Check out the best blogs from the past three years of the World Traveler Internship about one of our favorite destinations – Australia.

2009 World Traveler Interns – Lindsay Clark and Chris Danner

Morning Ponderings at Kata Tjuta – “We gotta stop complaining about being too old to stay up late or remember what we did yesterday. We’re babies on this planet, babies I tell ya!”

Oz is Hardcore – “If the crocs in the mangroves don’t snatch you off the pier, then maybe the box jellyfish will whip you with the world’s deadliest sting while swimming at the reef.”

The Truth about the Australian Outback – “There are camel herds here. Did you know that? Wild camels, wondering around in packs like they own the place.”

2008 World Traveler Intern – Pat Blute

Saving Coin in Sydney – “While I’ve been out and about, I’ve been using this great little thing called the ISIC card.”

2007 World Traveler Intern – Rachel Rudwall

Listening to the Didgeridoo – “Well, it just so happens that the Tjapukai dancers needed two volunteers to join them on stage, and a girl named Monica and I were the lucky selections!”

Kangaroos in Australia – “After our time of relaxation, cave navigation, and kangaroo stalking, we ventured onward to the tropical paradise of the Whitsunday Islands.”

As promised, I’ll begin this blog with an account of our fabulous night with the Tjapukai aboriginal people. Now, none of us could have anticipated the delight and awkwardness that would come as a result of our experience at Tjapukai by Night, and I’m sure it was better left a surprise. When we arrived, we snapped photos with the young aboriginal men in loin cloths and body paint before entering to a drinks reception. Then, a representative of the people came out to give us a special talk only granted to our tour group, during which we heard the history and legends of the Tjapukai people as we studied the various tribal murals and paintings covering the walls. Then before we knew it, the lights were out, and the wall burst open with a trail of shadowy figures enshrouded in smoke and singing a tribal song. They circled the room before mounting the stage to sing, dance, and play the didgeridoo (aw yeah, didgeridoo!), getting the crowd involved with song and rhythm. Then we watched them do the dance of fire creation before passing inside to have a fantastic feast. And at the end of the feast, the dancers entered the stage once more to dance, sing, and share their myths with the crowd.

An Amazing Show

Why did I mention delight and awkwardness earlier, you ask? Well, it just so happens that the Tjapukai dancers needed two volunteers to join them on stage, and a girl named Monica and I were the lucky selections! That meant that we had to get up on stage in front of a large crowd (no longer just the tour group) and do as they told us. So, Monica and I ended up having a race to create fire (at which we were both very unskilled, illustrating clearly that I have no chance of survival if I ever get stuck in the wild) and then doing a bit of a victory dance with the men in body paint and loin cloths. Awesome! How were we at dancing? Well, Monica had some sweet Tjapukai moves; but, I’m a bit unique when I dance, and I happened to be wearing a rather 80s-esque white jacket…so I feel I look a bit more like a wannabe Michael Jackson than aboriginal in the video clips. Oh well.  At the end of the dance, the Tjapukai performers gave each of us a handsome hand-made boomerang which they had all signed. How grand that they would still reward us after such unusual performances!

And finally: my sunrise hot air balloon ride over the Land Down Under. I don’t even know where to begin on this one, but I guess I’ll start by saying it was a totally surreal and supremely beautiful hour of my life! I decided to do this activity on the final day of all my travels so that I’d be awake and aware every hour of my last day abroad (I also made sure to stay on the beach later until after sunset). Anyway, I was up at an ungodly hour which will go unmentioned here, and I boarded a bus to ride into the country a bit. After a 45 minute ride, from which I could see the most brilliant constellations in the clear Aussie sky, we arrived in a field just barely illuminated by the flames of hot air balloons preparing for lift off. A heavy mist enshrouded everything around us but for the outlines of the balloons, and I climbed into my basket with great excitement (and a clear lack of agility).

Then up, up, and away we went, the only sound being that of the torch overhead (which allows the balloon to float)! There was an overwhelming peace in those first moments of the ascent as we rose above the mist, bypassed the clouds, and broke freely into the atmosphere where the sun had just begun to show its face. The rainbow of sunrise burst forth from the horizon, and we spied the other 4 colorful balloons escaping the mist below. And before we knew it, the day had arrived as the clouds rolled beneath us with the gold of the sun. We dipped beneath the clouds to float along above the rivers, plains, mango fields, and farms whose livestock had just awakened, and then we rose once more to clear skies and great mountains greeting us in the distance. Somehow those 60 minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and just like with my experience scuba diving, I wasn’t sure the world I’d witnessed was real. It was simply too beautiful.

From that point, we landed with a bump in the dew-painted grass and were asked to help pack up the balloon. As I was a sole female voyager, the crew for the hot air balloon company made a point to single me out frequently, joking that they needed massages to pack the balloon well, having me jump around atop the car-sized mound of fabric (6 feet off the ground) to pack it more tightly into its bag, etc. It was all in good fun, and I had a fantastic time of it! Then it was on to our brunch in the middle of the bush, once more through the mist to a feast of food and endless champagne before heading back to the city. Really, guys – this experience was unbelievable. Talk about a rock star morning. All the earth and sky were mine to witness, and the champagne at brunch never stopped flowing. Yeah, buddy!

And that brings me to the end of yet another fabulous journey as the World Traveler Intern for STA Travel. Sadly enough, it also brings me to the end of the job…unless, of course, STA Travel wants to hire me for this position permanently (wink wink)!

Following our stay in the paradise that is Long Island, we boarded the bus for one final long journey, this time to Cairns, a destination with such a relaxed beach culture that it seems more like a town than the large city it is. As it is my final day in Cairns (and thus my FINAL DAY of the World Traveler Internship… how extremely depressing), I can say now that my time in Cairns has been marked by adventure and firsts more than anything. First scuba dive, first bungee jump, first time seeing and holding a koala, and first hot air balloon ride, not to mention my first time dancing with a group of indigenous people!

Koalas Just Hanging Out

Which story to tell first, then? I suppose I’ll start with the easiest: Kuranda and the koalas. On our final day as a group in Cairns, we caught the Skyrail tram for a breathtaking view of the rainforests, sea, waterfalls, and rivers below, and our journey ended in the village of Kuranda. While Kuranda has been around quite a long time as a home to the aboriginal people, it seems now to be more of an easy-going and tourist-driven town in the midst of the rain forest, priding itself in expansive markets and more cafes and coffee shops than one person could possibly count. Aside from just bumming around town, we all made sure to stop by the wildlife center to cuddle koalas! Since it literally says in the center’s brochure that people can “cuddle koalas” and get photos, I made my way there with wonder and awaited the koala-holding session with great excitement. And when the time to cuddle finally arrived, I hugged the thing like I’d never let go and shot my grin toward the camera. The result? The most awkward photo ever. It’s clear I’m about to pass out with excitement, and it looks like a really strange family portrait with the backdrop of painted leaves. Needless to say, I love it. That baby’s gettin’ framed.

Next up: the bungee jump. The day after the group separated, a couple of us remained in Cairns, and we made our way out to the A.J. Hackett bungee site bright and early in the morning. My fellow travelers Simon and Stu joined me in signing our lives away with fingers crossed, and we arrived to the site to see a beautiful day to jump off a perfectly good platform with rubber bands attached to our bodies. Yeah, buddy. After climbing about 400,000 stairs to reach the top of the platform, I didn’t have time or energy to feel nervous, and before I knew it, Stu had already made his jump! Then I shimmied to the edge, got a rush of nerves and feelings of impending stupidity, spread my arms for the elegant swan dive, and …deep breath… I was off! I jumped off that thing like nobody’s business, and I would just like to say that I think for a novice I had terrific swan dive form. Then Simon let ‘er rip, and since he’d said he wanted a dip in the pool below, he tore into the water with impressive velocity. What a grand time! I’d do it again :)

Next story: the first scuba dive. The group set out on a sadly overcast day to explore and adore the Great Barrier Reef, and let me just say that we did in fact both explore and adore that great mass of coral and sea life. Did you know the Reef is the largest living organism in the world? Yeah, neither did I until I dove it. Anyway, a huge number of Connections travelers opted to try the introductory dive, following a dive instructor into the reef for a half hour or so, trying to get the breathing scenario under control while hyperventilating at the sight of all the beauty surrounding. And I’ll go ahead and say now: the place and first dive were wonderful. More wonderful, however (exhilarating and otherworldly, at that) was the second dive which only a handful of us chose to do because of the cold weather and additional cost.

Let me tell you – if ever you have the opportunity to do a second dive on a tour like ours, forget the cost or cold! You have a wet suit, and you’ll have the rest of your life to worry about money. You may never again get the chance to dive the Great Barrier Reef. Anyway, the second dive was extraordinary. While a wall of intensely colored coral swarmed with life on one side of us (and when I say wall, I mean at least 40-50 ft high on average), the other side presented a gradual and astounding slope down to the depths of the deep, deep ocean. It just stretched and stretched and stretched, that slope. We swam around doing flips, touching various creatures, and sticking our hands into 5 ft wide clams that moved when we touched them; and, since we had already each done one dive, we understood the breathing equipment and no longer had to think about it as we voyaged! I’m serious – it was like a dream world. Or another universe. And it is one you all must visit if you get the chance.

Okay…this is just getting too long for one blog. I’ll cut it off here and do you the favor of leaving a marking point from which you can begin the next installment (as I suppose you’ll need a nap, coffee, or weeklong hiatus before you begin reading again). But make sure to tune back in, as I’ll be sharing about our night with the aboriginal people and my hot air balloon ride this morning!

Until next time…

From Fraser Island, we continued onward to a wee city called Rockhampton. More than anything, we were passing the night there in transit; so, that meant we had the chance to just relax, talk, do laundry, and get a good night’s sleep! But, the more daring (or dare I say geologically curious) of the group members took an evening tour of the Capricorn Caves, winding through the labyrinth and remarking at the power of their echoes. And as we readied for departure the following morning, we happened upon a great mob of kangaroos in our campsite! Needless to say, we hopped out of the bus and ran to join the ranks of the ‘roos in order to marvel and take far too many photos. While the bad boy male kangaroo freaked me out a bit (he was nearly 6 ft in length), the ladies were adorable. More adorable, however, were the babies in their pouches! The little joeys’ heads poked out of the pouches as the mothers hopped along to breakfast. Oh my, they’re beautiful creatures.

Whitsunday Islands

After our time of relaxation, cave navigation, and kangaroo stalking, we ventured onward to the tropical paradise of the Whitsunday Islands. Since the Whitsundays are comprised of 74 islands, boat travel in the area provides a spectacular vision of beach and lush green hillsides jutting out of the rich blue ocean. People have only constructed hotels and homes on several of the islands, leaving room for a most glorious picture of natural beauty. Since I’m a bona fide nerd, I’ll point out that we had crossed the Tropic of Capricorn in our bus the afternoon of our arrival (some of us more excitedly than others), thus entering into the world of “the tropics.” But I didn’t really think “the tropics” in Australia would look this good. Picture the Cayman Islands. Now get an image of Fiji. And the Bahamas? Very good… Now one last request: picture the Whitsundays. Are the pictures should the same? They should be!

Yes, life on the islands is just plain delicious. We  had several days on Long Island, taking our time to appreciate the Whitsundays in an array of ways. Six intrepid voyagers set out to partake in a 2 day live-aboard sailing adventure, while the rest of us made sure to use our time kayaking, jet-skiing, tanning, and taste-testing the many tropical cocktails available at the beach-side pool bar. After boat troubles stifled our plans of visiting the world renowned Whitehaven Beach on the first day, we made up for any disappointment by exploring nearby Daydream Island, lounging by the water, eating burgers and ice cream, and chilling out with books and pina coladas beneath the palms. Not bad. Not bad at all…

As for the evenings on Long Island, the meals at Magic Megs’ restaurant were fabulous as usual, and the resort-hosted activities were terrific fun. One night we joined (and WON) the resort’s trivia competition, another found us jamming to karaoke as our Tour Leader Leigh rocked out on the mic for at least 4 songs, and the third was filled with the songs of a musician who prides himself in playing both the guitar and the digeridoo with finesse. We got to know other young tour groups as they came through, swapping stories and advice about future destinations, and trying not to make them too jealous of our sweet moves during our impromptu dance parties. And while Meagan and the Contiki driver Youngy hopped around doing impressions of kangaroos and rare birds, the rest of us had a fabulous time taking pictures of poor Keiley who just happened to be small enough for another tour leader to toss her in the pool clothed. How sad that all this ever had to come to an end! Alas, it was onward the next morning to our final destination…