I arrived back in the USA on February 2nd, Groundhog Day, and it was like the movie. I left New Zealand at 7:40 PM on Feb 2 and arrived in Dallas at 6:40 PM on Feb 2 but about 19 hours had transpired.
I'm now off for a new adventure working in Las Vegas as an Associate Lighting Designer for Barry Manilow's show at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
More New Zealand
I left Queenstown of Thursday and went off to Dunedin. Dunedin has a huge Scottish heritage, and its train station is one of the most photographed buildings in all of New Zealand. It is also home to one of the main Cadbury Chocolate factories. That being said, I went on a tour of the factory, if for no other reason than to get free chocolate. It was quite the Willie Wonka Chocolate factory but they did try. It was just funny to see how many different kinds of chocolate bars are made and how many of them are region specific. Most of the candy bars they gave us to try I had never heard of before but they were top sellers in NZ. At the end of the tour, they marched us into a silo and dropped one ton of chocolate from above our heads into a huge vat. It was a chocolate lovers dream although I had to have an insulin shot after the tour was over.
Johanna, David, Karen (the couple from Ohio), and I rushed from the chocolate tour to catch the bus taking us on the wildlife discovery tour. Dunedin is located extremely closely to a peninsula where you can see albotrass and yellowed eyed penguins in the wild. Definitely a highlight of my trip was watching a colony of adorable penguins crawling out of the water, onto the beach, and up a steep hill to feed their chicks. It was just so cute!! We also got to walk along a private stretch of beach covered in fur seals as they layed out on rocks playing with their new babies. AWWWWEE!!!! Johanna and I met a couple of kids from England on the tour and it turned out that we were sharing a room with them that night in our hostel, so once we got back from the 6 hour long tour, we all went and grabbed a snack and finished the night off with a couple of games of pool at the hostel.
Yesterday the Magic Bus drove from Dunedin to Lake Tekapo for a relaxing evening in the small summer town. The hostel I stayed in was right on the lake and just a couple of minutes walk from some hot pools, so once everyone had settled in and had dinner, we all headed to the hot pools for a relaxing dip. Then, as the sun set and we dried off, the stars started to come out in droves making it an easy choice to lay outside after dusk to enjoy the view of the milky way. All in all, a lovely and peaceful day.
Now I am back in Christchurch preparing for the long journey home. Tomorrow I fly back to Auckland, where I will spend one night before boarding a plane to return home. WOW, I can't believe it is all almost over!
Johanna, David, Karen (the couple from Ohio), and I rushed from the chocolate tour to catch the bus taking us on the wildlife discovery tour. Dunedin is located extremely closely to a peninsula where you can see albotrass and yellowed eyed penguins in the wild. Definitely a highlight of my trip was watching a colony of adorable penguins crawling out of the water, onto the beach, and up a steep hill to feed their chicks. It was just so cute!! We also got to walk along a private stretch of beach covered in fur seals as they layed out on rocks playing with their new babies. AWWWWEE!!!! Johanna and I met a couple of kids from England on the tour and it turned out that we were sharing a room with them that night in our hostel, so once we got back from the 6 hour long tour, we all went and grabbed a snack and finished the night off with a couple of games of pool at the hostel.
Yesterday the Magic Bus drove from Dunedin to Lake Tekapo for a relaxing evening in the small summer town. The hostel I stayed in was right on the lake and just a couple of minutes walk from some hot pools, so once everyone had settled in and had dinner, we all headed to the hot pools for a relaxing dip. Then, as the sun set and we dried off, the stars started to come out in droves making it an easy choice to lay outside after dusk to enjoy the view of the milky way. All in all, a lovely and peaceful day.
Now I am back in Christchurch preparing for the long journey home. Tomorrow I fly back to Auckland, where I will spend one night before boarding a plane to return home. WOW, I can't believe it is all almost over!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Around New Zealand
Been having a blast the past several days in New Zealand.
In my last message, I was about to head from Wellington to the South Island. Well that journey was successfully completed. Johanna and I played it pretty cool the one night in Wellington and I got to meet up with Nick, a chap I met on the train between Prague and Krakow, for drinks. He had remember me telling him I was going to be in NZ about this time so he shot me an e-mail and we ended up having a couple of beers and catching each other up on our travel stories.
He had taken trains, including the TranSiberian, all the way from Poland to Hong Kong after I had spent the day with him on the train. He had some great stories and it was fun to see him. He also gave me a few tips on things to do while I was on the South Island.
The following day, Johanna and I hopped on the ferry which was about the size of a small cruise ship where we met up with Steve, a British farmer backpacking a bit in New Zealand while he works on a couple of farms as a sheep sheerer. Steve was a great guy and when we got to Picton, he joined me on the train while Johanna branched off to Nelson on the bus.
The train ride between Picton and Christchurch was incredible. Definitely the most scenic train I have taken on the entire trip. Most of the train ride, you are riding right along side the coast line looking out over the water sprinkled with fields of seaweed that sparkle like diamonds in the dancing water. The train had an open air car so you could stand and take unobscured pictures while riding, and Steve and I spent about 85% 0f the trip in that car. At one point we road past a seal colony and you could see dozens of wild seals playing on the rocks just meters from the train. It wasn't the most comfortable train I have ever been on but it was the most beautiful scenery in the world to see.
Steve and I spent that night at a hostel in Christchurch, where I taught him the wonders of a meal at Denny's. Surprisingly the Denny's menu included a full cocktail menu and wine list. The Denny's I used to go to late nights in college definitely didn't have a bar, so it was a new experience for me too. We spent the rest of the night having a few drinks in the bar downstairs from our hostel and then crashed early for the next day spent on the train to Greymouth. Sunday morning, the two of us got up early so I could catch the train to Greysmouth and he could catch the bus to Queenstown. He taught me a few things about sheep sheering, and I taught him a few things about the arts; definitely a friendship built on sharing.
The train to Greysmouth was another scenic journey, not as long, but with just as many breathtaking sights. Once I arrived in Greysmouth, I discovered a sleepy town near the sea. There wasn't much to do there which was fine with me seeing as how I was getting exhausted after moving around so much. I did, however, walk to the beach and enjoy the powerful and turbulent surf as it crashed along the nearby jetty.
The next morning, I got back on the Magic Bus headed to Franz Josef. Along the way, we stopped at our regular list of incredible sights and interesting destinations including a place to try your hand at panning for gold. Once we arrived in Franz Josef, I went on a half day hike up the Franz Glacier. That is definitely a new activity that I would love to continue, ice climbing. The views were marvelous and the hike was exhausting but invigorating. I felt so accomplished after the 4.5 hour hike, wishing that I was staying another day so I could do the full day or heli hike of the glacier. It was just so much fun to have to strap ice spikes onto the bottom of your hiking boots and climb all over this massive miracle.
Once we got back to town, everyone was beyond tired, but we managed to pull together the last bits of energy to go out for a few drinks with some new friends. Yesterday, we drove from Franz Josef to Queenstown on the longest bus ride of the circuit. We stopped at Fox Glacier, a few small, picturesque towns, and a massive fruit stand. Because we didn't arrive in Queenstown until late afternoon, it is required of you to stay two nights here. After a couple of drinks with a bunch of people from the bus last night, I got up early this morning to go white water rafting. Fantastic!!!! I had so much fun, and it was just so beautiful rafting around the old gold mining sights and seeing in person some of the locations for the lord of the rings movie. Later this afternoon, I am meeting up with a few people to go street lugeing and then for a bite to eat.
Only five nights left sleeping in hostel beds, and then one long night on a plane until I return home.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Taupo, New Zealand
23/9/09
I am on my way to Wellington, the capitol of New Zealand. In the past three days, I have been busing it around the North Island, and tomorrow I will take a ferry from Wellington to Picton on the South Island.
Auckland was a great place for me to get my feet wet in New Zealand. I was able to do a bit of research on the islands. There are about 4 or 5 companies that offer hop-on hop-off bus trips around the country. Each company offers different routes and destinations at a variety of price levels. The hardest part about New Zealand is deciding which company to go with and what trek is the best option for you. I recommend anyone coming to New Zealand to do a bit of research on the subject of itineraries. It will save you a great deal of stress on arrival. I, after a bit of deliberation, settled on the Magic Bus Company and their Kokako Tour which covers the north and south islands, as well as getting me back to Auckland on a plane. Twelve packed days enjoying the beautiful sights, jumping off bridges, and meeting new friends.
On the first day, I left Auckland headed for Rotorua with a stop off in Waitomo. Once we arrived in Waitomo, the bus driver took us to a rabbit sheering facility where we got to watch a hilarious demonstration of this funny old woman sheering a rabbit. I had never seen anything so ridiculous. She strapped the massive, furry rabbit into a rotisserie like device that spun the hare around while she used the huge sheep sheering clippers to trim the extra long fur back. After I had a good laugh from watching the spectacle, I got to abseil down into a cave just outside of the city. It was a 50m drop from the surface to the bottom of the cave. The best part of it was that I was the only person signed up for that session, so I got to go out with my guide to do a one on one adventure. That meant I got to do it a few times and enjoy ever minute of it. I hadn’t been repelling since the boy scouts, so it was much fun to do it all again.
That night, once we had made it to “Roto-Vegas,” as the locals call it, I went with a couple of people I met on the bus to see a Maori show followed by a traditional Maori meal. Johanna, a girl from Sweden I have been spending a bit of time with, and I were starved after riding on the bus all day and missing out on lunch and dinner. By the time we got to the village for the Maori Experience, we were about to just start begging for food. I was hoping it would be a dinner theatre type show, but the meal was the last part of the experience. We were both so thankful that it was delicious and all-you-can-eat. It was an incredible evening, filled with culture, fun, food, and a new friend or two. I celebrate the evening by purchasing a set of coasters designed with a Maori influence.
That night I sat up for a while chatting it up with my roommate, Josh from Perth, about life, health, and the pursuit of happiness while we shared a few beers. A great way to end the night.
The next day, Johanna and I hopped on the bus headed to Lake Taupo. Along the way we stopped and watched one of the thermal geysers erupt just outside of Rotorua. (P.S. Due to all of the natural thermals in Rotorua, the smell of sulfur makes the entire city smell as though someone has just farted, all the time). It was fun to see a geyser since I have never been to Yellowstone before.
After we stopped off at a couple of places along the way, I went to the Rock n’ Ropes course where I did a massive trapeze and a “giant” swing. To do the trapeze I had to climb to the top of a 10m tall log, stand up on top, and then jump out to the trapeze hanging a few meters in front of me. I wasn’t nearly as frightened as I thought I would be although I didn’t think about it too much before hand, but it was definitely a blast right up until the end. Once I had caught the trapeze, on my first try mind you, I realized that the guy holding my safety line wasn’t taking any slack out of the rope, intentionally, which meant I was going to drop a ways before the ropes caught me. I wasn't afraid of falling but I was not looking forward to the sensation of my stomach being in my throat, but I successfully let go. Next I did the giant swing, which was basically a miniature version of the massive three person swings at Six Flags. After watching a 10 year old girl do it, I knew I had to be a man and just go for it. After just a little hop, I was swinging from 20 meters up. The first two swings sent my stomach sky rocketing, but once I relaxed into the fun, my digestive system returned to it upright and locked position. It was a fun time confronting fears and learning to simply jump.
That evening, after a bite, Johanna, Bard from Norway, Georgina from Spain, and I went down to the local hot spring for a dip in the water. It was amazing. The hot spring mixed with the cold river water makes a perfect swimming whole. Most people came down with beers, soaked in the incredible water, and chatted it up with other soakers. We ended up staying down there for a few hours and then headed back to our hostels for a an early evening relaxing before another day on the bus.
Over the past few days I have been “playing” the win a free Coke game. The game is simple, when you buy a bottle of Coke, you look under the cap, and it tells you instantly whether you have won or not. So far I have won 4 bottles of Coke. Pretty much every time I redeem a cap, the one I pick up is also a winner. I haven’t had to buy a bottle of coke since I started the bus trip.
In just a few hours, I will be in Wellington enjoying the sights and sounds of the New Zealand capitol. Hope all is well back in the US. Just 11 more days.
Namaste, Mark
I am on my way to Wellington, the capitol of New Zealand. In the past three days, I have been busing it around the North Island, and tomorrow I will take a ferry from Wellington to Picton on the South Island.
Auckland was a great place for me to get my feet wet in New Zealand. I was able to do a bit of research on the islands. There are about 4 or 5 companies that offer hop-on hop-off bus trips around the country. Each company offers different routes and destinations at a variety of price levels. The hardest part about New Zealand is deciding which company to go with and what trek is the best option for you. I recommend anyone coming to New Zealand to do a bit of research on the subject of itineraries. It will save you a great deal of stress on arrival. I, after a bit of deliberation, settled on the Magic Bus Company and their Kokako Tour which covers the north and south islands, as well as getting me back to Auckland on a plane. Twelve packed days enjoying the beautiful sights, jumping off bridges, and meeting new friends.
On the first day, I left Auckland headed for Rotorua with a stop off in Waitomo. Once we arrived in Waitomo, the bus driver took us to a rabbit sheering facility where we got to watch a hilarious demonstration of this funny old woman sheering a rabbit. I had never seen anything so ridiculous. She strapped the massive, furry rabbit into a rotisserie like device that spun the hare around while she used the huge sheep sheering clippers to trim the extra long fur back. After I had a good laugh from watching the spectacle, I got to abseil down into a cave just outside of the city. It was a 50m drop from the surface to the bottom of the cave. The best part of it was that I was the only person signed up for that session, so I got to go out with my guide to do a one on one adventure. That meant I got to do it a few times and enjoy ever minute of it. I hadn’t been repelling since the boy scouts, so it was much fun to do it all again.
That night, once we had made it to “Roto-Vegas,” as the locals call it, I went with a couple of people I met on the bus to see a Maori show followed by a traditional Maori meal. Johanna, a girl from Sweden I have been spending a bit of time with, and I were starved after riding on the bus all day and missing out on lunch and dinner. By the time we got to the village for the Maori Experience, we were about to just start begging for food. I was hoping it would be a dinner theatre type show, but the meal was the last part of the experience. We were both so thankful that it was delicious and all-you-can-eat. It was an incredible evening, filled with culture, fun, food, and a new friend or two. I celebrate the evening by purchasing a set of coasters designed with a Maori influence.
That night I sat up for a while chatting it up with my roommate, Josh from Perth, about life, health, and the pursuit of happiness while we shared a few beers. A great way to end the night.
The next day, Johanna and I hopped on the bus headed to Lake Taupo. Along the way we stopped and watched one of the thermal geysers erupt just outside of Rotorua. (P.S. Due to all of the natural thermals in Rotorua, the smell of sulfur makes the entire city smell as though someone has just farted, all the time). It was fun to see a geyser since I have never been to Yellowstone before.
After we stopped off at a couple of places along the way, I went to the Rock n’ Ropes course where I did a massive trapeze and a “giant” swing. To do the trapeze I had to climb to the top of a 10m tall log, stand up on top, and then jump out to the trapeze hanging a few meters in front of me. I wasn’t nearly as frightened as I thought I would be although I didn’t think about it too much before hand, but it was definitely a blast right up until the end. Once I had caught the trapeze, on my first try mind you, I realized that the guy holding my safety line wasn’t taking any slack out of the rope, intentionally, which meant I was going to drop a ways before the ropes caught me. I wasn't afraid of falling but I was not looking forward to the sensation of my stomach being in my throat, but I successfully let go. Next I did the giant swing, which was basically a miniature version of the massive three person swings at Six Flags. After watching a 10 year old girl do it, I knew I had to be a man and just go for it. After just a little hop, I was swinging from 20 meters up. The first two swings sent my stomach sky rocketing, but once I relaxed into the fun, my digestive system returned to it upright and locked position. It was a fun time confronting fears and learning to simply jump.
That evening, after a bite, Johanna, Bard from Norway, Georgina from Spain, and I went down to the local hot spring for a dip in the water. It was amazing. The hot spring mixed with the cold river water makes a perfect swimming whole. Most people came down with beers, soaked in the incredible water, and chatted it up with other soakers. We ended up staying down there for a few hours and then headed back to our hostels for a an early evening relaxing before another day on the bus.
Over the past few days I have been “playing” the win a free Coke game. The game is simple, when you buy a bottle of Coke, you look under the cap, and it tells you instantly whether you have won or not. So far I have won 4 bottles of Coke. Pretty much every time I redeem a cap, the one I pick up is also a winner. I haven’t had to buy a bottle of coke since I started the bus trip.
In just a few hours, I will be in Wellington enjoying the sights and sounds of the New Zealand capitol. Hope all is well back in the US. Just 11 more days.
Namaste, Mark
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Auckland, New Zealand
I start my Magic bus tour today, one of many hop-on hop-off bus tours that goes all the way around the country. Wouldn't that be a great idea for a US company to do since it is such a big country and so difficult to get around if you don't fly.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Hello from tomorrow... now that I am 20 hours ahead of you
G’day Mates
I am quickly approaching the end of my travels and I am preparing to travel on my last flight before I board my flight to return home. Australia was an incredible nation, much like the US in many ways, but still holding on to that Aussie charm. Everyone is a mate, to the point that when people walk past beggars on the streets instead of just ignoring them or saying “no” they typically address the panhandler with a “Sorry Mate.” I just thought that was sweet, even the beggars are mates.
I spent the last week of my three weeks in Australia with Jules and her family in Brisbane. If you will recall I met Jules in Vienna, traveled with her to Poland, and met back up with her in London the second time I was there. We had been planning to meet up in Brisbane since our first encounter which reassured me that the negative comments I was getting from other Aussies about Brisbane wouldn’t hold true for me. Jules have a lovely family who I got the privilege of getting to know while I was staying in Queensland. James, Jules’ brother, is married to Michelle, and they have four gorgeous children: Johnny, age 4, Nathan, age 2, and the twin girls, Alice and Emily, age 18 months. All the kids have such definitive personalities: Johnny the tentative rebel, Nathan the sweet-hearted playboy, Alice the fearless thinker, and Emily the flirty dancer (she loved it when I danced with her).
The bus ride from Sydney to Brisbane takes about 16 hours, and I think I am the only person to make the trip without stopping over somewhere. Most of the people who shared the bus with me got off at Byron Bay, which looked like one big frat party as the bus pulled into the terminal. The bus was a much better ride than the train in Australia. I got to see some really awesome truck stops shaped like the big rock and a prawn. Once I finally arrived in Brisbane, I was able to meet up with Jules and make the drive from the city to the suburb where she and the family live, Bracken Ridge. That first night was a bit of a bust, seeing as how I had just been on a bus for 16 hours, but I got acquainted with the house and slept like a baby.
On my official first day in Brisbane, Jules took me on a driving tour of the city, showing me all of the major areas of the city like Fortitude Valley, New Farm, Hamilton Hill, Downtown, and Southbank. Brisbane has a really amazing regional theatre that is housed in an old abandoned power-plant and they have left a lot of the graffiti and equipment in the space so it has a great artistic, urban feel. After Julianne and I had driven around for a bit, we met up with her good friend, Trent, for a spot of lunch and a friendly introduction. Jules and I ended up spending Friday and Saturday night at Trent’s with his partner Antony. The two of us finished our day of sightseeing with a promenade down the shores of Southbank on the Brisbane River and visiting the Gallery of Modern Art which had some really terrific exhibits. One of the exhibits was a video exhibit featuring a dozen people who were recorded singing Michael Jackson songs. It was loads of fun to the point Jules and I lost track of time and ended up closing the museum.
The two of us ended the day with fish and chips on the bay with her friend Liam. Jules introduced me to a lot of her inner circle in Brisbane. Meals with friends, drinks and dancing with old acquaintances, Brisbane was filled to brim with entertainment. On Thursday, Jules and I went to Australia Zoo, where I was able to pay homage to Steve Irwin, and become nauseated by the merchandising of his daughter Bindi, who has exercise DVDs, beach-towels, and mugs with her likeness emblazoned on them. I was, however, able to pet both kangaroos and koalas as they hopped around or slept. The world famous crocodile show was a lot of fun, although we missed Bindi and the Crocmen performing before the 11 am show. The Zoo isn’t the biggest I have ever been to but it really is doing a great job educating people about preserving wildlife and honoring Steve’s memory.
After going to the zoo, Jules and I drove North to Kungalula Falls, where we had a very late lunch in the Treetops Hotel and hiked through the hinterland looking for waterfalls and solving all the world’s problems. There was a great rock pool that we found but had left our towels in the car by accident, so we opted out of taking a dip.
We finished off the day picking Michelle up from the salon she owns and going back to the house to have excellent pizzas prepared by Mr. Mom, James. Friday was a full day journey to the beach with Jules, James, and Johnny. The other kids have been put in a “mothers day out” daycare program, so James was only left with Johnny, who starts kindergarten in a few weeks. We made it to the beach, covered from head to toe in sunscreen, and had a blast playing in the waves, making a sand sculpture that looked like an alligator, and playing on the playground with Johnny. It was great! We ate a roast chicken that looked like a similar meal I had in Cambodia, minus the head, and went for a swim in the backyard pool when we got home to help wash off all the sand. I also got to eat my first Tim-Tam, a staple of Australian cookies, although they were melted so much it was like eating fondu.
That night, we headed over to Trent and Ant’s for the weekend after eating a bit of seafood laksa. Trent and Ant have a lovely home in the suburbs, and I got to sleep on a full size bed with all the luxuries of a fine hotel. The next morning we woke up to have breakfast on the patio, bacon and eggs cooked on the barbie. Once we were fed and dressed, we headed down the coast with Byron Bay as our destination. Unfortunately, due to a bit of wet weather and heavy traffic, we never made it to Byron but we made it to the Gold Coast. We had more fish n’ chips for lunch at a surf club. Always fish and chips in Aussie. I got to stand across the state line between New South Wales and Queensland which also meant that I was standing in two different time zones. I am not sure how they coordinate schedules in Rainbow Bay, but I am sure they figure something out. That night, we put on our dancing shoes and headed out to a couple of bars and clubs to dance the night away Brisbane style. It was loads of fun, but I definitely woke up sore the next day, seeing as how it had been so long since I’ve had a night out like that.
Sunday, Jules and I slept in, but headed back to the house to spend time with family. Michelle’s mother and her partner, Greg, came over for the afternoon and everyone took a nice long swim. After we had all dried off, I did some portraits of the family as a thank you to the Twifords. Ended up getting some great pictures of the family and hope they really enjoy them. Jules and I spent the rest of the evening, going through photos, transferring files, and playing with the pooped kids (no one had had a nap that day).
Currently I am on the flight to Auckland, and spending two weeks in New Zealand before heading home. I have lots of tips on traveling there, so I am planning on spending the afternoon researching and booking my time in the islands.I hope all is going well back in the States. Only a couple of days before the Inauguration. It starts at 1 am in Auckland on Wednesday morning.
Mark and Johnny with sand alligator
Mark, Johnny and Nathan
At Australia Zoo
At the Park
I am quickly approaching the end of my travels and I am preparing to travel on my last flight before I board my flight to return home. Australia was an incredible nation, much like the US in many ways, but still holding on to that Aussie charm. Everyone is a mate, to the point that when people walk past beggars on the streets instead of just ignoring them or saying “no” they typically address the panhandler with a “Sorry Mate.” I just thought that was sweet, even the beggars are mates.
I spent the last week of my three weeks in Australia with Jules and her family in Brisbane. If you will recall I met Jules in Vienna, traveled with her to Poland, and met back up with her in London the second time I was there. We had been planning to meet up in Brisbane since our first encounter which reassured me that the negative comments I was getting from other Aussies about Brisbane wouldn’t hold true for me. Jules have a lovely family who I got the privilege of getting to know while I was staying in Queensland. James, Jules’ brother, is married to Michelle, and they have four gorgeous children: Johnny, age 4, Nathan, age 2, and the twin girls, Alice and Emily, age 18 months. All the kids have such definitive personalities: Johnny the tentative rebel, Nathan the sweet-hearted playboy, Alice the fearless thinker, and Emily the flirty dancer (she loved it when I danced with her).
The bus ride from Sydney to Brisbane takes about 16 hours, and I think I am the only person to make the trip without stopping over somewhere. Most of the people who shared the bus with me got off at Byron Bay, which looked like one big frat party as the bus pulled into the terminal. The bus was a much better ride than the train in Australia. I got to see some really awesome truck stops shaped like the big rock and a prawn. Once I finally arrived in Brisbane, I was able to meet up with Jules and make the drive from the city to the suburb where she and the family live, Bracken Ridge. That first night was a bit of a bust, seeing as how I had just been on a bus for 16 hours, but I got acquainted with the house and slept like a baby.
On my official first day in Brisbane, Jules took me on a driving tour of the city, showing me all of the major areas of the city like Fortitude Valley, New Farm, Hamilton Hill, Downtown, and Southbank. Brisbane has a really amazing regional theatre that is housed in an old abandoned power-plant and they have left a lot of the graffiti and equipment in the space so it has a great artistic, urban feel. After Julianne and I had driven around for a bit, we met up with her good friend, Trent, for a spot of lunch and a friendly introduction. Jules and I ended up spending Friday and Saturday night at Trent’s with his partner Antony. The two of us finished our day of sightseeing with a promenade down the shores of Southbank on the Brisbane River and visiting the Gallery of Modern Art which had some really terrific exhibits. One of the exhibits was a video exhibit featuring a dozen people who were recorded singing Michael Jackson songs. It was loads of fun to the point Jules and I lost track of time and ended up closing the museum.
The two of us ended the day with fish and chips on the bay with her friend Liam. Jules introduced me to a lot of her inner circle in Brisbane. Meals with friends, drinks and dancing with old acquaintances, Brisbane was filled to brim with entertainment. On Thursday, Jules and I went to Australia Zoo, where I was able to pay homage to Steve Irwin, and become nauseated by the merchandising of his daughter Bindi, who has exercise DVDs, beach-towels, and mugs with her likeness emblazoned on them. I was, however, able to pet both kangaroos and koalas as they hopped around or slept. The world famous crocodile show was a lot of fun, although we missed Bindi and the Crocmen performing before the 11 am show. The Zoo isn’t the biggest I have ever been to but it really is doing a great job educating people about preserving wildlife and honoring Steve’s memory.
After going to the zoo, Jules and I drove North to Kungalula Falls, where we had a very late lunch in the Treetops Hotel and hiked through the hinterland looking for waterfalls and solving all the world’s problems. There was a great rock pool that we found but had left our towels in the car by accident, so we opted out of taking a dip.
We finished off the day picking Michelle up from the salon she owns and going back to the house to have excellent pizzas prepared by Mr. Mom, James. Friday was a full day journey to the beach with Jules, James, and Johnny. The other kids have been put in a “mothers day out” daycare program, so James was only left with Johnny, who starts kindergarten in a few weeks. We made it to the beach, covered from head to toe in sunscreen, and had a blast playing in the waves, making a sand sculpture that looked like an alligator, and playing on the playground with Johnny. It was great! We ate a roast chicken that looked like a similar meal I had in Cambodia, minus the head, and went for a swim in the backyard pool when we got home to help wash off all the sand. I also got to eat my first Tim-Tam, a staple of Australian cookies, although they were melted so much it was like eating fondu.
That night, we headed over to Trent and Ant’s for the weekend after eating a bit of seafood laksa. Trent and Ant have a lovely home in the suburbs, and I got to sleep on a full size bed with all the luxuries of a fine hotel. The next morning we woke up to have breakfast on the patio, bacon and eggs cooked on the barbie. Once we were fed and dressed, we headed down the coast with Byron Bay as our destination. Unfortunately, due to a bit of wet weather and heavy traffic, we never made it to Byron but we made it to the Gold Coast. We had more fish n’ chips for lunch at a surf club. Always fish and chips in Aussie. I got to stand across the state line between New South Wales and Queensland which also meant that I was standing in two different time zones. I am not sure how they coordinate schedules in Rainbow Bay, but I am sure they figure something out. That night, we put on our dancing shoes and headed out to a couple of bars and clubs to dance the night away Brisbane style. It was loads of fun, but I definitely woke up sore the next day, seeing as how it had been so long since I’ve had a night out like that.
Sunday, Jules and I slept in, but headed back to the house to spend time with family. Michelle’s mother and her partner, Greg, came over for the afternoon and everyone took a nice long swim. After we had all dried off, I did some portraits of the family as a thank you to the Twifords. Ended up getting some great pictures of the family and hope they really enjoy them. Jules and I spent the rest of the evening, going through photos, transferring files, and playing with the pooped kids (no one had had a nap that day).
Currently I am on the flight to Auckland, and spending two weeks in New Zealand before heading home. I have lots of tips on traveling there, so I am planning on spending the afternoon researching and booking my time in the islands.I hope all is going well back in the States. Only a couple of days before the Inauguration. It starts at 1 am in Auckland on Wednesday morning.
Mark and Johnny with sand alligator
Mark, Johnny and Nathan
At Australia Zoo
At the Park
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