Diving on the GBR – Cairns, Australia

We went to Cairns for 1 purpose and 1 only: to go scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Here’s a picture from the plan window while flying in.

Just like I learned to snowboard in the Alps, my wife did her first dive on the GBR. No big deal!

I will say that I didn’t like the dive company we went with, because there were way too many people, mixes of snorkelers on the surface and divers below (coming up wading through snorkelers is terrible), and there was a large portion of the boat getting sea sick on the rough waves.

However, we had a great guide to help my wife calm her nerves, having a great first and second dives ever.

Also, those tricky bastards CRANKED UP THE A/C in the boat on the way back, when everyone was still wet. Guess what? You’re cold now, and here’s us selling sweatshirts. Wow.

Cairns is also a pretty cool town. We saw the new Star Wars movie at the theater, saw tons of green lorikeets, and LOTS of bats flying around at sundown. Just look up in all the trees in the city. You’ll see some animals!

There’s also a really cool public pool near the waterfront.

Given that it was around the Christmas holiday, things weren’t functioning on normal hours. We found a sushi shop (Tokyo Dumpling) with veggie rolls and veggie dumplings, so that became pretty standard for lunch.

There’s also this shop with lots of vegetarian and vegan options, which are clearly marked. It’s called Zambrero.

Also in the main part of Cairns, There’s Lilipad Cafe, which bills itself as a healthy restaurant with vegetarian and vegan options, but it’s quite light on the latter. We ate there once, my wife’s sandwich was so spicy it was impossible to eat, and we became ‘more regular’ regulars at Tokyo Dumpling after that.

Cairns isn’t a super awesome city, but it’s good for what it really is: a launching point for the Great Barrier Reef.