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Published: March 16th 2007
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The Daintree river
This was the view from our boat tour on the Daintree river. We're skipping writting about Mission Beach which we stayed in between Cairns and Magnetic island simply because there was nothing there, we took no photos and we didn't do anything for 3 day's. instead I'm just gonna start writting about Cairns.
Firstly I thought that Cairns was gonna be a city in the northern part of Queensland, how wrong was I, it was little more than a spread out little town, a very nice spread out little town. We stayed in a backpackers resort right at what seemed was the edge of town, and it took us 30 minutes to walk into the centre where all the shops and internet were. We once again spent a lot of time in the mall in the center (Always our first stop in a new town), but this seemed to be the centeral hub of all activity in cairns anyway, from here we made our plans of action for most days, chosing which tours to do and how long we were gonna spend on them. During this time Gloria Jeans became a good temporary replacment for a starbucks to cool us down from the 36'c humid tropical tempertures.
The first tour we
Bait
This is what/who i intended to use to try and lure out some of the bigger crocs for a better photo. decided on was one to Cape Tribulation, a section of the north Queensland rainforest, and the only place in the world where a rainforest grows all the way down and meets the sea. The tour also include other small sights like the Daintree river which was pretty cool. We had a small boat tour of the river taking us down it a bit and droping us on the other side where our bus would meet us and continue on. On the boat tour we saw snakes in the trees and a small saltwater croc on a log by the side of the water. The Daintree river is famous for being infested with saltwater crocs and it is not advised to swim or even walk along the bank as these particular type of crocs can launch themselves out of the water grab you and take you back under the water befor you even get a chance to scream. The bus then drove us further up the coast till we reached cape tribulation beach the actual place where you can easily see the rainforest meeting the sea. It was really peacefull here, there were no signs of development here and it would
The Daintree Estuary
This is where the river meets the sea. have felt untouched had in not been for the other tour groups in front and behind us (cape tribulation is a very popular tour.) Lunch after this was served in a section of secluded rainforest next to a freshwater stream which we could swim in if we wanted. Next were a couple of walks through the rainforest looking at streams and vegitation but they all seemed very rushed and unsatisfying. There were bits that i had to run off on my own to see, leaving El behind simply because there wasn't time to walk there and back. The whole day seemed pretty rushed and if they had left one of the sights out it would have been a much more enjoyable experience.
The Great Barrier Reef - One of the Seven wonders of the world and if you ever get up to space and take a look down you will still be able to see this amazing wonder! The other tour we did, and the main reason for coming here was the Great Barrier Reef. We chose a nice new very fast boat, after all my trouble on the boat in the Whitsundays we thought it best if we
Cape Tribulation beach
The only place in the world where the rainforest reaches the sea. Looks completely untouched, amazing. got out there quickly and started snorkelling before i felt to sick. Well the boat was very quick cutting through the waves, getting chuck up and down in the water. Before long i was feeling mildly sick and by the time we got to our first snorkel site quite sick. El was fine just bricking it about going snorkelling in the open water. I had just explained that the film "open water" was a true story about a diving trip to the reef, where people got left behind and eaten by sharks. She did ask me to tell her but, thinking about it i probably shouldn't have told her untill we were on our way back ( but wheres the fun in that). Kitted out in our full body wetsuits, snorkel, mask and flippers we jumped in to the water and began to explore together, i had to promise to stay with her so that she didn't get left behind. The colours and shapes of the coral and fish of the reef are amazing and, i'm sorry to say that the pictures we took just don't do them justice. After a short time in the water i began to feel
Sprawling roots
All throughout the rainforest there were root systems growing out from trees and mixing together. In places it was hard to distinguish from which tree they belonged to. very sick so we both went back to the boat and i got out, El now feeling a bit more confident stayed in the water, but still around the back of the boat. We were at the first reef for about 25 minutes before moving on to another about 5 minutes away ( the great barrier reef is actually made up of lots of smaller interconneceting reefs). Here i felt so ill that i stayed on the boat and had a lay down to try and feel better, but El now feeling more confident from our first go went in the water by herself ( Am so proud that she got over her fear) and even ventured a fair way out from the boat, taking some great photos with my camera. By the time everybody got back on the boat to go on to the last spot for the day i was feeling much better and decided to go and get rekitted out in a wetsuit to join them in the water. Yes, i know what your thinking and, yes they do make wetsuits that big!! In the last spot the water wasn't so choppy so i thought that it
Butress roots
These are my personal favourtite thing about this bit of rainforest, the butress roots. they just look so cool almost like they are proping the tree up. wouldn't be that bad after all, and jumped in after El who was loving it now. Once again the views under the water were spectaular and i was really enjoying myself when i suddenly felt very ill again and started on my way back to the boat, leaving El out in the water. I wanted to get back to the boat before i was sick inside my mask and snorkel, and i managed to just make it in time to be sick on board the boat. Once again El came back with a big grin on her face, she'd obviously been having a good time i was just glad that she'd "lived to tell the tale". Not long after El got back on the boat we were speeding back to cairns, to end our great adventure on the great barrier reef.
A couple of day's latter and it would be the end of our adventure's in cairns and infact the end of our whole east coast adventure, but not without a couple more visits to gloria jeans for iced coffees.
Next stop Alice springs and Uluru.
Dave
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Tommy
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Go On The El-ster
Well done that girl. I just want to remind you both just how much i hate you and think that you are both stupid-heads for going on this clearly rubbish trip of yours.