Cairns

Time goes by too fast! I feel like I just arrived in Cairns and have 4 days ahead of me and now they are gone and I am in Adelaide for two nights. I flew up to Cairns on Sunday (Saturday for people back home). I had to leave the hostel in Brisbane at 5 am to get on the train and to the airport on time. While I was leaving there were some drunks from the bar stumbling in at 5 am. Crazies! It was already getting light outside!

I made it to the airport. The flight was only an hour and a half. Once I got in I took a shuttle to the hostel. The hostel in Cairns was fun. It was one of the open-air kinds so it is not in a big building. The only problem with them is they tend to be noisy. I got a private room there for 3 nights because I really needed to sleep. Totally worth it! I actually got to sleep for once this trip which was lovely. The last night I stayed in a room with 5 other girls because I was leaving at 5 am for the airport and I need to use up the packaged hostel nights I bought in advance. That night was a bit of an adventure. There was this super intoxicated English girl in my room who was upset because she suspects her boyfriend has a child she doesn’t know about. When I suggested she just ask him if he does she felt that would be too direct. Clearly they have a healthy relationship?

Monday Feb 20:

Monday I booked a tour to Kuranda. It is a rainforest village outside of Cairns. The reason I wanted to go there is because you take a skytram (gondola) up to the village and go over the rainforest. It was amazing! I got to see the tops of the trees. There were a few birds. The view of the Great Barrier Reef from the top was spectacular. The small mountains that surround Cairns and the reef surprised me. The skytram had little stops you could get off on and walk through trails in the rainforest. The humidity was pretty intense all day but not too terrible. On the skytram, I met a girl from Canada who was traveling alone. We took a few pictures of each other for a while. She was pretty fun.

I was rather disappointed once we got to Kuranda. I was expecting really awesome shops and markets and the majority of them did not have anything worth buying. I did buy some local honey. The only souvenirs I have purchased so far have been edible. The majority of the stuff for sale I am not interested in buying. I have not found anything that is really unique or fun. So, everyone will probably have to eat his or her gifts!

I stopped at a restaurant in town and ordered a salmon salad. The salmon was raw. I had no idea that is what I ordered so I had a lettuce lunch. I met a woman who was working in a nice art gallery. I told her I was from Utah and she about fell off her chair. She loves all of the national parks in Southern Utah. I talked to her for about an hour. She taught me the term “bush bumpkin.” In Australia they call the country/ towns/rural areas the bush. I really enjoyed talking with her. We discussed a lot of politics within the USA. She hated President Bush and loves Obama. I have discovered most of the world loves Obama. I get asked funny questions about him.

After the terrible shopping for a few hours it was time to take a scenic train back into Cairns. This train took 2 hours! It seemed like ages by the time we got off. It moved super slow because it was old. I think it would have gone by faster if there wasn’t horrible commentary the entire ride. It was beautiful to get to see the rainforest from that view though. The train went past several gorgeous waterfalls and through some tunnels that were all chiseled out and man made. I don’t know how they made them by hand.

Once I was back in Cairns, the Canadian girl and I decided to go to the night markets they have in town. They had some fun things but overall the choices were about the same as everywhere else.

Tuesday Feb 21:

On Tuesday I went to the Daintree Rainforest. I really loved this tour! We stared out in Cairns and left at about 7 am. We headed north and did a coastal drive along the Great Barrier Reef. We drove for about an hour and a half and stopped at this little town and did a crocodile safari on the Daintree River. But, we didn’t see any crocodiles or snakes or anything exciting. At least the river was beautiful! After, we got back onto the bus and headed further north. We had to take a ferry across a section of the river. They can’t build a bridge because the water level is constantly changing and it would never be stable enough.

Once we cross the river, we got to see a wild Cassowary! They are magical animals. They look like an emu, turkey and a dinosaur. They have an emu body and a turkey gobbler but a keratin bump on their head that looks like a dinosaur. They are really important to the health of the rainforest because they eat certain fruits that only they can digest and spread the new seeds around. If they were to become extinct about 25 plants would die with them. The tour guide said they had a bad cyclone a few years ago and many of the fruit trees the cassowaries eat were destroyed. During this time, Steve Irwin’s dad arranged to have fruit dropped from helicopters into the rainforests so the cassowaries could survive. You should look them up! I got to see one in a zoo too.

After the Cassowary sighting we went on a walk in part of the rainforest. The tour guide pointed out some interesting things along the way. I got to see one of the oldest types trees in the world but I can’t remember what it is called. It only grows a centimeter a year. There were also these nest looking things that are just one plant living on another. They can get really big. When Captain Cook was here they used to call them widow makers because they would cut down a tree and would not know the basket was in it and the man would get squished.

After the walk we had lunch at a restaurant in a town in the middle of the rainforest called Cape Tribulation. It was OK. There was a huge moth on the table that we thought was dead. I guess he was just drying out this wings. This English girl, who is a nurse, kept poking him with a knife to see if he was alive. She joked that she does that to her dead patients. We were able to walk to the beach from the restaurant. There are box jellyfish in the water around the state of Queensland right now so in many areas you can’t swim unless you have a wet suit. Once we had lunch we stopped at a local ice cream shop. Although I am embracing my milk allergy, I decided I had to try these weird flavors. They had all kinds of strange fruit flavors that are local to Australia that I had never heard of. After the ice cream we went to a look out point over the Great Barrier Reef. This is where I saw the place Steve Irwin died! He was at a reef right behind an island I could see. L

Finally, we went to another part of the rainforest where we could swim. However, it was pouring rain. The rain made it fun. Except that wearing a rain jacket in that kind of humidity and heat probably made things worse because I was sweating inside the jacket. Some of the people on the tour went for a swim but I decided not to. We were able to do a nature walk and see a waterfall that was really beautiful.

After all of that, we got back on the bus and went back into Cairns. I think out of all of the tours I have done this one was my favorite and I felt like I actually got what I paid for.

Wednesday Feb 22:

On Wednesday I went onto the Great Barrier Reef with a tour boat. It took about and hour and a half to get to the Reef we snorkeled at. When we first arrived it was pouring rain! It is the wet season in Cairns right now. It poured rain for about an hour. The boat stops at a designated pontoon. Under the pontoon there was a spot you could climb under water and look at the fish through glass. I did that until it cleared up. I don’t think most people knew it was there. I got to see some really huge fish through the window. I also booked a helicopter ride and they had to postpone it because of the rain.

Once the rain finally cleared up a bit I went snorkeling. The coral was amazing! I have never seen coral like that. I couldn’t believe the colors. The purple spiky coral was my favorite but I also really like the kind that looks like flowers. I guess the algae is what makes it change colors. There were several really colorful unusual fish I had never seen before. I snorkeled near a few schools of really small fish.

Finally I was able to go on the helicopter ride. They take you on a boat over to the launch pad in the ocean. Once you are in the helicopter you are right over the ocean. We were only in flight for about 10 minutes but it was really cool. We flew over a really long piece of reef. While in the air I got to see a giant mantra ray swimming. He was probably about 4 feet wide. I really enjoyed the helicopter but I wish it had been longer. Sadly, I did not get a picture of me in it!

After the helicopter I did a free introductory dive. I got it for free because I am a member of the hostel company I have been staying with. They were very rude and difficult to work with when it came to honoring the dive but in the end they did it. I first had to get on a nasty smelling wetsuit. After that I got weights and the tank put on me and went down to the practice area. They have an area where you stand and practice breathing underwater. While I was practicing breathing I saw a little jellyfish swimming. The dive instructor let me pick up the fish up and hold him. It felt really slimy but super awesome. After about a 5-minute introduction (seriously, that short) we headed out for the dive. I ended up being the only person on the dive because the Asian lady who was going to go was having a panic attack. The guide holds you most of the time so you feel totally safe. I actually found it kind of awkward to be held by the instructor. It is hard to not breathe really deeply when you are new to breathing underwater. I got to get really close to some of the coral and saw a Nemo fish! I also saw Dora swimming around. On an interesting side note, they take people on introductory dives that don’t know how to swim! Can you imagine going underwater if you can’t swim? Scary! This boat tour also offered these crazy helmet things you could wear and walk around on this staircase underwater. They were very bizarre.

After the dive I went on a glass bottom boat tour. I was so impressed. We got to see about 5 reef sharks, several huge schools of fish, barracudas, and really giant ancient coral pieces. The barracudas look like eels when they swim.

After all of that the weather was really great and I wanted to snorkel more but we had to get back on the boat and go home. I sat next to an older man from Adelaide who had all kinds of interesting stories about Australia.

Now, I am in Adelaide. I flew here this morning (Thursday). I flew with this budget airline and they were really annoying about how much weight could be in each bag. I had to move things around. This made no sense to me because if all of your bags together are under the limit I think it should be fine.

Once I got to my hostel, I just walked around and got a little lost. So far, I really like Adelaide. It is much slower paced and smaller than Sydney or Brisbane. And, it is dry! My lungs are so happy about this. Tomorrow I am going on a free tour of a chocolate factory and check out some markets that I heard are really spectacular. I am also going to find a clinic to see if I can get some medication to make this cough go away and perhaps bring back my voice.

On Saturday, I will be starting a tour that goes down the Great Ocean Road. It will be for two nights and I don’t know what kind of Internet connection I will have. After that, I will end up in Melbourne for a few nights and then I will fly home!

Brisbane

I got into Brisbane on Wednesday, Feb 15. I met a girl on the walk to the hostel who is from Germany. Luckily she was really easy to understand because she studied English in school. She has been to Utah before. Her family went to Bryce Canyon and some small dude ranch near there.

We had dinner together on Wednesday night. We went and bought some breakfast foods together later that night. I introduced her to peanut butter! She had never had it before. She thought it was good. The peanut butter here is not as sweet as it is in the USA. We spent all day together on Thursday. We decided to just try and get a feel for the city. We found the botanical gardens, went shopping, found a few cathedrals and walked around. One of the cathedrals we went in has the highest vaulted ceiling in the Southern Hemisphere. On the side of the cathedral was a building that used to be used as a hospital that nuns ran. Eventually in the 1970s the nuns decided they didn’t want to do it anymore because it was not up to code and they walked out.

We ended up getting really hot walking around and decided to come back to the hostel around four. Brisbane is not nearly as crazy and Sydney. They have skyscrapers here but not quite as big as in Sydney. There is a river that runs in the city. The next day we went on a river-cat through the city. The boat is used mainly as a form of public transportation but we took it just to have a look around the city. The suburbs in Brisbane are very beautiful.

The hostel in Brisbane is really nice. I think it was remodeled not very long ago. It has rooftop access with a nice view of the city. There is also a swimming pool on the roof. The room is not bad except that the train runs behind it and it is quite noisy all night. Brisbane is the second hostel I have been in that has a train nearby. I had a hard time sleeping at night because of it. I also felt like the room was not ventilated very well.

We tried to go to the Koala Sanctuary on the second day in Brisbane but we got a bit lost on the way to the bus stop. It was actually really funny when we realized later all we needed to do was cross the street at the point we started at because the numbers went up on one side and down on the other. We ended up finding the bus stop and going to the sanctuary on Saturday. We thought it was going to be bigger and ended up only needing to say there for about 2 hours. It was set up like a zoo except they only have Australian animals. They have this really fun place that had kangaroos out in a field that you could hand feed! We were able to pet them too. They were really soft and had sharp claws and really strange back feet. They are the strangest looking animals I have ever seen. I made a video of one of them because it was jumping around and later when I looked at it I realized there was a baby in the pouch! I would have filmed longer if I knew that. The best part of the whole zoo was that we got to hold a koala! I have heard Queensland is the only state in Australia that you can hold koalas. They have you put your hands together palm up and then they sit him on your hands. His name was Hugo and he was a big koala. I was surprised by how stinky he was. He was also eating some eucalyptus leaves that I could smell when I held him. I was surprised by how scratchy his fur was. The kangaroos were much softer.

I decided to buy an airplane ticket up to Cairns instead of taking the bus. The bus would take about 25 hours, give or take, and the plane will be two! I found a flight for only a $100. The only problem is I bought a bus ticket in advance that went from Sydney to Cairns. I am going to see if I can possibly trade the rest for a tour or something. They do that on a few tickets. If not, I didn’t lose that much money and it is good for a year! So if for some reason I come here again within this year and need to take the bus from Brisbane to Cairns I can. You really need several weeks to do the entire East Coast. I did not realize that when I started out. I thought it would be very doable in two weeks. It is but you really need more time. I get sick of constantly moving to new places. I really want to stay a few days in the Great Barrier Reef and so I decided that flying would be the best option. I don’t really want to torture myself with several 10 to 12-hour bus rides.

I am in Cairns now. I got a single room in the hostel. I had to pay about double the price, which was only $58 a night, but it is SO worth it. I really need to be able to sleep. I feel like I have a cold coming on too so I need to try and fight it off. I do not sleep well in the communial rooms.

I booked a couple of tours in Cairns. On Monday I am going to the Kuranda rainforest. I will take a sky rail there and then a scenic train back. Tuesday I am going to the Daintree Rainforest. On Wednesday I booked a tour on a boat where I will go out onto the Great Barrier Reef and I can do a short practice scuba dive or a guide snorkel tour and then we will snorkel for a few hours. I added an extra helicopter ride on the end. I have heard the helicopter ride is really amazing so I decided it was worth the extra money. On the airplane we flew over the reef. It was so beautiful just to see from the airplane.

Byron Bay

The first day I was in Byron Bay I went with a group from the hostel to see the lighthouse. The journey there was so beautiful! I had no idea what I was in for. I thought it was just going to be a little walk to see the lighthouse. We ended up going on a little hike through the rain forest that took about 40 minutes. It was so humid! I was sweating like crazy by the time we got to the top. I got to see a few native birds along the way. Once we got to the lighthouse it was so amazing. There was a dramatic cliff drop on the side of the lighthouse. The lighthouse itself was quite boring but the view was gorgeous. All you can see is ocean! There are these two random rocks not too far out from the lighthouse. A legend exists that two lovers ran away together and drowned in the ocean together and were cast into stone (a bit morbid and tender all at the same time). Apparently, part of the walk is the most eastern point in Australia!

Today I went kayaking with dolphins! I had a good time. We were only in the water for about two hours but it was super fun. We didn’t see any dolphins for about an hour and then we found a group of about five males. I guess that males aren’t as friendly as females. The females will come up to your boat but the males stayed a good distance from us. I did not know that dolphins like to ride waves! We were watching them ride the waves with the surfers. The kayaks were two people kayaks that you ride on the top of. I don’t like the ride-on-the-top kayaks but they are safer so tour groups use them. I shared mine with a German girl who was a lazy paddler. She had no idea what she was doing. I was a bit annoyed. The other tourists kept freaking out if our boats ran into each other. However, you can’t really help but to run into each other when you are just floating around looking at dolphins. I think they thought it was going to tip them over. There was this funny English couple on the tour. The husband kept saying how fun it would be to tip over and the wife kept arguing, “that would not be a good laugh.” She won in the end and he didn’t tip her over. I found them to be pretty entertaining. At the end of the trip we got to ride the waves onto the shore. I had not done that before when I have sea kayaked. It was really fun to try! We successfully got to shore but most people tipped over.

When we finished they gave us TimTam cookies. I don’t know if they are Australian or English. I have seen them before in specialty stores in the USA but had never had one. They are delicious! They are sandwich cookies with fudge or other fillings that are dipped into chocolate. All of the chocolate here is SO yummy! I think part of it is because they use cane sugars. I had some M&Ms that even tasted better than they do in the USA. I have also been really impressed with the juice here. It is really tasty. They also have a lot of fresh juice bars where you can get any kind of fresh juice you would like. They have all kinds of tropical fruits. The fresh fruit here is really tasty. I have had some peaches, apples, grapes and nectarines that were delicious. All of them were grown in the country. But the bananas I have had taste weird. They must be a different variety. They call raisins sultanas. I think they are the same thing?

Tomorrow I am going to get on the bus again and head to Brisbane for a few days. I am pondering a trip to Steve Irwins zoo! I think I might need to go even thought I all ready went to a zoo. I have heard it is really neat. They have different animals there. In the state of Queensland you can hold koala bears but not in any other state in Australia. Since his zoo is in Queensland I am hoping I can get a picture of me and a koala! My niece would be so jealous and proud. I need to figure out how to smuggle a koala home. I heard a koala has been added to her list of live animals that she needs. She thinks these animals can just ride on the seat next to me on the airplane. I see no issues getting through customs with two native animals…

Coffs Harbour

Coffs Harbour

I stayed two nights in a town called Coffs Harbour. There was not a lot of stuff to do there but it was enjoyable. I arrived Saturday afternoon. On Saturday I just walked around and tried to figure out where I was and see what was there. The hostel was SO much nicer than the last one! It was really big. The manager told me he tells people to avoid the nasty one I was at before.

On Sunday they have markets in the morning. They were terrible. I was expecting to find really awesome stuff but it was all junk. I did buy some Australian Olive Oil I will mail home (once I figure out how to do that..). The man selling it grows the olives and everything. It is really tasty. I went with a girl I had met at the previous hostel. We walked past these camels and this man asked us if we wanted to do a camel ride. We had to pay $10. It was pretty much like a pony ride at the fair but it was still fun. He had four camels tied to each other and we just walked around a field. It was basically us and a bunch of kids with their parents. We couldn't stop laughing because it was so silly. When we got on they had us load on the back of a truck but to get off the camel laid down and we climbed off. The camels look really funny when they are laying down. Camels seem so peaceful and easy going.

After the markets I walked around the town a little bit. I ended up getting way too hot and muggy and decided to come inside for a bit and book a few more parts of my trip. Later in the day I went down to the beach. I got to walk down the Jetty they have. It was built in the early 1900s. While on the Jetty I saw a huge sting ray swimming along the bottom of the ocean. He was amazing! I could see him from the Jetty, I wasn't even snorkeling! I was surprised how close he was to the shore. He was probably about 4 feet long. They had a little nature walk I went on too. After, I sat and read for a while on the beach but it started to get cloudy. I went back to the hostel to start packing my things and met a new girl in the room. She was from England and has been here for about a year working. I told her I was having issues finding anyone to go out to eat with me because they all make food and eat at the hostel. She said she has the same problem and would love to go eat. We tried a few places but they were closed because it was a slow Sunday so we ended up at this little Italian place. While we were eating this insane lightening and thunderstorm hit! It even started hailing. The hail pieces were huge! I couldn’t get over the lightening. It was amazing and seemed really close to us. The sky kept cracking and popping and lighting up everywhere. When we left there was about an inch or two of water in various places. To say the least we had an eventful walk back to the hostel.

I left Coffs Harbour on the bus today at 6:00 am. It took about five hours to get to Byron Bay, which is where I am now. This place has a lot of hippies. I think it is a huge party town so I might not get any sleep from the noisy people. It looks like there are some interesting stores to go into. I have heard the beaches are nice and you can kayak with the dolphins! The girls in my room don’t seem very friendly but that is OK. I will be here for two nights and then I am going to Brisbane. I might to to the Steve Irwin zoo while I am there!

I am thinking about buying an airplane ticket in Brisbane and flying up to Cairns instead of taking the bus. The bus would be about 20 hours and a plane would be 2. I didn’t pay tons for the bus ticket so I wouldn’t be too upset if I lost money. I would like to stay in one place for more than a few nights. The place I really want to go is the Great Barrier Reef, which is in that city. I get sick of having to unpack and repack everything every few days.

I can’t believe how expensive things are here. I think part of it is because there minimum wage is somewhere around $15. There is a face soap I use that in the USA is $3 a bar. It is $12 a bar here! Insane! I also found mascara that is $6 at home and $18 here. Food is pretty expensive too but I find that if you get out of the touristy areas the price goes down a bit. I think if I had known how expensive this country was to visit I would have considered going somewhere else. But I suppose anywhere ends up being expensive.

This week:

Targona Zoo, Monday Feb 6

It has been a few days since I took the time to write about what I have been up to. On Monday, Feb 6 I went to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. It was the most amazing zoo I have ever been to! You have to take a ferry across from Circular Quay (key) to get there. The zoo is across from the city of Sydney. I could not believe how expensive it was to get in. I paid $44! I also had to pay for the ferry ride, which was an extra $11. You can tell the money goes into the zoo because some of the habitats were absolutely amazing.

I loved the otter habitat the most. You could watch the otters swim to the bottom and pick up food and come back to the surface to eat the food. I tried to make a video of them but they swam too fast! The giraffe house was really neat because behind them was a view of the entire city. They have an elephant-breeding program and had 3 baby elephants! They were really cute. They also have a male bull elephant who lives by himself.

I was surprised to see they had 3 tiger cubs. There was this man who was photographing the tigers with a gigantic camera. The best part is the cubs were behind glass. I had to take a picture of him because it was so funny. Perhaps he thought he was in Africa not at a zoo? The day I went to the zoo it was windy so I was not able to ride the cable car that goes above the zoo. I welcomed the wind because it had been really hot. I wore sunscreen that day but not on my legs and they burned even though it was cloudy. I am surprised how quickly I burn here. If I even have a small amount of skin without sunscreen it will burn!

Sydney Opera House Tour, Monday Feb 6

After I went to the zoo I went on a tour of the Sydney Opera House. The building is just beautiful! I am happy I went on the tour because I got to go places inside that I would not have been able to see. We even got to listen to the symphony practice in the main hall. I was surprised by some of the odd choices in carpet in the building. There was a room with bright purple carpet; one with red, and the main opera room had pink seats. The outside has special tiles that came from Europe that are designed to not rust or decay. All of the rain gutters and other things you would normally see on the outside of a building are hidden in secret places. I was a little disappointed about the inside of the building. I thought the inside would just be breathtaking but overall it was rather bland (except for the carpet). The wonderful thing about the building is it will always be timeless and impressive due to its unique design. After the tour I went to the Botanical Gardens next to the Opera House. They were gorgeous.

Opera House Performance and The Blue Mountains

On Tuesday night I went to see a performance called La Soiree at the Opera House. I was so impressed! The show was really fun. It was an acrobatic/burlesque/adult circus type of show. All of the performers were really talented and excellent at what they did. I had never seen a show quite like it. I was surprised that people could bring alcoholic drinks into the theater.

During the day on Tuesday I went on an organized tour to the Blue Mountains and to the Jenolan caves. The cave was pretty neat but the tour group was huge. We had 60 people on the tour. It made it hard to get to see everything. In that area they have several caves I would have enjoyed going into. They apparently have a crystal cave that is really neat. But, we didn’t have time. Outside of the cave is where I saw the platypus! He was just swimming in a pond of water. He moved really fast. After the cave we went to the Blue Mountains and rode on the steepest railway in the world! Apparently it used to be used for coal mining and is now a tourist destination. It sounds way more exciting than it was. After the railway ride we went on a little walk and then rode back up on a tram. Sadly the weather was terrible and all you could see was fog. The fog was actually kind of fun but it would have been more enjoyable to get to see the actual mountains. They are called the Blue Mountains because of a blue mist that forms over the eucalyptus trees but because of the fog I could not see any mist. Overall the tour was OK. I would have had a much better time if the weather had been good. I also didn’t realize we would spend so much time on the bus. The tour guide was pretty entertaining but I think it was too much money.

I was going to leave Sydney on Wednesday but I really needed to do laundry and wanted to a day to get things together before I left. I did manage to go to the super market. I have never had such a stressful experience grocery shopping! I was not thinking about it and went when people got off work. There are not very many grocery stores around so everyone shops there. I could barely move around. It was horribly stressful. I had to buy some new deodorant because my all-natural organic deodorant is not doing anything in this humid weather! I need some chemicals to keep me smelling nice!

When I was on the Blue Mountain tour I met a girl from Perth (which is on the other side of Australia). She was on a trip with her brother and was not having a very good time. We decided to go to dinner on Wednesday. We went to this delicious Thai restaurant. We had to wait about an hour to get in but it was worth the wait! I could not believe how good it was. We had a curry dish with prawns (they had eyeballs attached) and Pad Thai. It was SO delicious. And next to the restaurant was a store selling pirated CDs out in the open! I made a joke about needing to get some and she told me customs would take them away. I think she thought I was serious! We had a good time talking about different things we say and do. In Australia you have the option of paying your rent weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. I also learned the word “wingeing.” I guess that means you are being rude or uptight and if used incorrectly can be very offensive.

When you cross the road it can be confusing here because we would look the other way for traffic. In Sydney I almost ran into people because we walk on the right side of the street and they walk on the left. I have to keep reminding myself that when I almost get stampeded it is because I am on the wrong side of the street! If I rent a car I should probably figure out which side of the road to walk on first.

Thursday, Feb 16

The hostel I stayed in while in Sydney was in a great location and I was able to get on and off the train quickly and could walk almost anywhere I needed to go. I had a wonderful stay in Sydney but I am really excited to leave. I enjoyed the city but it was too busy for me. I usually really like big cities but I did not love Sydney. I am so happy I went though because I got to see some amazing things.

I am now on the Australian Greyhound. I had to board at 6:45 am. I only have about 45 hours of bus riding until Cairns (yikes). I will probably do an overnight trip one day to burn a few hours. The bus is very nice and not scary like the American one. It is mostly full of tourists/backpackers. I have enjoyed the ride so far. The scenery has been nice. The view near the highway reminds me a lot of Hawaii and Florida. All you can see is green trees.

Port Macquarie

So, hostel number two in Port Macquarie was terrible and gross! I was thinking about staying two nights until I got there. It was so dirty and run down. The bedroom was maybe 12 X 12 and had 6 people in it. The light in the bathroom did not work and it smelled nasty. I ended up getting a hotel the second night which was fantastic because I was able to sleep really good since I was not in a room with strangers! The hostels are nice because you meet interesting people and never feel lonely. I can usually find someone to do things with.

Port Macquarie was a lovely town. I don’t think it is a very big stop for most people going up the coast. I noticed a lot of Australians went there. They had campgrounds and a lot of family activities. I enjoyed how easy it was to navigate my way around the town. They had a lot of fun shops to visit. It was right by the ocean. It did not have the prettiest beaches but they were still nice.

On Sunday, Feb 10 I went to the Koala Hospital. It was so wonderful! They have an area that has trees the koalas like to eat that they can climb up so it feels rather natural. When wild koalas get diseases, hit by a car, fall out of a tree or injured in some way they are sent to this hospital. They had one big boy koala that was a permanent resident of the hospital. He originally came in because he was hit by a car and then came back twice because younger males drove him out of his territory. Koalas have a small area they live in so they are easy to track down.

They also had a blind koala. Sometimes they have to remove their eyes because they get diseases in them. When they are blind they run around in circles all day. I thought it was sad to watch the blind koala. The baby koalas, which are called Joeys, are so cute to watch. They are more active than the old ones. Sometimes they find orphaned Joeys who come and live there until they are large enough to be released into the wild. The goal of the hospital is to rehabilitate the koalas but if for some reason that can’t happen they end up staying forever. There was one koala that was going to be released into the wild again the day after I was there. They had little koala graves that were pretty cute. I guess the koalas adjust to humans quickly. The hospital has this special “milk” mixture they feed them that the koalas really like. But it is not really milk because they can’t have milk or sugar. Once the koala eats it they realize they are nice people who will help them.

An interesting thing I learned is that koalas don’t usually drink water. They get all of the water they need from the leaves they eat. The best thing about the hospital is it was free! The first free thing I have seen!

Saturday, February 11

I walked around Port Macquarie during the morning and looked at a few shops. I went into a museum about the history of the town. It had items dating back into the 1700-1800s. The town was used when they would ship convicts to Australia. There was a list of names of convicts who were in Port Macquarie and there were about 10 Spencer’s on the list! I could possibly be related since I had family come from England.

After the museum I went and got my luggage and boarded the Greyhound again. I met a nice Canadian girl in the hostel so we sat by each other on the bus. I am now in Coffs Harbour. The receptionist told me that the last hostel I was in is pretty horrible and that he tells people to avoid staying there. When we got here I got excited that the building was so nice on the outside and I had not even been inside yet. He said he knew there was a reason he liked Americans. He told me when he visited the USA that people would ask him questions like “do you have TV in Australia” and “what is your pet kangaroo named.” He said he would play along and say “what is TV” and “skippy.” This place is superb compared to the last one!

I am not totally sure what I am going to do here but I will figure it out.

Day two:

I am surprised how easily my body has adjusted to being on the other side of the world. I got up today at 7 am but had to take a nap around 5. I started my day by finding the train station, which is close by, and taking the train to Circular Quay When I got off the first thing I saw was the Sydney Bridge next to the Harbor. It was beautiful and absolutely amazing to see. I had no idea I would be so impressed! Around the corner from the train station is the Sydney Opera House. I walked all around the grounds. There is a beautiful botanical garden nearby. There are tons of insanely expensive restaurants nearby. I paid $4 for a muffin, yes a muffin! I suspect my muffin came from Costco if they have them here. Food is pricey here but is outrageous in tourist areas. On food boxes they measure calories in Kilojoules. Kilojoules are about 4 times what a calorie is (I had to look that up).

I had intentions of going on a tour of the opera house today but I got distracted. I am going to go tomorrow. After my expensive muffin was eaten I walked up the street from the Harbor and kept walking around the city. I can’t get over how big some of the buildings are in Sydney. The traffic is intense; it kind of drives me nuts. I would not want to live in this city. I thought the fact they drive on the other side of the road would seem more foreign but when walking around it is not very noticeable. I think driving here would be difficult because they have a lot of one-way roads. People drive like maniacs in the city.

I kept wandering around and eventually found the Aquarium and Wild Life Center that I had purchased a ticket to online. I was quite disappointed. The Aquarium wasn’t bad. I got to see some really neat fish that live in the Great Barrier Reef. They also have a shark tube you can walk through. Overall, it was OK but the Wild Life Center was terrible. I couldn’t believe how small it was! I only got to see a few Koalas (which are quite cute little things), 3 Kangaroos, a really awesome bird that is related to the Emu (he was the most exciting) and a giant crocodile. I was not impressed with the place. Tomorrow I am planning to go to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. I have heard it is amazing.

After the disappointing animal encounters, I eventually found this placed called Market City. If you can image what flea market hell would be like then you will be able to picture this place perfectly. The majority of the vendors were Oriental and all of them wanted to make a deal with me. I don’t know how any of them make money because so many of the booths sold the same things. I didn’t find anything I really wanted other than a shopping bag. I did find a few kids shirts that were cute. I found one with a Kangaroo, which I might need to buy for Lulu in place of the live one she thinks I am bringing her (not sure how to explain why I didn’t bring her one). Underneath the flea market there was the neatest “farmer’s market” type place. There were rows and rows of fresh fruits and vegetables; most of them were grown in Australia (or so they say). I bought some bananas, grapes and a peach. I saw some oranges from the USA. They had a few fruits I had never seen before. It is a bit confusing to me because everything is weighed in kilos. Oh, and they have dragon fruit! Giant ones! If Denny reads this he will be jealous so I will eat one just for him! Above the produce place and the flea market is a mall. The mall has all kinds of stores. This one store had the strangest mannequins I have ever seen. I took a photo of them.

It is so humid in Sydney. The temperature is nice but the humidity ruins it for me. It feels great in the morning and at night but during the day it is miserable. The Scottish girl in my room used to work in Cairns (pronounced Cans, no need for the letter r). She said she cleaned rooms during the wet season there and if she left the door open too long the walls would get covered in condensation and everything would be wet. I think it is now the dry season there so lets hope when I arrive it is more enjoyable. I assume the dry season is kind of like Hilo, HI. They have rainy and rainier. Cairns probably has humid and more humid.

Hostels are not exactly my first choice when it comes travel accommodations but I can think of worse places to sleep. The one I am staying in is part of the YHA chain. It is fairly clean. You have to bring your own towel. I don’t mind that part but I would welcome a hand dryer in the bathroom. This place has a kitchen, laundry facilities, a really small pool and expensive Internet. There is a girl in my room from Canada. We have gone to eat together a few times. I find her to be rather boring but I have enjoyed having someone to eat with. She has a friend here who is staying in another hostel. Her friend has been in the country for the last year and has moved from hostel to hostel. A lot of people live in them long term. The majority of them have a 28-day limit but I think they just say that. I think the YHA hostels are stricter than many of the others.

Surprisingly I have not met very many Australians in this hostel. In my room there is the Canadian girl, two French girls (who live up to every French stereotype I can think of), oriental girls, a girl from Denmark who left today and an interesting girl from Scotland replaced her. We have some new people I have not met yet. I have been surprised by how many of the girls I have met who are traveling alone. I am also surprised by how long some of these people are traveling. A lot of them get jobs but I assume others have trust funds.

People keep asking me for directions and when I start talking they realize I am not from here. Except for this Scottish man who had this intense accent. I could only understand a few words he was saying to me. He said he was from the hills, I don’t know what that means? Perhaps he doesn’t get out much.

On my computer is has Utah time (4 am) but it is 10 pm here. At least it is Sunday in both places!

I have a phone number here but I have no idea what the number is. If you want my number just send me a message.

First Day in Australia!

I have finally arrived in Sydney, Australia!! I had no idea it would be so humid here. I have heard from a few people that the other cities are not nearly as bad.

I am insanely tired but I am trying to stay awake for several more hours so that I can try to convert to the new time zone. I got here at 8 am, which I think was about 2 pm back home. The 14-hour flight felt like eternity. I was stuck in the middle of a row in coach. My hopes of being able to fly in first class with my buddy pass were not fulfilled. After customs I tried to get a temporary phone. My sister-in-law gave me her old phone she had in New Zealand but it won’t turn on or hold a charge. I think the battery is completely dead. I tried charging it for and hour and ended up buying another phone and some minutes. If people call me from the USA it is free.

I am staying in a surprisingly nice hostel that is right in the middle of the city. I will be here for four nights. The room I am in has 8 beds and a bathroom in the room. I told the guy at the reservation desk that I was new to hostelling so he kindly upgraded my room to have a bathroom. Before I came here I didn’t know that you often have to pay for Internet in Australia. I guess it is very expensive to run the Internet here and so they charge for it everywhere. Oh and to do a load of laundry at this hostel, it is $3.00 to either wash or dry. Yikes.

When I got here I went and walked around for a little while. I believe I was in China town but I am not really sure. I went into this mall that had grocery stores inside. So odd to me! I also saw some pre-cooked eggs in that store that were not refrigerated. I would think like they would rot? They had some fun candies I had never seen before. So far in my room there is a girl from Norway, Canada and two girls from somewhere in Asia that do speak enough English to communicate with me.

Oh, I ate a “meat pie.” I was disappointed. I didn’t know it had gravy in it. But the meat and the crust were tasty.

The coin system here makes no sense to me. The twenty cents coin is about 4 times the size of the two dollar coin.

Tomorrow I am planning to go tour the Sydney Opera House (perhaps book a performance), visit a botanical garden nearby and go to the aquarium if I have time. I don’t know what exactly I will be doing on Monday (probably the zoo and the beach) but Tuesday I am doing a tour to the Blue Mountains.