Happy Mother's day to the most wonderful mom of all!!!! Love you JaneSunday, May 9, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Underground in the Down Under
So I am completely exhausted from the awesomeness of today and possibly delirious, so I can not promise what I write will be coherent or even mildly entertaining but I will try my hardest because today was probably one of my FAVORITE days in the NZ yet.
Today was the day I went CAVING!!! We went to the Piripiri (sp?) road end caves. It was just a 40 minute drive out there. The whole time I am driving out there I am thinking what the heck am I getting myself into? Tempted to back out I decided NO I am definietly going underground and that was that. Next thing I know, I find myself hanging by rope and harness off a bridge and I am lowering myself into a crack in Good Old Mother Earth's crust. We probably repelled about 10 to 15 meters. Little did I know that at that point the repelling part was the least of my worries. I actually thought it was really fun and would 100% do it again. In fact I would do everything I did today again. So I get down and unhook my harness, and am left standing in a big room (cave) there are some ferns and a stream and it looks like a nice little place. I think to myself "oh this is caving I can completely do this." I then see a rope leading up to a hole in the side of a rock wall and am told we are standing in a canyon NOT a cave and the cave we will be exploring is the hole in the side of the wall. What I am not a gecko, no sticky feet here, so exactly how am I supposed to get to that hole in the side of the wall. With much effort and alot of deep breathes I am able to use the rope to climb to the hole in said wall. My hands were so tired I felt like I had just skiied a whole set. I sit at the cave entrance and wait for Terra. She gets to the top and we are greeted with a huge hole in the ground filled with water. That is where we learned that by getting wet while caving is an understatement. We were in chest high water at some points. (which just made it that much cooler)
Next we wade through some water, get stuck at this very tight crack, but make it through all on our own. Some people were ahead of us and the trip leaders were at the bottom helping get more people up. So it wasn't like we were completely on our own or anything. Finally, some skilled cavers catch up with us. We keep on heading further and further in walking through water, laughing hysterically (waders though would have made it funnier), climbing over rocks and occassionally turning our head torches off to see some glow worms. The rest of the trip was pretty awesome and involved lots of climbing and me thinking there is no WAY I can do this, and then coming to the realisation of "oh hey, I just did that!" There were times where the only thing holding you up was the fact you were wedged between 2 rocks and having to shimmy across to get through, some of these if you became "unwedged" you could have fallen like 2 meters. I definitely have the bruises and scrapes to prove my work though haha! We had to use some ropes to climb in and out and off and onto ledges and cracks. There was lots of team work like Terra supporting the weight of my whole body (aka butt) with her face to help me climb out and me pulling the "beached whale" out of some cracks. There was also this big mud pit that was the softest mud ever and we had some fun playing in it. ie: mud facials and mud artwork on Russel's white coveralls.
Now for the leaving of the cave...we had to go out the way we came in, I was dreading this becasue of my slight panic attack / inability to get up the wall to enter the cave and now that my arms are tired I have to climb down a rock wall? So we head out and I am in the lead there is one point that is a very tight sqeeze for probably 3 meterish. Oh on a side note while in the cave I had seen some pretty big spiders but from a distance and heard rumours of there being wetas in there. (I bravely chose to ignore all this) Ok so during this tight sqeeze your face is probaby no more than 6 inches away from the rock and to my surprise my face met one GIGANTIC spider. I let out the loudest scream and instant panic takes over my body. On the way in I must have not noticed the gigantic quantities of spiders that reside in this part of the cave becasue I was still experiencing shock from just being in a cave. I began looking everywhere and all I could see was spiders and then I saw a weta and I absoulutely lost it! I am embarassed to actually be writing this. I do not know what I was thinking in this time of panic, but I sat down in the middle of the path/stream and bear hugged Terra's leg and refused to let go. My heart was going about a mile and minute and I don't think I was breathing. However, I eventually realised we were almost at the cave opening, so from that point on it was eye on the prize time; we are getting the heck out of here. Nobody else even flinched about the BUGS! While waiting for some people to descend down, my panic over the bugs doubled due to my fear of descending back down into the canyon. We were waiting in this little room covered in spiders!!!! I just had to get out and was soon half way down the rock wall, where it was spider and weta free and could finally feel my heart rate adjust back to that of a normal human being.
Just some side notes:
Today was the day I went CAVING!!! We went to the Piripiri (sp?) road end caves. It was just a 40 minute drive out there. The whole time I am driving out there I am thinking what the heck am I getting myself into? Tempted to back out I decided NO I am definietly going underground and that was that. Next thing I know, I find myself hanging by rope and harness off a bridge and I am lowering myself into a crack in Good Old Mother Earth's crust. We probably repelled about 10 to 15 meters. Little did I know that at that point the repelling part was the least of my worries. I actually thought it was really fun and would 100% do it again. In fact I would do everything I did today again. So I get down and unhook my harness, and am left standing in a big room (cave) there are some ferns and a stream and it looks like a nice little place. I think to myself "oh this is caving I can completely do this." I then see a rope leading up to a hole in the side of a rock wall and am told we are standing in a canyon NOT a cave and the cave we will be exploring is the hole in the side of the wall. What I am not a gecko, no sticky feet here, so exactly how am I supposed to get to that hole in the side of the wall. With much effort and alot of deep breathes I am able to use the rope to climb to the hole in said wall. My hands were so tired I felt like I had just skiied a whole set. I sit at the cave entrance and wait for Terra. She gets to the top and we are greeted with a huge hole in the ground filled with water. That is where we learned that by getting wet while caving is an understatement. We were in chest high water at some points. (which just made it that much cooler)
Next we wade through some water, get stuck at this very tight crack, but make it through all on our own. Some people were ahead of us and the trip leaders were at the bottom helping get more people up. So it wasn't like we were completely on our own or anything. Finally, some skilled cavers catch up with us. We keep on heading further and further in walking through water, laughing hysterically (waders though would have made it funnier), climbing over rocks and occassionally turning our head torches off to see some glow worms. The rest of the trip was pretty awesome and involved lots of climbing and me thinking there is no WAY I can do this, and then coming to the realisation of "oh hey, I just did that!" There were times where the only thing holding you up was the fact you were wedged between 2 rocks and having to shimmy across to get through, some of these if you became "unwedged" you could have fallen like 2 meters. I definitely have the bruises and scrapes to prove my work though haha! We had to use some ropes to climb in and out and off and onto ledges and cracks. There was lots of team work like Terra supporting the weight of my whole body (aka butt) with her face to help me climb out and me pulling the "beached whale" out of some cracks. There was also this big mud pit that was the softest mud ever and we had some fun playing in it. ie: mud facials and mud artwork on Russel's white coveralls.
Now for the leaving of the cave...we had to go out the way we came in, I was dreading this becasue of my slight panic attack / inability to get up the wall to enter the cave and now that my arms are tired I have to climb down a rock wall? So we head out and I am in the lead there is one point that is a very tight sqeeze for probably 3 meterish. Oh on a side note while in the cave I had seen some pretty big spiders but from a distance and heard rumours of there being wetas in there. (I bravely chose to ignore all this) Ok so during this tight sqeeze your face is probaby no more than 6 inches away from the rock and to my surprise my face met one GIGANTIC spider. I let out the loudest scream and instant panic takes over my body. On the way in I must have not noticed the gigantic quantities of spiders that reside in this part of the cave becasue I was still experiencing shock from just being in a cave. I began looking everywhere and all I could see was spiders and then I saw a weta and I absoulutely lost it! I am embarassed to actually be writing this. I do not know what I was thinking in this time of panic, but I sat down in the middle of the path/stream and bear hugged Terra's leg and refused to let go. My heart was going about a mile and minute and I don't think I was breathing. However, I eventually realised we were almost at the cave opening, so from that point on it was eye on the prize time; we are getting the heck out of here. Nobody else even flinched about the BUGS! While waiting for some people to descend down, my panic over the bugs doubled due to my fear of descending back down into the canyon. We were waiting in this little room covered in spiders!!!! I just had to get out and was soon half way down the rock wall, where it was spider and weta free and could finally feel my heart rate adjust back to that of a normal human being.
Just some side notes:
- Wetas and spiders alone are bad, but when put in a cave they are even worse.
- I completely surprised myself in my abilites today. Normally do not consider myself brave in rock climbing type situations...but I loved every minute of it.
- The hardest and scariest (well except the spiders) was the entering and exiting of the cave.
- I really did feel like spider man (I can scale walls) and a fragglerock! --just wish there were big harry giants at the top of the cave.
- I would definetly go caving again...because: physically challenging, good time with friends (lots of laughs, get to use your mind...figure out how to get around obstacles, and everything (except cave bugs) was awesome.
- Glow worms are really cool...did not give them enough credit above.
I am not reading this because I am going to bed...so hope it makes sense. Love you Jane
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Your journey to NZ and my Journey to the center of the Earth!
So I have been rather lazy, these last few days...but lazy in a good way, not like lazy in a bad way. lol I have really enjoyed myself and have gotten lots of sleep and re-adjusted to my Palmy schedule...that was tough to do after all my time on holiday! I think there is something ridiculous like 46 more days left here and my Kat comes soooooooo soon! Excited to come home, but at the same time not excited. Here is my dilemma:
I want to see everybody back home!
I don't want to leave NZ!
solution: EVERYBODY I know back home needs to get together and figure out a way to get here (as in NZ)
Then I do not have to leave NZ but I get to see all of my lovely friends and family.
Some cheap ways you could get to NZ...
1. well we know quite a few people with boats (Dad, Ed, Steve) you could all just cram in there...and set sail.
2. Another fun one, re-enact balloon boy's antics, but this time for real. Just get a bunch of balloons tie them together and off you go.
3. Just do it the old fashion way...book a ticket!
4. Maybe you could make a tunnel, gather all the shovels in the neighborhood and start digging. I am sure there are already some pre dug holes in my backyard, from the days of Chelsea and me trying to dig to China.
You know holes are kind of like Caves...which brings me to my next topic!
This weekend I am going caving or Spulunking...whichever you prefer, but the point is I will be abseiling (repelling) off a bridge and into a cave.
Exact quote from the trip leader: "There are two caves we'll be exploring, one of which is in a canyon we can abseil into off of a bridge.
You can expect to get very dirty and muddy, and you will definitely get wet. There will be crawling, climbing, and squeezing through tight spaces. These are not walk-through caves!" So excited but then again so nervous, I mean a cave is rather creepy and rather small...hope I don't get claustrophobic...and lets not even think about the chances of bats or other creepy crawlies! At least I have my brand new and very fashionable striped long underwear to get me through this ordeal. I will also get to dawn a helmet and my trusty head torch! Now I am off to work on another glorious dairy assignment!
p.s. Kat comes ridiculously soon (can you tell I am excited)
I want to see everybody back home!
I don't want to leave NZ!
solution: EVERYBODY I know back home needs to get together and figure out a way to get here (as in NZ)
Then I do not have to leave NZ but I get to see all of my lovely friends and family.
Some cheap ways you could get to NZ...
1. well we know quite a few people with boats (Dad, Ed, Steve) you could all just cram in there...and set sail.
2. Another fun one, re-enact balloon boy's antics, but this time for real. Just get a bunch of balloons tie them together and off you go.
3. Just do it the old fashion way...book a ticket!
4. Maybe you could make a tunnel, gather all the shovels in the neighborhood and start digging. I am sure there are already some pre dug holes in my backyard, from the days of Chelsea and me trying to dig to China.
You know holes are kind of like Caves...which brings me to my next topic!
This weekend I am going caving or Spulunking...whichever you prefer, but the point is I will be abseiling (repelling) off a bridge and into a cave.
Exact quote from the trip leader: "There are two caves we'll be exploring, one of which is in a canyon we can abseil into off of a bridge.
You can expect to get very dirty and muddy, and you will definitely get wet. There will be crawling, climbing, and squeezing through tight spaces. These are not walk-through caves!" So excited but then again so nervous, I mean a cave is rather creepy and rather small...hope I don't get claustrophobic...and lets not even think about the chances of bats or other creepy crawlies! At least I have my brand new and very fashionable striped long underwear to get me through this ordeal. I will also get to dawn a helmet and my trusty head torch! Now I am off to work on another glorious dairy assignment!
p.s. Kat comes ridiculously soon (can you tell I am excited)
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Life is all about finding simple pleasures...
Like a peanut butter, nutella wrap...all warm and gooey.
It will get me through this day of homework, and the sun is shining.
Love Jane
It will get me through this day of homework, and the sun is shining.
Love Jane
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
A Domestic Dazzler and a Professional Procrastinator
The Last few days, I have not been able to break free from my vacation state of mind. I know if that is my main concern life must be rough haha! I have this absoulutely ginorm meats project due on monday and I just can't find the motivation to start. Therefore, I am procrastinating on all things uni related (or professionally), but I have not just been lazing my days away, I took all this extra time to work on my domestic side, because chores just seem that much better than observing the change in colour of red meat over a 72 hour period of time. Who really thinks up these assignments? Oh well my meat is in the fridge and ready for observation.
The list of Chores I have completed:
room dusted
room vacuumed
re-organized wardrobe
cleaned out my food locker
cleaned out my fridge
FOUND a place to live next semester
In general re organinzing my life..."zenifying" it!
I am also writing this blog, therefore that means I am once again procrastinating on my meat assignment.
The score board looks like this:
Jane' room= win Jane's meat assignment=FAIL!!
This weekend I could have gone on a day tramp, but instead I am going to get up close in personal with my meats assignment and take a slight detour at the ABC party I am going to tomorrow.
Love you, Jane
I was working on it just a mere second ago, but writing a blog sounded heaps better than calculating the muscularity indexes of lamb carcasses.
The list of Chores I have completed:
room dusted
room vacuumed
re-organized wardrobe
cleaned out my food locker
cleaned out my fridge
FOUND a place to live next semester
In general re organinzing my life..."zenifying" it!
I am also writing this blog, therefore that means I am once again procrastinating on my meat assignment.
The score board looks like this:
Jane' room= win Jane's meat assignment=FAIL!!
This weekend I could have gone on a day tramp, but instead I am going to get up close in personal with my meats assignment and take a slight detour at the ABC party I am going to tomorrow.
Love you, Jane
I was working on it just a mere second ago, but writing a blog sounded heaps better than calculating the muscularity indexes of lamb carcasses.
Monday, April 26, 2010
So the parents have come and gone, and our currently somewhere in a big metal bird flying over the pacific ocean. It was such a nice time, I loved having them here and wish they did not have to leave. While they were here, they made sure to spoil me rotten, not sure I deserve everything I got to do. We started out up in Auckland (Waheke island) then made our way through Rotorua and Lake Taupo, down to Palmy and a quick side trip to Hawkes bay and we ended our journey in Queenstown. Queenstown greeted us with some very wet weather, but we still had a great time.
My parents trip marked my half way point and has got me thinking a lot about my return. I only have 54 more days here and then what do I do when I come home? I know I go and finish my last semester at Chico, but after that it is a big wide open world. How will I survive I spent the last 16 years of my life sheltered by the security of going to school and then in just 7 months I will be kicked out of that shelter and presented with the real world. None of this would be scary if I knew exactly what I was going to do...but you know I do not even really have a inkling of what I am going to do after I graduate. Stay in chico? Move far away? Where to work? Will anyone even hire me? I like to just keep thinking oh graduation is so far away, no need to worry about it. However, Ladies and Gentlemen graduation is just right around the corner. I feel like everybody else has a plan for graduation and I am the only one in the world just floating out here with no life jacket or plan. However, I will let myself think they are all just as scared as me, and just pretend to know what their future's hold. This at least helps ease my mind if nothing else. haha!
Well I have been completely neglecting the gym lately, so I think it is about time to give it some love.
One quick side note: I am far from being a runner...running for me usually involves much pain and agony. However, I always want to be the person who could just run for miles on end...but you know after years of wishing, not sure why it just hasn't happened. I thought when you wish upon a star, actually meant something lol? So I think becasue I am so stressed about life after Palmy I should really put some effort into becoming one of those people who can just run and run. Will see how this goes? I think I will start out very small as to not discourage myself.
Love Jane
My parents trip marked my half way point and has got me thinking a lot about my return. I only have 54 more days here and then what do I do when I come home? I know I go and finish my last semester at Chico, but after that it is a big wide open world. How will I survive I spent the last 16 years of my life sheltered by the security of going to school and then in just 7 months I will be kicked out of that shelter and presented with the real world. None of this would be scary if I knew exactly what I was going to do...but you know I do not even really have a inkling of what I am going to do after I graduate. Stay in chico? Move far away? Where to work? Will anyone even hire me? I like to just keep thinking oh graduation is so far away, no need to worry about it. However, Ladies and Gentlemen graduation is just right around the corner. I feel like everybody else has a plan for graduation and I am the only one in the world just floating out here with no life jacket or plan. However, I will let myself think they are all just as scared as me, and just pretend to know what their future's hold. This at least helps ease my mind if nothing else. haha!
Well I have been completely neglecting the gym lately, so I think it is about time to give it some love.
One quick side note: I am far from being a runner...running for me usually involves much pain and agony. However, I always want to be the person who could just run for miles on end...but you know after years of wishing, not sure why it just hasn't happened. I thought when you wish upon a star, actually meant something lol? So I think becasue I am so stressed about life after Palmy I should really put some effort into becoming one of those people who can just run and run. Will see how this goes? I think I will start out very small as to not discourage myself.
Love Jane
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
To OZ and Back!
Wow!!!!!!!!!!! I went to Australia for my fall break, and it was such an amazing experience. We were in Cairns, Australia for 10 days. We flew out of Wellington so we also spent the the night their and got to walk around the city for a bit.
Caution: this blog may be long and boring, but I am going to try and write at least a little about each day, so for those of you interested you know what I did, but I also want to have it for my own record.
Saturday, April 3rd: We left on the naked bus for Wellington, because our flight left super early the next morning. When we got to Wellington we tried taking a taxi to our hostel on Tory St. They let us know it would be very expensive and that Tory St. was in a different town. I thought how can that be our hostel is called WELLYwood, welly being short for Wellington, how could the hostel not be in Wellington. Eventually after debating with the heavily accented taxi driver we sorted out that the hostel was on Troy st. NOT Tory st. which made a big difference. We got to the hostel and wandered around the city and decided to go to bed early becasue we had a very early morning 3:45am. The time also changed that night.
Sunday, April 4th: We struggled to sleep all night becasue we were stressed about the time change and not getting up on time and then we stayed in the noisest hostel in all of the land. Really people must you body slam doors at 2 Am? However, we got up and made it to the airport and all the way to Cairns with no issues. Once we arrived in Cairns it was pouring rain. I tried to remain optimistic, but inside I was panicked, the beach in the rain does not add up to a good holiday. We went and got our free diner at the woolshed where we met some girls from Sweden and Germany and it was decided we would hire a car together and go on a little raod trip during the week. After traveling all day we were exhausted and went to bed.
Monday, April 5th: Monday was a day of exploring. We started out at the mud slide cafe for some french toast with bacon accompanied by fresh squeezed tropical fruit juices. Next we were off to explore all of Cairns. We went to all the little shops and also got some groceries. We also met with the Swedish and German girls and planned our trip. We would hire a car for the night and head up to Cape Tribulation. Terra and I then had the most delicious sorbet creation. It was raspberry sorbet in sparkling mineral water with raspberry syrup with a hint of lime so delicious. While we were eating it began to pour rain and we found ourselves with out umbrellas. The result was two girls soaking wet with make up streaked faces and looked similar to a drowned rat (see pics on facebook, bloger does not do pics well for me).
Tuesday, April 6th: The day of the Cairns wildlife dome. We heard it was like a little mini zoo in the city, but mostly we heard you got to hold a real, live koala bear. Therefore, we didn't care what it was and had our eyes set on the prize, the Koala. It was just a short walk from our hostel and surprisingly we found the wildlife dome atop of a casino. We got to the dome and saw lots of bird (Katie would have loved it). It kind of freaked me out a bit though, the birds were not is cages but free to dive bomb you or poop on you at will. I think I prefer the caged kind of bird. haha! We then got to hold Harvey the Koala bear. He was 10 years old and the cutest thing ever. He was so well behaved! The keeper just hands him over and he just clings on and gives you that look like I know I am cute! It was completely awesome! The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I am sure we had some gelato because that was a daily sometimes twice daily ritual. Oh ya almost forgot, that night we found out the road to Cape tribulation was flooded. I was so disappointed, but we quickly changed our plans and decided we would go see the tablelands, and waterfalls and then head as far north as we could.
Wednesday, April 7th: We woke up in the morning and headed to the car rental place. Where I rented my FIRST EVER CAR. I felt so grown up. We all packed into our little Toyota Corolla and I drove first, very nervously might I add. However, throughout the trip Terra and I made it through all the driving wonderfully. We started out at Josephine falls. It was just a short drive and then a quick walk through the rain forest. The river was running to quickly due to the recent rain, so no swimming, but it was still beautiful! However, this was my first encounter with Australian spiders. We were walking back and out of no where a huge like almost the size of my fist spider falls from a tree onto the ground. I immediately hit whoever is in my way run a few meters down the path, while three of the other girls inspect it. I could not help myself, but my heart was racing, I was fighting back tears and could hear that wooshing noise in my ears like I might pass out. I have never seen a spider that BIG and so unexpectedly. I literally ran back to the car, where I made Terra inspect me for other creepy crawlies and embarrassingly had a bit of a break down, hopefully I hid it well. lol We continued our drive and saw other cool waterfalls and rain foresty things. We also got to see wild cockatoos! Then we headed to Mila Mila Falls where we actually got to go swimming in a rain forest waterfall, it was so envigorating! We kind of snuck in with a tour group which helped us climb up behind the fall, So I got to see the backside of a real waterfall!!! (for all you disneylanders). Then we actually swam under the waterfall, which was a bit panicky, like you could not breathe but totally worth it. That night we stayed at the Port Douglas Backpackers which was a really cool hostel. We made some diner and did some swimming.
Thursday, April 8th: Started out with breakfast at the hostel, which included all types of breads accompanied by a generous proportion of nutella, I was in heaven. We then headed out to 4 mile beach. I could have laid on that beach all day, but I didn't even get to swim at it, everyone else was eager to head out. (still bitter about that). We then headed to Mossman gorge where we took a nice scenic stroll through the forest and finally came to a spot where we could swim, but rather than swim we just kind of splashed around in the water and enjoyed the river. After that we headed out to the Daintree River/rainforest. On the way there we stopped and saw some pretty outlooks with amazing views. Once we got to the river we found a crocodile boat tour and booked our tickets. I was going to get too see a real crocodile-->like one that lives in the wild, I was so excited. However, the boat trip was pretty and I got to see some cool cows (they run the cows right up to the river and into the rain forest) but NOT a single croc. On average 4 full grown cows are lost to crocodiles each year. :( After that we headed to Elis beach, where we could swim inside the stinger nets. It is stinger season in OZ, so you can only swim at beaches with stinger nets. The water was amazing and warm. After that we headed to Elis beach, where it got kind of stormy, so we enjoyed some hot chocolate and sat and watched the waves. Next on the list were the crystal cascades in Cairns. The crystal cascades were by far the most awesome "rainforesty" experience. The sun was setting and it was very misty out. I felt like I was a real rain forest explorer, when you looked up to the sky it was like a tree roof and the trees just never ended. There was also another gigantic spider, but I refused to look at...didn't want another panic attack. lol We returned the car and headed back to caravella's (the hostel)
Friday, April 9th: Today was the day, Terra and I were supposed to go tubing, but surprise, surprise, the river was flooded. They said to keep checking back though and we could maybe go Saturday or Monday. We decided on Monday. Friday was pretty low key. Slept in, hung out at the hostel and then we went to the lagoon (a big swimming pool) in the center of Cairns and just sun bathed and swam. That night we went out to Gilligan's with the other girls and danced away.
Saturday, April 10th: We hung out and went to an outlet mall (DFO). We were told DFO was huge and amazing...I guess those who thought that don't know how to shop. haha! No it was ok just nothing amazing. We headed back to Cairns and listened to some music and watched the sunset at the lagoon. Went to bed early because tomorrow was snorkeling!
Sunday, April 11th: Great Barrier Reef day!!!! So we head out and get checked in and are ushered onto the boat. We pick a nice spot up on the sun deck. I had been thinking about also going scuba diving and had decided I would do it. However, I made the mistake of being honest on my medical declaration form. I marked that I had asthma. In reality I have asthma only when I am sick and do not even know the last time I used an inhaler. I was denied scuba diving though :( but snorkeling was still awesome :). We went to 2 different snorkel sights, one included a private little island. oolala! As I said earlier it was stinger season and therefore we got to wear these really awesome smurf suits. Yes they were bright blue and skin tight, did wonders at hiding all of my bodies lumps and bumps. jk! See facebook for some pretty snazzy pictures. On the way home I lounged on these nets the boat had and snoozed on and off it was so wonderful.
Monday, April 12th: Tubing day or NOT...the river had gone down, but then the companies car broke down and could not take people tubing. So last minute change of plans and Terra and I were off on a white water rafting experience. The rafting company picked us up at 2:00 and the company was called foaming fury (just thought it was a funny name). We drove up to the river and got geared up, in some highly fashionable, crocs, life vest and yellow helmets. The trip was fun and one of the boats got stuck and everybody fell out the boat was stuck for like 30 minutes and people had to swim down the river and craziness was everywhere. One girl got hurt, but I think she just wanted attention because it only hurt when it was convenient for her. oh almost forgot...during this whole dramatic incident Terra and I saved a Chinese man. I think next time I go rafting I would want some bigger rapids like more class 3. It is now my dream to also be a river guide. Think I could do it?
Tuesday/Wednesday, April 13th/14th: Good bye Cairns=the day of dread. Waking up on tuesday, I was not happy 24 hours of traveling: 2 buses, 2 plans, a taxi and a night in the wellington airport...sound fun to you? Well I guess it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be, but we will just leave it at that haha! Gotta love being an airport bum!
Sorry for the length and if anybody actually reads this whole thing hope it make sense...Love Jane
P.S. my parents will be here in 19ish hours!
Caution: this blog may be long and boring, but I am going to try and write at least a little about each day, so for those of you interested you know what I did, but I also want to have it for my own record.
Saturday, April 3rd: We left on the naked bus for Wellington, because our flight left super early the next morning. When we got to Wellington we tried taking a taxi to our hostel on Tory St. They let us know it would be very expensive and that Tory St. was in a different town. I thought how can that be our hostel is called WELLYwood, welly being short for Wellington, how could the hostel not be in Wellington. Eventually after debating with the heavily accented taxi driver we sorted out that the hostel was on Troy st. NOT Tory st. which made a big difference. We got to the hostel and wandered around the city and decided to go to bed early becasue we had a very early morning 3:45am. The time also changed that night.
Sunday, April 4th: We struggled to sleep all night becasue we were stressed about the time change and not getting up on time and then we stayed in the noisest hostel in all of the land. Really people must you body slam doors at 2 Am? However, we got up and made it to the airport and all the way to Cairns with no issues. Once we arrived in Cairns it was pouring rain. I tried to remain optimistic, but inside I was panicked, the beach in the rain does not add up to a good holiday. We went and got our free diner at the woolshed where we met some girls from Sweden and Germany and it was decided we would hire a car together and go on a little raod trip during the week. After traveling all day we were exhausted and went to bed.
Monday, April 5th: Monday was a day of exploring. We started out at the mud slide cafe for some french toast with bacon accompanied by fresh squeezed tropical fruit juices. Next we were off to explore all of Cairns. We went to all the little shops and also got some groceries. We also met with the Swedish and German girls and planned our trip. We would hire a car for the night and head up to Cape Tribulation. Terra and I then had the most delicious sorbet creation. It was raspberry sorbet in sparkling mineral water with raspberry syrup with a hint of lime so delicious. While we were eating it began to pour rain and we found ourselves with out umbrellas. The result was two girls soaking wet with make up streaked faces and looked similar to a drowned rat (see pics on facebook, bloger does not do pics well for me).
Tuesday, April 6th: The day of the Cairns wildlife dome. We heard it was like a little mini zoo in the city, but mostly we heard you got to hold a real, live koala bear. Therefore, we didn't care what it was and had our eyes set on the prize, the Koala. It was just a short walk from our hostel and surprisingly we found the wildlife dome atop of a casino. We got to the dome and saw lots of bird (Katie would have loved it). It kind of freaked me out a bit though, the birds were not is cages but free to dive bomb you or poop on you at will. I think I prefer the caged kind of bird. haha! We then got to hold Harvey the Koala bear. He was 10 years old and the cutest thing ever. He was so well behaved! The keeper just hands him over and he just clings on and gives you that look like I know I am cute! It was completely awesome! The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I am sure we had some gelato because that was a daily sometimes twice daily ritual. Oh ya almost forgot, that night we found out the road to Cape tribulation was flooded. I was so disappointed, but we quickly changed our plans and decided we would go see the tablelands, and waterfalls and then head as far north as we could.
Wednesday, April 7th: We woke up in the morning and headed to the car rental place. Where I rented my FIRST EVER CAR. I felt so grown up. We all packed into our little Toyota Corolla and I drove first, very nervously might I add. However, throughout the trip Terra and I made it through all the driving wonderfully. We started out at Josephine falls. It was just a short drive and then a quick walk through the rain forest. The river was running to quickly due to the recent rain, so no swimming, but it was still beautiful! However, this was my first encounter with Australian spiders. We were walking back and out of no where a huge like almost the size of my fist spider falls from a tree onto the ground. I immediately hit whoever is in my way run a few meters down the path, while three of the other girls inspect it. I could not help myself, but my heart was racing, I was fighting back tears and could hear that wooshing noise in my ears like I might pass out. I have never seen a spider that BIG and so unexpectedly. I literally ran back to the car, where I made Terra inspect me for other creepy crawlies and embarrassingly had a bit of a break down, hopefully I hid it well. lol We continued our drive and saw other cool waterfalls and rain foresty things. We also got to see wild cockatoos! Then we headed to Mila Mila Falls where we actually got to go swimming in a rain forest waterfall, it was so envigorating! We kind of snuck in with a tour group which helped us climb up behind the fall, So I got to see the backside of a real waterfall!!! (for all you disneylanders). Then we actually swam under the waterfall, which was a bit panicky, like you could not breathe but totally worth it. That night we stayed at the Port Douglas Backpackers which was a really cool hostel. We made some diner and did some swimming.
Thursday, April 8th: Started out with breakfast at the hostel, which included all types of breads accompanied by a generous proportion of nutella, I was in heaven. We then headed out to 4 mile beach. I could have laid on that beach all day, but I didn't even get to swim at it, everyone else was eager to head out. (still bitter about that). We then headed to Mossman gorge where we took a nice scenic stroll through the forest and finally came to a spot where we could swim, but rather than swim we just kind of splashed around in the water and enjoyed the river. After that we headed out to the Daintree River/rainforest. On the way there we stopped and saw some pretty outlooks with amazing views. Once we got to the river we found a crocodile boat tour and booked our tickets. I was going to get too see a real crocodile-->like one that lives in the wild, I was so excited. However, the boat trip was pretty and I got to see some cool cows (they run the cows right up to the river and into the rain forest) but NOT a single croc. On average 4 full grown cows are lost to crocodiles each year. :( After that we headed to Elis beach, where we could swim inside the stinger nets. It is stinger season in OZ, so you can only swim at beaches with stinger nets. The water was amazing and warm. After that we headed to Elis beach, where it got kind of stormy, so we enjoyed some hot chocolate and sat and watched the waves. Next on the list were the crystal cascades in Cairns. The crystal cascades were by far the most awesome "rainforesty" experience. The sun was setting and it was very misty out. I felt like I was a real rain forest explorer, when you looked up to the sky it was like a tree roof and the trees just never ended. There was also another gigantic spider, but I refused to look at...didn't want another panic attack. lol We returned the car and headed back to caravella's (the hostel)
Friday, April 9th: Today was the day, Terra and I were supposed to go tubing, but surprise, surprise, the river was flooded. They said to keep checking back though and we could maybe go Saturday or Monday. We decided on Monday. Friday was pretty low key. Slept in, hung out at the hostel and then we went to the lagoon (a big swimming pool) in the center of Cairns and just sun bathed and swam. That night we went out to Gilligan's with the other girls and danced away.
Saturday, April 10th: We hung out and went to an outlet mall (DFO). We were told DFO was huge and amazing...I guess those who thought that don't know how to shop. haha! No it was ok just nothing amazing. We headed back to Cairns and listened to some music and watched the sunset at the lagoon. Went to bed early because tomorrow was snorkeling!
Sunday, April 11th: Great Barrier Reef day!!!! So we head out and get checked in and are ushered onto the boat. We pick a nice spot up on the sun deck. I had been thinking about also going scuba diving and had decided I would do it. However, I made the mistake of being honest on my medical declaration form. I marked that I had asthma. In reality I have asthma only when I am sick and do not even know the last time I used an inhaler. I was denied scuba diving though :( but snorkeling was still awesome :). We went to 2 different snorkel sights, one included a private little island. oolala! As I said earlier it was stinger season and therefore we got to wear these really awesome smurf suits. Yes they were bright blue and skin tight, did wonders at hiding all of my bodies lumps and bumps. jk! See facebook for some pretty snazzy pictures. On the way home I lounged on these nets the boat had and snoozed on and off it was so wonderful.
Monday, April 12th: Tubing day or NOT...the river had gone down, but then the companies car broke down and could not take people tubing. So last minute change of plans and Terra and I were off on a white water rafting experience. The rafting company picked us up at 2:00 and the company was called foaming fury (just thought it was a funny name). We drove up to the river and got geared up, in some highly fashionable, crocs, life vest and yellow helmets. The trip was fun and one of the boats got stuck and everybody fell out the boat was stuck for like 30 minutes and people had to swim down the river and craziness was everywhere. One girl got hurt, but I think she just wanted attention because it only hurt when it was convenient for her. oh almost forgot...during this whole dramatic incident Terra and I saved a Chinese man. I think next time I go rafting I would want some bigger rapids like more class 3. It is now my dream to also be a river guide. Think I could do it?
Tuesday/Wednesday, April 13th/14th: Good bye Cairns=the day of dread. Waking up on tuesday, I was not happy 24 hours of traveling: 2 buses, 2 plans, a taxi and a night in the wellington airport...sound fun to you? Well I guess it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be, but we will just leave it at that haha! Gotta love being an airport bum!
Sorry for the length and if anybody actually reads this whole thing hope it make sense...Love Jane
P.S. my parents will be here in 19ish hours!
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