#PostGradPreMed Excursions: Cairns, Australia

And so begins my adventure summer before medical school: Australia, New Zealand and Japan!

Somehow the trip to the land down under wasn't that bad. Adam and I found different flight deals so we met in LA for our flight to Australia. I arrived at the airport pretty early and I thought my wait would be more pleasant in the Delta Sky Lounge. Thanks to a brilliant suggestion by Josh, I decided to charm an unsuspecting traveler into being my companion for a few choice minutes. A man walked into the lounge area and I asked him if he gets a guest pass and if I could come along. It turns out he doesn't have guest privileges but he insisted to the front desk employee that his "colleague" be permitted to accompany him at no extra charge and eventually the woman relented and let me in!! My luck continued when I boarded the airplane. My flight from NY to LAX was full. So full that there was apparently only 1 empty seat on the flight and it was next to me!! I met Adam at the gate for our flight from LAX to SYD and had a bizarre and embarrassing moment that reminded me of that time I had lice and was flying to Poland and Gabii Kigler had to wash margarine out of my hair in Ben-Gurion. But that's a story for another time. 

Sunrise Run on the Cairns esplanade

Adam and I had gone all out and upgraded ourselves to comfort+ seats, which look just like regular seats but supposedly have extra leg room. Magically, the middle seat between us stayed unoccupied so it was a pretty sweet deal.

Wooroonooran Rainforest

They say New Yorkers think they live at the center of the world. I've never been quite sure why they say that (that's a lie) until a conversation we overheard on the plane. Two American strangers in the row in front of us started chatting. There was a whole to-do about one having a baby and wanting to switch seats and he responded that he was sitting with people and couldn't switch and bla bla bla. The woman with baby then asked the clearly Southern man if he is Australian. Adam and I looked at each other because his accent was clearly Southern. Turns out he is from Charleston so that conversation came to a pretty abrupt halt. 

Eventually, we touched down in Sydney and made a mad dash through the airport to catch our connection to Cairns. Our Charleston friends (who had an even tighter layover) casually strolled through the airport and called us New Yorkers as we ran past them. We realized that Australia may be culturally different from home when Adam's humor was met with blank stares. Then again, it could just be 27 hours of traveling that made things funny to us alone. 

Despite the domestic terminal being quite far from the international one (requiring a shuttle bus through the city streets), we fortunately made the flight to Cairns. And 2 days after leaving New York, we arrived at our hostel, Traveler's Oasis (and went for our 1st run on the esplanade)!

Josephine Falls

It turns out Australian accents can be very difficult to understand. The false assumption that communication will be easy because they speak English in Australia stands on thinking that Australian and American are the same language. We're also having a difficult time adjusting to crossing the street with cars coming from the opposite direction. I'm hoping we get used to it before we drive on the wrong side in New Zealand. 

Milaa Milaa waterfall

Our first day, we explored the Wooroonooran rainforest (with Barefoot tours) through cliff jumping, rock sliding, Herbal Essence hair flipping, waterfall swimming and lake chilling (with a possible croc). The group (made up of mostly Germans and Brits) was super friendly, the guide was great and they provided solid snacks, reuniting me with my beloved Tim Tams! The scenery was beautiful with lush greenery surrounding us, and the water was crisp and refreshing. Overall, we had a blast... except the time I got attacked by a leech (and apparently their venom acts as an anticoagulant). Also, I had significant difficulty recognizing any of our new mates, which became painfully obvious when we went to dinner with everyone afterwards. Pretty much everyone we've met has assumed that we are a couple so after explaining that we are actually (a couple of) siblings, we demonstrate our common heritage by sharing (unsolicited) pictures of Rory and Riley because why not!?   

Today, we took a boat (Deep Sea Divers) out to the outer Great Barrier Reef to go snorkeling. The first snorkel was tough because the water was choppy and kept getting into our snorkels. (Adam claims he swallowed sufficient water to decrease the water level.) The reef was incredible though! There was so much color and life beneath the surface. We saw so many fish and even 2 turtles, which are remarkably graceful. The day was really fun and the boat ride each way was scenic and relaxing. 

Snorkeling in Cairns

Cairns, Great Barrier Reef