Northern Queensland - June 29 - July 3, 2009

School holidays term two couldn't have come quickly enough.  Melbourne winter hasn't been too bad (for a Canadian that is) but I was eager to get some warmth.  After what seemed like a long travel day I finally arrived in Palm Cove one of the Northern Beaches of Cairns.  Palm Cove reminded me a lot of Kanapali on Maui.  It has a beautiful beach but in general it's a pretty quiet place to be.  It was just what I needed to kick off my holiday.

Sunset from the Plane

Since my sister Debbie wasn't arriving until mid day on Tuesday I decided to book a day tour to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation.  It was a nice day adventure and I was able to see a bit more of Northern Queensland.  During the tour we visited Mossman Gorge, walked through a small part of the rainforest, visited a wild life park, tried exotic fruit ice cream, had lunch on the beach of Cape Tribulation (where the Great Barrier Reef meet the rainforest), took a river cruise on the Daintree River, and visited Port Douglas.

Mossman Gorge

Salt Water Crocodiles!!

Daintree River 

Cape Tribulation

My sister Debbie arrived safely and it was nice to see her.  We went for a nice dinner and planned her first full day in Australia.  We decided that since she had just travelled close to 24 hours a day of r and r was on the agenda.  After a short run Debbie and I spent the morning at the pool, the afternoon at the beach, and the evening in Cairns.  It was a very tough day but some how we survived it.  We also booked our tour to the Great Barrier reef for the following day.  Seeing Cairns I'm so glad Julie from work recommended that we stay in Palm Cove in stead of Cairns.  Cairns was just a bit tourist trap city while Palm Cove was pure luxury.

This is the little rainforest walk that was on our resort in Palm Cove.

(My sister is in the photo if you look closely enough)

Palm Cove Beach - yes a tough place to be!

On Thursday morning we were picked up and brought to Port Douglas to board our ship out to the Great Barrier Reef.  We were very lucky because conditions were perfect - limited wind, and clear visibility both above and below the water.  I DIDN'T get sea sick either - which is huge for me.  On the boat Debbie and I went to an introductory dive briefing.  Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to give it a go because of my asthma. Debbie was and gave it a go.  Unfortunately her ears wouldn't settle so she also had to bail on the idea.  But, the reef we went to (Opal Reef) was super shallow so we could still get up close.  I had a special case to make my digital camera water proof.  It didn't give me the best photos but I've included some of them below.  We did see a ton of cool colourful fish but none of them turned out too well.  Over all it was an excellent day.  We went with the Haba company and everything was just so relaxed, friendly, and well organized.

Sad me because I can't try a dive.

This is what the reef looks like from above the water.

Coral

More coral.

More coral.

You know what this is.

And this.

And finally this.

Me, on the boat.  You'll notice I'm with out a hat because it flew into the water and I'm sure is now being enjoyed by a SHARK!

A little island (I don't remember it's name).

Port Douglas

Right now I'm on the Gold Coast at Surfer's Paradise.  While it's a bit cooler here the sky is a beautiful blue, the sand is soft, and the water looks amazing.  Tomorrow Debbie and I are running the Gold Coast Half Marathon.  Since I really haven't trained I do look forward to taking many  photos along the way.

This isn't such a bad place to have a birthday.

I'll try to update again soon, I just don't know when I'll get internet access.  In Palm Cove it was a total rip off but thankfully for a cup of coffee at McD's I have free internet.  I just don't want to spend all my time here.  Until next time...