The Tropical North + The Great Barrier Reef

A brief intro: When I was 20 years old, still in university, I began seeking out a destination of where to study abroad for a semester. My goal was to make it to Australia. This destination came into play as I became infatuated with the variety of animals that were in Australia over my years in university. I even created a web-design based solely on Australian animals for elementary students. In a science methods class we were each assigned an animal in the Great Barrier Reef to create a set of lessons on, including finding materials around the house that could construct a craft of that animal. I had the cuttlefish.  I couldn’t get enough of these strange creatures, the sea cucumber and sea slugs, sea urchins, anemones, sponges, corals, and so on. It became my dream to one day learn how to dive, and then to see the Great Barrier Reef for myself. 

At the time, I did not realize Australia was out of the question for me. I was already too far along in my program for a live and study abroad. My only option was to student teach abroad or out-of-state. This requires paying full tuition to be in a classroom full time, not earning an income, as well as all housing and such expenses need to be provided on your own. This is what led me to St. Louis, MO and then back to Iowa before coming abroad to Taiwan in 2013. 

In August 2014, I became an Open Water Certified Diver in Taiwan.

Monday, February 19 "Reefs and Rain forests, that what they come for."

Oddly enough, there is a one hour time difference between Melbourne and Cairns. My flight was mid-day, but Australia is huge so it still took over 3 hours by plane to get there. I had pre-booked a shuttle for pick-up at 5:30 and was in my new abode within the hour.

At this point in my trip I was hardly able to contain my excitement. Cairns is where I'd meet the sea, I was in my preferred climate of hot tropical weather, and after getting my big city and birthday celebrations underway, I felt vacation was really kicking in. Let's just say in Cairns, I was in my element.

I had three nights at Dreamtime Hostel broken up by my one night on the reef. For this part of my trip I opted for the private rooms as I'm well aware of how exhausting days of diving can be. I wanted to be well rested beforehand and not bothered if I needed the rest after. Plus, I was packing extremely light so it was laundry day as well!
I immediately loved the hostel. Welcoming, colorful, open areas, kind staff, all you can eat pizza on my first night, pretty hard to beat. Situated right behind Cairns Central Railway Station, it was easy to get around without even much need of a map.


I walked to the night markets of Cairns in my first evening. The streets were well lit up and enormous fruit bats screeched above and in the trees throughout the night. Doing my best to restrict any shopping, since I was almost through what I brought in cash, I moseyed along through the aisles sucking on another gelato cone.  My attempts failed after chatting up with a local Aussie selling his wife's hand made crafts (they were beautiful, I'm not that much of a sucker) ... and then passing a pair of earrings I really liked ... and then convincing myself my poor feet deserved a 30 minute massage. Ha!

I went to check out the Esplanade Lagoon of Cairns, which is right along the harbor. It was night so I didn't take any photos. I imagine it's ideal for families. It is quite beautiful in photos. 


After just hours in this humid, beachy city I was already wishing I'd booked a later flight to Sydney.

Tuesday, February 20 on the Great Barrier Reef: Norman Reef 

My first early morning in Cairns, I was temporarily checking out of Dreamtime and getting off the mainland for my two day - one night stay with Reef Encounter, aboard a "35 meter catamaran with spacious ensuite cabins." 

I had been hunting for the perfect live-aboard and found one I could comfortably stay on. As well as, and maybe more importantly for me, I wanted an excellent guest to staff ratio. Staying on the sea, doing a thrilling yet unpredictable and often tiring excursion like scuba diving, I didn't want to worry about ample food, space, diving guides, having questions answered, too many people in the water, or any other worst case scenario in the sea. 

This experience had all of that, and more! At the Carins Marlin Marina, (which has 264 places for docking boats) we followed the directions of our pick-up guide down to the Reef Encounter's Catamaran. Once aboard the overnighters were asked to step onto the upper deck and the day-trippers were asked to find a place below, fruit, coffee and tea were there waiting for us. 

What will you see in the GBR?

We filled out the needed  emergency contacts and signed agreements while the guides checked our certifications and any health conditions. We were then given a "debrief" on safety and signals used when diving off the catamaran. Before meeting up and switching to the overnight boat in the middle of the sea, a handsome marine biologist gave us the scope of what we'd most likely be interacting with in a matter of hours, and other useful facts and spoiled myths about the GBR and surrounding oceans including pictures for ohhs and ahhs. A quick reference to the movie Finding Nemo, he told us how the clownfish, or anemonefish, are actually hermaphrodites. "Had it been more realistic, when Nemo's mother died, Nemo most likely would have turned into a female and continued mating with his father. But that wouldn't make for quite as good of a children's movie." Haha! 

I was delighted to hear him discuss the huge amounts of protection that has been ongoing and growing since 2003. After his presentation, I cornered him to ask about all of the bleaching that's been in the news, how bad was it? What penalties were made for those who damaged the reef and were these vast tours of divers doing more harm than good? He first assured me that the majority of our 'ticket,' or money, spent on these tours went to funding for protection expansion. He also stopped me during my question on penalties and said it was better to sink a vessel than to knock off a reef. (I assume he meant the cost of losing a vessel compared to the fines for damaging the reef.) He said the bleaching was true, and described why it was happening, but that the majority was in the shallow waters closer to Australia. It wouldn't be anything we would catch a glimpse of. 

Taking out tanks to the day trip divers.

On the overnight boat we were greeted by yet another shaggy haired, blondie Aussie and debriefed on life on the live aboard. Next up was the professional photographer who told us of his job to take photos on four dives a day, upload them twice a day, match our faces into our own digital photo folders, and then be sure we check them out for possible purchase before we leave. I think he had one of the hardest jobs of all the crew. Then before our first venture of snorkeling at 10:30, we were put into our rooms. Most people were their in pairs, so I was happy to be placed with another young single traveler, Ester from Sweden. 

The first experience in the water is only a snorkel as it's dangerously close to lunch time. In the water, I was disappointed to realize the camera I had rented from Dreamtime was not only taking dull photos but was leaking water inside of it's case. I would try it again later, but for the most part I decided to just enjoy the experience of what I came for, I can always Google photos later, I don't know if I'd ever be here again. 

The anchor line was used to guide snorkelers and divers.

Where we enter the water from the back of the boat. 

At lunch I sat with a young couple from Norway and straight after lunch was our diving review. Even though everyone diving is certified, it was nice to go around the group to hear everyone's name, where they're from, number of dives they've done, and their last dive.
ALL underwater photos were taken from a dull, often leaking water case- camera. They do nothing for the colors you really see underwater, + the pinkish blur in nearly every photo is from the case. But a glimpse is better than nothing. After a few shots, I put the camera away to be in awe and wonderment. 

It's a Mega City, Underwater!
Many times I would be so distracted I had no idea what meter depth I was at until I checked.

I was assigned as guest number one.
This is my tank and BCD - the only one in this little corner of the boat. 

I must have looked young, naive, not a regular diver- not sure what it was but a guide said I'd be going along with him and one other girl from China on the 1:30 dive. (Note: They later tried to charge me for this guide I had never asked for.) Contrary to every other time I've been diving my first dive was actually great. Usually I have problems with the borrowed mask or worst my ears won't equalize. Usually it just takes me a dive before I'm back into the swing of things. But even the guide came to find me afterwards and said I did very well with my air, location in the water, and it seemed natural to me. Almost made me blush. ^^ Although this first dive was only 29 minutes, and the girl from China needed a lot more assistance, it was a great first dive. 

Norman Reef is 60km from Cairns 'on the outer edge of the continental shelf.' Saxon is 50km.

Parrot Fish- Fun fact, parrot fish poop makes up the white sand beaches. 

A short break out of out sting suit (lots of jellies in these waters) and the second dive was at 3:30. Besides swimming side by side to a sea turtle this was an awful dive. I was rushed to get in by the new guide and that's never a good thing. Water in my mask frequently, my ankles were getting rubbed raw by the flippers, I wasted too much time trying to get a decent photo (as I thought I finally got the camera fixed) and then worst of all, my ear was in a tremendous amount of pain on my way out. It was a long, painful dive, and I was looking forward to a bigger break and meeting some people who might be diving at more my speed. 

Ester and I 

Dinner was at 6 and I slowly gravitated towards a pair of couples from Austin, Texas who were also diving with my cabin mate Ester. They asked if I wanted to join them for the night dive, and I was thrilled! There was a 30 minute /10 meter limit to the night dives, which was fine with everyone. 

Night dive diving debrief. 

Adding a flashlight to your gear, you go in just as you would for any other dive off a boat. One hand holding your mask and regulator in position, the other holding everything else down so it doesn't smack you in the face, one big step forward and you're in.  


A night dive makes getting lost in the ocean that much easier, so more than ever, stick with your buddy! My buddy just happened to enjoy wandering off from the group which gave me a minor panic. 

Instantly, before even lowering into the water there was a reef shark beneath us. In the short dive we saw at least 6 other reef sharks with their glowing green eyes. At one point, one was circling our group multiple times before continuing on its way. 

Enormous clam during the following morning dive!
While watching, its mouth openings open and close.
The colors were bright green and dark purples.  

We came across an enormous clam. It was at least a meter long! I was fascinated. We also spotted a stingray, it's wing-like fins flowing likes waves over the corals. As we were just about to get out, we looked down to see hundreds of thousands of what I think were tiny teal colored fish, it was like a galaxy of fish, almost making you dizzy and pulling you in. We all lifted our heads above water and exclaimed, "What was that!?"

They advertise the helipad for helicopter tours, the 'heated spa tub,' licensed bar, ocean view rooms, and glass bottom boat tours, but I didn't see much of any of that being used. However, the on board chef was doing a hell of a job. The quality and quantity was better than expected. The room I was placed in was also much bigger than I'd imagined. The atmosphere was so relaxed and people just hung out in the lounge area when not diving or eating. (Although it felt like that was all we were doing was eating and diving.) 

 
Immediately after the third dive I had a real shower and some hot cocoa. Our little dive group met up to record our dive and sign each others log books, shared some photos, and hunted for the names of creatures we saw. After that by 9:30 I was in bed. The rocking of the boat while falling asleep was soothing and somehow comforting to me.  

Day two: Saxon Reef, GBR

The morning dive was to be at 630AM. About 45 minutes before that I was awoken to some heavy boat rocking and sounds of waves splashing. A tad thrown off, I went up to see why we were leaving Norman Reef. Apparently in the night the boat had move and the anchor was hitting a large coral. So they had to get us out of there. I wonder how often this happens...

We still dove at 630, this time at Saxon Reef. Three of the Americans and I went in for 38 minutes of the most incredible dive of my life! This was the Great Barrier Reef. This is what I had come for.

We initially dropped down over sand where sea cucumbers lined the ocean floor like land mines. Among the hundreds of coral fish I saw, some were the size of basketballs. Swimming further on, there wasn't just one magnitude of a school of fish, there were several. I remember not even knowing where to look, it was too much to take in from such a close perspective, I had to look past it all, above me and it was truly something I can hardly describe. They came in all sizes, color variations, and yet swam with, and against each other like a well run machine.

Harlequin sweetlips and a dash of a school of fish. 

This is one of my favorite corals. I'm not sure if it's a toadstool coral, leather coral, or some other strange, but obvious name.

You can almost see the strength of the blues in this photo,
yet underwater the blue seemed to be glowing.

I was lucky to see another reef shark in the morning, barracudas, tuna, dozens of parrotfish (whose feces help make white sand beaches), harlequin sweetlips, and the most rare sighting was the ornate wobbegong. The corals were remarkable. I am a big fan of any soft corals as I love to watch them move with the underwater current. But just as beautiful was the staghorn coral with it's neon tips and the fan corals that spread open wide for whole armies of fish to dance across.

Blue spotted stingray!

We came in for breakfast at 730 and my next dive was at 830. This time I went with just two of the girls, none of us were that great at navigating so we didn't venture too far, nor very deep. However we did still spot a blue spotted stingray, a pufferfish, trumpetfish, and a couple of triggerfish. When we were coming in I noticed a jellyfish has managed to get swept up and stranded on the boat. One of the gals used her fin to flop it back in.

Rise and repeat.

My last dive of the day was at 1030AM just as the new arrivals were coming on board. By this time my body was so sore from the weights strapped around my waist each dive, the suctioning mask across my upper jaw, my ankles had continued to lose skin from the fins, and well, 6 dives in 24 hours was quite an extreme sport for me. 
In my last hour or so on the boat I checked out my photo file from the photographer. They were charging 10 photos for $150AUD! Unbelievable prices for unbelievable photos. Luckily, and unluckily, he didn't capture any of me worth buying. My favorite photo was one he took of a sea turtle about to eat a jellyfish. After that, I just enjoyed the views from deck, even seeing a hawksbill sea turtle come up for air.

As far as the Reef Encounter experience, I was very impressed with it's staff. They were young, but they were well trained, energetic, helpful, and truly seemed like they wanted us to have the best time. It was also great that there were so many of them, all passengers (max. of 42) felt taken care of.

I switched back onto the day boat around 3:30PM, had a couple of glasses of free wine and a great chat with a fellow Aussie gal before relaxing in the sun. Land was soon in sight, and so were enormous gray clouds. In Cairns, life was much better out at sea.

"From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free." -Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Back at Dreamtime I was in a new private room and so grateful to have a full size bed. I threw in my laundry, picked up a cider and had a good chat with JJ the hostel host. In between washer and dryer I found myself sitting amongst a quite diverse group. From 19 to 32, a guy from U.K., a young Aussie who sold everything to live his dream out on the road, another Aussie there to learn to dive, a modelesque girl from the Netherlands, and a guy from Brussels I could tell knew how to have a good time if the mood striked. The band of us went out to P.J's Pub for some drinks. Sitting outdoors we saw a few fights almost break out among some local aboriginals. Quite interesting. Later we checked out a club, and ended the night with taking a bike style tuk-tuk back to the hostel.  

Thursday, February 22 : KURANDA; Village in the Rainforest

With the convenient location of being right across from Cairns Railway Station. I was picked up at 9:30 and taken to Tjapukai: Where Australia Begins. This was the entrance for Skyrail, a 7.5 km gondola journey into 'the oldest continually surviving tropical rainforest on earth.

There are a two stops along they way before reaching the final destination of Kuranda: Village of the Rainforest. However, I would stop at those on the way back since my scheduled time at the Koala Gardens was at 11:30. 

Kuranda Village is full of aboriginals and 'hippies' who moved in and began selling their crafts in the 1970s. I went straight away to the Koala Garden, which was not busy at all, most likely because people were still at the first or second stop. There were a few sleeping koalas in the exhibit. There was even an unamused kangaroo and a wallaby bouncing around. I was surprised they let you walk right next to these animals with literally no staff nearby. Even the pathway went right alongside them without any sort of fence, not even a rope. 

Cassowary, smaller than the ostrich and emu but still quite large.

I went to see the koala that was up for hire to hold. I wanted to see how it was being treated, and whether it seemed scared or doped up. (I highly regret my Tiger Kingdom experience in Thailand.)  I did think the poor thing looked confused, almost searching with its eyes as if it was blind. Maybe this is because they normally sleep 18-20 hours a day. 

In the bird sanctuary there were dozens of native Australian exotic birds, as well as a handful of others from around the world. I stayed near the feeders as it seemed to attract the small colorful ones at this time. 

Two Major Mitchell Cockatoo's necking. 

Sun Conures, originally from Colombia 

Green-cheeked conure, from South America.

Indian Ringneck, from India.

While I was being distracted by a bright yellow parrot on my head, a small green parrot was rummaging through my small bag of things and manages to get a hold of my chapstick! He almost flew off with it but luckily, for that bird, I snatched it back in time.

I went to eat at Frogs which sits next to a market full of artwork, leathers and furs, painted boomerangs and didgeridoos. It was established in 1980s in Kurana, but I believe the location has changed. Now, you can sit basically in the rainforest. Large lizards would just seem to pop out of no where right next to someones seat, frozen, not moving an inch, appearing from nowhere. 

A 14-yr old boy playing a didgeridoo. Next to him were two young boys sitting with a coke.
In this moment, the younger of the two boys had grabbed
a few coins from collection and ran off for something. 

Butterfly Exhibit.

Nectar Sucker

There was a historical hotel you could visit.  The shops were endless and yes fascinating, but I was already past my expected spending amount (and I wasn't even to Sydney yet) so I decided no more (unnecessary) shopping. 

BARRON FALLS

I took the skyrail to the first stop at Barron Falls. Pictures don't do it justice, as with much of Australia. While I was here, you can see not much of a 'falls' is happening. But just two weeks later, record breaking torrential rain would flood Barron Falls.  The next station, Red Peak Station, had a small boardwalk with lookouts.

Dedication to aboriginal ranger.

I was back to Cairns and Dreamtime shortly after 5. Took a long nap, packed up for Sydney in the morning, and went out for one last night with the UK and Aussie friends I made. This time two young Japanese fellas joined us as well. They were easily talked into it.

First we went to The Jack, or Union Jack, which was an enormous place with an indoor and outdoor area, huge dance floor, tables, TV screens, areas for games. It looked like a college party's dream. For some reason it was empty, so it looked like it was back to PJ's. 

I was extremely tired on this last night in Cairns, but got caught up in a conversation until nearly 4AM. UK and I began our debates on the future of the planet before even leaving the pub. When we got back we met an extremely level headed, sensible, and well-composed 20 year old who was on a brief break from working with aboriginal children in a remote village in northern Australia. He said it took months for the children and village to trust and accept him. Now it seemed to be the most rewarding, yet often heartbreaking, way to spend his days. The three of us got to talking more about the aboriginals, the stolen generations, westernization, government, corruption, money, China, America, natives, fossil fuels, feminism, white male privilege and the blame they get, ancestors, the future of humanity, the top 1%, aliens, moving to Mars, the shift of it all in the next decades, slow progression, etc. Some very real, and some very scary stuff.  

I had predicted my time in Cairns would be rainy, to the extent of everyday, as I had read February held their heaviest rainfall. Yet, it wasn't until the morning I left for Sydney that the rain came pouring down. This delayed my flight for about an hour, but I wasn't in any rush to leave. 

Cairns gives a completely different side to Australia than what you'll get in the cities. A more rugged, native side to Australia. Although it still has the sense of being a very well developed city, it kept the beach-side vibe. Everything within a few blocks and the ocean never too far. 

My final Australian destination is their largest and most well-known city. Sealing the deal, that Australia truly is my great white buffalo. ^^

Thanks for reading.- K