On the Daintree River in our Croc Hunting Boat
Found one! I believe this was Nelson.
After the croc hunt, we headed deeper into the rainforest where we would be staying that night. The area was called Cape Tribulation, and we had hopes of climbing up Mount Sorrow the next morning. The hostel was gorgeous and super remote. There was literally nothing around us except for a general store and a dinky little bar. Two guesses as to what we did that night. We ended up hanging out with some really entertaining Dutch guys that night and learned a couple games that I will be bringing back to the States with me.
Cassowary crossing sign with a little graffiti...
Our hostel in the rainforest
Being that we woke up too late the next morning to go on the 8 hour hike to Mount Sorrow, we decided to hike down to a swimming hole for a quick dip. This day was really relaxing, and everywhere I looked I could see nothing but bright greens, reds, oranges, and yellows. It was incredibly beautiful. The swimming hole was tucked away and again looked like something out of a movie. I gave the rope swing there a couple gos before we had to head back to the hostel for our exotic fruit tasting at a local farm.
Walkway through the rainforest on the way to Mason's
Swimming hole complete with rope swing.
Exotic fruit tasting
The fruit tasting was fantastic! There were fruits there from all over the world. Some were sweet, others tangy, some juicy or creamy, and one even tasted like bleu cheese (the Durian, I don't recommend it). My favorite, however was the golden sapote which was creamy and slightly sweet. All I needed was some vanilla yogurt and I would have been good to go. The bus came and got us after the tasting, and we made the trek back "home" to Gilligan's. Entertaining side note, we were followed around by the Red Hot Chili Peppers everywhere we went in Cairns. There wasn't a single day that went by that didn't involve at least two of their songs being blared at us whether it was on a tour or at a bar. Who knew the Aussies loved the Peppers so much...
The next task on the spring break agenda was skydiving. I would be lying if I said that I hadn't been looking forward to it all week. I was nervously excited and feeling slightly insane. The first wave of panic started as we climbed on the bus that would take us to the airport. I met my tandem master Coops and realized, oh right, I'm jumping out of a plane in about 30 minutes. Normal? The next wave of panic hit when I realized there wasn't a door on our plane. Makes sense now that I'm safely deposited on the ground, but at the time very terrifying, thinking I was going to be sucked out of the airplane. Third wave of panic came as soon as I realized that by stepping onto the plane first, I was going to be the last out. As in I watched as all my friends disappeared very quickly off the edge of the plane. Fourth stage of panic, I was calm and just looking out the window after take-off, thinking Wow what great views! I was then informed that we were only at 2,000ft when I was planning to jump from 14,000ft. Taking slow deep breaths as we continued to climb, I again made the mistake of checking the altimeter. We were well above the clouds, yet only halfway there. At that point, I vowed not check anymore and just focus instead on my friends' equally terrified expressions. All of a sudden, the light in the back of the plane turned red, then yellow, and the photographer literally climbs out the side of plane and hangs on to the side as we're still moving at however fast planes move in the air! GAH! The light went green, and my friends went POOF! Finally, I shimmy my way up to the door, and dangle my feet over the edge for a good 15 seconds, looking down at the Earth whooshing past me. Gulp.
Not realizing what I'm getting myself into...
Falling out at 14,000ft above the Earth's surface. Loving it.
Landing safe and sound
I'm dangling on the edge, tuck my head back, and roll off the edge of a perfectly good airplane. The sensation was unbelievable. Ever stand in front of those giant room fans when you were a kid or stick your head out the window of a moving car? Multiply by a million and you're free falling. You reach terminal velocity in no time, and the feeling of weightless is extraordinary. Like you're swimming through a pool, but there's no pressure pushing in on you. Anyway, I've looked out an airplane's window many times and wondered how soft and fluffy a cloud actually was. Not so soft. Mostly just wet. After the free fall, we pulled the parachute at 4,000ft inside the middle of a cloud. We then proceeded to do extremely sharp turns trying to get out of said cloud so we could find the drop site. The moment we emerged from the cloud was epic. At that exact moment, the sun was glimmering over the distant mountains and I could see for miles. I ignored the incredible discomfort that the harness causes in the groin and shoulder region, and proceeded to just soak up everything I could. It was mostly farm land (sugarcane), but you could see the city and the coast not far away. Mountains looming in the distance and a flock of birds flying about 40ft in front of me. I got to steer the parachute and after a couple nauseating moves, we landed safely at the drop zone. Wow. I had just fallen 14,000ft. Willingly. In fact, I paid to do it. Insanity. Therefore, to celebrate our crazed, adrenaline hyped states, we went to a "Tex-Mex" restaurant called Cactus Jack's. We decided that as a group, we would order every drink on the menu, and then some. $477.40 later and we walked away feeling like champs.
Cactus Jack's Menu
Our bill at the end of the night
After conquering the ocean, the river, the rainforest, and the sky, we headed towards the beach for a much needed break. The last day was spent sleeping, sunning, and frolicking in the ocean. At lunch I had to splurge for a Corona because you just can't go to the beach and not have one.. We were all lying on the beach at this point not wanting to return to cold, overcast Melbourne. After briefly looking into whether or not we could transfer, we made our way to the terminal. Our flight that was supposed to leave at 1am was delayed two hours so we all ended up passing out in our seats. However, the weirdest part of this whole experience is that with web check-in, you never have to show your ID a single time. That and you can bring full bottles of shampoo, aerosol cans with lids, and razors in your carry-on luggage. You could easily tell who was American because we were all looking around confused that we weren't being strip searched or interrogated on why we have skintimate shave cream in our luggage. All in all, an epic first week of spring break in Australia. The second week in Tasmania to come soon!
Last day in Cairns
My sweet sand turtle
Delayed flight at 1am = Passed out Tierney
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