Davenport Beach

Yesterday afternoon my German roommate Holger and I went to Davenport Beach, which is in a northern suburb of Auckland. The beach wasn't nearly as pretty as the beaches I saw in Australia, but it was cool walking around the area. Holger had just rented a car and it was his first day driving in New Zealand. They drive on the left side here in NZ, and on the right side in Germany. That made for an interesting trip. Here are some pics:

Anarchist Yacht Club

I forgot to post this last week when I was in Cairns. Last week when I was in Cairns one of my roommates was an older man (probably 55-60 yrs old) from Australia. When I told him I was from the US he said "I have to warn you, I've been a big US political knocker for a long time." After talking more with him I learned that he basically thinks our country is ran by Wall Street and that every president we have will bend to the will of big businesses. He also thinks our foreign policies (i.e. being the world police) are terrible and proclaimed George Bush as "the worst man ever." I'll let you decide on where you agree/disagree with him.

Now to the weird part, he told me that he does a lot of yachting around the world. To which I thought to myself "so, why are you staying at a hostel that costs $25 per night?" He said that there is this group of anarchists ex-businessmen (many of which are Americans) that sail yachts around the world and make documentaries exposing governments and corporations of wrongdoings. He said that they don't release the documentaries to the public (he implied that they're kind of a secret) and you have to be specifically invited onto one of their yachts to view them. However, he said many of the documentaries have very strong evidence against the corrupt US gov't and big US businesses. He said the documentaries aren't aimed just at the USA, but all countries.

He said that he's seen several documentaries about the "real reasons" why the USA invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the documentaries, there is "very strong" evidence that we invaded Afghanistan because of the plentiful supply of opium there, claiming that the most powerful people in our country benefit from the illegal drug trade. I said "I highly doubt our government would invade another country to gain access to their illegal drugs." He replied, "Oh, I think you will find that you are very wrong, the opium trade is the biggest in the world and the super rich people in the USA all benefit from it."

I don't really believe anything that guy says but it just goes to show the different (and weird) types of people that I've met during my trip.

Holger the German

I have been in Oceania (Australia and NZ) for almost one month now and have had only one roommate from the United States, and even that roommate was from Hawaii. One of my current roommates is a 24 year old named Holger Eshbach (could that name be more German?) from Germany. Unfortunately, he isn't related to Al Eshbach (if you aren't from OK, he's a big OU football guy on the radio). In fact, when I saw his last name I said "Oh, Ash-Back!" and he burst out laughing "it's actually pronounced esh-baaach." Whatever.

Anyways, I'm always interested to learn how people from other countries view things that happened in the past. For example, when learning about WWI and WWII in America we learn of triumphant stories about victory and defeating the evil Germans and Japanese. But how is it taught in Germany? It would be weird learning about how your country (not too long ago) spiraled out of control, slaughtered millions of innocent people and consequently lost the two greatest wars in the history of mankind.

So I asked Holger about what they are taught about the World Wars and how they view the past in Germany. I found it to be a pretty sensitive subject for him. He said the World Wars are a huge focus in their history classes at every grade level and that it is taught with the intention of educating the new generations of why those wars occurred to prevent the same thing from happening in the future. However, he said in normal life no one really talks about the past and that people are pretty embarrassed about it.

One funny thing he said was if you ask any German about Hitler they will most likely reply "Hitler was an Austrian, not a German." Hitler actually was from Austria.

Throughout the conversation Holger kept on saying things like "it wasn't my generation that did that stuff, we are not at fault" or "we have learned from our mistakes in the past and it will never happen again." I found this weird that he was getting kind of defensive because I was in no way putting blame on him. But then he started telling me these stories about the way he has been treated when traveling to other countries. He said that he was in London a few years ago with his parents and they told some people they were from Germany and then a bunch of people started throwing food at them and dumping beer on them while screaming at them calling the Nazis. He said it was terribly embarrassing and completely unprovoked, and I believe him because he seems like the nicest, happiest guy ever. He said he has found similar reactions in France and other countries.

I found this kind of sad. He was clearly ashamed of his country's past, and its not like he had anything to do with what happened in the 1940s.

Holger spent 3 weeks in China before coming to New Zealand. He said he thought it was amazing that other countries (like China) haven't learned from Germany's mistakes of having a dictatorship with strict censorship of news and restrictions on free speech. He said that in China no one talks about or questions the government and that they only get news from inside China (which is screened by the Chinese government). Kind of scary.

Mt. Eden Volcano

This Starbucks has been my home away from home the past few days as I have been getting things together for my law school applications.

I'm hoping to have all of my applications finished by the end of this weekend so I don't have to worry about them anymore. My hostel is conveniently located at the foot of a dormant volcano called Mt. Eden. Don't worry Mom, the last time it blew up was 15,000 years ago. It's not a very tall volcano, and it only takes about 15 minutes to reach the summit by foot. Before dinner tonight I walked to the top where you can actually go down into the basin of the volcano. You also get a spectacular view of downtown Auckland and the surrounding suburbs from the top. The first photo is from the internet, the big crater is where I was today.

My hostel is about 2 blocks to the left of the volcano in this picture

Basin of the volcano, if you zoom in on the picture there are some pretty large volcanic rocks at the bottom

I think the space needle is a big reason why people compare Auckland to Seattle

Arrived in New Zealand

I arrived in New Zealand late yesterday afternoon. My hostel is about 10 minutes from downtown in a quiet neighborhood. My hostel is kind of strange, its basically just a huge house where they have stuffed 3 beds into rooms that were meant for one. However, it is pretty nice and has a very cozy feel.

New Zealand is still celebrating from their Rugby World Cup victory on Sunday. New Zealanders (Kiwis as they are commonly called) are absolutely obsessed with rugby. Their team is the "All Blacks" and you see All Blacks merchandise and flags everywhere. A question on the New Zealand customs entrance card was even "Are you coming into New Zealand for the 2011 Rugby World Cup?"

The indigenous population of New Zealand are a group of people called the Mauris. They basically look like Somoans. From what I've heard they were treated a little better than the Aborogines were in Australia (which isn't saying much). New Zealand is much more multicultural than Australia. Although Australia has tons of Asians, New Zealand has tons of people that you can't tell where they're from by just looking at them.

Auckland is a fairly small city, with a metro population of only about 1.7 million. I've heard people compare it to Seattle because of the climate and coffee shops everywhere. I have never been to Seattle so I can't adequately judge that claim myself. Thanks for reading, cheers.

Cairns Botanical Gardens

This afternoon I went to the Cairns Botanical Gardens. Right across from the street from the botanical gardens is a large area of the rainforest with a swamp and two saltwater ponds. I ate lunch and walked around the garden area and then crossed the street to go check out the rainforest and ponds. I put in my iPod and went on a lackadaisical stroll deep into swampy rainforest and about 30 minutes later came upon the two saltwater ponds. It was a beautiful area and seemed as if it had never been tainted by human contact. I sat in a grassy area in between the two ponds, relaxed and took a few pictures. Then I suddenly remembered the piece of advice that everyone told me before going to Cairns: stay away from secluded creeks and swamp areas because of crocodiles.

So, there I was, in the middle of a saltwater swamp and 30 minutes from the closest exit. I was wondering why I hadn't seen another person since leaving the botanical gardens. I immediately began the very tense walk back towards the exit, beating myself up over how I could have been so stupid to get myself into this situation. I'm sure you are all wondering (especially my mom) the same thing, but I had other things on my mind and didn't even think about it. During the walk back I kept on recalling information from my crocodile tour guide two days ago, such as "crocodiles are so quick, you won't have time to react when they attack you," and the worst of all "crocodiles are experts at camouflage, you'll be walking along and BAM, before you know it that thing in the water a few feet to your right that you thought was just a fallen tree branch is chomping at your leg."

Actually, come to think of it, another interesting fact I learned on that tour is that saltwater crocodiles are actually faster than cheetahs over a short distance. Interesting, but not comforting while you're walking through a swampy jungle by yourself. The walk back was the complete opposite of the relaxed walk that brought me to the two ponds. It seemed that with every step the natural environment of the rainforest became evermore engrossing: the loud calls of the birds, sticky spider webs jutting out from the trees and animals ruffling leaves and rippling the water. I felt as if all of the animals of the rainforest were banding together saying "we got ourselves a human." Fortunately, I got to the exit and escaped only with a new appreciation for living in an area where the only predators in the woods are meth-head hobos.

Tomorrow I leave for New Zealand, where I will stay in Auckland for six days before embarking on a nine day tour of the south island. Here are some pictures from today, the top two are the gardens and the bottom two are from my adventure to the saltwater ponds. Cheers.

Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens

Walk through the jungle

One of the saltwater ponds

Great Barrier Reef Flyover

Today I took a 65-minute ride over the Great Barrier Reef in a small Cessna plane. It was by far the smallest plane I've ever been in. It could fit a maximum of 4 people and that was even a little snug. The trip was amazing, though. I gained a whole new appreciation for the reef after seeing it from the air. You can't see it from these pictures, but as we were flying I saw lots of sharks, sea turtles and manta rays from the plane, which was cool. One of the reefs I flew over, Batt Reef, is where Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray. Here are some pictures:

Right before we took off our pilot turned to me and says "If I happen to go unconscious, put the plane at a steady 65 knots and tilt slightly upward right before you land."

This is Batt Reef, where Steve Irwin was killed in 2006

Interesting Findings, Part 3

- Yesterday (the day after I went scuba diving) a 32-year-old man from Texas was killed by a Great White Shark while scuba diving off the western coast of Australia. He was on the complete opposite coast from me, but it is still quite scary, especially considering that he was just diving and not doing anything out of the ordinary. Here is a link to the article if you would like to read it: American scuba diver dies in Australia shark attack
- In the early 1950s, a round-trip airline ticket from Australia to London cost as much as a 3-bedroom house in suburban Sydney or Melbourne
- Contrary to popular belief and the creative US marketing campaign, Aussies don't drink Fosters. In fact, every Aussie I have asked about Fosters either a) doesn't know what it is or b) thinks it is disgusting
- I had a roommate in Sydney that came here on a 21-day cruise from LA. His total price for the cruise, including food and beverages: $1,400. My round-trip flight from OKC-Australia was $1,600. I'd say he got the better deal. He said that he travels a lot and is always checking last minute cruise deals. I guess if the cruise ship isn't filled up with a week left to the departure date they start drastically cutting prices.
- According to the bank Credit Suisse-Boston, Aussies now have the highest median average household income in the world. Lots of this has to do with the Australian dollar rising in value.
- When I meet people from other parts of the world I often find myself telling them "I really want to go there, I've heard great things." Even though that isn't always necessarily true. It has been funny to see everyone's opinions of their home country. No one seems too enthusiastic about their respective homeland, most of the time the reaction is just a shrug of the shoulders and a "yeah, it's not too bad" and then they usually proceed by saying something that they don't like about their country and how it needs to change. I think everyone just takes where they live for granted. However, there has been one major exception to this: people from Vancouver, Canada. I have met three people from Vancouver and they all rave about it and say they would never want to live anywhere else.
- Everyone that I meet is amazed that I come from Oklahoma and don't speak with a southern twang
- The 14-year-old Australian boy that was caught buying marijuana in Bali, Indonesia is probably going to jail for a minimum of 2 years, and possibly 6. It has been huge news over here. The prison he will be in is extremely overcrowded and rundown. Everyone is saying that it is really fishy and looks like the Indonesian government set the kid up.
- American entertainment is so widespread throughout the world that I'm starting to think there is some merit to the saying "Entertainment is the USA's greatest export." Everyone over here is obsessed with the show the Big Bang Theory, and when we were going out to the reef everyone was desperately trying to "find Nemo."
- In Australia, a regular sized beer is called a "schooner" and a large sized beer is called a "pint" 

Cape Tribulation Jungle Tour

Today I went on a jungle tour around Cape Tribulation, which is about 3 1/2 hours north of Cairns. We started off the day at a wildlife park, then did a jungle cruise and then did some bushwalking in the jungle and went to a few beaches. During the jungle cruise we saw some saltwater crocs. One of the beaches we went to is where the rainforest meets the reef. The people in my group were really cool and I met an older couple from Nebraska (Neb U grads) who gave me a lot of flack when they found I was both a Sooners and Tigers fan. On an unrelated note, I had another coincidence with my Bill Bryson book today. On the way back from my jungle tour I got to the part in his book where his friend takes a jungle cruise on the same river I took my jungle cruise today, except his friend almost gets eaten by a croc and I thankfully didn't have any close encounters. Here are some pictures from the trip:

For the sake of my manhood, I must stop taking pictures while cuddling with koala bears.

Big ole saltwater crocodile I saw on the jungle cruise

This cove behind me is where the rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef. In a cooler sense, it's where the oldest rainforest in the world meets the largest coral reef in the world.

I've perfected the craft of asking "would you please mind taking a picture of me?"

Beach at Cape Tribulation

Another eclectic tour group. 2 Dutch girls, 1 Frenchman, 1 Canadian, 1 Brit and 1 Spanish girl

These signs are meant to warn drivers of the endangered Cassowary bird. The bottom sign is supposed to be a picture of a speed bump, but obviously someone had a little fun with a sharpie.

Great Barrier Reef

I went scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef today. Although I have snorkeled lots of times, today was my first time to scuba dive. It was about a 2 hour trip out to the reef where an instructor explained to us how to scuba dive. It wasn't hard at all and it made me want to get actually certified when I get back home. In my scuba group was a middle aged couple from Minneapolis and a early 30s couple from Houston. The lady from Minneapolis grew up in a town right next to Columbia, MO, and the guy from Houston used to date a girl from Norman. Small world. The reef was pretty impressive. It is incredible just how big it is, it's literally like a large underwater forest. These pictures don't do it justice, but here are a few pics of the reef:

I found Nemo!

Rainy in the Rainforest

As I got into Cairns yesterday I checked the 7 day forecast and found out that it is supposed to rain for all 5 days that I am here. In fact, Cairns hasn't gotten this much rain in October in over 70 years. The rain did stop today for a little bit and I was able to take a 4 mile gondola ride over the rainforest to a town called Kuranda north of Cairns. Here are some pictures from the ride:

Barron Falls

Barron Falls

Here are some interesting facts I learned about the Queensland Rainforest today:
- It has been around for over 120 million consecutive years, making it the oldest continuously living rainforest in the world
- Dinosaurs lived in this rainforest for 60 million years
- Rainforests like this used to cover the entire continent of Australia, now they cover just .26%
- The #1 animal people come to see here are the two species of tree kangaroo. Unfortunately, I didn't see any but here is a picture of one I found online:

Trip to Cairns 10/19-10/25

Here is a map of where Cairns is in relation to Sydney and the rest of Australia. It's about a 3 hour flight from Sydney, roughly the same distance from Florida to NY. The northeastern part of Australia has a very tropical climate and is home to some of the oldest rainforests in the world.

Here is a picture of the Great Barrier Reef from an airplane that I thought was pretty cool:

I told my cab driver today that I was going to Cairns and he told me to make sure I stayed away from any canals, rivers or small bodies of water that I might see because they are known to be home to saltwater crocodiles. Saltwater crocs can get up to 18 feet and kill an average of 2 people each year. One famous story is from World War II when Japanese soldiers were forced to retreat and spend the night in a swampland home to over 1000 saltwater crocodiles, which killed around 400 Japanese soldiers that night. The Guinness Book of World Records has it listed as "The Greatest Disaster Suffered from Animals." Saltwater crocs can't swim too far off the shore, so I won't have to worry about them when I am scuba diving or snorkeling.

University of Sydney/Last Day in Sydney

Today was my last day in Sydney. I catch a flight to Cairns tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. where I will stay for 5 days before my 2 1/2 week trip to New Zealand. I walked around the University of Sydney's campus today. From what I'm told there are no private universities in Australia. With just 22 million people, they don't have a ton of universities, but the schools they do have are highly regarded. Australian National University, The University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne are the #20, #37 and #38 ranked universities in the world, respectively. Here are some pictures from the University of Sydney's campus:

Art Gallery/Walk Across Harbor Bridge/Sydney Tower Lookout

Today I woke up and took a stroll across the Sydney Harbor Bridge to get a view of the Central Business District from the other side of the harbor:

I then went to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Although I don't too much about art, it was actually pretty interesting and they seemed to have a lot of nice pieces. The clown piece was kind of creepy, however. They are opening up a brand new Picasso gallery in a few months.

Later on in the afternoon I went to the top of the Sydney Tower to get a higher aerial view of the city.

My last day in Sydney is tomorrow. I'm going to walk around Sydney University and then get ready for my trip to Cairns.