Swim Around Key West

This past weekend the masters team the fighting manatees took me with them to Key West to do the Swim around Key West. Mark was still on vacation so he couldn't come to the swim with me. I had a great time and it was lots of fun. I even ran into one of the guys that I swim with in New York. The fighting manatees took 3 teams of 6 people down. My team, team 2, got third place and it took us about 6 hours. we beat team one by about 4 min. There was a small rivalry between team 1 and 2 and because both teams were so close for the entire 6 hours it made the swim even more fun. Team one consisted of Bob Rich a billionaire who owns Rich foods and is one of the biggest donors for the swim team but the big threat on the team,Gary Hall Sr. is who we were worried about. Then Bob Rich flew his niece down from collage to swim on the team as well as one of his friends that was training for the Iron man. Team wasn't worried, even when Gary Hall Sr. showed up in a laser suit for the event. One of video on YouTube is of Jon Olson the Olympian on our team grabbing Gary's legs during the second leg of the race. There is a link to the map of where I swam. The swim is done as a relay so I swam a 30 min leg, then a 20 min leg, then a series of 5-8 min sprint swims. we had the slower swimmers doing anything from 5-2 min. I swam the first mile and a half for my first swim and then somewhere around mile 4 for my second big swim. I think I was in the water about 2 hours and I got to start and finish the race. I had a great time. Then I was even in the paper this past week! For participating in the event I got a Medal and for getting third I received a Conch Shell!!!

After the first 30 min leg.

http://www.fkccswimaroundkeywest.com/Images/bigmap.jpg The Map of the Key West Swim

Some videos on YouTube: ( there is a link to pictures on the right as well)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0JBKwNQqnk Eliza Swimming http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5kZWXwzIm4 Beth Swimming http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO787UzCw48 Jon Mooning the Cruise ship http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bje6hteqG2I Dual in the Ocean http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH8zPErIWmE Jon Swimming http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYn9oxSC40o Taste of the gay pride parade that happened the same weekend

Linneah came down to see me for the weekend. Mark and Jess were out of town so Linneah, Addy and I did some touristy things that Mark and Jess have exhausted. We went snorkeling in Harry Harris park. This meant that we walked out of marks house and then walked right into the ocean. Then we took advantage of the nice day and laid out on the fake beach in the park. After getting our fill of sun we came back to the house for a nap and then got ready to go to dinner. We wanted to try and watch the sunset while we ate so we to a restaurant on the water. However the Florida weather had different plans so instead we got to see a lightning storm over the water instead of a sunset. Then we went out to one of the local bars to drink, dance, and people watch. There were some incredibly bad dancing that made the night even more entertaining. After we got our fill of dancing we bar hoped so we could play some photo hunt. Our timing was impeccable, we left the first outside bar and en route to the following bar that was inside the sky's opened up and we all got soaked while running from the car into the bar.
The following morning, the three of us went to the Bird sanctuary. Brunch bay side was an experience. All we wanted was breakfast. However, the two restaurants we went to stopped serving breakfast at noon. So we had to settle for Lunch. Then we to an small artist community that had some very cute souvenirs that we didn't buy. The community was also the home to a Giant Lobster which we had to pose with. Then we decided we had to try the Famous Mr. C's ice cream. It was delicious. We were all happy that we had eaten our way through the keys and Linneah and I had a fun visit.

The time I did a 2k kick set with 12 yr olds

After talking to one of the faster girls on the swim team. I had a brilliant idea: why don't I swim in practice to help push the kids. The swimmer had complained that she didn't have any girls to challenge her during workout and she was frustrated just racing boys. So while driving to practice Mark and I decided that I would jump in for the main set. The main set was all kicking. Please note that I am a horrible kicker.

The workout:
2x:
4 x 25 from a dive fast breakout
then :20 push off the bottom in a streamline and :20 kick arms and shoulders out of the water x 4
4 x 25 kick 20m underwater fast
in 10 second intervals: push off the bottom in a streamline, kicking, and hold your breath

first round with ankle weights
second round no equipment
.....
6 x 50 best average with fins on 1:00
.....
200 kick free, fly,brst,free all on your back down with your arms over your head, back in a streamline all on your back

2 x
6 x 50 from a dive 3 strokes break out and the rest kick underwater from both walls

100 kick 10 beat kick all out from a dive

second round with fins
.....
6 x 50 best average with fins on 1:00

then warm down


I am not sure I remember ever doing a 2k kick set. my legs still hurt the next day. I wasn't able to provide a challenge on the 6 x 50's best average but I held my own for the rest of workout. Awesome so as a 27 yr old I was able to train with some of South Florida's fastest 12 yr olds. It sounds very similar to Sr. Mets swim meet, just a different state. I told the 9-10 age group that I was going to do there workout next. I think they are more my speed. The side motivation for swimming a workout is I am trying to get in shape for the Swim around Key West. I am trying to get in shape for that swim so I don't die mid ocean. That swim is in 2 weeks. http://www.swimaroundkeywest.com/course.htm

Key Fish Swim Team

The first session of The learn to swim program is over. The second session starts up a week from today. Until then I am going to be helping with all of the age groupers not just the 12 and ups. I had a great time with all the kids from the first session. I took my underwater camera out for the last day to take some pictures so I could give them to the parents. I had a great time coaching the kids and coaching little kids was such a nice stress free working environment and I got a free tan. Don't worry I had on SPF 30, a hat, SPF 95 on my face and a rash guard with SPF.

There is a link to the picture on the swim team web page. http://www.keysswimming.blogspot.com/

Lions & Tigers & Bears.. OH MY!

As a belated birthday present for Jess. The three of us went to the Miami Metro Zoo. Due to a poor forecast and because graduation weekends had started the Zoo was empty. We kept joking that Mark had rented out the Zoo for the day. We saw all types of animals among them panthers, elephants, & poisonous frogs. Jess was like a kid in a candy shop she fell in love with each animal that we passed and kept asking them if they wanted to come home with us. She did befriend a deer and was heartbroken when Mark and I told she was not allowed to keep it. The three of us had a lot of fun running around the zoo. My favorite part was when we got to feed the giraffes.

Another Amazing Day

I have been down in the Keys for a full 2 weeks. Life is great. Mark and I are trying to get in shape and have dedicated our selves to P90X. P90x is a work out tape that can be done at home. We are now both addicted and quote, Tony, the instructor endlessly. My typical day starts with a morning walk with the dogs. Then a quality hour of P90X. Followed with breakfast and some relaxing activity (ex. napping/e-mailing/ reading, watching swim videos). Take the dogs to the park. Then Mark and have some lunch together and lpay with the dogs some more and then head to the pool. We start lessons at 2:45 and coach till 7. When we return home, Jess has a delicious meal cooked for us. In exchange for a meal all I have to do is clean up the dinner dishes. Not a bad trade. After our meal we all hang out and then we are all in bed by 9:30-10 o'clock. Not bad. Sometimes we throw in some variations on the day just to mix things up. Basically life is great. We all workout, relax, hang out with 3-13 yr olds, not too bad. One of the kids was ecstatic because he figured out that if he looked through his goggles he could see me blow bubbles from the bottom of the pool and wave all at the same time. He couldn't believe it.This also the same little kid that refused to put his head in the water and insisted that he couldn't hold his breath. Now he doesn't want to take his head out of the water. Coaching the little kids has been so rewarding. After two weeks of the learn to swim clinc we are finnally drawing some attention. We have parents approach mark and I about there young kids swimming everyday. We are making a big impact in the Key Largo and Islamorada communitys and slowly making our way up to homestead. South Florida watch out!

The Keys

I have been down here in the Keys for a little over a week and life is great so far. I am starting to settle in to daily schedule a change from the past 4 months where about every day brought a different city or state and bed. I have slept in the same bed for over tens days. A new record this year. I work Mon, Tue,Thur, Fri teaching 3-8 year old and then after my lessons end I help out with the 12-14 year olds for an hour and a half. Wednesday, my day off, is private lesson day and just help out with the older kids. Then I have Sat and Sun off. Because Mark has early morning and Jess starts her day early as well. I have fallen into there daily routine of bed between 9:30 and 10. and Mornings start as early as 6am. I started swimming some of the Masters practices here as well. They are headed down to a ocean water swim in Key West in a couple of weeks and so they are trying to persuade me to join them. We did a practice open water swim in the bay last week. Basically it was snorkeling with goggles on instead of a snorkel and there were no waves. I tried to explain to the other masters swimmers that in a real open water swim there would be tons of people, waves and no one should focus on the coral or fish in the water.
In an effort to get into better shape Mark and just started a new workout routine called P90X. We are on day 2 and both dying already. We will have to see how we do in a week. It does make it easier to have a work out buddy.
Mark and Jess have 2 amazing little dogs. Lola and Marley. They are so cute. I am either playing with the puppies, exercising or working. I am exhausted thinking about my schedule. I got to see my first Florida Lightning storm last night. It was a excellent one. The sky was fillled with lightning bolts and flashes, nature put on quite a show. I will try and post some new pictures soon. This weekend I think we are going to try and go to the Bird Sanctuary and then just stay out of tourist populated place this weekend. It is supposed to be a mess down here for the weekend.

Life in the Keys

I am going to start updating my blog again. I am in the Florida Keys till the end of June. New Posts comming soon!!!

USA

I am back in the states. Yay!!

Linneah is cooler then me and has posted a blog about our trip. Her blog even has pictures with captions!

http://linneahr.blogspot.com/

Hanoi to Hoi An .....then home

After getting back from Sappa Linneah and I packed in a day and a half in Hanoi.

(details to come)

then we flew to Hoi an.


I am here till the 17th.
then I leave here at 11ish.
catch my 1:30 flight to ho chi min
then at 6:30 I leave for Bangkok
then I have a small lay over till I leave for Jordan
then after another layover I leave for Tel aviv
Then I am in Tel aviv for a day
then I head back to New York (on the 20th)
see you all soon!

chi mua tna mung cang ca - No Money No Honey

Sapa- (just a quick over view)

The phrase no money no honey is a popular phrase not really sure where it started but its all over shirts here and locals say it frequently.
Similarly the phrase "Same same but diffrent"is also all over on shirts. Apprently it started in Thailand becuase all teh shops are all the same but ( not really) diffrent.

Linneah and and I have treked around sapa. We stayed a nice place with an excellent view. Much nicer then I was expecting. We had a real shower and a real toilet. On our frist day we took the single trail down to Cat cat Village. We were able to see the tallest mountian in Indochinia. So many rice fields it was crazy. Lots of steep down hill walking on light path. We tried very hard not to fall. Then We came back to town for a ethnic lunch and a nap. Then we went on a hike to the top of the mountain in Sapa. There was an orchid garden, and Ostrich farm, views of Sapa, and near by Dragon Mountain. Then we came back walked around the town and then sat on our deck to read and relax before we went out for dinner. For dinner Linneah and I decided that wine sounded like a nice accompaniment to dinner, so we got the Apple wine. We were expecting a regular bottle of wine. Instead what we had ordered was the local eqivelent of sake and they don't have people order bottles of it. I think the restraunt staff was laughing at us. But the apple wine was very good and we have some left (it came in a water bottle) for another night.
Today we got up and went on another trek. We went to Lao Chai, a catholic village and then to Ta Van, a buddist village. One of the the woman from Ta van followed us the entire way from Sapa to the village. Her ussual walk home. The trek was about 9k's of steep up and down hills. It is crazy that she does that walk at least twice a day. We saw a lot of schools along the way. I am very impressed with te\he amount of schools here in rural villages. There is more of a focus on education here then the other countries we have been to. We found out that they are goverment funded so that may be why there were so many. We took the 10 minuet bus ride back from ta van becuase the tour company doesn't have us walk the 10k's back to Sapa. We take the night train back to Hanoi tonight. Then we have a day and a half there and then we are on to Hoi an. and then I start my 3 day journey back to NJ.

Luang Probang and Hanoi

I rode an Elephant today! I actually rode it. The Mahout,the word for elephant trainer, let me sit on the elephant. Linneah and I begain our journey both sitting in the basket on the elephants back. (Just like royality, hahaha) Then I think the trainer just wanted to put the moves on linneah so he went and sat with her and let me ride the elephants ears. It is not as easy as it looks. There is nothing to hold on to so you have to balance with you legs. Also, there skin is not soft, they have lots of little black hairs that are not excatly soft. I had a great time. Linneah and I both can't belive that I didn't fall off the elephant. I am however very sore from my elephant riding experiance. Walking the next day was a little painful. After our morning elephant riding we went to the waterfalls in Luang Prabang.We went to the Kuang Si waterfalls. The was awesome, the water is a beautiful blue color and there are tons of swimming pools as you go from fall to fall. There were about 7 diffrent levels of the falls. Linneah and I had to go all the way to the top of falls. Unfortually the top, really wasn't that impress. The visibility was very low so the view was amazing but we couldn't see that far. And you can't see down the falls that well. It turns out there was a sign that pointed to a cave with spring water. So linneah and another guy from our tour that had also climbed to the top of falls all walked to the cave with spring water. The walk was a 3k, whichi we all thought we could do and make it back for our shuttle back to town. It turns out 3k in the heat on a windy road is a lot longer then you would think. We went ahead with our quest to find the cave even though we would be late for our shuttle back. The cave was worth it. So much better then the one in Vang Vieng. There was no graffiti. It was so nice. There were also a lot of hidden buddahs in it. I deemed the cave, "Cave of many buddah" since the name was just cave with sping water before. We didn't go to the spring water portion of the cave becuase we didn't want to push our luck with a ride. so we high tailed it back to town only to discover we had to wait another 2 hours untill someone would take us back into town. So we made the most of the situation and went swimming in the falls and then had a beer and people watched. Another great day in my book.
The following day we woke up early to check out of the room and to go to a morning cooking class before our afternoon flight to Hanoi. We took the class at Tum Tum's with another couple. It turns out there wasn't much cooking in the cooking class. According to our teacher it takes too much time to prepare the food it is faster to cook. So really what we did was take all the ingrediants and stir. We were able practice cutting the food. and there was a lot of learning. Our Su chef took us to the market where they showed us all the diffrent fruits, vegtables, spices, fish, meat ect. It was definatly an experiance. Then we went back to the restraunt and they had us practice how to fan a cucumber and make a tomato flower out of a plum tomato. They are gave us a nice lecture on Loas food and culture. Then we got to practice cutting some of spices like; ginger, garlic, galanga, lemon grass and shallot. However becuase our cutting technics weren't that good they didn't even use the food we cut up to cook with it. a waste in my oppnion.Then we learned how to make lemongrass catfish wrapped in palm leaf. They showed us how to make sticky rice. Then we all got to stir our diffrent meals. I make coconut lemon grass soup with chicken. Linneah make tofu curry, and the other dish was lemon grass chicken. We had also all purcased a jack fruit in the market so the chef made us jackfruit pork soup. All the dishes were delishious. Then we got to feast on what we had all made. I am an excellent stirrer. Also I learned that you are supposed to eat sticky rice with your fingers in Loas but in Vietnam they eat sticky rice with chop sticks. Then we ran to the airport to catch our flight to Hanoi. Which ended up being later then we had though so we sat at the airport for lot longer then expected. The airport was not big, it was a little hard to entertain ourselves but we made it through.
Then we landed in Hanoi and jumped in cab. The cab took us to the wrong place and charged us double for it. STUPID CAB. So we had to refigure out where we needed to go and found a better cab to take us to the travel agency. Here we booked a icket on the overnight train up to Sappa. So we quickly ate diner and then the travel agent wisked us to the train station so we could jump on the over night train to Sappa. This was a new experiance for both Linneah and I, we had never slept on a train before. We were in a soft sleeper that we shared with a german couple. The room you get is a set of bunk beds that are about half the size of a twin bed, with a little pillow and a blanket. But don't worry the car has A/C so its considered a luxury. I decided that the only way the experiance was going to be enjoyable for me and allow me to be functional the next day was if I took a sleeping pill. It was an excellent idea and I plan on doing the same for the way back.
We arrived in Loi Cai at 5am and then were hearded on to a bus that took the hour drive up to Sappa.

(no spell check I am very sorry)

Biking, Trecking, Tubing

Linneah and I started our day with a walk around town. Then we rented bikes so we could bike to the Tham phu Kham cave. The sign that directed us to the cave promised a pool and a waterfall. No, it was a just a cave. The guy at the bike place failed to mention we had to pay an entree fee to get in to the cave. However a villager and his kids were sitting under a tent made us pay about a dollar and gave us a flash light and we think his guides offered to be our guides for another small fee. we declined the guides but gladly took the flashlight. We had to use our best rock climbing skills in our flip flops to get to the cave. The cave was very different. Many of tourists that have visited before had left there name, hand print and other forms of graffiti in the cave. So after our spelunking experience we left and biked back into town. There are 2 bridges that connect town to the other side of town. One bridge is a called big bridge and you have to pay about .40 cents or you could take small bridge for free. We opted for free bridge. Walking across small bridge was defiantly an experience as well. If it was in another country I am sure there would have been a sign saying one person at a time. It didn't look that sturdy. But it was great fun. It was now 12:30 and we decided that it was an appropriate time to start our way down the river. The information we were given was that it should take 2-3 hours to get down the river and you need to return the tubes by 6 or you get charged a late fee. By the time we got to the launch site it was a little past one and we figured we had plenty of time to make it down the river. Linneah, Kalina (our new friend who also came to the caves with us) and I got to the first bar and ordered a bucket of vodka red bull. The bar is basically a deck covered in blankets on the river. The first bar was called Bucket bar and had a rope swing into the water. After drinking our first bucket, we jumped into our tubes and floated about 100m to the next bar. I think its called second bar. Here we got another bucket for the three of us. Then after finishing the 2nd bucket we went to the third bar that was supposed to have amazing sandwich's. I will call it Sandwich bar. Since everyone floats or swims to the next bar the bars have developed ways to entice people to come up to the bar. They just through a rope or bamboo stick at you and pull you into the bar. After being pulled into the bar. We were greeted by a shot of Tiger Whiskey (after 2 buckets it tasted great) and then we ate our sandwich's that were amazing as promised. Then we proceeded on to mud bar. Again we were pulled in to the bar. We were not greeted with shots but we were all fine with that. We did get our third and final bucket here. Mud bar gets its name from the large mud pit that next to the bar. At this point we were covered in mud, very drunk and it was almost 5. So we jumped back in our tubes and tried to make it down river. We didn't make to slide bar which is another popular bar as well ( it has a slide aka slide bar and also is the root of many of the tubers injury's). So an hour was not enough time to make it down the river. At six we jumped out and flagged down a tuk tuk to get us back to town. We were not close to town and I don't think we had made it very far down the river. I now have a reason to go back. After washing up we all went to dinner at one of the bars in town. thew bars here all have one distinct charateristic. They all have tv's and they all play different episodes of Friends. There were a couple of exceptions. We found one that had family guy and one that was a sports bar. All the other bars were all playing Friends. It was very bizarre. It is very entertaining as well because everyone comes back from the river gets food and then zones out watching Friends. We followed suit.
Then this morning we got up and caught the mini bus from Vieng vang to Luang Provang. My guess is its about a 4.5-5 hour drive in a car. But the mini bus takes 6 with 2 stops. It was a great way to see the country side. Thatch huts, naked kids, (controlled) forest fires. It was another adventure in it self. We arrived here and went to a walk on the river and watched the sun set and booked our activities for the next two days. Elephant riding tomorrow and then a cooking class Tuesday. We went for a stroll in the night market and out to an expensive dinner, $6 for both us. We are big spenders.

Vang Vieng

Linneah and left Siem Reap this morning and spent the entire day traveling. First we took a flight from Siem Reap to Vietaine, Laos then we went to the bus station and took a air conditioned van to Vang Vieng. The air quality resembles the aftermath of the oakland fire, however there doesn't seem to be forest fires anywhere. It just might be smog. Although I think this is also unlikely because this town is very tiny. This town would make Orinda or Ridgewood look like New York City. My hotel ( $16 dollars a night) has a bathroom and a fan. Very luxurious. The town is surrounded by huts mostly with thatched roofs and no bathrooms. The past couple days have defiantly been filled with people living way below the poverty line. I wasn't prepared to see so many people living in houses with out running water, electricity, ect. Basic amenities I take for granted. Tomorrow Linneah and I are going tubbing down the river. Basically its white water rafting in a innertube and the main activity is drinking. It should be a fun day. I am trying to get a waterpoof camera so we can document the experiance.

Soa s'day - Hello in Cambodian

Linneah and I had another full day. Te day started with a Sunrise Trip to Angkor wat to watch sunrise reflected in the eternity pool at Angkor. Then after a nap we went to Angkor Wat and Ankgor Thom. We had a guide who was more informative on current events then we were prepared for. We were told it was one of the 7 wonders of the world. It is in fact the 6th Man made world wonder as well as a natural heritage site. We both have enjoying the cambodian food here as well. For lunch we both had Amok, a popular Cambodian dish ( similar to coconut milk soup) and for dinner we enjoyed Cambodian BBQ of Kangaroo and Snake. Delicious. We leave Cambodia friday morning to go to Laos. We are just knocking off countries like its our job.

Where in the world is Elyse?

So I landed in Ho chi min city, Vietnam on saturday evening. Then I met up with Linneah Sunday night and then the two of us left monday for Bangkok where we stayed overnight last night and we were able to explore today. We are at the airport about to board our plane to Siem Reamp, Cambodia. Then from there we go to Laos to Vietaine and travel to Laung Prabang and then we should be headding to Hanoi on the 10th.

Wed 3/4
We explored Angkor Wats today. We went to: Banteay Srei, Preah Ko, Pre Rup, Ta Prom, then rested and ate lunch at the Kehmer family restaurant, Eastern Mebon, Ta som, and Preah Khan. Then we lounged at our hotel pool for a bit untill it looked like it was going to rain on us. We went into Siem Reap for a amazing massage at Bodia Spa and then dined at The Red Piano. A very full day.

Tomorrow we are planning on seeing the temples at sunrise.

Nam

I arrived safe and sound in Ho Chi Min City. I am staying at a hotel Linneah boked for us living Luxury compared to all the hostels I have been staying at. Life is good. I am going to go try my luck at crossing the street through hundreds of scooters and explore the city. Imagine all the cabs in new york as scooters and then multiply that by 3 (becuase scooters are smaller) then you can visulize a crowded street here!

Bye Australia :(

Red back, funnel web, blue ringed octopus
Taipan, Tiger snake, Adderbox and
Jellyfish stone fish and the poison thing that lives in a shell,
that spikes you when you pick it up

Come to Australia
You might accidentally get killed
Your lifes constantly under threat Have you been bitten yet?
You've only got 3 minutes left
Before a massive coronary breakdown

Red back, funnel web, blue ringed octopus
Taipan, Tiger snake, Adderbox and Jellyfish
Big shark, just waiting for you to go swimming At Bondi Beach

Come on Come to Australia
You might accidentally get killed
Your blood is bound to be spilled
With fear your pants will be
Filled Because you might accidentally get killed

- Lyrics from "Come to Australia" Scared Weird Little Guys

I survived all those things and the song diddn't even mention Aligators or Casawary birds also known for killing people and the Dengue fever out break.

I can't wait to go back!!

Scuba Diving

I woke up early Friday morning to board the T5 diving ship. (Thank you Uncle Joey and Gina). It took about an hour on the water to get to Hasting reef where we were going to go diving. I got preped on how to dive, got suited up and was ready to go. Becuase this was a Luxury liner the boat staff did everything. I sat there and they put on my scuba tank, checked the air, cleaned my goggles and even put on my fins. I wasn't used to that, swim coaches just don't do that for you. Then I jumped in to the water and was led down the 12 meters for my first scuba dive!!! The reef was amazing. It was so clear, there were so many colors. Tons of fish of all sizes. I saw clown fish and parrot fish and giant clams. It was great. The experiance lasted about 25 minuets and it was amazing. I was given the option to do 2 more dives, but they were expensive and you need 12-24 hours between diving and going on a plane and I didn't want to push my luck. I instead choose to go snorkaling. The views were still great. The colors were even a little better becuase I was closer to the sun. about 5 minuets after I jumped in the water for last snorkle the sky opened up and it started pouring. it rained for a good 10 minuets, besides the water clarity decreasing a little, the rain didn't matter. The sun came out again and I enjoyed the rest of the time out on the water. After the boat headed in I took some time to stroll around Cains and see the town. Then later that night I met up with some other Oz Experiancers at Rino bar. Similar to the Whoolshed but we kept the dancing on the dance floor no tables for the last night in Cains.

Cape Tribulation

Layla, Eloise and I headed up to cape tribulation on wednesday. Cape tribulation is the only place that 2 national world heritage parks meet. The rainforest's meets the reef. Its very cool. We took a tour up to cape trib. It takes about 45 minuets go from Cape tribultion up to port douglas where we stopped at another wild animal park. I saw the cutest koala. It was awake, it moved, it ate and it even made noise. Our guide had never seen the koalas do all that in one trip. Usually they just sleep. I got to see another cassowary and feed some more kangaroo's and I even got to see a joey, a baby kangaroo, in the mom's pouch. From the animal park we went up and did a rainforest's walk in Port Douglas. We stoped for lunch after our rainforest treck. After lunch our guide promised us desert. He walked to one of the trees close by, picked up a green ant and lickd it. He instisted we all try the green ants. They were in fact good. I didn't eat a green ant. I liked a green ant. It tasted like lemon lime zest. The guide joked about popping some green ant bums in a carona. but really that would be quite good. From there I took a ride on the Daintree river to look for crocodiles. We saw a baby one. Then we to an exotic fruit farm. Where I had jack fruit, black sapote, green sapote and black mame ice cream. Then we went to our hostel, the beach house to relax after our long day of exploring. The Hostel was set in the middle of the rainforest. We went to lounge by the pool whichi was covered in all diffrent types of trees from the rainforest. It was very exotic. We also went down to beach so we could stand where the reef meets the rainforest. It was simialar to when you cross state lines. Rainforest, then I jumped to the Reef and back again. When I had called the hostel about what options there were for dinner the receptionist had told me they had a restraunt at the hostel and food was avilable. At most hostels they have food for around $7-15. At the beach house dinner was $24 not a bargin. So Laiya, Eloise and I trecked for a half down the road to the store ( near the hostel up in cape tribulation, PK's) Where were got that was much more afordable. Becuase the night life was soo crazy up at cape tribulation (there isn't any night life)) we settled in for a nice evening of monopoly. It was a very intense game. The lounge area closes at ten so we all called it a early night.
The next day we all woke up after having a nice sleep in. We didn't have to rush to wake up and we were the only ones in the room so we didn't have to worry about being quite or if we could turn the light on becuase someone was sleeping. It was a nice luxury. We had a nice luxurious breakfast, we relaxed. It was very nice. Just as we decided to start our day it started pouring. So we relaxed somemore and wait for the rain to stop. When the rain stopped we put on our thongs (flip flops) and headed for our afternoon hike. The hike included the treck to the general store, A look out at the Cape Tribulation beach, The daintree rainforest walk, and then masons swimming hole. The walk there was about 2 hours of walking. There were some great views at the lookout. The rainforest walk was very cool. There was a lot of flood damage along the rainforest walk. No damage to the boardwalk but a lot to the local wildlife. The swimming hole was one of the coolest things I have done. We were the only people at the swimming holes. It was beutiful cool clear water, freindly fish, great trees. It was a great experiance. Then after cooling off in the swimming hole and grabbing some lunch at Mason's store we headed back to the hostel so we could get a ride back to Cains. Back in Cains the 3 of us met up with some of the other people that we were travling with that had gone to mission beach for a day before comming up to Cains. We went to the infoumous Whoolshed for dinner and drinks. Portions here are huge if you are hungy in Cains and want a inexpensive meal go to the Whoolshed. After stuffing our faces( for $6.50 nice compared to $24 at the hostel the previous night) we went for a walk to the night market and the lagoon. The lagoon is less lagoon like then Airle beach and more pool like and open with life gaurds till late. The lagoon is similar to an infinity pool as it drops off into the harbor near by. Then after browsing the night market we went back to the whoolshed for some late night drinks and dancing. We had a danced the dance floor, the tables and the chairs it was a great night.

Magnetic Island and the road to Cains

After a big night out in Arlie beach. The entire bus, my self included was hung over so I was able to sleep most of the ride up to Townsville. Due to all the rain Queensland has been getting the roads to Townsville had been shut down, the roads just opened last week. I am so lucky. Townsville is the stop to get to Magnetic island. Magnetic island is supposed to have over 300 sunny days a year. However, because it is rainy season they have only had one days with one rain this year. That one day was not one of the days I was at Magnetic Island. One of the locals was telling me that in about two weeks the rain would stop and it wouldn't rain until January next year. crazy. Anyway, I took the ferry to Magentic island in the middle of the rain storm. It was not smooth sailing. I was not a happy camper but I made it. I stayed at Base Backpackers it was very nice Hostel. Beautiful view, cute, air conditioned rooms, lots of bugs. The rain stopped when I got there long enough for me to enjoy a lovely rainbow and see the view with out it down poring. The evening was spent playing drinking games. There was about 15 of that all ended up at base that had been traveling together for the last couple days. So it was nice for all of us to all hang out as a big group. We were like the cool kids because there was a lot of us that all knew each other.
The next day, the morning was very nice, a little cloudy but the day looked promising. until noon. Then The rain came crashing down. I decided that it a rainy day was an excellent time for me to catch up on my journal writing and time to do some research for Vietnam. It rained all day. We played cards, we watched the rain, we got wet. Finally, the rain let up a little bit and I was able to go on the Forts walk in the National park on the Island. The walk is supposed to take an hour and half. I did in 50 min. I didn't want to get stuck in a down poor. Due to the rain I didn't see any Kolas, but there are supposed to be a lot that live in that particular forest. The views from the walk were amazing. The Island is very majestic and would be very nice in the sun. After the taxing walk and dinner I went strait to bed I was exhausted from such a busy day.
Tuesday was a long day. I woke up early. We all had to get up early to catch the bus to catch the Ferry to meet the Oz bus so we could make our way up to Cains. The ride to Cains was about a 6-7 hour trip. My last long day on the oz bus. On the way to Cains, the bus stops at A crocodile farm. It was awesome. I got to hold fluffy a baby crocodile. It could have eaten me. I got to see a lot of really really big crocodiles. It was crazy. One of the crocks, Tank ( because he was HUGE!) popped out of the water, scared us all, then then ate the chicken that the trainer was holding. Then after watching a dozen crocodiles get fed, I got to hand feed a couple of Kangaroo's, a baby kangaroo, and a wallaby. They were adorable. Then I even go to hold a dingo. they also like to bite humans. I made it out safely! no worries! I finally arrived in Cains. I made it up the entire east coast from Sydney to Cains approx 1,695.33 miles that's a lot of traveling. This evening I had a pancake dinner, apparently that a traditional dinner before lent. I just think pancakes are an excellent dinner. Then a couple of went to cheep movie night. It was $9. Normally movies here are $14. I was not impressed with cheep movie night. I booked some more activities for the rest of my trip. I am going up to Cape Tribulation tomorrow for the night and I am going to go diving on the Reef on Friday and then Sat I leave for Vietnam. My trip flew by.

Whitsundays!

I didn't die from jellyfish!!!!! I will come back to the whitsundays.. they were amazing and I got so lucky and had amazing weather.

( I will continue later)

http://s677.photobucket.com/albums/vv136/Elyse82/whitsundays/?albumview=slideshow

Here are all the links to my pictures from Isreal to Arlie Beach.
I love having fast internet in an airconditioned room. Life is better that way.
My blackberry should be working now, I should be able to get BBM's again.

http://s677.photobucket.com/albums/vv136/Elyse82/Krombit%20family/ http://s677.photobucket.com/albums/vv136/Elyse82/Byron%20Bay/ http://s677.photobucket.com/albums/vv136/Elyse82/Frasiers%20ect/ http://s677.photobucket.com/albums/vv136/Elyse82/Noosa/
http://s677.photobucket.com/albums/vv136/Elyse82/Surfers/ http://s677.photobucket.com/albums/vv136/Elyse82/
http://s677.photobucket.com/albums/vv136/Elyse82/Taglit/

The Bush

http://s677.photobucket.com/albums/vv136/Elyse82/Krombit%20family/

My tour took me off the coast and I went went to mid-western Queensland, the Bush. Not the outback that is in central Australia I was about 2 hours inland. I went to a cattle station called Krombit cattle station located on the Krombit Nature Preserve near biloeal (white cockatoo). There is a link to see some pictures. I got very lucky and I had a great group of people to travel with to the cattle station with. We were all a bit older and had a lot of fun. The day started off with a hearty steak lunch. yumm, steak from a cattle station. Krombit is a Cattle station. It has about 1,000 heads of cattle and then like 3 times as much land. Usually there is very limited food due to the lack of rain and drought so farms are limited to how much stock they have. Due to the heavy rains everything was green and lush, a real rarity. Anyway, a station is bigger then ranch or farm due to land not necessarily how much cattle/goats ect are on it. After lunch we all headed out to the farm. I pretended to shoot a huge gun. We had a goat rodeo. so much much fun so gross. The pen was muddy and full of goat shit it was gross but so much fun. Each group had one person catch the goat, flip and hold the goat and then pretend to brand the goat. You can tell from the pictures I as the goat flipper. I got "mud" all over it was great fun. we all smelled great that evening. Then after the goat rodeo we played spin the bottle station style. There is a picture of the bottle of gin. The cowboy, Andy, the was our leader had started the afternoon with a full bottle of gin and about 2 and half hours later the bottle was empty so we could use it for spin the bottle. I guess he need to be drunk to live on the station or just to deal with 26 tourists. As per usual spin the bottle rules all of us got in a circle and Andy spun the bottle. When the bottle stopped instead of kissing, the two people had to hold on to a two pronged electric rod. The entire circle had to hold hands and then the shock went through the entire circle. It was electric! haha. Then we proceeded to have our dinner appetizer. Grilled Goat, delicious. Then meat, potato and carrots for dinner. After dinner it was Monday inside out party day. So we had to dress up in clothes backwards, inside out, the boys cross dressed. It was hilarious. The evening preceded with a lesson on how to crack and whip and ridding a mechanical bull. I had a great time. Very entertaining. However, there were some negatives to the evening. The bugs. I hate, HATE bugs. I stayed in a cabin, I found 2 bugs in my bed before I went to bed. gross. and then I had to fall asleep trying to convince myself that there were no more bugs in my bed and no bugs were going to touch me while I slept. ugh!
Then the next morning I started my journey to Arlie Beach. is was a 10 hour day on the bus. We stoped at the tropic of Capricorn. there are some pictures from that in the album as well. I go sailing around the Whitsunday islands later today. I am hoping for good weather!!! I am planning on taking lots of drugs so I don't get sea sick. no worries.

Frasiers Island

I survived Frasiers Island!!!
The short version: I departed Rainbow beach early Thursday morning in a 4 wheel drive ready to go off roading on an all sand Island. 11 of us loaded in a land cruiser. After an hour and half of driving we got to the island and made our way to Eli Creek, the maheno shipwreck, the pinnacles, and Indian head. Then found our campsite on the beach. Found out that sand flies bite so do spiders and mosquito's. Saw Dingo's at a arms lengh. Then we bbqed on the beach under the moonlight and danced under the stars. then the next day we loaded up and went to lake Makenzie. Amazing!! Then the rain started. Then I hiked on the pile trail through a rain forest in the rain. I had to pick a leach off my foot. Then in the pouring rain returned to the camp site and decided to go to a hotel on the island. Lived in luxury for the night. Ate, drank, showered. Then in the morning a few of us went to lake Wabby. Then returned to the hotel and waited out the rain until we could get to the ferry to take us to the main land. In the rain. It was defiantly a unique experience. I will elaborate more when the Internet is faster and cheaper.

Updates

The Animals I have seen so far:
Wild turkey
Flying fox
A giant lizard similar to a bearded dragon
Kangaroo
Dolphins
Wale
Kookaburra bird
Goanna
Sea turtle
Koala
Dingo
Giant Snake
Eagle
Hawk
White cockatoo

Beers I have drank:
Beez Neez
James Squire, golden ale
VB (Victoria bitter)
Toothys light. Stag
Hann. premium light/super dry
Casacade light
Pure Blond * Currently my drink of choice.
XXXX gold and bitter

Noosa (continued)

Noosa is great. It is very relaxing. The hostle I am staying out is about a 3 min walk from the beach. I am such a spoiled brat. The night activities here include a group of us all crowded around a guitar and plenty of beer. Then at 11pm we all get kicked out of the comman area of the hostle and we go to the beach. Becuase the last few nights have almost been a full moon the beach has been great. Good times. I went to the Nature Preserve to go to one of the more secluded beaches Tea tree beach and to hopefully see a Koala. its about a 25 min trek to the beach but worth it. No life guards, no screaming kids. It is very nice. The water is so warm here that you don't go in the water to cool off. you just go in to the ocean to avoid cooking on the beach. While walking from Tea tree beach to another beach I finnally got to see not 1 koala but 2 koalas!!!! Very excitting!!! I leave tomorrow to continue north to Rainbow Beach. From Rainbow beach I am going on a 3 days trip on Fraiser Island. Frasier island is a giant sand island and I will going off roading for 3 days. There are supposed to be a lot of bugs there so I am tring to load up on all forms of bug repelent. The mosquitos, spiders and i think bitting flies have been thrilled that I have to Australia. They see me as a new food group. I am so glad I helping them to a new food source. I am trying not to take benadryl untill after fraiser island becuase I am afraid I will get feasted on and have to live on it after that experiance. besides helping the bugs get fat all is well here.

Noosa

After my adventures in Surfers Paridise I had a quick night in Brisbine. I was only there for a couple of hours. I did manage to hit the casino, the Story Bridge, Queen st, The Valley and China Town. I was impressed with everything I managed to do. Then I continued north to Noosa. Along the way I went to the glass house mountains. The land was flat then all of a sudden there large mountins pop out of the country side. I think Captain cook named them the Glass house mountins becuase they looked like glass houses ( or farm mills). Noosa is very similar to Byron bay. Everyone is laid back and the emphasis is relaxation. In Byron Bay there are lots of little boutique stores and a very stong hippie influance. Here, becuase the town is smaller the surfers have a larger influnace on town life as well as tourism. There are a handful of resorts and high end stores even a fair amount of brand name stores. People who live in Noosa seldom work here, instead they work in the surrounding towns. I am staying at the Hasle Lodge.It is a very cute hostle. Its one of the last wooden lodges in queensland. A world of diffrence from the arts factory. There is was camping, here is it fancy camping. There is a Nature Presever here home to a variety of wildlife including koalas. There are 5 main trails in the park. I combined two trails and the the coastal walk and the another walk that took me through the park. There are some really nice vies from the coastal walk. Beautiful blue ocean set again against the dark rocks makes a nice contrast. There are also a lot of beachs that you can only get to via the coastal path so there are a lot of surfers searching for the best waves on all the quiet beachs along the coast. Then the walk through the park was very nice. It was very quiet, I only saw 2 people my entire walk through. I did however see a handful of wild turkeys, lots of birds, and a lace monitor lizard ( also called a goanna lizard...it was huge). I made some firends here at this hostle. It's nice to meet some other people my age instead of the abundance of 18-21 yr olds that I had met early on in the trip.

Sunrise

I know I am skipping ahead. Earlier today at 5am I went to the lighthouse in Byron Bay to see the sunrise. The sun slowly made an appearance over the ocean. The scenery was amazing. The ocean was accented with the first rays of sunshine. I saw a whale on the horizon. Then after watching the sun come up for about an hour. I made the trek through the coastal rain forest to the beach. Along the way I was able to go to the official eastern most tip of Australia and then I went to what the locals say is the eastern most tip. Along the rocks I saw a small pod of dolphins playing in the waves. The path took me along the beach and I was able to fully appreciate the morning. The sand was cool and soft, the sun was slowly getting warmer and warmer. The ocean was a clear blue. I watched the people surfing. so amazing! I just keep thinking, I am in Australia and I am so lucky! I had such a nice morning. Then I had to come back to my hostel to check out. I leave Byron Bay today and head up to a town called Surfers Paradise. Apparently the two towns are very diff rent. Byron is very laid back, similar to Telegraph Ave on the beach. Surfers is more of town. Here in Byron I feel like I am on holiday (they don't say vacation here, they say holiday). I woke up and had to decide what bathing suit and when I was going to the beach and how long I wanted to stay there. Clearly I was faced with major decisions. No worrys I only have 2 suits and don't have to keep to a time schedule so I was o.k.

....later friday night in Surfers Paridise I met up with leah's friend, Becks and her boy friend Dan. We went to all the hot spots in Surfers; The Clock, Waxy's, & Sin City. fun times. Surfers paridise besides having 4 major theme parks also has a casio. Becuase of this the clientel in Surfers has a wied range. There are the people who come on vacation, the people that come to pick up the people on vacation, some avid senior citizens that come to gamble, non- senior citizens who come to gamble, backpackers, and then the people who live here. It creates a very bizare city dynamic.

Oz Experiance

Oz Experience. I left Sydney at 6:30 am Monday to start my adventure on my own. I made a friend before I got on the bus, one of the girls was lost and couldn't find the oz experience office so I helped her. I didn't want to tell her that I had no idea where I was going and directions were not my forte but luckily the office wasn't far. Due to lack of planning and my laid back "it will just work out attitude, I had no idea how long my first bus ride was or what the plan was once I got on the bus. I found out quickly that basically I was going to be spending about 12-13 hours on the bus the first day. Ugh. However, due to my lack of sleep and abundance of beer, sleeping was easy. The first day took me up to a surf camp called Spot X near Coffs Harbour. Oz experiance takes us all to a bottle shop to buy our drink of choice and then everyone spends the night drinking and meet each other. Here I found out that I had about 3-7 years on everyone on the bus. Its luck of the draw with who is on your bus and this first stop was filled with 18-21 years old and there goal was to get wasted. After drinking for 5 days strait all I wanted was a night off and was not in the mood for drunk crazyness. oh well.

Surfing!
"You'd catch 'em surfin' at Del MarVentura County lineSanta Cruz and Trestle Australia's Narrabeen All over Manhattan And down Doheny Way" -Beach boys Surfing USA
The bus driver tottally played this as we drove in to the surf camp. I loved it. Surfing was so much fun to always want to learn how to surf and then finnally go surfing. YAY!!!! I think I am still in shock that I got to learn how to surf, in Australia none the less. crazy. I even managed to stand up a couple of times. I had so much fun!!! I don't have pictures :( so you have to believe me. After surfing I made my way up to Byron bay for lots of beaching and relaxing.

"All we need is a bag of money"

Sunday Feb 1st. Andrea, Meagan, Chad and I started our day off by taking the ferry from Sydney to Manly beach. There are great views of the bridge, opera house, various beach on the coast and some great scenery. After the ferry ride the four of us went to get ready for the Cole 2k open water swim. None of us paid to the swim so we deemed our selves team Pirates and had to sneak in to the swim. While getting our barrings on how to sneak into the swim with out getting caught, I ran in to Mel vonHartitzsch. crazy. She moved here about 2 months ago and is living in Sydney. The aquatic community is so small. The open water swim was awesome. The water was a perfect temperature, it was clear, some waves..it was so much fun. Also the backdrop for the swim was a blue sky, no clouds and great scenery. I swam with Chad for most of the swim, It made it so much easier having a veteran open water swimmer swimming with me. (Thank You!) Then after our swim we decided we all deserved bloody marys, oysters, and burgers. After our lunch by the sea we went walked to another beach in the area to play in the waves. Fighting the crashing waves was a little different then our swim earlier. both were fun. Then we ran into some of Chad's beach volleyball friends playing in a tournament. So we grabbed some beers and drank them discreetly . Your not really supposed to drink on the beach but the guy at the bottle shop told us we were fine as long as you don't get caught. We figured we were fine. At this point in the day we all decided that we were having a perfect day. We decided that the only way the day could get better would be if we found a bag of money. During the tournament we were very helpful to one of the Coogee teams playing and made sure they were well hydrated (our beer). After the team got 2nd in the tournament we helped them celebrate there victory at one of the local restaurants. We felt we had helped them win since we had given them beer so we even celebrated our own victory. From volleyball we changed our focus to tennis and more drinking. Fun times. Tennis was drawing to a close when Mike, one of the volleyball players that lives in Coogee asked us if we need a ride home from Manly(about hour from Bondi via ferry and bus). Here is where we found our "bag of money" We took advantage of the ride home and even got to Coogee in time to watch the end of the tennis and close the bar. It was great last day in Sydney!

Hunter Valley

Cheers!
Small disclaimer: you may want to read this with a glass of wine. You also may get drunk.

Andrea, Meghan and I decided to take a day trip up to Hunter Valley. Hunter Valley is one of the wine regions in Australia. I learned a lot of Australian wines. Fosters, the beer company, owns about 60% of all the wine that is exported out of Australia. Yellow Tail, one of the bigger labels that is exported, like Fosters is not really for Australian consumption. Many of brands that we have in the states are not even on the shelves here. Yellow Tail produces about 80 billion bottles per year while most of the Boutique winery's that I visited were making 3500-4000 bottles a year.
Our first stop was at Ernest Hills. There some grapes that are only grown in Australia, The Semillion and Verdelho are some of them. Here we tried; The "Cyril" Semillion, "The Chicken Shed" Chardonnay, Chambourcin, a Rose, "The Dam" Merlot, and Luna Star Semillion. Some of there wines had some bizare names (i.e Chicken shed) but that is because they would names the wines according to there proximity to diffrent locations. We ended up all really liking the rose so we bought a bottle here. The winery had just picked some of there Verdelho grape earlier that morning. The wine maker, Rosie brought in some of the fresh picked juice for us to try as well. The fresh grape juice was delish. Please remember I didn't drink entire glasses of all those wines, just tastes. Also our first stop was at 10:30 in the morning. No worries, our tour guide told us it was wine time somewhere so it was o.k. (I think 6:30pm in New York so I thought we were o.k)
The second stop took us to Iron Gate Winery. Here we also tried a variety of wines; The Semillon/Chardonnay, Verdlho, Rose (a Rose named after his mother Rose), 2 Sharaz ( purnounced shur-as), Sweet Mandala which is a combo of Semillion, Verdelho and Chardonnay, and a cold sweet Shiraz that had to be eaten with chocolate. The wines were delicious. I didn't complain at all about having to drink my wine while eating chocolate either. We quickly stopped for some lunch and cheese tasting before going to our next stop.
Next we went to Tempus Two Winery. Here Andrea and I focused on our red wines. I did try the semillion savignon Blanc first but that was just to get started. Then we Tried the Beechworth Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Zinfandel (Which is a white in the States but a red here) and the Barossa "Vine Vale" Shiraz. Andrea's favorite was the Sangioveses and mine was the Shiraz.
Then we went to Mcguigian Winery. Here we tried some a sparkling Pinot, two really good Shiraz and also one sparkling Shiraz.
Then our last stop was at Audrey Wilkenson Winery. This was one the best views from Hunter Valley. Ross, our tasting guide taught us some key phrases for ways to describe wines: B.G.R, R.B.G.R, and F.R.B.G.R. The last one is F***ing Really Bloody Good Red I am sure you can figure out the other too. Here I tried my favorite white wine, the Traminer. We also tasted a variety of Shiraz from a couple different years. They were F.R.B.G.R's. After five Winerys we concluded our day in the Hunter Valley.
Since the tour droped us off in down town Sydney, we decided to keep the party going. We opened the bottle of Rose that we bought, put it in our water bottles from earlier ( I am high class, I know) and hit the town. We walked up to Darling Harbor and found a nice spot to drink our wine, people watch, see the sunset and listen to a street performers digredo. The Sam's who had visited us in New York came in to meet us for dinner. We went to a nice restraunt on Kings Warf with the boys and then they took us to Congo Lounge for some drinking. It was nice to see more familiar faces. Apprently Sydney is trying to make some new rules regarding drinking. WE found a flyer protesting the new rules, " Can you believe what the state goverment is doing to our nightlife? 2 am lockouts from venues, closing bars for 10 minuets every hour, banning cocktails and shots after midnight, forcing us to drink out of plastic cups, outlawing bottles of wine and champagne after midnight. The goverment wants to shut down the state at 2am- our social life is under attack! We agree that anti-social behaviour is an important issue and that venues need to be safe, but the State's response is ill considered, misguided and unfair to responsible drinkers." I thought this was entertaining. Also in Bondi most of the bars kick you out at midnight but some stay open later, there are some bars that you can't wear thongs in (flip-flops), and people dress to the nines here. I felt under dressed in my jean skirt. Oh well! Sorry if this got you drunk.

Sydney

Day 2 in Sydney. Andrea, Megan and I went to Phlip's art gallery in Surry Hill. She had a sculpture exhibit located on Dank St. After spending some time looking different art work, I proceeded on to down town Sydney via the The Sydney Hop on Hop off bus. Yes, I went on the double decker, Hi I am a tourist bus. Even though the bus screamed tourist it was still a good time. I got to see a lot of the sights; The Power house museum, Star city Casino, Sydney Harbor Bridge, The Maritime Museum, the aquarium, The Rocks, Kings Cross, The Opera House and Hyde Park to name a few. Then after touring the city in the sun, the 3 of us met up with Chad, a friend of the the Judges, for drinks in Cooge. It was an excellent day. Today, Thursday, I am able to finally adjust to the new time zone. And we started the morning off with a swim at the Bondi Iceburgs. The pool is located on the rocks on Bondi Beach. The pool is filled with salt water and when high tide comes in, the ocean water spills over into the pool. It was breathtaking. After an intense swim practice, we retired to the beach to soak up some rays. We played in the waves and also played kadima (paddle ball). We ended the evening in Cooge, we dined at 5 O's and then went for drinks and desert at Ocean Beach. Our Cocktails at ocean beach included, an Umpalumpa, a Vanilla and Passion fruit Mojito and a Banana Daiquiri. They were all made with love, it took about 10 min. per drink. This bar would not survive in New York, service would take to long. We were also persuaded to do an open water swim up at Manely beach Sunday, its just a 2k. Appently if you can swim and your in Sydney, then its like a sin if you don't participate.

Finnally Here!

4+:45+6+8.5+4+9.5= the hours it took me get to Sydney from Tel Aviv. It was not a quick trip. I got to spend some quality time at Amman, the airport in Jordan. The food selection there was amazing, Popeye's chicken, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and a some random sandwich shop. I couldn't believe these were my food choices. Everything was written in english and everyone I encountered spoke english as well. The abundance of english deffinalty made the 6 hours I got to spend there berarble. Then I made my way to Bankok airport. Eveything was in English as well. When I arrived I found out I had a small visa problem but it was quickly resolved. The airport was huge, maybe 10 times the size of Amman. After exploring the airport a little and browsing the duty free shops I made a point to eat some Thai food while I was in Thailand even if it was going to be airport food. I found a cute little thai place and ordered. In New York my meal that was searved on a real plate with silverware probally would of cost around $12. However, I think I spent about the equivilent of $3. I love the exchange rate! After my expensive meal I proceded to get ready for the second leg of my journey. BEcuase I had already slept on the previos flight and had technically woken up about 4 hours ago sleeping on the next leg of the flight was going to be a little harder. A movie, half a book and a sleeping later I managed to get about 4 hours of sleep on the flight. It was better then nothing.
Finnally I arrived in Sydney!!!!! I went strait to Andrea's new apt in Bondi Beach. It is very cute. It was a little rainy tuesday so instead of beaching we did some work on her apt. Andrea and her roommate Meaghan now have bed frames, pots and pans and a little frig! We spent the day puttering, exploring and planning the rest of week. We made the best of a rainny day.
I can't wait to go explore the sights, hit the beach, meet some Aussie's....

The Jew Crew

Back at Maryland we had the Jew Crew. The Jewish swimmers on the team, Ari, Inball, Mike, Mark and my self. Who knew jews could swim. Inbal and Ari had returned to Isreal after college so I hadn't seen either of them in about four years. We got back together and you would never have known we had been apart. Ari and Inbal are doing great. Ari is teaching communications and coaching swiming. Inball is an instructor at a theraputic horseback riding kubutz and preparing for a cross country trek. She will be hiking from the southern tip of Isreal to the north.
It was such a pleasure to hang out with them both. They both have contagious smiles. It only made all of us smile more. It was so nice to reconnect with old freinds and share stories. They also tried to convince me to move here. I don't think thats going to happen. I am not sure I can make it in Isreal just knowing how say, ehad, steim, shalosh, arba (1,2,3,4), saba (excellent) and yalle (lets go). Language is definalty not my strong suit, on that note neither is spelling or grammer. I appologize for all misspellings and grammer mistakes.

Taglit- Hebrew for to learn

The Birthright trip is over. Definatly an experiance. Lots of new friends, crazy stories and lots of laughter. 10 days with over 40 people is intense. We each shared and learned from each others religious and spiritual experiances. It was amazing to watch some peoples transformations over the 10 days. Now that the trip is over I have a stronger identity with Isreal and my peers from the trip. The trip didn't make me want to become orthadox or go to temple more it didn't change my personal expectaions of temple going.
I learned a lot about Isreal. Eli, our tour guide was amazing. It was amazing to learn Isreal's history not just by reading facts but by seeing and experiancing everything first hand. Taking biblical facts and applying them to tangable things is the best way to learn and it made everything more meaningful. Reading about the current situation in Isreal is one thing. However to read in the news that the soliders are pulling out of Gaza and then look out the window and actually see the tanks on the way back from the Gaza Strip is an entirily new experiance. Learning about the song, " A little girl from galot" written about a little girl who grew up on kabutz Galot and how her Kabutz used to get bombed a lot and then walking past all the bomb shelters definatly created a new perspective on reality. After staying at the Kabutz we found out that one of the bomb shelters at the Kabutz has now been turned into a bar. So after that anytime we had a meeting or activity in a bomb shelter (NOT BECAUSE I WAS GETTING BOMBED, I WAS VERY SAFE!!) there was always hope we would be going to a bar as well. Unfortuanltly that was the only bomb shelter we went to with a bar in it. One of the biggest eye opening things on the trip was to see how many people had made Alliah (moved to Isreal). Some of the kids from my trip started talking about moving to Isreal and about half of the group extended there trip to stay here longer. Then we met a handful of people that had gone on there birthright trip and then never left. Crazy.
The last 10 days have been action packed: The Golan Heights, Tzfat, mystic teachings from an artisit, the old city of Jerusalem, the Kotel (Western wall), Shabbat, Movies at the Ma"ale school of TV. Yad Vashem, Lecture from a Holocoast Survios, Meeting 6 Israli Soldiers, Har Herzels Memorial and Soliders Cematary. Sunrise at masada, The Dead Sea, Eliat Beaching at the Red Sea and a Night out on the town, Hike to see 4 countries at the same time, A night at the Bedouin tent- sleeping with 40 people in one room, eatting with our hands, and a campfire that almost lasted all night, camel rides, sde bokes and Ben Gurions memorial, planting a tree in the desert, Elissa's birthday party in Tel Aviv, Jaffa and dinner at Dr. sheshuka. Very busy.
Then friday was followed by my arrivial to Herzaliah to see Uncle Bobby, Aunt Heliane and Petra!!!!

Quest- Isreal Out Doors

So far I have been on the whilwind tour of Isreal. Internet is hard to come by...sorry. I have been from the Golan heights to Eliat. All of my fellow travlers and I were all sold on the "quest" part of this trip. The logo even says Bike,Run, Hike, Float, Climb, Swim. So far we have just ate. Just eatting no questting. Today we got a taste of the quest with a 55 min hike total. 15 min up the easy ramp of masada (easy) and then 40 min down the hard snake trail wich was also easy. The hike was followed with a float in the Dead Sea. So the Dead Sea.... Awesome. Imagine swimming on top of a surfboard but no surfboard. I instantly became an amazing synocronized swimmer. Although we don't "quest" we are kept busy running around. When I have more time on my own there will be more posts. I promise.

The Next Chapter

And the next chapter begins...