The Kiwi Effect.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet...or at least try (your welcome, mike!) On Sunday, we all moved out of the cabins at Lake Ainsworth (choatic!) and left Australia. It was really bittersweet leaving Australia...I've been having an incredible time, but have been ready to come home for about a week or so. The thing that made me most sad about leaving Australia was leaving Ken and Mary. They came to the airport to see me off which meant a lot to me. I have really enjoyed getting to know my family from across the world.
After a 3 hour flight to Auckland, New Zealand we waiting in the airport for another 3 hours. It took forever to go through coustoms, find a storage for our many many many bags, and rent a car. Yes, that's right, we rented a car! I finally got to try driving on the opposite side of the road! (and surprise, I wasn't good on that side either!) So six of us girls (Steph, Sammy, Brittany, Stacey, Erika and I) cramed into the little SUV we rented and began The Tour de New Zealand. We stayed in Auckland that night and in the morning headed to Rotorua (a 3 hour drive.) We were shocked when checked into our crazy hostel "Cactus Jack's Backpackers". . . it is crazy. It is decorated in all western theme items. . . it's intense and a little tacky but a lot of fun. As gross as hostels can be, it is usually a fun and unique experience. Last night we sat around one of the common rooms and hung out with 2 guys from France and 3 guys from Germany. It's cool to interact with so many different cultures here. Backpackers alwasy seem friendly (I think backpacker's religion is Karma...they can't screw over someone when they are living on almost nothing themselves) Everyone always seems to have a great story of why they are traveling. I think people in the US are the only ones that don't pick up and leave the country for a few years to travel before becoming an "adult."
This is getting longer than I expected...and my money is running out (it's 2 dollars for a half hour of internet..) SOOO let me break down my Rotorua adventures for ya:

Zorbing...sooo fun and funny. Steph and I were put into a big hamster ball filled with warm water (thank god it was warm...it's sooo cold in NZ!) and rolled down a hill. We couldn't stop laughing and falling all over the place. It was so cool!

Kiwi Encounter...we went to this neat little "zoo" or conservation place to see live kiwi's (NZ's national bird...if you don't know what they look like...google it. SO cute and goofy looking) We only saw one but the zoo itself was pretty cool. We were the only ones in there (apparently people in NZ don't go to zoos when it's 15 degrees Celcius and raining...) So we pretty much had the park to ourselves.

Te Puia...a park that was all about the Maori culture. The Maori people are the natives to NZ. The stuff we were looking at and watching was like out of a National Geographic show...it is weird to think people lived (and still live) like that in some parts of the world. We watched a concert that 6 Maori people put on that had a lot of their traditional songs and dances. The place also had boiling mud ponds, sulfer lakes (that are all over Rotorua, making the whole town stink) and a gyser.

Hell's Gate Mud bath....the weirdest thing I've experienced on this trip. We went to this place where we first walked around (very quickly because we've all been cold since we got here) There were more sulfer springs, lakes, hot waterfalls, boiling mud...and all the geothermic good stuff (you would have loved it, mike!) Then we sat into a mud bath which is supposed to be relaxing and good for your skin.. . but we giggled the whole time and now I just smell! After the mud bath, we sat into a sulfer pool that is supposed to be even better for your skin...making us smell even more!

Skydiving.....AMAZING! The craziest thing I've ever done! It was soooo incredible! Words can't describe it, but thankfully I purchased the overpriced DVD and photos so you can all see it when I get back!

Today we're leaving Rotorua for Wiatoma. It is about 2 hours away from here. . . another road trip on the wrong side of the road. Wiotoma is famous for their glow worm caves. Today we have an appoitment to black water raft through the caves..should be fun!

(darn, I tried really hard to keep it short...sorry!)

Whitsundays....the great escape

So the week of Easter weekend Brittany and I decided to travel to the Whitsunday Island. The Whitsundays is a chain of 74 islands all around the great barrier reef...and they are absolutely beautiful! To get there was a full day of travel. We woke up early to catch a bus to Byron, to hop on a greyhound to Brisbane (a three hour drive), board a train to the airport, to get onto a plane to Prosperine, then on another bus to Airlie Beach...but when we finally arrived 12 hours later, it was worth it. We checked into our hostel and the front desk guy quickly told us what we should do with our visit and then booked it for us. We signed up for a package for "backpackers." It is a two day adventure around the islands.
So the first day, Brit and I got on a large boat that took us around some of the outter islands then attached to a large pontoon-like boat. There we had the option to snorkel or SCUBA (of course, we dove), go on a glass bottom observation area, a submarine, lay in the sun, go down a big tube water slide, or just simply swim off the boat. It was so much fun and of course, Brit and I tried to do it all. The second day, we boarded a sail boat that took us around another loop of islands. We stopped at Whitheavan Island, one of the most famous islands. It was incredible! The sand was so soft and white, and the water was crystal blue. I have never seen such a beautiful beach in my life! On the sail boat, Brittany and I were just laying on the trampoline-like area soaking up the sun and acting really crazy (singing disney songs, quoting movies, and laughing like idiots) We were having a blast acting silly...and we figured no one knew us and half the people on the boat didn't even speak English (by the way..it was really neat to be surround by so many people from across the world. . . it was sort of nuts at times!) Well, after we got knocked over by a huge wave and the whole boat is laughing at us...we get asked "are you from the states???" Now many times since I've been here, I've been asked that and sometimes I'm a little reluctant to answer. Once you admit your from the states, people like to talk politics or ask about current situations...and it's really uncomfortable. (I sometimes just say "yes" when people ask if I'm from Canada...haha) But Brittany and I didn't lie and told him we were from the states....and turned out he was a current student at IU! He (Anthony) and his friend, Amber, are Indiana U students that are doing their student teaching in Sydney! So we hung out with them the whole day (and took full advantage of the open bar!) Needless to say, we had a really amazing time. We were able to relax in a semi-quiet atmosphere with beautiful surroundings and meet some incredible people.
On Friday, we flew back into Brisbane where Ken and Mary picked us up. Brittany and I spent the next couple days at their place in the Gold Coast. They once again, opened their house to me and made me feel right at home. It was really nice to be able to spend Easter with family. (And the Easter bunny found me all the way in Australia ...haha Thanks, Mary!!!) I was really sad to leave Sunday evening, knowing it would be my last time in a loonngg time that I would be able to visit them. It has been great to spend time with family I hardly knew before. I can truly say that visiting their home and getting to know them has been one of my favorite experiences in Australia.

Ball State Presents: SOOO Many Activities!

For one of my classes this semester, some classmates and I had to create an event for the community of Lennox Head. For weeks we have been planning a "field day" involving many games such as dizzy bat, three-legged race, balloon toss, rock climbing, archery, arts and crafts, tug of war, watermelon eating contest....and so on. Saturday was finally the day of the big event...and it went surprisingly well!! About 200(+) families from the community came out for the big event. Thankfully, the event was held during the 3 hours it has not rained in about 7 days! Everything turned out great and the kids loved all the activities (especially the watermelon eating contest!...and football toss. they were confused by the shape of an American football!) It was wonderful to get to interact with people of the community. I especially enjoyed talking to the kids...their little accents are so cute!

Once the event was over, the sky opened back up...and the rain continued. It has been raining here for a week now.. . and we're all starting to get a little bit of cabin fever. Thankfully, I leave tomorrow (tuesday) for another adventure. Brittany and I are going to explore around the Whitsunday Island (a chain of 74 islands around the Great Barrier Reef!) I'm sure Brittany and I will encounter some pretty crazy stories on this upcoming adventure... so stay tuned :)

cheers!!

Save the Sea Birds!

This past Friday I had an amazing opportunity to volunteer at a sea turtle and sea bird rescue place. Sam, Olivia and I were picked up early in the morning to travel to Ballina where the center is. We have been there before for a field trip so we were a little familiar with the program. They had 7 sea turtles in different tanks and 6 birds (different species.) We helped weigh and feed the birds. One bird, Bob the spoonbill had been at the center for weeks and is almost ready to be released back into the wild...so, we went on an adventure looking for his new home. We drove around around the different water communities (one including the waste treatment plant...ew) looking for other spoonbills that could potentially be Bob's new friends. We were unsuccessful. When we got back to the center, it was feeding time. We had to force feed one really sick bird (the vet held it as we shoved tiny fish into it's beak.) And we got to hang out in Bob's cage and feed him (he did NOT need to be forced...he was very willing to eat...and nibble at EVERY THING! I didn't realize a bird could have so much personality!)
We also got to help the vet, Rosario feed some of the sea turtles. Rosario was from South America and had been volunteering there for only about 2 weeks. She did speak much English so I had fun attempting to speak some Spanish with her (I was not very good...haha)
Unfortunately, one of the sea turtles died while we were there. It was sad but we got to witness something pretty cool: a sea turtle autopsy. Richelle, a marine biologist and the owner of the center, cut open the turtle. We removed the intestine and squeezed out the waste inside looking for plastic or anything harmful that may have killed the turtle. Most turtles die from digesting plastic that had been thrown out to sea... but we didn't find any plastic in this guy so we're not sure what may have caused him to become so sick :(
It was such a cool experience being able to help at the rescue center. I think if I would have stuck to marine biology, that would have been my dream job!

yeah, extreme, yeah!

Friday morning I took a bus to Bryon, a greyhound to the Gold Coast, another bus to Coolengatta, and then finally a plan to Cairns for a full weekend jammed packed of amazing adventures. In Cairns (pronounced “CANS”) a small group of us had plans to do some SCUBA diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Britny, Stephanie, Joe, Chris, Danny, Kelsey and I arrived in the city and had the day and night to explore. Parts of Cairns reminded me of Bolder, Colorado. The street was filled with miscellaneous shops (most souvenir shops), restaurants, and random street vendors selling things like jewelry. At night, we went to the night market where there was a bunch of little cheapy souvenir shops selling just about everything you could imagine. . . I loved it!

Saturday the adventure began. We were picked up at our hotel by the Cairns Dive Centre where we soon boarded a tiny boat. We took the boat, Sunkist, on a two hour bumpy ride out to the Great Barrier Reef. Luckily, I did not get sea sick, but about half the individuals (there was about 40 on the boat) were starting to look a little green. One girl spent the two hours vomiting into a bucket. Needless to say, it was a long two hours. We then boarded our boat, The Kangaroo Explorer, which became our home for two amazing days. After a quick tour and briefing meeting, we were already gearing up for our first SCUBA dive. We did six dives total all throughout various times of the day (and night!) Each dive was better than the previous. I don’t know if it was because I was getting more comfortable in the water or because we were moving to different parts of the reef or what…but it was incredible. I saw thousands of fish, turtles, sharks (small reef sharks…that I tried to chase down so I could touch them), a barracuda, and HUGE clams. The coral was absolutely stunning. Many times through my dives, I would just stare up and the reef, admiring massive structure and brilliant colors. The night dive was neat…although it was a little scary at first. It was creepy being in the middle of the ocean, about 20 meters below the surface, in the complete dark, geared with only a tiny flashlight (aussies call flashlights “torches”…but this was not a torch at all…it was a small, dim light.) That night on the boat, we were all exhausted and went to bed early. Although I was so tired, I found it took me a while to fall asleep in the top bunk of a rocking boat. Late Sunday afternoon, we left the boat, boarded the tiny Sunkist boat again for the 2 hour trip back to the city of Cairns. That night, we got to our really nice resort that we were staying at, drank a beer, and passed out only to wake up for our next adventure. (after SCUBA diving, there is a lot of nitrogen in your body…and one beer is all you need…trust me hahah)

Monday was an EXTREME day. (Extreme became the theme of this trip…it’s the only word that can describe all the madness) We got up early (again) to head to Tully for a full day of white water rafting. We signed up for the “extreme” tour which included over 5 hours of rafting, body surfing down the rapids, jumping off cliffs, waterfalls, and “drowning simulations.” It was intense…no, I mean EXTREME! The rapid guides were nuts, they were so full of energy (and full of bullcrap!) They told stories of previous groups…some of which were hilarious and others were scary. They mentioned that there had been crocs spotted in the river too…which I was not thrilled about! I had not been rafting before so I was already nervous and their extreme stories were not calming me down much. But after a while of being out there, I was loving it! There were times in the river where we would stop to climb up rocks and jump into the water below. We were able to swim down some of the rapids which was sooo fun. One bigger rapid was a bit intense…I got several mouthfuls of water. At the end, we swam down this rapid that shoots you below the surface about 15-20 meters…it was so much fun! Unfortunately, we ended the extreme tour in the ER because Britny busted here knee.

The next day, we flew back into the Gold Coast where Mary picked me up and I was able to spend a day with my family at their home. It was great to be able to relax and spend some more time with her, Ken, Jason, and their new little pet- Joey, a cockatiel they found.

I’m running out of time in Australia and only have one more travel adventure left before I head to New Zealand. I only have a few more things on my “Aussie To Do list” in my short time left here…I better get working on that.

Cheers, Mates!