As I mentioned before, I was really comfortable in Melbourne. Ruth was absolutely amazing. She took my on a duck crawl on my last night. Basically we went to a few different restaurants in Chinatown and wine tasted (winemarkers get up and talk about their wines being featured). The life, right? Below is a few pics of me and Ruth (at her vineyard and out on the town). I didn't know how else to thank her besides taking her to dinner and a movie and also bringing her a book on Chicago and a box of Frango mints to remind her of a few wonderful things about "my city" and hope she comes back to visit someday so I can return the favor and host her.
So almost 2 weeks down and I can't believe how fast it's gone by already. I have probably learned more in the last 2 weeks than I have in a few years combined. Really! I can't even believe this experience. I was going to title this post, The Sink of Sarah (as in the Kitchen Sink), b/c pretty much everything "S" has happened in the last 1.5 weeks. The Sickness of Sarah - Ruth had to pull over on the side of the road on the way to the airport - God help her (and I swear it was a bug and not the fact I was out drinking the night before..). The Stealing of Sarah - first night in my hostel and my food got broken into in the community fridge (jerks! but see more below on my first hostel experience), The Snorkeling and Scuba of Sarah (again, see below). I can go on and on... Way easier to come up with "S" words than I thought. I think of new ones every day, but I've been terrible w/ updating my journal as well, and as the days go by, I forget! I'll try a little harder (as I must try a little harder to relax anyway..).
So getting to Cairns (pronounced Cans) from Melbourne...Literally booked my flight and hostel 3 days before...Not like me at all, but I've realized it's so normal to just fly by the seat of my points. Before arriving here, I was notified it was "wet season", something I failed to research obvi... So I was basically panicking thinking I would never make it here. But when I landed, it was bright and Sunny. Perfect! But as I stepped off the plane, I immediately began to sweat bullets (The Sweating of Sarah). It is so hot and muggy here. Gross! But I can't complain, as most of you are freezing your asses off. Sorry! I arrived at the hostel and it was way better than expected. I can't believe how many people are just traveling alone, hanging out, etc.
Made me feel so much better and normal! It's clean. The people here are so friendy. The staff are so helpful - not only am I getting accomodations for like $30/nights, but it's like I have my own personal concierge service. They immediately helped me book my Scuba trip for the next day. I got to my room (thank goodness it was w/ a private bathroom, as I thought I had a shared), and I had 2 roommates. Ann from Germany (she is traveling for about a year) and Sayaka from Japan (she is on a few weeks vaca in between jobs). Sayaka and I immediately hit it off and were ironically on the same dive trip the next day. We also made friends with Vesa (from Finland) on the boat. The 3 of us went to dinner that night - to Outback Jacks of all places (almost identical to an Outback Steakhouse - haha) and Sayaka and I spent some time shopping and getting lunch today before she was off to Brisbane. I might meet up with Vessa this week on the islands and Sayaka at the end of the week in Brisbane. 2 weeks in and I already have friends literally all over the world.
Scuba diving was unreal! For those of you who knew me when I was in grade/high school - I was always obsessed with the ocean/fish/dolphins. Even being a swimmer for 10 years, for some reason I never had the huge desire to learn to scuba (just felt that all that equipment was too much work), but OMG, I don't know what the hell I was waiting for. And the fact my first trip was at the Great Barrier Reef is crazy (which by the way from the plane, the reef was literally glowing - like neon!). It is such another world down there. B/c I'm not certified, I had to go "assisted", which really doesn't mean much besides the instructor is swimming close by the whole time. The first dive was tough. I sort of panicked... But once you are down there I kind of like to think of it as "Fight or Flight". Sounds nuts, but when you don't have a choice, you breath through that darn thing and make it work! My second time down was so much easier. I got to take a underwater camera with me as well and just snapped away. I saw a sea turtle, sting ray, parrot fish, clams that opened/closed when I put my hand over them, these purple things that looked like those purple tissue paper like flowers that when I stuck my finger to them, they popped inside their home. I pet a sea cucumber (picture of one below), which is basically velvety/slimey, and those big orange fish (pic below) had huge teeth and swimming right up to us. The pics don't do it justice AT ALL, as I say so many different fish and the color of the corral was unbelievable, I could go on and on for days.. So needless to say, I will be getting certified at some point (when I am in one place for more than 3 days) and can't wait for my next dive.
I have so many more udpates, but now I'm off to relax before my 11 hour overnight bus to Airlie Beach, in which I am hoping to get some sleep (I swear I sleep better on moving vehicles). Hoping it doesn't get canceled, as it's been pouring here alllllllll day (perfect for me, b/c I just ran errands and sat on the computer all day). Until then....
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