DAY 13

DAY 13

"After we've done a short ride on a camel, we'll head to Uluru. In the evening we'll go to Sunset Strip to see Uluru while sun sets on the horizon.  camping at Ayers Rock Resort"
This morning before leaving the camp we did a tiny camel ride.  It wasn't too bad, but nothing to get exited about.

While driving, this little piece of rock caught many peoples attention.  But no, it's not Uluru yet, still about 150 kilometers to go...

After arriving to the resort at about three o'clock we had couple of hours free time.  Then we drove past Uluru and Kata Tjuta which we would see closer tomorrow.  Then we headed to a spot where from we could see the different colors of Uluru while the sun set behind us.

Everyday is a new adventure,

Liisa

DAY 12

DAY 12

"We'll head to Kings Creek Station, and go to Kings Canyon, which is the deepest gorge in Central Australia.  camping at Kings Creek Station"

Long way from Alice to Kings Canyon, but that's what we were prepared to.  Oh, you'll have to see this, the highlight of our day!  :D

By Rebecca Bachmann

Wow.  That's all I can say.  After a six kilometer walk around (or a bit more if you got lost...:D) couldn't really do much else than be amazed with what Australia has to offer.

Already over half way,

Liisa

DAY 11

DAY 11

"This day will be spend driving around Alice Springs seeing the major landmarks. We'll also visit Reptile center where we'll learn more about Australian reptiles.  bunking at Alice Springs"

No camping tonight,

Liisa

DAY 10

DAY 10

"We'll board our flight and arrive to Alice Springs. This day is quite free, so we have time to explore the city and buy souvenirs. At the evening we'll make a musical and visual journey at Andrew Langford’s ‘Sounds of Starlight’ theater.  bunking at Alice Springs"

Big packing morning.  Ususally we would take pillows, blankets, cutlery bags and back bags full of things needed during the day with us in the bus, so we were slightly stressed to make it all fit in our blue bags.  At the end it was all good; we ended up putting the pillows and sleeping bags in the plane separately, so everyone was ok with the amount of stuff they had.

Bye bye coast and Queensland, welcome desert and Northern Territory ! ! !

After about two hours we were in totally different Australia.  We had some time to spend in Alice Springs, after which we got to our camping ground where we had our own 'house'.  It was so nice to have everyone in the same place and get to know each other a bit better.

Worth of notification; we got kebabs delivered, my first ever try.  haha  :PP

In the evening we went to see a didgeridoo show which was really entertaining.  And even I tried to become a dingeridoist (hmmm).  :P

And there happened to be a bloke playing Australian songs in our camp.  Sitting under the stars listening to music with locals, nice.

So different,

Liisa

DAY 9

DAY 9

"Our guide will take us up the spectacular Gillies Range and onto the tropical Atherton Tablelands. We also have an opportunity to explore the Cathedral and Curtain Fig Tree, take a rain-forest walk at Lake Barrine National park and swim at pristine waterfalls.  bunking at Cairns"

I thought couldn't be anything like yesterday, but actually I ended up enjoying this day as much.  We started our day with a tired and cranky exchange group, but partly because of our great guide the trip turned out to be a success.  Some driving around, games and awesome music in the bus, and oh, the waterfalls!

Little bush walk the massive tree:

Swimming break:

Swimming break number two:

Scandinavian style: 

Swimming break number three:

And just to be clear, we didn't come up with this great idea, it was our guide!  Kind of fun, at least if you're not the one people are riding on....ouch :D

I swam more in one day than I have during my whole time in here.  :P

Still in Cairns, 

Liisa

DAY 8

DAY 8

"The day everyone has been waiting for! We'll snorkel the Outer Barrier Reef, the marine biologist on board will inform us about the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef, and we'll also be able to view coral from a glass bottom boat.  bunking at Cairns"

Waking up from a bed, what a feeling!  This morning we were getting ready to go on a cruise to the outer barrier reef.  This was one of the most amazing days in my life, no doubt about that.  We got to do a 15 minute introductory dive and go snorkeling.  And of course just relax and sunbathe on the sundeck.  I've never ever done scuba diving before but I was really exited to try.  I don't think we had quite enough time to get used to the equipment and different environment as it was the first time for everyone.  Of course I understand that there were lots of people and we only had limited amount of time, but some people freaked out when the teachers started to press them under the water and asked to remove the mouth piece where all the air came from.  I was one of those people.  It's weird because I do know that it is fairly safe and the instructors obviously knew what they were doing.  All things together were just too much, thought of going 7m under water with a lot of weights on, yesterdays leaking mask in mind.  My brain just kept telling me that I can't get enough air, and when I'm carrying something really heavy and someone pushes me underwater and forces me to be there, I'll drown.  A quick trip to the surface and few tears later I was ready to try again.  Lucky I did.  There are no words to describe what I saw, it was so great.  I didn't see a shark or get to swim with a turtle like many people did, but other than that I had the greatest experience.  Amazing what nature creates.

By Bailee Jerger

I'm so happy that I get to experience this all with people I love.  Will be hard to leave this country and realize we don't live next door anymore.  :/

And the night in Cairns, look what we discovered!  Home sweet home.  :P

One of the favorite days in my  life,

Liisa

DAY 7

DAY 7

"Moving forward. We'll leave Airlie Beach and head to North, to the tropical home of the Great Barrier Reef.  bunking at Cairns"

Sitting in the bus again.  8000 kilometers sounds like a lot, but it wasn't too bad, at least for the passengers.  We talked, watched a lot of movies, played games, read, listen to music, danced, and especially towards the end, slept.  I remember wishing that I would have been able to sleep in a moving vehicle in a small space like many people did, because after really busy days and couple of hours sleep between them you can't help getting tired.  Finally we got to Cairns where we didn't need to set tents up because we were sleeping indoors, yay!  No need to picture a hotel room here, but it was really nice to sleep in a bed for a change.  And what's better than sleep in a bed, well, sleep in a bed for THREE nights in a row!  :D


I am trying to add photos to all of the safari posts so they wouldn't be boring, but as today was a full travelling day there are not many photos to add.  So, the most exiting thing we saw today was a bush fire.  In this photo it looks fairly small, but it was actually a proper sized fire.  And keep this landscape in mind so you'll be able to compare, because next place we stayed at was inland.  One huge country and so many different sides in it!

Getting into this,

Liisa


P.S. Nine months in Australia today!!

DAY 6

DAY 6

"We will spend the day visiting the idyllic Whitsunday passage with Ocean Rafting, and eco guides will explain modern worlds impact to the wilderness.   One place we'll also visit during the day, is the world famous Whitehaven Beach.  camping at Airlie Beach"

Ocean Rafting!

Definitely one of the best days so far!!  But what else could it be when you see places like this, wow.  First we went snorkeling to the reef.  I know I shouldn't complain because it sounds great, but a lot of people from our group were disappointed after it.  The coral wasn't really colorful and there was nearly no fish.  And didn't help that my mask leaked the whole time...

Then we kept going and arrived to the most awesome beach I've ever seen in my life.  Seven kilometers of white sand.  The views were amazing, and for me who has never seen white beaches and crystal clear water before, this was a breath taking day.  We had really good guides who told us about the beach and took us for a little bush walk up the hill so we could see the great views.  After that we had time to just lay on the beach and relax.  Ahh.. 

This is awesome,

Liisa