Cairns, Australia - The Great Barrier Reef

 

We took a shore excursion to Green Island which is a natural preserve about 50 minutes by ferry from Cairns (pronounced Canes).  The first thing we learned is it’s jellyfish season in the ocean around Cairns/Green Island.  Now, these are not big blobby jellyfish, these are ‘stingers’ which are as small as your fingernail, and their venom can be fatal to humans.  Every snorkeler or swimmer or scuba diver were highly encouraged to rent a full boy neoprene wet suit which included shoes and close fitting cap as part of the suit.  I could just imagine trying to get my fat ass into that suit.  

The alternative to snorkeling was to ride around in a glass bottom boat to see a glimpse of the reef.  You can guess which one I picked.  This picture is from late in the day.  It was totally cloudy most of the time we were on the island.

Swimming Beach - Green Island
(Notice how few people are actually in the water.)

Green Island is also part National Park.  There is a boardwalk trail through the tropical rainforest.  It has informational signs along the walk, and it’s so short even I could do

Pacific Reef Egret

This gives you a chance to see how impenetrable a tropical jungle can be

It was hard to imagine how such a diverse tropical rainforest could appear on what is essentially a coral cay composed of coral rubble.  First, birds arrive and defecate all types of seeds some of which sprout.  As more vegetation arises, soil is actually built from the plant debris on top of the coral rubble.  Gradually, a cay with no life becomes a rainforest like Green Island.  

Without even really trying I found several species of birds all of which are shameless beggars.  Of course, you are directed not to feed them, but people told stories of holding a sandwich in one hand, and a bird swooping down and snatching it midair.  The following bird, a buff banded rail, walked around and would try for potato chips as it angled closer and closer to the picnic table.

This bird, an orange footed scrub fowl is a ‘digger’.  It was digging a hole, looking for worms, snakes or I don’t know what.  I did learn they don’t nest, but rather dig down into the earth to bury their eggs.

Black Noddy

The black noddy is a type of sea tern.  It lives in colonies and nests in trees.  Of course, this colony chose an area right over the boardwalk and the walkway was dotted with white bird droppings - about every 2 inches!  We raced through this area since the chances of getting your clothes ruined or your hair full of bird shit were quite high.  

Finally, it was time for the glass bottomed boat.  

The view of the reef was a bit disappointing, but at least I was prepared for it.  The reef is only full of ‘colors’ when the sun is directly shining on the water and the reef isn’t too deep.  Of course, it was overcast the day we took this boat.  It was still impressive.  There were so many types of fish and coral even if they were not brightly colored.

This shore excursion was a real bust.  I wish we’d gone to the aquarium in Cairns, but we really wanted to see the reef.  We had about 1.5 hours of activity and a two hour ferry ride.  We waited around in horrible heat and humidity to the point I was afraid I was getting heat exhaustion.  We couldn’t get on an earlier boat back to Cairns and the ship because they were totally booked.  The upshot was we waited three hours to get off Green Island.  UGH.

Coming into Cairns Harbor.