David here, writing the final blog of our journey. I am writing from my home in Evanston, IL. It is 4:30 in the morning on Sunday the 8th of May and I haven’t been able to sleep because I can’t stop thinking about the amazing journey that we have just completed. I am thinking about the bumpy car rides in Nananu when we would sit in the back of the truck and sing Disney songs, or the horse ride we took through the postcard worthy scenery to that glorious waterfall, or the view from the top of Doom, looking down on the clouds as if we were gods, or the flowing waterfalls at the Milford Sound, or the sense of peace that comes from sleeping under the stars in the Outback, or the color of the sky during a sunset in the South Pacific, or even breaking a bed because we were having so much fun together. I am going to miss all of these things, but maybe most of all is not having the relaxing thought when I go to bed at night that when I wake up, I am going to be surrounded by a group of people that are absolutely amazing, both as a group and in their own rights.
So now what…well I guess I’ll fill everyone in on our final days down under (although I am sure most of you have heard by now). The last week was spent in Cairns, a city on the Northeast coast of Australia. It was an okay town plenty of things to do, but there was a certain vibe to it that turned a couple of us off to it. After the two days of training (everyone got their homework in thanks to a team effort) we were all ready to hit the reef…well most of us were. Christine and Kelsey chose to not participate for personal reasons and unfortunately I was unable to participate due to a bad back and some breathing problems. I am feeling better now, but it was quite a bummer. Anyhow we all still went on the boat, which was pretty nice, it fit us all easily and the accommodations weren’t to shabby. The first day the seven in our group that did scuba got in two dives during the day where they worked on their skills and saw a number of things from giant clams to Clown Fish…Nemo Fish. However at night there was the option of a night dive which Lucy, Hanna, and Dylan partook in. They went down amongst the sharks, jellyfish, crocodiles, dinosaurs, werewolves, ghosts…sorry I’m rambling, but to be honest all of those things could have been down there; they just didn’t see them. Either way they said it was a cool experience swimming around in the pitch black with only a small flashlight to lead the way. The next day was the big day, the day they would receive their licenses…if they passed…which they did! Each of them received there open water diving card so they are officially certified to dive by themselves wherever they please. Ethan our dive instructor had one last surprise however before giving out the cards. It is known as the Vegemite Challenge, actually it was more of a hazing then a challenge, but each of the seven had to eat a spoonful of Vegemite, varying amounts for each based on how they did on a certain test. Some had just a bit, others had a good amount, but Ryan got the mother load. It was more of a scoopful then a spoonful. Before I move on let me just explain that people who like Vegemite must have some drugged out taste buds. I mean the stuff tastes like metal mixed with dirt. Maybe I just don’t have an eclectic palette, but seeing Ryan put that hunk in his mouth made me want to vomit, which Ryan ended up doing in front of just about every person on the boat at the time. I was proud of the kid.
Back in Cairns we spent one more night in our hostel before moving to the Cairns Beach Resort for our last night. We had enough money saved up to be extravagant, so we did it. We had 3 huge rooms, but we really only needed one. We bought a boat load of food for our last dinner together. Ryan, Dylan, and I had a nice time grilling up the steaks, hot dogs, and assorted vegetables and we all had a nice filling meal. It is hard for me to really explain what we did in our last hours there because we each went about it in our own ways. We were all over the place talking with each other, venting, reminiscing, just being with each other was really all we wanted. We made sure to celebrate Ryan’s 21st Birthday with a delicious ice cream cake, but other then that we just chilled. Some of us watched Shawshank Redemption, some of us walked on the beach, others couldn’t stay up any longer and just passed out. We didn’t set anything up or have planned activities, it was just natural we were relaxing as one big happy family for the last time. The next morning was great. We woke up and had fun together, we cooked pancakes, blasted music, smoked some stogies, cleaned what needed to be cleaned before having our final group meeting. In the meeting we all talked about ourselves and each other. Each of us saying our piece about what this trip has meant to us and what everyone else meant to us. From there we headed to the airport where sadly we had to bid farewell to Karen, Cliff, and Kareem who had flown up the day before to see us. It was tough saying goodbye to basically our big brother and sister, but I think each of us was proud to of had them as our leaders and I know we will all keep in touch with them for years to come. I must say however at first we were pretty useless without them, or at least we felt useless, like we were had no idea what to do with ourselves. But we just let Air New Zealand do the rest of the work and after 16 hours of flying we landed back in L.A. different people from the last time we were there. Saying goodbye to each other just didn’t seem right, why were we saying goodbye? It just felt like we were at our next destination and we needed to figure out transportation to the next hostel. I was the first to leave the group and I held it together but inside I was melting.
So the time has finally come when we are no longer together. No more waking up surrounded by thirdeen other people, no more
adventures in the South Pacific, no more one on one time, no more time spent with the family that we have formed these last three months. I feel like I have so much more to say, but for now all I want to say is I miss you guys already and I hope the bonds that we have made these last three months last for a lifetime. So with that I will finish this blog with everyone’s favorite memory from the trip and their plans for the future…oh and I think it’s fair to say that we were the best Carpe Diem group ever! Karen- Memory: The mossy forests of the Routeburn. Receiving our personal fly tour of Mt. Cook. OPC. Horseback in Nananu, Fiji. Watching our boys shave theirs armpits and sleeping under the full moon in the middle of nowhere in the Outback near Lake Eyre.
What’s Next: Southern India baby!
Kelsey- Memory: Hiking in the rain in Nananu then getting stuck on the wrong side of the river. Also hanging out with Sheila and everyone at the farm.
What’s Next: I’m spending the summer back home hopefully working and preparing to start college in the fall studying journalism at Northwestern.
Dylan- Memory: Diving with my partner Frederick on our first certified dive. We swam through caves and there were heaps of large fish…it was like another world.
What’s Next: I really don’t want this trip to end, but I look forward to spending a lot of time with family and finding a fun summer job.
Lucy- Memory: There has been a different favorite moment for every week, from horseback riding in Fiji to snuggling a baby kangaroo in Australia. My most recent highlight would be my underwater adventure with Emily. We went through crazy coral caves and had a dance party on the ocean floor.
What’s Next: I have been sleeping for 80 days and yes I know I’m sleeping cause this dreams too amazing. now that it’s time to wake up I’m headed back home to New Hampshire to spend the summer working at an organic farm. In the fall I’m headed out to Colorado with the lovely Emily Naranjo. Colorado College here we come!
Ryan- Memory: I DON’T THINK I COULD PICK OUT ONE EVENT AS MY FAVORITE. THERE HAVE BEEN FAR TOO MANY SUNSETS AND SUNRISES, CHALLENGES AND VICTORIES, FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO STAKE OUT ONE ABOVE THE REST. (Ryan writes in all caps)
What’s Next: I WAS THINKING I MIGHT HAVE A BIRTHDAY OR SOMETHING.
Willem- Memory: Our time on Sheila’s farm was for sure my favorite. I had such a great time.
What’s Next: Summer! Nuff’ said.
Emily- Memory: It’s hard to choose just one memory from the past 3 months, but sleeping in a double swag with a garment-less Christine, Lucy, and Moji under the stars in the Outback is definitely high up on the list. It was one of the best nights of sleep I’ve ever had,
What’s Next: If it was up to me I would keep traveling around with this new family I’ve found, but instead I will be spending summer with my family in Spain before heading off to Montreux, Switzerland to learn French in an international school. Bummer, right? 😉 Then in the fall I’ll be going to Colorado College with my new roommate, Lucy Gamble!
David- Memory: Like everyone else there isn’t just one that sticks out as “the” memory, but I really cherished our time in Nananu. Not only did I enjoy the villagers and everything that we did there, but I feel like the situation was perfect for us to get to know each other and I feel like that was the beginning of our beautiful friendships…Casablanca…yeah I like movies.
What’s Next- I have one month at home before I head to University of Southern California where I will be studying film for the summer. More specifically screenwriting and I’d like to thank all of you for the inspiration that each of you gave me on the trip.
I haven’t gotten Hannah and Gordon’s quotes yet, but I will put them up as soon as I do. I know that Hannah is looking forward to spending time with me this summer since we live about 10 minutes away from each other. And we should all be looking for the name Dr. Goon in lights very soon.
I guess that’s it for now…it was fun…now the real journey begins…whatever that means.
