Day 3 (AustraLearn Orientation) - Cairns, Queensland Australia

Last night was a little rough. The air conditioning in my room stopped working, so it was bloody hot and humid in the room making it difficult to sleep. I only got like 6 hours of sleep. Staying hydrated and putting on suncream is pushed. Apparently there's a hole in the ozone layer right over Australia, so heat exhaustion is the number one killer.

Today was the optional adventure day. AustraLearn sent out an email a few months ago with optional activities for us to sign up for and pay for at our own expense. Activities included white water rafting, horseback riding, ATV riding, and a tour through the jungle. I opted for the jungle tour. There were about 25 or so of us who all decided to go on the jungle tour. We were picked up in a van and driven north up the mountain to the Rainforest Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary. This was a place where a variety of native Australian birds flew freely. You could walk around and birds would walk in front of you or just chill. They also had a Koala exhibit, a reptile section, and an area where you could walk around the kangaroos and wallabies just like at Rainforestation. But this place had tree kangaroos which was different. After the sanctuary we went to the Mossman River Gorge where we could go swimming in the fast current produced by a bunch of gigantic rocks.I didn't bring my swimsuit, so I just observed from the balcony overlook. It was nice and peaceful just to watch and listen to the water. Following the gorge we had lunch of cold grilled chicken, biscuits, fruit, with tea and biscuits. The river tour was next where we rode on a boat for an hour in the natural habitat of crocodiles. We did get to see one crock but she was pretty small.It's mating season so our chances were slim from the get go. There was also a lot of foliage and exotic birds to check out too, I wasn't too into that, but a lot of other people were. Following the boat ride we made our way to the Cape Tribulation, Daintree National Park beach. The beach was very secluded and had an awesome view. It reminded me of the beach I was at when I was in Costa Rica, just a little bit smaller. It was here where I was eaten alive by mosquitoes. I'm sure it was revenge for killing their friends back in Saginaw when I worked for SCMAC, and they got me good. I believe our Tour Guide/Bus Driver called them "muzzies." Even he said they were outrageous. I think I ended up with over 15 bites on my body from the beach and gorge. We couldn't swim at the beach because it's jellyfish season, which mean there's a very good chance of getting stung by a jellyfish and apparently the pain is excruciating.And contrary to popular belief, peeing on the sting will not help. Our guide told us of 4 accounts where on his tours people have gotten stung, someone peed on it, and nothing happened. It didn't stop the pain or get the poison out. In case someone did get stung though, there's bottle of vinegar at the beach entrance to be used on a jellyfish sting.During this whole time we're driving in the mountains and there were these places where you could pull over and take pics, so we did that at a few. We then stopped at The Daintree Ice Cream Company where they make fruit ice cream from the fruit they grow. The flavors are always changing and the current flavors were: raspberry, jackfruit, macadamia nut, and wattle seed. You pay $5 and get one scoop of each flavor. They were pretty good, different. I think the jackfruit flavor was my fav.

The tour was fun and exposed me to a lot of different areas north of Cairns, but I felt like we were moving way too fast. I just wanted to slow down, take a breath, and observe the beauty. But we had deadlines and so many places to go go go.I probably would've never found some of the cool places we went to, but if I had I would've taken my time and enjoyed the locations a little more. Another thing that bothered me was the fact that I found myself being in the moment at a cool and breathe taking scene and I would turn to share the experience with someone I knew, but no one was there. Just a bunch of American students from across the country whom I met a few days ago. Borrring. I wish I just had a friend or a family member to take a pic with and enjoy the moment with.So that was a little bit difficult. I am meeting more of students though. It's interesting because there are like 60 students going to James Cook University/Townsville and I'm the ONLY American going to LaTrobe - Bendigo that I know of. Everyone seems to also be studying Biology, Zoology, Wildlife, and other outdoor/animal related fields. I really like it because Central doesn't have those wildlife specific programs. It's a nice break and fun to be with people who enjoy wildlife so much - and I thought I was the only crazy one. (Lauren Sequin, I don't want to make you upset but YOU WOULD LOVE IT AND FIT IN SO WELL HERE!)

Lingo Learned Today:

Rubbish = trash
Chips = fries
Rellies = parents (that's one of my favs)