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Published: January 24th 2009
We caught a late night flight from Melbourne to Cairns, arriving super late. Luckily we had prearranged a hostel that promised free airport pick up so we hopped right on a transfer into town. The driver was probably one of the coolest people ever. It was 1am, but he was still giving us a tourist commentary the whole 20 minute drive from the airport to the hostel. When we arrived at the hostel he told us where we could get food and how exactly to get through the closed gates of the hostel. The reception of was closed, but they had left us a key to our room and a map. We pretty much just stayed in Cairns for a good night's sleep before continuing on for Pt. Douglas the next morning. At 10am our free transport to our Pt. Douglas hostel arrived and we once again had a great driver who gave us tips and told us about the area for the whole two hour drive. He even stopped off at a look out point so we could take some snap shots of the coast from Cairns to Pt. Douglas.
We arrived by noon and had all day to
kill while we waited for my parents to finish up the tour they were on. (They arrived the day before us) We decided to lounge by the hostel pool and get some grocery shopping done. The hostel was really nice, but there were too many families staying there since they had family room at the place as well. This hippie family (I know this because the mom did not shave her arm pits) was in the pool with us and their kids kept jumping and swimming practically on top of us. I was not a fan of theirs. After getting super annoyed in the pool, we met Paul, an Englishman, who was staying in our hostel with us and decided to get our free welcome drink at the hostel bar. We chilled out with him and then walked to meet my parents at their hotel so we could all go to dinner. Their hotel had great beach views and it was a great place for them to end their vacation! We found a cheap pub to eat at and ended up running into Paul so he joined us for some drinks. Of course, my dad was being my dad and
not keeping his opinion to himself so he and Paul had an interesting chat about the Australian Aboriginal people. Let's just say my father was not being "PC," but that is my dad! After an interesting dinner, we headed back to our room. The walk is a pretty easy walk, but every night we encountered giant bats flying through the air. I am not exaggerating when I say their wingspan was three feet and you could literally hear their wings flap as they flew by you. They definitely caused me to duck a few times on the way home out of fear they might just run into my head!
The next morning we were picked up and boarded the Quicksilver boat out to the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for 2,600 kilometers. It can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. The boat we went on was huge, up to 400 passengers, but we can't complain since my parents paid for our reef trip! Thanks mom and dad! I
was kind of dreading this day because I knew I would have to get in the water with tons of fish, but I was mentally preparing myself for a couple days so I could get in the water. I had a little freak out on the way to the reef, but at least I freaked out early so I got it out of the way.
This time of year the reef is filled with box jellyfish. Actually, they are all over the north east coast of Australia this time of year. They have to have stinger nets at the beach and this is the only place you can swim and the jellies can still get in. Box jellyfish venom is the most deadly in the animal kingdom and has caused at least 5,568 recorded deaths since 1954. So needless to say, you do not want to get stung! Therefore, we had to wear stinger nets when we were snorkeling on the reef. They were these full Lycra suits that even had a hood so that a very small amount of your body is visible. They were really sexy and we took plenty of photos to show you guys how
Aqua Man
Jeff with his stinger suit on ready to go snorkelinggood we looked in them. Jeff would walk around in his full suit and his snorkel gear- he looked like Aquaman or something.
So after we suited up, it was in the water. There were a lot of fish right by the dock to get in so I refused to look and just plummeted into the water. Then I swam away without looking in the water until it was much clearer. Then I put my snorkel on and was actually able to enjoy myself. We saw amazing rainbow colored fish, rainbow colored coral and huge giant clams. The snorkeling was really good and before I knew it, I was out there an hour. The five of us then came in to the boat to eat lunch. The lunch was amazing. A full BBQ of seafood and chicken and lots of salads. There was even baby octopus for Jeff! After lunch, the boys and my dad were going scuba diving so my mom and I decided to take advantage of all the other things there were to do on the Quicksilver boat. We went down to the underwater viewing area to see the boys off. It was really cool because
The cute couple
Jeff and I with our stinger suits on we could see them lower into the water and swim away. We even got some good scuba photos of them from the underwater viewing area. I could also watch the fish feeding from the safety of dry land so I didn't have to be in the water with the thousands of fish! The Quicksilver also had an underwater submarine that left every fifteen minutes so we took advantage of that. The sub was awesome! It took us for a half hour ride around the reef and we saw EVERYTHING! The guide would tell us what kinds of fish were passing the sub and explained about all the coral. We even saw two reef sharks!! I was so excited we were able to do that. It was a perfect activity to do while the boys were diving.
The reef was amazing and we had a great day out there. The weather wasn't perfect so the water was not as blue as it could have been and a cyclone had just come through the area so the coral was pretty dingy, but it was still amazing. We had a great day with my parents and we really enjoyed ourselves. That night
the trio went back to the hostel and made some pasta dinner and my parents enjoyed a nice dinner alone with out us.
The next morning it was off to the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation. John, our Aussie guide, picked us up bright and early in our crazy 4x4 vehicle for a full day of sightseeing. This time we were heading north from Pt. Douglas further up into North Queensland. The first stop was the Daintree River. We arrived in time for tea and coffee before boarding our boat to look for crocodiles. We cruised up the river for about an hour with little luck. The weather was hot which meant that the crocs were probably cooling off in the river and therefore hard to see. We did manage to see two baby crocodiles, which was pretty neat because they are pretty hard to spot. I guess a little croc is better than no croc at all. From there we headed further into the rainforest where we stopped for lunch at a kangaroo rehabilitation center. We were able to feed some blind kangaroos and Jeff made friends with a wallaby that had been strangled by a snake and
Jeff eating a little octopus
It was a really good buffet lunch, well... minus the baby octopus hit by a car. We really liked the gimpy animals!
After lunch we headed deeper into the rainforest for a guided rainforest walk where we learned about the plants and animals of the rainforest. From there it was off for an afternoon swim in a river just north of Cape Tribulation using the Bloomfield Track, a four-wheel drive unsealed road. We dove in, but it was cold cold cold and I once again did not like the fish swimming around. We were able to try some of the local fruit there in the rainforest, but a lot of it we had eaten in SE Asia - you know since we are so cultured now!
After the rainforest we headed to Cape Tribulation for some spectacular views of the coastline. Cape Tribulation is located within the Daintree National Park and the Wet Tropics World Heritage area. The Great Barrier Reef is some 19 km east, making it the only place in the world where two World Heritage sights come together. The palm trees come straight up to the beach and on a sunny day the views of the green and the blue are spectacular. We had OK weather, but
Views of the reef
All those little blue fish are my nightmare! since I stayed in this area five years ago, I knew how much better the view could be. Not to mention the beach was full of driftwood from the cyclone that hit the area a few days prior to us arriving.
Then it was off to and ice cream place, which isn't that exciting. I hate it when these tours take you to places like this. It is just so set up on the tourist trail. However, our visit to the ice cream shop proved to be exciting. The place was near some open fields and suddenly one of the guides came over and said he spotted a cassowary. Cassowaries are very large flightless birds native to the tropical forests here in north Queensland and in New Guinea. They are the third largest flightless bird on the planet, smaller only than the ostrich and emu. Cassowaries are very shy, making them hard to see in the wild, but when disturbed, they are capable of inflicting fatal injuries to an adult human. We were all admiring the cassowary from a distance when National Jeffographic (as we call him now) decided to go in for a closer look. I knew they
could be dangerous if we got too close so I followed him to make sure we didn't go there! The second we started to go forward, everyone else followed. It was one big parade of people to this cassowary. Jeff and I were the closest when he spotted us and slowly lifted his head and walked into the tall bushes. The animal was huge and so colorful. We managed to get one OK photo, but it is pretty blurry (courtesy of Lori Lundgren).
That night we were off for our big night on the town with mom and dad. We went out to dinner and then took them to a local bar in Pt. Douglas with live music. I knew the night was starting out good when I went into the ladies restroom to see a girl passed out in her stall not responding when I asked her if she was OK. Those Aussies can drink you know! I managed to buy my parents a shot and the boys bought them some drinks and we had a great time hanging out with them for the night.
It was all about relaxing my parents' last day in Australia. We
The reef was so colorful
It doesn't turn out as pretty in photos! went to the morning farmers market in Pt. Douglas and chilled at my parents' hotel pool. A nice relaxing day for everyone. We went to one final nice dinner our last night in Pt. Douglas. We found a wonderful restaurant with amazing food. We all had something different and I loved all of it, except for Jeff's pork belly. I was not a fan of fatty pig belly. It was a great last night and my parents really took care of us. It was nice to have mommy and daddy time for a while and get to eat a lot and be spoiled by them. I know my mom and I both enjoyed our mother daughter talks and some bonding time. I don't think either of us could have survived a year without seeing each other. Although they did drive me crazy at times, I love them and I'm so happy that as I get older the relationship with my parents continue to get better.
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Mom
non-member comment
I'm crying now
Don't make me cry. I loved reading this and miss you already. I love you!