Colly's World

On Wednesday my family and I took a surf lesson at Broulee Beach near Batemans Bay, on the East Coast of Australia. Our teacher’s name was Meg. We went on a super hot day, and the freezing water felt really good against my tight wet suit. The beach was great! You can hear the waves roaring, then dragging on the bottom and dying. The waves are great and the sand is super soft. We had so much fun! In fact, we liked it so much, we surfed again on Friday!

Here are our surfing photos: Read the rest of this entry »

12 noon: driving

We got to feed parrots at the Blue Mountain eco-lodge.

12:30: still driving

1:00: Guess what? I’m still driving. This pattern goes on for the whole day.

My family and I are driving from the Blue Mountains to Albury, Australia. Yesterday we were in the Blue Mountains at an eco lodge, and now we are in Albury, one out of two stopovers to Phillip Island. Read the rest of this entry »

I have for you three completely different stories all set in Sydney, Australia, where we spent two weeks. They are about a jellyfish, a bat, and a play. They are all really weird and wicked, but I just thought I’d share.

Here I am at the Sydney Harbour waiting for the ferry to Manly.

A jellyfish

A little while ago, I went swimming in Manly, a beach near Sydney that we took a ferry to. Manly is infested with Portuguese Man O’ Wars, also called blue bottle jellyfish in Australia. A Portuguese Man O’ War is called that because its top looks like a Portuguese battle ship.

We got to Manly and there were signs all over saying to watch out for Portuguese Man O’ Wars. I thought they were just being paranoid because there were crowds of people in the water not getting stung. So, I jumped in and went boogie boarding, ignoring the signs. The waves were huge but the water was shallow for about a quarter-mile out.

About an hour later I came back from boogie boarding and my brother was on the shore. He was crying and on his leg was a giant welt that circled his calf just below his knee. We think he was stung by a dead jellyfish floating on its side, which made it wrap all the way around.

Of course, I stupidly went back out in the water before we had to go.

Of course, a jellyfish stung me. Read the rest of this entry »

I just passed the halfway point of my trip, and I realized some of you still might not know what I’m doing. I emailed some friends and asked if they had any questions about my trip. Here’s what they asked. Thanks to everyone who asked these questions! You can ask me more questions if you want in the comment field.

Q: What is your favorite part about traveling the world?

A: Definitely seeing new places, because every place is different. For example, our first stop in New Zealand was Auckland (Auckland is a big city). After Auckland we went to Harris Hill in Nelson, which is in a small town with big fields, a huge bay, and lots of hills all around it. Both places were completely different but I still liked being in both of them.

Q: What is your least favorite part about traveling the world? Read the rest of this entry »

Kayaking and camping in Abel Tasman National Park for three days was so fun and amazing.

First of all, I would like to apologize for not writing a blog post in so long. So much has happened and I can’t keep track of all of it! Plus, we were on the road a lot. We recently left Nelson, New Zealand, where we lived for two weeks, and went on a three-day kayaking trip in the ocean next to Abel Tasman National Park! If you want to read more about our kayaking and camping, you can on our family blog. Here are some of the cool things that finished off my 2009: Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve traveled by plane, I’ve traveled by bus, I’ve traveled by train, and now I am proud to say I’ve traveled by RV.

Our RV is so cool. I love it!

About a week ago, we got our rental RV. Basically, there is a kitchen, a couch, table and benches, a loft, a bathroom, and all these closets and drawers that we keep our stuff in. We are touring the whole North Island of New Zealand. The RV is really bumpy and rattles a lot because of everything in it. My dad is stuck with driving it, so it’s the hardest for him because he has to drive the biggest car he has ever driven while driving on the wrong side of the road! Read the rest of this entry »

Davy and Daryl ride over the Continental Divide with their dad.

What would it be like to travel about 20,000 miles on bike? These guys are finding out! Daryl and Davy Vogel are 11-year-old twin brothers biking from Alaska to the bottom of South America with their mom and dad. After 30 months of bike riding are over, they will have broken the world record of Youngest Person to Cycle the Pan-America Highway! They started in June 2008 and are now in Ecuador. They just reached the Equator a few days ago!

When I saw their website, familyonbikes.org, I thought what they’re doing is so amazing that I did a Q&A with them by email. Read the rest of this entry »

Kyle and me on the bus in Argentina.

Leather seats wide enough for two people? check
Polyester fleece blankets? check
Half-stuffed pillow? check
Seats that recline 180 degrees? check
TV playing weird movies? check
Seat belt damp with cleaning fluids? check
IPods, Kindles, and laptops out and ready? check
On a bus? check! Read the rest of this entry »

“Eeewww!!!!! This is absolutely terrible!!! Eeeewww!!!!!” I scream.

“Colly, just give it to me,” my mom says.

“Are you sure? It’s disgusting!!” I say.

My mom thinks I’m overreacting, so just to prove it she takes a bite. “Oh my god!!!” she says as she chucks it out the window of the car. “It’s like candle wax covered in chocolate! That is terrible!!!”

“I told you, it’s really really gross!” I say.

Meanwhile, my dad and brother are laughing at us like crazy.

Right now you might wonder what we are gagging on: chocolate. Read the rest of this entry »

This is us at a closed, cheap, weird, dino park.

Some of you might think that traveling for a year is your dream; home schooling, being with family, it all sounds great. Others may think that doing this is your worst nightmare and you would never take the time to do something like this; you’re stuck with your family, and it’s way too much work of moving from place to place and never stopping. Before I left I was thinking both of these ways and I still am. I am really sorry if it sounds like I’m whining — I love traveling with my family, but it isn’t all happy, it’s really hard too. Read the rest of this entry »