Who would've thought?

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So, I actually ended up staying a little tiny bit longer than I had expected in Airlie Beach. I left Wednesday at midnight to take the 10 hour greyhound bus to Agnes Water and the Town of 1770. I was lucky enough to make my bus, because as I was leaving the hostel, I was running into loads of friends who were trying to convince me to stay and have a drink with them. When I arrived at the station, I ran into 2 Canadians who I worked with on the banana farm. Funny story: Because me, and 3 others quit without notice on that banana farm, the owner called the hostel and told them that they wouldn't hire more backpackers....I say, lucky for the backpackers. Even though it's funnt, Im a little mad because they didn';t end up paying me for my last day of work.

I arrived in Agnes Waters and immediately fell in love! This place is an absolute MUST-SEE for every Oz backpacker! The hostel, Cool Bananas is by far the cleanest and most well-run backpackers I have ever stayed in. Theres just so much to do in this little paradise of a town, it's almost hard to believe.

The first day, I went on a free tour of the town that Captain Cook discovered in 1770, and captured the most beatiful pictures, then bummed around on the beach with 3 Canadians I had met, one of them being from EDMONTON (YAY, go Oilers GO!). Yesterday, I went on the all-acclaimed Scooter-Roo tour, having paid the little bit extra for a Harley (well worth it!). It was the best $30 I spent! I saw kangaroos, wallabies, and the amazing landscape. Later, we all went down to the pier to get $4 Potato Wedges and watch the sunset. I have some pretty impressive pictures of me doing Pop-a-wheelies, and my friend Danny (Not from England, but the Channel Islands) got a sweet video of me and Matt raising up and down the street on our choppers. The last 2 nights, I've also been sucked into paying $5 for this guy to make me dinner. I had meat curry last night, with broccoli (to die for, I think I even dreamt about it last night), and the night before I had first class fish cakes with italian mixed salad!

TODAY, I went on a full day cruise to the GREAT BARRIER REEF!!!!! I thought, it would be smart to have 2 bowls of cereal and 2 cups of tea before going on the rockiest of boats ever....not too smart to be honest. I was sick.....twice, but they had such cool sick" bags, that it was almost classy to BE sick. About 70%!o(MISSING)f the boat got sick. You'll understand once you see the boat rocking on the video I made on my camera!

On this trip, I did 2 dives. I saw everything. I've never felt so woundrous in my entire life! I saw a dolphin, big-mother Cod fish, clams, a ton of fish, reef reef, and more reef, TURTLES ( I swam with one, then petted him before he swam away)...........AND here it comes, brace yourselves.......a white-tipped shark!!! Apparantly theyre dangerous, found that out after the dive (thankgoodness), but lucky for me, it was sleeping in a cave. Very cool though! I saw exactly what I wanted to see. The lunch was amazing too!

This evening, I received a free facial from "The Clay King". Just what I needed! Actually, me and a few British friends of mine were discussing how mad our skin has been getting here, and so were really excited to get such a treat. I ended up buying a tube of this amazing stuff after seeing the effects.

Tomorrow I have surf lessons planned ($16.50 for an hour), but apparantly the instructor smokes a little, so the lessons turn out to be 3- 3 1/2 hours. Fine by me. And after that, for $50, I'm flying a 2-person water plane with a certified pilot over tyhe island for a half an hour. Heard it's the most amazing views ever. So excited. Must go see what my friends are cooking up for me for din din!

Love and kisses!

Marie 😊

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Comments

[The-resaaaa]

sick? u r ALWAYS sick!!!
Hei Marie! sick? Hahaha, dir war doch immer schlecht...egal wo wir waren...ob auf deutschen Autobahnen, in Österreich oder in den Bergen auf Gran Canaria...eine Plastiktuete fuer den Ernstfall (serious case oder so auf Englisch...ich weiss nicht,wie gut du noch deutsch verstehst) musste immer dabei sein. Ok, ich schreib mal wieder scheisse...bin jetzt nur noch weniger als 2 Wochen in Finnland...*aaaahhh* *help* Viel Spass noch in aussie-land!