Cairns

I took a day time bus to Cairns. It was a 10 hour journey I think. I hadn't gotten more than a couple of hours of sleep. I was more than exhausted! I actually bumped into Babs from Byron Bay before I got on the bus... it was great to catch up with her even if it was only for a few minutes! My plan was to stay awake on the bus so I could get to bed early that night and off to a two day Cape tribulation excursion the following day... well here is what went wrong:

1) An obnoxious Canadian from Keith, Paddy and Ed's room sat next to me. Not happy about that... but thankfully it was only for a little over a couple of hours.

2) I fell a sleep. And Slept, and slept and slept!

3) I got to Cairns- to my hostel, checked in and had dinner with a sweet 18 year old girl from SF. Met a stereotypical Italian dude (confirmed the fact I need to stay away from them), had some wine, wrote in for my wake up call and went to bed.

4) Slept through my wake up call!!!! I missed my excursion. This was the first real mess up of my trip. How could I do that?! So silly... I had to re-arrange things but I think it worked out for the best.

So that day I took the shuttle into town and met a really nice English bloke named Howard. We went to the Lagoon together and sun baked all day. We went for a nice lunch and guess what I tried?!

I got a KANGAROO salad... it was yummy! It actually tasted pretty much like beef. It is a little gamier and lean... but really good! Howard got a CROCODILE burger and let me try some... it was really juicy and tasted like chicken... but yummier! That was defo a highlight of the day! We drank that night and it was surely a late one... but...

I made friends with the wake up call guy and he actually was a doll and began bringing me coffee to my bed in the morning. He even brought it in a little early for me everyday so I could enjoy it in bed. Talk about great service! I went to Cape Tribulation but just for the day. We went to a rain forest... blah blah, see one see them all. BUT it lead us to Mossomon Gorge. It was a pool of water that flowed quite heavy with lots of rocks. It was literally in the middle of the rain forest, very very cool! I went swimming in it and asked a woman to take my picture twice... her rudeness enquired how many pics I wanted of myself! As Steph Tanner would say "How Rude!" I didn't let that get me down and had the tour guide take a few for me, until he rubbed my thigh... then I stayed far far away! What a creepo!

We also went on a boat ride in a lagoon, swamp thing where we saw wild crocodile and thousands of bats! It was really cool!!! We then went to a national park and saw lots of Koala's in there natural habitat. It was remarkable... they are lazy little creatures... but don't get too close, they will attack! Next was a swimming pool where I met these Irish guys that were really laid back and nice. It was refreshing because this was the first time I was in a tour that I really didn't get along with anyone. It was nice to be around friendly people again... one of them even looked like Leonardo DeCaprio... not so bad to chill with!

I called it an early night that night because I had an excursion the next day. Oh wait! That is a huge lie. I went out with the 18 year old girl, Angela, and her brother, JJ. We went to the cheesiest bar filled with young obnoxious drunks. I encountered an American girl who just talked complete rubbish and gave us all a bad name! She thought they spoke English in Wales and that it was just a different accent than English. There was a wet t-shirt contest... and NO I did not enter. I am too old for such stupidities. BUT I was Angela's coach, made her shirt and was front and center being a stage mom! hahahaha. Every guy cheered for her... and they went dead silent for her competitor who happened to have a gaggle of girls with her who could cheer louder than- errr people who cheer really loud. So Angela lost in the end. It actually disgusted me though... the MC guy was trying to get the girls to make out and stuff. This was the first encounter of cheap entertainment. Aussie is a party place, but it doesn't go that far- it really turned me off from Cairns.

I was supposed to go Kayaking at the great barrier reef but it was cancelled due to not enough people signing up. Instead I went on one of the most incredible experiences of my life... are we tired of me saying that?

I went on a big, fast boat thing to the great barrier reef. I tried to Scuba dive, but nope- it's not for me! I couldn't get through the underwater drills... I just don't like water in general. I was proud that I tried it, but it defo is not for me! The snorkeling was incredible; the coral was unbelievable! We saw so many fish!!!! I just can't describe it... once again you will have to see my photos! They were selling helicopter rides and the guy to a liking to me and gave me a 25% discount and promised me the front seat- word, I was in! He also lent me his sunglasses that were all high tech lenses so you could see the true color of the water and below. It made all the difference. The water here looked like Arctic Chill Gatorade- unbelievable! That color mixed with an emerald green and turquoise waters left me speechless. When we got back to the boat the half submarine half boat was leaving and the captain who named me the prettiest on the boat (did you hear that Craig?!) let me jump in for free! We saw loads of fish again, but most impressive were the barracudas!!! They were like three feet long and a sparkling silver color- too cool!!!
That was really it for Cairns... I headed to Melbourne by plain in the AM... will get to that tomorrow! Hope you enjoyed the catch up!