6/21/06
By Megan Crumpton
           
Our last day in Sydney was definitely eventful. We woke up at 7 a.m for breakfast and at 7:30 we boarded the tour bus. The tour had many stops the last being The Blue Mountains.  As we boarded the bus we all noticed that it was quite small compared to the other buses we have ridden on our trip. To our surprise we all fit filling every seat, and soon after we were on our way.  Our first stop was The Olympic Stadium and Village. Our tour guide Ken (he will later be described in much detail) showed us all the venues from the 2000 olympics. We stopped for a picture break at the main stadium where the track and field events and the opening and closing ceremonies were held. Just being in front of the stadium was so amazing. We have all seen it on television and it truly is everything it seems. In front of the stadium there were about 150 huge poles. They represented the names of all the volunteers from the Sydney olympics. After we all took our pictures by the poles and by the stadium we received a boomerang lesson from Ken. Cameron, Mariah, and Taylor all got turns at throwing the boomerang and after many tries Taylor was crowned the boomerang champion. It seems to be very tricky, well at least for Cam and Mariah. The boomerang lesson was very much appreciated but it had to end.

So we then got back on the bus and headed towards the Wilderness Park. It took us about an hour but it was definitely worth the drive. When we first got there we did not know what to expect but as we entered we were greeted by kangaroos who were not in cages. At this wilderness park the kangaroos are allowed to rome around and the visitors are allowed to pet them and take pictures with them. While some of us were taking pictures we got a special little “kangaroo show” (it must have been mating season).

After being scarred for life we moved on to the koalas. Normally koalas sleep 20 hours of the day so we were surprised to see them moving around. Not only were they awake but they were out of their cages with the keepers. This was where we all got the best photo op of the day. Everyone was able to get a picture with just them and the koala. Some of us have been waiting for that the whole trip so it was pretty awesome. We all finished taking pictures and moved to the next viewing area.

The next thing was an area where you could feed the kangaroos and the emus. After this everyone went through the rest of the park. There were a lot of the same animals that we saw yesterday at the zoo but these were more up close and personal. There were dingos, crocodiles, snakes, spiders, many different types of birds, wallabies, and penguins. We spent about an hour at the park and after buying gifts from the gift shop and getting some refreshments we were on our way to our nest stop. To our dismay it was an hour away.  On our way to the mountains it started raining and many of our views were ruined by the fog. We did learn though that there was a train and a cable car ride awaiting us at the mountain. When we got there most of us boarded the train. This was not any ordinary train. It was at a 52 degree decline. Basically it felt as if we were going straight downhill.

It was fun though and after we got below the clouds we got some better views. When we got to the end of the train ride we walked along the boardwalk and saw some interesting trees and plants native to Australia. When we were finished we had to go back up to the top of the mountain and to get there we took a cable car. There were many good views out of the car but the fog did ruin the most important one and that was the three sisters. The three sisters are three identical sandstone towers that were at one time seven but over time they have become just three. An old aboriginal tale says that these three towers were formed because of a fathers mistake. This father had three very beautiful daughters. One day when he went to search for food he put them on top of the mountain so they would be safe. While they were on this mountain an old aboriginal evil animal came after them and as he started the climb the mountain the father used his magic bone to turn his daughters to stone. When he did this the animal came after him and while it was chasing him he used his bone to turn himself to a bird. While he was fleeing the animal though he lost his bone. It is said that you can still hear the bird at the bottom of the mountain looking for his bone so he can turn his daughters back. So the three sandstone towers are there waiting for their father to turn them back.

After the great story and some more gift shop browsing we boarded the bus again, well most of us that is. Some of the girls who did not go on the train ride were a little late to the bus. Ken was not very happy. But after a reprimand we then headed to another spot which unfortunately was not lunch. The rain had become a downpour and our walk to find the three sisters was short lived. This was where the day took an interesting turn. After getting soaked in our walk some of us used the restroom and looked around the shops. Well when it was time to board the bus again some of us were missing. Well Ken was not having it so he decided to leave some of the girls and Chris behind and drove the rest of us 2 minutes down the road to lunch. This created quite an uproar. He went back to get the others who were a little upset (for obvious reasons). You may be wondering why we got to be so upset with Ken. Well he was quite a stickler for time. We did have a match later that we could not be late for but we gave ourselves ample time to get there. It was the last day of a long tour and everyone was tired and hungry so it was not a good day to make us Americans angry. We made the best of it though and I’m sure we will laugh about it tomorrow.

After we finally got lunch, which was quite good by the way we headed back to Sydney, which was two hours away. We listened to some true Australian music on the way back and most of us took some much needed naps. (Some others (Tori) decided to blow bubbles with their gum and make complete messes of their face.) When we got back to the hotel we said sayonara to Ken, and got our stuff together for our match. We had a special treat in store for us tonight. We were playing at the olympic venue in the olympic park. It was a very nice building but very very cold. We all had to warm up for a very long time. After we finally got warm we all split into two teams (tonight they were different from the rest). The first team consisted of the mighty mights, Caitlin, Kirstin, and Megan .C. played NSW which is the New South Whales state team. They lost 17-25 and 17-25. The second team consisting of Sarah, Meghan, Taylor, Tori, Erin, Jodie, and Stacie won their two games 25-19, 25-18, with Chris taking over coaching duties for Jodie.   After these games we switched the teams and the opponents. The new team one was Megan .C., Sarah. Tori, Meghan, Kirstin, Erin, and Jodie. They won one 25-18 and lost one 23-25. The new team two was the mighty mights, Caitlin, Stacie, and Taylor. They won one 25-18 and lost one also 27-29.

Journal writers note: Megan Crumpton played outside in all of tonight matches. Something very different from reality!!!!

After the matches we headed back to our hotel. We stopped to eat our last dinner together at Tony Romas and to have our awards ceremony. After good awards and good food we all headed back to the hotel to pack and get ourselves together before our early departure in the morning. We are all very sad to be leaving such an awesome vacation tomorrow. I do not want to leave and I’m sure many others do not either. We all need to send out a thank you to all of our parents and friends for giving us the support (both monetarily and emotional) we needed to go on this trip. It was definitely a once and a lifetime opportunity!