Grab your thongs and flippers and watch out for the boomers!

Needless to say, Cairns was a tropical paradise. Palm trees at every corner and super tan people EVERYWHERE made me feel like I was in the picture of the Sandals Vacation advertisement.

The first full day in Cairns, my new friend Gina and I journeyed to the Lagoon and got our tan...well sun burn on. The lagoon was beautiful, clean, and best of all, free! Later that night, I was definitely feeling the results of the city located under the hole in the ozone. Ouch!

The next day, we went out on Passions Sailboat and spent the day on the Great Barrier Reef. This experience alone can replace everything else on my bucket list. It was absolutely amazing. The water was so blue and clean. Australia has this unique and sublime feeling. The water mesmerizes you, but the mountains surrounding the horizons are breathtaking. It's a truly beautiful sight.

So after about a two hour boat ride, we arrived to the reef. We were given flippers, snorkels, goggles, and rubber suits, and thrown into the wonderful 80 degree water! I was lucky enough to have my underwater camera and got to shoot some pretty neat footage of the marine life. Sorry the video is a little shaky, but my butt was trying to float to the top as I was trying to swim downwards, so it was a little tough!

After about 45 minutes of snorkeling, we were given the option to pay extra for scuba diving. Of course I had to jump at this opportunity, and it was worth every penny! We were put in suits and super heavy oxygen tanks and once again, thrown into the water. We went down in groups of four with an instructor. Luckily for me, I got to link arms with him. I was terrified about seeing a shark and we actually did! We saw an epileptic shark hiding under a rock, and it was definitely a little intimidating!

After that we traveled to a small island to explore, and the skipper let me sit in the captain's seat and look out for obstacles haha! It was an incredible view up there.

After we arrived back on land, I basically passed out for a two hour nap, ate dinner, went to bed, and got up for a day at the Rain Forest! We went to the Rainforestation, which used to be a coffee plantation but was ruined due to frost.

The first thing we did was meet the Aboriginal people and learned how to throw boomerangs. Then we watched their tribal dances and they asked for volunteers. Guess who got picked?? That's right, this girl right here! I got to do the shaky leg dance in front of a ton of people. It was so fun!

 So this brings me to the end of my Cairns getaway, and to the beginning of a week at the University of Newcastle -or Uni as they say here- that is most definitely something I've never experienced before!

Check back to hear all about the adventures of O-week ;)