Just a fair warning.. it has really been ages since I have updated this thing on my life sooo it is going to be a NOVEL!!

And the fun doubles!

Fourth of July weekend the other australearn interns arrived! We were expecting two but there ended up being THREE! Sam is from Michigan but her family now lives in Arizona so there is a good chance that lots of you will be able to meet her :] Betsy is from California and is in Sigma Kappa and Meg is from the east coast! Our house is divided into three separate apartments with about five people living in each. Marcy, Kristen and I have been living in one together and now Betsy has joined us, taking Michael’s old room and Meg and Sam are living in the downstairs apartment together but are over all the time so it is just perfect! At first we were bummed we weren’t all in one together but realized it was actually really nice because now we had the opportunity to meet their housemates as well. Their other housemates include a boy from Australia, a boy from Ireland, and two French boys. That same weekend we also got new tenants living in our upstairs room from England. Only a couple days later all of our unopened liquor was missing (2 tequilas and their mixes, 1 vodka, and 1 jager- not cool) so we contacted the sharehouse office about the matter and our English friends moved places… Just recently we had two more housemates move in from Spain! They are just lovely and quite cute because they are trying really hard to learn English!

ZUMBA and pole dancing

Yes you heard me, the Zumba craze has just hit Australia! One of the vets at work, Karen, was talking about going to classes one day and I happen to say how much I love zumba classes back home. She quickly invited to be join and I just couldn’t pass up the offer sooo I have been having some extra bonding time with Karen at Zumba every Wednesday night after work! It is a ton of fun because in this class they turn off the lights and turn on colored lights, which really gets you in the mood to shake it! At times it is a little awkward shaking my booty and shimmying in front of a coworker who is married with children haha

Our Canadian friend Jen had been in Australia for quite some time before we got here and she had really gotten into pole dancing classes. We discovered this one night when we were out and one of the bars we went to had a pole in the middle of the dance floor! She invited us to come try it out and we really couldn’t pass up the opportunity to say that we have tried a pole dancing class, so we went with her. It was actually really hard and the next day it looked as if I had been badly beaten… I had bruises everywhere! So long story short, it was very interesting to try it out but lets just say I now definitely have no interest in a career in pole dancing haha!!

Harleys

Billy, one of the boys who works in the reptile department at the zoo offered to take us interns in Hartley’s, a local croc park a little bit north. Since we were going to be able to get in for free, again the offer was not turned down! The park was really cool. We went on a boat tour through the swamp in the park and saw crocs everywhere and watched them being fed straight out of the water! They offered a croc attack show at this park, which was really nerve-racking! The zookeeper was in the pen with the ginormous croc and was literally wading in the water with him, aggravating him to stimulate an attack! We even got to see the croc roll over a couple of times, it was a really cool show! It may seem a bit morbid since I was at a croc park BUT this is where I tried my first bit of croc. It was actually pretty tasty… I had a lemon pepper croc burger :]

FOURTH OF JULY

That Sunday was our good ol’ independence day so we HAD to celebrate! It was my first fourth in a long while that I didn’t spend with the five so I was bumming a little bit. I decided to pick up my chin, put on my American flag swimsuit and red white and blue dress, and go out on a search for an American flag with the roommates. We had decided to throw a big BBQ in our backyard and invite everyone we had met, so we had to show them a good American time complete with decorations! It was good fun and we actually had such a great turnout, close to 40 or so people there from all over the place! I decided to give kanga another run for its money since we had probably cooked the first batch incorrectly AND they were sausages, which I don’t really like to begin with. I was talking about this when we were at Hartley’s, so Billy was kind enough to offer to BBQ kanga to perfection for me. He followed through with his word and I had the most delicious garlic and herb kangaroo steak! The night ended with sparklers, red white and blue decorations and an American flag pinned to our clothesline= SUCCESS!

WHITE WATER RAFTING

So I have been white water rafting before in Colorado with the five and it rocked my world, I thought it was the must exciting thing since a roller coaster. BUT this white water rafting made that trip look like a trip down the lazy river! It was the most legit thing I have done in a long while! It was an all day trip down the Tully River and during this all day trip we went down like 15 rapids, like full thrilling rapids! Only myself, Kristen and Sam went on this adventure so in our boat with us we had four large German boys haha. They didn’t speak much English and were definitely holding us back, they couldn’t row very well! Our river guide was amazing, so down to do crazy fun things with our raft and was just really enjoyable to spend the day with. There were parts in the river that he would allow us to get out of the raft and swim through little rapids, so fun! At the point when we pulled our boat to the side to have lunch, there was a waterfall and he took us right under it! It was kind of scary hearing the powerful water hit your helmet because it made such a loud noise and was such a full force BUT nonetheless it was awesome to go through it! My two favorite parts of the adventure definitely would have to be the human water slide and the birthing canal. The water slide was like a 15-meter water drop and you basically had to hang on for dear life going down it. It was kind of successful, most of us managed to stay in the boat for most of it but by the end I would say 6 out of the 8 of us were out stranded in the water! The birthing canal was located in the point past where it was appropriate to swim because was the chance that crocs could be in the water… Well we were going through the birthing canal, literally like the birthing canal, it was two huge rocks placed really close together and we had to try and squeeze the big raft through it, and our boat got turned in an awkward way and we got stuck! The force of the rushing water capsized our boat and being located in the back of the boat, the next thing I remember was being crushed by four large German men under the water! All I remember is telling myself to remain calm and that it was all an adventure… haha I didn’t even think of the threat of the crocs, the other girls said that was there first thought but it didn’t even cross my mind, oops! You should definitely go check out the photos, they are amazing and really capture the exciting nature of the adventure plus you can see just how big the German men were haha!

BUNGE JUMPING!

The next day Sam and I seized the day and went bunge jumping! As we made our way up this huge hill, we thought of turning around and coming home BUT we figured it was already too late so we kept walking. We made it there and had to walk up 50 meters worth of stairs and let me tell you that was enough to get your heart pumping! We got to the top and got into our harnesses, then watched many people take the leap… I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it! It came to being Sam’s turn and off she went, she made it look so easy! It was my turn next and to be honest when he counted down 3 2 1, did Courtney go? NOOOO haha it took another countdown and then instead of nose-diving like a true pro, I literally bent by knees and jumped.. such a fool haha You should def check out the video the first jump looks so awkward! Yes I said first jump… Sam and I jumped three different times! The first time was alone and the next two we jumped tandem or together. The second time we did a swan dive together and it was so much more fun the second time around and together! We were laughing so hard, we thought our eyes were going to pop out of our heads! For our last time we decided to go backwards.. this was by far the SCARIEST! We were screaming our heads off like little girls haha it was just like the feeling when you were little and would fall backwards on your bed but before you hit the bed, you would bend your legs because you were just too scared, except you couldn’t bend your legs to save yourself and just kept falling and falling!!! It was the most insane thing I have done in my life and I loved it! Now I just have to jump out of a plane and skydive :]

Sunday Night Dinner

Chad, who works in the bird department at the zoo, invited us girls over for dinner at his place on Sunday. It was really very nice of him to cook for six girls and we had a really good time. Getting there we got off at the wrong bus stop and got a little lost.. ohh ya did a mention it was raining? Haha when we got there we were just a little wet! It was all made up for with the wonderful chicken meal he had made for us, cooked to perfection. The roommates had checked the bus schedule twice and we were sure that the last bus was at midnight, before we knew it we had let time escape us and we ended up running in the rain to the bus stop. (running in the rain was actually quite an enjoyable experience I discovered haha) We waited and waited at the bus stop and no bus came… Seeing as it was late, wet, dark, and cold oh and the fact that Chad doesn’t have a car it left us with one option, yes you guessed it a cab. I don’t think I have told you that Chad lives in Clifton Beach, which is a good 40 minutes away… the cab ride was a whooping 72 dollars. I would say that it was all still worth it, made for a good story in the least!

I still have WORKKKKKK, Port Douglas and Sydney weekend to tell you about but I am just exhausted… soo hopefully this keeps you entertained and satisfied for awhile! Plus you have something to definitely look forward to :]

So Until Next Time :]

BEST WEEKEND EVERRR

FRIDAY- Sky rail and Tjapukai

We started off this action packed day on a bus to the sky rail. We wanted to do the sky rail because it it much like a sky lift, only it flies right over the tropical rain forest! It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and breath taking, you couldn't even see the ground because of all the plant life. It was crazy because back home cockatoos, the big white birds with a yellow mow hock, are really only kept as personal pets... well here they are wild and it was crazy to see them just flying around over the tree tops! There were two options to stop along the sky rail to walk through the rain forest but we decided to go straight up and do that on the way down. The destination of the sky rail was a little, artsy town called Kuranda. This town was filled with cool shops and nice cafes. This is where I had my first MEAT PIE! I have heard so much about these little guys and for good reason because it was delicious!! I had a steak and pepper one, which was soo tasty but I can't wait to try all of the others.. They are much like a chicken pot pie from back home but BETTER. We walked around the shops and hung out in Kuranda for a couple of hours before getting back on the sky rail. On the way back I was getting a little bored all cooped in that little box of a cart so I jumped up and proposed the idea to do something crazy! Soooooooo we did back bends, handstands, hung upside down, surfed... all sorts of fun things and we even took pictures to prove it. It was great fun. The stops on the way down were beautiful! We got to see Baron Falls, a waterfall, up close and I think I have to say that this was the first real waterfall I have seen in my 20 years! After we got down to the bottom starting point it was time for Tjapkai, an aboriginal culture park!

The aboriginal people are the native people to Australia, so their story is much like that of our Native Americans. It was fascinating learning the culture of the people and hearing that it is still very much alive. They told stories in their native language, of course translating for us, gave a little talk on the didgeridoo (a musical instrument that makes marvelous music), sang and danced for us and even let us join in! It was great fun BUT the highlight of my day was getting the opportunity to throw a boomerang and a spear, SO COOL!!

SATURDAY- Horse riding through the rain forest!

I love horses and although I have ridden before none of my experiences have been like this one! The ride was absolutely fantastic. The trails went through the rain forests and it was legit because it was actually raining a little bit haha. The trail was very narrow, just big enough for the horses to get by, so we were literally immersed in the rain forest itself! I was the next person in line after the guide and she was telling me that with the first ride of the morning you have to be really careful of all the spider webs between the trees along the path, greatttt yall know how I love spiders... and what did we see?! yep you guessed it, the BIGGEST spider I have ever seen in my life! it was about the size of a ruler and it was black and yellow, EW! We were able to take the horses off trotting which was soo fun! i am soo used to just walking the horses and that can get boring after a while but trotting is real exciting! We had to wait around a lot for the Japanese tour group we were riding with which made me practice the virtue of patience, which you all know I need help with... the best part of the trip was the fact that we got to wade in a river with the horses! this river was crystal clear water and the horses went as deep as their backs in the water, so we got all wet but it was amazingggg!! my boss went the next day with her daughter and I so wished we had run into each other accidentally on the first day because that would have been so funny!

SUNDAY- Green Island

Kristen and Marcy work at the zoo together with lots of other interns and volunteers. One girl from Germany is living with a host family and they were taking her to green island, so she kindly extended the off to us Americans :] We gladly accepted this offer and away we went! It turns out her family was the most lovely family ever, honestly they were the cutest little (well big, they had 5 kids) australian family everrrr. The boat ride was magical. it was a huge boat but acted like a speed boat, it was sooo fast! There were more Japanese tourists on this trip as well BUT you will never believe what happened! this group of about three girls and 1 guy were taking pictures the entire time! like every angle possible on the boat was taken... One of the ladies even had an outfit change, like were they serious? all they are going to remember of the trip is taking pictures.. we finally arrived at the island and it is breath taking! the water is soo blue and the island is sooo green (probably where they got the name haha) The island had a lot to offer.. wind surfing, diving, snorkeling, treasure hunts, sea creature building, volleyball tourneys, BBQ, and PARASAILING!! I had always wanted to do it soooo i finally did it!! Jana (the German volunteer) and I did it!! the views were marvelous and the ride was so exciting because it was a really windy day :] I never wanted to come down and then when we sadly did, I never wanted to get off the little boat- it was just so beautiful and relaxing! when we finally did go back to the island the whole group decided to snorkel... but the conditions were poor and the water was to murky right off the land so we couldn't see much. Instead we decided to partake in the sea creature building and sculpted a mermaid, she was beautiful- looked JUST like the little mermaid.. Then for the rest of the day we enjoyed a live band and just sat back and relaxed the day away on Green Island!

SOOOOO

Until next time :]