19 October 2009

Arriving at Cairns and Seeing the Reef

Tuesday:
On Tuesday Me, Mum and Dad went grocery shopping then we all went for a swim in the pool before breakfast. After breakfast we went to the beach for a few hours swimming and building things in the sand. For lunch we had sandwiches with salad stuff. We sat around and read books/ swam in the pool. We all got sunburnt, Josiah least bad. I got burned on my face, Dad on his front and back, and Mum on her back where her singlet didn't protect her. We had pasta and vegetables for dinner. I didn't have any vegetables because they were all ones I didn't like. After dinner Josiah washed the dishes while the rest of us relaxed and read books. When Josiah was finished we watched Little House On The Prairie. I really liked it. I started book 2 of the fellowship of the ring.

Wednesday - Reef Magic:
Today we got up at 6.40, packed our togs into our bags, cleaned our selves, had breakfast & brushed our teeth. We walked to the road and waited in the shade for our bus to arrive. On the bus to Cairns we saw what we thought were fields of sugar cane. When we got to the terminal we signed in then looked at the souvenir shop. On the way out to the reef Me, Mum and Dad got sea sick. when we got to the platform we changed into our togs then put sunblock on and got our snorkeling gear. We got straight into the water and snorkeled around seeing the colourful fish and the not so colourful coral. We got cold after a short while so we hired wetsuits for the rest of the day. I saw some beautiful fish and some really cool coral. I was the only one out of everybody except the groups that got to have my photo taken with a sea cucumber. later in the day we went on the semi sub. It was really cool. We got to see a turtle and a shark. I wanted to go on the scuba dive. Lunch wasn't that spectacular but I managed. Josiah and Dad got a vegan meal.
It was lots of fun and I would defiantly recommend it.

The photos are from Monday: Spotty listening to music in the car and Me at Sydney airport with a plane behind me


17 October 2009

Finals and Travelling to Cairns

Trinity Beach 7 Oct
Comp day 2:
My final was a really consistent route and lots of fun to climb. It was consistently very hard and no one in Youth C or Youth B Girls topped. I came 3rd, Josiah came 1st topping all his climbs, and Mum and Dad got 5th and 2nd. In speeds I came 2nd and Josiah also got 2nd. In the afternoon I went shopping with the kids from Rotorua and one of the girl's Mum. We did lots of crazy stuff. The girls bought fluoro vests, but I didn't get one 'cause I didn't have any money. They bought me a fluoro green headband from Supre. We went for a swim at their backpacker, but it was freezing so we were only in for five-ten minutes. After the prize-giving most of the kiwis went back to their backpacker for pizza. I really enjoyed the comp.

Travel Day:
We got up at 7 and left at 9. I t was raining for quite a bit of the drive to Sydney. We stopped for lunch at a rest spot along the way. When we got to Sydney airport we had a several hour wait for our flight, so I went on the free wireless internet via Dad's laptop and did some work on my canal brochure. I also looked at some very overpriced souvenir shops. on the flight we watched "The Brothers Bloom" and ate disgusting food. It was very hot when we arrived in Cairns. We took a taxi to our motel.

The following photos taken by Michael Davis.
mikedavisphotography.smugmug.com
Displayed here with permission.





15 October 2009

Driving to Port Macquarie

Driving to Port Macquarie 2 Oct.
Last night we went through customs then walked to the car rental office to get our car, it was from Thrifty. We got lost driving to our backpacker (eva's), but we found it in the end. Dinner was very nice. It was kebabs. Mine was chicken and everyone else had falafel. Our car is light blue. I woke up twice during the night because it was so hot. After we had our dinner we went for a walk to the Sydney Opera House. It is huge! From the Opera House we could see the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I'm looking forward to going over it on the way back. For breakfast we bought delicous fruit salad from a fruit shop across the road from a cool fountain. We ate our salads beside the fountain then we took a photo of me and Josiah trying to look like we were holding up the fountain. We just made it on to the Pacific highway after getting majorly lost, so now we,re really on our way to Port Macquarie.
Later:
We have just had morning tea and we are now on the Newcastle freeway. I am taking lots of photos.

Port Macquarie 2 Oct.
We are here. Not looking forward to driving back. After morning tea we drove for several hours and then stopped at an information centre to ask where a good place for lunch would be. As we couldn't drive off road we stopped at the side of a big lake at a sailing place. After lunch we drove on to Port Macquarie, unpacked, went supermarket shopping, came back, had showers. We are about to eat dinner.
Later:
Dinner was and tofu with veges. It was my best friend's birthday yesterday but she is in Europe so it might be today. I will try to email her as soon as possible, hopefully tomorrow but maybe not till Tuesday.





14 October 2009

My Trip to Australia!

I have just got back from a holiday in Australia.
I will be posting the journal that I wrote over the next few days.
Here are the first two entries.

Wellington Airport 1 Oct.


We are at Wellington Airport at the international departure lounge. Before we went to the departure lounge we had to fill out departure cards, Dad made a mistake on his: he wrote zaland instead of zealand but he managed to fix it so that was okay. After that we confirmed our other flights at the ticketing office. We are eating the food that we can't take in to Australia. I am really excited about going to Cairns. The comp will be really cool too. I am going to take lots of photos on the plane. My favourite thing about the trip will be seeing the reef.

On the Plane to Australia 1 Oct.

We have been on the plane for around maybe 20-30 minutes. They are handing out meals now, I'm having a chicken meal. Mum Dad and Josiah are having vegan ones. I can't see any water but I'm not in the window seat so maybe Josiah can. we were watching the soloist but it stopped working so now we are watching something else. Me and Josiah got given little goody bags. We were supposed to board at 3.45 but we boarded at 4.05.
Later:
The meal was quite nice. I enjoyed the bread and the after dinner mint. The flight attendants still haven't collected the trays.