Well this is not the country I expected to be writing this blog in. I’ll touch on it once I get to that part of the week, but I am unexpectedly still find myself in Sydney at this time, awaiting the chance to head to Auckland. While this has not been the most enjoyable process, the first few days of last week made for an amazing end to my major Australian adventures.
Monday was spent traveling around the Atherton Tablelands, hiking around the rainforests instead of out in the middle of the ocean. We first stopped at a trail where we walked alongside a sacred aboriginal river. Due to the way that the current moves, it is an extremely dangerous river to swim in, but was beautiful to look at. Thankfully, further upstream, there was a very calm area where we were able to wade in the water to cool off some from the hike.
We then stopped for lunch which had another aboriginal water feature. This waterfall (below) was believed to have special healing capabilities and was seen as extremely sacred to their civilization. Other sections of the river had other purposes and many different ceremonies revolved around the body of water. This was also where we stopped for a quick lunch before heading along to our next stop.
The sacred falls
The waterfall was my favorite stop of the day. As if out of a movie, we were all drawn into the cold water and swam to the backside of the water. On the side was a handful of rocks where everyone hung out and took in the beauty of our surroundings. It was a very peaceful place, even with about 100 swimming tourists, and was a great opportunity to take in how amazing of an experience this entire semester has been.
We then stopped at one last lake to give people a final chance to swim. Ultimately, I stayed back with a handful of people to just enjoy watching the wildlife around the lake. After 2 days full of swimming, I was very tired but still enjoyed the surroundings. This also gave me a really great opportunity to get to know more of the non-Bucknell students who also found themselves in Cairns for spring break.
The lake that some people chose to swim in
A sign that may have also played a role in me not swimming in the lake
Our second to last stop was at a curtain fig tree. While most are found in Queensland, there are very few of these trees found around the world. The tree had a very nice path around it and towered over us as we walked around the walkway.
The Curtain Fig Tree
Lastly, we set foot down one final nature walk with the hopes of finding a tree kangaroo and/or a platypus. While the walk began very quiet, we suddenly heard a loud wave of very strange and high-pitched squeaks from above. When we looked up, we saw hundreds of bats asleep. Unfortunately for us, these bats were so loud that the scared the tree kangaroos away from their normal spots, preventing us from seeing us. Fortunately, we did have an extremely brief platypus sighting when it quickly came up for air before re-submerging itself underwater. This was enough of a success to head back to the resort where everyone had a relatively calm night due to being so physically exhausted.
Bats hanging from trees above us
The dark spot in the water was the platypus, we only saw it for a brief second before it went back underwater
Tuesday was the hottest day of the trip where we went to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures. Hartley’s is home to a wide array of Australian birds, land creatures, and of course reptiles. Our first activity was a boat tour through the lagoon that 30 crocodiles call home. We watched as our skipper teased crocs with food on a stick. It was extremely exciting to be this close to a crocodile as it charged up out of the water and I learned a lot about the species.
One of the crocs in the main lagoon
We then walked around the park seeing more koalas, petting another python, and exploring the reptile house. The most exciting animal in my opinion was an 18-meter python that is the largest snake in captivity in Australia. We headed back to learn about crocodile farming, which I found extremely interesting. Crocodiles are raised in Australia in a very similar way to other livestock around the world. The reason for the farming is due to the extreme hunting that crocodiles experienced in the 1950s as crocodile leather became a very valuable commodity. It was then outlawed due to the major impacts it had on the wild crocodile population and as a result, crocodile farms began to be created. As a condition of this, every part of the crocodile must be used whether for meat, leather, or keepsakes.
The 18-meter python
A picture looking into one of the crocodile farm pens
Afterwards, we decided to partake in trying crocodile for lunch. It is pretty similar to chicken in my opinion but I don’t think I would go out of my way to eat it again. We then tried to take advantage of the other parts of the park by watching a talk about snakes, walking through the bird enclosures, and finishing with Hartley’s famous crocodile show.
The crocodile from the final show
Wednesday we traveled to Fitzroy Island for the whole day. While I had packed for a calmer beach day, this was far from the experience that I had. Once we arrived at the island, I asked one of our guides if the hike to the summit of the island’s tallest mountain would be suitable in flip flops. He told me yes, and I trailed ahead with a group of Bucknellians and other students. Very quickly, I realized he was wrong. Even with close-toed shoes, this hike would have been one of the steepest that I have done in my life, with very few stairs and mostly steep incline paths. By the time we made it to these slopes, I felt that I had gone too far to quit and continued along the 2-mile uphill hike until we eventually reached the summit. The view was very nice and we took our time to head back down afterwards. This gave me another great chance to get to know some of the students from other schools. I would not recommend doing this hike in flip flops, but I had a good laugh about it and look back fondly on the experience.
The view from the mountain peak
After lunch, I had pre-booked a cruise on a small glass-bottom boat. Joining a few other Bucknellians, I was amazed at how well we could see the reef and learned a lot about the different types of corals from our boat captain. Over by shark fin beach (one that people couldn’t snorkel on), we drove over a major section of reef that was very vibrant and beautiful to look at.
Shark fin beach (named after the one rock sticking out that looks like a fin)
Looking down into the reef through the glass floor boat
While crunched for time, a few of us on the boat went directly to the island’s sea turtle rehabilitation center to learn more about their efforts and organization. I had no idea that Australia is home of 6 of the world’s 7 sea turtle species. We also learned that green sea turtles (like the ones that they are rehabilitating) shed their shells and had the opportunity to hold some of the pieces. The turtle that we saw is expected to be released back to the wild within the next few months after being treated for an infectious disease and a condition that results in consumed plastic being trapped under the turtle’s shell, causing it to float and preventing them from diving as deeply as they should. This made up for me not seeing a turtle as I was snorkeling and I was very disappointed that they did not sell any merchandise to help support their efforts more.
The sea turtle we learned about in the turtle talk
While we were inside learning about turtles, it began to rain and so everyone hunkered under shelter for most of the rest of the afternoon, talking and trying to stay dry. After we got back to Cairns, a group of us went out for Chinese food and frozen yogurt before finally calling it a day after a few exhausting days in a row.
View of Fitzroy Island from the ferry as we went back to Cairns
Unfortunately, the rest of my spring break was an extremely stressful scramble to try and have my visa approved before the end of the workweek. Even though I had applied for the visa over a month in advance and submitted the additional medical documents they had requested, my status remained listed as pending. I spent both days sending countless emails, calling everyone I could find at the immigration office, and making contingency plans. 5 pm on Friday (Auckland time) and I knew that I would be spending an additional weekend in Sydney.
Once I arrived back in Sydney, I dropped off my bags and spent the day at the mall. I didn’t end up buying anything but killed time and got a much needed haircut. Afterwards, I met Deven, one of the interns headed to Singapore on a later flight, for dinner down by the rocks. This gave me the chance to say goodbye to one of the friends I made over spring break and be down near the Opera House one more time. I took the rest of the night easy after a long and mentally draining day of travel.
One final look at the Opera House from the rocks
Sunday was a relatively quiet day. Matt, another one of my new non-Bucknell friends from spring break, and I spent the day watching the Melbourne F1 race between grabbing lunch and dinner which prevented me from feeling lonely since nearly everyone else has left Australia.
Finally, today, I saw one of the most comforting sights possible, an bold “APPROVED” on my New Zealand immigration portal. After a virtual first day at my internship, I hope to find myself either in or on the way to Auckland within the next 24 hours. While I am missing a once in a lifetime concert in a small venue by one of my three all time favorite bands tonight, I am very happy to have a sense of certainty after a month-long waiting process that I will be in Auckland shortly.