Kim's Travelling Adventures!

Oh my goodness, I havent been able to write a new entry in ages!  Soooo much has happened since the last time I wrote, so I apologize for the length of this story!  So after seeing the baseball game I didnt do much for a few days as I was still trying to get over my pesky cold.  Once I got better I was able to go back to Harajuku on a Sunday, which is definitely the best day to go!  Everyone dresses up on Sundays and there are even some crazy guys that dress up like elvis and dance around in the park all day!  It was so funny to see, but mostly just random.  The girls dress up in little bo peep outfits or gothic outfits, so weird!!  I also had the chance to do some more shopping and see Shibuya again in the evening.  I think that is probably my favourite area in Tokyo, its very surreal being there when Ive seen it so many times in movies and TV shows about Japan.  I also had the pleasure of eating at Tony Romas on my last night, which is a very famous rib restaurant all around the world.  I haven't been there in years (I think I went to one in Toronto), but the ribs tasted the exact same...delicious!!!  That was pretty much it for my time in Japan, and I was alot more sad to leave than I thought I would be.  I got really sad in the airport as I was checking in for my flight, especially when the lovely Japanese lady behind the counter asked me for my Australian Visa...I didn't have one!  I dont know why I never thought I would need any documents to get into Australia, I didnt need anything for Japan so I thought it would be the same!  I freaked out, but the people were so nice and helpful and they made some calls for me and sorted out the visa before I got on the plane.  That was a close one!  The plane ride to Sydney was nice, I was sitting beside a lovely Japanese tour guide who was taking a family to Australia for vacation.  I told her all about my trip, it was a nice little reflection of everything I had done.  I even had the cutest woman come up to me in the plane ride and give me some candies and said "thank you for your kindness" because I had given her some toothpaste!  Japanese people are so unbelieveably kind and helpful and friendly and polite, I will never forget them and I wish everyone in the world could take an example from them.  When I got to the Sydney airport I was stuck in very, very long lines, which was not good since I only had 2 hours to make it for my Cairns flight.  I wasn't going to make it, except our flight was delayed 20 minutes so I thought I was just going to run onto the flight.  Once I got to the domestic terminal though I was in for a big surprise...my flight was actually delayed 2 hours...and then after that another 1/2 an hour...and then another 1/2 an hour...apparantly there were technical issues with our plane and it couldn't be flown.  Nice!  In the end, we had an 8 HOUR DELAY which SUCKED!!!!  Everyone was soooo angry, but there was obviously nothing anyone could do.  Finally we got on the plane and I made it to Cairns, and got to my hostel.  It was called Calypso backpackers and it was so nice!  It was very tropical with palm trees everywhere and a nice pool with a waterfall!  I got some sleep and then got up early the next day to go back to the airport to get Anne (for those of you that dont know, she is my best friend from Canada and she was coming to meet me in Aussie for the Contiki Tour.  I hadnt seen her since August, and then only for 3 days, and then before that I hadnt seen her since January!  So sad!)  I can't describe how I felt right before her flight got in and waiting for her to come down the walkway.  I made a little sign for her, and when I saw her we both freaked out!  We hugged for about 10 minutes straight and continued hugging while we walked inside to get her bags!  It was so amazing to see such a good friend after being on my own for 4 weeks, I just cant describe how happy I was.  Anywho, we got to the hostel and relaxed for the day and night, and then the next morning went to the Cairns Colonial Club Resort to meet our Contiki group.  Our tour leaders name was Shaz and she is so nice, and all the people on the tour are sooo nice as well.  The place we are staying at is definitely a difference from the hostels Im used to!  I walked into our room and there were only 4 of us, and its a proper hotel room with a bathroom and everything!  I got SO excited for this, and everyone wondered what was wrong with me.  It was quite funny!  Unfortunately though we got our first taste of Aussie bugs when I reached into the cupboard for a cup of tea and there was a MASSIVE cocroach right beside my hand on the kettle!  I of course screamed like a little girl and threw the kettle across the room, and the other 3 girls in the room screamed and ran all over the place, and we ran to find a boy to come and kill it!  Some poor guy that we didnt know had to come into our room and kill it with his shoe!  Gross!  We went to a Aboriginal Cultural Centre that day and Anne and I got to throw Boomerangs and Spears...it could have been quite dangerous but luckily nobody got hurt!  It was really cool learning about their culture and we even got our faces painted and we got to see some dude play the digeridoo (spelling?), which was very neat!  A very good way to start off our time in Oz.  That night we went for a pub crawl and the next morning we got up very early to go to the Great Barrier Reef (we didnt drink alot at the pub crawl!)  We drove an hour to a place called Port Douglas and then got on a massive boat thing, it was with a company called Quicksilver.  The boat would go out an hour and a half to the reef.  They warned us as we got on board that the winds were high and we should take sea sickness tablets, so Anne and I almost OD'd on them, we took loooots!  It wasnt too bad on the way there, but lots of people were sick around us.  Gross.  When we got there, there was already this big pontoon in the water where we could go onto and change and shower and everything.  Then we got into our sweet snorkelling suits and went into the water!  Literally as soon as you went underwater it was like a scene from a movie, there were MASSIVE fish all around us and the coral was beautiful.  Anne and I held hands (romantic) and snorkelled around the area because the winds were still strong and the current was making us drift apart.  Everything was so amazing, we even saw this thing which I dont know if it was a fish or not, it was a big as donkey (sorry, first animal that came to mind) and it looked sooooo weird.  I have a postcard with a photo of it, it was so bizarre.  I was looking for reef sharks but didnt see any, but we did see sea turtles and NEMO!  It was amazing!  We got a buffet lunch and went in submarines as well so we could see furthur down into the reef.  It was an absolutely incredible day, and one that I will never forget.  The ride back was a bit more bumpy and I started to feel a bit more sick, but luckily didnt spew (sorry, first word that came to mind!) That night we went out for dinner to a place called the Woolshed (very famous in Aussie) but didnt stay out because we were all tired.  The next day we didnt do much because the weather was a bit iffy, but we did get to sit by the beautiful pool and suntan for a bit.  Thats pretty much it so far, we are now just about to go to the Whitsunday Islands for some sitting on the beach and doing nothing!  I think I may go sailing tomorrow, but Im not sure because of the whole being sea sick thing.  I think I may just suck it up and do it anyways.  Alright I miss you all and thanks for reading this long entry!  Talk to you soon!!!  P.S. They have Kangaroo Crossing signs here on the road...HILARIOUS!