Cairns is a bit of a weird place, it's like an English seaside resort, only twenty degrees hotter and fifty percent more humid. And where you can't swim in the water because of the risk of irukandji jellyfish. And with trees full of fruitbats and parakeets. And easy access to two massive tourist destinations.
Yesterday it was the jungle. Crocodile spotting on the Daintree River (spotted), Cassowary spotting on Cape Tribulation (failed, saw a turkey though, which is sort of the same) and Authentic Aboriginal Experience spotting at the Mossman Gorge - I know it was authentic because the t-shirts in the giftshop told me it was.
Today I put on my goth strength suncream and went to the Barrier Reef. That's one of the biggies, right? I tell you what, it's quite pretty. A whole heap more blues than I was expecting - which sounds ridiculous for an aquatic seascape. Saw me most of the main ones: shark; turtle; stingray; Nemo - that's the Disney one, not the Verne one - that would've probably been weirder and somewhat more scary. Talking of scary, the reef is chockfull of jellyfish, turns out these ones don't sting, which is lucky - I found that out by headbutting one. You can take the boy out of Essex, but he'll still headbutt the locals. Lad.
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