The Great Barrier Reef and Beyond!

Here’s a rundown of the last few weeks, since I’ve last blogged.

On June 7th Sarah and I flew from Melbourne to Cairns, via Brisbane. We left rainy, cold Melbourne and a few hours later landed in sunny, warm and humid Cairns. What a difference. Cairns is in the northeast corner of Australia. We checked into the Northern Greenhouse hostel which is a really cool place. You can tell it used to be a motel the way all the rooms open towards the pool, and each room has an en suite bathroom which is different than the community bathrooms down the hallway we’ve been used to. We met our new roommates: Evan from Taiwan and Michael from Germany, ditched our bags and headed to the lagoon. You can’t go to the beach here in Cairns because it’s not that nice and there are saltwater crocodiles. So the city council built a lagoon swimming pool which has a sandy park and a large grass park surrounding it. It’s right next to the coast and has a long shopping esplanade around it full of stores and restaurants. We’ve spent many afternoons at the lagoon, just lounging the grass. Our hostel has a pool but the hotel next to us blocks the sun after about 11am. So then we move to the lagoon.

Jamie, my sorority sister, former roommate and great friend, flew into Cairns on July 9th to spend a month with us in Australia. The first week she was here was mostly spent at the lagoon, going to some pubs at night, and basically taking it easy. We went out on a boat one day and went scuba diving. It was SO awesome. We saw turtles, giant clams (like the size of me), sea cucumbers, tons of fish, and beautiful coral. Our 1st dive instructor looked like Buddy from The Incredibles. He showed us we could touch the back of the sea anemones and hold sea cucumbers (and they actually grab onto you with their tentacles) and even touch a turtle’s back as it munched on coral. Of course we saw tons of Nemos (clownfish). Our second dive we got to stay down longer, about 40 minutes. While I was snorkeling between our dives I swam through a swarm of jellyfish which stung my leg in 3 places. The burning sensation was nothing compared to the horrible itching that would follow for the whole next week. But that won’t stop me from going again; Jamie and I liked diving so much we have already booked another trip, this time with 3 dives. I’m hoping to see some rays and reef sharks!

We got restless after the first week in Cairns (it’s a small town and you can only stay out in the sun so long) so we decided to take a road trip.

We rented a car and drove north, stopping at some beaches you can swim (as long as you stay between the lifeguard flags and the shark net) at along the way. One beach had a sign warning us against crocs, sharks and jellyfish. And it said the UV strength was “extreme” and the burn time was 6 minutes. Not my kind of beach. We stayed the first night of our road trip in Port Douglas, which is only about 30 minutes away from Cairns. It’s a relaxed port town, pretty expensive, and seemed like a great place for retirees to vacation. We went to their beach and that afternoon went to the Yacht Club for free Wednesday night sunset sailing. After our lovely boat ride we drove another hour up to Cape Tribulation, in the heart of the rainforest. We took a small ferry to cross the crocodile-filled Daintree River then drove through the thick rainforest until we came to our hostel/resort. There are only a few places to stay in this part of the country and not much to do. The next morning Jamie went “Jungle Surfing”, zip lining over the top of the rainforest.

Our next stop was Yungaburra, in the Atherton Tablelands. We stayed at this adorable little hostel called On The Wallaby. It’s a converted house so it has a homey feel and was really small and quaint. They didn’t even have a TV, but we didn’t miss it at all. Our first night there we joined them for an Aussie BBQ – sausages, steak, etc – then Jamie and I went on a night canoe expedition to spotlight tree kangaroos, bandicoots and possums. Their possums are much cuter than ours. The next day we saw this ‘famous’ Curtain Fig Tree, some waterfalls and had lunch and cheese at a dairy farm. The day after that we checked out of the hostel, saw some more waterfalls, then drove back to Cairns. We checked back into the same hostel in this town, and now we have a poolside room. In fact I’m sitting by the pool as I type this.

We met some super nice Irish guys and American guys at the hostel and have been out with them a few times.

Two days ago Jamie and I went to Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park where we saw some Aboriginal shows, got our faces painted and learned how to throw returning boomerangs. Then we took a SkyRail gondola to Kuranda where we held a koala and hand fed kangaroos. The koala was SO cute and sleepy. It was a lot heavier than I thought it would be but also much softer. I want one!

Today is my birthday so I think they’ll be joining us tonight to celebrate. Jamie and Sarah surprised me with donuts this morning on my golden birthday (25 on the 25th!) and we are going out to eat tonight. It was so nice to hear from my family and friends today. It’s been a nice, relaxing birthday and who would have thought I’d be in Australia for it! Brooks is in the running for worst birthday gift ever given, he called to say Happy Birthday and to let me know he had gotten his orders and is headed to Afghanistan in a few days. So please keep him in your prayers for the next 6 months, until he returns home safely!

That’s about it for now. We are going diving again this Saturday then I’ll be watching Jamie sky dive on Tuesday. Yes, just watching. Wednesday we fly to Darwin for a week of exploring Kakadu National Park. Oh I bought my plane ticket for India and Thailand yesterday. Sarah and I are headed there in August – 2 weeks in India and 2 in Southern Thailand. Then back to Sydney before flying home in September. Hope all is well with everyone back in the States! Miss you!