Cairns

So I am a bit behind on these blogs, as I am now getting settled into my new place in Sydney; but for this post let me catch you up on my week in Cairns.  I arrived in Australia a little over a week ago and our first destination was Cairns for Australearn's (the study abroad company) Culture and Adventure Week.  It was an absolutely amazing experience.  The group of Australearn students (34 of us who are all studying at Macquarie), stayed in a hostel in the City of Cairns in Northern Queensland.  It is a beautiful area nestled between the Daintree Rain-forest and the Great Barrier Reef.  I jokingly refer to it as a "British version of Hawaii".  Much of the culture of the town and Australia as a whole is very much influenced by British culture (food, shops, road system, etc) yet at the same time is very tropical and laid back in nature.  The city itself wasn't anything extraordinary, but its location and surroundings more than made up for it.  Lush green mountains, palm trees, turquoise water...it was all amazing.  One area of the city called the Esplanade near the CBD had a wonderful boardwalk, with  a public lagoon (infinity pool) right on the ocean.  Lying out there in the sun, is a little slice of heaven-- for any of you who ever make it Cairns--check it out!

As for everything I did that week through the program, the list is extensive.  The first day I visited this wildlife sanctuary know as Rainforestation, where we were all able to hold a koala, handle a snake, feed (and hop along) with kangaroos, dance with aborigines, throw a boomerang, and play the didgeridoo (youtube it).  The next day, I took a ride three hours north to Cape Tribulation to zipline through the worlds oldest rainforest.  The zipline was awesome and consisted of five different lines that took us to these platforms in the canopy layers of these incredibly tall trees.  The jungle itself is massive and is over 40 million years older than the Amazon.  To cap this all off on my last day in Cairns, the group of us took a catamaran out on the Great Barrier Reef.  Lying out on the deck of a beautiful boat two hours from shore on the stunning reef...it was paradise. I also SCUBA dived for the first time in the reef.  While I didn't see any cool sea creatures beside beautiful fish, the reef it self was amazing.  It's so colorful and alive, that it can actually be viewed from space!  Combine all this with fun nights on the town while getting to know a fun group of students, needless to say it was a week I will never forget!