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Published: December 20th 2007
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Hello hello,
Day 3 of Cairns was relatively straight forward. We headed to the Australian Museum where we learned about the history of the aboriginals. Which, unfortunately, almost mirrors African American history in America. There was a fantastic exhibition on animal photography. One picture was of a herd of zebras from an ant's perspective. The caption said that the photographer had to spend a lot of money getting the camera cleaned and fixed, but it was worth it for the shot. Another picture was about 5 ft from a brown bear in a river. The caption said that the photographer was taking pictures of fish when suddenly the bear rose out of the water directly next to him. Luckily he was able to get the shot without harm. There was also an exhibit on Australian animals, which was good to see so that we would know what could kill us. There was nothing on snakes come to think of it, maybe because an exhibit on Australian snakes would scare people out of the country, but I did see info on a spider that has killed over a dozen people. It is small and brown and spins a tube like web.
I'll watch where I step.
After the museum we walked to Darling Harbor where we got some not so great fish and chips. On top of eating the bad food we had to fight off tons of seagulls that came within a foot of us. I had visions of The Birds. I might be traumatized.
We walked through the city somemore and back through the botanic gardens for a bit before heading back to our hostel for what we were hoping would be a good nights sleep, considering we had to get up at 4:45 the next morning to catch a shuttle to the airport to get to Cairns. However, our dreams, (literally), were dashed away because our roomates just so happened to have gotten wrist bands that day for an hour of free alcohol at a club. So, of course the all arrived sporadically throughout the night up until 4. We managed to get to our plane and are in Cairns currently so it all worked out. Lack of sleep is really the only thing that I can gripe about on this trip 😊
We arrived in Carins somewhat tired, but we had to book hostels
and buses for the remainder of our trip down the coast of Australia because it is holday season. After doing that I was exhausted, but it was only 2 and I had to stay up till 10 at least because we had a big day following, which was today, out on the Great Barrier Reef. Thank God for Coffee.
Cairns is a small touristy town with no beaches to swim from. This is unfortunate because it is incredibly hot and humid here. Mainly it is the humidity that is drainning, temperature wise it is probably in the low to mid 80's. We did get to cool off though in the local lagoon, which was man made, and refreshing 😊
Today was awesome. We took a dive boat out to the reef. Even though I am certified I decided not pay the extra money to dive mostly because I am on a budget here, (donations are always accepted), and considering I would get a similar experience snorkelling. And that I did.
Basically I had about 1 1/2 hours in two spots to jump in the water and swim around. In terms of underwater life, I saw the most
in this one area than I have seen on any other dive I have done. There were hundred upon hundreds of parrot fish eating at the coral. Schools of small silver and blue fish swimming just out of reach of my outstretched hand. Angel fish, butterfly fish, wrasses, clown fish, trigger fish, large blue plush looking star fish, a stingray and even a couple small white tipped reef sharks. I got to swim with all of these animals in incredibly warm clear water. Maybe not as warm or clear as the Bahamas, but close. The coral was beautiful as well. There were coutless different kinds coming in all different shapes and sizes.
It was simply one of the most beautiful experiences I have had in my life. Right there with Milford Sound. I could just look around me and see a seemingly endless array of flourecent colors and activity on the reef. And what was great about snorkelling by myself was that I didn't have to constantly keep track of someone else or worry about my air or other contraptions. I was relatively free to swim and go where I wanted. Of course it would have been fantastic if
I had dove, but I plan on coming back to this beautiful place at some point in my life and really dive it properly over a week period like I did in the Bahamas.
Today has been one of the highlights of the trip thus far, and a must do for everyone.
Unfortunately my camera is not water proof so I can not bring you any pictures from the reef, but here are some from the boat.
Daniel
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