Wombats, Koalas and Roos, Oh My!

I'm off to see the wild, the wonderful wild of Oz! Where oh where do I even begin??? Katie, Amy and I arrived in Cairns and had a great first night. We encountered our first "experience" on arrival at the hostel where the 150 year old woman behind the desk, Gloria, proceeded to ramble on, completely incoherantly for about a half hour while our bones cracked under the weight of our bags. We watched in amazement as she marched around the counter, directly toward Katie's pack and began conversing with the stuffed animal key chains hanging off of it. And we thought the animals were the ones to be feared. Ole Crazy Gloria..... In the evening we drank wine by the shore and made up our own constalations. "The Rubber Chicken", "The Triangle" and "Jay Leno's Chin" twinkled brightly that night. Sigh...

Onto Cape Tribulation. James Cook named it. He was sad. This was a full-on day where we went to an animal sanctuary and saw wombats, koalas and, you got it, roos, oh my! Also, huge pythons and crocs. Very cool. We then went on a tour through the the oldest rainforest in the world. No really it was. I'm not just being dramatic... this time. This was my favorite. SO incredibly beautiful! Everything is HUGE and so ancient. Just breath taking. We went for a swim in this stunning gorge (croc-free....we think) where the water glowed, then finished the day off on a croc hunting cruise down an infested river. We saw a couple "beauties" as they say. Yup, huge. I swear everything is so big over here! I looked up last night thinking a hawk was flying over. I see these enormous leathery wings. Instinct telling me it was a teradactol, I nearly threw myself to the ground, until I realized it was actaully a bat. Then I nearly threw myself down anyway. Honestly, this thing was unreal and they fly over in swarms that go on as far as you can see. I feel like I'm in Gotham City.

We stayed at a hostel called PK's Jungle Village....and it really was. A bunch of cabins in the middle of the rainforest where every window looks out on trees and vines from all side. It's about a 15 min walk to the beach through the jungle. Absolutely amazing. We were all in awe. I've never screamed so much in my life than in those two days walking through that jungle. Every time a bushed moved I thought "this is it". There are wild animals everywhere, just running including a giant 3 foot mamoth turkey with a horn and big claw that will impale you. Where did these animals COME from? These are things in myths! Seriously, where are the unicorns? If you're lucky like me they won't only run past you, but into you. I had a giant turtle sized beetle land on my back, as Amy calmly pointed out to me as she screamed and ran away. Yeah, so we lived in Jurassic park for two days and I think they were the best so far.

The next day we boated out an hour off the shore (it was so fun!) and snorkelled the great barrier reef, which a lot of has died unfortunatly, but it's still beautiful. Amy and I batted our eyelashes and made friends with the skipper. He boated her and I out from the main boat in a small rubber dingy and dropped us off in his favorite spot. Once we got back I asked if we could jump of the roof of the boat, which is actually illegal on the reef (batting eyelashes) and he let us, then was so impressed that we actually did it, he invited us to a party that night with the rest of the crew. Yay! It's good to be a girl sometimes. So once nightfall came, we ventured out with our flashlights down these pitch black dirt roads, with the constant fear of giant man-eating turkeys and vicious unicorns attacking us from the surrounding jungle. We were very brave, all holding onto eachother for dear life. Yeah, you try it. Once the fog rolled in we figured it wasn't the best idea to keep going and ended up in front of this enchanting restaurant that was this huge log building raised up in the middle of the jungle. I've never said "wow" so many times in one night. It was just so hard to believe that we were sitting there......and not being attacked. We went back to the hostel, which doubles as the biggest bar and basically the only bar in that part of the jungle. We met these Australian Navy divers who actually worked for special services. Obviously they didn't tell us that part, but Katie figured it in a very interesting and clever way. i'm sorry, that's all I can say. Anyway, they're going to take us diving in Sydney when we get back. Can't wait! Afer the bar closed, about 30 of us ventured down through the jungle to the beach where we had a huge bonfire made of coconuts and palm leaves (how perfect!) We all stayed and watched the gajillion stars and listened to Nick Drake, thanks to my ipod and Amy's speakers, until dawn. How do I even try to describe the feeling of that night? Sorry, can't. It was perfect.

The next day onto Port Douglas, this sleepy little Southern style town, where blues is played everywhere! We really felt like we were in the deep south of the States. It was so beautiful, we almost cried when we left. We left the next night and took a bus back into Cairns. The whole way I kept thinking "How lucky am I?"

So back in Cairns now. We're heading to Fitzroy island the day after tomorrow, where we're going to get our diving and have our first shrimp on the barbie! Next we are going on a personal tour with the bus driver we met on the way to Cape Trib. He's part aboriginal and he's taking us into the aboriginal country where tourists aren't allowed. He only does this once in a while and he doesn't advertise this at all. Just luck of the draw. We're going to hike, camp on the beach, Spear Our Own Fish, if you can believe it, and apparently see some of the most beautiful things we've ever seen, all with our own personal tour guide. This will be a true tribal experience. Ooga Booga!