The Kiwis!

Before I get into the day, let me just say that i was talking to this older fella today. Who has immigrated to NZ from the States. We got to talking about trout, and it's true how almost every stream has trout in them. 2-3 pounders, and larger if you know where to go. I should have bought a bloody rod when i got here and a license. Of course, i would be fishing all day every day, and never have time to post or see the sights... still... I saw so many "fishy" looking creeks and streams and lakes today.... sigh. Moving on
Up semi early and drove (always an adventure me driving) out to a Maori Village Cultural center. It's been around since the.... mid 1800's, but most of the structures on sight are from the first part of the 1900's. say like, 1905 etc. lol, so still old.
This is also a very large geothermal area. With two geysers, a dormant geyser, multiple hot springs and mud pits. Learning about those was interesting. I wrote it down in my journal b/c i knew that some length of time would pass before i could gain access to the net.
"The tour started around 11am. It began with our tour guide demonstrating the traditional method the Maori people use to make their "skirts" for lack of a better word. She demonstrated how to removie the fiber of various plants and twist them into the pieces of the skirt. on average, it takes about 6 weeks to complete one full "skirt". This is where we see the role the hot springs and mud pits played in everyday life. These fibers would boil and then be left to dry, afterwards they became like bamboo. But the mud could be used to add patterns to their dress. But that was just one of many purposes. The mud is still used today to alleviate arthritis and other diseases. The hot springs get to be around 200 or so farenheit, so they were used to help with cooking. There are a lot of streams that run through this particular valley, mixing with the waters from the geysers and hot springs. Trout live in the cold streams, but have been known to swim into the hot springs... and in about 20 minutes you have a nice boiled trout for dinner! lol
We sat on terraced stones to view the geysers, but these stones were heated from underneath by the various vents and thermal activity. On this chilly day it felt amazing, on hot summer days the tour guides fry bacon and eggs to show the tourist how hot it gets."
Sulphur was also present, and you couldn't escape it, but by lunch you didn't really notice it, except in the thick patches of air.
After the geysers we were treated to a traditional Maori welcome. You have to go to this link: http://www.nzmaori.co.nz/thingstoseeanddo/cultural_performances.html because I really don't have the words to describe it. Only that if i was the first European explorer here, the way these fellas say hello, i would have had to change my pants!
Still we were treated to both the war Haka (a song/dance) that psyches them up to go fight, as well as a moving love sonnett. There were also various performances that i still don't quiet understand but were enthralling to watch.
I think because of my experience growing up in dad's work shop, I gravitated towards the traditional Maori carving. At this center they have set up a school to pass on the knowledge of the Maori people. From the viewing platform you can watch the students and master carver work on various pieces, my favorite being the 10 foot tiki totems. The students are carefully selected from different tribes and taught the various carving forms. Yet many of the traditional forms are still secret, passed down to only a select few within their tribe. Still the art and culture continues.
The carvings of jade (different than that found in china) used for pendants, jewellry and in the time of war highly saught after as weapons, were also intricate and beautifull. Jade carvings are used traditionally as heirlooms or to commerate relatives or special occasions. It's always interesting to watch a master at their work. Refining a piece of green stone into a piece of art. It's a long process, but like anything it has it's rewards.

another quick link if you wish to learn about the Maori People and a bit of their history. http://www.newzealandnz.co.nz/maori/

off to Taupo tomorrow! as for pics, i hope to find a net cafe that will have a usb plug.

Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road

So customs in New Zealand was a breeze. Took me like 2 minutes. It's so much easier when you don't have any food or booze coming in with ya. I'll keep that in mind. Though i also learn that they charge everyone a $25 exit fee for leaving. I guess cause they know with the cold weather people will be more than happy to pay it!
Ah, but got my Hertz rent-a-car. A nice little something or other. I'll get a pic of it. I'm glad i got to do a little driving with Russel in Brisbane, so i wasn't completely clueless, and the little sticker on the wheel saying "keep left" defenitly was a good idea by someone. Manual though, so shifting with my left hand. I'm a pro at it now, i drove about 3 1/2 hours today to make it to Rotorua. The roundabouts are the worst parts. Having to yield, and then signal as you go through and shift and ya. It's a lot to do at once. But so far so good! No missing paint from my car.

Nice little hostel i'm in for the night. Gonna go crash in a while. It's almost 9:30pm here, so maybe 7:30pm in australia.... so....5:22am in the States. Man i'm getting good at that time conversion.
Speaking of conversion, so now i've got a whole nother set of money things to learn. Very similar to australia, but different enough that i have to think about which bills are which. On the pluse side, the New Zealand dollar is only .61 or so of an american dollar. So yippee!

Going to go see a Maori culture park, dance, village, thing. "Untouched by the modern world" tomorrow, and then see about taking a tour of the volcanos. They've got geysers, hot springs, "day spas" that are really just natural warm mud pits with a "spa" building next to them lol.
Fishing on the 31st! That's the main reason for being here.
The drive was mostly in the dark, the sun sets around 5 here, so not much of the famous scenery, up early to check it out tomorrow.

Pictures as soon as i find a place to upload them!

Last Night in Australia

Weird. Just a weird feeling no longer being in Australia, having said all the goodbyes last night, and having caught the plane to New Zealand this morning. I got to do a lot of interesting and fun things in Australia. The surfing with James, riding the motorcyle with Russel, Lidys cooking, and out on the town with Crystal to just name a few things.
Even though Russel is my.... 4th cousin, and so James and Crystal are my... 5th cousins, I still felt like a close part of the family. All the amazing things I got to do, I think hanging out with the family, doing the things with them, or just sitting around having a beer together while talking politics, or about BIG BROTHER (again, going to have to keep up with it over the internet... i got addicted. couldn't help myself).
Ah, but enough gushy stuff.
Cooked dinner for the family. Beef Stroganoff (probably not spelled right, but hey, everyone knows what i'm talking about.) with bread, sweet peas and crystal made a greek salad. We were lacking a little red wine, but i still think it turned out very well. I mean, we all pretty muched stuffed ourselves to exploding, so that's always a good sign for the chef! :-) Though we still found some space for the fresh strawberries and cream we had for dessert. Some of Crystals home made peanut brittle crushed on top really added to it.
And of course, we said our goodbyes for a good half hour or so. Oh man, went to leave, and found we still had a million more things to talk about, and tried to cram it all in. Finally was able to get into the car, but mostly because i resolved to return in a few years.
Crystal and I went out last night to hit up a few nightclubs and have that bourbon and coke. The first few places we hit were a little slow, not too many people around, and for us, the majority of the entertainment was probably going to come from watching the drunk people. I mean, that's the whole reason i go to parties is to watch drunk people do unbelievable stupid and yet hilariuos things.
Something we noticed, i swear we left one bar, walked a block or two to another bar, and the same song that had been playing at the last bar was blaring at this one as well. It could have even been in the exact same spot. How weird is that? lol. It was a good song though.
We went to go jive on the live music at... ricks? maybe? And we showed up just in time to catch the last 20 seconds of the band. oh man, we had great timing that night!
But the Press Club was the place to be that night. Good atmosphere, a lot of people but not too many. Could still have a decent conversation if you wanted to or just relax on the comfy sofa thingys and enjoy the music.
So me and crystal got to unwind, share a few drinks and just spend some time together catching up and getting to know each other and tell some funny stories about our various family members. Our two families are pretty different, but we also have a lot in common. Probably why i had such a good time.
We ment to be in around 1am, and we got pretty close, i think we made it back around 2. Just time gets away from ya when you're having fun. But despite the late hour we were still able to get to the airport with enough time for me to make my plane. Though i hope Crystal has learned to stop saying things like "we're home free from here" or "We're through the worst of it" and the like. Cause when you say that, we always go around a corner and BAM! Nothing but bumper to bumper traffic! lol

Goooooooooooooooooooooooood Times!

CRIKEY!

Oh man, so the zoo was a blast, just want to mention that the sun was out. lol We got off to a bit of a late start, due to the traffic around Brisbane; but still got to the zoo not long after 10. As soon as you walk through the gates there's a plethera of things to do. And their big on the education and conservation part of their jobs and promoting the animals etc. Another unusual thing is how they handle the animals. The keepers are always around the animals, handling them, becomign an everyday part of the animals lives. I mean, ya, they don't have to trank the animals like most zoos will have to for certain things, and they are able to inetereact in front of a crowd with the animals. Really neat stuff!
The Crocoseum was a huge stadium where all the shows are held. (most of them anyway). There was a good size crowd there this morning to watch the shows. It began with the snake exhibition, some of the larger and more common NON venomous snakes were brought out and explained to the crowd. Seeing them later in the reptile house and some of the larger snakes was really impressive. But here in Australia they have 11 of the top 20 most venoumous snakes, and even some of the LARGEST snakes in the world. wowza.
The sumatran tigers were out soon after the snakes. They kinda padded in like a typical cat, thinking that the world revolves around them. They just kinda checked out the crowd before turning their attention to the handlers and the treats they had. The handlers ran the cats through a few exhibitions, things that the cats would do naturally in the wild. The tiger running up the half size telephone pole to get the meat at the top was really neat to see, just the power and strength of the animal. But the way it moved, their somewhat playfull attitude and the restrained strength of the animal. Spectacular to see, a shame that they are so endangered and dying off a bit everyday. habitat clearing, but also sever poaching in the Asian world. People are fighting the good fight to save them too.
The open air flight display of the various birds was one of the best parts of the show. The various colors of the birds was spectacular. The colorfull cockattoos, red-tailed ones, the bright macaws and lorikeets. The barking owl is seldom seen, and they would fly right over teh crowd. The handlers even explained some of the characteristics and personalities of the birds. Later we were able to take a tour through the zoo's avery and see many of the same birds only feet from our faces. Lol, sometimes they would fly so low as to force us to duck on the pathway to stay beneath their outspread wings! Crystal about ended up with some bird poo on her, but the rest of us had some really close calls as well.
Ahh, but everyone comes for the croc show. The live show really helps put things in perspective. The pool in the exhibition ring wasn't very deep, only a few feet, but if it hadn't been for the water being crystal clear, you would never have known that a 4 or 5 meter croc was just below the surface. That thing was huge! and surprisingly quick. Basically, if you're within 6 feet of the river/lake bank, you can be reached and dragged in before your reflexes could do more than have you flinch. The tail walk was exciting and a little shocking to see. That's where the croc can rise out of the water almost the length of it's body to reach food that could be hanging from an overhanging bank or tree. So ya, don't dangle your legs over. not a good idea at all. Crocs can be a very dangerous animal, but it's like any animal, respect it, stay out of it's way.
As part of the show, to help pass the time between sets, they do a few ... games i suppose, challenges even. One of them had two grown men acting as gorrillas to try and get a free voucher to get a picture with an animal of their choosing. That was a hoot to see! they were kinda good at it too, must have been a discovery channel viewer. lol
But cousin Russell also got called out by the announcer. the arena was divided into two teams, and we were going to have a shouting match, the louder side would win a prize of some sort. Our seating area was kinda stuck between the two sides, and as of yet, had not been set as a side. Russell yelled down at the announcer "what about us?", and he was chosen to be a "guerilla" man, while the rest of the seating area was chosen to be a wallaby. He got pretty red at that, even redder when the wallabys won the shouting match, and the guerillas were asked to leave the stadium in jest, but Russell was again pointied out explicitly by the man with the mike. lol. He was pretty beat red. lol
Got to see a bunch of the native animals. Wombats, tasmanian devils, dingo, cassowaries, cheetahs (not native, but the zoo is expanding, from about 75 acres to 340 in a few years, with exhibits from africa, asia etc) and of course koalas and kangaroos!
The enclosures were rather natural, and with the koalas and kangaroos we were able to follow the path inside the enclosures and actually handle the animals! how cool is that? Almost every enclosure had the handler in them with the animals, talking about them, interacting with them showing off some of their natural talents for the crowd. We were pretty much on the go from the time we got their till when we left, seeing as much as we could. It was just a lot of fun, informative and exciting. They even have a few american alligators in their croc pens. In a few years, when i come back to australia (and i will) they'll have built an american waterway resembling the swamps of florida, and guests will be able to take a boat ride through to see the american gators in a natural setting. wow. lots going on.
After the zoo we went to Ettamogah Pub for a beer. But this tavern was constructed after a famous cartoon strip in Australia. The pub had a lot of the look of the cartoon, from a plane half stuck in the wall, an old chevy on the roof, the walls seemingly at odd angles, funny deco all over the wall. It was like being INSIDE the cartoon strip. Good way to cap off the day. Ok, no for pictures!

Catching Up

So got to catch everyone up on the past couple of days. But i'm gonna put the details of my trip to the aussi zoo today on the next blog.
After i got back from the reef, i was able to get a couple of t-shirts as souvineers (you know, saves me a day or two of laundry). I had to catch a flight on Virgin Blue that left at 6:10am, but i had to be up before 5am cause my taxi came at 5. Ugh, it was a rough go. But my roomies woke up long enough to wish me the best, which was nice of them.
Then the taxi guy was complaining about his wife... ugh. But i breezed through security, and didn't have to wait to long for the boarding process. Now, one of those t-shirts i bought was a spoof of Virgin Blue. Basically it said, "Virgina Blue: the quicket one way root" Get it? lol. The two stewardesses were about my age, and come on, at 6am, i needed SOMETHING to get me moving in the morning, and finding out their reaction to the shirt was worth it. They were really cheery for that early, and the shirt got a few laughs from the people who took the time to really see the shirt and not just assume it was a typical Virgin Blue shirt. lol. Getting to talk to the girls helped pass the morning. Ya, i'm a flirt, it's not my fault though, i was born that way. lol
But crystal was there to meet me at the terminal from the plane. She'd been to "splednour in the grass" (think woodstock for aussies) the past few days, so was about as tired as me. We swung by the grocery, got some REAL bacon, some eggs and a few other snacks, like oreos, and headed home for breakfast. Which she was super nice to cook up for me, she even did the dishes. ya, amazing, i know. lol
I pretty much zonked out for the rest of the day. Was up long enough to grab my stuff from my cousin james place. He had been at a work conference at Ayers rock, and had just gotten back the day before. He had some cool pictures of his trip to share, and some like, highschool yearbook about his fellow co-workers to show us. His pic in there was of him, dressed as a clown around age 10 maybe, playing the piano. It was pretty funny. lol. And then dinner with crystal and russell before coming back and crashing back in bed. B/c we were going to the australian zoo early in the morning. Of course, i had to read a little of this new Wilbur Smith novel (The Seventh Scroll), while Crystal set her pc up in her room so as to not keep me awake. But as it often happens with me, i got immersed in my book, and seeminly rather soon, Crystal came out around midnight to go to bed and found me still awake reading. I was exhausted, but i didn't notice it while i was wrapped up in my book. Ya, see, i'm a nerd. lol
But, got some sleep, and up early to get ready for my experience with the crocs and other exotic native animals of the zoo.

Jordan Tries Vegemite

Day at THE Reef

This morning started off fairly rough. Physically I mean. The last day or two I've been feelin' a little spotty when it comes to my stomach. Maybe swimming in Milla Milla falls wasn't such a good idea, that water was bloody cold!
But, some pills, some toast for breakfast and I was ready to start the day which began with a quick shuttle ride out to the marina where I was guided down the wharf to the Tusa III. The first two tusa's didnt' fair so well, but they weren't on the reef tour. ;-) lol
It was a smaller boat, only 28 passengers and 6 crew, while some of the other tour boats will take out as many as 150 if not more. ya, totally picked the right boat to go on, they even provided milk and muffins which I whuffed down. Apparently my stomach was doing much better!
Our dive instructor went through the list of all the possible horrible things that could go wrong and leave us dismembered, paralyzed or dead (cheery fellow) and then got us to sign our names to the waiver.
The morning was glorious! I mean, it's been raining pretty much the past 5 days or so, very ugly nasty weather, and finally on probably one of the most important days of my trip, it's beautifull! very clear blue sky, bright sun to fight of the chill of the ocean breeze, and low winds, a perfect day to be out on the reef!
It was about an hour and a half hour boat ride out to our mooring near the reef, and about half of that was spent on a relatively quick "learn to dive" with adrian. Who by the way, is one kewl dude and he was my groups dive instructor. Elizabeth and meagan, along with our fearless captain Brett were a lot of fun to be around, and who knew rather a lot about the reef. Brett showed me the various controls, gps, radar etc of the "bridge". What a kewl job, go to sea, dive, snorkel, entertain tourist, and get paid. ya, wow.
The basics of dive over with, how the regulator works, emergency surfacing, equalizing pressure in the ears and we were set to go. I sat up top next to the cabins chair and enjoyed the clear views of Cape Tribulation and some of the cays and real islands viewable on the horizon. Again, a beautifull day! (i had really missed the sun for this so-named "sunshine state")
As we approached our floating bouy the reef was cleary visible as a darker... mass beneath the surface, with lighter colored pathways of clear ocean water running between it.
My wetsuit i was given was a tad too small, kinda like having a permament wedgy, but i made do, there were fellas there bigger than me crammed into the next size up, so i was content to have the suit i got. Besides, with all the hustle and bustle of getting divers geared up, going through the safety checks yet again, i was easily distracted.
I was in the 3rd group, and it seemed like an age before the other two were geared up and in the water, but finally it was my turn to take a seat at the back with the two others of my dive group. A 5 pound weight belt, a fully primed air tank, a little de-fogger in the mask attach the fins. Insert regulator, hold mask securely to face and one big step out into the blue! The water was rather warm, and the sun made the visibility underwater really good.
To ensure that all the intro divers could hold their own we began at a bar right on the surface, our instructor decreased the buoyance of our vests and down we sank. Once a few feet (maybe 2 meters) under the waves we had to demonstrate our ability to clear our mask of seawater, to clear our regulators of water and then to check and see if we were able to equalize the pressure in our ears. The first two were cake, the last one for me was a struggle the whole dive, but i made do. What's a little discomfort for a chance to dive on teh Great Barrier Reef?
Well, with the precautions out of the way our instructor led us into the depths of the ocean floor (30 feet maybe, so 10 meters) and we began to explore the corral. The amount of fish was startling, along with their colours that even at that depth were vibrant. It was a tricky thing remember to not hold my breath and just breath normally, but as long as you weren't thinking about it, it was easy. Granted my jaws got a little tired having them clamped on the regulator... but hey, my first real dive, ok? lol
We swam around for a good 20, 30 minutes, the limit of an intro dive. But were were able to see a wide range of corral. I can't really name them all, hard to have an underwater guide, words don't do so well under the sea, the extent of our communication were simple handsignals, like "A-OK" and , well, no, that was about it. lol
It's hard to describe the dive, it was exciting, to be in the middle of everything, the coral below you, on both sides of you and all the various forms of life swimming right around you, often close enough to touch. (though the fish dart away rather quickly)
Probably my favorite sight was this rather large (giant) clam. It was a varying shade of purple, and it truly stood out from its surroundings. Apparently the algae etc that life on the surface/living part of the clam give it it's colour. The thing easily could have fit a car tire within it's mouth, and passing your hand over it disturbing the water around it would cause it to close rather quickly. It was fun to see.
All to soon it seemed like the dive was over, and that i was trying to haul that big lug of metal (the empty air canister) up the back of the deck. It was exhilerating, but once the excitement wore off you start to notice the lil aches from the wetsuit as well as the slight ache in the legs from the swimming. But i'd do it again in a heartbeat, and next time take my own underwater camera. ya, sigh, no underwater photos from me, but the dive ship did have it's own pro photographer. She did some superb work and i bought two photos of myself off of her. I can't uplaod them here, but i will upload a few others i took.
After the dive, we headed off to a cay (basically, dead corral, filled with sand, that ahs become an island) for lunch. Chicken, grapes, fresh bread, ham, rice and potato salad. It was very revitalizing. With my new found strength i went snorkelling amongst the new reef area and again saw a wide range of life. I'd even swear i saw a reef shark sleeping beneath a corral ledge, but i'm not entirely sure
The colours were brilliant, all the various forms of fish swimming around were entertaining. Even saw a school of squid. Those little boogers are fast!
But the parrot fish was one of the most common, or atleast most attention getting, with it's bright colours and how it would ignore you till you were almost upon it.
Man, totally awsome, defenitly the best part of my trip thus far. The sun, the waves, the reef, the crew and the rest of the gang, it just all fit together.
I'm pretty much bushed. catching a flight into brisbane tomorrow and meeting crystal. Leaving at 5am to get to the airport, so going to crash very soon.

update pics of me actually in the water etc when i get to brisbane. but adding pics to the last post.

A lazy day

Sleeping in till 8am was amazing! Ahh... it's the little things in life that keep you going. The sun was actually fighting off the rain this morning so had breakfast out on the esplanade. It was low tide so got to see the little mudskippers sliding along, as well as the pelicans taking a snooze.
Glided in and out of the local tourist shops as well as the local markets. Just kinda blending into the daily hustle and bustle of Cairns.
Got a couple of cool t-shirts and just mellowed out for lunch.
Started being productive this afternoon. Went to the Tjapukai Cultural Center. Basically an Aboriginal park. there i was able to learn about some of their traditional way of life, food, medecine, lifestyle, as well as observe some of their traditional dancing.
My camera batteries crapped out on me about half way through the digiridoo demonstration, so no pics of me being instructed by the aborigini on the proper boomerang throwing technique (which didn't help my skill at all!) as well as the spear thrower! That was kewl, hurl this 7 foot or so skinny spear at silhouettes of kangaroos down range. I did pretty poorly then as well, but it was still a lot of fun.
Gee, guess not really much to write about, maybe more later. There's a big foam party at Gilligans tonight, might go check it out, but no underwater camera so we'll see. But it's a good way to see some of Cairns nightlife.
ps. Anyone see the episode of C.S.I. where the guy was killed in the foam party with a stilleto heel? fyi