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Renting a Car

April 26th, 2004

Guess what! I think we are going to rent a car here. We are both pretty excited because it will be SO much freedom… we can go where we want, when we want. It’s awesome. Tons of backpackers rent or buy cars here so it is very easy.

The only problem was that neither of us had a driver’s license. Mine was stolen/lost with my wallet at JFK airport, and Jim just didn’t bring his. But he called the DMV and they faxed his driving record. I couldn’t believe the DMV figured that out. Even faxed it to the long, weird NZ fax number.

So it looks like all is well and we get the car + insurance for NZ$25 a day. It’s pretty exciting, I just hope Jim can remember to stay on the left side of the road. Ha ha.

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Books I’ve Read

April 26th, 2004

I haven’t mentioned anything about what I’ve read on the trip. Usually I spent a lot of time reading the guidebook, but when I’m done with that…
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Posted in 'Deep Thoughts' | 7 Comments »

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Still in Christchurch

April 25th, 2004

I forgot to mention in the last post that I have a terrible cold and I almost went to the doctor for it. (Jim wouldn’t let me) I think it was also because I met a girl who knew a backpacker guy whose friend DIED from some rare tonsilitis. The guy just thought it was a sore throat and kept going to the chemist who gave him throat sprays, and finally after a week he went to the real doctor and they admitted him immediately and he died!!!! Holy crap!

My throat was sore, but it felt like it was sore UP my throat instead of DOWN my throat. And when we were on the plane, my left ear wouldn’t pop and it felt really strange and hurt on the way down. Now it’s felt a little weird since then. I sneeze a lot and am a snot factory. I hate it. I’ve never had a problem with my ear before. I went through a whole roll of toilet paper blowing my nose.
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Posted in New Zealand | 2 Comments »

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It’s Bloody Cold in Christchurch!

April 24th, 2004

Two days ago I wore a tank top, shorts, and sandals.

Today I wore wool socks, sneakers, thermal pants, travel pants, a t-shirt, a micro-fleece and a fleece jacket.

DID YOU READ WHAT I JUST WROTE???

It’s not chilly, it is COLD here!!
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The REEF

April 22nd, 2004

So Jim returned from his diving trip yesterday and he had a great time. He saw sharks and huge turtles and lots of things.

Today we went on a snorkeling trip just for me, since I can’t go by myself and I need Jim to help.

We got on the boat at 8 and it took about 2 hours to get to the outer reef.

The boat was full of Americans, which was a shocker. We figure that the only place you find Americans are the higher-priced package deal tours and things like that, because they are too afraid NOT to do that.

It seemed like everyone was from NY, and we talked to some cool retired professors from Vermont. Our catamaran went thru a small storm and everyone came inside and one of the teachers hurled into a bag right next to me. I had to calm myself so I didn’t get sick but after the storm passed, everything was fine.

The first snorkel was right off the boat. I was surprised how wavy the water was. So I put on the flippers, life jacket and got a mask and Jim jumped right in and I started to climb in down the ladder. The water was so wavy and it felt cold (even though it wasn’t that cold) and seemed so deep and it was so scary. I don’t feel like talking about it anymore.

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Here’s a picture of the reef. Not a very good one; arial shots are awesome, though. You can see a little where the reef is by the different colors.

So next we went to a tiny sand hill in the water and they took us out on the promised “glass bottomed boat.”

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“Glass Bottomed Boat”

Classy, huh?

We got to the sand bar and were able to walk right into the water. Finally Jim got me to calm down and go under and it was great. The water was less wavy but still a wavy enough to worry me. It was quite shallow but there were still lots of pretty fish.

The coolest thing we saw were a couple blue-spotted rays. He swam right towards us and you could see his angry looking little eyes. It was awesome.

Jim took a bunch of pictures with the disposable water-proof camera we bought.

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This is what one looks like (I took this from another site).

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Here is a pic of the ray from our cheap underwater camera.

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A close-up from the same pic. The colors are dreadful even after I photoshopped it and you can’t see the bright blue spots. He has mean little eyes, though. I gave it the finger and made myself laugh and water come in my mask and I freaked out.
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Aboriginal Learning

April 21st, 2004

I went to the “Aboriginal cultural park” just north of Cairns, called Tjapukai.

I had huge reservations about going because it seemed weird to have a park …well….like that. You know?

I went anyway since I don’t know anything about them and thought it would be fun to learn. Also, we are leaving Australia soon for NZ so I wanted to so something “Australia.”

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A performance

I got to throw a spear and get one-on-one instruction from an Aboriginal person on throwing a boomerang. It was pretty neat. Also saw dancing and some movies/acting about their history and what they believe about creation. (Everything comes from a cassowary egg.)
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Teaching tourists how to throw the spear.

I will tell more later! Gotta go!

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Cairns Zoorific

April 20th, 2004

For today, I planned to go to either the Cairns zoo or the Aboriginal park thingy.

The hostel I am staying at, Gilligan’s, is awesome. When I woke up in the nice bed, with the nice blanket, I did NOT want to get up.

So finally I dragged my butt out of bed and wondered how I was going to get to the Zoo, which I decided on. I looked in my guidebook and it said the main bus stop is in the city center.

So I wandered there and finally found the bus timetable and was totally confused, then saw a sign for the ticket office. I found the office and the guy sold me a full day ticket and told me how to get there.

The bus came soon after and I was on my way! I feel so proud of myself when I figure out a local bus. It is awesome. I am awesome.
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Another Day of Me

April 19th, 2004

So yesterday I failed miserably at my task to find a cheap New Zealand Lonely Planet. I thought they would be everywhere, even used ones, since it is common for people to go to or come from NZ to Cairns.

That book is NO where to be found. I found places that had a zillion LP’s and no NZs!

Then I went to the supermarket and bought some low-fat pasta sauce.
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Posted in Australia | 3 Comments »

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Left to my Own Devices

April 19th, 2004

I thought it would be fun when Jim went on his diving trip today trip because I had a great time by myself when I came to Sydney before him, so I should have a great time again.

But Cairns is NOT Sydney.

Cairns is just another town that exists mainly to be a tourist cesspool.
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Posted in 'Deep Thoughts', Australia | 5 Comments »

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Cairns Plans

April 18th, 2004

Yesterday, in Cairns, our plan was to figure out what diving trip Jim would take and what snorkeling trip we would take together. It was a sticky situation. Jim didn’t need to come snorkeling except for the fact that I can’t do it myself since I can’t swim and I am scared of the water and I basically clutch on to him the whole time and he holds me up when I get water in my mask so I can empty it. And I HAVE to go snorkeling because this is the stinkin’ Great Barrier Reef! It is really unfortunate that I am such a retard because it means we have to pay for him to go.
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Posted in Australia | 2 Comments »

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