Spring Break 2009!

My sincerest apologies for the lack of entries lately. Trust me, getting this blog up to date has been on my list of things to do for months. But, after Spring Break, Andy came to visit and lately, I’ve been so busy with finals. But, now I can breathe. I’m done with school and I’ve only got one more month left in paradise. So, let’s start where I left off: Spring Break.

Alright, so technically, it's called 'Easter Break' since it's currently fall right now. But, as Americans, we couldn't help ourselves but yell out SPRING BREAK whenever necessary. Needless to say, we got a few confusing looks during our recent 18 day trek up the east coast of Australia as we repeatedly referred to our trip as SPRING BREAK! It was amazing - but you figured that already, right?! Let's start at the beginning ...

We left Sydney early in the morning of Friday, April 10 and hopped on a Greyhound bus. I might be joining the millions here but ... I loathe Greyhound. We had the worst luck with them. Apart from one of the buses breaking down for three hours, the drivers were so rude! Anyways ....

We arrived into our first destination, Spot X Surf Camp, in the evening. It was gorgeous there! I literally felt like I was at summer camp. On our first morning there, they woke us up at the peak of dawn for surf lesson number one. After two hours of learning and one-on-one lessons, we had the rest of the day to perfect our form. The nights were the most fun, though! Talk about the ultimate Australian experience. We spent the nights with all of the camp attendants either playing drinking games, chilling around the bonfire or strolling along the beach. We befriended most of the surf instructors and ended up getting a free surf lesson on our third and final day. Surprisingly, I was able to ride quite a few waves. But, don't congratulate me just yet. I also spent plenty of time fighting the waves and getting thrown around like clothing in a washing machine. That, and my surfboard was constantly trying to run away from me. One of my favorite memories of Surf Camp was meeting Brett McDonald. Originally from Canada, he had been working at Spot X for a few months and had made a name for himself with his music. He learned how to play the guitar when he arrived in Australia and, only a few short months later, he was playing nightly concerts at Spot X. This guy is amazing! I would urge everyone to check out his MySpace page. He’s definitely got a music career in front of him. We continue to stay in touch and will be expecting him to make his way to Iowa sometime in the near future.

 

 

Surf Camp proved to be amazing and our trip was off to a good start. Next stop: Surfer’s Paradise. I would relate this city to Las Vegas. It took us about a day to get there and when we did, it was spotted with neon signs and tall apartment buildings. This city is known for surfing and it’s three theme parks. We were scheduled to be in Surfer’s Paradise for two nights, but we had nothing planned. Unfortunately, the only time we ran into rain was during our stay here. It rained the entire time so we were unable to show off our newfound surfing skills. Instead, we spent a day at one of their theme parks, Dream World. Although not as entertaining or exciting as Disney World, we still had a fun day. It started raining about two hours into our day. That sent most of the crowd home, but we wanted our money’s worth. We spent the rest of the day soaking wet, riding all of the rides and bypassing all of the lines. On our last night, we went to one of the nearby casinos and tried our hardest to understand slot machines. It didn’t work. But, don’t worry, I only lost about $2. We’re in a recession after all.

The next leg of our journey brought us to Fraser Island. This was probably my favorite part of our entire trip. Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island. Upon arrival into the nearest town, we were handed the keys to a 4WD vehicle, all the necessary camping equipment that we’d need and three day’s supply of food. We were put into a truck with about 4 other people and the 11 of us hopped on a ferry and made our way to Fraser Island. We had a map and an itinerary to stick to … but the map was a little hard to read and we ended up getting lost in the middle of the woods while 4-wheeling our way toward our campsite. It was a bumpy ride, but oh so much fun. Dave was our designated driver, so the rest of us cranked up the tunes in the back and started drinking. We were lost after all – what else was there to do? We finally made our way to our campsite and only a few hours behind schedule.  Unfortunately, we had to put up our tents in the dark. Well, correction: the boys had to put up our tents in the dark. We fumbled our way to the beach late at night and it was there that I witnessed the brightest night sky that I’ve ever seen. It was like looking up into space through a telescope. The stars were everywhere and they were so bright, we didn’t need flashlights. I was in awe. On the next morning, we were ready to go by 6 a.m. We hit the ‘highway’ – which is nothing more than the beach – and started to explore. We saw an old shipwreck that had been washed ashore, spent some time in a freshwater river and climbed some of the nearby hills for picturesque views. On our third and final day, we made our way to Lake Mackenzie, the world’s second purest lake. Nestled in the middle of the island surrounded by lush greens, this lake was crystal clear and absolutely gorgeous. We only had a few hours to swim and soak up the sun before we had to head back to the ferry. We made some great memories on Fraser Island. It was the perfect combination of fun and responsibility. I loved how we were on our own during the trip and we made the most of it. Fraser Island was amazing but it’s also a very dangerous place. Only a week after we left, we learned that a group of similar travelers had rolled their vehicle on the beach by turning too fast. All of the passengers inside had died. After hearing that, we all praised Dave for his responsible driving. After all, our lives were in his hands.

 

 

After three amazing days, we were scheduled for three more in the Whitsunday Islands. This group of 72 tropical islands is the ‘gateway’ to the Great Barrier Reef. We spent three days among the sailboat, Habibi. We cruised around the cluster of islands and stopped every so often at famous beaches and snorkeling sites. Interestingly enough, one of the islands was pointed out to us and we were told that is the location where The Beatles wrote ‘The Yellow Submarine.” Fascinating. It was jellyfish season and every time we went snorkeling, we had to wear a stinger suit, which was extremely sexy. Imagine yourself in spandex from head to toe and you’ll understand. The Whitsunday Islands were something straight out of a magazine. The water was crystal clear and there were tropical islands everywhere you looked. We made some great friends on board and spent the days and evenings soaking up the sun and soaking in the view. Instead of sleeping in the cabins underneath, we all slept under the stars on the boat deck. Talk about another breathtaking night sky.

 

Our final destination was in sight. The next and final stop on our journey was Cairns, home of the Great Barrier Reef. We had one night to rest before climbing on board another vessel, the M.V. Kangaroo Explorer. This was a dive and snorkel vessel and we spent three days cruising to different areas of the Great Barrier Reef. Our initial intention was to snorkel the entire time, but we were tempted and by the second day, we were all signed up for our very first dive. I had never been diving before, but I did surprisingly well. On my first dive, I found Nemo and even rode a sea turtle. Yes, you read that right. I just hopped on and went for a ride. (I’m not sure if that’s legal or not so let’s keep it on the down low.) On our last morning, Dave and I woke up at sunrise and went on a morning snorkel. It was the best snorkeling that I have ever seen. The rise of the sun created a stir with all of the marine life and we saw so many creatures. We saw stingrays, three different types of shark, squid, jellyfish, eel and sea turtles. Plus, the sun was hitting the coral just right and it illuminated into brilliant colors. We had rented an underwater camera and got great pictures. It was definitely a good ending to our Great Barrier Reef experience.

Once our reef experience was over, we spent the rest of our time familiarizing ourselves with Cairns. What an awesome city. The weather was great and the town was just the right size – not too big or too small. The esplanade was the strip that aligned with the coast and it was filled with tons of restaurants and shops. Plus, there were markets near the beach and we had no problem finding things to do to occupy our time. On Saturday night, we signed up for The Ultimate Party, a pub-crawl that takes you to five different bars in one night via a double-decker party bus. Outrageous! We had a great time. We were given VIP access at all the bars and we had the chance to compete in various competitions at each of the bars. For lack of a better term, the competitions were interesting and I ended up winning two of them. To top it all off, Saturday was ANZAC day, which is sort of like America’s Memorial Day. There were men in uniform EVERYWHERE. It was pretty cool to see.

 

The next morning, we were signed up for a rainforest tour. On our way to the rainforest, we stopped for a crocodile river cruise. When they told us to keep our hands and heads inside the boat at all times, I obeyed without a fight. Although a bit scary, it was definitely cool. We ended up spotting a large crocodile named Scarface. That, and we found a baby crocodile hiding in the trees! After the crocodile cruise, we took a few walks inside the rainforest. What a cool place. We found a tree that was 900 years old and we spotted a few little lizards. The Daintree Rainforest is special because it connects to the Great Barrier Reef and it’s the only place in the world where one environmentally protected area meets another. Needless to say, we got some pretty cool photos. After the tour, we all went out for dinner to celebrate our last night of Spring Break 2009. With our charming personalities and brilliant smiles, we ended up getting free wine at a fancy Italian restaurant. The next morning, we sat by the pool before we made our way to the airport.

 

Eighteen days of bliss. I’m not sure I’ll ever have another vacation that amounts to all the fun we had along the east coast. I was able to see things that most people will never get the chance to. Every day was filled with fun and I couldn’t have asked for better traveling buddies. Here’s to hoping that Spring Break 2009 is just one of many exciting trips that I’ll be lucky enough to have in my future.