Cairns

This entire week was quite the adventure. After finishing my last assignment at midnight on Monday, I jogged home in the rain to start packing for my 6:00am flight. I got to the airport at about 1:30am or so and found my travel companion, Matt, sleeping under a staircase outside of the terminal. We figured we could sleep in the airport but NoooOOOoo, they don't open until 4:00am. The fort under the staircase was surprisingly comfortable. I woke up at about 3:00am freezing and did a few jumping jacks so that I could warm up, then explored the outside of the terminal until it opened.

Our plan was to catch a ferry to Fitzroy Island to camp for a few nights once we arrived in Cairns. We missed the ferry so we decided to hangout in the city and get a hostel for the night to catch up on sleep. Although an eight-bed room didn't sound too appealing, it was definitely a good choice. We met a fellow engineer from Paris, Pierre, and we exchanged awesome stories and talked about travelling and home. Pierre is a frequent explorer of the Paris catacombs; he's attended parties in the catacombs, been in tunnels with neck-high water, and even hid from patrolling police. He promised us a guided tour if we're ever in Paris.


Meeting, exchanging stories and even meals with people like Pierre from all over the world has been the best and most interesting part about traveling. We left the hostel and caught the ferry to Fitzroy Island early the next morning.

We left just after sunrise so the boat ride was very peaceful and scenic.

Matt and Myself

This is Fitzroy Island, about a 45 minute boat ride from Cairns, Queensland.

 As soon as we arrived on this gorgeous island we were greeted by a huuuuggggge manta-ray. This ray had at least a 6ft wing-span and circled the boat as we came in. When we went to find our campsite, we spotted the ray and dropped our gear and snorkeled out to it. There ended up being TWO of the them and we were able to swim right up to them. It was a little foggy in some places and when I was looking for one of them it splashed right in front of me; scary but sooooo awesome.

Part of Matt's solar powered 'beat machine'.

These guys were SO loud and obnoxious.

After this trip I'm going to have thousands of computer wallpapers.

I submitted this one to Maxim magazine..... 

 .... not really.

All of the beaches on this island were completely made from coral. A lot of islands near reefs (not this one) are formed from piles of washed up coral that birds poop seeds onto. Over a couple hundred years, more seeds turn into vegetation and more coral washes up and soon enough you've got yourself an island.

Trying to get some coconut juice.

We did a ton of snorkeling, then hiked and explored the island, meeting people from Germany and Darwin along the way. This was the summit of Fitzroy Island.

After a few days we headed back to Cairns so that we could do a bit of snorkeling on the outer reef.

They often set brush-fires here to prevent larger forest fires.

As we drove through the smoke from the fire, the sunset shined through as a dim fireball. You could look right into the sun, it was strange.

Back on the mainland.

This was one of the two reefs we snorkeled at on the Great Barrier Reef. I was able to see some of the most gorgeous wildlife I've ever encountered. It's amazing that some of the most exotic colors and designs in the world are produced by nature. This individual trip has inspired me to pursue a career in Biomimicry. 

From our balcony at the hostel we were able to see the sun set behind the mountains. As it set you could also see hundreds of bats coming out of the hills, it was like an intro to a Scooby-Doo episode.

One of the best parts about Australia is that they 'say it like it is'; real down to earth. For a few days I saved a bit of money and just hung around Cairns and explored. I met several very interesting people, and even jammed with some didgeridoo players one night.

On my last day in Cairns, myself and three friends rented a car and went on a mini road-trip. These are banana trees on the left.

The first stop was at this rainforest walk. So much natural beauty, I loved it.

It almost happened.

These were "Natural Hot Springs" that we drove an hour to see. There was a puddle or two bubbling, then a pump, as seen in the picture, was pumping boiling water into this river bed. The laugh we got from this scam was worth the drive.

I thought running around with the cows at this windfarm was the coolest part of the road-trip, but that's probably just because I'm studying renewable energy... and I like cows.

Definitely got some doodoo between the toes on this one.

We had a close call with this little guy.

Oranges!

We decided to take the scenic route to Milla Milla falls. Although the route was very scenic, the road was only wide enough for one vehicle; it was very hilly with many twists and turns, oh, and it's also frequented by semi-trucks going way too fast in the opposite direction. We came around one corner at the base of a hill and had to swerve off the road so our rental Kia wasn't crushed by a sixteen wheeler.

I just thought that this was a good looking cow.

Milla Milla Falls!

Swimming under a freshwater waterfall after months of living on the ocean was so refreshing!

John, Mark, Jeremy, and Myself.

I actually put my camera in a plastic bag and held it above water as I swam over to the waterfall. This photo was taken underneath the waterfall; definitely worth the risky swim.

This is the Curtain Fig Tree and it was our last stop. 

Currently I'm taking/studying for final exams and also working an internship at a wave/tidal renewable energy company. Hopefully I can post a few photos of some of the testing we're doing soon. I'm learning so much. I'll be home in nine days!