TRAVELOGUE.jesswrites.com

Hey all! Just another lazy Saturday to wrap up a very busy week. I had so much fun at school this past week and I’m pretty much competely settled in by now. We had another BBQ on the beach last night… well actually we had fish & chips, but close enough. The stars were SO gorgeous and I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. When we got home I got the telescope out and laid in the backyard and just stared… I even saw a very bright shooting star. Speaking of nature, we saw the most beautful and full rainbow the other day on the way to school.
I’m staying the night at my friend Rebecca’s tonight. Lana was supposed to go over to one of her friend’s houses as well but I’m not sure if she still is. There’s really not a lot of news on my part. So, uhhh… I’ll update again later where there is. Have a great day everyone! I’m thinking of you all.

Happy Birthday to me! I am now a big bad 17 yr. old. Haha, actually I feel no different then I did yesterday except that I made some important birthday resolutions that I am going to try very hard to live by this year. My birthday BBQ yesterday was nice. There was a good turn out and the beach was looking especially beautiful due to a full moon and a clear sky. The breeze kept blowing out my candles though. Today was a nice day too. I had tons of ppl wish me a happy birthday, got lots of hugs, a few cards & presents from friends, and my entire tourism class sang to me. Actually, my friends were going to announce my birthday to the entire school at the assembly this morning but I scared them out of it. (Don’t ask me how…) We ate tacos for dinner (I got to pick) and I got another birthday cake which was delicious and I actually got to blow the candles out this time! So all in all, I had a great birthday.
I forgot to tell you in the last entry about Saturday afternoon. Lana was at dance all day Saturday so Bree and I went to Kuranda which is a small city in the rainforest where a few of our friends live as well. We went and picked-up my good friend Lauren and then went downtown to visit the markets. The whole city was really neat because it was like walking through a jungle except there were roads and sidewalks and stuff. The best part of the day was when we went into an animal park and I got to hold a koala! We also fed kangaroos and saw some crocs, wombats, and lizards. The koala was by far my favorite, though.
I have tons of new pictures from the last week or so to upload too so I’ll do that as soon as I have a chance. Well I have some homework to do and some phone calls to make so I’m gonna go for now. Have a great day everyone! <3 Jess

Hey everyone, sorry it’s been so long since I’ve updated. School was fine this week. Nothing particularily exciting happened. Valentines Day was pretty fun, however because we made it into quite a big deal at school and at home. With 5 girls living in the house we ended up getting quite a large collection of roses by the end of the day which took up most of the kitchen counter. My mom’s bithday was yesterday and I called her up about 15 minutes after midnight (Michigan time) to wish her happy birthday and talk her ear off for a good half an hour.
Last night Bree, Lana, and I had a girls night out partly for something to do, and partly to celebrate my birthday. (We didn’t stay at the beach party the night before for very long.) We were all feeling quite spontaneous so after seeing the movie ‘Just Married’ we decided to go on this bunjee jumping thing together. It wasn’t actually bunjee jumping because they strapped all three of us into this ball thing and then launched us up into the sky while we spinned around in circles and screamed at the top of our lungs. It was really fun! Shortly after we got off it started pouring so we all let our hair down and ran around in the rain, up and down the city sidewalks of Cairns. We kept running into our friends from school as well. After going to a coffee cafe, we hopped a bus and went back to Bree’s where we went swimming and acting like morons until the wee hours of the night.
Today we’re having a BBQ on the beach w/ family and friends for my birthday. It should be pretty cool since this is the first time my birthday has ever been during the summer. I’m not sure how much it will feel like my bday, though, when I’m running around on the beach in shorts and a bikini top… I’m sure I’ll love it though.
Well I’m going to go now. I hope everyone had a great Valentines Day and good week as well. Stay in touch and take care! Love ya all! -Jess

Back to school today–Monday’s are always the same, no matter where in the world you are. But anyways, I uploaded tons of new pictures for your viewing pleasure. I uploaded most of the reef pictures with the exception of a couple that I still need to scan. Unfortunately my digital camera can’t go underwater so you won’t be able to see any of that. I am also very pleased to tell you that there are new pictures in ALL of the other albums. So enjoy! Sorry that there are no descriptions. If you want to know anything about any of the pictures, feel free to email me or leave a message on the site and I’ll try to clarify it for ya. Well I’m gonna get back to uploading now–have a great day!

Today we went on our trip to the Great Barrier Reef and it was absolutely incrediable! We boarded the boat around 9:00 and went out to Fitzroy Island where we had about an hour to explore. Then we went out to a pontoon boat right on the reef. We went snorkeling for awhile and it took a little while plus a few gulpfulls of salt water to get used to it. Right as soon as I got in I was surrounded by tropical fish though and it was awesome. And when I say surrounded, I mean it. There were hundreds of them in one small area and they weren’t scared of us at all. If we just reached our arms out we could touch about 10 of them. The farther out we swam the more beautiful it got. There was coral of all colors and so many different kinds of bright colored fish that it was hard to decide which ones to look at. We saw clams that were almost as big as me and lots of sea cucumbers and other wierd creatures. It was so cool. We got back on the boat for a quick lunch and then Lana and I went scubadiving! It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done and a bit nerve-racking at first too. Our dive instructor took us about 8 meters down (approx. 24 feet) and we got to touch and feel all of the coral, plants, animals, etc. It was especially neat to look up towards the surface and see hundreds of fish swimming over our heads as well as some snorkellers who waved to us. Lana and I got our picture taken underwater with our scuba gear on so I’ll scan it and post it just in case you don’t believe me. (haha) The whole experience was amazing though and its something you have to see for yourself because it’s indescribable.
As far as the last few days have been, I had yet another very eventful weekend. Thursday was my day off so my friend Bree stayed the night on Wednesday and we went into town Thursday morning. We walked around downtown for awhile and she showed me a bunch of her favorite shops and then we went to Cairns Central where we ran into about 20 of our friends from school who we hung out with for awhile. At 3:00 we walked to Cairns High where I caught the bus home with Lana. When Gordon got home we went to Palm Cove (which is the nicest beach in Cairns) and that was really cool cuz I hadn’t been there before. Friday was really fun at school cuz I had double photography and we worked in the darkroom for the first time on our own. (And you can imagine how exciting that was for me!) Afterschool Kita came and picked us up and took us shopping to buy Gordon’s birthday cards/presents. When we finally got home around 5:30 we got ready for dinner and then went out to a cool Thai food restraunt that was right on Trinity Beach. After dinner Andrew (Lisa’s boyfriend) dropped me off at Mark’s house in Redlynch. I had a fun night hanging out with him and all of his friends plus a bunch of other people that I met during the evening. On Saturday after Lana got home from dance we went to the beach to meet a couple of friends and in the evening we went to church. My friend Teresa was having a party for her birthday that night but I was so tired and decided to just stay in for the evening.
So, with the exception of a few minor things, everything has been going great over here and I’m sill having a blast and enjoying every day. We were talking about this today and it sounds like Kita and Lana will be visiting me in Michigan over Christmas break so a lot of you will have a chance to meet a couple of the people you’ve been hearing so much about. Well I’m off for now, so take care everyone and as always, have a great day!

I uploaded a few more pictures, but I don’t have time to write anything right now because my friend Bree is over.
At the top of the site there are new pictures in the school, cairns, and josephine falls albums!
Stay tuned. lol. Have a great day!

Well, I’m starting to settle into a new week now after a very eventful weekend. On Saturday the entire family went on a day trip to Josephine Falls which is about an hour south of Cairns. It was the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen in my life. (Or at least in the top 5.) To get to the falls we went on a short hike through the rainforest which was a whole experience in itself. The rainforest was so cool and Lana and I got a picture taken next to some winding vines. It was really neat to hear all the animals and birds as we walked through, too. The falls were so gorgeous and the water was crystal clear. We walked up on the rocks right up to the top of the waterfall and hung our feet over the edge despite the “Danger: Don’t go beyond this point” sign. There was also a rock slide (natural water slide) that we spent about an hour going down repeatedly. Since it was really wide, all 7 of us would slide down at the same time. Afterwards we had lunch/dinner at the covered picnic table area and I saw the families goofy/nerdy/silly side and laughed so hard that I could hardly eat.
We got home around 5:30 and Sam came over and all three of us got ready to go out even though we ended up not leaving the house until about 8:30. The night was very fun and eventful, but I’m not going to go into details. I did make a lot of new friends, though, which made today at school the funnest yet. I didn’t end up going to bed until about 3:00 am and then got woken up by Lana at 7:00 am so I was really tired all day Sunday. Lana had a modeling thing all morning at Cairns Central and we went to watch the fashion show around noon. It was fun to see Lana modeling on the stage/catwalk thing (or whatever it’s called) and she’s really good at it too. When it was over we did a little bit of shopping and then went back home where Lana and I each took a lengthy nap. When we woke up we went down to the beach for a couple of hours to cool off because it’s been SO hot for the last few days.
School today was quite fun because I’ve made so many friends already and I meet more everyday. During morning tea I went to a meeting about the musical audtions which I’m thinking about about trying-out for. Then I spent my entire lunch period telling everyone at my lunch table (which is mostly guys who believe anything I tell them) that I was so glad to be in a more peaceful environment because all the guns and bombs that go off at home all the time were quite distracting. Also that it was pretty scary and sad going to a school where all the kids carried a gun in their backpockets and shot anyone who pissed them off. They were quite impressed when I told them that I shot 4 people and didn’t go to jail for it because it was a “normal occurance.” I’m pretty sure they knew I was kidding, but I can’t be sure since some of them are pretty, uhhh…. dumb, so I guess I should probably set them straight tomorrow. lol. Everyday feels like a never-ending game of ‘20 Questions’ and its pretty hard to eat lunch or do my work when people are constantly asking me things like “Where in America do you live?” “Do you think we have accents?” “Have you ever met Van Wilder?” “What’s your opion about Bush?” “Does it snow where you live?” “Do Americans think Steve Irwin is cool?” “Have you ever met or seen anyone famous?” “Has anyone ever gotten shot in your school?” “Do you like vegemite?” “Are the parties like they are in the movies?” “What concerts have you gone to?” “Are Australian guys hotter than American guys?” etc. etc. etc…. I could go on and on but I think you guys get the idea. I’m hoping the questions will slow down by the end of the week because it’s quite exhausting… but it is quite fun to make up stories (such as the gun thing) when they ask me ridicoulously stupid questions.
We’ve been planning my birthday weekend and it’s going to be a lot of fun because there’s a huge Valentines Day party on Friday. Everyone wants to throw me a party on Saturday, and then a bunch of us are going to camp out on the beach. Then on Sunday we are going to have a family cookout on the beach w/ all the Aunts, Uncles, and cousins and stuff…. so it should be a very fun weekend. I’m also excited for this Sunday because we are going diving at the reef!
Well I’ve gotta go so take care everyone and stay safe driving on the slippery roads. (I’ve heard theres been some accidents over there.) Miss you all! Have a great day.
There are new pictures on the following:
More Pics from around the house
Sam & Lana, Tricia (mum), and me being stupid in Mark’s car

Oh yea! Lana just got a new email account and she hasn’t gotten any email yet, so you can email her at: lana_f_s_h@hotmail.com