I wrote this a few weeks ago, but got so caught up in finals and doing all the things in Hong Kong that I hadn't gotten around to doing that I never sent it out.
Better late than never...
Two Weeks Down Under
I just arrived back in Hong Kong after two weeks in Australia and New Zealand. Stepping into the airport felt like walking in on a quarantined Emergency Room, or maybe a crime scene. As we left the gate, a line of officers in gloves and face masks were doing spot checks for anyone who might look ill.
A Labrador retriever stood by the door, smelling for disease (or so they said, at least). A handheld video camera recorded each of our faces as we disembarked, just in case someone turns up sick, so they can confirm our identities and put us in quarantine. High speed heat monitoring cameras checked for fever, still with each guard in uniform. As we left, a box of face masks were offered to each passenger free. It's clear Hong Kong has no interest in repeating its SARS experience, with good reason from what I've heard.
Australia and New Zealand were great. After a week of finals in Chinese language, history and philosophy, I was surprisingly relieved when the signs in Melbourne were in English only. Upon arriving in Melbourne, one can immediately feel that people here are more laid back than in Hong Kong or New York. There are no exit signs. There are signs for the "way out". You buy veges in the market, and no one checks for a ticket when you get on the tram. I took a taxi to Judah and Elie's dorm, where I was greeted with fresh burgers at midnight.
Judah and Elie live in a beautiful part of downtown Melbourne, a five minute walk from the University of Melbourne. The next day was Yom Ha'zikaron followed by Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Memorial day and Independence day respectively), and we met up with Sam and headed into Caufield for an event held by the local Jewish community. 
The Jewish community in Melbourne is small but very strong, and I really like the people I met. The event was for graduates of B'nei Akivah, and most people were about my age and knew friends from back home. In Melbourne I went to the Victoria Market, the Melbourne Museum, and explored the universities in the area. All very nice, and the Melbourne Museum is highly reccomended. We stayed by a very nice family in Caufield for Shabbat, and I spent much of the rest of my time completing three essays that were due before I returned to Hong Kong. Wonderful that I can email in my papers, and the professors will never know that I am a few thousand miles away on vacation.
Next up was New Zealand. Given the limited time (only four days), we decided to stick to the north island for the entire trip. While I've heard the south island is incredible, the rest of the guys had already been there, so now I just have a reason to return in the future. New Zealand is beautiful. I completely understand why so many movies and TV shows are filmed out here. The landscape is just incredible. We started in Aukland, which was a pretty quiet town. There I celebrated my 21st birthday, which was exciting, though not as big a deal, as the legal age is 18 everywhere else in the world, so there was no practical differences between the day before and the day after. Still, you don't turn 21 everyday...
We had planned to rent a car, and I of course volunteered to be the driver. After so many months seeing cars on the wrong side of the road, I was excited to finally try it myself. One little problem, which I hadn't considered. After we paid, and while we were awaiting the car's arrival, the women behind the rental counter nonchalantly asked why we were renting the car for three days, when I could only drive until the end of the day? Confused, I looked over the license she handed back to me. I had neglected to check the expiration date on my driver's license. I forgot that NY state sends you a new license on your 21st birthday, to remove the big red "under 21" that marks top. Unfortunately, that license was at home in NY, far away from New Zealand. Luckily, one of the other guys agreed to drive, and everything worked out for the best. Still--very frustrating. This would become a bigger issue, as my debit card expired on the same day, leaving me with no way to get cash for two weeks.
With a fully packed Subaru station wagon we headed off to explore the north Island. First stop-- the Waitomo glow worm caves. this caves are unique in that lining the ceiling of the caves were little worms (technically fly larvae) that glow in the dark. The forest was beautiful, and after a boat ride through the caves, we went on a short hike to the top of a hill, where we watched the sunset.
After we finished the hike, we headed to Rotorua, to check in to our Hostel. The place was clean, with wireless internet, so I was happy. From time to time you could smell a distinct sulfur scent in the air, coming from the nearby volcanic springs.
The next day was set for adventure. We woke up early, and made our way to Sky Dive. I was very excited. We got there with no trouble, filled out the sheets, got dressed up, briefed on how to tandem skydive and watched the group ahead of us go. Unfortunately, as the plane landed to pick us up, the pilot shook his head and left the plane. It was too windy, and even though the other group went, they were shutting down operations for the day. No sky diving for us. Frustrated and with an open time slot, we asked the guys at the sky diving shop what they recommend. They talked up the rafting, and then called the people. They sent someone over to bring us there, and we decided to go wight water rafting instead. As was becoming abundantly clear, like most things in New Zealand, rafting was somewhat more intense here than in the States. 
We started with a traditional Maori prayer the guide said to the water spirits, we then proceeded down stream to class 5 rapids. numerous waterfalls dotted the way, including one 21 ft drop. We also tried a cool sport called rapid surfing which basically means paddling upstream the a small waterfall, and catching the undertow, pulling you into the waterfall and soaking the entire boat, but mostly drowning the guy on the front bench, which of course was me.
After a quick and cold swim, we finished rafting and headed over to the Zorbing center. For those of you who don't know, Zorbing is a Kiwi (what New Zealanders call themselves) invention. According to their official definition: a Zorb is a transparent bi-spherical rapid decent device. Basically it is a big inflated plastic ball with a hole in the middle for a person.
Add a little water, push it down a big hill, and you have a zorb. Zorbing turned out to be a lot of fun. Curious if it was possible to direct the movements, I jumped into the turns while going down. While I had no idea where I was or if I succeeded, I later found out that I had managed to roll onto the next track.
That night, we attempted to go to see a traditional Maori village. Unfortunately, the person at our hostel told us the wrong time, and we arrived half an hour late, to a deserted and dark front entrance. Heading off to see if we could find a different route in, we ended up seeing most of the village by ourselves, from a back entrance with a clearly marked "Do not enter" sign. As we did not know we were late, we could not figure out why the entire village was deserted. Eventually, we found the kitchen, and came through the back, where the staff working in the kitchen sent us to the auditorium where the entire maori team besides for the chefs were putting on a presentation about traditional Maori Culture. 
We found it just in time to catch the last five minutes. The manager was very nice about it afterwards, and sent us home with a note to get a refund from the person at the front desk who sold us the tickets. In the end, we managed to see most of the village in a self-guided tour, caught the tail end of the presentation, which included a Haka war-dance, and didn't have to pay. I'd call that a success.
Early the next morning we headed off to Hobbiton, the sheep farm used for the filming of the Shire in Lord of the Rings. Truly one of the most incredible beautiful sites I have ever seen. Also, we were again treated to New Zealand weather, which basically just means you can never know what to expect. There was a blue sky when the tour guide handed out umbrellas, and sure enough, every five minutes it poured for a few minutes, then suddenly there was not a cloud in the sky. Very inconsistent and prone to abrupt changes, as we learned to our dismay when we attempted to go skydiving.
After Hobbiton we drove to Waimangu, a volcanic region famous for its bubbling springs and great hiking trails. The springs were very interesting, They were hot, though not actually boiling. The bubbling came from chemical reactions taking place as the sulfur reached the surface of the water. The rocks surrounding the springs were, however, very hot. Too hot to touch at places. 
Of course, even though there was a blue sky when we began the hike, it became cloudy and then rained for all of 15 minutes before the blue sky returned. The hike was great, with some really nice views of the surrounding mountains and volcanic crystal clear lakes.
A late night drive brought us back to the airport and off to Sydney, where would spend the next four days. Having picked a location that google maps informed us was walking distance to all the major sites we wanted to see, we later learned that we had chosen one of the most sketchy parts of town from which to base our travels. It was fine during the day though, and the hostel was nice enough, so we made do. We checked out the Sydney Art Museum, the Museum of Australia, various parks, the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. We also walked to a zoo and aquarium, and I got my fill of Kangaroos and Wallabies.
For shabbat, someone from Melbourne connected us with a very nice family in Bondi, where the Jewish community is located. The family introduced us to a very nice woman, named Lotte Weiss, who volunteers at the Sydney Jewish Museum, in the holocaust exhibit. What was so interesting about Lotte is that she is a holocaust survivor herself, having been among the first people sent to Auschwitz. She spoke with us for over an hour, telling us her story. 
It was very moving walking through the exhibit with Lotte right there--a reminder that these aren't just stories we hear, but real events that took place just 65 years ago in a world not so different from our own, and to people just like us. Another exhibit in the museum described the Australian-Jewish History. One humorous display listed the crimes of many of the Jews sent to Australia when it was a penal colony of England. Some of the heinous crimes include horse theft, forging bank notes, pick-pocketing and worst of all -- stealing a large cheese, for which the person received life in Australia. Judicial systems were not always as forgiving as they are today.
After Sydney, we headed back to Melbourne for a few hours, and I continued on to Malaysia (this time only for a few hours) and then back to Hong Kong. I completed my last final nearly two weeks ago, and have been enjoying my last says in Hong Kong.
I made two trips over to Shenzhen to have a suit custom made ($140 gets you a hand-made suit and two shirts delivered to my dorm room) and met up with a friend from Brandeis in Guangzhou. Though my chinese is getting better, it took me a few crucial minutes before I realized the taxicab driver started on his way to Guangzhou Rail Station instead of Guangzhou East Rail Station. 
By the time I realized and corrected him, the last direct train back to Hong Kong had left, and I got to explore more remote parts of China in a late night adventure that took place by myself, with only a passport and my laptop, with no phone and limited cash.
Eventually I did make it home, and spent the next few days exploring the ins and outs of Hong Kong. I'm writing this on my way to Tokyo, where I will spend Shavuot and some time traveling throughout the country. 
In the next eleven days, I will travel to Tokyo, Nikko, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and more, at a rate of nearly a city a day. Should be fun.
Yoni
