An introduction to the Great Barrier Reef

For many years now we have wanted to travel and visit one of the great natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef. So when the opportunity presented itself, we jumped on the chance to do so!

We were asked to accompany friends of ours on a winter trip to Cairns which we decided was a great idea, not only because it was a chance to get away from the cold and explore an area that we have talked about for a while but also because it had been a long time since we had last been on an airplane due to Covid and we just couldn’t wait to get started.

We drove to Melbourne where we parked in the long term parking for the first time before we got onto our plane. A few hours later we arrived at a rainy and wet Cairns where we soon after met our friends and started planning our activities over the next few days. 

We started the next day with a self guided walking tour of Cairns, walking down to the Esplanade, past the lagoon, Yacht Club and the wharf before ending the night at the Hemingway’s Brewery, which at the time had a large cruise ship parked right next to it.

The following day, we rode the ‘Skyrail Rainforest Cableway’ to Kuranda with quick stops at the Red Peak and Barron Falls before we spent a few hours in Kuranda before returning back to Cairns. Not a lot of activities but all in all a good day out (besides from the part where I ripped my shorts)!

And finally, on the next day we made our way down to the Wharf and got in line to board our ride to Moore Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef. As I had decided to to do a dive at the reef, during the boat ride, the dive master came and got me and another man for a quick briefing and where I found out that the other bloke hadn’t done a dive in about 15 years (!?!), and I thought my 10 years between dives was long enough.

The boat ride to the reef had a few up and downs when the waves started to hit and the staff were kept busy handing out sick-bags (and collecting them) right left and center. We as a group didn’t suffer too much however Eloise did feel a bit queasy.

We eventually made it however and I immediately got kitted into my dive gear whilst Suz took the kids onto a glass bottom boat where they marvelled over all sorts of fish and corals. I really enjoyed my first dive in a long time and even thought I didn’t see anything else that I wouldn’t have seen whilst snorkelling, I just love the feeling of weightlessness that you get whilst scuba diving.

We continued our reef adventure after some lunch where we got to ride a semi-submarine and do some more snorkelling where I managed to locate and spend some time with a turtle, before it was time to ride the waves back to Cairns. This time however, none of us had any issues (other people on the boat still did however) and we arrived back a few hours later, had a nice dinner and had an early night as we were all exhausted from a big day out at sea.

Not content with just seeing these water creatures we decided to find a different types of water creatures that dwell in this area, crocodiles, which actually make it nearly impossible to enjoy the beaches in this area as you never know when they may be around. We went to ‘Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures’ where we got to ride along a lagoon and see as the crocodiles were fed. We also attended a show with a few large crocodiles, saw koalas and even saw a few Cassowaries. 

Along the trip we also managed to visit Port Douglas and the Mossman Gorge which is a walk along a rainbow forrest with a river where you can swim (we didn’t). There were however a few good suspension bridges and walking tracks that we were able to enjoy.

In the end, our week in Cairns flew past as there was so much to see and do in the area. I even managed to get myself over to Green Island (by myself as nobody else wanted to ride a boat again) and really enjoyed the snorkelling. All in all, we had a blast and can’t wait to return.