Goodbye Blog!

Hello blog and blog followers,

Thank you so much for reading this over the last eight months. Its been really fun to write about everything an keep you up to date. Now, though, the Australian adventure is over and the final year of my bachelor degree is about to start. And yes, I am terrified. However, I think I've got a pretty good idea for my collection and lets all hope it turns out beautifully.
I was back in BC for five weeks, to see family and friends and calm down a bit before I head back to the big city. Those five weeks were filled with fires and flat tires, an awesome trip to Tsuniah Lake Lodge and many great days at the cabin (before and after the Terrace Mountain Fire).
So great summer and now I'm back in Toronto and ready for the mayhem and chaos to begin. And then, when that is over, the next adventure will begin...and I may just find myself writing another blog about another terrific place and time. I'm hoping you are having a blast making your own magnificent stories and would love to hear about them!

Oh Sydney

So it has been over a month since I last wrote and my dear that is awful. I didn't really think that there was a lot to write about. But now I realise I have less than three weeks in Australia and I should probably recap. The last two months have been full of school and final projects. Kevin, Kristine and I took a study break to check out the breathtaking walk from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach. It takes over an hour and winds its way through a very old and equally large cemetary which was kind of creepy, but offers the best views of the ocean from the Eastern suburbs.
Then came exams and the end of school. Kristine graduated with her Bachelor of Arts and is no longer a student!
There was a very cool festival in the Rocks, which is the neighbourhood we live in. It was called the Vivid light festival and they lit up the Opera House with crazy colours for a full two weeks!
We've also had lots of visitors, which has been great and has kept us busy. Mal was here from Toronto and my cousin Britt and her boyfriend Carey were here from Calgary.
So know Kristine and I find ourselves with a week in Sydney catching up with the friends we've made, then Kristine's mom comes for a visit, they head to Cairns, I head to Perth and then we move out of the apartment and I fly home!
So much in so little time!
There really isn't much else to shock you with - no more falling out of planes and crawling kilometers underground. But I will write once more before this adventure is over and then its back to Canada, Toronto and school for me.
Hope everyone is having a great summer and see you soon!

Sweet As!

Alright, so I am finally writing – apologies it has taken so long. Storyboards and men’s vest and pants got in the way. But hey, now you get photos AND stories. Oh goody!

So, get out your map of New Zealand and follow along:

We flew to Auckland, followed very quickly by a flight to Queenstown, a car ride to the Karawau Bridge and a 47m jump to the Karawau River.

Then back in the car to continue on to Wanaka. Are you still with me? We were moving very fast. When we got to Wanaka we went and checked out the sites and added a little Canadian humour to the scenery complete with an engraved piece of wood reading “New Zealad 2009” (I typed it just like I carved it). If found please return to #17 Lower Fort Street, Sydney.

The next day we just wanted to lay low and recover from the bungee jumping. HA! All jokes - we went sky diving. Not many other experiences can be equivalent to falling from 12,000 meters at 200 km/h. One piece of advice: don’t open your mouth, because once its open you are not closing it. Second piece of advice: Its impossible to not open your mouth because you are smiling like a crazy person the entire time. Oh, and you also have no control over your extremities.

Next came the journey from Wanaka to Franz Josef Glacier. We didn’t get in until way after dark cause we didn’t finish our dive until 5pm, but we went and checked out the glacier the next morning. Absolutely stunning – a glacier in the middle of a rainforest. Mindblowing really.

The next day brought a very long drive up the West Coast of the South Island until we turned onto Arthur’s Pass and drove through the mountain ranges to Christchurch. We stayed in Christchurch for a night and then drove up the East Coast of the South Island to Kaikoura where we stumbled upon their fur seal colony. Seriously, I nearly tripped over one of them!

We then drove further up to Picton where you can catch the ferry from the South Island to the North Island. We couldn’t get a hostel in Picton so we referred to our extremely accurate YHA map and discovered that there was a hostel called Anikiwa that was right beside the Picton YHA. The Anikiwa YHA circle was actually touching the Picton YHA!
Wrong.
We drove out to Anikiwa, with very little direction. Actually that’s not true. There was lots of direction. First we went south, then east, west then north and finally we discovered this road that turned into another road that turned into the road we needed to be on which ended up being so windy it made Westside Rd. look like Saskatchewan highway. The hostel was half an hour out of town down this lovely road and was very very cool. It was in the middle of Queen Charlotte Sound, which is a mass of connected islands emerging from the water. It is home of the 5th best hike in the world and the oyster capital of the Southern Hemisphere. The hostel was in the bottom portion of a large home, so sitting in the tv room felt like we were sleeping over at a friends house.

Eek. Long catch up that one was. I’ll try to keep this shorter…

The North Island!
So we made our way across on the ferry to Wellington, then drove up to the coastal town of Paraparaumu where we stayed at what can be best described as great-great-great grandma’s house. Then we made our way to Hawkes Bay where we met up with a one Miss Katie Van Massenhoven and her lovely Kiwi roomie Monique. It was Monique’s birthday so we went out on the town and then stayed at her parent’s lovely farm. Thank you very much, it was absolutely wonderful and unbelievably hospitable.
So now the three Ks made our way up to Lake Taupo and Rotorua, where we checked out the Craters of the Moon, which were the coolest creepiest alien-movie location I’ve ever seen.

When we woke up in Rotorua it was Kristine’s last day in New Zealand, so we had to make it count. Nothing does that better than donning a wetsuit, lifejacket and helmet, grabbing a paddle and jumping in a raft with two guides and no one else. You would think that with two guides we would be safe, but the 7m waterfall had other ideas. It was a lot of fun, despite us getting extremely wet, tossed head over heels and flooded. But very very fun.

So Bean left for Sydney and Katie and I headed back south to do some repelling, caving, black water rafting and rock climbing. Ya… pretty cool. Used that word too much. Absolutely fantastic. I’m running out of adjectives.

The trip was amazing. You don’t go to New Zealand for the cities. You go to experience what they are known for and what they do best. You go for the Mauri culture, the outdoors experience and the adventure sports. And the fact that such a small island has everything from great Kauri trees to glow worms, huge mountains and windy roads to beautiful coast lines and dense rainforests.
So what is the verdict? You should go. Go and conquer some fears or just prove that you don’t have any!

Hey hey!

Cheers from New Zealand!
We've been here for a couple days now. Can't think of a better place to spend Easter - other than home of course :)
Its been great so far. On friday we flew to Auckland... at different times. It turned out ok though. Kev as in my brother and his friend Thomas picked Kristine up at the airport and then Thomas went off to a date and Kev and Bean hung out all day together - never saw that one ever ever happening. I guess thats why they never say never. Turned out alright though! I got in really late and the boys were kind enough to pick me up to. Crashed as soon as I got to the hostel. Well tried to...a car alarm went off for a couple of hours so definately didn't sleep during that.
After less than 11 hours in Auckland for me, we flew to Christchurch and then on to Queenstown. We started descending inbetween moutains that looked just wider than the plane's wings and the airstrip is on the only flat piece of land in the mountainous valley.
So Queenstown......
absolutely breathtaking and amazing and reminded us incredibly of Banff. Same atmosphere, same touristy feel, same outdoorsy vibe, good night life. Really awesome place and would love to go back.
Today we picked up the car and drove towards Wanaka, stopping at Katarua Bridge to jump 43m attatched to a large elastic band. FANTASTIC. I screamed a little. Touched the water with my hands and unintentionally with the top of my head, but the weather was great - blue skies and a relatively decent temperature. So wonderful. I will definately be posting pictures soon.
But for now I have to get off before my minutes run out, so until next time:
don't worry, I'm safe and unhurt. The bungy jump actually did wonders for my back.
And happy easter!!!
Sweet as!

St.Patti's day and Waratahs Rugby Game

The four non-Aussies, non-rugby playing (I understood most of it, and had to explain what I could - if only my memory were better would actually sound like I completely knew what I was talking about) ladies!
Go Tahs! (they are in the red)
A very excited and entertaining audience of 30,000
The ANZ stadium at the Olympic Park - pretty cool place. Kings of Leon were playing next door that night.
St. Patti's day!!!!! my day to shine. Three Canadian girls, and we didn't meet one Aussie! (other than Holly's boyfriend) We did however meet a couple Americans and a Frenchman who pulled down his pants in the middle of the bar to see what size pant he wears (we were looking for a model for my menswear class)

Finally pictures...

The Blue Mountains. Gorgeous and a welcome excape from the city
The Three Sister's Rock formation
One of my favourite things: an amazing waterfall
More mountains

Shout out!

Hey all!
So Bec said that the last picture on my blog was a rainy shot, and told me it was too depressing and I needed to do something about it. So I am. When she gets back from her travels through Europe, there will be a sunny, glowing picture waiting for her.
So what have I been up to in the last...three weeks?
Mostly school really, starting the projects, one for each class. They are extremely creative and a lot of fun. A couple weekends ago we went to the Blue Mountains for a day. Just great view, gorgeous hiking and a very touristy feel. But it was alot of fun, quite a bit cooler than the city and honestly breathtaking. That was a Sunday, got back that night, went straight to bed due to our absolute exhaustion, then woke up on Monday for school. Tuesday day was spent working at the Exchange Fair for my school. It was actually quite fun. I spent four hours talking up Ryerson and Toronto - no one asked about the fashion program though - they were all radio and television students. Talking about it all day made us Rye kids a little homesick, but nothing that walking in the harbour wouldn't fix.
Tuesday night brought one of my favorite days of the year! St. Patti's Day. And my, Sydney did not disappoint! We headed out decked in green at around 7pm. Where I live is the oldest part of Sydney and the area most populated by Irish Pubs. SOOO we just went down the street to a couple different places, met some hillarious people and had an overall good time.
Wednesday sucked.
My Thursday class is the one where I'm making a jacket-esque thing out of old RipCurl wetsuits, and while most of the girls hate the project, I'm really liking it. So Thursday was good.
Friday was spent in the print lab dyeing fabrics for Assessment 1 that is due this week. Eeek. Hope I did everything alright. My samples are smaller than they are supposed to be, but I honestly can't do them all over again and am willing to take whatever cut I get. I'm learning lots though.
Saturday night we went to a Rugby game, Waratahs vs. Crusaders. It was at the ANZ Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park, which was a cool place anyways. The rugby was awesome, even though our Sydney team didn't win. The atmosphere was great and it was just such a neat experience. A very well spent $17.
So what's next you ask?
Well three weeks of school, projects due, lots of work. All that jazz. Then off to New Zealand to see the sights and partake in some extreme sports! Very excited for that!

Anyways, that is all that is really new for now - however, I would love to hear from you! Your stories would sure break up the next three weeks of school work!

Also, special Happy Birthday send out to Auntie Deb and a belated Happy Birthday to Uncle Gregg and Jenna!
Happy Spring all you back in the Northern Hemisphere!

Kim

ps. can't add photos - having difficulties - will do it soon.

Sydney, oh Sydney

I have started school, and work. Oh bummer. The age of no responsibilities has past. Here are some of the other photos from our trip to leave you with.

ps. I wrecked my camera so there won't be any pics for awhile

This is Airlie Beach Lagoon. You can't swim in the ocean around Airlie Beach because of the tide and the stingers, so they built this crazy lagoon/chlorine pool. Pretty. However, while admiring this place we got hit by a very intense rain storm. All in good fun...

We do wish you were here. Thank you Pink Floyd

Noosa Heads: very pretty little resorty type town. Biggest houses we've seen yet. Lots of surfing too!

Crikey! Had to visit one of the most widely known Aussie icon, the Australian Zoo, Steve Irwin's project.

So I promise I will post photos of the house soon as per request. Thanks for reading and much will come later. Cheers all!

The Whitsundays

I think I have found my heaven.
I think I have seen my future.

I'm going to go out, make a whole lot of money and then buy a sailboat and sail around the world.

Sounds fanciful? Well thats what I spent the last four days of my Queensland journey doing. We started out towards the Whitsunday Islands from Airlie Beach and were greeted at our resting spot by a very friendly dolphin! He continually swam around our boat making us oohhh and ahhhh. Amazing (Warning: I will use that word alot). Then in the morning the crew got up ridiculously early (4:30am) and began to sail. When we surfaced around 3hr later we were in the middle of the ocean with only tiny specs of islands in the vast distance. We found ourselves 40miles off the coast and this is where we were diving. Now I'm not afraid of much, but the things that make my heart race all reside in the dark abyss of water. And however calm it was still rather dark water. Then the tide began to go down, my hear rate with it. The bottom of the blue-green water began to appear, and we dove 24m down. This brought us face to face with unbelievable corral, fish you think only exist in aquariums, and caverns, which our resident diver Shawn took us manouvering through - intimidating when you have an extra 8inches of height strapped to your back.
I should mention now that to save considerable confusion later that our boat was lovingly named "Spank Me"
So the scuba diving was one of the coolest things I've every done, and after half an hour of turtles, wobbigongs (which measured in at 2.5m and Shawn called "a small shark") and every colour under the sun we made our way back up to the boat, where we took a little rest and then went snorkeling. By lunch time, the tide was down and you could see the corral from the top of the water - it was like land was slowly surfacing while we were still in the middle of nowhere. After we headed back intowards the islands, found our place to stop right near Whitehaven Beach, and had supper and some delicious hard lemonade. There were 22 people on the boat, not including the crew of 4, and they were all fantastic - we had a lot of fun having a few drinks and watching the sun go down!!
The second day, we went hiking over to Whitehaven Beach which is very beautiful and will be on any postcard or picture of the Whitsundays. And the water was unbelievably warm! Then we made our way to a different island where we got back in the water for another, longer dive. Again, saw some amazing things that words would not even be close to describing. Then, because the weather was riculously beautiful and windless and being on a sailboat, that means no sailing, our skipper Gary took us to Long Beach Island Resort. The whole ship went to the bar, had way too many drinks and then went back to the boat, where we started a fabulous dance party and drank the night away!
The next day there were some rather green faces....
but nothing another snorkelling trip wouldnt fix. By 11am we were heading back to land, where we hopped in our gas-guzzling tiny red hyundai and drove the 11hr to Hervey Bay, then another 4hr to Brisbane, caught the 2pm bus to Casino than the 7pm train to Sydney, which got us home around 7am yesterday.
Phew.
So ya, found my heaven aboard a sailboat with amazing people, great food and a whole "ship"load of fun. It is definately going on my recomendation list for anyone coming this way (the list is getting rather long by now, but very very stellar stuff)

umm, so ya, now I'm back in the city and starting school tomorrow. enough said on that subject. moving on...

I have a job. Both Kristine and I. We're working at a little Organic Cafe called Size Matters. Between the both of us we have full time hours so its working out perfectly!

Hope you all are doing great and I would love love love to hear from you. So drop me a quick line just so I feel connected and not completely oblivious to all the fabulous things you all are doing. So please, WRITE ME! I thought everyone liked to talk about themselves. haha

Cheers all and will chat soon!

Brisbane - Hervey Bay - Fraser Island - Rockhampton - Airlie Beach

This is the Fraser Island Highway. Pretty wicked if you ask me. In this particular picture we are racing the tide and trying to stay out of the waves.
Our Campground. Hard life. HAHAHA

Gorgeously warm freshwater lake located in the middle of ridiculously big sand dunes.

The Maheno Shipwreck.

Our transportation of choice for the two days. This bus believe it on not made it through extremely narrow sand roads and even through rouge creek beds.

The Flora and Fauna

Hey all,

Thanks for reading this and please leave messages on what you are up to!

We took the overnight train from Sydney to Brisbane. It was occupied by five rather shady, obnoxious and drunk passengers, so the sleep was minimal on the overnight train. When we got to Brisbane we had planned on staying 2 nights, but ended up booking the plans for the next week and a half, renting a car and immediately taking off to Hervey Bay. That was on Tuesday. We stopped in Maroochydore, the home of Steve Irwin and took some pictures of the Australia Zoo. Then headed to Noosa Heads which is the coolest resort town we've come across (only later to be challenged by Airlie Beach). Then we made our way to Hervey Bay where we checked in and packed our bags to head to Fraser Island the next morning.

Thursday - we got on the tour bus at 8am. It was a big bus, like a Greyhound, which we thought would take us to the ferry. Wrong - it was our vehicle for the next two days. This machine and our tour guide Fritz (who was the most cheerful man and made the trip even better) boarded the ferry at a tiny little dock and then exited the ferry at the island. However the exit ramp was higher than the water so into the water and up the ramp and to the parking lot we went. Did not stop there however - we went on through to the "roads". They were barely as wide as the bus, but Fritz manouvered the four wheeler no problem. So we bounced through sand roads on a sand island, through a rainforest anchored in sand, so a little resort town and then the beach. Then we turned onto the Fraser Island highway where even more sights awaited. This highway runs around the island and slowly disappears during high tide - its simply the beach. We checked out the outline of the island, and then headed to Cathedral Beach, where we spent the night in great tents that I think we should install at the cabin. Also had an awesome dinner and even some kangaroo!

Friday - we woke up and continued our tour of the island - we climbed a sand dune to a fresh water lake that was 25 degrees and beautifully clear. No seaweed or anything! Just catfish about half a meter long. We made our way to another lake that was slightly acidic apparently - it has been filled over the years by rain water only. Crystal clear and a crazy teal colour - we weren't planning on going swimming but a rain storm hit and we were so wet that we thought may as well do it now! With the day nearly over, we left the island and made our way back to the hostel in Hervey Bay

Saturday - We drove to Rockhampton to break up the drive to Airlie Beach. We found ourselves in a "hole" (warned by one of the guys on our Fraser Island tour). "Rocky" is a cross between a small southern USA town and an Aussie middle-of-nowhere redneck hub. It is 100 Mile on Ozzie-steriods - 50,000 people live in this beef capitol of OZ. It is a place one should pass through on the way to more sun, but unfortunately it is the only and thus most popular stop between Hervey Bay and Airlie Beach. The hostel was iffy, the neighbourhood sketchy, the retail shops closed at 4pm on a Saturday. We ate at Sizzlers, which I would warn against - kind of like a glorified Perkins. Yet the locals apparently frequent the place for special occasions such as Valentines Day. Overall, it was a disappointement that only succeeded in one thing - reminding me of Prince George - Congratulations Rocky, you're the largest populated redneck town in the East, complete with drunks on the corner at 3pm.

Sunday - we left Rocky like a bat out of Hell, and headed for Airlie Beach - a cute little resorty town that was as picturesque as Noosa Heads with a completely different feeling. Thanks Whitsundays for showing us how gorgeous Queensland can be!

Next on the agenda - sailing the Whitsundays, diving, relaxing, eating and drinking while doing so.
Then back to the big city to start school and my newly acquired job!
Cheers all! "Hope yous going great"

Check that off the list!

So we have been in Sydney for a little over a week. We have found a place to live, moved in, checked out the neighbourhood, de-cockroached our new flat, gone to the beach, got
our diving liscences, toured the uni, the city and the harbours, gotten sunburned.....


A pretty succcessful I week I do believe.


A little more detail? Ok. Kristine and I found a completely furnished flat - completely furnished. I mean beds, couches, tv, plates, forks, hangers, everything. We bought the necessities and bug killer, as the roaches just loved a vacated place. They are mostly gone now. Don't be too grossed out, they are apparently very difficult to avoid here. It never gets cold enough to kill them off. But we are living on the second floor of a terrace house that is over 100 years old. It is in the oldest part of Sydney called the Rocks - its the first place settled here. Very cool. The Harbour Bridge runs nearly overhead, which is pretty neat. And we can see the Opera House in the distance. You can see water from the front window, as well as the back windows, as we are on Millers Point, the little jetty of land that seperates Darling Harbour from Circular Quay (the harbour the Opera House is in). We completely lucked out with this accomodation. Pretty much unheard of so we have not one single complaint. Even the obloxiously loud boat horns have found their place.

This is a view from the front windowThis is looking towards Darling Harbour at the side of our building (back is to the Opera House)Because we found ourselves in Sydney for a decent amount of time, we decided to take our PADI Open Water Divers Liscence! So now all three of us (and Anders from Denmark) are now certified Scuba Divers! Don't we look amazing in our gear. Its alot lighter once you're in the water! So now, when we head up to the Great Barrier reef we can independently dive up to 18m. Not that we will go by ourselves - definately will go with a guide. Lets just say we all have something underwater that we are not a fan of. Kristine doesn't like her sharks. Kev isn't a fan of sea urchins and I still hyperventilate a little around sea weed forests. The water up north will be a lot clearer than what we learned to dive in. We dove at Bare Island, where the visibility was only 2-3m. So basically you follow the flippers of the person infront of you. The vis up north will be about 10m which will be so amazing!This is where we dove at. Its called Bare Island, and was actually used in Mission Impossible 2. Its a navy base built into the rock of the island. Pretty cool looking. Our first to dives we did on the right side of the bridge, the second day we dove on the left side. The second day was definately better - we were able to swim with schools of fish, rock fish, nearly landed on a sting ray and saw some Rock Shark eggs. Very cool and slightly terrifying, but very very cool. So we've been in Sydney for just over a week, and as our Australian record shows, thats about as long as we stay anywhere for a continuous period. So we're heading north tomorrow, to the hot hot hot Great Barrier Reef (kind weird to be going north to the hotter weather!). We train it to Brisbane tomorrow, stay there for a few days, then hopefully make our way to Fraser Island, further north to Noosa and Rockhampton and Airlie Beach, followed by some sailing and diving around the Whitsundays! Then back down to Byron Bay before heading back to Sydney and started school....right school. That is why I'm here....

You can also now leave messages on my blog, I believe. Kev changed the settings. You can also check out his blog, he has some amazing pictures too! chubey.blogspot.com

Hope all is going great back at home! It was good to talk to the fam on Saturday - miss you all! And a big shout out to Uncle Gregg, who is now as healthy as every!!!! So happy for you!

Cheers all and can't wait to hear from you! Keep me posted!

ATTENTION ALL!!!!

WE FOUND A PLACE TO LIVE!


so Sydney is notoriously expensive and there was no way we could afford something, so after much consideration and the realisation the $720 a month is more like $600 Canadian we decided to widen our reach and in doing so snagged a pretty cool place with a lot of character and one hell of a view...

the description doesn't do it justice, so pictures will be posted soon...

not that I want to kill you with anticipation...

i think we might make the second 1/2 bedroom into a large closet...

hmmmm lovely.

(this also means I won't have internet for a few days and thus the blog will yet again be delayed)


Next on the list of things to do:
- PADI diving liscence 4 day course
- swim in the ocean so mom can tell uncle gregg that we finally did more than wade
- check out Torongo Zoo
- orientation at UTS
- Queensland!

So cheers for now, hope all is going well, and if you phone me it doesn't cost me anything!

I'm not the wicked witch of the west, but yesterday I melted

Yesterday, we checked out of our hostel and had about 10 hours to kill before we were supposed to catch our 8pm train. so in order to get out of the sweltering heat, we spent 2 hr in a food court at the big casino (we couldn't afford much else in the place). Then we went and watched "Curious Case of Benjamin Button". then we got our dinner in a different food court in the same complex. Walked around feeling slightly out of place, due to the amount of money flying around the place. Then we headed to the train station and stood melting waiting. After about an hour, we sat and melted. By the time 9pm rolled around, we were puddles on the pavement, on which you could probably fry an egg. At 10pm is was stuffy and we were still waiting. Then at 11 the train became a bus, and we took the bus 4hrs to a different station where we boarded the train, which was so over-air conditioned I couldn't sleep cause I was so cold.
So now I'm a frozen puddle.
Weather.
Oh, the reason the train didnt come was because the tracks buckeled due to the weather and the rails were unpassable, so we had to travel past where the tracks were ruined.
What a day/s

Now we're back in Sydney, which is starting to feel like home, and in search of an apartment, or flat if you will. We shall see how that goes

still in good spirits though.

the luck has got to change sometime!

This is the last one for now...the glorious van!

So the first image of our lovely van is the interior. Thats right ladies and gents - 3 people slept in there for 7 nights. enough said.

Our gorgeous van on the Great Ocean Road

Kevin's display of how fragile our van/tin box is.

family photo

our somewhat adapted back. Now this wasnt the most offensive van we saw on the website, but it came second in the offensive category of the 20+ wicked vans we saw on our travels.

o well, it was a blast and it makes one hell of a story!

Thats all for now! Cheers from Melbourne!

Are you ready? Next round of pics

Neil Young at Big Day Out at Flemington Racecourse on Australia Day. Absolutely amazing performance.

Just hanging out on the beach at Torquay. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Glorious sun.

Well, we are very classy. Wine out of tupperware? sure, why not.

This is blue lake. It looks like its full of koolaid and would taste delicious. it has a completely flat bottom and is 200+ meters deep. and you can't get down to it. cause its in a volcano. very cool.