Days 8-9: Cairns Leg Part I (Mission Beach)

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Ahhh tropical paradise! Originally when we planned Cairns as the longest leg of the trip outside of Melbourne I had some reservations. Specifically I wasn't sure if it would be too hot/muggy this time of the year or if it would rain the entire time, or it would end up being a complete tropical tourist trap up here. I'm happy to report that all doubts have been rendered moot and I'm quite happy that we chose to hit this area instead of the original plan (Brisbane/Gold Coast).

The original itinerary for Cairns was to travel north to the towns of Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation. However the rental car rep told us about this place to the south called Mission Beach. We've been trying to do shit on the fly as much as possible so instead of going north as planned we decided to listen to the rental car guy and drive south instead.

Cairns is right in the middle of a huge tropical rainforest and reminds me a lot of Hawaii. Huge hills covered with lush vegetation that looks like something out of Jurrasic Park, sugar cane fields and banana plantations as far as they eye can see, and pristine sandy beaches with warm bath-like waters. In one word - excellence! It's been a long time since I've been on a tropical vacation and I had a good feeling being back in that type of setting.

The drive to Mission Beach took around 90 minutes but was quite an enjoyable ride given the tropical sights all around us. Based on my preconceived notions about the area I assumed most towns would be "party central" but to my surprise...and later relief...Mission Beach is SUPER chilled out. Aussies by their nature take most things much easier than us Americans but the people who live in Mission Beach take the word chill to the next level.

Ali decided to stop at a local tourist information center to look into activities and hostel options. Once inside I noticed a whiteboard with specials on villas and rooms and the like. One in particular caught my eye - basically a two bedroom flat for $115 (Onna Mission in case anyone's looking for a place to stay in MB). At twice the price of a hostel for two people it wasn't exactly within our budget but I suggested we take a break from the hostel scene to get some additional rest and relaxation. Hostels are fun and cheap but anyone who's been in one can probably attest that they aren't the most private or relaxing option out there. Ali eagerly agreed and we called up the apartment owners to make arrangements.

Our landlords at the apartment lived upstairs and rented out the lower unit -- basically a full apartment with TV, washer/dryer, deck with BBQ grill, two bedrooms... and all of that and maybe about 50 yards from the water! It was quite an upgrade from the shared rooms and uncomfortable beds we had been dealing with previous nights.

Also the landlords were super friendly and helpful...they provided us with several suggestions for fun activities around town during our stay. At their suggestion we booked a local Great Barrier Reef tour-guide for the next day. We both woke up early to watch the sunrise over the tropical ocean and around 8:30 our guide picked us up for a day exploring the outer reef area and snorkelling. The guide was a super nice guy, very vibrant and joked around a lot (made fun of us american blokes several times). He once had a larger tour business with multiple large touring boats but most of his business was destroyed during Cyclone Yasi a couple years back. Yasi was the biggest cyclone to hit Australia in recorded history and took out a large swath of the Cairns tropical area. Our tour guide since downgraded to a much smaller 12-person inflatable powered craft in order to try and re-grow his business without large additional startup costs.

Thankfully MB is one of the closest points to the reef in the Cairns area; while many tour spots take about 2-4 hours to reach the reef, it's only about an hour to the reef from MB. That said, the seas were choppy during our visit and the hour long ride out there was fairly violent...it almost sent me leaning over the side rail and I pretty much never have issues with motion sickness. All of the difficulty was worth it when we arrived to the dive spot though. Out of nowhere the sea went from deep blue to light green and I knew we were approaching the reef. We received a quick bit of instruction and were given the green light to put on our snorkelling gear and hit the water.


I've snorkelled previously in both Hawaii and the Cayman Islands so those skills were no problem for me. It really played to my advantage because I was able to hit the ground (water?) running immediately and start exploring with the limited time available. The Barrier Reef is a great experience and I highly recommend that anyone who likes diving/snorkelling visit at least once. I saw a jaw-dropping variety of coral reef structures, huge tropical fish, giant clams as big as my body, starfish, etc. The coolest parts of the dive were:

1) Floating along the ridge of the reef where it suddenly drops off into a 20-30 foot canyon leading to the sand seafloor. Seriously feels like you are flying above a cliff and looking down into a blue abyss. Also those areas were where most of the sea life liked to hang out.

2) Swimming with turtles! Saw around five sea turtles in various sizes. Some were sleeping and some were making their way through the water. I'd swim above their heads and it felt like I was flying through the water with them. Occasionally I tried to dive town and touch one but every time I got caught and they'd take off quickly.

3) Bath temperature water! Anyone who lives in the PNW will appreciate this one -- the water in the area here was warm to the touch.

Eventually the dive ended and we braved the hour long trip back to the shore. It was a GREAT experience even though I got a pretty bad sunburn on my back from it...that despite putting two layers of sunblock on before diving! That's what I get for being both Irish and living in an area that doesn't get a lot of sunlight. Also I bypassed wearing a "Stinger Suit" (full body suit that looks like a wetsuit and protects from deadly jellyfish stings)...so I guess I paid the price for that move in the end anyway 😊

Later that evening Ali and I were pretty tuckered out so we decided to be lazy and bbq some food. Went to the local grocery mart and picked up a couple of steaks with some potatoes for mashing. On our way back to the flat we saw our dive instructor and another guy in our dive crew having drinks at a nearby bar so we decided to be social and have a round with them. We ended up spending over an hour at the bar and had some really good conversation that night. Ended up driving a fellow traveller back to his hostel and then tuckered in for the night.

That's all I have to report for now. Next stop is back to northern Cairns in the Port Douglas/Daintree Rainforest area. Lots of dangerous shit up there that can kill you so hopefully I'll have some interesting tidbits to report next.

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