One Week Down...22 Weeks to Go!!!

Us at Darling Harbour

Our last few days in Sydney were...very hot; well Saturday was at least. A new temperature record was set for Sydney that day, and we heard that the city hadn't experienced a heat wave like it did from Feb.1-Feb.5 since 1858 (which is when the records began). The exact five days we were there, great. For the most part, we just stayed in our hostel that day trying to survive the heat. We went to get some lunch at one point, and as soon as we walked outside it was almost hard to breath. We opted to wait until the sun started to set before we ventured out into the city, and even after dark it was still over 30 degrees. Despite the heat, we had a great night. Took the ferry over to Darling Harbour and walked through Cockle Bay Warf. A very happening place at night, and it looked great all lit up. After a bit of walking, we decided to split a pizza and enjoy a couple beers at a restaurant along the water. I can't tell you how great those cold beers were!

We woke up Sunday morning after the hottest, worst sleep I think I have ever had in my life. It literally felt like we were sleeping in a sauna; stepping outside into the fresh air in the morning was amazing. I skyped home to my family and was able to see everyone, (even Shadow!) which was so great. I loved being able to talk to everyone and see the inside of my house, I miss them all so much already! We checked out of our hostel around 11 am, stored our bags, and then headed back into the city one more time. At the last minute, we decided to take the ferry over to Toronga Zoo and cough up the $30 entrance fee...totally worth it!! Blew my expecations out of the water! We saw koalas and kangaroos, a platypus (Keith was very excited), a komodo dragon, wombats, giraffes, zebras, baby elephants, mini hippos, penguins, emus and more! We even walked in an enclosure with wallabies and got right up close to them. The view back onto the Sydney Harbour was great as well. It was a really fun day, until I got bit or stung by a caterpillar. I didn't even know caterpillars could do either! Just my luck of course. The bite immediately swelled up and turned white, but we asked a staff member who said to treat it just like a mosquito bite. Great, another one of those. Luckily this happened just as we were about to leave, and it had started to rain and turn very windy too. We took the ferry back, grabbed our bags from the hostel and shared a cab with a couple of American girls to the airport. Our flight was delayed almost two hours, so we didn't arrive in Auckland until 2:30 in the morning. We ended up taking a shuttle bus to our hostel, where we found the owner waiting for us to check in! Such a nice man, and a great hostel and location.

One Tree Hill

Woke up this morning around 10:30 after an incredible sleep in a normal temperature room. At that point, I could tell I was already going to love New Zealand. After showers and a free breakfast, we walked down Queen Street to the harbour. Along the way we stopped at a department store to buy a couple of cheap sleeping bags, sleeping mats and a cooler. The total came to $70.00, which is only about $55.00 Canadian. Pretty good deal! Then we lugged it all back to our hostel, and had a quick lunch. Next, we walked back to the harbour - to the starting point of the 16 km Coast-to-Coast Auckland Walk. It was amazing!! It took us just over four hours, including a few stops and wrong turns; and it was a fantastic way to see the city. There were posted signs along the way, but they were sometimes hard to spot, which made it kind of fun. We walked through several beautiful parks, the University of Auckland, up to the top of Mt. Eden and to One Tree Hill (the hill that inspired U2's Joshua Tree). The views from those two hills were incredible, tiring climbs though. We had so much fun on this walk together, just talking, laughing and taking pictures along the way. My favourite day of the trip so far for sure. Finally arrived at the finish point around 8 pm, and then found our way to a bus that would take us back downtown. Back at our hostel, we cooked some pasta for dinner and enjoyed a few beers while planning our upcoming road trip and meeting some other travellers. Everyone has long gone to bed, it's 1 am right now and we are the last ones standing. Tomorrow morning we pick up our car and are planning on heading south. I am soo excited for these next few weeks, I really think we are going to fall in love with this country! Bed time now, good night!