Author Archives: Alyce

Whitewater Rafting and Kayaking

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New Zealand is basically a mecca for thrill seekers.  I’ve never been much of an adventurer.  I’m much more of an inside girl, but this trip has certainly been pushing me out of my comfort zone!

Today, we went whitewater rafting. I’ve never done it before, but Justin went a few times in Costa Rica when he was younger.  I was a little nervous because I wasn’t sure what to expect.

We got there around 9 am.  They gave us a  life jacket, water shoes, helmet, and fleece (optional).  They said that the water was warm enough that we wouldn’t need a wet suit. I kinda wish I would have worn one because we got soaked, and I was a little chilly.

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Hello New Zealand!

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Hi everyone!

Sorry for the post from a few years ago! Actually, it’s been almost 4 years since we got married! I can’t believe how fast the time has gone.  I really enjoyed reminiscing about our honeymoon. It was wonderful and the beginning of our travel adventures together.  I look so young in those pictures. I suppose that’s before school made me haggard!

Ok, well let’s get back to the present.  We made it to New Zealand a couple of days ago.  We took an Emirates flight from Sydney to Auckland.  We were in economy of an airbus A380.  It was so nice! Each seat had its own TV screen and entertainment system. I really think that Emirates has the best selection of TV shows and movies that we have seen so far.  Unfortunately, the flight was a little under 3 hours.  I didn’t get to watch everything that I wanted.  That was the twelfth flight that we have taken since we left, but we will have a little break for a while.  No flights until we go back to Australia in a couple of weeks!

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Sydney, Part 2

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After such a big meal at Quay (which we later learned is pronounced “Key”), we wanted to sleep in a little bit and have a later breakfast.  Unfotunately, the housekeeping lady was ringing the door bell before 9 am.  It was so weird.  That’s the first time we had that problem!  Well, we were awake after that and decided to head down to breakfast.

The breakfast at the Park Hyatt in Sydney was very good, but it is an extremely busy restaurant.  The views are beautiful and it seemed like it is a popular spot for brunch.  As a result, the service is somewhat slow.  Usually, we just attribute the difference in service expectations as a difference in culture.

It has been interesting to learn the different terms that Australians use for coffee.  For example, a “long black” is two shots of espresso over boiling water.  A “short black” is two shots of espresso.  A “flat white” is similar to a latte.  Usually, we just took the easy road and ordered cappucino.

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Sydney

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We got to Sydney around 4pm yesterday.  The flight was pretty quick (just under 3 hours), and we easily grabbed our bags and hopped in a taxi.  We were pretty surprised that the taxi driver wanted the address to the hotel.  I think that the Park Hyatt in Sydney is fairly well known.  He was Asian and there also seemed to be a slight language barrier (which we weren’t expecting).  Luckily, we both had SIM cards in our cell phones, and we quickly looked it up.

Justin warned me that the Park Hyatt Sydney does not do automatic suite upgrades for the diamond members.  However, they are supposed to upgrade you to the the best available non-suite room.  Most of the hotel has an incredible view of the Sydney Opera House and a balcony overlooking the harbour.  We didn’t get either of those things.  The person checking us in said that the hotel was completely booked, and they couldn’t upgrade our room.  Justin was pretty disappointed by this, as he was really looking forward to taking pictures of the Opera House from our room (I’ll let him go into more detail about it).

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Port Douglas

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I can’t belive that it’s almost time to leave Port Douglas!  We have had so much fun, but we’ve been busy!

Yesterday, we visited the Wildlife Habitat and had Breakfast with the Birds.  The Wildlife Habitat is a little different than a zoo.  You really got to enter into their environment, rather than observing the animals from an enclosed space.  There were tons of birds flying around.  I am not a big fans of birds…..bad childhood experience (those birds in City Park are aggressive!). The highlights of the Wildlife Habitat were: getting to hold the koala bear and feeding the kangaroos/ wallabies.

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Great Barrier Reef!

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Well, we made it to Australia!  Australia and New Zealand are how this whole trip got started, and I can’t wait to see what they have to offer!

We took the Qantas airbus A380 from Singapore to Sydney (a super big double decker plane). This was our second first class flight (the other one was the Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong). Of course, we wanted to get the full experience!  Go big or go home. Well, we should have gone home. The flight was only about 7 hours.  When they woke us up for landing, we were both sick as dogs! It’s hard to resist free flowing booze. We’re only human…..although neither of us felt human by the end! It must have been poisoned wine.

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The first class “flu”

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We both got it 🙁

Probably due to a combination of factors: too much fun in the lounge and in the beginning of the flight, too short of a flight (ie not enough sleep), and the fact that we had to get off the plane at 3:00 am Singapore time.

We both felt “like ass” (Justin’s words) getting off the plane and grabbed our barf bags for the first time.

Luckily, we are starting to feel human again.  Our next flight leaves in about an hour.

No pictures this post…..we are not looking too good :-/

Well, it was bound to happen eventually……

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Disclaimer: Justin told me not to post this story because it may make some people nervous (mom and Mrs. Leigh), but, in the interest of full disclosure, I’m posting it anyway!  I promise, everything turns out fine in the end!

Today was a rainy day….the FIRST rainy day that we have had since we left for our trip (miracle!). We waited around most of the day until the rain slacked up then decided to go to the Marina Bay Sands.  Marina Bay Sands is three buildings with (what looks to be) a boat on top.  We tried to take a picture of it from the taxi, but it didn’t come out great. Anyway, if you google a picture of it, you can really get an idea of what I’m talking about. There are tons of shops, restaurants, theaters, and a hotel in it. I don’t know how some of these stores have enough business to stay open! There are so so many high end stores that it is incredible!

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