We went on a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon! Later, while we were waiting on our lunch we went to a general store where I bought a mini cactus that looked like it had a mohawk and named it Calvin Jr. Even though it was raining, we went to see the sunset, but it wasn’t very good because of the dark clouds. Then we saw a little show where a ranger was dressed as Captain John and he told us his stories.
We stopped at Four Corners before making it to the Grand Canyon. At our campground we saw a HUGE elk on M (for moose) street. Daddy and I tried to find it again after dinner, but only found its big hooveprints.
We started on our way to Grand Canyon to our first pit stop, Mesa Verde. Aunt Robin is with us, but she’s driving her own car behind us most of the time.
We finally got on the plane home! Now don’t get me wrong, I loved the trip, but after 17 days, I wanted to see my family again. After I ate lunch on the plane, I tried to sleep because I wanted to try to get on Colorado time… It didn’t work but it was worth a shot! If you ever go on a long distance trip on a plane and they offer you a Mango and Cream Bar, take it, they were delicious!!
After giving my family hugs and getting my passport and luggage, we met my Aunt Robin at a BBQ restaurant so I could tell them all about my trip! I was really tired, but we looked at pictures and passed out souvenirs, then I crashed on the drive home!
We finally made it to the Sydney Opera House which was really cool! The inside carpet was very colorful in some places like bright red and purple. When we went into the theaters we got to see how they prepare for the shows! We also got to see where they make props and where the stars come in, which most tourists would not be able to see (but technically we were not tourists)! We didn’t even have to have backstage passes! Next, we went to an Opal shop where I bought two pairs of earrings (not opal though).
After that we went to Rocks Walking Tours where we dressed up as convicts, governors or lieutenants; then we went out in public to learn about the Rocks history!
We had to get up at 3am to go to the airport to get to Sydney. At least we got to have sparklers since it was the 4th of July! We had a lot of time in the gate and I actually fell asleep on my leg which left a mark on my forehead! Sadly, we had to leave behind Alana and Heidi who couldn’t stay the extra two days. By the way, we were supposed to be going home today (like Heidi did) but because of United, we got to stay 2 more days.
After we got to Sydney we went to the Olympic Aquatic Centre and got to swim in the not so lazy, lazy river (or just river). We all had to dry off once we got out because it was time to go to Parliament. We got to see the queen’s chair which was very fancy!
After the Parliament tour, we were able to go back to the hotel to change to warmer clothes before getting on our dinner cruise boat. We shared it with a high school People to People group who were fun to dance with! Some of the little guys like Ian and Mason got to dance with some girls! The food on the boat was really good, along with some of the boys’ moves! We could see the Sydney Opera House at one point too but sadly, the light show was not on yet.
We got to go to the beach and learn how to surf and boogie board! Surfing was painful since the board kept hitting me in the stomach. One time it flipped over my head and I couldn’t get it off until the next wave came. I also wasn’t able to stand up because it was too slippery. You might say I’m not that good at the whole surfing thing! But at least I was good at boogie boarding, and that was a lot more fun too! It might be because the board was not as painful hitting me in the stomach the first few times.
After our lessons, we took a walk along the beach where I got lots of cool seashells and rocks! Then we ate dinner and went on another walk to go shopping.
We had to ride on the bus all day to get from Kroombit farm to Brisbane again, so we could fly back to Sydney.
Before we went horseback riding, we had a little extra time so Alana taught us the basic rules of Cricket. When it was time to go horseback riding, I got the most gentlest, kindest, and calmest horse named Shy! I didn’t even have to do any work since she knew the way all by herself. But, apparently Amelia’s horse, Jude, didn’t like Shy because his ears were always down (which means they are mad, angry, or annoyed) when he was around her. He actually chased her up hill while I half screamed, half yelled stop while pulling on the reigns, but it was fun even though it startled me.
When everybody got back from horseback riding, we went on a hike up Sunshine Mountain and it was so beautiful! On the way, the ranger showed us jumping ants and how to crack a whip. After dinner we went to the dance cabin and danced to some aboriginal songs and rocked out to some new pop like “Call Me Maybe” (which soon got really annoying during the trip) and “Cotton Eyed Joe”!
I was scared because Ann (one of our leaders) bought a whip! 🙂
We got off of Daydream Island and I was excited to finally sit with Maddie (who I haven’t been able to sit with). But apparently somebody spilled soda (which you’re not supposed to have out) and somebody else left a bunch of trash (which you’re supposed to pick up) so the leaders chose where we sat for the rest of the day. I was at the back of the line to get on the bus though, so I got to sit in the front by myself! Sitting by myself was better than somebody who is not my favorite person because I can sleep more comfortably on chairs and don’t have to talk or listen about something that doesn’t interest me.
When we got to Kroombit Farm (Queensland), we sat around a campfire and sang Australian songs; then showed the ranger something about America and/or Colorado.
