We have yet to visit all the wonders of the world. Hardly surprising, really, given the bewildering range of nominations for a place on contemporary lists. But here in Cairns, we pulled on some rather snazzy lycra suits and face masks, dived into the Pacific Ocean and ogled at the most beautiful collection of ocean reef life we could ever have imagined. In the currency of natural wonder, the Great Barrier Reef is pure gold.

But it took some training to get there. For Nat, atleast. Most reading this (going on the assumption that it's only our mothers dearest committed to our smug ramblings) will know Nat is no confident swimmer. And she hates swimming with fish. For each of these reasons, she has never snorkelled. Not even attempted it.

But clearly no trip to Cairns - one of the most popular launch towns to the Reef - would be complete without atleast one dip in the water and a sneaky peak for Nemo. So within an hour of arriving at our YHA hostel in Cairns after a morning flight over the Sunshine Coast from Brisbane, we'd booked two trips. First, a day trip to Green Island for an introduction to snorkelling in some gentle coral cay waters - and some sunning and indulging thrown in for good measure. Then, a whole day at a coral lagoon off the Marine World pontoon. It included some glass bottom boat tours, and all the buffet food Bret could manage. It came at a cost, but we dug out those dollars from Mum and Dad Stallwood.

For the rest of our first day we wandered around the city. It may not have a beach but the mudflats and mangroves along the Esplanade foreshore have been recently replaced with a rather swanky development of parks and a saltwater lagoon which was quite nice to swim in. After that Bret discovered he's actually a natural didgeridoo player at a shop selling the instruments. Who'd have thought?

There were lots of touristy bars and restaurants around too but we opted instead to cook a pizza from Woolworths back at the hostel which we ate beside the pool.

Up bright and early on Wednesday we were pleased the weather man had done as all good weather men do, and got predictions wrong. Instead of clouds and rain, the sky was perfectly clear as we boarded a fast catamaran to Green Island. Green Island is actually a beautiful coral cay 45 minutes from Cairns and has a rainforest interior, a fringing white-sand beach and opportunity to snorkel just offshore. As soon as we reached the jetty, we hung around for a glass bottom boat tour to get started. That first sight of the coral and amazingly coloured fish and turtles was pretty incredible.

After that we took a self-guided eco tour around the uninhabited island. Setting off like adventurers we failed to read the small print that said it would only take 30 minutes to walk around the entire island... Good job the weatherman got it wrong, as we're sure this little patch of paradise would heave under the weight of daytrippers if the boats here today had been filled to capacity. Instead there were just a handful of tourists pitching up at their patch of sand and relaxing between snorkelling sessions.

We stopped for lunch at the lone restaurant shack and then hired some snorkelling equipment. With it being stinger season we were encouraged to hire full body lycra suits. Seemed a bit extreme, but once we were reliably informed that people had died having ignored the advice previously, we didn't need to be told twice.

After some embarrassing sloshing about in the flippers, and some concerned looks from the lifeguards, it turned out Nat was a bit of natural. Bret, on the other hand, was rather grateful of the rest stations bobbing about offshore as he got used to it. Who needs to be an expert digeridoo player now, eh?!

We saw some really impressive coral and marine life in the shallow waters - including a blue spotted ray swimming around us. And we stayed long enough to look like prunes as we returned our snorkels, and boarded the boat feeling more confident about the next day.

Sadly, the weather board at the hostel came displayed a big warning when we got up on Thursday.

'Gales.

By the time we got back to the harbour for another big catamaran out to the Reef, we were informed by staff we were in for an 'interesting' ride. With winds at 30 knots we were all advised to take anti-sickness tablets. Within a few minutes, most of the passengers were lined up at the back of the catamaran as staff dashed around handing out sick bags. Thankfully, once we reached the Reef the wind settled down.

First we went for the glass bottom boat tour, and couldn't quite believe what secrets were hiding under the ocean's surface. It really was like a Disney movie down there.

Back on the pontoon we signed up for a guided snorkel tour. A marine biologist took us out over the reef to see boulder coral, spaghetti coral, antler coral and more fish than we could possibly imagine. She dove down a couple of times to pick some up for us to see closer, and offered some descriptions of what we could see. Bret was first to spot Nemo -nearly choking on his snorkel in the process.

After that we had some lunch - it was a buffet so Bret was in his element. He claims he ate too much though - at least that was his excuse when Nat was swimming circles around him back in the water in the afternoon. Then the really big fish were fed as we were still in the water with them which was a little bit creepy, but the fish were really friendly and some even liked to be stroked! Before we boarded the catamaran back to Cairns, we went on a semi-submersible boat to see the coral wall a bit further away, as well as sharks and more turtles.

We were shattered by the time we headed back to Cairns. But our first coral reef experience was a huge success, and we only hope it won't be our last. Needless to say, a huge thankyou to Mum and Dad Stallwood for a birthday treat we'll never forget. We couldn't recommend Marine Magic's Marine World enough either, for a hassle free day out on the Reef.

As much as we would've loved to have blown the budget on another day at the Reef, we opted to head to another great sight in this part of Australia yesterday - the rainforest. We were picked up by transfer bus to head to the Skyrail, an impressive cable car which offered an excellent bird's eye view of the tropical rainforest canopy below - and the Reef in the distance. It absolutely chucked it down just as we boarded but we figured what better way to experience the rainforest than in the, er, rain. There were a couple points on the way up where we could get off for a brief guided walk in the forest. With the rain hammering down so hard we could barely hear our guide, but it also brought out some fantastic water-loving forest creatures. Turns out the overwhelmingly vast forest is one of the world's most important rainforests - with many ancient species living and growing there, in case you're interested!

The Skyrail came to an end at a tiny little town called Karunda. It was extremely touristy, with plenty of shops selling souvenirs, but we enjoyed a browse and stopped for lunch as well. One gallery of aboriginal art was especially nice and we were annoyed we couldn't buy any of the canvasses - maybe next time!

We took the Scenic Railway back to Cairns. A very slow train took a rather pleasant route through the forest, with a couple of stops for photos of the dramatic scenery. It was again quite touristy, but the journey was really relaxing, and there was a decent commentary about how the railway was impressively constructed - albeit in extremely dangerous conditions.

We had planned to hang around a few more days in Cairns and take another trip to Cape Tribulation - again further north up the coast - today, but a few people had said Port Douglas town was worth a visit. As it was in the direction our Cape Tribulation trip would take us anyway, we decided to start the tour from Port Douglas instead to reduce the time spent on a bus on the day of the tour. The idea was sold when we called a Port Douglas hostel that agreed to pick us from Cairns for free - and return us to Cairns Airport in a couple of days as well.

So here we are now waiting for someone from Dougie's hostel to collect us for our last stop in Australia. The last few days here in Cairns have been incredible. We're sure there are lots more things to see and do, and we know we've not had our fill of the Great Barrier Reef. But we leave knowing there's more to discover when we come back - one day. Now though, there are so many more wonders we want to see first…