Cairns

October 29th – November 2nd

On Thursday morning we flew out to Cairns. We had to take a cab, train, and airplane to make it up there. I was lucky enough to sit in the window seat and had the view of the ocean the entire way up. It was so beautiful outside. There were a lot of clouds but every now and then the islands would break through. I got bored after an hour of the flight so I got my camera out and took around 20 pictures of the ocean and outer reef. The ocean was an unreal blue color, like nothing I had seen before. When we got close to the airport I peered out my window to see mountains meeting the water. It looked like Jurassic park! It was so pretty, but also very cloudy. It started sprinkling rain when we landed, and we had to walk outside to get off the plane. It was so humid; it was almost difficult to breath. We made our way to the hostel, Gilligan’s Backpackers resort, and got all checked in then laid out at the pool. We walked around the small town and went to the grocery store to stock up on lunches for the next three days.
Friday morning started early. We met downstairs with our whole group at 7:15 and walked to the bay where our boat, Ocean Sprit III, was waiting for us to board. There were around 50-60 people on the boat and a crew of about 10. The weather looked iffy and we all were wondering how bad the ride out to the reef was going to be. Just to be safe, we all took ginger pills to help ease the sea-sickness. The ride was around 2 hours and it was very chopping and windy. We sat on the top deck outside and still got splashed by the waves. Even though the weather wasn’t the best the scenery was still very beautiful. Off in the distance we could see the mountains and on the horizon the ocean continued to rise and fall with current. We jumped right in the water to snorkel as soon as we got to Oyster reef. The water was so warm! It was really rough but we could still see relatively well. We rented an under water camera and snapped a ton of photos while we snorkeled along. Too bad we forgot to charge the battery so the camera pretty much died by the end of the snorkel experience. After swimming as hard as we could against the waves we finally made it back to the boat just in time for lunch. So many people were sick and couldn’t eat lunch. I lucked out and didn’t get sick. Sitting outside on the top deck was really relaxing and a lot easier on the stomach. Our group of 4 was scheduled to scuba at 130. We made our way to the back of the boat around 120 and the crew loaded us up with the scuba gear. After putting on what seemed like 20 lbs of gear we face planted into the water and started to learn how to scuba. Our instructor led us to the side of the boat and told us to hold onto the bar. We had two tests we had to complete before we could go off onto the reef. We had to breathe underwater, take out the regulator and then put it back in and blow out the excess water. When it was mine turn to do this I left the regulator out of my mouth too long and had to go back to the surface to take a breath. The instructor was not too happy with me and asked why I was laughing. I couldn’t help it, it was weird to be breathing underwater! I was able to successfully complete the task the second time and then we were on our way down the ocean floor. We went down a meter at a time and then eventually we were on the sandy bottom. We were in open water and there was nothing to be seen. I was so scared that a shark wasn’t going to come out of the murky blue-ness of the surrounding ocean. Thankfully we started swimming and within a minute we were at the reef. There were so many fish and different types of coral. I felt like I was in a movie, or watching planet earth. It was the coolest thing I have ever done by far! We had to stay linked to our instructor the whole time so we didn’t get lost which was a good thing. He dragged us over the one edge of the reef where we found Nemo! There were three clown fish swaying with the water and moving in and around the sea anemone. After swimming around and seeing giant coral that could snap off your hand and all sorts of colorful fish we made our way back on the surface. Scuba diving was such a fun experience! We managed to get a little more life out of the camera and got some pictures of Nemo and the giant clam. After returning all the gear to the boat crew and having afternoon tea, we started our journey back to land. It took a good 2 hours again to get back. We were all so worn out that we laid out on the top deck again and took a nap. It started raining just as we were about to pull into port so we rummaged all our things together and made it inside just in time for the crew to bid us farewell. It was still raining when we got off the boat so we had to run to get back the hostel. We were all so tried and hungry that we bought whatever we could find, I got subway, and then returned our camera then showered and went to sleep!
Saturday was again another early morning. We met downstairs at 745 and drove off the mountains to have breakfast with the birds. We had a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit, breads, eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! I stuffed myself full of the freshest fruit and then went on a tour of the wildlife sanctuary. We saw a bunch of different animals including kangaroos, wallabies, crocodiles and a ton of birds. I got so many pictures of all the animals but we were rushed around so some of them turned out blurry. After hurrying through the wildlife we sat outside and waited for our bus to take us the rest of the way up the mountain and to the rain forest. Along the way we stopped and had a tour of the rain forest with an aboriginal native to the area. We saw all sorts of poisonous plants and tons of other cool green plants. The guide showed us the aboriginal version of soap, which is a plant that you rub together with water and it turns into a soapy mess. We finished walking through the rain forest and saw a snake and a strangler fig tree that was over 500 years old, maybe even older than that! After the tour they gave us a small aboriginal snack and we were off to our place for the night. It was a cute group of cabin like houses. The ones our group stayed in were very basic, 4 beds and a bathroom, but there were nicer ones that were legit cabins. We ate at the only place in the town and it was a small café that was all outdoors. It was on the property were our little cabin like houses were so it was a nice short walk. We got to sit outside and enjoy the scenery and rain forest noises. Again we were all so tired that it was an early night.
Sunday morning wasn’t too early for me, it was just right. I woke up at 9 and had some breakfast and at 1045 was off to jungle surfing (zip-lining through the rain forest). We got harnessed in and walked up a path for about 15 mins to the first plat form. After hooking us onto the wires we swung from one platform to the next. We were 90 feet off the ground, one with nature and swinging through the trees. All you could hear were birds and the ocean in the background. It was so beautiful being up so high. The whole zip lining experience took an hour but there was a lot of waiting around because we had a group of 12 of us and we could only go one at a time. When we finished the tour guides drove us back down to meet up with the rest of our group. We stopped at a watering hole for lunch and a crocodile cruise and then drove back to cairns, about 2 and a half hours away, in time for some people to catch a flight back home. A group of 10 of us were scheduled to fly out on Monday morning at 6 am so we booked a hostel and tried to get some sleep. We were in bed by 930 but I feel like I didn’t even get sleep. I finally woke up at 415 called a cab to come get us from the hostel and take us to the airport. From there we took a flight back to Brisbane and then a train to Robina and then a bus back to Bond. I was so exhausted from the weekend that I showered got a huge coffee and tried to stay awake for the rest of the day. I was thankfully able to get a nap in before my late afternoon class and slept like a baby that night! I had such a fun action packed weekend! It was definitely a unique experience seeing the Great Barrier Reef and the rain forest, two of the most eco-diverse areas in the world. I plan on going back someday and hopefully the weather will be better and I will get a chance to scuba again!!! I’m off to Sydney tomorrow, Thursday, and will have so many more adventures to write about when I get back.