Jeff and Magge's Fave Honeymoon Crashers: Jucy and Lorena

Hello all,
Lorena here. Magge confessed while we were traveling that she was nervous to have me guest blog because she didn't want to be compared to a "professional writer" (her words not mine, I write about celebrities for a living, not exactly pro-stuff .. keep your expectations low). Truth is, posting something on Hostel Honeymoon is pretty daunting. I mean this site has multiple comments per posts, tons of views, and I'm jealous of the witty URL name. There are few things more daunting than posting on HH. The one thing more terrifying than writing a sub-par post? Joining J & M on their honeymoon as the Official Third Wheel.

Australia Wrap-Up

Facts and Figures
Length of Stay:  Twenty-four days
Miles Traveled to Enter:  1,200 by plane from Queenstown, New Zealand
Miles Traveled:  2,200 by Jucy Choppa + 450 by plane  = 2,650 total (21,420 since landing in Quito)
Places Visited:  Sydney, Brisbane, Mooloolaba, Paluma National Park, Wallaman Falls, Airlie Beach, Eungella National Park, Whitsunday Islands, Hervey Bay, Fraser Island
Intercity Buses Taken:  0
Flights Taken:  1
Kangaroos Seen:  2 alive, at least 10 dead

Rankings in the full post.

Snails

"Time sometimes flies like a bird, sometimes crawls like a snail; but a man is happiest when he does not even notice whether it passes swiftly or slowly." Ivan Turgenev

Footprints

"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair."Kahlil Gibran

For Liam

"Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have traveled."
- Muhammed

Jucing in Australia, Part III: Islands

The plan for our roadtrip was to make it to Cairns and back, but we did not make it that far.  After leaving Wallaman Falls, we called both Cairns and Airlie Beach to get their respective weather forecasts to decide from which city to take a boat trip, and Cairns' weather did not look appealing.  So we turned around, 250 kms short of the planned endpoint, and made our way back south.  Cairns itself is not supposed to be overly exciting or beautiful, but it is the most common jumping point to the Great Barrier Reef, which I was disappointed to miss.  However, the three day/two night boat trip from Airlie Beach visits fringe reefs around the Whitsunday Islands that are part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), so I was somewhat appeased.

Designs

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."
- St. Augustine, City of God 

Tree Frogs and Travel Quotes

"We live in a world full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." --Jawaharial Nehru*

Just to Whet Your Appetite

We just got back from our three day/two night cruise around the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland, Australia. We were much luckier with the weather than we thought we would be, though the diving was not so great. I do not have time to write out a long post right now because we need to get back on the road to make it down to Hervey Bay for our Fraser Island tour on Thursday (busy, busy, busy!). A longer post will follow soon, but here are some pictures to enjoy for now!

Jucing in Australia, Part II: Waterfalls and Wallabies

"I'm sorry about the weather," the travel agent said as soon as we walked into her office.  That wasn't what we wanted to hear.  Following the disappointment of the muddy Capricorn Coast, we pushed all the way up to Airlie Beach to get on a sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands.  We were over halfway to Cairns, and still hadn't seen as much as we had wanted, and now the sailing trip wasn't looking likely either.  Maybe we could go straight up to Cairns, go diving up there and come back to Airlie on the way back to Brisbane?  "The weather's just as bad in Cairns," warned the travel agent.  Dejected, Lorena, Magge and I took some brochures and ate lunch on a windy beach as we strategized.  Different plans were discussed, including a crazy one that would have us backtrack nine hours, and in the end we decided to continue north to Paluma National Park, and decide in a few days whether to go up to Cairns or back to Airlie Beach.  The plan sounded fine, but all three of us were still discouraged and we had to remind ourselves that we were traveling around Australia while everyone else we know is working.

Jucing in Australia

We haven't posted much about our time in Australia because we haven't really done much yet here.  We spent our first two nights with CouchSurfers Tereasa and Charles, a very friendly couple that helped us plan our time in Australia.  The rest of the week, we stayed with Lorena, a friend from college and New York, and her roommate, who have been living in Sydney since October.  During the day, we just walked around Sydney and took in the usual Sydney sites like the Opera House (including seeing the Sydney Symphony perform with the cheapest tickets we could find), the Harbor Bridge, and Bondi and Manly beaches.  No bungy jumping, jet boating or glacier hiking this week.

Our time in Sydney was lazy by design because we've been constantly on the move since leaving Santiago at the beginning of March, not staying in any one place longer than three nights during that span, and had a two week, 2,000 mile road trip planned from Brisbane to Cairns and back.  To add to the fun, we're bringing along Lorena as a third wheel, and all three of us are staying in a Jucy Choppa.  What's a Jucy Choppa?  A conspicuously painted camper van with a hip name (you know it's hip because it's spelled incorrectly) that likely belonged to a soccer mom (or rugby mom, or whatever the equivalent is down here) in its previous life.  If you're curious about the sleeping arrangement, the photograph below should explain everything.  Lorena is sleeping on the roof.

So Many Animals to Take Pictures Of!

Jeff loves talking about my obsession with taking pictures of animals. Australia is proving to be a wonderland of interesting animals to serve as photo subjects. This of course annoys Jeff greatly, which only adds to my pleasure of snapping picture after picture.

These birds are all over Sydney. Their population is clearly being monitored, as they all had tags around their legs. I still need to figure out what kind of bird they are though.

Another Universal Constant: kids love chasing birds

So many times I have wished I had a zoom lense! These bats were incredible. They are the biggest bats I have ever seen in my life and they were all over the place. They are also referred to as "flying foxes". Don't worry, they aren't carnivorous.

They also made terrible sounds. They damage the trees and so the government is taking measures to eradicate them in some areas.

Pretty scary spider, huh? Apparently Australia has more animals that can kill you than any other place in the world. I'm not sure if these are amongst the deadly ones. I would think not though since they're everywhere.

Kind of looks like they're floating in air

Again wishing I had a zoom lense (hint, hint, mom!). The colors of these birds were spectacular.