Cairns!

On our first full day in Cairns (cans) we got picked up from Calypso Backpackers at 9:00 am. We took the greyhound bus to Kuranda and walked around the town. There were a ton of shops that sold souvenirs for reasonable prices. I was hungry in the morning and got another meat pie for breakfast. It was delicious as usual. After 2 hours of walking around we took gondolas up the Great Dividing Range. At the first stop we  got off and went to see a rain forests at Barron Falls. There was a sweet waterfall that dropped down 260 meters. We hopped back on the gondolas up to the top of the Great Dividing Range and back down to Cairns. Once we got off we went to Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park.

At Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park we walked to the souvenir store and looked at Aboriginal paintings and art. THere were boomerangs, didgeridoos, spears and much more. We than went to the stage and saw Aboriginal dance. They showed us how Aboriginals started a fire by scratch which I found to be fascinating. After we watched a play explaining the history of the Aboriginal culture. THe people that were acting out the play were playing the didgeridoos. I was exhausted by just watching them play the instrument because they had to use so much air but they made it look so easy. The best part was saved for last. The aboriginals took us to a yard where we all had the opportunity to throw boomerangs and spears. The boomerang so cool because I kind of got it to come back to me. It was only about 10 feet away which wasn't bad at all compared to other people. When I threw the spear it didn't go anywhere at all. It was extremely hard to throw but I'm sure with practice it would become much easier. Most kids ended up buying authentic boomerangs that were hand-made but I figured i didn't need it because there isn't much land for me to play around with it at home. It was neat that the kids got authentic souvenirs because they know it is real. We got back to the backpackers at 5 pm and have a long day tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are going to Fitzroy Island and than out to the Great Barrier Reef. I am praying that I don't get seasick because I really want to enjoy the incredible reef. I didn't rent an underwater camera because I can't predict how I will feel but I'm sure I can steal photos from some of my friends.