Iowans in Australia

As usual, it has taken lots of people asking when I am going to write my next blog before I actually find the motivation to sit down and provide you all with what you want - a play by play of my Oz adventures :)  This blog is all about my parents and Tink and Cindy's recent visit to Australia.  I'm not sure if I can fit everything into one blog this may turn into a trilogy instead of a single entry.  In case you haven't figured it out yet, I don't really plan out my blogs before I write them.  I just start writing and posting pictures until I get bored and then I hit "publish post."  So I apologise for all the grammatical errors and incomplete thoughts! Alright, let's get started!

Mom, Dad, Tink, and Cindy arrived in Melbourne on June 30.  For those of you who don't know, neither one of my parents were very excited for the 13 hour plane ride, but the fact that they both got on the plane (and didn't kill each other or someone else on board) proves how much they really love me!  Luckily both of them had medication to calm their nerves, and from what I have heard the plane ride really wasn't that bad.  I'm still glad I didn't have to be there to witness it though!

Their flight was due to arrive at 5:15 a.m. on the 30th and being the good daughter that I am, I rented a car the day before so I could pick them up at the airport (which meant I had to wake up at 4 a.m.)  I have driven a few times now on the other side of the road but it is still always a little stressful.  Its just not as natural as driving on the right side of the road - plus I was driving a mini-van so that we could fit everyone and the luggage.  Before leaving for the airport I looked at the flight status which said the plane was going to be about 10 minutes late.  I timed it so that I got to the airport right as the plane was going to land.  I knew they would have still have to go through customs but I wanted to make sure I secured a spot by the doors to welcome them.  As soon as I walked in the estimated arrival time changed to 5:55 a.m.....this was the start to a very stressful morning.  I got a coffee and sat down to read a book while I waited until the arrivals board said their plane had actually landed around 6:15. I then made my way to the arrival area and tried to stand between the two doors that people were coming through so I would be able to spot them right away when they came out.  And I waited.  and waited. and waited.  By now the arrivals hall was getting very busy because 4 international flights landed at once and I was having a hard time watching both doors so I was getting worried that I had missed them.  All the people around me kept spotting their visitors and were replaced by new people waiting to greet their guests.  But I was still waiting.  I was beginning to think they had already come out and I had just missed them but I didn't really want to start walking around because I figured if we were all walking around looking for each other we might just keep missing each other.  So I just kept waiting.  Finally at a little after 8:00 (2 hours of just standing watching people walk out of the customs area), I spotted them!!  I was beginning to think that one of them had refused to get on the plane in LA and they were still sitting in the US!  Turns out customs was really busy and Cindy's bag didn't arrive from LA so they had to wait to file a claim for that.
It had been 8 months since I saw my parents but it didn't seem like it had been that long at all - thank god for Skpe :)

Because it took a lot longer for us to get home from the airport than I thought, I had to run off to work pretty much right after I dropped them off at my apartment.  They spent the day just lounging around the apartment and walking down to the beach (one of mom's favorite things).  By the time I got home from work around 6:00 they all looked like they were minutes from falling asleep (well Cindy already was asleep).  We headed over to the serviced apartment they were staying in and had a very fancy meal of lunchmeat sandwiches, chips, and pasta salad before they turned in early for the night.

The next day I worked half a day so the 4 of them had to get on the tram and get into the city by themselves.  Before I met up with them, they walked around Federation Square, Southbank, and went to St. Paul's cathedral.  We then headed to the Carlton brewery for a brewery tour.  I'd never been before but I found a Scoopon for it so of course I had to check it out!  I didn't learn too much on the tour that I hadn't already heard on other brewery tours before but it was still fun.  We weren't allowed to take pictures during the tour but during the beer tasting (everyone's favourite part of the tour), the guide brought out costumes from previous Carlton commercials that people could try on and take pictures with.

My dad says I never mention him in his blog so.....I've decided to put in this picture.  He better appreciate this  :)

Dad and Tink at the Carlton Brewhouse

After the brewery tour we headed back to the city and Queen Victoria Market.  The market has areas for all types of goods from cheap t-shirts to shoes to luggage to tacky souvenirs.  But the best part about the market is the food.  You can find about anything you want here - pickled octupus, chilli stuffed olives, and even bologna if you really want to (they call it something different though and I can't remember what it is now....I should have written it down!)

I love all the dips at the market!

After the market I gave the group a very brief tour of some of the laneways and shopping arcades around the city. This is the point in the trip where they realized that my sense of how far away things are might be slightly skewed.  My idea of a 5 minute walk did not match theirs (I guess I walk a little faster now that I'm used to walking around everywhere).  They also called me out frequently for saying "oh that's only 2 blocks away....when it MAY have been 4-5 blocks).  I think they were expecting Monroe-size blocks instead of normal city blocks. 

This is a picture of a sign that Mom thought was funny in Hardware Lane.  Its winter and the rooftop area is still open - they just give you blankets to keep warm!

The colorful tram to St. Kilda

We finished the night with dinner at the Nixon Hotel in Docklands.  The restaurant really did have a huge picture of Richard Nixon but we never did figure out why a restaurant in Australia is named after Richard Nixon.  Who knows.

Saturday we did a day trip to the Mornington Peninsula.  On the way there we stopped in Brighton to see the famous bathing boxes that line the beach.  People pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for these small boxes on the beach.  The are al uniquely painted and they are so cute - but I still can't understand why people would spend that much money to buy one - there are lots pretty beaches around!

Mom was in heaven at Brighton beach - it was FULL of shells.  She even found a starfish (which later lost a leg) that she brought home.

Mom got a picture while all the legs were still intact

Next up:  Cape Schnack Lighthouse. I had heard that this lighthouse was pretty cool so we decided to check it out.  Well....it was a pretty cool lighthouse but the lighthouse isn't what makes this place great  its the amazing scenery!

The lighthouse as we started our walk at Cape Schnack

Group picture - we still haven't even gotten to the best part yet

sooo pretty

After seeing this boardwalk Dad said he was absolutely not walkin the whole way (it goes clear to the end of the rock).  He kept saying this as he was walking until he made it all the way down to the beach.  What a trooper!  I think this was our highest step count day on the pedometer

After the lighthouse we headed up to Arthur's Seat for lunch at Arthur's Hotel.  My friend Emma had recommended this place for the great views but I didn't realize just how much you could see from up here.  It was a great spot to have lunch!

Hanging out at Arthur's Seat

The view (picture does not do it justice)

I was pretty sick of driving by the end of the day so we headed back to the serviced apartment for some tacos (I never get sick of tacos!)  We walked down to Acland Street to get some of the ingredients and I had to show them all the cake shops on Acland Street.  We bought a variety of sweets for dessert.  I think the Vanilla Slice was the best!

 One of the cake shop windows on Acland Street in St. Kilda

Well - its taken me an hour and a half and I've only gotten through 3 days of the trip!!  I think I deserve a little TV break now so you will have to wait patiently for another blog about Great Ocean Road and Sydney.  It was really hard deciding what pictures to put in here - we have so many good ones.

A few other important facts to share before the next blog:
1.  I've booked a plane ticket home for Christmas!!!  I will be home from Dec. 8-Jan. 5 so there will be plenty of time to catch up with everyone and to eat everything I want to.  So far on the list: Chipotle, Casey's Pizza, Legends Wings, sushi in Uptown, and a few Bloody Mary's.  I'm sure there are lots of other things as well.  I am still deciding when I will be in Minneapolis and when I will be in Des Moines but I'll keep everyone posted!
2.  I've been promoted to manager!!  Actually all of us from the newbie group who were going for manager were promoted (Graham, Emma, and Charlotte).  And Kelly was promoted too!!!  I can't believe I am actually going to be a manager of a big 4 accounting firm.  If I had stayed in the US I would have been promoted to manager as well, but getting promoted in Australia feels like a much bigger accomplishment.  Although the work is the same, I am working with all new people and had only about 6 months to prove that I had the capabilities to be promoted to manager.  And I did it.  I am in Australia AND I've been promoted to manager.  Life is VERY good! :)

Will try to post about the rest of the parents trip soon!

The start of winter

Even though the warm weather is gone we haven't let that stop us from having fun.  Still lots more to report for the month of June:

Trivia Night
I don't think a month has gone by since I've been here that didn't even some kind of firm-sponsored drinks or social club event.  The June event was trivia night at the Crown. 
Kelly and I recently applied to be on the Australian game show - Million Dollar Drop (the show is filmed in Melbourne and there are way fewer people in Australia than in the US so we are thinking our odds are pretty good.  Plus we made a top ten list of reasons they should let us on the show).  We were thinking the trivia night would be a perfect opportunity to start practicing for our television debut.  Sadly we do not know any Australian trivia.  Not to worry - we have downloaded trivia apps on our phones so we're sure not to embarass ourselves on national TV.
Anyway, the trivia night was pretty fun (it was definitely not the best social event of the year as I had been told previously) and the best news is that neither of us got kicked out :)

I didn't bring my camera to trivia night and I couldn't find any pictures to steal off facebook either!

Wine Tour #2
Chad and Megan Pollock (former EY Minneapolis colleagues/friends) were in Melbourne for Megan's job.  Luckily they were here over the long weekend for the Queen's birthday so we got to hang out with them.  On Saturday we went on a wine tour (my second in a month).  It was a beautiful, sunny day in the Yarra Valley:

Kelly, Chad, and Megan at Rochford winery

View from Yering Station

End of the day at Domain Chandon....everyone is feeling a bit silly I think!

Concerts
I've decided that Melbourne is the perfect place to see concerts.  Although the tickets are more than I would usually pay in the US, the venues are much smaller so you always have a good seat!
Amy, Sarah, Tiff, and I went to see Justin Bieber in May (yes we were the oldest people there without children, stop judging).  Apart from the thousands of screaming girls it was actually a really good show.  That kid is talented (seriously stop judging).

Bieber Fever

The next concert I went to was Kylie Minogue with Steph.  How could I not go to a Kylie concert in her hometown.  If you had asked me what songs Kylie sang before I went to the concert I would have only been able to name Locomotion (which she only sang part of).  Even without knowing all the songs it was a really good show - she had great special effects and great dancers!

Last night a group of us went to see Rock of Ages at Comedy Theater.  If you love 80's music you have to see this musical.  It was GREAT!  Good music, cheesy storyline, a free LED lighter, and drinks delivered to your seat (which we sadly did not take advantage of) - what more could you want out of a musical?   Seriously - if anyone in Melbourne hasn't gone yet and needs someone to go with, I'll go again!

Next up - Kelly, Tiff, and I are going to see Elton John in December!

Friends!
We have found lots of other things to keep us busy over the last few weeks:

• Emma and Rockey moved from their apartment in Southbank to a house in Hawthorne.  They had everyone over for a housewarming over the long weekend.  The Rockeys have introduced Kelly and I to our new favorite party food - cheese and pineapple.  It's so easy yet so delicious!  Emma also makes a killer Cosmo!
• Bar 9T4 - we went here after the Rockey's housewarming.  It is by far my favorite bar in Melbourne.  All 80's/early 90's music all night long.  I am determined to have my birthday party here.

Bar 9T4

• Footy!  I went to my first footy game (Australia Rules Football) a couple of weeks ago at the MCG.  Our friend Trevor is a member of the MCC so we were fancy and got to sit in the members section.  Its so fancy you can't even bring drinks to your seat!  Sadly my team (St. Kilda Saints) got beaten by Geelong (Trevor and Justin's team) but it was still a fun night and I learned a little bit more about AFL.  Don't ask me too many questions though, I still don't understand much!  I wouldn't call myself a very loyal Saints fan though - I actually wasn't too upset they lost because I had tipped Geelong anyway.  I'm currently 5th place in my the RCIP tipping competition.  Not bad for an American who doesn't understand what's going on!
• Last Saturday night the newbie group went to dinner at Squires Loft in the Docklands.  Delicious steak!  After dinner we went to Spice Market to celebrate Parita's birthday.  All that dancing led to my personal best step count for the Global Corporate Challenge.  I had so many steps (over 37,000) that the website made me actually type out all my activity for the day to make sure I wasn't cheating!  An hour workout, an hour walk around St. Kilda, running errands in the city, and then 3+ hours of dancing really adds up a lot of steps.  I knew going out was good for my health! 

Dinner at Squire's Loft

Now I'm all caught up before my parent's and the Kanes visit beginning on Thursday.  Everyone has been saying they can't wait for that blog......because they know Jill will do something funny/embarassing at least once a day.  I'll do my best to capture these moments on camera and give you a full account of their visit soon!

May (and a bit of June)

The month of May was filled with lots of fun and new experiences.  Here are a few of the highlights:

Yarra Valley Wine Tour
Back in December, a group of 8 of us (the EY newbies) purchased scoopons for a winery tour in the Yarra Valley (just outside Melbourne).  It took us until May to find a weekend that worked for everyone.  Overall the day was a success.  We did start out the day complaining a bit that the itinerary was not what was promised on the scoopon.....but as the wine started flowing the problems were quickly forgotten.

I think everyone's favorite winery of the day was the Yileena Park winery - cute place, funny owner, god wine :)

Val, me, Steph, Rockey, Graham, and Emma at Yering Station

Annie and Belinda Visit!
Annie and Belinda (my Contiki friends) came to visit on the weekend of May 21.  This was my third time seeing Belinda (in Adelaide and Sydney) but this was the first time I had seen Annie since arriving in Australia.  Annie lives in Brisbane and is also one of my travel buddies (our most recent trip was to Africa last summer).

If anyone was on facebook that weekend they would have seen from Belinda's check-ins that we did a lot in two days.

Saturday we started the day by meeting Justin and Kiz at the Espy for lunch.  Most of our conversation revolved around the fact that JUSTIN AND KIZ ARE HAVING A BABY!!!!!  I am so excited for them!!  After lunch Annie, Bel, and I wandered around St. Kilda for a bit - the Pier, Acland St., and of course a stop at Cold Rock!

Beautiful autumn day in St. Kilda

Saturday night we ventured to Chapel St and had dinner at Amigos restaurant (I love Mexican food) before meeting up with the PwC group for some drinks.

I had rented a car for work and decided to keep it for the weekend to be able to pick up the girls from the airport, so we decided to take advantage of having a car to explore parts of Melbourne none of us had been to.  I'd heard lots of good things about Williamstown so we decided to check it out.

With my rental car - the Swift!

Sunday was chilly and rainy so I think we did not get the full Williamstown experience.  Plus a lot of the shops/restaurants were closed on a Sunday.  I'll have to come back on a warm, sunny Saturday sometime.

Bel and Annie in Williamstown (CBD in the background)

The best part of Williamstown though was the hot chocolate!  I got a tiramisu hot chocolate that was absolutely amazing.  The drinks were serviced in mugs with a candle underneath to keep it warm.  And the hot chocolate was so rich it tasted like drinking melted chocolate.  Yum!

After driving around Williamstown trying to find a pizza place that was open, we ended up at a pizza place in Altona (very delicious).

We ended the weekend with a few hours at the DFO.  I think this was my cheapest trip to the DFO ever.  The only things I purchased were two movies and a Lady Antebellum CD (I miss my country music!)

EY Away Day

May 30 and 31 we traveled by bus to Creswick (about two hours from Melbourne) for the EY Assurance Away Day.  Apparently away day's are pretty common in Australia (or at least that's what I have heard) as a form of team building and a way to show appreciation for everyone's hard work. 

The first day we got a short update on what was going on the firm and then split up into our smaller teams for some "get to know you" activities.  Monday night during dinner we had a guest speaker - Michael Milton - an Australia Paralympic gold medalist.  Michael shared the story of losing his left leg when he was 9 years old and how never let his disability stop him from doing anything - including becaming a gold medalist in skiing and cycling (he also holds the record for the fastest Australian skiier...not just for skiier's with disabilities).  Michael's story was truly amazing - I had goosebumps through most of his speech!

After dinner there was a "pink pageant" which raised money for breast cancer awareness.  Three of the partner (2 male, 1 female) dressed up in pink - pink wigs, pink shirts, and pink pajama pants - and competed in a sort of beauty pageant.  I wish I had pictures from this event - it was hilarious.  I love that the partners are so willing to get up in front of 200+ people and make complete fools of themselves (for a good cause of course)! I can't picture any of the partners in my old office getting up to do that!

After dinner entertainment - a DJ with a dance floor full of accountants!

Day 2 of the Away Day was a Survivor competition where we competed in groups of about 10 people.  One of the competitions was putting up a tent while blindfolded.  I really thought my month of putting up/taking down a tent in the dark in Africa would make me an expert at this task.  My team got 2nd in this competition  I have no doubt the tent used had been the same canvas tent that we used in Africa I could have had it up in about 4 minutes flat (or maybe my tent partner, Annie, was really the only reason our tent ever got put up correctly in Africa).

Still Exploring
After living in Melbourne for just over 7 months there is still so much of the city to explore - and mostly so many places to eat/drink!    I finally got back into trying out new places over the last couple of weeks:

• Brunswick Street - I still haven't properly explored Brunswick St/Smith St. (Fitzroy area) but I know there are lots of great places I need to try.  My new favourite place to dance is on Brunswick St - its also the place that finally played Kesha when Kelly and I requested it!

Out on Brunswick St -Beer served in red keg cups!

• Tony Starr's Kitten Club - This place was recommended to me by my friend Gemma (another member of my Africa tour group, who lived in Melbourne for a few months last year).  Gemma told me that the Kitten Club does the best cocktails in Melbourne.  Emma, Val, Steph and I sampled a few cocktails last weekend.  Luckily I had read some reviews online beforehand which mentioned that the place had a green door - otherwise I probably would have mised it all together.  I love hidden places like that!  After our cocktails we headed upstairs where there was a live band.  All the dancing I've been doing lately has really helped the pedometer step count for the Global Corporate Challenge.  See - going out really is good for you!

• Banff - This is a pizza/pasta place in St. Kilda.  My friend Simon recommended this place to me awhile ago and Kelly and I tried to take our MN friends but it was full and we were really hungry.  Kelly, Parita, and I went back a few weeks ago.  I'd recommend this place to anyone looking for a relatively cheap meal (pizza or pastas).  They have some really unique pizza toppings (I tried the saganaki and potato one - delicious!)

• Santiago Tapas - Yesterday Kelly, Sarah, and I tried out this place in Middle Park.  This was another of my scoopon purchases (yes Betsy - another one!).  $35 for $70 worth of food.  While we were waiting for Sarah to arrive, Kelly and I picked out about 10 diferent tapas on the menu that sounded good.  We were reading off everything to the waiter who finally said, "Maybe you can start with this and then see if you want more."  Apparently we had gotten a little carried away!  The food was good - I think my favorite was the queso de cabra frito con miel (battered goat cheese with honey and almond sugar).

 

I need to start taking pictures of all these places (and the delicious food!) so that I can remember all of them.
In other news......Kelly and I finally got a new TV!  We now have more than 4 channels!  We also purchased a wireless internet router and an HDMI cable so we can hook up our computer to the TV to watch US shows :)  Yesterday was a very productive afternoon for us!

The rest of the MN crew's visit

It's been almost a month since Heather, Dave, Sara, and Rachelle left Oz so I figured I should finally finish the blog about their visit before I forget all the fun we had!

After New Zealand we spent 5 days in Sydney.  This was my 3rd time in Sydney but I think it was probably my favorite!  I saw lots of new things - and being surrounded by lots of my favorite people didn't hurt either!

Paddington Market
My cousin Rachel met up with Kelly and I on Saturday morning when we arrived in Sydney.  Even though it was raining we venture out to Paddington Market.  This market is great!  Its not your typical tourist market.  Tons of vendors selling cute jewelry, paintings, etc.  I didn't buy anything but I can't wait to go back!

A Night on the Rocks
The rest of the crew at our posh Marriott hotel on Saturday evening.  Kelly, Rachel and I were well rested after our afternoon nap so we were ready to go!  We all got dressed up and headed out to the Rocks.  I would post some pictures but I don't think Rachel wants her mother to see any of them :)

All in all the night was great, however we did discover a few things about going out in Sydney:
1.  The lines at the bar are HUGE, but that doesn't mean the bartenders work any faster
2.  You cannot buy shots after 12:30 (Judy - Rachel did not try to buy any shots we only heard this from fellow bar patrons)
3.  Lady security guards are ruthless....they won't let you in no matter how sober you are!

A real conversation between me and the DJ at the first club we went to:
Me:  Do you have any Ke$ha?
DJ:  (shakes his head no)
Me:  Do you have any Rhianna?
DJ:  (shakes his head no)
Me:  Do you have any Katy Perry
DJ:  (shakes his head no)
Me:  Do you have anything that people actually like?
DJ: (shakes his head no)
Me to Kelly:  We need to leave, I think I'm going to get kicked out of here

Luckily Kelly was able to sweet talk her way into the Lowenbrau Hotel.....where they actually played all our favorite songs! (and the line at the bar was much shorter!)

Easter Sunday
Having a cousin who is a local is very good for finding good places to eat.  Rachel recommended "Pancakes on the Rocks" to us, which we decided sounded like the perfect Easter brunch.  The savoury and sweet pancakes were both amazing - I'd recommend this place to everyone.

After brunch we caught the bus to Bondi.  Although it wasn't a very warm day it was at least sunny so we got a lot of great pictures of this beautiful beach.

After hanging out at the beach for a bit we decided to do the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk. I've been to Bondi before but never done this 6 km walk.  It was beautiful!!  The walk is pretty easy and there are tons of places to stop and take pictures.  As we were walking I immediately thought that my mom would definitely love this.  I'm crossing my fingers for a sunny day when my mom is in Sydney later this month.  I already told her I'm making her do this walk!

Zoo and Aquarium
Kelly and I opted out of the Sydney bridge climb on Monday morning and instead we decided to meet Belinda and the Adelaide girls at the Torango Zoo (another first for me).  This zoo definitely has the best view I've ever seen.  We took a ferry from Circular Quay to the zoo and then took a sky safari to the zoo entrance.  (I was nervous the sky safari was a chair lift but luckily it was gondolas (I have a very strange fear of chair lifts). 

Picture stolen from Katie's facebook page :)

It was great to see Belinda and her friends.  We had met Sarah, Katie, Jess, and Ezzy in Adelaide so it was fun to see them again.  We also met their friend Zoe who had recently moved to Sydney and they were visiting for the weekend!  All together these may be the funniest girls I know - I think I laughed all day!

I think he was pretty cute - until he pooped into his own hand.  I walked away after that - not sure what he did with it!

After the zoo Kelly and I met up with the rest of our group at the Sydney aquarium (another first!).  I actually don't know the last time I have been to an aquarium anywhere.  I think I need to find some more to go to...it was great!

After the zoo we decided we needed to fit in with the rest of the population and go to the pub!  It was ANZAC Day (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) which means everyone was drinking....and there were lots of men in uniform.  We found some couches at a bar on Darling Harbour and enjoyed watching other people drunkenly making foolds of themselves on the dance floor at 5 PM (I even more enjoyed that I was not one of them!)

Karoake
I can't think of many vacations with Belinda that did not involve karoake.  After our full day of animal viewing we met up with Belinda and gang again at a Ding Dong Dang karoake.  So much fun!

Belinda and I wow'ing everyone with our vocal abilities.  I think we got a perfect score

Last Day in Sydney
We completed the Sydney portion of the trip with a walk through the royal botanical garden, LOTS of pictures of the opera house and harbor bridge, and a bus tour around Sydney including stops at the fish market and Chinatown

Sydney vs. Melbourne
Kelly and I spent most of the time in Sydney comparing Sydney to Melbourne.  Here's a rundown of what we came up with:

Sydney:
1) Better beaches (seriously that coastal walk was gorgeous)
2) They played Ke$sha - Kelly has been requesting "your love is my drug" at every bar in Melbourne and the first bar to actually play it was the Lowenbrau Hotel in Sydney.  However, we have since taken this point back when a bar on Brunswick St. in Melbourne also played it for us!

Melbourne:
1) Restaurants!  You don't have to walk far in Melbourne to find a restaurant, cafe, sushi stand, etc. We were staying at the Marriott in Circular Quay and struggled to find something to eat besides the McDonald's on the corner (which we did hit up after our night in the Rocks).
2)  Public transporation - I would much rather ride a tram than a bus!  Plus I felt like the trains were so slow in Sydney
3)  Bars!  I've never been denied a shot after a certain time or been told their "scouter" spotted us walking down the street and wouldn't let us in.  Seriously - that night we were SOBER!

I know we had more but this is what happens when I wait a month to write my blog.  Overall though, Kelly and I found Melbourne to be the clear winner in the comparison.  Sydney is an awesome place to visit but I think we are both happy in our choice to live in Melbourne!

I left Sydney on Tuesday night to head back to Melbourne for a 3 day work week while the rest of the group went to Port Douglas for 5 days :(

Once everyone got to Melbourne Kelly and I both had to work so we didn't have a lot of time to show them around.  While we were working they saw the Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island, and Yarra Valley Wineries.

On Thursday night we showed them a few bars around Melbourne including the James Squire Brewhouse and the Croft

Shots from a syringe at the Croft

 Friday we did a laneways tours around the city and the went to a Melbourne Rebels rugby game.

Laneways tour

RK and I cheering on the Rebels

It was so much having our friends visit and showing them why we love Australia so much!  I think its safe to say they all had a good time - even if they spent a little too much money (Memories are priceless).  I think I was the most homesick I've been after saying goodbye to our friends, but I have more visitors to look forward to soon - and lots more of Australia to explore!

Kelly and I are sad our friends are gone :(

New Zealand

New Zealand

Most of you think I lead a pretty exciting life in Melbourne.  How is this for exciting:  It is Friday night at 9PM and I am sitting on the couch in my sweats writing this blog and watching the Notebook (yep I moved to Australia for this!).  In my defense, I am recovering from probably the worst case of tonsillitis I have ever had, it’s cold and rainy out, and I am resting up for a Yarra Valley wine tour with the newbies tomorrow.

Enough about that, I am here to update you on my recent escapades around parts of the Southern Hemisphere.  Way too much has happened since my last post so I’m going to focus on New Zealand for this post and hopefully it won’t take me too long to get to the rest.

Kelly and I flew to New Zealand on April 17 (its only a short 3.5 hour flight – I am definitely going back soon).  The best part of the trip happened just after we got through the slowest-moving customs line known to man………we were reunited with our long lost Minnesota friends!!!  Our week in New Zealand was the beginning of a 3 week vacation for our friends Rachelle (RK), Heather (HK), Dave (DK), and Sara O (I am currently searching for a guy with a last name starting with ‘K’ for Sara to marry so she fits in with the rest of the group.  Anyone who is interested please send me an email at tawnya.k.hopkins@gmail.com).  When I saw them, I may have jumped up and down and ran through the airport with two backpacks on (is it still called a backpack when I was carrying it on my front?).  It has been 6 months since I left Minnesota so it was so great to see them!

We travelled the South Island of New Zealand from Sunday to Saturday.  It was much too short of a trip.  I now understand why everyone told me we weren’t spending enough time in New Zealand.  Luckily it’s close to Australia so I definitely want to return (at least once more) while I am still living in Australia.  New Zealand was honestly too amazing for words, but I’ll give it a try.  Here is a very brief recap of our days in NZ:

Sunday

 We made our way from the airport to our hostel in Queenstown. We could see right away why everyone who had been there had such great things to say – Queenstown is beautiful!  The mountains, the lake, the autumn colors – all of it was beautiful.  Even the view from our $20/night hostel was unbeatable.  Check it out:

Our first meal in Queenstown came highly recommended – Fergburger.  It did not disappoint!

Monday

We had an early start on Monday as we boarded a bus for Milford Sound at 6:30 a.m.  As we got closer to Milford Sound the views became even more spectacular (I am struggling to find different ways to say beautiful when describing the New Zealand scenery).  Luckily there were plenty of opportunities to stop and take pictures.   After a 5 hour drive to Milford Sound we boarded a boat for a 2 hour boat ride on Milford Sound.  I won’t even try to describe it – just check out these pictures:

On the way to Milford Sound

Tuesday

Time for some extreme activities!  We started the day white water rafting – a first for DK, RK, HK, and Kelly.  Even though my feet were frozen from sitting in a puddle of water, the experience was well worth it.  Rachelle broke her oar when she didn’t pull it in far enough when we had to get down in the raft.  Luckily our guide chief had an extra.  Then we nearly lost all of our oars when we got stuck on a rock and then capsized.  We all tumbled into the water except Kelly.  The whole thing lasted only about 45 seconds however, it felt much longer.  I will never forgot the look of terror on Rachelle’s face and she was stuck in the water trying to free her legs from the raft.  Good news – we all survived and the experience led to many great laughs throughout the rest of the trip.

The only pictures we have from the rafting are actual photos and I don’t have a scanner.   But you can check out our video.  The video also has lots of generic footage.  Fast forward to 4:30  (the tunnel).  Once the music changes and speeds up you’ll see us coming towards the rapid….and then getting stuck on the rack. Keep watching – it’s so good they actually show it twice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6NW2FvDSc0

Quote of the day (Sara to our guide, Chief): “What’s a Sheep Shagger?”

There was no time to recover from the rafting adrenaline rush before Sara and I were on to the next adventure – the world’s tallest tandem canyon swing.  The others signed up for skydiving, but I have decided that skydiving is not in the cards for me as I have tried to go skydiving 3 times and God has stopped me every time.   A girl would be insane not to listen to a sign like that!  Luckily Sara thought she would be safer doing the canyon swing so I had someone to share the experience with.

In one word, the canyon swing was TERRIFYING!  For those of you who don’t know what it is, its very similar to bungee jumping except you are in a full harness instead of just a strap around your legs and after your free fall the cord does not stretch and then bounce back.  It’s just a nice leisurely swing.

A video would probably help you understand better.  Check out this video of our jump:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E27SPxrqqxk&feature=related

The canyon swing workers really were horrible, horrible people.  They filled our heads with stories of people jumping into rocks, the cords not being able to support the weight of two people,  etc.  And they would not stop.  Even when I asked them in a very nice, high pitched frightened voice. 

I think I am done with extreme activities.

Wednesday

RK, DK, HK, and Kelly couldn’t skydive on Tuesday due to the weather so they went skydiving on Wednesday morning while Sara and I went to pick up the rental car - my first time driving on the left side of the road.  And it actually felt pretty natural!

We left Queenstown for Franz Josef.   Although the road was steep and curvier it really was not as scary as I thought (it must have been Dave’s great navigational skills or his constant “Tawnya, you are too close to the edge” comments).  The view was again AMAZING and we could have stopped a hundred times to explore (and take pictures) but we had a glacier to climb in Franz Josef!

Quote of the day (Kelly while playing catch phrase):  “San Francisco has this!…..Wait, I mean McDonald’s has these!” (answer:  Golden Arches)

Thursday

Glacier hike day!  We opted for the pricey, but highly recommended helihike.  We took a short helicopter ride to the middle of the glacier where we did a 2 hour hike.  Again…..Beautiful.  I’ll stop talking now and let the photos speak for themselves.

Friday

We left Franz Josef and drove to Greymouth where we caught the Tranz Alpine train to Christchurch.  Before the trip I read online that this was supposed to be the most scenic railway in the world.  I guess it might be the most scenic railway but it didn’t compare to the drive from Queenstown to Franz Josef.  So we opted for reading some Chelsea Handler instead.  Chelsea Handler reminds me a lot of Kelly.  I hope Kelly gets her own talk show and becomes a New York Times Bestseller.  I hope she does not refer to me as “Dumb Dumb” like Chelsea refers to one of her former roommates.

Reading Chelsea Handler on the train

Saturday

Nothing to report here – Kelly and I were up at 4:30 a.m. to get to the airport for our flight to Sydney.  But that’s a tale for another day.

The pictures of New Zealand truly are amazing (have I said that enough yet).  If you want to check out more you can visit the share site we set up:  http://nzandaustraliaapril2011.shutterfly.com

There are over 1000 pictures on the website so I hope you have a lot of free time.

After I finished writing all of this, blogspot will not let me post anything.  I had to explain this so you didn’t think I was a liar when I post it later and it is really not 9PM on a Friday night J