Around the World in 8000 days: Cairns and The Great Barrier Reef

Welcome to our travel blog. We are Tabitha and Nic. In 2011 we 'retired' in our early 40s and set off to travel the world. We spent our first year in South America and have been lucky enough to make two trips to Antarctica.

Our blog is a record of our travels, thoughts and experiences. It is not a guide book, but we do include some tips and information, so we hope that you may find it useful if you are planning to visit somewhere we have been. Or you may just find it interesting as a bit of armchair travel.

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Cairns and The Great Barrier Reef

Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

Our next destination after Japan was Australia, first stop Cairns, North Queensland. We flew in early in the morning, and it was already getting hot, despite only being May.

Thankfully, at this time it was only hot, not humid, like it gets in the Australian summer. We hadn't really slept on the overnight plane, so we were pretty happy that our hostel already had a room ready for us, and we could get some rest.

Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

I had mixed feelings about arriving in Australia. It is one of those countries that is often high on most people's wish list to see, and it does have some places that interested us. We also have a number of friends here, and were looking forward to seeing them.

What I wasn't looking forward to, was the possibility of meeting the spiders here; I spent a considerable amount of time here checking toilets, seats and bedrooms, for those nasty eight legged creatures.

Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

The other issue about Australia, is most people come here for the sun, sea and sand. We don't much like the heat (hence our timing), have no interest in being on the beach, and I don't like being under water. That pretty much rules out most of the things that the East Coast has to offer.

Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

Cairns is the 14th city in Australia with a population of under 160,000. It was established in 1876 as a service town for the nearby goldmines in the Atherton Tablelands. Whilst the tablelands still provide some minerals and agricultural opportunities, these days, most people come here to see the Great Barrier Reef, which was helped by the creation of an international airport in 1984.

Reef Magic, Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

With tourism such a major factor here, it isn't surprising that the city is full of hostels and hotels, restaurants, and tour companies. It doesn't feel like a place where normal Australians live, it feels like a tourist town. That said, as tourist towns go, it isn't a bad one. The accommodation and food options are OK, and you aren't being pestered by tour companies the whole time, as they know that we will go to them.

Reef Magic,Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

On the subject of food, this was where we had our first taste of wallaby. We'd eaten kangaroo before, and found that OK, but wallaby is definitely nicer.

Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

What I did find strange was that with all of these great beaches, people don't use them. Instead, they use the lagoon, a purpose built pool and 'beach' area. Of course we soon understood why; the beaches aren't safe, due to the seawater crocodiles, which would be quite happy to have you for dinner.

Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

But enough of the town, the main attraction here is the Great Barrier Reef. Despite my aversion to water, we did have to go and see it - the question was how? I knew that diving wasn't likely to work for me, and Nic can't dive for health reasons. We decided that our best option was to go out to one of the floating platforms, where they offer glass bottom boats and semi submersible trips, as well as diving and snorkelling for those who want to try.

Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

We chose Reef Magic as our tour operator. They were recommended by the owner's nan, who we met on the bus to the zoo in Singapore, but more importantly, they seemed to offer what we wanted, including the option of a helicopter trip out to the platform. And if you're wondering, yes, we would recommend them.

Turtle, Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

The helicopter trip out was good, it saved the ninety minute catamaran trip out to the platform, and you did get a nice view of the reefs from the air, but I'm not entirely sure it was worth it. I would regard it as a nice to do if you can, but personally, I don't think I would advise splashing out on it if you're having to watch the budget.

The platform is a good one though. We enjoyed the glass bottomed boat and the semi submersible trip. They both give you a good way to see the coral reef and fish, without having to get your feet wet. They took us to see the resident giant clam, and we did find a turtle too.

Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

The one slight disappointment for me was that the boat didn't have any lights. We've all seen beautiful photos of coral, with its stunning colours, but of course that isn't how it looks normally.

To see those colours, the coral needs to be lit up. We knew that, so unlike some people on our boat, we weren't surprised at the muted look, but we had hoped they might just turn on some lights for a short while. But while we didn't have the colours, it was still fascinating to see the different types.

Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

The underwater viewing platform was OK, but didn't afford that much of a viewing opportunity. Sadly, we couldn't quite bring ourselves to try out the snorkelling, which was a shame, as it seemed quite a good location and the staff were helpful and supportive.