Top Deck Tour

Hey Team, Sorry I've been MIA, I've been super busy meeting new people and trying new things but I'm back with a REALLY LONG blog post. Hopefully you can get through it all but if not I understand!

The last 12 days have been crazy, crazy fun, crazy busy, crazy drunkenness, just lots of crazy. We were go-go-go all the time and always doing things. It’s interesting how close you can get with people in such a short time. One day feels like a week and two feel like a month so 12 feel like a pretty darn long time. The best part of the last 12 days were all the new things I got to experience and try. I’ll go into more detail but to name a few, I surfed, wrangled a goat, and learned to crack a whip.

After meeting the bus very early in the morning we were off from Sydney and headed to Crescent Head, a secluded and very beautiful surf spot. From the get-go it was easy to tell that our trip leader Alan was going to be wonderful. He’s Aussie and has been doing this for 5 years. He’s very stereotypical, has long hair, a tan, (looks a lot like Jesus actually) usually doesn’t wear shoes, and surfs. He’s fun, great at getting the group together, making everyone feel like they’re a part of the group, and really great at history and story telling. The group was made up of all sorts of nationalities. I was the only American but we also had a Canadian, couple British, German, Kiwi, Aussie, Danish, and a few Irish. We were mostly female (Alan told us later we were actually on the higher end of having males that these trips always are mostly female) and had three couples as well. Two of the couples were Irish and just tons a fun. Every night the five of us were the last ones up which we enjoyed because we were also the oldest on the trip! Those young kids couldn’t keep up.

Our Surf Instructors

Well back to the activities. The first stop, surf camp. Going into it I thought, “I don’t really want to do this, surfing doesn’t sound like any fun, and I’d rather be under the water than on top of it” BUT I had a great time! The place we stayed was very secluded and this wonderful wife/husband team ran it. Our first lesson was on a lake that was the color of coke! There’s tons of teatree oil in it or something so it’s really good for your skin. We learned to paddle and how to stand up and practiced that a few times. I was awful. I kept trying but couldn’t stand up at all. The next morning we went to the ocean. Again I was thinking I would try a couple times and just sit on the beach because I didn’t want to spend the day falling but the instructors were wonderful teachers and very helpful. The other thing I appreciated the instructors treated the lesson how it should have been… (more about how I learned to appreciate this later) FUN! None of us are going to become pro surfers in a day. We just wanted to have fun and catch a few waves and that’s exactly what they got us to do! It was MUCH easier in the ocean with the waves. The instructors would hold our board, we jump on to get set, they tell us to paddle and as the waves came they gave us a push. After that it was actually pretty easy to stand up. I was doing it almost immediately! As the day went on they would stop pushing as hard if we were getting it and eventually stopped pushing at all. Everyone who stuck with it was standing up every time. I was doing really well and they started teaching me about stepping forward and back on the board and a bit of turning. Don’t worry, as I learned a couple days later, the instructors are who make the experience so I don’t think I’ll be surfing again any time soon but it was great fun and a good new experience.

 

That night I got to know a few people better by teaching a bunch of them crud. Several of you will probably know this game but it involves a pool table, running around it a lot, and lots of yelling, laughing, and fun. They great part of it, lots of people can play. Well everyone really enjoyed the game and we had our first late-ish night together!

Beautiful Weather Conditions

That's me!

Also me!

The following morning we hopped on the bus and headed for Byron Bay, the hippie capital of Australia. It’s a very laid-back town where shoes are very optional. We were all still getting to know each other but we had an epic night out which really helped bond the group. There’s nothing like getting drunk together for bonding a bunch of strangers. During the day we had a bunch of optional activities we could sign up for so I decided to go for another dive. I was the only certified diver on the trip (other than Alan) so I went alone but it was still earlier on so it was ok. OH the night before the dive was someone’s birthday! I think she had to best birthday of her life, largely thinks to Alan! Her name is Ivy, she turned 20 and is from Hong Kong, not kidding you she looks 12. But she is so sweet and I so admire her bravery and courage for going off and traveling on her own. She was so out of her element, for example, the night of her birthday we went to a bar and she brought her backpack because that’s where she kept her wallet. Well we had a great night out and she had the most amazing time. It was so wonderful to see all these people who didn’t know each other well come together to make sure she had a great birthday. More on Ivy later but for now back to the dive. The dive shop wasn’t great but it was fine. It was interesting after diving in both Sydney and Cairns because I saw a bit of both places. Unfortunately they had us dive in a big group which made it a bit difficult with people who are bad at buoyancy but I just stayed at the back and saw some sharks, a couple turtles, and loads of rays. I had tons of air left when another guy ran out but we had been going for 50 minutes and I was cold and kinda happy to be done.

This night was epic. Not much detail needed but we all drank, danced, laughed, and all around had tons of fun. A few jokes that carried on the rest of the trip started that night and it was great to really start bonding with everyone.

The next day was New Years Eve and we were headed to the Gold Coast and specifically a place called Surfers Paradise, which I later learned, is actually not a surfing paradise. We stayed in a pretty nice hotel there and some of us wanted to give surfing another go so we signed up for another lesson. This is where (as I mentioned above) I gained a huge appreciation for the other instructors. These instructors were unorganized, in a big rush all the time, were actually a bit mean, and had the wrong mindset. They were giving us a lesson to become pro-surfers when we just wanted to have fun and learn a little bit. I didn’t enjoy it at all and I ended up sitting up on the beach for some of the lesson. The positive, I appreciate the other place now and how good they were. Ah well, you win some you lose some. After I met some girls at the mall to find outfits for NYE.

NYE Fireworks!

NYE started with dinner down at the pool bar with the whole group and of course a bit of drinking. Then we went to another bar next door and had a fantastic time as we had a corner of the bar just for our group. A bit before midnight we headed to the beach for a summer NYE! I think that’s a first for me! We saw fireworks and it was so much fun to be with everyone down on the beach in a big group. After the beach we went to a club that Alan had organized which maybe wasn’t a good idea. I think we would have all enjoyed staying on the beach and just chilling out but the weather is really unpredictable at this time of year and it could have rained all night and we would have wanted somewhere to go. I didn’t stay long; I was so tired from the night before so unfortunately I didn’t stay up to watch the first sunrise of the year.

A little update on Ivy Woo. As I told you before she would carry her backpack to bars and also wear huge basketball style shorts and running shoes. She just didn’t know. Well two girls bought her a little dress and another girl let her borrow her heals and she looked so great! It was so sweet of those girls and she was so happy and yes, she did pretty well in the heels and stayed in them most of the night.

The first of the year was a bit sad, we had to say goodbye to a couple of our new friends. People can do different lengths of this trip and some leave early, others join late and this was the first time some were saying goodbye after just five days. Those girls who bought Ivy the dress left that day which was pretty hard for Ivy but she soldiered on. That same day we also picked two new people up which we were all a little nervous about. We had formed a good group and new people can mess with that. BUT it was all good because they were a couple and made it pretty clear they were there to be with each other and not us so it worked out just fine. Eventually they started to join in which was nice but at first they wouldn’t talked to anyone. We were supposed to go on a River Cruise in Brisbane (where we picked them up) but due to the holiday we couldn’t so we hung out by the pool and had a picnic lunch. After we drove to Noosa and stayed in the worst place of the trip (which wasn’t all that bad, I’ve seen worse). We had the afternoon free and one girl and I walked down to the water, had a nice chat and watched the sunset. Her name is Lisa, she’s Kiwi and a Jew! It was kinda nice to have another one and we got on (I’ve adopted Aussie phrases for the time being sorry) really well. We had a family dinner that night and a pretty chill night.

4-wheel drive vehicle

The next day was a VERY early start and probably my least favorite activity of the trip. We got in this huge four-wheel drive bus thing and drove to Fraser Island. Fraser Island is fascinating because it’s the largest sand island in the world or something like that. The highway (which obvi isn’t really a highway) is on the beach! There are even speed limit signs! The drive there was very long, then we took a ferry and another really long drive to a lake. We had a really great time at this fresh water lake and after a amazingly delicious BBQ meal but it took 5 hours to get there and another 5 to get out which just wasn’t worth it for one hour at the lake. We also had a small jaunt through the rainforest which you all know I don’t need to do again!

Very colorful sand on the island

Having to push other vehicles out of the very hot sand

We saw a dingo! (it didn't eat anyone's baby)

A 2-week old goat! Obviously I fell in love!

Not all was lost because the following two days were probably my favorite! We went to a farm! It’s a working cattle farm and maybe one of the hottest places I’ve been and I used to live in Phoenix! Again, similar to the surfing, I wasn’t sure I’d really like it but we had such a good group and everyone got involved in the activities so it was tons of fun! There was actually another top deck group there with us, they had some girls who didn’t want to get dirty so they didn’t participate and just didn’t seem to have as much fun as us. So we’re better basically. Well first we learned to lasso which once I got the hang of I was pretty good at. After that we had a competition where a group of three had to wrangle a goat, “brand it”, and let it loose. It was hilarious and tons of fun and I was the one who wrangled the goat! My team the Spice Goats didn’t win but we did pretty good and it was a lot of fun. Some people did skeet shooting as well but I decided to pass on that (it was $15 for 5 shots which I thought was a little steep).  That night back at the farm we learned to crack whips, had a huge meal together and rode the mechanical bull. That night a small handful of us stayed up pretty late (the old crew) and had a great time! Made it hard to get up in the morning but it was worth it.

The next day we could chose between horse back riding or ATVing. As you may know, I don’t do horses. They’re beautiful from a distance but I have no desire to get on one ever again so I did the ATVs! I’ve done it loads of times but never on a manual ATV! I really enjoyed learning to drive one with gears! We all did great which was super fun because we got to go fast. It’s so sad when you do these things and someone is too scared to go fast which slows everyone else down because we have to stay together. Halfway through the ride we went to the beach! I’ll post a pic! I was great for washing off the dirt and very refreshing since it was so hot.

Beach in the desert! The tank behind the girl is filled
with running water from the creek

After lunch and another dip in the pool we were off again in our bus Matilda this time to Emu Park. Along the way Alan always give us great information on Australian history or the locations we were in, going through, or to. Emu Park was more of a stop over before getting to the next big adventure but it was a nice place for a relaxing afternoon by the pool. That night we had a great reef & beef dinner (AKA surf and turf) and a toga party after. Who doesn’t love drinking in bed sheets?!?!

Whitehaven Beach

Our next big adventure was a sailing yacht out to the Whitsunday Islands. We spent one night on the boat and thank goodness it was only one night. It was really fun and I really enjoyed it but it was so hot and the bathroom situation was less than ideal which was fine for one night but two would not be fun. It was pretty small; one big room below and the deck above. After getting on we spent the day sailing around the islands before getting to our sleeping spot where we had dinner, of course had some drinks, and enjoyed the beautiful stars. It was so hot in the cabin loads of people (including myself) slept on deck. In the morning we got up bright and early and went over to the Whitehaven beach, a very beautiful beach with super white sand and very blue water. The sand has very little iron in it so it stays fairly cool in the hot hot sun. We spent a bunch of time at the beach swimming around and I got an unfortunately burn on my face. L I was wearing my sunglasses so I have a pretty distinct sunglass line but I’ve been using aloe non-stop so it’s healing up nicely.

Our fearless leader, Alan

After a great early morning we took the boat to another spot somewhere around the islands for a snorkel. It was a fun activity albeit we didn’t see tons of stuff. Some clams, parrot fish, loads of other fish, but it was good to be in the water. Back on the boat we sailed again to Long Island (one of the Whitsunday Islands for the next two nights). We stayed in a pretty nice little resort with our rooms facing the water. I have been pleased with a lot of the places we’ve stayed and expected loads more budget places. Also they never stuck more than four people in a room even when they could have to save money, which was also very nice. OK, back to Long Island. We arrived just before dinner and then after we spent the night hanging on the beach and having another rather epic night. That night Alan and I decided it was a good idea to chase Wallabys and in doing so I ran into a tree. I was fine but all the others really enjoyed making fun of me for it the next day.

Our bus driver Squatter (yep that's really
what people call him)

After a much needed sleep-in, most of our days started at half-six (AKA 6:30 am, half-six really doesn’t make sense because that should mean 5:30am but whatever Aussies are weird with their English), we hung out by the pool. Did the aqua zumba class, I had a pedicure, a nap and that night was karaoke night. Pretty fun, nothing too crazy everyone was a bit tired but it was my last night!

As I mentioned before we lost people and gained people along the way and I was one of those people who didn’t do the full trip. I didn’t know ahead of time that it was done this way and I really lucked out. If I were to do one again I would definitely make sure I was at the start of it. I know it was hard for the new people, especially the ones who got on for just the last few days. We all were very nice and friendly but we already had established groups and a really good working dynamic. It’s exhausting to go back to, “hi, what’s your name, where are you from, what do you do?” especially when you already have really great friends you could spend time with anyway. In my case, I was getting off shortly and wanted to spend my last nights with the people I already had strong bonds with. On the flip side this is of course not fair to the new people whatsoever but that’s just the truth of it. Alright, so I got off after Long Island and everyone else headed even further up to Cairns.

Originally when I made the booking I assumed we all started and stopped in the same place and thought we would all stay in Airlie Beach (where I ended) and spend one last day and night together but only three of us got off at that spot. Most of the group continued to Cairns and couple are even going for longer than that.  In hindsight I’m very happy with how it all worked out. I planned for the last week to stay open and to fill it with something after getting to know this country better. Well I am now doing just that. After meeting several scuba divers around Australia they have all told me their favorite dive ever was the Yongala (I’ll put more specific info in another post). It worked out that the Top Deck bus was going right past where I am staying for that dive so I did get back on Matilda and got a free ride here! It was hard to say goodbye to everyone but at the same time, it felt like the right time. If I didn’t have this dive to do I would have just continued with them to Cairns so I could have experienced their final two days as well but I spent plenty of time there and really didn’t need to go back. They are doing a reef trip which I’m sure will be wonderful and they will all have a fantastic time but I’ve done that and probably got to see way more since I had the time to go further out. But again it was hard saying goodbye to my new friends and waving to the bus all alone.

Karaoke night 

So that was this morning. I sat in a café and had a great little smoked salmon lunch and wrote most of this! After I went to the store because I have to cook my own food for the next two days (fine with me saves a boat load of money!) because the place I’m staying is in the middle of nowhere. They then came to pick me up and now I’m here. I was originally hoping there would be a bunch of people and it would be easy to meet them since only scuba divers stay here but as I said above, the blanket first time conversation with other travelers gets really exhausting after awhile and I’ve been doing it A LONG time. I was worried about how lonely I would feel and I do, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. One thing I am looking forward to is not having to say that speech again anytime soon and although I love meeting people from all over the world it does make me appreciate friendships where you can sit in silence and it’s not weird. 

My roommates for most of the trip! They are
Danish and Kiwi and very wonderful girls.

Tomorrow I do two dives at the yongala and I’m so stoked.  Thanks for sticking it out. I know this was long but hopefully worth it.

Final note just to finish my Ivy story! She got pretty upset when it was time to say good-bye this morning and held on really tight when she gave me a hug! She’s so short her head is in my boobs basically. She is so sweet and I hope I get to see her travel tons more, she’s a brave little woman to do something so out of the ordinary and on her and I’m so proud of her. I’m also pretty sure she had the best two weeks of her life and I’m happy to have been a part of that.