This is where we stayed(a quite lively place)
Well the trip all began in a little city called Cairns. We arrived at 2:00 in the morning immediately checked in to our hotel, and went to bed because we were all exhausted. We soon learned that the place we were staying was definitely a party place because people were outside of our door singing, yelling and carrying on until about 5:00 in the morning. It was quite nice.
Day 1 Friday Sept. 19
This is the LagoonThe next morning, we woke up pretty early, went down and had breakfast at a little café, and then headed to the lagoon. It is a man made lagoon, because up in Cairns the jellyfish are really bad and you can’t get in the ocean close to shore or else you will die. So they have a humongous lagoon, and we laid out there until about 2 and then went and walked around the city. Went to the travel agent and booked our Great Barrier Reef trip for the next morning. After that we went and hung out by the pool, where there happened to be a footy team having their annual footy trip. And let me tell you, we know nothing of Aussie football back in the states. It is crazy! And the players are even crazier! But, after every season all the teams go on trips, where they pretty much just party the whole time, and are very very very obnoxious! So they were there at the pool with us just being loud, which they were fine that first day, and that was it. As the week went on they became increasingly louder and more stupid. But anyway, we made friends with them and hung out there with them that first day.
We made dinner at our hotel that night, and then went to bed pretty early because we had to be up early for our trip the next morning.
Day 2 Sep. 20th Saturday (Maritza's Birthday!)
We wake up bright and early at 6:30 and our bus leaves at 7 for the reef, which fortunately it picks us up right at our hotel, so we didn’t have to walk anywhere. When we arrive at the T-5, the boat that was going to take us out, it was a really nice boat, pretty big and they served us coffee and tea for the morning travel. The trip out to the reef took about an hour. The crew provided us with wet suits, snorkels and fins, the wet suits were nice too, because the water was a little bit chilly. When we get to our first spot we get to spend a little over an hour there, and it was AMAZING! Truly a different experience from snorkeling in Florida or in the Bahamas. There were so many fish, fish of every color. Beautiful coral, it was truly awesome. There were guides swimming around in the water with us as well telling us about the reef and the different fish. We bought an underwater camera to, which was a good idea, because the Great Barrier Reef is definitely something that you need to take a picture of. After that we got back on the boat and had lunch, which was a buffet. It was pretty good. After that, they took us to our next snorkeling spot, we didn’t get to spend as much time there only about 30 minutes. This spot was known as the fish bowl, and that is exactly what it was, the reef dropped off and there was pretty much a huge hole where you couldn’t see the bottom and hundreds of fish swimming around in it. It was pretty cool. After that spot, we got back on the boat and headed back to Cairns. All of us girls went back to the hotel and took a 2 hour nap because the snorkeling trip was pretty exhausting. Later that night we went out to dinner at a place called rhino bar, they served huge portions and it only costs $5, which is good here because everything is really expensive, oh and here whenever you go out to dinner, you don’t tip the server or anyone actually, which Laura would like.
We wake up bright and early at 6:30 and our bus leaves at 7 for the reef, which fortunately it picks us up right at our hotel, so we didn’t have to walk anywhere. When we arrive at the T-5, the boat that was going to take us out, it was a really nice boat, pretty big and they served us coffee and tea for the morning travel. The trip out to the reef took about an hour. The crew provided us with wet suits, snorkels and fins, the wet suits were nice too, because the water was a little bit chilly. When we get to our first spot we get to spend a little over an hour there, and it was AMAZING! Truly a different experience from snorkeling in Florida or in the Bahamas. There were so many fish, fish of every color. Beautiful coral, it was truly awesome. There were guides swimming around in the water with us as well telling us about the reef and the different fish. We bought an underwater camera to, which was a good idea, because the Great Barrier Reef is definitely something that you need to take a picture of. After that we got back on the boat and had lunch, which was a buffet. It was pretty good. After that, they took us to our next snorkeling spot, we didn’t get to spend as much time there only about 30 minutes. This spot was known as the fish bowl, and that is exactly what it was, the reef dropped off and there was pretty much a huge hole where you couldn’t see the bottom and hundreds of fish swimming around in it. It was pretty cool. After that spot, we got back on the boat and headed back to Cairns. All of us girls went back to the hotel and took a 2 hour nap because the snorkeling trip was pretty exhausting. Later that night we went out to dinner at a place called rhino bar, they served huge portions and it only costs $5, which is good here because everything is really expensive, oh and here whenever you go out to dinner, you don’t tip the server or anyone actually, which Laura would like.
Our Boat The Tusa T5
The view coming back in to Cairns
The Water at the Great Barrier Reef
Day 3 Sept. 21 Sunday
We slept in on Sunday, when we woke up we just put on our bathing suits and were just laying out at the pool, surrounded by the loud obnoxious footy players, they were by this time getting on all of our nerves, I forgot to mention they were staying on the same floor as us, and basically they stay up all night get 1 or 2 hours of sleep and then as soon as the bars open at 10 they are there so they are pretty beligerant the entire time. Luckily though, we had met a friend the night before that had been on our snorkeling trip, he lived in Cairns and his name is Phil, all of us called him Dr. Phil. He ended up calling us to see if we wanted to come over to his friends house for a bbq, so we said yes and left pretty much right then to head over and get away from the footy players ASAP. We got over to Phil’s friends house which was SO nice it is up on a hill that overlooks Cairns and has an ocean view. Very, very pretty. We had hamburgers there which were good, and just hung out for a little while. Watched the sun set, we left to go back about 10 because we had to be up the next morning for an excursion Daintree Rainforest.
Mossoman's Gorge
Day 3 Sept. 21 Sunday
We slept in on Sunday, when we woke up we just put on our bathing suits and were just laying out at the pool, surrounded by the loud obnoxious footy players, they were by this time getting on all of our nerves, I forgot to mention they were staying on the same floor as us, and basically they stay up all night get 1 or 2 hours of sleep and then as soon as the bars open at 10 they are there so they are pretty beligerant the entire time. Luckily though, we had met a friend the night before that had been on our snorkeling trip, he lived in Cairns and his name is Phil, all of us called him Dr. Phil. He ended up calling us to see if we wanted to come over to his friends house for a bbq, so we said yes and left pretty much right then to head over and get away from the footy players ASAP. We got over to Phil’s friends house which was SO nice it is up on a hill that overlooks Cairns and has an ocean view. Very, very pretty. We had hamburgers there which were good, and just hung out for a little while. Watched the sun set, we left to go back about 10 because we had to be up the next morning for an excursion Daintree Rainforest.
Mossoman's Gorge
Crocodile
Crocodile Safari we went on
Funny Road Sign
Crocodile Safari we went onFunny Road Sign
Sign on the way down to the beach. Makes ya wanna go swimming doesn't it?
Cape Tribulation Beach
At the beginning of the Rainforest
Tree in The Rainforest
Day 4 Monday Sept. 22
Cape Tribulation Beach At the beginning of the RainforestTree in The Rainforest
Day 4 Monday Sept. 22
We woke up early on Monday and were outside by 7:30 to be picked up. Our tour guide that day was named Debra, which we ended up giving her the nickname of Debbie Downer, because for everything wonderful that she said, there would be a pause, and then she would proceed to tell you the really, really bad side of the wonderful thing. For instance, when heading over to Cape Tribulation she said the ocean is beautiful and it’ll be pretty warm, the sand there is known for being so soft. (pause) If you get in though, be careful to watch out for the salt water crocodiles, and scoot your feet across the bottom to make sure you don’t step on a sting ray, and also the jellyfish they are about this big and have long tentacles so look out for those too. So if that doesn’t make you want to go for a swim then I don’t know what will. Well she picked us up and we headed out to the rainforest, it took about an hour to get out there and that entire hour Deb talked the whole time… about anything and everything. Just about whatever popped in to her head. She was a crazy lady. The rainforest was pretty, it actually was not what I expected for a rainforest, but it did have beautiful plants. After a walk through the rainforest we traveled to Cape Trib which was a cute little town, and it did have a great beach, we didn’t get in the water though. After Cape Trib we traveled to Mossoman’s Gorge which is owned by the aboriginals. It is a big creek that is pretty, the water was freezing, but supposedly Deb says that it is very clean water and people just drink straight from it. After Mossmomans Gorge we got to see where Steve Irwin died, saw some wallabies which are just little kangaroos, and then headed back to our hotel. This excursion was a very informative one. When we got back, we just made some dinner and packed our suitcases, because we had to catch a bus ride the next morning at 7:30 to Airlie beach.
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