Extreme Shari???

1. feeding a grey kangaroo

2. holding a water python

3. holding a baby croc

4. holding a lizard (very prickly)

5. a big croc

6.- 10. jumping out of the plane

11.-13 rafting the Tully River

So I believe that when I last left you, I was having a relaxing time and enjoying the quiet calm tour life, getting comfortable with having my feet on the ground and looking forward to getting to Cairns (or Cans as they say here)... well life changed dramatically after that... I don't know who I am anymore!! JK

I arrived at Mission Beach and had a relaxing time with some girls from the bus. We had a great meal at the hostel pub and had an early evening. I have started to read a book about the disappearance and abduction of a British couple back in 2005 which happened around Alice Springs... where I will be in a couple of weeks! Maybe not the best choice??

So I awoke the next day and headed off for some extreme rafting... unfortunately there were not enough people for the extreme rafting, so we just rafted, though in the end because there were only 6 boats we were invited to do all the extreme rafting stuff. The Tully River rapids ranged from Class 1 to Class 4 and was it ever fun. I laughed all day! By the end of it our crew had the paddling and moving around the boat down to a tee. I jumped off a 4 meter (12 foot) boulder into the water and swam through a class 2 rapid... not to scary for the Fort Smith kayakers, but SCARY for me! One of the guys (from SK!) had a waterproof camera and I asked him to send me some photos of the journey in the raft. It was a great day, but I wish the clouds wound have dispersed and let the sun through..

Then if that wasn't enough, I decided to let the weather be the decision maker for me hurtling myself toward the ground at 220km/hr... and as luck would have it the clouds cleared and it was a great day to jump (of course it got cloudy and rainy again about 2 hours after - btw). We had an early pick up (7:30 AM) and by 9:30 I was sitting in a plane at 14000 feet hooked up to a complete stranger, assuming he was knowledgeable enough to save my life as I would fall to a potential death below.... But I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as we fell off (literally) out of the plane and into a free fall for 60 seconds (about 8000 feet or so). My eyes were close for about 30 seconds then Paul tapped my shoulder, I opened my eyes and arms and "flew" for another 30 seconds or so (stomach in my throat by now) and he pulled the parachute just as we went into a cloud. That was a neat experience... then we broke through the clouds and what a view (though I remember I was screaming the whole time!). I could see Dunk Island and the great Barrier reef and just a great view of the country. He made us spin a few times and stall then free fall a bit which of course did not let my stomach settle, and then with a lifting of the legs and running on the beach I was done... CRAZY! Yup that is what I am. I have officially decided!

For those who may not believe that I actually went through with it I have added some photos and you can drop by and watch the DVD anytime!

In the afternoon I caught a bus to Cairns with a stop at a crocodile farm on the way. Here we watched the breeder feed the crocs and gators, while we fed kangaroos and held water pythons, lizards and baby crocodiles... and I even did that!! Really what has come over me?

Tomorrow I am off to Cape Tribulation and the rain forest, so I will be out of touch for 3-4 days.. I will update when I come back.

Thanks for the e-mails all.. Missing ya!

PS- happy 9th birthday Chelsea.