Cairns

This past weekend I went up to Cairns in northern Queensland for my AustraLearn Program Introduction. Friday morning we woke up to heavy rainfall so carrying my suitcase to the car was pretty interesting. Good thing I brought my rain jacket to Australia, it definitely came in handy that day. My flight was still on time though and no major hick-ups. On the flight I just listened to music and slept. Another girl from my program was on the same flight as me so once we arrived in Cairns we grabbed a cab together and went to the hostel.

FLYING INTO CAIRNS

The hostel we stayed at, Gilligans, was really nice and had it's own pool, gym, movie room, bar, club, and patio with a stage for the nightly band. I stayed in a room that had it's own en suite bathroom and balcony with five other girls (three of which also go to CU-Boulder but none of us knew each other before this trip). Once the rest of the group arrived from Brisbane we had a quick meeting about what we'd all be getting up to over the weekend and then went to a prearranged dinner at a restaurant nearby. After dinner, most of us went on a "pub crawl", a set up where you pay a small amount and in return get a wristband that gets you into five bars with a free drink at each. It was really fun going out and getting to know each other (regardless of the heavy rainfall towards the end of the night).

PART OF THE GROUP, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: CHARLIE, MARGARET, JUSTIN, ME, MORGAN, KYLE

BOULDER GIRLS IN AUSTRALIA

The next day we had an early wake up time but then it was off to RainForeStation in Kuranda National Park [separate post]. After RainForeStation we drove back to the hostel and had about an hour and a half before the next meeting so a few of us went down to the pool and messed around on the lifeboats they had just floating around. That evening a few of us decided it would be a fabulous idea to go out dancing until the wee hours of the morning (and indeed, it was a fabulous idea). Luckily the best dancing place we found was the club in Gilligans so at least everyone was close to home and could go to bed whenever without worrying about walking home alone or anything.

A VIEW OF THE CAIRNS COASTLINE

On Sunday, the group had to be ready to leave at 8am to walk the few blocks to the marina to get on the boat to go The Great Barrier Reef [separate post]. It was amazing and will definitely be one of the highlights of my entire trip here in Australia. Sunday evening we had another meeting/group meal and then another great night out. We went dancing for a little bit and then a few of us tried to go swimming in the lagoon. We had only had our feet in for a few seconds before three cops came from whatever hiding spot they were in and starting yelling, "Get out of the water" "You can't be in the lagoon after ten!". Well, seeing as it was around 1am I think we just had to plead international student innocence and decided to go find some snacks at a 24hr grocery store instead. We took our chips, trail mix, and juices back to Gilligan's and were just watching a movie until Morgan appeared and started talking to us. Part of her rambling included my favorite line of the whole weekend, "You guys, it's not the chips, I love you". Well, after our looks of confusion followed by laughter Morgan went to bed as her declaration probably wasn't caused by the chips and we did the same pretty soon after.

JUST A COOL PIC

CHEESY GRINS WITH OUR RANDOM DANISH FRIEND

Monday's breakfast time wasn't until 9:15am (woo, a sleep in) and then we just packed, checked out, and got on the bus to Cairns airport. The flight took us to Brisbane and then it was about a 45 minute bus ride to Surfer's Paradise where we were dropped off at the Marriot where most of the group is staying until they find their own apartments. Maddy picked me up from the hotel and I felt very lucky to have my own bed/food to go back to and went to bed early to try and make up for lost sleep hours. This weekend was such a blast and I'm almost in denial about all the different things I got to do as it just seems impossible that I had all those experiences in just a few days. Very lucky :)

A SUGARCANE FIELD AND THE HILLS NEAR CAIRNS