SPRING BREAK 2009

This is the closest picture I could find to what we are doing for spring break. Once you read the whole post it will make a little bit more sense I hope!!


So, everyone who gave me shit for "not doing work and partying so much in Australia," thanks a lot. The last 2 weeks I have actually been pretty busy with school stuff. Earlier today I had a 1000 word paper due on a case study about the National Alcohol Campaign in Australia (yes, I chose the topic), as well as a 15 minute presentation with a group of 4 other girls. Last week I had a presentation in my Aboriginal Studies Tutorial, which has a total of 8 people in it. The worst part about that was that the tutorial leader is Aboriginal, so I couldn't bullshit this. I had to get it right or he would know. I spent a fair amount of time researching and putting together my presentation, and I feel like I know a little more about the lifestyle and kinship of Aboriginal Australians. I have another 1000 paper due Thursday (a week after the presentation) on the same topic, but I won't be turning it in on time because I am leaving for Spring Break tomorrow!!

I guess now is a good a time as any to get into the saga of our spring break trouble. There is a reason I didn't talk too much about this before now. So, when we first got to Australia, we had no trips planned and nothing set up for spring break. After going to Sydney a few times, we got the travel bug and decided we just HAD to book stuff soon. We talked and talked and talked about it, but we never ended up actually booking any of the packages or tours we had seen for spring break (which is actually "fall" break or just "Easter Holiday here. They look at us like were crazy when we say "spring break.") So after weeks of not having booked ANYTHING, we stumbled upon something that seemed perfect, at least in theory.

Way back (like a month ago) when we met the guys who took us out on the boat, people we now consider friends, Mark told us that he is a pilot training to get his commercial license. Of course our first thought was: "Oh! He can fly us to Cairns for spring break!" Turns out, we weren't too far off. He said he would be able to do it because he hasto log the flight hours anyways. From there we kind of just assumed it would all work out. Of course, it didn't. The plan was to take the plane (a terrifying single engine aircraft) from Newcastle up to Hamilton Island for a night or two. Leave Hamilton early in the morning and fly up to Cairns. Spend around 4 days in Cairns and head back south, stopping at Fraser Island before getting back into Newcastle. Now we weren't allowed to book any hostels or adventures yet because if the weather was bad, the flight schedule might be put off a day or two. We really didn't have too much of a problem with this because normally a flight to Cairns is around $400 one-way. Obviously, the free flight would work out much better. We were a little stressed out at not having anything set in stone, and at not having booked anything along the way. So, the plan was to fly out early tomorrow (Wednesday the 8th) and begin our trip. Who would have thought that Mark would come over YESTERDAY and tell us that because the weather looks so bad for the next week or so, the whole trip was off. Yes, two days before our planned departure.

Now, as if this information wasn't bad enough to get 2 days before the trip is supposed to start, but I also had my entire paper to write for Marketing and our group was supposed to be meeting last night to discuss who was going to do what in the presentation. I know, I actually take the blame for that part. I could have easily done that paper well before last night but whats the fun in that?
Oh, I forgot to mention, Laura also had a 2500 word paper due today, and Chrissy was in my marketing group, so she had the paper and presentation to worry about as well. Needless to say last night resembled something similar to running around like chickens with our heads cut off.

After hours of looking up flights, packages, tours, ANYTHING we could think of within our budget, we managed to make a pretty decent looking plan. As of last night we had booked a flight to Cairns for $212 with tax one way, and 4 nights in a hostel for $100. I found some amazing package tour a good 12 hours from Carins we considered doing next week, but in the end decided to just leave it to a travel agent. After our 10 am presentation, Chrissy and I headed over to STA travel to beg for someone to help us out. After hours of phone calls, options and renotiating we finally agreed on a plan. I have to add that the original cost of this trip not including the flight to Carins or the hostel while there was $1069 dollars, about 400 more than the trip I had almost completely planned for us. After "stepping outside to call the other agency and see if we could still book the trip I had planned" the STA travel agent somehow managed to work the our original $1069 price down to $653. I never actually even got through to anyone, I was on hold when Chrissy came out to tell me they had "worked the price down." Whatever made it happen- no one was complaining.

So here is our itinereary for Spring Break 2009 as booked TODAY:
-Wednesday 8 April (tomorrow): Fly out of Sydney at 1 pm. Once again, we are taking the lovely train to Sydney, so we have to leave at around 8 am to make sure we don't miss our flight. Lucky us.
-Arrive in Cairns at around 4:30 pm tomorrow evening
-8 April-12 April will be spent in Cairns. During this time we plan to drink way too much, skydive, bungee jump, posibly snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef and drink way too much. Should be a good time.
-Monday 13 April: 12am Monday moring: board a greyhound to Airline Beach.
-Arrive at Airline Beach at 11am (yes, thats an 11 hour bus trip)
-Stay one night on Airline Beach, which is supposed to be extremely fun
-Tuesday 14 April: 8:30 am: Board The Hammer for a 2 day 1 night sailing tour around the Whitsunday's Islands.
-Wednesday 15 April: 8 pm(ish): Board a bus to Hervey Beach
-Thursday 16 April: 9 am: Arrive at Hervey Bay (yes, 13 hours)
-Spend Thursday night on Hervey Bay
-Friday 17 April- Sunday 19 April: 2 nights camping on Fraser Island.
-Sunday 19 April: Another night in Hervey Bay
-Monday 20 April: 9:45 am Flight from Hervey Bay to Sydney.

If it sounds insane, thats because it is. Luckily we are young and able, and we plan on seeing everything we can while we are here and this is certainly one way to do it.

I happen to be putting off a paper that is due that Monday we get back by updating my blog right now. I think I am going to take everything I have collected thus far and work on it on one of the ridiculously long bus trips.

Pray for good weather for us because the forecast so far is looking kind of so, so!! (And pray that we all make it through this adventure without killing eachother) I won't be back to update anything until the 20th (for good measure, thr 21st) so look forward to an ungodly long post around then!