“God bless America. God save the Queen. God defend New Zealand and thank Christ for Australia.”- Russell Crowe

Day 3!

Adventure Day!

 So today we had an option to either hang out and explore Cairns by ourselves or to go on different tours throughout the area. A few months back I chose the Tropical Jungle Tour which took you to all areas in Cairns, throughout the Rainforest and to experience Australia’s nature at its finest. It was a very long day, we had to be up and ready by 7:30am and we didn’t arrive back to the Bohemian Resort until 7:15pm!  The first stop we did was the Rainforest Habitat where we were able to see more Koalas, Roos and birds everywhere. Since our guide knew that we did all of the animal stuff yesterday, we made that short and headed to our next destination which was the Daintree River. Our guide took us through this nature walk and we learned about all the different plants that were harmful if touched. I wont get into it here, but let just say that one of the plants it heartshaped, but the stingers will stay in you for up to three years and they are awaken by cold water. Once we traveled through the woods, we ended up at a swimming hole with a decent current and big rocks everywhere. It was so calm and it seemed like a very popular swimming area for more of the locals instead of tourists. After spending about an hour at the hole and cooling off, since it was about 28 degrees centigrade ( 88 F) and the humidity was terrible, we took a boat tour on the same river. We were on the look out for wildlife such as crocodiles, snakes and butterflies.

 On the way back down the windy road we stopped by a look out point where you can see the mouth of the Daintree River and where Steve Eirwin was killed by the stingray.  As we continued down the rainforest, we stopped in Cape Tribulation where it is a World Heritage site and a beautiful beach where the rainforest meets the sand. It was absolutely beautiful! I finally touched the Pacific Ocean!! The water was about 80 degrees, it felt like I was taking a bath. Unfortunately, since its jellyfish season, you cant swim in the waters. On the way back we stopped at a little hidden ice cream place in the Daintree where they make all of their icecream out of their tropical fruits. I was able to eat 4 ice creams; mango, Wattleseed ( which tasted like capachino, but with seeds), soursoap, and black sapote. Since I love ice cream…this was by far the BEST ORGANIC ice cream ever! Since this was one of our last stops, we ened our two hour journey by learning about green ants, which, if you suck them they taste like Limes. It is a very strange thing, but of course, being me…I had to try it. So out of the 24 kids on the tour 23 of us tried them.

 Once we had one green ant, we had a competition called the Ultimate Ant Eating Contest which was a little ridiculous but I can never give up a competition. We had to stick our hands in the tree, grab a handful of ants and eat them to suck the lime juice out, then spit them out before they bit your tounge. Don’t worry they are not poisonous. But you are looking a the 6^th girl to successfully eat green ants with out being bit. J Since this was a full day, we ended up going to dinner at Dunwoodys with the group and made it an early night. They make you exhausted here!