Day 36 –Cairns & Green Island
Travel Location: Green-Island,Australia
Cairns is tropical and thus the weather is warm. We felt that the temperature here is easier to handle than the heat in the middle of the country. It is more like Malaysia where it is around 30 degrees and humid. The plan to come to Cairns is to go diving on the Great Barrier Reef. However, we were not able to make bookings last night due to our late arrival. Most dive boats leave in the early mornings (before 8 am) because the nicer outer reef dive places are 30 to 40 km from the coast. The choices were either to stay in the town or take a ferry ride to Green Island which is part of the Great Barrier Reef.
We took the ferry and by 11 am we were on the way to Green Island. The island has on the eastern side a national park and on the western side is the docking of the ferry and other one day trip boats. The swimming on snorkelling is limited to the beaches around the western side. The island itself has a pool, restaurants and some shops. We took our snorkelling gear and made our way to the beach. The water was warm. The visibility was a about 10 meters. There were plenty of fishes of all kind of sorts, some amazingly big for so close to the coast and with so many people around. We were told that the best place to snorkel is below the ferry terminal as the fishes look for the shade. That’s what we did and that’s where we got the best views.
In the evening we booked a camping ground. We stayed at the one closest to the city which yesterday did not allow us to come in late. The facilities were great, the camp kitchen is pretty new and the amenities clean. The park was, we guess because of the location, pretty full. However, the service is a bit strange. Have you ever seen the Seinfeld episode “the soup nazi”? That’s where the customers step forward, say what they want and take a step to the side. If you would not follow, you would be banned from the shop. However, the owner gets away with it because his soup is so fantastic. We felt a bit the same during the check-in, you answered the questions, paid your fee. If someone talked too loud they were shushed and of course if you come too late, you are not admitted.
For the night out in Cairns we decided to take a 3 km walk to the City Centre. We walked along one of the main streets and found the night market. Apart from the usual souvenirs that can be found anywhere in Australia, there are some nice shops with unique things. Shenanigans was the pub we ended up having a beer at. There was good music and a nice mix of locals and tourists.
