Australia...The Great Barrier Reef

After my Excellent Outback Adventure, I flew from Darwin to Cairns (aka home of the Great Barrier Reef).  The flight from Darwin to Cairns (pronounced Cans) was a little tough.  As I said in my previous Outback blog...I caught the plague somewhere between Uluru and Darwin...so, during the flight my head felt like it was going to explode.  A marvelous view out of my window led for a nice head exploding distraction.  The closer we got to Cairns, the more the water below began to glow green and blue.  The sun's reflection allowed me to practically be able to see right through to the South Pacific's ocean floor.  At some points you could even see brightly colored fish swimming around---it was the GREAT BARRIER REEF and it was AMAZING!!!!!   The gentleman sitting next to me stated the Great Barrier Reef is so enormous that it is the only ocean structure that can be seen from outer-space.  Um, now that I think about it...I'm assuming by "ocean structure" he is referring to other reefs around the world?  If not then I'm not sure what other ocean structures he was talking about...but, it still sounded just as incredible as it looked.  I was so excited to land so that I could hit the ground running right out into that that glowing reef; however, as we flew into Cairns the glowing reef turned more to clouds, clouds and more clouds--Cairns was also evidently experiencing a "wet season."  

When we landed, I had little to no hearing in either of my ears and the weather forecast was reporting, "heavy rain for the next 5 days with gusty/fresh winds"---BLERG!!!  Oh well...I knew I'd make the best of it, and the view I had from the plane was so amazing that if I only took that away from the Great Barrier Reef then it was a successful journey.  As always...I acquired transportation from the airport to my hotel called the Discovery Resort.  I arrived at the hotel around 9:45am...it was too early to check in...so, I dropped off my bags, taking out my umbrella of course, and went out to explore a very wet Cairns.  

The city of Cairns (click on Cairns for my pictures) lays right on the ocean and is surrounded by several rainforests.  As I perused through the town...I saw flyers advertising the Tjapukai (pronounced Jap-u-kye)Aboriginal Tribal Center located just outside of town. After touching base with my parents from a very soggy Telstra payphone, touring Cairns, and grabbing a scrumptious bite of lunch at the Banana Leaf Cafe...I tackled the busline and went out to the Tjapukai Aboriginal Culture Center. It was interesting to identify the differences between the Aboriginal tribes in the Outback vs. those tribes, like the Tjapukai, on the coast/rainforest.  The differences ranged from worshiping the sun vs. moon, to types of animals hunted vs. worshipped, to music styles, tribal paintings, etc.  After spending a couple hours at the Tjapukai Center and learning how to properly through a spear and boomerang, I was ready to head back to town...my illness was beginning to get the best of me.  So, again tackling public transportation I headed back to Carins. 

I spent the following day out on the Barrier Reef and on Green Island (which is one of the many islands surrounding the reef). The further we got away from the mainland the more beautiful the weather got...you could still at times see a storm a brewing in the distance...but for the most part the weather was phenomenally sunny.  Because of my sinus infection, I was not able to scuba dive at the reef; however, I did snorkel in the barrier for a brief amount of time.  The waters were rough and the wind was very fresh--so the snorkeling conditions were a wee bit dangerous.  I had visions of being sucked out into the South Pacific, but to be honest the reef was so incredibly gorgeous and the sea life was so insanely bright...I just wanted to float in that water for hours.  I don't have any pictures from my snorkeling adventure because the waters (due to the massive amounts of rain and high winds) were very murky.  On my next trip, I would like visit the Barrier Reef again...this time during the dry season just to get the full effect of the reef; however, I say "would like" because, if I may have a "Debby Downer" moment, due to rising water temperatures and tourism the Great Barrier Reef is dying quickly.  I struggle with the selfish decision of wanting to see and experience the reef with the right eco-friendly decision of staying away---UGH, I shake my fist at this dilemma!  

After spending time on the reef, I went to Green Island.  I walked around the island for a bit and then laid on the beach for the remainder of the day.  Ah, that sunny heat was just the thing I needed to soothe my sickliness.  As the day went on, I had taken some crazy Australian cold medications that knocked me out...I'm sure some of the other tourists (most of which were Japanese men) got a fabulous picture of me laying out with my mouth hanging open, drooling on myself--excellent!  After pulling myself together out of my cold medication haze, I caught the last boat back to Cairns around 7ish.  While I was on the island waiting for the ferry...I met a guy named Justin, who was from Charlotte.  He had traveled to Australia several years ago and was now a travel guide for American tours throughout the world.  We had great conversations about independent travel, US politics, our respective jobs...in fact, his next adventure was to be leading a tour down the Danube River in Europe..I wonder how that went?

Once back in Cairns, Justin and I had a wonderful Indian dinner and strolled through the Night Markets. The Night Markets are like a nightly flea market filled with wares and food stands...and it literally goes from about sun down to sun up.  You can get homewares, jewelry, clothing, Australian gifts, tattoos, crocodile skins/boots, pearls, etc.  In fact, I entertained, along with souvenir purchasing, at getting a wee little kangaroo tattoo at the store "Tatt Attacks," but I felt the medications were making me too foggy to make a serious tattoo decision, so I passed...but next trip now that the medication has been purged from my system...kangaroo tattoo here I come. 

The next morning I woke-up to a very flooded Carins, it was so flooded that the front desk clerk at the Discovery Hotel had to drove another gentleman and myself to the airport.  The taxis weren't able to make it into Cairns through the flooded water just outside of town, and I gotta say I'm not sure when I was a front desk clerk I would have ever taken guests to the airport, so mad kudos to the front desk clerk Frank.   Once at the airport, I flew from Carins back to Melbourne to begin my Great Ocean Road Adventure; however, while still at the airport I met a nice Aussie, Jay, who was headed back to Melbourne to visit his parents.  We discussed differences between US and Australia and he also taught me a bit of Aussie slang...here are a few I can remember:

1.  G'day Mate (pronounced Gid'dye Mite) A greeting to a buddy/pal.

2.  How are you going?   How are you doing today?

3.  Cozzie (Caw-see) Bathingsuit

4.  Barbie (Bah-bee) BBQ

5.  Lollies Candy

6.  Cheers Hello, Thanks, Goodbye

7.  Billabong Pond

8.  Mozzie (maw-zee) Mosquitos