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  • TravelerTrip of a Lifetime
    Day 18

    Scavenging in Cairns

    June 27, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

    Today was a pretty chill day as we spent our last day in Cairns, tomorrow we are off to Sydney. We began the day with the Donut King and picking up some supplies from Woolworths (not the one we used to know.). Then we began a Scavenger hunt around downtown Cairns and learned some of her interesting history. We took a break and rode the Reef Eye, a 7 story high Ferris wheel.

    We returned to the Scavenger hunt until we got to the Cairns Aquarium. At the aquarium we listened to couple presentations on sharks and the fish and coral on the Great Barrier Reef. We were able to identify many of the fish we had seen in person yesterday. We finished our Scavenger hunt and began packing to fly to Sydney tomorrow.

    We are ending the day eating Chinese takeout and watching Finding Nemo and Finding Dory since we are off to Sydney tomorrow! We hope we can find P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney.    Read more

  • TravelerTrip of a Lifetime
    Day 17

    Goin’ Down under Down Under + Em’s B-day

    June 26, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    It was a wonderful long day out on the water. We got up early and scootered over to the marina to catch our boat for the day. Em and Maddy grabbed drinks before we loaded up our full boat. The drive out to the reef this morning was full of many safety briefs (about the boat/water safety, scuba diving, and snorkeling), breakfast and some sickness (Dad and Emily needed some fresh air). Maddy was the only one able to scuba dive so she got her three rules and group number and then everyone was ready to start snorkeling. The boat anchored at Saxon Reef, 55km northeast of Cairns, part of the Outer Great Barrier Reef. We were given flippers, masks/snorkels and wet suits for Dad and Maddy and we jumped into the water.

    The reef was amazing. So much coral and many many fish to see. We saw a shark and a turtle! It is literally a whole new world down there. Mom’s favorite was a rainbow fish and Dad loved to be able to breath underwater. After about an hour it was Maddy’s turn to try an Introductory to Scuba dive! She and two other people joined her guide Harry. After she reviewed the three rules of scuba diving: 1) keep breathing 2) equalize your ears and 3) follow your guide, and passed the two skill tests, Maddy was underwater. She thought It was so cool to be down there, and be surrounded by coral and fish and highly recommends it!

    After the morning snorkel and dive we were served a delicious barbecue lunch, and were able to relax. We traveled to our next location on the reef, about 200 meters away. After our food all settled, we were ready to hit the water again. At this point, we’re all expert snorkelers and were exploring the reef in no time. We saw a turtle again! After an hour or so we headed back to the boat, returned all our gear and started our trek back to the shore. While we drove back we were served a glass of wine and some crackers and cheese. Maddy and Emily hung out on top while Dad tried to get over his seasickness inside with mom.

    Once we made it back to land and our hotel, we all got cleaned up and ready for Em’s birthday dinner! We had a reservation at a steakhouse right by the pier. We hopped on our scooters again (Maddy wishes they had cruise control!) and were there in no time. We all enjoyed tasty steaks and a lovely birthday brownie with sparklers to celebrate!

    Today was a great day exploring the great barrier reef and celebrating Emily :)    Read more

  • TravelerTrip of a Lifetime
    Day 16

    Kuranda + Koalas + Kangaroos

    June 25, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    Dreams do come true. Today was an awesome day thanks to Maddy’s planning. We started the day taking a vintage train (on its 132nd birthday!) to the Kuranda Tropical Rain Forest. It was about a 2 hour ride up through the mountains, lots of very cool tunnels (15) and stunning views.

    Once we arrived we had to hurry over to check in and get on our Duck ride through the jungle. A Duck is an amphibious truck from World War II. Our guide Lance loved to talk and we learned so much about the rainforest (but he talked super fast, faster than we could listen so we missed a bunch of it😳). But it was still great fun!

    After the Duck ride we saw an Aboriginal dance. The big dance they did involved knocking their knees together much like the Charleston (hitting your knees together) During the dance they played the digerido (an long instrument made from wood) and showed us how to play if after. Then they showed us how to throw spears when hunting. They used a stick with a hook on the end that they inserted into the end of the spear and used it to give it a slingshot effect. They could really chuck it! Unfortunately they never hit their target, and even sadder we didn't get to try throwing a spear ourselves. Then we had a boomerang demonstration. This was great as we got to try throwing a boomerang ourselves. They use the boomerang to hunt birds.

    Then we got visit the little zoo. We saw Tasmanian Devils, dingos (they were beautiful,) giant crocodiles, one of which was 73 years old and was 16 feet long called Jack the Ripper (apparently he has killed 12 of his wives,) and the highlight: kangaroos! We were able to feed them by hand!

    Then came the reason for the whole day: we got to hold a koala! Labor laws for koalas are very strict so we were with the koala for a very short time, but Maddy, Emily, and Amy were allowed to hold Ollie (all 22 pounds of him, he was a bit chubby) and get a picture taken!

    Then it was time to head back to Cairns; we took the Skyrail (think ski mountain gondola). The trip took about 1.5 hours with so many spectacular views. The Tropical Rain Forest really needs to be seen to be appreciated!

    When we got back we had a some dinner, did some souvenir shopping and ended the night with another rousing game of Crew! Tomorrow: the Great Barrier Reef!    Read more

  • TravelerTrip of a Lifetime
    Day 15

    Cairns- Hitting the Town

    June 24, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    Today we took a slow start to help our bodies adjust to another 2 hour forward time adjustment. We are now 15 hours ahead of the central time zone. Amy was up anyway and saw a beautiful sunrise. We walked into downtown Cairns and visited a few information centers to gather brochures to help us plan the next few days. We walked to the Hemingway brewery for lunch and reviewed the brochures we picked up. Right next to the brewery was a huge cruise ship that was loading. After making decisions about the next two days, we rented Beam scooters and went to book our Great Barrier Reef tour. The tour we booked included an introductory scuba dive. As we discussed the scuba dive, we were told that due to some medications taken, Emily and Amy would need to get a note from a doctor to be able to scuba. Emily and Amy took the scooters to the 24 hour medical clinic, but it was too busy and they weren’t able to see a doctor. They were able to set up a telehealth check with an Australian doctor who concluded that one medicine could make us sleepy so we won’t all be able to scuba.

    We put away the scooters and walked to the Cairns museum. It is a small museum, great for visiting in a couple hours. Cairns was founded by white settlers in 1876, but the aboriginals were there loooooong before that. Some of the history, such as the efforts in WWI and WWII were great, some of the history of the exploitation of people of color was rather shameful. All the history here is directly tied to the geography of the city: the water (rivers and ocean) and the climate (hot for raising sugar cane) and now the tourism of the Great Barrier Reef.

    We finished the day with dinner at Muddy’s Cafe and a rousing game of Crew.

    Tomorrow we go to the tropical rain forest and see koalas!    Read more

  • TravelerTrip of a Lifetime
    Day 14

    Travel Day! Bali -> Australia

    June 23, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

    Travel Day! Today we woke up in Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia and are going to sleep in North Cairns, Queensland, Australia! We began our day with a slow morning packing and then were picked up by our buddy Gede at 8:45 to head to the airport. We made it to the airport by 9:30, and then began working our way through security, checking bags, security, then immigration. We enjoyed an early lunch/late breakfast before our flight at 11:50 - that ended up being closer to 12:50.

    There was some turbulence on the flight, but overall pretty smooth. We flew Jetstar which didn’t have a ton of space for us long-legged people. Once we landed in Australia we headed through immigration (The immigration gentleman wished Emily a happy birthday after he saw she was coming to Cairns over her birthday!) and collected our bags. We were questioned about where we had been in Bali due to a African swine fever disease that is affecting livestock in Bali that they are trying to prevent from coming to Australia.

    We eventually made it through and got an Uber to our AirBnB! It is a super cute AirBnB with a great balcony! Our host even had a bottle of wine for us! We quickly headed down to the esplanade to catch dinner before restaurants closed. We ended up at a place called Courtyard and enjoyed some drinks and tacos and nachos! We wandered a little bit up past the ferris wheel (we may have to ride it at some point!) before heading back to the AirBnB to plan out our next 4 days in Cairns :)    Read more

  • TravelerTrip of a Lifetime
    Day 13

    Surfing 🏄‍♀️ and Elephants 🐘

    June 22, 2023 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Today was a great day! We started out our morning with an early wake up call to walk down to the beach for surfing lessons at 7am. Mom and Dad were a little concerned but were excited to try their “semi-private” lesson together (they shared one guide and Emily and Maddy each had their own). Our main guide Dewa met us and gave us some instructions on land before hitting the water. It was so much fun. The waves were a good height for beginners and gave us ample time to try to stand up. It took a little while, but Maddy and Emily figured it out and were able to stand up! This was also Emily’s second surfing lesson, so she is almost intermediate already. Mom and Dad enjoyed catching the waves, but struggled to stand up. Mom preferred to surf on her knees, however, she did get up on one of her last waves!

    It was a great learning experience and excellent way to start our last day in Bali. We also got to see lots of skydivers fall out of the sky and land on the beach! After we finished our two hour lesson, we walked home, changed and grabbed breakfast at a little Greek place before meeting Gede to head to the Bali zoo. Traffic is still horrible in Seminyak, so it took over an hour to go the 10 miles.

    Once we made it to the zoo, we headed straight to the orangutans and elephants. They were having “open-range” orangutans for an hour so we were able to see Septi (female orangutan born in September) swing over and eat some food. It was so cool to be that close to her and watch her interact with people. After our time with Septi we saw some other animals, like monkeys, crocodiles, ostriches, sunbears, and tigers. Then we were able to feed an elephant. We all got our baskets of carrots, bananas, sweet potatoes and cucumbers and headed down to meet Hati. Hati is a 27 year old elephant who likes to eat fast. It was so cool to feel her trunk and skin and watch her consume all this food.

    Once Hati was done eating, we finished out the loop of animals at the zoo and went by the lions. We were also able to feed the male lion Deo! He a little scary and a little too close for comfort, but interacting with him that close by was pretty breathtaking (in a good way). We finally made it out and found Gede to head back to Seminyak.

    We ended the night with another lovely dinner on the beach watching the sunset and headed home to pack up and catch our flight to Cairns tomorrow!    Read more

  • TravelerTrip of a Lifetime
    Day 12

    Beach and Tanah Lot

    June 21, 2023 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    Today was our first full day in Seminyak. The day started a little slowly, but by 10 we were on our way to Tanah Lot . We had our same driver from yesterday, named Gede (no, not all our drivers are named Gede, it just seems that way.). Traffic was really rough, so many cars, a few big busses (way too big for the narrow streets of Bali), and a bazillion scooters, and practically no stop lights.

    We finally made it to Tanah Lot and were able to observe several beautiful temples, but since the tide was high we couldn’t walk out to the temple and since we are not Hindu we are not allowed in the Temples proper. We had a nice lunch overlooking the temples and the Indian Ocean, and then headed back into the traffic. When we got back to our AirBnB we chilled for a while and planned tomorrow and things to do in our next stop, Cairns, Australia. Maddy and Dad took Grab scooter rides and Emily and Mom walked to the beach where we had dinner and watched the sunset. The sunset was beautiful and the daiquiris were delicious, but our waiter who was brand new struggled getting our order correct. Dinner still tasted good.

    Tonight will be an early night as tomorrow is an early morning with surfing lessons at 7:00 am. We are looking forward to it, but if there is no post tomorrow you will know we didn’t make it ha ha.    Read more

  • TravelerTrip of a Lifetime
    Day 11

    Good Bye Ubud and Hello Seminyak

    June 20, 2023 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Today we took a Balinese cooking class. Our driver Tata picked us up and we stopped at the market. We tried a few new fruits, salak (snake fruit), mangosteen, and rambutan (red spiky fruit). They were all very good! We also tried some pastries such as a banana cake, sticky rice, milk cake (Tata’s favorite) and rempeyek (a peanut cracker). We also enjoyed these. We walked through the butcher area where they had chicken, duck, and beef. Next we stopped at some working rice fields. We walked through them and saw people harvesting the rice and then hitting it on a basket to remove the rice. Tata mentioned this process would take two days for the field they were harvesting. After harvesting the rice from the fields the outer shell must be removed. It used to take a person two days to remove the outer shell from one kilogram of rice, but now they have a machine that does a kilogram in 5 minutes!

    Next it was time for the main event: cooking😃. Our chef teacher was our driver’s cousin Wayan, he owned the whole operation. There were the six of us plus two other couples, one from the Philippines, and one from the Netherlands (Dad had great fun talking to the couple from the Netherlands!) in our group. We made two different sauces and both started with garlic and chilis. We made 7 different dishes, most not too spicy. We also made an awesome dessert called Klepon Cake—boiled green rice dough with palm sugar in the middle rolled in coconut- so good! After cooking we were able to eat what we had created and a delicious feast was had by all😁.

    After lunch it was time to go back to Ubud and say good-bye to James and Heidi as they were heading north on their own. We then headed to Seminyak for our last few days in Bali. We found our AirBnB after a crazy car drive in lots of traffic. After settling in we went to the Double Six beach, had dinner at La Plancha and watched a beautiful sunset.🌅    Read more

  • TravelerTrip of a Lifetime
    Day 10

    All Around Ubud

    June 19, 2023 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    Today was a much more relaxing start than yesterday! We were able to sleep in a little later and had a slow start. James and Heidi were up and ready to go so they headed out to a coffee shop while Mom, Dad, Maddy, and Emily slept in. Once everyone was up we headed out to breakfast at a place with crepes! They were delicious and then we headed to our first stop of the day: Monkey Forest! Emily still wasn’t feeling 100%, so Mom and Emily got Grab scooters to go to Monkey Forest, while Maddy, James, Heidi, and Dad walked. We saw SO many monkeys, and even got a selfie with a monkey!

    From Monkey Forest we headed to Tegalalong Rice Terraces - or so we thought. Our grab ended up dropping us off at Uma Ceking - another rice Terrace in the Tegalalong Area. We first grabbed some lunch and then explored the rice terraces. We had a lot of fun with the different levels, and Maddy got to do a Bali Swing in a beautiful pink dress!

    We got a Grab back to our Villa, and Emily still wasn’t feeling well, so Emily and Mom headed to a doctor, while James and Maddy did a Campuhan Ridge Walk, and Heidi and Dad chilled. The Doctor gave Emily some cream antibiotics on her hands and feet and prescribed anti nausea and anti inflammatory meds. He wants to run some tests to see if it’s an infection and we will know tomorrow. James and Maddy enjoyed their hike!

    We all met up down at the markets, and enjoyed some gelato before dinner. During dinner we got to see some beautiful Balinese dances! We headed back to our Villa to wrap up the evening and get ready to head to our new locations tomorrow: James and Heidi - northern Bali, Mom, Dad, Emily, and Maddy: Seminyak.    Read more

  • TravelerTrip of a Lifetime
    Day 9

    Mt Batur, hot springs, coffee & massages

    June 18, 2023 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    We had a very early (2:30 a.m.) pickup time from our driver and we were off to Mt. Batur. We were each given a head lamp and a walking stick and were assigned Charlie and Coleman as our guides. Emily wasn’t feeling well (we think she has sun poisoning) so after climbing about a half hour, Emily and Mom decided to ride on the back of motorbikes up the mountain. They still had to climb the last half hour, which was the most difficult, but got there before the rest of us. Maddy, James, and Heidi climbed fairly quickly and left Dad with Charlie as they took their time going up. Charlie was patient and Dad says he wouldn’t have made it without him. At the top, Charlie managed to find all 3 of our groups so that we could sit together. There were probably 500 people waiting at the top of the mountain and it was dark, so that was quite an accomplishment. Charlie then made us breakfast of warm banana sandwiches, boiled eggs, and oranges. The sunrise was amazing. When it came up, we could see that we were above the clouds. Charlie also took us to the very top where you could see steam coming out. Mt. Batur is still an active volcano. After taking pictures, we headed back down, which was not as easy as we had hoped. With the loose rocks, it was very easy to lose your footing so we needed to go slowly.

    We finally made it to the bottom where we thanked Charlie for his support (we’re not sure where Coleman ended up) and met our driver and headed to the hot springs to soak our sore muscles. After the hot springs, we stopped at a another coffee plantation and tried a sampler of 14 different coffees and teas. Heidi even tried the special coffee that is made from a coffee bean that has been pooped out of a mongoose. It was very dark and very strong, but Heidi liked it.

    After the plantation, we finally headed back to our villa to relax. After resting for awhile, Dad and Mom got their first massages, a 1 hour Balinese massage, and Emily got a post sunburn treatment before dinner. After dinner, we were very tired, so got to bed early.    Read more

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