October 1-3
We flew into Cairns in Northwestern Australia, one of the main airports that services the Great Barrier Reef. We rented a car and drove north to Port Douglas of which we had heard a lot of great things.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system with over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching over an area of approximately 133,000 square miles. It can be seen from outer space and on google maps. The reef lies along the continental shelf with slopes down to depths of more than 1.25 miles while the reef itself is on average only 115 feet deep. The reef is like a barrier along the edge of the shelf, hence… the name…
The first morning we hopped a boat out to see the GBR.
There it is! You can see some of the reef under the water and then that line where the waves are breaking is the continental shelf. I thought it was awesome that you could so clearly make out that break.
You can kind of tell from the above picture – the water was really rough. But even with the rough water, the views were just stunning.
Super rough. Luckily Michael has a stomach of steel! And I have Dramamine.
They urge all snorkelers to wear these awesome Lycra suits because of the jelly fish.
It is hard work looking this good.
The snorkeling was incredible. Michael and I have both gone a few times before – but only in the Caribbean. The colors and the amount of different fish we saw were just astounding.
We rented an underwater camera and I was shocked at how great the photos turned out! 
We saw a lot of beautiful blue fish:
Here is a huge clam in the top center of the below picture.
Michael was following this huge fish for awhile trying to get a photo:
There is another clam in the picture above (bottom left corner) and the fish in the picture below were my favorites. About a hundred of them were following me around the third time I jumped in the water.
After the last stop, one of the crew members congratulated people coming out of the water and called it the “roughest water” that they let people snorkel in. It definitely felt rough. I struggled on the final stop and definitely took down a bit of salt water. But the ride back to the marina was the worst. At least half of the people on board got sick heading back. Michael and I kept it together, but just barely.
Besides the Great Barrier Reef, the area is also well known for the beautiful beaches along the coast.
No – we definitely didn’t go hang gliding off the side of some cliffs next to the highway. We’re happier with our feet on the sand.
One of the coolest things about these beaches are the ghost crabs that live there. The crabs are active at night and spend the day in spiral burrows where the sand acts as insulation to keep them moist and cool.
I couldn’t find information on why they create these designed. Also, there is a chance that they’re called soldier crabs, but the internet is not the most conclusive on the topic. Regardless of what they’re called, look how cool this design is. It looks like an angel below! There were also a lot of star and flower shapes. The internet suggested that the designs may be for mating or protection.
The area is also known for the jungle. We drove up to the Daintree Rainforest for a day.
The jungle comes right up to the beach.
Apparently so do the crocs.
We didn’t end up seeing any crocadoodles on the beaches we visited, but we dropped into a crocodile sanctuary to see a few upclose.
https://www.thatsonourlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/img_5971.mov
Besides the incredible “nature-y” things to do here, Port Douglas also was a really cool resort town with a nice variety of food. We got some tacos, fresh seafood, Vietnamese, burgers and some pizza. After being in Asia and having such limited choices (although delicious food), it was a nice change of pace.
Michael took this hazy picture of the beer… still a chance for instafame? Not likely.
We also got to taste the “Best Ice Cream Ever”. That is how they marketed it – as in THE best in the history of ice cream.
It’s made by Betty:
My vanilla was really good. Michael’s was just ok. Best ever is a tough statement to make on ice cream although we did really enjoy it.
We also got to see some koalas at the crocodile sanctuary. We had the option to hold them, but we didn’t feel right about it.
They seemed sad or tired or something. The sign said that they are only allowed to “work” for 30 minutes a day, so there are a lot of limits to how much they are touched by strangers, but the one we saw being held by a child didn’t look too thrilled, so we opted out.
Now it’s time to take a hiatus from Australia – we’re off to New Zealand for two weeks!
