Magnetic Island and Cairns Skydive

Thanks to everyone who kept my family in their thoughts and prayers over the past few days.  Your support means a lot.  Here's my way of saying thanks:

Even when someone you love is six feet under ground

And you're too shaken to make a sound

There is comfort in having such amazing friends abound

Whose warm wishes can turn your spirits around

For all hope that's lost can be found

So my friends, can you hear that sound?

It's my spirits being lifted off the ground

There are no more tears around

On my face only a smile can be found

For in my heart, hope's abound

Alright, enough poetry, back to my shameful seananigans.  When I awoke to pack my bags and get ready for my bus to Townsville, I was rocking a pretty extreme hangover, so I did what any logical person would do; I ate a crapload of McDonalds and drank some coffee.  As I lugged my bags down to the bus stop, I was hoping to sweat out some of the booze, because I'm pretty sure my body was 60% alcohol instead of water at that point.  Once I got onto the bus, I curled up in the fetal position and went into hibernation mode.  After roughly two hours, we made our first stop.

As we all filed out of the bus, four dudes headed towards the bathroom with one intention, throwing up.  One guy was in there puking his guts out, while two others decided they couldn't wait for the one stall to open and went to vomit outside.  Once that stall opened, my finger was down my throat and I spewed all sorts of booze infused Egg McMuffin particles into that toilet.  Then I drank a giant gatorade, ate some crackers, and felt like a Greek god.  Alcohol...Bulimia...Cured.  It's the ABCs of a hangover folks.  After a few more hours on the bus, I arrived in Townsville and immediately hopped on a ferry to Magnetic Island.

Magnetic Island

When I arrived on Magnetic, I hopped on the local bus to get to my hostel, but was a little surprised when it was full of school kids.  Lucky for them I shaved my pedophile mustache upon arriving in Australia, otherwise I would have been quoting Matthew McConaughey, "That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I keep getting older, they stay the same age. Alright!". I was under the impression Magnetic was tiny and you could walk it in a few hours, but that was definitely not the case, it's got some size to it (that's what she said).

After a much needed shower and countless brushings of the teeth, I ventured out to find a grocery store to get some deodorant since I had just run out, and as we all know, when my pits get sweaty it smells like two landfills having a farting contest. I had a free meal/drink voucher from when I checked in, and as I went to redeem it, ran into Emelie and Anna, so I ended up grabbing dinner with them. We all decided there was no way we could drink after the previous night's revelry and I have to say it was nice to be able to finally talk without dance music blaring in the background!

The next day I journeyed to the koala sanctuary, because Victoria from my Stray trip in NZ had told me you could hold tons of critters and it was cheap...  It was sooooo insanely cheap at $21.  The only photo you had to pay for was holding a koala, which was $15.  On top of that the bus ticket was only $5.50 round trip from my hostel, so it was roughly $40 for the entire experience, whereas it was $40 just to hold a koala at the Australia Zoo. Twas the most bang for your buck activity I have done in Australia.

Sometimes I stroke my croc, what's the big deal?!?!?!? 

I finally found a bird that fancies me! If only she was human... and a she.  This bird was actually a dude, which I should have surmised since it's a cockatoo.  His name is literally an anagram stating he has "a cock too"

I think this cockatoo just locked eyes with the crazy eyes cow from New Zealand...

What better pose to strike at a Zoo than Zoolander's?

This snake was putty in my hands thanks to my mastery of parseltongue 

When the lady pulled this lizard off my head, he was tangled in my hair and she told me I needed to use more conditioner...I can't win

There's the tortoise and the hare, and then there's the turtle and the hair.  60% of the time, the hair wins every time...

Someone was a little jealous when she saw me kissing the cockatoo...

After spending two days there, I'm still not sure why it's called Magnetic Island, because there was literally nothing magnetic about it.  I didn't see so much as a fridge magnet.  I mean the only thing remotely magnetic was the fact that all the women there were drawn to me, but let's face it, that's everywhere.  (Random business idea:  I'm lying down in a glorious golden meadow in my $6000 suit [c'mon] with a bunch of baby chicks crawling all over me.  The caption: chick magnet.  Bam, that's how you sell a suit!)

I hung out in Townsville for a few days, but that was probably a mistake as it was the most boring place in Australia.  I had to walk about 1.5km to get to my hostel in the 32 degree heat (90 Farenheit).  On top of that, once I entered my room I had the pleasure of seeing an old, fat german dude roam around in his underwear.  He was replaced by a young, attractive blonde girl the following day however, so I was lifted from my depression and thankful I hadn't gouged my eyes out with a spoon.  

Townsville's twisted train tracks (when you said that in your head did it come out twisted train or twisted twain?)

I couldn't get a good read on this girl, she didn't talk much, but then she would only wear oversized t-shirts to bed that were see through to the point that you could make out each stitch on the lacy fringes of her lingerie. I mean... if you were looking, which I totally wasn't, because I'm a gentleman (#RespectForWomen).  I was also disappointed that Halloween isn't a huge celebration in Australia like it is in the states.  I mean, it's the greatest holiday of the year.  I can be shirtless, you can be shirtless, there's endless supplies of booze, and you have the perfect defense of, "I don't know what you were talking about, that totally wasn't me, I switched costumes halfway through the night."  They took a recipe for success and threw it away.  But anyways, after a few uneventful days in Townsville, I hopped on Greyhound for one last time so I could get to Cairns.

Cairns is one of those places you feel really good about, like destiny summoned you there and you don't know why.  I was glad to find my hostel was a mere block away from the bus stop, so I didn't have to get disgustingly sweaty hauling my bags.  I also got a free upgrade to a 3 bed room, which was amazing since the hostel was only $15/night, making it by far the cheapest hostel I have stayed at in the past 3 months.  That night I met up with my two favorite Swedes to celebrate Emelie's birthday.  Ahh the Swedish girls, I don't think there's a man alive that could resist falling for em.  Kind, clever, beautiful. They're amazing!

Global Palace > Brokedown Palace....

There's been one activity that has eluded me during my backpacking career... skydiving!  I had pre-purchased a skydive in New Zealand, but was thwarted by the weather.  However the way I look at life is, heads you win and tails you try again.  Thus I booked a skydive in Cairns to celebrate the 3 month anniversary of my travels.  As soon as I saw my skydive instructor, Jonas, I knew that I had lucked out because he was clearly insane.  He was way more into getting entertaining footage than the other jumpers and was constantly messing with me.

Most people think you'll be afraid before you skydive, but I only felt excitement.  Once you reach the correct altitude for the jump, which was 14,000 feet, everyone starts jumping out with their instructor.  When the first person jumps out of the plane you are kind of just like, holy crap, that person just jumped out of a plane...then it dawns on you that in about 10 seconds you are going to do the same and you're body starts churning out so much adrenaline that you understand why people take amphetamines.  There is no feeling that even comes close to skydiving, it's absolutely mental.

Sometimes the only way is jumping, I hope you're not afraid of heights!  Because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion...

Oh yeah I'm freeeeeeeee, freeeeeeeee faaaaaalllllllliiiiiin

Gravity and air resistance vs. my face...I think it's clear who the loser is in this photo (awww self ashamed pun)

People call us renegades cus we like livin crazy :)

I look like a 12 year old girl that just got tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert in this photo

I look like Chinese Joseph Gordon Levitt in this photo

Though I'd just fallen back to Earth, I was ready to go again!

That skydive was quite possibly the funnest thing I've ever done, it is definitely up there with the stunt plane.  It's such a different experience than any of the other adventure activities and it lasts for quite a bit of time since you have a 60 second free fall followed by a few minutes of parachuting.  Jonas also let me do a little bit of steering on the parachute ride down, which was pretty cool.  For anyone that hasn't done a skydive, I highly recommend it, you will never feel more alive!  I honestly felt like I could conquer the world afterwards.

I had a lot of other activities to do in Cairns, such as rafting and snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, but that is a story for another blog...

Random GoPros

 Leaving Townsville

Magnetic Island

Beautiful views along the bay in Cairns

The Marina

Cairns has a really cool Lagoon area, but unfortunately it's closed during the wee hours of the morning :p