Fraser Island!!

Ahh we are so behind on our blogging...we've been having too much fun!

We just completed our 3day/2night camping trip on Fraser Island, the most protected World Heritage listed place on earth. Speaking of World Heritage places...I had no idea such places existed until coming here. I still have to google it but apparently there is a committee called UNESCO (not sure what it stands for) that protects certain areas of cultural and biological significance and determines guidelines for who can visit, how much electricity can be used, where you can camp, rules for protecting the animals...all sorts of things. I'm sure there are places back home that are protected by UNESCO but I guess I never noticed.

Anyways, google it. Fraser Island is ranked number one on earth according to UNESCO for importance and need for protection. The waters surrounding Frasier provide an excellent steady food source and so ocean animals (turtles, whales, sharks) come here from all over the world when its time to mate because its the only place they know they are guaranteed food. So if you see a sea turtle anywhere you know its been to frasier! If this ecosystem was lost everything in the ocean would get messed up then everything on land would get messed up and life would end. Don't worry we didn't litter! Here are some facts but I highly suggest googling more information...this is the coolest place ever!

~ 7,200 species of insects are found on the island...600 are poisonous

~ 28 species of snakes on Fraser, 27 are poisonous, including the top 7 deadliest snakes in the world (most have no antivenin cure!)

~ Deadliest spider on earth is the Fraser funnel web spider which is found only on Fraser. It has the deadliest neurotoxin known to man and there is no antidote! 138 people have been killed by spider bites in the past 7 years. Kills you in 25 minutes. We were taught about this once we were on the island, made us very nervous for our lives, literally! Thank god it's not aggressive and stays in its burrow.

~ The only pure dingoes (wolves) on earth are found here. All the others in Oz have mated with dogs so they're not purebred anymore. They grow to be twice as big as an adult German Shepard! The adults stay inland and the pups have to stay by the ocean or else the adults will eat the them. Last year a 22yo man was decapitated bc he fed the dingos and then ran from them...bad idea! Don't feed the dingos!!

~ Its the biggest sand island on earth...more sand than the Sahara!

~ The lakes are filled with tea tree oil...free spa treatments!

~ They have exploding trees that will explode every now and then when lightning strikes and burn down everything around them so everything starts fresh again

~ Only rainforest where everything grows from the sand! No dirt and grass and whatever else plants usually grow from

~ Home to the oilyest and oldest trees in the world

~ Speaking of trees...something we forgot from our trip to the Daintree Rainforest: you know the glow in the dark trees they have in the movie Avatar? They're inspired by trees in the Daintree that glow because of the bacteria living on them. So cool!!

~ ok back to Fraser...its home to the biggest bird in the world, I forget what its called but its some type of sea eagle and it has a 15 ft wingspan!

~ It's home to 30 of the oldest plants on earth...the BBC filmed their Walking with Dinosaurs documentary here because it's the only place on earth that has remained unchanged since the dinosaur days. Looks like something out of Jurassic Park! Only 12% of the trees can be seen above ground the rest of the tree is a complex rooting system underground!

Ok enough facts. We thought you guys might be sick of hearing our writing so here's a special cameo from our new friend Minty! She loves fashion and sandwiches and is great! She's Brittish...check out all the fun words and phrases we've been learning :-)

<<"So the last fews days have been awesome. After it pissed down with rain in the morning, we caught the ferry over to Fraser (biggest sand island in the world). Our ring leader was a guy named Ian, an ex army man with tattoos who smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish. He had such a passion for the island and we soon found out how amazing and special it was.

The island has a huge amount of history behind it that I personally had no idea about...that term 'never judge a book by its cover' springs to mind as I thought it was just pretty beaches. First day in our four 4 by 4s, we drove down 75 mile beach, the view was unbelievably surreal and we were driving along the sand with the ocean only meters away.

Our first stop - the Mehano shipwreck. It was used in the first world war, carrying 90 percent of Australians ad New Zealanders to war. The ship was built to compete with the titanic and succeeded in being the most luxurious ship and fastest ship in the world for 30 years. Many years later, the Japs bought the ship and while tagging it to Japan the rope snapped in a storm and she came to be stuck on Fraser, perfectly preserved. It was during this time in 1929 that the Great Depression hit and due to the exquisite living conditions in Australia, the now beached ship became home to people from around the island and country. The community became so large that teachers were put on board and they had their own post code.

What we saw of the ship was just one tenth, the rest being submerged beneath the sand. An idea as to how big it was - it used three times the amount of steel than the titanic!

We went to some sand dunes that were just huge. Imagine rolling hills but made of sand. We just managed to climb to the top, after what felt like walking up a vertical wall of sand. The view was something else, all these different colours of sand. We actually rolled down it, although I have to say Alexa was a bit behind the rest of us (but we can keep that on the DL). Sand was everywhere, I still think I'm leaking it from my ears, but it was the most amazing thing!

We also went to Lake Wabby, you come out of the forest into what feels like a desert and coming over the top of the hill you look down to see a beautiful freshwater lake, it was a view you imagine on postcards!">>

Thanks Minty!!

Needless to say, our experience was incredible. We grocery shopped in small groups before we left for the island and prepared to rough it in tents for three days. Our orientation included a bunch of facts on the poisonous animals on the island, what to do if you encounter a snake or dingo, and how much rain was in the forecast for the next few days...great way to start our vacation.

We hopped a ferry over to Fraser and the sun came out! We broke ourselves into 4 groups of six and tagged along with the British crew. Karina and i couldnt drive because it was a manual so we entrusted our lives with an ex army-man to drive us safely through the dunes. We off roaded through crazy rainforest and jungle (which I finally learned are the same thing!) and spent the day driving around to different lakes. We drove along the beach...unreal! Not only is the beach a highway (with a speed limit and everything!) but its also a landing strip for planes! There are 181 freshwater lakes on the island. They're all surrounded by tea trees and the tea tree oil keeps the insects away. Pretty wild, people pay lots of money for products with tea tree oil and here it was just flowing freely around us! So we scrubbed our hair, bodies, teeth and even our jewelry and had a nice afternoon at the "spa."

We also went to another lake where we had to trek through a rainforest and then a desert and at the bottom of a huge hill was a gorgeous lake...desert meets rainforest meets lake...so cool! We rolled down the hill into the lake, great fun!

Later that night we made it to our campsite. Palace (the tour company) is the only company with a permit to leave their camping gear set up so we arrived to find our tents pitched and cooking gear ready to go. Unfortunately, no toilets or showers. Yup, we had to dig holes to pee! Luckily we were right on the ocean so we could have a "poo with a view" if you will. Oh, there were dingos so we had to go in pairs with flashlights and sticks...let's just say Karina and I got real close this weekend!

After cooking dinner, we spent the night drinking wine (and by wine I mean goon...were not that classy) and dancing and singing on the beach. Karina made a nice little playlist on Ian's iPod and got to be dj for the night- the crowd loved it! So fun!

The next morning we were awakened by the soothing sounds of Ian banging pots and pans yelling "good morning possums!!!! Time to get up!!! Bang bang bang!!!" talk about an obnoxious alarm. Our backs were pretty sore from sleeping on the ground but at least we didn't die by spider bite! We saw 8 sets of dingo prints around the campsite and a bunch of snake tracks...crazy!

We spent the day driving along the beach to various spots, including the shipwreck Minty mentioned, climbing really high rocks that look out over the ocean, a beach with sand that squeaks when you walk on it, and floating down a place called Eli Creek. Eli Creek has some of the finest sand in the world so you can drink from the mouth of the river (the part where no one swims!). The goon was flowing and we just floated along and hung out in the water for the afternoon! We had ourselves a nice Lady Gaga singalong in the car. Saw our first dingo!! They're not afraid of humans, pretty scary. He was real close to us while we were swimming and walked alongside the car when we drove away. Then We went to a huge sand dune...like a Sahara Desert style dune...and rolled down the hill. So amaZing! Scariest thing ever! We were so dizzy the world was spinning for a while after we stopped! But it was incredible and so freeing :-) (again Alexa was just "a bit" behind the group). There's a video of this somewhere too! (Alexa -- I was just enjoying the moment!!)

Unfortunately thanks to the hill we spent the rest of the day covered in sand but oh well, definitely worth it!

We cooked again and had ourselves another party on the beach. Karina had a bit of a dramatic meltdown with mother nature. It went something like this: we were sitting cooking dinner and all of a sudden I felt something was missing. I looked around realized my other half was gone!! I went back to the tent and found karina lying on her suitcase lamenting about sand in her eyes and how she thought she would never see again. (eye pain is serious people!!) Since I'm such a good Boyfriend, I put drops in her eyes and since she was temporarily blind, went off to cook her her very own vegetarian dinner. Half hour later, the rest our crew and I were eating and all of a sudden we hear yelling and swearing and looked up to see karina running up from the tents tripping and falling over all the tent poles. (lesson learned: dont run in a campsite-it's hard to see rope going across the path in the pitch dark!!) Apparently in the half hour since I left her, kar managed to have an eye crisis, battle a frog that hopped into our tent before blindly stumbling back to dinner and tripping on the poles holding up the other tents. Thankfully nothing tipped over! A few bruises were made but nothing goon and a good dance party couldn't fix! A little while later, one of the big manly guys who was staying in our tent came running out yelling about a spider in the tent and that he refused to sleep there, suggesting that we should take care of the spider for him. What a baby! Obviously we weren't about to battle a poisonous spider so he and another manly guy armed themselves with sticks and shoes and set off to find the intruder. Even though there was no sign of any spiders, he wouldn't sleep in the tent and left us girls to brave the spider alone. Men! And we're supposed to be the girly ones!

Then we had ourselves another nice dance party that included a great rendition of Hey Soul Sister. It was great!

Fortunately we survived the night without any more nature encounters (although we did see a dingo run through camp in the morning!) and were sad to pack up the next day. Our final stop was Lake Mackenzie which is a lake with sand composition comparable to Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays...96% silicone or something like that. Actually I don't think it's silicone but that's what it sounds like every time they told us...I'll have to look it up. We swam and frolicked in the lake and had ourselves a great afternoon, and then it began to rain. But the rain held off for most of the trip so we can't complain too much!

The cars all managed to survive the trip as well, save for a mirror that was lost to the jungle. We'll blame the dingos. We left Fraser later that afternoon and had the world's best shower back at the hostel. Well actually the shower was terrible but after showering in sand for the past three days it was heavenly! We headed to the pub to celebrate our surviving the island and said goodbye to our friends. We had a great time and I think I'll actually consider going camping again when we get back home!!

Whitsunday islands baby!!

Sorry for the low activity on here. I have been very uninspired to blog lately but the people have spoken (namely Carlotta emailing me daily asking for updates) and I must give them what they want! More blogging!! :)

To be honest we have been having too much fun to blog! Alexa and I spent the last 3 days living on a boat in the Whitsunday islands. It was hard to leave and I wish we were still there (vs an overnight greyhound bus).

First we arrived at Airlie beach and stayed at another base hostel. This was more like little apartments which was cool. Our roommates for the night were 3 girls from Spain (Madrid and Valencia-one named carlotta!!) and it so happens that they were going on our same boat trip! So we went to dinner together that night at the hostel pub. Very exciting because they actually had reasonably priced food and it tasted good!!! Woohoo! Meals were $10 and included a beer! My kind of deal :)

Anyway there was some major drama prior to dinner. I was in the shower and luckily missed most of it. Apparently Alexa picked up her suitcase and out of the corner of her eye saw a cockroach fall off. She calmly asked one of the spaniards to investigate and the three girls just lost it and started screaming and all jumped onto one bed yelling and pointing. (alexa here: actually, i calmly said "girls, dont scream but i think theres a cockroach over there." lost cause...the girls went bananas. "ayyy dios mio!! Me madre!!! Ahhh!!! Es enormé!!!")At this point I was done with my shower and thinking that someone was murdering all of my roommates. It was a pretty great site to see! 4 girls huddled on a bed pointing at the cockroach as it moved around and yelling/crying for their mothers. I understood all the Spanish as they were yelling :) anyway in the end Alexa sucked it up and got a guy from another room. (sidenote: when i went to find said guy, he said oh! I heard you guys and thought you were having a party! Good to know if we were being murdered no one would react!) A guy from wales (they are always so nice!) came to the rescue and laughed at us for standing on the bed and screaming. He didn't seem phased at all and picked it up with his hands (psycho) which caused a lot of screaming and horror from Spain. Anyway after that we were happy to leave and go to the pub. Alexa and I had one beer and called it a night but apparently Spain had to drink off their tension and "entered the boat with a hangover" the next day! Poor girls... That night we stayed in the top bunks only to avoid any critters... So the 5 people in the room slept on 2 beds with 3 empty beds! Don't judge until you are in the situation!!

Timeout - Just waded thru a river with our bus. Did we mention it's been raining a lot here?!

Anyway so the next day we walked down to the marina in the rain and boarded our boat Wings 2 in the rain. Spain was pretty much out of commission the rest of the trip between the hangover and seasickness so we didn't see much more of them. There were 24 people on the boat and a skipper, a dive instructor and a cook/cleaner person from England, new Zealand and south Africa respectively. Pretty cool. The boat was small but somehow we all fit pretty well. There was a main room with the kitchen And tables to sit. Then downstairs on either side there were 2 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms. In each room there were 8 beds. Alexa and I lucked out and got a double bed to share which was awesome compared to a very skinny bunk bed! (alexa again...people really do think were dating). So I have to say boat living wasn't that hard to get used to and it's the perfect place to be if you want to get away from the world for a while! Nothing but ocean and islands around for miles :)

On the first day we decided to try diving again. Since Alexa hadn't completed the first dive this was her first long dive. It was awesome!! The guide was much more attentive to us and took his time and we understood everything that was going on. It was also a lot easier the second time to get used to breathing underwater. I think I am hooked! Career change please. We saw so many fish including a huge Maori wrass fish who came right up to us and let us touch it! (used to be a female fish but now is a male...complicated). We saw heaps of fish and had a nice swim around the cove. Back on the boat we showered and got ready for dinner. Showers were very small and to prevent the boat from running out of fresh water you had a time limit of about 3 minutes! But actually it wasn't that hard to do and everyone manages to clean up ok in time for dinner. The first night we had a feast!! Salad and rolls and a potato bake and veggies and chicken or for me stuffed peppers :) (or for Alexa because she eats my leftovers :-) )mmm nice living! We also had chocolate cake for dessert!!!! After dinner we sat ourselves down on the back of the boat and watched huge fish swim in and out of the lights. There were baby sharks and dolphins! We watched a dolphin eat a squid and ink squirted everywhere!

For entertainment we played cards and got to know the other people on our boat. There was a gaggle of english people and I'm sorry to say they really just formed a group themselves and weren't friendly. So we joined the international group. As in there were 2 groups: English and international (or not from england). It was fun! We were also the healthy group as one German pointed out because the English all smoked and drank a lot and our group didn't really do that. Our group consisted of us, Germany, Sweden , Switzerland and Denmark!! Learning so much about different places. Fun facts: Denmark is part of the EU but uses their own money (krowns), they say skull instead of cheers, and they can understand Norwegian pretty well. We learned a card game called sevens which Alexa is now obsessed with! At the end of dinner the skipper talked a bit about the fish we had seen that day and where we would go the next day. The mood on the boat was great, very relaxed and easy going. We had to be up by 630 so we didn't make it a late night. Sleeping on a boat is heaven between the gentle rocking and the white noise of the waves and generator - slept like a baby!

The next day we woke up to a breakfast spread of fresh fruit! (and the anchor chain being pulled up...so loud!!) We sailed to Whitehaven Beach which is the number 2 best beach in the world. Its made 98% out of silicone or something like that. Beautiful!! We had a great time walking to the beach, taking lots of group photos on the white sand (pyramids and jumping woohoo!) then we put on our stinger suits and went in the water. It never got too deep which made it perfect to see small stingrays and lemon sharks! The Spanish girls even had a towel that was the American flag (bought on a trip to Miami) so we were able to take an all American photo on the beach :)

After that we got on the boat again to go to a second snorkel/scuba area. Breaking news: it was sunny!! We almost forgot what it looked like and were able to sunbathe out on the front of the boat on the way. Doesn't get much better. (see the "I'm on a Boat" music video for an approximate idea of what our trip was like).

So scuba diving the second day was even better!! We saw amazing colorful coral and then went to the bottom to hold a giant sea cucumber. So many nemos!!! Fun fact...the female nemos (which i think are actually called clown fish?) are in charge and when the head female dies, a male turns into a female and then mates with her son to continue the clan. Very cheeky business these fish engage in...sorry to ruin Finding Nemo for everyone! As we looked up a big sea turtle followed by a huge batfish swam by!! We swam behind it and were able to follow it in a circle as it checked us out. Coolest experience ever. Saw its cute little face and everything :)

while we were diving the instructor brought an underwater camera to take photos of us (which we later bought). One of my favorite memories is at this one piece of coral he stopped us to each take a solo photo with the nice view. I swam up and smiled and he took the photo and I moved over. Next was the turn for this german guy who swam up and posed in front of the coral. Next thing I see Alexa swim up right in front of him with a big smile and 2 thumbs up! I didn't know why she was getting right in the way of this guys photo but I figured she would move. The instructor tried to signal to her to move back but clearly she didn't understand because she kept posing and smiling for the camera meanwhile completely cutting the German guy out. Later we learned she had no idea it was the Germans tub and thought the instructor was signaling her the whole time. It was pretty hilarious because she was being so (unintentionally) rude and so happy about it!! All smiles and thumbs up. I started laughing underwater which I learned is a very strange experience! Good times...

After scuba we were able to casually snorkel around the boat and look for little reef sharks. I say casual because they had noodles for those too lazy to swim (aka Alexa) and so we spent some time floating around enjoying the views!

Fun sea turtle fact- they apparently are always stoned which is why they just float around and are so easy going. They get this high from the toxins in the jellyfish that they eat!

So we were on cloud nine the rest of the day. Actually I had some weird sore throat thing and went to bed at 930... But Alexa was social! (she was very determined to win her new game of sevens and to beat the obnoxious Swiss girl who liked to interrupt conversations with her terrible stories on repeat and taking "sexy" photos on the beach that were definitely not sexy. Yes this is alexa and yes im still bitter!!!) After 9 great hours of sleep I was good as new and we woke up early for one last snorkel session before we had to return to land. Alexa and I might take to the seas and join the life of a snorkel/scuba instructor if employment is hard to find back home. We were in heaven! Of course the day we leave the sun comes out and it's warm and sunny!

We met up with the group that night for dinner and to celebrate st Patrick's day a day early! As fun as it is it's hard to meet such great people and make friends knowing you prob won't see them again. But who knows in Europe we are gaining quite the network of people to visit and places to stay! Next trip!

Our Whitsunday adventures came to an end with an overnight greyhound bus to Hervey bay which is where the trip to Frasier island begins! I have to say we both slept pretty well on the overnight bus, almost the whole 12 hours haha. We met Minty, the coolest english girl, when we got off the bus and were waiting for the hostel. But now I'm foreshadowing! I'll let Alexa tell the next part :)

Magnetic Island

After our week in Cairns, we began our bus adventure down the coast. First stop: Magnetic Island.

We travelled about six hours south to a town called Townsville and hopped a ferry over to Magnetic Island. We stayed at Base hostel (big hostel chain in Oz) and stayed in a bungalow cabin thing. It was right on the beach and we fell asleep to the waves crashing. Our deal included a couple meals and snorkeling so that was fun!

Magnetic Island is kind of like what I picture Nantucket to be like I think. Not too much to do but nice to relax and hangout. All the beaches are off the one main road that runs around the island, and we had to hike an hour to our snorkeling destination called Florence Bay. We had our own private beach for a while, it was great! Couldn't see much snorkeling though, the current was really strong and it had just rained so we called it quits and sunbathed instead.

We went to Horseshoe Bay, the big touristy area (when I say big I mean 4 restaurants and a couple shops!) for lunch and had Mexican food. We forgot how terrible the Mexican is here...I think that might be the end of my Mexican exploits for this trip. Tomato sauce instead of salsa! And cream cheese instead of sour cream. However Kar and I decided if we get sick of healthcare, we're coming back and opening a chain of good Mexican food here. We'd be billionaires.

After our day of fun we headed back to our hostel for the night. The bar had limbo and other games for the night's events and 1950's music was bumping in the stereo. Interesting choice of entertainment for the night!

On our third and final day, we walked around a little and found the country club and golf course. Nothing too crazy. We walked for half an hour and Kar got a huge sunburn on her forehead. Poor irish skin. She's ok now though!

Next stop: Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands!

Rafting the Tully

Yikes! We are way behind on our blogging! I'll try and catch you guys up a little before we head off to sail the Whitsundays for a few days!

Last week in Cairns was full of outdoor adventures. After our day of sailing, we went whitewater rafting on the Tully river. They were grade 4 rapids on a scale of 1-6...pretty wild! It was the two of us, two Germans, and two Chinese and our raft guide. None of them really spoke English so Karina and I did most of the work. We got to do some swimming as well and we only lost one member to a rapid! We were great team mates tho and pulled her to safety.

There was a bus full of about 50 "Uni" students from umass Amherst. Of course being good new englanders they didn't have much interest in talking to us. They did sing party in the USA in the river so gotta give them credit....

We saw a crane bird catch and eat a huge catfish, pretty cool.

After 8 hours of driving and rafting, we hit the local bar, PJ Reilly's, for a relaxing beer. I tell you this because we met some Australians who told us about their last drinking experience with Americans. One of the kids told us he went to LA and went to his first "kegger" and did his first "keg stand." He said he had his first "blackout" experience ever and didn't remember his night until he looked at his camera ("just like the hangover!!"). He then said "America really is like they show it in the movies!!" We found that pretty entertaining. Then we watched the friars lose.

Side note to mama Diranian: you should be so proud. When Karina and I want to go home or leave a situation and the people we are with want us to stay and drink more I say "sorry I have to go Skype my mom! I promised her!" makes us sound like huge losers but works like a charm :)

Oh also. Australian bars are crazy. They had a dance contest and basically whoever took off the most clothes won. (sorry Gram!) That would never happen in the US!!

And they don't refrigerate milk here...creepy!

In other news...my mosquito bites still itch and I look like I have chicken pox :-/

And karina found a huge beetle in the bag of lettuce we bought from the grocery store!! Ahh! Of course someone had to walk into the kitchen the minute she found it and we were both freaking out and hiding.. Great first impression! Said person did dispose of the bug so we were grateful. Life lesson learned: always rinse out those bags and check for creatures :(

Thursday and Friday we spent even further north at Cape Tribulation. We were driven there by a wonderful guide. She was Australian but had Incan heritage which is why she loves the jungle, "it's in her blood." She herself said she is like a hobbit and never wears shoes. She took us on a walk through the rainforest and knew evvvvery thing about every plant and every animals. She showed us this type of dirt that makes mosquito bites stop itching and spiders that jump and found all kinds of skinks and lizards.

The area we were visiting is home to the Daintree Rainforest. We went on a crocodile hunt! Only saw one crocodile tho. He was huge! Just doin his crocodile thing. The estuary is connected to the ocean so sometimes there are sharks miles up the river!

We finally made it to our accommodation in the rainforest a little while later. Our hostel was set back in the rainforest which was pretty cool, very quiet and not much to do though. We went on a night hike through the jungle (what's the difference btwn jungle and rainforest?! I know there are no lions and tigers in a rainforest but do they look the same?)...freaky!! We saw some frogs and lizards and cool plants. Got to eat some wild berries...very scary because almost everything is poisonous! Our guide pointed out the deadliest plant in the world to us -- the stinging nettle. Of course we were standing right next to it and she didn't tell us til later. That would also never happen back home but I'm ok with it! This stinging nettle makes every muscle spasm and have shooting pain for years. Even if you stand next to it for too long, the hairs on the plant break off in the wind and can sting you. Crazy!!

The next day we stopped at the Daintree ice cream factory and ate jungle ice cream! We got a mixture of four favors: jackfruit, blueberry, soursop and wattleseed. These fruits only grow in the rainforest! They had a rainforest fruit tour which would've been cool but they weren't running it at the moment. The ice cream was delish!

We also stopped at a Mossman Gorge and some waterfalls on the way home. Pretty!

Kar here: fun fact, in northern Queensland in march you can't actually swim at the beach because it is jellyfish season. Meaning the entire bus ride your guide will tell you in detail how torturous a sting would be and terrifies you and then says, so don't go in the water unless you want to be stung. So for the first time in my life I am afraid of swimming at the beach. It's just not natural and i don't like it! They even have nets put up for swimming bc you can't swim all summer! Apparently from Brisbane on we will be ok to swim. Great news because we are at some beautiful beaches and can only sit in the sand at the moment!!

I&apos;m on a boat!

Tuesday was our day trip to the Great Barrier Reef!! There are so many stats about this: largest living creature on the planet, natural wonder of the world, world heritage site, able to see it from space. It's also really beautiful. We took a boat called Passions of Paradose and stopped at two different sections in the reef: Michaelmas Cay and Paradise Cove. Fun fact: they now make prescription snorkel masks which Alexa was very happy to have because she forgot her contacts! I am still happy to have my lasered eyes but could have used those back in the day!!

At each stop we were able to snorkel for about an hour in the reef and the first stop we could dive if we wanted. Sadly Alexa couldn't dive because she was still pretty stuffed up and if you can't pop your ears as you dive down it gets really painful and you could burst your eardrum so that didn't seem worth it! Sidenote from Alexa: I was able to dive close to the surface just couldn't go deep because my ears felt like they were gonna explode! It was crazy, on land all the snorkel gear weighed about 30lbs but under the water it was so light. My limited scuba was fun, I'd like to try it again but I really didn't like breathing through a tube. I was also afraid my lungs would explode if i rose to the top too fast! Things that could possibly go wrong: eardrums can puncture, lungs can pop, O2 tank can run out, gas can build up in your blood, or you can get eaten by a shark. No thank you!!

Ok back to karina!! I was able to go tho for the first time and it was amazing!! It is really weird at first to accept that you are breathing out of a tube and can't go above the water anymore. So that took a few minutes to adjust. I should have known better but I was in a group with an English girl and she kind of freaked out a bit in the beginning (they don't do well in ocean water) but eventually we were off and going and it was great! For beginners it was a half hour swim following a guide thru the reef. There were so many kinds of coral and so many colors! A lot of cool fishies too!! There was one huuuge griper fish, half the size of us! Unfortunately we didnt get to see any manta rays or turtles or reef sharks. It was kinda weird being underwater and knowing I couldn't go up fast or risk bursting my ear drums but it was really cool and the oxygen tank was so light! Until you get out of the water...

It was a fun and long day. We made a few friends including one girl who hitchhiked her way through new Zealand and couch surfed. So we decided that's our new plan, ok parents? Who knew you could still hitch hike?!

By now Alexa is no longer sick and I'm the stuffy one (surprising?) but I have a good feeling about this one, it won't last long! Also Alexa has a lot of bug bites. She is clearly VERY allergic to Mosquitos (mozzy bites!!!) and they make all these red welts. Some guy even asked if he could take a picture of them, a little strange... But yeah it's crazy and apparently I am not allergic to mozzies so that's great! (side note from Alexa...its absolutely ridiculous! Im so itchy!!! I look like i have huge chicken pocks. So attractive!! The tour guide lady told me its bc the bugs pee on you and if you're allergic to the pre and scratch it it spreads. But that's gross and I'm not sure i believe it! This makes me nervous about being allergic to bees...I've never been stung, if I'm this allergic to a little mosquito what is a bee gonna do to me!!) In each new climate we enter we seem to find something to cause problems. Luckily these problems are very minor and we are still having a great time!!

Cairns!

Karina and I are learning a very important lesson: don't share drinks with sick people! Karina is finally feeling better and of course now I'm sick. The flight from Cairns was miserable...my ears have never hurt so much :-(

We're here in Cairns now which is in the northeastern part of the country. I'd say it's about where Maine is. It truly is a tropical town with palm trees everywhere and crazy birds and lots of humidity. Everything is so green and there are large mountains in the background. Very pretty. It's warm but it's like 75% humidity (well maybe not that much) so its sooo muggy! Definitely not straightening our hair this week.

Cairns is kind of like a beach bum town...not a crazy city like we were picturing. It's on the ocean but there's no beach -- just a man made lagoon in the center of town that we have yet to visit. There are a bunch of shops and restaurants (expensive!) and a mall with designer shops. There's an outdoor movie theater in the middle of town and tons of touristy shops and souvenir places. We're staying at a hostel called Calypso...it's pretty quiet because people are out doing day trips to the reef or white water rafting or rainforest. It's kind of outside the "downtown" area so we have to take a shuttle to get to the main promenade where everything we want to see is. Unfortunately our lives now revolve around the shuttle schedule. It's usually convenient and the shuttle drop off spot has free wifi from a travel agency so it works out! There are a lot of characters working there including the dutch guy doofy, or doofus as we call him. And the manager is Buddha! There is also an orange cat wandering around at times that likes to sit next to Karina at dinner. We are here in the off-season. The whole town in general is fairly quiet...I guess it's their rainy season though so people head south to the cities instead of hanging out in the rain.

Our first day we spent getting to know the area, doing laundry and grocery shopping. There was a pool tournament at night at the hostel...first person to miss three shots had to go in the pool...I didn't win but at least I didn't have to get wet!

Activities for the week include: sailing, scuba diving, snorkeling, Great Barrier Reef, Cape Tribulation, a night hike in the Daintree Rainforest and white water rafting the Tully River!

Great barrier reef sneak peak

Before i forget- how is this for multicultural.. We met a girl who was dating a guy who has a Dutch mother, a mauri (native new Zealand) father, lives in Melbourne and was raised Mormon! Blew my mind!!


Anyway we are in cairns and did a day trip out to the reef today!! We were able to scuba dive and snorkel both of which were outstanding!!! So many types and colors of coral!

Tomorrow we go whitewater rafting on the tully river! Also very exciting!! So no time to blog now but soon... :)

Alice springs

Karina here. We had a very mad dash to the airport in Perth due to mailing packages home and taking a taxi! We were fine but just ran out of time to eat or pick up food! Luckily qantas is one of the last noble airlines on earth to feed its customers!! We have now flown on a number of different airlines. Jetstar is the most affordable, similar to jet blue just not fun, but they charge for food and drink. The only airline I alice springs is qantas which is nice but pricey. They have the big kangaroo on the back wing, pretty cool. Anyway they fed us a pretty big lunch and I was about to do my usual, sleep the whole flight, but I sat between 2 nice chatty men so I stayed awake the whole flight!! That hasn't happened in a long time. We arrived in Alice springs expecting a heatwave but it was actually nice and comfortable. There are a few visible mountains in the distance but otherwise it is very flat and all the dirt is red. There is a large dry river running through. It just feels like total desert and totally the middle of nowhere. No tall buildings. As soon as we arrived to our hostel the rain started and didn't stop when we left te next morning. Apparently it has been raining this whole time we were away camping. The dry river is flowing!! A very rare occasion. They have received their annual rainfall these past few days. Aka since Alexa and I arrived. I like to think that I have a gift and bring rain to dry places. This also happened in death valley. But anyway... We do feel a little guilty because a lot of Roads are flooded! Basically every road but the main highway is closed.

We are currently on the bus heading back to Alice sprigs normally, but some of the tour can choose to continue for 5 days (we did 3). Sadly due to all the flooding they are forced to come back with us now and wait out the rain in alice! So we are all one big family returning together!

About our group: we are the youngest on the tour! But it's cool to be with an older, more sophisticated crew. We have... France, Germany and some new countries!! The Netherlands, Czech republic and Madagascar!! How cool is that?! I love the dutch the most, they are so happy and fun and tall. Ages range from 30-73!! The oldest couple is french and cute and the woman came here for her 70th bday. A czech man celebrated his 63rd birthday yesterday! One of the dutch women is here for her 50th birthday with her husband and sister. There is a Czech couple who seems to be young too, maybe late 20s early 30s. She is living in Australia to learn English, back home she was a receptionist at a plastic surgeons office where you can get your boobs done for $2000. Apparently that's a great deal! I think everyone looks younger than they are and they are very fit and active and obviously still traveling, gives me inspiration! Everyone has been nice on this trip and we work together pretty well to make dinner and clean up after. Camping is great and don't let Alexa fool you, she was a champ!!

We are actually really lucky for the rain. I was pretty worried about this trip before because the temp average is 40 c (like 100+) or more!! We have been blessed with temps in the 70s mostly. The first day it rained when we were on a long drive but since that no rain. So it happened at the best possible time [sidenote:just saw wild horses crossing the road!!] we reached urulu in the evening and walked around it. Sunset was cloudy, so not great, but we got champagne which is great! Even better for me is that Alexa didn't really want hers so it went to yours truly. Then we went to camp. Due to possibility of rain we slept under a tin roof but no walls so we still slept outside! We made a nice dinner/feast of garlic bread, pasta, veggies and for the carnivores-kangaroo Bolognese. Classy. Alexa says- not as good as the steak but very good. Our tour guide is awesome, a very funny lady who just turned 30! She has been to the US but only to vermont to work at mt snow! She keeps us entertained and really knows her stuff. Luckily the campaign had real bathrooms. We were picked up at 545 that morning so by 10 pm we were ready for bed! Alexa explained the swags which were actually pretty comfy and kept us very warm! No stars the first night due to clouds. I was awoken by a rouge snorer but luckily fell asleep and slept the rest of the night no problem! Which is good because we had a 5 am wake up.

Day 2 we were up and out to watch the sunrise over urulu. It was cold in the morning and we patiently waited and the day was clear so we saw a pretty good sunrise! Then we hit the road to do a hike around the Olga's. Named for the Spanish queen. This was a 3 hour hike thru some red mountains which again reminded me of Colorado! Beautiful! My fav part included "morning tea" which was snack time for apples and cookies and granola, no tea which is strange... After the break I was much more energized!! We were lucky to see a few streams and waterfalls which normally aren't there! Also the land was so green with grass and trees and normally it's all red. It did heat up along the hike but nothing terrible, probably 80? And sunny. We stopped a few times to refill our water but it was a very pleasant walk! Even the oldies kept up just fine!! After the hike we had lunch and then began a long drive to kings canyon camp for the second night. We saw a few wild camels wandering about, looking weird like camels do. Along the way we stopped and collected firewood! Cool stuff for a city girl like me to experience :) best news, due To the rain it wasn't too buggy! Hooray!

Double hooray- Alexa is playing removem! All on her own... Great job!

Anywho, our second night was great! Alexa and I became the grill masters and cooked up quite a good meal! Te men on this trip are pretty reluctant to help so we had to pry them a few times. Like when 2 girls and clearly struggling to load baggage into the van... Help! But they don't so luckiy Alexa has no problem asking for help :) same goes for building the fire. As women we are capable, but didn't really want to, so we make the men feel important and ask them to do it. It works out. If we don't give them a job they end up just watching all the women do work, real helpful! So with them busy with that and others setting out the sleeping bags we grilled a lot of veggies, chicken and veggie burgers! Yum yum. It was good! Our guide made fresh bread by the fire and roasted some potatoes. It all came together for another great feast! Most people had beer and wine with dinner, Alexa and I are on a budget thus has lemon flavored water haha. Same thing! There was a toilet and shower here too which is good but once the sun sets and it's pitch black there is no way I'm taking an outdoor shower. Instead we watched a beautiful sunset and saw tons of stars including the southern cross, Orion and the milky way! No north star or big dipper here! The moon was out and very bright, half moon, so it made up for the cloudy night before.
We mostly just chatted with everyone about where they had been/are going.

Did we mention that on our trip to Perth we met a German girl who also had her trip planned by dave? (our south African travel agent) well we did and she had pretty much an identical itinerary to us which was great because she said she enjoyed everything! On this trip there are 2 more people who know Dave and had him help plan their trip! We all agree that he is crazy, but also a good planner!

Our last night was spent under the stars! It was a little cold but the swags kept us warm once we were in them! This time the snorer slept on the other end of the campsite so I didn't even hear! Yes!!!!

Another early night and early morning. Today we went on an even longer and more challenging hike around kings canyon. It's beautiful and one of the only places in the desert here with regular water. There are a few waterfalls and waterholes for those who want to swim (we didn't, not hit enough!) but the scenery was Gorgeous and worth all the uphill climbing (including heart attack hill staircase) we had to do. It took about 4 hours and then we had a BBQ lunch after. Im amazed I stayed awake long enough to write this considering I ate a lot and am now in a moving vehicle.

But I'm supposed to talk about aboriginals so I will try! Out here is their native land where they have survived over 70,000 years!! They live and still have ceremonies on these national parks and here they are still traditional and in touch with their culture. Kind of like our native Americans I think... Very similar beliefs and values. They know everything about the land and plants and don't see land as something you own. It seems like due to a lot of circumstances those living in cities cause a lot of trouble and violence (unemployment, alcoholism, poverty, bored teenagers...) but those living out here in a more traditional community are very different and working to improve their relationship with Australians and educate the public on their way of life. There is also a foundation set up to send kids in rural communities to Adelaide to get an education, one they can't receive or aren't always encouraged to receive here, and then return them to their communities so they can make a difference and have a better life. It seems like a great program and there seems to be hope for things to improve. As early as 50 years ago some areas of Australia weren't touched by white people so in some areas they are still learning to coexist and work together. Unfortunately there is a bad reputation caused by conflicts in more urban areas but that obviously doesn't reflect on all aboriginal people.

Ok hope I did well with that... We went to a cultural center and also talked to a guide a bit so it's nice to get the other side of the story!! We stay tonight on Alice springs and fly to cairns tomorrow to begin our east coast trek adventure down to Sydney! Hope it doesn't rain... Too much!

Miscellaneous notes: no matter the country, everyone has an iPhone!! I want one when I return :) also every single place on the planet seems to think they have this original Motto "If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes" nope, everyone else says that too! Americans are famous for not traveling so we have to change that!