Top Ten

Top Ten:

No particular order.

1.       Thermal village-the thermal village that we went to was a traditional Maori village. They rely completely on the thermal energy in their daily lives, just as their ancestors did. I loved going on the tour because we were able to really get a taste of their culture.

2.       Duck Boat Tour- the duck boat tour was fantastic because I learned so much. The duck boat drove on land and in water, because of that we got to see some amazing places in Rotarua. I really had fun quacking at random people.

3.       Sydney Opera House- I absolutely adored the opera house because it has been on my bucket list for a long time. It was more beautiful than I could have imagined. I loved being able to see something that I have only seen in movies and pictures.

4.       Bridge climb- the bridge climb was magnificent. It felt amazing to have such a beautiful view from the top of one of Australia’s iconic places. It was quite cold but the experience was worth it.

5.       Rangitoto College- Meeting my pen pal was so cool because it was like we connected two entirely different worlds. I had so much fun learning about his life in New Zealand.

6.       Kuranda- Kuranda was incredible because of the wild life center there. I got to hold a koala! It was the highlight of my trip. I felt so close to the culture, it was incredible.

7.         Sydney tower- The Sydney Tower was incredible because we got a bird’s eye view of the city. I was able to catch glimpses of pretty much everything. It was so incredible.

8.       Aboriginal Culture Center- I had so much fun at the center. When we went I got to learn how to throw a boomerang and a spear. I wasn’t very good but I had a ton of fun. I also really loved the shows because they gave us a view into the lives of the aboriginals.

9.       Thai food- on the night that we got to go anywhere we wanted for dinner I got the greatest thai food of my life. It was delicious and I loved that I got to see more of the city.

10.   My Roommate- My roommate was Megan Wurzbach. She made my trip so enjoyable. We were great roommates because  we’re best friends so when one of us felt homesick we had eachother.

Day eleven!

Day eleven:

Time for about 25 hours of travel. On our trip home we flew from Cairns to Sydney, then Sydney to LA, and finally LA to Chicago. It was the most tired I have ever been. Traveling home was extremely bittersweet. I didn’t want to leave because of all the amazing experiences I had, yet I wanted to go home to share those experiences with my family. The flights were pretty comfortable, but I guess I was used to flying by then. I actually had a lot to keep myself busy by then so they really weren’t that bad. When we arrived home it sort of felt like we were still there because the cities were sort of similar. But when we arrived at the school somehow I was over joyed but at the same time I was sad to be away from a part of the world that I had fallen in love with in ten short days. This experience was the most amazing thing to ever happen in my life.

Day ten!

Day ten:

Our last day of the adventure was well spent. We took a train up to a small town called Kuranda. We stopped to eat lunch there. I got a kangaroo pie! It wasn’t really my thing but atleast I can say that I tried it. After lunch we went to a wild life place where we got to hold koalas! It was the highlight of my trip hands down. The koala made me feel really connected to the country because it is such a huge icon. We also got to feed wallabies. Which was really fun because we got to pet them and see a joey in a kangaroo’s pouch. After that we went on this sky gondola thing which was amazing because we got a top view of the rainforest. We stopped and got to go into it as well. The trees were huge! We got back on the sky gondola  and got on our bus to go to the aboriginal culture center. While we were there we got to learn how to throw spears and boomerangs. I wasn’t exactly good at it but I had a lot of fun. We also learned about their weapons and saw three shows. The first show was a re-enactment of their creation story, the second was about the digereedoo, and the third was made up of native dances. It was the perfect last night of our trip.

Day Nine!

Day nine:

Time for the Great Barrier Reef! We headed out right after breakfast and we got on a boat headed toward the reef. The ride was a little rocky but feeling a little seasick would be worth it. When we finally arrived at the reef I couldn’t wait to get into the water. We got our gear on and got in. The water was really cold but I knew that it would be worth it. As we started snorkeling I was in awe at all the different fish and coral there was to see. My favorite things were the giant clams. They were so cool! Lunch was a buffet. It was pretty good but it was sorta cold. I got to go on the glass bottom boat which was awesome because I got to see a sea turtle! I also got  to hold a sea slug, it was really slimy. The sea star that I got to hold was really tiny and it suction cupped to my hand. My favorite part of the ocean is the animals because theyre all so different. I liked feeding the fish because they went wild for it. It was fun to see so many. At the end of our time out there I was feeling tired and satisfied, I had such a good day. When we got back we were allowed to go out on our own again and it was still a blast.

Daily Journal

Prompt: Great Barrier Reef!

Response: We went to the Great Barrier Reef today. Exciting right? Shouldn’t I be excited? I was extremely excited on the way there. I mean who doesn’t want to go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef? I had this idea in my head that it was going to have a ton of pretty fish and cool creatures to look at, and lots of colors (I also thought it would be warm….). The Great Barrier Reef just looked the same as a reef I swam in off of Florida. I thought it was supposed to be the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen but it was sort of a let down. Don’t get me wrong it was amazing and really cool, but I actually have seen better… Maybe it was just because humans are around there really often and not many fish were around. I still thought it was awesome but I didn’t feel as excited as I thought I would. Part of me is mad at myself for not being as excited, but I really just couldn’t feel excited like I wanted to. My favorite thing to look at in the reef was the giant clams. I thought it was cool that when you got a certain distance from them, you could see them close up. I thought that was really cool to see the bright blue coral was so pretty and so were all the colorful fish. Unfortunately I got so cold that I was shaking and had to get out. I couldn’t get back in because I was pretty much convulsing and felt like I was going to pass out, but I still had a very good time the rest of the day. I got to go in the underwater observatory which was awesome because you could see fish swimming that were undisturbed by people swimming. It also had two television screens that were on divers so you could see what they could see under the water. I thought it was really fun to look at. On the pontoon above the underwater observatory there was a small pool that had animals and large shells in it. All of them were picked up off the ocean floor by a diver, there were numerous sea cucumbers and one small starfish. I was able to hold both. The sea cucumber was really slimy and very soft. When you brought it out of the water it would shoot excess water out of its body because it didn’t want to feel its own weight. The starfish fit in the palm of my hand it was so tiny. When I held it the little suction cups on its bottom side stuck to my hand. I had to be careful taking it off. Overall my day at the Great Barrier Reef was incredible and I will cherish that experience forever.