Great Barrier Reef

Ok having gone to the Great Barrier Reef and its beaches, I have finally learnt what paradise is like. Kenny and I were amazed at how beautiful and serene the coral reef and the beaches were. We went to both Cairns and the Whitsunday islands.

Just to give you a brief background on the areas we went to: Cairns is the capital city of Tropical North Queensland. In Cairns, there are many unique attractions and activities. There are boat cruises to the outer reefs or islands, 4WD safari to the rainforest or a trek in the rainforest. The Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics Rainforests are listed as a World Heritage Society attraction and are acclaimed to be one of the world’s most wonderful assets.

(Click on map above to see a larger view)

In Cairns, we joined three different tours. The first tour was a cruise on a small sailboat to the Outer Reef for some snorkeling. It wasn’t as great as I thought it would be because of the strong waves, which made it hard for me to snorkel. There were also very few fishes around. Most of the coral were at the very bottom of the ocean, so it was hard to see. Diving would have been a better option to see the corals and the fishes. But because I can’t swim, I stuck to snorkeling. After snorkeling we then sailed off to a cay called Upola Cay. A cay is made up of dead coral, coral that have been exposed to air. It is similar to a beach but just 10 times smaller. The Upola Cay could only fit a maximum of 20 people. On this cay, we saw a sea turtle swim by and a very long and large fish swimming by the cay. It was amazing.

The sailboat we were on for our first tour

(Above Picture) Do you see the small sand hill? That is where Upola Cay is.

Fish feeding by the sailboat

On Upola cay

The second tour we took was a cruise to a private island on the Great Barrier Reef called the Frankland Islands. We first took a cruise down the Mangrove River. They say that this river is infested with crocodiles, but we never saw any. Then we arrived on the island. It was perfect. No other tourists but our group were on it. There were snorkeling, bushwalking and a tropical lunch provided. It was on this island that Kenny saw an octopus while snorkeling.

Frankland Island

On the boat cruise looking for Crocodiles

Some of the unique shells we found while exploring on the island

A majority of the Frankland Island was made up of these cays. Hard on the feet!!

The third tour we took was a 4WD safari in the tropic rainforest. On this tour, we got to see the Cape Tribulation beach. It is the point where the Great Barrier Reef meets the rainforest. It was definitely breathtaking….no words can describe it.
All three tours were amazing but you cannot believe the prices that they charged for it. It cost us an arm and a leg for it, but it was well worth it.

Our 4WD safari tour

Feeding carrots to the Kangaroos

Pineapple Plant

Tasting some of the exotic tropical fruits. From left to right: pinapples, yellow sapote, black sapote (tastes like dark chocolate), apple fruit (has a latex feeling), forgot what that last dish was, and on top is the sweet bananas (tastes a lot sweeter than the commercial ones we have in Canada)