So hard to say goodbye!

So we have arrived at our last day in Australia. Our experience here in Cairns has been on of relentless heat, oppressive humidity, and friendship. We've done a good deal of walking the city, cooking meals, and making good friends at our YHA hostel. We are now members which entitles us to discounts all over the world.

A few days ago we walked to the local lagoon. Basically, it’s a large man made salt water pool next to ocean. The rain broke for a few hours and we even got one hour of hazy, hot sun.

Yesterday we finally made it to the Great Barrier Reef! Arriving at the marina at 7:30 am, the rain continued on. We boarded the Silverswift praying the rain would break. The air was thick and moist. Immediately the crew greeted us, warning the passengers that the journey to the reef would be a wild ride. They provided us with some ginger tablets which would help ease nausea.

And so we were off. Up and down, left and right the massive boat rocked. With it did the stomachs of the passengers. Before I know it the crew was passing out barf bags like party promoters hand out flyers on a Friday night. As I glanced over to Lonnie, his head now between his knees, I could tell he was started to regret he the previous night activities. Late night cards and *goon (see below) with friends wasn't the best way for him to prepare for this day. Even I was begining to feel queesy when we arrived at our first reef over an hour later. Like true professionals we held down our breakfast.

Yeah, we were here! The rain magically ceased and a bit of blue skies appeared. We then donned our sexy, full body, lycra suits. Because jelly fish are prevelent this time of year they highly recommend everyone wear them. In we jumped into the murky waters below. Due to the recent cyclone just two days prior, the water was not as clear as usual. We were still able to see the vibrant beauty of the reef and marine life though. I love snorkling. Becoming one with the schools of fish is a feeling of freedom. We saw the tiny bright blue fish, zebra fish, angels fish, jelly fish and more. All of them swimming above a plethera of colorful coral, deep in texture and diversity. We even saw two grey sharks below us, probably six feet in length.

After this, the boat brought us to two more sights. We enjoyed a buffet lunch at the 2nd sight but visibility was awful. The third sight was not as good as the first. Visibility was probably only 8' feet there, again because of the cyclone.


After a scenic journey back from the reef we returned to the wharf and then to our hostels. It was back to what had become business as usual for us. Due to the rain in Queensland many of the roads were flooded. That meant pretty much that everyone was stuck in Cairns. Therefore we met alot of cool people and made some good friends. Every night we would meet in the common area. It was usually us and Berta, Sandra, and Greg. We would share travel stories and play cards over *goon. Berta and Sandra, two 22 year old girls were from Barcelona, one of Lonnie and my favorite cities in the world. Sandra is an incredibly animated girl who speaks with her whole body. It seems as if the words are dancing out of her through the tips of her fingers and the top of her head. All the while she maintains a certain cuteness as she speaks. Berta is another cute girl who maintains more of a bohemian hippy vibe. She is in Australia trying to improve her English. Even though we don't always understand each other verbally we seem to still communicate rather well. We shared hours of fun with these girls and today they have gone to Adelaide, then onto Tazmania to finish traveling before beginning at the University of Sydney later next month. We will miss them immensely.

Greg is another character we have become good friends with. He is a tall bear of a guy who’s sizable stature seems contradictory to his teddy bear persona. He’s very intelligent and witty. He comes from a tiny village in Southern England. He speaks exptremely proper english and his accent adds to this beautifully. It’s a lovely addition to his sense of humor as well. He introduced Lonnie to such English delights as proper flap jacks (which we made late one night after another goon session) as well as fruit cake. Oddly enough, it seems we have seen fruit cake many times but neither of us can remember eating it. At 30 years of age he is traveling alone. His work as an engineer has sent him all over the globe. He is very well traveled. Today he’s off to Singapore and then home. He was anxious to get back to England after 6 months. Hopefully we will maintain contact with this delightful gentleman.


We have also met a young girl from Japan. Her name is Shizue, and she is an adorable girl who is on a work exchange program from Tokyo. She worked in Tokyo for 6 years as a receptionist and was on here way to Townsville to do the same. I don't know if she is prepared for what she will find there. Tokyo and Townsville have nothing in common. Hopefully she wont find it too difficult. She is planning on moving to New York in a year. She says she will come visit us in Minneapolis. We will be looking forward to it.


What is most fascinating to me is the sheer number of single young girls, mostly ages 19-27, who are traveling alone for 3-9 months. In fact, outside of the Polish couple we met, everyone here is traveling between 3-12 months.


This may be the end of our hostel adventures and the constant mix of accents, languages, and backgrounds will certainly be missed. It’s a trip to be constantly surrounded by so many cultures. This is one of the things that most impresses us with this country. It is one of the most diverse places we have been. Walking down the street in Melbourne or any major city here, you will hear a different language being spoken every few feet. I’s fascinating to listen to the views and opinions from souls through out the world. Embracing our new friends tightly, we sadly spoke our goodbyes. I miss them already! I've always believed that traveling is the best form of education. Being here has enforced that tremendously. Goodbye Cairns! Goodbye Australia. New Friends, you will be missed! Until we meet again.

*goon- goon is the cheapest of the cheap wines. It comes in a box of 4-4.5 liters. If you are paying more then three dollars a liter it isn't considered goon. Its usually $10 a box. We were first introduced to it at a rest stop outside of Byron Bay where we were staying. In Cairns we drank it every night at the hostel. It is the drink of choice for backpackers. The custom is to take the silver bag of wine out of the box and give it a few good slaps before drinking. The reason for this is that they say "anything this bad has to be slapped!" -

Beautiful downtown Rockhampton

Eating Australia ( Emu, Kangaroo, Crocodile, Baramundi)

The Ladies of Spain (Sandra and Berta)

Goon...bad to the last drop!

Sandra and Greg