Planes Planes and More Planes

We left early in the morning and went to the airport. We checked in and went through security. Then we went shopping in duty-free.13 hours and 30 minutes of boringness. When we arrived in LA we went to the delta lounge(you need a special pass). We stayed there had bagels and water for breakfast. We left to our gate. The 3 hour 30 minute flight was still bad. We arrived in Detroit,MI. We got lunch or dinner (I'm not sure which one) at Wendy's. We both (Sheila and I)got spicy chicken sandwiches. we got MUG Root beer to drink. We ate and got on our 1 hour 20 minute flight to home. Duluth here we come. It wasn't so bad except for the baby crying all the time. Mom came and picked us up and dropped Dad off and Sheila and I went to see the three brats. Oxie a big fat piece of fur, shes so cute! Oxie is a Russian blue. Tofu isn't a brat but so what, she's a Tabby. Sira is a German Shepard, Siberian husky mix. Shes big and fun to play with. I had such a great time on my trip thank you for reading my blog. My favorite thing to do was to hang out with Sheila and Dad and go to Healsville. Every thing is so great it is so hard to choose.It was such a great trip it made up for the Planes Planes and More Planes.

Taronga Zoo

I woke up around 8:30 took a shower and by 9:45 we left for the wharf. We arrived by ferry. We took a bus up to the entrance. We stood in a long line to get tickets. We finally got our tickets and went in. we saw more animals here. I still saw several platypus (plural of “oh look at that platypus”) and Sheila saw her koalas but dad saw pygmy hippos. We saw another bird show. Afterwards, to donate you gave a coin to a bird and she/he dropped it in the donations box. We saw tigers, birds, and guess what, more Tasmanian devils. We saw a Tasmanian devils zoo keeper show. We watched the devils being fed. Then we saw pelicans, elephants (we took a lot of pictures for mom), spider monkeys, and of course giraffes and to follow that a zoo keepers show on giraffes. We saw a seal show, frogs and toads, and boa constrictors and other reptiles like the goanna and crocodiles. We saw so many different animals that I can’t name them all, so there is a few. We left down the safari sky way. I had lots of fun. We got back to the room after a ten minute ferry ride and a ten minute walk back. We changed into nicer clothes and headed down for our final dinner in Australia. I got pasta and bolognese sauce and for dessert chocolate fondant with ice cream. They were both delicious. We went to sleep knowing that was our last dinner in Australia.

Blue Mountains

Today we went to the Blue Mountains. We took a 2-hour train ride to Katoomba, a small city next to the Blue Mountains. When we arrived, we went and got our trolley tour passes. We headed straight to Scenic World, which has a scenic railway which is the steepest in the world, the scenic cableway, and a scenic skyway. Once we got to the bottom of the scenic railway, we started walking to the scenic cableway. We got up and walked some more and took plenty of pictures. We walked to the express trolley and went to a chocolate factory. Sheila and I both shared a piece of chocolate cake and Dad had a passion fruit cake. We got on to the trolley and went to Lurline street. We got lunch there. I had a piece of bread from a bakery and it was sour. Dad and Sheila got some food next door to the bakery. We then went down Katoomba Street and looked at lots of different stores. We went to the train station, but Dad told us the wrong time so there was no train to take. We went back to Katoomba Street and looked around some more. We then went to Katoomba Station at the right time. We had the 2-hour trip back and I slept most of the way. We came into the hotel and laid down and watched TV. We got out at 9 o'clock and looked for dinner. We found a cafe and had a kangaroo meat burger. We came back and went to sleep.

Back to Sydney

We left to come to Sydney in the morning at 9:30. We arrived and took the train to Circular Quay. We went into the hotel and we were about to check in when they asked us if we wanted an upgrade. Dad said yes, but we needed to give them time to set it up. So, we walked around and spotted an outdoor market and we got lunch there.We then came back into the hotel and our room was ready. We went up and laid down and watched TV for a while. We then figured out that Darling Harbour (a harbour next to Circular Quay) was having fireworks on Saturday. We arrived there by ferry and walked around and looked for dinner. We went to a food court and I got Indian food (iddly sambaar). Dad and Sheila got burgers. We then went outside and watched the fireworks. After the fireworks, we got up and walked to a shopping mall where we went into a candy store and they handed out a piece of free candy. We then went to the wharf and came back to Circular Quay where we came to the hotel and slept.

Melbourne

Today I woke up at 7:30. I did lay in bed for about 30 minutes though. But I still got up, took a shower, and brushed before Sheila even got out of bed. I finished my previous blogs. Then we left to return the rental car.

We walked around the Queen Victoria market. Then we left and ate at the coconut house. It had Malaysian food. It was delicious. We started walking back to the hotel. We stopped and got FIFA 10 (a soccer video game) for me.

We walked to the hotel but dad and I went to MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) but it was closing so we quickly ran to the shop and got a mini cricket bat and also a soft cricket ball. We went to the statues of famous cricket players. We left and came and walked up 13 floors of stairs.

When we got back and made up a game called “bed cricket.” We are played it for a long time then we went with dads friend to a pub for dinner. I fell asleep after we ordered dinner. They woke me up when our food came. After with the coasters, we put them on the edge of the table flipped them with our hands and caught them. We left the pub and went to the hotel.

Healesville Sanctuary

Today we went to Healesville Sanctuary, a wildlife park. It has only Australian animals. We found our way going to the wombats first. We had a “magic moments” ticket which allows you to go in to the enclosure and pet the animals and take as many photos as you want. We were the only ones who signed up for the wombats magic moments. Wombats are really cute, furry, pig-like creatures. We had half an hour with them. We saw cute Tasmanian Devils. They got their name because of the sound they make, which is a loud scream/screeching. We saw some nocturnal animals in the “Animals of Night” exhibit. We saw fruit bats, helmeted, honey-eaters, kookaburras, and arid birds. They were all different colors. The pelicans were huge. We saw wallabies, which are like tiny kangaroos. We saw woodland birds, which are all different from each other. We also saw the largest bird in Australia, some emus. We saw platypus, which was why I really, really wanted to go there. They looked furry and cute.

We saw reptiles and we also did a magic moments with them. We got to hold a python. We also saw a show about birds and how they adapt to the world around them. Right after that, we saw someone throwing boomerangs. I bought a boomerang from him. We went to the lyrebirds aviary, but we didn’t see any lyrebirds, just a lot of other bird in there. We went through the wetlands track and saw a black swan. We saw lots of parrots in the “Land of Parrots” exhibit. We saw high country birds.

We saw dingoes. Which are dog-like animals. At the koalas home, we also did a “magic moments” but we couldn’t pet or touch the koala because of special reasons. We tried to see an echidna, but we could only see the spikes on it because it was hiding in a log. We also tried to see Leadbeater’s possum, but we couldn’t see any. We went to the kangaroos and had a magic moment with them. We got to feed and pet the kangaroos. We had lunch at the harvest café right next to the tree kangaroo enclosure. We saw some orange-bellied parrots, which are very colorful. I think we all had a wonderful time there. I know I did.

We came back and put our clothes in a Laundromat. We ordered dinner for take-out. It was Vietnamese. The day was full of fun and animals.

Soveriegn Hill

I woke up at 8:30 we were going to Ballarat today. We then got directions to go to Ballarat (Sovereign hill). We left in our rental car and drove to Sovereign Hill listening to music. When we got there, we went to the Gold Museum. It had a lot of big nuggets in there, or at least, replicas. We then went into the city. The city was based on late 1800s Ballarat. When we got inside, we got a map and started to go gold panning. Dad, Sheila and I tried to do it for about half an hour. We all were about to give up and Dad said, “No, just a couple more minutes.” In that time, a person that worked there was dressed up as an early settler. He taught us how to pan for gold but my hands were too cold to do any more. Sheila and dad continued and got a lot of gold. We then saw some redcoats and they fired their muskets.

We then walked down main street and looked at all the stores. We walked around for a while and then we stopped and ate at the dining room of the United States Hotel. We signed up for the Labyrinth Gold Mine Tour and went to the “Gold Pour.” We saw the goldsmith take out liquid gold and almost instantly turn it into a solid ingot. We still had a while for the Labyrinth tour, so we walked around and looked at the lolly stores. We then went to the tour and the tour led us underground to a mine. We saw real gold sticking out of the wall. Our way to get in and out of the mine was a tram. We went to an “old style” bowling saloon and we all tried it out. We went to the city residential area and school. We looked at the shops again and went gold panning until it closed.

We then went to dinner with Dad’s friend. We went to an Italian restaurant. We came back and went to sleep. The whole day was fun.

Phillip island

I woke up at 8:30 in the morning. I took a shower and brushed. Then I did my blog and found out that we were going to Phillip Island to see Blue Feathered Penguins when they come to nest. You can only see them at some places in both Australia and New Zealand. They are not found in America.  We drove for about one and ½ hours. We reached the penguin parade. We looked and looked but could not see them. Finally we saw some a raft (a group of penguins in the water) they walked up in between the stands full of people. After more penguins we got up and walked around and looked for penguins. One was enjoying the company of his human friends. After we saw a lot of cute penguins we left and we had to check that now penguins were under our rental car. I fell asleep but we stopped for dinner McDonalds and I got a whistle pop. I didn’t have it on our way to the hotel. When I got in I fell instantly asleep on the bed.

Melbourne

Today we woke up packed and checked out. We went to a bakery called “The Bakery” for breakfast. The bread was good. We went up the gondola and went to the paragliding tent. But it was too cloudy. We waited but of course it was still too cloudy so we left. Right after we left it cleared out we got lunch from the same bakery. We left and picked up one of dad ACR friends from the neighboring hotel. We left and went to the airport. We went to check in but they overbooked so we were on the waiting list. But we got onboard. The trip from Queenstown, NZ to Melbourne, AU. We arrived and came to the hotel. We got some Indian food for dinner. It was spectacular. We came back and stopped at a market and got lift (sparkling lemonade). We came back and we are planning what we are doing tomorrow. Good night.

the ledge

Today we went to the Skyline gondola and ledge. It had a luge [go-karting], bungee jumping, paragliding, and the “World’s Best Restaurant with a cool View”. We took the only way up, going up the gondola. We went and bought 5 luge tickets. I went 2 times on the beginner tracks. Sheila did 1 time on the beginner track and once on the advanced track. Dad went once on the beginner track. Then we went to the restaurant to eat lunch with dad’s ACR friends and colleagues. The one who organized it all gave us each 2 additional luge tickets. We ate at the buffet and had whatever we wanted. Then we did 1 luge ride all on the advanced track. We all thought it was fun. Uh-oh it was time for Sheila and dad to do their bungee jumping. Watching them was fun. Here’s a couple pictures.

Then we went to the luge and did our last ride on the advanced track. Then we went up to the parasailing tent and signed up all of us for paragliding which we will do tomorrow morning.

Snowboarding

The two Fergburgers

Me being awesome by snowboarding

Yesterday Sheila and I went to the Remarkables. It is a mountain you can ski + snowboard on. I think it was worth the 500 NZ (400 US) bucks dad paid for our enjoyment. We had 5 people to start with. I learned how to stop, turn, go of course, and load and unload the conveyor belt (magic carpet). At 12:30 we went in and had lunch. It was mac and cheese (baked), apple and blackcurrant juice, and an apricot and orange bar. We then got 2 more half day snowboarders. ½ an hour until the lesson ended we had a 10 minute break for hot chocolate. It was excellent. We then went to "The Best Burger Place in the World" Fergburger. The burgers were HUGE. We got 2 one was Bombay Chicken the other was the Original Fergburger with Swiss cheese. They were amazing. We then went to sleep.

This is a picture of my group (left to right: Jack, Jamie, Sarah, Emmaline, Doug, Eva, and me)

Queenstown 2

The day started with dad waking me up. Then we got ready and changed. Dad needed to leave for his conference.  He left and we stayed in the room and Skyped Neil and then later mom. We ate lunch. We then went to a “Lord of the Rings” tour. The tour was where you went to the places where the movie was filmed. The tour guide showed us where plenty of “Lord of the Rings” places were. And where a little part of X-Men Wolverine and The Hobbit was also filmed we got some pictures like so:

We at the end got to play with sharp swords nobody died though. The tour was a lot of fun when we got back we saw dad sitting on a bench. We went to him and he told us that we were skiing the next day. I asked is it possible for me to go snowboarding instead. He said he will try. But we had to leave to get our passes and equipment.we went and got our equipment and passes. i hoped it would be fun. press here to get more info on this trip.

Queenstown

We checked out of the "Godley" hotel and went and got some spectacular pictures. Then we went to an "Good Shepard's Church". Then we went to a skating and tubing resort for the tubing. we went for 1 hour. then went on our driving trip. at one point there were two mountains on either side of us and right ahead there was a cloud. we had to go through the cloud. we went through and when we turned one corner all of the trees turned white with frost. we took a lot pictures of awesome scenes.

 we stopped to get some energy. i got some hot chocolate so did sheila. dad got coffee. we then left for Queenstown. it was only about 1/2 an hour until we reached the millennium hotel. we passed a lot of vineyards on our way. we checked in and changed into our clothes for the reception. i lost a tooth tooth! for dinner we had snacky food. we went to sleep. we woke up and called mom. then we skyped Neil. we hope mom will skype us back soon.

day #3

We left the motel because the clothes were in the dryer for 1 hour. Then we went to a shoping mall. We got awesome bread that gives the extra bread at the end of the day to charity. They make fresh bread every day. We came back to get the clothes. We then went downtown and went to a shopping mall. We got 3 cds and a rugby ball. Then we went to the car and left for lake tekapo. We saw some really spectacular views. At one point we saw the top of the mountains and we were so high that we were above some clouds. We came to the hotel and we got our room keys. We then went to the spa (hot tub). Then we went and ate chinese food for dinner. We are now going to sleep.

Day #2 + morning of 3

Yesterday we went to a place called "Manly". It is like a suburb of Sydney. It had a lot of good stores. We got a lot of gifts for friends and family. To top it off we got lollies [candies].We got Cadbury "Timeouts" and Mentos "Duos" I tried some of each they were good. Then we went to the beach and ate grilled Barramundi and garlic prawns they were amazing. Then we played a game we made up where you run up as far as you can and run back as slow as you can and not hit the water, but when the water goes back into the ocean so do you. Then we went onto the ferry and went and got our stuff from the hotel and left to the airport. When we arrived in Christchurch it was a little after midnight. When we got to the motel it was 1. We went to sleeep and woke up this morning. We ate breakfast and now are in a laundry room part of the motel.

Finally in Sydney!

After a 15 hour plane ride were now in Sydney! When we got here we came to our hotel. The room wasn't ready yet! So we headed out to a breakfast ( brekkie ) cafe named bills (yes, with a small b). We had ricotta cheese pancakes. I had dark hot chocolate. Then we walked to a festival for aboriginal people to remember the past.

Then we headed back to the hotel. Then we saw someone riding a unicycle. The show ended with him riding a 12 ft. unicycle while juggling a torch on fire, a sword, and a bowling pin.

We got back to the hotel and got in to our awesome room. We then went and looked at the pool "Its heated ;-)". We went to dinner at a thai restaurant. it was amazing! Now i'm back and writing my blog.

-Jay V

planes 2

We are now in LA it is 9:50 pm local time [ the pacific time zone] we leave in about an hour. this plane ride will be a 15 hour plane ride the time now in Sydney is about 2:50 pm tomorrow on the plane ride here the television in the aisle showed "Journey 2 : The Mystery Island" I thought it was good then after that i took a short 40 minute nap because when we get to Sydney it will be the morning so we don't waste a whole day sleeping. we are going to have 2 days and 1 night in Sydney on the way to New Zealand.

-JayV

Planes

At this moment I'm in Minneapolis MN at the airport. 33 minutes from Duluth to Minneapolis. Read later about 9:30 central time.
-Jay V

Getting ready

Today we got ready by getting our clothes ready. Last night we watched John Carter. I thought it was good. We also did some small fireworks because we won't be here on the 4th of July.
- Jay V

Preparations

Today is exactly one week until I leave for Australia and New Zealand. I think it will be so much fun. We are going because my dad is a professor at UMD and he has a conference in Queenstown, New Zealand. We decided to go to Australia also. We will leave on the 30th of June and arrive in Sydney, Australia on the 2nd of July. We will get back on the17th of July. I will have many posts.