on thursday, like i said, we drove to brisbane in a double-decker bus (about an 1 1/2 hour drive) and then flew from brisbane to airlie beach (about an hour flight) where we stayed at the koala adventure resort (don't get too excited, it was a hostel). i stayed with two of the girls i came here with and two more girls that i have since become friends with, one from boston and one from west virginia. we didn't know that we were all going on this trip together so that was exciting. we were all pretty exhausted after all the traveling, so we went to the hostel's bar, morocco's, for some drinks and karaoke, and then went to bed.
the next morning we had to get up super early, eat breakfast, and then get on our yacht for an all-day sailing adventure! it was a little crowded as we had to fit about 70 people on the boat, but it was the nicest, sunniest day possible so i got a really great tan/sunburn and hung out on the yacht all day. we ate lunch and then went snorkeling in the great barrier reef and it was beautiful! we saw all kinds of coral and fishies, but no sea turtles which is what i really wanted to see. =( hopefully i will get another opportunity. then we sailed to south molle island, which is currently under construction because they are turning it from a family resort area to koala adventure island, an 18-35 year old party island. so the island is currently shut down, so we were the only people on the entire island! it was pretty crazy. the island was beautiful, but there wasn't much to do so when we got there we had some showers and then had some dinner and drinks at the outdoor bar. later on we got a little tour of the resort from one of the tour guides, and then went for a dip in the pool.
then next day we had the day to ourselves so we went and hung out by the pool from 10 am to 5 pm. i was already pretty tan (and by tan, i mean sunburned) from yachting the day before so i tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. still got some sun though, that's for sure. and the pool was a nice change from the salty, sticky ocean that i'm used to swimming in. saturday night we had some more dinner and some more drinks at the outdoor bar.
sunday we had to wake up early again and eat some breakfast, and then catch some high-powered jet boats for a ride out in the ocean. it was super fun, except that it was pouring rain and since my friends and i were sitting in the front of our boat were were getting pelted with rain. i felt like i was on deadliest catch or something, but the boat guide gave us some snorkeling gear to wear on our faces so we could keep our eyes open and see all the islands around us. there are 72 islands in the whitsundays and we got to see a lot of them, although most of them are deserted so there is nothing on them, but you can go camping and hiking on a lot of them. the islands are beautiful though, they look like scenes out of jurassic park or something.
so after some boat riding we docked at whitehaven beach and had a bite to eat and then sat in the rain for a little while. the beach is really beautiful, and would probably be even better in the sunshine. we also got to hike up to one of the most photographed places in the world, the look-out at the top of the whitsundays national park. it was veryy beautiful. then the boats took us back to our hostel on south molle island, where we picked up our bags, got back on the boats, and headed back to airlie beach. we had about an hour to change out of our wet clothes and get some food before getting on the bus back to the airport. then we were on our way home...
we got back last night at about 10:30. all of my stuff was soaking wet, so i definitely need to get some laundry done or my room is going to start smelling like aquarium. other than that, no big plans for the rest of the week. i have a midterm in my love, sex & relationships class tomorrow, so i'm going to have to do some studying for that today. i don't think it will be too hard though. then kathryn and i want to go into surfer's on thursday or friday and do some shopping, as we have not really done any of that yet. then on sunday it's too the australian zoo; i hope i see bindi irwin!
No comments:
Post a Comment