spring break entry...finally
Well, I suppose this has been a long time coming… thanks to everyone who has
been so patient. Life has been absolutely crazy these past couple of weeks.
Heaps of stuff has happened, so I suggest that you either read this entry in
sections, or make a sandwich and get comfortable because it is going to be a
long one……..(three weeks worth).
Day one of Spring Break: September 20
The bus picked us up at the apartments at 5:45 in the morning. We arrived at
the Southern Flinders Ranges at 9:15. We were supposed to climb Mount
Magnificent, but our amazing trailblazers (the tour guides) could not find the
trail. We even climbed through barbed wire fences twice to find it: no luck.
However, it was not a complete loss, there were plenty of rouge sheep roaming
around and stretches of purple lavender all along the hills. There was a crazy
rope drawbridge that went for about 200 meters; however, the stream beneath it
was not much more than a trickle. We also met a weird guy who looked like Santa
Claus who kept talking about genocide and trying to marry his daughter off to
the guys in the group. Weird. We then hopped back on the bus and listened to
the power game (unfortunately, they lost and are out of the tourney: FYI: the
Brisbane Lions won the AFL championship). I woke up long enough to see
the “Welcome to the Outback” sign, and then promptly went back to sleep. We
went to the Oakden Hills Station to stay for the night: but yet, again our tour
guides got us lost. We drove around for 40 mins in circles, trying to find the
right spot and finally decided to end up at the very first place we stopped. I
slept in a swag and saw the stars. It was absolutely amazing! I have never seen
a sky so big. I didn’t know any of the constellations, so we made up our own:
there was the question mark, cherry, and the “G.” Unfortunately, there were no
facilities except “bush toilets:” i.e. a shovel. Not fun, but I chalked it up
to experience.
Day two: September 21
We woke up at 6:00 am and sat on the bus for 20 mins before it would start.
Luckily it sputtered to life after 20 tries and started driving to Cooper Pedy.
There were random sheep roaming the desert around a long pipeline. We saw road
trains which are tractor trailers put together to form long moving vehicles
(three or more). Then disaster happened: the bus broke down. “Jet” overheated
and would not cool down. In order to amuse ourselves we played footy, took
walks, studied for macro, and slept. Unfortunately, it was about 36 degrees so
we were so incredibly hot. We had to stay in the shade as the sun rose higher
and higher. Fortunately, we were saved 5 hours later. We were driven to a motor
inn, which was not happy to see us. We were not allowed to use the facilities
since we were not paying, but try telling that to a group of hot, sweaty,
grumpy Americans. Needless to say, we all went stealth mode and had a jump in
the showers. Finally, at 10 pm we drove to Cooper Pedy. It was lovely. We
stayed in an underground hostel that was carved out of the earth. People have
to live underground because it was so hot. The beds were surprisingly
comfortable and it was very cool. Before bed we had Martin’s Night sky
Presentation and learned all the different constellations. Now I know that the
big G is actually Scorpio and that the cherry was actually Sagittarius. I was
very happy to see my bed.
Day three: September 22
We woke up at 7 am and went to the Old Timer’s Opal Mine. It was interesting to
see how opals were mined. The people who worked in the mine actually made
quarters in the mine for living. Since it was the best place in Australia to
buy opals, I made a few purchases for family and friends. When we got out of
the mine, the wind had picked up. It seemed like we were in the middle of a
sand storm. Sand was whipping our legs and arms and our hair was standing on
end. Unfortunately, our replacement bus was still not there, so we went into a
hotel and watched a boring movie on opals. Our bus arrived at 10:30 in the morning and we drove straight through to Ularu till 11:00 pm.
Day four: September 23
We woke up at 6 am and went to the aboriginal cultural centre at Ularu. We
looked around and read their ‘dreaming stories’ i.e. stories of creation. We
were then met by an aboriginal tour guide and an interpreter. He spoke in his
native tongue although he understood English. Happily, he allowed us to take
pictures of him. He made glue out of plants in the bush, taught us how to throw
a spear, showed how they take the bowls out of the tree trunks, and interpreted
the creation story of Ularu. Ularu is a solid, giant rock that is three
football fields across and two high. However, that is the exposed part. Experts
feel that the part underground is 2/3 bigger. There is an opportunity to climb
Ularu, but since it is sacred to the Aboriginal culture, there are signs
everywhere asking people not to. It is not very safe to climb, since there are
no steps, just posts with chains that you can hold onto. Many tourists have
died. None of us climbed. (In fact, I got a postcard that says “I respected the
wishes of the dead people and did not climb Ularu). We went on the Liru walk
instead which was around the base of the rock. We saw the Mutjulu waterhole
which was a sacred pool that never empties and always has clean water. You
could swim in it, (in fact, an Aussie travel channel person did), but again,
there are signs asking people not to, since it was a sacred site. We then had
lunch. After that, we went to the Valley of the Winds in Kata Juta. It was a 2
and half hour hike full of absolutely gorgeous views and scenery. My pictures
do not do any justice to the vistas. Kerrie said that she had a religious
experience while walking it, it was that amazing. We then went to an outpost
and watched the sunset over Ularu and Kata Juta. It was gorgeous. Then we had
dinner, and on the way home, had Karaoke in the bus. After the bus, we went for
a swim, in which Jesse threw me in the pool with all my clothes.
Day five: September 24
We woke up at 6am and had breakfast. We all piled back onto our smelly, hot bus
for a long trip. We stopped at a gas station that had camel rides and poisonous
spiders in the bathroom. We got in the bus (unbitten) and rode for another
three hours. Then we stopped for wood for our fire. Unfortunately, there was no
wood to be found, except for dead trees. We had no axe (the wonderful tour guides were yet again, unprepared), but after a half an hour of throwing the wood onto the pavement, it started breaking. It was funny, but annoying since our tour guides weren’t doing anything (nobody liked them, they were a bit evil). After a bucket lunch (best Australian creation ever!) we went to Watarrka and King’s Canyon. This was also a hike around a canyon, and in the bottom portion there was a place called the Garden of Eden where there was a watering hole that you could swim in. That cold water was a happy welcome after such a long, hot and sticky hike. At the top of the canyon, we lay on our bellies and looked over, but our tour guides thought that we would fall so they kept yelling at us, but we knew what we were doing and got some amazing pictures. We found out that the canyon used to be a sea shore and that there
were lots of fossils of shells still embedded into the rock. Then we went home
to the King’s Creek Station where there was another swimming pool, although
this time it was salty. I tried getting Jesse back from yesterday, but he won,
and in I went into the pool again fully clothed. At dinner we had bush damper,
which is a type of bread. It was absolutely delicious, but you can only eat it
when it was just made because the next morning it shrivels up and is as hard as
a rock. I have no idea why.
Day six: September 25
We woke up at some insane hour at which the sky was totally dark. We sleepily
piled into the bus and all fell asleep. When we awoke, it was light outside and
we were outside an aboriginal shop. Since all the proceeds of the shop
benefited the aboriginal community, I got a few goodies. We piled back into the
car and slept for awhile until Seff (evil tour guide) got out of the bus and
went looking around outside. He then came back onto the bus 10 mins later and
started driving. About an hour later, all the tour guides got out of the bus
and looked around for awhile. They came back on the bus and said that we had
blown a tyre. Of course we did the way that this trip was going. So, we all tramped off the bus and sat in the blazing heat, (me reading Seabiscuit). Kat comes over to me and starts complaining that Seff was ignoring her suggestion of twisting the tyre off, instead of banging it with a wrench. She was really angry and went to give him
a piece of her mind. He rolled his eyes and said that he would try it. The tyre
came off. Soon, the tyre was changed and we were on our way, only two hours
late because of Seff’s idiocy. We arrived at Alice Springs and had a very late
lunch. We did a little shopping and then headed off to Tommy Crow’s. Tommy Crow
is an amazing artist and didgeridoo player. He is planning a world tour and
will soon be on the Oprah Winfrey show in America. Famous people such as
Melissa Etheridge have bought his paintings, and it is expected that in 5 or 10
years he will be known throughout the world as the leading expert and foremost
painter of aboriginal wares. Since we were students, he gave us discounts on
otherwise insanely expensive paintings. However, we found that these paintings
were completely different than the paintings usually thought of as aboriginal.
Turns out, that Tommy Crow paints in the native style instead of the dot
paintings, which were only introduced in the 1970s. The original paintings are
so much more attractive. They are so beautiful; I don’t know why the aboriginal
people stopped. Someone close to me will have an amazing surprise for
Christmas: you will have a Tommy Crow original! After Tommy Crow’s we went to
Antzak outpost and watched the sunset over Alice Springs. Absolutely gorgeous.
We then wanted to go to Hungry Jack’s for a quick snack (It is nine o’clock
now) since we were all starving. Power trippy tour guides said no, of course.
They then fed us at 11, but most of us were too tired to eat and just fell into
our swags.
Day 7: September 26
Theme of the day: Why walk when you can ride a bus?
We woke up at the crack of the dawn to the Galahs that were living in the trees
above our swags. They are beautiful pink birds, but are the loudest things this
side of the equator. We had breakfast, after which I tripped and fell and
gashed my knee. It was so bad that they had to make this tourniquet thingy for
my knee. I looked like I went through World War Three or something. We then
piled into the four wheel bus and took a two hour ride to Palm Valley. It was
like an amusement park ride or something. It was so bumpy, that we were
bouncing all around the bus: some people flew out of the seats. We took two
picturesque walks that had lots of beautiful palm trees and rock formations. We
then started to leave until we saw a broken down bus at the side of the road (I
think road troubles follow us or something) and we stopped to help. We had
lunch and then went back on the bumpy road and went to a lookout that oversaw
Palm Valley. Then back to the bumpy road. At this point, the bumpy road isn’t
as much fun as the way in. People are getting whacked in the head by book bags,
windows, their seat mates, everything, plus the tour guides were being their
usual evil selves. We went to Hermannsburg that was labelled as an aboriginal
town, which it was, but of course, we didn’t see that part. We were only shown
to the burnt out mission who tried to conquer the aboriginal peoples. Then we
heard a sob tale of the settlers, who just couldn’t get them to conform. It was
rather annoying. I much would have rather just stood outside and watch the
people than to walk around burned buildings. There was also some documentary on
an Aboriginal artist that was rather depressing. The only happy thing of the
day was that we were given strudel (I felt like a kindergartener). We then got
back on the bus and the bumpy road and went to dinner at the Memorial Club. It
was amazing, real food with so many options. It was heaven, especially the
cauliflower with cheese. After dinner we saw an amateur footy game being played
and decided to stop (since Seff got us lost and we missed feeding the
wallabies). There were aboriginal players and their families watching. It was
so nice to watch them and how they interact. They are such a beautiful people.
One child couldn’t stop touching my blond hair.
Day eight: September 27
We woke up to the crazy birds again and headed off to the School of the Air.
The school of the air is a school that is spent over the radio, connected
Aussie children as far away as 1,000kms. Alice Springs was the first school in
Australia and teaches kindergarten up to year 7. After that they usually go to
boarding school. They have house visits for their tutors and have an annual
picnic where they all get together and meet for the first time. The children
have computers, internet, radio equipment and books that are funded all by the
donation system. There is no difference in the educational quality from public
school. After the school of the air, we waited for an hour for Seff to come
pick us up. He had gone to get the turn signal changed. Since he never showed
up, we bribed a local bus to take us to the brunch restaurant called Oscar’s.
It was a wonderful breakfast, but it was even more wonderful that we were going
to Cairns after it! We all piled into taxis and headed to the airport.
Unfortunately, Hester forgot her Nalgeine and her camera at the restaurant, but
some of our other friends brought it to her awhile later. We went on the plane
and headed off to Cairns. When we arrived, it was absolutely beautiful, and
finally warm but not overwhelming! We were dropped off at our hostel, Caravella 77, but they couldn’t find our reservations. They called their sister hostel, Caravella 149, and found our reservations there. So, we lugged all our bags across town into
that hostel and settled in. Our hostel gave us a free dinner at the
backpackers’ pub, the Woolshed. We shopped around for a little bit, then got
tired and went to bed at 10.
Day 9: September 27
We woke up at 6:00 am and had breakfast at Mackers (McDonald’s). We took a
shuttle to the dock and boarded the Big Cat for snorkelling! We went to the
reef called north Hastings and saw brilliant coral and tropical fish. I had a
bit of trouble with my wet suit, but once I got used to the suction-like aspect
of it, it was a lot of fun. We then piled back onto the Big Cat and went to
West Hastings reef, where we transferred to the big boat, the Atlantic Clipper.
It was a beautiful, elegant sailboat, complete with a fresh water spa on deck
and hammocks hanging off the bow. Our cabin wasn’t much bigger than a closet
for four people, but it didn’t matter because we didn’t spend much time there.
The entire bathroom turned into a shower, it was a bit weird and soaked the
floor, the toilet, even the toilet paper. We then went on our second dive and
saw purple, translucent, fluorescent fish. They swam so close, you could almost
touch them. In fact, one fish, Wally was about 250lbs and I touched him. They
told us he was tame, but I heard some stories that he once bit a diver’s arm. I
also saw a sea turtle. Snorkelling was very fun but a bit exhausting. We then
had dinner and went on our night dive, which was cool because we saw a lot of
big fish, but the water was murky, and the currents kept making us crash into
the coral which hurts! Leah, the only scuba diver in our group of four,
actually didn’t see anything… she missed the entire reef because she kept
getting turned around! We lowly snorkers made fun of her. We then took showers
and went up to the pub on board. We hung out with a guy from Tulane which was
cool, but I mostly hung out with the staff. They were from all around the
world, and I kept forgetting their names, so I just called them by their
countries: Canada, Ireland,Australian 1, Australian 2, Australian 3 Japan, Sweden and England. They were all really cool. Then we went to bed.
Day 10: September 28
We woke up to Canada’s wake up song at 5:45 and went snorkelling on Saxon Reef.
It was so much better to dive so early in the morning because we saw about five
times more fish. I kept searching for Nemo, but I only found fake Nemos. They
were black and white clown fish instead of orange. Canada told me that he has
dived in these reefs 900 times and only saw one once. Apparently they are a
more northern fish, (and would never be able survive in the Sydney harbour). We
went to pockets of reef islands, had breakfast, and dove again. Then we lay in
the sun for awhile and missed the last snorkel because we were all a bit
snorkelled out. All of us now have a wetsuit tan. This trip was the first time
Lindsay ever snorkelled and she absolutely loved it. Then we had a big lunch
and got picked up by the Big Cat. On the way home we had free cheese, crackers
and wine. Then the shuttle took us home and went out for pizza. Alexa randomly
saw one of her friends from high school walking down the street, and he joined
us for dinner and came out to the Woolshed with us. Leah also had two friends
from her school DePaw join us. We also met a lot of our IES peeps at the bar.
We danced for awhile and met lots of people from around the world, although not
many Australians: Israel, Ireland, Hawaii, Florida, Canada, Kenya, Nigeria, and
England. Then I went home to my bed.
Day 11: September 29
We slept in until 9 and then checked out. We spent the entire day shopping and
at the Lagoon (which is an amazing outdoor swimming pool because the beach is
mud at Cairns). Then we went out to dinner with the twins (Matt and Mike) and
Katie. Then we hopped onto a bus to Townsville.
Day 12: September 30
We took the ferry to Magnetic Island and found our hostel which was absolutely
gorgeous. We then went to the beach and decided to go sea kayaking. It was so
relaxing and so much fun. We then had lunch (a gigantic cheeseburger with beet
root) and then went to happy hour at our hostel. We then went to Noodie’s for
Nachos and ordered margaritas. They gave us a sombrero that Lindsay asked us to
decorate for her birthday. I then taught the girls how to twist the cherry
stems in their mouths. Then we went to the bar next door for French fries. Then
we went back to the hostel’s bar. We met Magnus (Sweden), Megan (Canada) and
Ireland and Scotland. At midnight we took a walk on the beach and headed off to
bed.
Day 13: October 1
We woke up and got organized. We then hiked up the Forts trail (from World War
II) to see impressive 360 degree views of the Island. We then took a bus to the
ferry. We got lunch at Subway and went grocery shopping for the train. The
train was delayed for 45 minutes, but we amused ourselves because we knew that
we were going to be on it for 20 hours. It was a long trip.
Day 14: October 2
We woke up to annoying people on the train at five in the morning and couldn’t
go back to sleep. We got off at Gympie and asked where we should pick up the
shuttle for Noosa Heads. The lady laughed and told us to get back on the train
until Nambour. Luckily, they didn’t charge us for our mistake… Aussies are so
nice. We took a bus to the Halse Hostel and shared it with 8 people. Since we
couldn’t deal with that after our long train ride, we got different
accommodations. We went to dinner at an Italian restaurant with a kiss happy
maitre’d. We then took a walk on the beach and saw beautiful fireworks. We
heard some great music and followed our ears to the sailing club where a real
chill band was playing. Then we went back to our hostel and met England (Steve)
Germany (Madrid) France (Allitona) and Australia (Brian). I absolutely loved
Steve; we just traded sarcasm the entire night, and now exchange emails doing
the same thing. I absolutely loved that kid. We went to the New York bar which
was a bit unsettling because there were pictures of the World Trade Centre all
over the place. It was sad. Then we went to bed.
Day 15: October 3
We went to the beach all day, only getting up for fish n chips for lunch. Then
we went back to our apartment and took naps. We all got dolled up to go out for
the night, but we all were too tired, so we just watched a movie and went to
bed.
Day 16: October 4
We woke up early and got a surfing lesson. It was so much fun. I actually stood
up, but it is definitely a lot harder than it looks on TV. Leah did really
well, she looked like a pro. After surfing, we did a bit of present shopping
and had lunch. We then caught a bus to Brisbane. On the way, we drove through
the Crocodile Hunter’s Zoo, which was a bit unsettling because he had pictures
of his four year old with pythons all over the place. We got to our hostel
which was really fun and met some guys who saved us from scary guys in the
hostel’s pub. They were from England and very sweet. We went to the Exchange
and the Victory Bar. We decided not to go to sleep for our 6:00 am flight and
just stayed up all night. We all slept like logs on the plane though.
Well, that was my Spring Break trip… I kind of skipped over a lot just to save
you from some reading. So, if you have any questions just email me. Since
spring break it has been mainly the usual: going out on weekends, studying like
crazy during the week. Lindsay’s birthday was last Wednesday and we decorated
her sombrero so crazily… complete with a giant spinning flower on top. I have
pictures of that. This past Friday, I went to see a production of Grease,
probably the worst production I have ever seen. They even made Sandy, the only
Australian in the movie, have an American accent. But it was nice to do
something cultural for a change. We also went to a jazz club that was
absolutely amazing; it was the perfect place for Rachel. I definitely miss
jazz.
Well, that’s about it, hope you enjoyed it, and I definitely promise never to
be such a slacker ever again…. Love to you all…
-Rach
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