Cairns, AU

After my dad's parting words of, "I don't care a crap; I'm not the one flying," I embarked on my journey that entailed over 20 hours in the air, 14 of which I didn't get to see the light of day. Everything went rather smoothly, much to my surprise... I suppose my only complaint was the Japanese woman who I sat next to on my trip to L.A. who showed me every picture she has ever taken on her digital camera and then wanted me to defend my argument that pyschology wouldn't turn me into an atheist. I also lost a day of my life: I never got to experience Sept. 3. I'll deal.

We (as in the rest of the AustraLearn group, which in my opinion, has its fair share of idiots), arrived in Cairns early afternoon on the 4th for our program orientation. Although exhausted, we had a full day of sessions to endure. It didn't matter though because it was amazingly beautiful there and we had a lot to look forward to in the next few days...

• Rainforest- Word. AWESOME. We got to get our pictures taken with a koala, but I felt really bad for it because I would hate to have its life. Then we entered into this area where there were kangeroos literally jumping everywhere around us; this has the potential to be the greatest animal experience of my life, minus when I once got a grasshopper stuck in my jeans. We basically got to hang out with kangeroos for awhile, and then we watched an Aboriginal tribal dance and learned how to throw a boomerang. We ended the day going on a safari, riding in an Army Duck (I could totally be butchering what it's actually called.. but it's a boat with wheels).





• Great Barrier Reef- SERIOUSLY?!?! Best day yet in this continent. We headed out early in the morning, and took about a 2 hour boat ride to the area in which we would be snorkeling and scuba diving. Words can't even describe how gorgeous this place is. I felt like I was on the Travel Channel. Snorkeling was a lot of fun, but the highlight of my day was scuba diving. I gotta admit, it was kind-of scary at first. But once you trust that you aren't going to breathe in a mouth full of salt water instead of air, it was a blast. I wish I could have taken pictures of all of the beautiful coral and exotic fish I saw, but just know that the pictures you do see on the Discovery Channel are the real deal.

In our spare time, we were allowed to go off on our own and explore Cairns. I fell in love with their downtown; it was so alive at night and there was much to do. We did get lost one time for an hour trying to find our bus stop, and I suppose asking someone for help just because they have an accent wasn't the best idea. About 15 minutes after having them lead us around, I finally asked one where he was from, and he replied England. Figures.

After our weekend in Cairns, we flew back to Brisbane and I'm finally at my University, sitting here in my new apartment. More on that later, but everything is really great, overwhelming the majority of times, but I'll learn to cope.