Port Douglas/Daintree National Park
There they were. Hundreds of them. We hadn’t seen any kangaroos since we arrived in Australia until now. I drove up ahead to the next roundabout and made a quick U-turn. We found a driveway and pulled in the parking lot of a local bowling club (what appears to be a game like botchy ball). We found a little walking path alongside the highway and found the spot. Here in the field in front of us, were literally hundreds of what appeared to be small or baby kangaroos. Later we found out they were actually wallabies, which are very similar to kangaroos (same family) but a little smaller. They were so cool! They stood on their hind legs and stared us down. As we came closer they would get spooked and quickly hop off. They were so unique and cool to see in the wild, especially in such large numbers.
After our sailing adventures we continued our journey up the eastern coast of Australia. The field with the wallabies was near Port Douglas, which would be our base for a night. We checked into our holiday park, then walked towards Port Douglas’ famous four-kilometer long beach first. After a quick 10 min walk we arrived on the beach. It was a speculator! The tide was low when we got there so the beach was huge and filled with tiny hermit crabs. The nearby rainforest and mountains were in view from the beach. The water tempted us to dive right in because it was incredibly hot and humid. However, you couldn’t just jump in anywhere. You have to swim in a pretty small area, surrounded by stinger nets. It was pretty funny that despite the 4km of beach we were stuck swimming in such a small enclosure. The stinger nets prevent the stinging jellyfish (and crocs and sharks) from getting into the area so you can swim without fear. We went for a quick dip and felt refreshed. Afterwards, we continued to walk around town and enjoyed the sweeping views. We found a nice little happy hour spot to grab a drink and unwind after a long day.
The next morning, we got up early and headed to Daintree National Park. Daintree is known for its dense rainforest, which at certain points meets the ocean. They are also known for their immense wildlife. We started the morning checking out one of them – the crocodiles. We went on a croc cruise up the Daintree River. It was pretty interesting. Les was our guide. He was a seventy-year-old local guy. Really nice and knew his crocs, however we could only make out about one in five words that he said due to his extremely wild Aussie accent. Sometimes you just had to smile at the dude. We lucked out and over the course of the hour managed to see three different crocodiles. They are so menacing looking! It was really cool to see them in their native environment, which was a swampy dark brown river flowing from the nearby mountains to the ocean.
After the cruise we continued driving north and crossed the Daintree River via a car ferry and into the main part of the National Park. The vistas in the park were unreal. We stopped at most of the turnouts to take it all in. We drove as far north as you can drive into the park and arrived at Cape Tribulation, which is well known for its picture perfect beach. The only thing not so picture perfect is that there are crocodiles and stinging jellyfish in the waters, so swimming is out of the question. Would have been awesome to swim there! Instead we opted for a short hike in the rainforest.
After our hike Marissa convinced me to make a brief stop at Daintree Ice Cream where we had some of the best homemade ice cream that we’ve ever had! They’re known for exotic fruit ice creams, made freshly onsite, and change flavors seasonally. We shared one cup that had 4 flavors: pineapple, jackfruit, passion fruit and wattle seed (which we had never heard of but was awesome and probably my favorite).
Great Barrier Reef
It was 6:15 am. We were exhausted but fueled with excitement as we boarded the boat. We were heading to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR)! Not only that but we would be diving for three full days, getting to see all the amazing coral and marine life that makes it world famous! Our first impression of our dive boat was good. It was much larger, newer and nicer than the sailboat that we stayed on in the Whitsunday islands just a few days back. We were diving with Pro Dive Cairns, our first time ever aboard a live-aboard vessel.
The trip was pretty intense but such an awesome experience! The schedule was quite structured and the crew had it down to a science. How else could you manage to do 11 dives over the course of 3 days with 30 divers aboard? It was pretty amazing to watch and to be a part of. We also decided to get our PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certification aboard since it was not much more money to do and could be done with the dives already planned. There was some additional course work on our part, but it was worth it. The certification allows us access to deeper waters, up to 30 meters (90 feet), and gave us some skills to use in future dives such as buoyancy, navigation and night diving.
After a three hour journey from Cairns, we arrived at the GBR! It was pretty amazing to see the color of the water changing around us as we approached a portion of the reef. The size and breadth of the reef is astounding and we only touched a small portion while we were diving. Where the reefs were, the color was a lighter hue of blue. You actually could tell where they were at from the top deck of the boat.
Over the course of the three days, we saw so much marine life! We saw little Nemos (clown fish), turtles, reef sharks, bump-head parrotfish, stingrays and a host of other amazing fish. We were also blown away with the amazing coral. It was endless and filled with different hues of blues, greens, oranges and reds.
Throughout our eleven dives, we expanded our knowledge as divers, not only by getting the advanced certification but also because there was no instructor with us for our free dives! At first it was pretty frightening for us because we’d never been on a dive without a dive master leading the way. It required us to pay close attention during the dive briefings that happened before each dive. It also required us to be diligent when navigating with our compass underwater. When you’re on a dive it’s really easy to get distracted by the marine life, and get turned around, not remembering how to get back to the boat. On more than one occasion we had to surface in order to look around and find our boat.
Another way we grew as divers was by night diving. I’ll be honest; the thought of jumping in pitch-black water where you know sharks are lingering nearby is terrifying. Our first night dive was instructor led and part of our advanced course. It was a little hard to see even with the torches that were provided. The group setting was tough because it was very difficult following others without bumping into each other, and lights were flashing everywhere in our faces. By ourselves, we had to deal with the navigation underwater in the pitch black. Yup. We really didn’t see much on either the instructor led night dive nor the dive that Marissa and I did by ourselves. I can’t say that I really enjoyed the night diving, I feel like we saw so much more during the day and it didn’t freak us out as bad. Part of that may have been our lack of experience, and maybe in different places night diving is way better. That said, I’m glad that we had the experience, but we’ll probably stick to diving in daylight for awhile.
Diving in the GBR is something we will never forget. The reef is absolutely massive and we only scratched the surface. Experiences like that make me realize how small we are in such big world. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to view such an amazing part of the ocean and to be able to expand my diving skills.
Cairns and Kuranda
After our amazing dive trip, the crew extended an offer to everyone onboard to meet up for drinks later that night to celebrate a successful trip. We went to the Wool Shed, which had a nice restaurant in the lower level and more of a nightclub on the top level. What started out as an innocent beer turned into a couple pitchers, and ended with us dancing the night away. It was a really fun night!
The next day was our lazy day. We recovered from the diving (and dancing) and caught up on life with laundry, emails, etc. The next day we headed to the local village of Kuranda in the rainforest nearby Cairns. In town we checked out the wildlife park and butterfly santuary. In the wildlife park, we had the opportunity to get really close to several Koalas, which are fascinating animals to observe. They move so slow and controlled, almost robotic. Even more impressive than the wildlife park was the butterfly atrium. There were literally thousands of unique butterflies in a fairly small place. It felt like you were walking through Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. It was very interesting and different than anything that we have ever done. It was a great relaxing ending to our experience in the north of Australia. Next up is Sydney!
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