Girl Time in Sydney

Finally all of my best friends (Kim, Amber, and Catie) and I did a trip together! It only took us 3 months to make it happen, but it happened and that is what is important. Well Friday morning the four of us caught the 6am train to Sydney and arrived at Central Station around 9am. We first headed to Patty’s Market so that the girls could buy some souvenirs for friends and family. Well I just wandered around and helped them make decisions since I had already bought everything that I wanted. After Patty’s market we took a bus down to Circular Quay to take some pictures of the Opera House. Once we all had taken enough pictures we hopped on the ferry to Manly.


The ferry ride over to Manly was awesome. We had a fantastic view of the Opera House as well as the Bridge. It was also just fun looking at the beautiful bay landscape. About 25 minutes later the ferry arrived at Manly. First off I want to say that if I could live anywhere in the Sydney area I would love to live in Manly. The suburb has this awesome easy living attitude about it, gorgeous wharf, nice people, great boardwalk, and a beautiful beach. We walked around town for a little while, then headed down the boardwalk towards Manly beach. Along the way we found this really cool clothing store called Ally. I couldn’t resist the temptation of not trying on some clothes, and therefore I ended up buying a fun funky dress. From the shopping we finally made it to the beach. I have to say Manly beach is way nicer than Bondi Beach. There was a strong breeze coming in though so we didn’t lay out on the beach but instead walked to a park and swang on the swing set for a period of time! After being little girls again we headed to a restaurant called Burger Me and ate Kangaroo Burgers! Oh how I wish each of you back at home could try some kangaroo because it tastes so incredibly good! After eating the delicious food we just meandered through Manly and made our way back to the wharf. At the wharf we just goofed off for a little bit and then caught the 5:15pm ferry back to Circular Quay.


Back in Sydney we met up with one of my friends, Sanjay. I had met him and two of his other mates on a cruise two years back that I was on with my family and we had remained in pretty good contact during the past two years. Well we went back to his place to hang out for the night and catch up. It was a good time because between his roommates and my friends we had some good laughs and talked about how we love Australia. It was fun to just catch up with Sanjay that night.


On Saturday Amber did a Blue Mountain trip by herself, which left Catie, Kim and I to do whatever we wanted. Well we first headed to the shopping centre and got some food and then went to Hyde Park. At Hyde Park we laid around, took pictures, and soaked up some sun for a couple of hours. Then of course we went to Woolworths and got some apples and peanuts for an afternoon snack! To go along with a snack one needs the perfect location. This happened to be St. Mary’s Cathedral right off of George St. Here we did some eating, more talking, more picture taking, and lots of people watching. After all our laziness we decided that maybe it would be a good job to figure out what to do that night. Well after lots of contemplation and searching we decided upon going to a comedy club called The Laugh Garage. It started at 8:30 but seating was open and started at 7:30 so we had to hurry back to change after picking up Amber around 6pm. It was heaps of fun changing in 15 minutes and then going to the comedy club. We listened to 3 different comedians that night. The last one was definitely the best and overall we had a great time.


Sunday we woke up and it was pouring down rain outside. Well instead of trying to walk around the city all day long getting wet we decided to just head back to Newcastle. We ended up getting soaked anyways on our way to the train station, but it gave us some good laughs stepping through heaps of deep puddles. It rained the rest of the day even up in Newcastle, but I guess I can’t complain because it hasn’t rained that much since I have been here. I have to say I loved my weekend with the girls! We had heaps of fun taking it easy and just being able to spend some good quality time together. I reckon I am really going to miss these girls when I get back home. I can’t believe how close of friends I have become with them over just a short amount of time. It’s amazing and I reckon I will be lifelong friends with these girls!

The Enlightening Realization

Okay so here is what you have been waiting for the update on my current life! I know you enjoyed the update from what I did over break but seriously you all care so much more about what has been happening these past two and half weeks at Uni versus the fun adventures I had over holiday. Nah actually these past almost three weeks have not been that exciting, but have instead been challenging and have really shown me things about myself.




The first week back I had 3 papers due and a 40 minute group presentation. Thank goodness I had gotten one of the papers done before break, but that still left me with a lot to do in a short amount of time. The presentation came pretty easily and that didn’t stress me out too much but what really got me was my Biological Psychology lab report. They expected all of the psychology students to have taken statistics and know how to have written a lab report since this was a second year class, but since I we don’t have to do things in a particular order back at home I had no clue what was going on! I had a complete break down mid-week and felt like I was so stupid all week long. I made it through though with the help of my sisters, thank you, and turned in my paper at 10:40pm Friday night an hour and twenty minutes before it was due! That weekend I took it easy, went to the gym, and hung out with the girls the rest of the weekend.



The game plan was to work on some uni work starting Monday but that didn’t really happen. Instead Kim and I went and booked a 10 day trip to Fiji for November 17th-26th! I am so excited to spend that much time with one of my best friends! We will be spending our time in hostels during our trip but we will still be in paradise! I am heaps excited! So the rest of the week I ended up taking it easy and actually skipped lecture on Wednesday to go to the beach since it was the first nice day we have had in a long time! It was 93 degrees out that day, sunny, and the water was absolutely beautiful! My friends and I rode in lots of waves, floated around in the water, took pictures, and laid out in the sun because none of us are really that tan…. Thursday it cooled off and with it came the last of classes for the week and preparing for a weekend trip with the girls in Sydney!


The realization though that I have had over these past few weeks is this: I haven’t been true to myself back at home by filling my time with heaps of organizations. Instead I have realized that there are way more important things in life like family, friends, people, and doing the things that you love. I need to spend more time with those that I love; especially before it is too late. I want to make a difference in this world, and in order to do so I have to first focus on my faith and then spread my light to those around me.

Rotorua (10/10/09)

Our last full day of holiday we spent the morning walking around Rotorua doing some picture taking along with some souvenir shopping. Then we headed back to Auckland because we had to catch our flight in the morning back to Sydney. On the way back though we stopped in Hamilton and went to the Hamilton Gardens. Wow let me tell you the city of Hamilton spent some money putting together their gardens, because they were absolutely beautiful! In fact the gardens had exhibits of different gardens types from around the world it was kind of cool and that says something because I am not into gardens! My favourite garden exhibit was probably of the Italian one. I liked the villa feeling it had. From Hamilton we then continued farther north till we reached our hotel outside of the Auckland airport. That night after dinner we did a lot of repacking of the bags so that way they took everything that was going home and I made sure I had everything that they brought for me. Then we called it a night and headed to bed.

Back to Reality (10/11/09)

Well that morning we caught our 6:30 flight back to Sydney and then I had to say good bye to my family at the airport. I didn’t think it would be that hard to say goodbye to my family because I was really looking forward to seeing my friends again, but it was hard. Lindsay and I had become heaps closer during the trip and I love my grandparents and sister so much that it was actually hard to see them leave knowing that it would be just under 2 months till I would see them again. I made it through the goodbyes and hopped on the train for my 3 hour ride back to Newcastle and that marked the end of my 17 day amazing spring break trip!

Taupo (10/9/09)

In Taupo we went and saw the Huka Falls. The water running through these falls were going so incredibly fast and the water was so blue! It was quite a cool sight. After the falls Grandpa, Lindsay and I went to Crater of the Moon Park to see the geysers. There were heaps of geysers all over the park and it smelled like rotten eggs. Yum you just have to love that smell. Well like everyday in New Zealand it rained a little bit this day, but that did not stop us from going to the walk. I can’t believe the size of some of the craters that were in the park, it was insane how big they were! After the craters we went to the Aratiatia Dam to watch it open up and fill the valley. Heaps of water just poured out from the dam which is a good thing because I reckon if it didn’t open the water would start to spill over! That was pretty cool though seeing the dam open up.

After the dam we headed north towards Rotorua the next stop in our journey. Along the way we went to Waimangu Park. Lindsay and I decided that we would pay the entrance fee and go ahead try to hike all the way back to the lake before the park closed. That meant we had just over an hour and half to hike it all and take pictures… I don’t like such time crunches, but we managed to do it! Waimangu Park was filled with lots of craters, geysers, and heaps of nature. At one point Lindsay and I hiked up to Inferno Crater. This crater was crystal blue, just gorgeous in color, and reached the temperature of 176 degrees Fahrenheit! It was so pretty though and it was hard to imagine that it was that hot of a pool of liquid! Finally after more trekking we made it to the end, Lake Rotomahana.
If the weather had been better we could have taken a boat across the lake and hiked further, but that wasn’t such the case. Therefore Lindsay and I caught the last bus back up to the start, hopped into the car and then went to the hotel we were staying at in Rotorua.

Waitomo Caves (10/8/09)

First off I have to mention the fact that we stayed in this creepy Victorian house hotel. I felt like it was out of one of those haunted house movies… Seriously not making this up! It even had those really dark painted pictures hung around the place… although they were of New Zealand tribal place. I bet you though some haunted movie has been filmed there! Okay so besides our place of accommodation the point of going to Waitomo was so that we could see the mystical glow-worm caves. Lindsay and I had booked our excursion to do them “black-water rafting” style and Grandma and Grandpa decided that they would have rather do the walking tour when I booked the trip so that is how it stayed. Well guess what the morning’s temperature was outside… only 14 degrees Celsius! That equals only 57 degrees Fahrenheit! What makes it even better is that the water temperature was 10 degrees Celsius or only 50 degrees Fahrenheit! Definitely makes you want to have joined Lindsay and I don’t it!?!?

That’s alright though Lindsay and I were not the only crazy ones who decided to do it. There was a family of four from Australia, and Irish couple, a guy from the U.K., and 2 girls from Brisbane who joined us on our adventure. First thing we had to do was put on a two piece wet suit, booties, rubber boots, shorts to go over the wet suit, and finally a helmet to complete the outfit. Let me tell you we all looked a little ridiculous, but it was completely worth it! Next thing we did was hop into the van and go to the practice jump location since we had to jump into two waterfalls during the tour. After everyone picked out their inner tube for they wanted to use for the trip we went over to the platform and learned how to jump off the platform backwards into the water below. Well all of you, who know me, know that of course I went last because I am unsure of myself in situations like these and I didn’t want to stand out in the cold waiting for everyone else to go! After the successful practice jump we got back into the car and headed towards the actual caves.
To enter the caves we had crawl down through this little hole and stream of running water and enter the world of darkness. I didn’t honestly have a clue at first how we were supposed to get in the caves but once you were up close the hole became bigger, thank goodness! Once inside each of used the lights on our helmets to guide our way through the stalagmites. It was heaps of fun trekking through the stream of water and observing the caves. Eventually though we hit deep water and were able to float in our tubes. Then we hit the glow-worm part of the cave and everyone was asked to turn off their lights and look up. As we did so they explained to us that the glowing object we saw was actually the worm’s poop! Yeah glowing poop! I wish my poop would glow, nah just kidding! It was rather interesting though to look up and see lots of little neon green specs covering the area above us. From there we moved on through out the rest of the caves by walking, floating, jumping into a waterfall basin, and laughing until it we came to the exit of the cave. It was heaps of fun and I am so glad that I did not just walk through the caves. I reckon it was way more exciting the way Lindsay and I experienced the caves! After the cave tour we met up with Grandma and Grandpa and then hopped into the car to drive to Taupo (3 hours). Once we arrived we just walked around the town, did some souvenir shopping, ate Kebabs, and bought some lollies for them to take home.

Bay of Island Cruise (10/7/09)

Paihia is located on the Eastern side of the North Island of New Zealand and from its location is some of the most beautiful seascape I have ever seen. The four of us took a cruise through 14 different islands just off in the coast of Paihia. Even though the day was not completely clear and there was some spitting rain, the view was still fantastic! At the beginning of our tour we happened to come across of a pod of 40-60 bottle-nosed dolphins. They were so close to us that they were actually jumping up out of the water from underneath the bow of the boat! It was insane how many dolphins there was. It easily beat out the dolphin cruise I took during orientation week here at Newcastle University!



From the pod of dolphins we moved on through the heaps of different islands. Finally, we made it to the infamous island that contains the “Hole in the Rock”. It really was quite a sight, but what beat just seeing it was going through it on the boat! I honestly did not think we would squeeze through but we did! I got some really good shots from it and I can’t wait to show everyone! Unfortunately from this point we had to head back to the wharf. On the way back though we passed the sail boat that was used the show “Survivor”. It was a really pretty sail boat that I guess you can pay to stay on for a few nights; I’d be up for that! Once we got back to the wharf we hopped into the car and made the long trek to Waitomo (6 ½ hours).

Cape Reinga (10/6/09)

Lindsay and I had done some planning the previous night and had decided that if grandpa didn’t mind that we would like to drive all the way to Cap Reinga (the northern most point of New Zealand) to see the light house. Grandpa didn’t mind making the drive so off we went. Along the way though we stopped and did the Waitongi Track to the Hururu Falls. The walk was really pretty. We walked through a little bit of forest as well as went over some coastal water walkway before arriving at the falls. After that we continued up the road to Cape Reinga. Here is where I get to mention the beautiful landscape of New Zealand. The countryside is just so incredibly green, rich with colors, filled with sheep and cows, and filled with hills. It seemed that we never really went straight on any portion of their roads minus when we were in the city, but thoughts how I preferred it.






About 3 hours later and after several picture taking stops we made it to the cape. The sight was just breath taking. It reminded me of the great ocean road in Melbourne. There was a little walkway that led down to the light house so Grandpa, Lindsay and I made the hike down. It was a cute little light house. Along the way though we were stopped by two men that told us that this lookout point is never clear and that we were absolutely blessed on how clear of day we had.

The view was fantastic from this point looking into the Pacific ocean and was well worth the drive. Unfortunately, it was starting to get late so we had to head back down to Paihia to our accommodation. The drive went a little faster on the way back since I did not make us stop to take any pictures and the trip was well worth the time in the car, or so at least I thought!

Auckland (10/5/09)

Well this morning we started a little late because we didn’t get to sleep till nearly 2am the night before, but that’s alright. It was raining in Auckland that day which shouldn’t have surprised me because after all it is spring over here. We decided to go ahead walk around the city and do some exploring in the rain. Auckland is much like any other city except for one thing. They have a tower that people can bungy jump off of! However I have to say that it did not look as exciting as my bungy in Costa Rica because they stopped the person probably 15 feet after jumping off then let the person fall again… so it was a broken up fall… lame! Any who we walked around the wharf, in the city, through a park, and then stopped at a café to eat. I had some of the best French toast ever at this café; it was so delicious! Around 2pm though we found the car rental place and picked up our vehicle for the week and headed North to Paihia (Bay of Islands). We arrived at our accommodation (Pipi Patch Lodge) around 5:30pm, picked up some groceries, took some pictures, and ate some dinner before calling it a night.

New Zealand

Well it took me a long while to figure out how to post this on my blog but I reckon I figured out the best way to do it. I just want to give you some insight into our time in New Zealand. We only visited the North Island of New Zealand, which was absolutely beautiful. The country side of New Zealand is super great and filled with sheep and cattle.
Also their highway system is really different from the U.S. Their highway is made up of just two lanes and there is only a few interstates total through the country so it takes a longer to travel from point to point than in the U.S. Overall though New Zealand is a beautiful country that I recommend to everyone if they get the opportunity to travel to!

Facing big fears in Cairns

Well from reading the previous post you were able to depict that we arrived in Cairns the night before and just kind of got settled in at our backpacker’s accommodation. On Friday, October 2, 2009, I, Natalie Rene Wetterauer, faced one of my biggest fears in my life, swimming alongside of heaps of fish! Yep that’s right I faced my fears in the Great Barrier Reef. Well all four of us signed up for a Reef Magic Tour. We hopped aboard a big cruiser that took us out to their reef platform. It took about an hour to cruise out to the reef, but the view was still really pretty, because Cairns is a very mountainous city with lots of rainforest.

Once we were out on the reef we checked out what the platform had to offer: glass bottom boat, underwater tunnel, snorkelling, sundeck, and for those that wanted to scuba diving. Then Lindsay and I got our mask and fins to go snorkelling. I was heaps scared, but I had been telling myself since probably May that I was going to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef, because who doesn’t go to it and not get in?!?! So there was a ton of mental preparation beforehand, but it was not enough let me tell you!

Well I stripped down to just my swimmers, placed the mask and fins in my hands, and slowly made my way down the metal steps to the water platform. I was way too nervous to actually sit down in the water to put on my fins so instead I stood up and struggled a little bit to get all the gear on. While doing so though a little fish swam up through one of the holes in the grate platform and I screamed! The lifeguards and heaps of people were laughing at me, but I don’t care what other people think, fish are not my friends! After I calmed myself down some from the terrifying fish going after my foot, Lindsay and I got our picture taken and then had to sit in the water to take another picture. Let me tell you I was holding on to that platform for dear life! Then I had to let go into the blue water. It took me several long, long seconds before I would stick my face in the water because I just had a feeling that there would be heaps of fish. MY THINKING WAS CORRECT; THERE WERE FISH EVERYWHERE! I don’t think my breathing has ever been as hard before in my life! It was so scary, but after a little bit I got use to there being fish in the same water as me. Saying that though, I kept my distance! Lindsay and I swam out quite a good distance, passed over some coral, and then were heading in the direction of the raft again when I saw the biggest fish ever! I screamed probably the loudest anyone has ever been able to through a snorkel and I am not ashamed because seriously anyone in their right mind would have been scared of this fish as well!

We probably stayed out in the water for about 30 minutes then headed in. Then we hopped on the glass-bottom boat with my grandparents, which was pretty cool since we were able to see the deeper parts of the reef. After that we ate lunch and then Lindsay wanted to go back out and snorkel, so I figured I would give it another go. Well of course there had to be heaps of big fish this time just out a little ways from the platform and then my wonderful big friend kept swimming past so it took me about 5 minutes to let the big fish swim away before I hopped back in. This time I was holding onto the camera to take pictures so here I was trying to take a picture of this really pretty fish, but he/she started swimming for my hand, and I was heaps scared so I swam back to the platform and decided that I had did a good job facing my fears and that my heart couldn’t take any more in one day, even though I was only in the water for like at most 7 minutes! Oops! The rest of the day I caught some sun and watched the fish feeding happen. The Great Barrier Reef was amazing and I reckon I will have to try snorkeling again. (Dad we will see if I can get the courage up enough to do scuba.)














The next day, October 3, we took a tour called the Kuranda Sky Tour. We took an old train from the 1940s up into the mountains to this little town called Kuranda. The train ride took an hour and 15 minutes. We passed by one waterfall, went through 15 tunnels and 6 bridges. The views from the train were fantastic! Kuranda was this cute little town that was filled with heaps of shopping and had two different markets. Well of course we did shopping because that was about all there was to do in this town and my grandma hadn’t gotten to shop in a few days so she was up to the “challenge”. The best part of the day though was taking the Skyrail back down to the bus stop. On the Skyrail we passed over the tops of the rain forest canopy and the view was remarkable! I took heaps of pictures. After the tour we came back and walked around Cairns. Cairns has a really pretty swimming lagoon and a beautiful boardwalk around the bay. Then we went out to dinner at a restaurant on the boardwalk and got ice cream following. By this time it was dark enough for me to take some night pictures! So we walked around a little while longer and I went around snapping my lens till there was nothing left to take pictures of.

On Sunday, October 4th, we caught our morning flight to Sydney and then caught our connecting flight to Auckland and arrived around 11:50pm. Unfortunately we lost a whole day in travelling, but you have to do what you have to do.