Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef

We arrived in Cairns on a rainy Friday afternoon. After checking into the hotel, we ventured out in the rain. It didn’t take long to learn this small town was built around tourism. Rightfully so as the views were amazing and the Great Barrier Reef is only a short boat ride away. The Esplanade is home to many quaint restaurants, mostly seafood, and shops.

Early Saturday morning we packed our beach bag and walked a few hundred feet from our hotel down to the main terminal at the harbour. After checking out the other reef boats, we were pleasantly surprised at the day tour we had chosen for our first GBR experience. The hospitality on the boat was extremely helpful and generous, thankfully so because it would be a long eight hours otherwise. The crew thoroughly briefed us on safety and the importance of our lovely, form fitting, Lycra stinger suits. The summer waters invite invisible jellyfish, some even lethal. Let me tell you, Lycra does not look good on anyone but we decided not to take any chances and ruin everyone’s vacation. The weather hadn’t let up too much from the day before, if anything, the winds had picked up. It was a bumpy, almost sea-sickening hour long ride out to the outer reef but we finally arrived at our first stop. We spit in our goggles, tugged at the Lycra suits, slipped on our fins and jumped in.

Immediately we saw colourful fish swimming around the endless corals. We floated around in the waves taking it all in for almost an hour. We spotted a reef shark resting below the shelter of the coral, a long, sly eel we couldn't catch for a picture and tons of Rainbow fish.

The second and third stop allowed for us to witness movement of huge blue clams and many Nemos. I actually spotted Nemos as big as my fist but the current was so strong, by the time I got to Greg and the camera, I forgot where I had seen them. Overall, the day could only really be described as a Discovery Chanel episode. Swimming along with the fish was everything we expected and more. Even though the visibility could have been better, the day was perfect.

On Sunday we woke up to the rain again but didn't let that hault our adventures. Cairns is home to more tourist options than just the reef or great water activities. The area is actually known as “Where the Rainforest meets the Reef.” We decided to participate in the amazing rainforest experience that the Sky Rail has to offer. Spanning 7.5 kilometres, the Sky Rail glides over the rainforest stopping at amazing lookouts on the way up to Kuranda. We enjoyed the amazing views of the Coral Sea and the Rainforest canopy on the way up to the Barron Falls.

Once we reached Kuranda, we shopped the somewhat unique, mostly not, markets. The town itself thrives on these markets and the tourist experiencing the Sky Rail and the Kuranda Railway. After walking the markets and failing to find anything we couldn't live without, we opted to take advantage of the other side of the mountain and decent by way of railway. Arriving at the stop at Barron Falls on the other side of the gorge, we were glad we did.

After navigating through bends and turns, the train reached the bottom of the mountain and we walked though the historical terminal on our way back to the hotel.

Feeling extremely satisfied with everything we experienced in Cairns, we headed back to Brisbane on the early flight Monday morning. We’ll definitely go back to experience the reef again but we were excited to be able to check that one off the bucket list.

Kayaking

Back to our favorite website, Spreets…. we purchased a voucher months ago for River Life which included kayaking, abseiling, rock climbing and roller blade or bike hire. With a completely free day, we chose to go kayaking on the Brisbane River.

Our instructor led us around the boat docks, under the Storey Bridge, around the bend and back again. We enjoyed the blazing sun the breeze in our face and the cool salt water that splashed down from the paddle. When we were getting out, a group of around 15 women were getting going. Two of them tumped over shortly after getting into the kayak. Reminded me of the Guadalupe and watching people get in at Texas Toobs. Only we didn’t have a cooler kayak, and we definitely had to work harder to get anywhere. We’ll definitely hire kayaks again and enjoy the city sites from alternative views.

Fishing Attempt - Number Two

We were all set to go fishing on Sunday. This time we watched the weather all week and didn’t make hotel reservations. However, we woke up on Saturday and the weather was beautiful. Our friend Fiona was down from the Sunshine Coast and wanted to enjoy the sunshine as well. On the way to the Gold Coast we decided that even if we didn’t go fishing, we could at least stay overnight and try to enjoy the beach on Sunday as a backup plan. So we booked a room at Jupiter’s Hotel and Casino from the iPhone on the way and not five minutes after confirming the reservation, the clouds rolled in. Things cleared up again but when we checked into the hotel and started walking towards the beach showers continued. Good thing we marched on in the rain because when we finally made it to the beach, the clouds disappeared and the sun came back out to stay.

 After soaking up enough sun, we enjoyed cold beverages and a snack at a café in Broadbeach. We walked back to the hotel and got ready for a night out, an early night out because we were set to go fishing at 6 am.

Before heading to the Hard Rock Café at Surfer’s Paradise, we had to stake out the casino and decided where we’d place our bets later. HRC, I imagine, is quite the same in a lot of places worldwide, but there’s no doubt it’s American. We enjoyed great food and great company and as promised, we headed to the casino when we got back to the hotel.

Security almost didn’t let me in to the casino because all I had was my TXDL. The guy even had to look at Greg’s to make sure it wasn’t fake. After I lost $20 on Roulette, Greg put in another $20 while I went to get him a beer. When I got back he was up to $80, not bad. We kept betting 29 black and it FINALLY hit! We decided to cash out and take our winnings, after all we were getting up in a few hours to go fishing. Not so fast, we had to play penny slots before we left. So I put in another $20 and hit the bonus games. The wheels kept spinning and when they finally stopped, I had won more than I thought in 20 minutes with 20 bucks. Cash out. When is the last time you went to a casino and it spit out your winnings in coins instead of tickets? No ticket machines at this casino. Luckily there are $1 coins though. We won enough to pay for the hotel room, not bad for a Saturday night.

Our alarm went off at 4:45AM. We arrived at the pier around 5:30 and found our fishing buddies, Ali, Frank and friends waiting for us. After everyone was onboard, we left on schedule and the guides informed us it should be a good day despite the fact the winds had unexpectedly picked up overnight. After leaving the protection of the bay and surviving the bumpy ride through the jetty, we hoped for the best. However, we immediately feared that with the 8-12 ft  waves, it would be a long day.

 Wave after wave, we held on as best we could and small talked with the guides in between swells. One mahi-mahi bit while we were on our way out and a guy reeled him in only to find he was a bit too small. Our excitement heighted as we once again hoped for the best. We finally weighed anchor. The guides demonstrated how to bait and drop our lines and let us loose.  Greg and I held on tight as we made our way to the back of the boat to our designated rods, trying not to look around at a few of our fellow fisherman/women chumming.

After casting my line I was watching intently, waiting for a bite. Not the best idea to stop looking at the horizon. As I contemplated waiting for the yuk feeling to pass, I could hear the guide asking for a show of hands of who was not feeling so well, yes sir, that would be me. At least four of the twelve people had already been sick and oh how I couldn’t help being number five. “There goes Texas over the back,” the captain said, “There’s no way we’re going to catch a fish in these conditions,” he continued. All of our lines were tangled and almost half of us were sick so they graciously took us back and refunded our vouchers. We were back on solid land by 7:45 and more thankful to get off a boat than ever before.

We decided not to let our sunny day go to waste and after a much needed breakfast back in Broadbeach, we spent a few hours by the hotel pool. After a tan and a snooze by the pool, we headed home. We still haven’t rebooked our fishing trip but we will try to go in February or so.