More Magnetic Island Pics

Some more pictures for the beautiful magnetic island. My hostel was right out on the beach. You could see the sunset and I enjoyed many walks on the beach.

Zoey and Ashley's Island Adventure

Well, from Cairns I started taking my adventure south on the East Coast of Australia. Probably the most traveled area for backpackers. Next stop was Townsville to catch the ferry over to Magnetic Island. On Magnetic Island, I rented a pink scooter, named Zoey (no, I did not name her, she came named but of course I chose the pink one) and went of to explore the island. Drove all around the island and did some hike. Enjoyed lots of sun and warm weather. Hiked to the forts and saw the forts from world war two. Unfortunately, I didn't see any koalas in the wild. I looked very hard. Also, no whale sightings. Fingers crossed that I see then at some point on the coast. They are migrating up the coast right now.

Cape Tribulation

My adventure in Cairns continued and I went up to the Daintree Rainforest. The day started with a trip to the wildlife sanctuary where we saw koalas and tree kangaroos and blue tongue lizards and pythons and cassowaries (which is a really big bird that could rip you open with its claw like a zipper). Then we went on a crocodile cruise on the Daintree river where we saw baby hatchlings and one year old crocodiles as well as tree snakes and pretty blue butterflies. The afternoon was spent walking through the rainforest then going to the beach. We also went to Alexandra Lookout and saw the place where Steve Irwin died.

Diving the Reef

Completed my scuba diving with the wonderful instructor Andy. Started the class out with Charlie, but unfortunately he was callled to work on the dive days, which left me with dive buddy Matt!!!

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

Well folks, check it off the list!!! I have seen and been to, not the average, not the good, the GREAT Barrier Reef. Clearly, I went to reef teach and fell for some of their corny lines. However, the reef really is amazing. It is the world's largest living organism and the only living organism you can see from outer space. And I went scuba diving on it. The coral is absolutely breath taking and the fish are some of the brightest colors you have ever seen. I got to see Nemo and Dori and a sea turtle, he really was like 'dude' and sharks!! Swam with sharks. I also hugged a giant Napoleon maori wrasse. Good times up on the reef.

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta, or the place I like to call, the place that starts with K, is also part of the red center. For the record, it gets very cold in the dessert in the winter. For those of you that made fun of me for over packing, continue to make fun of me. For those of you who made fun of me for packing warm, what some might consider winter gear, eat your hearts out. I used all of it. All necessary. I have never been so glad to have polar fleece with me. Also, note the headband to keep my ears warm. If I have that on, just imagine how cold it really is. We did another hike here and took in the scenery and learned how the ocean formed these structures all those years ago. Even saw a few fossils.

Uluru at Sunrise

For those of you that have never woken up at sunrise, the sun wakes up very early and if you want to see it wake up, you have to be up even earlier. The feature picture here is Angel, aka, Jess and I doing the sunrise dance.

Uluru at Sunset

The giant ayers rock definitely changes colour depending on where you are looking at it from or the time of day. Very cool. Just some quick sunset photos for you.

Uluru

So, after what I thought was a very warm sleep in my swag, the other would argue that I was nuts. Those of you that have travelled with me know how warm I am, especially if we skied Whitefish together. It was off to Uluru, but not before traveling past Foolurur, turns out there is more than one really big rock in the middle of the desert or outback. We did the 10km hike around the bottom of the rock. For those f you that have not been, it is a HUGE freaking rock.

Sleeping in Swags

The adventure continues

Taking the train down to Alice Springs can only mean one thing. It is time for an Uluru adventure. So Mark, Heather and I left for another adventure. First stop, was a hike in Kings Canyon. Magnificent views. Yes, the dirt in the outback really is that red and no, there is nothing out there. These magnificent natural structures just seem to pop up. The best part of this trip, sleeping in swags!!!! A picture of the house meister and Remi for Mark and Heather