Vegemite and Hippies

After a good nights sleep we got up this morning for our rainforest adventure. We met down in the hotel restaurant for breakfast around 7am. I was making toast when I saw it. Right there with all the jelly - a little container of vegemite. I knew it was going to be disgusting, but I also knew I had to try it. So I take it back over to the table, and Dad has no idea what it is. I asked him if he had ever heard the song "Land Down Under" where they sing about the vegemite sandwich. That seemed to ring a bell. So I let Dad try a little fist. The face he made was hilarious, it was so bad. I still felt like I needed to try though, so I took a bite. Holy hell!! It tasted like salty garbage. I had to chug my coffee to make the taste go away and never ever come back. So after I down my entire cup of coffee, I look up to see Dad putting more vegemite on his toast and eating it. Every time he took a bite, he made the same face and said how horrible it was, but he wouldn't stop eating it!! Then he decides he wants to introduce this foul Aussie spread to the rest of the group. Next thing you know, Dad has transformed into Men At Work and is singing away about vegemite sandwiches. He did manage to trick poor BFF Edna into a bite, and I thought she was going to kill him. Everyone who tried it determined it was pretty much the worst stuff ever, but Dad kept eating it. He said it was better if you mixed it with peanut butter. Why anyone would ruin peanut butter like that is beyond me, but he was digging the combo

So after breakfast, we loaded up on the bus to go to the Cairns Scenic Railway. We all got on an old train that took us up a beautiful mountain with rainforest and waterfalls everywhere! At the top of the mountain is Kuranda Village. It is a bunch of markets, hikes, and animal exhibits. Erica, our tour leader, told us it was a hippie village. As soon as we got to the top, we stopped at a pub for a beer. What? It was 10:30am. Kind of a late start if you ask me. I mean, we ARE on vacation. So Dad asks the bartender where all the hippies are. I figured we would see them once we walked a little farther into the village, but she actually said that the hard core hippies live in tents in the jungle and only come out 1 or 2 times a year for a reggae festival. It reminded me of Bonnaroo. Home sweet home Manchester. Word. So we paid for our beers - the cheapest ones yet at a measly $6 each. SCORE - and went exploring.

So we were wandering in and out of markets, just looking around when I saw it. The Australian version of Molly Beth Shaffer. A lady pushing a stroller with a baby kangaroo inside!!! I went to pet it and asked her how she ended up with a pet baby kangaroo. She said that kangaroo get hit by cars a lot, so every time she sees one on the side of the road, she looks in its pocket to see if there is a baby inside. Apparently a baby can live for up to a week in the dead mother's pouch. She made me promise if I saw a dead kangaroo I would check its pouch for a baby. Um, ok scary lady. I live in Chattanooga so I only see kangaroos every other week or so, but I promise.

From there we went to see the feed the kangaroo who weren't as fortunate to get pushed in a carriage all day. They were really cute, but kind of lazy. I guess when you get fed all day you don't have much motivation to hop around. Then it was on to the koala bears. They were cute, but I have always heard that they are mean little bastards. So when the lady at the exhibit asked if we wanted to hold one and get a picture made for just $15, I relayed to her what I knew about koalas. That they are mean little bastards. She said they only attack people if they are provoked. Ok lady, so picking up a sleeping koala and bouncing it around while everybody is yelling LOOK OVER HERE isn't provoking? Riiight. Anyway, she didn't like me after that so I guess I didn't do much to help foreigners perceptions of Americans. My bad!

After the animal park, we went for a hike in the jungle. It was really pretty and even though we got lost for about 30 minutes (my family is directionally challenged) we got in a decent hike. So then it was back down to the pub for lunch. We sit down to order, and my dad asks for a... wait for it.... freaking vegemite sandwich!!! What the deuce?!? Thankfully, it was an Irish pub so no vegemite. I think he will be putting it on his regular grocery list when we get home. As long as he can mix it with peanut butter