Richie & I & our friends Steve & Michelle are going to the AUSTRALIAN IDOL live performance show this Sunday!!! We are so excited :-) Idol is big to us, we get together to religiously watch it every Sunday night for performances & Monday night to see who gets kicked off. They are already down from the top 12 to only 6 contestants, so this Sunday they each get to sing 2 songs (normally its only one; this time one the judges pick & one they pick). We are going early for first come first serve seating & will probably have some kind of sign (I wasn't kidding when I said this was a BIG deal)! Here is the link to my favorite contestant, Matt Corby (he's only 16!) http://www.australianidol.com.au/matt-corby-fan-club.html
I suggest watching ALL the videos of him... however you may not have that kind of time, so I highly suggest the song Got to Get You into My Life (fyi: a "Touchdown" is considered the judge's biggest compliment). ANYhow... I have to get back to writing a paper... I'll let you know how the show goes & finish telling you about my mid-semester holiday soon!
Friday 19 October 2007
Part II: Voyage on the Condor
Airlie Beach is where we departed for our sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands. Our group (about 30 of us) plus 3 crew members got our own yacht, the Condor. 
This was not just any boat though, it has an impressive history: the Condor has won every major ocean race in the world twice & is the only yacht to do so. It was tight quarters below, but it was so worth it. Plus we spent almost all of our time on the deck suntanning while taking in the view of the lush, velvet-looking rain forest covered island peaks. There are 74 islands total! We also got to stop at a few places. My favorite being Whitehaven Beach. 
I was so impressed by the soft, flour-like sand that I looked this beach up & found this out: The sand is minute powder-size grains of quartz & is 99.89% pure, well above the minimum requirement for glass-making & suitable for the finest glass for optical lenses! At this beach we played cricket 
(which is similar to baseball) & lounged in the clear, crisp, refreshingly cold water. We spent a total of 3 days & 2 night on the Condor. It was sooo relaxing & it felt like we were totally removed from society that it was hard to return. Yet, we were lucky to have another amazing expedition ahead of us - 4WD exploration of Fraser Island.
This was not just any boat though, it has an impressive history: the Condor has won every major ocean race in the world twice & is the only yacht to do so. It was tight quarters below, but it was so worth it. Plus we spent almost all of our time on the deck suntanning while taking in the view of the lush, velvet-looking rain forest covered island peaks. There are 74 islands total! We also got to stop at a few places. My favorite being Whitehaven Beach. 
I was so impressed by the soft, flour-like sand that I looked this beach up & found this out: The sand is minute powder-size grains of quartz & is 99.89% pure, well above the minimum requirement for glass-making & suitable for the finest glass for optical lenses! At this beach we played cricket 
(which is similar to baseball) & lounged in the clear, crisp, refreshingly cold water. We spent a total of 3 days & 2 night on the Condor. It was sooo relaxing & it felt like we were totally removed from society that it was hard to return. Yet, we were lucky to have another amazing expedition ahead of us - 4WD exploration of Fraser Island.
Tuesday 2 October 2007
I'm Baaaaack - Part 1
So, is everyone enjoying Autumn? Is it getting a bit chilly? Hmm, it is about 90 degrees here. October, a warm month, that is a first for me. I am loving the sun back at the village, and I practically lived under the sun on our 17 day holiday. Speaking of, I have a lot to catch you up on, and I apologize for not doing so earlier; when we returned I should have updated it straight away.
We began our quest down the East Coast by flying into Cairns, and spending 4 nights/5 days there. Whitewater rafting down the Tully River was a blast! The difficulty of the rapids were grades 3 and 4 on a grade 6 scale. It was hard work, and we even fell in the water after some of the grade 4 rapids- part of the raft would tip or bounce people out if they didn't hold on! The next day was even more intense! I went skydiving from 11,000 feet over the Great Barrier Reef and landed on the beach! It was a SPECTACULAR view. We took this really tiny plane, that fit 4 people plus the certified divers strapped to us! I was the first one to go- this is how the conversation went leading up to the dive:
Man attached to me to keep me alive: we're at 11,000 feet! are you ready for this? (the side door slowly opens and he scoots us over to face out the door)
Me: ...
Man: ok swing your feet outside!
Me: wooooaaaah
Man: good job! ready, ONE
Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!
(there was no 2 or 3!)
It was such a rush, so exhilarating! My face was flapping in the wind, but only until the parachute got opened, and then we slowed down to a drift. I was actually able to stop screaming, too! As soon as I landed I was ready to go back up... hahaha, not really. It took me a while to realize that I really just jumped out of a plane- I wanted someone to pinch me ;-D
We followed that by getting in a Jungle Minjin Swing, the next day. Richie and I were strapped in side by side and hoisted up, practically into the rain forest, and looking out over the outskirts of Cairns. I had control of the string which would released us; when
I pulled it we went plummeting down and swung like a pendulum amongst the trees! (Can you see us way up in there??) We also had the option to bungee jump there, but I was way too frightened I'd snap all my bones or something extreme like that. Richie, on the other hand, faced his fears and ended up loving it!
Our last two days in Cairns: One day, we went snorkeling at three different parts of the Outer Great Barrier Reef. The weather was perfect and the sun was beating down, so the water was so much warmer than the first time we went out there. We also saw a lot of different kinds of fish and got to tough a sea cucumber - slimy and squishy creatures. The other day we spent at a northern Cairns beach. The water was clear and so refreshing. That night we took a 13 hour coach bus ride & arrived at our next destination, Airlie Beach.
We began our quest down the East Coast by flying into Cairns, and spending 4 nights/5 days there. Whitewater rafting down the Tully River was a blast! The difficulty of the rapids were grades 3 and 4 on a grade 6 scale. It was hard work, and we even fell in the water after some of the grade 4 rapids- part of the raft would tip or bounce people out if they didn't hold on! The next day was even more intense! I went skydiving from 11,000 feet over the Great Barrier Reef and landed on the beach! It was a SPECTACULAR view. We took this really tiny plane, that fit 4 people plus the certified divers strapped to us! I was the first one to go- this is how the conversation went leading up to the dive:
Man attached to me to keep me alive: we're at 11,000 feet! are you ready for this? (the side door slowly opens and he scoots us over to face out the door)
Me: ...
Man: ok swing your feet outside!
Me: wooooaaaah
Man: good job! ready, ONE
Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!
(there was no 2 or 3!)
It was such a rush, so exhilarating! My face was flapping in the wind, but only until the parachute got opened, and then we slowed down to a drift. I was actually able to stop screaming, too! As soon as I landed I was ready to go back up... hahaha, not really. It took me a while to realize that I really just jumped out of a plane- I wanted someone to pinch me ;-D
We followed that by getting in a Jungle Minjin Swing, the next day. Richie and I were strapped in side by side and hoisted up, practically into the rain forest, and looking out over the outskirts of Cairns. I had control of the string which would released us; when
I pulled it we went plummeting down and swung like a pendulum amongst the trees! (Can you see us way up in there??) We also had the option to bungee jump there, but I was way too frightened I'd snap all my bones or something extreme like that. Richie, on the other hand, faced his fears and ended up loving it!Our last two days in Cairns: One day, we went snorkeling at three different parts of the Outer Great Barrier Reef. The weather was perfect and the sun was beating down, so the water was so much warmer than the first time we went out there. We also saw a lot of different kinds of fish and got to tough a sea cucumber - slimy and squishy creatures. The other day we spent at a northern Cairns beach. The water was clear and so refreshing. That night we took a 13 hour coach bus ride & arrived at our next destination, Airlie Beach.
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