Mid-Semester Break

Hello everyone!
I just returned home from my mid-semester break. It was by far the most exciting/adventurous vacation of my life, although at the moment I have not slept in over 24 hours and am feeling a wee bit loopy. Vacation was amazing though. We spent four nights in Tasmania and six nights in Cairns at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Tasmania was my favorite part of the trip. We arrived in Hobart on Friday afternoon and took a shuttle into town. We were meeting up with Billy, a student we met on couch surfers, which is a website where you can crash on people's couches as you are traveling to save money and such. Friday night he took us to an outdoor music festival in downtown Hobart with great music and people of all ages dancing. Afterwards, we went to his friend's house who was having a party. They are all part of the rock climbing club at the university in Hobart so we got to meet a good mixture of adventurous and welcoming people.
Saturday morning we went to the town market where there was good, clothing, music, and dancing. We stayed for a good hour or so - wondering around with our huge backpacks on our backs. I really felt like a traveler. After the festival we rented a car and drove up the coast a few hours to Wineglass Bay. Apparently is was rated as one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world, which is true as it is a gorgeous white-sanded beach that you have to embark upon a two-hour hike to get to. It is nestled in the mountains and the water is the color of a clear swimming pool. Gorgeous.
We cut our hike short as we decided to venture up the coast more. Our rock climbing pals told us about a great place on the coast we needed to see, so we decided to go there. We hiked and climbed for a good four hours until we got to the top of a cliff that overlooked the ocean. We were hours away from any sort of civilization - just the way we like it, although it was not an official campground so we had to set up our tents on the edge of a cliff on top of roots and rocks. It was not the most comfortable night sleep, but it was exciting! I saw a tasmanian devil that night which was even more exciting - they are cute little creatures that look like skunks at first glance mixed with a badger. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise with bright oranges and pinks shooting across the sky. We sat on the edge of the cliff eating our tuna sandwiches watching the sun rise up over the ocean. It was one of the most peaceful experiences of my life. We drove back to Hobart that afternoon because we had only rented it for two days, but spent the remainder of the day climbing with the rock climbing club and eating a delicious bin-diving meal with them. That's right, bin-diving. They refuse to pay for food, so they jump into dumpsters and find still-packaged, okay-to-eat food, and survive on what they find. They actually find a variety of good food.
It's hard for me to tell this story. Along with being overly tired and barely functioning at the moment, it was just such an amazing experience being in Tasmania and I feel like crying when I replay all the memories in my head. My friends had a similar feeling. Leaving Hobart, boarding the plane, we all commented on how we felt like crying, as though we were leaving something sacred. I cannot explain why. It was just so special. The people we met, waking up on the side of a cliff to a sunrise being painted only for us - it was spectacular. I also met one of the most amazing people I have ever met in my entire life. Leaving him was very difficult for some reason, although we had only known each other for a grand total of maybe a day and a half. I felt like I had known him a lot longer. I felt as though we had met before. Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever been somewhere or met someone that is unlike anything or anyone you have ever experienced before and having to leave breaks your heart? You only want to indulge deeper, stay longer, experience more, linger for a few more moments. You beg for time to stand still just so you can hold the moment close for a little bit longer. But you can't. You have to accept that time is ticking, and as much as it kills you, you must let the moment go, accept it and love it for what it was, but understand that it is time to let go. I never wanted to let go of Tasmania. Yet, at the same time, that is what made it so incredible - the fact that I had to let it go. If I could have somehow stayed longer, the novelty would most likely have worn off. The sacredness would most likely have died down a few notches, maybe entirely so. One of the most precious and exciting aspects of being alive is experiencing those moment of beauty, that are short of time, yet bring your heart and soul to depths that forever change you, forever mold you - and when you least expect it. When you are not ready; when you are not looking. It holds a certain magic, as you can only get a brief taste, yet that one lick is so powerful, so inspiring, you want to devour the whole thing. Yet, it is best to be taken in small amounts. It is best to remain unsatisfied so that you only become that more passionate and driven to find that fulfillment again.
Is this making sense? Do you understand what I mean? If you do, be thankful, for you are truly alive. If these words are foreign and alien to you, take my advice, and go deeper, break out of your comfort zone. It is painful to find something so wonderful and then have to say goodbye, but the magic of it makes it worth it.
I said goodbye to Tasmania with a sad, yet thrilled heart.
I can only be thankful that I was given a taste.
Anyway!
Next came the Great Barrie Reef. Equally as adventurous, yet with a completely different vibe. It was all tourist fun, no cliffs with magical sunrises. I need to get some school work done, so a brief summary of what it was like: scuba diving deep under water in my own little world, swimming next to sharks, jumping out of a plane 14,000 feet in the sky and falling to the Earth for a 60 second free fall, inspired to get my parachuting license when I graduate, must jump out of more planes - amazing adrenaline rush, way better than bungy jumping, snorkeling, kayaking on the reef, crocodile tour with crazy old tour guide, rainforest hiking, gelato overdose every night. New friendships. New stories.
Most on that later. Must sleep. Must do school work. Must reflect.

Mid-Semester Break

Cairns, Australia