Brisbane to Cairns. Best spring break trip ever!

Brisbane to Cairns

The trip of my dreams! Nine days spent on Australian beaches for the most part. It did not disappoint at all!

The night I got to Brisbane, made some quick friends and got a tour of the city by locals! I met the extreme adventure crew (44 kids and two tour guides) the next morning!

The first stop on our tour was the Australian Zoo. It was opened as a wildlife park by Steve and Terri Irwin in the 80s and has been growing ever since. I had an amazing time here and there was so much to see!

first Australian kangaroo sighting

Koala 

Red Panda

This croc and bird show was specular, these birds were better trained than most Labrador retrievers! One flew to an audience member that was holding out $5 and took it! He gave it to the trainer then on command back to the audience member! One of the birds was released from across the zoo and flew to the auditorium where the show was! It was the coolest thing ever!

We left the zoo and went to Rainbow beach. Rainbow beach is famous for this giant sand dune, certain times of day the sand looks rainbow colored and that’s where it got its name. We walked to the sand dune for sunset. When we got to the sand dune everyone went for the water opposite to where the sun was going to set soon and about eight of us went to launch ourselves off the side of the dune!

That night at the hostel was Karaoke night. No, I didn’t duet a Ke$ha song with Rachel..  (I did)

The next day we went to Fraser Island. This place was pretty neat, worth a wiki read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser_Island But basically, it has super special sand and super special trees. It is the largest sand Island in the world and has a big freshwater lake in the middle of it. This lake competes with the Whitsunday Islands for the whitest sand in Australia.

That night we all got on the bus for a 10 hour ride to Airlie Beach. It was like 7 a.m. when we got our destination. We got on a crazy boat and had a high speed, slightly scary ride to snorkel some parts of the reef. Then we went to our island which was basically occupied by just our tour group. It was beautiful.  We were here for two nights and had a great time just relaxing and having some island parties!

The Whitsundays are breathtaking! This is the third most photographed place in all of Australia.

tip of the crazy boat

They made us leave the Whitsundays after a few nights, but we did so in style. We got on a million dollar sail boat/ yacht. We made a stop for snorkeling (beautiful) and after a few hours we were back at Airlie Beach! We got back on our bus and drove like six hours to Mission Beach. We basically just slept here although we were in more of a hotel instead of a hostel which was kind of nice! No bunk beds!

Early the next morning we went to the Tully river for white water river rafting! It was amazing! So much fun! We had tons of safety briefings and they drilled into us what to do if we fell out of the raft, me being the pessimist I am, assumed they had to tell us those things and was expecting to paddle around a lake for a few hours. Oh, no. We almost died.. I am actually not sure if everyone made it I think they stopped doing head counts after this excursion! There were serious rapids and waterfalls and even points where we had to look for crocs! Four of our group of six went overboard, all at the same time! It was nuts! Also, I was always told never to marry a farmer but the river guides make farmers look like princes! Ours was basically a sailor with an inflatable boat!

That night we were off to our finial destination, Cairns, portal to the Great Barrier Reef! I will have to post reef pictures later because I don’t have a waterproof camera so I will have to steal them from someone else on the tour who was better prepared. The Reef is everything you’ve ever heard! Like it was beautiful, beyond that! I wish I could better explain it but the pictures that you’ve seen don’t even do it justice. It seriously was breathtaking! Everything was right below you and the fishes just swam all around us like it was nothing! The fishes were like colorful patterned and all kinds of stuff! I can’t put it into words!

So in Cairns we has bungee jumping lined up with the tour and a skydiving option! I didn’t really tell my parents or anyone at home that I was going to skydive! I didn’t think the extra worry was necessary! (Sorry y’all) But I knew from the beginning that I was going to do it! This was the first day in Cairns, we had the morning off and that night was when we were bungeeing! Ok, three of us in our room were skydiving and from waking up that morning nerves were on edge! I paced around the room for a solid hour and was almost sick to my stomach! I had already paid so not jumping out of a plane want an option… Oh goodness. We went to the skydiving place about an hour before to do paperwork and stuff. (I opted out of the $30 dollar insurance that would give my family $50,000 in the event of my death) They gave us a safety briefing.. We were about to have 60 seconds of free falling! Oh my goodness!! About an hour later I was climbing onto a plane the size of a VW van with a guy that I had known for 10 minutes who was going to strap himself to me and jump out of the plane. OH MY GOODNESS!

Ok y’all, the plane was taking off and it took about 20 minutes to get to 14,000 feet (the height for jumping) in this 20 minutes my thoughts were about like this. What if this guy hasn’t ever even flown a plane before? Can he even fly it right? Did he put fuel in it? What if there is a storm up there? Can we do this in lightening? What if we hit a rock and are unconscious? What if my instructor hasn’t done this? Is this his first jump too? How do you fold up the parachute? Did he do it right? WHAT IF HE ACCIDENTLY PUT A BRICK ON TOP OF THE PARACHURE? Oh my goodness get me off this plane! Can I ask the pilot to take me back? I don’t want to do this. Mom and Dad are going to kill me… What if I throw up when we jump out! Oh goodness don’t let them see you crying. Adri its ok just JUMP OUT OF THIS PERFECTLY GOOD PLANE! NOOOOOOO

It was the worst thing n the world! The view was beautiful too I wish I would have been able to see it!

We reached 14 freaking thousand feet and the first guy jumped out. HE DISSAPEARD! GONE! WHERE DID HE GO? Oh ya he JUMPED OUT OF THE PLANE! I was last so I watched 10 people disappear! I was so scared but when it was my turn it wasn’t an option my instructor just jumped! In half a second I was flying through the air! For the first 10 seconds I regretted BEING BORN! It was so scary! I couldn’t breath and I couldn’t stop and it was so scary! But then I realized IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME! We spun around and went through clouds and didn’t even throw up! Free falling through the air is pretty cool. When the parachute was deployed I got to panic a little again but I lived! I have a video of it that I can show y’all when I get home! You can see sheer fear in my eyes the entire time pretty much! But it was amazing! I am so glad that I did it!

We got back to town and immediately got on a bus to go bungee jumping! A lot in one day I know! My bucket list was even intimidated! 164 foot bungee! It was along walk to the top! And when it comes time you put on a harness (I put it on wrong and was corrected) and then they wrab a BATH TOWEL around your ankles and some straps! I was scared all over again! I hopped to the edge and wouldn’t let of the rail for a few seconds while the strappers were encouraging me! I finally did it and it was awesome! I will bungee again for sure! I don’t know about skydiving though! I really thought bungee would give me whiplash and neck damage but it didn’t at all! There wasn’t a jerk at all! After the bungee we got into groups of three for a 120 mph jungle swing! It was pretty fun as well!

After the swing

This day goes down in history as the craziest day that ANYONE ON EARTH has ever experienced! Don’t even challenge it!

It was the next day that we went to the reef and I will try to post pictures of that soon!

The last day in Cairns we went to the rainforest and swam around a couple waterfalls! It was seriously our of a magazine! It was amazing! That night we had a big goodbye party!

The trip was seriously amazing! I would do it over and over again!

Love y’all! 

rainforest in Cairns

P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, SYDNEY!

Hey guy, it’s Lauren here! Please excuse our lack of blogging the past few weeks, school and traveling have been in full force but I’m here to give you an update of our recent adventures! We just got back a few weekends ago from our Easter break trips and had the best time of our life! I got to spend a week in the beautiful city of Sydney, while Adri made a trek through the gorgeous beaches of Queensland.

First off, I would just like to say that 42 Wallaby Way in Sydney does not exist... I know, I was quite heartbroken when I discovered this too. It was even on my Australian bucket list to try and find it! But, I did make many more and far better discoveries in Sydney...

I started my trip early Thursday morning with Jesse, Zoey, and Keith; God knows this was going to be journey with the four of us! Once we arrived, we hailed a cab and made our way to our hostel! Then we immediately got settled in for the next week and started our excursion through the city! At times we felt like a pinball bouncing from one side to the next, but I can say, I saw everything I needed to! Saying that we explored as much as we could is definitely an understatement; we walked through the Queen Victoria Building, took a ferry to Manly Beach, strolled through Darling Harbour, made a quick trip through Kings Cross, and even got to listen to the Orchestra practice at the Opera House! I must say, I have never walked, or I should say, power walked so much in my entire life throughout this whole trip (thanks Jesse for making sure we all stayed fit after stuffing our faces every chance we got)! But, one of my absolute favorite moments has got to be climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge! 645 calories burned and fears of heights, conquered… count me in! I mean, who else can say they climbed 1,345 steps up a huge bridge to see such an incredible city? If you’re ever in Sydney, I challenge you to it!

So, to sum it up, that was one of the best weeks with some of the greatest people in one of the most amazing cities!

I'm from TEXAS!

Random funny story!

So, Lauren told y’all about us going out in Melbourne for her birthday! The night at the crown and dancing and stuff! It was a great night but it had sort of a rough start! She told y’all about the complimentary birthday champaign this is a disclaimer to the story; between five of us we had one bottle of champaign.

Lauren and I at the hotel on her birthday

The place we went dancing was a popular nightclub in Melbourne we read about it online and knew it would guarantee a good time. Australia is very strict on their drinking laws despite the legal age being 18. They have enforced dress codes and all kind of rules that determine if a person will be allowed in or not. An obvious rule is that they cannot allow “noticeably intoxicated” people in the door.

We took a taxi from the hotel to the venue, because of the distance, we got out of the taxi like we own the world, we are all dressed to a T and are excited to celebrate Miss Lauren’s 20^th birthday! One by one we give the bouncer our IDs and then pay the small cover fee to get in. I am in about the middle of our group and am let in with no problem. We all gather inside this place and are talking about what we want to do. A large bouncer taps me on the shoulder.

“I’m sorry you can’t stay here”  and the man walks me out the back door to the street where a lot of bouncers are sitting.

“What is going on?” –me

“You are intoxicated and we can not allow you in here.” –large man

Mind you, we split one bottle of champaign between five of us. At this point the rest of the group has joined me. (Voluntarily)

“I’m sure not drunk, sir.” –me. The rest of the group starts bargaining on my behalf at this point.

“Why do you think I’m drunk, sir?” –me

“You are talking really slow!” – the large man, getting annoyed.

“OF COURSE I’M TALKING SLOW I’M FROM TEXAS!” -me

This bouncer legitimately thought my friends and I were FAKING BEING FORIGNERS to get away with being drunk! What the heck? ! I think he might have been drunk! After talking to him for several minutes one of the higher arched bouncers let us all in and apologized for the mishap.

The funny thing is that this isn’t the first time we have trouble with our accents! Those of you that know both Lauren and me probably will say my southern accent is a little thicker! (Thanks West Texas) So I have had a harder time. Our friend Jesse from California has a very urban American accent! He talks fast, he is from California and is the friendliest person in the world. Between him and I we have four different places tell us we were drunk! All but one time we were able to explain that we are just American and were let in! The bottle of champaign was the only time we had even been drinking prior to trying to get in!

The Australian use about half the syllables that normal English does and about a third of the syllables that we use in Texas and in about a quarter of the time to say them! We have got to where we understand them fine but I think there might be a reversed problem!

All of us on our way to dinner!

Zoey, Lauren, Keith, Jesse, Adri

Union Lane, Melbourne

Jesse, Adri, Zoey, Lauren

Easter break!

So, after this week of classes we have a week break from school! I only have class Monday through Wednesday so my break is starting Wednesday! This is the first time that Lauren and I will be apart since arriving! She is going to Sydney with Jesse, Zoey and Keith! I am going on an adventure tour with a group of students, none of which that I have met!

This is my itinerary for the week!

Thursday 28th March Day One Brisbane - Rainbow Beach	Accommodation: Rainbow beach Meals: BBQ Dinner 8.30am - The adventure begins! Time to head north out of town. Australia Zoo is our morning stop as we visit the final home of the Croc Hunter. View all manner of Aussie creepy crawlies, as well as koalas, roos, crocs and other Aussie natives. Grab a bite for lunch before we take off for the gateway to Fraser Island, Rainbow Beach, and check-in to our accommodations.We will take a walk up to the carlos sandblow as this is a must for sunset in rainbow beach. Tonight is our welcome party (including 2 hours of san gria) which allows everybody some time to get to know each other and then after dinner, party time and the extreme traditional 'Naming Of the Roo'.
Friday 29th March Day Two Fraser Island	Accommodation: Extreme Bus overnight Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner 7.30am - After breakfast we're off to Fraser Island to check out some awesome fresh water lakes inc lake mckenzie, drive on the sand dunes and check out the ship wreck. After a day of exploring, sun baking and beach football we head back to meet our ferry to the mainland as we head off to Airlie Beach. This is where you'll need to pack a small bag for 3 days of beach bumming! Our boats to the island paradise can't fit all you're big bags!! This is also where a travel pillow will come in handy, as it's an ALL night trip. time to catch up on some sleep!
Saturday 30th March Day Three Whitsunday Islands / Whitehaven Beach	Accommodation: Tropical Island Resort Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner 8.00am - This is the start of the sailing and island adventure. Pack the suitcases away, its just swimmers and sun screen in this island paradise! While we have breakfast we'll give you a run down on what to expect and what you'll need to know about the sailing and our island home for the next three days. A bit of paper work to sign, then off we trot to meet your skipper and check safety procedures. Our vessel today is not a sailing yacht, but a couple of high powered lean mean cruising machines! They'll have you jumping wakes, making whirlpools and generally trying to scare the life out of you! If the ride doesn't wake you up, the beautiful locations we see will! Take a dip in the crystal clear water on Whitehaven Beach, go searching for the elusive turtles and take in the beauty of the area - at 60kph! Whitehaven is a Whitsunday icon, seen in television commercials the world over, with sand like sugar... After a wet and wonderful day we'll cruise into our Island home for dinner and a great party night.
Sunday 31st March Day Four Tropical Island Free Day	Accommodation: Tropical Island Resort Meals: Breakfast and Dinner Sleep In - Today is your day to get to know this island paradise, or just lie on the beach. Undertake one of the included activities like a small catamaran, paddle ski, tennis, or take one of the awesome hikes on the island and check out the local wildlife. Jet skis, water-skiing, mini golf and tubing are also available at great value prices. It’s your day to play however you choose but make sure you save some energy for tonight!
Monday 1st April Day Five Sailing	Accommodation: Mission Beach Meals: Breakfast, Lunch 7.30am - Today we board our Maxi yacht to complete the must do's of the whitsundays! We'll put this baby through it's paces AS we glide around some more of the area, then make a stop to get in the water and do some exploring with a mask on. Here you'll also have the oportunity to strap on a mask and snorkel and spend some quality time with the locals. We will spend some of the afternoon here just soaking up the atmosphere and the sun on our multi million dollar vessel, before our final leg of sailing back in to the marina. We will head into Airlie Beach to quickly grab our bags and get refreshed before we head out north into the tropics. After a long day on the boat, then the 6 hour drive our hostel at Mission beach and more importantly it's beds will be a welcome sight!
Tuesday 2nd April Day Six Tully River Rafting-Cairns	Accommodation: Cairns Meals:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner River tax $30 (guide will collect from you) 7.30am - Pick up time for an action packed day of white water rafting. The rapids are up to grade 4 depending on the season. The Tully is an awesome river with plenty of boulders and great drops plus running through a tropical rainforest means warm water (yeah right we hear you say). You'll appreciate this AS you are thrown from the raft for the fifth time. Riverside lunch is included. Wet and exhausted you'll drag yourself from the river to head into Cairns via an afternoon tea stop. Our centrally located accommodation in Cairns is an upmarket backpacker’s that has to be experienced to be believed. With an open-air beer hall, lagoon pool with waterfall, beach volleyball court… you won’t want to leave.Tonight we head out for a beautiful group dinner then its your night to look around or join your guides out on the town.
Wednesday 3rd April Day Seven Optional Adrenaline Day - Bungy Party	Accommodation: Cairns Meals: Breakfast , dinner 8.00am Your Day – Cairns definitely has a lot to offer, so we give you the chance to either do your own thing or if you're up to it, take the chance to do an optional skydive. See your guides to book this! 3.00pm-Today is our Extreme Adventures exclusive: Bungy Party! We meet at the reception desk and head deep into the rainforest, where you'll hurl yourself off the AJ Hackett tower overlooking the bar below. You splash down into the tropical pond hanging only by the bungy cord. Of course it's safe.. Try the AJ Swing as well or just sit back with a few cold beverages and watch your mates take the plunge.
Thursday 4th April Day Eight Great Barrier Reef	Accommodation: Cairns Meals: Breakfast and Lunch Reef tax $20 (guide will collect from you) 7.30am – We know it’s another early morning, but the Great Barrier Reef awaits! A luxury Boat will whisk you to the outer reef for a day of snorkelling and a scuba dive. Make sure you have your underwater camera available for a snap with Nemo.When your done snorkelling why not see the reef from the glass bottom boat while staying dry. Lunch is provided on the boat and make sure you don't swim straight after eating (our mothers told us this).
Friday 5th April Day Nine Rainforest - Waterfalls - Woolshed Party	Accommodation: Cairns Meals: Breakfast and Dinner Morning– Free time to sleep in, shop and recover! 1.00pm – Enough of the saltwater, time to head inland to the Crystal Cascades. We'll take a walk through some rainforest, to get to our swimming hole -complete with a small rock jump if the water is high enough! then on to another spot for a bit of a relax in a natural spa. The fresh water will recharge hung-over heads before rocking back into Cairns for our final night party. 8.00pm – It’s on to our exclusive Final party and trip presentation at the Woolshed Nightclub. Our farewell balcony party eventually overflows into the regular crowds at this infamous Cairns Party Venue. A final chance to farewell your One Fish Two Fish friends and maybe make some new ones
Saturday 6th April Day Ten Check out this morning!	Check out is by 10am. Getting from our accommodation to Cairns Airport is roughly $7 pp by shuttle bus or roughly $15 per cab.

I promise to post pictures!  

Love Y'all!