What an adventure to virtually end my Australian travels. It was an amazing last trip...once I got there. I woke up at 3:50 am to take the 4:15 train. Unfortunately, New South Whales is undergoing trackwork and so I had to get off the train and transfer to a bus for the remainder of the trip to the airport. No problem, I had time. Except the bus was 30 minutes late. I started panicking when it was around 10 minutes late but the only 2 taxis to drive by already had passengers. So, when I finally got to the airport and sprinted to the check-in, I had missed it by 7 minutes. Unfortunately the airline I was flying with only offered 1 flight per day to Cairns and so I had 2 options. I could pay a fee and take the flight the next day and miss my white water rafting trip. Or I could check with another airline and try and get a new flight yet that day. Since I was really looking forward to my rafting trip I opted for a new flight - at a heafty cost.
My first day in Cairns was rather uneventful. I walked around the city to get a feel for my surroundings and spent some time lounging at the lagoon identical to the one I described in the Whitsundays. I went grocery shopping to compensate for my new plane ticket by sticking to a diet of PB and J for every dinner. I also enjoyed the night time markets and strolling along the Promenade which became my favorite escape spot. The promenade is a boardwalk that ran the length of the ocean for quite a few kilometers and ended in the harbor. It was something you would see in a movie. I wound up running along the promenade almost every night because it was so peaceful and inspiring. They also had outdoor workout stations so I could do sit ups, pull ups and various other exercises outside under the stars. It was amazing.
I was up bright and early the next morning for my rafting trip. This was my 4th time white water rafting but perhaps my favorite. The rapids were more intense which always gets the adrenaline pumping and increases the thrill of rafting. The weather was beautiful too so the water felt great. I requested to sit in the front since I knew from previous experience that was the most intense seat. We also got to do a few extracurricular activities like cliff diving and hopping out of the raft to swim a few less intense rapids. My group was a lot of fun and I was definitely glad I decided not to take the flight the next day and miss it.
The next day I went to the Atherton Tablelands. Not my favorite part of the trip, but neat to explore the rolling hills nonetheless. The most exciting part was the two waterfalls we toured. I was able to actually swim through one and the pressure exerted by the waterfall was incredible. The other one was cascading with huge boulders and ledges so we were able to hike up the waterfall.
The third day was my snorkeling trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. It was another beautiful day so the boat ride out there made me feel like I was at the Ozarks. We got out to the reef and after sitting around for several minutes I asked when we could get in the water. The crew said whenever I wanted, so I was the first to hop in. They said there is always one guinea pig; I told them I preferred to think of it as trendsetting. They said they'd be sure to let the sharks know that. I had quite a few problems with my mask flooding but eventually got it worked out and spent about an hour snorkeling through schools of fish and taking tons of pictures. It's amazing all the different types of coral and everything. I hopped out of the water and took a glass bottom boat tour so I could see more of the reef. Then after lunch (which ironically was seafood) I hopped back in the water while they conducted a fish feeding show. Thankfully none of the bigger fish mistook me for lunch. Afterwards it was time for my adventure snorkel. I got in a dingy and headed out to the outer wall of the reef where about 15 of us plunged into the middle of the ocean. It was a tough swim along the wall because the water was so choppy the waves kept flooding our snorkels with water. We had a marine biologist explaining the different fish and types of coral we saw which made it nice to know what I was looking at. This lasted about another hour and by that point I was ready to be done with snorkeling.
My final day was spent at Cape Tribulation. We spent the morning hiking through the rain forest and learning all sorts of fun biology facts. Don't ask me to repeat them. We also went for a swim in this beautiful creek called Mossman Gorge complete with rapids. Once we got there our guide said "now is the time to relax, stop worrying, and just strip off your clothes and go for a swim." I thought he was joking. He was not. Next thing I know we're all awkwardly trying to change under towels in a small area amongst a group of strangers. After living in hostels, though, a little bit of modesty goes out the door. Afterwards we stopped for lunch at this beach resort where I had the most amazing buffet lunch. I even took a picture of the dessert for you, Grandpa, because it was the first food I had eaten in quite a while worthy of a picture. In fact, I had two desserts because they were so good! After lunch we went for a wonder along the beach. Unfortunately, it is now the season of the box jelly fish; these jelly fish are only a few centimeters long but deadly if they sting you. So, swimming in the ocean was not an option. The final activity of the day was a crocodile safari where we saw 6 crocodiles ranging from only 2 feet to 14 feet or so. We even saw a cobra in the trees.
That night I asked my hostel what time I needed to go to the airport. They assured me that the 8:45 shuttle would give me plenty of time to check in for my 10 am flight. The check in line was out the door when I arrived. Finally at 9:40 I walked up to the counter sure I had missed my flight and ready to call up the hostel and demand compensation for the new ticket I would likely have to buy. What scared me even more was if I couldn't get on a new flight how I would manage to get home and take my final the next morning! The lady checked me in, though, and even checked my luggage for free (I only travel with carry ons but was over by 2 lbs so that was a relief because it's quite expensive to check a bag without indicating that on the ticket). After I got my boarding pass I walked to the security line, which was equally long, and wandered how I was possibly going to make my flight. I talked to those around me also trying to make a different 10 o'clock flight as well and one girl informed me she had never seen the airport like this before. At 9:50 an airport employee came and instructed all of us on my particular flight to come to the front of the security line. I asked what the deal was and she said that the airport had booked too many major flights to depart at the same time and couldn't handle it. So, I guess the airport at least recognized the mistake and pushed back the departure time a bit. Fine with me! Must not have been pushed back too long, though, as I was the last to board the plane! The train ride home wasn't much better because the place where I had to change trains did not have working screens telling me when trains were departing and to where. Since it can be as long as an hour in between trains to back home, I hopped on the one waiting at the platform instead of deciding to figure it all out. We passed several familiar stops and I relaxed a bit, but 30 minutes later realized it was definitely the wrong train as we started heading to the Eastern suburbs of Sydney. So I had to run and grab a new train back and then wait about 45 minutes for a train back home. My two hour train ride turned into a 4 hour ride. At least I made it.
Overall the trip was a great time. My roommates in the hostel were a lot of fun and I was able to go out with them each night which made traveling on my own not seem lonely. Funny how a 29 year old Irish guy, 28 year old German guy, 26 year old Swiss guy, and 21 year old American can all have such a good time together. I liked traveling on my own because it forced me to meet new people and was great because I could do everything that I wanted and then still have people to socialize with at night. And nothing like traveling on your own to teach responsibility and inevitably life lessons (like not assuming a bus can be on time). It again reminded me how much I enjoy foreigners and how much we can learn from each other. Sadly, this will probably be my last Australian post. I hope everyone has enjoyed keeping up with my adventures and I can't wait to see you all in the coming weeks!
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