Getting there is half the fun

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Easter at the Burton Hut

Greta and I went up to the Burton Hut across Garibaldi Lake over easter for some spring skiing fun! Pics posted HERE!

Posted by Evan at 6:34 PM

Monday, March 05, 2007

Stopover in Fiji, take 2

On my way home from Australia I had a another 2 day stopover in Fiji. Contrary to my first experience there, it turned out quite nice and gave me a chance to get rid of my farmer's tan (no luck though).

This is indeed my hostel, yes HOSTEL!! Right on the beach and comes with hammocks, volleyball and a pool. The only catch is they put these things in the middle of nowhere so you're forced to buy their food, which isn't exactly at backpacker prices.

The beach in front of the hostel - not exactly what you'd consider Fiji to be like, but it was nice enough for 10 minutes from the airport. I went for a walk down the beach for an hour and didn't see any other buildings! The water was so unbelievably warm here too, the warmest I've ever been in. It was almost uncomfortable to swim in cause it gave you no break from the heat. That's why they have the pool though, a cold water pool!!

Relaxing at the hostel!

On my second day I signed up for a day boat cruise to an island. Despite all the older people (see pic) is was actually very fun and a great way to spend the day. I also met this other girl from Vancouver with the same last name as me so at least there was someone else my age to spend the day with!

Here I am trying some Kava, during the Kava ceremony. It's a local drink made from a plant that supposedly has some drug like effects, but everyone drinks it normally.

After 2 hours we reached our destination...

Screw waiting for the shuttle boat, I'm swimming!

Mystery Island was it's name. It was completely deserted except for a few huts they used to cook meals and such. We walked around its sandy beaches in about 30 minutes.

Just relaxing some more.

On the island we got fed an awesome bbq meal of fish, sausage and chicken, plus all the beer and pop we could drink! mmm

The boat crew also played us some island music while we ate!

Kayaking and snorkeling were on the menu for the afternoon.

They were even nice enough to let me drive for a bit, as long as I didn't turn the wheel:p

Mika, the girl from van with the same name. No, we aren't related.

After a few more beers at the hostel I arrived at the airport a bit tipsy and out of money. Luckily I didn't have that extra beer else I would have been stranded as my credit card expired 2 days before without my knowing. So I had a bit of an embarrassment when I went to buy some souvenirs at duty free with an expired card.

Ah there's nothing like home!

Posted by Evan at 2:21 PM

Some photos from the final days in Oz

Dinner with the family at the Indian place in Sunshine. Always good.

Do you think I look Australian?

We went for a bike ride alone the 'river' behind Greta's place to the Lerderderg State Forest. (pronounced lededugh). Nice meandering country roads alongside farms and paddocks.

The river used to be a real river, but the 10 year drought much of Australia is under has changed that. Water hasn't flowed here for years.

There were even "no diving" signs hinting at the wetter past.

Back at home saying goodbye to Ruby and Red.

My flight got delayed by a day and a half, which was really nice as it gave us an extra day!! But the new flight time was 4am, ouch! They served dinner on board at 4:30am, go figure.

My flight took me to Fiji at 9am, thus ending 2 months in Oz:(

Posted by Evan at 2:11 PM

Monday, February 26, 2007

The last post from down under.

Yep, this is it, my plane sadly leaves tomorrow night. These two months went blazingly fast. It's amazing. Two months sounds like heaps of time when you are planning a trip or asking your boss for the time off, but when it comes to pass it's no time at all. Merely a short moment in your life. So here it is, my two months in Australia with Greta is already over. Sure it'll be nice to come back to Vancouver and see you all again, but it many ways I wish I could stay here longer. I even asked my boss for a few extra weeks and he agreed to it! But then I couldn't postpone my flight because they all were full for the month:( Oh well, there'll be another trip sometime in the future I'm sure! See you all very soon, Evan.

Posted by Evan at 1:56 AM

Pictures from Hobart

Ok so I'm waaay behind in my photos, but anyway, here's photos from Hobart after our hike along the South Coast track back at the beginning of February!

Right after coming out of the bush we hit up the Salamanca Market to gorge ourselves on cheap food and Tasmanian fudge while listening to hippie music all afternoon. It was the prefect thing to do after a week of hiking.

The next day we all took a ride on the Lady Nelson - a replica of one of the first boats to come over from England full of convicts.

The crew tying up the sails.

They even let me help by pulling on some of these ropes. I had no idea what I was doing but it was still fun.

We also all went to the botanic gardens. My favourite part was the 'subantartic plant room' seen here. It was 10 degrees and 99% humidity - just like being back at home!

After the weekend Greta, Sam and Alastair had to fly home to "work" so Janie, Tom and I did a day tour of Port Arthur, a very old and famous convict camp/jail where they sent the reoffenders and super bad. Here is our guide surfing on a bronzed dog of the dog fence they had around the jail. What respect for history they have.

We also did a nice little walk around the penninsula where the penitentiary is located. It would be pretty hard to escape with all these cliffs.

Here's the main "lodge" where they kept the bad guys.

And this is the church for the even badder guys who were kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. They would be put into these boxes so they can only see the pastor.

Janie left the next day, leaving just Tom and I, so we went for a tour of the main Cadbury Chocolate factory!!:) It was pretty fun, but they wouldn't let us taste during the tour due to supposed health laws. Due to our pathetic amounts of stubble after not shaving for a week we had to also wear these 'snoob' nets!

Top of Mount Wellington - the mountain that 'towers' above the city. It was cloudy so no nice pano shots.

Hobart's historic harbour.

And lastly, our hostel, the pickled frog - home of the cheapest beer in hobart!

Posted by Evan at 1:41 AM

Thursday, February 08, 2007

In Brissy

The picture posting will have to wait for now...after only 1.5 days in Melbourne a split decision landed me in Brisbane. I'm here visiting Kim and touring around Queensland and Byron Bay hopefully. Hold them horses...

Posted by Evan at 11:22 PM

South Coast Track, Tasmania

After 2 weeks in Tasmania there is a lot to write about, but since photos do a better job of portraying what it was like I'll use them instead. We spent 8 days in the bush, of which it rained for 7, sometimes heavily. So sadly not enough pictures were taken, mostly because the beautiful landscape was shrouded in clouds most of the time, and the odd glimses we did get didn't make for nice pictures. Anyway, here's the photo diary of the trip!...

We took an hour long bush plane flight in from Hobart to an airstrip named Melaleuca. It's in the middle of nowhere. Nobody lives within hundreds of miles. But there is a Ranger station and a parrot watching station there. And you can also fill up your fuel bottes there since you're not allowed to take in on the plane. The flight was quite a ride though. It started off fun, but after about 20 minutes we all started to feel sick. At around half an hour Greta and I both had our puke bags open and ready. Only I had to use mine though. Twice. It's the worst feeling just before you puke, but feels sooo much better after! Alastair also puked right after getting off the plane. Lucky for me the pilot saved me the trouble of carrying my puke sachet on the hike!

Besides the puking, the flight in was very scenic.

Our flight followed the coast so we got to see our route. We hiked to this beach the first day and camped on the headland in the middle. It poured rain during the night.

Up a valley and towards the coast from Melaleuca to Cox Bight on the first day.

Whilst cooking dinner a Wombat trotted past our camp on the beach. We followed it for 100 meters before it found a bush it decided to chew on. It didn't mind us coming close at all.

Day 2 started with a beach walk beneath threatening clouds.

The weather changed every 10 minutes. One minute it was raining, the next we'd be sweltering in the sun. Then it would start to hail.

Soon we had our first of many creek crossings. Our boots stayed wet for the rest of the hike.

In addition to the rain and numerous creek crossings there was heaps of mud to contend with. This is by far the muddiest hike I've ever done. Some pits were waist deep. If you were lucky it would only be knee deep.

Greta at yet another creek crossing.

The group scrambles to put on rain gear as the hail pounds us.

Louisa River: This was the largest river crossing. It was thigh deep in parts and flowing swiftly. We were worried about being swept down so we almost camped at the other side to wait for it to drop. Luckily we hadn't as the river rose 8 inches during the night and probably continued to do so with all the rain we got. Don't be fooled by the sunshine in the pic.

The Ironbounds: The highest of the mountains we had to cross at 1000m. It was a wet and slippery slog.

Day 4/5? We finally had one night without rain so could dry stuff a little before it started raining again before lunch.

Greta enjoying yet another creek/swamp crossing.

The author. This was the only day where it was hot enough to bring out the 'muscle shirt'. The sun only lasted 2 hours though:(

Janie rowing across New River Lagoon. There is a rowboat on each side which you use to shuttle yourselves across.

Day 6: This was the worst day. We woke to a storm, packed quickly without eating brekky and hiked in the bonechilling wind and rain. The wind would blow the sand across the dunes and it would sting any exposed skin. We got completely soaked that day. They need to invent better Goretex.

Greta and Evan. Can't remember which day/beach.

Aussie Hottie.

Sunset from the cliffs above New River Lagoon.

We saw many Wallabies and Potteroos on the hike. At first it was a huge novelty and I was so excited. But it was still cool seing them hopping around our camp trying to steal food. They were quite persistent and not scared at all. We also had a small thing called a Quoll one night that managed to steal some garbage. No pics though.

Greta scrambling. See the trail marker above the cliff?!

Me filling water. All the fresh water in this part of Tasmania is dyed tea brown by either tannin from the buttongrass moorlands or from Tea Trees, can't remember which is correct.

Drinking water, no need to treat.

More mud. This was a daily occurance.

Having fun with the camera. Twilight reflection on the brown water of a lagoon.

Alastair was crazy enough to pack a spear and snorkelling gear, complete with flippers. His pack weighted about 35kg! But it was worth it though. He went spear fishing twice in the frigid waters and both times caught a small fish in less than 10 minutes. None of us knew what the fish were though, but they tasted quite good!