So this and the next entry are papers I wrote as a part of the academic part of this experience, but I think offer an appropriate insight to this trip!
Pacific Challenge Pre Trip Expectations
I have been to New Zealand on the north island for two weeks in 2009, but have never been to Australia, although I have been fascinated with the country ever since I can remember. Therefore, my anticipated expectations for each area vary, as I know each country is rather distinguishable from one another as any Aussie or Kiwi will tell you. From University, I know a Kiwi and Aussie rather well from my time as a coxswain on the crew team. From traveling, I have met a number of Aussies, who I have always quite enjoyed! Most recently, again in 2009, I was trekking in Nepal, and ended up staying at the same lodges as a group of ten Aussies, from Sydney and Melbourne primarily, where we played Yucca endlessly and I look forward to playing again because I cannot remember all the rules. I am ecstatic having this chance to spend an extended amount of time in each country!
For New Zealand, I anticipate friendly people on the whole, with a great accent and a few words that I will be at a loss for. I expect many people to have a farming background, know people all over the country, if not related, and people generally taking more risks than in the States. I anticipate a more generally local focused and environmentally friendly approach to many things, particularly being an island-country (I remember McDonalds advertising its use of local beef). While talking with people, I will not be surprised by the wide ranging travels many people have taken. I am excited for soy flat whites and pies! As far as interactions with the Maori, I do not quite know what to expect as I have not met anyone of that descent before, although I have visited museums. Therefore, I anticipate limited personal interaction, although likely a more widespread way of learning information as the government has been more actively putting Maori histories on public spaces. I am excited for the Hangi on day four, as I heard it is rather tasty! Also, I am looking forward to cultural presentations, as they always fascinate me in how people maintain traditions in a changing world. It amazes me on how unique indigenous cultures are, particularly due to their environment, but on a broader scale, how similar many are to one another (satisfying the basic necessities of life).
In Australia, I expect, again, friendly people with an accent and vocabulary that I do not entirely share. Bryson’s book made me a little intimidated of interacting with Aborigines, although I constantly found myself sympathizing with the history presented. It’s tragic really what the white man put them through. Anyway, I anticipate feeling a bit awkward with indigenous and white Australians’ interactions, particularly if there is apparent prejudice. I wonder if there are relics, as there once were in the American south, of conspicuous separation and racism. I am interested to see how much Aboriginal culture is presented in tourist brochures, etc. I read a book on dreamlines, and would really like to go to a gallery seeing the native artwork, as I have seen a couple paintings in a professor’s home his wife picked out on various occasions in Australia. Beyond that, I believe that the people will be generally helpful and easy going. With the amount of sunshine the country gets, I would imagine it staying positive is easier. There are so many threats inherent to living in Australia that I will be weary of a local’s perception of risk. I am staying in Australia until the end of May and will be looking out for places I want to go back to or possibly live or work for a bit.
Post Trip Perceptions
My experiences in New Zealand and Australia during the Pacific Challenge unquestionably have been some of the best of my life, and certainly memorable due to the “extreme” nature of many of the activities we participated in; I knew I was adventurous, but I have a whole new perception of how outgoing I truly am. Also, I never considered myself as one to have a bucket list, but I feel like many things that I was able to do during this trip; for example, skydive, swim with dolphins, cave, scuba, and surf; would certainly be on many peoples’. I have always been considered as an easy going, positive person who enjoys trying new things and gets along with a wide range of people. This trip further solidified my confidence in those generalizations of my personality, and certainly at times tested them, although hardly since our group was lucky enough to have gotten along so well! I am thoroughly appreciative for the people in my group, the friendships rendered, and the memories everyone contributed to and would not be the same without any single Pacific Challenger; not to mention, the excellent leadership of Doug and Bree, and the balance between their leadership styles, while always being effective. However, this trip has also broadened the possibilities I see as viable options in my life. If I didn’t really have an idea for what I wanted to do with my future, I just found a whole new realm of possibilities in an adventure tourism career. I am already a rather active person and have always wanted to work doing something I enjoy, but why not make a hobby a career? It is certainly something to think about, although I am presently staying on my predetermined track of volunteering with the Peace Corps in French-speaking West Africa within the year. Yet, afterwards, who knows! I always figured I would go to graduate school, likely for international studies or policy, but maybe for recreation or tourism so I would be able to better rationalize my continued participation in such amazing experiences all the time.
As far as a comparison of my pre and post perceptions, I believe that I was on the proper track with my assumptions for each country; sure there is a whole new set of vocabulary that I am still quite oblivious to, but the individuals in each country were as welcoming and kind as I presumed they would be from previous interactions. New Zealand is such a small country, but it has surely geared itself towards tourism in a way in which I really didn’t quite conceptualize. It is very foreign friendly; there are flyers and brochures and readily available, “look right” signs painted on the sidewalks, and great signs with information about where you are visiting, as well as a clear attempt to give recognition to the indigenous Maori culture, even if it is a more recent attempt. It is incredible how well the government and private sectors are managing the high level interest, but I cannot help but wonder how the earthquake in Christchurch, as that, two, within the past year will affect the country’s economy, and more importantly, the people. In Queenstown when the earthquake occurred, I saw many people on the phone bawling due to a lack of communication or knowing already that they lost someone. I hope that news coverage about the recovery maintains of international interest because I know I will want to look into in the upcoming months. In Australia, I am grateful that I did not encounter the blatant racism, although the absence of Aborigines was certainly noticeable. I only saw two, and each time it was a single individual male playing a didgeridoo for money at a place of popular tourist interest (at Circular Quay in Sydney and at the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains). Nevertheless, conversations with white Australians regarding them, a clearly negative opinion were voiced. I still find it such a bizarre situation. Regardless, this trip was spectacular and I am so happy to have been able to participate and become part of the Pacific Challenge community.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Cairns, Great Barrier Reef, and leaving
en route to Cairns
So it was a bit of a funny story getting up to Cairns. I initially was going to hitchhike but, decided against it since I would be alone. So, I decided to look in to flights, which were quite expensive; then, I checked out the Greyhound schedule and found a bus but, I also posted an ad wanting a ride on a local rideshare site. The day before heading out I received an email from Igor, a 21 year old German on a working holiday visa, offering a ride and we coordinated to meet in Townsville (a ferry ride away from me, and an eight hour stop in his drive). He was driving from Mt. Isa (inland) and it took him longer than expected, which was fine because I walked around, used up some flextime on my phone, and meandered to McDonalds to use wi-fi and be in an easy and conspicuous spot. However, right when Igor arrived, he locked his keys in the car. Apparently this is the third time it has happened in the two months since he has been in Australia, although before, he was fortunate enough to have a window partially down. The shops in the shopping center were about to close but we went into the NewAgency to ask for local numbers (i.e. police, locksmith, RACQ – a AAA equivalent). The worker also gave us a piece of packing strip, and later a wire coat hanger so we could try to break in. It was rather unsuccessful. After an hour and a half or so, the locksmith arrived and we were ready to go. I drove the first half (just under two hours) to give him a break, and then we made it into Cairns just after midnight. I already arranged a hostel for the night, and ended up having to call the afterhours manager to get in. Igor and I parted ways, I think he slept in his car… The next morning I was picked up at 6:15am by ProDive for my live aboard diving trip!
Great Barrier Reef Live Aboard Scuba Trip!
This is one of the coolest experiences I have had! I am so happy I was certified and have been able to do as much diving, especially in the places (i.e. Fiji, Great Barrier Reef) as I have in the past month (I’ve logged 15 hours underwater!). Anyway, a quick summary of the experience: I lived on a boat for three days in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef with loads of people stoked on diving. Our meals, snacks, and tea were prepared for us and we had 11 dives (two of which were at night) exploring two reefs, but five different dive locations. I never had to worry about air usage (yay for efficient underwater breathing despite a smaller tank!) only depth. Protected by a stingersuit and equipped with the proper gear, I swam through coral caverns, saw sharks, sea turtles, sting rays, barracudas, napoleons, parrotfish, cleanerfish, clownfish, damsels, angelfish, butterflyfish, unicornfish, boxfish, surgeonfish, lobsters, crabs, shrimps, red bass, pufferfish, lionfish, eels, massive clams, potato cod, among heaps of coral varieties. In short, it was amazing.
A bit more detailed… As I mentioned I was picked up early and then was taken to the dive shop to sort out gear. Three vans took the 30 people, some of which were completing their certifications, some of which were certified, and one who was just staying out for one night, to the marina where we boarded our home for the next few days. We had breakfast, were assigned rooms, had a safety orientation, and then “enjoyed” a bumpy three hour trip out to our first dive location on the reef (I only saw one person “spew”). My roommate was Asia, a girl my age from the Netherlands, who immediately asked to be dive buddies. I agreed, even before I knew that she had been smart and rented an underwater camera for the trip! When we arrived at Milln Reef, we set up our gear and took our first dive in the Petaj area. Before each dive we were given a dive briefing with depth and directions and things to look out for. Gail, the “token Aussie” who was staying for just one night, asked to dive with us as well, and Erik, a French instructor, joined our group as well. It was superb having Erik because he had a really good eye, was great at underwater navigation, and often took us a bit different route than suggested so we wouldn’t be following a heard of divers. We stayed dive buddies for the duration of the trip and were usually fortunate to have the longest dives of our boat. When we did our night dives, we put glowsticks on our air tanks and had flashlights. One of my favorite things to see was sea turtle, especially as they were swimming to the surface! Also, with so many dives, it was great practice on working with the PADI dive table. A day consisted heaps of food, loads of water time, previewed by dive briefings: we did a dive before breakfast, ate, had a bit of downtime to consume morning tea and a snack, dove, ate lunch, dove, had afternoon tea and a snack, a bit more downtime, had dinner, another briefing, and a night dive. It was spectacular. In addition to some sun time, I also managed to finish a book that I was able to exchange once I was back in Cairns.
For those interested, see below for a summary of dive information.
Day 1:
Dive 1: Milln Reef – Petaj; 18m, 49minutes
Dive 2: Milln Reef – Petaj; 12m, 62minutes
Dive 3: Milln Reef – Swimming Pools; 10m, 55minutes
Dive 4: Milln Reef – Swimming Pools; 12m, 35minutes *night dive*
Day 2:
Dive 5: Milln Reef – Swimming Pools; 15m, 45minutes
Dive 6: Flynn Reef – Tennis Courts; 18m, 51minutes
Dive 7: Flynn Reef – Gordon’s Mooring; 14m, 60minutes
Dive 8: Flynn Reef – Gordon’s Mooring; 16m, 38minutes *night dive*
Day 3
Dive 9: Flynn Reef – Gordon’s Mooring; 16m, 47minutes
Dive 10: Flynn Reef – Tracie’s Bommie; 14m, 53minutes
Dive 11: Flynn Reef – Tracie’s Bommie; 15m, 45minutes
Cairns
Upon finishing the live-aboard, I was dropped off at Chris and Daniel’s house (although they go by Blakey and Plugger), which we arranged through couchsurfing (an online community of likeminded people who offer places to stay for travelers). There place was great (I had my own room since the new roomie was moving in the day I was leaving) and close to the center of the city! It was Sunday night, and since Monday was a holiday in QLD, we went out for a beer at the Pier, saw a few Aussie basketball players, and went to the casino... The guys wanted to go to the casino to “either make or break the night,” so they put $40 on red, the first go at the roulette wheel (as decided before we left the Pier). It didn’t work out in our favor. Apparently, “black always brings you back.” Then we had a go on the “chocolate wheel,” where we won $60, which really just put us even, but we put it in a group beer fund for the evening (which, in Aus, did not last long). We grabbed dinner and then went to meet up with my live aboard group, who arranged to meet up at a particular bar in town. It was a late night, but a really great introduction to Cairns nightlife! The following day was pretty low key (I failed to book a Daintree tour); we went to a look-out above town, visited a few of their friends (one of which, Crackers… everyone has nicknames! I was dubbed “Jackers”), stopped by a rope swing on a local river, walked along the promenade, and watched movies at their place. The following day they had work, and I needed to get out and explore the city. I walked along the waterfront, read by the lagoon, meandered around the marina, went to Cairns Central (a mall) for a few souvenirs (ran into Torrey who arrived the day prior), exchanged books for new ones at a hostel, then explored the botanical and heritage gardens and Mt. Whitfield conservation park. When I made it back, Plugger made dinner as we watched the news and saw updates on the death and repercussions and implications of Osama Bin Laden’s death. The new roomie got in that evening and we hanged out the following morning before she was kind enough to drop me at the airport!
Coming Home
I clearly was excited to be coming home, but it snuck up on me so quickly (particularly after WWOOFing)! That being said, I was still ecstatic that I had a ticket home. I mean, Cinco de Mayo, Opening Day, and Mother’s Day, all nearly right after one another, talk about wonderful! I had left a few bags of mine in Sydney in Dave’s garage, as I intended to come back to Sydney earlier to climb. However, that clearly didn’t work out (since the tickets were exceptionally expensive any day prior to my departure date from the country). While in Cairns, after my live aboard, I got a hold of him and found out that he arranged with a shuttle company to drop my bags once I arrived in Sydney at the airport during my five hour layover before leaving for the States since he was in Byron. So that was a relief! My delayed flight out of Cairns became the trend for my upcoming flights. Thank you books, pictures, music and updating this blog as a means of occupying my time! Once I arrived in Sydney, I took the train to the International Terminal where I found Chris, the shuttle driver, and, importantly, my belongings. I took up a few seats near the door and repacked in an area without much foot traffic. I did get a few funny looks, especially as I was drinking wine during this endeavor (it was either consume or toss!). Speaking of travel , it is SO much nicer heading east that west.
So it was a bit of a funny story getting up to Cairns. I initially was going to hitchhike but, decided against it since I would be alone. So, I decided to look in to flights, which were quite expensive; then, I checked out the Greyhound schedule and found a bus but, I also posted an ad wanting a ride on a local rideshare site. The day before heading out I received an email from Igor, a 21 year old German on a working holiday visa, offering a ride and we coordinated to meet in Townsville (a ferry ride away from me, and an eight hour stop in his drive). He was driving from Mt. Isa (inland) and it took him longer than expected, which was fine because I walked around, used up some flextime on my phone, and meandered to McDonalds to use wi-fi and be in an easy and conspicuous spot. However, right when Igor arrived, he locked his keys in the car. Apparently this is the third time it has happened in the two months since he has been in Australia, although before, he was fortunate enough to have a window partially down. The shops in the shopping center were about to close but we went into the NewAgency to ask for local numbers (i.e. police, locksmith, RACQ – a AAA equivalent). The worker also gave us a piece of packing strip, and later a wire coat hanger so we could try to break in. It was rather unsuccessful. After an hour and a half or so, the locksmith arrived and we were ready to go. I drove the first half (just under two hours) to give him a break, and then we made it into Cairns just after midnight. I already arranged a hostel for the night, and ended up having to call the afterhours manager to get in. Igor and I parted ways, I think he slept in his car… The next morning I was picked up at 6:15am by ProDive for my live aboard diving trip!
Great Barrier Reef Live Aboard Scuba Trip!
This is one of the coolest experiences I have had! I am so happy I was certified and have been able to do as much diving, especially in the places (i.e. Fiji, Great Barrier Reef) as I have in the past month (I’ve logged 15 hours underwater!). Anyway, a quick summary of the experience: I lived on a boat for three days in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef with loads of people stoked on diving. Our meals, snacks, and tea were prepared for us and we had 11 dives (two of which were at night) exploring two reefs, but five different dive locations. I never had to worry about air usage (yay for efficient underwater breathing despite a smaller tank!) only depth. Protected by a stingersuit and equipped with the proper gear, I swam through coral caverns, saw sharks, sea turtles, sting rays, barracudas, napoleons, parrotfish, cleanerfish, clownfish, damsels, angelfish, butterflyfish, unicornfish, boxfish, surgeonfish, lobsters, crabs, shrimps, red bass, pufferfish, lionfish, eels, massive clams, potato cod, among heaps of coral varieties. In short, it was amazing.
A bit more detailed… As I mentioned I was picked up early and then was taken to the dive shop to sort out gear. Three vans took the 30 people, some of which were completing their certifications, some of which were certified, and one who was just staying out for one night, to the marina where we boarded our home for the next few days. We had breakfast, were assigned rooms, had a safety orientation, and then “enjoyed” a bumpy three hour trip out to our first dive location on the reef (I only saw one person “spew”). My roommate was Asia, a girl my age from the Netherlands, who immediately asked to be dive buddies. I agreed, even before I knew that she had been smart and rented an underwater camera for the trip! When we arrived at Milln Reef, we set up our gear and took our first dive in the Petaj area. Before each dive we were given a dive briefing with depth and directions and things to look out for. Gail, the “token Aussie” who was staying for just one night, asked to dive with us as well, and Erik, a French instructor, joined our group as well. It was superb having Erik because he had a really good eye, was great at underwater navigation, and often took us a bit different route than suggested so we wouldn’t be following a heard of divers. We stayed dive buddies for the duration of the trip and were usually fortunate to have the longest dives of our boat. When we did our night dives, we put glowsticks on our air tanks and had flashlights. One of my favorite things to see was sea turtle, especially as they were swimming to the surface! Also, with so many dives, it was great practice on working with the PADI dive table. A day consisted heaps of food, loads of water time, previewed by dive briefings: we did a dive before breakfast, ate, had a bit of downtime to consume morning tea and a snack, dove, ate lunch, dove, had afternoon tea and a snack, a bit more downtime, had dinner, another briefing, and a night dive. It was spectacular. In addition to some sun time, I also managed to finish a book that I was able to exchange once I was back in Cairns.
For those interested, see below for a summary of dive information.
Day 1:
Dive 1: Milln Reef – Petaj; 18m, 49minutes
Dive 2: Milln Reef – Petaj; 12m, 62minutes
Dive 3: Milln Reef – Swimming Pools; 10m, 55minutes
Dive 4: Milln Reef – Swimming Pools; 12m, 35minutes *night dive*
Day 2:
Dive 5: Milln Reef – Swimming Pools; 15m, 45minutes
Dive 6: Flynn Reef – Tennis Courts; 18m, 51minutes
Dive 7: Flynn Reef – Gordon’s Mooring; 14m, 60minutes
Dive 8: Flynn Reef – Gordon’s Mooring; 16m, 38minutes *night dive*
Day 3
Dive 9: Flynn Reef – Gordon’s Mooring; 16m, 47minutes
Dive 10: Flynn Reef – Tracie’s Bommie; 14m, 53minutes
Dive 11: Flynn Reef – Tracie’s Bommie; 15m, 45minutes
Cairns
Upon finishing the live-aboard, I was dropped off at Chris and Daniel’s house (although they go by Blakey and Plugger), which we arranged through couchsurfing (an online community of likeminded people who offer places to stay for travelers). There place was great (I had my own room since the new roomie was moving in the day I was leaving) and close to the center of the city! It was Sunday night, and since Monday was a holiday in QLD, we went out for a beer at the Pier, saw a few Aussie basketball players, and went to the casino... The guys wanted to go to the casino to “either make or break the night,” so they put $40 on red, the first go at the roulette wheel (as decided before we left the Pier). It didn’t work out in our favor. Apparently, “black always brings you back.” Then we had a go on the “chocolate wheel,” where we won $60, which really just put us even, but we put it in a group beer fund for the evening (which, in Aus, did not last long). We grabbed dinner and then went to meet up with my live aboard group, who arranged to meet up at a particular bar in town. It was a late night, but a really great introduction to Cairns nightlife! The following day was pretty low key (I failed to book a Daintree tour); we went to a look-out above town, visited a few of their friends (one of which, Crackers… everyone has nicknames! I was dubbed “Jackers”), stopped by a rope swing on a local river, walked along the promenade, and watched movies at their place. The following day they had work, and I needed to get out and explore the city. I walked along the waterfront, read by the lagoon, meandered around the marina, went to Cairns Central (a mall) for a few souvenirs (ran into Torrey who arrived the day prior), exchanged books for new ones at a hostel, then explored the botanical and heritage gardens and Mt. Whitfield conservation park. When I made it back, Plugger made dinner as we watched the news and saw updates on the death and repercussions and implications of Osama Bin Laden’s death. The new roomie got in that evening and we hanged out the following morning before she was kind enough to drop me at the airport!
Coming Home
I clearly was excited to be coming home, but it snuck up on me so quickly (particularly after WWOOFing)! That being said, I was still ecstatic that I had a ticket home. I mean, Cinco de Mayo, Opening Day, and Mother’s Day, all nearly right after one another, talk about wonderful! I had left a few bags of mine in Sydney in Dave’s garage, as I intended to come back to Sydney earlier to climb. However, that clearly didn’t work out (since the tickets were exceptionally expensive any day prior to my departure date from the country). While in Cairns, after my live aboard, I got a hold of him and found out that he arranged with a shuttle company to drop my bags once I arrived in Sydney at the airport during my five hour layover before leaving for the States since he was in Byron. So that was a relief! My delayed flight out of Cairns became the trend for my upcoming flights. Thank you books, pictures, music and updating this blog as a means of occupying my time! Once I arrived in Sydney, I took the train to the International Terminal where I found Chris, the shuttle driver, and, importantly, my belongings. I took up a few seats near the door and repacked in an area without much foot traffic. I did get a few funny looks, especially as I was drinking wine during this endeavor (it was either consume or toss!). Speaking of travel , it is SO much nicer heading east that west.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Magnetic Island
The following morning we met Emma and Luke’s three daughters, Georgia, 5, Gabriella, 3, and Lilianna, 8 months, along with their little dog Moses. The girls are adorable and took to me immediately! Since there are numerous diving opportunities and hikes on the island, Emma and Luke are flexible with the work schedule (WWOOFing is an accommodation and food exchange for about four hours of work a day) in order for us to have completely free days to explore the island; therefore, the first day we spent eight hours painting a bunch and doing a bit of weeding. We painted again the following day and then went to part of the national park and did a short walk up to an old fort and look out.
The next morning we took advantage of the work we got done earlier and Emma dropped us off at the beach to go snorkeling. We started off at Florence Bay, spent most of the morning there, hiked over to Radical Bay, Balding Bay, and ended in Horseshoe Bay, the one closest to where the Speare’s live. Total hiking was 5.8km. It was a spectacular day (about 30 degrees Celsius)! Supposedly there was a crocodile spotting in Radical Bay, although rumor on the island is that it was just a foolish tourist. We were in the vicinity of the national park for a bit, but I still haven’t seen any koalas! This island is well known for having a high native koala population… I won’t believe it until I see it! There are only 3,000 people that live here year round so it is funny to hear Emma and Luke talk about tourists (Australia is on a long holiday right now because of Easter and Anzac day).
With the winds low and the weather deteriorating in the coming days, we booked scuba gear for the next day. Our first dive was in the marine reserve in Geoffery Bay at the Moltke shipwreck, a German boat that wreck in 1890 and was used as target practice for the air force during World War II. It was awesome! It wasn’t deep, maximum of 7.6m, and I stayed down there exploring for 90 minutes! Afterwards, we went back to the dive shop (Pleasure Diving), had lunch, and then got a tank refill to go to Alma Bay where we explored some small caves, again, so sweet! It was another long dive, 75minutes, and I am rather proud since I “outlasted” Torrey on both dives, so apparently I use air very conservatively while down there. I want to get my advanced open water certification now. I wonder why I didn’t study Marine Biology! It’d be sweet to have to dive as a job. That evening, we went with Luke to a yoga practice on the island with a bunch of residents. We even saw the owner of the dive shop who let us know that he would be willing to do a night dive with us to check out the wreck the following evening. This island is amazing; I love the small town feel, despite the tourist attractions (Moke and “topless” cars). Torrey went on a night dive that I planned to do, but figured I will be doing two in Cairns so I passed.
Over the next few days we washed the car, helped finish laying a walkway, set up a small garden, and did other small tasks around the house. On Easter Sunday I baked an apple pie, lemon bars, anzac and chocolate chip cookies! We've spent quality time with this family and it has been wonderful (I even taught the girls some gymnastics). It has also made me excited to come home! I'm still waiting to see a koala... I went on a 6km walk by myself, and still no luck! Fortunately they have internet, although my mobile doesn't work, so I was able to book my live-aboard diving trip (three days, two nights, eleven dives), sort a hostel and couchsurfing in Cairns, as well as a way up there! I won't be spending anymore time in Sydney as initially anticipated because the tickets south were really expensive because of the holidays.
The next morning we took advantage of the work we got done earlier and Emma dropped us off at the beach to go snorkeling. We started off at Florence Bay, spent most of the morning there, hiked over to Radical Bay, Balding Bay, and ended in Horseshoe Bay, the one closest to where the Speare’s live. Total hiking was 5.8km. It was a spectacular day (about 30 degrees Celsius)! Supposedly there was a crocodile spotting in Radical Bay, although rumor on the island is that it was just a foolish tourist. We were in the vicinity of the national park for a bit, but I still haven’t seen any koalas! This island is well known for having a high native koala population… I won’t believe it until I see it! There are only 3,000 people that live here year round so it is funny to hear Emma and Luke talk about tourists (Australia is on a long holiday right now because of Easter and Anzac day).
With the winds low and the weather deteriorating in the coming days, we booked scuba gear for the next day. Our first dive was in the marine reserve in Geoffery Bay at the Moltke shipwreck, a German boat that wreck in 1890 and was used as target practice for the air force during World War II. It was awesome! It wasn’t deep, maximum of 7.6m, and I stayed down there exploring for 90 minutes! Afterwards, we went back to the dive shop (Pleasure Diving), had lunch, and then got a tank refill to go to Alma Bay where we explored some small caves, again, so sweet! It was another long dive, 75minutes, and I am rather proud since I “outlasted” Torrey on both dives, so apparently I use air very conservatively while down there. I want to get my advanced open water certification now. I wonder why I didn’t study Marine Biology! It’d be sweet to have to dive as a job. That evening, we went with Luke to a yoga practice on the island with a bunch of residents. We even saw the owner of the dive shop who let us know that he would be willing to do a night dive with us to check out the wreck the following evening. This island is amazing; I love the small town feel, despite the tourist attractions (Moke and “topless” cars). Torrey went on a night dive that I planned to do, but figured I will be doing two in Cairns so I passed.
Over the next few days we washed the car, helped finish laying a walkway, set up a small garden, and did other small tasks around the house. On Easter Sunday I baked an apple pie, lemon bars, anzac and chocolate chip cookies! We've spent quality time with this family and it has been wonderful (I even taught the girls some gymnastics). It has also made me excited to come home! I'm still waiting to see a koala... I went on a 6km walk by myself, and still no luck! Fortunately they have internet, although my mobile doesn't work, so I was able to book my live-aboard diving trip (three days, two nights, eleven dives), sort a hostel and couchsurfing in Cairns, as well as a way up there! I won't be spending anymore time in Sydney as initially anticipated because the tickets south were really expensive because of the holidays.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Queensland
Hitch hiking (kind of)
So my flight into “Brizzy” was delayed by over an hour, but fortunately I had a long layover. There were a number of passengers who intended to catch a connecting international flight, and were not so happy about the situation. When I landed I didn’t quite know what to do since the bus that goes to St. Lawrence had already left for the day. Another charter company failed to answer their phone despite being during business hours. I started to walk from the airport to town to find the rail station. I ended up stopping and asking two cars that were pulled over and chatting where the station was; it was “just down the way.” I asked if the gentleman was heading that way; fortunately, he was. It was hot walking in lower eighty degree heat! As it turns out, he was the manager of a trucking company and I mentioned how I might have to hitchhike if the train didn’t work out. He said that one of his employees was just getting ready to head that direction. He gave Ben a call and within minutes I was in a big rig heading towards St. Lawrence. Ben had just come back from a five week holiday in Vietnam, where he also just got married! An hour and a half later I was dropped off on the side of Bruce Highway just as it was getting dark. Torrey came to pick me up and we went to Greg and Colleen’s, where he was WWOOFing (Willing Workers On Organic Farms).
St. Lawrence
So I should start out by explaining a crabbing outing in the Broad Sound and estuaries surrounding the Coyne’s 6,000acres. It is a five minute drive to a dock where the tide changes up to 6m (18ft). In the back of the pickup we have a couple empty bins (for the crabs we catch), a bin of bait (fish heads or shark bits), a couple frozen two liter containers of juice, and two cans of fuel that we fill the boat up with each outing. Greg has one hundred pots set at all times, but each outing we only switch about half of them. We are out on the water between three and a half and four and a half hours, depending on wind, where the pots are, etc. In order to pick up the bots, we use a gaff hook, pull them up, take out the male crabs, switch the bait, and pile them in the back of the boat until it is time to put them out again. Since we are catching mud crabs, whatever one is wearing is filthy by the end, smelling like fish guts and all. We go out with the tide (while I was there, it was typically in the morning), leaving earliest at 6:00am. We did do one night run where we left at 6:00pm and went out via moon and boat light. It was much more challenging, particularly because the few mornings I was out, it wasn’t windy, and this night it was, so picking up the pots was much more difficult due to the rocky boat. When I wasn’t crabbing, I helped box the crabs, take down a fence, or break things down for a dump run. I did manage to finish a book and watch “Killers,” the newer Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigel (sp). Our last evening we went pig hunting but we failed to kill one. We worked four hours each day to cover food and lodging, and the rest of the time we worked we were paid. It was a fun rural experience! I feel like we ate all the time, with three meals a day, including tea breaks, where the snack food was often a meal in itself; I suppose we were working though! Nevertheless, it was a great start to seeing QLD.
Actual Hitchhiking!
We got a ride with Colleen back up to Mackay. It was Sunday though and much of the city was closed, including the Greyhound bus station. I had the number from when I called when I first arrived and tried them, but found out that the bus wasn't coming for eight hours. We walked through the Sunday market, grabbed a delicious apple, rhubarb crumble and headed to the highway; our goal: to head to Townsville (400km north) to catch a ferry to Magnetic Island, where we had a place to stay. After an hour and a half we were picked up by this guy Mike, who has been living on the road for the past eight years. He was going to party before working in Cape York for a few months. He drove us just outside of Airlie Beach, gave us energy drinks and sugar cane and we stuck out our fingers again. Within five minutes another "bloke" picked us up who was heading just south of Townsville to go fishing. He listened to cricket the whole time and was not very chatty. He dropped us 50km outside of Townsville. Elated that things were going so well, we were picked up again within ten minutes by a father of nine, with only one child in the car, and his dog. He took us the half an hour to Townsville on his way up to Cairns. We were 7km outside of the city and started walking in with our fingers out. A german guy, Hogard, and his Malaysian wife, Eta, Townsville residents, although heading the opposite direction stopped and asked us where we needed to go. We told them the ferry terminal and they were happy to drop us right there. Talk about a successful trip up the coast! We got to the ferry station six and a half hours after our start of hitchhiking (a straight drive probably would have taken four hours), and a half an hour past when we would have left Mackay had we waited for the Greyhound. We took the ferry across, caught a bus to the Stearns.
So my flight into “Brizzy” was delayed by over an hour, but fortunately I had a long layover. There were a number of passengers who intended to catch a connecting international flight, and were not so happy about the situation. When I landed I didn’t quite know what to do since the bus that goes to St. Lawrence had already left for the day. Another charter company failed to answer their phone despite being during business hours. I started to walk from the airport to town to find the rail station. I ended up stopping and asking two cars that were pulled over and chatting where the station was; it was “just down the way.” I asked if the gentleman was heading that way; fortunately, he was. It was hot walking in lower eighty degree heat! As it turns out, he was the manager of a trucking company and I mentioned how I might have to hitchhike if the train didn’t work out. He said that one of his employees was just getting ready to head that direction. He gave Ben a call and within minutes I was in a big rig heading towards St. Lawrence. Ben had just come back from a five week holiday in Vietnam, where he also just got married! An hour and a half later I was dropped off on the side of Bruce Highway just as it was getting dark. Torrey came to pick me up and we went to Greg and Colleen’s, where he was WWOOFing (Willing Workers On Organic Farms).
St. Lawrence
So I should start out by explaining a crabbing outing in the Broad Sound and estuaries surrounding the Coyne’s 6,000acres. It is a five minute drive to a dock where the tide changes up to 6m (18ft). In the back of the pickup we have a couple empty bins (for the crabs we catch), a bin of bait (fish heads or shark bits), a couple frozen two liter containers of juice, and two cans of fuel that we fill the boat up with each outing. Greg has one hundred pots set at all times, but each outing we only switch about half of them. We are out on the water between three and a half and four and a half hours, depending on wind, where the pots are, etc. In order to pick up the bots, we use a gaff hook, pull them up, take out the male crabs, switch the bait, and pile them in the back of the boat until it is time to put them out again. Since we are catching mud crabs, whatever one is wearing is filthy by the end, smelling like fish guts and all. We go out with the tide (while I was there, it was typically in the morning), leaving earliest at 6:00am. We did do one night run where we left at 6:00pm and went out via moon and boat light. It was much more challenging, particularly because the few mornings I was out, it wasn’t windy, and this night it was, so picking up the pots was much more difficult due to the rocky boat. When I wasn’t crabbing, I helped box the crabs, take down a fence, or break things down for a dump run. I did manage to finish a book and watch “Killers,” the newer Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigel (sp). Our last evening we went pig hunting but we failed to kill one. We worked four hours each day to cover food and lodging, and the rest of the time we worked we were paid. It was a fun rural experience! I feel like we ate all the time, with three meals a day, including tea breaks, where the snack food was often a meal in itself; I suppose we were working though! Nevertheless, it was a great start to seeing QLD.
Actual Hitchhiking!
We got a ride with Colleen back up to Mackay. It was Sunday though and much of the city was closed, including the Greyhound bus station. I had the number from when I called when I first arrived and tried them, but found out that the bus wasn't coming for eight hours. We walked through the Sunday market, grabbed a delicious apple, rhubarb crumble and headed to the highway; our goal: to head to Townsville (400km north) to catch a ferry to Magnetic Island, where we had a place to stay. After an hour and a half we were picked up by this guy Mike, who has been living on the road for the past eight years. He was going to party before working in Cape York for a few months. He drove us just outside of Airlie Beach, gave us energy drinks and sugar cane and we stuck out our fingers again. Within five minutes another "bloke" picked us up who was heading just south of Townsville to go fishing. He listened to cricket the whole time and was not very chatty. He dropped us 50km outside of Townsville. Elated that things were going so well, we were picked up again within ten minutes by a father of nine, with only one child in the car, and his dog. He took us the half an hour to Townsville on his way up to Cairns. We were 7km outside of the city and started walking in with our fingers out. A german guy, Hogard, and his Malaysian wife, Eta, Townsville residents, although heading the opposite direction stopped and asked us where we needed to go. We told them the ferry terminal and they were happy to drop us right there. Talk about a successful trip up the coast! We got to the ferry station six and a half hours after our start of hitchhiking (a straight drive probably would have taken four hours), and a half an hour past when we would have left Mackay had we waited for the Greyhound. We took the ferry across, caught a bus to the Stearns.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Climbing and a travel adventure
Linfield
For my last day in Sydney (for the time being), I stayed around Collaroy, grabbed a baguette for breakfast, watched Bree try to fly a kite (it broke within minutes), and ended up getting a swimsuit (all summer stuff at this store was half off!). Dave picked me up and we headed over to the crags over at Linfield to go climbing. He was kind enough to belay me on a bunch of top ropes. It was a great area to practice skills and get some conditioning in. I only did about five routes, but I down climbed them, some were a bit thin, and the last was an overhang. Not too shabby for not climbing for a while. The rock was sandstone and super sticky! Ohh how I miss climbing! Then Dave dropped me at the train station in Chatswood to go the airport to attempt the standby flight thing, which I was quite weary about.
En Route to QLD
I found out that “stand by” flights don’t really exist in Australia as I was previously told, and encouraged to try in order to save money; so much for not trusting my gut feeling and booking ahead! I got to the airport and just ended up buying a flight for the following day. Since I already paid to get to the airport, I figured I’d just hang around. There was free wifi so I downloaded a bunch of podcasts and games on my itouch. I fortunately also had a few books to pass the time. I ended up having to go to the international terminal for the evening since the domestic one closes in the evening; it was either there, or McDonalds… A girl from Germany shared a power outlet with me and I got a few movies from her. In the morning I caught the train back to the proper terminal and caught my flight into Mackay via Brisbane. Once I arrive in Mackay, it will be after when the daily bus goes to St. Lawrence, so I may be hitchhiking down the Bruce Hwy... tbd
For my last day in Sydney (for the time being), I stayed around Collaroy, grabbed a baguette for breakfast, watched Bree try to fly a kite (it broke within minutes), and ended up getting a swimsuit (all summer stuff at this store was half off!). Dave picked me up and we headed over to the crags over at Linfield to go climbing. He was kind enough to belay me on a bunch of top ropes. It was a great area to practice skills and get some conditioning in. I only did about five routes, but I down climbed them, some were a bit thin, and the last was an overhang. Not too shabby for not climbing for a while. The rock was sandstone and super sticky! Ohh how I miss climbing! Then Dave dropped me at the train station in Chatswood to go the airport to attempt the standby flight thing, which I was quite weary about.
En Route to QLD
I found out that “stand by” flights don’t really exist in Australia as I was previously told, and encouraged to try in order to save money; so much for not trusting my gut feeling and booking ahead! I got to the airport and just ended up buying a flight for the following day. Since I already paid to get to the airport, I figured I’d just hang around. There was free wifi so I downloaded a bunch of podcasts and games on my itouch. I fortunately also had a few books to pass the time. I ended up having to go to the international terminal for the evening since the domestic one closes in the evening; it was either there, or McDonalds… A girl from Germany shared a power outlet with me and I got a few movies from her. In the morning I caught the train back to the proper terminal and caught my flight into Mackay via Brisbane. Once I arrive in Mackay, it will be after when the daily bus goes to St. Lawrence, so I may be hitchhiking down the Bruce Hwy... tbd
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Sydney - Collaroy
Upon landing in Sydney, I took a train to Circular Quay where I caught a ferry into Manly. Nikki picked me up and we got sorbet and ice cream! Doug and Bree are finishing their time with the Norwegians at a hostel in Collaroy so I stayed with them for the night. The following day we went to the mall, got myself a new camera (as mine died in the water in Fiji) and a passport photo so I can send in my PADI card. We picked up my belongings from Dave's so I could organize what I wanted to bring up north to Queensland. I went out to dinner with the group at a Thai restaurant across the street from the hostel. I spent a bunch of time online and organizing photos, etc. I talked with Torrey and figured out that I would fly into Mackay, bus into St. Lawrence and work with where he is at. I am going to go to the airport tonight after climbing to see if I can fly standby. We will see how that works out... From St. Lawrence, we will go to Magnetic Island, work and hopefully scuba, make our way up to Cairns, maybe scuba, and make it back to Sydney fo our flights. I will probably head back end of May so I can climb the three sisters and maybe do a canyon. Regardless, my flight is booked to Seattle May 4th!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Fiji
I flew in Nadi in the afternoon with a carryon and easily made it through security. I took a taxi to Nadi Bay Resort Hotel where Kim, Jordan, and David were just returning from the beach to meet me. We talked with the travel lady and booked transportation on the Yasawa Flyer for a week to explore the islands northwest of where we currently are and booked a few nights at my parent’s timeshare for when we return. It was going to be a much more expensive week than I anticipated as we are going to the islands rather than exploring the mainland, but it was great!
Bounty Island
Our first stop was in the Mamanuca Islands at Bounty Resort after only half an hour on the flyer. It was beautiful weather and we went to the beach immediately. Kim and I decided to get some activities in our lives, we would walk arond the island. We found an employee spear fishing and we watched him for a bit. It took about 15 minutes, maximum, to walk around the island. We then joined the boys snokeling, came in for lunch, (where the food is very reminiscent of India and I LOVE it!) , went kayaking arond the land, worked on our tans, had dinner, watched the sunset and went to bed after many card games.
Beachcomber Island
The following morning we woke up early to catch the flyer to Beachcomber, known as the "party island." It was only 15 minutes away on the flyer. David upgraded up to a bure because the beds in the dorm were rumored to have bed bugs. We took a whole ten minutes to walk around the island before laying out to work on our tans again. We took a break to go snorkling. Over the day we met a few Norwegians, English people, and Israelis and hanged out with them for the day. After the buffet style lunch, we went out on a boat to the edge of the reef and snorkled some more. We then day drank, socialized with travelers, had dinner, enjoyed live, local music and a playlist afterwards. The food there was great and the people were fun! It was a great time, but I was happy to just spend a day there.
Tavewa Island
We woke up early to catch the flyer, looking forward to staying somewhere longer than a night, even though it would be a five hour ferry to our next stop. We had looked into PADI scuba certification and decided on Coralview Resort, on the northern end. We ended up spending the rest of our time on the island there, but it was wonderful. The staff was so welcoming and really made you feel at home. They were like family rather than just coworkers. Every night they sang, danced, and led everyone in a game (crab races, four corners with cards, etc). We met an array of interesting travelers. The weather was not so great all the time, but it worked out well because since we were getting certified, we were in the water a lot, or reading the PADI book. The "confined water" sessions were held at Blue Lagoon in shallow water. It was awesome- so much better than a pool! Every dive we did was beautiful with quite good visibility, and a wide variety of coral and aquatic life. I am so happy to be certified and am looking forward to being able to scuba more. The most amazing thing was, for our final dive, since we "did well" on our exams, we got to do our final dive at 20m to watch a shark feeding. So SWEET! Great pictures as well :).
Nadi
We took the long ferry ride back to the mainland and booked a hostel in Smugglers Cove at Bamboo, an extremely economical choice, but also with an incredible and welcoming staff. It turned out great, we had a kava session, listened to Fijians play music, and went out to a local bar. Again, great people. The following day, we ended up just hanging out after check out, made coconut bracelets, and I spent way too much time online, and am considering coming home early because I looked to much into the uncertainties of my upcoming month. We'll see! I would really like to go up to the Great Barrier and scuba there, but I am so indifferent on employment opportunities, I dred looking into it, also accommodation , etc. Who KNOWS! We took a taxi to Denarau Worldmark Resort where we enjoyed the comforts of a condo, (thanks mom and dad!). We layed out by the pool, watched Greece 2 at the pool bar, sat in the hot tub, watched the news, ordered in from Mamma's Pizza, did laundry, watched the Prince of Persia and Grown Ups. For my last dinner with the group, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe, followed by an evening out at the Ice Bar and Ed's. The following morning, we packed up, dropped off their things back at Bamboo and quickly went into town before I went to the airport to return to Australia.
Bounty Island
Our first stop was in the Mamanuca Islands at Bounty Resort after only half an hour on the flyer. It was beautiful weather and we went to the beach immediately. Kim and I decided to get some activities in our lives, we would walk arond the island. We found an employee spear fishing and we watched him for a bit. It took about 15 minutes, maximum, to walk around the island. We then joined the boys snokeling, came in for lunch, (where the food is very reminiscent of India and I LOVE it!) , went kayaking arond the land, worked on our tans, had dinner, watched the sunset and went to bed after many card games.
Beachcomber Island
The following morning we woke up early to catch the flyer to Beachcomber, known as the "party island." It was only 15 minutes away on the flyer. David upgraded up to a bure because the beds in the dorm were rumored to have bed bugs. We took a whole ten minutes to walk around the island before laying out to work on our tans again. We took a break to go snorkling. Over the day we met a few Norwegians, English people, and Israelis and hanged out with them for the day. After the buffet style lunch, we went out on a boat to the edge of the reef and snorkled some more. We then day drank, socialized with travelers, had dinner, enjoyed live, local music and a playlist afterwards. The food there was great and the people were fun! It was a great time, but I was happy to just spend a day there.
Tavewa Island
We woke up early to catch the flyer, looking forward to staying somewhere longer than a night, even though it would be a five hour ferry to our next stop. We had looked into PADI scuba certification and decided on Coralview Resort, on the northern end. We ended up spending the rest of our time on the island there, but it was wonderful. The staff was so welcoming and really made you feel at home. They were like family rather than just coworkers. Every night they sang, danced, and led everyone in a game (crab races, four corners with cards, etc). We met an array of interesting travelers. The weather was not so great all the time, but it worked out well because since we were getting certified, we were in the water a lot, or reading the PADI book. The "confined water" sessions were held at Blue Lagoon in shallow water. It was awesome- so much better than a pool! Every dive we did was beautiful with quite good visibility, and a wide variety of coral and aquatic life. I am so happy to be certified and am looking forward to being able to scuba more. The most amazing thing was, for our final dive, since we "did well" on our exams, we got to do our final dive at 20m to watch a shark feeding. So SWEET! Great pictures as well :).
Nadi
We took the long ferry ride back to the mainland and booked a hostel in Smugglers Cove at Bamboo, an extremely economical choice, but also with an incredible and welcoming staff. It turned out great, we had a kava session, listened to Fijians play music, and went out to a local bar. Again, great people. The following day, we ended up just hanging out after check out, made coconut bracelets, and I spent way too much time online, and am considering coming home early because I looked to much into the uncertainties of my upcoming month. We'll see! I would really like to go up to the Great Barrier and scuba there, but I am so indifferent on employment opportunities, I dred looking into it, also accommodation , etc. Who KNOWS! We took a taxi to Denarau Worldmark Resort where we enjoyed the comforts of a condo, (thanks mom and dad!). We layed out by the pool, watched Greece 2 at the pool bar, sat in the hot tub, watched the news, ordered in from Mamma's Pizza, did laundry, watched the Prince of Persia and Grown Ups. For my last dinner with the group, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe, followed by an evening out at the Ice Bar and Ed's. The following morning, we packed up, dropped off their things back at Bamboo and quickly went into town before I went to the airport to return to Australia.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)