From Airlie Beach to Cairns was a good 10 hour bus ride. They play movies on the bus so it isn’t too bad. I was in Cairns for a week and it was nice to be in a big city again. I was most excited for Cairns to see the rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. One of my hostel mates won a free reef trip, but was leaving that night so she gave it to me! I’m really glad I went because I got to experience a different boat and see 4 different reefs. My first tour was to the rainforest!

^^ First stop was Mossman Gorge. You could swim in it, but the current was super strong.

^^ Then we went looking for crocodiles. It had just rained so unfortunately they were all hiding. Bummer as I really wanted to see one up close. The only croc we saw was merely a year old and only a few inches long. Even I could have wrestled that croc. The water was like glass though which was pretty.

^^ We stopped and ate lunch here. Some of the others were staying overnight. I’m happy I didn’t as it is Golden Orb season and we saw heaps of ’em. If you’re not scared of spiders, you should google ’em.

^^ This is a really bad photo, BUT we saw a cassowary bird! Apparently it’s pretty rare to see them as there are only a few in the area. They are similar to an ostrich – but have black feathers, a blue neck, and a horn on top of their heads! It looked straight out of the prehistoric age.

^^ Then we went to Cape Tribulation which is part of the Daintree National Park. It is 165 million years old making it the oldest living rainforest in the world. Here are umbrella trees!

^^ This looks straight out of a horror film. These pipe looking things sticking out of the ground are how some trees get their water.

We stopped for ice cream on our way back to Cairns and I got the Daintree Rainforest flavor. It was a bit strange, tasted like face cream, but when will I ever have the chance to eat rainforest ice cream again? Haha.

^^ Snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef ✔️

^^ He looks small, but this barracuda was quite big! He kept hanging around our boat guarding his reef haha. I wish I got a photo of him showing his teeth.

^^ Of course I had to get a selfie with a jelly. Don’t worry, these ones are harmless. The dangerous jellyfish are actually super small and translucent. Convenient right?

^^ Here I am all geared up to go scuba diving! I’m smiling here, but I was actually pretty nervous. I don’t know why? Jumping out of a plane and I’m not scared at all, but going 20 feet under water and I’m scared shitless. Well, I royalled freaked out. Right when you get in the water they test your skill to take the breathing tube in and out of your mouth while submerged. When I went to put the tube back in my mouth I accidentally pushed this button which spit air everywhere. There’s bubbles everywhere, I can’t see, and now I’m out of breath. I scurry back to the top of the water in a panic. In that moment I felt like I didn’t even want to dive anymore haha. But I sucked it up and went down anyway. I’m glad I did as it was definitely worth it. I’m at the point now where I either want to get certified or never ever do it again haha.

^^ I found Nemo! Did you know that clown fish can change their sex? Meaning Nemo’s Dad eventually becomes Nemo’s Mom…..

^^ These photos don’t do the reef justice at all. There are so many different types of coral and fish and all the different colors are just amazing.

^^ That black thing in the middle is a ginormous clam!!

^^ My favorite photo! It’s crazy to think there’s this whole entire world under sea.

^^ Last, but not least is a photo of thee best hostelmates ever! 103 for life!! Cairns would not have been the same without them.