Author Archive for Tyler

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Cairns Night Zoo

Published on April 4, 2008 in Australia. 0 Comments

A Wombat KissI’m going to back up a bit from the scuba diving. I posted it during the vacation because it was the most exciting thing that I did and the pictures were the most accessible, but it wasn’t the first thing that we did. So in the interest of trying to preserve some chronological order, I’ll now talk about the Cairns night zoo, which we visited on our first night away from Sydney.

But first, let me tell you how much of a joy it is to take a domestic flight in a country other than the US. We rocked up at the airport about an hour early to check in for a flight on Virgin Blue. It took less than 10 minutes for our whole group of 26 to check in. Security was a dream. You don’t have to take your shoes off. You don’t have to take your liquids out. You don’t need to hand them your boarding pass and ID as you go through. You simply place your bags on the conveyor belt, and retrieve them on the other side. The whole experience was so much easier than it is at home. Virgin Blue is a regional, low-cost carrier. They offer no frills on flights – no free snacks or drinks, and no free entertainment, which keeps costs down for passengers.

We got to Cairns in the early afternoon, giving us plenty of time to relax by the beautiful pool at Gilligan’s before we headed out to experience the night zoo. Since it was nighttime, we couldn’t just roam around in the zoo; it was more of a guided tour. But before we saw the animals, we had a delicious buffet with an open bar. We were all given torches (flashlights) for our excursion into the zoo. We were able to walk around in a big group and look for wildlife in the various enclosures, but the guides also brought us to lighted spots and did demonstrations with different animals such as an owl, a cockatoo, a cane toad, and some crocodiles! We were also allowed to pet koalas, of which I couldn’t get enough. I didn’t realize they were nocturnal; they were very active pulling the eucalyptus leaves off the trees and eating them.

So Adorable

At the end, we were able to pet kangaroos and enjoy honeyed biscuits and punch. I saw a kangaroo with a joey, probably the most adorable thing I’ve ever witnessed. Some people were lucky enough to get close enough to pet the joey! We were also able to pose with a wombat at the end of the night. He was a little grumpy at being taken out of his cage, but I guess he liked me, as you can tell by the picture above. Wombats are related to koalas; it is easy to see the resemblance.

Bush MusicianBefore we left, a man with an accordion played us some traditional Australian songs, including Waltzing Matilda, which is Australia’s unofficial national anthem. We had a bush dance, which is similar to a square dance in the US. Although I question the authenticity of an accordion as a traditional Australian instrument, it was a good time.

Scuba Diving the Great Barrier Reef

Published on March 25, 2008 in Australia. 1 Comment

Hello from Cairns, in tropical north Queensland, Australia! I’m currently staying at Gilligan’s Backpackers Hotel & Resort, a gorgeous and well-known hostel, with a large pool and a bar that is groovin’ every night.

Reef EncounterThe past two nights, however, I spent on a small cruise ship out in the middle of the ocean, and I still haven’t got my land legs back. As I sit here and type, the computer seems to be moving slowly up and down.

Staying on the boat was a really relaxing and immersive way to experience the Great Barrier Reef. It is a two-hour (or more, when it’s choppy) boat ride just to get out to the reef, so if you just do a day trip, you don’t have much time to go snorkeling, and you can only dive if you have been certified. However, because we stayed so long, I was able to snorkel and dive in two different reefs at three different sites, and stay in the water for as long as I wanted to.

The Scuba-Diving All-BlacksWhich one am I?

I mentioned that I went diving. I’ve never been scuba diving before, but they had instructors right on the boat that taught us the basics. We were able to go out in groups of four for introductory dives, which lasted anywhere from 20-30 minutes and went up to 10m in depth. The picture above is from my first dive. Even though you are with other people, diving feels like such a solitary experience. You can’t talk (obviously) and the only thing that you can hear is the sound of your own breathing. This was a bit off-putting at first, but I soon got used to it. By the final dive, I felt much more confident moving around in the water and using only my flippers to propel myself.

Even though diving is a really cool experience, there is so much to see by just snorkeling as well. The vast diversity of life on the reef is incredible, and there is so much of it to watch. There are fish of every color and pattern and so many of them have bright, vibrant colors. I found Nemo (or his closest relative, fish of the Nemo’s exact species do not live in the Great Barrier reef) and some of the Tank Gang from the movie. I saw a sea turtle and a huge manta ray, but unfortunately I did not see any reef sharks. Don’t worry, they are small and eat fish, not humans.

Suiting up for a Night DiveOne of the coolest experiences was my night dive. After the sun goes down, you can opt to go diving in groups of two with one instructor, your only illumination being a handheld flashlight. I was a bit apprehensive but it turned out to be an exhiliarating, almost otherworldly experience. Many fish hunt during the night, and they like light because it allows them to see their prey better. We were followed around during the dive by a group of 7 or 8 large fish. As soon as we trained the light on a small fish … BAM! a large fish swooped in and chomped him up. We were only allowed to make two kills each, so they were exciting occurences. They other cool thing that we did was go all the way to the bottom, where we knelt in the sand and shut off our lights. As you can imagine, it was pitch black. Then our instructor started shaking his flashlight, exposing the bioluminescent particles that absorb energy during the day and give off light at night. With some trouble navigating (we had to surface once or twice), we were able to make our way back to the boat, feeling proud of our accomplishment.

I’ll have some more pictures once I get back to Sydney – pictures of hot-air ballooning, more cute koalas, and even a wombat. I’ll leave you with one more ridiculous-looking picture of me posing with an anemone…

Anemone

Headed to Cairns

Published on March 19, 2008 in Australia. 2 Comments

Even though we’ve only had two full weeks of school so far, our spring (fall?) break begins today. I’m told this is because Easter falls early this year which made the scheduling weird. Regardless, on Saturday I’m headed north up the coastline to Cairns, jumping-off point for explorations of the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. I can’t say that I need the break, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.

I’m not bringing my computer with me, so I’ll have limited access to the internet during this time period, but expect to see some great pictures when I get back!