7.28.2002
an email i wrote to a future visitor to down under
> contiki travel does trips that are all organized and stuff for people aged
> 18-35 and I hear that they do a great job. i don't know if she's young
> enough, but i hear they are a load of fun. in fact, we should do one
> sometime!! :)
>
> Places I went and things that were helpful:
> Cairns, Australia: Ocean Spirit Cruises took us out to
> the Great Barrier Reef and we went scuba diving with them, which cost extra
> money. THere are A LOT of outfits that do this, but this was the one we
> used. When we went up into the rainforest, we used TropicWings Luxury Coach Tours.
> There are, again, a lot of companies, and it seems a popular way to
> travel. we also rode the skyrail rainforest cableway
> outside of cairns and it was beautifuL!
>
> Sydney, Australia: Magistic Cruises took us on a harbour cruise. It was
> nice, but again, a lot of outfits do that. We didn't really have a tour
> guide. If she enjoys doing sort of scary things, climbing the sydney harbour bridge
> is AWESOME if somewhat touristy and expensive
>
> Other places in Australia I wish I saw: the Outback and Ayers Rock. Perth,
> Melbourne, the Gold Coast are all major destinatoins as well. Also, going
> north from Cairns, I hear it's beautiful up there.
>
> NEW ZEALAND!!! My fave. :) Places in NZ I wish I saw: Christchurch. We
> only flew threw there.
>
> Queenstown, NZ: I LOVE THIS PLACE! She HAS to take a light plane flight
> to/from Milford Sound with air fiordland and
> request mitch and tell him i said hi. Ok, just kidding -- sorta. :) But
> really, the seven hour drive from QUeenstown to the Sound had amazing
> scenery, if one is into that kind of stuff. Our company was Pan Pacific, I
> think but there are a lot, including fiordland travel.
> A quick search on queenstown, new zealand produces a lot of
> different websites dedicated to tourism there. that's pretty much the
> primary industry, maybe next to skiing. There are a lot of extreme sports
> in queenstown, the birthplace of bungee jumping. and the next (!!) time I
> go, I'm going to hike the Milford Track, which is one of the best hikes in
> the world, I hear. But it's not a day hike, so I don't know what she wants.
>
> Rotorua, NZ: This place was interesting, if stinky! it smells like sulfur
> because of volcanic activity. this is one of the centers of maori culture
> in the country and while I'm usually sceptical when it comes to exploiting
> (if it can be called that) native cultures, the performance and Hangi (a way
> of cooking) dinner at the Novotel in Rotorua were really great. There are
> some interesting sites, such as the bubbling mud stuff and the farm show,
> but I was off skydiving so who knows!
>
> the drive from Rotorua to Auckland was kind of cool. We stopped at the
> waitomo glow caves, which were pretty cool, and can
> be done as a day trip from rotorua.
>
> Auckland, NZ: i don't really have much to say about this place. I mean,
> it's the major city in NZ so it's not that hard to find stuff about it (or
> any of the destinations for that matter, since tourism is such a huge part
> of NZ industry) but I didn't really like this place and think that time
> should be spent in other parts of the country b/c auckland is most like
> america, thus not as interesting to me. The museum was pretty cool, though.
> Again, I think pan pacific drove us from rotorua to queenstown but i'm not
> really sure.
>
> this was all i could come up with off the top of my head and some paperwork.
> i'm willing to answer any questions and help with anything, but the
> internet has A LOT of resources too.
23:14
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bubbly and lovely: i'm too poor for therapy.
