"The Russell Crowe Files"

Here is how it went down.  Here is the story of my attempt to find, see and possibly meet Russell Crowe.

We started in New Zealand.  I told Sarah, our guide extraordinaire, and Dennis, our bus driver extraordinaire, that I was on a mission to get as close as possible to Russell Crowe.  Dennis teased me a playfully during the trip, saying things like "No actor could have done a better job in that role...not even Russell Crowe!" He even got a waitress to agree that Russell Crowe had been to our last restaurant in New Zealand, "The Cow" (named for Queen Victoria...ouch!!) AND had actually sat in the EXACT seat where I sat!!  See attached picture 😃

Once I realized that Sarah had a brother in the rugby world, I came up with Plan #1.  This plan basically consisted of Sarah contacting her brother, who most certainly knew Russell Crowe because not only is he (RC) super handsome, like Dan Carter, BUT he is IN rugby, like Dan Carter.  Russell Crowe owns an Australian teams called the "Rabbitohs" (oh, the useless information that I know about  this man!!). He often tweets (yes, duh!! I follow him on Twitter and that is important coming up in the story!) about his team, the players, the games, etc.  So, Sarah graciously agreed to text her brother with the all-too-important question.  "Do you know Russell Crowe?"  The tension was so thick that you you could cut it with a knife.  I waited patiently by asking every 5 seconds, "Any word from your brother yet?!"  Finally a text came in from Dan Carter. "Um...no...why?!"  Wah, wah, wah. Struck down.  No worries.

He is from the north island and moved away at the young age of 4, residing in Sydney and on his farm 6 hours north of Sydney (yes, I am seeking psychiatric care for my Russell Crowe obsession!! Heehee!! Just kidding!), so I had pretty much only really expected to find him in Australia.  I guess you can't blame a girl for tryin'!

And, upon landing in Australia, my first thoughts were, "Now I'll find him!"  We met up with Sarg at the airport and all of that insanity ensued. At some point, and I honestly don't remember when because our time that first night was such a blur or because "he" is just a part of my everyday conversation, I must have mentioned that my goal was to meet Russell Crowe on this trip.  I have to add that pretty much all of my time in Sydney was distracted by my eyes always scanning the crowd for his face.  And, what would I do upon meeting "my man, my man, I love him so!!"? Oh...yeah...no idea.  Probably pee my pants.  THAT'S suuure to make an impression, right?!

Emma thought it would be a great idea for me to send him a message on Twitter.  She composed and sent this message to him, "Meet me at the Harbor tonight.  No one has to know."  I think he may have missed the message OR, far more likely, I missed HIM while in single-file formation! 

The next morning we had a "sailing lesson", which as I mentioned before was basically a 2 hour tour (a 2 hour tour...Gilligan's island, anyone?) of Sydney Harbour.  As we were about to board the mini yachts, Sarg told the boat captains that the only special consideration was that one of the guests (ME!!!) wanted to meet Russell Crowe and maybe we could sail by his house on the harbor? WHAT?! O! M! G! 

Off we went, sight seeing, but clearly on a mission.  We sailed, me at the front of the boat, on the look out, north (i think) through the harbor.  Suddenly, up head!! What is it?! One of his Sydney penthouses!! I was informed by multiple people who were told of my desire, one might say "burning" desire, to meet Russell Crowe that he was now a single man (right?!) and that he had "custody" of the better harbor house.  Surely once he met me...

Back to the encounter.  So we pull up to the penthouse.  I call out, "Honey, I'm hoooome!!" ...and we waited.  Emma took a couple of pictures of me with my new home, um...I mean his home behind me.  We sent one to his Twitter account because surely THAT wouldn't creep anyone out!! Apparently we couldn't stay there all day waiting to see if he was home.  I bid him farewell, knowing that I had another day left in Sydney with which to arrange our meeting.

As the boat pulled away, what should we ALL see but a man, about his height with his hair color and body-type come out onto the balcony of the penthouse.  Some said that it was probably security.  Don't be silly!! It most certainly was not AND it most likely WAS Russell Crowe coming out to meet ME.  I kept my head about me, of course, and frantically screamed, "Turn this boat around!! We've got to go back! It's him! It's him! It's him!!" I ran to that end of the boat as I heard another teacher say, "Don't let her jump!!" 

We also toured the famous Sydney Opera House, where he had been within the prior few weeks.  Our guide on the tour of the Opera House told me that she had been at an Opera House function where Russell Crowe had been as a guest.  My question, of course, "How was he?" She said, "He was charming, very charming." Of course he was! 

Finally, on our bike ride through Sydney we were able yet again to get close to the penthouse.  I was never able to meet him, which is probably for the best.  You might ask me why.  I heard a quote once that went something like this.  "The best thing about a fantasy is that it is a fantasy.  Why muck it up with a reality that's less than?" I highly doubt that he is anything less than the wonderful and gentlemanly image that I have in my mind, but just in case, I'll have my fantasy of him coming out onto his penthouse balcony to meet me...and I wouldn't change a second of that!!

New Zealand Lansdcape

The landscape in New Zealand....wow.  This entry is short.  Words literally escape me (yes, that is rare, I know.).

The vista that made the biggest impression, if I have to choose, would have been at the end of our time.  We made our last stop before heading out to Australia in Queenstown. The whole country, really, had been amazing sight after amazing site naturally.  Just the raw nature that we saw in the snow farm, at the river in Hokatica, the Antarctic center area...amazing. 

However, all of that being said, we made our last stop at Arrowtown and then Queenstown.  Upon coming down off of the snow farm, which actually was a little sketchy because of the new snow (We had to have our baggage shuttled to the bus, and then ourselves shuttled to the bus as well because they were afraid that if the bus came to us we wouldn't be able to get down the mountain!! Eeeek!!), the landscape opened up and became less snowy in our path.  And the mountains were unreal.  Movies have been filmed here ("Lord of the Rings", "Narnia" to name a couple) for good reason.  We felt like we were IN a movie.  How could what we were seeing be real? It was honestly just so breath taking.  I really have no words to describe what we saw.  Mountains, mountains and more mountains.  Green, blue and even browns that were alive.  

See for yourself...

The side of the road on our way through the southern Alps

The Maori riverbed near Hokatica

The rain forest where the Fox Glacier ends

The Fox Glacier

Amazing rain forest

The Fox Glacier in the rain forest 

...and a water fall running into a babbling brook

The amazing Fox Glacier

Hiking the beast

Our Irish guide, Andy without his coat!! <sweet!!>

Our Mötley Crüe

Ever the cheerleader, doing the "liberty" on the Glacier

...and we head back after the hike

Can you believe the color of this water?!

Coming down from the Snow Lodge...the view can't be photographed...it was so much more than this. 

Breath taking!!

The "scorpion" attempt and the photo fail!!

Queenstown...and good-bye, New Zealand!!

New Zealand Culture

The culture of any place is what I mostly nerd out on, of course.  I didn't have great expectations for lots of cultural differences in New Zealand.  However, I did find a few interesting cultural differences that surprised me.

One of the things that I was most excited about was learning about the native New Zealanders, the Maori. 

We learned a lot on out trip through the Southern Alps as we travelled towards to Maori tribe.  I had read up on the Maori before this meeting (shocked?! Yeah...didn't think so.) and was so looking forward to experiencing their customs!! We learned that they were the first humans to inhabit New Zealand and most likely came from the Polynesian Islands.  According to the Maori legend, around the year 900, a Maori explorer took a long journey to see what was out there. When this explorer first spotted New Zealand, all he could see was an island practically engulfed in a long white cloud.  Guess what he named this place?  "Aotearoa" which means, you got it, "Land of the Long White Cloud". To this day, most Maori can trace their heritage back to that explorer, or the seven subsequent canoes carrying Maori settlers. Many, historically, had face tattoos that told the story of their lineage and ranking in the tribe.  The most exciting part--the thing I had most hoped for, was the "Haka".  This was a traditional dance(??) or greeting (???) or scare tactic (???).  It was used to greet visitors or scare potential enemies away.  It consisted of a lot of chanting in a very loud voice, stomping of feet, sticking out of tongues and bulging of eyes.  If the potential enemy did not retreat, they were killed and their bodies eaten.  The Maori were not cannibals, but rather ate the bodies of the enemy to gain whatever power said enemy had, for themselves.  Wow! Oh, boy was I excited about that?! I was especially excited because I had read that the first European to try to check out the island, Abel Tasman, a Dutchman, experienced this form of greeting.  He was so scared after loosing 4 of his men that he didn't even get out of his boat (he just sent those poor unsuspecting fools in to get eaten!!).  However, he did name the island(s) "Staten Landt", the body of water between the north island and Australia "the Tasmanian Sea" and the little island south of Australia and north of New Zealand "Tasmania".  He never set foot on New Zealand.  

When we arrived at the Maori marea, or traditional meeting hall, we were greeted by a Maori gentleman in European clothes (hold the phone here!!) who introduced us to his cousin (hmmm...turns out just about everyone is "cuz"). The two of them told us how we would be greeted and although the "Haka" was never mentioned, I still had high hopes for it.  We had elected a "chief" of the bunch who would represent us.  Chief Will had a speech prepared and led us in the rehearsal of a song for the tribe.  He chose "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", which we practiced on the bus.  I was worried that WE were going to be the lunch upon hearing our ability!! Egads! 

I guess what could I expect? We weren't going to the jungle of New Zealand.  We weren't coming to their land via boat.  We weren't coming to see a man about a boat (or whatever). We went into the marea, took our shoes off and sat in folding chairs.  The building was a very modern cabin-type.  Our tribe was introduced by the Maori representative and then we were greeted by the Maori chief.  He shouted at us in the Maori language for about 7 minutes.  We then replied to his shout with an introduction from OUR chief, Will.  The Maori replied with a song, again in their language and we replied with our iffy version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". We were then invited to a buffet lunch of...traditional food, right? Yes...IF traditional food consists of wraps and veggies and ranch.  We did have pumpkin soup, which is very traditional to New Zealand, apparently, because we had it often. 

We were invited, because we needed a special invitation, to hunt for "punamu" or green stone (we know it as jade) in the private river adjacent to the Maori property.  They regained the rights to the land and river in the 1870s after having signed it all away to the British in 1840. We were given a lesson on how to look and what to look for. We set off on our search.  I heard a lot of "Is this it?" and a lot of "No, that's not it." There were a couple of lucky kids who found some punamu.  

We were then taken to Hokatica, where there was a punamu cutter and several punamu stores.  Again, our phenomenal guide, Sarah, had a chance to talk with our Maori hosts.  She told them that some of us were very interested in seeing or experiencing a "Haka". As we exited the bus, there on the sidewalk outside of the punamu store, stood a Maori dude (in jeans and a nice dress shirt--can't have everything!!), in a traditional stance, shouting at us in a very threatening sort of way.  We got our Haka!! Most of us were kind of caught off guard and not sure of what to do, so Sarah encouraged us to greet the man and enter his store.  I, at least, was a very happy camper...sure, we missed out on the face tattoos, but the Haka was what it was really about for me.

As we left Hokatika, Sarah said, "You know, you can see the Haka at the beginning if the rugby game tonight." Apparently there is a Haka performed (not sure that "performed" would be e right word, but...) at the beginning of each game that the national team, the "All Blacks" plays.  Rugby is such a part of New Zealand culture...wow. I think it is more a part of them than football is for us.  Or maybe I didn't really understand our guide.  Practically everyone we encountered wanted to talk rugby with her.  Se seemed to know a lot about it, and my assumption was that it was so big that everyone just knew it.  True, but...

From what I understand, the most important player on a rugby team, like the quarterback (?? As if I know and/or make time to pay attention to this stuff.), is called the number "10". Each position is numbered the same for all rugby teams.  It came out shortly after the Maori adventure that Sarah's brother played for the "All Blacks", as number 10.  Oh, yeah, and, he was thE rugby player in New Zealand.  Sarah never said it, but our bus driver did.  Hmmmm.  Who exactly is this "Dan Carter"?  Well, according to Wikipedia, he IS Mr. Rugby in New Zealand, and is well-known world-wide in rugby circles and by rugby fans.  He is ALSO an underwear model AND was voted "New Zealand's sexiest man".  You can look him up for yourself and check him out.  

We learned some New Zealand phrases that were culturally just New Zealand.  First, a greeting between people, Maori or not, from the Maori language is "Kia Ora".  It means the same thing to me that the Costa Rican greeting "Pura Vida" means.  It's a general term for "what's up?". It is the "question" and the "answer".  Every morning, Sarah would say to us "Kia Ora" and our response would be "Kia Ora".  We never heard this phrase in Australia, because it is a purely "Kiwi" saying.  (However, I do recall that several people greeted "Sarg" this way when she greeted us with the Australian "g'day".  Ooooooo, she hated that!! Heehee!! It wasn't me, but I secretly giggled!!)

We heard "sweet" or "sweet as" so much!! It's just a generic phrase to mean that it's all good.  It's the answer to questions and a response to something good or something cool. Since kiwi seem so pleasant and happy and easy-going, we heard that a lot!! I love their positive attitudes.  There were lots of people from other countries working in New Zealand.  No matter if we were talking to the Irish dude or the German dude on the Fox glacier, the Italian dude at the snow farm or any number of others we encountered, the positivity spilled over into everything they did and said, often in the form of "sweeeeet"!!

Overall I'd say that our cultural experience of New Zealand was..."swEEEt"!

Home, but stay tuned!!

We are home, but neither of us have had a chance to tell the whole story or post the pictures. New Zealand and Australia, for all its wonder, beauty, and Russell Crowe, has REALLY limited and weak Internet.  So, stay tuned for more details.

Science in New Zealand

  This trip was supposed to be very science-focused.  It has seemed very "coach" (aka bus) focused to most of us, I believe.  But, I decided to think about the science we did focus on, and, wow!! I guess we did do quite a bit! 

In New Zealand, we started out at the Christchurch Antarctic Centre where we learned a ton about life in Antarctica.  We participated in a brief talk on who spends time in Antarctica and learned that there are quite a few scientists working together on various different research topics.  The Antarctic is a really different place because of its frigid temperatures and abundance of wildlife around it and who come to "visit" regularly. There are many different types of penguins not only in Antarctica, but also in New Zealand.  One of my favorite exhibits at the Antarctic center was the Blue Penguin Habitat.  The Blue Penguin is the smallest of penguins.  It is endemic to New Zealand, meaning that New Zealand is their natural, main habitat. They are less than a foot tall, fully grown and are more of a dark blue, not quite navy, than black color.  They are so cute!!! BUT, like most penguins, they are stinky! Their little lagoon area under water is just so calm and sweet looking.  Watching them swim is so relaxing.  Take a walk around the back side and up onto the shore side and, whew!!!! They stink!!! 

Another of the exhibits that we all enjoyed was one where we were able to "experience" for ourselves what a storm in Antarctica would be like.  We were led into a room that had simulated snow and frozen air.  It literally felt frozen!!  Then the "storm"began.  The wind started to howl. The temperature dropped even more.  I could feel my face begin to freeze and the faces of the kids around me were red and started to look chapped (in just that short of time?! Yes!). Maybe the best part of that exhibit was that when the storm simulation was over, we exited the room.  We hung our special cold-proof jackets up and were able to warm our hands up instantly on the "hand-warming" bar!!! I need that!!! Wouldn't that be a great addition to Central?! Can you just imagine coming in from the cold and windy mornings and just warming your hands up on that bar?! I think yes.  What do you think, Mr. Harrington??

Also in Christchurch, we were able to get a first-hand accounting story of the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.  Our guide, Sarah, had been finishing a tour the day of the second earthquake   (In 2011) and talked about how she saw so many people help each other out. Maybe "better" (if there can be a "better" way to learn about the earthquake's aftermath) experience for all of us was to see the destruction that is STILL there 2-3 years later.  The downtown streets are still under construction and many are blocked off.  There was a small shopping area that had been a mall, that was using cargo containers as shops.  It actually gave it a really unique look, but it was completely different knowing that it was out of necessity--shops obliterated, by the earthquake.  

Another shocking site was seeing a movie theater that had basically been cut in half.  We could see the debris littering the aisles between the seats.  It looked like it was a normal theater, waiting for its patrons to come and see the next big release.  I am glad that the quake happened when no one was there, but rather in their beds still asleep!!  

The other science focused day centered around the rain forest and the glaciers in the mountains.  The Franz Josef Glacier was the one that we were supposed to climb, however, it is in its "retreating" phase so we were unable to and were to climb the Fox Glacier instead.  Retreating means that it is shrinking or moving back to where it came from.  The Fox glacier is 300 meters above sea level and is 12-15 kilometers long.  We learned that the top is called the "nevé" and the place where the glacier ends is called the "terminal face". The Fox Glacier is one of the only glaciers that ends in a rain forest. We were to hike the terminal face.  

It was a beautiful hike through frozen rain forest to the glacier.  It gets about 30 meters of snow per year.  There was no snow on the ground, which was a little abnormal because it is winter.  They were expecting snow, so no one was worried.  Everyone wants the glacier "healthy", which means not in the retreating phase.  The guides at the glacier said that we are due for a mini ice age, which would be fine for the world with only a 4 degree dropping temperatures world-wide and great for the glacier. 

There wason the ground, which was a little abnormal because it is winter.  They were expecting snow, so no one was worried.  Everyone wants the glacier "healthy", which means not in the retreating phase.  The guides at the glacier said that we are due for a mini ice age, which would be fine for the world with only a 4 degree dropping temperatures world-wide and great for the glacier. 

That was a lot of science in New Zealand!!!  Wanna hear about culture?! Stay tuned...

"High hopes! Yes, she has high apple pie in the sky-o!" (Anyone?!)

Boy, oh boy, did I have super high hopes for the Land Down Under!!  How could it be anything less than fabulous if my sweetie (Russell Crowe, if you're just now joining us!) lives here, especially since he COULD be living in New Zealand.  All of the adults on this trip agree that we'd visit New Zealand again in a heartbeat! The jury is still out on feelings towards Australia, but let me say that it's leaning the opposite way at this point.

Let's start at the beginning.  We arrived at the airport in the evening.  We were met by our new travel manager, Carrin.  She made it clear from the get go that she was all business.  I'm not sure if she meant to project that as a first impression, and even now, a couple of days into it, I'm still not sure.  She got us to load our bags into the "coach" (bus) and take our seats.  She told us that we were trying to make a dinner reservation at the harbor and were in a bit of a time crunch. She was a change from our previous travel manager, but I think that we were all willing to give her a try, so to speak.  This was the first time we were introduced to her "single file" rule.  That did not go over well with the kids.  One kid was over heard saying, "I paid too much money for this trip to be told that I have to walk in single file!" 

We were rushed into a restaurant, practically running theiught the harbor (but we only lost 2 kids in the process!! fortunately, we found them quickly)...well, it was not the type of place we had become accustomed to.  It was like a less fancy version of a sit down hamburger joint. We had our own section of the restaurant and were served kind of rapid fire.  We were told repeatedly that we needed to hurry up.  I think it may not have been a good way to start out, especially since we were tired from travel, etc, etc.  

From there we went (single file, again) on a walk that was more like another run through the city to the place where we were to meet John, our ghost tour guide.  What a character!! I hope someone has pictures of him to share because he was a kick in the pants.  He was definitely fully into his role as spooky dude.  He got to know us very briefly(as time would allow) and invited us on a journey through the seemingly haunted parts of Sydney. We started out in a little alleyway where he introduced us to an undertaker named Gannon.  (Actually, I can't be sure that that is how to spell his name.  I just can't wrap my ears around the way things are pronounced!! I hear McCrory and I see a sign later that says "Macquerie". It makes it hard for me to go back and verify what my faulty memory remembers so that I tell you accurate information!!) Mr. Gannon was one of the convicts shipped to Australia from England.  He was a carpenter by trade, but stole a horse.  He was sentenced to whatever it is that they get sentenced to for horse stealing back in those days, and was shipped off to the newest penal colony.  When he arrived, he finished his sentence and was given the job to construct caskets for the recently departed.  He was so surrounded by death in the city that his name came up in many of the stories, for obvious reasons, I suppose.  The "role" of Mr. Gannon was played by one of the students on the tour.  

Mr. Gannon had the job of burying a certain gentleman who had kind of a sordid reputation for the times.  He sent his wife and children back England after just a few months of trying to make a go of it in Australia.  He decided to open a hair salon. There were rumors flying about this Poor guy.  Let's just leave it at that. He was fond of the drink, and after one night of wild drinking, he went home to his hotel room, opened the windows and his pants (!!!), revealing his...um...whole personality for all to see.  He shouted some obscenities at the people in the street below and pulled a pair of shears from his drawer.  You can imagine the shock of our group when it was revealed that this lovely gentleman proceeded to chop off his manhood, and at which point he fell to his death in the street below.  Apparently the ambulance was called, and eventually Mr. Gannon arrived onto the scene.  It is said that there are some nights when you can hear the wails of the hairdresser and see a figure bent over, searching that very street...looking for his missing part. (Duh!!! Who DOES that?!)

Another story that we were told was that of Alice Reynolds.  She was an 11 year old girl who just died suddenly.  Our guide, John, reminded us that at this time the young and the elderly were particularly vulnerable to sudden deaths and sicknesses.  It is not on record how Alice met her demise.  We do know (per these stories) that what appears to be a little girl's spirit has been seen repeatedly in the area.  There have been several groups who reported sensing a child before the guide could even get the story out.  One older gentleman reported that Alice was standing behind the story teller.  Another woman said that Alice had joined the group on the tour.  John told us that more than one guest on the tour reported the same story of her following, and ALL have independently said that she drops out of the tour at a certain spot. 

Yes, I was creeped out.  Yes, I was jumpy.  And, yes, I was holding Emma's hand by this time.

We walked through a part of Sydney that was the "home" of a pig farm where "strange things" had been seen.  We also heard the story of a tavern owner who killed his wife in the basement.  Of course said wife was still roaming.  

Lastly, we went to the current observatory which was once the hanging grounds.  THAT'S a recipe for a ghostly disaster if you ask me (no one did... just sayin').  "Hey, I know!!! Lets build a place where people have to come at night to see starts and stuff...lights out, old cemetery and hanging trees.  No problem!!" What?! No. No. No. No.  No. At the observatr'y (as they say here), we heard stories of people being buried alive during the plague.  We heard stories of ghostly apparitions and of different guests "sensing SOMEthing" in the same spots, repeatedly and without prior knowledge. Creepy! John sent our boys Will and Nick on journeys of discovery. They were brave...far braver than I could EVER hope to be.  Their jobs were to walk around the perimeter of the observatory, paying attention to any "strange" things along the way, and meeting us back at our meeting spot.  John sent them off and told us what the responses of others were.  (At that time he asked for personal experiences and Emma ratted me and my bedroom ghosts out.). Both boys came back alive, thank goodness!!  How would I explain that to their parents?! Will came back having sensed "something" in a certain spot...coincidentally, the same spot where other guests had reported the same sensations.  As John asked us often, I ask you, "Coincidence?!"    

australianhippie1.wordpess.com

The grump...

This is probably a bad time for me to be writing anything that'll be made public. We have had a long and busy day, and sometimes that can make for some grumpy people. It makes me grumpy when things don't go the way I had hoped or the way I would expect them to.  

There were a lot of really good things that happened today.  You'll read the "Russell Files" at another time, but that was the highlight for sure, for me anyway.  We were up early--6am wake up call and 645 breakfast for a 750 departure. I think that might have been what set me off on a bad start right away. Why in the name of all that is holy, and in the name of all that ISN'T holy, for that matter, would we need an hour and 5 minutes to eat breakfast?! We didn't. There was a lot of sitting around and in the end, people (aka kids) weren't ready.  My (not so) humble opinion is that there was too much lag time.  I was glad for the time, I have to admit, but some kids (the boys?!) were so sleepy at the 6am call that they went back to sleep until the 645 breakfast.  They came to breakfast a little ripe and, fortunately, were able to clean it up before we had to be in close quarters with them! 

I don't like messes, especially when people are fully able to clean up after themselves.  The breakfast area was left in a semi state of disaster.  Some of these kids, as dear as they are (and, honestly, they are all pretty cool, I might add), are either completely clueless as to how dishes get delivered to their places clean, food arrives ready to be eaten, things are cleaned up...they might just be teenagers forgetting their manners, but it seems a little more of a habit than one of those issues. I also don't like what that implies about my country, my people or my kids. I don't like reminding them to clean up. The same situation happens upon check out at previous hotels, so I've become the clean up reminder, of sorts. Need I really tell you to put garbage in the garbage cans and not just leave it on the floor for the janitorial staff to handle?! Apparently, I do. Grrr!! Really?! 

We were heading to the harbor today to have a sailing lesson.   Because of the school holiday traffic was light and because of THAT, we arrived at the marina a little early.  We have been instructed by our Australian travel manager, Carrin, to walk single file from the bus to each destination. Ok. I suppose that I understand the idea.  We are in a very busy city.  It is pretty fast paced, as Sarah, our New Zealand travel manager said as well, and people are in the "hurry up and xyz" mode, which I understand, greatly.  However, that edict has not been easily swallowed for our lovelies, and quite honestly, for a few of the adults as well.   It's been difficult for Carrin to get the gang on board and difficult for the grownups to buy into as well.  I do understand the idea.  If we are all standing in a huddle in the middle of the pathway or the hallway or whatever, we will either make people angry or they will just run us over.  

We went to the marina, and because we were a little early, as I said, we walked a little on the path, a scraggly line of single-ish file obvious tourists following our leader who is waving a green fly swatter over her head, shouting "Single file! Follow me!" Please, someone get me off of this crazy train...(movie line...anyone??) 

You know me. You know how I love to do nerdy stuff and learn about other cultures and participate in other cultures. You probably also know that I like to try to blend in as much as iy is possible for a 6 foot blonde to do while traveling to foreign lands. The construction worker-orange lanyards with name tags dangling are bad enough. Now I've got a fly swatter wielding drill Sargent leading me around by said lanyard?!

I started my day out with a "flat white" which is both New Zealand and Australia's answer to a latte. That should have given me the leg up, that extra bit of patience that would be needed for the day of touristing.  See?! I tried to start it out right:)

We were "allowed" 10 minutes, no more no less (same movie...I need to get a life!!), to hang out in the park by the harbor and to take pictures. We were warned to stay single-file so as to stay out of people's way. It was about 830 and joggers, walkers and strollers were out for their morning constitution (actually I don't know what that means, but I think I've heard it somewhere to mean "the morning movements that get "things" moving". Regardless, it makes me giggle.). The time seemed to fly by...or people didn't want or need to take pictures of that angle of the harbor.  There we were, orange lanyard firmly around our necks and in single-file formation...waiting...standing on the path...waiting. Finally, I spoke up (no comments, smarty pantses!!) and said, "...and so? Maybe we could move on?" I just can't stand the tourist look.

We had a good day after that, but I'll write about the good stuff later. I'm still in vent mode.

We were ferried from place to place, all the while being led around by the Sargent and her fly swatter. We took a tour of the Sydney opera house, which I can talk about when I'm in a better space.  We went to lunch at a mall.  Yet another situation where we were obviously tourists.  We were instructed to walk single file through the mall to the one area where we are allowed to gather as a group.  Apparently there are restrictions as to where a person can park and drop off, as well as where people can gather for whatever. We waited in our little group (of 20 ish) in front of the information booth while Carrin acquired our lunch vouchers.  We were given a "coupon" (right up my alley, right?!) for a number of restaurants in the food court area. At this time we were allowed to leave the designated gathering area.  We were instructed to gather back at EXACTLY 225, but only in the designated gathering area (for the love!!!) to be taken single file back to the bus, which was, of course, waiting in the designated bus waiting area.

We went to a bike tour, which was really cool, but again, in our group of 20+ riding bikes throughout the busy streets and on the harbor walkway...we drew attention.  The worst thing I've heard so far, which isn't all that bad for normal people is "oh look...tourists!" Ugh! I'm not sure if it was the lanyards or the matching pink glittery bike helmets that gave us away.

To finish up our night, we walked, single file even stopping once to get our little ducks in a row, to a nice, harbor side restaurant for a dinner of kangaroo. 

When we got back to the hotel, my roommate, Debi, a nice lady from Texas who is a principal traveling with 4 11-year olds (obviously, her sanity is in question...) asked me what was wrong. I seemed sad to her. Not sad...done. 

I have never felt like this on a trip.  We are half-way through and if our flight today was back to LAX instead of to the Sunshine Coast, I'd honestly be ok with it.  My kid is not having fun anymore.  I am not having fun anymore.   Not even our time in Nicaragua with Shannon put me in this space.  Maybe it was because I had her to commiserate with.  We are tired from running from place to place, in single-file, on such a time crunch, all the time.  I said to Emma last night, trying to find one shred of positivity inside of me, "Well, fortunately no one has blown up at anyone or anything." Her reply was, "Well, someone is about to!" It's hard to put up with other people's idiosyncrasies when we are all (and I'm going out on a limb--sarcasm--to say that most of us are at this point) on our last nerves. 

I went to bed last night saying, "Tomorrow is a new day!" Hoping that the 430am wake up call, bus and plane rides would not cause too much upset.  We got to the airport with a little time for me to get a cup of coffee, or as they say here a "cuppa" (????!!).  I got in the designated line (CLEARLY marked with a sign that said, "line up here for coffee"...shocking, right?!). When I had ordered coffee in another shop (oh, wait that was New Zealand...), I started to order like I normally do.  "Could I have a grande latte at 145...oh, wait..." And the guy said, "we know fahrenheit." Stupidly, I asked for the same this morning, completely forgetting that I'm not in Kansas anymore, Toto. The lady looked at me as if I had asked her to cut off her arm and stir my coffee with it for me. I apologized and said, "oh, sorry...someone else told me I could order like that..." I trailed off, as she leaned over to the one making the coffee to tell her that I was being difficult.  I apologized again and the barista said, "So, what is it you want?"  Me, "I'd just like the coffee a little less hot than normal...so I can drink it..." Again, a look like I had asked for her first born.  "Never mind...just do it like you normally do." 

So, there I sat...with my coffee too hot to drink.  Waiting.  I think you can guess where this is going.  Time to get on the airplane and guess what? "I'm sorry, ma'am, but you can't take hot drinks onto the airplane." I don't need much, maybe contrary to other opinion.  BUT, I value greatly, intensely, my coffee...especially when I having difficulty keeping it together.  That was it.  I handed it to her and walked down the hallway to board my plane to the Sunshine Coast with tears streaming down my face.  

I'm looking forward to a good day...in a good zone (between a 4 and a 7)...with coffee...that I can drink...undisturbed...so I can be a normal human being again.