It hasn't been that long since I last updated the blog, but so much has happened since Thursday last week that I thought it was worthwhile writing a new post. This one will be detailed with lots of great photos and lots of interesting adventures - it may very well be the best post yet.
I left off my last post on Thursday, just a few hours before heading to the airport to catch our flight to Cairns. I met Jordan and Alex at Central Station around 3pm and caught the train to the domestic airport not too far from the city, although it still cost us a little over $11 for a single journey with a student concession card - typical airport public transport! We met Jessica at the airport and got checked in for the flight; Jordan and I had decided to check a bag, however we didn't have any check-in baggage allowance which meant that it was going to cost us $40 for the privilege. In a rather fortunate stroke of luck though, when I attempted to pay my baggage charge with my card there was some sort of issue with the card machine and the guy at the desk told me that he would waive the fee on this occasion. After passing through security and getting some food from Subway, we found a table and enjoyed a beer whilst chatting about the forthcoming adventures over the next few days. Our excitement had slightly dulled by the time it came to board the plane, as our flight was delayed by around 45 minutes - we then spent a further 15 minutes on the tarmac before we actually took off. Flying can be a bit of a chore at times and I'm not a massive fan of aviation as a form of transport; it doesn't scare me or anything but I usually just put my iPod on and try and sleep for the majority of the time.
Our delayed flight meant that we landed in Cairns a little later than expected, although we gained an hour back due to the time difference. Whilst we had travelled almost directly north, therefore not moving between any actual timezones, there was still an hour difference since the clocks are moved in New South Wales for daylight saving, whereas the state of Queensland don't move their clocks. It was around 9.30pm local time when we eventually landed, collected our bags and made our way to the arrivals exit. We enquired about an airport shuttle bus to take us to the hotel we had booked into at Holloways Beach, north of Cairns but the gentleman on the desk was kind enough to tell us that a taxi would be a cheaper option. We appreciated his honesty and headed outside to find ourselves a cab. Upon stepping outside of the airport for the first time, the pleasant warmth and humidity of the night was fantastic - the area around Cairns essentially has a tropical rainforest climate and it was immediately noticeable. We arrived at the hotel shortly before 10pm and found the reception was closed for the night. Luckily Jordan had been clever enough to realise that would happen and had managed to secure himself the code for the safe at reception, let himself in and retrieved our room key which had been left there for us. The fact that the reception was closed for the night actually worked out very well for us since we had been a little bit naughty and only booked in for two people in the room, when in reality there were four of us. It's only illegal if you get caught, right? Actually, as a law student, I probably shouldn't abide by that rule.
Our apartment on the night we arrived.
Rather annoyingly, due to our slight delay in getting to Cairns, the local supermarket had closed shortly before we arrived at the hotel, meaning we had no food and hadn't eaten since the early evening. After making a call to the Pizza Hut in Cairns and being told they wouldn't deliver to our accommodation, we wondered if we would manage to find ourselves something to eat at all. Eventually, we decided to call another taxi to take us into Cairns in an attempt to find a supermarket, or takeaway which would be open late on a Thursday night. The taxi driver turned out to be a really decent guy and turned the meter off for us and waited outside whilst we went in to get ourselves something to eat. Since none of us could be bothered to start cooking so late at night, we each got some super noodles and big bags of crisps - the first of many bags of crisps consumed over the weekend - as well as some milk and cereal for a few days of breakfast. We got back, demolished a truly rubbish dinner by any reasonable standards and headed to bed. I drank a can of Mountain Dew with my dinner, which was a poor idea in hindsight, since the sugar kicked in just as we were going to bed; I couldn't sleep and didn't eventually go to bed until almost 1am having a carry on and keeping everyone else up too. I'm sure everyone appreciated it though, especially with a 6.30am alarm set for the following morning.
I was surprisingly quite sharp and alert soon after my alarm went off. I think mainly because Jordan had cracked the blinds open and it was a beautiful sunny day, I remembered where I was and immediately felt energised looking forward to what we had planned for the day. This was the view from my bed when I woke up.
We were due to meet our bus outside the hotel around 7.30am, which would be taking us on a tour of some of the sights along the coast, north of Cairns. We were the last people to be picked up from our respective hotel and found ourselves the only four remaining seats along the back row of the small bus. The driver had a microphone attached to the speaker system in the bus and talked us through the itinerary for the day and explained what would be happening at each place. One of the first things which he said was, "I won't talk too much, just a little bit of talking, but most of the time I won't be talking and I'll just let you relax and enjoy the journey" which was followed by him talking for the majority of the day. Now, usually it would be great to hear lots of information and interesting facts about a place which we had never visited before, but often it was quite difficult to hear what he was saying which meant his commentary was relegated to the status of annoying background noise. Fortunately, the scenery spoke for itself - the green mountains, fields of crops and fruit and amazing coastline meant there was plenty to see.
The first stop of the day was at the Port Douglas Wildlife Habitat, around a one hour drive from our hotel. It was a great little place and I actually enjoyed it more than the Taronga Zoo in Sydney; the animals seemed like they were in a more natural environment and it was amazing to get up close to some of them. Particular highlights were the wallabies, crocodiles and kangaroos - I actually had the surreal experience of two kangaroos eating out of my hand, before a bird approached also looking to be fed. The bird pecked my leg and the kangaroo jumped to my defence and scared it off! Of course, it was only looking after the food for itself, but it was still amazing to see! The crocodiles were also one of the most amazing things which I had seen - such powerful, menacing creatures - but the Wildlife Habitat wasn't to be the best, or closest, crocodile experience of the day.
Here are some photos of the animals from the Wildlife Habitat.
Very close to some small wallabies - a few of which even had little joeys in their pouches - amazing!
A rather large crocodile, who had been removed from the wild because he was considered a serious threat to human life. He was essentially in crocodile prison - such a boss!
Jordan making himself a furry new friend! Also, one of the birds which pecked me, just to the right.
Finally, a kangaroo - not a wallaby - eating from my hand!
We all really enjoyed the Wildlife Habitat and enthusiastically flicked through all the photos we had shot as we boarded the tour bus once again. I have to admit I haven't really done very many tour-type trips before and usually tend to explore places and visit tourist locations without the help or interference of a tour company or guide when travelling, however the tour was small - maybe around 20 people - and it was great to see so much stuff in the same day. There is no way we could have achieved as much in the one day on our own. The next stop wasn't too far away and we disembarked once more to find ourselves at the Mossman River Gorge. We took a short walk around some raised walkways through the forest and stopped at the side of the river to snap some photos of the mesmerising, crystal-clear water which was home to a substantial number of fish, which seemed quite at ease with the odd tourist who had decided to take a dip in the waters.
We didn't spend too long at the gorge before we boarded the bus again and headed further north towards the Daintree River. When we reached the river, it became apparent that we would be taking a ferry crossing before travelling any further; we were given a quick chance to get out and stretch our legs as we waited on the ferry, which crossed on wires over the river and we wondered why there wasn't a bridge since there seemed to be a fair number of cars waiting to cross. As we got off the bus to take a walk around, the driver warned us not to get too close to the water since there were crocodiles. I didn't get too close, but I also didn't take his advice too seriously and brushed it off as a bit of a joke - although I would later discover that he was being deadly serious.
A photo whilst we were waiting on the ferry, which can be seen at the other side of the river.
We probably travelled another 30 minutes or so, before the driver informed us that we would soon be stopping for lunch. Earlier in the day, a clipboard had been passed around asking us to tick whether we would prefer a steak, barramundi fish or a vegetarian option for lunch and I had opted for the fish. We arrived at a place where there were several wooden chalet type buildings offering accommodation scattered through the forest and we walked down from the car park near the road towards the water-front. We ended up at a large area where there were tables set up, underneath a large canopy and beside a small swimming pool; it was really warm and a great place to chill out and have lunch although we couldn't actually see the water since the trees were so thick they blocked out the view. Lunch was really good and our food was followed up by plates of fresh fruit, which provided a welcome refreshment in the afternoon heat.
Jessica and Jordan at the place where we had lunch.
After lunch, Jordan, Alex and I got changed into our swimming shorts and headed towards the beach. We emerged from the edge of the trees, taken aback by the majestic scenery of the beach and the sea - quite simply one of the most amazing places I had ever had the pleasure of experiencing. It was almost completely quiet, except the gentle sound of the waves on the perfect white sand, and the overgrown, wild forest intruding on to the beach made the whole place feel like something from 'Castaway' or 'Lost'. Breathtaking.
This sign greeted us just before reaching the beach. I think the presence of the bottle of vinegar gives a fairly strong indication of the danger of jellyfish and sting rays in these waters.
Alex and I floating around in the sea, which was quite literally the temperature of bath water. The day we were there, the water temperature was around 25 degrees celsius, but it gets up to around 28 degrees in the peak of summer. It's very odd to go in the sea and for it not to even be a little bit cold initially.
After drying off and getting changed, we got back on the bus and retraced our steps back towards the ferry at the Daintree River. Along the way, we stopped at the Alexandra Range lookout point, which provided some spectacular views across the forest, out to the sea and down to the river. The small island which can be seen near the centre of the next photograph is actually very close to the location where Steve Irwin, the famous wildlife expert and crocodile hunter, was killed when he was stung by the barb of a sting ray. A high profile reminder that these waters can genuinely be quite dangerous.
Upon reaching the river once again, we got off the bus and boarded a smaller boat in order to enjoy a cruise along the Daintree River. Our expectations of the cruise were quite tame, and we thought we were likely to motor upstream, with our guide pointing out any wildlife and some of the more interesting plants and trees. However, what we experienced was quite literally crocodile hunting; our tour guide was a very interesting character and I expect he had several outstanding croc-tales. There was no planned route on the "cruise" as he used his experience and knowledge of the area to chase down the likely hiding spots of the river monsters. He was also quite funny and shared a lot of thought-inspiring facts and information as he captained the vessel - I was totally intrigued by the crocodiles and quickly typed up much of what he was telling us on my phone. He let us know that there were only a few hundred permanent residents north of the river, which was why there was no bridge and also that the river was too shallow for a large boat to be powered by propellors, which is why the ferry ran on cables. Another astonishing fact was that the during the wet season from November to April last year, the area experienced over 5 meters of rainfall - absolutely crazy! We did also manage to spot two wild crocodiles, and I got a couple of good photos in between typing.
Here are some of the better facts which our tour guide shared with us:
- In this particular stretch of water, there are around 70 crocodiles which are over 2 metres long and many more which aren't as big.
- The crocodile in the second picture, above, is around 4 metres long and estimated to be around 50 years old.
- It is a male and could potentially grow to over 7 metres and live for over 100 years.
- Whilst that particular male is a large, powerful, killing machine, it is not the dominant male in the area - our guide could tell by the shape and size of the head.
- The crocs in the river are used to the boats, so they aren't threatened by their presence, but that doesn't mean that the animals can be trusted and it's important not to get too close.
- Whilst camping near rivers, it is important to set up camp at least 100 metres away from the banks, since the crocs will roam on to land - especially if there are food scraps to be found.
- The biggest crocodile ever found in Australia was 8.63 metres long and weighed over 2 tonnes. In comparison, our boat was only 10 metres long!
- The biggest crocodile in the Daintree River at the moment is around 6 metres long.
- Finally, if someone were to fall into the water, the guide said that the best thing which he could do would be to film the events on his phone and upload the video to YouTube.
I thoroughly enjoyed the river cruise and felt like it had been a really great day overall. We boarded the bus once more and headed back to Cairns, only making one last stop at a view point on the road back in order to take some photos and stretch our legs again. Another stunning view.
When we got back to the hotel, we popped into the supermarket across the street to get ourselves some dinner and a few beers from the Liquorland next door. We bought some pasta, vegetables and a jar of tomato sauce along with another few bags of crisps, before picking up a pack of pale ale and heading back to the apartment. After our long day of travelling and sightseeing, Jordan, Alex and I decided to go and take a swim in the pool before dinner - it was just about getting dark, but the pool was lit up with bright blue lights and it was still a great temperature. We relaxed in the pool for a while until we were hungry and returned to the apartment to get showered and changed.
After showering, we cooked our pasta and ate outside on the little balcony, enjoying the warm night and the somewhat unusual silence - it's practically impossible to find a quiet place in Sydney of course. Once we had cleared up our plates, we opened our beers and were happily enjoying a game of "Ring of Fire" when suddenly there was a power-cut! I went through into the bedroom to check the fuse box, but everything was normal there, so I headed downstairs and outside to check whether the entire complex was out. Most of the communal areas were still lit as normal, however it seemed that the entire grid had lost power. With no power and no plans other than chilling out, we simply sat around in the darkness, finishing our beers and using our iPhone torches for light. We stayed outside for a while watching a huge tropical rainstorm, complete with some thunder and lightning, which was a truly awesome experience - the water was pounding down as it bounced off the ground below us. At the stroke of midnight I greeted my 20th birthday in the darkness, before we all headed to bed. We also endured Jordan complaining about the heat for quite a while, caused by the lack of air conditioning after the power shortage - "Ugh! It's too hot!" became quite a catchphrase over the weekend actually! Luckily enough, around 12.15am the power returned and all the lights came back on, which meant we fired up the air-con once again and got off to sleep.
The next morning we had another early rise; Saturday 2nd November was my birthday and we had a great day ahead of us. Another 6.30am alarm call was quickly shrugged off when I realised that today I would be heading out on a boat trip to go snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef! We had to be at the harbour in Cairns itself for 7.25am, which meant catching our taxi not long after 7am. Fortunately, there was plenty of time to spare when we arrived at the harbour, so we took the opportunity to go and buy some bottled water for the day ahead. The forecast for the day was for clouds and rain, although it was still very warm; regardless, it remained dry for much of the morning and we kept our fingers crossed that the worst of the weather had passed over during the night.
Heading down the jetty towards the boat - the one just behind the small, yellow Coastguard boat on the left.
Upon boarding the boat, we paid the remainder of the money which was due for the trip, got a mug of coffee and a muffin and found some seats where we could leave our bags. The trip we had chosen to take was with a company called Seastar and all of the staff were really friendly and helpful as they came around the boat sorting out fins and masks for everyone, before calling everyone to the deck on the bow of the boat for a safety briefing. The sailing out to the first location, at Michaelmas Cay, was going to take about an hour and a half, and we stood out on the deck in the breeze for much of the journey. It was incredible to be standing out in the open air, in a fairly rough sea, with a dark, cloudy sky overhead and not feel cold, whilst only wearing shorts and t-shirt. It's fair to say that my experiences of the seas around the West Coast of Scotland didn't exactly compare. Soon enough however, the skies opened and rain began lashing down around us; we made a move to the back of the boat in order to stay dry but avoided going inside the cabin of the boat for fear of getting sea-sick. I've learned that fresh air does the trick for me and I felt perfect all day, however Jessica did briefly succumb to the rolling, pitching waters on the journey out from Cairns.
Photo taken from the back of the boat, looking out at a rather miserable day.
Just to prove that it was still an incredibly warm day - the water temperature was around 25 degrees once again - here is a picture of Alex and I chilling on the boat wearing shorts and t-shirt.
We eventually arrived at Michaelmas Cay, which is essentially a large sandbank in the middle of the sea. It is a wildlife sanctuary, home to many hundreds of birds and surrounded by tropical coral reef. We were each sized up with stinger suits, to prevent jellyfish or sting rays from harming us - although I'm not convinced the thin material would have done much, in truth - before jumping into the water wearing our snorkel masks and fins. Mum had advised me to take a life jacket or buoyancy aid if they had them, since she had found snorkelling in open water very tiring without one when she had been on holiday in Mauritius with Dad a few years ago, however I opted not to bother anyway. In hindsight, I managed alright without one, but I totally understood where she was coming from since the fairly large waves and choppy sea made it difficult to stay composed and control your breath in the water. Eventually, I got used to it though and after spending around 30 minutes in the water, the wind died down, the water became much flatter and the sun came out.
I didn't have an underwater camera myself but some of the staff working on the boat were carrying one and they managed to snap some great photos whilst in the water with us.
An awesome turtle, one of two which I spotted. Potentially one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed with my own eyes.
Jordan and I snorkelling.
An amazing little clown fish, for all the Nemo fans!
Another photo of Jordan and I under the water.
Finally, all four of us bobbing around on the surface, with the boat in the background.
We got back on the boat full of excitement and sharing stories of all the amazing sights we had spotted under the waves - what an experience! The staff on the boat told us that the second reef was even bigger, better and deeper than the one we had just dived though, so we were anxious to get going and see more! First things first though, so we enjoyed some lunch on the boat before moving off again.
I managed to get a quick photo with Michaelmas Cay in the background after the sun had started to break through the grey skies.
We sailed for around another 15 minutes and arrived at Hastings Reef, where there is no land or beach, just coral reef in the middle of the sea. Once again, we donned our stinger suits, masks and fins and plunged into the water, where we spotted a plethora of sea-life including fish, turtles, hard and soft coral, clams, sea cucumbers and turtles. It was simply astonishing. However, the highlight of the adventures at Hastings Reef was comfortably the 4 foot barracuda fish which we spotted floating perfectly still beneath the hull of the boat. Apparently it often swims around under the hull of the tour boats, possibly because it treats the large object as a kind of coral shelf, affording it some protection. I dived down to a depth where I could look at it horizontally under the water and was completely mesmerised by it - the pure size of it, coupled with the fine collection of razor sharp teeth was totally astounding. I must have returned down to look at it four or five times and could have kept doing so all day, it was just awesome! How cool!
We got back on the boat, got changed into some dry clothes and began sailing back towards Cairns. Luckily the sun shone for the vast majority of the trip so we spent the full time out on the deck enjoying the views in the sea breeze. As we entered the harbour back in Cairns, we saw a massive private yacht, including a helicopter on top of it, which must have been worth a few hundred million - proper silly money. We took a walk around some of the shops in Cairns and I was shocked with the news that we had a table booked at a restaurant in the city that night for my birthday, which was a fantastic surprise. After walking around the shops for a while, we caught the bus back to the hotel, took a quick swim in the pool again and started getting showered and changed to go out.
We went to a restaurant called Dundee's, on the waterfront, not far from where we had left on the boar cruise that morning and enjoyed a really great meal. Jordan and I shared oysters as a starter, which were fantastic and I followed that up with mussels in a white wine sauce. I also tried a local Cairns beer, which was really good as well. After our food, I had another surprise in store as the waiter came to the table with a large plate of chocolate brownie, ice cream, and sparklers with the words 'Happy Birthday' written on the plate in chocolate. It was also fantastic and the four of us shared it together, although I think it would be fair to say I had a little more than my fair share. It was just too good!
After the meal, we headed out into Cairns for a night out. The first place we went was called Sugar Hut, which seemed to be packed to the rafters with teenagers who must surely have been underage. The tunes were great when we first arrived and we enjoyed a few rounds of drinks - for some reason, Midori was quite cheap at the bar and it reminded me of the Still Game episode with Big Innes! Haha! Sugar Hut seemed to die down quite early and the DJ started to play some crap tunes, so we left and headed out to look for another place, eventually ending up at a bar called Society. Again, it didn't seem to busy but the DJ was excellent and it was a lot of fun - vodka and cranberry was also only $5 which is as cheap as I have seen any vodka in Australia so far, so we enjoyed a few of those. One thing which I definitely miss about being at home is going out in Falkirk or Glasgow and enjoying £1 drinks! The night ended back in the hotel at around 3am with a box of super noodles and some more crisps before we headed to bed. I checked the Man Utd score on the BBC Sport website and saw that we had beaten Fulham 3-1 - a very happy birthday indeed.
On Sunday morning, we woke up fairly early again and headed over to the small cafe across the street to get some breakfast. I had French toast, which came with hot peaches, cream and icing sugar, which is quite unusual but it tasted superb - definitely one to remember. After breakfast, we spent the vast majority of the day at the pool in the hotel, relaxing, recharging and enjoying the warm sun. Remarkably, at one point an older guy approached us and asked where we were from; I immediately recognised his Scottish accent and learned that he came from Dundee. He was a footballer who had moved to Adelaide in 1987 and used to play for Falkirk - what a small world! The only other plan for the day was to have a barbecue later that night, using the communal outdoor grill by the poolside. Jessica and Alex headed to the local IGA supermarket to get meat, corn, rolls and even more crisps, whilst Jordan and I trotted off to Liquorland to get some Rekoderlig cider for us to enjoy with dinner. The food was really tasty and I feel like we are beginning to totally perfect the art of Australian outdoor cooking - the corn on the cob was particularly good.
We spent Sunday night chilling out on the balcony and talking over the events of the past few days; we had certainly been busy and there were countless photos to be enjoyed too. A fairly early night was required by all, but typically we didn't head off to bed until around midnight once again. Monday morning was another bright, beautiful, sunny day and we returned to the same cafe for breakfast again. This time I opted for sausage and fried eggs and it hit the spot just perfectly. Our flight wasn't until around 4pm and the taxi was booked with plenty of time to spare, so we spent our final few hours relaxing by the pool again. Although I had managed to avoid any real sunburn throughout the weekend and the entirety of my time in Australia so far, on Monday morning I did find myself rather red looking - I think it was just a case of last-day carelessness. We packed up our bags and caught the taxi to the airport, where we departed Cairns and headed home to Sydney. I love the fact that I currently call Sydney "home" - it never fails to make me smile. What an amazing weekend we all had.
When we landed I finally got some decent wifi on my phone for the first time since Thursday. I found lots of lovely birthday messages, Tweets and Facebook posts and managed to catch up on all the latest football scores and news from back home. I also found some lovely cards waiting on me when I reached my flat, although unfortunately the parcel which Mum, Dad and Kerry had posted hadn't arrived yet. It was great to be know that people had went out of their way to send me cards all the way across the world and I really appreciated getting them.
Later in the evening I chatted to Mum and Dad on FaceTime and told them all about the things which we had been doing up in Cairns. Unfortunately though, I returned home to the very sad news that my Gran Rita had passed away in the early hours of Thursday morning. I feel a little bit helpless and far away at the moment and wish I could be at home to spend time with loved ones.
Rest in peace, Gran - much love. X
