Travel Journal: Australia

I wrote this when I was 19 years old and in an involuntary gap year between high school and college, though they weren’t called gap years back then. Now a gap year is framed nicely as “break time” for adventure and self-discovery, and it’s completely acceptable. Back then it was purgatory, I was a lonely loser waiting for life after high school to begin and not sure how to make it happen. Fortunately, I did catch some adventure and self-discovery when I visited my father who had moved to Melbourne, Australia, the year before.

From my trip notes: “It was great because of the totally free feeling it gave me. I felt so happy and confident, like all of the trivial things that upset me so much before don’t matter. I felt so fortunate to be able to experience such beauty that Australia possesses. I’m so glad I got so see it!”

Travel IS freeing. It’s my happiness, my confidence, my mindfulness, my anti-depressant. It gives me a deep appreciation for life. I didn’t know at 19 that it would become a fundamental part of my personality and lifestyle, but I recognize in those words that the bud was blossoming.

I grew up in rural Ohio where our closest neighbors were Amish and farmers, and while I’d traveled to a handful of other countries, this was a BIG adventure for me. To preserve my 19-year-old voice, I transcribed my handwritten travel notes almost word-for-word. Any changes were to fix unreadable errors or provide context. It was tough because I said some pretty cringeworthy things about animals, like not touching a fish twice(!) while snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef so I wouldn’t get stung, rather than because it might be harmful TO THE ANIMAL. While conservation and climate change were certainly emergencies in 1998, it wasn’t evident in daily life for me yet.

TRIP NOTES

July 10, 1998

I was very tired when I arrived (in Melbourne), but way too excited to sleep. We drove through a few hilly areas and saw some kangaroos. We were able to get about 15-20 feet from them! We even saw a momma with her Joey’s head sticking out – it was great! It’s so funny to watch them hop away if they got scared. I wanted to scare them just to be able to watch them bound away!

We had dinner after going to the grocery store. All the stores, restaurants, and gas stations are the same here as in the U.S., like Target, K-Mart, and Chilis. It’s weird to be halfway around the world and have it be so similar to America. The landscape is beautiful, and the super-clean towns remind me of Denmark’s cleanliness. They use dollars and cents, but the value is different.

July 11

Today we decided to go off roading! No, we didn’t have a Jeep or anything and it wasn’t planned. It was sort of rainy, so we decided to take a drive through the Yarra Mountains. Boy was that an adventure! So many twisty, turny roads through the gum and fern trees made me dizzy. The trees are so tall and are mesmerizing to look up through as you pass under them. They seem to go on forever!

We headed for a small town called Woods Point, on a little dirt road through the mountains. It took forever. On the way we stopped at the most amazing little bar in a log cabin on the top of a mountain with a wonderful view. There was a beautiful blue hue to the mountains. We drove on, reached the town, which was tiny, rundown and very poor. The only life we saw was a little dog walking on three legs.

We looked at the map to see if there was a better way to get back and saw there was a tiny, dotted line that my dad thought would be a through road to get to another road that would eventually lead to the highway. Well, we never found out if it was a through road or not. We were in a Ford Taurus, driving through streams, slipping through mud, and bounding over rocks, scraping the bottom of the sedan. It was pretty nerve-wracking since a lot of this drive was along a narrow road next to a cliff. We couldn’t decide which was worse, going on or going back over the suicide terrain we had already somehow driven over and lived through. We decided to turn around after we came to a stream that looked too deep to cross.

Eventually we made it out fine, and so did the car. We drove only 200 miles in 7 ½ hours through twisty, windy roads. We were both carsick when we were done and I had a pretty bad headache, but it was a fun adventure overall!

July 12

I was up at 5:00 a.m. thanks to jet lag, but that’s OK because we had to go to the airport to catch a three hour plane ride to Cairns in Northeastern Australia. It was a pointless early wake-up though, because the plane was delayed. We finally reached Cairns at around 5:00 p.m. It looks the way I imagine Hawaii would look, with lush green rainforests on mountains and beautiful blue waters surrounding the town.

We went to the aquarium, which was really cool, then had dinner. I ate kangaroo, emu, and crocodile! The crocodile was really good, the kangaroo was pretty good, and the emu kinda sucked. I felt guilty about eating it because somehow, they seem more like animals than cows or pigs do. I guess it’s just what you’re used to.

Cairns is beautiful with big hills covered in trees and the ocean on one side. The water is shimmering turquoise blue and it looks like something out of a movie! There are palm trees everywhere. Parrots, cockatoos, and magpies fill the trees. We saw a dead wombat on the side of the road yesterday. Weird! But I love it here, it’s great!

July 13

We went to a rainforest today. We took a train up the mountain to a town called Kuranda. It was great because of the totally free feeling it gave me. I felt so happy and confident and felt like all of the trivial things that upset me so much before don’t matter. I felt so fortunate to be able to experience such beauty that Australia possesses. I’m so glad I get so see it!

In Kuranda we went to Rainforestation Nature Park. I held a koala! The fur was so soft like wool, it clung to my shoulder and snuggled against me. It felt so good. We also pet a kangaroo, saw aboriginal dances, went on a tour of the rain forest, and got a crash course on life in the rainforest. There are so many deadly plants!

On the way home we took a cable car for over four miles across the top of the rainforest and over the mountains. The canopy looked like a carpet with palm fronds growing through the top, and the view was magnificent. When we reached the end, we had a great view of a town and the water behind with the mountains and rainforest all around. I can’t believe I get to see all of this. I love it and want to remember it forever.

July 14

From Cairns we took a coach bus to Port Douglas where a boat took us on a 1 ½ hour ride out to an outer reef of the Great Barrier Reef. The bus ride was cool, it gave us a great view because it drove alongside the mountain overlooking the shore.

We snorkeled when we got to the reef, which was really neat. I took pictures of giant clams and was able to touch a big blue fish which was about a foot in length! I thought that maybe touching any more fish would be a bad idea since everything is poisonous.

I swam fairly far from the boat and it gave me a strong feeling of danger. Even though the tour guides said the reef is too shallow for big sharks, it is possible for one to go in there. Jellyfish could definitely be there! We were told that if you get stung by box jellyfish, which has some of the deadliest venom in the world, you use white vinegar to remove the tentacles, then go to the hospital. It was a scary feeling, but exciting at the same time.

After I snorkeled, we went on a semi-submersible boat where we toured of some of the reefs. It was a crystal-clear day, so the coral looked very colorful. It is amazing that they are animals living under there!

Next, we went on a helicopter ride over the reef. Only a few people from the big tour boat went, and we took a small boat over to the helicopter platform which was on the ocean. We experienced the reef from a whole new perspective and saw a few manta rays, appearing to fly through the water with their huge wingspan.

Once back on the big tour boat we returned to Port Douglas. We were supposed to take the bus back to Cairns but decided to take the boat option instead. The trip was 45 minutes longer, but well worth it!

The sunset was the most beautiful ever, setting behind the mountains and turning the calm, glassy water into stunning colors of pinks, oranges, purples and yellows. It was so peaceful and reassuring to see. It’s amazing how beautiful water can be.

Then, as if things couldn’t be more perfect, the captain turned off the boat when he spotted humpback whales in the distance. We were very excited as they swam closer to the boat. Then, there were more! Two swam about 50 feet from the boat. Seeing the whales gave me a wonderful feeling. It was such a great sight and thing to experience. They said it was rare and we were lucky. It was a perfect day.

July 15

We got up at 4:00 a.m. and took a bus to Raging Thunder Adventures‘ launch site in the Atherton Tablelands. We were going hot air ballooning! We went up to about 2,000 feet, which didn’t seem very high once you got up there. It’s not scary at all and gives you neat perspective of the landscape. You feel almost no movement, but you feel heat from the gas, which was nice because it was pretty cold. We saw the sunrise over the mountains, it came up so fast! I’ve watched sunrises over the ocean, but they were much slower. Seeing other balloons in the distance with the sun coming up behind was awesome.

After our peaceful flight we had breakfast of chicken legs, quiche and a champagne toast. It was good food, but I didn’t want chicken for breakfast! It was interesting though.

That afternoon we flew to Sydney where we are staying in a really nice hotel on Darling Harbor, with a view of the city which was spectacular. The harbor is really neat, and there is a monorail system running through the city.

July 16

We took a tour of the harbor on a cruise boat. I saw the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge. The harbor is really pretty and the homes are like $12 million! Who can afford that stuff?

That night we went to the top The Sydney Tower Eye and had dinner in the revolving restaurant overlooking the city lights. We had a buffet of more kangaroo, crocodile, and emu.

July 17

We went on a cruise boat to Manly Beach where hundreds of people were surfing. The waves were the biggest I’ve ever seen. The sun was shining, and the breeze was warm. Picture how you think an Australian beach should look, and that’s exactly how it looked. It was a classic Australian experience!

We took a ferry back and walked around an area called The Rocks which had shops in very old buildings. We went to the Imax theater which made me kinda sick, and then walked around Darling Harbor. There were opera singers on a floating stage, then there was a light show that turned the opera house into what looked like giant fish swimming to opera. After the singing they had a long fireworks display and there were so many people out for the show.

Sydney is a great city with all kinds of stuff to do. There is art everywhere you look. It’s like a park, it’s so picturesque!

July 18

Now we’re back in Melbourne for a night. We went up the Rialto Towers and looked over downtown. The casino put on a light show with gas flames. It was cool!

July 19

Today we got up early to go to the Great Ocean Road and Grampian Mountains. The 12 Apostles formations are great! In one spot you could go down a cliff to where there was a cove and a deep cave. I went down there by myself, and it was a little spooky! The cove had the ocean coming in through about a 25-foot space onto a beach. It was so secluded and pretty.

The waves we saw on the drive were maybe 10-15 feet high! We saw surfers, but none in the biggest waves. I wonder why they aren’t afraid of the sharks. A guy was killed, a surfer, not long ago near here. Most of the public beaches have shark nets.

After the Great Ocean Road we went to a nature park where we saw a koala, a bunch of kangaroos, and a few emus, all in the wild. One emu even stuck its head into our car, begging for snacks!

The trip to the Great Ocean Road was neat-o. I don’t know how one country can have so much cool stuff, but it does!

July 24

Well, now I’ve driven on the other side of the road with the steering wheel on the passenger side. It’s so weird! My dad got too drunk to drive last night and tonight, so I drove. It’s really different and felt so strange. Riding in the passenger side, which should be the driver’s side, is really strange too. It’s a lot scarier than riding at home. Or maybe it’s just how my dad drives!

And that’s the end of my trip notes.

It’s fitting that would be my last writing. I saw my father two more times after this visit, once more in Australia and once in New York City. We are intermittently estranged because on his life choices. I’m grateful to him for taking me on this adventure and igniting a passion in me that shaped my life. He still lives in Australia. Maybe one day we’ll get a redo.