2002: Australia and New Zealand

Day 9 (7/18/02): Surfer's Paradise-Fraser Island We got up early so that we could get on the road North. We changed scenery from the gold coast to the sunshine coast.  Around 10:00, we stopped at Underwater World Oceanarium. We did things like stingray feeds and listened to a talk about them, the crocodile talk and feed, and the seal show. There was also an underwater oceanarium tunnel where you could see animals around and above you. It was very interesting to see a manta ray from the bottom and see the rows of teeth a shark has. Quite Scary!! After lunch, we took off for Hervey Bay. On the way, John was wise again by giving us a TV theme show quiz and popping in the movie "The Rescuers Down Under". After an half hour break to change money and get some food, we arrived at Hervey Bay for our excursion to Fraser Island. We took a half hour ferry ride and got off to a bus/tram that took us to our hotel. The chaperones on the boat to Frazer Island (Brie...

Day 10 (7/19/02): Fraser Island-Bundaberg The four-wheel drive trip through the rain forest region of Fraser Island started around 8:15 a.m. The sandy roads were treacherous, but we got to our destinations slowly.  Our first stop was at Lake McKenzie, which was beautiful with clear water. Some of us were brave enough to get in for a quick swim. The lake has an unusually high acidic count, and so some people took off their rings and jewelry to get clean. It really worked.  After spending a few minutes at the lake, we had tea. Scones and cookies were had as well as tea, coffee, or juice. Then we got back on the four-wheel drive vehicle and took off. Lauren Simpson testing out the waters at Lake McKenzie We saw more scenery. The rain forest was at a lower level than the previous ones. There were more palms and ferns. The biggest difference between this and the ones I have seen in Africa is the humidity.  At the bottom of the rain forest was a riv...

Day 11 (7/20/2002): Bundaberg We got up and had more of a European continental breakfast than our usual big breakfast. Jonno warned us about having too big of a meal because of possible sea sickness on the trip to Lady Musgrave Island. It definitely happened. The boat we went to the Great Barrier reef on. The trip out to sea lasted for more that two hours. The majority of our group became seasick. One member even had to go to the ship's sickbay. It was very excruciating. To make matters worse, something happened to the ship's engine within distance of the entrance to the other side of the great barrier reef (The reef starts there and goes up north).  The delay was probably twenty minutes long. Once we finally arrived, we went to the island for a tour of the national park. We had a talk about the birds, trees, and turtles that grew there. We went back out on the boat and then had a chance to do many things such as 1.       Eat ...

Day 12 (7/21/02): Bundaberg-Brisbane We departed towards Brisbane around 8:00 a.m. During the morning bus trip, we saw a documentary about Koalas.  Abby Haystead with a Koala bear Melanie Huhn with a Koala bear Beth Simpson with an emu Brien Simpson with a kangaroo A wombat A kookaburra We saw the beach and boardwalk at Noosa. It was also a good place to get one last chance to swim into the ocean. We also had the rest of the potluck meal for lunch. There was still plenty of lamb, bread, and potato salad to be eaten. We got on the bus again and was entertained by an episode of the Simpson's.  It was the one where the family went to Australia.  We stopped at the National Australia Wildlife Park later in the day. We got to learn some stuff about Koalas and take pictures. We also got to feed some kangaroos and emus. Once that was done, we headed to Brisbane and our last night in Australia. We arrived at the Ibis hotel ...

Day 13 (7/22/02): Brisbane, Australia-Auckland, New Zealand We made it to the airport and said our good byes to Jonathan. Lots of pictures were taken with him in his EF shirt. We even met Jonno's girlfriend Pauline. The rest of the morning was spent buying duty free and getting rid of the Aussie money. Some people exchanged their Australian money for New Zealand dollars despite our warnings. They got an almost 1:1 exchange rate. We boarded the plane around 12:00 noon and set in for a three hour trip. The time change from Australia to New Zealand is two hours later in the day. The movie Big Fat Liar was played and we had a braised lamb meal for lunch. We arrived at Auckland and had to pass through customs. We had a few people in our group who had a hard time because of fruit or beef jerky that they had with them. Even the didgeridoos from Australia were in question. There are no snakes or similar pests in New Zealand and so they are very strict to keep it that way. ...

Day 14 (7/23/02): Auckland-Rotorua Lil Vroma looking over the view of Auckland, New Zealand from a dormant volcano We ate at the hotel and got on the bus for a tour of Auckland. We discovered that Auckland is actually 4 satellite cities, each self sufficient. There were some craters of dormant volcanoes. All were green.  We also saw one tree hill, a hill top in the city that used to have one tree on it. The Europeans who came committed a faux pas by cutting it down, not taking into account the significance to the Maori people. It created a divide between the cultures. It has since been replaced. the tree died and so an obelisk is there currently. A new tree is being decided on now. We also came a week before the elections for government, so that was a topic of conversation. We also found out that New Zealand is currently holding the Americas Cup and will defend it this year against the world. We discovered that all the other countries have to race each other and ...

Day 15 (7/24/02): Rotorua We awoke to the sulfur scent of the geysers that were close to our hotel, The Lake Plaza Rotorua Hotel.  We went to the Agrodome and got a demonstration on the different types of sheep there were (in New Zealand, I think) and how they were sheared. There was also a sheep dog demonstration and a loom/wool demonstration. After the demonstrations, the fun began. We took a tractor/wagon ride to another side of the Agrodome and spent the following hours participating in these fun activities:       Bungee Jumping. This originated in New Zealand       Speed boat racing in water trails       Extreme freefall--a jet engine is blowing you up in the air and you get the same affect as if  you are free falling (in reverse, I guess).        Zorbs--This is basically a plastic ball that people get in to ride down a hill. You can do this  with water in your ball (and you are extr...