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Published: April 30th 2008
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Fish
By the way.....we hired an underwater camera! Since we did the last blog in Cairns, we have once again done so so much. It is so beautiful around here and the weather is hot and humid.
We shall start with our reef trip. Now you cannot come all the way to Australia without doing a reef trip as it is probably one of the best things we have done so far. We decided to go for a fast boat, which gets you to the reef quickly , giving more time to see the Reef. We also had the choice of Snorkelling and or Scuba diving and we chose to Snorkel. The boat we were on held about 100 people, and it was pretty much full. We all sat in the inside of the boat with tea and coffee, whilst being giving all our safety advice by a man called Elvis... He was a marine biologist / entertainer, and we were certainly entertained. He was such a funny man and made the crucial but boring safety advice like a stand-up comedy show!
The first reef we went snorkelling on was Saxon Reef where we saw some incredible fish, unfortunately we did not see any Sharks or Turtles
but you cant have everything! We were here for at least 2 hours while we explored the amazing diversity of species and colours. It was like an underwater city. Words really cant explain how beautiful it was!
We left the water and boarded the boat for a buffet lunch where James enjoyed at least 3 steaks and a lot of sausages where as Kayley stuck with her Veggie Burger! After another 15 minutes we had arrived at our second reef site...Hastings Reef. This was by far the best reef and beat Saxon Reef by 10 fold. The colours were so much more vivid and the species far more plentiful. Some of the fish were as large as small sharks so again we wern't too dissapointed at not sighting a real one.
We also had a trip on a glass bottom boat navigated and narrated by Elvis. He made it really brilliant and enjoyable and took us to areas of the reef not accessible by snorkelling. Being a Marine Biologist he could tell us the story of the reef and how quick it is being destroyed by tourists (didn't put us off though) and global warming. You could really
see the Colour changes and where some of the reef had repaired itself.
When the whistle blew we didnt want to get out of the water but we were certainly entertained on our trip back. Elvis serenaded us with a few songs and stories while we enjoyed cheese and buscuits.
The next day we went to the Daintree rainforest where we went to mossman Gorge and on a river trip. The Gorge was incredible and the water so clean and clear. People were swimming as there were no crocodiles but we decided to just enjoy the scenery from dry land. This was the best way of seeing the rainforest which was so different from the one in Thailand. The river trip was a chance to travel on the Daintree River which is inhabited by crocodiles. Our guide was a local expert who knew each spot of the river where a Croc might be and helped us spot two huge salt water Crocodiles. Seeing them in the wild and so close was really surreal by such a great experience.
After a free nights accomodation on the beach we headed back down towards Townsville where we were told the
good news that Dingo had passed his assessment and would be put up for adoption. With this happy news we moved on to Airlie beach...the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands.
Our first day here we made the most of the sunshine and enjoyed a swim in the artificial lagoon before booking ourselves on a days sailing trip aboard a catermeran.
Next morning we had an early start and boarded the boat to begin our sail to Whitehaven Beach. This was probably the most incredible beach in the world, pure white 98% silica sand (whatever that means). It was so soft to walk on and stretched for miles. It was like our own tropical island except that only 20 minutes later another 5 tour boats had turned up! The water was also inhabited by Irukanji (bad jellyfish) so we had to wear rather flattering stinger suits.
After leaving the beach we went to another island to try some more snorkelling. this was nothing compared to the reef but was still very nice and we think we saw a small Reef Shark. Again the food was great and James enjoyed a few steaks and at least 10 FREE beers!
We also managed to pocket a couple of bottles of wine to enjoy another time!
Well thats about it for now. We will be heading further down south today and aim to get to Brisbaine fairly soon. Thank you for all your comments and messages. keep them up and we will even try to reply.
Take care.
James & kayley
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Matt Wesson
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Doggy!!
Thank goodness Dingo is okay - I was panicking that the story was not going to turn out well :O(.... Looks like you're both having a great time and enjoying yourselves - despite Doris and her antics! I played Lenny the other day Kayley - and Ruth did a marvellous job of playing Melody - but I did miss you so...especially when I sung at the end! I made 2 women cry out of emotion!! LMAO!! Plus...we're being kicked out of The Green Mews cos they're selling our house?! :O( ...so we should have a new place by the time you come back to the UK! Miss you both very much! Love me xxxxxxx