The zoo, the beach, and the Great Barrier Reef!

October 12, 2013

Hello all! I left off here with my Melbourne post. During the following week, I had two papers due and two finals to study for so nothing great happened. This week on the other hand was Spring Break! My friends and I flew up to Cairns, Queensland. Cairns, pronounced "cans," is where you go if you want to take a trip out into the ocean to see the Great Barrier Reef. Seeing this was my mission since I knew I was coming to Australia.

My friends and I left bright and early enough that it was still dark outside. Our taxi picked us up at 5:30am. Mind you, this would not be as bad if it weren't for the fact that NSW lost an hour on the same day due to daylight savings. Anyway, we made our way to the airport and through security for our 8:00am flight. The plane ride was nothing special, except that the woman that had the seat next to me claimed she heard my seat was empty. Sorry lady, I did not randomly sit in the seat next to you. Other than that, it was a pretty smooth three hour ride up.

We arrived in Cairns at 10am. Cairns is almost directly north of Sydney, but Queensland doesn't use daylight savings--something about how the schedule would confuse the cows. After we checked into the hostel, Travellers Oasis, we changed and headed to Esplanade. There was a man made lagoon that served as the pool and beach for Cairns, since there wasn't actually any nice beaches nearby. The lagoon was fun though and we all tanned a bit. Actually, we melted in the sun, but that's expected when the sun is so much stronger here. At night we headed to the Night Market for dinner, which is pretty much an Asian market selling souvenirs, jewelry, food, and massages. That night, we also went to Woolshed, which is a bar/club place. Apparently, dancing on tables here is encouraged (though at your own risk, of course). We were all pretty tired, so we called it a night around 10:30/11ish.

On Monday, we took a bus ride up to Cairns Tropical Zoo. It was a pretty small zoo, but they let you get pretty close to many animals--especially the kangaroos. I bought a bag of food and got to feed them right out of my hand! They were so cute. I saw all sorts of Australian animals, like koalas, bilbies, wombats, dingoes, and various birds. I love going to the zoo with my zoom lens and getting closeups of the animals. While we were at the zoo, I had the chance to "Cuddle a Koala." In New South Wales, it is illegal to hold koalas, so one of my missions during my trip to Queensland was to hold one of these fluffy marsupials. Queensland allows you to hold koalas but each koala can only "work" for a maximum of 30 minutes a day. I held Kyla who was seven years old and seemed to not have a care in the world as she was passed from person to person. I wish I could have taken this little creature home with me, but I don't think customs would approve.

After the zoo, we headed a little father up to Palm Cove. We ate lunch then headed out to the beach. Honestly, the water and the sand weren't great, though it was good for a relaxing afternoon. Inez and I dug giant holes for no reason and then continued digging holes to look for clams. We actually found four! When we finished at the beach, we headed back to our hostel for a bbq dinner. I tried kangaroo, emu, and crocodile! I think the emu was the best; it tasted most like steak. The crocodile was pretty good too. It tasted like chicken, but with a slightly tougher texture. The kangaroo was nothing special, though it is supposed to be one of the leanest red meats you can have. They are also in abundance, outnumbering humans in Australia 2.5 to 1. Still, I don't think kangaroo is something I will incorporate into my normal diet.

Tuesday was the day many of us were looking forward to--we were going snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef! We took a boat out to Green Island, which is a small island about 50 minutes from Cairns. Denise, Cara, and Deni wanted to go on the snorkeling trip in the morning, but Laura and Ken wanted to practice on the beach first. Inez and I stayed with Laura and Ken, so in the afternoon, we boarded a small boat and headed a few hundred meters off the beach. The views were spectacular! First of all, I've never snorkeled, so it was pretty cool to be staring in the water and able to breathe. Second of all, the fish were so colorful and interesting to look at. With the corals as the background, I felt like I was inside a giant aquarium. I took a bunch of pictures, but they don't do it justice. If you ever get the chance, go out and snorkle the GBR. My friends and I already didn't go to the really nice parts of the reef (it would've been much more expensive), but what we saw was great. With global warming and the environment changing, the reefs are in danger of losing their color and getting destroyed all together. It doesn't seem promising that anything is being done about it, though hopefully these reefs will still be here for decades to come.

After returning from Green Island, we went back to the hostel to shower and relax. Most of us went out for sushi for dinner, then Inez, Laura, and I got one of the $15 40 minute massages from the Night Market. Since most of us were tired, we just headed back to the hostel afterward and just talked and relaxed before going to sleep. On Wednesday, Laura, Ken and I went to brunch, while others found breakfast elsewhere. Inez, Denise, and Ken were leaving around noon for the next leg of their journey. That afternoon, Laura, Cara, Deni, and myself headed to the airport to return to Sydney. Yesterday, I went to Tree Top Adventure Course with Laura. Not as great as Adirondack Extreme, but still pretty fun. Now, I've just been spending time doing errands and being a bum before our next semester starts. I will have one class, Australian Social Policy, and an internship at Intercontinental Sydney. It should be great. I can't wait to start!

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