JUMPING for Joy....I'm the GRAND PRIZE WINNER!!!

Hello dear friends!

Well, if you haven't heard, I WON! I actually won the grand prize, the $10,000 trip to Australia! I cannot believe it...I've never really won anything before! I got a call last Friday at 5am here (which was lunch time in the US on Thursday) and they told me I won!!! Even though I was sleepy, I was WAY excited! So, thank you so much, all of you, for voting for me, supporting me, and spreading the word!! I would not have won without you! And a special thanks to my loving parents who became voting fiends...they were even voting in their dreams! I have such supportive family and friends! :)

I still do not know all the details yet of the prize and I cannot start planning it until I sign all their forms, etc, but I DO know that it includes airfares, hotels, and tours. Apparently, in the US, any prize winnings over $5,000 you have to pay 25% taxes on, so I have to pay $2500 up front in taxes. Darn IRS. Kinda a bummer, but hey, it's still a great prize! For my trip, I want to go to Cairns where the Great Barrier Reef is and go snorkeling/diving on the reef, sailing around the islands, to the Daintree Rainforest, Frasier Island and Cape Tribulation....and I want to skydive over Mission Beach (hmm...I wonder if they will let me include that)! So I definitely have a good idea of what I want to do and it is very exciting to think about it!

AND...I'm coming home in January for a visit!! I wanted to change my return ticket which was for tomorrow, Nov. 16, to come home for Christmas, but that would've cost an arm and a leg, so I will be coming home January 13 instead. I will get to have a hot SUMMER Aussie Christmas here with family, spend New Year's Eve in Sydney with my cousin (and see fireworks over Sydney Harbour Bridge...amazing), and then come home to cold St. Louis and see family and friends!! I will probably stay for a month to make it worth it, so get ready, I'm comin' home soon....and there are lots of people I definitely want to see! :)

After that, the plan is to come back here with my good friend Mandy who just got a year working visa. We plan to travel together, hopefully go to New Zealand, and maybe settle in Melbourne for a bit! Who knows what will happen, but there's definitely a lot to look forward to!

I think that's all for now, folks. Now, if I can just get you caught up with all my adventures....gotta get back to blogging about my travels soon!

THANKS again to everyone who voted and helped me win this thing! Big hugs and smiles for you all!!! :) :) :) :) :)

Only a few days to go....PLEASE vote....Let's go out with a BANG!!

Dear friends,

Thank you SOOOO much for voting for me and supporting me in this competition. I really appreciate it. I know a lot of you have been voting and many times as well, so I really thank you for that! I know that my parents are voting about 7 times each half an hour on different browsers and computers...yes, they are very supportive and they do a lot for me! :)

We finally found an easier way to vote! Please click on the link below and it takes you straight to my photo! You will see a few of the other photos that I submitted, but just click "vote" on my jumping photo! I cannot believe that we could've been doing this the whole time...oh well! Thanks to everyone who stuck out the grizzly process!

The voting ends at 11pm on Monday, so please vote for me as much as you can these next few days so we can go out with a bang!! The winner is announced on November 11.

http://www.nothinglikeaustralia.com/us/flash.htm#/entries/user/4986

THANK YOU, FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Shannon - The Tassie Jumper :)

Instructions for Voting...

Hi friends!

So voting is now open! Unfortunately, it is a silly system for voting, so it is a little bit complicated. Here are my instructions which will hopefully make it easier for you:

1). Click on this link: http://www.nothinglikeaustralia.com/us/flash.htm#/finalists

2). Find Tasmania on the map.

3). Look for my jumping photo and then click "VOTE" on the corner of my photo. It may take a little bit of time for you to find the photo, but please don't give up! In my photo on the map, my head is not displayed...you will only see from my chest up. Also, my photo is one of the 3 Tasmania photos at the bottom. You just kinda have to hover over the pictures until mine pops up.

Or you can try this...it might be a bit easier:

1). Click on this link instead. http://www.nothinglikeaustralia.com/us/index.htm

2).  Scroll down to where you see a box that says "Experience Number." Then enter in my experience number which is 4986.

3). It will take you directly to my photo but it will still not allow you to vote.

4). Click "Favorite this Person" at the bottom. Then click the "Back" button above my photo.

5). Then click on the "Favorites" tab and my photo should be the only one that pops up, which then makes it easy for you to vote. This also makes it easy for you to vote each day. All you have to do then is click on your favorites and mine pops up!

Like I said, it's a dumb voting system. It does let you vote a couple of times a day and from different computers/email addresses as well. I'm happy with one vote, but if you have the time and patience to do more, I'll take it!

I wish it were an easier process. As my Scottish friend Lauren said, they are not parting easily with their $10,000 trip!

Thank you SOOO much for taking the time to vote!! It is much appreciated!

Please vote for me!!!!

G'Day friends!

So... I could be a big WINNER! I recently entered a contest hosted by Qantas for Tourism Australia and I entered a few photos that I have taken on my travels here. Well, one of my photos was selected for the competition....I'm in the top 20! Now all I have to do is get the most votes by November 8 and I win $10, 000 to anywhere in Australia!!

Yes, I know I am already here, but a $10, 000 trip would be AMAZING! And although I have traveled most of the country already, I haven't finished the east coast AND there are so many amazing places I'd like to go back to! So please help me win! I will be forever grateful!

Voting starts October 25 at 9pm PST time (11pm central time) and ends on November 8 at 9pm PST. You can vote as many times as you want during that period. Please please please vote!! :)

Here is the photo that has made it into the competition:

And here is the link to get to my photo and VOTE: http://www.nothinglikeaustralia.com/us/flash.htm#/entries/4986/title

Thank you for the support!! You'll be hearing from me soon!

Island of 'Roos'!

Well, time for another update! I tell ya, it's hard to keep up with a blog when you have a full-time job! Don't worry, I'm only about 4 months behind! :) Quick update on my job: being a travel agent is actually super stressful. I had no idea of all that is involved in it! I'm still going to give it a fair chance, but let's just say, I don't think I've found the job for me. Oh well, at least I can say that I tried it....and hopefully one step closer to finding that job that is the right fit for me!

 So, for my 3rd Groovy Grape Getaway, I headed to spectacular Kangaroo Island, an island full of Aussie wildlife! KI is OZ's 2nd largest island, the first being Tasmania of course. As you may have already guessed, the island was named KI because there are tons of kangaroos and wallabies. The original founders of the island kept shooting a particular animal and then cooking it up. After learning that that particular animal is called a kangaroo, it made sense to them to name the island that.

On this tour, I was reunited with Holly and Laura, 2 English girls that I had done the great ocean road with. The rest of the group included a Dutch girl, a girl from Hong Kong, and 3 French (2 of whom were very bossy). Our tour guide, Simon, was a very crude Aussie bloke and 2 days with him was enough! I still had a great time, but could've done without his sleaziness (most of the girls agreed on that)!

So, what did I do on KI, you ask? Well, let me tell you all about the fun I had. After getting off the ferry, we went to the Cape Willowbeigh Lighthouse. The views of KI are just magnificent, so the old lighthouse was a nice way to start off the day.

From there, we went to the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Farm, where they grow their own eucalyptus and make all kinds of products (from soap to chocolate). Now the really special thing about this farm is that they raise orphaned joeys, like when a kangaroo has been hit by a car (yes, it happens heaps here). If there is a joey in the mum's pouch, the locals take the joey to the farm. I got to meet Luna, an adorable kangaroo they are raising. She just sat in her basket the whole time-so sweet! Luna is free to come and go as she pleases and soon she will probably just stay with her own kind. She might miss her basket though! Apparently, she still always shows up at the farm for dinner!

Isn't she sweet?!

I love the basket!

What emu farm is complete without an emu?

The next wildlife we saw were sea lions on the beach! They were everywhere! The adult sea lions go out hunting for food for 3 months at a time, so when they are at "home," it is really important for them to sleep...and sleep they do! To me, they look like fat sausages sizzling on the beach. I saw plenty of mum and pup seals; when the mums are home, the pups want to eat all the time and it is really important for them to, so the poor mums never get much of a break. It was so fun watching them wake each other up and then huddle for warmth or ride a wave into the beach. They all fight for the middle spot in the group! It certainly looks like a lazy life, but it makes sense why they have to sleep so much.

He looks like he just flopped!

Mum and pup

So cute!

How sweet...see her arm around the little one?

Having a little chat...actually that big guy kept trying to push in the middle of the others, so she was telling him off!

See what I mean about fat sausages?! Those brown lumps are the sea lions.

After the sea lions, I got to try sand-boarding for the first time! Oh my goodness, it was so much fun and one of my new favorite things to do! It's like sledding, only better because it's such a smooth ride and as you fly down the sand dune, it isn't cold or wet...you just get sandy! :) We had a little competition to see who could go the farthest and I won! I was really flying! Such a blast!

Waxing up the board...very important!

Waiting for the right moment....

Getting in position....

Off I go....

Check out that form! The pointed toes definitely helped! ;)

SO MUCH FUN!!!

We then headed to our cabin for the night. We had a blazing fire and all sat around and toasted marshmallows.

Our rustic cabin.

Some of the group enjoying some hot cocoa. It was freezing at night!

At about 10pm, we went over to the beach to see fairy penguins (now called "little penguins" due to political correctness...so silly)! They are so cute and we saw tons! I don't have any photos b/c the flash hurts their eyes. But it is the coolest experience to see them in the wild....not just in a zoo!

For bedtime, I slept outside for the first time in a swag! I really felt like I had a true bush-Aussie experience. A swag is basically a mattress encased in a canvas liner, but you put your sleeping bag inside and then zip the canvas up around you. It was a freezing night, so I even had my face covered up, but my body stayed very warm. The nice thing about swags is that they really trap your body heat in.  And if it rains (which it did in the desert...of all places), you can pull the flap over your face. A lot of Aussies camp with swags. But the best part is I was lying underneath a brilliant canopy of stars! It was absolutely spectacular to gaze into the sky and see that many stars! So that was my first swag experience and I've had plenty more since then...that's how we slept in the desert and in the Kimberley's. Here's a pic to give you an idea of what they look like.

I think they look like body bags!!! Imagine how funny it is to see a bunch laid out around the campfire.

The next morning, we woke up bright and early, so there were still stars out because it was so dark.

Some friends who greeted us in the morning.

First thing for the day, we went to a wildlife reserve and saw some cuddly, sleepy koalas.

I love how they look like balls of fur!

After that we headed to the Remarkable Rocks. That's really their name and they really are remarkable! As you can see from the following photos, we had a lot of fun taking pictures with the rocks!

The Remarkable Rocks

Holly, Me, and Laura....miss those girls!

Love this shot!

Hehee, I think we look like little animals!

We got to see some more fur seals at Seal Bay and Admiral Arch. I'm telling ya, KI is just full of wildlife! These seals were either sleeping on the rocks or playing in the water and there were TONS of them!

If you look closely, you can see all the seals on the rocks. It's a bit like Where's Waldo?!

There's those fat sausages again!

Admiral Arch

Beautiful views!

Sparkly like diamonds! ;)

For the rest of our time on the island, we spent the day on a beautiful beach - Hudson Bay. The water was once again the most magnificent colors and so clear! I just love these beautiful Aussie beaches (just wait until I blog about the west coast beaches...unbelievable)! I'm sorry, friends, but OZ has way better beaches than America. You'll just have to come see for yourself!

Even though the water was super cold, Holly convinced me to go in with her...since this may be the only time we are ever on KI. So, now I can say I've been swimming on Kangaroo Island!

Braving the cold!

A bit chilled but loving it! :)

Well, that brings my Kangaroo Island adventure to a close. As you can see, it was fantastic and I would definitely go back there again! I would recommend it to anyone!

Up next: 7 Day Desert Patrol....think of the big red rock!!! :)

Aussie Fact of the Day: Kangaroo Island is famous for its honey and for being the oldest bee sanctuary in the world. Ligurian bees were imported from the Italian province of Liguria in 1881, and Kangaroo Island now has the only pure strain in the world. As a consequence, the importation to Kangaroo Island of bees or any honey products is prohibited.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_Island

For more pictures of my time on Kangaroo Island, click on this link: Kangaroo Island

Wining & Dining...

With Groovy Grape and my package deal, I also went on a day trip to the Barossa Valley, which is just outside the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The Barossa is where some of Australia's famous wine is made, such as Jacob's Creek, which I'm sure you have all heard of (and even tasted)! We went to 4 different wineries, and taste-tested at each one, so by the end of the day, I was all wined-out! We also had a delicious barbecue lunch (including kangaroo meat) of which I ate a ton! Even the tour guide noticed how much I ate...it must've been all the tasty wine I consumed! ;)

I also was reunited with my English friend Laura, who did the Great Ocean Road with me. (We also met up later in my travels on the west coast in Perth). We had a fun-filled day together of wining, dining, and good conversation. And yes, I was still able to walk at the end of the day! ;) Here's a few pictures!

And it did!

Jacob's Creek Winery

SO beautiful!

Winery #2

Gotta love wine-tasting! Such a sophisticated activity! ;)

Winery #3. I love the palm trees on the barrels.

In Adelaide, I also had the wonderful opportunity to stay with the lovely Noelene and Bob Hunt, the parents of American/Australian family friends in St. Louis (thanks for hooking me up, Grahams)! The Hunts live in the scenic Adelaide hills. They welcomed me into their home, cooked me some delicious meals, showed me the sights, and most importantly, spoiled me with some TLC, the kind that only parents can give! It was nice having a mum for a day! They even took me to buy a new camera before I headed into the desert for 7 days (my camera was starting to take blurry photos...I think some sand got in the lens). It was really wonderful to be able to relax for a day before heading onto the next adventure...and it is always nice being spoiled. So thank you, Bob and Noelene, for your generosity. I hope to be able to visit again and spend some more time there! ;)   

We had a nice little lunch on a hill overlooking the beach.

They also took me to the beautiful Mt. Lofty gardens!

The pictures of the botanic gardens are the first photos I took with my new camera.

That concludes my time in lovely Adelaide. Up next: Kangaroo Island!!! Yes, it's everything you can imagine. Until then, I leave you with the....

Aussie Fact of the Day:  Adelaide was named after Queen Adelaide of England (1792-1849), the wife of King William IV (for you, Lindsey)! South Australia is also the driest state in Australia, but it still has 3,800 kilometers of coastline. 

http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/Adelaide-51175.html

I also just got my haircut...a lot chopped off! For those of you not on facebook, click on the link below and check out pics of my new look and STA Travel Training (in Sydney). I had an awesome group of trainees, so lots of new friends. It was an intense training, but we all made it through and passed! We had to pass the training in order to keep the position...it was just like being in school again. We had a great time together though. The new job is very overwhelming (this was my first week), but hopefully in time, it will get better. I'll keep you posted!
STA Travel Training and my new "do"!