Study Abroad in New Zealand

After a nice relaxing day by the pool in Cairns, we woke up very early the next morning to go to the airport to catch a flight to Sydney and then to Ayers Rock (Uluru).  Once we landed in Uluru it was the early afternoon and we were picked up at the airport by Damo, our tour guide from the Rock Tours.  We loaded our suitcases into the trailer in back of the bus and first drove to the cultural center where the rest of our tour group was already.  We had a short amount of time there but were able to read some stories told by the aboriginal people who live in the area and learn more about why they consider Uluru and the other rock formations so sacred.

After everyone filled up their water bottles (the park requires each person to have at least 3 liters of water because it is so hot and dry), we drove to Uluru, the big red rock that you’ve probably seen on postcards or calendars depicting central Australia.  Damo led us around the base of the rock and told us some more creation stories that have been passed down by the aboriginals for thousands of years.  He pointed out areas where the men and women would meet and sit around fires or cook.  Because Uluru is considered so sacred, some areas we were not allowed to take photos of and it is considered disrespectful to climb the rock.

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Right now there is a path to climb up the rock, even with signs right next to it explaining why it is dangerous and disrespectful to climb on it.  We obeyed these signs, but other people sadly do not.  Damo told us that in the few cases where someone has tragically fallen and died at Uluru, the aboriginals feel so saddened that someone lost their life at a place with such significance that they will fly across the world to pay respects to those people at their funerals.

Also, in order to learn the details of the stories that have been passed down for so long, a person must earn the right to the knowledge.  Damo had been told the stories at the level of a small child because he is not an aboriginal and has not yet earned the ability to learn more.  He showed us a cave area with aboriginal drawings on the walls which was used to teach children how to navigate the area and live on their own.  After the teachers felt that the young adults had learned enough to survive, they would send them out to live in the outback alone for around three years, and this is a place where it might not rain for months or years at a time so just getting fresh water is extremely difficult.  I would definitely not be able to survive for long!

After walking around Uluru, we drove to a lookout area where Damo made dinner and we could watch the sunset.  The rock was really beautiful with the changing light and we could see Kata Tjuta, another rock formation which we would visit the next day, as well.  After the sun set, the stars began to come out and because we were out in the middle of nowhere, we were able to see so many more than I am used to.  It was pretty incredible.  Diana, an astronomy major, was able to point out some constellations and I was excited to be able to actually see the Milky Way for the first time.

Kata Tjuta in the distance

That night we drove to our campsite and put out our sleeping bags and swags (basically big canvas sleeping bag covers with a foam bottom) so we could fall asleep under the stars.  I made sure to sleep in the middle of the group in case there were any snakes/spiders/other creatures that tried to get near us in the night.  Luckily, we were not bothered by anything at all!  After a shower at the surprisingly nice bathrooms, I was super tired and ready to go to sleep.

While we were in Australia, I found out about the Commonwealth Games, which is actually a pretty big deal there, especially since it is being held in Gold Coast, Australia this year.  We saw signs and people in uniforms in the airport and around Brisbane and Cairns, and I kept saying the way it’s advertised looks a lot like the Olympics.  Until going to Australia I had no idea what the games even were, so it was exciting that we happened to be in the right place at the right time to enjoy the festivities.

It turns out that the Commonwealth Games are a lot like the Olympics, but only for countries in the British Commonwealth.  They happen every four years and athletes from all over the world gather to compete in many different sports over a few weeks.  Because the games were being held in Queensland this year, many cities throughout the area were having festivals and celebrations.

In Cairns, there were fireworks on the opening night that we saw as we were being dropped off from our rainforest tour.  There were different bands and musical performances that would be happening each night for the next week, and the entire central area of Cairns had been decorated with art, tents for events, a stage, and giant televisions to watch the games.  We walked down on the opening night and sat out on the lawn to watch the opening ceremony.  Like the Olympics, there was a parade of nations and lots of musical performances, but instead of a torch they ran a baton holding a letter from the queen across all the countries before arriving in Australia.  Even though neither Norway (Diana’s from Norway) nor the US are part of the Commonwealth, it was still exciting to watch and we had fun cheering on New Zealand and Australia.

The next day we didn’t have anything planned so we decided to go down to the downtown area where there is the big public pool they call the Lagoon.  Since you can’t swim in the ocean because of crocodiles, Cairns has definitely been good about having alternatives for people to enjoy the beautiful views and cool down.  We spent a lot of the day by the Lagoon and there was a huge screen showing the Commonwealth Games all day, so we could watch competitive swimming while lounging by the pool, which is right next to the ocean – pretty much a perfect day to me!  Side note: I did have possibly the best bubble tea I have ever had from a place right next to the lagoon.  It was peach and passionfruit flavored, both of my favorites together!!

At night we came back to get dinner and sit and watch more of the games and listen to some of the performers.  It was a fun atmosphere and I enjoyed getting to experience how excited everyone was for the games.  Later on in the trip I tried to put on the Commonwealth Games in my hotel room at night so I could watch some of the rhythmic gymnastics, diving, track and field, and other sports that were being competed.

On our third day in Cairns, we went on a tour of the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation with Active Tropics Explorer.  We were picked up early in the morning and first drove about an hour and half on the bus to Mossman Gorge.  There, we went to the cultural center and learned a little about the aboriginal people who live in the area and then walked through a bit of the rainforest to the gorge, a small waterfall, and a very bouncy suspension bridge.  We didn’t have much time to change into swimsuits, so I didn’t want to get wet, but some people did swim in the river.  It was a really beautiful area though, so I could still appreciate the time we did spend there.

Our next stop was at the Daintree River, where we took a river cruise to try to spot some crocodiles.  We did see a few, and the boat driver was really good about spotting them and bringing the boat closer so we could all get a good view.  The whole trip our tour guide had been telling us stories of people who had been eaten by these crocodiles, so we were all careful to stay inside the boat.  You definitely don’t want to mess with these huge reptiles, but our tour guide did tell us “smart people don’t get eaten by crocodiles,” so as along as you’re not doing anything crazy you should be okay.

After crossing the river, we drove to Cape Tribulation to have lunch and enjoy the beach for a little bit.  Cape Tribulation is pretty remarkable because it’s the only place on Earth where two World Heritage Sites exist side by side, the Wet Tropics of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef.  The beach was very beautiful, but in Queensland you don’t really want to swim in the ocean because of the crocodiles.

Cape Tribulation beach

After lunch we drove to the Mardja Boardwalk (which means Rainforest Boardwalk in the language of the aboriginal people who live there).  Our tour guide took us on a walk and told us about a lot of the plants and animals that live in the Daintree Rainforest, which is actually the oldest rainforest in the world.  He pointed out trees that grow long tubes that are filled with clean water, giant ginger plants that are ten times stronger than the ginger that we use for cooking, small ants that apparently taste like lemon (although I did not test this), and many other interesting plants and animals.

This plant was fascinating because of it’s shape.  It’s a strangler fig, which, as you can imagine, strangles another tree.  It grew around the tree until it’s roots hit the ground, the tree began to fall over, and then the inside tree died and rotted away, leaving just the strangler fig’s interesting shape with lots of holes.

On the way back to Cairns we stopped to get ice cream and then went to a beautiful lookout area before driving back a couple hours to drop everyone back off.  It was a fully packed day, but we got to see a lot of different parts of Queensland and learn a ton about why the area is so significant.

On our second day in Cairns, we had booked a day out at the Great Barrier Reef.  This was one thing that was on the top of my list to do in Australia, so I was super excited.  We went with the company Seastar Cruises, which brings smaller groups (about 30 people) out to snorkel or scuba dive at the GBR.  They told us that the water might be a little rough because there were high winds that day, but it wasn’t bad at all.  It took about an hour for us to go out to the Michaelmas Reef, where we would be spending the day.

Our boat for the day

They gave us all flippers, goggles, and snorkels, and then had us put on stinger suits since it is the season where there might be stinging jelly fish.  We looked totally fashionable since they covered us head to toe.  We took a glass bottom boat out to the sandy cay and once everyone had all their gear on, we broke into two groups and followed leaders who showed us where to go and what we were seeing.  They pulled life preservers behind them in case anyone needed to hold on, and took pictures for us since not many people had underwater cameras.

The people in the other group of snorkelers said that they actually saw a sea turtle, which is really cool, and Diana later said she saw a reef shark (which are harmless and more like a big fish), but I wasn’t so lucky.  I still got to see a lot of amazing, colorful fish, starfish, and giant clams though.  We were told that if you hold a hand or flipper close enough to a giant clam, they will actually sense the shadow and close quickly, so it was fun to play with those.  I also thought it was cool that at some points I could hear fish nibbling on the coral, especially when there were big schools of them.

After we came back onto the boat for lunch, we were able to go back out and snorkel for a couple more hours, and I got to see even more of the reef.  This time it was way easier to get to hang of snorkeling and I only drank a couple large mouthfuls of ocean water.  Normally, this tour goes to another nearby reef in the afternoon, but because of the high wind warnings, the skipper decided it would be better if we stayed where we were.

Glass bottom boat – we’re at the very back on the right

The last thing we did in the afternoon was go on a glass bottom boat tour.  They took us out in two groups on a boat where you can look down right to the reef without getting wet.  This was also pretty cool because the tour guide could tell us about what we were seeing and answer questions right on the spot.  However, I definitely liked snorkeling better because you got to be closer to the reef.  After the trip I was very tired from all the swimming, but I had such an amazing time.  I would love to go snorkeling again, and am so glad that I was able to experience the Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven natural wonders of the world and a World Heritage Site.

Marlin Marina in Cairns

One of the first things we noticed after arriving in Cairns was how many bats there are.  We were sitting outside eating dinner during sunset on the first night we were there, and hundreds of bats began to fly over.  It was really cool to watch, and they seemed to just keep coming because there were so many.

The next night we were walking into the central area and saw (and heard) a tree that was full of bats.  They were all hanging from the branches and making a lot of noise.  I have never seen so many bats, especially ones that big.

On our first day in Cairns, we took the day to go up to Kuranda, a small village in the middle of the rain forest.  In order to get there, we took the Skyrail, which has gondolas that take you up over the mountains.  There were two stops along the way, at Red Peak and Barron Falls.  At the first stop, we could go walk down the boardwalks through the rain forest and learn about the plants and animals that inhabit it from a guide.  At the second stop, we walked down to get excellent views of a huge waterfall.  After the two stops we continued on to Kuranda.

In the village, there are several markets as well as koala and bird sanctuaries and a butterfly garden.  However, instead of going to these expensive attractions, we decided to go on some of the walking paths they have around the village after going through the markets and eating lunch.  We went down by the river and walked through the rain forest for a while until we saw that one portion of the walk was blocked off.  At one point it did start to rain, which makes sense for a rain forest, but we were glad that we brought umbrellas.

After exploring the walking tracks for a couple hours, we made our way back through the village to the Skyrail and rode it back down to where we had began.

After waking up at 4 am to get on a plane from Christchurch to Brisbane, we arrived and were picked up at the airport by Wally, a relative of Diana’s.  It turns out that Diana’s mom and Wally had been talking for years because they both were interested in learning about their ancestors and traced their family tree back to a very small village in Ukraine.  They believe that Diana’s great grandfather and Wally’s grandfather were cousins or something like that.  We went back to Wally and his wife Bev’s house to drop off our luggage and then Wally kindly drove us to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the world’s first and largest koala sanctuary.

When we arrived, they told us that unfortunately the photos holding a koala had been sold out for the day, but that there was a koala meet and greet that you could go to and still pet them and get photos for free.  We walked around the sanctuary for a little bit and got to watch several koalas eating, which was really adorable.  Then, we went to eat lunch and bought some kangaroo food as well.  Around the park, there were turkeys walking around everywhere, but they looked slightly different from the wild turkeys we see in the US.  They especially tried to get french fries from us while we were eating.

After lunch we went back to the koala pavilion for the koala meet and greet.  We waited with excitement until we were able to go up and pet the koala that the park ranger held.  It was soft, but not like I had imagined.  The koala felt more like a really plush, thick carpet.

Then, we went over to the kangaroo feeding area.  It was just a very large area where there were emus, kangaroos, and wallabies that could walk around freely and people could go up to them and pet them and feed them.  There was an area where humans were not allowed where a lot of the kangaroos and wallabies were resting, but several were out walking (or hopping) around or laying in the dirt.  We went around and pet and fed as many of them as we could.  This turned out to be one of my favorite things at the park.  The kangaroos were really soft and I loved getting to watch them hop around, scratch themselves, and do kangaroo things.  There was even one with a joey in her pouch and we could see its legs sticking out!

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After leaving the kangaroo feeding area, we went to see a couple platypuses swimming around in their enclosures which were in a dark building.  We also went to see wombats, dingoes, Tasmanian devils, crocodiles, and many different types of birds.  I was really glad that I got to see a lot of the animals that are unique to Australia!

After leaving Lone Pine, we took the bus back to the central Brisbane area.  At the bus station there was a bubble tea shop, so of course I had to get one!  I also got a SIM card for my phone to use while I’m in Australia.  Then, Diana and I had a little bit of time to walk around the area before Wally was going to pick us up.  We walked down a few streets and by the Brisbane River before crossing over the bridge.  The city has a very different feel than Christchurch with all the tall buildings, but it was still nice to walk around.

That night, we had dinner with Wally and Bev, their son and daughter-in-law, Marty and , and their three kids.  They were all incredibly welcoming and nice and after dinner, Marty and  offered to drive us around to see the city at night.  We went to a few different look out spots that gave us a great view of the lit up city and showed just how big it really is.  It was so fun getting to talk to them and see the city from all different angles.  But, after this long day I was really tired, so after getting back we got to sleep pretty quickly.