Scuba Diving at the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the natural wonders of the world. Tours leave Cairns every day. People can go snorkeling, scuba diving, or simply cruise along on a glass bottom boat. The amount of biodiversity in the reef is breathtaking. I saw fish I had never even seen in aquariums or in science textbooks. There are also many varieties of coral. The entire Great Barrier Reef is made up of close to 3,000 individual reefs.

the mask I wore

the oxygen tank that is used when scuba diving. here you can see how large it is compared to the diving instructor's leg

people snorkeling. notice the difference in water color where the reef is

people getting their scuba equipment put on while sitting on the platform at the back of the boat

sporting the wetsuit I wore. again notice the difference in water color

holding on to the rope that the boat was anchored on while I practiced breathing through the apparatus and edged deeper and deeper into the ocean

underwater in all of my equipment. I did two dive. each lasted about 25 minutes. the furthest I went down was about 10 meters

Cairns

Cairns is considered "the Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef."
The city is right next to the ocean, however people do not swim in the ocean because of crocodiles. Instead, the government created an enclosed area of ocean water called the "Lagoon," downtown.

the mudflats where crocodiles frequent

low tide

the area around Cairns is very tropical, has mountains, and rainforests

the Lagoon

Australian Ranches

Much of Australia's land is made up of ranches. Ranches have various animals like sheep, rams, goats, cattle, chickens, etc. many of the same types of animals one might see on an Indiana farm. The livestock industry makes up a significant part of the Australian economy and culture.

ram

sheep being herded by a sheep dog

the dog then herds the sheep into a paddock

a sheep shearing demonstration

Australian Politics

Like the United States, Australia is made up of states. There are six states, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia, and South Australia. Like the US, there are state governments and a federal government. There are state parliaments and a national parliament. All of the parliaments, except for one state have an upper and a lower house. The heads of the states are called premiers. The head of the country is the prime minister. The current prime minister for the country is Tony Abbot.

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is the world's oldest and largest sanctuary for koalas. While here I had the chance to hold one of these famous creatures. Other famous Australian animals that could be seen are platypus, emus, and kangaroos. I even got to feed some of the kangaroos!

Laughing Kookaburra 

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital of the Australian state of Queensland. The city has over two million people in it and at the center of the city is the Brisbane River. Brisbane is being called "Australia's New World City." In 1988 the World Expo was held here and in 2014 the G20 Summit was located in Brisbane.

Brisbane's Story Bridge

Brisbane's City Hall

statues representing traditional life in Australia 

looking at Brisbane's Central Business District

Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains National Park is located about an hour drive outside of Sydney. 

The area is an UNESCO site due to its beauty and uniqueness. 

It is an UNESCO site. 

It would probably be more accurate to describe them as raised plateaus. 

The park covers an area equal to about half the size of Belgium. 

Within the park, one can find hundreds of different species of eucalyptus.  

There are many hiking trails and waterfalls in the area.  

Aboriginal People

The race of people who are native to Australia are the aboriginal people. Some anthropologists argue that these people are the world's oldest living race.

These people are known for their hunting and gathering practices, body painting, but most famously for their boomerang. There were returning and non-returning boomerangs and this was how aborigines would hunt in addition to their clubs and spears.

Nowadays only about 2.5% of Australia's approximately 23 million people are aboriginal.

examples of jewelry worn by aborigines 

clubs used for hunting

returning boomerangs

2000 Sydney Summer Olympics

In the year 2000, the city of Sydney hosted the Summer Olympics. The main stadium used for the games was the ANZ stadium. ANZ is a major bank. The stadium is still being used for professional rugby and soccer matches.

Cricket World Cup

The city of Sydney hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics.
The Australian government invested over 10 billion dollars in redeveloping an old unused industrial park.
The main stadium used for the games was the ANZ stadium.
ANZ is a major Australian bank.
It is still being used for professional rugby and soccer matches.
Most recently the stadium was used for the final soccer match of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Cricket World Cup

This year the host nations for the 2015 Cricket World Cup are Australia and New Zealand.
I had the opportunity to watch a match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The match was between England and Afghanistan.
 It was very rainy that day, so the match was postponed multiple times.
There were more Afghani fans than English.