We arrived in Cairns on Friday and enjoyed a quiet evening on the first night. We walked the Esplanade along the waterfront of the city which was all lit up along with the front street where some of the more popular restaurants lie.
The next day we started class at Pro Dive Centers to begin our Open Water certification. We were picked up from our hotel by one of the instructors, Tristan and started class early in the morning. The center itself was a small complex of classrooms with a training equipment storage room and an in-the-ground pool. The staff were all very nice and helpful. We were all a little nervous and excited. We started our day in the classroom and then our afternoon was practical water experience in the pool. The exercises were simple, clearing masks, putting on and replacing equipment in and out of the water at the surface and below. Then we began practicing diving technique. At the center of the pool was a 4 meter deep section. It was there that we practiced techniques for diving. Dana and Forrest were okay but I was unable to stand the pressure on my ear drums. Which was ironic in that I have the least problems with my ears. All that night following the class I had a pressurization in my ears and sinuses since I was not able to equalize.
It was because of this pain I quit the class the next day. Forrest and Dana continued the class the next day while I spent the day exploring the town. Cairns is a very young coastal town. There are dozens of youth hostels and the relatively young population is made up of older teens and young adults from Europe and Japan. The largest contingencies tend to be Germany, Switzerland, England, Ireland and Japan, though we met a lot of different nationals.
After they both passed the coursework in the classroom and pool the second part of certification was on the boat which was a three day overnight trip to do their openwater practicum. I was signed on for snorkel only. The class was a mixed group of certified, those going for advanced and then the largest being the two open water classes. Everyone was very nice and very international. The crew were all very helpful and excited for us all. There was one other snorkeler on the boat, an irish girl who had tagged along with her sister, who was doing the open water course.
The first day on the boat consisted of boating out to the dive sites which took three hours. Once there we placed anchor and the divers got two dives while the rest got to do snorkeling. It was really nice in that after every dive food was available to the passengers to keep our strength up. Dana had a great time and were very excited after their first “real” dives. Forrest was beside himself and very excited and fortunately by the time we got to Cairns his health had improved remarkably. There were a total of 8 dives on the the trip.
While they were doing all this I decided to toak an intro dive to see if in fact I was unable to dive. I went to down to 10 meters and had no problem. When we finished the trip I asked the guys if it would be okay if we changed our last part of the trip (eco resort) so we could stay in Cairns long enough for me to finish my course. They were excited to get more diving in. I went back to the school finished my written course and pool practice and did fine and then we took two one day charters out to complete my open water dives for certification. Forrest and Dana went and did recreational dives. Needless to say I got certified and we celebrated by all going on a dive together. All I can say about diving the Great Barrier Reef is OMFG! What an amazing experience. We were so lucky and privelaged to experience such a thing. The coral reefs were the prettiest we have seen (sea of cortez, Caribbean)
We saw sharks and turtles and lots of other very cool things like snakes and barracudas. The fish were beautiful and the coral absolutely breathtaking with the shapes, sizes and colors.
After that we took a skytrain to Kuranda over the jungle/ rainforest. Kuranda is a jungle village (town) on the other side of this amazing park preserved natural reserve over and through mountains. There were massive trees, ferns, etc some being huge eucalyptus that reached high in the sky. There were wild birds (mostly Australian parrots (cockatoos and cockatiels, lorikeets, conures, etc. ) loud and beautiful in their plumage.
Kuranda itself was fine and we went to a small reserve park and got to hold koalas which was very cool. They are soft and smell like eucalyptus (not overpowering but pleasant).
After that day trip it was time to head back to Sydney. We were all missing Cairns though as much as we like Sydney. The city is in the tropics and a destination for young people all over the world. It had a good energy and was very pleasant and laid back.
When we got to Sydney we all wanted to fight our jet lag and so had a small nap then headed out to the aquarium which was one of the best I have ever been to and then the Australian Maritime History Museum where I found an interesting placard and document on display that lent more to my belief “we” knew about what was going to happen on 9/11 but I wont bore you here. But ask me and I will tell you. While there we went on board the replica of the Discovery (one of Cooks boats while exploring the world) and a cold era British/ Australian destroyer.
After that we enjoyed the city and did some shopping and more site seeing. The flight back to Seattle via San Francisco got us home half an hour after we left in Sydney (time zones) on the 12th of November. We are jet-lagged and missing the sun but very happy to see friends and family who we will be making our way very soon. Just as soon as we recover.
The trip was fantastic and we had our favorite islands and places but Australia took it for me. I think I found a tropical/ sub tropical climate that would work. But we still have a full year to explore. Who knows what fun things and places we will discover.
But more on that to come.
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