Country Comfort Cairns

... towards the town to find out where our fishing trip would be leaving from the following morning, we found this quite easily and then walked along the front it was lovely and warm. They have a big lagoon pool on the front so that people don't use the beach and sea, it was quite busy but looked very refreshing! We then headed back to our hostel via some shops to pick up a few bits, we decided a power ...

... a few kms from my camp site. An interesting experience. Apart from a quick look at The Crystal Cascades where I took a very quick and refreshing dip in the very cold swimming hole, I spent the next couple of days catching up on washing etc and getting the car serviced it was time to go on another adventure, this time out to the Great Barrier Reef. I travelled with Ocean Spirit Cruises who operate a large catamaran taking you out to Michaelmas Cay, a small sand bar on ...

... is probably the tamest underwater activity possible! Anyway, we got a refund and scored free wetsuit hire as compensation for being stuffed around. The water is not freezing but the wetsuits offer good protection from the sun (esp for Jeff) and makes it more comfortable to stay in the water for longer. Actually getting into the wetsuit was a huge amount of fun too! And I so loved walked around in it in front ...

... The Russell River National Park had some good fishing spots for M and we checked out the Innisfail area while we were there. Sugar cane country from here on in! Which apparently doesn’t do the fishing prospects any favours – at least that was what we were told and was as good a reason as any that the fish weren’t biting. Then we were off to try & get in to Palm cove Council campground ...

The next morning, we woke up at the early hour of 5:30 to get ready to board the coach bus. Me and my room partner went outside (the hotel rooms were inside of a rainforest basically) to get breakfast. Breakfast was fruit, eggs, sausage, bacon, and other Australian dishes. The bus took us to the harbor area where the boat was docked. Here we waited for the time to board. At around 9:00am we boarded the pontoon. It was nice with both inside and outside ...

... one hundred metres below sea level today.

Our boat trip took us to the Outer Reef (just near the Continental ridge) where the coral and abudance of marine life is supposed to be the best. We stopped at three different destinations in the middle of the sea for snorkelling. However, as the coral was so tall under the water ( it came within 2m from the surface), you did not feel as though you were almost 80km out at sea!

The different snorkelling spots was all ...

It's been a little while since I last posted, but I'll try to be a little bit more consistent. Last post I talked about our little mud crabbing adventure, well the next night we decided to have a little beach cookout. We found some dry wood and fallen palm leaves and started a little fire on the beach. Put on a pot of seawater and boiled up the mud crab right on the beach. It was really simple but it was really tasty and a great night cooking and eating right on the ...

... pour 6 alors autant dire que ce n'est pas simple. Sinon l'endroit est très sympa avec petite piscine et cuisine. La plupart des gens sont organisé et cuisinent leurs repas avec les ingrédient acheté au supermarché. Le problème c'est que pour faire un bon « frichti » il faut des choses qui ne se vendent qu'en quantité (genre sel, huile, épices..) et moi je n'ai pas l'intention de les porter jusqu'à ma prochaine destination ! et oui ! J'ai bien essayé de manger dans la ...

... of a sleep and then it was time to get into the gear. We were given some long pants to put on as it might be wet where we land and then were strapped into our harness. I think my voice may be higher once that shoot opens and the straps go tight lol. Once in our gear the bus was back and we met our tandem partners, mine was Elisa who seemed really nice. She fiddled with my straps and then went through with me the various positions, head back arms ...