12 February 2010

Port Douglas

So, ive had two expensive, superfun days! Got up at 6 in the morning on Wednesday to be picked up by a bus and driven to Port Douglas. Spent the 1hour-drive sleeping and was almost awake when we got to the HaBa boat in Port Douglas. Had to leave my flipflops outside the boat before I was handed snorkelling-gear :) The crew were really relaxed and knew their stuff. As the boat started to head towards the Great Barrier Reef we got some info from a incredibly gay-sounding australian. But he sure knew what he was talking about and could tell us some secret about the diving spot we were heading to. The reef was incredibly beautiful and the fish didnt seem to be bothered with us swimming besides them at all. I was almost afraid that some of them were gonna have a bite of me, special the big Parrotfishes. We hung out at the first spot for maybe two hours before we got onto the boat and inside for some lunch. You could always know where the six american tourists where, they were the loudest aboard the ship! I was quick to get into the water again after lunch and headed off in one direction on my own. I was kind of dissapointet that there werent any fish around. But then I saw a shark! It passed me on my right side and swam with its scary head going from one side to the other. My heart was going at 300beats per minute and I could hear the soundtrack of Jaws in my head as I tried to be completely still. Then it turned around and came back towards me. It swam past me maybe two or three meters away, and I just managed to lift my camera up and take some photos while I prayed that my flash wouldnt go off. Swam as fast as I could back to the boat and showed the photo to mr Gay. He could tell me that it was a Grey Tip Reef Shark and that I was really lucky. They didnt see them often any more! I also found where the Nemo-family was hanging out. And a huge fish who was hiding underneath some coral. Dont know the name of it.... Here it the school of Parrotfish. They eat the coral and you can here them munching away if you dont breathe too loud. Its really loud and the fish are huge! Between 20 and 60cm! The always swim around in a school and either a female or a male is the leader (cant remember which it was.) Anyways, if the leader die, then one of the others go through a sex-change, and then they become the leader of the school! Cool ae? Thursday was jungleTourday! Didnt have to get up as early as the day before cause I got two free nights at Parrotfish Lodge in Port Douglas when I booked the HaBa-tour! Sweet, cant say no to free stuff!The first stop for the day was a Wildlife Sanctuary. Saw lots of birds, some koalas, a python, crokodiles and wallabys! The photo above is a Cassowary. Its a rare, native bird of Australia and we saw one in the wild later that day! just chilling in the sun! Mosman Gorge! Went for a swim in the river and enjoyed the sun on the rocks. After lunch, we headed to a Daintree Rivercruise looking for crocs! We saw two tiny once, one medium, and a 4meter long one! The photo is of one of the babies, do you see him? After Daintree River, we drove to Alexandra lookout. You can see Daintree river running into the ocean, and in the background you can see all the way to Port Douglas. Drove down to Cape Tribulation were we had a look around and walked along the beach, then a long drive back to Port Douglas. After checking out of Parrotfish Lodge I had a walk on the 4mile beach in Port Douglas. It isnt a beach I would go swimming at, only between the stinger nets. You can barely see them in the background. They keep the Irukandji away. Irukandji are the tiny deadly jellyfish, and they are all over North Queensland! Right now in chilling in the shade at Reef Backpackers. Went back there today. It has been a SUPERhot day! Had a walk around Cairns and it was 36degrees! I didnt stay in the sun too long, dont wanna be too pink you know! ;)

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