The longer I wait to write, I less I remember. I did write everything down the day it happened to avoid this type of situation. However, it is very difficult to care about the itinerary when the only thing that haunts me is the memory of the day. From here on out, I’m going to try and write about the things I still remember rather than a “this is what we did” (I reserve the right to revoke this statement in Japan).
Cairns is known as the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and rightfully so. It doesn’t have much to offer its residents besides a mall that closes at six every evening and some drunken aboriginals hanging out shoeless in front of the entrance to the mall. As we walked around on our first day, we realized how commercialized Cairns really was; whether by the locals that feed off tourist revenue or the tourists themselves. Either way, Cairns has little personality to offer with its outrageously priced restaurants and jaded natives.
The next morning we got up and walked over to Marlin Marina for our booked tour to the Oyster and Upolu Reef, but when we got there, we were given an “upgrade” to an island (whose name I cannot remember). We signed up for both snorkeling and scuba diving. Most people who know me are aware of the fact I don’t like things that move, especially non-humans. When snorkeling on our own in the waters, we saw a variety of coral and fish. They were curious and looked at us, some even came close, but they mostly went about their business. We saw an entire rainbow of colors underwater in fish, giant clams, corals, sponges, and creepy crawly creatures that I am not familiar with. Snorkeling before the scuba diving lesson was a good introduction to the ocean and its inhabitants. I was surprised by the weight of the scuba tank and terrified I wouldn’t remember the instructions from the introductory lesson. The moment I had the scuba tank on and the regulator in my mouth, some Asian women who barely spoke English flipped me over the edge into the water. Instantly, I panicked and started to sink. It took me a minute to remember I knew how to swim. Soon enough I felt a hand grab me and pull me over to a bar. I gave the okay sign and then I was taken to a lower bar. Next thing I knew, the instructor was grabbing at me with both hands to let go of the lower bar. After a few moments of hesitation, I finally let go and looked at Brett as I started breathing rapidly and freaked out. Then I realized I was weightless and could hear nothing but the sound of my regulator. It was the most surreal thing I have ever experienced in my life. Scuba diving can only be understood when you do it yourself. You cannot vicariously live this experience through someone else. We were allowed to touch a giant clam underwater and see its lid retract. We found Nemo hanging out in the coral and a sting ray gliding along the ocean floor. When we came back on the boat, I couldn’t stop smiling. For an entire week I kept thinking “I can’t believe I went scuba diving.”
Besides scuba diving, my favorite thing about Cairns was the pier shared by runners, bikers, fishermen, families, and even the nightly drunks. The public pool seemed to be one of the things that entertained me- little babies peeing in the pool without diapers, mothers screaming at the top of their lungs, and children yelling in absolute delight as the fish fountains poured water out of their tails. We joined the locals for an early run on our last day in Cairns to catch the sunrise over the mountains and treated ourselves to breakfast at the Percotta. It consisted of a thin egg frittata with smoked salmon for me and baked Spanish style chick peas and poached eggs for Brett with a side of sweet potato hashbrowns. We also tried red paw paw for the first time- not a fan of papayas but loved these. On the way home, we took a walk to Rusty’s Market to check out the local produce. I discovered a fruit called ranbutan- didn’t get a chance to taste it, maybe next time. For the rest of the afternoon, we took some time to relax by the hotel pool before our jam packed schedule for New Zealand started with a lovely four hour layover in Brisbane. I’m not going to get sentimental about leaving Australia because I know we’re coming back to Melbourne after New Zealand. I’m not quite ready to say good bye to the Land of Oz yet.
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