Cairns pt. 2 - The Reef

Well, my good friend Cyclone Anthony has done a bit of a number on my ability to sightsee.

Today, we headed out with Great Adventures, a travel company, to see the lovely Green Island. Plans for the day included snorkelling, swimming, and a glass-bottom boat tour.  After an extremely rough 45 minute trip over during which I saw at least one person's breakfast (apparently a big one), we docked at the relatively small Green Island - one of many islands in the Great Barrier Reef, but the only one to host its own bitty rainforest.

After a walk down a wind tunnel alternatively known as the jetty, we found out that the glass-bottom boat tour had been cancelled because, well, there was no bottom to see. Snorkelling was out for the same reasons (and the fact that my swimming lessons did not include the Kanata Wave Pool).

In lieu of these activities, we were given a free pass to a crocodile museum on the island (guess they ran out of food). Even the 'salties', as they call saltwater crocodiles, were put out by the weather - apparently freshwater rain reduces their body temperatures, making them even more sluggish than usual. So when I poked them with a stick... no, only joking. I sent another tourist in instead :)

I did learn, after accidentally walking through a "Crocodile Eats Human" display, that Australians have no qualms about putting the icky stuff out for the world to see. But on a positive note, the display included lots of "Crocodile TRIES to eat human, but human survives and crocodile is then sacrificed by angry villagers and made into a good stew" stories. So I'm going with 50/50 here. Need to find some villagers to bring with me...

Despite the lack of Reef-viewing opportunities, I'm not concerned - given its size, there will be plenty more to see in the future!