The third week of my time spent in Australia began with a pleasant surprise. My UNO professor invited me to join him in attending a live event put on by The Moth Radio Hour. For those unaware, The Moth is a non-profit organisation that presents themed events to promote the art of storytelling. It wasn’t until the day of the event that I had even heard of The Moth so going in I had no expectations at all. This event’s particular theme was Chemistry and it took the audience on an emotional journey, there were stories of joy, misadventures, love, and tragedy. The whole range of human emotions was broached that night and it was a beautiful evening to experience. This particular event was called a ‘story slam’, and was the last before the final ‘grand slam’ in which the winners of the previous events all tell another story competing for the champion title. Sydney will be having a grand slam tomorrow night and I plan on attending!
This week also saw the conclusion of my class offered by the University of Sydney: Australian Film, Theatre and Learning. Throughout this three week rush course every student was assigned to present on a given film or play and this week I gave my presentation. It was over the Australian film “They’re a Weird Mob”, a comical movie from the 1960’s chronicling the adjustment to life in Sydney of an Italian immigrant. I have to say, watching the movie was quite enjoyable as some of the depicted interactions were experiences I myself have encountered. However, without any context this film will leave one smiling and I wholeheartedly recommend watching it if given the chance.
The day my last class ended, I headed for the Sydney airport to catch a flight to Cairns (pronounced Cans) for the weekend. Cairns is located on the Northeastern coast of Australia. The main reason for our visiting this small coastal town a quarter the population of Omaha was its adjacency to the Great Barrier Reef, my fellow UNO students and I were going to take a boat a couple miles off shore to go snorkeling on the reef. We would be setting sail the next day, in the mean time we all went out to a local pub for some celebratory drinks. Many students decided to pack it in early for the night, but a few of us and our professor decided to stay out a little later and take in the atmosphere. A live band would be playing soon, but before that there was an advertised dance-competition in which the winners of each round would be awarded a free drink. At the urging of my friends I joined in and actually ended up winning a round! We hung out a bit longer and listened to the band play popular cover tunes…in Australian accents. As we were heading out I befriended one of the workers named Isaac, he would go on to be a recurring character in our Cairns adventures.
Early the next morning we walked to the wharf from which our boat was departing from and after a slow boarding process, we were well on our way to the Great Barrier Reef. This would be a two hour trip off shore and during the first portion of this time, we were given some informative presentations on what we could expect to see and how to handle sea-sickness should it occur. Fortunately, I’ve been able to avoid sea-sickness before and hoped to do so again. Towards the end of the presentation being given to us I decided to check out the top deck of the boat and get some fresh air and get a better view. I climbed up the stairs and was immediately treated to an amazing view the ocean surrounding us with the coast of Australia slowly disappearing in the distance. I spent the remainder of the ride out having one of the ephemeral and philosophical conversations that we all have sometime, with a Norwegian individual. We touched on topics ranging from Absurdity to past travels and cultural differences. Our conversation came to a natural end when we were informed the vessel had reached its destination.
The UNO gang
At this point, the real excitement kicked in for me and I was exceptionally eager to jump in the water. I donned my wet-suit, put on some sunscreen, grabbed my goggles, snorkel, and flippers then made my way to the back deck of the boat. So, I’ve swam in the ocean before, I’ve even swam a considerable distance from shore, but as I sat on the edge of the boat with nothing but ocean around me and no land in site, I was surprised to feel a sense of trepidation creep into the back of my mind. After this moment of hesitation I threw myself into the water. Immediately I was breathless, it was a sensory overload. It was a considerable amount to take in: submerged in the cool water of the Pacific, the taste of the salt, the sound of the water flowing all around me, and of course the reef below me. Swimming in the ocean miles from land is a completely different experience than swimming inland in a river or lake. It induces a completely different mental state, one of adrenaline and heightened awareness, a feeling that I don’t get the opportunity to experience in my daily life.
Everywhere I looked there were fishes of all sizes and colors continuing on their daily routine with any care of my presence. The coral came in as much variety as the fishes that lived among it. There was so much going on it was difficult to focus on any one thing. In addition to this I had some trouble with my snorkel, I was having a difficult time keeping water out of it and felt I was constantly having to eject water from it. I later found out that it was bent in the wrong direction, and after fixing this it was much easier to breathe. At this site one of the first things I saw was a sea turtle swimming near the surface, this little guy was beautiful but wasn’t too keen on sticking around once more people jumped in the water. Swimming further from the boat I saw plenty of colorful fish and even saw some giant clams, the water was not that deep where they were and I saw one of the other swimmer’s flippers brush against them and they reacted by shuttering and, well I guess clamming up actually.
After spending about an hour at this location, we were called back to the boat where we then traveled to a second location for some more snorkeling. Before arriving there, one of the crew members announced that they would be offering a guided tour around this portion of the reef for anyone who was a capable swimmer and interested. Fortunately I checked both of those boxes so I put on my gear and headed for the water once we had made it to our destination. This time I was less hesitant to jump in the water so I eagerly hopped in the water, but was met with another surprise, I couldn’t see the ocean floor below me. This was definitely a spooky experience, normally one is used to knowing just how deep of water they’re in, and seeing nothing but blue below me definitely gave a new meaning to a fear of heights.
Once our guide was in the water with us we swam towards the reef and as we approached it, I saw the immediate drop off where the coral gave way to abyss. Throughout the extent of our reef tour, the guide pointed out a series of fish and species of coral, explaining a little bit about each’s purpose to the surrounding ecosystem. A definite highlight of the tour for me was when we came across a lone stingray slowly gliding across the ocean floor. Another interesting point was when our guide performed an impressive surface dive to retrieve a Sea Cucumber and went on to explain their importance to reducing ocean acidification as they are natural pH balancers. After the guided tour I was quite tired from swimming all day and decided to swim back to the boat a little early. The return trip was a bit uneventful for me, I was fortunate enough to sleep for much of it.
The next day some friends and I had another big adventure planned, we were being taken up into the mountains and jungle northwest of Cairns by a local guide. Unfortunately, in the morning before we were picked up, one of our friends had to cancel on account of feeling ill so we had a spare ticket for this excursion. Waiting outside of our hostel, less than 30 minutes before being picked up, we ran into our friend from the other evening, Isaac. Naturally we asked him if he wanted to join us and luckily, he had no plans and was eager to do so. After that moment of serendipity, we were picked up by our guide and we set off.
We were treated to a lovely drive up into the mountains, seeing the beautiful scenery of the jungle before us and being educated on much of the native wildlife. During this drive we also crossed several freshwater streams from which we were encouraged to drink from, the water being some of the cleanest natural spring water in Australia. The first location we stopped at on our day trip was a short wooden walkway through a portion of the jungle where we were able to go into the trees for a ways and see the environment more up close. We were informed of the relationships between many of the plants and animals native to this area including a species of tree that grows top to bottom, using other trees as a source for sprouting and letting their roots slowing grow down the length of the tree to the soil.
The second stop on our trip was at a cliff face overlooking a valley below us with a waterfall feeding into a river flowing through it. Part of the fun getting to this location was the short hike we had to take to get there which took us through a some trees and short brush. It was exciting to hike through this new environment which shared some similarities to the trails and hills near Omaha, yet still possessed many distinctly Australian qualities. We hiked further down the cliff face to get a closer view at the waterfall below us. This walk led us down a rocky path, eventually giving way to nothing but crag. The sites from this area were truly breathtaking.
The next place we visited was a small creek up in the mountains that was a portion of the larger network of waterfalls in the regions. Our guide informed us we were more than welcome to swim here which we took full advantage of. There was a small pooled area where the flowing water slowed enough for us to swim without any worry about any current. The water here was exceptionally cold, but refreshingly so. The cold of the mountain stream water felt invigorating against my skin and swimming in it with the mountains and landscape around me was a mesmerizing experience that I wish I could encapsulate with words. Sun light glowed against the rocks and sparkled on the water, the mountains surrounding us and trees all contributed to one of the most beautiful interactions I’ve had with nature. We spent a good half an hour to 45 minutes here. After swimming we were treated to coffee, tea, and crackers provided by our guide.
Issac and I 
Alex and I 
Couple of Cuties
We only had a couple more stops left after this, both of which provided further opportunity to bask in the glory of the Australian landscape. The first of these sites was the Barron Gorge, a massive cliff face cut into the Earth. This area often features a deafening waterfall, however given the season we were not treated to such a site, but the grandeur of the gorge was still evident. The second was the Henry Ross Lookout, a small roadside stop which overlooked the Pacific Ocean and the rural outskirts of Cairns with several more mountains in the background.
That night some friends and I stayed at Gilligan’s, a world ‘infamous’ hostel that I heard described as a “backpacker’s right of passage”. Given my experience there I would call it a perpetual nightclub with bunk rooms attached to it where the party never ends. I won’t get into too many details here but the highlights consist of: running into Isaac again, dressing in woman’s clothing to get a free drink, and having another existential philosophical discussion with a stranger, an Italian man this time. He and I hit it off so well that we exchanged contact information with the hopes of encountering each other again in our travels.
After staying at Gilligan’s, it was only Alex and I left in Cairns as most of our friends had returned to Sydney, the last two leaving the morning after our stay. Alex and my flight wouldn’t leave until that evening so we had a day to kill before then. We decided to take it pretty easy and simply wander aimlessly around town. After eating a delicious fruit bowl for breakfast at a local cafe, we visited a few music shops, sampling the merchandise at each. At one we managed to actually have a little jam in a back room, our first time playing together since before we left the States. Around mid-day we headed back for the coast, there was small artificial lagoon there for the public to use and I wanted to cool off. On our way there we stumbled across a didgeridoo store and obviously we had to stop in. The shopkeeper was quite a joyful guy happy to teach us about all the didgeridoos and other instruments they had on hand. Letting us play each of the instruments and even helping me with the technique of circular breathing. Easily the coolest shop we’ve visited during our travels here, we had to pick up some souvenirs, and since didgeridoos are a bit difficult to travel with, we purchased some small Aboriginal percussive instruments instead. After lounging at the lagoon for a few minutes, we decided to seek out some lunch. While eating on an outside patio we ran into, you guessed it, Isaac again. After sharing a few laughs about our interwoven weekends we went on our separate ways.
With the evening rolling around, we made our way to the Cairns airport to return back to our temporary home in Sydney. A weekend of adventure full of once in a lifetime experiences and new friends made. Cairns is without a doubt somewhere I hope to return to again in my life. This small coastal city in Queensland charmed me in a way I was not expecting. Thus far, it has been the most exciting and memorable portion of my travels in Australia. I have more adventures planned for the coming future and we shall see if they can compete with my weekend in Cairns (pronounced Cans).
I'm in Australia, Everything is Upside Down, and I'm Scared 