Australia 2012: Day 7 - Daydream Island

After an early start this morning (5:45 a.m.) we started to make our way to Daydream Island in the Whitsundays. As we traveled farther north, we left our home of the last 2 days on the Capricorn Coast. We spent time watching a movie, reading and listening to music, while we ventured to our island destination. Before we could jump on the ferry to Daydream Island, we attended an informational session with a volunteer from O.U.C.H. (Order of the Underwent Coral Heroes, a nonprofit organization) learned about the different types of coral, fish we could encounter, along with other sea creatures. According to him, we are here at the perfect time to possibly spot some humpback whales which come here to breed and deliver their calves. He was impressed with the knowledge that we already had of the sea life of the reef. Some of us bought t-shirts where 100% of the proceeds go directly to preservation and education about the reef.

Next, we met our ferry and thoroughly enjoyed the short to the island.We were greeted by the resort employees with shell necklaces and a group photo shoot overlooking the edge of the island. Fiona, the kind lady from Daydream Island, took us to see the local wallaby family, right outside of our hotel and talked about the different activities we will be doing over the next couple of days. We had dinner and celebrated Miss Hannah's birthday.

After dinner, some of the students took part in an interactive marine program while others decided to go and watch the final match in the State of Origin Rugby game on the big screen under the stars overlooking the coast. New South Wales and Queensland were 1-1 going into tonight's game and the title on the line - win or go home. Most of our students were rooting for NSW because Elisa, our delegation manager, is from there. Jim, the coach driver, is from Queensland, so for the days leading up to this game, there has been a friendly rivalry between Jim and everyone else. The students had a blast whooping and hollering for NSW, unfortunately in the end, they came up 1 point short.