Fishies like red toe nails.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
A few Great Barrier Reef Teasers
I rented an underwater digital camera. More to come:
Fishies like red toe nails.
Fishies like red toe nails.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Kuranda Rain Forest
After the banner of a night I woke up at 6:30 am to go to the Kuranda rain forest. It was really beautiful. I took a 7 km sky rail up and a old fashioned train down. I met an American guy Chuck, from Philly who bought my new friend of the day, Denise from Germany, and I lunch at the top of the mountain. Innately, people are kind, trustworthy, and generous. It is quite refreshing. I selected some of my favorite pics of the day to share. There is not a ton to write about because the pictures speak for themselves.
I want to write to you about the Great Barrier Reef but it is midnight here and I am tired so I won't be able to give it justice. I will leave you with this image for you to deduct what you wish of the trip. More to come.
I want to write to you about the Great Barrier Reef but it is midnight here and I am tired so I won't be able to give it justice. I will leave you with this image for you to deduct what you wish of the trip. More to come.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Wild Final Weekend
Wednesday Night: Emily & Danni meet Jersey Shore in Cairns
Cairns pronounced Cans. It's just like Beaune pronounced Bone. (Jo, you know what I am talking about) I booked myself a trip to Cairns from Weds to Sunday to try to see the Great Barrier Reef before departing this fine country. I was fortunate enough to meet up with my dear friend Emily who was here for a work trip the night that she left for Fiji. I stayed at a youth hostel callled "Gilligans" and it was literally taken out of hte reality TV show "Jersey Shore." It was true spring break style with naked bungee jumpers, chics wearing now shirts, and X-games with guys trying to dig fruit out of girls cleavage. Seeing that I am a nana I was afraid of the whole scene and Emily wanted to particpate (though I am happy to say that our whole crew kept our clothes on and just spectated.) It ended up being a lot of fun with the whole EF Tours gang. It was so nice to see a familiar face. It made me so excited to see all of you in just 2 short weeks!
Thursday: White Water Rafting or Tubing?
My entire life I always wanted to go white water rafting. I you hadn't noticed by now I am very much into the extreme sports and more extreme the better. Mark is an English friend who works in Language Travel out of Cairns. Mark got me on the white water rafting trip with the High School Norwegian and German students. I miss working with exchange students and specifically high school kids because they are really fun and enjoyable to be around. Everything was exciting to them and they were all really happy to be in Australia rafting. I was in the all German boy raft (which was absolutely on purposed. I knew that the Germans would follow directions, be insync with their rowing, and fetch me if I was pitched from the raft. You will be happy to know that I was right. :))
We rafted down a class 3 rapid on the Baron River. I always pictured it being really scary and rough but it really wasn't. I am not sure if my perspective is skewed after jumping out of an airplane or sitting next to my friend's dog Foxy after he ate a whole can of sardines and he breaks wind all night that it didn't phase me all that much. I didn't get pitched out of the raft, I wasn't tired, and I found myself looking for more at the end. It was very calculated and strategic which was cool but not as "wild rapids" as I would have liked.
The instructor was and ex-Marine from lake tahoe named Bill. We were one of his first boats after his training and he kept saying that he had not clue how to get down certain rapids. That was a bit scary and I told him to turn on his inner monologue and keep his concerns to himself. He didn't listen but it all turned out just fine. I ordered pics but haven't received them yet. This is the only pic of Mark and I before we got in the raft. One of the guides had a Boston Red Sox hat so he grabbed one of the students and took a photo for me. I can't wait for a hot dog...and root beer. The hot dogs here are terrible and root beer does not exist.
Attracting the crazies
Come to find out that when you travel alone, you are never really alone. I found myself meeting more and more people. I met some normal ones but they are not fun to write about. It's the crazies that make the best blog entries. :)
I can't help it. I attract crazy people. I was staying in a hostel with 3 other people. I met this guy named Josh who was a genius (truly a 148 IQ) marine biologist. He worked as a first mate on one of the cruise lines. I learned so much about the different types of fish, ocean currents, coral reef, etc. It was mind blowing the information that he knew and how brilliant marine life truly is. More to come on this when I tell you about the Great Barrier Reef. We had a lot of fun but I found out that he was a recovering Meth addict and he poured his entire life out to me. There is something about traveling and being anonymous that people overshare. Here are some pics of Josh. Good kid, really interesting to talk too but a bit creepy.
Then I met a millionaire who was old and a weirdo. He kept trying to talk to me by telling me he liked smoking pot. Nice one Stephen. I scooted away from him a hurry. The last night that I was there I met a woman who was American who was a recovering Alcoholic trying to get her life together. I felt so sorry for her that I bought her dinner and just listened to her whole life story. The moral of this story is:
a) never travel with me, I attract psychos
b) if you want free dinner from me, stop drinking
c) drugs are not cool
d) I really like to type in bullets
Don't worry about me with these people. I find it fascinating and I scare them off myself. Not with stories of drugs or money but with my brutal honesty. Come to find out it is not a becoming trait. Oh well.
This entry is getting rather long and I will go to a new post in hope that you are reading this stuff.
Cairns pronounced Cans. It's just like Beaune pronounced Bone. (Jo, you know what I am talking about) I booked myself a trip to Cairns from Weds to Sunday to try to see the Great Barrier Reef before departing this fine country. I was fortunate enough to meet up with my dear friend Emily who was here for a work trip the night that she left for Fiji. I stayed at a youth hostel callled "Gilligans" and it was literally taken out of hte reality TV show "Jersey Shore." It was true spring break style with naked bungee jumpers, chics wearing now shirts, and X-games with guys trying to dig fruit out of girls cleavage. Seeing that I am a nana I was afraid of the whole scene and Emily wanted to particpate (though I am happy to say that our whole crew kept our clothes on and just spectated.) It ended up being a lot of fun with the whole EF Tours gang. It was so nice to see a familiar face. It made me so excited to see all of you in just 2 short weeks!
Thursday: White Water Rafting or Tubing?
My entire life I always wanted to go white water rafting. I you hadn't noticed by now I am very much into the extreme sports and more extreme the better. Mark is an English friend who works in Language Travel out of Cairns. Mark got me on the white water rafting trip with the High School Norwegian and German students. I miss working with exchange students and specifically high school kids because they are really fun and enjoyable to be around. Everything was exciting to them and they were all really happy to be in Australia rafting. I was in the all German boy raft (which was absolutely on purposed. I knew that the Germans would follow directions, be insync with their rowing, and fetch me if I was pitched from the raft. You will be happy to know that I was right. :))
We rafted down a class 3 rapid on the Baron River. I always pictured it being really scary and rough but it really wasn't. I am not sure if my perspective is skewed after jumping out of an airplane or sitting next to my friend's dog Foxy after he ate a whole can of sardines and he breaks wind all night that it didn't phase me all that much. I didn't get pitched out of the raft, I wasn't tired, and I found myself looking for more at the end. It was very calculated and strategic which was cool but not as "wild rapids" as I would have liked.
The instructor was and ex-Marine from lake tahoe named Bill. We were one of his first boats after his training and he kept saying that he had not clue how to get down certain rapids. That was a bit scary and I told him to turn on his inner monologue and keep his concerns to himself. He didn't listen but it all turned out just fine. I ordered pics but haven't received them yet. This is the only pic of Mark and I before we got in the raft. One of the guides had a Boston Red Sox hat so he grabbed one of the students and took a photo for me. I can't wait for a hot dog...and root beer. The hot dogs here are terrible and root beer does not exist.
Attracting the crazies
Come to find out that when you travel alone, you are never really alone. I found myself meeting more and more people. I met some normal ones but they are not fun to write about. It's the crazies that make the best blog entries. :)
I can't help it. I attract crazy people. I was staying in a hostel with 3 other people. I met this guy named Josh who was a genius (truly a 148 IQ) marine biologist. He worked as a first mate on one of the cruise lines. I learned so much about the different types of fish, ocean currents, coral reef, etc. It was mind blowing the information that he knew and how brilliant marine life truly is. More to come on this when I tell you about the Great Barrier Reef. We had a lot of fun but I found out that he was a recovering Meth addict and he poured his entire life out to me. There is something about traveling and being anonymous that people overshare. Here are some pics of Josh. Good kid, really interesting to talk too but a bit creepy.
Then I met a millionaire who was old and a weirdo. He kept trying to talk to me by telling me he liked smoking pot. Nice one Stephen. I scooted away from him a hurry. The last night that I was there I met a woman who was American who was a recovering Alcoholic trying to get her life together. I felt so sorry for her that I bought her dinner and just listened to her whole life story. The moral of this story is:
a) never travel with me, I attract psychos
b) if you want free dinner from me, stop drinking
c) drugs are not cool
d) I really like to type in bullets
Don't worry about me with these people. I find it fascinating and I scare them off myself. Not with stories of drugs or money but with my brutal honesty. Come to find out it is not a becoming trait. Oh well.
This entry is getting rather long and I will go to a new post in hope that you are reading this stuff.
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