Groovy Grape!

 

G'day Mates!

 

This week we have a special tag team blog for you, brought to you by Emily and Kelsey.

 

We spent the last 7 days traveling getting in touch with our hippie roots travelling on the Groovy Grape bus through the Outback. We left Adelaide in the early morning, picked up 4 more passengers (Boris and Peter from Switzerland, Laura from Germany, and Laurence from Belgium) and drove most of the day through the beautiful Flinders Ranges, stopping to see some Aboriginal cave paintings and two kangaroos. (Note: for the sake of this blog, we will be referring to ourselves in the third person) Emily, Kelsey, Christine, Ryan, and Willem walked further through the bush and met some Aboriginals who let us ride their kangaroos down the mountain.  We stayed the night in an old tuberculosis hospital, which was actually a very nice accommodation. Our tour guide, Michael, prepared some Kangaroo for us, which was mouthwateringly delicious. After chatting around the campfire, we headed off to bed where Lucy weaseled her way into Hannah's bunk bed, convinced her to get naked and sing her a lullaby. Much to Hannah's dismay, she was shortly informed of the fact that she had just been killed in our group game of 'assassin'.

 

On the second day of our excursion several of us woke up early and decided to walk/mountain bike part of the 17km back to the main road before the bus picked us up. Christine, Lucy, Emily, Laura, and Laurence walked while Dylan, Peter, and Boris opted to ride bikes. Each of them saw a kangaroo or two during their trek before the bus picked them up. Our first stop was a giant hole in the ground that was used for mining. Also at the stop was the largest tire that has travelled the most distance in Australia. Pretty cool.

 

Next up was arguably the most unique stop of all...Talc Alf. It was a plot of land that belonged to a man who made sculptures using his own interpretation of the alphabet. Kelsey's name meant 'see what's going towards the future', and Gordon's name meant 'the king and the giver of light'. It was interesting to see how much meaning he could find in something that seems so basic to the rest of us. He also had two camels.

 

On our next stop we visited a ghost town in the middle of nowhere called Farina. The original settlers had set up their lives there because they believed that the rain would follow them so they could have prosperous crops and become rich. Unfortunately, the annual rainfall in that area is about 160mm, so after a few generations, they were forced to abandon their houses and continue their search for better land. A lot of the buildings were still in surprisingly good condition. Lucy and Emily struggled with the fact that so many people had considered those houses to be home, and now they are nothing more than skeletons. It made them think of what their own homes will look like in 100 years, and if people will walk through the ruins of them and wonder the same things.

 

Our next and final stop was a salt lake where we saw the sunset, and loved it so much that we decided to stay the night there instead of continuing on to a campsite. Emily, Boris, and Dylan found wood to make a fire while Ryan and David went to the edge of the lake and allegedly saw penguins. We truly slept under the stars that night in "swags" which are essentially rolled out thin mattresses.  We all loved looking up at at sky as we fell asleep in the middle of nowhere with no one else but us. Many of us had to turn our heads away from the blindingly full moon, but it was a much treasured experience.

 

After loading up the van the next morning at sunrise, Michael informed us that the were going to have to push-start the van. We all looked at him incredulously for a few seconds before we popped up and started pushing. After a few failed attempts, the muscles of the group (the boys) finally managed to get the van to pick up enough speed to start up in 2nd gear.

 

We drove pretty much straight through to Coober Pedy, an opal mining town which is partially underground. Although Christine assumed that we would be lifting up a trap door and walking into an underground city, upon arrival we saw that most of the main buildings were above ground while many residential homes were built either into rock or dug out underground. After dropping off our bags at our underground hostel, we took a tour of Umoona, an opal museum, where we saw an underground home and the process of mining, cutting, and polishing opal. Dylan, Hannah, and the Europeans, as we've come to call them, opted to watch the sunset at a spot 20km away from the town in the desert, and also saw the longest fence in the world.

 

After a pizza dinner, the highlight of the day was visiting a kangaroo orphanage called Josephine's Gallery. Baby kangaroos without a mother are raised here so that they can be returned to the wild and survive successfully. There were four older female kangaroos and a joey we all got to see. We got to pet them, and their fur felt like a baby bunny! We all got to hold Azza, the baby, and some of us even got kisses! Kelsey and many others have decided that they would like a pet kangaroo.

 

The next day we woke up at 5, had a quick breakfast, and drove almost the entire day to be able to see the sunset at Uluru (Ayer's Rock). Our only stops were when we crossed into the Northern Territory, and to see 'Fooluru', Uluru's impersonator.. The pain that we endured from waking up before sunrise and sitting in the van for most of the day was worth it when we finally got to see the sunset.

 

We then piled back into the van and drove into our campground in style, blasting 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', and 'I Don't Feel Like Dancing', and interrupting several other campers' dinners when we started a dance party that literally rocked the van. I mean, we are American after all, it is our duty to be as loud and boisterous as possible. :)

 

Part of the group played a game called Werewolves around the campfire before bed, which was an entertaining way to end a long day.

 

We got up early again the next day to see the sunrise behind Uluru.  Even though we were sleepy and cold, it was worth the wait to see the sun pop up. Michael had set up a yummy pancake breakfast for us upon our return to give us fuel for our three hour hike through Kata Tjuta National Park, a group of rocks not as big as Uluru but still quite impressive. There were many great views to be seen and it was nice to get in some physical activity again.

 

In the afternoon, some us went for a swim and then we all visited the Cultural Centre to learn about Aboriginal culture. After so much oppression, the Aboriginals are more secretive about their lives and cultural practices than the Maoris in New Zealand, so it was good to learn more about them. We ended the day with another shorter hike to watch the sunset in a gorge at Uluru. For dinner, Laura helped us make a traditional German meal of potato salad and sausages. Om nom nom.

 

The next day was the much awaited 10km (or 6.2 miles for those of you who have yet to switch to the metric system) walk around Uluru. Upon arrival, Michael told us that a German man ran around the base of the rock in a record time of 40 minutes. Naturally, Emily and David took his words as a challenge, and decided to run it as well. I mean, no German man was about to beat us Americans (right?). They ended up running it in a little over 45 minutes, but Emily was still the fastest girl ever. (Mwahaha) The rest of the clan all decided to be a bit more leisurely and enjoyed the beautiful walk around the sacred rock in a timely manner. The only down side to walking was the swarm of flies that badgered us constantly.

 

We left Uluru in the afternoon to drive to King's Canyon. On the way, Michael spotted two different camouflaged lizards called Thorny Devils on the side of the road. Of course we all got out and poked and prodded the bizarre-looking creatures. Michael has the eyes of a predator, which we are very grateful for.

 

That night we feasted on risotto while sitting around a campfire. Many of us were entertained by the small field mice rustling around in the bushes...that is until they ventured out during the night. Hannah's screams can attest to the fact that they were a little bit too curious. Ryan, Lucy, Emily, and Christine all saw at least one shooting star which will hopefully bring good luck for the remainder of the trip.

 

The next morning we drove to the actual Canyon part of King's Canyon for a 3-4 hour hike. We stayed together for most of the first half of the hike (except for when Cliff and Dylan dropped their bags to race back up the side of the mountain), and reached the Garden of Eden as a group. Hannah, Dylan, Gordon, David, Laura and Laurence all jumped into the watering hole that was in between two of the canyons, while the rest of us looked on in amusement as they initially dipped their toes into the freezing cold water. Ryan shimmied his way over to a small cave in the side of one of the rock faces, and started a mass exodus of rookie rock climbers (minus Cliff and Karen) who wanted to check out his discoveries.

 

After about an hour or so, Michael told us we needed to get moving, so we continued on our way. Gordon, David, and Willem Hardcore Parkoured their way down the rest of the mountain. Emily attempted to parkour (not hardcorely) behind them, but just ended up walking briskly, while the rest of the group walked down as normal human beings should and enjoyed the views.

 

We then drove the remaining 720km to Alice Springs where we had one final group dinner with pizza that Michael provided at our hostel.

 

After a week of traveling a total of 3,000km together, we will all definitely miss the Europeans. Several of us formed close bonds with them, and we hope to see them all at some other point in the trip or at some other point in our lives.

 

Yesterday we hopped on a plane back to Sydney, dropped our bags off at the hostel, and rushed over to the Sydney Opera House just in time to catch William Shakespeare's play, 'Much Ado About Nothing'. It was surprisingly funny, and the experience of seeing the show at such a famous theatre will not soon be forgotten.

 

Today, we're celebrating Easter by celebrating our own holiday, Creaster, a blend of Christmas and Easter. We've all picked Secret Santas and are doing a gift exchange later today. It's such a fun way to celebrate, and a good excuse to eat candy!

 

Today we will be travelling to our next destination, Satyananda Mangrove Retreat Center for our spiritual retreat. We are looking forward to a week of calmness after so much chaos. You'll be hearing from us soon!

 

Until next time,

 

Emily and Kelsey

Hello Everybody, David Horwitz here.  We are all back in Adelaide after our group split in two to go and do separate CVA projects.  I am here reporting on behalf of my group which was, me, Gordon, Lucy, Dylan, Christine, Kelsey, and Cliff.  We traveled 8 hours in a little van/bus to Streaky Bay, where we set-up camp in a trailer park.  Our leader on the trip was Geoff a silly Australian man who was very helpful and a lot of fun to hangout with and talk to.  Our group, similar to the other group, had the tedious task of planting new trees. In the end we planted around 800, but the last few that we planted we didn't have enough tree guards to put around them so they are probably all dead by now.  We also had a day of cutting down pine trees which in Australia are an invasive species so they had to go.  It was also very tedious and hard work, but we got it done fairly quickly and by the end it was quite satisfying. 

 

Outside of work our adventures in Streaky Bay were fairly limited.  The city is more of a pit stop so there wasn't much there but we went to the store everyday and bought meals to cook for dinner each night.  Our first night Dylan and Kelsey cooked a delicious chicken stir-fry even though the rice was a bit overcooked.  The second night Lucy and Christine cooked Mac & Cheese which  we all had been craving and it truly hit the spot.  The third night Gordon and I whipped up pasta with a chili marinara sauce that I must say, not to toot my own horn or anything, but he and I need to start bottling and selling the stuff.  Any ways, the last night was Cliff's night, but I ended up barbecuing the kangaroo burgers and steaks that Geoff bought for us and I think we would all agree that the kangaroo hopped deliciously from our mouths to our tummies.  It was a nice barbie to finish off the hard work that we put in. 

 

We also had a few adventures, or more learning experiences outside of our work.  One day after work we traveled down the coastline until we hit a sea lion hangout.  They were a bunch of lazy bums and we only got to look at them from a far, but it was cool to see them in their natural habitat.  One night after work we also went out searching for kangaroos, but we ended up deciding that Australia has made kangaroos up as a tourist attraction because we didn't see one....I shouldn't say that on our second to last day we caught a glimpse of the last kangaroo in the wild...so that's something to be proud of.  And as a group we decided that it was one rugged kangaroo, or at least it sat about 5 foot rugged.  We also learned our new favorite Australian word, 13.  But in Australian it's pronounced more like thir-dane, it's a tricky one but once you get it down you can't stop saying it.

 

Other then the fact that we saved Australia this week I think we are all relieved to head out into the outback where we can just relax and see the sights.  I think maybe the biggest thing that we will take from the week, mostly Dylan, is that bird poop is one of the most frustrating things ever! Overall though it was a great time and rewarding experience, but it's definitely nice to be back with the entire group so that we can finish these last three weeks together.  Until next time...Adios...or whatever goodbye is in Australian..I'm being told it's pronounced goodbye, but I don't believe it.

 

Notes of Australia.

Disclaimer

Blogs are almost inherently dishonest as it is impossible for anyone to write the truth about himself without alteration  or a situation without bias. So it is with a humble undertaking in which I attempt to write a objective , and unbiased recording of Carpe Diems Fanz trip. I'm sorry as I've I already lied to all of you I'm not humbled to write this, and of Course I wish to express my biases to an audience.

 

Prelude To Australia.

It was early in the morning when I immerged from sleep, the others in the room where already awake and preparing to leave New Zealand. I Groggily made my way down to the kitchen of our hostel (Black Sheep) where Kelsey and Karen were already there. One by one everyone made there way down waiting for our transportation to the airport, in comparatively high spirits with that accustomed normalcy that one acquires after now two months of "Backpacking".  The group would unanimously prise Air New Zealand, and with good reason as they've been awarded by the  following.  

·     Best Air Style - 2011, Premium Economy Spaceseats - "Wallpaper Design Awards"

·     Airline of the Year - 2010 Air Transport World Global Airline Awards

·     Best Cabin Staff Australia/NZ Region - 2009 World Airline Awards, Skytrax

·     Best Passenger Service Award - 2008 Air Transport World magazine awards

·     Best Airline to the South Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand in December 2007 by Business Traveler Magazine in the United States

·     Australasia's Leading Business Class Airline at the 14th Annual World Travel Awards 2007

·     Best Pacific Airline - 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 TTG Annual Travel Award

·     Best Airline to the Pacific - 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001Travel Weekly Globe Awards

·     Best Business Class Carrier, Best Check-in Staff, 1998 Executive Travel magazine awards

With Personal Entertainment systems for every passenger  (with the latest music, Films, Audio books) , spacious seats, & Hearty Meals  Air New Zealand can even make the most exhausting  flight enjoyable.  Carpe Diem  Choice in Airlines is much appreciated by its Students.

Sydney, Australia

With Our Flight coming to an end, the Captain's voice sounds over the speaker  reminded us to keep our seat belts on while we descend on our next checkpoint of the Trip. Then a short bump and we land, and with out Passports in our hands we head towards the Terminal and into the City of Sydney.

Rated among the top 10 livable cities in the world, by the Economist, Sydney Has gained a reputation for Commerce, Arts, Fashion , Culture, Entertainment, Music, Education, And Tourism – (Wiki) 

Considering such accolades (perhaps to a fault due to out limited time) It was a daunting task to plan our next 3 days.

Nonetheless When we arrived to X base Backers. We attempted to.  More on this later.

As per usual when we arrive in a new city I make it my mission to explore it after A few hours I decided the city was altogether Pleasant. The Cafes were reminiscent of those where intellectuals  discuss Modern contemporary fiction and Coffee Shop revolutionaries talks of politics.  It can't be denied of the Vibrancy that the City expels into the night. I've Noticed from Wellington that All X-Base has a Club/Bar Attached to the building, Sydney was no exception, the Name of this place is called The Scary Canary, which hosted Debauchery of the highest levels such as Michael Jackson impersonators, & Gold fish races.

Personally,( And when I say Personally you should just as well accepted what I say or, Don't, its not important) I think X-Base Strengths lies in its knowledge of the community, I mean in the fact that when you enter the place you are soon greeted by the plethora of pantalets and sources of local city gems . The atmosphere itself is that of a gritty city. 

 

Something about Scavenger Hunts

On The first Full day of our stay in Sydney, we were all To compete on a scavenger  Hunt around the City.

We where paired by numbers of Two, however I was Put the inventible pair that is indeed a third Me, Dylan, and Kelsey. Together we Explored, Gardens, Pyramids, Museums, Opera Houses, And Cleverly found hidden and Obscure items.   Now although Not part of my original plan for Sydney it was an clever way to fully explore city icons. It Ran from 10 A.M. Until 8 PM from which we all met in the Steps of the Famed and Grand Opera House where we discussed various events and Highlights of the Day, Began an

An Elusive Game Known as "Assassins"  (More on that by the Next Writer)

And with that The groups again Parted ways. I made my way to Scary Cannery's to Enjoy Dance, and Music .

Last Day

With our Final Full Day in the bustling metropolis, we where all Ready to see what the day may bring. A majority  of the team headed of the Manly Beach. I decided to spend the day with Backpackers I met, (Kyri & Elane) The 3 of us formed and odd but natural companionships bond by mayhem, sarcasm, Boredom and Laziness. My time with them serves as a reinforced reason of why I love the Backpacker life in the first place. Despite me not being with the group today I feel confidant the fun was widespread that day.

Adelaide, Australia

Once again I woke up later than everyone else. I went to 7 Eleven to indulge on Slupees and, Meat Pies, and Beef Jerky. Then Brought my bags to the Shuttle and Drove to the airport, for

Act # 2

Adelaide, I must admit there is a special charm about this place reserved for a Dostoyevsky Novel, Areas with Cold drizzles, lonely cars, herds of people wandering, and small quaint buildings, Areas that resemble New Orleans, with loud music Signature Balcony's on French style building young people trolling hunting for drinks. And A veiled sheet of misty depression and excitement, in which could accommodate any type of person, from the Loud-mouthed Eccentric to the Darkly Sarcastic Madman.

Or at least that's my Impression of the Place, I may Be wrong. Again I lied Im Not wrong Im just saying that out of social norm and to have my writing seem more objective but how can it be!? After all I secretly have no need to be any such writer and my ego wants the objectivity it wants everyone to see my views agree and sympathize, to love or hate me. To notice me. I'm lying again I don't give a fig, my knee hurts let it hurt even more let it be worse!

Excuse me I've Read to much Notes of the underground.....

-          Kareem Youssef

 

Week 7 Already (part 2)

Hey all,

 

Boy what a last few days we have had! Arriving in Queenstown on Wednesday afternoon was really nice. The flight in was quite fun as well. Aside from the scenery change going from the North to South Island, during our descent the plane went down at a much steeper angle than usual, and each time we would get close to the ground, it turned out to be more mountains. In fact, about the only thing you can see surrounding Queenstown, are gigantic mountains (some snow capped.) That is not to say the ONLY thing you can do is climb mountains, the list of activities is endless.

 

As some of you may know, our group decided to spend 3 of its days hiking the world renowned Routeburn Track, and ending up at the Milford Sound. That being said, we had only part of Wednesday and Thursday to ourselves to explore Queenstown. Some of the activities included: going to the Kiwi Wildlife Reserve, disc golfing, catching up on the internet, going to yoga sessions, rock climbing, partaking in more one-on-one dates, and spending time exploring shops and restaurants. Additionally, we were each given tasks to help us prepare for our backpacking adventure such as: collecting cookware, finding plates and silverware, buying groceries, making trail mix, and obtaining our permit for the huts we stayed at. Our final night in Queenstown (at least for the week,) we had dinner at Winnies, which is famous for its pizza and retractable roof. Unfortunately, it had been pouring all day so the roof didn't open, and the restaurant almost lost our reservation. No way did that stop the fun from happening though, we were able to sit out on the deck and were given free starters as an apology for the confusion. A fun time was had by all, and the rest of the night was spent packing and getting ready for the Routeburn!

 

And just like that, we were off. A shuttle picked us up around 8- the guy was a little irritated we weren't ready on the dot- and took us and a few passengers to the begginning of the track after a short stop along the way. The group congregated and discussed a game plan under the leadership of Gordon, and set sail for the 4 hour hike leading us to our overnight hut. Along the way many of us were able to talk and spread out amongst eachother, but the group managed to stay close and hold a steady pace until we stopped for lunch. Just outside of the path was a tributary of the river, which is where we stopped to eat. The water was freezing, but I somehow managed to convince myself it was a good idea to jump in. Luckily it was a sunny day, otherwise I would have gotten hypothermia. Quickly after eating our delicious lunch, we resumed our hike up to one of the many waterfalls, where Karen had an activity planned out. Each of us chose a partner and found a specific part of the falls or surrounding area that appealed to us. In addition, we had to guide them while their eyes were shut, into the perfect position so that when they opened their eyes, they saw our image just as we wanted them to. Kind of like a photograph, which was the name of the activity. All of them were surprisingly different and unique, and following the activity was a discussion. After the discussion, we continued our last 2 hours up towards the Routeburn Falls hut. Many times we stopped to photograph and marvel at the mountains and fields, from various breaks in the heavy forest that was most of the hike. In fact, heavy forest with occasional bridges over the river was all we encountered until the hut. The hut was simple, bunkers and a kitchen with a small dining area. Emily, Kareem, and myself cooked stir fry that evening, which was followed again by an activity. We were each given a card with an example of "leaving no trace," with regards to being in the outdoors. An example of one of the terms would be "dispose of all trash items". First we were asked to brainstorm, then we were asked to do a skit where we could only use the words "bloo" and "blah" (not really words either.) As you can imagine, things got pretty hilarious and a couple times it was hard to stop laughing. Shortly after that, we went to bed early for a good nights sleep.

 

Day 2. Waking up around 8:00 for an 8:30 breakfast cooked by Lucy and Ryan, we were all ready to start the day. We chowed down on some oatmeal, said goodbye to the stunning view from the deck of the hut, and began our 5 hour hike to Mckenzie Hut. As far as rigor goes, this day was quite a bit more physically demanding, but the scenery was overwhelmingly gorgeous. We trekked up steep hills, along big fields of shrubs and grass, and along skinny cliffside trails through the valley. Lunch was made at an emergency shelter, where around half the group decided to hike up another 45 minute peak for a stunning view of everything that extended all the way out to the Tasman Sea! And finally, our day ended with a winding hike down the hillside of Lake Mckenzie through thick, dead forest blossoming with an moss resembling something from Alice in Wonderland, only it ended with the hut rather than a...well you get it. Since we got to the hut a little earlier than the night before, the group split up and explored around until dinner at 7:00. No activities followed, but our hut manager gave us quite the stand up comedy show with his various stories of mishaps on the trail and huts. Many of us chose to be in bed before 9, because Sunday morning would include getting up at 4:45 for a 5 hour hike to The Divide, where we would be transported to the Milford Sound.

 

Day 3: For those of you who haven't woken up at 4:45, it isn't easy. Ryan and Lucy (once again,) provided the early morning fuel for us to power through the rain, wind, and dark we were facing. Right before we left, 3 people were assigned to the front, middle, and rear of the group as well as headlamps were distributed. The first hour and half of the hike was spent with our lights on, trudging through hills, mud, and many streams in the pouring rain and howling wind until the darkness dissipated. I believe we hiked for 3 hours until we reached another hut, where some of us went inside to sit by the warm fire, and others waited out in the cold so they wouldn't have a hard time readjusting to the ungodly weather. Thankfully, only an hour remained, and we were able to move right along with smiles on our faces- thanks to Gordon and David with their ridiculous humor- until The Divide was reached. As it was still freezing and raining hard, we took shelter and broke into our bag of trail mix until our van came. Although it was 20 minutes late, and Christine was not able to get us a discount, we were all ecstatic to reach the milford lodge. Immediately, the group bum rushed the showers, drying room, and laundry area in order to clean ourselves and our clothes. After we had all settled in, we headed out on a wilderness cruise through the Milford Sound. The hut manager the night before had mentioned something about the Sound "coming alive" when it rained, and he could not have been more right. Waterfalls of all sizes littered the mountainsides (one of which we drove right through, Emily and Willem got soaked,) and the clouds added a mystique element to the picturesque scenery. Once we got back, we had to wait 30 mins for our shuttle to take us to the cafe to eat, so we debriefed our roles for the week..and got eaten alive by sandflies. Ending the day at the cafe was perfect, we were all able to enjoy a meal together as well as share conversation about our last few days on the Routeburn, and finally, our last day in New Zealand. In our weekly FGAA's, which followed dinner, it was evident that our group is as strong as ever, with everyone in high spirits, introspective, and ready to enjoy our last full day in New Zealand, and our last month in Australia!

 

I wish you all well, especially those who live in the Pacific NW with all that rain

 

Cheers

 

Dylan