Cairns

Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef have been on my Australia wish list from the very beginning. It was a maybe on the first three week trip with Danica and Molly, but eventually opted for an East Coast road trip and decided Cairns was too far. I considered flying here after Darwin, but instead decided to road trip east with Jo. So, I decided before my WHV ended, I’d come to Cairns!

After an intense holiday season in Fremantle, with very little sleep and lots of work, relaxing and recovering was a must. I landed after an overnight flight, had a free shuttle to the hostel, and had 8 hours to kill before I could check-in to my room. Luckily, the hostel had pool side hammocks, showers, comfy couches, and lots of nearby restaurants for food. I settled myself in a hammock, started reading, and promptly fell asleep. 

That night, I ventured to the Cairns Night Market for delicious selection of food and fun local crafts. Then, early night to bed for my morning wake up call.

THE MAIN EVENT. A day trip out with Reef Experience. Becs had done the tour back in May and had rave reviews for the company. My main requirements were an introductory dive and transportation from my hostel, so when I saw the price and that breakfast/lunch were included, an easy sell! The boat had trained dive instructors on board who went out into the water with you as well as a marine biologist to tell you all about what you’re seeing in the water. I was a bit nervous on how I would like diving since sometimes I can be weird with breathing and snorkeling. But I fell in love. The magic of being underwater was a whole different world. We saw turtles and reef sharks and so many fish.

The rest of my time in Cairns was spent reading, relaxing, and running a few errands before leaving Australia to meet my parents in Hawaii. The perfect in between spot.