I Have Never Seen Such Vivid Colors!

We left LAX on a huge 2-level Boeing jet around midnight on Saturday night.  I have honestly never felt so alive/excited/exhilarated in my entire life than I did when we were lifting off!  The reality of everything really hit me, and the anticipation from the last six months of planning came crashing down on me.

Most of the trip over the ocean was spent sleeping and watching movies, so the 14 hours went very quickly!  We arrived in Brisbane around 7 am (Aussie time) on Monday morning.  After making it through customs (whew!), we hopped on a flight up to Cairns.  Our group of about 90 students from the states stayed at a hostel in Cairns, and that evening we ate at a cool local brewery and then explored some local bars.  

On Tuesday, we all went out to the Great Barrier Reef on a catamaran.  The reef was absolutely breathtaking.  Not only are the views above water beautiful, the coral and fish were the most interestingly shaped and vividly colored creatures I had ever seen!  We spent the day on the boat, soaking up the sun (some of us soaked it up a little too well!), and exploring the amazing underwater life.

We went up to the mountains surrounding Cairns to the rainforest on Wednesday.  We got a tour of the forest itself, got to hold a koala bear, pet some kangaroos, lick an ant's bum (they secrete citric acid, so it gives you a little sting on your tongue!), and check out some massive crocodiles.  That night, a bunch of us went on a pub crawl around Cairns... an amusing and extremely fun time!

Our flight back down to Brisbane left on Thursday, so all of us packed up and left the hot and muggy weather in Cairns and traded it for the beautiful 80-degree weather of southern Queensland.  A bus took us to our apartment complex, which is in Labrador, a suburb of Gold Coast.  I met my two awesome roommates from Norway and Mauritius along with some of the other residents in our complex.  The weekend consisted of meeting students from all over to the world, getting settled into my room, shopping, going to the beach, and exploring the Gold Coast nightlife!  (This IS the life...)