I’ve decided to create my own blog for the purposes of honing my memory (coz these signs of forgetfulness may lead to dementia or worse Alzheimer’s! LOL) and becoming a creative writer (writer wannabe) as if…it’s just a narration of some of my lately blahs…=)
This easter week, M, N and I decided to go to North Queensland for a tropical feel of Australia. The temperature of the ocean in north Queensland is very much similar to the Philippines. Warm and sunny unlike here in Sydney, since we're near south pole, it's very cold to swim. I love the warmth of Cairns and it reminded me of my home country. North Queensland state of Australia is known for its nice warm weather and the great barrier reef - world's largest coral reef system on Earth. It's so big that even astronauts can see it on space! Never have I thought I'd actually swim on it in my life. Although I've only seen not even a tenth of it, I'm amazed how I was able to ride a helicopter and get a bird's eye view of it. There are many reefs and islands you can snorkel too, the one we went to is called Saxon and Hastings reef. Also don't worry about great white sharks as most of these are in downtown Australia (meaning New South Wales!)!! The sharks found in Great barrier reef are mostly small reef sharks. Harmless and timid. I've only seen one in my semi submarine tour.
Met the easter bunny on our way back to Sydney, gave me chocolate eggs.
Anyway Cairns is a 2 hour and half plane ride from Sydney (thought it was 4 hours) and North Queensland do not have DST timezone. Meaning similar to the Philippines, since it's near the equator, pretty much the sun shines and sets at 6-ish. Unlike in Sydney, where winter has longer nights with the sun setting at 5PM and during summer, sun sets at 9PM. We arrived early and picked up our car rental and drove to Cairns esplanade. We were so lucky, because it's cyclone season, Cairns was battered with strong cyclones before our trip. Literally Cairns was flooded, 2 consecutive weeks of rain with the cyclone just leaving the area the night before our trip! I was already losing hope and thought our flight might get cancelled. Fortunately all my positivism in life has magically swung things around. (also with a bit of luck)
Cairns Esplanade Lagoon
We stayed at Port Douglas because this is where the nice beaches are (and I also miss driving!). So Port Douglas is an hour and 10 mins drive from Cairns. On our first day. we just checked in our 2 BR apartment and had a walk around town. We stayed at Driftwood Mantaray apartments, good location right next to four mile beach. It only costs $135 (Php 5400) per night. For more info - http://www.driftwood-mantaray.com.au/Contact-Driftwood-Mantaray.
Love our sala and dining table.
In Port Douglas, we had a walk around Macrossan street. This is where all the shops, restaurants, boutiques are. We also had a walk at four mile beach. Unfortunately due to the cyclone the previous day, water was brown. Most of north Queensland was flooded the day before, it was a miracle that Captain Cook highway (road to Port Douglas) just got accessible when we arrived. Before our departure, the road was closed due to a landslide so we thought our trip was bad timing.
Four mile beach.. As you can see, it's a bit murky.
Macrossan street shops
Watch the sunset at Rex Smeal Park and you have the Anzac mountains as a backdrop bonus
The next day, we head off to Crystal Caves at Atherton Tablelands. Again due to flooding on some roads, we had to go to Captain Cook highway again instead of the other road. News said the Baron river has flooded that area so instead of an hour drive, it became 2 hour drive. Be careful in driving too, Captain Cook highway is considered one of the dangerous roads to drive in Australia. Steep cliffs, sharp turns and winding roads.
So Crystal cave is a man made cave. We went here only because we wanted to experience cracking a geode! Geodes are volcanic hollow rocks, that after millions of years, crystals starts forming inside. Some of the geodes were really expensive, we only bought the $35 one, which can get you quartz, chalcedony and crystals. More info here - http://www.crystalcaves.com.au/
There's a huge collection of crystals and fossils inside!
We were lucky, the newest addition to the museum is a gigantic geode with amethyst. Literally opened the day before we arrived!
Cave entrance
Crystals and fossils
Here's N's cracked geode! He's the lucky one of us three! Had the most crystals!
After our awesome geode cracking, we head off to Skyrail rainforest cableway to get to Kuranda. We actually passed by Kuranda when we drove to the caves but we wanted the cable car experience and also, it's the only road back to Port Douglas so had to get back. I've seen the most beautiful rainforest - and it's right here in Cairns! It's so dense, and there's just too many trees! Cable car ride is just as relaxing as looking down a pool of luscious trees. There are three stations you can drop off and ride again just make sure you purchase roundtrip tickets. For more information - https://www.skyrail.com.au/
Make sure to stop by at all stations
What a view from the top!
Look at the density of the rainforest! I swear it's much much better in person!
Upon reaching Kuranda, we only had 2 hours left to explore so we were only able to see the market and the butterfly sanctuary. If you've seen the butterfly sanctuary in Bohol, then I don't recommend coming here because it's similar. We only came here because we wanted to see the giant moth and butterfly but unfortunately, we were unable to see them. I would say do the other activities in Kuranda instead. Saves you twenty bucks.
Gigantic lizards all over the resto at Kuranda!
Late lunch!
Butterfly sanctuary feeding grounds
Barron falls
After our skyrail adventure we head back to Port Douglas. We were looking for an area where locals pile rocks and it's quite a popular stop among tourists. However it's easily missable because they said it's between Ellis and Pebbly beach. If you look at the map, it's literally like start to finish of Captain Cook highway. Seriously. On our first attempt, we definitely missed it, we stopped at the farthest, Pebbly beach and thought we could walk it. We took photos anyways, still a pretty sight!
No sand, just pebbles!
Pebble galore at Pebbly beach
We head back to our apartment, had a swim at the pool and cooked sinigang na hipon (shrimp stew)! Yes we bought sinigang na hipon condiments. Simply because it's comfort food on a tropical location! (Also food is expensive here in Australia! One meal will cost you roughly more than $20 per pax)
I must hide my tummy fats!
N showing off his abs???? haha
Sinigang na hipon! (filipino shrimp stew)
The next day, we woke up early as our snorkel and fly tour starts at 7:30am. Drove again to Cairns and parked at the esplanade. The pier where our boat is docked here. This is an expensive tour, costs about $300-ish including a buffet lunch at the ship, snorkelling on Saxton (inner reef) and Hastings (outer reef), a helicopter ride and a semi submarine tour. You can avail diving lessons too. For more information - http://downundercruiseanddive.com.au/evolution_cruise.php
It's very much worth it to get the helicopter ride above the great barrier reef! I would say it's a definitely must do! The tour has complete snorkel equipment and a live band singing!
Ship is huge, have lower, middle and upper deck!
Applying sunscreen is a must
Reefs are protected and full of life
Lucky we are beside the pilot and got the best view!
Bird's eye view of the reef!
Gopro in action!
I want my own heli!
Semi submarine tour of the reef
On our way back, live music will entertain you and you can eat crackers, wine, cheese and fruits as snacks. I really enjoyed the helicopter ride and would love to do it again! On different parts of the reef!
Book your cruise with down under, they even got a marine biologist on board to help you know your reef
After our awesome helicopter, semi submarine experience and snorkelling, time to head back. Again we went looking for the area with balancing rocks! Literally the balancing rocks location is indeed in between Ellis and Pebbly beach but a more precise location is before entering Wangetti! So if you see the "welome to Wangetti" sign board, then you definitely need to head back a little. Cairns actually means mound of stones so it's cool to see cairns within Cairns!
art of zen! balancing rocks!
cairns in Cairns
Watch our vlog here in my youtube channel!
This was our last stop as the next day is our flight back to Sydney. Definitely will be back North Queensland, this place reminds me so much of the Philippines only more modern and expensive! My absolute favorite was the helicopter ride. I'll do it again on another reef. I've got Hamilton island and Whitsundays as my next target in Queensland. Maybe next year? We'll see! I can't wait to be back to Australia's sunshine state!
