Destination # 8: Melbourne, Australia

After almost two weeks in New Zealand, it was finally time to start our long trip back home. We were set to fly out of Queenstown with a lay over in Sydney and then off to LA where we needed to catch a domestic flight back up to Portland. Our lay over in LA was pretty short, and I was a bit worried about making it through customs, getting to the domestic terminal, and then checking our bags back in and getting through security, but we didn't have any other choice, so we crossed our fingers and hoped that everything would work out (but it should be clear by now that that isn't how things go for Jacob and I! lol).

In the morning Jacob and I packed up and headed out of Wanaka. We got to Queenstown a bit early, so did a little souvenir shopping (of course we waited until the very last minute to do this! lol) and then headed to the airport. We returned our dear friend, the campervan, and checked in and paid our fees. (Apparently you have to PAY to leave New Zealand... $25 per person... I kind of wondered what would happen if I refused to pay ;)).

The weather was starting to a get a little crappy, kinda wet and foggy, but, being Oregonians, we didn't think anything of it. We boarded the plane and sat there waiting for take off.

And waiting, and waiting.

We were told that there was a large cloud of fog that was in the way of our departure route, and so we were waiting for it to move.

Jacob and I had so much "fun" with Mother Nature in New Zealand (earthquake, near-hurricane winds, snow closures) that it really shouldn't have been any surprise to us that she was now screwing with us leaving!

I wasn't stressing out too much as we waited. I knew that our layover in Sydney was pretty long, so I wasn't worried. And we continued to wait.

And then I heard something I wasn't expecting. A passenger asked another one, "We can't fly out of this airport after 6, right?" It was about 5:30 PM when I heard this statement... now I was nervous. A few minutes later a passenger asked a flight attendant the same question... and got an affirmative answer. If the fog did not move out of the way by 6 PM we would not be leaving the airport that night (Queenstown is surrounded by mountains and so, apparently, flying out after dark is a no-go).

Guess what everyone? The fog did NOT move. We did NOT leave Queenstown that night. Instead the airline shuttled us (at our expense) to hotels throughout the area (which, thankfully they paid for) and we were all told to be back at the airport at 6 AM... which, for Jacob and I, meant that we would miss ALL of our connecting flights.

The airline was able to re-book us to get to LA, but because we booked from LA separately, we were pretty much SOL. We tried making some phone calls and getting things done, but, in the end, we had to ask Jacob's mom if she could help us out while we were in the air... and we just had to hope that we had a flight out of LA when we finally go there.

So, the next morning Jacob and I return to the airport and are re-checking in. Our itinerary is now Queenstown to Sydney to Melbourne to LA (and then, somehow to Portland). And here's the kicker... since we were taking a domestic flight from Sydney to Melbourne, we had to pay for a visitor's VISA for Australia. (The last "day" of our trip was starting to get a bit more expensive than anticipated!).

We paid the fee, boarded the plane and took of (yay!)

After several hours we found ourselves in Melbourne with an EIGHT HOUR layover. So, with our visitor visas in hand, we decided to explore the city and spend an afternoon in an unplanned destination! =)

Looking out from Southern Cross Railway Station

We took a shuttle from the airport down to the train station and then walked around until we found the free tourist city loop bus. We rode through the loop and got a quick tour of the city!

St. Paul's Cathedral

City Street View

Finder's Street Station (I think)

I love this concept of rented bike. I think PDX should do something similar!

Centre for Moving Images

They had a Batman St., too! The Aussies most really love the caped crusader! =)

I don't think I could use a public toilet like this... just too.... out. But at least it's pretty. =)

Love it!

Just some parrots. =)

Off the bus and walkin' around a bit. Loved the city skyline for this vantage point.

The trolley that heads around the city loop.

The Yarra River

Our last "honeymooner" photo... though we still have many, MANY hours of travel to go.

Thankfully, by the time we made it to LA Jacob's mom had booked a flight home for us that same night. We got home late, but managed to get a few hours of sleep before heading back to work the next morning and back to "real" life (we had originally scheduled for a rest day... but that just didn't pan out. lol).


So, that's it! Honeymoon recaps are DONE! And the good news is, our professional photos are up online and we should be getting the CD this weekend!!! =) I can't wait to show you all how the actually event turned out. lol

Destination #5: Wanaka (Day Three)

On (what we thought)* was going to be the last full day of our honeymoon Jacob and I decided to check out Wanaka's local "shooting complex", Have a Shot. Pretty much everything that you can shoot with was available to try out. I'm not a big "shooter" (of any kind) so this was definitely a humorous afternoon! =)

Jacob showing me how it's done!

LONG way down there! I was afraid I wasn't even going to hit the paper target!

But no... I hit it EVERY TIME! Go me! =)

Next up was golf. I love to poke a little fun at Jacob in this photo... can anyone see the ball that he just hit? ;)

But really, if anyone should be made fun of, it's me. I SUCKED at this driving range stuff! lol

Archery!

I used to love this in school... this is the one thing I was REALLY looking forward to! We got a half hour to mess around in here... do you know what a half hour of archery does to arms that aren't used to it? lol

Bulls Eye!!! That was MINE! =)

Skeet shooting.

I was REALLY nervous about this one. I didn't think I would be able to hit a stationary target... let alone a moving one! But I hit THREE OUT OF TEN! I was pretty damn proud of myself! =)

Cro-Pool... a Have a Shot creation

This was a LOT harder than it looked! We played for awhile and then just gave up. lol

After finishing up (we also played a round of mini-golf) we headed back to our condo for dinner and one last soak in the hot tub to finish off an exciting, adventurous two weeks.

Jacob striking a pose! =)

* More on this to come!

Destination #5: Wanaka (Day Two)

So, looks like I inadvertently lied in my last post. I was looking back over our photos and realized that I totally skipped a day. We spent a full day in Wanaka between Milford Sound and Franz Josef getting lost in a giant maze! =)



Wanaka is home of Puzzling World with it's great maze and illusion rooms. Jacob and I decided to give it a shot and see how we'd do (I'm pretty sure we walked all of those 5 kilometers!).

Jacob trying to get a look at where we needed to go.

One-quarter of the maze. Two levels, LOTs of twists, turns and dead ends!

By this point I am getting really, really annoyed and tired... lol, but still managing to keep a happy face. =)

One hour later we FINALLY finish! In this photo I'm truly happy.... to be done with the damn maze! lol This thing would be a FANTASTIC Amazing Race detour (I love that show). Now, on to the illusion rooms!

The Hall of Faces... or something like that. These faces of famous people all seem to follow you as you move around the room.

We are standing straight... obviously the room is not.

Little Jacob

BIG Jacob!

It was a fun day. You know how sometimes you just need to act like a kid again? This place gave us the opportunity to do just that. (Though, I ended up as the cranky kid that Jacob had to placate by buying an ice cream cone later, lol, but all in all, it was a good day!)

Destination # 7: Franz Josef Glacier

After Milford Sound we headed back to Wanaka for a night, and then we were on the road again, but this time north to Franz Josef Glacier.

Our trip took us along the coast of the Tasmanian Sea. It was absolutely gorgeous.

See how close the ocean actually is to the road? There were road signs telling motorists to watch for debris.

After a few hours of driving Jacob and I made it to the parking lot before heading out to the glacier. This is the before picture (it was a bit cold/rainy... beautiful day for a hike =P )


We had to hike through a small forested area for a little bit before we could see the glacier. Once we got through the brush and could see it, I was a bit relieved. It doesn't look THAT far, right?



And then we made it down to ground level, and suddenly the trip looked a lot more strenuous. We were told by some older lady sitting on a bench that it was 2.5 km out (1.5 miles). We didn't really believe her, but then we started walking... and I think she was pretty much right on.

With the exception of the rain/mist coming down on us, the walk wasn't that bad. It was gravel/rocky, but the path was outlined clearly and we only had to cross one stream via rock steps. (with my luck, I was SOO glad that I didn't fall in!)



There were also a couple of waterfalls along the way, so, of course, we had to stop for some photo ops! =)



Finally, we made it out there!


I think I mentioned before that Jacob has been to New Zealand before. When he was in middle school his family took a month-long vacation over the Christmas holiday and traveled the south island. On a trip out to the glacier, Jacob and his brother crossed under the security rope so that their parents could take a photo of them standing next to the face. Right after the photo was snapped, part of the glacier collapsed... almost on top of the boys, who had to run to get out of the way. Why Jacob would want to return to the place he almost died, I have no idea... but he did. lol



Sad thing is, I wasn't particularly impressed with the glacier. It just wasn't as cool as I was expecting it to be. I know that they do a lot of heli-hikes on the glacier, and i think maybe that would have been a little more impressive to me than just walking up to the small face of the thing. Maybe next time. =)

Have the glacier, we headed out to find somewhere to camp for the night. We ended up at the Rainforest Retreat. It's kind of funny to me that there are rain forests and glaciers within 10 minutes of each other but, in a way, I guess it makes sense!



After we settled into our site we went to the retreats bar/restaurant for dinner--they had a backpacker special that we wanted to take advantage of. =) We approached the bar and the bartender took a look at my SFU sweatshirt and immediately asked if I was from Canada! I was surprised that anyone would recognize those particular initials on the other side of the world! But, apparently he was Canadian himself and hailed from Montreal. Just shows what a small world it is, I guess. =)

After dinner we settled into our van for the night to get a little R and R before heading back to Wanaka the next day. That evening I pulled out our travel guides to see if there was anywhere along the route that we should stop, and I read about Monro Beach--the book said it was a great beach that not many tourists visited, and that it was a good place to spot penguins, so we decided to check it out.

When we got there the next morning we were surprised to find that the beach was a 90 return trip hike from the parking lot, through the rain forest... but we decided to go ahead and give it a go.

It was gorgeous. First time I've ever been in a forest like this.

Proof that there should have been penguins! We never did see any there =(

Where the ocean meets the rain forest.

Monro Beach on the Tasmanian Sea

Jacob and I LOVE the ocean/beach (which should be obvious to all by now). And I was really happy to have experienced this one. The ocean was not like any that I'd seen before. If I had to explain it, "angry" would be the word that comes to mind. The waves coming onto the beach were rough and unpredictable. At one point we had to run for higher ground when a wave decided to come about 15 feet closer in than any other. But even though the water had a mind of it's own (and there were a TON of bugs), it was still a very magical experience for me. And we didn't see a single soul until we started the hike back. =)

We headed back to Wanaka after our beach visit, but here's one last photo for you. We passed a number of one lane bridges that we had to cross, but this one was SOO long that there was actually a passing lane in the middle! I just had to share. =)