Kim vs. The World!

After experiencing the craziness of Queenstown, our next stop was the tiny town of Fox Glacier. Population 400. Seriously. The town consisted of one block which contained a general store, a pub, a climbing guide, an internet cafe, and a few small motels. The picture to the left actually shows pretty much the entire town! Mars and I got off the bus and it felt like we had traveled back in time to a frontier town in the early 1900s. We walked into our motel and were only asked one question. Not "Can I see your pre-paid voucher" or "What is your last name" (I guess they were expecting us). The guy asked us "Would you like some milk?". haha! They give you milk at check in... our kind of place! After we got our room key (the other room key was conveniently already in the unlocked room door) we asked the two staff members how we should go about seeing the glacier. They looked genuinely puzzled. We said we'd drop our stuff in our room and come back. When we r...

1) Amendment - apparently we did the easy course on the luge. That's good to know, because it wasn't really that steep! 2) Joined the crew for some Quiz Night action at the casino last night (As we can see, Dan still has his black eye!). Mars and I put in a good effort, landing them in the highest finish that they have ever had (6/11... those Kiwi Rugby questions totally screwed us!) 3) Forgot to mention this on the blog, which is terrible considering we are children of the 80's. RIP to MJ - We spent a night in Qtown watching your greatest video hits!!

We arrived in Queenstown four days ago. I have already posted about our two mini trips from here: Bungy and Milford Sound. Now a wee bit on Qtown itself! During our time in Oz, we met many Kiwis, including Lance - the chef at my work. The conversation went something like this. "Hey Lance, we are going to NZ soon as dirty backpackers... do you know anyone we can crash with there?" "Yeah, for sure. My friend Dan lives in Queenstown, he would be stoked to have you guys there. He lived with me for 6 months in Melbourne, so he owes me." "Sweet, thanks so much Lance! It's great to have a place to stay over there." Here is how Lance's part of the conversation should have ACTUALLY gone: "Yeah, I have a friend in Queenstown... well actually, in a suburb outside the city that the bus only goes to really early and really late in the day. He would be happy to have you both stay there, except that he hasn't told his girlfriend that you are coming. Oh,...

When early explorers mapped the world, they thought the it was flat. They drew maps that depicted a flat earth, with the water simply dropping off into the unknown. At what they thought was the edge of the earth, they wrote on the maps "Here There Be Monsters" . Science be damned.... we went to the edge of the earth today. We left Queenstown (and our warm beds) bright and early this morning. It was pitch black out and around -5 degrees. As we traveled on the bus and watched the sunrise, it was cool to know that we were among the first people in the world (flat or otherwise) to see Sunday June 28th arrive. On the very long and winding road, we passed some amazing scenery. Nothing but mountains and wildlife. I can honestly count the number of houses we passed on our 5 hour drive on one hand. We got out of the bus and stepped onto a huge open space amid the mountains. This is where a massive glacier had once been millions of years ago and then melted away. It was surreal to st...

We paid $240NZD. We piled onto a bus with 11 other insane people. We drove for 45 minutes uphill. The bungy platform came into view suspended 160m above the Nevis River. Most bus occupants began looking for the emergency exit. We were weighed, harnessed, and put in order. We got into a cable car to the platform and watched as, one by one, our group hurled themselves into thin our accompanied by blood curdling screams of terror. When it was our turn, we sat in what appeared to be a dentist chair. Legs strapped in. Very few instructions given. Get up. Shuffle slowly to the tiny platform. Look down. Holy &^%*! crap, that is a long way down. This is insane. Watch as they drop the bungy cord. Vaguely hear someone counting "3, 2,1". Look out at the mountains. Take a leap without knowing you did. Try to grab the mountains. Watch in shock and adrenaline fueled confusion as you PLUMMET to the bottom of the riverbed. Going to go head first into the ground at 120km/hr. You don't...

Mom and Aunt Gale, stop reading here. Everyone else: We are going bungy jumping!!! Mars and I just signed up for a bungy jump off of the Nevis platform... the highest in NZ! This is the one that is on all of the Adrenaline shows, and has an 8.5 SECOND FREEFALL!!!! We are leaving in 10 minutes. CAN'T WAIT! http://www.bungy.co.nz/index.php/pi_pageid/29

Forgot to mention in my last post that when we got to the customs officer in NZ, we both walked up together and watched as the female customs officer picked up Marissa's passport, looked at the picture, looked directly at ME for a few seconds, then back at the picture, then let us through customs!! If there was ever any doubt whether we looked like eachother...!! Haha!

Well, we certainly went out with a bang... or in our case, many many vodka sodas. Our very last night in our adopted hometown of Noosa was spent partying hard with all of my friends from work. We had a great night, and are both sad to leave all of the great people and chill lifestyle. The party was exactly what we wanted: open bar. It seemed like a good idea at the time... until we had to get up for a 8:30am house inspection and a 10am bus! Somehow, we made it. We always make it (even if it means boarding a train looking like THIS!). Our official verdict is also always the same: We think we have already packed too much stuff. We blame this on the over packing gene inherited from our 'rents, as we have to pack for every possible unanticipated tragedy, natural disaster, and health issue! Alas, after a rough day of hungover travel, we arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand. To zero degree weather!! Our newly acclimatized Aussie skin was not happy! We spent the day today wandering a...

In the grand tradition of my many travels, it looks like Mars and I will be beginning our big journey with very heavy heads! (or the "Wine Flu" as they call it here). Yup, that's right..... as luck would have it, my work is holding an open bar, all you can drink staff party tonight. We have a house inspection at 8:30 am and then have to catch a bus to the airport at 10:20am. OH. GOD. Should be a good night, though, and I wouldn't want to break with my well established pre-travel routine :) And yes, mom, I DO have to drink it just because it's free! Mars is getting her last vaccination, I am desperately trying to dry the last of my laundry in a crazy industrial dryer, and we are sending our final info to the orpahange in Cambodia. Last minute prep is underway. We had a go at packing our backpacks last night. We thought we were doing pretty well with keeping the things we are bringing to a minimum.... that is until we put it all in a bag.... and they are both full! ...

20 Flights + Over 65,000kms traveled by land/air/sea/donkey + 2 backpacks + About a million forms of medication = The trip of a lifetime!! Mars and I are less than a week away from our amazing round-the-world trip, and we can't believe it's almost time to go! My last work shift is Friday, and I'll be having a few (!) drinks with friends on Saturday while Mars spends some time with Glen. Below is our itinerary and what we are hoping to see while we're there... we have jammed an insane amount of things in, just as we always do! If all goes well, we should be home just before Christmas... looking like hippie, dirty, starving backpackers! And thus begins our quest to find out which is more dangerous: An African Lion or an Egyptian cab driver? NEW ZEALAND: June 23-July5 Tour the South Island by local bus, stay with friends of friends to avoid dorm costs, bungee jump!, tour the vast nothingness of the island, go cave exploring, stay at a beautiful B&B that mom's frien...

Alright, seriously, who has been secretly changing the calendar dates? I cannot believe we have b een in Australia for SIX MONTHS already! The time has flown by, and we have had some great times and met many amazing people (in man- kinis , in cupboards, at work!) that we will remember forever. There are also a few very quirky things about this place that we want to immortalize in this blog. For anyone who has traveled to this strange island (that perhaps has been left alone in the ocean for a bit too long)... you know what we're sayin. Even better than Vegemite and Cricket: 1.There are public toilets everywhere. No begging in restaurants or peeing in bushes. And if that wasn't great enough, the toilets have a water saving flush option... how enviro -chic! 2. Waterproof money. Stash it in your boardies and you can still pay for a beer after a surf session. Genius. 3. Taxes are included in all prices. This is a no- brainer . The aussies are way too lazy and chilled to calculat...