Day 6: First day in Cairns

Once we had spent our time in Sydney it was time to fly off to Cairns. As soon as we landed we could immediatly feel the weather change. It went from about mid fifteys to sunny and eightys. It was beautiful in Cairns! It felt just like being in Hawaii, Cairns weather is the best weather we`ve had so far.  I hope is stays this nice the whole time. Once we got situated in the hotels we  put our swim suits on and we headed out for the pool. We walked along the boardwalk down to the lagoon, I was surprised after I jumped into the water and it was feezing! I was expecting the water to be really warm and enjoyable but it was like fiftey degrees and the pool was saltwater! Then a group of guys and I started tossing around the rugby ball and we couldn`t even do that! After the pool we went back to the hotel and showered. The teachers let us do whatever we wanted tonight, its so nice. This has really been the first night that we could be out on our own and it was amazing. My group was Zack, Nishant, and Paige. We walked around for awhile and we found a little oizza place to stop ad get something to eat.  We went through a small market and everybody wanted us to uy something it was crazy. Then after awhile we were kind of done walking around so we left back for the hotel and went to the pool. The pool at the hotel was pretty cold as well so we went into the hot tub for about an hour or so until it was time to head in  for the night.

The Great Barrier Reef

  The Great Barrier Reef is by far the coolest place I have ever visited! The water was so clear and blue it was the prettiest water I have ever seen. I wish we had water that blue at home. The boat ride out was pretty long but it was a lot of fun. I loved standing out on the deck and looking down to the water. Once we got to the pontoon and the boat docked, i couldnt wait to get in the water. I'm not big on swimming with things on me or using the snorkle to brethe. Once I could brethe normal it was amazing. Seeing all of the coral types and all of the colors was just amazing. One of the coolest things i saw in the water was a school of fish swam right under me. I got out of the water as soon as  saw the eel. i didnt take any underwater pictures but I had such an amazing time!

My Top Ten. last day

1. My favorite  thing about this trip is getting close to everyone like I did. I have made a lot of new friends on this trip. The trip has been made so much better just because of all the people. 

2. My second favorite thing about this trip has been the Great Barrier Reef . The reef was by far the coolest thing I have EVER seen.
3. My third favorite thing about this trip is the hotel room. The hotels have been a blast with Steven and Sean. Steven is always the first to go to sleep but Sean and I still have a good time. 
4. My fourth favorite thing about this trip was the day I was supposed to go whale watching but we couldn't due to the weather. So, Mr. Schagren took us around the beautiful city, and we went also were able to go to the aquarium. It was a blast just being in a small group all day.
5. My fifth favorite thing about this trip was Ogoing. Ogo was so much fun!I did the fishpipe Ogo with Arnoud.
6. Riding Luge in Rotorua was so much fun! That was something I never would have imagined doing! The advanced track was the best, and racing random people was pretty cool too. 

7. The food in Australia was so good, but it wasnt that different from home. I liked how fresh everything there was. 


8.  Cairns was so much fun. I liked how much freedom all of the teachers gave us. It was fun just to walk around the city. The walk along the beach was so pretty. 


9. The rainforest was so amazing. It was scary knowing that there were snakes up in the tree though. My grandpa would have hated it...he's soo scared of snakes! The best part of the rainforest was the cable car ride. Seeing the beautiful sites that high up was incredible!


10. The Thermal Village was so amazing. It was cool learning about how people used the land and hot springs to their advantage.  The hot baths were too hot plus they were community baths. 

Day 5: Have I grown?

Throughout this trip I do think I have grown as a traveler. I have traveled a lot in my lifetime but this trip has really shown how much I can  do on my own.  This trip also is teaching responsibilites. On other trips throughout my life I have never needed had to much responsibilites but on this trip I had to carry my life around with me where ever I went.  If I would have lost my passport or my credit cards my trip would have been ruined. I think if I wanted to travel on my own I would be able to, but I like being with people.  I would say I am a very good traveler, I like to see new places, discover new things and go on adventures.  This trip has been amazing so far. I am not looking forward to our long flight home!

Day 4

Today we had to get up early and go to the airport to fly out of Aukland and go to Sydney. I was so excited for Sydney I couldnt sleep on the plane ride.  The plane ride was fun because they had touch screen tv`s, they had games that you could play with other people on the plane. Ty and I played battle ship for awhile. Then i moved seats back by Arnoud and we played a few games. This was the best plane ride for views as well.  Flying into sydney was so cool, we could see the Opera House and the Sydney Bridge.  Once we dropped everything off at the hotel and we went walking around sydney i relized how clean this city is and how much nicer everyone seems.  Alec took us on  a tour of The Rocks which was pretty cool, plus we got alot of good pictures there. We also went to the sky needle downtown, it was crazy how high up we were. While we were up there i wrote my parents a post card, and bought a few extras. When everyone broke off into smaller groups Mrs. Tomaselo called Arnoud and I over by the gift shop, she wanted us to buy different types of jerky. Arnoud and I thought it would be cool so we bought some. Arnoud bought Kangaroo jerky, Mrs.T bought Crocadile Jerky, and i bought Emu jerky. It was so funny watching people eat the Crocadile jerky not many people liked it. Thats about all we did today but I had a blast just walking around and seeing the sights.  I`m so excited for whale watching tomorrow!

Day 3 Redwoods.

 My pen pal was Natasha Free, she was really cool and a blast to hangout with. She had so much to talk about. Most of the kids there had huge stereotypes of american schools. She asked me if we broke out into song and dance like in High School Musical. They walked us around the school. It was alot of fun, my buddy was loving all the stories we had to tell about school back in america. 

So today we had to get up very early to walk to the bus stop and catch a bus to the redwood forest. The hardest part was getting everyone there, we were split up into two groups because we all couldnt fit on one bus. I luckily made the first bus, my group was awsome. The redwoods was the coolest thing ive seen so far. Even though it was raining and everyone was soacked and cold it was a great time.  It was fun trying to get lost in the forest, Mrs.Tomaselo was not a happy camper because it was only her with twenty two students.  After we went back the the hotel and we fineshed getting ready we went to see our pen pals at  Rangitoto.

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Day 2

Day two: today we had a pretty good breackfast that wasnt anything different than at home. After we finished we went out front and saw the beautiful views of all the hot springs. Our hotel isnt the best but the views are amazing.  We went on a duck tour, the duck boat was pretty cool how it could go from the road right onto the water. I liked our tour guide when he played the mission impossible music as we wet in. I was freezing the whole ride even with a coat and sweatshirt on. I loved it though, it was a great and unique way to view the couintry. After the duck tour we were dropped off at the Thermal Village  at the thermal village our tour guide was hilarious.  He was a great teacher, he knew so much about everything. I dont think i would like to live there just because the smell was terrible. It was so beautiful there though. After an amzing afternoon at the thermal village we went ogoing.Ogoing was icredible! there was two choices, one was going down the hill and another was the fishpipe. The fishpipe was sttionary and was the cheaper optipn. Arnoud and i went in and we stayed up for quiot awhile, once we fell we just started to wrestle. After the ogoing we went back to the hotel and showered up for dinner.  We sasw a tradditional show of the natives of Rotorua. It was pretty cool especialy when they made Steven the Chief.