This picture was taken as a reflection of our temporary frustration with our circumstances: I was not the biggest fan of Sydney at this point.
We caught a 6 a.m. flight the next morning and stepped off the plane in Cairns around 9:30 a.m. I couldn't believe how hot it was! I loved it. NZ had really started to get chilly as they are going into their winter months. We took a bus to the hostel we were staying at, found some food and a grocery store, went to the fruit market and got ourselves situated in our room at our hostel. There were 6 of us BYU kids in the room. The beach was calling to us, so we headed back that way, but stopped at a market first and browsed around. I love markets. They're full of a variety of people, items, colors and are always buzzing with busyness. I found some good things, so I was happy.
Because it is jellyfish season, no one was on the beach. Instead, there is a lagoon area with pavilions, grills, a pool full of ocean water, gorgeous palm trees, and a live band playing. Everyone was just lounging in the sun and hanging out. So, of course, we joined in.
Love them palms!
Exploring the Cairns Tropical Zoo was another highlight. This zoo carries all native Aussie animals. Basically my only real goal while in the land down under was to hold a koala bear. Goal accomplished. =] I think they are my new favorite animal. They are soooooo cute!
I had a blast feeding the kangaroos as well. I was just in awe of them. I loved how they maneuvered and used their tails as a 5th wheel and crawl using their front arms. Such mellow creatures to interact with!
It was so cool to see the massive crocs. We even witnessed their feeding time. Fascinating reptiles.
Since being in Aus was probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I figured I should try some of these "rare" foods - the whole group of us stopped at a restaurant called Paddywack's and shared this expensive platter comprised of emu sausage, kangaroo steak, alligator meat, and some kind of Australian fish (can't remember the name). Pretty tasty!
My favorite part of being in Cairns was the Great Barrier Reef. We went out on a boat all day long and went snorkeling at a couple of different spots on the Reef. It was so beautiful! The variety of fish and the bright colors that surrounded us was unbelievable. I even saw a sea turtle. I bought a package that included an intro-SCUBA dive. This is something I've always wanted to do! It was so much fun. I was a little panicky and nervous and the start because it's not natural to be underwater. We had to go through a big briefing before we did the dive and we were well prepared for what to expect, so it helped. Me and 2 other girls went down before lunch with an instructor - we dove about 6 meters and it lasted 25 minutes. We had to learn safety techniques, hand signals, and talked about the whole procedure. Our instructor was really good and kept me calm. It just took some getting used to breathing under the water. I got to see and touch a giant clam, hold a sea cucumber thing and check out some cool-looking fish and beautiful coral rock. It was fun to just be exploring this whole new under-water world. My ears hurt the rest of the day from all of the pressure, but it was worth it. The vibrant colors cannot even be captured on film! LOOOOVVED it! It truly is one of the seven wonders of the world!
I even got a certificate for completing my first scuba dive.
We flew back to Sydney and I spent about 4 days there. It's a beautiful city! We (Breanna, Leah, and I) were going to stay at Jules' daughter, Chantal's, house in southern Sydney. It was a long journey getting there once we left the airport.....let's just say we had to become pretty familiar with the public transportation systems - mostly the trains. So frustrating at times, but they got us where we needed to be eventually. While in Sydney we toured the Opera House and attended The Silver Rose ballet there. Gorgeous building. We purchased the cheapest seats so had restricted viewing, but it was still fun to see and experience. We took a ferry over to the Darling Harbor to get some dinner. After browsing around the streets for a while we just opted for an Italian restaurant (one of the only ones still open....every place closes around 5).
We also browsed the streets of Chinatown and hit up Bondi Beach - so beautiful! The sun was absolutely blissful. The waves were huge and the surfers were out. I don't know how I've basically lived me whole life away from a beach. I love them so much. When I told some Kiwi peeps in NZ that I had been to the beach about 3 times or so in my whole life, they were in such awe. It was unfathomable to them, haha.
My favorite part of Sydney was the harbor bridge. So beautiful! I couldn't help but stare as long as possible every time we walked by it. I loved walking along the harbor. The bustling city on one side and the boats, wharf, and water on the other. Best of both worlds!
My friends flew out of Sydney a day before I did, so I went to Bondi Beach again by myself and relaxed some more and then walked several blocks, saw some more city scenery, and explored around the harbor area one last time. I happened to be wearing a BYU T-shirt and suddenly I heard, "Do you go to BYU?" I looked over at a lady sitting on a bench - she had an American accent! I walked over and started chatting with her. Turns out she's from South Jordan, UT - her name is Barbara. Her husband works for Nuskin, so was over there on business for a couple of weeks and she tagged along. She was just about ready to start heading back to their hotel when she noticed my shirt. We ended up spending the afternoon together and went and walked around the grounds of the government house, saw hundreds of fruit bats in the trees, and also were flocked by Australian white cockatoos. We became good buddies. Kind of random and fun. :) I'm sad I never got a picture with her.
I flew from Sydney back into Auckland, NZ to catch my flight to Tonga.
Here's a tip: Make sure you don't bring fruit into other countries.
So, because I was going to the airport early, I packed some snacks to avoid giving in to buying the ridiculously over-priced airport food. I figured I would get hungry and wasn't going to be fed until we were up in the air for a while. I'm a plan-a-header. I threw in a PB sandwich (I lived off of these things for 2 weeks) and an apple. I ended up not being hungry while waiting for my flight and got distracted with the delicious Air New Zealand mince pies and catching up on my movies that I didn't think twice about the food items sitting in the dark crevice of my backpack.
We had a nice flight, I made it through customs with no problems and couldn't figure out why my backpack was suddenly snagged off the x-ray belt and viciously searched through. The lady looked at my pitifully, called the authorities, and told me to follow her. Ten minutes later I was handing over my credit card with unstoppable tears and extreme frustration. I had to pay a $200 fine for bringing fruit into the country and not declaring it. It was more because I didn't declare it. So, I basically payed $200 for an apple I never even got to eat. The lady was sweet though, despite the circumstances, and offered me a tissue with the comforting thought that if it had happened 2 weeks later, I would be paying $400 because the fine costs were changing. Ha - not much consolation....
Because I got myself in this fruit-mishap I almost missed my flight to Tonga. I always wondered what it would be like to sprint through the airport with a face full of panic, and luggage flinging every which way like you see in the movies. Well, I got to experience it and once is enough for me! :) One of the airline employees started filling out forms for me after she told me to cut at the front of the long line, and then shoved me off into the "special" elevator that allowed me to take a shortcut through customs. I just kept hearing, "Last boarding call to Tonga...."
As I'm literally sprinting to the gate, I look over and there's a lady running 4 feet behind me and another little boy about 10 feet behind her. Through huffs and puffs she asks if I'm going to Tonga. We both just started laughing at the site of us and exclaimed "We made it!" when we walked onto the plane. I really hate airports sometimes....
Australia was wonderful though. Next time I would love to experience the Blue Mountains, Brisbane, or even the outback. :)
We caught a 6 a.m. flight the next morning and stepped off the plane in Cairns around 9:30 a.m. I couldn't believe how hot it was! I loved it. NZ had really started to get chilly as they are going into their winter months. We took a bus to the hostel we were staying at, found some food and a grocery store, went to the fruit market and got ourselves situated in our room at our hostel. There were 6 of us BYU kids in the room. The beach was calling to us, so we headed back that way, but stopped at a market first and browsed around. I love markets. They're full of a variety of people, items, colors and are always buzzing with busyness. I found some good things, so I was happy.
Because it is jellyfish season, no one was on the beach. Instead, there is a lagoon area with pavilions, grills, a pool full of ocean water, gorgeous palm trees, and a live band playing. Everyone was just lounging in the sun and hanging out. So, of course, we joined in.Love them palms!
Exploring the Cairns Tropical Zoo was another highlight. This zoo carries all native Aussie animals. Basically my only real goal while in the land down under was to hold a koala bear. Goal accomplished. =] I think they are my new favorite animal. They are soooooo cute!
I had a blast feeding the kangaroos as well. I was just in awe of them. I loved how they maneuvered and used their tails as a 5th wheel and crawl using their front arms. Such mellow creatures to interact with!
It was so cool to see the massive crocs. We even witnessed their feeding time. Fascinating reptiles.
Since being in Aus was probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I figured I should try some of these "rare" foods - the whole group of us stopped at a restaurant called Paddywack's and shared this expensive platter comprised of emu sausage, kangaroo steak, alligator meat, and some kind of Australian fish (can't remember the name). Pretty tasty!
My favorite part of being in Cairns was the Great Barrier Reef. We went out on a boat all day long and went snorkeling at a couple of different spots on the Reef. It was so beautiful! The variety of fish and the bright colors that surrounded us was unbelievable. I even saw a sea turtle. I bought a package that included an intro-SCUBA dive. This is something I've always wanted to do! It was so much fun. I was a little panicky and nervous and the start because it's not natural to be underwater. We had to go through a big briefing before we did the dive and we were well prepared for what to expect, so it helped. Me and 2 other girls went down before lunch with an instructor - we dove about 6 meters and it lasted 25 minutes. We had to learn safety techniques, hand signals, and talked about the whole procedure. Our instructor was really good and kept me calm. It just took some getting used to breathing under the water. I got to see and touch a giant clam, hold a sea cucumber thing and check out some cool-looking fish and beautiful coral rock. It was fun to just be exploring this whole new under-water world. My ears hurt the rest of the day from all of the pressure, but it was worth it. The vibrant colors cannot even be captured on film! LOOOOVVED it! It truly is one of the seven wonders of the world!
I even got a certificate for completing my first scuba dive.
We flew back to Sydney and I spent about 4 days there. It's a beautiful city! We (Breanna, Leah, and I) were going to stay at Jules' daughter, Chantal's, house in southern Sydney. It was a long journey getting there once we left the airport.....let's just say we had to become pretty familiar with the public transportation systems - mostly the trains. So frustrating at times, but they got us where we needed to be eventually. While in Sydney we toured the Opera House and attended The Silver Rose ballet there. Gorgeous building. We purchased the cheapest seats so had restricted viewing, but it was still fun to see and experience. We took a ferry over to the Darling Harbor to get some dinner. After browsing around the streets for a while we just opted for an Italian restaurant (one of the only ones still open....every place closes around 5).
We also browsed the streets of Chinatown and hit up Bondi Beach - so beautiful! The sun was absolutely blissful. The waves were huge and the surfers were out. I don't know how I've basically lived me whole life away from a beach. I love them so much. When I told some Kiwi peeps in NZ that I had been to the beach about 3 times or so in my whole life, they were in such awe. It was unfathomable to them, haha.
My favorite part of Sydney was the harbor bridge. So beautiful! I couldn't help but stare as long as possible every time we walked by it. I loved walking along the harbor. The bustling city on one side and the boats, wharf, and water on the other. Best of both worlds!
My friends flew out of Sydney a day before I did, so I went to Bondi Beach again by myself and relaxed some more and then walked several blocks, saw some more city scenery, and explored around the harbor area one last time. I happened to be wearing a BYU T-shirt and suddenly I heard, "Do you go to BYU?" I looked over at a lady sitting on a bench - she had an American accent! I walked over and started chatting with her. Turns out she's from South Jordan, UT - her name is Barbara. Her husband works for Nuskin, so was over there on business for a couple of weeks and she tagged along. She was just about ready to start heading back to their hotel when she noticed my shirt. We ended up spending the afternoon together and went and walked around the grounds of the government house, saw hundreds of fruit bats in the trees, and also were flocked by Australian white cockatoos. We became good buddies. Kind of random and fun. :) I'm sad I never got a picture with her.
I flew from Sydney back into Auckland, NZ to catch my flight to Tonga.Here's a tip: Make sure you don't bring fruit into other countries.
So, because I was going to the airport early, I packed some snacks to avoid giving in to buying the ridiculously over-priced airport food. I figured I would get hungry and wasn't going to be fed until we were up in the air for a while. I'm a plan-a-header. I threw in a PB sandwich (I lived off of these things for 2 weeks) and an apple. I ended up not being hungry while waiting for my flight and got distracted with the delicious Air New Zealand mince pies and catching up on my movies that I didn't think twice about the food items sitting in the dark crevice of my backpack.
We had a nice flight, I made it through customs with no problems and couldn't figure out why my backpack was suddenly snagged off the x-ray belt and viciously searched through. The lady looked at my pitifully, called the authorities, and told me to follow her. Ten minutes later I was handing over my credit card with unstoppable tears and extreme frustration. I had to pay a $200 fine for bringing fruit into the country and not declaring it. It was more because I didn't declare it. So, I basically payed $200 for an apple I never even got to eat. The lady was sweet though, despite the circumstances, and offered me a tissue with the comforting thought that if it had happened 2 weeks later, I would be paying $400 because the fine costs were changing. Ha - not much consolation....
Because I got myself in this fruit-mishap I almost missed my flight to Tonga. I always wondered what it would be like to sprint through the airport with a face full of panic, and luggage flinging every which way like you see in the movies. Well, I got to experience it and once is enough for me! :) One of the airline employees started filling out forms for me after she told me to cut at the front of the long line, and then shoved me off into the "special" elevator that allowed me to take a shortcut through customs. I just kept hearing, "Last boarding call to Tonga...."
As I'm literally sprinting to the gate, I look over and there's a lady running 4 feet behind me and another little boy about 10 feet behind her. Through huffs and puffs she asks if I'm going to Tonga. We both just started laughing at the site of us and exclaimed "We made it!" when we walked onto the plane. I really hate airports sometimes....
Australia was wonderful though. Next time I would love to experience the Blue Mountains, Brisbane, or even the outback. :)
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