Well, its been a little while since my last post - let me try and explain why..
We spent a quick five days in Cairns getting our bearings of Australia, meeting countless backpackers and enjoying the numerous themed nights at the Gilligans Hostel pub downstairs. Now as I'm sure you are all aware if you check my facebook page, Cairns was host to couple incredible activities :)
First was SKYDIVING!! It was about a 1 hour drive south of Cairns to the airport. The transport van was filled with a group of apprehensive jumpers: 3 Chileans, 1 German Girl, and us 2 Canadians. The Chileans claimed they were considering not jumping, but after Graham and I got through with them they were ready to go :) After a quick registration and orientation at the Skydiving office, Graham and I were chosen to jump first!!! We walked the 100 meters to the airport with out instructors, getting to know the stranger that (I hate to say it) there is a chance you might die next to if something were to go terribly wrong (but this is NOT the time to think about that!!). Before loading into the tiny plane, we had to choose who would jump first ... my Japanese jump instructor "Tats" quickly volunteered us! So five of us crammed into the plane - 2 jumpers, 2 instructors, and 1 Canadian pilot. It was a beautiful 30 minute flight over the great barrier reef while we climbed to the jump height of 14,000 feet. "Tats" thought it was hilarious when he told me "how tired he was and that he thinks he's gunna go for a nap 10 minute before jump time" ... ha ... ha :) 3 minutes before jump time the instructors attached themselves securely to the jumper. 15 seconds before the door opened, "goggles on!". Before we knew it the side door swung open and my feet were hanging outside the freakin' plane!! Second thoughts? No time for second thoughts. 1...2...JUMP!!!
Believe me when I tell you that the first 5 seconds is the scariest part of the experience - barrel rolling out of a plane IS as scary as it sounds. Once that part is over, welcome to the coolest feeling ever!!! We learned after we successfully landed that we were falling @ 220km per hour for 60 seconds - basically that means we are covering a football feild every "one-one-thousand". 60 seconds is plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful scenery, scream your head off, and do some 360's lol. When you feel the instructor tap you on your shoulder, you place your hands on your shoulder and pray that the chute opens! Fortunately, ours did on the first try (the instructors actually have 6 chutes in one pack ... so the odds are that at least 1 of them will open, right?). Once the chute opens its time to relax. "Tats" passed the chute reigns over to me and taught me how to spin us left, spin us right, and slow us down. When it came time to land, he took over and successfully landed us in a grass field below where the others were waiting. WOW!! What a great experience! All of the others had successful jumps and each of us were already craving the next jump.
That night was spent relaxing over a beer and getting ready for the next morning ... BUNGY JUMPING!! Graham and I went into the day thinking "ah we just jumped out of a plane, we can handle jumping from a fraction of the height". WRONG!!!!! Bungy jumping is a whole new feat! Jarrett, Graham, myself, and a guy we met who is from Regina (Mitch) all purchased the "big day out" - meaning we get unlimited bungy jumps! YAY (sounded like the best idea at the time okay! lol). So, we climbed the steps, and I can only speak for myself when I say my heart began to race faster and faster with each step up. Just Relax! Ooh wow it's beautiful up here! Ooh wow that's a long way down. Just Relax! Needless to say it was an internal struggle at the top trying to keep myself as calm and collected as possible. After watching a few jumps, our names were finally called. You enter the "loading zone" already wearing your waist harness that is securely tightened to your waist and legs. You are then instructed to sit on a bench while the talented AJ Hacket workers get you ready for your jump. A thick beach towel is wrapped around your ankles, then thick nylon rope is wrapped around to secure the towel. Before you know it they have you hooked up to the bungy chord. HERE WE GO!!"How you feelin, mate?" ... "GOOD" (that's what everyone says - everyone is lying! No one is feeling good at this point unless you have several jumps under your belt!! I was ready for my jump, but I will not lie when I tell you I was NERVOUS AS HELL).
So, you hop up to the edge. Slowly position your toes over the edge. Look out at the
beautiful view. Just Relax! Look over at the camera for a pre-shot. Just Relax! Let go of the only peice of security you have left from 164 feet up - the bar. The instructor behind you YELLS 5-4-3-2-1 - JUMP. Don't think - just jump.The first jump is always a straight dive out - and what a feeling! I think I held my breath the whole way down until I bounced back up! You bounce several times until you are lowered onto a raft below. Laying on that raft was a releif EVERY time - it means you made it :) We each did 3 successful jumps, including a backwards freefall and a hanging fall for some of us. At the end of the day, my adrenaline had been racing so much that all I wanted was sleep. Okay, beer and then sleep. Those officially go down in history as the most intense 2 days of my life!!! Brilliant.
We spent another 2 nights at Gilligans in Cairns, then we left @ 7:30am the next morning for the Cape Tribulation rainforest (largest rainforst in the world). On the way up we stopped for a croc-sighting tour along the Daintree River. About 50 people crammed onto a small tour boat and headed up and down the river trying to spot any form of croc/wildlife possible. We ended up seeing 3 crocs - one was 5 years old, the next was 98 years old but we could only see his head, and the last was a 6 month old.
From there it was straight up to Cape Tribulation, and beleive me there is not much to Cape Tribulation but 3 hostels that are VERY spread out, 1 shopping market, and a swimmin' hole lol. However, the long beaches more than makes up for the size of Cape Trib, they were beautiful. So, we spent much of our time walking the beaches before and after the downpours of rain in the rainforest. The good thing about the rain is that it brought out all the critters and creatures for our guided nightwalk through the rainforest, including some lizards, snakes, and heaps of loud orange-limbed-greentree-frogs.
I'm feeling a little bit rushed so I will finish off this journal and add more shortly :)
For more pics, follow these links:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21077&l=1ca90&id=292100927
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21285&l=ec886&id=292100927
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