Great Barrier Reef

Leaving Alice Springs after our epic (at least in terms of amount of driving) Outback tour, we had what was hands down our easiest flight experience ever. There was no one in line ahead of us to check in (where they didn't even ask for I.D.), nor in security; we boarded about 20 minutes after that and got our bags minutes after touching down in Cairns.

Cairns (pronounced locally like the French film festival town "Cannes") is the most popular town from which to visit the Great Barrier Reef. When we stepped off the plane the humidity was 85%, so although the temperature was almost 20 degrees F cooler than temperatures we'd had in the Outback desert, it felt much hotter. Dowtown Cairns isn't much, sort of like a miniature version of Cancun.

The next day we toured the Great Barrier Reef. When we were in Mexico, we met an
Australian woman who said that much of the reef could be gone in as little as 10 years time if current levels of coral destruction continue. Despite requiring an extra flight and our limited time here, this uncertain future was one of the reasons we felt we needed to see the reef on this trip. We were lucky with the weather--after getting rain in the desert, today in the rainy season of the Queensland tropics was bright and sunny.

Our experience definitely didn't disappoint: outfitted with wetsuits to protect against poisonous jellyfish and sting rays (famed Australian "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin's killer) but more importantly against the intensity of the sun, we snorkeled first at Michaelmas Cay, which was inhabitated by what seemed to be thouands of birds. After a great lunch on the boat, our second snorkeling stop was Paradise Reef. While we saw a few brightly colored fish (not as many as snorkeling in Mexico), the main attraction was definitely the coral, which was present in an incredible variety of shapes (including sponges, spiky trees, and all kinds of curvy, wavy-lined shapes) and colors (mostly brown, yellow, and orange but also splotches of brilliant blues, purples, and greens. We saw a ray and a little shark. The sea floor below was littered with dead coral, which we hope is not the future for the rest of this amazing environment.

After seeing the reef we're feeling ready to say goodbye to Australia and eagerly awaiting meeting up with Allan and Sally in New Zealand!