Hi, I’m sure by now you all now that one of businesses that is part of Cairns Unlimited is renting digital underwater cameras to take fabulous picture of our even more fabulous Great Barrier Reef. Here you have just a sample of the photos you could be taking if you rented one of Cairns Unlimited digital underwater cameras.
We’re really sorry we don’t update our blog as often as we thought we would, but between working long hours every day and enjoying life to the limit it is really difficult to find time to keep you all updated. We try, though.
Yesterday we managed to get away from the office again and took a reef trip to Frankland Islands, off the coast of Cairns. Our friends were celebrating their little boy’s 2nd birthday and they organised a get together in the island with some more friends.
So our morning started with a beautiful river cruise, we were all hoping to see crocs in the area but unfortunately they were nowhere in sight. However, we saw lots of different birds and we enjoyed the ride lots. As soon as we got to the open water of the sea, the fun increased even more. The wind was strong and the sea very rough so we were up and down as if we were on a rollercoaster.
Frankland Islands are completely deserted and there is no human construction at all, apart from a few wooden tables and benches under a gazebo where lunch is served. But nothing else, which is pretty unusual these days. And unlike many other islands, there is only one company allowed to visit the islands and they only take a maximun of 100 guests (I reckon there were less that 70 people onboard yesterday), so the point I’m trying to make is that you won’t find huge crowds there.
As soon as we arrived at Frankland Islands we got our gear together and went snorkelling. The weather wasn’t very good and because the sea was so rough we couldn’t visit the sites where the coral is at its best. However, we got to see pretty decent ones although none of the photos we took with our Cairns digital underwater cameras turned out any good, the water was a bit too cloudy for it. Some people saw a sea turtle as well but we were a bit slow and by the time we made it to where it was, it was already gone.
The afternoon included a semi submersible boat and a guided tour of the island, my favourite without any doubt. Dave, our guide, explained to the group many of dry corals that lay on the beaches of the island, how they are formed and how they stick to each other to form what we see underwater. Sometimes it is difficult to imagine that they are living creatures, isn’t it? But besides corals, we saw lots of different animals, such as sea cucumbers, some little fish and other creatures that I cannot name, but I have included a photo of two of them.
The weather was fairly nice during most of the day, but just as we were getting ready to go back to the boat and head back to Cairns, it started raining heavily. One thing that really surprised me yesterday was seeing how one of our friends washed her hair with rain water. You could never do that in Europe, pollution is too high. But I followed her example and I can certify that my hair, when it dried, was completely free of salt and sand. Amazing!!!
After the trip we went back to Lachy and Nadege’s for a barbie. Thanks guys for a really good day, we really needed to break away from work from a few hours. And when we went home, this is what we found stuck to our front window. Cute, isn’t it? It’s still having a siesta on our garden table.
After a very busy and hectic week, we decided to take some time off yesterday and go for a drive to Mission Beach, south of Cairns, on the Cassowary Coast. We cannot believe it’s already almost a year since we stopped at Mission Beach on our way to Cairns. Time definitely flies. However, this time we weren’t as stressed (starting a completely new life on the other side of the world is a good cause to be stressed) and the weather was absolutely beautiful. So we had a wonderful and relaxing day, that started as soon as I left Steve drive.
We set up early in the morning after working for an hour or so (we’ve already told you we are getting busier by the day, haven’t we?), and our first stop for the day was Brampston Beach, a few kilometres east of Babinda. As it is fairly usual in Australia, we found ourselves completely alone in a fantastic beach, long and deserted, as you can see in the photos.
Then we continued our way to Mission Beach, a fabulous spot of the east coast of Australia. We stop here for lunch at the resort and I can tell you that had the most fantastic seafood basket ever (probably because it ’s the first time I actually order a seafood basket, normally I don’t go for fried fish, but it really was delicious). And we finished our meal with a fantastic caramel cheesecake.
The beaches here are absolutely breathtaking, just have a look at the photos and decide for yourself.
And just before heading home we made a short visit to Tully River, just outside the fruit picking town of Tully, hoping we would still see people white water rafting there. Unfortunately we were a bit too late and they had already left, but we got to see why the river is so good for this sport. But what we saw were lots of backpackers in the streets of this quiet town, whom we assume are here on their working holiday visa.