Cuddling, Diving, Jumping!

Oh my goodness it has been an eventful couple days with Mackenzie!

Let me see, where did I last leave off? Mackenzie and I had a very successful Taco night after we went to Luna Park. We had a mini fiesta of tacos and chips and salsa for dinner. The next day we decided to head to the botanical gardens. It was really pretty, even though there were not a lot of flowers, considering it is winter. We walked around the water to get a different view of the Opera House and Bridge and of course ran into a bunch of asian tourists. We got back to Circular Quay right before the rain started to pour. We had lunch and then decided to check out the Museum of Contemporary Art since it was raining and we didn't have anything else to do. It was....interesting to say the least, luckily it was free. We were planning on going to the rugby match that night, but it kept raining and the stadium doesn't have much of a roof, so we decided that it wasn't the best idea. It ended up working out because we had a big dinner to celebrate Carl and Stephen's birthdays. We had tacos, chili, and nachos for everyone. After dinner we all hung out for a while before finally getting some sleep.

The next day we decided to go Whale Watching, since it was our last day in Sydney before going to Cairns. I was really worried that we weren't going to see anything, but we actually saw two sets of two whales. It was really cool and they seemed really close. There were a couple times with the first set that we could see their tail fins come up. We got to see a second set of whales come all the way out of the water twice! Of course, I couldn't manage to capture a good picture of it though. Mackenzie started to feel a bit sea sick from being out on the boat for so long so we spend most of the ride home inside.

We left for Cairns bright and early on Sunday morning. We got there and the weather was great! I could be outside without a jacket and it was soooooo nice! We got to our hostel, checked in, and headed into town to go to the zoo. The zoo was ok, nothing too special, but we got to hold a Koala! The Koala was so cute, her name was Gina and she was just about to turn two years old. I got to hold her first and then Mackenzie. Of course we had to get a picture of the two of us together. Once we got our picture with the Koala we were pretty content with the day so we just wandered around the zoo. We saw the Kangaroos when they were all sleeping and then went back after they started to wake up. We found the cutest Joey too! After making sure we saw everything we caught the bus back to town. We were going to walk around the mall a bit, but everything began to close at 4pm, so that didn't really happen. We went to Coles to get some stuff for breakfast for the next few days and then got McDonalds for dinner. We tried so hard to find something to keep us up for a while after dinner, but ended up falling asleep around 7:30.

Monday morning, we had a 7:30 pick up to head down to the reef for scuba diving. We made sure to take some sea sick tablets this time to ensure no problems on the boat ride. We headed out to the reef and stayed inside most of the time just because we didn't want to be in the sun all day. There were about 5 people who started to get sick within 30 minutes of leaving the harbor. I was really worried that was going to be one of us on the way home, but we did ok and took our medicine regularly throughout the day and ended up with no problems at all. We were lucky enough to be in the first scuba group so we got ready before we got to our first stop. After getting all suited up, we jumped on into the water and got ready to head out into the reef. I was a little worried that Mackenzie wasn't going to be comfortable with the scuba diving because she kept bringing her head out of the water, but everything was ok, and we were on our way with the instructor and one other person in our group. We stayed attached for a while, but shortly after she let us go by ourselves. We saw a couple stingrays laying in the sand, a few families of Nemos, and 3 sea turtles. It was so cool to swim right by the turtles. I didn't see any turtles when I went scuba diving during my orientation, so this was even cooler. They were so close and we just swam right next to them for a while. We were down for about 30 minutes before heading to the boat to get ready for snorkeling. We went on our snorkeling adventure more just to take pictures and goof off since we had already seen a better view of the reef. After snorkeling it was time for lunch! We had lunch and then layed out on the front of the boat. We didn't have too much time before we had to get ready for our next scuba dive. We decided to pay extra to go on the second dive because it was so cool the first time. We got to go for about 45 minutes the second time and go even deeper. We didn't see any turtles this time, but we did see a lot more coral and fish. Our guide even brought some left over lunch with her to feed to the fish. They would come and eat right in front of us. One even tried to nibble at my fingers when she was feeding them haha. We made it back and shortly began our venture back to the harbor. The boat ride back wasn't too bad and we got to talk to some of the scuba instructors and take a bit of a nap. After scuba diving we came back and took a much needed shower, I was so happy that my hair did not feel like a gross mat of salt water. We went to dinner at Cactus Jacks and then headed back a little later than the night before.

We had a big day on Tuesday as we got up around 8 to get ready for our adventure. We had a pick up at 9am and had to stop by the office to fill out some paperwork before heading to the airport. Because there were a lot of people that wanted to get videos and pictures we had to wait a little longer before we could leave. We walked around Cairns a little, but didn't really have anything to do so we went back and took a tiny nap at the office. Finally around 11, the group before us came back! They were a bit wet from the rain and I was really worried that the rain wouldn't stop for our dive. We got all suited up and met the tandem masters we were going with, but then we got a call that the airplane wasn't back yet, so we had to wait. At some point during our wait, it started raining again so we had to wait even more. It was even harder waiting around while you were all strapped into the equipment. Finally we got the go ahead to leave. We all hopped into the van and we were on our way to the airport. You could see a bit of sun in the sky and we were keeping our fingers crossed that it stayed that way. When we got to the airport we all headed out and wait for the plane. Let me tell you, that was one tiny plane! Mackenzie and I both started to get a bit more nervous. Finally the plane pulled in front of the gate and we got the go ahead to get on. Two of the guys jumping got on first and then Mackenzie. Of course I was the last one to get on, what does that mean...I was the first to jump!!! We started to move down the runway and the huge door was still open! Finally they shut it, but it was a clear sliding door that didn't do much. For being such a small plane I actually did ok on take off and flying. We kept going up and up and up and up. I never thought we were going to hit 11,000 ft. Next thing I knew, I was being strapped to my instructor and he was tightening everything up for the last check. As soon as that was done the door was being opened and that was when it really hit me that I was about to jump out of this plane! Before I had any time to think, my feet were being swung over the edge and were hanging outside of the plane! One....Two...Three and were were gone! The first jump right out of the plane happened so fast and was such a crazy feeling. There really are no words to explain how crazy it felt! I just remember seeing blue, clouds, and a bit of grass here and there. Finally we I was going straight and was free falling! I had to remember to keep smiling for the camera guy and even gave him a couple thumbs ups! I was surprisingly really enjoying the free fall!!! It is such an amazing feeling and it happens so fast. Next thing I know, we were pulling the cord and up went the parachute. The guy I went with kept asking me how I liked it and I didn't even have words. It was a great ride down and so cool to see the beach and the mountains of Cairns. I did get to see Mackenzie's parachute open and that made me feel much better!! We had a bit of a rough landing, it is much harder to get your legs up when you are heading toward the ground than you think it would be. Mackenzie landed shortly after me and I still couldn't believe that we just jumped out of an airplane. It happened soooooo fast and it was absolutely amazing. We headed back to the office and waited about an hour to get our pictures and videos. We watched the videos and both just freaked out when we saw ourselves jump, well more like be pushed, out of the plane. I am pretty sure that it still hasn't really hit both of us that we really did jump! We went to dinner in Cairns for our last night and splurged on some drinks and desserts to celebrate a good end to a wonderful trip.

We got picked up at 4:30 the next morning and headed to the airport. We were there pretty early, as usual, but still had a bit of a line to get through security. I was randomly chosen to have my bag and clothes swabbed to make sure their was nothing associated with explosives on my stuff. It was quite entertaining to talk to the guy while I was going through it. We had hungry jacks for breakfast and then boarded our plane. Our plane was actually much smaller than what I am typically comfortable with, but considering the fact that I jumped out of a really really really small plane, I figured I would be ok with this one. We had about 25 rows of 2 by 2. It was a bit rocky on the landing, but not to bad other than that. As soon as Mackenzie and I got back we started downloading all of our pictures and videos from our trip to Cairns. Mackenzie is working on video stuff so I am sure both of them will be online somewhere soon! We spent most of the day relaxing and working on that. We are going to have dinner soon and then start to get Mackenzie packed a bit. Hopefully it shouldn't be too hard and we don't run into any problems. Mackenzie takes off around 2:30 tomorrow afternoon so we will spend the morning just relaxing and doing any last minute packing before I ship her off to the airport. No, no, I am not really shipping her off the airport. I have to stay with her the whole time and I will (stop freaking out mom, I will stay until she takes off and then I will call you). I can't believe that Mackenzie leaves tomorrow and I only have 4 weeks left of my internship before making my way back to the states!