Talk about a rich landscape! Cairns Australia has it all from the oldest wet tropical rainforest on the planet, to the magnificent Great Barrier Reef, rivers which are home to crocodiles, bats flying in droves, traditional custodians about, a butterfly sanctuary, and extreme weather. What one campsite host coined as a "mosquito infested poop-whole," I found to be a rich landscape waiting to be explored.
Since the knobby tires have ruled my life for the past decade, the first stop was the world cup downhill and XC located at the Smithfield MTB park. I have never been this close to the equator before and have never experienced this level of humidity. With 95* F temps and 100% humidity, I wasn't sure how many laps I could handle! Within the first 5 minutes I was complete drenched and already out of water. The XC had countless switchbacks and a sign stating "dangerous plants." I knew we were in the jungle! The bush was thick and dense with ferns, trees, and vines hanging down into the trail with slick roots and rocks to keep you on your game. The world cup downhill was slick as butter and I walked nearly 85%. Respect DH riders. The richness of this rainforest was remarkable and was at the edge of the oldest tropical rainforest in the world: Daintree rainforest.
Since the knobby tires have ruled my life for the past decade, the first stop was the world cup downhill and XC located at the Smithfield MTB park. I have never been this close to the equator before and have never experienced this level of humidity. With 95* F temps and 100% humidity, I wasn't sure how many laps I could handle! Within the first 5 minutes I was complete drenched and already out of water. The XC had countless switchbacks and a sign stating "dangerous plants." I knew we were in the jungle! The bush was thick and dense with ferns, trees, and vines hanging down into the trail with slick roots and rocks to keep you on your game. The world cup downhill was slick as butter and I walked nearly 85%. Respect DH riders. The richness of this rainforest was remarkable and was at the edge of the oldest tropical rainforest in the world: Daintree rainforest.
We later made our way to Kuranda Village located within the depths of the Daintree rainforest. We meander about a butterfly sanctuary; who knew there was such a fabulous place! What an absolute treat considering I love butterflys! We were in awe of the beauty or the rainforest and appreciated the traditional custodians who live there. We also had a glimpts at Barron Falls -- truly an honor to experience.
With a deep seeded love for the ocean, I was pretty stoked to go for an intro dive. It was 7 am waiting for the boat in a trenchial downpour. While many others stood with unhappy faces cooped under unbrellas, I stood in my soaked through "rain" jacket, board shorts, with a giant smile on my face. Stoked!
We hopped on the boat and off we went to Franklin Island located just south of Cairns. On the way, the instructor gave us the low-down on how to dive and basic skills. Once we pulled up, we geared up and dove right in. We did our checks to make sure we knew what to do and there we were 25 feet under! Only being down for 25 mins, the first 10 was spent making sure the ears were proper, I was breathing, and everything was good. Then the last 10 minutes was spent exploring and what an experience! It's like living in a 3-D world as my Granddad would say. It had been what I always expected: an entirely different and spectacular world. Pretty sure Sebastian from the Little Mermaid had it right in his song Under the Sea! With a time limit on the intro dive, we were left with tons of time to snorkel with the rest of the folks. With motoring legs, I went all over the place and saw jelly fish -- we were wearing stinger suits and I kept distance -- Green Turtles and a Reef shark! I have to say, it was hard to get back on the boat. I was left itching to dive more and explore this entirely different world I only had a sneak glimpse into and have always wanted to explore. I am incredibly lucky, grateful, and honored to have experienced even just the smallest glimpse of the Great Barrier Reef before it completely incinerated, quite honestly, by global warming... unless, of course, things change. The nest day we wandered about the Cairns Aquarium to see more ocean critters and learn a bit more about them. Later in the evening, we walk about the town and the boardwalk where we watched as the tide receded and the mudflats came alive. We saw colonies of crabs coming out of their holes and cute little mud hoppers. As the light drifted away, we saw colonies of bats fill the sky reminding us of the flying monkeys in Wizard of Oz. Half went north while the others went south. We later learnt they migrate to islands in the night, and coast in the day. With one last day in search of bike boxes, I climbed the top of the one squiggly road I could find which lead to Lake Morris... I was dreanched the whole time and loving every moment. Who would have guessed my bestie has a Lake named after her! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and Cairns... you are a hot and tropical beauty with underwater jewels and lands of ancient rainforests to be explored... without the superfacial features of fancy hotels and shopping malls. To a superfacial smug you may be a "skitter infested poo whole" but to those intested in the natural beauties of the world... you're an unforgettable gem. |