Mahriena Ellanna is a student at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and an ISA Featured Blogger. She is currently studying abroad with ISA in Melbourne, Australia.
My study abroad host city is Melbourne in Victoria, but I was lucky enough to spend my first few days in Queensland in a city called Cairns. In both of these incredible cities I tried a number of exciting and remarkable things and, without further ado, these are my top five exotic things to try on your first days in Australia!
1) Hold a Koala. This cutie’s name is Jackie. I met her in Cairns at a wildlife park called RainForeStation. She was lighter, softer, and significantly less smelly than I was imagining she would be. She was absolutely charming and melted my heart.
2) Feed a kangaroo. This one is a total “DUH!” when you are planning a study abroad in the Land Down Under. Kangaroos are also, shockingly, soft and so very relaxed.
3) Kangaroo. As in the meat. Is it messed up to feed a kangaroo and try eating some all in the same day? Either way, they are delicious! I had kangaroo sausages–or snags–as Aussies like to call them. Give them a go! The snags I grilled up and ate were purchased from the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne.
4) Throw a boomerang. This is so much harder than I thought it would be. There is a certain way to hold it before you throw. You have to throw it just so and give it enough force, but not too much! I learned how to throw a boomerang, saw an Aboriginal dance performance, took a drive through the rain forest, and saw some spear throwing all at RainForeStation in Cairns!
5) Scuba diving on the Great Berrier Reef. This was, by far, the most amazing experience I’ve had so far in Australia. The reef was stunning and can certainly awe anyone.
Check out more about Australia or sign up to learn more about studying abroad!