TravelStream™ news feed for member stefarr on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/stefarr en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:03:07 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1203315420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1203315420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1203315420/tpod.html Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:03:07 -0500 To Australia & New Zealand - Adventures Down Under!

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Tongariro National Park, New Zealand

The alarm rings at at precisely 5:00 am. Jazz wakes up immediately, however I'm wishing it were just a dream and I could sleep in another few hours. With quite a bit of last minute planning, we rented a van yesterday with our "British" buddies, Kevin, Craig and Donald, and drove in from Rotorura to Turangi, a town only 50 minutes away from the Tongariro National Park. We weren't exactly sure what to prepare for  in terms of climate, and timing to complete the hike but we knew it was going to be quite the challenge. The Tongariro Crossing is actually rated New Zealand's BEST one day hike. Now imagine, New Zealand is an absolutely amazing jaw - dropping country, so to nominate it the # 1 Day Hike is quite optimistic on the Department of Conservations' behalf. It's an 18 Km Hike through and UP both active and dormant volcanoes, and average hiking time is 7 hours. IN addition, to this hike, we planned to conquer Mount Ngauruhoe - a 2287 M active volcano, which from here on end, I will refer to as MOUNT DOOM ( I have no idea on how to pronounce and I can not expect you to!!!) Keep in mind that this volcano is not included in the hike, and is a climb at "your own risk"...since there are no paths or trails, you're litterally crawling up a steep mound composed of volcanic ash and rock on your hands in knees. No one told us this in advance of course....It's still pitch black outside, and realize that we'll be starting our hike before sun rise. It's very difficult to choose the appropriate clothing considering it's freezing before the sun comes up and scorching hot when the sun comes out mid day. Nonetheless...thanks to LULU, I wore my "multi-purpose" active spandex pants. They've served me soooo well throughout this entire voyage. We quickly packed up our lunch, our change in clothing and each 3 L of water . We scoffed down a pre made fruit salad for breakfast, not exactly the breakfast of champions but we were due to embark our shuttle at precisely 6:00 am. Fifty minutes later, the shuttle dropped us off at  Pukeonake, the starting point of our hike. Being the competitive bunch that we are, we had to be the first ahead of the entire shuttle group. No time to prep for the hike - we jumped off the shuttle and power walked our way to the first marking point on our Tongariro Map and guide. The sun was just starting to come up and glitter on it's selected choice of rocks in the east. Although, still quite foggy and hazy, the views were absolutely amazing as we cross through running streams. The fog slowly dissipates and, almost like a theater curtain slowly opening up for the show's last act, lay before us what we refer to as "Mount DOOM" - The 2287 M Volcano that we had confidently decided to hike up. We reach the base of the Volcano, 1 hour after from the start of our hike. National Park signs warn us that the hike is at our own risk and there are no guided paths. We look up the Volcano, and convince ourslelves that it's REALLY not that steep or high. By the way, officials of the National Park, estimate the climb to take a minimum of 2.5 hours and the hike back down only 30 minutes. The Five of us are overally optimistic and think we can conquer the volcano within 30 - 45 minutes. YEAH RIGHT!The hike up the volcano begins with a gradual gradient with rocks and grass...almost deceiving the hiker on what's to expected, just a few hundred meters to come. The climb gradually becomes steeper with coal- like rocks and within 30 minutes, we realize we've barely even made a dent on our climb. It's starting to get windy, but we're sweating profusely...1 hour later and we're only half way up. As lightheaded as I felt, I still had enough energy to soak up the views. At this point in altitutide, we were already above the clouds with literally "breath taking" views. In the distance we could see the Emerald Lakes, turquoise blue lakes located 1800 M  high encircling two active volcanos.  The climb becomes excessively more difficult as we're on our hands and knees trying to grip on any NON moving solid rock. We're mostly hiking up volcanic ash, where every step we take entails our foot sinking in at least 1 foot of ash and due to uncompromsing grip, every step we take means sliding two steps back. My calves and glutes were burning at this point, and while my hands were bleeding from gripping on sharp volcanic rocks as if my life depended on it, I also realized that it was luck of the draw because some of the larger rocks were not  quite stable in the volcanic ash, and large boulders would tumble down, possibly hitting the climber below me ( namely Jazz and Kevin) and that also meant that I had to dodge the oncoming  tumbling boulders from the climbers above me. (Craig and Donald). The winds were getting stronger and the hike was growing steeper. We were absolutely exhausted but at this point, the motivation was all mental. It was getting personal...just between Me and Mount Doom. As exhausted as the climb persisted, I couldn't help but think about the steep unstable climb down...absolute Suicide! We're finally closer to the top, and we could begin to see smoke oozing out of smoldering hot rocks... of course the volcano is still active! My legs are like jello and can barely even maneeouver around the red -volcanic rock, but the hike must continue to the highest peak, and we MUST be the first ones to conquer Mount Doom on Feb. 18th, 2008. We finally make it to the crater...it felt like we were walking on the moon...the views were absolutely phenoemenal.. Two hours and 15 minutes later we were literally sitting above the clouds and looking down on Mount Doom's neighbouring volcanos. This is where we decided to park ourselves down for a VERY well deserved lunch! Incredible...The winds were blowing however we nestled next to a cluster of steaming HOT rocks, protecting us from the ghastly winds and the views were again..just breath taking...Twenty minutes into our lunch, we had to share Mount Doom with a few other hikers, and we dreadfully decided to make the hike back down, as our bodies were getting the chills from cooling down. The hike down did take about 30 minutes, but it consisted of falling flat on my arse and immersing my feet into at least a couple of feet of ash and just sliding down like I was skiing. The guys loved it, but I hated it...I had enough rubble in my shoes, to create my own miniature "mount doom" upon anchoring at the bottom ..( I guess I should have refrained from wearing my mini little gym sockets) Nontheless, we made it back down absolutely exhausted but  it felt great and rewarding to have my feet stable on the ground. The only problem was that we still had a 7 hour hike ahead of us and that entailed hiking up another 1900M volcano! (the neighbouring volcano we looked down upon from "Mount Doom" Now keep in mind that The Tongariro Crossing is the #1 Day hike in all of New Zealand, so you can imagine the traffic on the trails. (actually this made the Mount Doom hike all the more special, since there were seldom hikers willing to take on the challenge) So as we're starting to make our way up the next Volcano, Red Crater, our legs feel like jello and can barely hike up 10 meters without taking a short break. The most memorable part of that specific segment of the hike,  was an All Girls high school class on a field trip, hiking the Tongrariro Crossing  They were just ahead of us I managed to pass the entire class of 30 girls on the steep climbing. Unfortunately, Jazz' legs didn't seem to cooperate, and was stuck, 28th person in the single file, high school girls' line. I was standing at the crater of the volcano, peering down at Jazz struggling with the high school girls..and I couldn't help but laugh at loud...and he considers himself to be the top athlete of his rugby league!? hahahah. We finally reached Emererald Lakes, and once again...absolutely outsanding. The only flaw at this point, was that there were wayyyyy too many people on the trail. Nontheless, the beauty far outweighed the dilemma of saturated peeps. We're making it up to our last ascent, Central Crater and approaching Blue Lake,  where I spot the most amazing, awe inspiring, motivating hikers...a father carrying his 3 year old son on his back and a young mother with her new born baby on her front and a huge load on her back. Jazz had to give me his backpack because his legs and back could barely support the added weight, and here was a woman carrying both her new born baby and a backpack twice the size and weight of that on Jazz' back. (well I was carrying for him now) After this peak, the remainder of the hike was back downhill, and we decided to speed our pace up a notch, in order to catch the 4:30 pm bus. We rested and snacked at a lodge just 1800 M above sea level, and 2 hours away from our bus. We only had 1 hour and 15 min to make the 4:30 bus....the remainder of the trail carried on through a rain forest with streams running parallel to the trail. Once again, pure, natural beauty. I wished I could have held on to those views forever. Luckily I have my D80 Nikon! We made it  4:30 on the nose where our shuttle bus was waiting for us. We plopped ourselves on the bus...and felt like I got slapped with a sudden wave of exhaustion.. We arrived at the hostel exactly 12 hours post our departure in the morning. .I haven't been able to move my legs for the past two days. Amazing what one can accomplish in one day. A thought just occured to me...while most of my friends were sitting at their desk, working.. I was sitting above the clouds peering over towering mountains and active volcanos!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1200651600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1200651600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1200651600/tpod.html Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:25:15 -0500 To Australia & New Zealand - Adventures Down Under!

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Melbourne, Australia

Before making our way over to New Zealand, it was an absolute MUST (as per a conglomerate of local and foreign recommendations) to embark on the "Great Ocean Road" tour, southwest Victoria. It's basically an opportunity to travel one of the world's most scenic roads through an extended area that includes the world-famous Twelve Apostles, the Otways rainforest, Bells Beach, on the Surf Coast.Because we booked so last minute there was only availability for the SUNSET tour. It's the same tour as the early morning tour however we leave 3 hours later and get to watch the sunest at the 12 Apostles site and return back to our pick up spot for 12:30 am.We booked our tour with Autopia Tour's sister company and to be honest, I don't think the tour was worth the $95. It was all quite rushed and when stopping to eat both lunch an dinner only 30 minutes was allocated. The guide was great in the sense that she was able to offer alot of information but at the same time, she gave the impression that she was just a bus driver rushing to make it back home before midnight..even though the tour officially ends at 12:30. We would have been better off, just keeping the rented car and doing the tour on our own at our own pace.Besides the rushed tour, the Great Ocean Road was NOT SO GREAT and definitely over hyped. It's definitely a beautiful drive, but I think almost equivalent to California's A1A.Overall, here are the highlights of the trip: (in order of priority)1. Helicopter ride over teh 12 apostles! 8 minute ride for $60 was definitely worth the venture!2. Koala bears (my first encounter)3. Checking out Toquay (surfing industry where quicksilver and Rip Curl started)4. SUPER wide beaches along the coast5. Learning about the GOR historyNOT SO Great traits:1. Swarming with flies! (apparently the climate was exceptionally still so lack of wind invites hoards of flies!)2. Cloudy and rainy weather. The sunset at the 12 Apostle's was non existent during torrential downpour and ended up driving back to Melbourne on stuffy bus.Overall, it was a great experience and upon getting dropped off in Melbourne we headed to the Crown Casino..super cool and young. Actually, Melbourne really is a beautiful, modern city with a great vibe! Jazz gambled until about 4:45 am where we rushed back to the hotel, picked up our bags and headed off to the airport to catch our flight to Christchurch, NZ
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1202460780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1202460780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1202460780/tpod.html Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:59:05 -0500 To Australia & New Zealand - Adventures Down Under!

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Kaikoura, New Zealand

Ok so I'm a little behind in updating my blog. Pardon the tardiness but I've been quite wrapped up with having fun&nbsp;in the&nbsp;land downunder and&nbsp;forgot that the real world may take pleasure throughout their reigmented work day to read&nbsp;about my adventures abroad!!! hehe..SNAPAlthough, I just currently finished the full tour of the south island, I'll continue to write in the present tense.MAGIC BUS INTRODUCTIONNow let me begin...as I may have mentioned in my last blog, we decided to join a tour called the Magic Bus.To save me time from writing a description about the functionality of the&nbsp;company, you can check out their website: www.magic.co.nz Now, realistically, I know most of you won't check it out online...so here is a quick synopsis on how this tour operator works:The Magic Bus is s a "hop on, hop off"bus tour where the bus&nbsp;driver acts as the tour guide and simlutaneously, the&nbsp;concierge that so "magically" multi-tasks while driving and books all our accomodations (hostels only)&nbsp;and activities of choice for the upcoming destination on the tour schedule. Magic offers a so called "Bible" or rather manual that offers suggested activities and places to sleep in the area of port (with potential discounted Magic prices). As passengers/tourists we can choose to stay in the "port" city for as long as we choose. We just call 24 hours in advance to inform whether we would like to be picked up and continue "en route". Keep in mind that although it was our first day embarking the bus...there were some passengers on the bus that had already been touring the entire island and country for that matter.OUR FIRST "MAGIC" LEG TO THE KAIKOURA COAST: Home of Sperm WhalesThe magic bus picked us up in Christchurch around 7:50 am. Keep in mind that most travellers with the Magic Bus are backpackers, and although Jazz and I were technically "roughing" (according to Jazz Starwood standards) in the Holiday Inn, we trekked to the nearest hostel for pickup, covering up the perceived &nbsp;notion that we are not TRUE backpackers by&nbsp;staying at quality hotels.We were greeted by our ever so eccentric driver: Scotty. Quite the character he is with his towering, bleached mohawk, perhaps compensating for his lack in height or perhaps something else... Nonetheless, the girls on the bus&nbsp;LOVED him and as he slowly won them over with his charm, I couldn't help find myself&nbsp;flirting with him, as well.&nbsp;Not before long, I convinced Jazz that it was absolutely mandatory that&nbsp;we sit in the front seat. "More leg room" I declared! On route to Kaikoura, the bus made a few stops to scope out the&nbsp;different&nbsp;lavishing sceneries.&nbsp;I was finally getting a taste of&nbsp; THE New Zealand that we had been expecting&nbsp; to see&nbsp;witness based&nbsp;on&nbsp;consistent&nbsp;raving reviews.We finally arrived at our hostel at around 12:30 pm...and yes, I said hostel. You see, because the Magic Bus is catered to backpackers, the only drop off and pick up points made are affiliated hostels. We do have the freedom to choose hotels, however the bus will not drop us off nor pick us up at the desired location. We would have to walk to the hostels to meet the groups. Now, Jazz was very skeptical about staying in hostels, but now he loves it and has converted from a 5 STAR HOTEL guest to a Joe Blo hostel guest. IN all fairness though, we have been booking double rooms with ensuite bathrooms (permitting they're available), so we haven't TRULY experienced the DORM hostel life.Upon checking in at our hostel, we instantly rush out to join the Whale Watching tour. We embark on rather extremely modern boat &nbsp;filled to the rim with customers.. A little too packed for my liking and rather expensive for the type of expedition but well worth the experience. First and foremost, as we set out to sea, the water conditions were quite rough so the boat was rocking exponentially faster as we progressed out deeper&nbsp;into the horizon. People were were on the verge of spewing their guts out, namely Jazz however in contrast, as if I&nbsp;had&nbsp;just experienced my first&nbsp;amusement park ride, &nbsp;I was giddy like a school girl and LOVING every second of it!&nbsp; Naturally, some people were JUST SO INCONSIDERATE by throwing up left right and center. THe gruesome sounds of regurgitation quickly put a halt to my extensive joy and laughter.With the help of Whale GPS and monotring the whale sounds, we finally spot our first SPERM whale...and wow, what a sight. The crowds and myself included were snapping away with our cameras to capture whatever glimpse&nbsp;we&nbsp;could get. &nbsp;WE were only able to see the whale's back, as it had just surfaced for air...but it was still just so magical.In addition to the whale sighting, we run into a colony of over 50 dusky dolphins. It's as if we were a massive audience standing in an aquarium waiting for the dolphins to perform as they start to circle the boat, flipping in and out of the water, dancing in the air. This apparently was a rare sighting and luckily we captured some awesome photos.ALBATROSSNow although, the tour guaranteed whale sighting and rarely&nbsp;offers the experience of viewing&nbsp;Dusky Dolphins, I was so graciously caught off guard with the sighting of an Albatross bird.&nbsp; Now, I'm really not a bird lover nor do I even fancy learning about birds, until I recently came across an article in the second to last issue of National Geographic...on the ALBATROSS, also&nbsp;known as the "Symbol of the Southern Ocean". Ladies and gentelman...this isn't just any bird...the largest sea brid in the world, it has a wing span of over 11 feet and spends majority of it's flight gliding with the winds. It can fly up to 500 KM a day, flapping it's wings only once or twice throughtout flight! These birds are extremely rare and found mainly on the southern hemisphere, making the sighting of this bird all&nbsp;the more special. So now, I'm obsessed with Albatross. It would be awesome to have my own Albatross pet. I would never confine it to a cage but rather, by my side day and night, I would&nbsp;let it follow me wherever I go..even if that means&nbsp;across the globe. I embark on a plane to travel across the world..and there it is waiting for me on the opposite side..Ok those were deep thoughts that I should have kept to myself<i>SPECIAL NOTE TO MY READERSI promise that my upcoming blogs will be shorter, but just had to introduce the concept of Magic for those who are not familiar with how the "Hop on - Hop off" tour works.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1200815700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1200815700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1200815700/tpod.html Sun, 20 Jan 2008 03:22:35 -0500 To Australia & New Zealand - Adventures Down Under!

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Christchurch, New Zealand

Greetings my friends from Christchurch, New Zealand!Let me quickly give you some&nbsp;minor&nbsp;facts about New Zealand. This beautiful country is divided into two islands: North and South. The total population of this country is approx 4 million where 75% lives in the North Island&nbsp;however there are over 45 million sheep inhabiting the country! MMM..lamb. Actually, I just found LAMB &amp; mint Jelly flavored chips!We flew from Melbourne to Christchurch yesterday morning and for the longest while I thought our flight was 4 hours, however I just realized that New Zealand is actually 2 hours ahead of OZ. This means that I am currently 18 hours ahead of you guys! Crazy eh!? Ohh yes, one detail I forgot to mention....you cannot enter into New Zealand unless you have proof and a print of your return ticket. We did not know this...and had to purchase a return flight at the MEL&nbsp;airport while checking in with Jetstar.Upon arrival, I got probed by customs official for about an hour. It was the "backpack" that led the officers to believe that I had contaminating goods in my bag. They extensively searched just my purse and camera bag and that took an hour alone! I started to worry about the "ginseng" bits (xmas&nbsp;gift from my aunt gail)&nbsp;I was carrying in my bag...would that count for smuggling produce when I confidently promised I had no produce or "muddy hiking shoes in my bag" Luckily, I used my "steph farr charm" and talked up a storm with the lady. I think she was utterly bored and finally decided to let me go without searching through my "air-tight" packed back pack.Christchuch is SUPER small and after touring the city for an hour and eating a fine lunch under the cool crisp sun, and getting hosed by some random young driver, launching his water bottle onto the seated customers...and by witnessing a young group pulled over for drinking and driving..we concluded that ChristChurch consists of some delinquent young ones rebelling against their own town name.Woke up this morning and went for a brisk walk follwed by a nice sunday brunch at a local cafe. I was in search for a hair salon so that I could touch up my roots and blend in with the local blond gals in the OZ and NZ. Unfortunately, no salons open on Sundays.Jazz insisted that he had to return to the hotel to read and take a nap....I wondered why he had to travel across the world to maintain engagement in his every day regimen!Fortunately, I did not follow in his footsteps and decided to jog out to the mountains in the distance of Christchurch. What a wake up call...I am so out of shape.I wonder..how does one stay in shape while traveling??? I did promise myself that I would do 100 pushups 5 times a week and attempt to do cardio at least 3 times a week. So far, I have been strict about the push ups but they are getting progressively harder and harder with time, since I'm carrying more weight!. In case you guys don't know Jazz well...he loves to eat...and that means wining and dining with 4 course meals at&nbsp;least twice a day.&nbsp;How do&nbsp;i resist that!???If any of you have any tips for me...that would be greatly appreciated. In the meantime, I'll continue my pushups and consume my ginseng chips (hopefully finish them before I get caught for smuggling "produce" into this amazingly beautiful and bacteria free country)So as I type this blog, Jazz has been napping for at least 1 hour and I'm getting pretty famished.Tomorrow we check out of this hotel - Holiday Inn and we begin our escapades around New Zealand. It's a tour bus that allows you to hop on and hop off throughout different destinations and remote off "the beaten" patth areas of the country.I'll keep you posted as the journeys progress.Cheers!
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Melbourne, Australia

Greetings from Christchurch, New Zealand! We decided last minute to leave Sydney and forgo the East Coast brigrade until later next month when hopefully the weather&nbsp;clears up.&nbsp;It's&nbsp; been raining and flooding throughout the entire East Coast and we therefore, made an abrupt change to our plans by reversing our itinerary and heading south to Melbourne, and from there a few days later we would&nbsp;catch a flight to Christchurch, New Zealand.Bad timing prevailed on our part, as we booked our flights to Melbourne,&nbsp;and ALL hotels were booked due to the Australia Open.&nbsp; We were lucky enough to find a hostel (YHA Melbourne Metro) that had a cancellation and was able to take us in for the night. Let's give a big congrats to Jazz since this was his first hostel experience and I think he handled it&nbsp;pretty well considering the night before we were&nbsp;Starwood GOLD members, accomodated&nbsp;in Sydney's beautiful Sheraton hotel in Darling Harbour!The next morning, we rented a car and decided to venture out into Melbourne's surrounding vineyards, and most specifically we visited Mornington Peninsula. Imagine the vast vineyards of Napa Valley however contoured by a beautiful coastline with pristine aqua blue waters! Absolutely magnficent and not to mention the vineyards we visited were quite impressive with fine tasting wines.The Mornington Peninsula is well&nbsp;known for it's Pinot Gris and lighter Chardonnays. Because the&nbsp;area consists of a cooler climate&nbsp;throughout the summer months, the grapes are never as full bodied&nbsp;and ripened&nbsp;to the extent of Hunter Valley, (popular wine region outside Sydney) due to warmer climate.We only visited 2 vineyards&nbsp;but participated in their wine tasting followed by eating their&nbsp;finely prepared&nbsp;lunches accompanied by a bottle of&nbsp;their home branded &nbsp;Pinot Gris or Chardonnay wines.&nbsp;Made with all freshly picked produce, the gourmet meals were absolutley DIVINE, however the price factor still remains an issue. I've finally come to acceptance that the prices on this side of the world are double that of US/Canada's most expensive cities.We slept over in FLINDERS, Mornington Peninsula - a town with a&nbsp;population 1500 people. A&nbsp;miniscule town,&nbsp;just a short drive away from Montalto, the second vineyard we visited. Definitely, a very posh winery, restaurant and exposition that requires reservations well in advance. Luckily, Jazz and I got a head start to our wine tasting tour that morning and made it in for 10 am! Nothing like fine wines for breakky!We drove back to Melbourne that afternoon, still burdened with the issue of lack of accomodations due to the Australia Open. Jazz, decided to ever so NON hesitantly book the Westin, Melbourne using his Starwood points. Let's just say it took 10,000 points to cover the cost of a $600 room!I like to think that the fluctuating standard of accomdations, from 4 star Hotel to Hostel, to 5 STAR HOTEL truly does reflect and test&nbsp;our abilities to adapt to our local surroundings. RIIIIIIIGHT.....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1200267300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1200267300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stefarr/1/1200267300/tpod.html Sun, 13 Jan 2008 03:30:26 -0500 To Australia & New Zealand - Adventures Down Under!

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Sydney, Australia

I left Montreal on January 9th...flew down to JFK where I took a SUPER SHUTTLE to Brod's house and awaited the delivery of my SLR Nikon D80 that I bought on EBAY and had sent to Heather's to avoid paying Duty. We partied till wee hours in the night - ok, we just ate a late&nbsp;dinner, had two drinks at a local bar in the meat packing district and then walked 40 blocks before hopping into a taxi back to her place - apartment G9. I just called it "Heather's Gspot"I took the Super Shuttle back to the airport. BIG MISTAKE. I got picked up at the Gspot for 10:30 (premeditated time to catch 1:55 flight) We were circling west end manhattan picking up passengers up until 12:15!! We arrived at the airport for&nbsp;12:55pm. I was crapping bricks, thinking that I was going to miss my flight. Finally, when we arrived at the airport, I discovered that I needed a Visa for Australia. Luckily I was able to buy one at Cathay Pacific's ticketing office.I'll skip over all the flight details but just to say it was FREAKING long. In total - 34 hours traveling! Brutal but worth the trip. I always just think of the many days where I wake up at noon hungover and the rest of the day is a write off just lazing in bed all day. Well, in that time - I flew across the world.I arrived in Sydney at around 12:30 pm...first thing I noticed is that the men are rediculously hot. We are so deprived of good looking rugged men in Montreal. They're just big here and&nbsp; have that dangerous appeal to them.Took the bus to meet JP at the Sheraton hotel in Darling Harbour...wow what amazing views from the room. We went for a quick bite to eat, had some ice cream and then came back to the room. Suprisingly, I was full of energy after a 36 hour trip however&nbsp; and as expected JP needed a nap. I ended up falling asleep for the evening and woke up at 6:30 am.Today is officially day 1. We went for a jog around the opera House and botannical gards. What a beautiful city however I'm really surprised at how expensive this city is. Here are some examples:1. Banana (1 unit)&nbsp;sold in 7/11 - $1.502. Bottle of Water (500 ML) 3.003. Lonely Planet Book = $48.99 (however the US price on the back of the book is $29.99)4. Continental breakfast at hotel: $28.00We ventured out into Bondi Beach, which was completely STACKED! Sunday afternoon - go figure! There is an awesome coastal boardwalk that you can walk along for miles and miles to discover the many different beaches of the area. Bondi Beach is evidently the largest and most populated - filled with a pretty young, affluent surfing crowd in their 20's
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