This week we spent our spring break in Cairns. We did a couple more activities from the last week as a group. On Tuesday we went to a crocodile farm that also has a zoo. We rode on the swamp boat through their swamp and got to see our guide interact with some of the crocodiles. One jumped out to grab the meat and it got high! We also got to learn about how they farm the crocodiles, learn about snakes at the snake show, and watch somebody put his feet in the water with a crocodile and get chased by it in the crocodile show. It was a cool experience, and even though I wasn’t able to get a great picture or video of the crocodiles on the boat, I got good pictures of the animals in the zoo.
On Wednesday, we went to Fitzroy Island. I chose to rent the snorkel equipment again because even though we did it once I wanted to check out the water around Fitzroy Island. When we first got there, I went on the hike to the summit of the island. It was beautiful, probably one of the best overlooks I have ever hiked to. Nudy Beach is the name of the beach on the island that I was able to snorkel at and even though it wasn’t as cool as the Great Barrier Reef it was still fun to check out.
On Thursday, a couple of friends and I went on a deep-sea fishing trip around the reef. Everybody caught at least one fish and a few of us kept a fish that we were able to keep and eat. I caught a Red Snapper, and we went to a restaurant that cooked our fish for us the same night.
Friday, I spent the day mostly packing and relaxing. It was a long week with a lot of physical activities, and I had to leave the hotel at about 5 am the next morning. Saturday, I spent the whole day traveling. I didn’t make it to Auckland until closer to 11 pm Saturday night.
Sunday, we had our orientation and went to lunch, then we went to eat and I got to explore Auckland some. I didn’t get to explore too much because I still had to settle in, but from what I did see I liked the city.
Today was the first day of my internship and it was mostly spent meeting my team, attending a meeting, getting all of my logins, and going through some training within those systems. So far everybody that I met is really nice and I am excited to work with them. I’m also excited to take some time on the weekends to see more places in New Zealand.