Zion

Zion National Park was epic.

I stayed at the Quality Inn RV and Campsite, right outside the park.  The first night I did about a 2 hour round trip hike walking from the campsite to the Watchman Trail for a nice sunset view.  The sun was blocked by the Watchmen but the sky was still beautiful. 

The second day I woke up early and caught the 6:15 bus inside the park to stop #7, observation point.  This was the best time to hike Observation Point as it was cool and well shaded for the entire hike up.  All in all I think I started the hike around 6:45, and finished around 10:30, the hardest part is about halfway to 3/4 of the way, and the last mile is relatively flat and easy.  I highly recommend this hike as it had a very interesting path up to the top, unique and awesome.

At around 10:45 I caught the shuttle over to stop #9, and hiked 1 mile to the start of "Narrows".  I hiked 11 miles in the water, "canyoning" or whatever they call it, to the little waterfalls.  There was no grand view at the end of my hike, but the entire hike was so enjoyable I just kept walking until the turn around point.  A lot of people said I would need a permit at some point, but I never saw where that was, and I hiked 11 miles...  It took about 3.5 hours to hike up the river, and only about 2.25 hours to hike back down the river.  An interesting tidbit, the river is called "Virgin River", and is mostly known for how much sediment it moves out of the canyons each year (some huge number of pounds of sediment).

I felt I got a lot out of my time in Zion as Angel's Landing was closed due to a landslide (Stevie Nicks comes to mind).  I had homework I needed to do and I was so happy to return to hotels after staying in a tent in 100 degree weather.  It was nice to have an open screen tent under the stars, but it was miserably hot.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico was better than I could have expected.  I didn't research anything and showed up to the hostel unknowing what to expect.  What I did know was that the hurricane really damaged a lot of the island and tourism information said it was up and running like normal in major cities.  I had expected to get out to the smaller cities and see how things were going, and in Vieques, an island off the east coast, power was still off generators.

I was able to snorkel, eat plenty of great food, get my beach time in, site see, and meet a lot of interesting people.

Some recommendations I have are:

Uber doesn't pick you up from the airport, but it can drop you off.  It has to do with zoning issues and local laws I believe.  The beaches in San Juan are amazing, go visit them!  They aren't as good as Sydney or Cancun but they are plenty good for me and I'm a bit of a beach nerd.  An AirBNB on the beach would be nice.  Overall the prices are very similar to a normal American beach town, not terribly expensive but not cheap either.

Charco Frio - Awesome swim spot in one of the national forests.  Make sure to pay the $10 fee, not the $3 fee, and get inside the gate / use the road, not walk up the river.

Bebo's Cafe - best smoothies in San Juan (Milk based), and best avocado stuffed with meat I've ever had...  I went back for this meal every day I could, cheap and DELICIOUS.  Must try.

La casita Blanca - Local favorite, affordable and delicious.  You won't see many tourists here, and the food is so good.  Try something you've never heard of, it was all good.

Barrachina - the place my favorite drink - the pina colada - was created.  It has the fastest pina colada service and also really, really good.  With rum or without!  Grab some food and also enjoy the old town.

La Perla - visit "Castillo san Cristobal" and snag a photo with La Perla in the background on one side, the city on the other side.

Vieques - Spend a day out on the island, away from the main island.  Talk to the locals, learn about the culture there, visit the beaches, and enjoy being off the grid.  The ferry to Vieques literally costs $2, but getting to the ferry is another story - best to find a group if you want to avoid the $60 taxis/uber.

La Placita - Great on thursdays, packed on fridays and saturdays - fun place to dance and eat/drink, big club scene, really fun.

San Francisco

I was just making a recommendation for a friend and I realized I should write a blog for San Francisco to reference whenever someone visits.  Unfortunately I don't really know about living accommodations - I would likely rent an Airbnb or hostel depending if I was alone or with someone.  If I was staying a few days, yes I would indeed stay in the city the entire time.  If I had someone with me and wanted to save money on a longer trip I would definitely look at renting an airbnb out of the city near a BART stop for quick access to the city and surrounding areas.  Google a map and find a bart line, check out costs around bart stations in the city and in surrounding areas for more options.

My list of things to do in San Fran kind of go like this...  and as a friend recently moved here, I am obliged to recommend always carrying with you a light northface type jacket for infrequent rain and frequent chilly days.  California has the best weather in the world, with consistently refreshing/chilly mornings and evenings.  Though it may be hot out during the day, locals almost always have a hoody or north face with them for a reason (look around).

If it is possible for you, I recommend looking into taking flying lessons over the city.  This takes some prior coordination and planning but is very easy to do and can be affordable depending on packages desired and distances.  It is a great combination of experiencing flight, and views.  I also recommend sunset cruises or dinner cruises under the golden gate with the possibility of seeing whales.  If you know tide information, whales tend to surface more commonly during a strong ebb from what I've noticed, and I would imagine it may work the same for a flood too, but not as much during a slack.  I think it has to do with feeding but only guessing.

1.  The number one thing I would do if I visited San Francisco as a tourist knowing what I know now is:  I would wake up early, take a ferry to angel island from SF pier and hike to the top of Angel Island (easy hike, roughly 1.5 hours total roundtrip time).  I used to sail to Angel Island, have lunch, then stop in Sausalito, under the golden gate, and end up in Marina.  Then I would walk up to baker beach area and view the golden gate at sunset.  One such trip was with Lane, and it was truly a great memory.  Without a sail boat, I believe you could get crafty and rent bicycles with alternate drop off points and bike across the golden gate/through sausalito, cough up the money for an uber, or perhaps use the public transportation system.  In one day, you should realistically be able to get the best view of the bay area, start in SF, visit Sausalito, cross the golden gate, and grab tons of stunning photos.  It will definitely take some planning, but you could do this on any day, with short notice.

2. I would plan ahead and book alcatraz tickets.  You leave from SF (or I did at least) and it is a wonderful experience with minimal effort - you are guided.

3. Twin Peaks.  Twin peaks is where many commercials are made, and is a short drive from the city.  Your reward is one of my favorite views of one of my favorite cities.  Ideally you'd go at night, grab some dinner in a local spot you drive past (they should all be good), explore new areas, maybe even get lost a bit, see wonderful architecture, and end up on a romantic/cozy hill looking at the night lights of SF.  Sunset doesn't really do a lot for me here because the sun is behind the hill setting on the city.

4.  Treasure Island.  Treasure island is being developed so it may change over time, but it contains a coast guard base and a lot of viewpoints to SF.  There is a small marina there as well.  There are events on weekends such as flea markets, concerts, etc, but really just take the 15 minute drive or the hop on hop off bus and catch another beautiful view of the city.  Again, night time is best, or sunset as you're looking towards the city with the sun setting behind it.

5.  Food.  Blackwoods in Marina is one of my favorite fusion places, somewhat reasonably priced and very interesting/delicious menu - casual dress and walk in available.  Cliffhouse is my favorite restaurant I've never been to, supposedly wonderful views of the sunset on the ocean - definitely reserve ahead of time, I would imagine business casual dress or formal.  Ideale is one of the best italian restaurants and is in the north beach area, it is affordable, simple, and delicious - casual dress.  Tons of little restaurants and places to eat in SF contain hidden gems, the food scene turns over quite a bit and there are often new places popping up, for the most part you can find almost anything you want food wise, and part of the fun is exploring a bit.  The ferry building is one of my favorite places to go, they have lots of shops inside and specifically the san fran meat company has a lunch deal you can't beat - pulled pork and potatoes for like $10.  Grab some fruit, cheese, ice cream, any kind of local snack you want.  My favorite restaurant in the world is called "Dish Dash" not to be confused with "Dish-n-Dash" which is their sandwich / lunch stop.  Dish Dash is authentic Lebanese, and half the orders in the restaurant will be Mansaf...  It is only located in San Jose area (sunnyvale and milpitas) but if you're near by, I definitely recommend it.  It is a lamb/rice/yogurt meal.

6. Views from the Starlight room, Sir Francis Drake hotel and "The View Lounge" from the Marriott Marquis.  These two lounges are free to walk in during operational hours and catch stunning skyline views of the city.  One is in union square and I believe the other is in Financial District.  Easily google'able and no planning required.  Casual dress is fine.  Snacks / beverages available.

7.  Hop on hop off bus tour.  I did this with my family a while back and it was awesome.  If you decide to use this, you can catch many of the sites I am talking about on this tour.  The route may have changed so look up where the bus routes go, carefully choose which bus route you want to purchase, and enjoy!

8.  Parks.

Crissy Field was beautiful, I did a barbeque there for someone's birthday and always wanted to go back but haven't been able to find the time.  I recommend going for a walk through here if you have a rental car, or eating a picnic etc, if you have extra time.

Ghiradelli square.  Behind ghiradelli square is one of my favorite little beaches often teeming with people and swimmers, lots of things going on.  You can get a snack from the ghiradelli shop and head down and people watch for a bit, shouldn't take too long and was very enjoyable for me each time I went.

Marshall's beach was one of the best sunset dinners I've ever had - stunning and while it may be tricky to find the entrance, it was easy to find privacy. If you're with a special someone I highly recommend a sunset picnic somewhere on the west coast.  Grab food on the way to go, or make it yourself, doesn't matter, you're sure to have a good experience- but it can get cold.  Baker's beach is also lovely, and more popular/larger than Marshall's beach.

Golden Gate Park was huge to walk through during a free concert I attended.  I remember seeing a random buffalo and soccer fields etc.  Many people really enjoy that park, I went once and was glad I went but did not return so I'm not sure it made that large of an impact on me.

Fisherman's wharf is a must see, I guess, it is a huge tourist trap but for a reason (it is also called pier 39).  I don't really recommend eating dinner in that area as you can find better non touristy restaurants for better prices elsewhere.  Swing by, take a walk, see the seals, grab some ice cream and keep moving along.  Traffic is TERRIBLE in this area, well, it is bad everywhere, but particularly bad here.

Coit tower.  Coit tower is worth checking out, there can be a bit of a line but not a big deal, you should be able to knock this out easily along with many other sites in a day of exploring.  Usually you travel lombard ave to the other end and see the waving road as well.

9. Tons of sites I can't name individually but will try.  You have Lands End, Castro District, Mission District, Chinatown district, Italian district, Financial district, Captial area, Haight Ashbury, Inner/outter Sunset,Golden Gate, all kinds of things to see and do... and it all takes a lot of time.  I am checking out the ice cream museum and will let you know.  There are tons of museums such as disney, etc...  too many things to do.  I heard there is an excellent theatre/concert/opera/broadway scene as well, there are literally so many things to do.

10.  Surrounding areas.  There are so many things to see and do outside of San Fran, such as:

Alamere falls /  Point Reyes National Park / Mount Tamalpais - definitely an all day escape from the city.  You'll see things like stinson beach and mill valley along the way.

Muirwood park.  I hiked this all day one day and wasn't too impressed, I don't plan on going back but people spoke so highly of it I had to check it out.  It is a short drive from the city near Stinson beach and up the same direction as Point Reyes.

Half Moon Bay -  roughly an hour drive from SF, this is an escape to what feels like another ecosystem.  Really a great time every time I visit and reminds me of a small coastal town in oregon more so than just outside silicon valley.

Alameda - Interesting little area with lots of local stuff to do, also a navy ship turned into a museum I believe you can visit.

Palo Alto / Stanford (30 min drive/can cal train it)

Atherton - Supposedly one of the most expensive or well off areas in the US.  It is a town next to Palo Alto, but could be confused as a subdivision of Palo Alto.  It is nice to check out the properties and area if you're already in Palo Alto. Average home price is around 7 million.

Yosemite (four hour drive/can jump on a bus/multiple day trip)

-Half dome trail is all day and needs a lottery.  You put in for the lottery at the beginning of the season, or you can do it 2 days before the day you wish to hike at recreation.gov.  Simply google half dome lotteries.  It is only open during the summer months.  Panorama trail is supposed to be breathtaking.  John muir was great for me, four mile trail was awesome but quite difficult and you can drive to the top of it.  I haven't seen upper yosemite yet and need to take a second trip there.  I spent two very full days there and only got half of it done - at an accelerated pace.  You can also float the river.  It is kind of pricy here, and everything closes at 10pm, good planning and planning is very beneficial.

Lake Tahoe / Tahoe Area (3.5 hour drive/can jump on a bus/ possible 1 day trip)
-this area is good summer or winter.  I went more in the summer than in the winter as it is warmer and I don't like skiing that much.

Napa Valley (1 hour drive/can jump on a bus/day trip)
-endless wineries to investigate and nice scenery/history.  good restaurants and vibe.  can be expensive.

Berkeley (25 minute drive/bartable)
-check out the campus, have some good food.  protest.

Oakland (15 minute drive/quick bart)
-berkeley and oakland have tons of wonderful and unique food options plus great views.
-oakland is rather large, many areas to find/visit.  two areas are jack london square, college ave, and claremont/piedmont area.  Oakland has a wonderful ramen place called the ramen shop on college ave with great ice cream/pizza/chocolate options nearby.  Wonderful sushi place called Shimizu Cuisine as well.  Berkeley has one of the best pizza places called jupiter.

Silicon Valley / San Jose / Santa Clara etc (45 minute drive/bart to fremont)
-facebook, google, apple, tesla, etc

Livermore - (bartable /  45 min drive) - beautiful wineries and golf courses, awesome small downtown area.

Hearst Castle / Big Sur / Pfeiffer Beach / Pismo / Pasa Robles (Day trip/multiple days - four hours or so drive)


There are so, so, so many things to do.

Christchurch - Nelson - Picton

I managed to get some ferg Berger in Queenstown (breakfast as well as lunch) when it opened at 8am and then left on a bus for $10 pick up my rental car and get to christchurch at around 730pm. I stopped at several places along the way for food and for views. Clay cliffs were supposedly a scene out of lord of the rings and took the most time to visit. I got some sweet and sour chicken Chinese food in a small town, which I had mixed reviews about but did the job. I checked into my room, went for a run and then did some more laundry. I’ve been running Out of socks and underwear fast, plus it seems I have been wearing the same shorts over and over again. I got these awesome shorts in Australia and then after a week or so realized they say California on them, defeating the purpose of buying “Australian” clothes.....

In Christchurch I got 12 hours of sleep the first night, met a guy that told me some spots to check out the next day, checked out those spots and then met with a friend of mine that I met in Greece two years ago. I greatly enjoyed tearing through the hills of New Zealand refreshing my beyond limits driving skills I learned in contracting driver training. The second night my buddy picked me up and showed me the city center, explaining how he moved here a week before the huge earthquakes and going into details why they were so bad. Though they weren’t terribly high on the Richter scale they were unusually shallow and also more vertical in movement than horizontal, making them rather devastating. Christchurch was a pretty city and really quite quiet. It had personality, people were interacting with us from their cars, cars were burning their wheels, Reving their engines, talking to us on the street. It was small, quiet, but interactive. Once he dropped me off, he was interested in seeing what the hostel looked like in his home town so I took him in and gave him a tour. I ran into a friend of mine and we ended up playing some game called rage cup that Caleb had shown us. We 7 guys had a guys night and I didn’t get much sleep. The next day I swapped rental cars and headed to Nelson, making my way north to Auckland over about 8 days.

The rental car lady gave me a hard time about cameras because I didn’t know they had speed cameras. I said I’ve been speeding all over and I’m probably going to get massive tickets. She half seriously agreed I would probably get some, but my friend Caleb who’s been living here said I would be fine.

This drive to Nelson was particularly interesting because I was pulled over for the first time in 7 years. Apparently someone reported me to the police for erratic driving and passing in no passing zones while not being able to see / being dangerous. When the cop pulled me over I almost forgot what to do it had been so long. Caleb helped remind me to get my license out etc. I found it extremely weird I was being pulled over because I had just been following traffic for miles talking with Caleb - I was not speeding or anything and we just thought maybe I had a tail light out or something. The police officer was quite formal and expressed that I had been reported for serious infractions. He asked if I had anything to drink and immediately breathalyzed me. He then asked if I remembered any erratic driving - passing in no pass zones etc. I said no, in fact, I drove rather safe, and I don’t take any risks. I’m actually like a grandma most of the time. He said he’d take a look at the film that the person sends in and either give me a ticket or a warning and call me on my local New Zealand number.

Thank goodness they sent a video of my erratic driving, the police officer reviewed it and called me back letting me know there was nothing erratic about it, and that there won’t even be a warning. He said my driving was perfectly legal and that the person that reported me was a bit too over precious.

Shortly after that phone call my rental company called me- that cute lady that gave me such a hard time about all the speeding I’ve been doing. She said “ken, we’ve got reports from the public you’re driving erratically” I laughed and explained what happened and she responded with a half serious half entertained motherly response to be safe. Never a dull moment. Someone really had it out for me, which made me very happy to be able to respond with the fact that I’ve been doing a good job of following all the rules and respecting the country as much as possible. Had I decided to have a beer for lunch that could have been a very different outcome. Things like this that I can’t predict are why I take a lot of rules so seriously, even though I didn’t do anything wrong, I could have gotten into a lot of trouble if I didn’t do everything right.

I dropped Caleb off and made it into Nelson around 730 again. I checked in, showered, grabbed a solid dinner at a nice restaurant on the river by myself, went back, got 8 hours of sleep and woke up early to head to the ferry and drop off the car at 9 am in picton. It had never occurred to me that I should have booked the ferry ahead of time, the first ferry was not running on Mondays, the second ferry was full, thankfully the last ferry had a spot. For 60 nz dollars I reserved a seat for the 2 pm ferry - five hours wait and three hours on the ferry- there goes my entire day. I’ve been meaning to catch up on blogging, and I plan for these kind of hiccups, so arguably I could be thankful I finally have some time to write / edit / spend some time relaxing. I asked the ticket lady if there was anything to do in picton, and she just replied “no”. Lol. Perfect. I don’t mind sitting at a marina for the afternoon relaxing. I do wish I could have seen the beaches at Abel Tasman area, but then again I've seen enough beaches for now so I decided to keep making my way north instead.

Queenstown

The flight from Melbourne to Queenstown went by fast; I put on the noise cancelling headphones, fell asleep, and was in Queenstown landing before I knew it.

My first impressions of New Zealand were very good ones.  The weather was nice, a bit chillier than Australia but a welcome change as Australia was super hot and i have had enough sun.  The landscape was beautiful, this country is just truly beautiful.

I caught a super shuttle at 11:30ish for 24 nz dollars and got to my hostel around noon after a short ride and many stops dropping off other passengers at their hotels/hostels before mine.  I couldn’t check in until 2:30 but I was able to book a bungy jump for 5 pm and get oriented to the city.  I did my laundry and got some food, then decided to head to the bungy jump early.  For around $200 nz I was able to jump off the ledge and a second jump was only $40- I was planning on taking advantage of that deal to do a backflip the second time.  I had to buy a gondola ticket for around $30 which also included two Luge tickets which I figured out was a little gravity fed race track at the top.

The gondola ride was stunning, as were the views up top.  Once you arrived at the top you are greeted with a little restaurant and gift shops with all glass walls overlooking Queenstown - magnificent.  To my surprise again there weren’t too many people blocking the great views.  Almost everyone was busy having fun and doing things rather than sitting around looking at the view.  The lines for the luge were quite long, people were busy walking around, and people were busy bungy jumping.  As I made my way to check in for the bungy, I happened to catch someone else jumping out- the view was stunning but his form was terrible and I laughed historically as I caught it on film accidentally while filming the view.  On my way down I ran into the guy who was coming back after jumping.  I showed him the footage and he laughed- he said he was terrified - which he found odd because he was a pilot.   He noticed my shirt that said brotherhood of the fallen, a tribute to police officers, and he asked if I served, mentioning he served as well.

My bungy jump experience went pretty quickly.  I hopped in a harness, looked at the view from the platform in admiration, was asked if I was ready, clipped in three times, and told to wave to three cameras.  Then they said: ready?  3,2,1 jump!  I ran off the platform and in my mind executed a flawless swan dive.  The jump off the platform was just like jumping in the military- easy- but then the feeling immediately hit me...  I made a mistake... why was I falling needlessly through the air... I hadn’t thought that far ahead and if I had, I might not have jumped.  The rope was attached between my legs and when I hit the bottom I was rather parallel with the ground, causing the rope between my legs to tighten super fast and some discomfort was felt.  Probably one of my least favorite experiences ever, falling uncontrollably and then a rope snapping between my legs.  Bouncing several times over Queenstown - I hate heights.  But I did it.  They asked if I was going to jump again for the big discount and I said politely, no that will be my only jump.... lol.  I went back to the hostel and went into hiding for a couple hours contemplating my life decisions after being scared half to death.  I guess it wasn’t that bad but I just don’t need that kind of rush anymore, brings back bad memories and I’m perfectly happy just watching from the ground.  I enjoy calmness, stability, peace, etc.

I ended up going for a run and then checking out the downtown area, celebrating my successful bungy.  I found out that someone had died earlier in a skydiving accident and that skydiving was closed - a friend at the hostel was scheduled to skydive the next day but couldn’t go.  It was quite big news (Eventually I would learn that the person that died is my cousin’s tennis partner’s son – thought and prayers to the entire family – it is a small, and connected world that we share).  I ended up staying out much later than I thought I would and got very little sleep waking up an hour late for my bus trip to doubtful sound.  I ended up booking a flight over milford sound instead which was what I originally wanted to do anyway, and enjoyed the magnificent views from the plane and the boat once we were in the sound.  I flew in with a family (mom dad and son) who when I asked if they wanted me to take their picture they insisted I get in the picture with them.  It was very enjoyable to get to know them and their family business in north eastern Australia as we enjoyed on of my favorite days I’ve ever had.  On the flight to the sound we only had four passengers and the pilot, in a 10 passenger plane, which I thought was odd.  We ended up picking up five more passengers who purchased one way tickets back.

Although I wasn’t in my best form, from staying up way too late the night before, everyone really seemed to enjoy my company and talked to me quite a bit.  I found them all very interesting but I was a bit curious why when I am in my worst talking shape do people want to talk the most?  Perhaps it was just the scenery, or some other coincidence, regardless the conversations were overflowing and enjoyable.  I met many people from all over, and everyone was having a magnificent time.  I learned that the weather was too poor to do this tour for several days, many had given up, I had gotten very lucky.  Not only was the weather permitting, it was amazing.  I couldn’t have asked for better weather this entire trip- well except for one particular walk across cairns, which poured rain on me, but that’s another story.

When I got back my friend from Costa Rica and I went for dinner.  I asked what she wanted to eat and she said anything with meat- as anyone knows that is exactly what I want so we found a steakhouse and got some meat!  It was fantastic.  We stayed up chatting for a while afterwards and then got some sleep, both of us had early mornings - I was heading to Christchurch and she had a milford sound tour which I was excited for her to see.

There were more people in Queenstown than I had time to visit/ talk to.  What a lively, loving, just amazing little place filled with friendly fun loving people.  It couldn’t have been more perfect except that company wouldn’t refund me for missing their tour... long story short I booked on short notice and they said I must cancel more than 24 hours ahead of time (I bought with 12 hours notice).

Cape Tribulation - Cairns2

Half the group’s trip ended in cairns because they didn’t choose the extra two day cape tribulation excursion.  Me and the other half said our goodbyes and continued on.  Cape trib was nothing spectacular but it was nice to see more of Australia including zip lining high up in the canopy of one of the oldest rainforests in the world.  Many people sky dived ok this trip but to be honest I was happy not doing anything “extreme” with the exception of zip lining and bungy jumping - one time.  My bungy would be in Queenstown.

After cape trib we ended in cairns and said our goodbyes.  We finished around 330pm and I had a flight at 9pm.  Raj helped me by letting me store my stuff in his room and take a shower, which we then met a couple of the guys - Izaak and Adam at the pool of the place we stayed at with the group (because we knew it was open to everyone).  I brought the football I had bought and we threw the ball around.  The pool was quite full with people and I kind of wished I could stay there for a couple days and relax.  While catching some sun I heard someone ask when the pool was open until, a woman’s voice but had my shirt over my face and couldn’t see who it was.  I responded with I think it was open pretty late and when we started talking more I took the shirt off my face to see who I was talking to and it was a lovely woman from the Netherlands with the cutest accent I’ve ever heard sitting next to me.  I always truly appreciate when someone can communicate so deeply with second and even third languages, she really impressed me with the quality of conversation paired with a cute outfit, hat, personality, and looks.  I told her I wished I could stay and she joked that I could stay if I wanted to, something that became ironic in about three hours.

Raj and I went to dinner at suan suan Chinese hot pot.  It was my first time at a hot pot and it was delicious.  I forgot my football in the restaurant and caught an Uber from Raj’s room.  When I arrived at the airport it looked rather empty, but wasn’t the first time I flew out of a quiet airport so I went inside confidently.  In the entire airport there was one girl sitting on the chairs, and no flights for several hours, my flight was not even listed.  I got to talk to the girl sitting in the chairs as I was waiting for airlines to help me sort out my flights- she was a girl from a small city in rural Australia that had a scholarship to play rugby in Missouri- quite random and nice to talk to her.

Apparently after dealing with airlines and figuring out what happened, my flight was changed two months ago but the third party app never notified me- and even sent me the wrong times two days ago in their confirmation itinerary.  This had never happened to me before.  The worst part was that the third party ticket used two separate airlines, one to Melbourne domestically and another for Queenstown international.  Sorting out the tickets took some change fees and loss of time, but meant I was staying in cairns one more night.  I messaged Izaak and the Dutch woman to say I would be back shortly, and we decided to meet at the restaurant at the pool.  I checked into a new dorm style room for the evening where I met my roommate sitting on her bed looking quite bored.  I asked her what she was doing and she said waiting for the other roommate (who she didn’t know) to get back so she could go out- it was her first day and she didn’t know anything about the city.  I invited her to come downstairs with my friends and she joined us.  We had a fun evening; we met the Dutch woman downstairs and her friends knew my friends which worked out well, and a talent show was starting.  They called out each country and the residents of that country cheered, when they got to America I yelled loudly but quickly realized in a rather large crowd I was the only American there, something I should be getting used to but still surprised me.  It turns out there were two other Americans there and unfortunately they were the worst act in the entire talent show.  You win some you lose some I guess.  I got made fun of a bit in good spirit and accepted my country’s poor showing that evening.  In Australia they have been using this term “taking a piss at someone” or “taking the piss out of someone” or other variations of it.  They have many more phrases and sayings that really confuse me, but that means to “joke around” with someone, or “mess” with them.

The rest of the night went quite well I enjoyed getting to know the Dutch woman better and got some sleep before heading to the airport with Raj at 9 am.  On my way down from the airport I was able to say good bye to the Dutch girl and also saw the group still left over from my group tour.  Raj and I got to the airport and as we pulled up so did two others from our group, it turned out Liam and I were on the same flight to Melbourne, while Raj was headed to Singapore.

Liam and I hung out in Melbourne and checked out some local spots, we had a bit of an adventure.  Liam was a mechanical engineer from Boeing who was interested in relocating from the UK to the Boeing in Melbourne.  I have to admit melbourne is quite an awesome city to visit and I wouldn’t mind living there some day.  Australia in general has been quite great (other than signs saying basically everything can kill you).

We had a fantastic dinner and I got to bed early, my flight to Queenstown was at 6 am.

Cairns - Great Barrier Reef

Three days here was awesome.  Besides the crocodiles ruining beaches, and the humidity/rain/heat, I truly enjoyed this little beach town.  Tourism and travel shops were everywhere for the largest attraction to Australia (drawing 8 million visitors each year): the Great Barrier Reef.  Although we had technically snorkeled the Reef already on whitsunday islands, Scuba dives in cairns showed us much clearer views of coral with much more life surrounding it.

Upon arrival at the Great Barrier Reef, I found out that the trip manager provided me with incorrect information: we were able to use go pros (I had left mine behind because I was told we wouldn’t be able to) and unofficially they said I didn’t have to wear the stinger suit that protects against jellyfish stings.  I was curious why we had to wear them when they didn’t protect our hands, face, or feet.  Supposedly the jellyfish that can kill you were so small you couldn’t see them, so I didn’t understand why if they were so small, wouldn’t they kill you if they hit your hand or face?

After talking with a few people (including staff/experienced locals) and them ensuring me I would be fine, I decided not to use the suit.  They put my dive gear on and I sat waiting for my turn to dive.  While I waited, I began looking around and noticing every single person had the suit on, including every staff member.  I began to debate the logic of my decision and wondering why no one cared if I wore the suit or not but everyone else was wearing it.  I started thinking I was definitely going to die, but didn’t have time to worry too much as they were directing me to jump in the water telling me I’d be fine.  I jumped in and immediately saw hundreds of jellyfish, immediately regretting the decision but if the instructor didn’t have a problem with me dying then I guess I wouldn’t either – he remained calm, so I did as well.  When a jellyfish got close I pointed to it and made the hazardous sign with a kind of questionmark at the end.  He grabbed it and threw it at me, not harmful.  That made me feel a lot better.  I grabbed a bunch of them and had fun bouncing them around.  Our dives went really well, snorkeling did too, the reef is amazing.  I didn’t get stung and I’ve successfully dived another suitless dive.

As many people were finishing their travels in cairns, each day was someone’s last day to celebrate and spend with them.  We stayed up late and woke up real early, seeing several cairns logos aptly stating “sleep is not an option”.   I got very very little sleep in cairns and had a lot of fun.