My Hero!

The dive trip was quite possibly one of the best things i've ever done, ever. Finishing my degree, getting married, buying a house, and doing this dive trip (Pro Dive Cairns - woohoo!) -- definitely among my top things not regretted.

The second night dive was impeccable. My depth and air: fantastic. We went with W and S in a foursome and I finally got to see giant clams! We also had FIVE sightings of SHARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Most of them, the ones around the boat, were just about a metre long. The one we found in the bommies was over a metre long and was swimming around our foursome. I saw a red cod chase the little fishies in our torch beams and a lot of leopard-spotted sea cucumbers. The Boy saw the little red shrimp eyes hiding in the coral.

Our third and final day of diving was jam-packed and wistful. I was still powering through my air on the first two dives and it wasn't until then that one of the divemasters suggested breathing in for 3 counts and out for 7, instead of equal inhales and exhales. I spent the entire last dive counting and The Boy and I were finally on par with our air management. We saw tons of anemonefish and beautifully coloured parrot fish, more giant clams, one very sad dead giant clam, more sharks and turtles, and billions of other little colourful fishies. I love diving!!

Upon our return to Cairns, we promptly melted from the stifling humidity and checked into our new hostel. We walked in and were immediately like "oh, crap." But after some investigation work, we figured out how to make the air conditioning function and it's really not that bad. I mean, our first hostel in Cairns was bug-ridden. This one is dusty but at least (so far) bug-free!We had dinner and drinks with our dive group at Rattle and Hum and then came back to crash in our (finally) cool room.

This morning we woke up at a groggy 7:06 for our day trip to Daintree Forest and Cape Tribulation. It was really beautiful even though I felt regretful for not having taken another gravol this morning. I still (STILL!) feel like we're on a boat. We took the scenic route on the Pacific Highway, had morning tea in the Daintree (well, The Boy had morning coffee, and I had nothing because who wants to drink something boiling hot when you're already melting in the sun?), and then went on a small cruise along the Daintree River to go crocodile hunting!

We saw three crocs: one baby one about two years old and only about 30 cm, apparently still too small to do anything and still considered food for some of the larger fish, one mini about four years old, and one big 4m long one (well, we only saw the head but the skipper told us - the croc is named Scarface to the River folk) about 11 years old. We walked through the rainforest on one of the marked walks and looked at scary-looking leaves and even saw a lizard on a tree. We walked through the stinky swampy area and saw the cool snorkel roots of the trees gasping for air.

On to Cape Tribulation, the only place in the world where the rainforest meets the reef. It was really cool! We weren't allowed to go swimming, though, because it's stinger season. We walked down the beach instead and explored little (and one big!) holes ostensibly made by tiny crustaceans. Then, we had lunch! It was alright. There was a whole spider garden at the restaurant.. spiders the size of my hand. BLECH.

On our way back, we stopped at a few lookouts and Mossman Gorge and Port Douglas. In Mossman Gorge, there were signs everywhere to not go swimming, it's dangerous, etc, but other people were in it. So we jumped in at a fairly calm looking space between some rocks, where the current wouldn't get us.

I heard a whole smattering of spanish next to me and then all of the sudden, The Boy says "no, don't do that. let go of me. don't hang on to me." Some Colombian had apparently smacked his leg on a pile of rocks and panicked and tried to drag The Boy down. Thankfully, My Hero talked him down, helped him get to the edge where he could grab some grass and then hung out with him for about 15 minutes until the guy could get back to the sandy part safely. Amazing. THEN we realized that the pile of people hanging out on the opposite side of the gorge weren't playing, they were STUCK there. Five people had to be rescued by the group of kayakers that just HAPPENED to be in the area. WOW. Listen to the signs! But I guess, when else do you get the chance to swim in the rainforest?

Port Douglas was lovely, but really catered to tourists. We didn't spend much time there, just a little bit of wandering and coffee. For dinner tonight we went to Paddywhack's, and my faith is somewhat renewed in kangaroo and crocodile meat. We had a "tasting" at our first Cairns hostel and they were disgusting, but it was possibly because it was extremely overcooked. I'd never order it again, but at least the restaurant prepared it properly and it tasted passable. We also tasted an emu sausage, grilled barramundi (the fish that eat baby crocodiles!), and bread with fire-germinated wattle seeds. Don't ask me to explain it, the waiter's accent was too strong. We finished it off with the BEST possible gelati. Great day for the vacation. The Boy is a Hero :)