That's a wrap.

I saw two pair of bright white teeth flash by, and i knew Todds fishing trip had been a success. His guide dropped him off at our hotel late on Friday evening, and we spent the rest of the night looking at his photos and Todd telling me stories of his 3 day adventure. You can see his photos in earlier posts.




My days on my own in Queenstown were spent trying to recover from what i thought was a cold - and catching up with Katrina and Abby. Katrina came up around lunch time, we headed to Arrowtown, checked out the old CHinese huts, and then she punished me with a wine tour =) The punishment being that i can only legally bring back 2 bottles of wine. The wine in this region was awesome. Abby joined us for dinner - the three of us remeniced about bad clothing and playing strip poker, and why on earth a group of american kids was taken through the freezing works.





We headed to TeAnau by bus on Saturday to meet up with my old host family when i was a kid. We told the bus driver to drop us off at the house next to the one with the big round window - and he knew exactly where that was! ha, funny. Margaret and Brian Nicoll (Katirnas parents) were there to greet us. We settled into their place, and they took us for a drive to get oriented with the area. I know how lucky i am to have been to New Zealand before, but i am so glad that i returned older, to really appreciate it. Pictures and words just dont do the land justice. We decided to book a trip to see Milford Sound, so Sunday we took the 2 hour bus ride to the Sound, and took a scenic cruise on the Sound. We saw penguins, and seals - and even though the cloud cover was pretty thick - the waterfalls were out in full force making this trip well worth it. Katrina and her boyfriend Jason mey us back in TeAnau, we spent a lot of time catching up and watching home videos from when we were over, and when they were in Tacoma. I felt kinda sorry for everyone else in the room, this video was super long, and just kept going - but we were smiling throught the whole ting, laughing at our 11 year old selves.






I drug myself to the doctor on Sunday - because i was not getting better and i couldnt imagine a 14 hour flight in the kind of pain i felt on the flight to Queenstown. Turns out i had an ear/sinus infection. Doc put my on amoxicillin. We did some damage purchasing some awesome Merino clothing - called Icebreakers..

Then i knocked on the door of the Mansons - my brother had stayed with their family, along with my parents. We had a nice chat. met Derricks wife and new son - then we were off to say our farwells to the Nicoll family who had meat pies waiting for us! yum.

Abby and her boyfriend drove us to Queenstown to catch our flight. Which was cancelled. Queenstown planes have to turn OFF their crash control sensors when they fly in, because you are so close to mountains, so when the bad weather rolls in, its impossible to fly in and out because there are no controls. We werent too sad, becuase now instead of having to make an additional stop, we flew directly to Sydney the next day - but we missed our SF flight by only 2 hours. Hopefully work forgives us. With our extra day in Queenstown, we just enjoyed each other and ate good food and walked around. We flew to Sydney and stayed near the airport then headed in super early - where we found something to do for 4 hours while we awaited our flight home.

Went by fast, and before we knew it we were back in SF - and now im at work. Ready for bed.

Milford Sound

More Fish Pics

The Release...

Kiwi Fly Fishing

So after many years of imagining fly fishing in New Zealand for big Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout, the reality finally came true for me. I have read and researched so many times about fishing in this country, learning about how hard it can be, the fish very wary and difficult to find, casting in the heavy winds and very long walks to get to where the fish are. Well, all that is true and then some...

I was lucky to find a great fishing guide from the town of Glenorchy, NZ. He has been guiding in the South Island for over 15 years and to say we hit it off right away would be an understatement. His name was Gordy Watson and he knew exactly where to find the fish. We fished the Mararoa River and the Oretti. Day 1 the fishing was a bit tough, a strong wind was coming in and the fish were pretty difficult to find with the lack of sun. Here in NZ you mostly sight fish. One person walks the opposite side of the bank, watching for trout while the angler is on the other side, being told where the fish is laying and then hopefully you put your fly in the right spot and he takes it. Day 2 was the best of the three days, the wind layed down and the sun came out, we spotted over 50 fish that day and I made some good casts and was rewarded with some true trophy trout. The Browns are my favorite, very agressive and strong fighters, some thrashing you into the bank trying to get the hook free.

Day 3 was good conditions but most of the fish werent really cooperating with taking the flies. They were either scared of it or simply not interested. Most of the time, if your cast is not perfect the trout will shoot off upstream and out of sight. They have really become very smart in this area, that is why they average 5 to 6 pounds! We spotted a few Browns that were well over the 10 pound mark but they were not interested in anything I threw at them, one of them came to the fly twice and looked but just didnt want any part of it. Just seeing a trout that size was mind blowing.

I cant wait to come back to this part of the world, it really is difficult to describe just how beautiful it is, the pictures just dont do it any justice.

Molly, Jason, and me makes three!

Ok not really.

I have to admit, thanks to Kiley and Tiffany, i watch the Bachelor. Im not proud of this, but its addicting.

Today, im minding my own business getting a pastry and coffee at a bakery and Queenstown, when some guy in an american accent steps infront of me taking about buying a pepsi. I didnt think anything of it, until i recognized him as Jason, from last seasons Bachelor. I turned around, and there looking through the bakery glass was Molly. She's dyed her hair super dark.

he was in a blue baseball cap, she wore a grey ski cap. Both in sunglasses. I cant figure out if they were trying not to be recognized, of if they were just bundled up for the cold. In any event, this silly American recognized them, but didnt say a peep.

I left the bakery to go check out a jazz festival, and there again, walked jason and molly. I will say this, they look genuinely in love. She looked up and smiled and he put his hand on the small of her back and lead her across the street. Hand in hand they walked away - and i thought - they may actually last.

Kiwiland

Its the kind that makes your nose hurt, your eyes water, and your chest hurt from coughing so much... but as i woke up this morning and headed downstairs to the chocolate shop and had a cup of dark hot chocolate over looking the lake in Queenstown, i smiled anyways. I might be sick, but im in New Zealand.

We flew into Christchurch really late on Monday, woke up and spent the day there. We started our day walking around the city - and decided we'd try our hand at punting. No, not the kind of punting that requires kicking a football, the kind where you get in a flat bottom boat and get punted up and down a river. As i took the step into the boat that sat extremely low in the water, i thought to myself, gee i hope we dont tip over. Well, that didnt happen, but as our punter pushed us off of the dock, i felt a gentle squirt of water followed by a huge splash - when we looked back, there was our punter, floating in the water!! he had fallen into the river - did i mention how cold it was in New Zealand? COLD. The poor guy, he hurried back in the boat, trying to play it cool, but we all know the poor thing was dying of embarressment.

The following morning we wqere up early to catch our flight to Queenstown. Being American, makes you hyper airport savy, or at least i thought. But here, arriving to the airport with only 30 minutes before departure is normal, and oh, we ust happened to go through security just for fun, because our gate wasnt even behind a security screening, you can just walk right through and sit on down, but we had no idea, so we took our baggage through security, and then discovered we needed to go back out to get to our gate. Humorous, but nice to be in a place where there is no threat.

It might have only been an hour flight, but it was the worst one ive ever taken. My ears immediately plugged up, and today, two days later, my right one is still plugged. Landing into Queenstown the plane swayed from side to side, mountains surrounded us on everyside - i was personally waiting for the plane to grow skis and for us to land skiing down the mountain. Instead, the pilot took the safe route and landed us nicely on the tarmac, where Todds fishing guide was waiting for him. Now dont forget, my ears are plugged and i cant hear a thing, but i managed to talk to this guide long enough to realize he was just like my husband. I turned to him and said, you dont understand, Todd has been waiting for this forever, nothing else has mattered, until today - he gets to go on his fishing trip. To which Gordy (the guide) responded, "oh i understand." Duh, of course he understands. They offered to take me to my hotel before they were off on their 3 day adventure, so we loaded up in his truck... Behind the truck was a trailer with one of those 4x4 buggee things, to take them im sure, to places most cant get to. Im so excited to hear all about this fishing trip.

I spent the day relaxing at the hotel and wandering around. Then 230 strolled around and my friend Sheree and her mom and dad and son stopped by for a visit! It just so happened that she was arriving in Queenstown the same day, (she lives in Perth, Australia now, but is back in NZ to prepare for her upcoming wedding!!!) Bad perms and horrible clothes... we laughed at the old memories of when we first met. Luckily we've both outgrown the perms! Cooper, Sherees son is adorable. Perfectly round face - big blue eyes, think Gerber baby. We chatted over coffee at Starbucks of all places, before they had to take off to return to Invercargill. If i would have planned better, i couldve stuck around for her wedding, i think its in the middle of November sometime. oh well - Sheree you have to send me photos even if i dont get on Facebook =)

I caught a movie, ate at a local pizza place where the pizza was served on wooden slats and had a delicious sour cream, cream cheese, sort of sauce blobbed on top of it. Holla.

This brings us today. Im feeling better, but decided to not take in any extremem activities. I was close to signing up to go on canyoning tour, or jetboat ride, but i figure i still have tomorrow, i should try to get better first. I did stumble on a fantastic place for PJs, Its called Peter Alexander. I think he's an Australian designer, but i spent a good hour in this store. Tiff - youd LOVE this place. Google it, im sure its on line somewhere. Tonight im thinking about taking a sail on the lake, and taking in the scenery. Did i mention the snow topped mountains are are as beautiful as anything ive seen, and im glad now, as a 28 year old i can finally appreciate the landscape of this country. As an 11 year old the first time i was here, and even as a high schooler the second time - i didnt fully appreciate this place.. but you know what they say, i guess third times a charm.

Last day in tropical paradise

Our last full day in Port Douglas was spent getting a massage (Todd made me do it, what a mean husband he is - hahaha) then we took a tour up to the Daintree rain forest - and the Mossman Gorge. We started with a cruise up the Daintree River to spot crocodiles! We actually saw quite a few, a lot of little hatchlings, it was amazing that our boat driver could spot these little guys. We saw one really good size male, almost 3 meters, not sure how many feet that is, but it was enought to make me back away from the edge of the boat. We followed the river cruise with a trip to the Mossman Gorge, walked through the rain forest and attempted to jump in the crystal clear river, however it was too cold for my liking so Todd and i just talked to the tour guide about all the fish we could see. We ended up ordering in room service for dinner, ive caught an Australian cold - and was needing a good nights sleep before today long flight to New Zealand. We are in Brisbane now, waiting for our flight - we have a 3 hour layover. I can tell Todd is more anxious then ever to make it to NZ for three full days of fishing, and hopefully more. The weather today in Port Douglas was around 90 degrees, but we left at the perfect time - a torrential downpour started!! Our drive to the airport was wet - and they dont have ramps to the planes so we got drenched walking out to the plane too. Oh well. This trip has been great. Already at our halfway point unfortunately. Im looking forward to catching up with all my Kiwi friends - more from NZ!!

Katrina

Katrina - if youre reading this - will you email me all of your details again? Ive lost the email and cant find your email address, number, or parents address in TeAnu. Send it to GSarah9@aol.com

Orders

Marisa - ill bring back Crunchies - anyone else need some Aussie or NZ lollies or souveniers??? Let me know =)

Crocodiles, Jellyfish, and snakes.... OH MY!

If the crocodiles dont get to you, the jellyfish will - and if they dont get to you, well then the snakes are sure to! We've woken up in our beautiful Port DOuglas hotel room with a note under the door each morning, telling us about crocodile sightings in the ocean and to not swim in the ocean. And then there was the brown snake slithering across the steps to our hotel room last night, that was eire, some Australian guys said "watch out, this guy can be aggressive..." And then there was the Jelly fish today, as we took a boat out to the Great Barrier reef - we wore protective suits, but a jellyfish smacked me right in the face, im a hypocondriac so im sure it was nothing, but it did sting. The dealdy box jellyfish dont go out that far, they stay in close to the shore.

So today, we are in Port Douglas, it is amazing. We went on a snorkel tour with Quicksilver, which took us to the outer reef, to three different locations. The boat ride was suprisingly smooth, im not so good with motion, but i didnt get sick. Its about an hour and ahalf due eat from the mainland to get to the outer reef, pretty cool to be in the middle of the ocean snorkelling. As you can see by our pictures, this place is a must see.

Yesterday, we bummed around the hotel - it has 3 lagoon pools that have sand at the bottom so you feel like you are actually in the ocean.

Our last day in Sydney was incredible. Walking up the steps to the Sydney Opera house to actually see an Opera was surreal. Im not sure how Todd liked it, but i thought it was a pretty cool experience. We saw a modern day version of Mozarts "Cosi Fan Tutte." We sat 4 rows back, perfect seats. Todd had left his "sunnies" in Daves truck, so he had to take a ferry back to Manly to get them, meanwhile i stayed and checked out the Rocks area of Sydney and went into the museum of contemoporery Art. I realize that a lot of young Aussies have strong feelings against Americans in some of the art they have created. But that doesnt really come over in the people, everyone we meet has been very friendly.

ONe more day in Paradise before we make the journey to New Zealand. If you havent visited the Great Barrier Reef, you need to put that on your list!

Left Behind

I knew drinking an entire bottle of water wasnt a good idea. My tour leader asked "is it an emergency" and yes it was. He told me where to find the bathroom, and to STAY THERE, the bus would come find me. I followed directions and sat near the rest room, and waited, and waited somemore. I started to get a little nervous when i saw another tour group come and go in the time i was sitting there. But, i figured our tour guide had taken the group somewhere else to have a look at the blue mountains before heading back to the bus. I was a few moments away from asking someone to call my tour company, when finally the bus came around the corner. It felt like forever, but im sure it wasnt really that long. I walked onto the bus to find everyone laughing and smiling at me, Todd told me the bus driver had forgotten me, and half way to our next location, TOdd had to stand up and ask if he was going to go back to get me. I was asked by everyone the rest of the trip if i was getting nervous. (Robyn, I kept replaying your last Rick Steves tour in my mind when someone got lost - it wasnt that bad)

So that tour was to the Blue Mountains. Its about 90 minutes outside of Sydney and worth the trip. Its nice to see the landscape of a new place. WE started the day with a trip to the wildlife park to pet koalas and kangaroos. Then we learned how to throw a boomarang, Todds ended up in the forest - mine landed perfectly. What can i say, im a natural. We took a cable car deep into the valley, walked around the rainforest and then took a ride on the worlds steepest railroad. I didnt like that, Todd did. It was freaky we went up the side of a cliff backwards, It was so steep it felt like we were standing up in the cars.

We ended the tour by taking a look at the Olympic Park. It is an incredible site, everything ran on solar power. Quite a site. We took a ferry back out to Manly and Dave and his wife Joice took us to a fabulous seafood dinner. I had octopus salad and barrimundi - it was awesome!! so delicious. Joice and i finished a bottle of Australian wine between the two of us =) (Virginia - i had a glass for you).

Rewinding a little, we have seen so much of Sydney. Darling Harbour, did the aquarium - walked to the botanical gardens, strolled through the art museum. Ate great food. We are having a lot of fun.

Tiffany i have found you so many souveniers! Im not sure how i will get them all home though, that will be a problem.

My first blog entry, Sarah doesnt really let me write. We had a great time with David Murrays family, they had the best BBQ I have ever been to and the beer was even better. I woke up this morning a little foggy if you know what I mean.

Sydney is amazing. Everyone is so friendly and easy going. I am amazed at the city and what there is to do here. Today we went to the Sydney Botanical Gardens and just bummed around the city. Our hotel is in a great location, we have been walking everywhere.

Tomorrow we head to the Blue Mountains on a tour. Looking forward to that, apparently the wild life is really fun.

Not too long until the South Island where I hope to run into some rather large trout. My dream fly fishing trip is finally coming true.

Sydney!

Ambien CR is a must, so is a bag full of snacks, because the crap food they give you on a nearly 15 hour flight wont get you through it. We touched down in Sydney, made our way through customs without a hitch, and our ride arrived shortly after to wisk us away. Todd knows a guy named David through work, and he was gracious enough to come and pick us up and take us to his home in Manly. Its a little north of the actual town of Sydney. The house overlooks red cliffs (think La Jolla). We showered and had breakfast right on the beach front with David, his wife Louis, and one of their three sons, Eric. A surf/swim/kayak competition was going on right there on Manyl beach, so we took a while to take that in before heading back to their home. David then took us to get settled into our hotel in Sydney. Grandma and Papa are letting us stay in their time share - its right downtown, near Chinatown. We checked into our room and decided against taking that nap that i so needed and wanted. Instead we took a stroll down to the Circular Quary and walked around near the ferry terminals.

OK - who watches WHALE WARS? Now, at first this show was cool, but then i was like - why are these freaks putting people before whales? Anyways, if you havent seen the show, you wont care about what happened next. So we're walking down the boardwalk and Todd looks up and low and behold THERE IS THE STEVE IRWIN! Ha, the their ship is currently docked in the Sydney Harbour. Apparently funding is low, so their docked until December when they'll retunr to the Ocean to put lives at risk to save the whales. Seriously, if you havent seen the show, watch it.

We caught a ferry back to Manly where we have been treated like family. Its Davids middle sons 24th birthday, there are probably 20 Australian surfer boys eating sausages and drinking beer (im really wishing my girlfriends were here - trust me, youd likee!) We're drinking and eating a ton of meat - and loving life. We cant believe we are here, and Todd has already asked if we can please move here.

Words to describe Sydney - Clean, laid back, welcoming, patriotic.

More to come soon. Moms and dads, we are here safe! We will check in soon.

"Why?"

Its one of those annoying things he does. When i say "I love you" Todd turns to me with that smirk and asks "why?". I know why he does it. He likes the look on my face coming up with new and exciting reasons why, but come on already - i can only come up with so many new things. (yes my love is infinite, but you know what im talking about people). Yesterday when we were just about to take off from SFO - i did a little switcharoo.. Todd said "i love you" so i said in my most sarcastic annoying voice, "why?" Howd he answer you ask? He simply said "because i want to." All of my trying to be clever and creative with reasons why i love my husband.... his response made me smile. He wants to love me.

Gram

Its one of those things you cant help, that connection you cant explain. I have that with my grandma, of all people. It might be an odd match, of completely different generations, but i can tell that woman anything! As we're preparing to leave for our trip, grandma is in a hospital bed recovering from her latest surgery. Battling lung cancer and a lymphoma - shes been a fighter and im excited to see her when we return. Isnt she gorgeous =)

Painful

Its inevitable. The last week leading up to vacation goes painfully slow. Im leaving at the best, yet worst possible time. The best, because im stressed out, taking on too much responsibility at work and with photography - and desperately need a break... the worst, because im super busy at work and could benefit from being here these coming weeks. Todds in Portland, getting in a last minute round at the office up there. I have all my clothes stacked up in a laundry basket, just waiting to get stuffed into my backpack. Keep visiting our blog while we are away, i will be updating it with the latest from our travels - and even posting photos =) For those of you who are curious, our itinerary is as follows:

Depart for Sydney on Friday October 9th
Arrive in Sydney Sunday October 11th (HEY WHERE DID SATURDAY GO?!)
Sydney 11th - 15th
Port Douglas (Great Barrier Reef) 16th - 19th
Christchuch, New Zealand 19th - 20th
Queenstown 21st - 24th (Todd will be on his fly fishing trip during this time)
Te Anau 25 - 27th
Fly home on the 27th

Talk to you soon from DOWN UNDER! Yay.. Oh BTW, we're actually going to see an opera at the Sydney Opera House!!! I already feel guilty for making Todd sit through 3 hours of opera, but i cannot not see an opera at the Sydney Opera House.