Spring break in October!

Welcome to October everyone!
I can hardly believe it's here already. While I'm sure you all are getting the first tastes of chilly weather, falling leaves, and the state fair, I have spent the past week alternating between the ocean and the rainforest. Yes that's right, I just had spring break.
And let me tell you, spring break was amazing. My friends and I basically packed as much activity into 11 days as possible. If I were to tell you everything we did, this would be a long email indeed. :) But I'll spare you all the details, and give you the highlights.
My favorite thing definitely was the 3 day sailing trip we went on first. We spent the days sailing around the Whitsunday Islands, snorkeling, scuba diving, and playing on the beaches. It was some of the most incredible stuff I've ever seen- I felt like I was in the Little Mermaid or something. Scuba diving was really fun, and very surreal- it feels so unnatural to just breathe normally underwater. It's also strange to look up and realize that there is 25 feet of water between you and the open air. :) We also went to some of the most beautiful beaches, including Whitehaven beach, which is considered one of the top five in the world. It was made of 98% silica, which means that the sand is really soft and white.
After that trip we jumped on an overnight bus to get up to Cairns. Let me back up: my friend Elyse and I planned this spring break trip and a bunch of our friends came with us, so we were traveling with anywhere between 6 and 9 people at any given time. Which was great fun, but also made agreeing on a restaurant difficult at times. :) But seriously, so worth it. It also meant that we were always "that group." Also because we were all of different nationalities (American, Canadian, British, German, Australian).
The first thing we did in Cairns? Shower. The boat didn't have showers, and then we'd spent the night on a Greyhound, so we were going on about 4 days without showering. I'm sure the other bus passengers loved us. :)
Every day in Cairns we did some amazing/crazy activity: whitewater rafting, sea kayaking, hiking/exploring the rainforest, swimming in waterfalls.... it was amazing. Interestingly, I was the only one of our group who had ever been whitewater rafting, which made it that much more exciting for everyone else. Also, when we stopped for lunch we saw a four-foot eel gliding through the water we'd been swimming in 10 minutes ago, which kind of freaked some people out. This trip was definitely geared to our age group- the tour guides did a lot of crashing into each other, encouraging us to pull our friends in other boats into the water, and at times purposefully tipping our boat. We also jumped off a 30 foot tall rock into the water, which was so much fun, except for the guy who bellyflopped.
Two days we drove into the rainforest. Both days our tour guides were awesome, but they were very different types of trips. One was aimed more at the 20something/student crowd- the guide had a decidedly hippie feel to him, the bus we traveled in was named Wally(and was very sensitive about people talking about his A/C), and while driving down winding mountainous roads played Beach Boys' "Surfing Safari" and we all stood in our seats and "surfed." So much fun. The other trip was on a really fancy bus, we had two teatimes during the day, and the tour guide was just as friendly and knowledgeable but maybe not quiet as.... ridiculous. It was funny to contrast the two. We saw all kinds of wildlife- goannas (Australian name for iguana-type things), sharks, water dragons, turtles, all the fish and coral you can imagine (including humuhumunukunukuapua'a!), parrots, and other things that my sleep-deprived brain cannot remember right now. :)
One day we took a ferry out to Fitzroy Island, which is part of the official Great Barrier Reef National Park. We spent the day sea kayaking, playing on a water trampoline (which is fun, and there's not really any danger of falling off, because if you do you land in the water), snorkeling and exploring the island. It was here that we saw a sea turtle right before we left. We also rented an underwater camera for the day, which made the day even more exciting- although of the 650 pictures we took that day, about 150 of them are just gray, or white. (For the record, I did not take all 650. We shared the camera between 8 of us. But yes, I did take most of them.)
The whole week was sunny and beautiful and warm. We all came back much tanner than before, which I have had to cover up because it's been cold and rainy since coming back to. This week has been mostly catching up on sleep (we got about 5-6 hours of sleep each night all week on break), working on my 3 big papers I have due very soon, and editing photos (as a procrastination tool when I'm supposed to be writing my papers). The weekend is looking low key as well- lots of work to do. The great part about it is that once these three papers are done, basically all I have left is one final paper and one final exams, and I'm home free. :) I love the Australian lack of final exams.
I love you all! Enjoy the fall- I'm loving the spring, but I do miss the falling leaves and such. I miss you all and love your emails- they make me smile.
Love from down under,
Emma