July 2008 Archives

Video courtesy of Tourism Australia

Video courtesy of Tourism Australia

This is our last blog from Australia, so several of us wanted to write our thoughts about our amazing adventures so far. We still have a full day planned for tomorrow...but probably the next blog to appear here will be after we're all back home. Meanwhile...




Video courtesy of Tourism Australia

G'day mates! This is Maya, reporting for the first part of today's adventure. Our day began when we took a bus ride and arrived at Taroona Primary School, set atop a gorgeous hill overlooking the sparkling bay. There, we met with our Tassie buddies that we had been e-mailing prior to the trip...

Video courtesy of Tourism Australia

Hey, it's Abbie and Mara! After the joy of sleeping in yesterday morning, we waved goodbye to tropical Cairns and our awesome tour guide Tracy. While waiting for the plane to Hobart, Tasmania, we also played pranks on others in the airport...

 

Video courtesy of Tourism Australia

Video courtesy Tourism Australia

Video courtesy Tourism Australia

Hi, I'm Alex. Today the National Geographic Kids expedition team first visited a school in Cairns and the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park. We arrived at the Hambledon State School in Cairns this morning and saw children along the sidewalk eagerly awaiting our arrival. At first the children were a bit timid and shy, but after talking to them for a bit they opened up and were very talkative. They taught me all kinds of cool things I never knew. They showed me berries that you could pop on your fingers to appear as if you're bleeding...

Hi, this is Savanna:)
Today was packed full of exciting adventures--much like every day here in Australia. Not only did we get to experience the sights of the Barron Gorge National Parks's wet tropical rain forest from the world's longest Skyrail, cuddle with koala bears, and hand-feed little wallabies.

At the end of our midday excursion we got a chance to walk around in Australia's largest butterfly sanctuary...

 

Video courtesy Tourism Australia

Hi, this is Veronica. This morning we got up and checked out of our hotel nice and early and headed for Hartley's Crocodile Adventures. We saw lots of different animals there, from crocs to cassowaries. We hopped in a boat, equipped with metal grid and glass windows for protection against the croc's massive jaws.  Every once in a while, Andrew, our guide, would hang a chicken head out the front of the boat and the crocs would jump and claw for it. Which made for great shots. The boat was a frenzy of camera clicks and kids running from one side of the boat to the other trying to get a killer shot. I think I got a couple good ones. After the (life-threatening) boat ride, we went on a walk around the park with a guide to see the rest of the animals. When we started our walk we were greeted by a little swamp wallaby...

Video courtesy Tourism Australia

The Great Barrier Reef from the air, approaching Cairns

Hi, I'm Benjamin. As soon as we all got up this morning, we boarded a bus to go to breakfast. We went to the Rainforest Habitat wildlife park, where we got to hold some pretty cool rain forest animals, like the carpet python, tree frog, parakeet, and crocodile. We learned a little bit about each of the animals too. For example we learned that the python could grow to be several feet long. The one I held was about four feet long.


Afterward we ate breakfast with the birds. The birds were flying around, swiping our food and drinking our juice, and sitting on our heads and shoulders. One even peed on my shoulder! It was all great--even the pee.

The plane was delayed!!! :(

Hi, I'm Adam DeSerio. It was great getting to meet the other kids at LAX in an awesome Private lounge! We had free food, and received a gift bag containing Aussie leather hats, and an Australian dictionary. Everything was going great till one of the hosts told us that our plane had been delayed till 2:30 a.m., and originally we were going to leave at 11:20 p.m. Most of us slept right there in the airport. When we finally got on the plane at 1:30 we were notified that we ONLY had 13 hours till we would land in Brisbane! It is really funny because the leather hats were made in Australia, were shipped to Los Angeles, then were taken back Down Under, and will eventually end up back in Los Angeles! Ha, ha--it's great!

Welcome to the Hands-On Explorer Challenge trip blog! The departure date for the Kids Expedition team is around the corner, on July 16. That's when 15 kids and two teachers, all winners of the contest, fly to Australia. During their 13-day expedition to Queensland and Tasmania, they'll snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef, get up close and personal with koalas, learn about Aboriginal peoples and their culture, talk with Aussie cowboys, meet Tasmanian students and plant trees for their joint project to save the Tasmanian devil, and more.