Another Great Day!

Day 19 July 10^th

Today we woke up at 7:30 had breakfast at 8:30 and loaded the coach at 9:30. We first went to the Botanical Gardens in Cairns. We walked through the rainforest boardwalk and saw many interesting trees and plants. We saw tropical and equatorial plants as well as orchids and lots of exotic species of plants. We then drove 45 minutes to the Rain Forestation National Park where we had a build a burger lunch that the kids really enjoyed. We then tried our hand at aboriginal painting some with more success than others. We then watched aboriginal tribal dances from the Far North Queensland. From there we saw a demonstration on how to throw a boomerang and then we got to try to throw one for ourselves, some boomerangs came back and others were lost in the forest. After throwing the boomerangs we got to watch a demonstration on how to play a didgeridoo’s, it was very interesting to see and then we tried it out for ourselves. We saw how they threw spears. That was amazing that a little spear could go that far. We then got on a amphibious vehicle which took us through a guided tour of the rainforest where we saw many dangerous plants as well as plants that people used for medicine. It was amazing to go from driving on land then right into the water. It was very exciting and educational. After the ride we had a chance to eat ice cream and take a break. Then the most exciting thing of all we got to have our picture taken with a koala. Each one of us was able to hold the Koala which was soft and cuddly. They took our picture and we will be taking that picture home. The day even got better when they let us into an area where we were able to pet and feed kangeroo’s and wallabies. We had another exciting surprise. A mother koala had a baby a few months ago and it was awake and walking around. It was truly amazing. We then had dinner at the park and was entertained by an Australian Bush Dancer. We thought we were done but he made us get up and participate in the most fun and crazy dances ever. We had another great day. We are now back at the hotel and finishing up our journals and preparing for our final day in Australia tomorrow.