After experiencing a good few days in Brisbane, it poured down rain on the last two days. "Floodings" were mentioned and we were reminded about the news we heard across the world last year at this time, about the Brisbane floodings. So were glad to move on north, where we hoped the weather would improve. We flew into Cairns (out of Brisbane in the middle of a nasty rain storm that proved I am nowhere near over my fear of flying.) Well, ok I am not over my fear of turbulence. But Jack, the 19 year-old flight attendant hung out with me as soon as he was allowed to leave his seat (after serving drinks) and talk me through my fear. I am seriously considering writing to Virgin Australia to tell them how much of a star he is.
We got to Cairns, a very cozy smallish city on the water. Not too big and not too small. Our hostel upgraded us so we had an ensuite bathroom to go along with our private room. We quickly chose one of the seemingly hundreds of choices for Great Barrier Reef trips and prepared for the best.
Overall we had a pretty good experience on the Great Barrier Reef but we wanted more so as soon as we got back to the hostel we booked a tour on what was hailed as the best tour company.
We are so glad we went again. It was even better than day 1 plus the service was so much better and the crew were friendlier. The diving sites were cooler and on the second dive, I was the only guest diver so I had the guide all to myself. The fish and coral are just amazing. He also allowed me to touch some coral and I had my hand "bitten on" by a giant clam. Unfortunately we didn't see any sea turtles or sharks but we did manage to see a few Nemos, "Marlins" and Gills. Plus there were a few fish that were over a meter long. Really cool! Considering getting PADI certified in New Zealand so I can say I got certified in New Zealand, (plus certified dives are cheaper and I'm now addicted...)
We were sad to leave Cairns but we had booked our discount package deal with Greyhound to go to Ayers Rock and were excited about that. After one uneventful leg on the bus, we got on the second one, ready for a 12 hour leg of a 36 hour trip, when the bus driver informed us that, due to floodings, the roads on the way to the next destination were closed, and we had to drive back to where we started. Stuck in Townsville for two nights (cause, of course, Greyhound doesn't drive on Mondays), we were advised by the Ayers Rock tour operator to go to Magnetic Island, just 20 minutes from Townsville, and spend out 2 nights there, where we had a chance to stay in a hostel with its own koala sanctuary.
Best on-the-spot decision ever. The island is beautiful and it seems like the whole place is a bird sanctuary cause there's a lot of squawking going on. Our hostel "Bungalow Bay" looks like how it sounds. It's the true tropics. Very hot and humid and a bit rainy but getting caught in the rain at 30 degres C is nothing to complain about.
We found out yesterday that the roads are still closed so our first opportunity to continue the tour is Thursday. Two whole more days stuck in paradise...Damn you Greyhound!
The first reef experience
This is for my sea-faring family
Self portrait
Parrotfish
Pretty coral
First scuba experience in Australia
Loving diving
This is not really how my arms look
Giant clam that I was allowed to touch
Nemo and Marlin
Gill
On the second trip. Complete with stinger suit. Good choice as there were a lot of jellyfish
All important stinger suit due to stinger season
Bat. One of many.
Koala crossing at our Magnetic Island hostel
Salt water croc. 6 years old
Feeding (not kissing) a red-tailed black cockatoo
Cuddling a koala...again
Python
Skink
Dragon to hang with my dragon
Wild Lorikeet
Red-tailed black cockatoo in the wild
Yellow-crested cockatoo
I've become a little obsessed with bats on this tour. In Cairns, there are two trees next to each other filled with them. They are visible, and very loud, during the day. So cool. You don't want to know how many bat videos I have taken...
This guy was my favorite. All the others were busy exerting a lot of energy flapping their wings to keep cool This guy just hung out, prefectly still. I think he thought he was Dracula.
