A great big thanks to Tina and Trevor who drove us to the airport this morning. :) And an even greater thanks to them for EVERYTHING they did for me the past 5 weeks. :)

Kelly and I arrived this morning at around 9:30, called for our free shuttle to our hostel and were able to check in right away. The people at the desk were unbelieveably friendly and helpful. After checkin in and what not, Kelly and I were able to book our parasailing adventure for today, our Great Barrier Reef adventure for tomorrow, and our Kuranda adventure for MONDAY. :) All for EXCELLENT prices with transportation to and from here! How GREAT!

We were able to settle in a bit, buy a few groceries, and even take a short nap. But then - it was PARASAILING time!! Woo! The parasailing company picked us up at our hostel, and brought us to the marina where we hopped on the boat. We were planning on riding tandem, as was a couple of honeymooners, and there was a Japanese girl planning on by herself. Kelly and I were first! It was SOO much fun! We were rocked back and forth, side to side, I can't remember screaming or laughing so much at the same time. It truly was amazing. After that, we watched the adorable honeymooners go... and then the Japanese girl. The last girl also was getting a jet ski tour (something the other 4 of us weren't) and so the boat driver asked is if we'd like to pay $10 (it's regularly $35) for a LONG ride on his 4 person tube. Of COURSE we said yes! And it was a BLASTTTT! Again, I've never laughed so hard or screamed so much. Thankfully, I didn't fall off but the new husband did! After we all got back in the boat and our captain asked us if it would be alright if we drove down the river a bit and looked for some crocdiles... for FREE :) Of COURSE that was alright with us too!! And believe it or not, we DID see one! Swimming right along! Ah! It was so cool!

After our adventures, we hit the town for some souvenir shopping and a meal... and then headed back to our hostel. We are exhausted from an early morning and a LONG day in the water/sun! We're plannin' on just takin' it easy, reading a bit, and going to bed EARLY :)

10 days until I'm homebound! :) Think of me - I'm always thinking of you.

written by  cowane1 on September 18, 2010 from Cairns, Australia
from the travel blog: Australian Adventures!
Send a Compliment

---

1 comment...

Yesterday morning we got up early and got ready to head out on the reef! My 2nd time, Kelly's first! We took a different boat/tour this time and I much enjoyed it because there were WAY less people and the staff were AMAZING. Kelly scuba dived (dove?) THREE times! She got a deal - buy 2 dives, get one free. She saw some amazing things... as did I from up above where I snorkeled. It was MUCH windier out than the last time I snorkeled, but the reef was no less beautiful! I simply LOVED it! The company we were with provided us with wetsuits - which was nice and hard at the same time. I had the WORST time trying to get into mine. I always had to find a new friend to help zip me in because Kelly was busy with her scuba gear. The equipment I was able to use was MUCH nicer as well! We put this stuff on our goggles and mine NEVER fogged up... and NO water got in! My eyelashes were completely dry when I got out of the water. I saw SO many amazing things. Kelly rented an underwater camer and took TONS of amazing pictures and videos that I can't wait to show you all! She shared them with me :). Among the kazillion fish and different types of coral we saw, we also saw clams, sea cucumbers, AND a turtle! It was simply awesome! We also were able to visit 2 different areas to see completely different things.

After we got back Kelly and I walked upon this dance/music demonstration in the center of Cairns, real close to where our bus was going to pick us up. We had 20 minutes so we decided to watch. Soon enough, the dancers all rushed off stage and grabbed people from the crowd. This sweaty, scanitly-clothed dancer comes and chooses me! Ah! So, I get pulled on stage, along with other helpless souls, to try and dance like these people. Apparently this was a demonstration done by the People of the Pacific, and my partner was from the Cook Islands. The dance I was a part of was part of the "Around the World" dance, and I was representing the USA! The only instructions I got were to shake my booty to the beat! HA! I realized how very very poor I am at shaking my booty, but it was HILARIOUS none-the-less!

Later, after we discovered that the showers at our hostel are as cold as the Arctic, Kelly and I hit the town and found an amazing pizza shop and shared a delicious pepperoni pizza. We then did a little shopping, enjoyed the Night Markets, and found our way home... tired from all of our time spent on the reef!

TODAY, we got to sleep in and were fortunate enough to take the SkyRail up through the rainforest to the tiny village of Kuranda. The views from the SkyRail were MIRACULOUS! It was unbelievable to be zipping through the rainforest, over top of the canopy, and then all of a sudden be swallowed by a large cloud floating at the top! We were able to see the most beautiful Barron Falls among other amazing sights. Once to Kuranda, we rode the bus to the Kuranda Koala Sanctuary where we saw several native animals (again), and Kelly got her first chance at holding a koala. Her koala was named Chibby, which means small in Japanese. After the Sanctuary we enjoyed looking at the rows and rows of shops and the things they had to offer. We didn't end up buying anything, but our favorite thing that we saw was a postcard made out of kangaroo pelt that could ACTUALLY be mailed in the post! We enjoyed a relaxing, and once again beautiful train ride back to Cairns. Some of the drop-offs, and views of the different falls were spectacular. Kelly and I were both exhasted by this time though and fell asleep for a bit of the ride. Once we arrived in Cairns, we again came across an aboriginal demonstration of dance and music. Thankfully neither of us got sucked in this time, but we were able to simply sit back and marvel at their talents!

We are mostly packed up because we fly out of Cairns at 6:20 tomorrow morning. We had a pretty relaxing evening, but are planning on going and having one quick drink at this infamous backpackers bar before hitting the hay! Apparently there are regularly people dancing on tables, so on and so forth... we want to see (NOT DO) for ourself :)

Tomorrow we'll be SYDNEY-bound. We are EXTREMELY fortunate because Kelly has a hook-up for us to stay and they are even picking us up from the airport! I'm EXCITED! Hopefully they'll have warm showers. :)Ta-ta for now!...

written by  cowane1 on September 20, 2010 from Cairns, Australia
from the travel blog: Australian Adventures!
Send a Compliment

---

1 comment...

First - our accomodation. We are staying with Kelly's host mom's sister and her husband in Sydney. This not only saved us money, but they are the most WONDERFUL people. They cook our meals, help us get from place to place, give us great travel ideas. They are brilliant people and so genuinely nice for letting us stay with them! AND - we have warm water here! YAY! :)

We arrived in Sydney early Tuesday morning. Kelly and I slept the majority of the flight because it took off at 6:20am... UGH. Which meant getting up at 4:15! Who scheduled a 6:20 flight? Oh yeah, WE did. Aunty Di (the host mom's sister I mentioned above) picked us up at the airport, which is only a short 15 min from their house! We then got cozied into our new accomodation - we each have our own room. :) And by 11, Kelly and I had caught a train, and then a bus, and were staring at the most beautiful Bondi Beach. I talked to Joseph as I layed out soaking in the 24 degree Celsius rays, and told him to Google Bondi Beach. When he did, he said, "Emily, I don't see a lot of beach here... only a lot of skin". Which was a DEAD on description of Bondi. Kelly and I had a good time though and considered going back another day if time permitted. Kelly even said, "when I envisioned Australia, THIS is what it looked like!". Gorgeous white sand, HUGE waves coated with surfers, you get the jist. :)

Wednesday was our busiest, but probably our BEST day in Australia. We caught the 9:30 train to Sydney City to take in all of the well known sights. We got off in a far away station from really anything, but I assured Kelly that this would make touring easier. We then walked through Hyde Park, went into St. Mary's Cathedral (Kelly's Catholic too), enjoyed the Botanical Gardens, ate our packed sandwiches near Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, walked the bit to the Opera House, took in the Circular Quay, walked along George Street and did some shopping, checked out Darling Harbour, came back along the other side of George Street and stopped in and enjoyed a tasty treat at a specialty cupcake shop, took a short tour through The Rocks, and walked most of the way across the bottom of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. After grabbing a quick chicken sandwich we made our way to the building of the Sydney Harbour BridgeClimb at about 5pm. ALL of our walking and amazing sightseeing could not prepare us for what we were about to encounter. We had chosen to do the BridgeClimb at night because it was not only the cheapest, but we wanted to see the transition of dusk to a beautiful Sydney nightscape. It was the best decision we could've made. After getting suited up in our gear, and practiced walking some fake steps, we were ready to make our climb. I didn't find it scary at all, and neither did Kelly. Our tour leader was phenomenal and told us some interesting, funny, and downright amazing stories about the people and places of Sydney. For instance, the man who created the Sydney Opera House, just died a few years ago and NEVER once stepped inside of it. In the end we had climbed to the top, went across the center then came back down the same side. It took about 2 hours, and we had climbed 1,337 steps. I would STRONGLY STRONGLY STRONGLY encourage anyone who is in Sydney to do this! It's simply the BEST.

Today, John (Di's husband) was kind enough to take us through a tour of the Blue Mountains. In various touristy shops, I've seen postcards of the Blue Mountains, but hadn't really heard much about them. We first stoped in a quaint town on the way called Leura. John enjoyed a coffee and Kelly and I a hot chocolate each. It was around 50 degrees, so it was a PERFECT start to the day. After Leura we headed a little further up the road to Scenic World. Here we were able to pay a small price to do three amazing things. First, we took the Skyway across this huge divide between two mountains, over 300 meters above the ground. We saw a miraculous waterfall on one side, and fascinating rock formation called the 3 Sisters on the other. The Skyway also had a glass bottom that we could look through if we wanted. Once we returned from that we did something we would've done all day if we could... we rode the STEEPEST train the world. It goes straight down the side of a mountain, through a little tunnel for part of it, at a 52 degree angle! When we first sat in our seat, we didn't understand why they were reclined so much, but as we got going, we realized it would've been super uncomfortable if they hadn't been. Down in the valley, we enjoyed a short rainforest walk of great scenery and a little information about the mining that had occured here in the olden days. We then took the Cableway up back to the top before heading on our way. After Scenic World, John bought Kelly and I some delicious meat pies (an Australian delicacy) and we ate them at a beautiful lookout called Edge's Point. Following that we made our way to the Wentworth Falls. Here, we decided to take a path that had been labeled an "easy grade with few steps" down to a lookout of the falls. That sign was a lie. The ENTIRE thing were quite steep steps! John also walks faster than anyone I know, leaving Kelly and I in the dust. This was WAY more intense than our BridgeClimb! After leaving there we made the 2 hour trek home. Kelly and I slept most of the way.

When we returned back here, we enjoyed another nice home-cooked meal. You will find it fascinating to know that our meal consisted of 2 meats and SEVEN different vegetables (not mixed or anything). We had bacon and sausages (plain, not with bread or anything) and mashed potatoes, corn, peas, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and pumpkin (they eat a lot of it here). My parents would be pleased to know I ate everything but the mushrooms. :) I also found it interesting because they call their sausages (which look and taste like mini-brats), snags.

Tomorrow, Kelly and I are having a rest day. We are walking the 25 minutes to the nearest shopping mall to have an experience of Asian culture. According to Di, we may be the only 2 Caucasion people in the place. Our bags are RIGHT on the weight limit so we don't plan on buying anything TOO big. :) Then, we plan on curling up and watching some movies. It should be a relaxing day after three big days of go-go-go! Then, Saturday, we fly out of Australia once and for all and head for the beautiful Auckland, New Zealand. Don't worry, Auckland is on the NORTH island - the earthquakes are on the SOUTH. :)

G'day!

written by  cowane1 on September 23, 2010 from Sydney, Australia
from the travel blog: Australian Adventures!
Send a Compliment

---

1 comment...

On Saturday we arrived in Auckland. We got a great deal by riding the AirBus RIGHT to the front door of our hostel! After we checked into our LOVELY room - it's a 2 bed room with a fridge, TV, and our own bathroom - Kelly and I went and bought a few groceries to get us through the next few days. After that we chilled out for a while and then made our way to the local hostel bar where they offered FREE pizza! We met a few people there (both guys and girls primarily from Ireland and England) and hung out with them for most of the night. We crashed and were COMPLETELY thrown off in time because not only is NZ 2 hours ahead of Sydney, but it also just happened to be Daylight Savings Time on that very day which pushed it back ANOTHER hour.

Today we woke up and went shopping with one of the Irish girls we met the night before. We had a great time and got lots of stuff... well, enough that we can bring home without getting in trouble! We THEN did something super adventurous! We did what is called the Sky Walk where we walked around this building kind of like the space needle... It was a bit scary but a lot of fun! After that we headed back to our hostel for a pretty chill night. :)

It's hard to believe I only have 2 more days here! Ah! It's definitely bittersweet... :)

written by  cowane1 on September 26, 2010 from Auckland, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Australian Adventures!
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

The past two days were quiet, but a blur. :) Yesterday we were planning on going to a ropes course out of town but changed plans because it would've cost us a FORTUNE to get out there and back. Unfortunately there was no form of public transportation to it, and a cab would've cost a ridiculous amount to drive us there, wait, and drive us back. We decided it wasn't worth it and chose to sleep in, and have a super relaxing day. Last night we went out to supper with Dave (another one of the MSU teaching students) and his brother Tom who was touring Australia and NZ with him. They were nice enough to treat us to a beautiful meal on our last night out of the country.

Today - we start our trek back! Hard to believe that after never flying before this trip - once I return to MN, I will have flown 9 TIMES - two of those flights being 12 hour flights! Rosine will be picking me up from the St.Paul Domestic Airport at approximately 9 o'clock tonight (Tuesday). It's also simply surreal to look through my pictures and relive all of the amazing things that I've done and seen! This definitely was the trip of a lifetime. Before it - I was pretty undecided, and could care less about people studying abroad - but after experiencing it for myself, I can see how getting out of your Comfort zone and taking the NEXT step can really make you grow in ANY profession, and traveling is the best (and most fun) way to do it!

Hope you have all enjoyed reading my blog. It certainly has been fun to write it - and an EASY way to keep up with everyone! :) I'm looking forward to seeing you ALL again soon! :)

I hope you all have

written by  cowane1 on September 27, 2010 from Auckland, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Australian Adventures!
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...