I want to be a fish!

What an amazing week I have had!!

Last Friday, the 28th, we left for Cairns. Cairns is a tourist destination for the Great Barrier Reef. It is also the strangest town I have ever been to in my life. On one corner there was Louis Vuitton and across the street there was graffiti and boarded up windows. Things just didn’t make much sense. But we weren’t there for the town, so it didn’t matter much.

We had to be up early Saturday morning to make it down to the dock to catch the boat for our first day trip. There were about 100 other people on this boat with us. Once we got out to the reef, we had time to go snorkeling. We rented an underwater digital camera for the day, so we all took turns with it. The reef is GORGEOUS! It is absolutely amazing to be in the water at the reef with all the fish. 1500 types of coral. 1800 types of fish. So many colors and designs and the pictures don’t do it any justice.

With our day trip, we paid for an introductory dive for the people who aren’t scuba certified. After about half an hour of snorkeling, it was time for Sean, Annie, and I to dive with our instructor. I was a bit nervous at first because breathing with an oxygen tank was rather awkward, but you get used to it quick when it’s your lifeline. The coral was beautiful and the fish were everywhere. It doesn’t bother them at all to have people diving with them. They swim under and over and all around you. It is so cool.

Our introductory dive lasted about 20 minutes and our instructor was nice about taking pictures for us. As soon as I got back on the boat, I knew I had to do a second dive. So we had lunch and moved to a different area of the reef. There we got to do a second dive for about 30 minutes with a little more freedom to go at our own pace and check out the things we wanted to see. There was a sting ray hanging out right by us for a couple minutes. We were also able to touch a clam, but when you touch it’s “mouth” it closes shut. Kinda fun. Diving was such a relaxing experience.

The weather started to suck just as we started to head back to land, which wasn’t a big deal because we could all fit inside the boat. Atleast the rain held out for us until the end of the day.

We got back to land and headed to a bar that had free meals for people staying in hostels. We called it a night pretty early because we had to be up early again on Sunday.

Sunday was a completely different experience out on the water. We were on a small sail boat with about 30 people. It took two hours to get out to the reef and I was kinda worried about how the day was going to be. Once we anchored we were given time to snorkel. But with the rougher water it was very difficult and sorta made you seasick. Not cool. So Sean, Annie, and I decided to pay the extra money to dive again! This instructor was really good and took us around to different things we could touch and feel. First she handed us a sea cucumber that felt really strange. Sea cucumbers are “animals” that lay on the floor of the ocean and eat/clean the sand. Not really much to them. Then she had us feel spaghetti coral, which looks like wet spaghetti noodles swaying in the water. It was really silky. There was an area of the reef that was like a bed of spaghetti coral and she had us lay down in it. SO cool! When I was sitting up from the spaghetti coral, I realized I was in the middle of a school of fish. Intense. Fish surrounded me!

While we were diving, we saw some Nemo fish (yes, I know they are really called clown fish), another sting ray, and some other types of coral that weren’t at our first dive sites. Then, just as our time was ending, our instructor lead us back to the boat and signaled for us to watch for sharks. They had told us about black tip reef sharks that hang out in the area. So we were watching for them under the boat. Just as we are getting ready to climb back in the boat, we see one! It was swimming on the other side of the boat! It didn’t stay where we could see it for long, but still… We saw a shark. I was very pleased with that dive. Then just as we finish lunch, the crew starts throwing the leftover chicken into the water. Four sharks came to the boat and were fighting over the chicken! SO cool to see! They weren’t huge, but they were big enough to not want to mess with them.

After our little shark session, we get a little boat ride over to Green Island. This is a small island that is owned by a 5-star resort. We got to hang out on the beach and swim in the water. Damn near paradise! We were on the island for about 2 hours before boarding the boat again. Then we were on our way back to land. On the trip back, we were given cheese and wine, fresh fruit, and desserts. I was in heaven! After a while, the captain had the crew put up the sails and turn off the motor. So we were actually sailing home. It was very calming. Loved it.

Monday morning we caught a bus to Cairns Tropical Zoo. The first thing on our agenda: hold a koala! Adorable. They are so damn cute! They sleep like 19 hours a day! I would love that! There was a koala maternity ward area with baby koalas by their mothers. Too precious! Then we checked out the red pandas, the dingoes, the wombats, the wallabies, the cotton topped monkeys, and a handful of other animals. There was a crocodile show that we went to that was crazy to see. They were like taunting them and feeding them. Not a job I would ask for. There was also an area that you could go in to hand feed the kangaroos. Too cute. They would eat right out of your hand and gather in a line in front of you. Loved it! We flew home on Monday night, but had to be up for my 8am class Tuesday morning. Yuck!

Last night (Thursday) was Auction Night at the college. People volunteer to auction themselves off with the profit going to Bear Cottage, a donation based children’s hospital here in Manly. Caitlin was being auctioned off. She did such a good job and brought in $350. Impressive. But the best act was two guys from New York. Two very beautiful and ripped guys, all oiled up in nothing but pants and a tie. No complaints here. They were hilarious and did I mention beautiful?! They went for $650. Not too shabby. Overall, the auction raised $5000. When the auction ended, we all headed down to the bar. We went to a bar that I had never been to, Henry Afrikas. Thursday nights are salsa dancing there. So much fun! I suck, but it’s still fun.

Few things I am learning about myself:
-If I find a good book, I LOVE to read. I have read 3 books since I have been here and I have two going at once right now!!
-I can talk myself into doing just about anything, even if I know it’s something I wouldn’t normally do back home… ex. Skydiving, spending too much money too often, etc.
-My mouth waters thinking about Cadbury chocolate… Hershey’s sucks.
-I LOVE tartar sauce.
-Champagne is my weakness. $20 a bottle and my night is set!
-I love how big Michigan State is. Whatever happens in Manly, everyone at ICMS knows. It’s like high school.
-Thumb drives are amazing. There is one on my key ring at all times.
-Hmm… I know there is more…

School is no fun. Dr. McRae is still a psycho. I love my events teachers. And hopefully I pass all my classes. Mom and Dad will kick my @$$ if I don’t. Classes here are harder though. The teachers are very vague and expect you to read their minds about assignments. It’s funny, but it sucks. Lots of group projects and assignments. 70% is passing here, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed!

Heard it got up to like 60 degrees one day this week back home?! Nice! Spring is finally there.

Hope things are going good for everyone. I can’t believe I am home in 43 days. So weird! I don’t know if it is like, wow I am going to be back home in 43 days, or if it is like, dang I have already been here for 66 days.

Tomorrow we are going to the aquarium and The Rock Markets. Then on Sunday, I have class from 9:30am-5pm. We learn EventsPro, an event management computer program. Not excited to sit in class ALL day for that.

Love&Miss.
Erica Jo




Red Fish. :)

Yellow Fish. :)

Annie, Me, and Sean on our introductory dive. <3

Me checking out a "small" clam... There were many MUCH larger than this one.

Two of the black tip reef sharks by our boat.




Nemo! :)

The first sting ray that we saw.

Sean, Stephanie (Texas), Caitlin, Me, and Annie with the koala.

Adorable! <3 I wanted to take it home with me!

This was the small crocodile, the female. The male was HUGE, like 15 feet long.

This was amazing. The kangaroos were too cute!