It has been exactly a week since Rob picked me up from the airport. I’ve had a chance to get rid of that jetlag/sleep deprivation and explore Australia a bit. It has been a good week.
Last weekend on Sunday we headed for Port Douglas. To get there, you have this amazing drive along the sea, very beautiful road. Port Douglas is a vacation resort, especially for older people. We wanted to see the beach, but apparently I was missing one crucial piece of equipment, thongs. And no, that’s not underwear, well at least not here, those are flip flops. So for an astonishing amount of 3 euros, I got myself a pair of size kano.
With my new footwear, we headed off to the beach. A beautiful beach, with palm trees all over the place. There was this weird big white thing in the sea though, Rob is a trained life guard so he could explain to me what it was. It’s a net. You’re only allowed to swim in the net this time of year, due to the large (deathly) jellyfish that are out here. I’ve heard some horror stories about some tourists just walking in the sea, ankle deep and get stung by them and die. So the net is to keep the big ones out.
Had a dip into the ocean (don’t worry mom, inside the net!) and what can I say, wow it’s warm in the sea. Almost a bit gross, don’t expect this big cool off, especially cause you can’t go that far into the ocean, so it’s all shallow water. But still, compared to the burning sun, it’s a nice cool off in a way.
There are also small jellyfish, like half a centimeter big. The net can’t keep them out. Life guards do perform checks on them every two hours. If they find them in any of the beaches in Queensland (which is the province/state Cairns is also in.) they close down all the beaches for 48 hours. They will keep checking the water, and if they find any again, extend that time with 24 hours until it’s safe to go in again. Despite all that, Rob told me yesterday (friday the 13th of all days) that a woman was stung inside the net by these little ones. Those little ones don’t have to be deadly (unless you’re a child, old or sick.) They do hurt though, all your muscles contract so you can’t breathe and will feel sick all the way, really bad apparently. If you do get stung, they will bring you to a hospital and get you hooked on morphine for 3-4 days, then the venom will wear off. Did I mention they are half a centimeter big?!
So the rest of the week I’ve spent in and around Cairns. Did some shopping, lay on the grass at the Lagoon and walked around a bit in my brand new foot wear. Hello blisters! These days also involved sleeping late, whenever I could cause the heat it just relentless. But enough about me being lazy, I had an early morning on Thursday.
6:30am, making my way to the pick up point in Trinity Beach. Made our way to Cairns, to the harbor. It was quite cloudy in Cairns though. Got on a nice boat that set sail to the Great Barrier Reef. Out on the sea, I couldn’t see a single cloud, nothing but sunshine. After a nice two hour boat ride, we arrived at the barrier and I could pick up my diving gear. First you get a sexy anti stinger suit, to protect you from the jellyfish. Then the flippers, goggles and large air tank on your back. In a group of 4 we went in.
First 2 mins were kinda scary, breathing normally under water. But as soon as you realize that it’s working, you’ll be fine. So we set off, going to a depth of about 5-6 meters, which was just a meter above the coral. Very colorful, loads of exotic fish, a real treat. Seen like 4 turtles, came very close to one, about half a meter. He was just chilling in between the coral. Just loads of colors and beautiful stuff. After about 30 minutes, we made our way back up. That was a bit of a relief, salty water in my mouth and goggles. But for a first time scuba dive, not so bad.
After the scuba diving we could go snorkeling. I had a go at it, the breathing was more difficult than with your regulator from scuba diving, but it was alright. Even though I probably should have done it the other way around, since the snorkeling was definitely less impressive.
A good lunch on board was provided after which we set sail back. I had a good 2 hours of sun bathing and managed not to get sunburned, but the tanning isn’t really working yet. Also the fact that all the locals here are ridiculously tanned doesn’t help, not a fair comparison. But I’d say at least I managed to get a healthy color now. Let’s give it another two months.
Tomorrow we will head to the rain forest and probably go on a crocodile hunt. I don’t think there’s actual hunting involved, but hopefully I’ll be able to see some crocs though. Sunday it’s supposed to be bad weather. The forecast is showing it, but you can also feel it getting more hut and humid already. Apparently it’s not a small shower here, when it rains, but a proper tropical amount. Hopefully it will cool down a bit, even though I’ve been told it won’t really.
With the knowledge of Rob, my couch surfing host, I managed to sort the rest of my trip out. After the weekend I will head down to Airlie Beach, see the Whitsundays islands. After that I will head for Hervey Bay to see Frasier island. For now, I’m enjoying a nice cold one before heading off to bed.
