May 19-25, 2009: Sydney & Cairns:

After three days in Melbourne, we said our farewells and set off to Sydney.  The two days spent there, and the three following in Cairns were much more relaxing than those spent in Melbourne.  I still had much to worry about, but the bulk of the anxiety inducing problems that were to face me had been solved—I knew where I was going to live, how I would get around, a feel for the area, etc.

For whatever reason, neither my father nor I was very excited about the trip the Sydney.  We really only went there out of a feeling of necessity to see some of the major Australian landmarks.  It was mostly just an intermediary stop between Melbourne and Cairns.  But despite our lackluster initial emotions, it was relaxing and fun.  We saw the Opera house, the Sydney harbor bridge, and took a twilight ferry ride to Manly, one of the most famous beaches.  We rode an elevator to the top of the Sydney tower and even decked ourselves out in the standard issue jump suits to climb on top of the building, till a storm came through and canceled the adventure.

So after some relaxed touring of the city, resting up, and a six hour afternoon flight, we were in Cairns.  As opposed to Sydney we were both extremely excited about Cairns.  We had heard about the possibility of scuba diving on the reef and I was ecstatic about it.  The weather was phenomenal.  We were there in the beginning of winter and the temperature stayed around the eighties.  We did end up scuba diving, and snorkeling on the reef, and it was all it lived up to be.  Dad almost got out of scuba after an uncomfortable experience snorkeling, but I wouldn’t let him pass it up.  We saw tons of coral, clown fish (Nemo), sea turtles, a sea snake, and a bunch more.  The 6 hours we spent on the reef was my favorite part of our whole trip.  But the following day was by no means put in a shadow by its predecessor.  We spent it on the Skyrail, which was sort of a ski lift through the rainforest, and made a stop in a small town named, Kuranda.  After visiting the Haelsville sanctuary in Melbourne I figured we had met the peak of exposure to the Australian wildlife, so I was reluctant when my Dad pulled me into a tiny zoo in Kuranda that boasted its Koala cuddling.  But it may have been my second favorite spot other than the reef.  I did in fact get to cuddle with a Koala, along with feeding baby kangaroos, and seeing crocodiles and snakes from feet away.

Here are some pics from our time in Sydney and Cairns:

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