Almost immediately following my trip to Brisbane and Cairns, I went to Melbourne, which is about ten driving hours south of Sydney. Going south meant it was much cooler than my sunny trip to Cairns, but it was still fun nonetheless.
Thursday, April 21st: My friends, Megan and Madeline, and I headed off to Melbourne at around 6:30 p.m. Actually, Madeline is one of my roommates, and one of our other roommates, Carly, so graciously offered to bring us to the train station in her town, Junee, which was half way between Sydney and Melbourne. So the four of us hopped in the car and drove four hours to Junee; we arrived at Carly's house around 10:30 p.m. The first thing I was greeted with when I stepped out of the car--tumbleweed! Yes, tumbleweed does exist in the real world, outside of hokey Western films. It felt wonderful to go inside a real home for a few hours (our train didn't leave until 2:00 a.m.). We talked with Carly's mom for awhile and watched a movie before going to the train station. At 2:30 a.m., we boarded our train for the five hour ride to Melbourne. Needless to say, we slept the whole way. I have to say, after all this traveling, I've gotten really used to sleeping upright in pretty uncomfortable positions. We arrived in Melbourne around 8:30 a.m.; we went straight to our hostel to check in. After finding a map, we navigated our way to the intersection of Franklin and Elizabeth Street--and found Melbourne International Backpackers. I've also gotten pretty good at navigating cities via the old-fashioned paper map. It's actually a pretty powerful feeling, being able to navigate a city soon after arriving. I've also gotten pretty used to hostel-living. Hostels are such interesting things... people come and go so often, and there's a certain type of person that usually stays in a hostel. I've encountered many a backpackers... they're usually young, living cheaply, and willing to meet anyone and everyone they come across. At Melbourne International Backpackers, the kitchen was a common gathering area for everyone. At all times, people were talking, singing, and playing guitars in the kitchen.
Friday, April 22nd: So after arriving a the hostel and cleaning up a bit, we walked around the city all day. Two of the girls in our hostel room had a guide book which suggested a certain walking route around the city... so we did that. We passed so many small shops, horses and carriages, and statues. We stopped briefly for lunch. After lunch, we went to a free museum, the "Australian Center for the Moving Image." It was basically a museum all about movies and television shows; it described everything from the invention of moving picture to modern technology used in movies. It was really interesting. Later that night, we went to a free comedy show in Federation Square (pretty much the center of the city). Ever year around this time there's a huge comedy tour that comes through Melbourne, and it happened to be last weekend when we were there!
Saturday, April 23rd: The Great Ocean Road! In total, thirteen of my friends went to Melbourne, so we all met up on Saturday to take a tour along the Great Ocean Road, which stretches from Torquay (just south of Melbourne) further south to Warrnambool. It is the world's largest war memorial, as it was built by soldiers who had come back from World War I to commemorate soldiers who had fallen during the war. Because it was Easter weekend, our tour guide thought it would be best to travel the road backwards, so we started at the end. At the end are the 12 Apostles, which are famous limestone rock formations just off the coast. Another famous rock formation is the London Arch, formerly known as London Bridge (that was before the bridge part of the rock formation broke and fell into the ocean). Actually, two people had walked across the bridge before it fell... while they were taking pictures the bridge fell into the water. They were later rescued by helicopter, but neither wanted to show their face on television (as news crews had come to capture the event)... both we wearing wedding rings, not to each other. Further down the road we stopped to see wild koalas! Apparently koalas are pretty feral (wild), so you're not allowed to touch them. They sleep about 20 hours a day, so they're not too much of a threat. We stopped at a bunch of other pretty sites as well. The Rip Curl Pro, the biggest surfing competition of the year, was taking place on Sunday, the day after we were on the Great Ocean Road! The competition takes place at Bell Beach, which we passed by at the end of our trip on the road. Actually, I saw the grand stands set up for fans to watch the Rip Curl Pro. I REALLY wish I could have seen it... the world's greatest surfers all in one spot. We got home pretty late so we all just went to bed!
Sunday, April 24th: Easter Sunday! I actually ended up going to church by myself because there were no other Catholics in the group I went with. The church I went to was really nice; it was pretty big so I couldn't seven see the alter from where I was sitting. The Chamber Strings of Melbourne played all the songs during mass, so that was really nice. Easter Sunday was the first time I've been homesick since being on this trip... it was my first time away from home for Easter! After mass, I met up with everyone to go to brunch. Following brunch, we went to the Queen Victoria Markets, which was really similar to the Syracuse farmer's market. We bought fresh strawberries! (Made me think of you Collin!) Later that night, we made our way to Neverland convention center on the outskirts of Melbourne to go to a paint party! There's this tour company called Dayglow that hosts paint parties all around the world... Dayglow markets itself as the "world's largest paint party." Inside Neverland, everything was covered with white sheets and there were black lights everywhere. There were girls covered in paint dancing on ledges and men dancing and waving glow sticks around. We were there for around an hour and a half when the huge screen above the stage started a countdown until PAINT TIME! The DJ's were playing great music... everyone was excited for the paint to start falling from the sky. Finally, the Dayglow staff started spraying paint EVERYWHERE all over EVERYONE! They shot paint from paint guns, were dumping it on people from buckets, and from individual bottles. It was actually one of the most fun parties I've ever been to... everyone was covered in paint and dancing the night away. Three times throughout the night they sprayed paint on everyone! Just so awesome. At the end of the night, we had to walk home... through the heart of Melbourne all covered in paint. Since the party ended at 3:30 a.m., we were hungry, so we all went to Macca's (McDonald's)! Such a great night!
Monday, April 25th: On Monday we all just walked around Melbourne again, shopping at small boutiques. At night, we went to St. Kilda, which is home to wild penguins! We went there at night, so the penguins came out from under the rocks near a pier. We couldn't take pictures using a flash, so I only got a few good pictures. Either way, it was really neat to see penguins out in the wild.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Road Tripping from Brisbane to Cairns
And I'm back from my wonderful Spring Break! Below you will find a detailed account of my travels up the east coast of sunny Australia.
Saturday, April 9th: My trip started off with a bang when I woke up extremely late to catch the train to the airport. I was traveling with my friends Megan, Keith, and John; we had to catch a train at 6:30 a.m. at the Fairy Meadow train station (a five to ten minute walk away from my dorm). Well we all woke up at 6:00 a.m. and had to hurry to the train station to buy our tickets. No worries though, we made it on the train, ready for the hour and a half ride to the Sydney Airport. We boarded our plane around 10:10 a.m. and arrived in Brisbane around 12:15. Our friends who were already in Cairns were supposed to pick us up at the airport with the caravans we would be traveling in, but that didn't really work out--we had to meet them instead where they were getting groceries for our four day road trip. Three hours, one train ride, one long walk and two buses rides later, we met up with our friends to drive to Cairns. Our caravans, or rather mini-vans, were so great! There was a small sink and cupboards in the back and the whole middle section could be converted to either a huge bed or a table with two benches. We set off for our first destination--Inskip Point. We drove five hours to reach our destination; upon reaching Inskip Point (located in Harvey Bay) we found the caravan park we'd be staying in for the night. The caravan park was literally right on the beach (it was dark out, but we could tell by the sandy ground and sound of crashing waves close by). Actually, there was so much sand that one of the caravans got stuck trying to pill in to a campsite. It took six people about 20 minutes to push our van out of the sand! We pitched two tents (three people slept in each caravan and two people slept in each tent) and went to bed almost immediately (traveling is tiring).
Sunday, April 10th: We all woke up early and took a walk on the beach we were parked near. There we saw several people fishing and three WILD HORSES! The night before we had seen two (and almost hit one of them). Even though 8 people were taking pictures of them, the horses never moved. We all got dressed, ate breakfast (cereal and milk), brushed our teeth, and packed up the vans fairly quickly. About ten minutes from the campsite was a ferry to Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island. Naturally, we wanted to travel to this island to take in the vast amount of beach. We walked to a ferry, which at first glance, looked like an industrial ferry which carried vans and trucks across to the island. Being innocent tourists, we rode on the ferry to Fraser Island (the island was actually so close you could see it from the coast). We didn't plan our arrival to the island very well because the point at which we landed was just a regular beach, several kilometers away from the sandy pictures found in tour and guide books. So we spent about 3 hours at Fraser Island, walking along and laying on the beach. At 11:00 a.m. or so we left and got back on the road to head to a town just short of the Whitsunday Islands. We drove for about 5 hours before we stopped for dinner on the side of the road. We made quesadillas for ten people with just a small propane tank and one pan! So there we were, ten college students, cooking quesadillas in the parking lot behind a gas station. Gotta love it. We got back on the road and drove for another three hours; instead of stopping at our intended destination (just short of the Whitsundays), we continued driving on to the Whitsundays. By the time we arrived near the marina where we would leave for the Whitsunday Islands, it was about 1:00 a.m. and unfortunately, there was no where to park our caravan for the night. After being denied from 3 caravan parks, 1 marina parking lot, and a McDonald's parking lot, we settled for parking on the side of the road. Seven people in our group fell asleep... myself and two other girls were too scared to fall asleep so we kept turning on our van flashers for two hours! Not a fun night. We left the side of the road at 5:15 a.m. to drive to a McDonald's parking lot--thank God they let us stay there for the morning!
Monday, April 11th: After brushing our teeth and washing our faces in McDonald's, we drove to a marina to board a big boat, which took us around the Whitsunday Islands. Our first stop was Day Dream Island, which was home to a mini tourist-like resort. We swam in a nice pool and layed on the beach for a long time. We got back on the boat and traveled to Whithaven Beach, which has been virtually untouched by man! It was so wonderful. They made us wear these "sting suits" so we wouldn't get stung by jellyfish (we actually found some on the beach--they were tiny, clear jellyfish the shape of small ravioli's). For two hours we played frisbee and swam in the ocean. After getting back to shore, we stayed at a caravan park in the same town. For dinner we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, as well as "mi goreng," the Australian version of Ramen noodles.
Tuesday, April 12th: We woke up at 6:45 a.m. and headed on the road towards Cairns! During our six hour drive we stopped to eat lunch and climbed Castle Hill. We also stopped at three of the "Big" objects located between Brisbane and Cairns. The three big things we stopped to take pictures with were a mango, a bird, and a rain boot. Unfortunately, we didn't stop for the big mower or big bottle of rum earlier in the road trip. We arrived in Cairns at about 8:00 p.m. (after about a half hour of getting lost trying to find our hostel... actually we got lost a lot!). My friends Keith and Megan and I stayed at a hostel separate from the rest of the group; it was so cute--they decorated everything with Australian animals and the kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms were very cozy. They gave us a voucher to eat at a local restaurant/bar, so we took the shuttle from the hostel to the restaurant at 8:40 p.m. After eating we met up with friends and experienced some Cairns night life!
Wednesday, April 13th: We all woke up and went to the nearest Coles (a supermarket) to get breakfast. Instead of going on an $80 tour to several waterfalls throughout the rain forest north of Cairns, we just took our caravans on the tour route. So, from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. we visited six really cool waterfalls throughout the rain forest. Some we saw from afar and some we were able to go directly underneath. That was actually the first time I've done that--swim underneath a waterfall and look at the world outside from inside the waterfall. We also went to a local lake; it was SO nice to swim in fresh water! Many local kids hung out at that lake, so they showed us a tree you could jump off of into the water. By the time we visited the last waterfall it was dark out, so we couldn't really see it; however, we did see a ton of lightning bugs on the walk back to the car. Nothing like walking on a path through the Australian rain forest surrounded by flashing lightning bugs. We went back to our hostels and had more fun later that night with all our friends from the University of Wollongong (who were also in Cairns)!
Thursday, April 14th: Due to financial restraints, I couldn't go bungee jumping with some of the people I was traveling with. However, I did have a GREAT did with my friend Keith; we walked around Cairns all day exploring the local sites. Keith and I first went to a museum that was showcasing Torres Strait Islander artwork (Aboriginal Australians that lived on the North coast). Later, we helped clean out our caravans and got lunch with a few of our friends. After lunch, we went to an animal sanctuary that was actually located on the top of the Cairns Casino. The sanctuary was actually pretty small, but there were so many animals. One of the reasons they could fit so many animals in such a small space was because they let a lot of the animals just run around free! No cages or pens. Yes, the 7 foot saltwater crocodile was in a tank, and the koalas were in a special area, but pretty much everything else scampered around the floor and air... birds, possums, wallabies, and ducks. Definite highlight of the day was cuddling a koala! We really only held them for 10 seconds, but it was really wonderful nonetheless (I'll be posting that picture to Facebook soon.) After the animal sanctuary, we went to the casino, the lagoon (a huge pool area), and ate crepes... lots of crepes. We also went to the local market, which had a lot of cheap souvenirs.
Friday, April 15th: The start of our reef adventure! We boarded a small boat, which actually really wasn't that small at all, which took us to the boat we'd be staying on overnight. On the smaller boat, we all went snorkeling once. If I never go snorkeling again it'll be okay because I went SNORKELING ON THE GREAT BARRIER REEF! What a life I lead. The coral was so beautiful and the marine wildlife was so abundant. At some parts, the reef was so close to the top of the water, that when you were floating you could touch the reef with your hand. Actually, when I was that close, I got really scared I was going to kick the coral and break it (so I didn't go in shallow parts like that often). After our first snorkel trip, we sailed to the second boat. The crew on our ship was great--they were so inviting and friendly. The first thing they told us--no shoes on the boat! About twenty minutes after we arrived on the boat it was snorkel time again! Every 1.5 hours or so, it was dive time. Embracing spontaneity a little bit, I decided to go scuba diving on a whim! Three of my friends and I went diving (we were first-timers; a bunch of my other friends on the boat were scuba certified). As soon as I jumped in the water I sank, which was kind of scary because I had this huge oxygen tank on my back. The guide soon swam over and inflated me... He taught us how to blow water out of goggles underwater and breath into the mouthpiece. So after approximately five minutes of instruction we were ready to dive! Kind of sketchy looking back now. But it was AWESOME! Our guide took us approximately 15 meters down. We got to go in between some of the coral formations, touch a sea cucumber (actually toss a sea cucumber around), and swim underneath our ship. Diving was unexpectedly very painful; every three meters down you went you had to equalize your ear pressure. So every few minutes we had to blow hard and pop our ears... not a very comfortable sensation. Regardless, I'm glad I had the opportunity to scuba dive. We had both lunch and dinner on the boat; the food was actually really delicious. In between dives we layed on the sun deck and went in the hot tub. At night, a lot of my scuba-diving friends went night diving. After they came back from night-diving, we all went up to the sun deck and layed down, staring up at the starry night sky. That was also really special, to be laying out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, with ten of your best friends, looking up at the clear night sky.
Saturday, April 16th: Saturday carried out much like Friday... snorkeling every two hours and eating and sun bathing inbetween. Every time I went out I was usually with someone different, sometimes I was by myself. I saw a sting ray, two sea turtles, a huge eel (probably 6 or 7 feet long), and tons of fish. For those of you who've seen "Finding Nemo," I saw many "Nemo's" (clown fish), "Dori's," and "Gill's." I also saw so many packs/herds/groups (?) of fish. Some were all black and quite large and some were small, blue, and silver. We were sad to leave the boat and the crew at the end of the day.
Sunday, April 17th: Time to go home! Keith, Megan, and I left our hostel at 3:30 a.m. to catch our 6:30 a.m. flight. Needless to say we were tired for most of the day and sad that our wonderful vacation had ended. But... we were all excited to head to Melbourne in five days! (which I'll be writing about next)
Saturday, April 9th: My trip started off with a bang when I woke up extremely late to catch the train to the airport. I was traveling with my friends Megan, Keith, and John; we had to catch a train at 6:30 a.m. at the Fairy Meadow train station (a five to ten minute walk away from my dorm). Well we all woke up at 6:00 a.m. and had to hurry to the train station to buy our tickets. No worries though, we made it on the train, ready for the hour and a half ride to the Sydney Airport. We boarded our plane around 10:10 a.m. and arrived in Brisbane around 12:15. Our friends who were already in Cairns were supposed to pick us up at the airport with the caravans we would be traveling in, but that didn't really work out--we had to meet them instead where they were getting groceries for our four day road trip. Three hours, one train ride, one long walk and two buses rides later, we met up with our friends to drive to Cairns. Our caravans, or rather mini-vans, were so great! There was a small sink and cupboards in the back and the whole middle section could be converted to either a huge bed or a table with two benches. We set off for our first destination--Inskip Point. We drove five hours to reach our destination; upon reaching Inskip Point (located in Harvey Bay) we found the caravan park we'd be staying in for the night. The caravan park was literally right on the beach (it was dark out, but we could tell by the sandy ground and sound of crashing waves close by). Actually, there was so much sand that one of the caravans got stuck trying to pill in to a campsite. It took six people about 20 minutes to push our van out of the sand! We pitched two tents (three people slept in each caravan and two people slept in each tent) and went to bed almost immediately (traveling is tiring).
Sunday, April 10th: We all woke up early and took a walk on the beach we were parked near. There we saw several people fishing and three WILD HORSES! The night before we had seen two (and almost hit one of them). Even though 8 people were taking pictures of them, the horses never moved. We all got dressed, ate breakfast (cereal and milk), brushed our teeth, and packed up the vans fairly quickly. About ten minutes from the campsite was a ferry to Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island. Naturally, we wanted to travel to this island to take in the vast amount of beach. We walked to a ferry, which at first glance, looked like an industrial ferry which carried vans and trucks across to the island. Being innocent tourists, we rode on the ferry to Fraser Island (the island was actually so close you could see it from the coast). We didn't plan our arrival to the island very well because the point at which we landed was just a regular beach, several kilometers away from the sandy pictures found in tour and guide books. So we spent about 3 hours at Fraser Island, walking along and laying on the beach. At 11:00 a.m. or so we left and got back on the road to head to a town just short of the Whitsunday Islands. We drove for about 5 hours before we stopped for dinner on the side of the road. We made quesadillas for ten people with just a small propane tank and one pan! So there we were, ten college students, cooking quesadillas in the parking lot behind a gas station. Gotta love it. We got back on the road and drove for another three hours; instead of stopping at our intended destination (just short of the Whitsundays), we continued driving on to the Whitsundays. By the time we arrived near the marina where we would leave for the Whitsunday Islands, it was about 1:00 a.m. and unfortunately, there was no where to park our caravan for the night. After being denied from 3 caravan parks, 1 marina parking lot, and a McDonald's parking lot, we settled for parking on the side of the road. Seven people in our group fell asleep... myself and two other girls were too scared to fall asleep so we kept turning on our van flashers for two hours! Not a fun night. We left the side of the road at 5:15 a.m. to drive to a McDonald's parking lot--thank God they let us stay there for the morning!
Monday, April 11th: After brushing our teeth and washing our faces in McDonald's, we drove to a marina to board a big boat, which took us around the Whitsunday Islands. Our first stop was Day Dream Island, which was home to a mini tourist-like resort. We swam in a nice pool and layed on the beach for a long time. We got back on the boat and traveled to Whithaven Beach, which has been virtually untouched by man! It was so wonderful. They made us wear these "sting suits" so we wouldn't get stung by jellyfish (we actually found some on the beach--they were tiny, clear jellyfish the shape of small ravioli's). For two hours we played frisbee and swam in the ocean. After getting back to shore, we stayed at a caravan park in the same town. For dinner we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, as well as "mi goreng," the Australian version of Ramen noodles.
Tuesday, April 12th: We woke up at 6:45 a.m. and headed on the road towards Cairns! During our six hour drive we stopped to eat lunch and climbed Castle Hill. We also stopped at three of the "Big" objects located between Brisbane and Cairns. The three big things we stopped to take pictures with were a mango, a bird, and a rain boot. Unfortunately, we didn't stop for the big mower or big bottle of rum earlier in the road trip. We arrived in Cairns at about 8:00 p.m. (after about a half hour of getting lost trying to find our hostel... actually we got lost a lot!). My friends Keith and Megan and I stayed at a hostel separate from the rest of the group; it was so cute--they decorated everything with Australian animals and the kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms were very cozy. They gave us a voucher to eat at a local restaurant/bar, so we took the shuttle from the hostel to the restaurant at 8:40 p.m. After eating we met up with friends and experienced some Cairns night life!
Wednesday, April 13th: We all woke up and went to the nearest Coles (a supermarket) to get breakfast. Instead of going on an $80 tour to several waterfalls throughout the rain forest north of Cairns, we just took our caravans on the tour route. So, from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. we visited six really cool waterfalls throughout the rain forest. Some we saw from afar and some we were able to go directly underneath. That was actually the first time I've done that--swim underneath a waterfall and look at the world outside from inside the waterfall. We also went to a local lake; it was SO nice to swim in fresh water! Many local kids hung out at that lake, so they showed us a tree you could jump off of into the water. By the time we visited the last waterfall it was dark out, so we couldn't really see it; however, we did see a ton of lightning bugs on the walk back to the car. Nothing like walking on a path through the Australian rain forest surrounded by flashing lightning bugs. We went back to our hostels and had more fun later that night with all our friends from the University of Wollongong (who were also in Cairns)!
Thursday, April 14th: Due to financial restraints, I couldn't go bungee jumping with some of the people I was traveling with. However, I did have a GREAT did with my friend Keith; we walked around Cairns all day exploring the local sites. Keith and I first went to a museum that was showcasing Torres Strait Islander artwork (Aboriginal Australians that lived on the North coast). Later, we helped clean out our caravans and got lunch with a few of our friends. After lunch, we went to an animal sanctuary that was actually located on the top of the Cairns Casino. The sanctuary was actually pretty small, but there were so many animals. One of the reasons they could fit so many animals in such a small space was because they let a lot of the animals just run around free! No cages or pens. Yes, the 7 foot saltwater crocodile was in a tank, and the koalas were in a special area, but pretty much everything else scampered around the floor and air... birds, possums, wallabies, and ducks. Definite highlight of the day was cuddling a koala! We really only held them for 10 seconds, but it was really wonderful nonetheless (I'll be posting that picture to Facebook soon.) After the animal sanctuary, we went to the casino, the lagoon (a huge pool area), and ate crepes... lots of crepes. We also went to the local market, which had a lot of cheap souvenirs.
Friday, April 15th: The start of our reef adventure! We boarded a small boat, which actually really wasn't that small at all, which took us to the boat we'd be staying on overnight. On the smaller boat, we all went snorkeling once. If I never go snorkeling again it'll be okay because I went SNORKELING ON THE GREAT BARRIER REEF! What a life I lead. The coral was so beautiful and the marine wildlife was so abundant. At some parts, the reef was so close to the top of the water, that when you were floating you could touch the reef with your hand. Actually, when I was that close, I got really scared I was going to kick the coral and break it (so I didn't go in shallow parts like that often). After our first snorkel trip, we sailed to the second boat. The crew on our ship was great--they were so inviting and friendly. The first thing they told us--no shoes on the boat! About twenty minutes after we arrived on the boat it was snorkel time again! Every 1.5 hours or so, it was dive time. Embracing spontaneity a little bit, I decided to go scuba diving on a whim! Three of my friends and I went diving (we were first-timers; a bunch of my other friends on the boat were scuba certified). As soon as I jumped in the water I sank, which was kind of scary because I had this huge oxygen tank on my back. The guide soon swam over and inflated me... He taught us how to blow water out of goggles underwater and breath into the mouthpiece. So after approximately five minutes of instruction we were ready to dive! Kind of sketchy looking back now. But it was AWESOME! Our guide took us approximately 15 meters down. We got to go in between some of the coral formations, touch a sea cucumber (actually toss a sea cucumber around), and swim underneath our ship. Diving was unexpectedly very painful; every three meters down you went you had to equalize your ear pressure. So every few minutes we had to blow hard and pop our ears... not a very comfortable sensation. Regardless, I'm glad I had the opportunity to scuba dive. We had both lunch and dinner on the boat; the food was actually really delicious. In between dives we layed on the sun deck and went in the hot tub. At night, a lot of my scuba-diving friends went night diving. After they came back from night-diving, we all went up to the sun deck and layed down, staring up at the starry night sky. That was also really special, to be laying out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, with ten of your best friends, looking up at the clear night sky.
Saturday, April 16th: Saturday carried out much like Friday... snorkeling every two hours and eating and sun bathing inbetween. Every time I went out I was usually with someone different, sometimes I was by myself. I saw a sting ray, two sea turtles, a huge eel (probably 6 or 7 feet long), and tons of fish. For those of you who've seen "Finding Nemo," I saw many "Nemo's" (clown fish), "Dori's," and "Gill's." I also saw so many packs/herds/groups (?) of fish. Some were all black and quite large and some were small, blue, and silver. We were sad to leave the boat and the crew at the end of the day.
Sunday, April 17th: Time to go home! Keith, Megan, and I left our hostel at 3:30 a.m. to catch our 6:30 a.m. flight. Needless to say we were tired for most of the day and sad that our wonderful vacation had ended. But... we were all excited to head to Melbourne in five days! (which I'll be writing about next)
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Latest Update
So far, this week has been good! On Monday I had a physics test, which was quite difficult. Tuesday and Wednesday I didn't do much. Today, Thursday, my friends and I got ready for our upcoming trip to Brisbane and Cairns.
Ten of my friends and I are flying to Brisbane, Queensland Saturday morning. After arriving in Brisbane, we are going to pick up two caravans and drive north toward Cairns, Queensland (which is where the Great Barrier Reef is). Over the course of four days, we're going to drive a total of 20 or so hours and stop at some of the best beaches in Australia. We're driving through the Sunshine Coast (just north of the infamous Gold Coast) to Fraser Island, which is infamous for its sandy white beaches. After Fraser Island, we're going to the Whitsunday Islands, which is a group of 74 islands that outline the GBR. We're going on a sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands for the day. Between Fraser Island and Whitsunday Island, we'll be stopping at anything that looks interesting, such as the Steve Irwin Zoo! It's going to be a true road trip; we'll be living out of our caravans. Each night we're going to stay at campsites; three people can stay in each caravan and everyone else will be sleeping in tents.
After arriving in Cairns, we'll be living on a boat for two days (one night) snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. Actually, some people have their scuba diving licenses', so they'll be scuba diving. We also plan on visiting a nearby rainforest and just chilling on the beach one day.
It's going to be a fantastic trip! So I'll update my blog when I get back : )
Ten of my friends and I are flying to Brisbane, Queensland Saturday morning. After arriving in Brisbane, we are going to pick up two caravans and drive north toward Cairns, Queensland (which is where the Great Barrier Reef is). Over the course of four days, we're going to drive a total of 20 or so hours and stop at some of the best beaches in Australia. We're driving through the Sunshine Coast (just north of the infamous Gold Coast) to Fraser Island, which is infamous for its sandy white beaches. After Fraser Island, we're going to the Whitsunday Islands, which is a group of 74 islands that outline the GBR. We're going on a sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands for the day. Between Fraser Island and Whitsunday Island, we'll be stopping at anything that looks interesting, such as the Steve Irwin Zoo! It's going to be a true road trip; we'll be living out of our caravans. Each night we're going to stay at campsites; three people can stay in each caravan and everyone else will be sleeping in tents.
After arriving in Cairns, we'll be living on a boat for two days (one night) snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. Actually, some people have their scuba diving licenses', so they'll be scuba diving. We also plan on visiting a nearby rainforest and just chilling on the beach one day.
It's going to be a fantastic trip! So I'll update my blog when I get back : )
Monday, April 4, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Free Falling in Wollongong
This past Friday, I did what most people say when asked "What's on your bucket list"; I went SKYDIVING! It was probably one of the most thrilling things I've ever experienced in my life.
Five of my friends and I booked our sky diving trip through "Skydive the Beach," a skydiving company that operates out of three different cities, including Sydney. The Sydney location is actually in Wollongong, right near where I live. Their jumpers land only a few meters away from the beach. After I got out of class at 12:30 (which I was hardly paying attention to), I took the free shuttle bus to the office right near North Beach in Wollongong. They weighed me and I signed a bunch of release forms... pretty much signing my life away to a contract that said "Skydiving is dangerous; people have injured or killed themselves from partaking in this activity. Awesome; I was going to throw myself out of a plane knowing I could severely injure myself. Here's to being spontaneous and daring while abroad! After signing all the release forms, we suited up in special pants and clipped on inflatable gear (that was tightly packed in a phanny-pack thing, in case of an emergency water landing). The company we skydived with only had four landings while they've been in operation. After suiting up, a skydive instructor taught us the proper way to fall out of the plane and land. We then took a 20 minute bus ride to a small airfield. My instructor, Andy, was the last one to get in the plane, so we ended up sitting right near the clear glass door. The airplane was pretty small, so you pretty much had to sit in your instructor's lap. The ride up in the air was beautiful! I got to see the coast of Wollongong and Fairy Meadow. The ocean was so crystal blue and beaches stretched along the entire coast. As we flew higher, Andy kept showing me how far we'd risen and how far we had to go... 9,000 more feet, 5,000 more feet. When we were three miles (6,000 miles) from our destination, a red light went on and all the instructors started strapping in their divers. Up to that point, I was only loosely strapped in to my gear, but Andy pulled everything tighter and attached my gear to his. Then an orange light when on, which signaled we had one mile to go (2,000 feet). By that time I was breathing hard and getting much more nervous... that's when skydiving started to feel real. "Yes, in about three minutes, I am going to jump out of this plane." At one point early in the plane ride, I said to my instructor "You're name's Andy, right?" And he said "You don't know my name yet! I'm going to save your life." Which he literally was going to do; my life depended on him. So the final light went off and Andy pulled open the clear door. So now I'm two feet from the edge of the plane that has no wall separating me from the outside. Andy and I moved in unison to the edge of the plane. I had to hook my feet under the plane as Andy held a bar inside the plane. After about four seconds, which actually seemed like three minutes, we fell/jumped out of the plane! Andy pulled my head back to make sure we fell flat (not a ball, like in the fetal position). The whole free fall went so fast I don't even remember looking down. There was just so much wind and so little resistance. It felt like what you think falling through the air feels like. I specifically remember falling through a cloud and thinking "This is so awesome... I literally just felt a cloud." I forgot that falling through thousands of feet of air was a big pressure change, so my ears starting popping alot, which actually kind of hurt. I also remember right at the end of the free fall wanting to stop because it was a little cold and my ears were killing me! Andy pulled the parachute and we glided down the next couple thousand feet. He let me steer a little bit, so we did flips and turns in the air with the parachcute. I felt like a bit of a weakling when I couldn't pull the straps hard enough to steer. We landed safely on the grass. I felt so dizzy and I couldn't hear anything! To top it off, when Andy unstrapped and stood next to me, he pointed to my cheek and said "You got something right there." I had spit all up the side of my face... attractive. I guess that's what happens when you're screaming and your spit doesn't fall prey to gravity; it falls prey to the air you're zooming past.
Overall, great time; I would absolutely do it again. I felt so alive--I know that feels corny, but you trying jumping out of a plane that high in the air! I bought the video, so I'm going to post that soon. Be prepared for a good laugh.
Five of my friends and I booked our sky diving trip through "Skydive the Beach," a skydiving company that operates out of three different cities, including Sydney. The Sydney location is actually in Wollongong, right near where I live. Their jumpers land only a few meters away from the beach. After I got out of class at 12:30 (which I was hardly paying attention to), I took the free shuttle bus to the office right near North Beach in Wollongong. They weighed me and I signed a bunch of release forms... pretty much signing my life away to a contract that said "Skydiving is dangerous; people have injured or killed themselves from partaking in this activity. Awesome; I was going to throw myself out of a plane knowing I could severely injure myself. Here's to being spontaneous and daring while abroad! After signing all the release forms, we suited up in special pants and clipped on inflatable gear (that was tightly packed in a phanny-pack thing, in case of an emergency water landing). The company we skydived with only had four landings while they've been in operation. After suiting up, a skydive instructor taught us the proper way to fall out of the plane and land. We then took a 20 minute bus ride to a small airfield. My instructor, Andy, was the last one to get in the plane, so we ended up sitting right near the clear glass door. The airplane was pretty small, so you pretty much had to sit in your instructor's lap. The ride up in the air was beautiful! I got to see the coast of Wollongong and Fairy Meadow. The ocean was so crystal blue and beaches stretched along the entire coast. As we flew higher, Andy kept showing me how far we'd risen and how far we had to go... 9,000 more feet, 5,000 more feet. When we were three miles (6,000 miles) from our destination, a red light went on and all the instructors started strapping in their divers. Up to that point, I was only loosely strapped in to my gear, but Andy pulled everything tighter and attached my gear to his. Then an orange light when on, which signaled we had one mile to go (2,000 feet). By that time I was breathing hard and getting much more nervous... that's when skydiving started to feel real. "Yes, in about three minutes, I am going to jump out of this plane." At one point early in the plane ride, I said to my instructor "You're name's Andy, right?" And he said "You don't know my name yet! I'm going to save your life." Which he literally was going to do; my life depended on him. So the final light went off and Andy pulled open the clear door. So now I'm two feet from the edge of the plane that has no wall separating me from the outside. Andy and I moved in unison to the edge of the plane. I had to hook my feet under the plane as Andy held a bar inside the plane. After about four seconds, which actually seemed like three minutes, we fell/jumped out of the plane! Andy pulled my head back to make sure we fell flat (not a ball, like in the fetal position). The whole free fall went so fast I don't even remember looking down. There was just so much wind and so little resistance. It felt like what you think falling through the air feels like. I specifically remember falling through a cloud and thinking "This is so awesome... I literally just felt a cloud." I forgot that falling through thousands of feet of air was a big pressure change, so my ears starting popping alot, which actually kind of hurt. I also remember right at the end of the free fall wanting to stop because it was a little cold and my ears were killing me! Andy pulled the parachute and we glided down the next couple thousand feet. He let me steer a little bit, so we did flips and turns in the air with the parachcute. I felt like a bit of a weakling when I couldn't pull the straps hard enough to steer. We landed safely on the grass. I felt so dizzy and I couldn't hear anything! To top it off, when Andy unstrapped and stood next to me, he pointed to my cheek and said "You got something right there." I had spit all up the side of my face... attractive. I guess that's what happens when you're screaming and your spit doesn't fall prey to gravity; it falls prey to the air you're zooming past.
Overall, great time; I would absolutely do it again. I felt so alive--I know that feels corny, but you trying jumping out of a plane that high in the air! I bought the video, so I'm going to post that soon. Be prepared for a good laugh.
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