Cairns: Reef and Rainforest

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After my 4-day stint in Sydney, I decided to head further north to the state of Queensland, and more specifically to the city of Cairns. In summary, my entire trip was based on the Australian trinity of amazing sights: harbour, reef, and rock. I had seen the harbour, and now I wanted to see the reef!

My first day in Cairns was spent exploring the city, which did not encompass much to be honest. After all of the excitement and hustle and bustle of Sydney, Cairns had a much more laid-back, relaxed feel to it. It's said that Cairns's strength comes from doing and not seeing, so I booked a trip to see the Great Barrier Reef the following day.

My day on the reef involved beautiful, blue skies, sunshine, and cool water. Apparently, according to one of the crew members on the boat, I had picked one of the best days to go snorkelling in the last 3 months! Luck was on my side! The tour I took involved taking a small sailboat about 2 hours away from Cairns, and then the boat anchored while we were able to snorkel and explore the reef. I bought and took some pictures with an underwater camera, which I'll try to share, as soon as I get them developed. I'm not quite sure how they'll turn out though! It's rather difficult to get fish to pose for you😉 The underwater sights were beautiful though (you'll just have to take my word for it!) and included gorgeous, colourful fish and coral.

My last day in Cairns I took a trip to Cape Tribulation, which is famous, as it's a point where two of Australia's most famous landmarks, reef and rainforest, meet. Interestingly enough, my guide for the day, an Australian bloke, had spent time in Stoney Creek (!) as he used to work in Scranton, Pennsylvania (?), and would come up to Canada on weekends. It's truly a small, small world...During the day, we took a rainforest walk (where we were told to watch out for "tires" in trees, which would actually be snakes!), visited Cape Tribulation beach, and did a Daintree river cruise, searching for crocodiles. Also, before reaching Cape Tribulation, we stopped at a rainforest reserve, where I got to feed kangaroos and wallabies, seek out koalas in eucalyptus trees, as well as see much more wildlife, including the very strange, and apparently very dangerous, rainforest bird, the cassowary.

My time in Cairns was short, but I was able to see reef and rainforest, and really, who could ask for anything more?

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Photos

Mount Whitfield Environmental Park
During my first day in Cairns, after exploring the commercial area downtown, I decided to get back to nature and walked to this environmental park to do a bit of a walk. Interestingly enough, there was a sign up warning about cassowaries (a large, rainforest bird) in the area. Wait until you see what this bird looks like...I was thinking a small, turkey-like bird perhaps...

Can I Interest You in a Snack?
Feeding kangaroos at the Rainforest Reserve Park. They were very gentle, and very hungry!

Safe and Sound in Mama's Pouch
It doesn't get much cuter than this!

The Cassowary
This is the bird I could've potentially run into at the Environmental Park! Thank goodness I didn't! I took this picture at the Rainforest Reserve. The third largest bird in the world, the cassowary can give a deadly kick, and has been known to kill people who get in its way...yikes!

Koala Gazing
Although I didn't see any in the wild, I did get to see this koala hanging out in a eucalyptus tree at the Rainforest Reserve Park.

There Were Also Birds...
...hanging out on the roof apparently! They made some really interesting shadows!

Cape Tribulation Beach
Where reef meets rainforest.

Fern Gully
Giant palm fronds in the Daintree Rainforest.

Steve Irwin, Where Are You?!
One of about 4 crocodiles we spotted while on our Daintree River Cruise.