World Tour Stop 13 - Cairns, Australia

From Brisbane we flew up to Cairns, which is the north eastern part of the country and known for it's proximity to the Great Barrier Reef. We got open water scuba diver certified in the states prior to heading out on this journey solely for the opportunity to dive the reef (although we are definitely now considering diving in Thailand as well!).

Cairns - May 21-24th

We left Brisbane fairly early so we arrive to Cairns around midday on the 21st. We flew Virgin Australia everywhere in Australia/NZ because of the partnership with Delta and the fact that it was price competitive without being a "low cost" airline that nickled and dimed for extra bags. Flights and service were all fantastic so I would highly recommend flying with them in and around Australia. After getting our rental car we headed in to grab lunch and learn a little about what locals like to do. Josephine Falls, Crystal Cascades and Babinda Boulders were all mentioned as not too far of a drive so we took off to do all of these on day one.

Josephine Falls was our first stop. It's a short walk to get from the carpark to the falls (1.2KM) so definitely doable in any footwear (there were a lot of people not wearing shoes at all since it is possible to swim there). It's a really loud and beautiful waterfall set in Bartle Frere rainforests where it rains 255 days out of the year. We of course caught a very rainy day. There were some really daring guys that were sliding down the falls even though all the signs said danger of flooding and swimming hazards, but I guess young men will be boys.

Worth the stop, but be smarter than us and don't wear sneakers that will soak through immediately.

From Josephine Falls we headed back towards town and stopped at Babinda Boulders, another popular stop in the rain forest that is known for swimming. We didn't get in because the water was freezing (this is the Australian winter time), but I think if it was a really hot day in December that it would have been amazing.

Babinda was another short but rainy walk, roughly 2km from the carpark to the last observation area, but again an opportunity to see some natural wonders with a relatively short walk.

Our final stop for the day was to check out Crystal Cascades. Again a short walk from the carpark, but at least this time the rain had subsided! This was really cool and we climbed out on the rocks in the middle of the river to try to get a better view. There were some more dumb guys jumping from the top, but don't worry, we avoided too much stupidity.

I know, I look wet and sleepy... that's because I was both of those things. For dinner we went to Ganbaranba Noodle Collosseum and ate some delicious ramen that even Bri had to admit she kind of enjoyed!

The next day was our dive day. We got up early and met our boat (Silver Swift) at the Esplanade and then took off for the Great Barrier Reef. I wish I had more photos but I pretty much had my phone locked away all day and obviously could not use anything for photos during the actual dive.

Edit - a girl we were on the tour with was kind enough to share her photos that she purchases so see those below!

Also, the water was pretty rough on the way to the reef with swells up to 10 ft that were causing a lot of the guests to get a little ill. Fortunately Bri and I do not have any issues with motion sickness but poor Sammie had a rough ride.

The tour we took had three dive stops, Milan Reef (Paul's reef) and then two stops at Flynn's Reef, Gordon's and Tracy's. Each dive was roughly an hour with depths going up to 60 ft. We were able to see sea turtles (3!!), sting rays - manta and cowtail, barracuda, blue spotted stingray, stormy eyed puffer fish, flat worms, potato cod and more. Bri saw a shark but I am so glad I didn't encounter one. as an experience of a lifetime and you have to get scuba certified in order to fully appreciate the enormity of the Great Barrier Reef....and unfortunately, you have to go soon because it is slowly being destroyed by water acidity and over exposure.

Professional photos as provided by @wanderingwithintention:

That night was again pretty tame because we were all exhausted, but such an incredible day.

On our third day in Cairns we decided to take on Walsh's Pyramid. This is a little over 3km trek that is treacherous and straight vertical with a 1km ascent. Everything I read said it was a really tough hike that would take 4-6 hours (we did it in the average time) and everything I read was absolutely correct. With that said, the views on the way up and the fact that we actually hiked ourselves all the way up into a cloud was pretty incredible. Sorry for so many photos but it was quite an accomplishment and we were pretty proud.

That evening we went and had dinner at the pier (specifically at The Pier Bar because, creativity). Great place for happy hour drinks and then we enjoyed a few games of pool with some gentlemen from Perth who had very different billiards rules (not game over if you scratch on the 8 ball??).

The next day we were flying out to Sydney so we had a relaxing beach day at the Esplanade Lagoon where we were able to dip in the pool and soothe some sore muscles. Bri and Sammie sadly forgot the importance of sunscreen and shade so they both ended up with some red skin, but, hey sometimes age does mean wiser :).

Thanks for a great few days Cairns! Now off to Sydney.