Some of Cairns

The second part of our pre-semester trip was in Cairns (pronounced Cans), Australia in Queensland. The trip there was quite interesting. We had an 8 hour bus ride from Hamilton Island to Cairns with our nutcase driver, Guy. We were on a two-lane highway pretty much the entire way there and he was overtaking people all the time. Quite nerve racking when you have a short bus with a trailer filled with suitcases attached to it. But, we made the time on the bus pass by watching more of a Chris Lilly show. The same guy who did Summer Heights High also made a show We Can Be Heroes. It is about the search for the next Australian of the year. The characters are once again all played by Chris Lilly and they live all over Australia. They all have different stories and Ja'mie is in it! It is absolutely hysterical. If you like Summer Heights High, you have to watch this.

Anyway, on our ride to Cairns it was obvious that we were heading towards a tropical paradise. The streets were lined with palm trees and everyone was wearing shorts and tee shirts (let me remind you it is winter here). I was getting more and more excited about this part of the trip. When we finally got to Cairns we checked into our hostel, Gilligans. Although apparently it is upon the best backpacker hostels in Australia it did not rank up with our prior living arrangements. I definitely was not complaining though. After getting settled in the room we went on a short walking tour of the area around the hostel. There were so many little stores and restaurants. Our coordinator gave us meal vouchers for The Woolshed which ended up being our spot during the entire trip. After the tour I went to dinner at The Woolshed with Sarah (Drake), Angela (Drake), Caroline (Mary Washington), Laura (Pitt), Jackie (Pitt), and Brenna (Texas A&M). The food was surprisingly good. A few of the girls decided to stay out at the bar but I headed back because I still wasn't feeling so great. When I got back to my room no one was there so I just laid in my bed and caught up on my journal (so that you guys could get all the juicy details of my trip of course). Megan (C of C) came back from the health center (because yes, we were all sick) and she hadn't eaten so we decided to head down to the restaurant/bar under Gilligan's. There was a footie (rugby) game between Queensland (where we were) and New South Wales (where I am going to school) and they have a huge rivalry. There were a lot of people down there getting really intense. It was so much fun to watch and it got me really excited to go to a game. It was also somewhat amusing because the game was playing on 4 huge projection screens, probably like 10 feet across, and then they had the MLB All-Star game playing on like a 19-in TV. After the game we went back to the hostel and went on the internet for the first time in what felt like AGES! That's when I gave you my first post. I talked to Shannon Moody and Jackie Dolan (I hate having to use last names. I am purposely not making any more friends named Jackie or Shannon). It was really cool talking to people from home and hopefully I'll be able to again soon. Skype anyone? Freaking 14 hour time difference...

Anyway, so the next day (16th) I thought I was going to be able to scratch something off my bucket list but that really didn't work out. I'll explain. We had plans to go scuba diving and snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef again. We walked over to the jetty (which was not actually a jetty, it was a pier, and that misnomer sadly bothered me) and took a 1.5 hour boat ride to our first spot, Oyster Bay. During that ride the crew had us all fill out waivers to go scuba diving. I guess long story short they didn't let me go scuba diving. I'm going to lie on the form next time. Though I was really pissed after they told me I couldn't scuba, I realized that snorkeling would have to do. And it totally was. There were a lot of spots where the reef was really shallow so I could swim right over it and be within a meter of it. The water was really choppy because it was windy so I always waited for someone bigger than me to swim over it before I did so I would know that I could make it. Yes, I am terrible I know. The coolest fish I saw had a head that looked like a strawberry pistachio swirl cone and the body had a checkerboard-like design with yellow and purple. I have no idea how that fish would hide from predators. Once again, I was trying to identify fish by their respective characters in Finding Nemo but it failed. I was perfectly fine with appreciating the beauty of it and not obsessing over the details. We stayed at the first spot for about 3 hours but I only snorkeled for an hour and a half. I decided to go eat lunch on the boat and hang out on the deck with some other people on the trip while others were scuba diving. After lunch we went to the second spot on the trip. I believe it was called Pit Stop (no, not like the greasy burgers) but I'm not completely sure. The wind was picking up so the water was even choppier. Plus there was a really strong current. Although I was feeling a lot better than I had been I didn't want to push myself too hard. I stayed in the water for about 30 minutes and then got back on the boat. I saw a lot of the same coral but I saw some different fish and other species. It was really cool but I wish I was feeling better at the time. The ride back home was quite interesting. We were travelling against the wind so the boat was rocking a lot. I was sitting on the front deck with a bunch of people in the program and we were rolling around. Even while sitting! It was pretty hysterical watching people try to stand up or walk around on the boat. Ken (UMD) wanted to walk over towards the group and because most people were laying down he had to like tiptoe jump over a bunch of people while the boat was rocking. That was very amusing. I still laugh at him for it. (Sorry Ken). Matt (Towson) was trying to beat the boat by not holding onto anything and just trying to balance. He looked like he was surfing and he was actually doing pretty well but I don't think he lasted very long. Anyway, the boat ride back was about another two hours so by the time we got back we were already hungry again. After showering (finally in hot water) the people in my room decided to go out to P.J. O'Brian's for dinner. It had a great Irish pub atmosphere. The others went to order food at the counter and I grabbed an open table. A few tables down I noticed this random guy waving to me. It was dark and I wasn't wearing my glasses so I was a little sketched out. I just kept ignoring him but he kept waving. Finally he came over and it was actually Ken, Matt, and Dan (Stanford). I felt like such an idiot. Even though they already ate they stayed there with us while we finished our dinner. On the table there were coasters with "What's the craic?" on them. Kerri, I grabbed one thinking of you. Everyone was so confused as to what it could mean, and I knew the answer! I was so excited. So that night was definitely the craziest night I have had in Australia yet. Now, those people reading this please do not judge me for taking a week and a half to have a crazy night in Australia. Remember people that I have been sick. I'll continue with some of my story. After P.J. O'Brian's we went back to The Woolshed. It was ladies night so they were handing out free glasses of champagne when we got there. Pretty much all the girls were grabbing glasses of champagne drinking half and then giving the rest to the guys. There were so many glasses of champagne on the table. When that ended we started just getting pitchers (jugs) of beer and the night just got more hysterical. We met these two British girls who confirmed the myth that British girls can drink a lot. They taught us a game that was somewhat like thumper and way too complicated to explain in a blog. They also tried to explain cricket to us but that failed miserably. Luckily Gilligan's was only a short walk away and we all got back there and fell asleep in preparation for the next days adventures.

On the 17th I experienced the most interesting hangover remedy ever-white water rafting. When we woke up a bunch of us were still in a bad shape so the hangover was on its way. I luckily fell asleep on the bus for a while because the ride was almost 2 hours. When we got to the river our guide asked us who wanted to be the boat leaders. For whatever reason, hungover me and Ken volunteered to lead the boat. We all knew the entire day was going to be interesting. I Was in a boat with Dan, Laura, Angela, Caroline, Sarah, and Ken. Unfortunately the water was freezing cold and it was super windy so the first part of the trip wasn't too pleasant. There were some hysterical points. At one rapid Dan went flying forward ended up in the front of the boat and his helmet knocked mine. Something hit Sarah's knee and it bruised up and the guide fell forward and kicked Laura in the face. It was a mess. We also passed this huge rock in the river and the water was really deep there so they let us jump off the rock. I decided to take them up on the offer. It was about 20-25 feet high. We stopped for lunch and luckily it warmed up a lot so the second part of the trip was a lot better. The rapids were awesome. The trill was something that I had never experienced before and I definitely want to do it again. The cold, fresh water was the most interesting hangover remedy ever. When we got back I went to dinner with Matt, Dan, Ken, and Ben. Before dinner Matt was pretty hyper so he was jumping between top bunks. I was just waiting for him to trip and eat it. I'm glad he didn't though. We went to a food court for dinner that was mostly Asian food. It was way too salty to be enjoyable. After dinner we went back to the guys room to hang out for a while. Some of the guys went to a casino and I went to bed early in preparation for the next day's adventures.