Jan 24 Cairns

Another beautiful day in Cairns. Today we boarded a fast catamaran to the Green Island for a snorkeling tour. The boat ride took 50 minutes each way the waters were calm. Thank goodness nobody got sick. The Green Island was covered in rainforest and white sandy beaches. The Great Barrier Reef could be seen from the dock. We got directions to the dive shop and then headed off to collect our snorkel gear. Its stinger season now so stinger suits (head to toe Lycra suits) were highly recommended. Australian waters are home to the box jellyfish, one of the most deadliest jellyfish in the world.
With snorkeling gear and stinger suits we headed to the ocean. Due to the Cyclone that recently formed off the coast of Cairns visibility was bad this morning. Only one meter (3.28 ft) of visibility, so no cool photos of fish to share, but check out these stinger suits. Everyone looked pretty good in the stinger suits, but Luke took it to a new level. He had a team of Japanese tourists following him around taking pictures of him. I guess they don't make men like that in Japan. After a hour or so of impressing the Asian tourist, and swimming around in murky water we difficultly pulled off the suits and toured the island. The island was a tourist attraction since the early 1900s and is also home to the largest captive salt water crocodile. We did not get to view croc due to time constraints. Another hour or so of walking around and eating ice-cream until we boarded our fast catamaran and headed back to Cairns. We all we tired from fighting off Luke's Asian harem so we slept the majority of the boat trip back. Upon arriving in Cairns we went to the supermarket (Woolworth's) and picked up some meat to BBQ at the hotel pool grill. We bought 1kg of BBQ chicken wings, 3 different flavors of chicken kabobs, and 4 pre-seasoned steaks. After figuring out how to start the 2 grills, Luke showed those Ossies how to grill USA style. Eating to the point of being uncomfortable, we packed up the leftovers and called it an early night. Off to Ayers rock in the morning……..