We (myself and 6 other friends) spent the majority of our time in Cairns, a decent tourist city in Northern Queensland with a lot of access to fun reef trips and jungle tours. The weather forecast was high of 80s and lows of 70s, with some rain and thunderstorms coming in the second half of the week. As our plane started its final descent into the city, I was stupefied. We were slowly making our way down into a landscape of gorgeous beaches, bright blue water, large stretches of jungle, and beautiful green mountains covered in trees. It was unbelievable- we were landing in a tropical paradise. We spent the first day relaxing at the beach, of course- I mean who could resist a beach day in paradise when it is 80 degrees and sunny?
No swimming allowed! Box Jellyfish will kill you
Trinity Beach (one of the Northern Beaches outside Cairns)
Swimming area- a net surrounds it to keep out the deadly jellies
The next day was our big boat trip to the outer reef- time for some serious ocean observing and a first-time scuba dive! We saw so many amazing fish (although my old school disposable underwater camera did not do such a great job of capturing them on film unfortunately) and also a sea turtle, a shark, giant clams, and Nemo. The coral was so beautiful, in so many interesting shapes and colors. The water was crystal clear, and bright blue- it was unbelievable. I was really scared to try scuba diving at first but it was actually really fun! We had such a beautiful sunny day, and ate an amazing buffet lunch on board the ship, concluding a fun day with complimentary cheese, crackers, and wine on the way home (so classy, Australia!).
Here are some photos taken by the professionals:
Katie and I Scuba Diving
TURTLE!
The following day we pretty much laid low for a bit, relaxing by the pool and trying to find some free internet hotspots (good ol McDonalds- you never fail me...) to look up things to do/ plan the rest of the week. On Wednesday, we took a trip up to Kuranda- a small village at the top of a jungle-covered mountain. We took a bus up to an animal park first, where we got to pet kangaroos and wallabies, cautiously peer over the side of the rail at the giant crocodile, walk through an Aboriginal experience where we learned how to throw boomerangs, and take a guided Army Duck tour through the rainforest. Afterwards, we went up to Kuranda where we took a hike through the rainforest, and then stepped aboard the skyrail. Skyrail is a cable car that runs down the jungle-covered mountain, allowing you to travel high above the trees of the rainforest and observe the beautiful sites below.
Look at the huge crocodile!!! This guy was attacking humans and dogs and so they had to put him in captivity to save him from being killed by local rangers.
Kangaroo!!!
Boomerang throwing- I was terrible
Army Duck through the rainforest
Skyrail over the city
The main focus of the tour was to see different waterfalls, and boy were they beautiful. Lucky for us, we got the "authentic" rainforest tour- it was pouring rain all day! Luckily the 80 degree weather kept our spirits high, but let me tell you, I did not have a single dry article of clothing for the rest of the week once the weather turned on us that day. The only major downfall of the day was that there were leeches everywhere! Now, I am not scared of many creepy crawly critters. Spiders, beetles, giant ants- you name it, I'm a-ok with all of that. But leeches- NOT OK. They stick to you, then they stick to your hand as you try to peel them off, they steal your blood (thieves!), they are tiny and sneaky and I am not a fan! Let's just say my friends were less than pleased with my extreme leech-phobia... but in the end we all came home leech-free and continued on just fine.
We started out the tour at a place called Babinda Boulders, with a swimming area called Devil's Pool. Unfortunately, most of the places we visited that day were too dangerous for swimming because all of the rain created such high water levels, however, it was still a pretty site to see. There is an old Aboriginal legend that explains why Devil's Pool is cursed (that's right- cursed! guess it was a good thing we couldn't go for a swim...). The legend goes that an Aboriginal tribe named Yidinji used to inhabit those areas, when one day another tribe came along. They invited the other tribe to share their space, food, and shelter. They lived peacefully together, until a dangerous romance blossomed. A beautiful woman named Oolana from the Yidinji tribe was originally promised to an elder but soon fell in love with a strong, handsome man named Dyga from the other tribe. This forbidden love created all kinds of problems, and so the other tribe decided they would leave the following morning. Oolana and Dyga knew that they were to be separated, and so in the middle of the night they fled. Both tribes sent men after the two lovers, and managed to catch up with them. They caught Dyga, and just as Oolana turned towards the elders, tears in her eyes, to yell for Dyga to escape, they killed him. Legend has it that the creek that once stood at Babinda Boulders magically turned into a raging stream, filled with Oolana's tears. Devil's Pool is now a cursed swimming hole, where Oolana preys on young men going for a dip. So if you are ever in the neighborhood, down under in the Tablelands, be sure to leave your young men at home.
Our next stop was Josephine Falls. Then we headed over to Milla Milla falls- where a lot of herbal essences commercials are filmed! No wonder- the falls are gorgeous and so tropical. We tried to shoot some stunning hair-flip shots of our own, but I will spare you with those pictures since they did not turn out herbal essences model-quality...
Later we went to a secret platypus spotting site. Excitement was high, but even though Peter promised us he always sees platypuses at his secret spot, we did not see a single one. Unfortunate! After that, however, we got to see an amazing Curtain Fig tree. Fig trees start off by growing so that they are leaning/growing off of another tree. Almost like a parasite but they are not directly harmful to the base tree. They then start to grow extensions that wrap around the tree and keep on going until the main tree dies from lack of sunlight and what is left is just the Fig tree. This Fig tree started growing from the main tree, extending down towards the ground, creating a curtain. This process occurs over hundreds of years! There are many trees in the process throughout the jungle, but this one is famous for its shape and incredibly old age. After marveling at the cool tree we got to go swimming at Lake Echam- a 50m deep lake inside a volcanic crater. The water was super blue and really warm- perfect for a swim! What a great way to end a great day...
Devil's Pool- be careful!
Babinda Boulders- such huge rocks! Looked fake almost...
Devil's Pool
The whole gang! In front of Josephine Falls
Milla Milla falls
Curtain Fig Tree
Lake Echam
Mossman Gorge
Alexandra Range lookout- you can see the Low Isles off in the distance
Lookout for Cassowaries!
Goanna!
Yumyumyum
First Croc spotting!
Mama crocodile hiding behind the trees
Baby crocodile! So cute...
Rex Range lookout
I know I've already talked about some of the wildlife we did and did not see, as well as some plants and fruits, but I think I will take a moment to share some pictures and info about the other things we discovered in the wild.
An epiphytic fern called the "Elkhorn Fern" growing on the side of a tree. It is not a parasite but needs another tree to grow. These ferns can be found throughout the rainforest.
Tropical Fruit Kebabs! They were delicious... From left to right: Pineapple, Papaya, White Dragonfruit, Kiwi, Persimmon, Nashi, and Red Dragonfruit
White Dragonfruit
Black Sapote (the chocolate pudding fruit)
Monsterio Delicio (tastes like a fruit salad!)
Abiu (the "caramel" fruit)
A cassowary! Not in the wild, but we saw one at the wildlife park in captivity in Kuranda
Cool jungle trees
Birdsnest Fern- This is another epiphytic fern, but this one is shaped like a bird's nest and often many little animals will use it as a place to live/ for shelter
Mango trees!
Banana tree! At the base is a banana bell flower
Another Fig Tree- this is like the Curtain Fig Tree but has grown differently and is not quite at the same stage
Golden Orb Spider- We saw a bunch of these huge fellas in the rainforest, scary!
Cool Rainforest beetle! Unfortunately with the bluriness of no-flash photography and distortions of flash photography, I could not get a great picture that accurately showed the cool colors of this guy, but he was a cool greenish blue color towards the head, and a light orange on the body- super cool!
Little crab in a creek
Fan trees
Walking tree- these guys move 5cm a year!
Water dragons we saw on the Army Duck tour by the water
Mangrove trees- these funny looking things lined the Daintree River
On our last day I bought this Custard Apple fruit at the local market- You open it up and eat it with a spoon; it tastes just like pie filling!
On the Saturday before we left, we went on one last snorkeling trip. This time we went to Green Island- a beautiful little island right in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef! Before we got on the Green Island ferry, we were told that on that day it was going to be very windy, with rough waters and a bumpy ride so they suggested we take some complimentary ginger pills for seasickness. All of us boasted that we never got seasick, but hey, who's gonna turn down free ginger pills just in case, right? Well, good thing we took them. For the first 10-15 minutes or so the 6 of us were chatting away, chipper as ever, excited for our day of sun soaking, snorkeling, and general beach fun. 40 minutes into the 1 and a half hour boat ride, we all fell silent. We sat there staring into space, not looking at each other, not speaking to each other, giving the death stare to the kind crew that kept coming by asking if everyone was alright, and trying hard not to pay attention to the nauseating motions of the ship. We felt so ill! Luckily, no one got sick (thank you ginger pills?) but it was a close call. As soon as we got to the island, we rushed off the boat and had a nice laugh about it. After that we had a very pleasant afternoon. Unfortunately, the wind kicked up the sand in the waters, so we had a hard time seeing underwater (usually the waters are crystal clear) but we still managed to see quite a few things. The fish were amazing, even though we had to get close to really see them. We saw needlefish, parrotfish, angelfish, fish that were bigger than my body, and a blue starfish! I also saw a turtle again! I started to follow it as it was swimming along the reef, looking up every few seconds to see if anyone was around to share in my amazement at the turtle but everyone had already returned to shore so I just decided to hang out with the turtle for quite while. I had a great time! We had a lovely day at the beach, and I only came home with some minor sunburn from that hot Australian sun :)
Beautiful Beaches
There were hermit crabs everywhere! We saw these little guys crawling around near the shore
Beautiful blue waters!
