Kangarrific Kylie: September 2011

G’DAY MATES!!! Today I’m going to update you on my SPRING BREAK TRIP (wahhooooooo!!!!!!) For spring break, many of my closest Aussie friends and I signed up for an organized ten-day trip that took us all the way up the coast of Australia to the Great Barrier Reef. It was one of the best (arguably THE best) weeks of my life, so I thought I’d fill you guys in on many of the exciting things I had the chance to do….

DAY 1: BRISBANE

We flew to Brisbane, which is about 500 miles North of Sydney, and arrived after dark. After checking into our hostel, my friends and I explored the city briefly, but returned to our rooms at a reasonable hour because we needed to get an early start the next morning. We were absolutely THRILLED to discover that our hostel room was oh so conveniently located above a club with an impressive speaker system, so I fell asleep to the loud belting of Beyonce and Lady Gaga.

DAY 2: THE AUSTRALIA ZOO AND RAINBOW BEACH

The fun begins! We boarded our charter bus early in the morning and began driving towards our day’s adventures. It didn’t take me long to realize that this wouldn’t be your average road trip: 67 college kids + 1 bus + 2 rowdy leaders = absolute, glorious chaos. The first thing we did was each sign a giant blow-up kangaroo, which we were responsible for bringing everywhere throughout the trip as if he was a member of the group. We failed miserably at this task -- the kangaroo was popped within the hour (RIP Rooey). To be honest, I wasn’t surprised…growing up with Aaron and Nathan has educated me about the terrible destruction boys are capable of on long road trips. After driving about two hours outside of Brisbane, we arrived at the Australia Zoo. I got to hold the most adorable Koala bear – it literally latched onto my arms as if I was a tree. Afterwards, we watched to zoo’s famous Croc Show (formerly performed by Steve Irwin himself). Though I loved seeing tons of new animals at the zoo, I have to admit that my favorite Australian animal is still the kangaroo. I have a soft spot in my heart for them – they are hysterical and adorable at the same time (look at my pictures…you’ll fall in love!). We wrapped up our day by watching the sunset on Rainbow Beach. We had to go on quite the grueling hike to get to this isolated spot, but let me tell you, it was well worth it. Rainbow beach is absolutely stunning – my pictures don’t do justice to how beautiful and serene this place is.

Holding my koala...look how tightly he latched!

Wannabe Steve Irwin

Don't hate me cuz I'm beautiful

Rainbow Beach looking east

Rainbow beach looking west

Frolicking in the sunset!

DAY 3: FRASER ISLAND

Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. In order to access it, we had to take a ferry over and then roam the island via TANK. These tanks were extraordinarily massive (each fit around twenty people) and riding in them felt like some sort of Army simulation. We drove around in our tanks for a couple of hours and stumbled upon a lot of interesting local wildlife, including Dingos (a dingo ate mah babbyyyyyyy! anyone? meryl?) and several poisonous snake species. My crazy driver thought it appropriate behavior to bring a highly poisonous snake onto our bus and wildly brandish it above our heads…that was interesting. After this near death scenario, we drove about two hours into the depths of the island’s rainforest until we reached a beautiful fresh water lake at its center called Lake Mackenzie. After going for a dip in the lake, we threw some shrimps on the barbie and enjoyed a delicious lunch (Australians barbeque all the time and it’s ALWAYS delicious – I don’t know how they collectively do this as a country, but I LOVE it). After our barbie, we drove about an hour to an 80 year old shipwreck. The name ‘Fraser Island’ is actually derived from the story of this shipwreck. The island was known for a long time as Great Sandy Island, but its name was changed to Fraser after stories of a shipwreck survivor named Eliza Fraser became popular legend. After returning from Fraser Island, we embarked on a FOURTEEN HOUR overnight bus ride north towards Airlie Beach. (Read: the most efficient night’s sleep I’ve ever had…seriously!)

Fraser Island

Casual tank ride....no biggie

Ding dong dingooooo

That time our guide brought a highly poisonous snake onto the bus....

Shipwreck

Trekking to Lake McKenzie (notice how clear the water always is in Australia!)

Lake McKenzie

DAYS 4-6: AIRLIE BEACH AND THE WHITSUNDAYS

Moments after arriving at Airlie Beach, we boarded motorboats and set off for the beautiful Whitsunday Islands. The Whitsundays consist of 74 islands (only 7 or which are inhabited…so cool!) located in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef. They are incredibly isolated and only accessible by boat, so we spent our first day on the motorboats slowly making our way towards our designated island, stopping every so often to snorkel and enjoy the reef. We spent a large portion of our day enjoying the beautiful Whitehaven Beach – stop reading right now and google this place. It’s consistently rated as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and to be honest, it has RUINED ME – no beach will ever begin to compare to it in my mind. The sand here is white silica, which basically means that it has no rough edges (I would compare its texture to confectioner’s sugar). I wanted to fill a jar with sand to take home to my mom (the crazy lady loves sand and all things beachy) but doing so is literally ILLEGAL because the sand is such a precious natural wonder. Why they let 67 crazed college students set foot on this beach is beyond me, but I’m so thankful they did because it was an experience I’ll never forget. Our guides were forced to literally manhandle me when it was time to leave Whitehaven – I latched myself onto a palm tree and began to cry (you think I’m kidding but I’m notttttt). I had nothing to complain about, though, because our next stop was the beautiful South Molle Island, which we were scheduled to spend the next three days on. Once again, I was shocked that our rowdy group was allowed to step foot on the premises. This time I did my homework to find out why and discovered that South Molle is, in fact, the only island that our tour agency isn’t banned from. (Apparently we were banned from one particular resort because an “adventurous” aka inebriated boy jumped into a shark tank and took a casual swim…he emerged from the experience unscathed, but hopefully a bit humbled.) We were the only souls on South Molle (SCORE), so both nights we threw outrageous themed parties. The first night was jungle themed and the second night was plastic bag themed. I considered sparing you the hilariously inappropriate photos that surfaced from these two nights, but I just can’t resist sharing them. You may think I’m crazy after looking at them, but that’s all right because I am (just ask my parents, who think that I’m a certifiable lunatic). Also, on a side note, South Molle looked really familiar to me when I first got a glimpse of it from my boat. It took me a while to realize why, but I eventually remembered seeing it in a cool Coke commercial. Check out this link to see a commercial filmed on MY ISLAND, hellz yes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqvFF3N0zic

Whitehaven Beach

White silica sand....feels like sugar!

Our snazzy speedboats

Some spontaneous singing on the boat

Happy as a clam!

South Molle Island

Dock at South Molle

Hike to the top of South Molle

View from the highest point on South Molle

Jungle themed party

FIERCE

Creature of the night

Might as well be a pack of wild animals

Haven't you heard? Plastic is the new black

DAY 7: $$MILLION DOLLAR YACHTS$$

After departing South Molle Island, we hopped on a multimillion-dollar catamaran and hit up some incredible snorkeling spots. We were forced to don stingray suits, which we discovered are quite necessary since there are a bajillion species of jellyfish that can kill you in Australia. (NOTE: EVERYTHING IN AUSTRALIA CAN KILL YOU…check out this funny website for proof http://www.cracked.com/funny-163-australia/)

Our boat...not too shabby

#yachting

Is this real life?

Lookin' sexy in my stingray suit

DAY 8: WHITE WATER RAFTING

This was definitely the most adventurous day of the trip. After a quick introductory rafting lesson on land, we boarded our rafts on set out on the scenic Tully River. Now, take a moment to visualize every stereotype about male Australians that you’ve ever encountered. My friends, the man you are imagining is my rafting guide. This guy was a piece of work. Not only was he the captain of the Australian national rafting team, but he was also a former contestant on Survivor Outback Edition. I dare you to find someone cooler and more quintessentially Australian. I spent this wondrous day battling class 5 rapids like a badass and getting violently thrown from my boat. It was awesome. After a mid-day barbeque (I’m telling you, they LOVE them here and I LOVE them for it), I spent the rest of my day floating down the river and just generally loving life….

White water rafting!

About to get pummeled by the rapids

Hanging by waterfalls post-rafting (tough life)

DAY 10: CAIRNS (GREAT BARRIER REEF)

One of the happiest days of my life. The Great Barrier Reef is absolutely incredible. Words cannot do it justice. The pictures I’ve posted will help, but everyone should just see it in person at some point. Spending my last day on the reef was an incredible way to end my perfect trip.