Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Jeanie's New Zealand Travel Journal's LiveJournal:

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Monday, September 15th, 2003
11:11 am	Another update So I had the occasion last week to travel to Basel Switzerland for Business. I took a bunch of photos (http://www.tigerknight.org/~jeanie/gallery/ the switzerland photo gallery is off the main page) while I was there and have already uploaded them. (Yes I know I need to do my NZ photos but they're overwhelming right now in light of having just moved to Austin TX - but there are some up in my new photo gallery so if you follow the link you'll see them as well). I read something in a blog this weekend that reminded me of something I noticed in Switzerland. The writer, mentioned how he climbed up to the top of Moro Rock in California(350 stairs) and on his way down he saw a bicyclist climbing up carrying his bike and the writer asked the bicyclist in shock whether he was planning on biking down. The bicyclist said "People will steal anything if you don't lock it up." This reminded me of Switzerland because bikes are very prevalent in Switzerland. Tons of people use their bicycles to get around town and commute to work. Even on the campus of the company I was visiting there were huge on-site bike parking lots and the bikes had little license plates with the company name on it that were assigned to different employees for their use to get to and from home or around campus. This is pretty nifty as is the bike lanes and the bike specific traffic lights. But the thing I found even more interesting was that rarely did one lock up their bike. I saw one single bike with a bike lock on it in the city. They park their bikes adjacent to the curb of the street with a huge line of bikes like you might see outside a motorcycle bar. None of the bikes are locked to anything, the seats are still on the bike, the tires still attached. There is no fear that the bike will be stolen. This is just not done. Switzerland is a land of the honor system from the bikes without locks to the purchase of tram tickets that rarely get checked by the tram driver (I never was asked for mine) to the jewelry shop windows displaying their wares (expensive jewelry and watches) in unbarred windows all night long. I loved Basel and definitely want to go back at some point. It's also right on the border of France and Germany so I had the luck to have dinner in France one evening and lunch in Germany one afternoon so 3 countries in 3 days. Of course no one stamped my passport (we weren't stopped any of the times) so I have no proof (except the extra weight I gained from the delicious meals). Now I just have to get over my jet lag which hasn't been easy. Current Mood: tired (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, March 24th, 2003
9:16 pm	The Poo Pub party or my night to wear plastic... So part of the Kiwi Experience in the south island is that a Kiwi bus goes to this little town called Mahinapua every evening. There are about 30 full time residents who live there and they have one pub with an attached hostel run by this really old lecherous old man named Les. On the way to Mahinapua the bus stops for lunch and supplies in a town named Greymouth for supplies. So here you are, every night with a Kiwi bus pulling into Mahinapua and Les having this huge steak dinner (or veggie quiches) and then folks getting ready for this huge Poo Pub Party. The party has a theme for each bus, or maybe each driver, like cross dressing or in our case dressing in costumes made of bin bags [aka rubbish sacks, trash bags - pick your brand of english :-)] So we stop in Greymouth on the way to pick up costume supplies - bin bags and other assorted goodies. You can tell this is routine for this town because the grocery store has prepackaged 5 bin bags for $.99 NZD. They're used to a bunch of insane backpackers running around town, exchanging money (the last significant town til we hit Queenstown), buying food supplies and other crazy costume items. Then we drive about 40 minutes to Mahinapua and Les climbs onto the bus to give us the rundown about the hostel, not to bring alcohol onto the property because it's licensed for the pub, the deal with dinner, and makes a few random verbal passes at the women sitting near where he's standing. The thing about Les is that the whole day on the way to Mahinapua the bus driver has been making out how this guy Les is a real catch - he throws this huge party every evening, he owns a pub etc etc. It was pretty obvious there was something about him - but even so one of the girls on the bus was really excited about meeting this 'catch' who ended up being this 80 year old man who looked like a cross between Yoda and Bilbo Baggins but very lecherous. It was pretty amusing. Anyway, Les also runs the attached hostel which is essentially prefab/trailers made into rooms with 2 bunk beds per room. Plus 2 bathroom trailers, a corrugated metal garage type space where there are tables and an inside grill where dinner is cooked and served and then the pub itself which is a stand alone building that is a normal pub inside with a pool table, bar, lots of tables and stools and even an internet terminal in the backroom. The town has 30 residents and you still have an internet kiosk! That's one of the amazing things about NZ, internet connectivity is so easy to find there. Even Boston it's not that easy. At any rate, my theory is that the party, aka drunken stupor is so that you don't really realize what a dumpy (albeit clean) hostel you're staying at - what with the prefab and corrugated metal. Happy hour begins when we get there - around 4:30pm and lasts til after dinner. I think it was like $4NZD a jug (small pitcher) - really pretty cheap. Folks get settled, start to drink maybe hit the beach or the lake for a swim (the hostel is right near the seashore and a fresh water lake) and put together their costumes. ( Follow this for the rest of the detail and the incriminating photographic evidence... ) Current Mood: nostalgic (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 4th, 2003
4:35 pm	Guess what I was about to do (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 27th, 2003
11:59 pm	A first image... I'm just starting to pull images off my compact flash cards - I filled up 3 128 mb cards and most of a 64 mb card. I've pulled all the images from the 64 mb card and started looking at them. Here's a first one to whet your appetite... What you are seeing is Mt. Cook, Mt Tasman and the Fox Glacier reflected in Lake Matheson. Lake Matheson is a kettle lake created by a glacier that melted and became the lake. Kettle lakes are also known as mirror lakes and in the morning on the stillness of the lake reflects the images around it like a mirror. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
6:25 pm	back to reality Well I'm home. I couldn't go to sleep last night even though by all rights I should have been utterly exhausted! My flight landed in Boston at about 9:40pm. Effectively I'd been flying somewhere around 30 hours - and awake for 36 minus a 5 hr nap on the flight from Sydney to LA and a 1 hr nap from LA to Boston. My flight plan: I woke up at 3:00am in Auckland on the 26th of February (about 9am the 25th in Boston). Caught my shuttle to the airport at 3:50am. Was checked in and through security by 5:15am and settled into the Qantas Business class lounge where I had some cereal and juice. Boarded the flight at 5:55am and we took off at 6:30 to Sydney. I saw Banger sisters on the flight. We landed in Sydney at 9:30am Auckland time, 7:30am Sydney time and I saw something as we were coming to our gate that reminded me of my mate Sarah which made me homesick for my trip and NZ. I went through the transfer security and was in the Qantas Business class lounge there until 11:45am. Grabbed some coffee and a snack and a bit before I left a glass of Shiraz since they have a self serve wine bar and they'd put the wine out and really for me it was lunch time. Security was tight getting onto the plane - we went through another security gate right at the gate and EVERYONE had their carry on stuff searched. I didn't mind a bit. Then used my - go straight to GO and collect $200 card (aka Business Class ticket) to board the plane rather then wait in the crowd. Got on the plane but we were a little late taking off. The pilot said not to worry we had a pretty fast flight plan and if we landed in LA before 7am we'd just sit on the plane since Customs wasn't open until 7am. Had a glass of champagne that I added oj too halfway throgh because it wasn't that spectacular. Some dinner and then after a while they made like it was night and turned off the lights. I watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Sweet Home Alabama and took a 5 hr nap inbetween the two before we were 'woken' up for breakfast. Landed at about 7:10am (PST) so the pilot knew what he was talking about. Went through security, customs etc etc and headed up to the American Airlines Lounge and they let me in - unlike the trip out - strange rules - but since I'd flown in from Sydney I was allowed in. At any rate Got into the lounge about 8:30, grabbed some coffee and settled in since my flight wasn't to board until 12:45pm. Talked to ornoth to keep myself awake at one point as I nearly fell asleep over a glass of beer (Sam Adams draft - ick I miss my Tui) and some chips and chilicheese dip from Chili's in the airport. From there I got onto the plane and settled in. American Airlines Business class is no where near as nice as Qantas. Ah well. I shouldn't get to comfy my next trip will no doubt be back in coach. Didn't watch a movie, had dinner - something chickeny - and a glass of wine and after dinner a glass of port and tried to stay awake and read but I was nodding over the port and the book. Ended up taking a 1 hr nap somewhere in there and we landed in Boston at 9:30pm EST. Grabbed my luggage after a 35 min wait by the luggage carousel, 10 min wait for a taxi and made it home by 10:30pm. I had gotten my umpteenth wind by the time I got home so I wasn't ready to sleep so I checked email, sent email to Sebs my best mate from my trip and touched base with my sister who I told to about how depressed I was to be home. Not that I didn't miss folks - I did but I want to be back there. Talked to a friend for a bit because he was still up and online when I couldn't sleep then went to bed thinking I'm bound to be tired enough to sleep by now - and ended up reading until 2:30am when I finally crashed. I had set my watch alarm to try and wake me about 10:30 to try to get me back on EST time but I didn't even hear it go off and I woke on my own about 2:30pm. Got up, made breakfast, tried to catch my father in Canada but he was out. Got dressed and ran out to get my mail from the Post Office and get them to resume delivery. Picked up a DVD from the video store and found out they will be able to transfer my NZ sky diving video to VHS for me then stopped for some more groceries. Going to the store made me sad again because there were so many times on the trip that the whole bus would stop at the store on our travels to pick up supplies for dinner at the hostel or snacks. I fell in love with these little smoked cheeses and would get them in the stores - kind of like a baby bell sort of size but a tube rather than a mini-round. So I picked up some brie, some smoked gouda, some hummus and crackers to snack on at home. Then picked up some makings of a smoothie cause I loved them in NZ but when I got home I found my blender was on the fritz - well the blender works, the choppy/spinny thing is locked up and won't spin so I'll run and grab a new pitcher piece at Target tomorrow. Now I'm going to watch the movie I picked up - I can't even remember what it is right now. I'm feeling tired but I'm going to try to stay awake til at least 9pm and then set a few alarms in the morning to get me up at a normal hour. Current Mood: tired (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 20th, 2003
8:30 pm	Weather So I've been told that in Boston they got 27" of snow and that in Bethlehem PA 22" of snow fell. I'm very glad I'm not home right now however if it makes any of you who are dealing with all that any better - today I bought some polypropelyne long johns in Te Anau, a heavier fleece jacket and a fleece hat. Two days ago I bought some wool gloves in Dunedin because I was so cold. Here in Te Anau (where Milford Sound is) they closed the Kempler Pass tramping (hiking) track due to snow. It's unseasonably cold here with snow up in the passes which is never seen. The weather in Te Anau has been sunny, sun with rain, cloudy with rain, sunny, sun with rain, cloudy with rain (wash, rinse repeat) for the better part of the day. We got here about noontime and it did that cycle at least 3 full times already. Having wet weather is normal around here however. I've been wearing my silk long underwear top and my light fleece every day on top of whatever T-shirt I've chosen for the day and I've been borrowing my friend Sarah's extra fleece most mornings and evenings. So warmth hasn't been that great a commodity for me in the past week. The last couple of nights I've been sleeping under the duvet on the bed over my sleep sack which is supposed to be good down to 55'F because I've been so chilly. They've got a fire going in the wood stove in the lounge here at the hostel. We've run the heat in the hostel rooms I've been in the last 2 nights as well. I knew it'd be cooler in the South Island but I was happy to find out that this isn't normal summer weather since I was starting to think I'd done a really really crappy job of packing for this trip. In other news I've had a wonderful time the last few days seeing wildlife and great landscapes. On Tuesday I arrived in Dunedin w/Sarah from Queenstown and that afternoon we went on the Otaga Pinnensula tour where we got to see Fur seals (and their cubs) up close from this blind that was built to look like the rocks they lived on. The pups are soooo adorable. We also saw the extremely rare yellow eyed penguins that only exist on the southern end of the South Island of New Zealand. They are the rarest penguin and just about the rarest animal statistically speaking. We saw them through binoculars from quite a distance but it was still quite a thrill. Then we saw some adorable blue penguins again from a blind of sorts through these little doors. They're so cute and small and blue. As hatchlings they are 44 milimeters large and they don't get that much bigger -the ones we saw were adults and I'd guess they were about 8" tall maybe. From there we stopped at an Albatross colony and saw some of them - they're quite large. The next day we saw more seals then we went to a beach in the Catlins to see sea lions. They can move surprisingly fast and are HUGE so there were 3 rules we were to abide by - 1) stay together in one group, 2) stay 20 meters away at least and 3) NEVER EVER get between the sea lion and the sea. These were the rules put forth by our bus driver and guide from the Bottom Bus - of course he proceeded to walk us through breakin every one of them. It was a thrill to see them but also for me somewhat nervewracking. I was totally ready to push someone in front of a sea lion then run for my life if necessary :). Later we saw 2 dusky dolphins at Porpoise Cove which Andy the driver said was a misnomer since there were only dolphins in that cove. Andy and a few of the guys from the bus swam there - it was awfully cold out of the water - not sure how they did it. Plus there was another sea lion on the beach who decided he wanted to take a swim so Andy yelled for everyone to get out of the water IMMEDIATELY so it was quite the excitment. Thankfully I was watching from a distance and safe. I just don't trust those Sea Lions. We also saw a neat waterfall yesterday and then ended up in this small fishing town named Riverton. Got to sleep in a bit and woke to rain to head out to Te Anau which was a relatively quick drive with just a few stops. One at McCracken Rest where a few of the young men on the bus sat on the sign with their bare bottoms showing their own "McCracken's" which of course everyone got a good laugh out of. It's an image the Bottom Bus uses on their brocures so it wasn't a huge surprise to see the boys do it. Then it rained again while we went from there to Te Anau and then got sunny then rained then sunny then rained - as I said wash, rinse and repeat. I'm looking forward to tomorrows trip to Milford Sound in the fiordland. It's supposed to be awe inspiringly beautiful so I can't wait. (Comment on this)
Monday, February 17th, 2003
7:43 pm	a quick photo So at the end of the Sea Kayaking trip they took a photo of our group and now it's up on the web. You can check it out at http://www.snow.co.nz/clients/kaiteriteri/Newsletters/3569.jpg - I'm the short brown haired girl in front of the paddle on the left side of the photo (in case you don't know what I look like. I'll update again soon but I'm about to run out and celebrate a birthday of someone on the Kiwi bus here in Queenstown so I have to run! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, February 16th, 2003
5:54 pm	quickie I'm in Wanaka on the south island. They have the 3rd largest lake in NZ but it's ringed mountains. Yesterday I was in Franz Josef which has a bunch of glaciers. My friend Sarah and I took a helicopter up to the top of the Franz Josef glacier and did a 3 hour hike on the ice. It was AMAZING and then when done we caught a ride from there in the heli again to Franz Josef. Then today on the way from Franz Josef to Wanaka the bus stopped for a slash and dash (restroom break) at Makarora and coincidentally they have a small airstrip across the street and were looking for 2 people to fill 2 seats in a small plane for a scenic flight from there to Wanaka so Sarah and I grabbed them for NZ$40 each and got a FABULOUS flight over to the Wanaka airport just out of town and beat the bus to the Wanaka Hotel (where we are hosteling tonight) by about 15-20 minutes! The views were amazing! I took about 30 photos while we were up. Anyway Sarah is here keen to go grab some dinner and I'm with her on that and then we'll meet the mates for a handle or two at Paddy's Pub (the place to go in Wanaka) before going to bed for a 9am start to Queenstown in the morning. Will update later - until then - Cheers! (Comment on this)
9:22 am	Glaciers everywhere you go Quick note before I head out for the day. Happy Valentines day to everyone! We're in Franz Joseph at the base of the NZ alps. It's pretty chilly this morning here and in about 2 hours we're going to take a helicopter up to the top of the Franz Joseph Glacier and take a hike over the glacier and through ice caves. Then a quick ride back to town on the helicopter. I can't wait - everyone says if you do only one thing in NZ this is the thing to do! I can't believe I have less than 2 weeks less - time is just flying along but I'm having a wonderful time and every day you think the scenery can't get any better but every day it does. The night before last we stopped over night in a town named Mahinapua that had about 30 people or something and there is only one hostel that the Kiwi bus is the only tour that stops there. This old guy Les runs it and cooks a huge steak meal every night then throws a Poo Pub party and everyone dresses up in plastic bin bags (garbage bags) in some sort of costume. My friend Sarah went as Frodo and I went as an Elf with a long black plastic dress. Then you drink lots of local brew to forget how foolish you feel wearing a plastic outfit. It was quite fun and it's right on the beach and across from a lovely lake rimmed with forest with mountains in the background everywhere you look. So who knew the view could get better but here in Franz Josef it is amazing! Now I'm off for some breakfast and coffee then for some high flying fun! Sweet! Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 12th, 2003
10:17 pm	Spent a lovely day out in Abel Tasman on the ocean doing sea kayaking this morning. It was quite sunny and probably about 78'F or so. Sea Kayaking is a lot of exercise! I got to use those arm muscles that I've been working on in the gym. Now I'm totally wiped out. We're in Westport NZ tonight (where I got to do laundry-yay!) and heading to Mahinapua tomorrow which is a town of about 30 (thirty) people but they have a party every night with a huge steak dinner (or veggie quiche) and the fancy dress is to wear plastic bags as outfits and the goal is to drink quite a bit of beer from what I understand. Should be fun at the very least if not somewhat amusing. Having a good time and may be taking a heli ride on Friday to the top of a glacier in Franz Joseph and then hiking down it. Fun eh? Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Monday, February 10th, 2003
7:09 pm	South Island here I come I'm here in Wellington now for a quick stop over. I received email from ornoth that Boston got over a foot of snow on the 7th. I'm glad I missed it. Here it's been sunny and warm with the brief exception of yesterday morning in River Valley when it was drizzly and cool while we went horseback riding but it wasn't even enough to bother us. Soft weather as the Irish would call it I imagine. Having a great time but realizing that this trip is just not long enough - I must come back again! Saw the Lord of the Rings exhibit today at the Wellington Museaum (Te Papa - which translates to Our Place) which was AMAZING all the great props and info on how it was made etc. Even got a photo taken with Tim a mate from the bus who's 6' tall where I'm bigger than he is (the perspective thing). I'll scan it in when I get home. Wait til you see it - what a hoot! The museum itself is quite extensive. We got into town late yesterday and spent 1/2 hr there before it closed and then went back when it opened this morning and was there until about 4pm and I know there's still a lot that we didn't get to see. After that we took the cable car up to the top of the city and walked down through the Botanical Gardens. It's a beautiful walk and there was a great play ground there that the group of us stopped and played in. It had swings, and two huge tube slides and a zip wire and some other fun things to play on. It was like we were back to 5 years old again. Early tomorrow we catch a bus to take the ferry over to South Island. It's a 3 hour trip but I am hoping that I'll see some dolphins or even maybe whales during it because you sometimes do see them. If not I'm sure we'll find some sort of fun to get into. I've made some good friends from the Kiwi bus and a bunch of us are on the ferry together tomorrow and going thru the South Island together. One woman, Sarah is my age and we're just on the same time schedule so it works out that we're hitting the South Island together and then down to the Bottom bus at the same time which should be fun. I can't wait to see the beauty of the South Island and continue to enjoy myself. Well I'm off to run some errands before we go south so I'll try to update you guys in a few days. Cheers! Current Mood: happy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, February 7th, 2003
4:49 pm	12,000 feet What an amazing thing to do - why did I wait so long to do it? This morning (about 11:30am) I jumped out of a plane (ok I didn't jump the guy I was attached to did the work) at 12,000 feet. For about 50 seconds or so we were free falling at about 200 kilometers per hour. As we tumbled out of the plane we did some somersaults and then the drag chute went out and we did all kinds of spins and stuff. Then at about 4,000 feet he triggered the chute and we spent the next 5-8 mins floating down to the ground. It was FABULOUS. So far everything has been great but this has to be a highlight. I think I'm going to try to do it again when we're down on the south island over the Remarkables which is a huge mountain range there. We spent a full day here in Taupo (and 2 nights) so I headed to the grocery store to stock up on some supplies. It's hard to buy stuff to cook in the hostel kitchens when it's just yourself and you're leaving early the next morning so having 2 nights here made it a bit easier to get sandwich stuff to try to save a bit of money. I got some cereal (bulk musli)and some milk, dried apricots and dried dates, bread, pb&j that don't have to be refridgerated and the makings for my new fav sandwich - corned beef, cheese and mustard pickle spread. I did not buy the butter that they traditionally spread on sandwiches here and in Australia however. At night in Taupo all the backpackers end up at a place called the Holy Cow. If you go in and are on a Kiwi Experience bus you either get a stamp from the driver or you go to the bar tender, tell them your drivers name (they know which ones are in town) and they give you a stamp. This allows you to get a beer for NZ$2 (about $1 USD). The trick is (you knew there was one) that the guys MUST get the stamp on their forehead. The women have to be stamped somewhere between their shoulders and their bellbutton. The big thing however is that once things get going there folks start dancing on these two very long huge picnic tables they have near the dance floor. Before going to the HOoooooly Cow (how you say it) you go in to Mulligan's for a drink. The first drink is a dollar off after that for every subsequent drink you play rock, paper, scissors with the bar tender. If you win you get a dollar off the drink if you lose you pay full price. So I went there first with a group from the bus and then we went up to the HOooooly Cow, snagged some stamps, snagged a beer and ended up dancing most of the night either on the floor or on one of the two tables. It was a bunch of fun and I cut out about 2am in light of the fact that I had to be ready for pickup for the sky dive at 10:20am. I didn't really drink that much, a cider at Mulligan's and a beer or two from Holy Cow. So I didn't feel that bad this morning, just a slight headache probably from dehydration. But Dodgey (the Kiwi bus driver) was right - the sky dive is a great hangover cure. Now I want to learn to sky dive so I can do it myself. What a rush! Tomorrow morning we head to River Valley Lodge in River Valley, New Zealand. It's supposed to be a very relaxing place that looks like it's in the middle of nowhere. I'm trying to decide if I want to a) spend tomorrow morning relaxing before we leave at 2pm, b) go horse back riding - a 2 hour ride or c) go white water rafting. We leave River Valley and head to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand where I hope to spend 2 nights before heading on a ferry across to the South Island. My back has finally stopped hurting in the burn spots which is an upside, the down side is it's itching and starting to peel. Ah well that's the way it goes right? I guess I should wrap this up and head back to the hostel, catch up with folks, figure out if I'm going to make a sandwich or grab some takeaway - I'm craving some fish and chips in a bad way. I've only got the makings for one more corned beef sandwich which I may save to make for a picnic lunch tomorrow on the way to River Valley. We've got a 2 hour walk planned for Mt. Raupehu before going to River Valley so I need to make sure I have lunch stuff. oh I think I mentioned it before, but if I didn't I'm totallly loving my Brita Fill and Go Water filtration bottle. I fill that up every day (it's about 28 oz but you get 24 out before you go too low for the filter) and my Nalgene 32 oz bottle and just refill the Brita with the Nalgene as I need to. Then as the Nalgene gets low I just refill from taps around NZ. It definitely rocks and I haven't had any problems staying hydrated! Kia Ora! Current Mood: happy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 6th, 2003
3:16 pm	Checking in from Waitomo So it's Thursday February 6th and I'm here in Waitomo home of the famous Black Water Rafting with glow worms. Having a grand time - did a black water tubing/caving thing a bit ago. Fun but a bit chilly. But a great time. Yesterday I went to a traditional Maori Hangi and bought a great Maori carving. Also went to a geothermal park and saw some boiling mud and some gysers. In about 20 m ins we're heading to Taupo for 2 nights and tomorrow I am going to do a tandem sky dive. This place is amazing the landscape and culture and atmosphere. All of it is wonderful. I've got to scoot but I'll try to check in later. (Comment on this)
Monday, February 3rd, 2003
10:08 pm	Fun in the sun So I made it to Auckland as folks know since I have a helpful little elf (ok he's not little and he's not an elf - sue me) who passed on my message (thanks ornoth). I had a lovely 2 days in Paihia after a quick night in Auckland where I had Denny's for dinner, saw the skyline of the city from One Tree Hill (which doesn't have a tree by the way) and played pool with some new friends before an early evening back at the YHA to make ready for an early departure on Sunday. Arrived at noon in Paihia and went straight onto a boat for swimming with dolphins in the wild (Kiwi Experience books your seat for you as you ride up to Paihi). Was on the bay for 4 hours and we found dolphins (not a guarantee) and got to swim amongst them (a playful pod of 4). We were told not to try and touch as these are wild dolphins and they want to keep it that way which was ok with me. I'd have liked to touch but understood the reasons and as it was they came swimming under and in front of me but not within arms reach (I only know cause I was doing the superman snorkle swim where my arms are out in front of me). It was such a thrill. Unfortunately I missed some of my back when putting sunscreen on and it now looks rather lobsterish. Today I got to do an all day sail on the bay on a catamaran and this time I asked someone to put sunscreen on my back and while it's still burned I think it's old burn and not new. After that I hopped back on the bus for a ride back to Auckland. Checked into the YHA about 30 mins ago and sought this out to check email really quick before going back for a shower and sleep because I have an early morning tomorrow heading to Whitianga (pronounced Fuahtanga I think). Don't know when I'll check in next. Right now I'm in a Korean or Japanese Internet cafe which is amusing as all the text is in kanji but it's windows so I know what I'm doing. I guess that is one benefit of a standard OS environment. I feel out of touch with the real world. Heard about the shuttle explosion for the first time midday on the sail boat. I'm not listening to radios and watching TV so I am missing stuff but I was shocked and saddened to hear. But something about being in the bay on the bow of a sail boat while saying a silent prayer for those who died was right for me. Well I'm off to shower the salt out of my hair and off my body as I'm somewhat crusty even now. Talk to you all again soon. Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 2nd, 2003
4:06 pm	Third party update This entry has been posted by ornoth on behalf of travelingrrl… I just received a rushed 3-minute call from Jeanie. She’s presently in Paihia, in the Bay of Island (sic) which is located at the northern end of North Island. In the approximately 48 hours that she’s been in New Zealand, she has met up with a couple friends-of-friends in Auckland, and got a mild sunburn while swimming with dolphins. As we talked, she was about to depart for a day-long sail. That’s about all I can tell you. She sounded happy and energetic, and enthused about how wonderful the place was, closing with “Love to all!” (Comment on this)
Friday, January 31st, 2003
8:00 pm	G'Day Sydney and Helloooo New Zealand So it's my last night here in Sydney. I'm pretty wiped and it's only 8:00pm. Just grabbed some Japanese in Chinatown which is a few blocks from my hostel. I really lucked out because the hostel is convenient to public transportation and other fun things. It's also large, clean and decent. I got to the Aquarium and the Botanical Gardens today. The Aquarium was really nice and I loved the shark exhibit where you're under and beside the sharks for viewing. They had tons of different kinds of sharks in there too. The great barrier reef exhibit with all the fish was lovely as well. Same sort of things except without the underwater tunnels but you're viewing HUGE tanks of fish. They were playing some nice soft music and I sat myself down right in front of one of the huge windows into the tank (floor to ceiling ~10' and about 20' wide maybe) and just let myself relax into the moment with the music wash over me and relaxing. It was lovely. After that I picked up a few post cards for family and wrote them up and found a post store to grab some stamps to mail them. Then I grabbed a sandwich and wandered over to the botanical gardens and wandered and had a bit of a picnic and read a while. It started to get chilly with the wind and I realized it was getting overcast. So then I wandered by to Circular Quay and grabbed a cappucino from of all places a Starbucks - it was the only coffee place I had seen near by. I had them make it up to go but on my way out one of the comfy chairs was free along with a local paper so I sat down and read that a while. It's odd to see the differences in terminology. You can see some of their background from the British - someone was 'sacked' because they had extreme morning sickness (hyperemesis gravidida) and their solisitor brought the company to court and the barrister....etc etc. There was some discussion about what Dubya (that's what they call him here too) was doing with a new something or other to be written by the UN Security Council that would allow good ole George to go into Iraq by force without putting the UN into a bad position. Odd to hear news of the world from somewhere else. I also managed to find the T shirt I wanted to buy for myself here in Sydney. It's actually pretty nice for a tourist t-shirt. It's not a big loose T but more of a fitted woman's style with Aboriginal influenced design on it. I also picked up a little tank top in a similar vein that I'm sure will get a lot of use this month and then sit waiting until it can be used this summer. I've repacked my backpack with all the goodies I've already bought. I was planning on sending them home to Ornoth to keep for me before I left but they're not too bulky and my pack still has room so I'll wait until things get tight and make a shipment back from NZ at that point. I'm trying not to buy too much for too many but there are so many folks I know I want to come back with little things for that makes it difficult. Not to mention I told my immediate family that they'd be getting gifts from Aussie or NZ for belated Christmas gifts. But I'm doing ok with those already. I just hope I remember that I buy myself a little something from NZ too. I found my opal necklace - I ended up not getting the one by Circular Quay and am totally ok with that. I really like the one I got and I found a pair of opal earrings that match it at another store for a steal! Ah well I ought to wrap things up here and head back to the hostel. I ought to catch up on my postcard journal - I've bought a post card each day I've been here to write about what I've done but haven't written on them. I have written in a paper journal and in here so I've got plenty of source material. I'll be doing the post card things as I go thru NZ too so that by the end of the trip hopefully I'll have a journal with pictures to go with the entries. At any rate the next journal entry should be from New Zealand assuming I find network connectivity. Oh before I forget - A Big Hello from Down Under to my buddies at The Guardian. Thanks for the note! I miss chatting with you all but I don't miss work ;). Also canyoncat I got the email thanks! Current Mood: tired (2 Comments |Comment on this)
4:39 pm	Auckland Locals!! masterfish if you see this - I am having the devil of a time trying to get thru on the payphone here at the Hostel. The # here is +64 9 309 2802 - Auckland City YHA - corner of Liverpool and City Streets. I'm going to go down and give it another go but please try to call me there and leave me a message on when you want to meet up and if you want to get me here at the hostel or where I should meet you. duhast if you see this after you get off work any help would be great! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
10:03 am	What a night! The Opera was fabulous. I had such a wonderful time and it was so funny, and enjoyable. As an added perk I got to see Christopher Reeves- yes the american actor who's a paraplegic. He was there with his family. Talk about odd timing and coincidences. It was a lovely evening all around - I went wearing my sarong as a dress along with my Tevas. The Sarong actually looks quite nice - like a nice long strapless dress. But I must say paired with the Tevas it's just a stunning ensemble (har har) but I felt good anyway. I remember standing outside on the balcony area of the Opera House with a glass of Chardonney before the Opera feeling the wind gusting across my face and over my shoulders and thinking right then everything was perfect. It was so nice. It was a great place to people watch as well - people who were dressed to the 9's in the james bond tuxedos and the slinky fancy dresses in ankle breaking high heels and then folks in shorts or jeans and a T shirt. On the way out after the show there was a live jazz band playing at the Opera Bar an out door bar right on the harbor. So I stopped and listened - along with several other people for quite a while before I realized I was just ready to crawl into bed. So off I went and caught my subway train back to the hostel. Today I let myself sleep in - of course I woke up right at 6:30am and finally gave up the ghost about 8am when the rest of the women in the room were up and moving. But I'm taking it easy today with no timelines or anything. I'm going to the aquarium, the Chinese Friendship garden and then the Botanical Gardens if I have time. But I'm not going to rush and go crazy. One of my roommates told me this morning that last last night I laughed a few times in my sleep. She said it was such a nice friendly laugh that she was compelled to laugh along with me. I'm glad she wasn't bothered that I woke her and was quite happy about it. I'm also amused that I was laughing in my sleep. I have no idea what I was laughing about but I guess this vacation is doing me the good I have needed for a while. Well it's time for me to head off and have another wonderful day. It's already 23'C (73'F) but www.wunderground.com says it's supposed to get up to 32'C (89'F) so it's another tank top and shorts day. I'll bring my anorak rain jacket in case it gets chilly inside and I'm wearing my convertible pants so I can put the legs back on when I finally take them off. G'Day Mates (still haven't had anyone say it to me - ah well No Worries). Current Mood: happy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 30th, 2003
8:14 am	Managed to stay awake until about 9pm by taking my time eating dinner at a miserable cafe attached to the hostel - never eating there again! Taking a shower and organizing my stuff. Fell into bed right before 9 and hit that too tired to sleep point. Lay with my eyes wide open and then next thing I knew it was 4am and I had to go to the bathroom! The downside is to get in and out of the bathroom and your hostel room you need a key card which I'd locked in my locker and now it was 4 am and my 3 roommates were all asleep. But I managed to get it out and get to the restroom without major problems. Tonight I'll know better and will keep the keycard out. I'm sleeping in a top bunk of a bunk bed and the woman on the bottom bunk is a restless sleeper and I feel it. I didn't notice ituntil I was up from the bathroom - after that I was sleeping lighter and felt her tossing and turning. I've already had breakfast and will be heading out soon to go to the Zoo. It's going to be warm here today. It's already 75'F, 24'C with 83% humidity and it's only 8:15 am. It's going to be a warm day -thankfully today I'm ready - old navy tank top, my sun hat, shorts and shoes. I also already have SPF 30 sunscreen that I need to put on. I may not end up with a tan but I'm going to avoid a burn if at all possible. So Zoo in the morning - not sure what's on tap for the afternoon - maybe a lazy afternoon, not sure, then dinner and opera this evening. Tomorrow I think I'm going to the Chinese Friendship garden and aquarium at Darling Harbor but not sure what else. Probably a little tourist shopping and relaxation in prep for my flight to NZ on Saturday. Until nextime - G'Day Mates (which btw I have YET to hear anyone outside of TV shows in the US say). (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 29th, 2003
6:02 pm	Jet Lag Here I come Well I made it through the first day in Sydney. I took a 2.5 hour harbor ferry tour which was lovely and I have a bunch of great photos from it. I wandered around Circular Quay and the Rocks and have already found a few things to send back home. I picked up a ticket to the Opera at the Sydney Opera House for tomorrow night. I'm glad now that I didn't get one for tonight as I initially thought because I'm dead tired right now and I'm here online to try to keep myself awake another hour or so before I finally succumb to sleep. The ticket btw is for the FRONT ROW. The Opera House is doing something I've always said theaters in the US should do - the front rows traditionally are sold as best seats in the house but really they aren't. My front row seat isn't the best seat in the house - and it isn't priced as one which is great. Even better the opera is going to be in english. It's Orpheus in the Underworld. Tomorrow I'm going to go to the zoo in the morning and then I think wander around the botanical gardens after that and then head back to the hostel to take a quick shower before going back to Circular Quay for the show. I'm sure other things will come up as I go as well. I also found a beautiful opal necklace today but I wasn't willing to pay $212 without looking around to see if I find anything quite as nice. But it was in this lovely little shop overlooking Circular Quay. The shop owner, Jackie was very nice and explained all kinds of great info on opals and rating them and which are more available (the white and crystal ones) vs the ones very hard to find - the Black Opal - and why. How there are doublets (a slice of opal backed with black) and triplets, a slice of opal backed with black and covered with a clear dome). The necklace of course is a solid black opal. Very simple and elegant and lovely. I had such a great time btw just buying an opera ticket. It's hard to believe I'm here - except for this OVERWHELMING exhaustion. I think I might have to give up the ghost and go get my stuff out of hock (in a locker at the hostel) and check in - well get my key - I checked in earlier but couldn't get into the room until after 12:00 pm so to be sure I had a bed I went ahead and paid this morning before heading out. Got a great pass today (yeah I know I'm totally disjointed here) - it's called the Sydney Pass - it's a 3 day pass and was A$90. It allows you to use all the city buses, trains and ferries unlimited for 3 days. In addition it allows you to take these hop on hop off busses called Sydney Explorer that loop around the city and stop at key locations, also lets you get on Harbor Cruise Ferries and other Explorer busses and the airport shuttle. It cost me A$10 to get from the Airport to Central Train station (which is across from the YHA I'm in), I wish I'd bought the pass right off. But I've already used it on Sydney Explorer (normally A$30 a day) on the 2.5 hour PM Harbor Cruise (normally A$15) we can say including the return to the airport that I know is A$10 that's already $55. Now I'm also going to use it to get back to Circular Quay tomorrow for the ferry to the zoo and back to the hostel and back out to Circular Quay for the Opera, the pass will have paid for itself by tomorrow and I'll still have a 3rd day of unlimited usage on it. OK I'm toast I have to crawl next door and check in. I'll probably be updating and checking email at least briefly every day while in Sydney since there are 2 internet cafes on either side of the hostel and it's pretty cheap. Don't get used to it I have no idea how connected I'll be once I leave Auckland in NZ! ps A reference for how tired I am - I know that Aussie is 16 hrs ahead of Boston but when I was logging in I couldn't figure out why none of my Boston local folks were on AIM or Y!M. Well that's because they are 16 hours BEHIND Me and I was figuring that it was 10am in Boston because I was going forward, not going backward! So it's 2am and of course they're all asleep. Silly me. Nite nite! Current Mood: sleepy (4 Comments |Comment on this)