Aussie Aussie Aussie…
I’ve written more about my time at the elephant sanctuary for the Oakville Beaver, check that blog out here.
So, after a nightmare journey that involved way too many crying babies, I’m in Australia! Cairns to be exact. It’s hot, sunny and very pretty here. I even dived the Great Barrier Reef today! That was amazing. I’ve never seen such big walls of coral, and some of the fish I saw were absolutely huge. Of the 85 people onboard the boat, I was one of only three certified divers, which made me feel pretty special. The trip out to the Reef was about 1.5 hours, but the water was so turquoise and pretty that it made for some good sightseeing. Our first dive site was near a beach that is home to over 60,000 birds. It was literally covered in flying creatures, and the birds in this country are definitely a little strange. A few look like mini dinosaurs and are slightly terrifying. Later in the afternoon I also went snorkelling, and even from the surface there was plenty to look at.
Stylin’ in my stinger suit.
Last night, Cayley and I went down to the beach to have a picnic dinner and a little swim. Cairns in a little weird in that people don’t seem to really swim in the ocean right off the coast of the city, but rather there is a large pool right at the shore of the ocean and it even has some sand in it!
We’re at the point in our trip that restaurants are no longer an option, so we went grocery shopping and noticed some interesting things about food in Australia. For one, bananas are crazy expensive (we paid $5 for two!). However, soy milk is way cheaper than in Canada. Goat cheese too! Clearly, we bought both. We also bought four bags of Halloween chocolate, but we won’t talk about that…
In other news, we’ve also booked some Australian adventures! In a few days, we head off on a 2-day, 1-night sailing excursion in the Whitsundays, and we plan on buying nautical clothing and drinking fancy wine to fit in. After that, we head to Fraser Island for some camping! There are apparently lots of dingos there, so good thing we don’t have any babies. We had to pick one of us to drive for that trip, and since I have no idea how to drive standard, Cayley stepped up to the plate. They also drive on the other side of the road here though, so things could get very interesting. The good thing is that we’ll be driving on sand, so when we roll out of the car to save ourselves from flying into the ocean, it’ll be a soft landing. After those two adventures, we go to Brisbane for one night followed by a few days in Byron Bay for surfing lessons. My balance is so bad that I can’t even ride a bike, so I’m considering wearing a helmet.
Our last few days in Cairns should be busy. Tomorrow I meet up with a friend I met in Europe two years ago, so I can’t wait to catch up. The day after that, it’s bungee time! We also signed up for some swing thing that apparently goes very fast, so we’re giving ourselves a second chance to throw up on ourselves.
For now I’m trying to conserve my sleep because our upcoming journeys include a lot of overnight buses. Joy.
Night night!
Kelsey Parsons 