I was going, going, going, gone.

Baseball is like free stuff in Australia. It just doesn't exist here.

But I exit in Australia, and that's all that matters!

I left Kansas City at 2:15 p.m. on the 24th of January, and arrived in Brisbane, Australia at 12:15 p.m. on the 26th of January. January 25th didn't exist for me, it just went poof somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. I flew via KC to Dallas to Los Angeles to Brisbane. Just some funny anecdotes from my trip to the great Down Under..

From Dallas to Los Angeles, I sat next to a girl who was a tv personality, model, host and actress trying to make it big in Hollywood...her future doesn't seem to bright though, because when she asked me where I was going and I said "Australia", she responded with "Wait, is Australia or Austria next to New Zealand? Cause those are both countries, right?" It was just one of those flights. Also, American Airline napkins smell funny, and the stewardess dropped ice on me twice.

In the Los Angeles airport, I had to use the restroom, and so I went to the stall. While in the stall, a guy entered the stall next to me and began to absolutely blast some spanish rap. I mean, this rap was so loud you could hear it in San Diego. So I guess that's how they roll in Cali; they drop a beat while they drop a deuce.

On the flight from LA to Brisbane, we Americans were outnumbered 10-1, easily. Two of the Australians near me looked about my age, and they were doing some serious debating about the NBA. They made some American NBA fans look like ignorant 4 yr olds with the depth of their discussions. They talked about the dunk contest, who would win the championship, the greatness of Rajon Rondo and how Gary Payton is on the Celtics. For you non-NBA fans out there, Gary Payton is not on the Celtics. But still, for not being from America, three out of four ain't too shabby.

In my group, we had around 15 kids from all over the USA, and even one from Canada. We were going to be working throughout Australia (which, by the way, is pronounced by Aussies as Uhstralia. The 'A' sounds like the a in again.), with some in Brisbane, Cairns (Canes), Canberra (Canbra), Melbourne (Melboune), Tasmania and Sydney, among others. The group was really awesome, for many reasons. First, everyone was fun and open and willing to have a good time. Second, out of the 15 people, there was only one other dude, so that's a pretty good ratio. We had a two-day orientation in Cairns , a northern Australian city. It is fairly tropical there, and it sports the best access to the Great Barrier Reef. Below is a picture of my hotel.

This is part of my walk to my room. Just slightly different from your local Motel 8.

(P.S. I want to put more pictures, but that picture took 4 minutes to upload, and I'm paying for my internet by the minute. We'll try for more pics later.)

The pool at my hotel. Pretty. Dang. Awesome.

While in Cairns, during our first day (Thursday January 27th), we went to a rainforest zoo and I petted a kangaroo and held a koala and saw a 17 foot crocodile! Again, I have pictures, but they take foooooooooooorever to upload. Also at this zoo, we were taught how to throw a boomerang, play a didgeridoo and throw a spear by Aboriginees! I'm pretty much a lethal weapon now, to be honest. Just give me a stick and I can either fashion it into a boomerang and knock you out with it, or sharpen it into a spear and stab you with it. Your choice!

Me and a Kangaroo! There was about 12 of them in the zoo.

Kangaroo.



You see those three poles in the background? He doubled that distance with his throw.


For out second day in Cairns (Friday January 28th), we went to the Great Barrier Reef! You absolutely have to go do this, it is remarkably remarkable. I snorkeled twice and even scuba dove for 30 minutes! On the trip out to the Reef, it's pretty fair to say that I wasn't in the best of health. I didn't throw up, but I had to concentrate like a Jedi to keep my stomach from flying out of my mouth. But once we got to the Reef, I felt like a million Australian dollars, which is like 1.003 million American dollars. Seeing the Reef for the first time was a feeling I'll never forget. We snorkeled for 45 minutes, and then it was my turn to scuba dive! It was just me, another girl and our instructor. We put on the gear, did some tests, jumped in the water, did some more tests, and then off we went! I'm fairy certain I would still be down there if my instructor hadn't grabbed me and made me come back to the boat. It was absolutely unbelievable; the colors, the fish, the experience of being 15 ft underwater and seeing such vibrant life.

Me with five of the girls in my group. Check out those blue suits!



Needless to say, I'd definitely go back, if I could. After scuba diving, we had lunch, then boated over to another snorkeling site. There, the reef was a little closer to the surface, and I was able to snorkel with 5 or 6 of my friends. During this snorkel trip, the coolest thing ever happened...I touched a real life sea turtle. Now, the magnitude of this may not hit you. I touched a genuine, wild, real sea turtle, in the Great Barrier Reef, which is the ocean, which is in the wild. It was a one-on-one encounted with nature and it was mind-blowing. I could have followed that sea turtle for hours, but it swam so deep that I couldn't see it anymore. Coolest. Thing. Ever.

It's the kind of blue that you dream about.



Oh, I almost forgot. The best part of the day was scuba diving, and the second best part was touching a wild sea turtle, but a close third were the workers of the boat. It's so true, Australian girls are attractive. Enough said.

The next day, (Saturday January 29th), my group flew out of Cairns and to our respective assignments. Just a quick note, but Australia has domestic flight nearly perfected. And by nearly perfected, I mean quick, easy and kind of unsecure. So it's pretty much the opposite of American domestic travel.

So to sum up: Sea turtles rock, Australian female scuba divers are attractive, Cairns is fun and California guys listen to music while the poo. It was a great start to a great trip!

Editorial Note: I'm like almost a week behind in blogging. My internet situation here is a little messy, so I'm way behind. But I'll try and catch up as soon as I can!