We arrive to Phoenix greeted by an intense 100+ degree heat. Cody’s Aunt Teri and Grandma De turn out to be some of the coolest people I’ve met and are the ones everyone loves to be around. They were the best two hostesses we could have asked for as they fed us as much alcohol as great food, chauffeured us around town and made sure we were having the best time possible for our vacation before vacation. We get set up with a family friend who takes us out to experience the nightlife in the area and had a blast every night visiting Scotsdale and Mill Avenue. The last night we’re out we meet up with Annie and Bruce from Raleigh and find ourselves looking like we just got thrown in the pool by the end of the night. We Wolfpacked the hell out of Phoenix…my liver will thank me later.
One of the highlights for me on this trip was tubing down the Salt River packed with beer, munchies and generous amounts of sunscreen to battle the scorching 110 degree Arizona sun. We found several cliffs to jump off of as well as seeing some local wildlife like a coyote and wild horses. The water was pleasantly cool and was fun talking to random people also floating downstream and was surprised to meet someone from Raleigh!
We decide to go to LA a day early to go stay in a hotel with our new travel companion Kyle. We give Hermosa beach a try for the night life…nothing special. The next day we wake up and venture out to explore the massive city of Los Angeles.
A couple hour train ride gets us to Hollywood where we walked for miles passing all the crazy people on the street, walking past Orlando studios and catching a glimpse of the giant Hollywood sign. We make our flight to Sydney and say goodbye to America.
We finally get on our plane to Sydney and survive the 15 hour flight. Not so bad when Aunt Teri wisely arms us with chocolate to give to the flight attendants (no complaints here for extra meals and free booze). Entering Australia couldn’t have been more beautiful. The entire flight was in darkness as we were racing the rising sun (Oz is ahead about 14 hours from NC) until literally, as we descend into the airport for landing, the sun pops up out of the clouds beckoning us into the city.
We arrive in Cairns greeted by our friend Bub who has been here in Australia for about a year and a half. He gives us the tour of our new city and we now officially begin our trip down under.
We walked here from Bub’s place.
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