Cairns, Australia

Ok, so it has been nearly a month and I have yet to make the last entry regarding my trip to Australia ... sorry :) So, here goes the last of 3 entries regarding my AWESOME trip!

We left Brisbane and flew farther up the coast to the small town of Cairns (pronounced CANS). We landed at the airport and immediately loaded the charted bus and headed to A.J. Hackett Bungee! We went deep into the rain forest to get to this place. It was very cool and we were surprised at how warm it had gotten (considering it was winter). So we get to Hackett's and everyone is in awe at the view and the surroundings of the area. It is beautiful!

I will say that I am not a fan of high places, but I would not consider myself scared of heights. I have never jumped before and I probably would not have done it anywhere but Australia. Myself and a few other brave soles from the staff signed our lives away and headed up the tower to the top where we would jump! The players were not allowed to jump b/c our KU administration feared someone would get injured ... you think ?!? So, most of the players (and Bonnie, our head coach) opted for the Minjin Swing. It was neat ... 2-3 people could go at one time. You are strapped in and basically lay down and get pulled to the top of the trees and then just swing like Superman. So, they enjoyed that and then really loved watching us all scream like girls. I was one of the last to go ... not a great thing for the confidence, but I could get some pointers from watching the others go. When it finally became my turn, they called me over and strapped me in to a safety harness. Now, this harness went around our stomach and rear end. I thought this would keep me safe should the ankles straps break, so I had that sucker as tight as it would go. Probably too tight looking at some of the pictures ;( I get to the seat where they start strapping you in and these guys are going through all of the directions. Basically, they strap you in by your ankles ... you penguin walk out to the plank ... smile for the camera and swan dive 160 ft into the lagoon below. So, I have watched the others go and I get ready to go our to the end of the plank. Just as I get out there, I feel something loosen around my ankles. I look back to the guy and tell him and he proceeds to tell me that it was my backup strap and that I will be fine so just go. Uh, hello? I need all the backup I can get. So, I waddle my way back in and tell him to fix it!!!

KT swinging in the clouds!

He does and I proceed to try again. This time all works fine and I dive quickly as I know that if I wait I will start to freak out because of the height. I can honestly say that it was the biggest high dive ever! I hit the water and got dunked about to my hips and then came flying back up. It was a rush and I am so glad that I did it!

Once everyone had bungeed or minjined, we headed back to the hotel. It was beautiful and very unexpected in this tiny little town. I was pooped ... so I took a shower and fell asleep. I woke in time for dinner and had a meal of kangaroo (tastes like steak), crocodile (tastes like chicken) and barimundo (fish). It was very good! We hit the bed early that night as Monday was going to be a big day!

We got up early on Monday so that we could get a good breakfast before boarding the bus to Port Douglas. We traveled about an hour from Cairns to Port Douglas where we boarded the Quicksilver Wavepiercer. This boat took us 90 mins out into the ocean and we landed at the Great Barrier Reef. I can tell you that it doesn't look like much from the boat. But Quicksilver is a company that specializes in tours of the Reef so upon arrival, the boat docked against a platform and we were able to spend the day there on the water. The first thing we all did was get our snorkel and fins on and head to the edge of the platform. I put my face in the water and lost my breath ... one because the water was a tad bit cold and two because the underwater was gorgeous! We were able to snorkel for nearly four hours out at the Reef and enjoy the day. The fish and the coral were amazing! Later in the afternoon we headed back to Port and called it a day. We were all very tired from the water and the sun. Overall, it was a great day ;)

Can't see much of the Reef from the surface!

Tuesday was our last full day in Australia. We had the day free and we were able to do last minute shopping and just enjoy the area. Cairns does not have much to do ... other than the Reef and Hackett's so I ended up at the hotel pool and finished my book. I got a great tan that day too :) That evening we all met up so that we could play our last game of the tour. We won easily.

On Wednesday, we had 2:3o am wake-up calls and were out of the hotel by 3:00 am. We headed home to the states and it was a LONG trip! We traveled from Cairns to Sydney (2 hour flight), Sydney to Los Angeles (13 hours), LAX to Dallas (1.5 hours) and then Dallas to KC (2 hours). We left Cairns at 3 am on Wednesday and arrived into Lawrence at 7 pm Wednesday night ... we lost an entire day in there because of the int'l dateline so needless to say, it was a long trip. It was an amazing experience though ... and I am so thankful that I got to go. I am looking forward to our next trip ... four years from now .... Italy has come up a few times in talk :)

As they say in Australia ... No Worries!