Cairns Day 4

Another ocean tour today! This time out to Fitzroy Island, which I've heard in quite a few friends' recommendations, so I was keen to check it out.

The beaches they had there were remarkable. Completely made out of thousands of years of dead coral -- nothing I'd ever seen before, and definitely nothing like the beaches of Sydney.

Though it hurt your feet to walk on it, it was truly amazing to think that this island was so old -- it takes hundreds of years for coral to grow, and to have an entire island shore made up of ancient coral -- that was mind-blowing.

We went kayaking in the sea, which was a nice change of pace, though I do believe that's where I got my severely unevenly tanned forearms from, as I didn't wear my Lycra suit up to my arms initially. 

The water was also very rocky today, which made it quite difficult to kayak, but it was a nice challenge and added more thrill -- you never know when you're going to tip over. We kayaked over to Nudie Beach (which, although its name seems to suggest is a nudist beach, it isn't used that way.)

We spent the rest of the day snorkeling and relaxing on the island -- it was a less hectic plan for today -- you basically were allowed to run free on the island, which suited me just fine. We snorkeled around, and although the water wasn't as clear as the Great Barrier Reef (we were told it was due to the choppy seas and wind), it was still a wonderful sight.

Around the pier area, especially, were massive schools of fish that weren't afraid at all. I was able to swim right up next to them in warm water and it was so mind-easing.

Damn low visibility.

They also had an ocean trampoline, which, although energy-draining, was worth the swim out to it, and I had quite a large amount of fun on it with VA.

"Just chilling"

Not to mention jumping from it, and plenty of GoPro footage!

It was quite a hot day that day though, and needless to say, I found when I returned back to the apartment in Cairns that several parts of me had grown several shades darker.

Arm vs leg (under the boardies).

Yeah. Quite an uneven set of colours, don't you think?

I did manage to get slightly sunburnt on the back of my shoulders -- an area I accidentally neglected during my sunscreen appliance -- but everywhere else was mostly just darker.

I kind of feel like an unevenly grilled sausage -- like when you forget to turn it so you only cook one side -- because the underside of my arms are normal coloured, but the outer side is cooked.

With the boat ride back from Fitzroy, I decided to sit out at the back and really just enjoy the sea breeze. I wanted to take in the last moments of the ocean, of the water, and of the feeling of being on a boat. Just one last time, before I had to say goodbye.

Where to next?

I knew I'd miss Cairns. I'd miss the water, the ocean, and the feelings it stirred within me.

But, with all this deep philosophical questioning, I soon fell asleep on the boat with my right forearm in the sun, which is probably why it's a slight shade darker than my left arm (I have no idea how long I slept for; I'm just glad my hat didn't fly away into the wind whilst I was sound asleep).

Before we went home we thought we'd head off to the Night Markets, because we'd been meaning to go for a while, but due to weather (it was absolutely pouring the night before) and exhaustion the last few days, we'd put it off till now.

It was pretty great! Not going to lie -- I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was a nice change of pace, and I bought a few souvenirs (finally!). I purchased a nice little 'name on a rice' pendant/charm that was customisable. I ended up with one that said 'Cairns <3' on it, with a clownfish on the back and accessories reminiscent of a beach and the Great Barrier Reef.

It's an iPhone charm.

Returning home meant our last dinner, and I felt like our meals were growing exponentially simpler. We had nachos, which basically was just corn chips, cheese, and salsa ('mild', but it was too spicy for me).

Doesn't look that great. But the corn chips + cheese didn't taste too bad!

It had been a long day, and it was also our final night here.

Needless to say, we stayed up a bit later than usual, and after VA fell asleep in bed and PT on the couch, I figured it was time to go to bed and say goodnight one last time.

I dreamed of the ocean and felt like my bed was rocking me to sleep.