Final Destination

The beginning of May is the beginning of winter in Australia. Lucky for us going up the coast means that the temperature is still hovering in the high twenties and the wet season is coming to a close. Since we arrived in Cairns five weeks ago we have been enjoying nothing but sun seven days a week! Besides the wonderful weather Cairns itself has been amazing. This is the first place that we have settled into for such a long time and it's felt like home since the very first day.

Speaking of homes, getting one was the first item on our list of priorities. We opted for a sharehouse seeing as there are so many options in Cairns and we had heard good things about them. We checked out a couple and ended up moving into our twin room the next day. No more bunk beds and dirty hostel kitchens. Our new house was just a 10 minute walk away from the CBD and felt like a girls dorm with our six other roomies (only one of which was a boy).

Next on the list was finding jobs. After applying all over town and not hearing anything promising we went to a travel agency called Peter Pans. They were looking for floor managers and promo people, probably the two easiest jobs in the world! We talked to the manager and started the next day. The only downfall was that we weren't working for actual cash, but instead being reimbursed with travel dollars. But there is so much to do in Cairns so we have saved money in the end.

The Great Barrier Reef is what Cairns is famous for. So many people come here looking to become certified scuba divers and to work on the boats that go out to the Reef on a daily basis. Sabrina and I were lucky enough to win a free day trip out to the reef at one of the clubs in town. We hopped on the Osprey V bright and early one Saturday morning and spent the whole day in the water and laying out on the big boat. We rented an underwater camera and snorkelled around all day chasing brightly coloured fish and taking awe inspiring pictures of the gorgeous reef. We spontaneously decided to try a scuba dive while we were there as well. Being under the water for twenty minutes without having to surface for a breath was amazing. I think I could quite easily live underwater. It's a whole different world with amazing animals I've never seen other than on the discovery channel. While we were down under we saw a sea turtle, a morray eel, giant clams, Nemo, and we even got to handle a jellyfish!

When we got back to shore we were nothing more than elated. The day had quite easily topped anything we have done on this trip so far. We also had to laugh at our tan lines. Seeing as we were face down in the water all day our entire back half was a bright red, save from the white of our bikini straps!

The three hundred and eighty pictures we had taken had to get put on a CD that would be ready in about an hour. So we headed down to the Peir for some drinks and a feed to kill time. While we were there we sat down with a bunch of people that worked on one of the boats. We got to talking and found out that a couple of the guys were heading to the reef the next day to do some work. They offered to take us out on the private boat and take us for a scuba dive once they were done working! How could we say no!

At the ungodly hour of five am we headed back to the marina and all five of us boarded the Seastar. By the time we were out of the harbour the sun was just beginning to rise and painting the sky a brillian gold. Sabrina and I spent the day on our own private boat sunning ourselves on the roof and then snorkelling in what felt like our own private ocean. There were no other boats for miles and without thirty other people splashing around the fish were swimming lazily. Everything about the day was so calm and surreal.

When the guys finally resurfaced it was about five o'clock and the sun was quickly approaching the skyline. We got suited up and hopped into the dingy for a quick dive. We rolled into the water and started descending into what felt like a different world. The water was getting darker and everything seemed to be adopting an eerie calm. After finding some giant clams we were swimming along and out of the corner of my eye I saw something bigger than the other fish we had been seeing. To my left about two meters away was a Black Tipped Reef Shark! Once it noticed us it swam away without another thought. I cannot believe I stayed so calm in the ocean under the setting sun with a shark swimming right next to me. After all that I'm now seriously considering becoming a certified diver.

It feels like an understatement, but this weekend has been the most amazing time of my life that I will undoubtedly remember forever.