The Best of Times

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I finally made it through half of the semester and had a week long break! Jordan happened to have the same break as me and was able to come down from Samoa to visit for the week. He got here on Saturday morning, and we ended up spending the day eating and shopping (the 2 things he misses most not being in a big city). It was really fun to watch him get super excited about things like ice cube trays, lunch meat, and people wearing make-up and form-fitting clothing. We actually ended up in the grocery store and Walmart for most of the day making a list of all the things he wanted to take back with him. I also took him to Grill’d to get quality American hamburger. It was definitely a fun day learning about all his shenanigans in the South Pacific. Although, I learned that he has a bigger bed than I do, which is entirely disappointing!

Sunday early morning (5am) we took off for the airport to leave for Cairns for the week. The 3 ½ hour flight wasn’t as long as I thought it’d be since Jordan had all the newest music to share with me. Samoa is also way more up to date on the latest music and movies as opposed to Australia, which is way behind the States. We landed in Cairns to rain and got a shuttle to our hostel, which was driven by an old man who I’m surprised survived the trip. It was all for a good laugh though, and we ended up making friends with 2 guys from Kansas due to the experience.

The YHA hostel we stayed in was really nice and clean and had great air conditioning, which we were both appreciative of! We roomed with a backpacking couple from the States and two guys from Switzerland (I think), who ended up being really loud and obnoxious. Anyway, we spent the first day planning out all our tours for the week and walking around the city, which by the way isn’t a big city at all but only about 4 square blocks. It’s cute, but definitely a tourist town. Oh and the bad thing about all the tours are that they all start around 6-7am, so no rest for the weary. The first night we decided it’d be nice to have a real meal for once, so we walked down to the water and ate at a really great steak house.

Monday morning we were off to go sky diving at Mission Beach (2 hours south of Cairns). Jordan decided this was the one thing he had to do while in Cairns, so I agreed to watch safely on the ground. I had actually talked myself into going, but it ended up being postponed for a couple hours due to rain. In the meantime, Jordan showed his newfound skills of cracking open coconuts to a couple of Brits that were on the tour with us. It was very comical because the Brits were absolutely enthralled with Jordan’s ability to knock open a coconut in 3 hits. There was a small clearing the weather, so they took Jordan and the Brits up first. By this time I was beginning to feel a bit sick, so I opted not to tag along. Watching someone sky dive is actually really cool. It took them 20 minutes to reach the airport from the beach and then 20 minutes to climb to 14,000 ft. A couple of us watched as the plane got higher and higher and then out of site. We were told they had jumped, but couldn’t even see them for about a minute, then they were ridiculously tiny colored blobs until they came closer to the beach. Jordan was high as a kite from the experience and totally loved it.

By this time I felt like a hammer had hit my stomach, which later that night we found out was because of food poisoning. So Jordan and I proceeded to our second tour in Cairns at the Cairns Base Hospital. There we were on our little cots (Jordan was now sick as well) getting medicine and loving the awkward questions and tests. Needless to say, it was not the best night. The next day after feeling like a train ran over us we just decided to spend some time at the really amazing pool/lagoon area near the beach. They have this to swim in because you aren’t actually allowed to swim in the water due to all the deadly creatures that could kill you. Unfortunately, I was still really sick and ended up back in the hospital for a second night.

We had rescheduled our diving for the Wednesday, and since we couldn’t get any refunds we decided to at least try go for the day to the Great Barrier Reef. Jordan was able to do all three dives we signed up for, but I was definitely still under the weather and didn’t want anything bad to happen while diving. I was sooooo depressed though because this was the one thing I wanted to do while in Australia, so I decided I’d try snorkel the second dive just to see how that went. It was still really pretty because it was very shallow with lots of coral, so I got a great view. I decided I’d be fine to do the third dive because it was short and only a few feet down, so I figured it was pretty safe. It was totally AMAZING!!! I remembered all over again how much I LOVE diving!! There were millions of fish, beautiful coral, giant claims, and turtles. Some of the fish were huge and a bunch of them gathered under the boat looking for food. It was really great, and I’m so glad we got to go! Definitely the best thing I’ve done in Australia so far. The boat was also really well organized with the diving routine and equipment set up. They also provided lunch and snacks, which was nice for everyone.

Thursday we had a 6am meeting time for white water rafting. It was about a two hour ride from Cairns to the Tully River in the rainforest. We actually ended up being on the same tour as the two guys we’d met on the shuttle the first day, so we ended up being in a raft together. Our raft also had another couple who were also studying abroad in Australia but were from the States. The guy ran track, so Jordan got along perfectly with him, and I was so glad there was another girl on the raft so I got along great with his girlfriend. The rafting was awesome! It was really beautiful because the river cut through the forest. The water was definitely the warmest river water I’ve even been in! It started out slow, but got up to the class 4 rapids quickly, upon which Jordan was the first to be thrown out of the raft. His shocked face was priceless and our guide’s reaction of hysterical laugher was even better. Our guide was from Japan and spoke almost no English, so we all had a lot of fun trying to figure out what orders he was calling out. The other girl and I just listened for whenever he said hold on! Our guide, who we nicknamed Kamikaze, had some fun with us too. He let us out to jump from a high rock and also managed to tip the entire raft. We also grouped up for the last rapid at the front of the boat and all went tumbling.

It was definitely the best all around day, and the group of us decided to cook dinner that night at the hostel so we could hang out more. We made a carb-filled dinner of pasta, corn, and potatoes. It was really nice hanging out, and we ended up watching a movie that the hostel was showing. We eventually joined up with another couple from London and my friend from back in Melbourne to end the night.

Friday was shopping day. We started out eating some fancy breakfast (a break from McDonald’s) and then went to all the little souvenir shops around town. It started pouring so we decided to see what was in the art gallery to escape the rain. It turned out to be an interesting exhibit to say the least. The first exhibition contained out of focus pictures of shadows, pretty much the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but we got a big laugh out of it. The other exhibits were psychedelic nature pictures and aboriginal photos. The best part of the gallery actually turned out to be the guest book comments, which were especially funny coming from all the Asian tourists with broken English. We ended the day by heading back to Melbourne.

Saturday was shopping day for Jordan. We met up with my friends for some Greek lunch (where Jordan actually ate tomatoes!). Then we proceeded to raid the Walmart! I really have no idea how he was able to pack all the stuff he bought into one suitcase when it was more than everything I brought to Australia in total. We had coffee (Jordan apparently drinks this now too, but I’m still refraining) and dessert waffles with Rosa, Jen, and Sara on my favorite street that reminds me of Europe. Dinner was at another steak place in Melbourne Central (one last good meal), and then we all hung out and watched Catch Me If You Can.

Sunday morning was sad- Jordan left, I had to do tons of laundry, and then back to school. All in all it was a fantastic week, and I really wish it hadn’t ended!! Now cold has set in at Melbourne...I could see my breath when I walked to class.

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