2013.03.07 Spring Break Planning

Today I had Sociology only: lecture at 11:30 and tutorial later in the afternoon at 4:30.  In between, I spent a good deal of time at Swinergy corner.  Swinergy corner is named after the Swinburne gym located on the corner, and is the location that several school sponsored activities take place (such as the cider and beer socials and club stands from orientation week).  But today, there was free Dip n' Dots, cheeseburgers, and a school wide Harlem Shake.  Of course I was there for all three.  But first, the food.

Like I was always told not to do while growing up, I went for the ice cream first.

As soon as I was out of the line for Dip n' Dots I got in line for the cheeseburger.  I actually opted for the ones with chicken on them.

I sat down and ate with some friends until it was time for the Harlem Shake to start.  This is now the second one I took place in since I've gotten here; for those of you that don't know what a Harlem Shake is, read about the first one I did in my post on the Amazing Race (2013.02.27).

The drill was similar, a calm scene followed by everybody dancing or behaving strangely as soon as the music changed.  We did several takes and some turned out better than others.  

If I get my hands on the video I'll amend it to this post.

There were a lot of students standing around those of us that were getting involved just watching, too shy to participate.  I think Drexel's will still top this one.  Here is Drexel's if you'd like to see:

After the shake mid-semester break planning began!  Walid, a Moroccan student on exchange from Northeastern University in Boston, did all of the logistics and found the least expensive prices for a trip to Cairns in Queensland (Australians pronounce it like the word "can").  14 or 15 students have jumped on board with him and more are continuing to join in on the plan.

I had already booked my flight for Cairns the previous day before Gabriela's birthday party; I am leaving Melbourne at 7 am on March 27th and will be in Cairns until we depart at 1 am on Tuesday, April 2nd.  I'll spend a total of 5 nights in Cairns.  If you count the night I leave at 1 am, then it's six.

But today was the fun part - planning the tours and adventures we'd be going on.  Walid had already filled me in on the details, but today we headed down to the inner city to actually book the itinerary.

The Itinerary

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The travel agency package includes dinners every night and lunches during the two day tours we do.  It also includes accommodation at Gilligans, a very popular 5 star backpacker that doubles as a club at night.  You can visit Gilligan's website and view their promotional video here.

http://www.gilligans.com.au

But throughout the week, here is the schedule.

Wednesday, March 27: Get into Cairns and spend the rest of our day exploring.  No events are booked, so we will most likely spend it looking around the city, and familiarizing ourself with the area.

Thursday, March 28: Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef.  Originally I wasn't sure if I'd get the opportunity to do this, and now that it's booked I am so excited for it.  Obviously, the Great Barrier Reef is THE place to do a dive.  The life on the largest reef in the world is unbeatable.  Feel free to read up on its ecology, geography, and more on the Wikipedia page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef#Ecology

Friday, March 29: Rainforest and Waterfall Tour.  Cairns is nestled between the sea and a set of state parks and rain forests, so naturally we want to go into the rain forest.  During the entire day trip we will be touring it, exploring the rivers, seeing the wildlife and visiting several notable waterfalls in the area.

Saturday, March 30: Party Tour throughout Cairns.  The package includes free entry and several drinks at five night clubs with transportation included from each place included.  Of course, it starts and ends at Gilligans.

Sunday, March 31: Bungee Jumping overlooking the rainforest and reef.  I am very excited just to be staying at Gilligans.  I cannot wait to tour the rainforest.  I am seriously pumped to finally dive the premier scuba diving location in the world.  But I cannot get over the fact that I will be doing a day of bungee jumping in Australia, nearly home to where it was invented (it was actually invented by a New Zealander, AJ Hackett).  Included in the options of jumping are doing it while on a BMX bike, doing a swan dive, being dipped in the lake below, running full speed off of the roof, being blindfolded, jumping off backwards, doing a front flip and more.  I absolutely cannot wait.

The promotional video below is a must watch.

Monday, April 1: A day of R&R before heading back to Melbourne.  We have the day off, but who knows what we will end up doing.  Maybe relaxing by the pool, or on the beach?

That is how I'll be spending my break.  And the best part is that it is less than three weeks away!!

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On the way back from the travel agency my friend grabbed this photo of me over the Yarra river with the Melbourne skyline in the background.  There's some ghosting due to a camera setting I was trying out, but it's still an awesome picture and I thought it was worth sharing.

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Fun Fact

I used a google maps applet to find the exact opposite side of the world from my apartment back in Philadelphia.  It turns out I'm not very far from it.