Tuesday - BIG HIKE
So today was a day for awesome hiking and sight seeing. We went over to a mountain climbed up and up until going up seemed no longer possible. Rising through roots and stems, up through the rickety rainforest we finally mounted the top to look over the epic views of Cairns and the ocean beyond. It was definitely a tough climb, but was completely and utterly worth every step and cut and scrape, and was not a shabby place to have lunch! After hanging out and taking some awesome photos we hopped down the mountain (quite literally, since it was so steep and slippery) and jumped into a river slide! That was really cool and of course being stanford students some of the guys redirected the water with sticks and rocks in order to make the slide more forceful.
Then on the way home we snuck into a mango winery and tried some of the local brew, which was very tasty! I even split a bottle to share later that night (which was delicious =). The ride home was awesome and we belted out classics like bohemian rhapsody and american pie all the way. All in all, an exhausting day, but also one of the best =D.
Wednesday - Riding, water holes and funsies
Woke up and had some breakfast and headed out to a horse riding facility out in the bush. We got there and were greeted by an array of dogs and the familiar smell of horses in dry heat. In no time I was back in the saddle (which feels good after so long without it) and we headed out into the jungle on our noble steeds. The trail was thick with vegetation and the moving slow, though, as an experience rider, I got to gallop up a few hills (which was fun =D). We stopped briefly by a view of a waterfall and ocean over Cairns, which was beautiful and crazy all the same. AS we headed back, I was able to run up the hill home to the most picturesque view of horses eating on a field with the rainforest as a background. To top off the wonderful morning we had the best fruit smoothie ever (it had all of the good stuff: mangoes, papaya, strawberries etc).
Sadly we said goodbye to the horses, and headed off home where I ended up at the water hole once again where we played a riveting game of monkey in the middle with a frisbee. Later I played nertz and did some laundry and somehow the time disappears as it does here so quickly.
Thursday - wallabies, beaching, and Cairns/ civilisation
We woke at 4:30 in order to get on the road and drive all the way down to Cairns in order to watch wild wallaby in a paddock near a lawn bowling centre. This was optional in order to help collect data for someones research project. Essentially we would document their behaviour over a 5 minute interval and essentially hang out with really cool australian wildlife. They would jump, and eat, and be vigilant if we stirred too much.
Then we had time whilst they were being lazy and sleeping during the heat of the day so we went to the beach. Here we cruised in the water and played with frisbees and all that fun stuff. Even though it is technically jellyfish territory we figured if the locals were doing it, we could do it! No worries, we got no stings.
After our bout at the beach we headed into the city proper and were greatly saddened by the fact that the fresh fruit market was closed, but went to the mall instead. This felt like an overwhelming sense of city and urban life. We ventured into the target and were jealous of the cool cadbury options not available in the states. Also, they were already ready for christmas (I guess they don't have thanksgiving and halloween to look forward to). Meandering around the clothes and shops was fun but soon it was time to go back to the wallabies. This was conducted much the same as the morning, and nothing particularly exiting happened.
Exhausted we headed home and were stoked to eat the tacos for dinner and sad that the next day would be our last at Wetherby.
Friday - cattle, packing and talent?
Woke up as late as I could (which is 8 because the tent gets too hot for you to sleep after that) and decided to learn about the cattle with the pre-vets. Since the climate in australia is so dry the cross indian breeds of cattle with european ones to make the ultimate cow, which is cool. They also discussed how they control and castrate them ( which is all incredibly humane). I was struck by the quality of care and love the cows had for John ( the ranch owner) and how easily he would control them. We then watched the Temple Grandin movie, which was incredible both from a cattle ranching perspective, but also a disabilities perspective. I knew aspects of her story but the movie truly captured the brutality of the time and her incredible resilience to stand up in a world to make it her own. All for her greatest passion: cows.
Soon enough lunch rolled around and we spent time wandering, playing more cards and enjoying the environment on our last day. I forced myself to pack as best as I could and then went to help with the platypus research. We had to stay super silent, but surely enough we got to see the little guys swimming around the river bend! Since most Australians haven't seen platypus in the wild, this was a super cool experience (plus who doesn't love a good monotreme?). I said my last goodbye to the wallabies at our professors property and had one last boxing match and headed home.
Here we gathered around the camp fire and shared food, marshmellows, songs, jokes and an overall good time in order to end out wonderful adventure at wetherby. Though Heron Island is coming up, we are all sad to see such an awesome place go.
Saturday - bus, bus and more bus
We spent the entire day on the bus driving down from Cairns to where we leave for Heron Island.
The rest of the adventure you will discover in the next post ;)
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