Trip Update #3

It's already been three weeks! Somehow it still feels like a normal vacation - probably because the majority of my vacations since college have been 2-3 weeks long. I've received numerous complaints from Canucks telling me to stoop making Canadian jokes and to back oof, eh. I'll try. Promise. Monday, May 27th Had a slow day today in Queenstown. We kicked off the day with Fly By Wire. What exactly is fly by wire, you may ask. Well, here's the recipe for the ride: 1. Find a steep valley bordered by two mountains that are relatively close together. 2. Attach two cables in and X pattern to said mountains across the valley. 3. The cables cross in the middle of the valley. At this juncture, hang a long thin flat piece of metal with a nose cone from another cable. 4. Attach large motor with a large fan blade to the back of the piece of metal. 5. Get some idiot to pay you lots of money to fly the piece of metal around. Not having had enough death-defying stunts in yet, I decided to follow this up with a bungy jump (Rayman opted out) - not a normal bungy jump by any means, though. This one was called the Nevis: the highest bungy jump in New Zealand at 134 meters (roughly 400 feet). I jumped off a suspended cable car. It was awesome. The best part is looking over the edge of the platform just before you go - simply terrifying. I almost paid to jump again. Rayman and I ate exclusively at this little Turkish Kebab place on Beach St. (pronounced with two syllables) our entire stay in Queenstown. The best food we've had so far. Couldn't get enough. Next, was the real ride of the day. Driving to Mt. Cook in the snow in the dark. This was lots of fun. The snow was awesome. Rayman and I had a little snowball fight. I would tell you who won, but Rayman is on this distribution list too and I wouldn't want to make him feel bad. Tuesday, May 28th The roads were completely iced over this morning, so we figured that attempting a full day hike per plan would not be the smartest thing to do. We also received a nice present from the ice in the form of a flat tire (known as a tyre here), which we promptly replaced with something we found in the trunk resembling a bicycle tire. We settled on a hike through Hooker Valley. I wonder what this place was named for... probably some guy whose last name was Hooker. What were you thinking of? Throughout this hike we got some spectacular views of Mt. Cook (which we named Pointy Peak, until we found out it was actually Mt. Cook). The sun shining on snowy mountainsides is truly a beautiful site. After the walk, we confined ourselves to the luxury of the Corolla for a nice 7-hour drive to Kaikoura, after we got the tire repaired thankfully. On our way out of Mt. Cook (the town), we noticed that for most of the drive, Mt. Cook (the mountain) was directly behind us. Had we driven into Mt. Cook (the town) during the day, we would've known this. Another site of beauty is watching very large waves crash into the mountainside at night. For these two reasons, it was very difficult to keep my eyes on the road. Some would say that this is no different than normal. Wednesday, May 29th Went whale watching on a catamaran in Kaikoura. They warned us that the seas were a bit choppy, but I had no idea. The boat ride was almost more fun than the things we did in Queenstown. We hit the jackpot with this trip - saw three sperm whales, including their spectacular dives where they flop their tailfins up. Also got 3 orcas (also known as Free Willy whales), and somewhere close to 200 dolphins. Wonderful day. Got some wonderful shots of all of this, since I figured out how to work my camera to take multiple shots. Drove down to Christchurch afterwards for our last destination in New Zealand. Thursday, May 30th Drove out to Akaroa in the Banks Peninsula, which is this little peninsula that juts out into the ocean right next to Christchurch. Here we did a 3 hour hike up a large hill through pavement, gravel, pasture (complete with sheep and droppings), and forest. It was very relaxing and comfortable to hang out in a cute little town. That's really all we did today. Sorry to let you all down - get used to it though, since the rest of the travels will probably be more sedate like this. Friday, May 31st through Sunday, June 2nd Woke up early to go to the airport and fly to Sydney, Australia. Short flight on Qantas. How they manage to get away without a 'u' in Qantas is a mystery to me. I thought it was a law to have the 'u' in or something. We've been staying at this place called the Pink House. Ironically, it's a big house that is painted pink. These Australians are simply too smart for me. Little did we know that the Pink House is situated smack dab in the middle of the red light district. No, I have not partaken (honest!, okay Mom?). Perhaps I should've omitted this detail... Spent these days just wandering around the city. We've also spent a considerable amount of time planning the rest of our trip and buying some plane tickets. Also, apparently many countries require something called a visa to get in. Something we don't have at the moment. So, if these messages stop coming, you can use it as an indicator that Rayman and I are being held captive somewhere in Indonesia. Last night, Rayman and I experienced a bit of the nightlife. The hostel was sponsoring a 70's night, so we went to a second hand store and got some groovy clothes. Bars and clubs around here don't really close because there's no curfew - so you get to leave whenever you want to. A few years ago, this would have been a really really bad thing for me. I probably wouldn't leave Sydney at all. Sydney is really a very beautiful city. It has lots of neat little neighborhoods with their own distinct flavour. It's really a lot like New York, but without the overcrowdedness, the crime, the rudeness, and the stench. Okay, so I guess it's not like New York. So, I've decided that after Shania and I get married, we're going to move to Sydney. It's settled. Wow - can you imagine Shania in a sari? Lllllolalleol(how do you spell the sound of drool?).... settle down now Paraag. Take a deep breath... Okay, so I gotta run and do some laundry. Have a splendid week. I'll try my best to trudge on. -Paraag Tidbits: 1. Never explain to your mother just how fast 164kmh really is in mph. Bad idea. 2. The truly beautiful things are unfortunately impossible to capture adequately on film. 3. I actually know the words to songs by those annoying boybands, such as N'Stync and the Backdoor Boys, not that there's anything wrong with that. (Work people – please disregard this tidbit, lest it get me downsized for inappropriateness). 4. Quay is pronounced 'kee', not 'kway'. Why? I do not know. Yet another indication that English is a very dumb language. We should just start speaking Spanish instead. It's so much simpler. The only rule in English is that there are no rules. 5. The Sydney Opera House was initially supposed to cost $7 million to build. It wound up at $102 million. I guess they forgot to figure in the actual cost of the building and not just the cost of the opening ceremonies. 6. The guy who repaired the punctured tire was telling us about his trip to the West Coast of the U.S. Now, how many car mechanics do you know at home that have ever left the country, or even the state? He didn't like the U.S. very much - reason: too much time wasted standing in line for things!