Australia, Stop 2: Cairns, 14 Aug - 15 Aug

Cairns, our second stop in Australia, was really just a launching point for our real destination, The Great Barrier Reef, which deserves a post of its own. Nevertheless, Cairns was very beautiful in its own right, with its tropical temperatures and bright sunshine. If I could steal one thing about Cairns and bring it to Wellington, it wouldn't be the crazy party scene at night (which got a bit tiresome after a short while), nor would it be the curious little lung fish that crawled and twisted on the mud awkwardly like little, slimey sock puppets with no feet. No, it'd be the flippin' nice, warm, slightly humid, comfortable-in-your-shorts-and-sandals weather of the place! We walked around the small little town pretty quickly, and opted not to go to the botanical gardens because we've seen enough of those and just chilled a bit. But it was definitely nice to stroll lazily through the tropical warmth that was Cairns. It really felt like we were on holiday at this point, just relaxing! Indeed it was a great little break before our next adventure to come in Port Douglas, just an hour by shuttle north of Cairns (where our boat charter to the Great Barrier Reef would be)!