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.

A day on the Gold Coast

After figuring out the best way to get to the Gold Coast, we figured out what train to take. That was the easy part. We had a few little issues with the bus to the actual beach, but eventually got on the right one (or at least one that took us to a beach) with the help of a few drivers and the guy at the train/bus station. We're at a real disadvantage with never having to take public transportation ever.

We ended up at Burleigh Head beach which is on the Gold Coast. It's a bit farther south than the more touristy beaches (Surfers Paradise) but it was well worth the trip. The air temperature was probably in the 70's today but the breeze made it a bit cold. Laurie and I went for a swim--the waves were great but the current was a bit too strong for my liking. The water was also cold but not unbearable. There were many surfers along the shoreline and we just enjoyed an afternoon of lying on the beach and soaking it all in. Yes, mom, we wore sunscreen.

We also came across a little state park area which had a couple of kilometers of hiking trails along the shore and up into a rainforest-like area. We had some great views of the Pacific and coastline.

The bus and trainride back were uneventful except for a massive amount of soccer or rugby fans that had just left the stadium and flooded our train. Both teams were well represented--seas of orange for the Queensland team and gold for the Gold Coast team. I'm not really sure who won but the gold fans seemed a bit happier. There were several groups of people bursting out in their team's songs. Funny, I don't ever experience that after leaving an Orioles game...

We have one more day in Brisbane tomorrow but our flight out to Cairns leaves around 6pm. We'll finally meet up with Roberta and I'm looking forward to our next stop in Australia.

Visiting continent number 6

Hello from the future and "down under"! We've been in Brisbane for a few days now and this is the first time I'm posting--sorry about that. The jet lag is getting better--I'm able to stay up past 8pm and not wake up until after 7am. The traveling here went quite smoothly--a train to philly, a plane to LA, another plane to Auckland NZ, another plane to Brisbane, and a bus to our hostel. Needless to say, we were exhausted. Our accomodations are okay--I mean, it's a hostel. We're in a very central part of the city and it's very walkable. We're right along the river and they have a great cycling/running path along both sides. It's been nice to go out for a run in the mornings. It's kind of chilly however in the mornings and especially when the sun goes down.

Yesterday we spent the morning walking around the botanical gardens in Southbank and then took a tour to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. It was unlike any kind of zoo that I've ever been to because there were very few fenced in areas or the areas that were fenced in or had walls were kind of low so you really could get close to the animals. The kangaroo and emu enclosure was huge and you could just walk around and pet things. I was waiting for one to attack. They didn't. Amy and I held a koala--they have large claws but are very soft and look like stuffed animals. Of course we have many pictures. I'll have to wait to post those until I get home however. We also we to the Mt. Coot-tha lookout in the late afternoon and got a good perspective of Brisbane and just how large it is.

We met some Tazmanians (they were on this tour with us) and they asked if we like shows. We were kind of perplexed at the question but said sure, thinking like Broadway shows. We learned that a show is kind of like a country fair. We're going to attempt to go it tonight as it only runs for a week or so.

As for today, we spent it walking around Brisbane and doing some shopping (there's an artisan's market on the weekends). It's been relaxing and a good day overall. We're hopefully going down to the gold coast tomorrow to check out the beaches there. It's a two hour bus ride and we're still figuring out where and when to get those. I'm sure we'll figure something out.

Thanks for reading and I'll hopefully post again soon.