"Depending on which sources you consult, the Great Barrier Reef covers 280,000 square kilometers or 334,000 or something in between; stretches 1,200 miles from top to bottom, or 1,600; is bigger than Kansas or Italy or the United Kingdom. Nobody can agree really on where the Barrier Reef begins and ends, though everyone agrees it's awfully big. Even by the shortest measure, it is equivalent in length to the west coast of the United States. And it is of course an immensely vital habitat - the oceanic equivalent of the Amazon rainforest. The Great Barrier Reef contains at least 1,500 species of fish, 400 types of coral and 4,000 varieties of mollusks, but those are essentially just guesses. No one has ever attempted a comprehensive survey. Too big a job.
Because it consists of some 3,000 separate reefs and over 600 islands some people insist that it is not a single entity and therefore cannot accurately be termed the largest living thing on earth. That seems to me a little like saying that Los Angeles is not a city because it consists of lots of separate buildings. It hardly matters. It is fabulous. And it is all thanks to trillions of little coral polyps working with a dedicated and microscopic diligence over 18 million years, each adding a grain or two of thickness before expiring in a self-created silicate tomb. Hard not to be impressed."
- In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
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Snorkling at the Great Barrier Reef |
My brother and sister-in-law are currently traveling around Australia and New Zealand for a couple weeks. Last week I met them in Cairns (pronounced "Cans") for some snorkeling and rainforest exploring and then they came down to Melbourne with me for a couple days before heading over to Auckland. I hadn't seen them since moving abroad (~17 months ago) and so it was great to spend some time with them and catch up. Plus I've wanted to go to the Great Barrier Reef for years and hadn't made it yet since moving to Oz. Unfortunately Ross couldn't come as he is leaving for Antarctica for a month of field work tomorrow (12/4).
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Cairns Botanic Garden |
I arrived in Cairns about four hours before Dylan and Lauren so I picked up our rental car and went to the
Cairns Botanic Garden. I hadn't realized how small Cairns is, so I was pleasantly surprised to realize that the Botanic Garden was only about 10 minutes from the airport. It was really nice to see so many flowers and to get some walking in after the 3.5 hour flight from Melbourne. Once I got Dylan and Lauren from the airport, we headed to our AirBnb (which was awesome!) and then grabbed dinner on the waterfront in downtown Cairns. The best part of the evening was watching a ton of Flying Foxes (humongous bats) cruising around between the trees while we were having dinner.



Sunday we spent the day snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. We booked our trip through
Diver's Den and had a great time. Somehow I didn't get seasick on the ride to or from the reef, which is crazy because I get seasick sitting in my in-law's motorboat on reservoirs in Colorado... The reef was incredible. The blues were unbelievable and there were so many fish and they were soooo big! We stopped at a couple different locations on Norman Reef and I spent every minute that I could in the water. In addition to a myriad of tropical fishes, I also saw a couple sea turtles and a white tip reef shark. We ended up meeting a bunch of cool people on the boat and went out to dinner with four of them once we got back to Cairns.
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On the way out to the reef |
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Green Sea Turtle |
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White tip reef shark |
On Monday we drove north to Daintree National Park. We had initially been shooting for the
Daintree Discovery Center but we didn't realize how far it was or that we would have to pay to ferry the car across the Daintree River to get to it. So we went to the
Mossman Gorge section of Daintree Nat'l Park instead and it was gorgeous. It was incredibly hot and humid so we only went for a short hike but it was amazing.
From there we drove back to Cairns, got popsicles and watched the flying foxes that were roosting in the trees in front of the public library until we had to return the car and head to the airport for our flight back to Melbourne. There were hundreds of flying foxes in just a couple trees; it was crazy and awesome!


We didn't get back to my apartment until after 1 a.m., so needless to say, we had a later start on Tuesday. We started off at the
Queen Victoria Market for some lunch and browsing. Dylan and Lauren both had their first Australian meat pies and quite enjoyed them. Next we went up to look at some Victorian houses, including a gorgeous, old house that is used in one of Lauren's favorite Netflix shows (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries). From there we headed back into the CBD and wondered around the
laneways (tons of street art/graffiti) and
Federation Square. We went back to my apartment for a light dinner and then we went down to see the
penguins on the St. Kilda Pier. We lucked out and saw probably 30. After that we stopped at one of the European cake shops (Le Bon - my fav!) on
Acland street for a late dessert.
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Hosier Lane |
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AC/DC Lane |
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AC/DC Lane |
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Giant Christmas Tree in Federation Square |
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Penguin! |
On Wednesday, we started off at the
Shrine of Remembrance and then headed into the
Royal Botanic Gardens. It was forecast to be a very hot day (and it was), so after the gardens we went to the
National Gallery Victoria (NGV International) and went on a free tour of the collections. From there we went to the Ian Potter Centre which hosts the NGV Australian collection. We also stopped by the
State Library and then had pho at my favorite, hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Chinatown for dinner. From there, it was back to my apartment so that Dylan and Lauren could pack for the New Zealand part of their adventure.
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Shrine of Remembrance |
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Royal Botanic Gardens |
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NGV International |
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Yarra River |
It was a very busy five days but I had a great time visiting and traveling with my brother and sister-in-law. It was nice to be able to show them some of the city and country that I now call home.