Best Western Cannon Park Motel Cairns

... hatten die anfaengliche Angst ueberwunden.

Einige bekamen auch die Bleigewichte umgebunden, die Sauerstofflaschen auf den Ruecken geschnallt und tauchten zum ersten Mal. Eine Wunderwelt oeffnete sich mit den vielen Fische und die vielen verschiedenen Korallen,

... on the ticket). Let us know! We were pretty wacked so had an early meal in the complex and all in bed for 10 in preparation for another early start - our trip to the Rainforest. The trip was on the Kurunda Scenic Railway and what spectacular views there were. The train took us high into the rain forest to the village of Kuranda which was lovely ...

... become a tourist Mecca and very commercialised the whole village is one large market selling souvenirs and the usual crafts and ‘aboriginal’ artefacts. However getting there and getting back is the real reason for the trip. The Cairns to Karunda railway was constructed in 1887 to get supplies to the miners of Herberton who in 1882 had experienced a particularly severe wet season and cut off from supplies the settlement almost succumbed to famine. The stretch ...

... July through November. The mill is completely self sufficient in it's operation. The raw sugar is shipped mostly within Australia and Asia with some of it going to Canada. We are hoping to go to the reef in the next couple of days. Unfortunately, the sea conditions have not been good lately (too rough) for snorkeling. They are forecast to settle down Thursday or Friday. Today we are going to the edge of the outback. The area is called the Tablelands which is west of us.

... we did 10 dives including a night dive and a deep (24m) one. Usual dives are supposed to be no ore than 18m deep.
You feel like you don't stop and are always wet..
The deeper is not always the best. You consum more O2 and see less (especially the red which disapear completely when you'll still see some yellow, blue and green)
Best time was swimming maybe 10min with a turtle.
Amazing the food you eat as well on the boat. It seems ...

... some of our time around the man-made lagoon just by the sea. But the highlight for us in Cairns was taking a day trip out to the reef, hiring an underwater camera and snorkelling over the coral and marine life. Here's a little info on the reef:

One of Australia's most remarkable natural gifts, the Great Barrier Reef is blessed with the breathtaking beauty of the world's largest coral reef. The reef contains an abundance of marine life and comprises of over 3000 ...

... I will repeat the experience, though! The next two days we had the option of 4 or 5 dives per day at different spots all around the GBR. While the night dive was an adrenaline experience, the sunrise dive was just as much a highlight, as we started out with flashlights in the dark water and then watched the rising sun above light up the corals and fish below. We rented an underwater camera to capture the highlights of each dive. After 9 dives in 2 1/2 days, we relaxed the last ...

... is to spend one more night here then start making our way back to Brisbane with a lot of detours to hit the best parks on the sunshine coast. I'm pumped but we are finding it a little hard to deal with Jesse's eager beaver buddy, he is very keen and highstrung and we are all getting a little tired of him. Oh well he has the car and atleast I dont have to drive. Oh yeah I also ate shark the other day.

... Leti just sat on their laptops looking bemused at how much we could yap. I felt like I had know her ages she was a really open and bubbly person and we talked about everything. I even added her on facebook and said when she gets back to Rochdale to let me know and we will go for a drink. We went to the Woolshed as usual but upgraded our meals to something better. I had honey n mustard chicken with chips and veg and the girls shared a ...

... girls from Nottingham! It all resulted in cheap jugs of VB, rigging raffles and a dancing competition where i had to dance Ballet/Party Boy in front of about 50 people. Not bad for a first evening! Slept well... A few days later i went on a boat to the Great Barrier Reef for a day of snorkelling, an immensley hot day and a beautiful ride 2 hours off the shore to a mass of coral and sealife on the Outer Barrier Reef ...