Hellooooo New Zealand!

We flew into Christchurch, NZ without a single plan in place for the week ahead. So exciting. New Zealand is absolutely beautiful. It’s autumn here and the leaves have all turned to brilliant shades of red, yellow, and orange. Christchurch is a very historic city, with brick streets, a trolley, and old architecture.

Liam, Jono, and Daryl (left to right) picked us up in a graffitied campervan that afternoon in the center of the city. CJ and I checked into a hostel and then our roadtrip crew went out for a night on the town. We ate supper at a really unique Mexican restaurant and then found a tiny Irish pub with live music.

In the morning, we set out to explore the surrounding towns, but as Jono and Liam claimed, “Kiwis are lazy” and nothing was open before 10am. (“kiwi” is a term for New Zealanders… named after the Kiwi bird) Due to Kiwi laziness, we returned to Christchurch and ate lunch at a vegetarian Indian restaurant with Liam. I was pleasantly surprised -my scrambled eggs were very good, which Liam says means they came from a very happy chicken. We spent the rest of the morning wandering around the city, which has several boutiques and gift shops. CJ and I took a trolley ride/tour of the city, which I really enjoyed. We saw a large Mauri tribe singing and dancing for tourists outside one store. The Mauris are native New Zealanders… the women have scary tattoos on their faces and are apparently known to pick fights with and thrash grown men. They looked absolutely terrifying but they had beautiful voices and drew quite a crowd.

The highlight of the afternoon was a gondola ride we took on the river through Christchurch. Daryl convinced the lady rowing to let him try… it wasn’t quite as easy as he thought and we nearly crashed into the bank. From there, we all piled into the campervan and began our 8hr road trip southwest toward Queenstown, NZ.

Sydney

After our school-free week on the Gold Coast, we headed off to Sydney. We took a quick flight down to Australia’s most famous city. Right when we arrived, we realized it was famous for good reason. We could have been in any country in the world for all we knew. The streets are busy, and full of people from all corners of the world. Molly and I found a hostel called Base right in the middle of the city. Base is a clean and efficient hostel, and it ended up being a staple of our journey. Our first afternoon in Sydney was spent walking around the city and finding out just where everything was. We came back to the hostel around 6:30pm and passed out on our surprisingly comfy beds. 14 hours later we woke up ready to explore Sydney by foot. Sydney harbor was first on our list. Along the harbor walk way we heard many street performers. Our favorite was Graham Francis, an 80 year old Australian version of Bob Dylan. He played a miniature guitar and harmonica at the same time. He sang old Australian folk songs and some others that he wrote. We sat and listened to him for a while. I loved it!!!

After watching the last street performer almost fall from his 12 foot unicycle, we walked around the city looking in random little shops. For lunch we got McDonalds to have on a picnic under an ancient tree at the Sydney Botanical Gardens. We were surrounded by dozens of very large white parrots. Molly decided tochase after them running barefoot, stepping in bird poop in the process. Kiiiiinda gross.

After lunch we found an art fair that wasn't much different than our local Minnesota art fairs. After mingling through the fair, we enjoyed a relaxing walk through the old European part of town.

When evening rolled around, I was VERY excited because Molly had planned a big surprise date weeks in advance. She walked me to the entrance of the Sydney Opera house, and I was blown away when I found out we were going to a concert! The show was called Scotland the Brave. There was a small orchestra, a large choir, many bagpipe players, and Scottish dancers. The music gave me the chills. I absolutely loved it. It was good enough for even a Norwegian to enjoy :)

The next morning we left the Sydney airport for Christchurch. Ready for a new adventure.

Fraser Island

The week before our final exams was a class-free week, so we decided we had to go on an adventure. We heard Fraser Island was a “can’t miss,” so with high expectations, we booked a 2-day trip. An ex-professional rugby player picked us up at 5:30am from uni and drove us up to Brisbane. In Brisbane we packed into a vintage 1980s Landcruiser (equipped with a snorkel.) aka Bushwhacker!!!

Our crew consisted of an awkward German couple, two Canadian-Indian girls and a friendly Aussie tourguide. Driving to the island was a crazy experience in itself. Just think about a time in your life when you drove over a huge pot-hole that made your head hit the ceiling of your car. We basically drove over one of those every couple seconds through many miles of endless rainforest (Molly loved the sensation of having her stomach in her throat.) Yes, it was lovely. After the off-road driving came beach driving. We drove for hundreds of miles on the beautiful hilly beach going about 70mph, right along the water. - best highway I’ve ever been on.

We took a fairy across a bay where the world’s biggest Great White shark was caught. We stopped at an old shipwreck on the beach and took a bunch of amazing photos. I got in trouble for going inside the ship. Whoops…

After the shipwreck, we did a 2 mile barefoot walk through the rainforest to the middle of the island, where we came across an epic dessert and freshwater lake. Our tour guide believed that the place had “good energy.” We agreed with him.

Just before sundown, we arrived at our hostel right on the beach. The whole area was literally infested with thousands of parrots. We felt like we were in the movie “The Birds.” It was nuts. Our relaxing night came to a bittersweet end after the awkward German couple beat us in pool.

Our second day on Fraser Island was one of the most relaxing days of my life. We were taken to a freshwater lake that was so clear and pure you could drink from it on its shore. It was the clearest lake I had ever seen, simply breathtaking. Don’t worry, we got some great photos. We spent a lot of time at the lake, playing catch with my super popular glow in the dark American football. Meanwhile, the awkward German couple soaked up the sun, looking very attractive in a speedo and bikini. Oh dear.

After the lake we went on a couple nature walks through the forests where they used to log these HUGE trees for wood flooring. They stopped logging the trees in the middle of the century, not for environmental reasons, but because of the rise in the popularity of high-heel shoes.

During our nature walks we came across dingos. We thought they were very cute dogs and they appeared to be pretty tame.We were proven dead wrong after hearing about a 12 yr old boy that recently got eaten by a pack of them. No worries though. I protected Molly from the packs of wild dingos. Overall, Fraser Island was incredible. It blew our expectations out of the water. If you want a good glimpse of our Fraser experience, look at our photos on Facebook. :)

Moreton Island

When traveling in a foreign country, should someone offer to take you out on his yacht to a beautiful island for the weekend, your answer should be simple. Heck yes.

On one of the most memorable weekends here in Australia, we went to our friend Jono’s parents’ house in Cleveland, not too far from Brisbane. They live in beautiful Raby Bay, which is about an hour boat ride from Moreton Island, an Australian must-see. In addition to living in a neighborhood much like Newport from the O.C., Jono’s parents own a 50ft boat, which we went out to sea in for the weekend. The boat sleeps 8, but most of us ended up sleeping on the upper deck beneath the stars. It was miraculous. The only issue we ran into was a giant bat swooping down at Liam and our Indian friend Daryl in the middle of the night. I’m quite sure Daryl’s screaming woke up the neighborhood in its entirety.

After a less than peaceful night for some, we woke up at 5am to set sail into the sunrise. Jono’s parents were incredibly hospitable, and served us snacks, lunch, and cider during our journey. Although it’s my dream to sail around the world, unfortunately my sea legs haven’t quite developed and I got pretty seasick on the way to Moreton. It took an hour to sleep it off, during which I apparently missed more than 30 dolphins swimming around the boat… drat.

Once we finally arrived, we anchored ship and took the dinghy (baby motor boat) out to a giant manmade shipwreck by the island. Jono’s dad said it was made to create a reef for marine life and to attract tourism. It worked. There were many boats and snorkelers in the area taking advantage of the beautiful weather and epic scenery. We went snorkeling around the shipwreck and saw oodles of tropical fish and coral. I was scared spitless when one of the girls spotted a stingray, which naturally Jono provoked, causing it glide toward us. Here’s my rationale: If the croc hunter Steve Irwin can’t handle a stingray, there’s no way I was about to take one on. Luckily, I think the ruckus I made was enough to scare him away. After snorkeling, we beached the dinghy on shore and played cricket on the beach. I’m a pretty lousy cricketer and won’t bank on being recruited any time soon. The rest of the afternoon was spent diving off the top deck of the boat, swimming in the electric blue water, and soaking up the sun.

After checking out trips in the travel center at Bond, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that Moreton Island tours cost more than $300, one expense we were happy to avoid.

Busy, Brizzy and Owl City

First off, I want to apologize to all of you readers out there. We have neglected you this month, but we will try make it up to you : )

We have been extremely busy with uni the last few weeks. Our schoolwork has been excessive and stressful, but we’ve still made time for fun and memorable experiences. Here’s a list of things we have learned in the last 20 days:

-Journalism sucks

-Don’t buy DVDs in foreign countries

-Owl City = The Beatles + Michael Jackson (when he was black)

-Bats still suck

-Molly wants a segway REAL BAD --> who doesn't??

-Australia makes Seattle look like a desert

-Journalism sucks

-Don’t mess with cyclones

The biggest highlight from the last few weeks was the Owl City concert we went to in Brisbane (Brizzy). One week before the concert, we found out tickets were sold out. Thank goodness we have a friend who is a rockstar…Molly got in contact with our friend Matt Decker, who is the drummer for Owl City, and he effortlessly put us on the guest list. Out of fear of driving into a heard of kangaroos on the wrong side of the road, we took a 2-hour train up to Brisbane. The concert was at the Tivoli Theatre, a unique and intimate venue built probably 100 years ago.

The line to get into the show must have been a kilometer long… About 85 percent girls… Average age-14 years old. Event coordinators told us they had been standing in line since noon (it was 6:30). We felt like we were about to watch the Beatles in 1964. The show was amazing. Each song sounded better live. The leader of Owl City, Adam, had a mustache that even the Monopoly man would envy. After the show we hung out with Matt and walked around the city.

We explored Brisbane the next day, walking aimlessly around the shopping district and China-town. It was a beautiful day, except when it started raining sideways, blowing grass clippings from every yard from the city in our faces. --> ahem, the grass clippings came from a weed whacker...we were walking right behind him during the wind storm. Brisbane was a beautiful city and we hope to get a proper tour from Liam or Jono soon.

The pic below is of an all-girl school. The girls reminded me of Madeline (anyone remember that cartoon?).

Over the last couple months Molly has found a few good deals on DVDs that she was really excited about. --> Fox & the Hound, Super Troopers, House Bunny...(alex ;) As it turns out, DVD players are ‘regionized’ and you can’t play foreign movies on them. Awesome. What this means is that when we pop in our favorite psychological thriller from the US into my rented Australian DVD player, it plays the whole thing in fuzzy black and white. Like Molly’s dated apartment, I guessed we’ve gone retro with our entertainment. Lovely expression below perfectly describes us being lost in Brisbane and my feelings toward DVD 'regionizing'. When we take over the world, first item on the agenda: Free the DVDs from their region captivity!

The weather has been frustrating to say the least. According to the weather news, we have only had two days without rain in the last month. It hasn’t been raining constantly though… We are often teased with sun and 80+ temps then minutes later it will be windy and pouring rain. The beach hasn’t been too tempting lately, with crazy cyclones tearing up the ocean. Molly wasn’t too psyched about me going surfing after a surf lifesaver got killed in the rough waves the previous weekend. I didn’t go…it was a good call. I'm so very wise :)

Despite busyness, cyclones, weed clippings, and journalism taking form of the anti-Christ, it's been a good month. We're in the process of planning a trip to New Zealand after final exams are over! Love you all and thanks for reading!

Moms, Tsunamis, and Salsa

Another week has flown by and our moms (and grandma) have returned safely to Minnesota. Last week, Joyce, Brenda and Donna went north to Cains, where they got to experience the rainforest and see the Great Barrier Reef. I heard mom picked a fight with a pelican at the zoo - I didn't ask, but I'm assuming she won.

On Friday, we decided to drive up the mountain to see the Natural Bridge and glow worms. It had been raining basically all week, and this day was no different. The next day, we all woke up early and spent the morning at the beach, then drove south into New South Wales with a couple of our Aussie friends to shop in Byron Bay. We took the most epic hike through a mountain and stood on the most easternly tip of Australia, where we could see the ocean from either side (I think this means we were closer to home from the other side of the globe) So incredibly beautiful!

On an exciting note, Australia is now on tsunami watch! We were with the moms at the Sheraton hotel when the Australian government posted signs about the beach being closed. We didn't think they meant it, but then sure enough, we saw police jeeps scaling the beach, kicking people off. Crazy.

Now we've sent the mom's off and are back to routine. CJ and I joined a salsa club a few weeks ago and are taking dance lessons every Monday night. It's really fun-- we're planning on going dancing this Friday at QBar, which is the tallest skyscraper on the Gold Coast and has a 360 degree view of the city and the ocean. In the meantime, CJ's been brushing up on his 'Jose' alter-ego and Mexican accent.

It's been raining like crazy here the last couple of weeks... I'm still appreciating the warmth, but I'd be happy for some sunshine pretty soon.

Mumsies

Our moms and CJ's grandma arrived here last Friday for a visit! They rented a car, which has perhaps been a little more of an adventure than they bargained for, but I'm proud to say they and the car are scratch-free and they're handling it like champs! As for me, I think I'll pass on driving on the left side of the road from the right side of the car. I can barely parallel park as it is....

On their first night here, we gave them apartment tours and showed them around Bond campus. They didn't get much sleep on the 14 hour flight, so we drove Brenda and Donna back to their hotel, and mom and I came back to my place to crash. The next morning we went to a huge surfing competition, which CJ had been at days prior for his journalism internship. It was amazing; we were sitting on a grassy hill right by the beach, watching the world's best surfers compete. Dad, you'd be happy to know that the competition was sponsored by a flavored milk company. :) We then went back to the Sheraton for lunch and for a walk on Main beach. CJ, Mom, and I took a swim in the ocean, which scoffed at Mom's intention of "keeping her hair dry," with the huge waves and undertow doing their best to knock us over.

We went to a Presbyterian church on Sunday morning, which had a really traditional service, with its congregation's median age at about 70. We had another afternoon at the beach in store for us and enjoyed a relaxed Italian dinner at Broadbeach before we called it a night.

Weekend Retreat & Valentines Day

This past weekend we went with the Christian group here (BCC) on a retreat up in the mountains. We stayed 2 nights at a camp the valley, with gorgeous mountains towering over on either side. We played an outdoor game the first night and had the following day jam-packed full of activities. CJ started Saturday out with a 5am shower in a nearby waterfall with some of his cabinmates. I was spared and got to sleep in. We had a couple good Bible studies during the day and drove to the national park we were at earlier this month (glow worms!) to see the Natural Bridge and surrounding rain forest in the daylight.

The best part of the retreat was a hike I took with CJ, Liam and some of the other BCC guys to a river valley close to camp. If you've seen Avatar, the epic scenery by the river reminded me of the colorful planet, alive with exotic plants and killer insects. At this part of the river, the current was slow, so we could hop from rock to rock and wade in the river pools. It was great-- I felt like a wild, shoeless jungle child. We then reached the river's waterfall. It was amazing to stand on the rocks, lean forward and peer over the edge of the waterfall. On our walk back up upstream, I was so kindly reminded that nature still hates me. I was stung on the foot by who knows what insect, but other than a nasty sting and a bit of swelling, I was fine.

After playing some Olympic games, we had a worship session, during which CJ played guitar, and a sermon from the Bond chaplain. We finished off the evening witha classic game of uno, or "you-no" as they say it. I'm proud to say that CJ and I dominated the Aussies and between us, won each round :)

We got back from the retreat on Valentine's Day. After church, we had lunch on the patio of a little cafe and that evening, CJ had a relaxed picnic on the beach planned, with PB&Js and candles in the sand. It was lovely-- the beach is so peaceful at night! A little more razzle dazzle to match my bling from Christmas also topped off the night quite nicely. :) Life is good.

Surf Lesson with Jono

Our Aussie friend Jono decided he wanted to take us out surfing last Friday morning. In Australia the waves are always the best early morning. We were picked up around 5:30 by Liam in a car that looked like it belonged in the show "the Jetsons." We went to Miami Beach, a surfer's hot spot (even at 6 in the morning.) The waves looked intimidating, but we couldn't wait to get our Australian surfing careers started. Jono only had two surfboards, so he took me out first. I started off on the small waves close to the shore to get my balance and timing down. After catching a few waves Jono convinced me that I was ready for the BIG waves that were further out in the deeper water.... In order to get out there I had to master the "eskimo roll", which involves firmly holding the board to your body while rolling right before the massive wave breaks over you. After some hard paddling and a few eskimo rolls through violent waves, I made it out to the clam ocean. Just talking with Jono while sitting on the surfboard and waiting for the good waves on the beautiful blue water was well worth waking up at 5 am. Jono reminded me that it's extremely important that I always keep my eyes looking out toward the ocean... Unfortunately I found out the hard way why this is the surfer's #1 rule. At one point during my conversation with Jono, I wasn't paying any attention to the ocean at all. He stoped in the middle of our convo and yelled "CJ!" I quickly turned around, only to see half of the ocean in the form of a wave towering over me. It swallowed me up to the top of it, and I suddenly fell from the top of the wave to the bottom of the ocean, throwing me into all sorts of flips and somersaults. When I finally got some air, I heard Jono yelling at me again, and another massive waves bulldozed over me, sending me flying toward the shore. All Jono and I could do was laugh our heads off about how badly the wave destroyed me. He said it was one of the worst "smashes" he's ever seen.

Then it was time for Molly's lesson. Jono took Molly out to the same small waves that I started on. I was put to shame when we watched her get up on her second and third try. We decided that she was a natural.

Molly and I are officially surfers!

The Big 22

Nature hates Molly, but I'll get to that later. The Friday before my Birthday, we met the craziest Australian vegan, Liam. Right away we thought he was nuts, but we became good friends very quickly. So quickly, in fact that two days after we met, he offered to take  us out to the beach for my Birthday. Liam picked us up at 4:30am (still dark out) and drove us a 1/2 hour away to his favorite beach: Rainbow Bay. The sun was just coming up over the ocean as we ate the vegan-friendly Birthday cake that Liam had made for me. Epic. 

Next we had a go at body boarding. After 1/2 hour of being destroyed by waves, Molly got stung by a bluebottle jellyfish. We decided it wasn't quite necessary to airlift her to the nearest hospital. She was a trooper- it's too bad she has no scar to show for it.

After body boarding we went to Liam's church, where a lot of our Bond Christian friends go. It was nice to be back to church again. After church we laid out by the pool and Molly and her roommate made me the best cupcakes ever. After lunch I was showered with gifts-- even Molly's roommate got me something- an autobiography about Andre Agassi, which I'm almost finished with (a huge accomplishment for me!). I also got some awesome clothes from the Herbranson's (thanks!), and then the best gift of all was from Molly- 

A Skagen watch! It's a unique silver watch that  I've been eyeing for months!  I absolutely love it!  

Later that evening, Molly brought me to a super fancy Italian restaurant called Adiamos.  I ordered a fancy pizza, while Molly impressed me by stepping out of her comfort zone and ordered a pasta dish with lots of random seafood in it.  Her plate looked like it had been alive in the Great Barrier reef ten minutes earlier and was garnished with baby octopuses.  Even though I was the birthday boy, she made me eat one. Although I had a baby octopus swimming in my stomach, it still was an amazing birthday dinner : ) The whole day was amazing.  I guess it's not the worst thing ever to have your birthday in Australia!

Encounters with Steroid-Enhanced Creatures

Last night CJ and I returned from a soccer game (Gold Coast v. Melbourne) that my roommate Nahall took us to. When we walked in, CJ found a HUGE spider on the wall of my dining room- easily the biggest one I've ever seen. While I was freaking out about the child-size tarantula from 5 meters across the room, CJ destroyed it with a plastic bag (the weapon of choice for big, manly heroes like himself). After that ordeal, the two of us started our long walk toward CJ's place to watch a movie. Just as we turned the corner onto the main road, an enormous bat with a 4 ft wingspan flies straight at us before swooping up into a tree. Bats here are like pterodactyl bats- think I could probably ride one. As if that wasn't enough interaction with nature for one night, a monster rat almost ran over my foot as it crossed over the bridge to CJ's apartment.

WHY is every creature I'm afraid of 10x its regular size in Australia?!

 

On a more positive note, the other night we went with friends to "Natural Bridge," which is up in the mountains and deeply embedded in the rainforest -- about an hour drive from Bond. We arrived to the famous national park which holds the Natural Bridge long after sundown, so it was quite an adventure navigating through the trails in pitch black. After weaving through the rainforest, we found ourselves standing beneath the park's most valuable attraction: a natural stone bridge -- the home of the GLOW worms. From within this dark space, we saw the inside of a waterfall that pours over one side of the bridge. The tiny glow worms live in the stone and are visible only in the dark... they're actually insect larvae and momma insects in larvae-form. They look like neon green constellations -- so pretty!

"Our Uni"

In Australia, when we've referred to our "college" education, we've gotten nothing but strange looks of confusion. Here, it's simply referred to as "uni" (pronounced 'you-nee'). Our "uni" (Bond) is one of the most beautiful campuses I've ever seen. You can tell that a whole lot of time was put into the design of each building, sidewalk, and archway. The middle of campus has a massive arch building that overlooks a beautiful Lake with a giant fountain in the middle. This portion of the campus was designed by a big-time Japanese architect.

I recently found out that 10,000 square meters of quarry tiles were used for walkways on campus, along with 10,000 square meters of paving stones from Victoria Australia for internal roadways -barely any concrete! There was no cutting corners in the construction of this campus... making it the most beautiful one I've seen.

We've completed one full week of class and are on to week two. We are both taking a journalism class where we're writing stories for both Bond's newspaper and for the online edition of our co

mmunity's newspaper. Our first story is covering an event we went to on Friday held by the BCC (Bond Christian Connection), which is the Christian club on campus that we joined. The event was called a "Rec Crawl," and was held as sort of an alternative to the pub crawls that were held for students on the same night. We went lawn bowling, had pizza on the beach, and played arcade games and laser "skirmish." It was a lot of fun; we met some really solid people and got connected with a church near campus.

I think we've both underestimated the work load and difficulty level of our courses here. I can't imagine how people complete their full degrees here- it's so hard to focus! I'll admit I've been so insane as to secretly wish it would be 20 below and blizzarding for an afternoon- just so I could get some homework done. Such is life... I suppose we can bear to stick it out for a few more months :)

As for our courses, we are both enrolled in Gender Comm and Writing for the News Media. CJ is also taking Photography and a Broadcast Journalism course; both are very involved and could be quite a challenge. I'm taking a Digital Media and a Marketing class. They seem similar to the classes back home so I'm not expecting any big surprises. Right now we're searching desperately for a story for our News Writing class... no such luck so far.

As I can only get away with saying back home, "uffda."

Week 1 at Bond : "Orientation"

G'day mates! Well, we're all settled into our places and starting classes this week! Our apartments couldn't be much more different. CJ is in "Varsity Towers," a one-room hotel-like accommodation, furnished entirely by IKEA. It's clean-cut, modern, and has a phenomenal view of campus and the shark pool. Yes, you read correctly; his building is situated on stilts over water inhabited by stingrays and sharks. A lovely bridge crosses over it, connecting his building to campus with about a 5 minute walk. We've decided our experience would be incomplete if we did not at least try shark fishing off the balcony, so if you're interested in having some shark mailed home to you for sandwiches, let us know :)

On the other hand, I'm living at "University Place, " which is about the same walking distance from Bond, but in the opposite direction. There are several separate units, each with their own outside entrance and garage. Each unit has 2- 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, a full kitchen, dining room, lounge area, and patio. They are much older looking and a bit on the grungy side. I like to think of them as a lovely yester-year throwback...vintage, if you will. Needless to say, I've had quite the opportunity to put my cleaning skills to use this past week! My roommate and I each have our bedrooms upstairs. She is a first-year student from Southern Australia and I've really enjoyed getting to know her! We have a spare bedroom downstairs now too, since our 3rd roommate moved out to go live in one of the IKEA catalogue units.

Today was our first day of classes- back to reality! The class structure is not too different from the states' except that there are fewer graded assignments and a more relaxed atmosphere. CJ raised a brow hearing one of his classmates throw a casual F-bomb to the prof-- somehow I don't think that would go over well at Bethel! CJ had a total of about 6 hours of photography today, which he's really excited about. I, on the other hand, had one class in the morning and another in the afternoon, leaving some time to lie out by the pool in between. Life is good :) This is the first unbearably hot day so far, with temps nearing 100-- a good day to cool off at the beach.

We're Here!!

After spending 24 hours on 4 different airplanes, we finally made it to Cairns Australia (which is pronounced "Cans.") The climate shock that both of our pale bodies experienced would rival the shock that Moses might have got if he had travelled into the future and walked down the streets of Las Vegas. We travelled with 150 students from all over the U.S. and nobody knew where we were staying or what our first week of orientation would look like. The place that we all stayed at is known as a "backpacker," otherwise known as a hostel. The owner of this particular hostel must have spent about 5% of their money on the rooms, showers, and toilets, and 95% on the bar and pool. Each room had 3 bunk-beds, so we both roomed with 5 strangers.

Day 1 Our first full day in Cairns was the most memorable. We boarded a giant yacht and sailed a few hours northeast to the Great Barrier Reef. Just seeing the color of the clear, tropical blue water alone was worth the money. We were pleasantly surprised when we were given the option to scuba dive for an extra charge and decided to give it a try. Watching Molly try to "equalize" her ear pressure 2 feet from the surface was a sight that would make any scuba diver drown (due to laughing out loud underwater.) But minutes later, Molly and I found ourselves swimming at the sea floor amongst the coral and fish straight from "Finding Nemo." It was the most surreal thing I've ever experienced. I will never forget it. About 70 feet from the surface, our guide led us to a huge clam the size of a large man curled up in the fetal position. The guide told us to put our hands into it's "mouth," which caused it to clamp onto them. CJ now is missing his left arm, but he's right-handed so it's okay. No, we all made it to the surface in one piece, even though I was convinced my head would explode from pressure on my ears, which is apparently hilarious to some...

Day 2 & 3 The next day in Cairns CJ and I were the "captains" of a white water raft floating down the Barron River. Since it's the end of their dry season, the water was low and the current pretty slow, so our job wasn't too difficult. The scenery was amazing though, with mountainous rain forests towering over us on either side.

The 3rd day was our group's community service day, where we traveled up the mountain to a conservatory in the rainforest that focuses on saving the Cassowary, a big weird bird that can kill people with its toe and chops its way through the rain forest with its mo-hawk --a favorite pet of Australians, I'm sure. We didn't do a whole lot of "service" while we were there but we did learn about the process that koala poop goes through to become fertilizer for the trees that Cassowaries like... enthralling stuff.

Day 4 Day four fulfilled all of my childhood dreams that had to do with any sort of interaction with native Australian animals. We took a beautiful bus ride to a place that could only be described as a "petting zoo" slash "boomerang-throwing school" on steroids. Basically any normal 10 year-old's dream field trip. It's called the RainforeStation. While licking the best mango-dragonfruit ice cream we had ever tasted, we road a large amphibious WorldWarII army duck through the dense rainforest, giving us a chance to see some amazing plants and animals in their natural habitat.

Apparently Australians are extremely relaxed about tourists hanging out with their country's most-valued animals. We got to walk among kangaroos and wallabies and interact with them in any way we wanted. A highlight of my day was watching Molly bounce after a wallaby when it had had enough of her. Another highlight was when an animal expert put a very large python snake named "bullet-proof" on Molly's little shoulders. As you can imagine, her face was priceless (don't worry I took great pictures.) Following our activities with the bounce bunch, each of us got to hold a Koala bear and get a picture taken with it. (It wasn't as exciting as it might sound, but the pictures are sweet.)

The moment that I had been waiting for my whole life had finally come. I finally got to throw a real boomerang with a real Aboriginal guy. Molly probably had the best female throw... buuuuut...I PROBABLY had the best throw overall...

Day 4 was soft to the touch, pleasing to the eyes, and a full of once in a lifetime experiences. So far, Australia has been amazing!