Great Barrier Reef

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous"

                             Aristotle

I had an the opportunity to travel to Cairns, Australia with Miles and Kendall, who is from St. Norbert College. Our weekend consisted of white water rafting, celebrating Kendall's birthday, and seeing the Great Barrier Reef! 

We began the weekend by waking up rather early and drove up the mountains to the Tully River. Here we ventured down a level four river (the largest level is a six). We jumped off rocks and trees, flipped several times, and floated down the river. I think this is the most adrenaline pumping experience I have had thus far in life! We ended the day with an early birthday celebration at 'The Jack'...an awesome bar/restaurant which had live music. We then hit the hay for our next day.

The next day we travelled down to the Marina and hopped onto a boat which took us out to the Great Barrier Reef!! Here we snorkelled and scuba dived...it was my first time ever scuba diving! At first it was terrifying having to breath normally under the water, but eventually I got the hang of it. I guess I was the lucky one because I never had to equalize my ears...go me! We ventured about three stories down into the reef as a little group. The reef truly was breathtaking! Despite the fading colors due to pollution and global warming, I can see why the Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. I would have never imagined in my life that I would have been able to experience what I did. 

In addition to my journey to Cairns, I also surfed for the first time at Broadbeach. It is rather hard to get the hang of, but it was really fun! I was definitely exhausted and sore the next day...I have no idea how professional surfers do it! 

Since then, I have been finishing end of the semester assignments and projects, and attended the end of sem Res Dinner. The res dinner was fun as the residence building I live in won the sports award for Res Wars (a weekly sporting competition between all of the residence facilities on campus). This dinner also counted as out 'Thanksgiving Meal' in Australia!

(Winners of the Sport Award for Res Wars)

Today I finished my photography portfolio! This week is the designated study break which will be filled with some studying for my three finals, but also some souvenir shopping and some beach time before I go home. 

 (Had a little fun while doing the studio session for my photography portfolio)

Before I know it, in a short 14 days I'll be home in cold 'ol Wisconsin once again!

Cheers,

:-: Katie :-: