Luge...

4/27/2009

After hitting up half of the bars the night before, getting up was a little on the late side. We took the gondola up to where the Luge ride is. You can tell we are now in the US, because these Luge thingy were fast as heck. You don't have to sign any waivers or anything,you just by a ticket and some person just tells you pull back for the brakes and your off...I all most ate it in the first turn. After the Luge we book our Jetboat and Canyon Swing...it looks so very scary.

Queenstown

After a short flight from Christchurch we landed in Queenstown. This is our first real hotel, a Crowne Plaza... Only 80.00USD a night. Queenstown has about 100 bars and 120 Restaurants all within a 10 block square.

New Zealand...Christchruch

We Are in New Zealand now. Christchurch for one night then on to Queenstown.
After dropping off our stuffs at the Boutique Hotel, Classic Villa...which was not to far from the action, wish we were here longer...oh well. We hit the streets first a place called "Sticky Fingers" the Bar Man was really cool, he was telling us how he make's his own Vodka. They still kits here for doing that, kinda like the home brew kits they have in the states. Time for food, next store was this semi-Mexican place "Coyote" which was pretty good. Our server told where to go for live music. They was this small Square with about twenty different clubs in it, the place we where told to go was "Fat Eddies"...Pretty good music. The drinking age here as well as Australia is 18. When we then there about 2AM there was a butt load of drunk kids in the street.
So Kids if you want to drink legally until the cows come home(i don't think the clubs have a set closing time, but I think their Government it trying to change that)...

Penguins on Parade…

4/24/2009

Our guide picked us up at 11:40. Our first stop was the Royal Botanical gardens. Had a look around at the plants and stuffs then departed. The Chocolate Factory was our next stop. Consumed a bunch of chocolate then left. Penguin parade, the Penguins don’t come ashore until dusk, so we had an hour to kill before that. They have these grand stands set up on the beach for viewing, for an extra 15 dollars you can upgrade to a smaller grand stand which was better for viewing the Penguins when they came ashore. We did that.
This was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. Hundreds of Penguins coming ashore after being out at sea for up to 2 weeks. They have these boardwalks set up so you can follow the Penguins home. They actually come pretty close. One thing the Rangers where really strict about is NO PHOTOGRAPY. So no pictures. After coming out of the water the Penguins fine there home, which can be up to 1 Kilometer. This was really cool I highly recommend it next time you guys are down here.

Day 8 Oz…

4/23/2009

Our day started at the St. Kilda Sea Baths. It’s an Olympic size swimming pool filled with clean seawater, oh there’s also spa stuffs here too. After bobbing around for an hour. Showered, and then took the bus over to The Melbourne Gaol (jail). Shared a Ham and Cheese with Christina, then on with the Gaol (jail) tour. When you first enter the Jail tour you get the same treatment as if you where really arrested. Our tour guide used to work at the jail up until it closed in 1994. Then they though you in cells…what a minute I thought this was supposed to be fun. Actually it had a scared straight kind of message.
After that we walked and walked and walked over to Chapel Street, it’s one of those streets that have a lot of nice shopping. Good thing most of the shops where closed by the time we got there I could of done a lot of damage to my Credit Card. We walked the length the of street eating and drinking all a long the why. We ended up back at the ESPY(Esplanade Hotel) saw a great band. I was about to proclaim this place the best music venue ever, BUT after the last band, a DJ played until closing time…he played Hip Hop. Oh well the search continues.

On to Melbourne…

4/22/2009



We said our goodbyes to our Inn keepers…boy they sure where nice. And hopped on our 14:15 flight to Melbourne. We are staying in another B&B type of place here too.
Once situated in our new digs we hit the streets. St. Klida is the part of town we are staying in. Ackland street is just a couple of blocks from where we are staying. It’s a lot like Haight Street in San Francisco, a lot of hippie types around. After drinks and a meal (I think Christina ate a Kangaroo steak) at a place called Fringe. We went over to a place some friends had mentioned, The Esplanade Hotel to catch some live music. What a cool place, it reminded me of a club in Amsterdam. After watching three bands we when back to our Boutique Hotel and went to sleep…Good Night!

Day 6 Oz…

4/21/2009


Our Inn Keepers told us that the Sydney fish market is a must do while you are here, so we headed on over for a look…Well more than a look. This place was massive! Fish from all over was represented. After taking some snap shots. We queued up for one of the many eating places inside the market…We ordered the fish feeding frenzy for 10…because it had a little of everything…Shell fish and not so shell fish.
After that I needed to take a nap or take a walk. Christina and I walked across the Harbor Bridge….There that did the trick. Time to eat again. We met back up with Carolyn and had dinner with friends at an Italian place in Kings Cross, I had the Lamb…Yum-O.

Are they taking applicants for the “Biggest Loser” yet?

Day 5 Oz…

4/20/2009

It’s raining today too…
Up at 6AM for our trek to the Blue Mountains, the guide company Blue Mountain picked us up at 7:30 just up the road from our B&B. Our guide “Jim” was really knowledgeable on Australian History, I learned so much…who knew. Once we got to the Blue Mountains we spotted our first Kangaroos feeding on some grass. After spending about fifteen minutes with the Roos we then drove over to Wentworth Falls. Because of the heavy weather it was difficult to see, but after waiting for a few minutes the clouds would pass and we good get a peek at the falls and the valley below. After the falls we then drove over to the railway which took you down to the bottom of the rain forest. There were stairs to the bottom but we thought it would be neat to take the rail. Well the rail went straight down like a roller coaster…didn’t expect that since you just sit in a seat with no safety device. Once in the rain forest you walk on this very slippery board walk. After Carolyn fell twice, she went back up to the top. It was very dark in the rain forest which made for crappy photos, so don't expect magic from me. On our return to the top of the canyon we rode the sky tram...nice view from there. Two hour drive back to Sydney then a nice dinner at the Royal Hotel...tried.

Day 4 Oz…

4/19/2009

It’s raining. We took the bus down to the harbor then over to the Rocks market. The Rocks is where the first ships carrying England’s convicts landed. But first we had a little lunch at an Italian restaurant “ Zia Pina”. Australia doesn’t have food that they really call there own, so there is a lot of food from other countries. After stimulating Australia’s economy, we popped into an Irish Pub for a bit of afternoon music. Well afternoon turned into 9PM so we walked up the street to get a bite to eat. The chef made me a special Pizza that was out of this world. Early to bed tonight tomorrow we have to get up early.

Day 3 Oz…

4/18/2009

Off to the Paddington market, our B&B is in a great location we can walk just about anywhere. There was your usual weekend market with local jewelry and knickknacks. I had my first of many sausages, and it was tasty. After the market we met up with Mark at the Olympic Hotel for some pre Football libations. After picking up my Swans cap we took our seat for the football (Footy) game. Australian Football is a lot different than the American kind. When you first see it its kind of funny, all these guys running around throwing the ball to each other. After a while I got the jest of it and started to get more into the game. Another thing that is different is the fans, there’s no trash talking between the opposing fans, everyone is so nice to each other. After the game the crowd of football fans spill into the pubs, as did we. They sure like to drink here.

Day 2 Oz…

4/17/2009

Today we went sailing in Sydney Harbor with our B&B hosts and it was excellent!!! We are so lucky to have had this experience because we have stayed in other B&B’s and never had this sort of thing offered to us. After a day sailing we took the bus over to the Oaks Pub to meet up with some of Carolyn’s friends. The Oaks is one of the grandest pubs I’ve even seen, it’s a Disneyland of drinking! With a really nice garden that you can cook your own food on there really nice BBQ, this place was jammed packed, I heard they do about $60,000AU a day…Gotta open a bar here.

Day 1 Oz…

4/16/2009

After breakfast we went for a walk-about…Actually we took the bus, to the Sydney Aquarium. This it the first time I’ve been to one of these things, you actually walk under water without getting wet. Most of the theme of the place was “Finding Nemo”, kind of geared more towards kids. None the less it was really cool. After the Aquarium experience we walked to the oldest Hotel in Sydney, actually it’s not a hotel, it’s a Pub. Had a lovely meal and walked over to Sydney’s most famous piece of architecture, the opera house. You’ve all seen pictures of the place, well they just don’t do it justice, and it’s pretty grand. Christina has been in Sydney for a week and suggested we stick around to see it in the dark all lit up. After taking some night shots of the Opera House (gotta start traveling with a tripod) we met back up with Christina’s sister Carolyn at an Irish Pub just up from there. There a two piece Irish band belting out drinking songs. One thing I noticed about the Pubs here is that they don’t tolerate being drunk. If they feel you’ve had one to many, they toss you out and if you resist they call the cops, then it’s a $5500.00AU fine. Ouch!!!

I leave…

Arrived at LAX at the appropriate time, when I checked in at QF they gave me a whole row of seats so I was able to sleep, pretty much the whole way here…which was nice.
Also what make’s it nice was its night time the whole way here I arrived at six in the morning. When I arrived and turned on my mobile phone it did not work, apparently I don’t have a G3 phone (time to upgrade)…but no biggie. I just bought a Sim card at the airport and was back in business. Trying to call Christina was fun, finally got it on the eighteenth try. After a short taxi ride to the B&B I met up with Christina and her sister.

Do you believe in Magic...

My Magic Underpants are packed and I’m ready for the trip down unda. Don’t know how often I’ll have access to the net. So don’t expect daily reports.

Gregory’s Girl…

Have you ever seen this gem, well if you haven’t here’s a summary; In his Scottish New Town home, gangling Gregory and his school friends are starting to find out about girls. He fancies Dorothy, not least because she has got into the football team - and is a better player than him. He finally asks her out, but it is obviously the females in control of matters here, and that very much includes Gregory's younger sister. Anyway, Gregory ends up on a date with three different girls on the same night and each time he passes his friends, they say “There must be something in the air” Well there must have been something in the air last night. Gil and I went to see Yonder Mountain String Band at the House of Everything but Blues on Sunset. On the way there was no traffic, so we arrived kind of early, before the doors opened. With about an hour to kill we went across the street to the Saddle Ranch, as soon as we passed though the doors the bartender was already asking us for our drink order. We were looking for a place to sit around the bar but it was crowded with only a few open spots, as we circled the bar the bartender followed us until we found an open seat, there was only one open seat so I sat and we ordered, a few seconds later another guy comes with a bar stool and put it down for Gil…What service! After one drink we wanted to seat at a table to get something to eat, the place was packed and it didn’t look as if we could be seated, no problem for the Saddle Ranch staff they made room for us. After ordering the Manager came by to check on us and if he could do anything for us…Weird. A little while later another Manager comes by and asked us the same. I looked to see if he was going to other tables but he wasn’t. I’m thinking they must think we are going to steal something or we are someone famous…“There must be something in the air”. Back at the HOB we sat at the up stairs bar until the show started. When we got down stairs all the good viewing spaces were crowded so we stood to the right of stage by the bar…of coarse. There were lots of tall people but I could see around them okay. All of a sudden this guy with an ear piece thingy comes up to us and asks if we want to sit in the Foundation/VIP section…“There must be something in the air”
What a great show, those boy can really rock, to bad Honey Bunny was not there she would of really like it…A lot! I wish more of my friends liked YMSB.

I'm leaving on a Jet Plane...

In a week or so I’m heading out on my next big adventure. I’m going to Australia and New Zealand. So stay tuned to this blog for updates from across the Pacific. I will be joining Christina and her sister in Sydney on the 15th… Should be a lot of FUN!!!
I conceder myself an experienced traveler, so here are a few tips in packing light…Some of which may seem controversial.

Tip number one;
When packing toiletries only bring a tooth brush. Most hotels and B&B’s provide soap
and Shampoo/Conditioner. I see nothing wrong with the stuff, but some of you may
Think otherwise. Also if you are traveling with a large group you can use there
Shampoo.

I’ll post tips though out the coming weeks, so stay tuned.