The Taste of Saltwater

Aussie term of the day...
"Smoko" - another word for a lunch break of sorts.  It was when Michelle and I were taking our road trip up to Cairns I commented on someone sitting off in a chair on the side of the road and she was like "Looks like he's having a bit of a smoko." I had to do a double take and clarify that he wasn't actually smoking. 

            It hasn’t even been a full week in Cairns yet and already I’ve gotten to do some pretty cool things in and around this beautiful city!  Shane, Michelle and I started off the week with breakfast/brunch at the Lillipad Café downtown as a catch up with some of Shane’s friends.  It may be a mighty small restaurant but man does it have some awesome breakfast food!  I think we had a pretty hard time finding a table that was even big enough to fit the five of us but in the end we were able to squeeze into a four person one and the conversation and amazing food made it all worth it.

We made it an after brunch coffee later in the day with the three of us at the Cairns Botanical Gardens and then a bit of time just exploring the grounds. 

It was kind of funny to see my reactions to things in comparison to Shane and Michelle’s.  They see all these rainforest plants and things pretty often living right outside the rainforest and all, but it was all fairly different and fascinating stuff to me! 

It was made even better by running into another housemate, Rachael, as we were leaving and she was entering the gardens and getting a few minutes to just catch up.

I’ve gotten to see the Esplanade a couple times now, both in the sunny rays of daytime and the fancy, colorful lighting of nighttime.  Kind of like the Strand is the beachfront/restaurant strip of Townsville, the Esplanade is essentially the same for Cairns.  The only thing is that instead of sand leading up to the water like in Townsville, it’s mud here.  Apparently some 30 or 40 years ago it used to be sand but with the dredging of the channel and the removal of much of the mud further out to sea, there was a slight oversight in that during the first major cyclone most of the mud was brought back in and thrown up onto the beach.  And thus it has been.

            Probably one of the best parts of the week was getting to go out to the reef finally!! Oh my gosh, I was so excited, as Michelle and her family can attest to, and it was beyond fun to finally get to see firsthand the Great Barrier Reef in all its glory! We mainly snorkeled around two islands, the first one being the bird rookery of Michaelmas Cay.  The island is mostly protected and you can’t walk on much of it but there is a small piece of sand that you are allowed to walk on to get a closer look at the 3 or 4 species of birds.  Man were there lots of birds there!

Hopping into the water by Michaelmas Cay and getting greeted by all the Bat Fish. There was a Giant Trevally swimming around there somewhere as well. Just had to make sure we didn't dangle any fingers or toes over the side of the boat!

            The reef itself was amazing as well, as to be expected.  One of the things that definitely struck me was just how many parrot fish there were! Oh my gosh, there were schools of them! So many in fact, that at times all you could hear was the clicking, crunching, and grinding as they grazed on the coral.

            The coral was so amazing as well and it was fascinating to finally see what the pictures showed in just how much and how many different coral species there were!

            But, I think my favorite stop over for the day would probably have to be Vlasoff Island.  It’s this little white sand cay made up of coral sand and reef deposits and all around it you’re surrounded by probably the clearest ocean water I have ever seen.  

And this, my friends, is how you grow humans.

            The coral was a little deeper down than that of Michaelmas Cay, where it feels like you are essentially within an inch of crawling on top of the coral, but the water was so clear you could see a pretty significant distance no problem. 

            There were tons of little reef fish everywhere and apparently a couple little white tipped reef sharks, though I didn’t see either one of those.  I did get to see a gorgeous specimen of a red fan coral though and apparently you don’t see those ones very often!

            That was probably hands down the highlight of my week and I was so so blessed to get to do it with Michelle and her family!

            Later on in the week, Michelle, Shane and I went with Michelle’s sister Rachel to see the new movie Maleficent and I must say, I really didn’t know what to expect when I went into it. But I think I was pleasantly surprised! Definitely a very different twist on a classic fairytale and very well done I thought. 

            We also went for a drive and a short hike up to Crystal Cascades which is sort of like Cairns version of Crystal Creek.  The water there is on the side of pretty darn cool compared to the warmth I have become accustomed to here and there are a number of cool rock pools and rock slides to swim around in.

            I also learned that Australia is a place where even the plants can seriously hurt you.  Wonderful hey?