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Days 9 & 10: Cairns

 Early on day 9 we packed up and left the walkabout park to drive into Sydney for our 3 hour flight north to Cairns. Cairns is in the state of Queensland and is the most tourist-filled town we’ve stayed in due to its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef. 

After we checked in to our new accommodations, we walked downtown to do some grocery shopping and then met up with some of the other people in the group for dinner. After dinner we walked down the street to a night market which is a collection of small shops selling souvenirs, food, and handmade goods. 

Day 10 we got up early again, this time to prepare for the Great Barrier Reef! We walked down the street from our apartments to the marina where we boarded our boat for the day. We went out with Dreamtime scuba & snorkel. We were not the only group on the boat, but we did get our own dedicated marine biologist to teach us about the reef. The journey out to our first dive spot was rather rough and several people got sick, but thankfully I did not. 

I was in the second group scheduled to dive; 4 of us plus one instructor. We geared up and got in the water to go over our scuba skills. I was able to go about a meter down, but started to panic when practicing the skills so I had to stop. The instructor was very kind and patient with me and the staff that helped me out of the water were excellent too. They helped me calm down and said that I could try again at the second stop if I wanted and even offered a one on one instructor. I got back in the water to snorkel with my friends and felt much better doing that so I declined the option to try diving at the second spot. 

Snorkeling around the Great Barrier Reef was amazing. The water was very comfortable and visibility was great. Our marine biologist, Kaitlyn, took us around and taught us about some of the species we were seeing. We even spotted some sting rays and some clownfish with a nest of eggs! Overall - a very cool day. 




Comments

  1. DebieAugust 8, 2022 at 9:01 AM

    Thanks for letting mom and I follow your journey! Sounds like a great trip...she has been enjoying your blog and pictures (so have I).

    ReplyDelete

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