Home once again

After 34 hours of travel (all in one day--Thursday August 19th was my longest day ever), we all arrived safely home (and miraculously so did our baggage). Here's a link to a sampling of my pictures from the trip. I'll probably steal some from Amy, Laurie, and Roberta as well so look for late ad-ons. Thanks for reading. Until my next trip...

And I'm back in the land of wifi...

at an airport McDonald's in Sydney. Speaking of Sydney, that's where we've been for the past 5 days. We had high hopes for our hostel upon arriving in the city, but alas, they were quickly dashed when we entered the room to find Randy sleeping and a whole lot of grossness all around us. We contemplated not showering the entire time we were there, but we all sucked it up and used the facilities. The good thing about staying in a gross hostel is that we really didn't want to spend any more time than we had to so we got up early and came in late.

We got to Sydney on Saturday morning on an early morning flight from Cairns. We checked in and walked down to the harbor to pick up our "venture cards" and transit pass that were already booked. We then figured out (or I should say that Laurie figured out) how to get to a bus pick up point that would take us to Hillsong for a worship service that evening. Their Saturday night service isn't huge (the Sunday night is the one with 3500 people) but it was a good time--excellent worship band and energetic speaker. By the time we got back to the train station that would take us back to harbor, it was rather late and we were all very tired and cold. I couldn't keep my eyes open and fell asleep waiting at the train station and on the train itself. Amy took a picture--she said I looked homeless.

We packed our first full day in Sydney by touring the Opera House, walking over to the Harbor Bridge (we didn't do the bridge climb but got the view from the pylon), going to the observatory (we got to see the sun through a telescope), and walked through the botanical gardens before going to dinner. We also got our tickets to see an opera at the opera house. When we went up to the ticket booth, we were still undecided about what we wanted to see. When the lady helping us realized that we could get a great deal ($208 seats for $50) to see "The Marriage of Figaro" she said, "Even if you HATE opera, you HAVE to buy these tickets." We couldn't say no.

On Monday we saw some more around Sydney--went to Wildworld and then took an extra long whale watching tour. It was extra long because one of our engines broke on the way back so we came back in really really slowly. We didn't have time to do anything else that day except go back to the hostel to change for the opera (no, kathy, you would not have approved of our attire), went to dinner, and saw the opera. We all managed to keep our eyes open most of the time. It really was an amazing experience--almost athletic with how they're singing. It was definitely a highlight of our time here.

On Tuesday we started out at the Powerhouse museum (which wasn't that impressive--it was their science and history/invention museum). It did, however, have an impressive 80's exhibition. It made us feel slightly old to see stuff that was in our lifetime in a museum. We were like, "Look at that cabbage patch kid! There are some tapes and a walkman!" It was a little ridiculous. We then met Nicole (a friend from camp who happens to be in the Sydney for the month volunteering at a camp) and she joined us for a trip out to the Olympic Park and a harbor cruise. We had dinner in the "Rocks" at a place that had kangaroo, emu, and crocodile meat. Laurie and I ate a pepper kangaroo pizza. Australia is an odd country in that it eats its national symbol. After dinner, and saying goodbye to Nicole, we went out to the aquarium to see the sharks. They certainly know how to do their animal exhibits here. It was amazing. We finished off the evening by getting dessert and coffee at a harbor side cafe and taking the ferry back to our train station.

Today went to Manly--another ferry ride across the harbor. We took a scenic walk that took us along beaches, up on cliffs, through an old military training post, and back into town. We had great views of the ocean and harbor. We definitely racked up the mileage today and are quite content to spend the evening in an actual hotel with clean sheets and towels and a shower and no roommates who like to make chicken and rice at 3am.

Thanks for reading this installment of "where in the world is erin (and friends)". I'll post a link to way too many pictures after we're home.

The sea was angry that day my friends

With hopes of better weather, we hopped on another boat and headed out to Green Island today. The sun was shining and it was relatively warm. However, it was quite windy and the boat ride out was just slightly treacherous. If you weren't getting run into by passengers trying to move, then you were trying to avoid people vomiting.

Once on the island we got our snorkeling stuff and went for a swim. Because of the wind, we were getting blown out to sea rather quickly and it was hard to stay where you wanted to. Despite all of that, we saw some more amazing coral and beautiful fish. I'm still not so sure about being that close to fish by the way. The highlight for everyone though, was spotting a sea turtle and swimming along with it for awhile. We were told there was a chance we would see one so we had our hopes up. For myself, after freaking out and tucking into a little ball, I relaxed a bit and was able to swim.

The rest of the time on the island was spent walking around, relaxing on the beach, and a bit more snorkeling. The boat ride back wasn't as bad as the wind had died down. We did almost leave Laurie on the island (well, we kind of did--she had to get the boat after ours) but we all met up again at the pier in Cairns.

We're off to Sydney tomorrow (at an awful hour--we're getting picked up from the hostel at 4:10am) for a whirlwind of tours and full days. If you ever find yourself in Cairns, I highly recommend the Globetrotters Hostel. It has a lovely atmosphere and we've really enjoyed ourselves here.

To the Tablelands

The 4 of us took off on a little adventure yesterday. We rented a car (it's very nice to be here with someone who has been driving on the "wrong" side of the road for a few months) and mapped out a route (thanks to Laurie) towards Atherton and the Tablelands. It's a very volcanic area (well, not active or anything) so we were looking forward to craters and peaks. In order to get there, we took Gilly's highway which wound up and around the mountain. Since I wasn't driving, it was easy to take in the beautiful scenery. I also thought how nice it would be to ride my bike up it. We pulled off the road a couple of times for photo opportunities and the first place we stopped I noticed a trail going to higher ground. I was about to go up it but then I remembered I was in Australia and feared for my life because of the number of deadly snakes that were probably lurking in the high grass. A snake bite would have ruined my day. At the next place we stopped, we saw a huge lizard (a goanna). That confirmed my fears about hiking anywhere. Amy and Laurie were getting too close for my comfort and Roberta reminded them that we were not in a zoo. If the animal got agitated and came toward us, we were supposed to duck down because it would climb the highest thing in sight. Thankfully we did not have to take such measures.

We stopped at Lake Barrine on our way to Halloran's Hill (a lookout point) and then on to see the crater and waterfalls at Mt Hypipamee national park. It was great to drive around and see some things other than a city. On our way back, we pulled off the side of the road before we entered the area of light pollution so we could see some stars. Roberta pointed out the Southern Cross and the Milky Way was very visible.

Overall, it was a splendid day.

Another full day

So today we woke up early to meet our bus that would take us to the Freshwater Train station where we would start our journey up to Kuranda in the rainforest. The scenic railway winds up the mountain past waterfalls and what should have beautiful views of Cairns. However, it was another rainy/cloudy day and visibility was a bit limited. On the train we heard about the construction of the railway and all the history behind it.

Once we arrived in Kuranda, we took a walk through rainforest, visited the market, and went to a butterfly sanctuary. Butterflies kept landing on me--they must realize my new appreciation for the animal kingdom. Or maybe I was just standing still too long.

To get back down the mountain, we took the skyrail--a gondala ride through the canopy (again, more lovely views of fog). Our guide did tell us to look for a crocodile that she often sees sunning itself out on log as we went over the river. She was right--it was there. We decided being 200ft up in the air was a safe enough distance to see a crocodile in the wild.

Our last stop on the tour today was an Aboriginal cultural show/presentation. We saw dancing, learned how to throw a boomerang and spear, listened to playing of the didgeridoo, and learned about the history of the aboriginals in Australia and how, like all indigenous peoples, were enslaved or killed and robbed of their land.

We're all currently hanging out at the hostel watching some tv and reading and relaxing. I think we'll sleep in tomorrow. We don't have anything really planned tomorrow but we're hoping to see the sun.

"The Dropoff!"

The majority of today was spent quoting "Finding Nemo". Amy, Laurie, Roberta, and I took a boat out to the Great Barrier Reef. The weather was not the best--cloudy and rainy--but we had a great day nonetheless. It took about 2 hours to get to the reef, but once there we snorkeled off a small island (Michaelmans Island I think). We saw many fish--small and big but the reef itself was stunning. Being wary of swimming in the ocean near live things, I was a bit nervous most of the time. The water was also relatively shallow where we were so I had to try hard not to kick any of the coral. The temperatures weren't too bad, but I was slightly concerned about hypothermia. The wind and rain made things just unpleasant enough.

After lunch on the boat (a delicious buffet where I had prawns--the eyes freaked me out), we took a ride on a semi-submersible to get a closer look at the reef. That was very cool--we saw some different types of coral we hadn't seen and several different types of fish. Again, the pictures that we took can not do what we saw justice.

Cairns is a much smaller town than Brisbane and is right on the beach. It's hot and humid here which is a nice change from the cool dry temps in Brisbane. I can stop wearing the same long sleeve shirt that I've been wearing for the past week. We're also enjoying hanging out with Roberta since that hasn't happened in forever. We have another full day tomorrow--something cultural I think--and I'm looking forward to it.

"We're going to the show..."

"but not just ANY show, the mother of all shows." This is the comment we heard from a mom on the train on the way to Ekka. We really weren't sure what Ekka was exactly but it's only in town for a week or so, so we thought we better check it out. It turns out Ekka is kind of like a combination between the Harrisburg farm show, Roots market, and an amusement park.

We saw farm animals (and of course petted many of them--Amy accused me of becoming an animal lover on this trip). We watched part of a horse competition, a motorcross demonstration, and a band competition. We walked through all the exhibition tents sampling meat and fruit and salmon. We also wandered through the "showbag" building. It's like the arcade without any of the games and only the prizes. People buy bags of stuff from all different kinds of vendors--candy, clothes, sports, food, and pretty much anything else you can think of. There were a ton of people everywhere and obviously a popular family event.

Now we're off to Cairns where we'll be hopefully in warmer weather and lots of time on the beach.