Last days in Cairns

I have finally arrived in Brisbane, and the internet is not any better here! It costs about $45 a month a person for 3 GB of usage, which is very expensive, so I have just been using the wireless at a nearby coffee shop. I am going to give an update of my last few days in Cairns, and then tomorrow I'll do my first few days in Brisbane. I can barely remember what has happened the past few days, I have been so busy! On Sunday we had our community day at a nursery that is working to save the Cassowary bird. This bird only survives on the fruit of a certain type of tree, and this tree only thrives by having the fruit eaten by this bird, so they have a very strange relationship with one another. The nursery was located in Kuranda, which is about 20 minutes drive from the center of Cairns. At the nursery was where I saw my first Huntsman spider -- google it. I was using an outhouse, and when I stood up I saw it sitting right under the seat! These type of spiders don't bite or cause any harm, but they like warm places and often cause car accidents because they sit on top of sun visors and when drivers pull them down they freak out and get distracted. After leaving the cassowary nursery, we went to lunch. I ordered a kangaroo burger, and it was absolutely not my thing. It wasn’t disgusting, but it felt like I should be eating a burger, and it didn’t taste like beef, so it felt off. I don’t think I will be ordering any kangaroo the rest of my trip.

The next day was our trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. We all loaded up on a sailboat and took a 2.5 hour trip out in the ocean. A bunch of us decided to go scuba diving, and it was the most incredible experience I have had yet. While scuba diving we had to wear these blue stinger suits, to avoid getting stung by a deadly jellyfish called an Iracongi. While scuba diving, I saw sting rays, clown fish, parrot fish, and tons of amazing coral. The diving instructor let us pick up a sea cucumber, it was the weirdest feeling thing I have ever held. After I finished, a bunch of us laid out on the nettings of the boat. It was really an amazing experience to think that you were laying on a sailboat out in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We took the 2.5 hour boat ride back to the shore, and ate Dominos pizza for dinner at the hostel. This was my favorite day of the trip by far.

Tuesday we packed up the rest of our stuff, ate breakfast, and headed to the airport to head back down to Brisbane, where I will be living for the next 5 months. It was interesting how easy the process of getting through an airport is in Australia compared to how complicated it is in the U.S. Our taxi driver brought us over to our apartment, and the rest I will leave for tomorrow!