Landed in Cairns

Landed in the rainy season in Cairns (oops) but in our defence the rainy season has hit them late this year but what would a tropical rainforest be without some rain and my god it’s hot. The clouds are a welcome break from the sun piercing Sydney which has allowed our burns to heal. We have had a couple of hectic days though when compared to Sydney which is ironic as cairns is meant to have been the calmer trip of ours. Our airbnb hosts were out of this world one of a kind. For a mere £38 a night we got picked up from the airport, taxied around here, there and everywhere and provided fresh bread and fruit every morning for breakfast.  I could go on about their generosity but they do it for the enjoyment rather than the money. We spent the first day going up on a cable car (the longest, highest and most terrifying one known to man – probably not but my fear of heights kicked into gear) to the rainforest where we spent the day walking through the forest as slow as possible on the lookout for anything that could kill us. Unfortunately we only came across a few spiders, awesome lizards and lots of birds including a wild turkey. The noise from the crickets is deafening and the whole place is out of this world. It’s a shame that a lot of it has become a tourist attraction and more people are interested in hugging the once wild koalas rather than exploring the forest. Our 2^nd day was at the Great Barrier Reef and as first time divers (well Rich was anyway) there was some nerves there. The boat was great, a small family run business with 35 people max unlike these huge 100 people carriers. We were treated well and given appropriate sympathy when throwing up on the choppy ride out. When we got to our first dive we pulled up to a beach in the middle of the sea which is made from parrot fish poo – it’s a massive bird breeding site and very well protected. There was border on the sand if you passed there was a camera which would photo you, find you and fine you £10k! Best leave nature alone! We first did a snorkel tour for 30 mins and I soon realised walking forwards in fins is not easy or gracious! It was a bit of a free for all but once we spread out and got our bearings we started to explore the reef. Not something you can really explain but it is out of this world. The fish including nemo are everywhere and the reef is stunning. We also saw a giant turtle^nd deeper dive. We got back to dry land and slept well! We are now driving to the Whitsunday islands in our 2 berth Winnebago on the great ocean road and my god it’s long. Less than 2 hours to go and we will be at Arlie beach. We have a tour booked to see the Whitsundays tomorrow which are a set of islands with the longest beaches in Aus.
which is breath-taking. We were then called for our first dive. Top marks for the instructors and we had 1 instructor between the 4 of us. We practiced our drills on land and then jumped in. For those who haven’t dived it is very difficult to breathe normally so we all did Darth Vader impressions. We followed the rope down to the bottom (about 10 meters). We practiced our drills which included removing our regulator, clearing it and then breathing again (very unnatural feeling). The dive was amazing through – We were linked arm in arm being shown around and saw a massive string ray flee from the sand once we got close. The rest of the day we carried on snorkelling and Rich did a 2nd dive which let him go and explore a little more. We then finished the day with a bit more snorkelling at the reef before a slightly less choppy ride back. We have a camper van hired for the next couple of days so we are off on our way to Brisbane and we will be stopping along the way to have a few adventures I'm sure.