Rowan University Discovers Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia

We are enjoying a later wake up call this morning. Breakfast is in my apartment at 8 a.m. and I am writing this post sitting in our van in front of the hotel reception (the only place where wireless Internet is available).

We are leaving at 10 a.m. to the Cairns Airport to take our plane at 1 p.m.

There is a 30 minute-difference in time between Queensland and the Northern Territory and we will enjoy this additional time today on our way to Darwin. We should arrive around 3 p.m. , pick up the 2 vans that we will have until 8/22 and get to our hotel.

The plans are that students will get their dinner allowance and visit Mitchell Street, the busiest and funnest street in Darwin while I will go shopping for the next 9 days and reserve our breakfast for tomorrow morning. If finding a supermarket in Queensland might take driving a minimum of 80 km, it might take 400 km in the Northern Territory and prices increase as you move away from Darwin.

I will incorporate your children’s blogs as soon as I have a reliable Internet connection.

Everything is going well down under.

Dr. L.

Laura and Kyle

Today we started with pancakes made for us by Dr. Lemaire, paired with mango we received from the people at the Golden Drop Winery.  We then checked out of our hotel and made our way back to the airport.   We boarded the plane for the flight to Darwin.  Once we landed and made our rental car arrangements, we traveled to the youth hostel and checked in.

Many of us had never been to a hostel before and were surprised to see that it was very much like a college dorm.  The people were helpful and everything was nice and clean.  Once we were settled we had the opportunity to walk through the city and get dinner at a place of our choice.  We saw many aboriginal people and had fun seeing both the similarities and difference between American cities and those in Australia.  After dinner some of us met up and walked the town and got to see some of the nightlife and then we went to sleep.

After our regular early wake up call, we loaded the vans and headed south toward Mareeba to visit the wetlands north of the town. We saw many birds including 2 wild emus, and 2 kangaroos.

We then had a mango wine tasting and Gold Mango Winery, a family operated orchard and winery.

The third visit today was the Coffee Factory in Mareeba where participants enjoyed the free samples of chocolate.

After a lunch of salad and chicken, cheese, and bread we headed to Kuranda where the Skyrail begins. Students had 90 minutes to shop  before our ride.  Afterwards, we arrived in Cairns where our hotel is located and they enjoyed 2 hours of free time before dinner at Fasta Pasta. Participants enjoyed various pasta dishes and pizza.

We have 4 apartments in our hotel and 3 of them are equipped with washer and dryer. Your children spent the evening doing laundry in preparation of our departure to the Northern Territory tomorrow morning.

Everything is going well down under.

Dr. L.

Laura and Josh

Today we started at the Golden Drop Winery.  This winery specializes in mango wines.  We tasted dry, medium and sweet mango wines as well as some mango liquor and lemon and lime cellos.  We also were given a package of frozen fresh mango, which was delicious.

We then went to the coffee works in Mareeba where we sampled delicious chocolates and coffee.  After a picnic lunch in the park we made our way to the city of Kuranda.  Kuranda is located in a rainforest on a plateau.  We had the chance to explore the city and we saw many little shops and an outside market.  The people were very kind.  We then went on the sky rail and got to see the rainforest from a whole different viewpoint.  The view we had from the Skyrail, looking down at the rainforest was absolutely beautiful.  The Skyrail had two stops, at which we could get out and walk the boardwalk in the rainforest.  The weather was beautiful and made for a great day.  We then went to dinner at a restaurant called Fasta Pasta, and everyone enjoyed their meals.  After dinner, everyone was tired from the day’s activities and we all slept well.

In light of the possible problems we might have with the car insurance for our vehicles, I decided to substitute going to the gold mine ( 7 hours on a bad dirt road) by a visit to Cooktown.  Cooktown is a resort town located north of Queensland where James Cook stopped to repair his vessel after it hit the coral reef and needed repairs. Today it is a sleepy town with old buildings and a nice beach. We had lunch in their park and participants visited the town.  Later we went to the restaurant in Mt Carbine for dinner.

Everything is going well down under besides the absence of wireless Internet.

Dr. L.

Kristina and Kelsey

Today was a pleasant surprise.  Originally the gang was going to visit a gold mining town in the Australian Northern Territory.  However, deciding that the long drive there on poor roads has become too dangerous over the years, Dr. Lemaire researched alternatives.  After a group meeting (with yummy snacks) she announced that we would take a trip to Cooktown, a small, cute coastal town with shops, cafes, a park and a beach.  We rose early and enjoyed a delicious breakfast prepared by a talented French chef (Dr. Lemaire) and then embarked on our scenic drive to Cooktown.

We saw more cows than cars and stopped at several beautiful lookouts where we saw mountains, trees, and birds.  It was breathtaking.  When we arrived at Cooktown, we enjoyed a lovely picnic at the park before exploring the town.  This is where many of us interacted with our first Aborigines, who sold food and handmade pieces in the town.  The stores were very cool and the choice to visit this town was appreciated by all.  Afterwards, we got to visit Keating’s Lagoon.  There was a nice trail where we saw lizards, water lilies, hibiscus flowers and lots of beautiful birds, including baby ducks!

When we arrived back at our campground, we had a snack together of chocolate with peanut butter and some potato crisps.  The salty and savory mix really hit the spot.  After watching Jen (the wonderfully kind owner of our cabin) feed the kookaburra birds, we went to dinner at the local road house.  We all loved the food there.  Afterwards, we went to sleep.  It was an another great day.

Today we left Cow Bay and the Crocodylus hotel driving south to Mossman, the cane sugar capital of northern Queensland.  Participants went to the Mossman River waterfall and I went shopping for lunch and several breakfasts. Mossman is the gate to the Queensland interior and the small town where we stayed for 2 nights is at the minimum at 80 kilometers from a supermarket if you drive south and 192 kilometers if you drive north. Isolation is hard to fathom when one comes from the United States.

We went to the Shannonvale Winery where we had a tasting of tropical fruit wines and then to our three cabins at the Caravan Park in Mt Carbine. Contrary to what you could think, Mt does not stand for mount but for mining town.

We had a lecture on tropical plants, animals, and minerals from Queensland and a hike.

Everything is going well down under (with the exception of the Internet!)

Dr. L.

Today we went on the Reef Safari snorkeling boat. When we left at 8:15 a.m. for the reef from Cape Tribulation, it was a little chilly but the air quickly warmed up.

We jumped into the clear blue water and began swimming around. The coral of the first dive was spectacular with a wide variety of colorful fish in all different sizes, including parrot fish and Nemo’s. We even saw a sea turtle and a reef shark.

Bones our first mate offered to let us do a drift dive along a wall of the Great Barrier Reef. The reef went from about 60 feet down all of the way up to the surface in a vertical wall. There were so many fish hiding in little crevices in the reef. We saw giant clams that were about 2 feet tall and another sea turtle. Generally we spent about an hour at each dive spot before heading back to the coast for a picnic lunch. Overall we had a blast though the water was a little bit cold at first. Tonight we were part of the Australian Census,

Kim and Lauren

Today we woke up at 6:30 a.m. , loaded the vans and headed to town for breakfast at E.J.’s restaurant. We had eggs and bacon sandwiches with coffee or tea or orange juice. We also ordered the sandwiches we would have for lunch.

We went to Habitat a wildlife park created around the idea that animals should be as free as possible in an environment that they would enjoy if they were in the wild. Habitat is an award winning animal park because they have succeded in creating such an environment. Birds land on your shoulders, wallabies and kangaroos approach visitors to receive healthy food pellets, and the vegetation inside the park is identical to the rainforest outside the park.

At 10:30 a.m. participants had their picture taken with a koala. We then drove to Daintree Village where half of the group went to the hotel while the other half was taking a 2 hour cruise on the Daintree River with Dan Irby, an American from Oklahoma who has a master’s degree in biology and his own boat. We saw 4 crocodiles and many birds.

At 3 p.m. I brought back the first group to the hotel and the second group to the boat for another 2 hour cruise. Dinner was at the only restaurant open at night in Daintree Village. We had a choice of vegetable lasagna/French fries/salad/tropical fruit or Barramundi ( a succulent local fish) with FF, salad, and tropical fruit.

We are staying in 5 cabins and tomorrow we will enjoy a home made breakfast in my cabin.

Everything is going well down under.

Dr. L.
From Kelsey and Rosemary:

We awoke to have a delicious breakfast in Port Douglas on the strip. We then  went off to the Wildlife Habitat. There, we were able to hand feed kangaroos, wallabies, pet parrots, and walk through rainforest simulations and get up close and personal with kookaburras, cassowaries, and pelicans. We pet emus, wallabies, and saw a giant crocodile. We ate lunch at our beautiful farm cabin in Daintree, and we able to feed horses bread.

We went on a personalized river boat tour of the Daintree River. We learned a lot about mangroves, birds, the river, and saw a wild crocodile (second tour) and 4 on the first one when the tide was lower and sandy banks were available for the crocodiles to lay down on.

It was beautiful, relaxing, and informative.

Dinner was delicious, the cabins were extremely relaxing, overlooking a field of calves and horses, and the day, overall was informative and peaceful at the same time.

Today the wake up call is at 5:30 a.m. to head to the airport, return the rental vans, and take our Virgin Blue flight to Cairns which departs at 8:45 a.m.(a little over 3 hour-flight).

Arriving in Cairns, the temperature will be around 86 F and we will keep these tropical temperatures for the next 7 days. Our hotel is located in Port Douglas about 1 hour north of Cairns. We usually get there about 2 p.m. Your children will be allowed to go to the beach (400 yards from our hotel along a sandy path) while I go to town to make a reservation for our dinner at the Combined Club, a restaurant with a superb deck overlooking the ocean.  We will be able to dine in style looking at the sunset.  I will also make a reservation for breakfast tomorrow morning because there are few places in this little town that accommodate a group of 14 for any kind of meal.

Everything is going well down under!

Dr. L.

From Kyle and Josh:
Today we woke up early for our flight from Sydney to Cairns. We were all excited for the tropical weather even though Sydney was perfect.

After a one hour drive, we made it to our hotel, which was only a block from the beach. The beach was incredible. For dinner, we ate at a restaurant on the waterfront and then walked back to our hotel and looked at some of the shops in town.

In case of emergency only, you may reach me at 011 61 4 1687 9485.

Dr. L.

Today we are going to the Blue Mountains, an old mountain range that borders the east coast of Australia, about 2 hours west of Sydney.

On the agenda for today, we will be taking the steepest train in the world (70% slope), walk at the bottom of the valley, take a cable car to get back to the upper rim, take an horizontal cable car with glass bottom to observe the valley as we cross it at the height of the upper rim, and feed wild King parrots and Rosella parrots by hand.

On our way back to Sydney, we will stop at a meadow I know and see hundreds of cockatoos feeding one last time before the night and hopefully the first wild kangaroos that your children will see in Australia.

Tonight dinner is near our hotel at the Southern Cross Restaurant. Tomorrow we are flying to Cairns in Queensland.

Dr. L.

From Laura and Josh:

Today we had an early start with breakfast at Mac Donald’s. From there we began our journey through the Blue Mountains National Park at Echo Point. We were able to see the Three Sisters from this point. We continued to venture through this park on the cable way which has the steepest railroad tracks in the world. We then walked along the boardwalk and saw beautiful plants and birds (including the rare Lyre bird) along with breathtaking scenery. In addition to the Three Sisters we saw the orphan rock which stands alone and due to safety issues is no longer accessible to tourists.

We also got to see the National Park from a Skyrail. Turns out, Blue Mountain National Park is not a mountain at all but a dissected plateau.  We then had a delicious lunch at the Elephant Bean Cafe in Katoomba. After we were nice and full, we traveled to visit the Cockatoos and searched for kangaroos. Unfortunately we did not see any kangoroos but the birds were beautiful.

After dinner at the Southern Cross Restaurant nearby our hotel we went back to our hotel and called it a night.