Alyssa Lai, 2011 North Queensland student blogger, writes:

G’day from Cairns!

We’re in our final twelve hours in Australia, and the tearful goodbyes are going to begin soon. Since my last post, we finished our second day at the Great Barrier Reef. It was just as amazing as the first day. We saw a whole school of huge humphead parrotfish, a couple of sharks, giant clams, and beautiful coral reefs.

Then, we drove to Cape Tribulation, a beautiful little town in the middle of the Daintree Rainforest. Some of us went ziplining through the rainforest, and it was an awesome experience. We learned a little about the surrounding vegetation and some other cool facts about the oldest rainforest in the world.

The coolest thing that we were able to do while we were at Cape Trib was going up in research canopy crane at the Daintree Research Observatory. This crane is owned and operated by James Cook University, and only select academic groups are allowed to go up. We went up 48 meters above the canopy, and we could see the ocean from where we were. It’s amazing how silent it is up there. It’s a just a sea of tranquil green.

Left is a picture of a friendly Rock Wallaby we encountered on our travels.

After Cape Trib, we drove about two hours to Cairns, back to civilization, again! We saw our first traffic light since Townsville, which was about three weeks ago. It’s a big tourist town, and we went to the night markets last night, trying to get the last of our souvenir shopping done before we’re homeward bound.

Australia has been utterly amazing, and I’ve had the time of my life. I’m not looking forward to the dreary U.S. after this amazing country and its lifestyle. But I can guarantee you that I’ll be back again some day.