- Jun 5, 2005
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So after being back in the States for 4 days now I'm finally going to post about my Contiki trip to Australia.
In short the trip was AMAZING and Contiki did an awesome job and if you goto Australia I definitely would recommend them IF you dont mind being constantly on the go, drinking alot and doing some generally crazy but fun shit while spending time at some truly beautiful places and spending more money(upfront trip was $3500, and I spent another $2000 down there) than the Vatican. And you have to be 18-35
The skydiving video
One is facebook which is higher res but you need to be a facebook member to watch
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=516498860366
The other is youtube which everyone can watch but the quality is diminished a little bit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JpFXVUAKKg
The photo albums
Australia 1 which coincides with Part 1 of my trip
Australia 2 Australia 2 and the reef album are all Part 2 of my trip.
Link to the Long Island Reef Album and its 9 pictures
Link to Hook Island Reef and 6 more pictures.
Link to Moore Reef Inner Reef and its 15 pictures.
Link to the Moore Reef Outer Reef album and 11 more pics.
Part 1 of my trip
The long version is that my trip started in Sydney, I spent nearly 2 days there after the brutal 18.5 hours in a plane, Detroit to LA, LA to Sydney. First day was actually before the Contiki part started so I wandered around town with my Canon Rebel XT snapping random photos such asthis one of the Sydney Tower. And of course the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge ignore the *%#(ing sun flare on the lens. My polarizer filter failed me that day. I visited various other places during the day including Hyde Park and had dinner near the Queen Street Mall. I also visited the Sydney Aquarium during the day as well and have a few pictures from there in my album. The next morning the contiki trip started off with a trip to the botanical gardens for a group photo and a shot of the Opera House and Bridge together. And also I managed to snag this beautiful shot of downtown Sydney from afar. After that we loaded into our big coach bus and headed off to the Hunter Valley and did some Australian wine tasting...on empty stomachs. Mine didn't appreciate that very much but after that we loaded up again and head to Coffs Harbour to spend a night at the Opal Cove Resort there. I managed to snag my first sunset picture of the trip at that point. I snagged some dinner and drinks with my fellow Contikites and went to bed and awoke early for a couple pics of the sunrise over the beach
Then we were off to Surfer's Paradise however we made 2 stops along the way to Surfer's, first was Byron Bay a quaint little seaside town with a lighthouseand some awesome views I managed this postcard type shot for the lighthouse area. I took more pictures at Byron which are again in the album. Next we went to a Animal Santucuary, Currinbum or something like that. It was just outside Surfer's Paradise there I managed to hold a koala, I petted a couple kangaroos and wallabies, and even held a a baby crocodile. We also saw a massive 18foot 1 ton saltwater croc while there. Then off to Surfer's Paradise for 2 days and 2 nights of more or partying, shopping and just having a damn good time. I learned to surf there and also skydived. Which brings the video into play. Skydived from 14,000 feet and landed on an isolated beach. Most amazing, fabulous, crazy, insane thing I've ever done...and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Surfer's was definitely one of my favorite places in Australia.
After two nights there we went off to a farm called Adora Downs. Just for one night with an Australian version of a hoe-down and plenty of home cooked farm(our tour guide and coach drivers were the bartenders that night) The windmill was very photogenic as was the sunset
Next stop was 2days/nights at Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world and home to sub-tropical rainforest That river is so clear that unless viewed on an angle it's almost impossible to see the water...and the river is dead silent it makes no noise as it flows. Creepy but cool. As I said, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. Roughly 97-98% sand. Also home to Lake McKenzie a purely rainwater fed lake with pure drinkable freshwater and pure white silica sand so pure NASA used it for the lens on the Hubble Telescope. Also managed to snag one awesome sunset in slow timelapse. I took about 30 pictures of the sunset I posted 8 of them. Then we were off to Rockhampton....
Part 2
Rockhampton is the beef capital of Australia and somewhat sleepy town. But it does have a crocodile farm and we visited there for dinner. We ate crocodile and learned a few things about these 'living dinosaurs' And once again I got to hold a baby croc Then the next morning we were off again for the Whitsunday Island and essentially tropical paradise for 3 nights on a tropical resort. It started with a ferry ride during the sunset again and just before dark it was Welcome to Long Island. The view from the beach was nice as were the drinks during Happy Hour. First day I snorkeled on the reef that was just off the dock. (Link to the Long Island Reef Album and its 9 pictures)
Next day I went on a daysail on a 85 foot purple Catamaran Got very sunburned and visited Whitehaven Beach yet another nearly pure silica sand beach. We sailed around the Whitsundays with many other islands and it's amazing water color
We also snorkeled a reef which I didnt get many good shot at all but here is the Link to Hook Island Reef and 6 more pictures. The Whitsundays were easily my favorite place I think I've ever been in my entire life
Really I took some amazing shot from the Whitsundays too many to link too just goto the album proper.
Our next and final stop was Cairns for 3 more nights and some quality time on the Great Barrier Reef The first day though I went whitewater rafting on a grade/class 4 river, the Tully River. Big rapids and big fun that day.
The showcase though was heading out to the Great Barrier Reef on the next day. We went to Moore Reef, conditions were perfect, water visibility was 20-25meters which is clarity up to 80 feet! Awesome. Lots of fish greeted our arrival to the Reef. I went in a semi-submersible and grabbed a bunch of pictures with my Rebel XT the best ones are in the Australia 2 album again too many to link too.
The highlight was once I grabbed my snorkel, fins and mask. water clarity was as advertised as this picture was taken in about 50 feet of water and despite the camera's limitations you can easily see the bottom. I managed to find Nemo very quickly. And Wally the Giant Wrasse. And a school of Buffalo Parrotfish This was the 'inner part' of Moore Reef. Link to that albums 15 picture.
The outer reef was just as good, with even better water visibility. This picture of a sea cucumber doesnt even look like I'm in water at all. Wally followed us part of the way out there as well. I also managed to snag a photo of this coral which according to the ships marine biologist is anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 years old. Pretty crazy! There were also Giant Clams However the coup de grace of the trip to the outer edge of the reef was this Hawk's Beak Sea Turtle. Link to the Outer Reef album and 11 more pics.
And that was pretty much my trip. The next day I went to an aboriginal culture center and just explored downtown Cairns...which didn't prove all that exciting but at least the weather was nice and the Australian Football League final was on that day and gave me an excuse to drink. Then the next day I headed back to the states with an even longer trip home of roughly 21 hours on a plane. And now here I am.
Hope you enjoyed the read!
In short the trip was AMAZING and Contiki did an awesome job and if you goto Australia I definitely would recommend them IF you dont mind being constantly on the go, drinking alot and doing some generally crazy but fun shit while spending time at some truly beautiful places and spending more money(upfront trip was $3500, and I spent another $2000 down there) than the Vatican. And you have to be 18-35
The skydiving video
One is facebook which is higher res but you need to be a facebook member to watch
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=516498860366
The other is youtube which everyone can watch but the quality is diminished a little bit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JpFXVUAKKg
The photo albums
Australia 1 which coincides with Part 1 of my trip
Australia 2 Australia 2 and the reef album are all Part 2 of my trip.
Link to the Long Island Reef Album and its 9 pictures
Link to Hook Island Reef and 6 more pictures.
Link to Moore Reef Inner Reef and its 15 pictures.
Link to the Moore Reef Outer Reef album and 11 more pics.
Part 1 of my trip
The long version is that my trip started in Sydney, I spent nearly 2 days there after the brutal 18.5 hours in a plane, Detroit to LA, LA to Sydney. First day was actually before the Contiki part started so I wandered around town with my Canon Rebel XT snapping random photos such asthis one of the Sydney Tower. And of course the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge ignore the *%#(ing sun flare on the lens. My polarizer filter failed me that day. I visited various other places during the day including Hyde Park and had dinner near the Queen Street Mall. I also visited the Sydney Aquarium during the day as well and have a few pictures from there in my album. The next morning the contiki trip started off with a trip to the botanical gardens for a group photo and a shot of the Opera House and Bridge together. And also I managed to snag this beautiful shot of downtown Sydney from afar. After that we loaded into our big coach bus and headed off to the Hunter Valley and did some Australian wine tasting...on empty stomachs. Mine didn't appreciate that very much but after that we loaded up again and head to Coffs Harbour to spend a night at the Opal Cove Resort there. I managed to snag my first sunset picture of the trip at that point. I snagged some dinner and drinks with my fellow Contikites and went to bed and awoke early for a couple pics of the sunrise over the beach
Then we were off to Surfer's Paradise however we made 2 stops along the way to Surfer's, first was Byron Bay a quaint little seaside town with a lighthouseand some awesome views I managed this postcard type shot for the lighthouse area. I took more pictures at Byron which are again in the album. Next we went to a Animal Santucuary, Currinbum or something like that. It was just outside Surfer's Paradise there I managed to hold a koala, I petted a couple kangaroos and wallabies, and even held a a baby crocodile. We also saw a massive 18foot 1 ton saltwater croc while there. Then off to Surfer's Paradise for 2 days and 2 nights of more or partying, shopping and just having a damn good time. I learned to surf there and also skydived. Which brings the video into play. Skydived from 14,000 feet and landed on an isolated beach. Most amazing, fabulous, crazy, insane thing I've ever done...and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Surfer's was definitely one of my favorite places in Australia.
After two nights there we went off to a farm called Adora Downs. Just for one night with an Australian version of a hoe-down and plenty of home cooked farm(our tour guide and coach drivers were the bartenders that night) The windmill was very photogenic as was the sunset
Next stop was 2days/nights at Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world and home to sub-tropical rainforest That river is so clear that unless viewed on an angle it's almost impossible to see the water...and the river is dead silent it makes no noise as it flows. Creepy but cool. As I said, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. Roughly 97-98% sand. Also home to Lake McKenzie a purely rainwater fed lake with pure drinkable freshwater and pure white silica sand so pure NASA used it for the lens on the Hubble Telescope. Also managed to snag one awesome sunset in slow timelapse. I took about 30 pictures of the sunset I posted 8 of them. Then we were off to Rockhampton....
Part 2
Rockhampton is the beef capital of Australia and somewhat sleepy town. But it does have a crocodile farm and we visited there for dinner. We ate crocodile and learned a few things about these 'living dinosaurs' And once again I got to hold a baby croc Then the next morning we were off again for the Whitsunday Island and essentially tropical paradise for 3 nights on a tropical resort. It started with a ferry ride during the sunset again and just before dark it was Welcome to Long Island. The view from the beach was nice as were the drinks during Happy Hour. First day I snorkeled on the reef that was just off the dock. (Link to the Long Island Reef Album and its 9 pictures)
Next day I went on a daysail on a 85 foot purple Catamaran Got very sunburned and visited Whitehaven Beach yet another nearly pure silica sand beach. We sailed around the Whitsundays with many other islands and it's amazing water color
We also snorkeled a reef which I didnt get many good shot at all but here is the Link to Hook Island Reef and 6 more pictures. The Whitsundays were easily my favorite place I think I've ever been in my entire life
Really I took some amazing shot from the Whitsundays too many to link too just goto the album proper.
Our next and final stop was Cairns for 3 more nights and some quality time on the Great Barrier Reef The first day though I went whitewater rafting on a grade/class 4 river, the Tully River. Big rapids and big fun that day.
The showcase though was heading out to the Great Barrier Reef on the next day. We went to Moore Reef, conditions were perfect, water visibility was 20-25meters which is clarity up to 80 feet! Awesome. Lots of fish greeted our arrival to the Reef. I went in a semi-submersible and grabbed a bunch of pictures with my Rebel XT the best ones are in the Australia 2 album again too many to link too.
The highlight was once I grabbed my snorkel, fins and mask. water clarity was as advertised as this picture was taken in about 50 feet of water and despite the camera's limitations you can easily see the bottom. I managed to find Nemo very quickly. And Wally the Giant Wrasse. And a school of Buffalo Parrotfish This was the 'inner part' of Moore Reef. Link to that albums 15 picture.
The outer reef was just as good, with even better water visibility. This picture of a sea cucumber doesnt even look like I'm in water at all. Wally followed us part of the way out there as well. I also managed to snag a photo of this coral which according to the ships marine biologist is anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 years old. Pretty crazy! There were also Giant Clams However the coup de grace of the trip to the outer edge of the reef was this Hawk's Beak Sea Turtle. Link to the Outer Reef album and 11 more pics.
And that was pretty much my trip. The next day I went to an aboriginal culture center and just explored downtown Cairns...which didn't prove all that exciting but at least the weather was nice and the Australian Football League final was on that day and gave me an excuse to drink. Then the next day I headed back to the states with an even longer trip home of roughly 21 hours on a plane. And now here I am.
Hope you enjoyed the read!
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