Australian Journal Part 2

Monday Day 7 October 19th
Today we went to Currumbin Wildlife sanctuary. My sister and I got to feed the lorikeets. They are a type of bird. But we only fed one or two. After that we walked around a bit before we got to hold a baby saltwater crocodile. Then we caught the train to see the snakes and wildlife show. It was really cool because they showed us some pythons and we got to hold a python and pet a possum. Then we went around the sanctuary to see all the animals. My favourite was the wombat. We got to feed and pet the kangaroos. Two had a joey in their pouches. It was really cute. We saw some koalas and my sister got to hold one for a picture. I didn’t get to hold one because I didn’t want Katie to get mad when I complained. Then my parents thought it was a good idea to feed the lorikeets with our afternoon snack. They birds kept trying to eat my ice cream out of my hands. We had 20+ birds on our table trying to eat our food. I had cuts all over my hands after feeding the lorikeets their real food. But I had a lot of fun that day.

Tuesday Day 8 October 20th
Today my family and I woke up really early to go whale watching. It was hard to get out of bed but I did and we had a squished drive all the way there. When we got there a dolphin appeared before we had even set off. When we set off we had a very wavy ride out to sea. I didn’t mind. It was like going on a ride in a theme park. When we got there we saw some whales but they were far away and by the time I had my camera out all that you could see were their fins. One time every one was looking out to the right to see the whales and a whale jumped up right beside the boat on the left side. It was pretty much right beside me but unfortunately I was also looking to the right. We also saw flying fish. My dad saw a hammer head shark. After the whale watching we went to the beach. The waves here are huge! Katie and I stayed in the water for a long time. In fact I didn’t want to leave. Then we went back and relaxed at the time share.

Wednesday Day 9 October 21st
Today we went to Brisbane. It is a really popular city there. It was very beautiful. They had a beach in the middle of the street!! We went on this huge ferris wheel called the wheel of excellence. We had 360 degree views of Brisbane. After that we had a nice lunch of spaghetti and we walked around a little bit. I wanted to go to the building of dramatic arts but we didn’t know what was playing, so we couldn’t. Then we went back to the time share and Katie and I went swimming and we had the whole pool to ourselves so we played my ipod. Then we did some more homework and had a very laid back evening.

Thursday Day 10 October 22nd
Today was a fun day. We went to Warner Bros. Movie world. It was a theme park. Every one but my mom went on rides. They had a sitting in seats ride where the seats move. My dad and I went on a ride called the Bat Flyer. Its like drop zone except that it took off fast and fell down slow. It also had a street that looked like something in a Hollywood movie. It was really cool. Then we saw some shows and we went on a ride called superman. It starts off slow and then it goes really really fast. I rode it 3 times and we went on a flume ride. We rode that twice. After Movie World we had to pack up because we were leaving for Cairns the next day.

Friday Day 11 October 23rd
Today was another traveling day. We got on a plane that went for Sydney. The plane landed in Sydney and then we had to catch another plane to Cairns. Then we unpacked and looked around our room. It had 2 bedrooms and two bathrooms. It also has a full kitchen. It was very spacious. It also had a porch.

Saturday Day 12 October 24th
Today we went to Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Centre. At first we heard someone play the didgeridoo and then we learned about the type of food they ate. Then the whole family tried to throw boomerangs. My dad did really well, I did alright and my mom and sis didn’t do the best. We also tried to throw a spear. It was the same results with the boomerangs. We saw some amazing shows and danced with the Tjapukai people. We also got ot paint our own boomerangs. Then we went shopping at Woolworths, which we call woolies. Then Katie and I went swimming at the beach pool. And then we did more homework.

Sunday Day 13 October 25th
Today was the day that my family and I went up to Kuranda mountain. We took a train up to the village on the top of the mountain. It took an hour and a half to get up there. When we got to the top we had a morning snack. Then we walked around the village and went shopping. We got souvenirs and rock candy and a lot of other things. Then my family and I decided that we would like to take a water tour around Kuranda. We caught a boat and the tour guide told us the history of Kuranda. We got to feed fish bread and we almost went all the way to the dam. The dam was there to only allow a certain amount of water down the Baren falls. After we were done all our touring, we had lunch that we brought from home. Then we took a sky rail back down the mountain. The view from in the cable car was breath taking. After that my family and I went down to the pier to see the boat we were going to take in the morning to take us to the Great barrier reef. After exploring the pier, we went back to the hotel and relaxed.

Monday Day 14 October 26th
Today we got up really early because we had to be at the pier by 7:45 am. We left at 8 o’clock for the Great barrier reef. The crew was really friendly and we were served tea, coffee, and muffins. The sail boat took 2 hours to get to our destination. We docked off Green isle where we snorkelled for a few hours. For the first hour one of the crew members talked about all the different fish and creatures that live on the reef. I got to hold a star fish, a sea slug, and a sea cucumber. After that they served us lunch and all but 8 people (including us) got of the ship to go to Green isle. We who stayed on the ship got to go snorkeling again for a few more hours. I only stayed out for about an hour and a half because these little animals called sea lice or sea mosquito’s kept annoying me until I had had enough. Then we made the long sail home and got dried. Katie and I had decided we still wanted to go swimming so we went swimming in the pool behind our building and than did some homework.

Tuesday Day 15 October 27th
We had a late morning and then we set off for Hartley’s Crocodile Farm. We saw many, many crocodiles. The biggest one was 4.6 metres and his name was Paul. There were also 3 koalas and 2 cassowaries. Cassowaries are big, big birds that are about 5 feet tall and are very vicious. We also saw the crocodile hatchery were all the young crocodiles are kept. Then we saw a snake show that wasn’t that great. A few minutes after the snake show had ended we saw a crocodile show that was great. The crocodile wasn’t tamed so it was up to him. The presenter had to run a few times because the crocodile kept trying to eat him!! Then we got to pet a koala. The koala was very confused because she was usually kept away from people in the back. We returned to the resort and we went swimming again.

Wednesday Day 16 October 28th
Today was very rainy. It was a down pour as we drove to Mossman Gorge. But it was a good thing that it was raining because Cairns had not had rain for a long time. When we arrived at Mossman Gorge, it had stopped raining. We walked around the gorge and today was a very calm day so people could go swimming in the gorge. My sister and I got to climb the huge boulders that were in the gorge. After that we drove to Port Douglas and had lunch in a café. Then we went shopping for a little while and then drove up to 4 mile beach. We only put our feet in for about 20 minutes. The water was about 28 degrees Celsius. Then we went back to the resort and went swimming for the last time in Cairns.

Australian Journal Part 1

My Australian Journal

Monday Day 1 October 12th
Today I took a 5 hour flight to Vancouver. It was a very long 5 hours.

Tuesday Day 2 October 13th
The 15 hour flight was not so bad. I was up for 1 hour. Then I fell asleep for 5 hours and missed “dinner” at 3 am and then entertained myself for the last 9 hours.

Wednesday Day 2 October 14th
The time difference is 15 hours. My family and I are staying in Wollongong with family friends. The first night was very comfy. Their extra rooms are like hotel bedrooms. Our friends took us on a scenic drive around the Wollongong area.

Thursday Day 3 October 15th
We went to a Nan Tien temple, which is a Vietnamese Buddhist temple. Its designs were incredible and the temple itself was very beautiful. After the temple we went to a waterfront and enjoyed the sea’s beauty. It had a lighthouse and very big rocks surrounding it. We had Mylan Vietnamese food and visited our friends university, which they call a Uni. Then we had afternoon tea. Then went to bed and had another peaceful night.

Friday Day 4 October 16th
We took a scenic drive up to Kiama. Kiama has a giant blowhole that water spurts out of and the end result is that it looks like a geyser. Unfortunately the wind was blowing the wrong way so we did not see the water blow out. Then we got driven to the airport and took a plane to Coolangatta. The plane ride was only an hour and five minutes. Then my family took the rented car and my dad drove on the wrong side of the road. The Aussies reverse their cars, so instead of hitting the left and right signals, my dad kept hitting the windshield wiper button. It was very funny. The timeshare we were staying in is very nice. It has two bedrooms and a full kitchen. I don’t know if I ever want to leave.

Saturday Day 5 October 17th
I slept in until 8:30 am while my family had been up since 6. We got dressed and had breakfast at a café right outside our time share. We went grocery shopping and it was expensive. Australia is 25% more expensive.than Canada. We went to the beach just to check it out. It took five minutes to get to the beach and 20 minutes to walk down to the water. The beach is huge and its sand is so white it’s unbelievable. Katie and I wanted to stay but we could not. Daddy drove us to Surfers Paradise and we visited to Q Deck. The Q Deck is the 20th tallest residential building in the world. The Q Deck was on the 77th storey. There are 78 stories in the Q Deck but the 78th storey is only for meetings, so we could not go up one more level. After the Q Deck, we went to the Outback Spectacular 2. It is like Medieval Times but about the Australian Outback. It was late when we got home and we were all tired.

Sunday Day 6 October 18th
We went to Sea World today. It was so much fun. Our first stop was at thee sharks. And I discovered never to swim out during dawn or dusk because that is when bull sharks will attack us. Next we went to the dolphin nursery. Then we went on the rides and had so much fun. We waited at a fast food line for half an hour and then we were late for the dolphin show. But we caught the part where they were doing all the tricks so at least I saw that. Then we went on an island cruise and saw houses on the sea side. The price ranges were from 3 million to 30 million. One had a roof that cost 1.5 million. We saw some whales in the distance and we got close to a few wallabies. It got very cold. We all started to freeze. On the way home it started to down pour. My poor dad had to drive in the weather and he could barley see. We all went to sleep after doing some homework so it was about 9 when we went to bed.

Will be continued.