The last three days we’ve stayed in Trinity Beach a bit north of Cairns (pronounced Cans). It’s a cool beach town right on the Pacific ocean where you can walk to dinner after a tiring day of exploring. It’s been long days starting at 6AM, which included: rides in trains, an all-terrain vehicle, boats, buses, skyway cable car and our car (we forgot to pay for parking today which results in a fee!!).

Two of our excursions left from Cairns; a ferry to Green Island (not the one I grew up on) and boat out to the Great Barrier Reef, where I snorkled twice. This is something I never thought I’d get to do and it was amazing and tiring. They blew the whistle on me twice because I floated away from the group. I like to just “hang” in the water and watch what’s below me. I must have seen 20 different fish and lots of beautiful coral. I think I’ve been able to film it but getting it from the camera to an accessible place make take some time as I don’t have a laptop with me.

Our train ride on the Kuranda Scenic Railway impressed both of us as it was built in 1887, up and through a mountain. It’s an amazing feat of engineering, you can read more below. We were able to see Barron Falls from different angles and it was quite impressive. Hal had to hold my phone/camera over the railing because of my fear of heights and I couldn’t watch him do it.

On our amphibious ride through the rain forest we learned about the Gympie-Gympie (“bad-bad”) plant which has a double name because of how dangerous it is. It’s also nicknamed the suicide plant because the nettles are so painful you …..

This is the time of year when stinger jellyfish are prevalent. Along the coast there are protected swim areas where they make a rectangular netted space so one can swim safely. The ocean water is very warm so there’s no hesitation running in (not that I run in but others do).

Driving in Australia one must learn new traffic terminology: zip merge, overtaking and car bays. What do you think they mean

Tomorrow we drive south to Townsville. There are links below for some of the places I mentioned.

https://www.skyrail.com.au/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4rK8BhD7ARIsAFe5LXKP_lFtvfDg2KhgcXjcSJSrHhmox0ehiVzjKJqEF9n5K_DoMbAx7LMaAjPTEALw_wcB

https://www.ksr.com.au/

https://parks.desi.qld.gov.au/parks/green-island
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fH6kTG88K7M4Yktz6