week three
once again....... more pictures! ------> click
Sept 13th.
bound and determined to get in the ocean, we braved so-called choppy conditions and waded into the surf despite warnings posted of a strong northern sweep. the waves tossed us out and our sore ankle and knee suffered just trying to survive the thrashing. it was fun to be tossed around but in no way was it relaxing. as a result of conditions, we decide to forego our first shot at a surfing lesson and head on to cairns with a two day stop-off in brisbane.
Sept 14th.
had a great breakfast on the ocean before we leave for brisbane that would later be referred to as the "crack" french toast. we arrive in brisbane by bus early in the afternoon and the day turned into a culinary delight as we opted for a b.y.o. chinese food restaurant and risked it all, ordering the "sizzling szechuan spicy beef." no question, it was my favourite meal in australia thus far. finished our bottle of cab-sauv in good time and headed to the beer garden attached to our hostel for a few games of pool. two locals joined us for a game and offered a drink and some lively conversation which helped the booze flow and before we knew it, po and i were 3 sheets to the wind.
Sept 15th.
awoke to the realization that we are extremely hung over. i couldn't even stomach lunch and saved my sandwich for after our nap. in search of a plate of nachos, we stroll along brisbane's picturesque river that snakes around the city core. snapped a few photos of the architecture and bridge, found our nachos and headed to catch the last act of a street festival going on nearby. the show was 2 guys scratching records with a live drummer and they weren't half bad.
Sept 16th.
caught the flight to cairns with no trouble, expect to be on the ground by 2pm. the forecast is 26C and clear with a chance of aerial photos of the great barrier reef!
Sept 17th.
booked a tour of kuranda village and a snorkel trip to the reef for this week. walked downtown in search of lunch and on the way home, stopped to catch a festival-ending parade through town and snapped some cool blurry photos.
Sept 18th.
headed to kuranda village which is buried in the tropical rainforest 20km outside cairns. on the way in we took a gondola that took us high over the rich green mountains that line the coast here. the views were great and we spotted a wild cockatoo on the tip of a dead tree 20m tall as he flexed open his brilliant yellow mohawk.
the gondola stopped at a massive waterfall (270m) called the barren falls -- of which we would later get much better views from the train on the way back. not surprisingly though, kuranda was not exactly an aboriginal paradise... it was developed and packed with tourist trap shops and attractions.
Sept 19th.
LAZY DAY.
Sept 20th.
our first trip to the reef. made our way out to upolu cay reef on a small (and slow) catamaran boat uncreatively named the 'reef daytripper'. there were only about 12 people there despite the capacity of 20 passengers. the winds were strong enough to toss both our stomachs but we fought it back and managed to get a good snorkel session in before lunch. i choked down some buffet food in an attempt to quell my nausea. i fought my instincts and spent another 40 mins in the water but poeli couldn't eat much or get back in the water again on the day.
as i floated around in the water i saw some amazing sharp blue coral and plenty of schools of fish but without an underwater camera, i was limited to pictures of the reef from above water and the tropical mountains on the horizon.
Sept 13th.
bound and determined to get in the ocean, we braved so-called choppy conditions and waded into the surf despite warnings posted of a strong northern sweep. the waves tossed us out and our sore ankle and knee suffered just trying to survive the thrashing. it was fun to be tossed around but in no way was it relaxing. as a result of conditions, we decide to forego our first shot at a surfing lesson and head on to cairns with a two day stop-off in brisbane.
Sept 14th.
had a great breakfast on the ocean before we leave for brisbane that would later be referred to as the "crack" french toast. we arrive in brisbane by bus early in the afternoon and the day turned into a culinary delight as we opted for a b.y.o. chinese food restaurant and risked it all, ordering the "sizzling szechuan spicy beef." no question, it was my favourite meal in australia thus far. finished our bottle of cab-sauv in good time and headed to the beer garden attached to our hostel for a few games of pool. two locals joined us for a game and offered a drink and some lively conversation which helped the booze flow and before we knew it, po and i were 3 sheets to the wind.
Sept 15th.
awoke to the realization that we are extremely hung over. i couldn't even stomach lunch and saved my sandwich for after our nap. in search of a plate of nachos, we stroll along brisbane's picturesque river that snakes around the city core. snapped a few photos of the architecture and bridge, found our nachos and headed to catch the last act of a street festival going on nearby. the show was 2 guys scratching records with a live drummer and they weren't half bad.
Sept 16th.
caught the flight to cairns with no trouble, expect to be on the ground by 2pm. the forecast is 26C and clear with a chance of aerial photos of the great barrier reef!
Sept 17th.
booked a tour of kuranda village and a snorkel trip to the reef for this week. walked downtown in search of lunch and on the way home, stopped to catch a festival-ending parade through town and snapped some cool blurry photos.
Sept 18th.
headed to kuranda village which is buried in the tropical rainforest 20km outside cairns. on the way in we took a gondola that took us high over the rich green mountains that line the coast here. the views were great and we spotted a wild cockatoo on the tip of a dead tree 20m tall as he flexed open his brilliant yellow mohawk.
the gondola stopped at a massive waterfall (270m) called the barren falls -- of which we would later get much better views from the train on the way back. not surprisingly though, kuranda was not exactly an aboriginal paradise... it was developed and packed with tourist trap shops and attractions.
Sept 19th.
LAZY DAY.
Sept 20th.
our first trip to the reef. made our way out to upolu cay reef on a small (and slow) catamaran boat uncreatively named the 'reef daytripper'. there were only about 12 people there despite the capacity of 20 passengers. the winds were strong enough to toss both our stomachs but we fought it back and managed to get a good snorkel session in before lunch. i choked down some buffet food in an attempt to quell my nausea. i fought my instincts and spent another 40 mins in the water but poeli couldn't eat much or get back in the water again on the day.
as i floated around in the water i saw some amazing sharp blue coral and plenty of schools of fish but without an underwater camera, i was limited to pictures of the reef from above water and the tropical mountains on the horizon.
posted by scott at
10:15 PM
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