Australia July 2008 - Day 7 - Friday, 18 July 2008

Today in a nutshell:
- Great Barrier Reef Tour
- Whales
- Didgeridoo Hip Hop
- Pyros

Today we are heading out to the Great Barrier Reef via Down Under Dive Cruises for stops at two outer reef sites, as well as a submersible glass boat tour. Chad and I snorkel at both sites and take in the corral wonders. The waves are somewhat aggressive out in the Pacific and that takes me a little bit of courage to shove my head under the water and snorkel without a slight bit of panic, but I get over that entirely by the second site and have no problems. Chad has no problems at either site and serves as resident photographer for all our underwater adventures. (We picked up one of those disposable underwater cameras and consequently I don’t have any of those photos to add here b/c it is on eek, gasp – real film.)

The Great Barrier Reef is (of course) beautiful and gigantic. We spent several hours at both sites, but realize that we saw just the slightest tip of two sections. The water is so clear you can see the formations from above in the boat. We were lucky to see a sea turtle at the second site as well as several schools of fish. I did include a photo here from the glass boat tour so you could see just a little of what we were seeing underwater. (pic to come)

I am also very happy to report that I happened to be the first visual spotter on the boat of whales when we were coming back to shore. The captain of the boat was kind enough to turn us around and let us over to go get a closer look. These Minke Whales did a few tail whips for us, but didn’t come fully out of the water like the humpback whales do. I added a picture here for your viewing pleasure.

After the whale sighting, I head back in the boat to check the Blackberry for pressing US news and gossip. Meanwhile, one of the crew performs ad lib singing and guitar strumming for us.

We catch quick showers back at the hostel and grab dinner. After that, we hit the Cairns Lagoon and open-air park for entertainment.

I’ll have to admit I saw my first didgeridoo hip hop / world beat performer that night. It has to be one of the coolest sounding things I’ve ever heard. Second, Cairns has these amazing flame throwers once a month called the Cairns Circus. They hit the beachfront and do all these crazy tricks with fire and set to music and dance. I’ve added the “pyro hula hooper” here for your review.

We’ve decided we are taking the next couple of days easy to regroup and recover. We plan to bum around Cairns, meet locals, grab cheap meals and gear up for our next outings – the Kukaru Railway Express and Skyrail, and the beaches of Palm Cove. Cheers!