Touring Australia in three months is a difficult challenge, but you have to check out the Great Barrier Reef. Take it from me, it’s worth it. I was working over the summer as an Account Executive in Brisbane, Australia and decided to spend the last week of October with my buddy Scott in Cairns. Cairns is located in the Northeast part of Australia, in Queensland, and is famous for being surrounded by some of the best dive sites, parks and nature trails that Australia has to offer. I explored all aspects of this part of Australia. We began completing a nightwalk through the Daintree Rainforest. This rainforest has existed for thousands of years and hosts over 12,000 different species of insect. Fun time, but I was pretty paranoid that something would fly into me and bite me. We also went to a few famous sites such as Mossman gorge as well as Port Douglass. Mossman gorge offers great freshwater swimming sites and nice hiking paths while Port Douglass is a sleep fishing village with a bohemian flare, bustling downtown and plenty of awesome restaurants and bars.
We saved the best for last and went snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef. We picked a dive spot that was on the perimeter of the permitted dive zone; you can supposedly see more wildlife on the outskirts of the diving areas. Why didn´t I go scuba diving? It was October, the supposed winter season in Australia had begun, so I didn´t need to worry about large amount of poisonous jelly fish. Regardless I did wear a neoprene suit just in case… It just seemed like a large hassle to have to go through the basic training once again. I just wanted to jump into the water and float abit. The Great Barrier Reef did live up to my expectations. At first I stayed close to Scott, since the organizers insisted we have a buddy, but slowly I just drifted away, swept up by the colourful underwater world. Stingrays fluttered about the bottom while giant clams would quiver there mouths as you blocked the sunlight they are so accustomed to feeling. Massive clusters of brain coral spattered the area, creating perfect homes for swarms of fish.
I took a few shots with an underwater disposable camera and came face to face with a small sea turtle but was unable to take a picture since it darted away even before I could raise the camera to my goggles. It only took us about an hour to get out to the dive site, the boat was large, all the tourists were enjoying the nice weather and funny local guides. I’m definitely going back, just as soon as I make the jump in November. "Mike
