Hi all, long time no see!

We have been quite busy so haven't had much time to focus on the blog, but we really wanted to share the trip we did to the Great Barrier Reef with you, so here we go!

Since we got off the plane for the first time in Sydney, we were completely sure that we wanted to visit the Great Barrier Reef. Not that there are not any other amazing places to go see in this amazing country, but the reef feels like it's a must! As you know, this place is considered one of the Seven natural wonders of the world, and it is a massive beautiful area (1300 KMs!) off the shore in Queensland with thousands of reefs and islands, corals, turquoise water and colourful fish.

So last Christmas we packed our bags and booked a few days off work to spend 8 days in Queensland, specifically near Cairns, which is one of the closest places to the Barrier Reef. The flight is only around 3 hours from Sydney, but the change of temperature you will notice when you get off the place is crazy! it is so so humid and hot that it feels like you are in the jungle all the time, to the point of taking showers and never drying off completely.


Once there, we headed off to Palm Cove, where we had picked our hotel. There are 3 main places where you can stay which have easy access to the reef: Cairns (the closest place as most boats depart from there, but not very pretty as such), Palm Cove (half an hour drive from Cairns, a gorgeous hippie beach with a few cosy restaurants and hotels and a really good vibe), and Port Douglas (1 hour drive from Cairns, much more modern full of massive hotels and resorts).

It all depends on what type of tourism do you like, and if you don't mind commuting from one place to the other.

We were super lucky because the weather forecast said it was going to storm every single day, but luckily enough we had sun all the time! As it is so tropical it rains 30 minutes then it's sunny then it rains again.

The Great Barrier Reef

Our first plan was obviously to take a transfer to Cairns and do a tour around the reef.

We don't know how do you imagine it, but we thought it would be like super close to the beach. Well not really! the closest island, Green island, which is the one we went to, is 50 minutes by boat. To get to other islands it might take you around 2 hours, though obviously they say it's more amazing if you go deeper in the sea.

Scared of getting very sea sick we only went to Green Island, but there are many tours and options to see the reef: boats that stop in several islands, boats that stop in the middle of the sea so you can dive, helicopters/hydroplanes, hot air ballooning tours, 3 day trips where you can sleep on the boat, etc.  We booked ours the day before through an agency we found in Palm Cove as we wanted to wait for a sunny day and, what is more important, not windy. It is the main business there so don't be scared to  book it quite last minute, unless you want something very specific or you are only going for a couple of days.

Once we arrived to Green island, our pack consisted of a glass boat tour - see picture of the boat below - which lasted 30 minutes, and then free time to snorkel. We have to say even if snorkeling was awesome, the glass boat was the best way by far to see all the amazing fish and corals. The water was very warm, but as you can see on the pictures we rented a wet suit because it was jellyfish season, so we didn't want to risk it.

* Note: the picture of the turtle is not ours but its just so you get the idea and our post looks more exotic lol


We have to say that the experience was amazing, but we wished we weren't scared of scuba diving, as it would have definitely been the best way to see the reef properly. That, or getting an helicopter, but our finances didn't allow it! haha

Before we close this subject, please see this! before getting the boat to Green island, we waited at Cairns port, which was surrounded by loads of trees... which had all these lovely residents hanging from them! we have a few in Sydney but this was just surreal!


Still don't see them? see below more up close! there were like 500 per tree! they are called flying foxes and their size is like the same as a cat!



Palm Cove

As mentioned, we picked this area because it was less touristy than Cairns, much prettier and more cosy, to my opinion, than Port Douglas. We stayed at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, a bit over priced for what you get, but in the perfect location at the end of the beach next to Palm Cove's Jetty.




The beach is beautiful and all along the promenade there are really nice restaurants with great food, which really surprised us as we expected it to be quite average and touristy. You should really have fish if you are there as it was extremely fresh! Our favourite places for dinner were Bella Baci (where we had our Christmas day lunch and had lots of champagne), Vivo Palm Cove (best pink drangonfruit cocktails ever) and The Reefhouse.

There were also free BBQs along the beach so we cooked some burgers one night :)


For non-Australian people like us, one important tip... be aware of the Crocodiles! We are not kidding, we thought this was a myth, but there are signals everywhere warning you to not bathe in the sea. There is a closed area surrounded by nets, which should be pretty safe, but if you don't want to risk it like us, make sure you book a hotel with a big swimming pool!



Kuranda - the Village in the forest

This trip really really exceeded our expectations! Some people had told us to visit Kuranda, but we were a bit lazy to go to the forest being in such a nice beach area. Well, we have to say, this is a must do!

To be honest, the village of Kuranda itself was cute, but for us, the most impressive thing was to take the train there, and then the sky rail back.

We booked a tour so they came pick us up in the morning and dropped us off at Freshwater station, from where the train departs I think a twice a day.  The train is totally vintage, like from the 20's, which makes the experience very unique. It takes around 2 hours to arrive to Kuranda, but honestly it's so entertaining and the views are so amazing that time flies when you are in there! It also stops in a couple of view points in the middle so you can stretch your legs and take pictures.



Once in Kuranda, located in the middle of the rain forest, we took the chance to walk around the town for a couple of hours, and eat some lunch as we were starving! There are really cute shops and colorful buildings, and if you want you can also visit the Koala sanctuary, the bird aviary, the butterfly sanctuary, the reptile park or a couple of museums about the village's history.

And last but not least, we took the amazing Skyrail back, which was incredible. It takes 20 minutes to drop you back at Smithfield terminal, but the views from the 6 people sized cabins are the best, as you literally cross over the heart of the rain forest and see everything from the top. It also makes a couple of stops on the way so you can take some pictures of the views.


Hartleys Crocodile Adventures

In any other situation we would have probably not gone to a reptile park, but honestly we were so glad we did! Hartley's Crocodile Adventures is only 15 minutes drive from both Palm Cove and Port Douglas, and it was so much fun! We had never ever seen so many crocs together and so up close, we were amazed... and scared!

We spent there a good 4 hours, but it was so entertaining! It takes around an hour to walk around the park, but then there are also boat tours around the lagoon that you should totally do.

The boats fit like 15 people and the crazy guy who pilots the boat literally feeds the crocodiles right in front of you! At some point, when we were surrounded by like 10 crocs (300kgs each), some water started coming in the boat and honestly we thought we were going to drown and that that was it! we asked the guy and he laughed!! but luckily when the boat started moving again, the water came out and it was all fine lol.

Apart from that, they also let you get a picture with a koala (we have to say we regret doing it because the poor little things are completely exploited but we wanted to hug one so badlyyy :'( sniff), and you can also see different local animals and even feed kangaroos and wallabies! The last was our favourite part, we literally spent 1 hour chasing them around to get a selfie!



And that was pretty much it, we hope  to have summarized it well enough, so in case you decide to go one day you know what to do!

We are soon travelling to Byron Bay and Thailand, so we will be back soon with some more holiday experiences on this side of the world!
Besos
A&J