Study Abroad in Australia: The Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef

I was going to make the title "Another Gateway Town", but I feel that a title like that would make it seem like this trip is repetitive, maybe even monotonous. Although, as you know and expect to hear, this trip has been everything but that.

Since my last post, I've been pretty busy- hence the delay in my posting. We had our project papers and presentations which took a considerable amount of effort and time, I went surfing at Bondi beach, and went on a two hour walk from Bondi beach to Coogee beach along the cliffs on the shoreline all before flying out of Sydney. Surfing was really cool, and was one of the best single experiences of my trip. If you're studying abroad here, you have to try surfing. Australian surfing is some of the best in the world, but it doesn't make too much of a difference because as a beginner there was no way I was going to be able to ride 10 foot waves. Still, I'd consider my surfing experience to be an absolute success. Back to the itinerary though- we flew out of Sydney and traveled to Cairns in north eastern Australia, and here we've been pretty busy as well preparing for our final exam, exploring Cairns, visiting multiple beaches (and getting sunburned), as well as a few games of rugby which can scrape you up pretty bad. The other big thing I did here was scuba diving and snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef.

Did I just say that? Scuba diving and snorkeling on the reef? Yeah. I never thought in my life I'd do it. This past Sunday was my first time ever scuba diving, and I'm pretty sure it will be impossible to ever top that experience scuba diving again unless if I return and do a 10 day dive trip on the reef (one of the many reef diving options, which are all really interesting). While out on the gigantic reef we were able to see all different kinds of wildlife such as sharks, clown fish, turtles, among many other interesting fish, anemone, and coral structures. It is a little weird at first to intentionally breathe only through your mouth, when human instinct is to hold your breath underwater. If you come to Cairns or Australia, its one of the big things to do, and probably the reason that Cairns is as developed as it is.

I alluded to the idea of Cairns as a gateway city earlier, which is something I've come to believe. Darwin is the gateway to Kakadu and warm weather, while Cairns has the reef. They're not particularly large cities, but nevertheless they have a lot of activity. Cairns has a pretty relaxing atmosphere and there are not too many things to do other than go to the reef or do other activities such as skydiving, bungy jumping, island hopping, snorkeling, white water rafting, trips to the Daintree rainforest, and relaxing on the beach. These are definitely fun activities, and at the same time it is kind of a vacationing city. One of the restaurants even had a special deal on Tuesdays if you were a local, you just had to show some ID. Pretty weird.

I just took my exam, and now it's time to relax by going bungy jumping for a full day this upcoming Friday in the rainforest. Cairns shows that Australians know how to have fun, and enjoy the scenery around them. Australia is a pretty unique place, with wildlife and terrain you will see nowhere else. And they know it.