Cairns and "the village in the rainforest"

Cairns Airport

After stepping off the plane in Cairns and arriving in the beautiful tropical weather we were ready to relax and enjoy the sunshine! But first, we checked into our hostel- called Caravella’s, which reminded me of being in Key West. I believe that the owners are all a Scottish family, and they did a really great job of welcoming us and helping us book all of our tours. I would highly recommend staying at Caravella again. All of my friends traveling (who have been to Cairns already) recommendeded staying at Gilligan’s, which is a massive party hostel located downtown. We chose Caravella because it was right on the esplanade, offered us free meals every night from a local restaurant, and each private room was complete with an ensuite and even a mini fridge! 

Caravella's Hostel on the Esplanade

So after checking in, Arielle and I took advantage of the sunshine and the chance to see the Cairns Esplanade Lagoon before it was closing down for maintenance. The lagoon is one of Cairn’s best known landmarks, and overlooks the Great Barrier Reef and Trinity Inlet and is filled with saltwater from the inlet! Later in the afternoon, we started looking into tours and walked down the main streets of Cairns checking out stores and shops along the way. We decided to spend one day in the Rainforest visiting Kuranda and one on the Great Barrier Reef snorkeling. Here are some pictures of the lagoon:

 

The next morning we were off to Kuranda- known as the “The Village in the Rainforest”. We rode the Skyrail all the way over the Rainforest canopy up to the top, and saw an awesome view of Cairns along the way. The skyrail made a few stops along the way including one at Barron Gorge and Falls Station, which is a famous waterfall and Red Peak Station which is over 1700 feet in elevation, and is the highest point on the cableway in the rainforest.

Skyrail Station

cable cars

riding the Skyrail up to Kuranda

one of the great views along the ride

Kuranda was quite a cool little town and was bustling with tourists just enjoying a day out with their families. It is definitely a hidden gem in the rainforest! Kuranda is located in the middle of World Heritage Rainforest, and has amazing rainforest walks 1000 feet above Cairns! We found out from our trip that the Kuranda lifestyle is very low key and relaxed. All of the locals just seemed to hang around the markets and shops on Coondoo Street (the main street).

Heritage Markets entrance

We checked out all of the markets including the heritage markets which had stalls of locally made arts and crafts as well as a lot of aboriginal artwork and wooden pieces like didgeridoos (instrument) and boomerangs. I even found a crocodile and kangaroo in the same place! Right next to the heritage markets was the butterfly sanctuary, Birdworld, the Koala Gardens, and Australia Venom Museum Here are some pictures from around town:

We stopped for lunch before heading back down to the train station where we started our descent back into Cairns. The Scenic Railway trip on the way home was two hours long and stopped again at Barron Falls, Stoney Creek Falls, and a few other places which had great views of Cairns, the Coral Sea, and the rainforest. It was originally constructed for mine workers in the 1800s- it is an engineering masterpiece actually, and it is amazing to me that they were able to construct it so high up in the rainforest with so few resources.

at the train platform ready to go!

making our way around the bend

After our tours were over we headed back to the Esplanade for one final dinner. Our roommate Tamara was also coincidentally in Cairns as well with her parents for the night so we all decided to meet up for dinner. It was nice to see her parents again as they traveled all the way from Gloucester to see Tamara. We had a great last night and left early the next morning to head back to the Gold Coast. Our trip was short and sweet, I will miss Cairns, but we are so fortunate to have made it to another beautiful part of Australia! 

flatmates!

Finding Nemo!

The Great Barrier Reef from the plane- landing in Cairns

aboard the Silver Swift- view of the reef

WOW! is the best way I can explain the Great Barrier Reef. It is absolutely beautiful and like a whole other world under the water! I just returned from a four day/ three night trip to Cairns, located in the northern part of Queensland. Arielle and I both finished our last classes and decided to get out of the rainy Gold Coast and go visit the Great Barrier Reef during our “study week break” just before final exams. 

We had the best time! According to the locals, June is one of the coldest months temperature wise, but to me it was so relaxing to be back in Florida-like weather and sunshine. The average temperature was about 25-27 degrees Celsius which is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. On Wednesday we went on a full day snorkel and dive cruise/tour called “Silver Swift” to the outer barrier reef. The tour was made up of three different diving locations on the outer reef and snacks and lunch were provided in between locations. We left the Port at 8:30 am and returned at about 4:30 pm- so we got a full day of snorkeling in! It was Arielle’s first time snorkeling and my second- I have been once before in the Florida Keys, but this was like nothing I ever have experienced!

map of the different reef locations

Our first stop was on the Agincourt Reef on the very outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. There was an amazing variety of colorful coral which was highly visible in the sunshine and clear shallow water. I was blown away by the amount of coral and the massive size of the reef. We swam through corals and I can only imagine how many hundreds of years it took to create these beautiful reefs, as most corals grow only one centimeter per year! 

scuba diver

the reef was so shallow / close to the surface

swimming through the reefs

After the first introductory snorkel which lasted about an hour, we had a short briefing from our guide Luke who told us all about the different species that we were seeing and what was coming up at the second stop, which I think was called Tracy- on the Flynn Reef. We saw clown fish in their natural habitat- the anemone, we saw so many different fish that were beautiful bright neon colors and patterns, and “heaps” of corals and sponges.  

Nemo! and a friend in an anemone

one of my favorites- tiny neon blue fish in the corals

Some of my favorites from the day were the sea turtle and the giant clams- I have never seen either in person before and I was so glad to be able to spot them. In case anyone was wondering, YES we did see a shark! I was just snorkeling along and then all of a sudden on the other side of the coral formation there it was! We later discovered it was a reef shark, and it was supposed to be sleeping during the day (they are nocturnal) but we were considered “very lucky” to have been able to see it out and about! I think it was about five to six feet long – it definitely took me for surprise! Overall this trip - especially the snorkeling was one of the best days for me in Australia :) I am so fortunate to be here!

Enjoy the photos!

sea turtle! we were eating lunch on the boat as he swam by...

Me and Arielle snorkeling the reef :)

fish under our boat waiting for us to jump in

corals and Parrot Fish

giant clam up close

pointing out the giant clam

diving down to the reef floor