Australia - Round 2

Sunday, December 6 continued. The flight from KL to Coolangatta went by pretty quickly. I watched two movies, Julie & Julia (which I had been wanting to see) and Four Christmas'. Immigration in Australia was a bit intense as we were asked a number of questions about our travels. In customs we had many items inspected for bugs. After picking up our rental car we headed to the apartment where we would be spending the night – a short 10 minute drive from the airport. The apartment had a washer and dryer and it was nice to be able to do our own laundry. It was pretty late by the time we settled in, so after doing some laundry we called it a night. It was nice to be back in a country where everyone could understand you and you could understand them and where you didn't have to worry about what kind of toilet you would encounter when you entered a bathroom and whether there would be toilet paper.

Monday, December 7. After finishing up some laundry we hit the road for a short hour drive to Brisbane. We had the day to kill, so we figured what better spot to spend it than in Brisbane. We went to the CBD (Central Business District) where I hit a Target and ran a few errands. We then crossed the river and wandered along the South Bank – a very scenic spot with great views of the city, a nice river walk and a huge lagoon where Keith and I soaked our feet for a bit. We then headed back to the CBD to have lunch at one of our favorite spots JoJos. We gluttonously both ordered pumpkin spinach ravioli with chocolate mousse for dessert. Next stop was the airport for a short hour flight to Sydney. On the flight from Brisbane to Sydney Keith and determined that we were on our 18th flight so far (just a quick run down: (1) Boston to Los Angeles, (2) Los Angeles to Melbourne, Australia, (3) Adelaide, Australia to Perth, Australia, (4) Perth Australia to Ayres Rock, Australia, (5) Alice Springs, Australia to Cairns, Australia, (6) Sydney, Australia to Phuket, Thailand, (7) Phuket, Thailand to Bangkok, Thailand, (8) Bangkok, Thailand to Ko Samui, Thailand, (9) Surat Thai, Thailand to Bangkok, Thailand, (10) Bangkok, Thailand to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, (11) Siem Reap, Cambodia to Vientiane, Laos, (12) Vientaine, Laos to Luang Prabang, Laos, (13) Luang Prabang, Laos to Bangkok, Thailand, (14) Bangkok, Thailand to Bali, Indonesia, (15) Bali, Indonesia to Lombok, Indonesia, (16) Bali, Indonesia to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, (17) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Coolangatta, Australia and (18) Brisbane, Australia to Sydney, Australia). Anyway, we arrived in Sydney hopped in a taxi and headed to our apartment. We liked the place we had stayed in last time we were in Sydney so we decided to stay there again. It was 10:00 pm or so by the time we arrived. I quickly ran out to the grocery store to grab some provision and then called it a night.

Tuesday, December 8. Today was a day of bike riding. We had signed up to do a bike tour of Sydney. The company was owned by Mike, the friend of the friend we had gone out drinking with in Melbourne. When we got to the shop, Mike unexpectedly was there. It was nice to see a familiar face! After chatting with Mike for a few minutes, we were off on our bike tour with Dave, our guide, and a cheery couple from London. It about a 5 hour tour – not exactly what Keith and I had expected. The weather was perfect though – sunny, very little humidity (at least compared to Southeast Asia) with a light breeze. The tour itself was great. We biked all through Sydney, seeing all of the major attractions. Though we had seen many of the sights before, it had been cloudy and overcast and we had been on foot. It was a completely different experience being on a bike with the sun shining. The highlight of the tour (at least for me) was getting to bike across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Our guide was quite knowledgeable and it addition to seeing the sight, we got hear a little about the history. After five or so hours, the tour was finished. We were sad to see the tour come to an end, but our asses were happy to be getting off the bikes! We bid farewell to Mike (we had hoped to meet up with him for dinner, but sadly he already had plans, though we did make plans to meet up in Melbourne). Keith and I headed off in different directions. I had a few errands I needed to run. The rest of the day was spent trying to figure out somewhat of a plan for New Zealand. Up until now we hadn't really spent much time planning our time in New Zealand, so now it was crunch time. After booking a few accommodations and getting some sense of where we wanted to go, we called it a night.

Wednesday, December 9. Once again travel day – destination Christchurch, New Zealand. We had a little bit of time to kill before heading to the airport so we started off the day going to Paddy's Market. We picked up a few more souvenirs and then headed to the post office to mail a few things home. We then made our way to the Sydney Opera House. We had hoped to go on a tour of the Opera House, but by the time we got there, it was looking like we were going to run out of time before we needed to head to the airport – so instead we had lunch at McDonald's and I got a much needed haircut. We headed off to the airport in the near death airport shuttle. The driver was very aggressive and had no qualms about hollering names to other drivers. I was relieved to make it to the airport in one piece. So Keith and I took our 19th flight so far – a three hour journey to Christchurch, New Zealand. More on New Zealand later....