Crocodiles, Venomous Snakes, Jumping Spiders....Why am I going to Australia??

Indeed, why is it that I wanted to send myself willingly to the continent known for having the most venomous snakes, and spiders the size of your hand? Where ancient predators, like sharks and crocodiles, lurk just beneath the glare of the water's surface? I don't know....maybe I wanted to conquer my fears, or perhaps just stare them straight in the face before I turned and ran screaming; but on March 25th I flew from the docile, relaxing cradle of the kava from Fiji, to the harsh, ozone-less, threatening-you-with-every-crack-in-the-wall-that-could-hide-an-insect AUSTRALIA! And after I had spent one day in that country of red-sand, the dreaded taipan, and ockers.....I LOVED IT!!! Okay, sorry for the drastic change in mood, but it's true. Australia is yet one more of those countries which we, over in North America, tend to view in the negative light of the media pigeon-hole; and we eat up every newscast and printed word there is. (Okay so maybe it's just me that focused on the pigeon-hole that declared Australia to be up to its ears in dangerous animals) Sure, there are venomous snakes and creepy crawlies, but they're more scared of me than I am of them! (cliche, but true....wouldn't you attack a foreign species that sneaks up on you unknowingly and then begins to scream?) I think my love for Australia first flourished on my two plane rides to get to Cairns from Fiji when I sat beside, first, Andrea and Tom from Brisbane, and then Matt and Chris (also from Brisbane), all of whom dispelled the myths of Australia's most fearsome creatures (drop bears?) and welcomed me unhesitatingly to call on them at any time, should I need the shirt from their back or the last lolly in the cupboard. "Hmmmm," I thought as I dropped down onto the Cairns runway, "maybe I'm not walking into a death trap." I stayed at Northern Greenhouse ($25 a night...a little expensive by Cairns terms, but a great hostel in my books!) right in the centre of town. For my first Oz excursion, I chose to go up to the hippie markets of Kuranda, high above Cairns. I took the skyrail up, stopping at several landings in the rainforest to take guided tours through the bush flanked by enormous trees whose names eluded me; which added to their glorious sense of intrigue. During these guided tours I saw (in order of 'chances of death if I had touched them'): a tree frog, a golden orb spider, and a red belly black snake (not bad for my first day in Oz, eh?). I continued on to see Barron Falls and finally into Kuranda to roam the sundrenched street (only one) and hippie markets scattered throughout the alleys and surrounding parks. The village was dreamy and full of a "Peace, man" kind of feeling. The frozen yogurt from the Original Rainforest Hippie Market was a fantasy of flavour all on its own. I then hopped on the Kurnada Scenic Railway and coasted down the mountains, through tunnels, and around cliffs for the 2 hour trip back to Cairns. Honorable mention goes to the Earth Hour celebration in Cairns that night, where I saw a harp being played alongside a didgeridoo, and more cracked-out aboriginals than you could shake a fist at! (Think Granville street with a dash of Hastings and you'll get that strange street view which I beheld that night). The following day I set out on Capt. Matty's Waterfall Tour. This was a highlight of my stay in Cairns and Capt. Matty (a barefoot, dreadlocked guide who knew everything and anything there was to know about Oz and wildlife [crocs in particular] and dreamed of owning his own pirate ship hostel within the next ten years) made the day one to remember. We first saw a Cathedral Fig tree (reminiscent of the giant mother tree from the movie Avatar.....I seriously thought I'd get the pleasure of seeing one of those giants emerge from the gaps between the vines!), and then went swimming in Lake Eacham ("What are those bubbles? Turtles?" " Nope, just scuba divers"....bizarre), where pythons had been known to curl up in the rafters of the women's toilet....not sure if that was just a punk aussie story to scare the foreigners, but it worked...I held my bladder til the next stop. We encountered leeches, were warned of causiwaries (the large, flightless birds of australia), and found out that 'Kangaroo' is actually indigenous for "I don't know what you're saying." [Side story: The English blokes who first came to Australia went out in the country and discovered these creatures with giant pouches, hopping on two long feet. The foreigners asked the aboriginals, "Hey, what are those animals called?", and everytime they asked, the aboriginals would say, "Kangaroo" with a strange expression on their face, and oftentimes they would even turn and walk away. So the animals went down in the books as 'Kangaroos', even though it was later discovered that this phrase actually means, "I don't know what you're saying. I can't understand you. Go back to wherever you came from and quit messing with our native species." ....okay so I added that last bit, but good story, eh?] We jumped off rocks in Dinner Falls and sat underneath the pounding waters for an impromptu massage. Next, we stopped at Millaa Millaa pub, in the middle of friggin nowhere, and had the pleasure of dining amongst the most red-neck population of alcohol-consuming individuals that I had ever been around. These blokes were true aussie gents, in their t-shirts, short shorts, socks pulled up, and toothless smiles. The pub was nice enough: clean and friendly, so the experience that we came away with was one of comic relief and awestruck giddiness....and a full tummy of beer and hamburger, mmmmmm. We then went on to Milla Milla Falls where the famous commercial for Herbal Essences had been filmed (yes, we girls attempted the famous hair-flip!) I'd never swam underneath a waterfall to discover that sanctuary of stillness where the water falls just overtop of you....as if the force of the river above pushes it so far out that the droplets have no choice but to follow that gushing force of water. You can actually see them start to fall on top of you, and then get whisked out with the rest of the flow, only to land safely two feet beyond you. The effect was mesmorizing, and I thank Capt. Matty for insisting that I go see it; so much so, in fact, that he slung me over his shoulder, walked out waist deep, and plunked me down in the water. Never again did I tell him that I was too cold to go in. :P The tour rounded out with Zillie Falls, Ellinjaa Falls, Crawford's Lookout, and Josephine Falls; all beautiful and breathtaking. After the final waterfall, we had tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and a plethora of sugary goodies awaiting us. Our group was a fantastic one, and we were all sad to see such a great day come to a close. I thought, "If this is what Australia is all about, then BRING IT ON!!" :D