Out of the rain and into the sun!

With less than 2 weeks to go this semester seems to have flown by in the blink of an eye! J recently spent the weekend in Cairns soaking in all the sun she could (it’s been raining for 10 days and counting in Sydney) before heading back to the fall conditions of Sydney. It was the first time she’s ever traveled completely by herself and she loved every second of it (although she was extremely nervous leading up to her departure!).

Cairns is as magical as everyone said it would be.The green of the Rainforest rushes in to the blue of the Reef. Upon arrival (after spending 6 hours in the Maccas because the apparently the airport closes overnight) J hopped into a cab and her wonderful driver Ben helped her plan the weekend.Ben was a typical Aussie (this must be where they hide all the Crocodile Dundee look-a-likes!) friendly and warm and willing to help (he even stopped the meter to wait for me while she checked in to my hotel!). After dropping in at the base of the mountain she bid him farewell and began my journey into the Rainforest.

They have a system called Skyrail which is like a giant ski lift that rides you above the jungle so you get a bird’s eye view! She’s never seen so much green in my life, the sweet smell of Eucalyptus and the earthy smell of jungle animals mixed together and created this parallel world. There are two stops on the way up the mountain both giving you the opportunity to walk through the jungle. The second stop let off at Barron Falls, there is something to be said about waterfalls that make you realize the power of nature. As she passed through my surroundings she suddenly felt so small. To think that man could destroy such beauty astounds her. At the top of the mountain she stopped in a town called Kuranda. – Such a cute, rustic town that really adopted the easy way of life. Time didn’t matter in Kuranda, she enjoyed a savory kangaroo pie for lunch followed by sweet home-made fresh fruit lollies (or as we would call it Taffy) and a snuggle session with a Koloa, Princess. After exploring all the markets and the magnificent Aboriginal art she boarded an old-fashion trained that made its way down the mountain and back to Cairns.

Six in the morning was the wake-up call for Saturday. A van picked her up and made the drive to Port Douglas. Once there a yacht took the crew and passengers as far north on the Reef as possible to go in one day (the farther north you go the better the reef!). Poseidon is the only touring company that goes this far north and it was well worth the sea-sickness (J is so glad she didn’t vomit on board…how embarrassing that would have been!). The yacht included breakfast, lunch, snacks, tea, coffee and water. The fresh fruit melted in your mouth and the curry chicken tasted so good after a morning of snorkeling. The tour went to three different locations for snorkeling – each one better than the next. J was one of the three lucky ones who saw a giant sea turtle. He was friendly and swam underneath her! Apparently there was also a whale that swam right behind us as we were snorkeling, but only the Skipper saw it! Twelve hours later, J returned back to Cairns and enjoyed another nice dinner out on the Lagoon.

Sunday she made her way back to rainy Sydney. It was such a special weekend and J and everyone she met along the way was very proud of her and admired her for being able to travel alone! Now, it’s on to finals (school can really get in the way of the fun!) and then it’s time to travel back in time to the good U. S. of A!

G’s been busy too. She recently went to Melbourne for the week with her boyfriend and has a new job at a local store, Witchery. She loves spending the majority of her time in the city and meeting ‘locals.'

Hopefully, we’ll be able to post one more time before leaving the land Down Under!!