Australia

I made it!
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Ever since the scorching heat of India (110 degrees to be exact, in case you forgot!) Morgan and I have been counting down the days until the brisk cool air of winter in Sydney.  The countdown is over and we are here!  We walked off the plane Friday afternoon smiling from ear to ear thankful that our Patagonia fleeces, rain jackets and all the other winter paraphernalia we had been lugging around for the past 3 1/2 months would finally come in handy.  We arrived on an absolutely beautiful day - the sun was out and the sky was clear.  We quickly made it to our hostel (yes we were staying in our first "hostel" of the trip - quite the backpackers, right?), unpacked a bit and headed out to explore the city on foot.  The day ended up being a little shorter than expected as we were both a bit tired after the red-eye from Bali but we managed to get our bearings on the city.

The Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge in the background.
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Our first real day of sightseeing in Sydney was fabulous!  We started with a great brunch right near the harbor in an area called The Rocks.  With both of us ordering poached eggs and a vanilla chai latte, we felt as though we were officially back to Western Civilization.  In all honesty, it was a great feeling!  We spent much of the morning walking around the harbor, checking out the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, and taking millions of photos.  When we got to the Opera House to tour it we were faced with a very difficult decision - we could each pay $35 to take a tour or roughly $100 each to go see a practically sold-out show that had only 3 seats left for the final performance.  Now with our budget officially thrown out the window (movie tickets are $36 here) we decided to go with the latter option.  Within two hours we were seated in the 8th row left center stage watching the London crew perform "Edward Scissorhands."  After about 10 minutes of the production, I leaned over to Morgan and whispered "Is there any talking in this show?"  I guess the part that neither of us had realized when we purchased these tickets was that this was a silent show backed by some wonderful music (without any sort of singing along!).  I ended up loving the show but I think Morgan was more than ready to head out of there after the two hours.  Our Saturday ended back in the neighborhood of our hostel, Kings Cross, where we were able to find some delicious Mexican food for the first time in four months. All in all a great first day down under!

One of our favorite little friends at the aquarium.
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We spent the majority of Sunday dodging the rain - luckily we have those rain jackets!  The highlight of the day was most definitely our two hours (ok maybe three?) spent at the Sydney Aquarium.  It was incredible.  It took us both back to the days of being in middle school and taking field trips to zoos, wildlife parks and the like.  We were the oldest people by about 20 years without children but we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.  The sharks were the highlight!

For all us idiot American travelers who forget to look left . . . I fully admit to it.
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Early Monday morning we were off to Cairns, a three hour plane ride north of Sydney.  We were planning to spend the week partaking in various adventure activities such as sky-diving (much to my father's chagrin), white water rafting, bungee jumping and scuba-diving on the great barrier reef.  Unfortunately, on Monday afternoon, Morgan received the incredibly sad news that his Grandfather had passed and booked the first flight back to the States.  It was a very sad goodbye and one that came much quicker than either of us imagined.  Without Morgan the trip would most definitely not be the same. I mustered up all the energy I could and charged on determined to figure out how one does this traveling thing alone.

Our very emotional goodbye . . .
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In order to take my mind off the fact that I had lost my traveling partner, I went on a wild adventure up to Cape York, the northernmost tip of Australia.  Normally this type of trek takes 7 days from Cairns in a 4WD vehicle.  Given the fact that I did not have 7 days, I opted for the day trip via an 8 seater, 421 Cessna private plane.  It was an amazing day!  I was the only non-Australian on this adventure and the locals were all shocked that an American would take on such a day - I did not really know how to respond to that one.  We flew at very low altitude the entire way with Greg, the pilot, showing us the coast line and the different ocean reefs.  It is remarkable how much you can see flying at 10,000 feet.  We soon landed at an airport in the middle of nowhere and were met by Rue (our local aboriginal guide) for an exciting 4WD journey up to the tip where we got out and hiked about 1,000 meters to get to the actual point.  It just so happened that a group of cyclists who had biked up from Cairns (1200km, 17 days later) had just arrived as well.  Needless to say, it was quite competitive to get any good photographs!  After experiencing the northernmost tip of the Australian continent, we had a quick bite to eat and then boarded the plane to head back to Cairns seeing new sights the entire way home.  It was a once in a lifetime experience.  The only part missing, of course, was Morgan!

Right before jetting off in my 421 Cessna!
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I spent the next few days in Cairns nursing an illness that was apparently caused by something I drank or ate in Bali.  Not so sure what it was but the doctor in Cairns filled me up on meds and Mom Tinsley came to the rescue with a reservation at the nicest hotel in town and a hotel general manger that made it his mission to make sure I was comfortable!  I came back to Sydney for the weekend before I head off to New Zealand.  Just enjoyed the absolutely most beautiful two days, touring the Government House, walking around the Harbour, brunching with the locals, shopping and sitting outside soaking in the sun while reading a good book.  I am off to Wellington, NZ tonight where Morgan rejoins the trip and I get to see Betsy, one of my closest friends from home!  It is our last stop along this crazy adventure and I have very high hopes it will be the best.