Outwit Outplay Outlast... Survivor Fraser Island

Sorry for taking so long to update the blog, just haven't been in the mood these past few days. But I just wouldn't be doing my little camping trip to Fraser Island or my fellow 'Goonies' justice if I didn't write a bit about our crazy 3 day adventure....

1 4WD van with leaky windows and doors that have built in ventilation A.K.A doors don't actually shut completely. 2 gas burners. 3 leaking eskies (coolers in american). 4 leaking tents (are we beginning to see a trend here). 5 boxes of 4 litre of sweet white Goon - cheap ozzie boxed wine. A bunch of other bits and bobs and most importantly 11 campers (5 Germans, 4 Brits, 1 Canadian and Yours Truly.

The way the camping trip worked was that we were placed in groups of 11 in 4 vans. Given the gear and map with tide times and told to go for it. Just that morning when I'd arrived into Hervey Bay i'd met a guy who had just finished the Frasier Island trip and didn't look too happy. He was also travelling alone and got stuck with a bunch of university students whose idea of visiting frasier island consisted of drinking all night and sleeping in till 1pm. So I was a bit nervous about who i was going to get stuck with.

The gods must have been smiling down on me because 6 people who i had met during the whitsunday sailing trip were also staying at Koala's and had signed up for the camping trip (Cameron, Nina, Saghi, Stephen, Daniel, Bernd). Add to that Georgina, Adam, Rich (sometimes called James) Sam and I was able to sigh with relief.

After paying all of the hidden fees (fuel, ferry, deposits etc) we were told that in Big Brother style we all had to buy our groceries/meat as a group. Not exactly my idea of a good way for 11 strangers to bond but we got through it.

I just wrote the rest of this blog - in detail describing the 3 day's events - took me like 2 hours. something has just erased it. so i'm left with the above. i'll come back to it someday. told you i wasn't in the mood. sorry.

The most beautiful beach on earth

July 18th Monday Airlie Beach

I've got a few minutes before I have to catch an overnight bus to Hervey Bay and just needed to tell you about the absolutely gorgeous 3 days i've had. I was scheduled for a 3 day sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands staying 2 nights at a lovely little resort on the island of South Molle.

The weather was lovely, a bit chilly at night but lovely during the day. Our first day consisted of the 2-3 hour sail out there a bit of chill time (free golf course, tennis court, massive pool and waterfall jaccouzi) and then dinner at our private beach front bar.

The next day we went to what has been given the title as 'Australia's best beach' and one of the world's top 10 beaches. Whithaven island. Only a few kilometers long the sands on this island are a blinding white made 98% of silica which made it as soft as silk! On the way home we were accompanied by some dolphins and were even able to spot a whale in the distance!

Our final morning they had us get up early again (quarter to 7) for breakfast and then a 2 hour sail to one of the best spots on this part of the Great Barrier Reef for some snorkeling. The water was a bright aqua sea foam and the fishes looked like neon signs found all over the red light district of shinjuku in Tokyo. The best bit had to have been spotting 'Elvis' a massive rass? fish about 2-3 meters long - quite friendly :)

its been a great relaxing few days and I am now stoked to be heading out to Frasier Island - the world's largest 'All Sand Island' for 3 days of camping and awesome 4 wheel drive treks (no paved roads on the island)

More on that later


P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARSHINI!!!!!

Change of Pace

After a quick stop in sydney at Ron and Marea's I flew out Monday up to Cairns, up to the sunshine and warmth!

Warm weather and sunny days at beach was a sure sign that my travels through Australia were going to be quite the opposite of New Zealand. I've traded in my snowboard for a bike, my eskimo jacket for a bikini.

Unfortunately this little tour package I'd bought with the Oz Experience Hop on/Hop off bus was not exactly what I had in mind, nor was I ever told of how it really worked. You had to stay overnight in every stop they made and busses didn't leave everyday. Which meant that in order to do things my way I've had to purchase an extra bus ticket via Greyhound as well as an extra flight. Well, i've done my whinging about it and have decided to sit back and just enjoy it.

My full day in Cairns before the tour started consisted of a 30k bike ride through the rainforest visiting the mila mila falls, elingaa falls, and some others.

Wednesday was the first day I had to pick up the Oz bus. First stop - the crocodile farm! Now the owner, Mike, was no Steve Erwin but he definitely had the scars and broken bones to prove he'd spent some time with the crocks. The best thing about this place though was the kangaroos and wallabees which you were allowed to walk freely around and feed. Even got to see a couple of joeys in their mother's pouches!

The next stop was Mission Beach, a lazy little beach town. I had decided to not stay at the accomodations the Oz bus usually booked people into and based on a little info in my Lonely Planet selected the Treehouse YHA. After a quick drive up the side of the cliff up a very steep hill stood a massive tree house in the middle of rain forest. This place was perfectly zen. Saint Germaine playing (you can hear it from any where in the place - it is a treehouse after all) softly in the background. With the cool breeze flowing in, sounds of the rainforest coming alive at night and a warm blanket I slept like a baby. First night of really good sleep i've had in a long time

Thursday we headed towards Magnetic Island, where I am at the moment. After the previous night of calm I was up for a little more life and the Base Backpackers here was exactly that. We got in around 2 and headed straight for the top of the island to try our luck at spotting some koalas in the wild. Pretty chuffed, I spotted 2, including a little baby sleeping on one of the lower branches of a tree.

By the time the walk was over it was around 5 and the sun was starting to set. Up till now I hadn't gone in the water, not at the lake or the waterfalls. Seemed a bit rude not to take a dip into the ocean. Plus I thought you guys back home who would have jumped in as soon as you got there. It was damn cold but totally exhilerating :) The rest of the evening was spent at the bar/lounge with its ocean views - sort of reminded me of my trip to Ko Samet Thailand - partying under the stars.

Got up early this morning walked around the island, had me some breakfast and will soon be catching the bus to Airlie Beach where I will get to head out the Whitsunday Islands for some sailing

2 Browngirls and a White Boy

i was fortunate enough to have friends to stay with while visiting Melbourne. Dave and Nalini, good friends of Chris's, lived in a beautiful apartment looking out onto the beach in St. Kilda, Melbourne. I could not have asked for better hosts :) I was doubly lucky that Dave who had just finished up with his contract with Telstra was now available to play tour guide during the day. (Poor Nals was bombarded at work)

Based on the many opinions I've come across, people either love it or hate it. I realized immediately that I fell into the 'love it' crew. With just the right amount of unique style, cafes, shops, Melbourne was everything Sydney wasn't. I mean don't get me wrong I love Sydney, the beaches are absolutely beautiful and the people are friendly, but Melbourne just reminded me of a beautiful cool, crisp autumn day in New York. Walking around Melbourne I wanted nothing more then to sit with a cup of hot apple cider watching the world walk by.

The past 3 days were filled with good eats, good drinks and even better company.

Dave and Nalini, Thank you guys for showing me such a fabulous time and making me feel as if I'd known you for years. Have a fabulous time on your travels through China. Congratulations and Best of Luck with the Wedding :) Make sure to send pictures!

big hugs,
Lopa

p.s Dave the gujarati word for Monkey (no its not Nalini) is vandro ('vahn-droh' or something like that) Nalini's going to have to help you with pronunciation

The Road to Oz

....was a bit bumpy to say the least. My last night in Queenstown, last night in New Zealand (or so I thought) was amazing. Emma arrived into town and we met up for dinner and drinks. The Mardi Gras Party started and the streets were filled with people in masks, costumes and just having a great time. The New Zealand band, The Black Seeds, came on stage and the whole place went crazy dancing around. All evening and at all hours of the night memories of the different places I visited in NZ came to mind as I bumped into people I had stayed with in hostels, spoken with on busses, or just seen while travelling. We add all somehow ended up in Queenstown.

The next morning i woke up, got to the airport and learned that all flights out of QT were cancelled due to smog/mist/fog etc. So in order to get its passengers to Christchurch (from where i was to catch my flight to Australia) they boarded us on a bus. Instead of a 1 hour flight with minor turbulance, i got a 7 hour trip filled with sheep (we had to stop a few times for the masses to cross the road).

Qantas was nice enough to reschedule me on the first flight out of Christchurch to Melbourne since i was going to miss my 2:30 flight. Great - first class in a direct flight, things were looking up. Of course there was the small issue of where to sleep. Flashbacks of Bangkok airport came into my head. Didn't think I would have to sleep in airports atleast until i'd entered asia. Wish I had checked out
The Sleeping In Airports Website
to see how Christchurch rated. Well now I can add my review to the site.

CC airport has those chairs where they are connected 5 in a row, but luckily not the kind where there's like 4 inches of space in between each one. This meant that all I had to do was have two rows slightly staggered facing each other and I had myself a comfortable twin sized bed. With one row against the wall and right around the corner from an electrical outlet I was able to charge my ipod as it lulled me to sleep, taking comfort in the fact that nobody would be able to jack my stuff as I had my pack under the two rows protected from any grabby hands.

I woke up to the sound of agents clicking on computer hopped into line and headed over to the Qantas lounge for a little breakfast. After a lovely flight I was finally in Australia!

London Bombings

Vipul, Sapna, Amit, Jay, anyone please let me know that you, everyone in our families, our friends are okay

Love you.

Can you Walk the Walk?

Tuesday July 5th 2005 (happy 4th of July!) 1:30pm

I was pretty confident I could. I mean hey i've jumped out of a plane - twice! You just have to get over the fear your mind creates and not think - just do it. This and a bunch of other mumbo-jumbo was what I and the other virgin-bunjee jumpers were saying to each other as we took our 20 minute van ride up the side of a mountain where a harness, a canyon and and an ever so faithful? bungee cord.

After a pretty scary ride up (no guard rails on these dirt roads)we walked along a path to the first little station. 'Okay guys just a few things before we push, I mean you jump off the edge' said our driver, Pinkey. 'First we have to sign consent forms'. They basically went like this...

"Shotover canyon swing will not be held liable for any damage, injury, caused to us regardless of due to negligence on their part or due to equipment failure. Nor would they be held accountable for any trauma that might be caused to friends and family from shock of watching us jump"

Umm... no high BP, no asthma, no heart condition, no family or friends to cause trauma to - think I'm good. So I sign my life away. At this point I'm still okay - butterflies are flying up a storm in my stomach but i still want to do this. Being the only girl in my group i wanted to prove to myself that this was a piece of cake - be first person out on the ledge.

So we walk down another pathway along side the canyon to the jumping station. I'm asked to step into my full body harness (I like the sound of this), straps tightened around my waist, shoulders and legs. 'Who's going first?' Ahh here's my chance - 'I'll go'. Pinky looks at me with a raise of the eyebrow ' you sure, don't want to watch someone else go?'

'NO.'

I'm hooked up to a line connected to the side of the station and am asked to walk forward. Hmmm funny, I used to be able to walk like a 26 yr old - now i seem to barely be able to shuffle like an 85 yr old.

Shuffling my way to the end of the line I turn my body and there less then 2 ft away from me is the edge and 109 meters from the bottom of the canyon. The only thing separating us was a little rope across the front of the platform.

'Okay so i'm going to unclamp you to the line and hook on the cord. There you go. Okay now place both hands on the blue part of the cord at your waist. Lopa, both hands'

Both hands, I think to myself, I have both hands on the cord. I look down to my right. How'd my hand get a hold of this metal pole. okay let go hand. it doesn't budge. Sorry guys it won't let go, guess i can't jump. 'Really I don't think i want to do this'. I look out in front of me see the ravine flowing below me - 'Really don't think this is for me, how about someone else go first'. dude what was happening to me, i was negotiating as if they were forcing me to jump off a 109 meter cliff and free fall for 60meters towards the bottom of the canyon at 150 km/h.

I swear i was going to crap myself. Pinky looked at me, 'hey i'll ease you into this, just get your toes to the edge'. I shuffle a few inches. 'But you have to let go of the rail and place both hands on the cord.' i shuffle some more, moving my hand for just a second to get around him and hold on yet again to the rail.

'Okay are you going to do this or not, cause we've got another bus coming its now or never.' Oh come on now be nice really have some manners I know i have to do this - don't I?. 'So can i sit on the ledge and push off?' 'A foot is not going to make a difference hon'. Great

I shuffle forward some more i'm pretty much at the edge both toes slightly hanging over. Damn it that right hand of mine is holding on for dear life. Pinkys still got a hold of the cord but if he lets go (it is heavy) the cord will just drag me. 'Okay hold on to the blue part of the cord and kneel down and forward'

I'm nodding my head releasing and regripping the rail like i have a tick. Oh lord stop being a baby and just do it girl. I slowly let go of the rail completely free of any crutch

Okay

here goes....

AAHHHHHHHHOHMYF*%&ING GODholycrapMotherofGOD$(%()&#(@*&!!!!!!!!!WOOHOO

For a few seconds I was soaring through the air with nothing preventing me from splashing straight into the river until the cord pulled tight and I started to swing. Swoop - Ha that was nothing, skydiving - piece of cake. Nothing i have done up to today has ever scared me and made me feel so free the way stepping off that cliff just did

Will i ever do it again? never. scratch that, i've still got 8 months on this trip. never say never

Franz Josef Glacier

New Zealand has thousands of glaciers. What makes Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers so special is that they are 2 of the only 3 in the world to exist within rainforest. Under what would be considered less then ideal surroundings these glaciers due to their location in lattitude and along the Alpine Fault Line. The intersection of the eastern and western plates along this line pushes the gravel up and forms the New Zealand Southern Alps. As the windflow of the 'roaring forties' moves up the mountains it causes the clouds to drop huge amounts of rain and snow - creating a glacier. Becuase of these climate conditions and amount of ice turnover Franz Josef moves at a faster rate than the average glacier.

The Maori name for Franz Josef - Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere, means the Tears of the Avalanche girl

Legend has it that Hine, an adventurous Maori girl loved mountaineering fell in love with a young man. Her father dissapproved and in order to see each other she would bring him into the mountains. The young man was not a very good climber but was proud and on one such encounter slipped near the top and plummeted to his death. Hine's tears were so great in their volume that they were frozen by the gods as a memorial to her grief.

The hike started with a 20 minute bush walk which put us about 2km from the glacier. This put us at the terminal face of the glacier. Here you could actually see the rock and gravel being pushed up against by the ice. From here we had a steep rock climb to get up on to the glacier. We took a quick break to put on our ice talonz and take of some layers. It was a gorgeous crisp winter day with the sun warming us up in no time. The initial part of our walk was on fre-formed tracks, but even this wasn't so much of a 'cookie cutter' tour. Because of the speed at which the ice melts and its turnover our guide was constantly having to chop and hack at the ice to form new paths. At the first ice fall we stopped for a lunch break and some spectacular views. I know that I'm repeating myself and it seems like my vocabulary only consists of a few words but i really don't know the words if they exist to appropriately describe what the view looks like or how i felt at that moment. I guess if i had to sum it up in one word it would be 'Inconsequential'. Towering mountains, lush green rain forests, the vast Tasman Sea, all kept reminding me of how little i was and how insignificant we really are.

After lunch we got 'lost'. Or as Gavin, our guide liked to put it, we were going to 'explore' the ice fall. He had us chipping away and creating crevices barely a foot wide to slide through. At one point the plan was to slide between to walls of ice, the crack shaped like an elongated 'S' so you had to lean against one wall and use your hands to slide you forward (by now back packs had come off and were held in the other hand)... the crack began to lower and soon became a crack underneath us, about a foot wide, too deep to measure and about 3 feet long. 'We'll have to turn around right?' said one girl. Gavin just laughed - no we'll just scale the walls. So with our talonz on we scaled along the walls with a foot on both sides of the crack. I know that it must have been pretty safe or he wouldn't have allowed us, but it was pretty damn exhilerating pretending to be spiderman :)

By the time we had finished our climb I was a bit wet, definitely cold as the sun was beginning to set and my legs felt like they were made of jello. 'Aren't there any escalators on this glacier?' - guess not. Although the descent was a lot quicker my knees were screaming at me and my thighs refused to walk. Emma and I looked at each other and thought okay we're hungry, but we also want to soak in the sauna at the hostel but our legs won't move. Now you have to realize that Franz Josef is pretty much a one block town. on one side you have the hostel on the other the glacier tour office and some restaurants. So in order to minimize pain we decided to go straight to the bar (of course it would be up a flight of stairs) and eat. I guess everyone had the same idea because an hour after emma, cathil, david, martin and i got there (other folks on our hike) the place was rocking. It was fun, but i was still sore, ready for bed and in need of a shower. So we said goodbye to the folks of Franz Josef and head back to the hostel. Tomorrow it was another long bus ride, this time to Queenstown - extreme sports capital of the world. I was going to need all the rest I could get

Ki Ora to the South Island

Sorry for the week delay....

After skydiving we, Casey and I in typical American fashion were craving Mexican food - not something so easily found in New Zealand, hit the grocery store and made our selves some kick ass chicken burritos. Friday was spent just bumming around the hostel as it started to rain again - got to watch a boot leg copy of Sin City (wicked film) hit the thermal springs

Saturday we made our way down to Wellington along SH1 highway - also known as Desert Road. The terrain in this country is amazing. One minute you're surrounded by lush green hills and acres of farm lands the next miles of black sands and dry brush. No wonder Peter Jackson chose this place as his backdrop fo Lord of the Rings.

In Wellington we checked into the hostel, the plan for Saturday was of course to hit a bar to watch the Lions play the All Blacks. See it was the first test match in Rugby during the Lions tour of New Zealand - and boy did they get their butt kicked!

Monday morning I woke up to blue skies and the sun shining. I was off to the South Island. The day started off with a 3 hour ferry ride through the Malborough Sounds. It never ceases to amaze me how everything here is so beautiful. Even the bus ride from Picton to Nelson had me taking pictures through the window. Once in Nelson I checked into a backpackers and booked myself a one day walk and sea-kayak around Abel Tasman National Park. Had I had the time and the company I would have liked to do the proper 4 day treck. Oh well, next time.

The bus to Abel picked me up at 7am (sun was still nowhere to be seen). Another girl from the hostel also got on. We got to talking and it turned out that Emma was going to be on the bus to Franz Josef the next morning as well. Emma (just graduated from university in Scotland) had spent the past 8 months travelling with a few months in Oz where she worked in a small mining town out west and at magnetic island on the east.

With Peter and Harold as our guides a group of 12 of us got geared up and went down to the starting point where we were able to go out a few meters because of the low tide. Our first instruction was to form a circle and introduce ourselves with a 'Ki Ora' (Hello in Maori), afer it was a 'Hongi' (Exchange of the breadth of life) - the Hongi consists of pressing noses and taking in a breadth. In the Maori language the word for enemy and stranger are the same - therefore by introducing ourselves in the circle we went from enemies to strangers. By performing Hongi we went from being strangers to becoming a tribe.

With the sun out and the air crisp we set off in our kayaks in tow. Emma and I decided to share and ended up making a great team. After the first stopping point along one of the beaches we both decided that we didn't want to stop kayaking and joined Harold and the one other pair of kayakers for the full day of kayaking. The five of us set off - Harold singing for us - his selection in musice ranged from old Maori songs to Queen's Bohemian Rapsody (complete with air paddle guitar). Harold was also chock full of information about the Park and the cliffs and the amazing Maori stories behind them. As we turned a corner we encountered a bunch of lazy fur seals who seemed to havet the right idea about sun bathing on the rocks. As we passed the seals the wind began to change and the water became choppy. The northern winds now had direct aim at us and kayaking became a bit more difficult. Harold warned us to steer the boats almost perpendicular to the shore line as the winds would be pushing us out to sea. I have to admit it got a bit scary, water spraying everywhere the waves bobbing us up and down. Luckily around the next corner we were blocked from the winds and had reached our lunch break spot on a little secluded beach. Everyone finished the lunches of rolls, pastries, fruit and sandwiches with no problem. By the end of the day we had kayaked 13 Km (around 9 miles i think). I had to give myself a little pat on the back for that :) By the time we got back to Nelson the sun had gone down and all we could think about was the hot tub that was outside our hostel. There's nothing better than soaking in a hot tub gazing at the stars after a day of kayaking

The next morning we had to wake up early yet again to catch the bus down the west coast to Franz Josef. Our next goal was to climb Franz Josef Glacier