My Australia Trip

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This was the trip I was looking forward to since I was a little kid. At my bar mitzvah, I had a travel theme, and the Sydney Opera House was my table centerpiece. I didn't know what to expect from this trip and was going alone to meet all new strangers. My trip was originally scheduled for August and was cancelled. The time flew by and finally my trip came. The tour was full however no one checked into the Meetup room set up for the trip except this girl Suzanne from England.

I left on November 9th for my trip and didn't sleep much on any of my flights. I traveled from NY to LA to Sydney to Whitsundays. Nerves sitting in my stomach and afraid that my luggage would be lost or I would have delayed flights and not make a flight. Thankfully everything went smoothly and got to my destination in Whitsundays.

Flying in you see beautiful islands to each side of the plane. Clear blue water as far as I could see. I got off the plane and waited for my luggage to be removed from the plane. I got a ticket and found out that I only had 20 minutes to get my luggage and grab a ferry. I waited impatiently until I finally found my luggage and got onto the transfer. It was a 30 minute ferry to Daydream Island. The ride was stunning as lush green trees and clear sand was on every island.

I got to my destination on Daydream Island and got a lei. I got to the lobby and checked in. I was to meet with my tour guide at 5pm and didn't know what to expect. I met up with my other tour buddy Suzanne in the lobby. We walked around the island and saw wallabies roaming around and beautiful birds in the trees and on some room decks. Finally at 5:30PM, about 30 people from the tour came and walked through the lobby to the rooms. It was such an intimidating experience and I was nervous I wouldn't be able to meet any new friends. A woman came by and I realized it was our tour guide. Her name was Carolyn and went through all the tour excursions with Suzanne and I.

I went up to my room and met my roommate Imran who was very chilled and a great guy. I went to dinner with everyone at 6:30 and got to meet so many fantastic people from Europe and Canada. It was amazing to speak to them and learn how people say different things, pronounce things differently and how life is so different from New York. At night time, I got to hold a shark, eel and a star fish. They were all very slimy but the textures was so different on each creature.

The next day I did a snorkel and sail tour. I got to see parts of the Great Barrier Reef. It was a bit cloudy in the water but still amazing to say that I did see some coral there. Interesting also how protective the tour guides was of the coral and if you even touched the coral with your foot they would pull you right out of the water. We went to Whitehaven Beach which is known as one of the top beaches of the world and can be used to clean jewelry. It was an amazing start to the trip.

The next day we took a ferry back to shore and picked up some more tour people from their separate excursion and we had a total of 50 people on the bus. Once they got on, they played a song I was not familiar with and would soon become ingrained into my head Katy Perry "Roar". It was the tour song. Also, I found out a few new tidbits about the bus rules. There was to be no dairy on the bus, no hot foods or drinks and only bottled water on the bus. These were quite interesting rules though none of that did bother me.

On the way to Farmstay, I had low expectations on what to expect. I have never visited a farm minus Amish country in Pennsylvania and had some trepidation in what we would be staying at. There was such funny signs on the way to provide entertainment and so many cows on the side of the road.

We finally got Farmstay and we all were greeted on the bus from the owners of the farm. I stepped outside and it was stunning. Each direction you look it goes back for miles. We settle down and grabbed cowboy hats and go on a tractor ride. We all get on the tractor to look at the different parts of the farm. We see these huge bull cattle, horses and other animals. We get back and it is time for dinner. It was delicious and afterwards it was time to learn how to crack a whip. It was difficult and I wasn't able to do so. Some people by accidentally hit themselves and caused black and blue on their bodies. Afterwards, drinking and karaoke end a fun evening.

We get up the next morning and depart for Fraser Island. We have to pack down for this portion of the trip so each of us have a backpack full of things. We get off the bus and go on this boat transfer to take us to the island. On the boat ride, some tour people see some dolphins and turtles on the side of the boat. We get to the island and take these buses up the island. The island is mostly made up of sand and trees all around. We get to the cabins and settle in. Each cabin has four rooms with three to four people a room. There is a sink and a microwave and bathrooms in each cabin. I go to dinner with my new group of friends. They are a fantastic bunch. They are from Canada and mostly from the UK and Germany. I cannot say enough about these and all the people from the trip. We walk down this steep hill to dinner and afterwards walk back up the hill. Walking up this hill feels like forever and exhausting. We get back and change into togas for toga party.

This night was one of the best party nights I have ever had in a long time. Everyone who came was dressed in togas and we went to Dingo bar. Everyone got a pitcher of beer or a mixed drink pitcher. We were partying till 12AM with flip cup, beer pong and a lot of dancing. It was so amazing of a time. On the way back one of my friends in the group escorted another friend back and they both fall and broke a light fixture. Also, the screen door for our cabin got damaged also. All in a good night fun I guess.

The next day we started off doing an off road in this large 4X4 that held about 15 people. There was a lot of sharp turns on it and quite bumpy. At one point we stopped to do about an hour hike. Before the hike, we saw this huge spider that one of the tour guides took out of the ladies bathroom. I thought that spiders here were big but they were all small compared to this. During the hike, we walked through a rainforest. It was beautiful with all these tall trees and small running water running through it. However, we didn't see any animals on the tour. We also stopped to go to Lake Mckenzie. This beach was stunning and the water was clear and warm. I went in with my new friends and we had some lunch. I got try to Barramundi for the first time and it reminded me so much of Tilapia. We got back into the 4X4 and at the bottom we saw this beautiful ocean and clear sand. We drove onto the beach and on the way we saw some dingos on the side. At one point, we stopped on the beach to walk around and have a light snack. I was asked to take a picture for a group of women from the tour and all of a sudden in the distance I saw a figure approaching. It was a dingo. I was told by my coworker Sara to not pet them or go near them since they do bite and the tour guide had told us the same. The dingo walked right past all of us. It was the coolest thing to see this on a beach. We finished up and went onto a boat and saw some dolphins. Once we got back to shore, we stopped at a temporarily rest step and it was on the bus to Noosa.

We arrive into Noosa and settle down in our own individual apartments with laundry facility within each building. It was quite nice and comfortable to stay in. We went to Surf Club for dinner and go to the back with a few friends. Out back it started to lightening across the sky. It was quite breathtaking. The next day we go into Noosa and walk around. It reminded me so much of San Diego. There is the beautiful beach on one side and the city seemed so relaxed. As a side note, it amazes me that when you walk across the street, motorists have right of way over pedestrians. I got to walk through a rainforest looking for koalas but didn't see anything. Noosa was definitely one of my favorite cities and somewhere I could see myself living in one day.

We left Noosa and stopped off in Brisbane. In Brisbane I got to see the Brisbane River, Royal Botanical Gardens and Queen Street Mall. The mall is an outdoor area with a lot of restaurants, bars and shops. It was quite different from the generic malls in the US and I loved it. The city itself reminded me a lot of Chicago. It had a beautiful bridge, water front taxi to take you from one point to another and tall buildings. At one point, there was a beach area and a make shift ocean which allowed people to go in. It was a stunning city and a shame that I only had a few hours to stay there.

We left Brisbane and head to Surfers Paradise. In Surfers Paradise, it reminds me so much of Miami. Big high raising buildings, near the beach and had this mellow laid back feel to it. On the bus we learn about "schoolies." They are 18 year old kids that just finished school and go all out and party. I didn't think much of it, but getting off the bus, I knew soon enough how much partying they do. After school is done, they rent hotel rooms and party hard. You can hear them walking down the street screaming and yelling. I read in the newspaper at one point that over thousands of them go the hospital each year for alcohol related injuries/poisoning and yet it is socially acceptable. Also, I read of an article reminding them to not posted selfies on Facebook of them drinking and being nude. Amazing how parents just can't tell them that!

We got off the bus and checked into the resort. We order in pizza and go upstairs to hang with everyone for some pregaming. We said goodbye to one of the members of our group leaving the tour early, Steph. She was an amazing person and definitely was hard to say bye to her. The next day I went skydiving. When I signed up for it, I thought a lot about it and my parents encouraged me to do it. It was the most amazing thing I have ever done. I went with my friends Jared and Amanda and 2 other people into the plane. The door from the plane is wide open. I went in tandem with my instructor who is originally from Sweden. He was so friendly and calm. He had told me he went at least 1200 times over a year. Also, he said they have an extra parachute on them in case one breaks. This reassured me until I saw Amanda go fly out the door. As you go up, you sit there taking it all in, you go above the clouds and can overlook the whole city. It is stunning and one I will always remember. You get to the door and put your feet down off the plane and all of a sudden you get nudged out the plane. It is so intense and the wind is so loud. You wear goggles to block the wind but it is so hard to breathe as you are free falling. It was 12000 feet to the bottom and you free fall for 45 seconds. Thankfully you can't look down or I would have been scared even more. Once the parachute opened up, it was stunning. The clear blue ocean and the beach. It takes about 5 minutes the whole process and you land right on the beach. It is an image I will never forget in my lifetime.

After we finished, we ate some lunch and head back to the resort. It was such a blast to go with my friends and felt like a dream. I get back to the resort and relax. I head out to dinner with some friends and then after we pregame before heading to the club with the whole tour group. It was a fun club and quite packed with all schoolies. We stay out till about 3am and head back to the resort to wake up for the next day activities.

The next day we left for the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. This place was super amazing. I got to hold a Koala which was quite cuddly and friendly. Also, I got to pet a kangaroo. They were surprisingly pretty lazy and didn't move much and laid down. At the sanctuary I got to see wombats, crocodiles, emus, dingos and even tree kangaroos. We left the sanctuary and head down to Byron Bay.

Byron Bay was so mellow and enjoyable. We first stopped at a lighthouse which overlooked all of the coast and city. It was stunning and reminded me of the lighthouse in Montauk. In Byron Bay, the people were down to earth and said no worries quite a lot. We stayed at a hostel which wasn't as bad as I anticipated. The room had three bunk beds so 6 of us were in there. In the hallway, there was communal bathrooms and the wall was painted in hazy hippyish colors. I walked around the city and at night went to a club with my friends. The club was a blast and at one point we were all dancing on tables. It was a sight I won't forget and definitely would never be allowed to do in NY bars/clubs. Watching everyone from different countries in the world singing songs I grew up with and liked now such as The Killers "Mr Brightside" and Oasis "Wonderwall" was something that I found amazing how music traveled around the world.

We departed the next day for Surf Camp. It took about 7-8 hours to get to Coffs Harbour and by the time we got there, we were all exhausted. Our instructor said "K" at least a hundred times in the course of our 5 minute instruction. We put on the suits to protect us from jellyfish and head into the water. The boards was so heavy. I was able to ride one wave before I was launched off the board. It was definitely one of the hardest things ever to learn and respect those that are able to do it. After surfing, we went back to our accommodations which was shipping containers. It was so tight and small. Some of the other tour members had bugs in theirs and needed it to be fumigated. Thankfully only stayed in it one night!

We had a delightful meal and then played drink games. It was a great bonding experience and afterwards hanging on the beach having a few drinks while the night sky was out with a few tour members was another memory I won't ever forget. We woke up the next morning and had to wait an hour for our tour bus to be fixed because the air conditioner wasn't working. A few of us definitely was hung over from the night before activities.

We left and was on the way to Sydney. It was a dream coming true for me. We arrived and I was in awe of the Harbour Bridge as we crossed it and seeing the Sydney Opera. We got to the hotel and settled down. At night time I did the Sydney Bridge Climb. I was so pumped up for it since I knew it was so close to the Sydney Opera House. We climbed on this ramp up the bridge all tied to each other with a headset to listen to our tour guide and a flashlight that went around our head. It was a 2.5 hour climb and so exhausting. I was surprised that climbing this I was more afraid than the skydiving probably because it was over the course of a longer period of time. Once I got to the top of the bridge looking down on the traffic of cars really was daunting. However to overlook the whole city at night time was stunning. The opera house was so beautiful and the lights on it was awe striking. Once the bridge climb was over went to thai restaurant with some of my tour mates and went back to the hotel to rest for the evening.

The next day we took a bus tour around the city seeing all the sites. We stopped off at a spot to take pictures with the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge in the background. It was picturesque and amazing to see. Afterwards we got to relax at Manly Beach. I did a beer tour afterwards and took a ferry shuttle to the Opera House to do a tour. The Opera House tour was ok though surprisingly they didn't allow us to take to many pictures inside the Opera House. The bus took us back to the hotel and then we did one last group dinner and out to the clubs later that night.

The final day we took a 2 hour bus ride to the Blue Mountains and got to walk around on a hike. It was a good walk with a lot of stunning sites. After a stop in a local town we headed back to say our goodbyes to the tour guide Carolyn, bus driver Gary and our fellow tour members. I have never felt so attached to so many people in a short period of time and was so hard to say goodbye. Hopefully our paths do cross again and they are some of the greatest people I have ever met and wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world. Later that evening I went to Thai food with a few of my group members to Opium Den for delicious food.

The next day I left the hotel for the airport. On the taxi ride and airplane back I kept thinking of how fortunate of a trip that was for me to do. I thought about the people on the trip. I thought where will my next trip be and when will I take it. Hopefully soon, hopefully soon.....

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