adventure – Page 2 – Jaclyn Grace

Cairnes Recap: Great Barrier Reef

On Saturday, our group woke up at 7 AM and headed out for a day of scuba diving and snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. Luckily the sun was shining and it was a beautiful perfect day. We chose to spend our day with a company called “The Reef Experience” and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more.

We started our day off with delicious breakfast sandwiches and a 1.5 hour boat ride out to the reef. During this time, they did a crash course for those who were planning to do an introductory dive. They broke us up into groups of ten, and of course I was in the first group called out… so the first one in the water.

I was very excited but so nervous as soon as I put my wet suit on. Once I got in the water, they told me to put the breathing piece in my mouth and put my face in the water to try it out… I couldn’t breathe. I immediately picked my head up and took it out to tell the instructor. Instead of being concerned, he put the piece back in my mouth and pulled the deflating plug on my life jacket before pushing me all the way under the water. After a few minutes of feeling like I was hyperventilating, I caught my breath and began to enjoy myself. The instructor later told me that people tend to panic at the beginning and the best way to get them through it is to force them under the water. When you are in that situation, you will find a way to breathe (so he said…).

On my first dive we saw one huge, colorful fish and tons of coral. It was really beautiful and the photos don’t do it justice. I felt so grateful the entire time that I had the opportunity to see such a beautiful place.

After what felt like 5 seconds, the instructor started leading us back to the surface. I couldn’t believe it was already over and knew instantly that I was going to pay for another dive at the second location. I snorkeled for another hour or so while the rest of the groups scuba dived.

Next, we had chicken and sausage with salad for lunch as we cruised off to the next location. It was only about a 20 minute ride, but it was a perfect break to relax out of the water a bit.

Upon arrival at the second location, I was once again part of group number one. This time I was a little more excited to jump right into the water! 😉 Since we didn’t have to learn any basic skills again, we were able to explore the entire time. It felt like something out of a movie. We were going through little valleys and trenches along the ocean floor almost the entire time, and it was amazing.

I loved scuba diving and would definitely do it again. I wish there were more places back home to explore like this! We finished off the day with more snorkeling 🙂

Overall we had a great day on the Great Barrier Reef! Tomorrow I’ll write about the Barefoot Tour that we did on Sunday 🙂

xo,

Jaclyn

Cairnes Recap: ATV Tour

We had an awesome long weekend in Cairnes! It was exactly what we needed to relax and step away from our projects a bit.

Thursday night was pretty low key, as we weren’t able to check in until around 9:30. After that we pretty much just had dinner and went to bed.

On Friday morning, we woke up and headed to what we thought would be the beach. Unfortunately there was no beach in the area, but there was this beautiful lagoon.

We spent the morning here until the rest of the group arrived. Around one o’clock we packed up our stuff and got ready for our first adventure of the weekend – an ATV tour through the rainforest!

I was a little skeptical at first, but it was a blast!! We rode for about 2 hours straight down windy trails, through rivers, and basically all over the forest.

The company that put on this tour, Down and Dirty Quad Tours, was awesome. They joked with us the whole time and made it really enjoyable! They even let me use their go pro helmet mount for the tour.. I got some great footage of all of us.

By the end of the tour, we were all tired out. The last ten minutes of the trail were really wet and tough. Everyone kept getting stuck and kicking up mud at the person behind them, so we were all covered.

We rinsed off and had some Tim Tams and other treats with the tour guides before heading back to our hotel for the night. Overall, we had an awesome first day!

There was so much that happened on this trip that I want to split it up among a few posts so I don’t forget anything. I will be writing about our day at the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow 🙂

xo,

Jaclyn

Random Update

I am finally adjusting to the routine and starting to get used to everyday life here. Soon enough I am sure it will feel like home, though there are some major things I’m missing. I would give just about anything for a regular dunkin donuts coffee at this point! I have yet to come across any cafe, restaurant, or coffee shop here that prepares coffee like we do in the US. While I love the fancy lattes, lately I have been craving a regular coffee.

Here are a few things that I have been up to over the past few days…

Last night a few of us went to one of the first nights of the Melbourne Comedy Festival.It was a free show located at a little bar in the city.To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much out of this. It had been a long work day and I almost stayed home and went to bed early, but I’m so glad I didn’t. There were 11 comedians that performed for about 5 minutes each and they were hysterical. The purpose of this show was to advertise the rest of their performances throughout the festival, so they all highlighted some of their best jokes. This was the perfect week night activity for us and I’m hoping we can catch another show while we are here. Comedy

Today after work I had a few errands to run. First, I went to the post office as I had to get a passport photo taken for my internship. This is the building that it was in…

I am telling you that everything here is beautiful. I couldn’t help but compare this to the post office in my home town, which doesn’t quite measure up.

After that, I went to the library to send in my forms for work and was so surprised by all of the people sitting on the front lawn. People were eating, reading, and working on their computers. It felt like I was on a college campus.

One other thing that I have been doing is playing around with the GoPro that I brought. It is awesome! I have been taking tons of videos, but unfortunately I am having trouble downloading the software to edit/compile them. I can’t wait until I can do that and see the final product. 🙂 Here are a few random photos I have taken with it…

xo,

Jaclyn

Wildlife Sanctuary

At 6:30 this morning Jimmy, Raeshawn, Francisco, and I set out for the gym before work. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time as we thought we would and I ended up doing a quick 20 minute circuit… I guess something is better than nothing!

After working out, we showered at the office, ate breakfast, and then were ready to start our day. My four team members, my two WPI advisors, and 3 employees from the office set out for a day-long tour of Melbourne.

We drove around the outskirts of the city and gained a better understanding of the area, which is important for the project we are working on. After about 2 hours of driving, we decided to stop at a little cafe for a quick cup of coffee. In Australia, you do not just slurp down a large Dunkin’s iced coffee when you need a quick fix. We stopped, sat outside, and drank latte’s from little glass mugs. They were tiny but very delicious – definitely better quality than at home.

Also, you cannot just order regular coffee here. It has to be either a latte, a magic, or a cappuccino apparently. Luckily for me, I love lattes. My teammates aren’t overly enthused about this.

After our lattes we piled back into the bus and continued driving. We drove out through the Yarra Valley wine country and it was beautiful. The entire WPI group is booking a Wine/Chocolate/Cheese tour to do on Sunday, so luckily I will have more time to visit there and take pictures. 🙂

Next, our group stopped for lunch at a small bakery in the country side. I had a BLT which was very good, but dessert was the best. I don’t know what it was called, but our sponsor ordered us these cake-like pastries dipped in chocolate and coconut. They said that they are an Australian tradition and I can definitely see why!

We were under the impression that lunch was one of our last stops on the tour, until we pulled up to a Wildlife Sanctuary! Our sponsor surprised us with tickets and we spent the rest of the day looking around and seeing all of the animals.

The first thing we saw were Koala bears and they were just ask cute as I imagined. This is probably the animal that I was most excited to see, but I wish we could have pet or held them as the staff was.

We saw some other awesome animals as well… The kangaroos really made me laugh!

It was really cool seeing so many different animals that we wouldn’t see back home!

xo,

Jaclyn

Meeting Our Sponsor

Today we went to the company that we will be working with for the next 7 weeks and it was awesome. It was about a 35 minute commute by tram, train, and then walking. It wasn’t too bad though since it is beautiful outside. It will probably also be quicker when we actually know where we are going.

We got some nice little perks upon our arrival – including our own locker and the use of a full gym onsite! We also have access to the showers there. My group plans on taking full advantage of the facility since there are no other cheap gyms in the area. It may be a little strange though just because it is used mainly by firefighters…

We also got fitted for our firefighting gear just incase there is an incident while we are here.

After work my group had a light lunch at a little outdoor cafe. All the boys had beer, but I had a vanilla caramel latte instead. It was delicious. Everyone keeps telling us that Melbourne is known for the coffee, and now I believe it. There was also a live street performer singing right by our table who was very talented. I almost bought his CD I enjoyed it so much.

After lunch we wondered around the city a bit more and picked up some groceries. Along the way we came across the cutest area. It was a little alleyway filled with small restaurants, bakeries, cafes, etc. There was a band playing and the whole atmosphere was awesome. I took a picture but unfortunately the internet at our apartment complex isn’t great and I can’t upload it from my phone. 🙁 I am going to try to put it on here soon though.

xo,

Jaclyn