Starting April 9th...
To be honest with you, if I could think of one word to sum up my trip it would be yuuup. I started this experience this past Thursday, the 9th of April. Krissy and I along with several others from my program took the train into Sydney. I had a massive backpack, the one I bought last time the other bag broke on my way to Mojo surf camp. It is for real about half my body size. The first day we got there we checked into our hostel we were staying at called 709 on George Street. It was not the most sanitary place I have ever been, but it was fine for what we paid. We all went our separate ways for a while and Krissy and I went to Gloria Jeans (a real yummy coffee house) and ordered up white chocolate coconut frappachinos as well as a massive piece of cheese cake that had two layers of chocolate, caramel, and whipped cream. It was sinful and it was called something like sweetest sin or something along those lines. That night we went out to dinner at a place called Tokeo Hotel and I had chicken schnitzel and it was yummy, then we headed back to go to a club and hang out.
April 10th- Today we woke up at about 7:30 and headed to circular Quay to go to the Toranga Zoo in Sydney! Myka was meeting up with us and we had to take a ferry to get the the other side of the harbor. As Myka was meeting up with us she was on the phone and looked horrified and kept saying "you are joking, this is a joke." We found out the her boyfriend Willie had troubles with travelling on his way to Australia. Something was broken in the plane while they were on their way and they had to turn around. Myka thought they cancelled in completely and she was really sad, but somehow was a trooper at the zoo. We got to the zoo and saw TONS of animals. This zoo was massive and took us over 5 hours to walk through! It was divided into eight zoogeographic regions, and is home to over 2,600 animals on 21 hectares, making it one of the largest of its kind. We saw elephants, giraffes, bears, tigers, peacocks, dingos, lemurs, bats, snakes, meercats, spiders, frogs, heaps of birds, lizards, monkeys, seals, penguins, Guinea pigs, snow leopards, wombats, kangaroos, wallabies, emu, koala, platypus, turtles, pigs, chickens, turkeys, sheep etc.. The picture you see of that hilarious guinea pig- when we saw it we couldn't stop laughing, the poor thing looks like it was licked 100 times by a cow or blow dried in on spot continuously all over its body. LOL it still cracks me up to see that picture. We saw many interesting people and lots of selfish screaming children. On in particular case- a little boy and his family were getting ice cream and we were waiting in line behind them. The mother of this child got him an ice cream to share and he threw the biggest tantrum and was hysterical jumping up and down like a mad man and while he was doing this he jumped onto the foot of another woman in line and she almost started crying. The mother just calmly kept asking what he wanted while he carried on for about 20 minutes, we could still hear him from the next exhibit... unbelievable. When we finally got through the zoo we headed back to Myka's place and ordered pizza and ate tim-tams :) we watched Twilight the movie because I started the books and I am hooked!! We also found out the Willie got a flight out the next day so everything worked out in the end!
April 11th- Today we flew out from Sydney to Hervey Bay where we were going to stay at Palace- a hostel where we would get our 4x4's and head to Fraser island. When we got to the hostel we had to check in and wait for forever for the man to get organized, he was real arrogant and had a skunk like dye job on his head with orange and brown-hideous. We had a barbecue that night and then all hung out outside for a few hours getting to know everyone. I fell right to sleep and was ready (so I thought) to go to Fraser Island.
April 12th- This was the start of hell on earth. So we got up at about 6:00 am to get ready to start our first adventure. We were assigned vehicles and had to pay 1000$ for insurance on the cars in case anything happened to them. These 4x4's are massive and really top heavy. We decided to have Joel and Krissy drive on the island because they knew how to drive stick. That morning was an orientation, then we went to this shed to load up our cars with "water-proof" tents, a box of cooking utensils, propane tank, sleeping bags, mats, and two coolers and a water jug. This all had to be loaded into a very small space and I had to crawl up and put them into place... not an easy task for someone with NO upper body strength. Anyway, we stopped at Wollworth's the Cub of Australia and loaded up on food for the next few days. Then we were off to the Ferry and on our way to Fraser. Once we left it started to rain. This was the beginning of a never ending rain. We drove inland with our massive top heavy vehicles and one of our cars managed to tip over when we were trying to pass someone on the single land roads. We watched in horror as the car started to lean and then land on the truck waiting for us to pass. Luckily the boys from the car in front of them jumped out and pushed the car back up- good thing it didnt fall further onto them... We got lost on our first day driving all over to get to this rain forest walk. When we walked through to this forest we saw a stream that was the clearest water I have ever seen, but other than that I was getting eaten alive by bugs and was ready to leave. We were on this walk for about an hour and a half and then were off to make camp down at Eli Creek. Well... we didn't make it there. It was pouring rain and we got pulled over because Krissy did not have her seat belt on in the front seat since we had just checked out another camp site. Well a 300$ fine later the cop told us we wouldn't make it by nightfall and needed to set up camp on the beach. GREAT. So we drove to the nearest place and set up camp, we cooked in the dark, set up our tents in the dark, and I was laying in the tent at about 8:00 pm on the first night. I woke up every half hour hoping that it was morning because my back was broken.
April 13th- Today we were off to see Indian head and the ship-wreck though when we woke up it was now pouring rain. I mean it was falling an inch an hour I swear. It stopped raining for the 30 minutes we were at Indian head which was nice, but as soon as we got to the cars it started pouring again and it kept up all throughout the night. After Indian head we had to make our way through these rocks/boulders.... This was terrifying. The cars in front of us were all the way almost on their side and were very close to tipping over. I bit the girls shirt next to me closed my eyes and held on praying for my life. Everyone was screaming and I opened my eyes to see us on our side looking over the edge, everyone from the right side of the car was now on the left hoping to shift our weight the other direction. We made it over, but I was absolutely terrified- I nearly started crying. We then found a place to camp which didn't look to promising. We pulled out everything to set up camp and we found a place somewhat under a tree and set up our tent. The other cars parked together and were putting up tarps over the tops of the vehicles so we could cook and have someplace to sit. One of the people from our group found a huge log more like tree trunk to put on top of the car to help hold the tarp down on one side. Since it was pouring the rain was collecting on the tarp and not flowing off and the log came down and hit one of the guys in the back of the head. I am convinced that he had a concussion. The terrible night continued while we were all drowned rats moping around hovering in a crawl space between the cars. Only one of the three propane tanks worked so we waited to eat for an hour while everyone else cooked their food with OUR propane tank... Eventually I was so annoyed with the rain because at this point it had been raining for about 10 hours straight, I went to my tent at 6:30 to attempt to go to sleep. I opened my "waterproof tent" to find a pool of water with my mat and sleeping bag floating... great. Our zipper then wouldn't shut so we basically slept in this puddle... bugs were in our tent, Krissy smooshed a spider on her leg and left it. Everything was wet and smelt like mold and pee. All I wanted was to go home and get into my bed at Keiraview.
April 14th- I was awake every 20 minutes that night checking the water level of our tent and freezing because I was sopping wet. I'm shocked I didn't come down with pneumonia from being so wet all night. The next day we were going to get off Fraser island and I was soo excited. We packed up at about 7:00 am to get off of our living hell. None of us had showered in three days and I had not gone number two in four days because we had to dig a hole if we needed to go and I was not about to do that. We went to Lake Mackenzie which was beautiful and yes it was still raining, but lighter at this point and when we saw the lake we all dove in for fresh water and a some what shower! Sand was EVERYWHERE. You can only imagine. I am still finding it. We headed out to catch the Ferry and in the back of the car we were bounced around soo badly- the picture above with the bruises on the butts is from riding in the car... We had no phone service on this island and when I got to where we had service I had 3 voicemails from my mother. I was praying all weekend that I got into nursing school and was hoping my heart out. I called her and she gave me the thrilling news that I had been accepted into the program! I was soo excited I jumped out of the car and leaped into Krissy's arms. I can only imagine after the worst three days of my life if I had been rejected I dont know what would have happened. Anyway we got off the island and we saw multiple cars that had been rolled over and the tops smashed- another picture you see above. We then found out while we were there 2 people died from their 4x4s rolling and one girl was paralyzed from the waist down. Im lucky to be alive. Please read this sad article http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/wo
That night we took a bus over night 13 hours to Airlie beach were we would be getting on our aboard sailing cruise. The rain stopped as we drove into the night.
April 15th- As we walked along the board walk for our 20 minute walk to get on the boat. It started to pour once again. I just looked up and asked WHY! Anytime we needed to be somewhere it rained on my parade. But once we got onto the boat and headed to the Whitsundays it ceased. The next two days were amazing. I have never seen anything like it and I am in love with sailing. We got to snorkel and see all kinds of cool fish, I saw a massive sea turtle and thought that was the coolest thing! I was so thrilled to go to sleep in a bed, I couldn't wait. Well when I got into my bed I felt like I was getting bug bites everywhere and was super itchy. I found that I was sleeping in a bed with bedbugs... NOT COOL. I somehow managed to fall asleep but was up a lot because a kid in my room got sick and another girl fell out of her bed in the middle of the night. Not to mention I was right next to the toilets and our room reeked like ammonia. Enough said.
April 16th- Today I woke up to a beautiful sunrise and a fabulous day. We had an amazing breakfast and spent the day sailing and went to Whitehaven beach. It is the largest of the 74 islands in the Whitsundays and stretches over seven kilometres and had brilliant silica sand that is among the purest in the world. I was in awe and still am. We hung out at the beach that morning and played in the sand and had natural exhalations :) Then we went snorkeling that afternoon and I saw a fish bigger than my twin bed. There were tons of jellies and I was near hyperventilation in the water because I was terrified to be stung. Luckily I did not have any issues! That night I watched an amazing sunset and couldn't believe where I was at. I don't think I had ever been so relaxed and happy in my entire life looking out from the boat and seeing what I did.
April 17th- My dream came to and end and we were back in Airlie beach. I ate at this cafe called Villages that had such good Cinnamon french toast! Actually I ate here 4 times in 2 days it was so good. I had a huge sandwich that blew subway out of the water and a chocolate shake :) and the morning after I had french toast again! We went exploring in Airlie and did a little shopping and souvenir collecting. That night we went out to a pub called Beaches and I had some good nachos! I was soo tired from not getting much sleep in the last 6 nights so when I went to bed I was out cold. You will never believe what happened in my hostel while I was sleeping... My bed was completely against the wall and the people next to me only their heads were against the wall so it formed half of a square kinda. Well I was on bottom bunk, Krissy was on top bunk and my friend Meghan was on the top bunk of the other bed with a random girl on bottom. In the middle of the night she woke up because she hit her head on the wall because the girl below and another guy from our room were dippity doo daaing. She looked down and saw what was going on and jumped into bed with Krissy in a panic. I fortunately did not wake up during this escapade because they were right next to my head and I would have made a scene. I would have turned on the lights and they would have gotten a piece of my mind. I still can not believe that happened...
April 18th- Today was the day we were going home! We flew out of Airlie and to Brisbane then reboarded to fly to Sydney. On the way home Krissy and I had some unfortunate passenjers surrouding us. The boy in front of us on the first flight threw up... I have to get over that fear I have... On the next flight we were sitting behind a girl who was about 7. She was staring at us through the seats nearly the entire way home and was poking my foot, and knocking my book I was reading down- her mother did nothing... I was about to yell at her I was getting so annoyed when she found a 3 year old friend in the seat in front of her about 50 minutes before we landed. Those two were infatuated with each other and were holding hands standing up backwards to talk to each other and just be kids I guess. Well the seatbelt sign came on and the 3 year old did NOT want to turn around. Sooo we heard screaming and crying the 45 minutes until we landed, while the 7 year old egged her on my reaching her hands through the seats and trying to talk to her. Again niether parent did anything... When we touched down Krissy and I were so thrilled to be back. That night we stayed with Myka and Willie, went to dinner and crashed early!
April 19th- We got up made a pancake and egg breakfast and headed to the Asian markets to again do some damage. I ended up getting quite a bit and bought a suitcase I can fit inside to bring home with me in June. It is a 32 inch suitcase and I got it for 22 American dollars! I should just buy myself all new luggage, but mom and dad wouldnt be too thrilled if I didnt bring home our suitcases... Anyway we finally made it home that night and I washed everything I owned to get rid of the bed bugs.
Sorry that I just wrote an entire novel, I hope everyone had a great Easter and guess what?! I have been here 2 months and a week already- exactly half way over :(
Tell me whats new! I look forward to hearing from everyone!!
xoxo, Nikki
