Blogs from Cairns City, Cairns, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 12

Hi everyone, not much to report so this is just a quick blog but since the whitsundays we are now in Cairns. On the 27th April we went on the Great Barrier Reef. We had to get up at 6am and we left on the boat at approx 7:30am. We knew it might be a bit rough when they were telling everyone to take sickness tablets so I knew this wasnt a good sign straight away! It was all good to start with and we had the first snorkel but after that I could feel myself going a nice shade of green. Luckily I had Stacey on hand to look after me and get me some more sickness tablets and a bit of food and after the 2nd snorkel and I was much better. Especially after ... read more

En arrivant dans une ville, j'ai toujours un peu peur d'être perdu dans la masse. Ici encore plus étant donné que Cairns semble construite autour du tourisme, avec la grande barrière de corail si proche. Je décide de provoquer la chance en tentant couchsurfing (pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas un réseau de voyageurs que je vous recommande chaleureusement). Bonne pioche, je rencontre Jill et Vini, un couple franco-brésilien qui voyage autour de l'Australie. Avec Jill et Vini, c'est comme si on se connaissait depuis toujours ! On a beaucoup à partager et surtout de grands éclats de rire ! On rencontre ensemble Matt, toujours via couchsurfing, qui vit dans le coin, et qui a "atterrit" dans l'armée après une carrière d'instructeur de plongée et de guide de rappel. A Trinity Beach, je découvre les plages ... read more

Finally we arrived in Cairns!! After a heavy last night of drinking with a lot of people, Lucy and I caught our flight from Darwin to Cairns and arrived in the rain!! Cairns is a fun little town with loads of bars and the gate to the Great Barrier Reef! We werent allowed to check in until 2pm having arrived at 9am with bad hangovers so wondered the town for breakfast before heading to Peter Pans to book all of our trips! Diving the great barrier reef tomorrow!! Tuesday: Arrived at our boat about 7.30am and upon welcome we were given muffins and cups of tea! Spent about 1.5hrs sailing out to Green Island which is one of the islands upon the reef Unfortunately, the lady in the shop didnt tell me I need to have ... read more

Tuesday morning, having stayed up very late on Monday night, our second day in Sydney, at about the same time as the earthquake was hitting Christchurch where we had spent such a wonderful day 10 days earlier, I got out of bed, bent down to pick up the daily programme, the ship took a bit of a roll with the swell and bang!! My leg blew across the room!!!! (Well that was what it felt like, in reality, my hip had dislocated) Whilst I was screaming in agony, Richard called the ships emergency Doc, and she came running. Yes, I was right, my hip had clicked out, they would have to move me to the medical centre. Not a chance, I am going nowhere!!! Well after about an hour, and very gentle moving along with a ... read more

Heute ging es erst mal an die Erkundung der nähren Umgebung des Hostels. Wie schon geschrieben gibt es eine künstliche Lagune in Cairnes um den fehlenden Strand zu ersetzen. Zu dieser bin ich heute gegangen um ein bischen zu relaxen. Das Wasser ist maximal 1,5m tief, so daß man gemütlich schwimmen oder sich treiben lassen kann. Es war toll endlich mal im Wasser zu sein, nachdem ich in Sydney keine Lust hatte. Die Sonne schien, von gelegentlichen Wolken unterbrochen. Hier habe ich auch die Kraft der australischen Sonne kennengelernt, da ich mir beide Unterarme verbrannt habe. Zum Glück nicht schlimm. Um die Lagune herum gibt es mehrere Grillstationen. Das sind überdachte Stände, mit jeweils 4 großen Platten, die gasbeheizt werden. Man muß nur einen Knopf drücken und sie werden heiß. Die Nutzung ist kostenlos; ein toller ... read more