Wednesday, August 12.

We stayed in tropical Far North Queensland for a total of 6 nights — we split up that time between Port Douglas (relaxed, resort-y town) and Cairns (tourist-y). So we didn’t do much this day except switch hotels to the Shangri-La in the morning. The best part about our new hotel was the FREE internet access. I guess I’m a huge dork because this made me ecstatic! 😀

The hotel was more modern and updated (compared to the Sheraton in Port Douglas) so that was a big YAY too.

I needed some random toiletries so we decided to explore downtown Cairns. And guess what we found? Target! But alas. It was a huge disappointment. The store we went to only had clothing and housewares from what I can remember but I wasn’t impressed by the products or the quality. When we got home, a friend of mine told me that Target stores in Australia have the rights to the name and logo but are owned by a completely different corporation than the ones in the US. Totally explains why it just didn’t “feel” like a Target.

We finally found a drugstore, though, and I totally giggled like a crazy person when I saw these…

I beg to differ. Starburst does not suck! HEE.

There really isn’t a true beach in downtown Cairns so instead the city has the Esplanade Lagoon that’s open to the public.

Later that day, we checked out the Night Markets, which was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. It’s basically a swap meet filled with cheesy Aussie souvenirs and one random aisle devoted to Chinese massages (???). I got a kick out of these sheepskin boots. They’re half as tall as I am!

At this point, we had been in Australia for a week and had watched enough TV to know that Law and Order: UK was premiering that night. So of course we did what any TV loving couple would do and made sure we finished our yummy Italian dinner to make it back to the hotel in time. LOL! I mean, come on. It was starring Jamie Bamber. 😀

Thursday, August 13.

Rob’s 31st Birthday! And we were heading out to the Great Barrier Reef to go snorkeling with Calypso!!

We left the marina at about 9am and were promptly served coffee and pastries as we headed out to the reef. We were going to 3 different sites and had roughly about 45 minutes to an hour at each. It took 90 minutes to get to our first site and when we arrived, we promptly grabbed our fins, masks, and noodles and headed into the water. I’m not a very confident swimmer so I stayed right by the boat the whole time. Hee. The water was incredibly clear and we saw tons of fish. I couldn’t tell you what most of them were, though…

… Except for this Napoleon wrasse, which scared the living daylights out of me. I was looking off to the side and then all of a sudden, it was swimming in my direction. I’m pretty sure I hid behind Rob for a few seconds. It was actually really friendly — it let us get close and pet it. It was really slimy.

At our last snorkeling site, I totally gave myself a mini panic attack. There was A LOT of coral at this site and the waves were stronger as well. I tried to swim around the coral but the waves kept propelling me towards it. Argh. I felt like I wasn’t going anywhere so I freaked out thinking I couldn’t get back to the boat. I had to take my snorkel off because I felt super claustrophobic all of a sudden. *sigh* I’m such a wimp. Luckily, Rob found me and I felt safer with him swimming next to me.

Despite all that, snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef was an amazing experience and before we knew it, the day was over and we were back in Cairns.

Rob wanted steak for his birthday dinner so we ended up at Barnacle Bill’s. My seafood jambalaya was pretty forgettable but Rob had the most amazing fries with his steak. Seriously. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned before that overall I wasn’t too fond of the food in Australia but every time we happened to have fries with a meal, they were fan-freaking-tastic. Who knew?!

More pictures on the Flickr:
Cairns
Great Barrier Reef

Up next (someday): Atherton Tablelands