Under-Appreciated No More Part 3

More adventures coming soon, but in the meantime...

#11 Your Own Kitchen: Hostel cooking is always an experience. Some of you reading this have experienced this before and may know exactly what I'm talking about. For the most part all the kitchens I've had are fairly clean and organized which is fantastic. Cooking around 3 or 4 different people can get a little hectic at times which can be annoying but managable. My biggest pet peeve in hostel kitchens is when people clean off their plates like there is a garbage disposal in the sink. Seeing old pasta, oatmeal, even pieces of raw chicken irks me more than it should. This could be because I come from a very clean household but I am looking forward to the day where I have my own cooking space again.

#12 Your Own Bathroom: In keeping with the household theme, having your own bathroom is AMAZING! Having stayed in camps for work sharing showers isn't that huge a deal it just gets annoying having to carry all your toiletries back and forth. The worst is when you forget something, have to run back to your room and then run to the bathroom again. Annoying but having running water is hugely awesome.

#13 Drinkable Tap Water: Now I was lucky in Panama, the place that I stayed treated its rain water so I was able to drink it, but I know most places in Bocas didn't do that. Buying bottled was the only option if I forgot my bottle at home. Not having to ask if the water is drinkable in every hostel is amazing and still feels like such a novelty.

#14 Free and Good Wifi: For some reason wifi in Australia SUCKS. I had better wifi walking around Bocas Town than I do at most hostels here. On one hand it's nice to not be attached to the internet but when trying to look up information on the next town you're going to, it can be extremely annoying when the page won't load. That and paying for wifi means I will spend more time at McDonald's than I ever would at home

#15 Cell Phone: I'm not sure how much of this is laziness, but I don't have any form of cellular service in Australia. So far I've made it alright without having a phone, but in the absence of wifi (see #14) booking my next hostel or tour can be quite the challenge. Luckily most hostels and travel agencies will make those bookings for you, but I'm so used to being self-reliant it's a bit difficult to get used to. I could just cave and go grab a phone but I'm so stubborn it's now become a challenge to make it through 3 months without one. As I haven't done it yet, I'm not sure how I'll feel once I get home and turn off airplane mode, so I apologize in advance if I become a cell phone scrooge.

 

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Beaches! (That you should not swim at!)

Yes, Australia has some phenominal beaches, but due to all the dangers in the water, it is highly recommended that you do not swim in the water. These dangers include crocodiles, sharks, stingers (not in season right now but the signs are still everywhere), and currents. Throw on top of that the occasional stingray and my favorite place to be is now potentially the most dangerous. Doesn't stop me from enjoying the beaches though!

So since I can't spend every waking hour at the beach I need to find other things to do with my time, and luckily Australia is full of activities! All of my favourite ones so far happen to involve animals, which is no surprise really.

I spent a morning at Reef HQ in Townsville, seeing the sharks was very interesting but my favourite part was the sea turtles. Reef HQ is a turtle hospital, so they take care of and home injured marine turtles until they're strong enough to return to the wild. They had a couple green turtles and it shocked me as to how big they actually are! Stevie was in the predator tank and absolutely dwarfed all the sharks in there. Saw tons of interesting fish, but nothing beats seeing them out on the reef. I had planned to walk the Esplanade that afternoon but I ended up at the Museum of Tropical Queensland instead. I thought it would be a like any other museum but it was so much fun! Almost every exhibit had a hands on, interactive component. I learned so much about the human body, animals of Queensland and the Pandora, a ship that sank just off the coast of Australia.

At Magnetic Island I had my first experience with a Koala! So fluffy!! Anyways, I stayed at Bungalow Bay which has an animal sanctuary right on sight. The sanctuary was awesome, they allowed you to hold and touch most of the animals that are there. Turtles, snakes, baby salt water crocodiles, lizards, and of course Koalas! I got to hold Pebbles and I have never felt anything so soft in my life, I didn't want to give her back. The sanctuary also feeds a flock of Rainbow Lorikeets every afternoon and all guests are welcome to help out. By far one of my favourite activities as having birds swarm around you is quite an experience.

I met a couple girls from Holland and we had decided that the one day we would walk to a couple of the other bays on the island and go snorkeling. Well our snorkeling day turned into more of a hiking day as the paths between bays were more rock than paths and more uphill than anything. Needless to say a quick cool down was necessary and every stop involved a swim. We even stopped at the nudist beach which was... interesting. Beautiful little bay, we saw a small stingray and tons of needlefish in there but... well... yea...

Blue-Tounged Lizard

Happiest person ever!

The 'path' between bays.

 

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Cairns and The Great Barrier Reef

The main reason I came to Cairns was so that I could scuba dive at The Great Barrier Reef, and it was totally worth it! If I didn't have a budget for myself I would dive every chance I get. In fact I'm already planning on coming back so I can do overnight trips. I dove with Tusa 6 and the crew was terrific. I dove 3 days in a row and by the end most of the crew knew me by name and would sit and chat with me if they had some spare time. They had a photographer on board that would take pictures of you throughout the day for free and of course you could purchase them at the end of the day if you wished.

Now for the exciting part, what I saw out there! The coral itself was beautiful, maybe not as colorful as it was in Bocas, but it was quite a bit grander and there was more variety. There were so many nooks and crannies to explore and every little bit of exposed rock had something living and growing on it. As spectacular and colorful as the coral was, it was quite sad to see areas full of dead coral. It was hard to tell whether or not it was from human impact or the fish that love to eat the coral, but it has made me more aware as to why it is so important to have as little impact on the environment as possible.

The marine life I saw was phenomenal! Fish every direction you looked and they ranged in size from the size of my finger nail to 4 feet long! I won't list every fish I saw, that would take forever, but I'll tell you about the highlights! White-tip reef sharks has to be at the top of my list. Over the 3 days I saw about 8 of them! They mostly just hung out on the bottom but still so cool! We also came across a huge Eagle Ray stirring up the sand looking for things to eat. I also found a Morray Eel, and some huge Pufferfish! On my last day of diving a school of about 10 Bumphead Parrotfish swam by the boat and it was quite a spectacular site. Seeing the sun come down through the water and these huge fish swim along was absolutely beautiful. And yes, I did see a vast majority of the cast from Finding Nemo! I've glossed over a lot that I saw but ask to look at my dive log some time!

Before heading off to my next destination I took a quick day trip to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation. It was a tour so there was a lot of get off the bus - get on the bus so I'm not sure I'll do many more of those while I'm here, but I was very glad I did it. Our tour guide, Terry, was very entertaining and had lots of great information about the region. My favourite part of the day was taking a quick trip down the Daintree River looking for Saltwater Crocodiles. I thought we'd maybe see 1 or 2, but we saw 5 plus a couple green snakes! As some of you know, I loved watching Steve Irwin growing up, so being able to see all the animals in real life is a bit of a dream come true. I'm very excited for the Australia Zoo but I have a couple more stops before I can check that one off my bucket list!

They call him Scarface!

Cairns

Where the reef meets the rainforest

 

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What Happened to July 3rd?

My last week in Panama City was awesome. I barely did anything (World Cup, playing with my cousins kids, and going to the beach doesn't amount to much), which is fantastic way to recover and get ready for 3 months on the road halfway around the world.

When I booked my flights back, I was more concerned about my final destination than the amount of time it would take to get there. I wasn't quite sure how I would handle 24+ hours of travel but, overall, it was probably the most pleasant travel experience I've ever had. 4 countries and 4 airports, and each had their own adventures! As far as air travel is concerned it was the smoothest I think I've ever had. I had ample amount of time at each airport, and even though I had my bags thoroughly checked by Australian customs they were very pleasant and I was out of there in 15 minutes. Also helped that on my long haul flight from LA to Auckland there was an empty seat right beside me. Ample amounts of rest makes talking with customs agents so much easier!

I've only been overwhelmed a couple of days on this trip and my first afternoon in Cairns was one of them. They were minor things really but I was so unprepared for them it was a huge shock to my system. Being a day ahead is so hard to wrap your head around, writing in my travel diary was an interesting experience that night. Cars on the other side of the road! I just about walked around to the other side of the taxi to get in the front seat. Designated crosswalks was also a big one, I haven't seen those in 2 months, and knowing which way to look before I crossed is also a huge learning curve. I've always had to look left before taking my first step! The last thing that got me was the shopping mall and the amount of people in it! I saw a lot of people in Panama but they were always in open markets or streets. Having that many people in a closed area was the strangest feeling, there really are no words I can use to describe the feeling.

Once I had a super good sleep I was ready to take on Cairns! I spent the morning walking the Pier and Esplanade, both were so beautiful and full of people. The Esplanade reminded me a lot of Meewasin Trail back home, except flatter, less trees and right beside the ocean. It is a place where people go walking, running, biking, or just hang out in the park. I then stumpled upon a ukulele festival. I swear every person and their dog had a ukulele that day, I can honestly say I've never seen that many before in my life. The city was attempting to break the world record for the most ukuleles played at once. I can't say whether or not they did, but I can say I was there!

My last free day before I go diving (so excited!!), I decided to head to the Botanical Gardens and the Tank Museum. Instead of taking public transit I decided I would try and walk from my hostel to the site via the Esplanade. Considering it's about 5 km one way and plus all the walking I did in the gardens, my feet were more than a little tired by the end of my jaunt. That being said the walk was totally worth it! I went a bit camera crazy in the gardens as there were tons of beautiful flowers and I know my mom, being the green thumb that she is, will love to see them when I get home. Once I had my fill of plant life I went to look at the Tanks. When I was reading descriptions of The Tanks, I for some reason thought they were army tanks, which sparked my curiousity in the first place. What I found was so much cooler! They are giant water tanks that have been converted into usable space. 1 tank was converted into a banquet hall, 1 tank is an ampitheatre for shows and the last 1 is an art gallery. The art on display in there was absolutely gorgeous and consisted of Chinese Kites, watercolour paintings, and pottery. Such a unique use of space! Highlight of my day might have been seeing my very first Kookaburra! Didn't hear it sing but still monumental!

The Esplanade

Tanks Gallery

Kookaburra!!

 

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