One Fish Two Fish, day 9, 10, and more

DAY NINE:
The last day of our trip had a nice late start. We grabbed some lunch and met up, hopping on that same open-top bus to head out towards the rainforest. While it was a really nice ride and you could see all the scenery really well, being on top of an open double-decker in the rainforest really isn't all that pleasant. Definitely got owned by a tree or two on the way. It got really interesting when we parked IN a tree practically, not to mention when we left we had to do a however many point turn to get out of the parking lot, which meant the giant tree branches were being swept back and forth across the top haha.

Anywho, we actually stopped at this beach first, although I have no idea where it was and I had no idea we were going to the beach previous to getting there. It was one of the many beaches that has a small swimming area with a big net around it to keep out jellies and sharks and whatever else is in the aussie waters that can hurt you.

From there we drove to an area with an opening to a trail for Cascade Falls. It was concerning because we were greeted at the front by a sign for a stinging tree. Basically everything in Australia is out to get you. So I was paranoid about said tree for about the first quarter of our walk, but then the trail became much less of a tame hiking trail and much more intense as we had to climb over and around wet rocks along the river, in and out of the water, straddle over or crawl under fallen trees, etc. The struggle was worth it though, as we ended at the falls, where we jumped off the rocks into the pool beneath the waterfall and swam a bit.

By the time we got out we were all nice and muddy. I booked it from the bus when we got back and snagged first shower for once haha. Not long later we met up again and headed back to the Woolshed for our final party. We had an area set aside just for us and it was really nice, with name plates and drinks sitting out when we got there. It was kind of crazy to be on the last night after doing SO much. Kazu and Doggie had put together a bunch of their pictures and videos on a DVD that went back over the past 9 days. It was really nice - I could hardly think back to what we had done the first few days - it felt like months before practically! After that they brought out the food, which everyone pounced on as we were starving and it was delicious haha. We spend the night saying bye to a bunch of people who were leaving early the next morning.

DAY TEN AND AFTER:
I had to get up the next morning, pack, and checkout even though I was actually staying an extra night. I had booked my extra night at a different hostel that was around the corner and couldn't check in for a few hours, so we killed some time at the lagoon there and ate some lunch.

I moved in to my new hostel when I could, and when it was dinner time I headed to this bar that I got a free dinner from through my night's stay. It was a pretty good BBQ actually and I ended up meeting a few people there who had just gotten there. My original plan was to go out and meet some people right after that, but I went back to lay down for a couple minutes because I was exhausted. What I had meant to be a 10 minute nap accidentally turned into an hour nap, and I woke up in panic in my lit room thinking it was 11am and I had missed checkout and my shuttle. When I realized it was still dark outside and it was actually only 11pm, I ended up going back to bed shortly after.

The next morning I checked out, and killed time hanging out with people a bit until I had to catch my shuttle to the airport. Thankfully my flight home wasn't nearly as eventful and the way in, and in fact they didn't even check my ID at check in! Overall the trip was an amazing experience. As I'm sure you would agree, we did a crazy amount of stuff, and I'll never soon forget any of it. I feel like studying abroad is all about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. A lot of people do this already by going to a new culture or language, but I feel like since I've lived abroad before, the change of Australian culture been amazing, but well within my comfort zone. This spring break trip definitely managed to pushed me out of my comfort zone- I was really apprehensive about all the crazy activities when I signed up for it, but I ended up loving it.