2008 Woodie Awards
Australian Times: Week 10
Spring Break, Part 2
Karina Mc Cabe
Issue date: 11/4/05 Section: Life & Times
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Thankfully, even though we only met few Australians, most of the tours we took were comprised of non-Americans, so we had an opportunity to meet so many people from all over the world. Over the first weekend alone, I met people from South Africa, New Zealand, Canada (hey, it still counts as a different part of the world!), England, China, and Australia (okay, that was just the tour guide, but I think I will count that too!). In addition, by just traveling in a group of two for the first week of our spring break, Arial and I were able to meet considerably more people than when we traveled with a larger group of Americans for the second week.
When other backpackers heard our accents, they told us they were surprised Arial and I chose to travel minus the mob, and that they tend to avoid Americans during their travels because, apparently, Americans tend to travel in large, cliquey groups and never venture beyond their own friends. I thought this odd at first because most of the Rollins group traveled in groups of one to a maximum of four for spring break, but later in the trip, I discovered what the other travelers meant.
On Monday, Arial and I went white-water rafting with the same company, Adventure Tours, that we traveled with for the weekend. Starting at six a.m., we boarded a coach for a two-hour drive to the grade four rapids Tully River. This is an entirely new experience for me, and I had absolutely no idea what "grade four rapids" meant, but I felt pretty brave after trying horse-riding for the first time this weekend too, so I figured I would just hope for the best!
Evidently, there are six grades for white-water rapids, with the sixth being only for the suicidal and the fifth is for the experienced rafter who likes a good challenge. I really wish I had not read that right before getting into the raft…this does not sound like the grade below this is going to mean something to the effect of "for the total beginner who avoids swimming because she hates putting her face under the water."
The next five fantastic hours were spent in a six-person raft with a guide, "Dangerous Dave," traveling down rapids with names like "staircase," "foreplay," "devil's toilet bowl," "killer tide," and other names that I doubt the new Rollins internet censorship police deems acceptable for the online version…
We survived the rafting trip only to collapse into bed to prepare for the next adventure sport day: quad biking. This did not sound quite as strenuous as the previous day; however, after not driving for several months already, trying to operate an ATV without power steering over sand dunes and navigate through the rocky terrain around the borderline of the rainforest was slightly more challenging than anticipated. Two-hours and several rammed trees later, Arial and I were quite accomplished and unwilling to part with the bikes because we realized we still had another six weeks left until we could drive cars again.
Of course, riding around in coaches for this trip, and even traveling around Sydney by public transportation, has its advantages. Beyond the obvious environmental benefits, there are personal benefits too, including not having to find parking, never having to worry about filling a gas tank or maintaining the car, and also having time to read or sleep while traveling instead of focusing on the road. I miss driving on the interstate with the windows down and music blaring, but I think I would easily swap that for the convenience of mass public transportation. In our politics and economics class, we debated environmental economics, and one issue discussed suggested the feasibility of funding free public transportation in large cities, such as Orlando. This would alleviate traffic and pollution problems in general, as well as enabling more people access to transportation. I am not entirely sure how this would work, but it is an interesting solution to Orlando's problems.
Speaking of avoiding environmental damage, Arial and I spent the next three days on the tiny, beautiful island of Fitzroy, a national park where the only tourist transportation around the island is by foot, snorkel fin, or kayak. Here, we hiked, sun-bathed on almost deserted beaches, joined a kayaking tour, and Arial also snorkeled (white-water rafting was one thing, but intentionally dunking my head under the water is another) during the daytime. Since the privately owned island is so tiny, with only accommodation, a café, a gift store, and a Tiki bar, everyone on the island gathered at the latter in the evening. This gave us a perfect opportunity to meet tons more people from other countries, including Norway, Wales, the Czech Republic, and even some Australians for a change!
We met a large group of American students traveling together also, but aside from talking to us since we were also from the U.S., they were reluctant to talk to other foreigners. Now we were starting to understand what the people on the first trip meant by generally avoiding American tourists. I think this is definitely a learning experience in itself-to experience local cultures, avoid traveling in large, touring groups, and especially avoid traveling in such a group with people from home.