Cairns Adventures

\Cairns had a lot of amazing experiences for us to enjoy. I went scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef . It was SO cool. It was like diving into Finding Nemo! We saw a lot of cool fish, giant clams and a sea turtle! We were able to touch some of the different types of coral. We only dove for like 30 minutes so I was able to enjoy a glass bottom semi-submersible boat and snorkeling also that day. The boat ride back was awesome. We all sat in the front and got splashed by the big waves. It was like an amusement park ride but real life. They had some of the crew members sitting in the front doing a continuous head counts to make sure no one went overboard. It was an amazing day.

One of the mornings a small group of us went bungy jumping. I was SO NERVOUS! We went to an A.J. Hackett site. The bungy tower was in the rainforest and stood 50 meters tall. I stood on the edge and almost had to back out. The guy counted to 3 and I did a swan dive off of the platform. It was AMAAAAAAZING! I am so proud of myself for doing it!

We celebrated Australia Day during our visit. It was January 26. We went to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation. This is the oldest rainforest in the world. We toured through part of the forest and climbed to a canopy tower. It was beautiful. Then we went to Cape Tribulation. This is where the rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef. The mosquitos were CRAZY that day and the only spot with zero "mozzies" was the shoreline. There were special warning signs as we walked onto the sand. We had an authentic Australian barbecue for lunch.

It was delicious! I finally tried some Vegemite. It was super salty but not as bad as I exp

ected. After lunch, we spotted a cassowary! This is an endangered bird that only lives in this rain forest. They are rarely seen so we were really lucky! In the afternoon, we had a river tou r on the Daintree River. We saw a crocodile. It was so small and cute! It started pouring as we were on the boat (it was covered so we didn't get wet). We stopped for tea a nd a thunderstorm started. It was awesome to be in a rainforest in a thunderstorm. That night, we celebrated "Straya Day" with some of the locals at the bar by our hotel. It was a great day!

Two of the days we had clinical hours at the Cairns Base Hospital. The first day I was in the Special Care Baby Unit, their version of a NICU. I got to change some dirty "nappies", help with feedings, and help with "cares". In the afternoon, I shadowed in their Emergency Department and toured their Dialysis unit. It was interesting seeing Australian nurses at work. They were really laid back and no one wore gloves, which was gross and weird. The second day I went with a midwife and visited new moms at their homes. It was a really cool experience to be able to see some Australian houses.

Unfortunately, it was Cairns' wet season and there were cyclone warnings so it rained EVERYDAY ALL DAY. One day after clinical I was able to go into the Lagoon. Its a huge saltwater pool that was right across from our hotel. Sarah and I only went in for like 15 minutes because, guess what, it started to rain again. It was a great place! I really liked Cairns and I was really sad to be leaving Australia.