Let Us Free Our Spirits!

Now we've never been on a cruise before in the middle of the ocean. Nor have we ever dove beyond 107 feet. Not until The Spirit of Freedom Liveaboard...

We hopped on a shuttle and arrived at the harbor where our luggage was carried aboard for us (such service!). We got a little paranoid when only one of each of our two bags were put into our room. That was when we found out that they thought our huge-angus bags were on the deck because they thought it was dive gear... Hahaha! The employees were mostly our age, although technically everyone was older than Risa, and we already spotted the hotties. (You just can't help it when you're surrounded by them.) That's when we noticed, we were the youngest on the passenger list. There was a dive club aboard, who in the end, WE even started calling them "The Americans." A little foreboding, hey? Just wait...

After introductions and a briefing, (basically telling us that the whole time the schedule would be as follows" Wake up. Eat. Dive. Eat. Dive. Eat. Dive.. You get the idea...) we found our rooms and met our roommates. Risa and I rented a Quad room, since they are the cheapest, and we put up with a man from Switzerland named Norbett and a dude from the UK named James.

We all got ready to dive. Amazing. You board a boat and dive straight away! It was a dream come true. Our first and second dives were at a site called "Turtle Bommie." Risa and I, being the confused ones of course, had to inquire what a 'bommie' was. After all, it was gibberish to us. Apparently it is a pinnacle. (So there's your first Aussie word!) Because Risa and I had never been on this part of the world, we requested a guide and was matched with the Ninja Diver himself, Akira-san. This dive was fantastic, for it was the first time we had ever seen a Hawksbill Turtle outside of work. She was beautiful just sitting there eating. Apparently, Hawksbills really like to eat. Not only at our work (which is obvious with our Hawksbill named Bill, suggested by his crazy fat rolls), but in the wild as well. She wouldn't stop munching on the coral even though we were all surrounding her snapping photos.

(Female Hawksbill Turtle)

(Risa's obsession: Nemos.)

The second dive was guided by Matt, a dude from New Zealand who we immediately bantered with. This dive was awesome as we saw a White Tip Reefie, our first Blue Spotted Stingray, and a Green Sea Turtle. The Stingray was a favorite since we had never seen one before. Just gorgeous! Matt showed us a great time. And then everyone on the boat, guests and crew alike, discovered how amazing Risa and I are on our air. We were basically told that we don't breathe underwater. Our first dive, we lasted 57 minutes and the second 39 minutes. This is only because we were with a couple other divers that are what we like to call "Air Pigs." Still, it was an amazing day.

(Blue Spotted Stingray)

(White Tip Reef Shark)

The food on the boat was prepped by a dude named Andrew from Texas. He did an amazing job! Everything we ate that week was sooooo delicious! We even ate the vegetables! Aren't you all so proud of us? After all, these are the girls that eat junk all day long, including a coke for breakfast. Not on this trip my friend! We ate so well and so much, we almost popped. Now we can say we are going to be amazing at doing the Stingray Ballets after lunch since we basically ate right before diving the whole time.

At night, we both busted out our Macbooks and got teased as we sat in the Lounge on the couch right next to each other to upload our pictures for the day. This is when the bantering with Matty (the dude from New Zealand), Chantelle (aka Chantes who became one of our best buds) and Andy (the Trip Director who we felt so bad for due to the "Bloody Americans" -- again, more on that later). They poked fun at us saying we were probably just talking to each other even though were were sitting right next to each other...

Aw, the good times we had! To be continued...

Stalkers all around...

Yesterday began like any other morning in Oz.. well, for us I suppose. We landed in the morning after catching a shuttle to the airport in Sydney at 4:50am with 2 German guys and landed in Cairns around 10:30am. We arrived at Calypso, along with our German guys, and met our fantastic hosts. Then we decided to head into town by foot.

As we walked along the Esplanade, we kept an eye out for crocs as there were warning signs everywhere! How awesome would that be to see one?? Well, we didn't. We even asked a lady in a shop if she sees them (yes, I had to ask). She'd been living here a year without one siting so we didn't feel bad that we were denied a chance.

Because we are the Fat Kids, we were starving. After all, we had Arare for breakfast on the plane... We decided on a cool local place called Kani's and took a seat outside so we could boy, I mean people watch. Want to know what we ordered?? I bet you do! You'd be SO proud of us! We agreed to an Outback Sampler which included Crocodile Sausage, Kangaroo, and Ostrich Fillets. The pictures tell it all... Risa and I both agree that the Ostrich was the best by far.

Afterward, we walked around the town and did the tourist thing and bought postcards. Then we happened upon the Cairns Rainforest Dome. Now this wasn't in our plans, but it was mandatory when we discovered we could cuddle a koala! DONE! His name was Bailey and he's 7 and he has the sweetest face you've ever seen!

We ventured upstairs into the Dome where we were greeted by haphazardous birds flying around, trying to decapitate us. They followed us wherever we went! After wandering up the stairs, we had salutations with 4 black macaws... One of the biggest stalkers on this trip! She followed us around the whole entire exhibit! No joke! Even when we went down to watch the "Furry Animal" show, she flew down and landed on the backs of our chairs and proceeded to bite my shoulder! After denying her more Hollie meat, she roamed over to Risa and nearly sat in her lap! She decided she enjoyed the taste of Risa's jeans and then Risa was nearly in my lap, trying to fend off the bully. Apparently, we were so entertaining that we got the other guests attention and strangers started taking our pictures as we were scared for our lives. Apparently, the looks on our faces were priceless, but the fear was too great to hide.

(The devil, herself.)

(Risa, fearing for her life.)

As soon as our show was over, we headed back to the gift shop for some drinks and Turkish Delight. Now having read Narnia, we had to purchase this treat. Now let me tell you, I am definitely not a fan of this chocolate covered jelly candy... I wanted to try it and I did, so that's that.

Today we are off to check out the sites on the Sky Rail and train that boasts beautiful views of the rainforest, where we will, again, cuddle a beloved koala and other animals!

Until then! Cheers!

Welcome to tomorrow.. Stupid Americans...

(First sight of Sydney Australia from the plane)

Good anya!

Well, we have made it to Cairns already but without our internet access in Sydney, not to mention laziness due to lack of sleep, it is here that I will relate the fun of entering this beautiful country.

We finally touched down yesterday, which in your case, is today... Wait.. I am getting so confused by this whole International Date Line thing... I can't even tell you what day it is :( Anyhoo, we made it to the airport safely and followed the signs to Customs. Now, any normal person would follow our lead by following the signs to the long, roped line of Customs. As we stood there in line awaiting our turn, everyone else decided on a free for all, chaotic way of approaching the counters, completely bypassing our line -- ignoring us in the process. Well, I stepped up and busted my way to the counter finally after being cut by 3 or 4 different people. Yay! A stamp in the passports! This is Risa's first stamp so she's pretty ecstatic.

(Walk through the park in Sydney)

We decided to be honest and claim what food we had, because let's face it, we are the Fat Kids who like to eat and must therefore have plenty of snacks to hold us over on a 10 hour and 40 minute plane ride... The Quarantine Officer stopped us to check our Claims Form and doubted our claims, asking what it is we have. I replied with an honest "Goldfish crackers, M&Ms and cookies." (Like I said, the Fat Kids must have our snacks!) He didn't even ask to see our snacks and let us through.

We finally made it out to the phone where we proceeded to call our hostel for shuttle pick up. Now when I say 'we,' I mean 'me.' Risa was taught well by her parents and does not talk to strangers, but gives me the information, or her questions, to discuss with the appropriate people. After receiving the pick info from the concierge (do you call someone at a hostel a concierge?), we decided to ask an Info dude where this wall we were told called "The Meeting Place" is. He looked at me like I was a moron, and pointed to the HUGE blue wall not 10 yards away... Stupid Americans... It is true though for all nationalities: When one goes on vacation, the brain simply shuts down and does not work properly.

After a short wait, we were picked up and went on the ride of our life throughout Sydney. Now Risa and I are not ones to get motion sickness these days. Perhaps a little seasick (Risa) every now and then, but not in the car. I'll tell you what, by the time we got to our room at the City Resort Hostel, we were doing our best to keep our Fat Kid snacks in our bellies! That drive was worse than any roller coaster, carnival ride, or boat ride we've ever been on!

(It's not Burger King, it's Hungry Jacks, and it was one of the only places open for dinner that late.)

By the time we showered and were ready to go out, we were exhausted and starving. We deiced to take a stroll towards town, through a couple of parks and find some grub. We found several places that looked decent but by this time, we were so hungry, we decided on a familiar place that looked exactly like Burger King: Hungry Jack's. It was so nice to get an adult meal that was the size of a kid's meal! AND about the same price! It's amazing how much bigger American fast food meals are! Neither of us even finished our food and by the time we were done eating, it was back to the hostel and off to bed. After all, we had to wake up at 4:30am the next morning to make our next flight to Cairns!

(Both of our first hostel ever!)

So, here we are now in Cairns, in a wonderful hostel called Calypso (thanks again Kevin!). The staff has been very accommodating and we already have tomorrow's adventures planned out, including cuddling with koalas, a sky gondola ride and train ride throughout the Kurunda.

(One of my favorite signs in Cairns along the esplanade.)

Hope all is well wherever you are! And don't be too jealous, for this is a much needed vacation for the both of us! Until next time!

Xoxo!