Australia & New Zealand Adventure Part XI: The East Coast and back to Sydney

Wow, its been a long time since I last wrote. Can'tbelieve its been only a month since I left

Australia

.Feels like an entire lifetime has passed and my sixmonth adventure was but a figment of my imagination.I last left you in

Alice Springs

. I realize that Ifailed to write an epilogue of my travels, so here isa synopsis of my last few weeks down under. It wontbe as alive or vibrant as my other tales, since thisone is tinged with sadness at the relaying of mystories from memory only. Giovanna and I decided totake a bus to Cairns since it was roughly the sameprice as a flight and we wanted to see more of theoutback. This was a mistake. It was 2700 kilometersto Cairns, along a bumpy, bumpy, dirt road that passedscrub, dirt and termite mounds. This was the onlyscenery for three days. In addition, the AC failed onthe first day, which just happened to be my birthday,so we had to contend with 40+/100 F temperaturesinside the cabin of the bus whilst being tossed aroundinside. It was a horrendous journey only highlightedwith a stay at a working cattle station where I got toplay with more baby kangaroos.Our stay in Cairns was lovely. We took our first diveever on the

Great Barrier Reef

. The experience of thedive itself was incredible ; I am definitely going togo and get certified; but I was disappointed by thereef which seems to really be suffering and dying; atleast the spot where we were taken. Cyclones, tourismand rising ocean temperatures have all taken a hugetoll on the color, vibrancy and health of the reef.Whilst there, I also took a trip to Cape Tribulation,only to discover what an incredible marketing toolcalling an otherwise ordinary strip of beach �CapeTribulation is. That's all it really was, but we didsome hiking in

Mosman

Gorge National Park on the wayback which was very beautiful. We frolicked in somemore waterfalls, hiked the

rain forest

, and generallyrecovered from our bus experience, only to head southa few days later on yet another bus, this time to

Airlie

Beach.From

Airlie Beach

we took a 3 day sailing trip aroundthe Whitsunday islands on a 55ft yacht. The boat wehad booked was in repair, so we received a greatupgrade to a fancier vessel; the only drawback wasthat we had to share it with four of quite possiblythe dullest English people my homeland had everproduced and sent to

Australia

on vacation. Theirconversation skills sent me to bed about 9.30pm bothnights. The ship itself was beautiful, and I wish Icould say the same about the weather but it howled andpoured for the entire trip. On a plus side, I got tosteer the boat through some rough sea, and wesnorkeled for two days on sections of the reef thatwere far healthier than the one in Cairns. Overall itwas a great trip tinged with too much water andsea-sickness. The highlight was visiting

Whitehaven

Beach; one of the top three voted beaches in theworld. I am forever spoilt by its silicone whitesand.We then headed south to Hervey bay on another bus. Itpoured in Hervey Bay, so we contented ourselves with avisit to Shark Museum ( I am still obsessed withthem.) The museum was somewhat disturbing; the guywho owned it claims that the Australian Government isoperating a huge cover-up over how many people getattacked each year by killer sharks and howprotecting these so-claimed over-fished man-eatingspecies, the government was simply waiting for adisaster to happen in a decade or so when it

wouldn

'tbe safe to step a toe in the sea anymore becausenumbers would be through the roof.

Wasn

't sure how totake it all, except that if it were true, it would bean ENORMOUS blow to Australian Tourism; making itsomewhat more believable. So, just when I thoughtJaws was just fiction.The next two days we visited Fraser Island, thelargest

sand island

in the world. It was verybeautiful with clear lakes, stunning beaches, and lush

rainforest

. The second afternoon we sat up on somecliffs and literally watched sharks, manta rays,turtles and dolphins swimming in the ocean below; thewater was that clear. Beautiful spot.By this point, however, I was eager to get back toSydney. I was excited to visit the Sheraton and catchup with old friends. We ended up flying from

Brisbane

back to Sydney as we had both just had about enough ofbuses. In fact, never would be too soon. We had alovely last week together, staying at my old house,visiting with friends and partying. I felt sick allweek, however, at the thought of leaving and returningto the US. Change when you least want it, is verydifficult. Saying goodbye was painful, especially toGiovanna; there were many tears shed that week. Ithas been just so incredible to spend so much time withher, she is still the

bestest

friend that anyone couldever hope for! It will be so weird to go from seeingher every single day, sharing every meal, to notseeing her at all. God, I will miss you, Giovanna.Thanks for the memories..So, May 8

th

, I packed my bags for the last time (atleast in

Australia

) and got on a plane to SanFrancisco and then on to

Seattle

. I cried at theairport and then again when I got on the aircraft todiscover I would be wedged between two men whocollectively weighed more than a baby elephant for thenext 16 hours!I will never forget my time here; All of you GO to

Australia

!

I hope

my tales have inspired you all totravel there...!