Weather: 30 degrees C / 86 degrees FSubtitle: You’ve GOT to be kidding me!
Well, if we missed out on the beach time yesterday, we sure made up for it today! Let me start at the beginning. When the big bang exploded, it caused all the matter in the universe … oh wait … too far back … I’ll start TODAY!
We got up this morning, got all our things together and rushed out of our Sydney Hotel (Central Park Hotel). We took a cab to the airport ($10 cheaper than the trip from the airport, proving that our cabbie we had earlier went the wrong way and over-charged us).
We got on a short flight to Cairns (2.5 hours) in economy class next to a guy who smelled like smoke and took the whole armrest from Hilary.
When we got off the plane, we took a short cab ride to the pier and ate pizza! :) It was a thin crust Italian style (Very tasty with Brochette)
We hopped on our ferry to Green Island, discovered by Captain Cook. So far, there hasn’t been an island he’s discovered that I haven’t liked! Our ferry ride was short (45 mins) and windy from the upper level! 
We could barely keep our sunglasses on! The whole area reminds me so much of Hawaii! It’s gorgeous! On the ferry, we met a Netherlands couple who used to live in Andover, Massachusetts. I have to remember that part of the fun of traveling is finding 
out about those who are around you. It’s amazing how small this world becomes once you start traveling. They lived right around the corner from where we stayed in Amsterdam a few years back. I wonder if we passed them in the streets 4 years ago.
When we arrived on Green Island, we just stared with our mouths hung open. The Island itself is not that big, yet there is so much to do! (It’s only about 37 acres).
We checked into our room at the private resort. After we recovered from fainting, we took a few pictures and ran around the place, screaming “you’ve got to be kidding me!” (that’s where I got the title of today’s entry, in case you haven’t noticed). 
Our bags were already brought to our room for us, so we cracked them open, changed into our bathing suits and headed for the beach! After a short walk from our room to the reception area, we exchanged our key for some beach towels from a 6’9” man behind the reception desk who looks just like Mongo from Blazing Saddles! (I’ll try to get a picture before we leave).
Another short walk later, we picked up some snorkeling gear and attempted to snorkel. I’m very proud of Hilary! She didn’t give up! And before she knew it, 
she was snorkeling right next to me! We saw a few sting rays and plenty of Sea Grass. There were a few good patches of some brilliant coral (brain coral, for
example). Alas, my camera doesn’t perform well underwater, so … no pictures. We’re hoping to see more tomorrow. We ended up snorkeling for over an hour, though!Afterwards, we went back to the room to drop off our gear in the room and we partook in some complementary champagne and chocolate covered strawberries! There was a huge tray on our room waiting for us when we arrived!
After gulping down some champagne, we went to the dock (the only dock on the island) to see the 5:00 fish feeding! It was great! All these huge tropical fish (2-3 feet long) were clamoring for food. (It was like watching me at a Sizzler buffet!) There was even a small shark, but the tropical fish were bigger and had better eye sight, 
so they ended up chasing the shark away.We saw a giant turtle, too!
After the feeding, we explored a few of the paths and booked our day’s activities for tomorrow. We met on the sunset side of the island to have a drink and watch the sunset. I had a Castlemain XXXX (read “four ex”). It was very good! I think I like Australian beer. Victoria Bitter was a good brand, too.
We felt like we were in a Corona commercial. We laid out on the beach until the sun went down.
After watching the sunset, we went to get cleaned up for dinner. It was included in our package, so we didn’t know what we were in for. Luckily, it was very good! Good thing, too , because it’s the only place to eat on the whole Island! Emeralds is its name. My pen ran out of ink, so now I have to use a blue one.
I can now tell my friends and family that I have eaten kangaroo, crocodile, and emu! We washed all that down with a few mango daiquiris. Our waitress, a native from Brisbane was very nice, but it was her first week on the job, so she didn’t know anything about the food yet. She talked with us a little about the country, though.After dinner, we ran to get our torches (or flash-lights as we call them) and went on a nature walk. Our guide showed us all the local trees and the nuts they produce. There was a cheese-tree fruit that actually smelled like cheese (and apparently it acts like a laxative). There were sweet almonds, too.
Afterwards, we went to the beach, where he showed us a ghost crab. It only comes out at night and in the morning, the beach is covered with their tracks.We turned off our flash-lights and looked up at the stars and there were so many! We were hoping to see the southern cross, but it sets at 7:00 (along with the sun) so it’s tricky to see. I would have taken a picture of the star-lit sky, but my camera’s flash only goes 8 feet. :)
Another interesting fact we learned on our nature walk: We kept feeling a spritz of water as we walked through the island. We were wondering if it was some kind of sparkler system. In a way … it was. It turns out the cicadas are out this year (and deafeningly loud, too) and they like to pee on tourists from America, apparently. Yelch! In a way, it’s like a refreshing ocean mist. Ocean water evaporates, rains back to the Earth, plants and trees soak up the rain water, cicadas eat leaves from the trees, and the cicadas piss on the American tourists. Circle of life.
After our nature walk, we walked along the pier and looked at the stars and tried to find fish with our flashlights. We found another sting ray! At around midnight, we got tired out and went to bed.
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