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Published: December 19th 2008
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Welcome to Cairns!!
After a LOOONNGGG day of flying (about 34 hrs total) I arrived in beautiful Australia!! My journey from Cleveland to LA to Brisbane to Cairns was easy, but hard to do when you had 4 hrs of sleep on a 14.5 hr journey on a 747 across the Pacific. At the airport I met one of my fellow travelers, Donna from London. I knew from that point that this journey was going to be a great time! After a little confusion on how to get to the resort, we arrived at 1215 just as our Contiki group was about to leave! Talk about being confused!! I met my tour guide Shaz. They use the nickname Shaz for Sharon... which I quickly discovered was going to be my new nickname. We rushed our bags into storage and were on our way to the Aboriginal Tribe Culture Center... just what I wanted to do after being in the same clothes for 40+ hrs! So Donna and I grudged through the center with the other 47 tour group members. It was interesting to see how the tribe lived. We attempted to throw a boomerang and spear... ya, not so hot with the
spear thing. We also watched them play the digeridoo and a tribal dance. I was supposed to go bungee jump, but I was in no condition! After settling into our hotel room and relaxing by the pool, we went on a pub crawl... Everyone had a great time, except Donna and me! By midnight, we were falling asleep at the bar... This is what 55+hrs awake can do to a girl! So a cab home and a good night sleep was all I needed!
5am... yep. JET LAG! I was ready to go scuba diving... but the bus didn't come until 7. I ventured out to the Great Barrier Reef with 3 other Contiki members (Teddy, Luk, & Matt). After a choppy hour boat ride out, we geared up an made our first dive down to 16 meters. WOW! It was an amazing sight to see!! I felt like I was in the movie Finding Nemo! There were hundreds on different types of fish (yes clown fish!), turtles, sting rays, and many more. The coral was so brightly colored and you felt like you were invading this untouched world. Words can't describe what an awesome experience that was! After
45 min, we moved the boat to a different part of the reef for a 14 meter dive for 45 min followed by another move and a 13 meter descent. What an experience! I cannot wait to see my pictures!! Around 4pm we headed back to the mainland to meet up with the group. That night we headed out to the Woolshed with the group. I had "American BBQ Ribs." Ya, not so good and they like to pile food up on a plate. No separation of food groups, kinda strange. Once again, Donna and I struggled to stay awake, and opted to make it an early evening at 10pm... That Jet Lag!! YUCK!
Dec 5 - White Water Rafting Day!! 6am wake up.. WOO HOO!! No worries, I was already up. lol. After 1.5 hr bus ride, we arrived at the Tully River. I'm pretty sure I was the only one totally awake and completely pumped to hit those grade 4 rapids! We decided out rafting buddies on the bus, and the 5 guys chose me to go with them... I was a bit scared but I was with the 3 guys I went scuba diving with. I
Boomerang Throwing
Aboriginal Culture Center later found out they wanted me because I had proved to them that I could handle adventure with diving.. lol. We suited up and met our tour guide Shaz... yes, another. What an adventure! This was a very technical river and we conquered it! I somhow managed to get a bit injured while trying to do this. Within the first 30 min while going through a class 4 with a lot of boulders in it, I somehow managed to smash my hand between a boulder and my oar. Ya, it's hard not to cry infront of 5 men! I was afraid I broke it, but it was just badly bruised. We continued down the mightly Tully and stopped a few times to cliff dive (20ft and 15 ft), do a VERY steep 10 foot slide into a whirlpool, go under a waterfall, go for a few swims, tip the raft several times, and do the scariest thing ever! We went down a class 2 rapid in the float position, no raft! It was basically a simulated drowning experience while being hurled into boulders and getting your butt smashed into them. One time was enough for me!! So we rafted about
Spear Throwing
Aboriginal Culture Center 11km over 5 hrs with a stop for lunch. I enjoyed a nice nap on the way home and went out with Donna to Barincal Bills that night for a feast of Crocodile and kangaroo... Crock tasked like chicken and roo was like steak. Yummy! Well, it's good night for now and tomorrow we will start our journey south.
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