Week 28- part 2 Cairns

Joey and I were in the emergency exit row once more on our way to Cairns. I wasn't aware that Queensland doesn't use daylight saving so I booked the shuttle to our hostel for an hour too late. As it happened, Elliot from Melbourne was catching an earlier shuttle and we managed to make it thanks to Elliot telling the driver we were coming. The driver didn't realise it was joey and I who had got on the bus so he thought he was still waiting for us. He then rang me from the bus only for me to answer the phone right behind him! At this stage it was early evening so once we had dumped our gear we went to explore cairns and get food. Cairns is one of my favourite cities that I visited. There was a great vibe about the place with buskers, street food, coloured lighting, murals and cool trees. As the sun was setting we started to spot a few bats flying in the sky and then a few became hundreds and then thousands of giant fruit bats leaving the trees to go get food in the nearby rainforest. We went to an Irish pub for food and to watch the women's final of the Australian open between Wozniaki and Halep. It was a thriller with Wozniaki winning in the third set. On our way back to the hostel we got caught in one of the heaviest showers I have ever seen. It felt like proper rainforest rain! The night was finished with some card games before bed.

Joey and I were up early on Saturday morning as we were going out on the reef. After a slight detour we made it to the first boat which was for day snorkelers but would be taking us to our boat. Joey and I were fine but the stairs was like a warzone. Joey spotted one individual get sick in a bag, close the bag in relief that it was over, realise the relief was premature, fail to reopen the bag and get sick on another individual. We were staying just one night on the boat but it felt more like a hotel with great food and our own cabin. Once we settled in we had our first snorkel almost immediately at 10:30. We were in the water for about an hour and it was almost impossible to describe. There were amazing varieties of fish (I liked the parrot fish as they were big and colourful), small sharks, swarms of jelly fish (to combat this we had to wear a stinger suit which looked more like a power ranger suit, complete with hood), starfish, giant clams and of course coral. It was sad to see how much the coral was dead or dying though. It was quite hard work swimming against the waves so we were ready for lunch at 12:00. After lunch there was a briefing for those who wanted to scuba dive, about spitting in goggles so they don't fog up, making ears pop, keeping breathing, getting water out of the goggles and then hand signals to communicate if you were okay and also different creatures.

Joey and I snorkeled again after lunch, I spent quite a lot of time just floating and watching because there was so much to see at any spot. It was on this snorkel that I saw my first clown fish. We then moved location from Norman to Saxon and joey and I decided we would scuba dive after all (mostly because it was a prerequisite for night diving). There were Canadians twins that we met, Rachel and Renuka, who wanted to dive too but Rachel had some issue proving she didn't need an inhaler so it was just the three of us. We were given a weighted belt and the tank of air and followed our guide into the water (there was no falling out backwards). Once we had all shown we could do the three skills we followed the anchor line down to about 10m and then set off. I did bring my gopro with me but the pressure seemed to kill it instantly. The dive itself was something I've never experienced before. I could look up through 10m of water and still breathe. It was so alien and yet completely fabulous. We saw plenty more wildlife but I was so enthralled just knowing where I was. We had lamb tagine for dinner (there was no shortage of food) and then we watched some of the men's Australian open final between Cilic and Federer while we waited for the sun to set. Once it was dark we were shown how to do the hand signals with the torch and headed into the abyss.

Despite being dark the water was still about 30°C with an air temperature of 27°C. We followed the anchor line down, let go and then nothing for a couple of minutes until we found the reef. It was completely dark apart from our torches. We saw loads of reef sharks, black tip sharks, white tip sharks and a sleeping turtle. As we swam along I thought we had found some phosphorescence in the water but then I started to get hit in the face as hundreds of tiny fish were reflecting the light from the torch and swimming in every direction. Despite it being dark it was difficult to take everything in. As the dive was coming to an end we left the reef into ‘open water’ to get back to the boat. Suddenly, out of the darkness, a shark appeared. It was probably 6 or 7 feet long and I distinctly remember saying ‘Oh Shit’ in my head. Thankfully it was not interested in us and we made it back to the boat absolutely delighted. We had a gorgeous brownie and ice cream for dessert and I sat in the hot tub for a while (the motion of the boat and the water made me feel a little ill) watching the stars and then just had enough energy to watch the end of the final, where Federer won his 20th grandslam.

Our wake up call came at 05:50 for the 06:30 water session. Joey and I both went snorkelling. It was a busy time on the reef with plenty of shoals of fish still up and about but you had to get close to see them as the sun wasn't fully up yet so the visibility was amazing. We did manage to see a massive boxhead puffer fish which is apparently quite poisonous! Despite being 06:30 the water was still at 30°C. After an amazing all you can eat buffet breakfast Joey skipped the 08:30 dive to have a snooze but I went for it. We were told it was common to see turtles around the forest of finger coral so worked hard to swim out there and explore. I did spot a couple of massive giant clams but eventually gave up on the turtle and with no effort at all drifted back to the boat. Our last session at this location was at 10:30 and joey and I were determined to see a turtle. The sun was lighting the water beautifully and after about 10min we found one! And a big one too. It was missing part of a back flipper but had no issues with us and we followed it for about 40min (sometimes it was a case of getting out of the way!). We saw it breathe twice and it ate a jellyfish about two feet from my face! Eventually we had followed it too far from the boat and were called back, absolutely delighted with ourselves.

After lunch we changed locations again to Hastings. This was probably my least favorite spot as there were so many people and the tide was out so it felt dangerously shallow. I thought I might be impaled on the coral. Joey and I did share a nice moment where we saw a dead clam and both looked at each other and moved a flat hand across our throats. At this stage we were absolutely wrecked and were semi glad to be heading back. After declining $50 photos our bags were loaded onto the other boat and we were given wine and cheese on the way back. We said goodbye to the other passengers as if we were best friends once back on dry land and walked back to our hostel. Elliot had since changed hostel so we went to join him there. In conjunction with another hostel there was an Aussie BBQ happening so we went to that. It was an all you can eat BBQ with crocodile, emu, kanagaroo and barracuda. I think emu was my favourite. We met a girl from Aachen and two from France. After the food there was a didgeridoo competition. I should have entered as the guys were all terrible but it was entertaining anyway. Around 9 we were brought back to Elliot's accommodation and played cards together before walking home.

Tuesday was our final day together and I told Joey we were going to hitchhike to swim in a waterfall. Joey later told me that he said to himself ‘Deep breaths Joey. You can do it’. We grabbed some cardboard from the supermarket, made our sign, walked 45min to get out of the city centre and then waited. After about 15min Erica and her husband, an aboriginal couple, picked us up and brought us right to the entrance of the falls. They were extremely kind and Erica explained how she was always looking to do good for other people. We walked up the short path until we came to Crystal Cascades, although very pretty it definitely wasn't crystal! We put our togs on and jumped in the water. It was wonderfully cool and refreshing. There were plenty of people there so we felt happy there would be no crocodiles (though there was a massive spider earlier). Soon we were on our way back, trying to hitch to town.

After about 10min a girl who had ordered an Uber said we could jump in. The driver said that he was also a tour guide and we'd missed out on other falls but he'd gone two days earlier and had seen a big poisonous snake, poisonous trees and and a huge spider the size of his girlfriend’s face so we were okay with missing it. He more or less dropped us to our door and after some lunch we headed to town. I had a swim and chilled by the man made beach pool and Joey did some shopping before he joined me. We walked back to the hostel, Joey packed and soon we shared a warm embrace and said goodbye when the Uber came to take him to the airport.

Elliot had spent the day at a scuba course and finished late but I grabbed food with him after and then we took part in a quick 20 question pub quiz and came third so won a jug of drink! We played some more cards before I had to say goodbye to him too as I was flying the next morning. On the walk home I suddenly felt quite alone but I was also excited for the challenges that lay ahead.

I was up early the next morning so that if I needed to I could walk to the airport but after not too long I hitched a ride with a French girl who had been living there for three years. I was glad to get there early as the queue was massive. I once again ended up in the emergency exit row (next to an unfortunately overweight man) and was soon in Brisbane.

You can see all the photos and some of the video I took here.