This is my first blog for my study abroad trip to Australia.  A lot has happened since I arrived in Cairns on Thursday.  Friday we just explored the city a bit, there are awesome restaurants and shops all within walking distance of our hostel.  Saturday our group went on a snorkeling trip out to the Great Barrier Reef, and Sunday we took a tour of Cape Tribulation and the rainforest.  Monday I went to the Cairns sea turtle hospital on the mainland, and there I met a little turtle named Penny, she had been found starved half to death, her shell was almost paper-thin and her skin had split open in two places.  She’s doing much better, eating very well and her wounds are healing.  I fed her prawns and cleaned her tank, and also prepped squid for other turtles.  There was another turtle there that was being treated for fibropapilloma, a disease caused by a virus which causes large tumorous growths to form all over her body.  Some had been removed already, and had been sent out to a lab so a vaccine could be made that would help this particular turtle.  I did the same today, and yesterday I went to the island rehab center, met a gigantic 100-year-old turtle named Margaret that was at least twice my weight, and spent the afternoon at one of the beaches.