The Esplanade in Cairns

These last two pictures are of a curtain fig tree right outside the library. It is completely filled with bats and they screech reallly loudly, making it very hard to concentrate when doing work.

Back in Cairns

On Saturday afternoon, we returned to Cairns from a weeklong camping trip with our two aboriginal guides, Russ and Ian. We camped on the Jumban community's land, which is about an hour and three quarters outside Cairns. They us and taught us about traditional aboriginal culture and how to throw boomerangs and spears. Russ also showed us how to start fire from rubbing sticks, and to identify certain medicine trees and edible plants. We also went fishing, painted boomerangs, and did a lot of swimming. We were not allowed to bring cameras on the trip, or any other electronics including watches. The point of the trip was to relax and learn about aboriginal culture.
On Saturday night, we went out to celebrate Gwen's 21st birthday. Another fun night in Cairns, but we are still in search of a bar where all the locals go.
Sunday morning we all went out to breakfast and then to the lagoon for a quick swim. We stupidly left all of our belongings unattended while we swam and when we got out of the pool all of our stuff was gone! We filed a police report and it turns out they caught the whole thing on hidden camera that happened to be pointing in our direction, but they never caught the guys. They found Erin's purse in the bathroom and it had a bunch other people's stuff in it, including an epi pen. There were four girls in our group that got their purses stolen and a few other people who were at the lagoon also came to the police station saying that their stuff was stolen. Although I lost my wallet with cash and debit cards in it, luckily I found my driver's license in my back pocket from the night before.

Host Family

Here are my adorable host brothers. They look innocent here, but they definitely know how to throw a tantrum!

A Downright Bad Apple

Yesterday, I packed myself a healthy lunch, which included a cheese, tomato, and pesto sandwich, a banana, an apple, and a museli bar. Lunchtime came and I thoroughly enjoyed my sandwich. Then, I moved on to the apple. The first bite was a bit grainy, but I kept eating, hoping that the next bite would be better. I noticed that after my second bite, there was a bruise on the inside of the apple, rather than on its surface. I took another bite, thinking it was no big deal, but saw that the bruise was bigger, mushier and browner deeper inside the apple. At this point I decided that I had picked a bad apple and I wouldn't eat any more of it. As I looked down at the apple, about to toss it in the waste bin, I noticed a small white worm squirming out of the brown hole I had exposed moments ago. Frantic, I ran to the bathroom to wash out my mouth.
So much for an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Are You Serious?

Yesterday, while doing homework at the house, Dave was outside working on his motorcycle. I took a break from researching the Australian Brush Turkey to step outside and see what Dave was up to. I admired his bike and he excitedly asked me if I wanted to hear the engine. He revved up the engine and then asked if I'd like to go for a ride with him tomorrow morning. Hesitantly, I agreed.
Later that afternoon we went downtown for the Chinese New Year. There was a dragon dance, arts and crafts for kids, and numerous food vendors. For dinner, the kids had McDonalds (I kindly declined) and while they were eating, I brought up our motorcycle ride. I imagined he'd take me for a short, SLOW ride around the neighborhood, since I've never been on a motorcycle before. Dave said we'd be riding to Port Douglas for breakfast and we were leaving at 6am!
Port Douglas? 6am? I really thought he was kidding. He wasn't. When we got home, (first of all I was famished so Tara and I heated up some pasta) Rachel pulled out all of her motorcycle gear. I had to wear a leather jacket, leather gloves, motorcylce boots, and of course, a sturdy helmet. I was getting increasingly nervous by the minute!
I woke up at 5:40am, five minutes before my alarm, and hoped that Dave wouldn't wake up in time or that he would just forget that I had agreed to accompany him. I stepped out of my room and Dave was already putting his boots on. I put on my gear and we walked out to the bike. We went slow around the neighborhood, but he sped up as we got on the freeway. The high speed was pretty scary, but what scared me the most was the round-a-bouts that we encountered--something about the bike leaning that far to one side just made me really nervous. After a few minutes of riding, though, the bike's engine turned off. We coasted and then Dave pulled over. He waited a minute and then turned it back on and we went on our way. The same thing happened a few minutes later and then again and again. Dave said there's no way we would make it to Port Douglas at this rate and that we'd have to turn around.
Thank god! Although it was fun for a little bit, I'm not convinced that riding a motorcycle is a safe hobby.

Well, this is embarrassing...

Turns out the 27 year old niece living in Rachel and Dave's house with me is actually 17 years old. Things are beginning to make more sense.

Homestay and a Night on the Town

For the past week the group has been split up into different home-stays. I've been living with Rachel and David Sellars in the suburbs of Cairns. They have two little boys ages 3 and 1 and their 27 year old niece is also living with them at the moment. Over the past 5 years, the Sellars have hosted students every semester, so they know how to do it by now. They have a "welcome to Our Home" book, which Rachel made, complete with pictures of the family as well as house rules and helpful hints about how to get around the city. There is also a guest book in the shape of a little girl's face that I have to sign before I leave.
Being split up from the group was shocking at first, since we had been living on top of each other for a week, but I've adjusted now and find it nice to really be immersed in Australian culture (Dave made me toast with butter and vegemite the other night and it was actually quite good!). Living in a stranger's home was awkward for the first few days, but I've come to feel more comfortable around them and actually am slowly learning to tolerate (and sometimes even like) small children.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays the group meets at the Reef Teach classroom downtown for lectures and afternoon excursions. When we are not in class, we have a bird-watching project that we do at our home-stays. Being at Reef Teach is a nice break from the toddlers and also serves as a time for us to share stories about our host families and make plans for the weekend, since it is hard to communicate when we are split up--most of us don't have phones and internet is not always readily available. Yesterday, all 12 of us met at Palm Cove beach in the afternoon and had a barbecue. After freshening up at our houses, we met up downtown for dinner and drinks.
We went to a bar that was fairly empty, but believe it or not we happened to meet three kids from Omaha! Turns out they went to Creighton Prep and we know a lot of the same people. It's a small world, after all!
After our group left the Rino Bar, we visited a few nearby destinations, but couldn't resist going back to the Wool Shed-- it was calling our names. The Wool Shed is widely known throughout Queensland as THE bar for backpackers in Cairns. You rarely meet a native Aussie at the Wool Shed; it's filled with Irishmen, Germans, Scots, and people from all other parts of the world who are traveling throughout the country. Since we aren't staying at the Greenhouse Hostel, we weren't able to score free entry passes. Luckily, I spotted our German friend whom we met at the hostel last weekend. She had already been inside and had her hand stamped. We each took turns pressing the backs of our hands on her stamped hand so that it looked like we had been inside the bar already. We walked straight to the front of the line and the bouncer, seeing our "stamped" hands, let us in.
At the end of the night Erin, Julie, Amanda, and myself left the bar and ran (literally) to catch a bus home.

Snorkeling and Somehow Sunburned

Today, we got up at 6:45am to go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef about a hour and ten minutes off the Cairns coastline. The morning started out cloudy, but once we got out to the open ocean, the sun was shining and the water was a clear turquoise color. Before getting into the water we all put on stinger suits, which protected us from jellyfish as well as the powerful UV rays. Despite this precaution, however, we ALL somehow managed to get burned...likely from sitting on the deck in between dives and soaking up the sun reflected off the ocean. We'll have to be more careful next time and heed the captain's warning--there really is no protective o-zone layer over Australia. The sunburn was well worth the spectacular views underwater; the coral was beautiful and fish were fascinating to observe. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any sharks or stingrays, but I have faith that I'll see some at Lizard Island. I'll admit that I was somewhat apprehensive about the extensive snorkeling we would be doing this semester, given that I despise jumping into cold water and fear swimming in open ocean where I can't see land. However, the ocean water here is quite warm and the coral makes the water seem more shallow. This snorkeling excursion certainly made me more excited for our 10 day reef module at Lizard Island.
Tonight, we are celebrating Rachel's 21st birthday so we are off to dinner and then the Wool Shed bar for some fun!

(from bottom to top) Port Douglas, Zoo, and Milla Milla Adventure

Port Douglas, Yarrabung, and Milla Milla

We returned to our hostel in Cairns (pronounced "Cans") yesterday from our 5 day trip to Port Douglas and the tablelands. Each day we went on hikes to explore the area's vegetation types and ecosystems. We also had a chance to swim in rivers, lakes, or the ocean almost every day.

Our hostel in Port Douglas was a lot of fun…filled with twenty-something year olds from all over the world. These people are just taking extended periods of time off to travel around Australia and the South Pacific before going to school or getting a job. They are living the life while they are young and have some funds. While in Port Douglas, we went on a hike with an Australian aboriginal named Rosie, who taught us all about the native uses of trees and plants in the rainforest. We also went swimming at the Crystal Cascades and in the ocean. Since it is stinger season here, the public is only allowed to swim inside "stinger nets," which are set up on the beaches to keep people save from jellyfish. We then traveled to Yarrabung, where we went hiking, swam in a nearby swimming hole as well as Mossman Gorge (my favorite swimming so far), and went night canoeing. Night canoeing was one of the neatest experiences of my life. It was pitch black and the sky was the clearest it's been so far. It was unbelievable how many stars we could see...we even saw some shooting stars. We were also lucky enough to spot some wildlife with the help of our guide's flashlight scanning the banks-- a water dragon, small-eyed snake, green opossum, and wallaby's.

The next day was our "Drop Off" activity in which each of us was dropped off in a different small town in the tablelands by our self and told to converse with the locals to find out the town's history and environmental issues. We were to be picked up 4 hours later. I was dropped off in Milla Milla, a small dairy town consisting of one main street with a bar/motel, café, history center, and a thrift store. I was dropped off outside the bar. As I slowly walked by the bar's outdoor patio looking for a bathroom, three people in their forties having a morning beer at 10:45am asked me if they could help me find something. They showed me to the bathroom and when I came out they asked if I'd like to have a drink with them. I figured this would be a great opportunity to talk to the locals and complete my assignment. They knew almost everyone who walked by and those they didn't know, they snuck out to the front of the bar to check out who it was. They were true locals in a small town. A few beers later, they said they were planning to go to Melany's ex-husband's house and asked if I was coming about a 10 minute drive away. My head was saying, "NO! You don't know them and they could be dangerous!" But my gut told me that they were benign, friendly people. Feeling spontaneous, I hopped in the car with them after Trish grabbed a few 6-packs from the bar for us. We got to Mel's ex-husband, Pauly's, house and talked for a while in his covered carpark, which he converted into a picnic area. We had a real Aussie BBQ-- grilled some sausages and steaks, while sipping on some local XXXX Gold beer. It was a fabulous afternoon with complete strangers who treated me as their own friend. They drove me back to the bar where the bus was to pick me up. As we drove up, the bus was already there and the rest of the group watched in shock as I pulled up in the back of some stranger's car. The friendly and welcoming people of Milla Milla give me hope for humanity…sometimes it's good to be spontaneous, let your guard down and meet new people.