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Published: September 28th 2007
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The lagoon by day
The only real swimming hole in Cairns The week flew by but it was simply an amazing trip up to Cairns. Melbourne was even nice enough to remind us that it's quite a bit cooler and rainier here when we returned. Cairns had the feeling of Mexico where you flee to during the cold months at home. And it's definitely a tourist area where souvenirs were apparent on every corner. The first day we went up to Palm Cove which is a bus ride away. It actually has a beach and a cute little area next to the water. Cairns doesn't have a beach, just a lagoon. The "beach" is actually all mud when the tide goes out. And the first night, we ventured around for the nightlife it has to offer, which isn't a ton but enough to get by. We hit up Gilligans, which was on the club level with 2 levels offering different music and the Woolshed which was very laid back and probably the bet out of the ngiht. We tried Shenanigans but you could hear crickets in there so we busted out fairly quickly.
The next day, we hung around the lagoon. While Alex had scuba diving lessons for the next 4
days, the rest of us had to figure out what we were going to do. We signed up for an overnight trip to Cape Tribulation and one day would have been enough really. It involved a lot of time on the bus and not much time actually checking things out. We hit up the Daintree Rainforest and River. The rainforest has an "awesome" smell when the tide is out. If you didn't pick up on that, that was sarcasm because it actually smells quite putrid due to the gases that are released. We were shown many evil plants that have sharp edges if you rub them the wrong way. Also, our guide had lived with the Aborigines for a bit and told us that if we're ever sick to crush up green ants and snort them and you'll feel better quite quickly. Not sure how often I come across green ants but it's interesting nonetheless. While on the river, we came across some crocs, little ones but there were there. The trees that line the edge of the river have the capability to take the salt out of the water but I can't recall their name.
After that, the
overnighters got dropped off at their hostels. We stayed at PK's because it was suppose to be the most lively. Not sure if they lied or because it was a Sunday night, but it was not lively at all. And the only thing really there offered was the beach which was quiet as well. The second day we hiked out to Cape Tribulation to the beach around the corner. We saw some more artwork from the crabs. On that beach, it looks like spaghetti coming out of their holes that wrap around it, whereas, on the other beach, it was mainly little balls of sand that surrounded the holes. Quirky little creatures. After lunch, we got picked up again and went to an outlook to see the Daintree River below us. Then it was off to the picturesque Mossman gorge. It's simply the cleanest water I've ever seen, even beating out Lake Superior. It was quite chilly so I stayed away from jumping in. Port Douglas was next and is packed with resorts, again a very touristy area. Finally, back to Cairns. That night, we walked forevvvvvvvver to find the Green Ant, a restaurant recommended to us. Later in the
trip, we found out many places in the city offer great deals for $5 or $10 along with a drink and here we spend an hour trying to find this one restaurant. At least we have tips for next time.
On Tuesday and Thursday, we spent out time on a boat. Wake up at the crack of dawn to head out to the Great Barrier Reef. Luckily, I had dramamine on hand cuz there were a handful of people that found themselves over the edge of the boat in the back. The worst part is actually heading out to the reef which takes over an hour but once you're there, it's not bad at all. The company offers an introductory dive at no additional cost. I attempted but popping or equalizing your ears is a lot trickier under water since your mouth is open over the regulator. I think I'll start in the kiddie pool next time like Alex did. I got to go snorkeling though and at one stop, the divers said snorkeling was actually better. It's a lot more colorful on top since light doesn't reach very far down but at the same time, you don't get
Little itty bitty croc
Might have to look hard...just might to go into caves or through canyons. The Irish guys on the boat said Fiji was an awesome place to dive so maybe that'll be next on my list. Over the two days, we got 4 chances to get in the water. We found most of the Finding Nemo crew. 😉 Including Dori, Nemo, the black fish with yellow and white with a long extension off of its head and the fish that all turn the same direction at the same time. They're the ones that make arrows in the movie. I also learned about the cone shell which is possibly one of the world's most dangerous animals. It has a barb twice the length of it's shell and if you get stabbed, you go into respiratory failure within 30 seconds to a minute and your organs start turning to liquid. You're dead within 2 minutes. When the divers did their night dive, we learaned of a fish that basically spits out a plastic bag and sleeps in it and if it's broken, they can't make another one for 24 hours. And yet another fish that I can't recall it's name, that if you move any piece of coral from
its nest, it will go after it and put it back in the same exact spot and orientation after it comes up to you and shows you its pissed by shaking itself in front of you. Sounds like entertainment for the day. The fire coral is pretty dangerous as well because if you touch it, it send pain shooting up your arm for 48 hours that's worse than if you stick your hand in a pot of boiling oil. And nothing can be done to rid of the pain. It was amazing to see what all lies under the surface of the water. I also saw what I believe were to be mackerals swimming by that were several feet long. And once in the boat again, a huge fish kept coming up to the surface. Probably the size of a German shepherd if not bigger.
It's two days later and I still feel like I'm on the boat every so often. It's definitely a weird feeling. Other things I learned were that the Irish have their own language. I can't remember what it's called but it was interesting to hear it spoken. We had found out through our conversation
that the people on the boat were actually staying in our hostel. They had a large group that were traveling together, some which had started from the beginning and others that met along the way. David said he'd been traveling on his own for 3 months but nothing could compare to meeting up with the people he was currently with. The sad part was that they were all splitting up the next day with 2 of them coming to Melbourne. Anyway, it was a blast the last night there with them and now I'm back in chilly Melbourne making new travel plans and trying to comprehend that I was just at one of the seven wonders of the world. It's the only living life that can be seen from space. How wicked is that? Or in Irish terms, it's class (brilliant).
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