Port Douglas/cairns/Sydney/fiji

Well so since last time I blogged I've done a lot. Since then I've been to port douglas, cairns, and Sydney in Australia and am now in Fiji.  In port Douglas we got to go out on a big research boat to the great barrier reef. I got to finally dive the great barrier reef!!! The first day the visibility was really poor because it had rained so I was disappointed but the second day the diving was amazing! I got super annoyed though because there were two other certified divers on our trip but they just got certified and had never been diving except for their certification dives. One girl couldn't figure out her bouancy control and this girl just couldn't stay under water. In the middle of our 80 foot dive, this chick just soared to the surface. So dumb. It turns out that she couldn't figure out how to empty her vest of air. I laughed so hard at her because she could remember how to put all her equipment together, which I can't remember to save my life, but she couldn't remember how to empty her vest of air which is one of the most important parts!!! We helped the people on the boat with research and were giving an area to snorkel and we had to count certain types of fish in that area. Probably a terrible idea having us do this because half of us had no idea what type of fish we were looking for so we just made up numbers. So fun fact, research isn't right always. Especially when they have volunteers like us helping them. We were too busy looking at everything to stop and count the fish.  Port Douglas was really cool. We went cane toad racing. A cane toad is a frog that was introduced to Australia to eat the cane beetle when  sugar cane was brought over to farm. Only certain people got to cane road race. If your name was drawn you could. Of course, I got called to race this frog thing. So they put a hair tie around the frog so you know which is yours and you get a party blow thing. Like the things you use at birthday parties or new years when you blow into it the end unrolls and it makes a noise. You have to blow this to where is expands to hit the frog. The frog has to move to the end of the table and jump off and you have to catch it and run to put it in a bucket and then you win. So here I go blowing this freaking thing so it's jumps to the end of the table and I'm running around frantically trying to grab this damn frog. Well duh, I grab the frog and win of course! I won a free day trip on a catamaran to the reef and then a pass to some crocodile place! So that was entertaining and fun.  Then we went to cairns (pronounced cans). There we had our final exam, which was easy since it was open note. Other than that, we had free time the whole time. We went to the beach and just walked around. It's the backpacking capital of Australia so that's where I'm going back to when I start backpacking. It's a really neat place. It has a city centre area that has all the hostels, bars, and restaurants all there.  Now onto Sydney. I love Sydney. We went to the zoo and it was awesome! The zoo had every type of animal possible. Even a snow leapord. They had a sky rail type deal since the zoo is on a mountain/hill. We got to ride up and down it and it overlooked sydney harbor. We then ferried to the harbor and sat outside and ate lunch overlooking the opera house. Sydney was pretty much like new York city though. It was exactly the same but instead of the statue of liberty, it was the opera house.  Fiji. My favorite place ever. This place is just great. We are staying at hostels but they are sooo nice. We did a village stay where we stayed in the village with families. This place is so third world it's unreal. We sat on the floor to eat our meals and they don't even use silverware. The honored guests get to eat first so while we were eating, the women would walk around with towels and swat the flies away from our food. It was extremely awkward. Then the males get to eat and then the women get to eat. They shower at least three times a day...let me tell you, this is because their "showers" are not showers. They fill up a five gallon bucket with the coldest water on earth and the use a bowl to scoop the water out and pour it over your head. Oh, and the bathroom isn't even attached to the house so you have to go outside to use it. It's really funny and disgusting at the same time. They all have huge TVs and cell phones but they can't even invest in a proper shower or shoes. They don't wear shoes ever. We did a kava ceremony. Kava is like their alcohol. It's made from a root and mixed with water. It's considered a mild narcotic and is illegal in America. I asked our mom how much she drank of it and she said she drinks a little so I asked how much a little was and she told me about 30 bowls. I drank 7 and my whole face was numb. I don't know how they do it. Plus it tastes TERRIBLE. like muddy water. It's so gross. Then they all came out in costumes and did a dance. Oh, the houses. These are practically huts. They are one room and have curtains Seperating the "rooms". This was an experience for sure. And the food that they made has me running to the bathroom every 30 minutes now. Today, we ferried to an island called bounty island. It's so cool. You can walk around it in about 15 minutes, it's so little. We are at the only resort here. Today we kayaked and played beach volleyball so it's been a lot of fun and tomorrow I think that we are going on a boat to snorkel and do more research.