Our Maori experience

We flew into Auckland the night of the 14th and the feeling was all msuunanimously sad to leave Australia but so stoked for New Zealand! We had spent a little over two weeks down under and really grew quite fond of the place and the people!

We drive forever to this campsite place for the night and I was expecting to freeze miserably but to our pleasant surprise we were in crammed little cabins that warmed us right up! I slept the best id slept all trip so the 545am wake up call kinda really sucked! But we all agreed on this time cause it was the only way we could make it to all three hours of church...over two hours away.

The exhaustion in the morning was totally worth our experience at the Rotorua ward! Church I'm different countries is my most favorite! The spirit is so strong an the members are always so inspiring. I loved every bit of sacrament Sunday school and relief society! I wrote down so many insightful thoughts and really came away with great new ideas to better myself an my life. Ah! It was just fantastic.

Next up, Maori village! We drove more hours up and up into the forest. we pull up to this place and it's dumping rain. Like fully on dumping buckets of rain! We get out of the car (unenthusaticlly) and are immediately summoned by a "welcome song" but the tribal Maori family. This song was an invite to enter into their sacred building/large room place but wasnt only an invite to us...but our ancestors. This sacred room required the absence of shoes and an open heart. The walls were lined with old photographs of their deceased ancestors and this white paint design that represented the welcoming of angels. Once we entered the room in an orderly fashion, the family chanted and sang some more in their Maori language. This sacred room was where we were sleeping that night! Mattress pads were lined up around the room and it ended up being a giant sleepover with our ancestors! They told us some interesting things...they believe a family member of our planted a tree in the forest thousands of years ago that was chopped and is not apart of the wooden structure we were in. Also, that this meeting had been planned thousands of years ago for eachother and our ancestors to meet. Their culture was quite fascinating! It was a really neat and spiritual experience that night spent with the Maori tribe! It was cool to be reminded of our ancestors and their potential role in our eelveryday lives.

They fed us a yummy dinner and brekky and all in all it was an unforgettable experience! Oh and I forgot to mention that in order to even walk on their tribes sacred grounds, you need permission. So the opportunity that we had to actually be welcomed into their home, let alone sleep in their most sacred of rooms, their "holy of holies" they even said, is über unique! So dang cool! Never would I ever have had any experience like this at another time!

Ps I forgot to mention how I only packed one outfit for cold weather so I've been in the same exact outfit for 4 days now...night and day! My pjs and day clothes. Judge me.

Second day in syd!

I started my morning in the best kind of way! A lovely run through the city, into central park was awesome! It was earlier enough that the streets weren't pack so we were able to run together while chatting away! I ran with Katie, Alyssa and Annalise. They're are the best! I admire them so much. Our ran was at a surprisingly fast pace cause we were just so excited! When we reached the park we had a little workout, thanks to Alyssa and her fitness training skills! She is a group fitness trainer! Ah she is the greatest! We were sweating like pigs, and loved it!

We stopped by the grocery store to pick up brekky on the way back from our run and bought apples, bananas, yogurt and a bag of huge carrots. We were tempted by the entire chocolate section 1/2 off but didn't give in! Go us! We showered and quickly got ready for the day ahead of us...a beach day!!

Bondi beach was where we began! The first place I saw was the cutest fruit shop and i had the most delicious mango of my life! Next, we indulged in the best fish and chips I've ever had! The fish was fresh and we watched the Asian man dip it into the batter crap and into the fryer! So fresh, right? Then to the beach we went! On our way, creepy Indian men started taking a zillion photos of us then asked to jump it. It was so strange so I had to document the weirdness. Unfortunately it was overcast so the water wasn't an option in the group. So we just played in the sand and watched the surfers in winter suits. I was dying to get out there and surf but there was no way to, ugh I was so bummed! We saw something down the beach that looked like a skate competition, so Katie and I checked it out. Turns out its an ice skating rink on the sand and a "winter festival" is going on! It was such a hoot! A full on ice skating rink with hot chocolate and doughnut stands surrounding it. If the price of admission wasn't 30 bucks to skate we would have considered it but instead we just laughed at what a site it was. These lucky butts have the most mild winter ever! We played at the beach and window shopped oh! And then we found magnum chocolate temptations! A true treasure to be found! We bought out the convince store and loved ever teeny bit! Oh and I forgot to mention that we had two ice cream cones before that. All McDonald's not only offer free wifi but they have 30 cent comes!!! Not kidding, 30 cents. So every time we need wifi or even walk by one for that matter, we just gotta buy a cone! Only 30 cents! Unbelievable I know!

Our group split and while the others went into town to shop, we made our way to Manly beach! This is another famous surfers beach so I knew I was gonna love it just as much as I loved Bondi! We hit the cute beachy shops first. Katie and I tried on a million swim suits and I had a mental battle in my head whether or not to buy one. Australia has the best swimwear...we buy almost all our swimwear at called to surf from Australia brands! The store had a major 50% end of summer sale and that's what made it tempting but a 75 dollar cute one piece isn't in my travel budget. We spent sunset on the sand and it was just stunning! There were surfers in the water and I was just happy as happy gets! On the way out we stopped by the Ripcurl store and the cutest surfer boy was working! We came back and he started making conversation with Kendall and I. We had to snap a shot of the cute aussie surfer boy! The picture below doesnt capture him well at all though!

On the ferry ride back to the harbor, the sun was down and the city & bridge was glowing so beautifully! We stopped at a pumpin hole in the wall tai food place. It was so darn good! I went to bed with a full belly, exhausted legs and a lingering grin on my face.

So long Sydney!

The lyrics in Ingrid Michaelson's song "oh what a day, it is today" rung in my head all day long. Happy is as happy gets!

The day begun bright and early to get up to the temple for the first morning appointments. The spirit that our group felt at the Sydney temple was unforgettable. I'm so grateful for temples and the time we can spend in the house of the Lord, serving Him.

We had free time once we got back to the city and our little groups choose to hit up the local market first. It was the swap meet in a warehouse times a million. People and crappy trinkets lined this massive place! These psycho Koreans came up to Kendall and I and while speaking a gazillion words per second, they pulled us by our arms into their booth thing for a l korean massage. It was hysterical! We couldn't stop laughing. In a blur, we were sat down, being rubbed by a crazy Korean. What an experience! Goodness I'll never forget that! I also bought a cheap watch and one piece swimsuit! Cheers! (that's what they say her!)

Our favorite part of the city, the rocks, had their weekend farmers market today, so we headed across town to hit that up! We had to get a Guylians chocolate dipped cookie first! Kendall may have had 2 or 3 today...it's her new found dessert obsession. Haha she crack me up! Anyways, we made our way over to the market booths and sampled everything from pomegranate vinegar to roasted cinnamon honey almonds to the worlds best banana bread! But the best part of the market was the cute aussie Joshua radin soundalike singing so beautifully! We all sat there in lalaland as he serenaded us, well the entire market for that matter. Mark wilkinson was his name!

We thought we would have plenty of time to get our favorite dinner and make it back to the hostel for our group meeting time. We ordered our kebabs and dumplings with only 15 minutes to spare! We were on the opposite end of town and rush hour wasn't working in our favor. So we took off running...sprinting really! Dinner in hand, weaving in and out of traffic, we weren't making too much progress. So we decided to hop on the next bus that pulled up at the perfect time! Luckily traffic cleared, we got off at our stop and bolted to the hostel right on time!

Sweaty and still dying of laughter, we immediately left for the rugby game!! We all didn't really know what to expect. We didn't know the teams nor the rules so it were just going blind into islander mayhem! On our way over, the train was packed to the max with rugby (male) fans...decked out in bulldog or eel colors! It was rather intimidating to be quite honest haha a group of 23 BYU dorks trying to navigate and stay together amongst massive crowds of rugby island men. After lots of laughs and concerned looks, we made it to the Olympic Park Stadium!! The stands were roaring and the energy was pumpin! These people get crazy into their rugby! We settle into our seats and find ourselves being highly entertained by this huge group of fans at the front rows. They were loud and rambunctious and had people from all ages in their group. We went down to the front to take a picture and somewhere during this time we figured out they were all mormon and there for a ward/YSA activity! We instantaneously become friends and I loved getting to know them. Their stories were incredibly inspiring, it's so humbling to hear how much faith they have! The bishop had to be the coolest guy I've ever met. He played professional rugby and now have 4 kids under the age of 4 and a baby on the way! He was such a stud. My favorite memory of him was when there was a bad call he was literally screaming in the deepest voice "freak you ref, freak you!!"...then whispered in my ear and said "I'm sorry, I gotta be so careful with my temper and language around the ward! But it's so hard!" it was hilarious! We chatted and cheered the whole night! I never really was aware what was going on so I yelled when they yelled and sat down and was angry when they did! I had the best night and meeting our new friends made it!

Freedom in Sydney!

I LOVE sydney! I love it, I love it, I love it!! Today was the best day. We finally have a few days where we are totally on our own to do whatever we want to do! Our schedule has been and will be very planned out and so specific cause it is such a short study abroad. So today was perfect and liberating and perfect!

We all were hilariously trying to organize the group with transport passes. It was hectic and chaotic and funny really. 23 BYU kids with travel backpacks all hustling around trying to get out passes, plan our day and figure out the direction we needed to go. After what seemed like forever (15 minutes maybe) we were heading out!

The botanical gardens were first on the list! It was a beautiful park area but considering its "winter" here, the bright flowers were lacking. But we loved the feel of the gardens regardless! It was really neat seeing the background of the city, a huge famous statue, and big palm trees all in the same frame! This city is the perfect blend of differences; You have the city hustle which is pretty mild, the beachy relaxing vibes and the old town brick and historic feel too. It's just the coolest!

The opera house was a only a short walk from the gardens so that was our next destination! Who knew that the different parts of the opera house were separate buildings! Not me! I was shocked! Looking straight on, it looks like one building. Then look from the side and it's different buildings, near each other obviously but not all one! We took some pictures and explored the place! They have operas, plays, and concerts every day! That place is cookin with business! No wonder the facility is fancy and high tech! The bathrooms in the place were maybe the nicest I've ever used!

We planned on getting on a ferry to go down to the Darling Harbor next but they decided to make a super quick detour to The Rocks-old town Sydney, just to check it out. This super quick stopped turned into like 5 hours of our day! My love for Sydney only grew here! The view of the harbor couldn't have been better and we stumbled upon awesome place after awesome place in this part of town. My two favorites were a famous pancake restaurant and a honey store! "Pancakes-on-the-rocks" is the name and i don't think I'll ever have pancakes quite like the ones we ate here. This place must be like the roscoes or harbor house or corky's at home...known/loved by all and open for 24 hours a day 7 days a week! I shared pancakes with fried bananas, chocolate sauce, cream puffs, chocolate ice cream, walnuts and carmel. Heaven in my mouth!! Their menu had so many options, all with a million toppings! We all were drooling and expanding our entire stay at pancake place! Oh the memories! My second favorite "stumble upon," was this honey shop. The table of free sample could have been good enough for me, but then we started talking to the sweet man who owned the shop. He was a dog rescuer and his dogs are all movie stars! Haha it's awesome! His dog is the main dog in the Great Gatsby coming out! He told us all about this healing honey and how he rubs it on his dogs he rescues then they become movies stars! Too funny! Old town Sydney was a ball!

Next stop, Darling harbor! The ferry ride to get there was incredible! It departed right outside the opera house, went under the famous bridge thingy and down the water to the harbor! We got off and took a loop around the main part of the harbor. There were boats and restaurants and people everywhere and we were all on such a happy high from the day! I saw this massive playground and automatically knew I had to play! I ran right up to this huge spider web tower and climbed to the top! The web was awesome but seriously scary if you were a child. It was huge! Even some girls in our group couldn't go to the top cause it was too high! Anyways, i just loved playing on the play ground area. It was childish fun that everyone needs here and there! An attempt at the chinese gardens was made but we ended up continuing wandering around. This is where we stumbled upon another highlight of my day!! So this street magician just ended his act as we walked up and was playing some classic M.J. while he cleaned up his stuff. So, obviously, we begun to dance. Then the magician man started leading us in a dance...felt kinda like Zumba. We were making such a scene, 10 girls and a suited magician dancing in unison, that people started to join! Our very own flash mob was takin place in the center of Darling Harbor! Gosh it was just so dang fun! It only cemented my smile even more!

We left on the best note and headed off for some din din! Waking the street in the city now, made for the best conversation with Katie. Katie is the coolest! I automatically saw so much good in her when we met and have grown to adore her more and more each day. She possesses the most desired qualities and I appreciate the way she makes me a better person by just being around her. We found some extremely average Mediterranean food and chatted some more. We chose just to walk back to the hostel and it worked out nicely. I love walking, we all know that so it was great!

Day 1 in Sydney couldn't have been better! I'm having the time of life and developing friendship and creating memories I'll never forget! I'm so SO thankful that I have my sweet travel buddy, Kenny with me! She's made it so much fun and I just love her forever! Tomorrow is another free day to romp sydney and I can not wait! Hope all is well at home!

The outback!

Arriving in the Alice Springs airport I was super impressed! It was such a nice airport and I was loving the vibes! The free wifi and ability to FaceTime my parents was another bonus! Everything was so well decorated and clean and all the employee people were so friendly! I thought to myself, "wow! I think i love Alice Springs already!"

My thoughts were completely altered after about 5 minutes into our drive to our place for the night. Our bus diver/tour guide talked all about the aboriginal people and how they all settle in Alice Springs. They are practically homeless by choice and totally reckless with the law. We were told there was another raping the other day and to never be out at dark, even in large groups. The tour guide man told us they are always drunk all the time and do NOT take photos of them or not even of each other if there is a chance there is an aboriginal in the background...they believe a photo takes some of their soul. And sure enough we reach the town we are staying and there are aboriginal people everywhere, just hanging out all over the sides of the road and honestly everywhere I looked, they were hanging out, EVERYWHERE, and being 100% satisfied doing absolutely nothing.

We spent four days hiking and camping through out central Australia. Jason was our tour guide/bus driver and he was an aboriginal text book! I feel so educated on these people after listening to him for four days. We stopped at literally a million places! Our days begun early in the morning, we drove throughout the day and would stop everyone hour or so for a 4-11 mile hike, and we would retire at a new campsite each night. The hikes were gorgeous! The outback seemed like a perfect hybrid of st. george/zion and Africa...huge red rocks and safarish brush and trees. I seriously loved the hikes too! They allowed me to walk and talk for hours with new friends and it confirmed my belief that yet again...walks are the perfect bonding opportunity. Nothing can bind friends or families more than the peaceful time you have on a walk. It forces the best of conversations.

I can say that the nights spent in the outback were the coldest nights I've ever had to endured (it's the dead of winter here). 6 layers of clothes (all I packed), 3 pairs of socks (wool, fuzzy, and kb...all I packeted too), my fancy newly purchased sleeping bag, 3 blankets and some north face paw gloves, and my fuzzy north face eye mask covering my exposed ear, seemed to do nothing! I couldnt relax and fall asleep because every muscle in my body was fully tensed up! But on the bright side, it enabled me to finish my book! I read the Lucky One until the wee hours if the morning and our 545am wake up call didn't seem too bad! But! Its all about the experience and i actually look back and i'm grateful for my nights locked in a freezer. On our last night we were given "swags" to sleep in. Yes, swags! A "swag" in Australia is what you sleep in when you sleep under the stars. It's it pretty much a super thick sleeping bag that has a little mattress pad at the bottom. So, wearing the same out fit as the previous nights, me and my sleeping bag slipped into my swag for a night under the stars. Surprisingly, it was the warmest of off the nights! I had wet hair so that made my head kinda actually freeze but for the most part, I was warm in my cocoon and the stars were incredible.

The night sky was one of the highlights of the outback. One night we went stair gazing at this random location where not a speck of light was to be seem around us, so the sky illuminated beyond belief! I'd never seen the sky so beautiful. The milky way expanded from horizon to horizon! Saturn, mars, and Venus burned so bright! It was an absolute perfect view of God's masterpiece he created above us. At first, I looked up and felt so insignificant. Who am I to think I am anything of importance, when I am merely a speck on a planet that is just another speck in the universe? But instead of feeling utterly worthless, i am comforted to truly believe that, ya I am a speck on a speck on a speck but I have a Father in Heaven who created this universe for me and you, His children! And he knows me perfectly and has a perfect plan set individually just for ME, a measly speck! And I feel that love He has for me on the daily and nothing could bring me anymore happiness then feeling that love.

After miles of hiking, a million pictures, sleepless frozen nights, and a sufficient amount of smelly dirty girls, we move on to our next location...Sydney!! I look forward to all the amenities that await us!.. A roof to sleep under, a bed, a shower, and maybe some wifi if we're lucky! We have barely been traveling for two weeks and I've already made life long friends and memories. There are countless moments in my day where i stop, look around, and take a deep breath while thinking, "is this real?" and then I humbly smile and continue trekking.

Rumble in the rainforest

I had the coolest most Australian experience in the rainforest! Fun fact: a rain forest isn't a place that rains a lot, it's a place that gets a lot of rain. So we learned that it only rains for a few weeks in the year but when it does, it dumps! Like 10 feet of rain per day kind of dumping!

Kuranda, Australia.
We drove in our snazzy rental vans up to Kuranda, while pumping a playlist that got everyone shaking what their mamas gave them! We have two vans-one is boring that the director and his wife drive in and the other is a party bus that one of the students, Jeff, drives...so obviously we have our permanent seats in Jeff's card fully equipped with an auxiliary chord! We arrived at random place in the rainforest, kind of like the Polynesian cultural center but this wasnt really commercialized like that is but still get the point? Except it was for the aboriginals-the original settlers in Australia. We were greeted by our guide type guy, who was wearing nothing but body paint and a loin cloth/diaper thingy. He begun by telling us about the people and throwing spears through targets, 100 yards away! It was insane! The long spear would fly forever and right when I could barely see it, it would stick right into the target. They didn't let us try to throw the spears for good reason but they let us throw a boomerang! I've tried and failed time and time again at that toy but for some reason, I had the best throw of the group! It's crazy how they would use those things for hunting, their accuracy was ridiculous. Then we saw a show put on by a few of the men dressed and painted in similar outfits. They used their instrument bong looking thing to make these animals songs and do dances that they would do way back when. They dances were super bizarre! Shaking your knees, extending your arms and spidering your finger tips while keeping a spooked face was pretty much the strange dance I've ever seen but I loved it! I was even called up on stage to learn it then do it with them! Then after is when got to play with the kangaroos! They were super friendly and totally let you pet them. It was funny to watch them bounce away, just like in the movies! We observed a thousand pound crocodile; did you know that biting a grape for us is as easy as biting a cow's skull for those crocs?! So it was just a little frightening being only a few feet from one! A few of us decided we wanted to be total tourist and pay for an overpriced photo with a koala bear. My face looks psychotic and I blame the lighting but regardless, 16 bucks later, I can say I cuddled with a little koala in the Australian rainforest. With it? Just maybe! (picture below) Next was the Kuranda rainforest market! We all were shocked when upon arrival we found out this was more of a hippie's paradise market. I'm pretty sure 90% of the people I saw there were stoned and had a head full of dreads. The shops offered quite a range of products! One store worker lady talked to me all about her "lady cup" where she collects her...lady stuff, and in return gives it back to mother nature by feeding it to her garden. She told me the veggies and fruit plants just love the iron and vitamins in it. I immediately lost all appetite. Never will I ever partake in such a nasty act! Don't get any ideas, readers! Kendall paid to get a dread in her hair by this rad/strange lady (picture below) her store was full of very very provocative "artwork" or really just porn for that matter! And her children came to work with her! Imagine what a pack of wild rainforest children would look like and they were exactly that! Their names were Jamaica, Phoenix, and Lunar with stars buzzed into their head and obviously no shoes on their feet. I thought about how different of a life of my 9 year old brother, Sammy will live then 9 year old Jamaica will be. Blows my mind how very precise our personal missions on this earth are! We are who we are not by accident and the reality of the blessing it is to feel loved individually by God is incredible. Tangent! But anyways, we scored some cool bracelets and experienced something so beyond unique that I doubt I'll never experience again.

Daintree, Australia
Next day in the rainforest was around Daintree, a neighbor to Kuranda! We hiked up along Mossman gorge and it was gorgeous! The clear river and the ginormous trees and vines were magical! Another one of those places where you stop and think "this is real! Not just in movies." After plenty of picture documentation, we drive down the mountain to the near by famous beach town, Port Douglas. We played on the beach and ate our sack pb&j lunches. We frolicked around on the sand and just loved being at the beach. Later we walked around the town and looked at the little shops. There were over priced beachy shops that we could only really window shop. but what I loved most was just walking around barefoot and feeling the nice shining sun in my face. We loaded up the vans yet again and drove up to the Daintree river for a boat cruise to see some crocodiles! Well, our hour boat ride gave us a whopping 2 crocs to looks at...and I'm still convinced they were fake and just put their by the company in case none were spotted. We all laughed off the pathetic boat tour and headed back home to cairns. We stopped for dinner at eagle boys pizza and ordered all these pizzas and dessert pizzas. We were so hungry and cold so we just popped a squat at ate our dinner on the floor. We stuffed our faces! We were all so hungry and over compensated our stomachs. So on the way home we figured the best way to start our food moving was to get moving ourselves! The answer to everything: dance. Blasting "get low" "salt shaker" "take it off" and other booty shaking song, we sure got out metabolisms pumping! With practically all girls on this study abroad, there isn't holding back on the dance moves! It was such a blast! My girl, Lofo, was killing it! I was dying. Then once we were all sweaty and wide awake, it was a perfect time for a shower party! Confession: this was the first time I had showered all time...8 days. Whoops! The salt water was a natural shower, right? I will say that it did feel so great to be clean and dry...well kinda dry. My 12inch by 12inch "travelers towel" just doesnt really cut it with my dripping wet body/hair. Oh well!

Overall, I loved loved loved my experiences in the rainforest! There is said to be three things you must explore while in Australia: the reef, rainforest, and outback. So check and check! Next up, outback!

My experience as a mermaid!

I've always dreamed about being a mermaid. Maybe it's just my innate southern Californianess but since I can remember I've love Ariel, I love the cute merman on the disney original, the 13th year, and most of all i have always had a love of the ocean. I can honestly say that my dream was fulfilled while on the great barrier reef these past few days.

It's all begun when the enthusiastically gorgeous Aussie instructors picked us up at our camp site! We loaded up and headed out to sea! To say it was a rocky ride would be the biggest understatements in the history of the world! Man oh man we were cruising through a scene from the perfect storm! Yet the workers said it was only a normal day!

We suited up for our first dive that was luckily a guided dive so one of those cute accented instructors lead us down! Too bad we couldn't hear his sweet voice down there! Haha anyways, on our first dive we saw a shark!! Yes a real life shark! It was nuts and not even scary at all! They traveled in a pack of 3 so we watched as three of those bad boys swam right next to us! Besides the beauty beyond belief of the reef, that was the highlight of our first dive!

Once we got back on the boat, lunch was served!! The fruit was my favorite part of the meal! The pineapple! Ah! Died a little! Then before my big lunch could digest, we were off on our second dive! This dive and all other dives on the trip were now "buddy dives." where you go down with a buddy and are totally and completely on your own. Our buddy turned foursome was me, Kenny, Cassie, and Tarah! So we go down and see all types of the most unique fish...then turtles!! We swam with crush! It was so awesome! We took all types of awesome videos of Tarah's go pro with our turtley friend! We saw all over the reef, up and around massive coral and homes to millions of creatures! We were all running low on air so it was time to head back. When exiting water, unfortunately tarah lost her gopro. It was such a bummer, we tried everything we could to find it but it wasn't to be found.

Next we transferred to our "liveaboat" named the "Taka!" To our happy surprise, all of the cutest instructors came over with us and we were greeted by even more foreign hotties! We got settled into our rooms and Kendall, cassie and tarah were my roomies for the night! They were exactly like cruise rooms but just a little smaller, if you can even imagine that!

And again, before we even could relax, we were suiting up again for another dive in a new location! By now, we were totally confident in ourselves 60ft under the water! It was such a blast to feel completely comfortable with the process and to just enjoy the dive. We swam all through the reef, along side with giant schools of fish! There are million of "nemos" in their sea anemones too! It was so cute! There were a few exactly like the movie with a bigger fish and a little baby fish! I was living the real life finding nemo! After an over satisfying dive we headed back on the ship! We then played "never have I ever," which I was the first to get out of! So, of course was time to make convo with the workers! They were so awesome! I honestly want to get a work visa, move to cairns and be a scuba instructor on this boat! They live such a care free adventurous life ah I just love it!

After some casual convo and more fun games, it was time for the long awaited night dive! When we were being briefed of the dive and the line that got me was "now is when all the cute fish and turtles go to sleep...and all the predators come out to play!!" we were told to keep an eye out for the green eyes, which meant hungry sharks! We suited up and given flash lights, for our only view of things would be because of the flash lights or "torches" they called them! The workers said that the moon was to be our guide! We jumped into the black, white capped waters and begun our journey! In the complete and utter darkness we were in small groups being led by an instructor. There were the biggest fish I had ever seen swimming alongside of us and if you shined the light on a normal fish, the big guy would swim right to it and eat it for a snack! We were only allowed to kill one or two fish! At one point he had us turn out our light and look up at the moons reflection of the water. It was such a frighteningly neat sight! We were at the bottom of the ocean, in the dark of night, exploring God's masterpiece! Then the green eyes started to appear more often. Same goes to the shark that if you shined your light on any food, the shark would gobble it right up! It was nuts!

After a failed attempt at a shower (rinse of warm fresh water), dinner was served!! Fluffy rolls, broccoli and cauliflower cheesey casserole, rice, pork carrot and gravy stew thingy and some delicious salad was demolished in a matter of a few minutes! After freezing during the night dive, this hot delicious food was incredible! Unfortunately for a few of our group members got sea sick right about now and I was so sad for them that they couldn't shovel down seconds and thirds of the dinner! We chatted with the instructors for a little then headed off to our rooms to get some sleep. I felt like a baby getting rocked to sleep and it was lovely! I didn't feel sick in the slightest and I was so grateful for that!

We woke up to the smell of a delicious meal made by the French cook again! And after eating an assortment of breakfast goodies, it was time for another dive!

This was my most favorite and most scariest dive of the trip! We assembled our gear and headed off at the new location! "reverse profiling" is a huge no no, so what the means is your first dive of the day has to be your deepest and with every dive you can not go deeper than your last dive. So we were told that this dive had to be our deepest for the day! So our foursome group happily obliged! Deep into the reef we went! We would come to a "drop off" of coral and just dive straight down, just inches from the reef totally like a fish! The reef was the brightest and the fish were the most playful! I literally felt like a mermaid during this dive! However, unlike merpeople, I was running out of air. Due to a previous laugh attack, I was almost out of air and the rest of the foursome had plenty and I didn't want to make them come down early so I told them I was leaving and swam away alone. After a minute I realized this wasn't a smart idea. Now I was past the reef and all around me was nothing but the deep blue sea. I saw no scuba friends, no fish, no nothing! And you can't surface quickly when scuba diving because if you do, your blood wont be able to release the nitrogen in your blood quick enough and serious issues occur when nitrogen get trapped in your blood. So a "safety stop" is required during every dive which means you have to stop at 5 meters for like 5 minutes and wait for your blood to equalize. But, desperate times calls for desperate measures! So I swam to the surface to locate the boat to know which direction I needed to swim towards. I saw the boat not very close but not too far and went down 5 meters to attempt my safety stop while swimming as fast as possible in the direction of the boat. After using up all my air, I knew I had to be right near the boat. I surface and look out to nothing but the ocean, frantically do a spin around and spot an itty bitty boat out in the distance. I self inflated my BCD to act as a life jacket and had to make the decision; do I pull out my neon orange safety sausage and have a boat come get me and totally embarrass myself in front of the adorable workers? Or do I be a total b.a. and swim like Ashton in the Guardian? Obviously my pride made me tighten my mask (mind you, the snorkel was no use considering the insanely ridiculous waves) and start my long haul back to the boat. I swam with all I had in me, for I knew that I was all alone and anything could come eat me for lunch at anytime. After what felt like ages, I reached the rear of the boat right when the other girlies made it back! I was safe and so happy to be on the boat...until the mean head man of the ship looked at my air gauge and banned me from the next dive in the rudest way possible. I was so annoyed by that! Cut me some sympathy mister! I guess this was my third time coming in short of air and supposedly "Queensland law states I must come in with at least 50 bar in my tank" and 0 bar was just cutting it too close, so I was not allowed to dive the last dive...I'm sorry I just wanted to be done there as long as possible!! And that was what made me the most sad. Then, in my about to cry moment after receiving zero sympathy and not being able to go on my last dive...Matt (the instructor I had the biggest crush on) grabbed my shoulders, looked me in the eyes and said in his sweet accent "don't worry sweetie, don't let him ruin your day! He is a stink to everyone! Don't let it ruin day, hon." Mood was automatically changed!

On the bright side, I got to hang out with the instructors while everyone was gone! During this time was when I really got to hear their stories how they got there considering the majority of them were countries all over the globes! I loved asking them questions and secretly devising a plan in my head how I could follow in their footsteps. The funniest thing of my life also occurred at this time, an innocent that sends tarah and I to tears and to the bathroom to pee cause we are laughing so hard. Snorkel, rescue boat, wetsuit, hot shower is all I need to say or can even type for that matter that will out me in hysterics!

All in all, I will forever remember the most incredible two days on the great barrier reef! I was a freaking mermaid and cherished every moment under the water! Thanks to deep sea divers den, I now have to be a scuba instructor in Australia!