Today we move on to Mission Beach, but before we do, I wanted to reflect on what we've done with our time here in Cairns.

We've had some great adventures. First, we rented a car to drive up the coast through the Daintree Rain Forest and up to Cape Tribulation. Half the adventure was just driving the car as traffic flows on the left and drivers sit on the right side! Jeff was wise enough to clarify that the clutch was still on the left, but we never thought to ask about other controls. As a result, every time we were about to make a turn, Jeff flipped on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signals, haha! Other than that minor detail, he really did an awesome job, although he grew pretty tired of all the round-abouts (they're everywhere...even on the "highways").

The challenge of driving was certainly worth it. We did some hiking through the gorgeous Daintree Rain Forest. It's so lush and green, which of course also comes with some extreme humidity. I've never considered myself a bird-nerd, but Australia has an amazing variety of colorful birds, even in the city of Cairns. Speaking of wildlife in Cairns, I was practically in heaven when we came upon a number of trees filled with BATS. And not little bats either, great big bats called flying foxes. I was even more thrilled when we saw them taking off and filling the sky one night...absolutely amazing! Jeff on the other hand, thinks I'm a little creepy.

Our second adventure was the Great Barrier Reef. It was by far the best snorkeling experience we've ever had. There was so much coral and a huge abundance of fish. Our favorite experience was coming across a school of parrot fish. We swam through the reef with them while they munched on the coral. You could even hear the sound of their beak-like mouths crunching away. Our ship made two stops that day: one at a sandy cay where we found the parrot fish, and another at an open reef in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. The water was a bit rough so we were a little hesitant, but we figured when are we ever going to be here again. Turns out the waves made it even more fun; kind of like snorkeling on a roller coaster! Plus, the reef was plenty deep so there were no worries about crashing into anything. This reef had a huge drop off (just like in Finding Nemo!), which was incredible. My natural reaction was to think I might fall off as if I were standing on a building, so floating above it made it seem very surreal.

Mission Beach is still in tropical Queensland so we're looking forward to some more hiking and definitely some quality beach time. Maybe Jeff will stop glowing the dark! (his words, not mine!!)

~Stefanie