Exploring Australia

Australia is home to 19 World Heritage Sites and is the only continent that has two sites that connect into one ecosystem. I had the pleasure of visiting three of these sites, The Sydney Opera House, The Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics of Queensland as well as meeting one of the tribes of Aboriginals that calls the wet tropics home.

Sydney Opera House

A masterpiece of late modern architecture this site was inscribed in 2007 and is the youngest site on the list. Built from the late 1950’s into the early 1970’s this structure built by the late Jorn Utzon remains one of the most loved buildings in all of Australia and the world.

The Great Barrier Reef

My travels took me to Cairns in Northeastern Australia where I had two amazing days diving the Great Barrier Reef.  I opted to head out to the reef on one of the smaller vessels; the Falla Sailboat for a more intimate and quite experience. This also gave me more time to learn about some of the ecology of the reef and leave a smaller footprint. Sailing to the outer banks was beautiful and as the water lapped the sides of our boat my passion to save these places was ever more instilled. It took about 2 hours to sail to our first stop, and the weather could not have been more perfect. The water here is shallow enough to snorkel, but diving gets you more time to look at the corals up close and they are more colorful than I have ever seen anywhere else. Later on I jumped in with my snorkel and was able to spot and follow one of the few endangered green sea turtles swimming around in the reef. It was a mesmerizing experience swimming alongside the creature that without help may disappear from our planet. I was lucky enough to spot another turtle at our next location who had noticeable pieces of shell missing from a run in with a boat. Learn more about sea turtles at  http://worldwildlife.org/species/green-turtle
For More Information on The Great Barrier Reef please visit The Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority

Wet Tropics of Queensland

This area of Queensland is made up of over 450km of rainforest and is extremely important to the world for its rich and unique biodiversity. It holds great record of evolution of flora and fauna species in Australia and the relics that covered the land over 50 million years ago. It is also home to marsupials found  nowhere else on earth, and there are over 3,000 plant species, over 100 mammal species and over 360 bird species. Some of its most famous animals are the kangaroo and the Cassowary – second largest bird in the world.
It’s also home to the Aboriginals there are 18 different tribes that live within the wet tropics and they have called this land home for 40,000 years. I had the opportunity to spend an evening at the Tjapukai cultural park while in Cairns. I learned how to play the didgeridoo, started a fire from sticks and sang and danced alongside them in their traditional ceremonies.

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