Waiting for our ride to the launch that had been arranged for us, we simply sat in the staff room at the school. Eventually one of the teachers came in and asked who the LIMO was for! We insisted that it couldn't be for us because we were getting a van or something, but when we told her that Jodie had lined it up for us, she was positive it was for us! We were in DISBELIEF! I've only ridden in a limo once in my life during a 13th birthday party! That was 8 years ago! What a GREAT way to start a great weekend!

At the launch, we got our tickets, boarded the boat and enjoyed the trip over. I even got some correcting done on the way... a true teacher. :)

Upon arrival and finding Jodie's apartment, we were once again in complete shock. It was MASSIVE. Two king size bedrooms, a kid's bedroom with 2 beds, a master bathroom with a jacuzzi, as well as yet another bathroom, a spacious kitchen, flat screen TV complete with Wii! But most amazing of all was the balcony that overlooked the jetty and the beautiful Pacific Ocean! How did we ever get so LUCKY! Thus far, our trip had been completely FREE!

After grabbing a quick bite at a Beachside Cafe and splashing in the ocean a bit, we all pretty much went to bed. It had been a long day at school and quite an exciting evening.

Like usual, my body clock woke me up at 6am the next day! Thankfully, several other people were up too... We've all seemed to have this silly body clock issue since being here. After we all were showered and ready to go, we headed down to the tours desk to schedule a Desert Safari Tour for all 8 of us... complete with sand tobagganing. Our group was definitely much more energetic than most others on this tour, and the bus driver found it quite funny. The 4 wheel-drive bus ride out there was much more exciting than we had expected. We were going near very sharp enbankments, climbing hills I didn't think would be possible, and getting thrown around within our seats several times. It was an amazing change to go from a very vegitated scenery to what seems like the Sahara.... a desolate sand-filled area in only a matter of minutes. Actually, it's quite remarkable to see the vegitation on the island because of the fact that the island is entirely made of sand! Regardless... our 4 wheel-drive bus kept on trucking towards the biggest sand dune I've ever seen. Once we arrived, we were prepped on how to sand tobaggan correctly, without eating a lot of sand (literally). We then began our climb up the dune. It didn't take long, but I was definitely winded from the climb. And tobagganing was amazing!! I was able to do it THREE times! It was seriously awesome. I could've done it all day! Once we were all finished, the Tangalooma people asked to take pictures of the 8 of us in our group.. and we ended up with some pretty fantastic pictures! I ended up buying a picture of me sand tobagging, as well as a group picture that I haven't put up on here. You'll all have to see them when I get home! :) This was by far the best part of my weekend!

When we returned, the group all grabbed a quick snack then headed down to the beach to catch some rays. Unbelieveably we were the ONLY people doing this! We later had an Australian tell us that only Americans and Victorians (Southern Australia) would be laying out during this time of the year! Unfortunately, the beach was NOT the place to catch some good rays. The sand is so fine and the wind was so strong that we were constantly getting whipped and stung. 6 of the people in our group went and sat around our apartment pool (something I didn't even know it had), while Sara Sickels and I went and enjoyed great privacy at one of Tangalooma's pools. I read nearly 100 pages, and enjoyed the Australian sun! It truly was the most relaxing part of my trip thus far.

After relaxing for a while, we all decided it was about time we rid ourselves of some sand. While some of the other girls were showering and getting ready to go out for the night, I needed to stretch my legs. Dave offered to go on a walk with me to the wrecks. The wrecks are a series of "wrecked" ships along the coast that Tangalooma planted there as an attraction. They are quite interesting however and attract a quite a few fish for people to see when snorkeling. It was a nice walk during a perfect time of the day.

When we returned Dave and I got our showers in and ready for the night. Kelly, Kari, Dave and I all ended up going to the Steakhouse (Beachhouse Rotunda) for supper. Although we paid an arm and a leg, our meal made it WELL worth it! Dave, Kari and I all had steaks while Kelly had chicken. Our meal was TRULY complete with the bottle of wine that Dave had bought for us three girls. We constantly joked about how Dave probably felt like he was on The Bachelor... on an island with 7 girls. During supper we were teasing him telling him that this was a 3 on 1 date and that he'd have to give a rose by the end of the night. I told him that I already forfeited my rose because I had a ring. :)

After supper, we ROLLED out of the rotunda and straight into our sweats! We then went and sat on the jetty and happened to spot a few dolphins right below us. The ocean truly is an amazing place!

I began my Sunday with an amazing run on the beach. It was something I have always wanted to do, but never really gotten the chance. It was a windy, but refreshing morning and probably the best run of my life. Along the way I spotted a few dead carcasses that had been washed up during the night, a couple starfish, and TONS of jellyfish. I knew to steer clear of them! After my run and another lengthy walk with Kelly and Kari, I showered and got ready for the day. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side this day and it was a cloudy, dreary day where it eventually started raining. We spent the day relaxing within our apartment.

When it was time to go back, we were quite sad, but knew that we had had a GREAT time at Tangalooma! Our trip back was also a memorable one for the Tangalooma people. Just upon arriving back at the launch (yes, we had a limo there to pick us up too!), one of the engines on the boat we were on got stuck in reverse. Although the captain tried turning it off and restarting it, it simply was stuck in reverse, which made it IMPOSSIBLE to dock it correctly. They had said that it was going to take overnight for it to be fixed. So, instead of docking it correctly, they simply let us float up next to another docked Tangalooma boat and we had to hop from one boat to the next to get off! It was CRAZY, but exciting!

Sara Sickels had read something quite interesting in the "What's On" book and enlightened us with it on our trip back too. She said that the movie, Scooby Doo... the newer one with Freddie Prinze Jr in it, was actually FILMED on Moreton Island, the island that Tangalooma resort is on! The place where WE WERE! So if you've seen that movie and remember the beautiful scenery... that's what we were surrounded with all weekend long! Simply amazing.

The only downfall of the weekend was that 6 of us had planned on going parasailing. Unfortunately both days it got cancelled due to the wind and other weather issues. Kelly and I have decided to do it while we are in Cairns during our last week of traveling> I am EXTREMELY excited! :)

Well, it's 9:20pm here and I still have to come up with lessons for tomorrow! That's what a vacation on my "vacation" does to me!!

While I'm in school tomorrow I'll be thinking of you all relaxing on your Labor Day! You lucky ducks! Oh... and Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad! :)

written by  cowane1 on September 5, 2010 from Tangalooma, Australia
from the travel blog: Australian Adventures!
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Thank you,! We will be spending it at Lifelight! So excited for that! Sounds like you had a great time at Tangalooma! So jealous! I think you should have walked to Cowan Cowan however, only about 10 mile one way! LOL MIss you much! Glad your cold and rash are better. Mom

written by  Marcie Cowan on September 5, 2010

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