It really was a very interesting experience and i highly recommend that if you want a true feel of japan do try it!! when i first heard that our youth hostel didnt have showers, i was abit skeptical...how do the japanese people not look at each other:s naked bodies?

let me paint a clearer scenario: 1st u enter into the bathroom (men and ladies are segregated most of the time, but i heard that there are mixed bathrooms around) where you should strip and leave all your things and towel in the locker cubicles　provided. Then you open another screen door and step into the shower room where on the walls, there are shower heads and everyone just showers in a communal area. The japanese are still using the traditional way of sitting on a stool and using a bucket to shower...so their shower heads are mounted qt low on the wall..but luckily they had a higher mount too so i could use that instead.

After showering yourself clean, you can then choose to go into the hot tub (in some cases its more like a hot swimming pool) to just relax there with everyone...in the public baths where you have to pay for entry..they even have different pools like a hot one, cold one, green tea one, one with electric shocks (apparently as a massaging function i think) for you to choose from and you:re free to stay as long as you want.

after that you just come out of the showering area and dry and dress yourself in the locker/ changing room area again, with everyone else. But the japanese are so used to it, its not like they:ll look at others and they:re really comfortable about it too.

that:s what i like about the public bath... it gives me a great sense of feminine confidence when i step in and see all these women confident of baring their bodies to others. And the same for the men too! A great sense of personal confidence!

Blue Mountains was qt pretty!! and in case you're wondering, no i didnt think it was particularly bluer than any other mountain range you would see from a distance...up close, it definitely does not look blue...in fact some parts of it is red...made up of soft rock like sandstone and limestone that eroded over the years to carve out this deep mountain range called Blue Mountains. According to Bernard, the blueness comes from the eucalyptus oil fumes from those trees. Thus the hotter the weather, the more fumes given off and the bluer it will look. And there really are many eucalyptus trees there, very easily identifiable by their white tree trunks.

We ddint have time to do the 8 hour hike around Federal Pass, which would go right down from the lookout, make a big round and come up the extremely LONG flight of stairs back to civilisation...but Bernard did it in the past though and he said it took him 1 hour of PURELY stairs!!! omg...it would have killed me..plus the stairs were huge ones...and soon he had to climb it rather than just walk up. Its called the GOlden Stairway.

But we did visit the Katoomba Cascades as well as Katoomba Waterfall and went down to the Three Sisters too. the Aborigines legends go that, there were initially 7 sisters who got turned into stone by their father because they fell in love with a man from another tribe and Aborigines were strictly prohibited from marrying across tribes. But with the turn of time, 7 sisters have eroded away to become 3 sisters. but still they were huge, esp when we got up right next to it.

END OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND, OFF TO JAPAN!!!

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the next day 14 Nov, we were on to our Jetstar flight to Osaka!!! boy was it a long 10 hour flight! *i think my stamina for long flights is wearing out..haha..but they did provide earphones free coz it was a long haul flight ha...supposed to cost $5! we brought our own sandwiches but still it was just barely enough to last us the trip...luckily our 1st night stay was nearby the train station and soon we were out on the streets finding food!!!

1st and 2nd night's accomodation is in a business hotel, but is very unlike the image conjured up by non-japanese. it is basically like a hostel, with shared toilets and in our case, a public bath on the 1st floor of the hotel. for those who don't know what a public bath is like -- bascially everyone has to strip naked and just shower in front of everyone before you could get into the hot pools to soak...with everyone..and we slept on mattresses on the floor japanese style. but we did have our own private room and a tv. not too bad exceopt the place smelt of cigarette smoke. in the end however i didnt manage to try the public baths coz they closed before we got back to the hotel so i had to use the pay-shower instead. Men's public bath closed later though so off Bernard went to shower. I happily took my stuff to the shower and realised i couldnt find the light switch! thought it was just a blown light on my floor and wemt down 1 floor but it was occupied. wanted to ask someone how to turn on the light but i couldnt speak japanese!!! grr,,no choice but to go back to our room and wait for bernard to return, in the end..it turns out that they were so high tech that i just had to close the door and the light turned on immediately!! GRRR...it was qt an old place but still location was very good! n they even haf curfews!!! we had to get back by 12am...so strange..

the vending machines here are great!!! 100 yen which is almost 1 AUD$ can get you a bottle of green tea or something..so cheap! n convenience stores or kombini are everywhere!! unbelievable! you don't even have to cross the road to get to one coz there's one just in front of you! and sometimes even owned by the same compamy!

1st day in osaka was spent in Namba, where they had lots of shopping arcades but they were so confusing!!! coz all of them looked the same,,,shaped in an cross-intersection and all filled with small stores selling everything! i found the BEST EVER japanese cheesecake here!!! in Dotonburi i think...took us awhile to find it but oh my gosh...the taste of that milky smooth melts-in-your-mouth freshly baked cheesecake is heavenly!! would buy lots to bring back but i cant...but i did eat the whole cake myself!! hahaha in one day!! YUMMY!! andit was only $5! so cheap!! we also met this very nice japanese middle aged man who helped us with our orders in this standup nabe (i know what you:re thinking and no..its not a vulgar word but its the japanese hotpot we:re talking about here) eatery and even treated us to some nice dishes!!! he could speak english and so finally i could communicate with someone! haha...

the next day we went to check out the Osaka Castle. very impressive architecture though Bernard says that its a pity the insides were turned into a museum instead of retaining the original relics in it.had to pay to enter so we only looked from the outside compounds. Then we went to Umeda...honestly the train stations here are super confusing!!! there are different train stations run by differnt train lines but all the stations in the area are called the same name!!! so its hard to figure out which station exactly they are referring to coz there could be 5 around the same area with the same name"!!!

then,,for the highlight of the trip so far...we went to stay at a love hotel. Hey before any judgements are made, this is not a typical sleazy kind of hotel you find in Geylang..but a really high class one and we really had a very good time there! relaxing in the jacuzzi, enjoying the projector tv, where we could watch movies, play with the playstation (yeah they even have playstation games!!! cooler than hilton or something) and the huge king size bed...the toilets were so well equipped too with shampoo and all sorts of toners and moisturisers for girls...and the most fascinating thing is that you could walk in and out without anyone knowing because...

1st you enter through a side entrance...just walk up to a machine and choose the room you want (differnt rooms jhave diff fascilities amd themes) and just press the buttom. Enter the lift and go up to your room. Inside your room, there's a machine where you have to pay before you check out otherwise, the lock on your room door will not unlock! after that, just stroll out and no one would have seen anything. Ingenious isnt it? and inside your room, there's also a double door where the room attendants can just leave your food inside the first door and you can wait til the attendant goes away before retrieving your food. can even ask the attendant to buy some food from a kombini for you!! wow! and our room was pink!! so it was an added bonus! the best thing was...all of these was just for the price of a 8 bed dorm in the Sydney YHA hostel for the 2 of us!!! really worth the price!! haha will post up the photos when we can

today, we took a 40min JR train to Kyoto..so close! but quite a change from last night, we're staying over at an internet cafe tonight (which is why i have the time to type this too)! not as many fancy luxuries, but for $16 for the 12 hours (8pm to 8am), we have unlimited internet, playstation games, movies, drinks and ice cream to enjoy! honestly there are so many differnt kinds of accomodation in japan available that are so much more interesting than a boring hostel (and Cheaper too!!)...why would i ever want to stay in a hostel?

would love to try a capsule hotel too (capsules are really cool coz you actually have your own personal small tv at yoru feet to enjoy as you try to wriggle around in your small capsule but it looks really cool!) but they're only fo0r men.. heard that the ladies only ones are in tokyo.

the bus drivers here are really hilarious too... haha...they have to announce every single move they make. e.g. we;re stopping here (at the traffic light), we;re moving now (after the traffic light), we;re turning right, we;re turning left, this intersection is a busy one so we are sorry for the delay (when in fact the delay was only less than one minute)..so funni!!! and he says it so sincerely...i really wonder how they do it everyday!!

love it when we get to try being a local and staying in so many intersting places! Thanks Bernard for planning such an interesting itinerary and for all the wonderful famous food we've been trying! :)

next up in kyoto -- more temples and arashiyama (as recommended by nana!) and tomorrow we're finally going to stay in a hostel like other travellers (coz we happened to be so suay as to come on a holiday wkend for the japanese - Autumn Festival, and the other accomodation are all fully booked!!)

more photos links should be coming soon!! in the meantime take care all at home!

We're already back in Sydney, and going to the Blue Mountains tomorrow but anw here's an update from our last days in NZ.

After Tongariro, we were on to Turangi, a small town where people usually stay to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. We stayed in this really ulu hostel, which was actually abit spooky because of creaking doors and old toilets but luckily we still had a few people around so it wasn't that bad. Went to take a nice walk along Tongariro River and that was pretty nice too. Apparently Turangi is trout fishing capital in NZ but we're not too interested in fishing heh..

however the scariest place we've stayed so far was in Palmerston North.. =( we stayed in this 90 year old bungalow with so many rooms and there was only the 2 of us!!! it was called Granny's Place and it was really used for a old aged home before it was converted into a hostel...so scary!!! in the day, it was ok...qt nicely furnished actually but at night =( luckily there was bernard with me...otherwise i would have ended up moving out i think... Anyway, Thanks Kris and Dennis for bringing us around and treating us to that great Jap meal!! it was great feeding the ducks and birds too!! hehe...all the best for your studies!!

Next was Paraparaumu, where there was supposed to be a nice beachtown kinda place. well, the beach itself wasnt too spectacular but the hostel we stayed in was very nice and warm and friendly!! everyone seemed to know each other there and we had a good time just relaxing and checking out the Sat local market, where they sell handicrafts and local produce. we even got a chance to play with a $2000 special collector's edition of Monopoly!!! and it was newly opened!! it sure was really grand!! it had a wooden finish and even a card portfolio to keep all those title deeds. and a special drawer to keeep all the money. the hotels were all gold colour and made of heavy metal too!! Thanks Andrew for letting us play with it, and boy did we have such a heated great game!! didn't know you could argue so much over a game but the negotiations were all done in the name of fun! =)

and then it was on to the Southern-most capital in the world-- Wellington! i think we like wellington much more than Auckland coz it was more pretty there and definitely alot more to do there!!! the famous Te Papa museum really lived up to its name and i ended up spending 2 and a half days in there trying to cover everything!!! bernard was so shocked that i could spend so long in there!! but it was not boring at all coz everything was so interactive! they had video clips everywhere and lotsa fun machines to play with! makes the expereince so much more interesting! learnt alot about the NZ immigrants, and the Maori's as well as the Polynesians and some Maori history and language as well. wanna visit the Polynesian Islands sometime!

we also caught a french movie-- La Vie En Rose, depicting the tragic life of Edith Plath in the really grand Empress Theatre and boy was it comfy!!! the seats were so wide and made of leather! and the theatre was so empty but the sound systems were really good and loud! Bernard caught all 3 parts of Lord of the Rings the last time he was here and was raving about the great theatre so we went there to check it out. the movie itself was really strong too, great acting! and really a tragic story...but very moving.

Island Bay was also a really pretty beachside area! the waters were so clear and blue and the tides were really strong so it was qt a great sight to see them splashing up the rocks. we walked and walked and almost ended up at the Wellington Airport! sadly, the large model of Gollum is not on top of the airport anymore...but it was certainly quite an attraction while it was still there! haha...

then we came back to Auckland and on the day before our flight back to Sydney, we missed the last airport bus to the airport (thinking it was a 24hr one)!!! we were planning to sleep in the Auckland airport but ended up havign to trudge back to our hostel and pitifully asking if we could hang out on their couch in the lobby instead... =( luckily they were really nice and agreed so we actually napped there heh...until 5am when we decided to be nice and vacate the couch to go to the airport (so that it wouldnt seem like we stayed there the whole night for free =p heh)

but anw now we're safely back in Sydney and staying in Nana's apt!! hehe thanks again nana! we really love staying there and we'll clean up our mess before we leave so u haf a nice clean room when u come back!! hee...and it was great meeting up with biaojie today too! qt a nice and cosy apt u have there! Hope that your exams will go well! all the best and do eat lots more after your exams before you go back to HK! =)

more new zealand photos, taken in the northland =)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62256&l=fdcf6&id=526670133

We're back alive from the Tongariro Crossing!! and I have officially been to the world's 1st 2 National Parks - Yellowstone and Tongariro!!! YAY!!! hahaha...let's start with Huka Falls 1st..

we had to walk about 2.5hours one way (the bad side about not having a car--speaking o which, cars here can go for $1000!!) to see the famous Huka Falls! haha when we reached there I was still saying: this cant be the falls coz it doesnt really look like one! we saw a grand amazing sight of lots of really blue water being squashed into a long narrow channel and frothing into lots of white watrer waves but nothing like what we expected to be a waterfall! but why then were so many people taking photos of it? in the end we found out that it really was the Falls!! how unique!! the force of the waters had cut into the rock many many years ago forming a deep narrow channel which all the water had to now go through... it was really an amazing sight because of the power and colour of the waters!! Will post up the pics when we get more time..

Next to the World's most famous 1-day walk-- the Tongariro Crossing! Covering a distance of 17km to be walked in about 7 hours, it winds up and through the 2 active volcanoes of Mt. Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe. Mt Ngauruhoe was actually formed 2000 years ago from an eruption of Mt Tongariro itself! and its still growing--still a baby volcano! in fact the nearby Mt Ruapehu just erupted about 1 month ago and someone lost his leg coz he was camping right on top of the volcano! ha..

the start of the trek was a gentle uphill slope but about 1 hour later it soon turned really steep..still we pushed on but it only got worse with the rock scree really mounting up on the track and causing us to step 1 step forward but only make half a step coz we would slide backwards. soon i had to use nearby rocks to help me up but bernard was doing better than me (sigh my fitness has really gone down the drain). not to mention that at this time, the winds decided to start blowing some snow in our faces and so we had to bundle up and put on sunglasses otherwise i can't see my way through (makes me think that in Singapore, we really just use sunglasses for the fun of it huh?)

after that gruelling 45 min we were finally up the 2 very steep slopes and almost to the top of Mt Tongariro! after that we realised that we had to come down the slope on the other side with the same steepness and rock scree on it as the one we had just come up!!! haah the guide then decided to help me take the "expressway" down then...he held my arm as a support while he practically dragged me down through all the rock scree and snow!!! Slipping and sliding, we sure made our way down really fast!! (and i only fell once haha) it was actually quite fun!

then we were in for a treat! facing the Emerald Lake (and another 2 lakes which i don't know the name of =p), we settled in for lunch (but first i had to wait for Bernard to make his way down the slope coz my lunch was with him! hehe) finally a stop!! i really love the part after this!! we decided to take a slight detour off the track and walked through this pristine snow-covered Crater with all the snow volcanoes around us!!! it was such a beautiful sight!!! and i really didn't mind that it was snowing at all!! it felt as it we were on an Antarctic expedition!!!! haha...and the snow was already ankle-deep and sometimes it dropped into my boots but everything was really great!!

Finally it was the downhill part after this! but the downhill part sure was long!!! took up about 3 hours i reckon! we passed by several steep snow slopes and we attempted to climb up abit of the way and slide down on our bums!! haha a really fun activity actually! even have a video of bernard doing that haha... it really was very pretty--including all the Tundra flowers and plants that i finally got to see for real (rather than in the geography text heh). then we went round and round the mountain...reminds me so much of that song "she'll be coming round the mountain when she comes" haha and as we went down, my mind started singing "she'll be pulling 6 white donkeys as she comes" haha...going round and round does things to your head! =p

suddenly we plunged into a green rainforest as we were going down! such a strange difference! but about an hour after that we finally reached the end of the track!! yay!!! we've successfully and safely completed the world's prettiest 1 day trek!!

honestly if not for bernard i don't think i would ever attempt these kinda things but its definitely a highly recommended experience coz at the end of the day, even though my legs are aching (and will probably ache even more tomorrow) the views are really spectacular!! you cann see all the alpine flora and the pyroclastic lava flows (all these stuff were refreshed in my mind by the guide of course haha...i will never had been able to identify the stuff myself) that are just only 30 years old (coz Mt Ngauruhoe just erupted 30 years ago) and the snow experience really was very very pretty!!!

Caving honestly is one of the best experiences!!! we did the Black Abyss tour by the Legendary Black Water Rafting COmpany...1st we got to abseil 30+m down into the cave and then do the flying fox in the dark!!! woohoo...haha bernard went 1st so he really didn;t know what to expect!! and then we sat on the edge of a cliff in the cave...looking down at the cold cold waters...then we had a nice snack and tea too...after that it was time to jump about 2m into the cold dark waters.... =( boohoo haha but we jumped in with a tube float around our bum...so we're supposed to land backwards...sounds difficult?

the guide was said to me: can i borrow your tube for a demonstration? then i was like: oh sure! and then he asked the group: do you wanna see a demo? and everyone (including me) said YES!! and then he said to me: i've got your float you know? so i had to be the 1st one to go!! arghh!!! but i had a smooth jump./..with lotsa water in my mouth but surprisingly the water tasted qt normal...but not too hygienic i think...pretty cool! but bernard didnt have such a good time though...when he jumped he prob let go of the float and splashed all the way into the water...guess the impact was the thing tt broke his specs...so now his specs are in dire need of an "operation" but the next best thing holding it together now is sticky tape and a band around his head...haiz...getting new specs are too expensive here!!! it costs almost $400 to get new frames and lenses...

so off we go floating down the cold dark waters....but we had a rope to hold on to while floating, to pull ourselves upstream...the water levels were pretty high coz it had been raining the past few days...then after that we linked floats and the guide dragged us back downstream...and while floating we could see all those glowworms!!! it was so beautiful!! it was like the stars in the sky except that the lights were so near to you coz they were just on the underside of the cliff walls!! could almost reach out and touch them!! really pretty!!

after that we returned the tubes and had to float down just like that by ourselves...oh man this was when it didn't feel good for me...i could float for awhile but after that the ice cold water really literally got into my head...and i could feel the cold creeping up around inside my head....it was such a horrible feeling!! i was gettting brain freeze literally and felt so woozy after that...but we still had to cont floating down...finally we could stand and fight the rapids to walk upstream...oh gosh..i was not feeling too well by then...coz i was so cold everywhere...didnt have much energy too...and then suddenly when i was trying to get up another rapid..i had so much trouble even standing and putting my feet on the next stone..the next moment i realise that it was coz my boots had slipped off my feet!! gosh...n later the guide could only find one boot...

the last obstacle was to climb up a 30m waterfall..but coz i was qt low on energy and coz i only had one boot...and coz bernard couldn't see very well, we skipped that and took the easy way out...haiz...would love to try climbing up a waterfall but...oh well...will post up our caving photos when we can!

ohh we also saw rabbit shearing here!! hehe they were shearing german angora rabbits and they're really SOO fat (with fur) and cuddly....after shearing though they looked so thin hehe...but their fur is so nice to touch!!! pretty cool!

after that it was on to Rotorua!! really love this place! so many things to do here! the Rotorua Museum was really a lovely interactive museum! it is set in the same building as a historical old bath-house and you can even go to the basement and take a look at the pipes that useed to bring in the hot waters from the geothermal area around! Rotorua is actually a city built in the middle of a volcano crater and thus you get lotsa geothermal features like hot pools, mudpools, geysers and such here! really reminds me of yellowstone!!

then i went white water rafting!!! YAY!! finally i get to do it! n i jumped straight into a grade 5 one too, down the Kaituna River!! we went down the world's highest raftable waterfall at 7m!!! but the trip was so short..lasted only 45min on the water...would have loved for it to last much longer..but it was a great experience overall...photo CD cost $40...too much to buy so...no photos fm that...heh

and then we went to Wai-O-Tapu (meaning Sacred Waters in Maori) where they had the lovely geothermal features and this was bernard's 1st time too so it was really good! even for me coz the colours here are different but still really pretty! the Lady Knox Geyser was abit of a disappointment coz it wasn't naturally erupting at 10.15am everyday...they put soap in it to induce it to erupt at that time...after Old Faithful, i thought it was a little disappointing...but anyway the Champagne Pool really was qt pretty! with pink smoke coming out from it too heh...

and then coz we only had 1 and a half hour to finish a track that needed 1hr 15 min...we missed the shuttle bus back to the city!!! GRRR....stupid bus! gave us so little time to look around and take photos =( so there we were...stranded 31km away from the city!!! i was Soo angry!! so we tried hitchhiking for the 1st tiem...we had no choice! the next bus was at 3pm! and that was only 12pm at that time...

and guess wat...a sporean group decided to pick us up1!! the world is so small!!! haha...thanks alot to that Sporean group who gave us a lift!! its really much appreciated!! hoep we meet back in Singapore one day!

then we went to do the Luge!!! wow i know they have one in Sentosa but honestly its really really fun to do it!!! we took a Gondola (or otherwise known as cable car) up the mountain and then got 2 luge rides from there! its really exhilarating!!! everyone should try!!! so fun!! n could get a great view of Rotorua city from there too!! though i was too engrossed with not crashing to take in e view =p great fun!!

now we're in Taupo already, where the famous Lake Taupo here is the size of SIngapore!! or so they say...its quite pretty and within the nexzt ferw days we're going to do the Tongariro Crossing with a guide (its supposed to be the best walk in NZ!!) coz everyone says its still dangerous up there coz it still has snow on the volcanoes...its basically a crossing on the ridge between the peaks of 2 volcanoes...so unfortunately, a free walk will now set us back $115 per person... =( oh well but better safe than sorry...we'll also get snow gear n ice axes and crampons to go along so we'll definitely have a safe journey back! hope the weather holds up and we'll have a great view from there!! til the next entry, tata!!! and take care all!!

when we first arrived, checked into this horrible room at the Fat Camel's hostel (clothes strewn all around the room and later we found out that the ppl don't ever sleep in there! all they do is drink and make noise haiz) but we found a really good Chinese food place!!! the roast duck and chicken and char siew is lovely!!! yummy and their hot pots too!!! best chinese place we've had on our trip so far!!!

spent a few days in AUckland city..went to visit the volcanic island of Rangitoto..really cool to be able to stand on a volcano that popped out of the sea 600 years ago! and got a really gd view from up there too! then went to the Auckland FIsh market and boy were the Pacific Oysters HUGE!!!! and they were so creamy!! and cheap too considering their size!! the meat was the same size as the shells!!! it was just $13 for a dozen!!! but luckily we were sharing that because i don't think i could have eaten more than 6 oysters! they were just too creamy!! but really lovely!

then you could jump from the Auckland Tower and everything but we didn't do that...nah we'll try higher places!! haha just kidding! i'll never jump from heights! the museum was lovely too!

then we got a free bus pass on Magic (a bus company) to go to the Northland = Bay of Islands because we stayed 5 nights at the hostel. Paihia was really a nice place with beautiful bay and we took a cruise that was supposed to let us swim with the dolphins and also take at this famous geographical wonder called a Hole In The Rock, as well as all the secluded islands in the Bay. but the weather didn't hold up too well and sometimes we were just holed up in the deck downstairs out of the rain. but finally we really managed to spot a pod of dolphins!!! wow they came really close to the boat and they jumped and everything! it was really exciting!!! but because they had their babies with them we could not swim with them for fear of disturbing their natural feeding habitat, esp when the babies needed to feed on their mothers 20 times a day!!! The HOle in the ROck was also a special place for the Maoris and we couldnt get on it but it was definitely worth seeing! and then we got to camp on a secluded white sand beach for our lunch too! altho started raining...again... heh

we wanted to go kayaking too but the weather was not too good at this time of the year...it can change from a sunny day to a rainy one in just minutes!! the clouds move so fast! so we settled for a tennis game instead! haha...my 1st tennis lesson...

but Paihia was also where the Waitangi Treaty was signed..its something like a document uniting the British and the Maori tribes in 1840 and allowed the Maoris to own and sell land. it was a historical thing for New Zealand and it was a great experience to wander through the places where all the historical events took place!

Bernard got really sick here though...upset stomach and a high fever but luckily he's muchbetter now...

then we were off to Opononi to see the mighty Kauri forests!! these Kauri trees also hold a great significance to the Maoris and in fact the oldest and the largest Kauri trees are found in the Waipoua forest here!!! the oldest tree is 4000 years old!!! 2000 years before the birth of Christ! and still living!! but the largest is considered the GOd of the Forest - Tane Mahuta and it stands at about 50m tall and needs 14 people to link hands around its girth (circumference)!!!! the night tour we went on to see these great trees was really enjoyable as we had these 2 Maori guides who could sing the Maori prayers and songs and tell us so much about the plant and animal life in the forest!! the tour is called Footprints Waipoua and its really highly recommended coz its really an interesting exp!!

and we also tried sand boarding here!! yay!! wat a cool experience!! basically you get on this really steep slope of sand and just slide down!! and for us, we slid straight into the sea!!! it wasnt too deep,...just the shoreline but it sure was fun! and we had the whole place to ourselves!! but climbing up the sand slopes were really tiring!! but worth it! i kept sliding off my board halfway down the slope though...either that or i would hit the beach below and roll into the sea!!! grrr...got myself all wet!! but bernard was wet too anyway...haha

and then we're now back in Auckland and next stop-- Waitomo caves where we're gg to try abseiling, flying fox, sliding down black holes and watching glow worms all underground in the caves!!! heh real;ly looking forward to it!! til the next time all...do take care!!

Farm Experience in Alexander (Melbourne) had a really good time there! click to view all the different farm animals with us!:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57218&l=9e17d&id=526670133

Canberra Experience esp in Floriade:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57222&l=134aa&id=526670133

hey all!!

haha guess where we r now? we're at the airport waitinfg for our flight n in e meantime i just decided to updaTE while we can!! hahaha...our flight is gonna b delayed anw.. thanks nana for sending us off just now! hehe we're waiting for our flight now! =p

canberra sure was fun!! though we stayed there for 2 days, we still didn't haf time to complete everything! e museum, questacon were fun!! wished we had time to stay longer coz we didn't complete it!! Floriade was really beautiful!! all the flowers of different colours and types fitting the different themes!! so pretty!! can check out the photos on our most updated photo links! and Leanna and her family really treated us very well!!!! we had such gd food to eat at your restaurant and thanks alot for taking time off your busy schedules to bring us around!! otherwise, we might have really had a hard time getting around! the next time you come to Spore or HK look us up k? when we are there la that is haha..

in SYdney, we met up with Nana and i think we're really lucky in that our friends' places are always either near the train/ bus station or equally accessible! Nana's place was only 10min away from Central station and though i may seem like i was complaining, haha i wasn't la nana! we had a great tiem in Sydney too! though the air seems more smoky than Canberra or any other place that we've been, the harbour views made up for that! Darling Harbour and SYdney harbour were both really pretty places! esp at Sunset! i thought Manly Beach was also very pretty! n great for surfing coz thje waves were always coming in strong n frothy! they even had mini-swimming pools beside the sea! and luckily we had nana around to show us all the good food to eat! Thai food was great and so convenient from your place! as well as the lovely n yummy Chocolate cafe (which i camn't rem the name of)..yummy dark chocolate ice-cream with a chocolate-coated cone too!! n lastly the Korean food at Da Chang Jin sure was good!! e hotpot had a very yummy unique taste and the beef was really good!! in fact anything that goes with that soup will b delicious~!!!

and then there was the 4 hour dinner that Bernard cooked up!! haha so typical of him!! we had oyster steak (highlight of the evening really!!!) anyone who hasn't tried it should really try!!! omg its really the best thing and its so easy to make! just cut a slit in the a nice fat piece of steak and stuff 3-4 raw oysters in..then fry the steak til its bout medium-rare..and the oysters will just be a little cooked...anad its done!! then the steak will be soo juicy and the oysters just perfect!!! we had it in a place in Tasmania- Hobart and we decided to try it ourselves! wasnt it a great meal nana? hehe...and then we had lotsa other seafood cooked in garlic butter, as well as chocolate fondue with strawberries and bananas for dessert!!! YUMMY!!! we started at 8.30pm and ended at 12am..haha luckily the dinner didnt last til the next day *wink* but thanks alot bernard for the great meal!!!

lastly, e airport is fantastic too! clean, convenient, efficient (except for the flight that we're on haha..but a little delay is ok for us) almost like Spore airport! except that of course Changi is better hehe...okie gotta go reply some emails now! tata!

END OF AUSSIE TRIP

OFF TO NEW ZEALAND - AUCKLAND!!!

PS-- we'll be back in Sydney after NZ from 11 Nov to 14 Nov! hopefully can meet up with you biaojie when we come back! Leanna you'll make a trip down too right? =)

then we were on to Melbourne-- the most multi-cultural city in Aussie! met up with Suwan there and stayed with her and Andrew in their very nice apt they had in Kensington! woah i love their apt! spacious enough for the both of you! (plus us too hehe) Thanks alot for letting us stayover for those few days!! and hey Andrew u're really a good cook! all those lively Chinese dishes were yummy! n a v welcome change fm the Aussie and instant food we've been having while hiking. and CONGRATS to Andrew and Suwan for getting married next year!!!

Federation Square, the war memorial and the shopping at the factory outlets were great! though i didn't do any shopping (coz o a lack of money hehe...much to Bernard's relief) it was still nice to do some window shopping in huge departmental stores again! we even dragged suwan and andrew along for a hiking trip with us in Cathedral Range State Park. though the hike up was pretty steep and long we finally made our way up n boy were the cars small and e view good!! heh we even saw some tiny sheep fm way up there! though we wanted to go to the Great Ocean Road, we couldn't coz of a lack of transport there...it was too faraway for them to drive there considering they had to work. Grampians was also skipped this time coz of a lack of time..sigh...Bernard really loves it there!

then it was off to the 1st farm experience of our lives!! there we met John and we had to care for his sheep, goats, cows and Shetland ponies while we were there! boy were those 4 days eventful!!! the 1st night when we had to feed the cows in the pitch dark, John drove his 4WD into the paddocks and after that John and Bernard started unloading the food. I stayed behind because wow the cows were huge and i couldnt see them! so scary!! all of a sudden, we heard the cows starting to run and the stampede was on!!! i didnt' know what to do..luckily i was standing beside the corner of the car and the cows all just ran past! bernard was not so lucky and by the time he turned, 10 cows were runnning at him!!! he turned and started to run...only to realise that he didn't need to because the cows were carrying him along!!! he got sandwiched betweent e 2 cows n boy was it a funny sight to laugh at (later of course heehee). Jihn also got trampled on but luckly his size saved him. turns out it was actually because of the dog that got out of the house and scared the cows in the dark. Normally, the cows will form a circle to intimidate the dog but since it was dark, they could not see and just followed their instinct to run!

the next day, we went to feed the goats and bernard decided to go into the pen to pat the goats while i took pictures. the next moment the old billy goat, Domino, started to ram him with his horns!!! at 1st Domino got his horns stuck in bernard's jacket pockets and that angered him further! the next blow got bernard hard and square on the butt!!! oh no...luckily bernard was already near the fence and got out before another blow came and also Domino's horns were already cut off in the middle so they were not tt sharp. Still it hurt but not as much as it would have been. in the afternoon, we suddenly realisaed that the door to the house had been blown open again!!! Jack (the dog) had disappeared and he had a strong instinct to kill small animals incl the sheep walking around the house. We finally found Jack but i noticed that there was some blood around his mouth. oh no!! to our horror we realiased that he really did attack one of the sheep and now she has a gaping wound on her neck. we didn't know what to do...if we should call the farmer or not. but 2 hours later, John came back saying he had a bad feeling that someting had happened. the first time i use my 1st aid skills in real life was on this sheep! we sprayed some anasthetic on the wound and used our roller bandage to wrap round the wound on her neck. she was in deep shockl and would not eat anything at all. it was really a sad sight.

after that we found tt the water tank was leaking!!! and all our water comes from there!! the skies started drizzling and it was cold n wet. but still we had to fix the tank! bernard was the only one who could crawl up and down the ladder into the tank and he was desperately trying to find the hole (while i was patting the shetland ponies outside...hehe hey! there wasnt anything that i could do!) finally i traced back the water source n suddenly realised that the hole was on the outside of the tank n not the inside!! it was a huge hole!! but by the time we patched it up it had already stopped raiuning!!! =( n so as u can guess, we had no water until it next rained. all the taps were dry!! luckily we had a well at the back of the house but that was used to cooking and cleaning. all these were so new to us...and we are definitely gratefuyl for this experience! John also taught me how to overcome my long-ingrained fear of dogs!!! i'm so proud of myself now that i can pat dogs and not shy away from them anymore! i'm not helpless around dogs anymore!! John was a great host and had travelled to many many oplaces all around the world too! we learnt much from him and would love to visit him again sometime in the future--- just to see all his animals!

then it was off to Tassie!!! the most beautiful place in Aussie scenery wise! 1st stop - Launceston! somehow this town also gave me a really nice refreshing feeling, the small shops, the lack of smokers and the greenery around were really pretty! Cradle mountains were next!! we went round Dove lake to take in better views of the mountain and despite the bad weather forecast for snow the next day, we pushed on to climb Marion's Lookout. Luckily we had about 2-3 minutes of fantastic views up there of all the lakjes and cradle mountain itself before it clouded over and started to rain hail!! going down was a pretty painful experience esp when u had to face the winds face-on while going down...luckily for my sister's windbreaker, otherwise the other parts of my face would be stinging tooo! that was also the 1st time my hands freezed til they were so painful!! but the gloves definitely helped alot!! next was Strauhan and then to Hobart and Port Arthur -- the oldest prison in Australia where the buildlings are still standing. we spent 2 days there to cov er the whole place and to take in all the history! fantastic! a friend of ours also gave us a lift to see the Tasman Arch, the Blowhole and Devil's Peak...all of which were terrific geographical structures, formed over the years! next it was Freycinet National Park to see the famous Wine Glass Bay...beautiful blue waters surrounded by a perfect arch of white sand. it was breathtaking to see the exact same thing you always see in postcards. then it was back to Launceston before flying back to Melbourne for one ngiht

Canberra and Sydney in the next post newxt time! i'm really too tired! but a special thanks to Leanna and her family as well as Diana for letting us stay at their places!! We really appreciate your kindness lots!! n its great to see all of you after soo long!!

oh my gosh!! i can't believe i've not updated since JATBULA TRAIL!! after that was Alice Springs and the all-famous Uluru rock and Kata Tjuta. really pretty!! and i learnt alot abouty the Aboriginal culture and traditions. Both of us didn't think it was a good idea to climb Uluru because its a sacred rock to the Aborigines and it would be klike someone climbing a church or a mosque. Nevertheless, many ppl still attempted the very dangerous, steep and high climb, with just the aid of a metal chain.. pretty terrifying i would say. Sunset and sunrise at Uluru were fantastic and really worth getting up fo (even though the temp at 5am in the early morning was like 5 deg!!! luckly in our tent we were still not tt cold). Check out the pictures online for those 2 attractions! the Valley of the Winds walk in kata Tjuta is really well worth doing though it was quite steep n slippery in places too. beautiful views from both the lookouts!

after that we went to many interesting places down the Oodnadatta track (by greyhound bus of course) like Coober Pedy where they live in underground houses called dugouts. Coober pedy is famous for opal mining!! its the biggest opal minig place on earth! and as u can imagine there's lots o dust, the weather is hot n dry in the day n freezing cold at night. So dugouts are a really good idea coz living underground, u can to stay at 25 deg all e time! how cool is that? n they plan their own home too..sometimes undertaking repairs by themselves tooo! event he church and shops r all underground! as well as our hostel...it definitely was a cool experience living in a huge maze o tunnels and caves!

after that we were finally back to civilisation when we reached Adelaide and met up with Bernard's cousin, Ethel. we had a great time in Adelaide and in fact i personally really like it there because its not too quiet yet, the air is fresh and there's not too many ppl around. the weather was not too cold too at that time and probably doesn't fluctuate that much. its a lovely place with sunset watching at Glenelg, PORT Adelaide i spent my birthday there tooo!!! thanks alot to Ethel and Keevan's sister for bakign the cake for me!! from scratch! it was lovely! n thanks to Keevan for helping to "decorate" the cake! =p n bernard too for telling me that there's a frog in the kitchen to lure me there from the room! Thanks alot Ethel for accommodating us in your room and disturbing your slp!! we really appreciate it!

then we were on to do more WWOOFing at Julia's house...not too good experience considering that we had to bathe in outdoor showers (with icy cold water..as in really icy cold not Spore kinda cold water and the cold wind blowing at times with no curtains whatsoever) and having to take our meals to our seperate Japanese shed to eat. THough the accommodation wasn't too bad it was definitely cold even under the blanket, until we realised the electric blanket. had to do lotsa weeding and didn't get to interaact much with the family at all. so it wasn't such a good experience. but nevertheless the houses around were quite big and pretty!

Still alive, after the 5 day hike, 66km. 5 days of no bathing, but honestly this trail was really pretty because we always had a water source at every chefckpoint for the day, so that we can bathe in (though no soap can be used for fear of contaminating the water) but it was good to cool off in.

the track was quite an eye opener for me because this was the 1st time that i carried a backpack and hiked. in Yellowstone previously or even once in HK, it was just with a water bottle. carrying a backpack really lets u train ur balancing skills! haha...though i was not very successful all the time because there were still times that i stepped into rivers or muddy places and got my foot soaked...it was all part of the fun. i guess i'm learning how to get better footing along the way,so yeah everything is a new experience!

luckily we could leave some of our things (esp the winter clothings) at the hostel and only carried the things we needed. backpack would prob have been less than 10kg. i also got a souvenir walking stick along the way haha. it really helped me out when we had to cross rivers on tree logs, muddy swamps and the like. balancing is really hard with a backpack on your back!!

more photos of the track and the all beautiful rapids will be posted up when we get the time and internet!

for now, we'll be going on to alice springs to see the legendary uluru rock. heard its really pretty during sunset! u can check it out on the internet too. will also be doing the Larapinta trail there too but not the whole track (coz it lasts for 2 weeks and my stamina is not that good) but yup the trip has been really going well so far.

oh and a sidenote, i also met my primary school friend at edith falls at Katherine when i got back from my trek! haha such a small world!

Bernard here!

Apparently there was some problems with uploading on photobucket so I've decided to put up links to my Facebook albums for now. Enjoy!

Darwin to Mary River Park
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40636&l=e6e0a&id=526670133

Kakadu National Park to Palmerston
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40646&l=6b720&id=526670133

hey all!

heh this is me (lynette) again...at my next WWOOFing place...but the place here is really slack! we don't have much to do except weeding and more weeding...even when we offered to help out with the dishes they complimented us already haha...and we have a seperate place to live, and its like a great apartment! it has a kitchen, toilet with shower, dining place, TV, DVD player and aircon! its so different from Mary River Park where we went previously.

we're staying with a family and they have 2 cute kids aged 5 and 6 years. the younger one is really sweet and adorable, he has a very helpful nature (kinda like my booboohead haha...) whereas the older girl is more bossy..but sometimes they do get along and play well with each other. i think they're really happy kids..they don't have much homework or anything to do, and their parents just let them be most of the time. you can see them just having fun as kids should enjoy. =) they're currently swimming in the pool now...and they even have a small playground of their own too, with a sandpit and swings...

i'm really bitten all over by mozzies (mosquitoes) though...all over my legs and hands, they look quite horrible...but i guess its alright, after using the wan neng gao (some chinese cream that can cure everything) it got a little better, less itchy...apparently the angmoh creams and anti-itch stuff don't really work as well... bernard also got bitten alot but his bites are smaller and on his feet, whereas mine is all over...it kinda looks like i've got measles.. ha..

bernard wanted to walk to the shopping centre to get some groceries for cooking tonight's dinner...he should be back soon i guess...the supermarket is always his favourite place...i stayed back to do some weeding but since its too hot to do some now..so i guess i can use the internet =p just to update abit on us...

we'll leave here on Friday and then the real trekking will start...hopefully we can leave some of our stuff near our starting point because i think there's too much in our backpack at the moment...we'll see how it goes..hopefully the mozzies go away too but i think they will as we go down south because it'll be drier and colder...

i guess that's all for now...how's everyone doing at home? =)

haha this is me, lynette, writing... we decided that maybe the both of us could write diff posts so that readers can read diff perspectives..though i gotta keep to the time too...its gd that we haf free internet here though.. =p

hrmm in the past 2 weeks we've worked at our first job at a tourist park in Mary River, it was kind tougher than i thought...we had to clean out the cabins and wash the endless dishes.,.thought he British guy working with us did a really gd job of helping us out in everything...

basically it was waking up at 8am working til 1pm...then have our lunch (which are usu leftovers from yesterday's dinner...which was actually still good because Ross the cook, cooks great dishes!!! ) after that its relax time til after dinner when we had to wash up...something like tt...we had stuff like steak, lamb shanks in red wine, prawns,some crayfish called Morton Bay's Bugs, just to name a few!! haha really great!

and the perks of working in a tourist park is ....cleaning the cabins (haha! not funni...) ...just kidding... is going for the sunset crocodile cruises for FREE!!! hahaha we went 3 times! it was great! everytime the sunset was so beautiful!

anw i tink the internet is gonna shut down soon!

the tour at kakadu natl park was really great too!! coz we got to really experience how the aborigines gathered their food, dig such a deep hole just for a small piece of long yam...dig arnd in the mud but couldnt find any mussels =( but in e end o course we didnt starve...we had crocodile, wild pig, goose, mussels, yam, sweet potatoes, buffalo, for dinner cooked over the mudfile wrapped in paper bark! hahaha really exotic...

anw gotta go coz this place is closing! upload the photos when we can! take care everyone at home family n friends!

love,
lynette and bernard