On our second full day in Cairns, we decided to go for a bike ride. The guy at our bike rental shop had given us a map of the area and told us about some scenic places to hit up. We decided to ride to Crystal Cascades, a river of small waterfalls that we were assured was safe and beautiful to swim in. The guy at the shop told us that it wasn’t too far out of town and usually took him about an hour or hour and a half to ride there.
The day was hot, and it wasn’t long before all of us were sweating like pigs. It simultaneously felt amazing and disgusting to be so hot again! We took a couple of breaks along the way—once at a roadside park and once at an RV park to refill our water bottles. Along our way, we even found some excellent road signs to take pictures of! The one on the left says “Horse Poo $2", and the right one is a kangaroo crossing sign. While we didn’t get a picture of it, there were also signs along the road for a “stinging bush.” These were posted along the hiking paths to warn walkers not to brush up against it because it contained sticker-things that would inject toxin into the skin and could cause “respiratory distress.” We frowned at that. As if Australia wasn’t full enough of animals that could kill you, the plants will, too!
By the time we arrived, all of us were drenched in sweat, cranky from the heat, and ready to eat lunch and jump in the water. We hiked up to the highest part of the trail where a beautiful waterfall fell into the crystal clear water. The whole time we were there, I kept thinking about how my dad would say something like, “Look at how clear that water is.” We ate lunch by the waterfall and swam for a bit.
Once we had tired of that area, we got out and walked downstream where others were swimming. We found our own little part of the river and laid out, soaking in the sweet Australian sun. The water was much more shallow, and there was a tiny waterfall beside us (it was probably a two foot drop). I climbed out to the furthest part of the rock beside the waterfall and stuck my legs one at a time in it. I’ve never done this before, but it felt like what I imagine sticking your leg in a vacuum cleaner to feel like. 
It was an intense suction, and I feel like if I had put both legs in at the same time, I might have gone over the fall! I don’t lay out normally, but it felt so incredibly good to do it there. The sun-warmed rocks acted as lounge chairs, we could dip our feet or legs into the water, and the sound of flowing water could have easily put us to sleep. When it came time to leave, I really, really didn’t want to go. However, since we were on bikes we had to make it back to Cairns before it got dark. All-in-all, we biked fifty-five kilometers that day. Whew!
The next day, Friday, was quite easily our favorite day in Australia. We went snorkeling/SCUBA diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Honestly, how many people can say that they did that?? 
Ian found a GREAT company with an all day tour for about $170. That price sounds expensive, but considering that breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks, a wetsuit, a snorkel mask, flippers, SCUBA gear, unlimited snorkeling, a glass bottom boat tour, one introductory SCUBA dive, and a marine biologist’s lecture were all included, it was a VERY good deal!
As soon as we hopped on board, we were fitted for our wetsuit and flippers. Then we had to fill out paperwork and listen to a safety briefing. By the time we got out of the harbor, we were served breakfast with delicious fruits that we rarely get to have in Japan—watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, and some other melon that I couldn’t identify but was delicious. About an hour later, we were assigned groups for SCUBA diving and given a briefing on HOW to SCUBA dive. We learned how to clear our masks if water got in or what to do if our regulator (breathing device) cam out of our mouths. They instructed us to NOT touch anything on the SCUBA equipment panel board—that our instructor would take care of all of that. Since they would only take one group at a time and we were group ten, we had plenty of time for snorkeling.
My goodness….snorkeling! I’ve only snorkeled once before in Destin, and it really wasn’t all that. There was hardly any sea life to see. Comparing that to the Great Barrier Reef is like the difference between night and day. The GBR is TEEMING with sea life. I saw Nemo and his crew, anemones swaying in the ocean currents, parrot fish, and even these HUGE fish that were seriously the size of me. It was incredible to watch and swim with them for a while. It was also incredible to watch parrot fish. They would eat the coral, and you could literally hear the crunching underwater. Once the coral is digested in their bodies, it comes out the other end as sand……and that’s how sand is made, folks! 
Never in my life have I seen such beautiful sea life.
Just when I thought that it couldn’t get any better, our number for SCUBA diving was called. We got out of the water and sat on the edge of the boat’s platform where they strap on weights and the SCUBA gear. It was HEAVY! The weights help you to sink, and the buoyancy vest helps you to come up. I’m not going to lie. That hop off of the back of the boat knowing that I had an extra twenty pounds strapped to me and a device in my mouth that was my ONLY source of oxygen was quite terrifying. Before we could go under, we had to stay at the back of the boat and prove to our instructor that we could clear our masks and regulator if water got in them and equilibrize our ears. Once everyone was cleared, he released the air in our buoyancy vests, and down we sank. I panicked slightly during this time. Nothing was wrong, but the air in the tank was so dry that immediately my mouth and throat were bone dry. Once the initial panic resided, it was time to enjoy. SCUBA diving is soooooooooooooooo much different from snorkeling! We could get up close to the coral and really see the colors or tiny sea creatures that we couldn’t see from the surface. Our instructor took us around the reef, and we were under water for about twenty minutes. Being under water was very disorienting. I had no idea where we were in location to the boat and knew to just follow the instructor! There was one point in time when we were down there when I looked around and didn’t see anyone from my group. 
For a split second I thought about racing for the surface, (legally they could only take us down eight meters at the most, so we could clearly see the surface) but I choked down the panic, looked around once more, and saw my group.
Once we finished, it was time for lunch. I really didn’t have high expectations for lunch since it was boat food, but I was surprised! There was a chicken dish with fresh rolls and salad. (I’m telling you, if you’re ever in Cairns, do the Reef Experience tour. It’s the BEST!) We took ours up to the deck to eat. After lunch, the boat moved to its second location on the reef where we got to snorkel again. By the end of the day, the three of us were exhausted. It was an incredible experience, and I’m so glad that we got to do it!
Our room was just so-so. I mean….generally you get what you pay for with a hostel. It was five beds in one room—dormitory style—nothing to write home about. 
One night we went to the grocery store for some basic supplies—bread, meat, and cheese for sandwiches, eggs for breakfast, cookies and granola for snacks, and Melissa bought some aloe for her burns, and our total came up to about $70! 
The last culture shocking thing was actually reverse culture shock. I’m so used to NOT speaking English in a public setting that speaking English EVERYWHERE actually intimidated me. I don’t remember having this feeling whenever we went home last summer. I feel like it was this way because at home, everyone else sounds like me whereas in Australia, I WAS the one with the accent. There were a few occasions when I had to repeat myself because store clerks or servers couldn’t understand me. 
We loaded down the car and ate delicious homemade banana bread that Melissa had made on our way to Kumamoto City to pick up Mary. Since Mary has the bigger car, we transferred our luggage into her car, and she drove to Fukuoka. As promised in an earlier blog, Ian and I wore our Santa hats all day through the airports. Several people stared, giggled, and we even got a few “Merry Christmas” wishes from flight attendants and other airport workers. 
The main course was a shrimp noodle dish. I automatically couldn’t eat that due to my shellfish allergy. 
There was a side dish of…..something. I didn’t eat it because I thought I saw a few red flakes, and I was afraid that it might contain crab or shrimp meat. The dessert was some type of pudding. I didn’t try it because Melissa said that it tasted like plain gelatin….
It might have been only seven hours, but I feel like we learned a LOT about China and Chinese culture in that short amount of time. I might be stereotyping, but I thought that all east Asian cultures were similar, (passive, indirect, quiet, group mentality, etc) but spending the day in China definitely taught me differently! China is not one of those countries that you want to joke around in, and we QUICKLY realized that. As soon as we got off the plane, things were SOOOOO much different than Japan! Our plane did one of those stop-in-the-middle-of-the-tarmac-and-everyone-board-a-bus-to-the-terminal things, so right off the bat I noticed that China drives on the right side of the road like America. I didn’t realize that! While on the bus, I observed a woman speaking rather loudly on the phone….which I thought was very, very strange. Actually, the noise level on the bus was rather loud. (In Japan, no matter where you go the noise level is always very, very quiet.) When we got to the terminal, our first order of business was going to the “transit flights” counter and then on through security. Our first taste of Chinese culture was at this counter. All they did was check our passport and that we had a connecting flight boarding pass and then point us in the next direction. However, it was the mannerism in which they did it. It was almost like being at home in the States. They were extremely direct, and it seemed like they hated their jobs and lives. Not one word was spoken during this transaction, and then they pointed us to the next checkpoint. (Had this happened in Japan, the airline officials would have at least smiled, been super polite, and probably even bowed to us.) It was reeeeeeeally weird. Never in my life have I walked through such a quiet airport. Ian was separated from us, but Melissa, Mary, and I were almost wondering if we went the wrong way……..just because it was so quiet and abandoned looking. We had to walk through several hallways until we got to a security checkpoint. Just like the previous airport employees, these guys weren’t joking around and were downright rude and scary. (Just like TSA agents!) 
To go from one season to another within a day was certainly a change! We left Shanghai in winter coats and arrived in Cairns sweating! Before we even left the airport, we could feel the humidity in the air. To say that it was HOT is an UNDERSTATEMENT. 
) He asked us what we were doing in Australia (vacation), when we booked our flights (September), how long we were staying (eleven days), where we were staying (Cairns City Backpackers), what we planned on doing (explore the reef and rain forest, shop, and enjoy the beach), etc before allowing us to go through quarantine. Ian and I once again got randomly selected for a luggage search. They made us line up against a wall with about fifteen other people, put all of our luggage on the floor, and allow the cute little beagle to sniff our bags for illegal items. We passed the test, and after that Cairns awaited us through a set of glass doors!