My Trip List

So when I am bored or have free time during the day, instead of writing on here like I should I spend my time researching places I want to see or things I want to do while I am here.  Obviously it is unrealistic for me to do everything on this list because I won’t have enough time or money, but I think I’ll get to do the majority of stuff.  Here is what I have right now. 

Skydive or bungee jump in the rainforest:  I think I will do this when I head up to Cairns for my SCUBA trip after the semester.  They have skydives from 12,000 feet where you free fall for 60 seconds and land on the beach.  I have always wanted to try skydiving so this I am leaning towards that over bungee jumping, although I think bungee jumping would be way scarier so might be more fun.

 

Sea Kayak Magnetic Island:  They do sea kayak tours every morning and its supposed to be awesome.  They last like 4 hours and tour the whole island so I think it would be a great way to get my bearings of where the reefs and things are.  There is an entire half of the island that is uninhabited and you can’t even get to unless you have a boat so it will be cool to go back there.  One of my friends and I also have a goal of getting to that backside by bushwacking or rock climbing above the coast.  The highest mountain on the island has no trails going to it so we are going to find a way to get up there somehow.  This time of year Humpback whales are migrating through and you can see them out in the bays every day, so I want to get out there and kayak soon.

 

Hinchinbrook Island:  This is a national park about an hour north of our school.  It has one of the best backpacking trails in the country (Thorsborne Trail) that takes 4 days to do and you have to register way in advance.  Right now I am thinking about doing it during my mid-semester break.

 

SCUBA dive the Yongala Wreck:  The Yongala wreck is one of the top 5 dives in the world.  Seriously, look it up.  I am usually more interested in marine life than wreck dives but the cool thing about this dive is that it is special because of the marine life.  The wreck is like an oasis in the dessert so everything there is abundant and freaking massive.  Whales, turtles, manta rays, bull sharks, sea snakes, etc.  I can’t wait.  I will probably do this a couple times while I am here because the dive charters leave from Townsville. 

 

SCUBA dive with Grey Nurse Sharks at Southwest Rocks:  In Australia they call Sandtiger Sharks Grey Nurse Sharks.  I worked with these at the zoo and they would be awesome to dive with.  The diving at Southwest Rocks is really cool because it is a cave that you swim through and usually there are about 30-40 Grey Nurse Sharks (they are endangered here) at the site.  They are a really slow-moving shark so they literally float within inches of you while you dive.  Check it out: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afeTqlRtzWE)

 

Learn to surf:  There is a cool program called mojo surf that does surfing/camping trips where they teach you how down on the Gold Coast of Australia that is world famous for surfing.  I definitely can’t leave here without learning.

 

Hike to Wallaman Falls:  Wallaman Falls is the biggest waterfall in Australia and about an hour north of our school.  Its over 1000 feet high.  I may be heading out there in two weeks but am not certain yet.

 

Sail the Whitsunday Islands:  Best place in the world to sail.  There are 70 or so islands and you can have a crew take you to all the different islands for snorkelling, camping, etc.  A huge group of us are going to do this one weekend. 

 

Dive/Camp Safari to Orpheus and Pelorus Island:  There is a place called Remote Area Dive in Townsville that does a 3 day dive trip out to these two islands for diving on the Great Barrier Reef.  You also get to camp on the islands at night.  Orpheus Island is also the place where I will be going for my 4-day field trip for Coral Reef Ecology  

 

Cape Tribulation:  This is a world-heritage wet tropics area North of Cairns.  Where the real rainforest is.  Its supposed to be beautiful and I want to hike it. 

 

SCUBA dive Byron Bay:  Byron Bay is supposed to have some of the best diving in Australia because it is a marine preserve in between the tropical ocean/Great Barrier Reef and the deep Southern Ocean so the species diversity is awesome. 

 

7 Day Liveaboard on the Great Barrier Reef and the Reefs of the Coral Sea:  This is supposed to be the premier diving in the entire country.  I already have my trip booked and paid for after the semester is over, now it is just a matter of waiting for it to come. 

I have a reservation to go here.

The nice thing about most of these trips is that I can do them in a weekend.  Since I have no class on Fridays I can take off for three days weekend trips whenever I want, so most of these are definitely do-able.  I don’t really care about going to Sydney or any of the big cities, and I don’t have plans to go to the outback because it is too expensive and takes too long.  Hopefully I’ll start getting to do these soon!