queensland

i got back from queensland on sunday morning and i haven't updated this yet because i know that it is going to take forever to write about the whole week we were away and post the pictures but i will do my best!

sunday april 18
we got up early and went to the airport. it was a 3 hour flight to cairns.


from cairns we rented a car and drove about an hour to port douglas. geoff grew up there so we went to look at his old house and then checked into our resort, the mandalay. we explored the beach and swam in the pool. it is stinger season there, which means that there are a ton of deadly jellyfish in the water, so we couldn't really swim in the ocean except for inside the stinger nets, giant nets in the water that keep the jellyfish out. i couldn't believe how beautiful it is in queensland (even though it was pretty cloudy and rainy). it's incredibly green and looks like hawaii. there's sugarcane and coconuts everywhere. it was really warm and humid.




monday
on monday we got up fairly early again and drove to the daintree rainforest national park. here we walked around the rainforest and saw some gigantic, disgusting spiders. we ate lunch near a beach and then went jungle surfing!! jungle surfing is just ziplining over the rainforest. i went first. i am usually incredibly afraid of heights but i actually felt really safe and i wasn't scared at all! i loved looking down over the rainforest. towards the end i even ziplined upside down.

after ziplining, we stopped at an ice cream store on the way back to the resort. the ice cream wasn't especially memorable but we looked across a field and saw a cassowary! cassowaries are big, ugly birds that are very rare to see in the wild.







to get to the rainforest, we had to cross a big river full of crocodiles on a ferry. we took a picture of a funny sign that warned about crocodiles.





tuesday
on tuesday morning emily and i walked along the beach and then into port douglas and shopped on the main street. we ate some really good ice cream and i bought a dress. then we all drove to the nearby marina and rented a boat for the afternoon. we took the boat down a big river for two hours and took turns driving. i drove for about sixty seconds because as soon as i took the wheel, geoff stepped to the front of the boat and it nosedived. it was scary so i didn't want to drive anymore... lachy drove most of it and we only got stuck in the mangroves on the shore once. the river was full of crocodiles although i didn't see any. funny story: geoff at one point spotted two eyes in the mangroves and swore it must be a crocodile. we turned the boat around and drove by again. this time i saw them too! drove by again, someone else saw them... drove by again, and we realized that we had just wasted about 20 minutes driving by a coke can in the trees.




that night we walked into port douglas again and stopped at a bar called the iron bar. it is famous for its nightly cane toad races. cane toads are poisonous but that doesn't stop aussies from racing them. at the bar six cane toads are put in a bucket and then released on a table. each toad is assigned a jockey. the jockey must kiss the toad for good luck before dropping it back in the bucket and once the race starts, scare the living hell out of the toad with a party whistle so it will jump off the table and the jockey can carry it into another bucket. the first toad in the bucket wins. "well how do they pick jockeys?" you might ask. another funny story: as you enter the racing area you are given a raffle ticket with a number on it. they pick six numbers from a hat and those six people are the jockeys. my number was five. guess what number they called out. here's a video of me kissing my toad before the race. i lost miserably, coming 5th out of 6.




wednesday
wednesday was the highlight of the trip for me. we went back to the marina and got on a big cruise boat called the quicksilver. it took us along with about 200 other people on a two hour ride into the middle of the ocean to a huge floating building on some pontoons in the great barrier reef. the part of the reef we went to is called agincourt reef. we took a 45 minute snorkeling tour with a marine biologist. he showed us how to dive while snorkeling and taught us more about some of the things we saw. we got to pick up some weird sea cucumbers and starfish. then we ate a quick lunch on the pontoon and took a quick tour in the quicksilver’s semisubmersible. it was similar to a submarine but it doesn’t go all the way underwater and there were tons of windows so you can see into the reef. we snorkeled for the remaining hour. i wish i could describe how amazing it was and i wish the pictures i took with my underwater camera could show how beautiful it was. i saw so many different kinds of fish. my favorite was the parrotfish because they were neon blue and purple and green. i also liked the fox-faced rabbitfish. rabbitfish live to be around twenty years old and after they are about one year old find a mate and stay with them until they die. it is said (although not proven) that when one dies, the partner will die within a few days of a broken heart. the giant clam was cool too. we didn’t get to see any turtles or sharks unfortunately. since it was still jellyfish season, we had to wear stinger suits under our wetsuits. stinger suits are hilarious bright blue full body (and by full body I mean including hands, feet, and head) suits made of bathing suit material and protect from jellyfish stings. i was sad to get back on the quicksilver and leave the reef but hopefully someday i will be able to go back. the ride back was pretty terrible because the water was really rough and a very large amount o f the 200 people on the boat got very seasick. none of us did but a lot of people around us were handed barf bags.












when we got back to shore 2 hours later, we packed up our things and drove another half hour to cairns and checked into our second resort, the sea temple resort.


thursday
thursday was a very relaxing day. emily and i spent the whole day tanning by the pool and walking along the beach. we stopped for ice cream and as we were eating it, six boys on motor scooters drove by and honked at us. we waved. the day was uneventful other than that, but that evening we went out to dinner at an italian restaurant nearby. it was a lot of fun. connor ordered salt and pepper calamari. i tried it and loved it! i still can’t believe that I tried it. we got dessert too. I ordered pavlova again. It is just so good. I am going to have to learn how to make it. that night we rented monty python and the holy grail. connor and lachy had never seen it before and hated it but emily, geoff, karen, and i were cracking up.


friday
friday was spent white water rafting, which i had never done before. it was so fun! we had a boat to ourselves. our guide, stephan, was from wales and was really funny. the river had rapids of class III out of six classes, meaning that it was pretty difficult. the hardest rapid in the river was called the rooster tail and karen and connor fell out. i didn’t fall out at all and neither did lachy, but everyone else did at some point. the water was very warm though and we all went for a swim at the end despite having seen an eel earlier in the day while we were eating our lunch. we all really enjoyed it although it did get a little scary at some points. it was a great adrenaline rush.





saturday
saturday was our last day in queensland. we drove into cairns and shopped at a mall. all i bought were tim tams and flake bars, my favorite candy bar that you can only get in england and australia. geoff and karen went out to dinner that night, so emily and i made dinner for us and connor and lachy. we had french fries, chicken fingers, ice cream, and toast. then we ran to the pool and jumped in the hot tub one last time.

sunday
on sunday morning, we woke up at 4:30 am to catch our flight back to adelaide. i was sad to go but it is also nice to be back in brighton. it's not rainy here, but it's also not as warm. i had so much fun in queensland and i am really glad that i got to go.

P.S.

here are some more pictures of cleland wildlife park:







also, last night there was an earthquake rated 3.8 on the richter scale in adelaide. it was pretty cool. adelaide is directly on top of a fault line but rarely experiences earthquakes. we felt it for a few seconds and couldn't figure out what it was at first.

anyway, tomorrow morning we are leaving for a week in queensland. i might not have internet for a week... i'm so excited to go!

guess who learned to surf

on tuesday morning, emily, georgia smith, georgia's sister romy, and i piled into mr. smith's car and he drove us to middleton. middleton is a beach town about an hour southeast from adelaide. here's a map. look for port victor, which is a town right nearby middleton.




we stayed in a big beach house with our friend amalie meaney and her family. amalie's dad is a fireman and the house is available throughout the year for firefighters. it was a very short walk to the beach. middleton is great because there are good waves (there aren't any waves really in brighton) so it's perfect for boogie boarding and beginner surfers. we had a quick lunch then went to the beach! we borrowed wetsuits because the water was a little cold. amalie taught me to surf. she's a really great teacher because i picked it up right away. i stood up on the board within about 15 minutes! it was so fun. we spent a while at the beach then went back to the house.




georgia, amalie, emily, and i, along with romy and amalie's sister ella, watched a bunch of movies in the living room and dragged our mattresses in there and had a big sleepover. the next morning we got up early to go back to the beach. i surfed some more and also boogie boarded with emily. emily's a good boogie boarder and picks out the best waves. then amalie, georgia, emily, and i went to victor harbour which is a town about 15 minutes away. we walked across a bridge to granite island and walked around there for a little while, then browsed around the shops in the town, and ate some ice cream.



we then went to port elliot, the next town over, and got some food from the famous bakery there, then went to a beach and sat, then went on a long walk around. it was really beautiful along the coast and totally worth the walk even though georgia and amalie were complaining at first.



we went back to the house and watched more movies that night. the next morning we went back home. we were sad to leave, it was a really fun time.


today karen, her sister lisa, lisa's daughter georgia, who is 15, and i went to cleland wildlife park. it was sort of like a zoo but we got to feed most of the animals. we walked around for a long time looking at all the animals. we saw tasmanian devils (terrifying when they are fighting), dingoes, bilbies, snakes, wombats, an echidna, and a ton of strange birds. we also got to pet a koala and feed emus and kangaroos. the koala was so soft and cute. the emus were actually very scary. they make these strange growling noises and peck you when they grab food out of your hand. my hand kept getting pinched and bitten but it was so funny to watch them eat. the kangaroos were really sweet and soft, though.

"you having a good time... ladies?"

on saturday, georgia, emily, and i took the train into downtown adelaide. first we went to the central market, a gigantic indoor market with all kinds of exotic foods. attached to it is adelaide's version of chinatown, pretty small but still pretty awesome. they had lots of cheap postcards.



then we took the tram to rundle mall. rundle mall is a pretty famous area for great shopping and a random statue called the rundle balls. it's not really a mall, more like a few long streets with tons of stores on each side. i bought a few things, mostly clothes. i love being able to spend money on myself after saving up for so long! we stopped at a little cafe for lunch and georgia and i got some gelati for dessert, mostly because--i don't know who's reading this but i'm saying it anyway-- the guy working at the gelati place was really attractive.




we couldn't decide what to do after that. should we go to the zoo? should we shop some more? should we go to the botanic gardens? after about ten minutes of us deliberating ("the zoo! the zoo!" "no i don't want to pay for a ticket!" "shopping!" "i don't feel like it!" "but you said we would go to the zoo!" etc) we managed to come to a decision to go to the botanic gardens. georgia was upset at first but we are going to the zoo some other time. the botanic gardens is really just a big park with lots of fountains. it was so beautiful! we walked by at least three weddings. also some drunk bogans wolf whistled at us. it started to rain and we were exhausted from the crazy amount of shopping we did in just a few hours so we took the train back home.





emily and i went to a little theater nearby for the two for one special and saw dear john and the blind side. it was an excellent day. tomorrow we are leaving for middleton for a few days. middleton is about an hour away and there is some really good surfing there, apparently. emily, georgia, and i are all going and staying with amalie, another girl from school, and her family. i am going to learn to surf!

i love georgia smith... www.gsmithy.blogspot.com

i'm getting yelled at to update so here it is. note that you can click on all the pictures to see them bigger. got back from the grampians on tuesday and we've been chilling since then. today i tanned by the pool then went for a jog on the beach. what a hard life. yesterday emily went to work (she is now a proud employee of pretzelmania at the nearby mall) and i met her there so we could see a movie with some friends. i'm really proud that i managed to make it there all by myself, i was a little afraid that i wouldn't be able to find the train or i would get on the wrong one or get kidnapped or something but i did it! we saw "the last song" with miley cyrus. it was surprisingly decent. almost everyone cried.

anyway, the grampians were AMAZING. we left right after a half day of school on thursday. grampians national park is six hours away from here. we actually drove halfway, three hours to keith, south australia, and stayed there for a night at emily's aunt and uncle, robin and chris's, cattle farm. it is tied for the highlight of the trip for me (the other would be the last hike we went on). it's such a beautiful area. we built a big bonfire and ate dinner (all the food was from the farm) under the stars. emily and i asked chris some questions about the meat industry and cattle farming because we are both doing research projects about it after reading "my year of meats" by ruth l. ozeki. luckily he has only free range cattle. the next morning we woke up and ate breakfast outside. connor and lachy did an excellent job cooking the bacon and eggs on the grill.

emily, connor, lachy, and i all piled into the back of chris's pickup truck (called a ute here... i don't know why either) and he took us on a tour of the farm (something like 5000 acres). it was warm and sunny, and the landscape is amazing. i also had my first kangaroo sighting. it was so exciting... emily then practiced driving all around the farm and i went on a walk with her mother and robin. we walked all around the property with two of the farm dogs. one of them decided to herd some sheep for us and wouldn't stop.



we left on friday around noon for the national park, another three hours away. on the way we stopped at a park and stretched and played on the playground. the verralls stop at this same park every year.



we stayed in a little chalet in the park at the base of the mountains.



there were kangaroos EVERYWHERE. there were also emu, wallaby, gecko, and kookaburra sightings.





the trip was so fun and relaxing. we hiked the mountains every day with the best hike being the last (and also the longest). somehow connor ran up the whole thing. another good hike was to mackenzie falls, a big waterfall. there were quite a few waterfalls in the park and we saw three.








one of the afternoons was spent in the historic nearby town of stawell where every year a huge running competition is held. connor was in it and took third place in his heat. i say one of the afternoons because i don't know which one it was... it was weird but really nice and relaxing to never know what time it was or have internet. emily and i each finished a few books. i was kind of sad to leave but it's great to be back in brighton, too.

stephanie cogno wants her name in here somewhere

well it has been a few days since i have updated this. on friday a few friends (amalie and mikayla) came over and emily and i along with them went to the ocean again. it wasn't as nice of a day because the sun wasn't really shining very much, but it was still a lot of fun. saturday was the school fair. there were lots of rides and food stands and tents with things for sale... for anyone from wolfeboro it was exactly like the huggins hospital fair. we stayed for a little while and i tried pavlova for the first time. pavlova is a popular dessert here that is basically just a meringue pie/cake type thing named after a ballet dancer. it was really, really good...



then emily, amalie, and i went to the mall straight from there. it is a quick train ride away. amalie had to leave for work but emily and i shopped for a long time. i bought a leather jacket, suede ankle boots, a dress, a rugby (for an actual rugby team, the australia wallabies), and some surprise gifts for friends. it was nice to finally spend some money because i have been saving for so long! things here seem to be quite a bit more expensive, though. clothes especially. most of the casual dresses i saw were at least $60 AUD, which is about $55 US. some were over $100 AUD. the rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing. school this week has been normal. yesterday during food tech i made chocolate and coffee custard and i got to try it today. i am turning into a decent cook!!! it was really good. that is definitely my favorite class. i also did pretty well on my biology test that i got back today which is good because i hadn't learned half of what was on it... tomorrow we have a half day of school because our three week break starts! we call it a holiday here. right after school tomorrow we are leaving for the grampians, a mountain range/national park in victoria, australia. first we are spending a night at emily's dad's family's farm. i am so excited because i will finally get to see kangaroos and koalas. here is a picture i stole from google of the grampians (i plan on taking lots of my own pictures):


hopefully i will have internet during the trip, but if not, i will be back on tuesday. after we get back, we have a week of break spent here, then we go to queensland for a week... i am SO excited for queensland. tropical climate, great barrier reef... i can't wait!

last night emily's grandparents came over to meet me/visit with the family. they were so nice! it was great to meet them. we had hot cross buns, which i had never had before and are excellent, and tea. as it turns out, the verralls now love harney tea. they really like paris, which is my favorite flavor too!

i will keep updating if i have internet in victoria, if not, i will update on tuesday!


P.S. i would just like to say that everyone here has much better taste in music than the USA. top 40 is not all crappy rap and hip hop, it's a lot of indie rock and brand new bands. i've recently become obsessed with angus & julia stone, mumford & sons, and the temper trap. angus & julia stone and the temper trap are both aussie bands. oh and their version of MTV, just called V--get this-- ACTUALLY plays music videos. who would have thought...

"what does laxer mean?"

today during psychology i had an interesting conversation with two girls sitting next to me. we were talking about america and they confessed that they expected me to be different. they thought all americans think that the united states is the best country in the world and don't know anything about other countries. that's embarrassing. also embarrassing is the fact that australians watch a lot of american television, and by that i mean jersey shore and other nonsense. great. i had to explain to emily what a guido is.

then during english we were talking about colloquialisms and i was asked to make a list of american colloquialisms. here's a sampling of what i have so far...

legit, bro, laxer, tool, daps, y'all, chola, gangsta, street cred, dude, bangs, homey, hipster, pop, owned...

i hadn't realized how different the language is here compared to america. dinner is tea, facecloths are flannels, candy is lollies, mosquitoes are mozzies, bangs are fringe, flip flops are thongs, etc. language here is also different in that swear words are not taken as seriously.
another thing i find funny is that the boys all wear extremely short shorts and spend hours on their hair...

anyway, when we got back from school, emily and i went to the beach which is a really quick walk from the house. it is beautiful out, about 90 degrees. we tanned and walked all along the shore under the jetty and talked about life. the water was incredibly warm.



it's pretty much the most amazing place ever.