January 2, 2007 to January 4, 2007

          I drove to the airport to catch the 8:20 flight from Omaha to Dallas then to Los Angeles.  In LA, we had an eight hour layover so we played cards, ate, and looked around in the shops.  We were told our plane was having problems in Australia so we would have to wait until the next day to leave for Australia.  Luckily, the airline was able to book us on another flight that left that night and we actually ended up arriving in Australia sooner because it was a direct flight instead of having to stop in New Zealand.

          The fourteen hour flight went faster than I expected, probably because I slept for at least nine hours.  When we arrived in Sydney, we had to get on another flight to Cairns.  The boarding ramp was open in Cairnes so I could smell all of the tropical flowers around - it was amazing! We arrived at Gilligan's Backpacker Resort at 12:00 pm local time.  Our room was like a dorm room for six people.   We spent the afternoon walking around the city and relaxing in the pool.  Right next to our hotel was a fresh fruit and vegetable market.  The fruit was extremely good and very cheap.  There were also other booths there with pearls, sunglasses, which I had to buy since I forgot mine, herbs, and flowers.  That night we went out to eat at The Hog's Breath and then went to bed. 

January 5, 2007

    We met at 7:00 am and split up on two buses that took us to the rainforest.  On our way there, we saw beautiful views of the ocean.  We stopped to look at the ocean and take pictures and my bus left without me.  It wasn't a big deal because the other bus was still there but I was a little freaked out that it just left.

    In the rainforest, we took an hour hike and saw a large moth, a black turkey looking bird, and lawyer's vine.  It was very humid and it sporadically rained while we were driving by the forest. 

    Next, we went to the Daintree River to take a river train tour.  We saw a small crocodile about five feet long and also some different looking birds and tree snakes.  I really liked the old fishing boats that were on the river.  One of the most interesting facts was about a tree whose seeds evolved to only germinate when a certain bird digested them.  I really learned a lot about evolution from a lot of the plants and animals we saw.

    When we returned to Cairns, we explored the city and later that night went dancing at the club in our hotel.

January 6, 2007

          We left the hotel at 9:30 and went on a large boat out to Green Island where we got on another boat that took us to a floating dock on the outer Great Barrier Reef.  We wore blue spandex suits to protect ourselves from stingrays and from getting sunburnt.  We looked like blue smurfs!  Snorkeling was a little difficult for me at first because it was a little scary being in the middle of the ocean swimming around.  After I got use to things, I really enjoyed looking at the reef and the fish.  I saw a large buck-toothed fish and a pack of eels.  The reef was awesome!  There were so many different colors and fish swimming around that it was hard to see everything.  Some of the group went scuba diving and they were able to get up close and see even more.  I guess I'll have to save that for when I come back!

          After about an hour and a half of snorkeling, we had lunch and sunbathed until it was time to leave.  The rest of the night we went shopping, ate at Subway, and packed to leave for our next adventure - the outback! 

January 7, 2007

            We left Cairns at 7:00 am to go to the Lava Tubes and Undra, the location of the lodge we were staying at.  The first fourth of the drive was up a mountain and it was extremely curvy.  We stopped for a break and I tried Lychees, a fruit that looks like a dried up strawberry.  The skin is peeled off and the fruit looks like an eyeball - white, round, and kind of slimily and inside is a long brown seed.  It was absolutely horrible!  However, it was awesome to try a fruit I never knew existed.

            The rest of the drive to Undra was very hilly pastures with trees.  The scenery later turned into the bush country with fewer trees, red soil, and large termite mounds.  The lodge turned out to be a campsite.  Our accommodations were on the outside of the entire campsite and there were three long tin buildings each divided into four rooms.  The restrooms were a fourth a mile away.  Because I'm not much of a camper, this was the worst experience of the whole trip because eighteen of the twenty most poisonous snakes lived in this region along with many poisonous spiders.  We were told to keep our doors shut or the many little lizards crawling around would get in.  A majority of the group loved this experience, I was in the minority and couldn't wait to get back to Cairnes!

            At sunset, we drove around the area and saw some of the wildlife including kangaroos, wallabies, and wallaroos.  We climbed a bluff to see the sunset while having champagne, crackers, and cheese, however it was cloudy and began to rain so we didn't see the sunset.  We then went to one of the lava tubes to see hundreds of bats fly out.  What an experience!  We had to climb down 30 steps under tree branches to get to the entrance of the cave.  After I had passed under the tree and was standing on the bottom step, barely under the entrance of the cave, the guide showed us the snakes up in the tree I had just walked under.  One quarter of the group stopped and didn't pass under the tree so there was no one behind me and only one other girl, just as scared as I was, in front of me and the rest of the group was able to get into the cave, out of the rain.  The guide also shown his flashlight behind me and revealed a five foot snake barely two feet from me.  The bats finally flew out in a large number and one of the wings touched my cheek.  We saw one of the snakes in the trees catch a bat. 

    That night for supper I tried kangaroo - it was actually pretty good and the taste resembled beef.  After supper, we headed to bed.

January 8, 2007

          I woke up at 6:00 and went to a campfire breakfast at 7:00.  I had eggs, bacon, tea, and toast, which I toasted myself over the fire.  We then toured three lava tubes.  Before entering the first one, we saw a large spider about the size of a compact mirror.  The lava tubes were caves.  They formed when lava was flowing and the outside cooled while inside the lava still flowed.  The walls were rough and had a lot of indents.  There were horizontal lines that showed the different levels of lava.  We were able to walk back a long ways in the first cave.  The second tube had collapse in one area and a tiny rainforest survived there.  We saw a rock wallaby before and after entering, a rare occurrence.  The third lava tube we couldn't walk all the way through because the carbon monoxide levels were so high.  After looking at the tubes, we had some tea and went back to the lodge for a buffet style lunch. 

    We left for Cairns at 1:00.  When we returned, we unpacked and showered - I have never been so happy to shower!!!  A small group of us went out to eat and enjoyed viewing the city at night. 

January 9, 2007

          Today was our free day.  A small group of us left the hotel to catch an 8:45 train to Kuranda, an aborigine village.  The train was an old railway that had beautiful views of the landscape as it made its way up a steep mountain.  At the village, we went to the zoo where we got to feed the kangaroos and hold a kola.  There was also a large aviary of Australian birds and also a butterfly room.  Afterwards, I went to the shopping district and looked at all of the aborigine art.  At 1:00, we went down the world's longest gondola cableway over the rainforest.  I saw a beautiful view of the rainforest along with Cairns and the ocean.  For supper, a few of us grilled in the park by the pier and enjoyed the city's nightlife. 

January 10, 2007

          During our last day in Cairns, we packed up and then went to the mall.  We then hung out by the pool, played cards, and checked our email before leaving for the airport.  The plane ride went well from Cairns to Sydney.  When we got to the hotel I unpacked and went to bed.

January 11, 2007

          At 8:00 we left on a bus tour of Sydney.  We saw the different bridges of the city, the Sydney Opera House, the ocean, and Nicole Kidman's and Russell Crow's houses.  At noon, we had a tour through the botanical gardens.  There were some beautiful flowers and trees.  There were also hundreds of fruit bats hanging from the trees.  After the tour, we got to walk along the boardwalk near the opera house.

          At 3:00, we took a boat ride around Sydney Harbor.  We learned about the history behind some of the houses and landmarks.  When we returned to the hotel, I went shopping with some of the girls.  I got a few groceries for the week and on our way back we got a little lost, but made it back okay.

January 12, 2007

          We left the hotel at 7:00 and had an eggs and bacon breakfast at Featherdale Zoo.  We got to feed some kangaroos and emus, pet a kola, and watched an attempt to feed an unhungry crocodile.  We then traveled to a botanical garden in the Blue Mountains.  We were expecting fifty degree weather, but it ended up being one hundred degrees.  We were all hot hiking in our warm clothes.   The Wollemi pine was discussed often by our tour guide because the pines were thought to be completely extinct.  These pines were common during the dinosaur era and in 1994 a small group of the pines were found in the Blue Mountains.

          We bought meat, bread, fruit, and chips to have a picnic near the Blue Mountains.  I saw the Tree Sisters, three rock formations that legend has are actually three real sisters turned to stone by their father.  The Blue Mountains were beautiful and there were so many trees.  When we returned to Sydney, we saw the site of the 2000 Olympic Games.  The rest of the night was spent relaxing.

January 13, 2007

          We had a free day so some of us went to Chinatown to Paddy's Market.  There were a lot of clothes, purses, wigs, and jewelry for sale.  We had Chinese for lunch.  We then went to Darling Harbor where there were some beautiful fountains, statues, and a mall.

    Later that night, a group of us went to the Domain in the Park, a large jazz concert with over 80,000 people.  We sat off to the side on blankets.  We had a good time, but there were fruit bats flying all over.  It was great to be at such a large event in Sydney! 

January 14, 2007

          One of my favorite days!  We had another free day and most of the group went to Bondi Beach.  There were a lot of people, the weather was perfect (about 80), and the ocean waves were beautiful.  We got to the beach at 11:00 and stayed until 4:00.  I mostly laid out but went in the ocean a few times and watched the guys' sandcastle get destroyed by the waves.  Later that night, a couple of us went to the movie.

January 15, 2007

          As a group we went to the Sydney Zoo at 9:00.  The zoo was huge and had a beautiful view of Sydney.   My favorite exhibit was the reptile house because you could easily see all of the frogs, lizards, and snakes.  My favorite animal was the ghelia monster because I have never seen one before and always wondered how big they were in real life.  At 2:30 we left and went shopping at The Rocks.  At 5:30, we ate as a group at an Italian restaurant along the wharf.  Afterwards, we then went to the Sydney opera house to purchase our tickets.

          A small group of us went to some pubs in The Rocks area.  We went to a German pub that had live entertainment which consisted of a group of three old men.  We then went up to the Harbor Bridge to take some night pictures of the Opera House and city. 

January 16, 2007

          A group of us left the hotel at 11:15 for Manly Beach.  We had to take a thirty minute ferry over to the area.  The beach was smaller than Bondi but just as nice.  We took pictures, laid out, and tried to make a sandcastle of the Sydney Opera House.  We also buried one of the guys and made him into a mermaid.  We did a little shopping and got back to the hotel at 5:00.  That night we relaxed and played some cards. 

January 17, 2007

          As a group we went to the Sydney Aquarium.  There were a lot of tanks of fish along with a seal tank and a tank of sharks and stingrays that you could walk under and see them above you.  I couldn't believe how big stingrays were!  We also got to see a sea turtle eat a large fish.  There were huge tanks of coral reef and the colorful fish that often live in the reef.  For lunch, I had fish and chips - a huge favorite in Australia.  We went to the IMAX theatre, which was the tallest screen in the world, and saw Deep Sea 3D Extreme.  It was amazing to see the fish coming at you and a lot of people tried to reach out in front of them expecting to grab something.  A small group of us went to Bondi Beach after the show.  We returned to the hotel at 7:00 and spent the evening relaxing. 

January 18, 2007

          I spent the morning getting ready to go to the Sydney Opera House.  We left the hotel at 12:30 and saw The Lost and Found Orchestra at 2:00.  Over fifty people used different, everyday objects to create music.  Some of the things they used included shopping carts and bags, water bottles, saws, glasses, pieces of wood, and garbage containers.  The two hour performance was excellent and we all enjoyed it.         

January 19, 2007

          We went to the Australian Museum.  This museum contained artifacts from the Indigenous people of Australia along with skeletons of animals and insects and many rocks.  Afterwards, we went to the art museum.  This was a beautiful building and had many beautiful pieces of artwork.  I found the video art most interesting because it was extremely thoughtful and deep.  We spent the rest of the day at Bondi Beach (my new favorite place!).

          As a group we went out to eat at Phillip Foote, a restaurant down in The Rocks.  You pick out the type of meat you want and then you grill it yourself.  We went back to the hotel to pack.

January 20, 2007

          I did not want to go back home.  I really liked Australia, the weather, the people, and the beaches.  I knew it was going to be cold back home so I was dreading leaving the warm weather.  We left the hotel at 8:30 and got on the flight from Sydney to LA at 12:20.  I spent the flight watching movies and television shows.  It went fast, not as fast as the first flight but fast enough.  We arrived in Omaha at 6:10 pm.