RainForeStation and Great Barrier Reef!

On June 2nd my whole orientation group got to take a trip to RainForeStation. There we got to hold a snake (no, of I didn't), pet some wallabies, feed/pet kangaroos, and hug a koala bear! :-)  Sure we could probably see all of these animals in one of many zoos int he U.S., BUT how many people can say that they actually touched them???? It was AWESOME! During our trip there we also got to ride on a duck boat (no duck noise makers though), watch Aboriginal dances (even watched some of the intern students do the dances too) throw a boomerang and play a didgeridoo. That was cool, but of course my favorite part was petting/feeding a roo and hugging the koala bear. Can't go wrong with animals!

On June 3rd we all got to go aboard the Passions of Paradise catamaran which took us to two spots on the Great Barrier Reef.  We all got to snorkel and, or, scuba dive. So most of I am pretty much scared of the ocean and refuse to swim in it so this was a BIG day for me. I actually snorkeled and loved it (probably because the water was clear as anything and there were a bazillion other people doing it too that I could probably out swim). :-)  I also tried on scuba gear for 10 mins, but didn't like the way the equipment felt breathing wise and also didn't want to spend more money (yeah, I was cheap - but I did get a  t-shirt that supports not killing sharks). I also saw a little shark while snorkeling, but I buddied up with another student and decided that if she didn't freak out I wasn't going to. :-)  The Great Barrier Reef is awesome, beautiful and extremely colorful. I would definitely snorkel again and if I had actual scuba lessons I would probably do that too (just not in NJ!)! I am kind of disappointed with the brand new canon camera that I got because it just didn't take as nice of pictures as I would expect from a canon camera, but I still got pictures! Just imagine the colors to be brighter and the pictures not so fuzzy. ;-)  After our day on the reef we went out to dinner (it was paid for by the program) and I got my ever "different" food!  I had a camel burger. The sheet said it was either going to be crocodile or camel - chef's choice. I was really hoping it was going to be crocodile since camels are cute and all majestic looking and I didn't really want to eat one, but of course it wasn't crocodile. So I ate it anyway and guess what? It was good! It had a weird chewy texture, but it was not bad at all. Who knows what will be next?!

Oh yeah......everyone still says "no worries".  I also heard "cool bananas" - means the same thing as "cool beans".  You hear "give it a go" a lot. I can't remember all of them - maybe I should be walking around with a voice recorder - lol. :-)

Now it's on to Sydney!