Czech Republic. Italy. Spain. Portugal. Croatia. Slovenia. Hungary. Poland. Austria. Germany. Greece. Thailand. Australia. Tanzania. Zanzibar. Malawi. Zambia. Zimbabwe. France. Monaco. Colombia. Cambodia. Vietnam. Laos. Myanmar. Cuba. Mexico City. New Zealand. Banff. Japan. Netherlands. Scotland. England. Chile. Iceland. Norway. Denmark. Covid-19. The journey continues..

Monday, November 30, 2009

Falling in love with Noosa!

Oooh Noosa, how I love thee!

I left Cairns early Monday morning and flew into Brisbane where I took the bus to the surf town of Noosa...

I heart Noosa..

Day 1- Arrived in Noosa and walked around and around to get the lay of the land and get my

photographic memory on but really Noosa isn't THAT big so no real way of getting lost unless if you're driving of course... in the small town of Noosa... 102 round abouts! Wanting to save the beach for another day, I decided to do the coastal hike that's part of the Noosa National Park and it did not disappoint! Hastings Street which is the main strip of Noosa Heads makes for a great people watching spot.. and turkey spotting for that matter! They have wild turkeys running around like San Francisco has pigeons! It's very strange to me!

Day 2- Trail run early in the morning along the coast that I hiked yesterday! And then it was Sunshine Beach.. here I come! Took the bus there and what a beach... long stretch of sand.. a little windy but a nice counter to the sunny warm temps! After a few hours at the beach, I hopped on the city bus,
shared my Memtos with the bus driver as I stayed on the bus line from beginning to end to get a "tour"of Noosaville, Noosa Junction and it's surroundings.

Day 3- Fraser Island.. not to be missed! I hopped on a tour with 16 other folks for a full day at Fraser Island... it was by far one of the coolest places I've been to! I will no longer wonder what it feels like toride in a Jurassic Park like 4WD through the sand roads as I was on one for about 10 hours! Photos will be posted when I get home but none of it would really do it justice! So many highlights on Fraser Island.. from Mc Kenzie Lake to driving along the 75 mile beach and having a military jet fly right above us.. maybe 50 feet above...yes very close! Another highlight of this day were two girls, Allie and Georgia..8 years and 7 years old from Canberra. They embodied what it was like to be innocent, fearless kids! They were so much fun to talk to and play with..nothing like having two kids on the tour who don't have a mouth filter :-)! They were both a crack up!

Day 4- Another trail run this morning.. same route and then 5 hours of relaxing at the beach with my book! I think I managed to get rid of my bike shorts tan line..? I leave tomorrow morning for Melbourne but Noosa.. how I would love to stay!

So last year while traveling, I was in Krabi, Thailand and the anti-government protestors shut down the Bangkok airport so I was making calls to try to get a flight out of Phuket instead.. also the Mumbai bombing attacks occured. This year.. the big world news is Tiger Woods.. I am neither a fan or not a fan of Tiger but WTF Tiger?!

Anyway..here's something funny as I was people watching at the beach today..

Teen girl: Stop trying to hold my hand!

Teen boy: I wasn't trying to hold your hand.. your hand just swung in my direction!

Teen girl: If you were trying to hold my hand.. just say so.. you were trying to hold my hand!

Teen boy: I was not trying to hold your hand...

Oh teenage love! Ha ha.

Friday, November 27, 2009

When you Cairns.. you have to dive!

Let me just say that Air New Zealand rocks!! 78 movies to choose from and not a full flight making an 11 hour flight not seem so long! After a heavy duty customs process (they don't make it easy to get into Oz from Ithe States!), including the question, "where were you three years ago?" I made my way to my hostel in Cairns. My purpose for Cairns was 1. go to Cape Tribe and 2. Dive the Great Barrer Reef! I did both.. Cape Tribe was alright but diving was awesome! I will never be able to "just" snorkel again!

I spent my 1st day here just walking around and getting a feel for the place! I was walking down streets and all of a sudden.. I spotted a guy and was just fixated on him! He was holding a bubble tea!! Where did he get that?! I want one!! I eventually found bubble tea place but I didn't want it anymore.. guess I was just excited to spot it here in Oz. Speaking of which, Cairns is expensive!! We're talking about $4.80 for a "slim" bottle of vitamin water expensive! Yes, the same vitamin water I love at home except I am not paying $4.80!

When in Cairns... you dive!

Cairns is a place where most folks use as a launchpad for their adventures whether it's diving or for the rainforest up north. I loved both of my Cape Tribe and diving experiences but for different reasons. While the Cape Tribe trip didn't really impress me, I met two locals from home.. George from Detroit and Ally from San Francisco! Ally was laid off twice and decided to pack her stuff up for a year and move to Sydney.. bartended her way through life in Oz and is now traveling around before returning back to the real world in the city. George works for the banks and he sent an email back to the office that IF they're even thinking about laying him off.. let him know so he can extend his stay here. Both were super fun to talk to and hang out with for the first part of the Cape Tribe experience! Diving in the GBR is unreal! I saw reef sharks, sea turtles feeings off the reef, fishes, BIG fishes, it was awesome!

This is my sixth trip now, not to Oz but in general and it's during these trips that I continue to learn things about myself, things that I otherwise would not have realized during the hustle and bustle of real life. This trip turns to be no different. While diving, I had a self discovery! Not an important life changing one but one nonetheless. I've never been a snorkeling person... I like it and I think it's fun but it wouldn't be my first choice of activity. While diving... I realized why! I don't like the sound breathing through the tube makes!! It reminds me of hospitals and breathing through the tubes. I don't hear it often, thank goodness but when I was younger, my grandfather was going through lung cancer and that sound is all you hear at night in the hospitals! So that's what it is.. I used to think that I didn't like snorkeling because I would feel claustrophonbic but as it turns out.. I don't like the breathing noise. The slow breathe in... slow breathe out. Besides that point, I did quite well for my first session of dives out here! Drenamine saves me every time!

The most common question I am getting asked here by Austrlians.. "What is Thanksgiving?"