Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef.....

Today was a very good day. We had an early start at 6am and were on a boat on the way out to Saxon reef by 8:30. It was quite an exciting journey as it was quite a windy day so the waves were huge... so much so as we pulled away from the harbour the crew began their sea sickness briefing... "how to stop the motion of the ocean getting the best of you" but if you cant the sick bags are kept on the door on your way out to the deck! Im glad to say that we didn't get sea sick, we enjoyed the journey!                    

                                    

                      
After a cup of tea we were then given our snorkeling instructions and given some interesting information on the reef and the creatures we might encounter.

• As Im sure you already know the Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the natural world - and deservedly so.  
• It is larger than the great wall of China and is the only living thing on earth that is visible from space.
• Coral grows around 1cm in height each year. 
• At points during the dive we were diving inches above the coral so were warned to be careful of our fins and not to stand on the reef.
• At the moment it is coming to the end of the jellyfish season, so 'stinger suits' were recommended, sort of like thin wetsuits, not the most attractive item of clothing but better than a jellyfish sting!  
• It is illegal for asthmatics to dive in Qld, so we had no option but to snorkel, but as the reef was so near to the surface of the sea, snorkeling was awesome! 

Saxon reef was the first of 2 dive sites. We hired an underwater camera so once we got the hang of snorkeling amongst the huge waves we actually got some images, so I thought Id share some with you.

              

Stinger suits aren't the most attractive attire. 

                                    
                                    
                                   I held a starfish and a sea cucumber
                                  
Loads more images to be uploaded, so check back very soon =) laters x

All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell 

So this is home for the first part of the journey....

  So this is the house that we are sharing for our first month in Australia, in Cairns, Northern Queensland.

We have a room on the first floor and are sharing with a guy from Switzerland, a couple from Columbia, a guy from France, 2 German girls and I'm unsure about the other 2 girls sharing with us. 

          

                    The view from our window, all the windows have shutters annoyingly!

           

         

         

          The back porch and garden area.

        

The Queenslander houses are fascinating architecturally. I have learned that they are built with consideration to the tropical climate of Queensland, the hot weather and heavy rainfall during the wet season. The houses are generally raised off the floor, with some sort of underhouse storage area and a veranda. 

So these are a few of our neighboring houses....

                                             Next doors curious black cat

this window is directly opposite our bedroom window, with its delightfully 1970's curtains always drawn its very intriguing. Whoever is hiding behind these curtains plays the same little tune on the piano each afternoon. 

                           The mountains in the distance at either end of the street

 Dont lean on the banister as you climb the stairs to the apartment as there are huge green ants that march relentlessly, rain or shine (although in the rain they do more huddling in mass groups in a shelter than marching) up and down the wooden banister on the stairs leading up to our apartment. 

so its bye from us for now, laters x 

All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell

Bats

 So whilst we've been exploring the town we have stumbled upon a particular tree in the town centre that is FILLED with bats! unsure as to what sort of bats they were, they make really loud screeching sounds we of course turned to google and wettropics.gov.au confirmed that they are fruit bats (thankfully not after our blood)haha!not the best shot but you can see them hanging in the tree to the right of the image.

Whilst out and about one evening at around dusk the bats leave their trees to find food...combined with a lovely sunset it was an amazing sight to see. The sky was literally filled with bats.

Unfortunately we stumbled upon this guy, (perhaps concussed / sleeping... nah pretty sure dead) he really gives a perspective of how big each of the bats actually are. 

On the same walk back we also came across a small dead bird outside the local shopping centre. Usually I would not find it necessary to document such a thing, however the location of the bird was so bizarre... see for yourselves   

All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell 

So the suns back .......

After a week of torrential rain and thunderstorms, Cairns had more 154.22m of rain in around 2 hours on the evening of Sunday 18th March as shown below in the local newspaper.

An underground carpark was flooded and was having to drain the water out as shown in the photographs above. 

Although we were lucky as this was really the worst that we saw, on the local news it was documented that the local highway into Cairns was closed due to the flooding..... good job we dont want to leave just yet. 

The rain was so intense we hardly slept at all, I have never seen rain like it. But after chatting to staff at the place that we are staying we are lucky that Cairns didnt a cyclone scare like they did last year with cyclone Yasi. However the Cyclone Plan is still in place on the wall, Scary stuff!! 

                            

   

The harbour front during a dry spell, when it was raining heavily, with the oppressive clouds looming over the mountains. Below you can see how different it looks when the sun is shining! 

I think that what we have taken from experiencing the wet season in the tropical North is that wherever you are in the world, when it rains, it sucks!! 

HOWEVER... the wet season is coming to an end and I am pleased to announce that the sun has now come out and appears to be staying out! Bring on the sunburn! haha. 

The sun has been out for the last few days now so we have had time to enjoy the local town and the lagoon (as Cairns doesnt have a beach, a sea water lagoon pool instead)  So heres a few snapshots of the seafront and the harbour front 

    

      

      

1 of the many free bbq stations on the seafront 

Now the sun is out we have amazing sunsets, check these out....

     

     

Thats it for now as the fillet steaks ready, speak soon =) 

All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell