"The Time You Enjoy Wasting is not Wasted Time"

Surfer's Paradise

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Tue, 01 May 2007 00:31:00 +0000

After all the sightseeing and culture that we have immersed ourselves in, we decided it might be nice to just have a few beach days (I know, tough life, right?) After some mild convincing, Stevie G joined us for 5 days in Surfer's Paradise, a little slice of gorgeous beaches in Queensland.

Throughout the four months we've been gone, we've stayed in accommodations that have truly run the gamut - lets just say that the Q1 tower in Surfer's paradise was among the best - EVER. Here are a few shots of and from our apartment:

Before we arrived on Sunday, April 22nd, I gave our new friends Matt & Sarah a call, who happened to be in Surfer's Paradise at the time. Sarah mentioned something about going to hold a Koala the next day, and after I stopped shrieking, I calmly asked if I could join them. Here is my new friend George!

Here's another picture of the animal sanctuary we were visiting:

And of a little party we threw in our apartment:

And some of my favorites from the rest of our time there:

Sailing the Whitsundays

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 01:37:00 +0000

On the advice of others we talked to, the Whitsunday coast of Australia's Queensland state was a must see as well. So we decided to jump on a boat and take a 3 day cruise that would include sailing, diving, and seeing one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Whitehaven beach.

Here is our cute little catamaran - the Pacific Star - which we called home from April 18 - 21. (Cute is read - nice sundeck, not so nice accommodations)!

Not so great accommodations aside, we made the best of it- we met some amazing people, and saw some of the most amazing things we were yet to have seen.

This is a pic of the four of us traveling together our first morning waking up on the boat - yes, that is indeed Stevie G seated next to me, of our wonderful new friends Stephen and Erin - residents of Melbourne, but world travellers. We were lucky in that Stephen had not seen the Whitsundays yet and decided to jump on board with us!

First stop on April 19 - Whitehaven Beach. This was literally the most beautiful beach I have EVER seen. White sands, cross currents, the ability to walk out on a sand bank (that you needed to cross knee length water to get to) - it was like no other beach I have ever seen.

Later that day, Stephen, Jay and I took a intro diving lesson and went Scuba diving for the first time - not at the great barrier reef, at a beach on Whitsunday Island, but an awesome experience!

The next day we headed towards the Great Barrier Reef - this was an extremely special day for me because when Sunil passed a year ago I made a promise to dive the Great Barrier Reef, as we had promised we'd do together. I got even more comfort in the fact that the boys were celebrating Josh's birthday back at home the same day I was set to dive the Reef.

We woke up that morning - to find that the rocky travels we had been through all night did indeed get us to the Reef, and that there was no land anywhere in sight. This is a shot of the color of the water near the Great Barrier Reef:

And here we are getting suited up for our 2nd dive at the Reef!

I wish I could say my dive story had a happy ending, but it didn't. Unfortunately, we made the fatal error of thinking that the training dive that the boat cruise would provide us would be enough to be comfortable to dive both days - but for me the 2nd day, unfortunately the day we were at the reef, it was not. Although I made it underwater and waited for our instructor to get all the trainees underwater and ready to head over to the reef, I began to panic, and thanks to very little review and instruction from the dive instructors, I had a pretty scary experience.

I returned to the boat to find El waiting for me, and he assured me that despite my promise to Sunil he wouldn't have wanted me to hurt myself - and that we would come back some day after I had been properly trained. Any wonder I love this man?

So, I got to the reef, I did dive, but not a great combo of those two things. Next time Sunil - with better preparation I promise. Doh!

Here's a few more pics of our sailing trip - chatting with our new friends, and sleeping up on the deck!

Ayers Rock - Uluru

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:57:00 +0000

After some debate, while still in Melbourne about two months ago, we decided we would go to see Ayers Rock, or Uluru - its Aboriginal name.

Before coming to Australia, I was unaware of its existence, and upon learning that it was basically a rock in the middle of the 100+ degree Australian outback, I really pushed back on why on earth we'd want to go. Yet, after talking to people around Melbourne, especially Elliot's cousin Tony, we were constantly told that we just had to see it.

As some backround, the Australian outback is like no other desert you could imagine - it is just endless miles of NOTHING - seriously, nothing. The main issue with Australia, and why the majority of the country is built up around the coast is that the center of the country is utterly unliveable - there are no rivers that run throughout the country - at least none that are in constant stream, or any that could sustain a city around it - so a country the size of the United States has only 22 million people and they all live around the coast.

Uluru - or Ayer's Rock - is literally a monolith - this massive rock in the middle of this massive country and is about the only thing you can see for miles - it comes out of nowhere, and hits you over the head when you see it. Unexplainable, but whatever people were trying to convey to us, they were dead on. I can't explain why, but it was a must see - this is a sacred site for the Aboriginals, and while we were allowed to climb it, we were urged every which way not to. The Aboriginal people liken us climbing on Uluru to going to Notre Dame and climbing on the Alter. We decided we'd respect their wishes!

This picture was taken the first night we got to Uluru, when we went to watch the sunset wash over the rock and make it change from this orangey red you see below to a near grey/black.

The next day we walked the Valley of the Winds through the Olga's (Aboriginal Name Kata Tjuta) - another amazing rock formation nearby. Again we were urged not to walk on the domes themselves but were allowed to walk on the paths in between them. I'm tempted to say that the Olga's were more impressive to me than Ayer's Rock, but I'm not 100% sure.

These were taken on our hike through the Olgas, or the Valley of the Winds Walk:

Finally, we went back at 6am on our last day at Ayers Rock to watch the sun rise over Uluru.

Auckland

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 10:02:00 +0000

Ok, I lied. There was more we hadn't done.

After we climbed the glaciers, and being faced with the last two weeks of our program being stuck in Christchurch - don't get me wrong, New Zealand was GORGEOUS - and we definitely made the best of living in a city such as this, but Christchurch was geared only towards the tourists that pass through the town and not towards residents, which we were for eight weeks - but again, I digress - we decided to hop on a plane to Auckland!

Auckland is touted as 'little Sydney' - which I can understand, though to me, there is no comparison. That being said, Auckland was much more a real city of the sort that we New Yorkers are used to - and we LOVED it!

We spent most of the time enjoying what the city had to offer - which included a wine and cheese festival on one of our last days - and enjoyed great meals and the great company we were traveling with.

Below is the sky tower - of which we watched people base jump off of - and of which we walked past on a few occasions to go place a few roulette bets at the casino!

We spent a great deal of time on Ponsonby street in Auckland as well - in particular this one place Chapel, shopping and dining, and heading back for a very New York City - ish nightlife scene (and great mojitos)!

Oh, and if scaling ridiculously high mountains and glaciers was not enough, we decided we'd climb a dormant volcano - this is me and El at the top.

And if you haven't all noticed a new face among my pics, here is El, myself and Margie - my new girl and southern belle - who will be showing Elliot and I what Alabama living is like when we visit her in a few months! This was taken at the wine and cheese festival in Viaduct Harbor.

Glacier Walking

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:59:00 +0000

As if we hadn't seen enough of extremes - beautiful beaches, beautiful mountain ranges, why not add beautiful Glaciers to the list?

Jay, Margie, El and I jumped in the car (this time with the girls doing all the driving!) and headed across to Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers. We stayed near Fox Glacier the first night, but decided to climb Franz Joseph the next day.

This is a picture of Franz Joseph before we got close to it and climbed up, look strange to anyone?

Turns out that Franz Joseph Glacier is (together with Fox Glacier) very unique. It is one of 3 or 4 in the world that are just 240 meters above sea level, and descend into temperate rain forests. I know for myself, when looking at the Glacier from afar, my mind was saying that this is not what a Glacier was supposed to look like - nor was it supposed to be thriving in such a warm climate! (see my clothes below don't seem to match the glacier behind me!

Well don't let the last pic fool you, when we got closer to the glacier our guides got us properly suited up, including rain jackets and these metal additions to the bottom of our boots that allowed us to walk on the ice without falling over (something we all know I'm prone to do)!! This is me inside one of the 3 or so tunnels of ice we walked through:

And this is what the view looked like of the glacier when we got near the top!

I think after this point, it would be hard to argue that we really have seen and done it all during the course of these 4 months!

Edoras!

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:59:00 +0000

Are there any Lord of the Rings fans out there?

Well Margie, Jay, El and myself are pretty nuts about the films - and as many of you may or may not know, the movies were filmed in New Zealand, in the gorgeous scenery that is just a natural occurrence here.

On March 15, the 4 of us jumped into a 4x4 and headed in search of Edoras, where the village of Rohan was placed for the film. Here is a picture from the film:

And, here is a picture of what we found!!!

We learned that for the movie the set was NOT superimposed on this hill, it was actually built on to it, and in the process the production company put GPS trackers on all of the plant life, moved it away, and were required to return it exactly as it was before the movie!

Geeks, yes, but we love it.

Hamner Springs & Marlborough Wine Valley

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:58:00 +0000

We were lucky enough to get Erin & Stephen for 2 weekends, and on the second we turned the car north, and headed to Hanmer Springs the Marlborough Wine Valley.

On Friday we spent the afternoon at Hanmer - a set of natural springs, just lounging by the sulphur (read - smelly) pools, and watching our boys enjoy themselves plummeting down water slides!

We continued on to Picton that night, and the next morning did what we now are calling 'Extreme Biking!' We rented 8 bikes, and rode from winery to winery with our helmets and chain-falling-off-bikes! It was an interesting ride, to say the least!

Probably the highlight of the day for me was the time we spent at Forrest Estate - we had a private tasting, where someone brought the wine out to our table, and then we enjoyed some badminton and bike riding on the grounds of the winery.

Finally, we took the TransScenic train south from Picton back to Christchurch - this was a 6 hour train ride that took us along the most beautiful coastal highway, and when we finally returned to Christchurch, we had to say our goodbyes to Erin & Stephen . . . but not for long! :)

Queenstown & Milford Sound

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:56:00 +0000

On March 1, shortly after arriving in New Zealand, we were lucky enough to have our good friends Erin and Stephen join us in Christchurch. First order of business, out of the city!

We piled 8 of us into a soccer mom caravan - El, Jay, Jen, Josh, Erin, Stephen, Margie and myself, and headed off to Queenstown, the 'adventure capital of the world.' As my previous skydiving post indicates, we took the term literally, and 5 of us threw ourselves out of a plane (of course, after strategically forgetting to mention to my mom what exactly we planned on doing in Queenstown!)

But besides the skydiving, we also took in what Queenstown had to offer. Picture a quaint little town on the water, with towering peaks everywhere the eye could see. It was breathtaking.

This is the view from our room in Queenstown:

And from our ride out to Glenorchy - El walking on water :)

Stephen and Erin in Glenorchy!

Me and Margie:

One of my favorite pics from the drive:

Margie, Josh, Myself & Stephen out at Frasers!

We also drove a few more kilometers south (by few I mean many) to Te Anau and to Fiordland National Park to see New Zealand's fiords in Milford Sound! Despite the deceiving name, Milford Sound is not a sound at all, but a fiord (a body of water that has been glacially formed).

We went to see Milford Sound on a day cruise - and had some friends join us along the way:

Many laughs, and many hours of driving later, we also made a stop at Lake Pukaki - where we got these stunning views of Mount Cook - this was literally the color of the water! Amazing!!!

My sister the Author

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 01:47:00 +0000

Please take a look at my sister's blog today. She has taken the final step, and is now a a signed author - now off to write the book! :)

Wohoooo - yes i'm selfishly plugging my sister, and I don't care!

www.penbitten.com

Juris Doctor

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 06:07:00 +0000

So, it is April 14, 2007, and pending our final grades from the exams we just took, you may now call me Juris Doctor, Doctor of Law, Doctor of Jurisprudence . . . take your pick!

It's been a long journey, but 3 years have passed, and law school is done. I never thought I'd see the day. It was hard work, but the rewards (including meeting my soon to be husband!) are, and will be plentiful.

Please look forward over the next few weeks to much more frequent updates, including some makeup for the posts I've missed . . . and also, please look forward to a phone call some time in early May!

March 17 is for Remembering Sunil

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 00:05:00 +0000

Today is March 17 here. In NY, in the pertinent place I guess, it is still March 16. It is still Drew's birthday. It is still the day before our lives changed forever. But in New Zealand, it's St. Patrick's day.

People are traipsing around the streets already - 12:30 in the afternoon, and I sit here in bed trying to reconcile what to do with this day.

The confusion of these dates is getting the better of me. Am I supposed to be sad now? Tomorrow? March 17 as a universal reminder sucks to be quite honest. Happy people everywhere, big MARCH 17 strewn across banners everywhere, and all I want to do is cry.

Thinking about which day (my March 17 or yours) to 'mourn' has me wondering whether mourning is the right way to handle this. I can't help but let this date bring back memories of that late night phone call, of uncontrollable tears, of the worst week of my life to date.

But earmarking it to this day in the confusion of it still being March 16 at home makes me think that maybe picking a date to be 'sad' isn't the right approach. . . Annie & Karen must be under the same confusion as I today.

I guess all I can do is use these next days, be it one or two, to try not to be sad - to try to forget the horrors of that night, that week, and try to just use it as a remembrance. Maybe I can get the March 17 signs everywhere that will forever connect to Sunil to be a way that I have him close to me as this day approaches.

It is just his style to have left this earth on a day where so many people are out there celebrating life. Maybe he wanted it to be really really difficult for us to be sad this day.

Well Sunil, I hope I can eventually smile on this date. For now it is just too painful. But I will try.

My start is to say that for me, as I begin my New Zealand March 17, I will sit and remember our moments in the courtyard, your Sunil hugs, our endless phone conversations, that voice that was the one I went to with things I couldn't talk to anyone else about - the brother I had never had. I'll try to honor the lives we talked about leading - and remember those things this day.

Oh. And it figures. We've had 40 degree weather with high winds and rain the last week. BUT today in Christchurch New Zealand - its 86 and sunny. Yes babe, I know you are here!

Taking Flight

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 09:54:00 +0000

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for (drumroll please)

THIS is how I spent March 3, 2007:

Yes, that's me, up above the clouds! I always said I wanted to do it, but I'll be honest, I never knew if I'd lose my nerve. Jay, Margie, Josh, Jen and myself put fear aside, and went skydiving with NZSkyDive in Glenorchy!

The day started out a little scary, as we originally were booked with another company, and were told when we arrived that due to rain, from the previous day, Queenstown air control would not let them go up, and we couldn't dive. You can imagine how we felt at this point, when we had spent a full morning psyching ourselves up - including Josh's blasting musical countdown which included Eye of the Tiger, and The Final Countdown.

In what was somewhat of a blur, we re-booked with another company, found out that the new company had much more scenic vantage points, were bussed out to Glenorchy, and were putting our jumpsuits and gear on.

The next thing I recall is being on this tiny little plane, heading high above the clouds - without question presenting some of the most amazing views we've seen so far. The plane contained 10 people - myself, Margie, and Jay, each of our Tandem Masters, each of our Cameramen, and the pilot. We embarked the plane un-strapped to our Tandem Masters which, of course, left a few wondering questions in my mind, but I decided to let faith (and the fact that my Tandem Master had completed 14,000 jumps) take over.

I watched the dial on my instructor's altimeter go from 0 - 12,000 feet (we jumped from 12,000, pulling the parachute at 5,000). At about 11,500 I started taking some very deep inhales and exhales, but I knew there was no turning back. I was first jump of the 3 of us. I thought that was somewhat of a disadvantage, until I heard Jay and Margie explain what the feeling was like when they looked over, and I was just GONE. I digress.

At 12,000 feet, the door was opened, and my heart began racing wildly. The cameraman jumped first, and I was swung around to the door of the plane to find him holding on to the wing, staring at me with the camera. Next thing I recall is this terrifying 5 seconds of free fall, and then the equalizing shoot pulled (the little white one), and in that 5 seconds I had acclimated to myself to the environment and spent the remaining 40 seconds and 7,000 feet of free fall screaming and pumping my fists and yelling HI MOM into the camera!!!!

At 5,000 feet the real parachute was pulled, and at that point, when my Tandem Master instructed me to look up and watch Margie - it was amazing - these 3 bodies floating through air - and I'm thinking I JUST DID THAT!

It took about another 5 minutes to get to the ground, which was scenic, and overwhelming - the adrenaline was unbearable - to the point where once we had landed and I was unclipped, I ran and tackled Margie (much to the pleasure of the cameramen and tandem masters lolol).

The final result - I appreciate the ground, but will never forget the feeling of being up in the skies.

Enjoy the video -

Here's the full set of pics.

Take me to the Water . . .

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 06:35:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my last post, this was my first week at 30, and it just so happened to be my most adventurous!

I'll start with the first leg of my adventure - on February 26, we went white water rafting! My first time! We happened upon a perfect day, headed out to the Rangitata River, and with our fearless leader, Ben, made our way from Level 1 through Level 5 rapids!!!!!!!

This day was our first out of Christchurch City proper, and it was much needed - we were beginning to miss Australia terribly - but just when the chips are down, New Zealand decided to show us what it was made of. First of all, the Rangitata river was crystal clear (it was drinkable, can you believe that!) and a color blue of which I've never seen before. It was glacially fed - so cold is a bit of an understatement - let's use the word refreshing - but temperature was soon forgotten as we made our way down the river. LOOK at the scenery - can we say Lord of the Rings anyone?!?!

Perhaps the highlight of the trip for me was this little moment here [follow the progression, noting the second red hat from the back of the raft on the right hand side]

Yes, that's Elliot (red hat) falling out - only the highlight because I love him and can laugh with him! (and if you really look you can see me laughing with him from across the raft, I'm in the green hat!)

Here is the full photo set so you can see all of our antics!

Turning 30!

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 02:41:00 +0000

Thanks to time zone changes, I got to stretch my transferring of decades over 42 hours, as opposed to 24! At 12 midnight here in New Zealand - all the way until 6pm on the 25th, when February 24th finally ended in New York.

Anyway, the milestone has come and gone, and nothing has really changed except a little ol prefix - I will not let the forced recollection of changing decades change the amazing way I feel, and create aging before my time!

As would be expected, Elliot made sure to make the day special for me - we started out the NZ 24th with a wonderful brunch on the Avon River that runs through Christchurch, and moved on to some strolling around, light shopping, but mostly relaxation and resting up for the coming evening. We then went to an amazing dinner at the Lobster Club - a beautiful, upscale restaurant on Lichfield Street - where we shared a colossal seafood platter for two!

We then moved on to Liquidity - a very New York City-ish bar where we met up with our friends that we have been traveling with. Thanks to my sweetie, it felt much like I was at home with my friends and family the way I normally spend my birthday (though he said he had offered to fly most of you out here, but you declined, what gives!?!?!).

I'd be lying if I said there wasn't something missing - well I guess a few things are missing this year - my location blocking my closest family and friends (aside from Elliot of course), and my birthday wishes from Sunil. That being said, El did you all very proud - it was a happy birthday indeed.

I'm adding a few pictures here of my 30th Birthday Celebration - and my next post will show you how I spent my first week as a 30 year old - if I must say myself, I'm off to a good start. ;)

Tasmania: Who are You, and What Have you Done with the Real Stephanie?

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 08:58:00 +0000

For our last weekend in Australia, we decided to try out something very new for us – or at least for me – and spend 4 days in a camper van /RV in Tasmania. Tasmania, as I have previously noted, is the ‘small’ island state of Australia that, while once attached to the mainland, has separated off and is now separated from it by the Tasman Sea. It is a nature-lovers haven – some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen so far – and unfortunately it is also a road kill haven – as much wildlife roams free in Tassie.

Here are a few pictures of our home for the weekend:

For some reason I neglected to take a picture of the bathroom – you guys would have gotten a kick out of it. We arrived on a Thursday evening, and Jay skillfully drove us through a windy and dark road to get us to the base of Cradle Mountain – where we spent the night in a parking lot as all of the campsites were closed by the time we got there! Scared – me? Not at all (*wink wink*).

The next day, alive and well, we headed to the base of Cradle Mountain, surveyed a few different paths, and decided to use Marion’s lookout point as our pathway to the base of Cradle Mountain. We completed a small, not so difficult hike up to Marion’s look out – and looked ahead to what we were contemplating climbing a little later on.

The weather was cloudy – and we couldn’t even see the top of the Cradle (the mountain is named for the cradle created by its twin peaks) – which may explain that we set off with the thought to head all the way to the top.

After a brief break, we moved forth to Cradle Mountain – and when the clouds that first covered the top of its peaks broke, we realized just what a feat this would be.

I had thought that the Grampians Mountain – Hollow Mountain - climb we had completed a few weeks earlier was very tough – granted, it had been my first climb, but I was quite impressed with myself after that was done! Well this Cradle Mountain dwarfed Hollow Mountain in every respect – size, difficulty, temporal ranges, it was amazing but quite scary at many different points. Needless to say, we did it – we got all the way to the top – round trip a 5 hour hike – with a few scary moments but mostly many moments and feelings of achievement. Take a look below.

And Finally - the final pic of what we had climbed!

At the end of the hike we were aching for Tessie, so when we got to the bottom of the Mountain, instead of heading back via Marion's lookout (too tough to scale again, we were tired . . .), we opted for the Face Path. Why none of us realized this may have meant scaling the FACE OF THE MOUNTAIN, I have no idea. Mind you, we skipped the "Overland" track as a return for the Face track - which would you choose?!?!

Needless to say, after 5 hours, we tagged on another 3 to get back to the carpark via the Face Path - which was pretty intense. We may have thought it easy had we not just hiked to the top of Cradle, but after 6, 7 hours, trust me your equilibrium and just about everything else plays tricks on you.

Click here to see the entire set of photos from the day - I wish I could say there were some pics of the Face Track (there are a few of Ballroom Forest at the end, which was part of Face Track) but we were in no spirits to be photographers at that point!

The next day we headed to Maria (pronounced Mariah) Island. We took a ferry and stayed for a few hours – unfortunately too short – for all the beautiful sights the island had to offer. The entirety of the island is now a national park - thought it was, at one point, a penal colony, in the early part of the 1800's, and later, when people began to recognize its beauty, was known for its silk and wine production, as well as a holiday destination. I'll let the photos speak for themselves - the national park status that it holds today might best (in my opinion) suit the beautiful place.

After returning from Maria Island to our new home, Tessie, we decided that we would drive that night to a camp site near Freycinet Peninsula, which we planned on exploring the next day. What was a simple decision ended up providing us with one of the nicest moments of the weekend – when we walked to the beach, with some wine and some fresh, local fish in hand, and watched the sun set (here are all the pics from that dinner).

After spending the night at Coles Bay, we moved on to Wineglass Bay, on Freycinet Peninsula, and the reason we had spent the night in Coles Bay. It is named for, you guessed it, the shape of the bay - and is regarded as one of the world's ten best beaches by some travel authorities. Before we began our travel to the beach, we were greeted by our new friend - we say he's a Kangaroo, but hell, he may be a Wallaby, but he was quite cute nonetheless!

After descending a seriously steep path down to the beach itself, the 4 of us, exhausted from our weekend's adventures sat for about an hour, and hiked back up the now treacherously steep path. It may have just been our weariness speaking, but I think we were a tad disappointed with this world-reknowned beach, and wished we had spent more time on Maria Island, but C'est La Vie. (Here's the full photoset of Freycinet Peninsula and Wineglass Bay)

More VERY soon - big birthday to share with you guys!

Valentines Day . . .

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:46:00 +0000

So, for most of you its still February 13, while for me it has passed midnight and is officially Valentines day. This post really has nothing to do with valentines day - but the date is my marker nonetheless.

We just got home from Tony's house. If you haven't read about Tony, take a look at Elliot's blog - Tony is El's cousin, his first cousin! We are halfway across the globe, sitting down to a gourmet meal cooked by Elliot's cousin - and it just put me in a contemplative mood, got me to thinking about what is really important.

1 year ago today (Valentines day) I was being picked up late at school by my brand new sweetie at the time - our relationship slightly more than 2 months new - heading to his house for a gourmet meal cooked by him!

When I think back to what life has brought me - my brain gets lost in the frenzy... the last 12 months have been sprinkled with some amazing ups, and some awful downs. I guess only one awful down, in the loss of Sunil Varghese - probably one of the biggest heartbreaks of my life. Correction. The biggest heartbreak of my life to date.

I am tied to this time last year because it is my last memories of Sunil's friendship mixed with the beginning of my life with Elliot. About this time last year Sunil and I sat on the phone for at least an hour - in what would be our last conversation - catching up - dreaming about scuba diving in Australia - telling each other of new people in our lives. And then he was gone.

Life has a funny way of making you realize what is important. Since that horrible day in March, Sunil brought me to some amazing new friends (and reunited me with some old friends) - and I've slowly watched so many of us who were close with him have major things fall into place. Coincidence? I think not.

For me, the last year has brought a new love, a life long love, both he and the love he provides changing my very being. We pledged our future together, and then we got on a plane to experience the adventure of our lifetimes - 5 months in a far away land, learning more about the world, culture, and ourselves than I thought was feasible. Last weekend we stood, arm in arm, on top of Cradle Mountain, in Tasmania, which stands 1 full mile above sea level, after scaling the rocky and scary path. We sat up there, and I couldn't help but think about the past year and how thankful I am.

Over nearly the last year now, I also began to think about how I was spending my time, and started spending less on stressing and over studying, and more with the people who matter to me. My sister and I have never been closer, and the pride and happiness that my parents have in their eyes when they look at Melissa and I (and Elliot & I for that matter) has never meant so much to me.

Now, on the road ahead, I can't help but smile - a smile that I didn't know I would have again when Sunil left us. With graduation, 2 of my best friends' weddings, the bar exam, a new home, a wedding of our own - and with amazing family and friends to share it with, I can't help but wish to always feel as happy as I do today. Yet I know, thanks to the lesson so many of us learned last March, that even when life gets extremely low, it won't stay there very long.

In Non-Australia Related News:

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 11:38:00 +0000

Please help me welcome my new baby cousin! (Loving parents Marisa & Orazio)

Vince Arrabito, 6 lbs 15 oz, 20 inches. Born January 24, 2007.

The name Vince was chosen to honor my Uncle Enzo (Vincenzo), Marisa's dad!

I can't wait to meet you Vince!!!!!!

Sydney/Bondi Beach

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:50:00 +0000

Last weekend we jumped on a plane and headed to Sydney - best known, of course, for the Sydney Opera House. Little did I know as we approached that on Saturday morning, I would conquer one of the biggest goals I had for this trip - to hold a Koala!!!!!!!!! (OK...maybe I didn't hold her, but we got awfully close!)

We arrived in Bondi Beach on Friday, and enjoyed the scenic and trendy beach town. While we opted to stay in Bondi, we ended up spending a lot of time in the city proper (not far from Bondi at all) - and I must say, I am in love! Sydney is a place that I could get used to.... picture Manhattan, but much cleaner, much more picturesque - and on the water.

We took a ferry from Circular Quay (pronounced 'key') to the Taronga Zoo - this is where we got some of the most amazing pictures of the Sydney Opera House, and the Harbour Bridge. At the zoo itself, the backdrop of Darling Harbor and the city made for some interesting vistas (such as the one pictured here of the Giraffes).

We rounded out the weekend with some time at The Rocks, a big outdoor market with homemade crafts and local foods, and spent some time in Darling Harbor - an area of town that sealed the deal for me - I LOVE Sydney. We plan on ending our trip there in May.

The highlight of the entire weekend for me was, by far, my new friend Carla. Koalas have always intrigued me, and when I realized that I was able to get up close to the Koalas, I was like a little girl! Jumping around, yelping, the whole lot. When you take a look at the pictures - you will see that my antics were not in vain:

Though we couldn't get as close to her, Florence was nearby too - Florence had a joey (baby) in her pouch that was the size of a jelly bean!

Here's the full set of pics from the weekend - my usual warning - many many pics! :)

The Great Ocean Road

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 04:34:00 +0000

SO ... to continue with the tale of our ambitious weekend, on Sunday January 14 we travelled the Great Ocean Road. We began our journey in Port Campbell, spending an entire day driving through the man-made highway that traverses what is known as the "Shipwreck Coast." It's called this for good reason - it is dreadfully curvy on the road, and even nuttier off the the road and on the sandy coast itself.

It was so breathtaking, the beauty of the open ocean on your right (as it were in the direction we were driving), and on the left, looking at wide open expanses or lush greenery. It was one of the most memorable days of my life.

First stop was London Bridge - this is a famous rock formation that formerly resembled a bridge - but in 1990 the arch that connected the two rocks 'fell down' - ironic, yes, I know. Here's a picture before takin 1959 (obviously not taken by me) and one after (can't remember if El or I took this one.

After hitting a few smaller sites, we headed to the 12 Apostles. For those of you who don't know the story behind these Rock Formations - you have probably seen photos of them and not realized it. They are world renowned - and most certainly the centerpiece attraction of the Great Ocean Road. The limestone that forms the cliff that sits behind the Apostles began forming these rock stacks approximately 20 million years ago - as water and nature formed a separation. There were originally 12 - and as of July 2005, then there were 8... Check out this page for more info. Anyway, forget the less, just look... (you can see the Apostle that most recently crumbled in the foreground of the first shot).

The rest of the day was sprinkled with stopping at different beaches (Lorne, and Apollo Beach) as well as swerving the car off the road at any sighting of Koalas or Kangaroos - heck, any pretty lookout there was to see.

After I thought the beauty couldn't get any better, we began the last stretch and heading to Lorne or Bells Beach - (Point Break!). I can't remember exactly which path we were on, but that was the longest stretch we spent inside the car - and its hard to explain how that was my favorite part of the day - given all that I had already done. We moved through what I felt like was the most scenic part of the road - it was twisting and turning, and you never knew what would confront you around each turn. Forget about when you looked back to see what you had traveled through from a new perspective. I got a little teary thinking that Sunil should have been doing this with me too ... it was hard not to when I was staring at the beauty and thinking how lucky I was to be exactly where I was ... let alone to be doing it with my sweetie...

I've tried to group my favorite pics from the day - so here is a truncated set - and here is a set of all 332 - you choose!

The Grampians

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 10:33:00 +0000

The best way to describe the Grampians to someone who doesn't know what they are (such as ME about 10 days ago) is just to use the word breathtaking. It has amazing rock architecture, beautiful wildlife, and heart stopping scenery.

As part of a very ambitious weekend that my travel crew and I set up, we spent Saturday, January 13, driving to, and experiencing the Grampians.

This day was one of the most amazing of my life - and I've had some amazing times so this must have been special.

We started the day driving to different portions of the National Park. We first headed to the Balconies, which I'm guessing described the rock formations that were adjacent to the lookout we were standing next to. The picture shown here is one of the most famous shots associated with the Grampians.

Next we headed to MacKenzie Falls - we hit a few small waterfalls along the way, but MacKenzie Falls feeds the water supply for one of the larger towns in the Grampians, so even in the midst of the crazy heat we were experiencing, it was still running. This is one of the better shots I got with the camera, messing around with different functions. What I love most about this picture is that it was taken in regular color, but look as if it were taken in black and white.

The next part of the trip is beyond my comprehension as I look back at it. We said we'd be doing some hiking, but I never expected what I experienced that day. We began to scale Hollow Mountain, or Mt. Wudjub-Guyan, as it is properly named.

Besides the fact that I never realized I was capable of hiking or climbing anything, after we reached the pinnacle of this mountain, I realized I was capable of a heck of a lot more than I thought. The climb was easy at parts, extremely difficult at other parts, and amazingly rewarding when I reached the top. (P.S. I'm now a hiking addict)

At the end of the day we headed for the Great Ocean Road - which is too beautiful to start explaining to you now - but en route we found a new friend....

This little guy moved so fast I'm amazed we even got him standing still this long! Here is the link to the rest of our shots from the Grampains...more updates soon from the Great Ocean Road!

More updates soon...mwahhhhhhhhhhhh

General Updates

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 10:22:00 +0000

Its been a little difficult to update lately, as the jet-setting crew I'm traveling with decided to head out to Sydney this past weekend (updates on that later), so here are some general updates with a bunch of new posts to follow!

First of all, we moved apartments - hence the better Internet connection, and the ability email and blog some more. They are so nice here - when they heard we were having some difficulty - they gave us some new, upgraded digs - check out this link - and click on apartments, and then the 3 bedroom apartment. It's crazy! The best part is that they will credit us for the time we had no connection. I heart Australia!

In other news we had our first Final today. Intro to Australian Legal Systems. It was fine. That's enough for school updates. :)

Please check back very shortly for many more updates! I plan on using this evening (its 9:30 pm here) on getting back in touch with y'all!

Miss all of you so much you have no idea...

Royal Botanical Gardens, Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne Victory

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 01:04:00 +0000

So, by the end of last week we were pretty well adjusted to living here in Melbourne - we had visited our share of local restaurants and pubs, and decided it was time to experience some of the local Melbourne destinations so we could really feel at home. :)

Last Wednesday, we decided that 110 degree weather would be the perfect day to take a walk through the city. Air conditioned trams? Why bother when it's just another five blocks away...or 10...or 20....alas, I digress. We meandered around South Yarra (yes, that is the area of Melbourne south of the Yarra River), had some lunch out Southbank, and decided we would try to find the Royal Botanical Gardens.

It's hard to imagine what this place would look like in the full bloom of spring time - as the stunning views were breathtaking in what was surely some difficult heat for this plant life to survive. Here is full set of the pictures!!

Thursday, we went to class in the morning - yes, we are actually going to school while we are here, and we then drove on to Mornington Peninsula.

Just as a bit of background Melbourne is set upon Port Phillip, which is a 745 square mile bay that opens into the Bass Strait (the waterway that separates Tasmania and mainland Australia.). Basically, if the land mass of Tasmania had never separated from mainland Australia, there would be no Bass Strait. At the SouthWest portion of the bay is the opening into the strait - better known as the rip - and the location of some of the best beaches on the Mornington Peninsula.

That is where we traveled to on Thursday - we chose Sorrento Back Beach to relax at, had some ale at the Portsea Pub (thanks to our new friend Steven's suggestion), and took in the breathtaking views:) Take a look!

We capped our week off with a trip to watch the Melbourne Victory play. As some of you have noticed in our pictures - the Telstra Dome located within a five minute walk of our apartment complex. We got very excited to see that there was a game being played there January 12, immediately bought tickets, and all spent lots of time time trying to figure out just how Aussie Rules football worked (it looks a heck of a lot like a mix between football, rugby, and soccer - definitely as rough as football, definitely no padding on the players).

If any of you have clicked on the link I conveniently provided above, you will see that, in fact, Melbourne Victory is the local soccer team! The Telstra Dome does also house Aussie Rules Football, but not until a little while from now. While disappointed that we weren't going to get to see the Aussie Rules game - we were still very excited to go to a live match - we listened to all kinds of chants that we couldn't understand, and watched our local Melbourne team sadly lose to Queensland...but we still had fun in the process - here are the pics!

Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:53:00 +0000

Hi everyone! Unfortunately, due to some frustrating apartment/Internet issues it has become increasingly difficult to update blogs, make phone calls, receive phone calls, essentially to touch base with everyone I love and miss soooo much (also besides the fact that we've been travelling quite a bit).

Never fear, we are back. Or I'm back. Or I'm reachable again - something like that! I have a lot to catch you guys up on so forgive the large number of emails to look at my blog you are about to receive - think of it as making up for lost time!

Week 1....You Had me at 'ello!

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 08:29:00 +0000

So its been an interesting week here in Melbourne....getting used to life in the Southern Hemisphere! First of all - 30 SPF. That's all I have to say about sunscreen here. Yes, 30! I, Stephanie T. Anelli, local sun goddess of the northeast, has been forced to wear 30 SPF EVERY DAY! Evidently the hole in the Ozone has landed right above Australia, and if I'd like to keep my youth...as quickly as its fading ;) ... its a must!...

Otherwise, we've been acclimating ourselves to the time difference, and not being able to talk to you guys as much as we'd like to - but we have made some new friends who are helping us feel better....take a look!

The above were taken at Healesville Sanctuary - we headed there via a tour provided to us by our sponsoring law school here. The day was spent first riding an Authentic Steam Train (the Puffing Billy), watching sleeping Koalas (look closely, that guy is frozen in that position), seeing various Australian Wildlife, and capping it off with a winery tour at the Rochford Vineyard.

Click Here for the full set of pictures from Saturday! (Warning: Many Many pictures!!)

We also made some human friends - in fact 2 in particular, Erin & Steve, had a dinner party for their new American friends tonight - people here are sooo nice!!!

What else have we done...well Elliot found home one day last week! We were walking around and just stumbled upon it :)

Up Next: The Great Ocean Road & The Grampians....stay tuned!

In the Land of Oz....

noreply@blogger.com (StephieT224) — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 15:48:00 +0000

G'day! [Mentally hear Elliot's really bad version of an Australian accent :)! Why I love him!]

Happy New Year everyone! Although, New Years came 16 hours earlier for me than it did for a lot of you - it was so weird to call mom & dad at 4:00 pm my time, yelling Happy New Year!

So...where to begin? Getting here ended up being a bit of a debacle, (for more info see Elliot's Blog!) but I think we managed to stay in pretty good spirits. Here's a shot of us landing in Sydney on one of our stop overs, the line in the center of the picture is the coastline.

Once finally in Melbourne, Elliot & I checked into the Westin Melbourne right smack in the middle of the city for New Years Eve!

New Years in Melbourne is an all out party - in a matter of a few hours, the streets went from a basic ghost-town to a party every few steps. Federation Square, right along the Yarra river, could have put Times Square to shame (slight exaggeration possible here)...complete with a fireworks show.

Our adventure included a trek to find a bar...any bar...something that would welcome us thirsty souls to ring in the new year. Elliot came prepared with a "Map of Bars" he had found on his ventures earlier in the day...although we are now convinced that this was a tourist trap - think along the lines of "here's the map to the pool on the roof of your high school!" We walked and walked and walked, and none of the bars listed on this map were there! It was a comedy show! We eventually landed at the Crown Casino Complex - now this could rival a vegas casino, no exaggeration here. It was endless, with two full casino floors, and an endless number of bars! Here's our first pic of 2007!

The Apartment

Finally - while most of you were coutning down to midnight, Elliot, Jay, Jenn & I were checking into our room at the Grand Mercure. I"ll let the video of the view from our balcony speak for itself.

This is where we will call home for the next 6 weeks! Happy New Year to us!

Here's a link to the photoset of pics I've taken so far, including more of the apartment, and some more of New Years!

That's all for now folks, time to try to get more sleep. Miss you all! Mwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!