Entry 17

Tomorrow is my last day in Sydney. There aren’t enough words to describe the experiences I’ve had over the past five months. This last week in Cairns has been as good as any vacation I’ve had. After four exams I was ready to relax. Cairns (pronounced like cans), is one of the largest cities in Queensland (the most north-eastern state in Australia), and primarily revolves around tourism and the environmental attractions in the area. I booked a scuba dive with Passions of Paradise on the recommendation of a friend and could not have had a better experience. We shipped off at 7am and visited two locations on the Great Barrier Reef for about an hour each. I could have spent days underwater looking at the chromatic corals and kaleidoscopic fish and still be impressed by the natural beauty living under the ocean surface. I saw three clown fish, two angelfish, parrotfish, and massive Maoris all around me. The crew made us an amazing lunch, while my fellow divers and I suntanned on the deck. The entire week I was in Cairns it was sunny and warm. On my last day in town I went to the Dome Zoo, which is built on the roof of a twenty-story casino/hotel. The zoo functions as an open aviary, where talking parrots, cockatoos, starlings, pigeons, owls and other birds fly around you as you walk between exhibits. The coolest part of the zoo in my opinion wasn’t what animals I saw, but how I saw them. Inside the dome there were two ropes courses to climb and zip line up and down from one side of the zoo to the other. The final zip of the high-ropes course took me right over a crocodile pit! After the climb I got to cuddle with a koala and have our picture taken. The koala was soft and calm. I think one would make an excellent pet, but I’m not sure we would clear customs. Now back in Sydney its been sad saying goodbye to the amazing international and local friends I’ve made, but I know I will keep in touch, and have great people to visit all over the world. Wednesday morning is my flight back to the states. I can’t wait to see my family, my home, all of my friends in Wilmington, and a big bowl of Shrimp and Grits.

Entry 16

The past two weeks have been filled with adventure, and I couldn’t be happier that I made the trip over to New Zealand. My first stop was Queenstown near the bottom of the southern island. I checked into a backpackers hostel and roamed around the town the first day I was there. It was noticeably chillier than Sydney. In the native language of the country ‘Zealand’ means, ‘land of the long white cloud.’ The sky was crisp and blue on my first day, but low clouds began to circle the base of the mountains as the week progressed. On my second day I climbed the Queenstown Hill, which used to be a sacred place to the native islanders. The forest was dense with tall pines, evergreens, and even the random palm tree. Everywhere along the trail people had collected flat rocks and stacked them. The air was very still and only shards of sunlight managed to squeeze through the wintergreen canopy. The hike took about an hour and a half but once I finally reached the top, the trek proved to be well worth it. Never in my life have I been so mesmerized by a view. Snowcapped mountains surrounded the hill on all sides. Lakes reflected the blue of the sky and the jagged peaks. It was obvious to me why so many directors have chosen New Zealand for the backdrop of ancient or otherworldly movies. After filling up my camera with pictures and sitting, quietly entranced by the horizon, I made my way back down to the lodge. The next day I rode a gondola to the peak of an adjacent mountain and checked into the A.J. Hackett Bungy office. Yes, I was going bungy jumping. I’d never done anything like it before (unless you count riding double shot at the boardwalk). Queenstown is firstly famous for the natural landscape, but also notorious for supplying thrill seekers with a variety of adrenaline pumping activities. The bungy coaches harnessed me to the rope and gave me a few tips on how to jump. Most people expect to be nervous, but I was really comfortable the entire time. I heard the countdown: 3, 2, 1, then ran and flung myself off of the ledge. For eight seconds I fell from 400 meters above Queenstown. The sensation was so new and exhilarating my body forgot about everything. I screamed and laughed and then was reeled back up to the jumping platform. I can’t wait to go bungy jumping again! I spent my last day in Queenstown walking around the base of the mountain and feeding some ducks in the lake. My next stop was Christchurch, which looked very similar to Hobbiton in Lord of the Rings. Christchurch has had two earthquakes in the past few years that have really devastated the city. A lot of efforts to save historic buildings are being made, but most have had to been torn down and are now being rebuilt. I noticed a lot of modern art sculptures and large-scale graffiti. I think both are attempts to replace the culture that was lost. Some friends and I took the Alpine train to the west coast and got to walk through some amazing caves and under some massive waterfalls. The pancake rocks were one of the many geological abnormalities we saw. In Franz-Josef we got to see a glacier that attracts most of the cities tourism. The ice was so blue it looked almost like rock candy. Unfortunately due to global warming the glacier is melting almost 20 meters every year. I’m glad I had the chance to see it while its still there, and everything else that surprised me in New Zealand. Exams start this week, and in less than a month I will be back in America. After exams I will take my last trip up north to the Great Barrier Reef to do some diving!