June 2009 - Cairns, Australia

From Sydney- we boarded a plane for a 2hr 30 min journey up to Cairns (pronounced Caaannes), Australia. This is Northern Australia… remember how I said it was cold and rainy and essentially winter in Sydney?!?! Well- complete OPPOSITE in Cairns- it was sunny and it was the summer up there LOL. I thought that was interesting because in the USA the southern part is always warmer then the northern states, here it was vice versa.

The Cairns airport was really small

I remember and this time we didn’t stay in a hotel- we stayed in dorms- however we got our own rooms and shared a “dorm apartment” with two other people. That was kind of cool to have my own space. In Cairns, we went to a rainforest, a crocodile park (OH EM GEEE those crocs were sooooo FREAKING huge!), annddddd we SWAM IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF!!!!!!

So, let me tell you about my first experience swimming in the Pacific Ocean…the Great Barrier Reef. So we get on this boat that takes us to this dock thing-it was really nice it had a whole spread of yummy food for us before we chose what water activity we wanted to do- the water activities you could do was snorkel, go to the bottom with this helmet thing that allows you to stay dry neck up, and scuba dive. I think we woulda had to pay extra for anything other then snorkeling- so most of us---snorkeled. Okay, so I never did this before so first I pick out a wetsuit and flippers and go to the guy and get my mask and snorkel (side note: How gross is it that you have to literally spit in the mask, so it won’t get cloudy?!?). My friend and I decide to jump in together on the count of three- we did. At first I was like “oh wow this is amazing I’m like in the Pacific Ocean – Great Barrier Reefing it right now”…still did not look into the water at this point. I dip my head in and OH MY GOD soooooooooo many fish were around me and everyone in the water. It was cray cray! I got scared and screamed when I saw this HUGE fish WITH TEETH (the people named him Wally) everyone laughed- but I literally was scared for my dear life lol. The people on the boat kept throwing fish food into the water- that is why so many fish were around us. Anyway sooo I’d say maybe 45 min of me getting out every time I got scared and my friend convincing me to get back into the water… I got comfortable with snorkeling lol. I became one with the water (as us Pisces tend to do) and saw some AMAZINGGGGGGG coral reefs and fish (literally saw all the fish you’d see in Finding Nemo in one reef), I saw a sea turtle and an eel. Sooo freaking cool. That was an unforgettable experience and I absolutely love reminiscing back to that day. I’m literally smiling right now as I type… Oh- this is a wonder of the world… check that off the list! CHECK!

I did experience one night out (I think it was just one- maybe 2- okay it was 3 nights out!) and I must admit- I got prreeeeetttyyyyyy flat out WAY-STED one night. It was fun though. I think it was the last night in Australia- so I HAD to leave with a BANG, I guess lol. We went into the downtown Cairns area and like bar/club hopped. They played pretty nice music and I think this was the first time I never paid for any drinks, by the way, I was 20…legal age to drink in Australia- 18- what what!

Again- this all happened in June of 2009, and it’s April of 2014- so this is all I really remember… don’t hate me. LOL. Please pleaseeeee look at my pictures! K-thanks!

Overall, I liked Cairns 150% more then Sydney, I like that the entire city is just laid back and chill and also has enough to do so your not bored. The city is also full of diversity. If I were to live in Australia- Cairns would definitely be the top most cities I’d want to live in. One day in life I’ll be back! G’day!