Now we have been for 8 months, but never left the state of New South Wales. NSW is bigger than the UK, so we've been busy rather than lazy, but the time had come to head further afield. Everyday on the radio I hear the weather forecast, which during the winter goes along the lines of:
"Hobart 5 degrees, Melbourne 12 degrees, Sydney 15 degrees, Cairns 28 degrees, Darwin 35 degrees."
So it seemed like using Cairns as a holiday destination would achieve lots of goals:
- Leave NSW
- Go somewhere warmer
- Visit the tropical (wet) North
The first place we visited was the tropical paradise of Fitzroy Island. It had coral beaches which none of us had seen before. The shores were composed of thousands of pieces of dead coral in different shapes, and the waves make a tinkling noise as they crash on the shore. No sandcastles to be found here, but instead we made a coral skeleton.
With fabulous snorkeling just off the shore we tried to persuade Carys to don a mask and stick her head in the water, but despite her "Dora the Explorer" float suit she was too scared.
There was something very liberating about having my head and ears stuck underwater for 40 minutes, it may have been the rhythmical sound of the waves, or possibly the absence of screaming children. Its strange as I was once the person who got out of an Italian lake in case there were sharks, but I think my own children are now more terrifying.
Howard definitely trumped my snorkeling tales by allegedly swimming with a turtle.
- Visit the Great Barrier Reef
Tick- It was an amazing day trip to see the only living thing visible from space. Howard and I tagged teamed child care so that he was able to go for a dive and I got to snorkel (advanced snorkeling I'll have you know). Carys and Evan seemed happy enough watching the reef from the submersible boat, and feeding the fish on the surface. There was lots of excitement on board the pontoon as people got stung by jellyfish, apparently there is no respite from them even in the off season. I'm having second thoughts about a holiday home there, no wonder the real-estate is cheap.- See some different habitats
Tick- The rain forests come right down to the coast. To gain the full experience we took a 4x4 wheel drive trip into the forest. Fortunately Carys was on hand to give our long suffering guide, Murry, instructions on the best was to handle a Land Rover. The cow's came from India (Brahmin), and the farm machinery came from another era.
Fortunately, when we got to the amazing 4 mile beach (and the rest), we were once again able to make sand castles. There were lots of funny blue flower like things floating in the surf, and Carys insisted on poking them, despite being told not to. We later got a fright thinking they might have been Portuguese Man of War jellyfish, but google images put our minds at rest.
- See some different animals
Tick- Feeding the kangaroos, lunch with the lorikeets, then hunting for crocs, but most exciting of all the skink in the shower.
- Experience some real Aussie culture
Tick- Need I say more.
