Sunday, December 09, 2007
1:02 pm
I'm back from CAIRNS! Certainly did have fun there. It wasn't a leadership training camp but more like a leisure camp all the way. Snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef took my breathe away, especially the first look down. All the pretty colours! We spent a lot of time in the water spotting things, enjoying the beatiful corals, fishes and all. It was really good. We could see the Reef when we were taking the plane too. And we didn't just see patches, we could see the colours too. It was really pretty. I love the boat ride out too. I don't even know if that should be considered a boat, but it was Seastar Cruise anyway. Super nice to be sailing out into the sea, looking at the endless sea and with the strong winds blowing against you. Wu bian we ji! The water was quite clear out there too. I want to go on that boat again!
White water rafting was quite exciting and thrilling too. Through all the rapids and all. Foward paddle! Hold on! Get down! Back paddle! Stop! We jumped into the water at less fast rapids and let the water carry us down. Some people dropped in from the boat but all were safe. Mr Low hit his head hard on the rock, but thankfully for the helmet and his strong neck, head and everything he was safe. My boat was at the side so we saw it all. We were supposed to do Level 3-4 but I guess it was super duper dangerous with the deaths and bad injuries there so I am happy with the Level 2 we did.
We had some breathtaking views on the Skyrail too. Enjoying the lush greenery from the cable car. The ride was super funny because of 3 dearest people who shouted and screamed everytime we reached and went past the connecting parts of the cable just because it was slightly not as smooth.
Those were the three main activities we did. We visited the Koala Park too. So we got up close with Koalas and kangaroos. Did a bit of shopping over there too. And spent a bit of time at the lagoon there called Esplanade and it was by the beach anyway. The place is really cool. Singapore should have something like that too! It's like a public pool with an irregular shape which isnt that deep. The closest thing we have to that is the rooftop place at Vivo. The water at the lagoon is deeper though. We visited their fruits and vegetables market too. Everything was so fresh. And the cabbage and watermelon there are probably twice the size of what you get here. We tasted the mango and all of it was sweet.
The people there were really nice anyway. All of them were warm and friendly and polite. I think we all have something to learn for them. They will just ask for your camera to take a photo for you when they see a group of people and one person taking a photo with the rest in. When will you get that in Singapore? All the people we met were nice, the bus drivers, the cruise crew, the guides on the rafting trip and the sales people. Everyone. As for the weather, it was HOT. SUPER HOT. More of like ultimate sunny I should say. It's sun sun sun everywhere you go as long as you're outdoors. Probably cause there aren't as many trees there compared to Singapore. I think the UV rays there are stronger too so every single one of us got tanner. Some got bad sunburns. Other than that Cairns is really a nice place to be at. The place is like quite peaceful and much less busier than Singapore. It's quite nice to walk on the streets with few cars and few people. I miss Cairns! I want to go out into the ocean again! I want to raft again! But at the same time I'm glad to be back home.