since i last posted it feels as if i have been in a whirlwind. when we last spoke, it was superbowl monday and i was flying to cairns.
we arrived in cairns very late monday night and arrived at our hostel, gilligans. gilligans is very cool and seems to be one of the "it" places for cairns flashpackers. we checked into our room which came equiped with a lovely balcony and went to sleep.
february 3: we woke up to the clouds. after heading downstairs, we decided to book our day tours to the great barrier reef. i made sarah go in hopes that she would overcome her fear of fish. and how can you come to cairns and not see the reef?!? we ate lunch at a little place opposite to gilligans and decided to explore.
cairns reminded me a bit of ft. lauderdale (from what i can remember from visiting my grandma in years past). everything was basically in strip malls, with the exception of the real mall, and seemed a bit seedy. it was tourist shop after tourist shop with some jewelry, dive and travel shops in between. to escape the humidity we made our way to the mall just as the rain began to pour. we opted for a movie, which is basically how i filled my days in cairns (the rain just kept on coming). after the 3 hour curious case of benjamin button, the rain was still waiting for us and we arrived back at gilligans fully soaked. too tired to do anything, we ate dinner at gilligans, had a drink and went to bed before our 6 am wake up call for the reef.
february 4: guess what? we woke up to the rain! sarah and i put on our rain jackets and trodded down to the marina in hopes that as we sailed away from cairns the sunshine would appear. we got on our boat, and met our passions of paradise crew along with our fellow boat mates. the crew was so nice and very entertaining. about 2 hours of rainy skies, we arrived at michelmas cay where i would go as far to say it was sunny but there were zero raindrops which was perfect to me.
first, sarah and i went on the glass bottom boat which was basically a boat ride around the reef while looking into a boat with, a glass bottom! it was very cool and we got to learn things about the reef that we wouldnt have otherwise. i am a huge fan of the giant clams. our boat guide taught us quite a bit of great barrier reef sexual education included how flatworms mate and some things that finding nemo decided to leave out. for more information, email me or look it up on the internet; i dont find it blog worthy.
the boat then dropped us off at the "beach" where we had a designated snorkel area. well, something that was left out was that this "beach" really doubled as a bird sanctuary. a girl who is afraid of fish and one who is afraid of birds - these people must have thought we were such dummies to be going on this tour. i snorkeled a bit and saw some great fish but we were waiting for the next stop to see the big stuff.
we returned to our main boat and had a delicious lunch and actually laid out a bit in the sun! we made it to our second stop and in attempts to get over sarahs fear, one crew mate, simon offered to take her on a guided tour of the reef. basically, all she had to do was hold on to a life tube and let him guide the way. being the great (and lazy) friend that i am, i came along for moral support and who better to show me the cool things of the reef than a man who has been diving in it for years? simon tugged us along and pointed out great things and even dove down and brought us a sea cucumber and some mushroom coral to hold. the colors of the fish were incredible and we found nemo and dory! sarah only freaked out once but then we miscommunicated. she kept hitting me and i couldnt see what was wrong but it was just her excitement that more nemo were nearby. i am so proud of her for doing this and she even said she would do it again and is so glad this isnt going to be on her list of things she always wished she had done.
we headed back in and were again greeted by the rain. around 6 we returned to gilligans, yes you guessed it, drenched from head to toe. we met charlotte at gilligans to learn that the roads from cairns to airlie beach (our next stop) were flooded and we were basically going to be stranded if we didnt make a plan. buses were out so we were lucky enough to find a cheapish flight and ferry that would take us to airlie beach after a few extra and unnecessary days in cairns. after sorting our lives out, and a much needed shower later, we went to the greek place next door for dinner and an even much more needed glass or two of wine, hung out then headed for home...in the rain.
february 5: sarah and i slept it and were greeted by a tad bit of sunshine. we walked around and headed to the lagoon while we were dry. the lagoon is amazing. it is basically a pool of salt water (translation: a clean ocean). we hung out there a bit and cooled off before the rain came. we decided our time would be best spent at yet another movie. cant go wrong with role models. we decided to pick up dinner in the food court and buy some wine and enjoy a nice dinner on our balcony.
february 6: basically the same as the 5 - more rain, and another movie. i saw milk while sarah and charlotte saw slumdog millionaire. a bit more of indoor activity and a nice tea and coffee break, we were back on our balcony for dinner and wine before an early wake up call to head to the cairns airport.
february 7: we arrived in airlie beach early in the morning, the ferry took us to the marina and it poured the entire time. we checked into beaches, our hostel, then decided to sort out and check in for our whitsunday islands tour. the whitsundays are meant to be amazing but not when there are thunderstorms looming and the words monsoon and cyclone are being thrown around. sarah and i are not boat fans to begin with. after a long decision making process we decided that a. it would not be fun to be on a boat for 2 days in the rain and b. that when we arrived most likely floods will have closed down the roads. we got on a 8 pm bus that luckilly came and headed to hervey bay, the sunshine coast (we were right, according to the news, more flooding in airlie beach has occured and buses are not traveling north or south - we have good gut instinct!)
thats all for now. stay tuned for hervey bay, rainbow beach and our four wheel drive fraser island camping trip!
we arrived in cairns very late monday night and arrived at our hostel, gilligans. gilligans is very cool and seems to be one of the "it" places for cairns flashpackers. we checked into our room which came equiped with a lovely balcony and went to sleep.
february 3: we woke up to the clouds. after heading downstairs, we decided to book our day tours to the great barrier reef. i made sarah go in hopes that she would overcome her fear of fish. and how can you come to cairns and not see the reef?!? we ate lunch at a little place opposite to gilligans and decided to explore.
cairns reminded me a bit of ft. lauderdale (from what i can remember from visiting my grandma in years past). everything was basically in strip malls, with the exception of the real mall, and seemed a bit seedy. it was tourist shop after tourist shop with some jewelry, dive and travel shops in between. to escape the humidity we made our way to the mall just as the rain began to pour. we opted for a movie, which is basically how i filled my days in cairns (the rain just kept on coming). after the 3 hour curious case of benjamin button, the rain was still waiting for us and we arrived back at gilligans fully soaked. too tired to do anything, we ate dinner at gilligans, had a drink and went to bed before our 6 am wake up call for the reef.
february 4: guess what? we woke up to the rain! sarah and i put on our rain jackets and trodded down to the marina in hopes that as we sailed away from cairns the sunshine would appear. we got on our boat, and met our passions of paradise crew along with our fellow boat mates. the crew was so nice and very entertaining. about 2 hours of rainy skies, we arrived at michelmas cay where i would go as far to say it was sunny but there were zero raindrops which was perfect to me.
first, sarah and i went on the glass bottom boat which was basically a boat ride around the reef while looking into a boat with, a glass bottom! it was very cool and we got to learn things about the reef that we wouldnt have otherwise. i am a huge fan of the giant clams. our boat guide taught us quite a bit of great barrier reef sexual education included how flatworms mate and some things that finding nemo decided to leave out. for more information, email me or look it up on the internet; i dont find it blog worthy.
the boat then dropped us off at the "beach" where we had a designated snorkel area. well, something that was left out was that this "beach" really doubled as a bird sanctuary. a girl who is afraid of fish and one who is afraid of birds - these people must have thought we were such dummies to be going on this tour. i snorkeled a bit and saw some great fish but we were waiting for the next stop to see the big stuff.
we returned to our main boat and had a delicious lunch and actually laid out a bit in the sun! we made it to our second stop and in attempts to get over sarahs fear, one crew mate, simon offered to take her on a guided tour of the reef. basically, all she had to do was hold on to a life tube and let him guide the way. being the great (and lazy) friend that i am, i came along for moral support and who better to show me the cool things of the reef than a man who has been diving in it for years? simon tugged us along and pointed out great things and even dove down and brought us a sea cucumber and some mushroom coral to hold. the colors of the fish were incredible and we found nemo and dory! sarah only freaked out once but then we miscommunicated. she kept hitting me and i couldnt see what was wrong but it was just her excitement that more nemo were nearby. i am so proud of her for doing this and she even said she would do it again and is so glad this isnt going to be on her list of things she always wished she had done.
we headed back in and were again greeted by the rain. around 6 we returned to gilligans, yes you guessed it, drenched from head to toe. we met charlotte at gilligans to learn that the roads from cairns to airlie beach (our next stop) were flooded and we were basically going to be stranded if we didnt make a plan. buses were out so we were lucky enough to find a cheapish flight and ferry that would take us to airlie beach after a few extra and unnecessary days in cairns. after sorting our lives out, and a much needed shower later, we went to the greek place next door for dinner and an even much more needed glass or two of wine, hung out then headed for home...in the rain.
february 5: sarah and i slept it and were greeted by a tad bit of sunshine. we walked around and headed to the lagoon while we were dry. the lagoon is amazing. it is basically a pool of salt water (translation: a clean ocean). we hung out there a bit and cooled off before the rain came. we decided our time would be best spent at yet another movie. cant go wrong with role models. we decided to pick up dinner in the food court and buy some wine and enjoy a nice dinner on our balcony.
february 6: basically the same as the 5 - more rain, and another movie. i saw milk while sarah and charlotte saw slumdog millionaire. a bit more of indoor activity and a nice tea and coffee break, we were back on our balcony for dinner and wine before an early wake up call to head to the cairns airport.
february 7: we arrived in airlie beach early in the morning, the ferry took us to the marina and it poured the entire time. we checked into beaches, our hostel, then decided to sort out and check in for our whitsunday islands tour. the whitsundays are meant to be amazing but not when there are thunderstorms looming and the words monsoon and cyclone are being thrown around. sarah and i are not boat fans to begin with. after a long decision making process we decided that a. it would not be fun to be on a boat for 2 days in the rain and b. that when we arrived most likely floods will have closed down the roads. we got on a 8 pm bus that luckilly came and headed to hervey bay, the sunshine coast (we were right, according to the news, more flooding in airlie beach has occured and buses are not traveling north or south - we have good gut instinct!)
thats all for now. stay tuned for hervey bay, rainbow beach and our four wheel drive fraser island camping trip!
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