Sydney Recap - iPhone Style

Still working on getting all my "real camera" photos together from our trip.  So in the meantime, here are some of my iPhone photos from our long weekend in Sydney.  Enjoy!

Our first view of the Opera House as we walked to our hotel.

 

 

There's an awesome outside bar/beer garden right near the Opera House. Amazing place for drinks with a very iconic view!

 

Met up with an old friend from Gonzaga who now lives in Sydney!

Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk

Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk

 

So many ill-placed speedos. Eek! Speedos are a poor decision 99% of the time if you ask me.

Drinks at our hotel

 

Beer tasting at Manly Beach

Again, obsessed with the panorama shots

 

Crazy how small this giant cruise ship makes the opera house look

 

New Zealand - iPhone Style

It always seems to take me much longer than I anticipate to go through photos from a trip, upload them to my computer, do the very few minor editing tricks that I know how to do, and then narrow down which ones to include in a blog post.  My goal is to get photos and blog posts up by the end of this week (fingers crossed!).  But, in the mean time, I thought I'd do a little recap preview with iPhone photos, since that's a much simpler process.  If you follow me on Instagram (which you should!), you've probably seen some of these photos already.  So without further ado, I present to you- New Zealand via iPhone photos!

Randomly found this advertisement our first day in NZ. Since there were 5 of us Phoenix, AZ natives traveling together, it fit perfectly!

 

Waiheke Island Photos:

We happened to ride over on the ferry with these flowers that were for the wedding we were attending.

Oneroa Beach

View from the wedding reception.

Waiheke Winery Tour

 

Queenstown Photos:

 

Approaching Queenstown

Sunrise

Gondola up the mountain, luge down!

View from the top of the gondola (I was really into the panorama shots apparently)

 

The famous Fergburger!

Yummy NZ Beer and a play on their favorite phrase "Sweet As"

Bungy Prep- eek!

This was the awesome bus we took to Milford Sound

Our Belgian friend that we met on the Milford overnight cruise

"Sweet As" - a common NZ (and Australian) phrase

A Belated Birthday Recap

I'm back! I have returned from my amazing New Zealand and Sydney travels, and am just now starting to sort through the hundreds of photos I have.  In the meantime I thought I'd do a quick birthday weekend recap, since my birthday was just a few days before I left and I didn't get a chance to recap. 

My birthday was Friday, March 15.  I was scheduled to work that day, which was fine by me since otherwise I would have mostly spent the day at home alone.  Each Friday, the school has a mini assembly (they call them "parades" here) first thing in the morning.  Each class takes turn being in charge of the parade, showing classroom projects, etc., and then at the end of each parade, they celebrate any birthday for the week.  Lucky for me, no one knew it was my birthday that day.  Or so I thought.  After they called up the few students/teachers that had birthdays that week, I thought I was safe... until a few of the students started shouting, "It's Miss Megan's birthday, too!!"  I had completely forgotten but a couple months earlier, one of the kiddos (with an amazing memory apparently) had asked me when my birthday was, and REMEMBERED all that time later.  I usually hate being sung to in front of a crowd, but it was actually kind of fun.  They sing the same happy birthday song as we do, but since the school I've been working at is a school for students with special needs, they also sign the song which was really neat.  Oh, and after the birthday song is over, Aussies say "Hip hip, HOORAY! Hip hip HOORAY! Hip hip HOORAY!"  It's pretty cute!  So anyway, it ended up being a fun day at work. 

Since David has to work every Saturday, that Friday night was just your typical "weeknight" for us.  I did some packing and getting ready for my trip and watched American Idol of course (it plays on Thursdays and Fridays here). 

On Saturday (which was my actual birthday in the US), I met my friend Kim and her sweet baby Cooper for coffee, then I headed back home to talk to some friends and family on the phone.  That night, David took me out to dinner at one of Gladstone's few fine dining establishments (and even then, the term is used loosely).  It actually turned out to be quite nice.  It was a beautiful night, and we sat outside on the deck.  We shared a bottle of wine (Australian Shiraz, of course), and David somehow convinced me to try kangaroo finally- in the form of Kangaroo Spring Rolls.  Kangaroo is not something I ever thought I would eat- in fact, before moving here I didn't know that ANYONE actually ate kangaroo meat.  But hey, when in Australia, right?  I didn't hate it.  But I didn't love it.  It was kind of gamey- which I had heard might be the case.  Definitely not going to make it a part of my diet, but I guess I am glad I can say I tried it. 

All in all, it was a great FIRST Australian birthday and LAST birthday in my 20's.  I have a feeling though that it might just be the first of many times that I will turn 29 :-) 

*Excuse the awful photos.  The restaurant had some crazy blue overhead lighting that made everything look odd. 

 

Kangaroo Spring Rolls!





 

My hair looks crazy long here...

My handsome birthday date!

Glimpses of N Zed

I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus, because I am currently traveling in New Zealand! I've been here a little over a week now, and have already entertained thoughts of never returning. :) But I suppose my husband wouldn't like that. So I guess I'll at least have to go back and retrieve him. New Zealand is just so beautiful! It is difficult to capture in photos but here are a few glimpses. I can't wait to get home and sort through all my photos and write about my experiences here.