Steph's Adventures: Cairns and Townsville

On Thursday the 26^th of April I flew out of Wellington Airport and headed to the Brisbane to start the Australian leg of my overseas tour. After arriving in Brisbane I picked up my hire car and drove down to the Gold Coast to see my brother Michael. We decided to go out and have a ‘few’ drinks at the local to catch up. The next day I awoke to rain and low cloud so I didn’t feel homesick at all! As this was my only day on the Gold Coast before leaving for Cairns we went up to the observation deck of the Q1 building which is the tallest residential building in the southern hemisphere.

After a quiet night in watching movies we were up at 6am to head to Brisbane and catch our flight to Cairns. We arrived in Cairns to sunshine and humidity so it was straight to the accommodation to swap my jeans for shorts. Then it was back to the airport to pick up Mum and Dad which was a surprise for Michael as he had no idea they were coming!! After checking them into their accommodation we all took a walk around Cairns and had lunch at ‘Outback Jacks’. Then it was time to decide what to do the next day. It took a while to decide on something that would meet everybody’s needs – Mum didn’t want to get in the water but wanted to look at the water, Dad and I wanted to Scuba Dive on the Great Barrier Reef and Mike wasn’t fussed either way. Eventually we settled on a day out on Green Island.

We departed Cairns for Green Island and arrived just before mid-day. First port of call was some snorkeling just off the shore. I only saw one fish while snorkeling but a couple we talked to had seen a turtle! After a quick bite to eat it was Scuba Diving for Dad and I and the glass bottom boat for Mum and Mike. The Scuba Diving was awesome. I saw so many different kinds of fish and the colours were all so bright. I was a bit disappointed by the coral as I expected it to be brighter but it was dull and brown. We later learnt that a lot of the GBR had been destroyed by the cyclones and hurricanes in the previous years and that it was just starting to regenerate itself. I will have to add photo's later as I took them on an underwater camera I haven't had developed yet. We then headed back to the boat and while on the jetty saw a black tipped reef shark. That night we had a BBQ, complete with Kangaroo fillets.

The next day we drove up to Port Douglas which was not quite as charming as I expected. There were no markets on the day we went so maybe it’s different when they are on but at least I can now say I’ve been there. On the way back down from Port Douglas we went to the Tropical Zoo at Palm Cove. It was raining when we got there but that soon cleared. There were plenty of Croc’s, Koala’s and Snakes to be seen here and touched! I touched a python and a baby croc. We saw the Croc Feeding with a Crocodile called ‘Gummy’. His jaw was out of alignment due to a birth defect. When crocodile eggs aren’t incubated at the correct temperature and they get too hot, bone deformities can occur. It was then back to Cairns and out for dinner along the Esplanade. This would be our final night in Cairns and with Ma and Pa before Mike and I headed off to Townsville.

The following morning we all gathered for breakfast and to say our goodbyes before Mike and I hit the road and made our way to our second stop of our trip. We arrived in Townsville just after 2pm and checked into our accommodation. That night I decided to have a quiet night in while Mike went out and hit the bars. The next day we decided to take it easy as someone wasn’t feeling so good (haha, Mike). We went out to The Strand along the waterfront for Gelato and a walk around the local shops.

That night we headed out for Dinner at a local Indian Restaurant and then to the movies to see ‘The Avengers’ which I thought was a great movie and a lot funnier than some of the previous Marvel movies. After having two relatively relaxing days in Townsville we decided to head out to Magnetic Island and hire a topless car complete with a pink paint job and Barbie seat covers, oh yeah!

We spent the day driving around the island and visiting the different bays. We saw the rock Wallabies and got up close and personal at Gregory Bay. I convinced Mike to do The Forts walking track with me and we saw 2 Koalas relaxing in Gum Trees. While I was taking a photo of one of them I stepped backwards onto an uneven surface and tripped over. Now I have bruises on my left leg from trying to get back onto the boat and a wave knocking me into the steps while at Green Island and a graze down my right leg from Magnetic Island.. I don’t think islands agree with me! Haha. We had lunch at Horseshoe Bay before cruising around some more and finishing off with a Banana Smoothie at a small café.