New Zealand... the Haka!

Off to New Zealand we went for the final leg of the five week journey. We flew into Auckland, in the North Island. Auckland is known as the city of sails and it was full of more beautiful sights. Unfortunately, most of us were worn out and exhausted from the excitement of Sydney. Back to traveling as a whole group with our Baylor professor, we were given a guided bus tour for transportation. It was a relaxing way to get to know the history of the city. Here are some sights from Maungawhau Mt. Eden.

On the next full day we went out to Rotorua! Visited Te Pui, the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute. First tour stops at the Pohutu and Prince of Wales Feathers Geysers and the Ngamokaiakoko Mudpool.

Next came the Rotowhio Marae (don't ask me to pronounce any of these words). Within the tour group, they picked our "warrior" and we were welcomed into their Te Whakarewarewatanga o te ope taua a Wahiao "The Gathering Place of the war parties of Wahiao" to watch their war dances.

 

Here is a clip of one of the dances, we took lots of video. My favorite dance was the Haka dance, the New Zealand rugby team still performs the dance before every game.

Kelsey, Jessica, and I spent the rest of our time abroad walking up and down the streets of Auckland and attended their Coca Cola Christmas in the park concert at the Auckland Domain. It was packed with 100,000s of people, but I don't recommend the food there.. We thoroughly enjoyed our Denny's breakfast the next morning before flying out. Amazingly we left Auckland at 3:10pm Sunday and arrived in DFW at 3:10pm Sunday!

The trip was beyond amazing and I am so thankful for all the opportunities I had in Australia the past five weeks. I learned heaps about their educational system, culture, history, and loved experiencing life as an Aussie! Now I am transitioning back to life in Texas and enjoying my time with family and friends. And of course, using facebook to already keep in touch with students and teachers from Whites Hill!

Cheers mates. So long blog world. I'm signing off for a while. Merry Christmas!

"What have you done in Sydney that you cannot do in Texas?"

(PRECAUTION: lots of words, just enjoy the pictures)

During one of our group tours, a man asked us what we've done in Sydney that we cant do in Texas... well my answer was simply. Pretty much everything! Maybe minus the pizza and gelato. Of course, there's things I can do in Texas that I cant do in Sydney too.

Five days of independent travel, so off to Sydney we all went. Leaving at the crack of dawn (or I guess before the crack of dawn), we made it safely to Sydney and earned a $130 Virgin Blue flight voucher along the way... too bad its only for Australian domestic flights. Kelsey, Jessica, and I hit the streets checking off as many sights as possible from my Top 10 tour book. Saw the grounds of the first cricket match from 1803 at Hyde Park, rubbed a pig's nose outside the hospital for good luck, honored Australian WWI victims at Anzac Memorial, went through a wordy Rocks Museum, and shopped around the Rocks Street markets. But one of the most exciting tours was watching the “Sticky” company make their handmade delicious lollies (candy).

Then of course we had to see the beautiful Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Surrounded by thousand of Asian tourists, we discovered that a group of them wanted a picture WITH us.. this request took us about five minutes to understand but we did it.. here's the picture.

And the first day was still going strong when we cleaned up for dinner at Nick's Seafood Restaurant at Darling Harbour, I had a delicious salmon platter. Then to our surprise, we finished dinner at 9pm just in time for a stunning firework show with some gelato to complete day one!

Day Two... Experienced Hillsong Church in Sydney for a Sunday morning service, the message and sermon were both refreshing. Then we changed into our walking shoes and began touring the city once more. After a fun lunch at a local pizzeria in The Rocks markets, Jessica and I left the group and went on an Opera House tour. It was well worth the student price and climbing of 200 plus stairs to experience the history behind the Opera House. We saw where Leyton Hewitt was married with this interesting bright purple carpet... Personally I like looking at the Opera House from the outside shinning in the sun.

Afterward, Jess and I made it over to the Royal Botanic Gardens for more views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House from Mrs Macquarie's Chair. We met up with Kelsey and grabbed a bite to eat at an Australian version of Chipotle. It felt good to eat some quesadilas with chips and salsa.

Day Three.. Jess, Kels, and I booked a full day tour with Tours R Us. We hit up the 2000 Olympic Park and Featherdale Wildlife Park on the way to the mountains. It was a quick stop to Olympic Park but we drove through most of the park then walk around the main ANZ Stadium and torch lighting. The wildlife park wasn't much of a thrill for me besides the crocodile feeding and stamping a passport of the various animals.

Up the mountains to Katoomba Village for lunch at Common Grounds) and viewing of The Three Sisters from Echo Point. Onto the Blue Mountains, across a Skywall to see Katoomba Falls. By the time we took the Scenic Railway down to the valley (the steepest railway in the world), it was definitely a rainforest down there. We quickly took a few pathways and caught the cableway back to the top. With a river boat cruise back to Circular Quay.. 6 modes of transportation for the day (tour bus, scenic railway, cableway, skywall, harbour river cruise boat, and feet).

Day Four... What a day. Kels, Jess, and I started the day with breakfast at the famous Pancakes on the Rocks. Oprah's fans are flooding into the city and were eating at tables next to us, the city's getting ready for her show on Monday. Then we made our way to the Sydney Harbour bridge climb!! We did it. We climbed the bridge. After an hour of instruction and preparation, we were suited up and ready to climb. The hardest part of the journey was the beginning walking across see through mesh-like grounds and climbing extremely skinny and steep steps but once you make your way up those steps its smooth sailing. Climbing the actual huge curve of the bridge is a piece of cake, most of the time we didn't even bother holding the railing (yes Dad, I was still strapped in dont worry). No cameras are allowed up the bridge but we did purchase some group shoots. After the breathtaking sights, we caught a ferry over to Manly Beach and relaxed for a few hours before dinner and gelato (a routine ending to our Sydney nights).

Day Five... Shopping! We rewarded ourselves and our feet, with a day off of touring and shopped through David Jones, Myer, and Westfield mall. David Jones is like NYC's version of Macy's at Thanksgiving square, 8 stories tall spanning over two blocks with Christmas window figurings and music. But no souvenirs from this traveler.. pick your favorite picture and that can be your souvenir.

Cheers to Australia, hello New Zealand.

“I will miss you heaps Miss Dempsey” Bye, bye Brisbane

Fifteen short days at the school and I gained handfuls of Australian friends. We've even made it official on facebook. The staff and students at Whites Hill State College gave me heaps of laughter and memories. I enjoyed working in Year 6/7 D with Mrs. Wool, Mr. Crowley, and the 28 students! Since it was the end of their school year, I got to see end of the year testing and Christmas activities. We did everything from pom poms to stars to acrostic poems to stockings to a handmade tree. I also got to witness electives like Japanese, swimming and join in some games of dormball and dodgeball. Here are some fun pictures of the friendly staff and students. Also a snapshot of our final time in Brisbane spent at the Hillsong Christmas Spectacular! Merry Christmas... in a tank top, definitely a weird feeling. 

Top: Abbie, Sam, Zoe, Rachel, Mitchell, Zari, Noah

Fourth: Dani, Emma, Tat, Ella, Vashu, Faduma

Third: Chris, Reanna, Dylan, Steph

Second: Haamo, Ki-Ho, Izzy, Zarred, Brooke

Front: Zac and Sheffie

(not pictured: Jack, Chelsea, Brody, Adam)

 

 Jessica with her Aussie teacher, Mr. Seipel

 These guys (Mr. Pell, Mr. Crowley, and Mr. Richters) taught me all I know about cricket.. I'm still lost.

 Selena Wool! My wonderful Australian teacher!

 Hillsong Christmas Spectacular

Brisbane Bucket List

  

So I mentioned early that we created a running Brisbane bucket list along our journey. We've been living here the past three weeks and have really enjoyed our time here. Here's the list:

1. Nandos- Ate dinner at the popular chicken joint, it beats kfc but its no chick fil a. 
2. Baskin Robbins- Walked over to BR during our lunch hour for a tasty midday delight during a hot school day. 
3. Carnidale-  Hitched a ride from my teacher and experienced 'the cool place' to shop according to all of our students, malls in Australia close by 5:30pm weekdays
4. Botanical gardens- FAIL... never made it to the gardens but we did pass by a pretty park along the boardwalk and plan on going to the gardens in Sydney
5. JoJos- Ate here twice in the Queen St. mall area, wide menu selection (yet I still stuck with a margarita pizza both times) 
6. City Cat- Took the city catamaran back from school one day, scenic and speedy ride
7. South Bank- Went over to the Cultural Center to see West Side Story, stopping through again after the Christmas concert tomorrow night
8. Canteen- Bought an Anzac biscuit at the school tuck shop during tea time. Tea time is more like a 20 minute recess and snack time for the students as the teachers grab a bite to eat and relax in the staff room. 
9. Bowling- Played two games at the StrikeBowl bar in Queen St, free popcorn and sodas, I dominated tour lane the first game with a 115, not so hot the second game... 
10. Cheesecake shop- Took an Aussie's advice and walked to the local shop after school, I got some yummy bite size choc chip cookies that were labeled 1,450 calories each... 
11. Hold a Koala- Went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, held a koala, played around the kangaroos and saw several other native animals
12. Queen St. mall- Took several walks along the streets of Queen St. Mall, full of 4 shopping malls, food courts, restaurants, souvenir shops, etc. 
13. Uni of Queensland- After passing by the University of Queensland at Brisbane/Custom House everyday on the way to our apartment, I finally acted upon my urge to walk through the downstairs lobby. 
14. Brisbane Hillsong- Long bus ride, 2km walk, made it just twenty minutes late for a Sunday morning service. Attending the Christmas concert at the church Friday night
15. Walk across Story Bridge- Saw the beautiful city skyline from another angle and prepared ourselves to climb the Sydney bridge 
16. Play tennis on Medina's grass court- Jessica borrowed tennis rackets and tennis balls from a student, forgot the rackets at school, went back up and down the hills to get the bag, the courts were locked, Polly unlocked them for us, and finally Jess and I relived our high school days and played some tennis overlooking the Story Bridge and city skyline!
17. 7-11 Slurpee- Stopped in one of the million 7-11 stores to buy a slurpee, same great taste as in the states, just a few dollars more
18. Learn some Aussie lingo and eat their food- Heaps and no worries are my favorite lines. Ate some Vegemite, Anzac biscuits, and TimTams. Sorry folks, no kangaroo meat for me. Aussies think our 'cookies' are too sweet apparently. Their  section for cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, muffins mixes etc. takes up at most 2 meters on the grocery aisles (no wonder they call us fat Americans).

There it is.. the completed bucket list. Such a weird feeling that its almost time to say goodbye to this wonderful city. If anyone ever gets the chance to come to Brisbane, let me know and I'll gladly share with you more of my day to day experiences. These are just the small, silly goals of the trip, by no means the main highlights..