GREAT Barrier Reef

You know that a trip is good when the place has the worst weather it has seen in months, yet you still come out of it thinking it was the best trip ever.  So was our experience in Cairns.  Cairns is in Northern Queensland (about a 2 hour flight north from where we are in Gold Coast) and is known for its sunny, tropical climate.  The 3 days we were there, we witnessed the tropical side of the climate with an absence of the sunny side.

We arrived late Thursday night and got to bed since we had a shuttle picking us up at 6:40 am to go White Water Rafting.  We made the shuttle and eventually got onto the river about 9:00.  The day was filled with Class 3, 4 and 5 rapids, cliff jumping, natural water slides and swimming down rapids outside of the raft.  Our tour guide Marty was the perfect fit for our raft of five young guys.  He was all about the thrill and gave us a great tour.  Perhaps the best part of the trip was the incredible scenery.  Literally we were rafting through the Australian rainforest with breath taking views of tree lined mountains, waterfalls, and incredible rock arrangements.  What a trip.  That night we went out and had a good time around town, despite knowing we had another early bell.

We got up the next morning and walked to the marina to catch our cruise to the Great Barrier Reef.  Throughout the day, we went snorkeling and scuba diving while seeing some of the most colorful fish and marine life around.  I cannot put into words how awesome it was to be right next to the cast of Finding Nemo.  The colors and majesty of the Reef was an experience I will never forget.  Despite the occasional sea sickness (clearly aided by the amount of drinks we had the night before), we were all thrilled to know that we had yet another experience in Australia we will never forget.

The next day in Cairns we simply walked around enjoying the touristy feel to the city.  We hit up a few more pubs that night, but took it easy and simply enjoyed each others' company satisfied that our expensive trip was well worth the money and stress.  We all talked about just how lucky we are to be able to have these experiences before we really have to "grow up."  It's a thought I've been having a lot lately.  I am slowly realizing that I am getting to the point where I need to start looking for jobs that will lead me to a career with graduation on the horizon.   It is a nice refresher to know that I still have a few weeks left in Australia to have some last fun, enjoying the company and good times with my mates.

Moreton Island and BrisVegas

Staying behind from Byron Bay to get ahead on school work: fail.  I had a rather unproductive weekend, but it was still nice to relax around campus knowing the hustle and bustle of the next few weeks.  Regardless, I got my paper finished and we headed off for a great trip.


Moreton Island is the 3rd largest island made up of completely sand in the world.  We took a ferry across the sea and were loaded up onto a 4 wheel drive.  The "road" on the island was a sand path.  At some points it was a two way path about 8 feet wide.  The whole island was a natural reserve, so there was incredible views of nature for the whole trip up the hill.  Once we arrived at the top of the island, we unloaded some thin, waxed strips of wood which we were to ride down the 100ft sand dune.  We got off the truck to some spectacular views of the Desert.  Our guide told us that the record for sand boarding was 10 times.  After 4 times of climbing up the dune I thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest.  It was such a thrill regardless.  We got up to speeds of about 35mph and had a full meal's worth of sand.


After sand boarding we took the trail back down to the beach where we had a session of snorkeling old ship wrecks.  After a nice lunch and some time to relax on the beach, we geared up with snorkels, masks, wetsuits and fins.  We spent about an hour swimming around the wrecks (mostly floating in our buoyant wetsuits which we all decided would be a purchase.  Great for lounging around the pool in the backyard right?)  We saw sharks, rays, ducks, and to steal Jeff's line: the entire cast of Finding Nemo.  We could have stayed there all day.  After snorkeling we boarded back up on the ferry and headed back to Brisbane to celebrate Adam's 21st birthday.


We had a nice Thai dinner (I had a really good Duck stir fry solidifying how duck might be one of my favorite meats) and then took to the town.  My mate Andrew was nice enough to come down and show us some of the best bars/clubs in the area.  The area, Fortitude Valley, is completely lined with bars and needless to say, we had a good time.  Between making friends with the Jagermeister girls, finding Budweiser specials, and making our way in and out of a few places, we stumbled back home for a nice, long, deep sleep.  Quite the jam packed day, but heaps of fun for sure.


Just a few hours ago I got back from this weekend's trip to the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns.  I'll update you soon on the fun we had there.  Other than the weekend trips, I'm still loving life at Bond Uni.  It's been a great semester where I have really learned a lot about myself.  I think being away from St. Louis for the first time in my life has really helped me develop an appreciation for the life I've been blessed with so far.  It's great to meet new mates from literally all over the globe.  Having this front row seat to this interaction of cultures has really helped me form a no worries lifestyle that will stay with me for the rest of my life.  No Mom, the heavy drinking is not the cornerstone of that lifestyle.  Instead, it is the conversations, lessons, and fun times I've had with these people Down Under.  There has certainly been little to worry about so far...

Welcome to Sydney!

Just when I thought my experience down here could not get any better, Australia steps up its game.  We had been planning on being in Sydney for Halloween for a few weeks.  When I mentioned my trip to a few Aussie friends, they talked about meeting us down there.  That decision made our trip.


We were greeted at the Gold Coast airport by a fire alarm.  Great.  This sets a good tone for the trip...  Turns out it was just a false alarm.  The flight went smoothly.  For those of you who have never flown Virgin Airlines (particularly the young men out there) I'd recommend it.  Something about it just makes the flight seem more comfortable.


Anyway, we arrived at our hostel on Thursday and were immediately told that there were free drinks on the roof.  Roof party?  Cool.  We dropped off our stuff and headed upstairs.  The free drinks ended up being boxed wine, but the views were incredible.  From our roof, we had a perfect view of the Sydney Skyline and the Harbour Bridge.  Welcome to Sydney!  We hung around the roof for a while and eventually walked about the town, soon to realize that we were in the Red Light District of Sydney.  Welcome to Sydney!  We kept our eyes down and mouths shut and ended up having a great time that night.


A few of our friends were coming in later on Friday.  I got up early, actually was woken up early by a friend saying "C'mon Man!  We're in Sydney!"  Thanks Pat, it's 8:30am.  Regardless, I got up, took a quick shower (very quick considering there was no hot water and the shower head was at the height of my neck), and joined the guys on a walkabout of downtown Sydney.  Opera house picture, Harbour Bridge picture, Opera House and Harbour Bridge picture, walking across the bridge, all done.  I told my mom I got a great picture for the Christmas card only to hear that it was already completed.  For those of you that are not aware, the making of the Schwendeman Christmas Card is like the construction of the Taj Mahal.  Many of you know that the day after Thanksgiving you are greeted with a poem about the lives of the Schwendeman family and wishing you a Merry Christmas season.  It's kind of a big deal to Jane.  So despite my efforts to make the Christmas card with a stereotypical Australia picture, I'm sure I'll still make Mom happy with all my pictures.


When it came time for our friends to arrive in Sydney, we got a call from them saying their flight was cancelled.  They chose to fly a cheap, less reliable airline and arrived at the airport to hear that there were no more flights on the airline going to Sydney that day, they would be refunded in 4 to 6 weeks, and if they wanted to get to Sydney that day they would have to pay full price for a ticket on another airline.  The Gold Coast airport is just not very hospitable.  Fire alarm and cancelled flights...


They paid for a new flight and met us at happy hour where we had the pleasure of watching the World Series.  That night we just took it easy knowing that we were getting up early tomorrow to go sailing.  We got up (some quicker than others) around 7am to catch a taxi to the Marina.  We got there on time, and got out onto the Harbour around 10am.  We spent the entire day sailing around the harbour on a 70ft sailboat.  One of the coolest experiences ever.  Check out Facebook for pictures and I'll try to post some on the blog.  We sailed right past the Opera House, under the Harbour Bridge, stopped in a cove for a swim, unreal.  Somehow Sydney trumped the flight from last weekend.  

Andrew told me that me and a few of my mates could spend the night on the boat.  We had a great time anchored in a quiet cove, enjoying music, conversation, a great dinner, cigars on the boat deck, and initiation into the crew of the boat.  Andrew and Mike (boat captain) had been talking about initiation all day.  It was something everyone who spent the night on the boat went through.  All of us were convinced we would be climbing the mast or something crazy.  Initiation began by all of us putting on goofy hats.  I was in a Santa hat, there was a Scottish wig, a ninja headband, and many more.  Andrew and Mike walked around the cabin gathering things for initiation.  In order, they went: Fire extinguisher and bowl, flashlight, a giant knife, a tomato for every person at the table, a power drill, a bottle of rum, and a box of Tim Tams (Australian cookies).  Oh Lord, what on earth are we going to do?  After an elaborate speech by Mike, he demonstrated the initiation.  Cutting off the corners of the Tim Tam, he proceeded to fill up the bowl with rum, and suck the rum through the Tim Tam.  The technique was to just suck until you feel the rum on your lips, and then you consume the cookie.  Somehow this came as a relief to all of us who were thinking of how we would be sprayed with a fire extinguisher while eating a whole tomato covered in rum with a power drill against our chests.  It was all in good fun and we spent the next few hours having some great conversation and hearing stories about Mike's adventures in Eurasia.  Throughout the entire day, my friends and I were talking about how we were going to remember this day/night for the rest of our lives.  It did not disappoint.


We got back into dock around midday Sunday.  The 4 of us that were left just went down to Bondi beach, a popular beach in Sydney.  It started raining as soon as we got off the bus, but we were unphased, still on a high from the day before.  We sat down to a nice dinner and made it back to the hostel to enjoy our last night on the roof.  It was truly a great weekend that we will never forget...


As for this week, we are booking our trip to Cairns (pronounced Cans) to snorkel and scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef and do some "Xtreme Whitewater Rafting."  Yea, we're Xtremely Excited for that trip.  That will be the third weekend in November.  The previous weekend we are going up to Brisbane to celebrate my friend Adam's birthday.  Midterm grades are coming back relatively well.  No real complaints so far.  Tonight is the Student vs. Staff golf challenge.  The first inaugural tournament.  Winner gets a trophy, so you know it's legit.  This weekend a lot of my friends are going to Byron Bay to sky dive.  They got rained out their last attempt so they all have vouchers they are redeeming.  I decided to skip out, save some money, and attempt to get ahead on some work.  We'll see how productive I actually am.  I registered for classes in the Spring which was the first reality check that this semester abroad is not forever.  I'm trying to enjoy each day, and so far Australia is making that pretty easy...