"I've been traveling on a boat
in a plane
in a car, on a bike
with a bus, and a train." ~George Harrison
I don't remember how the idea got in my head in the first place. I must have been watching "Crocodile Dundee". Somehow the idea that I had to go to Australia got in my head and would not let go. I have wanted to go to Australia since I was nine years old. It took me 25 years to get there, but finally, my dream trip happened!
I traveled on Oz Experience (http://www.ozexperience.com/), a bus tour catering to backpackers. It is hop-on, hop-off - you can get off when and where you want. As I had one month exactly to do everything I had always wanted to do, I had my trip planned down to the last day. I booked all my buses online through Oz Experience. I also booked all my hostels, my tour of the Red Centre, and my inter-Australia flight from Cairns to Alice Springs before leaving Canada.
I was a bit worried about not getting my entry visa, but it was not problem at all. The visa can be obtained online. It takes maximum three days to get and it is in the Customs Officer's records when you arrive at Sydney airport.
I had one day in Sydney before my tour started, so I walked around the Rocks, an old area of Sydney near the Harbour Bridge. It took me some time to find the walkway to the Harbour Bridge, but I eventually found it. I took some amazing photos of the Sydney Opera House. I was so excited to be there! It was amazing.
The next day I learned to surf. It is really difficult - I could only get up on my knees. But that was good enough for me. It is really difficult to fight the waves and surfing takes a lot of upper body strength.
I traveled to Fraser Island - the deadliest place on earth! The island has the deadliest spiders and snakes in the world. It is also home to dingos, a wild dog that has been known to attack people. Did I mention I have arachnophobia? A spider fell out of a tree onto a girl in my group who was walking ahead of me. Let's just say, I am very glad it was not me the spider fell on!
The Great Barrier Reef is so amazing, I snorkeled it twice! The first time I went to the Southern Great Barrier Reef, out of Airlie Beach. It was really neat to see the coral. I was a bit scared, though, because the waves were really strong out in the ocean like that. The second time I went, it was out of Cairns. This was better. The water is clearer in the Northern Great Barrier Reef.
My tour took us to two different places. The first was Michaelmas Cay (http://www.cairnsattractions.com.au/michaelmas-cay.php). This was really cool. It is another world under the sea. Very peaceful. I saw lots of different types of colourful fish, and the coral is so pretty! Michaelmas Cay is a bird sanctuary, so when I put my head above water, it was like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds". It was very noisy above water! The second place the tour took us to was again, out in the middle of the ocean. Again, I did not like swimming there, so I went for a little while, but probably could have stayed out longer. The fish and coral were amazing to see.
One of the highlights for me was hugging a koala. Years ago, my aunt went to Australia and got a photo of her holding a koala. I wanted to do that. I went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane. To "hug a koala", the price was $17 AUS. Pretty steep considering you can also take photos yourself. This is to fund the sanctuary. But it was worth it! I have a photo of me hugging a koala!
Finally, I took a flight to Alice Springs to see the Red Centre. The flight was really expensive, but totally worth it. I camped near Uluru the first night. I slept in a "tent". The tents were more like small, minimalistic cabins. Others in my group slept out under the stars in swag bags.
Uluru is impressive. It is more than "just a big rock". As you walk around Uluru, you will see that the rock face has designs in it. Parts of the rock are sacred to the aboriginals and you are not allowed to take photos of these areas. If you are caught taking a photo, your camera is confiscated and you are fined $5500 AUS. The aboriginals are upset that a westerner decided that it would be a good idea to allow tourists to climb the rock. As the aboriginal chief put it: "White man's idea". If you think about it though, it would be the equivalent of someone foreign coming to our country and climbing on and defacing our churches or synagogues.
I used a lot of different modes of transportation while in Oz. When I listen to George Harrison's song "Any Road", I think of my trip to Australia.
I am so glad that I had the opportunity to finally fulfill my dream of traveling to Australia! It was definitely a trip of a lifetime.
~Angie
