We arrived in Cairns (pronounced /cans/ by the Aussies) on Sunday. Mary says, "clearly they do not have phonemic awareness!" Haha!! Compared to Brisbane which is 13C and raining today, we are a 2 1/2 hour flight NORTH to find warmer weather for our Barrier Reef tour today and rainforest tour this Wednesday -Thursday. It is a busy place this time of year as it it is the first week of school break. After many, many dives in Australia, Don finally has made it out to the reef!. The girls snorkelled. With 100+ passengers on board it was a bit of an organizational "gong show" but was totally awesome. Next time: take a boat that goes out with a smaller group and moors out near the Reef overnight.
 |
| Boat name: Osprey V - Dive/Snorkel trip to the outer reef |
 |
| 1.5 hour boat ride to the reef. A rough ride and windy! The reef is in view!! |
 |
| One hundred snorkellers against one reef |
Someone asked us if we wanted to go home by helicopter - Hello! This must be how the rich and famous holiday. A once in a lifetime opportunity to truly experience the Reef. Well worth the hefty price.
 |
| Our ride home - luxury! |
 |
| Osprey V |
 |
| Mary and Alex in the 30 Knot wind ready to board the helicopter |
 |
| Very excited for our flight |
A cute pilot named Tom!
 |
| The reef from 500 ft |
Travelling at 200 km / hour
Truly magnificent!!
 |
Tom introduces us to Oyster Reef, Apollo Reef...... all part and parcel of the Great Barrier...the World's largest living organism. |
 |
| Alex's first Helicopter ride. Hard to take that smile off her face. |
 |
| Mary loving the view |
 |
| The view North - towards Port Douglas |
 |
| Approaching Cairns International Airport |
 |
| Cairns, QLD - Pronounced "Cans" |
 |
| Jetstar - our preferred Australian airline!! |
 |
Cairns marina
We so wish we could have shared all the amazing coral and sea life we saw today....next time an underwater camera! Cheers! Don, Mary & Alex!!
Heading back to our apartment 20 minutes north of Cairns at Clifton Beach.....loving it. |
No comments:
Post a Comment