Cairns: Day Thirty-Three (21 November)

It was a beautiful day in Cairns. As soon as we'd finished our errands we went for a walk along the Esplanade (which the locals call the 'nade) to see if we could find a nice fish restaurant for dinner this evening.

We also had chocolate ice cream at the best place in Cairns - Dolce & Gelati - before opting to have a Balinese takeaway at Miss Berry's.

Barnaby

Cairns: Day Thirty-Two (20 November)

We picked up the tickets for our trip down the coast this morning. It turns out the train isn't running on the day we want to go to Airlie Beach so we have booked to take the bus instead (like proper backpackers).

In the afternoon we went for a walk in the rainforest, which was lovely apart from the marsh flies.

Barnaby

Cairns: Day Thirty-One (19 November)

Hurrah, we finally made it to the famous Great Barrier Reef. There are tours from Cairns but we went up to Port Douglas and joined the boat there. Because of the cyclone, there was a strong wind warning in place (20 to 30 knots) so it was quite a bumpy ride.

It took an hour and a half to reach the part of the reef we were visiting, which has a permanent platform moored over it with an underwater observatory. We looked round this first and then went on a semi-submersible through the coral. The views were amazing even though it was a cloudy day.

Because of the clouds and the choppy sea, we decided not to go snorkelling or diving (they don't make diving masks for teddy bears anyway). We did send a postcard from the special platform post box though.

Barnaby

Cairns: Day Thirty (18 November)

Far North Queensland does not have Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter like we do; it has a tropical climate with a dry and a wet season. November is during the wet season so it was not surprising it rained again today. There was also a cyclone out at sea, which is why we have not been able to go to the Barrier Reef yet.

But we did visit Cairns' Botanic Gardens with Miss Berry and had a nice lunch in its cafe.

Barnaby

Cairns: Day Twenty-Eight (16 November)

Another quiet day in Cairns today sorting out travel plans so I thought I'd show you some photos from our visit to Koala Gardens yesterday.

Barnaby