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Published: November 29th 2006
Well well so much to tell! I have done so many things the past 4 days!!! Always on the go. I can’t wait to get some relaxation time in from my crazy vacation!! HAHA! So Sunday I headed off to Cape Tribulation on a tour bus. Tour busses here are not like at home, filled with Japanese people, they are filled with backpackers like myself. Young people looking for some fun! Some people are traveling together but most people traveling on their own. Cape Tribulation is up north. Almost as far as you can go with a “normal” vehicle. I think after Cape Trib the roads get a little dodgy. I had a great tour operator, Dee. We stopped off at a Wildlife Sanctuary where I got to see some crocs, kangaroos, cassowaries, and snakes. We did a few stops along the way to learn about the Tropical Rainforest and the importance of it in Queensland and some of the animals that are in it. We also learned some interesting facts. That in 200 years there have only been 44 fatalities because crocs and 5 fatalities because of sharks. That’s pretty low, I think. Also out of the top 21 most
Cape Trib Beach
A picture of the beach where I stayed.venomous snakes, Australia has 19 of them; the Taipan being the most deadly. Out of the top 20 venomous spiders, Oz has 16 of them; the Funnel-Web spider being the most deadly. You usually can find Funnel-Webs in Sydney. We also learned how kangaroos got their name. Capt. Cook came to the aboriginal people and kept asking what are those bouncy things called? The Abo’s would look at him like what the hell is he saying? Then he would ask again, the bouncy things, what are they called? The Abo’s said kangaroo? Kangaroo!!!! Capt. Cook satisfied he now had a name for the bouncy things got back on his boat and left. Kangaroo properly translated actually means “I don’t know what you are saying?”.
We got to Cape Trib and it was so beautiful! I finally got some beach time in as my backpackers (hostel) was right on the beach. The sand was really white and so fine it felt silky. I must say my tan is coming along nicely! You can’t go in the water anywhere in North Queensland because of the stingers (jelly fish), more importantly the Box Jellyfish, the world’s deadliest creature! That afternoon I went
Jungle Surfing
Just hanging around in the trees jungle surfing!!! It was really cool. We went on 5 different zip lines. It took us about an hour and a half to go through it all. Oh and I licked an Ant’s ass! Yup. At the one station the guide was telling us how these green ants, they have citric acid on their bums. So you grab them by the head so they can’t pinch you and lick their bum, which gives you your daily dose of Vitamin C. It is suppose to taste tangy. Alright, I’ll try it. So I grab an ant and lick his butt. Ah, I don’t taste anything. Then I got thinking, well maybe they were just trying to get someone to do it and I have just licked an ant’s ass for no reason???!!! Anyway, I thought I better try it again, so I tell him, I never tasted anything! His response, maybe that one was all licked out? HAHAHA! So I grab another one, I bigger one, give it a real big lick. LEMON LIME!!! Oh yeah, got to taste that one. Hm that is probably the weirdest thing I have done so far to date.
The next day I went
Stinger Sign
Australia has some funny graphics on their signs. Sea Kayaking. That was really cool, hard work, and worth it. It was 3.5 hours long. We had to fight the wind most of the way, but did I ever feel good after. When we got back to the beach, we got to try some local fruit. We tried Jack Fruit, which smells like bubble gum and kind of tastes like it too. It is the largest fruit that grows on a tree. You can’t get it in a grocery store and usually not even at a fruit stand. We tried these mega bananas. It was huge and very dense. It tasted like 10 bananas packed into one. And we also tried coconuts. They whacked off the top of them and we drank the milk. These coconuts were not brown like the ones we buy in the store back home. They were green before the brown, husky stage. After that we headed back to Cairns, where we stopped at Mossman Gorge for a swim. No worries there were no crocs in there, but they are everywhere else! You pretty much don’t go in any water in or around Cape Tribulation because of the crocodiles.
Tuesday I had a big
Rex Lookout
This was taken along the road coming back to Cairns after Cape Tribulation day ahead of me. I went Whitewater Rafting on the Tully River. Of course I can’t do the normal whitewater rafting; I have to do the EXTREME whitewater rafting. Oh my, it was so funtastic and so scary all at the same time. What an adrenaline rush! I have been rafting back home before, so I do know what to expect. And I have to pick the guide that looks like he would be the craziest! However I wasn’t expecting to be kicked out of the raft on our third rapid (and feeling like I was going to drown a handful of times)! It was called “Double Waterfall”. The boat went one way and kicked up in the front and I went splash over the edge. BANG! My knee slams into a rock and then my ankle hits it. I still had my paddle which seemed to cause more problems as it was getting hooked on rocks and felt like it was keeping me under the water. Ok let go of the paddle!!! God my knee hurts! I felt like I was under forever, then I finally come up to have the raft right beside me to whack me in
Huntsman Spider
This spider was in a girls hair when we were sea kayaking. Good thing she didn't touch it. It is venonmous, but not deadly to an adult, usually. the head. Down I go again under the water. I surface again to hear my guide Dave yell “rescue rescue!” By now I feel like I have swallowed half the river and I though I was done for. But he and another guy grabbed a hold of me and pulled me back in the raft. No time to stop, onward we go!!! Crap I just basically got what I paid for, to be dunked out of the raft! YIPPEEE!!! So freakin scary but so fun, in that crazy sort of way. After some rafting we all jump out and do some floating. Only this time, we are floating down a stretch of rapids. Looks kind of like the water is going over a very large washboard. Sure no problem, just stay in the middle of it all. Yeah easier said then done. As soon as you hit those rapids it is one after the other, you try to gasp for air before the next one hits you but you can’t. That was probably freakier then the falling out of the raft! Then he wants us to go down a natural waterslide. It is probably about 2 meters in length, really
Josephine Falls
This was a natural water slide we slid down today. steep and when you come to the end of it, the water pushes you under and it will hold you under for about 5-10 seconds and agitate you like a washing machine before spitting you out! 5-10 seconds doesn’t sound like long, until you are under the water! Ok here I go again for another near death experience! It was exactly like he said and it was worth it!!! I could have done that over and over again. Then, we jumped off a 5 meter high cliff into the water. Dave made us flip our boat, everyone including him went flying. I end up losing a contact, but thankfully I had extra’s. Then we finished off the day with more rafting. Wow I really got my monies worth. Action packed to the XTREME!!!
Today was my last day in Cairns, where I spent it on a tour called Uncle Brian’s tour. It was a nice chill day of basically eating and swimming in the rainforest ALL day. Uncle Brian didn’t drive us, instead Cousin Kyh did. Everyone on the journey had a name like that. Even the guy serving us lunch was called Mr. Lunch. The bus we were
Millaa Millaa
This was where the Timotei commercial was shot. Do you think they need a new model? Perhaps I need more of an arch to my back? on was called Gus and he had his own little story. He has a girlfriend which is a milk truck called Valvulva but there is an ambulance that is in love him. The whole day was just goofy like that. We saw some great waterfalls and got to slide down one of them (nothing like the whitewater rafting) and we went to Millaa Millaa falls, where the shampoo commercial was shot, Timotei. I remember that commercial too. She is in front of the falls and flips her hair out of the water. Anyway, of course we all had to do that!
So yeah that has been my last few days in North Queensland. Now I am just waiting for my bus to move on to Townsville, where I will catch a ferry to Magnetic Island. My bus doesn’t come till 12:45 am and it will be over a 5 hour ride. It’s going to be a long night, but hopefully I can sleep all the way there. At Magnetic Island I plan on relaxing!! Lying on the beach and working on my tan. I’ll only be there for a day and a half and then I am making my way to Airlie Beach to go on a 3 day boat cruise around the Whitsundays.
I am starting to miss some things from back home now. Like chocolate bars with peanut butter, Dentyne Vanilla Frost gum, and of course Gibson’s Rye. Booze is super expensive here, which I guess is ok, because it is actually keeping me away from partying, too much!
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Jan
non-member comment
Extreme !
Wow, I was sitting at the edge of my seat reading your blog ! Way to go J9, you are doing everything you wanted to do and more. I admire your courage and I look forward to your writings ! Take care kiddo