Koalas in Brisbane and Diving at the Great Barrier Reef

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Friends and family,
Ann, Riley and I have had some grand adventures the last two weeks spending time with Anna and Tom in Brisbane and then a couple days in Cairns. We cruised the Brisbane river and spent some time at the south bank park. We hiked around Mount Coot-tha and found the old gold mine entrance. Based on the locals suggestions, we drove out to the hinterlands of the Sunshine Coast to visit Melany and look out over the Glass House Mountains. From there we drove down to Noosa Head and followed the coastline to see all the beaches. I got to catch up with some travellers from my last three month trip (to Europe in 2000) and have a walk around the city centre. We took a day trip out to Moreton Island to snorkel The Wrecks at Tangalooma. While the weather was a mixed bag, the snorkelling was fabulous. On our last day in Brisbane, Anna took us to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where we got to see all kinds of animals and get up close with emus, kangaroos, and koalas.



We had booked ahead for our limited time in Cairns. The first day we went on a boat trip to Green Island, the closest reef in the Great Barrier Reef to Cairns. Ann and Riley enjoyed a glass bottom boat tour while I snorkelled. There were tons of fish, a sting ray and lots of coral. I was pretty impressed but it wasn't the same as the next day trip where I got up close with some of the outer reefs during a scuba dive tour with Poseidon. This tour included three dives and snorkelling. It was amazing to look up at he reefs from below. We saw so many kinds of fish including a black lion fish, as well as giant squids and a reef shark. A long day (6 hours of travel from Cairns) but well worth it. Our last day trip was up to Kuranda taking the Skyrail cable car. Lots of great views from the peak and of the waterfalls. We had a good walk around the town, bought mango fruit wine and celebrated World Cassowary Day with the locals. We came back to Cairns via the Scenic Railroad with lots more views and history. We are currently in Auckland and will be driving around the New Zealand North Island for the next couple days.



Hope everyone is well !
Cheers, Richard

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Comments

[Felisa Zhang]

wish I am with you
Hey. So glad you guys went to Cairns to scuba dive. Isn't it incredible? Now that you've done underwater. Let's go bungy jumping with Riley in Auckland!