Moreton Island Adventures!

Hello!

I have lots to talk about since it’s been almost two and a half weeks since I last posted something. I have time in between my classes now so I figured I would take some time to update everyone.

Two weekends ago, my study abroad program had planned a day trip to Moreton Island. It’s the second largest sand island in the world. We took a ferry from Brisbane to the island. The ferry took about an hour and it was enough time to catch up with the other people in my program that I hadn’t seen since orientation. When we were approaching the island, the water seemed to be more clear and blue than anything. It was beautiful! The island is known to have shipwrecks in the water so it was so cool to see as we got closet to the island. We got into our 4-wheel drive (that fit about 15 of us) and drove directly onto the beach.

So beautiful

We took a bumpy ride through the forest and ended up at the desert part of the island. It really did look like the desert in Aladin! The sand dunes were huge so climbing up them was a bit difficult. I couldn’t help but run up it thinking that that would be my workout for the day. We then went sand tobogganing down the 150 foot sand dune. We went down on snowboard-looking boards. I was hesitant at first, but once I went, I wanted to keep going! I went 3 times on my stomach and 2 times sitting up. It was fun going down, but that walk back up the dune (5 different times!) was exhausting. Like I said, that was my workout for the day! After sand tobogganing, we drove back to the beach and had a barbie (BBQ) and hung out on the beach and in the water. We then went snorkeling through the shipwrecks. It was kind of a hectic snorkel. We had to keep swimming because the current was really strong and we couldn’t touch the shipwrecks because they were really sharp (because of the rust and barnacles). We saw 2 sharks and so many fish. It was pretty cool!

Welcome to the desert!

In the desert!

Sliding down the 150 ft. dune

Ready to go!

The shipwrecks

A few of us for a group shot

Ready to snorkel!

It may be tough to see, but that's a shark!

Thanks for the underwater camera, Mom and Dad :)

Leaving the island on the ferry.

The day was amazing and it makes me so happy that I chose the study abroad program that I did. They set up so many trips for us to enjoy and they’re definitely trips I will remember!