Cairns & the Great Barrier

Pyramid on the beach after scuba diving! These are some of my new American friends- most of us are going to the same school. We all arranged our studies through Australearn and this was part of their orientation!
Up close and personal with a blue spotted stingray. They are really original with naming stuff- huh.
The Great Barrier Reef. The was at Paradise Reef I believe! I really wanted to steal the camera that we rented- it was cool!
A roo and I at the Cairns Tropical Zoo at orientation.

Tjapukai Aboriginal Dancers. Aussie is big on keeping the Aboriginal culture alive. There are paintings, didgeridoos, and boomerangs everywhere.

My new friends- Devin (from Maine) and Kristen (from Wisconsin)- and I on the beach at Michaelmas Cay. I know our bodysuits are super sexy!! They were to protect us from the sun and the jellfish. The water was actually quite warm.


Scuba diving on the Great Barrier! The camera girl has an awesome job!! I think I should just quit school and become her partner! I saw all kinds of neat fish, coral, and giant clams.

A shot of the Great Barrier Reef.

We found NEMO!!

Michaelmas Cay on the Great Barrier. We dove and snorkeled around here. The birds were everywhere.
View from our boat as we were coming back into Cairns.

Huge birdie at the zoo. He was mean- he tried to get me.

G'day from the Land down unda!!

Hey Everyone!!

I am alive and well in the land down unda! I am having a blast so far. I don't even know where to start....

I guess the departure would be a good place. I left all by my lonesome and flew to LAX where I met up with alot of other Americans. I am the only person from Texas- gotta represent! We had a 14 hour flight to Sydney- it was long, but they had movies, games, radio, etc. It wasn't too bad. We are travelling with Australearn ( a company that specializes in studying in Australia and New Zealand).

We flew to tropical Cairns (on the NE coast) and spent 3 days at orientation with Australearn. SEE PICS ABOVE! We went to the Great Barrier Reef- it was beautiful. I went scuba diving. You probably wont be surprised to know that we rented an underwater camera and took a record amount of pictures!!We also went to a zoo where we got to hold a koala and play with kangaroos. We visited Tjapukai, an aboriginal cultural park, one afternoon. They danced for us and told their creation story. We also learned to throw a boomerang and a spear!! Cairns is really HOT and humid, but very beautiful. There are mountains right near the coast and a lot of sugarcane fields. We had a wonderful time in Cairns and I met a lot of great people!!

If you having been keeping track of my facebook pics- most are they same.

More updates on my adventures coming soon!!