My parents arrived last Thursday and since then it has been one non-stop puddle-hop. On their one night in Melbourne, I showed them the sights and gave them a grand tour in the pouring, FREEZING rain.
Then, we started our great Australian adventure in Kyneton, a tiny Australian bush town. We stayed at a wildlife sanctuary and saw tons and TONS of kangaroos, parrots, Aussie magpies and wallabies (including some babies much to my mother’s delight). We also made friends with a local possum my mother aptly named Apple. AND I found the largest mushrooms I have ever seen. They were circling a large eucalyptus tree and were easily easily four feet tall each!
We also visited Bendigo where one of the area’s gold mines had been shut down and renovated into a tourist exhibit. We were able to go down into the mine to about thirty feet under the surface and watched as our tour guide (who looked stunningly like Richard Gere) operate the old, prop machinery in the tunnels. Then we got a chance to mine for gold ourselves, in a little gold panning setup they had on the property. It was great fun. The water was hand-numbingly cold (I should know) and only my mom found the yellow specks everyone was searching for, but that’s never what trully matters in the end.Â
One day, I begged my parents to take me on the Great Ocean Road, which stretches along the coast of at least Victoria (I don’t know how much farther). It was incredible. It was drizzley and cool and the water was slate grey–the perfect Ocean Road color. We saw the 12 Apostles and stopped in for lunch in Apollo Bay.
Finally, on Thursday I returned to Melbourne to take my final final–for Microbiology and Immunology. I think I aced that three-hour exam and deservedly I celebrated with my friends and my parents at my favorite local pizza joint, Bimbo’s. Yesterday, we arrived in Port Douglas, which is north of Cairns in Queensland. It’s seven hours south of the tip of Australia, which we plan to visit in the coming days. Although prices have quadrupled in the last five years, the town is still as laid-back and fun-loving as ever. I love it here. Today, we took a trip up to the Daintree rainforest and hiked several trails into the mangroves and walked a few miles on beautiful golden beaches. The beauty and intricacy of nature, especially here, never ceases to amaze me. There are few places more exotic and still so connected to the modern world. Even now I miss the misty green hills and crocodile-harboring streams of the Daintree. We saw a massive spider and ate ice cream at the Daintree Ice Cream Company.
The entrance sign across the river, in the Daintree!
…a croc-infested river…
Oh…and I also ran into a ninety-year old man named Kenny that I befriended back when I was fifteen. He’s still kickin’ it, dancing up a storm with all the lovely young ladies and he’s still as sweet as ever.
hum in the forest,
Jordan
Quote of the week:
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”
- Charles M. Schulz
