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Published: April 27th 2008
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OH my God
this is me jumping out of the plane. CLASS Hi all.
this is the update from our time in cairns. We had areally god weather and an amazing time up there. it was so pretty and there was a great vibe in the town. we lazed by the lagoon one day and went skydiving the next and then we did a boat trip out to the outer barrier reef. we went to a place that was not crowded and the reef was supposed to be better here. It was all so pretty and the experience was just so cool.
So to start off we arrived after some long days travelling up to cairns, but we just wanted to get there as our time here is now getting closer to ending. We have seen so much though, but would love to come back here one day. i can see why you need a year to travel this place. it is huge.
We booked all our activited in one afternooon so then we could relax., and we spent the afternoon at the lagoon, just swimming and sunbathing. Its just a huge swimming pool, with a fake beach etc, and its free. They have them here as you can't swim
Cairns lagoon.
lots of people lazed around here soaking up the hot sun. in the sea because of the crocs and jelly fish(stingers). we decided to do the skydive asap, as i did not want to many nights to sleep on it, as i new i would be up all night having nightmares about the shoot not opening. It was such a funny morning, we were both pretty quiet, and were nervous. we really did not know what to expect. So once we were suted and booted, off we wnt in the bus to the plane. the plane was so small, and that was such an experience. it was wobbling all over the place, and we had to sit all so tight together. i was third out and mart was last. All the way up though, you do not treally think "oh my god i have to jump out of here" you are just in a world of your own thinking, "how is this gonna feel?" Then when it was my turn to go, i grabbed marts hand a said good luck and then off i went. mart said that i just shot off and then he thought" oh s**t, it is my turn now" but oh my god, we were both so
glad we did it and it was so class. the first few seconds are like you dont exist and then after that when they tell you you can put your arms out, you just go crazy. it takes over your body and i just screamed, and so did mart, but not with fear, but with 100% pure adrenaline. the dvd's are class. we just will never forget the feeling and i tel you what i would jump agian tomorrow, as you do feel so safe and as the ground, its so far away you do not even think about that until you are nearly ready to land. So that was class, we loved it.
Next we went out on a boat trip to the barrier reef. it was a big boat that only took about 45 people, this is small compared to some of the boats, and it went to the outer reef, which had the better coral and fish, and you can imagine, all of the tourists(japs and chinese) all crowding those other boats. so we opted for a smaller and more expensive one. a nice crew and great food. we had a nice trip out to the
mart just in off the boat
it does not look warm but it was. reef and then had about 4 hours worth of snorkelling to do. we were able to get in with no worries as the stingers are gone from the reef now and it was warm. we wore our rash vests to keep the sun off us. but it was o.k anyway, as the sun decided to go in when we were in the water. it was so good. loads of fish. giant ones that like to come right up and swim with you and also all the small tropical ones. no turtles, but mart saw a whitetip shark (dont worry they do not bite, they say they are the puppies of the sea) it was about 6 foot he said, and a feew others saw it too. he was glad he saw it, and also glad i did not. i was gone as soon as he said he saw it. never swam so fast. but i was not scared the whole time i was out, you just loose yourself as theres so much is going on under that water. the coral was great and in some places it was so shallow, you just laid on top of the surface and the
look at my face,
scared or what???? fish just did there own thing around you, obvious that you are even there. so so cool. the coral was a bit less colourful than we thought but it was still so nice to see it, and you think"god that is alive" it was good as we followed a snorkel guide around who showed us were nemo hung out and also some other interesting things. there are sea cucumbers, why?? So that was another great day and we had a fab time. met some nice people on our boat. It was as magical as you see on the tv.
We then made our way down to Airlie Beach, which is the main port for the sailing boats that leave to sail around the whitsundays. Its a lovely place with another lovely lagoon and a nice vibe. We spent yesterday in the tour agents norrowing down all of our sailing options. We ended up booking one off the most expensives boats, but it was on offer as it left the next day, and needed to fill up. It only carrys 16 people, where most boats carry up to 70, and just party it up. We wanted a smaller, more up
the little plane we went up in
this was an experience in itself. market, romantic, quality experience, so we went for the nicest boat. At the mo, thers only 8 people booked in and we leave in 2 hours. Its a 3 night sail, out to the reef, and around the whitsundays. We'll be fully catered for and waited on, with fi
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Auntie Sharon
non-member comment
Envious!!
Hi Martin & Soph, well havent you both been busy busy busy! Can't believe you both did the Sky dive well done Soph you would't have got me there even if you'd paid me. Glad you managed to get to an outer reef in Cairns, as I remember diving on some which had nothing but dead coral, it wasn't until we got a long way out that the coral came to life, along with everything else. Amazing as I remember. Well I expect when you read my e-mail it will mean you are back from Sailing the Whitsunday's. Ah !! I really hope you enjoyed it and it lived up to what you'd built up in your mind. I know I thought it was real paradise, and I must admit out of all the places I have visited it was just one of the best. I truly would like to visit it again some day. What was the name of your boat? you never know it might have even been the one that we sailed on 6 years ago! I do forget the name so I will have to dig out some photos to remind me. Our boat also only took about 16 passengers, which made the trip more individual and personnel as you got to know everybody on board. I hope your weather was good there too. I tell you what we also did was a helecopter ride around the islands, this was also amazing and I remember it only cost us about £25.00 each. Well I've just come back to work from my 10 days off which has just flown by as ususal. Grandad and I were busy today painting the walk in wardrobe/room, along with filling in holes in the walls and general tidying up. A bit fed up today, as these two rooms seem to be taking for ever to finish, and were only about halfway. Still must not complain I'm so lucky to have all the help I have especially from Grandad, and Uncle Keith came up last week and did me some spot lights and bits, and Uncle Steven arrived on Saturday to remove the old rads. So all is taking shape. Everybody's looking forward to this coming weekend when they will all be off to the Caravan's, unfortunately I'm unable to go as I have to work, I'm taking reasurance from you both also not being there, and Millie can't come either, so this makes me feel a bit better. Will have to make up for it next year!! Went out last Sat night with Jane & Joe to help them Celebrate their 25th Wedding Anniversary, there was about 40 of us, and we all had a merry time as per ususal, especially Jane! Jane & Joe have just come back from Hawaii which they loved. Jane thought it was paradise and loved every minute. She said it wasn't overly expensive, the same sort of prices as England to eat out etc, but the shopping was great, really really cheap. They had to buy another suitcase to bring everything home! Loads of nice surf shops, so save your penny's for there! I've not had time to look up my bits about Fiji, but will make sure I do it before you leave OZ. (all up in the loft, so not very convienient). Well I better sign off now, can't wait to hear your next blog, as I know it will be magicial. Love to you both, take care and miss you loads, started to count down the months now! but make sure you make the most of it, because as soon as you've been home for a week you will want to be back travelling again!! Lots of love, Auntie Sharon xxxxxx