Erica Goes to Cairns

So this weekend I went to the ever beautiful city of Cairns (pronounced like Cannes [You know that city in France that holds a film festival? Yea like that!]) in the Northeast quarter of Australia. It was an AMAZING weekend full of activities that definitely tested me, so much so that I almost named this blog post, "Erica attempts to Conquer her Fears." I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to go to Cairns and see the beauty of it all.

Off to Cairns I go!

The trip started on Friday when we headed to the Gold Coast airport to head to up the East Coast. Let me just say that airport security is super nice and relaxed here. I didn't even have to take off my shoes! After getting through security (which literally took 5 minutes), we met up with some other students going on the trip. I actually did not know most of them so it was exciting to meet new exchange students. The flight was fairly easy and I sat by a nice Australian couple. It was about a two hour long flight. When we arrived we checked into our hostel called, Gilligans. I can honestly say I have never seen a place like Gilligan's before. This place is incredible. It is huge and full of so many international people. It also has a super nice pool and a nightclub attached. I was blown away by this place.

We spent the night walking around the city where we met the rest of the group (they came a day early). I loved getting to know all the other students and just seeing Cairns. The next day, we went snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef! (Can you believe it?!) We woke up early and headed to the docks. We then went on a pretty long boat ride out to the reef. I decided to attempt scuba diving, but decided that it was not for me. Maybe someday I will be able to successfully scuba dive but last Saturday was not that day. I did successfully snorkel and that was truly incredible. The reef is beautiful and mind blowing. It was so much fun to be swimming next to the fish and to swim throughout the reef. We went to two different spots on the reef and both were equally incredible. I loved seeing two fish playing tag and a bunch trying to eat the reef. The fish had so many vivid colors! After a day of snorkeling we headed back to the dock and tiredly prepared for a night out. We went on a bar crawl where they provided barbeque at the beginning of the night and pizza at the end. They took us to each bar on a double decker bus and somehow I always ended up at the front of the top level of the bus. It was a really fun night and I enjoyed getting to know all my new friends even better. After heading back to our rooms, I discovered something incredible.......M&m's crispies are not extinct! They are simply not sold in America. They still taste as delightful as ever and brought me back to the good old days. 

Dats me!

Photo by Erin Von Ebers

Photo by Erin Von Ebers

Photo by Erin Von Ebers

Photo by Erin Von Ebers

Photo by Erin Von Ebers

Photo by Erin Von Ebers

Photo by Erin Von Ebers

Photo by Erin Von Ebers

Photo by Erin Von Ebers

Photo by Laura Sweeting

Photo by Laura Sweeting

Photo by Laura Sweeting

Photo by Laura Sweeting

Photo by Laura Sweeting

Photo not by Erin Von Eber

The next day a lot of the group had to leave due to having early classes on Monday. We were not sure what to do, so we visited a local booking desk. While there we decided we wanted to go ATVing through the rainforest. We had a little time before we got picked up, so we went to a local market. While there we shopped around and saw all the different kinds of booths. I really enjoyed talking to one man who was selling antique currency. He answered all my questions on Australian currency and even showed me an old American 2 dollar bill. Some interesting things he told me were: 1. Australia took away the 1 dollar bill in 1982. It then took them two years to introduce the 1 dollar coin. 2. They took out the one cent coin awhile ago (don't remember the year) and at first people freaked out, but it has actually been better for their currency system. Also the Australian money has always been beautiful.
Fun fact: The queen ages on the coins of Australia. You can tell how old the coin is by the age of the queen! Also another fun money fact: You cannot rip the bills here. They are made of plastic, so the only way to break them is with scissors. You can even put them through the wash.

Old Currency

Bye Bye 1 dollar bill! 

One more fun fact: Australia is the only country that eats both animals on its crest. Notice the emu and kangaroo above.

New Currency (Notice how much smaller the 5 dollar bill is in width)

Ok sorry for going off on my money tangent. I just found it pretty interesting! Now back to my weekend in Cairns. We got picked up from the hostel at noon to go ATVing. After a long ride there, we arrived to the ATV place which is called Down and Dirty or D&D for short. The guys taught us how to operate the ATVs and we got started. I was so nervous at first! It took me awhile to get used to riding it, but when I did I had so much fun!!! Luckily for me, Erin had a GoPro (camera) on her head, so I have a lot of nice pics of my beautiful back and ironically I am wearing my ZBT get on the ball tank that says, "keep calm and roll on" which was perfect advice for me since I was a nervous and tense mess, but I conquered one fear this weekend! Here are some of Erin's awesome GoPro pics. Oh and did I mention the trail was through the rainforest?!

This one is my favorite ^^^

Struggled a bit at the beginning.....

After ATVing we met with some kangaroos that they kept on their property. They were so cute and there was a little joey there!

Second Kangaroo selfie

They are so cute!

That night we were super tired so we just got pizza and then hung out at the hostel. Our hostel roommate, Bernie, is a professional ex- special operations military diver who is now traveling the world diving. Apparently the next three years of his life are just going to new places and diving with different companies. Oh and did I mention he is younger than me! Only by a month, but still. He was pretty impressive. We later met with some people we met in the hostel and had a nice jam session. They were super talented.

The next day we woke up early and headed back to the Gold Coast. It was such a fun weekend! Here are some pics around the city.

You know just a random guy dancing with fire.

Australia's version of a public pool

I found Nemo!

Ok well sorry to bombard you with so many pictures! Thanks for continuing to read my posts and remember that I LOVE hearing from you all! I will now leave you with a song that I first heard at the hostel and then again on campus today. It is by the Australian musician Vance Joy and I love it!

with love,

Erica that girl from America