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.
