I interrupt my previously scheduled post....

Our wedding pictures are in! Every picture I look through brings me back to that exact moment and what I was feeling. I will be doing a post once I get all of the images in disk, but for now, here is a teaser of some of my favorites (so far!).

Christchurch, New Zealand

Our second honeymoon destination was Christchurch, New Zealand. After our midnight arrival and the discovery that the rental car company was nowhere to be found, nor was the car that we were told would be parked and ready to go - we just took a taxi to our B&B. A bit tired and sufficiently aggravated about the rental car, we were thrilled when we pulled up to the historic manor that would be our home for the next 2 nights. It was built in 1861and it was beautiful, both inside and out!

The next morning we walked through the city's Botanical Gardens, which were actually quite impressive (well, as impressive as trees and flowers can be). Granted, Cassidy and I aren't really the types to stay in the gardens for hours on end and ponder the species of trees...but every so often we do stop to smell the roses and take a picture or two. Below are pics of a black swan that lived on the river that ran through the gardens. He caught me taking his photo and came over to where I was, presumably b/c he wasn't all that into me hanging around his family. However, I got a good pic of his red bill and eyes (then ran away)!


We then headed toward Cathedral Square to see the namesake cathedral - "Christ Church". The town square was an interesting mix of older, more detailed buildings and a whole lot of buildings built in the 70's and lacking of any character. I think Cassidy and I have been spoiled by the beautiful architecture of cities like Prague, Paris, and Rome because we spent a little bit of time taking it all in but then ultimately decided our time would be better spent with a meal and some cocktails. We did end up having some of the very best Indian food we have ever tried that night. So if any of you ever go to Christchurch (I'm sure you've been inspired by my yawnfest post), go to Himalayas on Colombo street!




The next morning we picked up our rental car and started our 4 hour drive toward Mt. Cook! Stay tuned for some beautiful views like you have never seen before! Unless, of course, you have been to New Zealand.

Cairns, Australia

Day 1 of our honeymoon started with out midnight arrival into Cairns, Australia. From the first gust of fresh air that hit our faces, we knew we were in for a very hot and very humid couple of days!

We woke up bright and early the next morning, ready to hit the ground running. Then we walked outside...and turned right around to head back into our air conditioned room. It was in the 80's at about 80% humidity - and it was only 9 AM! The first day ended up being a day of relaxing at the B&B, which had a small pool and a parrot named Chook to keep us entertained while we adjusted to tropical temperatures and a new time zone.



The next morning, after drinking our weight in liquids and coating ourselves in sunblock, we boarded a boat that would take us out to the Great Barrier Reef where we had a full day of snorkeling as well as our first introductory scuba dive. We were instructed to put on "jelly suits" - which turned out to be a full body wetsuit that protected you from jellyfish, since they were floating around the areas where we were diving. After suiting up, it was a full day of swimming, floating, diving, and me staring at the horizon every time our boat was on the move. Turns out as I get older my body is not a fan of boats. It was an incredible experience and we both really liked scuba and the additional things that you can see when you are able to dive deeper and not have to worry about where your next breath is coming from! Not suprisingly, my favorite part was a huge fish named Wally that comes to the diving site daily and actually loves attention! I was able to "pet" him (can you pet a fish??). Below are pics of us and some of the pictures we took while snorkeling/diving. The one with a head and a fish is Wally and myself:























Our 3rd, and final full day, in Cairns started with a scenic train trip up to the rainforest at Kuranda where there was a wildlife park, bird park, butterfly house, and a small village with a mix of art galleries, junk stores, and aboriginial stores (complete with aboriginies out front playing some tunes).



It was here that I was able to hold a koala. Many of you heard my premeditated plan of getting one and running with it, but all of those plans went out the window due to the fact it was an effort to keep myself walking out in the heat, let alone try to run with a 20+ lb koala. So I had to settle for holding one and really, it was everything I thought it would be. As you will see in the photos below, I was very excited to get him in my arms!





After we cooled off at a local pub, we jumped into our cable car that hung very high above the rainforest canopy and began the descent that took just about an hour! I was terrified b/c it didn't feel very stable and we were very, very high in the air. There were many bumps and strange noises along the way which freaked me out for the duration of the ride. However, the conversation for the entire ride down went something like this:
Cassidy - "Want to make out?"
Amanda - "Stop talking, you are shaking the car"
Cassidy - "Oh we can shake the car"
Amanda - "Seriously, shut up, I'm trying to focus on breathing"
Cassidy - "How about I move to the other side of this car?" (thinking it is funny)
Amanda - "How about a divorce if you don't Shut Up?"
Cassidy - "If we make out I'll stop talking"
...so on and so forth.... Here are some views from the ride down:




The rest of our time in Cairns was spent around the house chatting with Chook (yes, he could talk), other guests and Joanna, the woman running the B&B. The next day we woke up and headed to the airport to board our flight to Christchurch, New Zealand!

Also, the picture below is possibly my favorite picture of the entire honeymoon!

Back in the U.S.A.

It has been three glorious weeks of honeymoon bliss in Australia & New Zealand (with a quick side of Tokyo)! We are back home, welcomed by snow on the ground to make our transition back to real life nice and easy. Today has been a day of sorting mail, doing laundry, and spending quality time with the cats who seemed to have fared just fine - their waistlines, however, are a bit larger!

I'll be posting all about our adventures over the next week so stay tuned for pictures and stories!

While grabbing lunch today...

Real conversation while on my way to grab lunch (alone) today, I'm walking along minding my own business when:

Homeless Woman: "Can you help me and buy me something to eat?"

Me: "Sure, I'm heading to this place on the corner. They have salads and sandwiches. What would you like?"

Homeless Woman: "I don't have no teeth, I can't eat that stuff." (Smiles to show me proof) "Can we go to a Chinese place? I can eat fried rice pretty good."

Me: "I suppose, where is it?"

Homeless Woman: "About 4 blocks up"

Me: "I have to get back to the office. How about I buy you a soup at the place I'm going, you should be able to eat that."

Homeless Woman: "That ain't filling enough."

Me: .....

Homeless Woman: "How's about MacDonalds down the block?"

Me: "That's fine."

At this point she starts walking to McD's - the opposite direction of where I was going to get lunch.

Me: "Can I go grab my salad first?"

HW: Sounding annoyed "Are you going to eat it in there?"

Me: "No, I'll just get it to go"

HW: "Ok, I'll wait outside for you then"

After I wait a ridiculous amount of time for a salad, I decided I didn't have time to go to McD's too, so I decided to just give her $5 and let her grab what she wanted. She was thankful and I was glad to give it. I just thought the whole thing was funny and worth posting.