Before I leave Australia there was one more city that I had to visit to leave feeling like I hit all the places that I wanted to see... Cairns, the Adventure Capital of Australia. Almost any adventure activity can be found within a two hour drive. I did a short trip, only a couple of days, and had a wonderful time. Cairns reminded me a lot of Hawaii. The temperature and plant life is remarkable similar, there are old sugar mills and the economy is supported almost exclusively by tourism.
Great Barrier Reef This is the reason that I got SSI Scuba Certified. I wanted to be able to dive on the GBR. It is a natural wonder of the world, and due to changes in climate and an increase in tourism it is disappearing. A lot of it has been protected and tourism boats are only allowed to certain islands. While the reef looks like a lot of uniquely shaped colored rocks, it is actually the biggest single structure made from living organisms known as coral polyps.
I did three dives. With my limited diving experience I still use a lot of air so my dives tend to be a bit shorter than the rest of the team. There was a large "castle" of coral which spiraled down for 18 metres. Around the castle were all sorts of fish, including one that I wasn't able to identify from all the fish books back on the boat. Therefore, the logical explanation is that I found a new species of fish. :) There was also a giant clam, a rare little red fish, ugly eels, sea cucumbers of every color and shape, multiple variations of clown fish (nemo), a turtle, christmas tree urchins, and bull rays. My favorite moment was when a pod of dolphins were swimming above us. While they didn't come to say hello they looked like they were playing, jumping in and out of the water.
Bungee Jumping I was disappointed in Bungee. I think because when you have done skydiving with your own parachute there just isn't the same thrill jumping off a board. Or maybe the drop was too short. I realized while I am a high risk/high reward individual, I enjoy adrenaline activities that involve overcoming that adrenaline to successfully complete a task. At least I got to check it off the not fully formed bucket list.
Wildlife Preserve Once again, I wanted to steal the wallabies. They are so adorable. I held a koala which is a lot smellier than I anticipated; they are cuter from a distance.
Daintree Rainforest One of the largest rainforests in the world. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and pointed out baby crocodiles on our river cruise (the big ones can jump so I'm glad it was just babies), poisonous trees (yep even the fauna is dangerous in this country), and took us to the beach at Cape Tribulation (where you couldn't get near the water because of blue bottle jellyfish, crocodiles, sting rays, and rock fish).
The rest of the time I spent wandering around the city and sitting out by the man made beach/pool at the waterfront. It was a nice vacation and the time to cross off most of the things left on my Australia to do list.
Daintree Rainforest One of the largest rainforests in the world. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and pointed out baby crocodiles on our river cruise (the big ones can jump so I'm glad it was just babies), poisonous trees (yep even the fauna is dangerous in this country), and took us to the beach at Cape Tribulation (where you couldn't get near the water because of blue bottle jellyfish, crocodiles, sting rays, and rock fish).
The rest of the time I spent wandering around the city and sitting out by the man made beach/pool at the waterfront. It was a nice vacation and the time to cross off most of the things left on my Australia to do list.
