Australia, Stop 2.5: Port Douglas + Opal Reef, 15 Aug - 18 Aug

The weather was a bit wintery upon arrival, but it was still relatively warm compared to Melbourne or Wellington. It even rained a little bit that night, but I was still able to walk around in shorts and a light shirt, which was nice... almost forgot that it could be warm while it was raining thanks to Wellington! =) Anyways, we ate dinner at a Mexican Restaurant called "Tortillas" on the main street of Port Douglas, which was chock full of touristy shops where you could book trips out to the Great Barrier Reef. This little town was actually very beautiful in its own right - you could just feel that it was a more exclusive town than Cairns, like old, rich people lived there or something.

Afterwards, we hit up a local pub down the street a bit for a quick beer, near the Anzac Park (about a 3 minute walk away). A live band was playing so that drew us in. I think this was when I realized there were a lot (A LOT) of cover bands in Australia (the first one we saw was actually down in Melbourne). Not that there's anything wrong with cover bands - it's fun to hear songs you know and the slightly different variations people add based on their particular styles. The singer had a great voice, the guitarists had mad skills, and the keyboard/saxophonist/singer girl was pretty good too. It was only about 10 p.m. but time for bed because the next morning was the journey to Opal Reef, one of the outer less-crowded sections of the Great Barrier Reef!

And great it was. I think that Pixar movie Finding Nemo kind of spoiled my expectations of what the reef would look like, what with all of its vibrant colors and HD resolution, heh heh. But kidding aside, this is definitely one of the great wonders of the world. It's simply amazing how diverse the flora and fauna are in this marine park, the largest in the world. It's sad to think that this amazing structure will disappear one day, but it's good to know that Australia is doing as much as they can to conserve this gem of the world. Yeah, I'm sounding preachy and a little bit like Leonardo DiCaprio now, but the tourguides on our boat (I only remember Kenny's name) were extremely nice and honest people, giving us some great insight into the Great Barrier Reef.

On the final full day in Port Douglas, we checked out the rainforest Habitat, which was like a little wildlife park containing many of the indigenous animals and birds of rainforests and other niches of Australia. Giant birds walked by and koalas munched on eucalyptus leaves nearby. I even got to pet a kangaroo! Cheesy and touristy, I know, but definitely fun. Even got to pretend to act like a crocodile hunter - well, maybe just take a picture next to a croc or two in their pen, a safe distance away!

There were also some great waterfront restaurants and even more cover bands, and it was definitely nice to continue the theme of R&R in this little town! The last morning we checked out the famous lookout point, from which we could see the whole of the "Four Mile Beach"...The view was pretty gorgeous, with the mountains and the ocean in the distance...

Next stop: back to Cairns briefly and then a quick stop in Sydney!