The Gold Coast and The Neon Run

This past weekend 6 friends and I headed a couple hours South to the Gold Coast for the Neon Run!

We left Saturday afternoon and after getting all "neon"ed up headed to the shore where the run was! There was a huge stage and DJing before the run to get everyone pumped up.

We got some glow in the dark face paint to get even more dressed up for the occasion.

They called the first few starting groups then it was our turn to head off!

The run was a lot of fun! There were various stops along the way, all with their own DJs and bright lights to keep people going. Once we finished the race we hung out near the stage for a little while longer but it wasn't long before we were all a bit cold. (Yes, cold in Australia, it's weird.) 

We headed back to where we were staying and washed the neon off, dressed a bit warmer, and set off for Surfer's Paradise where we were meeting a few of Elsie's friends and hanging out for the night. 

It was a fun night and a nice little road trip for the weekend!

This coming weekend Jillian and I are looking to go on a day trip and explore somewhere new nearby and the weekend after I'll be camping on Fraser Island, looking forward to both!

Port Douglas/Great Barrier Reef

Final blog post from my trip last week, here it goes!

After leaving Sydney bright and early Wednesday morning a three hour flight took us to Tropical Northern Queensland and, more specifically, Cairns. From there a shuttle from where we were staying picked us up and drove us to Port Douglas.

The drive there was quiet but offered some amazing views. The area is all mountains so imagine driving through West Virginia (or any mountains, those are just the only ones I have experience driving through) except instead of have a mountain and cliffs on one side of you and a valley on the other there's the mountain and cliffs on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. It was beautiful.

Once we arrived at our  new hostel we grabbed a quick nap (since none of us had really slept much the night before) then explored our surroundings a bit. Port Douglas is a small, ocean-side little town (of roughly 4,000 people) but the owner of the hostel informed us that the population more than triples in the busy season (over 12,500 people). Big difference between summer and winter.

We had a quiet dinner at the hostel, confirmed timing for the next day, then settled in for the night - the next day would start early and was one we wanted to be well rested for.

Around 8 the next morning our friend Luke, who we know from uni and is originally from Port Douglas, picked us up and drove us to the marina. He works for the company that we were going diving with and was going out on the boat with us that day as one of the many lifeguards. We got there, picked up our tickets, and were ready to go!

The trip out to our first stop took a little over an hour and was quite rough - I was feeling a bit queasy when we got there. On the way a diving instructor walked us through the basics of diving including what all the equipment does, how to equalize, and how to communicate with one another under the water. 

The two points that she stressed the most were to ensure that we equalized our ears every meter or so (just by making them 'pop' by swallowing or wiggling our jaws) so that the pressure wouldn't damage our ears or sinuses and that once we were in the water we should never stop breathing. This one she really stressed because when you're coming back to the surface of the water the air in your body expands because there is less pressure, meaning that if there is air you're holding in your lungs it would also expand and could cause injury. So watch your ears on the way down and your lungs on the way up. 

Our lesson finished up and they gave us our diving times - we were up first! There were four people to an instructor and we were going with the same instructor at sites one and three. Not long after an announcement was made for us to head to the back of the boat and get prepped, it was almost time to dive! 

We got all buckled up in our equipment and met our instructor, Simon, right as the boat stopped and maneuvered into place for our first stop. Once we were all set the four of us got up and followed Simon to the very back of the boat where you step off to dive and the first thing I noticed was how heavy the equipment was. 

When we all commented on it Simon informed us all together it weighed between 40-50 pounds. Walking with that extra weight on our backs while in flippers was a bit of a challenge. It was even more difficult walking down the steps to get to the water, but we made it and one by one took a big step off the back and landed in the water. We were ready to dive at the Great Barrier Reef!

Before we actually headed off around the reef Simon walked us through a few exercises while we were hanging on to a rope attached to the boat still. He tested our ability to get water out of our masks, change between our main regulator (where you get your air) and the back-up one just in case it got knocked out of our mouths, and how to equalize our ears. Eric and I went through the tests first and had a few minutes to look around (all while still holding onto the rope to stay in place) while Simon was running through the tests with Leah and Jillian.

One of the craziest things to get used to was how close the fish got. We were only maybe a foot away from each other and the fish would swim right between us, not really caring that we were there. There was one big fish with visible teeth that was a bit intimidating at first but he didn't bother us at all, he was just hanging around because sometimes the instructors throw out pieces of fish so that more fish will gather around the divers. Simon did this once all four of us had run through the tests and were hanging onto the rope a few meters under the surface - he pulled his hand back quite fast after letting go of the fish though, didn't want to lose part of it to the hungry marine life he was feeding.

Once he was confident we were all ready he led us to the first area of the reef!

Since we were all introductory divers we weren't allowed to take cameras on our first dive. They don't want you to be paying too much attention to the camera and not enough to your instructor - more important to be safe. I do have one picture from that dive though, they have a professional photographer go around to the different groups and take pictures.

 



I'm on the left there, hidden by fish. The coolest part about this dive was that big brown fish you see in the front there though. He is so used to divers that we were allowed to pet him (yes, petting a fish feels strange) and the photographer was able to gently push him in front of us so that he could get pictures with him in it. Very sociable fish, it was sweet.

Once our dive was over we changed gear and headed out to snorkel for the rest of the time at that stop.

As we journeyed to the next stop we got an underwater camera and prepared to get some pictures while snorkeling at location #2. After we stopped the four of us enjoyed a quick lunch (provided on the boat, it was quite good) then hopped back in to snorkel as much as we could!

Eric and I had been quoting Finding Nemo the entire trip so naturally I took a "She touched the butt!" picture :)

 

 

It seemed like no time at all before the crew was calling us back to the boat to set off for our final stop and where we would do our second/final dive of the trip. We were able to take the camera on this dive and got some pretty cool pictures!

 

 

We had been told that it was likely we would see a shark on this dive but no such luck. We did see countless more interesting fish and coral and giant clams!

 

The entire thing was amazing, trying to describe the beauty of the reef is difficult. There are so many colors and textures to the coral (which is all ALIVE - crazy to think about) and the fish came in every shape and size and were regularly close enough to reach out and touch and giant clams really are giant. Everything about it was incredible and there were multiple points in time where I had to remind myself that it was real and I was actually scuba diving/snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. 

 

 

That night we met up with Luke again for dinner and to hang out in town for a bit and the next day it was time to head back to school!

 

It was quite an Easter Break and one I'll definitely always remember. 

Sydney - Part 3

On our final day in Sydney we decided to go our own ways for the morning then meet back up later to go to Bondi Beach. Leah and I decided to head back to the harbor bridge and climb up in one of the pylons (we had received the ticket to do so as part of our bridge climb deal). After climbing so much the night before we were a bit skeptical about climbing another 200 steps but it wasn't as far as it sounded and, with stops on the landings in between, we soon found ourselves outside again, a bit higher than before. The view was great!

Once we climbed down from the lookout point we headed across the bridge on the walking path. 

Once on the north side of the city/harbor, near where I had launched from for kayaking, we headed toward our last stop for this excursion: Luna Park. We had been seeing it across the harbor since we got to Sydney - just a small amusement park, and we wanted to explore while we were over there. It was free to walk around in, you just paid per ride. Walking around was very cool, it was set up like an old fashioned carnival with small rides and various stands with snacks and games and clowns on stilts walking around! 

Neither of us were very interested in actually going on any of the rides so after we took some pictures and looked around we headed back toward the bridge to catch the train across and back to Town Hall. We were reuniting with Eric and Jillian to grab lunch and finalize timing and plans for the evening.

We found what bus to catch, picked a time, and off we were to Bondi Beach! On our way we were questioning what stop to get off and a kind Sydney native pointed us in the right direction, also giving us directions to the best gelato in town. We followed her instructions (and the other people getting off the bus with beach towels - should have thought of that) and found our way easily! We hung out on the beach for a couple hours and picked up a couple souvenirs for people back home. As the sun was setting we headed up to the park area behind the sand and watched the sun set.

We decided that we wanted to go somewhere nicer for dinner as we had been eating fast food the whole trip (cheap and easy to find, we had had Subway three days in a row). We found a nice place with a view of the beach and enjoyed a filling, peaceful dinner.

On our way back to the bus stop we grabbed some of the gelato that had been recommended to us earlier, it was delightful. With our stomachs full and knowing we had to start the next day very early, we headed back to our hostel and curled up in bed, chatting about the trip and what was to come next. Although we were excited to head to the Great Barrier Reef we were not too thrilled that our alarms were set for 3:30am for our 6am flight up to Cairns.

That time came around way too quickly for our liking but soon we were all packed up in a taxi and en route to Sydney airport to continue on to the next leg of our journey.

Sydney - Part 2

After I got off the phone with my parents and checked with the guy behind the desk one more time to confirm my directions I set off for the train station. I caught a 6am train across the Harbor Bridge and over to the North side of Sydney and after a short walk found myself at Lavender Bay where I was launching from for kayaking. The sun was just rising over the harbor and I was early so I was able to snap a few pictures of the bridge before Patrick (the kayaking tour guide) arrived.

Kayaking in Sydney Harbor was absolutely amazing, one of my favorite experiences since I've been in Australia. We covered over 16 km and were on the water for around 3 hours. Patrick was incredibly knowledgeable about the bridge and the Opera House, but also about the various historical buildings along the water and numerous yachts we paddled past.  

After such an early and exciting morning I was quite tired out but by the time I made it back to the hostel it was time to grab lunch and get ready for our next adventure: climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge! We were scheduled for the "Twilight" climb which would have had us starting toward the end of the sunset but through some confusion of scheduling we ended up going a bit later and it was already dark when we began. At first I was a bit bummed, I had been hoping to see the sun setting from that point of view, but I quickly cheered up. One from the adrenaline that hit me as we started climbing the first series of ladders, and two from seeing the city completely lit up as we started. It was beautiful. 

I had been nervous about the climb seeing as I am afraid of heights but had no trouble. You are very secure (there's railings and they literally attach you to a line attached to the bridge) and there is a lot of structure around where you are climbing, you're not looking down, you're looking out. Out across the water to the Opera House and to the main part of the city. The Bridge Climb was quickly added to the list of my favorite things I've done abroad as well. 

Leah, Me, Eric & Jillian about halfway up

Group Photo at the top of the bridge

One of the coolest parts about the bridge climb, beyond the amazing views, was getting to the top and standing under the Australian flag and seeing the Southern Cross in the sky. If you're unfamiliar with the Australian flag it has the constellation displayed on it, making it extremely cool to me that we were standing at the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, underneath a large Australian flag, while looking up at the constellation. 

So to conclude, that day was both exhausted and absolutely amazing. I'll wrap up the rest of our Sydney trip in the next blog post then add one about Port Douglas/The Great Barrier Reef to wrap up the telling of my adventures from Easter break! 

Sydney - Part 1

Sydney, where to begin....

I've never been in such a big, or beautiful, city. Our five days there we were constantly moving and had some absolutely incredible experiences that I am still in complete awe of.

When we got in on the night of Good Friday we took a train to our hostel where we greeted our two English roommates and dropped our stuff before setting off to explore a bit. We were right in the middle of the city, near Town Hall, and the are around us was full of shops and restaurants and heaps and heaps of people. We were hungry and wanted to grab something to eat and tried to wait until after midnight so it would be a bit easier to find cheap, meat free, food (since it was Good Friday) but ended up just grabbing some cheese pizza on our way back to the hostel because we were tired and didn't want to wander too far at night without knowing the area at all.




The next morning we continued to explore the area around where we were staying and did a bit of shopping. We covered quite a bit of distance; finding some stores we had seen in other places (though not many we're used to at home), some very unique stores, and quite a few tourist-geared souvenir shops. Once we took our new acquisitions back to our room we mapped out our route and set off for Sydney Harbor (a little over a mile away). The sun was starting to set and when we got to the harbor is was gorgeous.

 We grabbed a drink at the Opera Bar which is literally underneath the Opera House and watched the sun finish setting over the water and got to see everything lit up as well.

After relaxing at the harbor for a bit we headed back toward our hostel and on to Darling Harbor which was about two blocks away from us. We had heard there would be a free fireworks display that night and wanted to check it out. The harbor was much smaller than Sydney Harbor, but very cool and different. One whole side was lined with restaurants and a shopping mall while the other was set up with grand stands as the fireworks are put on every Saturday along with other scheduled shows that take place.

We explored the mall a bit and picked up some souvenirs then headed back in to plan for the next day - Easter! We pulled together our plans, mapped out where we would need to walk and slept well after an amazing day full of a lot of walking.

There was a Cathedral about half a block from where we were staying and three of us planned to go to the mass there at 8:30 on Easter, agreeing to get up and be there early knowing it would fill up quickly being Easter. We arrived and were surprised because they wouldn't let us in, informing us that the royal family would be attended mass and no one was allowed inside until after they had arrived and were already inside. Now we knew that William and Kate were in Sydney the same time as we were but had heard that they were going to a different cathedral for Easter Mass. Apparently they had changed their plans, seemingly late in the game, as there was no early service and mass was rescheduled for 10:30 and you could only get in with a special pass (which we guessed were given to regular members of the congregation).

Since we were so early there was only one line of people in front of us at the barriers and after waiting for about three hours we not only got to see William and Kate, but also Tony Abbot - the Prime Minister of Australia.

Tony Abbott 

William & Kate greeting the Archbishop

William & Kate

Later that day we went on our Sydney Opera House Tour which was really informative and offered us a new view of the harbor. The tour started outside at a spot we had already visited, but then took us inside into the various theaters and around to the front up on the balcony of one of the fins, offering a unique view of the harbor. The architecture both inside and outside was amazing and learning about why it was built how it was and how long it took to construct just added to the awe of seeing one of the most recognizable buildings/structure in the world. 

The Studio Theater

In the Largest Fin

In the Largest Fin

Concert Hall - largest theater

After the tour we grabbed dinner and ventured out for one more adventure with the goal of finding me a cheap pair of sunglasses (of course I had forgotten mine at my apartment) and picking up some granola bar/other groceries for breakfasts/snacks. We were able to accomplish both at Woolworths and  settled in to plan for the next day. I was going kayaking early in the morning and all four of us were climbing the bridge in the evening.

The day started out a bit unexpectedly with the fire alarm going off around 4am. After filing out with the numerous other travelers were waited outside for close to an hour while the fire fighters and police ensured it was safe to return to the building (someone had pulled the fire alarm as a joke - not a funny one).

 By the time we got back to our room it was close to 5, meaning it was too late for it to be worth me going back to sleep. I changed and got my stuff together and headed downstairs to the lobby of the hostel. I was able to get a hold of my parents and chatted with them for a while, going on speaker to say hi to the rest of the family at Easter dinner as well! It was really great to talk to them and it woke me up a bit as I prepared to head off to the North Side of the Harbor for kayaking.