Frankland Islands (Great Barrier Reef)

On Wednesday, we went to the Great Barrier Reef. We took a riverboat cruise to the Frankland Islands, which is a group of uninhabited islands near the reef. The only visitors to these islands are people who take cruises with the company we went with. The weather was supposed to rainy again, but we got really lucky and had a beautiful day.

Here I am with my dad on the boat.

To get to the Frankland Islands, we took a boat down Mulgrave River which opens to the sea. We continued on until we got the the islands. Below is the Mulgrave River and the mountains of the rainforest in the background.

Here is the boat we took. It holds 100 passengers, but there were only 30 the day we went, so we were able to talk to the crew about the reef and islands.

I had never snorkeled before going to the Great Barrier Reef, but now I love it! It was amazing to see the size and colors of the corals and to reach out and touch them. I got to swim with all kinds of tropical fish, turtles, and octopuses.

My best look EVER.

My parents didn't want to snorkel, so we also went on a glass bottom boat so they could see the corals.

Mom and her noodle.

Dad and his infamous hat.

The mountains are still visible from the Frankland Islands, which creates a beautiful view.

This is one of my favorite pics from our trip. I love how the rocks look.

The island had plenty of sand, but it was also covered in corals like these. (You can see them on the bottom of the picture with the mountains and ocean.)

We saw this crocodile on the riverbank when we were cruising back in to shore.

On our drive back to Clifton Beach, I got this shot of sugar cane in front of the mountains. There were lots of sugar cane fields in this area.

This was definitely one of my favorite days in Australia thus far. More beach pics coming soon!

Port Douglas

After spending Monday in the rainforest, we decided to go to Port Douglas for the day. Unfortunately, it was a very rainy day. Port Douglas was a cute beach town and had lots of great shops and restaurants. For lunch, we found a great cafe and my parents are now fans of fish 'n' chips.

This is a lookout point on the way to Port Douglas.

This is one of the most popular lookouts in Port Douglas. Too bad it was so rainy :(

Instead of staying in Cairns, we stayed in a villa on Clifton Beach. This is a tiny beach town, about 20 minutes north of Cairns. During the week we saw some beautiful views from our patio (when it wasn't raining!) Here are a few of my favorites.

This was a sign on Clifton Beach. I definitely wasn't getting in the water!

I will post pics of the Great Barrier Reef next!

Kuranda and Tjapukai Community

Welcome to the rain forest! On Easter Sunday I met my parents in Cairns, Australia. This city is in the northeastern part of Australia and is right next to the Great Barrier Reef.

The first place we visited in this area was Kuranda, which is a mountain village. We had planned to get to Kuranda by taking the Kuranda Railway there and the skyrail back. Unfortunately, about a week before our trip, there was a landslide and the train derailed. Needless to say, the train was still out of order, so we used the skyrail both ways.

Barron River

It rained on and off throughout our day in Kuranda and there was a lot of fog.

Mom and Dad on the skyrail

The plants were really interesting here. There were a lot of ferns, and many of them grew way up inside the trees.


View of Barron Gorge


This is Barron Falls. The water level at Barron River was really high when we visited. Even though it's a rain forest, the area had received more rain than average, so the water was very muddy.


Another shot of Barron Falls



The actual village of Kuranda was filled with all kinds of shops. Most of them were souvenir shops with boomerangs and didgeridoos in addition to the regular t-shirts. I found this in one of the shops and couldn't believe you can actually buy one.


After seeing Kuranda, we went to the Tjupukai (don't ask me how to pronounce it--I still can't) Aboriginal Cultural Park. They danced and showed us how to play the didgeridoo, throw spears and boomerangs, and talked about bush foods their people ate from the rain forest.


The Tjupukai dancers


They picked three people from the audience to come up and dance with them on stage.
Lucky me.

I will post more pics of my time in Queensland soon!

Phillip Island

Phillip Island has a lot more to offer than just native wildlife. It is also an incredibly beautiful island full of nature parks and views of the coast.

This is a view of one of many of Phillip Island's beaches during the day.

Below you can see the Nobbies. They were formed millions of years ago by volcanic spurts.

The Nobbies is the site of Australia's largest colony of fur seals. Unfortunately, the number of seals you can see peaks from October-December during their mating season. Then, most of the seals leave the rocks at the end of summer. So, we didn't get to see any seals, but the coast was very pretty and we got to see a few penguins in their burrows.

I'm fascinated by water, so I felt pretty lucky when I caught a huge wave hitting at just the right moment...

...And after the wave had crashed...

Boardwalk along the Nobbies Centre

On the right is a blow hole, which made an awesome sound when the water rushed in.

Here I am with the whole group that went to Phillip Island. Charlotte is the other American student and her parents came over to visit for the holidays. Laurel, in the front, is her host mum and grew up on the island.

This is the beach before the penguins came in. It was a full moon, so the sky was gorgeous. The rangers said the penguins often stay out at sea when it's a full moon, though, so we didn't get to see quite as many penguins as usual.

In a few days I will be flying to Cairns, which is in northern Australia, to meet my parents! I'm very excited about seeing them for the first time in over 2 months and getting to see a very different part of Australia than what I've already seen. The internet may be kind of sketchy where we're staying, but I will try to post pics when I can.

Phillip Island Animals

Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit Phillip Island. I went with Charlotte (the other American student teacher), her host mum, Laurel (who is actually from Phillip Island), and her parents that are visiting from the U.S. Phillip Island is about a 3 hour drive from where I live in Geelong. If you'd like to get an idea of where Geelong and Phillip Island are located, visit here:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=106386624811293119141.00048312bbb34c4c0e426

Phillip Island is very beautiful and features a variety of animals. The first place we visited was the Koala Conservation Centre. I was able to get a much closer look at the koalas here than I did in Jirrahlinga. This is a male koala. He is kept in a special part of the conservation centre with four female koalas to keep the population steady.

As you can see, we were able to walk right along the branches and get very close to the koalas.

Here is a short video of the koala from above climbing on his tree.

This is a kookaburra, which we also saw in the Koala Centre. I didn't get to hear it's call, but supposedly kookaburras sound like humans laughing.

I just happened to notice this prickly guy as we left the koala area. This is an echidna and he was digging away for ants when I saw him.

The signs at the centre said the koalas will scratch and bite you, but I still think they're cuddly...

The most sought after animals on Phillip Island are the little penguins (that's their official name--I promise). Each night, at dusk, hundreds of penguins come in from the ocean and go back to their burrows. An area is set up with bleacher seating and lights so people can see the "penguin parade." It was really incredible to watch these tiny penguins waddle up the beach and hills to get to their burrows.

Photography wasn't allowed at the penguin parade, but during the day we found some penguins underneath the boardwalk. One penguin stays during the day to guard the burrow while its mate is in the ocean. These were some penguins that stayed behind.

Here is a penguin in its burrow.


This picture was actually taken a few weekends ago when I went to Sorrento with Peter, Helen, and Charlotte. We took a ferry from Queenscliff and some dolphins swam beside us as we went. Since the rest of this post was about animals, I thought I'd share this shot, too.

I will have more pictures of Phillip Island soon...get ready for some beautiful water shots!

Jirrahlinga

The past few weeks have been really busy for me, so I haven't had time to add new posts on here. But, today was the last day of Term 1 and I now have two weeks of holidays! I hope to have lots of new pictures to add during this time.

A few weekends ago, I went to a place called Jirrahlinga with Charlotte and her host mum, Laurel. Jirrahlinga is Aboriginal for "seek a home for a kangaroo." Injured animals are taken there to be treated and given a safe place to live. We saw all kinds of animals, including lots of birds and reptiles, but most people seem to be more interested in koalas and kangaroos. So, most of my pictures will focus on animals that are typical "Australian" animals.

I really wanted to get a good shot of the koalas, but they just weren't having it. Apparently they sleep about 18 hours a day because of all the eucalyptus they eat. Sorry, but this was the best I could do...

I've always heard koalas are mean animals, but they still look cuddly, so I thought they were cute.


Sleeping away...



This goose tried to storm through a gate to get Charlotte. She was truly terrified!


Because Jirrahlinga is an animal sanctuary, they get all kinds of injured animals. They also get orphaned animals. This is where the orphaned kangaroos are kept. They actually sleep in these makeshift pouches.


Baby Kangaroo

Group of Kangaroos--I always wanted to see a kangaroo and I'm glad I got the chance, but they're really dirty animals. I don't think they're very cute up close. Most of the Australians I've spoken to regard kangaroos about the same way Americans view deer.

The more I looked at them, the more they reminded me of rats. And for those of you that know me very well--you know I'm NOT a fan of varmints.

If you look closely, you can see the baby kangaroo in its mother's pouch.

Kangaroos hopping around

Emu

This is a wombat--another popular "Australian" animal. I also thought it was kind of gross.
Hope you enjoyed the animals! During my first week of holidays, I'm planning to visit Phillip Island, which has a huge colony of penguins. So, hopefully I will have some more pics of little creatures for you soon!