Need to check out in an about two hours so we can hug koalas and go to a crocodile farm. I cannot believe this is my life.
I will be turning 32 in four days. But I'm not the only one with a birthday on this trip. Natalie is celebrating her 34th on the 23rd and another girl has a birthday on the 24th and mine follows her the next day. Odd and exciting.
We arrived in Cairns yesterday after a 17.5 hours on two airplanes – a new record, I must say.
Jet-lagged, greasy haired and with non-deodorized armpits, we dumped our bags off and met up with the group to head to Fitzroy Island, located 45 minutes (30 km.) from Cairns. After a scenic ride and a lunch with a tropical view, we headed to the island's Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre.
The organization formed 13 years ago, but it's been here at the island for roughly three. It's a non-profit group run on a few dozen volunteers. They will get calls from rangers for injured or sick turtles found in The Great Barrier Reef and pick them up by boat. From there, volunteers will x-ray the animals and then nurse them back to health, which could take up to two years. Afterwards, on select turtles, they will put a satellite device on them to track where they go, if they survive, to continue the research. Pretty neat. Here's the co-founder Jennie Gilbert with Harry, the baby green sea turtle.
After the centre, we took a hike to Nudey Beach. False advertising. Not a naked person anywhere. Actually, the beach – with its unique white shells and rocks – was named after Captain Nudey. Bet he got eaten alive in middle school.
In the evening after a much-needed shower, we sampled some local Australian fare.
Check out the plate of Australian anti-pasto.
Starting on the left: emu, medium-rare kangaroo, crocodile wontons and smoked salmon with green ants. Being the fat food person I am, I was really pumped for all of it... minus the green ants. The kangaroo was more tender than I expected, the emu was a bit dry, and the crocodile was delicious.
Then I thought, Fuck it. Ant-e up. Momofuku's David Chang was raving about these green ants renowned for their citrus flavour, which I can attest, really does pop in your mouth. I think one of them got stuck in my teeth and it was this overpowering taste of lemon on palette. One slice was enough for me, though.
My choice for the main course was wallaby – baby kangaroo. Much tougher meat than expected, but surprisingly, not as gamey-tasting. Probably wouldn't order it again. It's the last picture on the bottom.
Oh, one more thing. Bats. There are a shitload (this is an appropriate term, trust me) of them on fig and mango trees in Carins. I'm talking about hundreds and hundreds on a single one. Our driver who picked us up from the airport warned us not to walk under these trees. There's something in their feces that make humans and horses ill and can take the paint right off the cars. Apparently, a little boy was killed by the bite of one of these giant things a few years ago. I took some video of them circling the night sky, which I'll upload later.
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