Heron Island- Paradise Under Water

After a two hour delay due to plane maintenance we were out of the outback and into Brisbane city. I was disappointed we got in to the city at night because it truly is a beautiful place filled with modern architecture and beautiful bridges (one of which was designed by the same person who did the harbor bridge in Sydney). We arrive at our hotel, exhausted after our full day of travel, around 10:30 pm. It was a beautiful hotel located just in sight of the city’s botanical gardens, which we could see in the morning were in full bloom.  It was by far the nicest hotel we had stayed at along our journey. Unfortunately, we had a shuttle service picking us up at 6:30 am the next morning for our flight in to Gladstone so we didn’t get much time there.

                We arrived into Gladstone, and let me tell you, there is not much to see there. It is a very industrial town full of mining locations and huge exporting ships on the harbor. We boarded the “Heron Islander” which is the catamaran that transports people to and from the island. From there it was about a 2 hour journey to Heron Island. We were all shocked at the islands beauty and crystal blue water as we pulled in to the wharf. Just by glancing down from the boat we could see the bight colored coral and fish that populated the famous Great Barrier Reef. Before exiting the boat we saw well over three reef sharks, huge sting rays, sea turtles and fish that made up every color of the rainbow.

                Upon our arrival we were given complementary drinks and served an amazing buffet style lunch out by the pool. Mom and Doris enjoyed their first pavlova, which is a traditional Christmas time Australian desert. We made our way to our room to change in to our swimming gear and found our luggage had been hand delivered. The room was beautiful with a view to die for! It was only about a 10 meter walk to the start of the ocean. At low tide you could walk out for about a mile exploring the reef and marine life without the water rising much above your knees. Doris, Mom and I did just that for about an hour and couldn’t believe all the different types of fish, coral, and visibility of the water.

                Soon after, we all decided to go for a snorkel in the harbor. It was so neat to be up close and personal with the different types of fish and to observe all the different corals and plants that make up their environment.  Mom really enjoyed her first snorkel with the fishys. We took a quick shower and headed to dinner which was included at the resort. Every meal, may I add, was amazing. After a delicious dinner we headed to the helicopter pad located near the harbor to look at the stars. A guide pointed out the different constellations and planets that were visible. An interesting fact I learned was that the southern cross (a constellation which can only be seen in the southern hemisphere) is only visible during the winter and fall seasons because of the lighting and placement in the sky. I was disappointed that Doris and Mom weren’t able to see this (I have many times before) but the clarity of the sky and other stars out that night sure made up for it.

                The next morning I got up early for a yummy breakfast and my scuba instruction session. The instructor briefed me on the equipment before heading to the pool for practice. My first breath under water was a bit shocking. It is not the same feeling you get when you take a normal breath on land but more constricted and short. After getting use to it I was able to relax and concentrate on other things like equalizing my ears as I increased depth and inflating and deflating my BCB (scuba vest) which controlled my buoyancy level. I was excited but very nervous to get leave the pool and put my practice to the test 15 meters below the surface on the Great Barrier Reef.

                After an hour coffee break me and the rest of the intro scuba group (a French couple on their honeymoon) headed to the dive boat for departure to the outer reef. We geared up, check our air tank levels, and took a giant (I wish I could stay graceful) step into the ocean. We then followed the ropes down to the bottom of the reef. My ears didn’t exactly agree with the climb down to the bottom but we went gradually, equalized our ear and sinus pressure along the way. Once we were to the very bottom the instructor signaled for us to let go of the rope and let the current take us down the reef. Not long after that the other girl in my group started to panic because she didn’t like the feeling of restricted breathing and following the current. She spun around quickly (managing to hit me in the head with her steal air tank) and started to swim towards the surface. Our instructor motioned us to swim up as well to take care of the problem. Once we surfaced she decided diving wasn’t for her and chose to go back to the boat. So the instructor, the other guy and I re-submerged ourselves to the bottom to begin our adventure along the reef.

                It was scary at first and difficult to get use to because the current was really strong. It was important to relax and let yourself go with it and not fight against it (dodging reefs and sharp coral was often an obstacle). Once I relaxed, I was able to see the natural beauty of this new underwater world I had never seen or experienced up close and personal. We saw so many different types of bright colored fish that lived in the coral and reefs like little neighborhoods or communities. We also got to see a sea turtle in the distance and came up to a large spotted grouper about a meter long! It was amazing and I instantly knew when I reached the surface that I was hooked.  We returned to the island on the dive boat in time for lunch. I then spent the rest of the afternoon out by the pool enjoying the view and the amazing weather while Doris and Mom went out on the snorkel boat to begin their underwater adventure.

                They enjoyed their experience just as much as I did. It was an ongoing competition throughout the weekend to claim to have spotted cooler things under the water then the other had seen. Mom and Doris claim to have seen “hundreds” of sea turtles, sharks and even a whale (I leave that up to you to decide if they were telling the truth).  We all enjoyed a nice dinner talking about our new underwater experiences and how we were going to cram in another session before we left the next afternoon.

                After dinner we walked along the beach to see if we could see any sea turtles laying eggs because there had been a lot of previous spottings. We heard something up near the top of the dune and realized it was a sea turtle digging a role to lay its eggs. We watched (as much as we could see with the moonlight) this amazing process with another family and their two children.  We were not allowed to shine a light on the turtle until the digging process was over because it would distract the turtle. Once the turtle stopped we dimly shined our cell light over in the area of the noise and were shocked! The turtle was huge! About a meter long and wide (defiantly related to some kind of dinosaur).

                The next morning we ate breakfast by the pool and met at the harbor for our second underwater experiences. My second dive was even more enjoyable then the first. I saw so much more than I did the first time because we were underwater for about 45 minutes instead of about 20 because of the girl’s panic attack during my first dive. This dive came within 2 feet of a giant sea turtle and about 2 meters away from a reef shark. It was absolutely breathtaking and had a smile on my face the entire time. I couldn’t have had a better experience and I am now really interested in getting my diving license.

                After lunch we headed down to the harbor to catch the catamaran back to Gladstone. We took our final pictures and were jealous of the people filling our spots on the island. We had an amazing trip. It was by far one of my favorite and nicest places I have been to in Australia. I was very fortunate to get to share that experience with family who enjoyed it just as much as I did.

                We are now back in Sydney and Mom and Doris have New Zealand to look forward to in the morning (Monday the 28^th).  They have a lot of fun stuff planned and I am excited that it is now their turn to experience the unique beauty New Zealand has to offer.  As for me, I have plans to celebrate my 21^st birthday in Sydney with a bunch of my friends from Wollongong. It will be good to see everyone again and spend some time with them before I have to head home. I then plan on doing a little road trip to some North beaches since I haven’t had much experience with the North coast yet. I might even head back to Wollongong to skydive for the day. My plans are pretty flexible until the 8^th of December when I meet Mom and Doris in Melbourne for our three day trip there. 

                Keep Doris and mom in your prayers for a safe and enjoyable trip to New Zealand and I will be keeping everyone posted as best as I can.

I can’t believe I leave this amazing country in two weeks! Can’t help but to have bittersweet feelings about the situation. I'm sorry there are no pictures for this blog. Unfortunatly, I droped my camera in the water the first day on the island so mom has all the pictures on her camera. But be looking for them on facebook soon!

Love you guys very much!

 xoxo

Hard Rock (but no cafe): Ayres Rock: Northern Territory, AUS

Just to give you a little visual picture of where I am at the moment I am sitting in one of the two gates in the entire airport, no air-conditioning, in the middle of the Australian outback. We have not been able to get accesses to any internet so far (they charge anywhere from 15-20 dollars an hour) so I will try to post this blog when I land in Sydney and have internet access. I would like to fill everyone in on our trip to the Northern Territory to see Ayers Rock.

            We flew in to Ayers Rock airport from Sydney Monday the 21st. After the 3 hour flight we picked up our suitcases, packed full with summer clothes and flip flops, and headed out to our resort shuttle. We were surprisingly greeted with 12 degree (Celsius) temperatures and pouring rain (and I thought we were going to the desert). Upon check in we were informed that our highly anticipated dinner in the desert had been cancelled that night due to the poor weather. We were very disappointed and the trip was not off to a good start.

We decided to make the most out of the day and shopped around in some of the local resort shops and art galleries. We also enjoyed a tasty lunch and coffee at one of the resort’s café. After some down time in the room we headed to the Outback Pioneer BBQ for dinner.

This place’s atmosphere was amazing. It was packed full of kind travelers, like ourselves, looking for something to do during the horrible weather. The way the BBQ worked was you first purchased your choice of meat and then cooked it yourself on one of the traditional Aussie BBQ’s they provided for you. The purchase of meat also included unlimited accessed to the buffet bar which consisted of fresh corn, baked potatoes, salad, fruit, pasta and potato salad, and bread pudding served with custard for desert.  After some debate we decided to go with the “outback meat platter”. This consisted of: 1 kangaroo skewer, 1 crocodile skewer, 1 prawn (shrimp) skewer, and 1 emu, 1 buffalo and 1 beef “snag” (sausage).  Mom and Doris’s first experience with true Aussie food: check. They even liked it!

            We woke up the next day not exactly to the sun shining but at least there was no rain. We took the 9am shuttle to the rock to explore for a couple of hours. Mom and Doris stayed together but I wanted to walk further around the base so I walked ahead. First of all the rock is HUGE! It is much bigger than I expected and it looked different at every angle and with every change of lighting. Even though we missed out on a day of good weather we were a part of the 4% of people who actually get to see water on the rock. It was a beautiful sight to see the water pouring down as water falls in all the crevasses of the rock.

Water on the rock

           It was amazing to finally experience the true culture of the aborigines. It was interesting to read the signs along the way to find out how exactly that area of rock was used by the aboriginals. For an example there was a women’s cave which you could see flat, smooth areas on the ground’s surface where they had ground seeds and berries together to prepare meals for their families. There was also the man’s cave (which for some reason was the biggest) where all the secrete ceremonies were held and women or children were not allowed in. There was also an elderly cave which was very small and if you looked up at the ceiling you could see multiple black spots from the fires they had made to guard the man’s cave so no intruders would come in. There were many areas of the rock which were considered sacred areas and no photographs could be taken. For an example in Kantju Gorge there was a sacred water hole which was used as the primary water source for the aboriginals and animals. The water was also used for ceremonies and it was expected of all the tourists to respect the area by being silent and not touching the water.

Kantju Gorge water hole

            After touring and walking parts of the rock we headed to the cultural center to read more about the aboriginal culture and walk though the shops and art galleries filled with local aboriginal artwork (which was breath-taking!). We even got a chance to watch two of the artists paint their work. It was neat to learn all the different meanings and stories behind the artwork. We then headed back to the resort where mom and Doris enjoyed their first Aussie fish n’ chips. Yummm J

            At 5:45pm we boarded the shuttle to the camel farm for our sunset camel ride. We arrived at the farm and got to pet and feed the baby camels. They were SOOOO cute and friendly! We then were briefed on some camel safety information and it was time to get on our camels. They were all very well trained and friendly (mine was the best J). Mom rode a camel named Big Wombat and mine and Doris’s camel was named Conner. We rode around though the desert and got to see the rock change from light orange, to a fire orange, to almost a purple color in reaction to the sunset. It was such a cool experience to be in the middle of the Australian outback on a camel watching the sun set over the red sand dunes.

Aryers Rock at sunset

We headed back to the barn and as we approached the stables Doris and I’s camel got a little spunky. Connor (my camel) decided to wait for me to take my hands off the balance bar to attempt to take a picture of the sunset to scoot quickly to the side followed by some jolty up and down motions I swear could be considered bucking. Lucky Doris and I survived with no major injuries. We were then served fresh homemade beer bread strait out of the oven and other yummy snacks and campaign back at the camel lodge. Everyone enjoyed the ride and had a blast. It was my favorite part of the trip.

Connor and I after a long ride :)

            We are now about to fly to Sydney and transfer to Brisbane where we will stay the night (Wed 23^rd). Tomorrow morning (Thur 24^th) we fly to Gladstone and take a ferry to Heron Island where we will stay for two nights. I plan to take my first scuba dive ever on the famous Great Barrier Reef on Friday. I am very excited about that and Doris and Mom are looking forward to their snorkel. We will leave Heron Island Saturday afternoon and stay in Gladstone for the night (Sat 26). We then will be flying back to Sydney Sunday morning (27^th). Mom and Doris will then fly to New Zealand on the 28^th and I will spend some time in Sydney for my 21^st birthday and take a road trip to some northern beaches while they are in New Zealand.

 I hope everyone was able to follow that, I know it is confusing. But like I said before I will try to keep everyone posted on our trips and we will try to notify people when we get in to the different areas safely. I Look forward to posting soon and hope everyone is doing well.

We miss and love you!   

The Petrea's are HERE!

Soooo Mom and Doris are HERE! I can’t describe to you the emotions running through my head driving to Sydney international airport to pick them up. My stomach filled with butterflies at 11:25am because I knew they had landed and were now in “my country”.  I knew they were now looking at the same sun (not the moon from the day before) and the same watch (not 16 hours behind) as I had been for the last 5 months. Unfortunately, after getting lost in the city searching for a train station to drop Jackie off (who had an exam in an hour) we were running late to get the Petrea crew from the gate. I was disappointed I wasn’t able to stand at the gate as planned holding my homemade sign which read “Welcome to the WONDERFUL land of Aus”.  However, I was so excited to finally see my “moms” (as I have begun to call my “female parents” over here) I didn’t let the regret of being late stand in my way. As I ran to the gate with them in my site, tears started to pour and my heart was beating so fast. It was seriously a feeling I had never had before. It was so good to finally see my mom off the computer screen and in to my everyday life again. We hugged..and hugged…and hugged and after that we all hugged some more. After the ten minute hugging and crying sesh it was time for introductions. Mom and Doris met Ben and Doris got the chance to meet Jackie for the first time before she caught the train to take her exam. It was a very emotional but exciting greeting and feelings I will remember for the rest of my life. We were then off to the car to begin our journeys.

                Of course the weather was, excuse my French or habit of Australian culture… shit. It was rainy and windy and you could see a meter in front of you because of the dense fog. But we definitely made the best out of the day and it didn’t seem to bother Doris or mom one bit. They kept talking about how beautiful it was and were taking pictures of everything (I’m not sure what they were looking at). Ben and I took them for their first “chicken snitty” at blackbird café in Darling Harbor. We then walked through the famous Patty’s Market followed by a drive over the harbor bridge (they loved that). We pulled down to a lookout by the harbor where they were able to get their first view of the famous Sydney landmarks all in one frame (the harbor bridge and opera house). They snapped pictures and ooh and ahh and we were off to sit in Sydney 5oclock traffic for 2 hours on our way to Wollongong. Welcome to Sydney folks.

                After a good night’s rest and the start of a BEAUTIFUL summer day in Wollongong, I brought breakfast to the hotel and took mom to North beach for her first Pacific swim. It was a bit chilly but she soon realized the strength of the Aussie sun and warmed up in no time. I then took the crew to my “uni” which I have been studying at during my stay here. They loved the campus and couldn’t get enough of all the different birds and plants (thank gosh uni is out for the summer so I was able to let them be the tourists they so desired). We then took a 30 minute road trip north to show them the famous Sea Cliff Bridge and Stanwell Park. It was so good to hear their reactions and to know they have the same appreciation of Australia’s natural beauty as I do. We finished off the evening with a Thai dinner (very common here in Aus).



View from Stanwell Park

Saturday was a big day and if you have not seen some of these places we visited I highly suggest looking them up. We first drove and hour and a half south to a town called Huskisson(known as the heart of Jervis Bay. Here Ben and I introduced them to their first Australian meat pies and sausage rolls at the famous Huskisson Bakery (known for their meat pies since the 30s). We taught them how to spread the “tommy sauce” (tomato sauce/ketchup) on the top of the pies with your finger (I caught mom and Doris cheating and using knifes). We explained that eating a meat pie is not an easy task and it needed to be done carefully and skillfully so the steaming hot slabs of steak and gravy don’t fall on to fingers or go to waste on your plate. After lunch we headed to our main destination: Hyams Beach. I’m sure you have already seen pictures from my previous visits to this beach but to jog your memory it is the one with crystal blue water and known for having the whitest sand in the world. Mom and Doris were shocked to say the least. After enough fun in the sun and water we headed back to Wollongong, with pit stops at the well known Kiama blowhole and the Mt. Kiera lookout at sunset. Even though I had been to all of these places before the beauty doesn’t wear away and the expressions on Mom and Doris’s made it very worthwhile. They are very lucky ladies to see all of the sights they saw in two days. I have MANY friends who studied at the same uni as I and still haven’t made it to half of those beautiful places.    

The crew at Hyams Beach

                Sunday morning was a stressful start. I was in the mist of packing up my room (and attempting to fit it in to two bags…that was a joke) and saying goodbye to some very close friends I didn’t know I would ever see again. It was hard to balance the excitement of mom and Doris being here and the sadness of leaving the town that I love and the people I love even more. The last three days I had been juggling spending time with my friends before leaving and showing Doris and mom around the town and nearby areas I knew they would enjoy. Thankfully I will be seeing most of my good friends again to celebrate my 21^st birthday in Sydney when I fly back from Heron Island.  After checking out of the hotel and saying goodbye to Wollongong we headed to Sydney to spend the day and night before our Monday morning flight to Ayers Rock (Northern Territory). 

                Upon arrival mom and Doris toured the opera house and I caught up on some MUCH needed sleep at the hotel. I met them in Circular Queue around 5pm to catch the ferry in to Manly Beach. They were excited to be out in the harbor for the first time and enjoyed the different views you were able to see being on the ferry. We ate an amazing dinner at a really nice German restaurant on Manly Harbor before catching the ferry back later that night. It was good for them to see the bridge and opera house all lit up and the lights of the big city as we pulled in to the wharf. We caught the train back to the hotel for a little variety and prepared our self for our flight the next morning.

 

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                I will blog soon about our travels when I get the chance but I am sure you already know we made it to Ayres Rock safely with no troubles. Minus the unexpected rainy and cold weather (why is this a common trend with this group?). I will keep you guys posted as best as I can and can’t wait to tell everyone about all of our trips. We have a lot planned and everyone is excited for it to be put in action.

Love from down unda!

xoxo



"Sweet As", New Zealand

New Zealand…wow! I have written this blog over and over in my head for about two weeks now and still can’t figure out the perfect way to start this blog or give New Zealand the credit it deserves. I’m going to try my best but just know to fully understand the beauty and uniqueness of the places I am describing you will have to visit for yourself. New Zealand should be on everyone’s “to do” list and if you EVER get a chance to go, take my advice and don’t think twice about making the trip.

On September 24^th our group of 11 Americans + 1 kiwi (New Zealander) began the trip of a lifetime exploring all the adventures that New Zealand’s south island had to offer. 9 of us were from Wollongong Uni and the additional 2 boys who joined us study at Sydney Uni. We all hopped the much familiar train from Wollongong to Sydney and set out on our journey that will be remembered forever (if only I had known the shower I took an hour previous to the train ride would be my last formal shower for about 10 days I probably would have spent a few extra seconds to scrub behind my ears…)

After a bit of a delay we landed in Christchurch around 1:50 am. Our sleeping arrangements for the night?: right where we stepped off the plane (little did I know this would be a reoccurring trend for our little vacation. After about 3 hours of “sleep” in the airport under the florescent lights and the reassuring sound of the loudspeaker every 15 minutes it was time to start our day. Daniel, Sonya, and John took a bus to grab our homes for the next ten days aka spaceships aka bright orange minivans with “SPACESHIP” written across the side. They say it fits 4 but sleeps 2 (how that is suppose to work? We will never will know).  Seeing a bright red row of spaceships pull up at the airport after hours of delay (the spaceship company forgot that it was day light savings time that morning) amped my excitement for the trip ahead. Their names were Jay, Qui-Gon Jinn, Ophirous and they were obnoxious, loud, and oh so perfect J No hideing you were a tourist in these babies!

Our adventure started with simply finding a grocery store to stock up before hitting the road. Our spaceship, “Jay-Ez” we nicknamed it, was put to the test to navigate around the earthquake devastated city of Christchurch. After several U-turns we finally found one and needless to say our GPS privileges and leading abilities were revoked from that point on for the rest of the trip. Regardless, we made it and after a quick lunch break we were on the road to Nelson to find our home for the next couple of nights.

While we may have driven for close to 7 hours, the views provided endless entertainment and inspiring conversations. As much as everyone knows how much I HATE car rides I could drive and ride around in New Zealand for days straight. The scenery is ever changing from rolling lush green hills, huge rocky cliffs, snow covered mountains and valleys, to tropical blue bodies of water, the view outside the window never gets dull. But GOOD GOD there are a lot of freakin sheep! (7 sheep to 1 person in New Zealand) I can definitely vouch for this…they are everywhere! Surprisingly though we never got to touch one. Our plan was to pull off to a shoulder and hop a fence, but that never happened. I’m blaming the lead spaceship not stopping…cough*Daniel*cough. J Regardless, they looked adorable and shoop (our made-up singular name for sheep) humor was rolling in the vans the entire time

On our drive to Nelson we stopped a few times to stretch our legs and take a few photos along the coast and of the beautiful vineyards. We even spotted a seal on the edge of the beach and of course we had to pull over and investigate! I nearly fainted when she saw it, and Robby instantly proclaimed it was a puppy, as he calls any animal that is somewhat attractive…Pre-med major? Robby’s attempt to touch him was unsuccessful several times. Who knew seal’s were that quick? As night came, we finally rolled into Nelson. We stopped in a Countdown (supermarket) parking lot and set up shop for our first cooked dinner out of the vans. Liz and I made about a $1.50 meal consisting of pasta and basic tomato sauce (this wouldn’t be the last). Our next task was to find a place to sleep; this was by far our toughest challenge of the trip. We drove around aimlessly for about an hour before finding a local park. We began to set up tents and fold out the beds in the spaceship. We got really good at this by the end of the trip. I felt like a NASCAR pit crew trying to be the fastest and most efficient van of the group. Liz and I got to the point where we didn’t even have to open doors to the cold morning air, we could fold everything and be ready in less than 30 minutes to head to our next destination.

The next day we drove to Abel Tasman National Park, which was about 2 hours from Nelson. We explored and hiked there for the day. The park is absolutely breath-taking! The blue Caribbean waters mixed with snow capped mountains in the background created the best views. The weather was amazing as well (as it was for the whole trip). The days were warm when the sun came out but the nights got very cold (0/-3c). But for a place where it rains 200 days out  of the year and to only get some sprinkles when were driving was VERY lucky. After a few hours of hiking, we sat on the beach and enjoyed PBs &Js while a few of the boys went onward exploring. We found several waterfalls, caves and artsy photo spots along our hike. Once we were out of energy we ventured back to our space station to find our “accommodation” for the night. We settled on a beautiful camp ground between Nelson and Abel Tasman that was right on the water. We had our first “shower” (in the hose pipe in the FREEZING cold) and ran around the playground until sun down. That night, we had a fire on the beach, got to know each other a little better, and did some intense stargazing. The Milky Way was phenomenal!

Our luch spot at Abel Tasman National Park. What a view!

Tuesday began our Rugby Cup extravaganza. We started our day slowly with a pit stop at McDonalds to recharge cameras and get a quick internet fix. Then we drove into town, bought all the essentials for the typical obnoxious American outfits and settled into a spot for tailgating. I really enjoyed the town of Nelson. Not only was it beautiful (like every other place in NZ) but the atmosphere coming from a town hosting the world cup was amazing. It was neat to be a part of such a huge tradition. New Zealanders and Aussies really love their “footy” and it was easy to feed off of everyone’s positive energy. We met up with our 12^th addition to our group in town (A local New Zealander that one of the guys on our trip knew). Baden used us from then on out as an excuse to do all of the touristy things in his country he had always wanted to do. After we showed him the traditional American football tailgating (which he loved) we headed to the gate for the game.

To hear my national anthem at the start of the match and watch the American players link arms in unity sent chills down my spine. It was the first time since I have been here that I was around so many people who loved our country just like we did. For some reason seeing all the American flags and face paint wasn’t just a shallow view of the colors “red, white, and blue”… it was home, it was my country. After the anthems sang it was game time! The environment was much what I imagine an Olympic event to be. Unfortunately, USA is still in the building stages of a solid rugby team, but we still managed to have a good run. Italy 27, USA 10. We all had such a blast and surprisingly made a lot of Italian friends in the stands. That night we drove to a spot the police suggested we camp, only to be woken by a park security guard at 3 am (note: we were planning to start our morning drive at 4:30 am), forcing us to move back to our original park location. But we moved, slept for another hour, and it was off again.

AMERICA!!

Wednesday was one of our longest days in terms of driving. We drove all the way from Nelson to Fox Glacier before noon then to Queenstown at night. But with our Backstreet Boys and Brittany Spears playlist the drive flew by (at least for us girls! Haha). I got a lot of driving experience on this trip and needless to say I have gotten pretty good! (even have learned to drive manual on a friend’s car in Wollongong!)

The drive was beautiful and went from snow capped mountains to scenes from what looked like Jurassic Park! Once we reached Fox Glacier central we were given guidance about the glacier and warm hiking gear. This was also the start to an epic “game of life” (started by Baden our fun-loving Kiwi). If you haven’t heard of the game, every time someone says the word “M.I.N.E”. they have to do 10 pushups, where ever they were at the time. So basically from this point on if I talk about anything we did, pushups were almost always involved by multiple people, multiple times, and in the most obscure places possible. I’m sure outsiders found this completely hilarious or just plain annoying!

Fox Glacier was everything I had imagined it to be. The enormity of ice was incredible. Once we reached a certain part we stopped to put our cramp-ons on our boots and used walking sticks. The metal “cleats” or cramp-ons made it 10x easier to walk on the ice. We were guided around the glacier and taken to a cravass to explore. So cool! Once I was in the cravass, I looked up and kind of got intimidated at the size of ice surrounding me, but definitely worth it and unlike anything I had ever done before! We got to fill our water bottles with glacier water and walked through an ice tunnel. Once we got back, it was to the spaceships for a long drive to Queenstown. That night was a great night of bonding for our car. We went back and forth telling some pretty intense stories about ourselves making me love and understand everyone in our car even more. I didn’t know any of the people on the trip real well before hand besides my good friend from Liz from Indiana who I met here and hang out with daily. But we all got a long better than expected and I have gain a new appreciation for every single one in the group. Sharing an experience like we did really brings people together.   

Glacier Hikeing at Fox Glacier

The next morning we drove to Milford Sound, the most scenic drive of the trip in my opinion. We winded through mountains and cool tunnels, pulling over occasionally to snap photos and see more of the amazing view (waterfalls, snowy mountains). Milford was beautiful! We took the nature cruise which allowed us to cruise the sound and come up close and personal with nature’s beauty. We pulled right up to the bottom of waterfalls, to the edges of the mountain cliffs to see the sea lions and seals and then cruised beside some of the rarest penguins in the world! The sound is a very unique place because of its two ecosystems that are located within it. The bottom water table in the sound is salt water which allowed dolphins and turtles to live amongst than the top was freshwater which inhabited an entire different aquatic life. It was a beautiful tour complete with complimentary coffee/tea. The caffeine was amazing at the time!

Milford Sound

After the cruise we then drove back to Foirdland to see the Te Anau glowworm caves. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We took a sunset cruise to the cave where we then got out to explore the inside. Since our group was so large we got our own tour through the caves with the best guide ever! God bless his soul for putting up with us. Or shall I say for dealing with Zack’s poor digestive system that nearly killed us all in the middle of the cave. Even after all of that, our guide said we were the “best group ever” and made his job so much fun.  The inside was beautiful. We walked through the pathways stopping to look at the cave walls and waterfalls and natural pools. Our guide then asked us to be silent and turn off our cameras when we got to this certain spot (you think this would be an easy task for mature international students who choose to live tens of thousands of miles away from home…but nooooOOOOO) haha many jokes and cracks were made simply due to the fact we had just had caffeine for the first time in a week but everyone eventually settled and we rowed off in a little row boat in to the complete darkness. The sight was AMAZING. I have never before been in complete darkness and silence at the same time but  it is something I will never forget. I was so peaceful and relaxing and as if the world was put on pause for a couple of minutes. But wait!... for the best part of the story, you were not alone in this cave of darkness. As you looked up at the caves ceiling and you realized were visiting the home of thousands of little glowworms that lit up the caves ceiling like a blanket of stars. It was absolutely beautiful and something you have to experience for yourself. We made it back to the footpath and after a set of pushups (I was horrible at the game and always was trick in to saying the word!) we were back on the boat heading back to our vans. We then drove to Queenstown to our home park and finally were privileged to sleep in the next morning for the first time in days! 

Friday, a few of the boys went bungee jumping at Nevis while we went to McDonalds to shower and recharge. Yes…I said shower at Mickey D’s. We finally had warm sink water just deep enough to fit our heads, and the hand dryer made our hair look like a million bucks J We had planned to spend a relaxing day in town but unexpectedly the drive shaft  on our van broke (of course I was driving)! Luckily we were in one of the largest cities in New Zealand and a “space station” was nearby to solve all of our problems. Because we had insurance on the van they reimbursed us with a new van and we were back in business. We still had to deal with the hassle of waiting for a tow truck and roadside assistance to handle the situation but we took advantage of our time and played a game of soccer with some locals at a park. Our new van: “Kay” became our new home and not only did she come with a full tank of gas, but she had fancy patterned bedding! Oh spaceship humor. That night we ate our one and only meal out at Fergburger, the most happening place in QT and an amazing burger joint. The vibe of Queenstown is awesome. The town and all the people are so laid back and friendly. That night we hung out at the Queenstown Park for some drinks and told some fun stories and then went to a pub (World Famous Ministry of Sports) for the South Africa vs. Samoa world cup game. It was a fun night.

The next day we split into groups again with most going to mountain bike, while about four of us hiked a nearby mountain trail. Thinking about my past luck with vacations and injuries…I decided a bike ride down the side of a mountain would probably be pushing it. So a hike it was! The bikers had a blast but the views from our hike were beautiful. Once we all got back together we drove half way between Queenstown and Christchurch to make the next day’s return easier.

For our last night we had an epic campsite. We were in the middle of nowhere with a campfire and stream to our backs. The stars were brighter than ever and everyone was glowing at the amazing adventures the week had brought us. We got to bed at a decent time and drove to Lake Tekapo the next day.

 

Our Beautiful last campsite...

 



Equipt with campfire :)



Lake Tekapo is definitely something to be seen. I never knew water could be such a beautiful vibrant color. We spent a little time taking in the scenery and going through a cute little church on the rocks, then made our final trip to Christchurch to return our spaceships!

View of Lake Tekapo from the church

Once we returned our spaceships we were left to wander the Christchurch airport aimlessly all day and night until our 6am flight the following morning. Some would call our behavior loitering, but what else were we going to do? We all took our first full body shower since leaving Wollongong and life was the best. If you are ever lost or looking for something in the Christchurch airport, just give me a call and I will be able to direct you to wherever you need to go.

The great thing about our group to NZ was the diversity we had with 11 Americans from eight different states (Indiana, North Carolina, California, Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Alaska) and one Kiwi from the North Island. It made for an interesting conversation when someone would ask where we were from and how we knew each other.

 

Overall the trip was unbelievable. We planned extremely well and stayed to a very conservative budget; spending $35 on food the entire week and under $1000 for the whole trip! That’s impressive for the amount that we saw and the adventures we went on. I expected tempers to collide and have some conflict in the huge group we had, but everyone was amazing and just pulled closer together. It was the best trip I could have asked for leaving me wanting more. New Zealand cannot be described in words, its beauty and atmosphere is unmatched to anything I have ever experienced. The locals say it best: “Sweet as”, New Zealand.

 

Fraser Island/ Brisbane

            So this is probably going to be the most distracted blog I have written so far because I’m writing it on my friend’s laptop on the way down to the snow in Jindabyne. Buttttt I figured this would be a good time to fill everyone in on my way overdue Brisbane/Fraser Island trip I took about two weeks ago.  It was an amazing trip to say the least and I would like to share some of the things we did while we were gone.

            My friend Beth and I took the train in to Sydney Wednesday night to stay with Jackie’s host family so we could get up for our 6:30 am flight to Brisbane the next morning. It was my first time meeting her host family and seeing where in Sydney they lived. Emma (here host mom) was so nice and very welcoming to me and Beth when we arrived. They live in an area called Gordan about 20 min from the main area of the city. Their house was beautiful and the entire family (her husband and 3 sons) were very nice.  We attempted to sleep for a few hours before waking up at 345 to catch the 420am train to the airport.  As I’m sure you predicted...none of us got a single minute of sleep; but it was off to Brisbane.

After landing we checked in to our first ever hostel (or backpackers club). None of us knew what to expect but we sure lucked out. After a free upgrade to our own private suite we decided to get some “breakie” (breakfast) and head   to the Lone Pine Koala sanctuary about 20 min outside the main city. The sanctuary was so neat. It had hundreds of Koalas of course but wombats, dingos, platypus, Tasmanian devils, kangaroos, Australian birds, alligators, emus, sheep and herding dogs as well. We got to hand feed kangaroos and hold a Koala. It was so neat to be up close and personal for the first time with some of Australia’s well known animals.

After the Lone Pine we went back in to the city and explored the botanical gardens and shopped around a bit. We called it an early night because we were all exhausted and had an early morning ahead of us to Frazer Island.

After a VERY bumpy ride in the 4WD vehicle that picked us up in Brisbane (you know how much I enjoy long bumpy car rides) we had finally made it to the ferry that would take us to the island. (About a 3 hour trip from Brisbane)

For some background knowledge about Fraser Island before I tell you about the trip: Fraser has over 40 fresh water dune lakes. The reason for all the lakes is because of the massive fresh water table found under the island. Because salt water weighs more than fresh water, the fresh water is trapped beneath the island and not let out in to the ocean. There is enough fresh water under the island to supply the entire city of Brisbane for 10 years! The lakes are formed by sand blows, or the strong winds that move the sand and dunes around uncovering areas to expose the water table. At some spots on the island the sand is 500 meters deep and can be made up of over ten different colors! Not only does the sand extend far beneath the service but it stretches for miles. Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world (76 miles long and about 17 miles wide) and is one of the only places in the world where large dense rain forests can be found growing in nothing but sand. It is known that there is more sand found on Fraser than in the Sierra desert. There are over 600 different plant species that grow there and home to over 300 species of native animals. Fraser Island is home to some of the only purebred dingos left in Australia. This is because domestic dogs are not allowed of the island so there is no chance for interbreeding between the two. These dingos are beautiful and look so cute and cuddly, but don’t be fooled. They are very aggressive towards humans for food and there have been many human attacks and even deaths over the last couple of years. For protection from dingos, our resort was entirely fenced in with a cattle grate over the entrance to the driveway. It didn’t take the dingos long to outsmart this grate so electric wires had to be put in-between the grates to ensure the safety of the guests. Our tour guide made it pretty clear the current flowing through those wires was pretty strong. “Mates, don’t forget to walk around to the gate when entering the resort. There is not a hospital near by”.

So now for some information on some activities we did during our stay at Fraser (might want to Google theses places to get a better image):

Day One: Swam in lake Wabby, saw wild horses, dingos, and found “pippys” (clams) on the beach where we later cooked and ate some to try...(disgusting). After dinner Jackie, Beth and I went out to the beach to look at the stars. It was absolutely beautiful. I had never seen so many stars, so bright, all at one time. I have also never seen the milkyway so vibrant in my life. I didn’t even know what this “rainbow” of stars was until I asked the tour guide. It is also very neat to see all the different constellations (like the Southern Cross) and the same ones I am use to seeing in just a different location. Our tour guild also showed us this stuff in the sand that glows in the dark when you drag your feet over it. Weird I know, and I honestly have no more information on it then that haha. 

Day Two: Jackie, Beth and I set our alarms for 5:45am and walked down to the beach to see the sunrise over the ocean. It was so beautiful and I would have to say, one of the few sun rises I have seen in my life. Haha. After breakfast we hiked to the top of Kirrer sand blow. It is a huge sand dune (about 200meters high) formed by the wind moving sand across the island. It was such a beautiful sight at the top to look out and see nothing but what looked like a rolling sand desert with the bright blue ocean in the background. On the way up to the top we got a chance to drink from a natural fresh water spring and paint our faces with the rocks that Aboriginals used for their paintings. We also got to see clumps of natural glass that forms when lightning strikes the sand. As we were passing this area with little black shinny rocks, I made the mistake of asking our Australian tour guide what kind of rocks they were. He replied: “They are coffee rocks. When you break them apart in your hand and taste the inside of them, they taste like a dark roasted coffee bean”. Of course being the trustful American that I am, I tried this “coffee rock”. I’m sure you figured out where this story was going...it did not taste like coffee at all. Just a normal black sandy rock; typically not on the breakfast menu at local cafes. After taking thousands of pictures and burying me neck deep in sand at the top of the sand blow we hiked back down and enjoyed a picnic of fresh salad sandwiches...yummmm. Because our 65 year old tour guide loved our energetic group of Americans so much, after about 10 minutes of us begging to ride shotgun in the big safari truck, he let us. So on the way to our next destination (lake bieribine) Beth and I led the guided tour by singing karaoke to Brittany Spears and Backstreet Boys on the pull down microphone (I don’t know how the other passengers felt about this). This lake was beautiful! The water was so clear and the sand was extremely white. We laid out for a bit then headed to the rainforest which was suppose to be home to 6 of the 10 most deadly snakes in the world (very comforting). We never came across any snakes or scary critters but we got to see huge trees that were only native on the island. These trees were so big about 12 people could stand at its base and wrap their arms around it and it still wouldn’t connect to the other side. The rainforest also had a creek that ran all the way through it. I didn’t even notice it at first because it is completely silent. A normal fast moving creek like this one would normally make sounds hitting the rocks along its path. However, because the island is completely made out of sand, it had no rocks in its way to create any sort of noise. It was pretty neat.

Day 3: We took a long drive out to the end of the island (Indian head). We were able to climb to the top and look out over the cliff and see the entire corner of the island. Oceans, sands, and forests all in one glimpse. It was breathtaking and my favourite view of the entire trip. We also went to Eli Creek, the biggest creek on the island and got to walk around and tour the S.S Maheno ship wreck that happened on the island in the late 1930s.

We had had a long, long, LONG weekend and had seen and done so much. We were definitely ready to get off the bumpy island and head home to a nice hotel in Brisbane for a change. We went out to some pubs in Brisbane in attempt to be cool college students again but we were back in bed ready for a good night of sleep by midnight (I know, party animals). We woke up in the morning and all went for a nice run in the Botanical gardens by the river and boardwalk and ate brunch in China town.  Then it was off to the airport to return to Sydney and later that night, Wollongong.

I couldn’t have asked for a better trip. I admit I was really nervous planning everything by myself but it couldn’t have worked out better. This trip not only provided me with spectacular sights and memories I will hold on to for the rest of my life but it also proved to me that I have to ability to travel the world on my own. That was a huge step for me assuming I haven’t planned trips further than Southpoint mall in Durham. Haha.

Sorry this blog was so long and probably very boring! I had so much to cover and like I said, writing in the car trying to focus with blasting music in my ear isn’t where I normally do my best work. But thanks for reading and for all of your support and prayers throughout my journey.

Cheers mates!