July 7, 2010

On day 11 we spent a lot of hours on the bus traveling. We stopped from morning tea in some random time in the Outback. There was only one café, which was running on a generator, which blew out because there were so many of us ordering food. Here is where we picked up 2 hitchhikers! They were a guy and girl in their mid 20’s and from Germany. They have been hitch hiking through Australia for 8 months, and had been waiting at this café for 2 days trying to get a ride. Colin (our professor/ tour guide) made sure it was ok with all of us for them to join us to our next stop and of course we all said yes! We would never pick up hitchhikers in the U.S! The girl sat next to me and was so fun to talk to, they both had such rich stories and were living such a cool life. For 9 months the only things they owned were the bags on their backs and a saxophone. After Australia they were heading to Canada to back pack/ hitchhike for a few more months. We dropped them off at our next stop which was again in the middle of nowhere. The bus had to drive through mini rivers from time to time in the outback so one time we all decided to get out of the bus and walk through the river. We hadn’t seen a car in over 2 hours mind you and just as everyone was in the middle of the river we saw 3 cars coming our way. All 3 cars sped up and went really fast leaving us all soaking wet from head to toe! Everyone was drenched with this dirty river water and had to get back on the small confined bus!
Our next stop was Hughenden for lunch. It was a surprisingly big town considering all the other towns we had passed through. There were people around, a petrol (gas) station, a traffic light, and a mini library! After lunch we got back onto the bus and drove to Winton. We stayed at a place called Banjo’s. There were 3 pubs in town. We all went out and were determined to find real cowboys! There was another State of Origin game on (the Maroons (QLD) vs. the Blues (N.S.W)) so of course we had to cheer for the Maroons! Whenever there is a state of origin game the bars are packed so everyone in this town was at the pub! We met a lot of great people and got to hear about their lives, which was so cool to hear about. So different than anything I’ll ever know. Colin stayed out until the bar closed with us, and took some shots with us. It was another fun night in the Outback!

July 6, 2010

Today we stopped at Lake Eacham on our travels to the outback. We learned that this lake was created by a volcano. We also stopped in at Ravenshoe for morning tea along the way too. The outback is just how you would picture it, no roads, huge ant farms which could be up to 6 ft. high, cattle everywhere, and kangaroos. The kangaroos and cattle would just be in the middle of the dirt path and wouldn’t move until we got right up close to them. There was redish color soil, and leafless trees all over. We stopped at the Chilagoe Post Office Hotel which was in the middle of nowhere for lunch. This was the first building we had seen in 4 hours, and it was one of the only restaurants for miles! We than traveled a few more hours to a town called Forsayth. This town had a total population of 46 people, and 31 of us pulled up to spend the night. We booked out all of their accommodations and half of us still had to stay in tents. They made us dinner, which was lamb and vegetables with cheesecake and they built us a big campfire where M.J played the guitar. The town was kind of creepy because there were absolutely no lights except for in the cabins and it gets pitch black in the outback. It was nice to be able to see the stars so clearly and just enjoy the heart of the outback though. While we were driving to Forsayth our bus had to swerve to dodge 4 cattle, which were in the middle of the road! I think it scared Trevor (our bus driver) a little. You also aren’t allowed to drink the water in the outback so we brushed our teeth with bottled water! We were literally in the middle of nowhere!

July 5, 2010

Day 9, I was extremely hung over from celebrating Independence Day… we went to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures which was a zoo of your typical Australian animals. We took a Crocodile tour out on a boat where we were meters away from the Crocs. We got to see them feed the cros and hear their jaws smack shut. It was so loud but pretty neat to get so close to them. We went to Port Douglass afterwards for lunch which was a really nice town. After that we went to Daintree National Park and walked the Mossman Gorge. The falls were beautiful and the rainforest was gorgeous. There was a suspension bridge over the falls. We than went back to Calypso which was our backpackers and got ready for the night. We went to a bar called the Woolshed where we all danced on tables allll nigghttt longgg! It was so much fun. They play American music, but they are really behind for example the Jay –Z and Alicia Keys song New York is the most popular song right now…

July 4, 2010

On day 8 of our trip 18 of us took a bus at 6 am to the EXTREME RAFTING lodge. We were about to rafting down the Tully River, which is a level 5 and one of the top 5 rivers to raft in the world. We all decided to get wet suits because it was pretty cold out. The bus took us to the river where we met our guides and got all our equipment including the life vests, helmet, and paddles. It was a rainy/misty day but it didn’t bother anyone because we were rafting through the rainforest. Our rafting guide Nori was from Japan and was the medic on the river so I felt like I was in good hands. We rafted14 km, which took us from 10am- 4-pm. We stopped along the river for a quick lunch, which was under a tent in the middle of the rainforest. We stopped a few times when we were rafting to go cliff jumping, and some times we got to just let the current take us down the river but had to be quick to get to the sides. Nori flipped the raft a few times so we would all fall in which was really scary but so much fun. My leg got caught under Emily one time and I ended up with bruises from my hip down to my ankle. It was fun to float down the river but there were a lot of rocks and boulders. Rafting through the strong current and all the boulders was amazing. We got to slide down a mini waterfall which was so fun except I got thrown into the side of the huge rock… and they only give you 10 seconds to come back up before they come down to rescue you well guess who came up at 9 seconds… just in the nick of time! It was kind of scary because I was so deep in the water. After we were done rafting we got changed into warm cloths and they had a snack for us. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life!
Since it was the 4th of July the backpackers held Happy Hour specials all night for Americans! We had an American flag that we brought out with us, and had them play Born in the U.S.A. We all went nuts. It was fun to celebrate in another country.

July 3, 2010

Today was day 7 of our 2 week trip. We took a Jet boat out on the pacific ocean to the Great Barrier Reef! The boat hasn’t ran in a year, and our ride was its last trip out to Fitzroy Island (which is the island on the reef). It went so fast, and we would literally go airborne for 5 seconds at a time before landing. It was like a rollercoaster. We all had to wear seatbelts on the boat. I put on a pair of goggles because the waves kept on crashing on me over the side of the boat. At Fitzroy island we got all of our snorkeling gear and than rode the boat to the outer reef. We rented underwater cameras so we could take lots of pictures. It was an over cast day so they sun wasn’t shinning too bright which mean the reef wasn’t as colorful as it usually is but it was still great to see and still fairly vibrant. It was amazing to actually swim in the great barrier reef! We snorkled for a couple of hours and than went back to the island for lunch. During our lunch break we jumped on a trampoline in the middle of the ocean. After lunch we took the boat back out to the inner reef to Shark Fin Island and snorkeled for another couple of hours. I saw lots of colorful fish, a stingray and lots of coral. I don’t think I looked up for an hour. I just kept following the fish, and finding new colorful coral. We even got to swim down and touch all the different hard and soft coral! It was another amazing day in Cairns ☺

July 2, 2010

Day 6: Today we rode the Kuranda scenic railway up thru the rainforest to the Kuranda Village. It was a fun train ride, with beautiful scenery and along the way they told the story of how Kuranda came about. We shopped around the village and ate lunch. After a few hours at Kuranda we rode the sky rail back above the rainforest. There were huge waterfalls that we got to see and all different kind of birds. It was so cool to be so high and look down on all the trees and rivers, and wildlife.
After the sky rail we went to meet the Aboriginals. We watched a traditional aboriginal dance where they made a fire from rubbing 2 sticks together. They played the dijeridoo and these other instruments that were all made out of wood. Next an aboriginal gave us a performance and taught us a lesson on how to play the digeridoo, and later got to give it a go. They are really hard to play! Than a female aboriginal came and explained to us how they used natural resources to their advantage. She talked about how to make instrument, what foods you an eat in the wild, what they used for medicine, and some remedies they have for different sicknesses. We also learned how they made boomerangs, what makes them come back to you, and also got to throw them! Mine went far, but only came half way back to me… I’ll have to keep practicing. There was a little boy there helping us throw the boomerangs and taught us how to throw a spear. His name was Dane, and couldn’t have been older than 7. He could throw the spear so far and aim it right where he wanted! It was neat learning about the lifestyles of traditional aboriginal people because today they have the reputation of being drug addicts and alcoholics.

July 1, 2010

Day 5 of our trip and we’re off the Cairns! Along our way up we made a lot of little 20 minute stops in little towns. Our first stop was Ingham. We were only there for a few minutes to get coffee and go to the bathroom. We kept traveling until we got to the Mena Creek Pub. We had lunch here and I got this really good steak. There were signs all over the pub saying “Best Little Pub in the Country” There was a suspension bridge here that could only hold 4 people on it at a time, which hung over a beautiful waterfall. After lunch we went to Ety Bay where we saw rare, endangered birds called Cassawarys. Aparently they are extremely dangerous and will attack you, but of course the whole New York crew ran up close to them to get good pictures. These birds are huge and have this hard fin looking thing on the top of their heads! After Etty Bay we traveled to Josephine Falls which was really nice. I got a lot of great pictures! There were a few different trails that we climbed to get different views of the falls. After the falls we got back on the bus and traveled a few more hours to the Capypso Inn Backpackers in Cairns where we would be spending the next 5 nights. Alissa and I got to share a room to ourselves which was awesome since we had just come from sharing 8 to a room. We were all put together on the same floor so it was like our own little apartment. The showers finally had hot water and good water pressure but we all had to share only 2 showers! Calypso was a definite upgrade from the backpackers we stayed in at Magnetic Island.