Ahh I haven't been good about blogging but I guess I'll let that be a good sign that says I'm keeping myself busy!
Here is an update on some of my travels!
I flew out last Thursday with a large group of about 40. Our group stayed in a "resort hostel" that had a pool and a bar. The first night we swam and then walked into town. I ate with a group of about eight friends at a restaurant/pub and then walked to a man made lagoon near the beach (check the picture!)
The next day we went to --drum roll please!-- The Great Barrier Reef!!!! We took a catamaran out with a company that does scuba and snorkeling. We went to a spot called Michaelmas Cay and I went diving! Because I am already a certified diver I got to skip out on the intro dive that most of the group was doing and go with a dive master and two other people. I felt very comfortable diving because I had just gone in November in Puerto Rico. I thought about my dad a lot because without the motivation to get certified and dive with him I would not have experienced such an amazing dive that day! The first thing we saw when we got into the water was a Sea Turtle! On the dive we went along the shallow reef at about 40 feet and saw all types of coral and creatures. One being a sea cucumber that my dive master picked up and let me touch! It had little suction cups on the bottom that she put my hand on! We also saw another much larger turtle sleeping under coral and got to swim through a few short tunnels. The dive was about 45 minutes long and towards the end I had some intense sinus pain so I did not go on the second dive.
The rest of the day some of us went on a glass bottom boat tour where we talked about species of coral, enjoyed lunch and the or course the Australian sun. (With the help of sunscreen! see picture 2!) Also my dive master gave me my dive log paper and told me that it was great diving with me!
The next day I went white water rafting through the rain forest! Most of the people that I knew in my group were in the "Extreme" white water rafting group but I signed up late so was put in the regular one with my friend Scott but once we got there we convinced them to fit us in the "Extreme group"! On the bus on the way there they reviewed safety information and I got a little nervous. The experience was great though because the instructors were first interested in safety and then have fun. So I didnt have time to be nervous! The river that we went on is one of the most fun and most dangerous rivers to raft on!!! Looking up into the beautiful rainforest was very special and I will always remember the amazing color of a blue iradecent butterly that I saw flitting around. There were water falls along the river and we went under one! The water pressure was very intense coming from hundreds of feet above and I wanted to stay under there and let it massage my back. The company had a photograpger taking pictures at certain spots so we have a CD of those pictures and I will share once I get a hold of them they are great!
The next day we took and 8 hour bus tour around the area. First we stopped at a wildlife sanctuary and we got to feed some kangaroos and wallabies! (see picture 3!) we also saw an adorable koala! The next stop we made was at a protected rainforest for a quick swim (See picture 4)! After that we stopped at a roadside joint for burgers! Then we went on boat trip to see crocs and we were all yawning a lot and we saw one crocodile but it was behind a bush and i was laughing really hard because everyone was freaking out taking pictures but they were taking pictures of a bush pretty much. Our last stop was Cape Tribulation! unfortunately we couldnt swim there though because there were too many box jellyfish in the water! (see picture 5)
We then flew out the next morning to come back to school!
