Christchurh, New Zealand, Melbourne and Sydney, Australia

December 4-23, 2009
     G'day mates!
Wow, where do we begin? Where we left off I suppose. . .
Let's just say we ended our New Zealand trip with a bang! Our festivities included, but were certainly not limited to: braking a toilet at the hostel, drunken karaoke at a private club with locals (Bohemian Rhapsody, Sister Christian, and much much more, Brad even had his karaoke debut and he was fabulous!!), dancing with a Will Farrell look-a-like, lots of late night french fries, meat pies ( don't ask), and crazy walks home. It was super awesome and highly entertaining. But alas, our time in New Zealand was up and we are now rocking it out  in Sydney, having the time of our lives!!! But let's take you a wee bit back to the day our arrival in lovely Australia.

We were sad to leave the SS MacPherson behind, but happy to finally be out of New Zealand and in into the outback. . .  Australia that is. Whooopppeeee!!! New beginnings, warm weather, heaps of kangaroos, cockatoos, crocodiles, koala bears, lizards, snakes, bats, spiders, weird people, vegemite, dingos, beaches, and incredibly horrific outfits ( I mean really, really  horrific, puke worthy for sure). We arrived in Melbourne and we decided to give couchsurfing another shot. An incredibly nice and generous man named Paul decided to take us in to his cozy home. Paul is awesome!!! He is what couchsurfing is all about. He even made nachos for us, he surely knows the way to my heart! After settling into our room he peeped his head in and said" you guys want to see some kangaroos???" Are you kidding me?? I have been dreaming all of my life of the day I would actually be in Austarilia and see a wild  kangaroo!  He took us to a golf course by his house that was just loaded with kangaroos and their babies. It was truly an experience for us and we can't thank him enough for it. Thanks again Paul, you rock!!!

We stayed with Paul for 6 days and toured around the amazing city of Melbourne. Delicious gourmet foods, heart warming wines, tasty chocolatey treats, and tons of sights to see. . .  we had a blast. Melbourne is a truly remarkable city, and was a nice warm up for Sydney, which happens to be our new favorite city in the world ( we love love love Sydney!), but we'll get to that in a minute. Hold on to your diapers folks! While we were in Melbourne, Paul suggested to us that we rent a car and drive The Great Ocean Road, he claimed it was a "must see", boy was he right!!!!!
     The Great Ocean Road is about a ten hour scenic drive along the southern coast of Australia from Melbourne to Port Fairy. Words simply cannot describe the beauty of this drive and the breathtaking scenery we experienced (all while Brad was driving on the opposite side of the road, and using an ass- backward stick shift. Go Brad!). This jaw dropping drive was one of the most amazing drives we have ever taken and we highly recommend it to anyone travelling to Australia!

That's me in the corner. That's me in the spot light. . .

     We have been having such a tremendous time in Austraila. We LOVE it here and are just taking in every day. We are so grateful and feel so fortunate to be able to travel and to expereience all that the world has to offer. However, we are getting slightly homesick, especially at the thought that we will be sleeping in a Teepee on the beach on Christmas!     We miss all of you!!

 

Heaps and heaps and heaps of Kangaroos! Brad wanted to get out his boxing gloves and go head to head with a kangaroo. Suri boot it, no go so B-Rad.

We saw these birds while driving the Great Ocean Road, so we pulled over, and Whammo! They flew right on top of our car. How cute!

This liitle guy is sooo adorable that I wanted to snatch him up and put him in my backpack. I named him Frankie, and I think he likes you.

The big happy couch surfing family! Paul, Brad, me, and the two puppies, Montie and Mollie!

Beware of these signs.  If you see one, run! It means that there are several tourists in the area. Creepy!

Fancy an up close and personal encounter with a Koala?? He's yawning, how silly. Silly bear. We named him Earl, and I think he likes you too.

Just in case the cars coming directly at you aren't enough of a reminder. . .

The Twelve Apostles, Great Ocean Road. Nuff said.

OK, so here's where the story gets good. That's me drinking free champagne at a clothing store in Sydney!! Yes, the Aussies got it right for sure. Get the ladies all lit up, then let them loose in the store. I'm liking it, but  my happiness was short lived; I saw the price tag on the dress that I wanted. . . let's just say I would need at least a case of free champagne or an American Express Black card to even consider buying it, but thanks for the champagne!

My husband got jealous of the free champagne, so he bought himself the new Audi. He He He

Fancy Connect Four anyone? Stevo?

OK, I'm scared. Kangaroos are cute, cuddly, and fun. Why would you want to eat them? They actually do eat them here. How sad. It's weird and I told Brad that if he ever ate one the big D- word would be coming his way soon. LOL

Ahhhh the Sydney Opera House. How gorgeous it that??!!!!

Sydney at night!

One of my favorite pics!

Didgeridoos are cool. We just had to buy the Cd!

Ducky has lost his marbles. We caught him at a Foam Party in Sydney with a bunch of other under age duckies! We called in an interventionist. His name is Russell the Ohana Bear and he is a pilot trained in helping rubber duckies who are out of control. Russell will make his first appearance in the next blog!

Also- look forward to a story that I am putting together about our terrifying experience when we stayed in an insane asylum for a night while in New Zealand. We are almost too scared to talk about it, but we will, for your entertainment of course. Love, from the land of people who eat kangaroos, Sambo and B-Rad