We arrived in Cairns after about as much sleep you can have in a Greyhound, it was 6:30am and we were hungry, luckily we found a McDonald's not far from the bus station. Over brekky we took in Cairns, it is beautiful city, right on the ocean with a beautiful esplanade with shops, restaurants, flowers growing and swimming lagoons. The lagoons were a necessity, already at 6:30am it was warm and the humidity was at 100%. After brekky we took a cab to our motor camp since the thought of any physical activity in the humidity seemed horrible. The cab ride was cheap and the motor camp was great, we had reserved a tent site however since they had basic cabins with AC available for a $20 upgrade we jumped at the opportunity.
Our cabin was so nice, a queen bed, a small couch, a.c., t.v, and a mini fridge we totally scored. We napped for a few hours then walked from the motor camp to the esplanade, it was a 30min easy walk along the ocean with crazy birds running around and our first crocodile warning signs. We never did see a croc in Cairns, but we did see other cool marine animals like a mud skipper and weld, while the tide was out. We walked through art galleries that showed aboriginal art work which we have found a great love for, and filtered through many cute cafe's. A high light of our days consisted of 50 cent soft serve McDonald's ice cream cones, and gorgeous views of the ocean and tropical rain forest that merged with it.
One morning we woke up early around 6am to take a rainforest hike, and try to beat some of the heat and humidity, silly us we were in the wet tropics and it is that way 24-7. The walk had us go over a muddy river that as we were looking at a local asked if we saw or heard a croc, we said “no” and she told us that there is one around and to not get to close to the edge of the water. Shitt'n croc's can really make you walk faster! Our walk left the river and headed through a beautiful park then for the bush and started to climb. We came to several signs that warned of Cassowary's in this forest and that they may be curious and could possibly attack, the signs then went on to explain that if a Cassowary attacks you should try and put a back pack in front of you since they kick high and drag their massive claw down your middle. How lovely, crocks, cassowary's and pythons everywhere, now I’m a little out of shape but the main reason my heart was beating so fast and my breathing was heavy was not from hiking but was due to all of the dangers we might encounter. Of course we made it to the top of the lookout no problem, I was relieved but Paul really wanted to see a cassowary in the wild. Off the main trail was another trail that was a loop and was longer so we decided to check it out, not long after we left the main trail the grass got waste high and it looked like the last time trail maintenance came through was years ago, we heard some rustling in the bushes and it was something big. After a short while the grass was too long and had too many places for snakes to hide and I'm convinced a Cassowary was stalking us so we turned around. We really feel out of our element hiking here, we do not have gators and Paul does not have boots so bush wacking is a little sketchy. We arrived back at our cabin by about 9am both soaked with sweat and ready to be out of the already hot day.
Since we had so much down time around Cairns we planned out the next phase of our trip. We would rent a car and drive the inland route to Townsville and catch a ferry to Magnetic Island, stay for 3 day's then fly back to Sydney. Townsville is only 4 hours away but we planned on taking 3 days to get there since we there are a few sights to see along the way and we wanted to get back into the bush.
On our last night in Cairns we went out to dinner, I really wanted to try Barramundi fish and Paul also wanted some good sea food (other than fish n chips). We settled on a restaurant and were both extremely pleased with our meals, Paul got the catch of the day which the waiter told us was salmon, but it was a white fish (?, whatever dude) it was good, but we both thought the Barramundi was the best.
Our cabin was so nice, a queen bed, a small couch, a.c., t.v, and a mini fridge we totally scored. We napped for a few hours then walked from the motor camp to the esplanade, it was a 30min easy walk along the ocean with crazy birds running around and our first crocodile warning signs. We never did see a croc in Cairns, but we did see other cool marine animals like a mud skipper and weld, while the tide was out. We walked through art galleries that showed aboriginal art work which we have found a great love for, and filtered through many cute cafe's. A high light of our days consisted of 50 cent soft serve McDonald's ice cream cones, and gorgeous views of the ocean and tropical rain forest that merged with it.
One morning we woke up early around 6am to take a rainforest hike, and try to beat some of the heat and humidity, silly us we were in the wet tropics and it is that way 24-7. The walk had us go over a muddy river that as we were looking at a local asked if we saw or heard a croc, we said “no” and she told us that there is one around and to not get to close to the edge of the water. Shitt'n croc's can really make you walk faster! Our walk left the river and headed through a beautiful park then for the bush and started to climb. We came to several signs that warned of Cassowary's in this forest and that they may be curious and could possibly attack, the signs then went on to explain that if a Cassowary attacks you should try and put a back pack in front of you since they kick high and drag their massive claw down your middle. How lovely, crocks, cassowary's and pythons everywhere, now I’m a little out of shape but the main reason my heart was beating so fast and my breathing was heavy was not from hiking but was due to all of the dangers we might encounter. Of course we made it to the top of the lookout no problem, I was relieved but Paul really wanted to see a cassowary in the wild. Off the main trail was another trail that was a loop and was longer so we decided to check it out, not long after we left the main trail the grass got waste high and it looked like the last time trail maintenance came through was years ago, we heard some rustling in the bushes and it was something big. After a short while the grass was too long and had too many places for snakes to hide and I'm convinced a Cassowary was stalking us so we turned around. We really feel out of our element hiking here, we do not have gators and Paul does not have boots so bush wacking is a little sketchy. We arrived back at our cabin by about 9am both soaked with sweat and ready to be out of the already hot day.
Since we had so much down time around Cairns we planned out the next phase of our trip. We would rent a car and drive the inland route to Townsville and catch a ferry to Magnetic Island, stay for 3 day's then fly back to Sydney. Townsville is only 4 hours away but we planned on taking 3 days to get there since we there are a few sights to see along the way and we wanted to get back into the bush.
On our last night in Cairns we went out to dinner, I really wanted to try Barramundi fish and Paul also wanted some good sea food (other than fish n chips). We settled on a restaurant and were both extremely pleased with our meals, Paul got the catch of the day which the waiter told us was salmon, but it was a white fish (?, whatever dude) it was good, but we both thought the Barramundi was the best.
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