a few days over in monterey...

s said before for Martin's birthday we went on a small kayaking excursion in Monterey at the Elkhorn Slough, and also over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was a wonderful weekend. Here's a few pictures. Of course we brought no real camera, but camera phones can capture the memories as well.

2 years ago today...

2 years ago today the love of my life told me he loved me (for the first time) and I said it back. We have been inseparable ever since. I guess Central Park in New York City is as good a place as any to do something like that :)

To celebrate we're spending a few days in Santa Cruz at a lovely bed and breakfast,

oh how I am in love.

Yes, we are home!!

I have taken a few weeks to get this post up, but I wanted to let you know that yes, we are home! We are happy to be back and getting back to regular life, which we love so much. So here's what we've been doing for the last few weeks, and a few pictures to give you an idea of what we got to see and experience.

• April 4th - left the wonderful bay area of California and flew into Sydney Australia..stayed at The Menzies, right in the heart of the downtown harbour ..visited the Sydney Opera House, the Botanical Gardens, Sydney Wildlife World, the Sydney Aquarium, several restaurants in the Harbour, and several ferries around the area..took a ferry over to Manly (about 30 minutes from Sydney) where an old friend of Martin's lives (Katie) spent a few days at her place and visiting the amazing beaches in the area
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  April 11th - flew into Brisbane where my fabulous friend Patty and her man picked us up from the airport and let us stay at their place for a few days..enjoyed some amazing bbq (including Kangaroo) that they prepared for us, and enjoyed the company of their close friends which was ideal, we felt at home again..thanks to Patty, we were able to ride bikes around the city and get a feel for the area, went to a few street markets and took the ferry around their city
  
  
• April 13th - flew up to Cairns, where we met up with Daniel (Martin's brother) and Jeremy (our roommate and Martin's bandmate), dove the Great Barrier Reef and so lots of amazing things, took a tour through the Australia Rainforest, swam through the Milla Milla waterfall, jumped into a few lakes
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• April 16th - flew back to sydney, stayed in the Manly area again, because we loved their beaches so much, visited Katie at her restaurant to say bye
• April 18th - flew to New Zealand, drove on the opposite side of the rode, found somewhat affordable food for the first time in weeks, and had to wear a jacket for the first time in weeks.. drove all around the South Island of New Zealand, saw the Fox Glacier and the Franz Josep Glacier, the Milford Sound, the Fiordland National Park, Mt. Cook, the Moeraki Boulders, hundreds of waterfalls and lakes, probably millions of sheep, gorgeous country side, New Zealand wine country (so pretty to drive through).. ate at Fleur's Place, an amazing and fresh seafood restaurant
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• April 25th - flew home to San Francisco, and so ready to be home

To be honest, we didn't feel that far from home. The food, the people, the landscape, even the beaches, all felt like different parts of California. Sydney was almost identical to San Francisco, with a lot of asian culture and food mixed in with port/harbour culture here and there. A few things that were new to us...

• beets on hamburgers (and egg and pineapple also)
• 3 dollar cans of soda, crazy.. and no refills anywhere, fast food and restaurants
• not big into ranch or bbq; they use a lot of chili sauce (hot or sweet)
• fries are called chips
• pancakes are always served with icecream
• icecreams shops everywhere
• tipping is not as standard as here, also, tax is included in everything already, which is one reason why things seem much more expensive.. minimum wage is around 15 or 16 $.. so servers don't make as much in tips, but they get paid more, have covered health insurance, get vacation time, which no servers get here in the states, get time and a half for working sundays, and you get 4-6 weeks paid vacation a year at almost any job, as opposed to 1 in the states, and that's only if you have a fulltime office type job
• driving on the other side of the road
• not pronouncing things the way they are spelled (Cairns is Cans, Brisbane is Brisbin, Melbourne is Melbin.. just to name a few)
• a few words different here or there, nothing we couldn't figure out
• no toilet seat covers anywhere (I hated that)
• no dollar menus at fast food (everything was a little pricier than we're used to)
• no free wifi anywhere, everywhere charged a lot, anywhere from 5-10 an hour
• lots of travelling students all over.. it seems as though in other countries travelling is a huge part of life and education, which I think is wonderful.. a more travelled and experienced person is a more knowledgeable and less ignorant person.. learning about how other's communicate and cooperate and live and think is a great thing, I think.. We met people from all over, working or just travelling, as either part of their actual college education or a start to
• universal health care (or just about) most people approve of it and have close to no complaints, definitely not as many as I have with my insurance
• recycling and being green is HUGE in Australia and New Zealand.. almost everywhere you go there are separate recycling bins and even food waste bins.. it seems as though most people there are very aware that you need to be more responsible with your waste.. you have to know that everything you throw away goes somewhere, and doesn't just disappear, which probably is why everything was so clean and well kept and nowhere smelled like our Milpitas (which just smells like you're standing in a garbage)

We missed our friends and family so much and want you to know how much we love and appreciate all the time we get to spend with you... we love being home!!

we made it safely to New Zealand!

So the last week has been amazing and busy. We have made our way up and down the East coast of Australia; we started in Sydney and went around that area staying in a few different places, then up to Brisbane (about a 12 hours drive, we flew though) stayed with my friend from high school, Patty, went all around the Brisbane area (not to surfer's paradise unfortunately). Then from Brisbane we flew up to Cairns (which would be like an 18 hour drive) we stayed there a few days, which is around the area that we dove the Great Barrier Reef and made our way through the rainforest, then bake down to Brisbane, and back down to Sydney, a few more days on the beach in the Manly area, and now in New Zealand. I try to stay low maintenance, but I'm still a girl. It would still be nice to have my own bathroom and not constantly be travelling, just so that I can pull myself together once in a while, but other than that, the trip is amazing. We have somehow managed to plan all the days when sunshine is needed on days with sunshine, and days where it's not needed, there has been rain. According to the weather and just our first first hours here, the New Zealand air is much colder, but I'm very much looking forward to making our way around the country. We rented a car (the four of us, Martin, Myself, Daniel and Jeremy) and are planning on driving around a majority of the South Island (which is where most of the sites are). Driving on the opposite side of the road will be interesting, luckily Martin is the designated driver of the trip, so I don't have much to worry about.

Well, I've been trying for about an hour to upload a few pictures and it's just not gonna happen. They haven't really hopped on the fast and free internet train out here, or anywhere we've been. So uploading pictures to the blog is a little difficult, but I did put lots of pictures on facebook. We love and miss everybody. Congrats again to Ry and Mel!! (they had baby boy #4 yesterday).

Welcome Welcome :)

I just wanted to welcome all of my recently new visitors!! Foodgawker is a wonderful site, and I'm happy to be able to share some of my recipes with you. For my regular friends and family, I have recently been introduced to the absolutely amazing website foodgawker.

It's a recipe sharing site, and I have had quite a few submissions accepted! The submissions are based on the photography, so if you visit the site you will see lovely food styling and then you can visit the sites where they came from for the recipe. It's just a wonderful thing!

Oh, and Martin and I are loving Australia!! We are in Brisbane right now staying with my friend Patty, and just having a wonderful time. Tomorrow afternoon we fly to Cairns (pronounced Cans, ya, it's weird) where the weather and surroundings are going to be similar to that of the coasts of central america (southern mexico or guatemala) so very hot and humid!! We plan to dive the Great Barrier Reef and all that, so I'll keep you updated! If you have facebook you can check out my pictures there!

lovin the beaches!!

So we left the Sydney area and have been staying in Manly with Katie Hay (a friend of Martin's from way back when) and we are having a great time! Today was our third day at the beach and we couldn't love it more. The water is warmer than the bay area for sure, and crystal clear and the beaches are clean and gorgeous. Last night we went to an amazing Tapas restaurant, I can't wait to get home and recreate some of the recipes, and then went to ben and jerry's, which is new to the area. A pint of icecream, which we normally buy for about 2 50 or 3$ at safeway cost 12 dollars!! Prices are a little crazy here, it might just be close to Sydney, we'll see if it's all over. But a soda can is 3$, a candy bar is 2$, and you can't get refills anywhere!! Tax is included in almost everything too. So anytime we order something to eat it seems a little more expensive than it really is, because the bill doesn't change with tax, but we can't wait to get up to Brisbane. My friend Patty (from highschool) lives up there and she's picking us up from the airport and we're staying with her for 2 nights and hopefully will get a good feel for the area, then we fly up to Cairns, where we will hopefully dive the Great Barrier Reef!! More details and pictures to come!! We love and miss you!!

We made it safely to Sydney!!

We don't have a lot of internet access here in Sydney, and it's always a little slow. But we're having a great time! After going to bed yesterday at 4 pm because of the screwy time change 16 hour flight and what not.. we woke up around midnight with nothing to do.. so we watched a little tv, tried to go back to bed.. woke up at 4 am, more tv, went to the gym once open at 5 30, went to the pool, showered, found breakfast and internet! thank you starbucks, and now off to have an awesome day. Who would've thought we could get all that done before noon! (actually 11, which is what time it is now). Sydney is 5 hours earlier than Ca, but the next day.. if that makes sense.. So it's 11 am on wednesday here.. but 4 pm on tuesday (I think) where you are. Pretty weird.

I'll put up a few pictures here and there but probably not too many until I get back, unless you can check facebook, I have a few more up there. We love and miss family and friends :)

i'm going on a trip to..

AUSTRALIA!!

Martin and I are so excited we can barely contain ourselves! Daniel (Martin's brother) just arrived there this week and he'll be there about a month before we show up, so he's scoped out a few of the things we might wanna do and when we get there he'll have some things figured out for us, but we need more ideas!! We're flying into Sydney and planning to stay there a week, then we're probably going up to Brisbane, and maybe all the way up to the Great Barrier Reef, then back down to Sydney for a few days and then we'll fly over to New Zealand. I'm not sure what part of New Zealand we're flying into but we plan on travelling through as much of the country as we can. So let's hear it!!! Who has been there? What have you heard is a must do or a must see??

spend an afternoon... hiking mission peak :)

{these are phone photos, hence the odd focus and what not}

Don't know if you've heard, but I'm in love.

Last saturday we decided to do something productive with our day off, and after a debate over whether or not we thought I could actually make it to the top (Martin thought I could, I thought I could not) we just decided to go for it. With the loving support of my man, we actually made it to the top! Keep in mind it took us a very long time, and many breaks were needed (by me of course, not Martin). But the weather was perfect, and the view was amazing, and I could not have asked for a better day.

Home and home

I'm not gonna lie, the avocado festival could've had a few more avocados :( But all in all the trip down to Santa Barbara was lovely. Warm ocean water is one of my favorite things, and the water in Santa Barbara is definitely warmer than our Santa Cruz water.

have I not mentioned that we LOVE avocados!!

Avocado festival here we come!! We'll see you in about 10 hours, after 5 hours of sleep and 5 hours of driving! Oh it would be nice if you were closer Carpinteria, but you know what, it's still going to be worth it. And don't worry everybody, I'll let you know how the avocado ice cream is. I'm hoping its close to pistachio, because I never thought I would like it, but the pistachio frozen yogurt at yogurtuille just make me change my mind!! And Martin, thanks for being ok with always driving, because I like sleeping :)

a few hours over in.. Berkeley

Martin and I went out to Berkeley this morning to check out a used gear sale at REI and because we didn't make it out early enough to get first ins, we ended up having a few extra hours to hang out, and it was amazing!! The moment I suggested a possible farmer's market in the area, we happen to drive right by the Berkeley farmers market! We parked, and found it to be are most favorite yet! We bought some delicious white nectarines, heirloom tomatoes (a new recent fav), basil, an orchid, and just down the street we found a toy shop that sold one of Martin's favorite games!!

I would recommend going to farmer's markets in the your area. Santa Cruz was our favorite up until today! But supporting local farmers is a great thing, and we should start to appreciate healthy locally grown things, and helping those who are trying to make a living as opposed to helping company's who already have enough money!

on our way home..

We finally made our way back home!! The band and I had a wonderful trip, but could not be happier that we're back. Making our way back down the coast was great. We stopped in Portland, had a show at The Buffalo Gap Saloon, which is an amazing restaurant and bar. We went to the Saturday Market in the heart of Portland, which is like an arts and wine festival, very cool.

A friend of Martin's, Julia Dawn, opened the show for them. She is an amazing artist, living in the Portland area.

Then in between shows in Portland and our last in Humboldt, we camped along the Smith River, which I think was my favorite part of the trip. The River is so gorgeous; crystal clear water surrounded by cliffs of rock, we couldn't ask for more. Martin, Daniel and I found some amazing places to jump from, and with the water being so clear and deep, it was surreal.

daniel and I making our way to the top, we managed to go much higher, and then jump, it was frightening

The last show of the trip was a second visit at Six Rivers Brewery, one of our favorite places in california. After the show we decided to drive straight through the night, arriving in Fremont around 7 in the morning. Home sweet home.

some humboldt pictures

a few days in... Seattle!!

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. My computer time is usually limited, so my blog length may start to reflect the business of our travels. We've been in Seattle the last few days and I have loved it!!!! Definitely my favorite city on the tour, although I have really loved everywhere. But it's really a gorgeous, clean, and very artsy city, with lots to do and good places to eat. Our first day we started at Pikes Fish Market, which is this amazing 3/4 level Market with just about anything you could possibly want. It was like going to an arts and wine festival, grocery store, and mall all in one; except all the stores our small and quaint. Then we made our way to the Space Needle to check out the view, which was awesome. We also self indulged in some fudge at the gift shop, which is now one of our favorite things, but flavored fudge, not tradition chocolate, like maple (Martin's favorite) or vanilla caramel (my favorite). As a group we went to dinner at the Crap Pot, my dad suggested it, and it was so great!!! Right on the wharf, so there's a great view, you order a pot of food with crab, shrimp, potatoes, corn, and other seafood goodness and they just dump it right in front of you. My favorite meal so far for sure. Right after the amazingness of dinner, Martin, Daniel, and I went to a Mariners game! It's pretty cool going to different stadiums, when you're so used to the ones close to home.

before and after..

The next day in Seattle we got a pretty late start, trying to figure out our camping situation, but it worked out great. We went to the West Seattle Festival and caught the tail end of what was going on. It was one of the best festival's I've ever been to. Great food, tons of amazing art, and all the shops on the street where it was held was open so we got to enjoy those as well. I am happy to say I found the cutest cupcake shop in the whole wide world (The Sugar Rush Baking Company). I'm now a huge fan of the mini cupcakes, which I will soon be testing out, that's for sure.

cutest little thing you've ever seen, right

Later that night the boys had their show at Egan Ballard's Jam House, which was a very classy, jazzy establishment. We showed up early enough so we could watch the previous band play and they were amazing. All classically trained musicians I'm sure, they were amazing to watch. They even invited the piano players wife on stage to sing, she chose Bye Bye Blackbird, one of my favorite songs, and very memorable of the movie Sleepless in Seattle (also one of my favorites).

To our surprise two of our good friends showed up just before the show!! They drove all the way from home (Fremont) to spend the day up in Seattle and the next day with us back in Portland. It was so awesome for me and I'm sure much more than the boys, it was a short break from being the only girl in a group of boys and it felt like home again. Rachel and Alissa, you girls are wonderful. The show went great, and late, so we headed back to camp. That concludes the Seattle part of the trip, such a great city, I would definitely recommend a visit!