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Australia & New Zealand trip
  • Sallee Family
  • Sallee Family

Australia & New Zealand trip

A 38-day adventure by Sallee Read more
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  • Sallee FamilyAustralia & New Zealand tripTraveler

    Brenda's GBR experience

    October 23, 2017, Great Barrier Reef ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Well, overall it was an experience I will never forget. I got to see beautiful fish 🐠. We had lots of time to explore. However, the area we could explore felt a bit limited with all the people (over 100). I got to see two sea turtles 🐢🐢 , although I guess it could have been the same one the second time. I was hoping the coral colors would be more spectacular but the fish colors made up for it. It had been about 15 or more years since I snorkeled so was a bit nervous. I managed to get my wetsuit on ok and my fins and mask (even remembered to spit in the mask). The first few breathes in the water were weird and scary because you don’t feel like you are gonna get enough air, so it is a little like a suffocating feeling. Then once I could relax a bit the breathing came easier it ended up being easier to breath under water with snorkel than above. David agreed to be my snorkel buddy which is why there are a few pictures of this good looking guy in my photos. Speaking of photos. David suggested I do a vertical panoramic shot shafting from under water to above. Tried it several times. Put one of them as pic 1 of Norman reef footprint. My phone did great in its underwater case. However it was tougher to operate it. It often got stuck in a certain mode which I couldn’t get out until I was above water to see better. I also had to have it on full brightness and in camera mode the whole time. Battery ran out fast. Didn’t help that sometimes I couldn’t tell if a picture took so I would take another. Then there were times I thought a picture did take and it didn’t ( like with the turtle). ☹️ Overall, pretty cool thing we just did.
    We were pretty beat by the end of the day. Oh, and we get to get up before the butt crack of dawn tomorrow to catch our 5:10am flight to our next adventure.    Read more

  • Sallee FamilyAustralia & New Zealand tripTraveler

    David's Cairns Review - Top and Bottom 6

    October 24, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    Here goes my review of Cairns.

    The Top 6

    1. Snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef

    Wow!! So nervous going in, but so happy we did it. Wetsuit was a must, and trying not to panic at the start when working on the breathing, and also trying not to panic when seeing the shark, obstacles that I could overcome.

    2. Feeling like we were in the tropics.

    Super warm, super high humidity, but still, just a great feeling of being "somewhere different". A lot more relaxed than the city feel of Sydney.

    3. Lilly, the waddle cat!

    Such a nice sweetheart and helped get our cat fix in. Missing the girls, but we can make it to the end thanks to Lilly

    4. Flying Fruit bats - HUGE! Plus them taking off at dusk in large hordes and sleeping clinging to trees by one foot was super cute. Can't see those in Oregon.

    5. Skyrail - wished the weather was a touch better for the ride, but cruising over the top of the rainforest and looking straight down was super impressive. Such a dense lush environment and again, so different from our location at home.

    6. The aquarium. - Smallish, and not quite as stocked as they are expecting it to eventually be (it had only been open for 4 weeks), but it was a great primer for getting ready for the reef.

    The bottom 6.

    1. The weather in general. The only super nice "sunny" day was our Great Barrier Reef day. Which is great that we were able to pick the right day to go to the snorkeling adventure, but it's a bit of a shame that there was a fair amount of rain on the other days.

    2. Sunburned legs - I knew I should have added more stuff at the lunch time, but honestly I'm not sure it would have helped as we were at just the right water level with our snorkeling that I probably would have been burned anyway. Thank goodness for the suits though or I would have been burned all over.

    3. Swallowing salt water - just right at the end of the swimming. Picked just the wrong time to try and clear the mask of water and took in a bunch. Spent the next couple of minutes hacking up water trying to clear my system. Didn't go back out after that, so that's a bummer of a note to end the swimming on.

    4. Quite crowded snorkeling environment. This one is a bit of a challenge.. You want a larger boat for the best chance not to get sea sick, and we had the newest / best boat in the area. However, you also want something small enough that it takes out a smaller group. I'd guess that we had about 175 on the boat. While one the boat it didn't feel all that crowded, but get all 175 into the water in a focused area and it was tough. Plus, inexperienced swimmers, so everyone is running into each other. "MMMMPPPHEEERYYY" means "sorry" in snorkel. You get to hear / say that a lot to people.

    5. The tuna - It could have been so much better, but I guess it's better that we learned that early before buying a lot of the flavors to take with us.

    6. The time we had to leave. Pretty much just took a nap, since we needed to get up and to the airport super early. Add that with such a rigorous travel day (with super tight connections) and it was a total "non-relaxing" day. Guess that helps with the sleeping that night, but not the way I would usually want to travel.

    Overall though, some amazing experiences and I'd love to have another chance to do some snorkeling.    Read more

  • Sallee FamilyAustralia & New Zealand tripTraveler

    Brenda's top 6 for Cairns

    October 24, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    With Cairns behind us, it’s time to ponder what my top 6 highlights and disappointments were for that leg of our trip. I will start with the Highs this time.
    HIGHS
    1. AirBnB host and location : Casimah is a tour consultant so she went out of her way to help us book tours and give us special tips. Her place was on the 6th floor overlooking the water. I had breakfast on the balcony every morning.
    2. Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef: So great to see the coral and fishes. We went to two locations that were a little different. Once in a lifetime experience.    Read more

  • Sallee FamilyAustralia & New Zealand tripTraveler

    Christmas in Sydney

    October 24, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Flight wasn't too bad. Brenda's seat rest was messed up, but the flight wasn't full so we moved over and got some pictures.

    We also watched movies.

    We bought a zoo for Brenda and Lego Batman for me.

    Both movies were excellent.

    One thing we noticed that had changed since the last time we were at the airport was the fact they have the terminal all decorated for Christmas. Without our Thanksgiving to get in the way, I guess they feel free to start the holiday shopping season early.

    You also really have to wander through all the Duty Free shops in order to get from one location to another. We were not overly tempted though since we needed to get to our next flight.    Read more

  • Sallee FamilyAustralia & New Zealand tripTraveler

    In New Zealand airport-Auckland

    October 24, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Immigration line.

    With the lines and the need to get / recheck our bags, we managed to walk onto the plane about 8 minutes before it took off. Barely had enough time for a bathroom break, and we had to hustle to the domestic terminal from the international one.

    Luckily, we made it fine, but not much time to stop and take some pictures. Will have to do that on our way back.    Read more

  • Sallee FamilyAustralia & New Zealand tripTraveler

    Bella Vista Hotel

    October 24, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Our hotel has some pretty amazing views too. It appears to be in a good location near a lot of shops and very close to the ski lift to take for a nice view at the top of the hill near us.

    We did a tiny bit of exploring tonight around the hotel and will do more tomorrow.

    I'm already loving this location. It's like Oregon, Colorado, and Lake Tahoe all threw in bits and pieces to make a super cool place :-)

    Oh and speaking of cool, I finally get to wear my fleece that I've been carrying around for the entire trip. Nothing like going from the tropics to a climate that is closer to home.

    Cairns is about the same distance from the equator as Hawaii. Queenstown is about the same distance as Salem.

    We will try and get more shots in during the next few days.    Read more

  • Sallee FamilyAustralia & New Zealand tripTraveler

    Datenight Tuesday pizza

    October 24, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Got in to Queenstown a little after 7:00 but had to wait for luggage. Got picked up by Supershuttle. Our place is small but nice with another nice view out our window. We have coupon for this pizza place about 4 min walk from lodging. We are sooooo thirsty and hungry after our marathon flight day.

    The London pizza place here in New Zealand was pretty tasty. Not very crowded at all, a lot of the other shops in the area are closed, so it's probably an indication that they might shut down rather early. Besides, it is a Tuesday after all.    Read more

  • Sallee FamilyAustralia & New Zealand tripTraveler
    1

    Queenstown Exploring

    October 25, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Checking out the town this morning

    Today we were tourists :-)

    We did a lot of searching for gifts and just generally getting a feel for the town.

    Personally, I'm loving it here! It's a lot like Oregon only everyone has an awesome accent. Not everything is super great though, especially if you're a pedestrian. The drivers here must have the right of way since non of them will stop or even slow down. Plus, I'm not sure we have even seen a stop sign, everything is a yield, so no reason for the cars to change their pace.

    As long as you're careful, it's fine.

    We did get some good items and I have an eye on a shirt that I'll probably get, but have not found the perfect Hoodie thus far.

    Prices are all over the place here with most of the stores having the same stuff but a range of $5 between them or so.

    Also found a disc golf store and they had quite the selection of new discs. Nothing used and nothing that I had to have. They did have some stamped with the Queenstown logo, but not in any discs that I would want to use. From the looks of our schedule we might get back early enough to play disc golf tomorrow. There is a very nice course within about 10 minutes of us (walking), so it's on the "must do" list.

    We also are going to the movies tonight!!!

    Going to see Thor Ragnarok before it is even available in the states. Plus, it's a special preview here, so it's even before it's released to NZ. Theater only seats 100, so we're going to get there nice and early so we can get a good seat.    Read more

  • Sallee FamilyAustralia & New Zealand tripTraveler

    Pita Pit in NZ??? Mmmmm.

    October 25, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    The pita pit was a pretty surprising find. We have one in Corvallis and this happened to be a great taste of home.

    The chips were quite good as well. We thought we were getting some sun chip type, but they are slightly different. Strong honey mustard flavor and quite a bit more "sturdy" of a chip than the usual sun ones. An excellent compliment to the Pita though.

    Did get some aioli sauce for my pita, and one of the other things they do is after the pita is made, they put it on their grill press to seal it up. Makes it much less messy!

    You know what else is really great here? The water!! Straight from the tap, it totally reminds me of my Folk's water. Put some in our fridge for later consumption.    Read more

  • Sallee FamilyAustralia & New Zealand tripTraveler

    Another tour adventure begins!

    October 26, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    This time Milford Sound.

    This was quite the adventure. We took a very long and windy bus ride to Milford Sound, where we boarded a boat to tour the sound, then we boarded a plane to take us back to Queenstown.
    The bus ride was 5 and a half hours (with a few stops along the way). The flight was just 45 minutes in a single prop plane.
    Soooooooooooooo many pictures were taken during the day. The mountains are magnificent and provide something postcard worthy with every click. I personally took over 300 pictures today, so there's a ton to sort through and add.
    I did take some motion sickness meds before going today and I was glad I did. The road had all sorts of twists and turns and the driver seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, so we zipped through even though it took us half the day.
    Brenda took some meds as well, but was feeling a bit of the effects, so she took a second pill and that put her balance off for a while. Thankfully it was early on in the trip, so by the time we got to one of our major stops, she was feeling better.
    They provided lunch for us, and also took us from the airport directly to our hotel, so great service.
    The pilot for the flight home was very nice and quite entertaining. From the looks of what she gets to see on every flight, how could you not love your job?
    Anyway, here's the start to a ton of photos of the journey there, the journey while there, and the journey back.
    By doing all the different modes of transportation, we were able to see the sound in all sorts of perspectives. The flight home isn't a guarantee either, as often bad weather will force them to cancel the flights. We were lucky today, as the weather wasn't good in the morning (so the early flights didn't go) but by 1 pm, all was fine, so our flight at 3 pm was good to go. Some other people tried to get on the flight as well, but since they were totally booked, they had to turn them away. So glad that Brenda had everything booked in advance, so it was smooth sailing for us!    Read more

  • Sallee FamilyAustralia & New Zealand tripTraveler
    1Kea bird, very curious/friendly

    The divide

    October 26, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    This point also marks the 45 latitude letting us know we're in about the same zone as Keizer only in the Southern Hemisphere.

    Beber made a new friend :-)

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