Cairns & The Great Barrier Reef

Finally got to the end of my 1st session at AGSM - seems to have dragged on a bit towards the end - and completed my 1st set of exams. All seem to have gone ok, so I guess that I'll hear some positive news on 6th June. I decided to head north, to Cairns & the Great Barrier Reef to enjoy a bit of a vacation - unfortunately Lucy couldn't come due to work commitments. Here's the run-down on my 4 night trip:

Tuesday: Manage to find a cheap & easy way to get to the airport - bonus - and the check-in is painless (I don't even get asked for ID). Flight is an easy 3 hours and upon arrival in Cairns I can immediately feel the change in humidity - even if it is winter! Get picked up by the guys at Calypso Inn (my home for the next few days) and then go for a walk along the promenade into town. Surprised to find that the nearest beach is several kilometers away and all that Cairns has is a a lot of mud - and you can't even go on that due to the risk of crocs! There is a 'lagoon' in the centre of town that acts as a mecca for the sun-worshippers, but to me it just looks like a big paddling pool. Walk around town, visit the museum & regional gallery (neither are particularly interesting) before grabbing a bite to eat in the night market. Decide to save my beer legs and so head to the cinema to watch 21 - not bad, but thought the book (Bringing Down the House) was somewhat better.

Wednesday: An early start to the day as I'm off on a sailboat to tour some of the Great Barrier Reef - my principal reason for been 3,000km away from home! A sailboat - Ocean Free - takes me out to a mooring spot off Green Island and I jump in for a snorkel.... absolutely amazing. It seems like another world is in existence just below the waterline. Decide to do an introductory scuba dive, and that is an awesome experience too - I can see why people get hooked on this stuff - felt like I was walking in space! Meet a guy from Manchester called Steve - he's on the 1st leg of a 5 month tour of Asia / Australia - strike up a bit of conversation & arrange to meet up for beers later in the evening. Have a slow sail back to Cairns - glorious day.
Find myself waiting for the start of the 1st Origin game on a table with an older lesbian couple, and two 18-yr old English lads who have just arrived in Australia (they look about 12!). Very strange conversation.... and I'm somewhat relieved when the game starts, and then Steve arrives to share a few beers. NSW put up a great display & are worthy winners - atmosphere in the bar is electric & I've had a couple of jugs of beer - a great start to the evening!
Decide to go on an organized pub-crawl - $15 gets me entry to a number of places & a free drink in each - well worth it. Start off at the Bohemia Resort (where some drunken bloke buys me a Jaeger Bomber.... dangerous... and I meet someone with "Fuck You" tattooed on his arm.... nice) before heading into the main town to Gilligans (giant back-packer resort...they should cut down on the RnB though), PJ O'Briens (a Coyote Ugly dance-off on the bar.... nice... and snakebites for $6.... better!), Woolshed (literally decked out like a woolshed - probably the best venue of the night) and Cadance (a real pikey place... avoid). By now it's getting on for 3am, and the kick-off in the CL is approaching.... head to the Casino in the hope that it will be open 24hrs.... unfortunately, it must be the only casino in Australia that shuts at 2am.... so it's home to bed. Top night!

Thursday: Sleep through the alarm call for the CL kick-off and so resolve to not find out the result & watch a replay later in the day. Fair to say I've got a rough head today. Meet up with Steve again to watch the CL in PJ O'Briens... have some bar food that looks better than it tastes and settle down to watch what proves to be a good game (certainly compared to other finals I've seen). Pleased Utd win, as I really can't stand Chelsea. Just wonder what drugs ESPN are on in picking their commentary team - never trust an American to come up with good sports coverage.
Sun seems to have come out whilst we've been sat in the dark and dingy bar, so have a slow walk back to the Calypso. Have a very amusing dinner - listening to 2 young girls from Dover tell an American girl about the UK. They rave about the best restaurant - Toby Carvery!?! - and how many roast potatoes their friend can eat. They talk about eurotunnel & it's distant rival eurostar (which apparently takes 11 hours to get from London to Paris). And finally after reeling off a massive list of all the places they have visited (most of europe, USA, Canada & Thailand) they give Tenerife as their favourite destination. I'm almost choking on my food with laughter.....

Friday: Had planned to take the scenic railway out to Kuranda, but the weather is distinctly overcast and the few showers that drench me as I walk into town put me off the idea. Instead, I enjoy a leisurely breakfast and then shelter from the rain by watching 'Gone Baby Gone'.... not a bad effort from Ben Affleck & his brother is looking more like him as he gets older. Spend much of the afternoon reading & chilling out at the Calypso, before the showers relent and I can make it out for a walk along the promenade. Have some great Mexican food for dinner (gorge myself on the $9 all you can eat menu!) and then watch the Manly v St. George game before heading to bed.... my 6am flight tomorrow means that I have to be up at 4.30am to get to the airport in time.... ouch!

I guess to summarize - I had a really good time. The Calypso is a great place to stay if you're looking for 'backpacker style' accommodation, and the staff are really friendly & helpful. Cairns itself is really set-up for back-packers, lots of places to drink beer & party, etc.... but there really isn't that much else to do.... The Great Barrier Reef is of course the major (perhaps only reason) to make it to Cairns.... and that truly is amazing.