Made it to the land of kangaroos, boomerangs and Didgeridoos. The plane ride over was exhausting; 32 hours of being in Airports or on planes. I was fairly lucky though on the overnight flight to Auckland, NZ though because I sat next to another guy from Yakima that was starting his year long solo trip around New Zealand and it was reassuring that he was having the same anxiety/fear/excited feeling that I was having also. Also, a really cool part of the flight over was when approaching Australia we flew over the great barrier reef which was pretty amazing to see from above. When I finally got to Cairns it was pouring rain (as was it in Seattle, San Fran and Auckland) and felt and sounded like one of those tropical bird sanctuaries at the zoo that are really hot and humid. I originally started to walk the three or so miles to town, but turned back and opted for a taxi after a short while because a stream came up right beside the road I was walking by and I didn't know the crocodile situation, which it turns out there are a lot of them in the region. Cairns is cool because it is really beachy vibe, despite not having a good beach because of the mud from the mangrove rainforests right on the coast. I noticed that there are a huge amount of Hostels and backpackers because Cairns is the starting or ending point for a lot of backpackers traveling the East coast. There was a while I was having the "what the hell am I doing" thoughts when I got lost and hadn't talked to a person in a long time, but I was able to get over that pretty quickly and I am getting more used to life where you have to meet new people everyday. When I finally got back to the Hostel I went down to the hostel bar happy hour and honestly never found it easier to meet people. Within an hour I had new friends from Brazil, Germany, Norway, Oz and France. After we all went to a local backpacker bar called the Woolshed and danced like there was no tomorrow. The next day I got up early and rented a car with three Australians from Adelaide to go out and explore the rainforest. The plants and just the sounds of it are pretty incredible and I felt like a little kid just looking around at the wildlife and scenery. After a few short hikes and scenic drive we went a volcanic crater lake that the locals told us it was okay to swim in and escaped the heat for a while. The next couple days were lazy just hanging at the beach and exploring the city with some friends I made. Yesterday I decided to make the hour boat ride out to the Great Barrier Reef and all I can say is AMAZING. Whoever had the job of getting to go to the reef everyday and document the 4000 kinds of fish had to have one of the best jobs in human history. Some of the colors of the fish were so cool, like the fish decided to throw an 80's neon themed party. There were also giant clams that got up to 6 or 7 feet wide that shut really fast if you touched them (scared the daylights out of me at first). Cairns lifestyle of drinking and daytrips is finally starting to catch up with me and my wallet, so tomorrow I am trying to leave town and search for some farm work.
