It has been quite some time since my last post and I realized that I need to update before I forget about all the fun things I’ve done. Like the title says, I’ve been keeping busy… not with classes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m doing well in all my classes, they’re just really easy. I’ve been keeping busy with things like jumping out of planes, swimming on the Great Barrier Reef, and working on my tan.
Last week was our mid-semester break. My friends and I went to Cairns, the main city by the reef. We had a full week of fun planned out. On Monday, we went bungee jumping from 40 meters, just over 130 feet. We jumped out over a small pond and got to dip our hands and head in the water at the bottom of our jump before we got shot back up in the air. There’s nothing like starting your week off with a little adrenaline! On Tuesday we had a full day of white water rafting. We spent about four hours rafting on the river, not including our barbeque we had half way down. We had a ton of fun and met a lot of cool people. Although Tuesday was fun, Wednesday was the day I was really looking forward to. It was the day that I can officially say I’ve taken off more times in a plane than I have landed. That’s because I got to jump out! My three friends and I all went skydiving from 14,000 feet. It was the adrenaline rush of a lifetime. Everything from the plane ride up, looking straight down for two and half miles, falling at nearly 120 mph, and floating down with the parachute was simply amazing. My favorite part was free falling and being able to see the reef, city, and surrounding mountains. We couldn’t handle much more adrenaline so we spent the next two days relaxing. Thursday was spent fishing (we saw a crocodile!) and lying on the beach. Friday was our trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. We took a boat out to the reef and spent a few hours snorkeling. I didn’t see anything that impressive, no sharks or turtles, just a lot of fish and coral. Also, everything was a lot less colorful that I imagined. I still had a great time and although the reef was a bit of a disappointment, we had fun wearing our fashionable full body “stinger suits”. It was jellyfish season so we had to cover up our whole body, as you can see in the pictures below.
Our week of fun had to come to an end eventually, and so it’s back to the books. We are taking a trip to the coast with the volleyball club this weekend and we are planning a trip to Sydney for some weekend soon. I can’t believe I’m almost half way done with my trip. I’ve done so much already. I’m so excited because my mom and Julie are coming to visit me my last week here. It will be fun showing them around my life in Australia. I’m sure I’ll have more adventures to write about soon!
The stinger suit
Getting ready to skydive
Top of the bungee tower
Snorkeling
We found Nemo!
