Brower Power

Friday was our first day in “cairns,” but we stayed about 30 minutes north of the city in Palm Cove in a cute family owned resort RIGHT on the beach. The whole area is absolutely beautiful. It has a very tropical feel to it with the ocean and mountains covered in rainforests surrounding it. We had the evening off, so after lunch I soaked up some sun. Unfortunately there were “Beware of crocodile” signs everywhere, soo I was too scared to go in the water, but I did catch up on some zzz’s and took a nice beach nap. 

Saturday we were off to the Great Barrier Reef!! Despite the fact that we had to wake up super super early, I was super stoked. We did a catamaran trip, so we had a two hour boat ride out to our first reef spot. We were served morning tea and had lots of time to relax on the nets, get some sun, AND get soaked from the waves! Once we arrived at the reef, Dan went off for his certified SCUBA and Ryan, Mom, Dad, Keanu, and I started our snorkel. We took a little boat over to an Island because it was pretty choppy out and it was much calmer over there, and while we were waiting for my dad to get the next boat over one of the workers shouted “turtle!” I pushed my goggles on super fast and swam over to the area. Since it was super windy visibility was kind of low, but all off a sudden there was just a big sea turtle right in front of my face!! I knew right then and there that it was going to be the coolest snorkeling ever (well, actually it already was after seeing that turtle!). I went back to start off with everyone else and the reef was so cool. There was a ton of coral species and a lot of really beautiful fish. Ryan and I saw another turtle just hanging out in some coral, so we watched him for a bit. Eventually I kind of got lost from everyone, but I saw yet another turtle and got to chase it around for a bit which was fun. I kept trying to reach out and touch it, but they can actually swim much faster than I expected!! I finally found Keanu and we snorkeled around some more, saw yet another turtle, and then snorkeled back to the boat. We explored some more and he showed me some cool coral species he knew about from SCUBA. We also saw another turtle and this one was a lot more courageous. We got to swim around with it for quite a bit with our hands resting on its shell. It was pretty unreal because I feel like I always see those photos or things in movies and I’m like “nahhh…that doesn’t really happen!” BUT IT DOES! After our first snorkel we had an extremely delicious buffet lunch and boated to our next spot. This spot was a lot more choppy, so I got tired pretty fast. It was really cool, though, because there were a lot of deeper drop offs, so you could swim down and around. There were a lot of different fish species here, too, and at one point I got stuck in a giant school. After we were all snorkeled out we went back for yet another snooze in the sun. Once we started heading back, one of the workers brought out a lot of photos and discussed the coral and fish species we saw, so that was really to figure out what you were actually looking at! About halfway they also put the sails out and we were cruising! Since the wind was so strong we went almost the exact same speed as when we were motoring! That morning we went out for dinner at one of the local restaurants and had yet another early night since we had a BIG day ahead of us….again!

 

 



So, when I call this “Brower Power” I really mean it. In 30 hours, we were about to conquer snorkeling and SCUBA'ing the Great Barrier Reef, ATV’ing the rainforest, skydiving Cairns from 14,000 feet, and bungee jumping.

Let’s start with ATV’ing. We were picked up at around 6 to 6:30am and driven up to this family owned business. It was a beautiful drive up the mountains through the rainforest. We geared up and then did a little warm up drive around their practice trail. Then we were off! We literally got to ATV through the tropical rainforest, up and down winding hills, through mud pits, and over creek beds. At some points the ATV was literally 1/3 underwater!! It was a really fun way to see the rainforest!

Next up was our skydive. Ryan, dad, Keanu, and I were jumping from 14,000 feet this time! I was pretty relaxed since I had already done it, so it was fun to watch everyone else deal with the nerves. Keanu, who hates the stomache dropping feeling, looked like he was going to be sick. Ryan just kept saying “I cant believe I’m jumping out of a plane,” but was super stoked, and dad was just pretty excited and calm. After the jumpers came back and rolled up their chutes, which by the way is pretty nerve-racking to just watch these guys pack their own chutes (HUMAN ERROR!!), we were off to the airport. After we got our goggles and harnesses all set up and were briefed on what to do, we were off to the plane! There were the 4 of us and 4 other people and we were all doing 14,000 feet so we just went straight up. It was an absolutely beautiful with the rainforest, mountains, and the ocean. Then WOOSH…..doors open and first persons out!! It was exciting to be in the middle this time and get to see the people going out of the plane since I was 2^nd last time and had no time to think. Ryan and dad went before me along with two of the other people, and it’s funny to get to see their faces when scooting to the edge of the plane. Also, people literally just get sucked out of the plane as if they are like…being vaccumed up. Then I was up and out! I took one last look at Keanu, who still looked like he was going to be sick, then we were flipping out of the plane door and we were off! I’m still absolutely obsessed with the adrenaline and feeling of the free fall and this one was probably 20 seconds longer. I also didn’t black out this time and can remember it all, which is good! Lol There was definitely one point that I had to like..stop and stop smiling and screaming to catch my breath because everything got so dry with the longer fall and also it was super windy out (Our jumps almost got cancelled!!) Then the chute came out and I actually got to steer it this time! Embarrassingly, though, I wasn’t strong enough to pull down the ropes, so we could only go right since that was his free arm that he could help me out with. Landing was a bit stressful with the wind and ropes got tangled around my face, but all was well and it was pretty smooth for me! Ryan had a pretty bumpy landing, though. So, 2 activities down, 1 to go!!

Initially, Keanu, Daniel, and I had signed up to do a canopy swing because we could all 3 go on it together. Once we got to the place, though, and Daniel saw that you could get dunked in the water when you bungeed, he was sold. Keanu was going to switch to bungee as well, so I just told the girl I no longer wanted to do anything. As I have said before, bungee was fun, but I only needed to do it once in my life. However, the girl wouldn’t let me cancel, so here I was just having devoured lunch and being forced to bungee jump. Even worse, this was the kind that went across your ankles, and that absolutely terrifies me. The ONLY reason I was capable of doing the other one was because it was around my waist. So anyways, I just run up there and want to get it over with. I was going to go first, then Keanu, then Daniel. But of course, they call our names and Daniel goes. Then Keanu goes. Then they finally call my name. At this point I actually thought I was going to puke. Actually, just writing this I’m getting nervous!! So the guy is like “how are you doing today?” and without hesitation I tell him “not good.” I should have lied because this just gave the guy opportunity to mess with me. I knew that I would be physically incapable of hobbling off that edge with the harness around my ankles, so I asked him what my options were. He said I could hobble to the edge and jump off, he could hang me off forwards and let go of the rope, or he could hang me off backwards and let go of the rope. I couldn’t jump. There was no way I was going t hang off that edge looking down. So, backwards it was! I scooted to the edge and slowly leaned back. I’m so unhappily happy at this point, so I tell him I’m ready, and he insists that I’m ready when he’s ready! So, I’m just here, hanging over this ledge and am going to fall and have no idea when! I’m literally begging the guy to just drop the rope, and finally put my hands up to my head in exasperation and BOOM…..I’m falling and bouncing and falling again bouncing again and then my hair is falling out of the bun and going everywhere and I can’t see anything because of hair and all of the blood is rushing to my head and then finally the guy at the bottom grabs me and plops me on the boat and I can breathe again! So, this time, when I say “I’m scarred for life and I’m never bungeeing again,”  I mean it! After our jumps we had to get some celebratory “we’re alive” beers for surviving the days activities. 

 

 It was our last night together, since Dan left for L.A the next morning and Ryan, Mom, and Dad left for New Zealand, so we went out for our last family dinner at a restaurant close to our resort. The next morning Dan left quite early, but the rest of us just hung out until our van came to pick us up. We had one last lunch at the airport then their plane started boarding for NZ.

I was really bummed about everyone leaving, but it was such an amazing time to be able to share my home (Sydney) away from home (Madison) away from home (The Bay) with my family and experience something as beautiful and iconic as the Great Barrier reef with them. I couldn’t be more lucky to have such a loving adventurous family who is willing to fly across the world to see me. The 10 days I had with them were definitely the 10 best days I’ve had while abroad and despite the fact that I’m not looking forward to leaving Australia at all, I am looking forward to being back home with them!

Family in Australia!

I refer to it as May madness for a reason…I got back from the Outback Monday evening, crammed homework and class into Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and then Daniel arrived Friday morning! Since I was exhausted from all of my adventures and he was exhausted from jet lag, we had to keep the day exciting. We started his trip off with walking across part of the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the pylon lookout, which has pretty cool views of the harbour and the city. To pick it up a notch, though, we did a jet boat ride through the Sydney Harbour, which was an absolutely awesome and crazy way to tour the harbour. Of all of my boat rides in the harbour, that was definitely the most exciting! I thought the jet boat ride in New Zealand was pretty scary and that was on perfectly flat water through a river, so imagine doing 360’s and 80 to 0 in like 2 seconds in the middle of a busy harbour with huge, choppy waves. Needless to say it definitely got our adrenaline going and woke us up for a bit! Saturday we did Hunter Valley wine tour so Dan could add Australian wines to his wine connoisseur list ; ). The wine country was about 2 hours from Sydney and was absolutely beautiful, as is any winery. We got to do two professionally led wine tastings where they told us about each wine as well as 2+  “taste it yourself” tastings and a cheese tasting (YUM…Wisco represent). The traditional wine of this area is a Semillon, which is a relatively dry and citrusy wine—they almost all had a hint of apple and/or lime to them—and was unfortunately not to my liking. I think I’ll just stick to my “sparkling wines.” I did, however, thanks to Dan spotting it, get to see my first wild (and alive) Kangaroo hopping through some vineyards!!!

Sunday funday mom, dad, and Keanu arrived!! Since the “Bronte to Bondi” coastal walk was on my mom’s Sydney bucket list, we did the full Coogee to Bondi version. Despite the fact that this was the 3^rd time I’ve done the walk, the weather was absolutely perfect, the company was great, and the walk was as beautiful as ever. As we arrived at Bondi Beach, the sun started to set and the clouds were all a beautiful pink. Upon finishing the walk, we went to “The Bucket List,” which is a indoor/outdoor restaurant/bar on the ocean with lots of colored christmas lights and really good vibes., for happy hour drinks and dinner. I think I’ve definitely found my new favorite Sunday spot J

To complete the fambam, Ryan arrived Monday afternoon! While waiting for him to get into the city we took a spin through the Chinese Friendship Gardens. The gardens were initiated by the local Chinese community to symbolize the close bond between Sydney and an area in China. Even though they are located in the middle of Darling Harbour and right outside of the city centre, the Gardens are incredibly peaceful and absolutely beautiful. One of my favorite secret spaces in Sydney, and if they didn’t cost money to enter I would 100% make those gardens into my a study space! After meeting Ryan at the hotel, we headed to the Sydney Tower, Sydney’s tallest building. After going up to twice the height of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, everyone (minus my mother…fear of heights!!) did the Sydney tower skywalk, which is a 45 minute walk around the OUTSIDE of the tower with two glass viewing platforms. The walk around was pretty cool, but I will admit those glass floor platforms were pretty freaky. On the big one, our guide had all 10-15 people doing the walk jump at the same time. Let’s just say my feet didn’t leave that platform and I held on for dear life as it shook! After the tower, we walked down the main street to Circular Quay and walked around the Opera House and through the Royal Botanical Gardens to watch the sun set over the city from Mrs. Macquarie’s Point. My mom’s bucket list also contained sitting in Mrs Macquarie's Chair, so she got to cross that off her bucket list as well! On our way home, we stopped for the world famous (maybe just Australia famous?) Harry’s meat pies. Since everyone else was still pretty jetlagged that night, I took Dan and Keanu out to experience the crab races! Keanu’s crab won 2^nd place so he won a free shirt!!

We started Tuesday morning off right with some Pancackes on the Rocks. This is Sydney’s most delicious brekky place, similar to your Daddy Maxwells but also with tasty, decadent desert pancakes as well. The first time I went I got a stack of pancakes with bananas, strawberrys, nuts, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and ice cream! YUM YUM YUM! After filling up on brekky, we hopped on the ferry to Watson’s Bay, which still remained to be one of my the favorite day trips I had done in Sydney months later, to check out The Gap, the coastal walk, and the lighthouse. Tuesday evening we had a Ghost Tour of The Rocks booked so we could cross yet another thing off of my mom’s bucket list! The tour was really eerie, but it was cool to learn about the history of Sydney’s oldest neighborhood and hear (and act out) all of the secret stories. We also got access to the some old historic building, which was super extremely creepy. Our guide told us how it’s relatively common for people to feel taps on their shoulder, get light headed, or feel freezing all of a sudden. He also told us of a few ghosts that multiple people on the tour have seen. Although I didn’t see any ghosts or get any taps, there was an area of the room that my nice, new birthday DSLR camera (THANKS MOM AND DAD!!!) wouldn’t photograph. The flash just kept flashing as long as I held the button down and my camera made weird clicking noises, but it would NOT capture a photo. I turned around to point it at the other end of the room and the photo took right away. I asked my dad if he could take a picture of that room with his camera, and his did the same exact thing. It would just flash and flash and click and click, but no photo! Turn around and boom…camera works fine! I told our guide about this later on and he said that a few other people have told him of the same thing! CREEPY!! We topped that night off with pizza and drinks at Opera Bar!

Our full day Blue mountains tour started off early Wednesday morning so we could stop at the wildlife park on the way to play with wallabays, koalas, and roos! After enjoying Australias native wildlife, we continued our drive through the blue mountains and onto Katoomba. We took the scenic railway across a giant ravine to Scenic World where we could view the Three Sisters, ride the world’s steepest incline railway, and d.0o a short rainforest walk! That night we went out for a happy hour and dinner in Darling Harbour with my roomies and one of my friends, where Keanu, Dan, and my parents dove into the Australian culture with some kangaroo steaks! Yummm yummm!

Although I was able to get excused from my classes on Tuesday, I unfortunately had a full day of class and homework Thursday, so after brekky and a morning tour of Uni Syd the family was on their own for their last day in Sydney. They explored the city, checked out the Opal Museum, and then saw Star Trek in the world’s biggest IMAX, which I still need to get to!! Thursday was an early night since we were off to Cairns early in the morning!!

 

"Ayers is gonna rock"

4 days after returning from Melbourne, I was off to the outback! We flew into Alice Springs, although I like to call it Radiator Springs (from Cars), as it is in the absolute middle of the desert, aka nowhere. We started the day off with a Didgeridoo lesson, which is a wooden instrument used by the Indigenous tribes. It proved to be much harder than it looks… you blow into it kind of like a trumpet, but there are a lot of challenging breathing techniques. Basically you need to be able to breathe out and in at the exact same time. I was able to get a few actual didgeridoo sounding noises out of mine, but mostly just a lot of loud “TOOOTS!”

 After our lesson we went to the Reptile Center to educate and prepare ourselves for surviving in the Outback our next few nights. A reptile expert showed us a lot of the native snakes and lizards and we also got to hold a few, including the Blue Tongued Skink, Jacky Lizard, Bearded Dragon, and an Olive python! After coming face to face with the creatures of the outback and a lesson on snake safety….we were ready!

The next morning we were up before the sun, as we had a long drive ahead of us to Ayers Rock. Our bus picked us up at 6am and the road trip was off to a start with a sunrise, a lot of sand, and quite a few naps. We got a few pit stops along the way, and (un)lucky for us one was a fire wood stop in which we all wandered into the desert to gather fire wood. Let me tell you, finding fire wood in the desert is not so easy. Sure there were trees, but they were all made of tiny little twigs and I was sure we were going to freeze that night without a fire. After 291 miles and 6 to 8 hours of driving, the big red rock finally came into view and it really is as magnificent as they say. Since the native Anangu people ask tourists not to climb the rock due to its sacred and spiritual significance, we did the 10. 6km base walk. According to Aboriginal culture, Uluru was created during “dreamtime,” the era in which the world was created. The rock is about 348m high and this is literally just the tip of the iceberg as the majority of it remains underground. Every aspect of Uluru tells the stories of the aboriginal people—from the art work marking the walls, to the imprinted paw print of the demon-dingo dog, to dark greenish streaks from where the lizard thief fell to his death for stealing an emu, to the formations that represent the Mala boys who couldn’t leave ceremony due to the dingo dog and are now stuck forever until another Mala person returns to Uluru. It was truly a magical experience hearing and reading about all of the stories and the cultural significance this one rock had. Uluru is also known to change colors throughout the day, so besides the base walk we also did a sunset and sunrise viewing. Once the sun hits the rock from just the right place during sunset, Uluru turns a magnificent dark red. As the sun rises from behind Uluru, the dark silhouette of it stands out against blues, purples, and pinks. I can see how the aboriginals have lived here for so many years, as it is absolutely breathtaking at all times of day from all places.

The magic doesn’t stop there, though. Our first night we stayed in a campground in Ayers Rock. We DID actually have a campfire and we rolled out our “swag” and sleeping bags under a billion stars. Despite being absolutely exhausted, I couldn’t close my eyes. After eventually dosing off, I woke up at 3:30 am to the wind howling and dingo’s singing in the distance all while I laid under those billions and billions of stars. I can’t even explain what I was feeling at that moment, but it was truly magical, spiritual, and unreal. “Wow,” was literally all I could think.

 

We also did the 7.4km Valley of the Winds walk at Kata Tjuta (pronounced Joo-ta), which means “many heads.” Kata Tjuta is a group of 36 domes (Olgas) rising out of the dessert. The tallest of the domes is referred to as Mount Olga and is said to be the home of the snake Wanambi and it is his breath that is the wind in the Valley of the Winds. The walk went around some of the Olgas and through gorges and valleys. It was pretty exhausting towards the end as the sun started coming up, but no worries because I had my fly net and was ready to battle the thousands and thousands of flies that live in the desert! After our hike we had another 200 mile drive towards Kings Canyon. We were camping at another site this night and cooking dinner on the campfire, so naturally had to stop to collect firewood again. Since our dinner depended on it, we all brought back trees this time! That night, it rained, and rained, and rained, but luckily our fire worked out enough for us to have an absolutely delicious dinner cooked by our tour guide. We had chili, bread cooked in the fire, potatoes and cooked veggies, pasta, and rice. Yum, yum, yum.  Despite the fact that we had a shelter to set up our swags under, I was woken up more than a few times to water leaking in and dripping all over my face. At 5:20 am, we were woken up to begin our last day.

It continued to rain our entire last day at Kings Canyon, but I had no complaints because it was better than pouring sweat and the rain kept the flies away. Also…anyone could say they went to the Outback, but not everyone can say they saw it in the rain. At Kings Canyon we did the 6km Canyon Rim Walk, which starts off with what people call “heart-attack hill,” and I actually think I did have a heart attack…so...many…steep…stairs. Once to the top, I swear I left Earth and walked straight into Mars. It was sandstone on sandstone on sandstone and I have never seen anywhere like it. During out walk we learned about some of the plants and how the aboriginal people used them. Some were used as medicine (rubbing it on your forehead to cure headaches), some for hunting (put the leaves in the water and animals that drink it get drugged and pass out), and some for punishment (put it in the eyes and you go blind). Halfway through the walk we got to the Garden of Eden, which was absolutely amazing with the rain. It was overflowing and it was so cool to just see a big running waterhole in the middle of a big rock Mars. Even our tour guide was freaking out because he had never seen it like that. 

 

 After another 205 mile drive back to Alice Springs, our trip came to an end. We closed the trip out with new friends, dinner, and drinks at the bar owned by our tour company. Oh yeah, and I rode a camel!

P.S-HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEANU FROM THE OUTBACK!

Let May Maddness begin

“What are you doing this weekend?”—Me
“Going to Melbourne…..want to come?”—Jamie
“Sure!”-Me
“Okay!”—Jamie
“But really…..I can come?”--Becca

So it was a Wednesday afternoon and Friday at 6:45 am I was leaving for Melbourne! I initially was going to skip on a Melbourne trip because, well, I live in Sydney. I didn’t feel the need to go visit another city, but everyone who had gone said it was really cool. And they were right!

Friday we just walked around the city, and although it was just like every other city, it had a very modern and contemporary feel to it. There was art literally EVERYWHERE. From the buildings, to the street performers, to the walls and signs, to the people, to the sounds…you couldn’t look anywhere without taking in some artistic form. You could go to Melbourne and not pay for any tours or do anything except walk around and explore all the streets and alley ways and it would still be an amazing trip. I had some friends who went to Melbourne the weekend before and had graffiti street artist graffiti a Wisconsin “W” in the main graffiti lane, so my goal was to find that! Within this lane there is literally not a single space of wall that doesn’t have graffiti on it, but their “W” was somehow still there! Wisconsin has officially made its mark in Australia! We also got to see a few graffiti artists at work which was really awesome. It’s absolutely unreal what people can do with spray paint and brick walls when I can’t even draw anything remotely cool with a pen and paper.

  

We closed the night off with going up into the Eureka Skydeck, which is the highest public viewing point in the entire southern hemisphere! You go up to the 88^th floor in 38 seconds (also the fastest lifts in the southern hemisphere), and the views were absolutely amazing.

Saturday was road trip day. The Great Ocean Road. 8 girls. One van. 560 kilometers (348 miles). 13 ½ hours. Normally the trip would probably be done in two or more days, but we only had one so we did the entire drive and then back to Melbourne again in one day. Needless to say, there was plenty of Taylor swift, b-spears, backstreet boys, Nsync, and old school tunes played. The drive itself was absolutely awesome and so beautiful. It was hours of a coastal drive with beautiful beaches and extremely blue water. We took a few pit stops at a few of the beaches and lookouts and finished the drive up at the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. The Twelve Apostles are some limestone stacks off the coast….I’m not really sure entirely why they are famous, but it’s a huge tourist spot. We got there right around sunset and it was beautiful! At Loch Ard Gorge, we went to one of the world’s top “hidden beaches” as well as a the Thunder Cave!

After returning home at 1am, I woke up at 4am to head to the airport. I got back to Sydney just in time to participate in Mifflin Sydney style with my fellow badgers!

Up this Thursday-Monday: THE OUTBACK!