Cairns Day 2

With an early wake up call to get ready for our second tour, let's just say we were all still quite exhausted, despite sleeping early the previous night.

This was going to be a Daintree Rainforest tour, with Billy Tea safaris, and it was a full day planned, with a lot of driving (a lot more than I expected).

Perk was that the bus was air-conned. Yessss. It was also just a small group of people, which was nice (I tend to prefer smaller groups than large ones)

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 A lot of driving later, we started to see really spectacular sights of the landscape. Skies were blue, trees were green, and everything was quite a stunning sight to see.

First stop was a River Boat cruise, in a crocodile infested river. Thankfully it had a shelter covering, otherwise I'm sure half of us would have emerged from the hour-long boat ride as grilled bags of meat.

Unfortunately though, we didn't manage to see any crocodiles. Though, I'd like to say I've had my fair share of crocodiles in the last year (flashbacks to Darwin crocodile jumping)

Plenty of mangroves to look at though. Shout-out to HSC preliminary biology.

With our spirits in a slight cloud of disappointment, we left the boat and went to a really breath-taking look-out point where we could see the river and just in general a truly spectacular sight. I was so glad it wasn't raining, and the weather was definitely looking favourable, because it meant for some really nice shots.

By now we'd made our way truly and deeply into the Daintree Rainforest, the largest continuous area of tropical rain-forest in Australia. It's also unrivaled in terms of structural complexity and plant diversity.

The rain-forest walk was to begin.

But first, let's absolutely smother ourselves with insect repellent.

Our tour guide also knew a lot of biology, and I'm proud to admit that I learned a fair few things on my tour (and throughout the entire day, really.)

Something that was really captivating was the vegetation and such.

LOOK AT THOSE THORNS

Completely terrifying, but also beautiful. And just the sheer variety of life springing from this area was something I'd never seen before. It's the stuff you see in documentaries.

Bird eggs, nestling amongst a plant.

Though, not going to lie, having to constantly check your legs and exposed skin for mosquitoes was a very big downside. Not to mention my friends occasionally slapping my shoulder because "there was a mosquito" (or so they say...)

Next was off to lunch at a nice little stop-over, where there was an enclosure for kangaroos and wallabies which we were able to feed sweet potato to.

So cute :')

They were such friendly and docile animals (maybe that's just because we had food in our hands though), and it was just a nice experience.

It also meant I was able to take some really great close-up photos without having to be behind enclosure fences. I really enjoyed it (the wallabies were so cute!)

 Lunch was up, which was a sizzling Australia BBQ with steak and sausages. Ahh, how much more Aussie can you get?

Yes, I also helped myself to the Vegemite bread. And managed to convince a tourist from England to try it (it's a must try! In moderate amounts)

A thing about being out here with nature was that there was such a pleasant feel everywhere. I mean, come on, here we were digging into our meat meals and this beautiful butterfly floats past.

The thing about here is that nature is everywhere, and everyone treasures it. Everyone respects it and marvels at it and leaves it to thrive. I can't help but admit that we don't get that feeling here in Sydney. Perhaps it's the pollution or the daily commute to our busy business lives, but I find it difficult to imagine the sheer natural beauty of Cairns replicated here in my home town.

At least, surely not the tropical flora and fauna.

Onwards we went, approaching Emmagen Creek, which was infamous for its crystal clear water. I can assure you, it was very clear water, and because it was freshwater, it felt so clean (except the moss). It was beautiful.

You could see the fish through the water, and see your toes. It made me wish that I had one of these places just around the corner of my home, because I would love it so much.

It's like in those movies when people have their 'quiet spots' or the secret hide-outs; this was what I imagined mine to be. Perhaps one day I'll have something like that. A place where you could forget everything else -- leave the hustle and bustle of life and just relax and be content.

Some day.

It contrasted against the beach that we visited afterwards, which we were severely warned against entering the water due to the risk of being stung by jellyfish. Summer happens to be 'stinger season', and if you were unlucky enough, you could bump into these little devils.

The Box Jellyfish -- its sting can lead to cardiovascular collapse and death as quickly as 2-5 minutes. Yep. Ahh, Australia.

But the beach was beautiful.

Before heading off back to Cairns, due to the unanimous consent of the tour bus, we stopped by for ice-cream at a small farm. They apparently only sell as a side thing, not commercially, and it was a very nice little snack, and also not too expensive.

Macadamia, banana, black sapote, and wattleseed flavours! All for $6.

As the sunset and the clouds looked beautiful (it rained slightly, but only a drizzle; sunshine rain), we drove the 2 hours back to Cairns and returned home after a truly long day out (12 hours!)

It was a beautiful sight, but I slept most of the way (as did most people on the tour bus).

With a tiring day, we headed on home (caught the bus for the first time!) and made our own dinner. Sheesh, independence? I think we have it nailed!!

If you're wondering about the weird 2/3 distribution of mushrooms, salami, and capsicum, that's because of the varying tastes among our trio of people. Thus, we segmented it such that only 2/3 of the pizza had those ingredients, and therefore customised it to accommodate for everyone's preferences.

It had been a good day. A long day, but a great one. It was a nice break to have in the middle of things; less adrenaline-filled as Day 1 (rapids), but a nice interlude towards the Reef.

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