Australia part 1

We took a subway and city bus to get to our airbnb place. We met 2 really nice Iranian guys. They had a beautiful home where we relaxed during our stay there. We went to the Powerhouse museum and went to a walking tour on the Rocks in Sydney Harbour

and walked by the Harbour Bridge in the evening.

The next day we went to Bondi Beach where we saw many surfers and high waves.

It was a controlled beach with lifeguards speaking in their airphones to tourists to swim closer to the shore and to stay in the marked flags in their four wheelers. There is even a show about lifeguarding at Bondi Beach on TV we were told about. Aaron went for a coastal walk along the cliffs and Becky stayed at the beach.

The following day we went to a free walking tour around the main attractions and Sydney Opera House

 

and then we took a ferry to Manly beach.

After our time at the beach we walked through gardens to the conference arena

for the Hillsongs Women's Color Conference. Becky went to the conference by herself for 2 days and Aaron worked at home. At the conference there was theatre, art, worship and speakers. We had also met up with Sandra and Dillen from Sudbury to say hi and get Becky's ticket.

Women's conference at Sydney Arena

Becky bought the conference video (if you are interested in seeeing it let her know). After the conference, we walked to Darling Harbour and saw fireworks, and an amazing street performer. We however caught the wrong bus home and walked a long way home really late at night. That wasn't too fun... The day after we went to the Featherdale zoo

and went to Hillsongs evening church which was really awesome. We met a Canadian couple from the college and they gave us a tour of the campus and a ride home.

Parramatta, near where we stayed

After a days planning we flew to the Gold Coast. We literally booked where we were staying at the airport when we got there. We then bused to the house and stayed in a camper tent. It was close to the beach and not too far of a walk through town, but still in a quiet neighbourhood. Aaron got up painfully early to watch a beautiful sunrise.

The beach was very nice but strong currents and you had to make sure it didn't pull you in if you went to far out. It was rainy for some of our stay at the Gold Coast with a few sunny days. We took a ferry to Stradbroke Island and stayed in a hostel that had a remote beach behind it. We also went to the main big beach

and hiked on the boardwalk and saw a sea turtle and a group of dolphins!

It was a very beautiful beach we visited not far from our hostel. We then took the bus and the ferry back to Brisbane for a Hillsong Friday evening service at Mt Gravatt. It was a upbeat youth service and we had dinner there after service.

We took a bus and a train back to the Gold Coast. We spent one evening dancing there as well. On Sunday morning we went to Hillsong Coomera service. They had a live stream and a lady gave us a ride to the bus. During our time at the Gold Coast we enjoyed time at the beach inbetween the different things we did. To be continued...

New Zealand part 2

That night we took a flight to Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. We had trouble finding our Airbnb (private room rental) place and almost went into the wrong house oops.

Our very nice host

The next day the landlord told us we had to leave because our host we were with wasn't supposed to do that. She let us stay one more night. Anyway that evening we went to church and had a blast with a special band that was there. The next day we went hiking with our host Min on a beautiful mountain top overlooking a aqua blue green lake.

Then we headed downtown Christchurch and checked out their shopping area made out of shipping containers, because they had some big earthquakes.

There was a botanical garden nearby that we walked through. There were rose bushes and a tropical plants greenhouse, tropical flower greenhouse and a cactus plants room.

After this we went to their Earthquake museum that happened four years ago for Christchurch in New Zealand. There are many empty spaces in the city where you can see them still rebuilding. We are went to Sumner beach which has a cave that we climbed and went through.

That night we slept at our host's friends house. The next day we drove another rental car to Mount Cook where there were amazing views of beautiful mountains.

We hiked and saw glaciers and icebergs from the lookout views. And this was the first night Becky ever slept in a dorm room (but only 4 beds). The next day we hiked through mountains and bridges to the main glacier and streams.

Beautiful suspension bridges

Ice bergs and gravel covered glacier (bigger then it looks)

After dinner we went for a shorter hike to a closer glacier near the edge of the cliff.

Tons of ice under the gravel

The next morning we drove to Akaroa back near Christchurch and had lunch at a pebbly Beach and a really nice scenic drive. There was a sheep on the side of the road on the mountain we passed by.


The valley had villages and sharp windy roads with no railings just like most of New Zealand...scary.

When we arrived at the small town in the valley, we went for ice cream, swimming and dinner near the harbour.

Aaron drove back fast because we were late to return our rental car, but then we got lost, got a speeding ticket from a "not-very-gracious" officer, and were almost late for our flight! We flew back to Auckland and stayed at the same hostel, Oaklands Lodge. In our last days in New Zealand we did some planning and got haircuts. We tried to walk the big bridge in Auckland but there was no access. So we walked downtown and went to the Volvo Ocean Race Village where sailing teams are on a huge race all around the world. At the village there were interactive presentations and small videos about the race and the dangers involved, and the teams were repairing their boats.

The official deal...and official photoshop

There was also stuff downtown for the Cricket world cup. On Sunday we went to the same Life Church, and then hiked the nearby Mount Eden for one final view of the city before heading to Australia!

New Zealand part 1

After an overnight flight (and resultant recovery time), we checked out downtown Auckland and found a domain garden

and museum and stayed the day there,

along with the harbour area.

We found a free book swap and piano shelter made from shipping containers. We stayed there a little while and found some interesting books to read. In the next box hut there was a random piano inside it and Aaron played beautiful music. Then Aaron went to see the skytower which looks similar to the CN Tower, and coincidentaly arrived exactly on time for some Chinese new years fireworks and a ceremonial bunjee jump off of the tower. We checked out Devonport across the harbour by ferry and climbed a hill with a fantastic outlook of the city lighted at night.

The next day we went on the ferry to an island called Waiheke. We had a short tour and then headed to a really nice big beach.

In case you're wondering what we look like at the beach :)

In the afternoon we went to a winery and did some tasting with an ocean view. Becky had the the best tasting peach ice tea she ever had!

We headed back to the ferry and Aaron went for a hike around the penininsula area and Becky enjoyed reading and relaxing from the bay.


On Sunday we went to a big modern church. We enjoyed their worship as it reminded us of Hillsong United music and Bethel Church music. After service we met a nice family who gave us great advice on the tourist attractions on the island and they gave us a ride back to our hostel. The following day we picked up our rental car

No gravel roads allowed with the rental :s

and drove to the North island (on the left side of the road - Aaron's first time!). We stopped at many different beaches during the day including Pakiri (had a nice tidal pool), Mangawhai, Langs Beach, Uretiti Beach,

and past Whangarei to a beautiful Park with Smuggler's Cove for sunset. Becky enjoyed Smuggler's Cove the best. It was a nice mix of country side hills, island, beach and harbour. Just a gorgeous, beautiful paradise on the tip of New Zealand.

When we started our first rental car road trip, we got lost and came upon a sign pointing towards Hana waterfall, so we cheecked it out and it was great!

Our next stop on our road trip was in the Coromandel peninsula (where we stayed for a day) called Karangahake Gorge a historical mining area with a river there.

On our third stop we went to a huge active open mining pit (super cool!).

Then our fourth stop was at a Hot Water Beach where people would dig a big hole in the sand and you could feel the hot water springs under your feet! It was so hot at one point that the hot water would burn your feet from the springs under the sand, so you had to mix in the ocean water.

After that we headed to our country hostel cottage in Whitianga. It was a peaceful relaxing environment that reminded me of our cottage or Spring Bay Manitoulin Camp. Aaron drove a young couple to the grocery store because they lost their keys. Then the next day we drove and hiked to Cathedral Cove. It was a beautiful beach with a cave like cove.

After we drove to Rotura and went to another hostel for the night and went for a walk beside the lake and had some icecream. Then we drove south to Waiotapu Thermal Geyser.

(Almost done erupting)

They had many hot pools, some with many different colours such as green, yellow and orange from the chemicals  that also smelt like rotten eggs (sulfur).

 After that we went to Waikite Thermal Hot Pools for 3 or 4 hours, it was really nice!

They are fed by a hot spring at the thermal hot pools, where the water comes out of the ground boiling! Then we drove to Taupo and stopped at another waterfall called Huka Falls with some huge rapids.

We stayed at a hostel in Taupo for the night. On our way out of Taupo we stopped at an outdoor hot pool (fully natural and free) with a stream of hot water flowing into the cool river.

After this we went to Waitomo Glowworm Caves which were huge, and glided in a boat in the cave and saw the glowing worms on the ceiling. It was a cool interesting sight, very amazing. Then we headed to the Otorohanga Kiwi House and bird sanctuary. We saw New Zealands National bird the Kiwi. They are very cute looking with their fluffy body and long beak. Kiwis have nostrils at the end of their beak that is why they make a loud noise like someone blowing their nose when they blow air out of their beak from dirt.

After that we headed to our farm hostel and cooked dinner. The next day we woke really early and drove through the sunrise back to Auckland to drop off the rental car. We waited the day for our flight so we walked to the main downtown city park and there they had a really big Chinese Lantern Festival going on. They had a musical stage and a martial arts stage. There were were blow up characters and lanterns hung beautifully in the trees.

Stay tuned for New Zealand part 2!