The first three and a half days in Australia were spent in my program's introduction. When we arrived in Cairns, we were met by our Australearn leaders in the baggage claim. They took us by bus to where we would be staying for the next three nights. It was called Gilligan's and it wasn't as bad as I had initially thought it was going to be. There was a night club on one side of it, a pool in the middle, and the actual hotel part of it on the other side of it. I stayed in a room with 4 other guys, but only 2 of them were going to the same uni as me.
After settling in, a group of guys and I headed out to find something to eat because we were starving. Because this was in the afternoon, most places were not serving any food because they were taking a break between lunch and dinner. On the way around, we came across a pretty impressive tree.
We finally found a place called Outback Jack's. I had kangaroo and crocodile kabobs, which were really good. I liked the kangaroo better. After heading back to Gilligan's, we met up with the people who missed their flight in Brisbane. The whole Australearn group, all 74 of us, went to eat at a brewery. The food was just alright. We hung there for awhile, then headed back to Gilligan's. We had every intention of going to the club that evening, but we fell right asleep on our beds as soon as we laid down. Jet lag is not fun.
The next day, we were woken early and had a session with our Australearn leaders. Then, we headed up to the rainforeststation. There, we split into 3 separate groups and headed off to our first activity. My group's first activity was feeing the kangaroos and seeing some animals they had there. Most of the kangaroo/wallaby pictures are in a previous post, but here are some more:
We also had the opportunity to put a snake around our necks, so here is my photo with the snake. It really was not that big of a snake, but it was cool nonetheless:
After feeding the kangaroos for awhile, a ranger showed us some of the other animals that they had. The following pictures are of some lizards. One of them had a blue tongue and I got a photo of the tongue, which was really hard to get cause he only stuck it out for a second:
After looking at the lizards, we headed over to the crocodiles:
After seeing the normal crocodiles, we went over to where the infamous Jack the Ripper crocodile is kept. It got its name because it killed about 9 female crocodiles that were put there to mate with it. It also killed numerous cows and other animals while it was in the wild. It was a big crocodile!
Next came a bird. I'm not sure what it is:
And then finally we reached the koalas. The have the greatest life you can think of. The spend 20 hours of the day sleeping, and then spend the other 4 hours finding and eating eucalyptus. They also spend all of their life high because of the effects of the eucalyptus. What a life
After viewing the animals, we headed over an outdoor theatre to watch some aboriginal dances. It was quite interesting.
Then it was time for a group shot:
After watching them dance, we went and watched them demonstrate how to throw spears, play a didgeridoo, and throw boomerangs. We got to try playing the didgeridoo and throwing the boomerang, but not throwing the spears.
Our final event for the day was riding around the rainforest in one of those boats that can also drive on land. We saw some pretty interesting scenery in and out of the water:
I would be lying though if I said that that was all we did, because there was one thing that we did, that for most was the highlight of the day. We all got to get our picture taken while holding a koala:
On the way home, we stopped at an overlook to the city and land below:
Day 3 started quite the same. We had breakfats bright and early at 6:15AM and then headed off to the Great Barrier Reef. Most people went scuba diving, including myself, and others went snorkeling. I was the only certified scuba diver in the group that was able to go (the other couldn't go because of asthma). One of our program leaders was also certified, so I got to go with her and the dive master. The other people that had never dived before were in groups of about 10. I haven't gotten the pictures developed yet, but when I do, I will get them up on here.
Day 4 we were again woken up early. Breakfast was at 6:45. This was the day that were flying to our unis. The flight today, however, all worked out for everybody. A couple of guys and I got a photo in the airport with one of our program leaders, Michelle. She was also the one that I dove with while scuba diving.
The last photos I will leave you with are from the plane and the trip to my uni.
I wonder if you feel the jealousy I'm exuding. It's pretty intense, kinda like the heat of the sun if you were on Mercury, lol. But fo real, I'm glad you're experiencing so much. :)
ReplyDelete