Day 7 - Reef, Dancing and Flip Cup in Cairns

Day seven (Thu, Feb 25 in Australia) started early. We were on the docks at 7:30am to catch the Down Under Dive Great Barrier Reef boat. It was an all-day reef excursion with snorkeling, scuba diving, submarine tour and options for a helicopter ride. By the end of the day we added an extra option...booze cruise! After snorkeling and scuba diving through coral and seeing a plethora of marina life including turtles, sea cucumbers, clown fish (we found Nemo), massive napolean fish, giant clams, crocodile fish, large clams and more, we started our trek back to Cairns.


Matt, Greg, Dave and Mo lounging on the Great Barrier Reef boat.

Mo gets ready for some snorkeling. We had to wear Stinger Suits to protect us from a very deadly jelly fish that are common this time of year.

Matt ventures out into the reef.

We got lukcy and spotted a green turtle on our dives.

Greg, Matt, Mo and Dave get ready to dive!

Great Barrier Reef up close.

Dave goes swimming with the fish.

Reef life.

Wally, a Napolean fish, is the king of the area of the reef we checked out.


The return trip was highlighted with live musical entertainment from one of the staff members and free wine and cheese. Free alcohol and live music was all we needed to take it to the next level. Before they knew it we had the whole cabin singing and dancing along to Bob Marley, Neil Diamond, The Beatles and Elvis. When asked if a dance party had ever broken out on one of their boat excursions, the staff manager said, "Not in a long long time...the whole crew loved it!" The dance party didn't end when the boat docked. Using our iPod player as a boom box, we literally danced off the boat, along the dock, through the town and right to the lagoon.

Group shot from the bow of the Great Barrier Reef boat.

Dave doing his best Ace Ventura impression.

After starting the on-board dance party, the staff gave us free Coronas.

We got our beginner scuba diving certificates.

After a rince at the lagoon, we did dinner at Rattle N' Hum, one of Cairns popular eateries. A few friends from the boat came over for a pre-party and then we hit the Rhino Bar where we organized a group flip-cup game and danced the night away.

Things were looking up for the Travel In Sandals crew.

Travel In Sandals takes flip cup international...

Greg and Dave fist pumping and beating the beat.

Greg and Clare dancing on the stage at Rhino Bar.

Ohhh man...

Matt dancing the night away.

Day eight is a travel day to the famous Whitsundays Islands for a 3 day, 2 night boat trip. Check it out at http://www.islandive.com/.

Day 6 - Good Bye Sydney, Hello Cairns

Day 6 was a travel day. Fighting off the symptoms of a long last night in Sydney, we boarded our three hour flight up Australia's east coast to Cairns (pronounced Cans), the main launching point for Great Barrier Reef excursions. We arrived around noon, checked into the hotel and were in the water by 2pm.


Matt, Mo and Greg at the Sydney airport looking a bit fatigued after tearing up the town for four days.


Mo says good bye to Sydney.


Travel In Sandals touches down in Cairns on the northeast coast of Australia, best known for being the launching spot for Great Barrier Reef excursions.

Matt enjoying the view from the Cairns hotel.

View of the beautiful Cairns bay.


Instead of a traditional beach, the main city of Cairns has a lagoon. Our cab driver said it's because the Aussies and Americans destroyed the beach area launching ships during WW II. The lagoon is basically a massive shallow pool that over looks the ocean and acts as a fun social daytime gathering spot for the backpackers around town. We hung in the lagoon for a few hours relaxing in the sun and catching some well needed rest...our livers were very appreciative.

Mo and Dave check out the Cairns lagoon.

Lounging in the lagoon.

Mo, Greg and Dave having some underwater photo fun.

Mo down under.

Taking in the beautiful views of the Cairns mountains and ocean.

Despite the crazy partying and somewhat unhealthy eating habits, the boys are staying in shape...sort of.

The beautiful Rochelle helps the Travel In Sandals gang book their reef adventure.


The night in Cairns consisted of a delicious Thai food dinner and a couple drinks at a local watering hole...at least that's how it started. Just our luck the watering hole we went to called the Woolshed was 2-for-1 drinks to start, followed by a WET T-SHIRT contest! Here's to wet t-shirt Wednesdays and seeing cans in Cairns!

Matt complying with the local Cairns dress code...capri jeans!

"Wet T-Shirt Wednesday" stamps.

Uhhhh...nice necklace?!?!?!

Matt, Greg, Mo and a new Irish friend take a late night stroll in Cairns.



Day seven is a full-day Great Barrier Reef snorkeling and diving adventure. Nemo here we come!!

Day 5 - Koalas, Kangaroos and Karaoke

Koalas and Kangaroos are two of Australia's most iconic creatures so it was a must to do a day trip outside the city to the Koala Park Sanctuary. Koalas live a life we can all only dream of. They sleep for 20 hours a day, wake up, eat, mate and go back to sleep. The only tough part is posing for the tourist cameras a couple times a day.


Mo and Dave took inspiration from their new little furry friends...tickle, tickle, tickle!!

Travel In Sandals gang at the Koala Sanctuary outside Sydney.

Dave and his new lady friend Tadpole.


Matt doing his Koala impersonation by enjoying some euclyptus.


Kangaroos are more active, but just as friendly, especially when you have cheerios to feed them.

Mo feeding the kangaroos cheerio treats.


Greg and Dave petting the kissing kangaroos.


After the Koala Park, we headed back to Bondi Beach to recapture the glorious experience we had a few days earlier. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, but the fun laid back vibe was intact. At lunch at the Bavarian Bier Cafe, Mo and Dave conquered a schnitzel food challenge earning themselves a couple free shots of schnapps. Although, the schnitzel, beer and shots were good, the best part of the meal was our new friends - Felicity and Steph.


Mo pointing to the Bavarian Bier Cafe's schnitzel challenge.

The schnitzel...half way through.


Mo, Felicity, Steph, Matt and Dave tossing back the Schnitzel Challenge celebratory schnapps shots.


We had to go big on our last night in Sydney despite having a 9:30am flight to Cairns the next morning. World Bar in Kings Cross, which is known for its teapot cocktails (think Shark Attacks at Sharkeez, but in small teapots), was the place to be on Tuesdays. To our delight (Greg especially) they had karaoke!

Greg at World Bar on the last night in Sydney...."Are you seeing this?!?"

Greg singing backup on Nelly Fertado's "Permiscuous Girl" with Bruna and her friend.

After his backup performance, Greg took center stage and set the place on fire with an energetic rendition of Bon Jovi's "Livin On A Prayer."

Being it was our fifth night out on the town we started to see friends from previous nights such as Sam, pictured here with Matt, Dave and Mo.


Matt enjoying teapot cocktails and PDFs with his new friend Lenka.


After Mo, Dave and Greg took over the dance floor and made friends with everyone and Matt planned his trip to Slovakia, it was time to head out. We picked up our usual late night kebabs - we were such routine cutomers they gave us a discount and a free water on our last night - and made it to the hotel to grab a few hours of sleep before going to the airport.

Sydney was off the charts on every level. No doubt one of the most well-rounded cities on the planet. Amazing sites, beautiful beaches, friendly people, delicious food, ideal weather, non-stop nightlife and we got to see and do it all! Bye Sydney, can't wait for next time.Next up Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef!

Day 4 - The Rocks & Harbor Bridge

On Monday we kept the Sydney siteseeing going as we checked off several more of the city's popular venues and sites. We started off with lunch in The Rocks, the oldest part of Sydney. We sat down at Zina Pina Pizzeria, one of the areas most popular pizza joints. Decent pizza, but the States has Australia beat in the pizza department by far.

Being the oldest area in Sydney, there were a lot of historic buildings to see such as Hero of Waterloo (Sydney's oldest pub), Fortune of War (Sydney's oldest stone pub) and Mercantile Hotel (Sydney's oldest Irish Pub)...yes, we saw more than just pubs...eventually.

Matt, Mo and Greg outside Hero of Waterloo Pub, the oldest bar in Sydney. Fortunately, we were able to avoid the trap door.

The Travel In Sandals gang inside Hero of Waterloo starting their day off the old fashion way...with a pint.

Mo and Dave tossing back a pint at Mercantile Hotel, Sydney's oldest Irish Pub.

Greg and Matt diving face first into a pint at Mercantile Hotel.


Once our bellies were full with food and beer, we decided to stomach a walk along the Harbor Bridge to get a birds eye view of the city. We didn't do the walk to the top of the bridge because a) it costs $250 and b) they give you a breathelizer before you go walking the catwalks and latters, which we would've failed considering the historic pub crawl we did.

Dave and Matt on the Harbor Bridge with the Opera House in the distance.

The Opera House and Botanical Gardens viewed from the Harbor Bridge deck.


After the Rocks, we hit Darling Harbor where the city's casino is located (if there's a casino around, Greg and Mo will find it). They actually both won!


Mo, Greg and Dave enjoying the sunset at Darling Harbor.

City view from Darling Harbor.


You'd think Monday night would be a mellow evening, but to our delight it was backpackers night in City Center!


Although the day was filled with Sydney history, Greg was able to find a new city tradition, drinking mixed cocktails out of teapots.