pirates gone wild!
I have so much to write about, and I’m absolutely positive you don’t want to read a seven-page email, so I will conduct this in bulleted fashion, expounding when it is necessary.
Saturday to Tuesday:
-Meg, Melissa, Jon and I arrive in Proserpine, and take a bus to Airlie Beach. Literally one street of crappy souvenir shops, bars and hostels.
-From Airlie, get on the Solway Lass sailing ship for Whitsunday Islands tour. (btw, the Whitsundays are part of the Great Barrier Reef. It’s pretty big.) Are greeted by pirates, and Captain Buster, who looks like a drunken Santa.
-Take one million pictures of amazing surroundings too beautiful to capture in words. I never got sick of the blue water and green islands I saw every single day.
-Watched sunset from the 3rd most beautiful beach in the world, Whitehaven, no doubt ranked by some people who know their beaches.
-Feel seasick every day, in varying degrees. Discover the trick of lying down and thinking of pavement.
-Meet cool American girls who are studying at the uni in Brisbane. Turns out they’re doing the same route as we are, and we meet up with them all over the place later in the week.
-Think I’m getting a tan, but then am told that I’m delusional (check out pictures for proof of semi-tan).
-Find out that taking coral from the Coral Sea incurs a fine of $10,000. Steal $100,000 worth of coral.
-Become betrothed to Pirate Dave via a pirate bracelet, which has no beginning or end. It’s black, obviously, and kickass. (See pictures for Dave, and bracelet). I just have to change my visa, and get a dowry together, and I’ll be swabbing the deck or whatever as the First Wench of the Solway Lass.
-Swing off rope swing. Snorkel. Help pull up sails. Upper body pain for two days = I’m a lazy bum.
-Leave the ship on Tuesday having made friends, and hang out with some of the crew afterwards at a bar. Stay over night at Airlie Beach.
Wednesday to Sunday:
-Wednesday, take bus for 9 hours to get to Cairns, gateway to Great Barrier Reef. Despite the length of the trip, the countryside was all hills and farms, green and beautiful.
-Arrive in Cairns late Wednesday, stay at a great hostel with two dogs to play with.
-Bright and early Thursday, SCUBA DIVE on Great Barrier Reef. This is where I’ll be expounding.
When I booked the scuba dive, I was sort of scared. I mean, you’re under water, breathing from a tank, and sharks can just come up and eat you at any second. Meg, the certified scuba diving roommate, said it’s like second nature once you get used to breathing deeply and evenly. One thing I neglected to think of: I have a slight problem with my ears. On airplanes, during descent, they don’t pop, and I get a headache that usually lasts for several hours until they eventually do pop. So as I submerge myself in the water, and am trying to equalize my ears as the instructor showed us, my ears aren’t popping. Cue panic attack. I pointed to my ears underwater and tried to communicate to the instructor that I was feeling pressure. He calmed me down, and said it would be okay. And yeah, it was okay. As long as I focused on my breathing not being erratic and short, I ignored my ears.
The dives (I did two) were amazing. I saw sea turtles, held a sea cucumber, touched fish, had my picture taken next to Nemo, and generally was awed by how much stuff there is under the sea. The reefs themselves were so intricate and expansive that you could dive there all your life and always see something different. After the second dive, my head was in genuine pain and my ears didn’t fully pop until the next morning. So scuba diving may not be a frequent activity for me. Especially not in the Atlantic Ocean.
-Friday, rented a tiny car and explored. Went to north to Kuranda, tried kangaroo meat (not too great), took a rain forest tour in an Army Duck boat, and took a nature walk to Barron Falls. We then drove south to Paronella Park, a castle in the rain forest built by a Spanish guy who just wanted people to have a nice place to go and relax. BTW, to get to Paronella you have to travel through a ghost town. And if you leave Paronella, you’re just 20 km away from Murdering Point. Pretty sweet.
-Saturday, Meg was going to skydive, and I was going to give moral support. But the weather was crap, and we ended up seeing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Just as amazing as I knew it would be.
-Sunday, skydiving was supposed to be rescheduled, but the weather was still crap, so we saw another movie, Taking Lives, with Angelina “I’m not yet above showing my breasts in a movie” Jolie. Terrible, but marginally better than standing in the rain for 5 hours. Marginally. Came home Sunday night.
So that’s it. And now I’m broke, so don’t expect any exhilarating emails for a long time, unless you like hearing about laundry and homework. I actually have exams and papers coming up, which will keep me busy. Sean Carlson is coming next week, and we’re going to Fraser Island, which will be really exciting, in a Holy Crap I Really Shouldn’t Be Spending This Money kind of way.
Seven weeks away from the USA,
ktd
Saturday to Tuesday:
-Meg, Melissa, Jon and I arrive in Proserpine, and take a bus to Airlie Beach. Literally one street of crappy souvenir shops, bars and hostels.
-From Airlie, get on the Solway Lass sailing ship for Whitsunday Islands tour. (btw, the Whitsundays are part of the Great Barrier Reef. It’s pretty big.) Are greeted by pirates, and Captain Buster, who looks like a drunken Santa.
-Take one million pictures of amazing surroundings too beautiful to capture in words. I never got sick of the blue water and green islands I saw every single day.
-Watched sunset from the 3rd most beautiful beach in the world, Whitehaven, no doubt ranked by some people who know their beaches.
-Feel seasick every day, in varying degrees. Discover the trick of lying down and thinking of pavement.
-Meet cool American girls who are studying at the uni in Brisbane. Turns out they’re doing the same route as we are, and we meet up with them all over the place later in the week.
-Think I’m getting a tan, but then am told that I’m delusional (check out pictures for proof of semi-tan).
-Find out that taking coral from the Coral Sea incurs a fine of $10,000. Steal $100,000 worth of coral.
-Become betrothed to Pirate Dave via a pirate bracelet, which has no beginning or end. It’s black, obviously, and kickass. (See pictures for Dave, and bracelet). I just have to change my visa, and get a dowry together, and I’ll be swabbing the deck or whatever as the First Wench of the Solway Lass.
-Swing off rope swing. Snorkel. Help pull up sails. Upper body pain for two days = I’m a lazy bum.
-Leave the ship on Tuesday having made friends, and hang out with some of the crew afterwards at a bar. Stay over night at Airlie Beach.
Wednesday to Sunday:
-Wednesday, take bus for 9 hours to get to Cairns, gateway to Great Barrier Reef. Despite the length of the trip, the countryside was all hills and farms, green and beautiful.
-Arrive in Cairns late Wednesday, stay at a great hostel with two dogs to play with.
-Bright and early Thursday, SCUBA DIVE on Great Barrier Reef. This is where I’ll be expounding.
When I booked the scuba dive, I was sort of scared. I mean, you’re under water, breathing from a tank, and sharks can just come up and eat you at any second. Meg, the certified scuba diving roommate, said it’s like second nature once you get used to breathing deeply and evenly. One thing I neglected to think of: I have a slight problem with my ears. On airplanes, during descent, they don’t pop, and I get a headache that usually lasts for several hours until they eventually do pop. So as I submerge myself in the water, and am trying to equalize my ears as the instructor showed us, my ears aren’t popping. Cue panic attack. I pointed to my ears underwater and tried to communicate to the instructor that I was feeling pressure. He calmed me down, and said it would be okay. And yeah, it was okay. As long as I focused on my breathing not being erratic and short, I ignored my ears.
The dives (I did two) were amazing. I saw sea turtles, held a sea cucumber, touched fish, had my picture taken next to Nemo, and generally was awed by how much stuff there is under the sea. The reefs themselves were so intricate and expansive that you could dive there all your life and always see something different. After the second dive, my head was in genuine pain and my ears didn’t fully pop until the next morning. So scuba diving may not be a frequent activity for me. Especially not in the Atlantic Ocean.
-Friday, rented a tiny car and explored. Went to north to Kuranda, tried kangaroo meat (not too great), took a rain forest tour in an Army Duck boat, and took a nature walk to Barron Falls. We then drove south to Paronella Park, a castle in the rain forest built by a Spanish guy who just wanted people to have a nice place to go and relax. BTW, to get to Paronella you have to travel through a ghost town. And if you leave Paronella, you’re just 20 km away from Murdering Point. Pretty sweet.
-Saturday, Meg was going to skydive, and I was going to give moral support. But the weather was crap, and we ended up seeing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Just as amazing as I knew it would be.
-Sunday, skydiving was supposed to be rescheduled, but the weather was still crap, so we saw another movie, Taking Lives, with Angelina “I’m not yet above showing my breasts in a movie” Jolie. Terrible, but marginally better than standing in the rain for 5 hours. Marginally. Came home Sunday night.
So that’s it. And now I’m broke, so don’t expect any exhilarating emails for a long time, unless you like hearing about laundry and homework. I actually have exams and papers coming up, which will keep me busy. Sean Carlson is coming next week, and we’re going to Fraser Island, which will be really exciting, in a Holy Crap I Really Shouldn’t Be Spending This Money kind of way.
Seven weeks away from the USA,
ktd