goodbye Sydney, hello Cairns!

Monday was our last day in Sydney. It was a beautiful day so a bunch of our girls had a picnic lunch in the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was so nice and sunny. After lunch Sarah and I went to the New South Wales Museum of Art. We wandered around for about an hour and saw really cool paintings and drawings. That night, we had a group dinner at a rooftop hotel by the Sydney Harbour. It was supposed to rain, but the weather held out and it was an awesome night.

Tuesday we flew to Cairns. The flight went smoothly and we landed early in the day. The weather was sort of rainy and cloudy, but that's what you get for staying by a rainforest. We explored the town a little and went for a group dinner by our hotel. We're staying in the Mantra. Its SO nice. My hotel room is right on the Esplanade (the street parallel to the beach). Our room overlooks a giant salt water pool and the lagoon. We have the best view of all the rooms.

Wednesday we went on an adventure to Kuranda. This is a small town in the middle of the rainforest. We took a scenic train ride to get there, passing the Barron Falls, which are beautiful. In Kuranda, there is the Koala Gardens. I got to hold a koala!!! It was SO cute and cuddly. It felt like I was holding a baby! We also got to feed little kangaroos and wallabis. They tickled so much as they ate. After that, we did some shopping around the village and then took a Skyrail back to Cairns. We soared over the rainforest and were able to get out at different look-out points. Once back in Cairns, we went to the Aboriginal Cultural Center. We learned how to throw bomerangs and spears! Everyone in the group was surprisingly good! We had another group dinner that night. We went to a Mexican restaurant and I was in heaven. It was an amazing day :)

Yesterday we toured the Cairns Base Hospital. It was really cool to see some of their units. My favorite of course was their pediatric unit. After the tour, a group of us went horseback riding through the rainforest. I was a little nervous walking up to my horse, Leo, but he was awesome! He was so cool! The ride through the rainforest was surreal, especially after the sun set and we had to ride back to the ranch with flashlights attached to our helmets. They had a bonfire for us after the ride, and we roasted marshmallows. To complete our perfect night, we were able to feed more kangaroos. These guys were a lot bigger than the ones at the Koala Gardens. It was creepy trying to find them in the dark with our flashlights. They could smell the food as we walked in and would creep up behind us. Some of them were as tall as me and I was turn around to be face to face with them waiting to be fed. It was one of the coolest experiences so far and I will never forget that night :)