Hello all! so our location hasn't changed since our last entry but we have free internet here and the weather is crap so we figured we'd might as well do another update so here we go. SO it was a week today meaning it was Friday when we last wrote...we didn't get up to too much that day as we had a slow start and just wanted to rest so that was that. On Saturday we hung out by the lagoon and then it was off on a pub crawl for the evening. It was 25 bucks and it took you to 5 different clubs via a big double decker open top bus and included free entry to each club and a bbq at the beginning of the night and pizza midway thru so it seemed like a good deal. SO as it turned out it wasnt all as fun as it sounded like...the music was crappy at a lot of the places and often they seemed unprepared for a bus load of ppl when they knew we were coming, however we made the most of it and hung out most of the night with Anja and Ken from Denmark whom we had met several times along our way up to Cairns. One of the bars called Shenanigans actualyl had really excellent live music so that was enjoyable. At the last club they had a contest which was a different kind of twist on simon says in partners and low and behold WE WON! we were pretty proud and had most of the crowd behind us as well so that was cool! we each got to pick a voucher from a pile so we won White Water Rafting on teh Russell river and cable skiing so that was pretty sweet. After that we decided we werent having a good time there anymore so we made our way back to Shenanigans with Anja and Ken only to find the music was off and they were closing up...so that was that. All in all it turned out to be a pretty fun night. When we got back to our hostel we found we were kinda hungry so went on a mission to find snacks and low and behold who did we find outside the convenience store but Richie, our swedish friend!! so we had a good catch up with him and decided that we would try again later in the week to teach him beer pong. It was the perfect end to a good night. We had quite a productive day on Sunday, making plans for the rest of the week which was good and got a little sun time in by the lagoon as well.
Monday we headed out on our road trip to Cape Tribulation with our friends Heather(from Scotland) and Vicky(from England). We rented a car(Hyundi accent, spacious but terrible on gas) and jeff was happy to be behind the wheel again as he really misses driving. We started out on our journey and the further we drove the worse the weather got. We stopped in Port Douglas and got caught in torrential downpours so decided to head stragiht to Cape Tribulation and come back to Port Douglas on our way back. The rain slowed a little bit here and there but it really made for a hassle on our trip. We went and saw the Daintree village and then crossed the river over to Cape Tribulation. As we drove we realized that all the bridges we drove over were being taken over by creeks flowing over them so we had to come to a group decision which was to cancel our overnight in cape tribulation in fears we may be flooded in. So we explored what we could of the rainforest, saw where the rainforest meets the beach which was pretty cool, went to teh lookouts but really couldnt see anything(to many low clouds) and so after a few hours we were back on the road to Port Douglas. It was still rainy there but not as bad as it had been so we decided to overnight there instead as we had the car until the next day. So we went into town to do a little shopping and bought some groceries and made a big taco dinner together at our hostel..it was lovely. There wasnt much to do at night so we spent some time teaching eachother new card games and then called it a night. The next morning we woke up to beautiful sunshine so we checked out and headed to 4 mile beach in Port Douglas...it as pretty but there was a lot of debris from all the storms we've been having and the tide was really high so we couldnt stay to hang out. Since the weather was good we decided to head up to Karunda- mountain town area with waterfalls etc. OF course as we neared our destination the rain started up again but we still explored the town and visited Barron falls which were pretty spectacular especially considering all the rain thats been falling...lots and lots of overflow. Anyways, we spent the day exploring up there and then decided to just head back to Cairns as the weather was better there so we went ad spent some time by the lagoon again to get a little sun and relax. All in all it was a really fun roadtrip even if the weather didnt cooperate, we still had a blast and great company.
The next day was our snorkellling trip to the great barrier reef...we woke up to BLACK..i mean BLACK BLACK BLACK skies but were told we still had to head down to hte marina as the captain would have the final say on whether we would go or not. As it turned out the trip was a go but what a rainy messy day it was. We thought it might get better as we saw a spectacular rainbow on the way out, but more rain clouds rolled in making for a very soggy and rough day on the water. The boat we were on was a really nice catermaran but a lot of ppl still ended up being seasick and it was too bad we didnt get to relax on the boat in the sun as there was a lot of nice places to do so..oh well. Our snorkel sessions were just off a Cay(we were supposed to have 2 locations but the weather was too poor) and despite the storms the visibility wasnt TOO bad. We got some really good pix (coming soon) on the underwater digital camera we rented. Lots of beautiful coral, colorful fish including Nemo. Unfortunatly our second snorkel was cut short because it started to hail and rain so bad that the crew couldn't see the snorklers in the water to keep track of them all. Teh trip back was a little scary.. visibility was so poor we could barely see out the windows and it was rougher than the trip out. But we made it. All in all we made the best of a really ugly day!
The next day we got early once again as we were set to sky dive. We woke up to grey skies but saw a few clear patches so were told to still get ready as if we were going. Our instructors picked us up at 730am and took us back to their offices to prepare. While we filled out all the paperwork and signed or lives away they went down to the airport and landing area to check the conditions. We went thru a briefing and then got word that there was enough clear sky to jump so we were off to the airport. We jumped into the doorless plane and within a matter of minutes we were heading up up and UP! It was just us and our instructors and our friend Anja and her instructor in the little plane along with one solo jumper. As we left the ground the sky seemed to clear more and soon we were in pure sunshine. It took about 20 mins to climb to our jump altitude (14000 feet) but it didnt seem that long at all. Before long we were all prepping to jump. The solo guy went first and it was incredible how quickly he was just GONE. Next was Anja and once again it was a blink and they were gone. Jeff and his instructor(Wayne) were next with a whoosh and last was Chels and her instructor(Ben). We both agree that the freefall was an incredible feeling. You are going SO fast but it really doesnt feel like it at all- what a rush. Once the parachute was pulled it was pure tranquility. You can talk to your instructor and its just so quiet you can sit and watch the world below you. We saw the beautiful rainforest and rivers from above and a bit of the ocean/reef but there was a bit of cloud arond that area. It was an incredible experience that we both think we will be doing again..maybe even before we get home. Lucky for you we opted for the photos and videos so you can check out our photos online but the videos will probably wait til we're home unless we find a way to get them on the net..we will see. So seeing as we jumped so early in the day we still had th rest of the day to do...well...nothing...it started to rain and we counted ourselves lucky as being the only ppl to jump that day. So we really didnt do much the rest of the day....were still in awe that we did the skydive....doestn feel real..but the pictures prove it happened.
Today we were up early once again as we were supposed to go rafting with our free voucher but due to severe rains(surprise surprise) it was cancelled as the rivers were closed because they were completetly overflowing...they said we could postpone til tomorrow but we leave tomorrow night and the rains arent really letting up and we want to party with Team Sweden(our swedish friends) one last time..hopefully. So that brings us to now...just ran some errands and hung out, hopefully party tonight and then its back down the coast tomorrow. Next stop, Airlie beach for St Pattys Day....should be good times. Love to all!
~chels~ & jeff
SKYDIVE AND CAIRNS ADVENTURE PICS! check em out!
Chels pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013906&l=13be9&id=129500485
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013895&l=a6ed9&id=129500485
JEff pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14104&l=ef7bb&id=507914650
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14033&l=7fdf0&id=507914650
