Cairns

Me holding a real life Koala

Yes I finally got the opportunity to go see the Great Barrier Reef. It was one of the most amazing things I have seen. There were the most beautiful fish I have ever seen. Some of them were huge. I saw a bright purple starfish, bright green, purple, and orange coral. There were clown fish and fish that had an iridescent color. There were fish that were the brightest colors and had really neat patterns on them. I even saw 4 turtles. At one point I felt like I was watching a fish parade, because there were several schools of fish that went right by me, and right after the other. I went snorkeling for many hours but I had to wear a lycra suit because its jellyfish season. Oh and I did see quite a few jelly fish and I saw a three foot clam shell. It was like I was a part of Finding Nemo. This all happened at Green Island. Then I went on a glass bottomed boat and saw even more fish. It was so amazing.

on gree island, the dark spots are where the reef begins

2 thumbs up

Then on another day I went to the tablelands. I saw Lake Barrine which is a fresh water lake that has eels in it although I didnt get to see one. However I did see a python. Then we drove through parts of the rainforest and saw some waterfalls. There was even whats called a curtain fig which is a tree and you will how large it is, its amazing. Then we went to a cattle station. They owned thousands of acres and they were so isolated. It was interesting to see though. Then we stopped by a banana/macadamia/avacado plantation. They grew lady finger bananas and it was interesting, I've never really seen that before. We even drove past fields and fields of sugar cane, and then some coffee up in the tablelands.

The Curtain Fig tree

Milaa Milaa Falls

The next day I went to the Daintree Rainforest. It was so humid and hot, I could hardly stand it. It was very pretty though. Then we went to Port Douglas and we even stopped a zoo type place. Then we went to Cape Tribulation and saw even more. Then we went on a Daintree River cruise so that we could see the crocodiles. There were probably about three that we saw, but many more we didn't because it was so hot. Then we left and I saw kangaroos grazing in some fields. Oh and whats interesting is that Cairns doesn't really have beaches, they have a lagoon which is really a salt water swimming pool. The beaches after world war II, were basically destroyed, because the allies had to dig the harbour deeper for the ships coming in. Well after they would just dump the mud out in the ocean and it would end up on the beach. So its yucky, the beaches you have to go a ways to get to. They are really pretty to but you cant really swim very many places because of the jelly fish and the crocs. Even at the beaches there will be an area that is sectioned off to keep crocs and jelly fish away from you. Its really quite bizarre. Its to bad they have such beautiful beaches, but many aren't used for those reasons.

Me and the Aussie guide Ian (notice the hiking boots and akubra hat)

Oh and I met some girls at my hostel named Nadi from Switzerland and Marjorie from France. They were super friendly and I really had fun with them. Oh and then we became friends with a guy my last night there from France but he lives in Zurich. It was really fun and they would practice their english with me. I would use their dictionary and try to pronounce some words and they would just laugh and then tell me how to say it after I showed them the word I was trying to pronounce. Anyways, it was a really fun vacation, and yes I finally got my black opal.

Marjorie, Me, and Nadi