The trip to Cairns was in the books for a while. Planned for a week when Andrew didn't have to work and right before Cairns got unbearably hot in the summer, we left Newcastle on September 6th. The vacation couldn't have come at a better time for us because we both needed a relaxing holiday and when we got to Cairns the weather was perfect...about 80 degrees every day and no rain!
One of the first things I noticed flying into Cairns wasn't the crystal blue water, but instead, the rainforest mountains that surround the bustling tourist city. Cairns itself actually doesn't have a lot of beach. There is the Esplanade, which is the main strip down by the water...but, the water isn't even water, its mud flats! When settlers first came to Cairns they were surprised by the shallow water near shore. They dug out a canal to get into a harbor area with a bit deeper water, but them digging out the passage led to huge amount of sand and dirt settling all along the coast, leaving a huge mud flat! Definitely not what I expected when hoping to catch some rays on the sand, but our apartment complex had three swimming pools which we lounged around.  |
| Crocodile hand feeding |
It was overall a pretty quiet trip, but we did do a lot of things! We rented a car for two days which led to some great day trips around the area. On the first day we went to the Crystal Cascades, a series of waterfalls about 30 minutes from Cairns. The hike was short and the water was too cold to swim in but we took some great pictures in the lush rainforest with the rocky falls. From there we headed to Palm Cove, a lazy tourist town a short drive North of Cairns with plenty of resorts and a huge sandy beach. We got lunch and strolled to the beach. We didn't actually go in the water because of the huge signs warning against crocodiles and jelly fish (yikes!). Then we got ice cream and headed onto our next stop, a crocodile farm! Normally a croc farm wouldn't be my first choice, but I have to say, it was very interesting seeing these monstrous dinosaur-like creatures, the biggest was 750 kg! There was a boat tour where the keepers strung up chicken bits on a long pole and had the crocs jump out of the water to grab them. It was incredible how high they could jump and how easily they could hide in the shallow water. There was also a "croc attack" show where a keeper actually got into the cage with a croc (his toes in the water and all!) and demonstrated a croc's dead roll, head shake, and ability to hide in water that was no more than 2 feet! Then he ended the show by feeding the croc...out of his hand! The rest of the croc park also had all the fuzzy Australia creatures, kangas, wallabies, and koalas...and at the end of day we got to hand feed Cassowaries (remember those big birds with blue necks that have been known to disembowel humans?!). 
Our second day with the car had us driving 90 minutes North to Mossman Gorge. A shuttle bus took us up the mountain from there and we went on a hike through the rainforest, seeing huge trees, more waterfalls, and some rainforest wildlife like blue butterflies and rainforest turkeys of some sort. From there we went for lunch at Port Douglas. Similar to Palm Cove with lots of touristy things (but much larger!) we walked along the bustling main street and had lunch at a pub before heading back to Cairns. 
On Thursday we finally got to the reef! We booked a tour that included a fast boat, two stops, snorkeling, and one scuba dive. The boat ride took about 90 minutes while we were briefed on scuba safety and all. Then at the first stop, Andrew, myself, and two other people were the first group in the water. The dive itself wasn't my favorites (we had to hold onto the instructor the entire time!) but the underwater life was spectacular! Our first stop was "Nemo" where a photographer took our picture close to the little clown fish in his anemone home. Unfortunately we were not allowed to have our own cameras for the first dive and Andrew and I both looked wonky in the photographer's so it was an easy choice not to get the pictures. We also got to pick up this ginormous red sea slug, which was surprisingly not too squishy but still kinda gross! After our 25 minute dive we headed up to the boat and did a bit of snorkeling. The reef has real shallow parts so the snorkeling was great as well but we were both a bit tired, hungry, and having ear problems so we settled back on the boat for lunch and then we were off to the next place.  |
| Wally! |
We declined a second dive and decided to just stick to the snorkeling at the next place. And boy, we weren't disappointed! Upon jumping into the water, a large fish called a "Wally" came up and was looking for people to tickle its lips. Taking a clue from one of the guides, I got right in and gave Wally a couple good tickles! He was a funny fish for sure. We spent the next two hours snorkeling around the amazing reef. There was heaps of fish and coral but the guide pointed out some special ones. For example, the rainbow-colored Parrot fish, which eats the coral and poops out the white sand that sits on the bottom of the reef. Or the Romeo and Juliet fishes who are always in a pair and one dies without the other...he said because true love, but maybe also because the fact that they eat and look out for predators as a team and without both one can't eat peacefully so it starves. After a long day in the water we settled in for the 90 minute ride home and enjoyed a beer near the docks. We only went out to dinner the last two nights since we had a kitchen in our apartment but we found a fabulous New Orleans restaurant and a Greek restaurant...both were absolutely delicious and were a great way to end our time in Cairns. On the way home we had a four hour layover in Brisbane and got to go into one of those fancy lounges with free food and open bar which was the best end to the trip!
