Australia, Day 5 (David & Joe edition)

Today was our second optional adventure. Rachel went heavy on the optional while me and Joe decided on the adventure. It was another 4WD tour, but this one focused more on the tropical locations on the Gold Coast. This tour definitely had more of a touristy vibe, but was still worth it. On the drive up to our first stop, the driver informed us that the Gold Coast was home to a newly booming movie industry. He mentioned a few movies that were filmed/filming here: Unbroken, the new Pirates of the Caribbean, Thor, and Aquaman... I'll need to check those out when I get home and see if I can recognize anything.

We started off with a quick walk through an area known for its heavy kangaroo population. Sure enough there were plenty. It was good because prior to today we really didnt get any good looks. We had seen a few small blobs on the side of the road while traveling but none up close. We also got to see our first koalas in the wild. There were a couple resting up in the trees.

 

After the quick walk, we headed into the rainforest to see a waterfall. It wasn't too strenuous of a hike and the view was pretty good. Unfortunately my cell phone camera doesn't really do it justice. 

 

Then we hopped back onto the bus and headed to lunch. After a less than stellar hotel dinner and breakfast, it was a pleasant surprise to walk up to a "barbeque" which is what they call "grilling out." Me and Joe both had the steak which was awesome. We also got to try some kangaroo. It was prepared like sausage and tasted ok... nothing too weird, nothing too good.

After lunch we got to try out throwing a boomerang. It was a little tricky, but after a few turns, me and Joe both had a few throws start to come back. No one was able to throw it perfectly and catch it, but one of our girls had the best throw of the day, so that was cool.

 

For the last stop of the tour we went on a swinging bridge "tree top" walk. The swinging bridges were kind of a bust, but there was a ladder on one of the trees that took you up to the very top of the trees for a pretty unique view. 

 

 

We got back around 5:30 (already dark due to it being the shortest day of the year today) and met up with Rachel for dinner. We walked around the shops of Surfer's Paradise and then settled on Hard Rock Cafe again. Our tour guide was encouraging us to check out an apparently very important Rugby game (NSW vs. QLD) to take in some of the local culture. After dinner, we stopped in a local pub to check out the action. The people were definitely excited. Can't say the same for us! We're tired. Looking forward to heading to Sydney tomorrow and hopefully getting some good wifi. Blogging has been a struggle these last two days. 

Rachel's Day 5

Today I deviated from the group tour and had a "me day" or as Caroline and I like to call them...a "treat yo self" day! 

When I got up this morning, I did a bit of laundry at the hotel. I'm not sure I actually packed enough to get through this trip. Because the weather is usually warm in the day and chilly in the evening, you almost have to wear two different outfits each day! 

I explored Surfers' Paradise, shopped, got my nails done, and then sat out at the beach. Though I'm a little sad I missed the kangaroos and koalas, I really didn't regret my stress free day! 

Australia, Day 4

Posting for Joe:

Today we said goodbye to Fraser Island. I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the island. Some of the things on the island were things I learned about in geography class in college. 

 

We left early in the morning and caught the ferry back to mainland Australia. We are now back on our tour bus headed to Surfers Paradise. The ride will be the equivalent of driving from North Carolina down to Savannah, Georgia. 

 

We arrived in Surfers Paradise around 3:30pm. It has the feel of Myrtle Beach. The city has high rise hotels and shops that line the streets. There is even a small shopping mall across the street from our hotel.  The hotel we are staying at sits right on the river and we are about two blocks from the beach.

 

This afternoon we had a demonstration on how to play a didgeridoo.  According to the guy giving the demonstration if the didgeridoo is long it is easier to play, but if it is a short one it is a little bit more difficult. 

 

 

Australia, Day 3

Today was our first optional adventure, a 4WD tour through Fraser Island. Originally only Joe had signed up, but the tour director really sold us on the drive to Fraser Island, so me and Rachel decided to sign up as well. We had another good breakfast (minus the vegimite) and a nice chat with Dad and Emma for Father's Day wishes. We headed to the bus at 7:45 and met our guide for the day, Dave... he was extremely Australian. 

 

 

Right off the start, we went tearing down the hill, it was extremely bumpy and people were screaming like it was a rollercoaster, Mom would not have enjoyed it.  As we continued our interesting drive though a lovely tropical environment, we learned about the dangers of the area we were in, and all the things that would kill you. He even described in detail the type of helicopter that would be airlifting you out. We finally arrived at the 75 Mile Beach. We got to drive out on the beach which was a pretty cool experience. Our first stop was Eli Creek. It was a fresh water stream that fed into the ocean, it seemed a little mundane at first, but after walking down a wooden walkway, it encouraged you to walk back in the water. The water was crystal clear, and wasnt too cold. I felt like we were reenacting a scene from Dr. No. 

 

After the creek we drove a little ways to the Maheno shipwreck. It was a good place to take a few photos, our driver gave us a little history on it but seems like it might be cool to research a little more when we get home.

 

After a forgettable stop at Pinnacle Point to view the "colorful" sands (spoiler alert: 23 different shades of orange) we headed to lunch. 

After lunch, we headed inland to take a walk through the rain forest. We got a quick runthrough of the different types of spiders that would kill us and then the tour guide left us on our own to finish the trip by ourselves. There were some amazingly huge trees that were similar to our redwoods. Made for a good photo opportunity. It was a great hike which could've only been better if we had left some of the participants behind.

 

Last stop on the tour was Lake McKenzie. It's a freshwater lake with crystal clear water and smooth white sand. It took a little peer pressure to get us all in because it was so cold, but we were all glad we did when it was all said and done. 

 

After the tour, we went out to the west facing beach and took in the sunset. Now it's time for dinner!

 

Australia, Day 2

Because we weren't quite recovered from our time zone jumping, we all woke up today around 4:30-5 AM. Luckily, today was primarily spent traveling from the Sunshine Coast to Fraser Island. 

We ate one of the best EF breakfasts I've ever experienced (they told us not to get use to that treatment!) We loaded the bus around 8 and began our 6 hour travel to Fraser. 

I told David and Joe one of my travel tips--always try and sit in the front of the bus! The best views can be seen through the front windows. It was definitely worth it today as we drove down the Gold Coast. We had great views of the beaches and the surfers taking advantage of the sunny weather. David said it was very similar to driving down the California coat. About 2 hours into the trip, we stopped in Noosa to explore the beautiful beaches there! 

We walked down their boardwalk for awhile before we decided to head out onto the beach. The sand was some of the softest sand I'd ever walked on; it felt like you were walking on powdered sugar! One of the things I thought was interesting and different was the number of activities happening in the water. People were paddle boarding, swimming laps, surfing, rowing, etc. 

David and I practiced our amateur photography skills since we did not have time to participate in any of the water sports.   We met a lovely lady who was telling us all kinds of travel tips about the area. After we finished talking, I told David and Joe that she reminded me of----and they said "Beverly!" before I even finished the sentence! So Beverly, we have met your Australian twin! 

By the time we left the Gold Coast, all you could hear were students talking about how they wanted to move there. We continued on our trip and stopped for lunch at Hungry Jacks, the Australian version of Burger King. I had a mango Fango frozen drink that was delicious. 

Around 3, we arrived at the ferry that was going to take us to the island. It was a 45 minute ride over. They explained that this hotel was going to be like a campsite...so my expectations were low. However, we got here and I would say we were actually at a resort! I could spend a whole week at this place! My room is huge with a jacuzzi for a bathtub. There is a hot tub, a heated pool, and a regular pool. You can canoe, kayak, and paddle board. They have park ranger tours that run all day. I'm excited for our tour of the island tomorrow! 

We had a Mexican food buffet for dinner. We are currently blogging as we wait for the army of teens to exit the hot tubs...not looking good for us though. I guess we might have to try again tomorrow night!

Australia, Day 1

G'day mates. Well we made it to Australia. The times and dates get a little confusing but we figured it took about 35 hours from start to finish. The trip from Houston to New Zealand was "only" 14 hours and we all seemed to handle it well. Before the flight, we found out we were in middle seats, so I asked if they had any business class upgrades available. I figured for $100 or so it would be worth it... I was off by a zero, so I settled for a free upgrade to an aisle seat. 

 

Once we got to Australia, we immediately boarded the buses and headed off to our first destination, the Sunshine Coast. Our first stop was an aquarium. Not sure if it we were just tired or if it was the fact that we've seen our share of fishes and turtles, but we were having trouble matching the excitement level of the group of first graders in front of us. Just as we were about to head for the exits, we ran into the seal exhibit. We were just in time for the show, and it was actually really cool! Probably something you could see at Sea World but it was new to me. These seals were waving, barking and doing handstands on command, it was pretty impressive. They even had a fake audience member planted to volunteer to pet one of the seals. It knocked her into the water and the other seal started circling her as she acted terrified to really sell it. Pretty sure everyone thought they we were about to witness the next Harambe.

 

 

After the aquarium we finished the trip to Surfer's Paradise and arrived at our hotel. It was a pretty nice resort type place as you can see from the pictures. There were a lot of different water activities you could do like kayaking or stand up paddleboarding, unfortunately they closed right after we got there.... maybe next time! We did take a nice stroll down to the beach, then we went to the hotel restaurant and had a nice dinner with our group. The main goal of the night was trying to stay up until 8 pm so we could acclimate to the new time zone. Pretty sure we were all asleep by 8:01.

 

Day Nine: Mykonos

We began our cruise today. Most of the morning was boarding and fire drill. 

Once we were in our rooms, we ate a buffet lunch, hung out on the sun deck, and got a much needed massage. 

We docked around 6 on the island of Mykonos. It was as beautiful as I imagined! 

 

We are heading back to the boat now. We only had 3 hours on the island, but it was small enough to see in that time. I don't have internet on the boat, so I'm blogging early!