Let me just say that Air New Zealand rocks!! 78 movies to choose from and not a full flight making an 11 hour flight not seem so long! After a heavy duty customs process (they don't make it easy to get into Oz from Ithe States!), including the question, "where were you three years ago?" I made my way to my hostel in Cairns. My purpose for Cairns was 1. go to Cape Tribe and 2. Dive the Great Barrer Reef! I did both.. Cape Tribe was alright but diving was awesome! I will never be able to "just" snorkel again!
I spent my 1st day here just walking around and getting a feel for the place! I was walking down streets and all of a sudden.. I spotted a guy and was just fixated on him! He was holding a bubble tea!! Where did he get that?! I want one!! I eventually found bubble tea place but I didn't want it anymore.. guess I was just excited to spot it here in Oz. Speaking of which, Cairns is expensive!! We're talking about $4.80 for a "slim" bottle of vitamin water expensive! Yes, the same vitamin water I love at home except I am not paying $4.80!
When in Cairns... you dive!
Cairns is a place where most folks use as a launchpad for their adventures whether it's diving or for the rainforest up north. I loved both of my Cape Tribe and diving experiences but for different reasons. While the Cape Tribe trip didn't really impress me, I met two locals from home.. George from Detroit and Ally from San Francisco! Ally was laid off twice and decided to pack her stuff up for a year and move to Sydney.. bartended her way through life in Oz and is now traveling around before returning back to the real world in the city. George works for the banks and he sent an email back to the office that IF they're even thinking about laying him off.. let him know so he can extend his stay here. Both were super fun to talk to and hang out with for the first part of the Cape Tribe experience! Diving in the GBR is unreal! I saw reef sharks, sea turtles feeings off the reef, fishes, BIG fishes, it was awesome!
This is my sixth trip now, not to Oz but in general and it's during these trips that I continue to learn things about myself, things that I otherwise would not have realized during the hustle and bustle of real life. This trip turns to be no different. While diving, I had a self discovery! Not an important life changing one but one nonetheless. I've never been a snorkeling person... I like it and I think it's fun but it wouldn't be my first choice of activity. While diving... I realized why! I don't like the sound breathing through the tube makes!! It reminds me of hospitals and breathing through the tubes. I don't hear it often, thank goodness but when I was younger, my grandfather was going through lung cancer and that sound is all you hear at night in the hospitals! So that's what it is.. I used to think that I didn't like snorkeling because I would feel claustrophonbic but as it turns out.. I don't like the breathing noise. The slow breathe in... slow breathe out. Besides that point, I did quite well for my first session of dives out here! Drenamine saves me every time!
The most common question I am getting asked here by Austrlians.. "What is Thanksgiving?"
No comments:
Post a Comment