Jordan, ‘10

Well, this week has been quite eventful.  Actually, I can’t really remember all that has taken place or at least not in extreme detail, but I will recount for you the bits and pieces that are brightest in my memory.  WARNING:  these may or may not be in chronological order. 

We visited Undara volcanic national park, which looked like it was only a few hours away but was actually SEVEN hours away, one way.  The landscape was beautiful, even if we only had time to hike two of the trails.  

We visited Cooktown, up north.  WAY up north.  We aren’t, tragically, going to make it to the tip (because that’s a one or two day drive one way).  But that little town, for some reason, captured my overactive imagination.  I can’t seem to get those hills, that river, Finch Bay, or its one main street out of my mind.  We even saw a dingo.

We went snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef.  There were so many brilliantly colored animals to see.  The water was that delightful bright turquoise and warm, warm, warm!…that is, at least, if you stayed in for less than an hour at a time.  We saw a sea turtle, a red pineapple sea cucumber, flowering cods, giant clams the size of me, and I even got to swim with a grey shark…really up close and personal…and wild!!!  Sadly, I will have to wait until I get back to the states to develop my underwater photographs.

We visited Hartley’s Crocodile Farm, which is as sad as it sounds.  In
Queensland, all crocodile products have to come from farmed crocs.  This means no poaching.  That’s great.  But it also means that they raise crocodiles to kill them, which is a bit sad, especially to an animalphilic vegetarian like me.  Crocodiles are spectacular animals.

big caged croc

jumping caged croc

We also went on a wildlife river cruise of the Daintree River.  We saw crocodiles, snakes, and birds.  One crocodile was longer than the boat and HUGE!

green tree frogs in a gutter

wild croc!

wild girl!

wild snake!

In other news, my parents and I went out to an outdoor bar to listen to a reggae band and met a very, very drunk Kiwi (a person from
New Zealand).  He was a little rough, a little ragged, A LOT aggressive, and, obviously, completely smashed.  He definitely made that night an interesting one.

I’m off into the great blue wild again.  I’ll write back later with more of my adventures.

Croc dreamscapes and snakeskin,

Jordan

Quote of the week:

“In the beginning, man made god in his image…yep he did.”  - the drunk Kiwi; what a fountain of wisdom.  Hehe.