28 July 2012

Life is hard and unfair...taking a break is always nice. There's a difference however, between vacationing and relaxing. When you visit somewhere totally different, you don't want to just sit around and do nothing all day...it would be almost like a waste of time and money. You would walk around and learn about the place that you're staying - this is vacationing. When you go on a "relaxation-cation" (that's my new word I'm going to start using) you can have peace of mind that you can doze off in the warm summer rays without the guilt of feeling like you're wasting your time somewhere. Being able to sit, close your eyes, think about something other than the reality you left behind at home and not worry about anything else is a true getaway. You can't really forget about "real life" when you're still caught up in it.

27 July 2012

As the time comes and goes and the happiness fades,

What is it we want most, that we'd all want to trade?

The great times we've had and the memories created,

Built up so much, for so long we've all waited.

I think back on the times and just smile and laugh,

Knowing for sure, that someday, I'll most definitely be back.

Some things in life aren't meant to be forgotten,

Other people will sneer, think all those times were rotten.

But what's special to you and what's important to me isn't something you'd find in a book or under the sea,

Rather somewhere hidden very close to my heart, will you find the things that could tear me apart.

Not everyone will know all that you feel,

You just need to keep these times to know it's all real.

As the sun sets I know that it soon will be rising, on a place I love most and is oh so enticing.

There are some things you see that you never forget,

People you love that you wouldn't have otherwise met.

For somewhere far and sometime soon,

It's really all closer than the distance to the moon.

So shoot for the stars and never stop dreaming,

Nothing's ever too far when hope is still gleaming.

26 July 2012
If there's anything I've learned so far in life, it's to take the moment as it is and make the best of it. It's impossible to know when another opportunity will come your way that will be equally as rewarding. I don't think life is truly measured my time - rather by the things you see, people you meet and places you go to experience. It's about how you are able to grow as a person and become better everyday. Without change, there would never be progress...and without progress, there would be no excitement. What is life without it?

Before things start to turn up, I find that they first must take an impossible dive. Nothing great came from thin air - you can't clean your room without it looking like a disaster first. In the moment, it seems as if the world is caving in, but it's really just the start of something new. The highest point in your life can always be topped by something bigger and better and the lowest points will eventually be washed away and forgotten over time as the bigger and better things build on top of it all.

The End of the Trip of a Lifetime

Australia is such a beautiful country. Aside from the high prices, I have yet to find a negative comment about the country. Being able to share it with my family just made the whole experience even better. While back in Sydney, we did a multitude of fun and exciting things. First was a night on the Sydney Tower restaurant. The views were spectacular! The city lit up so well and was just magical. The next day, we went on a tour of Sydney. It was really interesting to hear all of the history behind the buildings and the city itself. We got to visit a few beaches - another one of my favorite spots. A lunch cruise was the only other option to get a good view and background of the Harbour. There's no place in the city that you'd be able to see these sites unless you were on a boat. Then we explored the Blue Mountains. I think the steepest incline railway was all too exhilarating for my family, but the scenery was impeccable! The rainforest walk at the bottom was so cool, too. The canopy was filled with so many different types of trees, leaves and birds. The wildlife park to follow was a good summation of all the wildlife that Australia has to offer, in a small, confined space that was easy enough to navigate in a short amount of time.

After a wonderful time in Sydney, it was time to leave and go explore Melbourne! For starters, we went and saw a footy game. For those of you that don't know...footy is the Australian Football League - Aussies just shorten it to "footy." This sport is different from rugby. It's better, in my opinion. The game was awesome! It was even better that I got to share it with one of my good friends that lives just outside of Melbourne. The next day we got to walk through the Melbourne Aquarium. There were so many fish there to see! We were then able to walk around downtown and see the different shops, restaurants and crazy people that were out and about. After that, we were so exhausted that we had to just go back to the hotel and sleep. The following day we went to check out the Polly Woodside - a ship that has circumnavigated the globe 17 times. We got to tour the ship and swab the deck...lots of good fun. After our tour, we met up with another one of my friends and played laser tag! It was a lot of fun, but I realized that if I ever had to go to war, I would die...fast. So I will explore another field. Then we went to the Eureka Sky Deck and rode the 38 second elevator ride to the 88th floor. The views were also stunning. The next day we were able to drive down the Great Ocean Road. It was so beautiful, words aren't quite enough to describe it. The 12 Apostles, we learned, aren't the 12 Apostles anymore...rather only 8. 4 of them have fallen into the ocean.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip that I will never ever forget. If you ever get a chance to visit, take it...you'll never regret it. I guess I'm done journaling for my blog, I hope you all have enjoyed it!

Manly Beach - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Sydney Opera House - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

The Three Sisters - Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia.

Gum tree in the Blue Mountains Forest - New South Wales, Australia.

Colorful bird at the Featherdale Wildlife Park - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Koala - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Arches underneath the train rails - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Cliff and beach along the Great Ocean Road - Victoria, Australia.

Tree trunk in a rainforest along the Great Ocean Road - Victoria, Australia.

Lighthouse - Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia.

The 12 Apostles - Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia.

The 12 Apostles - Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia.

Melbourne at night - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

The Daintree Rainforest, Cairns, Port Douglas, and Cape Tribulation :)

After the beautiful Great Barrier Reef, we headed up to Cape Tribulation! On the way there, we had to use a ferry to get across the Daintree river in order to continue our journey. It was definitely a unique experience. I've always seen pictures of herds of cars driving onto a boat and being ferried across a body of water, but haven't ever done it myself. The road the rest of the way was really winding through the rainforest - but it was beautiful. We quickly stopped at a crocodile farm. It was interesting, but was sad to see so many curious creatures cooped up in such small spaces. Finally, we made it to the Cape Tribulation Beach House Resort and got moved in for the next 3 nights that we'd be spending there. The food for lunch was delicious and then we got some time to work on our final projects for the trip. Our National Geographic expert, Ulla Lohmann, was there the whole time to help us with critiquing our pictures, video and research, giving us advice, helping to point students in the right direction and much more. It was so amazing and inspiring to be with her.

Crocodile - Queensland, Australia.

Koala - Queensland, Australia. 

Crocodile eating some sort of intestines - Queensland, Australia. 

The feet of my friends and I - Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia.

Cape Tribulation - Queensland, Australia. 

Cape Tribulation - Queensland, Australia. 

Crab holes in the sand on Cape Tribulation - Queensland, Australia.

Cape Tribulation - Queensland, Australia.

Little streams of water run towards the ocean - Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia.

A tree with spines in the Daintree Rainforest - Queensland, Australia. 

A tree with slashes for excretion of saps - Daintree Rainforest, Queensland, Australia.

A tree covered in moss alongside the hiking trail - Daintree Rainforest, Queensland, Australia.

Small creek running through the Daintree Rainforest - Queensland, Australia. 

A cassowary! - Daintree Rainforest, Queensland, Australia. 

One of the coolest road signs ever: "One Planet <3" - Daintree Rainforest, Queensland, Australia.

The next day was more of a relaxation and catch-up day. There was lots of editing for the film students and the photography students were throwing together slideshows of photographs for their final projects, while the Wildlife kids were researching a few last facts on their subject of choice. On the time off I was at the beach - which was quite beautiful, spacious and empty! - and taking lots more photos! We ended up doing a rainforest walk which was really cool. There wasn't a nicely laid out trail to follow - it was more "cross-country" style. Although we didn't get to see any wildlife on this hike, there was much plant life to be seen!
Later on in the day, a group of us went down to the Dubuji Boardwalk. This trail was more calm than the earlier one and was less dense so seeing more things was easier - especially for photographing. About halfway through the walk we spotted a cassowary right next to the trail! It was so amazing to see one so close! It just went about its business and kept eating the berries that were on the ground, walking around and looking at us like we were the attraction instead of itself.
This pretty much concludes my trip. I feel like I've been able to learn so much and grow not only as a person but also as a photographer. The daily journal entry will be continued as I'm not quite home yet and there's still more adventures to come from the land down under.

Cairns and The Great Barrier Reef

Humpback whale tail  - Queensland, Australia.

Parts of the Great Barrier Reef - Queensland, Australia.

Holding the National Geographic flag underwater at the Great Barrier Reef! - Queensland, Australia.

More coral from the reef - Queensland, Australia.

The Great Barrier Reef is another beautiful place. There is so much to be explored there! All of the colorful corals, fish, etc that live there amazes me. Every time I see something new. Although I feel like I'm still on a boat, the experience out there was definitely worth it. We got to see lots of humpback whales that came right up to the boat! It was awesome. We also brought some sharks up to the reef to look at. I was saddened however, when it came to the end of our snorkeling adventures and I had yet to see a turtle. Maybe I'm just not meant to discover one yet. Either way, the reef was so much fun!
Enjoy the short clip of the whales swimming by... :)

Photos from Sydney and....THE OUTBACK!!!

Pirate ship sitting in Darling Harbour - Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Sydney Central Train Station - Sydney, NSW, Australia.

A train car sitting at the Central Train Station - Sydney, NWS, Australia.

At a Rabbitoh's rugby game in the Olympic ANZ Stadium! - Sydney, NWS, Australia.

Does this need a caption??? The Sydney Opera House - Sydney, NSW, Australia.

A cute little zebra at the Taronga Zoo - Sydney, NSW, Australia.

NOW ON TO THE OUTBACK!!!
The Outback is such a wonderful place. At first I was seriously dreading going. The thought of sleeping in a sleeping bag in the middle of nowhere for what I thought would be 4 days scared me to death. The flight there was about 3 1/2 hours from Sydney. Just before we landed, I looked for a big building - an airport. To my dismay, I only saw a tiny little landing strip in the middle of a lot of red sand. My heart sank...I really am in the middle of nowhere. And what's even better? It's not 4 days that we're staying here...it's 6. We landed safely and got off the plane. It wasn't as cold as I was expecting! So everything was off to a great start. We met up with our awesome guides for the Outback, got in the nearly indestructible trucks and took off. Little did I know that this would be the start of one of the most amazing and life changing experiences of my life. Seeing Uluru was such an amazing experience. I can't tell you how long I always thought it was a big mound of sand - yet it's so much more than just a large rock sticking out of the ground. It's a sacred site that I quickly learned is often abused by visitors...climbing the rock, painting it, washing away the paintings, etc. I was appalled - why would someone do this? But then again, there are people in the world that we will never understand. The rock itself is massive! The colors - so vibrant. It was truly hard to believe that I was actually there! We then got to see Uluru at sunset. Wow! What an amazing experience! As the sun set, the rock just seemed to light up magically with beautiful colors and shadows. Then the moon rose form the opposite side just as the last rays of sun and warmth crept over the horizon. Darkness quickly fell and the cold set in. I believe the temperature dropped at 30 degrees Fahrenheit or lower that night...I wore so many layers! For dinner, what better food to have then kangaroo?! So delicious - yes mom and dad...delicious. The sleeping arrangements weren't too terrible either - we slept in swags. A new term for all my readers I'm guessing. A swag is basically a heavy duty sleeping bag. It's made of canvas, has a small mattress in the bottom, you can fit your own sleeping bag and pillow on the inside, and you zip up into a nice cocoon for the night! It's so toasty and warm, everyone should have a swag. The next day we drove deeper into the Outback and camped in a place so remote. I've never felt so isolated in my entire life. It was so great to be able to share this whole experience with great friends. The days to come in the Outback were filled with many beautiful, long, difficult yet rewarding hikes.The views were awe-inspiring, breathtaking and most of all magnificent. I can't quite put into words how amazing it all was - the experience is truly once in a lifetime. Being able to see the stars and the Milky Way every night was something that I thought I could see everyday at home - living on a farm. I was sorely mistaken. The views in the Outback made my backyard look like a joke. I've always enjoyed looking at the stars, but for some reason being able to stare at them until I can't keep my eyelids open anymore was one of the most entertaining things ever. Again, I can't even describe how beautiful it was. The Outback is definitely my new favorite place in the entire world. The sights, smells, animals, people, everything - truly stunning, wonderful and unforgettable. The day we left the Outback was so sad. I'm pretty sure that if I didn't really care what people thought of me, my leaders would've had to tear me away...kicking and screaming. I wouldn't have left it without a good fight. 6 days was truly not enough time after all the wonderful things that I experienced. I'm positive that I'll be back there someday. Not only to see my friends that I made there, but also to see the beautiful landscapes, animals and be able to learn a little bit more about the interesting Aboriginal culture that so much of the world has no inkling about.

Flying over the Outback: on my way to Uluru - NT, Australia.

Uluru - NT, Australia.

At the base of Uluru - NT, Australia.

Moonrise/Sunset - NT, Australia.

A dried up waterfall at The Valley of the Winds - NT, Australia.

The trail behind me at The Valley of the Winds - NT, Australia.

The Outback terrain - NT, Australia.

The rough Outback roads - NT, Australia.

Wilds camels! Who knew? - NT, Australia.

One of the many beautiful views from our third campsite - NT, Australia.

Rock statues at Kings' Creek Canyon - NT, Australia.

At the base of The Garden of Eden in Kings' Creek Canyon - NT, Australia.

A watering hole - NT, Australia.

A beautiful view of the stars, Milky Way and Southern Cross from the last campsite - NT, Australia.

Rocky mountain side at out meeting with an Aboriginal tribe member - NT, Australia.

Hand markings inside of a cave opening on our Aboriginal tour - NT, Australia.