Jeffrey's Travels

We have been attending classes for some time now, which meant that spring break was on its way! I booked a tour with STA travel that took about 30 students down the east coast of Australia. The trip lasted a total of 2 weeks. I can positively say without any hesitation that this trip was the most incredible experience of my life!

First stop was the Tully River for some white water rafting! They served us lunch half way down. It was a wonderful time.

Second stop was Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas. One of the most beautiful beaches ever! I found a long piece of bamboo and used it to entertain myself as a pole vault for a while. The crabs roll up little balls of sand all the way up and down the beach creating some great photo oppertunities. I convinced a few of my friends to wake up at 5AM that morning and catch the sunrise from the beach! It was awesome!

Third stop was Carins to see the Great barrier reef! The water looked exactly (if not better) like the pictures. It was warm and had all sorts of awesome critters swimming around. I got to do some Scuba diving. It was great! Underwater the visibility is as far as your eye can see! I couldn't believe how perfect it was. Magnificent fish and huge sea turtles swam beside us! We also saw a blue whale on the way out to the reef (Which is actually not on the beach. You need a 40 min boat ride to 'the outer reef'). There is a great the picture of the whale at (www.philippmasur.blogspot.com). Philipp got the shot just as the tail was raised going into the water. Perfect timing!

After that we went to a zoo called "The Rainforest". There was a little confusion on my part. I felt a bit mislead by the title. I though we were going to the actual rainforest! hahah. Although it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, it was pretty cool to see some native Australian animals. Plus, I got to see Kangaroo's doing the dirty...

Then it was off for a 3 day sail boat cruise in the Whitsunday Islands. Snorkeling, eating, drinking, lounging, and visiting pristine white sand beaches pretty much sums it up. The picture with the 3 guys doing ninja moves is one of my favorites. Those are my 2 good friends Philipp (Germany(www.philippmasur.blogspot.com)) and Matty (New Jersey). There is a little video to go along with this one! The video is touring around the boat saying hello to everyone on the way to our first's night destination. We listened to tunes and hung out on the deck. It was PRIME.

CLICK FOR VIDEO:

Then came Fraser Island. BEST camping trip ever. We were given 4X4 trucks and set free from the ferry we took from the mainland. We were all excited to go and explore and camp anywhere we wanted on the island. We spent 2 nights on the beach and woke up to the sound of crashing waves. I have to give a shout out to the DELICIOUS DINNER that we made. Matt, Philipp(www.philippmasur.blogspot.com) and I all decided to treat ourselves to steak, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cobb. It took about 3 hours to prepare on our single tiny flame (no campfires allowed :(.)and tiny pot. However, I would be lying if I said if it wasn't the most delicious dish ever! Worth every second! With each bite was a few grains of sand that will forever remind of us of Fraser Island. The beach there is actually concreted a highway as well so we were able to drive down the beach at 80 KPH! The Moheno ship wreck was a hi light of the camping trip. A friendly Aussie offered to drive us down the beach at night so Phillip (www.philippmasur.blogspot.com) and I could take some photos of the Moheno Shipwreck. We did a 7min exposure painting the ship with light and Philipp (www.philippmasur.blogspot.com) spelled Australia with a flashlight.

You can see a VIDEO clip of Fraser Island on my Facebook Page.

After camping we headed to Brisbane. Everyone was a bit tired and grumpy beacuse of the 12 hour bus ride through the night. We arrived at 6AM, after a long walk to the hostel with our luggage we found out that we couldn't check into or hostel untill 2PM. We decided to make the best of our time and adventured around the city. I was getting a bit tired of taking "Typical" pictures, so i decided to get artsy by doing some zoom blur shots (you spin/zoom the camera as you take the photo). I also experimented with some blurry photography.

(SIDE NOTE: Forgot my wallet on that Greyhound Bus. By the time I realized the bus was long gone. I went to the front desk to see if there was a wallet that was found. He rang the bus driver and asked him to check to see if my wallet was still there! It WAS! Luckily the bus driver was coming back later that day. He brought it back to me! With everything intact! I love Australia, I feel like anywhere else and it would have been long gone.) So these are pictures taken in the City of Brisbane.

Then we went to the "Steve Irwin Crocodile Zoo!". We saw his whole family host the main crock show. It was a great show. I wish Steve Irwin could have been there himself :( . It was really sad how much the Irwin family are surrounded by videos and things to constantly remind them of their father. It must be hard to loose your dad and still see him everyday on the screen. The kids, Bindi and Robert are awesome though. They are crazy about wild life! Apparently Steve Irwin dedicated a lot of himself to the conservation of wildlife here in Australia and around the world. He is one Aussie celebrity that the people love! Unlike others such Russell Crow. Who was actually born in New Zealand (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000128/bio). AmericanIZED Australian actors are not looked well upon here.

We ended in my favorite little town of the trip "Byron Bay". We walked up to the lighthouse and took some beautiful photographs at sunset. On the way we met some backpackers and did some "slack roping".

I have had the opportunity to meet some great people and share wonderful experiences with all of them. There seems to be a special bond that forms amongst a group of friends that is experiencing such magnificent things. Long lasting friendships are built within a short amount of time. Our Pictures are a reminder of an experience that changed us forever.

-Jeff