Australia Part 18 - Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef

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Massive bats, arrival of some sunshine and the nicest hostel so far!

The morning of leaving Airlie beach hostel was a bit cold and far too early for my liking but with this great train pass, the having to board certain time trains was about the only down fall of it. We got onto the coach and the driver was almost British in his demeanour –ignoring us as we boarded after throwing our bags on board. The funniest thing, that made me think about home was that as we made our way up towards the train station he stopped at another bus stop and opened the doors briefly only to hear another traveller ask him if this was the bus to X – only for the driver to say no, not my problem and shut the doors again before zooming off. Now if I’d have been that guy at the stop I’d have been pissed, but luckily I wasn’t I was watching, so I thought it was bloody hilarious!

So Nath, Amy and I boarded our long train journey to Cairns. This was to be a first class affair, as the train that travelled between these destinations was the Tilt train and only business class, so we had a TV in each seat and trolley service and of course scones!!! I love train travel in aus it’s the best way to go. The funniest part of the trip was that a few seats behind us were some old grannies who did talk very loud for a lot of the trip discussing things like their current illnesses etc, like old people do; anyway at one point the tannoy (which was above our heads) bellowed out some information that nearly deafened us, and all the old ladies said afterwards was “did you hear something”!! Anyway I think we all must have watched about 4 films in total, although I think Nath slept through most of them. The entertainment system was a bit like the old fashioned airplane ones where they play so many films one after another and you just have to wait for the one you want to cycle round. So as we’d boarded the train the new Alice in wonderland with Johnny Depp had just finished so Amy and I waited and waited, and guess what the bloody thing came on again about half an hour away from our destination!!

Now since our lucky break with Brian and Drumbeat I must admit we’d got a bit lax about booking our hostels in advance. We knew from texting that Emma and John from Myella farm where in the area for another day and we’d already arranged to meet them for dinner before they had to head off. So when we arrived and tried calling a couple of the hostels they were either busy or expensive, so we were sat on the station platform just trying to figure out what to do next. I’d called Emma and John to say we were gonna be a bit late now as we still hadn’t even found anywhere to stay, and she had tried to get us in where they were, but without luck. The guy had said he would see what he could do tomorrow but we needed to find somewhere for the evening. Now an hour or so away Emma and Dan were on their way up in the van – which had meant to be fixed whilst we were away on drumbeat but was now looking like they had been done over, so they were tired and stressed and had decided that instead of joining us for a drink they were gonna go to the cheapest camp site and just stay there the night rather than mess around. Because they were fundamentally living in the back of a white van, the niceness of the hostel didn’t really matter.

With cairns having a reputation as a party town for travellers, we headed for the safe option of the yha. This was expensive and as we had run out of our e-nights cost us eve more. It also meant that with only a few beds left Nath had to go in a boy’s only dorm. After throwing our stuff into our designated rooms, I was beginning to stress that Emma and John were waiting to eat and so started rushing everyone to get over to their hostel. In our rush we left without a map of the area as I said we didn’t have time to get one because there was a queue at the front desk and didn’t want to waste anymore time. Of course this meant we got lost quickly and were getting more and more lost. I kept phoning Emma who gave instructions but I really couldn’t see where she meant. We ended up walking through some kind of ghetto part of town before I gave up and asked her to come back to the train station and meet us. In the end it turned out that their hostel was literally opposite the train station and we had been standing on one level whilst she was waiting on another –doh

With the excitement over with and hunger starting to take hold we headed to Dreamtime, the hostel they were staying at and on the way got dive bombed by the biggest bat I have ever seen. It swooped down and flew just inches from mine and Emma’s head, how it missed Nath being half a foot taller I will never know. Anyway the shock of it made Emma scream, now I know bats are suppose to be deaf but I think this bat could hear Emma scream and responded by dropping its guts on us, yep massive purple “welcome to Cairns” bat shit!! These were the fruit bats we’d seen in Brisbane but on steroids! We entered the lovely tranquil hostel and were immediately jealous we weren’t staying there. It had got rave reviews anyway in the travel guide and I could see why. It had a sort of tropical garden outside with wicker furniture and pool table and then all of the rooms were either doubles or just 4 bed dorms. Their room was lush, all in bright colours, with a fridge and everything, so we were definitely trying to get in here tomorrow. So with Amy introduced to Emma and John we finally sat down to dinner at about 9pm –whoops! And we caught up about our days of missing each other and what we’d done. They had also gone out in the Whitsunday’s but hadn't had the luxury of couch surfing and Drumbeat.

They had been in Cairns for a week or so now and had been out on the barrier reef only that day. The hostel did loads of offers with its “friends” so they had done one of those and loved it. The only thing they warned us about were the weird water prickles that seemed to come from nowhere like little jelly fish and were hard to get rid of. They then gave us the best piece of advice, that I’m glad looking back we listened to – they had such a good time at the reef they wished they’d had more time to go out a second time. They said if we can go to different parts and spend more time out there then we definitely should. We all chatted for ages and enjoyed the tea and cake that we had brought for our tea after the pasta dinner John had made, that we’d ruined by being late! I was really sad saying good bye to them, we’d got on so well immediately on meting them and really wished they could continue their travellers with us, but they were travelling in the opposite direction having done china first and would be off tomorrow up to cape tribulation but would be back in a few days for a night.

So next morning after a bad nights sleep in our massive yha dorm rooms, we moved our stuff to Dreamtime after Chris the owner, on recommendation from Emma and John, had found us room. He had put Nath and I in a lovely double and Amy in a 4 bed dorm and even found another double for Dan and Emma to come join us after we’d sung the praises of this place. Our room was great and right next to another kitchen and bathroom that was practically like having our own little flat. The only problem was which was one of the many things about the tropical north that we would learn – including massive shit bombing bats- that there were little tiny ants everywhere, and I mean the tiniest ants you’ve ever seen. We had to seal everything up as they managed to find all the food we with us, no matter where we put it! No spiders though which was good! Emma and Dan were enjoying being able to sit up in bed too, but were down about their van now needing fixing again after spending money on it. Luckily Chris the hostel manager had suggested a garage down the road and they had come and taken the van away and would let Dan and Emma know how long it was likely to be. Chris was great about Dan and Emmas situation and managed to find them room in the hostel as originally they were going to sleep in their van but obviously couldn’t now.

We had allocated quite a lot of time in the tropical north as we knew there was quite a lot to do and see, so it didn’t matter that for once we would be spending time sitting around just enjoying the area and planning the last part of our Aussies trip i.e. Darwin and then the red centre! I was really hoping though that it wouldn't turn into another Brisbane escapade of me getting stressed form sitting in all day trying to find us the cheapest but best trips to do all the time. We had the tour of Uluru to do itself, and then there was the week in Darwin and Kakadu etc, and also how we were going to get half way across Oz. We had planned on doing something I’d seen years ago back home, a relocation company that basically needed vans and cars returned to depot and would pay your fuel to get it back there. I’d already seen some cool camper vans and with Amy coming with us, it meant we could get a massive one for us all to share the drive. Although we knew it was a long way before you all tart screaming “are you mad” at the screen but we figured it would really show us what the outback desert was like.

So armed with this info we headed into the main town to chat to some people at the tourist’s shops. The first girl was soooooooo not helpful, I know more than she did, and the info she gave me I could have looked up myself-clearly just a summer job! The next guy Amy and I went to talk to (god this sounds like goldilocks) was a proper scammer. Whilst Nath had gone off on his own toying with the idea of buying a waterproof camera case for the barrier reef, Amy and I were left alone with his manly ways. Although we knew he was trying the hard sell, I wanted some info so we stayed there. It was funny though how, as soon as Nath turned up, his entire sales pitch slackened and he was much more laid back – Nath has that effect on people!
So al in al I figured I would do all the work myself with the odd help from Chris at Dreamtime, who was very knowledgeable when you could actually et hold of him, as he opened reception half the day and then spent most of the time trying to book people in as it was such a popular place. His understudy, as it were Simon was a weird ginger guy from Cornwall who had stopped at this place 3 years ago, loved it so much he’d never left – which sounded a bit sad really. Anyway this guy wasn’t much good but he was a bit weird which made him quite interesting to hang out with.

Anyway on the way back from the town centre we passed the local library and were distracted by this almighty screeching noise, only to find that in the grounds of the library were massive trees and in these massive trees were hundreds of fruit bats!!! All hanging around waiting for dusk and shitting on the floor, the smell wasn’t that nice but the sight was amazing. A local who was passing and saw our open mouths, said “I’d keep those closed if I were you, they’ll shit in anything” –nice! So with an unsuccessful day or getting information we stopped off at good old Coles to get our dinner supplies and headed home. It was so nice to finally be warm, but I must admit the days were fine but I swear it got hotter in the afternoons, so walking back with our carrier bags was so hard!! As all 5 of us were now staying here, we spent a lot of the time sharing food cooking and breakfast etc as it was cheaper and easier. So armed with our giant goon bags we spent the first night eating our dinner and drinking loads sat on one of the many patio sets in the little mini tropical garden. With the alcohol flowing we got onto some dubious conversation, and it was only about an hour later when a couple emerged from their little shack room, which we’d thought was an ornamental shed, that we all stopped, mouths open –whoops!!

So after making the couple leave their bedroom we moved further into the garden to join the rest of the residents to watch the weekly Friday night fire poi show. Again Chris had a friend, funny he had a lot of friends that had friends etc etc that was a fire poi instructor and a couple of apprentices that would come and practice to music. They were amazing, and what was even better was that afterwards they then let us have a go but without the fire bit and I can tell you its not as easy as they made it look. This wasn’t my first time with poi (rubber balls on rope) I had actually used the real thing with flames and all the previous year at our friends house, and I think I was better then- funny how you learn a lot quicker when you could set yourself alight. Anyway Amy, Emma and I got covered in bruises, and somehow managed to smack ourselves in the mouth a few times, all the time the boys just watched and laughed. Luckily we have filming of them trying afterwards and finding out just how hard it is –especially when it hits you in the balls!

Anyway I should have said, with the guys in town being useless at helping us book anything, in the end Chris got us sorted with a trip to the outer reef, something Emma and John had recommended as the water tends to be more clear out there. So the following day Nath spent what seemed like forever, deciding on whether hire and underwater camera or to buy an underwater case for our camera. Without going into all the detail, we went for the rubber Johnny for our current camera and the next day set off for Port Douglas, very early. As usual on the days we book things, that are often weather dependant, the sun disappears and the clouds take over. Although it was a bit of a drive to Port Douglas, and I was hopeful the cloud would be gone by the time we got there, I was wrong! Oh well we still had to get out onto the reef so maybe…..

We had chosen to go by the fastest and thus smoothest boat available, the catamaran, but this also meant it was dearer too. Whilst Nath queued up I went round to the toilets just as it was starting to rain, and within minutes of walking past the grassy area in the rain the bloody sand flies jumped out and mugged me!! I ended up, in a matter of seconds, with 4 bites – I hate those bloody flies!! So of course that set me up for the day, so together with some sea sickness, again, I was well happy to be out on this trip (Nath - and a pleasure to be with!).

When we got on the boat, we were towards the end of the group and thus being 5 of us, struggled to find a seat we could all fit round, in the end we joined a table with town young foreign girls who soon made their excuses and moved away! I knew we shouldn’t have brought Dan with us. The boat was indeed smoother, and my sea sickness wasn’t too bad. Wish I could have said the same for Emma who spent a lot of the time out the back with Dan trying not to puke over the side. Now before we could dive/snorkel we had to fill in a mountain of paperwork to confirm we wouldn’t sue them if we got left behind and eaten by sharks, like in that film a few years ago. They had plenty of staff on board who were there as undercover sales persons, to try and tempt you into doing a full fledged dive as it cost more money. Our trip only had snorkelling included so a dive would have been another £90 more! I was in two minds about the dive, having already been once before in Lanzarote, which was great at the time but also really scary, I wanted to go again but it had been so long the fear had built up again, so I was hoping almost for some divine intervention. Amy was keen to go, and so was Dan but on filling his form in he saw the disclaimer about asthma sufferers not being allowed, so even though he played it down the mere fact he had declared it meant he couldn’t go (very much like when I wanted to go on the zorb in NZ). Nath and Emma had no interest in diving and were happy to snorkel, so it was really just up to me to keep Amy company – so I went for it and signed the form. Before we got to the first reef, Nath and Dan joined a small group who were listening to the instructors talk about the sort of marine life you’ll see and the depth at which we’d be moored over- I say it was actually just an excuse to go over to the bikini clad ladies and squeeze up on the sofas next to them “because they were just so interested in fish!”.

So the day was arranged that we went to about 3 different reefs along the outer edge of the barrier (Halloween Reef, Nobody’s Reef and Whalers Reef) and at each one had about an hour with some lunch being served about half way through. So it was a full and busy day and before long we were at the first ref and it was like the opening of the Harrods xmas sale, people were pushing and shoving, being thrown over board for getting in the way, there was even blood, so we were pleased that we were too busy laughing at how we all looked in our goggles to get crushed. This was the first time I had been snorkelling just straight out of the back of a boat into the deep ocean, even in the Whitsunday’s you could see the sea bed and the islands when we moored, so we were all a bit more nervous as there was no land or sea bed in sight. Well I say all, as always Dan the aqua boy just dived in like he was born with gills, the rest of us perched precariously on the edge of the boat trying to pick a wave that looked a bit flatter than the rest; both Emma and Nath even had a foam noodle to keep them afloat.

The water was bloody freezing and for a moment took your breath away. However the coldness and the fact you were literally floating around in the deep ocean surrounded by sharks and other potential dangers, just melted away as you saw the coral and fish! It was indeed clear to a good 12 meters as advertised, and was so stunning it made you feel lost in time. We all tried to stay near each other but there was so much to see that before long we were all off in different directions, plus it was pretty hard to make each other out from the other 30 or so wet suited people. The only annoying thing about it was that you and at least 2 or 3 other boats moor at the same time in the same area so it was really busy and sometimes got a flipper in the face, as its really hard to hear anything other than your own breath and certainly you cant see any further than directly in front of you. This aspect makes snorkelling in open water even more nerve raking as every now and then when you have a moment of reality hit you and imagine that if you suddenly turn now you’ll come face to face with something you wish you hadn’t. Anyway the second annoying thing was that even though you’re told about it, and let’s face it most of us with half a brain know it, but people were still standing on the bloody coral!! Grrrr it makes me so angry these people should probably be sterilised to prevent off spring being such idiots too!!

Anyway I can’t really describe how beautiful the reef was, but I must admit it wasn’t as bright as I was expecting. Postcards etc always show bright vibrant colours but they were actually more pastel coloured which of course made the fish easier to spot. Maybe if it hadn’t been so cloudy and brighter weather then the colours may have been better. Dan, our little merman could often be spotted zooming around, and on occasion thought it was funny to come up under us causing the water to go cloudy momentarily while we calmed down!! Before we knew it though, the time had passed and we were being whistled back onto the boat so it could move on. We had all taken so long with getting our gear sorted that we decided next time we would be ready and be the ones pushing others out of the way. I must say though trying to haul my arse up from out of the water onto the back of the boat was neither easy nor graceful!!

We tried to dry our selves off and warm up and for a bit you did feel better but that also meant that your towel was soaked, and none of us had thought to bring a second one with us. This also meant that the material seats we were on were also wet through so either way our arses were never dry, so it’s a good thing the sun had decided to come out at this point and warm us slightly. So at the next reef, we noted that the boat was manoeuvring into position so subtly got our stuff ready so not to give it away to the rest of the group and then with the subtlety of a kick in the buoys, we got over excited and ran to the end of the boat, causing an onslaught of other snorkellers. We were in at least the first 10 in the water though which was great and we were off, each of us spreading out to find the most impressive fish. We seemed to have spent a lot of time trying to find each other to show certain fish at the last reef so we all went our separate ways, and if we saw another “nemo” fish then we just left it be rather than wasting time swimming across the ocean to show someone else only to find the little fish had buggered off again. That’s the one thing with all the coral, it all began to look very similar when you went back to find something again.

This reef was particularly scary in the fact that in going to distance form the last reef the ocean floor had dropped away a staggering amount and you could swim to the edge of the cliff of the sea bed and watch it descend into darkness. I only went so far, worried a current might drag me down or a giant sea monster would appear from the depths. It was also funny the little warm and cold patches of water you swam through, I spent a lot of time trying to find the warm ones! I wondered whether Nath would have found this cliff face and swam anywhere near it, but I think he was so busy enjoying all the coral, fish and of course his camera colostomy bag that he wouldn’t have noticed. We’d managed to look through the first lot of shots from the first reef and were really impressed with how they had come out; but drying it out and putting the camera back in was such an operation, only Nath was qualified to do it. So whilst the rest of us looked at the fish, poor Nath spent most of his time just documenting and couldn’t stop to just take in the sights. I think that’s the problem sometimes with wanting to take great shots of everything, you’re always behind the lenses and you don’t really “see” what’s going on. It wasn’t easy taking the shots either as the fish never stayed still and the tide kept bouncing us around. (See the vids for how hard it is to hold the camera still)

This time the time didn’t go so fast and we all actually started back towards the boat just before the whistle had gone. We often spent time waiting for these drifters who had gone out of the area we were supposed to be in. which at first I thought how stupid is that, but had also found in swimming at this reef that when you looking down following the coral and fish you could easily just swim off anywhere, and I had indeed looked up a couple of times and been further from the boat than I thought. So back on the boat, drying ourselves with our cold towels we all tried to warm up again. At this point lunch was being prepared and was to be served during the next reef, which I found particularly annoying as the tour had said it included 3 reefs and lunch but it would seem you almost had to forfeit the thired reef so you didn’t miss the lunch!! They were planning on putting food by for the divers as at each reef by the time they were all ready and heading down into the water, the rest of us snorkellers were well out into the reef. So basically if you had paid more to do the dive then food was kept for you but if you were a cheap arse like us then you had to choose between another swim or lunch - how rude!

Anyway we arrived at the third reef and after a brief introduction by our dive leader Amy and I got suited up. I was pooing my pants at this point but didn’t want to wimp out – but all I could hear in my head was what Brian had told us when we were out on the Whitsunday’s, how the bright corals and fish are all near the water surface to absorb the sunlight so you don’t find as much under the water!! I had already mentioned on my health form that I had been once before but that my ears hadn’t equalised and I had struggled to clear them. I didn’t want to have to pay so much money only to find I couldn’t do the trip, but our guide reassured me that if at any point I couldn’t go then she would escort me back and I wouldn’t be charged. This made me feel a lot better. Now what was scaring me really was that, unlike in Lanzarote when we had gradually gone in form the shore and not taken our mouth piece out, here they wanted us to not only jump straight into the water from the boat (which meant I had images of the really heavy gas tank dragging me under) but also they wanted us to show that we could change our mouth pieces if we got into trouble. You weren’t allowed to opt out of this everyone had to do it, and it of course involved being under the water spitting one out holding your breath whilst you find the other and then trusting it had air too and sucking in hmmmm

Nath came over to take a “final” shot of us both alive I guess and was laughing his arse of showing Dan and Emma, apparently Amy and I looked funny, but being so nervous I didn’t care. We got into the water one after another, and I was already acting like a wimpy moron, worried that when I jumped in I’d go under too far even though I had a fully inflated jacket on!! One by one our leader took us under the water and let the air out of our jackets so we could keep following the anchor line down to the sea floor. I was ok going under and actually enjoying it, we could see all the snorklelers already off looking around and I was aware that time was short for diving so when my ears started to hurt as we descended I wondered whether I should say anything and head back. I let the lady know my ears hurt with the little underwater sign language we’d been taught and I tried clearing them and carrying on, but the pain got so bad that I literally got a few meters down before I had to ask to go back. She was more than happy to send me back as the time was ticking away for the others. It was a shame as I was beginning to get into the idea of diving again – never mind at least I tried.

Nath had popped back to take photos of us under the water but turns out he was photographing the wrong people as it not easy to recognise people when they have face masks and wet suits etc on and he hadn’t realised I wasn’t there. This is a key fact and something I hadn’t thought about. What with exiting the water, even less gracefully with a huge air tank on my back, I stripped off and headed straight back in with my snorkel for the last time and didn’t think that no one knew this. When I think about it now I could have easily been in that film, open water where the divers get forgotten, but luckily I headed back in to the boat before they drove off without me!! Needless to say Nath and everyone else were looking a little panicked as they’d seen the divers come back but not me, and no one on board knew I’d headed out so poor Nath’s face had drained of colour. It didn’t last long though coz as soon as he had found me then we were stuffing our faces with what was left of the food!!

We spent the journey back to shore, trying to vomit our dinner up and also looking through the photos Nath had taken. We then spent half an hour laughing our arses off at the shot of Amy and I about to go diving, as the masks tend to warp your face slightly, and whilst Amy’s eyes looked very scary –which earned her the nickname “ANGRY!” for the rest of our time together (as well as Paily Wally), the mask made my head look smaller and my eyes bigger so I ended up looking live fival the mouse from that animated film!! I think it will remain one of Nath’s favourite pictures of me for a long time – I’m so pleased about that (gritted teeth!). On the trip there had been a professional photographer, who you could often see swimming underneath you “taking shots” aka looking at your arse, or down your bikini top but we had a look through them and didn’t want to pay the huge price for them. It did mean though that Nath and Dan got to perv at all the bum and boob shots the guy had managed to take!! Anyway when we got back to the marina, we got to see the photo we’d all had taken by the boat when we’d arrived that morning. We’d all pulled our best “Blue Steel” faces, knowing full well we wouldn’t be buying it and looking at it now printed we were certain we wouldn’t be buying it –lets just say we clearly aren’t morning people!! But hey it probably made the guy’s day a bit more interesting form taking photos of white/burnt holiday makers pissed off that they’d had to get up so early to come on the trip!!!

So back on the bus that had brought us to the marina, we sat for ages waiting for the few stragglers who don’t seem to own a watch or give a shit about anyone else. We hadn’t paid much attention to the people but still knew who was missing – and that ladies and gents was side show bob!! Yes when asked by the driver who was missing Nath spoke up “side show bob” assuming they would know who we were on about but we were the only ones that laughed and knew what he meant – When the guy finally turned up he did indeed have the same hair do as the character on the Simpson’s! Maybe he was busy drying his hair, I don’t know but he and his girlfriend arrived in time to continue their live fornication show in the back of the bus, so phew I’m so glad we didn’t leave them all behind!!
Back in Cairns, we were all so tired, there was no ay any of us were cooking, so we all headed to the good old shopping centre and found a fast food joint that was still open (being Sunday) and enjoyed our cheap noodles before heading back to the hostel and bed.

Although the weather had not been that sunny, Emma had felt sea sick and I couldn’t do the dive we had all had a fantastic day thanks to the amazing coral reefs. And when I say it wasn’t that sunny it was obviously sunny enough because on getting ready for bed I noticed Nath’s back which had been bobbing around in and out of the water all day. Check out the last photo…..Ouch!!!

So drenched in after sun we went to bed to rest our very swum out bones!!

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Photos

Photo 2
Another train journey (with our trusty green food bag and red cold bag)

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Free pillows -well not to take home I mean (though tempting....)

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like being on a plain but less chance of plummeting to our deaths!!

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Waiting for Alice in wonderland which they never played in time

Photo 4
Nath's bessie mate

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The locals

Photo 5
Goon!!!

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Fire poi -we're good aren't we!!

Photo 6
Massive leaves (imagine the garden gnomes!)

Photo 7
Nath's new toy

Photo 9
Nath testing the waterproofing on his new toy in the hostel pool!

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Feeling a little sea sick

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Would have loked nicer if we'd had the bloody weather (grey yet again)

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Nath trying to hold off jumping in the cold water for "a picture"

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Dan (sting ray) and Nath (sponge bob tube pants)

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So cold, glad we had the suits on!

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Dan constantly swimming underneath us -show off :)

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Me

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Nath