Next stage was Cairns, the entrygate to the Great Barrier Reef. Correct pronounciation is “Kans” – like in “Cola Cans”. We stayed 5 days there at Trinity Beach, about 20km north of Cairns.
The area is mostly rainforests and mountaineous, with some sugar-cane plantations. The main attraction is the reef ~ 1.5 hour by boat. We discussed about doing a tour to the reef, but decided instead to go to “Green Island” – to be honest, all the reef tours seemed overpriced and too touristic – and we were right. So we saved our money and did only some snorkeling at the island.
We also visited some wildlife park, where we had the chance to see some birdlife (the mighty Cassowary) and caressing supercute wallabies. Koalas were also present, but sleepy and hidden.
Another trip we did was to “Barron gorge” – where an old train routes crosses the scenery.
Cairns holds the massive “Flecker Botanical Gardens” – free of charge and a must-go if interested in plants.
On our last day in Cairns , we got visited by a huge owl-like bird sitting for an hour at our balcony.
We moved then by plane from Cairns to Brisbane, where we hired another care and moved directly to Broadbeach at Goldcoast. Goldcoast looks like Miami Beach, an artifical disneyland-like area with wide beaches and tall skyscrapers and shopping-malls.
