July 9 Thursday I got a confirmation that I have been accepted for a volunteering position out at Uluru (Ayers Rock) for 10 days at the beginning of September. That was good news.

July 10 Friday. Today a group of four of us: Hendrick and Freddie, both from Germany, Ralph from the UK, and myself, rented a car and toured the Tablelands just south of Cairns. It is a region noted for waterfalls and farmland. We left at 9am and headed to Babinda Falls as our first stop. On the way we passed Walsh's Pyramid, a naturally shaped pyramid that has hiking trails on it. I might come back to climb it later on. Our next stop was Josephine Falls, where Freddie and I swam in the falls and slid down the smooth natural rock waterslide. Next was a two mile hike at Crowley's Lookout, which really was not worth it. There was a decent view from the road and we hiked a mile DOWN to a more expansive view of the same thing and then had to climb back UP a mile. The fourth stop was Mungali Falls, which was a worthy stop. This was followed by the three waterfalls in the Milla Milla loop: Elinjaa (very nice), Zillie (very nice), and Millaa Millaa (rather disappointing, in an overdeveloped kind of way). The highlight of the day came next in the form of The Crater. This is the remain of a large gas vent from deep within the earth that must have erupted during the flood. Tremendous. And as a bonus the ladder of cascades that make up Dinner Falls (and the headwaters of the Barron River) are here and beautiful in their own right. We took a short cut through the backroads to get to Malanda Falls, ,which is on all the tours, but to us it was a major disappointment. It is a completely developed swimming pool with ladders, stairs, artificial beach that happens to have a 10 foot cascade dropping into it (with a nice road overpass right behind it to spoil any picure opportunities). I am sure it is packed during the middle of the day, but we cruised through later in the afternoon and only stayed a few minutes. The final two stops were to the Curtain Fig Tree and the Cathedral Fig Tree on either end of Lake Tinnaroo. Both of these were amazing – like combination Dali/Giger paintings. Very otherworldly. We made it back to Asylum just as the Friday BBQ was getting underway. One of the best things about this day is that we saw all the highlights that two day trips with tours would have covered and it cost us each $31 when we split the total. The tours would have cost us each $300+. Yay for shared expenses!

July 11 Sabbath: Everyone was back from Camp and the church was full this week. I was invited to stay for their potluck and finally left around 3:30 after eating and talking to a lot of different people. And this time as I was walking back one of the ladies from church stopped to give me a ride, which I really appreciated, as it was quite hot in the afternoon. The rest of the day was just relaxing around the hostel.

July 12 Sunday. A couple Dutch travelers told a story of what their friends experienced driving through the Outback. It seems their friends had pulled to the side of the road for the night somewhere in aboriginal territory, which has similar self governance like many Indian reservations in the US. As they sat around their campfire having dinner, they heard gunshots. The shooting got closer until they could hear the bullets going overhead. They ran off into the brush and hid for several hours. One was bitten by something and his arm was swelling up. When they ventured back out to their van, everything had been stripped out of it, but it was still drivable. They did get their friend to a hospital and his bite got treated, but they were told not much would or could be do about the loss of their belongings. No a very reassuring story to hear.

July 13 Monday: Bungy jumping!!! I won a free bungy jump at the last Mad Monday and took advantage of it today. I rode out to the site with 10 girls all going for the first time just like me. If I had not gotten the gift cert. I probably would not have tried bungy. I loved sky diving and did not see much need to try both, but people say the two are almost mutually exclusive on the experience scale and since it was free, let's do it. This jump site is run by the AJ Hackett company, which has locations around the world. The tower is a 50 meter platform over the rainforest and a pool, where you can do a splash hit. I did not really feel nervous in the bus, but by the time I had climbed the platform I was shaking slightly. I got into the line of people already up there and watched several jumps. Then it was my turn. So I went right over, no sense in dragging it out and making it more stressful. I liked it, I hit the water, which most people did not get to do, and so I did it again. The second time was backwards, which was a very different feeling. Much easier because for the first few seconds you do not see what is happening, instead of watching the water rush up towards you. I got up to my shoulders in the water this time. And then it was just watching others jumping until my bus at 2:30. Oh, and a couple Japanese ladies wanted to have pictures taken with me because they watched me jump. Who am I to say no? They were part of a larger group and did not even want to climb the tower to see the view, but seemed to be enjoying watching the rest of us crazy people.

It was Mad Monday again, but this was much more subdued. The group was slightly smaller, but as there is so much changeover at a hostel, this group was just less rambunctious. I still made it home at 3am.


July 14 Tuesday. Finished reading a book (a collection of short stories all set in the Bay Area, not what I would have expected to find in a hostel in Australia), went back to the Botanical Gardens and finished looking through it. I also went by a spot where I had seen some graffiti, got some pictures, and found a aboriginal family living under a bridge. This was a reminder that the poor are never far away, and while this seems to be an awesome place to be if you are homeless, it does not make the situation any more satisfying to those who live it.

July 15 Wednesday. In the early afternoon, Adam (from Sweden), Adam (from Canada), Adam (from England), and I went to the Cairns lagoon and had a small bbq. It was a nice sunny day and we were surrounded by people working on their tans. Hendrick, Elsa, Henning, and I went to Woolshed, RhinoBar, and The Heritage to get free food at each location for dinner (Spaghetti with vegetables, spice Thai curry, and pasta with mushrooms). By the time we finished that we were all stuffed. Tonight was the third game of State of Origin and since I watched the first two while in PNG I wanted to see the conclusion. The Maroons representing Queensland (where I am currently) had won the first two contests and wanted a clean sweep. But the Blues of NSW made sure they came away with at least one victory by taking the game 28-16. My dive card finally arrived today. Thank you mom. Now I can get some diving in early next week before I start down the coast. I also mailed off another package home, so that should arrive in about a week.

July 16 Thursday I made arrangements to do some diving now that I have my card. I'll be living aboard a ship Sunday Monday and Tuesday, diving along the Great Barrier Reef. That will give me 10 dives and bump me up to Advance Dive certification, which will allow me to do deeper dives and night dives as well as a few other beneficial things. It will cost me just over $410, which is a great price and it includes the two nights accommodations on the boat, plus all meals during the three days. In PNG an advanced course would only include the required 5 dives, no accommodations, and run $400+. I also continued looking for rideshares down the coast. I am heading in the wrong direction this time of year, so the options are somewhat limited. Everyone is heading north to the warmer weather. It is a toss up as to whether it would be better to buy a travelers van/car and sell it in Sydney or get a bus pass. If Gabe was here it would be a no brainer, buying a car would be a great way to really keep the expenses down, but while I am doing this alone it makes the decision harder. The last couple days there has been a fair in town and tonight as Hendrick, Henning, Elsa, Vickie, and I were walking back to Asylum after getting free food we watched a nice fireworks display. It went on for a decent amount of time and had a large variety of fireworks. The one thing that really stuck out to me was that none of the fireworks were of the high altitude type we see so commonly in the US.