I’ll talk about my first day in Australia and in tropical Cairns. I woke up at 8:00 after being so exhausted after all those flights yesterday. I took a shower and washed up. My shower doesn’t even have a full door on it. After showering, I left and walked down Sheridan Street trying to decide on what to do. I got a Red Bull and a bottle of water at a grocery store. On the way out, I started talking to this guy. He walked with me as we talked but he started to worry me, so I walked into a tour place and he kept walking. He asked me if I had ever been robbed before. However, I asked about a snorkeling tour, but they all leave at 7:45 AM. I really wanted to go diving, but I’m still not feeling 100%. The snorkeling tour I want to do is $80. I’ll have to come back tomorrow. So, I kept walking into Cairns and looked for a tour place. It was already hot and muggy. I was told this is the wet season, but I haven’t seen any rain yet. Cairns is my first place visiting an “A” climate region (on the Köppen scale). I went to a tour place on the Esplanade and bought a ferry ticket to Fitzroy Island. It was $42. I walked down near the lagoon and stopped at the police station for directions to the Reef Front Terminal. I kept walking past all the ritzy hotels and waited. I took some pictures and talked to this family from Perth, which is hot at this time of year too. The boat showed up at 10:25 and I got on. This place is amazing! It’s a land like nowhere else! On the boat I met three girls from Switzerland. They were beautiful. I got a picture with each of them and we hung out and talked. I couldn’t stop snapping pictures of the sea and the green. You can definitely tell it’s tropical. I also met this girl named Laura from Delaware. She was here with some friends and they all attend the University of Delaware. I got a picture of her as well. The ferry ride lasted about an hour. Once I got off the boat, I was so amazed! Instead of sand on the beach, there are pieces of dead coral.
I filled up my water bottle and paid $3 to go on the sea trampoline. I checked in my camera and put on my snorkeling gear and started swimming out to the trampoline. I saw some aquatic plants on the way through my mask. I climbed up onto the trampoline and saw the same girls from Switzerland I saw earlier. I played catch with a football with this guy named Fred, also from Delaware. I died a few flips on the trampoline, but I hurt my leg doing so. Knock wood I didn’t tear a ligament or anything, because I don’t have travel insurance. I teased this one girl named Britney about how her bathing suit said “Roxy” on it. She’s also from Delaware. After a half hour, I jumped off the trampoline and snorkeled back to shore. This seawater is very salty. I can tell from getting it in my mouth. I sat with Laura and the rest of the people from Delaware. I found a heart-shaped coral piece and gave it to Laura. She’s so pretty. Britney wanted a heart too. She told me it’s so cool that I can travel alone like I do. I hung out with them for like an hour and then decided that I wanted to see the rest of Fitzroy Island. I forgot to charge my camera battery last night, so I was low on battery. I got a Red Bull and filled up my water bottle and started walking. It was so magical! I could hear creatures that I’ve never heard before. It was a tropical rainforest. I saw a Ulysses butterfly (which is bright blue), a snake, and a lot of lizards. I zoomed in and got a photo of a lizard. Pictures of wildlife are so difficult to take and even harder to master. I started walking up, and I read about cays, which are like reef islands. I could see one from where I was walking. The walk up was very tough and the trail was rough. I should have brought my hiking boots. The ocean looks stunning from up there. I continued on and then noticed the boulders are actually shaped into stairs. Another interesting thing I noticed was a tree stump that it kind of shaped like Australia, and I got a photo of that.
The walk up was so exerting. I turned back just a short distance from the summit. On the way back down, I ran for a little bit on the track, and I was hearing this bird that sounded like a kookaburra. This place is like the Amazon Jungle because you hear all these weird creatures that you’re not used to hearing. It was 3:20 by the time I made it to the bottom of the track, and I stopped for an interesting photo of some boulders and the ocean. Near the resort, I found a beautiful white and yellow feather, but I left it behind. I can’t take everything home. I filled up my water bottle and started walking toward the other beach. It was another walk through the rainforest I had to take. After walking for around 20 minutes I got to the beach, but there was no one there, so I started walking back. Then I saw Fred and the girls from Switzerland again. I sat with them for about a half hour and we even found a baby octopus on the beach. We all walked to the ferry together. I wanted to get a Fitzroy Island postcard, but the stand had already closed. I was told I could get one on the mainland. My shoes got soaked and worried that I may have to trash them if I can’t dry them. I picked up a nice piece of coral as I was leaving Fitzroy Island, just as I picked up volcanic rocks on Rangitoto Island last year. At 5:00, we got on the ferry. I waved goodbye to the beautiful Fitzroy Island and I just enjoyed the seascape. I love Australia as a whole, and I feel like I’m on another planet more than another continent. The ferry ride was an hour long and I sat with Fred and the Swiss girls. I got Fred’s email and he told me about something that was going on at the Woolshed tonight and that the people from Delaware would be there. We then parted ways. I stopped at a shop and got an Australia bag and a few postcards. The guy at the shop picked on me for placing my shoes on the counter, but I should have known better. Altogether I spent $11. I stopped at an internet café and I got a few emails. After leaving I got a Diet Coke in a skinny can. You don’t see that back home. I was starving, so I stopped at Domino’s and got a pizza. I ate it on the way back to my room. I should have brought my scooter because it’s a long walk! I seriously thought about bringing it to Australia before leaving, but I decided not to. I got to my room and I took a cool shower. I’m severely sunburned! My face, neck, arms, and legs are all burnt. At 9:00, I started walking toward the Woolshed. I had trouble finding it, but I made it. It was very loud in there and I had a splitting headache. I saw Laura again and another one of the guys from Delaware. I sat with Laura for a little bit, but I didn’t stay long because of my headache. Earlier I got some thongs (flip-flops) but they feel so uncomfortable, so I walked barefoot through the grass back to my room. I then took a nice cool bath to ease my sunburn and lay down with a wet towel draped over my back. Well, I have to get up very early tomorrow if I want to go out to the Reef, so I’ve got to go to sleep. Good night.
