Cairns - Day 6

The morning is filled with a little trepidation. Bradley only ate 1 piece of toast and peanut butter for breakfast….unusual…..he must have some butterflies because today is the BIG BUNGY day! We head out to AJ Hacketts just before 10. We saw the ginormous steel platform on the side of the mountain when we drove to Port Douglas yesterday. It takes less than 15 minutes to get to the location and fortunately they weren’t busy at the time so once the boys register they head straight up to the platform. I’m surprised and amazed at the lack of fear they showed (i.e. neither peed their pants). Once they shuffled themselves to the edge of the platform they only waited a few seconds before they dove off.

If you can zoom in on Bradley's face the look is priceless!

We watched one girl stand at the edge for a few minutes, then the guys pried her hands off the bar and tried to encourage her but she ended up backing away and not jumping. Steven got unintentionally dunked on his first jump – then he decided to do a second one.

The boys have posted pics and videos of their jumps on their FB page if you want to see more. If you ever jump with AJ Hackett I would recommend NOT buying the pics or video up front (they try and get you to buy them when you pay). After you jump, they let you watch the video and then they cut you a deal to get you to buy it (which we did!). After the adrenaline rush of taking a long jump (50m) off a short pier I’m surprised they were excited to move on to our next big event – holding the koalas (or ‘ko-aye-lahs’ as Steven has been calling them all week).

We head back up the mountain to Kuranda, but this time we have come prepared. The kids all have a book to read so they don’t get carsick on the sharply curved road. When we were in Germany and travelling on the same type of mountainous roads, I was insistent that the kids look around and take in the views….which made them all feel queasy. But, if they are reading a book it seems to distract them enough that they don’t notice the S curves that we are taking at 60km/hour. We have a quick lunch at the German Tuckerhaus. Wurst and kraut for everyone….surprisingly there seemed to be a lot of Asians eating there. Then we immediately head to the Koala Garden for the next highlight of the day. We (I mean “I”) had done research prior to our visit and I was surprised to find out that you can’t just hold koalas anywhere. There are very strict rules on the amount of time that koalas can be held per day and they are also on a monthly rotation schedule. I’ve heard them called “nasty, filthy little creatures” but they really were so soft and cuddly – they did not disappoint! The koala-keeper went and peeled a sleeping koala out of a tree and brought him over for us to hold. Apparently they sleep for 20 hours/day. He did plant his sharp little paws right into my shoulder and then promptly closed his eyes and dozed. He woke briefly when the koala keeper peeled him off one of us onto the other. We each held him for about a total of 11 seconds….long enough to get a picture for posterity.

Someone told me they compare to the raccoon…..they give the illusion of being all cute and fluffy. I think of the movie Elf ,when Buddy came across a raccoon on his way to NY City and says “Hey, little fella, it looks like someone needs a hug” and the raccoon hisses and launches himself at Buddy. But it would be hard to think of these cute, little koalas doing that. We also saw a wombat (also a strangely cute creature – kind of like a potbellied pig) and lots of kangaroos!! Kristen found a little redtailed one hiding under the step and was feeding it. It looked just like a small dog eating out of her hand.

There were also bigger kanga’s, most were snoozing in the shade but there was one that was ready to eat out of anyone’s hand.

Suddenly something startled them and they all jumped up (literally) and hopped off. Once they hopped a few times (they cover a lot of ground) they all stopped and looked back. We’re not sure what caused all the ruckus, but we did notice that one mama had a joey in her pouch. It looked like he barely made it in there before she hopped away because his hind legs and tail were still sticking out. I wanted to do some more shopping up in Kuranda but since there are 3 boys and only 2 girls I was out-voted. We headed home with lots of time for the kids to frolic in the ocean (which means playing in the surf since I won’t let them go out more than 10 feet). We also all go in the pool. One gentleman came by and said “You must be from a cold weather country to be able to swim in THIS water, are you from Norway? Or Canada?” He said that the weather is pretty cool right now…..I find 28 degrees to be pretty nice myself.

Update on the wildlife:

• Upon further inquiry we found out that pythons are a ‘docile’ snake and since it is winter here they are in hibernation (where they can stay until we leave)….however, the innkeeper offered to show me where the resident one is residing– I politely declined.
• We did see a python in the reptile enclosure today….which the boys forced me to go into. They figured if they could jump off a 50m tower then I could surely walk through a snake hut. Luckily the snakes were sleeping. Holy crap – a piece of loose hair just fell on my arm….NOT a good thing when I’m thinking about snakes. I think I actually have a kink in my neck now from my sudden jerky movement to get whatever was on my arm (piece of hair) off.
• With only one day left to go we haven’t seen anything worse than sugar ants (and they actually look nicer than the ugly black ones we have)…….I’m knocking on wood right now that my luck holds out.