Cairns, Australia

Our last stop was in Cairns (pronounced CANS). We flew from Sydney to Cairns on Feb 17th. Cairns is on the northeast part of the country, and because we went way north, it was a lot hotter and more humid there. Cairns the town is not really large (at least not after being in Sydney). Their population is approximately 178,000 people. When we arrived and unpacked, we went to take a walk along the esplanade and they were having Chinese New Year dances and celebrations. Unfortunately, thunderstorms cut it all short. There was this adorable dog dressed up in a Chinese Lion dancer outfit though, that was adorable. We also quickly realized that there are the largest bats in the world that live there and nest in the trees….the flying foxes that we also had on Okinawa. These are huge, furry bats but they only eat bugs and berries. They can be the size of a house cat and have a huge wingspan. My brother-in-law marveled at them and their sheer size, whereas Rich and I were almost at home with them…like seeing an old friend again.

Our first full day in Cairns was spent on a large sailboat for 10 hours. Cairns is known as being a launching point for the Great Barrier Reef, and that was our destination that day. We were on a sailboat but it also had an engine. We motored out for 2 hours, towards Green Island. Rich and his brother scuba dived and Rich’s sister-in-law and I snorkeled. The water was very warm. They had us wear long sleeved and long panted wet suits to protect us from the jelly fish. We didn’t see any, which I was thankful for. We did see a few sea turtles from the boat and some coral and sea life in the water. However, the undertow was strong and the waves were pretty choppy so a lot of sediment was stirred up. You had to work hard to get anywhere in the current that day and the colors were not vibrant with so much sand being blown around in the water. We got off the sailboat and went to Green Island and spent some time on the beach there. We were pretty good about applying and reapplying sunscreen the whole day. There was no real way to get out of the sun. However, I happened to miss my middle toe on my right foot. It is now pretty itchy, so should start peeling soon. It may not have been the views we wanted, but it is a bucket list item that is checked off. We couldn’t wait an extra day because the guys can’t fly so quickly after scuba diving.

The next day, our last full day in Australia, we went to Kuranda. We walked to a nearby hotel for a bus pick up and then was dropped off at the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. We got in a gondola and rode up the mountain, through the jungle. There were a couple of stops along the way up to see Barron Gorge National Park and Barron Falls. It was like we had been dropped into the jungle somewhere. At the last stop, we were in Kuranda. Kuranda is a mountain village known as the “Village in the Rainforest.” There were eclectic shops and eateries and a bird sanctuary, butterfly garden and koala garden. We chose the koala garden. On our way down the mountain, we rode the Kuranda scenic railway. Here are our last photos from my phone of that day…

I can’t tell express well enough how much fun we had on this trip to New Zealand and Australia. We managed to see and do A LOT during the 24 days we were there. If you ever get the choice to go….do it!