Changing travel plans mid-trip over seas can be kind of a well...pain in the ass. This change though I'm SO GLAD we made. Our original itinerary did not include a trip to Cairns, but after all the work of traveling just to get here we last minute decided on this addition. So obviously Tuesday morning I flew in, did the rainforest and then Wednesday morning it was time for The Great Barrier Reef. I found a company online that got great reviews called Passions of Paradise (which definitely sounds like much more of a scandalous situation than it actually was - think passion of the reef not the other kind!). We had our first McDonalds experience since we've been in Australia, for breakfast. Interestingly enough - most people we meet somehow work McDonalds into the conversation after they find out where we're from. We've had people tell us they call it "The American Embassy" and they all call it "Mackers". Nobody will really tell us what mackers is slang for but they do all kind of giggle when they say it - so I'm pretty sure it stands for crappy fatty American food. Also, the McDonalds here has avocados on everything.
After breakfast, which we basically ate while running to the boat - we loaded up onto good 'ol Passions and took off for the day. The boat was medium sized compared to all of them around it and held 80 people. I think about 75 were on our trip. It really didn't even seem like that many. The staff on these boats definitely lives for this job. They were all so nice and fun - it made the trip even better.
One of the guys figured out right away we were from Iowa and kept asking us all day if we had any corn - (at least better than the guy who was convinced I should be missing potatoes so much). He was actually born in Missouri. He had been in Australia long enough though to pick up an Aussie accent (which I can see how that happens, because yesterday I was saying something in reference to rude people and I literally said mid-sentence "bloody rude locals" and it even shocked me!) Watch out for my Aussie lingo when I'm back, Happy Medium team!
So the reef was about an hour an a half ride out. When we started driving by the Harbor the water was somewhat dingy because it was mixed with river water (remember the waterfall from the day before?!) then throughout our ride out the water went greener, bluer and then absolutely clear! As we were nearing our snorkeling location, we had a little speech on what to do if anybody goes overboard (yikes), then they made fun of the French people on the boat by telling them not to swim like frogs. They also gave us a somewhat more serious lecture about it being the height of jellyfish season, which basically meant we all had to wear these black suits in the water that covered you from head to toe (yes they even had mittens on the end of them). Russel (one of the workers) said if you got stung it won you a trip back via helicopter and a week in the Cairns hospital. We opted for the suits. The boat stopped and it was time for snorkeling, the water was really choppy and I wasn't sure if I was over my surfing trauma. Luckily as choppy as it was it was far less than Manly Beach and we jumped in. Derek went out on his own, and I decided to go with one of the guides they offered so they could point out different things. I'm so glad I did - because we saw some AWESOME things!
One of my favorites was the giant clam - like four or five footballs combined giant. The guide we were with went down and must have tickled the inside of it (yes his whole hand and arm fit inside of this clam) because after he did that the clam snapped shut - it was SO SO cool!! While he was down there he also found a starfish that he brought up and let me hold! He was super sensitive that I held it correctly and then he put the little guy right back where he found him. They all take huge cautions with the reef from every type of boat, engine, fuel and equipment they use near it. It's really nice. I also saw this giant fish that looked like a big rock and he swam RIGHT below my stomach - so close I felt his top fin! Also another favorite was this pretty big teal fish that has a hot pink fin. I liked him a lot too. Derek had some good luck as well, he saw an Octopus and Squid. We also both saw Nemo fish. The other of course super cool part is the reef itself. Coral Reef is actually animals (did you know that?). There had to be 1000's of different kinds down there. I think the coolest one I saw was on a giant stick like stand and it was a big white globe at the top of it - Derek thinks it's called a Brain reef. After snorkeling, we went in and they fed us lunch. Then we headed over to this Quay - pronounced "k" (basically an island, but they said to be considered an Island it has to have three trees - this had none, so Quay it is) - which basically reminded me and actually everyone else of the Alfred Hitchcock move "The Birds" because there were TONS of birds - like 4,000 which I consider a ton! So instead of going to the Quay, we opted for the glass bottom boat tour. We bought some more beer and jumped on.
This area had lots of clams - we saw so many and I loved when they snapped shut! Beer on the boat by the way was $5, which is by far the cheapest we've found beer so far - the next cheapest is $8 per bottle.
After the glass bottom boat tour, the crew did a fish feeding. There were two main fish eating up the goods - one was a Trevally and the other (which would soon become my bff) was a Batfish. One of the crew members was trying to show off that he could temp the Batfish with food then grab one so I could get a picture - so I scooted down next to him on the steps. On his third attempt to catch this Batfish with his hands - the play went completely awry and I ended up with a dang Batfish on my THIGH! I'm not sure who was flapping around more, me or the poor Batfish. He luckily finally made it back in the water and thankfully I made it back to the main part of the ship where I belonged. The great news though, it earned Derek and I a free beer! Sign me up for the next Batfish/thigh encounter. (The Batfish - if you can see in this picture are the big triangle ones with yellow-tails)
As if the trip had not been a total bucket list cross off already, instead of using the engines they put the big sails up and we said literally into the sunset back home. It was not anything you're picturing right now probably. If you're like me you thought that meant nice and calm sailing, hand holding, and staring into the sunset. Since the waves were choppy this was extreme boat riding - the boat was up and fully down constantly. It was really fun once you got your bearings and the waves were sometimes OVER the entire boat! Towards the end though when our clothes were completely soaked through, we went inside the cabin and Russel pulled out one more trick - some card magic! He was actually really clever and showed us a few card tricks. It really was an all-inclusive boat. If you ever find yourself in Cairns we would definitely recommend Passions of Paradise.
Since we had to fly out yet this evening back to Brisbane, we were fortunate enough to have stayed the previous evening at the Hilton in Carins and they let us use the showers there. A quick shower and then somehow we still had time to squeeze in an BEAUTIFUL dinner on the harbor before our flight. Here was our view:
Derek had his first Clam of the trip - he went the route of the Clam shot, which looks like this:
He said it was "tolerable" - so if you're looking for "tolerable" Clam's - this is probably your best bet.
All in all - it was a super trip and I can't believe we can cross The Great Barrier Reef off our bucket list!
