See What We've Seen

It's probably getting slightly boring simply reading post after post. I want to include a slide show if you will, showcasing some of the gorgeous places we've been, some of the oddities and just a few of my favorites. So without further ado:


Feeding the elephants at Steve Irwin's Zoo.

Not your typical marching band, I'd say drugs definitely play a significant role in their lives.

Crocodile show @ zoo. Very dangerous and very impressive.

Kate feeding a kangaroo at the zoo.

View from The Pass in Byron Bay.

Replica of largest croc ever caught in Australia.

The back of a car we were parked near.

Sign in Brisbane informing tourists and locals all is well.

View from dinner in the Rocks neighborhood.

A sign we saw at the market in Byron Bay.

Outside of the Nimbin Museum. The people shown say a lot about the city.

 
Walking down Main Beach in Byron Bay during sunset.

The welcome sign at our hostel in Mooloolaba. Every journey begins with one single step.

Who needs Burger King when you can have Hungry Jack's?

I'll admit the pictures we have of New Zealand are much more picturesque. And as I am writing this I'm also uploading the NZ pics, so they'll be posted soon. 

Mooloolaba. What A Mouth Full.....

It definitely helps to know people….no matter the connection. Kate and I had planned on going to one other destination in Australia before heading to Brisbane for our flight to NZ. So we went to Travel Bugs (a tourist center that has insight and ideas for trips) to see what our options were. Our friends Chris and Kristen's roommate Margo was hooking up with a Kiwi (New Zealander) who was roommates with a guy who worked at Travel Bugs. He put in a good word for us to his friend at the shop and we were able to book a trip to Mooloolaba for 4 days & 3 nights without paying the added fees. As opposed to paying $450 dollars, we paid cost for a bus ticket there and back to Brisbane, 3 nights in a very nice hostel with our own private room (brown-chicken-brown-cow), admission to the Steve Irwin Zoo, free breakfasts, free wifi and free use of surfboards, kayaks and paddle boards. Not too shabby.

The Last Supper

Our last dinner was the same as our first, we each had a cheap pizza from Buddha Bar. There was no live music to keep us entertained, only a DJ that was playing a good mix of music. We were given some unexpected entertainment that as a result ended the only entertainment there was. As we scarfed down our food there was a police raid of the restaurant. The entire place was surrounded with cops and drug sniffing dogs. Ironically the only person busted was the DJ…..who knew Byron Bay even had police???

Giving Birdie A New Meaning

The other roommate of Chris and Kristin, Frenchie (think Clyde, "Are you for scuba?") has a car and the three guys went to a nearby golf course for a free round of golf….compliments of the Door County guys who work there. It wasn't a nice course by any stretch but it was still fun to get out and play. I also made it a goal to play at least 9 holes in each country I visit. Whether that is feasible is hard to say. The highlight of the round wasn't watching Frenchie play golf, but rather standing on the 13th tee box as two birds attacked us. Apparently they had a nest just above the men's tee box and we were obviously a threat to them. Judy Hurlburt (my aunt) you would have literally had a stroke. These things were mean looking, they gave a few warning dives and then once they figured we weren't leaving, they flew straight at our heads only to turn at the last possible second. To make matters worse, the tee box was on a little island and our golf carts were about 50 yards away down the fairway. The three of us decided to use our drivers as weapons and while one person teed off, the other two swung their clubs frantically to fend off the diving birds. Had this 10 minute ordeal been video taped, I am certain it would have made America's Funniest Videos. 

I'd Go Gay For Aaron Rodgers.....

Go figure the year my beloved Packers make the Superbowl I am out of the country. And to make matters worse, we aren't even able to see the commercials that make the frequent TV breaks bearable. Rather, we were forced to watch Australian commercials which consist primarily of PSA's (Public Service Announcements). So while it was great watching the Pack drive down the field, it was even better seeing commercial after commercial talk about child abuse, drink driving (yes, they call it drink driving) and pretty much any other issue you can think of. I guess a 30-second clip in Australia during the Superbowl doesn't cost millions of dollars…..but more like several thousand dollars at most. It isn't a widely celebrated event as some may think, at least not in the South Pacific. Nonetheless, the Green Bay Packers were in and even though kickoff was at 10:20 am on Monday morning we had a fridge filled with beer and an array of dishes to delve into. 

Before the game started I had a Skype date with my parents and was forced to find an internet cafe that opened early enough. As I chatted with my family a car pulled up in front of the cafe and two people got out of the car. The driver happened to be sporting a Milwaukee Bucks jersey and a Packer hat. Now this would be the status quo if I were in Wisconsin, but I was on the opposite side of the world and no one in their right mind would be wearing such an outfit. I decided to give him a "Go Pack Go!" Well, to my surprise, it was Mike Auda and his wife Sharon from Chicago. Kate and I had been with them a month earlier at a Christmas party and neither of us mentioned our intent to travel. So not only were the Packers kicking off in their first Superbowl in 15 years, but now I had a die hard fan & friend to watch it with. 

We met up with Mike and his wife at halftime at the Beach Motel in downtown Byron, after watching the first half with our friends at their apartment. The small world coincidence didn't stop there either, we were cheering on our team with three guys from Door County, WI. One of whom happened to live just down the road from my Aunt & Uncle's Bed & Breakfast in Sister Bay. Obviously the game was a huge success and we partied for the remainder of the day with Mike & Sharon. The cheeseheads took over Byron.

New Found Love

My new found love, besides a stress free life of travel abroad, Coopers Pale Ale, cheese curds, sex and chorizo are macadamian nuts. I sampled some at the Byron Bay market and decided to buy a small bag to snack on as we roamed the grounds. After about 30 minutes, 10 handfuls and an empty bag of nuts, I figured it would be in my best interest to buy the larger sized bag. I bought a kilogram of roasted salted macadamian nuts for $10. It was the best purchase I made thus far on our trip. For those who don't know I am what you'd call a "selective eater." I have broadened my horizon ten fold in the past two years (thank you Kate Levenstien) but still lack the desire to indulge many popular foods. I have always just stuck to peanuts since I knew I liked them. Well 25 1/2 years later I am kicking my own ass for not trying these things. I know they are the one of the most expensive nuts on the market, but everything can be quantified in moderation. Now every time we go to the supermarket I head straight to the nut dispensary and sample the macadamian nuts. 

Inevitable.

I'm coming to realize it's going to be impossible to blog about every single day of this trip. I don't have the time, and quite frankly I'd rather be out experiencing each country as opposed to sitting on this laptop documenting each and every minute. So from here on out I think I will do weekly summaries, basically a shortened version of my first week of blogging. I intend to keep some of the humor, lose the minuscule details and maybe add a little sugar and spice…..  


Also Kate has mentioned she would like to add her own section to the blog. After several weeks of procrastination, (as I would call it, she might call it brainstorming) we will be implementing a new section called, "Kate's Takes." Yes, both words contain the exact same letters and although they don't rhyme, it is a witty name that will be devoted to observations/funny things we've encountered. It will be random and won't be solely focused on our whereabouts, but more on the oddities we've seen or noticed throughout our trip.

Even Fresher than Fresh

February 4th - I woke up early and went for my first run of the trip. I decided that exercise would give me some sort of purpose in life since I have no job, no income and am living out of a backpack. I left around 7am before the temperature hit 90 degrees. It was nice and calming to run along the beach. Kate and I decided to explore the town since this was her first visit to BB. We did some shopping: bought some green stuff, a few sushi rolls, falafel, and chicken and zucchini for the barbie. 


It was the first relaxing day of our trip and we simply ate our way through town. We went to a restaurant called Fresh - I'd put it in the top 5 best places I've ever been to. We shared a few beers and chatted with the hostess who informed us to come back that night for dinner because her favorite live music group, The Blackbirds, were playing. We had a prime table reserved outside in front of the band and they played cover after cover and in such a unique fashion that it only made the experience that much more enjoyable. The mussels simply put, were fucking out of this world. Sorry Mom, Dad & family….I have a vulgar mouth sometimes. After dinner the two of us took a long walk under the moon down the beach, quite romantic, I must say. I don't know if the moon and the tides were the culprit, or if it was the snuggling on the beach, but Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors dragged us in for two large sundaes to enjoy on our walk home. Australia has never heard of Blue Moon ice cream though, so the whole 31 flavors is slightly skewed.

The City of Dreams

February 3rd - The day I had been looking forward to more than any other had arrived. Our time in Sydney was over and we were headed to Byron Bay, one of the top surfing towns in the world. Kate and I had a 2:55 pm flight to Ballina. As we landed and this is a must share, Kate made the comment, "It looks like Wisconsin." I guess the Jersey girl has been spending a little too much time in the Midwest. We then took a shuttle bus to Byron Bay. 


Kate's close friends from Semester at Sea (Chris & Kristen) had been living there for a month already and were awaiting our arrival at the bus stop. Upon our arrival we dropped off our luggage at C & K's apartment and immediately went to happy hour at the Buddha Bar. They had cheap drinks, $10.00 pizzas and live music. We made our way to a hostel called The Aquarius (where Kristen bartenders) for a few drinks. One of the staple drinks is their Jungle Juice - it is comprised of Goon (white wine), fruit juice and bourbon. Sounds absolutely horrific, but was similar in taste to that of 50 cent lemonade stand…..but with a terrible hangover the ensuing morning. 

Now a quick overview on Byron Bay:

-The city is comprised mainly of backpackers between the ages of 18 - 23, I was an elderly fellow for the week needless to say.

-Besides backpackers, the remainder of the city are local burnouts who surfed and did far too many drugs in their day…..I suppose it would be appropriate to say there isn't much ambition in this town of 10,000.

-There are two main streets in Byron, both consist mainly of tourist shops, surf shops, cafes, bars and hostels.

-It is actually more common to see people barefoot in stores, restaurants and walking throughout the city centre.

-You'd think that every bar would be quite similar, however there is a bar that is Cancunesque (wet t-shirt contests) there is the "I'm on so many drugs that I don't know if this is a bar, a church or a Chuckie Cheese" and pretty much everything in-between.

-Live music is an every night thing. You can find it everywhere.

-Heaven for hippies. After a farmers market on a nice Saturday, we were walking back to our apartment and there were about 50 people dancing, guys playing the bongo drums and at least 20 people completely naked dancing. It was like a National Geographic magazine with hippies substituted for the famished aboriginal people. 

-The airport has one runway, maybe 4 flights a day and basically no means of security whatsoever. You actually have to walk down the runway to get inside the terminal, if you'd even call it that.

-The food is everything from the best seafood of your life to the shittiest Mexican food - guess proximity plays a role. 

-Time is truly irrelevant. No on really knows what day it is nor really cares. If you have a job, you probably have a set time each day you come in and only know what days you aren't working.

-There are several nude beaches along the coast and surprisingly the breasts don't even come close to the beauty that surrounds the area. Seriously. No, I am actually serious.

-This is the place to completely disconnect from the outside world if you're ever in desperate need of a break from reality.

"Public schools are so random." - Ja'ime King

February 2nd - Waking up sweating to what sounded like monkeys attacking one another wasn't ideal, but neither is waking up and going to sit behind a desk all day. We made some brekky and headed to Karruba Point where we caught a ferry to Circular Quay. There we transferred to board the ferry to Manly Beach. Manly is a gorgeous beach with great surfers and gorgeous people, similar to North Ave Beach without the beer-bellies. It is also one of the most expensive areas in the city in great part to the amazing views. We found a chill spot to relax and catch some rays before taking a walk to the "Wormhole." The wormhole is a cool tunnel through rocks that leads to a secluded area where the waves crash on rocks just below and you can see crabs as small as a half dollar and some as large as a basketball. 

For those who have seen Summer Heights High, Ja'ime girls are abundant throughout Australia. Kirk even showed us where the girl's character came from in north Sydney. The little girls are everywhere.....even at the beach. If you're unfamiliar, youtube it or borrow the DVD from someone...it's hilarious.

I found myself needing to fit in since I lacked a tan, a sexy Aussie accent and really any sense of style. I had been on the lookout for a singlet, basically our version of a tank top. Unfortunately since everything is so expensive, the cheapest singlet I had found was $40.00. Luckily we found a store that had a sweat shop in back that was selling them for two for $20.00. Done and done. 

We boarded the ferry back to Circular Quay because we had to meet up with the EF crew. We did more interviews with the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House in the background. It was quite humorous as we had a huge crowd looking on as people were intrigued with all the video equipment in front of us. My first and last time feeling somewhat famous, I'd rank myself as a J-List celebrity. They also took some professional photo's for the two of us and bought us several rounds of drinks at the Opera Bar overlooking the harbor. 

Kirk met up with us and we brought him out for dinner as a thank you for the hospitality and a bed to sleep in. He picked an awesome pub in The Rocks neighborhood with a rooftop view overlooking the harbor. Needless to say, it was an excellent last day in Sydney. After my first trip to Sydney back in '07 I enjoyed the city, but after this trip I think Sydney solidified itself as my favorite city in the world. I was able to explore every neighborhood - I saw so much more of the behind-the-scenes places and experienced the city from the perspective of a resident thanks to the guidance and help of the mates we stayed with.