So its all over. I am back in the states now in Maine for a little while before I go back to Boston and start co-op. I had my last exam (thermodynamics) on the 17th before heading to Cairns on the 18th. My exam went alright but I'll have to see the results before I am really satisfied. I was doing really well in that class before the exam so hopefully I continued my run of good results. The rest of the day after the exam was spent getting things ready for the trip up to Cairns and The Whitsunday Islands. Wednesday night I went out with a bunch of my friends that I've met here in Australia to probably my favorite bar in Hawthorn, the Nevermind. Its a really relaxed bar with a bunch of couches inside on multiple levels and a couple different decks on the outside. When we got there I was surprised to find four of my friends from the Aussie rules team in addition to the 12 or so people that had came with Will and I from our apartment. Anyways, it was great to hang out with those kids for one last time.
The next morning Will and I went and got on the plane to Cairns at 7 am and arrived at noon to balmy conditions somewhere in the neighborhood of 27 degrees (mid 80s Fahrenheit). I have to admit it was pretty nice after coming from Melbourne where it had been around 15 degrees on average for the past 2 months. We checked into our hostel Thursday night and went on a rain forest tour on Friday. The tour was pretty fun and our tour guide was amazing. He knew so much about the area and the wildlife that lived within it in addition to being hilarious and conducting the whole tour barefoot. We went on a boat ride on a river, to a pretty cool beach, a rain forest wild life sanctuary and saw one of the rarest birds in the world (a cassowary, sort of like an emu but weirder). The next morning we got on a Greyhound bus that took us down to Airlie Beach which would serve as our jump off point to the Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef. The bus ride was 11 hours which kind of sucked but I didn't mind it too much because by now I am more than used to traveling long distances.
On Sunday the 21st Will and I walked around Airlie beach until it was time to board the boat at 4 pm. When we got on the boat and got our cabins, met the crew and the rest of the guests it was quickly apparent that it was going to be a sick trip. I was actually a little worried that I wasn't going to enjoy the rest of the guests because there were only two other kids on the trip the same age as Will and I. The rest were significantly older except for 3 kids who had came on the ship with their parents. However, it actually worked out really well and we met some great people on the trip. The food was amazing on the trip and if it was a restaurant it would be the most expensive one I've ever been to (but luckily it was all included in the price of the trip which wasn't that bad). However, the real highlights of the trip were obviously found off the boat. The reefs and beaches were amazing! I went snorkeling a bunch and scuba diving twice in one of the coolest places in the world. The trip also included a trip to one of the most beautiful white sand beaches in the world, Whitehaven. It was so sweet and after being in Australia I have a much better appreciation for ocean beaches than I did before. The first time I went snorkeling I was swimming around watching fish hanging around the coral and then I looked around me and I surrounded on three sides by by between 100 and 200 different fish of probably 12 different species. It was amazing! For the rest of my time snorkeling on the trip I saw over 100 different species of fish and over 30 different kinds of coral (however, the coral was not as colorful as I had pictured it would be). Anyways, it was still crazy and like nothing I have ever done before in my life.
Anyways, Australia has been amazing! The people are great, there is so much to do and there are so many great things to experience. Do it!!!!
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