Another fine day in Cairns. After a quiet start, we took a walk to find a post office to send some post cards, and then headed for the marina.
We’d booked a tour at the very civilised time of 11am to the Great Barrier Reef on the “Reef Rocket“, a fast catamaran that gets you from Cairns to Green Island in about 45 minutes.
My sister and her family had done the same trip a week and a half earlier, in choppy conditions, necessitating the purchase of travel sickness pills (handily available from the boat’s kiosk). I wasn’t feeling 100%, but no need for those.
The weather was lovely, the water was still, and the trip was smooth. On arrival at Green Island we had a walk around for a bit.
We had a glass bottom boat tour booked for 1:15pm, which was good fun, though it’s alarming that our guide had to ask some parents to not let their kid walk on the glass. C’mon guys, the rest of the world doesn’t have to put up with your kids running amok. You’re a parent. So parent.
Because the water was calm we could see heaps of coral and fish, especially when they dropped in some fish food, sending the fish into a frenzy.
Good fun, then we did a tour on a semi-submersible boat. Basically the bottom half is built with glass windows so you sit in the bottom of it and can see straight out. Again, plenty to see… though coral isn’t as colourful in real life as it sometimes is in photos.
Somehow we’d missed having lunch, and my sister had warned me about the expensive food shops on Green Island and the $12 mediocre sandwich. But I was pretty hungry by this point and went for it anyway. Definitely not spectacular, but perfectly edible.
We walked around for a bit and found a quiet spot on the beach to rest and relax.
Other sights when exploring: warnings about various natural hazards…
…and (Dad joke alert): the Great Barrier Reel.
By 4:15pm we were on the ferry back.
Dinner was at a Thai restaurant we’d heard about when we first got to Cairns, as it was close to the first hotel. Very delicious… which made up for the fact that I still wasn’t feeling 100%.
But tomorrow we’d be heading back to Melbourne.
Post script: Number of aging Gen Xers who recognised The Goodies logo on my t-shirt today and got all nostalgic about it: 2.
2 replies on “Green Island and the GBR”
Another day in paradise. Looks wonderful – very tropical.
I’m surprised to see Swimming not advised sign – So you can no longer snorkel on the GBR?
@Roger, you can still snorkel, you just need to choose your location carefully! Only some of the beaches on Green Island have these warning signs. For other spots it’s fine.