My Trip to Cairns

Hi guys! I just got back from Cairns, which is a city in Queensland, Australia. It was a wonderful trip!  The day of our arrival was disappointing because our hostel wasn't as nice as what we thought it would be. Then we went to this restaurant that the hostel said to go to, and it was terrible. But after a night full of laughter about everything, we realized that things really weren't that bad. We just rolled ourselves up in the sheets for caution against bed bugs...ugh. None were found though! The second day was wonderful! We went out on the Great Barrier Reef, Moore reef to be exact, and I got to scuba dive!! The trip out to the reef was a bit choppy, sooo a lot of people became sea sick. They didn't take the Ginger tablets that were offered by the crew! I don't get their logic! Then I had my scuba diving briefing with an instructor and three other people. It was a little confusing because the United States measures air in psi, and Australia uses the bar system. Then decompression was measured differently, and I became really nervous. After getting to the reef, we finally suited up in our equipment, and my nerves were killing me. Then one instructor, a God send, told me that this water was going to be a piece of cake for me because I learned how to dive in a sand pit. He told that the visibility would be a lot clearer and that I would float easier here because of the salt. That talk really made me feel confident. Grandpa sent me a friend when I needed one. :) After getting all the equipment on, we went under the deck onto a platform in shallow water. Then we swam to ropes that led down to the reef. After putting our regulators in, we went down. It was soooo beautiful!! The fish were beautiful, and I wish I could have done another dive. I can't even describe the beauty that I saw that day! While diving, I got caught in a huge school of beautiful fish! Now, I wish that I was a Marine Biology major! I want to know the names of all the fish I saw. Then I ran into Wally, the HUGE blue fish, who is the mascot of the cruise we went on. He was this HUGE fish that knew he was a cutie, and he would let you touch him. He was a sweetheart, and he had a ego. He knew he was a pretty boy. It was cute! We got our photo taken together! I feel like I am advancing in my diving, though. I was able to keep neutral buoyancy ( not touching the ocean floor or going to the surface), and I was able to keep up with the dive instructor around all of the coral! This experience changed my life because I worked sooooo hard to become certified just for that dive. It was TOTALLY worth all of the work, frustration and tears. My first certified dive was at The Great Barrier Reef, and you could believe how big my smile was went I wrote that into my dive journal. I just want to thank everyone who supported me during my certification, because I experienced that beautiful dive because of you all. After coming up from diving, we ate lunch, and they served us shrimp that still had their black eyes. I found out that I can't eat anything that is starring at me! haha! Then Ashton and I went out to the reef and snorkeled for a while! I liked scuba diving better because people didn't run into you!! People were kind of rude! But the sights outweighed the people issues. We saw a HUGE blue fish eat coral, and then eat the fish in the coral! It was fascinating, and I got caught in five schools of fish during my snorkel. It was a fantastic day! Chantel wrote on my facebook yesterday about how I used to be scared of water, and now I love it. What is fear? It is nothing when you make the decision to overcome it. Ashton and I spent the second of our trip at the Cairns Tropical Zoo, and it was absolutely amazing! We started out the day by feeding the kangaroos. The zoo held the kangaroos in a huge paddock that housed probably 60 kangaroos! While all of the other tourists tried to lure a huge group of kangaroos with food, Ashton found her and I our personal kangaroo. The kangaroo was sitting in the corner away from all the rest of them, and Ashton lured him with food! We had our own private photo shoot with him, and then the other tourists found out our scheme. Darn. haha! After the kangaroos, we went to lunch, and we had a visitor. Ashton and I were sitting down and enjoying our lunch. Then Ashton says, "There is lizard under the table next to us." I really didn't freak out because tiny lizards had been following us all day. Then I look over at this Water Dragon that is two foot long!!! I about jumped out of my chair and shrieked! Ashton knows of my fear of reptiles, and she was like, "I wondering why you were staying sooo calm about the lizard!" Then we found out that lizard was the cafe pet. The owner came out and fed the lizard cantaloupe! Haha! Bizzarre pet I'd say! Ashton almost got attacked by a baby crocodile!!! She was the first person to hold the crocodile, and I think he must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed. He, even with his jaws taped shut, tried to bite Ashton!!! Ah!  I went to get my picture take with the koala, too! Ashton's koala was an older one, but I got to hold a baby girl. Her name was Lana, and she was the sweetest little girl ever! I could have cuddled with her for hours and hours. She was soooo precious!! I think the zookeeper said that she was 6 months old. :D That night, Ashton and I went out for some Italian food, and it was amazing but spicy!!! It was hot and humid that whole time we were in Cairns. I was used to it because summers in Kansas can be extremely humid. Our third day was spent by going into shops around Cairns, and I found wonderful deals on gifts for people at home. We went to "Cartier," "Louis Vuitton," and "Rolex" because I never have before. I just wanted to go because I have never seen them before!! It was sooooo cool and everything was beautiful! They were kind of pricey...haha! Then we went to the beach and ate at "Hog's Breathe Cafe" the last night! It was yummy! I had a grilled steak sandwich, chocolate fondue and wonderful fruity drink! The next day was filled with gross flights!!! Three flights!! We finally made it back to Melbourne at 10:25 on Wednesday night! It feels great to be back, but now I go back to school on Monday. Ugh. Cairns was wonderful, and I wouldn't have gotten there without support back home! Thanks everyone! :)