Where is Nemo??

Monday, September 27, 2010

I was the first to get up (awake at 5am??), get packed and get out. I didnt want to get the scraps from brekky and I also didnt want to get left in the island. I got to breakky bf its 7am eat up. I sat there and read my book and when they finally brought the food out it was past 7. Everyone was a bit pissed that they brought the food out late and brought it in on time.

We got on board and were ready to go snorkeling. We went snorkeling at the Hayman Island, blue pearl bay. Snorkeling was easier, no anxiety this time. You could really see some great fish, the coral and anemones were not as good as the last time but the fish were really better.


Here is the place we snorkeled at...







After snorkeling we got back on the boat to go back to Arlie beach while eating on the boat as we drove. I was hopping that we would get better food but it was the same as yesterday, cept instead of soggy rice we had soggy pasta.

The ride back was pleasant. I tried to take a pict of Arlie beach from the water but it didnt do it justice.
Once we got to the shore everyone wished each other goodbye, it was a bit sad knowing that everyone i had meet wouldnt ever meet each other again.

We walked our way back to the man made lagoon and Alyssa and i went for a dip while Anu took a nap.


L: the water

R: the lagoon





We chilled at the lagoon for a bit and then Alyssa and I went to go find showers. Apparently they have outside showers which consisted of a water source on the ourside of a builing. Alyssa had to hold the shower on while I washed my hair, then I did the same for her. She was so embarrassed but no one there would ever see us again.

After that anu needed to find a charger for her phone before getting dinner. We walked heaps until we found a place to put our stuff for a bit. We did that and then walked around some more. We couldnt find an outlet for her so we grabbed dinner, Steak for 12! It was kinda crappy but still good. It was a bit amusing, we walked around the area so much we ran into everyone from our boat. Think about it, i go to a random place and i know more people there than anywhere else in Australia.

After dinner, and a quick mcflurry on the go, we grabbed our stuff from the lockers and made our way to the bus terminal. We had a 6:10pm Bus to Fraiser Island. Getting on the bus we were allowed to sit wherever we wanted so me and Alyssa sat together. I was hoping they would turn a movie on for us as some other people said they had done for them. But no. Our bus driver turned off all the lights in the bus (even disabled the personal reading light) and let us be. Me and Alyssa sat in the dark and talked, we werent about to go to bed at 6pm like everyone else just because it was a little dark. We talked and got hushed at a bit. We stopped somewhere for a pit stop and Alyssa got something to eat. I used the bathroom and when we got on the bus we both went to bed. I slept in an empty set of chairs so I could have more room.

Swimming with the Fishes

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Wake up and get to breakky before our 8am boarding on the boat. Our room was the last to get to breakky so we got the last of the eggs (and saussages if you eat them). Everyone moved to the boat and it was pouring rain. : ( we were hoping it would clear up but in case it didnt i was still going to give it a go when snorkeling (i paid for it, i wanna do it even if im frozen).

Everyone sat inside the cabin until the sun started to come out and then some of us moved to the deck, drank goon or beer and relaxed. When we got to our first destination: Border island, for some snorkeling!!! the weather had completely cleared. Here is where we snorkled.










We were told before we went in the water what the signs and signals are for if you are ok, see nemo, or are in trouble. We were also informed that since its not bluey/stinger season we didnt have to wear our sting suits but seeing as how someone got stung last week it might be a good idea. Me and Alyssa opted to wear them, mostly for me to cover up my horrid burns (kinda embarrassing).


I think we look pretty hot personally.....







I jumped in the water instead of sliding in or taking the boat to the snorkeling spot because I was planning on swimming there. Let me tell you, this did not happen. The cold water was such a shock to my body and I am so out of shape that I climbed right back up to the boat and took the motor boat to the snorkel spot. I sooo need to work out when i get home.

Once I got dropped off by the boat in the specific place for snorkeling I had a bit of a panic. I think i had excited myself so much about being in the GBR that I panicked when I went to breath out of the mouthpiece with my face in the water. The first time i ever snorkeled I was totally cool, idk what happened. I told myself to shut up and do it, cuz im paying for it, and then all went well.

Anwyay. the snorkeling was good, there were some nice corals to see and anemones. It was different from when I snorkeling in Puerto Rico which was much more shallow and more plentiful of both fish and coral and much more bright. I was almost a bit disapointed with the GBR bc it was soo deep (i thought swimming closer to the shore would help but it only turned into rocks), hardly any fish, and not so colorful. Every once in a while I would hold my breath and try to swim as far down as I could but I kept floating up and could only dive down so far.

Once we got done with snorkeling we had lunch and relaxed on the boat. Lunch was total crap; sandwhiches (the only tolerable part) with odd veggies and soggy rice and a cold leg of chicken. god awful!

I was still burnt so I tried to keep my towel on as much as possible, and i had a tankini on which helped. Seriously, it looked like I had a skin birth defect bc it was so blotchy and ish.

Our next stop was Whitehaven Beach... i swear this is the beach where angels are born.
We got off the boat and went to an overlook first. soooo beautiful.







There was a tour going on and I over heard her say that the patterns made by the sand in the water change all the time with the currents, you could come here one day and back the next and it wont look the same. Being here just for a couple of hours has proved that not only is this true but the patterns change even as you stay the day.

She also mentioned that the island in the left image is Esk Island, home to a majority of the poisonous snakes in australia. This is comforting knowing that they arent really too many in vicotoria but it makes me wonder if they swim from Esk to this island and are also here??

L: Image of a piece of the group. C: Alyssa, Anu and I, R me (please note how friggin red my legs are, haha)










After the lookout point we walked down to the beach to touch the sand that is such a phenomenon of the island. The 99% silica sand is created by water churning at quarts underneath the island. This island has the highest percent of silica sand and therefore I guess it would be the whitest beach out there? Since the sand is a natural wonderful phenomenon (and makes it one of the top 5 beaches in the world) they dont encourage removing sand for any purposes. However, at one point NASA was given permission to use the sand in making something or other. The sand is good for polishing jewlery, but super bad for you camera bc i is so small.

The sand was kinda like snow. You sank really far in it in some places and other places you walked on top of it. Once you got in the water, unlike normal, you could look down and see your feet from waste deep in the water. Kinda amazing.

I walked the beach a bit until I got to where my roomates were out in the water. Decided to go out to where they were. I got so far and then Claudia started coming in and so I stayed where I was while I waited for her. I was up to my neck at this point, barely touching the floor. Claudia shouted to me that she was having problems reaching me. I tried walking in to the shore and I realized I was being pulled out. I felt down to my thigh and you could feel the current pulling me. It was extremely scary knowing that the water was almost more powerful than myself and there were no lifeguards to save us. A good bit of work later I somehow made it back on land, not really sure how. It was kinda an amazing feeling. Ana was still out there and she was so far away that we werent sure if she was ok or not. A good bit of worrying later and she made her way to claudia and me on the shore.

Alyssa came over and asked where I had been this whole time. We filled her in on what happened. Apparently the strong current was only where we were, she was swimming a couple of yards down and was fine. We took some quick photos (which anu has on her camera and doesnt want to surrender) and then had to walk back to our boat on the other side of the island.

We got back to the Island where we were staying just in time for a quick shower and dinner. They had another theme for the night, jungle fever. They gave you a piece of fabric and you could paint it how you liked. We decided that since we dressed up for the last one we didnt need to wear a piece of cloth and pretend to be from the jungle.

Images of our accommodation and the boat we were on.









Image from our balcony out at the water at sunset.


Instead of spending time getting dressed we had drinks, the lasts of the wine people had brought for the boat. 3 drinks in and I could feel the goon.

Dinner was ok, breaded chicken, pototates, crappy pasta etc. We ate and then our skipper wanted us to stay around for some drinking games. We played two games: 1)skull your beer or snake bite and then pass a string through your clothes. 2) skull your beer or snake bite and then put a coin btwn your butt cheeks and then try and walk and then drop it in a bucket. There were two teams and you played for your team to win the fastest. It was fun and I was a tad bit drunk after that.

Once we were done with the games everyone dispersed to party and drink and be merry with all the other guests on the island. These guests were a bit different from last nights. Not as rowdy, but very loud and proud. take a look for yourself!


Some dancing on the dance floor and a bit of talking to the irish group on our trip and then bed at about 1. I got back to our living place and everyone was chatting, two guys decided to go skinny dipping and then I had to go to sleep if I ever wanted to wake up to catch our boat the next day.

Im On A Boat!!!!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

On the bus I got my own set of seats. That is until I arrived somwhere, probably in the middle of nowhere, when the bus driver "cracked the shits" at us for not already being awake and alert to move from one bus to another. He yelled at us and I feel like the whole bus woke up, in a daze, as if maybe something serious was wrong (fire? woman giving birth? Swarm of angry crocs attacking the bus?). No, just angry bus man yelling for us to "get off the bus if you ever want to arrive at your destination".

The second bus I shared seats with some chick and had to sleep upright. We arrived in Arlie Beach around 11 not to sail ship till 2pm. In order to get to the docks we had to walk what seemed like ages with all our shit (turns out its just a bit over a mile, however it was really hot and I was carrying 20 lbs on my back).

We got to the area we were supposed to be but we couldnt figure out where we were supposed to meet (granit it was like 2 hours bf we had to officially be there but still). Alyssa and I asking some questions figured it out and sat down to eat a chicken pie and carrot cake for lunch. We made friends with some germans as we sat and waited.

At around 130 this huge bunch of ppl in coconut bras and grass skirts (and im talking about the guys) rocked up to where we were supposed to meet in 30minutes. They were mad rowdy and crazy and I was kinda hoping that we werent on the same boat. Well 30 min later and they are still where we are supposed to meet. It turns out they were there to have a party on our island for the night, taking our boat with us. At least we only had to have them for the one day.

We dragged all our ish to the inside of the boat and then was introduced to the crew; we have james the skipper, Karsten the first mate, and elin the hostess. On the boat we were allowed to byo but no glass. On the island we were only allowed to buy drinks. I figured I would just buy at the island but it might have been smart to bring a cask of goon or smuggle a bottle. idk.

It took about two hours to sail out to our island, south molle island.
This is the island.

We relaxed on the boat as we road the waters. It reminds me of a song that was big, Im on a boat. When we got to the island we had to figure out who we wanted to share rooms with. I was in a room with Anu, Alyssa, Ana (from mexico) and Claudia (from chili). Both girls turned out to be super sweet and fun. We got our keys, stinger suite, and snorkel head set and went to our room to unpack. We were supposed to meet up if we wanted to go on an Aboriginal bush walk of the island but it started to rain so everyone nixed it. Instead the group went to nap, I showered (it had been forever it felt like), and then did some reading. It was then time to get everyone up and get ready for dinner. We were given three trash bags to make an outfit for the night so we quickly made some dresses out of them. We then went down to dinner.



They had steak, potatoes, and rice. the steak was decent and the potatoes ok, the rice was shit. I kinda expected more. Next to the group at the bar the group was playing beer pong. Once we were done eating everyone went over to join. There was a mad beer pong game that went off. Poms vs Aussies. The first game was good fun, the second game was worth 50$. Poms won the first one and then lost the most important game. Totally hilarious. The amusing part was how horrible they were at the rules. The couldnt keep their elbows off, kept re-arranging the cups after the 2 rule, didnt do bounce backs, etc. I had a vodka sunrise and chatted with some people in our group (most ppl are from ireland, along with some poms, french). Went to bed around 12 and when I tried to call Briana like I had promised I was told that I could only make emergency phone calls. I figured I was out of credit on my phone so I tried Alyssas. Hers gave me the same thing. We both figured we were out of credit bc we both had one bar if you stood in a certain way in the bathroom. Had to go to bed not wishing her luck... : (

Port Douglas Beach Bum

Friday, September 24, 2010

Woke up at the hostel and Alyssa had already left to go on her skydiving excursion. Anu was pissed as hell at my alarm going off so many times but thats just how i wake up. We got ready real fast and then put our stuff in storage for the day and checked out. I went down for breakfast bf this and got two bowls of cereal in a bowl that looked like it was cleaned by a 5 year old. It was madddd gross.

Anyway we checked out and split ways; anu wanted to get an expensive brunch and i wanted to hit up the beach.

The beach was fantastic, warm, dry sand, people everywhere. I rang Briana bc i tried the night bf but she was sleeping. We talked for a good while and it was so nice to hear her voice. I promised I would call her before she left the country in two days. I then took a nap, swam in the wonderful water and then read a bit and then nap again.
Here are some photos of the beach.










Somewhere during this time anu came over and talked about how wonderful her brunch was, carrot cake, calamari, and tea. (haha like i could afford that!). She then left to do something or other and I went back to whatever I was doing. At around 5 she came back again and we sat for a bit before packing up again and heading back to the hostel to shower and get ready for the bus trip ahead of us. I had definitely gotten burnt even though i put on lotion. thank god i had brought cocoa butter!!

Parrot Fish didnt mind us using their showers even though we had checked out which was a godsend. I must say, PFish was the nicest hostel we stayed at (and most expensive at 30$) but I didnt really enjoy it as much at Njoy. The relaxed, open atmosphere of njoy was way better than the cold service and people we were experiencing here. And seeing as how they ran out of tea and had dirty dishes I wasnt so pleased with the fish.

After showers we locked our stuff up again and then went to grab me some food. I got myself a delish Kabob.

*****Culture Note: They have the idea of the gyro here, meat (lamb preferred), with toppings like lettuce, tomato, onion, and sauce. However, they do not call it a gyro, its a kabob. Kabobs in America is meat and veggies on a stick which in australia is called souvlaki ( i believe). And they dont called the greek sauce cucumber sauce, rather it is tzutziki. the things we dont know*****

After eating we went back to PFish to grab our stuff, and a bag Alyssa left us, and headed to the train station. Anu was having an issue of losing her ticket so she called home, woke her parents up and tried to convey what she wanted. We got to where we were told to go but didnt know where the bus was supposed to meet us. I walked around forever trying to find it until I realized that even though we booked with greyhound, the name on the ticket was different and found the terminal with that name. The bus picked us up at 8pm along with some others and an hour and a half arrived at the Cairns terminal.

We called Alyssa to find each other and I got ready for bed, ie put my pj pants over my sofie shorts and put my slippers on. The three of us waited on a bench at the marina till 11:30pm (2 hours!) exchanging stories of the day and then decided to go find our next bus. We got our luggage loaded on and then tried to fall asleep. I was beginning to feel the pain of my burn.....

Mouse hunter goes Croc hunting

Thursday, September 23, 2010


Woke up to get to breakfast at 9 and checkout at 10. We had till 2pm and we were supposed to meet Nick if he decided to come. We waited, and waited. He didnt show. Bugger.

So instead we went down to the beach and took a walk. You couldnt really go swimming bc we were near the great barrier reef and if you went off into the water, at some points you were standing on reef (which really hurts) and you cant see it to avoid it. So we just went up to our knees and then sat in the sand as the water rushed over us. It was pretty great.












These are just some pix from the beach we were on. We also found a little stream which we tried to follow but was too difficult.








At 1:30 we went to meet the bus. Getting on the bus there were some of the people we had meet yesterday. We went to go pick up the day trippers for that day and they were all different people. They had been dropped off at a beach so we had a few minutes to look at the beach and the area before getting on the bus again.



L->R: Stinger sign. Lizard if you can find him. Umm it kinda looks like a chicken mixed with a pigeon, not really sure what it is tho.


We jumped on the bus and were taken to The Daintree Ice Cream Company where they sold home made ice cream from australia fruits that they grew. They have four flavors each day which vary and you can get all four for 5$.
Mine had Soursop, Wattlesead, Banana, and Raspberry. Soursop tastes a bit like lemon, and wattlesead is a bit like coffee flavour.
After getting our ice cream we were back on the bus again to get to the river to go on a Croc Hunt!!!! We got in a boat to hunt down crocodiles in a river that is famous for its crocs. (short story: someone left their kids to play in their backyard bordering the river and one of the kids went in the water got eaten by a croc as his brother watched. The family got sympathy money and took it to travel Asia, now thats f*^&ed up). We were able to see two crocs a male (L) and a female (R)








We also boated by an island called Pig Island where they have feral pigs running around and getting eaten by crocs when they get too close to the water. Idk if you know, but there is a song called Pig Island. just fyi

After seeing some crocs we had tea that was harvested in the Daintree rainforest. "daintree tea". It was actually very good, which is surprising because I dont typically enjoy tea. Maybe I liked it bc there was a good bit of sugar in it. They had a magnificent collection of bugs there too.
















This was our last stop before going on to Port Douglas. Most people were going back to Cairns but we had decided to stay a night at Port Douglas so that we could have a day at the beach.

Our tour guide decided to give us a bit of a drive around P.Doug before dropping us off at our hostel, Parrot Fish.

Port Douglas was originally established to be a gold mining town for gold found in the Hodgkins River. Cairns was also established to around this time but Port Douglas beat it as a port for gold and tin. However in 1885 the railway met with Cairns instead of PDoug and Cairns became the more popular port. Later on the Cook Highway was built which linked Cairns with Mossman, Port Douglas was bypassed.
Port Douglas has become a rich town, so wealthy that it imported palm trees from Africa for a very high price. Famous individuals who live and visit PDoug include Prez Clinton, Matthew Mcconaughey, Angelina Joli and Brad Pitt.

Getting dropped off at our hostel we got checked in and found our rooms. I took a shower as Alyssa went down to the kitchen to grab some free grub. As Alyssa showered I went down to grab some. When I got down there they had run out. Not pleased. We waited for Alyssa to finish her shower and then went down to the bar to get our complimentary Champagne. We then decided to take a walk around the town and catch some grub. Walking around a bit we finally found a restaurant that pleased Anu. I didnt really feel like buying a big helping of food (i was a bit pissed off that Parrot fish ran out) and I couldnt afford anything on the menu besides some frenchfries anyway. Anu got lamb chops on mash with terrimesu for dessert.

We went to bed after this, we were all bushed.

Cape Trib

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Got up early (aka 6am) to be ready for pickup at 7 from Njoy to go on our overnight trip of Cape tribulation the Daintree Mountains.

The bus came and I was hopping to get some sleep on the way up and then realized, i didnt just pay heaps of money for this trip to sleep. Ill sleep when im dead or back in the States (whichever comes first, hahaha). So I sat with Alyssa and chatted until everyone was on the bus and then the driver made us get to know each other.

First we drove to our first hiking spot at the Mossman Gorge which originally belonged to the Kuku Yalanji Tribe. Before going on the walk by ourselves (the bus driver didnt feel like coming I guess) we were told to watch out for Casowaires and Stinging Trees (L); "Avoid stinging trees. These plants are found at rainforest edges. They grow to approximately 3-4 metres high and have large, heart-shaped leaves with serrated edges. DO NOT TOUCH these plants as it will almost certainly result in a very painful sting. If you are stung, seek medical advice."

I really wanted to see one, just see one. But i wasnt really sure how to tell them from all the other foliage in the forest and I wasnt about to stick my finger on each plant I saw.

Here is some of what we saw on the hike.....









This is a super sweet as tree and is called a Strangler fig Tree. A seed is dropped and lands in a nook of another tree. These seedlings grow their roots downward and envelop the host tree while also growing upward to reach into the sunlight zone above the canopy. In the end the strangler covers so much of the original tree that the original cant get at the nutrients it needs and dies/ disapears so that it makes a really cool pattern.





















We were told we only had like an hour so after we saw where we could go swimming (didnt take a photo or go in, way to cold), checked out the cool over looks on the river and walked the suspension bridge we had to head back to the bus.

On the way back to the bus I ran into what looked like a very knowledgeable man. I was on a search for a Buff Breasted Paradise King Fisher and I thought I would ask him if there are any around these parts. This bird is my brothers most favoritest animal ever and they are only really found in Queensland. He said that there werent really any at the Daintree forest but I might be able to see some when I go more north.

On my way to the bus I also found some cool looking plant called the Wait a While.
Wait-a While characteristics:

• Clumps are formed from a gathering of a few stems which develop in chaotic tangles of twenty to one hundred metre long canes.
• The older smooth canes can be used for weaving, tying and construction purposes.
• The stems have compound leaves which also have prickles that protrude vertically on the leaf edges and stalk.
• These hooked stems are known to catch on to people's clothing, giving it the common names - Wait-a-While, or Lawyer Vine.

It sure is mad nasty looking.

I finally got on the bus and we drove to our second destination, a zoo. : ) god how i love zoos











L->R: Parrot I made friends with, Huntsman spider which was like three inches or more, flying squirrels i think?









L -> R: Parrots, boy and girl. Some animal I have no clue. Female Kanga with baby in pouch. She was really enjoying the rub down I was giving her neck.











L -> R: Iguana, Boa Constrictor, Lizard (yes there is a head if you can find it)












L-> R: Emu eggs, Bugs bugs bugs

There were heaps more animals (like crocs and castuaries etc) but Ive taken a bunch of animal photos on my trip in sydney so I didnt want to use of my camera storage with the same animals again.

After the Daintree Zoo we got back on the bus and drove to a fantastic outlook called Walu Wugirriga (aka "look about" in Indigenous). It was great because you could look at the map of what you were supposed to be seeing and then look up and there it is!

It was a bit cloudy so all you could really see was: Alexander foothills, snapper island, Murray Prior Ridges, Daintree River. There was a bit more that you could see being there but it didnt really capture on camera bc it was so faint.


More pix from the lookout area.

Center is a Palm Fan- Indigenous people use it to tell when a strong storm (ie hurricain) was coming because when the wind got above a certain knot then the fan would close.









L: this is a giant fern called a king fern. just fyi







After chilling at the lookout for a bit we got back in the bus and on the road again. We took a moment to draw in one of the most famous graffiti. This sign is of a Cassowary says at the top, "Chill out, not flat out" (its chopped off in my pic). It was a speed bump sign that was converted to bring awareness of ppl hitting cassowaries on the road. The artist wanted to copy right his work but well you cant copy right something that is graffiti and not supposed to be there in the first place. People have then put it on t-shirts and all sorts of stuff.
We stopped off at our last stop for the overnighters and went on another walk.




L->R: A Strangler tree. A fern Basket. A Walking Tree that will actually move after a while to better lighted area or water.

L: cool trees and their roots, the roots are amazing.



R: The original species of Eucalyptus. Eucalyptus are super big in Australia, being one of the most plentiful types of trees. On this one you can see the fruit.





After this the day trippers were dropped off to have lunch and us overnighters were brought to our accommodations. We got in and was starved. It was 2pm and we hadnt eaten at all. The place we stayed was closed from 2-230 in the kitchen so we waited in anticipation as our stomachs ate us. Finally we got lunch (delish sandwich) and then went to the beach. I put my towel down in the sand like is typical and walked around in the water a bit. I then came back to my towel and it was soaking wet! apparently the sand was really wet and just laying on it it was drenched. I decided I would just lay on it anyway and read my book. It was about 5is when I packed up my drenched towel and book and me and Alyssa headed back. I decided to take a shower bf dinner and she worked on some journaling, anu was napping inside.


At about 630 we went to dinner at the lodging. There really wasnt anything around us so we had to eat there. I had a good bowl of pasta and afterwards I grabbed some randoms (two boys who were from italy and england) and we played monopoly until anu wanted to go to bed. Alyssa won. I really didnt want to pack it in yet so I went to the tables outside our cabin and started working on writting postcards. Alyssa came and joined me.

I had made friends with one of the guys who worked in the kitchen here, Nick, and as he was walking from the kitchen he stopped and had a chat with us. A chat turned into a long as talk that went on until 2 am. It was really fun talking with him, getting yelled at for being to loud, seeing more hunstman spiders, and drawing in my planner. He made me a nice little page...
Take note of the cute hearts around my name :) lol
He told us that he would try and wake up in the morning bf our bus came at 2pm and he would take us to some amazing watering holes that you had to drive too. Totally excited, and i figured we had a good chance that he would come back to get us seeing as how he seemed to like me.