I hadn’t planned on taking another 14+ hour flight again anytime soon, after last year’s excursion to New Zealand, but when the right ticket at the right price and the right time presents itself, it’s difficult to say no. We booked tickets on American from Ronald Reagan airport in Washington, DC to Sydney (via Los Angeles) for a price that was low enough that we believe it could have been a temporary glitch in American’s pricing system. We had a total of twelve folks interested in coming, but only ten of us were eventually able to book at the low price.
As usual, I needed a way to keep track of this group, and, eventually, a clear system arose. I had the three new travel group members, Lydia, Emily, and Utah; the Shifflett boys, Joe, Justin, and Sam; the distinguished gentlemen, Adam and Tanner; and, finally, myself and Gabby. I had considered assigning everyone a Looney Tunes character (similar to the Fellowship of the Ring last year), but never actually got that far, partially because I wasn’t sure if it would actually make it easier to keep track of everyone.
Why Looney Tunes? Two reasons. First, there is, of course, the connection to the Tasmanian Devil, which lives only on the island of Tasmania in southern Australia. We weren’t planning to pay a visit to this island on this particular trip, but the devil was a good mascot for the trip, and we hoped to see one somewhere along the way. Second, if you grew up on Looney Tunes, you may recall “The Rabbit of Seville.” This is a humorous rendition of what is considered one of opera’s greatest comedies, “The Barber of Seville.” As part of our trip, we were hoping to get to experience this opera in the iconic Sydney Opera House.
Utah, on the other hand, came up with his own way of keeping track of everyone. He said I and Gabby were dad and mom, although Gabby doesn’t act like a mom, but, "she gets it by association." Joe, Tanner, Adam, and Lydia were the aunts and uncles of the group - Tanner specifically being the crazy uncle, and Joe being the uncle who’s starting to settle down and has a couple of kids (Sam and Justin). He and Emily rounded out our family tree as assorted cousins.
On this trip, we did a "reverse Finding Nemo" route. As you may (or may not) remember, Nemo was taken off of the Great Barrier Reef, and his dad, Marlin, had to ride the East Australian Current ("the EAC, dude") down the east coast of Australia, through the open ocean, to eventually find him near Sydney. We, on the other hand, arrived in Sydney, saw the sights there, then flew north to Cairns and Port Douglas to see the reef.
We prepared for the trip by watching several educational films, including Finding Nemo and The Fall Guy, as well as listening to music by some Australian artists. We learned about the history of the Sydney Opera House, the contagious cancer that causes Devil Facial Tumor Disease, how jellyfish sting you, and what kangaroo pouches look like.
Oh, and, as you’ve probably heard, jellyfish are one of many things that can kill you in Australia. We happened to be traveling to Australia at the height of “stinger season,” when there are more jellyfish in the water, due to the warm temperatures. The box jellyfish is the most venomous animal in the world, but its smaller cousin, the Irukandji, might be more worrisome. This species is roughly the size of your thumbnail, and you might not even notice the sting initially, but, 45 minutes afterwards, you’re bent over in pain and vomiting. Once we get past the jellyfish, we have the sharks (particularly in the south), and the snakes (including the taipan, the world’s deadliest), and spiders (which Adam helpfully assured us that few people actually die from these days, since there are anti-venoms to counteract their bites). Oh, don’t forget the saltwater crocodiles, and the documented deaths from cassowaries, an aggressively large land bird slightly smaller than an ostrich. Sounds like an adventure to me!
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