Sydney!

Our last few days in Australia were spent in Sydney. We took the hop-on hop-off tour bus around town to get our bearings and to get around. We got off at the Opera or "Oprah" house to have a look around and get some great pictures of the harbor bridge. We also saw people on the bridge doing the climb, which we would be doing later on in the day. The opera house was beautiful. Later on in the day we headed over to the bridge climb and it was awesome. It was so fun and the views from the top were amazing! I totally recommend it to anyone who goes to Sydney.

More Bali Photos

Here are some more photos from Bali.

Bali - Indonesia

After my final day in the office Brittany and I boarded an AirAsia flight to Denpasar airport in Bali. We were staying at the Bali Rani hotel, which is actually really nice, but we didn't think so when we got there. We got in at midnight and checked into our room. We walked in and there were mosquitoes everywhere! And then we went in the bathroom and there was the biggest wasp I had ever seen in my life. We had them spray the room and we locked the wasp in the bathroom. We crawled under the sheets and went to sleep. In the morning we went out to buy bug spray for us and for the room. We also learned that the rainy season is not the best time to visit Bali! We had fried rice for breakfast and then met our tour guide Wayan for our day of exploring Bali. We were very lucky as it was the second to last day of a very big religious festival so there were all sorts of processions and decorations. We traveled around on our way to Ubud to visit Ketut from Eat Pray Love. We past some processions and lovely rice fields. When we got to Ketut's he was very busy preforming ceremonies at his family shrines, but we were able to get a photo. Next we went to see the volcano. It was pretty amazing. There is a resurgent dome inside an ancient caldera. We drove around the rest of the island on our way to the Temple of the Holy Waters. We were lucky again due to the festival as it was full of people taking ritual baths in the waters. The next day we went to Seminyak for our massages at BodyWorks spa. We got the exfoliating massage an it was amazing. First we had an hour massage. Then we got scrubbed with salt and spices. And then we were washed and covered in yogurt. After that we were washed again and then we sat in a bath full of flower petals. After the scrub we went to get our manicures and pedicures. That was fabulous and they did a great job, but it was so hot and humid that I almost passed out! After the spa we went to KuDeTa for lunch on the beach, it was delicious and in a beautiful setting. We went back to our section of Kuta for some shopping and then went down to Nusa Dua for dinner to eat at the famous Bumbu Bali restaurant. The food was amazing and the Satay Chicken was sooo good. The next day it was pouring down the rain so we just layed low until our shuttle to the airport. All in all we had a good time, we are just waiting to see if we have dengue fever from all these mosquito bites!

Brittany in Perth!

Hello everyone! Brittany came out to Australia to visit for my last two weeks in town. I took a day off from work and we went on the Pink Bus tour of the Swan Valley wine region. The tour was really fun and we went to 3 wineries, a chocolate factory, an aboriginal art gallery, a coffee bean roasting house, and a brew pub. I also took her to Caversham Wildlife park where we were able to pet the Koalas and feed the Kangaroos. Here are some photos from our excursions.

Adelaide and the Barossa Valley Wine Region

Hello all! I just got back from my 5 day trip to Adelaide in South Australia. I had a great time. I went to the Barossa Valley, the wine region of Australia. I toured a few wineries, and of course tasted as well. I had my first taste of Port Wine, AMAZING. I also discovered Australian Champage, or Sparkling Black Shiraz. It is so good and such a novelty. They didn't have white varieties in Australia so they made red champagne. It was so good I bought 3 bottles, and a bottle of Port. Smuggling it in my checked baggage may be a problem, but where there's a will there's a way! I also went down to the south coast and put my toes into the great Southern Ocean. I went to Granite Island and saw the Little Penguins, so cute. I also toured the city and saw some great birds. All of Australias common birds are actually really exotic (to me anyway) parrots and they have beautiful feathers. I have included a few photos. I also went to the Platypus EcoTours reserve and saw my very first duck billed platypus. It was so amazing! They also had lots of hand reared kangaroos and they were so friendly and would come up to you and ask to be scratched behind the ears. Enjoy!

Ayers Rock Day 3

Another day of waking up at 4am, this time to see the sunrise at Ayers Rock. Sadly due to the overcast skies the sunrise wasn't that great, but the outback breakfast of ham and egg rolls and bilby tea was delish. We then went into the national park to some great Uluru (what the Aboriginals call Ayers Rock) photo spots. We then drove over to the part of Ayers Rock where you can climb up. Its important to note that even though the climb is open, the Aboriginal people are strongly against it. Besides the fact that it is incredibly dangerous, the Ananu people believe that the spirits of their ancestors reside within the rock. As such it is extremely disrespectful to climb it. If a foreigner dies while climbing the rock the Ananu gather for a week to sing the spirit of that person back to its homeland so it doesn't get lost on its long journey home. We then drove around to the "Mala man" where we learned the story where another tribe invited the Mala people to their village for a ceremony, but the Mala were conducting their own ceremony so they couldn't got. The other tribe was offended by this so the conjured up the demon dog who came to attack the Mala. The Mala man stood to face the beast so his people could escape and the dog grabbed the man and slammed him against the rock. So now you can see the impression of his head and the dog's tracks on the side of the rock. We also learned the story of the 2 snake Liru and Kuniya. I'll let you google it if you want to know more. After that we went to the Cultural Center where I purchased an amazing dot painting. After my sunrise tour I took an Aboriginal dot painting workshop. It was led by two Aboriginal women and their interpreter. Our teachers were Bonnie and Julie. They told us stories in the sand and taught us what all of the symbols mean. After the lesson we created our own dot painting stories and then shared with the group. It was really fun and interesting to learn all about the culture. After that I was dropped off at the Camel farm for my sunset tour on camel back. The camels were really funny and a bit smelly. I was given a camel named Cuzco, and if you know me you know I love Disney movies so a camel named after the Emperor's new groove was very fitting. I got on my camel and then braced myself for him to stand up. We walked through the desert in a little camel caravan while our guide talked about the plants and animals of the desert. The sunrise was beautiful. Then it was back to the farm for some traditional bush tucker. We had beer bread and traditional spices and a bbq. It was really great and the other 6 people in my group were really interesting people. It was an awesome day,

Ayers Rock (Kata Tjuta)- Day 2

I woke up at 4am for my sunrise and Olgas tour. The Aboriginals call the Olgas Kata Tjuta. Off in the distance as we drove to the sunrise lookout there was an amazing lightening storm raging. As we got closer the rain began to fall. It was a bit upsetting, but we all decided to make the most of it and we weren't disappointed. The sunrise was spectacular and then was saw a rainbow. It went all the way to the ground on both sides! The was had an Aussie outback breakfast of toast and coffee and fruit. We then drove around the Olgas and did the Walpa gorge walk. It was still raining but it was amazing to see the water cascading off the rock, something only 4% of visitors ever get to see. The Olgas are composed of boulders and pebbles, where as Ayers rock in composed of sand and silt. The contrast was interesting to see as a geologist. After the tour I was dropped back at my hotel. I hit the gift shop and grabbed a salad and the trendy little Gecko's cafe and then went to read under a covered patio until my 2:30 tour. Unfortunately my tour was canceled due to the rain, but they rescheduled me for the next day. What to do with my free time? Spa it was as there was little else to do in a thunderstorm. My massage and body srub was lovely. Then I headed down to the lounge for some Thai food and live entertainment. Then it was off to bed early to get ready for my sunrise at Ayers Rock!