Thanks guys!
Accommodation
During my 6 nights in Cairns I have stayed at the Cairns Colonial Club Resort which is located pretty close to the airport, to get here I paid $22 for a taxi however through a third party they also offer a coach transfer for $15. During my time in Cairns I shared the twin share room with my friend Ed who drove from Canberra.
The accommodation at the resort was quite basic, however the staff were incredible and the resorts facilities whilst dated are great. The resort features three pools, a spa, a games room featuring arcade games as well as a poolside cafe and a restaurant which also hosts breakfast. All up I paid $567 for the accommodation over the 6 nights which included a full buffet breakfast for the two of us.
The bedding, this was after Ed had left on his 28hr return drive to Canberra so one of the beds was not made up.
The rest of the furniture in the room essentially, also features a small space for making coffee and a fridge, the bathroom was just a standard hotel bathroom.
Plane Spotting Cairns Monday August 11
On Monday the two of us walked up to the lookout which I believe is on the Red Arrow Trail (I might be wrong), its quite a hike but the views are great. Unfortunately at the time I was up there the lighting wasn't the best but here are some photos:
[img]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3889/14901376676_20480266da_z.jpg/img]
As can be seen I managed to get a pretty good variety of aircraft including both aircraft I had flown on the previous day. I was particularly stoked to get the Airfast MD83 which was noisy and smokey and had one of the steepest climbs I have ever seen, unfortunately the picture doesn't do it much justice!
Green Island 12 August 2014
Visiting the Great Barrier Reef is a must do when in Cairns, there are many different options however as both of us are pretty weak swimmers we chose to go to Green Island which has a variety of options for viewing the reef and has shallow water. We booked with Big Cat Green Island Cruises who offer two different packages for the reef itself as well as bundle deal with other Cairns attractions. We chose to go for the full day on Green Island which includes a semi-submarine viewing session, a choice of glass boat or snorkelling (you can get both for an extra $16) as well as a full buffet lunch onboard the boat, we also chose to bundle this with a trip to Kuranda on the historic railway and Skyrail the next day costing us $330 per person.
On the morning of the cruise we drove ourselves to the Reef Fleet Terminal, having checked in the previous day whilst paying we proceeded directly to the boat which commences boarding at 0815 for a 0900 departure, the cruise out to Green Island on the Big Cat takes about an hour and 20 minutes however if you do the half day tour you get a much faster boat and I believe it is done in about 30mins.
Boarding the Big Cat
Upon arrival at the island we had about an hour to burn before our slot on the glass bottom boat, there is plenty of activities to do on the island ranging from shopping, a crocodile show or just simply walking the boardwalk around the island, if you don't mind paying I believe there are also helicopter tours over the surrounding reef are available.
At 1115 we had our glass bottom boat tour, whilst on this tour we were treated to a huge surprise when two humpback whales were spotted, unfortunately I was not quick enough to get a photo but yeah, amazing sight!
A green sea turtle poking it's head out of the water
A view back to the jetty.
After the conclusion of this tour (I think it lasted about 20mins) we headed onboard Big Cat for our lunch, the buffet consisted of salads as well as a Japanese curry and rice, drinks are available for purchase.
Once we had finished lunch we headed onto the island to take in some of the sights as the tide got lower.
At 1315 it was out turn for a ride in the semi-submarine, this provides a unique view of the reef without getting wet.
After the tour we headed onto the island to do some snorkelling, it's one thing seeing it all through glass but it is truly magical getting so close to the amazing creatures on the reef for yourself!
At 1545 the Big Cat departs and they do ask that everyone is onboard at 1530 leaving on time they had us back at the reef terminal at Cairns on 5pm.
All in all, it was a great day, I urge anyone going to Cairns to give this a go, you won't regret it!!