Tag Archives: waterfall

Blue Haze (Sydney Day 1)

This evening we arrived in Sydney, and enjoyed a lovely dinner at our friend’s apartment. By late evening we were exhausted, and headed across the street to the bed and breakfast we had booked.

Blue Haze

The next morning we visited the Blue Mountains, my second time, but my mom’s first time in the area. However, today was a unique day because planned burns were happening throughout the mountains. This area of Australia has been very dry lately, which makes forest fires more of a threat. In order to reduce the risk of fires, planned burns are carried out, leaving the entire area in a bit of a blue haze. In fact, the smoke is so strong and travels so far, that it even was hazy that morning in the city (it takes and hour and a half to drive to the blue mountains).

Leura

Our first official stop of the day was at a small town in the Blue Mountains called Leura. We visited this quaint area for high tea, which was a treat from our friends who highly suggested we go. It’s basically a fancy English-style tea, with tea or coffee, scones, mini desserts, and petite sandwiches. It was quite and enjoyable morning! We spent a little while walking through artsy shops, then headed to the actual mountain area.

High tea table setting

High Tea room

Scenic World

Although a bit touristy, we were glad to stop at this attraction center. Based at the top of the mountains, this discovery center offers a railway or cableway down to a walkway in a lower level of the forest, and a skyway car that travels across a mountain gap and over a huge waterfall. We took the railway down, then walked through the beautiful forest enjoying natural and the local artist exhibitions placed throughout the trail. Then we took the cableway back up, and also went across on the skyway. The center itself was very crowded and the lines were long, but overall it was a great experience!

“Tunnel of Love” artwork along the trail

View from Skyway

View of waterfall from Skyway

Darling Harbor

For dinner, we headed to Darling Harbor, and enjoyed fantastic food at Olive, an Italian restaurant on the water. Since it was Saturday night, was also saw the harbor’s weekly firework show. It was a beautiful evening and wrapped the day up perfectly!

Fireworks over Darling Harbor

Anzac Day Adventures (Cairns Day 1)

My mom has officially joined me from across the pond, and our first big stop is Cairns! The evening of our arrival, we checked into our Airbnb, got a little advice from our host, and headed out to town. After a walk down the Esplanade and a lovely dinner at a café, we headed in for an early night.

Cairns

For location references, Cairns is essentially the main tourism point of Australia where people go to visit the Great Barrier Reef. I was expecting a smaller town with mostly tourism, however this is the first place in Australia I have traveled to that gives me a slightly odd feeling. Although a beautiful area filled with activities to do and places to see, the town and surrounding area is just not what I expected. The main attractions here include the Great Barrier Reef, Daintree Rainforest, and aboriginal culture. The towns themselves are very old fashioned, looking like the type of area that could easily (and realistically) get swept away overnight by a natural disaster. The streets aren’t designed the best, and the villages are very small, considering most attractions are on the water or in the forests. Although the weather is a bit off from what is normally expected of this time, it has been completely overcast with dark skies and rain. It has been quite an abrupt change from the beautiful beaches and clear skies of Gold Coast, but hopefully Cairns has some wonderful things in store for us!

Aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef from plane

Anzac Day

As a perfectly-timed way to start our trip, our first day in Cairns is was also Anzac Day. Essentially, this is an Australian War Memorial holiday that commemorates the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (abbreviation: ANZAC) soldiers who landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey during the first World War. This day reminds Australians of those who served and died in war and on operational service with qualities of courage, mateship, and sacrifice. For celebratory purposes, the best way to describe it is like a combination of America’s Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. For Australia, this holiday is so important that it is known second to Christmas, and even has it’s own official website (https://anzacday.org.au/home). Although our tour that day left too early to see the Cairns Anzac Day Parade or join in on an early morning remembrance ceremony, we still got to spend the day learning about Australia’s natural and historic beauty!

Wooroonuran

This morning we joined a tour through Wooroonuran National Park, one of the wet tropics world heritage areas, which contains some of the oldest surviving rainforests in the world. Just one of the many unique trees of this rainforest, the Blushwood tree, has been found to cure the breakdown of cancer tumors. This has been successful with animal testing, and human trials are in the process. This just goes to show what other undiscovered secrets might be hidden in this ancient paradise. Contrary to common belief, parts of the Australian rainforest are actually older than the Amazon, comparing the Amazon’s mid 50 million year old ecosystem to Australia’s 180 million year old landscape!

Lake Barrine

This freshwater lake was formed when a large volcano erupted over 17,000 years ago, leaving a crater that was formed then filled with rainwater. At 730 meters above sea level, there are no streams or springs that feed into the lake, but one small creek that flows out during the wet season. We also walked through the Lake Barrine Tea House Restaurant, and it looked like a lovely place to enjoy tea.

Lake Barrine

Yungaburra

Stopping through Yungaburra village, we learned it is a haven for wildlife, including the platypus, tree-kangaroo, wallabies, and many species of birds. We took a drive around Lake Tinaroo, and headed to the Curtain Fig National Park. With traditional aboriginal owners, this national park is part of their country, so naturally it is a place to be respected. The park protects endangered mabi forest and a large fig tree, in fact one of the largest recorded in the world. Technically known as the species ficus virens of the strangler fig, this tree’s aerial roots drop 15 meters to the forest floor forming a curtain-like appearance, hence the name curtain fig. Esentially they grow by germinating on top of another tree and trying to grow roots into the ground, then grow more, until the hosting tree is killed and it can grow independently. These trees are considered epiphytes, which feed from the ground, as opposed to parasitic plants, which feeds from the sap of host plant. This protected tree in specific has overtaken four other trees in its time.

Curtain Fig Tree

Millaa Millaa Falls

This was one of my favorite stops of the day, as I have recently discovered I am slightly obsessed with waterfalls. “Millaa millaa” is an aboriginal phrase meaning “plenty of water or waterfall.” This particular fall is known casually as the most photographed waterfall in Australia, with a suitable swimming pool at it’s base. Unlike most of the rock pools I’ve encountered, this one was quite flat, and although it was a bit too cold to try out, it looked like a lovely place to go for a swim.

Millaa Millaa Falls

Crawfords Lookout

Our next stop took us to Crawfords Lookout in Mamu Valley. It was still a little foggy, but we could still see the view of the North Johnstone River Gorge.

Crawfords Lookout

Josephine Falls

This tiered cascade waterfall is a natural beauty, and also danger. At 192 meters above sea level, it is impossible to see the top of the waterfall when standing below. It is also impossible to tell what rainfall activity is happening above, and essentially the basin at the top fills and fills with water until it hits a tipping point, then spills of the edge all at once, flash flooding the rock pools below. Although a fantastic swimming area at first glance, it can also become a nightmare in an instant. A great place to visit though!

Josephine Falls

Babinda Creek

Our second last stop of the day was the Boulders at Babinda Creek. As compared to above, this lake-like area is perfectly suitable for swimming. The creek is lined with huge boulders, which help to give it its name, but also have aboriginal significance. According to local legend, the boulders are guarded by the spirit of a beautiful girl named Oolana, and you can still hear her calls for her lost lover.

Babinda Creek

Mulgrave River

We ended the day with an hour-long crocodile cruise through the Mulgrave River, although the unfortunate weather made it not super successful. We learned above the lives of crocodiles, and explored an area with beautifully reflective waters. Overall, it was a lot of driving through the countryside, but a great day of sightseeing South of Cairns!

Mulgrave River reflections

‘Til I See You Again

This last week has been filled with bittersweet goodbyes and checking off the last of items on my study abroad bucket list. Additionally, it was also finals week for Bond, at the end of which was move out.

A Last Weekend in Paradise

Last weekend all of my study abroad friends and I got together at one of our apartments, and had a goodbye dinner. People would be starting to leave throughout the next week, so we all decided to have one last cookout by the pool to wrap up the semester. The following day we went to Burleigh beach, and I finally got to explore the other side of Burleigh Heads National Park. A short walk around the edge of the park will take you to a beautiful lagoon area on the other side.

Southside of Burleigh Heads National Park

In the evening we all enjoyed Surfer’s Paradise one last time for our semester abroad. We attempted to stay out and watch the sunrise on the beach, although most people couldn’t quite make it and we headed in early. I also had quite the adventure losing my FitBit (again) that night, and over an hour later found it innocently lying unharmed on the ground. For someone who is addicted to their FitBit (and already had it replaced once), it was a not so good moment that ended well. However, it was a lovely way to spend our last full weekend in Gold Coast. It definitely proved how amazing my semester has been here, with the friends I’ve made, places I’ve been, and things that I’ve gotten to do.

Finals Week

The earlier part of last week was spent mostly in the library becoming an expert on all things class-related. Although I only missed one class (to make a flight) this semester, and did stay on top of all my academics, I still had quite the game of catch up to play before exams. After my Wednesday and Thursday 8am exams, to say I felt home free was an understatement. However, on Thursday it dawned on me that finishing my last exam (in my terms) meant that I am officially a senior. How this crazy thing happened, I’m not quite sure. Regardless, it also meant that the studious part of my travels had concluded and it was time to enjoy the rest!

Springbrook

After my Thursday exam, one of my local Australian friends was kind enough to drive a couple of my friends and I to Twin Falls in Springbrook National Park. This had been one of my bucket list items since the very beginning of the semester, and during the last week I was still determined to get there!

The circuit we walked lead down the Currumbin mountains to the base of Twin Falls, around and behind another waterfall, back up the mountain, then along the top ridge to the starting point. When we reached the top of the mountain, the first lookout had a view of the other side of cliff so that you could see Twin Falls from across the mountain gap. It was a great little circuit through the rainforest, and took about an hour, definitely recommend it! Unfortunately it was a little cold when we visited, but I’d imagine the best part would be swimming in the rock pools at the base of Twin Falls!

Twin Falls

Walking behind the second waterfall

Top ridge lookout

Panorama of top ridge lookout

View of Twin Falls from across the mountain valley

Later that evening, I did one last run around Lake Orr, the lake surrounding my apartment complex and campus.

Lake Orr

Burleigh Heads

On my last day in Gold Coast, a few of my friends and I made the trip down to Burleigh, which had become somewhat of a tradition. We spent the better portion of the day on the beach, enjoying the beautiful weather. Saying goodbye to my friends was sad, but I was also exited for the travels ahead. While I do have to wave farewell to Gold Coast, luckily I still have two weeks of traveling in Australia before heading back to the states!

North side of Burleigh Heads

Enjoying an acai bowl on the beach

See Ya Later

As I finished packing up my apartment after returning from the beach, I couldn’t believe that it really was my last day of study abroad in Gold Coast. When originally coming, I was under the impression that because it is so far and I got to live here for a decent period of time, that I more than likely would not be back again. In reality, I know now that thinking like that was completely naive, and I will most definitely back again someday.

Despite all the incredible places I got to visit, interesting people I met, and amazing memories I’ve created, there are still so many items I didn’t get to do. I did a LOT while studying abroad, so that just goes to show how many places there are to explore and things there are to do over here. When saying goodbye here, to friends or someone you just met, a lot of people use the phrase ‘see you later,’ even if they are a complete stranger that most likely will never see you again. However, I like to think with the mentality that you might someday see them again, even if it’s 25 years from now. With that being said, it’s not goodbye, it’s ‘til I see you again, Gold Coast.

A Long & Winding Road (New Zealand Day 6)

This morning we took a local’s advice (front desk receptionist at Woodlyn Park), and embarked on an adventure to find a few natural attractions in the area. She warned us to make sure we had a full tank of gas (we didn’t), and we set off!

Mangapõhue Natural Bridge

Following one long road the entire time, our first stop was at Mangapõhue natural bridge. Just a five minute walk down through the bush, you stumble upon a huge rock formation, with water flowing underneath it creating a cave as well as a huge rock arch above you. In contrast to what we originally thought, we ended up viewing this natural bridge from underneath, instead of overtop. We explored the countryside for a little, then returned back to the road to continue to our next stop.

Suspended bridge walking to the natural bridge

Natural bridge from north side

Natural bridge from south side

Marokopa Falls

A few miles later we pulled off the road at Marokopa Falls, allegedly the biggest waterfall in New Zealand. After another five minute speed walk through the bush, we found ourselves near the base of this huge and absolutely beautiful waterfall. It was a little too wet/muddy to try and risk hiking down to the bottom of the falls, but we still had a breathtaking view from where we were. Definitely a fantastic find!

Marokopa Falls

Marokopa

Our final destination took a few more miles of driving along the long and winding Te Anga road, but we made it there successfully (aka with plenty of gas)! Referred to something like Coffee Coast by the hotel receptionist (could not find this name anywhere), we arrived in the tiny town of Maropkopa, where we followed a short trail down to the black sand beach. As you can imagine, we lost phone service around the natural bridge area, and although I forgot to take a picture, at the trail entrance there was a sign posted that read, “in case of emergency, dial 911 from the nearest house or public facility.” So that gives an idea of how isolated we were. There was a huge inlet that clearly would completely flood during high tide, but was only about half full at the time we were there. We took a few pictures and moments to take in the incredibly peaceful scenery, then got back in the car for the trek back. I also took a small flat black rock along, to represent the black beach and surviving the trek out to the coast!

Black sand beach

Panoramic view of Marokopa Coast

After arriving back to the tiny town of Waitomo, we grabbed lunch, filled up on gas, and headed towards Auckland to drop our car off by 5pm. We checked into our hostel, took a short walk around the city, joined a friend for dinner, and got to bed early in preparation for our early morning flight. Overall, New Zealand provided so many incredible experiences, and I have come to the conclusion that one week is not NEARLY enough to explore just part of only the North Island. With that being said, I guess I will have to come back someday. Until that day, Kia Ora, New Zealand!

Scenic New Zealand countryside

Hobbiton Movie Set (New Zealand Day 5)

Today we visited the Hobbiton movie set just outside Matamata, used in the filming of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Covering 12 acres, this beautiful landscape includes Hobbit Holes, the Mill, Lake, Shire, Green Dragon Inn and more.

Hobbiton Set Building

This property is owned by the Alexander family, and remains a fully functional working farm, producing sheep’s wool and cattle meat/hides. In 1998, Peter Jackson, director of the movies, approached the Alexander’s requesting to use the land for filming, and after the contracts were signed, he embarked on a journey of detailing sets, starting with site construction in 1999. To build the small town, the New Zealand Army was actually asked to assist in building roads, transporting equipment, and filling in a large swamp area to transform it into a field. Although they were not paid, they were reimbursed by being offered fighting roles in the movies. Most of these men were so enthusiastic about the filming that Jackson had to request them to tone it down so it was not too violent for a family movie, and three men were hospitalized for fighting a bit too intensely!

Hobbit hole

Details Details Details

The level of detail that Jackson included into his set is incredible, and can be seen on the property:

Jackson did not think the sheep that came with the farm fit the time era they for shooting for, so he had the native sheep removed and imported sheep for filming.
The wooden beams of the hobbit holes were distressed using a chainsaw, soaked in vinegar and dried to make them look the appropriate ago. A mixture of glue, wood chips, and cement was also used to splatter on wood, giving it the appearance that it is naturally covered in lichens.
The orchard, which was originally comprised of plum trees in the book series, was not aesthetically appealing to Jackson, so he planted pear and apple trees instead. When it came time for filming, all the fruit and leaves were stripped off the trees, and artificial plums were attached to make the scene look comparable.
There is even a tree on top of the hill that is completely artificial. It is made of a steel trunk and branch frame, painted with weatherproof material to make it look and stay looking realistic. Additionally, individual leaves were attached all over the tree, and later all individually painted a different color.
There are also three hobbit holes built into the background hill of the valley, with the intention being solely just in case the camera accidentally paned and caught a glimpse of the background. All the work of altering the background landscape from its natural empty fields was shown for a grand total of three seconds throughout the film series.

Fake tree mentioned above

On Set

Our tour began by bus, traveling though the filming grounds, where our guides pointed out different sections. The first main section was a large fenced-in field, which use to house over 250 species of animals used throughout filming. A section to the right was used to store tech equipment, and now is used as the farm’s maintenance department. There was a field used solely for all hair and makeup, next to a small hill that was acted as the communication hub of the property.

Following the winding road, you end up in Hobbiton, where majority of the filming took place. We walked through town, learning that all of the hobbit holes were only used for external filming, while all inside scenes for filmed in the “Hobbit Mansion,” an indoor set in Wellington containing over 130 separate rooms. On property, there are multiple sizes of hobbit holes, some on a 30% scale to make characters look large, up to a 90% scale to make other characters appear small.

Stereotypical tourist photo at a hobbit hole

We walked though the pathways, garden, over the bridge of the lake, and into the Green Dragon Inn. This property serve four unique drinks, three alcoholic and one non-alcoholic, and can be found nowhere else in the world since they were created specifically for the movie set tours. The Green Dragon Inn is internationally and externally decorated and fully functional, even offering an area for private functions. The entire landscape of Hobbiton is extremely beautiful, encompassing the natural wonders of New Zealand, and enhancing them with movie set magic.

Iconic movie set sign

Lake and surrounding area

Woodlyn Park & Waitomo

After our tour of Hobbiton, we drove back to the Waitomo area, for our stay at Woodlyn Park. This theme hotel has a ship, plane, and hobbit hole themed rooms. We stayed in the “Waitanic” Ship Motel. Although it’s in the middle of nowhere and only a few rooms available, this iconic hotel has been recognized on TV and in media, and is well known for its unique appearance! We drove into the tiny town of Waitomo, a small village with not much more than a café, visitor’s center, hotel, restaurant, and bar. Waitomo is well known for its underground glowworm cave systems, where a lot of tourism happens, so the above ground areas are quite isolated. However, there are countless areas for nature-lovers and adventurers to explore. Essentially, Waitomo is more of an underground city!

Hobbiton themed rooms

Plane themed rooms

Ship themed rooms

Following a late lunch, we drove to the Ruakuri Bush Reserve, known for being one of the top ten short bushwalks in New Zealand. Upon arrival we definitely could understand why, as we had a fantastic time exploring the natural wonders of caves, waterfalls, a river, and many outlook points. Although just a roughly 45 minute excursion including many photos, it was amazing how many things to explore were packed into this short walking loop.

Standing in front of a cave that lead way back behind the greenery

Looking over a deep rock hole

Walking through a cave tunnel to a lookout point

On the way back we pulled into a parking lot to read a sign, saw the words lookout trail, and decided to jog the short trail before the sun set. Through a short trail in the forest, up a bunch of steps, and a around a large field, we followed a skinny trail across the hill’s edge to a lookout with a 360 degree view around the local Waitomo area. From the lookout you could see the village as well as surrounding mountains and landscapes. It was definitely a great way to sight see Waitomo!

Town of Waitomo from lookout point

The Black Abyss (New Zealand Day 2)

This morning we woke up early to make it to the car rental agency the minute they opened, figured out all the paperwork, then drove South to Waitomo for our Legendary Black Water Rafting tour! In the word Waitomo, “Wai” translates as water and “tomo” translates to entrance or hole, meaning the whole word translates to “steam which flows into the hole in the ground.” This area is one of New Zealand’s original tourist destinations, but is also rich in geological landscapes and cultural history. Perfect for natural born adventurers!

The Black Abyss

We embarked on the most extreme of tours, which included a variety activities with the Legendary Black Water Rafting Company. My friend and I joined six others, along with two tour guides, and geared up in jumpsuit/jacket/booties wetsuits, gum boots, a harness, and helmet.

Tour group after gearing up

We drove about ten minutes down the road to an open field where they have a small training area set up, as well as the entrance to the cave. We had a short lesson on how to rappel, which is essentially using a rope to lower yourself down a cliff or slope that is too steep or dangerous to descend without gear. Also known as abseiling, this term comes from the German word “abseilen” meaning “to rope down.” The rope is threaded through a metal piece of equipment, and your thumb is used to push or release on the last small bar to control the speed. To stop, the bar is pushed all the way up, and your right hand is brought behind your back. The first challenge was abseiling down a 35 meter (115 feet) hole in the ground to the entrance of the cave system. The rock hole was shaped like an hourglass, so you enter with more space, pass through a smaller hole, then are lowered into the caverns as the space opens up a little more. We rappelled one by one until we all were at the cave’s entrance, then started are walk through the cave tunnels.

Start of abseiling into the cave

Abseiling into the cave

The Subterranean World

We had a short brief about cave walking safety and were told not to touch the stalagmites and stalactites that were millions of years old and can be easily damaged. The guides also pointed out a few fossils, and mentioned there were also wale and other fossils throughout the caves, that were over 1.2 million years old from when the area was an ocean. We crossed a section of the caves where grates were placed over cracks in the rocks, where we also connected our cow tails (basically safety ropes) to a hand rail rope until we crossed through.

Our next challenge was called the “flying fox,” where we were sent zip lining through the pitch black, across a deep cavern in the cave. There was a rock mechanism to stop you above a large rock, and the other guide helped us down one by one. It was an incredible feeling flying the open space with no concept of what was where! The platform we were on looked out over an underground rock pool, where we dangled our feet over the edge and enjoyed a snack of hot chocolate and homemade granola bars before jumping into the icy water.

Rock pool inside the caves

Next we grabbed inner tubes, put them around our waist, and jumped off a platform into a rock pool! The reason for the insulated wet suits is because, as you can probably imagine, the water in underground caves can get pretty chilly. We paddled our way to the wall to grab the rope and pulled ourselves along the wall, and walked through some of the more shallow areas. When we all got back in the inner tubes, we linked up in a chain as one of the guides pulled us along through the water giving us a lesson on glowworms.

With our helmet lights off, the pitch black allowed us to see a ceiling of glowworms that looked like a beautiful night sky full of stars. One major feature of the Waitomo caves is that they are home to glowworms, making it an incredible sight to see. If you would like more information on glowworms, refer to my previous blog post “Mt. Tamborine.” We also got an up close and personal look at some of the glowworms and their thread formations on the cave walls along the way. It was an incredibly peaceful, yet also eerie, moment to sit back and slowly make our way through the quiet and beautiful caves.

Up close look at the glowworms

Sweet As!

We spent time wading through the cave waters, climbing over the uneven rock surfaces, and eventually where were challenged to jump off a ledge into another rock pool. Then we came to a passageway where they gave us a hot drink and chocolate to warm our bodies up, and took a few group photos. They took one using a long exposure method so you can see the cave and the people, then had us put our translucent drink cups over the light on our helmets and each motioned a backwards letter in the air to spell out “Sweet as!” It was very cute.

Our tour guides also let us know that at that point, we were as deep into the caves as we would be experiencing for the day, at 60 meters below ground. At that specific spot the caves did get too much deeper compared to where we entered, the ground just got higher, so we were passing through the center of the mountain. The caves only go about 5 more meters deep, but still crazy to be so far below ground level!

Jumping into an underground rock pool

Tour group exploring the caves

Caving is Sweet As!

Underground Waterfalls

Next we slid down a small waterfall where they placed a slide to catch a photo op, and our next challenge was sliding headfirst through a small hole in the rock to get to the other cave room. I learned afterwards the larger part of the cave wrapped around if you didn’t want to attempt the crawl space method, but it was more fun that way! After exploring some more we caught a glimpse of an eel in some of the shallow water, where the guides explained that eels in the caves can grow up to two meters long and a hefty width (she motioned a size somewhere in between a football and soccer ball). We all agreed we were glad to not have known these little guys were swimming through the same water we were prior to jumping in!

Our last big challenge was rock climbing up two waterfalls. The guides instructed us step by step by pointing to rocks, until we reached a point where we were close enough to the top to just go for it. We got a short brief before the climb, but mainly it was either do it right because wrong will not end well! We climbed up one waterfall to a cave chamber where we waited for the group before walking through a short passageway, then climbing up the second waterfall.

Climbing through a small rock entrance from one room to the next

Cave eel

Sliding down a mini waterfall

Just a few meters straight, then another few left and you could see daylight, where the caves opened up into the same field that we entered down through. The cave exit was surrounded by a lovely little waterfall and pond area, with greenery all around.

Climbing out of the caves

At the conclusion of our tour, we changed out of our gear, showered off in fantastically hot water, then ate hot soup and a bagel as we watched our slideshow of pictures from the day of caving. It was a FANTASTIC tour that I would highly recommend to anyone traveling in New Zealand. Although you do need to be relatively fit and fearless, it was by far one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. After getting everything together, we jumped back in the car and made our way to Rotorua!

Tour group post caving adventure

Mt. Tamborine

This weekend I visited the Tamborine area Northwest of Gold Coast. Our first (stumbled upon) stop was at the very top of Mt. Tamborine, at a lookout point off the side of the road that showed a beautiful view of the land below. You could see far off to the mountains, giving an actual skyline view of the surrounding area.

View off Mt. Tamborine

Tamborine National Park

Our first planned stop was at the Tamborine National Park to spend some time swimming in the natural rock pools. I was expecting them to be enjoyable, but it turned out to be one of my favorite experiences so far! I also went to a rock pool last weekend, and these rock pools were much different but still amazing.

The rock pool I went to last week is an area carved out of rock right up against the ocean, near the border of Queensland and New South Wales. It had walls built up in a square, a flatter bottom, and was built right next to the ocean. Waves would crash on the side of the structure and even periodically spray past into the pool!

To get to these pools, you walk a little ways into the park, then follow a trail down the side of a small mountain canyon to where the rock waterfall starts. As you make your way down to the rocks you can start to see the pools, and a lot of people were there! The pool area starts with a waterfall at the very top, which flows over the rocks down about six or seven tiers, each with their own rock pool. The pools were various sizes and depths, and we spent time at the pool furthest down the canyon. This pool was not so crowded, the water was deeper, and there was even a small cliff jump and rope swing into the pool. It was a bit of rock climbing to get there, but such a great experience to carefully make my way into a pool that is literally natural fed with water, with rocks of various sized covered in algae lining the floor.

According to locals, during heavy rain the area has more water flowing through, so the waterfall is stronger and the pools larger, and when there is little rain the area dries out more. Luckily, when we visited there was just enough rain to have a smaller waterfall running and still nice pools. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the whole canyon, but due to the way it’s carved out, you could only see two or three tiers at a time. An aerial view would be beautiful to see. Unfortunately this must be a hard picture to get, because even Google couldn’t find one for me! However, in real life it looks like a scene that should be featured in National Geographic.

Top of rock pool canyon

Second tier pool, waterfall in the background

One of the rock pools

Mt. Tamborine Glow Worm Caves

For lunch we stopped at a local café, where I had one of the best veggie burgers of my life, and got to see the local lifestyle. Then we headed around the corner of the block where the Mt. Tamborine Glow Worm Caves were conveniently located! This has been an attraction I had wanted to visit since before I arrived in Australia, and since we happened to be so close by, we decided to check it out. Prior to the tour, we stopped by the beautiful pond they have on property and walked through a self guided frog house tour. The most unique part about this was that it was a relatively large pond, and while it was manmade, it was amazing that it stayed in such good condition despite the fact that it was placed directly on the very top of a mountain.

Pond on Glow Worm Cave property

While this property has a man made cave used for educational purposes, glow worms are a unique animal only existing in Australia and New Zealand. They are born, transform from egg to larva, pupa, then to an adult mosquito-like insect. Glow worms are the larvae, and the only stage in the insect’s life when they are able to glow. Adult flies only live for two days (females) or six days (male), and are not able to feed, so glow worms must consume enough nutrients during their larval stage to essentially get them through the rest of their life! In good conditions, larvae live for around one year.

Glow worms make silk threads that capture small insects for food, and get their name because of their special character trait of bioluminescence, or light produced by a living organism. A pigment called luciferin reacts with the enzyme luciferase and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and the oxygen in the air to create the blue-green light that the glow worms emit. In nature, the lights can actually be so bright that they light up the cave enough to see where to walk. When standing in the cave, it looks similar to looking up into a night sky full of starts. Theoretically, the glow worms have adapted this way to make it look like a night sky, so potential prey will try to fly upwards and get stuck in the silk threads of the glow worms.

Another fun fact, our eyes are so trained to filter out extremely bright lights that when you look directly at the very tiny glow worms, it “disappears.” In comparison to the dark room, our eyes are unable to detect the light when looking directly at it, however you can still see them in peripheral vision. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos inside the cave, but look below to see the best photo I could find online that looked like the cave we were in.

Example of a glow worm cave
(Source: Peter Clark, Bioluminescence, Pinterest)

This week is full of midterm exams, so it was nice to enjoy the weekend before lots of studying! Being able to spend time outside at such beautiful natural places has been one of my favorite parts of being in Australia. I am definitely planning on finding and checking out more places like this along the way!

Arthur’s Pass and Wildfoods

This past weekend I traveled with a group of about 30 kids (along with 3 RA’s) on a weekend trip to Arthur’s Pass and Hokitika for the Wild Food Festival.

Taking off Friday morning we stopped a place or two along the way including Castle Hill, a series of speculated rock formations that are beyond fun to climb all over. There was a group shot taking under them before we were able to explore for a little over an hour, taking pictures and the guys daring each other to climb the highest most impossible rocks and jump from one to another (which was really unsafe) but thankfully no one got hurt.

We then continued to drive through the Southern Alps, still covered in green, and took pictures off all the great rock formations and rivers that cut through the Alps’ valleys.

Once we got into Arthur’s Pass we found our cabins not too far from the center of town, claimed beds and then went off for a hike up to Devil’s Punch Bowl. It wasn’t too hard of a tramp but it leads you up to one of the most fantastic waterfall with a big pool at the bottom that the group did not hesitate to go down the slippery wet path and into the freezing pool. I must say it was completely worth it, even though I had a cold at the time. I discovered it’s really windy and loud near a waterfall so it’s hard to hear people near you but the gest of most conversations is how cold it was. Of course all the guys just dove right in and swam around and I took it a little slower easing into the pool so my legs would numb up but of course with how slippery everything was I ended up falling right in anyway and getting soaking wet.

Saturday was spent in Hokitika or Hoki as the locals call it. There we went to the Wildfoods Festival and spent a few hours looking at all the booths and eating crazy foods. You could get anything from rocky mountain oysters to fresh honey comb there. The weirdest thing I partook in had to be the sheep brains. It was so disgusting that I could only eat a small portion of it, no one could finish more than a small bite, and ended up gagging at least 3 times. It was watery, had the weirdest consistency of anything I’d even eaten and was of course covered in barbeque sauce.

The best food there by far was the shark on a slice of bread with lemon and tartar sauce. It was so good I was ready to go back and get another helping if I hadn’t been saving my hunger for other oddities.

After we left the festival we headed down to the beach and lazed about in the sun till it was time to head back to Arthur’s Pass so we could take off first thing Sunday morning.

Of course one tourist stop was made in the mountains where we took a van group shot before hoping back in and making it back to campus around 1pm in order to recuperate for classes the next day.

Location: Hokitika, NZ