Great Barrier Reef

Day 21
After arriving at my hostel (Global Backpackers Cairns) very early, I put my luggage in storage and hung out in their Netflix room and took a nap for about 2 hours. I had brekkie in the hostel kitchen which had an outside seating area overlooking the lagoon in Cairns. I started chatting with a German girl (Melina) and we decided to walk around together and see the town for the day. Before leaving the hostel Melina stopped at the travel desk at reception and was able to get booked onto the same Great Barrier Reef day tour as me. I booked mine through Tripadvisor doing a 2 day deal, first day being the Great Barrier Reef and second day being Cape Tribulation (a rainforest). We then walked around the town and came across Rusty’s Market, which was a semi outdoor market with jewelry, clothing and hemps (aussies word for lots) of fruits and vegetables from local farmers. They were really good and cheap. We went to the grocery store to pick up some snacks and lunch and then went back to the hostel to eat. I was able to check in at 2pm, after settling in, I put on my bathing suit to go to the lagoon to swim and hang out for the afternoon. Unfortunately, right when I went outside it started raining and it continued all afternoon. So I took the time to write more blog posts and relax before going to get dinner. For dinner we went to the night market right next to the hostel which had souvenir shops and food stands. We got pho from one of the stands and watched some young aboriginal kids (the native Australian people) dance. We needed to get up a little before 7am the next day so after hanging out a little we both headed to bed.

Day 22
Melina and I met in the hostel kitchen where we had brekkie and then headed to the docks where the boat departed for the Great Barrier Reef. The staff showed us where to sit for the beginning of the trip (to be able to watch the safety demonstration) and we were given complimentary tea and coffee. We went upstairs to get our snorkeling gear and wetsuit and were given a locker to keep it in so that the inside of the boat didn’t get wet. The trip out to the first reef stop was a little over an hour long. We started chatting with a girl from Oklahoma (Jordan) and she was a solo traveling who had just landed in Cairns a couple days before from the US. When we were close to our first stop, the three of us got geared up and went to the top of the boat for a snorkeling demonstration. The water was perfect temperature and salty, just like everywhere else. Gaby has been to the Great Barrier Reef before and warned me that a lot of it was dead and not filled with colors like you would expect. It was worse than what I was expecting, hardly any color but still so huge. After about an hour swimming around we got back on the boat and had some lunch which included steak, prawns, white fish, salads and pasta salads. Then it was off to our next and final reef spot. This one I thought was better than the first stop, it was bigger and had a little bit more color to it. I was really excited to see sea turtles, stingrays and reef sharks while snorkeling, but unfortunately I saw nothing but fish. Of course the Great Barrier Reef is a must visit while in Australia, and I don’t regret going, but it was definitely the most disappointing part of my trip to date since I feel like it is always talked up. It’s really sad how dead all of it is and it may have been better if I did a trip that was overnight and stopped at reefs that were further out in the ocean that may be more colorful. We headed back to the hostel to freshen up and then Jordan, Melina and I grabbed dinner at a restaurant across from the hostel and then called it an early night because I had another tour the following morning.Read more