Scout The Globe - Australia

March 8 2007 Day 6 – Travel day to Brisbane, Australia

The second leg of this scouting trip is Australia. Departing Nadi airport, Fiji, I arrived about two hours before my flight’s departure. Reaching my contact at the next destination was becoming problematic. It is a great example of the necessity of scouting trips, to iron out the wrinkles that may arise in a trip. One of our many strengths is to adjust to the wrinkles of a trip and come up with great solutions that satisfy all our clients. As luck would have it, I immediately met a couple of Aussies named Peter and Kristen on their way back from the U.S. Within 5 minutes we all knew we would get along famously and I was invited to stay with them in Brisbane. Having locals as guides in any location and taking advantage of it provides great shortcuts to finding all the great places to bring clients. When arriving in Brisbane, we caught a cab back to their apartment. Our plans were to get a quick change of clothes, sort through some luggage and get to the Gold Coast. What an unbelievable friendly bunch of people to take a yank in after 5 minutes. Pete’s sister Andrea hosted our group and the hospitality was amazing. The Gold Coast is working out to be a great place to bring anyone who likes to have a great deal of fun.

March 9 2007 Day 7 – March 12 2007 Day 10

When I woke in the morning I went out to Miami Beach, Australia for a couple of hours. I did some body surfing and boogie boarding with Pete and Kristen, and then laid in the sun for a bit. The morning was really nice and quite relaxing. After the beach we all came back for quick showers and then headed to Boulevard Tavern in Surfers Paradise, where I meet a bunch of Pete and Kristen’s friends including Lois, Ado, and many others. We shot pool and got to hear the lead vocalist and guitar player for a killer band called Misdirection, all of whom Pete and Kristen are good friends with. Everywhere I go, I am meeting great locals who will give any traveler a great time and it is only at Limitless Adventures that you will get to experience such great local atmosphere.

I spent most of Day 8 scouting different locations around Australia. We checked out Mt. Tambourine, and found Kristen’s Aunt Maree and her husband Mick. It is really beautiful in the Rain Forest and I went to this really cool spot called End of the World. It is a great place to recover and ready oneself for more surfing and scuba. From there we drove back to Brisbane to pick up a few clothes for the week and then back up to Gold Coast.. Can’t wait for tomorrow to do some surfing!!!!

I spent the morning at the beach which was awesome and got my first surfing in since I arrived in Australia. The waves were 3-5ft and beautiful. At the beach all the waves were breaking right which is perfect for me and I was able to get up on 7 waves. My longest ride was probably 8-10 seconds and I spent at least 2 hours in the water. Have to throw huge thanks out to Lois for letting me borrow a surf board, I had a blast today. After surfing I cruised around with Pete and Kristen to a few of there friends houses and then to Andreas work, BBQ, were I finally learned how to play Bocce Ball, similar to horseshoes but with round balls. Overall another fun day on the Gold Coast and a chance to really immerse myself into the local culture!

Peter and Kristen had to return to their jobs in Brisbane yesterday and I decided to stay on the Coast. Lois let me keep her board until I left to get Christy. Not having a car and with Andrea at work I went for a nice jog with surfboard underarm to the beach. Ended up having another really nice session in the water and got up on a couple more waves (little smaller today). After surfing I walked back stopping for a quick lunch and some much needed hydration. I am discovering all the great local places to eat…it really helps to be able to personally recommend some of the best eateries in the area! Christy and I needed a way to get up to Cairns so that we could SCUBA the Great Barrier Reef and I was thinking a bus was in order. Then I learned that the bus ride was going to take up to if not longer than 20 hrs so I booked us both a flight for the 14th and we will return on the 24th for 1 night before heading off to Sydney. Another great example of the importance of this scouting trip…we now know to include rental cars at this location!

March 13 2007 Day 10 – Back to Brisbane

Our trips to Australia will always include the option of our clients experiencing a Cricket match! The Cricket match we attended was one in which Pete was actually playing in. I must say it took a few explanations for me to get a grasp on how the game works. Cricket is not like any other game I have ever watched and to make it even more confusing this was indoor Cricket which is different than outdoor. Cricket is most similar to Baseball. Anyway Christy and I tried to figure it out as Pete and his team demolished there opposition with a score of 118 to 12. As always, I want to return the favor of the explanation of Cricket with something I know so after the match, back at Pete’s, I was able to teach him a bit of No Limit Holdem!

March 14 2007 Day 11 – March 15 2007 Day 12
Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef

Another huge thanks to Pete and Kristen this time for letting us leave our huge bags at their house in Brisbane while we travel to Cairns for 9 days. We made our flight to Cairns encountering no problems. Scouting the local hostels and hotels did not take long. We called a couple places to price them out and we ended up at a hostel called Nomad Serpentine. Christy and I booked a trip from the local travel planner at the Backpackers (hostel) for a 1 night live aboard trip which included 6 dives. The company we are going out with is called Reef Encounters and the boat looks incredible.

What a crazy day! We started our day at 6:30am to get to the Compass, which was a sea taxi to the Reef Encounters boat. The Compass left port at around 9:00 a.m and traveled 2 hours to where Reef Encounters was located. Then about 10 passengers out of the 40 or so onboard the Compass off-loaded to a small prop boat in order to get over to Reef Encounters and the beginning of an incredible 2 days of diving. Once on board we couldn’t have been happier. Christy and I got our own room that was equipped with our own bathroom and a bunk bed. This boat was amazing and the crew was absolutely awesome. After getting settled we headed to the dinning room which was immaculate for a little lunch and our first dive briefing. Our first dive we decided to pay the extra 10 dollars to get a guided tour of the Reef from Gavin one of the Dive Masters in training. The first site was called Hastings Reef and we were in the water by 1:30 p.m.

Dive 1 - Hastings Reef is absolutely incredible and the water temp was around 85 degrees. For this dive Christy and I followed Gavin about 50 yards to the Reef wall and then cruised to a place called cabbage were the soft corals were just amazing. Highlights of this dive were soft corals, blue spotted stingray, a couple nemo’s, a moray eel and much more sea life.

Dive 2 – For the second dive of the day we traveled to a new dive site called Saxon and I was absolutely amazed at the amount of life in this spot. The Great Barrier Reef has been everything I thought it was going to be and more. For this dive we decided not to have a guide and just go exploring by ourselves. Christy got to see her first shark on this dive, a Reef Shark about 5 ft long. This site was much better than the first one with improved visibility and much more aquatic life. This was also the dive that we ran into our first trigger fish. Trigger fish are very protective of their homes and can grow to be quite big. With that said, I was swimming around the Reef and was attacked for at least 10 minutes by the little menace. Trigger fish have huge buck teeth and luckily he only got my fins, however a couple other people didn’t get so lucky.

Dive 3 – Dive three was a night dive at Saxon which was Christy’s first and my second. We went down around 7:30 pm and again decided not to go with a guide but just tag along with a few of the others on the night dive. Six of us went down and pretty much all stayed together. This was my favorite dive of the day and everything that we saw underwater was completely different from the life you see during day dives, while the torches bring out amazing colors in the coral. A huge highlight of the night dives were giant fish that, when you shined your torch on smaller fish, they gobbled them up. I also got to see my first full Eel, I had only seen their heads previously but at night they come out of there hiding spots in the Reef to hunt. After all that we were back on the boat around 8:30p.m and hung out with the crew for the rest of the evening. Thanks to the skipper and all the dive masters, crew, and a special thanks to our cook who fed us wonderful meals and snacks all day.

March 16 2007 Day 13 – Great Barrier Reef

Dive 1 – Wake up call for the first morning dive was at 6:30a.m and we stayed at Saxon for this dive. Again Christy and I opted not to have a guide because we were now starting to get to know the dive site. We also got another buddy Tamim to come dive with us so we had a great group of 3. Christy had been a little bummed after day one since we didn’t get to see any Sea Turtles. Of course the second we jump in for the morning dive we get a turtle right away. Checking out some new areas along Saxon Reef was really fun and I can’t believe how much different life you see 100 yards from the area we dove yesterday. The water was pretty choppy on our first dive so visibility was poor, however it doesn’t matter that much when you are right on top of the Reef.

Dive 2 – Again at Saxon which was the better of the two dive sites we visited for sure. We had a little breakfast and waited for the sun to brighten things up a bit. This dive was really fun and we were able to see 3 different turtles which were my favorite part of the whole day. We also got to see a couple more Reef Sharks and another sting ray, this one was much larger than the first.

Dive 3 – Back to Hastings Reef for our last dive, which was my least favorite dive of the trip. It was still incredible, but hard to enjoy knowing we had to leave when it was over. After the last dive we had lunch, updated our Dive logs and headed back to the Compass for the 2 hour journey home. It was an incredible trip and Limitless Adventures will use the expertise and superb service of Reef Encounters with our clients.

This is only part one of Australia, so check back often for updates! We will also be traveling in Africa and South America over the next two and half months.

Tags: Scuba Diving | Surfing | Leisure | Scouting

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Limitless Adventures in Cali - Part Two

Following the excitement of SCUBA diving, we decided to take it easy for a few days and enjoy some surfing and other beach activities. We started surfing on the North side of Oceanside Pier, where Christy got to experience her first lesson from our surf guide, Jake, and ended up catching her first wave! Sandy also enjoyed the thrill of catching her first wave, with Matt as her primary instructor, and Jake nearby to provide further instruction. Meanwhile, Juice showed us all how it’s done on a ten foot longboard, riding the waves like only the Juice can do. We also surfed Tamarack Surf Beach, where Jason caught his first wave and rode it all the way to shore.

Roger and Suzanne invited us all to their home in San Juan Capistrano for dinner, and wouldn’t let us leave for two days. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire Stockton family for their kindness to us and our clients. Following dinner on the first night Roger invited some friends over for some drinks where we were privileged to meet JC, Michael, and Morton. Thank you all for your support and advice.

The next morning we went to breakfast at Dana Point, and Roger took us out on his fishing boat, the “Suzy Q”. We all had a blast cruising on the Pacific and then headed back to the house, for some hot tubing and fresh fish. Nicole, Danielle, and Jake wowed us with a musical performance written by Bob Marley. Because the fun never ends, the guys played a friendly game of poker that lasted until early morning. It was the perfect end to the perfect trip.

Until the next adventure,

The Limitless Adventures Crew

Tags: Surfing | Scuba Diving

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Scout the Globe 07′

March 1, 2007 - June 1, 2007

Matt Saunders here to tell you about a 3 month around the world scouting trip beginning March 1, 2007 and returning on June 1, 2007 to find new and exciting adventurers for you. I would like to invite you along for this unforgetable experience. The advantage of traveling on a scouting trip for our clients is purely cost and adventure. If you want to travel the globe on a backpacker’s income, join me on an Limitless Adventures Scouting trip. You will join one of Limitless Adventures Guides to explore new adventures! Limitless Adventure’s scouting trip guarantee’s that this is the first time we will be visiting these locations and you will be part of the initial exploration!

Our promise to you is a killer adventure with great guides looking for the best times and super cheap rates. Scouting trips have no promised itineraries and no luxury accommodations. These trips are ideal for backpackers and college students who need to travel at cheap rates and want to see the world!!

This adventure around the world will depart on March 1, 2007 from Los Angeles CA to Fiji. We will Skydive, Surf, and Scuba Dive in Fiji during our 8 day stay. Next stop is Brisbane, Australia and Surfers Paradise for 16 days of Surfing, Scuba Diving and Skydiving. From Gold Coast we’re off to Sydney on March 24, 2005 for 5 days. We will relax and participate in leisure activities. Departing on March 29, 2007 and arriving in Bangkok on April 1, 2007 we spend the next 3 days being tourist in Thailand and taking in the local culture.

On April 1, 2007 we arrive at Kilimanjaro, Tanzania Africa. From April 1 – April 8 we climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. After completing our climb, the local animals are calling so a two day stop for a safari in The Ngorongoro Crater is just the ticket! Relaxation and fabulous beaches beckon us at Zanzibar.

Our next country is exotic and remote. Zambia offers the source of the mighty Zambeze River and it is also the location of the end…Victoria Falls in Livingstone. We raft the Zambeze with local guides. The Zambeze River has some of the biggest rapids in the world! A thrill of a lifetime. Other stops in Zambia include safari’s, walking safari’s and visiting the local markets.

From Zambia we will fly to Johannesburg and then on to South America. Starting on May 1, 2007 at the most southern point of the continent (Ushuaia, Argentina) we will travel up the Patagonia trail to Santiago, Chile and then return to Los Angeles on June 1, 2007. This blog will be updated regularly as plans for the adventure are finalized.

Tags: Hiking | Safari | Climbing | Leisure | Surfing | Skydiving | Scouting | Scuba Diving

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