June 16-Kuranda Village + Aboriginals/ Could you travel on your own?

Today, we went on a scenic train ride through the mountains (going to Kurunda village).  The train looked like old fasioned train or like something you would see on the old t.v show called "Thomas and....." or something like that (just look at the picture).  Anyways, the views from the train were amazing!!!  We saw a field of sugar cane, and a beautiful neighborhood built in with the mountain.  Not literally IN the mountain but they didn't reshape the mountain in anyway.  The houses were probably split level or something, I don't know :)  The mountains (or hills, which ever you prefer) were gorgeous! There were so many trees and plant life.  I have never seen so much nature in one place!  There were some really colorful plants that I saw too!  I really wish that IL had some mountains somehwere or even alot of nature in one place.  I know we have nature preserves and stuff like that but its not the same once you've seen the actually thing.  During the ride we passed through some tunnels.  Everybody else thought they were pretty cool but I'm not really a "go through dark tunnels in a train" kind of person. I've seen alot of scary movies sooo......yeah :)  Most of the train ride was pretty but I did notice some spots along the tracks that you could tell that they had cut into the mountain to make the train.  It made me kind of sad (not like depressed sad) that they had to destroy some nature/mountain to build the tracks.  It didn't bother me alot though don't worry!  After about 45 minutes or so, we got to Kurunda village.  We split off into groups to go do whatever.  My group consisted of Lexa, Reilly, Bridgette, Cody, Megan, Jenny, and I.  We first went to the ATM because we were all alittle low on cash.  After that, we went out for lunch! I had a kangaroo pie!! It was my first time trying kangaroo and it was delicious!! To tell you the truth, it just tasted like meat and I'm a carnivore so you get the picture!! The pie also had some vegetables and a gravy substance.  The crust around wasn't to flaky and it was to smushy, it was prefect!  I also had some chips (fries) with it and they were good as well.  Everyone else had hamburgers, sandwiches, or chicken burgers.  After lunch, we all headed straight for the Wildlife part of the village.  We wanted to hold a koala soooo bad! When we got there and saw the prices we were alittle discouraged but the lady at the desk gave us the discounted price so we all did it!! I was fourth to hold the koala.  Her name was chimpy and she was adorable!! She was soft and cuddly and when the lady gave her to me, she hugged on to my arms!  After everyone held chimpy and got their pictures, we headed into the wallaby exhibit. Thats right, I said IN the wallaby exhibit!! They were all tame so you could pet them and there was also some food out some you could feed them.  I feed a baby and an adult.  There were also some kangaroos that had little joeys in their pouches.  After we were done, we left the village.  We got to take a gondola down!  We went right over the wet tropics.  It was so beautiful but I was alittle nervous because we were high up and it was windy so our gondola was shaking and rocking....big yikes :)  After the ride, we went to a theater that was all about the aboriginals.  The show started out with a performance that had alot of cultural dances and songs.  Then we got to try our hand at throwing boomarangs!  Just a side note, it looks so much easier when professionals are doing it.  They told me to throw it like a baseball so I thought to myself "oh this should be easy!!" because I play softball!! Yeah no, not really.  When I threw it, it just went sailing off, but it never came back :)  It was fun though.  Then they let us throw spears.  That was even harder than the boomarang!  I failed miserably but I had a great time doing it!  After that we went inside to watch a movie type thing and we learned how to play a diggarido(sp?).  I still can't do it :)  We than left and went back to the hotel.  For dinner, we were allowed to go around town.  My group and I went to a food court for dinner (as much as I really didn't want to) and then went shopping afterwards.  I don't know why but my stomach was really bothering me so the night wasn't as fun as it could have been but I tried to make the best of it!!

Kuranda Village

Me and Chimpy!!

Everyone at lunch :)

Could you travel on your own?

I could defiantly travel on my own.  Traveling always came off as easy to me.  Knowing people wouldn't be an issue because I make new friends very quickly (I'm a people person).  I like making choices for myself and I deal fine without an adult figure telling me what to do.  I love making schedules for a new day.  I don't think it would matter where I traveled because I am a fast learner and I catch on to things quickly.
Some challenges i would have would maybe by location.  I might have trouble finding somewhere to live or somewhere to eat or just somewhere in general.  I don't really read maps well and I have trouble remembering directions.  I'm sure that I would figure it our eventually.  I would also have a problem if I went somewhere that nobody speaks english.  I would eventually pick up some of the language but the first couple of months would be difficult.  Another silly challenge I would have is not doing certain gestures or saying certain things that offend people.  For example, here we were told not to say "doodle" or give thumbs up.  I would have a problem because it is hard for me to break certain habits.  If I couldn't solve this problem, I would also have a problem making friends because everyone would hate me so much :)