Bali Part 2

I am writing this at the Seoul Airport so that means our stay in Bali is over but just wanted to give a quick update as we make our long journey home!

Bali was a beautiful place to visit, unwind, relax but also learn about a very different part of the world. The area near the airport is very built up and glitzy but the area where we stayed, it was obvious most people didn't have a lot. Our driver for the week, Wayan, was incredibly kind and generous to us, and helped learn a about the Balinese people.

Most pictures of this trip are on Jared's camera, not our phones so more photos will come later. Wednesday we spent at Bali Safari Park and we got a chance to ride elephants, see plenty of different Indonesian animals and soak up the extreme extreme humidity.

The rest of our days were spent relaxing and seeing the local town of Candidasa for some of our meals. All in all it was such a great time and we are very sad to come home. We have bottled some of the heat, sun and humidity for those wanting a bit back at home. See you all very soon!

Bali

We are alive and well in Bali. It has been consistently about 28 degrees here but more like 35 with the humidity. Funny, all I feel like doing is lying by the pool and reading. We spent our first day here by the pool but ventured off across Bali on Monday. Our driver picked us up in the morning and he drove us about 250kms over the course of the day around Bali. We saw a bat cave temple, and also the largest temple in Bali called Besakih Temple. I will update more tomorrow as I have run out of time on my internet pass! Miss everyone lots:)

Melbourne - the most livable city!

Melbourne beat out Vancouver as the world's most livable city (though the reason was a bit silly...) and it is definitely a great city. We have found all the cities we have been in are clean, easy to navigate, accessible on foot, by car and have great transit systems.

We spent our first day on a trip that I had really been looking forward to the whole trip - the Phillip Island Penguin Parade. This colony of Little Penguins (or Fairy Penguins) goes out to fish in the ocean during the day and then at dusk, return to their burrows in the western part of the island.

The first part of the day we spent on a farm and got to pat kangaroos and feed wombats. The next stop was the koala conservation area and got to see more koalas and their babies up close.

The event of the night was up next as we pulled in to see the penguins. We were excited to see our adopted penguin, Allan (thanks Cogans!) settle in to his burrow for the night. We were technically not allowed to take any photos but Jared was naughty and snapped a quick one at the end of the night. It is a bit dark but you can definitely see how adorable they are.

Thursday we used as a day to explore the city and we definitely covered a lot of it. We walked through the various arcades (covered malls) and even picked up some delicious macarons. We then moved on to the Old Melbourne Gaol. The tour was a fun experience as we were treated like criminal being booked at the police station. Ha it really was enjoyable.

We ended up on Brunswick St to find cheap pizza (including dessert pizza) and stopped by Charcoal Lane to make reservations for dinner. We passed through Fitzroy Park on our way back and stumbled upon the MCG where they play cricket and Aussie rules football. We caught a bit of a cricket match but as it is a bit of a slow sport, we didn't stay long.

Our last trip in Melbourne was a Great Ocean Road tour which included the 12 Apostles. It was a magnificent view all the way along and we lucked out with the weather. It was a 600km trip which took us by gorgeous shoreline, tree lined roads and beautiful rock formations.

We have had a tremendous time in Australia and they were so many things we missed! We were sad we missed out on some things because of time but it just means we will have to return one day! Tomorrow we are off to Bali for a week of relaxation by the beach. Being a tourist is exhausting! Thank you again to those who made our trip possible - we had the time of our lives.

Rainforest and Cairns

We have had a busy 4 days so sorry for the radio silence. Internet access has been spotty so updating the blog has been tough. We sit out front of McDonald's getting free wifi but that is usually just to check email. We spent 2 glorious days in the Atherton Tablelands in the rainforest at The Canopy Treehouses.

We were surrounded by all sorts of Aussie animals like cassowaries, pademelons (small kangaroos), possums, and wild turkeys (most annoying animal!). Our days were spent feeding the turtles, exploring waterfalls and reading in the hammock

We sadly left the treehouse and headed to Cairns to check out the beach. The temp was about 30 degrees for the time we were in Cairns. It was wonderful! We spent our first day taking a train trip to the village of Kuranda on a heritage rail line. It was a very scenic trip past a gorge, waterfalls and through various tunnels. Once in Kuranda, we ate, wandered the village and then hopped on the Skyrail gondolas back down to the station.

The following was one of the highlights of the trip! Our day was spent snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns. We had perfect weather. The first stop was to Michaelmas Cay where there was tons of colorful coral and a wide assortment of fish. The water was so warm and clear. You will have to wait for photos as they are on our camera not our phones but trust us, it was an amazing experience and one to cross of the bucket list.

Thank yous and appreciation

We have been here over a week now and we realized that many of the things we have done were given to us as gifts from some of wedding guests. We want to thank you guys for such generous gift giving and we want you to know that we are having the time of our lives. Some shout outs go to:
- Judi, Danny, Ralph and Randy for getting us all the way here
- Sarah and Steve for a great stay in Sydney
- Nadine for a fabulous cruise around the harbour
- Seana and Vincent for the opera house (sadly we didn't make it to the tower but we put your gift towards another tour)
- Dawn and Jeremy for our visit with the animals
- Celeste and Markku for a romantic dinner in Sydney on our last night there
- Christine and Dean for travel to Cairns
- Jessamyn, Yoav, Alana, and Susan for an amazing stay in the rainforest in a treehouse
- The Tabachnicks for the Kuranda railway experience that we did today

The rest of our adventures have yet to happen so we will post again with an update on the thank yous. The rest of our guests contributed greatly to this trip also! We would not be here without your awesomeness.

Stay turned for more photos and stories!
Miss you all!!

We came, we walked, we conquered

What a great couple of days in Sydney! Monday was spent biking around Manly thanks to our gift from Galine and George:)

It was mostly uphill but totally worth it!

Our bike ride worked up quite an appetite so after a stop at Opera Bar at the Sydney Opera House, we went for a delicious Mexican meal.

The next day we all decided to take on a coastal walk. The previous day the temp had reached 38 degrees in the afternoon but Tuesday was a bit cooler at 27-28 degrees. The walk took to several beaches along the coast and we ended up at Bondi beach. Along the way there was a sculpture competition taking place called "Sculptures by the Sea." It was a gorgeous walk and quite busy for Tuesday afternoon!

After a filling lunch, we thought the best way to digest would be to lie down and take a cat nap on Coogee beach. Ashley lived in the neighborhood when she first arrived in Australia and showed us her old stomping ground.

Trivia night at a local pub was our next stop. Jared answered one of the quick answer question and won our group a chocolate bar of nutty goodness.

We left Ash and Ben's Wednesday morning to check into our hotel in Darling Harbour/Chinatown. We stuffed ourselves with Thai food and said our goodbyes to our amazing hosts Ashley and Ben. Thanks guys for showing us such a wonderful time in Sydney. We were so grateful to be able to spend several days with you while on our honeymoon. We look forward to seeing you again soon:)
In the evening we had a fantastic dinner at Cafe Sydney, our wedding present from Ash and Ben. This place has some of the best views of the city. Thanks for the dinner friends! It was delicious.

Today it was quite rainy but we managed to take a walk downtown and take a great tour of the opera house. What an amazing structure!
The evening brought more rain but a quick stop for dumplings.
Tomorrow we are off to Cairns and the Rainforest. Until then!