Paradise

This week marks the end of the longest winter break I have ever had, and possibly the least productive extended period of my life… thus far. It has been approximately 2 months and 1 week of nomadic glory, while many of my fellow American mates have been in school for over a month now. While I am a little excited about returning to a normal schedule and making some sort of sense out of my life, I did very much enjoy being a rolling stone, a leaf in the wind etc.

I did however go on one last glorious trip and am very glad to report back that paradise is only a thirty minute ferry ride away from Uni (James Cook). I am not sure if it was the laid-back island lifestyle, the eclectic group of nine ambitious students searching for one last hoor-ah, or the fact that we lived out of a car for three days, but this trip was truly perfect.

The first person I must mention is Jared. He was not only the coordinator and chauffer of this trip, but also the life and the energy. There are few people I have met in my life thus far that could take seven Americans and one Canadian camping, hiking, swimming, drinking, and touring with boundless energy whilst wearing a swanky Colombian hat. I am also a little suspicious that he does not own any shoes, not even one. He is, without a doubt, a true tropical Queensland Aussie.

After a slow start Friday morning, Jared rallied our group and we eventually made it to the island and found the perfect beach to sleep on….

I must admit, I thought sleeping on the beach sounded like a good time….but as darkness came, and the nocturnal tropical animals began to rise, I was just about ready to check into a hostel. However, we were about 2.5 km from any type of civilization so I had to put such thoughts to rest and fall asleep… only to wake up to a huge bite on my ass. Typical Americans, thinking they can brave the bush. Since I was still alive, and thus whatever had bitten me must not have been poisonous, I hardened up (which became the motto for the weekend) and began one of the grungiest and most spontaneous weekends of my life.

The day fell into a routine of swimming…

And hiking…..

And then we found a Koala!

This was by far the highlight of the trip for me.

As evening two rolled around, I was silently becoming more and more concerned about sleeping out in the wild again. Thankfully, nature heard my call, and a cyclone-type rain storm began. This meant it was every man or woman for themselves in terms of a sleeping arrangement. A few people from our group made some friends with extra beds in their rooms at the hostel, I and a few other people slept in the car, and two people slept in a tent. I personally have never seen rainstorms like these anywhere in the world, and I am not sure there is enough money in Australia to get me to sleep outside during one.

When we rounded up the troops in the morning, the two brave (foolish) young men who slept outside were absolutely soaking, along with all of their belongings. If someone had thrown them and their belongings into a pool, I would not have known the difference. They later told us of how they cut water bottles in half and scooped water out of the tent. Americans.

We collectively decided it was it time to return back to Townsville once again, perhaps, however, a little tougher and just maybe a bit more Aussie.