Two days, Two continents and three flights later, I have finally made to Australia. I’ve actually only been in Australia a total of three days now, but it seems like the journey and time here have been much more than that. I left the states on Saturday July 10 and arrived in Brisbaine, Australia on the 12th. I then took a flight to Cairns (pronounced cans) that same day in Northern Australia. Once we all arrived in Cairns, we were transferred to a youth hostel where I am currently writing this post. The first day, there were many activities... basically forced movement so we all couldn’t go to sleep... things like a BBQ and meet and greet, and then dinner together. After all of that we could finally sleep.
The next day was early, we were up at six and on a boat by 7:30 headed for the Great Barrier Reef. This was one of the most incredible days of my life to date! It took us about two hours to sail out to the reef and after a lot of sea sickness (fortunately I never got sick) and some snorkeling instructions we had made it to our destination. Having been a seasoned snorkeler I was one of the first to jump in. The water was such a deep royal blue and so clear you could see the entire reef laid out before you. The amounts of bright colorful fish swimming around and choral on the reef was just stunning. There were yellow’s and deep and bright blues, followed by red and even orange. I was able to see a sea turtle and even some fish that looked like Nemo and Dori! It truly was an amazing experience! After we finished at the reef, we set sail for land and we had a light afternoon tea, which has turned out to be a daily occurrence and I love it!
The next day, (today the 14th) we were all rounded up to do a community service project. We went up into the mountains and stopped at this lady’s tree farm. For the past fifteen years she has been planting trees and doing some environmental work, so we learned about the local vegetation and then went out and planted some trees at a local school next to their football (soccer) field. It was a great afternoon and an awesome way to just give back to the community and Australia as a whole.
Tomorrow we are going to the zoo where we will be able to pet a Koala and a Kangaroo and just look around with a free day in the evening and another free day on friday before we pack up and go to Melbourne on Saturday.
All-in-all I am having a great time. I have already made some good friends and am very much looking forward to the experience ahead of me. I haven’t had any homesickness so far, but I am sure that will come in time. I am looking forward to school and life as a whole here in Australia. The people here are amazingly friendly and just super laid back. They also have a very unique sense of humor and I find it pretty funny. Australians also really like to pick on people and the more you are picked on, the more they like you and the less they like you, the more they just leave you alone. So, it will be neat to become more integrated into their way of life.
Looking to have a pretty chilled out evening tonight. A group of us went out last night for dinner and some dancing so we are all gonna sit by the pool and just chill out.... Speaking of, It is literally the “heart of winter” here and everything is green and lush and it is super warm. ALSO, due to the hole in the Ozone layer the sun’s rays get at you MUCH faster than in the states so constant sunscreen application is a MUST!
Well... on that note, I think I am gonna chill out for a bit and call it an evening. I will try to write again soon.. Until then, no worries.
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