Roses & Thorns - Oz & Kiwi Style

Okay folks, here you go...our roses and thorns for Australia and New Zealand!

Australia

Roses:

Sydney Harbour

Manly ferry

Sydney Jewish Museum

Holding a koala (& later seeing one cross the street!)

Petting kangaroos

Fraser Island (all of it)

Sexy Siska (our Whitsunday Islands sail)

Great Barrier Reef!

Melbourne

Aussie Rules Football game

The Great Ocean Road (and the Apollo Bay Eco-Beach YHA hostel)

Uluru sunrise

Port Arthur (Tasmania)

Thorns:

Arts Factory Lodge in Byron Bay (aka the swamp)

Kayaking into the surf (aka almost drowning)

Slipping on mossy rocks at Green Island

The cost of fish & chips at Doyles on the Beach ($40!!)

Flies at Uluru

The lack of filtered coffee (and resulting expensive espresso-based coffee)

Debbie getting kissed by a gross comedian

All of the bad weather right before and/or right after we left places (e.g. flooding in Queensland & hail in Melbourne)

Bonus - Our Top Food Choices:

Our first breakfast pie (with bacon & eggs in it!) at Pie Face

Our Tasmanian feast (featuring local oysters, Roaring Forties blue cheese, camembert, Tasmanian smoked salmon, oyster stout and delicious local wine)

Pippies on Fraser Island (dug right out of the sand and cracked open on the side of our tour bus)

Tim Tams (chocolate biscuits)

Neenish Tart (not actually that amazing, but looks like a black & white with custard inside)

Kangaroo burger

Salmon avocado hand rolls (not always the tastiest, but so cool! and cheap!)

New Zealand

Roses:

Seeing a sperm whale (and over 100 dusky dolphins)!

Paragliding!

Coming in fourth to last in a pub quiz

Maori cultural show (and Mike's Haka face)

Franz Josef Glacier

Completing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing (19.4 kilometers, may I remind you!)

Arts Center market

Christchurch Art Gallery

Punting on the Avon

Thorns:

Getting SOAKED on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

On a related note, bad weather

Noisy neighbors at Worldwide Backpackers in Wellington

Bonus - Our Top Food Choices:

Green-lipped Mussels (beautiful looking & delicious!)

Fergburger (a SERIOUSLY delicious cheeseburger in Queenstown)

Scones with raspberry jam, butter, and whipped cream on the train (what they call "Devonshire Tea"...we got it with hot chocolate)

Manuka honey (tasty and apparently incredibly good for you)

Also, best beers: Mac's Hop Rocker & Speight's Old Dark