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Published: February 19th 2007
4WD Tour SUN, SUN, SUN!! It finally arrived on Friday, February 9th, the day before I was to leave Cairns. But also the day of my much-anticipated Rainforest 4WD Wildlife Eco-Safari!!! I was picked up in the morning by our tour guide in his truck. There were only 2 other people on the tour - a german couple who were staying at the same hotel as me. I got to sit front row as we rode into the rainforest. The tour operator had a real passion for the unknown - the tour took us to parts of the rainforest seldom seen by tourists. He had special access passes which got him into those parts. It was INCREDIBLE. We even got to go swimming in a lake, surrounded by a landscape that quite frankly could have been the Canadian Shield. I saw some of the biggest trees ever, and got to see some kangaroos and wallabies in their natural habitat. All in all a GREAT day.
My last night in Cairns I met up with a friend from the dive course for some drinks at the local watering hole. The first in a best of 3 Australia-England Cricket match was on
PYTHON!!!
Luckily it was sleeping...they can eat pretty big animals...and Claire, being from London, was completely enrapt. But good news - I now understand Cricket!! And England not only won that game, but also won game 2, a total embarrassment for Australia who normally wallop England.
Cairns to Perth My flight didn’t leave until 4:30pm so I decided to head into town for my last morning in Cairns. I finally got to see the city in the sunlight! I then headed back to the hotel, had a swim, and got ready to head to the airport. I managed to snag - again - the emergency exit door seat! My first flight was short - just down to Brisbane, where I would catch a connecting flight to Perth. I was flying Virgin Blue (yes, Richard Branson’s Virgin), a discount airline. There were no meals, so I brought along some snacks, and ate a bit at the Brisbane airport. Honestly, I would recommend Virgin Blue for all your domestic travelling needs. The flight attendants were AMAZING!! They were actually cracking jokes! When we arrived in Brisbane, the guy came on and said “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Melbourne!” When everyone was confused, he came back on saying “Aaaaah I’m just
messing with ya, trying to see if you’re paying attention!” I have never, in my many many years of flying, had a flight attendant make jokes over the P.A. system. Virgin Blue is just that special.
I snagged the emergency exit door seat AGAIN from Brisbane to Perth, for my 4th flight in a row! Plus, on both of my flights that day the seat next to me was EMPTY. SCORE!! For this longer flight I was 2 seats from an older guy who was heading to Western Australia (WA) to help build a railway from an iron ore mine to the nearest city - Port Headland, in Northern WA. He was a very interesting character, having worked in many different jobs. He didn’t want to make this trip, since he was leaving his wife and kids behind in Queensland, but the pay was so good he knew that after the railway was done he could retire with his wife in the house he had built himself. He showed me pictures - it was a NICE house. He was very talkative, but I learned a lot, so it was alright. I tried to nap but really couldn’t. We arrived
in Perth at 11:30PM.
I was reunited with Trista, the other Waterloo exchange student who has come to Perth. We were both sharing a room at the Goodearth Hotel in the Perth central business district until we found housing since, well, the University screwed us over. But at least they got us a discount at the hotel, a hotel which also included a DELICIOUS breakfast every morning :D
Day 1 in Perth Trista and I went on a couple adventures the next day. First, we wandered Perth and oriented ourselves (mostly I orientated myself since Trista had been here before and had arrived a day earlier than me). Next, we rode the buses out to Murdoch, our new school. We made it to campus and took a walk around, meeting some interesting people on the way. We ate at a cute waterside pub and then retired to our rooms. Perth shuts down VERY early - so at night the only thing to do is watch TV.
Australians love their game shows. And they not only have game shows of their own, but they have Australian versions of pretty much every American game show out there. And I
have to say, these shows can be QUITE addictive. I am very curious to see what happens on The Biggest Loser, which is on every night. And I’ve now seen 2 episodes of the Con Test, an excellent show indeed. We went to bed that night, knowing we had an early morning ahead of us - Day 1 of our Orientation and some house-hunting!!
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chacha prof
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ferns
I loved you and the ferns - that was great! Now I know why you had to go to Australia. All the photos are wonderful - great work! (please check - there's no "rapping" in "enrapt" )