The Land Way Down Under

Sunset over Australia

So, about that slowing down on the Sunshine coast bit, well, knowing us we just couldn't sit tight for 3 weeks straight so we decided to take an adventure packed 9 days to Tasmania.

We apparently could not get enough of sleeping in converted minivans, so decided to dip back into the near freezing weather and explore the place where the Cape Grim Air Pollution Station claims Tasmania as having the world’s cleanest air. (The lack of pollution is due to the island’s southerly latitude, its position in the Southern Ocean, low-key development, distance from other land masses, and the cleansing effect of the Roaring Forties -Strong westerly winds that carry pollution-free air thousands of kilometres across the Southern Ocean. For those of you who were curious :)

Tasmania is a beautiful island with stunning white sand beaches, and landscapes that are rocky and rugged to green rolling hills and fertile valleys. The cities and towns in Tasmania are very historic from the times when it was mainly an isolated prison island. We found big stone building and old churches and bridges in every town we visited. We enjoyed the various campsites where we were surrounded by wildlife. Unfortunately we saw most of the wallabies, possums, wombats, and birds wildlife on their backs or smooshed on the side of the roadl... That's why everyone has big grills on their cars! We also visited Mt Fields National park to see massive waterfalls, rainforest, the second tallest trees in the world (mountain ash eucalyptus), and to play in the fresh snow. We spent out last day exploring the orchards, vineyards, and bays of the Huon valley ending it with fish and chips in Hobart harbor.

Before and after our Tas adventure we were able to spend some quality time on the coast with Lynne and Steve, Drew's aunt and uncle. They have a beautiful house and land where you wake up every morning to kookuburras, and rainbow colored lorikeets songs. We spent our days surfing and swimming at the numerous beaches on the sunshine coast. We spent an afternoon at the Noosa Jazz Festival listening to amazing artist and one young artist, Smokin' Joe Robinson, left us stunned with his brilliant guitar talent. It has been so comforting to stay with family and wind down after living in a van for weeks at a time. We spent a day at rainbow beach discovering the colored sands and the cute little towns along the way. We stumbled upon a small lake with a gorgeous botanical garden. Since it is spring time we enjoyed all new colorful flowers as well as seeing a snake winding its way in the shrubs. Steve even let us take out the boat to go fishing down the Maroochy River. What a fantastic trip we are having so far. Next stop is Bangkok and many more adventures to come.

The Land of the Kiwis

Wally

Well, we've gone from our lovely tin bungalow on a pristine island, to living in a van down by the river. We've just spent the last 3 weeks putting 4,000Km on our rented camper van, affectionately named Wally. We parked and camped on the cliffs of mountains, to the shores of lakes, on the edge of river mouths, and even in supermarket parking lots.

Our poor tropical Fijian-ized blood had a serious shock with some parts of New Zealand measuring in at a lovely 2 degrees Celsius (36 F). Chilled to the bone, we bought ourselves some serious winter wear, and made it through the night only with the love of 2 hot water bottles.

Our first snow in 3 years!

Damian, a friend from Uni (as they call it here) picked us up at the airport and let us stay with him in Auckland while we attempted to acclimate to our first " real winter" in 3 years. For those of you who didn't know, Drew did a study abroad program in New Zealand for one year at Massey University in Palmerston North.

A view from Auckland's sky tower where we had Drew's Birthday dinner.

If you could sum up New Zealand in a sentence it would have to be: "California as it's own island country with rolling green meadows speckled with sheep, deer, & cow, while all the kiwis (the people) stay happily physically active while enjoying their breathtaking outdoor scenery."

Well, at least that was my first impression. Everyone here was genuinely kind, from the bus drivers to the punk looking high school kid behind the ice cream counter. There doesn't seem to be a lot of overweight people, and everywhere we drove you could find kayakers traversing river gorges or cyclers racing up mountains.

Franz-Josef Glacier

Oh and the landscape was just gorgeous! Sunrises and sunsets beautifully sinking into the ocean all within a days drive. Glaciers, thermal geysers and pools, volcanoes, bays and sounds of islands, hundreds of waterfalls and beautiful sets of waves. Drew scored Raglan, one of the most famous waves in the world.

Raglan

My one mission for New Zealand was to see Penguins and oh did we ever! We camped out at a reserve and watched these 2 foot chubby birds surf in on their bellies, pop up and waddle to their nests. The next morning, at sunrise, one by one they looked like someone tied their shoelaces together as they wobbled down the Big Sur looking cliffs to the beach. Several of them came within a few feet of us as they left for a hard days work of fishing. It was one of the coolest discovery channel moments I have ever had :)

Liss discovering she can no longer eat lamb after this cuddly experience.

Mount Taranaki

The best part of it was that this country seems to really cater to the outdoorsy tourists. With up kept trails and national parks at every turn, immaculate public toilets (my personal favorite), to tons of comfortable campgrounds where your often the only ones...this is the place to go if you want a beautiful budget holiday.

Drew tapping his own beer at Speights brewery.

It wasn't only the cold that had us in shock here, but the never ending rows of restaurants, supermarkets, and shops. It all seems a bit surreal to find ourselves in this fairyland world of luxury again, and to think that we won't be going back to our primitive island again any time soon. We keep finding ourselves in a mix of emotions of excitement for the future and nostalgia of what we've left behind. Don't get us wrong though, we are thoroughly enjoying the civilized world again!

We had an amazing fast-paced adventure in kiwi land, and now

we're ready to slow down on the Sunshine coast in Australia.

Catching the sunrise and penguins at Bushy Beach Reserve.