Voyage to the South Pacific 2017

Our last activity took us north to the Port Douglas area for some sand crabbing. We traveled the Captain Cook Highway up the Coral Sea coast. It's said to be one of the most scenic drives in Australia,  and I believe it. The drive took about 1-1/2 hours, and it was breath-taking! We started the morning by singing to Will who is celebrating his birthday today. He gets the benefit of an extra-long birthday, too! :) We did our crabbing along Cooya Beach. We walked through the mangrove of boxwood trees. It was wet and muddy in spots on the trail. We walked quite a distance so we could walk through the water looking for crabs on the way back. It was slightly overcast, but comfortable in temperature,  and the water was really warm. It was a pleasant way to spend the morning. As my grandfather would say "It's a good job" we ordered our lunch previously,  because only one if our entire group got a crab. It was a nice-sized one, and our guide cooked it up for us to try,  a...

We traveled out of Cairns to visit the rain forest and learn a little more about the aborigines. RainForeStation provided the opportunity for us to get close to kangaroos and wallabys and to hold a koala. We took a bush walk and learned about the type of trees used for weaving and the ones that had poisonous fruit. Some of us even had our faces painted with tribal paint. We learned how to play a didgeridoo and how to throw a boomerang and spear. We had a chance to throw the boomerang, and some did fairly well. We got to ride on a military duck that was built by women in Detroit during WWII. It took us around the facility and we saw a good variety of trees. We were treated to traditional aboriginal dances and a few of our group joined in the fun on the stage. We also got to see the rain forest from above the canopy. We traveled by sky ride down the mountain, stooping along the way to explore. Our dinner tonight was prepared by a girl's club, very similar to our Girl Scouts. We...

What a great day! It started out by receiving birthday wishes from all of my family back home. That meant so much to me! While I love travelling with the students,  I really don't enjoy being away for special occasions. Then, when we got on the bus, everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me. What a wonderful way to begin! The boat ride to the station at the Reef took 1-1/2 hours. There must be something going on atmosphericly, because the waves were pretty stout. We were headed into them, and there was considerable rocking of the boat. Had a few feel nauseous,  but the overcame with the help of my "magic bracelets." The Reef was amazing! Even though the waves made it a little tough for me to snorkel, everyone really seemed to enjoy it. Before we went, we got confirmation the 12-year-olds were permitted to scuba, so some of the group took advantage of that opportunity, too. We did see a nice variety of fish and coral. Some if those who dove saw a giant clam! I exp...

It's hard to believe that we made the last leg of our journey today. We bid good-bye to Sydney this morning, but not without a little glitch before we left. Check-in was going fine until the computer said one of our group didn t have a ticket. Name came up, but no confirmation number. It took me a couple minutes to remember where I filed it, but I found it,  and we were all good. We had a visit by Nick's mom and brother this afternoon. They are in Cairns, too, so they asked if they could drop by. It was great to see some faces from home. This evening we went to the Night Markets. They are kind of a cross between food court, outlets, craft center, tourist shop and flea market. It was pretty interesting. We all could eat wherever we wanted, and everyone seemed to have a good time trying new things. The "strange experience of the night" has to go to the fish spa. It had about 10 square glass cubes with fish in them. The participants would sit for 15 minutes with thei...

This morning we headed to the Blue Mountains. It was a two-hour ride from Sydney. Many of the students took advantage of the time to catch up on some sleep. The drive was beautiful and became increasingly scenic with the higher elevation. On the way we passed the Olympic stadium complex. They are named "Blue" because the atmosphere surrounding them often appears to be blue. This is caused by the oil from the eucalyptus mixing with the air, dust, and water particles The mountains contain a rain forest. We took a sky ride down to the walkway, which took us through the eucalyptus and gum trees. Part of the area was mined for coal many years ago. There were still remnants of the miners and the mine for us to see. We also rode the steepest incline in the world. The system was once used to get the coal out. It's  a 50 degree angle down the mountain. This range has such deep craters and mountains. Many of the cliffs rise straight up and seem to go on forever!! There are tree...

What a great day we had today! We started off the day at Bondi Beach, the world premiere site for surfing. We were told that some people will fly into Sydney just to go to Bondi Beach to surf and then fly home again. It was the picture perfect day to have surfing lessons at Bondi. The temperature wasn't too cold, although we did all have wetsuits just to ensure that our bodies wouldn't get too cold in the water. We also took a 2 hour cruise in the harbour of Sydney. The cruise took us past the Opera House around the light houses and even under the Harbour Bridge. After the cruise we walked over to the Opera House and were able to have a tour inside. We even had a special treat while we were touring! The personnel at the Opera House were setting up for tonight's performance of a special group of students from throughout the world but mostly the United States. They were a string orchestra, and while we were there they began practicing together so we were able to hear the w...

What a long day! We had room checks at 3:45, and had bus packed and were out the door by 4:15.  We were at the airport by 6 o'clock. Who would have thought that there would be that many people at the airport at that time of the morning on Sunday?  Nevertheless we got our bags checked and headed to the gate; ready for our 9 o'clock flight. And that's when the wheels fell off... First we were delayed only a half an hour. Then they decided the delay would be until noon and they gave us vouchers for food. That was  fine until they changed their mind about when take off would be and we had to rush to get on the bus to go to our plane.  It all worked out fine though, and the rest of the flight was uneventful. We met our new travel manager Dion  and headed off for the first event.  The students learn how to play Aussie rules football and cricket. A group from ulti-MATE Sports taught them the basics.They had a blast playing both! For dinner, we went down to Darl...

Our last day adventure in New Zealand was spent on the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings set. The farm where the filming was done is absolutely beautiful. It looks so peaceful with the sheep grazing all around it. Basically, the lodgings were empty shells, with nothing in the interiors. But, the details in the exteriors were amazing. Even though I'm not a fan of the movies, it was a pretty neat experience. The site is a 1250 acre sheep and beef farm with 39 Hobbit Holes. At the end of the tour we were treated to a mug of ginger beer. Our last night of lodging is in Hamilton, and it will be a very short night. We have to stay in Hamilton,  about 2 hours from Auckland, because all the hotels are booked up for tonight's game. I know many of the students want to see at least the beginning haki of the All Blacks game. How much of the game they actually see will be determined,  as we are leaving the hotel at 4:00 a.m  to get to the airport. As you can see, I'm up-to-date in pictures ...