Rainforests to Reefs

This past week was the University of Tasmania’s mid semester/Easter break. Tanner and I packed our bags ad spent the week in Cairns (pronounced cans), Australia on the mainland.

Saturday

Our flight to Cairns departed at 7:55 am and our shuttle to the airport left at 5:10 am, so we had to get up pretty early. We woke up around 3:45 am to make sure we had everything we needed for the week and then headed to our shuttle stop. It was kind of cool walking super early in morning before most people are out. When we originally mapped out our bus stop we thought it was a 20/30 min walk from campus. Plus we weren’t 100% sure where it was, so we decided to leave extra early. About 10 mins after we left we ran into our bus stop… way closer to campus than we were anticipating. We ended up having a solid 30 mins to kill at 4:40 am. Guess we didn’t need to leave so early after all. We arrived at the airport a little after 6 am and checked it/got through security successfully. Then we had a bunch of time to kill once again. The Hobart airport is pretty tiny. There are only 4 gates and the 4 shops.

We had a 2-hour lay over in Melbourne (pronounced like Melbin). In the US your checked luggage is transferred for you if you have a connecting flight. However, in Australia it is not. Tanner and I walked out and our bags were one of the first ones out. Very convenient! Then we weren’t really sure where we were suppose to go next. After walked almost the whole span of the airport we ended up almost exactly where we started! We checked our bags and got back through security successfully once again. Then we waited for our flight to Cairns.

Immediately after we got off the plane we noticed that it was much much warmer than Tassie. Totally fine with me! We got our luggage and then waited for the shuttle that would take us to our hostel, Tropic Days. 

Our home in Cairns. 

After we checked in and found our room we headed into Cairns. During our walk into the city we realized we were a little farther from the shops and ocean than we previously thought. It took about a half hour to get to the main part of Cairns. Once we got there we walked along the boardwalk. Then we looked at all the shops and tried to find something to eat. Food was very expensive! Way more than Tanner and I are use to spending for a meal. We eventually settled on some Asian food thing…. Bad decision. It wasn’t very good, it was pretty expensive for what we got, and it gave Tanner a stomachache. We walked around the night markets for a little bit to let the food digest and then we went and got gelato. Yum!

Our walk on the boardwalk!

During our walk

The ocean by Cairns. The beaches are muddy not sandy in Cairns. 

We both immediately loved the mountains/rainforest!

I will admit that we were kind of disappointed with the town. It was definitely not the town we were picturing when we thought about the Great Barrier Reef. Both of us were kind of amazed at how many people just threw their garbage on the beach and ground instead of walking to a trash bin. These weren’t kids either, so there really isn’t any excuse. That isn’t necessarily Cairns fault, but the amount of litter definitely made me upset with people.

Our hostel provided a shuttle to/from the main part Cairns, so we found the pick up spot and travelled back to our hostel. We were definitely tired after a long day of traveling!

Travelling makes us miss our families (even more than we already do) that’s for sure! We both walked around after dinner wishing that we could share the experience with our families (and having someone to take care of everything is also nice). You are definitely missed and we love you lots…we are both looking forward to big hugs when we get home.  

Sunday

We woke up early, but this time the sun was out! We took a bus to Kuranda, a town about 40 mins outside of Cairns. It is known as the town within the rainforest. It was what we both imagined Cairns looking like. It was small and had lots of cute shops and restaurants. It was still pretty expensive, but we both felt more comfortable there. After breakfast we walked down to the river. We decided to take a boat cruise, which was awesome and relaxing. We didn’t spot any crocs unfortunately, but we did see some turtles. After we got off the boat we decided we wanted to see the rainforest, so we walked on some of the walking trails around Kuranda. Our trail dropped us off by the river, so we walked along the river. We saw BEAUTIFUL butterflies and huge spiders on this part of our walk. Both were incredible for very different reasons. J

Boat cruise adventure

Our frog friend

Ulysses Butterfly 

Huge spider #1

To put in perspective how large the spider was! 

We had been seeing the skyrail moving above us all day and heard the Kuranda train a couple of times. Once we were done walking we decided to see how much it would cost to do a skyrail and train package because we both were interested in them. We decided that it would be worth it to get the package and come back to Kuranda tomorrow!

We caught the bus going back to Cairns and spent the rest of the night walking around Cairns.  Since it was Easter our families made us promise we would have a nice dinner. We missed our families terribly! I have spent the last two Easter’s with the Donovan family and my day wasn’t the same without them. I missed seeing Paige (Tanner’s niece) all excited to wear her pretty Easter dress, looking for/painting Easter eggs, and being surround by all of Tanner’s loving family.  We did have an excellent dinner though. It was probably my favorite night in Cairns. The food was delicious and Tanner got some really good beer. We ended up going to the restaurant during Happy Hour, so our food and drinks were discounted. Perfect!

Monday

The Skyrail tour had a shuttle and picked us up from our Cairns accommodation in the morning. We got off at the Skyrail station and got into our green pod. It took us over the tropical rainforest and the view was absolutely fantastic. We had to get off at the Red Rock station to transfer pods (one that would take us to Kuranda). However before we transferred, we were able to take a short walk through the tropical rainforest there. AMAZING… the day was already off to a perfect start. Our next stop on the skyrail was the Barron Gorge stop. Once again we got off and walked around. We were able to see the huge Barron Gorge, which is extremely impressive. I would love to see it during flooding season when there is even more water flowing down the rocks. At this stop we also went on the Diabugai Aboriginal Guided Tour through part of the beautiful rainforest. Our tour guide was very friendly and information. It is incredible how quickly he could identify plant species and how much knew about each of the plants.

Skyrail pods

Our tour guide for our tour 

My favorite plants we found. I think he said they were good for constipation in low amounts... too many could cause death. 

Once our tour ended we waited for a skyrail pod to take us the rest of the way to Kuranda. While we were waiting in line I spotted a second enormous spider… I am very good at finding the abnormally large Aussie spiders! What a wonderful talent I have…

Huge spider number 2! 

Floating over the rainforests was incredible and the views were unforgettable. I was kind of sad when we arrived at the Kuranda station and I had to get off. The skyrail journey was one of my favorite parts of our trip.

Once we were in Kuranda, Tanner and I explored the markets for a while. Then we decided to go on a different rainforest walk. This one was even better than the rainforest walk we took the day before. I have officially decided I love tropical rainforests! Once we were done walking we waited for our scenic train ride and enjoyed the perfect weather.

When it was time to get on the train both of us were pretty excited and ready to see the views from the train. A super nice staff member noticed that we weren’t sitting by a window, so she brought us to an open seat right next to a window! We got to stop on the other side of Barron Gorge and take pictures. Then we hopped back on our train ready for the rest of our adventure. The views definitely did not disappoint!  I particularly enjoyed when we went past a huge waterfall.

Scenic Railway

Barron Gorge 

Tuesday

This was the day we had been waiting for and the main reason we decided to go to Cairns! It was finally time to find Nemo and explore the Great Barrier Reef!!!! We both got on the SilverSwift boat beyond excited. They served us morning tea and then we were off to the outer reef. We sat by a family (judging by their accents they were from the US or Canada) we a little boy. He kept asking when he would get to get off the boat and get to see Nemo… my kind of kid. It was fun listening to a 5 year olds take on the experience throughout the day J

After about an hour on the boat we were at Flynn’s Reef and our first snorkeling site. We eagerly put on our snorkel gear and got ready to take our first dive into the Great Barrier Reef. From the moment my face touched the water I was in love. I will admit to being a little nervous for a second too. I had so many thoughts and feelings going through my head I don’t think I can even describe what I was thinking. I definitely couldn’t believe I was actually there crossing another major thing off my bucket list. I was so overwhelmed and in awe that I forgot I could breathe out of the snorkel and I didn’t have to hold my breath. I After I figured out the breathing thing and calmed down a little bit I could really enjoy the reef. It was beyond incredible and words just can’t describe how beautiful the reef is. There were lots of little jellyfish in the water, so it was a good thing Tanner and I decided to wear the sting suit. We both still got stung a few times on our faces/ears/hands, but it just added to the experiences. Plus they weren’t the super deadly, painful jellies, so it wasn’t a big deal.

 

I found Nemo! 

After a little more than and hour of snorkeling they called us back to the boat, so we could head to site number two. This time it was a quick journey to the reef. They provided lunch once we got there. It was a really nice selection of food and I’m pretty sure it was delicious too! I don’t really remember tasting it since we ate so fast… Just kidding it was really good food. However, Tanner and I ate quickly because all we wanted to do was get back into the water to snorkel.

Reef two was my favorite. There were so many colors and lots of life surrounding us. It’s not that the other reefs didn’t have this too because they did. I just really liked this part of the reef. It was also shallow, so you felt like you were one with the fish. At this site we saw giant clams, clown fish, angelfish, a green sea turtle, lots of parrotfish, a grouper, etc. We also ran into Niegel the Maori Wrasse.

Reef Two

Next it was on to reef three. This reef was deeper and had a big drop off next to it. SilverSwift (the company we went with) offered a guided snorkeling tour at this reed. It was amazing how far the

We also saw a shark here… I believe it was a white-tipped shark. It wasn’t huge, but it was about the closest thing to Bruce that I wanted to see.

After a day filled with snorkeling, exploring a magical underwater world, and making countless Finding Nemo references it was time leave the reef for good. I was said getting back on the boat after the last stop because I just wanted to keep exploring. It was an incredible experience and a perfect day from start to finish. I can’t say enough good things about my time in the reef. It is definitely something I will remember for the rest of my life. The only way I could leave was by promising myself I would come back someday! So family start saving now b/c next time it’s with you… you guys have to see it one day too.  It was hands down one of the best experiences I have ever had and I am beyond thankful that I had the opportunity to see the reef.

So everyone I have officially touched the butt, seen the drop off, said P Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney underwater in a reef, and seen Nemo’s home. I have also seen Nemo, Marlin, Gill, Crush, Bruce’s little friend, and the jellies! J Successful day!

Wednesday

Tanner went on a fishing trip and I went on an Atherton Tablelands tour with the Barefoot Tours. It was our first big adventure apart! I of course missed sharing my experiences with Tanner, but I had an awesome day! I kind of just did the tour on a whim because I didn’t particularly want to fish, stay in Cairns, or sit around the hostel all day.

At 8 am I got picked up in front of my hostel by a big orange and white bus with Barefoot Tours sprawled across it. I got greeted with a big hug by my tour guide and then got into the bus for a day of adventure.

As we were driving we got information about the surrounding area. My tour guide, Brett, also liked random interesting animal facts, so he shared a bunch throughout the day and let other people chime in too. He also liked answering questions… he was like a giant book of science knowledge (and lots of other random things too). I was pretty amazed! He was an awesome guide… super funny, friendly, kind, and informative. He had basically every quality you’d ever want a guide to have!

On the way to our first location we drove through the place the cane toad was released. All I could think about was my high school APES class and the cane toad documentary we watched. What a great surprise visit! For those of you who don’t know about the cane toad, it is a species introduced to Australia. Like many nonnative species it is disrupting the Australian ecosystem. Since they didn’t have native predators when they were released, they were able to spread quickly.

Our first big stop was at Josephine Falls. After a short walk through the rainforest at Wooroonooran National Park we were at the fall. One word… gorgeous! We even got to slide down the lower level, which was a blast. I can now say I have swam in a waterfall!

Josephine Falls 

We got to slide down the little bottom section to the left in this picture. 

On the walk back I saw a beautiful blue/white butterfly, as well as super cool green-stripped butterfly! Love the rainforest insects! Once we were back we had morning tea, which was a selection of coffee, hot chocolate, or tea. We also have a variety of fresh furit, muffins, and biscuits (aka cookies). After that we were off to our next location.

On the way to waterfall number two, we stopped by a tiny fresh fruit market. Our Brett told us to try a mangosteen if we hadn’t had one yet. I hadn’t had one and he seemed to know what he was talking about, so I bought a few. They were interesting, but really good. I had no idea how to eat it at first though. They are like this weird looking purple ball. The fruit part kinda looks like a white Cutie/clementine, but had a much different texture.

Our second stop was at Mila Mila Falls, which was astoundingly beautiful! We got in the water and swam behind the falls. It was freezing, but completely worth it. After taking some pictures, we got to swim through the waterfall. It wasn’t very strong, so no worries it was safe. Apparently a Herbal Essence commercial was filmed there, so Brett taught us how to do proper hair flips. I have now done a hair flip and swam in a famous waterfall!

The stunning Mila Mila Falls 

A lookout we stopped at on our way to Mila Mila Falls 

Stop number three was Dinner Falls in Mount Hypipamee National Park. On our walk to the falls we spotted a Lumholtz Tree Kangaroos. We all stopped to take pictures even though it was super high up in a tree. Then a little bit down the path there was another one sitting low on a tree trunk looking right at everyone. These are endangered animals, so we were lucky to have the chance to see them. They were incredible… I loved being able to watch them for a little bit and get some pictures.

 

Beautiful tree kangaroo 

Dinner Falls 

Once again the falls were perfect and amazing. We got to jump in and swim up to the falls. I really liked this stop. The tree kangaroo siting and the beautiful scenery possibly made this my favorite stop of the day. Everything was amazing so it’s hard to pick a favorite!

The last stop of the day was to Lake Eacham, which was formed by volcanic activity. It was very peaceful and relaxing. After we had a chance to swim, we had afternoon tea. This consisted of the same drink varieties, and cakes/cookies.  It was the perfect end to an incredible day!

 

Lake Eacham

I love knowing trees can sting me here! 

I got to see a beautiful sunset with mountains in the background before I was dropped off back at my hostel.

Thursday

Since Cairns got a good chunk of our money and we wanted to save some for more adventures later, we decided to hang out in Cairns for the day. Since the beaches in Cairns are mostly mud and there are saltwater crocs there isn’t much swimming around Cairns. They have a big lagoon/pool by the ocean in Cairns. It was another warm day, so Tanner and I decided to swim in the lagoon. We had a great time just hanging out and swimming. We put sunscreen on, but apparently we didn’t let in sink in long enough because we both got super burnt! Oops… That Aussie sun will get ya! We also walked around town and got souvenirs. It was astounding how hard it was to find good things (you’d actually want to buy) that had the Great Barrier Reef printed on them. We were eventually successful. Tanner got a milkshake and it was a thickshake/like the ones in the US so he was a happy guy. I enjoyed one last gelato cone from my favorite little shop before we headed back to the hostel. It was pizza night at the hostel, which was awesome. Then we packed up and got ready for day of travelling.

Friday 

After two shuttle rides, two flights, and a temperature drop we arrived back in Hobart. It has been a very exciting and memorable week down under! I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to experience waterfalls, tropical rainforests, train rides, unique animals, and the Great Barrier Reef. I absolutely loved my journey to Cairns… words can’t describe how perfect it was.

Miss you!!! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. Have a great week everyone!  

Love Always,

Bobbi

PS Hi 5P! Make sure Mrs. P is nice to you today (and you are nice to her too). I’m pretty tired, so see if you can catch my grammatical errors. It’s your test.  Thanks for reading!