Are you scared of heights? I sure hope not.....

I promised my Mom I wouldn't tell her if we were going bungy jumping in NZ until after we went. Well, we are sitting at the tour place waiting to go, and because I know she is up north for the 4th, and she won't read this until afterwards, I just wanted everyone else to know what we are about to do! We will be doing what is called the Nevis Swing, from the highest bungy point in New Zealand!! We're in it together, tandem style. Wooohooo! 160meters above the river.....

Wish us luck!!

Love from Queenstown, NZ.....Nevis Swing :)

xoxo jen and andy

NZ Adventure Begins

Well, where do I start? It is Thursday night....I am sitting in a one room cabin with the heater cranked, in one of the "big towns" of South Island New Zealand.....give me an hour, and I'm pretty sure I could introduce myself to all 216 residents!! But hey, I have NO complaints whatsoever. We pulled into this place at 10pm, and a woman came walking out to the parking lot to help us, even though they closed an hour before hand. She gave us a cabin, towels for the shower, and a coupon for three hours of free wifi (the first free internet during this entire vacation) all for $50.

Hell, at this point, I would have paid $50-$100 for a hot shower and the internet alone. Let's flashback to how we ended up here.....


SYDNEY: Wednesday at 1:30pm (Flight departure time 6:35) as we went online to check in for our flight before leaving for the airport, Andy and I were confused to not find our flight listed online. However, this has happened already on this trip (Thank you United Internet debacle) so we weren't too worried. We phoned the airline from our apartment lobby (we were already all checked out and moved out..) only to find after about 20 minutes on the phone that our flight was in fact still on, but that it had left already.....and that the next flight would not leave until the following morning. Turns out that Andy got an email a few months back saying that our flight time had been changed...but when he printed the itineraries right before we left, he printed the old one, not the new one...

So we were stuck in Sydney for another night....The lady at our apartment would not give us a deal even though we already stayed five nights, and therefore, Andy and I started walking around Sydney in search of a hotel to stay at. Take a moment to imagine that scene....No, I did not cry....but yes, I may have mentioned the phrase..."I want to go home." We ended up finding a hotel a few blocks from the apartment and gave Sydney some more of our money at dinner that night.

As soon as we landed in New Zealand we got a rent-a-car and started the drive towards Queenstown. I drove first....and had a few near panic attacks on the roundabouts near Christchurch....driving on the right hand side of the car, and the left side of the road, definitely threw me off for a bit....oh yeah, and one more minor issue.....yes, Andy, I will admit it to everyone.....

Apparently I drove with the parking brake on for an hour.....

It's okay though, because our car was a POS to start with.

Alright, I need to go to bed, we are getting up early to finish our drive. Just wanted to update everyone....we've learned that the people here in NZ are the friendliest ever...thank goodness for this cabin tonight!!


LOVE FROM THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE :)

J&A

Random Pictures/Stories

I finally sent a few of the pictures from my iPhone to the netbook so that I could share them with y'all (as Kendra would say) :) can't wait to see you dear!!! Anyhow, earlier in the blog....day 1 of this adventure, I said that Andy owed me about our whole Visa dilemma....well we ended up evening the score rather quickly. As we were on the bus to the Outback, I handed him the camera to take a picture and the "no memory card" message popped up. I left it in the netbook at the hostel after loading the pictures the night before. HOWEVER, the pictures that follow are all from that day, and my iPhone camera instead...and I think, they are actually better quality than our camera, but I guess I'll let you be the judge of that. (For the record, Andy stayed very calm after realizing we couldn't use the camera in the Outback.)

Here I am standing in the middle of the highway that stretches through the Outback. The road honestly is endless. I was more worried about being run over by a camel, kangaroo, or random biker (pedal bike, not motorcycle) than a car at this point. (Yes, Andy woke me up at one point on our bus ride because out of everything that we passed in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, we passed a guy on his bike...talk about dedication...or craziness...)

Sidenote: Our bus drivers/tour guides for the day were two of the biggest knuckleheads ever. It's a surprise we didn't end up stranded on the side of the road in the middle of the Outback being chased by wild Dingos...

As we were watching the sun set over Ayer's Rock, our tour bus (from the 1970's....no joke) which was parked, but running, starting accelerating very quickly, and loudly....our bus drivers, Dumb and Dumber as I will now affectionately refer to them as, ran faster than I ever thought their legs would take them to the front of the bus and jumped in the driver's seat trying to "solve the problem". Talk about killing the peaceful ambiance...well let's be real, the Contiki Tour bus full of drunk 18-22 yearolds also managed to do that for us. Pretty sure most of them didn't even know (or care) what they were looking at as the sun went down. There were a few cheers and champange glasses in the air from their crowd though as our bus nearly exploded.

Andy just hanging out at one of the rocks in the Outback....this picture was taken before the near bus explosion, when our biggest worry was that we weren't able to understand what one of the tour guides was saying because of his accent.....oh how the priorities changed as the day went on! :)

Speaking of priorities, health code does not seem to be one of the priorities in The Outback. On our drive home, we stopped at a rest area where there were public restrooms, a gas station, and a restaurant/bar. As I was sleepily walking from the bus to the toilets, I absolutely freaked out when I noticed there were little mice running EVERYWHERE in the parking lot and bathroom. But I really had to pee, and god knows the 1970's bus toilet was non-existent....so I trekked through Mouseville as quickly as possible....and then decided to take refuge in the restaurant for the rest of our break. Little did I know.....


Yep, you've got it......mice running everywhere in there too!!!!! In the States, the place would have been shut down due to violations starting at the front door. I booked it out of the restaurant, sprinted across the parking lot and found safety in the bus....ha, go figure!! (By the way, the mice didn't seem to bother any of the customers eating food in the restaurant....)





You can see Ayer's Rock in the distance, this was on our drive out there, when we were still in the mindset that we would be "conquering the rock" later in the day. When we arrived at the Rock, the climbing was closed due to "high winds at the summit". I'm pretty sure that had our tour guides not stopped us, Andy would have made the climb too and risked the $5,000 fine. (I'm glad Dumb & Dumber were there, otherwise it would have been up to me to stop him....) So anyway, back to this picture, the red sand everywhere made it feel like we were on Mars. Literally, the middle of nowhere...Mars.

No, it's not a deer.....and no, Andy is not cutting off its air supply. This little guy is the Kangaroo that LOVED us because Andy kept shoving food in its mouth! (Okay, I'll admit it, I did too.) Once again, this is one of our "Get in here little kangaroo, Jen is going to reach out her arm and snap a picture of the three of us" pictures. LOVE IT!!!

The only thing missing from this shot, would be the skateboard underneath Andy's feet. Thank you iPhone. (Another reason for Andy to get his own iPhone....the ability to snap amazing photos, like this one. Or, I suppose, I could take the credit for the amazing shot...afterall, I did take it! Feel free to compare it to the next picture, that Andy took. You can be the judge.)

Now granted....I wasn't posed as perfectly midair as Andy....I think he secretly does some skateboarding in his spare time.

Little did I know when I was jumping off this bench....that when this day was all said and over with, I would return to our hostel (where we had a private room, but shared a bathroom and kitchen with one other room) and would be introduced to the coolest roommate ever! (Note: 8th Grade Teacher Sarcasm in full swing!!) Now, I'm not sure what this man looked like.....I couldn't tell you his name....his age, or even what country he was from....the only thing that I know about him, is that he LOVES to hock loogies (spelling....I just had to look that up on Urban Dictionary.... I've never typed that phrase, nor did I ever think I would have to....) The minute we walked in the door, it started and I swear, the sound vibrated through the wall into our room. It sounded like he was hacking up a lung, only grosser. Anyhow, once he fell asleep, it stopped (and I was truly missing the Germans from the night before....their noise was much more tolerable.....think young twenties/honeymooners.) but our friend woke up at 4:30am, probably for a hiking tour.....He must have set his alarm an hour early so that he could spend 60 precious minutes hocking loogies, because that is precisely what he did. When I got up that morning and found a dead cockroach the size of a Reese's PB Cup near my bag, I barely flinched, because I survived the Loogie Hocker, and I knew, that if I survived that....I could pretty much get through anything! Seriously....that guy needs to see a doctor.

And finally, here we are hiking around the rocks. (Really? How do I smoothly transition from Loogie Hocker, to this??) We may have spent more time on the bus than we did exploring the Outback, but the drastic scenery is unlike anything we will ever see again....camels, kangaroos, bikers, near bus explosions, mice everywhere, Mars....what a wonderful day in The Outback. :)

Fond Memories (and Love) from the Outback---

Jen & Andy

Sydney Part II :)

When we wake up tomorrow morning, our legs will probably be sore....thanks to the 1,390 steps that we climbed to get to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge! :) By far, the highlight of the trip so far, and I have to admit, it will be hard to top. Our tour guide took pictures of us at the top, but we won't be able to share them with you all until we get back home. The views from the top of the bridge were spectacular! If you visit Sydney, the Bridge Climb is a must do!!

After our bridge climb, we wandered through the Botanical Gardens...here's an artsy shot of the Government Building. (That's for you sister!!)

As we lined up this shot, a woman asked me if I would like her to take our picture, I finally gave an honest answer and replied, "No thanks, we're actually really good at this." I was laughing and hopefully didn't come off too rudely, but I think by her reaction, it was fine. :) Oprea House, Harbor Bridge, Skyline, and sun setting. Perfection.

One of the most beautiful views of the Sydney skyline in our opinion, taken in the Royal Botanical Gardens.

I was stopped twice today and asked for directions to certain places. (I am proud to say that I was able to provide those directions both times!) While I'd like to think that I seem like a local, I know that my tennis shoes (I'm hating wearing them.....but had to today because of the Bridge Climb) and Minnesota "jumper" are a clear statement that I am not. However, one of the people that asked me for directions was an Australian.....so maybe I seem like a Sydneysider to them.....

Tomorrow we are off to a tour of the Oprea House and then to the Blue Mountains. We are in Sydney until Wednesday and are keeping our fingers crossed that everything works out as we head to New Zealand. The volcanic ash cloud is now affecting flights in that direction. We've already dealt with delayed flights because of it, so we are hoping that doesn't happen again.

Still loving Sydney...time for some rest. Climbing the Harbor Bridge can really drain your energy....no complaints here though!!

Love from Sydney :)

Jen & Andy

Sydney :)

Yay for Sydney!!! After spending time in the Outback, it felt AMAZING to get back to civilization. Apparently there is a HUGE rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney that goes back in history, I have to state for the record, that I am TEAM SYDNEY. And trust me...our accomodations have not been the thing that has won me over...more on that later :)

People in Australia are so damn nice, but unfortunately it has in turn ruined our "one armed take a picture of ourselves shots". Each time we go to "line it up" someone runs up to us and offers to take the picture for us. Which means that we end up with a picture like this one above, with us and the Sydney Opera shooting out of our heads.


This is the nice shopping area on George St. It has some VERY high end stores in an already very expensive city. I could do some MAJOR damage here...unfortunately for me (and the stores) and fortunately for our bank account, we were just passing through on a walking tour....The walking tour was three hours long and free, a young guy lead us all around Sydney telling us some of the history and little known facts of the area. I still want to head back to this shopping area.....you know, just to take another look around!

Ahhhh Napoleon on Kent, our lovely abode!! (Hence the comment from above...) In all seriousness though, this place is awesome. We've rented a fully serviced studio apartment. We have a living room area, kitchen, dining room table, bathroom, and obviously a bed. It's larger than any of the studio apartments that we rented out at Steven Scott (and probably nicer too!). It's really nice to have some space and not feel crammed into a hotel room. We're making some of our own meals too, because at this point on vacation, we get sick of eating out all the time. Not to mention that food here is crazy expensive. We bought icecream bars last night on our way home from dinner and it was nearly $10. (we're not talking Blizzards here, standard icecream bars!)

Here's the Harbor Bridge at dusk....today we will conquer the bridge and climb along the top of it!!! Wooohoo! We may have not been able to climb Ayer's Rock, but we will dominate this thing! (Oprah did it too on her Australian Adventure Show.)

I was so excited to finally bust out the capri pants and sandals. The temperature here is topping out at 67ish degrees during the day, and I'll take it. It's the warmest weather we've seen. But hey, if this is "winter", no one should be complaining. I've shown quite a few people our pictures on my iPhone from our snowy winter this year...their reactions are quite funny "How do you drive??" "Do they shut the city down??" Ha--I didn't even get a snowday this year people!!!


Alright, time to grab lunch and go off to conquer the Bridge!!!!

Love from Sydney mates ;)

J&A

Melbourne & The Outback

I apologize for the lack of updates, while my iPhone was streaming internet just fine in Melbourne, the netbook, my only source for updating the blog, was not. Funny that the best internet connection we've found so far is here....in the middle of the Outback. So the pictures from this update are going to be a little bit out of order. We spent our first few days of this vacay in Melbourne and are currently sitting in Alice Springs.....pretty much in the middle of the Australian Outback. Tomorrow we will spend the day taking a trip to Ayer's Rock.

We're staying at a place called Toddy's in Alice Springs. It is a haven for backpackers....our driver from the airport was one crazy Aussie. He let us stop to take a picture on our way into town (okay, let's be honest....the "letting us stop for a picture" was probably just an excuse for a cigarette break for him....but hey, he got us to the "resort" safely, and provided much entertainment along the way. At one point Andy looked at me and asked, "Who is he talking to?"

I'm not going to lie, kangaroos were the number one reason I wanted to visit Australia....we had a ton of fun feeding and hugging these guys....Andy and I took some awesome pics of the two of us and one of our kangaroo buddies, but that was with my iPhone....those pics will have to be unveiled later!

I'm not sure if this picture was taken before or after this lil guy got mad at Andrew. He was a little fiesty to say the least...but I can't say I blame him, Andrew was in the way of his prescious food....

Ahhhh yes, back to the one-arm, line up the shot, and take a picture of ourselves mode....gotta love it. Thank you Mom, I have the perfect length arms for these shots. Note: bags under my eyes....this picture was taken on day 2 of our trip, still feeling very tired! Thank goodness Melbourne is known for their coffee, caffinate me up baby!!

This alleyway is painted monthly with new murals by local artists.

Here's a nice shot looking down the river in Melbourne. Don't be decieved by the sunglasses, the weather has been actually pretty chilly.

Things I learned in Melbourne (pronounced "Melbin"):

1. The Australians do not provide you with help when crossing the road like they do in London (ie. Look RIGHT or Look LEFT painted on the road) Our friend Beth gave me the best advice "look both ways, five times, before crosssing". I think I've finally got it figured out...

2. Beeyah = Beer

3. Australians are very friendly and will buy you a "Beeyah" within ten minutes of meeting you. (Friendly Aussie sitting next to us at the rugby game)

4. Most people in Melbourne have dark hair, contrary to my stereotypical view on Australians. Being blonde here and walking through a rugby game is one way to easily attract attention. Lesson: do not have your husband leave you unattended for too long during such events.


Alright, time to sleep...we are catching our bus to Ayer's Rock at 6am. Hope you are all enjoying the gorgeous summer weather in the midwest.....it is winter here in Australia and that actually means it's pretty cold, especially at night!

Love from the Outback!! Please say we don't see any snakes tomorrow......

J&A

G'Day Mates!

Well, we made it safely to Australia........Flashback to approximately 40 hours ago....(I think...honestly, I'm so tired right now, that it may have actually been a week ago....) Andy and I attempted to check-in at the kiosk at the United Airlines area in MSP, and of course we were having problems. A United employee spent about 10 minutes searching for our tickets before she finally found them and informed us that we did not have the necessary visa to visit Australia.....

I (yes, that's me, Jen) stayed completely calm, as Andrew went into a pure panic mode, asking for my iPhone, and immediately looking up Australian Visa requirements, yet another reason to add to the list of reasons why Andy should have his OWN iPhone. Anyhow, yes, you do need a Visa to visit Australia. Boom, ten minutes into our trip and the credit card was getting charged for last minute E-Visas. Note: Andy owes me one calm reaction in the future to a mistake as big as forgetting to get a visa for our Australian adventure...

The next twenty some hours were spent like this:

• 
  
  Minneapolis to San Fran (3.5 hours on plane)....layover


• 
  
  San Fran to Auckland, NZ (14ish hours on plane)...slight layover


• 
  
  Auckland to Melbourne, Australia (3.5 hours on plane)

I wish I had crazy stories about our many hours on the planes, but it actually went really well.... A few highlights:

• 
  
  There was a Khloe & Lamar lookalike (seriously, at first in MSP, I thought it was them!) following us all the way from MSP to Auckland.


• 
  
  We both slept at least six hours straight, Ambien free on the long flight (yay!)


• 
  
  There was an amazing selection of movies, TV shows, music, and games on the individual seat TV's...thank you New Zealand Air---the best airline we've ever traveled on, by far!

As soon as we got into Melbourne, we met up with Beth (a fellow Neenah/UofM Alum) and her fiance for breakfast and a tour and then went to a Rugby match. I'll update with pics and some stories about that later...

To be honest, the only reason I'm blogging right now is that Andy says we need to try and push through and make it until 8pm Melbourne time before going to sleep today. (It's been a LONG day!!) Our eating schedule and sleeping schedule is clearly, way off. I told him a little while ago that I was hungry, and he said, "We've already eaten so much today..." I thought back and kindly reminded him that the only meal we actually have had since arriving in Melbourne, was breakfast.. (Unless the beers we had at the rugby match count as a meal...never know, things are different in the southern hemisphere!)....clearly being up for so long is messing with his head and apparently, stomach too!

(Side note: As I type this, Andy is asleep next to me...)

Alright, time for some sleep....finally! More updates, with pictures, to come!

Love from Melbourne--

Jen (and Andy too! Zzzzz)