Palm Cove

We couldn't really leave Australia without some sort of visit to the Great Barrier Reef. That was the one place I wanted to visit more than any place in the bush I was slightly worried on the flight up that I might experience some pain on the decent as I'd recently had a cold and had trouble like this before. Unfortunately I was right. My forehead exploded in pain shortly after our decent into Cairns. It really felt like my head was being torn in two from the inside. It was agony. I was surprised to find myself still alive when the plane landed and I seemed to be ok twenty minutes later. Thankfully It turns out to be a real complaint and not some sort of stroke. We were staying in Palm Cove, a small hamlet on the beach half an hour up the road from Cairns that almost gives the appearance of one single private resort. We had a hotel room in a self catering place with a pool which was just as well as there was certainly no chance of swimming in the ocean thanks to the jellyfish and crocodiles. The weather was a constant 30+ degrees the whole time, and 10 minutes parked in the sunshine was enough to turn the car steering wheel to molten rubber. But despite everything burning in the sun the weather was perfect almost the whole time. Before our day trip to the Barrier Reef we had a couple of days to drive through plenty of tropical rainforest, both in the Daintree further north and Kuranda right next door. The countryside was a huge chain from Sydney and only familiar to me from movies; I either expected to see helicopters dropping napalm onto fields of sugar cane or gorillas among the forested hills beyond. We bought fresh mangoes from the roadside and I even ate my first crocodile burger (yes, like chicken). We were promised plenty of wildlife, or at least there were enough signs warning us on the way. Unfortunately the only wildlife we actually saw was confined to Bird World. However, in fairness to Bird World it was class. Every single parrot you could imagine and all cheeky enough to hop on your shoulders looking for any loose threads or buttons to nibble. On our final day we went to Port Douglas further up the coast an hour for our day out to the Barrier Reef. Despite being a Monday in the low season the tour was full and we were given free cups of tea and biscuits to munch on while we cruised the 45 minutes out to the reef. We had signed up for the basic tour but there were a million extras offered for a price - from scuba lessons to marine biology courses to helicopter rides. All of these extra which were advertised over and over gave the trip a bit of a sour commercial taste to it. However once out there, in the water and in our full length lycra suits to protect from any stringers, it was great. And though It was my first time snorkeling no amount of swallowed sea water (and there was a lot) took away from the experience of seeing, swimming with, all the fish and coral and giant clams. Unfortunately the day was almost over as quick as it began - leaving the reef at 3ish left time only for lunch, a quick spin on the glass bottomed boat and one good swim in the water. And that just left me hungry for more.