Cairns - The Great Barrier Reef

Having been rather stationary for a few months (as far as travelling goes), Luke and I spontaneously booked some Jetstar sale flights up in a hasty attempt to see more of this huge continent before leaving in two months to go back to the UK.
The most of our travelling has been by campervan which has ticked all our boxes as far as adventure and convenience goes, however, budget-wise, we are now very much experiencing 10 months without a tangible income and the fuel here, like most other things, is NOT cheap!
On Cairns-flight eve, we decided to stay the night in Brisbane airport in order to be at the airport ready for our 4am check-in. We undoubtedly had the worst night's sleep since our ghastly, broken-down experience in St Kilda Melbourne... Not only did we manage to overlook that our 'perfect nesting spot' was in fact under a disguised air-conditioning unit so that, upon waking from our pathetic hours sleep we felt cold to the bone, but also, we somehow managed to forget to buy in comfort-food supplies, rendering us not only frozen, numb and sleep deprived, but also hungry for something more than roasted nut mix. We weren't the best of pals that night or the following morning. Rookies.
Anyway.

A tropical flower in the botanic gardens

We arrived in Cairns to a barmy tropical morning. Having rescued our dwindling sugar levels with a measly handful of sultanas each, we survived the hour's wait for our complementary shuttle bus to Nomads hostel. Having arrived, food shopped and FINALLY eaten a decent meal, we rested our weary heads on the grass beside the town's Esplanade lagoon. Friends reunited.
The following day I finally dedicated my morning to completing my Australian tax return online. Unfortunately, after devoting hours to the cause, I wasn't able to submit it as they are apparently, waiting on my 'Shared Secret Information' which can be made available from any time up until the end of August by my employers. Not handy when you're a budgeting traveler living on avocado sandwiches. So, with this unfortunate turn of events I was finally forced to make the humble phone call back home. Damn. One day I will be a fully independent, functioning adult. I promise.

Cairns is another popular destination along the East Coast. Most famously for The Great Barrier Reef. We like to think we saved the best for last. It's also winter in Australia now, which for a tropical climate means dry season, which to us, means guaranteed hot sunshine. We are now on our third consecutive summer in a row and still not missing winter.

On our to do list for Cairns was predominately a snorkelling trip to the Great Barrier Reef.
Luke's grandmother, known by most as 'Moosie', provided us with the contact details of some good friends of hers in Port Douglas, an hour up the coast from Cairns. Having been quite the adventurers themselves, we should have guessed that Luke's grandparents' friends would be so too... These friends were in fact the owners of Poseidon, the most highly regarded dive yacht of The Reef. A rather nifty stroke of luck, we thought!
We had sent a post card a few weeks in advance of our arrival, hoping to visit the couple and catch up over tea on some of their no doubt, remarkable travel stories they shared with Luke's grandparents. When we phoned them upon arrival, they offered us a truly fantastic deal on their yacht which, at the time, we had no idea just how famously regarded they were. After graciously accepting their offer, we booked in for our day trip to The Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef
The early rise wasn't the slightest struggle on Tuesday 23rd July. With the arrival of our hugely anticipated day, excitement was definitely in the air. We had hired a car the evening before and gathered our 'on the road' snacks ready to hit the road pronto. The drive from Cairns to Port Douglas would turn Jeremy Clarkson a deep shade of emerald - The beautifully maintained roads snaking amidst a glassy turquoise ocean to our right and tropical rainforest to our left.
We arrived in Port Douglas around 8am and treated ourselves to a coffee from the marina. We were greeted aboard our vessel, The Poseidon' with smiles and welcomed with tea and muffins.

The Poseidon set off shortly after everyone had boarded for the first dive site. We were given a quick briefing on what not to touch - essentially everything, as it's obviously a protected Eco-system, then ushered toward the stern and invited to jump into the 25C glassy water...

In my opinion, you have never 'seen it all' when it comes to marine life. The coral alone came in hundreds of varieties, not to mention the thousands of colour variations. Initially, the sight was overwhelming. Nature defies our rules of colour coordinates, electing favourably to paint itself pink and yellow, orange with purple spots, blue and green stripes... You name it, nature's wearing it! The fish are no different to this rule. Parrot fish are just as the name suggests. They have hard beak-shaped teeth to gnaw at the hard coral which, by the way, is so hard and sharp that the slightest touch of a flipper against it creates deep scratches in the hard plastic. They are luminescent shades of pink, orange, green, yellow and blue and are about the size of your average toddler!
We saw molluscs of every shape and size, sea cucumbers the size of draught stoppers and what seemed like the entire congregation of Nemo's family. And some.
You are told to look out for clown fish, angel fish, grouper and whales sharks but the majority come to investigate you before you even begin. What a spectacle.


A few times a year, the tide goes out far enough that the top of the reefs are actually out of the water. Some of the branch-like coral does actually emit a powerful toxin while out the water and actually becomes carnivorous toward, smaller, marine life (phew). The best was, in our opinion, left until last and having enjoyed three hours worth of snorkelling for the day, we were finally called back aboard for the return journey to port.
Unfortunately we weren't able to catch up with Moosie's friends as one had had an operation and was recovering. We plan to pay them a visit and flood them with thanks again in person some day soon.

The rest of our time in Cairns was spent trekking around the beautiful botanic gardens, which was our first of the tropical variety. We must have walked a 20km round walk one day, encompassing the mountainous parameter of the park, amid humid flora. The air was thick and salty and every tree appeared to perspire some kind of glistening sap-like residue. Like everything else in the tropics!
We treated ourselves to an impromptu dance and drink one night, enjoying views of the harbor. It was so nice to be wearing thin clothing at late hours. It really did feel like the holiday we so desperately needed from our holiday after all!