My Kind of Dive

In the great Australian Dive-for-Dive Agreement, the day had finally arrived for my side of the bargain. It was time to visit the Great Barrier Reef. To say that I was excited is an understatement. You all know what a huge fan of the water I am, so getting a chance to spend the day on one of the ocean's greatest features was definitely my idea of a good time.

It only took a short ride down to the beach, where we met some of the crew of the Rum Runner, our catamaran for the day. The larger boat wasn't functioning, so we had to take multiple rides on the smaller life boat to tender out to the catamaran. There were only about 20 of us on board that day, and once we were all on, the crew gave us an official welcome and run down of our itinerary. It would take us about 45 minutes to get out to our dive site. There, we would spend about two hours in the morning before coming back onboard to have lunch and do a talk about the Reef. Then we would spend another two hours in the afternoon at the same dive site. It was a perfect day: clear blue skies, warm air, almost no winds. The crew was excited to have no conditions to cater to during our day.

On our way out to the site, AJ and I gathered around Daz. He was doing the training and guiding the introduction dives. There were six of us who were interested in the intro dive, so the plan was that Daz would take the other four guys in the morning, and take me and AJ in the afternoon. Once the lessons had been complete, we were suited up in our wet suits and waited to anchor at Mackey Reef.

Once we pulled up to our spot, everyone grabbed their flippers, masks and snorkels, and headed to the back of the catamaran. From here, we sat on the edge and hoisted ourselves into the water. I've only ever truly snorkeled one other time when in Hawaii, so it took me a couple of minutes to get used to the gear. But once I was, I was ready to swim out and explore. It didn't take long to notice all of the amazing colors of the coral. There were bright greens, yellows and oranges. There were also bright blue star fish complementing all of the coral, along with all of the other schools of fish. Some of the fish were as small as a gold fish and others were as big as a cat. It was just amazing to watch this underwater world swim by; so different than our world above the sea.

My attention was drawn out of the water when I heard AJ calling my name. I looked up and he was pointing at a spot between us. He said, "Did you see the turtle?" Turtles are one of my favorite creatures (if not my favorite), so I excitedly popped my head back under water where I got my first glimpse of a large sea turtle. He was just hanging out next to some turtle, enjoying his morning swim. I couldn't take my eyes off of him because he was so beautiful!

The two hours of snorkeling went by very quickly, and before I knew it, it was time to get out for lunch. We gathered back on the catamaran, and enjoyed our food while retelling tales of everything we had seen below. And when we were done, we gathered around Gary, our skipper for the day. He gave us an informative chat about the history of the Reef and the different forms of life we had just seen. I thought about how cool it must be to have a job like his, spending his life on the water and introducing people everyday to the beauty of the Great Barrier Reef. I can't imagine it ever getting old! And after he was done talking, it was time to scuba dive!

Daz suited us up with our scuba gear. We sat down as he loaded us up with our oxygen tanks, and when we went to stand up, we quickly realized how heavy these tanks were outside of the water. Once we were in the water and holding on to the edge of the catamaran, we felt light as a feather, which was good since it was now time to concentrate on breathing through the apparatus. It's a bit of an odd adjustment to get used to breathing in and out from your mouth. I've never really realized how accustomed I am to breathing through my nose, and at first, I was having a hard time feeling like I was getting deep enough air. But, just like with snorkeling, once my body adjusted to that was of breathing, I was ready to go. We slowly began to descend to the bottom of the ocean, and Daz helped adjust our packs as we went so that we were less likely to float to the top. And once we were down, he had us link arms and he guided us from behind through the Reef.

It truly is another world down there. Again, the colors of everything are spectacular. One of the coolest sights were the giant clams that were partially opened. Inside, you could see the vibrant colors peeking out. Also, at one point, Daz stopped us on the bottom of the ocean and picked up a sea cucumber. He let us feel the top and the bottom of it. At another point, he just had us stop, kneel and watch the underwater world go by. It was great to watch all of the fish interacting and swimming through the coral.

I was said when our dive time was up. When we reached the catamaran, we climbed back on and rid ourselves of the gear. At that time, there were only about ten minutes before the others were called in from snorkeling, so we decided to take off our wet suits and lounge on the back of the catamaran. It was a beautiful ride back to the beach, with the rainforest serving as a backdrop. It definitely felt like a perfect way to spend a perfect day.

As we tendered back to shore, I was sad to say goodbye to the Rum Runner and the Reef, but I was definitely glad to have experienced it all. And as we made our way via bus back to Cairns that night, I was glad we had chosen to see the Reef from Cape Tribulation rather than Cairns because we had the whole site to ourselves, with no other tourists to spoil our view.

Into the Rainforest

Early the next morning, we were picked up from our hostel to begin our journey north to the Daintree Rainforest. Apparently, this rainforest is the oldest in the world because it has experienced the least amount of change over millions of years (no major earthquakes, hurricanes and other assorted natural disasters). It is also the only World Heritage site that is adjacent to another World Heritage site because Cape Tribulation (where we were staying for the night) is known as where the Rainforest meets the Reef.

So we were off for another adventure, and along the way, we had a very important stop at a Wildlife Sanctuary. The bus pulled into the parking lot, and I could feel my heart race. This was one of our biggest goals for our Australian Adventure. We got to the front door, were given our ticket and through the doors we went! Our excitement was so high that we barely stopped to glance at the Cassowary, an endangered, large colorful bird that lives in the rainforest. Endangered or not, this is not what we had come to see. So we followed the map's directions to the part of the sanctuary where our moment could happen. And when we got there, it was better than I could have imagined. It was time to hold a koala.

But first, we were introduced to a crocodile and a snake. We were able to touch both animals to get an idea of what their skin feels like. The snake was smooth, like a new purse (sorry PETA, but it's true!) The crocodile was so hard. This animal is literally a living dinosaur, and the only reason it hasn't evolved over time is that is hasn't needed to. That's how tough their skin is. So once the croc and snake were safely back in their habitats, out came Glenn the koala. Those of us who were going to hold him were given a run down of koala-holding guidelines:

* Cup your hands together and the handler would place him in our hands and place his claws on our shoulders.

* Keep your arms strong because if he feels like he's about to fall, he'll claw into us to feel secure.

* Don't let him touch your face with his.

* And smile!

The rules seemed easy enough (just as many as sky diving, and I seemed to have done that alright!) So when the trainer was putting Glenn into my arms and he leaned toward my face, it was only natural that I lean back with a little fear in my eyes!

Fortunately, Glenn retreated, and he and I were able to settle in to a lovely photo shoot.

The koala was heavy, almost like holding a young toddler. His fur was soft, but maybe not as soft as you would expect. His claws are definitely serious; though they didn't hurt my skin, you could definitely see how they could! Overall, it was everything we were hoping for out of a koala-holding experience.

The rest of the day was fairly leisurely. We stopped along our trek at Mossman Gorge, an area within the rainforest has nice walking paths and an area where you can swim (if you're into swimming in a gorge). We also stopped along the way to take a cruise along the Daintree River to go crocodile spotting. In Australia, there are two types of crocs, known as the "salties" and the "freshies." The "salties" are the ones you need to fear and they tend to live in areas along the river. So we jumped onto the boat to seek out the crocs and other animals.

Along our journey, we saw two crocs. The first was a female, who was definitely a large creature. She was sunbathing along bank of the river. It didn't take much to imagine what she might look like if he were to spring into action and attack something. Fortunately, she didn't. And though I thought the first croc was big, I had no idea what to expect when we turned the corner and saw the second croc. He was HUGE. Huge probably doesn't even begin to cover it, but let's just say that just the width of his back was enough to make me cringe. And what does he eat? Cows. Hopefully that gives you an idea of how big he actually is.

Shortly after we finished crocodile hunting, we arrived to our hostel for the night, P.K.'s Jungle Resort. P.K.'s wasn't as nice as the rest of our hostels, but fortunately it was only for one night. Upon check in, the woman at the front desk told us all about some nighttime rainforest walks we could do on our own as long as we had a torch (flashlight). The problem was that by the time we arrived, the tide was already too high and parts of those walks would have made us potential food for our crocodile friends. So rather than risking it, we decided to hang out, grab some food at the hostel restaurant and then head to bed early. Fortunately, we were okay with this plan because there is really nothing else to do on Cape Tribulation. The only downfall to missing out on a night walk was we didn't get a chance to see any of the cool nocturnal rainforest animals, like tree frogs. But in the end, avoiding a run in with a crocodile seemed like the better plan.

"Sorry Mom"

On Saturday, I woke up slightly early (around 7:30). I laid in bed and listened to the sounds of Cairns around me. Being a tropical location, you could hear the sounds of the birds and lizards and crickets singing through the humidity in the air. It reminded me a lot of my first trip to Hawaii and waking up early the first morning listening to similar sounds.

After laying in bed for a while, I decided to grab my book and head down to the pool to do some reading. I also took advantage of having most of the reception area to myself and jumped online to do some blogging. I knew our loyal readers would be wondering what we were up to since heading into the Outback. Eventually, AJ made his way downstairs and joined me on the computers. After a while, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast at the poolside bar (Calypso apparently is a full-service hostel) before making our way upstairs to get ready. As we were having breakfast, I couldn't believe how calm I felt considering I knew we were about to jump out of an airplane. And yet, I felt strangely peaceful.

So we showered up and made our way to the lobby to wait for the shuttle. When it arrived, my stomach did a little flip because all of a suddent if felt quite real. And after our short bus ride to the main shop and my tenth toilet run of the day (I think I have a nervous bladder, and I didn't want to pee myself mid-air!), we were given some parachute pants and strapped into a harness. Then we waited for the crew to get back from their previous jump.

As we were sitting watching videos of other idiots...I mean, people... who had previously jumped, the door opened and the pro divers arrived. All of a sudden, I heard, "Briana?" I turned to see a friendly looking guy with reddish hair and dreads down to his lower back. He said, "Hi! I'm Dan. You'll be looking after me this afternoon." Ha! This is exactly the guy I wanted to jump with if I was gonna jump. Go big or go home, right Elyse?

So, Dan grabbed a camera and started filming away (because, again, if I was gonna do this, I sure as hell was paying for a video). When he said, "What do you have to say?", I replied, "Sorry mom!" At this point, AJ had met his diver, Theresa, and we all suited up and headed on the bus to take us to the airport. On the way, we chatted casually with Dan, Theresa and the rest of the crazy people who do this for a living (because clearly if this is your job, you have to have a healthy dose of insanity.) Dan said they jump about 7-8 times a day. Insane! Dan and another guy Mike were arguing over which parachute they were going to take, and I desperately wanted to shout to Dan, "just take the one that is safest!" But I contained myself...barely.

Once at the airport, we piled onto the plane. Now, for those of you who are used to commercial planes where everyone gets one seat, that's not at all what this plane is like. In this plane, there are two benches running the length of the plane. At the back of each bench, a tandem diver backs up so that their backs are against the pilot's seat. Then their diver backs up against them. Next another set of tandem divers back against those folks, etc., etc. until the plane is full. In total, there are eight jumpers and eight tandem divers. So, if you're someone who minds people in your personal space, this wouldn't be the flight for you. AJ and I were going to be the last jumpers, so we were the first in the plane, backed up cozy to Theresa and Dan, respectively. And after everyone else climbed on board, the door shut and before we even realized it, we were off the ground. It was about a twenty minute flight to the jump spot and in order to get 14000 feet into the air. The views were incredible. You could see the reef and the surrounding land. Dan's watch tracked our progress, so he was kind enough to keep showing me his watch so I could see how high we had climbed.

As we got close, Dan strapped himself to me, told me to put my goggles on and get ready. Again, in a blink of the eye, all of the sudden the door was open and the first jumpers were out of the plane. Before I had time to mentally process what was about to happen, we were pushing forward to the front of the plane and then my legs were hanging out of it. Again, without knowing how quickly things were happening, all of a sudden, I was free falling through the air, screaming my head off and shouting "OH MY GOD!!" Dan was filming everything and trying to remind me to smile for the camera. Unfortunately for photographic purposes, I couldn't remember to do anything but yell. As my heart began to beat a little less quickly, and I was able to look around and see the world around me, I couldn't believe that I was literally skydiving.

All of a sudden, Dan opened the parachute and my body jerked from the gravity of the harness pulling up toward the chute and my weight pulling down toward the ground. I can't say it was a very comfortable position to be in, but at that point, we began moving more slowly as we drifted toward the ground. Dan was controlling our movements by pulling on either side of the chute. At one point, he handed the straps to me and had me pull on them to move the chute. I'm sure some people love this, but all I could think was, "Dan, I'm too busy freaking out to control this thing!" But I was quiet and did what I was told. After all, my life was in his hands.

As we got ready for landing, Dan asked me to practice bringing my knees up and then stretching my legs forward. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my left leg to cooperate. We practiced and practiced, but nothing. So, he decided instead of landing on our bums, we were going to land on our knees. Since I had no idea the difference, I agreed and followed his lead. As we got closer to the ground, he told me to arch my back and pull my legs behind him, which I did with know problem. And like the beginning of the jump, before I knew it, we were on our knees and then lying face first on the grass (with Dan laying on top of me). He unstrapped himself and we both kneeled. He turned the camera on and asked me how I felt. I was in such shock, I have no idea what I said, except for, "I'm just so glad to be on the ground again!" But even within the shock, I recognized that I had done it. I jumped out of a plane!

I quickly looked up into the sky to see where AJ was, knowing that he jumped right after me. There was a chute coming close to the ground, so as first I thought that was him. But as they got closer, Dan and I realized that it was another jumper. So, we looked around, and way in the distance, we saw AJ and Theresa. Someone else yelled, "They're not going to make the mark," and the bus that had come to retrieve us quickly pulled away in search of them. I was disappointed to not have AJ to make eye contact with and share in the moment that we had actually just done it, but I was also slightly concerned about his well-being. I had Dan assure me that AJ was going to be okay and then I waited for him to arrive. Within a few minutes, the bus came back with AJ and Theresa onboard. Poor Theresa got off the bus with jeers from her peers and shouts that she owed them all beer. Apparently this was the first time she had ever missed the mark. I ran over to AJ who looked amused and amazed. We both laughed at ourselves for our adventure, and he told me all about getting caught in a cloud. I told him about landing on my knees.

After the short bus ride back to the shop, we thanked Dan and Theresa and headed off to find some lunch. Every now and then, we laughed because one minute we were skydiving and the next we were going about our day like it was any other day. After lunch, we made our way back to the shop to grab our DVD and pictures. Then we found an internet cafe so that we could post the pictures immediately.

Hours later, after having dinner and doing some major souvenir shopping, we wandered back to the hostel to pack for our overnight to the rainforest. But every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was sky and me falling through it!

Torture in the Cairns

..::SPECIAL REPORT::..

Although there have been many great times in Australia (minus some rude people especially Graham), there have been some sad moments. Please be aware of the following blog will have some graphic images that may not be suitable for children.

This photo display is called... Mr. Cookie goes to Australia!

Mr. Cookie came to Australia to visit his good friend Mr. Biscuit. Mr. Cookie did know Mr. Buscuit too well. They had similar occupations and were in the professional organizations. Mr. Cookie decided that he wanted to check out Australia, and Mr. Biscuit suggest that he came to visit if he was in the area. Mr. Cookie found that to be quite nice of Mr. Biscuit and thought it would be nice to meet up with a friend while he was there. Unfortunately, not everything happened as seamlessly. After the excitement of skydiving, scuba diving, and feeding kangaroos and koalas, Mr. Cookie thought he was having a best time in his life. And soon...his life would be over by means of a slow, painful death. Mr. Cookie and Mr. Biscuit on the search for cheap opals were taken by ruthless individuals...and the rest you can see for yourself (Mr. Cookie is seen on the right).

Fortunately, Mr. Biscuit only received minor injuiries, and luckily, he was able to give us a description of a suspect. In addition, there has been another break in the case and we were able to get a photograph of a possible suspect in the act. If you have seen this person, please notify the authorities immediately!

CHK CHK BOOM!

A Dive for a Dive

After winning the war with the evil Graham in the Alice Springs airport, AJ and I made it safely to Cairns. Our hostel sent a shuttle to pick us up, and once we dropped our bags in our room, we immediately went downstairs to make a plan for our time in north Queensland. This was the one city where we had no plan...we had ideas, but no plan. So we sat down with Margot, our new friend at Calypso Backpackers, and together we sorted it all out.

And before we go into our plan, I should provide you with a little background on our conversations about Cairns. Mr. LaPan (AJ, not his father) was set on the idea of skydiving. Ever since October, when we booked our tickets, he kept referring to jumping out of an airplane once we got to Cairns. For those of you who know me well, you know that I have no interest in skydiving. I had the opportunity while in South Africa and kindly passed because it was on adventure that never appealed to me. I spend enough time in airplanes, so the last thing I want is to tempt fate by jumping out of one. But all I heard about was skydiving. (And now thanks to Elyse, either, who was quick to jump on the "Briana should fall from the sky" bandwagon!)

When I thought of Cairns, all I could think of was scuba diving. Being a lover of the water (after all, I am a pisces) and heading toward the Great Barrier Reef, how could I not want to plunge into the sea and checkout the world below. Well, scuba diving is not something that appealled much to AJ. He's fearful of all the things in the water that can kill you: sharks, stingrays, drowning, kangaroos. For him, just the idea of getting into the water was making him nervous, much less submersing ourselves in it. But I was determined.

Since we found ourselves as an impasse, we didn't do much discussing or planning. We figured it would all just work out when we got to Cairns. Along our travels, as we met other adventurers, all we heard was how you HAD to definitely go skydiving and how you HAD to definitely to scuba diving. Each time the conversation came up, we would look at each other and smirk since we were both getting affirmation for our side of the argument. So, somewhere in the middle of the Outback, under a clear sky with the Southern Cross looking down upon us, I looked up at AJ and said, "What about a dive for a dive?" It was a brilliant idea (or so it seemed at the time). I'd skydive with him if he'd scuba dive with me. And there, with the Milky Way Galaxy as our witness, we agreed (neither one of us completely sold on the other idea, but willing to make the compromise).

So, as we saddled up to the reception desk to talk it over with Margot, we told her of our agreement. We also told her that we wanted to spend a day in the rainforest and hold a koala. With those few pieces of information, she was quickly able to whip us up an itinerary. The schedule?

Saturday - Skydiving at 12:30
Sunday - Tour headed north to and through the rainforest, spending the night in the forest
Monday - Diving on the reef from Cape Tribulation
Tuesday - Whatever we want!

When we asked her for suggestions as to what to do on our last day in Cairns (Tuesday), she said, "You can hot air balloon ride, abseil, shark dive, parasail, white water raft..." I said, "Is there anything to do in Cairns that doesn't involve being extreme?" Apparently, the answer is not much. We decided we would spend that last day doing a bunch of nothing and recovering from our "dive for a dive" adventure.

After our itinerary was set, we headed down to the night markets of Cairns to check out the typical souvenir-type stuff that these markets usually sell. Since we are big walkers, we declined the free shuttle to the town center and instead hoofed it the 15 minutes. And after a few rounds of the market and a stop for some ice cream, we made our way back to Calypso to enjoy a night of rest before the first of our dives.

The Man who tried to Rain on our Parade

After a delightful morning of souvenir shopping, we headed to the Alice Springs airport to catch our 2pm flight to Ayer's Rock, with a short layover before leaving for Cairns. Upon arrival, we met the most dreadful man in all of Australia. His name was Graham, and he tried to ruin our day. He told us we were on a different flight, a direct flight from Alice to Cairns, but it didn't leave until 6pm (it was now noon) and wouldn't get us to Cairns until 9pm. Our original flight got us to Cairns around 6pm, giving us plenty of time to get to our hostel and make some travel arrangements for our stay. Well, Graham was having none of it. He kept saying over and over again, "You are on a direct flight. This way you won't get stuck at Ayer's Rock." We kept saying, "Why would we get stuck in Ayer's Rock? Is the second flight cancelled?" He couldn't answer us. After a long period of fighting with this man (and he excusing himself for a minute and then disappearing to another counter until we followed him to continue the argument), he said to me, "If we are going to change these flights back to the original, we need to do this right now before the flight closes." I said, "Okay, then let's do this." He said, "I'd really prefer not to." I don't think Graham caught on very quickly that I didn't give a damn what he preferred.

In the end, we won the battle. We got on our original flight (we were the last one's). Our luggage came with us, and we got to Cairns in plenty of time. But Graham will forever live on in our hearts as that jerk at the Alice Springs airport.

The "Fun" Walk

After surviving a second night in the Outback with no dingo attacks, we packed up camp again and headed into King's Canyon for another hike. This time, the hike was about 6k in length, most of which was a pretty doable up and down rocks and such. However, the first 150m was a steep climb up rock steps that was affectionately nicknamed "Heart Attack Hill." Justine called this the "fun" walk. When I heard this, I thought I might have a heart attack at the thought of having to climb such things. Again, for all my Lancaster peeps, it reminded me of our "wee walk" with Graeme down to the mermaids! But, slowly and surely, I made my way up the mountain to the rim of the canyon where a gorgeous hike awaited.

One of the greatest things about Justine's guiding skills is her vast knowledge of the area. During the hike, she was able to tell us what parts of the canyon the aborginal people used for what. She was also able to talk about the surrounding plants and discuss how these were used as well. By the end of our hike (which took about 3 hours), we knew which plants were used to create different parts of a spear. It's amazing to think how resourceful the aboriginals were and makes you wonder why the European settlers took their intelligence for granted. Aaaahhh, history!

After the hike, we jumped back onto the bus, headed back to camp and had lunch before hitting the road. AJ, after proving his skills with the damper, was put on barbie duty, where he grilled up chicken. The rest of us began fighting with the dreaded Outback flies. We were lucky that they didn't come out until then, because for the short hour that they were around during our visit, it was almost torture to have them around. You were constantly swatting around your face and head to rid yourself of the pests. At one point, I made eye contact with AJ and he said, "I hate my life." Yup, that's how terrible they were.

So, we were all happy to jump back on the bus and drive away from the flies when it was time to leave. It was about a five hour trek back to Alice Springs, so we all settled in to our seats to read or sleep or do whatever else we needed to do to make the time pass. Like any good tour guide, Justine introduced us to a fun song about Australia that has hand gestures to it, so we asked for another round of "Home Among the Gum Trees," whose chorus sings:

Give me a home among the gum trees
with lots of plum trees.
A sheep or two
and a kangaroo.
A clothesline out the back.
A miranda out the front.
And an old rocking chair.

Anyone who needs to know the hand motions, please see me upon my return! ;-) As we sang our last round of "Gum Tree," Justine invited us to meet her out for dinner and drinks at Annie's Place (another hostel in Alice) around 8pm. So, once we were dropped off back at our hostel, we showered up and began our walk to the other hostel. About half of the tour participants came out to play, and play we did.

After dinner and a couple of beers, we all decided to continue our evening at Bojangles (which you might remember from one of our earlier blogs). The catch with Bo's is that they have a live stream to the internet so that folks around the world can logon and see what you're up to. They can also buy you drinks. So, we thought for a moment about who would care enough about us to watch us live on the internet, and the answer was easy: my mother! We picked up our mobile, gave her a rang, and with just a little information (going to a bar, can watch us online), my mom was able to stalk her way through the internet to watch us dance our bums off on the Bojangles dance floor. One of her first remarks when we called her the next day? "Tell AJ that the facial hair looks good on him, but it might be getting a bit too long now!" Such a mom! =)

In addition to my mother's online participation, we were joined by Jane, Rachel and Jema (from the UK), Dan (from Canada), Jen (from the US) and Krystine (from Germany). Justine was also there, but was on the other side of the bar for most of the night. Like you might expect, I was quick to take some self portraits, and I even got one of all of us!

After a fantastic last night in Alice, we headed back to our hostel and climbed into bed. We needed to leave for the airport on the 11:30 shuttle, and we still had a little souvenir shopping to do, so we had to drag ourselves out of bed early to get everything in. But before that, we just enjoyed a good night's rest outside of a swag!

I saw the sign...and it opened up my eyes

So signs in Australia are pretty amazing. And I think they need to be shared for those who haven't made it out here:

Caution when walking across with street in fancy shoes and no socks!

Drive Slowly Derby Hat Area

Kangaroo signs are everywhere! which is good since we all know that they are vicious evil animals

Watch out for random ink blot tests! (Actually it's an echidna and we didn't see any ..yet!)

There might be mine fields in Alice Springs???

Yeah, a picture/sign does say a thousand words

WATCH OUT!!!! OLD PEOPLE ON THE LOOSE!

A Jolly Swagman

So back to camp we went. We arrived and unpacked our belongings. The way camp was set up, there were about twelve permanent tents in a circle around a campfire pit. Included in the circle was also our kitchen/eating area. AJ and I had already decided that we were going to forego the tent experience and sleep on the ground in swags, but we claimed a tent anyway as a backup and changing place.

As AJ went off with Dan, one of the Canadians, to make a fire, I joined some of the girls in the kitchen to make dinner. (We were not only in the wilderness, but also playing some stereotypical gender roles!) My role in the kitchen that night ended up being to prepare the pasta salad, which consisted of ziti, peas, corn, mayo and some seasoning. It became a big hit among the group because I had endless amounts of jokes about how scrumptuous it looked. However, its limelight didn't last long given AJ's culinary skills the next night. But, during its time, the pasta salad ruled! The rest of our dinner was a traditional barbecue of steak, kangaroo (yup, more roo!) and sausages. It was quite delicious!

After finishing the dishes, we all grabbed warm drinks and gathered around the fire for a while. It was terribly cold on this night. In addition to my sweatpants, I also had on a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt and a fleece! Thank goodness AJ and I went shopping in Adelaide, otherwise we would've freezed. The sky was dark and we were able to get more great views of the Southern Cross (and every other star in the sky). Before too long, knowing that we had to get up at 5:15 the next morning in order to catch the sunrise, we pulled out our swags and had a quick demonstration on how to use them.

So, a swag is a traditional Aussie bed roll. It's a large canvas bag with a mattress on the bottom. You slip yourself and your sleeping bag into the swag, zip it up over yourself, and lay under the stars until you fall asleep. If you want, you can also pull a lid over your head for extra warmth and protection from the elements. A swag is meant to keep you warmer than a tent because it keeps all of your body warmth to your body. Want an example?

This is AJ just after he'd gotten himself settled in his swag.

On this night, given how cold it was, I was quick to pull the lid over my head, so this is me all curled up in my swag.

In a fairly short amount of time, warmth took over my body, and I fell into a deep sleep. At some point, very early on, I woke up with a need to pee, but there was no way I was getting out of the swag and into the cold to make my way to the toilets in the dark. So, I was able to get myself back to sleep, and before I knew it, I woke to the rustling sounds of other people already up and about. I peeked my head out of the swag to see AJ just getting up himself. I knew, even though it was still completely dark outside, it was time to get up. So, I rolled my swag (and had AJ give me a little help with it), threw it back in the shed, got dressed and headed to the kitchen for some breakfast. Before I could barely blink, we were jumping back on the bus and making our way to the sunrise point overlooking Uluru. It was still dreadfully cold, so it was almost painful to be standing there, waiting for the sun to make an appearance, but I was able to endure. Again, the color of the rock came to life once the sun was on it. Definitely a beautiful sight to see!

Once the sun was out, we headed off to the base of the rock. We all piled out of the bus and began an easy hike around the perimeter, a trek that is almost 10 km in length. Fortunately, it was all flat and we had two hours to do it, so there was no rush. AJ and I made our way around the rock, enjoying the scenery and lamenting about how much walking we'd done since coming to Australia. And once the entire group had finished (I'm proud to say that we were the first done!), we headed back to camp one last time for lunch before jumping back on the bus and driving to King's Canyon.

Along our drive, we stopped at a farm where we were able to do a camel ride, if we wanted. Well, of course we wanted! So, AJ and I jumped onto a camel by the name of Mabel and rode into the sunset (well, just around the farm during the sunset, to be exact). AJ says it was beautiful, none the less. And around dinner time, we pulled into camp #2 for the night.

This time, it was AJ's turn to shine in the kitchen. Justine asked for someone to volunteer to make the damper, and AJ was quick to volunteer. What's a damper, you ask? Great question! Apparently, it's a bread that you make and cook in a dutch oven over the campfire. So, AJ rolled up his sleeves and got working with flour and water and herbs to mix up quite the damper dough. In AJ's special way, he had everyone adoring him and his damper-making skills.

Dinner was delicious, especially the damper! After, we again grabbed some warm drinks and gathered around the campfire. Fortunately, it was much warmer that night, so I only needed my fleece (no sweatshirt!) Though we were able to sleep in the next day until 6 a.m., we still headed to bed on the early side to get our rest. And though it was warmer, we still all slept with the lids on our swags because of the dingos in the area. Justine and Erics told us that they more than once woke up to a dingo sniffing around. And as much as I love to share a bed with my parent's dog Dylan, I had no desire to wake up snuggled next to a dingo!

Beware: There's a Punch with that Pouch!

Not many have heard and it needs to be made a bit public, but Kangaroos are not the nicest animal in the world. Some may say have now have a bit fear of them, but once you hear about what they can (and probably will) do; you'll be glad you have been warned.

Kangaroos have been known to attack (and attack at night when know one can suspect it). They also have this toe nail (like a Raptor). It can grab you with its short arms and then cut you from neck to navel with it's claw! Also mother Kangaroos if being chased by a dingo will throw the joey out of her pouch to save her life (mother of the year right there!).

Here's just one of many articles that has been documented on kangaroo attacks!

Jogger dials triple-0 after kangaroo attack
By Mark Buttler
Herald Sun
September 01, 2008 05:32pm

A KANGAROO has inflicted extensive injuries on a man in Melbourne's northwest.

The victim, aged in his 50s, suffered a large gash to the head and other wounds to the chest and hands in the incident, which happened at 1.30pm (AEST).
Ambulance officers treated him at the scene, in Enterprise Drive, Sunbury. He was transferred to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition. Ambulance Victoria paramedic Stephen Weissbacher said the man was not seriously injured in the attack.

"He was jogging near his home when he was attacked by a male kangaroo. He managed to fight the kangaroo off and made his way to a neighbours house who called 000,"Mr Weissbacher said.

chk chk boom

I do well at putting a Damper on things

Who knew that you go to a country on the opposite side of the world, and your whole lifestyle changes? Well you will never believe it, but it's a parallel universe down under. Let's just look at our list of achievements:

Briana and I are true swagpeople by camping under the stars during in the middle of the Red Center (and there were tents as an option, but we knew we were swaggers from teh start).

We have walked so much around cities in Australia, but when we were in the desert. We walked through parts like Heart Attack hill in Kings Canyon, around the largest monolith in the world, and to view sacred spots in the aborigines of the area. However, we did opt against climbing the top of Uluru because we didn't feel it was right.

We are now Outback Culinary Experts: Two of the most talked about foods enjoyed on your tour were prepared by Briana and I. Briana made her famous Way Outback Pasta Salad. I made the traidition and much beloved Damper. What's damper you may ask; well, the short explanation is that it delicious! The long explanation is the following:

Damper is a traditional Australian soda bread prepared by swagmen, drovers and other travelers. It consists of a wheat flour based bread, traditionally baked in the coals of a campfire. Damper is an iconic Australian dish.

Damper was originally developed by stockmen who travelled in remote areas for weeks or months at a time, with only basic rations of flour, sugar and tea, supplemented by whatever meat was available . The basic ingredients of damper were flour, water, salt and sometimes milk. Baking soda could be used for leavening. The damper was normally cooked in the ashes of the camp fire. The ashes were flattened and the damper was placed in there for ten minutes to cook. Following this, the damper was covered with ashes and cooked for another 20 to 30 minutes until the damper sounded hollow when tapped. Alternatively, the damper was cooked in a greased camp oven.

Damper was eaten with dried or cooked meat or golden syrup, also known as "cocky's joy".
Damper is also a popular dish with Indigenous Australians. Aboriginal women had traditionally made bush bread from seasonal grains and nuts, which they cooked in the ashes of fires.

It also became a popular dish for recreational campers and has become available in bakeries. Many variations and recipes exist, some authentic, others using the name to sell a more palatable bread product to the urban public. (THANK YOU WIKIPEDIA)

And we rode a camel!

So those are just some of the highlights from our trip, which has become the Extreme Australia Adventure and will continue in Cairns! No for more fun - Unfortunately no more camels.

chk chk boom!

The Outback

Wow. Where do I begin? I have to much to say and reflect on since my last rambling, and it seems a bit daunting to sit here and try to put it into words right now. But, you know me...I'm always willing to give it a try! ;-)

When last we left off on our little tail of two American kids trudging through Oz, we were in Alice Springs, getting ready for our adventure into the Outback. And, I can give you the short version now...it was definitely an adventure!

After we repacked our bags and put our main luggage in storage at the hostel, we set off for one last meal in Alice. We found ourselves at a little place called Bojangles, where we found that they like to serve everything with fries in central Australia, including lasagna. After enjoying their chocolate indulgence dessert, we headed back for one last night in a bed before swag-time!

At 6 a.m., we waited patiently (with a few other folks from the hostel) for our tour buses to arrive. It turned out, we were the only ones on our bus from our hostel. Six a.m. in Australia this time of year is still quite dark, given that the sun doesn't rise until closer to 7:20, so we stood in the dark, quietly anticipating what the next three days would be like. Our bus showed up, and out popped Justine, our guide for the trip. We threw our bags in the camper, and grabbed some seats. There were only three people on the bus at that point. One was a girl from Jersey by the name of Jen. Phip - she's a Rutgers student, and almost immediately, I could see you rolling your eyes at her. The other girl was Rachel, who is finishing up her gap year and headed back to the UK to start University in the fall. The third person was Erica, another Adventure Tours guide who had been in Tasmania guiding and was getting a refresher on the Alice tours before getting back in the swing of things.

As the bus began to fill and we pulled out of Alice, Justine let us know that our goal was to make it to Uluru/Kata Tjuta National Park by lunch so that we could still do a hike through Kata Tjuta before catching the sunset over Uluru. So, we set off on our five hour drive. Soon into the journey, Justine had us all come to the front of the bus and introduce ourselves to our new "Outback family." I immediately thought of all of my Lancaster peeps (closer than my peeps you are to me) and our bus tour with Graeme through the Highlands. One by one, we all made our way to the front of the bus and explained who we were, where we were from, what we were doing in Australia and what our favorite move is. Our group had two Canadians, five Americans (including us), one Dutch, three Brits, one Czech, one Aussie and five Germans. We ranged from students on Gap year to wanderers on an adventure to parents/grandparents on holiday. Another successful cast for an MTV show!

So, we slowly made our way to the Red Centre. We made a couple of stops along the way to use the toilets, purchase snacks and see the largest echidna in captivity (a massive statue, but still awesome since we haven't seen a real one yet!) We save a large black eagle on the side of the road keeping a keen eye on some road kill. We also saw a pack of wild camels roaming in the bush. I had no idea that Australia was home to about one million wild camels. These animals were brought over years and years ago and have done remarkably well in central Oz. Now, the Middle East is looking to actually bring some camels from Australia because their own numbers aren't so high. Crazy!

One of the stops we made was to collect firewood. So, we pulled off the side of the road, and were all asked to go roaming through the bush to grab large pieces of wood. So, off we went. Along the way, I saw some animal tracks (probably kangaroo) in the red sand, and some animal dung that I'm not quite sure to what it belongs. The good news is I saw no snakes! Once we had brought the firewood to the bus, and Justine had strapped it to the roof of the camper, we were off again to our camp to have lunch.

Something I didn't mention about the tour to Kangaroo Island, which is also true of this tour, is that we are responsible for helping with meals. We chop and mix and barbie. Turns out, AJ and I are both quite good at this, which you'll hear more about later. So, we had our lunch (sandwiches) and then headed out to Kata Tjuta.

Kata Tjuta is a set of large rock formations that were formed over years and years ago (I'm terrible at historical numbers, so hopefully 'years and years' will be sufficient enough for you). Kata Tjuta is the Aboriginal name, but the first European explorerer that saw them called them The Olgas, named for the Spanish queen at the time. Now, it's official name is Kata Tjuta/The Olgas, since the land has recently (within the past twenty years) been given back to the Aboriginals. So, we drove to the base of Kata Tjuta and Justine let us know that during the winter, they typically only hike to the first lookout point because the days are shorter, but the second lookout point it much nicer, so if we were willing to go quickly, she would like us to get to the more rewarding spot. So, off we went. And by off we went, I mean...holy hell we were hoofing it! At first, I was feeling a little bitter because I didn't feel like I was seeing anything because I was too busy trying to find the right foot placing so I didn't fall down the rocks. My bitterness dwindled as I caught my breath and was able to snap a few pictures of the beautiful scenery. And when we were back to the bus (after practically running the 6 km trek), we headed to the sunset lookout point for Uluru.

Much like Kata Tjuta, Uluru has a European name of Ayer's Rock. Uluru is thought to be the world's largest monolith. Because of the iron build up in the sand, it is red, and during different times of the day, looks like different colors. At sunset, it absolutely glows red. It is amazing! So, we had a champagne toast, cheese and crackers as the sunset (and tons of pictures, of course) before heading back to camp for the night. And once that sunset, the cold seriously set in. But more on the nighttime adventures later!