A Little Sleep and A Lot of Adventures

Sometimes things don’t always go as planned. This happens to me a lot. Like I plan on not eating a whole cake, but suddenly it’s gone. And like I plan on going for a run, but then I take a nap. This lecture recess has been no different.

We returned from Brisbane late Wednesday night. The plan was for Meredith and I to go to Cairns the next morning. We had our hostel booked and everything. Unfortunately, Meredith got seriously sick. We had to cancel our reservations and it looked like I was stuck on college for the rest of the week.

My poor Meredith 😦

I was supposed to meet up with my friend, Sharkbait (her real name is Katrina, but I hardly ever call her that, so deal with it), but now I couldn’t. Or could I?

Sharkbait was texting me begging me to come, so on a whim I booked a Greyhound for 12:30am. I’ve never traveled alone. I don’t like being alone. That’s one of the fears I’ve almost conquered. It’s a 5-hour bus ride north to get to Cairns from Townsville. I could totally do this. Maybe.

I packed in a hurry, printed my bus tickets, and booked a reef snorkel boat for 7am the next morning. I also realized I needed a way to the bus so I begged my BFF/favorite RA, Sarg to drive me. He agreed because he’s a wonderful person. He also sat with me in the car and waited for the bus for about a half an hour with me because I was so nervous. Somebody just became my favorite Australian.

Who’s the best Aussie?! Sarg is!

I hopped on my bus with pains in my stomach and almost immediately fell asleep, for 3 hours at least. I arrived in Cairns all by myself like a big girl around 5:45am. The earliest Sharkbait could meet up with me was 6:45am due to the bus schedule. I just stood outside of a convenience store for an hour waiting. I was apparently standing really still because someone came up to me and told me I looked like a statue. Uh, thanks?

When I was finally reunited with my friend, we literally had to run to catch our boat! We caught it just in time and had a whole row of seats to ourselves. I got changed into my bathing suit in the extremely small bathroom and I was set to go! I got to go to the freakin’ GREAT BARRIER REEF. Holy crap. I was so excited. I’m excited thinking about it now.

7am excitement!

We went to the outer reefs on a boat called “Reef Kist.” I loved it. The crew was so happy and friendly and seriously made the trip that much better. Despite only having 3 hours of sleep on a bus, I was super awake and excited. The boat ride was a smooth one and Sharkbait and I spent the duration of it standing in the front embracing the wind and admiring the passing islands.

Quick stop at Fitzroy island

Quick stop at Fitzroy Island

Sharkbait is scuba certified so she got to get all geared up and explore all over. Despite being named after the little mermaid, I was stuck on the surface snorkeling. It was still spectacular. The reef alone is beautiful and full of colors. Luckily, I had my handy-dandy underwater camera to capture the adventure.

Parrot fish!

Sharkbait scuba diving!

Hi Sharkbait!

I didn’t find Nemo or see any turtles, but I saw a lot of other fish that were stunning. Sharkbait failed at her name by not baiting in any sharks, but I’m sure that was for the best. I already want to go back on a different reef point. Once was definitely not enough!

Taking a breather

They served us lunch and it was definitely better tasting than George Roberts’ dining hall food. We got to eat lunch while floating over the Great Barrier Reef. That’s something to tell the grandkids.

We then rode over to another side of the reefs and got to snorkel and scuba over there. This time we had to swim around to the front of the boat to see the reef. Sharkbait was under me somewhere, but I lost her. I swam around alone snapping pictures. I didn’t realize how far I got and my legs were dying. I was debating on whether or not to swim back when I spotted a jellyfish and then another and another. That basically made my decision for me. No way in hell was I going to take on the jellies. I booked it back to the boat like my life depended on it.

Chilling in my stinger suit. Photo creds: Sharkbait

With my handy underwater camera. Photo creds: Sharkbait

Awesome parrot fish

Gill from Finding Nemo!

I’m pretty sure this is a blue starfish hiding

Sea cucumbers!

I love parrot fish

soooo many fishies!

This parrot fish was so colorful

Yellow!

Giant clam

Awesome colorful guy

Another giant clam

Obsessed

Annnnnd this is where I get out of the water

Bye reef! Love you!

Oh yeah, and everyone on the crew loved my name. Every time I signed my name for snorkeling they got all excited and called me mermaid. I love that. I love when people get excited about my name! Made me feel special.

One crew member took a selfie on Sharkbait’s camera. They had us cracking up!

Sharkbait was still under the sea when I came back to relax. I got to chat with a crewmember that was fascinated by me being an advertising major. He said Australia needed me to fix their commercials. I totally agree; they definitely need me here.

The trip ended around 4pm and I was pooped. Sharkbait met a friend at a pub-crawl who lives in Cairns and she had been staying with him for the week. He was kind enough to let me stay for the weekend as well. How lucky!

We were waiting for him to pick us up when Sharkbait decided to start eating ants. Word is that if you lick the thorax of the green ants, it tastes like lemon. Sharkbait decided to test that theory. This is the person I decided to stay with in Cairns. I regret nothing. After a few ants she decided to try and climb a palm tree. Mind you, people were walking by. I love that girl so much.

These were the ants she was catching

Sharkbait in the middle of eating an ant

And now she attempts to climb a palm tree. Duh

Sharkbait’s friend, Shixiang (who I decided to call Sheldon because I couldn’t pronounce his name), took us back to his apartment so we could get showered and ready to grab some food. After much searching, we finally found a Mexican place. Thank goodness. I miss Mexican food so much it hurts. We ordered quesadillas and nachos. I also got a strawberry margarita. Best.day.ever.

Nothing makes me happier than a margarita!

We then checked out the local casino where I lost $10. Sharkbait won $6 and was pretty happy about it. Okay, we were on penny slots, but it was still gambling. We had some free mochas and continued checking out the town. It was so cute and quite busy. There were so many people walking around and a whole lot of bats and lorikeets. They were all so loud and adorable!

Batman? Photo creds: Sharkbait

They’re so big! Photo creds: Sharkbait

And the cutie pie lorikeets! Photo creds: Sharkbait

I passed out quite early that night and slept like a baby. The next morning, Sheldon decided to take us to the Atherton Tablelands. The drive was the most horrifying thing of my life. We were going the speed limit, but it felt like we were flying. Oh, did I mention the roads were extremely twisty and scary? Because they were. I had my eyes closed in the back seat until we arrived safely. Thank goodness I’m alive.

Took a break on the ride up. Photo creds: Sharkbait

Spectacular view! Photo creds: Sharkbait

First we stopped to get some yummy food and ate it next to the water, it was very peaceful. We then got to swim in a volcanic crater lake. It was awesome! The water was freezing so it took me a bit to get in, but once I did it was hard to get me out.

View from where we were eating

Beautiful crater lake!

We had a quick look in the rainforest next to us

We also saw some giant trees

And we saw a pelican! Photo creds: Sharkbait

Sharkbait and I swam out to the middle and just gazed at the beauty all around us. It was a pretty popular spot. There were parents with kids, couples on dates, people going scuba diving, and others just floating around in tubes. We stayed for a little over an hour and were back on the road.

The volcanic crater lake we swam in

So Jurassic Park

So many fishies swimming around!

Sharkbait on the hunt

This cute little guy

It was icy cold

Glorious!

Chilling in the middle of the lake

We stopped at 4 different waterfalls. The first stop was Millaa Millaa Falls. I’ve never seen a waterfall in person. I’m just going to let you imagine how excited I was.

We got to swim in it! We swam all around the waterfall and even swam under it. We chilled behind the waterfall for a while just looking in awe all around us. It was spectacular. I am so lucky I got to do that! I can’t get over it.

Millaa Millaa Falls!

I love life

Under the waterfall

Waterfall selfies!

Posing

Sharkbait admiring the sights

From under the waterfall

Goodbye Mila Kunis Falls!

After a little bit we were off again to see another waterfall. It was called Zillie Falls. This one you couldn’t swim in, but that didn’t make it any less stunning. Ahh, I love it so much! We didn’t stay too long at this one. We were off yet again to waterfall number 3!

Beautiful Zillie Falls!

Another waterfall selfie!

Bye Zillie!

This 3^rd waterfall was Elinjaa Falls and you could swim in it, but I was still frozen from the last swim. Sharkbait of course jumped right in. She cracks me up. She immediately swam right to the center where there was a huge tree branch perfect for climbing. It was beautiful!

Elinjaa Falls

Crazy Sharkbait

She’s a model!

Waterfall selfie again

The 4^th waterfall, Josephine Falls, was a longer drive away but totally worth it. We had to walk through a bit of jungle to make it to the waterfall. On the way I posed for Sharkbait on this big rock. As I was climbing down, I turned around and saw my worst nightmare staring in my face. The biggest spider I have ever seen in my life was inches behind me. I’m pretty proud of my reaction. I didn’t break down and cry. I just kind of forgot how to breathe.

Thought I was posing for a nice picture. Photo creds: Sharkbait

Little did I know I was being watched. Photo creds: Sharkbait

After I calmed down from that spider, I took 2 steps forward and saw an even bigger spider. Seriously, Cairns? I’m sick of this nonsense. Spiders should not be this large. It’s a crime against nature. It’s like every nightmare I’ve ever had was molded into this spider. Do you know what I saw this spider do? Do you really want to know? I saw it eat a frog. The freakin’ spider ate the freakin’ frog. I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.

What cruel god allowed this monster to roam the earth!? Photo creds: Sharkbait

You can’t really see, but there is a gore fest going on here

After I got the feeling back in my legs we wandered down to the waterfall. It wasn’t really a waterfall as much as it was a rockslide. This time I got in. I love rockslides. Sharkbait and I climbed the rocks to slide down. The water current was so strong that we barely had a chance to sit down before it pushed us down! It was so much fun that we went down again. This time Sharkbait got in earlier than she should have and got pushed around a lot before she finally slid down. It was quite entertaining to watch.

Josephine Falls

Loved these mossy steps

Posing pretty! Photo creds: Sharkbait

Slipping and sliding! Photo creds: Sharkbait

Just admiring nature as usual. Photo creds: Sharkbait.

That night we went into town to live up the nightlife. Sharkbait and I wandered off to some backpacker clubs and ended up settling on Gilligans. They had live music and a lot of people showed up an hour after we got there. We had a great time just chatting with backpackers from around the world. We then met back up with Sheldon and his friend and went to another club where we danced for a little bit and then headed back home.

I slept like a baby yet again and was woken up at 8am so we could head to the Daintree Rainforest. This was the longest, most beautiful drive by far. We drove along the beach and gazed at its beauty. At one point we stopped and got out to take pictures. It was amazing!

I can’t get over this view

Absolutely stunning

Pretending to fall

Sharkbait posing pretty

Bye beautiful!

When we got to Daintree, we had to drive the car onto the ferry to get to the rainforest. We saw a lot of signs for crocodiles and cassowaries, but unfortunately didn’t get to see any in person. I would have loved to see these deadly creatures from the safety of the car. Oh well. We stopped at some lookout points and got some nice pictures.

On the ferry while in a car. Cool!

Perfect view spot

We then drove until we came to a creek in the middle of the rainforest. Words can’t even describe how beautiful this was. The water was clear straight through to the bottom. It was cold water, but totally worth swimming in. It was such a magical experience and I felt at peace with the world. Best day ever for sure.

There were so many fish and a rope swing and even a natural swing that Sharkbait and I sat on. Pictures can’t even do this place justice. I can’t believe places like that even exist.

Words can’t even expres…

Seriously in the middle of the rain forest!

How is this even real?

I’ve never felt so at peace

Sharkbait found a swing

Just chilling in the middle of heaven

Friends call me Tarzan

Why are you so perfect?!

So happy!!!

I never want to leave

Half underwater shot. How cool?!

Just a shot of the perfect, flawless water

Underwater selfies!

Actually, friends call HER Tarzan

Occasionally they call her Gollum

When we were dragged away from heaven on earth, we drove to a bathroom so we could get changed. Remember how I said I saw the biggest spider of life at one of the waterfalls? Yeah, I lied.

On the way to the bathroom I spotted a soul-sucking spawn of Satan chilling on his web right there out in the open. Guess it was a prime spot to attack unsuspecting humans like myself. It was as big as a hand. Why? Why are spiders allowed to get that big? It should be shot and then shot again just to make sure it’s dead. I hate spiders. I’m still having nightmares. Life is cruel. Get me out of Cairns now.

KILL IT. KILL IT WITH FIRE!

Shoot it, set it on fire, bash it with a hammer, and then bury it 60 feet under

Sharkbait and I got on our 7pm Greyhound bus back to Townsville. We got in around 12:30am and caught a cab back to JCU. What an exhausting weekend!

Life is beautiful and I’m so happy I did this last minute planning to Cairns. I would go back in a heartbeat. This time with a shot gun for the spiders, but I’d still go. It was a spectacular and magical experience and I’m so grateful!

VAS HAPPENIN’ LESLIE

Vas Happenin’ giant lemons on the way to the Amalfi Coast

Vas Happenin’ more lemons!

Vas Happenin’ Positano!

Vas Happenin’ Amalfi Coast?!

Vas Happenin’ from a bus in Ireland?!

Vas Happenin’ on the way to the Great Barrier Reef!

Vas Happenin’ from the Great Barrier Reef!

Vas Happenin’ on the way to the Atherton Tablelands!

Vas Happenin’ Millaa Millaa Falls!

Vas Happenin’ from behind Millaa Millaa Falls

Vas Happenin’ from behind Millaa Millaa Falls!

Vas Happenin’ Zillie Falls!

Vas Happenin’ Elinjaa Falls!

Vas Happenin’ from the Daintree Rainforest!

Vas Happenin’ from the middle of the Daintree Rainforest!

Leslie is currently wrapping up finals in Rome and will soon be on her way back to the States. She’s had plenty of adventures that she’s written about in her blog. I highly suggest you check it out! Be warned, there is use of alcohol and foul language. That’s why she’s my best friend.

http://thepassportmanuscript.blogspot.it/

P.S. Leslie, you only have a little time left, step your Vas Happenin’ game up! Love you woman, miss you lots!

Planes, Trains, and Near Death Experiences

This past week was lecture recess for us at JCU. That means we got a whole week off. Thank goodness, I was getting exhausted from the two weeks of class since our last break.

We work way too hard

A group of us decided to head to Brisbane and then take off for the Gold Coast. This group consisted of Bear, Meredith, Jorge, Steph, and myself.

We left Friday after class to catch our plane. Friday was a rough day. Bear and I decided to go out Thursday night with a few of our other friends and things got a little hectic. Let’s just say we didn’t feel well on Friday. Since this is Bear and I trying to do a planned trip, you know chaos ensued.

No judgement.

Our friend Jorge had booked a taxi to take us to the airport. The taxi was late because apparently they had no bookings for Jorge. Great start already! The taxi company apologized and sent over a car right away. Thank goodness! We made it to the airport and on the plane with little trouble after that. Mind you, I said “little,” that means there was still trouble. Obviously.

I’m sure I’ve stated this before, but I hate flying. I really hate it. I don’t like heights and every time the plane bumps, my life flashes before my eyes. This plane ride did not help my fear at all. There was scary turbulence for a solid 5 minutes. It was enough turbulence to have the captain come on the announcements and tell the crew to sit down and buckle up. I frantically tried to remember every prayer I was ever taught in Catholic school. I got halfway through an Our Father and it suddenly turned into Hail Mary and I ended humming the tune of a Britney Spears song. Better to die with a happy tune in my head. When the turbulence ended, I was shaking. I almost kissed the ground when we landed. It was only a 2-hour flight, but it felt so much longer. This was the first time we almost, probably, could have died.

My thoughts on the plane. Brit gets it.

Jorge’s friend from high school, Liz, offered to let us stay in her apartment just outside of the University of Queensland’s campus for two nights. What a doll! The problem was that our flight was a little behind schedule and we missed the last train. Just our luck! So here we are, a group of American tourists looking like lost puppies in a place none of us have ever been.

A nice, loud, and hardly understandable Chinese man came up to us and I think he said, “No more trains, come with me.” That’s not sketchy or anything, so we followed out of desperation. He took us to an unmarked white van that was set up on the inside like any typical maxi taxi. There was a Chinese woman and her daughter trailing along with us so we kind of felt a little safer. It was still a very scary ride since we didn’t know this man or where we were going. This was the second time we almost, probably, could have died.

We all buckled in and texted our friends where we were in case we should die. It’s like we’re going out of our way to follow every stereotypical horror movie plot. Oh well. The man was very nice…I think. I couldn’t really understand a thing he was saying. The woman who was with us said she’d known him for 10 years and he always picks her up from the airport. Seems legit. He took us right up to the side of Liz’s apartment and only charged us $10 each. That was a lot cheaper than taking the train and a bus from the train. Everything happens for a reason!

The first night in Brisbane was….an interesting one. Liz is one of 6 roommates. All of them agreed to let us stay. But as you may or may not know (if you’re under 21, lie and say you don’t know) alcohol can turn you into a completely different person. For instance, I turn into Karen Smith from Mean Girls after a few drinks. AKA, I’m an idiot. One of Liz’s roommates becomes angry under the influence.

We heard said roommate screaming from outside about not wanting strangers in her apartment and that we were disrespecting her. She was very drunk, very loud and very angry. She was also scaring the crap out of us. Liz ran up to tell us to pretend we’re sleeping until the roommate got to her proper room. We all held our breath as the sobbing roommate walked by us. This was the third time we almost, probably, could have died. It was all a drunken misunderstanding, we were told she’s a sweetheart sober. Still an experience.

We finally went to sleep after an exhausting day. Well, we tried to sleep. The rest of Liz’s roommates rolled back in around 3am and decided we shouldn’t be sleeping during our first night in Brisbane! I totally agree, we shouldn’t have been, but we kind of had a rough day. They kept us up for about a half hour while we all pretended to sleep through it. Looking back, they were quite funny. We were just too tired and ain’t nobody got time for that. It was an experience.

We woke up later than planned the next day due to the night’s unexpected twists and turns. We went to go to the train station so we could go to Steve Irwin’s zoo! How exciting!! Problem was, it was raining. It never stopped raining. Oh and the train station that was walking distance from Liz’s was closed. We would have had to take a bus to another train station and then the train to the zoo 2 hours away. The zoo closes at 4 and with the long travel, we wouldn’t have made it.

We were so disappointed. How incredible would that have been?! Oh well, that’s our luck. Instead Jorge, Bear, and Steph decided to tour the city of Brisbane in the rain. Meredith and I weren’t feeling that so we decided to stay in the mall where the train station was located. We got a pedicure and went shopping for dinner supplies. We bought pasta, sauce, cheese, and bread. Since we were trying to stick with an Italian theme, we bought two bottles of wine to go along with it. We like to keep things classy from time to time.

The next day we traveled from Brisbane to the Gold Coast on an hour train ride. Luck was finally on our side seeing that we got to the Gold Coast and into our hostel with no problems! Yay! We had a room to ourselves with a bathroom. Thank heavens we just had to share a bathroom between the 5 of us!

Yay room to ourselves!

We settled in and then took a tour around Surfer’s Paradise. Everyone said it reminded them of Miami. I’ve never been, so I’m going to take their word for it. It was very Miami.

Pool at our hostel

View outside our room

We wandered around, grabbed some dinner and stopped to watch some street performers. They were actually quite entertaining. Some guy was riding around on an incredibly tall unicycle and began juggling knives. He put on a good show. We didn’t have much to do for the rest of the night and we were exhausted so we settled into bed.

So much skill

We woke up early the next day to go to Movie World! Movie World is one of the theme parks located near the Gold Coast. This particular theme park was Hollywood/Warner Brothers themed. That means the DC Superheroes were wandering around along with the Looney Tunes and Scooby Doo. I definitely didn’t hate it. I have an extreme love for all things childish.

We took a bus and got there a few minutes after opening. We had bought our tickets the night before at a lower price from a very sketchy gift shop owner. We were relieved to find out the tickets were legit and after a brief wait in line, we were on the Green Lantern rollercoaster! Woohoo! I love rollercoasters. I may be afraid of heights and flying and all of that, but something about being strapped in safely to a seat and zipping around tracks doesn’t bother me at all. Go figure.

Hello world of wonder and fun

Batmobile!

It was a beautiful day and we got to go on every ride! We also saw some characters walking around. I saw Scooby and Shaggy and immediately forced Bear to pose in a picture with them. For some reason, no one in my group wanted to hug all the characters like I did. Clearly they’re missing out. I got super excited whenever I saw any cartoon character or superhero. Unfortunately, I only got a picture with Scooby because none of my friends had the patience to wait in line with children like I did.

I freakin’ love Scooby Doo!

Shaggy ruined the illusion of his character when he began speaking to me in an Australian accent asking if he “detected a hint of an American accent.” C’mon Shaggy! Get your act together! I thought you were legit! It was funny though. Being at JCU, everyone is used to hearing American accents since there’s a ton of us. It’s always a pleasant surprise when someone is impressed by our exotic accents. Of course, not everyone loves us Americans. We walked by a group of people later that day and we heard one of them say, “Eww, from America!” COOL! Movie World wouldn’t exist if it was for America! Learn some respect. Geeze.

Shops and characters

There wasn’t that many rides, but they were all enjoyable. My favorites were the Superman Escape rollercoaster and the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster. The Superman one shot you out, “Fast, Superman fast.” It was awesome and such an adrenaline rush! The Scooby ride was set up really cool. The line inside was decorated like the Scooby Doo live action movie. The ride may have been for a younger crowd, but we all still screamed. We definitely didn’t expect to suddenly go down backwards down a drop! I loved it. I went on both those rides twice.

Such a thrill!

I don’t know if I went on Scooby again because I found it that fun, or because I fell in love with the ride attendant. His name was Liam. Liam, if you ever see this, I’m totally available. I like long walks on the beach, margaritas, and any movie starring Robert Downey Jr. I’ll never forget our 2-second convo of how you went to New York for a day or the way you checked if my seat belt was on properly. It was a magical moment. Come to Philadelphia.

We could go to Love Park and be adorable.

Anyway, we stayed at the park until close. We got to see the parade with all the characters and check out some of the shops. It was such a fun day! I loved it. It’s no Disney World, but I’ll take it.

Bugs, Daffy, and Tweety!

Can I have that car, Sylvester?

My men

The Joker

Justice League

Bugs and Catwoman

Na na na na na Batman!

The toons dancing to some 1D

That night we wandered around the shops set up on along the beach and watched more street performers. This night featured a guy who could put his entire body through a toilet seat and juggle knives and a baby doll. Oh, while he was balancing on a ladder. Pretty solid. He also gave the job of holding the knives to the cutest child in the world. Why not give a small child large knives? Welcome to Australia.

“That’s not a knife. This is a knife.”

This is their ice skating. It’s plastic…

Jorge and I found a koala tiger. I care for that.

We went back to the room with some Subway and boxed wine and watched some Aussie TV. We got really into this show, My Kitchen Rules, and found a sudden, passionate hate for the one team. We really, really hate them. And now we’re addicted to the show. Great.

We hate you, “babe”

The next morning, Jorge and Steph hopped on a plane to Melbourne and Bear, Meredith, and I had a beach day before heading to our plane back to Townsville. It was a beautiful day and we all fell asleep under the sun. We made it to our plane with no issues and made it back safe!

Perfection

Paradise!

Goodbye beautful beach!

Despite all the mishaps, I still had a great time on this trip. Of course, I’m completely broke now, but it’s totally okay. We got to visit some awesome places in Australia and got to do things we never expected we would do. I never would have thought I’d spend a day at a theme park in Australia! This first half of lecture recess was an experience, but the second half was beyond spectacular….

Oh yeah, we also went to this awesome pancake place and I almost cried at its deliciousness

P.S. I desperately miss my cat.

Love you so much Tink!

I want to cuddle you to death.

You’re perfect.

I’m single.

I don’t understand why.

The Easter Wallaby

This is the first time in my life that I haven’t spent Easter with my family. Actually, this is the longest I’ve been away from my family in general. To take my mind off of missing out on the annual Beerster Egg Hunt, I had a very fun filled weekend.

Best hunt ever.

Bear’s friend from home, Justin, came to visit for his spring break. Must be nice to have a friend think you’re worth a $2,000 flight. I wonder what that’s like….

Yeah, I’m talking to you, Greg.

Anyway, Bear and Justin left for Sydney from Sunday-Thursday. I suffered separation anxiety. Who said Bear’s allowed to leave me? I didn’t agree to this. Rude. When they returned from 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney the fun began.

Friday we were invited to join some friends at Crystal Creek. Words can’t express how excited I was. Everyone says going to Crystal Creek is a must. Could not agree more.

When we pulled into the car park (parking lot) I was giddy. I clearly don’t get excited often, so this was a big deal. Instead of taking the normal path up to the water, our friends decided to walk through the rocks and water. Did I mention most of the kids we were with are in the rock-climbing club? Well, Bear, Justin and myself are clearly not a part of this club. We were the last to arrive after a horrendous struggle through the slippery rocks. We were not happy with that walk.

Slipping and sliding left and right

When we finally made it to the spot that our crew had settled on, my jaw dropped. It was so pretty! They weren’t joking when they named it Crystal Creek. The water was so clear and beautiful! There were spots to jump off of and slippery rock seats to sit on in the water. This is also the first time in Australia that the water was actually refreshing. Normally the water is like bath water, but this water actually gave you relief from the excessive heat. I was at peace with the world.

Loving me some Morgan!

The ladies!

Most epic photobomb EVER

This trip has been about facing my biggest fears. I’m afraid of being alone, so I flew out here without knowing a soul. I’m afraid of weird food, so I ate ox tongue, crocodile, and kangaroo. I’m afraid of snakes, so I’ve taken every opportunity to hold one. I’m afraid of heights, so I decided to jump off one of the high rocks at Crystal Creek. It was such an adrenaline rush! I had to have jumped about 5 or 6 times. So awesome!

I lost my entire bathing suit on this one. Classy.

Video clip of the Vas Happenin’ jump I made for Leslie

Boo-yah!

After we were done jumping, we headed farther up to go to the natural rockslides. I watched as the rock-climbing club kids scaled a rock wall to get over. Even Justin made it over. Bear and I were having none of that so we took the long path around.

Casual stroll

This spot was even more beautiful than the last! It was also a lot less crowded. The water rushed down through the rocks to create a smooth slide. Most fun I’ve ever had!! I couldn’t go down the slides enough. I freakin’ love nature.

Again, everyone was teasing me about the excessive use of my phrases, “I’m so excited!” and “This is the best day ever!” I can’t help it. I really was excited and it really was the best day ever. I just love life and Australia.

So much excitement

Determined not to lose my top this time

Is there more to life than being really, really ridiculously good looking?

After we were done with the rockslides, we moved on yet again to another part of Crystal Creek, which was more of a swimming hole. It was perfect, just like the rest of Crystal Creek. We swam around for a while and then relaxed on some rocks over-looking the water. We decided to throw chips into the water after spotting a fish. You know I love fishes so I was obviously thrilled. One of the kids took my underwater camera and started chasing fish. There was also an eel. Eels freak me out. I didn’t get back in the water. At least my friend got a few good shots of it!

Playing in the water!

Such a lovely group of people

Hi Justin!

Such an awesome swimming spot

FISH

MORE FISH

Eeeeek, eel.

I don’t like it. Don’t like it at all.

We then went to a picnic area and watched everyone walk a tight rope type thing. I attempted and failed epically. I can’t even keep my balance on solid ground. I have no idea why I ever bothered. It’s all okay though because I saw a kookaburra! Oh my gosh, they are just the absolute cutest. It’s probably my new favorite bird ever. I just want to hold it and tell it it’s pretty.

You’re pretty

And I love you

Be my friend

On the way home, we stopped at the Frosty Mango to get some ice cream. I don’t even want to talk about how good it tastes and how they grow all their own fruit that they use to make the ice cream because it’ll just make me sad that I don’t have some right now. Damn, now I want some. Ugh. What a perfect ending to a perfect day! Best day ever!!

The next day Bear, Justin and I woke up bright and early to visit Magnetic Island, or Maggie Island to the locals. I’ve read about Maggie Island before I even got accepted to JCU. I’m not joking when I said I was all about this for years. This was my first visit to the island. So exciting! Sorry, but it was exciting.

Bear and I have this issue where we never plan things and we just kind of do what we want when we want. Unfortunately, this means we didn’t check the bus schedule. We woke up at 8:30 to get to the bus stop by 9:30. There was no bus. There was no bus for over an hour. Being determined, we called a cab. Why would we let a little thing like no transportation stop us? The cab cost us a pretty penny, but we made it just in time for the next ferry. Sometimes not planning things out works out pretty perfectly.

G’day Maggie

We arrived at Jurassic Park, I mean, Maggie Island and hopped on a bus with no idea what we were doing or where we were going. Typical. We got off at Horseshoe Bay and found out we had to walk back to a bus stop we passed to get snorkel gear. Exercise!

So much nature

Work it

We walked back to Bungalow Bay Koala Sanctuary to rent our gear. I also bought a shirt as my first souvenir for myself. Okay, my mom bought it for me since I used my emergency credit card. Thanks mom! You’re the best! But this was totally an emergency; I needed a shirt that said Koala Sanctuary on it. Duh.

We set off with our goggles, flippers, and stinger suit! We looked quite silly walking to nowhere in particular with our gear. Well, we kind of knew where we were going. A 20 minute walk they said, 20 minutes my butt. We were walking 20 minutes before we even reached the road we were supposed to turn down. We started our trek down the winding road when we came across a group of young men who looked at us desperately and asked, “How far to the road?” in exhausted voices. Great, so that’s going to be us. Not a good sign.

Suddenly, a miracle happened. As we were walking past what were clearly T-Rex footprints, a Jurassic Park jeep drove past us and stopped to let out 2 women. We must’ve looked desperate because the owner of Jurassic Park, I mean, some guy who looked like the guy who owned Jurassic Park asked us if we wanted a ride. Halleluiah!

So Jurassic Park, I can’t even handle it

I know you’re not supposed to get into cars with strangers, but you would do the same thing in our situation. The drive was a bumpy one and I kept turning around to see when the T-Rex would come out and chase us. I’m not even kidding, it looked like Jurassic Park. He told us he’s lived on the island for 15 years and was telling us the best spots to visit. He was coincidently going to Florence Bay, where we were headed. He showed us the best spot to snorkel and told us about a short cut to get back.

A T-Rex should’ve popped out

Don’t invest in his park.

We put on our stinger suits and headed out into the water. Sad to say, the visibility was awful. We couldn’t see anything until it was right in front of our faces. That made me nervous since my face wasn’t covered by a stinger suit. It would be my luck for me to swim right into a box jellyfish or a shark’s mouth. We gave up the snorkeling after about 15-20 minutes. Instead we laid on the beach and relaxed. It was beautiful!

Me and the lovely Bear

Justin and his little bear

Getting our snorkel on

Sup

Saw SOME fish, but not much else

Spot the fish

I was bashed into these rocks a couple times

How I entertain myself

When it was time for us to head back, we decided to follow the old man’s short cut. This led us through the rain forest. The mostly hidden wooden trail ended. We had no idea where we were. This is when I decided to make up a horror movie staring the 3 of us where the old man set us on this path on purpose to lead us to our doom. A half an hour into this jungle hike made my horror movie seem pretty believable. Oops.

Goodbye beach!

Too pretty

Is this place even real?

I didn’t take many pictures during this hike because I was dying and we were in a rush to get the heck out of there. At some point we came across a butterfly forest. There were hundreds of butterflies all around us. It was magical! This one section made the whole adventure worth it. I could not think of a more mystical place to walk through. It was absolutely incredible. I didn’t snap any pictures because the butterflies were too fast and my camera was too slow, but just trust me on this.

Clearly a trap set up for us

When we finally emerged from the jungle, we caught a bus back to the koala sanctuary. We returned our gear and set off back to Horseshoe Bay for dinner. Once we were happily fed we strolled to the beach to gaze at the stars.

There were so many stars! I was freaking out, as usual. It was just the prettiest sight ever and it made me so happy! We sat on a bench and just stared. After a few minutes of chatting, we had a little visitor. This random dog just came over and sat next to me in the sand. What! The owner was nowhere to be found and this dog was just straight chilling. He got up to check out other people, but he came back to sit with us. When we got up to catch the bus, the dog came up with us and tried to get on the bus! Guess we’re better than his real owners. We couldn’t get him to leave! He just wanted to go for a ride with us. It was the cutest thing ever. Apparently he belongs to someone on the island and they just let him do his thing. Interesting. When we got on the bus, people were asking us where our dog was. I wish he was my dog! I wish I had a dog. Hint, hint, mom.

We named him “Joey Baha” Don’t ask.

The next day was Easter for us in Australia and it was also Justin’s last day. Sad face! Bear and I convinced Justin to try vegemite and his reaction was hilarious. Vegemite is just awful. We then went out to hunt wallabies. We searched for about an hour out in the bush behind the colleges, but could not find one. When we gave up, we took a short cut back to George Roberts through another college. Disappointed, I looked to my left and spotted 3 wallabies hanging out by someone’s back door! Oh my gosh, they were the cutest things ever. I got pretty close to them to snap pictures. I can’t…I just can’t even. I want one to keep and love forever. They’re so much better than the vicious Temple University squirrels I have to deal with at home. Wallabies > squirrels.

HI

Please let me pet you

And take you home

And love you forever

Later that day we dropped Justin off at the airport and I almost cried. I’ve only known him for a few days, but my eyes teared up! This makes me nervous about how I’m going to react when I have to be forcibly removed from this country. I’m just going to lose it. I’m also going to cry my eyes out when I’m reunited with my best friend, Leslie. I’m just so full of emotions and I don’t know what to do with them!!

No way I’m not crying when we reunite

The next day was Easter for those of you in the states. That means that my family started calling me at 7am and wouldn’t stop until I answered. I could have killed them. It was nice to see my whole family via FaceTime, but I would’ve much preferred to see them after I slept a solid 8 hours for once. Oh well.

Some kids from George Roberts decided to have a college family trip to Crystal Creek again. I totally did not object and hopped right on that. Bear and I were off yet again to Crystal Creek. This time we went to Little Crystal Creek as opposed to Big Crystal. Follow me? Good.

Little Crystal was not much of anything besides a frighteningly high jump known as “Devil’s Leap.” Since I’m all brave now and whatnot, I was prepared to jump. That is, until I looked down. Not having it. Not having one bit of it! You had to avoid a smaller rock jump below it and then hurdle to your inevitable death. Have fun with that one boys, but I value my life. Bear, Meredith, Emily, and myself opted to sit by a little pool of water while everyone else risked their lives. It was quite relaxing.

Yeah, no way I’m jumping

At least it’s pretty

Much more relaxing

Hiiiiii butterfly!

Once everyone was bored with their antics, we headed off to Big Crystal yet again. It’s definitely my new favorite spot in the world. We did the rockslides again and chilled out on the rocks. Just another perfect day in paradise.

Oh, and you know how I mentioned Jeremy Wade in my one blog and referred to him as my boyfriend? Well, if you didn’t read it, you should (Reaping the Benefits). Well, I happened to have emailed him after a long night of drinking (water of course…) and I told him to read my blog because I mentioned him. Awkward moment when he emails me and tells me he read it.

“Hi Arielle

Good to hear from you again. It sounds like you’re having a great time in Oz — your blog conveys a level of enthusiasm for everything around you that puts me to shame!

Great to hear that you’ve somehow managed to fit in some fishing along with everything else. I’m not even sure if I’ve caught one of those before. And I wouldn’t worry too much about not watching much TV….

With best wishes

Jeremy”

Really? I should stop saying ridiculous things to show hosts, 90’s pop singers, and food places. I think these people won’t read what I say, but then they do. And I feel awkward. I need to watch my ridiculous mouth. Oh well.

I tweet this to Aaron Carter

So he follows me.

Less awkward, but still. Damn, I miss Jimmy John’s so much.

You’d think Britney would answer me by now, but no 😦