Sweat Sweat and more Sweat

My first stop in Australia was Darwin. Located in the upper northern region of Australia this sweltering inferno of sweatiness was something else.

Being that it's Darwin's wet season, the city its self...absolutely dead. I had a few good wanders through the city, but after being completely drenched in sweat and gobbling up Gatorade's like they were going out of style, there's not much else.

Also the skies began to open up, therefore I decided to move along, where it will be nice and dry, no moisture to speak of...in the city of Cairns.



What I didn't realize to check...was the weather. I ended up going into the eye of the hurricane. Torrential down pours, flooding in the majority of the city, 188mm of water and a cyclone 50 km off the coast of Cairns. Hmmm...well...at least this is the first time I've ever witnessed flooding and a tropical storm.



It was pretty fun, walking the streets of Cairns with this enormous spray of rain. Almost like someone had turned the shower on full blast and plugged up every drainage. Then it would stop for a small bit, just so you could relax...them WHAMMY...right back at it...WHOOOOOSH. So ya...I got soaked.

Therefore, time to head to the hostel...chill out and wait for the weather to pass.



Still, the day wouldn't be completely "washed away"(hehehe) as the hostel organized a large get together. It was a great time to meet everyone staying at the hostel and to see a little of the city. We got free t-shirts, dinner and a couple drinks for 10 dollars...so you really can't complain...that is...until I got home and realized...oh great...my wallets gone.




Luckily, nothing..."extremely" important was in it. Just 50 dollars, my drivers license, student card and hostling international card...you know...the basics. Still...loosing or getting something stolen sucks, but hey...its another experience I've never had, and it makes you learn. Basically, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

The next day I was pretty bummed about the whole lost wallet as I tried tracking it down, therefore I needed something to shake things up...you know...basically rock my world. So then what better way to do that than something...uber extreme.

Like Bungy Jumping...boooyah.



This wouldn't have happened unless I met these great guys and girl the night before. One of the guys I met the night before threw me the idea of bungy jumping...I thought to myself...heck...I've never done anything really extreme...let's shake my foundation...so I agreed.

Therefore, the group of us rented a car, drove up to the bungy jump place and commenced operation...jump of life. To tell you the truth...I wasn't that fazed by the drive there, the sign up and the walk to the top. Maybe it was because I was just ignoring that I was actually doing this, but as soon as I strapped on the bungy cord and started making my way to the edge...wow...the emotions just started flooding. I thought to myself...geez...I'm actually doing this...I must be crazy.



I brought my toes to the line...tried not to look down...and then the lady started counting me down to jump...



Afterwards, I was still in shock...it was such a rush and an inexplainable experience that I was speechless. I literally couldn't find the words to explain it.


It was funny how I turned numb to the whole thing...until I got some food in me, then I snapped out of it. Wow right now...that was the best thing ever.

Next part of the day, was to take a nice relaxing drive out to a picturesque waterfall location. It was pretty cool driving around North Western Australia, seeing the vast array of trees, bananas and unique vegetation in the area.



Not only did I see all the green, I noticed two names, that I'm sure I've seen before.Edmonton and Innisfail...hmm weird.



Now this was a huge debate for me. Scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef. I knew I wanted to and how awesome it would be, but just the expenditure of the whole thing was putting a little damper on the idea. However, after thinking about it, talking with others, and being able to find the cheapest dive place in the area...I signed up.

Boy oh boy am I glad that I did. 3 dives...perfect weather conditions, a beautiful sunny day, the calmest waters I've ever seen, and so clear you could see the bottom 15 meters away. BOOOYA...this is why I love diving.



Another great part to the dive was, I turned out to be the only certified diver that day. So I got a little special attention and didn't have to wait around for anything...if I wanted to dive...I was first priority.

I thought diving in Thailand was great...well...diving on the great barrier reef, made diving in Thailand look like playing at a childrens park then going to Disneyland.



I was blown away with the enormous amount of sea life down there. It was like diving into a massive aquarium. The reefs and the fish were amazing, stuff I've never seen before or just seen pictures in books. I saw sharks, turtles, enormous fish as big as me and coral...wow coral as far as the eye can see and unique only to here.



This is exactly why I'm glad I've taken my dive course and why I love diving, just seeing all this life up close and very personal. I even got to follow an enormous sea turtle for about 10 minutes. Now snorkling is good, but you just can't possibly do something like that.

Another bonus about scuba diving...you meet tons of different people. So I met a group of awesome Australians so that night, we shared in some drinks, laughs and a good night on the town. It's crazy to think that by taking one step forward...all these other doors open up.

Well...first couple weeks in Australia and I can already say...love the country...the heat is intense like nothing I've ever felt before, a little expensive, but all in all great fun. Now I'm off to Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and another great part, my Birthday is on the same day as Australia's national holiday...it's going to be pretty crazy.