From Reef to Ranch

A lot has happened since Magnetic Island so I hope I don't forget to include any of it like last time. To start off, we headed to a place called Airlie Beach, which served as our departure point for our day cruise around the Whitsunday Islands. Unfortunately, it was really cloudy on the day of our cruise so it was pretty cold, but the trip was good overall. The catamaran was painted pastel purple and there were only about 40 people on it, which was nice because we could spread out. We left at 8AM and sailed around some of the main islands and then stopped to snorkel at a section of the Great Barrier Reef. Again, the clouds ruined this because they made the visibility in the water really low. After an hour of snorkeling we got back on the boat and headed to White Haven Beach. It is famous for its super white and extremely fine sand. It felt like flour and when you walked it made a squeaking noise because it was that fine. We had lunch back on the boat and sailed back to the harbor around 6PM. The highlights of the trip were seeing a humpback whale about 200 meters from the boat and also a sea turtle that surfaced for about 2 seconds when we were leaving White Haven. We were glad we did it but were disappointed by the snorkeling-- luckily we got to see a lot in Fiji.

After Airlie we had a 10 hour day on the bus! Usually during that day we stop and go lawn bowling but there was a competition so we could not play. The reason the trip was so long is because we were going to a place called Kroombit Station. It is a mandatory stop on our bus pass because of the distance between Airlie and Rainbow Beach. Kroombit is a goat, horse, and cattle ranch and it was pretty much what it sounds like. Our meals were served outside on long wooden tables and the common area was just some chairs pulled around a fire in a barrel. Before dinner they cut up some meat as an appetizer and told us later it was goat! We knew it was something weird because they wouldn't tell us before we tried it, but it was good.

The accommodation at Kroombit was pretty crude but there turned out to be a lot of interesting activities. After dinner Allen, the owner of the station, taught us how to crack whips. It was surprisingly easy after you learned how to do it, and the sound was almost painful because it was so loud. A little while after whip cracking, we all got am attempt at riding a mechanical bull. It was really hard but Lola and I were really good compared to most other guests (probably because we actually listened to their instructions during the demonstration). There was one guy who sat backwards on the bull and when it started he jumped up as it bucked, and spun around and then stood up and sort of surfed on it. It was really crazy to watch and then really fun to watch other people try it... like me and Lola, haha.

We had to be up bright and early in the morning because breakfast ended at 7AM and then we headed to the goat pins to try our hand at some goat wrangling. First there was a shooting activity, which was extra but I decided to do it. In general, guns freak me out and I don't like them but I wanted to try it and the location made me more comfortable. We did not shoot goats, just clay pigeons and I hit 2 out of 5. We used a shot gun and I was surprised by how heavy it was but the kick-back wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Then we moved onto the goats and practiced some lassoing before getting into groups of 3. We then had a competition to see who could lasso, flip over, hold down, and "brand" the goat. There was only one goat in the small pin but it was still hard to get the rope over its head. Then once it was roped, I had to drag it by it's horns over to my teammates who flipped it and branded it. It was pretty fun and we actually ended up with the best time.

That was it for dirty Kroombit and that same morning, we headed out for another long drive to Rainbow Beach. The drive wasn't too bad because there was a DVD player on the bus and we also saw some emus and wild horses. Rainbow was just another overnight trip for us because it is a really small quiet town, which is fine but if we didn't leave this morning we would have had to spend 3 nights there. It was a good night though because there was a didgeridoo player that came and played and let us try to play it too. It was really hard but I got second place, which was fun. It is hard to explain what it sounds like it you don't know, but the instrument come from the Aboriginals in Australia and is made from a narrow tree trunk that is hallowed out by termites. There is nothing inside the wood so the noise that comes out is made and controlled just by your mouth and breathing. That is why it's so hard and also so amazing when you hear all the sounds it makes.

We are now in Surfer's Paradise which has the best beach on the east coast of Australia for surfing. Quiksilver and Roxy have world surfing competitions here and there is also an Indy race here coming up in October. It's pretty spectacular because there are a lot of high-risers and it is very much like a big city but it's right on the beach. We are here for 3 nights then onto Byron Bay for two and then back to Sydney on Friday.

I'll be back soon to let you know what kind of trouble we get into here and I promise to keep it shorter!