The last leg of the trip. :(

OAL 375 and OAL 472

I can’t believe it is already the last day of our trip, before we fly home…the time here in Australia has passed by so quickly! Since Manly, we have been to Blue Mountains, to Warrumbungle National Park, then to the Cascades National Park, and to finish off in Byron Bay. During the past 11 days, we have done canyoning, hiking, hung out with kangaroos, more hiking, a forest bush walk, ate bush tucker, been attacked by leeches, went whitewater rafting, mountain biking, surf lessons, scuba diving, beach time, and more surfing. There have been so many learning experiences during this trip, especially since the last time the blog was updated.

After Manly, we drove to the Blue Mountains, when the weather definitely changed since the warm weather in Manly. There was a lot of rain in the Blue Mountains, but on the first full day there it was clear weather for us to go canyoneering, where we hiked down the start of the canyon and then we had to figure out our way to get down. There were spots where we had to be submersed in the cold water, or jump down into water, or slide down, and as we approached each place, we had to check out what was the best way and safest way to get down. It was so much fun and it became one of my favorite days of the trip. It also made me definitely want to do some canyoneering back home. It was so much fun that a small group of us decided to climb back out and up of the canyon, while the others hiked out. Right when we got out of the canyon it started thundering and raining.

On our other day in the Blue Mountains we explored the Three Sisters, where we all did our own explorations. I ended up going on a hike with Taylor and Kelly. We did a trail that took us down 900 steps and then we chose to also go back up those same 900 steps…which was definitely tiring. Then when we got back up to the viewing point of the Blue Mountains and the Three Sisters, we saw a huge thunderstorm come rolling in. While a lot of us were standing there watching and waiting for another lightening bolt, all of a sudden it struck one of the Three Sisters and quite a few of us felt a small volt go through us. It was definitely a weird and scary feeling. Then it started pouring down rain and it became the weather that would create a flash flood. That day I also experienced what it was to have a leech on me, which is not fun.

From the Blue Mountains we started making our drive to the Cascade National Park, but since the drive was so long, we only did a little over half of it and we stopped in the Warrumbungle National Park and camped. As we pulled in we saw so many kangaroo around, some were eating and others were sleeping. There were so many that they reminded most of us of the Ashland deer that constantly roam through Ashland. Many of us also did a hike, after driving for quite bit of the day. We hiked up to Belougery Split Rock, where you could see the beautiful outback, a full 360 degrees. Getting down was quite and adventure, as I tried going different route down, but I ended up losing the trail, so I tried navigating around a bit. I ended up seeing Cary and we turned around and went back to the trail that we had come up. I knew I was not truly lost and there was plenty of daylight left, but it was a good experience in really observing my surroundings and figuring out what would be the best to do. We all got back to the campsite right in time to prep dinner, as it was getting dark.

The following day of driving led us to the Cascades, where we stayed at the Cascade Educational Center. We learned so much about the Cascades and Australia due to the awesome people there. The following day we went on a forest bush walk where we would encounter many leeches. To prepare for it, we rubbed Eucalypti’s all over our legs, socks, and shoes, so that it would hopefully make the leeches less likely to hop on us. I would say it somewhat worked. While we were there and about to go out for our walk, some storm clouds came in, so we experienced some hail and rain. We finally made it out there to explore, where we were showed where you can sometimes spot platypus, but do to the high water flow we were unsuccessful. Jeffery our guide, who is one of the educational teachers there, pointed out different native plants and animals, which was really cool. We also saw their "Big tree" which was large and old, but not nearly the sixe f the redwood you can see on our West Coast. After de-leeching ourselves we had a delicious dinner of bush tucker, as we also had had a delicious lunch of bush tucker. In those meals the food we ate was seasoned and made with all local food you can find out in the bush. The dinner we had contained both crocodile and kangaroo. I was surprised it was not as exotic, as I had imagined it would be. I would easily have those two meals again, as they were so delicious.

That following day was so busy and fun…we woke up to go whitewater rafting and it was exhilarating. The picked us up, and then we had about a 30 minute car ride to the put in where they fed us breakfast. After breakfast we got on the river and had a blast. We stopped after a bit for snacks and then ended with some lunch at the takeout. It was such an awesome river and I enjoyed every minute of it, especially those where I got to ride in the front and drop down some class five rapids. We went through three class five rapids and also had to get out of the boat and carry it around the rapid, as they were too dangerous of lines for us to run through. At the takeout we also saw Goanna’s which are basically huge lizards, about two to three feet long. Once we got home from whitewater rafting, we quickly changed and got ready to go out on the mountain bikes, where I had a blast riding, First though I had to get used to the bike, and all the mechanics of it, which was good to learn about from Adam, as the prior time of mountain biking I did not enjoy nearly as much. This time though, once I had gotten comfortable with it, I was splashing through the mud and just enjoying it all. When I got back I was covered in the mud that we had rode through. When putting the mountain bikes back away, we were able to se some pady melons, which are basically midget kangaroo. That night I watched Adam, as he gave a demonstration of how to change one of the mountain bike’s tires. That day was a good day for me pushing myself too, as when we took the bikes out, we rode a long hill going down, and we also had to ride that same hill going back up. I was constantly telling myself to just keep pushing it, and luckily I made it to the top without stopping, which made me feel like I had achieved so much.

From the Cascades we went to Byron Bay, which is where we have been the last five days. On the first day arriving into town, we went to the beach to go to a surfing lesson. Prior to this I had never tried surfing and so I didn’t know if it would be my thing, or if I would want to do it again. I ended up having a blast learning how to surf and I became hooked on it. I was able to get up and I had a few really good waves. This whole thing was such a relief that I enjoyed it, as I didn’t know if it would be one of those things that I got frustrated with. Since that first day, I have got out in the ocean each day, whether it was borrowing a friend’s board for an hour on the second day of being in Byron or it was renting my own surf board the past two days. I definitely found out what it is to wipeout too. I didn’t know it was so easy to be pushed by the ocean water and do a summersault, while falling off a surf board, after trying to get up. Although I got a lot of water up the nose and my body has been aching due to the thrashing that it has been getting, I am glad I got out there and learned how to surf.

In Byron Bay though we have done more than just surf and be beach bums, we also have went scuba diving. Being that I am taking Advanced Scuba on this trip, after having done knowledge reviews in preparation for my dives, I went on five dives, in order to get my advanced certification. These dives were my first out in the ocean and going into it, I was bit nervous, as we would also be going deeper than I had ever gone before….It turned out being so amazing though. It was such a great learning experience to watch other divers and learn from them. Also, seeing all the awesome tropical fish was so neat. It was such a great experience doing those five dives, words cannot even put it into perspective. The Julian Rocks Marine Park, was a great first time experience and I loved everything about it, we saw sea turtles, eels, woobiegongs, leopard sharks, sting rays, and so much more. This experience made me want to dive as much possible and see as I can.

Well I can’t believe that this trip has already flown by and it is now time to go home. When your having a good time learning, time definitely fly’s by!
-Rochelle