So after much trouble finding a car in Surfers Paradise to drive to Cairns in, we found one, booked a 3 day/3 night on Emperors Wings in Whitsundays, and left Gold Coast.
Naturally we left Gold Coast at 1pm instead of 8am...happens. We drove 14 hours to Mackay in hopes of finding some platypus in the wild, but got there too late and found out we'd have to drive into the mountains. Maybe later. We did however find the beach that turtles often frequent and it was very nice and the sky was incredible with many stars. We stopped at the only hotel that was still open and found a good rate for Australia ($80/night).
The next morning we drove the rest of the two hours to Airlie Beach, parked the car at a CSers house, and were ready to go on our journey. The first day we went to one of the many islands of the Whitsundays, snorkeling was subpar, I'm glad we didn't pay for a dive there. The next morning we were on the lower GBR. Diving was really great but not as good as the upper GBR. Lots of foods, delicious desserts, freezing in the hot tub on the bow of the boat (hot tub was hot but the air outside was freezing), and Jesse had his first night dive. We watched groupers eat little fishes and also watched GT jacks do the same. Whitehaven beach was the last day and it lived up to its expectations. And we moored in a harbor full of sea turtles.
When we arrived at the docks after a magnificient 3 days, we retrieved our car and headed to Cairns (via a 8 hour drive) to meet dad at our hotel. We quickly left Cairns for Port Douglas and stayed at Sheraton (normally $600-800 a night) for only $120 a night thanks to orbitz.com.au. WIN!
It was my birthday now and we went to see animals at the Port Douglas wildlife park. It was great having mom and dad feed kangaroos and emus and seeing some real Australian things. My birthday dinner was awkward and the restaurant actually was not that good, I can't remember the name of it.
As with typical family affairs, there was heaps of arguing and yelling and stress and I really wish it didn't always have to be that way. It was a great trip but it could have been so much better. Poor Jesse didn't grow up in a family like this, so I'm not sure he enjoyed this trip much. He was terrified.
Anyway, that was my 23rd birthday.
Then we drove up to Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation. It was rainy the whole time but still beautiful and we found cassowarys in the wild, and I got to feed a bat. AWESOME! We also found a crocodile in the wild, thanks to Dads good eyes.
Then three days after my birthday it was time for Jesse's. I wanted to make sure we did something really great. Though finding him a cassowary (4) in the wild was pretty awesome! Soooo after more yelling and stress we picked the Poisedon one day boat trip to Agincourt Reefs, with 3 dives included for us and 3 snorkels for mom and dad. IT WAS STRAIGHT OUT OF FINDING NEMO!! Gorgeous reefs, great dives, great snorkeling. Mom and Dad were happy snorkeling together, Dad kept diving down to bring up stuff for Mom to get good photos of, and they saw a shark! (We didn't while diving) and no one was yelling. Much. Such great dives. Then we went back to Cairns for another night and to eat at a Thai or Indian restaurant for Jesse's bday dinner. Of course there was lots of yelling and refusals because we had just been snorkeling all day and people were tired and hurting. I felt bad it wasn't a very good birthday dinner. The Thai food was delicious but the atmosphere certainly took away from it. I think next time birthdays will have to be spent with the Summers.
The next day we walked around Cairns, mom went on a cool helicopter ride, and we found a mantis shrimp. And had good gelato.
This blog is very honest. I love my family very much but I cannot overlook some things while writing a blog with both the good and bad.
Then it was time to drop the parents off at the airport. It was a bittersweet goodbye, it was already over. I had just spent 2 weeks with mom and 1 week with dad and I felt like all we did was stress and yell and fight. I was really sad because I wish it didn't have to be that way and we could all just be happy. Like I said before, it was a great trip but it could have been so much more enjoyable. After leaving them at the airport I realized I wouldn't see them again for almost a whole year. I really hope everything at home stays calm and everyone is okay and we can make up for all the bad times and just have a few really really nice family vacations.
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