A few weekends ago a bunch of us in CAPA headed out to Cairns for the extended Queens weekend. We caught a flight out of Sydney at 3:30 P.M. and arrived in Cairns around 7 P.M. From there we caught a Taxi to Kewarra Beach where our Airbnb was located.  Kewarra beach is a really laid back, quaint, quiet area that truly felt like what I expected Australia to feel like. It was surrounded by mountains and wasn’t a big city like Sydney, but rather a quiet beach town filled with tons of nature.

Friday night ended relatively early because Saturday morning we were getting up at 6 A.M. and heading out to the Great Barrier Reef. We took a tour with a company called “Reef Experience,” and the trip was incredible. We rode out to sea for about 90 minutes and immediately began snorkeling. While at first it was difficult for me to get used to breathing out of my mouth and not my nose, once I got the hang of it, it was amazing. Snorkeling was fun, but the highlight of the day was definitely scuba diving. Reef Experience included 20 minutes of scuba diving and I can confidently say it was one of the coolest things I ever had the pleasure of doing in my life. The instructors were saying scuba diving is the closest feeling to being in outer space that you can experience, and if that’s true then being in outer space must be a blast. Time flew down there because I was having the time of my life swimming along side all the different fish and seeing the most amazing views. If I’m lucky enough to ever get a chance to scuba dive again, I’m accepting that offer in a heartbeat.

On Sunday, we headed to the actual Kewarra Beach and hung out there all day. The water was freezing, but it was a great beach day nonetheless.

Monday morning we got up at 4 A.M. and headed back to the airport for our 6 A.M. flight. I was sad to leave Cairns, but happy that I still had more time to be in Sydney. Unfortunately, I only have about two weeks left, but I’m looking forward to filling them with even more great experiences.