour was done Amanda and I spent an extra day in Alice Springs so that we could do a tour of the School of Air, which is essentially a centralized correspondence school that allows students in isolated areas of the Northern Territory to receive education. Everything is done through a live feed. The teachers teach lessons from the studio that we visited while their students follow the lesson on a computer answering/asking question over microphones, head sets, and chatrooms. It was incredibly interesting to learn about and even more refreshing to hear about how engaged the students are in their own learning - no behaviour problems and no late assignments. I may just have to come and teach here...ha. The students also have a home tutor that can be hired or just a parent that will retain weekly contact with the instructor to make sure that the student is on the right page. Really an interesting concept.
That is all that I can think of for right now off the top of my head. Hope to talk to you all soon again.
Ryan and Amanda!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Melbourne...still
Okay so while we are no longer in Melbourne we figured that we should conclude our update on all of the activities that we took part in while in Melbourne. First off on the fourth we took a day of rest after having a bit of a busy weekend with Mattea, Tim and his family. The only thing I did that day was meet up with RJ, the son of one of the teachers that I taught with in my short stint in Vibank. It's crazy how seeing someone who actually knows where Saskatchewan is can make your day.
We at some point visited an art gallery that spanned three stories and included Aborigional artwork along with some other not quite as professional artwork (or at least that is my non-educated opinion). I just can't justify hanging artwork that looks like a pile from the junkyard scattered around the floor or on a wall I guess.
We also got a chance to catch up with some of the most fun travellers that we have met to date -- the Scottish girls (who we plan to meet up with in Perth as well). Aside from meeting up with all of these people we also made it to the Queen Victoria Market, where we bought some souvenirs. However, the most exciting bargain were the strawberries and the mangoes (Amanda picked up a container of strawberries for $2 and I the thrifty shopper walked away with 20 mangoes for $5 - of which we could only eat four before feeling full -- don't worry we passed them on to the Scottish girls).
After the market we headed over to the Old Melbourne Gaol (Jail) where we got to go on several tours that landed us in the same jail house as Ned Kelly (Australia's Billy the Kid), the reenactment of his court case, and even in a padded room (more Amanda's thing I suppose). Quite and informative day if I do say so myself.
That pretty well wraps up our experience in Melbourne - very cultured, very educational, and very beautiful - one of our favorite cities to date!
We will catch you all up on our adventures in Alice Springs another day, as we have both been catching up our journals like mad this last week and are going to do our best to condence it all when our brains are functioning again. Thanks for reading!
We at some point visited an art gallery that spanned three stories and included Aborigional artwork along with some other not quite as professional artwork (or at least that is my non-educated opinion). I just can't justify hanging artwork that looks like a pile from the junkyard scattered around the floor or on a wall I guess.
We also got a chance to catch up with some of the most fun travellers that we have met to date -- the Scottish girls (who we plan to meet up with in Perth as well). Aside from meeting up with all of these people we also made it to the Queen Victoria Market, where we bought some souvenirs. However, the most exciting bargain were the strawberries and the mangoes (Amanda picked up a container of strawberries for $2 and I the thrifty shopper walked away with 20 mangoes for $5 - of which we could only eat four before feeling full -- don't worry we passed them on to the Scottish girls).
After the market we headed over to the Old Melbourne Gaol (Jail) where we got to go on several tours that landed us in the same jail house as Ned Kelly (Australia's Billy the Kid), the reenactment of his court case, and even in a padded room (more Amanda's thing I suppose). Quite and informative day if I do say so myself.
That pretty well wraps up our experience in Melbourne - very cultured, very educational, and very beautiful - one of our favorite cities to date!
We will catch you all up on our adventures in Alice Springs another day, as we have both been catching up our journals like mad this last week and are going to do our best to condence it all when our brains are functioning again. Thanks for reading!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Melbourne
Wow, this seems a bit weird. I haven't wrote on the blog since Ryan arrived. I am a lot less descriptive than Ryan so I will apologize ahead of time to both our mothers for the short blog entry.
After a rough flight due to a bit of turbulence and interesting shuttle ride we arrived safe and sound in Melbourne on the 29th of December. We have been keeping busy by visiting the different museums and art galleries in the city. On New Years Eve we walked to Federation Square to take in the festivities. Arriving at Fed. Square around 9pm we watched some traditional live music, firethrowers and acrobats. When 2009 hit there was a beautiful fireworks display which I tried to capture on my camera but it definately does not do it justice. On the way back to our hostel we ran into a bit of pepper spray. Fortunately we felt the effects early enough and got out of the area immediately. No harm done though just some runny noses and burning.
On the 3rd Mattea and Tim took us out to Inverloch to spend a few days at the beach. We stayed with Tim's family, which was so amazingly hospitable! Great ambassadors for the country! While there we watched the penguins walk up the beaches back to their burrows for the night. It was quite surreal to watch these penguins waddling up on the beaches of Australia.
We will be in Melbourne until the 8th of January before we fly to Alice Springs to do an Ayers Rock tour.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
Ryan and Amanda
After a rough flight due to a bit of turbulence and interesting shuttle ride we arrived safe and sound in Melbourne on the 29th of December. We have been keeping busy by visiting the different museums and art galleries in the city. On New Years Eve we walked to Federation Square to take in the festivities. Arriving at Fed. Square around 9pm we watched some traditional live music, firethrowers and acrobats. When 2009 hit there was a beautiful fireworks display which I tried to capture on my camera but it definately does not do it justice. On the way back to our hostel we ran into a bit of pepper spray. Fortunately we felt the effects early enough and got out of the area immediately. No harm done though just some runny noses and burning.
On the 3rd Mattea and Tim took us out to Inverloch to spend a few days at the beach. We stayed with Tim's family, which was so amazingly hospitable! Great ambassadors for the country! While there we watched the penguins walk up the beaches back to their burrows for the night. It was quite surreal to watch these penguins waddling up on the beaches of Australia.
We will be in Melbourne until the 8th of January before we fly to Alice Springs to do an Ayers Rock tour.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
Ryan and Amanda
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
We're ALIVE!!!
So to quickly fill everyone in on what we have been up to recently there have been some long kept secrets that are finally revealed in this blog entry. First off our stay here in Cairns has been quite eventful already. We took a free bus trip out to the rainforest and went swimming in the river. The exciting part though was climbing up the path until you reached the point where you were able to jump off the cliff into the river. The cliff itself was about 8 meters above the flowing waters and Amanda carefully sized up the feat before committing. For those of you who don't know I am practically blind without my glasses and since I have already lost a pair of glasses to diving into water, I had to do this jump partially blind. We stepped up to the edge, memorized where all the jagged rocks were below us, and started the prejump prayers. Being to polite Canadians that we are we allowed another jumper to go first. Now you may be thinking that this is pretty crazy, but you are able to rationalize that the only way you will die is if you slip... because that way you won't have the force to clear the rocks. So a little more comfortable with the idea we watched the last jumper go and what do you suppose should happen?... He slipped at the last second... but he managed to regain his footing and prevent himself from falling. At this point you just have to accept that there is a level of lunacy that comes with being a backpacker... and you throw yourself over the edge. It was quite an adrenaline rush... and as Terry recommended really made you feel like you were living each moment and just giving it! (be aware that my mom won't be to happy with you now Terry... haha) But this is only the beginning of this crazy blog entry... so get comfortable.
Okay so this is where the secret is let out... since I decided that I was joining Amanda on this trip we had been planning a few activities that were must do's while over here. And for those of you who were already informed... yesterday (our Christmas Eve) we willingly jumped out of an airplane at 14,000 ft! The reason I kept it a secret was for sanity sake. You have seen the amount of posts our parents (especially my mom) post on here, so I decided that rather than stress my family out with the worry I would wait until I landed to tell them. Good news... I landed. The experience in itself was unbelieveable and definitely something I recommend you do. It is a bit expensive and definitely but a dent in the wallet, but make sure that you ask to see our videos when we get back to Canada, they sum up the experience fairly well!
Aside from the adrenaline Amanda and I have tried to make this Christmas away from home as normal as we possible can given the conditions. Last night we hung up our ankle sock stockings and thankfully Santa was able to find us even in the hostel... so we are both convinced that we must have been pretty good this year. First thing this morning we opened our stockings and then we exchanged the gifts that we had got one another... all of which had to be useful and packable... and under the thrifty $10 budget... whoever said Christmas needs to be about the money and gifts haven't experienced a backpacker Christmas.
For lunch today we signed up for the hostel lunch which had chicken and stuffing, salad and ... the crackers that you pull and pop to get the little toy and colourful crown. And tonight we are serving up some lazy man's cabbage rolls (found some sour kraut)... and Amanda's immitation Pistacchio salad? I'll let you know how that works out.
Anyways Take care everyone and I hope you all enjoy you Christmas!
Ryan and Amanda
Okay so this is where the secret is let out... since I decided that I was joining Amanda on this trip we had been planning a few activities that were must do's while over here. And for those of you who were already informed... yesterday (our Christmas Eve) we willingly jumped out of an airplane at 14,000 ft! The reason I kept it a secret was for sanity sake. You have seen the amount of posts our parents (especially my mom) post on here, so I decided that rather than stress my family out with the worry I would wait until I landed to tell them. Good news... I landed. The experience in itself was unbelieveable and definitely something I recommend you do. It is a bit expensive and definitely but a dent in the wallet, but make sure that you ask to see our videos when we get back to Canada, they sum up the experience fairly well!
Aside from the adrenaline Amanda and I have tried to make this Christmas away from home as normal as we possible can given the conditions. Last night we hung up our ankle sock stockings and thankfully Santa was able to find us even in the hostel... so we are both convinced that we must have been pretty good this year. First thing this morning we opened our stockings and then we exchanged the gifts that we had got one another... all of which had to be useful and packable... and under the thrifty $10 budget... whoever said Christmas needs to be about the money and gifts haven't experienced a backpacker Christmas.
For lunch today we signed up for the hostel lunch which had chicken and stuffing, salad and ... the crackers that you pull and pop to get the little toy and colourful crown. And tonight we are serving up some lazy man's cabbage rolls (found some sour kraut)... and Amanda's immitation Pistacchio salad? I'll let you know how that works out.
Anyways Take care everyone and I hope you all enjoy you Christmas!
Ryan and Amanda
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Whitsundays/Cairns
Alright so here is another of our much anticipated blog entries. So the last time we wrote we were in Rainbow Beach working at the surf school. Since that time we have ridden a couple of buses that I will discuss briefly in a short while. First on the 15th we hopped on a bus at 7pm and were headed to Airlie Beach, which for those of you who have consulted your maps is about a 14 hour bus ride. Luckily it was a night trek so we did our best to sleep on the journey... although we highly recommend that you pack a sleeping bag on board like Amanda did so that you don't freeze your butt like I did (although me trying to keep warm in the fast drying towel that Michelle bought me was quite a site in itself).
We arrived in Airlie Beach and immediately stopped in at the local Chemist (Pharmacy) and purchased some heavy duty bug spray because Justin had been warning us about all of the bed bug sightings in Airlie. We checked into our Deluxe Cabins (not sure why we got the upgrade - although I claim it's my superior interpersonal skills) with a fridge and a bathroom!! The next morning we got up early to make sure that we had everything in order for our sailing trip (ie. had to make sure we purchased our matching captain hats for those who have already looked at the photos of the trip). We boarded the boat and we were off 'sailing' via motor.
The first day of our Whitsunday sailing trip was fairly uneventful as it constituted getting to our anchor point so that we could set up for the night. They served us fish and potatoes (really good food... even Amanda ate the seafood centered meal). The next morning we woke up and headed over to Whitehaven beach. The pictures of this beach do not do it justice. It is absolutely beautiful with some of the whitest sand I have ever seen (90%+ silica content we were told - some of this sand went into the creation of some high power telescopes used by NASA if I am not mistaken). We then got on board so that we could go around the corner and check out the view from a look out (this is where most of our pictures are from). Oh and the wetsuits we are wearing in some of the pictures are there to protect us from the 'stingers' - the waters are ladden with jelly fish... not that we saw too many though. The lookout also provided beautiful scenery as we could see several beaches and islands, while having a chance to see mantarays and stingrays below... very cool.
After the lookout we geared up in the wetsuits again so that we could go and do some snorkeling (first time for me). I thought that without my glasses I would not get to enjoy it as much as others, but the fish swim right up to you uninhibited (I like to believe that they knew I was practically blind). We saw so many different shapes, sizes, and colours of fish and coral... very beautiful again. And on the plus side Amanda had a chance to save my life. There was a tiny jelly fish swimming near us and she instinctively pushed me out of the way (though she won't fully admit it yet) of danger (since I was practically she didn't think I would be able to see the danger - but I could see it... which makes it even funnier).
Following the snorkeling it was an early night as we were starting to feel the effects of a few days at sea... and the physical exersion of snorkeling as well. The next morning we woke up early because we had the option of going snorkeling again... an opportunity we both took. This time we managed to see a sea turtle in it's natural habitat (which has been Amanda's agenda since I have arrived here in Australia). We also saw a clam, more fish and coral (which was much more unique that the previous days). To our surprise when we got back on the boat and were talking to other snorkelers we found out that about 20 meters from us was a real life shark... not a considerably deadly one, but a shark all the same (daredevils... living life on the edge... as much as our mothers hate it... ha ha). The rest of that day was spent cruising back to port and then we said our goodbyes to the friends we had made... specifically Jackie our Scottish cop friend.
The next morning we boarded our bus (which we save $100 on) only to find out that as of that point we would be making the 10hour trip without air conditioning. So while you were all suffering in -40 degree weather we were suffering in +40 degree weather. After about three hours of this our new driver said enough is enough and forced the company to call in a replacement bus... be sure to ask Amanda and I about some of the new characters we met on this bus trip... very interesting people.
Anyways we arrived in Cairns after 11 hours on the bus and we checked into our dorm room to find out that there were six bed in a very spacious room... but none were occupied... the room was spotless and we had our own fridge! We also have control of the air conditioner and the ceiling fan!!! As of today we have had the room to ourselves for the past two nights and it has been glorious... we hope that it will stay like this at least until Christmas, which we will be spending here (no cabbage rolls this year though since they don't seem to know of sourkraut or sour cabbage - but we will make adjustments to the menu all the same).
So in the event that we don't post any time soon... Merry Christmas to all of you and a Happy New Year from your family/friends abroad. Don't stop thinking of us for a minute! Seriously Santa could be watching. Take care... and yes we do miss you all.
We arrived in Airlie Beach and immediately stopped in at the local Chemist (Pharmacy) and purchased some heavy duty bug spray because Justin had been warning us about all of the bed bug sightings in Airlie. We checked into our Deluxe Cabins (not sure why we got the upgrade - although I claim it's my superior interpersonal skills) with a fridge and a bathroom!! The next morning we got up early to make sure that we had everything in order for our sailing trip (ie. had to make sure we purchased our matching captain hats for those who have already looked at the photos of the trip). We boarded the boat and we were off 'sailing' via motor.
The first day of our Whitsunday sailing trip was fairly uneventful as it constituted getting to our anchor point so that we could set up for the night. They served us fish and potatoes (really good food... even Amanda ate the seafood centered meal). The next morning we woke up and headed over to Whitehaven beach. The pictures of this beach do not do it justice. It is absolutely beautiful with some of the whitest sand I have ever seen (90%+ silica content we were told - some of this sand went into the creation of some high power telescopes used by NASA if I am not mistaken). We then got on board so that we could go around the corner and check out the view from a look out (this is where most of our pictures are from). Oh and the wetsuits we are wearing in some of the pictures are there to protect us from the 'stingers' - the waters are ladden with jelly fish... not that we saw too many though. The lookout also provided beautiful scenery as we could see several beaches and islands, while having a chance to see mantarays and stingrays below... very cool.
After the lookout we geared up in the wetsuits again so that we could go and do some snorkeling (first time for me). I thought that without my glasses I would not get to enjoy it as much as others, but the fish swim right up to you uninhibited (I like to believe that they knew I was practically blind). We saw so many different shapes, sizes, and colours of fish and coral... very beautiful again. And on the plus side Amanda had a chance to save my life. There was a tiny jelly fish swimming near us and she instinctively pushed me out of the way (though she won't fully admit it yet) of danger (since I was practically she didn't think I would be able to see the danger - but I could see it... which makes it even funnier).
Following the snorkeling it was an early night as we were starting to feel the effects of a few days at sea... and the physical exersion of snorkeling as well. The next morning we woke up early because we had the option of going snorkeling again... an opportunity we both took. This time we managed to see a sea turtle in it's natural habitat (which has been Amanda's agenda since I have arrived here in Australia). We also saw a clam, more fish and coral (which was much more unique that the previous days). To our surprise when we got back on the boat and were talking to other snorkelers we found out that about 20 meters from us was a real life shark... not a considerably deadly one, but a shark all the same (daredevils... living life on the edge... as much as our mothers hate it... ha ha). The rest of that day was spent cruising back to port and then we said our goodbyes to the friends we had made... specifically Jackie our Scottish cop friend.
The next morning we boarded our bus (which we save $100 on) only to find out that as of that point we would be making the 10hour trip without air conditioning. So while you were all suffering in -40 degree weather we were suffering in +40 degree weather. After about three hours of this our new driver said enough is enough and forced the company to call in a replacement bus... be sure to ask Amanda and I about some of the new characters we met on this bus trip... very interesting people.
Anyways we arrived in Cairns after 11 hours on the bus and we checked into our dorm room to find out that there were six bed in a very spacious room... but none were occupied... the room was spotless and we had our own fridge! We also have control of the air conditioner and the ceiling fan!!! As of today we have had the room to ourselves for the past two nights and it has been glorious... we hope that it will stay like this at least until Christmas, which we will be spending here (no cabbage rolls this year though since they don't seem to know of sourkraut or sour cabbage - but we will make adjustments to the menu all the same).
So in the event that we don't post any time soon... Merry Christmas to all of you and a Happy New Year from your family/friends abroad. Don't stop thinking of us for a minute! Seriously Santa could be watching. Take care... and yes we do miss you all.
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