After being down south in the cloud and rain it was very nice to see the sunshine up in Cairns, even if it did take the better part of a week driving to get there.
Cairns is interesting since you cannot swim at the beach or you might get eaten by a crocodile. I never saw on but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to go into the infested waters. I still don’t understand why you could go 10 minutes up or down the coast and lay on the beach or hop into the water. Or I assumed it was safe to do so.Even with the beach out of commision, the city has built a beautiful esplanade and boardwalk all along the water and has it lit up at night. There is a Sports Precinct half way along with a large skate park and volleyball courts. There are 3 stations for doing exercises for the more fitness oriented folks.I went for a few runs along the esplanade and around in the city. Cities aren’t the most beautiful places to run in general but they’re fun to cruise around and see the sights. Armed with my gps and camera I went out and saw what I could while I was running. I got some strange looks as I ran along the sidewalks that took me under covered areas in between tables and the restaurants they were from.I headed to the outter Great Barrier Reef for 2 dives a couple days before I left. Unfortunately I didn’t have a camera to capture the amazingness but a few other people did. I’m still waiting to get some copies of those photos from our dives. I snorkelled the third place we went to and got a few shots with a small underwater camera I had.
None of the photos or the video even come close to capturing how amazing it was under the water there. The fish were everywhere and all day I found myself looking at one I hadn’t seen before. Everywhere I looked there was intense colour from the fish and coral. The coral itself wasn’t as bright as I thought it was going to to be but when it flickered in the sunlight it was as beautiful as the fish.We dove on Flynn Reef and saw some White-tipped Reef Sharks, Blue spotted rays, boxhead turtles, batfish, clownfish, sea cucumbers, Titan Trigger Fish, Garden Eels and so many more. The second dive a big Mauri Wrasse followed us around for the entire dive. The fish is about 4 feet long. No one tried but it’s a bad idea to put your hand out for them since they might be hungry. You can touch them with you flippers if you want though and it seemed to like it. Our guest spent a lot of time rubbing against our dive master’s fins.