Cairns!!

Cairns was AMAZING! It literally is a tropical rain forest, and let me tell you it felt like one! Even in the middle of the night, you walk outside and you are sweating within minutes! When it did rain it was a welcome relief! 

I stayed with family of the family I nanny for, they were so so so good to me. I loved getting to know them and had such a good time with them. First stop: Koalas. I didn't get to cuddle it, but this was pretty close. 

Pretty cute animals, very chill. They would fit in well in NZ ;)

Second day in Cairns I went to the beautiful and world known (for good reason) GREAT BARRIER REEF!!!! I was so so excited!! Booked a trip with a company who "catered towards young people." It was a blast! The staff were all so fun and entertaining, there were a ton of young adults aboard but mostly couples, and lots and lots of Asians! Ni hao :)

I did make a couple of friends but mostly made friends with the crew! Even though there were 98 people aboard, a couple of the crew knew me by name. At least then they would know what I looked like if I never made it back in the boat ;)

I asked this guy to take a picture of me on the deck of the ship. The floor was so so hot my feet felt like they were being scalded, and he kept taking pictures and saying "nah...nah..." I was confused but then he would motion for me to stay there so I kept posing/ hopping on my feet because I was pretty sure they were melting..

I finally went to see what the problem was and realized my phone was on front camera! Hahaha after about 5 photos of him, and a couple with his finger covering the camera, he finally got a good one! haha and after a few minutes of standing in the shade in a puddle my feet were back to a normal temperature as well ;)

The Reef was amazing, what can I even say about it? I feel really blessed to have gotten to go snorkeling AND to scuba dive! It was the trip of a life time! I rented an underwater camera and found out quite quickly that I am a horrible under water photographer. But here are some that catch a glimpse of some of the amazing outer reef!

 These giant clams were amazing! They were HUGE! I could have fit inside of this. If you touched it, it would close up! So cool, I kept waiting for mermaid to pop out..

 Lots and lots of school fish.. ;)

 and so much colorful coral! The colors were the best part! Some were even neon! It was beautiful.

I am prettty sure I was in Nemo's neighborhood. It was like a little community haha I wish I could have captured the colors better! So so beautiful.

are you seeing all these fish!!?

 

 Jelly fish season. At one point I found myself surrounded by jellyfish! One on each side and in front! I just turned around and flapped my fins really hard and hoped I wouldn't get stung!

I had so much fun :))

 The only bummer part was I made the childish mistake of thinking 'meh I wont get very much sun if I'm underwater all the time..' so I just did basic sunscreen, shoulders, face, yada yada.

In case you forgot what a sunburn feels like, it feels like this..

and looks something like this! (Excuse the booty pic!) hahaha oh mannnn! Guess I had to learn my lesson sooner or later! 

I couldn't even sit down!! It was so sore but the Shaw family were so amazing! Merilyn made sure I was plenty stocked up on practically 100% aloe vera and I just let me lay on my stomach in her lounge for an entire day! But let me tell you, I was not  the least bit bored! I just listened to all of her amazing stories of living on a cargo ship with three small children, porting in all these corrupt countries full of machine guns and seas full of pirates! (Wayyyyy back in the 80's) And SHE listened to me tell all about going to school at BYU-Idaho! Being surrounded by LDS students my age and starting every class with a prayer! Can you imagine that!? haha I loved every minute! (well, except for some of the sunburn minutes..)

Gold Coast

Wow Gold Coast!! What an AMAZING place! It lives up to its name! The beach is just miles and miles of beautiful white sand with gorgeous clear blue water. But I am getting ahead of myself..

Gold Coast was the only place I didn't have a local contact to back me up! My brain thought hm this could be a bit intimidating, but honestly being an unknown person in a big city all on your own is such a thrill. I don't know how to explain it, just raw freedom.

I was lucky to meet some friends right away from the hostel I was staying at! Grace is from England and had Surfers pretty much sussed so she showed around me and another friend I met Denise who is from Germany.

(photo bombed) ;)

 It was so fun exploring surfers with girls from such different backgrounds! Just little things like searching for hair bobbles (hair ties) haha was a good laugh. Denise and I were both somewhat newbies at traveling alone and it was great to have a buddy:) (PS those hats were like $600 dollars-fluffy things always are..)

 Denise and I took a nice long walk down the beach to explore another shopping center we heard about, but it wasn't about the shopping center, just walking down Gold Coast is amazing!! It was so picturesque! I kept looking around and telling Denise "I just can't believe I'm here!" I felt like I walked into a post card.

 Part of me thought, maybeee you shouldn't touch it, but after we passed the third one my curiosity got the better of me! It was cool, felt like hardened hair gel and after a bit of convincing I got Denise to hold it too.

Didn't take me long to recognize that Sufers Paradise was not just a paradise for surfers, ooooh no my friends. This is the Las Vegas of Australia.

 A friend got in contact with me and found some YSA that lived in the area that I could stay with! I was broke from some technical difficulties with my pin number and oh so grateful for a place to crash!

But before I left, I couldn't turn down the opportunity to try something new..

It was kind of a funny scenario, I was alone at the markets and they had a booth where the wildlife center brought animals you could hold. Usually this is the thing that you want to do but pretend you don't and so your friends talk you into and so you do it. Well I didn't have a friend persuade me into it so I just had to be brave and go for it, it was so cool I loved it! This was the second shot they took- the first time the guy said "Uh, lets take another one, you just look scared." hahahah

I LOVED making friends everywhere I went! I met so many new people and honestly learned something from each of them. It is bitter sweet though because then you have to say goodbye after just a short time! But the people I met are what made my trip, and I love making friends from around the world. Now I have another friend to hook up with next time I'm in Germany ;)

 An amazing family took me in, and this photo is horrible but it was so cool because their house had an amazing view of the Surfers Paradise coast line, I don't know why, but I just loved that I was just down there, and now I am up here..- Hard to explain but it was so awesome staying with the Blair family. They are amazing people!

Sunshine Coast

I remember as a kid sitting at the airport heading to Utah or California, and seeing flights to places like Paris, Tokyo, and Moscow. I used to close my eyes and pretend I was going on that plane, I was going to those places. Now that I am traveling, it still gets to me when I wait for my plane to go on my next adventure, and I look at the flight details and relish the fact that it's happening, I REALLY am going there. I am living my dream and the excitement never fades.

First stop: Sunshine coast

After landing I took the train to Mooloolaba where a friend of a friend picked me up! He took me to take a photo by the infamous 'giant pineapple' and I can see why, that picture rocks.

I wanted to see some kangaroos, which Boyd thought was a bit funny, what's exciting about that? Littleee did HE know!!! Kangaroos are the coolest things ever! (to an american)

Stayed in my first hostel that night.. yep its about what it seems ;)Really friendly people stay in hostels, within 20 minutes of me arriving some guys were asking if I wanted a ride to the grocery store. 

 One of my favorite places EVER! Mooloolaba beach. 

When I got to Sunshine Coast I was instantly taken in by the wonderful people that live here, within such a short time I already felt like old friends. I stayed at my friend Christian's house for the next 2 nights and was so grateful to be staying with such an awesome family!

And this place, this my friends is Noosa. This is my new happy place. 

I spent the day reading, body boarding, boogie boarding and soaking up the rays on this beautiful white sand beach. I am telling you, beaches don't get much better then this.

Ah, I love this place.

 Sunshine Coast was an amazing introduction to Australia. I felt really blessed with meeting the people I did. Everyone I met taught me something and it was sad to say goodbye. After 3 days it was time for me to move on to my next destination! Unlike Sunshine Coast, I had no one to go to or meet up with, my book was wide open and I was ready for an adventure! 

Waiting for the train- feeling quite independent in this picture.. ;)

Just a teaser

WOW. 2 full on weeks in Oz!! SO much to blog about! I will get there, but for now, here's a teaser of whats to come..

Luke- I am your father

So Pamela and I were in the kitchen and she introduced me to juicing, and I was noting how much work it is to actually eat healthy, she told me this story. 

There once was an old man who was sick. He was bed ridden and could hardly do anything for himself. He went to the doctors and was told he had an advanced cancer and there was no cure, nothing could be done and told him that he had 3 months to live. Instead of accepting defeat, he starting juicing. Juicing is a fast way to get nutrients and vitamins that your body needs fast, because it is just juice it absorbs quickly and it amazing how your body responds to natural nutrients, it fixes itself.

He would buy pounds and pounds of carrots and apples and all sorts of vegetables. He would drink so many carrots his skin started to develop an orange tint but it was working! After a while the old man started feeling alive again, more energy and strength, so he started walking. Then soon he started running! Now he runs marathons, cured the cancer himself, and lives an extraordinary life. Amazing story right?! But you know what the real shocker is? How he was mocked and ridiculed for the orange tint of his skin during the juicing process. That's when Pamela said "It doesn't matter what you do, people are always going to ridicule. That's why you pick what is right and makes you feel good and to heck with the rest of them!" 

I love that story. 

I'm over here practicing my kiwi accent..

and then I get on fb and I'm all...

My favorite feeling

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