We left a wet Mission Beach and arrived at Cairns without any plans on where we were going to stay. So we unhooked the car and drove around a few of the caravan parks until we found somewhere to stay. Most of them where either full or too expensive. ($80 per night!) It was a bit muggy so we decided to have a swim in the biggest caravan park pool we have come across. It was huge and freezing! I jumped in and nearly drowned from the cold shock!
Brad was very keen to take the kids out to one of the islands, so we decided to splurge and do a day trip to Green Island, which included a glass bottom tour and a semi-submarine tour. I was a bit worried about the kids as the weather forecast was not ideal for an hour long trip across the ocean. I think Chloe lasted about 15 minutes before she felt sick and maybe another 15 before she vomited. So Chloe and I headed out to the back deck with all the other vomiting people. This is a very small area and it was filled with people so the last 30 minutes felt like about 2 hours. Especially as I am prone to seasickness as well, but I somehow managed to keep it at bay. Luckily Brad and Lucy both have iron stomachs and were fine for the whole trip. As soon as the boat stopped Chloe recovered remarkably quickly and was back to her talkative self as we waited for Brad and Lucy to get off.
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| Not looking to good as we head to Green Island |
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| Green Island! |
The main thing the kids wanted to see was a turtle and as we were walking along the jetty to get to the island Lucy spotted one!
The weather on the island was slightly better than when we left Cairns but still a bit overcast and windy. Brad went straight out for a snorkel. Lucy really wanted too but just couldn’t make herself, using the excuse that it was too cold, even with a wetsuit on. I wanted to use that excuse myself, but I made myself go out and I did slightly better than the day on King Reef. I did actually manage to snorkel and did see some cute and colourful fish, but somehow kept getting water in my mask so after awhile headed back to the beach and tried to get dry, which was a bit impossible with the weather, especially when it started to drizzle! By the time we had some lunch the sun was starting to come out and it turned into a beautiful afternoon. We then did our glass bottom boat tour which was fantastic, especially for the kids, they got to see so many fish, they both loved it. After that we went straight to the semi-sub, which is pretty cool. You sit down underneath the boat in an area that is all glass. So you see much the same things as the glass bottom boat but you’re under the water instead of on top. This tour was great and I think we spotted about 4 turtles and a couple of string rays.
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| Glass Bottom Boat tour |
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| Squeezed in the semi-sub |
We still had nearly 2 hours before our day was up, so we walked around the island and the kids talked us into letting them buy something each.
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| The sun did make an appearance! |
Then it was time to get back on the big cat - something I was not looking forward too. One of the crew told Brad that the way back is usually better than the way too the island, so I was hoping that he would be right.
Lucy insisted on sitting up on the top deck out in the open on the way open, but after a few minutes Chloe wanted to go down. So she and I stood (well I stood, she got carried) on the rear deck for the whole trip, where she dozed in my arms the whole way. This was much better than her vomiting but she is VERY heavy!! Once we were nearly at Cairns Brad took Chloe and I went up the top with Lucy, where it was freezing, but not only does Lucy not get seasick apparently she doesn’t feel the cold either. She had a fantastic time!
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| Loving the Big Cat - nearly back at Cairns |
So despite all the bad things about the day, we really did have a good time on Green Island and I’m really glad we decided to do it.
One more rainy night in Cairns and we left early the next morning and headed inland to get away from the rain.
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