Our Last Stint

A late night/early morning and many laughs with Jamie ended our holiday in America on a high. Today we hopped on a plane, prepared for twenty-four hours of flying. We got through the first flight of nine hours with no sleep and company of some good movies, like this one. The second flight, we managed to get 7 uncomfortable hours of sleep and the view of a gorgeous sunrise. It didn't take long to get through customs and security in Sydney but due minor delays we missed our flight to Adelaide, which then followed by us being informed that Jamie {apparently} didn't have a ticket home. A couple hours later, and after some communication with staff and our travel agent we sorted the problem out and were on our way to our home city {after picking up some of these of course!}. Joining some Australian olympic athletes and an ex-Getaway cameraman we made it home to see family greeting us at the gate. Excitement filled my body to see these friendly faces and to start sharing stories. I stayed up as late as I could to try and conquer jet-lag.

Some things I've learnt and realised while being away in America & Canada

• I love ice-cream {sometimes way too much!}.
• God's timing is perfect and He will get us through anything and everything.
• Everything involving a public toilet is automatic - the flush, the water, the soap, the dryer.
• Tipping is a must,  not an option.
• 1 cent coins are a pain and have no use {no wander we got rid of them!}. They are easy to collect but hard to give away.
• Public transport is easy and inexpensive.
• Wake-up calls were lifesavers.
• I love adrenaline rushes
• I love my family and friends an incredible amount. For their support, prayers, thoughts and guidance prior, during and after this trip.
• Chill out time is sometimes just as important as a jam-packed day.
• Money has a skill of disappearing faster than expected.

Last day on Contiki, Last day in Canada

Last day of contiki therefore last day in Canada. After a hot breakfast Jamie and I explored parts of Vancouver. Chinatown and their Chinese garden received a visit from us, it was beautiful and we also got to meet the biggest goldfish we have ever seen {at least a foot long!}. We walked the streets, visited some interior design stores and grabbed something to eat from 7 eleven, including two free slurpees! Slurpees are the biggest cause of brain freeze ever. We relaxed in front of some live music for an hour before we headed to the local Sears for some shopping therapy {keeping in mind that we need to save money for our last adventure in the States, we resisted many ridiculously low prices}. On our way back to our hotel we visited the local candy store and then rested prior to meeting our fellow Contiki-ers for a dinner cruise at 5:30pm.

The dinner cruise was wonderful. 49 of us made a little extra effort to smell nice and look fancy. We sailed around the entire Vancouver Island which took over two hours. During this time we relaxed, socialised and consumed a very tasty buffet dinner followed by chocolate cake for dessert. We finished the cruise in the dark, dancing under a disco ball. The group traveled on our Contiki coach for the last time back to our hotel. After we got dropped off we walked to a night club for a couple drinks, a dance and to say goodbye. Saying goodbye was hard - we had spent the last 10 days with such a lovely group of people, people that live all over the world. Where possible we have all connected on facebook and now have contacts in Germany, England, New Zealand, Dubai and other areas in Australia in case we need a bed in the future. What an experience we have had - Jamie and I would recommend travelling this way to anyone {between the age 18-35}. Go here if you are interested.

Tomorrow we say hello to San Francisco and cable cars!!

Sightings

Similar to yesterday, we did more driving today. Mr J and I sat at the front of the bus, the best spot on the coach due to the extra leg room and 180 degrees view. We were also the first to see a black bear cub on the side of the road. Cute! I've named him Baxter. We stopped for breakfast and lunch before entering Vancouver, our last destination for Contiki. Our bus driver took us around the streets while our tour guide pointed out the important and interesting attractions and landmarks. One of the sights was where the 2010 Olympic opening and closing ceremony was held. We stopped at the Indian Totem Poles for photos too. We are staying at a similar hotel to last night, it is very nice and within walking distance to almost everything {worth seeing}. Mr J and I enjoyed touching base with some family tonight over skype, we are extremely blessed to have them in our lives. Mr J is currently enjoying the fresh water of our hotel pool. It is very close to bed time for me - it's surprising how tiring driving can be! Nighty-night.

Moving Along

Drive, drive, drive. That's what we did today! We left beautiful Banff at 9:00am on our way to our stop-over destination, before we get to Vancouver to end our tour. Today we had a couple pee breaks and stretches as we drove until 4:30pm. We saw Johnston Canyon, Spiral Tunnels and The Last Spike, ate the yummiest caramel and pecan crunch homemade icecream and played coach olympics on the bus. Our hotel for tonight is clean and cosy. We had a Chinese dinner with the group before an early, quiet night. Time to rest those sore muscles from yesterdays ride.

I hope you all have a great week in Australia!

Riding Banff

We got to sleep in until 9:00am this morning. We had a ‘home-made’ hot breakfast with A&S, plus another couple who visited. That gave us enough energy to ride another Gondola, here in Banff. More amazing views. The rest of the day was ours – we experienced the shopping and ice-cream of Banff. A $2 bus ride took us back to our chalet and we prepared ourselves for a riding experience. Tonight we went on a 45 minute horse ride into the forest for a steak fry, horse shoe throw and lasoo before we road our horses back to the stud. I rode ‘Shorty’, Mr J had ‘Rayleigh’. We walked most of it but occasionally had to trot and gallop, which made your heart race a little faster than normal. We had a well needed, quiet night tonight - ready to move onwards tomorrow. 7 days of Contiki down, its moving along fast, we love it. Contiki is a great way to see areas of the world without the stress of organising it yourself. Transport, accommodation and many meals are already sorted! Thankyou contiki.

Day of Scenery

Today was big. Boarded the bus at 7:15am to venture to some fast flowing waterfalls. We visited a trading post for breakfast where we bought a pina colada muffin, made fresh and served warm. Yummy. Our drive consisted of amazing views, mountains and wildlife. Mr J and I saw our first grizzly bear munching on some greens. We arrived at The Columbia Icefields where we caught a monster bus {their tires are five feet tall!} onto a glacier. Mr J tasted some of the glacier water as I played in the ice {to me, it was so close to snow}. It was cold but wonderful and fresh. Today we ate lunch with some ground squirrels before a nap on the bus. We had a birds eye view of Lake Peyto. I have never seen anything like this - the water was a very unique, aqua colour and so still. If you look carefully you are able to pick the shape of a wolf out of the outline. Lake Louise came next, an amazingly beautiful lake with a mountain backdrop. Mr J and I explored the shops and hotel in this area. We found out that to stay in this hotel for a night, it can range from $400 to $5,000 per night. Wow! We can only wish. Our final stop was Banff. Here we are staying two nights in a chalet. We are very happy to be sharing this space with A&S. After settling in, we had a group photo before going out for a buffet dinner. The night ended with Karaoke at the bar. Many, many laughs and fun. Confidence kicked in and I managed to sing ‘Man, I feel like a women – Shania Twain’ with the other contiki girls, ‘Wannabe – Spice Girls’ and ‘Sweet Dreams – Marilyn Manson’. Awesome night. Looking forward to a mini sleep in tomorrow too.

Wildlife, water and rest

We were straight into it today. We traveled on our bus once again, stopping to see our first Elk on the side of the road. Maligne Lake welcomed us with sourvenir shops, a café, wonderful views, fresh air and walking tracks. These were the things that Mr J and I enjoyed while others enjoyed an optional cruise on the lake. The lake was beautiful and calm. Maligne Canyon came next which was where we had a glimpse of our first black bear {we only managed to get a photo of the back end of it}.This afternoon was relaxing, we were able to do anything at our own pace. Mr J and I explored the cute little shops, grabbed ice-cream from coldstone creamery and watched the hailstones fall from the sky. We also had some time to sit and talk with some family on skype before we heading out for a pizza tea. We talked to some new people. We left the pizza bar for a catch up with A&S before we had an early-ish night for a big day tomorrow.

Blood Pumping Good

Pinch and a punch for the first day of the month!

Jamie and I started the month off in Dennys Diner with pancakes, bacon and eggs fuelling ourselves for another 5 hour drive towards Jasper. Today we entered the Rockies region. Amazing mountains. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Mt Robson. Mt Robson is quite shy as he rarely shows his head through the clouds. After some food a group of us swapped buses ready for our next adrenaline pumping activity. White water rafting. Exhilarating, rough, extremely wet but so much fun. We got chucked around in our 8 passenger raft along Fraser River for 12 kilometres. We were skilful enough to not fall out, instead we had a choice to swim in the freezing melted-snow water with a wetsuit to protect us. Jamie and I jumped in as we knew this was an opportunity we wouldn’t forget. It was cold. The German gentleman we met over dinner leant me his jacket for the ride home, how lovely!

We reached our hotel in Jasper. It reminded me of the hotel in some of those British comedies with moose heads hanging on the wall, old wallpaper and floral covered arm chairs. Good vibes. We settled in, had time for a warm shower and then headed out to a brewery for dinner which was followed by drink at the bar within our hotel. Tonight we experienced something only Conitki participants experience. A shot which was invented and only drank for Contiki people, only at this hotel. A Beaver Licker. It has it’s own Canadian touch, with maple syrup whiskey and butterscotch schnapps. A ritual. The night ended very well, we spent it talking to our fellow contiki-ers including S&A.

Views of Canada

Mr J and I woke up this morning not realising what amazing views were in store. After a free breakfast we were joined by two other males on our tour for a Peak to Peak Gondola experience. We were lifter higher than all the trees and mountains. The views were breathtaking. We reached the top of the Peak and were able to touch snow for the first time {technically second time, we don't remember the first time though}. Many photos were taken.

Next, we met with the bus to drive 5 hours to our next destination. This trip included official introductions, embarrassing stories, views from every angle and some lunch. We arrived at Kamloops, where we discovered our average hotel rooms that smelt very odd. Many of us distanced ourselves from our rooms as long as possible. Mr J and I joined a lovely couple {A&S} for a drink before dinner. We strolled to a local pub where we were all asked for ID, shared stories and got to know each other a little better. A&S are residents of England and have excited us to explore that area of the world in the future. Burgers for dinner with the group was yum. The restaurant had a beer menu of over 130 beers, regardless of that I tried a cocktail called 'Kermits Third Leg' {yes, it was green!}. I sat next to someone who has been to over 40 countries in five years and is doing five contiki tours in five months - what experiences he is living! After all our munchies were gone, we joined four others for a walk through the Main Street. There wasn't much there therefore we were back at our hotel relatively fast. Great day.

Canada in many angles

Today was amazing. New experiences everywhere! I'm in awe of how beautiful Whistler is and I'm so excited to see what the rest of our tour has in store for us. This morning Jamie and I joined majority of our tour group for a canoe along the River of Golden Dreams. This was a beautiful, clear and clean lake with a view of mountains and silence all around. Picture perfect. The lake lead onto a river which we paddled on for approximately two hours. Minor rapids included. Jamie and I had the paddling down pat! We had to concentrate when riding on the rapids as no one wanted to capsize or fall into the water. The water was from the snow from the mountains - freezing! We had worked up an appetite from this activity therefore we enjoyed some Canadian hamburgs and fries for lunch. At 2.45pm we met with 8 others to participate in zip-lining. OH MY GOSH! This was beyond amazing and something that words or photos can not explain. We swung above the tress, over creeks and between valleys. Four zip-lines later we had gone over 90km/h, screamed, laughed and had enough adrenaline pumping to do anything {See the photo above - we swung on those cables}. Jamie and I felt so blessed and happy to have the opportunity to do this. The time came to take off our harness's and helmets and go back to Whistler. We were sad for the fact the time was over but excited that our adventures aren't over. We had some time to chill out before going out for dinner with everyone at an Irish pub. This was nice. I tried a tried Canadian Cocktail - it was disgusting. My food was good though. We sat with a couple from Germany who have worked in Toronto for the past 10 months, we learnt a lot over such a short amount of time. At 10pm, the day was not over, we joined everyone at a local club for an '80's night. We felt young. When some found out I wasn't even born then, they were shocked. A couple hours later we were back in our hotel ready for sleep. Bring on tomorrow!

Hello Canada!

We got little sleep after washing our clothes and finalising our plans for today but managed to get up for a complimentary breakfast. We ate way too much delicious food but it sustained us until a late lunch. We caught our plane at 10:10am with no delays or hassles. Yay! Our plane was much littler than normal. The trip flew {literally!}, we were up in the air and down again before we knew it. Once we arrived in Vancouver we waited in a long line to get through customs and get our passports stamped again. We caught a taxi to the Greyhound bus station which was where we withdrew our first amount of Canadian currency {Canadian money is much 'prettier' than american money!} We organised and paid for our bus ride to Whistler which was scheduled to leave at 3:00pm. Our bus ride was two and half hours. Mr J slept. I witnessed the most beautiful landscapes and scenery I have ever seen! Canada is incredible and this was only the start! We arrived in Whistler and found our hotel without too much hassle. 7.30pm came around very quickly which was when we started meeting the other 50 people on our Contiki tour. Surprisingly over half of them are Australians {we are the only Adelaide-ians}, along with other people from America, England, Mexico, Germany and France. There even is another Teagan on the trip {spelt T-e-g-a-n though}!!We went out for dinner with everyone which followed drinks in the hotel bar. It has been very easy to talk to people and fit in as everyone is in the same boat as us - they don't know anyone, they want to have fun, travel and make the most of their time. We are excited for the next 10 days! I can't wait to share with you what we will be involved in. Stay tuned.

Delays

It was strange to be catching a plane today and for it to not be at a ridiculous hour in the morning. I hadn't experienced that since I left Adelaide. We waved goodbye to New York City as we caught a shuttle bus to the airport. Jamie and I arrived 2 hours early to hear that our plane had been delayed by 1 hour, 15 minutes. We were now leaving at 5:15pm. Another announcement informed us it had been delayed again to 6:30pm. We were a little frustrated but at this rate we could still make our connecting flight in Portland so we stayed calm. Things changed fast... we were then delayed to 7:20pm. Majority of flights from New York were delayed or cancelled due to the weather and storms coming through. We understood that they are looking after our safety but also worried about our connecting flight and deadline to get to Vancouver. We got on the plane finally and were ready to take off. We still had hopes that we could make our Portland flight until the pilot announced that they had forgotten to cater the flight, they had to call the caterers to come and fill the plane with the appropriate refreshments. An hour later we found our selves moving on the runway. We were going to miss our flight. At this stage we had got all our frustration out and left it to God. We put this situation in His hands and trusted that everything would work out. Nothing we could do now, at least we were moving.

We arrived in Portland, Oregon airport 5 hours and 13 minutes later where staff had already re-booked our flight for the following day. This meant we would miss the departure of our Contiki tour from Vancouver tomorrow. I rang our tour guide and he was extremely helpful, he instructed us where to go, what transport to take and where to meet the group. We organised a hotel room close to the airport and caught a taxi there. A positive out of all of this was that we could do our washing, shower up and sleep in a very comfortable bed before a packed 11 days. Prayers that tomorrow goes smoothly.

Florida Day Two

Day two in Florida was very relaxing for Jamie and I. We thanked God for a wonderful, well needed sleep last night before heading to the first floor for a complimentary breakfast. The breakfast included bacon, eggs, pancakes, cereal, bagels, doughnuts, hot cinnamon rolls, scones (aka biscuits to Americans), yoghurt and more. We filled up on breakfast therefore didn't need lunch! After a large bite to eat we went for a tourist walk through the Main Street, visited the Pier and took lots of photos {See the photos below}. It was a beautiful day! Jamie had a swim in the hotel pool while I sat in the sun enjoying the scenery. We spent the afternoon relaxing at our hotel.

Tonight I helped Jamie's aunty set up for the wedding rehersal dinner, which is tomorrow night. Although we are in America, the rehersal dinner is Australian themed. I then joined Jamie's relatives for dinner. While I was doing this Jamie was out with the boys for the groomsman's bucks night. 

Today the receptionist at our hotel informed me of a bike hire shop straight behind our hotel. There is also a popular bike track running past our hotel. How convenient! Jamie and I are definitely keen to spend a couple hours on a bike. We will also be researching the bus route tomorrow to see if we can fit in some shopping or other sight seeing.

The weather has not changed and we got our daily storm. Still not used to looking left, right, left when crossing the road.

Tampa, Florida

After speaking to my family on Skype, we caught out shuttle to the airport at 5:15am. We checked in (again - we are getting pro's at this!) and went through the security check - in America everyone has to take their shoes off for this aswell. We ate breakfast at the airport before boarding our 2.5 hour flight to Tampa, Florida.

We arrived at a hot, humid city where we had to catch a train to pick up our luggage. Jamie's Aunty, Uncle and cousin picked us up and showed us some of the sights on our way to our destination. Florida is beautiful! apparently they think they are in drought, but to our eyes it is green everywhere with hundreds of palm trees. We went back to where Jamie's relatives were staying to have lunch and relax before checking into our hotel. Meanwhile, I went shopping with Jamie's aunty. As you enter shops in America you realise they all smell different and nice, this is because they put fragrances through their air conditioners. Lovely!

We got to our hotel around 4.00pm. At this time we were experiencing one of Tampa's storms. Tampa received at least one storm at day. The temperature only drops slighting so it is still very warm but has lightning, DARK clouds and rain {when it rains here, it really rains!}.We watched the storm from our hotel window. We are very impressed with our room! The next 5 hours were a struggle to stay awake but we knew that's what we had to do to beat jet lag. We went out for tea at Cafe Alfresco - approx 10 minute walk where we were served by a lovely waiter. As this was our first meal out in America we didn't know how to go about tipping. We asked our waiter and he was very helpful!! After dinner we went back to our hotel and straight to sleep.

A helpful tip we were given:
73 degrees Fahrenheit = 23 degrees Celsius, 95 degrees Fahrenheit = 35 degrees Celsius

It Has Begun

Day One
9th July 2012
Location: Adelaide, Air, Sydney
After a lovely breakfast with my family at Billy Baxters, they drove me to the airport! The countdown was over. I was starting my holiday to America. While waiting to board the plane, there was one problem - I could picture my luggage keys on my bed at home. After a mini panic, I was reassured from loved ones that I wouldn't have been the first to do this and there are ways around it. Surely someone can break a lock! Nothing I can do about it now. I said goodbye to my family and friends as I walked down the ramp onto the plane and sat through a very painless and fast flight. I picked my luggage up from the baggage reclaim area in Sydney and located a gentleman working for Qantas who broke my locks for me {phew!!}. Shortly after this I met Jamie in Sydney after his time in South Africa. We caught a shuttle bus to our hotel {via Bondi Beach}, or at least we thought we thought we were going to our hotel! As we walked into the reception area and started checking in, we were informed that we were at the wrong hotel. There were two hotels on the same street with the same name. After a 10 minute walk we found our proper hotel and checked in. Jamie and I ate dinner in our room and had an early night for a big day tomorrow. As I got ready for bed I found a lovely note from Mum ironed into my pyjamas { it made me smile}!

Day Two
10th July 2012
Location: Sydney, Air, Seoul, New York
This morning we had a prearranged wake up call at 3:45am and caught a taxi from our hotel to the airport {my first taxi drive!}. Before checking into our flight and going through the security check, a lovely gentleman who worked in the airport took a photo of Jamie and I in the airport. This man was very excited to be using a 'flash' camera like Jamie's and was so enthusiastic, especially for this time of the morning! It wasn't long until I was exposed to duty free shopping! Although it was very tempting i kept all my money in my pockets except for buying some new locks for my suit case. The following flight went for ages. Jamie managed to get some sleep while I spoke with a man travelling to London with an over 60's cricket team, who are scheduled to play England. Impressive! 9 hours later we arrived in Seoul where we bought our first thing with US dollars - a water bottle! After having a delay of half an hour we boarded for our next flight bound for New York. Although this flight was 4 hours longer than the previous one it seemed to go faster due to more sleep. We flew into New York and saw the amazing city lights from the sky. I went through my first immigration process {giving fingerprints and photos} - this was Jamie's third time after South Africa. We collected our bags and found an information desk which directed us to the air train. The air train took us to a shuttle point from where we were taken to our airport hotel. The hotel smelt digusting but we were greatful we had a bed to sleep in for a couple hours instead of a plane seat.  Today went very long {literally}. With very little sleep and gained hours in our day {due to time zones} we were very tired and after getting to our hotel around midnight we knew we would only get in a few hours sleep before we were up again to fly to Tampa tomorrow. I can understand why jet lag decides to visit. After that though, we don't have to fly for a little while. Yay!

Today Is The Day

The countdown is over! {I remember when I still had this many days to go}. Today I depart my home state for another. My bag is packed and my list is all checked off.

I can't explain my feelings. I'm nervous for the fact I won't be seeing my family and friends for five and a half weeks, I'm nervous to catch a plane by myself for the first time and I'm nervous that I may leave something at home. On the other hand, I'm filled with excitement  Excitement for meeting Mr J at Sydney airport after his week in South Africa, excited to see Sydney for the first time, excited for a life time experience travelling to another country and seeing things I could only imagine, excited to skype back home to touch base, excited to learn more about God, myself and Mr J. Prayers would be very much appreciated, not only for safe travels for us and that nerves are calmed but also for family who are saying goodbye {for now}.

I know that I will miss my family and friends immensely and miss knowing that they are no more than half an hour away, but I'm also aware that this is going to be an experience to remember and God will be with us all the way.

Keep reading 'Living Life Today' to keep track of what we are up to. Things may become busy but I will try and update you as much as possible. You can also contact us on facebook and email as much as you wish! Love you all. Talk to you later, in another time zone.