Cairns

Flying over the Great Barrier Reef this morning was the coolest flight I've ever taken--all the crazy colors in the Crayola box of 92 colors? They're real! Found in nature! In the reef! I saw every possible shade of blue, the actual sea-green, blue greens, at one point, the reflection of the plane on the water made it look like the water was actually silver. It was gorgeous to the max. This is the one flight I haven't slept through, and it was totally the best one to be awake for.

At baggage claim, they had a dog running all over the conveyor belt, sniffing everybody's bags. She was extremely cute and friendly, but she sniffed something and the police confiscated it! I'm dying to know what it was, but I was too busy having an altercation with a mean lady who wouldn't help me get change to make a phone call. After I finally made it to my hostel (much smaller this time--only about 35 people total, as opposed to like 35,000), I saw my first cockroach in the bathroom. Still, I was mature about it and pretended not to see it.

Today I rented a bicycle (if you say bike, they laugh and make American jokes at you) and rode to the Esplinade, which is this waterfront area of town. I took a quick dip in the lagoon, which is this giant outdoor pool, and then rode out to the Botanical Gardens. The whole area is so pretty, it's surrounded by mountainous jungle, water, and general beauty. Unfortunately, it's disgustingly hot and humid, and I got so sweaty that salt actually crystalized on my body! While slightly gross, I found it immensely cool after I figured out that it wasn't my body reacting to a plant or something. In the gardens, I saw basically every plant known to man (and went to a fernery, and an orchidery--I'm not making up those words), and tons of animals including another kangaroo! On just a regular hike! It was like a rabbit in the Northwest--just kind of shyly crossing the path, and it had a baby joey trailing it! It was the cutest thing ever, and I think I actually gasped out loud, which isn't that embarrassing since I saw only two other people on the trail, so they probably didn't hear me. Apparently nobody else goes out when it's this hot outside. I also saw a neon blue butterfly that looked like someone was shining a blacklight on it, tons of lizards, fish in two lakes, and heard a cookaburra. Oh, and saw a cassowary too, which is like a cross between a turkey and an emu. I also made friends with a homeless Maori man briefly, but when he started asking if I was traveling alone, how old I was, and whether I was a bodybuilder in the States (what?!), I decided to cut our conversation short and return to the jungle path. Everything here is super-loud with buzzing insects everywhere.

I'm off to grab dinner because I'm starving from all the hiking and biking I've done today. Loads of love to everyone in the States. Thanks for the emails I've been getting--I read them, even though I don't have time to respond to them.