Last Night in Cairns

Today was my last full day with everyone in the study abroad group and it was kind of bittersweet. We woke up this morning and caught some taxi's to a local beach called Palm Cover where we took a one hour surf life saving course, which was very interesting and informative. We were split in two groups, but my group started on shore talking about the dangerous animals to be aware of in the water. The main one we discussed and got to see (dead and in a jar) was the box jellyfish. This animal is the most deadly animal in the world. One sting from this jellyfish will stop your heart in under 90 seconds. However, we were told that it is possible to survive from this type of sting if someone is able to give the victim CPR for up to fifteen minutes after the sting. For some reason after that amount of time the venom starts to leave the body, but that is not to say that the recovery process isn't slow and painful. Plus the victim will have visible and mental scars for the rest of their lives, many often not going anywhere near the water. The other major threat this beach has is crocodiles and sharks. The crocodiles fortunately only come every now and then and they are often trying to make their way to a new home up the closest river. Also, the sharks are only around in certain times of year. In order to make the beach safer for swimmers and tourists the lifeguards have placed a net around the perimeter to limit the amount of jellyfish and sharks, but they will still monitor it each day. After our quick talk about the animals to beware of in the water I was a little hesitant to go swimming, but it was now my turn to learn how to save someone who was drowning or in danger out in the water. With rafts that looked very similar to surf boards, but were much more sturdy and thicker we learned first how to paddle out into the water on our stomach and our knees. Although this seems fairly easy the mixture of balance and energy to move your arms makes it very tiring. After that we learned how to pick a victim up out of the water and get them back on the board, and then we practiced all of our newly discovered skills on our classmates. Overall this short course was very useful and one that i will never forget. Once all of our "hard" work was done we spent the rest of the day on the beach looking for shells, playing chicken in the water, and laying out. It was a very nice, relaxing, and fun day to be able to hang out with everyone one last time. We made it back to Cairns by about 4PM, and while some managed to do some last minute souvenir shopping before making our way in to get primped and polished for our last group dinner I went for a run with Mark. Our run was very nice and peaceful along the coastline of the lagoon. The last group dinner was at Outback Jacks where Mark decided it was a good idea to try the 2kg challenge, which was 1kg of steak and 1kg of veggies and potatoes. We were all pulling for Mark, but in the end it got the best of him, so we went for a quick walk to settle his stomach a little bit and them it was time to go out! Several members of the group were leaving for the airport at 3AM, so we figured why not spend the rest of their last night out and awake, so they could sleep away on the plane! The beginning of our last night was a little slow. Everyone seemed tired and sad, but after Macy and I found a pub crawl going on we decided to join, and the rest of the night was a success. It was very sad as people gradually left for the night to say goodbye, but eventually Macy and I made our way to bed and when we woke up...... all those who were leaving were gone.